Chapter 23

Liam's POV:

The soft hums coming from his lips were all I could hear as I sat next to him, helping my mate water the nearly-grown carrots. A wide-brimmed sunhat sat on Milo's head, protecting his dark locks from the sun's light, but I couldn't help but but slightly upset because this meant I couldn't study every detail of his face again instead of actually helping out.

The melody he was humming was familiar and strangely comforting, but distant at the same time. Like the last cries of a lullaby, a decades old song, sung from a mother to her dying child to soothe them in their last minutes.

...Now that I thought about it, maybe it wasn't so comforting after all.

Abruptly, the soft notes halted and the sunhat tipped up to reveal Milo's curious expression. "What are you thinking about?" he asked.

"You," I replied honestly.

My word took a few seconds to register in my mate's mind, but it was obvious when it did; a red blush spread across his face and he looked down to keep me from staring. His tactics didn't really work; I placed my fingers under his chin and tipped it up. His dark eyes widened when I caught them before, just a moment later, capturing his lips with mine in a soft kiss.

"Don't say things like that," Milo said in a small voice when we pulled away, our breaths mingling in the air.

I hummed. "Why not?"

"It's not good for my heart."

I blinked, then laughed. "We'll have to build up your heart's resistance to such things, then."

"Or you could just not?"

A quick eye roll was all the response I gave, and he seemed to understand what it meant because he frowned at me.

I sighed and leaned in again to peck his cheek. "I love you," I crooned, "I love you, I love you, I love you."

"Stop it," he mumbled, but his arms had laced around my back in a sort of loose hug so I knew he didn't really mean it, if his entirely red face wasn't enough to go off of. "I told you, my heart is weak to you."

"Aww," I smiled, poking his chest where his heart was. "It's sweet to know I could cause you a heart attack at any point."

He muttered something under his breath as he pulled himself away from me. I didn't catch exactly what it was, but it sounded sort of like, "can't believe I'm moving in with this idiot." I rolled my eyes at that.

"What's that arch lead into?" I wondered aloud, pointing to a wooden archway attached to the back of the house I'd never noticed before, leading into what looked like a fenced-in garden area.

"My mom's old flower garden," Milo replied with a sigh, looking at it with sad eyes. "I tried to revive it but, um, I'm not very good with flowers."

"Could I try?" I asked before I could rethink it and mentally slap myself. It was his mother's old garden, how disrespectful did I have to be to assume he would be fine with me just walking in and messing with things. "I just mean that my mom has a garden, too, and I've gardened before with her... ignore I said anything."

Milo was smiling brightly. He leaned over to press a finger to my lips, effectively shutting me up. "You could try to revive the garden if you wanted," he smiled, "I mean, you don't have to, but I don't think Mamá would be upset about it or anything. And, uh, starting tomorrow, this will be your house too. So I think you should do it if you want to."

He was looking at me for my response, not seeming to remember that his finger was still pressed to my lips (not that I necessarily minded, but it made replying a hell of a lot harder) so I raised my eyebrows and used my own finger to point to his.

"Oh," he whispered, his cheeks flushing again as he pulled his hand away. I reached for it and intertwined our fingers together.

"I'll try," I declared. "Don't expect anything grand, but I'll try."

Milo smiled and clapped as well as he could with one hand stuck in mine.

"Are you done watering these?" I asked, since he hadn't picked up the watering can in a few minutes and I was hungry. Milo nodded in return. "Great, can we eat lunch?"

"Okay," he laughed, pulling himself up from the ground and offering me a hand to help me up. "What do you want?"

"Sandwiches," I decided quickly.

"What kind?"

"Um, not vegetable."

"Peanut butter it is."

"It's kind of odd that it's called peanut butter," I mused as I opened a cupboard and grabbed the bread. "It's not really butter, is it?"

"It might be made similarly."

"But it's not butter made from peanuts, or butter with peanuts inside. It's not how it's a muffin, it's a chocolate chip muffin."

Milo regarded me carefully as he dipped the knife into the container of peanut butter. "I hope you realize I have no clue what you're saying."

"Damnit, I thought you were supposed to actually understand me when I talk weirdly," I sighed in mock disappointment.

"Sorry to disappoint."

