William’s P.O.V

Damon’s family home was beautiful.

The walls were coated in a gentle cream coat that was the base for several art pieces and numerous framed photographs.

The cream color shifted slightly in tint when it came to the large, marble pillars that seemed to climb the walls for ages until it finally reached the arching ceilings which resembled that of a unique dome.

But that wasn’t what made this home so undeniably beautiful.

It was the fact that it felt like a home, a lived-in space that spoke of beautiful memories and experiences at every turn.

There was a never-ending sea of pictures that lined all the hallway walls we passed through, some small and others dauntingly big, but all offering me blurred glimpses into a childhood that seemed to be filled with nothing but joy.

Happy faces were showcased in every single photograph, bright smiles filling in the details where my eyes failed to.

I couldn’t find a single fault in any besides the fact that I couldn’t see them properly or pick out which of the beaming faces belonged to Damon.

I let my eyes pull from the walls and back to the man who owned my heart.

I release a breath of air I hadn’t even realized I was holding when a clear image of him fills my vision.

His sharp features were now tight with tension and discomfort as he stared ahead at his parents who were directly in front of us, leading the way through their beautiful home with stiff movements that mirrored Damon’s.

As for where we were heading, well, that destination was still unknown.

I didn’t need to turn around to know that Damon’s siblings were right behind us, all except Peter who was still at Damon’s other side.

The poor boy had kept to his word and hadn’t let him go since.

I didn’t know if Damon saw it, I doubted he did with the onslaught of emotions that had cascaded over him with being back home, but I definitely did. I saw the seemingly, unintentional formation the family had made to keep Damon caged between them all.

It was a silent attempt to keep him from leaving.

That was clearly their biggest fear from all this, him leaving again.

Something I assumed may have been an option but I was clearly realizing was definitely not. And that wasn’t only because of his family, they were a factor, but I could tell that Damon didn’t want to go anywhere as much as they didn’t want him leaving.

Which allowed for the question I’d been pushing away to wiggle its way to the surface – what the hell were we going to do when it came time for me to go back and Damon didn’t want to?

At the slight squeeze to my fingers, I escape my unwanted thoughts and blink up at Damon who was already looking at me with an almost audible question in his eyes. I offer him a quick smile in response, assuring him that I was fine.

But he doesn’t smile back when I send the same question his way.

Instead, he tightens his hold on my hand and redirects his attention to his parents as they walked into a large room that was illuminated by the floor to ceiling windows that lined the wall to the right. Giving notice to the large dining table in the center and one large painting that occupied the majority of the opposing wall.

Turning to face us once more, I meet blue eyes all too familiar to ones I loved and black, haunted ones that mirrored a fear I’d come to know as well.

Julian wrings his hand in front of himself as he visibly struggles to figure out what to say, his body shifting continuously while he keeps attempting to begin and end several sentences. His lips repeatedly parting for a moment, only to close as his eyes met the floor.

He was more than nervous, he was terrified. They all were.

Completely and utterly terrified to say a single word that may send their seventh member out the door.

I didn’t blame them though, we were all on edge with no one having a single idea of what the right thing to say or do was.

There was obviously a deeper conversation to be had, but was it the first thing that they approached or did they all ‘catch up’ first? Would it be one for everyone to be included in or would it included Damon and his parents alone?

The answer to any and every question seemed to escape each and every one of us.

I watch sympathetically as Damon’s father continues to try to find the right route, his electric blue eyes darting between Damon and me as if he thought one of us would take the lead.

I certainly wouldn’t be, I didn’t have much of a say in what was to happen next. Even though Damon was my heart and soul, it was his family, not mine so all I could do was support him as he tried to get through whatever was to come.

“A-Are you hungry?” Julian finally manages, his tone a saddening blend between desperate and fearful. “I made s-salmon.”

I look up at Damon and catch the way a small smile tugged at his lips at the offer.

“That’d be nice. Thanks, dad.” Damon says, his virtual beginnings of an olive branch clearly doing wonders for his father who smiled eagerly at him.

“Good, that’s good.” His father praises as he steps back with his partner on his heals. “You all sit down and I-I’ll b-bring out all the food. Okay?”

