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Robbie and Kelly were at the blue house down the lane, cleaning it up together, as members of the pack often took turns doing. Kelly offered to go with Robbie, hoping to get away from the pack so they could have some alone time together.
Kelly was cleaning the kitchen, while Robbie cleaned the living room a few feet away. The house still had electricity and all other utilities, now that they started using it when Omegas came to stay while they waited to find a pack to join. The furniture was sparse throughout the house, containing only the necessities. A ragged sofa in the living room, a rickety table and mismatched chairs in the dining room, and a mattress upstairs with sheets and blankets. The house was full of bare bones furniture but it worked for them—this wasn’t the Omegas home, after all—it was just a stopgap until they found a real pack to be placed in.
Kelly wiped down the kitchen counters as Robbie swept the floor in the living room and dining area. A gentle breeze poured in through the windows that were open in an effort to air out the house, and sunlight was streaming in, lighting up the place – motes of dust floating through the air.
Once they had finished cleaning up, Kelly threw a rag down and jumped onto one of the countertops. Robbie walked over to him, coming to stand in between Kelly’s legs. Robbie leaned forward and kissed Kelly, trailing from his mouth to his cheeks and forehead. A bright light burst within Robbie’s chest as he listened to the sound of Kelly’s laughter filling the barren house. It was one of the few times where they were able to be alone together, with nobody walking in on them. They reveled in the silence of the empty house as Kelly pulled Robbie back to him for another kiss, threading his hands through Robbie’s hair.
Eventually, Robbie stepped back and leaned on the counter across from the one Kelly sat on as his eyes traveled over Kelly’s face down to his neck and landed on the bare spot between his neck and shoulder, the spot where Robbie’s mark would be someday. Not that Robbie was in any hurry; he would wait for as long as Kelly needed before they were mated. Kelly had already given Robbie his wolf, so he knew how Kelly felt about him, what it had meant, and that was all he needed from him. The reassurance lying in the proof of the stone wolf he had been gifted, that he now treasured more than anything. Lately, however there was an undercurrent running through them—a thrumming pulse that was screaming for something more. Which was one of the reasons they wanted to move out and find a place for themselves—so they could just... be.
“It’s nice being here. With you.” Kelly told him, his quiet voice unusually loud in the silence of the house.
“Because there are no interruptions?” Robbie asked, arching an eyebrow.
“Yeah,” Kelly said sheepishly, kicking his feet against the base of the counter.
“Did you still want to look at that apartment?”
Kelly shrugged. “How far away is it?” He bit his lip, a hint of worry in his eyes. Robbie knew that look, knowing Kelly didn’t want to be too far away from the pack. From home.
“It’s not that far... Maybe twenty, thirty minutes?” He shrugged, guilt clawing at him. “We can just go and take a look.” They’d been looking at different apartments for a while now, hoping they could live somewhere by themselves so that there would be fewer interruptions. Every time they tried to get a moment to themselves or be more intimate,usually a member of the Bennett pack would burst in on them. More often than not, it was Carter, and he would end up talking to Kelly about anything and everything on his mind as the timber wolf lay in the doorway.
Robbie sighed, running a hand through his hair. “I know it’s not as close as we were hoping. But I don’t think we’re going to find anywhere in town.”
Kelly nodded. “Yeah, you’re probably right.”
“And it’s not like we can never visit.” Robbie muttered, the atmosphere in the room darkening. A wave of blue was coming off Kelly, and Robbie didn’t know how to fix it. He just wanted to fix it; he wanted to give Kelly anything he wanted—to make sure he was never blue again. He wanted to see Kelly smile like the sun, to hear Kelly laugh and never stop. But the things they wanted were at odds with each other; they wanted their space, but they didn’t want to leave the pack behind.
“I know,” Kelly answered in a small voice.
“We don’t have to decide anything today.”
Kelly nodded, his eyes darting away. “Sure. Yeah. Okay.” He glanced back at Robbie, the blue fading slightly, and he gave a small smile, though it didn’t quite reach his eyes.
“Okay?”
Kelly shrugged. “Okay.”
