Page 195 of Ghost Ribbon

I looked at Ilya.

He still looked distressed. Dimitri stood beside him like a loaded weapon, jaw clenched. “Are you going to tell Rei?” I asked.

Dimitri’s head snapped toward me. “The fuck I am!!”

I sighed, dragging a hand down my face. This was going to be messy. Very messy. Rei would eventually find out - secrets like this never stayed buried in our circle - but for now Dimitri’s refusal was a wall I wasn’t going to climb. Not today.

I shook my head. “I have to go.”

My gaze shifted to Ilya again.

“Are you alright?”

He nodded once, too quickly. “I’m fine.”

I looked at Dimitri. Something wordless passed between us. He would handle Ilya.

Right now I just wanted to go home and wrap my arms around my little star.

And maybe finally come clean about the one thing I have been hiding from him.

Marco spent most of his days at my place now. He still slept at home once or twice a week when he needed space or when his parents called, but the rest of the time he was mine - curled up on my couch, stealing my hoodies, existing in my space like he had always belonged there.

I needed that. I needed him.

I just hoped he still needed me after he knows what I have done.

Chapter 49 - Marco

I stood on the balcony with my elbows resting lightly against the metal railing, face tipped upward toward the night sky.

The stars were clearer here than they ever were near the academy. In the city they always looked diluted, washed out by streetlights and neon signs, but from Alexei’s high-rise apartment they felt closer somehow - scattered across the dark like someone had carefully placed each one by hand. I could make out the faint shape of constellations I only half-remembered from childhood.

Behind me, through the open glass doors, music drifted out from the living room.

I had been standing out here for almost twenty minutes, just breathing.

It still felt strange some nights - standing without pain, without the constant awareness of a body that might fail at any moment. The new heart beat steady and strong beneath my ribs. I pressed my palm lightly over it, feeling the rhythm, and smiled to myself.

Then strong arms slid around my waist from behind.

I didn’t startle. I knew the exact weight of those hands, the exact way they settled just above my hips, the faint scent of his cologne mixed with the clean smell of the shirt he had changed into after coming home. I smiled before I even turned, the corners of my mouth lifting almost automatically.

“You’re late,” I murmured, though there was no real accusation in it.

His chest pressed against my back as he hummed a soft answer, chin resting lightly on the top of my head for a moment. I let myself lean into him completely, eyes still on the stars. His hands were warm even through the thin fabric of my sweater. One of his thumbs moved in a absent-minded stroke against my side, back and forth, like he needed the contact as much as I did.

Eventually I turned carefully in the circle of his arms until I was facing him.

Alexei looked down at me with that rare, private smile reserved only for me. Sometimes I wonder if the stars only exist because the universe was trying to imitate his smile.

“Hi, baby,” I whispered.

He leaned down and kissed me. When he pulled back I was still smiling, a little shy.

My fingers found the front of his shirt and toyed with one of the buttons, suddenly needing something to do with my hands.

“Was everything okay?” I asked quietly. “You were gone longer than usual.”