Don't touch them.

Chapter 17

   He looks slightly confused, but he's still there. We watch eachother for a moment, and both of us let out a breath of relief. I limp around him, to Sam. He wraps his arms around my waist, burying his face in my chest. Sometimes I forget how much taller I am.
   "Who are they?" He mumbles. I turn to face my parents, but before I can answer, Ace and Eve come in.
   "Mom, Dad! I'm glad you made it safe." Ace says. Sam tenses, looking up and wiping away a tear.
   "What's wrong?" I whisper, wiping away a tear of my own.
   "You weren't there... And last night and I thought..." He just groans and puts his face in my chest again.
   "Let's go sit down." My leg's killing me.
   "I'll get you some medicine." Heather says.
   "Can I get you anything? Blood? Cheesecake?" Sandra offers.
   "Um, sure. That would be lovely." The woman, my... My mother answers.
   "Why don't we all go sit down?" Jermy says. I limp to the living room, my arm still wrapped around Sam, who's trembling.
   Aspen, who had fallen back asleep sits up abruptly, eyes wide as he stares at my father. He stands, stretching his back legs. I can see his leathery skin stretching and pulling, and I know Dad does too. He crouches, watching the small goblin. Aspen stares at him for a moment before launching himself at the large man. They hit the ground rolling.
   "Aspen!" Dad exclaims.
   "This is the familiar?" The woman whispers, crouching to let him sniff her. Aspen looks at me, curious. I nod and he sniffs her for a moment before nuzzling her hand. I sit on the couch, carefully pulling Sam down beside me. He snuggles into my side, and Del stumbles over sleepily.
   "Tector." He mumbles. I groan as he crawls into my lap, putting his weight on the bruise on my leg as he lifts himself up. He shifts into a small, redish brown wolf pup and curls up in my lap to sleep. I hear Jermy gasp as he pulls out his phone to take pictures. This is the first time he's shifted.
   "So, Dain..." Sandra comes in with a few mugs, one of which is my coffee. "Kadence and David, here you go." She gives them the mugs, and me my coffee and ice pack, which I know realize I left on the kitchen counter.
   "Here's some Advil." Heather hands me two blue pills. I put them in my mouth and down them with my coffee.
   "Thank you." I press the pack to my swollen jaw, trying to avoid awkward eye contact with people. Heather and Sandra take their chairs and Ace and Eve sit on the floor in front of the TV, Jermy leans against the wall as my parents sit on the other end of the couch. They look like they have so many questions... But they start small.
   "Who's your friend?" The woman, Kadence, asks.
   "This is Del, and this is Sam. His sister Anna is still sleeping." I whisper. Del has also fallen asleep, and Sam still looks really tired too. I can tell he's on the verge, but still too frightened with the new people.
   "Oh. Del... Calls you Tector?" Dad smiles.
   "He tries to say Protector but can't quite pronounce it." I explain.
   "Protector?" Kadence, my mom, looks at Jermy as he starts to laugh. He quickly launches into the story of the first night I stayed here. When I almost broke his arm.
   "Oh..." My mom snickers. Aspen rubs up against my leg.
   "Does this make them my mother and father in law?" Sam asks suddenly. The room seems to freeze.
    "I... You're..." My Dad stutters, and my Mom seems to have frozen.
   "Uh, Sam is my mate." I explain quickly.
   "So... How did you two meet?" My Dad asks. My mom looks nervous, like she also wants to ask questions, and her eyes keep wandering to my bandaged arm, which has swollen twice it's normal size.
   "They found me at school." I say.
   "Then we found him sleeping in a tree." Anna yawns, walking from the hall straight to the kitchen, not even bothering to glance at the situation.
   "Sleeping in a tree?" Dad chuckles.
   "I uh, didnt get to sleep much at the house." I run my hand through Sams hair and Dad winces.
   "I'm really sorry." He whispers.
   "Don't be, not your fault." I mumble.
   "We should have never gone there." He whispers, running his hand over his face and sighing. My mom wraps her arm around her shoulder.
   "So... What have you... Can I ask what you did... While you were there?" Mom asks softly.
   "I went to school, and tried to stay out of the house by working." I shrug.
   "Where'd you find work?" Dad sniffs and offers a small smile.
   "Um, before school I stocked shelves at the local market, and after I helped this man he... He was blind too." My voice falls softer at the last part, scenes of Mr. Charlies body running through my mind again.
   "Blind?" Dad asks. Oh yeah... They thought I was dead. Charred.
   "She had locked me in the room, and I was weak from what she did that morning." Dad ducks his head and Mom rubs his back. "Aspen managed to bust down the door, but the one of the beams from the ceiling fell on him, which is why his legs are that way." Aspen rubs up against me. "He drug me out, but in the proccess I uh, I was burned." I run my hand through my hair, smoothing it back. I can hear them gasp softly. 'It doesn't hurt or anything, but I'm blind in my left eye now." I explain.
   "I'm so sorry..." Dad whispers again.
   "It's not that bad. I handled it." I shrug again.
   "So, you helped the blind man after school? Do you still work for him? What was his name?" My mom asks, smiling. But it has no joy. She's trying to be motherly, but I'm not sure how I feel about it.
   "Mr. Charlie." I whisper, sipping my coffee.
   "Was he the man on the news?" She asks slowly, "he was, uh, robbed?"
   "Yeah. I was the one who found him." I settle back in the couch, carefully adjusting Del in my lap, and Sam snuggles closer into my side.
   "So, what did you do to your hand?" Dad asks, trying to change the subject. I know they've been dying to ask, but trying to stay away from too many sensitive subjects. I guess we're in too deep not to ask now. Still Sam tenses beside me, pulling his legs up underneath himself and hugging me a little tighter.
   "Um... Well..." Heather rubs her neck.