XXXI
“Luke! John! You’ve gotten so big… my word,” Charlie mumbled as the hellhound came barreling through the penthouse toward him.
Luke and John’s big body collided with the sofa and nearly toppled it over.
“Sit,” Lucky threatened.
The hellhound did as it was ordered, tail wagging and whines leaving both of its heads as it eagerly waited for Charlie to come say hello.
Lucky dropped his keys and wallet into the bowl on the credenza and watched as Charlie gave Luke’s heads some scratches.
He leaned against the wall and studied him with a lovestruck gaze, watching as the human’s little wings fluttered with excitement.
It was fucking adorable, and a great tell at when the former priest’s emotions were high.
During their golf outing, every time he’d expertly draw his shot and nail it, Charlie’s wings would go haywire and he’d lift a few inches off the ground.
Lucky had learned that Charlie had picked up golf as part of his rehab after returning to his body, and he’d gotten quite good at it.
He’d put up a good challenge for top spot on the scoreboard, and it was quite impressive considering Gabe was with them.
At dinner, in that same private booth with the same pasta dishes as before, Lucky simply listened as Charlie rambled about all of the things he’d done in the year since their separation.
Becoming a minor celebrity in the Catholic world, writing a self help book, going on mission trips, planting gardens of yellow flowers, taking up golf, finally telling the church he’d rather do things his own way, and getting that job at the library—if only for a few months before an icy Midwestern road ended his life for the second time as he was heading to a holiday party.
His year had been filled with little things that made it matter, things he’d wanted to do.
He’d taken control, and though he was sad about it being so short, he’d made it count.
Most of all, he’d mentioned had unfinished business in Hell, but he’d refused to tell Lucky about it.
“Not here,” he’d said. “At home.”
Home. It sounded so domestic, so sweet. The reality of it finally settled as they’d headed back to the penthouse. Charlie was here, after a year and so much left unsaid, the love of his afterlife was here and radiant and seemingly didn’t hate him.
“You look good,” Charlie said awkwardly. “I don’t think you wore any other color but red when I was here before, let alone one so bright.”
“Bub picked the shirt. I don’t know if it’s my vibe,” Lucky replied nervously.
“It brings out the fire in your eyes.”
An awkward silence lingered for a second, only peppered with the sound of the hellhound’s tail whacking the floor. Lucky shared a glance with Luke, the more coherent of the two heads, who seemed to have picked up on his anxiety spike. The prince held up his hand to keep the beast at bay.
“Gabe filled me in on what happened after I went back to my body. We had some time while I was waiting for clearance to come see you, and to get my sainthood squared away. I’ve been dead for a few days. They told me you almost died after I left, that you almost quit your job because of me.”
Lucky nodded. “Seems I was overworked and heartbroken at the same time. A bad combo, apparently, and I got fired, sort of. And I couldn’t come see you.
I wanted to, I really did. I walked into my old man’s office to tell him I was quitting so I could go to you, then the seraph squad showed up and I got banned from Earth for fucking things up.
I heard… I heard you calling and I’m so sorry I didn’t keep my promise.
I wanted to make sure you got your halo and they swore you would if I stayed away.
It doesn’t make it right but I hoped it would make up for all of the lies and heartbreak I caused you. ”
“I wish you would have come. I was scared.”
“I’m so sorry.”
“I was mad.”
“I’m so sorry.”
“And alone.”
“Charlie, I’m so sorry.”
With each sentence Charlie walked a little closer, Lucky’s shoulders pulled in tighter, and the tension grew between them.
“And I left a lot of things unsaid, because you lied,” Charlie continued.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to,” Lucky whimpered.
“So,” Charlie said as he danced his fingers up Lucky’s chest. With his other hand, he grabbed the end of Lucky’s tail that had coiled around the prince’s leg for the first time in a long while and softly urged it to relax.
He twisted it around his hand with a soft touch, and Lucky loosened up once he realized Charlie wasn’t mad, but flirting.
The prince’s pointed ear flicked excitedly. “So?”
“Are you going to make it up to me?” Charlie asked with a soft smile, blinking those beautiful baby blues behind his still-wonky glasses.
Lucky chewed on his lower lip and wrapped his tail around Charlie’s arm.
“Enlighten me, Mr. Wickham, how exactly do you expect me to do that?” Lucky asked playfully.
“Say it again,” Charlie whispered. “Let me know things haven’t changed—”
“I love you.”
“I think I owe you a kiss.”
Charlie’s smile grew wider.
Lucky took that as a sign to move, so he gently grabbed Charlie’s face and leaned down to finally kiss him.
The human tasted sweet, Heavenly even. The small whine that left Charlie’s mouth as their lips met was divine, and before he closed his eyes, Lucky saw those feathery wings flapping with excitement.
The prince tangled his hands in Lucky’s messy locks and savored that first moment of connection for as long as Charlie would let him.
