Beastly Roommates Ch. 02: His Family

"Excuse me, but would you happen to be Tom?" I asked politely.

"Uhh, yeah," he answered slowly. "You're Ruth right?" I nodded.

"Yes."

"Cool, what's up?" He asked, slightly more at ease, but he still looked a rather nervous.

"I've been trying to figure out what to get David for Christmas, and I was hoping that since you've known him for so long, you might be able to help."

"I think I can do that," he answered with a relieved chuckle. He pulled out a pen and wrote on a napkin. "Here," he said, giving it to me. "Just give me a call. Evenings and weekends are typically good."

"Thank you very much, I appreciate it." I started turning around to go.

"Waitwaitwait!" Tom blurted out and I turned back around. He looked nervous once more. "I don't suppose you could not tell David about me being here..." I thought for a second before answering.

"Since you're helping me figure out Christmas, I suppose I could hold off for a little while." He sighed in relief and I leaned in closer to speak quietly. "But if you're going to talk to Alice..." his eyes shot wide open and he involuntarily glanced in her direction, "I'm going to have to ask that you do it soon. I'd rather not keep secrets from David for long."

"I... uh..." he stammered and looked like he was about to deny my insinuation, but after a moment he sighed. "I'll do that."

"Good luck." With that I left for my table again. Before Sara could say a word, Alice came up with our breakfasts.

"I appreciate you going to talk to him, but you didn't have to," she said quietly as she placed the meals.

"It's not like that. I've been trying to figure out what to get David for Christmas and wanted to ask for advice," I explained and Alice chuckled.

"Oh, ok then." Sara opened her mouth, but I gave my head a quick shake to indicate for her not to say anything. Alice didn't notice, and left a moment later.

"What? You don't want to tell her?" Asked Sara. "Or is the guy not interested after all?"

"Oh no, he certainly seems interested. However, it's not our place to tell her how Tom feels. That's on him."

"That's no fun!" I shot her a glare. "Ok, fine," she said with a huff.

"I did encourage him to talk to her soon though."

"Well, that's something I guess," she grumbled and started eating her food. I did likewise, and we didn't say much until we were done. When we finished, we went our separate ways. Before headed home I stopped at the grocery store. I'd started cooking dinner around once a week, and since I didn't have to work I figured that I would try to make something special. Over the weekend I'd found a recipe for a black olive and potato au gratin casserole that looked delicious and not too difficult, but I needed potatoes, olives, and gruyere cheese. Thankfully the store wasn't busy, so the errand didn't take very long.

As I was headed from the bus stop to the apartment I waved at Felicia, who was getting her mail. She hesitantly waved back. It seemed like she was still undecided on what to think of David and I, but that was better than outright hostility or disdain. However, once I'd made it to the apartment I put her out of my mind.

I spent some of the afternoon with my yarn, but I wanted dinner to be ready around when David would be done getting cleaned up so eventually it was time to get started.

About a half hour later, the pseudo-casserole was prepared and ready to bake! I set a timer and put it in the oven, feeling rather proud of myself! After cleaning up a bit I went back to do some more crocheting until David got home.

About an hour went by and It was about the time David would normally be getting home. It wasn't like him not to let me know if he was going to be late, so I sent him a message. When another fifteen minutes went by without him answering I decided to try calling him. When it went straight to voicemail I started to get worried. In all the time we'd known each other I didn't think he'd ever turned his phone off! I decided to give him some more time, but the normally dull ache of separation was starting to bubble into something more insistent. I took a few deep breaths to try to force it back to normal, and it helped a little, but I could tell it wasn't going to last long.

After another half hour went by I got an idea, I retrieved the napkin that I'd received from Tom. I dialed his number, and thankfully he answered on the third ring

"Hello, who is this?"

"It's Ruth."

"Oh, hey. I didn't expect to hear from you so soon," he replied with a chuckle. You out shopping or something?" He asked.

"No, actually. David's running a bit late, and I was wondering if you knew if he was still at work."

"No I don't. I take it he's not answering."

"My calls have gone straight to voicemail."

"Hmm," grunted Tom. "That's weird. He didn't say anything about working late, but I normally leave a little bit before him so I don't know for sure."

"Oh, I see." My heart sank, and my anxiety started flooding into full panic.

"I'm sure he's fine."

"You're probably right," I said, but the words felt hollow.

"Oh, and I asked Alice if she wanted to go to dinner. She was pretty surprised and said she would think about it. She was willing to give me her number though."

