Daniel appeared in the doorway. "Hi, Mrs Evans," he began sheepishly, "Antonio wants to speak to you about a few things. Can you come with us please?"

"Why?" I spoke for us both.

"Its formalities - he wants to sort out a few things with her; you know, a human doesn't really just invade a werewolf meeting and then... leave." Beau broke in awkwardly.

I frowned. "I'm human."

"But you and Aiden are mates, so you're technically part of us." Daniel retorted. I felt my mother tense besides me. I had forgotten how hard it was adjusting to a new race of werewolves living side-by-side with you. She was taking it well enough though, I noted.

"I'll take your mom down, April. Don't worry, she'll be fine – it's nothing serious. Just.... formalities." Barbara flashed me a warm smile.

I opened my mouth to protest, but my mum beat me to it. "I'll go." She cut in quickly, "I suppose it must have been a shock when I rolled in here, guns blazing. It's only right I sort it out with the person whose property I trespassed on."

"Oh, it's not his property." Barbara assured. I shot her a small smile, watching as my mother left the room, cautious but unresisting.

I was left with Daniel and Beau, both shifting on their feet. Looking at them expectantly, I pulled a face. "Do you still think I'm crazy?"

"No," they shook their heads in unison, grinning as they spoke. "I – I think we were just worried about you. Doing weed wasn't really an April thing to do."

"I know. But you made me feel like it was insane to do something like that. Like trying something new just wasn't allowed."

"We were wrong? I guess we just didn't want you to go down a path similar to Aiden's – he just about survived his."

I clicked my tongue against my teeth. "I wasn't going to. It was just –" I shrugged a shoulder, unable to explain.

Beau stepped forward and shook me by the shoulders. "If you've made peace with your mother than great - it's a step closer to the April we know and love." He ruffled my hair affectionately. "Maybe it's time to make peace with somebody else..."

I swallowed.

Knowing this was coming made me a cold shiver coarse through me. "I will – soon. But first of all, how is the whole Barbara situation going?" I raised my eyebrows teasingly.

"She was just here," Daniel pointed out, but Beau ignored him. "I think she's okay, don't you?"

Beau's expression became lighter. "She's great. I don't know how else to describe it, Ap." I studied his face closely. There was something indefinitely adorable about the way his eyes shone an electric blue when he said her name. "There's no way to describe her."

Daniel broke in, his tone flat. "So don't."

We turned to look at him; Beau looked surprised hurt. "I mean, don't try to explain Barbara then." Daniel sighed once, pausing. "Look, Beau, go down to Antonio and Mrs Evans. Barbara's probably trying to explain things to her – you should go and help explain them. It's important."

Beau nodded, throwing his friend a smile and punching his arm as means of thanking him before leaving. I turned to Daniel, arms crossed over my chest. He made as if to move past me, but I slid into his way.

"What the hell was that about?"

Daniel stared at me pointedly. "20 minutes ago, you were the one who was supposedly crazy. Now suddenly the attention's on me?"

"Yes, the attention's on you. I'm sick of hearing my name, you know?"

"April, April, April, April," he began chanting childishly, "April, Ap, Apy Ap, April." Clapping my hand over his mouth, I glared.

"Shut up." I shook my head at him. "Daniel, like you said, not 20 minutes ago, you told me that the April you know wouldn't be able to give you my –" I pretended to flick a speck of dust from my shoulder – "valuable advice. Well, I can now safely say that the jury's verdict is 'not guilty.' So tell me – what is going on? Is it that Beau's not hanging out with you like old times?"

Daniel removed my hand from his mouth and pouted, slinking over to a chair like a golden lion. "Like I told you before, Beau's my best friend – with his mate in the picture, I suppose spending every waking moment with him isn't an option. I guess – I'm getting older now and there's unspoken pressure on me to start looking for a mate. I mean, I thought you and your mate find each other. Not that you have to work for it." He ran his hands through his hair, mussing it up. "I'm just stressed – and that's not natural. Not for me anyway. I'm a chilled person – stress isn't even in my vocabulary."

