Alpha ran his hands through hair while sitting at his desk in his home office. It was ruined. Well many things were ruined, but the one thing he wanted to be perfect was ruined.
His wedding. And of course his trashy brother Beta was the reason for it.
Of course the rushing anxiety that Senpai, the brother that he at least tolerated, could be dead crossed his mind but fuck he was really looking forward to his special day.
As he continued to sit there he reflected on the multiple talks he had to have with police, the depressing talk with his mother and most of all the final words he heard from Beta. When they found him he was going to prepare the longest speech ever about how much a waste of air he was.
But he didn't know when that would be. Alpha had this sick feeling that wouldn't be for a while. Despite wanting to join the legal field himself, he knew how incompetent they could be.
"...Al." A weak voice came from the doorway.
"Charlie, you are home early?"
"T-They saw that I wasn't feeling the best." Alpha gestured him over as he saw his red eye. It broke his heart. Charlie shifted over to Alpha and wrapped his arms around him, bringing him down to his lap.
"Charlie, please don't cry, we will have our wedding one day. This will be a temporary thing."
"T-That isn't what I am concerned about! A-Are you kidding me? One of your brothers may be dead!"
"I... I don't like thinking about that. We don't know what is going on."
"And what about B-Beta?! I don't know if I should be scared of him or worried about him."
"I suggest that you be disgusted with him no matter what." Alpha snapped. God, the things he would do to Beta for making his lover cry like this.
"A-Alpha the w-way you react to things scare me. I haven't e-even seen you cry at all."
"You know me. It just isn't in my nature. I do care, I just..." Alpha glanced around the room. He wasn't feeling the feelings that he should be feeling. It was making his fiancé question him and that was unacceptable. He had to fix this, he had to find Beta. He then had a thought, something he was surprised no one else had thought about.
"Charlie do you think..."
"...huh?" Charlie sniffed.
Alpha pulled out his phone. He has tried to send texts to both Senpai's and Beta's phone to no response. The snake must have blocked him. He then went to a tracking app buried deep in his phone that their mom all made them download years ago. How could she have forgotten this? He prayed to the gods that he didn't believe in that Beta was dumb enough to forget to turn off his location.
Apparently he was. There on the map were Senpai's and Beta's icons. They were in a completely different state then where Beta's school was.
"Holy shit..." Alpha said. "Holy fucking shit."
"W-What?"
"I found them! I FOUND THEM!"
"What!? How?"
"The dumbass didn't turn off the location on his phone."
"Really??"
"How the hell did the police not think of this, holy shit!"
"We have to tell them!" Charlie moved to get off Alpha's lap before he was grabbed.
"No."
"...Huh?"
"We are not going to contact them."
"W-What? WHAT?!"
"How do you expect me to trust them to handle this when they can even remember to track a phone? Are you serious? If it was up to me I wouldn't have gotten them involved in this family matter in the first place."
"So, what then?"
"Obviously, I'm going to find them myself."
"E-Excuse me?"
"Obviously, I'm going to find them myself."
"A-Alpha, are you crazy?!"
"If you want something done it is best to do it yourself. I'll bring one of my guns to protect myself and put him in his place. God, you wouldn't believe how much I want to put him in his place."
"A G-GUN?!"
"Yes. I probably have a better shot than any of those police pigs any-"
Charlie grabbed Alpha's face harshly in a way Alpha has never experienced.
"YOU ARE NOT LEAVING ME!"
Alpha just widened his eyes. Charlie, seeing this instantly pulled away.
"...W-Wait... Oh my God, I'm sorry."
"...It is ok, hon." Alpha brought his hand up to stroke Charlie's face, trying his best to calm him. He sighed when he saw tears were building up in his eye again. "You know I'm tough. I'll be ok."
"I know you are! It just makes me so uncomfortable. Why can't we just tell the police and your mother. Please just for once can you not get your way and listen to me?"
"You feel like I don't listen to you?" Alpha was taken aback. He thought he was the best partner ever.
"J-Just..." Charlie pushed away to stand up. "Please go with me to the police station instead in the morning. Please, promise me."
Alpha sighed and weighed his options. He didn't want to upset his fiancé anymore, so he took his hand.
"I promise."
Charlie's weak smile left a pit in his stomach.
