"Mila needs you to come over early."

Nex and Marcus both looked up from the TV, frowning. They were in the middle of the newest show they got hooked on, but Katherine was looking at them expectantly, holding her phone up. Mila texted Katherine out of desperation because she had no other way to contact Marcus and was panicking about the family dinner.

"Tell her to fuck off," Nex shrugged, his eyes returning to the TV.

"If Marcus doesn't leave early, I'm going to bed alone now and I don't want to be woken up at any point," Kat said.

Nex sat up and turned off the TV, looking over at Marcus. "You heard her, get the fuck out of here."

"Are you kidding me?" Marcus groaned.

"No."

Marcus sighed, knowing there was no point. Nex put up a tough front but there wasn't a single thing he wouldn't do for Katherine, especially if his option of bed was being taken away.

Standing, Marcus begrudgingly let out his wings but before he took off, Kat ran over and put an envelope in his hands. "It's the check for the donation like we talked about."

Marcus nodded and gave her his thanks before tucking it in his jacket and taking to the air. Flying to Mila's apartment became such a normal thing, he barely thought about the route until he was slowing down to land. He slowly drifted down, passing through her ceiling and landing in her bedroom where she was standing there, holding up a dress shirt and a tie. She wasn't surprised to see him in his usual attire of jeans, a black long sleeve shirt and a black jacket, which was why she got nicer clothes.

"What in the fuck is that for?" Marcus asked, narrowing his eyes.

"You," Mila said with a timid smile. "Dressing up is so fun, don't you know that?"

"Fuck no," Marcus said, crossing his arms.

"Marcus, Terry is such a pain in my ass," Mila said, looking genuinely concerned. "It takes a lot to win him over."

"Mila, Terry has two things in the world that are important to him," Marcus said, holding up two fingers which he lowered with each additional point. "One, Stella. Two, you. He has Stella, but you two are on the outs, arguably only still in contact because of Stella. If I have you, and I have Stella, he doesn't stand a chance. It does not matter if he likes me, he cares too much about Stella and too much about earning your forgiveness. He's not going to say no."

"You don't know Terry that well, then, because he doesn't give a shit about what I think," Mila said, holding up the tie. "Please?"

"No, Mila, you don't know Terry very well," Marcus countered. "Your forgiveness and Stella's health mean everything to him. And no, I'm not wearing a fucking tie. It's not a wedding or funeral."

"People wear ties outside those events!"

"If it means that much to you, you wear it," Marcus shrugged.

"I can't, it doesn't work with this shirt," Mila said, running her fingers over the neckline of her shirt that went just below her collarbone.

"Why would you wear it around your neck?" Marcus asked, and suddenly the tie wasn't in her hands anymore. He already had her hands behind her back and the tie around them, holding her at an arch and making her chest push out towards him. Marcus pulled on the tie and it contracted around her wrists, making her suck in a breath and bringing her closer to his body, her chest pushed up against his. "It's better use this way."

Mila slowly let out a breath, hyper aware of how close they were and of the pool that formed between her legs. "I should've known you were a kinky motherfucker," she said, her voice coming out much quieter than she meant but he was so close she could feel his breath on her skin.

"Don't pretend like you're not," Marcus said, pulling on the tie, tightening it around her wrists even more. "Admit it. You like it so much you already creamed for me."

Mila wanted to believe that she had a witty retort somewhere in her and it was only because her mouth suddenly went dry that she said nothing. Her phone vibrated on the dresser and it made her eyes snap away from his. She slowly brought them back, trying to focus on what she was supposed to be doing and not what Marcus distracted her with. "We have to go. It's time."

"Fine," Marcus said, loosening the tie and releasing her. He wrapped it around his hand to get it more compact then slid it into his jacket pocket. "I'll save it for later."

Mila swallowed and quickly got away from him before she got too distracted. She was afraid there was a high chance she'd miss dinner if she kept eye contact any longer so she quickly grabbed her coat and slipped on her shoes before coming back to Marcus. He wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her against him, making her body warm as he stared at her a moment before taking off and flying to Terry's house.

Family dinners were always awkward, but they took on a new level when a demon was there. Not that Terrence or Stella knew Marcus was a demon, but Mila still felt awkward. Especially since she'd never brought a boyfriend home. Ever. They mostly stayed in silence, passing around the dishes of food with the occasional grunt of acknowledgment. Stella glanced between everyone curiously, not sure why they were all so quiet and strange.

