Nox

I hid a yawn behind my hand, shaking my head to try and clear it of the muddled feeling encompassing my mind. Today was supposed to be just another day...

But after events like this, my life always ended up more complex and chaotic than before. For awhile, at least. I could only pray things would settle down soon. But until then, I had to both lie-low and also keep up the effort at my job.

"Axel, I need three orders of number five, as well as a salad. One of those is without onions, and no pickles either. Got it?" Marg's voice came from outside of the kitchen, but it wasn't hard for me to pick it up. Besides her, it sounded like the cafe was a little busier than normal. I could hear the voices, breathing patterns, and heartbeats of seven teenagers. Five adults...Two elderly folk, perhaps a couple or pair out for a bite to eat?

I grabbed the meat from the fridge it was kept thawed in, placing it down on the hot, sizzling grill after placing butter on top to lubricate it. "Got it!" I called out. Once the meat was on the grill, I turned and moved to the large countertop eight feet down on my right. This was where the vegetable area was. Grabbing the cutting board, I began slicing a fresh tomato after running it under the water from the sink right beside the counter, on my left. Once the tomato was clean, it took less than half a minute to cut off the tips and then form eight slices. I pushed aside the ends, placing the tomato slices on the plate I kept by for this reason.

My ears and nose was primed to listen to the meat, hearing the sound of it hissing on the grill. It would let me know when it needed to be-

Now.

Stepping over, I picked up the metal spatula and quickly flipped the three large patties. As I did, I felt a moment of pause. A shot of unease slid down my spine as the patties hung in the air for half a second before quickly falling back down on the grill.

Human patties. Human meat.

I raised a hand to my mouth, feeling my stomach turn.

It was very unlike me, honestly. I ate human from time to time. It wasn't like that was a secret. But even so...

Bri, the thought brushed along the edges of my conciousness.

Closing my eyes, I sucked in a quick breath. You have to get back to work. You don't have time to think about Brionia. You still have that salad to make.

"You okay, Axel?" Marg's voice from seven feet behind me made my back stiffen.

"I'm just fine," I muttered in a bored tone. Not turning to look at her, I continued with my job.

I wanted her to leave as soon as possible. I'd never been a fan of Marg, but that wasn't important. She was the one who I technically called "boss". So, for now, I had to put up with her.

After a few more tense, silent seconds, I supposed my tactics worked. The aura of "go the hell away" I'd been quietly shooting out had scared her off for now. I let out a breath when I no longer sensed her presence.

The rest of the day proceeded like any other. By the time closing time came at 9:30 p.m., I was exhausted. Even so, I had a lot to clean up, so I got to work with no more than a tired sigh.

Around ten, I'd finished making sure the kitchen was both clean and ready for the next day. Sighing, I reached down to my waist to pull at the end of the white apron tie. The bow came undone without any resistance and I gathered the white cloth, wrapping it around my left arm. Yawning, I stretched out some of the kinks in my lower back and shoulders.

I heard the soft sound of a breath behind me before arms snagged around my middle, pulling me back against another body. Heat flared in the air around me, followed closely by a low, sultry laugh. "So...where's Max?" Marg asked in a curious whisper.

Closing my eyes, I inhaled deeply, slowly. I knew that tone. I could hear the lust in her voice, sense it in the aura that surrounded her. She wanted sex, lots of it...

Opening my eyes slowly, I stared down at the white apron around my left arm. "He's asleep," I replied in a calm voice.

"Is that so?" Marg asked in a pouting voice. She pushed up, pressing her breasts against my back. "Well, that sucks," she grumbled. I could hear the sound of her sucking on her bottom lip, since her head was so close to the back of my neck. "I was wanting some fun..."

"Well, Max wasn't feeling too well today," I cleared my throat. "He had a rough weekend."

Marg's fingertips started to play over my right shoulder and arm. "Was he out with some other woman?"

"...Something like that," I replied cooly.

Her fingers tightened around my right bicep, squeezing hard, nails digging into my flesh. "Why do men like to chase the skirts of other women when they already have someone who wants them?"

I shrugged, keeping my expression and voice carefully neutral. The problem with fiery-types of Others? They were overly possessive...even when they had no legitimate reason to be so.

Max wants nothing to do with you anymore, Marg, I told her silently  in the back of my mind. You can be a jealous all you want, but he'll never see you as a potential love interest. The world isn't written that way. Not with someone else the both of us can agree on...

Such thoughts led me to pull up the image of Brionia Hymn in my mind. My hands, which had rested loosely at my sides, curled into tight fists. The right pocket of my pants began to feel warm. My ticket to see Brionia, to check on her after the whole fiasco that had gone down-

It was right there. My phone, Max's phone, was all I needed. After the shit I'd - we'd heard and watched...Everything had collapsed, just like we'd all known and feared. No amount of planning by Max had been able to prepare us for what had happened though. Was there anyway that Brionia would be able to forgive after that war zone?

In my mind, it would be a miracle. With the words Felix and she had pulled up to stab at each other. With the things I-

"You know, I may hate your personality, but you look just like Max."

Marg's voice brought me crashing back to my reality. For fuck's sake, is she serious?!

"Yeah, of course we look alike. But that doesn't mean-"

"It's part of our agreement, isn't it? Part of the deal Max made with me to make sure I keep my mouth shut about everything and don't ask questions. Hell, there are so many questions I could be asking," she whispered as she began to turn me around to face her. I wanted to, but I decided it was better not to fight her.

