War of Hearts

Alex was awake. Sleep did not come easily for him anymore. It was two in the morning but he did not feel tired physically, only in spirit. He sat in front of his open window, letting in the cool night breeze while he sipped on a hot cup of tea. He was alone with the stars and his own thoughts. They shone so brightly that night. He could have starred at them for ages. There was something peaceful in looking at them though they held no answers for the questions that plagued his heart and weighed it down.

Softly, music started to come through the window. One of the girls must have left their radio on. But it was no ordinary song. Deep magic had been written into it. The most talented of the dark fae tamers had worked together to create a masterpiece that subtly worked its way into the room and lodged itself in his heart and mind.

Come to me
In the night hours.
I will wait for you.
And I can’t sleep
Cause thoughts devour
Thoughts of you consume.

Alex continued to sit there, staring up at the night sky, but his thoughts turned towards Wolf, the human that loved and protected him despite Alex's persistent insistence that they could not work.

I can't help but love you
Even though I try not to.
I can't help but want you.
I know that I'd die without you.

Alex looked down at his cup, watching the steam swirl around in the air above it. Alone, with no one there to listen in to his most private of thoughts, Alex could admit that he loved Wolf. He didn't want to love him and he'd been trying to squash it. Logic told him that their love had so slim of a chance of ending happily. But the heart did not often care for logic and reason and his refused to listen to all the arguments he gave for as to why he shouldn't feel the way he did.

Stay with me a little longer.
I will wait for you.
Shadows creep
And want grows stronger
Deeper than the truth.

Alex already knew that Wolf did not care for his arguments either. He was determined that they could find a way even if that meant appealing to Arceus, which for any human was a terrifying prospect. Alex thought on it all often, especially on nights like this one, but he found no solace in his cool logic. He felt only tired and heavy in his soul and heart. He wanted to give in. He loved Wolf. They felt the same and denying it was taking a heavy toll on him.

I can't help but love you
Even though I try not to
I can't help but want you
I know that I'd die without you
I can’t help but be wrong in the dark
Cause I’m overcome in this war of hearts
I can’t help but want oceans to part
Cause I’m overcome in this war of hearts
Alex took a deep breath. His heart was physically aching in his chest. His mind was starting to quiet as his heart screamed out that it loved and would no longer be silenced. Tears splashed down his cheeks, combining with his tea. He wiped them away and set his tea down on the windowsill. And all the time the song played, urging his heart on to accept that what it felt was real and valid and that logic didn't matter when it came to such emotions and feelings.

It wouldn't stop. It wouldn't leave him alone with such thoughts. He couldn't escape it any longer. The song had dug its way into his conscience and his heart would not be silenced. His mind could not find the familiar arguments and points it used to squash his feelings.

With a final little gasp, Alex finally gave in. His body seemed to move all on its own as he left the chair and walked through the dark, cold hallways of the house. He found himself in front of Wolf's room. Even then he could have turned away. But it wasn't an option anymore. He was right there. He found himself knocking on the door.

Wolf too could hear the song. It got under his skin as much as it did Alex's. He hadn't stopped thinking about the entire messy situation.

But the song offered no solace, no peace. It made it worse. He got up and walked over to the door. As Alex knocked, he opened it. Cutting it short.

Too many emotions were in Alex's eyes, too many in Wolf's too. He struggled, not sure what to do for a moment. But then, he just grabbed Alex and kissed him.

He couldn't hold back any more and the look in Alex's eyes, told him that he couldn't either.

Nel smiled from the shadows, her lace gloved hand holding Bryna's own. She squeezed it. But she didn't say anything. What words were there?

"You did really good." She said, finally, because Bryna had written the song.

Alex kissed Wolf back. He'd had no plan, no idea of what words to say. He was acting purely on the impulse of his heart. Maybe it was wrong to cave but he couldn't not anymore. And it felt so good to give in and receive that kiss. His eyes, forever closed in the company of those not his brothers, remained so through and after the kiss. But it didn't matter. He only kissed Wolf himself when the first kiss ended.

"I had help," Bryna said with a smile. It was all coming together. They'd worked so hard to get Alex to cave and tonight he had. At this point she could only hope that it went well.

Wolf was surprised that he hadn't been shoved back, or told off. More so when the second kiss came and all he could do was crush Alex against him and kiss him harder. He abandoned all restraint, he'd been holding back for too long.

"Oh no. It's gonna get gross. Let's not turn into peeping Tom's," Nel laughed and moved them from the shadows to Bryna's room. "Help or not, you got the relic, you made the song. You got them together. I just brainstormed." She said, her thoughts moved somewhere else for a moment something someone had said but she had wanted to ignore.

Passion had been unleashed and passion would fuel them well into the quiet hours of the morning.

"Don't sell yourself short," Bryna said to Nel quickly. "It's your love for Wolf that inspired me to want to help him in the first place. Besides, you got me the lilu to haunt Alex with? You. And who picked out all the books to leave around for Alex to read? You. And who found all the best TV shows to binge watch while he was in the room or listening? You."

Nel just shrugged. "The important bits were you, we both know it. Anyway, get music in your ears it's gonna be a long night." She said and vanished into the shadows.

She was right too, neither of the girls needed to hear Wolf and Alex in their bump'n'grind. Though they had totally caused it to happen.

