River didn’t consider himself an imaginative man by any means, which was probably why he had such difficulty with the concept of art in general. However, now that his attitude toward art and artists was changing, he found that he was more readily accepting of the idea that his lover had seen him in a wishing well some six months before they met in that bar. Some niggling shadow of his former thoughts tried to instill doubt in him when he first heard that explanation, but he crushed it beneath logic.

Because there was logic here, as insane as it was. There was no other way that this possibly could have happened.

When he was done listening to Ashton’s explanation, he tried to think of something to say. Unfortunately, nothing sensible would come to him so he just looked down at that print of himself again.

Oh, there’s a thought.

“Why do you only have prints of these?”

“Well, prints sell. Just, for less. But all the originals sold like crazy. I couldn’t paint fast enough. I was happy.” Ash shrugged, as if to push aside the comment on his own happiness, as if it was no longer an important thing to him.

To River, Ash’s happiness was the absolute most important thing now. He couldn’t help but to start smiling, thinking of what this meant. Ash raised an eyebrow at him but smiled nevertheless, clearly wondering what was so funny.

“It’s just weird to me,” River explained. “To think that a whole bunch of people have pictures of me in their homes.”

Ash laughed softly. “Just imagine if they ever come across you and recognize you as the pretty guy hanging over their fireplace.”

River held the stack of prints in one hand and swept out his free arm to wrap it around Ash’s shoulders. Hugging him tight, he said, “This is just more proof for me that we’ll get through this together.”

“It’s not going to be easy,” Ash sighed. He wrapped both arms around River’s middle and leaned in against him, their bodies fitting together as perfectly as they had always done. It was as if no time at all had passed, the very act of cuddling soothing in its familiarity. Even if their minds had forgotten, their bodies remembered. “You know that, right?”

“Of course.”

“This is your last chance to walk away from me and get on with your peaceful new life.”

River turned his head to look at Ash, then pressed his lips to the soft stubble on the other man’s cheek. “I’ve lived in peace for too long. I’m ready to fight.”

“Well, I can’t promise you a fight, but I can give you a job helping me clean up all that blood you spilled.”

A distasteful job, but someone had to do it. “I’ll have you know that I’m very familiar with how to get blood off of every imaginable surface. Having kids will do that for you.”

“That makes me very reluctant to meet your family,” Ash said. Sliding his arms down to River’s waist, he squeezed tightly with all of his strength. Then, dropping his hands, he grabbed River’s hand in his and guided him back to the supply closet in the rear of the studio.

River accepted a bottle of industrial cleaner and a roll of paper towels, though he only held onto them while standing in one spot. It hadn’t ever really occurred to him that there might be other consequences that went along with falling in love with Ashton. How was he going to tell Jeanine about this? Shit, how was he going to tell his kids?

Ashton was watching him, he realized, with his hands on his hips. “Did you think you were going to just hide me away somewhere like your secret lover, or something? I’m not going to pretend that I’m not with you. I’m going to do everything but fuck you in public, and I might even do that if you get me drunk enough first.”

Holding out the paper towels, River gently swatted Ashton on the rear with them. “Behave. We’ve got a mess to clean up.”

But on the inside, despite his trepidation, he was elated that Ash was as serious about this as he was. Once they settled back into their old rhythm, it was as if nothing had changed between them.

As he set to work ridding the studio of bloodstains, Ash took care of his broken easel, he relaxed deep into the silence. It was companionable, comfortable. They didn’t need to talk, to fill the silence with unnecessary jabber. That hadn’t changed.

And now he wondered if this had all been for the best. Who knew what exactly would have happened if they hadn’t been separated? Their age gap hardly mattered now, but back then, it had been significant. He was leaving high school just as Ash was becoming a sophomore. He was legal. Ash wasn’t. Would their bond have lasted through the trials of college and first jobs and societal pressure? Or would it all have torn them apart? After all, they were only just kids at the time. Love was a strange, new, and tender thing, so easily formed and just as easily broken.

