Levi couldn't help being an ass, but that didn't stop Baxter from wanting to go back and hit him when he caught up with Judy sniffling outside his sister's house.

"It's fine," she said. "Hey, this way we can do our own thing. Well, you can babysit me—"

"Your brother's an idiot," he promised her.

"Don't call him names." After he nodded, she perked right up. "So. What do you want to do?"

There was a park nearby and Judy needed to run off the aggression. It only made sense. She snapped her teeth at him and he snapped at her and after a bit of rolling around the anger faded from her and the nips because lighter and her tail started wagging more and suddenly it wasn't about Levi (and how he didn't want to believe she was a person and not his personal cheerleader), it was about the wonderful fact that the two of them were alone in Seattle and they didn't have to worry about being interrupted.

At all.

So maybe his tail was wagging a bit, too, and maybe their tongues were hanging out as they laughed, jumping around the trees, playing hide and seek with someone who could read their thoughts (catching each other was the best part). They ran, too, just to feel the wind and trees brush them as they passed, though Judy stayed much closer than she usually did when they ran because they had to hide from people. They bumped into each other a lot, but it worked out just perfectly.

They found a small creek and she hurried to drink and when she stood up again, she was whining, telling him to come close. Her muzzle was all wet so he had to nudge at it and they were rubbing noses and then she pounced, knocking them both over.

They rolled around together and then she lay down in the earth.

I wish we could run like this more often.

Me too, jelly bug, he agreed, as he got to work trying to get some of the dirt out of her white fur. It wasn't working, but she was humming happily, mindlessly, and he didn't want to stop touching her.

Baxter?

Yeah?

I like you on top of me like this. And he was so content all he did was agree that it was very nice. I like this.

Me too.

More along my belly...hmmm...that's nice...

You're nice...

You're nicer...Baxter?

Yeah?

Can we phase back now?

Suddenly the dark skin of her back was under his paws. She was nuts—he could have scratched the hell out of her or crushed her. He was too busy phasing back to go through all the things that could have gone wrong, but he knew there were lots. There were rules about phasing that close together.

And then he was human and she was lying underneath him and he didn't care much about anything.

"You're so beautiful," he murmured. It was unreal. She was still on her belly, her head on her arms as she stared back at him happily but he couldn't get over her. The smoothness of her shoulders (uninterrupted by any hair) and her back and her bottom and her legs...the muscles underneath...the power of her was exhilarating. In the same way he had to get her fur clean he now found himself running his hands over her, using the earth to mark her, so that it was impossible to miss how she was all his.

Judy just hummed and closed her eyes. "It feels nice."

"Good."

It came out more like a growl.

It made her shiver; he leaned over and kissed her shoulder. Once he started, he couldn't stop. She was covered in a thin layer of sweat and the taste of salt mingling with the smell of her was something he couldn't get enough of.

She happily moved her head to the side, exposing more of her neck for him to mark and then she was turning around and she was—it was unreal. She was unreal. That she was lying there naked, just gazing at him with those big dark eyes so full of kindness and trust and just waiting...it was the culmination of the strange dream he had been having since he first phased.

Her lips burned and maybe that's how he remembered this wasn't a dream. This was Judy and she was real (wonderful and perfect, but real) and he knew he was supposed to be remembering something just then, but all he could think about was how she wasn't close enough.

He was still so much bigger than she was; when he moved so he was more fully on top of her, she had to roll with him.

When they phased, they had all these memories and thoughts in their heads and everyone might have tried to keep things to themselves, but it was very hard when they all wanted to be as close as possible.

They'd seen Brian and Dinah, in love forever, friends even longer than that, the way they trusted each other and worked together and just enjoyed one another. And they'd seen Levi and all those girls, and the way your body could feel that good with just a little effort.

And they'd seen Will and Marlena (once you saw Will and Marlena it made perfect sense that Will gave only half his attention to anything nowadays because once you knew something could be that good...and you could never have it again...why would you want to go on?). That was unreal the way all the wolf stuff was unreal, maybe even less real than phasing, the way two people could become more together than they were apart, could go beyond everything they were to find something so perfect it couldn't be described.

So they were some strange combination of the people they had once been, the animals they had become and all the older boys in their heads who loved with everything they had.

Baxter leaned over and kissed her into the earth.

