"Hey hon," mom smiled as I climbed into the passenger seat next to her. "How was your day?"

I grinned, "It was alright. How about you?"

She replied as she started the car, "It was fine hon. Still getting used to a new school, new faculty. And it's a small school, small town, so I'm very much the 'outsider'. But it's ok, it's a nice school and most of the students are good kids. Most of the faculty are good people too, though there's always one or two unpleasant ones in every school."

"I've noticed," I grimaced. "Can we head straight home or do you need to stop or anything?"

"We'll go straight home," she said as we pulled out of the parking lot. "I take it they're already on their way?"

"Yeah," I nodded. "Kelly texted a little while ago when Craig picked him up. I want to be there for when they arrive."

It was Friday, nearly the end of September, and I hadn't seen my best friends in almost two months. We talked all the time, the three of us had a private discord where we could text and voice and stuff, but it just wasn't the same.

And we all meant to meet up at the end of August or beginning of September, but that fell through because everyone got too busy. Craig moved away and into residence, all three of us got part-time jobs, and all three of us started college. And neither me or Kelly had a car, so the two of us couldn't easily meet up whenever we wanted.

Then two weeks ago Craig got himself an old second-hand pick-up and the plans all fell into place pretty fast after that. We all arranged to take this weekend off from work, and Craig didn't have classes this afternoon. So he headed into the city to meet Kelly, and the two of them were coming up together.

"Alison and I were talking," mom said as she drove us home. "I know you said you don't mind me picking you up and dropping you off on my way to work, but your dad's worried my little car won't do well in the winter when the snow's bad. She wants us to get something bigger, with all-wheel drive. An SUV probably? If we do, then we'll give you this car."

She added, "You'll have the same problem when the snow's bad, but the rest of the year you'll have a little more mobility. So you could drive down into the city to meet Kelly. Maybe you could even coordinate that with Craig, so the three of you can meet more often."

"Wow!" I was grinning happily, "That would be amazing! Thanks mom!"

"We haven't made any decisions yet," she cautioned, "So don't get too excited. But if that's what we do, then thank your dad since it was her idea."

By that point we were almost at home, it was only another minute or so before we pulled up the long gravel drive. Dad's big black pick-up was still there next to the house, and there was no sign of any other vehicles so I knew my friends hadn't arrived yet.

Mom parked on the grass in back behind the house and the two of us headed inside through the kitchen door.

Dad was there to greet us as usual, she gave mom a hug and kiss then asked both of us about our day.

We both filled her in, then I asked "Do you have to work tonight? Or will you be able to stay and hang out with us? Craig and Kelly should be here any minute."

"My shift starts at eight," she replied. "So I don't have to leave till about half past seven. If you kids are ok having dinner at six then we can all eat together. Otherwise maybe your mom and I will have dinner together while you and the guys do your own thing."

"I think we'll do our thing," I decided. "The weather's supposed to be decent tonight, maybe we'll do a BBQ and eat out on the deck?"

My folks were both ok with that, so while they figured out what the two of them would be doing for dinner I went up to my bedroom and dumped my little backpack on my bed for now.

When I came back down mom asked, "Melody I don't think we discussed the sleeping arrangements? Will you have someone using Alison's room again? You know we'd prefer to keep up the appearance that it's her room and not a second guest room."

It was hard to suppress my grin as I replied, "Don't worry about that. They'll both be crashing in my room with me."

Both my parents stared at me for a few seconds, then they exchanged a glance between the two of them. Mom looked like she didn't know how to react to that revelation, but dad got over it quicker.

"I trust you're being careful?" she asked. "You remember our talk?"

That made me blush but I nodded, "Yes dad. I shifted things around down there to ensure I can't get pregnant."

Mom actually looked surprised to hear that, like she was probably expecting me to say something about using protection or maybe that I was on the pill.

Fortunately there wasn't time to continue that conversation, because a beat-up old red pick-up truck pulled onto our driveway and was soon parked at the back next to mom's car.

