The young man's mouth dropped open. "What? When did this happen? How long was I really asleep?"

"Not right now!" Shay chided. However, a part of her was relieved that her son reacted the same as before despite being much older. "But, I've seen the way he's been taking care of you. So, I hope it leads to the one life event I haven't yet missed."

"Oh," Aid responded. "I mean…we just barely became a thing? We still need to graduate from Uni before making that kind of decision." 

"Agreed," Talon added, despite sporting the widest smirk Adain had ever seen on his face. "But don't worry, Mrs. Calistro. I'll get him to propose to me sooner or later."

"But Adain would look best in a baby blue tux!" Avery complained.

"Wouldn't white look better on Talon?" Rosie commented.

The family continued to converse and argue from morning until late afternoon. Adain counted more smiles in his apartment than he'd seen in years. Everyone was more relaxed, as well, even the studious Rosie. Then, gradually, the rest of the men in their family came over to pick up their wives and daughters. Finally, it was time for Adain's parents to return to his grandpa's house.

"We have plenty of time now," Shay Calistro reminded, but the nervous smile on her face spoke volumes about how anxious she was to get to know her young adult son. "I'm not going anywhere." 

Adain himself found it difficult to physically let her go. With a dramatic sigh, he finally released her. "Love you, Mom," Adain told her as he stood back.

"Love you, too, sweetheart," She responded with more confidence and conviction than anything else she'd previously said. "No amount of time or curses could ever change that."

"What about us?" His grandpa whined, a sentiment that was seconded by Adain's dad. "Yeah!"

"You already know I love you guys," Adain countered. "Just take good care of Mom."

"We will," Adam Calistro agreed, earring him a kiss on the cheek from his wife.

"More like vice-versa," his mother teased her spouse. "Gotta make sure all their memories are intact."

Adain sent one last mournful look towards his parents before heading back inside. He then gave Talon a warm hug. "Tell me all this wasn't just a dream," he pleaded.

"Most definitely not a dream," The blond replied as he returned the hug. "We found your mom, helped your grandma find peace, and she uncursed you in thanks."

"And I slept through an entire Saturday!" Adain groaned. "What a waste!"

"We came out relatively unscathed," Talon countered. "If that was the worst that happened, I'm all for it."

"Right. Are you sure you're not going to miss my other form?" Adain questioned with narrowed eyes. "I distinctly remember just how intense some of your kisses to 'Niada' were." 

Instead of answering, Talon tugged Adain towards him and kissed him without reservation. Unlike the previous times when he pulled away after their making out became heated, he didn't stop. The next thing Adain knew, he pressed his back against the door. One of Talon's hands slipped under his shirt, leaving a heated trail up his torso until the blond slid his thumb beneath one of Adain's nipples. But the other hand made Aid yelp into the blond's mouth when it slipped into his pants and wrapped around his flesh. Without hesitation, Talon gave it a few firm strokes, and the Warlock's attention was suddenly split between the appendage in his mouth and those hands. 

Fuck. Adain's knees nearly gave out on him. Had he been wrong about heated kisses and weak knees again? This was all the other man's fault or, rather, Talon's talented tongue. Aid didn't even realize when he began desperately sucking on it. He felt a little jolt when the blond's thumb smeared the precum along the head of his shaft. With a shuddering gasp, Adain allowed himself to slide down the door, his shirt hiking up his back. But the taller man tugged him close once more until he was plastered against the front of Talon's body.

"You were holding back this entire time, you asshole," Adain hissed into his ear as his fingers clung tightly to the blond's shoulders.

"Yes, I have. How else could I have gotten you to believe me? For me, it's never mattered what form you take." Talon confessed. "Aid, I've fallen for you since we were thirteen, possibly even before that. Have you even the slightest idea how badly I've wanted to pound you into your king-sized bed for the last several years?"

