"Can I get a lock on my room?" Vinny asked, leaning against the doorway of his dad's study. The party would start in three hours.
Duke looked up from his papers and sighed. "No."
Vinny crossed his arms and also sighed. "Why not?" he asked.
"Because I'm going to learn how to knock in future. God help my eyes if I walked in on you two having s-"
"Yes, I get it," Vinny muttered. "Just please be serious about that and knock from now on."
Duke sat back in his chair and connected his fingers. "Come take a seat, I want to talk," he said softly, but his son hesitated at the door, making Duke roll his eyes. "Vinny, sit down."
Vinny wanted to go to Oliver, but his dad would only get angry at him if he sauntered off. So he shut the door behind him and sat on one of the chairs on the opposite side of the desk.
Duke watched him like he was trying to read his mind. Vinny hated it when he looked like that; it meant that his dad was going to try and get in his head, to understand his feelings. Vinny was a tough person to read. Oliver was the only one who could understand him perfectly.
"I want you to answer me with the truth, okay? I'm your dad; there's nothing to get embarrassed about," Duke said, which made Vinny want to run a mile, but he chewed the inside of his lip and struggled through it. "Are you nervous at the thought of taking the next step with another guy?"
On the inside, Vinny felt like a thousand knives had pierced him, but on the outside, he remained calm and emotionless. He stared at his dad, who waited patiently for an answer. "Yes." Maybe talking about it openly with someone who only wanted to hear his problems wouldn't be such a bad thing.
Duke nodded, casually allowing his gaze to wander around his study. "I'm guessing that means you haven't done it yet." Vinny nodded his head in confirmation. "And tonight at the party, are you both drinking?" Vinny hadn't asked Oliver, but he assumed he would. He inspected his dad's face. Duke looked tired. "And you don't want your first time to be when you're both drunk?"
Vinny then understood his dad's questions. He would be disappointed if his first time was when he was drunk. He wanted it to be special for both of them. "Of course not," Vinny said, beginning to settle. He always thought that talking to his dad was worse than what it actually was. Duke only cared about his well-being.
"Okay," Duke smiled. "Your mother and I are not drinking tonight, we would rather be sober if any arguments break out and we can keep an eye on you both to make sure you don't end up... doing that. This way, you can relax and have fun."
Vinny knew his parents were not big drinkers. They don't tend to drink at parties that were held in their home. Their relatives and friends could be difficult sometimes.
"Thank you," Vinny then said, knowing it would be a significant weight off his mind. "I appreciate it."
Duke knew how big it was for Vinny to admit that and he was pleased. "It's not a problem."
Vinny then stood up and brushed down his waistcoat. His dad would have liked to ask more things, but he knew his son couldn't handle more, so he let him leave.
"We'll come and get you, boys, when guests arrive," Duke smiled as Vinny opened the door. "Oh, and you have to dress nice, tell Oliver that too."
Vinny nodded to say he understood. "What are you talking about? I dress nice every day," he spoke with his usual bluntness, but his dad chuckled, and Vinny could leave feeling satisfied. Duke looked like he could do with a bit of cheering up. Vinny knew his mother would find him later and do that because Madison could make anyone feel better, no matter how grumpy they were.
As Vinny stormed through the corridor, he could feel Oliver's happiness thriving in his heart. It was enough to make his senses turn into a daze of soppy love. Oliver was in the restaurant with Madison. It was closed now, and the staff were working to get it ready for the night's event.
Vinny was excited to show Oliver off to his family and to show how proud he was to have such a fantastic soulmate. He only hoped nobody made a scene. It was not fair on his parents to have to deal with the chaos.
As Vinny reached the staircase, his glare was shining strong. He did what he does best and ignored the world around him.
Staff edged out of Vinny's way as he moved down the corridor. His dark presence was something nobody would cross. He held a lot of power, and Vinny never really used it, unless he was proving someone wrong. That was why he was so respected. He could be cruel like his sister, and nobody would bat an eyelid, though Vinny had morals.
"Excuses me! Master!" a hurried voice said, and Vinny stopped in his tracks. He turned to see a short male in a butlers uniform, running up to him. Vinny was tall, and his cold eyes made the butler feel intimidated. "Female alpha asked you to choose a table cloth," he said quietly before holding up three different colours.
Vinny couldn't care any less, but one of the colours was bright pink, and he knew that if he didn't pick one, either his mum or Oliver would choose it to annoy him.
"That one," he mumbled while pointing to the black sheet.
"Yes, Master. Thank you!" The guy scurried back down the corridor.
