"Knock, knock!" Felicity called as she let herself into Selina and Elijah's. "Anybody home?"
"Just me!" Selina called. "I'll be there in a second, Felicity!" She appeared a few seconds later. "What's going on?"
"I have something that I need to talk to you about before I bring it up to dad," Felicity told her.
"Oh?" Selina asked, leading Felicity to sit down. "What is it?"
Felicity sighed. "Stefan and I have, for awhile, been sleeping together, but nothing else, you know? And we're okay with it because we don't want to seem too 'couply' or in his case, it might be weird to date someone he's known since before I had hair or could talk. But lately, I've felt like I wanted something more from him, you know? Something more permanent. Since Stefan's the only guy Dad will let me date, I don't see the point in prolonging the inevitable."
"So you're saying that you want to ask Stefan to be with you?" Selina asked.
"Yeah," Felicity nodded. "I'm just not sure how he'll react. He and Aunt Anna were in love once, right?"
"About as much in love as me and your dad were at the same time, which wasn't very. I mean, I loved your dad. I will always help him if he asks for it, but the idea of being 'in love' with him just felt weird. But I suppose it wouldn't hurt you to ask Stefan if he's willing to go farther. What's the worst that could happen, especially if you point out that your dad will most likely kill him if he says no?"
"But that's not the logic I wanna use to get his attention," Felicity replied. "I want him to really like me, not just be with me cause he's scared of Daddy." She paused. "Maybe 'scared' isn't the right word to use, but he's definitely smart enough not to cross him."
"Well, does he know that your dad is okay with there being a relationship between you two?" Selina asked.
"Well, yeah," Felicity replied. "Of course."
"What's stopping you from at least talking to Stefan then?" Selina asked. "Fear of rejection? Thoughts that he might not feel the same way about you that you do about him?"
"Oh, I know he cares about me," Felicity replied. "When I first found out about what Helene did to me when I was a baby, I got so upset that I started cutting. Stefan caught me, took the blade away, and told me never to do it again. He even hugged me hard. It was nice."
"Well, I hope you aren't gonna harm yourself again to get his attention this time," Selina replied.
"No," Felicity replied. "I don't need to. I guess all I can do is shut my eyes and jump into it, right?"
"Yeah, I should think so," Selina replied, giving her a hug. "Good luck!"
Steeling herself, Felicity got in her car and headed back to the boarding house to talk to Stefan. She hoped that he was home so she could get out all she wanted to say before she lost her nerve.
"Stefan!" She called when she got in with her key. "Sam! Anyone home?"
"Just me," Sam replied. "Uncle Stefan left a few minutes ago, off to some thing with my dad." He paused as she plopped onto the sofa and her lip jutted out a little. "What?" He asked.
She sighed. "I just need to talk to Stefan about something, and it's making me really nervous! I hoped he was gonna be here so I could get it all out before I lost my nerve."
"Well, what do you wanna say?" Sam asked. "You can practice on me."
"No, thanks," Felicity replied. "You're just gonna laugh at me." She paused. "But then again, so will he, I bet, so what do I have to lose?"
"All right," Sam said. "Lay it on me. I'll pretend to be my uncle and you can tell me what you're gonna tell him."
"Fine," Felicity replied. "But I feel ridiculous." She took a deep breath and looked Sam square in the eye. "Look, Stefan; you and I have known each other for a long time. And we've been sleeping together for awhile too. Dad knows about us, and you and I both know that you're the only person he'd let me date without causing too much of a fuss, so let's not prolong the inevitable and just be with each other, okay?" She gazed at Sam. "How was that? Do you think he'll laugh at me? Or say 'no'? He was in another relationship with this girl who was really high maintenance and she made him be good all the time and criticized him if he wasn't, so that probably soured him against relationships."
"Well, are you gonna be high maintenance, make him be good all the time, and then criticize him if he isn't?" Sam asked.
"Well, no!" Felicity replied. "Of course not!"
"I think you might have a chance, then," Sam replied. "But you aren't gonna know unless you talk to him."
Just then, the door opened and Stefan called out, "Sam, I'm back with your dad!"
