Goodbye My Alpha (BxB)

Chapter 31, Part 1: Home Calls to the Weary

The party showed no signs of waning. It seemed entirely conceivable that it would go on forever, as more people were drawn to the lake like ants surrounding a droplet of sweet, sticky, sugary water. As the night crept forth, smaller groups sprawled into various quieter corners of the clearing, all huddled around the kindled progeny of the large fire pit.

In the far off distance, Dion sat alone, his mood as indiscernible as the depths of the waters before him. Unadorned by his pristine white Doctor's coat, the older man looked vulnerable and unarmed, as if his protective outer shell had been peeled off. 

Juno approached Dion and perched next to him. With raised eyebrows and a suspicious glint in his eyes, Dion questioned Juno. "Care to explain the large face splitting grin on your face? It's either your character settings have finally collapsed or something good has happened. I choose the former." 

"Well, it's the latter." Juno responded, still smiling. He continued playing with the little heart-shaped wooden piece Tully gifted him, mapping its surface with his fingers. "I'm happy." He said. "Really happy" he added, choosing to rarely elaborate. 

"Pretty bold words, if I ever heard any. You'd best watch out that fate doesn't hear you." Dion said, looking at Juno. It seemed that the boy's joy was palpable enough to be infectious, as he had also inadvertently begun to smile with him.

"I...I." Juno started, then stopped with uncharacteristic hesitation. "I used to think of fate as all the undecided decisions, the unwalked paths, the unsaid words, the unknown knowns, deciding to come together and punch you in the gut when you least expect it." Juno spoke slowly as though the words were still forming in his mouth even as he spoke them. 

"Um okay...and what about now? What changed in your thinking?" Dion questioned curiously. He was honestly not used to Juno saying so much in one go. 

"Now, I've realised that it's not really about the punch, since everyone inevitably gets punched at some point. It's about how you take it. And how you choose to live with the knowledge that a punch is forthcoming." Juno responded.

Dion looked at the boy whom he had known since he was an infancy as though he was seeing him anew. He smiled and sipped his drink.  "I was worried about you. But I guess it was unnecessary. I'm relieved." He turned his attention towards the small bustling group where Tully was a short distance away.

Juno likewise followed his gaze. The scene he observed looked so happy that it somehow evoked a strange sense of melancholy. An ordinary group of friends, deeply immersed in each other’s company. Laughter and conversation around a warm fire, a space where anything could be said without judgement or persecution. 

In that little world, there were no hierarchies, no titles, just people, just friends -- just equals. It was the kind of scene Kal would fit into perfectly. And he, most suited to watch from afar. 

"I spoke to Kal before he left". Dion stated and Juno's body went rigid. "He dropped by the pack hospital to get his leg checked over. I guess he really needed someone to talk to."

Juno grimaced. "How much did he tell you?" He asked in a barely audible tone after a long, long while. The guilt that had been boiling within him ever since that day churned and roiled threatening to overflow. His head felt so heavy with shame that he couldn’t lift it. But he was thankful for that, because at least then he wouldn't see the look of disgust and disappointment in Dion's eyes.

"He's a good kid. Wears his heart on his sleeves. I think he was just stricken by it all." Dion paused in hesitation. "He looked scared, no, lost -- perhaps. All at once, it just sort of came out of him. He told me everything from the beginning." Dion said plainly, his voice sounding distant, for all Juno knew, the man may have been entirely transported back to that cold moonlit night. Juno's heart couldn't help but tightened with each uttered sentence.