————
Beta could feel himself slowly come out of the depths of his slumber, light was hitting his eyes and he did not enjoy it whatsoever. Groaning, he turned to the opposite direction and rubbed at his eyelids. They felt so tired from crying still.
He gently hoisted himself into a sitting position, confused as to why he was alone in the backseat. He clearly remembered Fred being by his side when he fell asleep. Looking around, he spotted the plant in the front seat.
He seemed to be back in his default form, which made Beta question for how long he has been asleep. Poor demon, it seemed like he already used up all his energy on napping with him.
"Fred?" he called, prompting the demon to look back at him.
"Oh, hello Beta. As you can see, nighttime has already fallen, so I turned on the car lights. I hope you can forgive me for waking you up."
"Yeah, it's okay. Just..." Bata exhaled, looking around again, "I was thinking about something a while ago."
Fred's tendrils stopped messing with the radio as he turned his full attention on the human.
"What might that be?"
"Fred, we've been under so much stress lately. Running away from here and there. I was thinking..." Beta leaned over towards the plant, - "If you would like to go visit a drive in movie theater? Most are closed nowadays but I'm sure we can find one."
Fred blinked at him for a moment, "Oh, yes. It depends on what we are viewing."
"Heh, I'll find a romance movie one. Just for you."
"Thank you." Fred replied, before remembering something important, "Ah, thank you as well for reminding me to change the exterior again. After that we should be free to go."
"Nice," Beta answered, crawling onto the driver's seat again. - "I was also thinking about something else..."
"What is up with you and mysteries tonight?" Fred asked.
"Pffff, shut up. I was just gonna say that we should murder some straight couple at the movies," Beta suggested this like it was nothing spectacular, not even betting an eye on the plant's reaction. - "You know, for you to feed on."
Fred shifted in his pot uncomfortably, "I see... Yes, we should do that too. I am getting too weak."
There was something about Beta getting accustomed to the idea of murder that wasn't sitting right with Fred. It felt so alien, the way he didn't even care anymore - it was not an acceptable reaction for a human being.
All the plant hoped for was that things would turn out well in the end. As well as they could get at this point.
——-
Alpha stroked the hair of his sleeping lover while in their bed. He was thankful that despite having that stressful outburst only a couple hours ago Charlie was able to pass out. Alpha himself was still wide awake thinking of all the options he had.
They all sucked.
Pulling out his phone he turned on the tracker again. The moving icons pissed him off so much. Beta was mocking him at this point and the fact that he was moving closer to him, didn't make it easier. What was he planning?
Beta was always the jealous type, he could have planned to take out everyone in the family. Alpha felt his grip whiten at those thoughts as he squeezed his phone.
No.
No amount of promises was going to let him just sit here and wait for that. He made a promise to his dad to protect his family, to be the new man of the house. He has already failed in protecting Senpai. Sitting around waiting was futile.
Thank god, Charlie was a deep sleeper. He slithered out of the bed and grabbed a duffel bag throwing various clothes and supplies in it. He reached up above on a shelf that his the key to his own personal weapon box he kept in the closet and packed a shotgun along with a pistol.
As he made his way to head out he looked down at Charlie, he was completely unaware about the broken promise he was making right now. Alpha's heart hurt so much, this wasn't the type of boyfriend he wanted to be. He hoped that he would be forgiven. He hoped that didn't affect their futures and he hoped Charlie was smart enough to stay away.
He couldn't just leave like this without any word. That would be even more cruel than he already was being. Alpha pulled out a paper from a desk from their room and started to write:
Dear Charlie,
I'm sorry.
I'm so fucking sorry. Going against your word and lying to you is breaking my heart right now. I know I am a selfish bastard who likes to get my way. I want to stop being like that for you but this is the one thing I cannot ignore. I don't feel like we are safe and even if you never speak to me again because I did this at least I will have the knowledge I have done everything in my power to protect you. The police suck. If they haven't caught him yet I fear they will not catch him before reaching us. Losing you to him would shatter my whole reality. So please, don't follow me. Stay safe in our house, lock the doors and take work off. I would appreciate it if you didn't call the police or even worse my mother but I feel that you will. I wouldn't be mad if you did but just know it will make this much harder. I promise no matter what I'll be safe and return. I don't know if you still would have my hand but I dream so many dreams of that day. I hope that it will come true one day.