I sighed again and picked up Bubbles, Milo's chicken, who was excitedly clucking. She had gotten more used to me being in the house over the past months, which was probably a good thing, considering I would be moving in tomorrow. Everything was in place; only a change of clothes, my toiletries, and a pillow remained at my family's house; so it was good that the second (and rather overlooked) member of this household liked me.

"Hey, could you feed her quick?" Milo turned around to ask me, a strand of his dark hair falling into his face. I resisted the urge to brush it away and nodded, carefully setting Bubbles on the floor and walking over to the fridge to grab the tin of cherry tomatoes.

I hadn't stopped giving her bountiful amounts, which probably attributed to her liking me at least a little bit.

A few minutes later, Milo and I sat down at the table on opposite sides. I wrapped one of my legs around his, slightly awkwardly, but I enjoyed the closeness and he didn't pull away, so I assumed he probably did, too.

Goddess, I can't wait for him to be able to feel the bond, too.

His eighteenth birthday was tomorrow, meaning I would finally be able to move in, and Milo would finally be able to feel the bond the same way I did, and we would finally be able to mate.

Which was an event I was very much looking forward to.

I shook my head slightly to clear my thoughts and smiled at my mate, who looked slightly confused as he chewed. "You still up for dinner with my family tonight?"

"Yep," he beamed once he swallowed. "I'm a little nervous, but I'll be okay."

"M'kay," I replied, because I didn't doubt him.

I loved him, and I knew he loved me too, so there was little room left in our relationship for anything except for those two simple facts.

-

"Milo's here!" Paisley shrieked as she opened the door, causing both my mate and I to wince at the high-pitched noise. She reached out to grasp his hand but paused, remembering he didn't like that, and just grinned brightly.

"Keen observation," I deadpanned. "Are you gonna let us in, or..."

Paisley's eyes narrowed as she stepped to the side of the door, allowing Milo and I entrance. "You're cranky."

"I think I have the right to be when my sister doesn't acknowledge my presence," I said through a fake-sob as I kicked my shoes off. Paisley rolled her eyes.

"Well, you still live here, he doesn't, and he's my favorite brother, anyways."

I think that's incest, I thought, but I didn't dare say anything.

"Aww," Milo smiled slightly. "I appreciate that."

"At least someone does," Paisley said flippantly, with a toss of her hair behind her shoulder, before she darted off to finish setting the table.

I leaned close to Milo, wrapping a comforting arm around his waist. "I think Dad let her drink caffeine again," I mumbled into his ear, causing him to involuntarily shiver at the proximity.

"Stop chatting and get in here, dinner's getting cold!" Mom called from the dining room, so with a sigh, I slid my arm from around his waist to wrapping around his wrist instead.

"Ready?" I asked.

Milo exhaled in annoyance, knowing my thoughts were at the disastrous first time I had brought him over for dinner, but nodded. "Liam, I've had dinner with your family before. More than once. And I only had a panic attack once."

"I know."

Milo was the one to first move away from our short kiss and tug me towards the dining room, where my family sat with their questioning glances.

Dad first broke the silence with a heavy sigh. "Oh, to be young and in love," he said, with a glance towards my mom, who slapped his arm.

"Don't make them uncomfortable, you dolt."

"Okay."

"What's for dinner?" I interrupted by asking. Mom smiled at me.

"I made pizza," she replied, reaching to take the top off of a covered platter- rather fancy for a simple pizza dinner, I thought- revealing the delicious-looking pizza within.

"Why did you make me get out the fancy top thing for pizza?" Paisley asked with a frown.

"Because, not only is today the eve of Milo's birthday, it's also marking the last night Liam will live with us," Mom replied with a roll of her green eyes, the same shade as mine. "So it's a very important night."

"I still can't believe you're already leaving the coop, son," Dad said to me. "Feels like just yesterday I was changing diapers on this very table..."

My entire family kicked his leg in unison, causing him to snap out of his memories and narrow his eyes at us.

Milo was smiling softly. "That's sweet," he said to my dad.

"And soon enough I'll be a grandpa, and before we know it, your kids will go and leave the house and have kids of their own," Dad added frantically. "It's all a short twenty years away!"

"You say to a table of three children who haven't yet lived for twenty years," I muttered, but was ignored.

"Aww, don't worry, Dad," Paisley was saying. "I won't leave, for another six years at least."

