A/N – Wow. Just, wow. Two reviews within 20 minutes of posting the new chap and six more in the morning! What a wonderful thing to wake up to. And yes, I sleep with my iPad within hands reach JUST so I can check for reviews. I was more nervous about this than anything else I've written for obvious reasons. I was terrified about pissing people off who might want Erik to be straight and others who feel I didn't do it right, but you guys are so great and it really means the world to me to see what you wrote. I was going to leave off for a bit as the weekend will be very busy, but to hell with that. So here I am at 7 am, with a severe case of bed head and Mr. Bitey's fangs buried lovingly in my ankle writing the next chap and ignoring all other responsibilities.
Erik woke up alone, and a stab of icy terror pierced his heart. He inhaled sharply, and traced Robin's scent to the bathroom, where he heard the shower running. Erik groaned, thinking of him in there twisting and soaping himself under the hot spray. The young werewolf was suddenly at the bathroom door, gently turning the handle. It was locked. This time the stab was pure disappointment. Sighing, and chiding himself not to try to rush things, he crawled under the covers again. Robin came out after a few moments with a towel wrapped around his waist, and wearing his wristbands. They looked dry, so he hadn't showered with them, but Erik was becoming more concerned about them by the moment. He was glad to see that the dark circles were gone from under his eyes.
"I took a shower. I hope you don't mind." he looked as if he expected Erik to yell at him for using up precious water.
"Just that you did it alone." Erik clapped a hand over his mouth. That was way flirty and forward, not his style at all.
Robin laughed. "I thought about waking you…but there was a part of me that still can't believe this is happening; that this isn't just me reading into things."
Erik stood up and yanked his shirt over his head. He walked slowly towards Robin, who backed up against the wall behind him. He took Robin's face in his hands and stared directly into the wide green eyes.
"Read into this." He placed his mouth on Robin's, whose scent spiked with a rainbow of emotions; excitement, fear, arousal and half a dozen others as each of them shared the first kiss of their lives with each other. They pressed bare chests together tightly, their arms winding around each other. Robin was passive at first, but then suddenly battled Erik for dominance as the kiss turned from romantic to one of almost savage passion. Robin's nails raked along Erik's back, and his teeth alternately pulled and bit his lips. As he explored the other boy's mouth with his tongue and they began shotgunning their breath, Erik felt like the top of his head would explode at any moment; his heart was pounding in a fierce scary way. Then panic hit him.
'The wolf. Holy shit, the wolf is coming!' he thought frantically.
He pushed Robin away (needing quite a bit of force to do it, he was stronger than he looked) and turned around, trying to get his breathing under control and fiercely trying to force down the Beta shift that was already showing in his face.
"What's wrong? Did I do something wrong?" Robin asked, the fear in his voice a painful jab that Erik actually felt. The Beta shift vanished, and Erik turned around.
"No…that was you doing everything incredibly right. I was…I was about to attack you, Rob."
Robin looked relieved, then grinned. "I understand…we should take this slow. But for the record…I wanted you to attack me."
Erik nearly shifted and did just that at the husky tone in Robin's voice. He fought to master himself. "Oh, man you are making this so hard." Erik groaned, than flushed at the double meaning in his words.
Robin laughed and sat on the bed, Erik joining him a moment later. They looked at each other shyly, the experience of baring their souls to each other so new and raw-feeling that it was too much to handle. They joined hands and kissed again, small teasing ones that led to Erik getting his wish from earlier as he slid his tongue up the side of Robin's neck and behind the ear, taking it between his teeth and giving it a small bite…the taste was pure heaven, the salty flavor of the skin mixing with the odors of soap and Robin's natural scent. Robin was shivering next to him, and Erik regretfully pulled away as the wolf once more made a desperate bid for freedom.
"I think I'm going to take a shower…a really cold one." Erik took his clothes in with him; no way could he risk a flimsy towel being the only thing between them when he came out. He had lied to Robin, the shower was hotter than Hell's steam room and he had to take himself in hand twice before he thought the other boy would be safe around him. When he was dressed again in his jeans and Batman t-shirt, he opened the door and saw Robin standing there, just in his shirt and boxers. He was holding his jeans which seemed to have more hole in them than denim.
"I don't know how to say this without wanting to die of embarrassment. Can I borrow a pair of jeans, and maybe some socks?"
"Anything of mine, is yours." Erik told him softly. The idea of Robin wearing something with Erik's scent on it was intoxicating.
