He was about to move around but he felt someone’s hands grabbed onto his. Rough, calloused hands that belonged to someone who worked out a lot and liked to act tough whenever an Alpha abused their power.

“Breona?” Skylar muttered, eyebrows raised. Right there beside his bed sat his best friend, holding onto his hand as she snored through the day? Or, was it night? He always liked to keep his room dark so he couldn’t tell. One look at the ticking clock hung up above his PC set and he saw it was early morning, 5 am to be exact.

“??”

He must have woken Breona up from his wriggling around. He watched as she raised her head, rubbing her eyes before a loud yawn escaped from her lips. It wasn’t long before she was eye-level with Skylar which made him flinch for a moment, expecting her to slap him, yell at him, scold him for doing something reckless but instead, they stared at each other endlessly.

“Um. . .Bree?” Skylar scratched his cheek. That turned out to be the wrong thing to do as Breona’s expression morphed from confusion, to shock, to a mixture of joy and elation before finally settling on fearful anger - the type of anger you had when you almost lost something you loved.

Skylar whimpered internally. Breona may not be an Alpha but she was dominant enough to be one. He flinched and closed his eyes when she lunged at him, expecting the long awaited slap to the face. . . until the only contact he felt was the warm embrace of his best friend.

“Bree?” Skylar hugged her back but shut up when he felt her strong arms wrap around his waist tighter, bringing him close enough so that she could be rest assured that he was still here. That he was still alive.

Skylar wanted to apologize, tell her that he wouldn’t do something again but he realized the small trembles that were rocking her arms. A couple of sobs and sniffles told him all he needed to know about how his best friend felt about his crazy stunt. She had been so scared, so worried and hurt and just downright terrified -

“You’re here. You’re actually here. Oh, thank god,” She choked out, voice muffled by his long hair. “You’re real and you’re back. .”

“God, I thought I’d lost you.” Hearing his best friend break down like that proved to be too much for him as a couple sobs broke out of him as well. Tears streamed down his cheeks as he hugged his best friend, the both of them practically crying out like babies in his room.

“I-I was so scared,” Skylar sobbed. “He was so big, so mean. I really thought I w-was going to d-die.”

“I’m sorry,” Breona cried along. “I’m so sorry for leaving you behind like that.”

Skylar sniffled. “Why are YOU the one apologizing, dummy?”

“Oh shut up, crapface,” Breona said. “I’m not the one who wet the bed because of a horror movie he watched.”

“Hey! I’m pretty sure that’s normal for everyone,” Skylar said.

“Not when they’re already in seventh grade,” Breona added.

“Oh shut it,” Skylar said. Despite the many tears pooling onto Sam’s shoulders, a small smile split across his cheeks, just thankful that he could live another day where he could joke around with his best friend again.

Breona was the first to break their hug. She took a deep breath and leaned back so that they were able to look at each other eye to eye. A hand cupped his cheeks as a smile appeared on her face. Skylar copied her expression. . .until he grimaced in pain when she pulled his cheeks. “Ow!”

“That’s for doing something stupid,” Breona said, letting his cheeks go. Skylar immediately soothed his cheeks by rubbing them.

From how hard she pulled, he looked like he was constantly pouting now. “I’m sorry.”

“Damn right you’re sorry,” Breona said, feeling the need to yell at him for his stupidity. But, instead she took another breather, remembering why he’d done it. “I’m not going to yell at you for what you did - even though I really want to - but all I’m going to tell you is to not do something like That. Ever. Again. Do you understand me?”

“Yes, Sammy,” Skylar pouted like a child. He looked back up and gave her a toothy smile. “Forgive me?”

Breona just pinched her nose and sighed exasperatedly. “You’re lucky you’re so cute. God, I don’t think I’ll live long enough if I’m with you.”

She looked at Skylar’s expectant look. “Yes, I forgive you.”

Skylar brightened up at that, trying to go for another hug until he felt her pinch his other cheek. “Ouch!”

Breona chuckled at the indignant look he gave her as he rubbed his cheeks. He looked as threatening as a bunny. A bunny that stood against a giant when she did nothing but watch. Breona’s smile flipped upside down.

“Come here,” She said, going for a hug that sent them both tumbling on the bed. There, Skylar nuzzled against the protective embrace of the one person that had always looked out for him. Here, in her arms, he felt safe. That warm and fuzzy feeling in the stomach you only got when you were still a small baby sleeping in the protective embrace of your mother as she sang you to sleep.

Skylar felt a little scared to sleep, suddenly remembering the nightmare he had awoken from but a quick nudge into the warm heat that was between Breona’s bosom dissolved any reservation he had. He heard Sam hum a tune to a song - no - their song, a melody that never failed to calm him down and make him yawn. Soon, his eyes closed as he fell asleep.

There was a long silence after Skylar fell asleep in her embrace. Voices started whispering into Breona’s ears when she looked at the envelope settled on Skylar’s desk.

She should have protected him. She rubbed Skylar’s back when she felt him squirm around a little. She could have protected him. Breona couldn’t remember how long it’d been since she met this adorable, little heart attack but she would never forget why she had awakened her ability. The first time she had awakened it, she had never been happier since she could now ACTUALLY protect her Pantsie.

Oh the amount of time and effort she put into learning everything, and she meant everything about her ability, making sure to optimize it and perfect it. She had done such a great job that if revealed, she was sure to shoot up to the Top 10.

But after an. . .incident, she learned to fear her powers. To be ashamed of them enough that she could only tell Skylar the good half of her powers and even THAT had been seriously filtered.

She brushed apart Skylar’s bangs, smiling at the peaceful nap he surely deserved after the stupidly brave stunt he had pulled off. While she did nothing.

Again, that voice. Breona shook her head, ignoring it. She focused her attention on the beautiful boy sleeping peacefully and could definitely see why SHE had taken an interest. Sam peeked at the envelope.

Oh, how would Skylar react when she told him that his idol had left him a letter and her number.