Escape | ✓

3

I looked like shit.

It didn't take a rocket scientist to figure that out. After my run-in with Reuben yesterday, I couldn't get him off my mind. I paced around my room as question after question appeared. Why was Reuben in Oakwood? What was he doing out in the woods last night? Did he— did he know that I was here?

As much as I hated to admit it, that was unlikely.

A large part of me wanted to believe that Reuben was here, in Oakwood, because of me. Perhaps he realized that his rejection was a mistake and we could still work things out. But the smaller, more realistic part of me knew this more than likely wasn't the case. If Reuben had any plans of being with me then he wouldn't have run away from me; he wouldn't have ignored my calls.

He wouldn't have rejected me in the first place.

A large frown took over my face and I took a seat on the bed before letting out a sigh. My eyes drifted to the small box that sat beside the bed and I crouched down to pick it up. Inside the box was a book—a scrapbook. I took a deep breath before opening it and I was immediately met with pictures. Pictures of my life.

Each section showed a different part of my life. The first pages were pictures of my parents and me. I'd only just joined the pack and they thought that keeping a scrapbook would be a good idea. There were pages of our home, the three of us playing outside, and so much more. Just past those pages were pictures of Nixon and I. Even though Nixon seemed to have some resemblance to a frown in most of the photos, they were still some of my favorite ones in the book. They represented just how far we had truly come over the years.

Still, we had a ways to go.

My hand brushed against the corners of one of the pages and I sighed. After the photos of Nixon and I, there was Fen. At the time, I never noticed the blank look he wore on his face back when I first met him. I never noticed the way that expression changed over the years. In the earlier pictures, he would simply stare at the camera while in the later ones, his eyes would be focused on me.

My hand tightly gripped the page. I could rip them all out; get rid of any sign that he and I were friends. Forget that I had ever let him into my life. I could forget that Fen ever existed. My grip tightened and the page wrinkled slightly in my grasp. All it'd take was one yank and then it would be gone. He would be gone.

But then I stared down into his eyes.

I stared into the eyes of the boy I'd met all those years ago—before he developed feelings for me. Back to when we were just normal friends. I stared into those eyes and I couldn't stop the wave of sadness that engulfed me.

Loneliness.

That's all I saw when I stared at Fen. It was that loneliness that helped us become friends in the first place. Back then, it truly did feel like Fen understood me better than anyone—even Nixon at times.

Nixon was lonely, but it was different. At the end of the day, Nixon still had Nolan. He was never truly alone, but Fen? Sure, he had his parents and grandparents, but they were never truly there. He reminded me a lot of myself back then and the loneliness I'd felt after traveling from foster home to foster home.

I knew what it was like to have no one, so I figured that if he had me then he wouldn't be so sad anymore.

So time trailed on and our friendship only grew stronger. Fen became one of the few special people in my life. Even now when I thought back on all the memories we had made together, I couldn't figure out just at what point exactly did our friendship change.

When did something so...innocent evolve into something so terrible? When did the friend I grew up with start to change into someone who would cause my mate to reject me?

A tear slid down my face. I took a deep breath before closing the book and wiping my face with the back of my hand. It didn't matter. He didn't matter. None of it mattered. Fen was gone. He was out of my life.

The whole reason I was here in Oakwood was for my mission. Not for Fen...and not for Reuben either.

...Right?

I figured that I'd never see Reuben again after he rejected me. It was like he fell off the face of the earth, yet he was. In Oakwood. I wasn't here for him; I knew that and yet, it didn't stop the hopeful feeling inside of me from making itself known.

Maybe this was the Moon Goddess giving me another chance. A chance to make this right. Maybe there was another reason besides my mission for me to be in Oakwood.

Maybe Fen wouldn't win.

Fen was gone, but somewhere in this small town was Reuben and maybe, just maybe, this time it would be different.

I stood up from my spot on the bed and moved toward the bathroom. If there was any possibility of fixing my bond with Reuben, then I had to move fast. I wouldn't put it past him to disappear again if I waited too long.

The first step was finding him. Somewhere in Oakwood, Reuben was hiding and it was time to find him. I was determined to do so.

I wouldn't let this end like last time.

The next chapter will be from Reuben's point of view. It's finally time to meet him and potentially some new faces also!