by Layna Snow
Obviously this was a conversation that was going to get messy. And shit did Cay ever hate messy relationships. “No, that was different. That guy slept with another person while in an exclusive relationship.”
“So sleeping is bad? They didn’t have sex? Oh, that’s not what the program said. And does this mean that we aren’t in an exclusive relationship? You are allowed to sleep with other women? I don’t like that at all!”
Cay laughed a little, the sound a little frustrated and hysterical. “No, people use the term ‘sleeping with’ when they are talking about sex. And we are in an exclusive relationship. I realize that this isn’t a normal situation. I want to have an exclusive relationship between the three of us.”
“Oh, so you want a relationship between you and I, with Seth and I, and with you and Seth? Does that not count as a homosexual relationship? Will you have sex with him?”
“NO! no,” Caleb protested. Fuck, this was a weird conversation! “I don’t want to have sex with him. I am not gay and don’t want to… just no. Those arrangements won’t work. Seth’s not gay either. We will both only have sex with you.”
Mel nodded, chewing her lip while she thought of what he proposed. He probably should have had this conversation earlier, before they had sex. He probably should have waited until Seth was here, but damn this whole thing was getting complicated. Seth and Melody were making it complicated.
“I would be allowed to have sex with you and Seth? Like that night? Or would I have sex with you separately?” she asked, still full of questions. Wow, to think that he took understanding for granted. Girls he dated usually knew the score. Just like he knew theirs. There wasn’t anything to it, just mutual satisfaction.
“Either way. I don’t care. I would like some alone time with you, and I’m sure Seth would too. It wouldn’t need to be all of us, all the time.”
Melody pushed herself up, turning her body to look back at Cay. Her face completely serious, her question written on her face. Fuck you can read her every thought on her face. Damn open book.
“But, why?”
And if that wasn’t one hell of a question.
He’d always felt connected to Seth. Since he was taken into Cecilia’s home he bonded with Seth. He followed him everywhere, shared a room, his toys, his food. He talked to him about his inner most secrets. He even went to the same university so that they could share the dream that they had thought of together.
And to be fair, they both sucked at relationships on their own. Seth was too focused on logic to worry about if his girlfriend was happy, if they were fulfilled and if they needed more closeness. Shit, he often got so lost in his mind that he didn’t pay attention to his girl. Of course he did remember all the events, found the best gifts and well, it seemed like he knew what he was doing in bed.
Caleb on the other hand was good with the cuddling. He had mastered how to be what women wanted, what women needed. He had learned how to be the one people wanted as a friend, as a guest and as a boyfriend. But through that all, he couldn’t ever be himself in those situations. No one ever took into account what he wanted—well no one besides Seth. He also didn’t explain himself well, couldn’t stand back in emotional situations and think through his words and actions.
Separate, they didn’t work. They wouldn’t make Melody happy. They wouldn’t be enough. But together they had everything, were everything that Mel fucking deserved.
But how did he explain this to her?
“Umm, well… when you thought that liking Seth was bad, did that stop you from wanting to be with him? Did that make you want him less?” He asked. When she shook her head, he smiled. “I know that he feels the same. So what would be the point of trying to ignore your feelings? I want you to be happy. I want Seth to be happy too. If that means that this relationship needs to include him, then so be it. Really, it only seems natural given how close we are.”
“But Em said-“
Cay shook his head, “Forget what Emily said. Whatever it was, it was wrong. Besides, until we figure out who put that stuff in your water and why, you should try to stay away from Em and Nate… at least while you’re alone”
Melody looked ready to protest, so Cay kissed her. It was a great way to silence her! “Please? I’m just worried about you. I don’t want anything to happen to you.” Mel took a breath and nodded, but didn’t look pleased.
“Alright. Now we have to come up with a strategy to deal with Seth. If he is like this for much longer he might end up looking like a body builder, and I have to be the strong one here. Do you have any ideas?”
