LOGINShare
15. Still Hiding
Last Updated:
2024-11-01 20:54:00
Related chapters
Fluid 16. Didn't Do This
Hawk and Quill followed Lilly through the main floor to her office. She stepped inside, motioning for them to enter. The desk was scattered with a spread of photos from the previous night. At first glance, they appeared harmless enough until Hawk realized what they were. "Wait," he muttered as he bit back a growl. "You were taking photos? What the hell, Lilly. We didn't agree to that."Lilly glanced at him. "Calm down. No photos of either of you were taken. I'm careful with these things. Some guests paid extra to be photographed for custom art pieces or to take the images home. Commissioned works, you know? You're not in any of them. Promise."Quill frowned, eyeing the photos before looking back at her. "Then why bring us here? If we weren't in any of them, what's the point? I don't want to see others... moments.""Well…" she began, glancing between them. "I sign NDAs with all my clients, so I can't show most of these images openly. But Quill, as an artist interested in commission w
Last Updated : 2024-11-02Fluid 17. A Mirror
"You know…" Quill said, his voice edged with frustration as he sketched rough outlines on the notepad in front of him. "I'm happy your dad's eyes don't glow the same color as yours when he's shifted. His wolf is an ugly piece of shit, I remember that much. It should be easy to capture it even though it's been years since I saw him as a wolf. Unfortunately, your wolves are similar enough to jog my memory."A soft throat-clear cut through the air. Quill's hand froze mid-sketch, and Hawk whipped his head toward the door.Lily was leaning against the doorframe, her arms crossed and an unimpressed expression painted on her face. "Don't stop on my account," she said dryly. "I'm dying to hear what else you have to say about these wolves of yours."Quill carefully set the pencil down. "How long have you been standing there?""Long enough," Lily replied, stepping further into the room. "Long enough to hear about the wolves you're so keen on working into this little commission. And definitely l
Last Updated : 2024-12-14Fluid 18. Not That Simple
Hawk stepped out of the shop and headed straight for Fluid. He didn't hesitate. The door was locked, but his key solved that problem quickly enough. Being Lilly's landlord came with a few perks, and he wasn't shy about using them when necessary. Quietly, he slipped inside. Lilly sat behind her desk, papers fanned out in front of her. Her pen clattered to the desk as her head snapped to the door. She stood abruptly. "You broke in? Are you kidding me right now?" "Don't be so dramatic. I didn't break in. I used my key. I'm your landlord. Remember?" She snorted and crossed her arms. "That doesn't mean you can just walk in whenever you feel like it. Boundaries, Hawk. Heard of those?" He shifted slightly. "Boundaries? Funny. You didn't seem to care much about those when Quill let himself in not too long ago." She rolled her eyes. "That was different. Back then, I didn't know you two were lying to me." "We weren't lying." He pushed off the doorframe and took a step forward. "And Quill
Last Updated : 2024-12-14Fluid 19. Always You
Ding. Hawk glanced down at his phone, grinning as another email popped up. Another RSVP for the art show. He hadn't expected the responses to flood in so quickly, but they had. Nearly twenty confirmations arrived within hours of sending the invitation, and they hadn't slowed since. Each one felt like a small victory. Setting the phone aside, Hawk leaned back against the gym counter, scanning the space that would soon host the event. It wasn't exactly the kind of venue most would expect for an art show, and Quill had made sure to voice that opinion. Several times. "It's a gym," Quill had muttered the night before, standing in the middle of the floor with his arms crossed. "It smells like sweat and stale body oil. You're really telling me this is where you want people admiring my work?" "It won't smell like this on the night," Hawk had assured him, hands raised in defense. "I'll clean it. Deep clean it. You won't even recognize it. Trust me." Quill hadn't looked convinced. "Trus
Last Updated : 2024-12-14Fluid 20. Without Letting Him Go
