Sunlight falls across my bedroom, scattered by the branches beyond the windows. I feel the warm kiss of it on my body before I even open my eyes. I shift drowsily, waking up, getting my bearings.

My face is resting on something smooth, warm, velvet soft. So is my palm. The first deep breath I take is laced through with vetiver.

I open my eyes to find myself held gently in Aiden’s powerful arms. He’s sitting up, his back against the headboard, and I was sleeping with my cheek against his chest. Our bare bodies are tangled up together. His fingertips are trailing up and down my spine, feather-light, but he stops when I stir against him.

I lift my head to look up at him, then go very still, gazing into his eyes. They’re icy blue, glowing and shimmering with magic. But Aiden is smiling down at me, perfectly calm, his bronze skin dappled with spots of sunlight.

“Morning, Linden,” he murmurs.

The rumble of his deep voice takes me back to sweet memories of last night, ones that make my cheeks burn.

“Hi, Sugar Maple. Did I fall asleep like this?”

“Nope, I moved you here. You slept right through it. It was very cute.” Aiden bends to brush a kiss onto my lips. “I’m using your note to help me listen. It’s easier, the closer you are to me.”

I sit up a little, sleepily pushing my hair out of my eyes.

“Who are you listening to? Is someone in trouble?”

“No,” Aiden says. “Not in trouble, exactly. No one’s going to get hurt. But I can hear someone really unhappy, or - uncomfortable, or something. And they have been all morning. I’m trying to figure out where it’s coming from.” He nibbles his lip, then adds - “I was thinking about what you said. About how my Guardian responsibilities aren’t just for emergencies. I’ve been thinking about that a lot, actually.”

Realizing what he’s talking about, I sit up more, breaking into a smile.

“You mean - you want to go make someone’s day better?”

Aiden shrugs his shoulders. “If you’re down?”

My smile broadens, and I fling myself back into Aiden’s arms. He lets out an oof of surprise when I crash into him, then laughs as I shower his face with rapidfire kisses.

“Taking that as a yes?”

“Yes, mhm. Let’s do it.”

We both get up and get dressed. I reach for my flannel, then stop, looking at Aiden, who is busy doing up his belt.

My heart is suddenly so full.

I didn’t want to force it on him, this part of being a Guardian. I just thought it might bring him some peace and fulfillment. It’s a Guardian responsibility that won’t haunt his dreams or fill his head with cries for help. One that could actually make him happy.

But Aiden is the Guardian, not me. I can’t tell him what he should do with his magic, and... he already gives so much. Demanding that he give even more is not what I was trying to do when I pointed out that we could also help people who aren’t in immediate danger. Aiden has enough promises and responsibilities to deal with, as it is.

Besides, most plants don’t do well being force-fed. They evolve and grow by their own natural rhythms. So after I put the suggestion out there - and showed Aiden what I meant, by having him help out Matt and his dad - I stopped bringing it up. That felt like enough, and I hadn’t planned to push the matter further.

Now here he is, my Companion Plant, suggesting that we go help out a stranger. Not someone in dire trouble. Someone who's just having a bad morning.

Aunt Sarah said that Aiden was a sweet, cuddly child before the anger set in. She sees him finding that part of himself again, and - she’s right. He's getting back to that part of himself - recovering his true self - more and more every day.

We’ve been looking for the roots of a Guardian Tree, but Aiden is slowly finding his own roots, too. And how beautiful, how long-enduring they’re turning out to be. Patiently waiting, all this time, for Aiden to come back to them.

“What’s wrong with you?” he asks, catching an eyeful of my adoring expression. “Fix your face.”

I grin even wider, and Aiden laughs, comes over to press a kiss onto my temple.

“Why are you looking at me like that, man?”

I roll up onto my toes, give him a long, enthusiastic kiss. “I just like your roots.”

“What?” he murmurs, distracted by my lips brushing against his as I speak. “What’d you say?”

Oh, god. I don’t even know how to begin explaining it to him, everything I’m feeling right now.

“I said - go put on your boots.”

“Oh. Alright.” Aiden arches an eyebrow at me. “Bossy, but okay.”

I laugh, give him a shove. He sets off to get his boots, casting a smile at me over his shoulder. I stand there for a moment, watching him until he disappears through the doorway.