P.s. Please don't forget to take your meds. I know you struggle with that. Two a day. One in the morning and one at night.
Double P.s I love you so much, and again, I'm so sorry.
-Alpha
He read over the letter multiple times making sure it said everything he wanted to say. Alpha could not stop thinking of how Charlie was going to react to this. He knew he would cry, he probably would just then spam call him. Alpha just begged the universe that he wouldn't try to go after him. After reading it one more time his own eyes started to hurt as they became glossy, but he swallowed down any tears before they could appear. He was a man who had to be tough.
Alpha finally decided it was time and leaned down to place a kiss on Charlie's forehead. Before pulling away he whispered, "I love you," in his hair.
———
"This should be it, Google says they're playing some romance movie tonight." Beta said while he pulled up in the line to get in. "I know you are tired but transform as I get up to the window. They are going to peek in to see how many people are in the car."
"How sad that they will think you are by yourself."
Beta reached over to pat Fred on the head. "I don't care what anyone thinks, all that matters is that I know I'm going with you."
When he got to the window he used their stolen money for the drive in, and parked somewhere far away from the other cars . He didn't want Fred to be transformed the whole time, Beta saw he was already pretty weak.
"Do we need to attach one of the speakers so we can hear?"
Beta glanced over at the ancient things. "Nah you can now tune your radio station to a station to hear the movie."
Beta dialed the station and finally ended up on the right one.
"...that is intelligent."
"Uh, yeah."They sat in silence for a moment before Beta said "I can't remember the last time I went to a movie like this. After dad died money was tight so it was hard for mom to take us."
"...Oh"
"It is not like it matters anyway you can pirate movies easily online. I hate going out anyway."
"It is a perfect date location though." They stayed silent again. Fred could not comprehend why he just said that. He was getting dumber by the second, this wasn't a date, that would be ridiculous. The kiss last night wasn't anything, even if Fred himself could not stop thinking about it.
"Anyway... I should get some snacks. And uh, I'll wear my hoodie up so don't worry! Also, while I'm heading over to see if there is anyone easier for us to snag. I know you must be starving." He opened the car door and gave a peace sign as he left.
Beta still had snacks from the backseat from the gas station raid but something told him he needed some time to himself to think about what was going on between him and his demon friend.
It wasn't right. Since they met, everything that has happened has been wrong.
That wasn't stopping these feelings...
That didn't stop the curiosity....
God, he was more disgusting than anyone could even imagine.
But he already knew that.
——
Beta still hasn't returned yet as he watched the different commercials that appeared before the film. Movies have definitely changed since the last time Fred has woken up. The people seemed so real and the effects they used were incredible. Fred actually hated it. It all seemed less genuine and fabricated.
He had doubts that the movie they were about to watch would be any good.
"I'm back pumpkin!" Beta flew open the door causing Fred to flinch. "Thank god there aren't that many cars here! I saw some basic ass teens sucking faces. They probably will be perfect to hit over the head after the movie."
"After the m-movie?" Fred struggled to speak. He really wanted to watch the movie with Beta but he didn't know that he would be strong enough to even last.
"Oh fuck! Are you that hungry?"
"No. Don't worry...." Beta just reached to the backside of his backpack and dug through his bag.
"What are you doing?"
Beta pulled out a switch knife. "Ha, forgot I had this." He then took the knife and dragged it along the palm of his hand.
"BETA?!"
"Shhh." Beta reached over and dragged it along Fred's body. Fred tried everything in power to not let out a groan of pleasure but he couldn't help himself. He was just so hungry and it was Beta's blood.
Beta remembered the first time this had happened, how he freaked out when Fred absorbed his blood to awaken. Even if all of that happened a month ago at best, it felt so far away in his past. So many things changed recently, he wasn't even sure how he lasted so long.
Seeing Fred purr lightly made a small smile form on Beta's lips, maybe they could pretend it was all okay.
"Haha, I got some food, you deserve some of your own." he commented after a moment.
"You didn't have to do that!"
Beta pulled his hand away and grabbed a sock from the floor of the car, wrapping it around and putting pressure on it.'"I wish I could give you more. But I bet that will hold you over for a couple of hours."
"It will..."
"Fred."
"...Yes?"
"We are so fucking weird."
"Agreed."