Vinny then pressed on and towards the hall.
* * * * *
"The Master chose this one," the butler said and placed the black table cloth in front of Madison.
"Of course he did," she sighed. "Oliver, can you introduce Vinny to new colours please?"
Oliver chuckled and looked up from the crate he was unloading. "I don't think his eyes understand bright things," he said, and they both started laughing.
"You might be right," she grinned, wiping at a tear. "I don't know what it is, ever since Vinny was a child he was drawn to dark colours."
"Maybe that's just what he likes," Oliver shrugged.
Madison tilted her head. "I love how you accept him, just like that," she said. "And I'm sure he does too."
"I do," a deep voice spoke behind them.
They hadn't noticed Vinny standing a few feet away. That was nothing new to either of them. The vampire was a mysterious character.
"Hey, save that for the wedding," Madison chuckled.
Oliver blushed, and his spine shivered at the thought of Vinny saying that on their wedding day. He didn't show it or even mention it. They had not been together long.
Vinny completely ignored Madison as he put a hand on Oliver's back.
"Hello," Oliver smiled when Vinny leaned close and kissed his forehead.
Madison was trying not to make a fuss, but she loved seeing her son being voluntarily affectionate. The staff also thought they were charming together.
"I missed you," Vinny admitted, and watched with pleasure as Oliver's smile widened.
"I missed you too." Oliver wrapped an arm around his waist and gave him a quick hug.
They both felt themselves getting sucked into the presence of each other, but Madison was in organiser mode.
"Vinny what about this instead of the black one?" she asked, making him look away from Oliver's big green eyes. Madison held up an orange table cloth, but it had a weird pink tinge to it that Vinny didn't like.
"No."
"What about this one?" Oliver pointed to a deep red colour. "We could have some black and some red." He knew Madison wouldn't settle for just black, but she shouldn't have given Vinny a choice.
"Yes," Vinny said, agreeing to anything.
"Well, that's better than just black I guess," Madison sighed before picking up the two colours and walking over to the staff. There would not be many tables anyway. They needed a big dance floor.
"So Oliver," Vinny said before connecting his fingers around the back of his soulmates neck. "My dad says that for tonight, we have to dress nice."
He watched Oliver think as he subconsciously played with the bottom of Vinny's velvet waistcoat. "I don't think I have any nice clothes."
"Don't worry. You can borrow some of mine. We should have taken you out to get some, but it was short notice," Vinny said, knowing Oliver was roughly the same size and he wasn't that much shorter than him.
"Thank you," Oliver smiled, excited to look through Vinny's clothes to see if he had anything that wasn't dark, like a pair of denim jeans instead of black ones. If he did, Oliver would definitely make Vinny wear them to show him what he looked like. Oliver would never force him to wear anything different in public because he loved how Vinny was individual and wore what he liked.
"Are you drinking tonight?" Vinny then asked.
"I think so, yes. Why? You're not plotting against me, are you?"
Vinny slowly rubbed his thumbs up and down Oliver's jawline. "No, I would never do such a thing." They both stared at each other, knowing that was a lie. "I was just wondering. My parents are going to make sure we don't get overly affectionate if we end up getting overly drunk."
Oliver knew what he was implying, and he didn't want his first time to be when he was consumed with alcohol either. He did wonder if it would be Vinny's first time too. Well, it would be with a guy, but was it with a girl?
They both didn't realise that in fact, they would be taking that big leap together, for the first time.
"Okay, that puts my mind at rest," Oliver smiled. "So your parents are not drinking?"
Vinny liked how Oliver didn't fuss. "No, they'd prefer not to." Vinny got lost in Oliver's smile.
"Oh god, I get lovey-dovey when I'm drunk." Oliver realised that Duke and Madison would be sober to witness it.
"And I get truthful."
Oliver's grin turned wicked. "Do you?"
"Maybe." Vinny wasn't exactly planning on drinking that much, but who knew where the night would lead them.
"Boys," They heard Madison from the other side of the hall. "Are you going to help, or just stare at each other all day?"
Vinny rolled his eyes but wrapped his arms around his soulmate. Oliver smiled and tightly hugged him back.
"You can't play games with me," Madison said, quickly walking over and joining the hug, knowing Vinny would pull away. And he did, immediately.
"We'll help," Oliver smiled before taking Vinny's hand and pulling him towards boxes that needed emptying.
Madison watched as Vinny merely followed. She loved how her son would do anything for that boy. Vinny would give him the moon if he could. But to Oliver, his love was more than enough.