A smile on my face, a trace of vetiver in the air, his warmth still lingering on my lips.

~~~~

Snow is falling silently outside. Only the muffled crunch of our footsteps disturbs the quiet. Winter sunshine breaks through the shifting clouds, speckling our faces and hands as we get into the car. The snowbanks wink and glimmer at us, refracting the light.

Aiden is calm enough to drive and listen at the same time, so I take the passenger’s seat, where I curl up with my coffee thermos and a soft blanket. I let out a happy sigh, cozy in Aiden’s warmth, the hum of the engine drifting to my ears.

Aiden takes a look at the little nest I’ve made for myself.

He lets out a low chuckle. “You look ready to go back to bed.”

“I’m up, honestly,” I yawn, and then - “Wait, aren’t you incredibly late for work, right now?”

“Gabby gave me a half-day, since I had to go to City Hall in the middle of the night to help the police. And Kasey came by while you were still asleep, said that we should hold off on doing anything else for our case, at least for a few days. Just until things cool down a little. Don’t want to attract the attention of the thief, or get arrested, ourselves.”

"Those are two very different reasons why you're off from work," I laugh. “You’re a man of many dimensions, babe.”

I offer Aiden a sip from the thermos, and he looks over at me, his blue eyes shining with the light of his listening. My breath stops, and I nearly spill the coffee on him.

Aiden catches the thermos as it slips out of my hands. Him and his ridiculous, lightning-fast reflexes, I swear.

“You alright?” he laughs, helping himself to a sip.

I sit back and press my hands to my suddenly burning cheeks. “I’m fine!”

It just doesn’t wear off, goddamnit. The sight of him can still knock me flat on my back, out of nowhere. I steal another glance, and my heart hammers painfully hard as I take in the subtle interplay of light and shadow against the delicate bones of Aiden’s face.

He smiles at me, unaware that I’m currently melting into the passenger’s seat.

“So, where are we going?” I turn to face the window, mostly to hide the scarlet color of my cheeks. “You were listening while I was asleep, right?”

“Yes.” Aiden puts one elbow up on the window, leaves one wrist on the wheel. “Got the general direction, but - can you talk?”

I bite back a smile. “Yeah, alright.”

I start chattering away, and Aiden falls silent, listening.

We leave Ketterbridge behind, head out into the farthest reaches of town. Soon enough we’re on the forest roads, surrounded by snow-heavy branches.

It’s a long drive, but sort of nice, actually. A very different experience from the rushed chaos of a rescue.

Eventually, Aiden pulls us onto an unmarked road. He slows my car down, and we both spot something half-buried in the snow.

Aiden gets out, and I follow him. He uses his Timbs to swipe the snow away, revealing a fallen road sign. It’s rusted, and would be hard to read even if it wasn’t on the ground.

It marks this road as an emergency route, only to be used in the event of a fire or flood.

Aiden straightens up, his eyes glittering with white-blue fire. “Let’s go.”

I take over driving, so that Aiden can focus completely on listening. We go down the emergency road for a long stretch, until something catches my attention.

I nudge Aiden with my elbow. He opens his eyes, and sees what I see.

There’s a car parked by the side of the road, turned off. A few yards ahead of it is a girl about our age, trudging through the snow towards us. Long blonde hair escaping from her beanie, her arms wrapped tightly around herself. She’s shivering so visibly that we can see it from here.

She looks up when she hears my car, and comes to an abrupt stop.

“It’s got to be her, right?” I ask.

Aiden nods, his eyes shifting back to their usual, familiar shade of blue. “Yeah, it's her.”

I stop my car, and we get out.

“Hey!” Aiden calls, waving at the girl.

“Back off!” she shouts, pointing at us. “I have mace in my car, but believe me, I don’t even need it! I will kick both of your asses if you try any-”

She cuts off in surprise, watching as Aiden gently threads his fingers through mine.

“Oh,” she says, “Oh, okay - wait! Don’t go, actually! I need some help!”

She rushes towards us. Aiden and I meet her halfway between our two cars.

“Are you alright?” Aiden asks, as we stop before her.

She looks up at us with exhausted eyes, tucking a long blonde strand behind her ear.

“I’m fine, I just - I was driving back into town last night, and it was snowing so hard, I must have taken a wrong turn. I don't even know where I am.”

“This is an emergency route,” I tell her. “The sign is down.”

She narrows her eyes. “Then what are you two doing here?”

“We saw your tire tracks,” Aiden says, so quickly and convincingly that I glance up at him, impressed. “Have you been here all night?”

“Yeah,” she says, shivering again. “I got stuck in the snow, slept in my car. Tried to call someone, but there’s no reception out here.”

“Were you about to try and walk to town?” I ask, incredulous, and she shrugs.

“Better than staying here and freezing in my car, right?”

“Speaking of the car,” Aiden says, “Mind if we have a look?”

She leads us over to it. Aiden winces when he sees the tires, which are sunk deep in a mixture of snow and half-frozen mud.

“Shit. We’re not gonna get this out with your runt of a car, Jamie.”

“It’s not a runt, okay, it’s-”

“Smallest of the litter,” Aiden chuckles, straightening up. “We’re gonna need something heavier.”

“Raj’s truck?” I suggest.

The girl’s eyes dart to me. “Raj - you mean Melanie’s fiancé?”

Aiden turns to look at her, surprised. “Oh, you know Mellie?”

“Kind of. I know her friend Dahlia. We teach together.”

I stare at her, then catch Aiden’s eye. I know that we’re thinking about the same thing: Melanie’s explanation of how she figured out what happened to Noah so quickly after he went missing.

Candace told Blaise, her Muay Thai instructor. Blaise teaches at the same gym as Dahlia. She told Dahlia, who told me.

“Are you Blaise?” I ask.

She eyes me suspiciously. “How did you know?”

“Oh, shit,” Aiden says. “That means - you’re a Muay Thai instructor, aren’t you? You actually could have kicked both of our asses?”

“Yeah, I wasn’t exaggerating about that,” Blaise informs him. “Seriously, though - do we know each other?”

“No," he says. "But - we've heard about you, indirectly. We’re friends with Mel."

"Oh, yeah? Prove it."

"When Noah was missing, and Mel was looking for him," I answer, "You helped her find out what happened, by telling Dahlia."

Blaise stares at me.

"We’re here to help you," Aiden adds. "We're friends."

The tension in Blaise’s shoulders releases, and she suddenly looks perilously close to tears.

“Well, good, because I’m fucking freezing, I’ve been here all night, and I just want to go home.”

“We can drive you back to town,” I offer.

She bites her lip, hesitant. “I’d rather not leave my car behind.”

“Okay, how about this?” Aiden says. “I’ll drive until I’ve got reception, call Raj and Noah. They’ll come help us get your car out. Jamie can wait here with you. That sound good?”

Blaise thinks it over, then nods. I give Aiden a kiss goodbye, snag the blanket from my car before he drives off.

“God,” Blaise mumbles, accepting the blanket from me. “I thought I'd have to walk for hours, and I’m already so damn cold. I can’t believe you guys came all the way down the emergency route and found me.”

“Lucky break, I guess.”

“Seriously,” Blaise says, wrapping the blanket around her shoulders. “I must have a guardian angel.”

