A/N: Sorry so much for the lateness. But thank you SO much for the reviews. (EDITED TO ADD- I think i fixed the clumpiness, sorry about that! Not so sure how that happened)

April 2, 2023 is the day Ethan Souza discovered the real definition of shallow.
He was currently on the floor of a living room, trying to build a city with the Legos scattered all around him.

His father was working, and his mother had gone to the doctor for Larissa on a short notice. Ethan isn't allowed to go to those appointments. Just like Larissa isn't allowed to go to those when it's his check-up. Not only that, but Leah and Simon were also working, and Tori and Jackson weren't even in the state! They were on vacation with Lexi...somewhere. They were almost always gone on some vacation. Ethan wagered if they continued, they would have probably visited the entire east coastline of America by the end of the year.

So anyways, Chloe did the only thing she could do. She asked their neighbor Cindy to take care of Ethan for an hour or two, until either she or Derek got back.

Cindy is their closest neighbor. Living down the block. In this neighborhood, most of the houses are big. But the Pack had given Derek and Chloe the biggest house, because it was on the edge, the very last one in this community. Also, owning this house includes owning the spacious land of trees east of the house.

So, they are kind of farther away from everyone else, which is okay. They have to walk about two minutes to enter their neighbor's house. It's not as if this was a close community either. The other houses have big wide gaps between them, definitely not your typical suburban area.

"No way! You're so lucky! Ohmygod!" Cindy paced the living room as she talked into her cell, her other hand waving around frantically up in the air.

Ethan watched as she sat down on the couch and continued her ranting. He tried to ignore her squeals as he continued his buildings, but how on earth can he? This was definitely not a fun way to spend your Saturday morning. Especially not when the day before you and your friends managed to come up with a masterful plan to embarrass your teachers. Okay okay. It was all Ethan's idea, but that didn't mean his accomplices didn't also get into loads of trouble as he did. Sure, he was the master mind behind it all, but he was so not the only one going down. And sure, he kind of regrets doing it now after facing the severe consequences, but hey, it was his first year of school and he wanted his first April Fool's day to be very special.

"Wait, my husband is calling." A pause. "Hey Hon. No. Why? Noooo!" She whined. "But you promised to buy me that necklace!" She continued her pouting as if she was an 18 year old talking to her boyfriend instead of a 29 year old. Then again, the plastic surgery does make her look younger. "Yay! Thanks! Bye!" She smiled, then pushed another button in her cell and put it back to her ear. "Hey! Looks like Nick is going to buy it! I know!"

She begins her squealing once more, and Ethan rolled his eyes. Dear lord, please have mercy on my ears! Just then, the doorbell rang and Ethan's spirits revived fully.

"Hold on a sec." Cindy got up and peaked by the widow, pulling back the closed curtains. "Oh! It's Derek, bye!" She jumped up and pushed the end button on her cell as she skipped over Ethan, but not before Ethan could hear her friend on the other end saying "Hey! Wait, what?"

Ethan wanted to just jump up and go off running to his father, but he couldn't just leave the place like a mess. Sure, he found Cindy irritating and annoying, but he tries to stay polite as much as possible.

Cindy pulled open the door and smiled widely when she saw Derek in his dirty once was white t-shirt.
As she stared at him, Derek knew he should have changed first. But when he arrived to his empty home and read the note Chloe left him, he immediately came to Cindy's house. He didn't want to leave Ethan in this suffocating house anymore then he should have to.

"Hello Cindy. Chloe said she dropped off Ethan here. Can-"
She didn't even wait for him to finish. Instead, she reached and grabbed Derek's wrist and tugged. "He's right here! Come on inside!" She smiled and pulled Derek in as he tried not to just push her away. So he followed her inside.

"Well, Ethan was a good boy, and he ate some noodle soup. All of it, of course." She gave Derek a wink, and he grunted. They entered the living area and watched as Ethan finished putting some of the last of his Legos in the bag. Once he had finished zipping up the bag, Ethan jumped up and ran to his father in lightning speed, trying to catch him off guard. But, as suspected, his father quickly caught him and lifted him up. Darn.

"Hey daddy." Ethan greeted as his father picked up the Legos bag.

"Hey kiddo. Were you good?" He asked his son. Ethan nodded just as Cindy sneaked besides his father.

"Oh, Ethan's always a good boy. Aren't cha?" Cindy smiled as she ruffled Ethan's hair, which was awkward since Derek was really tall and her long perfectly manicured nails were not fit for ruffling little kids' hair. She smiled up at Derek once she was done.

