One month later…

Drakon twirled his fork in his spaghetti, hardly paying attention to what I was saying when I reached out and touched his hand. He withdrew sharply, snapping out of his thoughts with a jump.

“I’m sorry. Wh-What were you saying, mom?” Drakon asked, sitting up his seat.

I frowned and pulled my hand back to my side. “I was asking how it went with the therapist.”

It wasn’t unusual for Drakon to zone out. Since Tristian and I rescued him, he has been zoning out a lot lately. One minute, he would be talking then be completely quiet as he looked off in the distant.

It was one of the reasons that his doctor and I agreed that therapy would help him mentally and emotionally.

He also didn’t want to eat or sleep. Whenever he slept, he woke up crying and screaming, kicking and punching the bed as he scrambled to get out. He would run to the bathroom and lock it, hugging his knees in the bathtub as he cried and mumbled.

When it was time to eat, he pushed his plate away or ate very little and leaned over the table, vomiting on the floor. He drank only grape juice and looked sick to his stomach when I offered him water or any other kind of juice.

At first, all these changes worried me. I didn’t sleep when he slept just in case he woke up and hurt himself. I didn’t eat around him in case I made him sick, but he stuck to my side all day and night. He refused to leave me alone for a second and even went as far as standing outside of the bathroom when mother nature called or when I showered.

But after talking with his therapist after Drakon’s first session, he told me to be patient.

“Drakon has been through a lot, Ms. Galvan. His mind is… not here. It’s still trapped back in the bar, but with your help and your husband’s, he will come back to us. Just please be patient with him.” The therapist said, pushing his glasses up on his nose.

Drakon sighed, bringing me out my thoughts as he set his fork down. “It went okay.”

I nodded, not feeling satisfied with that short response, but after I pushed him too hard one day, he cried and ran away to hide in the tub.

I stood up and grabbed our full plates and threw out the food. I started washing the dishes as Drakon sat on table, watching me with a frown.

“Is dad going to come?” He asked, voice quiet.

I turned off the faucet and shook my hands. “No, he can’t make it tonight. He promised to come Friday, though.”

Drakon coughed and reached for his glass of grape juice. I cleared my throat and dried the dishes, putting them away before I led the way to his bedroom. Drakon followed, carrying his grape juice with both hands as we walked in.

Tom perked his head up as Drakon sat on the bed, disturbing Tom out of his nap. He stood up, arching his back before bumping his head on Drakon’s arm.

Drakon faintly smiled and patted his thigh, inviting Tom to sit on his lap. Tom meowed and sat on his lap, purring as Drakon ran his hand down Tom’s back.

Aside from Drakon following me, Tom followed Drakon everywhere too. From the first night since Drakon came home, Tom and Drakon became inseparable except when either one of them wandered off to sleep.

“What story do you want me to read?” I asked, standing in front of his bookcase.

“I want to hear music instead.” Drakon said as Tom hopped off the bed and climbing on top a dresser, claiming his spot as he sat down and licked his paw.

“Okay. I’ll get my phone. You get ready for bed.” I ordered, taking off to get my phone from my room and coming back to find Drakon dressed in his pajamas and already tucked in.

He pulled the blankets to his chin, hugging his teddy bear. I grabbed the black memory foam saucer chair from the corner and set it next to his bed. I sat with a sigh and browsed through the music on my phone until I settled for Frame of Mind by Tristam and Braken.

The soft beat of the song lulled me to sit back as the singers started singing. Drakon exhaled through his nose, liking my choice as he stared blankly at the ceiling. He hummed along to the song, parting his lips to sing the ohs and ahs.

I tucked my legs underneath me, crossing my arms over my chest. I watched Drakon as his eyes started to flutter shut and then snap wide open. He blinked rapidly to clear the sleep from his eyes, but it was no use as sleep overcame him and he breathed softly through his parted lips.

I sighed, feeling relived that he was asleep after he went a day without sleep. I put the song on loop and got up. I turned off the lights and kept the night light on. I walked down to the kitchen, cringing when my stomach growled.

I regretted throwing out the spaghetti.

I shook my head and dug around my refrigerator. I pulled out a plate of strawberries and whip cream. My mouth watered as I dipped the strawberries into the whip cream. I was about to take the first bite when there was a knock on the back door.

“It’s not locked!” I called out, biting down on the strawberry as Tristian opened the door and closed it behind him.

Tristian regularly visited us when Javon wasn’t in town. At first, Drakon stayed away from Tristian, asking if he was going to eat us or kill us. Drakon even grew jealous of him when Tom ran over to Tristian, ignoring Drakon’s calls. It was a bit funny to see Drakon glare at Tristian, jaw clenched whenever Tristian petted Tom.

“I don’t want Tom to be around him.” Drakon said in annoyance after Tristian left for the day.

I clicked my tongue and dried the dishes. “Tristian is Tom’s dad, honey. He grew up with him.

Obviously Tom is going to get excited when he comes.”

Drakon blinked. “I thought you adopted Tom.”

I chuckled. “I’m not much of an animal person. No, Tristian brought him to me but that cat hasn’t gone anywhere near me. He seems to be fond of you, though.”

I guess that conversation changed his views. From there on, Drakon didn’t glare at Tristian when Tom ditched him. Instead he stared with a sort of… longing. It was hard to pinpoint his expression. When he noticed my curious stare, he averted his eyes.

