Telling Tanith and Ghastly

A week later I went to my normal training session with Tanith and all I could think about was Dex and him touching me. Tanith picked up on my distracted mood and worked me extra hard because of it. I hadn't seen him since Saturday last week and it was Friday already. That was thirteen days ago. Sure we had talked on the phone a few times. But it wasn't the same as being next to each other.

When we were practicing swords I didn't win once, not that I do very often but sometimes I do, and when we were doing hand to hand combat, I got thrown on my ass so many times and Tanith finally called me out on it. "Grace, what is with you today, it's like you're not even here." She said with a smirk on her face. "I'm just not into it to day Tan. I'm sorry. Can we finish up?" I asked and she nodded, going to pack up her things.

I did the same and then we went to have showers, cleaning ourselves up. As we walked towards the exit of the sanctuary Tanith stopped me and said "So you and Vex huh?" I nearly tripped over my feet as I turned to face her. 'How did you… I didn't…" I trailed of and she laughed at my face which was obviously contorted into an expression of horror and surprise. "Grace, come on. I saw you in the lounge room when Ghastly and I left on Saturday morning. I don't mind, I think it's cute, you two being together. I'm pretty sure you'll have a hell of a time telling Ghastly though. He feels responsible for you ever since… Well you know." I winced at being reminded of my parents; I try not to think about them and what Sanguine did to them.

Realisation washed over Tanith's face as she said "I'm sorry, Grace. I didn't mean to…"
"It's ok Tan, really. Thank you for being ok with it. He's just so… Oh I don't know… He's the best." I didn't want to say too much but Tanith always went big so her next question really shouldn't have shocked me, but it did. "I've always wondered how he was in bed, have you tested him out yet?" she asked, obviously curious. I shook my head and then she asked another question that I wasn't ready for.

"Was he in your room on Friday night? Because he didn't drink that much so he could have driven home but he stayed and—" I interrupted her with a cough and then said "I don't really want to talk about this, ok?" and she smiled at me. I didn't really feel like discussing my sex life in the middle of the sanctuary. She winked at me and shouted "Just use those condoms I bought you ok?" as she walked away. I blushed as a few people looked at me sideways as I stood there in shock and embarrassment.

Just as I was about to leave the sanctuary, I saw Dex stroll in with Valkyrie and Skulduggery. I wondered what Dex was doing with them though, was he helping them with a case or what? He looked over, saw me and smiled. He excused himself from the gang and made his way over to me. As he got to me, Valkyrie looked over, with a smirk on her face, god I hated that kind of a face. I had nothing against Valkyrie but sometimes she was just down right annoying.

Dex hugged me and I hugged him back, but only briefly as we were in a public place and Ghastly could be around any corner. "What's up Dex?" I asked as he hooked his arm though mine and lead me down a corridor that I had never been down, and to a door that was locked. We stopped and he pulled a key out from his pocket, unlocked the door and pulled me inside. I barely had time to see the inside of the room before Dex had me pushed up against the door, our bodies pressed close together, his face so close to mine.

"I missed you," He said and then he kissed me and it was passionate and greedy and urgent. We broke apart and I looked at him in astonishment. "I missed you too. Where are we?" I asked as he let me go and I looked around the room. I saw a desk and computer, a picture frame that was empty and some chairs but nothing much else. The room was big, but not too big, and the walls were painted a creamy white colour. "This is my office. China assigned it to me after the whole Darquesse thing, so now I officially work for the Sanctuary doing detective things with Skull and Val."

I loved how everyone called Skulduggery Skull behind his back except Valkyrie she says it to his face, but he can't bring himself to call her out on it; it just amuses me, for some reason. "That's pretty cool. Good for you." I said, unsure of what else to say. I sat down in one of the chairs and looked up at Dex who was leaning on the desk, thinking about something.

"Is our relationship going anywhere?" He asked all of a sudden a few minutes later. That was random. "Of course it is Dex, why do you ask?" He smiled. "I was wondering then, if you would consider telling Ghastly and Tanith about us?"
"Do you want to get yourself killed?" I asked, suddenly annoyed. "Tanith already knows. She saw us in the lounge room the other day. But Ghastly thinks of me basically as his daughter, he would literally kill you for even thinking about me let alone taking my virginity as you so elegantly put it." Dex looked shocked at my outburst but thought about what I said before he continued. "I think it would be worth it. I think that you are worth it."

Now it was my turn to be shocked. He really liked me, fat little old me. "Dex…why? Why do you like me?" I asked, not seeing anything in myself that he could possibly like, I was extremely confused as to the fact that he did. "I like your laugh, how uncontrollable it is. I like your smile, it makes me smile and I like how you walk, either with a hop or stomping, there's no in between. I like how you don't believe me when I tell you you're beautiful, because you start playing with your hair or looking down at your shoes awkwardly and I like how you bite your lip when you think.

