Tawdry Little Affair {boyxboy}

Chapter Forty

Fionn took the coffee mug from the machine, lifting the bottle of whiskey from the counter and pouring some in as he did almost every morning. Turning on his heel, Fionn gasped at the sight of Kastor so close to him, the mug slipping from his fingers and smashing on the floor.

"Christ, Kas! Are you trying to give me fucking cardiac arrest?! Wear a fucking bell or something!" Fionn snapped, wincing from the boiling liquid splashing his legs.

"I apologise, Fi," the lack of emotion in Kastor's voice made his words considerably less believable, "I just thought since you're going to be around Arlo and Eloise today you might not want to be... inebriated," Fionn rubbed his face, the permanent headache that plagued him seeming to be considerably more painful that day.

"Yeah, you're probably right," he grumbled, screwing the lid on the bottle of whiskey and placing it back in the cupboard.

"I'll clean this up and make you another coffee," Kastor offered, bending down without giving Fionn a chance to respond. Fionn sat down at the table, glancing through the mail. He hated snapping at Kastor, all that kid did was prevent him from having a mental break down. He didn't deserve to be shouted at all because he was trying to help.

Fionn threw bills and any other envelopes addressed to Dante into the box by the window that was clearly overflowing. Why did that man get so much goddamn mail? Fionn frowned, or rather the frown that never left his face increased, at a yellowed and dog-eared envelope. It was addressed to Dante Draven and Fionn Bronwen.

"Kas, has Dante ever used-" Fionn was interrupted as Arlo and Eloise sprinted into the house, giggling gleefully, followed by the alpha's heavily pregnant beta.

"Hey! Stay in the living room guys! No going upstairs unsupervised!" Ocie yelled, waddling into the kitchen, "they wouldn't stop pestering me, you don't mind that we're early, do you?" Fionn, forgetting all about the odd names on the letter, tossed it into the box with all the others, rising to his feet to hug his beta.

"No, it's fine, it's good to see you. Thanks for having him for a few days," Fionn was noticing that Arlo was spending more and more time out of the house recently. Whether it was with Marva and Ocie or with Kastor on short trips, he saw less and less of his son. He knew why, people thought he couldn't cope, took pity on him. God, he detested the pity he got.

"Oh, it's fine, Fi. El loves the company and Arlo is such an easy kid," Kastor, having cleaned up the mess on the floor, took the bag from Ocie's shoulder upstairs to Arlo's room with both children on his heel.

"How you feeling?" Ocie eased herself into the chair opposite Fionn.

"You know I hate that question," Fionn grumbled, putting another mug in the coffee machine and getting a glass of water for his beta.

"Well if you didn't look like-" Ocie paused, glancing over her shoulder to make sure the kids weren't around, "if you didn't look like shit all the time I wouldn't ask it," she said in a lower volume.

"I'm fine," Fionn sighed, raking his fingers through his hair, "my husband's been gone seven months, I'm just fucking peachy," Fionn bit back his tears, he hated crying. It made everyone think he was all the more pathetic.

"Fi, maybe it's time you start moving on," Ocie spoke gently, clearly afraid of the temper Fionn had acquired in the past few months.

"He's coming back," Fionn placed the glass in front of Ocie, sitting opposite her with a scowl on his face, cradling his mug of liquid energy.

"When, Fi? Kas told me the last time he did this he was gone three years, you can't live like this indefinitely. He's clearly not anywhere close, and doesn't want to be found, or he'd let you see into his mind. Have you thought maybe he's-"