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His mother had once told him that the biggest revelations were usually the simplest ones. In life, Sarai had said, sometimes things just feel right , and then the truth is easy to discern.
But in all honesty, Callum had always had a hard time with that. He had a habit of overthinking things, even small tasks, until they seemed so much bigger than they actually were.
But things weren’t like that with Rayla. Rayla, who’d jumped into the line of fire to save a dragon who was far from innocent. Rayla, who always did what was right no matter the cost. Rayla, who meant the world to him.
So it made sense, in a way that was almost amusing, that he would realize just how much he cared for her when there was a Xadian pine cone in her hair and saliva from the prince of the dragons on her face.
They’d just set down camp for the night after saying farewell to Nyx, who went back into the Midnight Desert— where he had somehow, miraculously, kissed Rayla and been kissed with just as much enthusiasm in return —when Zym decided to play a game of “you-can’t-catch-me!” After all, the little dragon was still a toddler, and he must have decided that it was a lot more fun to play that game when it was with the people he actually trusted.
Zym had wriggled out of Callum’s grasp and flapped his wings twice—even turning around to stick out a tongue at his caretakers—before zooming off into the dense foliage with a dragon-like giggle.
Callum and Rayla looked at each other once, and Callum immediately opted to take her bag from her with a grin. She was more suited to Xadian landscapes and climbing and running anyway.
Rayla sighed. “I’ll get him.”
He’d grinned at her back as she ran after the dragonling, running up the bark of a tree for just a moment to jump over a bush and disappear from sight. He had no doubt that she would be back soon with Zym, and he wanted the campsite to be set up when she returned. Rayla did so much for her two boys already, and he wanted to make it up to her.
That smile that had hardly faded from his face ever since that moment—or several moments, really—on the ambler returned as he began to take out what they’d need for the night.
Rayla had kissed him. More than once! And he’d kissed her! He’d been repeating the facts over and over to himself all day, still not quite able to believe it. Rayla , a back-flipping, sword-slinging, all around badass, felt the same way about Callum that he felt about her! Callum, who’d once fallen off a wooden horse and sprained his ankle at the age of thirteen , had won the affections of the most wonderful person—elf or human—in all the land, and he wasn’t even sure how he’d done it!
He could still vividly remember the moment that he’d realized his feelings for her went quite a bit deeper than friendship. Rayla had just told him that he and Ezran could get Zym to Xadia without her help, that she believed in them. Callum had barely processed her words and had just reached out to stop her before she was jumping into the treetops to rescue a dragon that had blood on its hands (or...well, claws).
Callum could still remember feeling so useless as he watched her flip and run toward danger, unable to do anything to help her or protect her if things went wrong. He could still remember the weight of his pencil in his hands, cumbersome for the first time ever. He could still remember the way he’d began drawing her, without much thought at first, and then more earnestly as he’d realized that he might not see her again, and he was desperate to make sure that he would always remember what she looked like. He could still remember the way the lead had snapped with no warning whatsoever, and he had flung his sketchbook away in frustration, because damn it, she meant far too much to him for him to lose her like this.
He remembered pausing as soon as the thought entered his mind and then immediately embracing it a moment later. Rayla had been in danger; he hadn’t had time to mull over his feelings and overthink them like he always did. He’d needed to act. So in a way, he’d done the things he did and saved her because he’d accepted his feelings for her on the spot.
Callum found himself chuckling as he remembered every flustered moment that came once they were both out of danger. When he’d desperately held onto her on the samaras seed ride, and she’d held him back, and how he’d thought about it for days afterward. The dance to reveal the Silvergrove, when Rayla was the happiest he’d ever seen her, if just for a short time, and it had lit up his face in ways he’d never seen before. Random moments during their travel when their hands would brush as they walked next to each other. And the everything that had happened in the Midnight Desert…
“Got ‘im!” Rayla’s voice suddenly exclaimed.