~~~~

Noah straightens up, a strand of black hair escaping from his messy bun.

“All good,” he calls, and knocks his tattooed knuckles against the bed of Raj’s truck.

With Aiden’s guidance, Raj pulls his truck onto the road, and Blaise’s car comes free from the mud, rolls back onto the pavement. Raj leans out of the window to punch a victory fist into the air. Noah grins at him, then gets to work detaching the two cars.

Melanie shifts Nikita into one arm, gives Blaise a gentle squeeze on the shoulder.

“You were here all night? That must have been so scary.”

Blaise nods, pulling the blanket tighter around herself.

“Yep. It absolutely sucked. It’s nice to see some friendly faces, after that.” She smiles down at Nik. “And it’s nice to meet this sweet little face, my god!”

Nik looks up at her grouchily, blows a spit bubble. Blaise laughs, looking much happier than she did when we first got here.

“Do you want Noah to take you home?” Melanie asks. “You barely slept, so you probably shouldn’t drive.”

Blaise hesitates. “Do we trust Noah? Sorry, I just don’t know him.”

“Don't be sorry, and yes, we definitely do. He’s my boyfriend.”

“Um.” Blaise arches an eyebrow. “Aren’t you with Raj?”

“Yep,” Melanie says brightly.

Blaise stares at her blankly, then figures it out. “Both?”

“Mhm,” Melanie says, smoothing a hand over Nik’s back. “Both.”

“Wow. Good for you.” Blaise lets out a tired laugh. “I should get myself two boyfriends, too. Just in case I end up in a situation like this again.”

“Yeah, do it.” Melanie smiles affectionately, watching as Raj and Noah pause in winding up the tow line to kick some snow at each other. “Not gonna lie, it's the best."

Blaise laughs again. Noah, Aiden, and Raj come stomping over to join us, shaking stray snow off of their boots.

“Noah, baby, can you take Blaise and her car home?” Mel asks.

Noah's smile widens instantly at Noah baby, and he nods at her, his eyes magnesium bright.

“Sure, yeah! Anything you-" He stops, his cheeks faintly red, and turns to Blaise. "Got the keys?”

She tosses them to Noah, and he sets off for the car.

“You two coming over later?” he calls, over his shoulder.

“After work!” Aiden answers, and Noah gives him a thumbs up.

Mel, Nik, and Raj return to the truck. Blaise starts to follow Noah, then circles back. She surprises me by flinging her arms around me, giving me a tight hug. Then she does the same thing to Aiden.

“Thank you,” she says, her voice muffled against him. “Seriously, just - thank you. I’m so glad you guys were here.”

“Oh - no problem,” Aiden says, clearly a little startled.

Blaise draws back, swipes a hand under her nose, and follows after Noah.

Aiden stands there, silent and still, long after she's gone. I move closer to him, slip my hand into his.

“Don’t often get thanked for your Guardian work, do you?” I ask, smiling up at him.

Aiden shakes his head. “Nope. Not really.”

I’d ask him how it feels, but the answer is written all over his face.