Epilogue

Adrian came out of the en-suite in his towel, his hair dripping. He hummed softly to himself as he opened his wardrobe and tried to decide what to wear.

"This place we're going to," he said to Dom. "Is it fancy? Or can I wear jeans?"

He continued mulling his options while waiting for Dom to answer.

Finally, he glanced over at the big detective, and saw Dom watching him, plainly not hearing a word Adrian said.

His book lay forgotten on his chest as he watched the younger man dance around their bedroom, humming to himself.

Adrian snapped his fingers, bringing Dom out of his reverie.

"Can I wear jeans?" He repeated.

Dom nodded, smiling.

"Wear those black ones. The tight pair."

Adrian looked at him for a moment, his eyebrows raised, before he obeyed, and pulled on his black, semi-tight jeans.

Dom let out a soft growl as he watched Adrian dress.

Adrian smirked over at him, before shaking his head firmly.

"I've only just put these clothes on. You are not taking them off again," he said firmly.

"Spoilsport," Dom muttered.

Adrian grinned, and brushed his hair flat. He leant over to put the hairbrush back on the bedside table, and yelped when Dom's arms shot out and wrapped around his waist, yanking him down onto the bed.

Dom rolled on top of him quickly, pinning him to the bed.

Adrian moaned as Dom's lips gently worked their way over his neck.

"Dom," he growled, trying to push the detective off him. "Get off!" He insisted.

Dom shook his head, his face buried in Adrian's neck.

"No," he said firmly, his deep voice muffled.

Adrian squirmed and wriggled, making Dom moan.

"Come on, Aidy," he purred softly. "It's been weeks since we've had sex."

"We had sex when I came home from the hospital last night," Adrian said, raising his eyebrows.

"Well... before that, then. I'm making up for lost time," Dom said cheerfully, kissing Adrian passionately.

Adrian moaned, sliding his hands through Dom's thick, long hair.

Dom's hands were already on Adrian's hips, fiddling with the zip of his jeans.

Adrian wriggled out of his jeans, and wrapped his legs tightly around Dom's waist, drawing him in for a kiss. He slid his hands up beneath Dom's shirt, and teased Dom's nipples for a while, tugging and pinching them, drawing guttural moans from Dom's throat.

Dom's lips were attacking Adrian's neck, leaving little red marks wherever he nipped and sucked.

Adrian was wriggling underneath him, groaning softly.

Dom smirked to himself and pulled off his shirt and Adrian's. His eyes raked Adrian's lithe body, and lingered for a moment on the two fresh scars. His fingertips gently traced the longer of the two, along Adrian's abdomen, almost exactly opposite the scar on his other side, where he'd had a kidney removed nine years before.

Adrian saw Dom looking, and blushed.

He quickly moved his hand to cover the scar, and tried to roll away.

"Don't," Dom whispered.

He looked at Adrian, who had tears in his eyes.

"You're beautiful," Dom murmured firmly. "Don't ever think otherwise."

He bent down to kiss the scars gently, feeling Adrian's body trembling beneath him.

"I love you, Aidy."

"I love you too." Adrian finally began to respond to Dom's touches again.

Dom was inside of Adrian before either of them knew it, their breathing growing heavier.

Adrian rocked his hips against Dom's, urging the big detective deeper inside of him, moaning with every breath.

"Not too loud, darling," Dom whispered in his ear. "Rachel's downstairs."

Adrian moaned again in response, attacking Dom's lips with his own.

Dom's breathing was growing heavier next to Adrian's ear.

Adrian shivered with every warm breath that struck his skin.

"I love you," he whispered again, firmly rolling Dom over and straddling his hips. He moved his hips slightly, and grinned when the detective moaned beneath him.

Dom's hands were gripping his hips so hard, Adrian thought he'd be able to feel his fingers for weeks.

Adrian gave one last moan, his back arching as his climax arrived. He felt Dom's body tensing beneath his, and his fingers automatically reached out to twist Dom's nipples.

Finally, they fell still, Adrian's body draped atop of Dom's, both of them panting.

"I missed you." Dom moaned softly, sliding his fingers into Adrian's hair and pulling him down for a kiss.

