Within you I found home

Prologue

        WHEN YOU CAME TO, THERE WERE LIPS ON YOUR FOREHEAD and a familiar voice mumbling against your skin. There was also a hand in yours. You gave it a light squeeze and received a tighter one in response.

        "Baby?" Nico. He was close. So close. You blinked your eyes open and squinted at his hovering face.

        "N-Nico?" your mouth felt dry—vision taking a second to adjust.

        Nico pinched his eyes shut at the sound of your voice. Relief. He looked so fucking relieved it made your heart clench. "You have no idea how good it is to hear you say my name like that."

        Your body felt strange. Not bad, but a little off. It reminded you of trying to fit into tight clothes. "What—what's going on?"

        He helped you sit up. You realised then where you were—laying on the seater in the living room with him kneeling on the floor next to you. "You don't remember?" He said, almost hopeful. A wooden cup appeared and he pressed it to your lips

        You gulped it down greedily, wrapping your hands around his and tilting it up.

        "Easy," he soothed, adjusting the angle and slowing the flow. "You'll make yourself sick."

        You slowed down. Cup empty, you took a second to catch your breath whilst Nico returned it to the floor. "I don't—I think—" you tried to gather your thoughts and make sense of them. What was the last thing you remembered? "Aerilyn. . .she was hurt. You went to visit her."

        "Yes," he said, cautious. "What else?"

        There was a nagging in the back of your mind. Something you were missing. You know there was something there, but you couldn't fill in the blanks. It felt like you were in a pitch-black room and he was asking you to name what's in it.

        "Nothing." No matter how hard you tried, it didn't come to you. You shook your head. "I—I don't remember anything. What happened?"

        There was a strange impression on his face, one you couldn't read. "You collapsed," he said, eyes darting to the floor. "You've been out of it for days. We were so worried, Bambi."

        Oh no. "Is Mith okay?"

        A faint smile curled his lips. "Yeah, he's—he's okay. He's taking a bath. I'll go get him." He stood before pausing. Leaning down, he gripped the back of your neck and placed his lips against your forehead. "You really do have no idea," he breathed, "just how much you mean. The world would be a cold, ugly place without you in it."

        You frowned at that, feeling a tad guilty. You really must have put them through the wringer. "I never left," you comforted him.

        "Bambi," he started, voice breaking. "I. . . I love you," he said with so much force it took your breath away. "I should have said it a long time ago. I love you. I love you."

        Before you could recover and say it back, he planted another kiss on your head and then he was gone, leaving you staring after him.

        How strange—the way he was acting. The confession of love. Anyone would have thought you'd died.

--

        Nico convinced Mithun not to tell you the truth, either. It's better this way, he said. It would only hurt you, knowing what happened.

        Mith agreed but was hesitant. How are we going to stop her from finding out when the whole pack knows? He'd been rightfully concerned.