Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Freelancer lays atop Damien: it’s warm, safe.

He gently rubs their back, soft scritches every now and then and he slowly leans in to place a soft kiss on their head.

Freelancer reaches for his hand, nuzzling in closer into his neck and giving it a quick peck, “you’re warm,” they mumble, “more than usual.”

“Being with you does a little something to me,” he smirks, tightening his grasp on them just a bit more, “especially like this.” He places another kiss on Freelancer's head before speaking again: “You okay?” He whispers, Freelancer nods, “I don’t ever want to do anything that upsets you… or if I do too much, let me know, please.”

"You were perfect,” they smiled, placing themselves above Damien and landing a kiss on his lips, “it was everything I’ve ever wanted and more.”

“I’m glad to hear that,” he muttered, settling into the couch a bit more and tracing patterns on Freelancer’s skin.

They both laid there for a while, falling back asleep in the safety of one another.

“Freelancer? Are you awake?”

“No,” they answer after a couple breaths.

“Alright. Looks like I don’t have anything to give you after all,” he laughs, “scoot a bit.” He stretched as he got up, Freelancer catching a quick glimpse of the exposed skin that peeped through from underneath his hoodie, “I’ll be right back,” he continued, letting go of their hand and retreating into his bedroom.

Damien walks back into the room, a box in his hand, “I was at the store and I uh, I saw this and I thought you’d like it,” he smiles one of those soft smiles, the ones where you can feel it crawling through your skin.

“What is it?” Freelancer says, getting it from Damien’s hold.

“Well why don’t you open it and see if you’re so smart,” he says jokingly, sitting next to Freelancer and placing his hands in his lap. Freelancer notices the slight fidgeting of his thumbs and leans in closer, they could feel the heat coming off Damien rise as they took longer to open the box. They give him a quick kiss on the cheek and release a short silent snicker. “Oh, just open it already will you!” He exclaimed, Freelancer continues to look at him, placing a hand on his thigh. His fidgeting stops.

They look at the box once more, examining it a bit closer, looking for the perfect spot to rip the wrapping paper open, a pretty paper bag brown. Upon finding it, Freelancer takes their hands and gently starts to rip it, avoiding the spot that has their name written on it with all capital letters. They take that part and put it in their pocket. Damien doesn't seem to notice, he’s too busy looking into Freelancer’s eyes.

“This box is kinda heavy,” they say while giving it a light shake.

“Wowwowowow,” Damien yelped, putting his hands up in a stop position, “careful there,” he laughs.

“Sorry,” Freelancer says while flipping the flaps open. Damien still kept their focus on their eyes and his breath hitched once they saw the expression on it. “...Damien?”

“Do you… do you uh like it?” He whispered, once again fidgeting his thumbs. Freelancer took the Legend of Zelda switch out of the box and looked at it for a solid second, a smile forming on their face, “how on earth did you get this?!” They blurted out, softly placing the switch by their side and jumping on Damien.

“I’m guessing that’s a yes?” He said before getting interrupted by a stampede of kisses.

“Jesus christ, Damien! Yes!”

“I’m glad,” he sighed, “I was worried I got the wrong one.”

“How did you even find it?!”

“I’ve got my ways,” he said. “Now you can finally play Lasko and Hux without going over all the time.”

“Ehh, I’d probably still go over,” they laughed.

“Yeah… yeah you would,” he snickered, putting his arms around Freelancer, “but hey, now you won’t need to borrow theirs when you want to play the new Zelda game or whatever it’s called.”

“Oh my god! Now I’m gonna lose to you in Mario Kart in your own home!” Freelancer groaned. “I’ll never be able to live that down.”

“Better get used to it, Freelancer.”

They both laughed in unison, Damien now sitting up right.

“I still can’t believe you managed to get your hands on one of these. I’ve been trying for weeks!”

“I was scared you’d get one before me,” he said, tugging at his neck and laughing.

“Is that why you were nervous?” Freelancer whispered, getting closer to his face.

“Partly,” he whispered, “partly that and partly because you… you just, you make me happy, Freelancer. And I want to make you as happy as you make me,” he sighed lightly, shortly followed by a sweet grin, Freelancer giving him a hug.