He lay still for a moment more, before he gently pushed Adrian away and began retrieving their clothes. He smirked at Adrian, who was looking less than enthusiastic about getting out of their warm bed.

"Come on. We've got somewhere to be."

Adrian growled and threw a pillow at Dom, but dressed and followed him downstairs anyway.

Rachel was watching a DVD in the living room when they whet in, wearing a sky-blue dress, sucking a lollypop.

"Where did you get that?" Adrian asked, scooping her into his arms and cuddling her.

He didn't recognise the pretty dress.

"Dom bought it for me for my birthday." She planted a sticky kiss on his cheek and smiled at Dom. "He said we can fetch the photo's tomorrow to show you."

Adrian smiled at her and nodded agreeably.

"Can we show daddy the surprise now?" She asked Dom.

"We can." Dom smiled.

They went out to the car together.

"I have a surprise?" Adrian asked Dom curiously.

Dom nodded.

"That's where we're going."

He buckled Rachel into the back, before turning to Adrian.

"Turn around," he said.

"What?"

"You heard." Dom smirked.

He turned Adrian away from him, and quickly tied a thick blindfold over his eyes.

"What're you doing?" Adrian asked.

"It's a surprise, silly." Rachel said from the back seat. "You can't see it before we get there."

Adrian opened his mouth, but decided against speaking. He let Dom guide him into to passenger seat, and sat quietly while Dom drove them... wherever they were going.

Finally, he felt the car begin to slow, and a few minutes later, come to a complete stop.

Adrian waited for Dom to help Rachel out of the car, before extending his hand for the detective to guide him out.

Dom slid his arms around Adrian's waist, kissed his neck gently, and guided him slowly to their destination.

Adrian stumbled up a few steps and was guided through a door.

The room he was in smelt of fresh paint, and the floor sounded like wooden floorboards beneath his shoes.

"Can I take this off yet?" He asked Dom, tugging his blindfold irritably.

Dom laughed softly, and removed the blindfold for him.

Adrian stared around for a moment, tears welling in his eyes before he could stop them. He stared at Dom for a moment in disbelief, before he turned and looked around the room again.

"You... you fixed everything?"

Dom smiled at him, and nodded.

"Everything's just like it was," he said cheerfully.

He looked around The Dinner Table with satisfaction, pleased they'd managed to have everything built, ordered and delivered in time for Adrian's return.

Adrian spotted Tom and Freddie near the bar, and ran over to hug them.

"Thanks guys," he murmured, his voice choking with emotion. "And thanks for looking out for Rachel. And Dom."

They smiled and hugged him back.

"No problem. Do you like it?" They asked, motioning the restaurant.

Adrian nodded.

"It looks better than it did before." He smiled.

He thought of something suddenly, and turned to Tom.

"What do I owe you for the insurance?" He asked. "I can't remember what the excess was."

Tom smiled.

"We didn't use the insurance company to pay for this," he said, grinning at Adrian's look.

"Then how...?"

"How do you think?" Freddie grinned. "Dom insisted on paying for everything."

Adrian gaped at them for a moment, before he looked over at the detective.

"Why...?" He asked helplessly.

"He loves you, idiot. Besides, doing this up helped keep him busy while you were... Rachel helped." Tom continued quickly. "She chose all the colours, and some of the new decorations. She insisted we bought a whale to hang from the ceiling."

Adrian laughed.

"We even managed to find animatronic one, which moves its tail," Tom said, motioning the waggling tail of the whale.

Adrian embraced them again, before leaving to go and find Dom amongst the crowd of regular customers who'd been invited to the re-opening of the restaurant.

He saw Rachel chatting animatedly with seven other girls at one of the larger tables, some a few years older than hear, some a few years younger.

Adrian didn't recognise any of them. He watched her for a moment, making sure she was okay, before going over to Dom.

The detective was stood near the front door, talking enthusiastically to three women who'd just entered the restaurant.

All three of them had long black hair and deep brown eyes, and were almost as tall as Dom.

Dom saw Adrian watching them curiously, and waved him over, smiling.

The three women saw Adrian, uttered loud exclamations, and hurried over to embrace him.