Robbie looked away.
***
They looked at the apartment, a half-hour drive away without traffic. It was in a town over from Green Creek with people who didn’t know about wolves. It was more city-like with concrete everywhere, and it was barren of trees, and it made Robbie’s skin itch. The apartment was simple and plain—one bedroom, one bath—and of course it was way overpriced. “It’s… nice.” Kelly said politely, his voice going up an octave on the last word. Robbie had to hold back from rolling his eyes.
The lady showing them the unit went on about amenities and the other different types of available unit layouts, but Robbie tuned her out. His thoughts kept going back to Kelly—the worry and disappointment that were radiating off of him. Robbie wondered if he had been pressuring Kelly too much, forcing him to move away from his family, regardless of Kelly agreeing to it in the first place, saying he also wanted space. Robbie couldn’t help but feel frustrated that he couldn’t find a home for him, and his-just the thought of the word still made his heart trip over itself—his mate.
Kelly heard the stutter of his heart; of course he did. He looked over at him, searching for something. Robbie just gave a small smile and shook his head.
“So what did you think?’ Kelly asked him on the drive back. Robbie had been mostly silent, and Kelly was eyeing him worriedly now.
“It’s…” Robbie sighed. “Far,” he admitted.
“It’s not that bad. Could be worse.” Kelly shrugged.
“I just—” Robbie bit his lip, gripping the steering wheel tighter. “Is this what you really want? Do you really want...” Me? He thought to himself, unable to shake the image of Kelly’s bare shoulder flashing in his mind.
He knew how Kelly felt about him, of course he did. He had that stone wolf as proof. But he couldn’t help but feel an uneasiness about still not being mated. There was a part of him, a small part, that sometimes questioned Kelly’s choice – wondering if Kelly was sure about him, and he was afraid that Kelly would change his mind someday. He didn’t want to rush or pressure Kelly into doing anything he didn’t want to do of course, but he still had that want – that desire to have those mate bonds with him. To know him wholeheartedly.
“To move out? With me?” he finished.
“I’ll admit, the distance is not ideal. But we won’t find anything any closer. And look, Robbie,” Kelly shifted in the passenger seat so he was looking at him. “I do want this. With you. You know I do. So whatever doubt you’re having, get that out of your head right now.”
“Are you sure?” Robbie asked in a small voice.
“Listen to my heart. Of course I’m sure. I’ve never been more sure of anything. I want you, Robbie. Okay? I want to live with you, and be with you and one day-when we’re both ready, I want to take that next step with you. To know each other better than anyone else. I want to build and live a life with you, where we grow old together. Isn’t that what you want, too?”
Yes, Yes, Yes. “Yes. Yeah. Of course. I want all of those things. With you. I just-”
“Nope. Get that doubt out of your head, already. I want to live with you, Robbie, okay? Where we can just be… us. And I know the distance might not be ideal, but this is just a tiny setback. And we’ll deal with it. We’re going to figure this out together. Okay?”
Robbie glanced at him, giving him a small smile. “Okay,” he said, taking one hand off the steering wheel and laying it between them. Kelly grabbed onto it and held on tight.
***
Robbie was cleaning the blue house again, by himself this time. It was early in the morning on a Sunday and he was letting Kelly sleep in. When he was finished cleaning, he looked around at the house and watched as the sunlight streamed in through the kitchen window, motes of dust floating in the air.
He looked around at the barren house, at the raggedy furniture that was strewn throughout. Only the necessities here and there - as much as the Omegas needed to get by. Robbie imagined what it might look like with the right touches; things like rugs and bookcases and heck, maybe even some art they could hang on the walls, something painted by Elizabeth to make it feel like...
The word struck him like a bullet.
Home.
It shouldn’t have come as such a surprise, but it did. This house was already starting to feel like a second home to him, given how much he and Kelly sneaked away there to have time to themselves. He didn’t know why he hadn’t thought of it before, and he had to keep from running and telling someone what he was thinking in that moment.
