Page 25 of Colin

For better or for worse, it was just how he and his brother worked. They came as a package. A fucked-up, bloodsucking package.

Colin’s eyes softened, just a little, like somehow he knew it was a sensitive subject. “I came down here because I was ready to. I didn’t know it was just you until I was here.”

Relief coursed through Dane, unsettling in its intensity.

“Sometimes I need time to process stuff, without any external chatter,” Colin continued, cocking his head, as if to study Dane’s reaction to his words. “I needed a little more time than usual.”

“So you’re not planning to disappear for four days regularly?” Dane dared to tease.

“Nah. What would be the point of living here if I was just gonna hide away? I have all sorts of questions.”

“You can ask all the questions you want.”You canhaveanything you wantwere the words that wanted to come out of Dane’s mouth. He bit them back.

Colin’s lips twitched, and then he was turning back to his drawing, charcoal in hand. “I’ll wait for Fox to come back. Two perspectives are better than one.”

“Our perspectives are pretty similar.”

“Yeah. You guys are close as hell, huh?”

Dane’s muscles tensed. “Is that a problem?”

Colin turned toward him again, eyebrows raised, his piercing glinting in the light. “Why the fuck would that be a problem?”

Because someone always seemed to want to make it one. Because they were freaks, even among the paranormal. Because people loved to belittle what they didn’t understand.

“No reason,” Dane muttered, turning his attention pointedly back to the movie.

They watched in silence for a while, but eventually Dane caught the telltale signs of fatigue: the dropped charcoal, the drooping head. “Hey.” He nudged Colin gently with his foot. “You wanna go to sleep?”

Colin jerked upright, as if he hadn’t realized he was slouching down to practically lie on top of the coffee table. He shook his head dazedly. “I want to, but I’ll just end up lying in bed, awake.”

Their little insomniac.

Dane patted the couch. “You can come up here. Lie down.”

Colin cocked his head skeptically. “There’s not enough room.” His nose scrunched adorably, his expressions less guarded in his fatigue. “You’re too massive.”

He wasn’t even. And the couch was huge. But it was the rare softness in his sleepy face that had Dane daring to offer, “There’s room if you put your head on my lap.”

Colin stared. Oh fuck, Dane had scared the cat off, hadn’t he? Too eager by far.

But eventually Colin nodded, straightening off the floor and brushing his blackened fingers off against his shorts.

Dane barely dared to breathe.

Colin slid onto the couch and stretched out on his side, facing the TV, placing his head on Dane’s thigh.

Holy fuck.

Dane didn’t know where to put his hands. After a not insignificant amount of deliberation, he set one on the armrest and one on Colin’s head, finally petting the mussed hair he’d been eyeing for the past hour. It was surprisingly soft, given the amount of hair dye the guy must use.

Colin tensed against him with the first touch. Dane braced himself—he was going to get slapped, wasn’t he? But within thirty seconds, the human’s muscles had relaxed again. “That’s nice,” he mumbled, voice thick with approaching sleep.

Dane was grateful Colin couldn’t see his face, the stupid grin he knew he’d find there if he could. “Yeah?” he breathed.

“Yeah.”

Dane kept his hand where it was.

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