Before I knew it weeks had passed. I had fallen into a routine. Carter was certainly invested in getting me out of the house often and honestly I had started looking forward to it. Occasionally he had something planned with Spence and Maya but most of the time we were just going on random adventures. I genuinely enjoyed Carter's company. It was scary at times how much alike we were. He knew when I needed space and was respectful of my boundaries.

On the other hand, Orion and I were not doing well with this space. The first week we would face time and talk every night, and text during the day. But the next week the texts were less and anytime he'd called it was almost immediately interrupted by whatever he was doing. And the next week he had called to tell me he couldn't come back yet. He offered to come home for a day or two but I told him it wasn't worth the drive, he was already spread thin and exhausted and I didn't want to add to the stress.

Which brings us to now, nearly 5 weeks later. I'd never in my life felt such a feeling of longing. We weren't even together for 5 weeks yet 5 weeks without him and I felt upset, but more than that I felt angry. Angry that I felt so much for him that I was driving myself crazy. And if much more time passes I'll force myself to detach from him because I cannot handle this feeling of having no control over my self and my emotions.

~~

"What in the world are you doing?" Carter laughed at me, walking outside where I was. I huffed and flipped him off. "What does it look like I'm doing?" He chucked, crossing his arms as he observed me. "Well, clearly you're digging a hole silly. But like, why?" "To throw your dead body in." I grumbled and he laughed. "Lilith, I know you're much too smart for that." I couldn't help but laugh and I stopped, looking up at him. "I had a sudden urge to have a pond." He laughed but nonetheless, walked over to me. He pulled off his shirt and tossed it to the side before grabbing the shovel from me. "I'm perfectly capable." I rolled my eyes. He smirked, leaning closer to me. "Yeah, but now you can enjoy the view without the work." I laughed, pushing him playfully. "Fine. You won't see me complain about free labor." I shrugged walking inside.

I came back out maybe 10 minutes later to see Carter vibing to my 2010's playlist. I stifled a laugh as I walked over to him. I handed him the fresh lemonade and he took it and gulped it down. It wasn't too hot today but I know from experience that even 10 minutes of digging will have you sweating your ass off. "So what's the plan Lil?" He asked, referring to the pond. Honestly he had about doubled the size of the hole I had been digging for the last hour and a half. I shrugged. "I don't know yet. Where do they even sell ponds?" He burst out laughing. "Fuck if I know." I joined in on his laughing.

~~

We sat outside for a while, looking up pictures of ponds until I found a style I liked. I really hadn't put much thought into it before I started digging a hole but I needed something to distract my brain for a while.

"Okay okay, let's go." Carter groaned as I added another plant to the cart. "Shush, I want it to look nice and peaceful and cohesive." He rolled his eyes. "Why don't we just start with what you have and see how it looks." He suggested. I looked over the cart before nodding reluctantly. We walked towards the check out and since there was no one else here, the man immediately started scanning items. I gave him a friendly smile. "Hi! I called ahead about the lagoon pond and the grey stones." He nodded. "Ah, yes! We have those pulled out in back for you. Let me let them know you're here real quick so they can bring them around." He said and I smiled, nodding.

After we had finished checking out and everything was loaded into the back of my suv, I sat in the driver seat with a sigh of relief. As I turned the car on, my phone dinged.

I miss you so fucking much, my love. I wish I was home with you more than anything.

I sighed, putting it back in my pocket, making a mental note to respond when we got back to my house. "Take solace in the fact that he's never really cared to come home in a timely manner before. Ry has always bounced around a lot." Carter said softly to me. I nodded. "This is the reason I don't get attached to people." I mumbled. He sighed beside me. "Are you going to detach from me when I go home to?" He asked and I looked up at him. He looked genuinely curious and I shrugged. "Any type of relationship is hard for me to manage. The more space, the easier it is for me to be without someone, which makes my brain think I don't need them for anything anymore. I don't know, It's a weird fucked up coping mechanism I developed a long time ago." He hummed. "How does that work with Spence and Maya? Spence has been on quite a few long trips since he's been in the life." I laughed. "I always say they're grandfathered in, we've been friends for so long that they're like hardwired into my brain as part of my life. I know no matter what, they'll always be there. They'll always come back. It's just different." He nodded. "I get it. When you've been hurt in life it's easier to do things the simple way, alone." I glanced at him and nodded.

