Burning Up

Epilogue

Time is a funny thing. You never really seem to realise how much it matters until you start to run out. So much can happen in a day, a month, a year. So much so that sometimes it feels as though its sprinting by you, as if you're living on borrowed time, unable to quite catch a hold of each moment, no matter how hard you try.

Iago had always felt like borrowed time. From the moment I met him, to the moment I saved him, there was always that itching feeling inside me that what we had wouldn't last forever, that no matter how much I wanted one, a happy ending had never been guaranteed.

But as I eased the door open to my childhood bedroom and found him fast asleep in the centre of my bed, sheets pooled at his waist as the morning light caressed his skin, I let myself dare to think that we had all the time in the world.

"Hey." I said softly, climbing into bed beside him before reaching out to let my fingers trail down his arm. "Breakfast is ready."

He huffed softly, a soft frown pulling at his brow before his eyes fluttered open.

"Hey." He muttered; his voice rough with sleep.

"Sleep well?" I asked, letting my fingers migrate so that I could trace patterns along his back, feeling his muscles tense and shift beneath my touch as though it tickled.

Niko had been wrong about whether the marks that Ghost had left would scar. Time had begun to heal them, but his back remained littered with thin, raised lines, crisscrossed across his skin.

He hummed in response, turning over so that he could pull me into his arms.

I laughed softly, letting myself be manoeuvred as he curled up behind me, my back pressed flush against his chest.

"What time is it?" He asked, stifling a yawn.

"Almost ten."

He groaned softly, pressing his nose against the nape of my neck.

"So fuckin' early."

I hummed in response, letting myself be held.

"You're dressed. Did you go out already?"

"Yeah." I laughed. "Just to the shop with Léna. We made pancakes."

"Mm. Sounds good."

I could tell that he was still half asleep, the warmth from both our bodies no doubt stopping him from surfacing completely.

"C'mon." I whispered, after a few minutes of silence. "We need to get up. Mums organised a barbecue, so we need to prepare."

"Who's coming?"

"Everyone."

"Course, the classic 'everyone'."

I rolled my eyes at his teasing, turning in his arms to face him.

"Kira, Jay, both their families. You know, the whole lot."

"All at once? Jesus Mila, I'm not exactly a social butterfly-"

"Oh, stop being grumpy. You've already met half of them, and you'll love the rest. They'll love you too. After that there's no one else to meet, promise."

Instead of laughing, he frowned, letting a silence fall between us.

"Iago?" I asked after a moment, letting my hand reach up to cup his face.

"I don't want to push but Mils, are we ever going to - What about your dad?"

"My dad?" I asked, confusion seemingly evident on my features as he averted his gaze. "I don't really have one. Its just my mum."