Adain gulped hard. He hadn't ever imagined that specific thought in the past. But he was definitely on board with it now. "Hey, let me hit the shower first this time," he urged, squirming until his feet were firmly on the ground again. He then released Talon's shoulders and patted them in sympathy. He hadn't meant to grasp them so tightly. "Then we can meet back up on my bed- in my room. We'll reconvene in my room."

Talon would have laughed at Adain's flustered antics but agreed to wait his turn. The imp didn't take that long. So, a while after, the blond was also cleaned and changed. He hesitated at the door to Adain's room, but Aid opened it before he even knocked.

"Come join me on my bed!" 

Talon rubbed his face. Now he was seeing and hearing things? He must have been walloped on the head and was knocked out hard. In all of his daydreamed scenarios, he'd never envisioned those exact words coming out of his best friend's mouth. "Shit, now I'm the one that fell asleep and is dreaming…."

"This isn't a dream!" Adain huffed as he reached over to pinch Talon's arm.

"Ow!"

"You see? I'm serious," Adain insisted before giving Talon the most enormous puppy eyes he could muster. "You coming?"
Just about, the blond thought as he allowed Adain to lead him in by the hand. What did Adain want him there for if this wasn't a hallucination? His eyes widened when the imp dug through his drawer and tossed several lubrication packets onto the bed.

"Listen," Adain began. "I know we've just been through hell and back. And I really am sorry I didn't realize any of this sooner. But I want you to know that it didn't matter what version of me it was. All of me was, and still is, in total agreement…I love and desire you, too." 

"You're telling me that after tossing those on the bed?" Talon teased with a raise of a brow. "If I didn't know better, I'd say you were sweet-talking me just to get into my pants." 

"You know what," Adain huffed in response. "I didn't even know I wasn't as straight as I thought until recently, let alone harboring any buried feelings for you…."

"Buried feelings?" 

"I think I got back a memory I'd lost when we were kids…Beatrice had been clinging all over you and kissed you on the cheek-"

"And you rained literal hell down on her. I remember that very clearly," Talon mused. "Our first kiss."

"You remember?" Adain questioned as his blue eyes widened. "So it really did happen! Why didn't you ever talk to me about it?"

"I tried every once in a while over the years. After hearing the same 'what are you talking about, I haven't even had a first kiss yet' answer, I realized it wasn't denial but true forgetfulness." 

"So, when I kissed you as Niada…that really hadn't been my first kiss!" Adain concluded. "I kissed you first twice!"

"I think you've confused the hell out of my heart ever since then." 

"Can you blame me?" Adain scoffed. "When you were a kid, you were smaller, cuter, and girlier looking than any of my cousins!" 

"Is that why you kissed me? Because I looked like a girl?" Talon probed.

"No! But, now you know how I felt about you kissing Niada," Adain countered. "Damn. Does this mean we both gender-bent one another without realizing it?" 

Talon opened his mouth to refute it but paused. The two of them awkwardly stared at one another for a more extended silence than expected. Then, the blond finally spoke. "I don't really think it matters," he stated. "I've fallen for the kid you, the teen you, the adult you, and even the female you. In the end, all of them were you." 

"I really did like you when we were kids," Adain responded. "I don't know how it manifested into denial during all those years in between, but I really do care for you as you are now." 

A warm smile formed on Talon's face. "As far as confessions and declarations of love go," he commented. "I think we did way better this time than when we were seated on the floor of the dusty warded room." 

"Hey!" Adain huffed. "I really thought we were either gonna die or my memories would be gone for good!" 

"I couldn't be more glad none of that happened." 

The Warlock's gaze fell back to the packets of lube he'd tossed on his bed. "Seeing as how we've verified that our feelings are mutual…." 

"Ha," Talon replied. "What if I told you we should save it til marriage?" 

"You can't be serious."

Talon stood up straight and folded his arms over his chest. "Try me." 

Adain's mouth dropped open in shock. "Are you freaking kidding me?" He glanced from his bed to Talon and back again. Then, with a deep breath, he slipped his hands into the side pockets of his pajamas and pouted. "Then, when are we getting hitched?"

The Warlock had never seen his best friend smile as brightly as he did just then.