56. A Dumbass in Deep Shit

I gnoring the mouthwatering smells that hit him in the face as he came in, Wes eyed Harlow with a frown. The dhampir looked…he was going to go with…stressed. The hunter looked very stressed.

He was overly pale, and pieces of the man's usually swept back hair were sticking up, while his expression was tense. It was out of place enough that…Wes couldn't help but ask, "Is something wrong?"

Harlow cleared his throat. "Well…"

"YES! Something is wrong! MULTIPLE things!" Foxx hissed loudly from further inside the apartment.

His brow raising at Harlow's mouth snapping shut, he slowly walked past him and headed down the hall.

Wes found Foxx sitting with his arms crossed on one of the teal couches. One of the vampire's legs was bouncing away, and with his eyes narrowed and mouth pinched, the man looked seconds away from snapping. On the coffee table in front of him, however, was a wide array of baked goods, that really made Wes wish he was one of those doctors who didn't care for his patients, so he could ignore the tension in favor of stuffing his face. And beyond the number of sweets, it was also notable that Foxx was sitting on the couch across from where he normally sat.

Eyes still on the vampire, he slowly walked over and sat down, ignoring the sweets.

Harlow cleared his throat almost nervously as he sat by himself on the couch the couple normally shared. "I…honestly didn't mean for it to happen, Foxx."

Wes smiled gently. "Why don't we let Foxx explain what is bothering him, and then we can go from there?"

"Perfect! I'll go from bottom to top on my list. Starting with, hmm let's see, oh yeah, the fact that you refuse to drink anyone's blood except mine. Which means I have to constantly drink blood and drain myself as I try to fill bags up for you, in between you puncturing me like a bloody pin cushion!

"But when we found out recently that you could actually order vampire blood through the government website, you REFUSED that option! Didn't even let me finish saying it out loud. Meanwhile, you seem to be ignoring the fact that the blood you are drinking from me, while it has cycled through my body, originally came from the GOVERNMENT, the donors ANONYMOUS!"

Harlow's face pinched. "That…was…very wrong of me. I will…consider ordering blood." When the vampire's eyes narrowed, the dhampir rushed to say. "I mean, I will order blood."

Wes' brow raised, and his gaze flicked back and forth between the two. Okay then… He had to be missing some very important information right now. Because that…response…was uncomfortably un-Harlow-like.

"That's…definitely something you should…consider for your partner's comfort, Harlow…" Wes said slowly.

"Right, onto the next. And to note, in case it wasn't clear, we are going upwards towards the worst. Coming in at number three, the thirty or so cameras that my dear insane boyfriend installed in our apartment without telling me! Mind you, he wasn't my boyfriend at the time he installed them. And I'm sure you're probably thinking now, how is that not at the top of my list? But oh, it gets worse!"

"T-thirty cameras?!" Wes croaked, looking to Harlow for answers, and then it suddenly clicked. "When I warned you to pull back the protectiveness you were feeling towards Foxx before you took it too far, and you said you weren't going to take it any further, I didn't realize you meant that you had in fact already gone too far."

Was this really not the worst part…?

Harlow cleared his throat. "Foxx…"

"Oh, did you think I'd just let that go? Oh, no, I just KINDLY put it from my mind until, you know, I felt it was necessary to bring it up!"

Wes barely kept the grimace off his face. Harlow had mentioned that Foxx liked to rehash and bring up things when it suited him. He'd definitely have to keep that in mind for the future.

The dhampir took a deep breath. "It's really just for safety. And I don't watch the footage…"

"No, you just obsessively get pictures sent to you anytime someone comes in or out of our door."

"I mean…I at least delete them now."

"Gee, how nice for your phone storage! Right, number two. Since your transition, you have broken, destroyed, and obliterated numerous irreplaceable things inside and outside of our apartment. To be honest, I ignored this one for a long while. I ignored that you were hiding the things you broke. I even ignored that you were, in fact, not listening to me when I asked you to practice at controlling your strength. Because I know it's hard, and it's all new. It is a lot."

"Foxx," Wes started. "I do realize that broken things can be upsetting…and it is wrong of him to ignore sound advice…but…" He trailed off on catching Harlow's expression. It was hard to ignore the dhampir's begging eyes, or the subtle desperate shaking of his head.

"Oh, so you think I should be lenient with him? More understanding with him?" Foxx chimed brightly.

For some reason, the tone sent a shiver down his spine, more so when Harlow cringed back like a frightened animal.

The dhampir's eyes slowly slipped to the vampire and he gave the man a weak smile. "No, Foxx…I don't think that! I think what I did was wrong. I was stupid, and I should have listened. I am fully in the wrong. And as I said before this, I am sorry. I didn't do it on purpose, and I will make sure it never, ever happens again."

This…was not about broken things. He would assume the dhampir had accidentally hurt Foxx, yet… He frowned and eyed the smaller man…

The vampire looked fine, besides looking slightly homicidal. Which was a feat with the bright smile and dimples. Though, Wes supposed the incident could have happened a few weeks back. Foxx could have healed since. Yet…it didn't feel like this was a two-week-old problem. This felt like a ‘just happened' problem.