"You make me happy, Damien. Really happy,” they exclaimed, “I, uh, actually have something for you, too,” Freelancer reached up and gave Damien a kiss, Damien now cupping their face and pushing out equal force; soft and gentle. “I’ll be right back,” they said, slowly pulling away from his face and retreating into Damien’s room, Damien rubbing at his nape and let out a soft sigh.

Freelancer slowly paced back into the room, Damien could spot something behind their back but he couldn’t make out the shape. “Close your eyes!” They said, placing the gift onto his lap, “I didn’t have time to wrap it… but some could argue it’s kinda already wrapped,” they laughed, sitting next to Damien and taking slow breaths. “OH! You can open your eyes now…” And Damien did just that.

In front of him stood a limited edition pressing of the album “Grace” by Jeff Buckley, an artist Damien had expressed listening to whenever he missed them, he had mentioned it reminded him of them. Damien just kept staring at it. He gets up from where he was sitting, still not saying a word and starts to unwrap the vinyl, putting the clear plastic wrap in his side pocket of his sweats. He slides the violet pressing from its sleeve, making sure not to directly touch it with his hands and turns it to side B before placing it lightly on the turntable.

He gently lifts the needle and lets it drop onto the second groove and lets the disc go, slowly walking to Freelancer he reaches out his hand, “may I have this dance?” He whispers. Freelancer takes his hand and he slowly helps them up.

“But I don’t know how to dance,” they answer.

“I’ll teach you,” he says warmly, placing his hands on their waist, “put your hands around my neck,” he continues, pulling them in closer. Lover, You Should’ve Come Over soon starts to play. “Just follow me,” he murmurs into the side of their neck and then looks them in the eyes., “I won’t mind if you step on me.” Freelancer lets out a short laugh and he smiles. “I love you, Freelancer.”

Chapter Text

“Can you hand me that plant next to you please?”

Angel picked up the blue hydrangea slowly, making sure none of the soil fell out of the plastic pot. “Here,” they murmured, when handing it to him Angel felt their skin touch.

“Thank you,” he whispered. David stared at them for a while before digging a hole and taking the plant out of the pot, “watch your hands next time, Angel.” 

Angel could feel the color flush out of their cheeks. “Cute,” he added. Angel reached over to the honeysuckles and picked up the yellow one, placing it next to him. “N-uh,” he scoffed, “pick it back up and hand it to me.” They did as he requested. “Thank you,” he said feverishly before taking the honeysuckle from them and leaning in for a kiss, “...Angel,” he continued while cupping their face and leaning in for another kiss, this one being tender and sweet, dragging it out slowly.

“Alright, alright!” he laughed, “these plants have to be in the dirt before the sun sets.”

“One more?” Angel smiled.

“I wouldn’t be completely against i-” he said before getting interrupted by the touch of skin on skin. Soft whimpers followed as they got lost in each other's embrace, Angel didn’t mind rolling around in the dirt if it meant David was with them and surely enough, David didn’t mind either.

“I love you, Angel.” he said while placing his lips on theirs.

“I love you, Davey,” they said while nuzzling into the crease of his neck, lying peacefully on his chest, “do you think we could plant some gentians?”

“Of course. Anything for my mate,” he whispered softly before landing a kiss on their forehead and falling into slumber, tightly holding on to their mate like there was no tomorrow.

Angel awoke in their bed, cuddled next to their favorite stuffed animal: Balto. Despite David hating things on their bed it didn’t stop them from making sure they kept at least one stuffed animal with them at all times. They heard the sound of the door unlocking and got up in an instant.

“Hey, hey, hey,” David said, “lay back down.”

“What time is it?” David looked down at his wrist and gestured the number 9 with his fingers.

“God, did I really sleep all day?!” Angel yelped.

“You did say you were feeling sick, it’s all good,” he said while getting closer to them and laying a kiss on their head while running his hands through their hair.

“How was the pack meeting…” they said with a whimper.

“Hey, it’s okay, Angel,” he said while holding them a little closer, he was now sitting with them. “You didn’t miss much, just Asher being Asher… like always,” he rolled his eyes.

Angel was now wrapped into David’s arms. Rocking back and forth in his embrace was like home, carefully placing small kisses all over his face and trickling down to his neck, “sorry I missed it.”

“You do not need to apologize for missing Asher being a dumbass, he does that all the time, it’s impossible to NOT miss it.”

“No, not that. Sorry for missing the planting, I know how much you wanted to do it toge-.”