Now that they were older and had found each other again, now that they knew all that life had to offer, they were better suited to follow their relationship all the way through to the end. River hoped that end wasn’t going to come for a very long time, and he was determined to do everything he could to make it true.

After an hour’s worth of cleaning, they had done all they could to restore order to the studio. Large amounts of cold water and strong-smelling cleaner removed the trail of bloody footsteps from the gallery floor. Scraps of torn clothing were swept up and tossed in the trash, along with the ruined canvas and easel.

“I really am sorry about your easel,” River said.

“Well, I guess I can’t really blame you for it.” Ash sighed dramatically, as if this was very inconvenient for him. “Given you were just about to have your dick cut off and everything.”

River approached the other man, lightly pinning him against the wall with his body. Their lips grazed together ever so slightly before dancing apart again. “I think you’d be as sad as me if it got cut off,” he murmured. “Judging by the way you screamed earlier.”

Ash’s hands roamed down his body before coming to a rest on his hips. “You screamed, too. We’re lucky no one called the cops.” Suddenly, his playfulness faded away and he leaned forward with his head on River’s shoulder. “Or maybe we were unlucky.”

River held him securely, wanting to give comfort almost as much as he wanted some for himself. “We’ll get through this. In fact, I have some ideas.”

“You do?”

“It was a little hard to think while breathing in all those cleaner fumes,” he said, “but yes. I’ve got some propositions for you and you tell me if any of them sound appealing or not.”

Ash continued to lean against him, his face hidden. However, River didn’t need to see his face to sense that the other man was expecting the worst from their upcoming discussion. “Okay. Shoot.”

“You drop this location and go somewhere smaller. Get your relocation put in the paper.”

Ashton snorted, lifting one hand to slide his fingers up the back of River’s neck. “You know, they normally only do that if you’re scaling up. Not down. Maybe it wouldn’t be in my best interest to advertise that I’m not doing well here.”

River leaned back slightly as he spoke, growing tentatively excited at his idea. “So, don’t phrase it that way. Come up with an excuse. It doesn’t have to be real, it just has to sound good. Play up the humble artist card. Say you want a more intimate setting to interact with your customers. We’ll work on that together.”

He didn’t know if what he had to say would make sense to the other man, but Ash looked thoughtful as he continued on. By the time he finished speaking, Ash’s olive eyes were bright with interest. “Okay. I guess that could work. It’d save me money on rent if I found somewhere smaller.”

“Right. And when it comes down to it, savings will be what really helps us here. It doesn’t matter how much money you make if you end up blowing it all.” River paused. “Sorry. I didn’t mean it like that.”

Ash shrugged against him, letting him know that it hadn’t bothered him. “What else?”

“I’m not familiar at all with the way the art world works but I can almost guarantee that there are going to be a lot of small, festive events coming up in the near future. Lots of approaching holidays. We’ll get you into those.”

“Not a lot of money to be made at those.”

“But if we’re careful, we can still get you a profit. And the publicity would be good. We’ll need business cards. Do you have any?”

Ash shook his head.

“Then, you need some. That’s something else we’ll work on.” The more he talked, the more ideas came to him. It didn’t matter that he was out of his league here with the whole art thing. He knew how to make money and this was a business just like any other. “We’ll get you some stocks. Some investments. I’ll help you with those. And you’ll need to move in with me, of course.”

That last part just slipped out. He hadn’t known he was going to say it until the words were already tumbling out of his mouth, dreadfully sincere. He couldn’t even play them off as being part of a joke, because he had meant what he said with all of his heart. It would save Ash even more money on rent, because he would no longer have to pay it. They would be together, under the same roof, free to see each other whenever they liked, rather than having to constantly meet up at various places to discuss this situation.

They would be together. Just them.