Once I was staring down into her neon orange eyes, with her wreath of sunset-red hair, she slowly began to smile. Her left hand rose up to cup my right cheek, running the pad of her thumb over my skin almost tenderly. "You two are like twins," she whispered softly.

I frowned, sighing. "We're more than twins, Marg."

Her right hand pushed back the collar of my shirt, slipping under the material to snake over my collarbone and left shoulder. "I don't care what you are. I want Max...But you can be a good substitute. I never really liked his glasses anyway," she sighed dreamily as she leaned the side of her head against my chest.

Her eyes were closed. I bit the inside of my cheek to stop myself from shoving her far from me. Fucking hell! You leave me this ridiculous mess to deal with, Max, you ass! You know perfectly well...

I couldn't tell her no. Telling her no meant breaking our deal and leaving her free to get her revenge for having her poor little heart "crushed". I wasn't able to pull forth a fake smile, so instead I tried to soften my expression a bit.

Imagine she's Bri. Imagine she's Bri. Imagine she's Bri!

But even when I tried, I knew it wasn't true. My heart beat increased in my chest as a wave of emotional pain crashed into me. I felt dirty, awful, like complete shit in that moment.

Just like Bri said...'a pile of shit'.

There would be no way for me to imagine Bri, even if I miracously found a way to evade Marg's advances. In my heart, I knew I'd be cheating on Brionia...

Even if the woman in question had no knowledge that I was...No knowledge of who I was or that I existed...Even if Bri didn't have a speck of interest or care for me, I did for her. There was no way I could do this.

I couldn't cheat on the woman I loved, no matter the reason.

It was impossible.

Felix doesn't deserve her! I hissed internally.

My hands rose up, fingers curling around Marg's shoulders before shoving her away from me. A tight, angry smile filled my face as she jerked her head up to stare at me. "...I'm sorry, but I can't do anything with you. Another woman holds my heart and I can do nothing but pine after and compare you to her. Unfortunately for you, in my heart and mind, you'll never be able to amount to even a third of her beauty and character. She's not perfect. Far from it, actually. But she's still the woman I love, the one person I've been waiting millennia to meet. She's the one I've lived and died for, waiting to find. My only hope is that one of these days, she'll not only realize I exist, but notice me. I pray she'll see me and accept me."

Marg stumbled back, her face draining of color at my bold and completely honest confession. Her bright orange eyes filled with tears, a few spilling over in a show of her pain at my rejection. After a few tense, very awkward moments of silence, she turned her back to me. "I'm not the person you should be saying that to. If you really want her to see you, why not stand before her and tell her what you just told me?"

I saw her raise a shaking hand to her face, most likely to wipe at her eyes. I smiled sadly, forlornly staring at her shivering back. "Complicated is one excuse I could bring up. Another man is yet a second exuse. Perhaps I could even say that a terror of rejection is my final excuse."

"...If you know they're just excuses, than you have no one else to blame when she won't look your way."

I watched her leave the kitchen, her arms and spine stiff. I could tell she was trying to hide her shaking. Leaning my head back on my neck, I stared up at the ceiling. A despondent haze slammed over my mind as I did. I let out a tiny, broken laugh. "Gods, I'm an idiot..." I whispered in the empty silence of the room.

A watery veil started to form over my sight as I finished getting my things together to leave my job. I'd managed to not have to do Max's dirty work, for today. I'd also definitely learned I wouldn't be able to do it either. I couldn't stand the thought.

I let out a broken laugh as the dark clouds in the night sky opened up. As I walked to my car, I was quickly soaked. "Even the sky is mocking me today."

O O O

Felix

I entered the dark apartment, the crying of the girls ringing in my ears. "What the fuck?" I growled as I slammed and locked the door behind me. I threw my things onto the floor, clamoring for the door to the nursery on the other side of the apartment. I didn't bother to turn on the lights, but with the faint moonlight coming in through the open curtained windows on the opposite side of the place, I could see just fine.

As I rushed past everything else to get to where the girls were wailing, I noticed a few things out of the corner of my eye. First, the place looked like a mess. From the looks of it, small pieces of furniture and other objects had been thrown around the apartment. Then there was the two suitcases resting on top of the bed. One was stretched to bursting, but had managed to be zipped up and closed. The other was lying open, with a few items haphazardly lying inside. But at that point, I'd made it to the nursery door and jerked it open.

"Wow, you can't take one fucking fight? Already going to turn tail and run, coward?" I taunted. I stepped inside the nursery and froze.

Brionia was laid out on the floor, on her back. Her eyes were open, but they were glossy, with no sign of life to them. Her hair was strewn about in a unkept mess around her face. She was in a pair of dark blue sweat pants and a green tank top, but both of them were rumpled and wrinkled, covered in dark stains in different spots.

Fear shot down my spine, terror that she was dead. Her eyes had no life to them, she was lying on the floor, and she looked like she hadn't moved in a long time.

But the tears that trailed down her cheeks, falling along her neck, into her hair and her ears, let me know a different story. The watery, broken, rasping sobs that tore from her throat every few seconds let me know she was breathing.

I sucked in a quick breath, guilt slamming into me so hard my knees almost gave out.

The cries of the girls abruptly breaking off made me come back to myself. For now...for now I had to see to the girls.

Bri

The world passed by in a haze of existence that no longer mattered. I didn't know what time it was, what day it was...I didnt care.

I kept existing as time kept up it's slow crawl, wishing the stupid thing would just stop.

Why couldn't the world just stop?

"...rio...ey, y...hea...hy...yin...?"

Sounds played over, seeping into what little awareness I had anymore.

Funny...what had happened to the wailing?

How long ago had it started?

