~defy~
Have heart, my dear,
We're bound to be afraid,
Even if it's just for a few days,
Making up for all this mess...
The moment that Sam's sneakers hit the gravel of their driveway, David was swinging his leg over his bike to stand before Michael at his full height. His presence was intimidating and Sam instinctively stepped closer to his brother as something akin to a life-preserver should the older man need it. When Michael's fingers found purchase on the sleeve of Sam's jacket he wasn't surprised and he allowed himself to be used as a shield between them. David's face pinched in a displeased fashion, but he didn't move to strike Sam or make any verbal disagreement.
Marko and Paul appeared at his side, their expressions set in a way that was comforting. Sam glanced around the circle in an unnecessary search as he found Dwayne standing to his left. He allowed the man to entwine their fingers with a gentle squeeze and Sam was thankful for his silent support. They weren't here for a fight then. Sam wanted to sigh in relief. Without a word, he nodded towards the side of the house and began walking towards the field behind the horse pasture. On his way, Sam took hold of Michael's elbow with his free hand and led his brother along with Dwayne.
As they walked through the growing darkness he felt Dwayne release his hand and place a steadying grip on his upper arm as Sam stumbled in a hole. A warm feeling rushed through Sam at the thoughtfulness as surely Dwayne realized that without even the dim light of the moon, Sam could see less and less in the darkness of the night. The thought brought back the memory of just moments before in the drive way. For the second time, Dwayne had purposefully put himself between David and his goal; and not for the first time, Sam wondered if he was overthinking everything.
On his other side, Michael was practically trying to melt into him and Sam immediately put his arm around his brothers waist in an effort to calm him. It was obvious that Michael was afraid of the encounter and probably even more so considering that Sam was leading them to a secluded area with an entire pack of vampires. A fear that Sam hadn't experienced before sent chills down his spine, before he huffed lowly at his own nonsensical worries. Dwayne had said that he would never hurt Sam; had even gone so far as to have a dominance led fight with David in order to protect him. He felt like the act should have been worrisome in terms of Dwayne's dedication or rather instinctive nature in concerns to their mate-ship. How deep that nature ran, Sam wasn't sure he wanted to know.
Having lost himself to his thoughts, Sam was shaken from them when he was pulled down to the ground and onto Dwayne's lap. Michael was nearly sitting on the mans knee in order to stay close to him and after a moment Dwayne shifted slightly to allow Sam to pull Michael between his bent legs. He wrapped his arms around his brothers waist and balanced his chin his shoulder to see around the dim circle. Without the moonlight, Sam could see almost nothing except for what the far off back porch light illuminated. Which wasn't much, but it appeared that everyone had sat in a semi-circle around the base of the tree that he and Michael had sat beneath earlier.
There were long moments of silence in which Michael's tense muscles began to relax leaning back into Sam as he slowly realized that they weren't going to be killed. Then between one second and the next he broke it, "Sammie?"
"Yes?" Sam answered in a calm fashion as the attention of everyone in the circle tuned in to hear their words.
"How can you let him touch you?" The question could have been taken in many different offensive ways but Sam, and Dwayne if the smile pressed to the back of his neck was anything to go by, seemed to know that it was plain curiosity that fueled it.
With Dwayne's leverage, Sam shifted slightly so that he was more comfortably sprawled out between the two as he answered, "I know it will sound very strange to you, but I trust him." When Michael began to voice his protest, Sam placed a hand over his mouth to silence him. "I know that it sounds strange. I haven't known Dwayne very long, and even now I only know just the bare minimum about him. I agree that half of the information should have sent me running in the other direction, but I can't find it in myself to be afraid. There is something pulling me towards him, like magnets, that I can't explain."
Michael flexed his jaw enough to be able to speak and with a slight tremor in his voice he asked, "Explain that? How do you know you won't be hurt?"
Sam nodded against his neck, "Other than Dwayne telling me that he would never harm me, he proved to be very protective of me as well. While I'm not completely sure that emotions were involved as we've only started...let's call it seeing each other, as I believe it was more to do with instinct at the current time, when David raised his hand against me Dwayne stepped in."
"I remember that, it's why I felt alright to run again," Michael confessed as he sagged more fully against Sam's chest.
"I assumed as much," Sam said with another nod, "What you didn't see, was that after you left, a fight escalated between them because David was so upset about scaring you and jealous of Dwayne's progress with me." Silence permeated their little confession circle once more as Sam allowed time for Michael to acclimate to the new knowledge. When Michael's stiff muscles loosened slightly again, he continued, "I cannot speak for how much of David's upset was instinctual, but he was upset. And Dwayne was afraid for my safety."
"He kept you from being hurt?" The inquiry was so soft spoken that Sam barely caught it.
"He did. Later he apologized for the hostility as I'd never before seen him so...emotional before. At the time I was too shocked to say it, but I am very grateful to him for that. I don't regret stepping in to protect the boy, Laddie, but it also wouldn't have felt nice to be backhanded over it. In retrospect, I suppose that I unknowingly challenged David in that moment. At least, that's what I've gathered from the information that I've been told so far." Sam paused before turning towards where he assumed Paul's shadow to be, "Am I on track?"
Michael jumped at the sound of Paul's voice, as if he had forgotten that the vampires were there, "You've got it pretty much pegged. I hadn't expected you to catch on so quickly."
