Chapter 30
All’s well that ends well
Drew drifted, not quite napping, but so well fucked that he wasn’t quite with it. He was curled up in Zach’s arms, and everything felt right with the world. Almost.
His eyes shot open, and he pushed himself up into a sitting position.
“What’s wrong?” Zach asked, on instant alert.
“Shit, why did I let you distract me with sex? I should have done this as soon as everyone left!” he said, and scrambled out of bed.
“Drew?” Zach said, voice tight with worry.
“Stay there,” Drew told him. “Just give me a second!” He hurried into the bathroom and dug the ring out of his jeans pocket.
He gave it a quick once over, checking that it was still pristine and didn’t need any repairs, but it was fine.
Quickly rubbing it on the towel to get rid of any dust, Drew then hurried back through to the bedroom.
He climbed back into bed and into Zach’s waiting arms, but not before pressing a quick kiss to his lips.
“Do I get an explanation now?” Zach asked dryly.
Drew propped himself up on his elbows so he could see Zach, resting his chin on his boyfriend’s chest. The ring was clasped in his fist, at the ready. “Yes, sorry. So, I had a whole plan for this. A nice dinner, yummy dessert, the whole works. But, well, you know how that turned out.”
“Drew,” Zach said gently. “It might not have been the anniversary you’d hoped for, but you do know it doesn’t matter, yeah? We’re gonna have a heap more that will go perfectly to plan.”
“I know,” Drew said. “This isn’t about our anniversary. Not entirely.”
“Oh?”
“I love you so much it scares me,” Drew told him.
“I never thought I would have a love like this in my life, and then you turned up. You didn’t bring me my chicken noodle soup, but you brought me laughter and adoration and a whole lot of love.
You introduced me to the world of magic, and it’s so amazing.
I can’t believe it’s real some days. I would never have discovered it if it weren’t for you. ”
Zach went to speak, probably to dispute this and to say that Drew would have discovered his magic sooner or later, but Drew placed a finger against his lips, silencing him.
“You’ve given me everything, Zach. More than I can ever give you in return. All I can offer you is the entirety of my heart.”
“That’s all I need,” Zach murmured against his finger.
“I know it’s a silly human custom, but I’m going to ask anyway.” Drew held up the ring and offered it to him. “Zach, would you do me the honour of becoming my husband?”
Zach’s eyes went wide. “You’re proposing? For real?”
“Yes, I’m proposing,” Drew said with a laugh.
“You got me a ring?” Zach asked. “It’s beautiful.”
“I did get you a ring,” Drew said. “I also lost the ring when we went to Hell the first time, and I’ve gone through quite a journey to get it back. Kind of like the complete opposite of Lord of the Rings.”
Zach laughed and gently took the ring from Drew’s finger and slipped it onto his own. “Well, you’re no Frodo, but I love you anyway,” Zach said. “Of course I’ll marry you, Drew.”
“Yeah?”
“Yeah.”
Completely giddy and high on life, Drew leaned forward and kissed Zach sweetly. “I love you so much.”
“I love you too,” Zach said, then kissed him again.
They made out for a while, enjoying just being together, sharing the moment. Finally, Drew pulled back and snuggled down against Zach’s chest. Zach lifted his hand and examined the ring. “It really is striking,” he said.
“The colours reminded me of your wings,” Drew admitted.
“It’s perfect. How did you ever find it if you lost it?”
“Completely by accident,” Drew admitted. “Apparently Orias picked it up, and it was only once we’d been captured and taken to Lucifer’s palace that I saw he had it.” He yawned. “All’s well that ends well, I suppose.”
Zach hugged him tightly. “Please don’t ever do that again,” he said quietly. “I love the ring, Drew, but not more than you. I was so scared I’d lose you forever.”
Drew squeezed his eyes shut. “I’m sorry. I promise, never again.”
“Thank you.”
They lay in silence until it was broken by the rumbling of their stomachs.
“Dinner time?” Zach asked.
“Yeah,” Drew agreed.
“What did you want?”
“I’m kinda in the mood for roast potatoes,” Drew admitted. “Actual potatoes, not funky psychedelic Hell potatoes.”
Zach laughed and rolled out of bed. He offered Drew a hand and pulled him up, dropping a kiss on his nose. “Roast potatoes it is, then.” He smiled. “Happy belated anniversary, sweetness.”
“Happy anniversary, Zach.”
“What do you think?” Andras asked, looking at the urco critically.
Drew walked around the urco, trying to find a fault with the glamour. They were in their small back yard and the urco—now disguised as an Irish wolfhound—was sitting on the grass, licking his balls.
“Looks okay to me,” Drew finally said.
“Excellent,” Andras said. “One task crossed off the list.”
“How long until Simon has your ID ready?”
“He said it should arrive in a couple of days,” Andras said, and flopped down onto the grass. Princess stopped licking his balls and headed over to lick Andras’s face instead. “Blugh! Don’t put that tongue on me after the places it’s been,” he complained.
The urco ignored him, pinned him down, and licked his face from chin to temple.
Drew, like the good friend he was, simply laughed.
“What surname did he pick for you?” Drew asked curiously.
Andras shoved Princess off of him and wiped at his face. Then he pouted. “That man is a menace,” he declared.
“Oh dear. What did he use?”
“Szarka,” Andras complained. “He said Andras has Hungarian roots here on Earth, so he wanted to keep with the theme.”
“And Szarka means?”
“Thief,” Andras grumped.
Drew sniggered. “Sounds fitting.”
“Fuck you.” Andras pushed the urco towards Drew, who was then subjected to his own face licking.
They lounged on the lawn, enjoying the sun for a while longer. Leila was busy scratching in the small garden bed, eating bugs, and Princess started following her, eating her poop. Luckily, he didn’t attempt to lick either of them again.
After a while, Andras cleared his throat but refused to look at Drew. “So, uh, I never did say thank you,” he said. “You know, for fighting to bring me here.”
Drew smiled at him. “You’re welcome.”
Andras tore off a piece of grass and ripped it into smaller pieces. “The only family I’ve ever really known was Zachariel. I’m sure he never saw me that way, but it’s how I felt about him.” He cleared his throat. “Anyway, now it feels like I have you too.”
Drew scooted over the grass on his butt until he was sitting next to Andras and could throw an arm around his shoulders. “Andras, you helped me when you really didn’t have to. You’ve defended me, put your life on the line for me, and taken care of me. You’re my family too.”
Andras sniffed and quickly wiped at his eyes. He nodded, avoiding eye contact. “Okay. Cool. I’m glad we’re on the same page.”
“Okay, I think this one will be big enough,” Zach said, coming into the garden and holding a dog harness and leash. He looked at the urco and nodded. “Glamour looks good,” he told Andras.
They wrangled Princess into the harness and then clipped on the leash. “Time for walkies,” Drew told him.
“Are we heading to the park?” Andras asked.
Drew shook his head and ducked down to allow Leila to jump onto his shoulder. “Nope. I’m going to introduce you to one of my favourite things in the world.”
“I’ve already met Zachariel,” Andras drawled.
Drew shook his head and said with a grin, “No, this is even better than Zach. It’s a peppermint mocha frap.”
“Wow. And here I thought you loved me,” Zach said, shoving Drew playfully.
“Does this mean if you don’t want him anymore, I can have him?” Andras teased.
Drew poked his tongue out at both of them. “Shut up and get walking,” he told them, shooing them out the gate.
They started walking, and Drew couldn’t help the smile that spread across his face. It was a gorgeous summer’s day, and he was with his fiancé, his new friends, and his familiar. Life couldn’t get any better than this.