Work Text:
Birthday rides are sacred to the Aretian children.
Every year, no matter the weather, the state of affairs, illness, injury, or even being grounded, nothing stopped the tradition. Garrick and Xaden started it when they were eight, newly trusted to ride alone and far more interested in racing each other than appreciating the freedom beneath them. The next year Bodhi, Wrenley, and Imogen joined. By the time Liam was meant to ride for Xaden’s tenth birthday, it had already become law among them.
But that year, Xaden’s mother had just left him.
The ride didn’t happen. Instead, Wren and Xaden sat in silence, backs against rampart walls, grief heavy and unspoken between them.
Years later, after Wrenley’s mother died, they almost skipped the tradition again.
She had barely spoken for weeks after returning to Aretia. Her eyes were hollowed out, grief clinging to her like frost that refused to thaw. She barely ate when food was placed in front of her. Slept when exhaustion dragged her under. Existed because the alternative required too much effort. There was a piece of her missing, and everyone could see it.
It was Xaden who pulled her back.
Not with speeches. Not with pressure. Just presence. He sat beside her when the nights were too long. Walked beside her when the corridors felt endless. Reminded her, quietly and stubbornly, that she was still here.
She made it to Garrick’s birthday ride that year because of him, and somewhere in the quiet space between heartbeats, something shifted.
They hadn’t meant for it to. Grief has a way of stripping everything down to its truth, and the truth was they had always been orbiting each other. It just took loss to knock them off balance enough to collide.
The first kiss happened months later under a sky heavy with stars, hesitant and trembling and terrifying in its honesty. After that came stolen moments. Late nights in empty corridors. Laughter swallowed in shadowed corners. Fingers brushing that lingered just long enough to mean something.
It was theirs. A secret in two lives that belonged to everyone else.
Wren wasn’t ready for the questions. Xaden wasn’t ready for the scrutiny.
And then there was Garrick. If Garrick found out his cousin and his best friend were together, he would absolutely lose his mind.
Which was how they ended up tucked into the farthest corner of the stables on Xaden’s seventeenth birthday.
“You should be helping them plan my surprise for after the ride,” Xaden murmured against her mouth, pulling back just enough to breathe.
“You’re terrible at pretending you don’t know things,” she whispered. “Besides, I wanted to see you first.”
His thumb brushed her cheek, reverent and soft. “You always see me first.”
She smiled faintly. “Habit.” She kissed him again, slow and warm. “Happy birthday, Shadow.”
“Best birthday ever,” he replied, refusing to look away from her.
For a moment they just stood there, Wrenley pressed gently against the stall wall, Xaden’s hands steady at her waist. Leather and hay scented the air. The horses shifted softly in their stalls. The world outside narrowed until it was only breath and warmth and the quiet certainty of each other.
“Are you nervous?” she asked.
“About the ride?” He huffed. “I’ve been riding with Garrick since I could walk.”
“About turning seventeen.” She shoved him lightly, but it lasted all of two seconds before he pulled himself back, lips chasing hers.
“One year older,” he muttered against her mouth. “Dad says I’m ready to sit in on Assembly meetings.”
Her eyes lit. “That’s amazing, Xay.”
“Just another step toward my future.”
She swallowed. “Does that future still have me in it?”
His hands tightened instinctively at her waist. “Always,” he said without hesitation. “Wren, you are it for me. You’re my home.”
Emotion flickered across her face, fragile and bright all at once. “Xay—”
He kissed her before she could finish, deeper this time, urgency threading through it. Seconds blurred. The rest of the world fell away.
In this moment they were just Xaden and Wrenley
Shadow and Little Bird.
They were—
“WHAT THE FUCK?”
The shout shattered the moment like glass hitting stone.
Wrenley jumped as Xaden spun, instinctively stepping in front of her. Garrick stood at the end of the row, fury already blazing in his eyes.
“Oh no,” Wrenley breathed.
Garrick stalked toward them. “You have got to be kidding me.”
“Garrick,” Xaden started calmly.
“Don’t Garrick me.” His gaze snapped to Wrenley. “And you. What in the hell do you think you’re doing?”
Her cheeks burned. “We weren’t doing anything wrong.”
“Really? Because it looked a lot like you were doing Xaden Riorson.”
“Garrick!”
“That’s my best friend!” he barked. “And you’re basically my little sister!”
“I’m your cousin,” she shot back, stepping forward despite the tremor in her chest. “And I am not a child.”
“You might as well be. I watched you learn to ride. I braided your hair when you cried over scraped knees. This isn’t—”
“Enough.” Xaden stepped fully in front of her.
Garrick shoved him hard.
“You don’t get to play protector.”
“I do when you’re acting insane,” Xaden said evenly. “And because I care about her.”
“You care about her?” Garrick laughed sharply. “You don’t sneak around with someone you care about.”
“We didn’t sneak because we’re ashamed,” Wrenley said, voice firm despite her racing heart. “We weren’t ready.”
“For what?”
“For this,” she gestured between them. “For your reaction. For everyone’s opinions.”
