Bad Moon Rising Who: Becky, Cathair, Colin and Cleo What: Talk of the full moon When: Tuesday, Late Evening Where: Becky and Cathair's home to start Warnings: Language
Dinner had been lovely. Cleo was quite happy to have dinner with the family and get to know Becky and Cathair more. Plus she got to play with the baby and with Sadhbh who was just a darling little thing. It made her anxious for the birth of her own child. After dinner the children had played for a little while and then were tucked away into their beds. Afterwards the grownups settled in the living room for a bit of tea and coffee and conversation. It was nice. At least until the topic of the full moon had been brought up. Cleo didn't even remember who had mentioned it first, but it certainly wasn't a conversation that had gone well.
She wanted to stay at home during the full moon and Colin was strictly against it. "I'm a grown woman." she commented, sighing heavily and leaning back against the sofa with a huff. Folding her arms across her chest, her head tilted in her lover's direction. "I should be able to decide if I want to stay in my own home or not." she told him. She honestly didn't see what the big deal was. It wasn't as if she was going to curl up in the cage with him or even be close to the damn thing. Why couldn't he just let her have what she wanted?
Colin knew it would get brought up eventually. He moved away from Cleo as she griped at him, grinding his teeth slightly. “I don’t want you there,” he told her. “It’s not safe for you or the baby.” God, he’d had to go through this with Becky, now Cleo. Why the hell did people want to hang around while he was a monster beating himself into the bars of the cage? It wasn’t going to do anything but upset Cleo. Plus he didn’t want her, or anybody really, but especially his mate, to see him like that.
Becky looked at Cathair, her brows knitted together. Yeah, this wasn't going well, not at all. She knew Colin well and knew he was upset and she understood, but she also knew that Cleo wasn't likely to give in easily. "There has to be some sort of compromise, Colin." she said gently, doing her best not to seem like she was taking sides. "I mean you know that Cleo is more than welcome to stay here if that is what you two decide, but shouldn't it be a decision the two of you make together?"
This was bound to happen. Colin had been against his sister and Amy being in the house during the full moon. Cathair expected this sort of reaction to the idea of Cleo being there. And Cleo, of course, wanted to be there for her mate. He could also see both sides of the issue. “I can give you a magical sleep potion or a tranquilizer and you’ll sleep the entire time if you’d like,” he offered. “That way Cleo’s in no danger and can stay with you.” It seemed like a reasonable compromise.
"See?" Cleo said matter of factly, her own teeth clenching a bit. "Then everyone can be happy. You'll be asleep and no danger to me. So now you have no argument and I should be able to stay with you." It was their first full moon together and she wanted to be there for him. She wanted to be able to make sure he was alright, even if she'd be unable to protect him the way that she wanted to.
Colin glared at Cathair. It wasn’t a bad suggestion until Cleo acted like it was the only answer and she was getting her way. He chuffed out a strained breath. “I don’t want to be drugged,” he countered. He looked at his mate. “No, you’ll be happy. I don’t want you in the house in case something goes wrong. Why can’t you stay with Becky and Cath where you’ll be safe? I have done this for a fucking year by myself. That is what I want. Do you really want to listen to me beat myself into the bars of my cage all night, Cleo?”
"Don't you dare curse at me." Cleo told him, growing more angry every second. "You've done a lot of things for a 'fucking' year of your life. Doesn't mean they were all good or correct things to do." she pointed out. "No, I don't want to listen to you beat yourself into the bars of a cage, but I don't want you going through this alone either." It was really a mess either way. She didn't want to stay, nor did she want to leave him to his own devices. "If you're tranquilized you would be sleeping, so what's the problem?"
Becky sighed and rubbed the bridge of her nose. This was really not going well. "You two don't have to argue..." she said softly. "There must be something that we can agree on. Colin and I went through this before and he just feels more comfortable being alone than having people in the house." she explained, hoping Cleo would just consent to staying with her and Cath for the full moon. "It's only one night." she said. "We could bring you back first thing the next morning." This was becoming far too complicated.
Colin let out a growl. He did want to be alone that night, dammit. Why was that so hard for people to understand? He didn’t get a chance to say it though, because for once Becky had his back. “That,” he said. “I don’t see what the difference between not wanting you there and not wanting Becky and Amy there. You’re all my family and I don’t want to take a chance of hurting any of you. Jesus. Why is that so hard for you to understand?”