But as the silence dragged on and Ash didn’t answer, dread started churning in River’s stomach. He held his breath, trying to hold back on the foul emotions threatening to overcome him. He had jumped the gun and now he would have to pay for it, because two people didn’t just move in with each other a week after they met, whether or not they had known each other in the past. That was just dumb. If a client came to him with that plan, he would talk them out of it as fast as humanly possible.

“Okay.”

River opened one eye, and then the other. Surely he couldn’t have heard what he thought he just heard. Surely, Ash hadn’t said okay. He must be hallucinating, imagining things, deluding himself into thinking that now Ash was rising up on his toes, that they were going to kiss…

…and then their lips met and he knew it wasn’t a hallucination. It wasn’t an act of trickery he had played on himself out of desperation and mortification. Ash was here, in his arms, kissing him so deeply and tenderly that his knees felt weak. Their lips pressed together firmly, their mouths settling together as they shared their breath between them. Reaching out with one arm, he supported them both against the wall so that they wouldn’t fall over.

For a time they only stood there in the studio, locked into each other’s arms, breathing together. Then, Ashton leaned back. His skin was flushed with what could only be excitement. His eyes sparkled and he looked as he had on the best days of his youth.

No, he looked better.

“Okay,” Ash breathed. “Let’s do it. Let’s do it right now.”

River laughed, delighted, and held on tighter to the wolf he loved. “Slow down a little! I still have to actually buy the house. I’ve got an appointment on Monday with the real estate agent.” Even though he’d just told Ash to slow down, his own thoughts were picking up speed again, racing off ahead of him. “But the house is as good as mine. As good as yours. If you want to keep your cost for the new gallery down, we could set up a studio for you in one of the bedrooms.”

“Are you sure that’s okay? I’m starting to feel like I’m being a burden to you again.”

River stepped back but kept his hands wrapped around Ash’s frame. “Are you kidding? I’ve wanted this for so long! There’s no way you could ever be a burden to me!”

He couldn’t contain his delight. Human words simply weren’t enough to convey the depths of his feelings. He shifted into his wolf form and leapt forward, knocking Ash over with the force behind his huge paws.

Ash shifted as he fell, rolling over and hopping up to his own paws. This was the first time River had seen him transform since they met up again, and he felt himself falling in love all over again. As an omega, Ash was smaller and more petite, but he made up for in beauty what he lacked in size. His fur was the rich brown of oak trees, shaggy and thick, and his face was lean and handsome, with a round muzzle.

River dropped down over his front paws, raising his tail up high in the air and wagging it. There wouldn’t be much room to frolic around back here in the studio, but that wasn’t his intention. He just wanted to feel Ash pressed against him like this, to let their souls run wild and free for a time. He hadn’t ever done this with Jeanine unless they were arguing, so now he was aching to do it right.

Ash stood there, regarding him in silence for a moment. His eyes were deep and soulful, decidedly human in his animal face. River kept wagging his tail, gazing into those astonishing eyes.

The fur along Ash’s spine spiked up, forming a furry mohawk from the scruff of his neck all the way down to the base of his tail. His mouth opened, offering a glimpse of a moist pink tongue and sharp white teeth. A soft yap escaped him and he jumped forward, landing lightly on all four paws in front of River before rearing up onto his hind legs.

River did the same. Their muzzles met between them with their jaws open, not biting or grappling but nipping playfully, nibbling so that their noses pushed together. He wrapped his furry front legs around Ash and felt the smaller wolf do the same, and they came to a gentle crash down onto the floor.

They lay there together for a moment, tangled sweetly, and then Ash nuzzled in closer against River’s gray fur and lay his head down on his flank.

A surge of sweetness so strong it was painful went through River. He closed his eyes, savoring this moment, committing it to memory, and then he lowered his head and licked Ash’s ear tip.

Ash growled sweetly and tried to cuddle even closer. Laying his tail over the other wolf, River gave his ears another couple of licks before laying his head down on his paws and sighing. The road ahead of them was bound to be long and difficult but if he could only return to this moment when things seemed impossible, he felt that they just might make it through.