That slowed him. Barely.
“How long?” he asked quietly.
Wrenley mumbled the answer, not loud enough for Garrick to hear. His jaw clenched.
“How. Long.”
“A little over a year,” Xaden answered louder, keeping his eyes locked on Garrick.
“A year,” Garrick said, calm at first. Too calm. The fury built slowly beneath the surface until he was advancing on Xaden and slamming him back against the stall wall. Xaden kept his hands down, not fighting back but not going limp either. “A year,” Garrick repeated, shoving him again. “You’ve been together for a year?”
“Garrick!” Wrenley moved immediately, trying to wedge herself between them.
“When exactly?” Garrick demanded, ignoring her as he shoved Xaden harder. “When did this start?”
Xaden hesitated, just for a second.
That was all it took.
“When?” Garrick barked, slamming him back once more.
“A few months after my mom died!” Wrenley screamed.
The stable went silent.
Garrick’s head snapped toward her.
“For fucks sake, let him go, Garrick!” she shouted, shoving at his arms. “He didn’t take advantage of me!”
Garrick released Xaden slowly, stepping back, his chest rising and falling hard.
“I was drowning,” Wrenley continued, her voice shaking now but strong. “No one could drag me out of that pit I dug myself into. You tried. All of you did. But he understood. He sat with me in it. He didn’t push. He didn’t rush. He just… stayed.” She swallowed thickly. “He helped me come to terms with my new normal. Because yes, Garrick, my mom died. And he made sure I kept going.”
Garrick stared at her for a long moment before looking back at Xaden.
“I trusted you,” he said, his voice rough. “No one could reach her. But you could. I trusted you to drag her out because you understood.”
“I did,” Xaden said quietly.
“Did you?” Garrick shot back. “Or did you blur the lines when she was at her weakest?”
“I would never,” Xaden replied immediately. “Not her. Not ever.”
“Do you even love her?”
The question landed heavily between them but Xaden didn’t hesitate.
“With everything I am.”
Wrenley turned slowly toward him. “You love me?”
“I’ve always loved you,” he said gently, finally lifting a hand to rest against her cheek. “At some point it stopped being ‘she’s my best friend’s cousin’ and became ‘I don’t know how to breathe without her.’”
Wrenley let out a shaky breath, leaning into his touch. “I love you too.”
Something in Garrick’s chest cracked at the sight of them.
“You’re both serious,” he muttered.
“Yes,” Wrenley whispered, stepping closer to Xaden, his arms wrapping around her instinctively.
“You know if this goes wrong,” Garrick said, his voice steady now but no less intense, “it won’t just hurt you two. It’ll tear our whole group apart.”
“I won’t let it,” Xaden said fiercely. “I swear.”
Garrick stepped closer again, but this time there was no shove.
“If you hurt her,” he said low, “I don’t care how strong you are or how big of an army you end up commanding. I will destroy you.”
Xaden met his gaze without flinching. Then he looked down at Wrenley, who was staring up at him like the world had narrowed to just the two of them again. “I’d die before hurting her.”
Garrick watched the way her smile grew at that. Watched the way Xaden held her like she already belonged there.
He scrubbed a hand down his face. “I should be furious.”
“You are furious,” Wrenley corrected gently.
“Yeah,” he admitted. “But I see it. The way you look at each other.”
They didn’t even realize they were doing it again.
“Damn it,” he sighed.
Wrenley finally stepped away from Xaden and wrapped her arms around Garrick. For all his size and temper, he hugged her back instantly.
“I didn’t want to hide it forever,” she whispered. “It was just… nice. Having something that was ours.”
Garrick held her tighter than he meant to. “Are you happy? Does he make you happy?” he asked quietly.
“I’ve never been happier.”
He glanced at Xaden over her shoulder. “You’re on thin ice, Riorson.”
“Understood.”
“Real thin.”
“Crystal clear.”
Garrick exhaled sharply. “Fine. I’ll allow this—”
“Allow?” Wrenley arched a brow when they released their hug.
“Yes. But you tell your fathers today.”
“Done,” Xaden said immediately.
“And I never want to see your tongue down her throat again.”
Wrenley made a strangled noise. “Oh gods, no.” She slipped past them toward the stall exit. “I’m going to help Bodhi and Liam with—”
“The very secret dagger surprise I already know about?” Xaden supplied.
She groaned. “I’m never getting you another birthday present.”
He caught her wrist gently and pulled her back for one last kiss. “You’re the only present I need.”
“HEY!” Garrick barked, hurling a handful of hay at them. “What did I just say?”
“Go, Little Bird,” Xaden said with a grin, sidestepping another handful of hay. “I’ll see you in an hour.”
“One hour,” she called, laughing as she slipped out. “Bye, Gare!”
“You two are insufferable,” Garrick muttered, grabbing his riding gear. “I changed my mind, keep your hands off her.”
“Garrick,” Xaden said, clapping his shoulder. “I love you, but no.”
Garrick groaned. “I will never know peace, will I?”
Xaden only smiled.