I ran out the back door to greet them, and as my two friends emerged from the car I almost tackled Craig in a big hug, then did the same for Kelly. Almost, because I was still the smallest of the three of us and my petite body wasn't enough to knock either of the guys off balance.

The tackle-hugs were followed up with the normal kind, along with some kisses which was really nice. I definitely missed my friends, and they obviously missed me too. And each other.

They had their stuff for the weekend in a couple duffel bags, and they followed me back into the house where my parents were waiting.

Both guys sort of stopped for a second as they stared at dad.

She changed herself again last month, though it wasn't that drastic. She was still Alison, still a twenty-two year old blonde, but she became a little more butch. Her hair was short now with a bit of a side-shave on the right. More than that, she bulked up a bit and added more muscle in her arms and legs, as well as her core. Basically she went from slim and soft to strong and tough. She said it helped her with her new job, since working as a paramedic in the field was more physically demanding than being a nurse in the hospital. According to her anyways.

"Hello Ms. Hughes," Craig greeted my mom. Then he looked to my dad and got all tongue-tied, "Hi Mr. Sinclair... Mrs. Sinclair? Miss Sinclair? Um..."

Dad suppressed a giggle as she responded, "Hi Craig. Just call me Alison, ok?"

Kelly smirked as he said "Hello Alison, hi Ms. Hughes."

At that point both my parents were sort of staring at Kelly, while I held my breath. Neither of my folks had seen him in over two months. They didn't know how I helped him. They didn't even know that I could. And luckily the things he asked me to change weren't that blatant, as long as he had some loose clothes on. Like it was plausible he was just getting really good results from HRT. And nobody needed to know he didn't actually take hormones.

After a slightly awkward pause my folks both greeted Kelly, then I took the guys upstairs so they could leave their bags in my bedroom.

Dad was waiting as we came back downstairs and she suggested, "Kelly, Craig, why don't you boys help yourselves to some drinks then make yourselves comfortable in the living-room? There's beer and soda in the fridge. I need to have a word with Melody, then me and Laura are going out for dinner so we'll be out of your way and the three of you can get caught up."

"Sweet, thanks Alison!" Craig grinned.

Him and Kelly both grabbed beers then sat together on the sofa in the living-room, while mom was at the kitchen table going through some mail that came in earlier.

And with my heart starting to race I followed dad into the office. She closed the door behind us, then pointed at my desk and in a calm quiet level voice she stated "Sit down Melody."

I knew I was busted, and I gulped as I took my seat.

Dad stood a pace or two before me, staring at me with a dark look in her eyes. She continued watching me for a few more seconds before finally asking, "How did you do it?"

I sighed, but I didn't bother trying to lie to her. "It was exactly like you told me. Same technique, meditation, focus. Just directed outwards instead of inwards."

"You're only eighteen," she stated. "You only manifested three months ago, it shouldn't be possible. You're nowhere near strong enough."

My cheeks coloured as I quietly admitted "I am. I've been hiding it, pretending to get tired and stuff because you were worried when I didn't. But I've known since about two weeks in that I was stronger than I'm supposed to be."

Dad slowly shook her head as she stared at me.

"It was the August long weekend right? You had your friends here while your mom and I were finalizing things at her house. That's why I didn't see you doing any more changes to yourself till halfway through the month. Because you couldn't."

I continued blushing as I sighed, "Yeah. Helping Kelly was harder than I thought, it burned me out for a while. It was twelve days before I could change myself again."

"Harder than you thought?" dad asked, and even though she was staying calm and quiet I knew she was angry. Like really angry. "You shouldn't have been able to do it at all. The fact that you managed it doesn't excuse the fact that you could have hurt yourself, badly. And you could have hurt your friend."

She added, "I'm assuming Kelly wanted the things you did to him, because he seems happy and his body language suggests he's comfortable with you."

I nodded, "I did exactly what he asked for. Nothing more, nothing less."

"Does Craig know you can do this?" she asked next.

"He does," I replied quietly. "Both Craig and Kelly swore to keep it secret, they swore they'll never tell anyone."

