This is their life. Neal stares a moment, realizing with a jolt that he doesn’t have to study the menu with one eye and look over his shoulder with the other. Yeah, he enjoyed that, or he told himself he did—the adrenaline and risk of it, the glamor of being internationally pursued—but… this is their life. They can live it, enjoy it, without the hovering threat of an expiration date backed by metal bars.

He tries to clear his throat, but the knot in it doesn’t go away. Neal lifts Malcolm’s hand and kisses it, determined now more than ever to make sure he takes care of this man the way he deserves. “I love you.”