Belle Morte Bites (Belle Morte 4.3)

Big Decisions: Part Two

As soon as they were back in their bedroom, Jason made a beeline for the en suite. He strode to the bath, turned on the taps, then grabbed a bottle of bubble bath that Roux had bought him and emptied half of it into the tub. Bubbles immediately foamed under the waterfall of hot water.

"What are you doing?" Gideon asked, sounding faintly amused.

"Getting ready to relax. If we're going to talk about a massive decision like this, then I need to calm down because I'm honestly freaking out a bit, Gid," Jason said.

Gideon caught Jason's hands and held them still. "What are you freaking out about?"

Jason tried to organise his thoughts. "I have no idea where to start thinking about this."

"You can start by remembering that we don't have to decide anything now," Gideon said.

Jason vigorously nodded. "Right, okay."

"Sit," Gideon said, guiding Jason to the edge of the tub.

Jason obediently sat.

"Let's think about this logically. The first thing to address is whether or not we're even considering this," Gideon said.

"Are we?" Jason asked.

Gideon paused.

"The one thing I don't want is for you to give up on your dreams. I know you haven't mentioned it in a while, but you always said you wanted to open your own hairdressing salon one day," he said.

Jason chewed his lip. "Yeah, I don't think that's going to happen."

Gideon sat on the closed toilet, facing Jason. "Why?"

"Because things have changed. My whole life is different."

"That doesn't mean you give up on your dreams."

"I'm not giving up. I'm just not sure it's my dream anymore," Jason said. "When I first came to Belle Morte, I was fresh out of college and I thought I knew exactly what I was going to do with my life. Then I met you and got tangled up in a vampire revolution, and nothing was the same again. I did really want to run my own salon one day, but I can't see myself doing it now. At least, not any time soon. But I'm okay with that. Not every dream survives, and that's not necessarily a bad thing."

"Do you have a dream now?" Gideon asked.

"It's just been about enjoying a life with you and helping vampires when I can," Jason said.

They both went quiet, mulling over Jason's words.

"Running a school for the kids would be helping vampires," Jason said, chewing his lip again.

Gideon got up and turned off the hot water, switching it to cold. The bath was a frothing sea of bubbles.

"That doesn't mean we have to do it," Gideon said. He tested the water with his hand. "Is this okay for you?"

Jason stuck a finger in. "Yeah, that's perfect."

He undressed and climbed in, spilling bubbles onto the floor. Gideon didn't move, and Jason tilted his head to one side.

"I don't know why you're still standing there. Get in," he said.

Gideon smiled and started undressing. Jason had introduced Gideon to bubble baths shortly after their engagement, and he wasn't sure that his husband was particularly enthralled by them, but there wasn't much that Gideon wouldn't do for Jason.

Gideon climbed into the bath, less messily than Jason, and settled opposite Jason.

"Ysanne thinks that experienced vampires will always need to be around the kids for safety reasons. What do you think she means by that? Those kids aren't a threat to anyone," Jason said.