“I know,” she answered. “I listened to the messages you left.” Pressing a quick kiss to his lips, she added: “and I missed you.” His words drew a raised brow out of the vampire, and she hummed a note of curiosity. “Something for me?”

Levi nodded at Duke’s recounting of their trip, though it was obvious he’d left out several details that the younger vampire might’ve considered major. But he’d leave the talking to the elder, he supposed, until he had firmer standing in the household. His lips pulled up to one corner, and he nodded again. “I get it. And I’m all for it. Fix shit with the family.”

She was trying to brew herself some tea (by hand cause magic was being a little shit to her) but was interrupted but the strange man in the kitchen. “I’ve never met you before in my life. How long have you been living in this house?”

Paris was just the start of it. The redheaded witch had been experiencing temporary amnesia over the past month and began to forget simple spells. Red had woken up with a terrible headache, traipsing to the kitchen to brew herself some tea (by hand of course since she couldn’t remember her spell for fire); her gaze perked up when she heard footsteps approaching, looking at the figure quizzically before speaking up. “Who are you?” 

“…They’ll probably want to know something about what we’ve been doing these past couple of weeks,” Levi replied with a sheepish smile. The fledgling vampire was still not close with the family, and so his anticipations could be based only off of what he expected out of most people. “But, I’ll tell you what–I’ll just follow your lead. We can keep down whatever you want to keep down.” 

Adriana hadn’t been a witness to the final argument that had prompted Duke’s decision to leave–and it had been trying, to say the least, when she’d come home to learn the news from Elias–but it had been obvious that something needed to change. She’d hoped that the change could’ve happened together, but if he’d accomplished it apart he’d accomplished it all the same. Maybe he’d finally gained that same sense of autonomy she’d sent him away for decades earlier.  As he stood before her, she looked up at him–her expression neutral and unassuming. It could have been easy to react angrily, or to start in on a line of questions…but truthfully, she was just glad to see him again. There could be time for all the rest later.  She returned him smile with a small smile of her own, and reached out her hands to brush against his cheeks. “Alright,” she resolved. “Welcome home.”

“Yeah, probably. Though, seriously–I thought you were gone for good.” She scoffed at his mention of drinking the alcohol, and shook her head. “No, there aren’t many other functioning alcoholics around these days.” When he posed his question, she sighed and glanced back towards the house. “’Cause shit is still fucked up, that’s why. Something happened in Paris, but I don’t know what. I don’t even know if my coven entirely knows. But your hybrid witch–the one who’s half leech–she’s weird.”

As someone with far less invested in the clan as opposed to the other family members, Gia had taken Duke and Levi’s departure from the home at face-value. She wasn’t exactly thrilled that the two vampires had flown the coop, but she didn’t invest any feelings of real sadness either–not when there was plenty more to be worried over. Still, she couldn’t help but to feel almost pleasantly surprised to see their return–though as she walked out to the car they’d arrived in, she retained an aloof expression. Leaning against the car, she quirked a brow. “I wonder which is weirder–the fact that you’re back, or that I’m still fucking here.” 

Adriana had hardly welcomed Duke’s decision to leave, but she had made the painful choice to allow him to ride it out as far as it would take him. Dana had accused the family of controlling his choices and preventing him from making his own mistakes–and while Adriana decidedly hated the woman, there was a grain of truth to be found. And so, for as much as his evident absence and troubling voicemails wounded her, Adriana did nothing. When he was gone for a month, she began to question how good of a choice that might have been.  The sudden return of the car to the driveway might’ve sent Adriana’s heart into a tizzy if it still beat–and even without it, she could swear her hands shook as she reached for the door and turned the knob. The vampire stood on the front porch and watched as the two younger men left the car, and she wondered what she ought to say–and she wondered what Duke expected her to say. Unable to decide the appropriate words, she decided instead to wait. Dropping down on the porch, she sat and observed quietly. 

Duke grabbed both suitcases from the trunk of the car, before slamming it shut. He looked up, eyes immediately locking on the small figure sitting on the porch. In his chest, he felt the pang of something painful. A mixture of guilt and grief and longing. There was a part of him that wanted to turn and run again. Far away from Adriana, their home, the conversation that he’d be forced to sit down and have with her. 

But, more than that, he was relieved to see her at all. Even after so long together, decades at one another’s side, Duke found it hard to spend more than a day without her. Or Elias. Or the others. They were his family. When he’d left, Duke felt like he’d let them down more than he could ever make up for. It had hurt him so much he’d rather escape than fix it. “... Adriana.” He mumbled, dropping the bags onto the ground and moving to stand infront of her in an instant. 

“Of course it’ll be fine.” The fledgling offered a cheeky grin to the vampire in the seat beside him as they pulled up to the home, though he felt as though he’d put a slight act on. Levi had been encouraging Duke to return home since he’d initially pulled out of the driveway weeks earlier–and though he was still confident that Duke would be welcomed back, the reality remained that he didn’t know the others very well. He only hoped that the idea he had of the family stretched into a reality. “You’re kidding, right? They’re gonna lose their shit. In a good way!”

Jumping out of the car, Levi came around to the back and looked down at the two bags. Clasping a hand onto Duke’s shoulder, he smiled again. “Why don’t you let me do it?” He nodded in the direction of the house, and added: “you should probably go inside, see everyone, you know?”

He slammed the door shut and looked over at Levi, a small smile on his lips. "They probably won't even care that we're back." Duke shrugged, going to grab his suitcase from the trunk. In his heart of hearts, he knew that wasn't true. Their family was too close, shared too much, for them to suddenly not care anymore. If anything, they'd be happy to have Levi and they'd tolerate Duke. 

But he'd never underestimate their ability to be kind.

"Do you want me to carry this for you?" He called when the trunk swung up, revealing both of their bags.