Alec slowly pulled himself up as Amelia dramatically dropped down to sit next to the child. Somehow getting what he wanted wasn't feeling right."And what should we call you, my dumpling?" Amelia was cooing away at the toddler as Alec reluctantly went into the kitchen to start dinner. Alec returned in the middle of cooking. Sweaty and with a few bruises, he still cheerfully greeted Amelia with a kiss and squatted down to coo at the toddler."Did you find his parents?" Apparently, Amelia had gotten a longer version of the story than Alec had.Sebestian's smile faded. "Alpha father. Beta mother. Neither wanted-"Alec's stomach twisted. Amelia made a hurt noise, but it was sudden and brief. Sebestian knew without looking that Amelia had already pasted on a fake smile."Do we have a name then?""Yes, his name is Leo.""So, little sweetling Leo, it looks like you'll be staying with us."Alec startled at the announcement, missing the onion he was chopping and instead slicing into his hand.
The breakfast led to a boozy lunch and by afternoon, Alec could feel some guilt sinking in. More than that though, he found himself growing angry. All their promises suddenly felt like empty words, and he could tell he was being even more of a"bluenose" as Sammy had called. Even she was getting tired of his grumpiness, though he could tell she was worried."They probably know you're with me and just don't want to interrupt you. They don't want to be suffocating.""That'd be a first. They just haven't noticed is all.""Okay, no more." Sammy snatched his glass from his hand. "You need to go home and deal with this. Sitting here and drinking is accomplishing nothing.""You're impatient for someone who has all the time in the world.""Come on," she tugged him to his feet. "I'm going to walk you home, and you're going to deal with this."And that was exactly what she did. She walked him straight into the Will's apartment, dragging him along by the hand as if leading a lost child back home.
They continued talking and drinking. Alec, head spinning in a pleasant sensation from the plasma found himself actually laughing at some of the jokes. His eyes wandered to Min's lips. He had never liked kissing. He felt no sexual attraction. Sometimes though he still found himself wanting to press his lips against someone else's. Just the quickest impact and in as innocent of a manner as a quick peck on the cheek.Eventually, the talking did become borderline flirting. Min leaned in closer, and Alec prepared to break the news to him that nothing was going to happen."Your parents are looking for this way."Okay. That was a new one. Alec twisted around to glance in that direction. Both his mum and dad were staring at him in confusion, and as soon as they caught him glancing back, Sebestian stood and made his way over.Alec waited for her to reach them. Sebestian glanced over Minj. "Hello, Min.""Hi, Sebes-"That was as far as Min got before Sebetsian was turning his back to instead loo
And that was thing. It was working. Surprisingly well actually. Alec was adhering to the rules Sebestian had set. He was staying in the apartment. He wasn't touching his phone which sat on the living room mantel where it was to remain for the two weeks. He did his usual household responsibilities with all the same attention and care as usual, and he even helped to reorganize their book collection. He followed all the rules precisely even if his attitude was chilly at best, and then they reached the third day of the grounding.Alec was pouting. It was the only way to describe the expression on his face right then. "If I'm grounded, then shouldn't I be at home anyway?""No, because there's no one there to make sure you don't go out, and besides you probably enjoying staying in by yourself more than going out so it's not really a punishment.""You make it sound like I hate people."Sebestian raised an eyebrow."I just find them slightly intolerable. Anyway, what about the retirement cent
Ethan took a deep breath and tried to ignore the tightening of his chest. Today was his graduation ceremony, after which he would finally be a real designer. He had trained for this moment, had dreamed about it; he should have been delighted at the prospect of finally getting it. And yet...And yet, he couldn't breathe.His brother would be in the room, and so would his parents. They would all be watching him, would all congratulate him, would all expect him to be overwhelmed with joy. But he couldn't breathe, and for the first time, Ethan wondered if this was really what he was meant to do.But most of all, he had seen the way that both of them had degraded deigned who didn't live up to their impossibly high standards, and he was terrified. Because his parents loved him, but would they still care about him? Would they still soothe him when he had nightmares? Or would they tell him that he was weak, the way they had when an older had thrown up at the sight – Ethan had cried himself to
(How Ethan and Matthew got together)"You have a choice to make. I will not ask again."The words hurt to say, but Matthew couldn't let this Alpha take over his heart, no matter how pretty he was. If Ethan refused to put an end to this sham of a promise he was planning, Matthew wouldn't chase him any longer.He breathed in deeply and ignored the pain that flooded his chest as Ethan remained silent. He lifted a hand, ready to go away at a second's notice, but then the gorgeous Alpha in front of him turned around and all thoughts of disappearing faded away.He should have left, should have given Ethan space and time to think about his offer, but one look at those sorrowful eyes was enough to stop him in his tracks. He was falling too fast for this Alpha, was putting himself through things he had refused to deal with for year's, and he didn't know how to put an end to it.(Didn't know if he wanted to put an end to it.)Matthew stayed silent, waiting for Ethan to speak up, to deny his fee
"Sorry I'm late!"Matthew looked up at his boyfriend dryly, refusing to show how affected he had been by Ethan's absence. The two of them had been planning this date for weeks, but the younger man hadn't even managed to show up on time. Of course, Matthew understood that Ethan had a lot on his mind, but he had hoped that for once he could be his boyfriend's priority."Advin kept me late again," Ethan continued with a sheepish grin. Matthew steadfastly ignored the wave of jealousy that hit him at those words. "You know how he gets when we train. I tried to remind him that we had something planned for the night, but he refused to let me go until I beat him, which only happens like... One out of twenty times. Are we still going to that star-gazing thing at the observatory?""Of course we are," Matthew rolled his eyes. The younger Alpha had been talking about the event for over a month, which was why they had chosen this night for their date in the first place. "We should get going if we
Ethan was already in their bedroom when Matthew got back to the hotel. The younger vampire grinned at him happily and Matthew felt another pang of regret at his earlier behaviors. He could have been with his boyfriend hours ago, but instead he had acted like a jealous fool and wasted time on stupid insecurities that he should have gotten over weeks before."I missed you today," Ethan sighed, leaning over to peck him on the lips. "Alec said that you stopped by the wok and went looking for me after the council meeting, but I didn't see you. Did something come up?""Yeah," Matthew lied, wincing at how wrong the word sounded. Ethan was right, he couldn't just ignore his issues and keep Ethan in the dark. It wasn't fair to either of them. "Actually no, not really. I went to the training room to find you, but you were with Ady and I... I don't know, Ethan, I guess I overreacted a little bit. I went to Cammy for a while instead.""What do you mean, you overreacted?" Ethan frowned."I just...