I don't want to talk about it

"Why are you so angry? I did this for you!" Vikki squeezed Alex tighter as she questioned him.

"Vikki, I didn't ask for this!" He pushed her shoulders back, separating them. "What if I didn't want the change?"

"I don't understand… The fireplace mantle was destroyed. You wanted to keep it that way?" Tears began forming in her eyes as her confusion overwhelmed her.

"This house is the last thing I have to remind me of my parents. You can't just change things," Alex explained to his teary-eyed lover, "Did you even see the horrible changes Cynthia chose?"

"Cynthia?" Vikki turned to look at her assistant who was still standing near the unfurled plans. "What did you do?! This was supposed to be completed by tonight!"

Approaching her assistant, the petite Vikki seemed like a child scolding her school teacher, but Alex refused to intervene. Cynthia explained the projects to her boss and went over the details that caused the project to take longer than expected.

"That will be enough," Vikki said, cutting Cynthia off as she was explaining how they saved money on the used fireplace mantle.

"Alex, I'm so sorry! This wasn't supposed to happen!" she shifted her eyes away from him looking toward the ground. "How about we get a hotel room and pretend this didn't happen? We can come back when it's done?"

Alex was still frustrated about the information he learned previously during after his training, and this didn't help the situation. Spending a few days with Vikki would be relaxing, but he wasn't sure it was what he wanted.

"Sorry Vik, I think I'm going to stay at Jimmy's," He said, reluctantly.

"Don't be like that, babe!" Vikki looked at Cynthia and ordered, "Cynthia, get out of here!"

The assistant listened obediently and exited the kitchen. Her attitude had returned to servile now that Vikki had returned, which Alex noticed.

"Is this because of Layla?" Vikki asked her lover quietly. "Things haven't been the same since that night…"

"Vikki, this has nothing to do with Layla. You can't just throw money at me and expect to make me happy," He shouted, raising his voice so the workers in the living room could hear.

His anger rose at the mentioning of Layla. Alex was frustrated that Vikki didn't understand why he was upset, and even more frustrated that his friend would be implicated in the matter.

"There's just a lot going on, and I need some time. Okay?" He pulled Vikki in tight to his chest. "I promise we're good, just let me adjust."

Alex had just become a free adult and things were moving quite quickly for him. It felt like he was in middle school just a minute ago and now he was an adult.

"Well, the offer is still open if you want to join me! I'll text you my room number as soon as I get checked in." Vikki smiled at his promise and changed her attitude.

She was easy to please and trusted Alex's words completely, so it didn't take much reassurance.

"If I'm staying at Jimmy's, wouldn't you just stay at your parent's house?" he asked, "They aren't too far and it's free…"

"Don't be ridiculous!" She buried her head in his chest, "What if you want to visit?"

Alex blushed at the thought of what may happen in the hotel room later and lifted Vikki's chin to kiss her.

"Hey! Alex! You home!?" Trent's voice echoed through the house from the front door, overtaking the sounds of hammering coming from the roof.

"I'm in the kitchen Trent!" He sighed, as he turned Vikki around and wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her against his chest.

The chubby Trent Zierwick entered the kitchen with a backpack on his back, "Bad timing?"

"You planning to move in already?" Alex asked, noticing the bag on his friend's back. "If that's the case… Yeah, bad timing."

Trent placed his backpack on the ground and looked at the two, wondering what he interrupted.

"I wasn't planning on it, I just wanted to drop a couple of things off and show my mom the place. That's fine, right? She's outside in the car." The jolly fat man began chuckling, "It's not like I could sleep in your old kid bed anyway."

Alex understood what he was getting at and was attempting to show his mother that he wouldn't just be partying during his stay at the house.

He really cared about what his mother thought.

Vikki called Cynthia back into the house and made arrangements to have the old furniture from the second bedroom moved into storage while the construction was ongoing. This would allow Trent to be able to be able to set the room up to his desires.

As promised, they would be adding sound proofing to his room as well.

After the arrangements were made, Vikki and Alex greeted Trent's mother and said their goodbyes. They trusted the man to behave himself inside the home, since he would be their roommate soon.

"Remember, I'll be waiting for your visit," Vikki whispered to Alex as she gave him one final kiss before getting into a taxi.

[I'm surprised you aren't following her.]

[That's unlike you.]

'I need to focus on training.' Alex explained to his system as he returned to Jimmy's house.

His mind was focused on mastering his control so that he could execute the hybrid form on demand. He needed it to be able to move forward with his plans.

"You changed your mind?" Jimmy asked as soon as the door opened.

"Yeah, I don't want to talk about it,' Alex replied.

He was still frustrated with the whole experience, but he had calmed down. There was no reason to bring the subject up again.

Alex walked toward a cabinet in Jimmy's kitchen and took out a pack of playing cards as he asked, "You don't mind if I stay here for a few days, right?"

"That's not an issue at all, you know that," the old man smiled as he replied.

He hoped that the young were-rex finally had a falling out with his vampire lover.