Nine

Micah

The house was big. And beautiful. And I loved it.

Like my dads' place, it was built mostly with stone, at least on the outside. Inside, the rooms were split by wooden walls, as if someone had made a cube of stone and then decided to add wooden partitions inside to make rooms. It would've made renovating fun, if we were planning to do something like that.

The paint was fresh, and the floorboards polished, so at least we wouldn't need to do any major work on it. The place needed some deep cleaning, and maybe some rearranging, and it would be perfect. I could already see us in this space, the big bean bag to the side of the couch, facing the TV at just the right angle.

The living room was big, with a door on one side leading into the kitchen, which connected to the dining room on the other side. A short hallway joined the living room and the front door, and another short hallway connected the bathroom, dining room, and the living room. Stairs from the living room led up to the second floor, where a long hallway connected all four bedrooms and the communal bathroom. There was also a laundry room in the basement.

"What do you think?" Cam asked, turning to look at me. He'd spent the last hour dragging me all over the place, as if I would stop exploring if he let go of my hand. He was excited, and the look on his face told me he liked this place too. He was watching me hopefully, and his mind was stuck on a repeat of Please say you like it .

I had a feeling I'd have said it even if I didn't. It was a weakness of mine, but I never could bring myself to say no to Cam, especially when I knew how happy saying yes would make him.

"I like it. Let's check out the backyard before we make a decision, though."

"Good idea."

Cam raced forward, sliding open the glass doors that led into the backyard, and then gasped. I followed after him, and my eyes widened when I took in the space.

It. Was. Perfect.

It was bigger than the backyard in either of our dads' places, big enough for Cam to shift in once we had a shield of some sorts hiding it from the outsiders. The ground was covered in weeds, and I could imagine working on the place and turning it into a garden of some sorts.

On the right side of the yard, there was a large pond. The water inside sparkled in the sunlight, its edges framed by rounded stones that looked smooth to the touch. A few fish swam in the water, and I wondered if the previous owners of the house had left them behind when they moved out. Did they need to be fed? Or did the pond have its own ecosystem?

"Micah..."

"Yeah. This place is perfect." I glanced over to smile at Cam. He grinned right back at me, his green eyes sparkling.

"This is going to be such a good home for us. There are lots of shadowy corners for your familiar to hide in too."

Saaya hissed from somewhere in the shadows, never too far away from me even if she wasn't the cuddliest of familiars most of the time.

"We should tell your dads we'll take it." I'd also have to tell my dads I was moving out. I knew they must have some idea I wasn't planning to stay with them indefinitely, but I had a feeling they'd try to convince me anyway.

I wanted to live with Cam, though. I wanted to make a home with him, to go to bed in our bed in our bedroom in our house.

"Yup. And then we need to break the news to your dads."

"I think it'd be better if I did that on my own," I said with a wince, and Cam grimaced.

"Uh, you might be right. Gus can be scary as fuck."

Cam was probably the only person in the world who was scared of Papa, but Papa had made sure to put the fear in him early on when he found out we were mates. He was subtle about it, but he'd made sure Cam knew he would cause Cam pain if he hurt me. It was embarrassing, but it also made me feel good. It made me feel treasured, and after being rejected by my birth parents and thrown away like trash, it felt good to know how much my dads loved me.

We explored the house for a bit longer, talking about what we might change and what was perfect the way it was. By the time we were ready to head home, it was almost time for dinner.

We decided to head to our own homes for the night, to share the news with our parents and spend some time with our families on our own since we were glued together almost all the time. Our families didn't really mind, but I was sure they'd be happy to spend an evening with just their sons for once, especially since we were moving out.

We'd be busy with the clan party tomorrow, so we probably wouldn't get to move until the day after, but that was okay. I was looking forward to seeing everyone, and while I was eager to move into our new house, I wasn't in any rush. I wanted us to take our time and do it right.

Cam stepped closer to me on the front porch of the house, his fingers tangling with mine as he leaned forward, his lips hovering against mine. Closing the gap, I kissed him, sliding my lips against his as his other hand came up to clutch at my waist. I wondered if I would ever stop feeling butterflies in my belly when Cam kissed me, and hoped I never would.

Our tongues tangled together, and I could feel the rush of emotions washing through Cam, a mirroring mix of love and care filling my own heart. Sometimes, I truly loved my powers.

"Okay." I took a step back and put some distance between us. "We should get going."

"Or we could go check how sturdy our new bed is," Cam suggested with a waggle of his brows, making me roll my eyes.

"Nope. We are going to be good and go home."

Cam pouted but didn't argue, and we walked out of the small driveway, heading down the street hand in hand.

Cam

Something was up with Micah.

He was acting weird, and he'd been doing so for a while now. I hadn't asked him about it because I was hoping he'd bring it up himself, whatever it was, but he hadn't, and I was starting to lose patience.

Sometimes, I wished I was the telepath instead. I had no filter anyway, so Micah reading my thoughts was no different than him hearing me say it, because I had no secrets, especially from him.

But Micah? He was a closed book most of the time.

