What they say is true: when you watch your life flash before your eyes, time stands still. You become stuck between the beats of your heart and the spaces between each tick of the clock. Movement becomes simply a memory and for a moment, everything is silent and surreal.

But suddenly everything comes rushing forward, time returning to itself like a blink of one great eye, and you see your hands gripping the steering wheel and jerking it to the side, hearing the blare of a car horn scream at you like some crazed banshee. You want to squeeze your eyes shut and pray but adrenaline is pumping through your veins so fast that you can't bear to even think about blinking. Your foot slams against the breaks as you wait to collide with some mountain waiting in the dark of the night.

But then, once again, everything is still, but time is moving, the clock has remembered to stretch and circle around and around the face of its seconds and minutes.

And you finally breath, realizing the tears that are falling down your face.

My chest rises and falls like waves during a storm, and I choke out a sob of utter relief. I quickly take off my seat belt and move into the back seat, where Xander is looking up at me with wide blue eyes.

"Oh, my baby." I choke out, and I take him out of his car seat, pulling him to my chest and rocking softly back and forth.

"I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry, I love you I love you." I stumble out, my speech clumsy. I kiss him on top of his head a million times, holding his little form close in my chest.

"We're okay." I whisper into the air and sigh, relaxing back into the leather seat. "We're alive." My breathing is back to normal as soon as my head returns to reality.

I open up my mind-link, and immediately contact Octavius: "Octavius, please, are you there?"

He responds almost immediately: "Alessandra, thank God you're okay, where the hell are you?"

"I'm on the side of a highway somewhere, I'm okay, but please come and get me."

"I'm on my way right now. Stay where you are, don't move Alessandra."

"I won't. I love you."

He doesn't respond, and I don't ask for one. Guilt is running through me and I lightly bang my head against the seat. I'm being so selfish, so goddamn selfish.

I wait in the backseat, Xander pressed into my chest, and I feel his breathing deepen, asleep.

My eyes are heavy with exhaustion but I have never been so awake, my eyes watching as each car approaches, hoping that it is Octavius.

Finally, a pair of powerful headlights appears and slows in front of my parked car. I watch, holding my breath as the driver's door opens, and a tall and muscular form steps out. And even inside the car, I can smell the burning cinnamon. Octavius.

I quickly exit the car, still clutching Xander in my arms. And then I can finally see his face, filled with relief, happiness, anger, and disbelief. But I don't care what expression is on his lips, I am just so fucking happy that he's here. I see Klaude next to him, and he walks forwards, a knowing look in his eyes, and he reaches his arms out.

"I'll take Xander to the car, you and Octavius need to talk." His voice is serious, which is completely foreign for Klaude, but I just nod, handing Xander to him gently. And then once Klaude is in the car, I turn back to Octavius.

He doesn't move towards me, his brow furrowed and his eyes conflicted as he scans me up and down, looking for any sign of injury. He doesn't move towards me, and I can see his hold body go ridged. But I don't care, I don't think, as I run towards him in a blind dash, jumping on him in a tackle, wrapping myself around him and his warmth. He staggers back, and his arms automatically go around my waist and under me, holding me to his chest tightly. I cling to him with a vice-like grip, taking in his smell and the feel of his skin against mine.

He's stiff, as if unsure of whether I'm actually real or not, but I don't loosen my hold on him, needing to feel him touch every inch of my body.

I don't know what to say, I don't know if there is anything I can say that will make him forgive me, but I'm satisfied, for now, with the sensation of his fingers grasping around my waist, digging into my skin, as if I could float away at any moment.

I press my lips against his neck lightly, and I hear him exhale, and his body relax slightly.

"I am so fucking angry with you." He whispers against my ear.

"I know." I respond quietly, but I can't help the small smile that forms on my lips.

"So fucking furious..." He growls lightly, burying his face in my neck. His knees buckle, and he lowers us both to the ground, so I am in his lap, still wrapped around him like a koala on a tree.

"I'm sorry, I don't know what's wrong with me, but I love you, and I'm sorry." I whimper against his skin, tears tricking at my eyes and hanging on my lashes.

"We'll deal with that later," He whispers, "But right now, I'm taking you home." And he stands, and I uncoil myself from around his waist, but I don't let go of his hand.

"Okay." I whisper as I gaze up at his eyes, and he kisses the top of my head, leading me towards the car.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The air in our wing is charged as I close the door to Xander's room after setting him to bed. I can feel Octavius behind me, his cool breath on my neck and I turn to face him, our eyes meeting in a locked gaze. I don't say a word as I reach down and grasp his hand, pulling him towards the door of our bedroom, slowly locking it behind me. I never break eye contact as I gently guide him over to the bed, and I let him wrap his hands around the sides of my waist, letting them trail up the sides of my shirt, and I don't stop him as he pulls it over my head, gently placing it on the floor. And I don't stop him as his fingers clasp around the waistband of my pants, gently inching them down, and leaving feathery kisses against the skin of my thighs.

He trails his lips up my torso, his bottom lip sliding along my flat stomach and up to my own lips, and he allows the sparks to fly in the space between our mouths for far too long.

And then he kisses me.

So so softly...

His lips are like clouds against mine, a ghost, a whisper of a kiss. He pulls away slightly, his eyes hooded by his lashes, as he kisses me again, just as gently as the last. His fingers dance against the skin of my thighs, trailing like magic against the sides of my legs, my waist, my chest, my arms. It's as if he's memorizing the curves and dips of my body, searing them into his memory.

I let my eyes flutter closed, lightly biting down on my lower lip as I sigh contentedly. I move at last, letting my fingers brush his cheeks, my thumbs to glance over his long lashes, and I gently gently pull him closer, my body molding into his.

And I kiss him again, and I don't pull away. I hold him to me, guiding him over me and onto the soft soft material of the bed. I feel his hands go to either side of my head as he holds himself over me, pulling away to gaze down at me with a look of wonder.

I try to pull his lips back to mine but he shakes his head softly, his eyes dancing over my entire body below him.

"I'm terrified that you're not here, that this is just a dream." His voice is a whisper, a breath of wind.

"There's nowhere else I want to be, than right here, in this moment, with you."

And he moves down to meet my lips, never leaving my embrace.