Dad continued staring at me in silence for another minute or so, while my heart pounded in my chest. I literally couldn't remember ever being scared of her before. Like even when she was the big strong tough firefighter guy she was never scary and never really got angry with me. But now I was nervous.

She finally took a deep breath then let it out in a sigh. "Do you remember everything else I said when I told you that story? If this gets out it could put all of us in danger. If other supernaturals find out what you've done, what you can do, I might not be able to help you. And as much as I love you, if I hear about anyone being changed against their will it'll be my responsibility to stop you."

I gulped again but nodded, "Ok dad, I understand. Like I said, I only wanted to help my friend."

"That's what my older sibling said," she replied quietly. "That's how it started a hundred years ago."

She sighed again and asked, "Please hon, promise me you won't do it again? Promise me that now you've helped Kelly you'll forget all about it?"

"Ok dad," I nodded. "I promise."

Her eyes stayed on me for another few seconds, like she was making sure I knew how serious this was, or she was gauging how honest I was about that promise.

"We'll keep this conversation between us, all right? I won't tell your mother, you don't tell your friends any more secrets." She gestured to the door, "Now go enjoy your visit with Craig and Kelly. I'm taking your mom out for dinner."

"Ok dad," I repeated. "And I'm sorry."

She just shook her head, then the two of us emerged from the office. I grabbed myself a beer and headed to the living-room, while mom and dad got their purses and left.

"What happened?" Craig asked as I slumped onto the sofa with him and Kelly. "You get in trouble or something?"

I grimaced, "Yeah. Dad gave me a lecture, but it's over now. And I'm so happy to see you two again!"

The three of us exchanged some more hugs and another round of kisses, and I pushed the unpleasant stuff out of my mind for now so I could just relax and enjoy myself with my friends.

"So what'd I miss?" I asked, once we were all chilling together on the sofa. Kelly was in the middle again, with Craig on the right and me on the left. "What were you guys talking about while I was getting lectured?"

Kelly grinned, "I was just teasing Craig about the fact that he can't say the 'b' word."

My expression shifted to a frown as I asked, "What's the 'b' word?"

Craig's cheeks were colouring as he rolled his eyes and had a swig of beer.

"Boyfriend," Kelly responded with a grin. "On the drive up we were wondering if you were officially girlfriend with both of us. When I asked if him and me were officially boyfriends, his cheeks went that same colour they are right now."

"Look I'm sorry!" Craig grimaced. "I know both of you went through some big stuff over the summer, well so did I ok? Only difference is you two already knew what was up with you. I thought I was straight. Sorry if it's gonna take me a bit to accept that maybe I'm not?"

Kelly rolled his eyes, "Dude just say you're bi and get on with your life. It's fine. It worked for me all through high-school, and college is even more open-minded."

"Maybe your college," Craig grumbled. Then he threw it over to me, "What about you Melody? Are you ok with having two boyfriends?"

I laughed, "I'm totally ok calling the two of you my boyfriends. And you can both call me your girlfriend, that's great!"

Kelly teased, "Any other boyfriends on the side? Or girlfriends? Have you met anyone new at college?"

I continued to smile as I shook my head, "Not really. I guess I'm not ruling anything out, but right now you two are all I need."

"Same," Kelly said as he reached around to hug both me and Craig.

"Yeah," Craig agreed as both him and me leaned into the hug. "Me too."

With that, the last of my tension drained away. For the last couple months of high-school I'd been worried about losing my best friends, but instead of drifting apart we'd become closer than ever.

We eventually went out onto the back deck and had BBQ burgers for dinner, and the three of us stayed out there talking and drinking and just generally catching up and hanging out. When mom got home from dinner she didn't bother us, she just went inside and up to her bedroom so me and the guys could continue getting re-acquainted.

And at the end of the night, my two boyfriends and I all climbed into my bed together. And we did our best to keep the noise down, though I was glad mom's bedroom was at the opposite side of the house.

PurpleCatGirl

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