Lir.

The name played in my head over and over again, and I felt guilty about calling him IT for so many years when he had a beautiful name like that. I expressed this to him and my blush came back full force when he laughed joyfully.

"You called me IT? Like the clown from the Stephen King movie?" His grin was infectious and I found my own smile growing to match his. "I love it. I knew you referred to me as "IT" to your parents but I didn't know that was the actual name you gave me." He chuckled to himself and moved a hand up to play with my hair lightly. The hair on the back of my neck stood up straight and I suppressed the intense shiver that threatened to overtake my whole body. "That is so very cute," he finished and the blush that had been fading came rushing back - I could hear my heart beat. 

I cleared my throat and looked down at our hands still intertwined lightly. "So..." I started. He paused playing with my hair for a moment and I felt him look back to my face. "You're stuck here now," I continued. "What does that mean for watching me?"

It was his turn to clear his throat and look down at our hands. He seemed to squirm as I looked up at his face, waiting for his answer. 

"It is my job to guide you. We still don't know what lies ahead for your destiny, but choosing to reveal myself now has a few...complications to it." Sighing, he finally looked back up at me. "I want to stay with you, always. I know that I now have needs like I didn't have in the shadow state, and those needs are going to cost money. I need to live somewhere, eat, clothe myself..." The distraught look on his face made my heart hurt a little. "I don't want to be away from you but I can't impose on your life. Actually, I kind of screwed myself because now I won't be able to be with you always and protect you. To be honest it scares the ever living fuck out of me that I can't be with you 24/7 anymore. I don't know what I would even do if something happened to you. I am essentially immortal and living while you're gone is the scariest thing I have ever had to think about." Tears threatened to spill over onto his pale cheeks and my heart broke.

I rose up to my knees and moved the few inches towards him to hug him close. He wrapped his arms around my waist and pulled me into his lap, surprising me and making me blush, but I felt the way his shoulders were shaking. I tangled my fingers in his hair and rubbed his back, listening to his soft sobs. Kissing the top of his head, I made quiet shushing sounds and rocked us back and forth slowly until his cries quieted and his shoulders stopped shaking so much. 

"You don't have to be away from me, Lir," I said softly. He pulled back to look up at me, a confused look on his face, tears still spilling over. I took his face in my hands and sat back slightly to be more eye level. "You can stay here. I don't want you worrying about a place to live, or having food to eat or clothes to wear. You may have been watching me for the last 27 years out of the thousands you've lived, but I have never once been away from you. The thought of you not being here scares me too. Even though I couldn't fully see you, and you didn't answer me back, I still knew you were here, and even though I was always lonely, I was never alone." I smiled and wiped the tears off his face softly. "Now I don't have to be either. Stay with me. Please." 

His eyes searched mine, trying to detect any deceit in them, but he already knew I wasn't lying. The grin that broke out across his face was dazzling and he pulled me back in to a crushing hug, lifting us both off the couch and spinning me around the room. I laughed with him until I was light-headed and the room was spinning, and when he finally put me down I had to cling to him for stability. 

Taking my face in his hands now, he bent down and gave me the softest kiss on the lips. My knees gave out a little and I had to hold on to him for a different reason. He smiled and rested his forehead against mine, eyes closed. "You are and always will be the most amazing person I have ever known. I can never tell you how glad I am that I was made for you and you alone. Thank you for being exactly who you are." I just stared at his face, eyes closed and long lashes resting against his cheek. My heart was about to beat out of my chest and I definitely would collapse if he let me go, but I had never been happier in all my life. 

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Hours later, we were sitting on the couch watching Avatar the Last Airbender, but my mind was absolutely not on the show. Lir was watching intently, eyes focused completely on the screen, but my brain was focused on the arm he had draped across my shoulders and the way my arm pressed against his side. He was ridiculously warm and comforting, and I seemed to fit against him perfectly, tucked underneath his arm protectively. When we had sat down after deciding watching some TV would be nice and relaxing after the stress of the morning talk, this was the position he automatically took, like he knew exactly what I wanted. In fact, since he had appeared he had continually done exactly what I would have wanted in the moment. I wondered if it was because he had watched me for 27 years and knew every single thing about me, or if there was more to being made for each other than I originally thought.

His laughter shook me out of my thoughts, and I looked up at his joyful face and my heart beat just a little bit faster. Between the square jawline, the high cheekbones, and the slight dimple in his chin, he was already beautiful, but adding in the light mauve of his lips, the orange eyes, pale skin, and black curly hair, he was downright gorgeous. He must have felt me staring, because he looked down at me with a smile still on his lips and pressed me closer to his side. I felt the blood rush to my face as I turned back to stare at the screen and realized the "Are you still watching?" message had popped up.

I jumped slightly when I felt hot breath near my ear as he whispered, "What should we do now?" The question was simple and innocent enough but my mind immediately went to far away places and things we could definitely do next. I leaned away and looked over at him, taken aback by the teasing smile on his face and the way his eyes narrowed slightly. 

Swallowing back my impure thoughts, I rose up from the couch and stretched, looking away at a nearby wall that seemed very interesting now. I had a thought and looked over to the clock on the wall. It was now almost 3 PM, meaning it had been a good 6 hours since breakfast. 

"Are you getting hungry at all?" I asked, still stretching out my back and looking away from him. "I was thinking we could go out and get some lunch and then go shopping for some clothes for you." Cautiously, I looked back down at him and blushed when I noticed his eyes travel up my body before meeting my own. 

"Quite hungry," he said, smiling lazily at me and settling back against the couch. I chose to ignore the way my insides tightened, instead reaching down to grab his hand and pull him off the couch. He stood up easily and ended up with his whole body pressed against me due to the tight space between the couch and the coffee table. Staying there for a moment, he leaned down to whisper in my ear again. "Let's go shopping." 

I couldn't contain the shiver that overtook me as he stepped away, trailing his fingertips along my arm as he headed towards the bedroom to get his boots.