The Midnight Pard

Chapter 6

Anton

Standing outside Bellamy's door, Anton felt foolish, he was nervous, he couldn't remember the last time he had been nervous. All of this secrecy around whatever Bellamy had been planning, and then being asked to clear an afternoon and meet, Bellamy had his stomach in knots. What if he rejects me? The thought had been on loop the entire day. He raised his hand and knocked on the door. To his surprise, Bellamy answered almost immediately, as if he had been waiting on the other side of the door. Bellamy held out a small bundle of flowers, handing them to Anton and then taking his free hand to walk him out of the pard house and down to the car he had rented the day before.

"What is all of this?" Anton smiled over at Bellamy, smelling the flowers he had been handed now that he was sitting inside the very comfortable vehicle. Bellamy's face took on a light shade of pink as he replied, "I believe it is called a date." Bellamy smiled at Anton before starting the car and focusing on the road. Anton felt his own face warming at the explanation. It may have been a bit sassy, but nobody had ever offered to take him on a date before. He had been expected to take them. He looked over Bellamy for the first time that day, realizing that this date was going to be pure torture. His pants appeared to be a very tight fit, and that was sure to be distracting, but his shirt, if it could even be called that, was going to be so much worse. Practically a crop top with a mesh bottom and sleeves, it was extremely tight on him, showing off everything, even the part that was covered didn't leave much to the imagination. Lev didn't know whether to growl or drool. Anton felt much the same way.

During the drive, Bellamy had stubbornly refused to mention where they were going. He seemed to be enjoying keeping Anton in the dark. Pulling up to a movie theater had Anton suspicious. There was a movie playing that he had an interest in, but, he really doubted it would be Bellam's interest. He mentally prepared himself for something one of his past dates would have been more likely to ask about; some romance movie or comedy. They weren't bad, just predictable enough that they often bored him.

Bellamy gave his name to the ticket salesman who handed over two tickets. Anton tried to look at the title but Bellamy covered the tickets, making a tssk noise at him. "Patience is a virtue, Mister Alpha". Lev had snorted in his mind at that. Anton smiled as they stood in the concession line, Bellamy wrapping Anton's arms around him. Lev purred softly. "Ours, and they all know it." Anton agreed, Bellamy wasn't usually this physical with him, but the way he fit perfectly into Anton's arms made him wish Bellamy was. His fingers gently tracing along the netted fabric at Bellamy's waist, he wanted to feel under that shirt. The image of Bellamy in his arms, screaming his name came to him courtesy of Lev and he heard Bellamy's breath hitch slightly. He was about to apologize for his bo*** when Bellamy pressed a bit closer, his eyes fluttered. Suddenly, Bellamy tugged him to the counter, ordering their snacks. Surprisingly, he had gotten all of the things that Anton liked. He gave Bellamy a questioning look, but the man just gave him an innocent, playful smile in return. Taking the snacks and drinks, the two headed towards their movie.

Staring for a moment at the title over the doorway that Bellamy had disappeared into, Anton felt shock. The Dread Lights was exactly the movie he had been wanting to go see, but it certainly didn't fit what he believed about Bellamy. It was a supernatural horror thriller. Sure to be violent and gory. He followed Bellamy inside, "Bells? are you sure this is the right one?" Bellamy froze, turning to face Anton. He looked a bit pale, his voice was high and strained. "Please don't". Anton immediately went to him, curling himself as close as he could to Bellamy while both of their hands were full. "I'm sorry, whatever I did wrong I'm sorry." He felt Bellamy pull away after a second, "I'm sure this is the right movie, let's find our seats. I'll explain later, it's not worth ruining the nice date I have planned out." Anton wanted to argue that Bellamy's feelings were more important than some date, but also didn't want to upset him further. "You will actually talk about it later, right?" Bellamy nodded, looking out at the entirely empty theater, "Where did you want to sit?" Anton glanced around and frowned, "I thought this movie would be more popular." He started towards his favorite seats, directly in the middle all the way at the top. Bellamy giggled, "Oh it is, I checked out the critic ratings. The theaters actually sold out." Anton shot him a suspicious look but didn't comment. They were a little early, but humans usually liked to show up in time for the trailers. It was odd. The movie started and the theater was still empty. Aside from them, Bellamy seemed to be really into the movie at first, watching everything closely. Anton let himself relax, tuning into the movie. The movie got to a particularly gorey scene and Bellamy squeaked. Anton turned to see that he was white as a sheet, gripping his own hands tight enough that Anton could see the strain whitening his knuckles. He reached over to take Bellamy's hands, "It's alright." Bellamy immediately turned, burying his face into Anton's shoulder where it stayed the remainder of the movie.