“None of that,” he said while running his hands down their hair, “I got your gentians, the willow ones, we can do those together.”

“Thank you….” Angel whispered as they were rocked back into slumber.

Chapter Text

Nobody was in the living room when Darlin’ arrived back home. However, the pillows, blankets and snacks had now been put away from last night's movie marathon; Sam has been aching to finally give into Studio Ghibli movies after Vincent’s partner mentioned how good they were. All of the blankets were neatly folded and stacked next to the drawer near the fireplace.

Darlin’ slowly walked towards the fireplace and gently lifted the blankets and started walking to the guest room where they kept all their extra necessities. When walking in the hallway Darlin’ heard a light strumming coming from a couple doors down, they recognized it as a snippet from Superheaven’s Youngest Daughter and they set the pile of blankets in the closet and quickly crept back into the hallway and next to the doors frame, slowly peeking their head in to catch a glimpse of whatever was going on inside.

Sam was sitting on the bed with a light brown acoustic guitar that seemed to be engraved with images of deer on his lap, Darlin’ now entering the room, Sam noticing and clutching the guitar’s neck. “I didn’t expect you to be back from your meeting so soon,” he said, turning the guitar outwards when he noticed Darlin’ was staring at it, “Vincent dropped this off right after you left.”

“Don’t stop, it… it sounded nice,” they whispered, shooting him a soft smile and setting themselves on the ground, hugging their knees as they sat down, Sam reciprocating the soft smile. “I didn’t know you played,” Darlin’ said while looking up at Sam.

“I uh, I stopped. Right after I was turned.” He slowly tapped on the guitar's fretboard rhythmically and messed with the tuning of the guitar. “Guess the muscle memory’s still here,” he winced, “it was a nice gesture. Of Vincent’s I mean.”

“It’s a pretty guitar.”

“I’ve been wanting it for a while, I just haven’t had the guts to sink my teeth in. Not to mention it’s also crazy expensive,” he laughed. “That’s just Vince for you I guess, didn’t know that feller actually listened to me.”

“You play really nice.”

“Thanks, Darlin’.”

“Is this the first time you’ve played since your turning?” They questioned while tilting their head slightly.

“No. Well yes, but no… I’ve never really picked it back up besides today, all I ever did before was pick at the tunin’.” Sam clutched the guitar's neck and brought it closer to him, Darlin’ noticing.

“You alright?”

“My head hurts a bit but I’ll be fine, here, come sit next to me,” Darlin’ got up from where they were sitting and positioned themselves next to Sam.

“Can I rest my head on your shoulder?”

Sam let out a short snicker, “always.” The sunlight from outside crept through the window and past the blinds, emitting light towards Darlin’, “I miss the sun’s warm rays,” he whispered, slowly setting his atop Darlin’s.

“Do you want to do anything special today?” They whispered while tugging at their wrist.

“Today’s no different than any other day. It being my death day doesn’t change the fact I’m still a vampire.”

“Sam,” Darlin’ whispered, a sad tone in their voice. Sam rested his head back into its neutral position and started picking at the guitar’s strings, playing a different tune than the one before. “Cough Syrup,” they said.

“Cough Syrup,” he smiled. “I, uh, I’m sorry.”

“No, it’s okay,” they whispered. Sam once again changed the tuning and started strumming and not even before Sam could play the second note Darlin’ spoke: “Everlong. That’s too easy,” they teased. Sam shot them a look telling them he’ll pick up the pace and changed the tuning and started to play, “Dreams. Fleetwood.”

Sam looked at Darlin’s face with his eye’s about to come out of his skull, “now how on earth did you guess that one,” he laughed.

“I’m a magician!”

“That’s Flowerchild.”

“Your favorite.”

Darlin’ took a while before responding, “you remembered...”

“I always do.”

Sam and Darlin’ looked at each other and just stared into each other’s eyes. Darlin’ taking a deep breath, “you have beautiful eyes you know that, cowboy….”

“Darlin’.”

“Yes, Sam?”

“Is it alright if I kiss you?” He whispered; Darlin’ nodding.

Chapter Text

Asher arrived at his apartment after a long day of standing around working for the security company. If anyone were to come up to him and ask him a question he’d simply just reply with one of his sly remarks or an answer to where the bathroom was; not even acknowledging what they’d ask, just simply spitting out information and walking away. It was safe to say that his brain was a smoothie.