"Well, thank you for looking over Ethan."
"Oh, no problem. You can always count in me." That's when she tied both hands behind her back and she swayed her top half, trying to take an approach on looking innocent. But Derek knew full well she was just showing off her large chest, even though she looked like a school girl.

Derek grunted and began walking to the door when Cindy caught up and slipped her hand around Derek's biceps. The arm that wasn't holding Ethan. Derek looked down at her and she simply walked on, completely ignoring his glare.

They reached the door and Derek immediately got out, resulting in setting himself free from her clinginess.

"We better go-" Derek started before Cindy threw herself at Ethan. She pried Derek's hands and lifted Ethan up. All the while he gave an apologetic smile at his son.
"Oh, bye Ethan! I'll miss you!" She squeezed him tight against her chest, which was extremely uncomfortable since her chest was big.

Dear god, help me! Ethan screamed inwardly.

Finally, she let go and handed him over to Derek. Derek turned around and stepped down another step when Cindy caught his shoulder. "Oh, what about my hug?" Then she threw herself on him as she swung her arms around his neck, completely pushing Ethan to one side as she pressed her whole body against him.

Derek was irritated. No, he was beyond furious. This stance was His and Chloe's thing. Her kissing him as she wrapped her arms around his neck while standing in the top step on the porch every day before he left for work.

Sure, he wasn't going to work. Sure, it was him that was holding Ethan instead of vice versa. And sure, Cindy wasn't kissing him. But all in all, the anger that sparked in him was enough to forget about being polite as he pushed her back roughly.

"Der- Ah!" Cindy said as she found herself pushed back against her door, with an angry Derek inches away.

"Listen Samantha, I am not going to be one of those idiots you goof around with while your husband is away, understood? So I'd highly appreciated it if you backed. Off. Okay?" Derek tried for a sweet smile, and knew that probably scared her enough to nod her head quickly, looking kind of dazed.

He seized the opportunity hefted the Legos bag and Ethan as he finished descending the stairs.
As they walked back, Ethan tried to decipher a few words his father was mumbling, but all he got were, "underestimated...pathetic...shallow." the last one caught his attention. He knew dad was talking about Cindy. And though he was glad his father didn't take any of what Cindy was trying to pull, he couldn't fathom why his father would call her "deep." That was, after all, the meaning of shallow, right?

Racking his brains, Ethan recognized that word as an adjective his mother used to describe the growing pond/lake in their forest. When Ethan asked why they never swam in it, since it was in their part of the forest and was pretty well hidden, she had said it wasn't shallow enough. Which meant deep, right?

"Hey, dad? What does shallow mean?" Ethan asked curiously.

Derek looked up at his son before answering. "Well, you're the one who spent two hours with that lady, you tell me."

July 16, 2023 is the day Ethan learns two very important things.

1. Having a showdown at Aunt Tori's Wedding might not be the greatest idea and 2. There's nothing scarier than a herd of girls coming your way!

As Ethan walked around with Jeremy, he couldn't help but to notice how expensive things were at this wedding party. He has seen his parents' wedding pictures and his uncle's, and they were pretty simple. Cute. But this was so different. Now Ethan knows why Aunt Tori has been cranky these past few weeks.

"Aw, look, it's the Maid-of-Honor's son! Ethan, come over here!" A set of ladies sitting at a nearby table waved to Ethan as he pretended not to have heard.
"Oh great. No more." His cousin whined as he views the woman. This had to be the sixth pair of woman that has wanted to get their hands on Ethan. And that's after the ceremony ended.

"Last one. Promise." Ethan said as he grabbed Jeremy's hand and led them over to the woman. And there began the same comments.

"Don't you look dashing in that small shiny vest of yours?"

"And that light green button up shirt brings out the blue eye of yours!"

"Plus you look extremely handsome in your combed dirty blonde head."

"How adorable." Yeah, Yeah. They all say the same thing. As Ethan faked smiled and pretended to be paying attention, he spotted his father a few feet away, just drinking out of a glass and looking around.

"Oh, I'm sorry. But my father is waiting for me. Enjoy the party!" And like that, he dragged Jeremy as he ran to his father. "Hey dad. Enjoying the party?" Ethan asked in a mocking gentleman's voice.

Derek chuckled as he looked down at his son. "Oh. You know, I go to these types of parties all the time." Derek looked around at the expensive table cloth that cost about 200$ bucks. And that's just for each table! He couldn't help but to mentally eye roll at Tori's dream wedding.

Hell, her dream wedding was so important to her, she delayed it for more than a year! All because poor Jackson proposed a month before she found out she was pregnant. "There is no way in hell Imma be walking down that aisle with a fat stomach. No way, no how." Then she went on how she better lose any weight she gained from Jeremy or else someone's going to lose their hair. Derek rolled his eyes again.