As their lips parted, a wisp of smoke lingered between their mouths.
Charlie exhaled the plume, and it was the hottest thing the prince had ever seen.
The former priest blinked those sweet eyes open and Lucky couldn’t help but grin like a lovesick fool.
Charlie’s hands trembled against Lucky’s chest. They shared a glance before Lucky fixed Charlie’s glasses and that silly twisted curl that still fell the wrong way.
“Can I be honest?” Charlie asked.
“Yeah,” Lucky said nervously.
“I don’t know if I love you.” Charlie said.
He set his fingers on Lucky’s lips to keep him from responding.
“I didn’t have much time to wrap my mind around things, and I surely didn’t ponder what I was feeling while I was down here.
Recovery wasn’t easy. It was hard to hope I’d see you again—even weirder to pray for it—and I didn’t want to distract myself while I was trying to relearn to walk.
Relearn how to live after having spent time in Hell of all places with no one to talk to about it.
You made it seem like no matter what happened I’d never see you after we parted, so I was scared that if I let that affection and yearning develop it would only hurt.
You didn’t show up when I called, and I had to wrestle with those feelings of being abandoned for a long time.
My little life was good, but I will admit it was empty without you and the weird afterlife we’d made.
“Then I died, and suddenly Gabe was there and the only thing I could think of was ‘I get to see Lucky again.’ I think somewhere deep in my heart, I do feel something but I don’t want to rush it.
I don’t want to call it love when I was only given five-seconds to process.
So… Can we go slow? Take our time with this so I can try and catch up?
I know that’s a lot to ask when you’ve spent the last year-plus dealing with those feelings, but… ”
“We have eternity, Charlie Wickham. So long as you let me kiss you whenever I want and call you mine I think I can manage,” Lucky said with a wink.
He grabbed Charlie’s hand that was set against his chest and pressed it to his beating heart.
“I’d rather this be authentic, do this right.
Let me yearn for you, buy you dinners and kiss you until you’re sick of me. ”
“I like the kissing part.”
“Same, and you’re not half-bad at it.”
Lucky’s hands found their favorite spots—the soft underside of the human’s thighs—and hoisted Charlie up again so they were on a more even level.
He kissed Charlie’s jaw and buried his pierced nose into the human’s face, inhaling the sweet Heavenly aroma.
Charlie giggled and wrapped his arms around the prince’s neck to hold on.
Luke and John walked over and started sniffing Charlie.
“The boys need to burn off some energy,” Lucky said with a sigh.
“I can’t believe you kept him,” Charlie mused.
“Yeah, well, hellhounds get attached. They missed you, and I was lonely, too,” Lucky whispered. “The big doofus reminded me of you. It helped numb the pain.”
“You didn’t go out partying or sleep around after I left?”
“No, I gave all of that up. I mostly focused on my job. None of it felt right. No one felt right. No one compares to you, and I was tired of using whatever I could to make myself feel better for a few seconds when I knew you were what I wanted. No point in lying to myself, and I definitely didn’t want to deal with your disappointed face if we ever reunited if you found out I’d been bad. ”
Charlie seemed pleased at that answer.
“Did I do a good job?” Lucky asked with a playful growl.
“I’d say so. Can we go for a walk? Get a chai? Catch up some more?”
“I’d love nothing more, truly. A nice little stroll through Hell sounds like the perfect way to start this romance of ours.”
“Yeah, it does.” Charlie gave him a quick kiss before turning to look at the hellhound that was now eye-level with him. “Want to go for a walk?”
John barked. Luke licked his hand. Both of the men started laughing.
For the first time in too long, Lucky felt wholly at peace.
This was happening. He’d get his happily ever-after with his sweet angel, he’d get the time he needed to fall in love like he’d wanted, and he’d get to trap Charlie in another office so he could watch his cute little butt scurry around with stacks of paperwork in admin-mode.
A little slice of Heaven had finally made its way down into his corner of Hell.
“Mr. Lucky?”
“Yeah?”
“Can you put me down now?”
“Never.”
Charlie laughed again as Lucky began peppering him with kisses.
The prince walked around the penthouse, pretending to look for the misplaced leash and harness, wanting to spend a few more moments with Charlie in his arms. He wouldn’t admit it, but he was scared that if he let him go, if contact was broken, Charlie would disappear again.
“Hey,” Charlie whispered.
“Hmm?”
“I’m not going anywhere… Well, I’ll have to go back to Heaven, but that’s because that’s where my house is, but I’ll be here every day working with you. Like you said, we have eternity. Don’t be scared.”
Lucky took in a slow, long breath and steadied himself.
It had been a while since his anxiety had spiked so badly, but he’d recognized it and was able to recenter.
The hound losing its collective marble was also a telltale sign that he needed to breathe.
Having Charlie in front of him helped, so it passed without much incident.
The Prince of Hell nodded. He didn’t need to be scared anymore, he had Charlie, and that was enough.