Taking his jacket off, placing it on the coat hanger and taking off his shoes he lets out a small, soft quiet sigh.

Checking his phone with one hand while he makes sure the door is locked with the other, he notices it was far more late than he thought it would be when he planned his day out earlier. He unlocked his phone and let out a soft smile, shortly followed with a light laugh. He returned it back into his side pocket and ran his fingers through his hair, turning to the mirror next to the door to see how tired he looked.

Walking over to the kitchen to serve himself a glass of water he notices a figure at the side bar. They were hunched over, hands on the counter; almost like they were asleep. He noticed then that it was Baabe. A cup to their side, half empty.

“Baabe?” He said, his voice low. He wasn’t expecting company. Asher pulled up a stool next to them, putting the cup to a side and laying his arm where it stood. He lowered his head to match theirs. “Baabe,’ he repeated, “are you all right?”

Baabe peeked their head, putting it atop one of their arms, still lying down. Their eyes looked tired still sharing the same glimmer they had whenever they met Asher’s. They gave him a soft smile, immediately closing their eyes again, they nodded. “I’m okay.”

“What are you doing here?” He said in a worrisome tone, leaning his head down to make sure they could hear him alright. “Are you sure?” He glanced over to the cup.

They could feel his glare, “It tasted awful. You know I’m not much of a drinker,” Baabe laughed, their voice seeming awfully down.

“That gives me more of a reason to not believe you when you say you’re all right.” They didn’t respond. “What’s wrong, baby?” His voice low and caring. “Baabe…”

They rose from their stance, putting both their hands behind their neck, Their eyes a slight tint of pink. Asher noticing and his body language became more anxious. “You’re gonna think it’s stupid,” they let out softly, giving him a small smile before setting their hands down on the table, holding them.

He placed a hand on their cheek. He looked at them with an amount of sincerity that he could only give to them. “Nothing you say is ever stupid,” he whispered as he wiped a tear that was rolling down the same cheek. “What’s wrong?” He questioned again, this time with more urgency.

Baabe looked down at their hands before answering. “Well… um,” they sighed. Their voice filled with more uneasiness, a slight quiver in their lip.

“Hey, hey, hey,” he whispered, lowering his head and leaning forward. “It’s all right. We don’t have to talk about it right now if you don’t think you’re ready.” Baabe sniffed while looking at him.

“No… I can talk about it. I want to,” they whispered.

“Okay.” He said softly, not taking his eyes off them. “Take your time, I’m here.” He placed his hand on theirs.

Baabe lifted their hand and ran it past their nose, sniffing again. Then resting it on their arm, rubbing it up and down. “I um… God, this is so cringy,” taking a deep breath. They locked eyes with him before speaking again, taking a deep breath. “I missed you.” Baabe said softly, almost in a whisper, setting their head back down and wrapping their arms around their neck.

They let out a small light laugh, suffocated by the space between them and their arm. “...I missed you, that’s why I’m sad.”

Baabe sighed again, this one sounding like a weight had been lifted off their shoulders. “I know we talk everyday and see each other almost every week and visit each other when we can….” They took a pause. “This is so stupid.”

Asher laid his head next to theirs, copying their position. “I miss you, too.”

“Yeah, but I miss you more than I should.”

They felt his shoulder touch theirs.

“And it’s not stupid,’ he said. “It’s normal to feel that way.”

“No, no it’s not,” Baabe snickered, “I’m not even officially your partner. I can’t say that-”

“You are.”

Baabe raised their head at his response, their eyes full of disbelief.

“You’re my partner,” Asher said nervously, however, not meaning it any less. “That… that is if you want to be.” He said while giving them a soft smile, his head resting on his arm. “And you don’t have to be my partner to miss me. I know, I know, I’m a very enjoyable person to be around,” he joked, he always adored seeing that he could make them smile, even when they were down.