Mel started to shake her head before her eyes lit up. “Yes. I could insert myself into his life. Make us the same! He likes himself, he’ll like me.”
Cay shook his head. “We shouldn’t change you. I’m sure that once he spends more time with you, he will see that you have things in common. Just like we have things in common.” Actually, that sounded like a good idea. They were already alike. They both took life too seriously and thought too much about consequences. “Talk about things you share. Try to cover common ground. Things you both like, thing you both dislike.” This could really work. Fuck, it had to work.
19
“Alright. There is something we haven’t considered.” Seth said the next morning while he drank his orange juice at the table.
“Hmm?” Caleb asked, looking away from the closed bedroom door, where Melody was getting ready for the day.
“Something that was brought up the other day. Melody has no documents. Technically, she doesn’t exist. Eventually, someone will realize this and we will have some explaining to do. I think that we should find a way to get her an ID.” Seth put down his paper.
Cay cursed, suddenly realizing their problem. “Shit! That will take a lot of money. Fake ID’s aren’t cheap. We have all our money tied up in the house and clinic. Hell. We have loans up the wazoo. What are we going to do?”
“We need to get in touch with other Fallen Angels. There has to be more of them. If she has Fallen, than others have too.” When did he fully believe that she was an Angel? Caleb wasn’t sure, but even now he accepted that she was telling the truth.
“What are we going to do? Just search ‘Fallen Community’? Put an ad in the fucking penny-saver? We don’t have a lot of options here.” Cay said, moving to sit in the living area. Damn, Mel had been in there alone for a while. He hoped that she was alright. She had to come out soon or he was going to be late for work.
And his boss was a hardass about tardiness.
Said boss followed Cay in, sitting on the couch next to the chair. “Leave that up to me. We have to find them, then worry about how to contact them. I’m sure they will need to be sure of her legitimacy. Perhaps she knows some of them. We’ll ask her when she comes out.”
As if those were magic words, or hell… the bat signal, Mel strode out of the room. Her hair was braided—a skill she had acquired in the last few days by watching tutorials online, and she wore a blue summer dress that she had borrowed from Emily.
She barely looked at them, pacing into the kitchen for some fruit.
“Mel, do you know any other Fallen Angels?” Cay asked, cutting right to the chase. He had to get dressed soon! He didn’t have time to dick around.
Pausing with the apple halfway to her mouth, Melody froze. The look of shock was comical. “Yes, a few. I don’t really know them. We didn’t spend time together. Two were men, I forget their names. They were exiled for Lust. They were Warrior Angels. Although they apparently had a problem with Wrath as well.”
“Sounds like great guys,” Cay muttered, deciding that they would avoid those two. Violent, horny death machines? No, fucking, thank you.
“There was another man who was charged with Wrath, or was it Gluttony. I’m not sure. I watched him Fall as well. Liam, I think that was his name. Then there were two Angels, a male and female. They were exiled for lust as well, a long time ago. Evangeline and Jeremy. They claimed that they were pure, however
the Elders reminded them that love between two is selfish. They Fell nearly 25 years ago.”
“How do you know this?” Seth asked, sounding curious.
“I worked in the room where judgement takes place. The Elders hold court there when an Angel needs punishment. I, along with other Angels of Judgement, see what happens.” She paused. “Oh, there was also Axel. He Fell voluntarily, although the reports say that his sin was Pride. He had started questioning the system. He no longer felt that Heaven was right.”
Cay nodded, understanding. “A hippy. We have them too.”
Seth laughed while Mel just looked at him confused. He knew that she didn’t know that word, but the dude sounded like a hippy to him.
“Why are you asking?”
Seth turned to look at her more fully before standing. “We are going to try to contact them. Now Cay, go get ready. We leave in five minutes whether you’re shaved or not.”
20
“I have a question,” Mel asked loudly, well loudly enough to be heard over the music. There was a booming noise that was apparently called the bass, and it shook the entire room. It was loud, intrusive and it was starting to hurt her head. The dark lighting didn’t seem to help much.
When she had asked Brooklyn to go shopping, the other woman had suggested The Shop. Mel had thought that it was a clothing store. She was excited to buy more. She didn’t realize that inside the building was this, whatever it was. Apparently it sold drinks and people danced very provocatively!
Brooklyn laughed, her whole body moving—dancing she called it. But they were sitting, so it did not look like the others who jostled on the floor. “What is it, baby-cakes?”
Melody didn’t really know if she should ask the girl this question. It was on her mind since she had this conversation with Emily, but because Em had been angry, she didn’t bother to voice her confusion. And she really didn’t know Brooklyn, how could she be sure that she would get the right answer?
However, she really didn’t have anyone else to ask now. “The males told you that I was from… a place that was isolated, right?” At Brooklyn’s nod, Mel decided to continue, “Well, I don’t really understand too much of the world. We did not really have relationships. It was a distraction and a sin. I am in a relationship now with Caleb. I was just wondering a little about relationships.”
Brooklyn made a snorting sound, her drink spilling slightly as she held it close to her lips. “You shouldn’t do that when I’m drinking! Are you serious? You couldn’t have relationships, like… sex at all? Shit that’s torture. Girl, how you lived there that long without going mad is a wonder! So, whacha wanna know?”
It took a moment to figure out her question but when she did, Mel looked down at her own drink, and thought about how to phrase her query. “I just want to know… well… why is a relationship only between two people? Why not more?”
Brooklyn reached over, smacking Mel on the shoulder. She didn’t seem mad. She was even smiling. “Oooh, you kinky girl! I neva woudda guessed that you’d be into ménages or orgies! I thought you’d be one of those straight-laced prudes. Hell, I might have asked you to hang out sooner! Well, you asked me but same-diff. Awesome! So, yeah, I know right? Why aren’t relationships with more than just two? I mean, whatever floats your boat, right? Rules are too strict that way. I mean, sleep with more than one guy in your life and you’re a slut? Whatever! And boys don’t get those same rules. Douches!”
Mel took a sip of her drink. It was tart, but not the way orange juice was. This tasted a little bitter. It was cold, and there were little bits of ice. She didn’t really know what it was, had just ordered what Brooklyn picked, but now she wished she had chosen something different. This wasn’t very good at all.
And she really had no idea what the girl was talking about. She couldn’t follow the conversation. What was an orgy? And what did same-diff mean? And why was she talking about boats? None of it was helpful, and Mel was having a difficult time finding context in the sentence to explain the words. Talking with Emily was never this complicated.
“Umm.. yeah.”
“You know, I think you should date someone besides just Cay. I mean, he’s hot and all, but a little lacking in the brains department, you know what I mean? He’s sweet but he doesn’t try to think too much. That Seth though, yowza! What a hottie! He works so hard, I bet he plays hard too. And the other day, I saw him take off his shirt. It got some blood on it, yaknow? But yeah... thought I’d pass out. And then there’s Nate. And that Tim guy who came by earlier. Now he’s smokin’ and a doctor too! I wouldn’t kick him out of bed for... well anything.” She laughed before finishing her drink. “You sure know a bunch of hot men, lady!”
Again, Melody couldn’t really follow, so she just nodded. It might not have been a good choice to confide in Brooklyn. She might not ever learn the answers!
“I don’t know that many attractive men. Nate and Tim are Seth’s and Caleb’s friends. Although they are not talking to Nate at the moment.”
Brooklyn nodded in understanding. “Yeah, I heard they had a falling out. Everyone’s talking about it. They are betting on the reason. Figure it’s because of you. Did-ya hit on him? Or he feel you up? Oh! He probably cheated on Em! But then, why is Em mad at the boys? Hmm. Do you know why? Do tell! Spill the tea, woman!”
Mel didn’t know what to answer. She couldn’t tell her the truth. Seth had forbidden her from explaining. Apparently people would not react to well to the knowledge that she is an Angel. She thought that people would want to ask her questions and hear what she had to say, but Humans were suspicious of the unusual.
