I liked my days off with Dion the most. When we just hung out, went for walks or went shopping. I loved taking him shopping. Especially to the big grocery store outside of town. They sold everything there and I loved watching Dion look at all the shelves. We took our time to go through every shelf, just to look at canned foods, sweets, electronics or vegetables.

"I think we should buy a lamp to hang over the dinner table," Dion said and nodded towards the electronic department.

"Now that sounds like a good idea. Which one would you like to buy?"

He widened his eyes and stared up at me. "You want me to pick?"

"Sure, it's your home too. Don't you wanna buy nice stuff for it too?"

He nodded numbly and then took my hand in his, leading me to the lamps. He stopped by one of those flowery ones who'd cast flower shadows all over the room, but still light up the table underneath it.

"Is this too girly?" He glanced up at me.

"No. Flowers are nice." I smiled at him and grabbed a box, checking out how we were supposed to hang the lamp. "Doesn't look too hard to hang either. I think I can do it the minute we get home."

"I think it'd be nice," Dion muttered with a low voice.

"Fantastic," I said and put in our trolley.

"You sure?"

I brought him close and kissed his forehead. "Yes, Dion. I'm sure. I want you to feel like it's your home too, you know? So if you want a nice lamp for the dining table, then we'll get this nice lamp for the dining table."

"I love you," he breathed and brought me down so he could kiss me. He smiled up at me and we continued our trip.

I pushed the trolley as Dion walked ahead, grabbing some stuff we actually did need. And some stuff we didn't exactly need. Sweets wasn't something we needed but then again, I definitely thought we did. What would a movie night be without crisps or popcorn? I mean, come on.

When we stood in line, Dion moved closer to me.

"That old faun lady is staring at me," he murmured.

"Probably because you're super hot," I said and met the gaze of the old lady.

"I think she's a half-hater."

I scrunched my nose at the notion. Everyone could see Dion was half something but he was also extremely beautiful so what did it even matter? Not to mention he was super nice. He was amazing.

I put my arm around him, pulling him close, sending the old lady a sharp look. She had no business looking at him like that.

"Just focus on me," I murmured and kissed the top of his head. "When we get home, I'll be hanging the lamp. And it'll make the whole living room so nice with all the shadows."

"Does she look familiar to you?" Dion asked, disregarding what I had just said.

"No," I sighed.

They were looking very intensely at each other until the eyebrows of the woman flew up in her forehead. She left her cart and came closer.

"You look like my son," she said hesitantly and glanced up at me before she settled her brown eyes on Dion again. She took another step forward, holding her hand out, very gently touching his cheek. "What's your name?"

"Dion Anagnos," Dion said with a low voice.

Then the woman smiled. "I'm your grandmother. Rhea Anagnos."

Air hitched in Dion's throat and he took a step back, shaking his head. "No." His face twitched as he tried to fight the tears.

I grabbed his hand and pulled him to me. He grabbed onto my hoodie, balling his fists in the fabric.

The older woman looked at us with wide eyes and then she took a step back. "I'm sorry," she murmured and brought out a handkerchief from her pocket, dabbing her eyes. "I didn't know of your existence until two years ago. I tried looking for you but... They said you had no address."

Dion took a deep breath and loosened up a little. He kept close to me though.

"I... I didn't have an address until some months ago."

"No. I have one though. And a phone number. If you'd like to talk." She dug through her purse and found a notebook, quickly scribbling in it. She tore a page out and handed it to Dion. He took it and looked down at it.

"I just want to talk," the woman, Rhea, said and smiled a little.

Dion nodded. "I-I'll give you a call."

Her smile widened and she nodded at me and then at Dion, almost hurrying back to her trolley.

Dion had been very quiet on the ride home. He unlocked the door and went to the kitchen to put away the groceries, looking completely lost in thought.

"Dion," I said softly.

He looked up at me with wide eyes, as if I was about to scold him.

"You put the keys in the fridge."

He looked back at the fridge door, finding the keys in one of the door shelves. "Oh. So I did." He grabbed them and handed them to me.

"Are you okay?" I asked as I helped put the stuff away.

"I don't know. Honestly, I have no idea." He leaned back against the counter and folded his arms around himself. "I haven't thought about the fact that I have extended family. My parents were even a foreign concept to me. I'm not sure I want anything to do with them."