"You actually remind me a lot of Spence." I said which made him chuckle. "How so?" "It's your demeanor. Cocky, sarcastic, funny, but easygoing and go with the flow. You let things roll off you and don't take things too seriously. It's comforting." He smiled. "I learned a long time ago there's very few things in life that are truly worth getting upset about. Call it my coping mechanism, I would have never survived this life without it." I grinned at him.

~~

We unloaded the car and put everything on my back porch before we called it a night. I thanked him for his help today before he left. I was honestly pretty tired by the end of all that and ended up laying down.

I was having a nice dream when I woke up to a loud sound. I sat up in bed, listening intently. When I heard the sound of my front door I reached into the bottom drawer of my nightstand and pulled out the black hand gun. There was still a little light left outside, illuminating my room softly. I sat up on my knees and kept it aimed at the doorway. When the figure came into view I let out a big breath and immediately put the safety back on. "You always surprise me." The sound of his voice filled me with a sense of security.

I put the gun back into the drawer, closing it before getting out of bed. I wrapped my arms around him, nuzzling my face into his neck and he lifted me off the ground. He breathed me in deeply. "God I've fucking missed you, angel." I couldn't help the smile on my face as I pulled back to look at him. "Why didn't you tell me you were coming home?" I asked, taking the opportunity to really look at him. "I wanted to surprise you." I grinned, but the smile faded pretty quickly.

He looked like hell. He had some healing bruises on his face and he just looked run down. "I'm glad you're back." I said softly, rubbing my thumbs against his cheeks. I kissed him softly and his grip on me tightened as he pulled me more into him. And any doubt I had about us melted away in that instant. I threaded my fingers in his hair and he walked towards the bed, sitting on the edge of it with me in his lap. We parted and he gave me a soft smile. "You look tired." I said gently. "Tired can't even begin to describe how I've felt these past weeks. I'm not doing that shit ever again." "Going out of town for work?" I asked and he chuckled softly. "Leaving you for that long. I can put up with a lot of long nights and bullshit that comes with my job but not being near you for that long was the most exhausting feeling I've ever felt." He sounded so sure of himself and it made my heart melt.

"Why don't you take a shower and I'll make something to eat." I suggested. He chuckled darkly, a light shining through his tired features. "I don't need a shower. I need you. In every way possible, to touch you, feel you, taste you, please you. You're my cure-all and I'm in desperate need." Before I had time to even mutter a reaction I was on my back on the bed. Orion stood and started removing his clothes. I watched excitedly as he hurriedly discarded everything on my floor, leaving him completely naked. I let out a hum in appreciation and he walked closer to me. He wrapped a hand around my throat and leaned down so his lips were millimeters from mine. "Tell me you need me as much as I need you. I need to hear you say it baby." He said huskily, his breathing accelerating.

I was too eager to give him exactly what he wanted. "I need you, Ry." I breathed and he smirked. "Probably more than you could ever need me." I added. "Impossible." He mumbled against my lips as he kissed me deeply. His hands slid up my thighs, pulling down the panties I had on and tossing them somewhere, without breaking the kiss. Then his hands slid up my thighs again, sending goosebumps in a wave down my body. His hands followed the outline of my hips and he reached just before my armpits, he broke away to lift the big shirt over my head, leaving me completely naked.

"Fuck, look at you." He muttered, starting down at me in awe. He pushed me back on the bed and spread my legs wide. He smirked, pushing two fingers inside me. I moaned, pushing my hips into him and he chuckled. "You're so fucking wet for me already. Have you touched yourself without me since I've been gone, angel?" His eyes met mine and I nodded softly. He tsk'd. "Did you use your little toys too?" I gave him another nod, moaning as his thumb circled my clit. "Did they satisfy you like I do?" I let out a shaky groan as I felt his breath hit my opening. His tongue slid up the length of me and I fisted the sheets. "Answer me, Lilith." "No. God no. Nothing could satisfy me like you, Ry." I said honestly, and he smiled, hearing exactly what he wanted to. "Good." He said with finality before he ate me out like I was his last fucking meal.