How long had it been going on?

...

It...stopped?

Gasping, I blinked rapidly as the rest of my mind woke up from the deep, dark abyss I'd sunk into. I very slowly raised my hands up to my face...

They were so heavy. Everything was so stiff and heavy...How long had I been like this? How long had-

"Bri, can you hear me? Oh, you moved - Hey, be careful. You're going to hurt yourself if you move too fast."

I tipped my head back slightly, my watery gaze latching onto a pair of dark blue eyes, a man's pale face, and dark gold hair. I stretched my arms out, feeling the muscles and bones shaking. Gods, I felt so weak!

My fingers touched the cloth of his shirt, clutching it tightly. I struggled to find the man's name for a second before it, and more words, came rushing out in a harsh, broken sob.

"F-Felix! Felix, please, I need your help...T-the girls. They hate me. They hate me! I can't get them to stop crying...Everything I do...I changed them, I fed them...I washed them...I held them...They don't l-love me, Felix!" I sobbed. "I need you. I need you...They need you...We need you. Please don't abandon them...Don't abandon me...I-I-I..."

A cool hand rose up to cover mine. I sucked in a breath at Felix's touch, but I lost the breath when I lifted my gaze to his face.

Tenderness...Warmth...A fragile, tiny hope, an expression of surprised joy...

Another sob climbed up from my chest as my fingers dug further into the cloth of his shirt.

"No one's ever needed me before..." he whispered, staring down at me. His fingers tightened around mine, squeezing gently in reassurance. "Don't worry, Bri...I'm...I'm not going to go anywhere. I..."

His teeth ran over his bottom lip before he began to slowly rise to his feet. It was only then that I realized he was leaning over me and I was lying on my back.

Gods, how out of it had I been? How long had I been like this?
The girls-

"Nala and Aria-" I started in a panic.

He reached out to pat my arm that stretched out to pull him back. "The girls are fine," he reassured me in a calm voice.

I blinked, coming back more and more. Slowly, my muscles creaking and a few groans slipping through my lips, I pulled myself into a sitting position on the floor.

Felix came back a minute later, sitting down with his legs crossed. In his arms were Nala and Aria, cradled gently to his chest. He stared at me for a long moment, before turning his gaze down to the girls. He let out a long, long exhale before speaking.

"Nala, Aria, both of you need to listen to me. You both don't need to leech magic off of others. You need to stop this habit of yours immediately, in fact."

I blinked, shaking my head gingerly. It hurt, my ears felt like they were ringing, but... "Felix, their babies."

"They're demon babies, Bri. They know what they're doing, on a instinctive level. They've been leeching off those around them with large amounts of magic. In fact, it's been going on since they were born. In reality, it's something they really shouldn't be doing...At least, not when they're this young. They could kill someone, if they keep this up. I suppose I'll have to get serious to make them stop," he sighed tiredly.

I stared at him, unable to find any words to say. His face, his voice...Felix was serious. Completely serious. There wasn't even the tiniest hint of sarcasm or irritation in his voice. Just a tired, sincere resignation.

As I continued to watch, quietly bemused, a dark aura began to surround Felix. He inhaled and exhaled deeply, slowly. As he did so, the girls began to glow a faint, humming white. He glanced up at me, watching me back. His eyes were blood red with slitted, gold pupils.

After what felt like an eternity of which I had no real knowledge of how much time passed, the aura began to fade until finally dissipated. Felix's eyes slowly faded back to dark blue. A line of sweat had broken out along his temple at some point, and he was very pale. His breaths dragged in and out in a few quick, shallow pants.

"So...I've been feeding the girls negativity," he suddenly spoke up in a strangely calm voice.

I blinked, frowning. "You've what?"

He let out a long sigh before shifting his hold on the girls. He held Nala out to me, since we were only sitting three feet away from each other. Once I'd taken her, holding her hesitantly, waiting for her to start screaming again, he spoke.

"Bri, I need to apologize. The other night...That fight, it was my fault," he cleared his throat.

Nala didn't start screaming, like what had been happening every time I tried to pick up one of the girls since Felix had left...

My jaw clenched as the memories of that fight came flooding back. "Damn right it was your fault. You started it, over stupid shit."

His lips pulled down into a frown before he let out a long sigh. "Yes...But I mean the entire reason it happened is because of me."

"Explain," I bit out, feeling my temper beginning to rise. "What the hell do you mean?"

He cleared his throat again, shifting Aria in his arms. The baby stayed strangely quiet, laying her head against Felix's chest as she gazed up at her father. "D-do you remember when we said we wouldn't lie to each other? Well...I haven't been very truthful with you..."

Sweat began to break out along his temple, worse than before. He shifted Aria again to wipe at his forehead. I simply stared at him, waiting. In my arms, Nala mirrored Aria's actions, remaining bizzarely quiet and docile.

"Remember my true form? The...the giant wolf?" Felix asked nervously. "Well...unlike my brother and sister, I have basically no talent with fire or ice magic. My powers lie with darkness, shadows...I can, at times, let off an aura of pure and overwhelming negativity. All the bad emotions and thoughts people try to keep buried. All your secret desires and deeds..."

He trailed off as I felt the blood drain from my face as it clicked in my mind. "That's why I couldn't stop..." I breathed out in shock.

