Rogue

Chapter 38

Levi's P.O.V

I walk besides Jayson in a daze of sorts. My mind struggling to dissect all the events which occurred today. It felt like more than a single day's worth of trouble, rather enough conflicts and confusion to drain all the energy from my body for a week or two.

I found it hard to wrap my mind around the concept - no the fact, the fact that I had told my father about Jayson. That finally, after months of hiding him in the shadows of my life and pretending he wasn't the greatest thing that had ever happened to me, they had met. Here we were, walking hand in hand up my family's house driveway, in the open.

It was a dream.
It had to be, that was the only thing that could explain how we were experiencing a faith that was no more than a dream a few hours ago. It couldn't possibly be reality.

But it was real, it was all real and it came with a cost. A cost which I didn't prepare myself for because it wasn't one I predicted occurring.
The sight of my father crying was something I hadn't witnessed in my lifetime other than on joyous occasions. It wasn't that I didn't know he was capable of feeling on that level, it was more that I hadn't allowed myself to imagine it with the front he always showed the world.

The hard front. The one that let harsh words or judgement slide off his shoulders as if it were nothing more than a joke. The one the pack knew and loved, the one that made every member, big and small, feel welcomed and loved. The front we all knew was just that, a front, but the one we let ourselves ignorantly believe in.

It was all excuses really.

The truth was I hurt one of the people in this world which made me smile, one of the good ones. I'd hurt him and it wasn't as easy to swallow as I led myself to believe.

"I don't think this is a house." Jayson comments, pulling me from my mind. "I thought our home was big, but this is like... really big."

I watch his reaction with slight amusement, a smile growing at the way he innocently gawked at the family mansion we were approaching. It made me want to protect that mind of his for as long as I possibly could, but also expose it to a number of wonderous things in this world he unjustly hadn't had a chance to experience.

I wanted to travel with him. Live our lives free of restraints or worries, but with the information we'd just come to learn, it seemed like it would be a long time until we were free to do much of anything.

It seemed obvious to me at this point that the Moon Goddess had decided to stack our lives with the most calamities she possibly could, bored beyond her wits, we became her entertainment.

It was cruel but apparently, it was life - our life.

The minute Jayson and I step through the large front door to the house, we are immediately bombarded by a warm body each. I look down at the silky, long blonde hair which was pressed to my chest, while the rest of a small body remained clinging onto me tightly as if I would disappear at any moment.

I smile in surprise at Peter's unusual yet strong demonstration of affection, chuckling slightly at the mop of dark brown hair which was Hagen doing the same to Jayson. Then, in Hagen fashion, he began scaling Jayson like a monkey to their favorite tree. Jayson managed to catch him with a laugh before he hugged Hagen back tightly. Peter steps away from me with a smile larger than I had ever seen it, I couldn't help but return one. He was too adorable not to.

"You're alive!" Hagen exclaims once Jayson sets him down, finding enough distance from Hagen to give Peter a gentle rub on his head. Peter shyly smiles up at him and doesn't retract from his touch, rather he closes his eyes and leans into his palm like a pup.