Burning Desire

09

"You're what?!" Tristan asked, making Winston wince at how high pitched and angry his voice was.

Winston packed his bag with a shrug. "You hate me anyway, so I don't see the problem."

"But it's more fun to hate you in person!" Tristan said, huffing in annoyance. "How do you know I won't run away when you're gone?"

"I don't know that," Winston said, checking his watch. "I'll only be gone for a couple of days."

Tristan groaned, slamming his face into a pillow. "But Levi is going on that trip for Elijah's birthday and Kayden works all day!"

"There's more than two people that live here."

"But the rest are demons!"

Winston shrugged. "Sorry. I need to clear my head and you need alone time as well. Here's my credit card, so you can order food if you want, and Paxton will be around when he's done with meetings," he said, throwing his duffel bag over his shoulder. "Now, can I leave? Or are you going to keep yelling at me?"

"I'm ordering myself a new phone," Tristan said, opening Winston's computer. "Just so you know."

"Okay," Winston said, looking at his watch. "I have to go so I can catch my flight. Have a good couple of days without me."

Tristan rolled his eyes. "I hope you lose your fights," he called back. "And if you come back smelling like whiskey or vodka, I'm going to kick you out of your own room."

"You never told me you hated alcohol," Winston said, surprised since he drank almost every night even with Tristan around.

Tristan just shrugged as he continued to type away on the computer. "You never asked."

•••

Tristan woke up early the next morning, listening to people talking. He groaned and left his room, finding almost all of the demons, besides Winston, getting ready for work, except for Greyson, Elijah, and Levi who were all getting ready for their trip.

"Still salty?" Elijah teased, alluding to the time Tristan spent the day before ranting to him about Winston taking off and not bringing him.

"And to think I was going to wish you a happy birthday," Tristan muttered, reaching the fridge as Kayden left the pantry, but his hands were empty. "Did you just go into the pantry to take a tour?"

Kayden rolled his eyes. "I wanted a bag of Cheetos, but we have none," he said, but Tristan could tell he was uncomfortable for some reason.

He brushed it off and grabbed the milk, pouring it into a glass. "So, you all have to be up at seven in the morning? And you all have to be loud as fuck while I'm trying to enjoy the time that Winston isn't in the house?" he asked, wiping his eyes.

"You can put in earplugs," Lexi said, yawning.

"Why are you awake?" Tristan asked the pink haired sin. "You don't have work until the evenings, right?"

Lexi shrugged. "Same reason as you, I guess," he said, glaring at the group. "Some idiots like to be loud when they get up."

Tristan offered him a small smile, yawning and putting on a pot of coffee for everyone in the room. He drank his own mug on the back porch, watching the sun rise in the cool spring air. Even though he didn't love the mansion, being alone on the back porch made him feel at peace.