Max caught them at the door. "Thanks for coming. Kyra and I plan to stop at the bar later on."
"Awesome." Fenella grinned. "Bring Jasmine and Ell-rom. They look like they could use some adult company after this."
They all looked at the couple. Jasmine was fine, but Ell-rom looked like he was pained.
"No worries," Max said. "I'll drag them to the Hobbit whether they want to go or not."
Once they were out the door, Fenella took Din's hand. "That was nice."
"It was," Din agreed. "Overwhelming, but nice."
"Could you see yourself with something like that? A big family, I mean?"
He smiled. "It's not in the cards for immortals. We'll be lucky to have one child." He frowned. "I mean, if you want that, and when you want that."
She laughed. "That's okay. You don't have to keep apologizing for thinking of our future and me as your mate."
"You're okay with that?"
"I just said that." Fenella stopped walking and turned to face him with a strange expression on her face.
"What?" he asked.
Instead of answering, she wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him. Not a quick peck or casual gesture, but something more intentional. When she pulled back, Din was breathless.
"What was that for?" he asked.
"I was exercising what I told Soraya earlier." Her hands still rested on his shoulders, her eyes serious. "Every moment in lifeneeds to be cherished, not squandered in fear or hesitation. Life needs to be lived courageously."
"Fenella—"
"No, let me finish." She took a deep breath, and he could see her gathering her courage like armor. "Last night, when Max and the others were out there, all I could think about was how fragile everything is. Even immortal lives can be snuffed out in an instant."
Din stayed silent, sensing she needed to work through this at her own pace.
"I've been such a coward," she continued. "You've given me everything—patience, understanding, love—and I've given you scraps. Half-measures and almosts."
"That's not true?—"
"It is, or it was, but I'm done with that. I'm not going to live in fear anymore, and I'm not going to deny you what you deserve to hear me say."
Din's heart was pounding so hard he was sure she could feel it where her hands rested against his chest.
"I love you, Din."
The words hung in the air between them, simple and perfect and everything he'd waited for so long to hear. For a moment, he couldn't speak, couldn't breathe, couldn't do anything but stare at the woman who'd just given him the gift he'd begun to think might never come.
"Say something," Fenella whispered, and he realized there was vulnerability in her eyes, as if she wasn't sure of his response even though he'd told her he loved her so many times before.
"I love you too," he said, the words rough with emotion. "Fates, Fenella, I love you so much I don't have words for it in any language, ancient or modern, and I speak over twenty-five of them."
She laughed. "Always the professor."
"Alwaysyourprofessor," he corrected, pulling her close. "For as long as you'll have me."
"Forever sounds about right," she murmured against his chest.
As they stood in the jasmine-scented darkness, holding each other, Din felt something fundamental shift in his chest, a locking into place of pieces that had been floating loose for half a century.
