Doe's POV:

I decided to start keeping my guitar in the music room of this floor.

It just made sense to me for many reasons. This room was built for sound, had everything I could even think to need, and most of all, it was free of distraction whereas my room was absolutely not.

I posed the suggestion to Xander since that's where he kept his stuff most of the time, and he agreed.

And here I thought that the switch would be easy and take no more than a minute, but here I was sitting on a stool while Xander rearranged things to make our matching instruments look nice together.

Throwing together a little corner with all of our sheet music, and moved over a few stools to make it look like we both had our own little section.

And look good if we were to ever play together.

Which in theory was nice but... later.

I was easily distracted and felt out of my element playing an instrument I've only had for a few months next to a literal master of his.

"Doe!"

I jumped up onto my feet, startled by the sound of my name from someone who wasn't already in the room with me.

I turned to see Khloe giddily running in with something in her hand.

"Khloe!," I repeated her name in the same way she spoke mine, "How did you know I was here-"

The answer walked in a bit after her in the form of Nico, his eyes scanning the room over.

Khloe took up my attention rather fast after that, leaving the brother to greet themselves before she held out what she brought.

My eyes bulged realizing that what she had, was a canvas.

"I finished it!" She excitedly announced, presenting me with a finished painting that she'd started a few weeks ago.

A gift that she said she 'owed me' for a variety of things.

All of which I told her wasn't necessary, but she liked art, so I wasn't going to push any further when she kept insisting.

What I was seeing though was absolutely gorgeous. I knew she could draw well, I'd seen some sketches, but never one of her finished pieces.

This one she decided to outstandingly detail with watercolor.

I stared more so at the absolutely beautiful head of a fawn that claimed the right side of this painting over the left that heald my, admittedly accurate and very flattering side profile.

Holy shit did she make me look good.

A miscellaneous swirl of white and faint purple flowers acting as a border between the two, perfectly tying together the rest of the colors.

"Khloe I... Holy shit this is amazing," I couldn't think of any more words other than just the plain truth, "Thank you."

Her smile only brightened, telling me that this was something that she enjoyed more than I originally gave her credit for.

"Don't mention it. I had a lot of fun with it... After I spent like three hours trying to do your face justice, but I think I like how it came out."

She thinks?

Must be an artist thing.

Now I just gotta think about what I should get her for her birthday that would have as much thought and effort put into it.

I turned to Xander who was idly chatting with his brother.

"Xander come check this out!" I called, carefully turning the canvas to him.

Khloe and I took a few steps closer to the other two before his eyes lit up and he bolted over to us

"Yooo!" He exclaimed, reaching out for it.

He hesitated a moment, eyeing me before I handed it over.

He was fawning all over the sketch back when Khloe had just started, so his reaction was to be expected.

Getting all excited over every little thing, switching between the picture and me to compare it, gushing over Khloe's talent in general.

Which left her getting all embarrassed, but genuinely appreciative nonetheless.

I always find myself getting weirdly giddy every time Khloe and him interact in a positive light.

I dunno... My best friend and boyfriend getting along after a patchy past just felt good.

Everything felt right.

My eyes fell over to Nico, who stayed behind, seeing him approach my guitar on its stand with a curious look on his face.

He just sort of looked at it, switching over to Xander's violin, but ultimately keeping to the guitar.

His hand began to rise towards it, which for some reason had me stepping away from the other two and back towards him

"This is new," He muttered, definitely just talking to himself.

"Oh that's mine," I spoke up, incidentally startling him

Startling the ever stoic and put together Nico, the vampiric heir, watching him draw his hand back as if that fact suddenly meant that he wasn't allowed to touch it.

The sight nearly pulled a laugh out of me, but I kept it contained as I closed some more distance.

"You can still check it out if you want," I clarified for the record.

I was a bit particular about who touched it, but Nico fit comfortably on that list.

I mean, he took care of me for the better part of two years before all this, so I think he can handle a guitar.

"I just didn't know you played," He began, "I thought that maybe Xan picked it up at some point and I just didn't notice."

"It's... kind of a recent occurrence I guess. Right after that pet checkup thing."

I swear I saw his brows furrow at the mention followed by him looking at my shoulders.

I guess that was the closest thing he could see of my back. I had a solid guess as to what he was really looking at.

"I see," His eyes thankfully met back with mine, "You any good?"

"Decent at best," I replied factually, realizing something after hearing his quiet laugh at my blunt response.

I don't think I've ever talked to Nico like this one-on-one.

Just... normally.

It didn't necessarily feel wrong... I've known him for a while, but I suppose we never got the chance to meet properly.

It's been nice when it's the four or five of us when Marcus can join, but it's never been just us two without the added buffers.

I peeked back to the buffers in question, seeing them standing side by side while Xander asked her questions and she happily answered them.

"You excited for your upcoming trip?" I asked, turning back to him.

His shoulders sagged in immediate annoyance at the subject. Something that heavily reminded me of Xander

It was times like this when I could see much more clearly that they were brothers.

"To the northern pack? Not even a little bit. I get closer to making Xander go in my stead every time I think about it."

Ooh. Xander going to some nice royal... conference or whatever the hell it's called? He probably wouldn't mind at all.

"He might if you ask nicely," I added, "Though he'll make you owe him a favor."

"Don't make me consider it more than I already have," He sighed, "How much exactly has he told you about our family discussions?"

