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SIX

dancing chaotically around the bonfire with embry felt strangely freeing. alex didn't know why embry had asked him to dance in the first place, but judging off the occasional glances he caught the other boy sending him, he had a feeling embry was a bit attracted to him. those thoughts made his heart speed up whenever he caught embry staring at him or would lock eyes with him, but alex was quick to push those unfamiliar thoughts away.

he had just met this guy! there was no way he was already feeling so incredibly attracted to him.

angela and meredith joined them at one point, the four of them dancing and laughing for what felt like hours as they got lost in the chaos of it all.

it made him feel so free. the terror that had plagued alex for almost a year at this point had left his body, went to the back of his mind, and he was left with the joy of the moment he was in. dancing and jumping around with these people was the most carefree he'd felt since before ostana and her monster had come barreling into his life.

but even though he'd surrendered to the chaos of it all, it didn't last too long, even despite the decent amount of alcohol he'd ingested over the course of the night. he'd ended up moving away to a secluded little log on the beach away from the partying and the alcohol and the laughter, where he was left with his thoughts.

alex had thought about his life so many times since it'd abruptly changed that one night. he'd thought about all the possible things he could've done to change the outcome of that night, of what ostana could've prevented.

but none of it comforted him.

and none of it changed the fact that his family was dead, he was now a werewolf, and a vampire was out for his blood.

being with ostana was both comforting, but also suffocating. her barreling into his life that night had gotten his family killed, gotten him turned, and he'd ended up with a target on his back. some days, it was hard to even look her in the face without reliving what had happened, and others, he would almost get violently angry at the sound of her voice.

of course, though, she understood. god, did she understand, but that would only serve to make him more upset on days like that.

sometimes he just wanted to-

"hey," a voice cuts through the dark turn in his thoughts, and alex's head snaps around to face the person. his shoulders relax at the sight of embry holding two cups in hand and smiling a bit nervously at him.

"oh, uh, hey," alex manages to choke out after a couple seconds of staring at the long haired boy, and gestures for embry to sit with him on the log. the quilete boy does so after a moment of hesitancy then hands one of the cups over to alex, who nods in thanks before taking a sip.

"thought you might want some water, ya know, so you don't have a raging headache in the morning," embry says, cheeks a bit flushed, and alex had to tell himself that it was from the alcohol and the chill biting at his face instead of the obvious nerves the other boy was exhibiting. alex nods once again, diverting his gaze back to the sea in front of them, and lets out a long sigh.

"you should probably drink some water, too. your face is all flushed."

embry flounders with his grip on the cup in his hand, spilling a bit of the water onto the sand beside him accidentally, then shooting a light glare with no actual heat behind it at the other teen.

"i am not flushed."

"you are."

"shut up."

they go silent for a little bit, slight smiles on both their faces, before alex speaks up again.