I'm Fine in the Fire, Don't Try and Fix Me

"Do you have to go home?" I asked Vlad. We were sitting on the couch because obviously my room was a total wreck, but you knew that. There wasn't much contact between us besides the fact that we were holding hands. He seemed more at ease when I did this because, well, it seemed to keep me at ease.

He shook his head. "I don't have to." There was a small pause. I knew I was going to have to ask him if he wanted to leave. Just because he didn't have to stay, didn't mean he wanted to. But, you and I both know that he will stay if I ask him, so I did.

"Will you stay over here then?" I asked. He said yes. That was a shocker for both of us, wasn't it? No is the correct answer.

I detached myself from him, but before I could walk away, he grabbed my hand again. "Where are you going?" He asked with a slight panic in his voice. It was almost like I wasn't going to ever come back.

"I'm just going to ask my parents if that's okay." I explained. He didn't let go for a moment, but eventually he did. I walked casually into the kitchen where I saw my parents and Uncle Ronnie and Max. Well, this was going to be awkward.

They didn't realize that I was there for a moment, and my mother was fussing over my dad. She was holding a pack of frozen peas to his head, and he was trying to get her to stop. I guess I did hit him earlier.

I cleared my throat to get their attention. They turned to see me standing there, and a wave of guilt flooded over me. My father had a black eye starting to form, and I almost forgot what I was doing in here.

My mother was the first to react. She dropped what she was doing and rushed over to me to suffocate me in a crushing hug. The guilt flew away as relief came over me. I couldn't tell if it was my emotions or hers, but either way, it was better than before. "Are you okay?" She whispered to me. I nodded my head as I hugged her back. "Don't do that to me again, okay?" She then asked. I nodded again.

She released me from her hold, and I turned towards the rest of the group. "Um . . ." I hesitated at a loss for words. I knew my mother was mostly okay with this because this has happened to her, I'm sure. She was a witch, too. But, my dad was different. Max and Ronnie were different. I didn't know if they would understand. I know you do? But, you understand me. They don't. "I . . . um, I don't know what got over me. I . . . uh . . . I'm sorry." I muttered out.

"It's fine, Liam. Nothing to worry about." My father said. "Happened to your mother before. This isn't something new to this family."

I nodded my head before asking what I really came to ask. "Can Vlad stay the night?"

The protective side of the doms in the room instantly came out.

"Why?"
"Where will you two sleep?"
"You won't be going into a bedroom."
"The door has to stay open the entire time."
"You better be in a room with no doors at all."

Ronnie and my dad kept going. Max and my mom looked over at them amused. I understood why they were doing this. Doms are naturally over protective, and now that Ronnie and Max's kids were all grown up, Ronnie used his over protectiveness on us sometimes. We were his blood. It was normal.

I explained that we would stay in the living room, and we wouldn't try anything. They could even come watch us the entire night if they wanted. They decided against it.

Vlad was falling asleep when I got back in the room. His head would drop to his chest before he woud pop back up again, looking around. He saw me, and I knew he was trying to stay awake for my sake. "Go to sleep, Vlad." I said.

"Not tired." He mumbled in reply.

"Yes," I argued. "You are. Go to sleep." I pushed his chest until he was lying back on the couch.

"Will you stay?" He asked through a yawn.

I thought about it for a second before nodding my head and crawling next to him. He wrapped his arm around my waist as I tucked myself into his chest while I was on my side. We fell asleep like that, and I had no regrets.