And—

He wanted to; she wanted him to. For all the rules his father had drilled into him, Baxter was eighteen and his girlfriend was gorgeous and horny...sure, she deserved better than a forest, but she seemed perfectly fine with the setting so what was the harm in not waiting?

It wasn't anything human that stopped him.

It was the animal part of them that said if...when it happened, Baxter wanted to be able to defend it, defend her, them and everything that happened between them. It couldn't be behind their Alpha's back.

It just couldn't.

(Only much, much later did his human brain also note that he really, really, really needed to start bringing condoms on their runs)

He didn't have to explain; she didn't give him time. She just said, "Being here means we don't have to take turns, right?"

Right.

There was that. As consolations went, not having to worry about what they would smell like afterwards was decent.

She may have gotten footprints on his back at some point and they both got a little distracted trying to pick the twigs off each other afterwards but they did run back to Francy's place. Eventually.

Everyone was still out so they headed to the shower. Judy made a mess (he had been the one to rub the dirt all over her, so it wasn't entirely her fault) so while she changed he cleaned out the shower. One last sniff assured him that no one would be able to tell anything other than someone had gotten dirty (not that kind of dirty) which was a given after a run anyway.

"Your sister has crappy taste in movies," she called.

"Your sister has crappy taste in movies," he said as he came out of the bathroom. She'd borrowed a tube top covered in flowers that he knew must have belonged to Francy. Dinah's clothes would have been a little too big, but they would have been a closer to her size. Francy was shorter, so the shirt exposed far too much of her back. And with her shorts just barely over her hips...

"You're trying to kill me," he decided as he came up behind her and wrapped his arms around her.

She relaxed into him, dragged his hands to her bare stomach. "Just give you ideas."

"So your brother can kill me?"

"He's not going to be back tonight," she announced.

"Says who?"

"Brian and his desperate need to make you like him again. Also, I bribed him with cookies."

"You're evil," he said as he nipped at her ear.

"Yup."

"Judy? Do you have any idea why—what happened in the forest?"

"Why it didn't work?"

"It was working fine," he muttered. He couldn't help that. "Just..."

She turned around, wrapped her arms around his waist and spoke to his chest. "So, don't be mad. I didn't know it would happen. Not happen. Whatever. It was just...a maybe."

"Okay."

"Dad said things might not be...if Levi didn't know then we might not be able to..."

"You talked to your dad about us?" He may have squawked a little. Jacob Black could strangle you with a cordless phone—he did not need to know that Baxter wanted to...well, he didn't need to know.

"We talk about everything while we're fixing the cars. He likes you. I promise."

Because Levi didn't know.

"Is that why you haven't told Levi yet?" he asked quietly.

"I don't know. Maybe." She glanced up, finally. "Are you mad?"

"I'm not mad," he said carefully. "I wish you would have told me. And I'm sorry I—I shouldn't have gone with you in the first place."

"I wanted you to. I just..." She growled. "I don't know. My brain's all confuzzled around you."

"Okay."

"I'll tell Levi—"

"You don't have to," he promised. He might have been an irresponsible idiot, but he wasn't a total ass just yet. "You know that, right? Tell him, don't tell him, it's your call. Just tell me, okay? Preferably when I know it's not just the wolf stuff talking."

"We are the wolf stuff," she said, nose scrunched up, utterly baffled. And since he wasn't sure she was wrong, he just said, "So, which of your sister's crappy movies are we watching?"

"My sister has awesome taste," she protested. "Dinah's are obviously the ones with the guys with machine guns. Those other ones..."

Far too many foreign words on the covers. Okay, so his sister had crappy taste in movies.

"What do you want to watch?"

"Terminator."

"Sounds good."

"I know. It's, like, only the most romantic movie of all time."

"Yeah..."

And he didn't even care that having Arnold Schwarzenegger in the most romantic movie of all time was defying the laws of physics or something because that shirt was almost painted on and she really was trying to get him killed.

Bert cleared his throat a couple of times on his way up the sidewalk so Judy and Baxter were on opposite sides of the couch by the time Dinah walked in. If the werewolves had a blanket over the laps...well, Dinah just said, "Sure, kids."

"Did you have fun?" Judy asked, getting up and going to her sister. Baxter would follow. In a second.

"We're home at eleven."

"So...yes?"

Bert joined him on the couch, pretending to watch the movie the way Judy had pretended to watch the movie for the first five minutes. Badly.

"Levi and Brian were making friends when we left."