“But in all honesty, I want you to be my partner. I miss you, too… and I miss you every second we aren’t together,” he whispered while he leaned in and pressed a slow tender kiss on their forehead while cupping their face with both hands. “All these what? 6 months we've been seeing each other.. there's not a moment where I regret being around you,” he shot them a small warm smile. “So…. if you want, and if you’ll have me… can I be your boyfriend?” He asked nervously in a caring tone, looking at them directly in the eyes. Indirectly noticing how big they’d gotten, “I’m sorry I didn’t ask earlier. I just kinda assumed we were already toget-”

Baabe hugged him in an instant and interrupted him with a kiss; it being long and sweet. Both their hands cupping each other's face. They pulled away, “Yes… you can be my boyfriend,” they whispered, giving him a sweet smile.“I’d love that a lot actually.”
“Good,” he smiled, giving Baabe another short kiss, pulling away and kissing the tip of their nose and later their forehead. “Promise me you’ll tell me if you get upset again, or just sad in general. I hate seeing you like this,” he whispered, “only if you want to.” They nodded their head slowly. “I care about you and I hope you care about me, we’re here for each other, okay?” He gently held Baabe’s hand and gave it a slight squeeze.

He peered over to the glass and lifted it to his face, taking a sip and making a face that made Baabe let go of a small laugh.”This is so strong!” He laughed, “Where did you even find this? Not even I drink something this strong.” He set the cup back down, not letting go of them. “This has got to be David’s.”

He gave them one last kiss on their forehead before getting up and dumping the drink in the sink. Picking up a new glass from the cupboard above, he filled it with water and took a sip. “See, now this,” he said while pointing at the cup, “is waaaay better,” he said before downing the cup in a second.

“I prefer juice better,” Baabe whispered.

He walked over to his fridge and let the door fly open. “Which is exactly why I have this,” he smiled warmly while taking the juice carton out of the fridge and pouring some into the same cup. “Here you go, Baabe,” he whispered, gently sliding the cup to where they were sitting. “Your problems are never stupid, okay?”

They gently nodded and murmured something incoherent, taking little sips from the cup. It crazed them how he kept one even though he’d mentioned before he hated grape juice.
He put the carton away and gave Baabe a soft smile. “It’s getting late, we should get some sleep.” He paused, “I still have some of your clothes from last time you slept over, but that doesn't mean you can’t steal mine,” he said with a shit eating grin appearing on his face. “C’mon, let's go.”

“Right behind you.” Baabe whispered, a slight pink appearing on their cheeks. Giving him a quick peck on his cheek as they passed him on the way to the bedroom.

Chapter Text

Weeks have passed since the Inversion, days were beginning to feel more light, less abundant. Everyone was still tainted by the grim horrors that occurred that day, in some ways,  in more ways than one for others. 

With some members of the Pack deciding to leave, there was more heavy weight for the Beta to pick up, Asher taking to the responsibilities proudly and swiftly. Making sure to talk to David about the “logistics” and what not… David had seen it, how Asher was quick to act like he wasn’t tired, his eyes surveying every room he’d set foot in and anxiously wander. Nah, I’ll be fine, Bud. Don’t worry about me, He’d say.

Setting the key inside the lock of his and Babe’s shared apartment Asher's eyes fought to stay open. He’d glance quickly at his watch on his left wrist, a gift he’d received on their second anniversary,  noticing the time to be just short of 2:00 A.M. Shaking his head and closing his eyes as he set foot indoors, closing the door behind him slowly and locking the door without turning around. “God,” he murmurs with a sigh, his feet coming out of his shoes, setting them to the side with a shuffle. A hand to the back of his neck as he massaged the crook in his nape, a door opening.

“Asher?” A small voice said from the back of the apartment. Asher walking closer as he took off his company hoodie, his name displayed on the back.

“Babe?” Slightly muffled, Babe smiling as Asher struggled to pull the hoodie off his face and stumbling around. “What are you doing up? It’s late.” He said after finally taking it off, holding it by the hood. 

“I was waiting for you, of course.” Hands wrapping around his neck and a kiss placed between his brow. His hands finding their way to their hips, fitting perfectly. “You alright? You seem…”

“Tired?” He laughed, finishing their sentence and waving a strand of hair out of their face. Taking them in for a second. Eyes looking down at the ground as blush hit his face, “I guess I’m a little, yeah.”

“Do you wanna eat something before we head to bed?” Babe whispered, taking his hands off their hips and holding them, bringing one forth and kissing the back of his palm.

Asher laughed softly, fighting a yawn. “Nah, I’m not hungry.”

“You sure? I don’t mind making you something at this hour.”

“Ya,” he sighed, “I just wanna lay with you.” Tugging at their tank top lightly.

“Okay.” They whispered, a hint of sorrow hitting their face.