His heart raced at the thought—the realization that maybe, just maybe, he had found a place for them to call home. Where they could still stay close to the pack, where Kelly wouldn’t feel guilty about leaving his family and his tether behind (and where Carter wouldn’t mope so much about it.)
It was perfect really. Close, but not too close. Familiar-a place they already knew everything about. And it had their scent seeped into the wood – the scent of Robbie and Kelly and packpackpack. They could live here, in this house together – and he would fight for it if he had to, because he would provide for his mate, dammit!
It took some major self restraint on his part where he allowed himself to think it through until after Sunday dinner, not wanting to get Kelly’s hopes up in case it didn’t work out. The more Robbie thought about it, the more he was sure of it, the more he really wanted it. He was distracted throughout all of Sunday dinner, and Kelly knew something was up; he kept glancing at him and giving him weird looks. “Did you hear what I said?” Kelly asked as they sat around the table for Sunday tradition.
“Huh? Oh, sorry, my mind has been... on something else.” Robbie smiled weakly at him.
Kelly nodded but continued to look at him worriedly.
Later that night, as the sun was setting, Robbie was walking with Ox through their territory in the woods. Robbie had asked Ox if he could discuss something with him alone, knowing that he needed to ask Ox about the house first before anything else.
Ox was doing his zen-alpha thing; where he walked with his hands behind his back, as he lead them deeper in the woods, toward their clearing, a wave of calm was coming off him and it settled over Robbie like a warm blanket. It helped to settle Robbie’s nerves a bit, his heartbeat returning to normal, but he still couldn’t help but be worried, not sure how best to go about any of it.
“Have you been thinking more about leaving the pack house?” Ox glanced at him knowingly.
Robbie nodded, “Yeah. We-” he swallowed, “We’ve been looking, and they’ve been… nice. They all start to look the same after a while.” He sighed, “And they’re all far. I know Kelly doesn’t like to be too far from the pack.”
“And you?” Ox asked. Robbie stopped, surprised. He hadn’t really been expecting Ox to ask him that.
“I… I mean, of course I don’t want to be far away from everyone either. It’s nice… having everyone so close.” Ox nodded at this. “Which is why I was thinking….” Robbie took a breath, preparing for what to say next.
“I thought maybe that – I mean, you can say no if you want, obviously – feel free to say no, it’s just that I-I thought that maybe we could –”
Ox stopped, a small smile on his face, as he spoke over Robbie’s rambling. “The key to the blue house is under the porch. You can make copies for you and Kelly.”
Robbie stopped, his eyes wide, almost tripping over his own feet. “But how did you-”
Ox shrugged. “I thought maybe you’d ask. I would have offered it to you, but I wasn’t sure if you really wanted to live there after… after everything that happened there.” he said looking away.
“Oh,” was all Robbie could think of to say.
After a beat Ox cleared his throat. “Anyway. It’s yours, if you want it. Close enough but not too close.” Ox smiled at him, knowingly.
“We’ll pay rent of course, and-and-”
“That’s not necessary. Just … make it a home, yeah?”
“Of course. And we can take in whatever Omegas come our way still, if we need to. I mean, we have the room … and we’ll take care of it and-”
Ox lowered a hand to Robbie’s shoulder and a wave of calm went through him. “I trust you.”
Robbie felt his eyes water and blinked away the tears.
Ox squeezed his shoulder in acknowledgement but that was all. Robbie was grateful for it.
After a moment Ox continued to walk on, and said “I would have asked you about the idea sooner, but to be honest, another reason I didn’t was that I wasn’t sure if you would still want to be that close to us. I know you wanted your space.”
“Why wouldn’t I want to be near you guys? I mean… you’re my family too… aren’t you?” Robbie asked in a quiet voice.
Ox looked at him.
Ox walked over to him and once again placed a hand on Robbie’s shoulder, before he brought his forehead to his, touching, always touching. “Always.” Ox said, letting out the Alpha in his voice on that one word, as if there was no doubt about the matter. Robbie could feel it, the thrum of packpackpack and BrotherPackLove radiating through through the bonds. Ox pulled back and then pressed a kiss to Robbie’s forehead.
And Robbie said, “Oh.”
