The next few hours were spent mostly in silence. I read my book and Liz watched the road as we made our way down the endless span of highway that would eventually get us to my hometown. I realized early enough that my battery life on my phone was going to be a problem, so I thankfully enabled dark mode and power-saving mode early enough for it to make a difference.

We were about a half an hour away from our destination now, and I thought it was about time to think about dinner. I was starting to feel really hungry, and the battery on my phone was on its last couple percent.

“Hey Liz?” I asked, trying my best to sound casual.

The girl in question tensed up, which didn’t help my confidence in trying to talk about anything with her, even something mundane like dinner. “I was wondering if we could stop by some place after we get into town to grab some take out for dinner. Would that be okay?”

At least Liz loosened up a little after hearing what I had to say. She might have been glad that it wasn’t another difficult topic and spent a moment in thought. When she finished whatever she was thinking about she responded, “We should probably go to your home so that I can confirm that the area is safe first. After that we can think about food.”

My stomach was rather upset with that conclusion, but I had to agree that it made sense. Safety comes first. The morbid side of my mind couldn’t help but bring up what might happen if the area wasn’t safe, and I felt like I had to ask.

I wrapped my left arm around myself and held the opposite upper arm, then bit the bullet. “What do we do if the area isn’t safe?”

Liz tensed right back up again. She opened her mouth to speak, looking conflicted and cutting herself off. Then she grimaced and said, “We hope it doesn’t come to that.”

Shit. That didn’t bode well. What would we do if my home wasn’t safe? Would I have to leave? Just leave everything I had behind and go somewhere else? That didn’t sit well with me. 

I’d lived in that town my whole life. My parents and sibling were there. All my friends were there. The house that I had put so much work into. My entire life’s worth of memories.

Before I knew it I had started tearing up. Unlike earlier, they were silent tears. They still hurt all the same though. Liz didn’t seem to notice, which was probably for the best. There were already enough complicated things between us. I would rather not have more difficult interactions while I was trying to wrangle my brain back into order.

Unfortunately, the crinkle of plastic when I tried to stealthily grab a tissue tipped Liz off and she glanced at me. She clearly saw the tears, as she tensed up again and opened her mouth to say something, but nothing came out. That happened a few more times, and then she seemed to give up and let her shoulders slump slightly. That didn’t make me feel any better for sure. I didn’t know what to think of it exactly, but it was probably not great. For either of us.

That was how we spent the remaining drive, with me trying to keep myself together and failing when the familiar landmarks started to come into view. A billboard that proclaimed us the home of some athlete. The advertisement for the museum about our local history of potato chips and baking products.

The GPS pinged that we were coming up on the exit that we needed to take, though I didn’t need it. I knew where we were perfectly well and also knew the way to go from here. I chose to stay silent though, letting the GPS guide Liz the rest of the way there. 

My chest clamped tighter and tighter with every block that we went by. I hugged myself as tight as I could when we turned off into my neighborhood. Less than a block away from home my fingers dug into my sides and my body was so tense I was almost shaking. 

And finally, with one last turn we pulled up in front of my home. The sight of it filled me with hope and fear. The comfy porch where I had spent a number of days reading when the weather was nice. The small garden area in the front where I had a few low maintenance plants that added a flair of color during the warmer months. The neutral blue siding, trimmed in white. It was all so familiar that it almost hurt.

Liz put the car in park, but didn’t turn the engine off. She rolled down her window and sniffed the air, then grimaced. With the car still running, she rolled her window back up and got out of the car, leaving the door open.

She spent what felt like an eternity prowling around the car and smelling the air, likely for signs of danger. Maybe anything supernatural in general? I wasn’t sure, but the anticipation was killing me.

After what may have been either a minute or two or a whole lifetime, Liz came back. She leaned into the car and turned the keys in the ignition, silencing the low rumble of the car idling. My heart skipped a beat. Were things going to be okay?

Seemingly reading whatever expression I had, Liz said carefully, “I don’t sense anything dangerous in the air, though I do want to take some time to take a look around the area.”

I let out a breath that I hadn’t realized I had been holding. My body also felt like jelly as all the tension I held slowly bled out. No more tears formed, only relief washing away uncertainty. 

