Icarus heart was warm.

It was beating in a musical, calming rhythm that reminded him he was still alive.

This was the first time in his life he felt like that.

It was the first time he felt alive.

Thanks to Apollo.

Icarus had to thank Apollo for many things. Apollo, in the few days they'd been together, had done so much for Icarus, in the smallest of ways. He'd made his hands warm, his heart beat and toes wiggle. He'd put a smile on his face, he made his eyes crease in laughter and he made tears fall from his eyes in the best of ways.

Apollo had become his heart, in such a short space of time. He had become Icarus' world, quite ironically. He had given him life, he was sustaining him in a way that no one else had done before.

He wasn't just existing anymore.

Now Icarus was alive, and he was loving every second of it.

"You're music is beautiful." Icarus said, as he sat on his familiar windowsill, basking in the sunlight like a lazing cat with his eyes shut, listening to Apollo delicately pluck the strings of his lyre. "It's so...nice."

"Thats always comforting to hear." Apollo smiled, as he plucked another. "Considering what I'm the god of."

Icarus laughed. "I suppose so." He replied, looking deeply into Apollo's eyes. "I suppose so."

Apollo played a few more random notes on the lyre. "What do you plan on doing when your father finishes the labyrinth?" He asked. "What are you going to do?"

Icarus' smile disappeared from his face. "Probably nothing."

Apollo raised an eyebrow. "Nothing?"

"Nothing."

"Why nothing?"

Icarus sighed and he suddenly looked a lot more tense. "My father thinks that, once he finishes the labyrinth, we still won't be able to leave." He explained. "So I suppose that, once he finishes the labyrinth, I'll do nothing. Nothing's going to change."

Apollo put the lyre down. "Surely, you can't settle for this. Surely you can't be content with nothing changing."

"Of course I'm not content!" Icarus frowned. "I have never been content in my life because nothing's ever changed for me, no matter how much I've wanted it to!" He blinked quickly, as if he were trying to stop the inevitable flow of tears. "At this point, I don't know what to do. I prayed and now I have you, I can't ask for anything more."

Apollo's dark brows furrowed. "Is it that you can't ask for anything more, or is it that you think you shouldn't ask for anything more? Because let me tell you Icarus, there have been many before you who have asked for greater things than freedom."

Icarus frowned because Apollo was right.

"You aren't asking for your lover to be brought back, you aren't asking for eternal life, you aren't asking for all the world's riches; you're asking for freedom, which should be a human's given."

"I would like to leave, to go to all of these places that you described to me." Icarus said. "But maybe, this is my forever. I'm not happy with it, in fact I couldn't hate it more, but I'm trying to accept it. Accept the fact that these four walls might be my forever."

Apollo could not loose the frown that had grown onto his face. He hated that Icarus could now accept this, accept that he'd never leave Minos' palace. It was painful to him; this was no life, it was barely existing.

But, truth be told, Icarus hadn't accepted it. He still yearned to leave more than anything, but he'd just gotten tired of fighting the truth, which was that he'd never leave.

Truth was a difficult thing to fight Icarus found, and at this point he'd given up on leaving, but not on life because he had Apollo now. Apollo made him happy, he eased his sadness in a way no one else seemed to, and that was enough for him.

"Would you like to out again?" Apollo asked. "To the sea, I mean. You seemed to like it last time."

Icarus smiled, then nodded. "I would like to, but when?"

He stood up from his seat by the window. "Now." He declared. "Why waste any more time pondering over things that make you upset?"

Icarus stood up and took Apollo's hand, as a nervous feeling sat in his chest; no matter how many times they did it, Icarus hated that there was no other means of transport other than flying.

"You're trying to change the subject." Icarus said quietly, placing a quick kiss on Apollo's lips. "I think it upsets you more than it upsets me."

Apollo delicately ran his fingers through Icarus' hair. "Maybe so, but the fact that you might never leave still upsets you, doesn't it?"

"I never said it didn't." He replied. "Now, let's not ponder over things that make us upset." Icarus grinned. "Let's go."