Out in the car, Bellamy had shyly explained that he had bought out the entire showing to make sure no one had ruined the movie. Anton chuckled, "That's really sweet, but why that movie? It didn't seem like your pace." Bellamy looked at the ground chewing his lip, "I asked Jonah about what types of movies and snacks you like. He's been trying to make up for the past, told him I'd consider this information equal to a clean slate." Anton stared in wonder. "You're wonderful." Bellamy smiled up at him, "Glad you think so, because we aren't done yet."

Sitting in the little ice cream shop, had Anton and Lev on edge, all of the humans were staring at their mate. Lust evident in their eyes, Bellamy tilted his head as Anton softly growled as a small group passed them, "Is something wrong?" Anton looked back over, "no no, not at all, it's just, don't take this the wrong way, I love the view, but it doesn't quite seem your style." Bellamy looked down, "Ah I picked it up with some of the wolves when I lived with the pack, there was this club in the city and it was really fun, but I never had the nerve to wear it, and you're supposed to wear nice clothes for a date. My only nice clothes are really formal, I thought this would be better." Lev growled, "Mate is in need?" Anton quieted Lev, "Not need, but we are absolutely going to spoil him." Lev purred quietly at Anton's words.

As they pulled up to the Pard house, Bellamy hesitated, "Do you want to talk tonight or?" Anton turned confused before remembering the brief moment in the theater, "Yeah if you are okay to talk, would you like to come up to my room?" Bellamy nodded and they both walked in together. Anton caught Seth walking by through another hallway, he caught the pause, the way the wolf looked over them both smiling slightly before he went on his way. He wasn't sure he would ever be that calm about it, but at least he didn't want to rip Seth's head off for looking at Bellamy anymore.

Walking into his room with Bellamy behind him had Anton's mind in all the wrong places, they were here for a serious talk damnit. Bellamy followed him to sit on his bed, sitting far enough away that they weren't touching. Anton frowned but understood. "It's about the nickname thing." Bellamy's voice was quiet, Anton tilted his head confused. "Do you mean calling you Bells?" Bellamy nodded, "Yeah, I've hated it ever since that winter. I" he froze a moment before taking a deep breath, when his eyes met Anton's, Anton could see Jax just behind Bellamy's eyes. "I used to feel so bad about all of that, I started hurting myself. Nothing serious, I mean we heal fast, so like I didn't even know what a big deal it was, but I haven't sang since that day. The human world therapist that I had said it was a trauma thing, that I was going through so much that I couldn't process it, and my brain picked one specific thing that could hold all of the bad. That day holds all of the bad from childhood." Anton could feel Lev extremely close to the surface, he took Bellamy's hand, "I understand that I will never understand all of it, or what it was like for you. I'm so sorry." Bellamy scooted closer, before either of them really knew how Bellamy had ended up in Anton's lap. They stayed like that for hours, all earlier thoughts gone from Anton's mind. Making sure Bellamy was okay was far more important.

