Kieran led Aiden to a quiet terrace overlooking the museum's sculpture garden. The October night was crisp, stars barely visible through New York's light pollution.
"I don't know where to start," Kieran admitted, still holding Aiden's hand like he was afraid he'd disappear.
"Start with why you're crying," Aiden said gently, reaching up to touch the tear track on Kieran's face.
Kieran caught his hand, pressed it against his cheek. "Because I've been looking for you for a thousand years. And I'd almost given up hope."
"A thousand years. You're saying you're... what? Immortal?"
"Yes. I'm a vampire. Over sixteen hundred years old." Kieran watched Aiden's face carefully. "And you—your soul—has been reincarnating for over a millennium. We've found each other in lifetime after lifetime. Loved each other. Lost each other."
Aiden should have laughed. Should have called security. Should have done anything except stand there, hand still pressed against this stranger's face, feeling like he'd finally found something he'd been missing his entire life.
"I don't remember," he said. "I don't remember any of it."
"I know. You never do. Each lifetime, you're born new. No memories of what came before. But I remember everything." Kieran's voice broke. "Every lifetime. Every loss. Every moment of loving you and losing you."
"That sounds..." Aiden struggled for words. "Unbearably painful."
"It is. It has been. But having you here, now, seeing you alive and whole and real..." Kieran pulled back slightly, releasing Aiden's hand. "I'm sorry. This is too much. I'm overwhelming you."
"No." Aiden caught his hand back. "Don't. Don't pull away. I've felt incomplete my entire life. Like I was waiting for something, someone. And now you're here, telling me this impossible story, and it's the first thing that's ever made sense."
"You believe me?"
"I don't know. Maybe I'm crazy. But I've been dreaming about your eyes for years. I've been sketching them, trying to understand why they felt so familiar. And now you're here, and you're real, and..." Aiden laughed, slightly hysterical. "Either I've finally lost my mind, or you're telling the truth."
"I'm telling the truth. I can prove it, if you need proof."
"How?"
Kieran's eyes flashed crimson. His fangs descended slightly. And Aiden felt no fear—just fascination.
"You're really a vampire."
"Yes."
"And we've really been... together? In past lives?"
"Yes. Though the specifics varied. Sometimes we had years together. Sometimes only days or weeks before circumstances tore us apart. In your last life..." Kieran's expression turned anguished. "In your last life, I turned you. Made you immortal like me. We were bonded, had forever ahead of us. And then you were killed. Nine hundred and twenty years ago."
"That's why you were hiding. Why you'd given up hope."
"How did you—"
"I can see it in your eyes. The grief, the loss, the..." Aiden touched Kieran's face again. "The exhaustion of existing for too long without the person you love."
Kieran turned his face into Aiden's palm, his composure cracking. "I don't want to rush you. I don't want to pressure you or make you feel like you owe me something because of past lives you don't remember. You're your own person, Aiden. This lifetime is yours to live however you choose."
"But?"
"But I've waited so long. And having you here, being able to touch you, hear your voice, see you alive and safe..." Kieran's voice dropped to a whisper. "I don't know how to be patient when all I want is to never let you out of my sight again."
Aiden felt tears on his own face now. "I don't know what I'm feeling. Everything is too much, too fast. But I do know that being near you feels right in a way nothing else ever has."
"Then can I see you again? Tomorrow? Let me show you my world, tell you our story, give you time to process all of this?"
"Yes. Tomorrow. And the day after. And the day after that." Aiden smiled through his tears. "I've been waiting for you my entire life, even though I didn't know who you were. I'm not walking away now."
Kieran pulled him into an embrace that felt like coming home. Like pieces of a puzzle finally clicking together after being scattered across lifetimes.
And for the first time in nine hundred and twenty years, Kieran felt something other than pain in his chest.
He felt hope. Real, genuine, terrifying hope.
Adrian—Aiden—was back.
And this time, Kieran would do everything right.