"So? Start from the top," Gallion stated, looking at his adorable, small, and snotty best friend.

She probably didn't know how much he trusted her, or that he viewed her as his favorite person at this esteemed Academy, but that was alright in his book. The fact that she treated him and his chosen family all so kindly while being from Hylyu was impressive enough on its own.

He bent over and picked up a nearby piece of clean clothing, soaking it with warm water he created. After that, he leaned forward and began wiping at her face that was streaked with tears.

"Stop it," she half chuckled, half sobbed, reaching up and yanking the rag out of his hands while leaning backward.

"Well do it yourself then. A woman as beautiful as you should never let her face get so horribly uncomposed."

They moved to sit down in the corner of the room she'd broken into, two chairs he had facing the balcony that had been cleaned thoroughly by Kastra's hand being their seating arrangements. The Fae had flit about his room and cleaned everything in this corner with boiling hot water, dumping the filth that had coalesced in it out his window. After, she'd walled off the section of his room that smelled like sex and ventilated the air in their clean corner.

"If only someone loved me as much as Kastra loved you two..." he mused as the thin wall of earth went up. "Oh well, in time, I suppose. Now, let's hear what happened, though I'm certain I could guess."

Alexa looked up from where she sat, wiping at her face, then looked back down to her knees and rested her forehead in her hands.

"He kissed me a few days before orientation."

"Oh no. God forbid," Gallion quickly replied, feigning a look of horror as she lifted her head up to scowl at him. "You two kiss all the time, who cares? What caused... all of this?" he asked, waving at the mess that was Alexa.

"Shut up Gal, it was different. Longer and... look. It doesn't matter. It just changed everything. After that, it escalated and..."

Gallion listened in as she explained, starting with the communing and moving onto all the other small incidents while detailing what he said, up until the point he'd teased her while cooking. By the end, his hands were cradling his chin as he did his best not to yawn while slumping deep into his chair, bored with the honeymoon phase she'd just described.

"Yes, yes, you're a happy couple. What. Caused. This?" he questioned, exasperated. "Get to the point or I'll have to call my company back in to keep entertained."

She paused for a moment.

"We got into a fight."

"Obviously," he responded, rolling his eyes. "What about?"

"About Hylum's usual mating practices," Alexa replied quietly.

Gallion cocked his head to the side, confused for a moment, until realization struck him like a bolt of lightning.

"...You... tell me you told him?" he begged, sitting up to attention while rubbing the bridge of his nose.

'There was no way the girl would be so stupid as t-'

"I just never got around to it and-"

"You have got to be shitting me. Are you that dull? Did you really think that would end well?" he asked, at a loss.

"It shouldn't have been a problem! We aren't a couple, and he knows Celestials and Humans don't marry," Alexa defended.

"Oh, get over yourself. You two are more of a couple than most married people!"

"No-"

"Shut up," he said, lifting his hand. "I don't want to hear your delusions. How can you even convince yourself otherwise, you psychopath? As for how the fight ended?"

"I'm not!" she started, but a hand movement stifled her retort as she bit her lip and looked away for a minute. "We... we started yelling at each other. He confessed he was in love with me, and I told him I wasn't willing to give up my family for him. I..."

She trailed off and looked down, head in hands again and overwhelmed. Gallion watched her for a few moments and did his best not to slap her.

"Do you really think your family could love you more than that boy and this beautiful woman here," he said, motioning towards Kastra, "could? Let alone his supposedly perfect family you never shut up about?"

"They-"

"The answer starts and ends with the word no, princess. They couldn't. Your family might be important to you, but they shouldn't be more important to you than those who treat you with genuine love and affection. Than those who actually care about you," Gallion stated. "Plus, getting kicked out of Hylum because you refuse to participate in their barbaric practice isn't horrible. My father, my little sister, and I are doing great by ourselves."

"That's exactly it though! You have a fam-"

"And you don't?" Gallion interrupted again, smiling as Alexa's face went from the face of a victim to that of frustration. "You have Damien, Kastra, his family, and that gorgeous and buxom Celestial you say is your Aunt."

"Stop interrupting me!" she said once he'd finished.

"Stop saying idiotic things then," Gallion replied back with an irritated expression.

"They are not stupid! Take this seriously, Gallion! What happens when those two are gone then because they die earlier than I do? What then? What happens when my family gets pissed and comes after us? I'm a N'moran, Gallion. My mother and father won't just LET US BE!" she finished angrily, huffing while glaring at him.