"I like you because you're smart, funny, you blush easily and you collect books like their treasure. And I don't just like you; I think I'm starting to love you. After a certain age you start to think about what you consider beautiful. When I was young I went for the skinny girls with big breasts that put out but now I think about it differently. I think about what would suit me for a long term relationship and my perception of beauty has changed after recovering from being possessed by a remnant. I see it as having a beautiful soul and I think that you have that. "

I gawked at him, my mouth hanging open. I thought of all the girls and women that Dex had slept with before me and jealousy flashed over me briefly but I pushed it aside…Wait, did he say he loves me? Wow. Did I love him back? I think I'm starting to. He is my first everything, kiss, sexual partner and now lover. "I…Um..." I was speechless, which was odd, because usually I always have something to say. "You don't have to say anything Legacy, I know. I can tell by your face right now that you feel the same way."

I stood up on shaky legs and walked over to him slowly. I raised my hand to caress his face and run my thumb over his lips. "You are amazing." I said to him, my voice deep, cracked and shaken. I kissed him softly, passionately and he wrapped his arms around my waist and pulled me close to him. We pulled away for a moment to look into each other's eyes. He pulled me close once again for a very long hug, my head buried in his chest and his in my hair.

There was a knock on the door that made us jump apart. "Dexter Vex, why is your door locked?" Asked the voice of Ghastly, and I looked at Dex with panic in my eyes. He grabbed my hand and kissed my forehead, which calmed me somewhat. "We should tell him." He said and I nodded in agreement not wanting to feel this panic of discovery again. I sat down in the chair that faced away from the door and Dex went to let Ghastly in. "Come in Ghastly, take a seat, there is something that we need to discuss." Dex said in a serious voice.

Ghastly walked into the room and when he saw me his face dropped from his smile into a confused expression. He turned to Dex, "Why was Legacy in here with you when the door was locked?" He asked innocently, hurt in his eyes as he realised what was going on. "Sit down Ghastly." Said Dex as he moved back to the desk and leant on it the same as before. "Ghastly, Dexter and I have been seeing each other." I said. Ghastly looked horrified, then angry. He stood up and walked over to Dex, grabbing him by his shirt collar. "She is just a little girl Vex. What is wrong with you?" He yelled furiously at him. Dex let him yell and shake him a bit before grabbing his arms softly and removing them from his collar.

"Let me explain Ghastly," I said as he sat back down in defeat, "When we first started dating, Dexter didn't know how old I was, he didn't know who I was, properly anyway. He didn't know about my parents or what Sanguine did to them. He thought that I was older than I am. He was innocent in all of this. I didn't tell him because I was surprised that he even showed any interest at all. I didn't know how to handle it at first but then, as we became more familiar with each other, I started to open up and really like him and so did he. It's not wrong if we're happy and that's what should matter. That we are happy. That I am really happy for the first time since…. Since my parents were murdered."

I had started crying by that point and Dex looked like he wanted to run over to me and scoop me up in his arms. He looked as if he wanted to protect me from every bad thing that had ever happened to me and I loved him a little more for that. Ghastly looked at me with an expression that looked guilty and sad. "I promised them that I would look after you. They were still alive when we found them Legacy. And they made me swear to look after you and protect you. I'm trying as hard as I can but you're growing up so fast and sometimes I just don't know what to do. I want to protect you because they asked me to."

He looked so sad, and in that moment I realised that when I lost my parents he also lost his friends. Jane and Marcus Grace were more than just parents and I had forgotten that in my grief. How could I be so insensitive? "Ghastly I am so sorry that I didn't see how you were struggling with this. Thank you. Thank you for putting up with me and taking care of me." I got up and hugged him and he hugged me back.

We both adjusted ourselves back into our seats as we looked up at Dex who looked kind of guilty. "Ghastly I'm sorry I hid this from you. But I will not apologise for loving our Legacy Grace. You have known me for a long time and let me tell you, I have never felt this way about anyone, ever. I will not hurt her and I will not do anything that she doesn't want me to do. I will take care of her. I want to protect her too." Ghastly sighed as Dexter finished his speech.

I looked at him, my tears dry now, with a warm smile. "I guess I approve then but I do not want to hear details, got it?" he smiled at his friend but then the smile disappeared as he remembered something. "That scratch on your back, is that from Legacy?" He asked, a little horrified at the thought of his, for all intense and purposes, daughter having sex with his friend. He shuddered and put his hands up to stop the words that were about to come out of Dexter's mouth and said "I don't want nor need to know."

At that moment Tanith came in the door, and we all turned around to see her. She grinned a very Tanith grin. "You're not dead yet Vex?" She asked and then laughed as she strolled forward to stand in front of him. "You will be if you ever hurt her, you got it?" And then she patted his head, turned on her heals and left the room, Ghastly following in suit. I stood up and went over to Dex as the door closed and said "At least you're not dead." He laughed pulling me into another big hug and kissed my neck.