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Luca was really starting to regret not bringing a power bank.

The good news? He hadn't been kidnapped, mugged, or murdered. The bad news? He was still very lost.

He sighed, looking up at the dark sky. "Okay. Think, Luca."

He could try to retrace his steps. Except, what steps? He had turned so many times he wasn't even sure which direction he had originally come from.

Luca leaned against a wall, rubbing his temples. "Damien is gonna be so mad."

He wasn't scared of Damien. Not really. But he was scared of how Damien got when he was worried. He'd seen what happened to people who made Damien upset. And if Damien thought something had happened to him?

Yeah. The city might not survive that.

Luca pushed off the wall, determined to figure this out before his boyfriend started a war. He walked down the street, turning a corner—

—and nearly collided directly into Damien.

Luca barely had a second to react before he was grabbed.

Strong arms wrapped around him, crushing him into Damien's chest.

For a moment, neither of them spoke.

Damien was breathing heavily, like he had been running. His grip was tight, like he was making sure Luca was real.

Luca blinked. "Uh. Hi?"

Damien pulled back just enough to look at him. His expression was unreadable, but his eyes—his eyes—were wild with emotion.

Then, without a word, Damien cupped Luca's face in his hands and kissed him.

It wasn't soft. It wasn't gentle. It was desperate. Like Damien had been standing on the edge of a cliff, about to fall, and Luca had just pulled him back.

Luca's brain short-circuited for a second before he melted into it, hands clutching at Damien's jacket.

When Damien finally pulled away, he pressed his forehead against Luca's.

"Don't," he said, voice rough, "ever do that again."

Luca swallowed. "I didn't mean to—"

"I don't care," Damien interrupted. His fingers tightened around Luca's waist. "I couldn't find you. I couldn't find you, Luca."

Luca felt a pang of guilt. "I'm sorry."

Damien exhaled sharply, then pulled him into another, slightly less suffocating hug. "You are never going anywhere alone again."

Luca huffed. "That's not—"

"Never," Damien repeated.

Luca sighed, but didn't argue. Not yet. For now, he just let Damien hold him.

Because honestly?

After tonight?

He kind of needed it too.

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