Page 150 of Dark Haven Omegaverse

“Yours, too. That trauma and those memories are real, you are real, Hiro,” I said before he could let that get too far into his mind.

He nodded. “You’re right.” He almost looked relieved to hear it. “I’m almost afraid if the trauma gets better, if we talk about it, that I’ll disappear.”

I shook my head. “Your trauma doesn’t just go away when you talk about it. It may get easier to handle, but there willalways be triggers or moments that bring it right back. You’re a part of Roman and all of us.”

It was not something we could truly promise Hiro and he knew it, but us wanting to believe it had to be enough.

“God, it feels so good to hear that,” he admits. “I’ve been dwelling on this shit from the moment I found out.”

“Talk to us when that happens,” Drake growled. Hiro looked up at him and smirked.

“Yes, Alpha,” he teased, earning a glare. But then his face fell and he let out a shaky breath. “You guys almost make me feel normal sometimes. I never thought we’d find someone or multiple people who give a shit about us, much less to be in a relationship with.”

“We all thought that. This is why we’re fighting so hard to take back Dark Haven,” I said. “We deserve to have this.” I gestured between the three of us, and Drake nodded, though he didn’t add more.

We fell into silence while Hiro found his thoughts again. My fingers trailed over his arm, hoping it would help soothe him and ground him while he relived the awful memories that had held them captive for far too long.

Hiro gripped onto our hands as he started. “My mom and dad both hated us. I found out later it was because she cheated on him with another alpha. But she just saw us as something to blame her troubles on when the truth came out. It started with words. I can still hear her shrill voice telling us how we ruined her life, and Dad’s angry yells calling us bastards. Then the physical shit started. A fist, a belt, a beer bottle, whatever he could reach. She’d just sit back and watch, a smug smile on her face as if we were getting what we deserved.”

“I’m so sorry,” I whispered, squeezing him back. He nodded but didn’t let it stop him even as tears spilled from his eyes.

“Our family knew and they did nothing. No one saved us. At least not until Roman... wait, Hiro died. I don’t know if I’m remembering this part as well because it’s a bit foggy. Our dad picked up a golf club this time. Roman took the first hits, then me, then him. I guess it was Hiro that died, though we were both near death.”

“How did you get out?” Drake prompted when he got lost in the memories for too long.

“A neighbor called it in, heard our screams of pain, I guess,” he said. “The cops came, and they both got locked up. We weren’t even allowed to go to the funeral for... Hiro. Then I ended up a ward of the state, hopping from home to home and ward to ward. Because from that day on, Roman and I shared a body. We tried to hide it at first, but the blackouts and changes were unsettling to the foster parents, I guess. We kept changing names and personalities, I’m sure that freaked them out, too. Finally, we were diagnosed. I guess no one wanted to tell us the truth.”

He laid his head back against Drake’s shoulder, exhausted now. Nothing drains you like facing your inner demons.

“You’re a badass Hiro, never think anything different. You both found a way to survive and now to thrive,” I reminded him. “Give yourself some credit.”

“Now Vane is dead. Your demons are out in the open, it’s only up from here, right?” Drake sounded so unsure of his pep talk, we both burst out laughing and he huffed like he was offended, but from the gleam in his eyes it did what he wanted, broke the tension.

“So, now what?” I asked.

“I wish we could order pizza and just veg out today, watching some TV or something,” Hiro said.

“You know we’ve been cooped up too long when pizza sounds like heaven.” I laughed.

“Pizza is life,” Hiro said with a laugh that felt slightly unhinged.

“I’ll grab pizza, what do you like?” Drake asked. “I’ve left several times; I’m not actually ordered to be here.”

“Wait . . . what?” Hiro said.

“It makes sense since you’re half demon, I just never considered it.” I laughed. “And you chose us crazies?”

“I like my lovers to be a little unhinged,” he teased as he stood and changed his clothes. Both of us watched as he bared his skin for us.

Hiro tapped my chin. “You’re drooling, babe.” I flipped him off as I grabbed Drake’s laptop off his desk.

“You have movies on here?” I asked since we didn’t have access to the usual streaming sites here. We got outdated TV or some terrible movies Nurse Drew brought in on weekends.

“Yeah, just click the entertainment folder,” he said as he tucked his wallet in his jeans. “Any requests?”

“No veggies,” Hiro said, wrinkling his nose.

“Pepperoni and extra cheese?” I asked with my best puppy-dog eyes. He shook his head and left. A soft knock in the distance meant he stopped and asked the others, and that made me appreciate him even more.

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