[ Gansey watches Ronan shed his anger like a mask. It is a mask, he knows, just as much as Gansey's politeness is a mask. The real Ronan, his Ronan, is underneath. There's so much that Gansey remembers now, things he hadn't known at home. Dreams where he'd seen the old one again, and understood that this one is so much more. This Ronan, the present Ronan, the dreamer, the farmer, the most creative person Gansey knows. This is his Ronan.

He wants to say that they'll be all right now. That even though they're here, the worst is over. But the thing is, he doesn't know if that's true. He doesn't know what the future holds anymore, and in some ways, that's more liberating than safety.

More frightening, too. But it's all right to be afraid, sometimes. You can be afraid, and happy. ]

It's done. It's really done, I'm going to live. And so are you, I promise.

[ I'm not going anywhere, he thinks. And he's hugging Ronan back just as tightly, just as fiercely. He is a warm and solid presence in Ronan's arms. He's not sure he's ever felt as alive as he does right now.

He pulls back enough to look at Ronan, and tries to sound something more like himself. ]

It's just a shame we're going to live here. Can you believe this timing? It's like they're doing it on purpose.