Beastly Roommates

"Oh, that seems a little harsh..."

"It's as fair as it can be. He may have to live in shame for being shunned, but a female who has been cheated on will often take her own life, instead of living with the deep and biologically ingrained pain of betrayal."

"Yikes!"

"I caught my, what you would refer to as a fiancé with a widowed female a week before we were to be mated." I closed my eyes tightly and sighed at the memory.

"and then you couldn't trust him after that."

"Yes. It's not uncommon for a widow and a young, single bull to have discreet liaisons. If anything it's actually encouraged in our culture." David's face scrunched up in confusion.

"By other males? Or females?"

"Both."

"Really? That's weird."

"I suppose it might seem that way, but after mating for the first time, a female's heat cycle intensifies tremendously, and she will desperately desire her mate. If he's already passed away, an otherwise unattached bull can at least help make things a little more... bearable for the widow." David's cheeks started to take on a reddish hue.

"You're talking about this in public pretty easily..." he said quietly, trailing off and I chuckled.

"It isn't much different then talking about someone getting married. Everyone knows what happens the first night between two people after their wedding.

"I guess..." David squirmed in his seat a little making me chuckle slightly. I gave him a moment to compose himself again before continuing.

"Anyway, Once a bull has selected a mate he's expected to abandon those sort of liaisons, regardless of whether mating has happened yet or not."

"But that guy you were with didn't..." I sighed.

"His name was Isaac, and that is correct."

"And your dad still expected you to go through with it?" I looked down and I blinked back a couple of tears.

"He... didn't believe me... so I ran away." David gasped.

"That's horrible. I'm sorry you went through that, and I'm sorry that I brought it up."

"Don't be," I said quietly and looked back up. "I wanted to tell you." He took my hand in his and started stroking the fur on it with his thumb. My palm tingled pleasantly at his touch and I smiled at the comforting gesture.

"Awww, that's sweet," interrupted Julie, who was carrying our meals. We pulled our hands away and David's cheeks started glowing a furious shade of red. She put our respective plates in front of us.

"Now if there's anything else you need, please don't hesitate to let me know!" She exclaimed with a wide grin.

My food looked delicious, and when I took a bite I wasn't disappointed!

"Do you think you'll ever go back to see your father?" Asked David once our meals were underway. I sighed before answering.

"I always figured I'd go back after I found a mate, but as you know that hasn't happened." He opened his mouth for a moment, then shut it again without saying anything. "If you don't mind, I think I'd prefer to talk about something else now."

"I don't mind at all," replied David with a smile.

"Thank you. I know you work construction as a superintendent, but what exactly does a superintendent do?" His grin widened.

He spent the next while explaining what went into actually building... well, a building! I found it quite fascinating. By the time he was done we were just finishing up our dinners.

"How was everything?" Asked Julie, who was walking up.

"It was delicious," I replied.

"Can I interest you in some dessert?" She asked. David looked in my direction as if letting me decide.

"No, thank you. Maybe next time." Julie smiled.

"Ok. I do hope to see you two again."

David paid the bill and then we left.

"That was good, I think we should go there again sometime!" Exclaimed David once we were on our way home.

"I agree." I looked at him in the dim light and smiled. He slowly reached over and took my hand in his. After a moment he started stroking the back of my hand with his thumb like he did earlier in the restaurant. I had butterflies in my stomachs, and couldn't remember the last time I felt this happy.

We spent the rest of the ride home quietly basking in the mood, but soon enough the ride was over. As before, David opened the doors to both the truck and apartment for me. Minutes later we were in front of my room.

"I had a good time tonight, and I really liked learning about some of your culture," David said.

"I had a good time too," I replied with my eyes upturned in a smile. David nibbled his bottom lip nervously for a moment.

"Would you... maybe want to go out again sometime?" He asked shyly and I swung my tail back and forth happily.

"I would like that very much." He grinned for a second, but then started nibbling his lip again while shifting his weight from foot to foot. "Is something wrong?"

"No, n-nothings's wrong." He gulped, then took a deep breath. "Would it be ok... if I kissed you goodnight?" He whispered. I gasped and my eyes shot open in surprise.

"That's... not something minotaurs do..." I replied absently and David instantly looked crushed.

"Oh. Ok then. Goodnight Ruth." He smiled weakly and started to turn around. I couldn't stand the dejected look on his face, and I didn't want such a wonderful evening to end on such a sour note!