"Done whining?" Gallion asked with a sneer. "You look much cuter when angry, dear. You're an ugly crier. And use that thing you call a brain. Do you really think Damien of all Humans is going to die before you? Also, you do realize even if he did die at a Human's average age, you'd still probably both die in some freak inferno before you outlived him, right?" he posed. "As for your family, you know they can't come for you officially until you turn one hundred. We both know you're the strongest person in this school's student body, behind Damien. WHAT are you so TERRIFIED of?" he ended loudly while glaring back at her. "What is going to REALISTICALLY stop you from doing what you want?!"

She started and stopped a few times before looking to Kastra for support.

"Help me out! We've talked about this a few times, what did I say then! He's making me angry and I can't think straight!"

"You had the same points when we spoke. I know where I belong, Lexi. It's time you figure out where you do," the Fae stated before disappearing.

"Don't just... ahhhhhhhhhhhhHHHHH!" she cried out, resting her head in her hands again.

Gallion smirked as she turned back to look up at him. Her anger had disappeared, and her face held exhaustion on it.

"So?" he queried, voice soft and composed.

A minute went by where she didn't respond. Gallion waited patiently. The girl had some kind of mental block keeping her back from being happy and he'd let her work through it. Another two minutes later she finally spoke up.

"Is it seriously ok to just abandon my blood family because I want to be happy?" she whispered, face in her hands again.

"You aren't abandoning them, Alexa. They're abandoning you. Claim your happiness and do whatever you can to hold on to it. If they can't accept your decision, then they valued you less than they valued their image. Anyone who does that does not belong in your life," Gallion declared, standing up as he began to tear down the walls Kastra had created. "If they mean so much to you, ask Damien to try and make peace with them. The man would move heaven and hell for you, let alone turn himself into a Celestial, damn the pain. Stop being such a dumbass and try to think through your problems a little more thoroughly in the future."

Alexa looked up with fresh tears streaming down her face and curled up in the chair she was on. She never responded.

Gallion sighed and moved to a cupboard in his room, opened it up, and pulled some fresh blankets out. He tossed them at her before grabbing three more handfuls and burying her in them. Then, he cleansed the room and air.

"Stay here until you stop being emotional enough to actually apologize to the guy. I don't care how long it takes, but I suggest not letting her go back before she's gone over what she'll say a few times, Kastra," he said.

The Fae reappeared over Alexa's blankets and nodded, smiling at him.

Gallion almost smiled at being right but instead went to his door and opened it, yelling out to the group of people all across his estate.

"PARTY IS OVER, BEDTIME LOVELIES!"

His voice boomed over the music they were making and the loud din caused by all the laughing, chatting, and yelling. He shut his door and moved for his bed, falling face first into it and laying flat.

"Thanks, Gallion," came Alexa's muffled voice from under the blankets.

"I'll yell at you anytime you need, Alexandra," he responded in a posh voice, muffled by his face in the bed. "It's fun yelling at happy people for being stupid anyway..." he said quietly to himself.

"What?"

"Nothing important," he replied, rolling his eyes into his bedsheets. He was pretty sure someone's ass had been in this exact spot earlier. "Goodnight."

Damien sat up, rubbed his eyes, and glanced around. He mentally looked for Kastra and Alexa and found them both at what he thought was Gallion's house based on distance and direction. He sighed but nodded to that revelation. At least they were both ok.

He stood up, stretched, picked up his fur children, and moved for the shower. A few minutes later and he was headed for the front door of the house, eager to get outside and try to bury the feeling in his chest.

He wished Kastra was with him, but she and Alexa were together at Gallion's. They hadn't moved from where they were, and he couldn't bring himself to interrupt whatever was going on to get her to soothe him as well. Instead, he lifted his chin and moved outside, cradling his two fur babies while adopting an air of self-reliance.

He moved out of the usual district with Emra and Piper to the lake and sat on a bench. If it were summer, he'd go for a swim, but it wasn't so he couldn't without freezing.

The winter breeze quickly chased him off the bench and he began to wander, wondering where to go and what to do. If he had any friends that weren't currently occupied by the person who'd caused all of his grief right now, he'd go to them. Damien resolved himself to make more friends besides those he and Alexa shared.

An hour later he found himself in the city, having walked from the academy to there, mainly as a source of warmth from movement. Looking around, he found it lively and hopeful. Many couples moved from street to street while holding hands, bouquets, chocolate hearts, and other forms of affirmation. Others were arm in arm as they stood in line for romantic restaurants or sat across from one another, smiling. A few men and women shuffled about with purpose, but the vast majority of the scene was one of happiness and love.