Seth

Chuckling, he allowed Bellamy to drag him out of the Pard-house down to the rental car, "Oh is it my turn little kitty?" His voice was filled with laughter, he laughed more when Bellamy glared at him, "seriously? I'm being nice and you're out here teasing me?" His voice held none of the faked anger in his glare, he was barely managing not to laugh. Seth leaned over and kissed his cheek, "Okay, I'll be nice." Bellamy rolled his eyes, "somehow I don't believe you." Seth grinned, "smart kitty."

While waiting to check out the clubs for the game of mini-golf, Seth took a moment to pull Bellamy close, kissing him, a chaste meeting of their lips. Bellamy reached up, lightly tracing his lips as they pulled away. Seth smiled softly, "the bond gives you the tingles too?" Bellamy nodded.

Seth grinned as they played, Bellamy was quietly competitive, smiling when he was doing well, and frowning slightly when Seth got a better shot than him. After they finished the course, Seth lifted Bellamy up, spinning him in a circle and kissing him as soon as he put him back down. "What was that for?" Bellamy gasped out, surprise on every inch of his face. Seth laughed as he spoke, "you're prize for winning, of course. You weren't the only one keeping score." He winked, causing Bellamy to blush a deep red, "I didn't think I was being that obvious about it."

As they settled into the small diner booth, Seth lightly tapped his foot against Bellamy's, smiling as Bellamy immediately engaged in their old footsie battles. It was nice being able to be out with him like this, it felt natural. "Because he is ours." Cedar's voice was quiet in his head, he hadn't liked recognizing Lev as his mate, being quiet about it since the initial run. Seth didn't understand why, but he also rarely ever questioned his wolf about why he did the things he did.

They both ordered shareable food for lunch, splitting the food up so they could both try it. "I remember doing this when our dads used to bring us with them during dinners." Seth smiled at the memory of them sitting a table away from some bigshot meeting sharing food and making faces at the weird things the adults were ordering. Bellamy chuckled, "you know I still refuse to try calamari or oysters. They just both look so bad, like yeah let me eat some deep fried rubber and slurp mucus from a shell." Seth burst out laughing, wiping a tear from his eye from how hard he had laughed. "Slurp some mucus from a shell. Oh I am so telling my father about that one, that is hilarious love." Bellamy's breath caught, his eyes widening. Seth froze, "Is that okay? I can start asking before little like names or whatever. I remember you don't like your name shortened, but if the others are also bad, that's okay." Bellamy smiled, "I liked it, it just surprised me, certainly better than kitty." Seth smiled, "Well then kitty will be replaced with love."

As they got back to the Pard house, the whole place seemed to be in a buzz, Anton greeting them as they parked. "I am sorry to interrupt your date, but we have a guest." Seth tried to keep Cedar down, they hadn't interrupted his date, yet here he was and Cedar didn't like it. "It sounds urgent" Seth argued with the stubborn wolf. Outloud, he asked, "A guest? I'm assuming uninvited, who is it?" Anton shuffled, "It's the Alpha of the Northern Band of the American herds." Apparently, he has been looking for someone who had betrayed his Band. The person was known to have connections with a few of my panthers. My father has taken over figuring this out. I am expected back soon, but I wanted you both to be aware, kept in the loop." Seth relaxed a bit, "Thank you for that." With a quick nod Anton headed back inside. Bellamy looked up at Seth, "You want to go on a run to avoid all of that?" Seth grinned, "Cedar would love that."

Bellamy

The packages were sitting on his bed as he finally dragged himself to his room. He had heard that the guest had left during his run with Seth, luckily enough for them. The last thing he needed was his mates getting angry about another Alpha being near him. He lifted the smaller package, opening it to find 3 identical pendants, each depicting a night sky with a full moon, and hanging lower, all three of their birthstones. He looked over the quality of the chain, and made sure they all got set nicely back into their boxes. Excited, he turned to the larger box. Opening it revealed three small photo albums and three picture frames, he quickly hopped up and dug under his bed for his portable picture printer. After making sure it was fully hooked up, he set off through the Pard house in search of one of the few friends he had made, a younger girl, Allissa's little cousin. She was only about 19, and had agreed to sneakily follow Bellamy on his dates, taking pictures of them. Bellamy knocked on her room's door, and the two of them took off back to his room in a fit of giggles. Together they set up the three photo books with the shots taken so far. Bellamy's had fewer of the shots but he would need more room since his would have all three of the dates.