Felicity growled. She didn't really want to have an audience for this. "Hey," she said to Stefan. "Can I talk to you...in private?"
"Why?" Stefan asked. "If there's something you have to say, can't you say it in front of my brother?"
"No, not really?" Felicity shook her head. "I would prefer not to have an audience."
"Just trust her on this," Sam told Stefan. "It'll only take her a few seconds. You'll be back talking to Dad in no time."
"Well, all right," Stefan replied. She led him to their bedroom and shut the door behind her, then Stefan immediately began kissing her neck. "No, no!" She replied, pushing him away. "That's not what I wanted privacy for!"
"Well, what else could it possibly be?" Stefan asked.
"I want us to be a couple!" She blurted out. "And not like a 'we have sex and eat breakfast in the morning before we run off to see other people' couple, but a 'we don't date anyone else' couple."
"You mean you want us to be exclusive?" Stefan asked.
"Yes," Felicity nodded. "And before you say 'no', or laugh in my face, I just want you to know that I won't be like that one girlfriend you had who forced you to be everything you aren't just to make her happy. In fact, I don't care what the hell you do as long as you let me do it with you. I know you like me. I remember the look that was on your face when you found me cutting and took the blade away from me. You cared about me then, and I want you to know that I care about you more than I care about anyone else, which is why being with someone who isn't you is just pointless to me, and I don't think we should prolong the inevitable."
Stefan smirked. "You forgot to mention how I'm the only man your father will let you date without it being a really big problem for him."
"Well, I didn't want to bring up that part cause I didn't want our relationship to begin by me forcing us to date because doing anything else would make Daddy unhappy," Felicity replied. "I wanted it to be your choice." She was silent for a moment and then said, "Not to be pushy, but...what is your choice?"
Stefan gave her a very long, stern look before grinning and saying, "As long as I don't have to do a bunch of extra work in this relationship and look like a fool, then what the hell? We already live together."
"Really?" Felicity asked and hugged him. "Thank you! I'll let you decide when we tell Dad."
"I think it should be as soon as possible," Stefan replied. He went to call Klaus on the phone, and then handed it to Felicity. "You should tell him," he said.
"Daddy?" Felicity said. "Guess what? Stefan and I are a couple now! Like an actual, monogamous couple!"
"Really?" Klaus replied. "I wondered when that was going to happen!"
"Are you happy for us?" Felicity asked. "Or are you mad?"
"Of course I'm not mad!" Klaus replied. "If I wasn't mad when I found out the two of you were sleeping together, why would I be mad about this?"
"Good point," Felicity nodded. There was a silence on the phone and Klaus came back. "I just told Amy," he said. "She wants to have a celebration dinner. Ridiculous, I know, but could you humor her?"
"Just a second," Felicity replied. "I'll ask." She looked at Stefan. "Dad's okay with us being together. He told Amy and now she wants to throw us a celebration dinner. Is that too much for you?"
"As long as we don't have to endure too many of those, Stefan told her, "I think I could deal with one."
"He says it's okay," Felicity said to Klaus. "Saturday?" Stefan nodded. "At seven?" Stefan nodded again. "All right!" Felicity replied. "Saturday at seven it is! Can't wait!" She ended the call and smiled at Stefan. "Thanks for doing this," she said. "I know it's not your favorite thing."
"That's right," Stefan replied. "But since you're gonna be there, I guess I can put up with it."
"It's funny," Felicity said, hugging him as he threaded his fingers through her hair. "I feel the same."
"If there's one good thing about Laura getting married," Elijah told Selina, "it's that she'll be able to quit that horrible job at the bar once it happens."
"Shouldn't it be Laura's decision whether or not she wants to quit her job at the bar?" Selina asked. "Just cause a woman is married doesn't mean she has to stop working and force her husband to support her. That's not fair."
Just then, Laura came into their room to tell her parents she'd returned home safely. That's when Elijah pulled her to him. "So, darling," he said to her. "Are you thinking of quitting your job at the bar once you and Edward get married?"
"Well, yes and no," Laura told him. "I've been looking at advertisements for beauty schools, and I think that's something I wanna do. But I'll keep working at the bar cause I want to pay at least some of my own way."
