Lavender

Dad

"What did you say?" I ask with a scratchy voice.

Adam gives a noise of surprise and walks over to the couch to sit next to me.

"I had a phone call from my dad. It made me upset."

I look at him in the eyes and have the ability to focus. His eyes look sad, but light up with love when we make eye contact. "Hi, Link." He says softly.

"What's your dad like?" I ask.

He sighs. "Controlling. Discriminatory. He doesn't like me being gay, or polyamorous, or not a complete asshole. He's not very nice. I don't usually talk to him, but he's... he got some news, so he wanted to talk."

"You don't like him?" I ask.

He continues looking me in the eyes. "No, I don't."

I nod and suddenly the burst of energy is gone. I'm tired again. I'm thinking about my dad, and I feel like I just woke up after getting bruised. A dull ache. I lean against Adam, and he pulls me closer. He pulls me onto his lap and I nuzzle into him. I spend the rest of the day in and out of sleep.

The next day was pretty much the same. Leo and I talked a bit, Adam cuddled with me a lot, and I hoped it helped him.

But the day after that, I woke up strangely refreshed. I actually felt better. It won't last, I thought. But I sat up and slid out of bed, detangling myself from Adam. I stretch and hear someone else get out of the bed. "How are you feeling?" Luther asks.

"For now, good. Don't know how long it will last, though. I have energy now, but don't get your hopes up." I respond.

He walks to me and holds my hands. "Well, it feels good to have you actually look at me, like really look. Would you mind if I woke the others? They'd hate to miss your short time with energy."

"You wake Max, I'll get Adam up." I respond.

Luther smiles and I go back towards the bed and shake Adam slightly. "Adam, wake up. Wake up so we can spend time together."

His eyes open slowly and he smiles. "Well, look who's up."

I kiss him, and he smiles. Adam gets out of bed to go get ready for the day and I notice Max staring at me from the middle of the bed. "Yes, Max?"

"I love you. In a way I could never put into words." He says softly.

I clamber over to him as he sits up and I straddle his lap. "I love you too."

He kisses me gently and I kiss back. His hands rest on my waist, slightly up my shirt. He pulls away. "Alright, alright. I should at least brush my teeth and get dressed." He says.

I get off of him and he goes to the bathroom. While both Max and Adam are in the bathroom, Luther comes over and whispers, "It's weird, not being the one they fuss over."

"Bad weird or good weird?" I ask.

He sighs. "Good weird, for sure. I like being cared for because they want to, not because I'm physically unable to do it myself. I was almost exactly like you this past week when I first got here. Except it lasted for months."

I nod. "Yeah, that's understandable."

Adam exits the bathroom and watches us. "How did I get so lucky?"

Luther and I look at each other, thinking about when Luther first got here, my first few days, Luther getting kidnapped, me leaving, and my past week. "You haven't been, in my opinion!" Luther laughs.

Adam chuckles. "Being in love with sunlight is bound to cause a couple burns, but it doesn't make it any less rewarding. I couldn't imagine being with anyone else."

We hear, "Hear! Hear!" from the bathroom.

All of us laugh. Adam's face suddenly goes grim. Luther tilts his head. "You okay?"

Max exits the bathroom and kisses Adam's cheek. Adam kisses his lips quickly and looks at all of this. "I can't believe my father could see this as bad."

Max shrugged. "Mine would, too. Dads are just like that sometimes."

Luther scoffed. "Both my parents just hate love."

I shake my head. "Two fucking years, and these last 30 seconds has been the most information I've gotten about your pasts."

They spoke over each other, saying things like "I don't wanna talk about it," and "it's not that important," and "I like to focus on now."

I roll my eyes. I search my body for signs of dissociation but I don't find any. Guess I just snapped out of it? I watch Adam wrap his arms around Luther from behind and kiss his shoulder. Or maybe they just make it easier to get better.

"We should go out tonight." I requested.

Everyone looked at each other and smiled. They all agreed, and we settled on the diner down the street. I was going to leave the mansion for something good, this time. And spend some time with the men who make my life so much better.