Forever Is A Long Time

-5-

Liam looks down at me after he sees Dean motion his head at me.

The smile that was on his face moments before vanishes and he looks at me shocked.

"Liam?" I asked, surprised.

"Oh come on! You remember him but not us?" Arron shouts, pouting like a kid. That snapped me out of it and I said,

"I remembered Dean too, if that helps." I shrugged.

"Ok, now that everyone is here, let's eat!" Derrick said. Everyone dug in and the parents helped the younger kids.

I smiled, as this reminded me a lot about the club (Swimming club) at home when we got together for celebrations.

I plated myself a little of food, a lot less than I normally eat but it's okay.

"Wow, Mack. Did you eat before you came?" Jake asked amused. Everyone looked at him and I, confused. I just ignored everyone.

"No I didn't Jake, I just have manners, so I don't pig out." my plate was partially full, just little spaces open, but it was still kind of a lot of food.

"You sure about that? You didn't eat anything?" he asked, stunned.

"No since my training went a little over time, and why are you so shocked?" I narrowed my eyes at him.

"I'm confused. That is still a lot of food on her plate, not as much as we eat but still more than enough to fill someone of her size and more." Morgan said.

We ignored them and Jake answered my question, "Because, I've never seen you eat so little food in all the time you've been here."

I shrugged and huffed, "Like I said, Jake, I have manners. And because I have manners, I don't just eat until I can't anymore when I've been invited by someone. So there you have your reason, so let it go."

Everyone did as I told Jake, but I could see they wanted to know more. We all started eating, conversing with one another. They asked some questions and I answered with as little information as possible.

After dinner, the boys said that they were going to go change into comfortable clothes so they could play some football, so I sat in the living room with all the adults.

"Mack, what's your full name?" Emile asked.

"It's Mack Gage." they thought about it and Jackelyn asked the next question,

"Why does Gage sound so familiar?"

"You might've heard it on TV. My brother and I've been on TV before, for swimming. (A/N, just making stuff up). We've swam at the Olympic trials, world cups, etc."

"No it's not that, we don't watch swimming, the guys only watch football or something. Who are your parents? Maybe I've heard about them, or known them." -J

"Please excuse me." I said, got up and walked out the back. I walked to a tree and climbed it to the top.

"Was it something I said? I..." I heard Jacklyn ask, I didn't listen further.

"Mom, where's Mack?" I heard Liam ask. They were standing in the living room now.

I didn't listen and pulled my dress off. I had a white tank top and black shorts underneath.

I heard the boys come out and I let my dress fall before jumping out of the tree and rolling, then standing back up.

The boys all looked at me, mouths agape. "Dude, you're gonna have some trouble with her if she accepts you." Mason said quietly, I'm sure I wasn't supposed to hear.

"And why do you think I like Liam, I like Alex more." I said and picked Liam's youngest brother, Alex, up.

I kissed his cheek and ruffled his hair. He giggled and I sat him on my hip.

"My 5 year old brother just got a girlfriend before I got a new one." Dean said in disbelief.

I smirked at them and Cathy called all the little kids inside for bed. We were only 11 of us outside now. The twins, Roby and Rider, Jake, Calvin, his 14 year old brother, Seth, Dean, Mason, Arron, Liam, his 13 year old brother, Ethan and myself.

"Ok, so Mack will be the referee while we play, since she's a girl." Liam said.

Oh, he did not just say that.

"No, I'm playing too. I'll show you what kind of 'girl' I am." I said, glaring at him.

"Fine, we'll go easy on you. The twins, Jake, Dean, Seth and you will be a team. Calvin, Mason, Arron, Ethan and myself will be the other team."

I nodded and said, before we start, "Don't even bother going easy on me. If you do, I won't be happy."

We went to different sides of the yard and started. After my team scored a few times and theirs did too, we were winning.

I was running with the ball when I saw something coming out of the forest. It was right in front of Mason, it was dark outside and whatever was in front of him, was also dark. He was going to step on it and probably kill it.

I quickly just threw the ball and jumped, pushing Mason out of the way. I looked down and saw it was a pitch black puppy, but it looked like it's coat was full of blood. And that was proven correct, I picked him up and pulled one hand away. It was covered in blood, still fresh.

The guys came to see why I did what I did and saw the pup. I was still holding the pup and asked, "Is it alright if I go wash him? We could all use showers anyway. I think we should call it a night." the guys nodded.

"Mack, stay here tonight, it's already late. And I think we should go to my house, all of us, since the little kids are sleeping here and I saw that aunt Cathy, her husband and my parents went to went to aunt Cathy's house."

We all nodded and went to the house next door. Liam showed me where the bathroom was and I washed the pup first, then took a quick shower. I didn't have clothes and mine were bloody and full of mud.

I dried the wolf pup and wrapped a towel around myself, walking into the first room I saw. I put the pup down and went into the closet.

I got a pair of white boxers and a black t-shirt. The shirt was a little too big but so comfy and it smelled great.

I walked out and picked the puppy up and looked at him. His fur was pitch black, with a small white spot just behind his right ear. He was really small, even for a puppy, he was probably a runt. When I touched him a few places he whimpered. He must've gotten hurt, badly.

I took him to the kitchen and got some food, giving it to him. He ate quickly, hungrily. After food, I gave him water. I started thinking of a name for him. I was thinking and the name just popped into my head. Loki. I yawned and walked to the living room, where all the boys were. They looked up and I saw pride? In Liam's eyes.

"You look good in my clothes." I looked down.

"Sorry, just needed clothes. And I'm keeping the puppy, named him Loki." they slowly nodded and I sat down next to Liam.

Loki was in my lap and when Liam moved he growled. I chuckled and scratched behind his ear.

It was late. I yawned and saw the guys asleep. I smiled and walked up to Liam's room. I got in bed and shut off the lights. Loki curled up next to me and I smiled, falling asleep.

I woke up to Loki growling. I looked up and saw Liam trying to sneak into the room. I petted Loki and told him to calm down. I was still half asleep and just rolled over again.

I felt the bed dip moments later and Liam wrapped his arm around my waist, pulling me into his chest. I quickly fell asleep again.

I don't know why I feel like this. I can't explain it, I just have to be careful. With that in mind, I fell asleep, whether it was dreamless or not, we'll have to wait and find out.

A/N
Hey people!

I've got nothing to say. Well, I just wanted to ask if you like reading the book as much as I enjoy writing it?

Please comment, vote and follow!
-SS