"I'm just good with puzzles. But you see Mikey," Sam smirked Paul's way knowing he would see it, before addressing his brother, "Even knowing that I had done something very stupid...which I would do again concerning Laddie...Dwayne stepped in and took the brunt of the anger for me. It has to count for something."
Paul spoke up again in a kind tone, "You don't know me yet Michael, but I'm Paul. I'm like you and Sam in the way that I was Marko's human mate." He chuckled after a pause, "You don't know Marko yet either, but that's besides the point. I just wanted to let you know that I am up for talking with you and Sam about all of the expectations, regulations, and all that jazz." Sam smiled encouragingly when Michael began to relax even more and Paul grinned, "From a former human to a current one, it's not as bad as you believe it is."
At that even Sam stiffened up at the words and Paul's teeth clicked together in the darkness as he seemed to realize what he'd just said. "You aren't human anymore?" Michael asked and Sam felt his brother shiver in his arms. Dwayne wrapped his arms around Sam's own waist in a comforting way, but even that couldn't stop Sam's raging thoughts. He had known that Paul wasn't human, but somewhere deep down he had ignored the issue much like Michael was freaking out over it now. As a human mate to a vampire, you would eventually mate to them and become a vampire yourself. It was a topic that Sam had hoped to discuss at a later time with Dwayne, not in a circle with the entire pack.
"You're right, I'm not a human anymore." Paul carefully constructed his sentences through tight lips, "That is part of mating with a vampire. However, we can continue that topic at a later time."
It occurred to Sam that the vampires could feel Michael's panic rising. In a last ditch effort to keep his brother grounded Sam leaned forward and whispered sharply, "You know how my eyes are different Michael, yes?" His brother nodded with a shudder. "You know that before coming here, I had difficulty seeing." Another nod. "You understand that I am now seeing clearly?"
Michael physically turned around in his arms and Sam felt his brother take his face into his hands, "Is it because of him?"
Pushing the worry of ousting his gift of sight to the back of his mind, Sam nodded, "It's because of Dwayne. When I am with him, like right now, I can hear myself think."
"You are completely aware right now?" Michael asked demandingly and Sam pushed himself to his knees.
"I'm here. Right now. In the present..." Sam stuttered off as the words he was speaking so forcefully, so adamantly clicked into focus, "...because of Dwayne."
It seemed that Michael came to the same conclusion and everything around them hushed into silence. Sam could feel the curiosity from the group around them as clearly as he could hear the waves of the ocean breaking against the shore and rock face at the bottom of the cliff. Even more clearly, he was putting together another section of pieces in the puzzle of his life. As far back as he can remember, Sam had unruly visions that clouded his head and ruined many of his younger years. Sam felt tears burning at the back of his eyes when Michael said his next thought word for word.
"You're here because of him."
"According to Dwayne, we were created for one another." At his answer, Michael pulled Sam off of Dwayne's lap completely and out of the circle of vampires. None of them followed as Michael didn't take him far.
"Now?"
"Flighty." Michael pulled him further away towards the house. "Foggy."
His research unfinished, his brother brought Sam all the way back to Dwayne and all but shoved him into the mans arms, "And now?"
Sam smiled tearfully, "Clear."
Michael dropped to his knees as tears filled his own eyes and he bowed his head forward in a way that broke Sam's heart. He gathered his brother into his arms once more as they cried and he felt Dwayne's strong hand rubbing soothing circles against his back. In a shattered voice Michael mumbled with a sour chuckle, "Having known about your eyes, this shouldn't be such a big surprise."
Sam laughed, "I suppose you're right."
As they both calmed down, they continued to hold one another and Sam smiled softly. Then Michael leaned back slightly as he aimed his eyes on where David sat in the darkness. "I'm sorry about the misunderstandings." Michael spoke softly as his fingers gripped at Sam's shirt tightly, "I'm not completely convinced, but I'm willing to talk. But first," He glanced Paul's direction, "I want to talk with him and Sam. If there's any chance of...this...happening, I need to hear what it's worth from him."
"I'll help the best I can Michael." Paul said in a relieved tone, grateful that he hadn't screwed things up.
Sam leaned into Dwayne once more, settling into his arms comfortably. "I believe that we've had enough discussion for one night no? This can wait until tomorrow," After leaving a small peck at the corner of Dwayne's mouth he stood and gathered Michael, "Meet us down at the bottom of the cliff tomorrow Paul and we'll continue our discussion then. Until then, let's sleep on what we've learned."
After making sure that Michael was asleep however restlessly in his own bed, Sam changed into his pajamas and laid down to the sound of engines roaring back down the driveway the way that they'd come. Before he could fall asleep however, a pair of smooth lips slanted over his own and Sam leaned up into Dwayne's arms. "Come to me after your meeting with Paul?" The words were whispered into his ear and Sam sighed at the feeling of Dwayne's lips trailing over his ear.
"I'll find you," Sam whispered back just as softly and the man pulled back to give him a final kiss. As Dwayne leaned back again Sam smiled, "as always." The reassurance made Dwayne smile in a way that Sam could only describe as fondly and just like that he was gone. With the curtains shuffling in the wind that drifted in from the window and the fan twirling above him, Sam fell into the first restful sleep since his arrival in Santa Carla.
...Light up, light up,
As if you have a choice,
Even if you cannot hear my voice,
I'll be right beside you dear.
~defy~