Apollo pulled Icarus out of the window and they moved through the air, Icarus with his eyes closed much like the first time they did this together, because Icarus was still, weeks later, afraid of heights. Which must be ironic in a way, because he spent most of his time in a tower.

But maybe his fear was justified?

Something about heights just didn't sit right with him.

If only he knew what was coming, Atropos said, pulling the string tight, If only he knew.

Not yet, Lachesis replied, he still has time.

They soon landed on the beach, though their hands didn't disentangle from each other; they stayed latched together like the strongest lock. As their hands stayed clasped together, they stared out into the distance, at the sea and over the horizon.

It stretched far and wide, way beyond the stretches of Icarus' imagination. He had no idea what was beyond the sea, what the other lands were like; it was a mystery to him, an eternal enigma; a fascination.

"What's beyond the horizon?" Icarus asked, as he pointed out into the darkness. "What's across the sea?"

"The rest of the world." Apollo told him. "An expansive land of people living lives, both good and bad. There are people like Minos, and there's also people like you."

Icarus smiled, as they both took a seat on the sand, their hands still firmly intertwined. "People like me?"

"Good people. People who deserve the world but never get it. People who deserve love."

Icarus rested his head on Apollo's shoulder, snuggling closely to his warm side in the cold night.

"Thank you."

Apollo frowned, as they leant backwards and rested their heads on the sand. "What are you thanking me for?" He asked. "You don't need to thank me."

"I do." Icarus insisted quietly. "You're so nice to me, so kind to me; you're always by my side even when you don't need to be. You could be with anyone; you're a god, everyone would revel in the chance to be your lover, but you're here with me, and I feel I must thank you for that. You've eased the pain on my shoulders, thank you."

Apollo snaked his arm around Icarus and pulled him closer. "You don't need to thank me." Apollo replied. "I'm by your side because I want to be, there is no place in the world I'd rather be than right here; sat next to you, looking up at the sky, watching the world go by."

Icarus' chest had felt warm and heavy all evening, but now it felt as if he'd swallowed the sun and put a boulder on his chest. His hands were clammy, and every so often when he'd gaze deeply into Apollo's dark brown eyes, his breath would hitch in his throat.

Is this what it feels like to be in love? Icarus thought, bringing himself closer to Apollo's chest, so that he could feel his beating heart. If it is, then I never want to feel anything else.

Apollo's gaze met Icarus', as they lay together on the sand, and for a moment it felt as if the world had stopped. There was no sound of waves crashing upon the shore, there were no dark mountains looming behind them, there was no moon shining above them; for a few minutes, only the depts of the other's eyes existed.

Until they heard a voice call out from further up the shore.

"Hello?" The voice yelled, as the person it belonged to drew closer. "Who's there?"

Icarus and Apollo sat bolt up in surprise, before turning to look at each other as the voice slowly grew closer. No one's supposed to be here, they thought simultaneously. Did someone see us leave?

They scrambled to their feet and Apollo quickly took Icarus' hand, as they ran down the beach in the opposite direction to the voice. They ran and ran until they came to the wide mouth of a river, after which they decided they'd gone far enough and sat down again on the stand, their chests heaving as they tried to catch their breath. As soon as they had, Icarus began to laugh.

"Why are you laughing?" Apollo asked, still trying to catch his breath.

Icarus shrugged as his laughter faded. "I don't know." He said. "I really don't know. I guess that this is just the most carefree I've felt- no, the most free I've felt. It feels weird, nice."

"We almost got caught." He frowned. "Imagine what Minos would've done if he had caught us."

Icarus turned to Apollo and took his hands in is own. "He would've done imaginable things I'm sure." He smiled. "But the thing is that, without you, would being free out here, that would've never have happened. Right now, I am free to do as I please, and I am free to get caught or not. If I were still in the tower, this would've never have happened.

Apollo smiled. "Well then, I'm glad you think so optimistically, because most people don't."

"I guess I'm not most people then."

"You aren't." He gripped Icarus hands tighter. "You really, really aren't."