Ryhdian tried to come in, but she had locked the door. Ryhdian sat outside the door talking to her saying that he wanted her to come out and that they would face her parents together. Maddie told him that she just wanted to be alone.

He spoke. "You may want to be alone but you don't need to be alone."

"Why are so compassionate all the time?" She asked

At first, she thought he wasn't going to answer but then he said, "In my pack we treat each other like family. So, the guys in my pack are very compassionate towards the girls because they are all our sisters or aunts or mothers."

They sat in silence finally she said, "Well then the girls in your pack are lucky."

Ryhdian chuckled and said, "Far from it."

"What do you mean?" She asked

"Well, some of the girls in my pack don't like it when we I guess you could say coddle them."

"Oh."

"It's not all bad though."

They continue to talk for some time. Then the conversation became really one sided. He decided that she must have fallen asleep. He quietly got up and went downstairs. Her parents looked at him and he told them that she had stopped crying and that she had fallen asleep. He tells them that he is going to go for a run and that they should let her come out on her own.

Two hours had passed since Maddie had ran up to her room in a fit of tears. Ryhdian had tried to get her to calm down and it worked for the most part. Until she woke up. Maddie woke up thinking that she had had a bad dream.

She immediately remembered everything that had happened. She got up stretching out her muscles knowing she would pay for sleeping against her door later. She went into her bathroom and looked in the mirror. When she saw herself, she uttered the words, "What a mess."

Then she hears a voice come from her bedroom window say, "I don't think you're a mess."

She ran out of her bathroom looking at her window to see Ryhdian sitting there. He looked like he had just finished running a marathon. Maddie ran over and opened the window. He had a really broad grin on his face.

There was an uncomfortable silence then finally he spoke up

"Want to go for a run?" He asked

I looked at him with a raised eyebrows then asked, "Are you sure your up for it you look like you just ran a marathon."

He replied with, "I bet I am still faster than you."

"Oh, now is that a challenge?"

"Well, I think it is." He replied his smile growing even bigger than before.

He offered his hand to her, and for some unknown reason she took it, without a moments hesitation. This was all so knew to her. She left my house with some guy she barely knew and didn't even tell her parents or leave a note.

They ran for what seemed like hours when it had only been thirty minutes. They finally stopped when Ryhdian needed to catch his breath.

He sat down on the ground, and she sat down across from him.

He was panting really hard. Maddie could tell that he was really short of breath. She asked him if he was ok.

He replied saying that, "I'm...fine...I just haven't run that fast since...I ran against my little brother."

Maddie was shocked at this at first, but it was quickly resolved when he smiled and said, "I guess I am out of practice."

She let out a small giggle. Then quickly cleared her throat to hide it. This is so unlike her. A boy has never made her feel this way. They sat there in a comfortable silence. Eating some berries that they found. He started the conversation by asking, "What are your friends like?"

She hesitated a moment then told him about her best friend Shannon. Then she mentioned her other friend Tom. He almost choked when he heard a guys name. Which got a laugh out of her.

The two continued to talk for a while. He was deliberately avoiding the subject of any guy friends.

She got so fed up with it that she glared at him and made him uncomfortable with any subject they talked about.