Legendary

A. Reason to Stay

"So you and Danny?" Charlie asked as we walked into our home. He dropped his bag next to the couch and the plopped down next to it.

"Uh...no?" I replied, going to the kitchen and getting glass of apple juice before coming back. As I walked in I saw he was looking at me like he thought I was lying. His eyebrows raised, eyes wide and a smirk where his usual smile laid. I don't know why but it irked me.

"Sure, Charles, just like you and Camryn." I stated, walking past him to the near by stairs.

"Oh, so he's going to ask you out?" Charlie asked, a sneer in his voice. I stopped going up the stairs and turned towards him.

"Since when did you like Camryn?"

"Since when did you like Danny?" He countered.

I was taken aback by this comment. "Since when did you care about who I liked?"

"Since when? Since I met you August! When we met Geoff and started living with us! You can't just hoe around like you used to!" He said, getting louder with every word.

"Hoe around?" I asked, stunned. "Out of the both of us, I'm the hoe?" I pointed myself,  with a disbelieving look as I walked towards him. He took on a surprised book as well.

"So you're saying that I'm a hoe?" He sat up from his spot.

"If the shoe fits." I couldn't count how many times he had taken some poor girl out and then never called her back or how long he had been playing with Camryn's feelings.

"Do you even know what Danny does, August?" He asked, looking my in the eye, "He plays with girls and then throws them away."

"People can change," I argued.

"That doesn't mean you have to be the one who does it!"

"I'll do what I want!" I yelled back before we both heard the door click open, signaling that Geoff was home from school. Instead of going through the whole house like he usually does to find the book he was reading, he turned to go straight up the stairs without saying a word.

"You can't be reckless, August, you have people relaying on you." Charlies said, a little calmer than before.

"Who says I'm being reckless?" I challenged. I was getting a ride home for Daniel for goodness sake, not having his children.

"Do you not remember how you were the last time you had a little," he put up air quotes, "break ups." he said , refering to the last boyfriend I had in Arizona, a boy named Kalvin who turned out to be an asshole. He had known everything about me, and decided to turn me into the cops with pictures. Thankfully, the locals knew of the wherabouts of the tribe and what they could turn into, so they told the Chief right away. Kalvin didn't live for much longer after that. I didn't even get to ask him why.

"You can't get attached to someone." Charlie reasoned, he knew that once a werewolf had a special bond, a mate if you will, that once they die, the wolf has a hard time handling it. That's why I'm probably so messed up now, but that wasn't the point. The point was that Charlie was over reacting about getting a ride home from a boy I talked to. Heck! Daniel was a friend of his, didn't he trust him?

"Like I said," I breathed, "I'll do what I want."

"So you're just going to leave us behind? Leave Geoff behind?" He asked

"Who ever said anything about leaving people behind Charlie! I'm getting to know Danny! That's all! It'll never be more than that!" I yelled across the room.

Suddenly Charlie's eyes hardened, "how do you know? Didn't you follow Kalvin to Arizona? How long did you even know him before that? Hmm? a year?" He got up from his spot and came closer to me, "How are we supposed to know that you won't get attached to Danny the same way?" He got even closer to me, almost touching. "What are we supposed to do when you decide to follow Danny off to college and then he throws you out like all the other girls? How are we supposed to find you?"  his voice was almost at a whisper.

"I wouldn't leave you," I whispered back, looking into his eyes. My throat felt tight as I tried to breath through my thoughts. Why was he so insistent on the topic of leaving?

"I-I" Charlie stuttered as he stepped back, looking down at his shoes. "I know." he stated quietly. He looked up to meet my eyes and I saw something I've never seen in him before. I didn't know how to respond. "I have to uh-" he pointed to the door and grabbed his bag, "I gotta go."

In a blink of an eye he was out the door and swinging his leg over his bike. He was gone before I even noticed Geoff sitting at the top of the stairs, watching me. As I turned and saw him, he didn't flinch, didn't make a sound. He just stared for a long time, I didn't know what to do.

"What were you fighting about?" he finally asked, his voice small and soft.

"What?"

" What were you fighting about?" He repeated, standing up from his step, starting to descend.

"Something stupid, Don't worry about it."I replied, putting my arm around him, ushering him to the kitchen. He flung my arm off as he looked me dead in the eyes.

"Tell me."

"Geoff." I sighed, "It's nothing, just a stupid fight, nothing to worry about." I assured. He didn't say anything else, just sighed. He walked with me into the kitchen and got a cup, motioning for me to fill it. I did as he silently asked and poured some milk for him and myself.

We sat for a while until he broke the silence. 

"Do you know why, when I met you, that I let you touch me?" He asked, brows furred as he looked at his glass.

He didn't wait for me to respond.

"It's because I couldn't feel how you felt. I couldn't tell what your were thinking. Charlie," he laughed, "I could tell from a mile away."

"But the thing is, you were different. For the first time in my life, when I touched you I wasn't a part of you. It was unbelievably refreshing, the only other thing I've had close to that was having another Pathos by my side. Still, that doesn't compare to you." he explained, looking straight into my eyes. Part of me said to look away, but another told me to stay.

"At first it was nice." He said, tiping his glass up and finishing it before setting it down, "but after a few days it became frustrating."

"Why are you telling me this?" I asked, wanting him to get to the point. It was strange to here this from an 11 year old, it sounded like it should be coming from a parental figure.

"Because, August, I want to say that I studied you, I know how you act when you're sad or when you lie." He stated, giving me a brief, quizical look. " And I want you to know that even though I look like an 11 year old, that you can talk to me. I may be starting a new life cycle, but I still hae retained all information from my past.

"And I know, you've been alive for a long time, but, honey, I've been here before the beginning of time." he finally smiled, coming back to his usual sassy self.

It was always strange to remember that.