When Damon nodded, his father smiled once again before leaving the room with Damon’s other father who still hadn’t said a single word.

Silently, we all slipped into the available chairs, with Damon, Peter and I filling one side where his other siblings filled the other, leaving both ends of the table empty for his fathers.

It was a beautiful table I knew my parents would drool over just like the rest of this house, but it was also clearly designed specifically for this family. With wood carvings along the edges that matched the ones around the house, it was uniquely theirs.

Damon’s siblings all shifted between staring at their hands and staring that their brother. Rarely risking a glimpse at me before the process repeated itself all over again.

“Where’s Jayson?” Damon voices, finally filling the painfully, quiet space with a question.

I watch as the one with black hair sits up a little, body tensing as he blinked a few times. He must’ve been Levi, Damon said one of his brother’s also had a mate and that their name was Jayson.

“He’s back home, w-with the pack,” Levi answers quickly, stumbling over his words a little as he looked at Damon. “He was here before, looking for you.” He continued quickly before sagging a little. “But we couldn’t leave the pack without at least one of us, it’s still so new and a month had already passed. So I told him to go home without me.”

“Wait, how long have you been here?” Damon asks carefully.

“Since the night dad called and told me what happened,” Levi says as if that was the most obvious answer in the world. “Aunt Katty brought me down cause I wanted to talk with you when you came back, e-explain things. But then you didn’t.”

Silence follows as Levi’s words trail off while he shifted slightly in his chair, looking down at his clasped hands as the unwanted tension slowed seeped its way back into the room.

“You’ve been here since the night I left?” Damon questions after a moment, his voice showing the pure surprise at his brother’s revelation as if he hadn’t even considered that to be a possibility. “It’s been months Levi.”

“I know,” Levi replies tightly, shutting his eyes as if the mention of it physically hurt him.

“But your pack.” Damon continues with a showcasing of genuine confusion on his face as he leaned forward a little. “Y-You have a pack now and a mate, a life tha-”

“Yes but you’re my family Damon… my brother,” Levi says cutting Damon off before his mouth could carry him any further. “There was no way I could stay there without knowing that you were okay.”

Damon’s mouth shuts as he sinks back into his chair a little, his mind clearly reeling with the new information that clearly altered things for him. I knew it hadn’t even considered that his brother would wait for him, he hadn’t mentioned the possibility even once.

Every time Damon spoke of Levi it was of him being in Canada with his new pack and his mate, Jayson. A man I could tell, from the few conversations he was brought up in, Damon did not like.

It was also clear that Damon thought that his brother only cared for his pack and mate, hurt featuring in his expression every time he spoke about him. But that didn’t really seem to be the case at all.

“I-I didn’t k-know.” A trembling voice came, filling the silence before it could completely descend once more. “P-Promise D-D-Damon, I-I d-didn’t know.”

My heart practically shattered at the sight of Damon’s younger brother Peter still clinging to him from across his seat that he had placed right next to Damons, practically gluing them together. Damon had warned me that Peter was quite ‘sensitive’ and ‘fragile’, but I didn’t expect it to be this bad.

“I know you didn’t Peter,” Damon says rubbing his brother’s back gently. “I believe you.”

“Hagen and I didn’t know either!” His little sister, Josey, quickly filled in. “I would’ve told you if I knew they were going to…”

Her words fell apart as Levi’s entire atmosphere shifted in a visible manner, his shoulder drooping as he brought his hands to him as if to stabilize himself. His eyes dropped from Damon’s as clear shame circled him completely.

“I-I’m sorry Damon I-” Levi begins,

“We can talk about it later,” Damon says tightly, cutting him off before he could begin his apology.

As if Damon’s words had slapped him, Levi sinks further into his seat with a slight nod of his head. I frown slightly at this, not understanding the anger Damon was directing his way, it didn’t fit into the information about his past that he’d given me. Clearly, there was a piece of all this that Damon hadn’t wanted to share or maybe, couldn’t bring himself to share.

Before the awkward atmosphere had a chance to thicken, Damon’s parents were rentering the room with dishes full of different food that they placed in the center of the table.