I shrugged, "He fills me in on the family drama as it comes I suppose. Khloe and I need to be in the know, y'know?"

He glanced to her, his eyes softening just a specific amount that wouldn't be too noticeable if it was anyone else.

Oh, holy crap those two have to be a thing.

It was brief, but Nico's never looked at anyone like that, even if it was just momentarily.

"Did he tell you about when he spilled his blood glass onto the table cloth after a particularly dramatized sneez-"

Nico didn't get to finish after Xander appeared behind him, grabbing him in a headlock.

"How dare you," Xander gawked from behind, sounding absolutely betrayed.

A short glance at Khloe showed her still standing there, wide-eyed from Xander's speed, the look being quickly overtaken by amusement, holding the canvas close to her.

"Well it's not fair that Khloe got to hear that story afterward and Doe didn't," Nico grinned, grabbing the arm Xander held under his chin.

You know what?  I had to agree.

I sent him a smug look that told him as much, which in turn had him letting out a huff and tightening his hold on his brother.

Then that low warning grumble from deep in his chest made my stomach to do a celebratory flip.

There's no way he was challenging Nico to one of those vampiric tussles right now.

I thought he would have known better given the biological difference in power Nicohad over him, but reasoning clicked into place almost immediately.

I thanked the latest book that I'd read for the connection.

At least I hope I was right. If I was then this was more about impressing me than it was about winning.

Nico 'embarrassed him' in front of me and now he had to 'regain his honor'.

Vampires had a thing about not standing down from a challenger when their other half is nearby in an instinctive urge to prove their capabilities.

Pulling more so at the animalistic traits that they possess.

I guess now that he had, well, me secured as his love, he'd be acting a little different.

And even though he had absolutely nothing to prove to me, I found it strangely endearing and extremely attractive all in one.

Something that I didn't realize that I wanted to happen to me until now.

By that logic, if Nico and Khloe were a thing then he'd absolutely challenge it right back.

And even if they weren't... he probably still would. This was Nico we were talking about.

But he did, grabbing harder to Xander's arm and turning his head back to meet his eyes

"Oh really?" The challenge was clear in the question along, showing his fangs in the preparatory smirk.

There was something... more in each of them compared to last time. Supposedly since they were both tussling for more than just their personal brotherly reasons.

Still no claws though. It looked like the same rules applied.

Khloe and I exchanged a wide-eyed glance while I took a step back.

Possibly thinking the same thing that I was, but either way, wasn't planning on stopping them.

There was a guilty pleasure in seeing them like this I think. Not that I'd ever say that out loud.

"If you guys are going to throw down keep it away from my the instruments." Was my two cents on the subject, stepping backward to Khloe.

They both looked between the two of us but Nico was the first to reply.

"Got it."

And then they were off, both of them blurring out for a moment before appearing normally again on the other side of the room.

In the familiar show of Nico subduing Xander, but this time Xander put up a fight.

"Why you little-"

"Little? Xan you've gotta check your facts before speaking."

Nico's eyes widened at the snarl Xander let out through that playful challenging smirk, not expecting him to shift his weight and get Nico to temporarily stumble.

Woah... Go Xander.

"Oh you've done it now," Nico mimicked the smirk and the snarl before they both blurred out.

I finished my way back to Khloe, hearing the slams and predatory noises from both of them while I tried not to show my overall enjoyment when hearing Xander's.

Now wasn't the time... And I was probably weird for liking it so much in the first place.

She gave me an entertained smile, holding out the painting again as I reached for it.

"How the hell do we manage living with those two?" I flatly asked, holding the painting close.

Her cute little giggle sounded through their destructive tendencies, neither one of us taking their eyes off the mess before us when we could spot them.

They'd only appear for seconds at a time, shooting across the room and narrowly yet impressively avoiding the things that looked expensive.

Neither of them were using their pheromone either. I suppose there were more rules and expectations to these things than I thought.

The thought appeared to me that neither were diving into their royal strength to make it more of a fair fight- er dual or whatever they want to call it.

"I dunno. I think it's entertaining, and a little funny knowing that even though they're heirs to a prestigious family, they're still just ridiculous brothers."

"Inseparable menaces," I mumbled to myself, not quite ready to admit to myself out loud that I wholeheartedly agreed with her.

It got another laugh out of her.

"I think they could say the same thing about us, though to a... different degree."

I suppose that's true.

Were not off constantly fighting each other. Not physically at least. Sometimes uno gets heated but I blame that mostly on Marcus.

I let out a curt sigh, "That's true. They're lucky we-" I stopped, my face going bright red.

'They're lucky we love them? Really, Doe!?' I scolded myself.

The secret gets spilled to Lily and my brain lets its secretive guard down I suppose.

"We what?" She questioned.

"They're lucky we, uh find it cute under all the vampiric tendencies and such."

Yeah... that sounded normal.

"True. We should get together with the four of us more often. Five whenever Marcus isn't busy or six if his friend ever shows up," She suggested.

I found the almost nostalgic tone in her voice odd, but didn't question it.

In reality, that did sound nice.

Xander did want me to get to know Nico better, and I wanted Khloe to see all the parts of Xander I think she'd like.

I wanted to see more of the brotherly interaction that turned both of them back into kids.

It was fun. This was fun.

Like our own little family.