He nodded in a jerky, tense manner. "Y-yeah...But t-there's more..." He stopped, freezing. His expression grew angry, but also terrified. His eyes suddenly turned fully black and he let out a long, irritated sigh. His gaze moved back to stare directly into my own eyes. "Bri, you know how werewolves are afflicted with certain symptoms when the full moon grows closer, eventually transforming when the full moon has come about?" I nodded slowly, silent. "The problem that ails me is almost exactly like that. The main difference is that my changes are tied to the new moon. In essence, the lack of moonlight in the sky, instead of a excess amount, is what causes my change to occur."

I blinked, trying to process what he was saying. "...So...kind of like a woman's period?"

He blinked himself, looking taken aback, before quickly flashing a smile and nodding. A low, amused chuckled rolled up from his chest and for some reason, I felt a flash of a smile of my own arise.

"Exactly. I experience a state during which my emotions grow much more extreme. I become volatile, so that it is incredibly easy for me to get angry. My sexual libido rises drastically. My temperament leans more and more to acts of violence and pain against any that either irritate me or cause me problems for any reason. This happens every time the new moon does, so essentially once a month."

My jaw dropped. "It's like a period from Hell."

He nodded again. "Very much so...You see, the reason I was so angry was because of this. I wanted to hurt you, I wanted to strangle you...You have no idea how hard it was for me to hold back..." His black eyes were filled with a weariness I'd never seen before. "It took all of my strength not to hurt you or the girls...Its why I left, why I've been gone for the past two days."

Two days? I repeated mentally in shock. It's been two whole days since that crazy night?!

"It was also my fault that you were fighting back the way you were. I was pouring off negativity, so much that it was making the girls sick, which is why they started screaming...Its like eating after you're already full. Their 'bellies' kept getting more and more food shoved down and it was both hurting them and making them sick...Yet another reason I left."

I leaned back, shock rocking through me. "Well, hell," I murmured, unable to find anything else to say.

"So...what I want to say is, I'm sorry." Felix's eyes had returned to their normal dark blue. He tried to stare all the way through to my soul as our eyes met. My breath caught as I realized just how utterly honest and sincere he was being in that moment. I'd never seen him like this before and overwhelmed was definitely a word I could use to describe how I felt. "I really am sorry. I should have just been an adult and told you about this from the start. But I was afraid...I've been keeping the fact that I really am just an awful, scary monster a secret for so long...None of my family know about it. Only Bren...He helps me, when the new moon happens. He takes me out, as far as we can manage, from civilized areas. I..."

His voice failed him and he swallowed. When he spoke again, it was hesitantly, filled with an obvious trediptation. "A-also, I have a...an on-call, um, h-harem of werewolf women for that time of the month." He cleared his throat roughly, all the words tripping out in a rush.

I watched in fascination as his cheeks began to flush lightly. He shifted in obvious discomfort. His completion was pale and drained, like it had taken the life out of him to admit what he'd been keeping hidden from me.

"Bri...I...Bri, you aren't worthless. You're none of the things I said you were. None of the things I said are true. You didn't fuck up your relationship with Andre...That happened because of tragedy. I know...I know it won't make you forgive me, but I really am sorry. I never should have said any of the things I did. But everything you said...everything was true. I'm just a womanizing coward...I'm a piece of shit," he admitted in a broken, faint voice.

I shook my head. "Felix, you are a lot of things, but a piece of shit is not one of them. I'm sorry too. We both said some really harsh and petty things. Things we really didn't need to say..."

He shook his head quickly, looking almost terrified. "No, no. You were right. I am a coward. I run away from all of my problems. I'm the really worthless one here, not you. I was just saying the things to you that I should be saying to myself," he confessed quietly. "But...it was easier to say them to you, to hurt you, than it was to admit them about myself."

I rocked back on my butt for a second, feeling the carpet underneath dig in a little. Holy shit. Holy fucking shit. Felix is serious...He means every word...

Clearing my throat, I shifted Nala in my arms. Absently, I leaned down to kiss her. Closing my eyes, I let myself bask in the feel of her. This was the first time in what seemed forever that she let me hold her without a fuss. Tears pricked at and spilled past my eyelids as I breathed in the scent of her. "I love you, baby girl," I whispered to her softly.

Nala gave no response, not even a soft cry or giggle. When I looked down at her, I realized she was dozing, eyes closed and chest rising softly every few seconds. Letting out a breath of my own, I stared at Felix.

"...Truce?" I asked.

He looked taken aback, blinking, as he stared at me. "I-I...Do I deserve a truce?"

I raised a brow in question. "Do I? It wasn't just you saying hurtful, awful things. Wether it was because of you releasing negativity into the air or not, that's not what matters right now. What matters is that we both said things that we shouldn't have. We both said things we wish we hadn't, things we regret. Can we forgive each other for those comments? To be honest, I'm not sure right now. But, at the very least, we can call a truce. Now that I know about your monthly period, I can be prepared. Armed with knowledge beforehand is a very helpful advantage. So...can we both call a truce? I don't think either of us can just forget what we said and drop it, to forgive it on the spot. But we're both truly sorry to each other. Give it some time and thought. Then maybe I can forgive you and maybe you can forgive me too. For now though, we need to be a team. We've got these girls to try and keep us working things out. So...truce?" I asked again, shifting to hold out my right hand.

He stared down at my hand for what felt like forever. But when he finally did take ahold of it with his left hand, his grip was firm and sure. "Truce," he agreed, a creeping strength that had been missing from his voice this entire time beginning to return.

We shook hands once before releasing one another. Once we had, Felix let out a long, long sigh. "There goes about five years of my life..."

I sighed myself. "You're telling me," I muttered.

"Bri, the girls don't hate you," he spoke up suddenly. His movements a little awkward, he rose to his feet, making sure to cradle Aria carefully. Aria wasn't asleep like her sister, but she was still being strangely quiet.

