After patrol, Baxter headed to his house all by himself. It wasn't that Will was avoiding anyone, just...Baxter got the sense that Judy and Bert were the only ones who didn't have to endure hours of pained silence if they were running with the oldest member of their pack. Or maybe Will was avoiding Levi or Brian or Sam because when Will sensed the mess of people at Baxter's house, he decided to head home without getting fed (or maybe Will had finally discovered common sense and was happily avoiding the chaos).

Judy and Bert and the twins were playing basketball on their driveway when Baxter arrived. Judy grinned happily when she warned him her brother was not happy, but since Levi was inside, Baxter just enjoyed it.

His good mood lasted until he was in Levi's presence.

Everything was normal then.

Fortunately, today Levi just wanted to boss him around a bit. Baxter wasn't sure if it was because Brian and Will let him order them around (Will might protest, but if Levi wanted something...Baxter wouldn't have stood between Will and what Levi wanted for anything) or if Levi was just naturally that much of a blowhard, but whatever the reason, there was no stopping Levi from telling everyone what to do.

At least he left quickly.

"I'll talk to him," Brian promised. "Tell him to stop dumping the worst patrols on you."

Like that would work, but Baxter didn't say that because...he hated how reassuring he still found Brian.

"I can handle it," Baxter said instead. "You doing dinner or do you want me to?"

"Dad's got it."

Baxter had nothing to say to that, at least nothing he could say with Art on the couch. Well, almost nothing. "How nice of him to condescend—I'll be outside if he forgets."

"Bax..."

Baxter ignored that. Tommy tossed him the ball when he showed up outside and he asked, "So what are the teams?"

In the interests of fairness, he ended up partnered with Judy. The two of them had always been pretty decent players, even before the super strength (if they'd been friends before the wolf stuff it was because they both loved sports). The twins might not have been as good, but they were used to working together and they did have a third, even if Bert wasn't really into basketball.

"So, team name?" Judy asked him, the way she always did. If it hadn't been for the way she stood closer than she ever had, Baxter might have convinced himself that it had all been in his head.

"Up to you."

"The wolverines?"

"They aren't wolves, you know. Not even close."

"It sounds close."

He wanted to—well, Tommy threw the basketball at his head, so Baxter needed to focus. And wipe the stupid smirks off his brothers' faces (he was going to kill Art).

"The Immortals never die," Timmy announced. He was worse than Judy; not only did he always have to have a team name, he usually had to have a backstory. Tommy told him to shut up about the name and to get his head in the game (Tommy was on Judy, while the other two were supposed to be guarding Baxter—it was a good plan, it just wasn't going to work).

You couldn't grow up with four brothers and not be any good at trash talk, even if it kind of freaked out Bert, a little, the things he let Timmy and Tommy call out (the kids had good imaginations, nothing wrong with that). Besides, Judy seemed to like talking smack back.

And just gloating in general.

"Suck on that," she crowed, sinking a perfect shot right over Tommy's head. As she did her victory dance, she even made little whooping noises.

"We know you suck," Timmy called out. Bert looked rather horrified and Baxter made a mental note to tell the kid that anything said during any game (board games included) did not count unless mothers were besmirched. If that happened...it was on.

"And swallow," Tommy added. Okay, so maybe he'd tell them to cool it. If he decided not to kill Tommy.

"That why you're too distracted to play?" she asked and the gloating should have been annoying, but her cheeks were flushed, her chest was heaving and she shrugged off her shirt so Tommy would stop grabbing onto it—yeah, she could gloat however much she wanted. Sure, the yellow sports bra was more than he sometimes saw her wear (though to protect his limbs Baxter tried not to think about those seconds before she phased) but he could not stop staring at the droplets running down her chest.

Fortunately, being a werewolf meant he was far too competitive to be distracted for too long. Before, he might have considered letting his little brothers win, even if he probably wouldn't have thrown the game unless Brian was on his team. Now...he and Judy beat the kids by a good twenty points.

It was so worth it to have her jump on his back in victory, her legs around his waist, her chest pressed into his back even if—he forced himself to think of anything but the girl whose arms were around his neck.

"You are useless," Tommy told Bert, so Baxter told him to get inside (and that he was cleaning the bathroom tonight).

