Belle Morte Bites (Belle Morte 4.3)

A Cottage Dream: Part One

Modern Day

Jason Grant stared around at his friends, settled comfortably in the seats of Belle Morte's cinema room, and felt a sudden pang in his heart.

He and Gideon were making the right decision, he knew that, but change was still difficult, and breaking the news of that change to the people he loved was even harder.

He glanced at his husband, and Gideon smiled softly back at him. That small smile was all the encouragement Jason needed.

"Okay, so you're probably wondering why we asked you to come here," he said. "Gideon and I have some news."

Roux sat up a little straighter, her eyes gleaming. "Do spill," she said.

Jason hesitated, all the words he'd carefully rehearsed slipping out of his head.

"As you all know, construction on the latest vampire house is still ongoing, but the end is getting closer, and once that house is finished, someone will need to help run it," Gideon took over. "Ysanne has asked us to do that."

Jason took Gideon's hand.

"Wait, you guys are going to be in charge of the new house? That's amazing," Renie said.

Jason suspected she hadn't yet understood what that meant. Roux had though, he could see it in the way her expression drooped.

"Does this mean what I think it means?" she said quietly.

"Wait, what? What does it mean?" said Renie.

Jason took a deep breath. "It means that Gideon and I will be leaving Belle Morte."

Renie's mouth fell open.

Roux grabbed Ludovic's hand.

Edmond lifted one dark eyebrow.

"Seriously?" Renie asked, her voice trembling slightly.

Jason nodded. "Hopefully we're getting our own place built in the grounds of the new house, so that's where we'll be moving to when it's ready."

"But . . ." Renie looked around the room. "Belle Morte is your home."

"It has been, and we'll always love it, but we need to do this," Jason said.

"We will only be a few miles away though, so it's not like we're moving to the other side of the country," Gideon pointed out.

"No, but you won't be here," Roux said. "I'm so used to seeing you both every day – I love that. I just . . . I hate the thought that you won't be here. I hate that I won't be able to knock on your door whenever I feel like it."

Ludovic put his arm around her, and she leaned against his shoulder.

Jason wasn't surprised that Roux was taking it harder than Renie. Despite her bubbly personality and loyal nature, she didn't have any truly good friends outside Belle Morte. Years of bullying had taken their toll on her, and it wasn't until she left school that she started to blossom into the woman that Jason knew and loved today. He and Renie were Roux's best friends. More than that, they were family.

And now Jason was leaving them.

"If you think you won't still see me all the time, you're wrong," he said. "We'll still be visiting Belle Morte constantly, and you'd better visit us too."

Roux sniffled a bit and nodded.

"When are you leaving?" Renie asked.

"We don't know yet. Work hasn't even started on our house, so we have no idea how long that will take," Gideon said.