Disclaimer: I do not own Wolfblood.

"Where are you taking me!?" Maddy asked, a wide grin on her lips as Rhydian practically dragged her through the woods by her hand.

"Just be patient!" Rhydian grinned too. "And stop dragging behind me; my arm's getting tired."

Maddy rolled her eyes. "You're a weakling."

"It's not like I don't have a decent excuse. I almost died a month ago."

Maddy stopped walking all of a sudden, causing Rhydian to stop too and turn to her.

"What?" He asked, a frown making its way on to his forehead.

"Don't talk like that," Maddy said, her voice all of a sudden sounding tense and slightly panicked. "Don't use that word. Don't even…think like that. I was never going to let you die. So you didn't almost die. OK?"

Rhydian sighed ruefully and stepped towards her. His frown was a little more intense now as he realised Maddy's genuine distress. "Sorry," he said, reaching up to touch her face with his spare hand. "I didn't mean to upset you."

"It's fine," she said genuinely. "I just…it's all still raw. You know that. Both of us can still see it all. Literally. I don't like using that word; somehow it makes it all feel more real."

"I know what you mean," Rhydian pulled her forward and kissed her forehead, his hand now sitting on her waist. "It's all over now."

"I know." Maddy sighed.

"Not that that's going to take away the memories, or the nightmares, but…,"

"It helps."

Rhydian smiled. We're gonna have a good day today though. I promise." He said as he pulled away.

Maddy smiled up at him, squeezing his hand. "I know.… Well, when I actually find out where we're going."

Rhydian laughed again, and they started walking through the woods again. "Patience, Madeleine!"

"Don't call me that! It makes me feel like I'm in trouble!"

Rhydian laughed. "What?"

"Mam only calls me that when I've done something wrong, or when she's in a bad mood."

"Well…I call you it when I want to tell you I love you."

"But that's not what you just did."

"It was subtext."

"No it was not."

Rhydian laughed again, helping her over some big tree roots that stuck out from the ground. "Okay, okay. From now on, I'll only use your full name when I'm annoyed at you."

Playfully, Maddy gasped, hitting him on the arm. "Don't be cheeky!"

Rhydian was taking Maddy to see where he and Jana had engraved the Bayoneth on a rock near the old Wolfblood den. He thought it'd be a nice day for them to spend together, and a way for him to share some of the things he got up to whilst Maddy was away. Maddy hadn't been herself recently – she'd been quiet and down – and he wanted to find a way to cheer her up a little.

"What is this place?" Maddy asked as they approached the large, flat rock face that was the outside of the old den.

"It's an old Wolfblood den," Rhydian explained, putting his rucksack down on a rock and leading Maddy closer.

Maddy frowned. "Really?"

"Yeah. Me and Jana visited it when we bunked off work experience."

"You bunked off work experience!?" Maddy exclaimed, slowing her pace before coming to a stop.

Rhydian turned to her, an amused smirk on his face. "Yeah. Why?"

"Rhydian!" Maddy hit him on the arm. "That's really bad. You can't just bunk off work experience because you don't feel like going."

"Who are you, my mum?" Rhydian joked, and then he shrugged. "Jeffries almost expelled us for it, but…," he continued quickly before Maddy could interrupt, "It wasn't because we didn't feel like it. It was for a better reason than that."

"What was it?"

"Jana needed it. It was after she lost her pack and she was really not herself, so mum sent us here to do something to make her feel passionate again."

"What did you do?"

"This." Rhydian started walking again and Maddy followed. And after a few moments, he stopped right in front of the rock he and Jana had engraved his design on all those months ago.

Rhydian watched Maddy as she smiled and let go of his hand so she could crouch down in front of it. She ran her fingers over it, and he smiled at her.

"Did you do this?" She asked.

Rhydian nodded. "Yeah."

"It's awesome."

"It's called a Bayoneth," he explained. "Jana used Ansion here and it turns out that the pack was hunted on a full moon. And they never had chance to leave their mark behind; their Bayoneth. So Jana decided we should make one for them, so they could be remembered."

"That's amazing, Rhydian," Maddy said, still crouching in front of it and smiling down at the engraving. "I love it."

"Thanks," He grinned in return as he watched her from behind. "Wanna see the old ruins?"

Smiling, Maddy stood up again, dusting off her jeans. "Yeah. Can I take a picture of this first?"

Smiling, Rhydian nodded. "Yeah. Do you really like it that much?"

"Yeah. It's so clever. And it's yours; I'm proud of it."

Bringing out her camera, Maddy took several different photos of the engraving from different angles, and Rhydian watched her fondly.

A few minutes later, once Maddy was finished, Rhydian took her hand in his again, grabbed his backpack, and then they headed off inside the den.

They wandered around for a half hour or so, and they may or may not have spent ten of those minutes laughing at the way their voices echoed off the wall and sounded funny.

And then they went and sat on one of the rocks on the other side of the den, slightly surprised to see that the sun was now peeking through the clouds. It was October and it was pretty cold, so the both of them were wrapped up in coats and scarves and hats, although they were pretty much warm enough as it was. Wolfbloods, even in their more human form, tended to stay warmer a lot easily than normal humans.
Still, the cold did get to them eventually, hence why Maddy begun to get slightly cold as they sat and sipped from their bottle of water, chatting between themselves.

