“Sleepin’ bag was warm,” Miah muttered to his gut, his voice trembling.
Fuck. The kid was killing him.
“Good,” Chace muttered back, his voice thick.
Miah held on. Chace did too.
Then Miah whispered, “Your hair.”
Chace opened his eyes. “What buddy?”
Miah leaned back but didn’t let go, looked up at Chace with his red eyes and kept whispering, “Your hair. Lion’s hair.”
Chace didn’t get it but forced his own smile and replied quietly, “Okay.”
Miah let him go, Chace’s arms dropped away, Miah’s chin quivered but his eyes didn’t waver from Chace’s when he whispered, “You’re my Aslan.”
Aslan.
The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.
Holy f**k.
The words like a sock in the gut, Chace’s chest got tight and he crouched in front of Miah saying the only word he could think to say, “Buddy.”
“I’m gonna be Peter.” Miah was still whispering.
“Good choice,” Chace whispered back, forcing it through the sting in his throat.
They held each other’s gazes, Chace having no f**king clue what to say or do.
Then Miah whispered, “’Bye, Aslan.”
Holy f**k. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.
“’Bye, Peter,” Chace whispered back.
Chace watched him pull in breath, look up at Faye then he turned and walked to his grandparents.
Chace moved to straighten and barely got his feet when Faye was in his space, her front pressed to his side, her arms wrapped tight around his middle. He slid an arm around her shoulders, Silas and Sondra moved close and they watched Miah, Becky and their family get into their cars.
They called good-byes, they waved and they stood in Silas and Sondra’s front drive and watched as they drove off and they kept watching until there was nothing to watch anymore.
Faye moved first and when she did it was to get up on her toes and find his ear.
“Told you that you were a hero,” she whispered and Chace closed his eyes but she wasn’t done. “I’m not the only one who thinks so, Aslan.”
He turned into her, pulling her fully into his arms and burying his face in her neck.
He held tight.
She returned the favor.
They felt Silas and Sondra silently move away.
As he held her, feeling her body rock quietly with her tears, her wet hitting his neck, he held strong but he knew she could feel his own wet against the skin of hers.
And he didn’t give a f**k.