"They...don't?" I asked softly in confusion. As I watched him move about the room, he started explaining.

"Remember how I said the girls have been leeching magic? You're a half-blood, so you don't have enough magic for them to bother with. Same for Mom and Willow. My guess is that they've been throwing up fits because they can't spoil themselves with your magic." He returned Aria to the crib, shaking his head. "I'm serious, little lady. This mistreatment of Mommy has got to stop. You're making her cry and that's never a good thing, sweetheart."

He lowered his hand down to cup Aria's face. I felt my breath catch. Felix was being so gentle...So serious...It was unlike anything I'd ever seen from him before. It made my chest hurt just to watch.

When he lifted his head up and turned to look at me, I saw his eyes were red and gold again. But after a single blink, they'd returned to his normal navy blue. Had I just imagined the red then?

Shaking my head, I cuddled Nala's sleeping form a bit closer. A soft smile lifted Felix's lips before he turned on his heel and walked out of the nursery. I blinked, startled, but I didn't have the energy to get up and try to follow wherever the hell he thought he was running off too.

I didn't have to wait long. A minute later he came back, sporting two spare pillows from the bed and a thin blanket. I frowned. "What are you doing with those?"

He set them on the floor, to the right of the girls' crib, five feet from where I was sitting. He fluffed the pillows and spread out the blanket. "I'm going to sleep in here," he offered as his explination.

My frowned deepened. "What's wrong with the bed or couch?"

He let out a low breath. "I'm pretty sure after everything that happened, neither of us are okay with sleeping with each other in the bed right now. The couch is...too far away from you..." His voice grew weaker, like he was hesitant to admit or have me hear that part. "If I sleep in here, I'll be right next to the girls, so there will be no problems."

I stared at him. He'd been making sure to keep his back to me. Already he was lowering himself down to the makeshift bed, lying out on his left side, facing away from me. "B-besides, you seem like you need the bed. It's no big deal for me to sleep on the floor...I've slept on worse surfaces," he whispered under his breath.

I tipped my head forward in a slight dip of acknowledgement. With a werewolf-like curse, I could only imagine. I had a lot to try to wrap my brain around now, that was definitely for sure. Sighing, I stiffly rose to my feet as well. I stepped around his legs, returning Nala, who stayed asleep the entire ride, to the crib. Aria was turned on her side to stare out at Felix, though she did turn her head to flash me a small smile as I placed Nala down next to her.

Honestly, all three of them were creeping my out. The girls were quiet and calm. Felix was being almost adorably cute and serious, soft and tender...

Did aliens snatch them up or something? I couldn't help but ask myself. Seriously. I wouldn't have been surprised in the least.

Once the girls were settled in, I slowly started to leave. Obviously, Felix wanted to be alone...Besides, he hadn't been wrong. My body hurt from lying on the floor like I had. A nice, long, hot soak in the tub sounded heavenly in that moment. I tossed him a glance over my shoulder, pausing at the door, hand against the door frame.

His voice came from the silence, almost making me jump a little. "Bri...Good night," he called out after me. "I'm sorry, again, for everything. For...for not telling you the truth..."

I slowly turned to face forward, closing my eyes. "I'm sorry too, Felix." Stepping forward, I quietly closed the door behind me. "Good night," I murmured before the click of the door closing was the last thing I heard.

Moving to the bathroom, I stripped down and started running the hot water, making sure the drain wasn't open. "We're both so broken...so different and alike," I whispered in the darkness of the apartment. "It's almost funny."

O O O

Six days passed. Awkward days, granted, but we were slowly making it. When Felix came home from work, he didn't just eat, spend a few minutes with the girls, and then go to bed. Now, he'd spend about two hours before heading to sleep. He also made sure to spend those extra two hours with me, not just the girls. He'd started to sit down and watch a movie or one of my TV shows with me. Felix usually made a bit of a show about how much he was not looking forward to it, but he did it all the same. One night, he even rented a kids movie on the way home and grabbed both girls. The four of us had laid out on the couch, me and Felix swapping girls every now and again to make sure they got an even amount of attention. Felix had even brought home some chocolate-covered pretzels to share between the two of us.

I couldn't lie...Seeing that happy, excited light, like a little kid in his eyes...I hadn't been able to give him any sort of real shit. It had been hard to even tease hin, honestly. Instead, I'd found myself laughing at his commentary during parts of the movie. Normally, I'd threaten to beat him up if he didn't shut up while we were watching something. But this time he'd started up some bizzare play-by-play mimic, explaining what was going on to the girls like they could actually understand...

But then again, who knew? Maybe they could...I certainly had no idea anymore.

Either way, I couldn't help but feel...happy. It was a warm, gentle feeling. One I hadn't felt in so long now I'd thought I'd forgotten how to feel it. My smiles were starting to come a little easier, my laughter was lighter...

"Bri, I think it'll be good for you to get out of the house. You know, go out with the ladies and have a girls' day out. Go get your hair or nails done."

I blinked, thoughts coming up short as I stared at Felix on the couch across from me. "What are you talking about?" I asked around a chuckle. "I'm just fine-"

"No, I'm serious," he pressed, shaking his head firmly. "Go out and spend the entire day. Rent a hotel room and have the entire day and night to yourself. You've been locked up in this apartment for way too long, Bri. Go out and have fun."

I blinked again. "I-I...um...But I look horrible," I cleared my throat, searching for some sort of excuse. "No one would want to be seen out in public with me."