"Not your gran either?"

He shrugged. "I don't know. Doesn't seem like she got a choice either. If... If I was to go to her, would you... Come with me?"
I put my hands on his shoulders and smiled down at him. "Of course. Goes without saying."

"It didn't for me but... Thank you." He leaned his forehead against my chest.

I lifted one hand and slowly ran a finger over his horn. He exhaled loudly and the tension in his back disappeared. I kept running my fingers over his horns, calming him down in the best way I knew how.

"You're getting good at that," he murmured with a gruff voice.

"They're so nice." I bent down and placed a kiss on the stem. He made that cute sound he always made when I kissed his horns. I lived for those sounds.

He looked up at me, slowly raising his hands to my cheeks. "You. Are. Too. Cute," he said very seriously and squished my cheeks a little.

I couldn't help but laugh.

Dion did call his gran. And she invited the both of us for coffee at her small house on the outskirts of New Delphi, close to the big grocery store.

I parked the car and turned to him. "You ready?"

"As ready as I'll ever be, I guess." He tried to smile a little and I smiled back, just to encourage him. We'd get through this together.

I took his hand in mine as he rang the doorbell. It didn't take more than ten seconds before the door opened and Rhea appeared. She smiled and invited us inside. She was walking with a cane. Had she done that in the store? I couldn't remember now.

Her hooves clip-clopped against the hardwood flooring as she showed us into a small sitting room. Pictures graced her walls featuring different fauns. Probably family. One in particular looked a lot like Dion, having the same colour horns and facial features.

We were sat on a small floral couch, while she sat on a more modern couch opposite us. A small antique coffee table stood between us, with three mugs and a plate of cookies on top of the floral tablecloth.

"I'm so happy you called," she said and offered us some tea.

"Truly?" Dion asked and took his mug in his hands.

"Yes. I've been looking for you for two years."

"Why?"

She sighed a little and leaned back against the backrest of the couch. "My son, your father, died two years ago. He was a heavy drinker and his body couldn't keep up. A few days before he died, he told me of you. He wanted to meet you. To apologise. He was eighteen when he had you and was desperate. He didn't know the name of your mother as he had been too drunk to remember, but one day he found you on his doorstep. He tried to take care of you, but he couldn't. And he never told anyone about you. When you were about a month old, he left you at the orphanage. I don't think he has ever forgiven himself for it and ultimately it led him to drink himself to death."

Dion nodded a little and took a sip of his tea while he seemingly mulled it over. It was a lot. His father was dead and regretted his decision on giving him up.

But it didn't erase the fact that he had done that and actively contributed to Dion's life on the streets.

"So you wanted to find me so he could apologise?"

"No," she said softly. "I wanted to find my grandson that he had chosen to not tell me about. It was never for him. He gave up that chance the day he gave you up, and every day he didn't go back to find you."

He clenched his jaw and looked up from his mug. "I don't know what to say."

"You don't have to say anything, dearie. I'm just happy you were willing to see me." She smiled softly again and brushed a grey lock of hair behind her ear. Her horns looked like they were chipping and cracking. Nowhere near as nice as Dion's.

"Can you tell me a little about your life? You don't have to, but I'd like to know more about you."

"It's not... Nice," he muttered and turned the mug in his hands.

"I know the lives of half-bloods is a complicated one. I did a lot of reading after learning about your existence."

He nodded a little. "I lived in the orphanage from I was a baby until I was ten. Then I moved to the streets. No home had room for me."

"Where do you live now?" she asked, looking endlessly concerned.

"With Arlo." He smiled a little and took my hand in his. "We're together."

"I'm so happy to hear that. Thank you, Arlo. For taking such good care of him." She smiled at me this time.

"It's more he who takes care of me," I said and gave his hand a squeeze.

"I think it's a shared effort," he chuckled and actually looked genuinely happy again. The crease between his eyebrows had all but evaporated and he looked like the happy guy he usually was. I liked this Dion the best. Who looked at me as if I was the only person in the world that mattered. With so much love.

"You look very happy together," she noted and grabbed a cookie.

"We are. It's still new, but..." he hesitated and looked back up at me. "I love him."

I bet my smile was goofy as hell and that my cheeks had turned several shades darker, as if that was even possible. But my face felt way too hot.