marlowemuses | who could ever learn to love a...

Entry tags:

who could ever learn to love a...

39 Excelsior Place was the oldest house on the road.

In fact, 39 Excelsior Place was the oldest house in the neighborhood. Through the years Henrietta, Virginia had mostly kept up with the times. Old, decrepit homes were replaced with bright white houses and wooden fences. The convenience store went from locally owned to a chain. The schools got better. Wifi was available in almost every pubic place.

39 Excelsior Place did not keep up with the times. Crouching darkly at the end of the road, squatting fiercely in its dead end, the house was every bit the past it came from. Tall with gothic architecture, unwelcoming pointed gates, and black bricks the hollow eyes on its gray and white face. Huge windows were long covered with sheets, as had been most of the furniture. Once upon a time the house had been beautiful. Once upon a time, however, was a long time ago. In 2016, most people stayed away from 39 Excelsior Place. Smartly so. Its resident monster hated everyone.

Everyone except for its sole resident, elderly Mr. Greerish. Greerish said he had a family. Nobody ever game to visit so the monster called him a liar. Greerish placidly made excuses, such as They’re very busy and It’s been a while since we’ve caught up. Apparently Greerish had a favorite nephew: a baby when they last met. It had smiled at him once. No one else in the family smiled at him.

The monster called him an idiot. Greerish laughed and returned to his books. That was how they found the old man dead. With a pleasant smile and a book in his lap.

Fine. The monster didn’t care about Greerish anyway. It had only just begun to tolerate him. With his death, 39 Excelsior Place would be free of pests and the monster could hide away from the rest of the world until it eventually died. That was what happened to monsters. He’d read the old books Greerish kept so neat in the bookcase. They all ended the same. The monster was killed, burned, staked. The handsome prince got the princess. Or, in the monster’s personal interests, prince. Not that it mattered.

What the monster did not know was that there was a Will. A thing that had been executed by the local priest out of pity for old man Greerish. There was only one stipulation.

Everything I own, including 39 Excelsior Place, will be so inherited by my nephew, Adam Parrish.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Blinking at the hug, Ronan reached out to rest his hand on top of Adam's head. Soft hair.

"Yeah, I'm fine. It just takes energy, and I already dreamed up the fucking leaves before. That was worse."

It was strange to have someone ask if he was okay. Everything happening was so new and unexpected.

"That should clean up any mess you've gotta deal with. I make a lot of them."

Carefully, he brushed his fingers through Adam's hair, still marveling at it all.

"Okay," Adam said, nestling against him. He had absolutely no desire to move, not when Ronan was playing with his hair like that.

So there, Blue. So there, Gansey. Adam Parrish is likeable. Dateable. Wanted.

"Is it okay if I tell my friends that I've got a boyfriend?" he asked, staying where he was and letting his hand stray a little up Ronan's shirt. "They'll want to meet you, eventually."

Adam's straying hand was very distracting. Not just because it felt good; Adam's hands were beautiful to look at, admire.

Which was why his answer was a bit belated. Friends? He didn't want any friends to come over. One, he didn't like people in his space in general, and two, he didn't want to share Adam. Especially not with people who knew him first.

Ronan grunted unhappily, scowling at the thought.

"They can stand on the lawn and we'll look at them from the window," he suggested, curling a lock of hair around one of his fingers.

Adam laughed at that. "Don't worry. They're on a road trip cross-country. You won't have to meet them for weeks at least. I just want to tell them."

He lifted up his phone, taking a picture of the two of them together and showing it to Ronan. Adam loved the photo at once, but he knew that Ronan disliked technology and might be creeped out by it. "See? Is this okay? I'll send them the photo."

It was true that Ronan didn't like technology, and he didn't care much more for the phone than he did for the laptop. But if it was to make Adam happy he could deal.

Squinting, he studied the picture before giving a suffering sigh, "All right, I guess I can handle it." It was probably fine. It was unlikely that Adam's friends were any of the people on the lookout for him.

Leaning in, he threaded both hands through Adam's hair.

"What're they like?"