Fortunately, Timmy had a new game already planned out and the twins were racing off.

"They're sore losers," Baxter told Bert. "Sort of like how Judy's a sore winner."

"Please. I'm a kick ass winner," she gloated some more.

"I should head off," Bert said, looking at the two of them. Judy slid down Baxter's back, though she was still standing too close to him. But there were so many people inside his house it didn't matter what he wanted to be doing with her; besides, he didn't want Bert feeling like he couldn't hang around them anymore.

"We'll walk you home."

"It's okay," Bert said. And he might not have been Levi-obvious but the way he glanced over at Judy just then was definitely werewolf-obvious.

"Come on," Judy said, almost bouncing off. "Let's go."

So they walked Bert back home, Judy talking about the deer she had Levi had taken down last patrol. It was kind of strange how much she loved hunting and he probably would have thought it weird a year ago, but that was before he ate raw meat, so now he just found it kind of super hot, the way she jumped up and down and did the occasional enactment that got even Bert smiling.

They made plans for tomorrow (Bert actually seemed interested in getting better at basketball, so Baxter offered to show him a few tricks) and then they were at the Call house and Bert was leaving them with a quiet goodbye.

"I'm glad you came with us," she said, not looking at him as they headed back to his place. It gave him the opportunity to look at her. Her stomach was perfectly flat and Baxter wanted to kneel down and kiss along the edge of every muscle he could see (there were quite a few). Instead, he forced his eyes up, past the curve of her breasts, to her strangely serious lips. "He needs more people around him, I think. Marley used to be enough but now...it's too quiet only he doesn't really know what to do."

Baxter had always gone back and forth on if Marlena had been too much or not (the fact she was sweet—and hot—had probably swayed him in the end even if being around her all day was always a little exhausting).

Judy continued: "It's good he has us now. Right?"

"Of course."

"Good. I wasn't sure if...you do like him, right?"

"I like the kid. Even if I'm not always sure he likes me."

"Oh, he does. He told me—you don't treat us like we're pesky. He's just...he's not used to having friends. Or wanting them, I think. You just have to give him time to get used to it."

"That's what I miss most about being a werewolf. Having friends." He snorted to himself, a little, because he had spent the few months before his transformation trying to get rid of his friends (he'd been so tired of pretending everything was fine). And now...now he just had nothing he could say to them.

"You have us."

Judy had to cut off contact with most of her friends, too, and she'd taken it harder, more involved with people by nature than he was. But she made due and without the bitching. It was a little embarrassing.

"Yeah. You're okay."

He grinned at her, grinned more when she looked offended and then took her hand. Judy raised her eyebrows but didn't say anything, just growled a little (a sound he could feel reverberating in his gut) and pulled him along. The twins shouts could be heard down the block but both of them were screaming and no one was crying so hopefully everything was all right.

"I need to go check that out. You wanna stay for a while or escape the madness while you can?"

"Dad thinks he's finally figured out what's wrong with the Rabbit so...I should I probably go." She didn't move though, which was nice. "So...you going to kiss me again or what?"

That was nicer.

"I think I could be persuaded."

"Stop being such a jerkface."

And since she was pouting, he had to kiss her, arms encircling her tiny waist, pulling her to him. He really shouldn't enjoy how sweaty she was, but, well, apparently he liked her clammy and wet and there went his brain...oh well. Her arms were around his neck as she went up on her toes like they were going to make this a fair fight or something.

"Did you just call me a jerkface?"

"If the face fits. Or should it be...I don't know." She hummed a little as she rubbed his nose. "You shouldn't tease people."

"Not even beautiful girls?"

She blushed, but pulled away. "You should keep trying."

"I'm going to."

Baxter tried to keep his word when he could.

So he kissed Judy after patrol and after school and before school and whenever else he got to be alone with her (which wasn't often; he really hated Levi sometimes). Sometimes they were just short kisses, to remind her that they weren't just friends, and sometimes they were longer, the kind of kisses that were hard to stop, and sometimes they were longer still, the kind of kisses that eventually led to wondering how he was going to avoid being killed by her older brother. Art snored beside him and Baxter tried not to be jealous, it wasn't Art's fault, but sometimes, like when he heard his father watching TV late into the night, trying to stop the memories some other way, he kind of hated his kid brothers for not having to listen, for getting to escape (he hated Levi more than all that).