"That's gr—grappy."

"Grappy?"

"Crappy."

"Watching my ex-boyfriend hit on some girl did not make my night," Dinah said decisively. "It was awful. Will was Will, Francy was trying not to get felt up by my brother and Brian was just going along with it."

"That's kind of what Brian does," Baxter said, finally able to get off the couch.

"Your shirt's inside out," Dinah said. "And I know. Why the hell did I date such a spineless wimp?"

"Because he's a good person," Bert said. It made them all jump. The kid just kept staring at the screen. "You broke up with him. You don't get to be angry at the way he tries to make himself feel better."

"Levi's way of feeling better. It won't work for Brian."

"Then he'll figure it out himself."

Judy looked at Baxter, who could only shrug, glad that Dinah was not glaring at him the way she was glaring at Bert.

"Why did I have to get the one who talked back?" she demanded of the universe at large. "I thought even Will had to hold his tongue around Marley."

"It was weird," Judy said cheerfully.

"I was just saying..." Bert mumbled.

"Well, don't. I know." The anger seeped out of Dinah and Judy went to hug her. "He was flirting right in front of me. I want him to move on. I really do. Just not in front of my face."

"He might strike out," Baxter offered.

Dinah laughed. "Nah. Not if they have any brain cells. I'm sure Levi will find a way to take off his shirt. And once you see the abs..."

"They're very impressive," Judy agreed.

"You two are way too adorable for me right now. It makes me sick. Puppy," she called as she walked to the couch. "What are we watching?"

"The greatest romance of all time."

"Oh! Terminator. Excellent."

"Ha!" Judy said. But then she kissed him, so Baxter was happy to be wrong. They let Dinah and Bert have the couch (even if they weren't making use of it properly, sitting at opposite ends) and she just sat between his legs, together on the floor. She just fit beside him.

At one, Francy and Will came home. Dinah took one look at them and sighed. "Where are the other two?"

"Levi wants to go all night," Francy said.

Will was already making himself comfortable on the floor. "Why are we watching a sequel?"

"Thank you," Dinah muttered.

"Terminator 2 is only the greatest sequel of all time," Judy argued as Francy settled on the couch, using her brother's shoulder as a footstool. It wasn't a night alone with Judy, but it was kind of nice.

When the movie was finished, Dinah announced they were going to bed. "We have way too much bonding to do tomorrow. Levi might make us braid each other's hair. We need our rest. Beds."

"Who goes where?" Judy asked.

Will gave him a look that was most definitely a warning, but didn't actually say anything as Francy spoke, "Well, I was thinking that Bertrand and William can stay here and I can share with you and—"

"No," Dinah snapped.

"It's not like they can do anything," the bestest, most wonderful, perfect, greatest sister on the planet said. "Wolf ears and all that."

"I will kill him if I hear him try anything," Will told Dinah. "Violently." But while he was scowling, he wasn't objecting and Baxter had a sneaking suspicion that Francy had tackled Will and Dinah the way they should be tackled—one at a time.

And Judy had sat up and turned around and was actually on her knees in front of her sister, hands clasped, whining, "Please, Di?"

No one could resist Judy.

"I cannot believe I'm agreeing to this."

Bert kicked him lightly, so Baxter was not grinning like an idiot. Thankfully. Will was looking at Judy now. "What are you wearing?"

"That's one of my favourite shirts, William, so the next words out of your mouth better be complimentary."

"Do you want Baxter to help me change out of it?" Judy asked sweetly.

Will growled. "I hate karma."

There was a scramble for the bathroom (well, Judy won) and they slowly headed to bed one by one. Dinah glared a bit, but now that it had been decided, everyone was pretty relaxed. Actually, when Baxter came out of the bathroom, the older three were standing around the kitchen and looking like they were having a good time, Dinah and Will mocking everyone they had seen at the party, Francy doing it much more subtlety. Dinah even managed a smile as he said goodnight to them.

And then he walked into his sister's room to find his girlfriend in bed already, in a pair of too tight pyjama shorts and a loose shirt that Francy had brought from home. Judy had already kicked off the covers, so he just lay down beside her. It was hard to believe that this was really happening, that he was really spooning her, her body fitting perfectly against his.

"That's Brian's shirt," he told her.

So she shrugged out of it, knowing it would bother him smelling his brother's scent on her, turned over and lay across his chest. The heat of her was almost overwhelming. If Baxter died in his sleep, he knew he would die happy.