~~

I slept better than I had in weeks. Orions warmth wrapped around me and easily put me to sleep peacefully. It didn't hurt that we went round after round for hours until both of us were exhausted. As much as I thoroughly enjoy being alone, I really did miss having him around.

I was up relatively early (for me at least). Orion was still soundly asleep in bed when I went into the kitchen to cook breakfast. I know he didn't eat last night so I made sure to make a lot.

As I was frying up bacon the front door opened. In walked Carter, as chirpy as ever. He sat at the kitchen island and grinned at me. "Well good morning, sunshine. Usually when I get here I'm basically waking you up." He chuckled, grabbing a waffle from the counter. I rolled my eyes at him. "Is there a reason?" He asked, adding butter and syrup to the waffle. I glanced at him and furrowed my eyebrows. He looked genuinely curious. "Did he not tell you?" I asked. He raised his eyebrows at me questioningly. "Huh?"

In walked a gorgeous as ever, shirtless Orion with the craziest bed head. "I'm home." Orion said simply, wrapping his arms around me before kissing me softly. He grinned down at me as he pulled away. "Is this a regular occurrence?" Orion asked as he started picking at the food sitting there. "Wakely's are persistent apparently. He's been forcing me out of the house most days." I said, shrugging. Orion glared at his brother and Carter laughed. "Calm your temper, little brother. I'm always a gentleman." I rolled my eyes at that.

Orion huffed. "Oh yeah, I'm sure you were." He said sarcastically. I laughed, shaking my head. I put some more bacon on the plate before turning around to set it on the counter. "Why are you so worried about if he was a gentleman? You left me alone for five weeks." Both of them looked at me with raised eyebrows. Carter looked amused and Orion looked slightly shocked. "Damn. And I thought it was just me she had an attitude with all the time." Carter said, chomping on the waffle and I rolled my eyes at him. Orions shoulders relaxed quickly when he realized I was just messing with him. I laughed slightly before kissing him quickly. I turned back around to finish the rest of the bacon.

~~

"And you decided this yesterday?" Orion asked me. I shrugged. "It'll make the backyard more cozy." I said and he chuckled. He glanced over everything we had done yesterday and nodded. Him and Carter started conversing about the right way to go about things and I sat down on the outdoor sofa a few feet away. "Are you planning on putting fish in here?" Orion asked and a shrugged. "Probably not, I'd end up forgetting them." He nodded and they started talking again. I laughed, enjoying the view. "What's so funny?" Carter asked, his arms crossed.

"The two of you." They both shot me the exact same glare. "It's cute how you guys are just acting like you know how to build a whole pond set up." I smirked. "To be fair, I did listen to that guy at the store drone on about it for nearly an hour." Carter said, scratching his head. I chuckled and Orion walked over to me. "Oh don't you worry, my love. You'll have the best fucking pond you've ever seen." He said, leaning down towards me. "Oh yeah? What are you gonna do, throw money at it?" He chuckled lightly. "Very funny. The Wakely boys might be known for getting their hands dirty in a different sense, but there is a little bit of brain behind the beauty." He kissed me quickly before going back to Carter. I laughed. "We'll see." I mumbled to myself, getting comfortable.

~~

After a while I got bored and went inside. I made some blackened salmon and seasoned rice for lunch as well as some iced passion fruit green tea. I figured the lest I could do was feed them. I opened the back door and walked outside onto the patio. I smirked as I watched them for a few minutes. Both sweaty with their shirts off, the sight was every woman's dream. Orion looked up and caught my eye, stopping when he saw me starring. "This is reminding me of a dream I had." I said, grinning at them. Orion raised his eyebrows when I smiled suggestively. "Which part specifically?" Carter asked and I chuckled. "I made lunch." I said simply, smirking before turning on my heels and going back inside.

I plated their food as they walked in. "It's looking pretty decent so far." I said. Orion chuckled, sitting down in front of me at the island. I sat a plate in front of him and did the same for Carter when he sat next to him. "Thanks, I've done most of the work." Carter grinned and Orion rolled his eyes. "If by most of the work you mean complaining about everything for 15 minutes before you actually do it, sure." Orion mumbled out, stuffing his face. "Now boys, behave. Be good little children and eat up." I couldn't help but smirk as I said it, being that I was the youngest in the room. Both of them glanced up at me but ate silently. I smiled in satisfaction and poured them drinks.