" You’ve always been like this.” Varian sighs.

" Like what ?” I hiss.

" Too quick to trust people.” Varian says.

" Oh, not this again.” I mumble,” I can decide who to trust just fine on my own.”

Evan steps in front of me,” Why are you here ?”

" I haven’t seen her in years. I got impatient waiting for you to bring her to us.” Varian says.

" And who exactly are you to her ?” I hear Greg asks from behind me.

" Her older brother.” Varian says as he pulls down on his baseball hat, further hiding his face in its shadow.

" By six months.” I grumble, only to be ignored by the two alpha male’s dick measuring contest.

" But that doesn’t matter, who are you to her ?” Varian asks Greg.

Greg just stutters awkwardly before settling with an awkward fidget of his fingers and quick glances away.

Varian ignored him as he turned to face me,” When I heard you ran away, it was very surprising. I was so worried about you, and without you there . . . there’s a lot that happened while you were away that I can’t explain as quickly as I would like to.”

" Do those things affect me in any way ?” I hiss,” I left for a reason. I’m sorry you weren’t treated right, but that isn’t my fault.” I begin to fumble with my keys as I went to open my door.

" But now you’re coming back, father’s already announced it.” Varian says.

" That means nothing.” I slam my fist on the door, only to swiftly hiss in pain and hold my bleeding knuckles to my chest.

That hurts way more than films make it seem.

" Woah, are you okay ?” Varian tries to reach for my hand to examine it, but I take a step back to avoid him.

" I’m fine.” I growled at him.

Varian frowned, but placed his hand back at his side.

" I am going back not of my own free will, so my return means nothing except -” I pause and take a deep breath,” Just, help bring Nathan inside. I don’t know how I’m going to explain you knocking him out.” I open the door,” Evan, you and Varian can drag Nathan into the apartment. I’m afraid I have to break up with him when he wakes up anyway. I don’t do long distance.”

Varian and Evan lift Nathan up and slowly begin to walk into my apartment as I feel someone grab my shoulder,” What do you mean you’re going back ?”

" What does it sound like? I’m leaving.” I grumble.

" I thought you had stuff you wanted to do, are you really just going to drop this because your dad said so ?” Greg asks.

I snap at him,” Well if you hadn’t shown up that night at the club, none of this would have happened and I wouldn’t have to drop anything!”

Greg flinches, but quickly recovers,” If you’re looking for someone to toss the blame on to, you’d better invest in a mirror before you go around pointing your finger at me.”

I took a step back. He wasn’t wrong. As much as I wanted to yell at him, I knew I was being a hypocrite and I was just looking for someone to blame to make myself feel better.

" It doesn’t matter anymore.” I say in defeat. I turn around and walk into the apartment,” Goodbye Gregory Waters. I hope I never have to bear the sight of you ever again.” I try to close the door behind me.

Greg puts his foot in between the door and the frame. I open the door up again slightly before slamming it back onto his foot.

He curses in pain.

" Well, that’s what happens when you put your foot there, dumbass!” I say.

" What happened to you coming to my pack to make my life hell ?” He asks.

" What are you, a masochist ?” I say,” I was bluffing, obviously. Who would want to see your pompous face every day ?” I try to close the door on his foot again,” Now move your foot.”

He hisses in pain,” I can’t.” He says.

" Why not ?” I growl.

" I just wanted to say something before I left.” He mumbles.

I open the door just enough for him to remove his foot, and keep it cracked open,” Go on then. Say it and leave.”

He looks into my eyes, hesitating before he opens his mouth,” Last night I . . . ” he trails off,” Sorry, never mind. I just wanted a proper goodbye.”

I stare at him for a couple of seconds before opening the door completely and sticking my hand out. He stares at it like it’s a foreign object before looking at me.

" Well ?” I say,” Aren’t you going to shake my hand ?”

He awkwardly grabs my hand into his before lightly bringing our hands up and down,” Why are you doing this ?” He asks quietly.

" You can’t have a proper goodbye if you’ve never properly introduced yourself to the person you’re leaving behind.” I say,” That’s what my mom told me.”

" So, this is it then ?” He asks.

I smile,” You almost seem sad, I thought you’d be relieved.” I say.

" I must admit, you are really irritating sometimes, low breed.” He says.

I squeeze his hand tighter,” Oh, that’s not a nice thing to say about a stranger.”

" Sorry, my bad.” He says through a clenched jaw,” My name is Gregory Waters. What’s your name ?”

" Lucy.” I say,” My name is Lucy Wild, it was nice - at very select times - to have made your acquaintance, Grego -”

I am interrupted when he suddenly pulls me into a hug. My entire body lights up with warmth wherever I am touching his, and for a fleeting moment, I forget just how much of a stuck up ass the man hugging me is.

I sigh and push off of him. Greg looks to the side as I step backwards into my apartment and slowly close my door.

I can’t hide the smirk that crossed my lips from the liberating feeling of finally being free from him.

" Thank god, he’s finally gone.” Evan groans.

" Who was that ?” Varian says as he takes off his hat, releasing his neatly gelled blonde hair,” Greg, was it ? His scent seemed familiar.” His deep brown eyes meet mine and pierce through me. He stared at me like he knew something, which made me both curious and uncomfortable.

" He was just . . . some guy, I guess. Some guy with bad enough luck to run into me.” I glance up at their shocked faces,” Not that it matters. I’m leaving tomorrow anyway.”

" Tomorrow ?” Evan sputters,” But -”

" Varian, could you pack my stuff. I think I could use a nap, it’s been a long day.” I lay down on the couch.

" Sure, I’ll get right to it.” Varian says.

" What are you, her butler ?” Evan says,” Olivier, I thought you -”

I cringe internally at the use of my birth name," Shut up Evan, your voice is interrupting my precious resting time.”

Now that I think about it I’ve been sleeping a lot recently.

It’s probably the stress.

Yeah. I’m sure that’s it.

I wave Evan off as I close my eyes and allow myself to drift off into darkness.

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