Stella looked across the table at Marcus who met her gaze and smiled lightly. She smiled back and put a finger to her lips, moving some peas off her plate and stashing them under her napkin. He winked and nodded, doing the same thing. She giggled and Terry looked over, wondering what she was giggling about but finding her eyes on Marcus. He reluctantly looked over at Marcus, the person Mila finally admitted to him was her boyfriend, who now apparently wanted to come with them to Chicago. He wasn't sure he liked Marcus but if it meant that much to Mila, he'd try.

"So, Marcus," Terry said, making Marcus's gaze drift to him. "What do you do for a living?"

"Bounty hunter," Marcus answered. Mila rolled her eyes.

"Really?" Stella asked, her eyes lighting up. "Cool! Do you ever shoot people?"

"Only if they make me," he said with a small smile.

"You're like a superhero," Stella grinned.

"I wouldn't go that far," Terry muttered. Mila kicked him under the table and gave him a look. He sighed and reluctantly brought his gaze back to Marcus. "Sounds dangerous."

"Not really," Marcus shrugged. "Most people see me coming and know better."

"Uh huh," Terry said, narrowing his eyes.

"Well it was enough to scare Dallas off the other day," Mila jumped in. Marcus was never going to win points with Terry without her help, that much was painfully obvious.

"Really?" Terry asked, looking over at Marcus again. Maybe he wasn't so bad. "What did Dallas want?"

"To make Mila do something she didn't want to," Marcus said, cutting into the chicken. "It's fine. We had a little talk. He won't do it again."

"You mean you threatened him?" Stella asked, looking much too excited at the idea for Terry's taste.

"Only a little," he whispered, smiling down at the little girl who giggled and sunk back in her seat with her fork, sliding a piece of chicken in her mouth.

"Good," Stella said with a mouthful of chicken. "If anyone is being mean to my sissy, they should be threatened."

"Couldn't agree more," Marcus said.

Terry sighed, looking between Stella and Marcus, noticing Stella was already a fan of him. There was just something about Marcus that seemed very dangerous to Terry.

"Got any family, Marcus?" He asked.

"Only friends," Marcus answered, dropping his arm over Mila's shoulder. "And this one."

"Aw," Stella cooed, grinning at Marcus and Mila. "When are you getting married?"

Everyone except Stella choked on their food at that question. Mila cleared her throat and pounded her chest a couple times before addressing Stella. "Not everyone has to get married."

"Yeah but then you get to wear a pretty ring on your finger," Stella shrugged, pushing around her peas. "That part sounds fun."

"You can also buy your own pretty ring to put on yourself," Mila said.

Stella rolled her eyes and took another bite of chicken. "It's more fun when a prince does it."

"I think your sister just called me a prince," Marcus said to Mila. She snorted and muttered 'prince of hell, maybe' under her breath.

"May I be excused?" Stella asked, looking over at Terry. "And Marcus too?"

"Why are you excusing you and Marcus?" Terry frowned.

"His plate is empty and this is boring and we could paint nails instead," Stella said.

"Did you ask him if he wants to paint nails?"

"Oh, don't worry about it, Terry. Stella knows I'm down," Marcus said, rising from his seat. "Assuming you're excusing us, whatever that means."

"It means Terry has too many rules," Stella whispered to Marcus. Marcus snorted and Terry made a face and sighed.

"Yes, you're excused, don't make a mess," Terry said, offering Stella a hand as she slid out of her seat and grabbed her oxygen tank, pulling it behind her.

"I'll come too," Mila said, standing.

"Hold on, I need to talk to you about," he paused, glancing at Stella as she passed by. "M-O-N-E-Y," he spelled out. "We didn't rent the car yet, thought something with seat warmers would be a good idea so she doesn't get as cold, but I don't know we have enough left."

"Don't worry about that," Marcus said, setting an envelope down and sliding it over to Mila.

"What is this?" Mila asked.

"A gift, from Katherine and her church, and friends of her pastor's from other churches," Marcus explained, looking down when he felt a tug on his sleeve.

He couldn't help the smile as Stella looked up at him with excited eyes. "Can I play with your hair too?"

"Why not?" Marcus shrugged, following Stella out of the room.

"Yes! Your hair is so pretty!" Stella said as she led him to the living room.

"What is it?" Terry asked, nodding to the envelope.

Mila shrugged and opened it up, finding a card inside. She opened that first, seeing many signatures of people she didn't know, wishing the best and offering prayers for Stella. Inside was a check that when Mila turned it over, her eyes went wide, a breathless squeak escaping her when she tried to speak.