I try not to show my discomfort as I survey the food, failing to distinguish what was inside the various dishes they placed before us, through several trips to and from the kitchen. But no matter how much I tried, I couldn’t tell much apart other than a bowl of asparagus and a pot full of mash potatoes.

I force myself to swallow my discomfort as the plates are passed around and hope that I’d somehow get through this without having to already share with them that part of myself.

“Does anything have shellfish in it?” Damon asks pointedly, the question taking everyone including me, by surprise. “Will’s allergic to shellfish.”

All eyes found their way to me as I sat awkwardly, somehow feeling the need to apologize for something I couldn’t change.

I knew Damon wasn’t particularly fond of my species and all that came with it and I could only hope that that wasn’t a trait he shared with the rest of his family.

“Oh,” Julian says as he stares at me before blinking and shaking his head. “There’s no shellfish.”

I smile gratefully at him and watch as everyone starts dishing out food for themselves. I watch awkwardly as they fill their plates and wonder if I should just do the same. I could make myself eat all I took, even if it turned out to be something I hated.

My mental battle comes to an immediate halt when Damon picks up my plate and stands up a little.

“Do you want garlic sauce on the mash?” Damon asks nonchalantly as he puts a spoonful of the fluffy goodness on my plate. He looks back and I nod mindlessly, watching with awe at the man who knew me better than I thought any other could.

Damon knew I wouldn’t be comfortable talking about my eyesight with his family, knew how I hated to ask for help and he knew that I loved mashed potatoes more than any person really should.

With a couple of nods and shakes of the head, Damon retakes his seat next to me after placing down a steaming plate of food in front of me. I resist the sudden urge to kiss him stupid and thank him instead, promising myself I’d thank him properly when we were alone.

I collect a forkful of food and take a bite, my eyes shut and I almost moan at how fucking good it was. I chew slowly taking in the fucking beauty of it, it was just that good that it was beautiful. When I hear a chuckle, I open one of my eyes to find Damon’s family all smiling at me a little. My chewing freezes as I sit up and look to Damon who was smirking with clear amusement.

“What?” I ask after swallowing.

“Besides the fact that you look like you just tasted heaven,” Damon comments just as Hagen snorts a little. “We usually say thanks before we eat.”

I raise an eyebrow at that, barely managing to bite back ’bullshit!’. There was no way Damon who once looked disgusted at the prospect of me saying a prayer for breakfast was now giving thanks. But that was an inquiry I’d have to follow when we weren’t in front of his family who were all still staring at me.

“Sorry,” I mumble and put the fork down.

I look around expectantly, waiting to see who’d go first but no one made a single move as they just sat there. I glance up at Damon, resting a hand on his leg to find him looking equally as confused at the awkwardness in the room.

“Do you not do that anymore?” Damon asks carefully, the pain in his eyes transparent to all who looked.

“We haven’t…” Julian starts but never quite manages to finish his sentence.

“We haven’t eaten together since you left.” Levi finishes for him, his voice just as stiff as it had been earlier.

Damon’s eyes widen, mouth going lax as his brother’s words settle in. He takes in a shuddering breath as he looks around the table of downcasted heads, his shock matching their shame.

“Why not?” Damon asks, looking to his father Aiden who was yet to say a single word. As if thinking better of it, he aims his question at Julian instead. “Why not?”

“Because things changed when you left Damon,” Josey replies when nobody else seemed able to. It was bright enough for me to see how her features contorted into one of pure anger that could kill and right now, Damon was on the other end of it.

“Josey,” Julian warns but she wasn’t listening.

“A lot of things changed when you left and a lot more happened,” Josey says through clipped words. “We don’t eat together anymore because Peter stopped talking to dad, stopped helping him in the kitchen or even looking his way. He blames dad for you leaving so he cut him off.”

Damon’s eyes dart down to his younger brother who was shaking again, small cries escaping him as he clung to Damon like an anchor he needed to breathe.

“We don’t eat together anymore because there wasn’t much to be thankful for when we didn’t know if you were dead, hurt or gone forever.” She snaps as she drove ahead. “Not to mention it wasn’t much of a dinner with everyone was out looking for you.”

“Josey stop,” Levi warns grabbing hold of his sister’s hand but her eyes were lit with rage, glowing as she continued on her warpath.

