But at least its here. Enjoy!
Eerian
Chapter 3Even an hour later, Yuffie's words still made him feel ill.
"Atnum," she had said, holding out a framed photo to him, "Isn't your real father."
"What?" He'd asked, taking the photo and looking down at it.
He dropped the photo—of a man who could have been his twin—as if it had bitten him. The frame cracked as it hit the bed frame, and his mother had given him a disapproving glare.
"Who is he, Mother?" His voice shook slightly as he said this.
"Vincent Valentine." She said the name with such an affectionate longing that it made Val's heart ache involuntarily. "We were in AVALANCHE together. He's your father."
He'd left then, too stunned and hurt to listen to a true explanation. Not wanting to find out that his mother—and himself—had been abandoned or worse.
"Valentine?" His thoughts were interrupted by a soft, masculine voice.
Val turned to see his lover, Faerin, enter his bedroom and slid the door closed behind him. The older man brushed a lock of brown hair back from his green eyes. "Your mother was worried about you. What happened?"
"You spoke with Mother?"
"Briefly. I think she's still a little uncomfortable about us." Faerin shook his head. "But you didn't answer my question."
"I know." Val turned to regard Faerin. The other man gave him a small, encouraging smile. "Promise you won't tell anyone?"
"All right. But, Val, what's going on?" Faerin reached out a hand to Val, but drew it back, not sure how to comfort the Wutain prince.
"My mother just told me that Atnum wasn't my father."
"That's it?" Confusion shone plainly in Faerin's green eyes. "You flipped out and scared your mom half to death over that?"
"You don't understand. You weren't raised believing that someone else was you father." Valentine turned to stare back out the window.
"You're right. I wasn't. I knew that mom and dad adopted me from day one. Lots of people did that after Meteor." He shrugged. "I still don't see why you're so freaked out."
"She told me who was."
"So? I would think that's good." Valentine would have been angry with his lover if Faerin hadn't looked so genuinely confused.
"Its just…Leviathan, I don't even know why I'm so upset."
The prince turned so that his head and back were resting against the window and closed his eyes. Now, Faerin did pull Valentine into a hug.
"Look, baby," he said, pressing a kiss into the younger man's hair. "I think you need to get the whole story from you mom before you flip out."
Val's reply was a muffled "Yeah" as he relaxed into Faerin's chest.
"Val?"
"Hmm?"
"You'll go talk to her, right." It wasn't a question.
"Will you come with me?" Faerin was surprised by the fear he head in Val's voice.
"As long as your mom doesn't mind."
"Thanks" He gave Faerin a soft kiss and a tiny smile. "Let's get moving before I change my mind."