Damon and Jun, with nothing left to do but wait, went back to bed to try to catch a few more hours of sleep. Jun was successful in this – Damon was half successful. His nausea had calmed somewhat after all the drama, and with Jun by his side, Damon was able to fall asleep for about an hour before he bolted up in bed for the second time that night – but this time, not because of sickness or an unexpected phone call.

Oh shit, Damon thought, because in all that had happened recently, he had completely forgotten that Jun's birthday was the day after tomorrow. Damon hadn't gotten him a gift – hadn't even thought about it – and with a kidnapping and a coven of angry witches suddenly springing up in their lives, Damon didn't know how they were supposed to celebrate.

Oh god. Damon was the worst boyfriend ever. He was going to boyfriend jail. How could he forget something like this?

Although – to be completely fair – Jun had only told Damon when his birthday was in passing, on one of their first dates when they were just getting to know each other. Damon wouldn't be surprised if Jun forgot when Damon's birthday was because it was so long ago and when they were still unfamiliar with each other.

Except Jun was apparently into him since moment one, so he probably did remember Damon's birthday. Which meant Damon was still a bad boyfriend.

It's okay, he told himself, trying to calm down. There's still a little time before then. Damon could totally get him a present sometime tomorrow to have it ready for the next day.

...Except that Jun was pretty much glued to Damon's side twenty-four seven long before Damon became pregnant. Now it would be almost impossible to sneak away. And no matter what excuse Damon made, it would still be suspicious, and Jun would probably guess what he was doing. Damon wanted it to be a surprise, dammit!

Wait – Mark! That's right, Damon's best friend since childhood surely wouldn't let him down, right? Damon needed to tell Mark what was going on anyway. Maybe he could convince Jun to give him some alone time with Mark.

***

Mark was having a terrible day. Why? Because first thing that morning, he had bumped into Jay in the hallway on his way down to the kitchen and managed to utterly embarrass himself.

He had only been awake five minutes. And already, he was getting on his own nerves.

Jay had bleary eyes when they crossed paths, also having woken a few minutes ago. Thinking that he could perhaps make Jay less likely to smother him in his sleep by being friendly, Mark smiled and went to say "good morning!" as any functional human being might.

Unfortunately, that's not what came out of Mark's mouth. Why? Well, because he had noticed a tiny bit of crusted drool on Jay's chin – which Mark was totally not judging him for, he often drooled in his sleep too – but for some reason, Mark zeroed in on it, (it was all he could see, he was practically married to that goddamn bit of spit), and so when he opened his fat mouth, what came out was not a friendly greeting, but "good drool!"

Jay was merciful. He didn't obliterate Mark on the spot. But it was a near thing.

Without a word, Jay gave him the iciest stare known to man, scowled like Mark had just pissed in his cereal, and went into the bathroom, slamming the door behind him.

Well then. At least Mark's body parts were all still attached, right?

(...For now.)

Everything went downhill from there. Mark went down to breakfast, but it was only himself and Jess eating, which was weird. Although, Mark had only been here a few days, so he really couldn't say if it was normal for the Hart parents to be absent for meals every now and then. Even weirder – Jess didn't say anything to Mark, unusually quiet. Her eyebrows were furrowed deep in thought.

...Had something happened? Mark couldn't claim to be the most observant person out there, but Jess was usually very bubbly at mealtime. She was always talking about some new interest or other, and honestly, Mark was glad for the easy conversation. It was easy to nod along and pretend he didn't feel Jay's dagger eyes stabbing into him from the other side of the table.

There was none of that today. Wow. Maybe Mark had managed to piss off both siblings within his first half hour of being conscious.

Kind of impressive, honestly.

But Mark really couldn't take the silence any longer. So he gently kicked Jess's foot under the table to get her attention. She jumped like a startled cat and turned to him with wide eyes. She and Jun had the same dark, intense eyes, and it threw Mark off every now and then. Jay's eyes were sharper, and slightly lighter in color. Totally different (and a lot prettier), in Mark's opinion.

Jun scared Mark, so anything that reminded Mark of him was a little off putting. Mark wasn't sure how Damon didn't see how terrifying his boyfriend was. Jun could probably commit murder with a straight face and Damon would be like 'oh but it's okay because he has a really cute left dimple' or some shit. Even more wild was that it went both ways. Damon could kill a man and Jun would be like 'he was definitely right to kill that guy. Do you want to be next?' Unhinged couple dynamic, in Mark's opinion.

"Is something wrong?" Mark asked, taking a big bite out of his toast. Maybe it was because the food was free, but everything Mark ate here was god-tier, even the toast.

Jess shook her head. "No." But then she leaned in close, whispering, "but something's going on. There's always something big happening when witches show up."

Mark choked on his toast, spewing crumbs everywhere. It was at this precise moment that Jay came down from upstairs, pausing as he watched Mark struggle to breathe, having inhaled toast dust. Mark would later swear there was a small quirk to his lips as Jay watched him suffer.

"There's a witch here?" Mark said, too loud, once he was capable of speech again. Jess nodded.

"She got here yesterday. Our parents have been talking to her all morning."

Mark was left staring blankly at the table. He'd never actually met a witch before. It was really only pack leaders and other important people who had the honor. So theoretically, it shouldn't be odd at all that there was one here talking to Venus pack's leaders. But Mark had a strange feeling that he couldn't brush off. It could be a harmless visit – or it could be something else.

Almost on cue, there came the sound of the front door opening, and then moments later, Damon and Jun walked in, hand in hand.