Liz pocketed her keys and, still leaning down into the car, tried to awkwardly get my attention. “Uh, Sam?” I looked up from my lap and made eye contact with Liz. Seeing that she had my attention, she continued. “I… we need to take a look around. I can’t leave you by yourself around here yet, so can you come with me?”

I was just glad that it wasn’t any bad news that she had. I smiled as I replied, “I think I can manage that.”

The blush that rose on Liz’s face was unexpected. She quickly leaned back out of the car and stepped up the curb, making her way to stand on the sidewalk in front of my house. I unbuckled myself and grabbed my purse before getting out of the car.

Walking around the car and up onto the sidewalk myself, I found myself next to Liz in front of my house. It was so close, and yet so far. Hopefully Liz wouldn’t need us to go around the entire town. I don’t know if I would even survive that much walking. I wasn’t in good enough shape for that.

I stared longingly at my home, hopeful that I could be there soon. Dinner and bed were exceptionally high on my list of current priorities, and a delivery app could make both of them happen in one place. Well, mostly. I wasn’t going to be eating in bed or anything.

Liz interrupted my thoughts of food and sleep with a quiet voice. “We should start walking. I’d like to cover about four or five blocks in each direction before the sun sets.”

My heart sank slightly. That sounded like a lot of walking when my stomach was growling and my spirit yearned for the comfort of home. There was no sense complaining about it though, since I knew Liz had a good reason for it. She already felt plenty uncomfortable enough with her position and didn’t need me making her job of protecting me any harder than it already was. 

Putting on a front of nonchalance I replied, “Alright, I’m ready if you are.” 

Only nodding in response, Liz started off down the sidewalk. I followed beside and slightly behind her. She seemed focused on the scents in the air and the sounds of the neighborhood, so I decided that I should just try and be quiet so that she doesn’t get distracted. 

I also didn’t know how she could smell anything other than that magical scent that we had from each other. Even with a little space between us and being outside, it was the only thing I could smell. Her nose must be a lot better than mine. With her having wolf powers, that seemed as likely as anything else that had happened recently.

Smells aside, I could hear the sounds of activity around the area. Dogs barking, cars passing by on this street and the ones adjacent, distant sounds of indistinct talking, some kids playing in a backyard somewhere. Nothing sounded out of the ordinary. It was the sound of normal life to me. I had no idea what Liz might be trying to find.

Letting Liz do her thing, since I had no idea what to be paying attention to, I started letting my thoughts wander. After the rather stressful day, I wanted to think about some nice things. Like the evening sun casting a beautiful array of colors across the sky. The gentle breeze that made my dress sway. The fall flowers that bloomed in front of peoples’ homes.

There was also the fact that a walk could be relaxing if I ignored the definitely not relaxing reason for the walk. Especially taking a walk with Liz.

If the situation was different, and I had just met Liz under more mundane circumstances, would I have been able to take walks with her? The magical scent thing certainly influenced my interactions with her, but what if it didn’t? Would Liz and I get along normally? Would I still have a crush on her, albeit not a magical one? 

That really made me think about the scent thing as a whole. Did it come to be just because we were compatible in a more physical sense? Or, was it more than that? I had absolutely no claim in understanding how magic worked. I had read and seen enough stories to know that there were too many interpretations to figure out which one might apply to the actual magic that was apparently real in the world.

But, if it were something mystical like a driving force of life, then does that mean that Liz and I share some fate-inspired bond? Would I be upset that some outside force paired us up without either of our say in the matter? I don’t know. Fate was a tricky thing, if it existed. Given that our situation was remarkably unlikely, it is something worth keeping in mind. 

I mean come on. On the one singular day that I had ever been in that part of the country, I was drawn out to a barn in the middle of the night and then turned into a Were that had a magical scent-based bond with the one that turned me, who was only there due to some unfortunate circumstance that I was still not privy to that caused her to lose control of herself and be guided by whatever instinct to that exact barn. If that wasn’t fate, then I ran the numbers into the ground with that one. Statisticians be damned.

Sighing to myself, I gave up that line of thinking. It was pretty useless to consider. Even if it were fate, I couldn’t do anything about it. It was way beyond me. 

