Chapter 31

31

Darcy called movers to pack up all my stuff so I didn’t have to go back to my apartment. That was thoughtful of him, and I rewarded him with a shower BJ. I’m steadier on my knees than on one foot, and his shower doesn’t have a handrail yet, so I was already down there. It was not at all a burden.

Once we’re out of the shower and redressed, Matsumoto-san knocks on Darcy’s door—our bedroom door. That’ll take some getting used to. I live here now.

“Is this my room too?” I ask curiously as Darcy pulls open the door.

Darcy shoots me a perplexed look. “Why would you think otherwise?”

“Never lived with a boyfriend. Never been a fated mate. You might have objections since we haven’t known each other long.” And we’re definitely not sharing blankets, so he could have any number of expectations we need to talk through.

Darcy shakes his head like he can’t believe me and points to the bed. “This bed is where you’re sleeping until the mattress needs replacing. Got it?”

I smile, happiness filling me up. “Got it.”

Darcy turns back to Matsumoto-san. “Yeah?”

The butler bows slightly. “Your neighbors are in the living room.”

Darcy releases a put upon sigh, so I put a hand on his shoulder. “Hey, I told you I would deal with them,” I remind him, smiling at Matsumoto-san. “Lead the way.”

Darcy grumbles under his breath, grabbing my hand. “I was just hoping for a few more weeks before they actually noticed.”

I shoot him a curious look, but we’re already to the stairs, and I don’t want to fall, so I concentrate on getting down them without going ass over teakettle.

Matsumoto-san leads us to the living room where three people are sipping from delicate tea cups and sitting on Darcy’s comfortable, low couches. “I’m starting to sense a theme with the height of the furniture,” I comment, waving at the Foxilys.

Romily waves back, eyes wide with a big ol’ question mark on his face.

Bellamy doesn’t look surprised to see us, but he is a little red in the face, like he’s upset or embarrassed.

Fox remains quietly stoic. I wonder if it’s his personality or if he’s a practitioner of stoicism.

“Darcy? What are you doing here?” Bellamy asks, pointing at Romily to indicate who he’s talking for. I pat my pocket and pull my phone out, seeing the text message that Romily sent.

Since I did say I would deal with the neighbors, I answer for my mate. “We live here. I’m still moving in, which is why there are no books on the shelves,”—they’re mostly empty with only a few small statuettes of cats on them—“but we’re waiting for a delivery of my stuff later today. Are you guys my new neighbors?”

Our phones ding, and I check the message.

Romily: You mean to tell me the reason there was a hold up for our paperwork to buy this place is because you stole it out from under our noses?

Darcy narrows his eyes at the phone, and I wrap a hand around his shoulders. “I don’t think that’s how property purchasing works.” I’ve never bought anything before, but I’m pretty sure that you can’t just steal a buy out from under someone.

Darcy huffs. “I bought this place the day I learned Bellamy moved in with you. You were trying to get one of my many LLCs to sell to you, and my property manager almost did it without consulting me. I fired her, moved Matsumoto-san here, and I’ve been slowly moving myself in over the last few weeks, but I’ve been busy and it wasn’t a major priority for me.”

“You are the most stubborn man I’ve ever met. Why wouldn’t you tell me that you were moving in next door?” Bellamy demands, clearly exasperated.

“Because you’da told that menace over there,” Darcy answers, jabbing a finger at Romily.

Romily gasps, drops his jaw wide open, and clutches his literal pearls. The string draped around his neck looks super expensive. (I took a free course on pearls when I was in high school, so I know what I’m talking about.)

Darcy wags his finger at Romily. “You are a menace. We’ve had more trouble than we ever had before meeting you. You’re the reason we were singled out to become the Avatars. If we’d never met you, we’d’ve slid under the radar no problem, but Bellamy had the unfortunate luck of meeting you and getting adopted, and it’s yer fault we’re in this situation at all.”

Romily huffs, snapping his mouth shut and pointing to Darcy. He gestures to Bellamy, catching him by the wrist, then hugging him aggressively. He mimes cutting his own arm, then points at Darcy again. Then he lifts his hands, palms up, and shrugs dramatically before gesturing all around the space and toward the north. He shakes Bellamy’s wrist at Darcy, then he puts his foot down and makes a cross with his arms. He wraps an arm around Fox and points to his chest with a stern expression. The next thing he does is wave vaguely at me and smile, following that up with a glower at Darcy and another pointed look at me. Then he puts his hands on my mate and gets in his face, mouthing some words at him.