"Oh, you're sorry? For what? For breaking my things, breaking our bedroom door…or…" The smile turned demonic as the vampire hissed, "For fucking dislocating my shoulder during sex?!"

"All of that!" Harlow gasped. "Definitely the shoulder thing though."

Oh…fuck. Yep, that would heal quickly. Just a quick…pop…back into place. Oh, hell. This was where calling ahead…to inform him of what he was walking into would have been the best option. But he doubted Harlow had even thought about it.

And as much as he felt and sympathized with Harlow, due in part to his own clumsiness, unfortunately, on multiple occasions, causing minor harm to his past partners…Wes could understand why Foxx was, well…enraged.

Wes cleared his throat. "I… Yes…I see the issue now. Did I say…lenient? Umm…yes, no, that is not an option anymore. What I think would be best for you both is to consider how you want to move past this. I understand you are angry, Foxx, and you have a right to be, but staying angry won't solve anything. The problem will remain, and the only thing it will do is create a gap between you, which I am sure is not something either of you wants."

Foxx was no longer smiling, not even demonically. The vampire's mouth was pressed into a tight line and he was just glaring at… Wes was pretty sure the man was glaring at both of them now…

Harlow motioned with his eyes for him to keep going, or more likely telling him to fix this.

"Right, so the problem is that Harlow is having trouble controlling his strength. But let's—now I'm not blaming you," he quickly made sure to say. "But let's consider, before this, Harlow assumed he was human. And holding back wasn't something he usually needed to do in a fight. Sure, if he was against humans that he had to bring in, he knew not to take it too far. But back then, a single hit wouldn't be a problem, while now, a single hit from him can kill that same human. Foxx, you are used to adjusting your strength to your actions, am I right?"

"Yes," Foxx ground out.

"Have you had to do so multiple times throughout your lifetime?"

"I have…"

"Which is why, when you were telling him to practice holding back, with the understanding of what it meant if he didn't, you expected him to realize the importance of it, and to do what you were telling him."

"Yes," the man hissed.

"Which isn't wrong of you. His strength is greater, so learning to hold back so he doesn't accidentally hurt anyone he shouldn't is a given. However, sometimes we, as people, when we have more experience with something, set expectations at a different level than the inexperienced person we are instructing. And we sometimes forget that while for us hearing words like ‘practice', ‘hold back', and ‘adjust', may bring up a wealth of knowledge in our mind on both how to do that and how to achieve that…it doesn't for those who have no experience."

Foxx's expression wasn't as pinched, but he was still glaring. "So, it's my fault that I assumed he'd know what to do? Is that it?"

"No. That's not what I'm saying. What I'm saying is that there was a miscommunication here, on both expectations and just a lack of follow through, perhaps on both ends. You asked him to do something that he needs to do. I feel maybe you assumed that he was doing it, at least in part. But let's clear that up now. Harlow, were you practicing?"

Harlow, the big man that he was, seemed to shrink where he sat as the conversation was directed towards him. Where was the scary murderous hunter now ? he thought with an inner eye roll.

The dhampir cleared his throat. "I was…trying… But I maybe didn't really understand what was being asked of me…"

Foxx hissed.

Wes held his hand up. "I understand you're angry. And while maybe you could have followed up and asked if he didn't understand, maybe even kept track to see if he was making progress, the fact is, he is an adult with a working set of vocal cords. His lack of progress right now isn't on you, it's on him. Because I'm sure you kept bringing it up, and each time, he said nothing. If he didn't know what he should be doing, and I'm sure he knew that what he was doing wasn't working weeks before now, then it was his job to open his mouth and say something."

The vampire huffed, his bottom lip popping out as his gaze finally softened. "I would have helped if he'd just asked. I know all these changes can be confusing…"

"I… Sorry, Foxx. I was trying, just… I'm…not used to asking for help… And it honestly…didn't occur to me to ask for you to explain what I should be doing. Which really just means I'm a dumbass."

Foxx sighed. "You are a dumbass…but you are my dumbass."

Harlow smirked. "Always, brat. Again, I'm sorry for hurting you."

"Don't let it happen again, old man. Or I'll be burying a fifth boyfriend."

Beyond all belief, at the first actual threat Foxx had vocalized, the dhampir laughed.

"I'm going to pretend I didn't hear that." Wes cleared his throat. "Moving forward with this issue, I think it would be best that you work on it together. That way, you, Foxx, can make sure he is progressing, and that you, Harlow, get the instruction and knowledge you need to finally adjust to your new strength."

"Okay." Foxx nodded.

"Fine," Harlow grunted. With the threat of Foxx neutralized, the man seemed to just transform back into his normal self.

"With that…crisis averted, let's pick up where we last left off, shall we?"

"Do we have to?" Foxx groaned as he stood up and slowly took his seat next to Harlow.

"Yes." Wes smiled.

Ah…the trouble couple were back together again… May the world survive…