"And uh, Fred."
"Yes, Beta?"
"You are probably confused with how differently I have been acting. It is just that I'm tired of feeling like this. I just want to pretend everything is okay before Alpha finds and chops my head off or just the whole world goes to shit."
"Yeah?"
"I want to pretend that we are still back in the moment before I killed... you know. I want to think what would've happened if I never did that."
"That is understandable."
"Yeah, let's just watch and laugh how stupid this film will be!"
"That would be optimal." Fred said, despite having no mouth, the smile in his voice was audible. Beta smiled too, grabbing the things he got and some extra snacks from the backseat with his free hand.
"Tonight, we both dine like kings." he chuckled, grabbing some popcorn as the movie was about to start. With more energy to spear, Fred was able to sit up straighter and his eyes stopped looking like they would close on themselves.
"Beta," the plant said, "I have to be honest with you."
"What's up?"
"I have a feeling this movie will fucking suck."
Upon hearing the plant swear, Beta bursted out in fits of laughter, unable to eat more popcorn due to it. -"I know! It was you who wanted to watch a romance movie!"
"I did not anticipate this!" Fred chuckled too, curling into his pot to relax. -"I don't like all these new movies. They are so fake."
"Pffff- Sorry, romance expert on true love."
"Oh, shut it. You know what I am talking about."
"I do," Beta exhaled sheepishly after his laughter died down, "I have a similar thing going on with music. I don't like any of that new shit, I just love the songs my dad used to play on the radio best."
"That is understandable. They mean a lot to you."
"They do..." Beta looked up to the movie, eating some more popcorn without having the fear of choking to death. This was so nice, he almost completely forgot about Alpha being probably on his way to kill him.
Beta then suddenly got a very bad thought.
"Fred?" He addressed the demon after a while of silence.
"Yes?"
"Fuck Alpha. Fuck Senpai. I don't wanna get worried over them ever again." he spoke, his eyebrows furrowing, -"At first I felt horrible, but now? I think they both fucking deserve it. The hell they put me through when I was younger..."
"Ah, well... I'm not sure if that would be considered ideal. But, you are your own person and you are free to think whatever you want." Fred spoke back, his eyes wandering from the movie to Beta, -"If that is rational to you, then I will not oppose it."
The plant had to stop trying to control Beta's emotions, all it ever did was make him sad. He was a grown adult, he was able to decide for himself, all Fred had to do was embrace each part of him. Even if a pit formed inside of him that wasn't healthy. That this isn't how truly Beta felt.
"Thanks..." Beta said, "I know that sometimes I can get very stubborn, hah."
"That is alright, we all have our bad sides - including me."
Beta chuckled in reply, looking over to the screen to find the main couple of the movie laying in bed together. If he had been honest, he wasn't even paying attention to the plot at all, instead he was just sitting there thinking about so many things.
"Uhm, Fred?" Beta asked again, "Sorry for being annoying."
"Nonsense," Fred replied, "You are not being annoying at all. I enjoy talking to you. What did you want to discuss?"
"I was gonna ask you- You don't have to do it if you don't want to of course, hah- But, uhm- Can you... Can you transform again?"
"Ah, I mean... Sure." Fred shrugged, causing the screen of the movie to flicker momentarily as Beta closed his eyes.
"Thank you..." Beta chuckled, his hand slowly wandering towards Fred's as he curled his fingers around his goopy hand. "You are so freaky and cool looking like this."
"You are welcome..." Fred answered, shyly eyeing his hand curled with Beta's.
They sat in silence for a short while, both too afraid to talk.
Until Fred was the one to break the tension; "This is ridiculous, we've known each other for a while now, why are you so tense?"
"Ah- I'm not tense, man." Beta chuckled, looking away for a moment to scream internally.
"Stop lying, is there something on your mind, Beta?"
"Nooo," Beta said in a quiet voice, "Nothing at all. My head is empty."
Fred chuckled in response, "Really? If that is so, may I say something?"
"Sure..."
"I just wanted to say thank you," Fred started, "Thank you for everything. While I was weak from gathering supplies that day, you could have put an end to it all. You could have killed me and returned home to serve your sentence like you wanted to. But..."
The demon looked over to his human, "Well I need to say thank you too! You saved me. And I couldn't stop wondering since; Why? Why did you do that?"
