Rylan glowered at the ceiling, ignoring the yelling from upstairs and the ringing phone and the thump, thump, thump as Leo paced back and forth in Giovanni’s room.

Things were falling apart rapidly. Two days ago he had screamed at Dimitri and then Holly. Dimitri was secreted away in his room and had been since, refusing to even talk to Malachi, who was now also mad at Rylan for getting so angry at the dark fae. Holly had screamed back at Rylan and had done the same thing as Dimitri, except any time anyone knocked on his door, he shot flames at them until they went away.

Leo was stressed out because he had found Holly in Giovanni’s room and had spent the entire time up there with him, pacing back and forth. Malachi was desperately trying to reconcile everyone, but it obviously wasn’t working and after the third or fourth spat with him, the man had begun to avoid him.

And it was all that slut’s fault. Rylan glared and his hands tightened into fists. Things had never been this bad before.

The phone began ringing again.

Rylan yanked it open. "What?!"

"Oh, thank god," the woman on the other side said. "This is Cherie, I’m a nurse at County Hospital, we-"

"No," Rylan snapped. "We don’t want to see him, we don’t-"

"I don’t give a fuck what you want," Cherie snapped. "I need one of you to say ‘yes’ to surgery."

"Hell no," Rylan snapped.

"Thank you for your permission, sir," Cherie said brightly.

Rylan stood, hand tightening around the phone. "Did you not hear me, woman?!" he shouted. "I said, ‘no!’"

"Yes, yes," Cherie said, completely ignoring him. "I understand. Thank you again. Bye now." She hung up.

Rylan glared at the phone before growling and dropping it. The plastic was bent, a perfect imprint of his fingers twisted into it.

"Fucking humans," he muttered, hands curling into fists again.

"Well, sor-ry."

Rylan turned, facing Malachi. He glared at the man, too angry to calm himself down. "Don’t take everything so personally," he growled.

Malachi just glared.

Rylan turned on his heel and stomped upstairs, going straight to Holly’s room. He yanked open the door, effectively breaking the lock.

Holly glared up at him and heat exploded in the room. But Rylan crossed the room in a blur, nearly too fast to be seen and grabbed Holly by the thighs, lifting him up, and crushing their lips together. The heat didn’t die down, remaining an ominous pressure against his back.

When he finally pulled back, he said, "Ezra’s at the hospital again. This time we do it my way."

Holly stared at him for a moment, before saying shortly, "Fine. But if the investigation starts and he still doesn’t want to be here, it’s better to throw him out."

Rylan smirked. "Or kill him."

Holly snorted and wrapped his legs around Rylan’s waist. "Probably not the best idea. But tempting." He kissed Rylan again, wrapping his arms around Rylan’s neck and pulling him close, rubbing his hips wantonly against Rylan. "Fuck me," he whispered against Rylan’s lips. "Then we can go get the slut and tie him to the kitchen table. Satisfactory?"

Rylan smirked. "Very." He detached Holly from around him and pushed him face down on the bed, arranging him so his face was pressed against the mattress and his ass was in the air.

--

Holly ambled down the stairs, delighting in the ache that raced up his back every time he took a step and the liquid still trailing down his thigh underneath the loose, low-slung shorts. Both were reminders of the great sex, so he would savor the feelings as long as they lasted.

When the phone rang, he picked it up carelessly. "Zyniph residence."

"Hi, this is Nurse Cherie from County Hospital. I’ve looked up fae laws and apparently I’m obligated to tell you Ezra will live, no thanks to you assholes. Have a nice day." There was a click and the dial tone sounded.

Holly blinked at the phone before calling the hospital back. He cut off the receptionist’s spiel. "Nurse Cherie," he snapped.

A moment later, the still irate woman picked up. "What?"

"Hi, this is Holly Zyniph, you called three seconds ago. What the fuck happened now?"

Cherie snorted. "The only reason I’m telling you this is because of the stupid fae laws, I hope you know."