It only served to make everything worse for him.

Soon enough though, he found a tavern with a banner draped across the front reading Singles only and decided to see what it was like inside. He'd never been to one in this world, and was more than a little curious as to whether or not it matched the description of the many books he'd read before, whether or not he was technically single.

Thinking as such, he opened the door of The Lucky Lad.

Upon entering, a ring sounded out from the bell attached to the door. Lively music and cheer hit his eardrums, and the smell of cigars mixed with alcohol hit his nose. A rousing shout sounded out when he decided to close the door and continue in. Almost immediately following the noise, a couple of Elves who were very clearly drunk ran to his sides.

"Welcome to Lucky's, Ladi!"

"Ahahaha!"

"We've a question for ye'!" the one on his left yelled into his ear, most likely trying to whisper.

"Yeah we do, shut up everyone!" the other yelled out to the bar as a whole, one arm on Damien's shoulder and the other swinging his ale out to the observers.

The bar laughed boisterously at his shout but settled down shortly after, seemingly expecting the question. Looking around, Damien noticed one or two of the persons here as being people that were in Gallion's band of merry men. He nodded at them, and they giggled back, thoroughly intoxicated. One fell over.

Damien refocused on his surroundings and squinted at the Elves who hadn't asked him a question yet.

"Your question?" he prompted.

"RIGHT!" left yelled.

"Question is: Ye got a lover today or not? If ya do, walk right back out!" righty yelled.

Damien almost laughed out loud at that. He had one, he supposed, but had lost one as well. Perhaps losing one was the right answer here.

"Just lost her yesterday. Mind if I grab a drink?"

The bar exploded into cheers and merriment as they dragged him to the counter.

"One silver, all you can drink for the day and night," the bartender declared.

Damien raised his eyebrows at the expensive price but shrugged and sat down. He could afford it on his own earnings and if it helped him get through today... that was more than enough compensation for his coin.

A loud ting resounded as he slammed his coin on the counter and the bar exploded into good cheer at gaining yet another brother. Damien was given a beer that was already prepared and sipped at it, finding it was quite sweet but had a bitter kick to it that reminded him of black coffee. It was perfect for the moment.

"THEY BROKE UP, WITH US, AYE?!" a Dwarf shouted from the stool next to him when he took his first sip.

"THEY LEAVE, FOR, A WORSE MATE THAN I!!" a Kreel woman shouted out from further down the bar.

"SO RAISE, YOUR GLASS, TO THE SKY!!!" Another Dwarf called from god knows where.

"AND LET, LET US DRINK, UNTIL WE DIE!!" The bar's patrons called out, almost bursting his eardrums as they screamed out and laughed, throwing back their tankards while more than a few hugged onto his shoulders.

Damien couldn't help but let out a bit of a smile while getting caught up in the moment. Sad, he was. A little bit ruined, he was. But things were better than he made them out to be, if all these people were any indication. He would be ok after this.

After all. He'd just found a place he could call home when he was having a hard day, along with a grip of brothers and sisters.

"You're telln meh, Krum, that sheh left ya while ya were buyin a ring?" an Elf asked, drawling on while loosely hanging onto a Human.

"Aye, she did. Worst feelin ever when I got home. Took aday off n caught 'er snoggin some red bastard. Guy laughed, said somethin 'bout touchin 'imself, then ran out the house. Had her stuff on the lawn 'n was on my way here in five minutes," Krum declared proudly to the bar.

"SHE MADE TONGUES WITH A BRINTER!"

"NOW SHE'S ALONE FOR WINTER!!" the bar screamed out.

Damien wasn't sure how they timed it or rhymed together without rehearsing, but he didn't care. He wasn't sure about a lot of things right now. He just knew tonight was hilarious and fu... fun and he didn't want it to end as he screamed out with the rest of them.

He'd been there for... well, he'd been there for a while. He wasn't sure how much liquor he'd imbibed, but they kept filling his tankard and he hadn't blacked out yet, so he didn't really care. It was his turn to share a story to the sixty-odd persons that had graced this fine establishment with their presence.

"ALRIGHT LAD, YOU'RE UP. DON'T THINK WE BE FORGETTIN TO HEAR YA WOES," one of the sober Dwarves called out to him.

"RHYME IT!"

"AYE, A POEM LAD! YE LOOK SMART!"