As the three of them went out to the car, Bellamy had already let them know it would be a drive to dinner, a drive to the beach, and a drive home. Surprisingly, Anton made the suggestion that Seth take the front seat on the way to the restaurant, and on the way to the Pard house, and he would take the front seat on the way to the beach. Seth had interjected that he could ride up front to the restaurant, trade with Anton on the way to the beach, and they could both sit in the back on the way home, and spend time together as well. Anton had looked nervous but agreed. Bellamy felt warm, "It's the bond." Jax purred slightly in his mind, "we will feel it more the more we all accept each other." Bellamy smiled at the thought.

The restaurant was a bit more upscale human than Bellamy was used to, and he had to fight back laughter at some of the judgy looks they got from the humans around them. They talked as they ate, laughing and it really felt like they were connecting. Halfway through the meal, they got a new server due to a shift change. They immediately recognized the young man as a were fox. Those were usually solo shifters unless with a familial unit. He looked nervous as he went to their table. Bellamy smiled at him and made small conversation, making it clear they weren't there for trouble and the evening went well.

Once they got to the beach, Jax wanted to try running on the sand, or learning what ocean waves felt like. Bellamy stubbornly reminded him that it was a human beach. Seth walked between them, "I don't have to worry about the beach being a litter box, right?" Anton looked at him horrified, and Bellamy laughed, lightly shoving him. "Rude, Jax would never." Seth laughed, taking off across the sands, the three of them played as if they were young kids rather than grown men, rolling in the sand, eventually going out into the water. Bellamy smiled at Seth. Jax also likes swimming. We should consider looking into getting a boat to get away and let the others have some fun one of these days." Anton waded up as they were talking, "That sounds like fun, Lev wants to try and catch a fish." They all laughed. As the sun started setting, they towel dried themselves and started setting up a blanket to star gaze. Bellamy grabbed the keys from one of their bags. "I'll be right back, I forgot something."

He returned with two small neatly wrapped packages, he held them out to both of them. "I wanted to do something special." He watched as confused, they each reached for their respective boxes, and then looked at each other before opening them. Bellamy smiled as they looked over it, both looking over at each other as well. "I wanted us to match. He pulled his from a different pocket and slipped it on. As soon as he had it clasped, he saw movement and before he could react, he was on the ground. Both of them had tackled him. They all broke out laughing, slowly moving the tackled cuddles to the blanket they had thrown over the sands. At some point, they both managed to get their necklaces on, cuddling together was nice. Occasionally Bellamy would feel his skin tingling where they were touching him.

It was late when they made it back, all going their separate ways. Once at the Pard house, Bellamy went to his room and saw quite a few prints sitting on his printers' catch tray. It being wireless was convenient, he looked them over, choosing which ones to put into the albums, and which one would go into the frame. He settled on a picture that had to be taken seconds before he had hit the sand from their tackling. It looked like the three of them were hugging.

Nervously, the next morning he brought the gifts with him as he went to breakfast. He saw the two of them sitting together looking over some papers as they ate. He walked over, sitting down and handing them each their books and frames. He watched as Seth stared, slowly flicking through the book. Anton had tears in his eyes, he looked up at Bellamy. "I love you." The words were barely whispered, but audible. Seth froze where he sat, looking at Anton in surprise. Bellamy felt his eyes go wide, for a moment it felt like he were watching someone else's life, then reality came back around them, he felt moisture fill his eyes. "I'm sorry, I just don't know." The words were barely whispered before he stood and took off. By the time he got to his room his heart felt like it was burning, it wasn't a rejection, but his bond felt the weight of it all the same.