"Fantastic. Now start talking."

The phone crackled as she sighed into it. "Someone beat him, nearly killed him, no one picked up at your fucking house for twenty-four hours, and when someone finally did, I got permission to perform surgery. He’s lucky he’s alive. You need to pick up your phone. Bye now-"

"Wait," Holly snapped. "Who’d you get permission from?"

"Fuck if I know," Cherie said, still obviously angry.

"Well, when can we come pick him up?"

"If it was my choice, never!"

"But under the law, it isn’t," Holly pointed out. "Now when?"

"A week."

"What?!"

"One. Week," Cherie said sounding satisfied. "At least."

"But, the law-"

"He’s too hurt to go anywhere. Oh, and no one’s allowed to see him for at least two days."

"You realize he’ll probably just pick up and leave, right?" Holly asked, holding onto his temper by a thread.

"He’s going to be too heavily drugged to sit up. He’s not going anywhere," Cherie said cheerfully. "Can I go back to doing my job now?"

Holly growled and hung up on her. Humans.

But guilt flashed as soon as he thought that. Giovanni was a sweetheart and Malachi was a giant teddy bear. A sexy giant teddy bear… That Holly hadn’t really talked to for a couple days. He needed to go visit him. But first…

Holly sighed and trudged up the stairs, staring hard at the floor and dreading what he had to do.

He kicked Dimitri’s door twice and stood with his hands shoved into his pockets for a couple minutes. Dimitri didn’t open the door or even respond.

"Dimitri, open up!"

There was no answer.

"Dimitri, I’m not mad anymore! Well, I am, but I’m getting over it. Dimitri, Giovanni thinks the inspection is going to be within a couple months! I’m not going to be the reason we’re forced to get a divorce!"

The door still didn’t open.

He growled and stomped downstairs. Malachi wasn’t in any of his usual spots. Holly sighed and went down to the basement, pushing aside the heavy door at the bottom of the staircase. Music was playing, a heavy base beat with some kind of synthesizer melody over it. Malachi was dressed in loose gray sweats, thin bleached dreadlocks pulled back in a ponytail, a sheen of sweat covering his upper body. He was hitting a punching bag, bouncing on his feet rhythmically. His hands were lightly wrapped with bandages and each punch landed with a solid thwack.

Holly watched him for a moment. Malachi was a fighter; he had been training for years at mixed martial arts. He hadn’t done too much of it since he had gotten married to them a year ago, but he still went out for bigger tournaments and still trained. That’s what he had just been doing the week before; preliminary rounds for the Border Town Tournament. There would be fae, humans, mixed bloods, and tons of other species competing. It was called a town, but the land that lay betwixt the worlds was huge, easily as large as any of the lands that it connected, and, while not crowded, many people lived in it.

Holly snuck around so he was facing Malachi’s back instead of his side and pressed himself against his back.

Malachi paused and turned in Holly’s arms to smile down at the elemental. "Hi."

Holly grinned. "Heya."

Malachi smirked. "What’s up? Or did you just interrupt to hug me? Which would actually be pretty awesome."

Holly smiled and kissed Malachi’s shoulder, unable to reach his cheek or lips. "No," he admitted. "But you do have a pretty sexy body. And I think you’re the most fun to hug in the house." He cuddled into his arms, leaning his head against his chest.

Malachi wrapped his arms more securely around him. "Well, what’s up?"

"You first," Holly said. "You look like you’ve been at this for awhile. Aren’t you supposed to run today? You did this yesterday."

Malachi smiled down at him, flashing dimples. "I didn’t know you paid attention."

Holly shrugged. "I make a point to know when you’re working out."

"Ah, that explains why I get molested after strength training so much."

Holly just grinned. "Yep. Now, what’s the matter?"

Malachi waved his hand dismissively. "Nothing. Rylan made a stupid comment, but it was just the stress. I think it’s affecting all of us."

