6. Van

6

VAN

This sweet angel is upset and I don’t know what to do. If it were Wicky or Pike or even Lark, I’d crack a joke and get them laughing, but I don’t know Gabe enough. I don’t exactly want to offend or piss him off, either.

“So, what do you do around here for fun?” I ask instead. If he’s off for the night, we can entertain ourselves somehow. Despite my sad attempts at flirting with him, my body isn’t exactly in the best shape for sex.

“I’m not sure you should be doing too many fun things just yet. You might be recovering from a concussion.” His big soul searching eyes look up at me.

“I don’t think demons get concussions?”

“Isn’t your healing connected to your magic?” His eyes drop to my chest, which annoyingly is oozing… something through the shirt. Gross.

I let out a dramatic sigh. “It is.”

“Then maybe we shouldn’t do anything too fun. Maybe watch something on TV?”

“No, thank you. Sounds boring.”

“What about this?” Gabe starts. “You be a good patient for another day, and I’ll take you on an adventure.”

That perks me up. “What kind of adventure?”

“One you can’t even imagine.”

“Okay, I’ll hold you to it. I want you to blow my mind.”

“Promise.” He grins so brightly I can’t help my own smile.

Two hours later and I’m glaring at Gabe as he hums to himself. He’s been trying to teach me how to knit a basic scarf, but it doesn’t make sense to me and I’m pretty sure my hands are too big for the craft.

“What’s wrong?” He sets his knitting needles down and holds his hand out for my sad excuse of a scarf. Well, a few lines of scarf because it’s nowhere scarf shaped at all.

“I’m really bad at this. Can’t we do something else?”

“You’re not bad at it, you’re just new. No one is perfect right at the start.” He picks at a few of my stitches and I grumble under my breath. “It’s really calming if you let it be. But if you really want to try something else…” His gaze flicks toward a plant in the corner.

“I’m good.” I pick up my knitting needles and try to figure out how to start again.

Gabe picks up his project and holds it up so I can watch him. I get lost in him and forget my scarf. His face is tranquil, and he’s focused. “My grandma taught me how to knit because she thought it’d help my ADHD. It does a lot of times. But other things work better.”

I nod. “I wish I had someone that wanted to help me when I was a kid. I probably wouldn’t be a train wreck.”

“It’s never too late. You can take control of your life and see what works for you. I need cleanliness and something to occupy my brain or my mind gets all itchy.”

“My brain is itchy all the time. Always running away with me. So is my temper.”

“So I hear. But I think it can be reined in. It’s up to you, though. You make your choices, no one else.”

He has a point, but I won’t say that out loud. I don’t know how Gabe has the patience with me, but I’m grateful. We spend the night with me complaining about getting the stitches wrong until we sit in the living room with him on the coffee table and me on the couch. He walks me through each step so slowly it must upset him, but he doesn’t show it.

We both jump at the knock on the door. Gabe leaves me to see who it is and I’m relieved it’s Wren.

“Grabbed what I could fit in the bag. Let me know if there’s anything else you want and I’ll grab it too.” Wren blows me a kiss, which surprisingly makes Gabe go red.

“Thanks,” Gabe says, taking the bag. “I think he’s getting tired of my dad’s clothes. You can come in. I’m just teaching Van how to knit.”

Wren lifts a white brow. “I think I’m good. Thanks though.” Wren pops out and I wonder why he didn’t just teleport right into the living room instead of using the door.

“Thanks for asking Wren to fetch these for me.” I take the bag. “And thanks for letting me borrow your dad’s clothes.”

He shakes his head. “I’m just glad I had something for you to wear.” He yawns and I push to my feet.

“Come on, I think it’s time to put my angel to bed.”

Again, he shakes his head. “I’ll sleep out here. You can have the bed.”

“No, babes. I’m not taking your bed another night. At least not without you in it.” I wink and pull him to his feet. “I do love cuddling.”

“When you put it like that…” He nibbles his bottom lip. “Just cuddling. Nothing else right now.”

“Promise, though that implies we might get up to shenanigans some other time.”

“I won’t rule it out.” He leads the way to the bedroom. He’s already in pajamas and I want to rip them off him, but refrain.

The bed’s a little too short for me to be comfortable, but that only means we have to really cuddle. He curls in and I wrap myself around him, tucking him under my chin. My tail won’t settle no matter what I do.

“Can you cuddle my tail? He’s too awake still.”

Gabe opens his arms and I bring my tail in where he snuggles close. I think he’s forgotten how sensitive it is, but like this, all I can think about is how adorable he is and how tired I am.