The scent of paint and sawdust lingered in the air, mingling with the faint aroma of fresh coffee that Quill had brewed earlier. The apartment above the building wasn't much yet. Just bare walls, a few mismatched pieces of furniture, and an air mattress shoved against one corner that was doubling as Hawk's bed. A pile of unopened boxes sat near the door, evidence of how chaotic the move had been. Hawk leaned against the small counter in the kitchen, his gaze trailing to where Quill was sprawled out on the mattress, sketchbook in hand. The sun filtered through the large, uncovered windows, highlighting the younger man's furrowed brow as he worked on tattoo designs he planned to offer."You know that sketchbook's going to fall apart, right?" Hawk teased. "Pretty sure you've redrawn the same design ten times now."Quill glanced up, his longer brown hair falling into his face. "It's called refining, genius. You wouldn't get it. Bench-pressing and sketching don't exactly overlap in skill
Last Updated : 2024-12-15Fluid 21. Complicated
Quill woke before dawn. He stared up at the ceiling, willing himself to shake off the remnants of sleep. He'd slept better than he'd had in years. Hawk had only shifted closer throughout the night. He was now pressed against his back with his arm covering his eyes. Quill loved waking up like this. He always had. He rubbed his face, forcing himself upright. His legs swung over the side of the bed, and he stretched until his shoulders cracked. He looked back to Hawk and smiled. Hawk sighed faintly from under his arm but didn't wake up. They had been inching closer again, closing a gap that had stretched far too wide for far too long. Quill had missed this... Missed him.Their rekindled connection was both thrilling and unsettling. They were building something again, piece by piece, but the foundation still felt shaky. It always did when their Dads were involved. Quill couldn't decide if the prospect of losing it again scared him more than the effort it took to hold on to it.He pulled
Last Updated : 2024-12-16Fluid 22. Got A Problem
Lilly perched on the edge of the bed, leaning slightly against Hawk's side, while Quill lingered by the door awkwardly. She glanced between them, ready to tease them solely because of how uncomfortable they both suddenly were. "Are you seriously planning to host Quill's first big art show in a gym?" she asked.Hawk shifted and rubbed his face. "I didn't have many other options."Lilly smiled as she tilted her head. "You didn't have many other options, or you didn't want to think about other options? Big difference."Quill stepped into the room. "I told him it was a bad idea. It's not exactly a flattering venue."Hawk exhaled sharply. "I know. But I did what I had to do."Lilly folded her arms, clearly considering it. "It's clever, I'll give you that. But it still feels... off. I'm sorry I kicked you out and made you even have to think about using the gym."Quill shrugged, though the tension in his shoulders betrayed his discomfort. "You don't need to apologize. It's not like it ruine
Last Updated : 2024-12-16Fluid 23. Together
Quill grabbed his jacket from the back of the chair. He rummaged through a pile of clothes on the floor, muttering under his breath as he pulled on a shirt. Hawk watched him from the bed with his arms crossed."You're leaving?" Hawk asked.Quill didn't answer immediately, his focus on lacing up his boots. "I should get back to my place," he said finally. "Can't have people thinking we're... you know."Hawk leaned forward. "Thinking what?"Quill paused, looking everywhere but at him. "That we're living together. Like... like a couple."Hawk stood, crossing the room in two long strides to stand in front of him. "We're not hiding like that anymore." Quill froze. "So... we're a... couple?"Before Hawk could answer, Lilly laughed loudly. "About time you two figured that out. Now focus. There's a huge, very irate man downstairs."Quill straightened. "My dad?""Brown hair, brown eyes. Yup," Lilly said with a pop of her lips. "And he's in a mood, apparently."Hawk glanced at Quill, then back
Last Updated : 2024-12-16
Latest chapter
Fluid 47. Claim