"Gansey's going to be president someday. He was born with money, and he doesn't really get that other people weren't. He tries, and he's earnestly good, more than anyone I've ever met, but he still doesn't understand that you can't just solve problems by throwing money at them. Blue's a feminist and she's kind of aggressively quirky and creative, but she's brave and optimistic. And there's Henry, who's kind of new and he's more their friend than mine and I think the three of them are kind of dating now?" Adam shrugged, enjoying the hands in his hair.

He texted the picture to Gansey. So I've got a boyfriend now.

Ronan made a face.

"Didn't you say that was your ex-girlfriend's...?"

Name. But she was dating his friend? And also probably someone else? They didn't sound so bad, but Ronan didn't get along well with others. They'd probably hate him.

Whatever. Humans were fucking weird and he only cared about one.

He squinted at the phone when Adam got a series of texts all at once.

Wait, what?? No way! Who? What's his name? How did you meet? And a thousand other questions all came pouring in.

"Yeah, Gansey set us up. I think he may have been projecting. He went over and asked her out for me, and now he's dating her. We never really had much chemistry. Not like the way you walk into a room and my heart starts pounding."

Adam kissed his cheek, responding to Gansey and smiling, especially because he knew Ronan was watching everything he typed.

His name's Ronan. Isn't he adorable? He came with the house--long story--and I'm stupidly infatuated with him. He's growing me a garden.

Ronan made a noise under his breath when he read that.

"You're making me sound like a sap. And I liked it better when you said I was hot, not adorable." With a growl he leaned down and bit Adam's shoulder possessively, tugging and sucking on the patch of skin fortunate enough to be bitten.

Chainsaw fluttered on over and landed on the couch, cocking her head and watching them.

Adam laughed with pleasure at the bite, thrilled that Ronan had just marked him. He dropped the phone aside. Gansey could wait. Straddling Ronan's lap, Adam grinned at him. "You're all of the above." Adam slid his arms around Ronan's neck, resting their foreheads together. "More. Mark me as yours. Claim me. My monster."

Ronan flushed at Adam's words.

"You're embarrassing," he shot back, glancing away and biting his lip. Claim me. Who said shit like that..? That wasn't anything Ronan knew about. This was all so new to him. But he did know that he wanted to keep Adam all to himself; the people on the other end of that phone could fuck right off.

"You're just into getting bitten, aren't you?"

"Guess so. Never knew before. Kind of think I'm just into you." Adam smiled, enjoying Ronan's red face and scowl. He really was adorable. All thorns and bluster, but under that was a soft heart. Adam was pretty sure that sap was an accurate description. He let his fingers trail over Ronan's scalp and down the side of his neck, over his shoulder. "But if you're not into claiming me, I can always go out and pick up another three boyfriends..."

Ronan snorted, rolling his eyes. "We don't have room in here for another three boyfriends. They'd have to stand in the yard too."

Sliding his arms up so he could wrap them around Adam's waist, he buried his face against shoulder again. Pressed his lips to where he could feel Adam's pulse. It was so... delicate. Breakable.

Possessively, he scraped his teeth along that spot. Licked with the tip of his tongue to sooth the blunt red marks it left behind.

Adam grinned at the suggestion, hugging his arms around Ronan's shoulders and holding him close, pressing his cheek against the stubble of Ronan's hair. His breath hitched as Ronan scraped his teeth over Adam's skin, and he whimpered softly at the lick. "Fuck," he breathed, nuzzling at Ronan. "Didn't know it could feel like this. Didn't know anything could feel like this."

Ronan's stomach pitched when he heard Adam respond to his advances. God, he was hot. So, so hot. Even the books Ronan had purused in vauge interest a few times, pictures of men, even stories, didn't get his blood boiling like Adam did. The way his breath hitched was sexy. When he cursed, Ronan wanted to curse, too.

Adam was dangerous, and Ronan loved it.

"Me neither," he murmured, nipping at Adam again. "I've never... "

"Never in all your centuries?" Adam teased, though he didn't really think it was centuries. "God, you're irresistible."

Groaning low, Adam leaned back so that he could tilt his head and catch Ronan's lips for a kiss. He needed Ronan, and all his thoughts of going slow slipped away as he became increasingly addicted to kiss after kiss. Ronan made him feel like he was electric, skin tingling and heart pounding.

