Plans

Happy Monday, loves!

Hope you all had a wonderful weekend!

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Alexander drove her back to her dorm room that evening.

As he helped her out of the car, his long fingers laced with hers.

"Are you okay, angel?" His breath forming a white cloud in the cold Autumn air.

Enid glanced up and found his honey eyes filled with concern.

"I think so." She responded; her thoughts still tangled.

She was dreading having to straighten them out.

To figure out how she really felt about all of this.

"I know tonight was a lot. I know it might seem weird or scary. But I just want you to know that the three of us adore you. And we want to spend the rest of our lives adoring you." He ran his gloved hand across her frozen cheek.

She bit her lip as her eyes fluttered shut.

The wind rustled the trees on the edge of campus, their silhouettes silver in the moonlight.

Something about meeting these three men felt important.

Sacred.

She thought back to what they had each said to her at one point.

That she was made for them.

As she stepped into her professor's embrace, she thought that they might be right.

"Hurry upstairs before you catch a chill, little one. I'll see you tomorrow." He said, pressing a hidden kiss to her cheek.

Taking one final glance at him, she turned and hurried into her dorm building.

She climbed the stairs quickly and found her room with ease.

It had become routine.

She knew how to turn the tricky lock just right to get it to unlock.

She knew which floorboards creaked when she stepped on them.

She knew that she had to thump the top of the thermostat when it stopped working.

The small room had become her sanctuary.

Her stuffed panda smiled at her under the wall of photos and posters she had taped up.

Her heart panged at the thought of losing it.

It felt as though this new independent chapter of her life had just begun.

But then there were the immortals and their estate.

It was unfathomably large.

The immaculate blending of antique and modern.

Filled with innumerable rooms and secrets.

The most luxurious place she had ever been in.

But still, Enid felt at home there.

Sitting beside Alexander at the piano.

Curling up in Theodore's office.

Watching Dante cook in the kitchen.

She could see herself there.

She rubbed her temples as she kicked off her boots.

Her sock-clad feet padded softly across the room as she entered her bedroom.

She pulled her snuggest pajamas from her drawers and changed out of her skirt and sweater.

She perched on her unmade bed and stared out the large window at the campus and forest beyond.

The buildings were lit, warm glows emitting from the windows.

She rested her forehead against the cool glass and began to think.

It felt like an impossible task, separating her thoughts and emotions.

Taking the time to go over all that they had said to her over the last few weeks.

Enid stayed there for hours until one by one the lights began to go out.

Slowly the campus fell asleep, all the lights out but for her own.

Standing from her post and stretching to release some of the tension in her muscles, Enid decided she should probably get some rest, too.

Her emotions were more settled now, her thoughts structured and clear.

She was surer of where she stood.

Where they stood.

Enid placed the book she had been given on her bedside table.

She now had a plan.

First, read that book.

And probably a bunch more.

Figure out exactly what it was that was being proposed.

Second, discuss with her professors.

Ask the questions she knew she would have.

Third, make a decision.

She knew she was falling for the men.

Quite quickly.

But she wanted to make sure she was ready for such a huge leap.

To go from never being kissed to suddenly having three boyfriends.

Or dominants.

Whatever.

To suddenly have three men who called her theirs.

Enid had a bit of whiplash.

She knew she wanted them.

She craved them with every fiber of her being.

Her soul belonged to them entirely, already.

But why had they chosen her?

She was nothing remarkable.

Just a Welsh girl floating through the wind, not quite lost but not quite found either.

She had always imagined she'd have a relatively normal life.

Get through university, get a good job.

Maybe teach cello.

And then settle down with someone a few years later.

Maybe have a child or two.

But accepting this, accepting them, would mean she'd be going down a very different path.

Could she love three men?

Obviously, she already felt very strong things for them, but being in love was something she had never experienced.

And how did she already feel so strongly toward them?

If it felt like this now, she wasn't sure she could handle the intensity of truly being with them.

It all still felt a bit like a fairytale.

A king, a devil, and an angel come to whisk her away.

If losing her father had taught her anything, it was that fairytales never came true.

So, Enid decided she would take some time.

Not jump so quickly into such a huge decision.

Plan in place, Enid fell easily into a deep sleep.

Her dreams were filled with large hands, low voices.

Suits and smirks and arms banded around her waist.

Lips on her shoulders, neck, cheeks, forehead, mouth.

Everywhere.

She awoke the next morning with a dampness in the apex of her thighs.

Her shower was long and hot, her mind wandering to her lesson with Alexander later that morning.

She dressed in one of her many sweaters and plaited her wet curls back into a braid.

The cold air was unforgiving as she walked across campus, goosebumps racing along her exposed skin.

History class brought with it a pop quiz, which Enid passed with ease.

Her math professor spent most of class reviewing for their upcoming exam.

Through each she struggled to focus, her excitement for her cello lesson mounting the closer it got.

She already missed him. Already missed them.

Her heartbeat rose as she walked into the music hall.

Alexander stood at the bottom of the stage, his curls aglow in the warm stage lights.

"Hello, angel." He smiled at her and she blushed.

She still wasn't used to all their nicknames.

Practice flew by as he helped her with a tricky portion of one of the songs for the Winter Gala.

His strong hands guided her arm as she moved the bow across the strings.

She tried desperately not to get distracted.

As she was packing up her cello at the end of the hour, she watched him from the corner of her eye.

He was on the phone with someone, his hand clutching the device tightly in frustration.

Alexander's angelic features were pinched, his voice low and angry.

"I don't care, Graham. You told us you had it covered. Fix your mistake quickly or you will not like the consequences." His sound level raised enough for her to hear him if she strained her ears.

There was a pause as the voice, Graham, responded.

"Hide it. Destroy it. Mail it to Somalia. I don't care as long as it is gone." He spat into the phone before hanging up.

Enid flushed and tried to pretend she hadn't been eavesdropping when he turned back toward her.

"Sorry about that, lovely. It seems some people are just unexplainably incompetent." He ran his hand through his curls as he rolled his eyes.

"Is everything okay?" She asked, giving in to her nosiness.

"Nothing to worry about." Alexander responded tersely.

Enid worried her lip as she took in his strained expression.

She made her way down the stage steps toward him.

Hesitantly, she wrapped her arms around his waist.

Her father had always said that a hug could help any situation.

Alexander's body loosened immensely as she did so, some of the tension leaving his body.

His strong arms wrapped around her, one hand holding the back of her head.

She breathed in his incredible cologne as her eyes fluttered shut.

He hummed softly in approval as he swayed them from side to side.

"I'll come with you to help pack up your dorm. Dante and Theodore will join us once they're done with their classes today." He said, drawing relaxing circles on her head.

Enid pulled back from him and bit her lip nervously.

"I-I wanted to talk to you about that. I was hoping I could have some time- just a week. To do some research and make sure I'm comfortable will all of this." She said quietly, her eyes searching his face for a reaction.

He paused for a moment, his hand going to his pocket to retrieve his phone.

He typed a message before two dings followed.

He glanced up at her to respond, the bright light of his phone highlighting the faint dark circles under his amber eyes.

"One week."

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Comments fill my heart with joy.

All my love, Sappho ✴