Disclaimer: I do not own Wolfblood.

Episode One, Part 2 - "Final Decisions"

Rhydian had been with Maddy and her family for a couple of weeks now.

It hadn't taken him long to settle in to this different routine in a different climate and an unfamiliar space.

He liked the change of scene, actually. It had been suffocating, staying in Stoneybridge all that time with all of the drama and chaos happening. Out here, everything was simple and stripped back. He was faced with the challenge of getting used to the way the Smiths had started living their life; things were totally different here. They had invented new rules about living as a Wolfblood out here, and Rhydian had to get used to that, but he liked the challenge. He liked the change of scene.

But Maddy? – Maddy wasn't so sure.

She'd been out here for months now, nearly eight, and she'd never been particularly keen on it from the very beginning. At first she'd managed to take it in her stride and get used to it, but now it had been far too long since she'd had the comfort of her own bed, back home. The bed here was fine – she was grateful for it – but it wasn't where she felt at home. One thing she also really missed was the laughter and fun with her best friends that she so badly craved.

It was great to have Rhydian back – she didn't want to live without him ever again – but having him here with her and her parents just reminded her of the things she was missing at home. For months she had been able to shut out that pain and homesickness; pretend it wasn't there and like none of it hurt.
But now that a part of her home had come to her in Canada and in their totally new life, she was beginning to miss her old life a heck of a lot more.

So much so that it made her feel really homesick; it was keeping her up at night.

"Rhydian," Maddy whispered quietly, "Rhydian, are you awake?" The two were sharing the bed in Maddy's room, curled up together under an old duvet and a couple of blankets. The house didn't have any central heating.
On the walls of the room, they had stuck up a couple of photos that Rhydian had brought with him: one of Shannon, Tom and Jana all together, one of Maddy and Shannon and one of Maddy and himself. Maddy already had a few photos out here but Rhydian's ones were her favourite; he'd kept them all that time, which meant a lot to her.

Rhydian groaned and rolled over to face her, frowning. "I am now."

"Sorry," she bit her lip.

"You OK?" He managed to open one sleepy eye and looked her over carefully, looking for any signs of distress on her face. Luckily, there were none.

"I can't sleep," she admitted sheepishly.

"Why not? Are you warm enough?" Rhydian had thought it was quite warm considering they were dangerously close to the Canadian mountains – so warm that he was sleeping shirtless – but maybe Maddy was cold. He reached up to feel the temperature of the tips of her ears. She was sitting up on her elbow.

"Yeah, I'm warm enough. Speaking of, are you not freezing? Why don't you have a top on?"

Rhydian shrugged, closing his eyes again. "I'm fine. Now why can't you sleep?"

Maddy sighed through her nose. "I just…I can't stop thinking of Stoneybridge. Our friends, our home, our school…"

"Maybe you should talk to your parents about going back." His eyes were closed and he still felt sleepy, but he was talking as if he were fully alert and awake. He wanted to be there for Maddy, even if that meant not falling back asleep.

"They'll say no,"

"How do you know? And anyway, don't you think they might be missing home too?"

Maddy thought about this for a moment and then shrugged slowly. "I don't know. Probably. But you know mum and dad; they…they don't always act on what they want to do. They're all about being responsible."

"You never know until you ask, Mads. Maybe they're thinking that you won't want to go back."

"Of course I want to go back," Maddy argued. "Why would they even think I don't?"

Rhydian opened his eyes and held his hands up in surrender, his eyebrows raised. "Hey, don't ask me. They're your parents."

Sighing, she chewed her bottom lip and put her head back down to her pillow. She really did miss the comforts of home; she wasn't built for this makeshift life of sleeping on a lumpy old bed in a cold house that smelled strongly of dust and dampness. As much as it was safer out here for both their secret and the secrets of the other Wolfbloods of the world, it wasn't where Maddy belonged. She didn't want to pretend like she belonged half in the wild anymore; they lived more as wolves than humans, and she wasn't sure she liked it.

Maddy's eyes settled somewhere on Rhydian's chest and she reached out to touch him. Surprisingly, his skin was actually very warm considering he had no shirt on and they were near the snowy mountains. It was weird.

"How are you not freezing?" She asked incredulously.