That was the best part of this place, Damien found. When someone got too drunk, they had designated sober employees around to cart them off back home. Get as drunk as you want, because you'd be taken care of. The ring would always guide whoever was helping them home, and since it was required for anyone living in this country to have one, it meant everyone could be directed home easily.

"I won't be borin ye all, so I be keepin this short," Damien said, adopting a pirate accent as he got caught up in the merriment. "She came to my life when I was but a lad, FILLED MY DAYS when I was happy, and sad," he said after a pause, turning to the side to look at a different part of the bar. "Now she says, her families got a tradition, gotta get her a husband and leave me to wishin'. Im broken up hard, I loved her the most. We fought and I'm here, so give me a toast," he finished, holding up his beer.

To his surprise, the bar went silent as they all lifted their beers into the air, clinking glasses and chugging them down. Before Damien could get any further with his, a few people from around him pulled the beer out of his hand.

"Lad, ye need to chase the lass, ye know that don't ye?" one of them said.

"She-"

"Hates tradition!"

"Loves ye back!"

"AYE!"

"Ya can't give up!"

"I read a story about this once!"

The bar began to get boisterous again as everyone in it began to get riled up over his brief story.

"GET HIM TO HER HOUSE!"

"It's our-"

"THEIR HOUSE! DRAG HIM THERE! SING HER SONGS!"

"AYE, WE MUST! BARTENDER! BRING THE BOOZE; WE ARE GOING ON THE ROAD!!!"

"FIX LOVE WE WILL TONIGHT!" one of the Dwarves shouted out.

He had no control over his body within moments as the Dwarves, Elves, Kreel, Human's, Halflings, Cat men, Brinters, and many others ushered him out the door and into the marketplace. He was being carried over all of their heads and giggling like an idiot. Looking up, the sun was already descending.

Damien smiled. It still hurt, but this was fun. The hurt was muffled. Day drinking ruled.

"WHERE ARE WE GOING LAD!?" someone shouted.

"TO GALLION'S HOME, PLATINUM DISTRICT, WE'LL USE MY KEY!!!" Damien shouted to the sky, pointing backward in no particular direction.

Someone handed him another full beer as they all began marching down the streets, shouting and parting the crowds.

They were single and they were mighty.

"OPEN THE DOOR, OPEN THE DOOR, OR WE'LL TEAR YOUR ROOF DOWN TO YOUR FLOOR," a mob of people called out from just outside Gallion's home.

Alexa poked her head out of the house's second-story window to look down and found a mob of around seventy people and two carriages. Looking throughout the mob, it was obvious they were all drunk. She could already smell the alcohol wafting up to the second floor from where she stood. Her eyes widened when she noticed Damien being carried like a King while giggling like an idiot. Kastra smiled lightly, Gallion laughed hard, and Alexa rolled her eyes.

'Leave it to him to recruit an army of drunks,' she thought.

"It seems he brought the party to us," Kastra declared.

"I think I'll be calling my crew back, tonight just got lively," Gallion said, moving for the window. "COME INSIDE!! I'LL HAVE BEER, WOMEN, MEN, AND PLENTY OF WEED FOR THE LOT OF YOU IN JUST A FEW MINUTES! The tramp has to stay outside the gate, though," he yelled, before dropping his tone an octave and losing his wide grin.

"At least we know why these two are here," Alexa said, cuddling Piper and Emra.

"We'll need to yell at him about bringing these cuties out when he plans to get drunk," Kastra said with a sigh. "Or maybe he didn't plan it. Either way," she shrugged.

Alexa watched on as the giant group yelled out in acceptance and ran inside. Damien was dropped and forgotten, laying on the street, smiling at the sky like a fool as a Celestial stood over him, looking down. Alexa and Kastra flew to him from the window while the carriages made their way around his body and onto Gallion's property.

"What are you doing?" Kastra asked, looking down at Gianna from above Damien's head.

"Lookin at the most beautifen... aheh... beautiful view in the world," he said with a giggle as he looked back up at her.

"Not you," she declared, staring down at Gianna.

"I'm making sure he got home ok," Gianna said with a shrug, looking back up.

"Don't lie," Kastra said back, flitting closer. "Leave him alone in the future. He belongs to us."

"He doesn't belong to anyone, and makes his own choices," Gianna said back. "I thought you didn't care who he dated?"

"I don't when it's someone who finds him through random chance and actual love. Not someone who schemes to get here," Kastra declared.

Gianna stood still for a few moments before shrugging, not looking away from Kastra.