He let out a long sigh. "Are you even listening to me? Personally,  I think you look fine. But I know women can be...Anyway, just go out and have some fun. It's got to be stuffy and suffocating to be in this apartment all the time. What's one day going to hurt?" he flashed a bright smile.

I frowned, but my hands did reach up to play with some of the strands of my hair. "...My hair has been looking simply horrible lately," I admitted.

Felix was smart enough not to agree with that statement. "Again, go have fun. Look, I've called Sera and got ahold of Willow and even Christine. They all said it's last minute, but they'll try to go out with you tomorrow. Bren's going to pick you up with Sera tomorrow morning, grab Christine, then drive you three through the Gate. Then all four of you can go out and have fun. Unfortunately Mom said she's busy so she won't be able to go. But I'll be spending the entire day here, taking care of the girls. I have tomorrow and the day after off, so there's nothing to worry about. So, please...Say you'll go out and indulge yourself a little?"

He was almost begging at this point. I frowned harder. "Why are you being so pushy?"

He shook his head. "I'm not. I'm just worried about you. You're becoming reclusive and it's not good for you. Go out and spend some time having social interactions, okay?"

I let out a sigh. "Alright, fine. I'll go. But I'm only agreeing because I do need a day out. I've been letting myself go recently," I admitted in annoyance.

He leaned forward, grabbing hold of my hands, wearing a bright smile. "Great!" he enthused happily. "Don't worry, you're going to have a lot of fun," he assured me firmly. "I'm sure it'll be the most eventful day of your life in...well, awhile," he finished a bit lamely. "Anyway, I'm glad to hear you're going to get out of here for a day and treat yourself."

I raised a brow, feeling my suspicious nature spark. "...Uh-huh," I drew out doubtfully.

The rest of the night continued like any other. Felix slept in the girl's room again, which was beginning to worry me, at this point. He'd basically spent the past week sleeping in the girls' room. I'd tried to offer him the bed, but he'd been strangely stubborn about it.

The next morning, I got up, fixed myself up a little, and left.

I'd said goodbye to the girls and Felix after waking up to find breakfast had already been made. When I'd questioned Felix, he'd just shrugged and said that even he knew how to cook. Still, that breakfast had been better than my own cooking, which kind of pissed me off. If he could cook this good, why didn't he do it more often?!

But, annoyed with Felix or not, I rode the elevator down to the lobby floor of the apartments. Adjusting the strap of my clutch purse, I stepped off the elevator and moved to the front doors. Outside, sure enough, I saw Bren's black sedan, the engine already running. Moving towards where it was parked close to the doors, I walked around to the front passenger seat door. Pulling up the latch, the door was already unlocked and I slid inside, closing the door behind me. Reaching up to brush some hair that had fallen into my eyes, I felt the car immediately back up and begin leaving the parking lot.

Music was playing softly in the car, a song I didn't really recognize. The lyrics were quiet, and yet seemed to punch me in the gut for some reason. "Geez, Bren," I muttered aloud.

The lyrics kept going. "Whose to know if your soul will fade at all? The one you sold to fool the world. You lost your self-esteem along the way, yeah." While the male singer was saying the words, I heard the sound of the window by me rolling down.

Two seconds later I let out a squeak of alarm. The volume of the music was suddenly raised up, the loud music blasting from the car stereo speakers. So loud, in fact, that I had to cover both my ears. "What the fuck?!" I demanded.

"Good god, you're comin' up with reasons. Good god, you're draggin' out. Good god, it's the changin' of the seasons. I feel so raped, so just follow me down and...Fake it if your out of direction. Fake it if you don't belong here. Fake it if you feel like infection."

With the next line, the music was turned up even louder. My head jerked back and forth and I saw both the front and backseat windows were all rolled completely down. My hands remained at my ears, trying to keep them protected. My gaze flew to the driver seat where Bren was. He was wearing a wide, almost crazy smile. His left hand rose up from the wheel and he held it out toward the apartment building, flipping it off as the next line of the song was shouted out through the speakers.

"Whoa, you're such a fuckin' hypocrite!"

I reached out, yanking the volume of the song down drastically where the stereo was. "What. The. Fuck?!" I demanded again, feeling my ears ringing.

Bren turned to flash me a cheerful smile. "Sorry about that. I just needed to deliver a message."

The song lowered down in volume by quite a bit and kept playing in the background. "You should know that the lies won't hide your flaws. No sense in hiding all of yours. You gave up on your dreams along the way, yeah..."

"Who, exactly, were you sending a message to?" I asked, rubbing at my ears, still ticked. "Seriously, Bren..."

"Don't worry...Even if they don't get the message this way, I'm going to make sure they get the message one way or another. Isn't it fun to rebel, Bri? Isn't it fun to play traitor for someone else's own good?" he asked cheerfully.

I stared at the giant. "...You are certifiably crazy. You aren't making any sense."

He wore a wide smirk. "That's fine...Well, I hope you don't mind, but today I'm planning on taking a note from Willow's book. Time to express my internal thoughts via music! Today, I am officially declaring a coup," he announced as explination.

"...That doesn't help me at all, Bren," I sighed. Glancing over my seat, I realized we were alone together in the car. "Where's Sera? I thought Felix said you were bringing her with..."

Bren's expression grew hard for a second and I felt that rush of love mingled with hate and obsession flash forward. But in another second it was gone and he'd put up his perfectly calm mask, wearing an apologetic expression. "Yeah...about that. It turns out, everyone had to cancel. It was last minute and everything...So...I figured I'd at least take you out for some food and then I can take you anywhere else you want to go today," he offered. "You do need to spend some time out of the apartment, after all. I will agree with Felix on that one," he grumbled under his breath.

