𝐅𝐎𝐑 𝐀 𝐌𝐎𝐌𝐄𝐍𝐓 𝐉𝐎𝐒𝐈𝐀𝐇'𝐒 𝐄𝐘𝐄𝐒 𝐒𝐈𝐌𝐏𝐋𝐘 𝐆𝐎 𝐖𝐈𝐃𝐄. the no he received was unexpected. unexplained while a few seconds of silence lingered between them, but then the other goes on. saying all the things that only delaney had ever been able to say to him. making the teacher feel like FOR ONCE he was enough. that he could be enough. and, at the very least, the fear that the musician is going to turn his back and realize josiah wasn’t worth all this effort and all this drama is starting to sink away. there’s a comfort in the air around him, which was a pretty drastic change considering the suffocating fear had him as far on edge as possible just a few moments ago. it helps even more when the wolf is suddenly moving. the teacher’s gaze drops down to the creature, a soft curl of his lips showing right before the tongue swipes against his nose, and then josiah’s hand shifts up to scratch gently behind hale’s ear as he lets blue eyes inch their way towards delaney.
hearing the message that his boyfriend was trying to give him seemed a lot easier than it actually was. the words hit his ears, but for every little bit the other spoke, josiah found his mind moving — arguing with him silently, seeing as he was doing his best to ( for once ) not talk over him. that had always been a bad habit of his. interrupting people. but he liked to think he’d gotten better at managing it. especially considering he hadn’t interjected until the point in which delaney mentioned that jason and what he had done was simply cruel. ❛ no, it’s not like that. it’s not … ❜ but even his own words are cut off when the wolf is shifting again, moving between their bodies and flopping over. there’s a slight flinch in the teacher’s body when a wolf leg presses against a bruised rib in an awkward manner, but josiah is quickly shifting and reaching down, both hands scratching at the sides of hale’s face to keep him put right where he is. ❛ sorry, sorry. that was my fault. you’re okay. ❜ it takes a small huff of air for josiah to bring his attention back up to the guitarist, eyebrows tilted in sadness as dj continued on. saying more of the beautiful words. telling him everything that he WISHES was true, but that has never been. not for him, at least.
❛ if it was just one person, i would be more inclined to believe that. but … my parents never took things to the level jason did, but they also never stopped him. and my mom was the one who would always call me frustrating. annoying. told me i needed to be more normal. ❜ he takes a moment to shift his touch, letting his hand turn in delaney’s so that his palm can come to cup his cheek while his thumb strokes gently at the musician’s cheek. ❛ i love you so much, dj. and for as long as we’ve been together, i’ve always been waiting for that day. the day where you see me in the same light they did. do, actually. as far as i’m aware, their opinions never changed either. but how can people who are genetically inclined to love you NOT love you if you’re even a little bit lovable? i am … so grateful for you. and you too, you know. ❜ eyes break away from his boyfriend long enough to settle on the wolf again, fingers still stroking the fur on the side of hale’s face slowly. ❛ i’m grateful for elle and everyone in your band. but you guys also don’t know what it’s like to be around me every single day. you get … MONTHS worth of a break from me and deep down, i know that’s my saving grace. i know that’s what keeps me lucky enough to not lose you and … ❜
the words josiah is speaking make him feel sick to his stomach. he’d never once spoken the truth out loud like this. HIS truth. his fear. the viewpoint that jason’s words and actions had drilled into his head for the past nearly three decades. but saying it out loud, vocalizing it, he hated himself for it. whether it was truth or fabrication of his mind, he knew it sounded pathetic. and he knew that he was putting delaney in a spot where he had no choice but to try and reassure josiah. like he was fishing for promises that delaney would be forced to make whether he wanted to or not. so josiah shook his head quickly, dropping his hand from the other’s cheek and had it not been for the wolf in his lap, he would have stood from the bed and tried to walk away from the conversation. offered to make him food or something just to change the subject.