"You must be warming me up."

Maddy looked up at him for a moment and smirked, watching him fall in to quiet snickers.

And when she looked back down again, she started tracing circles on his skin with her finger whilst she thought about going back home. She was imagining a hot bath, a warm, comfortable bed, processed food, central heating…
It all sounded pretty perfect. And then there was the added bonus of the rest of her pack; how could her parents ever stay away from their own pack forever? It wasn't right that they were apart.

"I can stay here as long as you need or want me to," Rhydian said in to the silence. "I'm a free man now," Maddy chuckled at his use of the phrase 'free man' before letting him continue, "The Vaughans think I'm staying with my long lost uncle for a while. But on the other hand, I can go home whenever I want. I'm flexible."

"Thanks, Rhydian."

"Unless of course you want me to go home…"

Maddy snorted. "As if. You're not going anywhere without me."

And then Rhydian smiled, leaning forward to kiss her cheek before settling his head back on to the pillow.

"You can go back to sleep now. Sorry I woke ya."

"S'okay," Rhydian shrugged, closing his eyes. "I want to be here for you. And listen, Mads, it'll all work out. We'll find where we're meant to be."

She nodded and closed her eyes, shuffling closer towards him. She rested her head on his chest as he wrapped his arm around her and kissed her forehead.

And before she fell asleep, she kissed his chest and told him she loved him, and he said it back.

When Rhydian awoke the next morning, he found that the space next to him where Maddy should be was empty. Frowning, he turned around to find what time it was but then realised there was no clock there. Of course.

Instead he pushed the fur and the blanket back and stood up, throwing his shirt and jacket on before making his way downstairs. He hadn't brought any pyjamas; Maddy said she'd ask her dad for some spares at some point.

When he got downstairs, Maddy was in the kitchen wearing her pyjamas and a thick hoody, leaning against the counter with a mug of hot water in her hands. They had no tea or coffee.

She looked thoughtful. There was a frown etched on to her forehead, but it wasn't a bad kind of frown; it just looked like she was deep in thought. And for a moment Rhydian could have sworn it looked like she'd been crying. She didn't even notice him there until he was right in front of her.

"Hey," Rhydian said, standing next to her and leaning against the counter too.

"Morning," Maddy responded.

"Did you manage to get to sleep last night eventually?"

"Yeah. Did you get back to sleep after I woke you?"

"Yeah," he smiled and reached down to take her hand. His thumb smoothed over her skin gently. "Where are your parents?"

"Getting breakfast."

"Great. What are we having?"

"Fish, I think. We didn't have chance to go to the shop safely this week, so it's catching our food or no food. We'll cook it for you, seeing as you're not as used to raw meat as us."

"Appreciate it," He grinned, guiding her over to one of the dining table to sit down. "Are you okay?"

Maddy sat down next to him, looked at him and smiled gently. "Yeah. Fine. Why?"

"No reason." Rhydian lied, choosing to ignore the slight bloodshot look in her eyes and the salty tear stain on her left cheek. Maybe it was just the cold weather.

A while later, Emma and Dan came back with yellow eyes and a few different fresh fish. They grinned at Maddy and Rhydian when they walked inside and started preparing the fish right away.

Mrs. Smith wiped her knife clean on the worktop she was chopping the fish on and looked up at Rhydian and Maddy from under her eyelashes.

"So, Rhydian, we have something we wanted to speak to you about." She started. Rhydian and Maddy were sitting next to each other at the dining table, facing Maddy's parents who were still preparing breakfast. Maddy and Rhydian were holding hands, of course, and Maddy was leaning her head on Rhydian's arm. He had grown taller over the past few months, meaning that she had to look up at him to see his face from her current position.

Rhydian smiled politely. "Shoot." He said. And for some reason, Maddy tightened her grip on him for a passing moment before Emma continued.

"Maddy spoke to us about returning home this morning, before you woke up," she started. Rhydian's heart beat increased slightly in anticipation. "She told us how much she's been missing it, especially since you arrived."

Dan continued for Emma. "We had a long discussion about it…and we decided that, as much as we love our home back in Stoneybridge, we can't go back again. Well, we can, but we've decided not to. It's easier this way; safer. There's no risk of people finding out what we are; no risk of anything going wrong. It's just better for us out here, Rhydian…"

Rhydian looked down at Maddy. She wasn't making eye contact with him at all but he could still see tears rising in her eyes. So that's why it looked like she'd been crying earlier on.

