Ch 7: Tulach Hills

My apartment was kind of a shit-hole. It was small and cramped, the edges of claustrophobia creeping in on you as you tried walking through the tiny hall to the bedroom. The kitchen was barely there. It consisted of an oven, a sink, a microwave, two cabinets and a counter of about 4 feet right below the microwave and between the oven and sink. The "kitchen" (or the wall that was the kitchen) was divided by hard, tiled white floor from the living room.

I had a weird relationship with my living room. It's where I slept since my bed was lofted right above the couch. I often watched the little TV on the cracked coffee table and many nights fell asleep on the couch. But there was also the fact that the carpet was horribly stained and had developed a puke-y, yellowish tint that made you feel revolted just to walk on. Never-mind that the window was too small to let in enough light or that it faced another brick building (yeah, I know, stellar view).

The single bedroom I had was where I kept my desk, my clothes, and the few supplies for crafting and building I could fit in there. It was my little studio. Emphasis on little. But I loved it nonetheless. I owned it. I carved little statues the way my dad had shown me.  I would even leave a few in front of the picture of him on the bedroom window sill. Catch him smiling at me with ruffled blond hair.

The bathroom was small, the sink cracked, the shower never had hot water. I let Misha know this when he asked to use the bathroom. Watching him walk into my apartment was...humiliating. It was bad enough when he drove us over and looked around the area with a look of concern and disdain.

"You live here?" he asked quietly. "Sorry if this sounds ignorant, but is it...safe?"

"Safest I can afford, buddy. We don't all have mysterious well-paying jobs like you do."

Misha chuckled. It was true, though. There was very little I knew about him, even after two months of dating. We'd gone on into the beginnings of December, when the winds bit into your cheeks and nipped at the tips of your ears, leaving them red and numb. Driving was hell and more than once, I'd had Elise take her car back to the shop. Luckily, I had Misha to drive me around in his admittedly lovely BMW. The same one I told him to park at least two blocks away  from the apartment (and laughed when I caught sight of his distress). Hey, I lived on the edge of the Lower East projects. What the hell did he expect?

As we walked in, the same apprehension I'd felt when he'd first asked to see my apartment hit me. I cringed as I watched him look around. I couldn't tell what he was thinking. My guess being that he wasn't very impressed.

"So...you, uh, wanna see my studio?"

He glanced at me from his spot over by the couch/bedroom combo in the living room. I stood awkwardly by the entrance. When he nodded slowly, I eagerly ran to the bedroom and opened the door.

"Wow," he said. I smiled. We could barely fit through the hallway together, trying to squeeze through to the bedroom but I swelled with pride as Misha ran his eyes over the various wood carvings, small or large and the few pieces of furniture I'd been working on. Mainly a table and a few chairs.

"You work on the side? How good do they sell?" he asked, while running his fingers over a small statue of a dragon.

"Oh, uh, I just make them for me. And my dad. He, er, owned a shop where he made homemade furniture and statues before opening the mechanic shop with Elise's father." I rubbed my hands together, suddenly nervous (the heating was also shit to be fair).

"You should sell them. I think they'd do well," Misha said quietly. He was still observing all the different statues with those pine green eyes. I had the urge to leave the room. Should I tell him that was the last thing I wanted? Or needed? I didn't tell him though. Maybe it was the intense way he was looking at the different works, both with appreciation and a sense of fascination. It reminded me of a certain alpha and how different they both were. Joe had little regard for my works. I stopped showing him after he casually told me that he could care less about my carved statue of a horse.

I sucked in a breath. Pleasant memories as always, I thought bitterly. I felt tears in my eyes. And then a hand on my shoulder. I looked up to find Misha with a soft smile. He gave me a quick kiss. Before he could pull back, I grabbed the lapels of his jacket and bit his lip. When he parted his lips, I slipped in my tongue. We slowly backed into the wall, not once pulling apart, exploring each other, his hands grabbing my hips and pulling me as close to him as humanly possible.

It was such a relief. His warmth all around me, his arms caging me agains the wall as I ran my hands over the front of his strong chest. He pulled back for a second, watching me with a soft smile as I unbuttoned his jacket.