Holly nodded solemnly. "Can you break down Dimitri’s door?"

Malachi’s eyebrows shot up. "Come again?"

Holly repeated his request, tacking on, "I’d burn it down, but I don’t want to hurt him."

"He won’t open it?"

"No, and I need to talk to him."

"You can yell through the door."

Holly frowned at him. "Cannot."

Malachi rolled his eyes. "Can too. But I’ll help anyway. He’s getting a warning from me before I break down his door though."

"Fine, fine," Holly said, waving his hand dismissively. "Come on." He grabbed Malachi’s hand and hauled him upstairs, one hand trailing over Malachi’s stomach. "I dig your tummy." He informed him. "It may be better than Rylan’s."

Malachi snorted. "I don’t have abs like his."

"Yeah, but you’re more comfy."

"Did you just call me fat?"

"No," Holly said, rolling his eyes. "I called you a giant teddy bear, numb nuts. You have more muscle than anyone, even Rylan. You just don’t have his tummy. Yours is better."

Malachi grinned and opened his mouth to retort, but Rylan interrupted, arms sliding around Malachi’s bare chest and linking together on his stomach. He buried his face in Malachi’s hair and whispered something that made Malachi smile and kiss him on the cheek.

"Fantastic, you two have made up. Go break down Dimitri’s door and then you can go and fuck over the counter," Holly said impatiently.

Malachi grinned at him. "You won’t bitch at us because of the mess?"

"Hell yes, I will. Clean up after yourselves and I won’t," he said pointedly.

Rylan and Malachi glanced at each other. "Nah," both said.

Holly rolled his eyes. "Fuck you. Go open his door."

Malachi grinned and began walking back up the stairs.

Rylan patted him on the back. "I’ll be in your room."

Holly followed Malachi up to Dimitri’s room where Malachi knocked one before yelling, "Hey, Holly’s worried and if you don’t at least say something, I’m going to break down the door."

There was a long pause and then, "Don’t. Please."

There was a click and then the door opened a crack.

Malachi bowed to Holly before heading back downstairs.

Holly shoved his foot in the crack and then shoved the rest of his body through. He shut it with his foot before looking up. He groaned slightly at the sight. Dimitri was in slacks and a dress shirt, buttoned up all the way. His hair was in a tight braid and the new earring had been taken out. From anyone else, it would have been a good sign, but with Dimitri, it meant he was feeling insecure.

Holly sighed and went forward and hugged him, cuddling up to his tense body. "I’m over it," he said softly. "I’m not mad anymore. It‘s not worth it."

Dimitri looked down at him. "Are you quite sure? I understand completely if-"

Holly winced. It was bad. He grabbed Dimitri’s beautiful, crisp shirt, and yanked him down with it, crushing their lips together.

Dimitri stayed tense and unyielding under his assault, but Holly ignored it, forcing Dimitri’s lips apart with tongue and teeth. Dimitri yielded all at once, mouth opening wider and lips and body softening. Suddenly, he was being kissed back and long, slender hands were resting on his back.

"I’m really getting over it. One mistake is not worth it."

"Oh good," Dimitri said weakly.

Holly smiled at him and pulled him over to the bed and pushed him down on it. But instead of straddling his hips or stripping him, he lay down next to him and curled up against him. He looked up at Dimitri through his eyelashes, faking coyness. "Can I take a nap in here? I haven’t slept properly for awhile."

Dimitri nodded and Holly raised a hand to his cheek, delighting in the heat he felt there but couldn't see, before relaxing and resting his head on Dimitri’s chest. Dimitri wrapped an arm around him and Holly let out a contented sigh. The shyness may have been faked, but the words were true; it was hard to sleep without Dimitri lying next to him.

He remembered Ezra with a start, but quickly pushed it away. One day would truly not make a difference. They wouldn’t be seeing the half-breed for at least two days. He could tell Dimitri tomorrow.