***
They were walking through the woods, just the two of them. Robbie had asked Kelly to go with him somewhere private so they could be alone, saying he had some important news to tell him. Robbie was leading them to the place he now thought of as their spot, to the tree where Kelly first kissed him, where Kelly gave Robbie his wolf.
Once they arrived, they did their usual routine, sitting down with their backs to the tree, side by side. “So.” Kelly started.
“So.” Robbie responded, not sure how to start. His heart was beating fast and he was sure Kelly could hear it.
“What’s this important news?” Kelly asked, allowing Robbie to ease into it, which he was grateful for.
“I-I just, I thought. There’s this thing, and, no that’s not right. Here’s the thing, the thing is-” He sighed as Kelly tried to cover up his laugh with the back of his hand. “Ugh, this is stupid. This shouldn’t be so hard.”
Kelly arched and eyebrow at him. “Now who’s being mysterious?”
Robbie glanced at him out of the corner of his glasses and gave a small smile, blushing slightly.
Kelly sobered a bit. He returned Robbie’s smile and placed a hand on top of Robbie’s. His voice was calm and patient, “Take your time. I’m not going anywhere.” He said, mimicking the time Kelly had given Robbie his wolf, the roles now reversed.
Robbie searched Kelly’s face, trying to commit it to memory-his face and this moment so that he would remember it forever; he was struck by how much he loved Kelly in that moment. Eventually, he took out a small black box and handed it to Kelly, who gingerly took it.
“What’s this?”
“For you. Well, for us, I guess.” Robbie amended, now that he really thought about it.
Slowly, to the point it was almost painful to watch, Kelly lifted the lid. There, laying on top of black silk was a small golden key. Kelly lifted it up, and placed it in his palm, as if feeling the weight of it. “I-” He looked up at Robbie, his eyes wide. “Robbie, you didn’t?”
Robbie shrugged. “I might have. You can say no, obviously. After I tell you. I mean, you can always change you mind, and if you hate it we’ll-we’ll find something else I just thought-”
“Robbie.” Kelly said, pulling him back.
Robbie sighed. “Right. Well, I’m pretty sure I found us a place to live. I think you’ll really like it. It’s a house, two stories, and it’s in really good shape, has two bedrooms, one bath. And the best part is that it’s close by, like really close.”
“You found us a house? You did? In Green Creek?” Kelly arched an eyebrow suspiciously.
Robbie nodded, twisting his hands together. “Yes. That’s the thing. I was thinking it over and then I talked to Ox about it, and if you’re okay with it, I was thinking that maybe we could move into the blue house?” It came out as a question, and Robbie held his breath for Kelly’s response, his certainty of the idea wavering.
Kelly just stared at him. Robbie continued to ramble, trying to fill the silence. “I mean, it’s close and everything – which was one of the main issues we were having. So I just thought, since it’s nearby and all… but if not, that’s totally okay too! We can keep looking if that’s what you want to do-” He stopped, his eyes open in surprise as Kelly cut him off by leaning over and kissing him.
“I love it.” Kelly whispered when he pulled away, but just barely, his hand cupping Robbie’s cheek.
“Really?”
Kelly nodded. “It’s perfect. I don’t know why we didn’t think of it before.”
“So is that a yes? You’ll move in there. With me?” Robbie asked hesitantly.
Kelly nodded enthusiastically. “Yes! Yes, of course.” And he was back to kissing-Robbie everywhere within reach – on his lips, his cheeks his forehead.
Kelly pulled away and looked down lovingly at the gold key he held in his hand. Then he glanced at Robbie. “But just to be clear. I’d move anywhere with you. I don’t really care where we live as long as you’re with me. Okay?”
Robbie smiled brightly at him before nodding and leaning forward to kiss Kelly deeply, putting everything he was feeling into it; how he felt the exact same way, the relief he was feeling that they finally found a home, how he felt like howling at the moon. How Kelly was homehomehome and how he was so very glad to be home. Robbie pulled away, then pressed their foreheads together so that all he saw was the ice blue of Kelly’s eyes filling his vision. “Okay.”