Emma smiled sadly. "We're sorry, Rhydian. And we're sorry to all your friends back home. We do want to go back, but…"

"It's okay," Rhydian said softly and genuinely. "I understand, Mrs. Smith. It's what's best for you guys, and I get that."

"We talked about the options of you staying or going, too; and we're totally happy for you to stay out here with us, but if you want to go home, we'll understand that too."

Looking back down at Maddy, he saw that she was looking up at him now, and when their eyes met he realised that there were tears falling out one by one. The look she gave him was heartbreaking. Her forehead was wrinkled, her eyes scared and her lip quivering very slightly. Without having to say anything, Rhydian knew what she was trying to say to him.

She wanted him to stay.

So he would.

"I'm not gonna leave you, Maddy," he said to her, and watched as she broke out in to a tear-filled smile. "I'm staying."

In his peripheral vision he saw Maddy's parents smile and get back to their various jobs, but he kept his eyes on Maddy who was frowning at him again now.

"Are you sure?" She asked quietly.

Rhydian nodded. "Positive."

Five more days went by.

Maddy and Rhydian had been out hunting for their dinner together one night, and Rhydian was beginning to enjoy being self-sufficient and working as a team with the Smiths. He wasn't used to this lifestyle, but it was almost as if this lifestyle was used to him; it seemed to work with them and he liked that. He liked feeling like he was a part of the family.

However, he had begun to notice that Maddy wasn't quite acting herself. She was being very quiet and not laughing as much as usual; even when Rhydian had suggested a run to let off some steam (usually her favourite thing), she just shrugged and went to her room, not saying another word.

He considered talking to her parents about it, but he didn't want to appear stupid. Maybe this was just how Maddy was now; maybe she'd changed.

It was an evening, just after he had eaten dinner with Emma and Dan, when Rhydian started wondering where Maddy was. She had been in her room for quite some time now – she hadn't even come out to eat the meal – and Rhydian was worried.

"Emma," Rhydian said in to the silence, looking over to where Emma was sitting on the sofa opposite him. "Do you know if Maddy's okay?"

She shrugged. "I think she's just tired. It's late."

Rhydian nodded, but he wasn't convinced.

Wordlessly, he stood up and went up the stairs towards Maddy's room. When he pushed the door open slowly and stepped in, he saw Maddy lying on the bed, her back facing the door, and she had something in her hands. Once he was closer he realised it was a picture of Tom, Shannon and Jana; one of the pictures off the wall.

"Maddy," he said softly, trying to get her attention.

"I knew you were there," she said quietly. Her voice sounded different.

"Are you okay?"

"I'm fine,"
But her voice was croaky, and soon after her weak attempt to convince Rhydian she was okay, she sniffed and went to wipe her eye.
She wasn't fine.

Sighing through his nose, Rhydian stepped over silently and crawled on to the bed behind her. He didn't touch her just yet.

"Maddy," he said again, his voice still just as soft as he watched her from behind. She was playing with the corners of the photo that were now slightly dog-eared, and she sniffed again. "What's wrong, Mads?"

She took in a deep breath before finally speaking, her voice scratchy and quiet. "I miss it."

"Miss what?" Rhydian scooted closer to her and put his arm around her waist from behind before kissing her shoulder lightly.

"Home. I don't want to stay here, Rhydian. I know that was the plan all along and I know mum and dad finalised it a few days ago, but I just…I miss it so much. I miss our friends. Our pack. I never thought this was going to be forever."

Sighing, Rhydian reached up to brush some hair from her face gently. She turned around to face him.

Photo still in hand, she wiped a stray tear off her face and sniffed.

"It doesn't have to be forever," Rhydian said gently. "Maybe we can go back someday."

"'Someday' isn't soon enough. I want our pack to be together. I want our town back."

"I know."

"Don't you miss it too?" Maddy looked up at him.

He shrugged. "Yeah…but I haven't been away for as long as you. Do you think your parents will ever change their minds?"

Maddy shook her head sadly and looked back down at the photo that was sitting between her fingers.