Asher walked past them, stopping briefly and taking their hand as he walked them to the bedroom. His fingers softly brushing their knuckles as they walked together.

Babe sitting down on the bed, feet propped underneath them as a hand laid flat against the silk sheets of their shared bed, petting it as if it were a dog.

“Let me uh… get ready for bed,” Asher whispered, a shake in his breath and a small nervous smile creeping up on his lips. Tugging at his shirt as to take it off before looking at Babe and stumbling back as he shifted his weight, his hands back at his sides. “I’ll be right back,” He murmured as he walked into the bathroom, closing the door behind him. 

Babe sighed slowly as they fully laid down on the bed, hands on their stomach and head turned to the closed door of the bathroom. Settling under the duvet after a while and hearing the doorknob trickle, Asher walking out in a new set of clothes and turning off the lights. Cool moonlight coming in through the window, highlighting Babe’s features.

“Ash.” Babe whispered as they sat up, squinting their eyes and tilting their head slowly.

Asher sat down on the bed, reaching for Babe’s face and kissing them softly. “You’re beautiful.” He told them.

“Ash.” They whispered again. “What’s wrong?”

His head moving back slightly, awkwardly laughing. “What? Nothing’s wrong, Babe,” he motioned to kiss them again but Babe moved their head down and stared at his shirt, playing with the hems. Taking a deep breath, “It’s nothing major, swear.” Kissing in between their brows he moved up and laid down, joining them under the covers. Babe shifted to face him, putting a hand out to touch his chest before pulling it back. “It doesn’t hurt, at least not anymore.” He whispered. “It’s okay… I, I promise.” 

They hesitated before taking him up, Asher wincing at their touch. “Asher…”

“It’s okay. It’s just… It’s just sensitive.” Grabbing their hand and kissing it lightly. “I promise it’s okay.”

Their fingers lightly tracing around the deep scars on his chest that ran like rivers, careful not to hurt him or touch him too roughly. The same sorrowful look enveloping them as Asher followed their hand with his eyes, Babe noticing the redness that surrounded them and the dark bags underneath. Marie’s healing had already done more than enough, asking her to put some sort of sleep spell on Asher would be too forward, even for them.

“It bothers you, doesn’t it?” They asked gently, rendering him still.

Looking them in the eye before answering and shying away. “I um,” he sighed, “Yeah…, yeah, it bothers me.”  Motioning to put his head down before a small hand reached for his jaw, a thumb rubbing softly in slow intervals.

“I think it’s kinda cool,” they whispered.

“It feels strange,” he explained, laughing lightly, “I’m used to getting hurt, but, I don’t know… this one feels different.”

“I’m sorry I can’t do more to help.” Babe sighed, leaning down and kissing his jaw where their thumb was. “I think at this point Marie already has me blocked,” they chuckled, “more healing wouldn’t be recommended, anyway. You should’ve seen yourself that night,” stopping before talking again, noticing the stillness. 

Asher had seen himself that night. All bloodied and sweaty from sitting underground, barely able to walk as he and David found their way to the healing stations attached to the hip, each of their own weights holding them up with the strength neither of them had. Each of them exhausted and injured, and barely holding on. Falling asleep in a tent stationed outside and waking up to familiar warm lights days later. Studying his body in the mirror before showers, a painful grimace falling on his face every time. The same body that felt so foreign and no longer his after that day. Forever tainted with a reminder that was scattered all over his chest.

“Sorry.” Babe said lightly, pulling Asher out of whatever hypnosis he’d found himself in. Their fingers finding their way to be interlaced between his, squeezing softly. “I shouldn’t have brought that up, you just… you just looked so peaceful, after all of that, anyway. I was so scared that whole time, not knowing if you were going to be alright, but seeing you there, sleeping so soundly… It put me at ease a little.”

Asher laid down, face burrowing into their lap as they gently played with his hair. Their breathing synchronizing. “Thank you, Babe.” He whispered, sounding dozed. They gave him a sweet smirk as they tilted their head downwards.

“I don’t mind.” They said, getting a low hum in response. Fingers scratching lightly at his scalp. “Not that it’s my right to mind, but… if it helps you feel more comfortable, I don’t care how long you have to sleep with it on.”

“I just hope that you know that having a reminder from that night doesn’t change who you are.” They continued. “I love you, Asher.”

“I love you, too, Babe.”