Robin looked overcome with emotion, his eyes shining again. "And why is that?"
Not even knowing where the impulse came from, Erik grabbed the front of the Robin t-shirt tightly. "Because you are mine."
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While all of this was going on, the Pack was eating an enormous breakfast of French Toast, scrambled eggs, bacon, sausage and endless amounts of coffee.
Derek was the first to notice the odd scent in the home. He sniffed again.
"Anyone smell that? I don't recognize it. Is there someone here?" The Alpha got up and looked out the window, scanning the yard. No strangers or strange cars were present. Stiles joined him in tracing the scent while the Pack looked at them, amused.
They were halfway down the hall towards Erik's room when both parents flushed bright red and quickly returned to the table.
"What's wrong with you two?" asked Laurie.
"Um…it seems Erik has company." Stiles said quietly, mindful of Christine and Dylan whose eyes were wide and wondering.
"Oh." Said Lydia. Then: "OH!"
"What? Since when? He was alone when I checked on him during the night!" Laurie exclaimed.
"You check on your brother?" asked Derek, grinning.
Laurie flushed herself. "Well, you know how he's been lately. I'm worried!" She stood up and gave them all a Glare worthy of the Alpha.
"Listen all of you, I know I shouldn't talk to you like this since I'm a kid and you're all adults, but if any of you embarrass him or make his friend feel weird, I swear I will do double the damage Erik did last night!" She folded her arms, and they all paled at the forbidding expression she wore. Derek and Stiles beamed at her. From the guilty look on Jackson's face, Laurie guessed she had just spoiled his fun.
Christine and Dylan were suddenly on either side of Laurie, arms folded just like hers.
"Yeah! And we'll do bubble damage too!" they exclaimed together.
The Pack roared with laughter, and even Laurie's stern face cracked into a grin.
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Erik came out of his room and froze when he saw that the entire world's population of werewolves seemed to be sitting at the dining room table.
"Dad, Pop. I have a friend over; I picked him up this morning. Sorry I didn't ask first, but it was sort of spur of the moment."
"That's fine, son. Can we meet him? We PROMISE to be nice!" Derek Glared around the table.
"Yeah. His name's Robin." Erik left and returned a few moments later with the other boy. The Pack took in the t-shirts without comment (although Stiles' mouth was hanging open at the sight, and both Dylan and Christine looked as amazed as if the pair were the actual comic book heroes).
"Um, hello everyone. It's great to meet you." Robin said shyly.
Erik made the rounds of introductions, taking care to introduce his parents and Uncles Ted and Danny as couples. Robin looked much more at ease afterward.
"Robin is from Red Falls, I met him yesterday where he works. We have a lot in common." Erik tried to stop babbling, but could barely help himself.
Stiles came to his rescue. "Well, please join us for breakfast, boys. Robin, what can I get you to drink?"
"Oh, um…orange juice is fine, thank you so much." Robin said politely.
The boys ate quietly, and both Derek and Stiles made sure to keep the conversation going so that the other Pack members wouldn't stare as the two shared glances and passed each other plates of food, never failing to brush fingers together as they did. Erik went to help with the dishes after breakfast was over, but Laurie shooed him away and both Dylan and Christine were attempting to drag the two outside anyway, so they just gave in and followed the two pre-Lycans to the yard.
Lydia and Allison caught up to them and had brief whispered words with their children before sending them off, but only Erik heard the kids respond "No wolf-talk Mommy. We know." Erik took a moment to grab an extra pair of his sneakers and gave them to Robin to wear. Robin flashed him a grateful smile.
They spent a good two hours playing games with the kids, ranging from hide-and-seek to freeze-tag to tether-ball, and it was soon clear that Dylan and Christine had come to adore Robin as much as they did Erik and Laurie.
Erik kept looking at the sun tracing its way across the sky, and wished he could anchor it in place so that the day might never end. The idea of driving Robin back to the diner had as much appeal as driving him to his execution. He would never rest until he was sure that his mate was safe. But how could he do that when he didn't even know what was going on?
The Pack eventually left, leaving only Derek and Stiles who decided it was time to catch up on some of the business paperwork.
"I'm supposed to meet Aaron at the mall. Want to join us?" Laurie asked her brother.
"Sure, that sounds like fun. That okay, Robin?"
Robin nodded hesitantly, but seemed uncomfortable.