"Like I said, I was just making sure he got back ok. Good luck with him you two," she said, smiling at Alexa before turning and disappearing into the air.

"Bye Lexi!" Damien shouted to the sky.

"That hurts my feelings you know?" Alexa stated, looking down over him as well.

"Thas ok, you hurt mine worse," he said back. "I'm glad you came back though, the view got better."

Alexa felt her heart twist slightly and Kastra looked up to her with a smile.

"He's quite the flirt when drunk, isn't he? That, and blunt."

"We need to get him home. I doubt he even remembers how to get there," Alexa said with a sigh while reaching towards him.

"Don' touch me until ya love me!" Damien said, moving his arm away as he reached for Kastra. "This one cares," he declared with a satisfied, drunk smile as Kastra helped him slowly stand up.

"But I do love you," Alexa replied.

"Oh. Then help me get home. Earth is spinning," Damien said back, looking upward blankly as his body rose.

The two girls picked him up and secured him carefully before a quick flight back to the house. Damien giggled the entire way, going on about how wonderful their chests felt, causing Alexa to sigh and Kastra to shoot her a wry smile. Thirty minutes later, they had him in bed sleeping.

"You are sure this is what you want, then?" Kastra asked her, sitting next to Damien's head as she scratched the left side of it with a tiny hand.

Alexa nodded.

"I think he'd be a little too hard for you to handle alone, anyway," she responded.

"There is no going back on us anymore. Don't even think about it," Kastra declared with apprehensive eyes.

Alexa nodded again while leaning down to give the Fae a light kiss on the top of her head.

"I'm serious, Kastra. No more games. I'm yours and his," she said. "I just hope... well, who knows..." she trailed off.

Kastra smiled and slowly became full size, pulling Alexa into a hug next to Damien on the bed who was snoring, none the wiser.

"Just let to me talk to him alone in the morning please," Alexa whispered.

"Fine by me," Kastra said with a nod, pecking her on the cheek. "Take care of his hangover."

"Ughhhhhh," Damien moaned out, rolling off his bed and onto the floor.

He felt around with his mana for real water and found a cup on his nightstand. Quickly, he manipulated it all into his mouth.

His whole body seemed to cool down and revitalize as the nectar of the gods quenched his throat, hitting the empty pit that was his stomach like a flood of ice cool water splashing into a dry oasis. Using healing magic after he'd drunk the water, he accelerated the process at which it was absorbed throughout his body and almost immediately began to feel better. After a minute of focus, he lay on the ground with a much lighter headache and a smile, still needing a few more glasses, but at least being able to handle the bright lights around him. Then, his brain kicked in.

"What the hell am I doing in our bedroom," he wondered aloud.

"Laying on the floor, it looks like," Alexa replied with a smile from above him as her head poked over the side of their bed, causing him to flinch as her beautiful white hair casc-

'Stop, no. We are mad at her,' he chastised himself.

He looked away, trying to remember anything from last night and failing. She was smiling, which was good, but he wasn't sure what he'd done to make that happen compared to the last time they'd spoken, which could potentially be very, very bad, depending on the promises he'd made. And based on how drunk he'd been, he assumed it would be very, very bad.

"I don't know what I said last night, but I'm not ok with your culture," he declared as her face cramped up slightly. "And I refuse to be with you for the next hundred years, pretending like it's ok."

"Yeah well I'm not ok with you womanizing Jasmine and hanging out with Gianna so much," Alexa shot right back with squinted eyes.

Damien looked away and to the side.

"Oh, so you can leave me for any male suitor, but I'm not allowed to find some Celestial to fill the void you're leaving? Which, might I add, is a surprisingly high number of willing participants considering your culture. I'd assumed they'd all want to be martyrs," he said back, mentally chastising himself but unable to stop poking back at her.

"Are we really doing this again?" she asked him, staring down from up above with a roll of her eyes.

"Yeah, we're doing this again. We're doing this until you agree to stop being so caught up in your ridiculous traditions that you're willing to leave us behind," Damien declared. "For what? A family that would rather marry you off than make you happy as we would?"

"It's still family," she responded calmly.

He was becoming more and more irritated by her nonchalant attitude.

"And we aren't? In my world, we had a saying that relates to this perfectly, Lexi. The blood of the Covenant is thicker than the water of the womb. I'd trade the world for you, yet they'd give up on you before letting you ruin their name. No offense, but fuck your family," Damien declared, keeping his voice low and looking away from her.