❛ that doesn’t matter, though. that … that’s not important. i … i can’t see jason. the thing is there’s one thing i HAVE learned from all this. we have an incident and he always shows up afterward. couple days, maybe a week or two. he comes to apologize but it’s never an actual apology. and the second incident is always worse than the first. that’s why when you woke me … and when hale came in … i got … ❜ he shrugs, head dropping down and eyes squeezing shut as shaky hands thread as gently as he could manage through the thick fur belonging to the wolf in his lap. ❛ he practically left me for dead on his lawn tonight. my car is still sitting in front of his house because a neighbor called for an ambulance. if i see him again, i don’t know what he’ll do. as dramatic as it sounds, he’s not showing much restraint lately. ❜
“ I learned a long time ago that blood doesn’t make family. “ Delaney tries to lean down far enough to meet Josiah’s gaze and offer a smile. Hair shifts along his shoulders when he leans into the touch against his cheek. For a moment dark eyes flutter shut. Air expels from the musician’s lungs in a tired huff. Not tired of the conversation but tired from the day in general. Travel had been long. Now anxiety had ever muscle pulled tight. Worry only made it heavier. He had no idea how to combat any of this mentality or how to convey to Josiah that what passed his lips was true. Not only was his love genuine but so was his happiness. Time was the only thing that came to mind. It healed all wounds, right? As the saying went. “ Blood relation doesn’t mean someone has to love you. There are an infinite number of people in this world who find more love outside of blood than they do in it. I saw it so much in Vegas that it hurt. Look at Elle. For all intents and purposes she’s my sister. There’s no blood relation there but that doesn’t make it any less true. Same goes for Blaise. Hell, everyone on that damn bus is basically family. We take care of each other and as much as it doesn’t seem like it sometimes, we LOVE each other. I’d do anything for any of them and I’d like to think the feeling is mutual. Genetics means nothing, babe. We love who we love and I believe that to be across the board. Not only with our partners or our sexuality but with friends and family. “
Exhaling slowly, Delaney looks down at Hale. The wolf’s eyes shut at some point during the conversation. Likely due to all the scratches he was receiving. Such a domestic sight for a situation that had him out of his skin almost a half hour prior. Something about it has the guitarist shaking his head. At himself. At Hale. At the world in general. But, especially for the fact that with all the magic he possessed he couldn’t do something as simple as heal Josiah’s pain. He wasn’t a healer. There were witches out in the world with the magic to do as much but unfortunately his line wasn’t it.
As hard as it is, Delaney leans back so he can hear the rest of what his lover wants to say. Several times his lips part to interject but he clamps them back down. Josiah allowed him his time and now he was going to do the same. Although what he really wanted to do was shout his love to the world. He didn’t know how to relate to this which also meant he didn’t know how to offer guidance. HIs family, odd as they were, had always supported him. When he started playing guitar with his father’s dancers his parents did everything they could to help the passion. Same went for his sisters. On top of it, the same even went for Elle. That he wasn’t speaking to half his family currently didn’t have anything to do with whether or not he loved them. It was that feeling of betrayal. Now that he was older he could see that some of it was misguided since he had absolutely no idea how the power of sight worked. But, that was a different conversation for a different day.
Again silence falls across the room. This time because he needed to stand once Josiah started talking about Jason again. The implication that the ass of a man might come sniffing around his house had the hair on the back of his neck standing on end. He had no idea if the man knew where they lived. If not it’s not like it’d be hard to find out. Fans were a crazy thing. Their stalkerish determination meant a lot of information floating around the internet about him and he kept Josiah out of it as much as possible. All it would take was one tiny crumb.
Standing, the witch toes off his boots. They’re pushed under the bed to be out of the way. Later when he feels up to it he’d put them in their rightful place over in the walk-in closet. Same went for the black leather jacket he let drop on top of Hale’s shirt. Next, he walked around to his side of the bed so he could take off his rings one by one. Each motion was thoughtful as if staring at the metal somehow focused his thoughts. If it weren’t for Hale he’d strip completely naked just so he could have as much skin contact as possible with Josiah once they were under the covers. The wolf didn’t think much about nudity so the possibility was still on the table. Depended on how the rest of the conversation went.
Delaney finally sits back on the bed. This time right next to his partner. As much as he really wanted to rest his chin on Josiah’s shoulder he still has no idea how far the injuries went. So, instead, he slides his fingers along one of the teacher’s arms until he can lace their fingers together. “ I asked you to move in with me, what, several months after we started dating? I knew on our second date that I love you. Not sure if I ever told you that but, I did. That hasn’t changed. “ It hurts to think that his words might have less of an impact now that it seems the conversation forced the words past his lips. “ I’m not going anywhere, Josiah. There hasn’t been a moment since I met you where I wanted a break and if something happens we talk about it. If I get mad we work through it. Same goes with you. ANYTIME you want to talk about something, babe. I’m here. It’s what we do. We’re partners and we support each other. Even through the shit that isn’t pretty. “ He had no doubt that fact might take a while to sink in. All Delaney could do was provide gentle reminders along the way.
Suddenly, a light clicks. Delaney squeezes Josiah gently. “ Hey, come with me. The school year’s almost over, isn’t it? We can say family emergency and then we’ll have all summer together to finish up the tour. I think the last date’s in September. Just in time to get back for the start of the next school year. A whole summer not worrying about your brother and the start to a whole year of me showing you that I love having you with me. “