"Don't be silly!" Elijah told her. "If there's something you want to do that will get you away from being a waitress, I will pay for a hundred percent of it."
"Thanks," Laura told him. "It's very generous of you, Daddy. But I need to do this for myself. Although while Edward is in college, you can help us with that. Would that make you feel better? He says he wants a degree in accounting."
Elijah grinned at Selina. "Did you hear that? Laura's future husband wants to pursue a practical career that will allow him to support a family. Isn't that wonderful?"
"Yes," Selina replied, rolling her eyes. "It is." She eyed Laura. "Can I walk you back to your car? Or do you want to stay for dinner?"
"Well," Laura shrugged. "Edward has to work late playing piano at the playhouse tonight, so there won't be anyone at the apartment. I think I'll stay for dinner."
"Great!" Selina replied. "That's what I wanted to hear." While Laura and Tristan set the table, Margaret sat in the living room doing her homework.
"How are things going?" Elijah asked as he came to look over her shoulder. "Do you need any help?"
"No," Margaret shook her head as she deftly completed the last three problems on the worksheet. "I'm finished." She went to go put it in her bag, then washed her hands and sat down at the table. "Laura!" She exclaimed when she noticed her sister. "You're here!"
"I'm surprised you noticed," Laura grinned as her sister hugged her. "I thought you were more about Henry now than anyone here."
"I do like Henry," Margaret agreed as she pulled away. "But I like you all too." She paused. "Is it the same with you and your boyfriend? When are you and Edward gonna get married?"
"I don't know," Laura shrugged. "Probably once I get out of school, so not for another year, at least."
"How come you live with Edward now?" Tristan asked his sister. "Do you hate us?"
"No, I don't hate you!" Laura assured him. "It's just that when you get engaged, you live with the person you're engaged to, not your family. It has nothing to do with hating you guys or liking Edward better."
"Tristan's got a girlfriend now," Margaret blurted out. "Her name is Emily and she's human."
"Do you?" Selina asked, smiling at her son. "How nice." She then went into the kitchen to get the ham.
"She's not my girlfriend," Tristan replied. "But she's my friend, Margaret. And you have to stop being mean to her!"
"You're being mean to someone, Margaret?" Elijah asked, his voice stern. "Why?"
"Cause she always wants to be around Henry!" Margaret replied. "And he's mine!"
"Maybe she only wants to be around him cause she's his friend," Selina replied. "I don't think Henry's gonna stop liking you because of her. But he might take issue with you being mean to her just like Tristan does."
"So I'm just supposed to sit there and watch her give him cookies and giggle at his jokes and stuff?" Margaret asked, her expression sour. "I hate that!"
"Emily's really nice," Tristan told her. "Maybe if you tried to be her friend, you wouldn't be so mad at her for being friends with Henry cause you'd all be friends together."
"No, thank you," Margaret shook her head. "I don't want to."
"Well, all right," Tristan sighed at his exasperating sister. "It's your loss. She's a really nice girl. And who knows? You might need her to do something nice for you some day!"
"I don't know what that could be!" Margaret replied.
The rest of dinner was spent in stilted, awkward conversation, and although she wouldn't admit it to her parents, she was glad when it was time for her to go home to Edward.
"You didn't stay here all by yourself, did you?" Edward asked as he came through the door and took off his shoes and coat.
"No, I had an awkward dinner at my parents'," Laura told him. "Dad wants to pay for when I go to beauty school cause he wants me away from the bar, and he's really happy about you wanting to get your accounting degree."
Edward smiled and put his arms around her. "I thought he would be."
Laura led him over to the sofa and they both sat down. "It sucks we have to wait a whole year before we can get married. We've already planned so much of our lives, it's like our wedding should happen now too!" She paused. "When it happens, do you think that you, as an accountant, will enjoy being married to a stylist/bartender such as myself?"
Edward smiled and gave her a kiss. "Of course," he said. "Why wouldn't I be? Our getting married will be a whole new chapter for me, a much better one. I can't think of a single thing that'll go wrong once we're together."