"Lui è un simpatico uno, fratello." One of the women said.

Adrian realised he'd just met Dom's sisters.

Adrian embraced them awkwardly, wondering what they were all saying about him.

Dom saw his look and laughed aloud.

"Shut up," Adrian mumbled, embarrassed.

Dom hugged him, and kissed his temple.

"They basically just said you're cute." He grinned. "This is Alessia, Ileana and Palmira."

He pointed them out as he named them.

"My three sisters. And their daughters are talking to Rachel over there."

Adrian smiled shyly at the women.

He was quickly included into their conversation, although he found it hard to keep up when they switched from English to Italian without apparently realising they were doing it.

Dom translated quietly in his ear whenever that happened, although Adrian thought that was mostly an excuse for Dom to stay close beside him.

"Hey," Dom whispered in his ear, extracting them from the conversation after half an hour or so.

"What?"

"I've got something to show you." Dom grabbed his hand and gently tugged Adrian towards the kitchens.

Adrian followed willingly, as Dom led him through the kitchens and into the back hallway, and stopped beside a dark wooden door.

"Dom, that's the employee cloakroom," Adrian said, frowning at the detective.

"I know." Dom smirked. "But... everything has been put exactly as it was. The coat pegs, the benches, the cupboard in the back of the room." He smiled. "It's our room," he said, kissing Adrian gently.

"You're weird, you know that?" Adrian grinned.

Dom smirked, and reached for the doorknob.

Before he could touch it, the door opened, and Tom and Freddie stumbled out, their arms around each other's necks, their faces flushed.

Adrian stared at them for a moment, before turning to Dom.

"What did that happen?" He asked.

Freddie pulled away from Tom with a soft yelp.

"When you were away." Dom grinned. "So... we can't even christen our own room, because you two were in it first."

Freddie blushed, stepping away from Tom.

Tom had the grace to look ashamed, but he was still eyeing Freddie hungrily.

"Come on," Tom murmured. "People will be wanting more drinks."

Freddie nodded, and left quickly.

Tom watching him leave, before looking at Adrian.

"Can we still use the room? When you guys aren't in it, I mean?"

Adrian laughed incredulously, but nodded.

"Not during peak times," he said firmly.

Tom grinned and sauntered off, looking pleased with himself.

"It's about time," Adrian said, watching him leave. "Ever since I hired Freddie, things between them were... tense." He smiled. "I'm glad they finally got their acts together, and did something about it."

Dom leant his forehead against Adrian's and smiled.

To Adrian's surprise, Dom's blue eyes filled with sudden tears.

"Hey," he whispered, cupping Dom's face in his hands. "What's the matter?"

Dom shrugged helplessly.

"I just..." His voice broke. "These past few months... everything that's happened with you... it's just been... hard."

"I know," Adrian whispered.

He looped his arms around Dom's neck and hugged him close. He felt the stress of the past few weeks wash over him, and he began to sob as well.

They hugged each other while they cried.

Finally, Dom drew back and kissed Adrian gently. He brushed his thumbs gently across Adrian's eyes, wiping away his tears.

The smaller man was still beautiful, even if his eyes were red and a little swollen.

Adrian's arms tightened around Dom's neck, and he buried his face against Dom's shoulder, breathing in the scent of Dom's aftershave and the leather of his jacket.

"I love you." Dom's lips brushed Adrian's ear gently.

"Me too."

Dom stroked Adrian's cheek gently, before he smiled and wiped his own eyes.

"Let's go back to the others," he said quietly. "I don't know about you, but I'd like a drink."

Adrian nodded, and slipped his hand into Dom's.

They went back to the main restaurant, where Rachel was still talking to Dom's nieces. They were apparently trying to teach her Italian, as frequent giggles erupted over her mis-pronunciation and terrible accent.

Freddie and Tom were behind the bar, Tom's arms looped over Freddie's shoulders from behind. The barman was leaning back against him, smiling, as they talked quietly and served drinks.

Dom's sisters were seated at a table beside the window, chatting happily over a large plate of nachos and melted cheese.

Adrian looked up at Dom, smiling, and realised that for the first time in almost seven years, he was home.

~ The End ~