Chapter 27 - Kit #2
“And I sort of… couldn’t stop,” I added quickly. “The military tactics are brilliant. All the strategy and battle planning. I’ve been annotating the Stark chapters—”
“The show is complete rubbish,” Felix said, settling back against me. “They butchered the ending. But the books are brilliant.” His fingers pressed against my chest. “Wait—you’re annotating?”
I blinked. “Is that… weird?”
“Not at all.” A pause. “Can I see?”
My throat tightened. “You’d want to?”
“Of course. We can compare notes. Though fair warning—if you don’t think Tyrion is the best character, we might have to break up.”
The casual joke, the easy acceptance—it all felt too good to be real.
“I quite like him,” I said. “Though I’m more partial to the Stark chapters. You know, Rory’s obsessed with all the new spin-off TV shows. We could try them, if you want? Watch them together?”
Felix nodded against my skin. “Yes. That sounds fun.” I felt him smile. “Any other creepy stalking-related confessions you want to tell me about while we’re here?”
My stomach lurched. He was joking—I could hear the teasing note in his voice—but the question still made me want to disappear into the mattress.
“I… might have tried to learn some Korean. On an app.”
Felix burst into laughter.
“You do speak Korean, right?” I asked, grimacing. “I guess I shouldn’t have assumed…”
He sat up to face me, his expression becoming thoughtful. “Yes, I’m fluent. Ish. Our mum enforced a Korean-only rule in our house when we were kids. No English at all. Lily and I finally put a stop to it when I was about twelve.”
“How come?”
“Well… our parents met while my mum was working in London, and though my dad moved to Korea with her for years, they mainly spoke English together, so he never quite reached full fluency. He says he has a maths brain, not a language brain. But anyway, because he couldn’t quite keep up with it, it felt inconsiderate to exclude him.
Plus it was exhausting being policed all the time.
” He shrugged. “Don’t get me wrong, I’m so grateful she gave me the language.
But anyway…” Felix’s fingers found mine under the covers. “What words did you learn?”
I wanted to sink through the bed into the floor. “Useless shit. I think I’m currently halfway through the animal unit. I can’t ask directions to the nearest bathroom, but I can tell you the word for cow.”
Felix snorted. “That might come in handy. You never know. One time you might be in Korea being trampled by cows.”
I pulled a face, eyes going wide with mock terror. “Baso!” I shouted, then caught myself. “Wait, no. Amso!”
Felix dissolved into laughter, the sound bubbling up from his chest and shaking both of us. “Oh my God, I hope you never really meet an angry cow. Any other animals you’ve mastered?”
I glanced away for a moment. “Well, I… might have learned squirrel. Because they remind me of you.”
“Squirrel?” Felix’s eyebrows shot up.
“Yeah. You’re… quick. Always busy with something. And you hoard things—your energy drinks, spare cables, backup hard drives.” I reached up to brush that stubborn bit of hair from his eyes. “Plus you get all twitchy when people sneak up on you.”
Felix considered this, tilting his head. “I think I prefer Magpie.”
I grinned at him. “Nah, you’re totally a squirrel. Dalamjwi.”
Felix rolled his eyes, shaking his head at my pronunciation.
“What’s magpie?” I asked.
“Kkachi.”
“Hmm… you know what, I think I like that one better.”
“Want to know my Korean name?”
I stared at him. “I didn’t know you had another name.”
“Min-jun. But only my Eomma calls me that. So I strongly suggest you don’t use it.”
I laughed, brushing his hair from his face. “Noted.” I pressed a kiss to his forehead. “Kkachi has a much nicer ring to it anyway.”
Felix glanced away from me, biting deep into his lip. “So… I was wondering… is it okay if I stay here tonight? It’s quite late and—”
I pressed a finger to his mouth. “I thought you’d already decided to stay.”
“Oh. Well, only if that’s okay.”
“Felix.” I pulled him closer, wrapping my arms around him. “Of course it’s okay.” I lowered my voice to whisper in his ear. “You know, I’d happily have you sleep in this bed with me every night.”
He inhaled sharply. Quickly. Then he shuffled away from me, slipping out of my arms and climbing out of bed entirely.
Shit. Shit. You idiot. That was waaaay too intense. Why do you never learn your lessons?
My throat closed up as I watched him move towards the wall under the window where our clothes lay scattered.
What could I say? How could I fix this? I’d moved too fast, scared him off with talk of every night, of forever—
I blinked, and Felix was back on the bed, his clothes in his hands.
No, not all his clothes. Just today’s hoodie. The black one with the red Pac-Man ghost on it.
“I thought…” he began, not meeting my eyes. “Did you want this? To keep?” He thrust the hoodie towards me.
I stared at it, stunned. My emotions lurched from panic to confusion to something warm and overwhelming. I’d thought he was leaving, thought I’d ruined everything with my big mouth, but instead he was—
“I mean, it’s stupid,” Felix said rapidly, starting to pull it back towards him. “You probably don’t—”
I snatched it from his hands before he could finish the sentence, clutching the soft fabric against my chest. The faint vanilla scent hit me immediately.
“Felix.” I leaned forward and kissed him, soft and grateful. “Of course I want it.”
His cheeks flushed pink, and he ducked his head, suddenly fascinated by the duvet pattern. “See, you don’t need to steal things.”
I chuckled. “Sure. I should have just walked up to you months ago and politely requested your hoodie. That would have gone well.”
“To be honest,” Felix said, settling back against the pillows. “I would have just given it to you without questions.”
I raised an eyebrow. “Really?”
“Really.” He pulled the duvet up to his chin. “You’re a six-foot-two wolfman. You’re pretty scary. When you’re not hand-feeding me homemade desserts and thinking up pet names for me.”
I barked out a laugh. “Scary? Me?”
“Are you joking?” Felix’s eyes widened. “Kit, you’re terrifying.”
I huffed against his hair. “I hope I’m not that scary to you anymore.”
“Well, now that I know self-defence, I reckon I could take you on,” said Felix.
“I’ve got excellent form now. You said so yourself.
” He yawned, the sound soft and sleepy, and I reached over to click off the bedside lamp.
The room plunged into darkness, and I pulled him closer against my chest, wrapping both arms around him.
“This won’t come as a surprise to you,” I murmured into his hair. “But I’m a cuddler. You won’t be able to escape it.”
“I’ll try to cope with it,” he said, his voice already drowsy.
He relaxed completely against me, his breathing evening out. Usually my mind raced for hours at bedtime, replaying every conversation, every mistake, every threat. But with Felix warm and solid in my arms, sleep tugged at me like a tide.
My mind was already drifting into sweet oblivion when Felix’s voice cut through the quiet.
“Kit?”
I mumbled something unintelligible against his neck.
“I just…”
I forced my eyes open. “What?”
A pause. Then, “Nothing. Don’t worry.”
I grumbled and drew him tighter against me, one leg hooking over his, my arm tightening around his waist. Felix snuggled back as much as possible, pressing himself against every available inch of me.
“Tell me,” I whispered. “Please.”
But he remained silent, his breathing deep and even. Lost to sleep, or pretending to be.
I pressed my lips to his shoulder, breathing him in. Two years of wanting him, and here he was—mine, safe, perfect in my arms.