It wasn't until the sun started to rise that Wolf finally fell asleep. But he didn't sleep for long. He was soon awoken by the smells of egg and bacon cooking in the kitchen. His stomach growled.

He opened his eyes and saw Alex still beside him and he smiled. His heart was almost going to just stop working. Right there. Just nope out. "Alex." he said and kissed his nose, his forehead. "Wake up."

"No," Alex protested softly. His eyes remained shut but that didn't mean he wasn't fully awake now. It just wouldn't be easy to tell. He made no move to leave the bed or even wolf's arms. They had not slept much at all and whole it had been worth it to lose sleep with wolf, he was rather tired.

"But I'm hungry and we need to talk." Wolf protested and laughed. As cute as Alex was, he just couldn't help it. "I know I tired you out. I'm not sorry."

"I don't expect you to be sorry," Alex said, still refusing to move. But he sighed softly and caved once more. "You are not wrong. We need to talk and eat. But I should like to sleep after."

"Same." Wolf said, but he kissed Alex softly again. "This wasn't a mistake, okay?"

Alex nodded. "I know. It wasn't. But it has complicated things now, hasn't it?" he asked. Because he'd given in. They had to work out now all the details of how they could even make being together work. And that wasn't going to be simple or easy. But he didn't regret what had happened. It felt too right even if he'd thought it wouldn't have.

"I think things are easier now... No more fighting. I don't have to chase you, because I've already won." Wolf said and squished Alex. He felt a bit frustrated that he couldn't look Alex in the eye while they had this talk. But they'd deal with it later. "Right? I won?"

"Yes, you won," Alex said. He thought that had been pretty obvious in what they'd been doing last night but if Wolf needed to hear it then he didn't mind saying it out loud.

"Oh," Wolf breathed, he was clearly happy about that. Very happy. "So, for me. It's not complicated. We go step by step, day by day. You have things you need to do and so do I. Monsters to hunt, people to save. We can try and sync schedules for optimum time together too."

"Yes, but there is also the long term to figure out," Alex reminded him. "You are still mortal." And that was really one of the biggest problems. Certain fiends and humans could make that work but Alex was outside of time. He would live forever unless something truly awful happened. Wolf? Not so much.

"I'll change. For you. But Nel and Bryna have to be on board." Wolf said, that was very important to him. "And Jesse, because Strife is already one."

Alex just thought on that. "Well, do as you must," he decided. "You can discuss it with them. But you'll have to find a suitable way of making it happen that isn't an awful curse." Although a curse would work. It could also be broken though and sometimes curses got tricky.

"I will go to Arceus and plead my case. Theirs too. Nel will go for it, she would love to be a sassy cat." Wolf said, he just wasn't sure about Bryna.

The door burst open then and Wolf, having realised at the smell of breakfast, was glad he'd covered them up. "Morning, princesses."

"We made you love birds some breakfast in bed." Nel said, she went over with the tray for Wolf and then Bryna had Alex's. "With your favourite juices and many rounds of toast." because Wolf ate for days.

"How'd I get so lucky, huh?" Wolf said then and pulled Nel down to kiss her forehead. "thanks so much ladies."

Alex too was happy to be properly covered when the girls burst into the room. He didn't expect them to come in with food but he thought it was very sweet of them. They were sweet girls though for all they acted tough. "Thank you," he echoed Wolf as Bryna brought him his tray of food.

"Oh you're welcome," Bryna said with a smug little expression on her face. "Like we could just ignore this happy occasion? You two deserve breakfast in bed together."

"Plus you guys were at all it all night long. So you're probably starved. Don't worry about getting up. We've got the house work down and cooking sorted." Nel said meaning they could spend as long as they needed in bed.

"Is it just me, or does it just keep getting better?" Wolf said around a mouthful of food.

"We can totally handle this," Bryna agreed with a smile. "Although...Nel is much better at cooking," she added, because that was just not her thing. But she could handle cleaning up the house while Nel made all the meals for everyone.

"I think it does," Alex said. He smiled a little bit and drank some juice. He definitely was thirsty after everything that had happened last night.

"Thanks girls." Wolf said and then he looked at them both. "So, obviously... Things are going to change. So before you leave, I have a question for you."

"Okay, shoot." Nel said and looked interested.

"Now that I'm with Alex, I made promises. That I wouldn't let him go through me dying a mortal death of old age. So I'm going to go to Arceus and ask if he will turn us into fiends. But only if you're willing. We are a family. So it's all of us." Wolf said looking at them both.

"Ooh..." Nel said excitedly.

"Uh...you want us all to become fiends?" Bryna asked in surprise. "I mean, obviously you're going to pick some gorgeous dark cat," she added to Nel. That felt like a given and Nel seemed so excited for it. But Bryna couldn't even begin to decide what she wanted to be if she even got a choice in it. She supposed she could become a vampire like Braxton but...that idea was a little scary.

"I would, yes. If I'm to live forever I don't want to watch you grow old and die either." Wolf said, he looked at each of them. "Don't decide now. Think on it."

"I'm totally up for being a gorgeous, sassy and sexy cat. "Nel said, without hesitation. "We can find something for you, Bryna. We really can."

Bryna was so nervous but Nel sounded so excited that she was starting to feel it a little bit too. "You think so?" she asked. "Well, I know already that you have amazing taste so if you're helping me then I won't be so worried," she admitted. "I'll think about it," she said to Wolf, glad that she didn't have to decide right then and there.