All the while Ethan viewed the funny expressions his father was expressing. It was so entertaining, that he ignored the two times Jeremy tugged on his sleeve.

"Oh, I have to go see your mother." Derek said due to the fact he spotted some women staring at him yet again. And he spats his son's back as he was about to look for his wife. But he then remembered something. "Don't get into any trouble." He warned. His son had gotten into enough trouble as it was so far during the school year. With that warning said, Derek took off in search of his wife. Which he will probably still manage to sneak up and cause her to jump.

Jeremy tugged again and Ethan finally looked down. "What is it?" He asks, slightly annoyed.

"Someone's gonna eat you!" Jeremy exclaims with vivid fear in his eyes.

"What? What on earth are you talking about?" Ethan asks completely taken-aback. With a very shaky hand, Jeremy pointed to nowhere in particular. Ethan lifted a brow, and Jeremy insisted more with his finger.

"Right there!" Ethan followed the finger to see Jeremy was pointing to a set of eight girls around his age. And they were all staring at Ethan with such intensity, Ethan had to pull Jeremy back and face the other direction as they bowed their heads down so no one can hear.

"Wh-Who are they?" Ethan cursed himself for showing his hidden fear.

"I don't know! They live near mommy and me." Jeremy whispered urgently. Then he made the mistake of looking back at the girls. He quickly turned back when they caught him, their eyes almost glowing red to Jeremy. They must really be hungry for Ethan. Jeremy thought to himself.

"Okay, let's just walk slowly to my mom. Then-" Ethan began before being interrupted by the microphone.

"Everyone please, grab your partner, for the ballroom dancing will now commence!" Just then, Ethan turned back to see all the girls' eyes set solely on him as they begin their small yet stealthy march to him.

"Come on, let's go!" Ethan exclaims as he grabs Jeremy and they run to the other direction.

"They're gaining. They're gaining on us!" Jeremy reports when he sneaks a glance behind to see the girls now jogging over to them, hitching their dresses up, as if they are going to still stick to their "class" before eating Ethan.

Ethan easily picked up speed, and being the scared kid he was, he sort of maybe forgot he is a much faster runner then his cousin.

"Man down, man down!" Jeremy exclaimed and the fear in his voice instinctively made Ethan glance over his shoulder. And there he was, small little Jeremy on the floor, arms open for Ethan to come pick him up, eyes wide with fright at the thumping ground from the stampede of girls. Maybe Ethan can quickly go back and-

Wamp!

Ethan goes down, rolling with another body on the ground, a sneaker hitting him in the face. Instinct kicks in, and Ethan thrashes, kicking his leg and coming in contact with a stomach, which follows a gruff "Ouch!"

Finally, they untangle themselves with both of them still sitting on the floor, huffing slightly.

"What was that all about?" Ethan looks up from examining his clothing, to see a boy a year or two older then him sitting across, wearing similar clothing as Ethan, except his button-up shirt is an aqua blue. He shakes his milk chocolate brown head as he straightens his clothing. Then, he looks up at Ethan, hazel eyes glaring.

Ethan glared back with leveled intensity. "Some crazy girls were chasing me." He grumbled as he stood up, fixing his shirt.

"You too, huh?" Ethan looked up to see the other boy standing up as well. "What! Look at what you did!" The boy was pointing at his black pants, where, at the bottom of them was a large spot of white and brown. The imprint of Ethan's shoes.

"And whose fault is that?" Ethan angrily replies while pointing at his face and hair, where the boy kicked him. He should be angry, not that boy! "Who do you think you are anyways?"

"I can ask the same thing!" The boy pointed accusingly at Ethan with fire in his eyes. Ethan couldn't help the low grumble that vibrated in his stomach as he clenched his fists.

"Ethan! I'm alive!" Too late did Ethan realize it was Jeremy running uncontrollably towards him when he smacked right into Ethan, sending him flying towards the boy so unexpectedly, the three went down. Sure, Ethan isn't furious with the boy or had any meat with him. But they both continued rolling and ended up wrestling.

Ethan planned on not using his full strength, because he knows he's stronger then kids his age. But as they wrestled, he realized this kid was pretty strong, so he kicked it up a notch. But not so to actually cause pain. The thing is, every "fight" Ethan has, he wins. But this match is different. Because this kid is actually a challenge. And Ethan doesn't know whether to admire him, or to show him where he belongs.

They thrashed and wrestled (but never hurting the other) when Ethan saw Jeremy stumble in, just as the kid was about to grab Ethan around his neck, but instead hooked Jeremy.