It looks like “We love you,” but he’s really bad at mimicking words.

Darcy, for his part, stares at Romily, completely baffled by what just happened. “Use yer fuckin’ words. We’re all more’n happy to wait,” he tells him, gesturing to his phone.

Romily blows out a frustrated breath and mimes throttling Darcy Homer Simpson style.

I step between them and hold my hands up. “Darcy, he’s just very emphatically saying that being part of the Foxilys comes with adventure and that your life is less boring for having him in it. He also wants you to know that they all love you and want you to be a part of their family, so even though they wanted to buy this brownstone, they’re happy you own it because they wanted you close. Right?” I look at Romily to confirm.

Romily nods decisively, and Bellamy exclaims, “What?! I didn’t get that at all from that dance.”

Fox slides a glance to him, reaching out and squeezing his shoulder. “You just need a little more practice with your Papa’s form of non-verbal communication, son.”

Bellamy’s face turns bright red, and he shakes his head. He doesn’t shake off Fox’s hand, though. In fact, he takes a step closer and lets Fox put his arm around his shoulders. It’s kind of cute. “There is no way you would have known what Papa was saying if you weren’t telepathically connected to him.”

“I understood what he meant just fine,” I point out, “and I don’t have a telepathic connection to anyone.”

“No, that doesn’t count,” Darcy denies. “You’re Harmonia’s oracle. You’ve got empathy in spades. It’s a leg up for you to sense what he’s saying because he’s a loud emoter.”

I consider that a moment, nodding. “Makes sense, but either way, the point is you are loved and wanted, and they’re glad you’re here.”

Romily points at me.

“And they’re glad I’m here too,” I add for him.

Romily nods once, stepping back into Fox’s arms. They’re kind of adorable like that, with Bellamy and Romily under Fox’s arms.

Just in case I misread the situation (I don’t think I did, but Daddy kink is a thing so…), I ask “You three aren’t lovers, right? I got the sense it’s just Romily and Fox in a romantic partnership, but I could be wrong.”

Bellamy gags.

Romily shakes his head.

Fox laughs. It’s a beautiful, deep, joyful rumble, and it garners everyone’s attention.

Darcy stares at Fox like he’s never seen him before, twining his fingers with mine. It takes a moment for everyone to recover after Fox’s laughter dies down, so I’m guessing that Fox doesn’t laugh very often. How nice that he thinks I’m funny.

“Bellamy has better taste than that,” Darcy grumbles, but his gaze slides over Fox and Romily with a look like he’d be DTF if we weren’t exclusive.

Romily jabs a finger at Darcy in an accusatory manner.

I laugh at that. “You definitely offered to fuck at least one of them, so you can’t really judge.”

Darcy huffs. “That was before I really got to know them.”

Bellamy sends a soft kick to Darcy’s shin. “Don’t lie. If they offered, you’d at least think about saying yes.”

Darcy releases my hand to wrap his arm around me. “Not with this one in my life.”

I lean down and kiss the top of his head. “Exclusivity looks sexy on you,” I assure him.

Romily points to me with a bright smile, clinging to his Fox. He gets it, and I high five him.

“What did you come over for, anyway?” I ask, curiously.

Romily points to Bellamy, who shakes his head. “I told you we didn’t need to ask,” he points out, blushing again.

He and I have the same coloring, but this poor guy blushes at the drop of a hat. I do not envy his life in red. I bet that’s why he’s so dramatic all the time. He can’t hide it so he’s got to lean into it.

“About what?” I still want to know why they came over since they didn’t know we lived here.

Bellamy turns toward the window, trying to hide his embarrassment.

Our phones ding.

Romily: Why don’t we need to ask about the rumbling? It shook the foundation of the brownstone and that’s not healthy for the building!

“I hadn’t thought of that.” But it’s true. Foundations probably shouldn’t shake the way Darcy makes them when he’s expressing himself in volcano monster. I turn to my mate. “No, actually, I know what you are, and none of that explains why you shake foundations when you’re fucking.”