"Because I'm not your sister!" she said, her voice louder than it should have been but more of a hiss than a scream. "I'm the mother of your soon-to-be child. I think it's a little different, Colin Matthews." Okay, so she was angry. She couldn't help it. There was a decided difference between having Becky and her helpless infant in the house and having her in the house. She'd be a cat. She could climb high or hide in small spaces. And he was in a cage and could have been tranquilized for that matter. That would be much different than having him just running around beating himself against the bars.
Cathair let out a long breath. Saints, what a mess. “Cleo, please,” he said. “The last thing we need is Sadhbh’s input here.” His daughter wouldn’t hesitate to snoop in on the grown ups’ conversation and offer her own two bits in. “You’re welcome to stay here. I can understand why you’d want to be there, but I can also understand why Colin doesn’t want you there. At least consider each other’s sides of the argument a moment before getting cross and rowing about it.”
Becky nodded and gently patted Cathair's leg, thankful for his calm demeanor in the midst of all this. "Cathair is right." she commented, her voice still gentle and neutral. "Both of you have valid arguments in this issue, but you're going to have to come to some sort of agreement." she told the pair of them. "And soon." The full moon was quickly approaching after all.
Colin growled again. Partially because Cathair was treating them like children. He’d done this before when Cleo and Becky had been at each other’s throats. For some reason he failed to see, they didn’t have a problem with the Irishman scolding them like he would his daughter. “I don’t want anyone there,” he reiterated. “That is what is safest for everyone. Especially my mate and my child. There is nothing to discuss here.”
It was Cleo's turn to growl. "You're impossible." she hissed, quieter this time and more conscious of the sleeping children in the next room. She was so angry she thought smoke might start coming out of her ears. "Why do you get to make all the decisions when they involve me and our baby?" she questioned. "Why do you have to be alone in all of this? Why would you force me to abandon you when you need someone the most?"
He growled again and got up from the couch, biting down on the inside of his cheek to keep from starting in on the way she was guilt tripping him and exaggerating. “And you’re hormonal,” he shot back. “And we’re leaving. That is if you’re okay with that. Since I’m apparently a dictator who never lets you have any say when you were the one who cornered me every time I didn’t do exactly what you wanted.”
Becky visibly shuddered. Yeah, that wasn't going to go over well. Calling a pregnant woman hormonal just got a whole lot of grief. She got up instantly in hopes of keeping Cleo from exploding. "You two need to cool down before you both start saying things you don't mean." she said, mostly talking to her brother who had a temper for sure, but not leaving Cleo out of this situation either. She didn't really want Colin driving while he was angry, but she also didn't want him angry with her for trying to stop him either. "You better be careful on your way home." she warned, giving him a look he was most definitely used to receiving from his sister. "Do you hear me?"
Colin threw up his hands as his sister started in on him. “Now I can’t fucking drive either!” Yeah, too loud and that earned him a glare from Cathair. He couldn’t bring himself to apologize too much. “I am not going to drive recklessly with Cleo in the damned truck. Jesus. Apparently, nobody trusts my judgment at all anymore.” He couldn’t even leave someone else’s house to avoid dragging them into an argument anymore than they already were without getting flak.
Becky gave him another look, this time more angry with him. "I didn't say that." she told him, moving closer to her brother and gently tapping his cheek with her open palm. "You're my brother and you're angry and angry people don't drive as well as calm ones. I would have said the same thing to Cleo if she were driving or Cathair if he was. Now don't you get an attitude with me." She sighed and slipped her arms around her brother, giving him a little squeeze. "Just be careful and calm down, okay?" she murmured, a bit more quietly.
Cathair nearly warned Rebecca that she wasn’t helping, but Colin apparently was calm enough not to be too upset at his sister. And the hug did seem to calm him. “If he needs a drive to calm down, I can give you a lift home, colleen,” he offered to Cleo. Maybe a chance to vent her side would help the werecat be a little more reasonable. Same went for Colin having some time to catch his breath. It was an idea.
Cleo nodded. "Maybe you should drive home alone." she told Colin, still too angry with him to even be able to see straight. "Not like you want me around anymore." she muttered. It was hurtful and untrue, but she was angry and not really caring at that moment. Walking away from the group, she collected her coat from the closet and slipped it on before stepping out of the house and waiting for whoever decided to bring her home.
Any calming effect Becky’s hug had had was completely destroyed by that. Colin looked like Cleo had literally punched him in the gut. Then he got angry again and only managed to set Becky away so she didn’t get knocked over when he went after his mate. Cleo was playing more unfairly than she knew. The threat and accusation were physically painful. But he refused to play her guilt trip mindgames. “Get in the truck,” he growled as he headed for it himself. “You’ve been around your cousin too long. Usually she’s the one who acts like a bitch for no reason.”