"Today was a good day," she murmured against his chest.

His fingers played with the smooth skin of her side. "Oh yeah."

It got even better.

They couldn't sleep until everyone went to bed because they could hear everything, so they were following the conversation in the other room, even if they didn't want to. Dinah went to wash up first while Bert tried to make himself comfortable on the couch (Will didn't need as much sleep, so he didn't care if he had the floor, he said). But when Dinah went into her room, Francy said, "Bert, could you grab my conditioner from her?"

So Bert went and Baxter wasn't sure what happened, but suddenly the door closed and Bert was on the side of the door he would have wanted to be on.

"Oh my god," Judy squealed, but he kissed her to keep her quiet.

"Don't distract him." She nodded eagerly. Dinah was keeping up a running commentary and searching for...whatever it was Baxter was almost sure his sister had hid earlier and Bert wasn't saying anything, but who knew when he would be called upon to not screw up the moment?

"It's not where I put it," Dinah said eventually. A bed squeaked as she sat down. "Nothing is where it's supposed to be anymore."

"Sulking is always productive."

It was a risky choice (Judy winced), but it paid off. Dinah sighed.

"Hey, tiger. I'm sorry I'm taking this all out on you. You don't deserve it."

"Thanks."

"I mean," Dinah almost sounded like she was teasing, "The whole stalker thing is creepy. But it's not your fault Brian won't even look at me anymore. That one's all on me."

"Why'd you do it? You were...I liked you happy."

"Sit down," Dinah ordered. "Maybe you'll look less creepy if you're not hovering."

It took a moment. A long moment. And then...

The mattress squeaked again.

Judy was shaking in happiness, too adorable for words and Baxter wasn't immune to the fact the kid was, well, not getting killed. It was just supposed to be a victory kiss, but she was so soft (and demanding) they couldn't help getting a little carried away. When they surfaced for air, Dinah was still talking. Well, obviously. It wasn't like Bert was going to talk.

"...and, you know, it was just time. The two of us had been together for so long we'd almost forgotten how to function apart. I...I thought he needed me. Maybe he doesn't. Maybe he won't ever figure that out if I keep hovering."

"You did him a favour?"

Dinah laughed. "Do I really come off as such a bitch?"

"Only most of the times."

"Kind of dumb of you to keep stalking me, then."

"You're really pretty." Dinah hit him with a pillow. "And I know it comes from a good place."

"Good."

"I think..." Bert considered. "You broke his heart last year. But I think you just hurt his pride this time."

She sighed. And that might have been her head on his shoulder. It was hard to make out too many sounds with Judy still emitting the occasional giggle.

"I guess it was time then."

"Guess so."

"This doesn't mean I'm going to sleep with you."

"I figured."

"Well, don't sound too cut up about it," Dinah said with a laugh. "Thanks for actually backing off, kiddo."

"I said I knew most of the stuff comes from a good place. That doesn't mean I don't know you can make things explode with your brain."

"Oh?"

"Baxter told me."

"Then how is he still alive after what he does to my little sister?"

"After making your little sister happy?"

"Okay, tiger. Enough being right tonight. Here." Something hit Bert. "That's yours. Now get off my bed. You don't need sheets, right?"

"What?"

"If I let Francy in here, I have to give her the bed. I'm the one who kicks. But I feel less guilty making you take the floor."

"Sexist."

Dinah laughed. "More like animalist, wolfboy. If that was a thing. Besides, Francy's probably fast asleep on that couch right about now. In fact, miracle of miracles, I bet even Will is fast asleep. It would make me a real bitch to wake him up just so we could move her in here. So. The rug is pretty comfortable in here; make yourself comfortable."

"Seriously?"

And Bert sounded like he had just been told that every day was Christmas, his birthday and the last day of school all at once (even if it made no sense whatsoever and might just prematurely age him, he still couldn't help thinking it was awesome).

"Yeah. But you stay on the floor."

"Sure thing."

Dinah laughed and lifted up her sheets. "And you have to turn off the lights since you have better night vision."

"She didn't kick him out," Judy whispered happily. "She didn't kick him out. High five!"

And Baxter couldn't help slapping her upheld palm because...yeah. Go Bert.

"They'll be so cute together," Judy mumbled. "She better let me be the Maid of Honour. And put me in a cute dress."