"Well it is now. And you have to work for all good things, Daniel." I paused, giving him a small smile. "And don't stress about it. You meet lots of girls and most of them like you-"

"Most?" He interrupted, eyes wide.

I grinned. "Okay, fine all of them. Just be yourself. Don't change yourself for someone because it never ends up right – Danny boy, you're the pack's very own sweetheart," I cooed at him. "You have plenty of girls pining for you. My bet is that your very own mate will be the one girl who resists your charm."

"I have charm." He repeated, grinning.

"She'll be someone you have to fight for. It'll be a chase. But, hey, you love that, right?"

"It wasn't much of a chase for you," he commented dryly, "you were kidnapped."

I laughed. "It was a pretty crazy journey. But the outcome was –" I waved my hands around. "Sitting in a stranger's bedroom giving a so called player relationship advice. It's every girl's dream."

"I just –" Daniel broke off, "forget it. I'm going to continue partying and being myself and if I meet her during one of those parties, then good for us." He stood up, ruffling my hair and slinging one arm around my shoulder. Bending down, he whispered: "Now I think you should go and make peace with a certain somebody."

Taking a deep breath, I agreed. "Yeah, I guess I should." Looking up at him, I pulled a face.. "Maybe it's time for one of those parties as well?" He nodded.

"Party up."

My head lay in my hands, fingers sprawled across the cool table top. A small sound in the corner of the room caught my attention and I raised my head, turning in my seat. April stood in the corner; she looked up at me through her lashes, eyes uncertain. My eyes traced an otherwise undetectable tremble in her fingers. "Aiden," she began quietly. "I've been looking for you."

"Well, here I am. How's your mum?"

"She's fine. Her head still aches, but I gave her some ice for it. Antonio called for her. He wanted to speak to her about something."

I smiled dryly at the uncertainty lacing her tone and the way one corner of her lips was pulled downwards as she spoke quickly. I tore my eyes away from her lips with some difficulty. I wanted to kiss her so badly.

"A human doesn't just invade a truce pack meeting – especially with two packs present – and leave without explaining themselves to the Alpha."

She nodded at me. "I know. Beau and Daniel explained it to me."

Sometime during our conversation, I'd stood up and was now leaning against the counter top; it was almost too cool to touch – it felt like ice. Glancing down at myself, I hadn't realized how much of a mess I'd looked. My button down shirt was disheveled, the sleeves rolled up.

An awkward silence hung in the air; her hands were playing with a piece of loose thread on her jeans, eyes diverted. Despite her initial appearance of being a girl no-one would consider to look at twice, I did. In my eyes, her personality and charisma were charming - beautiful. Shuddering, I remembered the way she'd appeared in the hospital.

Her usually healthy skin was pale, shriveled - probably from the amount of blood she'd lost. It accentuated the brownness of her hair, but during those times, against the white cotton pillow case, it was almost a feathery black in comparison to the pale hospital room.

Love was never something I'd thought twice about; love was another petty emotion among a myriad of other petty human emotions. I thought that if another female figure came too close to me in my life, I wouldn't be able to protect her – I couldn't protect my mother when the rouges came.

Subconsciously, I found myself rubbing my wrist, where they'd held my arms back, making me watch them slit her throat. There was so much blood, so much screaming. I don't know who screamed more.

I'd wanted to die too.

I'd tried to die after.

April's voice, slightly scratchy from the silence, shook my out of my reverie.

"Okay, look, I'm going to drop this whole awkward thing and just jump in." She stated. "I want to talk about what just happened before my mum fainted. That – that intervention? What was that, Aiden?" Her tone had dropped so it wasn't so much as a yell, but a hurt accusation.

I chewed on my bottom lip, debating what to say next – or more precisely, how to word it. "I guess it was an intervention."

"Care to explain further about why I was suddenly targeted about my mental health?"

"Mental health?"

"All of you made me feel like I was going crazy – all because I was trying something new. It wasn't fair of you to call me out on everything I'd done which was 'wrong' in your eyes." Her fists were tightly bound by her sides. I hadn't realized that we'd instinctively stepped closer.

