The Not So Tragic Love Story Continues...

[red_peril]

No one had expected a happy ending for them. Illya had been certain he would be killed or he would somehow lose Aran. But both of them survived to escape the Vor. After Illya had recovered from his wounds, they made their way to a small town in the Rockies. They stayed there for a few weeks only. It was an in between place. From there they had travelled on, to a place higher in the mountains and more remote. The Vor tended to stick to the large cities. That was where money could be made. They had no interest in little towns in the mountains in Canada. So it seemed like a good place to settle where they might not be found. Illya and Aran finally ended up in Maple Ridge, a small town in the mountains just outside Vancouver BC. It had a year round population of 19,000. It grew in the Winter during ski season when people came up to the Tamarack resort to ski and then dropped back down when the snow melted in the Summer.

Illya found them a nice place on a little street called Dogwood Avenue. There was not much to move as they had both left with next to nothing. For the moment, they had a mattress and box springs on the floor in the upstairs bedroom. Luckily, they had enough money for this new start and could furnish and decorate the house however they wanted.

It felt strange to wake up in a new place. Illya stretched, his toes peeking out from below the covers as he moved. He drew them back in from the cold morning air, and watched as the bars of sunlight painted by the horizontal blinds stretched out across the room. He felt entirely too warm and comfortable to leave the bed. Or his warm bed mate. He pulled back the covers from Aran's face and leaned over to kiss him gently.

"Good morning," Illya smiled. "Do you want breakfast?" he asked, brushing a stray lock of tangled hair from Aran's face.