The silence was different now.
Not heavy. Not tense. Just... full.
Like the air after rainfall, when everything slows, glistens, and breathes again.
Emilio lay against Matteo's chest, their skin still warm from where they'd collided like thunder and flame. His golden eyes fluttered shut as he listened to Matteo's heartbeat steady, slow, and terrifyingly real. It grounded him more than he wanted to admit.
Matteo's fingers traced lazy, aimless circles along Emilio's spine, like he wasn't done touching him even if the storm had passed. His breath stirred through Emilio's curls, lips brushing his temple now and then each kiss barely there, but meaningful all the same.
Neither of them spoke. The words felt too big, too loud, and neither of them was ready to tear the moment apart just yet.
"I didn't expect you," Matteo finally murmured, his voice rough like gravel softened by velvet.
Emilio hummed against his chest. "Didn't expect to be here either."
Matteo's lips tilted into a slow smirk, one Emilio felt against his skin. "And yet you let me ruin you anyway."
"You didn't ruin me," Emilio replied, lifting his head just enough to meet his gaze. "You made me feel... wanted."
The look in Matteo's crimson eyes shifted just slightly. Something unguarded shimmered there before he looked away. "You always were."
The confession, quiet and unscripted, hit harder than anything else had. Emilio swallowed the lump in his throat. His fingers drifted along Matteo's chest, where the tattoos told stories of blood and power but here, now, they were silent. Almost gentle.
"You hide behind fire and fury, but I've seen you now," Emilio said softly. "And you're not as cold as you pretend to be."
Matteo didn't answer right away. He just stared at the ceiling, as if the truth written in Emilio's voice was too sharp to look at directly.
"I'm not safe for you."
"And yet... I'm still here."
Matteo turned his head then, meeting his gaze with something rawer than any threat or flirtation could ever be. "You scare me."
Emilio blinked. "I scare you?"
Matteo chuckled, low and dry. "You could tear everything apart. You make me want to be better. That's terrifying."
A silence settled again, soft and knowing.
Emilio leaned up and kissed him just once, slow and full of something that hadn't had a name until now. "Then let me terrify you, Matteo."
And Matteo, for once, didn't fight it.
He just held him tighter.