"Your father didn't mean we want you to stay forever," Mom replied with a teasing smile. "Please get out of our house as soon as possible so we can finally have some peace and quiet around here."

Paisley frowned but laughed good-naturedly along with the rest of us.

Pizza was finally dished out- I was famished- and we all began to eat eagerly. No matter how simple a meal pizza was, my mother's cooking was always delicious and I could never seem to get enough. Even Milo, who had just recently grown an appetite more than requiring a bit of water every twenty-four hours like a plant, was eating hungrily. It truly was a sight to behold, and one I never thought I would.

"So what are your birthday plans for tomorrow, Milo?" Dad asked after a few minutes of silent chewing.

Milo took a small sip of milk from his glass and responded, "I don't really know. I think Sage is planning something, but he said it wouldn't be too big or anything." He looked at me for confirmation, and I nodded- that's what I had heard from Sage, too.

"So a bit of a quiet birthday, then?" Mom questioned. Milo nodded.

"I mean, in the past, I didn't really do anything, so... less quiet than that."

"You didn't have a birthday party last year?" Paisley cried as though it was a crime. Milo hesitated before nodding again. "That's sad. Wait, can I give you your present tonight since I probably won't see you tomorrow?"

"Go ahead," my mate laughed.

Paisley gave a cry of joy and jumped out of her seat, rushing out of the room to retrieve her present from where I knew she'd hidden it under her bed, in case Milo developed the urge to go snooping for birthday gifts.

I smiled a bit at Milo's bemused expression, reaching over to interlock our hands beneath the table.

I love you, I said over our link since I knew my parents would hear if I said it out loud, and probably tease me for it.

The sharp exhale he breathed was quickly followed by an, I love you too, before Paisley returned and the quiet little moment we'd shared was broken.

-

"Thanks for coming over tonight," I said as I walked Milo back to his house since it was already dark. "I don't know if I would've been able to handle them had you not been there."

"You did it every day for eighteen years, spending a few days with me didn't change things too much," he smiled as a reply, his small hand squeezing my own where they hung in between us.

"Mmm, I think spending a few nights with you was enough incentive to never want to return to that hellhole of a household."

Milo flushed and smacked my arm lightly with the hand that wasn't interlocked with mine.

"Can we go and look at the stars?" he asked, his gaze travelling to the sky. Since we were on the path to his house, it was all covered by the waving branches of trees. Still, I nodded and tugged him off onto a little side path that I recalled led into a small clearing where the sky wasn't obscured.

The walk to the clearing was silent, but it was a comfortable silence, our hands swinging in between us like a lifeline as we walked in unison, in time to the slow, steady beats of our hearts, beating as one.

When we arrived, I let Milo tug me to the center of the clearing where he stood, staring straight up as his mouth parted. Sighing, I sat down on the soft grass and lightly tugged him down with me. I laid his head on my lap and began running my hands through his dark hair as he looked up, his eyes entranced.

As I watched though, the beautiful light in his eyes began to fade and I was left with the remnants of the old Milo. The closed-off, heavily introverted, unhappy Milo.

"What's up?" I whispered.

Milo hesitated for a moment before responding. "Do you... do you really want this?"

"What do you mean?" I tried to squash the anger in my tone, the anger that he would question what we had even though it was obvious that he was struggling with something.

"This. Me. It's not exactly the life we all thought you'd have, Liam." His words were followed by a broken chuckle.

I leaned down to press my lips to his forehead. "I don't want the life I thought I would have. It all seemed boring. The Moon Goddess put us together for a reason, Milo. There's no way I would trade the entire world for what we have right now. For you."

As I held him in my arms, I watched as his eyes slowly filled with tears. I tugged him up to my chest and held him close, mumbling small comforting phrases that I don't think either of us really listened to, comforting him until it was time for him to return to his home.

Just a few short hours from now, he'd be able to feel the bond, and hopefully that would help him realize we were made for each other.

--

aaaaaa thank you guys so much for 1k reads!! super amazing & cool & i appreciate it tons!!

story's almost over so do with that info what you will, follow me for more updates or whatever, i'll be posting more once this story is over and i can work on the next planned edition

anyways i'm tired and gonna go to bed but anyways you're all awesome, continue with that!

-bloom :)