"Oh get over yourself. How do you even know I'm worth it?! All we do is fight constantly anyway," she said back to him, getting slightly angry. "Oh, back off for a second Kastra," she yelled as they both felt calmness and comfort flow in from the Fae's end of the bond.

He was surprised at how much of her usual anger she was holding back. It was nice, if not a little strange. Yesterday she would have already blown up over what he'd said and yet here she was, trying to keep a level head.

"I don't care how much we fight," Damien shot back, a little louder than intended likely because she felt less explosive right now. "I'll fight with you and fight for you because I want YOU. Forever. Fighting be damned!"

"You're asking me to die with you and be left alone!" she yelled back.

"I'M ASKING YOU TO LIVE WITH ME!" he shouted up from the floor, eyes and throat stinging. "Every day. Every minute we're alive. I don't care how hard it is! If you are gone, I'll find you! If you're sad I'll be there for you! I'll be there for you, I'll protect you, I'll listen to you, I'll love you; One hundred percent of you! Even the little shit bits, like the way you leave the shutters open, how quick you are to anger, and your family," he spat out, looking to the side briefly, "I'll even love them because that's all a part of you. That's what makes you who you are, and I adore it all! Do you know how ridiculous I feel when I wake up and smile because I'm freezing? It used to irritate me, yet every time now I can't help but smile because it lets me know you're there!" he continued, pausing briefly to sit up and turning his body so he was kneeling while staring into her eyes as she adjusted herself to sit on the edge of the bed. "I'd do everything I'm supposed to do, like I have since we met. I have the means to be literally immortal in this world! I know what makes a person age, for christ sake! And you'd leave me for what, the man that made Kastra cry?! You think I really believe you when you say the pact was a mistake? I can see it in your eyes! I know you better than you know you! Sometimes you're hot and sometimes you're cold, but every minute of every day you're mine. And I'm yours. Just... accept that," he finished quietly, looking up and caressing her cheek with his right hand.

"I'm not yours," she declared, pulling back slightly but not leaving his hand.

"Yes, you are. You're mine, and I'm not letting anyone else take you unless you tell me right now that you're not in love with me," Damien said back, standing and planting his arms on either side of her hips while glaring into her eyes from inches away. "Stop hiding behind your damn pact walls and show me how you feel!"

Alexa stared into his eyes for a full minute before she quickly kissed him on the lips. He was taken aback, leaning away slightly and staring at her for a moment as she opened the tight clutch she had on her emotions, feelings of love, sadness, and frustration flowing through from her end of the bond finally.

"Still don't like a familial kiss?" she asked, trying to laugh but obviously choking up as she took a deep breath, as if a weight had finally lifted off her chest and she could breathe fully again for the first time in years.

"It's not... goddammit. No. Kissing is not just for members of a family, how innocent are you?" he asked, frustration evident in his voice. "Have you ever even kissed another guy?"

"Wh-what? No. That's... a weird question," she answered, his query throwing her off. "It's for family."

He moved forward and pinned her down to the bed, moving his nose past hers but keeping a small distance between their lips as he dropped to his elbows.

"Does this really feel like something family would do?" he whispered as her breathing increased in pace and her sweet breath traveled into his nose as he inhaled.

"I... I don't..." she stuttered, face flushing bright red as she squirmed beneath him.

"Say it," he demanded.

She looked up at him again before looking away. He kissed her cheek lightly and bit at her neck as she once again squirmed beneath him.

"Say. It."

"I'm... I was... planning on apologizing to you this morning," she admitted continuing to look away. "This... I..."

"That's not what I want to hear," Damien said back, kissing the other side of her cheek and kissing at the underside of her chin. "Say it."

She met his eyes, confused but definitely not angry in the slightest. He felt nothing except desire and love coming from her end of the pact and it only spurred him on.

"I... I love you," she finally admitted, blushing furiously before turning her eyes to the side.

"I love my parents, my fox, Vanessa, Piper, and Emra. Tell me you're in love with me like I am with you and Kastra, Lexi" he demanded again. "Agree to be my wife."

She turned her eyes upward once again and looked into his as her face continued to deepen into a shade of red he didn't know skin could turn. Still, he waited patiently for her answer.

A minute went by with him on top of her and then another. He maintained his position, just centimeters from her lips.

"I'm in love with you," she finally whispered, more of a squeak than anything.

"I know," he declared as he held her face lightly in both of his hands and leaned inward.

A few minutes later, Kastra joined in.

No one left the house that day.

No one left their bed that day.