The rest of dinner was split between two very different vibes: one couple focused on the BBQ, while the other engaged in a ruthless drinking match.

By the time the last can was empty, Leon's father, Arthur, was practically gritting his teeth.

"I carried that beer all the way up here," Arthur muttered, glaring at his son.

Leon had clearly played him, and Arthur knew exactly what the "North American Gray Wolf" was planning for the night.

Freya leaned toward Lucien, her voice a soft, maternal hum.

"Baby, are you okay? Are you dizzy?"

Lucien, who had actually only managed a single drink while Leon drained the rest, shook his head.

He held up a chicken wing like a ceremonial goblet.

"I'm fine, Freya. I'll drink to you, but you can just watch."

He then buried his face in the wing, tearing into it with a drunkard's intensity.

Freya gave Leon a warning look.

"Don't you dare bully him."

"He's the one who wanted to get me drunk," Leon countered, a dark smirk playing on his lips.

Despite the talk, Leon was attentive, coaxing Lucien to drink some warm water before guiding him toward their tent.

Lucien stumbled, his legs feeling like overcooked noodles.

"Not sleeping," Lucien slurred, grabbing Leon's sleeve.

"I need to see the stars."

Leon didn't argue with a drunk lamb.

He led Lucien back outside, spreading a mat on the grass and draping his heavy designer jacket over the boy's shoulders.

"Cold, baby?"

"I'm good," Lucien whispered, leaning his head against Leon's solid arm.

Leon pulled him closer, feeling his heart soften into something dangerously vulnerable.

"Lucien, do you really not want to marry me?"

Leon's voice was a low, jagged rasp in the quiet of the mountain.

Lucien let out a tiny, wine-scented hiccup.

"I'm just... scared."

Leon sat up slightly, his steel-gray eyes tracking every flush on Lucien's skin.

"Scared of what?"

Lucien's gaze went hazy as his mind drifted to the stray puppy and the marbles he'd lost as a kid.

"I'm afraid you'll just disappear like everything else," Lucien pouted, his voice muffled.

Leon's chest tightened, a physical ache blooming behind his ribs.

He leaned down, pressing a lingering kiss to Lucien's cheek.

"I'm never leaving, baby. I'm locking us into negative distance for life."

Lucien blinked up at him, then lunged forward to clumsily press his lips against Leon's.

Leon's self-control snapped.

He scooped Lucien up and carried him into the tent.

"Stars," Lucien protested weakly.

"There are stars in here too," Leon lied, his voice dropping into that manipulative 'King' register.

Lucien was drunk enough to believe him.

Leon helped him change out of his clothes, then used a warm, damp towel to wipe the boy's face since there was no shower on the ridge.

Lucien finally settled into the duvet, looking like a pale "sticky rice ball."

"Husband," Lucien whispered, eyes fluttering.

"Are you drunk too?"

Leon chuckled, his fingers nipping at Lucien's cheek.

"Why? You trying to get me to shut down?"

Lucien looked down toward Leon's waist with startling honesty.

"It's bedtime. Did you shut it down yet?"

Leon's gaze went lethal.

He grabbed Lucien's hand, guiding it toward the heat beneath his waistband.

"Check for yourself, baby. See if the power is off."

Lucien's survival instinct finally kicked in through the alcoholic haze.

He yanked his hand back and squeezed his eyes shut.

"Dizzy. Sleeping now."

Leon didn't get angry; he just hummed, the vibration rattling through Lucien's chest.

"Sleep then. I've got work to do."

Lucien fell into a deep sleep almost instantly, his tiny snores filling the quiet tent.

The mountain was silent, save for the wind rattling the trees outside.

Inside, Leon was busy "working."

He'd spent the whole day wanting a taste, and a sleeping lamb was far easier to consume.

The tent was cramped, forcing them together until Lucien was pinned firmly into Leon's heat.

Lucien spent the night lost in a feverish dream.

He felt like he'd been dropped into a massive furnace, the heat pressing in from every side.

Leon was there in the dream, forcing him to hold a pair of scorching fire irons that Lucien tried to drop.

But Leon wouldn't let him go, whispering "baby" into his ear until the heat became unbearable.

Lucien woke before the sun, feeling exhausted from the "dream."

Leon was already moving, hauling Lucien out of the tent while the boy was still wrapped in the duvet.

"Babe, look up."

Lucien blinked his bleary eyes open.

The sky was a riot of gold and crimson as the sun broke through the clouds.

Leon pressed his lips against Lucien's ear.

"I'm going to say this to you every single day."

"Lin Yu'an, I love you."