"What is it?" Terry frowned, getting up and circling around the table. He stared down at the check still being clutched by a disbelieving Mila and had to grab the back of her chair for support. He blinked a couple times and bent down, squinting to make sure he ready that right. "Is that a check... for twenty grand?"

"And a donation slip," Mila murmured, running her fingers over the donation slip that had a list of contributors so they would have proof it was a donation and not have to be taxed.

"Holy shit," Terry breathed. "Who the hell is Katherine?"

"She's-" Mila started but stopped, feeling the emotions hit her hard as the tears filled her eyes. They poured out and she set the check down, reaching into her pocket for her phone. "I have to call her," she said, standing and moving towards the kitchen. "She's a friend I met through Marcus."

Mila walked out of the room and Terry stared down at the check, rubbing his eyes a couple times to make sure he read it right. He heard Stella giggling in the other room and that had him making his way to the living room where Marcus was sitting on the floor and Stella was sitting on his lap and staring up at him, tapping her chin thoughtfully.

"I think we should put your hair up into a bun," Stella said, reaching up and gathering Marcus's shoulder-length hair. She piled it messily on his head in a little bun and grinned triumphantly. "Yeah. It looks handsome!"

"You think?" Marcus asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Yeah, I'm going to get a hair tie," she said, moving off him and digging through her container of make up and nail polish. Towards the bottom she found a hair tie with plastic cherries dangling off it and put it on her wrist. She climbed onto the couch behind Marcus and gathered his hair again, this time trying harder to smooth it out before tying it back in a bun. She got off the couch and moved to stand in front of him but tripped over her oxygen tube.

Terry started to move forward but Marcus caught her and quickly put the oxygen back in place. Stella smiled sheepishly and rubbed her nose where the oxygen tube rested. "Oops."

"It's all right, we got it sorted," Marcus said, moving his fingers down the oxygen tube and untangling it. "What's the verdict? Can I pull off a man bun?"

Stella smiled and stepped back once he had the tube untangled. Her smile grew and she nodded, clapping her hands together. "Yeah, it looks nice!" She said, moving over to her bag of makeup and nail polish again. "Let's do purple on your eyes this time because purple makes brown eyes stand out."

"Really?" Marcus frowned. "Where'd you learn that?"

"Videos online," Stella shrugged, pulling out purple eyeshadow.

Terry was about to remind her of the gloves but Marcus closed his hands around Stella's when she started to open it. "Aren't you supposed to wear gloves when you handle this?" He asked.

"Oh, yeah," Stella remembered, pointing to the end table next to the couch and behind Marcus. "Can you hand it to me?"

"Mhm," Marcus said, reaching back and pulling two gloves from the box.

He helped her get them on and then she grabbed her eyeshadow again. "Close your eyes," she said, and Marcus did. Terry watched as Stella covered Marcus in purple eyeshadow, his eyes drifting to the box with gloves, surprised Marcus remembered Stella couldn't handle the makeup without them.

Mila walked in sniffling and wiped at her eyes, giving Terry a small smile. "I told her thank you about a million times. I'll get that deposited tomorrow and we can pick a car."

"Something that will do well in the snow," Terry commented. He wanted to say something about her friend, or, Marcus's friend, but he was still mildly in shock that people who didn't even know them that well and hadn't met Stella would be so generous.

Mila nodded in agreement, looking over to find Stella now holding up different lipsticks next to Marcus as she tried to decide what looked best with his skin tone. She couldn't help the smile as she watched him make her laugh and went along with all her makeup suggestions even though she was making a huge mess on his face. Terry noticed the smile and his eyes drifted back to Marcus and Stella. Stella liked him, Mila clearly did too. He couldn't help but be protective over his sisters, especially Stella being as sick as she was, but he wanted to make Mila happy so he nudged her with his elbow and nodded to Marcus. "He can come."

"Really?" Mila asked, turning towards him with a big smile. Marcus would keep Stella warm and that would make Mila feel a thousand times better. Anything that helped her sister not get as sick was a big deal to her.

"Yeah," Terry nodded, watching as Stella messily applied lipstick on Marcus then help up a mirror for him to see and he pretended it was perfect. He seemed far less intimidating in that moment. "Yeah, he can come with us to Chicago."

"Thank you," Mila said, shocking Terry when she initiated a hug for the first time in years. He hadn't stopped trying but if not for him initiating, she'd never hug him. He returned the hug and it ended too quickly when she pulled away and went over to Stella and Marcus, sinking down on the floor next to them. The smile and the hug were worth it to Terry.