Becoming the Luna

Dale drags me down to the dining room and it's not like I could have said no, Mae wasn't around anymore, she had most likely gone home already which wasn't surprising as it was already pretty late.

I end up stuffing down way more than is comfortable and I'm not surprised to find out that sweet Julia is also a Werewolf, it's like for the most part of my life I've never heard the term being used in a sentence, and then… boom! It's the most used word in my vocabulary.

There's still no sign of Virgil when Dale kisses my cheeks and says that he's going out to patrol and I expressly tell him that if he gets hurt then I would shave all his hair and delete all his dog pictures… Let's just say he looked really shaken when he left.

Still no Virgil even when it starts to get late and my mom and Shana have gotten satisfied with the amount of body contact they've made with me.

It seems to reassure them though so I don't complain about the intense cuddling session I get because they look less gloomy and smile wider.

I still don't see Virgil even when it gets late enough that we have to turn in, Shana is sleeping over but she's taking the third bedroom, I didn't mind at all, I wasn't sure I wanted company anyway.

I just roll on the bed, too exhausted to take a shower, I had already taken one only a couple of hours ago besides I'm already in my pajamas so it wasn't like I even budgeted for a shower.

I put off the lights and just lay on my bed, staring up at the ceiling. I had spent most of the day sleeping so it was bound to bite me in the butt sometime plus I'm too worried about Virgil to fall asleep that I would probably still be awake even if I hadn't been sleeping all day.

I don't know how much time passes like this and I'm scared to check my clock so I don't, letting my mind wander off.

I didn't have any guarantee that Virgil would show up because everyone refused to tell me until I asked them directly and I wasn't about to do that, I still had my bashful pride.

I throw my hands over my head and they bounce on my pillow, my shirt riding up, I had the unshakeable belief that Virgil would come, he had to.

So I'm not surprised when a long time later my door creaks open and I congratulate myself for keeping the door unlocked, I quickly slip my eyes shut, Werewolves could see clearly in the night and somehow I didn't want Virgil to know that I had stayed up for him to come back.

The door clicks shut and all movements stop again, I can't help myself from discreetly winking open an eye to check up on him.

My eyes had adjusted to the dark from hours of staring at it so I can clearly see Virgil's silhouette leaning against the door and that's enough to satisfy my curiosity so I close my eyes gently again and just wait.

Not long after, the bed dips beside and I hear a faint familiar sigh. 

Without thinking about it, I roll over to him, throwing my arms and legs around him, burying my face in the crook of his neck.

He's lying on his back so I just glue myself to his side.

"Hayden?" He says in a surprised rush, turning towards me to gather me in his arms.

"Hi." I mumble into his neck, throwing my arms around his neck at the new position, I'm ridiculously happy.

"Hey." He murmurs huskily into my hair.

He hadn't made any sound of pain yet even though I wrapped so tight around him like I'm scared he'll slip away so I guess Dale wasn't exaggerating but I ask anyway.

"Are you okay?" I ask softly.

"Yeah." We're whispering… "Although I should be asking you that."

"I'm fine, now." 

We go silent for a while and I'm content to listen to our heartbeats thump in rhythmic tandem.

Virgil wasn't a huge talker but I didn't need words to understand him most times.

"I thought you would be horrified when you found out, I mean that's why you didn't want to see my face anymore." He says slowly like it's taking a lot out of him to talk.

My eyes fly open in shock and I lean back to look him in the face even though I know I can't see his expression. "What?" I splutter genuinely confused. "I thought you didn't tell me because you were protecting me or something?" 

He lifts a hand to cup my face. "Well, that and… wait, you don't mind?"

I barely stop myself from facepalming. "No, Virgil, no I don't." I say clearly in a dry voice, not mincing my words.

He makes a sound of happiness and nuzzles into my neck and I burst out laughing at the ticklish feeling.

"I-I can't believe you were worried about that, why would that even be an issue?" I ask in disbelief. "I mean I spent an entire year believing I was an alien and you pretended to believe too, bullying everyone who said otherwise." 

Virgil chuckles at this. "Who said I didn't believe you?"

I just give him a look that I know he can see in the dark. "Because you sweet-talked my mom into playing along."

"You were adorable." He finally admits. "I had to make your alien phase last for as long as possible."

"We were both six." I make a face.

His reply is a kiss on my forehead. "It's really late, you shouldn't have stayed up."

"Says the one that snuck in at midnight." I roll my eyes. "And while you're hurt too… I can't believe...mmph." He cuts me off with a kiss and the familiarity of it has me smiling against his lips, everything was fine again.