Beta froze for a moment, blinking repeatedly a few times.
"I, uh... I..." he couldn't form a sentence to explain exactly why he did it, now that Fred brought it up Beta had to admit that it was a good question. Why? He wasn't even sure himself as to why.
"I just... I thought that was what I needed to d-do! You just helped me get better and I mean- I've known- We've known each other for a while and I just couldn't let you die! Not by the hands of someone-"
Beta froze as Fred brought his free hand up to his cheek, gently stroking his skin with his thumb. He was stuck mid sentence, unable to form another string of thought. This whole situation was making his heart skip beats.
"Whatever the reason may be," Fred spoke first, his voice smooth like honey, "I appreciate it regardless, Beta. Your whole existence means so much to me."
He finally made his way to his chin and felt the scratchy facial hair.
"...Fred. My existence is small compared with how long you have lived."
"That means just how amazing you are."
"Haha, oh..." Beta shifted his eyes to the movie still playing on the screen. The couple had reached the point of leaning into each other sharing quick perks. It made Beta wonder so many things. "Fred, have you...uh?"
"Have I what?"
"...Kissed anyone"
"You kissed me last night."
"No, I mean a real kiss."
"I think you know the answer to that. When would I ever have had the chance? I don't have a mouth."
"Well..." Beta took in a deep breath. He couldn't believe he was asking for this. "You love romances so much pumpkin. Would you like a first hand experience in one?"
Fred looked taken aback as one usually would be upon being asked such a question, but he seemed to recover quickly; "I suppose so, yes? What did you plan?"
Beta took in a big breath, closing his eyelids as he leaned forward, his lips pressing against Fred's black skin - precisely on the spot where his mouth would have been. He pulled away a few seconds later, opening his eyes to witness the demon's reaction.
"So... How did that feel?"
"I didn't feel all too much, if I had to be honest with you. My lack of mouth is ruining the moment, isn't it?" Fred asked.
"It's fine, don't worry about it, my pumpkin." Beta smiled in reply, giving Fred another quick kiss in the meantime. Fred chuckled, wrapping his arms around him and bringing the human closer to himself.
Beta closed his eyes in delight as he felt Fred purr lightly, nuzzling against his hair, the romance movie playing on screen long forgotten. Beta wasn't satisfied until he was practically sitting on the demon's lap, leaning his hands against his chest for support.
All the worries outside of the warm car seemed to fade as he melted against his demon companion, trailing small but soft kisses over his lower face and jawline - Fred all the while jumping in pitch as he purred still.
"Beta?" he asked after a moment.
"Yeah?"
"I have an idea, but I doubt it'll work... I have never attempted to do something like this."
Beta looked up to the entity in confusion, prompting him to continue. He could feel the car shake slightly as the demon transformed again, although this time a lot faster - which was expected. The only thing that seemed to change about him is that a mouth-like opening formed on his face.
"Is this how it should look?"
Beta hoisted himself up higher on Fred's lap; "About right."
He commented before closing the distance between himself and the demon, eager to finally kiss him fully. Their mouths clashed immediately as Beta grew impatient, skipping straight into pushing his tongue inside Fred's mouth.
He groaned as the taste of blood filled his senses, but it didn't cause him to pull away, if anything it only made him pull Fred closer. He felt the demon angle his head better as a weird tentacle shaped tongue slithered against Beta's one, Fred's arms squeezing him tight in the meantime.
Beta only separated himself from Fred to breathe from time to time, a string of saliva connecting the two as Beta's eyes fluttered close. He hummed against the demon's mouth as his tongue was pushed out of Fred's mouth into his own, melting against his chest as his cheeks heated up.
All that could be audible for a while were just sloppy make out noises as Beta's hand lazily stroked the demon's jawline. A single noise managed to tear the two out of their trance quickly - as Fred's hands traveled down the human's back he roughly squeezed his behind, causing a little moan to escape the human.
They both abruptly stopped after that; "I- I apologize, Beta. That was uncalled for on my part."
"It's... fine..." Beta huffed out, still out of breath, "Sorry..."
The two of them soon fell into silence as the movie continued to play as background noise, Beta leaning against the demon's chest regardless. Fred's mouth disappeared as they both rested.
"Let's go kill some teens, Fred."
"Yes."