Callum jumped guiltily, even though he really hadn’t been thinking anything wrong, and turned away from setting up their bedrolls to see Rayla emerging from the thicket, a grinning Zym held tightly in her arms. Her face was flushed from running, and she was covered in grass and plants, and Zym was busy giving her his signature zappy kisses, and her hair was all over the place, and by the primal sources, Callum loved her.
His heart jumped in his chest at the thought as he watched her set Zym on the ground with a stern finger in his face before sighing and running a hand through her messy hair.
Like before, he instantly knew the thought was true. With everything that he’d said the night before, it was really a miracle that he hadn’t realized just how much he cared for her before then. Callum grinned like a maniac as he turned it over in his head. He was really, truly, desperately in love with her. He hadn’t had the proper words the night before, but now he did. And his heart was thrumming in his chest because of it.
“What?” Rayla said suddenly, frowning over at Callum. “Why are you starin’ at me?” She ran another through her hair in a way that he recognized as self-conscious as she looked at him. “And what’s that look for?”
He still hadn’t stopped smiling. He thought his face might crack open because of it. He was in love with her . She was truly the most amazing person he’d ever met, and the warmth in his chest seemed to prove it.
But still. They were still figuring this new dynamic out. They hadn’t even kissed again since the ambler! They’d held hands and cuddled together the night before, but they’d been so set on getting away from the Midnight Desert that they really hadn’t had time to think about anything else or discuss how they wanted to go about things now. He didn’t want to overwhelm her. He’d keep that particular piece of information close to his vest for the time being, but promised himself that he’d tell her soon.
“It’s nothing,” Callum said with a sigh, cocking his head at her as he continued to stare. “You’re just...really beautiful.”
A bit of pink grew in her cheeks, but Rayla, of course, played it off with a huff. “Callum, I’m covered in dragon spit and grass right now.”
“Well, I think you’re beautiful no matter what. I always have.”
Rayla froze in the middle of combing an adoraburr out of her hair. Her eyes went wide, refused to meet his, and her face became very, very red.
Callum loved how he was able to get her to blush. Almost as much as he loved her—which was to say, quite a lot.
He crossed over to her with just a few swift steps, suddenly feeling quite bold with the power of his new realization. She paused for a moment, then looked at him. He was far from bothered by the inch or two she had on him in that moment, for it meant he could stare into her eyes more easily.
“No, really. I meant it,” he told her, reaching up to gently remove an adoraburr from her hair.
Her face was still incredibly red, but she was maintaining eye contact with him, and the sight of the overwhelming affection in her eyes made his knees go weak.
He nearly told her the scope of his feelings for her right then, but before he could, Rayla leaned in and hesitated for the briefest of moments before pressing her lips to his once more.
It was the easiest thing in the world for him to close his eyes and kiss her in return, putting his hands on her shoulders both because he wanted to hold her and because he was worried his knees would collapse from under him if he didn’t. Like before, her hands alighted on his chest, curling into the fabric of the scarf around his neck. The warmth in his chest spread to the top of his head to the tips of his toes, and…
“Wow,” he murmured as they finally parted. He was sure that his face was just as red as hers, if not more so. Callum leaned his forehead against hers, for he wanted to be close to her, and his grin returned in full force. Rayla returned it.
“Are...” she started, looking down at his lips before meeting his eyes again. “Are you going to say that every time we kiss?”
Callum’s knees went weak again at the prospect of being able to kiss her again. He rather enjoyed kissing her, as well as holding her, and overall just being in her wonderful presence.
“That depends,” he managed to say, his grin somehow widening despite how big it was already. “Are you going to keep kissing me if I do?”
Rayla rolled her eyes, but she leaned forward to capture his lips again at the same time he leaned forward as well.
Callum couldn’t help the smile he maintained as they kissed once more. The biggest revelations truly were the simplest, and he couldn’t wait for the day when he could tell Rayla just how much he loved her with those exact words.