The next song came on and he turned up it, just a little. Now it was easier for both of us to hear and I had to wonder what was up with Bren today.

"Keep you in the dark, you know they all pretend. Keep you in the dark and so it all began." The drums and guitars picked up, the singer's voice carrying more force and conviction behind it. "Send in your skeletons. Sing as their bones go marching in...again. The need you buried deep. The secrets that you keep are ever ready. Are you ready? I'm finished making sense, done pleading ignorance. That whole...defence. Spinning infinity, boy. The wheel is spinning me, it's never-ending, never-ending. Same old story. What if I say I'm not like the others? What if I say I'm not just another one of your plays? You're the pretender..."

I cocked my head to the side. "What's up with these songs?"

Bren smiled. "Like I said, I'm making war today."

I nodded slowly, though I still didn't get anything he was saying. "Alright then..." Even so, I found myself muttering under my breath the catchy lyrics.

"Where do you want to go today?" he asked, turning the music down again.

I pursed my lips. "I think I just want to eat," I admitted.

He let out a low laugh. "I knew you would say that...So no where else? I am your chauffeur today," he reminded me.

I turned my head to take in his profile. His shaggy strawberry blonde hair kept getting in his way and he had to reached up with his free hand every few seconds to brush it out of the way. "Ever thought of a hair-clip?" I asked him.

Bren slowly half-turned his head to me, keeping most of his attention to the road ahead of him. "Hmmm...That would be pretty useful," he agreed. "Got a red one on hand? I'm partial to the color of love and passion," he murmured in an overly girly fashion. In a normal voice, he continued. "So, where to, my lady?"

"McDonald's, please. I'd kill for some chicken nuggets right now and a latte."

He let out a quick laugh. "As my lady demands," he murmured formally.

And...that's what we did. Bren took me out to the nearest McDonald's. Before we got out of the car, he asked to see my I.D. and also reminded me to make sure the ring Felix had given me stayed on.

After our fight, I'd tossed it across the apartment and it had taken about two days after Felix came back for the man to find it again. When he'd given it back, he'd asked me to keep in mind that no matter how angry I might be at him, I couldn't leave this lying around or forget it. After all, it was for my protection.

And...sure enough, when I entered the McDonald's on the arm of Bren, I was required to pull out the I.D. card and show it to the employee behind the counter.

Personally, I'd been pretty peeved. But when we sat down at a table to wait for our food, I found I wasn't the only one required to do this. A trio came in about five minutes after we ourselves had arrived. A man who looked about thirty-six, which would make him even older than Bren, and a beautiful woman who looked as if she was barely older than twenty.

The man had a head of curly, frizzy red hair, cut short. He was about four inches shorter than the woman, who was my height. The woman had a ethereal grace and beauty to her, along with pure white curls that fell down her back, to just above her butt. The woman was carrying a baby carrier. The man stepped forward to the counter and quickly pulled out two cards from the pocket of his shirt. I saw the flash of a wedding ring, noticing the matching ring on the woman's finger.

"It's sweet to see Others diversifying more and more," Bren murmured softly, watching the trio along with me. He, too, had been required to pull out an I.D. card. I'd noticed though that his "name" had had the suffix "to" to it. Part of me wanted to ask, but another part of me was worried to find out.

So, feeling a little better that I wasn't the only "strange" one in the world, I set to enjoying my time out.

The food was great, as usual. I smiled a little at the thought. It was funny how certain foods could remained
you of certain memories...

We left McDonald's after spending about two hours just chatting with each other. We'd somehow ended up getting the young couple dragged into our conversation and I'd found out that they lived in the same apartment building as me and Felix. The woman, Ashley, and I exchanged phone numbers. She was my first new-mother friend I'd made yet and I couldn't help but feel both excited and nervous. Her daughter, Emilea, was only a week younger than Nala and Aria.

Once the five of us were finished chatting and eating, Bren had gathered me up and directed me back to his car. From there, we'd both been pretty quiet during the car ride back. As I was getting out of the car, Bren cleared his throat. "Bri?"

I paused, hand on the door to push it out. "Yeah?" I turned my head to look at Bren.

"I'm sorry about everything not working out today."

I shook my head. "Don't worry about it. It's not your fault. It really was last minute. And even so, I still had a good time, so thank you. See you later," I smiled before getting out of the car. I turned and gave Bren a quick wave before continuing into the apartment building.

I rode back up the elevator, trying to decide on what I'd do today instead of my plans. Since those had gone up in smoke...Sighing, I tucked a stray strand of my hair that was starting to annoy me behind my ear as I stepped out of the elevator on the top floor. At the apartment door, I pulled out my key to unlock it. But midway to the key being in the lock, I paused.

Was that...music?

...Yeah.

I tilted my head to the side, trying to place the song. It was older, that was sure...Rock?

Is that Breaking Benjamin?

Shaking my head, I finished unlocking the door and pushed it open, glancing in uncertainly. I found the apartment just as I'd left it, from what I could tell. Stepping inside hesitantly, I closed and locked the door quietly. Inside, the music was much more evident. Now though, I could hear the sound of a man's deep voice singing softly along with the music, cutting in and out over the sound of water running.

The shower?

Wait, Felix sings?

Shaking my head in disbelief, I felt a slow smile lift my lips. He was so insistent on getting me out today because he didn't want me to see this side of him?

All the songs Bren had been playing in the car came back up to the forefront of my mind. So Bren was trying to tell me Felix has a secret side he's scared to show others?