"I –"

"No. Don't give me a bullshit excuse about you wanting what was best for me or wanting to protect me. I think we've both proved, equally, that we can hold our own. We're both strong enough to withstand what comes next, so don't tell me that was the sole reason. Please."

My mind was racing frantically. I didn't know how to word my thoughts like April did – I made stupid decisions and I wasn't able to explain why I made them – even if they were with my best intentions – because it never seemed to sound right. I bit back on my tongue, frustrated.

"I don't know how to say it." I groaned.

"So just - just, take a breath and take your time with it, Aiden." Silence. She sighed. "Okay, fine. One question at a time. Were you really – and I mean really angry that I tried weed."

"Yes and no."

Her brow furrowed in that adorable way it did when she was frustrated and didn't get the answers she needed.

"I – I guess it was 'no' because you were trying something new and why should I say any different; I was being a class A hypocrite and I guess... I know you told me not to say this but I didn't want you to release your frustration on drugs, like I did. I know you're never going to turn out like me – you're too strong for that. But it hurt to see you do something I'd forcefully repelled myself from because it bought back some pretty... shitty memories. Everyone thinks drugs are the secret passage to growing up; but I suppose the only way we understand it is if we do it. And I had no right to say otherwise – even if I love you."

Her expression softened. "Thank you for understanding my perspective on it, Aiden." She sounded so formal that it made my stomach twist.

I stepped closer, brushing my hand across her forehead and tucking that stray piece of hair behind her ear. Her eyes shut but her frown remained. I smiled involuntarily at how annoyingly stubborn she was.

Her eyes fluttered open, slightly dazed."What about that intervention? Whose idea was that?"

I shrugged guiltily. "Collective idea."

Her eyes flew open properly now. "All of you?" Her tone was incredulous. "Even Emma? Carlos?"

"We didn't want you to feel bound to us; we're mates, April, but we didn't think that should repel you from going home. Your mother flew out here for you; I saw your family come apart and it felt horrible – wrong even. We didn't want to damage that further because we care about you."

"Nothing would repel me from going home, Aiden." Her voice was flat. "Maybe you. But that's because I love you." The knot in my stomach loosened and a slow, helpless smile turned my lips upwards at those strangely comforting words.

"Thanks."

She scowled at my response and dodged the kiss I was aiming for on her cheek.

"No. You explain that to me first."

My smiled faltered. "I didn't want to break apart you and your mom." I admitted after a few moments. Her frown slipped away from her expression, leaving her looking younger, more vulnerable. "The way you two were fighting? It was really bad. I hated seeing you fall out with your mother; I didn't like the fact that you had to choose between us. It wasn't fair. I don't have a mother anymore to fight with and fall out with so I sure as hell didn't want to break apart another mother with their kid. It's not fair. No-one should ever have to be put in a position like you two were in."

Her expression fell, mouth parting ever so slightly. It felt like a weight had lifted from my chest at those words. I hadn't realized my eyes had shut during the duration of my short speech but when I opened them, April was staring at me with wide, darkened eyes.

I took a deep breath.

"Aiden," I whispered, my hand rising to touch the side of his face.

"You don't have to say anything." He sighed, stepping back from me. "No sympathy, no guilt. I just confessed why I did it."

"No. I do. You were never breaking me and my mum apart, Aiden. I swear to you. That wouldn't have happened."

"You're saying that because it never reached that stage. You managed to salvage your relationship before it was too late."

"I managed to salvage it because she's my mother."

"And I didn't want to harm your relationship."

"Aiden –" I stepped towards him, my arms reaching out for him. I whispered into his familiar hair. "I missed you so badly," I bit back on my tongue. "I don't want to lose you."

"I'm sick of the fighting, Ap."

"I know. Remember when we were on the hospital roof top? After I'd woken up?"

I felt him nod.

"We promised we'd never be this melodramatic; we said we'd never be a Ross and Rachel, no matter how freaking adorable their relationship. We wanted simplicity. We didn't get that, but we can try now. Enough of the stupidness – we're cooler than that."

