War

Chapter Twenty-One

A/N - it's nearly 4am but oh well 😍

TW: mentions of child abuse & sexual abuse (flashback and following scene)

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Marco
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"Something is wrong with me", I crossed my legs at the ankles and adjusted my sleeves, my Spiderman cufflinks glistening in the dim light of my cousin's living room.

"Okay", Zane nodded slowly, half-untangling himself from Phoenix, "is this a revelation of you being a sadistic bastard, or something else?".

"I'm aware of my sadistic tendencies", I deadpanned, intertwining my fingers, "this is in regards to Aniyah". I'd never stooped so low to explain my feelings to my cousin, but with the overwhelming confusion as to how I felt about my wife and these foreign emotions, I thought I'd turn to someone who was actually in a relationship.

"I knew it", Nix sat up straighter, sudden enthusiasm in his body language, "sorry, but I knew it".

"What about her?", Zane enquired, a small smirk spreading across his face, "you've finally seen the sense, hm?".

Was I the only one blind to this?

"I wouldn't say we're...acquaintances anymore", unless acquaintances kissed multiple times a day, spent most of the night tangled in each other's limbs in bed, and had me contemplating children and the future, that was.

"Really?", Zane's eyes widened, sarcasm laced in his tone- I could shoot him on the spot, "we've known that for weeks".

"I don't appreciate your tone", I narrowed my eyes at him, a triumphant expression on his face, "we're...progressing, yet this all feels foreign to me".

"Well obviously", Zane nodded, "you've never been in a relationship, this is foreign to you".

"Because I've deemed them completely and utterly pointless", I rubbed my chin slowly, sinking further back into the sofa, "until now".

"Do you know how long I've waited for someone to catch your attention?", a rare smile that he usually saved for his boyfriend or siblings spread across Zane's face and I found myself shifting in my seat, "accept it, little cousin, I don't know why you're doubting it so much".

"Because we were put together by force, or maybe because I'm carrying immense amounts of baggage that she isn't even aware of yet?", I assumed a relationship was built on trust, on knowing everything about the other; yet I dreaded the day I'd have to open up to Aniyah and share those parts of my past, even if I knew she'd be nothing but caring for the entire time.

"That almost stopped me from meeting Phoenix again", my cousin hummed, looking at his boyfriend in what could only be described as awe, "and he didn't run when I did reveal those parts of myself, even though my entire being believed he would".

"So little faith", Phoenix mused, kissing Zane on the temple, "and I don't think Aniyah would run from you Marco, she seems like she has a big heart".

The biggest.

"So you're insinuating I sit her down and dig up the pain of the past?", I asked, checking the watch on my wrist- the digital one my wife had gifted me.