"It truly has been months" he said, struggling to move. He walked to the toilet to pee and he heard a voice on a call. It was familiar. Too familiar.
"Are you sure this is the hospital he's in? I heard he's been asleep....I know I'm not allowed to see him...I just really miss him...." He kept speaking.
Caelum walked slowly behind the man. His breath was shakey. His hands were trembling. The man seemed like Kieran from behind but his hair colour was blonde...he didn't want to make a mistake.
"I don't want to make him sad anymore..." The voice trembled. The man cried softly and silently as he ended the call. Caelum stood there and watched him cry while he cried silently.
The man was adjusting his collar and his hair, rearranging the bouquet of flowers when he looked back and heard "hello my love".
Caelum's arms wide open as tears ran down his cheeks. " Did you miss me?" He smiled weakly.
The flowers, his phone and the giftcard fell to the ground. He ran into his arms.
The arms that still hold him.
Kieran hugged him tightly. He cried and mumbled gibberish while cleaning his tears like a child.
"It's fine baby. I'm here" Caelum said. They both stood there in each others arms. Caelum stroked from his hair to his back.
Caelum pushed back and looked at him again.
"I love your new hair colour," he whispered, fingertips brushing against Kieran's flushed cheeks. "Have you been good? Were you eating well? How's the company? How's Nessa? How's every—"
Kieran silenced him the only way he knew how—he leaned in and kissed him, deeply.
It wasn't tentative or soft. It was months of longing packed into one breathless, desperate kiss. His hands cupped Caelum's face like he was something fragile, something rare, and he kissed him like he was scared he might disappear again.
Caelum gasped softly against his lips, caught off guard, but he didn't pull away. His arms found their way around Kieran's neck, fingers tangling in the short strands at his nape, holding him there, grounding them both.
Kieran's body pressed closer, one hand at Caelum's small back, the other buried in his curls. Their kiss deepened, slow but heated—an exchange of pain, forgiveness, and pure, aching need. Kieran pulled away only to rest his forehead against Caelum's, panting slightly.
"I missed these lips," he murmured against it, brushing his lips across Caelum's again in featherlight passes. "I missed you."
Caelum chuckled, breathless, his voice hoarse from emotion. "You kiss like a man who thought I wasn't coming back."
Kieran smiled against his jaw, then trailed a kiss down the side of Caelum's neck, just above the scar that hadn't quite healed. "Because I didn't think you were."
That made Caelum's breath hitch. He tilted Kieran's face up and kissed him again, slower this time. Deeper.
They weren't rushing—they were remembering. Relearning each other.
When they finally pulled apart, Caelum's cheeks were pink, his lips slightly swollen, and his heart, after everything, felt full again.
Kieran pressed one last kiss to his temple. "Next time, don't leave me that long. Or I'll really lose my mind."
Caelum smirked. "Maybe I should disappear more often if it means you kiss me like that."
Kieran growled low in his throat. "Don't you dare."
He had missed his Caelum.
They walked out of the bathroom, hands still loosely intertwined, Caelum leaning just slightly into Kieran's side as if grounding himself. His body was still sore, but his heart… his heart felt like it was finally breathing again.
That is, until Charles appeared at the end of the hallway.
His sharp eyes scanned the space like a hawk until they landed on Caelum — and then Kieran.
"Are you out of your damn mind?" Charles hissed as he stormed forward, practically yanking Caelum away. "You shouldn't be on your feet, let alone clinging to him."
Kieran's brows drew together. "Let go of him, Charles."
"You have some nerve showing up here," Charles growled. "Three months, and now you suddenly remember he exists?"
"Oh I have the nerve!?" Kieran said angrily
Caelum winced slightly from Charles's grip but didn't pull away. "Charles, stop. Please."
But Charles wasn't done. "You put him in that coma, Kieran. He almost died — because of you. And you think you get to waltz in here and kiss him like nothing happened?"
"And I apologized! " Kieran yelled
"APOLOGIZED?!" Charles looked at him in disdain and disgust.
Caelum stepped between them, voice strained. "I chose to see him. I walked to him. You don't get to decide who I forgive."
Charles scoffed. "You think he's changed? He abandoned you the second you became inconvenient—"
"Enough." Kieran's voice was low but sharp, like broken glass under velvet. "You're angry. You hate me. I get it. You're protecting him. But don't twist this. I'm not the bad guy here"
"Oh you are and You still don't get it," Charles snapped. "You never will."
He gave Caelum a long, pained look. "You were better off without him."
Then, without another word, Charles turned and stormed off, leaving a tense silence in his wake.
Kieran didn't move. Caelum slowly reached for his hand again.
"I'll talk to him later," Caelum murmured. "Right now… I just want to be with you."
"Are you sure you want him to leave like that?" Kieran said, worry hung to every word.
Caelum turned to Kieran and squeezed his hand. "Yeah, I need to change. And eat. I'm starving."
"I'll have something brought up," Kieran said immediately, glancing over his shoulder like he was ready to storm the entire hospital kitchen.
"Real food," Caelum added. "Something that doesn't taste like wet cardboard."
Kieran rolled his eyes, but there was the smallest trace of a smile tugging at his lips. "You're impossible."
Kieran helped Caelum back to the room, one arm always hovering like he was terrified Caelum might vanish again.
Once inside, Caelum dropped gently onto the bed, wincing.
"You should lie down properly," Kieran said, concern back in full force.
"In a minute." Caelum reached for him. "Just stay close."
Kieran sat beside him and let Caelum lean against his chest. They stayed there quietly for a long time, the steady beat of Kieran's heart grounding Caelum more than any IV ever could.
"You were really trying to see me all along?" Caelum asked softly. "All those days?"
"Every single one." Kieran's voice cracked. "I talked to myself. Read to myself. Prepared everything to make you comfortable… I thought I was going mad. Loving a ghost."
Caelum tilted his head up. "You weren't going mad. You were just waiting for me."
Kieran kissed his forehead. "I'd wait forever."
Caelum smiled, eyes heavy with exhaustion but bright with something else — something warm and whole.
"I'm glad you didn't have to."