Quill sat stiffly on the edge of the bed, his fingers intertwined with Lily’s. He didn’t look at her. His focus locked on the metal rails that seemed to mock him. They were his own cage.Hawk had been gone for eighteen hours, and the agony bleeding through their bond had intensified. The pain wasn’t his own, but it was close enough to feel like it. He squeezed Lily’s hand once as he felt a new type taking over his body."I don’t think this is random," he muttered. "He left upset. You saw it. There’s only one place he goes when he’s like that. He never learns that lesson."Lily frowned. "What are you saying?"Quill stood abruptly, letting go of her hand even as he swayed. "It’s his dad. It has to be. He runs to his family's land when he’s pissed. It's an instinct he cannot deny, and his dad knows it. If I’m feeling this kind of pain through the bond, there’s no way it’s anything good." Every fiber of him screamed to run, to find Hawk and tear apart whatever threat stood in the way, but
Fluid 46. Endurance
Hawk’s shoulders slammed against the damp, cracked concrete wall as a fist collided with his ribs. The dull ache of hours past was nothing compared to the fresh, sharp agony spreading through him now. Blood trickled from his lip, the copper tang mingling with the mildew and sweat clinging to the air. They’d kept him upright for nearly five hours, the chains digging deeper into his wrists each time his knees buckled. The Deltas worked in typical precise, brutal shifts, ensuring the punishment never stopped for more than a moment.The whip cracked again with a sound that seemed to echo off the walls. The leather struck his already raw back, and the skin tore under the relentless assault. Pain seared across his shoulders and spine. Still, he didn’t cry out. The defiance in his silence seemed to irritate them more than any words could have.“Stubborn bastard,” one of them sneered, his boots crunching over the dirt-caked floor as he circled Hawk. A steel baton slammed into Hawk’s side. Hi
Fluid 45. Show Back Up
Quill quietly ended the call with Lilly as he realized his slip. Hawk stared at him in disbelief. "Herc was there? At Fluid? Watching us? Are you fucking kidding me?" Quill's head lowered. "I didn't know he'd be there. I swear I didn't see his name on the guest list."Hawk's growl reverberated around the sparse apartment as he stepped back, pacing a tight line across the room. "Wow. Fucking wow. You didn't think to tell me? Not once? All this time?""I didn't see him until that night, across the room." Quill wavered slightly, but he stood his ground. "You were riding such a high from the performance, and then..." He gestured vaguely toward his own injured body. "Things got complicated.""Complicated?" Hawk barked out, his footsteps halting abruptly. "You thought hiding this would somehow make that better?""I wasn't trying to hide it," Quill replied quickly, the words tumbling out as he realized that Hawk was insanely pissed about this. "It just never felt like the right time to bri
Fluid 44. Slip Back
Conversation filled the apartment, punctuated by the occasional burst of laughter from Lilly on the speakerphone. It offered no hint of the storm churning beneath Hawk's skin. He tried to focus on the weights he was lifting, but his attention was split. Across the room, Quill sat reclined on the couch, flipping through a sketchbook. Lilly's laugh came through the speakerphone he'd propped on the coffee table. He was describing a project idea with excitement as Lilly cleaned her office downstairs. Hawk adjusted his grip on the barbell. He pressed it upward, his muscles straining under the weight. He'd brought the equipment up from the gym days ago, unwilling to leave Quill alone for long. Each rep felt like a battle against his thoughts, which circled endlessly around the easy camaraderie he heard between Quill and Lilly."You've ruined your entire schedule now," Quill teased.Hawk set the barbell back onto its stand with a sharp clank. "I'll work it out. Sometimes you have to break
Fluid 43. Cancel It
Hawk struggled to keep his grip steady as he carried Quill up the narrow stairwell. Every step felt slower than the last, but stopping wasn’t an option since people seemed to be everywhere. People who didn't need to see Quill in this condition. They were both rogue now. The last thing they needed to display was weakness. Lilly emerged from the second-floor landing and froze. “What happened?” She reached for Quill’s arm to steady him as Hawk's foot caught on the step.“It was his dad. He cornered him in public where he knew we couldn't do much to defend ourselves,” Hawk adjusted Quill’s weight before trying the step again. When he barely managed to step up onto the landing, he sighed loudly. “Just... Just help me get him inside, will you?”Without another word, Lilly slipped under Quill’s other arm, helping Hawk maneuver him through the doorway and onto the couch. She knelt beside him, pulling back his shirt to check the damage. Dark bruises were already forming, and dried blood clung