"That's good," I replied absently.

"Anyway, I was just about to call her when you called, so I kinda wanted to do that."

"That's fine..." I trailed off, my heart starting to pound in my ears.

"Alright, I'll talk to you later.

"Bye..." After he hung up I tried taking some deep breaths again, but it was no longer helping much.

Beeeeeeeeeeep

The timer for dinner went off, and I was glad for the momentary distraction, feeble as it was. Pulling the dish out of the oven, it was a crispy golden-brown... it looked good, but I was instantly reminded that it was supposed to be home and cleaned up by the time it was done. At best he would be late and it would be cold. At worst... well, the worst case scenario seemed unlikely, and I didn't want to think about it, but my hormones, or whatever it was, wouldn't let me stop! I was just about to scream in frustration when I heard the front door unlocking. Moments later David walked through, completely fine!

"Hey, sorry I'm late!" He announced. "The plumbers..." he wasn't able to finish his sentence as I almost knocked him off his feet as I engulfed him in a tight hug! Feeling his arms wrap around me in turn, my heartbeat returned to normal, and as my head finally started to clear I realized just how ridiculous I must have seemed.

"Sorry," I murmured as I pulled away. "I didn't mean to attack you like that."

"That's all right," David answered, his voice full of concern. "Did something happen today?"

"Not really. I just... I was just worried when you weren't answering."

"Yeah, sorry!" David replied with a chuckle, and pulled his phone out of his pocket. It was covered in mud! "I had a little mishap at work!" I breathed a sigh of relief.

"I'm just glad you're home, safe, and right in time for dinner! I just pulled it out of the oven," I said, trying to change the subject.

"I thought something smelled good! Let me at least get out of these dirty pants first." He removed his boots and left his jeans, which were indeed rather muddy, at the front door for the time being.

I set the table, and as I finished David came out, having changed into sweatpants. As we started eating, there was a heavy silence.

"So... I know I was a little late and I'm sorry about that, but you're a lot more upset than I would have imagined you would be." I groaned. "How come?" I knew it would be pointless to try to downplay my behavior, so I decided to just tell everything.

"You know how a female minotaur bonds with her mate?"

"Yes..."

"It seems that effects me in more ways that I expected."

"Oh! Really?"

"Yes. Whenever we separate, it feels like a piece of my heart is pulled out, and until we're together again there's a dull ache in my chest." David gasped.

"You mean this has been going on since we our first night together!?" I nodded. "Why didn't you tell me!?"

"Because normally it's quite manageable, and I didn't want to burden you with it..." David reached out and took my hand in his. "Only today you were late when you weren't supposed to be... and then I couldn't get hold of you..." I added softly.

"Ruth, honey, you've got to tell me things like that," he said tenderly, stroking the back of my hand with his thumb. "If I'd have known about all this I would have made sure to let you know I was going to be late, even if I had to borrow someone else's phone!" I sighed.

"To be honest, this is the first time it got this bad."

"Well, now we know what makes it flair up and how to prevent it in the future."

"Thank you, David. You're a good man, and a wonderful mate," I said quietly.

"You're pretty great yourself, you know." He gestured to the food on his plate. "I mean, this is amazing!" He exclaimed, making us both laugh.

"Yes, I am very pleased with how it turned out." I responded when we calmed down.

"Seriously though, please don't keep things like this from me. It doesn't end up working out for either of us."

"That does seem to be true." David smiled and went back to his dinner. I did the same until something came to mind.

"David?" He looked up and smiled. "I think this evening helped me make up my mind about my father."

"Ok..." he replied with a light gasp. "What did you come up with?"

"I... want to go see him." I paused before continuing as David waited patiently. "I while I know that I would prefer if you were to go with me..."

"Then I'll be there," he interrupted, and his eagerness to go made me smile. However, I had to make sure he knew the risks.

"It could be dangerous. You know that, right?" I asked.

"Yeah, I know. I've been thinking about it for a while. As long as your dad doesn't act rashly, I think we'll be ok.

"He's isn't especially prone to violence, but it's others that I'm more worried about... especially if Isaac is still around."

"Would it be possible to get in quietly, see your dad, and then get out?"

"His place is, or at least was surrounded by trees, so maybe."

"Then we'll plan on that." He took my hand in his. "I'm with you, for better or worse. Alright?" I smiled in appreciation while nodding. We resumed our dinner, and as I occasionally glanced up at David I found myself somehow falling just a little bit more in love with him.