"But I'd like to try," I said quickly before I could think twice, and his face brightened like the sun.

"Really?" My heart started pounding yet again, and I gave a couple of quick shallow nods.

He started reaching his hand up and I closed my eyes. I shivered slightly when he placed his hand on the side of my face. He stroked my cheek with his thumb a couple of times before starting to gently pull my head down. Moments later I felt the soft pressure of his lips on mine and I gasped sharply through my nose. The actual sensation of contact was strange, but it felt like there was an incredible swelling in my chest. His lips moved against mine and I gasped softly when I felt a gentle suction on my top lip. I started trembling as the feeling in my chest compounded and spread to my belly, and as if on instinct I reciprocated, lightly suckling on his bottom lip in return. After only a couple seconds David broke the kiss. I leaned further forward, chasing his lips, but he pulled away too quickly. Disappointed as I was about how short it was, when I opened my eyes I was ecstatic when I saw David practically glowing. He pulled his hand away from my face with a gentle caress behind my ear and down my neck, and I shivered again.

"Goodnight, Ruth," he whispered softly, and opened the door to my room for me. I speechlessly walked inside and he closed it once more. I sat on my bed and touched my lips in disbelief that I'd kissed David, and that it was one of the most wonderful experiences I'd ever had!

Then I suddenly felt sick. The happy bubble I'd been in all evening seemed to pop and reality came crashing in once more. The date was supposed to flop, and instead it had been one of the best nights of my life. Regardless of our obvious mutual feelings and attraction, he was still human, and I was still a minotaur... and now I was more confused and conflicted than ever.

Getting out my phone, I messaged Sara, and hoped she'd answer.

'We need to talk tomorrow.'

'Ok, when,'

'The sooner the better.'

'Serafina's Diner for breakfast?' My stomach clenched at the thought of talking about everything in public.

'Preferably somewhere more private.'

'Ok, I'll meet you at your place and we can go to a park or something.'

'That would be better.'

I changed into one of my nightgowns and laid down. More than ever I desperately wanted this to end up working out, but didn't know how it could. Being with David would mean I'd likely have to give up on ever seeing my father again, and I couldn't imagine that David's friends and family would accept us either. I didn't know if I could handle that, or do that to him. I quietly cried tears of frustration until I fell asleep.

Chapter 17

The next morning I woke up with the pleasant memories of the night before buzzing in my head. I got dressed and started for the kitchen, though I lingered for a moment outside my room and gazed in front of Ruth's door where we'd kissed. Grinning ear to ear I finished the trip to the kitchen and started getting out some fruit and a blender to make breakfast smoothies. A few minutes later Ruth came out of her own room, still wearing her nightgown.

"Good morning!" I greeted excitedly.

"Morning David." She smiled, but she still looked a little tired. I walked over to her and reached out to pull her into a kiss, but her smile disappeared and she took a step back. Her posture stiffened and her tail flicked nervously. My heart sank and my good mood was instantly shattered.

"Did I do something wrong?" I asked quietly.

Her gaze fell to the floor.

"No, David. You did nothing wrong."

"Then what?"

"We... need to talk about last night," she said, looking back up at me.

"O-ok."

"I feel a great deal of affection for you, and last night was truly one of the most wonderful nights of my life." I braced myself for what sounded like bad news. "But I'm not ready to commit to a relationship, and I need to take this slowly." It wasn't as bad as I'd feared and I sighed in relief.

"Ok, I can do that." Her posture seemed to relax a little. I reached out my hand again, but this time it was just to take hers. I gave her plenty of time to pull away if she needed to, but I grinned a little when she didn't. "So casual kisses are a little much right now then?" She nodded. "How about hugs?"

"Hugs are good." Ruth smiled and stepped forward, wrapping her big furry arms tightly around me. For the next several seconds it felt like I was melting into her warm embrace. When we broke away I knew I had a sappy smile on my face, but I couldn't help it. Ruth did too though.

"So how about dates?" I asked. "Are we going to go on more of those?"

"I would like that very much," she replied. Leering cheekily I decided to push my luck.

"Can I still kiss you goodnight at the end of a date?" She glanced away bashfully.

"How about you ask me next time we go out?" She seemed to be more relaxed, and now was just playing coy. The happy swishing of her tail gave her away.