Though… it might not be so bad? I got to meet a really pretty girl that I definitely have a crush on. She might even feel the same way. She was definitely really not doing great right now though, and seemed pretty uncomfortable with the whole thing. 

Oh fuck, what if she was already dating somebody? I opened my eyes wide, realization spreading through me that that had never come up. I didn’t know if she had anyone she was with romantically or not. All I knew about her was that her parents were also Weres like her. 

Background thoughts of imagining Liz and I holding hands combusted in a flame of guilt. Fuck. Was I the one taking advantage of her? Just because I had come to like the idea sure as hell didn’t mean Liz did. I mean, I was never going to boldly try and push myself on her or anything but I was definitely maybe kinda looking forward to the possibility that something could happen?

Damn, I felt like a really terrible person right now. And here I thought I was doing well with this whole thing given the circumstances. 

Wait, but what about Delilah’s teasing? She was definitely teasing the two of us about blushing up a storm around each other and such. Did that mean that she may have wanted us to be a thing, or was she teasing Liz about blushing up around the person she wasn’t dating? This was all way too complicated right now, and I had absolutely no clue how I could have possibly brought this up in conversation.

Actually, I don’t think I even should. And on top of that, it doesn’t really change what I need to be doing now anyway. Whether she is dating someone or not doesn’t really matter, no matter how disappointing that may be. Liz was here to protect me from supernatural threats and to teach me in place of her parents while they went to fetch some researcher that might be able to help one or both of us. All I was meant to do was learn and try to keep up living my normal life as much as was possible.

Now trying to avoid the intrusive thoughts of Liz that made my heart ache, I kept my inner monologue to a minimum and let my eyes aimlessly scan the streets and the houses that we walked past. 

Thankfully, between my inner rambling and then the battle to not ramble I managed to keep myself occupied long enough for us to finish the circuit around the area and start on our way back to where we started. We were on the home stretch, more literally than I would usually use that phrase for. 

Liz kept on sniffing the air and turning her head back and forth, probably still being attentive for any sign of something that could cause problems. She did that all the way until we had reached my driveway, where we stopped. Liz finally stopped smelling the air and turned to face me. 

She stared at me for a moment with a seemingly neutral expression before speaking. “I think the area should be safe. There wasn’t anything that I could tell would be a problem,” she said calmly.

I sighed with relief, though I had assumed as much since she didn’t stop us or say anything while we were walking. “Thank goodness. I’m glad that there wasn’t any trouble.” I paused, trying to think of how to phrase my next thoughts. “So, does that mean we can go inside and settle in?”

Slightly smiling, Liz nodded. “Yeah, we can. Did you want to go get dinner first though?”

Shaking my head, I sighed again. “I was thinking of just ordering delivery. I don’t know if I have the energy to leave again, not after we are practically at my doorstep. Would that be okay with you?”

Liz shrugged. “I have no problem with that.” 

My lips curled up into a smile and I turned towards the house. “Awesome. Let’s get inside then. How do you feel about chinese?” Mid sentence I had started walking to the door already. I was really craving some sweet and sour chicken right now, and the call of my couch was strong.

Trailing behind me Liz responded, “Chinese sounds good.”

We stood there on my porch. I faced the front door with a grimace, realizing my blunder. 

“Is something wrong?” asked Liz from beside me.

I sighed and grumbled, “I don’t have my keys. Those are back in Ohio.” Before Liz could say anything about that I continued, “It isn’t a big problem. I have a spare hidden in the backyard. I am grumpy about it though.”

“Oh… okay.” Liz replied simply.

Leading us down the stairs on the porch and around the side of the house to where the gate to the backyard was, I entered the code to the padlock and swung it open, walking onwards. My backyard was nothing overly fancy, but I had a good few things that were rather nice to have. 

There was a patio with some cheap lawn chairs and a table with a red umbrella tied shut in the middle, a privacy fence that nicely kept the area to myself, and a few patches of flowers that made the place feel lively. There was also a brick fire pit that was built by the previous owners and I had tidied it up and made it functional. Though, I had yet to actually make use of it.

Padding over to the patio table, I started untying the umbrella. Liz gave me a quizzical look, which I tried to ignore. Once the umbrella was opened, I reached up into the top and pulled my spare key out of the little hiding pocket I had put in there.

“Huh.” Liz muttered to herself.