During the day it wasn't not so bad. Being a werewolf did have its perks, after all. The speed, the strength, the healing...Judy.

"You taste like peanuts," she told him one day. She was having a bad day so she didn't go to school. When he got home from work he found she was playing basketball at his place. Ditching school just to play a few games with her wasn't the smartest thing he'd done in a while, but time alone with her was hard to come by and after a few games, after they ended up collapsing on the couch, after sitting around had become...Baxter found it really hard to care. Not when she was underneath him (even if it wasn't that bad, he wouldn't have felt guilty if his father walked in, even if her hair was sticking up everywhere and he'd probably die if her brother found them).

"Peanut butter. We live off the stuff nowadays."

Brian had turned out to be an okay cook, once he finally realized someone had to be, but Baxter had only a little more skill than his father. Sandwiches saved them.

"It tastes nice," she murmured, pulling him back down on top of her. "I've got peanut butter on me."

He snorted against her neck and then couldn't stop laughing because she was giggling like crazy which meant she was shaking and it was hard not to laugh when it felt like the world was moving under him.

"If I'm peanut butter, what are you?"

"Jelly. Duh. I mean, I'd rather be nutella, because, yum, chocolate-y goodness, but I think Judy jelly is much more fun to say, don't you?"

"Yes. I've always thought Judy jelly was awesome."

"Are you making fun of me, peanut?"

"Are you calling me peanut?"

"I like peanuts." She was not helping him here. "Besides," she cooed, "What are you going to do about it?"

And since Brian wouldn't be home for at least an hour...

Baxter had a plan.

He was an Uley; they all had plans.

Work hard, stay in school, get a job and buy a house beside his brothers and whoever Francy married so that all their backyards were one long strip and it didn't matter when it was, you could just walk over and see your brother. And they'd have their parents over once a week, probably on Sundays, and they'd take turns hosting so no one was ever overwhelmed and it would be great. Perfect.

He was a pretty hard-working guy, if he did say so himself. Not brilliant like the twins (or Art, or even the little twins), but that never bothered him. He made up for it by being more determined than the rest together. And he was better with his hands than all his brothers except maybe Art (though Art was best with his hands when he was making noise). It would drive Brian crazy, watching Baxter finally manage to pick up something first when their father asked them for help around the house.

Nowadays, Baxter didn't have a plan anymore. He didn't have anything much anymore, except fur and the knowledge that maybe Art and Timmy and Tommy still had a chance. So he didn't spend a cent more than he had to, he made sure that even if he couldn't go to classes he always went to work and he helped around the house (he left his dad's room alone). If he couldn't have a plan, maybe his brothers could.

Or maybe his plans wouldn't end up working out because he was an Uley and none of their plans ever worked out.

Even his parents had screwed up. Brian had Francy (and Dinah, but that was after). Having twins was like having an instant best friend. So waiting awhile after the twins made sense.

But waiting three years after he was born, so that he and Art were always a little too busy being interested in other things to play with each other, was just bad planning.

He was closer in age to Brian; really, he was more like Brian than their middle brother (okay, they were more like each other than they were like him, but if he had to pick one of the two that he was most like, it would have been Brian). They should have been friends.

They had been friends.

Baxter missed that, sometimes.

By the time the patrol was over, Baxter was a little less angry (he promised Bert). Still, he was glad to get out of the forest just in case that pompous, arrogant, condescending bastard and the prick who seemed to run their lives decided to pop into his head.

Baxter wasn't in any mood to talk as he opened the door, which was fine because everyone could tell and left him alone. He stormed down the hall to their room (Art would give him some space, for a little while, at least) and shut the door.

The shock halted the anger.

"What are you doing here?"

Judy was lying on his bed, her feet up on the wall beside it, staring at her toes, head almost hanging back off the side of the bed. She grinned and rolled over. "Took you long enough."

"How are you even in here?"

"Snuck in through the window. You guys really should lock them or something."

"My dad's home."

"And he doesn't have werewolf hearing anymore, silly." Again she smiled but this time he could tell it was fake. Under the cheerfulness, she was upset. "Artie came in before, but he won't tell."