Moving further into the apartment, I dropped my purse off on the kitchen island for now. Laughing quietly under my breath, I decided to go and give Felix a nice little scare. Tiptoing, I started for the bathroom above the bed. At the foot of the stairs, I couldn't see anything but the vague shadow of Felix's body. I'd put shower curtains up a few weeks ago, sick of the all-glass design of the bathroom. Biting my lip, I started up the stairs slowly, hoping they wouldn't squeak or anything. A second later the sound of the water stopped, making it a lot easier to pick up both the singer's and Felix's voice.

"Dear Agony...Leave me alone. God, let me go. I'm blue and cold. Black sky will burn. Love pull me down. Hate lift me up..." As Felix got to that part of the song, he pushed open the bathroom door and stepped out.

Only...

I froze, staring, momentarily in shock.

My eyes met the man's and his own eyes grew wide in shock as well.

Black.

Black eyes, filled with an unfathomable amount of emotion. Black, wavy hair that reached past his shoulders, which was still damp from his shower. His skin had a slight bronzed tan to it, nothing crazy, just a bit of color. He was built leanly, but there was no doubt he kept himself in shape. He was caught in nothing but the dark red terry cotton towel around his hips, so he was laid bare before me...

On the right side of his body was half-shapes and colors, obviously part of a tattoo. But I couldn't tell what the tattoo was or anything with the angle he was standing.

"Who are you?" I demanded, tensing, my stance on the stairs shifting into a defensive one.

The man let out a long sigh, moving slowly and gingerly to close the bathroom door behind him. "...Would you mind if I get something on before I start to answer your questions?"

"Yes!" I snapped. "I do, in fact, mind a lot. You break into my house and expect me to treat you nicely?"

He let out another sigh. "Okay, alright. Well...can I at least assure you that I'm a friend, not an enemy?" he tried in a friendly tone. His eyes were pleading with me...

But I wasn't going to believe a word. "No," I shook my head firmly. "I'm going to call the cops and make sure you are taken away for this," I promised firmly.

He winced, biting his lip. "Can we maybe avoid the cops, please? Is there, possibly, another alternative option you'd be willing to agree on?"

I thought about it for a moment. "I get some weapons out of the kitchen and start stabbing? I am very protective of my home, and those who live in it...OH MY GOD, FELIX!" Panic-flooded my entire system as I realized that Felix was nowhere in sight. Which meant the girls had been left alone. And a stranger had broken in and done who knew what to the girls!

Spinning on my heel, I sprinted down the stairs, nearly tripping over the last step. Making a sharp right, I rushed to the closet we used as the nursery beneath the bathroom setup. "I'm going to skin him!" I swore violently under my breath.

"Brionia...The girls are just fine. You don't need to panic. They're sleeping right now, actually, so perhaps it's better if you don't wake them up?"

My hand was on the doorknob to the nursery. Jerkily, I turned my head to look over my shoulder. The man was leaning against the wall behind me, looking completely at ease. "What?" I demanded impatiently. "How do you know my name?"

"I'm a friend of Felix's," he explained.

"Then can you tell me where that bastard is? I need to let him know he's dead when I see him again." I turned fully to face the man now, crossing my arms over my chest, guarding the door to the nursery.

The man shrugged in a nonchalant manner. "Sure, I'll make sure to tell him," he agreed evenly. "Can I put on my clothes now?" he tried again.

"No," I shook my head firmly.

"...Is it because you're enjoying the view, or is it because you don't trust me?" He raised a slim black brow in question, lips twitching up into a tiny smile.

"It's because I want more targets for when I stab you full of holes in a minute," I explained to him. I was completely serious.

His smile dropped and he reached up to run a hand through his damp hair. "Alright," he nodded. "Fair enough. But before you do that, do you think I can explain to you who I am?"

"You've got thirty seconds," I glared at him, my voice cold.

"Even if you won't believe me?" He bit his lip, suddenly looking actually nervous. "Shit..."

His eyes abruptly shifted to red and his lips pulled up into a wide grin, a low laugh starting from deep in his chest. "She found out! She's found out! He's going to kill you! I can't believe it...Might as well spill the beans then," he shrugged. His voice was different than before, a little lower in tone by just the smallest amount. Honestly, I wouldn't have even noticed it if my senses weren't so on edge with the situation going on in that moment.

His eyes returned to black once more and he blinked, looking overwhelmed. "Well, fuck...I guess you're right. I've hated lying anyway..."

"You have five seconds!" I broke in, very unnerved by the change that had come over him.

"My name is Max Wells and I am the alternate personality of Felix Frost," he said the words in an unbroken rush.

_________________________________
A/N:

Soooo...

You know when you reach the point in a story, book, or TV series? You know, THAT moment. The one where everything is suddenly clear and the veil is torn from your eyes, allowing you to see all the things you missed before?

I would like to point out how bloody excited I am to finally be able to reveal this information. I have been sitting on it, keeping it secret since like...September, I think it is now?

Man, that was a long time ago, now...

Anyway, please spare me any "This is bullshit! There is no evidence of this, at all, ever!"

Dear readers, you need only return your attention to Book 4, during which more and more information about Felix is slowly introduced and revealed. And then when Max is brought on into the picture as well?

The signs are there, you can see them if you are looking for them. But without the knowledge to see, all you will find is confusion and mystery. I wrote it carefully that way, after all.

It's always a good idea to pay attention.

So, in light of me no longer pulling any tricks, I'd really like it if you all would leave reviews to tell me what you think.

Please and thank you.

I'll see you guys again in the next chapter.