“I’m not fucking stopping,” Josey growls pulling her hand from Levi as she redirects her attention to Damon. “Dad cries all day, pops barely talks let alone eats, Levi is barely here he’s always looking for you, Peter doesn’t even come out his room any more and Hagen can barely sleep he’s so afraid someone else will leave as you did.

It’s been five months since we saw you, Damon!” She reminds, her voice shaking slightly as tears began to fall. “Five months since any of us heard from you! Well everyone besides dad cause apparently you could answer his calls and texts, but not ours. Of course, shit fucking changed in five months without any of us having a single fucking clue where you were.”

“Josey that’s enough,” Julians says standing, his voice booming through the room as a wave of what could only be described as power filled the room. “That is enough.” He says slowly as his daughter glares up at him.

She pushes her chair back and stands, looking away from her father and back to Damon as she raises her finger.

“You left.” She says with a tone too calm. “You fucking left and you didn’t say a single word to any of us, even the ones who didn’t fuck you over like the rest. You just left. Don’t sound so fucking surprised when there hasn’t been a single day we didn’t miss you.”

With that, Josey leaves the room without a single glance back leaving. I bite my lip as I shift my wide eyes from where the fiery girl once stood and to Damon who looked ready to fall apart. I slip my fingers into his, heart aching when he clenched onto it so hard it numbed.

“I’ll take it up for her,” Hagen says as he stands and grabs both his and her plates. “I’m really happy you came back Damon and so is Josey, she’s just… she thought you’d say something to her.”

As Hagen leaves, Damon takes in a deep breath, I rub my thumb over his skin and move a little closer so he knew I was right there with him. I wanted to take him back to our bed where it was safe and he was smiling, not on the verge of breaking when I couldn’t do a single thing about it.

I look across as his parents, hoping they’d see that this dinner with everyone was all too much, too soon. Especially when there were so many heated emotions clearly ticking beneath the surface, ones that couldn’t be ignored or put to the side.

But as Julian slipped back into his seat, it was clear to see that he was just as lost to this situation as his partner seemed to be.

“You guys should talk,” I say to Damon making his attention shift to me as if he’d just remembered I was here. “Either talk or try again tomorrow.”

Damon nods aimlessly, his eyes glued to mine as he looked for an escape in a situation we both knew there was no more running from. I squeeze his hand as I smile a little, hoping he could see that no matter which way things went, I’d be right here to pick him back down when he stumbled.

“Levi, Peter,” Damon says as he looks away from me, his gaze stronger now. “Do you mind giving us some space? I want to speak to Dad and Pops, alone.”

Levi nods as he stands before making his way to his little brother who was still clinging to Damon, shaking his head adamantly.

“I’m not going to leave again Peter,” Damon assures Peter as Levi takes him from Damon, holding him in his arms as he sobbed. “I won’t leave again, don’t worry.”

When Peter’s sobs were only a distant sound, Damon looked back to the two men who sat at the heads of the table, fearful eyes trained to the two of us.

“Do you want me to go too?” I ask, unsure if his request to be alone included me.

“No.” He says quickly. “I need you here.”

I nod, bringing our clasped hands up to press a kiss to it. He relaxes visibly at the gesture, lips tugging upwards for a briet moment before he steels himself completely.

He finally looks back to the two people I knew he feared facing more than anyone else in this world.

His parents.

——————————–

Here we go…

Thoughts???????

What did we think about Josey’s reaction?

I, personally, 100% support it. She was Damon’s lil G and he left her on read, I’d be fucking pissed too if my big bro did that to me. Oh my lawd, he’d have to catch these hands on sight!

Anyways! Comment up and Vote up. You guys know I love hearing responses.

I did have a tough time trying to decide which route to choose next. Like going straight to the talk felt wrong, anything comedic seemed equally fucked and this came to be this besr option.

But I’m now like – was this a filler chapter? I’m not sure.

Like I felt like I needed something to lead into the talk with his parents and this felt right, but it feels a bit empty but like…… Idk.

Tippy is confanxious (real ones will remember)

Until next time,
Byeeeeeeeeee Humanssssssssssssss