"You need to go. I can't deal with them finding you in here. Not today."

"They won't find me," she said. Then she reached out her hand, waving it, making sure he knew he was supposed to take it. "Now, come here and sit down."

His father wouldn't be able to hear...but if Brian came home...he'd probably call Judy a whore, too...but then Levi would kill Brian for calling his sister names...and Levi would kill Baxter...but Brian would be dead first...

He took her hand and let her make him sit, then watched as she got back into the position she was in before, lying on the bed, legs perpendicular to her body, resting against the wall right beside him. Even getting that close to her legs didn't help.

"I'm really not very good company right now," he admitted.

"I noticed. Brian made a mistake."

"He doesn't get to talk about her like that."

"Which is why it was a mistake."

Baxter just shook his head because it wasn't that simple.

"Brian was just surprised. You should see how sorry he is. Francy would understand."

"She shouldn't have to. What did he think...you know, her senior year she ended up crying in the shower at least once a week. It was awful. And Brian...I don't even know if Brian noticed, he so concerned with Dinah getting suspicious, Dinah wanting to leave him. Do you have any idea—I liked it better when Brain was just being clueless. Now he sounds just like—"

Baxter bit down the words; Judy was obvious in the way she adored her brother and her cousin and he didn't want to start a fight with her, not on top of everything. They were always going to have to agree to disagree on certain members of their pack.

Judy used her elbows to prop herself up. "Why don't you like them?"

"Levi's ego is the reason we're werewolves." And being a wolf was the reason he couldn't stop being angry and couldn't attend his last year of school and couldn't escape Brian's pleading thoughts. "And he's proud of that. And Will is Will."

"People always say that like it's supposed to mean something." Before he could point out that around La Push, with its thin walls and long memory, it kind of did, she continued, "You just see all the bad stuff. Not the real stuff."

It felt like crossing a line. Sure, he didn't like them, but they were his pack brothers and even if he didn't want to, he did sort of owe them some allegiance. Whatever their faults, they both loved Judy. Intensely (insanely). He didn't want to mess with that. If today hadn't been quite so awful, he wouldn't even have hinted the way he did.

"There's a lot of stuff about them that they don't tell you."

What Levi did to Tessa Mercer at Lori's party, what Will did to that kid in Forks who couldn't pay up, what they did to Mr. Carson's house because they were bored...the list could go on and on. And he wouldn't tell it to Judy for anything, but she had to stop talking about them like they were wonderful when they weren't.

"I know. I know," she insisted as she sat up. It took her a second, but then she was sitting beside him like a normal person, grabbing his hand and staring him down. "They aren't perfect, nowhere near close, but that's not really them. That's the stupid stuff they do when they're hurt and miserable and...that's not really them. You don't see the good stuff, too."

"Like they give you candy?"

She punched him in the arm and maybe he deserved that one.

"Like every time our parents would disappear, Levi would stay with me the whole night. He always makes time for me. He went with Mom to...the hospital, every time, because he knew she needed someone." She was sniffling, a little. "Taking care of Levi isn't easy and Will had no idea what he was doing, but he kept him as safe as he could and made him come back to us. And Will's trying to help your dad even though it's so hard for him to keep going over the past because he might be mean sometimes but life was mean first."

"Judy—"

"That's who they really are. The rest is just stupid stuff they do that they'd take back if they could."

And he could argue until he was blue in the face but she would never change her mind about that. He could roll out the list of things they were very, very careful never to show her and she still wouldn't budge. She loved them that much.

And Baxter wished that he could look at Brian and believe that way again...

"Fine. Brian's an idiot all by himself. Happy?"

She moved closer, until she could rest her head on his shoulder. She liked touching people and he liked that, usually. Not today.

"You know what I think?" she murmured.

"What?"

"I think you're mad at all of them all the time so there's no way they can ever disappoint you."

"I'm used to disappointment nowadays."

"Yeah, but it always sucks. I know Brian's not perfect, but you keep holding that against him and I..." Judy frowned. "I just don't think it makes you very happy."

"You should go," he said.

Instead, she just curled her legs up, pressing closer.

"Someone's going to come looking for me," he said.