"And even if things do," Laura replied, laying her head on his shoulder. "We'll work them out...together."
"Tell me something," Vince told Roxie. "Why do you have such a problem with Joey living at the bar? That's probably the safest place he could be, with Enid watching and everything!"
Roxie sighed. "I just, it makes me feel terrible, you know? Like I can't protect my own son, so he has to go somewhere else."
"You left to go live at Enid's too, when we were kids," Vince replied. "Don't you think that hurt your mom?"
"Yeah, but she understood," Roxie replied. "She knew there was a reason why I left and she thought it was a good one. It's not the case with Joey. How can you be all right with this?"
"Cause he's not a little kid anymore," Vince told her. "We can't stifle him. What we've been doing, although we've meant well, that's no life for a boy or anyone. And at least if he's at Enid's, we have people looking out for him who can tell us if anything is going wrong. That's better than him running off into the unknown."
Roxie sighed. "I guess," she replied. "I never thought I'd worry like this about someone, you know?"
"You worried about me," Vince replied. "This isn't the first time for you."
"True," Roxie replied. "But it is the most difficult."
Just then, the phone rang. "Hello?" Roxie said.
"Mom?" Joey asked. "Hi! How are you?"
"Do you need something?" Roxie asked immediately. "Go to Enid if you're hurt!"
"I'm not calling cause I'm hurt," Joey replied. "I just wanna talk. Is that okay?"
"Of course," Roxie replied. "Let's talk."
"So," Joey replied. "How have you guys been? How's Addie?"
"We're all great," Roxie answered. "What about you? Are you having a better quality of life at Enid's?"
"Actually," Joey replied after a long pause, "Aunt Enid is even more jumpy than you are. I think I'm gonna leave here, too."
"But where else would you go?" Roxie asked. "You can't just stroll around alone out in the open! What if you're hurt?"
"I don't care," Joey said. "It doesn't matter to me. I just...I just wanna do something with my life, you know? Have an adventure!"
"All right," Roxie told him. "I've tried to protect you all your life, but all it's done is driven us apart, so I'm gonna let you be the judge now. If you feel you need to leave Enid's for the great wild outdoors, go ahead. I won't stop you."
"Thanks, Mom," Joey replied. "I promise I'll keep in touch." He ended the call and picked up the duffel he'd packed and slung it over his shoulder just as the door opened and a blonde woman he'd never seen before came in. "Oh," she said. "I'm sorry. I didn't know anyone was in here."
"It's not a problem," Joey replied. "I'm just leaving anyway."
"I'm Hazel, by the way," she said, holding out her hand. "What's your name?"
"Joey," Joey replied. "Joey Talbot. Enid is my godmother."
Hazel froze. "Joey Talbot?" She asked. "There is no Joey Talbot. He was stillborn! But if you're alive, that means-" To Joey's surprise, she let out a yell and fireballs began shooting from her finger tips, burning the bedspread and breaking the windows. Joey boosted himself out of the broken window and, wincing as blood poured from a gash in his leg, hobbled away from Enid's as fast as he could while carrying a duffel. He could hear the noise of the woman behind him, but he kept running until he reached a camp where a bunch of tents were set up and people were milling around. It was there that he collapsed.
When he next came to, he found a young woman with a curtain of red hair and snappy eyes staring down at him. "Hi," she said, helping him up. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah," he winced as he put weight on his bad leg. "Thanks. I'm Joey, by the way. I came from Enid's. Some crazy lady is after me."
"I'm Diana," the young woman replied. "This woman you're talking about: is she part of your pack? Have they rejected you cause your leg is hurt? I noticed you made a face when you put weight on it."
"I hurt myself jumping out of a window," Joey told her. "As for my leg, it's always been that way. Since I was born and brought back from the dead. That's why that lady is chasing me, I think."
"Well, you can stay here until we can get rid of her and you go back to your pack," Diana offered.
"I don't have a pack," Joey replied.
"Even better," Diana said. "I'm gonna have to ask our leader, but...I'd say, 'Welcome home, Joey'."
The End!
Next up: Eduara and Joey's tales in "Born To Be Wild"
