Chapter 33 - home

Faun ran a brush through his hair as he stared at his reflection in his dressing mirror. He was about to go to the movies with Declan.

What was he doing? He thought to himself, dropping his brush slowly on the dresser.

His ears and tail were tucked away and he looked like a human as he stared at himself in the mirror.

How much longer was he going to continue to live a lie?

It wasn't the fact that he was living a lie that was his major problem; that was a necessity for survival. No, the reason he felt torn inside was because he didn't want it to be a lie.

"Are you ready?" Declan's voice floated to him, pulling him out of his drab thoughts.

"Almost!" He called back.

Declan still had to do his research after all; besides if he was imposing, Declan was the kind of person to tell him upfront.

This was the only time in his life he could get to relax and actually enjoy living. There was no guarantee that living would get any easier in the North. If anything, he might be heading straight for his death.

It was why he needed to enjoy every bit of time he spent here, instead of dwelling on the dark side of things.

"Want to take a cab to the movie theatre?" Declan suggested as they made their way out of the woods. "It's further than the fairgrounds."

Faun worried at his lower lip, it was easy to forget that Declan was human. He must not be a big fan of walking everywhere.

"Sure." He agreed immediately. He didn't hate cars but he didn't like them either.

"What do you want to watch?" Declan asked when they got to their destination.

Faun really didn't have anything specific in mind; he would have watched whatever.

"Why don't you pick this time?" He turned the tables on him.

Declan raised a brow at this; there was an animation showing so he had been expecting Faun to immediately choose it.

He was curious about a little something though. "Alright." He agreed after a beat.

They got snacks and found a comfortable spot, the movie would be starting in roughly ten minutes.

Faun zoned out a couple times, distracted by the amount of people that kept pouring in. He had no idea what they were going to be watching but he doubted he would have the presence of mind to concentrate.

Even though he was the one that agreed to coming here, he found himself wanting to go back to the cottage.

He was curious about the human world but even more than that, he preferred to be all by himself.

"The lights will go dim so that all we can see is the screen." Declan informed Faun so that he wouldn't be caught off guard when the lights suddenly went out.

Faun hummed his assent, slipping a piece of popcorn inside his mouth. He really liked the buttery snack.

He kept his gaze down because for some reason, he kept on glancing at Declan whenever he looked up. If he did it enough times, Declan would find him out. Again.

He had no explanation for his sudden fascination with Declan; it was like his eyes were moving of their own volition.

Fortunately, the lights went out; the people in the movie theatre quieted down, the screen coming on.

He had not thought much about the movie they would be watching, and even now all he could think of was how easy it would be to sneak glances at Declan.

He glanced at the big screen, a shrill scream pouring out at the same time that a chilling image was shown on the screen.

Faun barely managed to choke back his shocked scream, reflexively jumping on Declan's arm as if he expected the apparition to jump out of the screen.

Declan had been curious to see if Faun would be affected by horror movies, after all, the hybrid had spent his entire life living in the wild.

Now that he had seen it, he was concerned. "Are you good?" He asked quietly, putting an arm around him.

He hadn't watched the movie before, nor was he a big fan of horror movies, so he definitely hadn't been expecting a jump scare on the very first scene.

"I guess." Faun mumbled absently, making no move to let go of Declan.

He had been genuinely terrified by the first scene but after that, he was just fine.

Horror movies were like cars to him; he didn't hate them but he didn't like them either.

But Declan didn't need to know that.

Declan was worried about Faun for the rest of the movie. "I should have asked before choosing a horror movie." He said contritely when the lights came back on.

Faun looked up at him with a mouth full of popcorn at his words; their faces were inches apart because Faun had remained glued to his hand for the entire duration of the movie.

Declan trailed off at this, taking in the scene. Faun didn't look like someone that had been traumatised by a horror movie.

Come to think of it, he hadn't jumped ever since the first jump scare at the start of the movie.

He couldn't believe that his own plans had been used against him, it made his lips twitch.

"What was that?" Faun asked when he could use his mouth again.

"Nothing." Declan replied quietly. "Anything else you want to do or should we head back home?"

Faun's eyes went wide when Declan said 'home.'

"No, let's go home." He murmured in an odd tone.

It didn't matter that he was living a lie, it didn't matter that he wasn't human…

He held on to Declan's arm even as they left the movie theatre; Declan was busy getting a cab for them.

What mattered then was that he had a home to go to, and someone to go home with.

It was more than enough.