"I don't want to go when you're all upset, pinochle."

And he might have been angry that she wouldn't just leave him alone to sulk, or guilty that he was trying to kick her out when she was just worried about him, but there were more pressing problems to attend to.

"What did you just call me?"

"You said you didn't like peanut."

"So...pinochle?"

"Well, yeah." She was sitting back again, hands flying as she explained. "I liked peanut. That was...it was a good day. But you didn't seem to like it so I was going to change it, but then there were old Sonic the Hedgehog reruns on and Knuckles was on so somehow I started saying peanut-knuckle but that's hard to say and so that became pea-knuckle."

"Obviously."

"Pretty much."

"Did you know it's a card game?"

"No. Do you want to learn how to play?"

"I want you to call me something other than pinochle."

"Well, you didn't like jerkface either and coming up with a good nickname is hard."

"I guess pinochle is better than jerkface." He probably shouldn't have asked... "What's wrong with my name?"

"Nothing. Just everyone calls you Bax and...I mean, I like your back. It's a very nice back, very, very nice, but it's just...I want something just from me."

And he really shouldn't have found it adorable, but he was smiling anyways. "I'm sure you'll think of something else."

"But not pinochle?" She was giving him this smile that just wasn't fair as she slipped into his lap. "Well, with the way you sulk I guess I could just call you baby. My big baby. All pouty and angry."

And he would have been offended, but he was distracted by the feel of her hips under his hands. And the way he got to run his hands over her back...and other parts.

"He screwed up," Baxter said even if he was starting to feel less angry.

"I know. He's knows." She punctuated each sentence with a kiss. "He'll apologize; he won't do it again."

Baxter decided to believe her, but only because she hadn't called him pinochle again.

They were still just sitting on his bed (okay, well, she was sitting on him and he was on his bed) and they were still dressed (okay, so he hadn't been wearing a shirt after patrol and Judy never seemed to wear anything that fit lately) so it's not like he felt guilty when they heard Brian come home. Instead, he felt something closer to panic because Levi had the best ears in the pack and one of these days he was going to hear something that made him angry.

Levi angry, Levi smash.

Judy quickly (silently) slid off him as he brushed down her hair. And that was it, really, because his dad was home and despite how he sometimes forgot, they were still in that weird stage where she was being 'convinced' they were more than just friends so they weren't doing anything, really.

When Brian opened the door, it was to find Judy bounding up to him.

"Pep talk accomplished. I'll see you guys later."

With a little wave, she bounced out of his house. The two brothers looked at each other and Baxter knew Brian was thinking she was adorable and weird and what is with these Black girls? It was almost enough to make him forget...

"What?"

Brian cringed. "I thought the pep talk was accomplished."

"I'm not going to kill you anymore, so, yeah. You shouldn't have said that. You took the money, you don't get to say anything."

"It doesn't bother you?"

"Clearly, you saying our sister is whoring herself out bothers me, Brian."

"But it doesn't bother you that she's...in the first place?"

"It doesn't bother her, it doesn't get to bother me. She wouldn't do something if it bothered her."

"You're sure?"

Baxter would have stayed angry, but Brian sounded so desperate just then he couldn't help feeling...he calmed down a bit before he spoke again.

"I know her, Brian. I'm sure."

"Okay. If you're sure," Brian muttered at the floor. "Think I should call her and apologize?"

"No. You can tell her you support her, if you can say it in a way that doesn't make you sound like a total dick. That's all you get to do."

"Maybe I'll ask Dinah to write me some lines." And Baxter didn't mean to, but he found himself smiling. Just a little. "Think I should tell Dad?"

"No."

"Not even—"

"No."

"Right." Brian almost left, but reconsidered it. "Hey, I know she's Judy, but still. Leave the door open if she's in your room, okay? It looks better and...well, it'll make Levi less likely to kill you for no reason."

"Sure."

Then Brian shut the door and that was that. Brian might have been the most attentive unaware person around. Thank goodness.

A/N: Pep talk is from Chapter 6 of Chest Pains. And yes, definitely getting more Baxter/Sam conversations in this one. I was having a hard time dealing with Sam in Chest Pains (getting everyone in all the time is impossible); this story is taking up the slack a bit.