“What’s this for?” Damien pointed to a small jar of salt I placed in the cart.

“It’s salt. Have you never seasoned your food before?” I asked, shocked.

“Seasoned? I don’t know. I just cook it and done. That’s how my mother taught me.”

I couldn’t help but chuckle. I have a feeling I’m the one who’s going to end up doing most of the cooking. “It should be fine for you to have salt, according to the internet. But you might want to skip out on the pepper.” I held up a small jar of pepper and shook it a bit before placing it in the cart. Damien picked it up, examining the label, then he took off the lid and sniffed it. He quickly jerked it away from himself with a surprised expression on his face, before he scrunched up his nose and sneezed. 

“You put this on meat?” He said, rubbing his nose and glaring at the jar of pepper.

I let out a startled laugh. “Yes, but just a little bit. You aren’t supposed to smell it like that. You’re like a kid.” I elbowed his arm playfully. “Now why don’t you go get the bread and butter while I get the veggies. Then we can head to your place.” A hint of excitement flashed across his face before he nodded firmly and went off in the direction of the bread. He really was like a child.

I examined the veggies looking for the best quality ones until I was suddenly shoved roughly almost tripping over myself. “What the-“ I looked up to see a tall, thin, man with pale skin, blonde almost white hair, and  pale green eyes, looking down on me. He had a menacing look on his face which made me shiver. His terrifying aura kept me frozen in place as he leaned his head closer to me until his mouth was barely touching my ear. He inhaled deeply until muttering a, “sorry,” and walking past me. I listened as his foot steps grew faint, not wanting to turn around. When I couldn’t hear him anymore I finally released the breathe I didn’t even know I was holding. That was weird. What was his problem? I still felt a little antsy until I saw Damien coming around the corner, holding packages of bread and butter. All the tension drained out of me seeing him. Which was a new thing. Back in high school, seeing Damien would be the reason I was scared, but now…

“You okay?” Damien’s eyebrows were furrowed with concern.

“Yeah.”

“Kayden.” Damien spoke firmly.

Remembering that he could probably sense that I was a little shaken I said, “It’s nothing. Just this guy bumped into me and it startled me a bit. I’m okay though.” I smiled at him. He eyed me suspiciously. “Looks like we have everything. Ready?”

He sighed, seeming to drop the subject. He nodded and gave me a little smile which made my heart beat quicken. 

We paid for the groceries and Damien drove us to his apartment. As soon as the door closed behind us, Damien’s wolf ears and tail popped out. He let out a content hum as he threw his arms up and stretched. His ears twitched up and down a few times while his tail moved in a wave kind of motion every few seconds. Then he suddenly froze and starred at me, silently asking if I was okay with the wolf thing. Which I was. He used to hold them in when I was around, until I asked him about it, remembering that it was more comfortable having them out. He said he didn’t want to scare me and I went into a talk about how I wasn’t scared of him. He’s gotten more comfortable with it but he still checks to make sure I’m okay. 

“What does it feel like?” I ask.

“Hm?” 

“Holding them in all day and then finally letting them out.”

“Hm. Kind of like finally taking off a tight and itchy pair of jeans that you’ve been wearing all day. It’s the best feeling honestly.”

“I can imagine.” I chuckled, setting out the ingredients. Damien hovered behind me, watching my every move, curiously.

“You sure I can eat these things.” He said, pointing to the asparagus.

“If a Pomeranian can, I’m sure you’ll be able to as well.” I teased.

“Can’t believe you just compared me to a Pomeranian.” He put his hand over his heart, feigning a hurt expression.

“Aw did I hurt the big bad wolf’s feelings? How dare I.” I joked. Damien just rolled his eyes at me, letting out a soft chuckle.

Damien got two steaks out and set them near me. He was eyeing the seasonings for a while before picking up the pepper, taking the lid off and starting to tilt it over the steak.

“Wait!” I yelled, grabbing his wrist but it was too late. Half the jar of pepper was on the steak. I let out a startled laugh, looking up at Damien who looked utterly confused at why that much came out.

“Is this not what you’re supposed to do? Why’re you laughing?”

I picked the lid back up and snapped it back onto the small jar. I popped open the top revealing tiny holes. “You’re supposed to sprinkle it on like this,” I sprinkled some of it on the other steak. 

Damien watched carefully, glaring at the jar of pepper that had wronged him twice now. “Oh.”

I rinsed the pepper off of Damien’s steak and instructed him to try again with the salt. He did well and looked very proud of his new learned cooking skill. Meanwhile I heated a pan and added just a little bit of butter leaving Damien to cook the steaks while I washed and cut the asparagus and salted them before tossing them in the same pan as the steaks. I had nothing else to do so I stepped from the counter, watching the Damien's back which was turned towards me. His tail was relaxed and so were his ears that were perked up. He was humming lowly, swaying back and forth to the imaginary tune in his head. Something warm and bright started to bubble deep inside me and spread through my viens like wildfire. I felt my chest tighten. It kind of feels like I miss him even though he’s right in front of me. Like there’s an empty spot in my heart that’s begging to be filled by him. It’s an overwhelming feeling and before I know it I pushed myself forward, hugging him from behind. I felt him tense up but I didn’t care. I wanted to feel him in my arms. I needed to.  “Sorry. Just give me a minute.” I mumbled. I wondered if he could sense what I was feeling and felt a little embarrassed and exposed at the thought. Suddenly Damien turned around, wrapping me in his arms. 

“I’ve missed you too, Bee.” He spoke barely above a whisper.