Turning ✔️

Chapter 13. Tension

Once my sister Eleanor returned from the bathroom, all seemed to go back to how it was before she left. Except for the fact that my mother and I definitely had an unfinished conversation due. She can't just drop a bombshell on me like that in the middle of dinner and then not finish. I tried to push it out of my mind and enjoy my night with both my mom and my sister.

We ordered our food, as well as my mother embarrassingly telling the waiter that it was my birthday. He gave a grin towards me and told me he would let me choose from a selection of desserts on the house later.

Our food came and I quickly shoveled the pasta into my mouth and before long it was gone. I had been so hungry, probably due to the fact I was now a freaking werewolf. When the waiter came to clear my plate, he also brought along a small dessert menu for me to choose from. I skimmed over the list before slamming my finger down on my selection, apple pie.

I really did love apple pie, but it also made me think about Will. I really needed to talk to him about my werewolf issues since I have literally no one else I can talk about it with since my mom forbade me from telling my sisters. Maybe we could even talk tonight after dinner.

The sources of the loud clapping and singing came echoing from the back of the restaurant and headed towards my table. My face immediately went bright red as they got closer and everyone's eyes were on me. I smiled politely and clapped after they had done their bit before diving into the dessert. I could almost moan with how good it was, but I didn't. Afterward, my mom paid and we all climbed into the car.

"Thank you for dinner, mom," I said politely from the passenger seat.

"You're welcome, dear."

The rest of the ride home was in awkward and eerie silence. Neither my sister nor I spoke a peep, both of feeling the tension in the air. When we finally got back to our house, I nearly ripped the car door off its hinges getting out. I pushed the car door shut with a hard thud and went into the house, rushing up the stairs and into my room, locking the door behind me.

I was really getting tired of my whole family hiding all of these secrets. The more I thought about it, the more upset I was becoming. I felt a mixture of betrayal and anger for all of the hiding.

Before my mind even realized what I was doing, my fingers were flying across my phone's screen. I was calling Will. The phone rang once before it was quickly answered.

"Hey, Nathan."

"Hi Will. Are you-are you ...free right now?"

"Yeah, I'm just at my house. Is everything okay? Do you want me to come to pick you up?"

"I just need to talk. Stuff happened with my mom at dinner and I want to vent to you if nothing else. And yes, I would love for you to pick me up."

"Okay, I'll be there in eight minutes."

"See you soon."

He hung up afterward and I watched the clock. Sure enough, eight minutes passed and my phone dinged. I peeked out my window and saw William was parked in the driveway behind my Jeep. I sprinted out of the house, not bothering to stop to see if anyone was watching me.

I ran to the passenger side of the car and yanked the door open and threw myself in, closing the door behind me.

"You weren't kidding about the whole eight minutes thing. Thanks for coming."

"Anytime. My parents are gone for the weekend, we could go back to my house?"

"Alright, that sounds nice. Let's go."

When he heard my response, he quickly reversed from my driveway and sped towards his house. When we got there, it wasn't quite what I had pictured. In my head, I just pictured him living in some mansion. In reality, it was a nice home, but not a mansion by any means. It was a quaint cottage set back about an acre from the road by forested land.

Along the cottage were flowerbeds that were like a swirly sea made of pink, red and orange flowers. It showed that whoever tended these gardens really cared about their flowers. When he parked the car and we got out, I marveled at the flowerbeds once more. I wished that I had brought my camera to capture them forever in film.

"My mom works really hard to take care of all of those flowers. She is a great gardener."

I smiled and looked over to him, nodding in agreement. I only then noticed what he was wearing, he looked absolutely delectable. He had on a tight tank top paired with a soft pair of loose-fitting sweatpants that left little to the imagination. I bit my lip as I checked him out, bringing my gaze up to his face which had a smirk with an almost arrogance to it.

He held out his hand for me to take as he led us into the house. It was dimly lit with only a table lamp casting shadows to spill across the rustic living room. Will flipped on a light switch and motioned for me to take a seat on the couch.

"Do you want a drink or anything?"

"No thanks. Come sit with me."

He sat beside me on the couch wrapping his left arm around my shoulders and pulling me tighter to him.

"So is everything okay? Tell me what's on your mind."

"Well, you probably want to get comfortable because this may take a while," I said with a small chuckle. He grinned in response and wiggled his butt around on the couch theatrically. I waited for him to get settled before I began to tell him everything.

I told him about the letter my father had sent posthumously through my mother and how they both hid my being a werewolf from me. I told him how I had to keep it a secret from my sisters because they couldn't know yet.

Will was a great listener through it all, only pausing me to ask questions for clarification a few times. Throughout, he would give me a reassuring squeeze whenever I would become emotional. When I was through sharing my family woes, he finally spoke.

"It must be so hard for you to be taking all of this in and I have to say, you are so strong. Not many people could handle all of this new, life-altering information in the way that you have."

Will looked at me with a warm smile stretched across his face before pulling me onto his lap into a giant bear hug. He squeezed me tightly while rubbing his hand softly up and down my back.

"I will be here for you to talk to. I don't want you to feel like you have no one ever again. No matter what, I will be here. Always." He murmured quietly into my ear as he held me.

Hearing his words, I gently pulled away from his body enough so that I could raise my head from his chest to look up at him. He looked down to meet my gaze and my eager lips. My oncoming lips reached for his in a soft, gentle way that quickly became heated before I broke the kiss.

"Thank you."

I was suddenly very aware of our position on the couch. With me straddling his waist, it felt way too intimate for this early on in our relationship. As much as I wanted to continue, I scrambled to get off of him, before William's toned arms locked around me, keeping me in place.

"Please don't go. Let's watch a movie?" He said with a pleading look in his eyes. "You can pick it."