Fluid 42. Nice Choice
Hawk leaned against the counter with his arms crossed, watching Quill wrestle with a stubborn IKEA manual. The kitchen smelled faintly of coffee and sawdust from the makeshift furniture projects they’d started but hadn’t finished. Their new place was beginning to feel like home... Kind of. It felt like a chaotic mess more than anything at that moment. “We need bedding,” Quill muttered, tossing the manual onto the table with a resigned groan. His dark hair fell over his eyes, but he didn’t bother pushing it back. Hawk just smiled at how frustrated Quill was over something that small. “Something that doesn’t feel like sandpaper or retains the sweat smell that hovers around you constantly. And plates that match. Or, you know, plates at all. Silverware would be fantastic as well. You know, metal ones, not plastic. I mean, we are adults, right?”Hawk smirked and sipped from his mug. “You planning a dinner party or something?”Quill shot him a look. “I just want to eat off something that i
Fluid 41. Make Waves
Quill paced outside the tattoo shop. Hawk was nearby, leaning against the doorframe. “You’re wearing a hole in the sidewalk.”Quill didn’t respond, focusing on the horizon where Hadlin should have appeared by now. “He’s late."“You don’t have to do this, you know.” Hawk stepped away from the doorframe. “You’re working yourself up before he even gets here. What if he shows and you’re already unraveling?”“And what if he doesn’t show up at all?” Quill shot back, finally turning toward Hawk. Quill bristled at how easily Hawk could unsettle him without even trying.“Then we’ll handle it,” Hawk replied. “But he’ll show. You know he will. He showed up to the art show. I just wish you could have met with him then.”Quill opened his mouth to argue when a shadow appeared around the corner. Hadlin’s figure emerged, broad and familiar but carrying a presence that felt too much like a memory and a stranger combined. As he came closer, Quill had to take a deep breath. Hawk moved aside, giving Quil
Fluid 40. When You're Ready
Sunlight spilled into the room, catching on the edges of the sheets tangled from the night before. The warm aroma of coffee mingled with the faint hum of morning life. Hawk shifted in the bed as Quill placed a steaming mug on the nightstand. He stretched slowly before pulling the mug closer, savoring its inviting heat. Across the room, Quill moved with uncontainable energy.Bare feet tapped against the floor, moving with a sense of purpose that seemed to escalate by the second. Drawers opened and cabinets closed in rhythm, filling the small apartment with a gentle chaos. A half-folded blanket was tossed over the arm of the couch, quickly abandoned in favor of a stack of papers needing attention. Quill’s shirt, half-tucked into sweatpants, betrayed the impatience driving him from task to task.Hawk leaned back against the headboard, the cup in hand barely touched. He observed Quill darting between chores, his movements light and full of energy.“What’s gotten into you?” Hawk asked.Qui
Fluid 39. Did I
The backdoor of Fluid slammed shut behind them, the muffled echoes of the crowd barely audible as Hawk dragged Quill upstairs. His grip was firm, his strides relentless, and his presence demanded attention. Quill followed, working hard to keep his breathing steady. Hawk was so charged, so sure, he didn’t want to shatter the moment by mentioning what he’d seen. Herc could wait. This was Hawk’s time.The door to their apartment swung open, and they stumbled inside. Hawk didn’t waste a second, turning and pressing Quill against the nearest wall. He explored Quill’s suit with urgent and searching movements, filled with a raw hunger tempered only by hesitation. Quill felt the uncertainty in Hawk’s actions, his careful intensity as he navigated this new territory. The mix of boldness and hesitance elicited a visceral response from Quill, distracting him from everything else.“Damn... You liked that, didn’t you?” Hawk said, tugging the zipper of Quill’s suit halfway down. He moved his hands