It was a picture of Jana, Shannon and Tom, standing together with their arms around each other and pulling funny faces at the camera. Behind the goofy poses their faces spoke joy and laughter, and it made Maddy smile nostalgically.

Jana's hair wasn't as red in this photo as Maddy had remembered it; it was clearly taken when she'd returned after Maddy and her parents had left. Shannon's hair was down and straight – Maddy rarely saw that – and she looked happy. And Tom just looked like his usual self; maybe a bit taller and more mature. She missed them a lot.

Rhydian watched Maddy as she scanned over each of their friends' faces. She looked so sad and frustrated at the fact that her parents had decided not to return home; Rhydian could tell that it wasn't the result she had been hoping for.
Thinking about it now, Maddy had been up and unable to sleep every night since they'd made the decision. Rhydian should have guessed that this was the reason.

And then an idea popped in to his head (an idea that was really quite a stupid and ambitious one) and for a moment he nearly didn't suggest it to her.
But then he saw the sad look in her eyes – the look of desperation as if she'd never get her true life back again – and he couldn't resist.

"What if…" he started, his voice failing him halfway.

Maddy looked up at him from under her dark eyelashes. "What if what?"

Rhydian hesitated for a moment, looking right in to her beautiful brown eyes, before spitting out his crazy idea. "What if…what if we go back, but…but your parents stay here? I mean, your parents don't need us here and we can fend for ourselves back in Stoneybridge…I guess? Maybe?" And when Maddy just blinked at him and didn't say anything, Rhydian faltered. It was never going to happen. "Sorry, stupid plan, I know…it's never gonna work like that. I shouldn't have—"

"No," Maddy cut him off, her voice suddenly louder. "No, it's not a stupid plan. Maybe it could work…" She bit her lip for a moment and looked away, clearly thinking this plan through over and over in her head. Rhydian's heart was pounding nervously in his chest. It was a spur-of-the-moment idea he'd had and he honestly wasn't expecting her to consider it.

She looked up at him and for a moment she looked excited, but then the reality sunk in and her face fell again.

Her head fell back down to the pillow.

"My parents will never go for it." She mumbled, closing her eyes again and wiping away a leftover tear.

Rhydian was silent for a moment as he considered his idea. And then he shrugged lightly and said, "Does that matter though?"

"What do you mean?"

"They can't exactly make you stay, right? I mean…you're your own person."

"I guess so."

"Do you want to go home?" Rhydian asked, just trying to get her to admit it again, hoping it would help her make a decision.

Maddy paused and then she started nodding, slowly, feeling tears rise again. "Of course."

"Then…let's go tell them that we're going home."

Finally, she looked up at him again and her eyes were wide, but not sad anymore. Behind those dark brown orbs there was now a tiny glint of hope.

"Rhydian," she started warily. "Are we really going to do this?"

Rhydian held back a grin. "Why not?"

And then Maddy grinned – a small grin, but still a grin – and leaned up to kiss him, her hand coming up behind his head and pulling him closer to deepen the kiss. Man, she loved him. She loved him and his crazy ideas that were actually quite amazing. She loved him and his hair and his eyes; but mostly his ability to make her feel better about anything.

"I love you." She said.

He grinned too and wiped away the tears on her cheeks that had finally stopped falling from her eyes, leaning in to kiss her just once more. "I love you too. Now let's go prepare for war."

Maddy laughed, following him as he walked out of the room, their hands entwined together.

It was going to be an interesting evening.

A/N: So, this chapter got a bit repetitive by the end, I know, but the next chapter will be a lot better. This chapter was essential, I guess, but maybe not the most fun to read?!

Okay, so I just need to thank you guys so much for the reviews I got on the first installment of this story. I can't believe the response I got—I honestly wasn't expecting anyone to read it! Thank you all so, SO much, I love you, and I hope you love reading this story as much as I love writing it. :')

Please do let me know what you thought of this chapter, too! :)

Love :* xxx

PS. What do you guys think of the cover for this story? I'm 50/50 on whether I like it or not!

Next Episode of 'The Ancient Grudge': 'Maddy's head snapped up and she stared at him with wild eyes, her breathing heavy. "We've made a huge mistake."'