Delicate

Chapter 34

Julian wrings his hand in front of himself as he visibly struggles to figure out what to say, his body shifting continuously while he keeps attempting to begin and end several sentences. His lips repeatedly parting for a moment, only to close as his eyes met the floor.

He was more than nervous, he was terrified. They all were. 

Completely and utterly terrified to say a single word that may send their seventh member out the door.

I didn't blame them though, we were all on edge with no one having a single idea of what the right thing to say or do was.

There was obviously a deeper conversation to be had, but was it the first thing that they approached or did they all 'catch up' first? Would it be one for everyone to be included in or would it included Damon and his parents alone?

The answer to any and every question seemed to escape each and every one of us.

I watch sympathetically as Damon's father continues to try to find the right route, his electric blue eyes darting between Damon and me as if he thought one of us would take the lead. 

I certainly wouldn't be, I didn't have much of a say in what was to happen next. Even though Damon was my heart and soul, it was his family, not mine so all I could do was support him as he tried to get through whatever was to come.

"A-Are you hungry?" Julian finally manages, his tone a saddening blend between desperate and fearful. "I made s-salmon."

I look up at Damon and catch the way a small smile tugged at his lips at the offer.

"That'd be nice. Thanks, dad." Damon says, his virtual beginnings of an olive branch clearly doing wonders for his father who smiled eagerly at him. 

"Good, that's good." His father praises as he steps back with his partner on his heals. "You all sit down and I-I'll b-bring out all the food. Okay?"

When Damon nodded, his father smiled once again before leaving the room with Damon's other father who still hadn't said a single word.

Silently, we all slipped into the available chairs, with Damon, Peter and I filling one side where his other siblings filled the other, leaving both ends of the table empty for his fathers. 

It was a beautiful table I knew my parents would drool over just like the rest of this house, but it was also clearly designed specifically for this family. With wood carvings along the edges that matched the ones around the house, it was uniquely theirs. 

Damon's siblings all shifted between staring at their hands and staring that their brother. Rarely risking a glimpse at me before the process repeated itself all over again.

"Where's Jayson?" Damon voices, finally filling the painfully, quiet space with a question. 

I watch as the one with black hair sits up a little, body tensing as he blinked a few times. He must've been Levi, Damon said one of his brother's also had a mate and that their name was Jayson.

"He's back home, w-with the pack," Levi answers quickly, stumbling over his words a little as he looked at Damon. "He was here before, looking for you." He continued quickly before sagging a little. "But we couldn't leave the pack without at least one of us, it's still so new and a month had already passed. So I told him to go home without me."

"Wait, how long have you been here?" Damon asks carefully.

"Since the night dad called and told me what happened," Levi says as if that was the most obvious answer in the world. "Aunt Katty brought me down cause I wanted to talk with you when you came back, e-explain things. But then you didn't."