Cleo was left with her mouth hanging open at his words. It took her a moment to recover from his words, but when she did, she was just more angry. "Fuck you." she replied, then turned away from him. "You don't get to tell me what to do. I don't want to go anywhere with you. I'm too much of a bitch."
Cathair was still sitting on the couch, but since they were basically yelling at each other on the lawn, he could hear their words quite clearly. “Pity we can’t just spank them both,” he commented wryly to his fiance. “I think they’ve completely forgotten what they’re rowing about.”
Becky sighed and walked over to her fiance, crawling into his lap and resting her head against his chest. "They're absolutely ridiculous. They're both angry with one another for wanting to protect and be there for the other one. My head is starting to hurt from their lover's spat." she muttered.
He was getting dangerously close to wolfing out. “Fine,” Colin snapped. “You can tell Cathair how mean I am and how badly I treat you when he drives you home. If you don’t just decide that I’m too much a bastard for trying to protect you and the baby the one night a month I’m the biggest danger to you both.” Okay, he was playing her mindgame. But she started it, dammit. He got in the truck and started the engine.
Cleo clenched her fists so tightly that her fingers hurt. She wanted to punch him, she was so angry. She could feel her pulse pounding in her ears. "Fine." she hissed through clenched teeth, turning and walking back to the door, pulling it open and walking back inside. "I'm not going home with him. Will you please give me a ride?"
Cathair had wrapped Becky up in his arms and was rubbing her back when Cleo came back. He was concerned about both weres, but more with Colin. “You don’t really think he can leave without you, colleen,” he pointed out wearily. “He’s mated to you. No matter how cross he gets, he can’t just leave you. That’s why he’s not driven off.” Cleo knew this. But she was probably too cross to process it.
She knew well and good he couldn't leave without her, but that didn't mean he couldn't go home alone. She clenched her teeth tighter, jaws hurting from the strain. "He can drive home just fine without me." she told Cath. "If he wants to be so cross, he can be cross all the way home on his own."
The Irish witch sighed and reluctantly moved his fiancee off his lap. There was no sense in continuing to argue about it, especially on the front lawn and he’d really prefer they take their row back to their own home. “I’ll get my keys,” he said as he stood up, dropping a kiss atop Becky’s head as he went to gather his things.
"Thank you." Cleo said with a little relieved sigh. Closing the door again, she leaned back against the wall and covered her face with her hands. She wanted to scream, or perhaps to cry. Honestly she wasn't quite sure which she wanted more.
Colin slammed the truck into reverse and couldn’t make himself do anything else. The mate bond was too strong and he just couldn’t leave her there. Not to mention the fact he could see she was about to cry and he knew it was his fault and he kind of felt like an asshole even if she had been totally unreasonable and said things to him that made him afraid she was actually considering leaving him over this. He slammed his hand into the steering wheel.
Cleo scrubbed her hands down her face and glanced out the window at the truck still sitting in the driveway. He hadn't left. Even with as angry at her as he was, he hadn't left her. She glanced over at Cathair who was coming back with his keys and she sighed. "I'm sorry for the mess we've caused. I'll just go home with him." she told the man. "Thank you for being willing to drive me home. And for a lovely evening. I'll see you both later." And with that, she left the house, closing the door behind her and trudging to the truck. She climbed in without a word and put on her seat belt. Once she was strapped in, she leaned her head against the window and did her best to hold her emotions together.
Cathair held in his frustration and just nodded. “It’s fine,” he assured her. He waited until Cleo had left to scrub his hands down his face. “Well, that was horrible.” He walked back over to the couch where Becky was. “Let’s go to bed. I feel like I just went about with Sadhbh about eating broccoli.” Which was an argument that never ended well.
Becky couldn't help but chuckle at that. Getting up from the sofa, she moved to her fiance and slipped her arms around his middle. "Young love." she teased, a grin sliding over her lips. "I'm so very glad you're only a witch." she murmured, leaning up to catch his lips in a little kiss. "I'd want to stay with you too on the full moon if we were in that position."
“Then I’m bloody glad I’m too old for that rubbish,” he countered as he wrapped his arms around Becky in turn. “You would, but you’d also not accuse me of not wanting you around anymore if I wanted you to take the girls and clear off for the night. They’re both ‘round the twist.” He kissed her back. “Now let’s go to bed. They’ll work it out.”
"True." she agreed. "But you'd never not want me around anyway." she smiled. "I'm too much of an angel." she winked, releasing him and heading off towards the bedroom. "Come on, lover boy."