Sure it was an accident, and sure Ethan could tell it didn't really hurt Jeremy and sure Ethan could see the immediate guilt in the boy's eyes, but he didn't fully process that, beaucse that was his little cousin right there. So he just launched his full weight at the boy, and they kept rolling and rolling, until-

"Oh. My. God!" they crashed into a table and all the food went flying. The two boys lay flat on their stomachs with their hands on top of their heads to protect them from the falling table. But it never fell on them.

They both slowly sat up, shaking their heads, trying and failing to get the food out. "Ethan Christopher Souza!" He hesitantly looked up from the curtain of wet hair to see an angry Aunt Tori. She had her hands on her hips while staring down at Ethan, face red with anger.

"Nico Kenneth Ivak!" Ethan looks to see a woman running towards them, standing besides Tori while crossing her arms with fire in her brown eyes.

"Mr. Ethan Souza!" Then comes Ethan's mother, taking a stand besides Tori's other side while laying her fist against one hip, eyes widened at the max.

The two boys stare at the three angry women bearing down at them, while they sit on a puddle of drinks and chips all over their clothing. And it only takes one glance at each other to snap them into fits of laughter.

They fall back on their backs while holding their stomachs as they laugh hard. That's when they hear everyone else laughing around them, giggling as if this was extremely funny.
And maybe it was. Or maybe it was the fact that the two boys looked adorable in their dirty clothing. Or maybe it was because of the two husbands behind the boys, holding the table, looking scared out of their skins as they stare at their wives.

Ethan and Nico continued laughing their heads off as they rolled on the grounds, laughing so hard it would sting.

That's when he heard a small giggle from his aunt. So he looked up at his aunt and smiled apologetically, Nico following suit. She sighed softly as she surveyed the mess, then glanced subtly at the two boy's mothers. She then smiled sweetly and sugary, but Ethan knew full well that was a wicked and mischief smile. And the wink she gave the two boys confirmed it all.
Tori pulled on a mask of anger and enmity before turning back at the two women flanking her. She opened her mouth, her lips thin, showing her fury and irritation.

But before she got a word out, Ethan got up and grabbed Nico's wrist too pull him up as he yelled, " Let's run for dear life!" Nico's eyes bulged, and he scrambled up with the help of Ethan, and they began their sprinting, as some adults laughed and other kids joined in on the run.

Ethan wasn't even running at his full speed, because his hiccups of laughter slowed him down. As well as Nico's clumsiness as his laughter caused him to run like a drunken person, clinging onto Ethan. And Ethan wasn't any better either. He kept laughing, doubling over as he thought of how angry his mother looked, face red as she stared down at him. And though he doesn't like seeing that much, it was all too funny since he knew full well she was holding back a laugh, the facade only for her sister-in-law.

And every time Ethan doubled over, Nico stumbled into him, trying to tell him to hurry up between fits of laughter. But it was really hard, since they were both laughing uncontrollably. And even though there wasn't much to laugh about, all they had to do was look at the other red-faced boy, and then fall into another fit of laughter. Even their faces made them laugh. And though it began to hurt their stomachs, they couldn't stop. They didn't even have a reason to anymore, but they continued anyways.

Ethan somehow glanced back at the many adults chasing them in their dresses and suits, each of them with their couples as they laughed. Their faces were lit up as they reminisced their teenage years with their boyfriends. The women hitching them up as they laughed, the troublesome boys forgotten.

"Ethan! Let's go!" Nico waved him over as he smiled. Ethan looked back at him and smiled back, a real smile before heading back to catch up with his new-found friend.

Sorry! This took SUCH a long time. Personal life kicked in with a major blow of reality and delayed me this chapter.
I know. More fluff chapters of Ethan having a great and happy life.
BUT! Being the son of a necromancer and werewolf isn't supposed to be all fun and games. You know what that means.
It means the next chapter is where I finally introduce the main plot. Some bigger conflicts and melancholy, along with- well, I don't want to give too much away, now, do I? ;)
More reviews, the faster I post, remember that!

*And thank you for those who have be these ideas. I wanted to be fair, so I combined a few ideas together to make this chapter. Thanks! And if I have a writer's block, then I'll use the other cool-sounding ideas you guys gave me.

HELP!

okay, if you know ANYTHING of Katie and Logan (um, whats their last names again?), PLEASE, PLEASE tell me. Like physical appearnace and any character traits that they showed in the books. Plus, they ARE werewolves, right? even Katie? And how old were they in the last ook of Kelley's? Around, many an estimate? Please and thank you!