Leaning in right next to my ear, in a deep and husky voice that sent sparks all the why down and left my face flushed, Misha whispered, "A little faster, Solnishko. I have a few things I want to do to you."

I looked up at him with a weak smile, my throat and ear tingling right along where he'd leaned in to speak. I probably wouldn't be standing if he weren't holding me up. All the plaguing thoughts of Joe dissipated as I leaned into another kiss and threw off his jacket.

Then the doorbell rang.

-8-

"Woah buddy, it ain't our fault you forgot about the double date," Elise argued as she leaned back into her seat with a smirk. "Though I can see you guys had...some other stuff on your minds."

She was referring to the small cut on my lips where Misha had bit me in surprise when the door bell rang. My whole face still looked red and flushed. The perils of being a red-head. It didn't help with the death glare I was trying to give her.

"Shut up, Elise."

"Aw, poor Conny. Hey, I insisted you guys take the time to finish didn't I?"

"Elise, you call me that again, and I fucking swear on all that is holy and good, I will kill-"

"Settle down back there, children. If there's going to be a murder, do it outside of my car," James muttered dryly. I could hear Misha snickering from the driver's seat, and I made sure to flick him off when we made eye contact in the rearview mirror.

Yes, we had a double date with Misha driving James's car. Although, with James being gay and already mated, and Elise being aromantic, it was more-so a date with Misha and two friends deciding to play the third  wheel.

The truth was, I finally decided to do it. I'd decided to go see Tulach Hills for the first time in five years. James and Elise had insisted I needed this, to "grow the hell up" as Elise so quaintly put it and to "move on and grow as a person" as James said. Fortunately, neither of them had insisted on visiting the old house or the mechanic shop.

It didn't make it any less painful though, when we crossed into Brooklyn and then caught sight of the familiar pub. Tulach's pub. You knew you were in Tulach Hills as it passed you by, with its shimmering green shamrock shaped lights out in the front and the signature emerald green of the tilted roof (with Irish paraphernalia hanging from the front edges). It was quiet and comfortable on most days of the week with people trickling in for a drink after work. On the weekends, I vaguely remembered the evening parties, the music not too loud, the familiar faces of the neighborhood, the cool green and blue lights all touched by the ambience of someone playing Piano Man or Come on Eileen on the piano. It all felt so painfully familiar as we passed through the double doors.

"God damn, James, thought I told you I'd never want to see the traitor's face again."

I grinned even as a wave of overwhelming nostalgia poured over me. That was Declan, son of Tulach's founder and current owner of the bar. I could still see parts of the same eighteen year-old gamma that I'd said goodbye to at the airport along with the others. Red-hair going in a wave over his forehead, sharp, bright green eyes, a green flannel rolled up to his elbows and a sardonic smile.

James shrugged. "Hey, we've convinced him to make it this far. He'll quit and start working here in no time."

I scoffed. "You wish. Never working for this hard-ass."

"I wouldn't be so bold, Conrad. Not in a few months when you come begging to me for a job," he mocked while pointing to a table of four by the old piano.

I promptly flicked him off as we sat down and gave our orders.

"You two seem to have an interesting friendship," Misha muttered. I smiled, knowing he wasn't used to the aggressive tone of our friendship. Even James, with his affluent and posh upbringing had long grown used to and even took part in our heckling.

James scoffed. "Conrad flicked him off didn't he?"

Before I could give my smug reply, the doors slammed open.  Walking in was a group of betas, all dressed up in rough leather jackets, bandanas, and in their midst stood a man in a roughed up leather jacket with the sleeves rolled. I felt apprehension creep its way up when I saw the blue dragon tattoo. Dominic Seraz's men.

Sitting across from me, Elise shot the men a glare, and I could feel Misha grow tense behind me. Declan was also glaring from behind the counter with arms crossed. What surprised me more was when Declan spoke.

"I don't need to deal with this fucking today, Tony. Take your band of Hot Topic employees and harass some other poor bastards today."

My heart skipped a beat waiting for the Tony guy to pull out a gun and start shooting up the damn place. I was dumbfounded when he walked up to the counter instead, glaring at his men to stay back and leaning over with a smirk on his face towards Declan.