I'd learned to read him over the years, and it was how I knew something was wrong. He'd been...not distant, per se, but different. I couldn't pinpoint exactly when it'd started, but I knew it was since before we went on our trip.

Why hadn't I talked to him about it? Usually, I did things the moment the idea popped in my head, but for some reason, I'd been waffling with this, and he either hadn't heard my thoughts or was purposely ignoring them. But no more. I needed to have a conversation with Micah.

After tomorrow's party, Micah would probably be too tired, so I'd wait until the next day, when we were planning to move our things to the new house. Maybe he'd feel more at ease in our own home with just the two of us, and I'd be able to get him to open up.

"Hey, Cam. Where's your better half?" Amelia asked from where she was sitting on the couch, a laptop balanced on her crossed legs as she swiped through a gallery of photographs, her dark eyes focused on the screen, her round nose wrinkling at random photos that looked perfectly fine to me. Ames was an amazing photographer, but sometimes she was too much of a perfectionist. I made a mental note to ask for a few photos of our family later so we could put them up on the walls of our new place.

"He's at his place. Breaking the news to his dads that he's moving out."

Amelia grinned. "Ah, so that's why you aren't with him. You're scared of Gus."

"I'm not." I scowled at her, and she merely smirked at me before turning her attention back to the screen.

"Dads kicked me out of the kitchen," she said, eyes still on the screen, and I chuckled.

"That's because you can burn water."

"Like you're any better," she said, then stuck her tongue out at me, and I laughed, jumping out of the way when she went to smack my leg.

Still laughing, I walked into the kitchen to find Dad and DD moving around the kitchen in that totally-in-sync way of theirs. Micah and I had our moments like this too, but we were still learning how to be an us. Dad and DD, though? They were experts.

While I'd never want it any other way, sometimes being surrounded by people who truly loved and cared for their partners could be a bit overwhelming. I was sure Dad and DD had issues of their own I knew nothing about, but it still made me feel like I was doing it wrong whenever I had a disagreement with Micah or we had seriously differing opinions about things.

Growing up in a loving home also made it a little difficult for me to relate to Micah sometimes, and I hated that. I felt like I would never quite understand what he'd been through, even though there were many members in our clan who had a similarly shitty past. Mistvale seemed to attract supes who needed some healing, and Micah had been one of the first ones to heed that call.

I wondered how different my life would be if Gus and Cassian had never gone to Ravenshire to rescue Micah. How long would it have taken our paths to cross? Would Micah still be the same kind, sweet man he was now?

"You're quiet," Dad said, breaking into my thoughts, and I glanced up, confused.

"Huh?"

"You're quiet, which means something's on your mind. Do you wanna talk about it?"

I chewed on my lower lip as DD joined Dad across the counter from me, his gray eyes roaming over my face. "Is everything okay, Cam?"

Without even needing to think about it, I knew I could talk to them. I'd always confided in them, and just because I was an adult now didn't mean I still couldn't.

"I'm worried about Micah."

"Did something happen?" Dad asked, resting his palms on the counter as he gave me his full attention.

"Not particularly, but I feel like something's bothering him, and he won't talk about it. If only I could read his mind too..."

Dad raised a brow at me. "Did you ask him what was bothering him?"

Dad obviously knew I didn't, but I still shook my head. "I don't know how to bring it up."

DD reached across the counter and ruffled my hair like I was ten, his stormy eyes warm as he gave me a smile. "Just say it, Cam. Don't overthink it. You need to communicate. That's the only way to work things out. You can only go so long ignoring your problems."

I nodded, because DD was right. If we didn't talk about it, it would just keep getting bigger and bigger, pushing us further and further apart.

"I'll talk to him once we've moved into the new place."

"You liked the house then?"

"We both did. It's perfect."

"I thought you'd like it," DD said with a smile. "I'll get you the paperwork tomorrow so we can put the house in both your names."

I blinked, surprised. For some reason, I'd thought DD would keep ownership of the house, but it seemed like he had other plans.

Sometimes, I wondered if it was wrong of me to let my dads pay for practically everything. I had money of my own, some from my mom's life insurance, and some from the allowances I'd saved over the years because DD didn't know how much money was enough for a ten-year-old, and I may have taken advantage of that until my dad figured out what I was up to.

I'd brought it up once before, and DD and Dad had sat me down and showed me exactly how much money they had between them. Let's just say I wouldn't be able to spend it all in a few centuries, even if I lived like royalty.

They used a lot of their money to make Mistvale a better place for supes, and they still had much to spare. DD had been increasing his wealth for 2,000 years after all, and it would keep growing. If they wanted to give Micah and me a house, I wasn't going to stop them. I would make sure they knew how much I appreciated it, though.

"I promise to be on my best behavior at the party tomorrow," I declared, and it made Dad laugh.

"We'll see about that. Could you please get your sister and set the table? Dinner's ready."

Giving him a salute, I jumped off the barstool, shouting Amelia's name as I headed over to the cabinet to get the dishes.

We'd been apart for barely an hour, and I already missed Micah.