Under the Giant Oak

Ronnie called Ortiz to come pick us up from my apartment old apartment. He took us to a really nice neighborhood in the safe part of town. I never lived in the safe part of town, if anyone was wondering. He drove up to what looks like a three story house the top one was probably the attic, but there could always be a basement.We got out, and I got a closer look of it. It was a dark blue color with red shutters and a red door. There was a very impressive garden out front with lots of colorful flowers and small bushes in a gorgeous lay out. It was a breath taking house it really was.

"Are you going to come inside and stop gawking?" Ronnie asked grabbing the bag from my hand.

"What? Oh, yeah." I scrambled.

He lead me inside, and the inside was just as impressive as the outside, to me at least. The living room had a dark hard wood floors, and walls that faded from a bright red to a deep crimson. There was a black sofa in the center with small tables on either side and a coffee table in front of it. It was adjacent to a grand fire place that had bricks all up the wall. There was one other chair in the room near the farther wall.

When I stepped inside, I must have gaped or something because Ronnie was standing there with a very amused look on his face.

"You look cute when you're impressed." He said, and I blushed slightly.

"Shut up." I mumbled turning away from him.

"Oh, come on. You do. What? I'm not allowed to comment on when I think you're cute?" He mocked.

"No, no you are not."

"Gosh, anyone else and they would take that as a compliment."

"Yeah, well, you know that I'm not just anybody else. Now, if you don't mind. I don't know how long it will take to walk to work, so I should probably get going."

"You honestly think that I'm going to just let my mate walk half way across town? I can give you a lift you know."

"Really? Says the man who walks everywhere."

"I have a car. I just walked everywhere with you to spend time with you." He said shrugging. I looked over at him slightly shocked. He had a car but he would walk all the way to my place, and then back to his house that were a ways apart, just so he could spend time with me? I don't know if I should say he was being sweet or sappy.

"Um, alright. Where's the bathroom?" I asked. He told me it was down the hall and the first door on the left. The hallway was just as nice as the rest of the house. It had the hard wood still going throughout the house with dark blue walls. There was pictures all down the hallway of people and places that his family has gone.

I changed in his plain white and red bathroom into my uniform. I walked back out, and Ronnie drove me to the club. He told me that he was going to pick me up at the end of my shift, but I declined it and said that I was going to just take a cab.

The shift was routine, but I actually got on time. I made the drinks, and got hit on multiple times. Less than usual though because most of the guys here saw Ronnie a couple weeks ago and were still a little uneasy about him. At the end of a shift, I said goodbye to Shirley and actually took a cab home. The cab passed by the park, and the tree was still there. I couldn't bare to think that it wouldn't be there in a few weeks.

I walked up to the front door of Ronnie's house. I didn't have a key, so I stood outside his house at 2 in the morning waiting for him to come answer the fucking door. He answered it shirtless, and with a major case of bed head. He let me inside, and Monte was seating upside down on the couch. Much to my surprise.

"Hey, Max." He said to me sitting up straight. "I should probably get going Robert is probably home by now." He said to Ronnie. He got up and gave a hug to Ronnie, and Ronnie kissed him on the check telling him bye. I honestly had no idea what to think about this. I just stood there dumb fonded and kinda pissed off. It wasn't exactly normal for already mated doms and fertiles showing affection to others beside there mate, and they just did it right in front of me.

"What got you all pissed?" Ronnie asked. I just ignored him and sat down on the very comfortable couch. I really didn't want to talk to him right now.

"Aren't you going to answer my question?" He asked again.

"Why?" I replied.

"I just wanted to know. Thought you might want to talk." I stifled a humorless laugh.

"I never want to talk. Talking doesn't help anything. If you want to talk go talk to Monte. You seem pretty friendly with him." He chuckled and sat down next to me on the couch.

"You think that me and Monte have a thing, and that I would show it right in front of my own mate? How does that make sense at all? Unless of course you're jealous."

"I'm not jealous." I spat.

"Then you really must have a messed up school because that was a completely normal interaction between fertiles and doms, such as myself." He explained.

"I've seen plenty of normal interactions." I mumbled.

"Really? Then you would know that doms and fertiles are actually plenty affectionate with each other. Me kissing Monte on the check is completely acceptable, even in front of Ortiz."

"So, people are allowed to just kiss other people's mates then?" I asked genuinely curious. My school wasn't like this at all. If you even looked at someone elses mate, you would get punched in the face. I would know.

"Kinda, but not really. I mean you could kiss their check or their forehead and stuff, but there are rules. Kissing on the lips and touching unseen skin is forbidden, and the dom is allowed to kick your ass. Does your school not do anything normal?"

"Nope. We're just special I guess. The vampires at my school only really affiliate with people that are exactly like them, and if you even look at their mate, you get hit."

"That isn't exactly unusual, but that certainly isn't normal. There are some places I know like that. They probably just want to establish what's theirs. Just look around tomorrow. Every single dom will be touching their fertile in some way just to show everyone else who that fertile belongs to." He explained.

"And I suppose you're going to do that to." I stated dryly.

"That was our deal." He smirked.

"Whatever where am I going to sleep?"

"Up in my room, and before you say anything I'm going out for the rest of the night." He said telling which room to go to.

His room looked like any other room, I guess. Nothing really stood out. The walls were pale and the floor was just like the rest of the house. His bed was messy and had red and black sheets sprawled all over it. There was a plain dresser with a single picture on it.

I grabbed my bag that was sitting in the corner and changed into a large t-shirt and a pair of sweat pants. I snuggled into Ronnie's bed. It had to be one of the most comfortable beds I have ever slept in, but I've only really slept on a dingy mattress before. The blankets were warm, and they smelled just like their owner.

That was the first night in a long time that I actually fell asleep.