FSE

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Hayden let loose a long sigh as he closed the register door. It had definitely been a long night, and his nerves were shot. Looking up, he watched his wolf, Carl, hang up the closed sign on the window of their night pub. "Thank god that's' over." He said as Carl shook the rain drops from his arm.

Carl nodded as he crashed on the closest booth to the door, an ice pack still clutched to his eye. "Fuck, yes."

Hayden's blood rumbled to his ears as he placed the key up under the counter. "Are you sure you're alright?"

"Dandy." Carl waved his paw, weakly. "I couldn't be better."

Hayden bit back a growl of annoyance. "You could have told me the fucker was causing trouble again."

"There was no need. I handle it."

"Sure as hell didn't look like it." That time he couldn't hold back his annoyance.

"Definitely didn't sound like it."

"Hayden." There was a warning in his tone, but at this point he didn't care.

"No, Carl, you damn well saw that the guy was not in his right mind. Why the hell would you run up on him and demand him to leave like that? Better yet, you couldn't have gotten me? I wasn't doing anything but throwing out the god damn trash."

It wasn't the first time this had happened. He had been getting complaints from their regulars for the last few nights since the guy first walked in. When he had finally told the husky that he needed to quiet down because he was causing a disturbance, he did. That was, until he went in the back. Then he started to go off on the nearest person to him, blaming them for just about everything under the sun. Of course Carl shot out from the back before he could make a move, and of course he demanded the guy leave, which he did. Right after laying his mate out flat on the countertop.

Carl glared at him; those dark hazel eyes gleamed with defiance. "I'm not a pup, Hayden. I can damn well take care of myself."

"You sure act like one." He dropped the rag against the oak counter top, the one he had been cleaning religiously to get his mate's blood off. " Carl, this isn't the first time this shit happened to you, and you know how I feel about you flying off the fucking handle!"

"I didn't fly off the handle. For fucks sakes Hayden, you were outside for the most part! So how the hell would you know if I went off on the bastard?!"

"Cause I know you!"

Under the low light, he caught sight of Carl biting at his lip, right where the fucker had busted it, which only pissed him off more. "Well I guess you don't know me well enough, babe." He said, his ears flattening., "I wouldn't just go off on someone, not in front of our customers. I got a temper yes, but I wouldn't dare make myself look like a fool!"

Hayden grumbled lowly. "You know damn well that's not what I meant."

"Then what the fuck did you mean?!" Carl slammed his fist against the table, his arm shook and his white and silver pelt bristled. "If I can't speak up and stop some ass hat from harassing our customers, then who will?"

"I will!" Hayden roared. "I'm your mate Carl, that's what I'm here for!"

Carl snorted. "Oh yes. Let me just call on my buff, bulky fiancé. Make sure that anyone who picks a fight in our pub will keep a look out for a tiger and not me." Carl flung his ice pack at the opposing booth. Hayden flinched, and all the anger drained from him. Fuck, his eye was pretty swollen. "What the hell do you expect me to do when your not here, Hayden? What happens if the hospital calls about your mom and you have to rush out of here, and some dumb ass is causing a scene? You expect me to call you up and be like," he brought his fingers to his ear and lips, "Hey babe, I got some dumb ass being a drunken loon here, need you to come and handle this?"

Hayden clenched his fist and stared at the ground.

"See?" Carl said softly, taking a deep breath. "I can't rely on you all the time Hayden. I know you worry about me, but I can handle myself."

Unclenching his fist, Hayden shoved his paws in his pocket. For a moment neither of them spoke, letting the sounds of the rain hitting the brick pavement drown out the silence.

It was Hayden who finally broke the Silence. "Carl...Look, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to snap at you." Hayden , then notice Carl glancing out the window.

Carl shook his head, slowly turning to face Hayden, those soft hazel's looking deep into Hayden's. "It's okay." He smiled, weakly. "You just need to stop being so overprotective."

Hayden sighed as he grabbed hold of the wedding ring that dangled across his chest.

Placing it on his finger, Hayden slid into the booth, slowly pulling Carl between his legs.

Without much coaxing, Carl laid his head against the Tiger's chest. "I know, babe. Just don't want anything to happen to you. Not again. Not after..."

Carl nuzzled up under his chin, lovingly, comforting. "I know. But that was a long time ago, and my family is nowhere around. It's just me, you, our little pub, and our friends. Besides, you'll really get gray fur sooner than me at the rate you're stressing."

Hayden laughed. "Asshole. What happen to the talk about age doesn't matter?"

"Ten year's isn't nothing babe. But still, I'll get to laugh at you when you start stressing over it." He wrinkled his nose at the thought, but smiled as he placed a kiss on his wolf's cheek.

"Be happy you've got a natural silver coat of fur." He purred, burying his muzzle into his mate's neck, taking in his scent, putting him at ease.

"Hayden?"

"Yes?"

"You know I love you right?"

He chuckled as he stared into those hazel eyes. No amount of years that separated them, nor could their gender or race take away the loving gaze that filled those eyes. "I know, and Carl?" He cupped his mate's chin between his finger and thumb, lifting it slightly so that their nose brushed against one another, and their breath was hot on one another's lips. "I love you too." He leaned in, giving his wolf a soft, chaste kiss. "Always will."

Carl smiled and leaned back against Hayden's chest, pulling the tigers arms around his waist and curling their fingers together. "For now, and for always."