Each kiss was like a new breath of air. No, never in all of his centuries—or however long it was, now. Not once. It was like he was waiting for Adam, for this incredible boy who thought he was irresistible.

Kissing Adam was intense. There was no room for thinking about anything other than him. Kiss after kiss, heat between them increasing, his heart was thundering madly in his chest.

It was so addictive that he could feel himself begin to lose his grip on the form he was holding. His nails became sharper, and, in a panic, he pushed back, shoving his fingers between the cushions of the couch to hide them. Panting, eyes closed, he willed himself to focus on his human shape.

Adam paused, confused, because Ronan's arms had just pulled away from him, leaving him cold, and Ronan was tense beneath him. He lowered his arms carefully, resting them against Ronan's chest as he tried to figure out what had just happened. "It's okay. We can stop."

Gentle and careful with him, Adam kissed his cheek, rubbing his hands over Ronan's shoulders to help calm and ground him. "Tell me what's going on."

"This—"

Fuck. He didn't want to tell Adam. He wanted to be his boyfriend, to be happy, to live together like normal humans did. Have a simple life. Grow vegetables. Have dinner.

But Ronan wasn't a normal human. He wasn't human at all. Biting his lip, he cursed, still struggling with his hands in the cushions.

"Fuck. Fuck." Grimacing, he finally looked up at Adam. "This isn't my real form. It's... shit. If you knew, you'd be horrified. I'm a fucking monster, Adam. What are we doing?" There was a sad, desperate look in his eyes. "You deserve better than this."

"Ronan, calm down," Adam said, rubbing his hands up and down Ronan's upper arms. His voice remained calm, and he stayed right where he was on Ronan's lap. He was pretty sure that Ronan was too protective of him to throw him off.

It wasn't really that much of a surprise that Ronan's true form was a monster. He'd said as much, calling himself a monster more than once, and Adam had known he was a shapeshifter. The question had tickled at the back of Adam's mind, but he hadn't yet needed to know.

"Ronan, I like you because of how you behave. I like you because you planted a garden for me. I like you because you're so gruff on the outside, but you're so sweet to me. I know you, Ronan. I see you. Trust me."

Adam was logical where Ronan was emotional. Being calm was hard and he struggled with it, flexing his fingers in the couch until he felt them return to the way he wanted. Then he tugged them out, shoulders relaxing.

Trust me. He wanted to. Wanted to so badly, because Adam had proven himself time and time again, but he was combating against Ronan's intense self-hatred. He was a nightmare. Who could love a nightmare?

"You don't want to see," he promised.

"Well, now you're gonna have to show me," Adam said, skimming his fingers over Ronan's scalp, massaging gently to calm him. "You brought it up, and now you're going to be freaking out about it until you know for sure."

He kissed Ronan's forehead, giving him a warm smile. "Listen, I need you to be a little bit patient with me, okay? I don't know what you're going to show me, so I need you to not freak out for at least a few seconds if I'm spooked or startled. I know it's you. I want to see."

Carefully, he got up, suspecting that it would be better if he wasn't touching Ronan for this. He held out his hand to help Ronan up, holding his eyes. "I want to know the truth."

He didn't want to show Adam.

Quiet on the couch, Ronan stared back, unblinking. Face impassive. Ronan didn't want to lie but he most certainly didn't want to show Adam the truth, either. Not in the middle of a beautiful day.

Knuckles white, he bit the inside of his mouth and swallowed back a few loose curses. From her spot on the couch Chainsaw was silent.

Then he stood on his own, shoving his hands into his pockets, "Not now."

"Okay," Adam said, worried. It felt a bit like a rejection, how Ronan had brought it up and then refused to show him. He understood, logically, the reasons for both, but it still hurt, and it left him wondering.

How awful is it? What if he really is a monster and I can barely stand to look at him?

"Are we still..." Adam reached for him, tentatively, then stopped himself and shoved his hands into his pockets. "I still want you to be my boyfriend."

The corner of Ronan's mouth crooked upward a tick, and his expression softened.

"I'll be your boyfriend as long as you want me. I want you, Adam. That's not gonna change." Glancing toward the basement door, he studied the handle, suddenly thoughtful.

"There's something I want to do. Help me?"

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject