I know, it's been a while since I updated Delicate, but I'm back now so yay!

I don't have a song to go with this extra, but I did have cellophane by FKA twigs on loop while writing it. So if you want something to play softly in the background, that's my suggestion.

^ I'm putting it I'm aswell for those who can't access songs when its attached to the chapter

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Julian's P.O.V

"Your leaving," I hear Aiden repeat beside me, his voice not nearly as strained as our bond was becoming.

A soft buzzing starts in my ears, a taunting hum that reminded me of my past mishaps. I tighten my hold on Aiden's knee, trying to secure myself to his unwavering presence but even that didn't stop the anxiety that grew by the second. It carried on while I stared blankly at my son who sat opposite us, my heart racing with the kind of raw panic that should have never had a place where my family was involved.

But it was. The fear that always made me feel like running until it couldn't find me anymore was there and stronger than ever before, ready to chase me if I tried to escape it, ready to find me, just like it always did.

Someone always left, no matter what I tried to do to make sure that the outcome would never be the same, it somehow was never enough.

I'd thought that we were doing well, as a family, trying to find our way back together. I'd thought that progress was being made, from all sides.

Damon came around more often which never failed to lift everyone's mood, and William seemed more comfortable with all of us with each visit. The kids were all doing their part, to better themselves for not only Damon but for all of us. Aiden and I were regularly attending our therapy sessions, we were making progress.

I was so sure that we were, but now...

"I know it's sudden," Damon says breathlessly, his eyes passing between the pair of us only to settle on me for one painful moment before he sighs deeply and runs a frustrated hand through his hair, "I'm not running away or leaving again, it's just... Will needs to go back home and he needs me to go with him. I can't let him go on his own."

Silently Aiden rests his hand on the small of my back while his other grips the one I had on his knee. I lean into his touch, letting him ground me through the turmoil that was quickly taking flight inside of me. I try to focus on Aiden's silent support, letting myself feel it while I take in deep, slow breaths.

"If he needs you, then you have to go," Aiden says, his voice strong and confident. It sounded just as it used to, so much so that Damon's eyes widen a fraction at hearing it after such a long time.

He sounded okay. I knew he wasn't.

"It's not even a question about whether or not he needs you," I say when I muster up the strength to offer Damon a small smile, "if he's going anywhere, you go with him."

Blue eyes that'd mirrored mine light up instantly from our supportive words, they seemed to sparkle just a touch as emotions so deep they threatened to pull me under flicked through his open gaze.

For a moment, my world wavers as I'm suddenly faced with the man that my pup had grown into without offering any signs of warning. Sitting across from us, Damon looked strong and so sure of himself in a way I'd never seen in him before. His frame was no longer sewn together by rage but clear happiness and those deep blues weren't blank anymore, emotion showed through them unabashed and wild, open for inspection or rejection.

It was like seeing him for the first time after a long time.

"We won't be gone for long," Damon promises. He sounded like he was trying to believe his own words, trying to be more confident saying them than he really felt. It was the slight hesitation in them that gave him away. "We wouldn't even be going if Will's parents weren't being so damn persistent about him going home for his birthday. The only reason he's agreed is because he says it's the only way to deal with them for one last time."

"Deal with them?" I question with worry quickly growing for the two of them.

Will wasn't quiet but he was most definitely reserved, at least with everyone who wasn't Damon. With the little he'd said about how he'd lost his eyesight and then his reaction to skin-to-skin contact, it was clear that he'd had a troubled past that left him slow to trust and fearful of love.

I knew Damon would protect him, through all things, but who would protect Damon.

"He's..." Damon's words fade away as he tries to find the best ones, "He's got a really bad relationship with his family, he's never shared much about them but I do know that he hates his parents a lot."

Grief, heavy like a mate in mourning spreads through Aiden and my's link at Damon's spoken words. I shift a little closer to Aiden, my body seeking comfort from such a treacherous reality for a child and parent. Wolves were familial creatures and though we were facing quite serious issues within our own family, hatred was never an emotion that took residence in our household. We fought and bickered and Goddess' knew we made our fair share of mistakes, but the love we held for one another never faded, never.

Just the thought of Damon hating me so strongly made my breathing catch as Alex howls in pain.

"It's complicated, but he has to go back and he wants me with him," Damon carries on when neither of us responds, "it shouldn't be more than a few days, maybe a little longer if something comes up."

"When do you leave?" I hear myself asking.

Damon's lips pull into a tight line before he answers, "tomorrow."

I nod automatically, trying my best to not show just how much the single word treated to undo my feigned strength right here in our office. It made my fears grow which only encouraged my anxiety to gain a stronger footing in my heart.

Everything inside of me recoiled at the thought of losing Damon again, and so soon, but I couldn't let myself face those fears, not now. Damon needed us to be supportive right now, he needed to be able to take care of William, and our fears would only jeopardize his ability to do so.

I could let myself fall apart later.

"Will Mekhi be taking you?" Aiden asks as he rubs my knuckles with his thumb.

"No we have to take a plane," Damon says with a quickly forming frown that suggested that he'd rather do anything other than that, "they've already arranged his flight and pickup. If he shows up any other way it'll only make questions rise."

"Will's family," Aiden starts carefully, "do they know about you? Your relationship?"

Are they homophobic?

It wasn't as if homophobia was only present amongst the humans, there was a bit of it amongst some of the supernatural who intertwined themselves too closely to that species. But for the most part, most species - from vampires to fairies - found little to no problem with same-sex relationships.

The same could not be said for the human race.

"He's never said they were, but I get the feeling that they probably are," Damon replies, his frustration growing so strong that it seeped into our familial bond.

I knew Damon had much trouble getting Will to open up to him when they'd initially met, but I hadn't realised that he still knew so little about the human. I'd just assumed that Damon was being careful with what he told us about his mate, but the longer we sat here, the more obvious it seemed that Damon knew just as much as we did.

"They seem to be very wealthy, by human standards," Damon explains before more silence could take hold of the conversation, "they're making Will go home to 'save face' since he hasn't been back since he left months ago. He says that they're using his birthday to flaunt both their wealth and a better version of the relationship than they do have. I don't think that they actually care that it's his birthday."

My heart aches as Damon explains as best as he can, the little pieces of Will that he'd put together. It sounded like such a painful environment for a child, somewhere without love seemed so dark in my mind. It made my heart ache as I remembered how we'd spent Damon's birthday, all scattered in a desperate search to find our missing member. From morning to night, we'd all looked that by the end of Damon's birthday, we were left exhausted, scared and broken.

I'd ended up falling asleep in Damon's room to the sound of my own whispered prayers to Goddess to bring him back to me.

She'd taken far longer to answer them than I'd been prepared for.

"Will you be safe?" Aiden asks, his worry blatant, "if William hates his family so much and he lost his vision in their care, is it safe to go back?"

Damon frown deepens alongside his frustration at the well-intended words he seemed to instantly take as an insult. It'd been parental worry, not a question of whether or not Damon was physically able to protect his mate.

Open lips shut promptly when Damon recognises that a moment later, tightening his jaws and flexing his fingers, Damon takes a moment to himself before replying, "I don't know."

It took effort, but Damon had curbed his anger before it had a moment to overtake him, thinking before acting with a calm I'd only seen in him through glimpses. Pride flickers in my chest at the display of patience and control, I let my smile show while I pocket the memory away to dissect another time when I'd be free to fawn over his growth on my own.

"Will doesn't like to talk about his family's situation or his past, I've never pushed him on it so I honestly don't know what it's going to be like once we get there," Damon says while sinking into an almost defeated slouch, "I don't even know how exactly he lost his sight. I only have one name to go by, but I know there's more there who've hurt him."

Sending out love and support through our link, I try my best to let know Damon know that it was okay, that patience always rewarded those who practised it in the end. It would be hard, but waiting for William to come to him would reap a better outcome than the one that would come to be if he forced him to.

"Do you need us to go with you?" I ask looking across to Aiden for a moment to make sure that he was on board, the quick nod I get in response makes me turn back to Damon for an answer.

"No, it'll only make Will uncomfortable," Damon replies while tugging at the ends of his hair, "I think just having me with him is already a lot for him."

"Is that why you didn't bring him with you now?" I ask gently and Damon offers a nod, "what if only I came? What if it was only me, would that be better?"

Please say yes...

Damon takes his time on this response, filing through his own thoughts and what was best for Will before he shakes his head slowly, "I think it would be the same for him. Having me there is already a big step for him, anyone else may be too much."

I feel myself sinking into a similar slouch as I nod in understanding. His words made sense and I respected them, but it didn't help ease the worry that they would not be as protected as I'd like them to be.

"I think you should have one of us in the area. If not one of us, you should take Mekhi," Aiden says suddenly making both Damon and I look to him, "You're a werewolf going into human territory, that may include hunters. It would be safer for the both of you if you went with someone else who could help you."

"I'll be fi-"

"Damon," Aiden says sternly, his eyebrows pulling together as he leans forward, "think about this carefully. I know you want to make sure William is happy and comfortable, but you have to make sure you're both safe as well. Going alone is inviting danger that can easily be avoided."

Damon doesn't reply, he just stares at his clasped hands with tightly clenched lips as he tries to find the best solution to a situation that wasn't presenting any.

In my mind's eye, going with William and Damon was the only solution. When I could only taste my anxiety of having Damon leave again, all I could cultivate were all the possible reasons why going with the two would be best for everyone. I'd be able to keep them safe, nobody would protect my pup the way I would. I'd protect both of them, keep them safe and when it was over...

I could make sure he came back home.

Closing my eyes, I pass a hand over my face in an effort to wipe away the selfish intent and poisonous worries that were making breathing far harder than it should've been.

What I wanted wasn't what was bests for Damon or William, it was what was best for me. It was what would help make me feel better, what would take this suffocating pain and worry away, it was never there when I could see them myself.

It wouldn't hurt so much if I went...

"You should take Mekhi with you," I whisper, forcing the words out despite the way they brought tears to my eyes, "If you take a warlock, he'd be able to notify the pack faster if anything happened to either of you. He'll be able to get the two of you out of there instantly and he knows William better, I think he'd be more comfortable having him there than having me with you."

Every cell in my body screamed at me to take the words back, to go with them whether or not they wanted me to, but I knew that was my past's fears' not mine. I would always be scared of losing one of my own again, but I needed to find my way around it and this was the first step to doing that. I needed to believe his words, trust in them and give him the space he needed to come back to us of his own will.

Damon had to build his own future, with people both he and William could trust to do good by them and though those were my intentions, it'd be better for them in the long-run if Mekhi was the one who was there. He'd already proven his loyalty to Damon ten times over, this action would solidify the potential for having him take a more formal position in the pack later on.

When it came time for them to take over the pack, they would need someone like Mekhi in their corner.

Amelia and Damon were still not speaking and though William and Damon had each other, everyone needed a friend that wasn't family, and the warlock could be that for them.

I... wasn't needed here...

"Okay," Damon says with a slow nod, "I'll ask Mekhi to come with us, but at a distance."

"That sounds good," Aiden replies with a smile before he continues down the line of ironing out the rest of the details. While he carries on speaking to Damon, he squeezes my hand and rubs my back gently in comfort, letting me know he had both of us right now.

I try my best to follow along with the rest of the conversation, offering any piece of advice I could when the moment presented itself. It was hard, pushing through the fog of panic that refused to leave me, but I got through enough to make sure that Damon knew that he had our full support.

When Damon eventually left to talk to the twins and Peter, I sink further into Aiden's touch and let myself unravel in his arms. Aiden holds me tightly, sinking into my weight in turn while we embrace one another silently, letting the emotions flooding our link to do the talking words wouldn't achieve now.

Aiden holds me tightly, protectively, sharing his warmth and love until I wasn't shaking anymore.

"You did the right thing," He whispers while running his fingers through his hair, "I know it was hard, but it was the right thing to do."

Nodding against him, I close my eyes when he presses a kiss to my temple and lays us down.

I'd been scared that Damon was leaving because he'd decided that he wasn't happy being with us again, or that he'd decided to choose a path of life with William that didn't involve us. I'd thought that we weren't making as much progress as I'd thought we were, but we were.

Progress required many steps to be taken, even when it hurt to take them sometimes.

This was just one of those times, and though I was undeniably scared and completely terrified that we were letting Damon run again, I knew that I needed to let him go now if I ever intended to have all of him back in the future.

"We're doing the right thing Jewels,"

We were making progress, we all were.

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I didn't cry, but my heart really goes out for Julian. It really really does.

Thoughts?????

Honestly, Jewels will always be a God-Tier character for me. He's just a lovely bundle of smarts, love, cuteness and care - such a loving dad.

I know I haven't written in like a month, but I did say on my board that I was going to focus on my other book Master for a while and I'm happy that I did. Now I'm back to Delicate and I'm ready to dive straight in with Will's story arc.

I almost didn't write this extra because of that, but I'm happy that I did because I feel like this part of the storyline needed to be closed properly before we jump into Will and Damon. Thank you for those on Patreon who encouraged me to do it.

So now that it had, the next chapter will be going from them arriving in Will's home state - let the games begin and the tears flow.

Vote up and comment if you enjoyed this chapter.

Voting for August's Patreon Extras will close tomorrow night, so if you haven't voted already make sure you do before the deadline.

Until next time,
Byeeeeee Humanssssssssssss