Morph.

Chapter 17

"Uhm, feel free to take a seat here. Or there.", I said, motioning to the bed and my desk chair. He opts for the edge of the bed.

"So? What's the deal with you?", he says, looking around my room. It's only then that I realize he's never actually been inside my bedroom. He's more or less my boyfriend, I say that because I'm not sure it'll continue that way after this - and he's never been inside my room.

I take a seat next to him. He adjusts himself so he's not so close to me. There's no way I can help the way I look right now. I'm one of the those ugly criers and right now, I'm trying my best to stop my face from contorting and making me look like a complete retard.

"Hey. It's OK.", he finally says as he notices me trying and failing to hold back rogue tears. He gently grabs one of my hands and almost instantaneously, I feel much better. I make a guttural noise with my breathe as I try to stop myself from crying further before turning to face him.

God. He's so cute when he's concerned. His sad-looking eyes wandering over my face as he tries to comfort me.

"Stephanie. Relax. Just tell me the truth. You can trust me.", he says as he grips my hand a little tighter.

I give him a small smile and take multiple deep breaths before opening my mouth.

"I really, really don't know how to say it". So much for telling him the truth.

He doesn't say anything except smile and tilt his head slightly lower, as if coaxing me to tell him. That everything will be fine. That he won't judge. That he'll be OK dating a girl who's not really a girl at times. 

"Tobias....", I try to sound as calm as possible, "...what's the first thing that comes to mind when I say shapeshifter?".

His face goes all over the place as he immediately stops himself from laughing before smiling, then looking confused. "Uhm, shapeshifters.....shapeshift?".

"Yeah, they do. Are you afraid of them? Or freaked out? Or do you find them cool?". Now that we've gotten' the ball rolling, I'm more and more keen to know what he thinks of them.

"Steph? What does this really have to-"

"Just answer me. I promise I'll explain everything.".

"Right. Sure. Well, I'm not afraid I guess. Unless they're like....werewolves. And they wanna' kill me. Err, they don't freak me out I guess. And they're pretty cool. Especially if they can turn into a bird and fly. I guess", he responds bit by bit, taking time to process each criteria.

I nod at every answer he gives, taking on board everything from the way he responds to his body language. "OK. Tobias, what comes next may cause you to laugh or think I'm crazy. Perhaps both.".

I look him in the eyes, as dramatic as it sounds, and sigh before I admit everything. This is Steph. First time telling anyone outside your family about your secret. First time.

"You can shapeshift?", Tobias suddenly asks, smiling and slightly blushing.

My eyes go doe-wide as my jaw hangs loose, my entire being frozen. "How....Wha-Wait. Wait. Why do you-You knew?".

He chuckles as he pulls me closer to him. "Steph, I know it might sound crazy but I do have an imagination.". I can't help laughing at that comment. "The questions about shapeshifters, the nervous breakdown, the cat in my car, your clothes left behind. Anyone could see from a mile away what was going to happen.".

"But......you were supposed to...think that they didn't exist.", I said, now slightly confused myself.

"And yet, I'm dating one, right?", he smiles as he gets up and heads over to the window. "Steph, as calm as I appear, you have to understand. Inside, I'm screaming and doing somersaults. So what if I just figured out your secret, logically, none of this is supposed to happen.".