Eventually, Drakon got used to Tristian’s company and asked me how I met him. I lied and said I met him by accident when we first moved here. I didn’t want to tell him I met him on a dare when I was a teenager. That didn’t seem appropriate considering that was how Drakon got taken.

Tristian cleared his throat, bringing me out of my thoughts as I bit into another strawberry, resisting the urge to moan at the sweet taste.

“How’s Drakon?” Tristian asked, taking a seat across from me.

I shrugged, wiping my mouth from the back of my hand. “Pretty much the same. I don’t think the therapy sessions are really helping.”

“Did he at least eat?”

I shook my head. “Not since yesterday’s breakfast.”

Tristian sighed and glanced behind him. “I was wondering if I could ask you for a favor.” Tristian said, turning his attention back to me as he folded his hands together.

“Yeah, sure.” I replied without thinking.

“I have been craving for some of that chocolate. Kisses, right?” He asked.

I smiled and got up. I grabbed a packet of Kisses I kept hidden in the cabinet and gave it to him. “I always have a bunch of these lying around.”

I sat back down and Tristian pocketed his chocolate away. “How come?”

I picked up a strawberry and chuckled. “Because of how much you love them. I figured it was best to have some in every room.”

Tristian chuckled and rubbed the back of his neck. “I didn’t think you noticed.”

I raised a brow. “Of course I noticed. It’s one of the few things I know about you.”

Tristian shifted in his seat and I continued to eat in awkward silence. Even after all the time we spent together, he still refused to tell me about himself. I didn’t push him, though. I feared he’d disappear like when I told him about the girl who attacked me. I needed him by my side. With Javon and Drakon’s behavior, I would’ve just been a walking corpse. He heard me out, asked how I was doing, helped distract me from everything that was going on.

But even so, I wanted to know about him. The more time we spent together, the more I grew to trust him and I felt that maybe he trusted me—even if he didn’t show it or said it exactly.

Tristian dug into his pocket and took out one chocolate, dropping it front of him. He started to peel off the wrapper neatly and held it up with two fingers. The half-eaten strawberry fell from my mouth and my eyes grew wide as Tristian took off the mask like a band aid. I went still, my heart pounding as his hair covered his forehead, a half black mask covering everything below the bridge of his nose.

But even though I couldn’t see everything, it was his eyes that captured me, his eyes that made me feel weak, his eyes that made my heart pound. His eyes… His brown eyes… I’ve seen them before.

Under the light, I was able to see them. Before, when we kissed, I wasn’t able to get a good look. Sometimes, it seemed black or blue but now, I knew it was brown.

His eyes blinked at the sudden exposure of the light, his long eyelashes making his eyes seem bigger than they probably were. The bags under his eyes and the light wrinkles around the corners told me how tired he looked than led on. He reached up to rub his eyes, pushing his hair back.

I gasped slightly, my hand finally able to react as it flew to my mouth.

He had small scar at the corner of his left eye, another one going across his cheekbone over the bridge of his nose and disappearing under the half mask. A fresh bruise was on the side of his head that was caked in blood.

Tristian realized what his action relieved and he grabbed his mask. I hopped off the chair, grabbing some napkins and rushing to his side.

“Wait! You have—”

“N-No, this is nothing—” Tristian interrupted, waving my hand away but I grabbed his wrist.

His eyes locked on mine and he seemed to be frozen, the mask falling from his hand and landed on the counter, face down. There was a line of blood from the forehead to the chin.

I looked back at him and carefully patted the napkin against his bruise. He winced, his eyes tearing up but never looking away from me.

“Where did you hurt yourself?” I asked, grabbing his chin and turning his head slightly to the side to examine it.

“I was climbing up a tree. A branch broke and I hit my head.” He said, his voice sounding clearer without the mask. A shiver went down my spine at his voice and I cleared my throat.

“You, um, should’ve gone home to clean it. It looks bad.” I added, heading to sink to dampen the napkin and coming back to clean it.

Tristian appeared confused as I focused on cleaning the blood, his eyes locked on my face even when I turned his head away.

“There,” I said, grabbing all the bloody napkins and throwing them out, “I’m done.”

“You cleaned my face…” Tristian trailed off, a strand of hair falling in between his eyes.

I frowned. “I did, yes.” I said, grabbing the first aid kit under the sink and grabbing some band aids.

“You… Aren’t you disgusted?” Tristian asked, struggling to push the words out of his mouth.

My frowned deepened as I stood in next to him, his body turning to face me. My eyes roomed over his scars and while that did increase my curiosity, it explained why he was so secretive.

He had obviously been through things. He didn’t get those scars from face planting into trees. No, someone did that. And that made my heart sink.

Was that why he wore the mask? To hide some scars? Was he self-conscious of his looks? Or was he afraid of telling the story behind those scars?

Instead of answering him with words, I leaned in and kissed the corner of his eye where the two scars almost connected with each other. My lips lingered there and I felt something salty on my lips. I was able to pull back but Tristian wrapped his arms around my waist, pulling me closer.

My arms instantly warped around him, pulling his head to my chest. He pressed his ear to my chest and my fingers twirled a lock of his hair while my cheek rested on top of his head. His hair had a weird smell to it but for some reason, I never smelled anything more beautiful, more intoxicating.

“Did I ever tell you my weakness is men with brown eyes?” I whispered, breaking the long silence. He chuckled softly and slowly pulled back, not bothering to hide the tear streaks on his face.

“I should rephrase it. Your eyes are my weakness.” I corrected, giving him a wink. His cheeks and ears turned bright red and I couldn’t help but laugh.