“Yes, I know it’s a little overkill. It sounded fun at the time though and it works.” I huffed in mock offense.

Liz shrugged. “Doesn’t bother me.”

Unsure of how to take Liz’s dismissal of my secret hiding place, I moved on and walked towards the gate that I had left open. Liz followed behind and exited the backyard while I put the padlock back in place and scrambled the numbers. A very short walk later got us back to the front door where I, with key in hand, opened the door to home. 

So much relief washed over me when I saw the familiar living room just inside the door. The walls were painted a dark blue and trimmed in modern white. The couch with an array of red and green floral patterns on it in front of the TV on a chestnut-toned entertainment center. The dark brown coffee table in between the couch and the TV. The recliner off to the side was a black faux-leather. In the next room, a light-stained wood dining table sat surrounded by a few different types of chairs that held no cohesive theme or pattern. The refinished, original hardwood floors that ran throughout the whole place.

Mismatched and second hand as it was, nobody would ever guess that an interior designer lived here. Still, it was home. And after the day that I had had, stepping foot in the door of my own house felt good. I took a deep breath of the scent of home.

Standing next to me in the entryway, Liz seemed to be sniffing the air as well with a complicated expression. I shook off the medley of feelings that have assailed me today and moved to sit on the bench next to the door and took my shoes off. Once they were off, I placed them in the storage cubes that made up the base of the bench. 

Noting that if we were ordering Chinese I would probably need to charge my phone before it died, I walked over to the recliner where my spare charger was plugged into the wall. I set my purse on the coffee table on the way there.. Behind me, Liz seemed to also be taking off her shoes. I quickly plugged in my phone and turned back around to face the wolf girl that was putting her shoes in the cube next to where I had just put mine.

“Welcome to my home… I guess? You can come sit down over here while I get an order going on the delivery app.” I wasn’t exactly sure what to say to Liz. Our current predicament was truly alien to me. I wasn’t sure if she was more of a guest or more of a live in guard at the moment. Crushing on her aside, I had no idea how to actually interact with her.

She nodded simply and replied conservatively, “Okay.” 

I sighed happily as I took a seat in the recliner, resting my weary legs, and Liz took a seat on the couch. “What kind of food do you like from a Chinese place?”

She shrugged again. “I’m not picky. Dishes with meat would be nice.”

That answer was remarkably unhelpful. Clamping down the urge to let out yet another sigh I said, “Alright.”

Having no idea what to order, I scanned the app for things that looked good and just started adding a few of them randomly to the cart. I was ordering way more than was necessary, including a double order of the sweet and sour chicken that I was craving, but I figured having leftovers wouldn’t be bad with all that I would probably have to do tomorrow. Something told me that the morning would start with a few lessons on the supernatural. Hopefully after breakfast at least.

The order was submitted with a generous tip for the poor driver that would have to haul the bundle of chicken, beef, pork, fried rice, veggies, eggrolls, soup, and other stuff to my door. I set my phone down and looked over at Liz, who had a bit of a vacant expression on her face.

“Liz?” I said, causing the girl to startle a little bit.

“Sorry…” mumbled Liz with a look of guilt.

I shook my head. “It’s fine. I figure that now that we are somewhere safe and while we are waiting on food, now would be a good time to talk. There are a lot more things that we are going to have to go over, so we might as well start early.”

Grimacing, Liz responded, “Yeah, we probably should…” 

Fighting down another sigh, I prepared myself to talk through some of the other questions that had been burning through my mind all day.

MegaSuperKami

That was quite the stressful endeavor. I'm glad at least that they finally made it home safe. It feels like that has been weighing heavily for a while now. Still, Sam is home and Liz is with her. Chinese food is ordered as well.

This one was kind of difficult to write. I think out of all of the chapters of this series so far this was the one that I struggled the most with. If anything seems out of place, do let me know as I was in a bit of a rush when editing it.

Also! The last full chapter of the short story I started up has been published. It... kind of got out of control. I estimated it to be around 8k words, but then it ended up being like double that. Oops. Well, you can take advantage of my out of control side story by enjoying it in all its very mature flavor.

https://www.scribblehub.com/series/724618/an-even-trade/

As always, thank you for reading and I will see you all next week!