"Alright, I will!" I teased with a wink. "How about next Friday?" She sighed.

"I work..." I wrinkled my nose in mild disappointment. "Saturday is open though," she added, winking back playfully.

"Saturday it is!" I exclaimed. Ruth's expression softened.

"I look forward to it." She glanced toward her room. "I'm going to get changed. I'm meeting Sara in a little bit."

"Ok," I replied. "I'm making breakfast smoothies. Want one?" Her face lit up.

"Yes, please!" Ruth went to her room, and I'd finished her smoothie about the same time she came back out.

"That looks tasty," she said as I was pouring it into a to-go cup for her.

"Good, here you go!" I handed it to her and she took a sip and moaned happily.

"It is tasty!" I grinned at the compliment.

"Have a good time with Sara, bye." She looked at me for a moment, then quickly walked up and gave me another hug.

"Hugs are good," she whispered.

"Yeah, they are," I agreed. We let go and she left.

The conversation wasn't anywhere near as bad as I was afraid it would be when it started, and the thought of going out with Ruth again made me smile. I whistled while I made my own smoothie and afterwards flopped down on the couch.

I pulled out my phone and called Tom.

"Hey, how'd it go?" He asked without so much as a 'hello' when he answered. I laughed.

"You don't waste any time, do you?" I scoffed.

"Nope!" I rolled my eyes.

"If you really need to know, it was amazing.

"Really?"

"Yep. I learned a lot about her, her family, and her culture.

"Oh, that's cool." Tom was quiet for a second and I knew something snarky was coming next.

"Soooo... you two have a tumble in the sack?" I could hear the smirk in his voice.

"No," I said flatly.

"I figured. That be moving pretty fast for you," he said with a chuckle.

"I kissed her though," I admitted.

"That had to be weird." I grinned. While kissing her thin lips perched almost on the underside of her muzzle did feel a little strange. I thought it also made it more exciting!

"A little, but it was nice."

"She kiss you back?" I grinned even wider.

"Yep!"

"How about this morning?" The rapid-fire questions came to a stop as I hesitated to answer that one. "David?"

"No..."

"Huh?"

"Last night was great, but we're gonna take it kinda slow from here on out.

"I guess whatever floats your boat."

My phone beeped, alerting me to another call. Glancing down I saw that it was my mother.

"Hey. I've gotta let you go, my mom's on the other line."

"Alright. I just wanted to see how it went last night. Later!"

He hung up and I accepted the other call.

"Hi, Mom!"

"Hi, David. How are you?"

"I'm doing good."

"Good!" My father's muffled voice could be heard in the background. "Your father says 'hi.'"

"Hi, Dad!" I shouted and my mom laughed.

"Anyway, the reason I'm calling is because we're planning on having a cookout on Labor Day." I grinned.

"That sounds fun!"

"We thought so too. We also thought that you could invite your roommate if she doesn't have other plans." I gulped. I definitely wasn't ready to introduce them to Ruth. Still, I had to give my mom an answer.

"Yeah, I'll ask her when she gets home later."

"Please do," she replied cheerfully. "Anyway, I'll talk to you later honey, love you."

"Love you too, Mom. Bye."

I took a deep breath and hoped that Ruth felt the same way I did about it.

Chapter 18

By the time I'd gotten off the bus I was still reeling from how in no more than a few minutes David brought me out of the nervous state I woke up with and had me flirting right with him! After taking my umpteenth deep breath, I made my way through the park entrance. Sara was already there reading on a bench.

"Hey there," she greeted when she noticed me coming.

"Hi."

"What'cha got?" She asked, pointing at my to-go cup.

"A fruit smoothie."

"Ooooh!" She hopped off the bench. "Did David make that for you?" She teased.

"Yes..." I grunted. She smirked, but to her credit said nothing else about it. "So, what's so important that we couldn't even talk about it at Serafina's?" I glanced around and noted that there were a few people milling around. I figured that Sara was probably not going to be able to control her volume so this wasn't a good place to talk.

"Let's take a walk." Sara shrugged, but followed without complaint.

After about ten minutes of walking we found a bench. Figuring we were far enough away from other people to talk, I sat down. Sara did the same.

"Ok, so now what's so important... and secret that we couldn't talk about it at Serafina's and had to drag us out into the middle of nowhere?" Asked Sara with a laugh. I scrunched my eyes shut and groaned for a few seconds.

