A LOST BEAR

Friday, October 30th, 69 days before 18th birthday

^^^^^Gabe and Archer^^^^^^

Something has changed.

Ever since the first hockey game.

Two weeks Prior:

After the game finished Jing and I managed to convince Magnus to leave without meeting Nuka.

I really didn't need another awkward conversation between my brothers and my friend.

It didn't take long for Nuka to find me in the lobby down the hall from the locker rooms after that, his hair still damp from a shower, that smile coming into place when he saw me.

"I think this is the first time I haven't had to fight some obscure foreign piece of literature for your attention." He joked with this deep chuckle.

I could feel the blushing starting again.

Fuck.

I'm always Blushing around him.

He stopped right in front of me, looking like he had something he wanted to say but before he could speak the locker room door banged open and the sound of multiple teenage athletes poured into the hallway. The loud and boisterous sounds of a team riding high from the adrenaline of a win.

Nuka looks away from me, I think I hear a quiet groan from him but it's hard to hear over his teammates.

"BLACK FEATHER!!! Why are you running off so fast? You know celebratory dinner is tradition!" The voice was loud and jubilant. It was a tone sounded like the owner was perpetually happy and energetic.

Nuka sighs, almost as deeply as I do. Which is odd.

He's usually very enthusiastic and chatty.

I'm the one prone to deep sighs and intense introspection.

"That's Gabe. He gets....excited." Nuka leans close to me and whispers in my ear, "He shifts into a Golden Retriever, if his tail was always visible it'd never stop wagging."

I can't stop the snort of laugher that bubbles from me.

Nuka grins down at me and throws an arm over my shoulders as his teammates reach us.

"Nuka! Who is this cutey you've been hiding from us? Is that one of the Bruin twins?"

Suddenly there are a lot of boys surrounding us, almost a dozen large teenage Fae looking at me.

It's disconcerting to say the least.

"Gabe, seriously, chill out. Do you need to shift and go for a run or chase a ball or something? We just got off the ice, how are you still so pumped?" I don't recognize the speaker but I'm grateful, his comments draw the attention back to Gabe, a solid boy with tan skin and golden hair that falls into his boyish face.

He just laughs at the teasing, not letting it faze him as he shoves the taller, dark haired boy who spoke.

"That's Archer, we think he and Gabe might be mates, their sexual tension is out of control." Nuka whispers in my ear.

I feel my eyebrows furrow and I turn my attention to the two teammates who are now bickering.

"What do you mean sexual tension? They are fighting." I whisper back.

"More like flirting Little Genius." Nuka whispers back, "Couples can interact in different ways, and their auras are practically screaming with how attracted they are to each other."