Conley smiled before asking, unsure how Brian would reply, “Do you want me to stay, or would you rather I leave now before your emotions override your common sense?”
“They already have,” Brian replied. “Despite everything that’s happened, everything I saw, the one thing that frightened me the most was that you wouldn’t keep your promise.”
“I told you I loved you. I wouldn’t have asked you to wait for me if I didn’t.”
Brian’s mouth tightened. “You needed me here so you could come back.”
“True,” Conley admitted. “But only to anchor me to this time and place. Once I returned and became me—” he tapped his chest, “—I could have gone anywhere. I didn’t have to come home. I wanted to.” He took Brian’s hands in his. “I love you. You are my life.” He saw the chain around Brian’s neck and caught