“Oh my god,” Bellamy curses, walking out of the room. “I’m goin’ home. Or to the office. Yeah, I’m goin’ to the office!” he announces, jerking the front door open.

Darcy squeezes my side and walks after him. He grabs Bellamy’s wrist before he can get out the door and drags him around the corner out of sight, leaving me with Romily and Fox.

I open my mouth to ask about Bellamy’s work, but I’m cut off by Darcy’s voice coming in from a vent in the wall.

“What the hell has gotten into you?”

Romily and I immediately move to get close to the vent.

“Nothing,” Bellamy answers defensively.

We exchange a knowing glance, and I startle to see that Fox has moved with us.

“There’s something. Yer actin’ strange,” Darcy stubbornly denies.

“I’m not,” Bellamy drawls, and it feels like his already formal accent gets more so.

“Dammit, Red, just tell me what’s wrong.”

“Don’t call me that,” Bellamy hisses.

“Then tell me what the fuck got into yer shorts and bit yer ass!”

“You did!” Bellamy barks, and immediately pulls his voice back. “I don’t even know why the fuck it’s bothering me. I’m not into you any more. I got over you.”

“What the hell are you talking about?” Darcy demands.

“Elijah looks just like me, but I wasn’t ever your type. You said that to me I don’t know how many times. Why do I even care? I’m pissed though. I’m so angry with you.”

“Red.”

“Don’t call me that!” Bellamy yells, then again immediately lowers his voice. “This isn’t your problem. It’s a me problem, and I’m sorry, but this problem means I need some time away from you.”

“Stop that, Bellamy,” Darcy grits out, and I can tell he’s clenching his fists. “I told you that I wasn’t going to be tied down, and we were on the same page, and I’m sorry that I didn’t do a great job of keeping you at more of a distance, but yer looks ain’t never been the problem. You ain’t never been the problem. The problem was always me, and it woulda continued to be me until the heat death of the universe if Elijah hadn’t been so damn… perfect fer me. He’s my fated mate. You can’t get more perfect than that. I love the look o’ you, you know that. Yer sexy as fuck, but yer not for me. I’m sorry about that.”

“No, you’re not,” Bellamy sighs. “I’m not, either, because honestly, what would I even do with you? I’m just irrational right now.”

“That’s fine, but don’t think that you aren’t worthy because of me. You’re worthy of love, Bella.”

“I know that,” he retorts. “I’m over it. I won’t get stupid again.”

Darcy snorts. “You will, but we’ll love you anyway.”

Bellamy sighs loudly, and the two fall silent for a few seconds.

Romily and I exchange another look. We’re both glad they worked that out. It would be bad for Darcy to lose his best friend because of jealousy like that, and Bellamy really does deserve better than Darcy settling for him. Though I don't know why Darcy wouldn’t give him a chance even if he wasn’t a fated mate. He and Bellamy have great chemistry as friends. I imagine that extends to the bedroom too.

“What are you three doing?” Darcy demands from the entrance to the living room.

I glance between him and Bellamy. “Are you done with your heart to heart?” I ask, striding over to them and offering him my hand. “Did you hug? It’s really important to hug it out when you’ve had an emotional conversation if you’re not touch-averse.”

“No, we didn’t hug,” Darcy grunts, shaking his head as he reaches for my hand.

I immediately widen my arms, encompassing them both. “No time like the present. I bet a group hug would feel really good.”

Romily and Fox come up and bracket their adopted son, silently encouraging a group hug.

I get an arm around Darcy and push him toward Bellamy, and then we’re all grouped together in a warm, squeezy hug, and it really does feel like the best thing after such an intense conversation.

“Of course they were eavesdropping,” Bellamy complains, pressing his head into my shoulder since it’s conveniently located.

“You’re the ones who had a conversation right next to the vent between rooms,” I point out. It’s not our fault they did that.

“Next time I will make sure to check for vents,” Bellamy sighs.

“You could’ve had that conversation in here, and then we could have supported you from the start,” I say, and Romily sighs loudly with a big ol’ happy smile.

He and I really vibe. I’m glad we’re family now. “Next week, we’re going to go spend a couple days on my family’s farm. I’d love it if you all came with. I think my parents would love to meet you.”

Romily nods enthusiastically.

“Sweet. I can’t wait for you all to meet them. You’re going to love my mom’s cherry pie.”