Marcellus frowned. "I-I thought you wanted to go back home with me. I thought you wanted to live a normal life." Marcellus reached out and stroked his arm. "We're newly mated. I really thought that we would be able to go back home together and cement what we started."
Wes frowned. "I'm sorry, but I'm not ready to settle down just yet." He reached out and touched Cellus on the cheek. "I'm happy that you're here, but the thing is, I just need you here to support me right now. I can't give up just when my career is starting." Wes beamed at him. "Do you think you can support me?"
Marcellus' face tightened before he relaxed again. Wes worried that he'd stepped over the line, but Cellus finally smiled and then kissed him gently. He kissed his neck and shoulder softly.
"I want to," Cellus whispered. "I really do, but this is so much..." He trailed off and stared at a nearby wall. "I need some time to think, Wes. I have no idea what I'm feeling right now."
Wes' heart sank. He'd thought Marcellus would be on the exact same page as him, but that clearly wasn't going to happen. His stomach fluttered nervously, and he prayed they could reach some kind of agreement. Otherwise, what were they going to do?
Ten
Marcellus
Marcellus never expected that he was going to have to stay in Paris. He had a home, a family, and so did Wes. They'd talked about it before—going back there and being with their family. He had been so happy to hear that Wes wanted to go back, or at least he had talked about it positively. Had he misread the entire situation?
"Are you angry with me?" Wes had gone into the bedroom, and when he came back, he was in a long, grey jumper and black boxers. He tugged at the sleeves. "Usually you're in the bedroom before I can even get changed."
"No," Marcellus shook his head. "I'm not angry at you. I'm just thinking."
Wes walked over to the couch and balanced his elbows on his knees. The look of concern on his face made Marcellus want to pull Wes into his lap and hold onto him, but he was still torn. Living in Paris had never been part of the plan.
"Then why won't you touch me?"
Marcellus' heart broke. "I will always touch you. I'm sorry, I was just lost in my own head." He grabbed Wes and pulled his omega onto his lap. No matter how conflicted he was, he wasn't going to make Wes feel bad. That just wasn't who he was. "Is that better?"
Wes' face softened. He purred, literally purred. Marcellus' eyes went wide, and he blinked at his mate.
"Are... are you fuckingpurring?"
Wes stopped, and his cheeks reddened. "S-sorry. Sometimes it happens if I'm really sad and then get really happy."
Marcellus drew patterns on Wes' thigh. "Did I make you sad?"
His omega shrugged. "I'm just worried that you're upset, and thinking about you being upset with me makes my stomach hurt." He wrapped an arm around his belly.
"Well, I'm not upset, so don't stop purring."
Wes' purring picked up speed. The deep, vibrating rumbles moved through Marcellus' chest. Surprisingly, they were pretty soothing.
"Wes?" Cellus asked quietly as his mate nuzzled against his chest.
"Hmm?"
Marcellus frowned. "I don't want you to get upset again, but I have to ask. Why did you accept my mark if you didn't plan on being with me? I thought we were going to go home, have our home, start a life." He bit his lip. "Have a few pups."
"You mean cubs." Wes smiled up at him and then his face went serious again. "What do you mean, though? I do plan on being with you." His hand flitted up to his mark, and he rubbed it. "I want to be with you all the time."
"How are we going to do that when you don't want to come home with me?" Marcellus stroked a hand up Wes' back.
"You could stay here." Wes gave him those huge, sweet eyes, and Marcellus’ heart sped up. "What's so wrong with staying here? You could work from your laptop like you've been doing."
"I could, but I don't want to work from my computer all the time, Wes." He frowned. "I miss home. I miss my brothers and my nieces and nephews."
Wes reached up and cradled his cheeks. "I know you do. I want to go see them, and there's nothing saying we can't visit them, but this is my dream, Marcellus." He frowned. "I don't want to lose out on it. I've worked for this my whole life."
How could Marcellus say no to that face? It made his heart ache to think of Wes giving up his dream and what he wanted. He didn't want his mate to have to do that. It wasn't fair. Of course it still hurt. Cellus had so many plans for them to return home and settle down, and now they were all slipping away. It wouldn't be the same as being home. Marcellus hadn't considered the possibility that he had to go out and make a home somewhere else.
"It's okay," Marcellus said finally. "This is different from what I expected, but I don't want you to do anything that doesn't make you completely happy."