"Are you cold?" Rhydian asked, turning his head to face her.

Maddy frowned. "Did you sense that?"

Smirking, Rhydian nodded and shrugged. "Guilty."

"Sort of a benefit of going out with us, huh?"

"It's stronger than ever with you."

Maddy smiled. This sort of thing happened a lot with the two of them. They could often sense things in others, too – mainly because of scent or just instinct, and mainly when they were in wolf form – but between Maddy and Rhydian, they could sense everything. All the time. Sometimes it was a blessing; other times it was a curse.

Minutes later, Rhydian took a short and hesitant breath to speak.

"Mads," he started. In his peripheral vision, he saw her look at him. "I know you haven't been feeling too happy recently…I know the thing that happened with the wild Wolfblood is still…"

"It was more than a 'thing that happened', Rhydian."

Rhydian looked at her. His forehead was wrinkled, and she frowned when she realised that. Suddenly, Maddy became aware of how hesitant he was feeling, and she realised that he really was concerned.

"You know what I mean," Rhydian said softly. "And I know you're still feeling the effects of it, and I just wanted to say that I'm sorry I'm not being really strong through it either.… I want to be okay for you, Mads. And I'm sorry I've been suffering with all of it too. You've been through way more than I have."

Maddy took his hand in his and squeezed it tight, her brow furrowing in to a frown. "Don't you ever say that," She said firmly. "You're totally allowed to feel down like I do. You don't always have to be strong."

"I know, but I…I want to be strong for you. To be there for you.… To fix it."

Maddy felt strangely teary, and her forehead wrinkled further. "Rhydian…"

He continued, "and I just feel like I'm letting you down. I want to make it all better. But I…I know I can't. I'm sorry about what I said earlier about me almost dying. I don't want to make it worse for you, you know? I—"

Maddy cut him off in the best way she could; she knew that words weren't going to shut him up.

Instead, she leaned forward and kissed him, catching his open lips with hers and putting her hand on his cheek. He kissed her back almost straight away, of course, and both of their brows were still furrowed.

When Maddy pulled away, she looked him in the eyes with her hand now cupping underneath his chin.

"What was that for?" He asked, frowning.

"You wouldn't listen to me any other way."

"I would have."

Maddy kissed him again. "Rhydian," she started quietly, now smoothing her thumb over his skin. "You know where you've always gone wrong? – You always feel like you're the one who has to fix things and that you have to be strong all the time; just you, on your own. But you don't. You don't have to be strong for me and you don't need to do it on your own; we can both be a bit off balance, but together, we're strong. I hate to make a speech, Rhydian. I'm sorry. But it's true."

Rhydian smiled sadly, just one side of his mouth lifting. "Maddy, I just want you to be okay." his voice was tiny.

"And I love you for that. I want you to be okay, too. But right now, I think we just need to...get by."

Rhydian's forehead lined morosely. When he spoke, his voice was so quiet and small. "You lost your family, Mads. I should be there for you."

"You are being there for me," Maddy took his hand again encouragingly. "You're doing amazing. But I just need you to let yourself be not okay too."

There was a pause. Rhydian sighed through his nose. And then he leaned in to kiss her; he'd intended for it to be quick and chaste, but as soon as he kissed her, he didn't want to pull away. Soon his hands were on her face and he was kissing her so passionately that it took Maddy's breath away. He leaned further in to her and she leaned back. Suddenly, they weren't so cold anymore.

When they pulled away, Maddy looked at him with wide eyes.

"What...what was that for?" She asked, smiling a little.

Rhydian shrugged. "Nothing. I just..."

"...just what?"

"I just...I love you so much, Mads." He said.

Smiling, Maddy rested their foreheads together. She left a small kiss on his lips. "I love you so much too."

They stayed there for a while and continued to talk, the conversation gradually lightening.

"Come on," Rhydian said, bumping his shoulder with hers before standing up. "Let's get home. Or at least somewhere warmer."

Maddy chuckled, and she accepted his hand when he held it out for her. "Okay."

"You're gonna be okay, Maddy." He said quietly.

"I know. So are you," she replied, squeezing his hand. "Well, once we get out of this cold anyway."

Rhydian chuckled. "You warm enough for now?" He asked, looking down at his girlfriend as they walked down the hill. He put his arm around her shoulders and pulled her in.

"Yeah." Maddy smiled to herself. She put her arm over his stomach, and they walked back contentedly.

When they got home, Maddy showed the pictures of the Bayoneth to her mum and dad. Rhydian blushed when they told him how wonderful it looked, claiming that he didn't think it was all that good, and Maddy just grinned and shook her head.

Soon she was on her laptop, putting the photos on there and editing them. They looked really good, and Maddy suddenly got an idea for one of Rhydian's Christmas presents.

A/N: Helloooooo. Sorry if this chapter has any mistakes or it's kinda meh, I have proof read it a lot but I'm kinda ill haha, feeling pretty rough, but I wanted to update :')

Hope you enjoyed this chapter! Thank you for all your reviews on the last chapter.

Please do review as it always helps me with motivation to write and get updates up sooner :)

Love :* xxx

PS. I wrote a Canada!Maddian Christmas one-shot, so go check that out if you wanna!