Colin was vastly relieved when Cleo got in the car, even when she didn’t say anything and wouldn’t look at him. He calmed down enough he didn’t want to tear off recklessly. He put on his own seatbelt and pulled out of the driveway without saying anything. It was awkward and the tension sucked, but at least she was there.
Cleo felt badly for the things she'd said but she'd just been so angry that she wanted to get some sort of reaction from him. She'd certainly gotten what she wanted. He was angry. And he had every right to be, she knew. The car ride home was quiet and awkward but she didn't say a word. She didn't even speak once they'd reached their home and had gotten inside. Removing her jacket, she tucked it in the closet and made her way down the stairs to the basement bedroom they shared in silence. She was quiet for several reasons, the biggest being that she didn't even know what to say to make things better. Removing her shoes, she began to get ready for bed, locating a cotton nightshirt and heaving a sigh as she changed into it.
Colin didn’t know what to say or do either, all he knew was he wasn’t going downstairs. There were other places he could sleep that night. He couldn’t leave her, but he wasn’t going to force his presence on her any more than he already had. The honeymoon on the whole mating thing was clearly over. He headed into what used to be Becky’s room and started undressing. Jesus, this sucked.
Once she finished dressing for bed, Cleo settled on the edge of Colin's mattress and she listened. She heard him moving around upstairs and knew that those footsteps were nowhere near heading in her direction. For a long moment she just sat there, hoping that he'd come down those stairs and they could kiss and make up and whimper apologies before curling up with one another, but that didn't happen. She swallowed down the lump in her throat and bent forward, her hands covering her face as the tears seemed to well up all over again. Unlike earlier, she was unable to bite them back this time.
Colin was fighting his own instincts here. He wanted to go downstairs and tell her he wasn’t angry at her, still loved her, and try to explain. But she’d made it clear she didn’t want to listen. Maybe she was hormonal and the mood swing would pass. The real reason was that he was afraid if they started arguing again he would wolf out and hurt her. He could spend one night upstairs if it meant not attacking her because they were arguing.
Her heart ached. Her mother had once told her to never go to bed angry, but there she was about to do just that. She tried to lie there in the bed without him but it felt cold and more than a little lonely. She was so used to his warm body next to her own that within a half hour, she was up from the bed again and slowly trudging up the basement stairs. She wiped at her eyes, not wanting him to know she'd been crying as she reached the room he was in and leaned against the doorframe. "I'm sorry." she finally whispered, blinking furiously. "Please don't be angry with me anymore..."
Colin couldn’t believe how much her footsteps coming towards him made him feel better. Even when he smelled her tears and heard her sniffling. He let out a long breath and turned on the lamp next to the bed. “I’m not angry at you, Cleo,” he told her honestly. “I just didn’t want to fight anymore. I almost lost my temper in a bad way there. It wasn’t worth taking the chance of wolfing out on round two.” She was a born were, she didn’t understand what it felt like to lose control and become that monster. It wasn’t him, and he was rightfully terrified of it. Especially if it could be her he hurt. “I’m sorry too,” he added. “For what it’s worth.”
Cleo wiped at her eyes, angry with herself for being so damned upset. "I don't want to fight anymore either." she breathed. "I don't want to be the one that makes you so angry you're afraid that you're going to hurt me either..." Which terrified her if she was being perfectly honest. She knew how to push his buttons and she'd just gone ahead and kept doing it, knowing well and good what it could do to him. "I shouldn't have said what I said." she whimpered. "But I just want to be there for you, Colin. Can't you understand that? I understand you don't want me hurt, but being away from you hurts. Especially knowing that you'd be suffering all on your own. It's not fair of you to ask me to do that..."
Colin let out a long breath and gave in to the urge to cross the room to her. He wrapped Cleo up in his arms and nuzzled her cheek softly. “You weren’t the only one saying shit they shouldn’t have,” he reminded her. “I was just as much of a dick to you as you were a bitch to me.” He couldn’t even remember who started it. But they’d both been totally out of line. “I do understand that, Cleo. But you don’t understand what you’re asking. Its not what you think it is. That thing I turn into isn’t me. I’m basically trapped in a monster for the entire night. I have no control over what I do or even what I think. I don’t remember most of it, but what I do scares me to death. The thought of you being alone in the house with that, with even the slightest chance me getting loose and hurting you, makes me terrified. Terrified enough I’d rather have you upset at me than take the chance.”
She held tight to him and for the first time let his words sink in. She didn't understand what it was like to lose control like that. She didn't understand the fear that would go through a person who was forced to live with such a thing every day of their life. "I'll stay with Becky." she whimpered. "But I am coming home at dawn." she warned him, not budging on that fact. "And you should let Cathair tranquilize you regardless. It's not fair that you have to suffer..."