"You were right..."

"About what?"

"About David..." she raised her eyebrows.

"Really?" She asked with a wide smirk. "What about him?" I sighed, realizing she was going to make me say everything.

"He asked me out on a date."

"I told you!" She exclaimed with a wide grin. "Are you gonna go?"

"We already did... yesterday," I muttered.

"And you didn't tell me!?"

"There's more," I continued, figuring that was the only way to keep her focused on the important parts.

"Like what!?"

"He... kissed me." Sara's jaw dropped, and despite myself I smiled a little at the memory.

"Details, now!" She demanded.

"A week ago he asked me if I would go out to dinner with him, and I accepted."

"I still can't believe you didn't tell me," grumbled Sara. I ignored her.

"And last night he took me to a restaurant the next town over. We talked about our families, as well as our histories."

"You tell him about what's-his-face?"

"Isaac, yes. He was very kind about it. When we left," I glanced away, "he... held my hand." Sara smirked again, but let me continue uninterrupted. "When we got back to the apartment he asked if he could kiss me goodnight."

"Which you apparently said yes to!" Interrupted Sara. I nodded. "Was it good?"

"Like nothing I've ever felt before," I admitted reluctantly.

"So obviously the date went well." I nodded. "I've just got one question." I looked up as she moved to stand in front of me. "Why are you acting like this is a bad thing!?" She squealed with her arms flailing around.

"Because he's human! I'm not supposed to feel like this about him!" I snapped.

"But you do!" She retorted. I lowered my head.

"I know."

"Do you really want these feelings to go away?" Sara asked softly.

"If you'd have asked me yesterday morning I'd have said yes..." Sara raised an eyebrow. "Now I'm not so sure."

"Ruth, do you love him?" My chest constricted at the idea and I thought about it for a minute.

"I don't know," I answered honestly.

"Ok then. Do you want my advice?"

"Is it for me to dive headfirst into whatever this is?" I scoffed.

"No, it's not." I looked at her with renewed interest. "But you like being with him, right?"

"Yes," I answered slowly.

"Then just enjoy spending time with him. Keep going on dates, and if the whole thing fizzles, then you got yourself worked up over nothing." I nodded as that made sense. "However, if it doesn't fizzle you should keep asking yourself if you love him once in a while." I snorted. "And if that 'I don't know' ever becomes a 'yes,' then it's time for you to ask if it's worth fighting against this." I sighed in resignation.

"I guess that makes sense," I whispered.

"Of course it does!" Exclaimed Sara, standing up suddenly. "Anyway, I know that smoothie wasn't enough to fill you, and I'm getting hungry. Let's go get something to eat!"

"Ok."

I absently followed Sara, and a short walk and bus ride we were at Serafina's. I ordered the usual, though I was too preoccupied to notice what Sara got.

A little while later we said our goodbyes and I had made it home. David was on the couch playing a video game that I hadn't seen before.

"Hi, Ruth," he greeted with a smile, that quickly faded. "Dangit." I looked at the TV screen and the words YOU DIED appeared in large red font.

"That's not good."

"Meh, it kinda part of the game."

"I would have thought the point would be to not die."

"It's part of this game," he clarified. I was still confused, but I let it go. "Oh well. This seems like a good time to call it quits anyway." I sat down in my chair while he turned off the system. I'm going to make some lunch, do you want anything?"

"No, thank you. I ate with Sara."

"Alright. Have a good time?"

"Yes." It was more frustrating than anything else, but at least she helped me figure out how to move forward. As he got up I thought about what Sara had said. My eyes followed him until he was out of sight and I smiled once he was in the kitchen. I certainly felt a romantic attraction to David, and I'd been finding him more enjoyable to look at as time went on, but I couldn't say for sure if what I was feeling was love or not. I sat down in my chair and picked up my crochet hook and got back to work a scarf I'd started making for him. A couple minutes later he was back with a sandwich. I glanced up from my yarn and saw him standing there awkwardly.

"What is it?" I asked.

"My parents are having a cookout for Labor Day."

"That sounds fun." He nervously glanced around.

"It probably will be, but they wanted me to invite you." I gulped.

"David... I'm not comfortable meeting your parents at this time." He let out a sigh of relief.

"Good, me neither," he replied with a chuckle. "A month ago would have probably been fine, but now..." he trailed off.