Because she was so adorable (and topless—and could his life get any better?) Baxter did not point out that all Dinah had done was not throw a fit and kick him out of the house. Still, it was better than expected. In the other room, he could hear Francy and Will hoping that Dinah wouldn't change her mind in the middle of the night and kick the kid out of her room and onto the front lawn.

Nah. Dinah said good night and she sounded like she was glad for the company.

The bed was small and they were werewolves, so there wasn't much room. It should have made it hard to get comfortable. But even though his arm was trapped underneath her and she was possibly drooling onto his chest (she fell asleep so quickly it was unreal), Baxter had never felt more comfortable in his life.

There was just the sound of breathing coming from Dinah's room. Bert was fast asleep; Dinah wasn't saying anything. The living room still had voices coming from it, but they were low enough that he could have ignored it.

Except his sister said his name.

He cringed, hearing the worry in her voice, so concerned about his lack of enthusiasm for the four-legged creature thing. At least Will did a decent job convincing her that he and Brian had worked things out.

"And he has Judy," Will said like it would make everything worthwhile. It did. Francy got that, too, because she sounded lighter when she spoke again.

"I'm so glad. She's such a sweetheart."

She was.

"She really is, isn't she?" Baxter had never heard Will sound like that before. Like he really was a human being. Not just a human being but...the sentimental kind. "I don't know what I would have done without her in my head this year."

Will didn't speak for such a long time that Baxter almost fell asleep in the silence. He wished he had.

"I thought Lena was an idiot for being like that. For thinking, for not thinking, for just pretending that I was...but Judy doesn't not know, she just...she'd rather be nice than mean so she...it's not because she doesn't know better, but because she'd rather look at the good no matter how hard it is. And I wish I had known that before. I wish I..."

"Lena was happy with the way you treated her." Will snorted and his sister decided to be a little less diplomatic and a little more kind. "You made her feel like a goddess."

"I thought she was one. But Brian wasn't wrong that I never really...I wish I had realized then that she was a pretty great human being, too."

"You know, I've always hated that about you."

"My inability to interact with human beings?"

"No. Though that could use some work," Francy admitted. "It's just...whenever I want to be mad at you I always end up feeling like there's no point. You do such a good job of punishing yourself. What could I hope to do? It's very inconsiderate of you."

"Sorry."

There was quiet again. Then: "She never noticed the bad stuff, did she? None of them..."

"I think that's the point. If you suddenly can't notice the bad stuff, you have to be happy. Right?"

"Yeah." She sounded...Baxter didn't like the way she sounded. "And I'd be such a good little housewife."

"That's just because you're good at almost everything."

"I know I'm setting myself up for this, but: almost?" Even in the other room Baxter could tell she was taking the out he had given her because she couldn't handle where the conversation would end up, otherwise.

"Bert ended up on the floor."

"You can't rush genius. Give me time."

Baxter drifted off to the sound of his sister's evil laughter.

When morning came, Baxter found Judy was already half on top of him. Not that he was complaining in the slightest.

"You're snuggly when you're sleeping," she said as she continued exploring his back with her hands and chest. It felt impossibly good.

"You're just snuggly, period."

With a few giggles and a few misplaced elbows they managed to end up face to face. Well, she managed to get underneath him and that was just too wonderful. So was not having to worry about morning breath.

"You seem happy to see me," she said, pulling him closer as she let her hands go exploring.

"I missed you."

"Prove it."

"Good morning, children!" Francy's voice was far too cheerful considering she didn't have a mostly naked Judy underneath her. "Breakfast. And Levi will be home soon."

"I think they told on us."

"I think you could be right," Baxter said with a sigh. Since they did have to get out of there before Levi came back, he rolled off her and watched as she got up, looking around for the shirt she had taken off the night before. He sat on the bed and gave himself a minute.

She was humming to herself again, wiggling around as she shrugged on the shirt. It was almost painful, how happy just looking at her made him. "Do you smell bacon?" she asked with an enormous grin.

Francy had indeed managed to get them bacon, though Bert had already started eating it. There was a brief scramble for food, but Dinah put a stop to that fairly quickly. There would be some semblance of order. Baxter kind of liked it. He really liked that no one really cared if he left his arm around the back of Judy's chair or if she licked the syrup off his fingers.

Sure, Levi came back eventually but it was nice to know when he calmed down and they told him everyone would be relaxed about it.