"Don't worry about it, sweetheart. I didn't come for your pretty face this time. Where's your friend, James? The delta blondie or whatever?"

When James perked up, both Elise and Misha stood up. I glanced around for exits.

"I mean it, Tony. Your Freddy Krueger-tire track of a face is scaring my customers. Get. Out." Declan snapped.

Tony kept with that eerie smirk as his eyes rolled over to James. "Calm the fuck down, sparky. The boss wanted me to give you this, blondie."

We all jumped to attention as Tony went to grab something from his jacket. It didn't do much to calm us down when he pulled out an envelope. I backed up a bit as he walked over, my back just barely brushing up against Misha's chest. With two fingers, he slid the envelope across the table to James.

"Read it privately. Boss was real particular on that." Tony glanced to Declan one last time. He gave Declan a wink and an air kiss. And then he walked out.

I could hear Declan groan in frustration as the last of the men trickled out. Misha's hand slipped into mine. Elise was leaning over James, observing the envelope with a skeptical look.

"Don't open it. Bastard probably put anthrax in it or some shit."

James, surprisingly, was the least affected out of all of us. He felt the envelope.

"It's ok, Elise. I don't think Dominic would ever purposefully hurt me. He...he does care."

Elise and Declan scoffed.

"The asshat kicked you out because you didn't agree with his extortion gang," Declan argued.

"He's basically a mob boss!" Elise said at the same time.

James slipped off his sunglasses, rubbing his eyes and feeling the letter once again.

"I can feel the bumpy texture. It's a letter in braille. It's ok, alright? Don't worry about me. Please. Look, we promised Con and Misha here a good time to get to know each other. Let's do that, please."

Elise and Declan sighed and gave up with Declan running to grab our orders and Elise sitting down in her seat with a slight huff. I slipped my free hand over James's. He looked up at me with blank, bluish eyes and gave a weak smile. I could still feel the warmth of Misha's hand wrapped over my other one.

-8-

"Your friends, Declan and Elise are...interesting." Misha muttered as we walked down some road in Chelsea, Manhattan. No longer in the intense familiarity of Tulach or Brooklyn, I'd decided a stroll wouldn't have been a bad idea. The only problem was the evening wind biting into your skin.

I laughed as I watched Misha retighten his scarf. "Elise is a bit insane at times and Declan's an uncaring cynic. But hey, you and James are getting on," I pointed out.

Misha nodded. The rest of the date had gone fine, even if Elise was going NYPD all over Misha. The envelope had sat on the table corner by James and sometimes we'd glance over it. He still hadn't opened it by the time we left.

"So James was forced out...by the man he'd already bonded with?"

I nodded, gazing down the row of bright street lamps with some unease. They had been mates. Still were mates. And now it was as if Dominic had never cared. Alphas, I thought bitterly.

"Is he staying with family?" Misha inquired. "I know you said he comes from a wealthy family. The Roman family?"

"He does," I muttered. "His father, Harrison Roman was a Pulitzer award winning international journalist or something. He doesn't know his mom." I grit my teeth, a sudden feeling of resentment simmering beneath my skin. "He was born a delta unlike all his alpha and omega half-siblings. Harrison paid for everyone else's college except James's. I mean, god-damn, James went to Law School without using his father's name, connections, or money and he still gets treated like shit for being a delta! Feels like the world does everything to screw us over."

I jumped when I felt a hand on my shoulder. Barely a second after turning to Misha, I felt lips covering my own and firm hands on my hips. It was then that I realized there were tears in my eyes. I was trembling and not just from the cold.

The kiss was deep, a warmth that encircled me as Misha wrapped his arms around my waist and pulled me closer into his embrace. When he finally pulled back, we were both breathing heavily, the winter fog puffing up all around us.

"It's ok, Solnishko. Sometimes these things happen and you have to push through. We'll help James get through this, and I'll be right here for you."

I sucked in a breath and jumped up to hug him. The momentum almost knocked him off balance but his arms easily wrapped tightly around me again as we embraced under the light of a street lamp.

In the five years I hadn't been back, part of me was overjoyed at finally having caught a glimpse of my childhood home. The day ended with the two us lying in each other's arms. It felt like it would last an eternity.

-8-

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