“I don’t really know. Caleb doesn’t want to tell me.” And that was true. She asked for specifics but the boys were trying to keep the information away from her. They said they didn’t want to worry her, but she was more worried now!
How dare they treat her like this!
Melody took a large gulp of the pink drink. Their silence was one of the reasons that she came with Brooklyn. She was tired of being treated like an incompetent person. She was an Angel!
“Oh too bad! I’m sure it’s something juicy! You’ll tell me when you know, huh? Awesome! Now, what were we talking about? Oh yeah, double penetration! It is awesome. Makes your front smaller too, guys like that. Uncomfortable at first but then it feels great. Have you tried it?”
“Umm. I don’t know.”
Brooklyn laughed, shaking her head. “Oh, you’d know if you have!”
“So, you think that having more than one boyfriend is alright?” Mel asked. She felt a little lighter, a little freer talking with Brooklyn. She wasn’t sure why, but the questions just came out of her mouth!
Brooklyn nodded enthusiastically. “Hell yeah! You should do them all! I had a threesome once, well... twice. Once was a devils—that was great! Two guys worshiping you. Sign me up! The other one, not so great. The girl was pissed, said I had ruined her relationship. Well, bitch shouldn’t have asked me in, now should she have? I mean, it’s not my fault the guy preferred me.”
Melody didn’t know how to answer her question. She didn’t know what she was saying, really. She understood that the girl had done this before, though, maybe she was the right one to ask. “So a relationship of this kind would work in the—how is it said?—long term?”
The girl laughed, shrugging her shoulders. “Not sure, Melly. I’ve never tried it. But if you can get that, I’d hold onto it. I’d do a devils-three way again if I could find it. And that way you never have to go without,” she concluded with a scratchy, robust chuckle. “Damn, that deserves a toast. But I’m all out. Can you go get me another drink? I bought last round. It sucks that Jimmy doesn’t do much else anymore. Coulda be more fun if he still had a hookup, duh! Oh! Maybe that’s what Emily and Nate were fighting about! I’ve seen Em acting fishy. She’s prolly doing drugs! Damn, I need to ask her where she gets them!”
Melody nodded. She didn’t mind getting the drinks. She just wanted to get away from the noise.<
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Having seen Brooklyn buy the drinks when they came in, she knew that she had to go to the long table and ask one of the men behind it. The problem was that there were too many people around the table! Everyone was standing close together, they pushed and shoved, trying to get closer to give their requests.
The sight intimidated Melody. She felt a bit woozy at the idea of pushing through the people. A little nervous about getting to the front.
As she stood, Melody had to hold onto the table for a moment, her head going a little empty.
Oh, she didn’t feel good.
This was unacceptable! She was an Angel. These lowly Humans should move for her, part like the red sea so that she could go first. They shouldn’t ignore her like this! If only she was allowed to tell them what she was, then they would give her proper respect!
Instead she just stood near the others and waited for them to get their drinks first. She had never heard of the liquids that they ordered. She didn’t know why they came in glass bottles. Some of the females got drinks in glasses, some with decoration on top. No one bought the icy pink drink that Brooklyn wanted, and Mel couldn’t remember what it was.
It took a while to get to the table. A few times men talked to her, asked if they could help her. Since she didn’t know them, and Brooklyn hadn’t asked them for help, she didn’t bother talking with them. At least these men seemed to respect her! They complimented her, even assisted her further into the crowd. The first man had a large stomach and offered to take her home, however Melody was sure that Brooklyn could drive her home. Besides, she didn’t know this man.
Melody made sure to thank him before moving closer to the tall table. Once there, she still wasn’t sure what to ask for. The man on the other side just looked at her impatiently.
“Umm, I’m here with Brooklyn and she wants another…” Melody tried to remember what the drink was called. She didn’t see anyone at the bar with a pink drink.