"Okay Laurie, we'll meet you outside." Erik took Robin by the hand, and they walked towards the Camaro. "What's wrong, you don't want to go? It's totally okay, we can do something else."
"Um…no, it's not that…I just don't have any…" Robin turned away.
A light bulb suddenly flashed in Erik's brain.
"Robin, this is our first date, isn't it?" he asked.
"Yeah, I guess so." he grinned.
"And I was the one who asked you out, wasn't I?"
Robin nodded, unsure of where this was going.
"Then it's my job to show you the time of your life. Don't worry about…anything. I meant what I said before."
"But it's not fair, Erik. I don't want to be…I mean, if it only goes one way, I'll feel like I'm a…ugh! Nevermind, maybe this is a bad idea."
Erik felt that panicky sensation from his wolf again.
"Rob, I've known you for about twenty-four hours and all I want to do is show you how much I like having you around. I'm…not trying to buy you for Pete's sake, I'm trying to impress you…to show you that I'm… good enough to be with you."
Robin sighed. "Okay, just don't go too…overboard? This is very new for me."
Erik nodded as Laurie jogged up, and got in the back seat. Erik and Robin got in, and Laurie proceeded to do most of the talking, with the three main topics being:
Grilling Robin on how he and Erik met,
Erik's embarrassing personal habits, and
How difficult it was being the sister of a nerd.
Erik put up with it good-naturedly; Laurie could have confessed to torching his entire CD collection and been safe from his wrath as long as he was holding Robin's hand, which he did the entire trip to the mall.
It was the work of a few minutes to locate Moose, who stood head and shoulders above the crowd, so to speak. He shook hands with Robin, quickly identifying the nature of their relationship without even a raised eyebrow.
The four teenagers roamed the mall, stopping for the occasional snack and browsing through the clothing stores. Both Erik and Laurie had quite a bit of birthday money left (the Pack was always very generous to each other's children) and they decided to try to spend as much of it as they could. Moose came from a pretty well-off family, and joined them in the fun. Erik took Robin into a comic book store, where he bought him a rather expensive Batman & Robin statue that had the Caped Crusaders in action poses standing shoulder to shoulder.
"Erik, I can't, that's really expensive!" Robin complained when it was offered to him.
"Aw, come on…it'll remind you of our first date." Erik wheedled.
"Fine…but please let's keep it at your house. I don't have any place to keep it, and I'm worried…something might happen to it."
Erik's grin faded. "Robin, what exactly is going on-"
"Oooohhh, that new slasher film is playing…and it starts in five minutes! You guys want to go?" Laurie called.
"Yeah, that sounds awesome!" Robin answered, perhaps to get out of answering an uncomfortable question.
Erik bit his lip, and didn't even protest as Moose bought tickets for all four of them. Laurie and Moose made a beeline for the restrooms while Erik and Robin got on line to get popcorn and soda. They were one person away from being served when the last voice in the world that Erik wanted to hear suddenly called loudly across the lobby.
"Hey, look! Turns out Hale's a fruit just like his old man after all!" It was Anson Cooper, and he was with a number of kids from the team. Cooper looked different, as if he'd put on a ton of muscle in the past few weeks.
Robin turned pale and looked ready to bolt.
Erik glared at Anson. "Shut your mouth, Cooper, or I'll shut it for you." He was sure he wouldn't even need the wolf to rip him apart.
"Yeah, Cooper. Who cares? He hits a mean home run, so why are you always on his case?" Sander Fulton (the team's shortstop) asked, giving the catcher a hard shove.
"What the hell, man?" Anson shoved Sander back, hard. "You're going to take that pansy freak's side over mine-"
Sander slammed his fist into Anson's cheek and Anson folded like a cheap deck chair. "My uncle's gay, and he did three tours in Iraq you fucking creep. Get lost."
Moose caught the tail end of the argument as he exited the men's room. "Cooper? I have had it with your bullshit. You're off the goddamn team as of now."
Laurie appeared and took in the tableau. "You don't learn, do you? Give it up, and go home."
"Why? You gonna fight me like a tomboy, always saving your brother's ass?"
Erik walked over to him. "You want to take me on…you name the time and place. Do me a favor and make sure it's out in the middle of nowhere…at night…so it'll be easy to bury what's left of you."
Cooper paled, and Erik wondered (but didn't particularly care) if the Beta features were present. The bully got up and looked around, noting that every person there was looking at him with loathing.