He reclined away from me slightly so we were staring at one another squarely, our stubbornness fading. "I'm sorry for everything I've done and said to you. You didn't deserve that letter, or the way I left. You didn't deserve my hypocrisy or me making decisions for you out of my own guilty conscience. You deserved more –"

"And you gave that to me. We've both done really stupid things for each other; things we can't explain because it sounds so stupid even though it made perfect sense inside our own minds. But I trust that whatever we did or said was with our best intentions – no matter how stupid. I shouldn't have done that weed either," I admitted shakily. "It wasn't fair. Not only to Nina because I pressurized her into getting it for us, but to you. I can make my own decisions, I know. But I rush into things head first and I don't stop to think about how it'll affect those around me. Maybe that's something I need to work on," I acknowledged softly, my voice trailing away.

His hand brushed my cheek gently; it was an action was trivial, so innocent and yet it sent a shiver through my body; a sense of yearning coursed through me. I had missed this so much. "You have every right to grow up. Just as much as the rest of us. Just because I grew up too fast, doesn't mean you have to too."

I laughed coyly. "Since we're becoming all honest and sentimental here, I may as well declare it now: maybe that intervention did some good."

He frowned adorably, a tenuous smile pulling one corner of his lips up. "Oh, really?"

"It gave me an opportunity – a really bad opportunity," I added quickly, "to tell my mum about werewolves. It gave me the kick I needed to realize what a bitch I was being."

"But you weren't wrong." He smiled as he spoke, his tone adopting that familiar sharp-tongued wittiness I secretly loved.

"Of course I wasn't wrong. Stupid, but resolute in my mindset." I grinned. "So, what's the verdict: crazy or not crazy?" I said seriously, holding out two palms as though they held the decisions.

He grabbed both palms, pulling me towards him dizzily. In that moment, intoxicated with his addicting smell of cinnamon and the faint lingering of shampoo paired with his brilliant smile, I felt as though I was euphoric. "Definitely not crazy."

His lips came down upon my own and my mind slowly filled with Aiden; it felt as though it had been an eternity. My stomach knotted as I remembered the last time we'd kissed in the clearing. His tense muscles relaxed underneath the tremble of my fingers; I wasn't sure why they were shaking. I think it was out of contentment and pure spontaneity.

His hands rested on either side of the countertop, my back arching up against the cold. He leaned back, smiling, forehead touching mine. "Maybe this isn't the best place for you to take advantage of me." He sounded breathless, his voice lower than before.

I scoffed despite myself. "Okay."

He kissed me against softly on the lips, not like the one before. He made a small humming sound before noises from outside the kitchen made us break off abruptly. He looked disappointed, I on the other hand, jumpy. We didn't move apart but stepped away from the countertop, staring at the door with wide eyes.

I let out the breath I was holding in. "Okay, I agree. Maybe here isn't the right place for me to violate you."

"Yep." He grabbed my hand, pulling me away.

"Oh, and guess what?"

I adored the way we were speaking now; not as though there was a bombshell ready for us to drop on one another, but easily, teasingly – like before. "What?"

We were weaving between corridors until we emerged outside, in a perfectly circular area, roofed over with stones and bricks save for a circle in the very top that allowed sunlight to fall in small shafts.

He threw a sheepish glance at me from behind. Turning to me properly now, his eyelashes impossibly dark against even darker pupils, he whispered conspicuously: "Want to hear the good news?"

"Yes!"

"I'm not going to be Alpha."

I was dumbfounded, pausing. "How?" I finally managed to splutter.

"Well, you know how Kaden and Cole left to deal with rouges meaning I was the last one to take the role after my father? Even though Cole refused to do it, Kaden finally accepted. He took the responsibility from me."

I smiled. "That's amazing. You never wanted to be Alpha though, did you?"

He shook his head. "I love being a werewolf. The freedom of it, the audacity of being able to be free without anyone chasing you down. I just hate the concept of leading something so formal for something I love so much. It doesn't feel natural. I'd be a bad leader anyway," he shrugged, "half the pack would probably end up leaving or something. But I would take advantage of the pack house – that place can throw some mean parties."

I rolled my eyes. "Yeah, let's never make you a leader." I sobered. "That was really great of Kaden to do. Did he tell you why?"