He never wanted her to know. Never wanted her to see him like that. See that monster that he became. Maybe that was why she didn’t understand. Becky either. Because they’d never seen it. Colin could live the rest of his life if no one ever did, even if that meant having arguments about it every full moon about it. “Thank you,” he said, pressing his forehead to hers. “Okay, but he has to do it before sunset. I know he thinks he’s a badass hunter with a plan for everything, but Becky would never forgive me if I broke him because his Irish luck finally ran out.”
She was thankful that he was at least bending a little. "Okay." she murmured, nodding ever so slightly. "I love you, Colin. I just want you safe. I just want to be there for you and protect you the same as you do for me." Letting out a little sigh, she managed a smile. "And I want you to come to bed because I can't sleep without you..."
Colin nodded. “I know,” he told her. “But I need you to trust me on this one. The best thing you can do for me that night is to be safe yourself. Knowing that makes me feel better than you can ever know.” He laughed softly. “You think I was sleeping? I’ve been fighting the urge to crawl to you whimpering for forgiveness since you threatened to make me come home alone. I have no fucking clue how I managed to stay up here this long.”
"I just wanted to hurt you..." she admitted. "I would have come home eventually, you know that... right?" she murmured. She knew she'd been out of line, but she also knew she was just as hopelessly attached to Colin as he was to her.
She’d definitely succeeded. It still hurt, even though he knew she didn’t mean anything she said. “I was just as out of line,” he reminded her. “Except the thing about your cousin being a bitch for no reason. But the rest of it, I didn’t mean.” He leaned down and kissed Cleo. “I do now,” he assured her. “And that’s all that matters.”
"I'm really not as bad as Isis, am I?" she asked him once their lips had parted. She loved her cousin, dearly, but Isis was certainly the person they were thinking of when they coined the phrase 'catty bitch'.
Colin laughed. “God no,” he assured her. “Isis is in a class of bitch all her own. You were just angry at me. For a good reason. I know that. I didn’t want to hurt you so much as make you care you were hurting me. The idea of hurting you in any way makes me sick. But the whole guilt trip mindgame trap was pretty much a knife in the back. I didn’t see it coming and I don’t know how to deal with it. Sorry. I warned you I was bad at coping with stuff in general.”
Cleo let out a little breath and lifted both hands to her lover's face. "I didn't mean to guilt trip you. I didn't mean to be such a royal, grade A cunt either." she admitted, feeling ashamed of herself. "I am never going to leave you. Even if you are a bastard sometimes." she murmured. "You're right. I was angry, and hormonal, and picking a fight like a spoilt child because I didn't get what I wanted. I had no right to make you feel that way and I'm truly sorry."
Okay, that wasn’t what he’d been trying for, not that he didn’t appreciate the apology. “Hey, I wasn’t acting any better,” he reminded her. “I charged into that trap headfirst and then was stupid enough to get even more angry about it. I was a total bastard and I deserved it. So let’s just not ever do that again because it sucked.” He kissed her again. “Well, you’re excused from not doing the hormonal thing. You’re pregnant. It’s gonna happen. I’ll figure something out to deal with it.”
"Hopefully I got it out of my system and it won't be so bad the rest of the way through." she murmured, heaving a sigh. She certainly didn't want episodes like this every single time they had a disagreement. "We're utterly ridiculous, love." she murmured, shaking her head a bit. "Our baby is going to think that we're bloody mad."
Colin kissed Cleo again. “I’ll take ‘out of your system for tonight’,” he told her. “In my experience, the hormones don’t go away until the screaming baby comes.” He chuckled and nodded. “That goes without saying. Everybody thinks their parents are nuts. Until they become parents and realize it’s the kids that make parents nuts.”
She smiled at him and kissed him once more, glad they were over the fighting. "Come to bed. It's cold without you." she breathed. "Quickly or I'm sleeping as a cat." she teased, reluctantly pulling away from him and turning to head towards their room.
He chuckled again and quickly caught up to her, wrapping his arms around Cleo from behind. “You act like I’m going to say ‘No, I want to sleep by myself and toss and turn and wonder if I drove away the best thing that happened to be because I couldn’t tell her how afraid I was of hurting her when I have no control over myself.’ We already covered that part. Now we get onto the kissing and making up. So scoot.”
She giggled when he caught hold of her. "You better not want to sleep by yourself." she grinned, turning her head to look at him. Catching his lower lip, she gave it a little suck, eyes fixing to his. "Kissing and making up sounds perfect."