"Screw all of you." He turned and walked out.
"Good one, Sander. Thanks for being stand-up about that." Moose clapped the shortstop on the shoulder, who tried not to stagger under the impact.
"No problem. Cooper's a hemorrhoid. See you at practice."
"We'll see you inside." Laurie told Erik as they went into the dark theatre.
Erik looked around. Robin was nowhere in sight.
He closed his eyes and inhaled, then began to run while following the scent out of the theatre and almost to the exit from the mall. He caught up with Robin who looked shocked to see him.
"How did you do that?" he asked.
"Find you? Where else would you go? Robin, what's wrong?"
"I don't want to cause you any problems, Erik. That's all I ever do. I can get the bus back to Red Falls from here."
Robin turned to leave, and Erik reflexively grabbed for his hand but only managed to yank off one of the leather wristbands. The sight that met him nearly sent him to his knees. Robin's wrist was a mottled purple, and had numerous scabs covering it. Robin looked at Erik's horrified expression and tore out of the mall.
Erik caught up to him in the parking lot. Robin was out of breath and leaning against an old Buick panting heavily.
"Robin, what the hell is going on with you? Please tell me!"
"Just go away! You don't care, no one cares, that's all he ever tells me, and he's freaking right! I can't do this, I can't feel this way about you because if you're just screwing with my head, then I am over, I am so done with all this bullshit! I swear I'll jump off a building or hang myself, I just can't-"
They both heard the noise of the engine at the same time. A red Mustang bore down on Erik, Anson's furious face visible through the windshield. Erik turned towards the car and his claws shot to their full length. This was it; if the turd thought he could take down a pissed off werewolf with his car, then he was about to get the surprise of his life. He growled, looking forward to the pleasure of tearing apart first the car and then the driver.
In retrospect, he should have seen it coming. Robin didn't know anything about werewolf reflexes or durability or healing factors. Robin just knew that the first person he had ever cared about was about to be run down, no doubt too frozen with fright to move. And because Robin valued the life of that one more than his own, it should have been obvious to anyone what would happen next.
Robin dove at Erik and knocked him out of danger. Erik turned around on all fours, and noted in a split second that Robin bore an expression of vast relief that he had acted in time. Then the world was filled the thunder of death on wheels.
Time slowed down and nearly stopped. The car was moving in incredibly slow motion. Like a film advancing a single frame at a time, the car got closer as Robin slowly turned to face his death. Nearby, the Batman and Robin statue lay on the pavement, the Robin figure smashed to powder. Erik's eyes flicked to it and back to the car. It was less than three feet away from his mate, still traveling in slow motion. Robin had turned completely to face it, and closed his eyes.
'Oh no, please don't let this happen!' Erik thought randomly. But it was too late. Not even a werewolf could prevent the tragedy from playing out.
The human part of Erik froze. The wolf inside him did not.
In a nanosecond, he was on his feet. The car was now two feet away from Robin. In another instant, Erik's feet were planted and he launched himself forward with cannonball force. The car was now a foot away. Somewhere, deep in the forest around the Hale home, an enormous Pack of wolves (nearly fifty in number), long absent from the state of California for decades…all stopped their activities and snapped to attention. Their eyes were a range of colors from smoky amber to sky blue and even blood red. Each pair of eyes burned brightly as if lit from within, and they howled a single clear note that seemed to rip the sky in half. Erik's body rippled like a heat wave in a mirage. For a second, he was no longer a boy. He was not a Beta, or even an Alpha, which to some degree bore a trace of humanity. For a split second, he was a legend come to life…a story as old as the werewolf race and nearly forgotten as their numbers dwindled over the centuries. For a moment, he was an Avatar of Fenrir itself, the Beast of Ragnarok. It was there and gone, the gigantic Wolf said to be imprisoned and bound by an unbreakable thread since time immemorial, and in that moment, it acted.
A massive paw slammed itself into the side of the car with hideous strength…and knocked it looping sideways through the air away from the boy on the ground whose eyes were still closed in acceptance of death.
The wolves ceased their howling. If Erik had been there to see them, he would have thought all of them were grinning.
Erik fell to the ground unconscious. Robin waited, and wondered why he wasn't dead already. The sound of an automobile crashing to earth made him open his eyes. He looked at the burned rubber tracks of tires that led right to the spot where he lay before stopping abruptly.