I asked Angel where Gavin's room was located, but he kept fussing over my face that I had to scurry away when I wasn't being watched. Briar was happy to tell me after I bribed him with a few literally breathtaking kisses.

Needless to say, I headed off towards Gavin's room with tingling lips.

When I arrived at the door, I sensed something was really wrong. I knocked on the door, but heard nothing.

"Gavin? May I come in?" I did my best to keep my voice from wavering, but it came out as slightly strained.

There was no answer.

I opened the door, since it was impossible to lock the doors in our home, and slipped inside. Gavin's room was incredibly messy. I couldn't really see his floor. But my gaze lifted from the floor to the bathroom door. There were deep gouges in it. My eyes widened.

"G-Gavin?"

A clatter in the bathroom made me hurry over to the door.

"Gavin, please, let me in."

"Go away..." came the strangled growl. "Leave me alone."

"No, Gavin, I won't." I placed my hand on the gouges. "What happened was an accident. Don't blame yourself."

"Shut up!"

I winced from the roar of pain and anger in Gavin's voice. "Please, Gav, you're not alone. I won't leave. I'll stay here with you."

The door vibrated with a crunch, almost throwing me back from the force of the hit. I curled up against the door, hearing his roars and growls as he repeatedly slammed against the door. I was amazed that the door hadn't given way, but perhaps Alexandre did something to it.

Some time passed, and the noise quieted. It was when I was almost asleep that the door creaked open. I was curled up on the floor, hugging my tail. I suckled on the tip, which kept me calm in my emotionally frazzled state of mind.

"Y-you stayed..." rasped Gavin.

"I said I would." I responded quietly, rubbing my tail on my shirt. "Gavin, I'm here. I know you've been hurting for a long time, and I know you won't tell me what's wrong, but I'm here for you—whether you like it or not."

Gavin was quiet, but I heard his knees drop onto the floor and his arms gathered my body up. He carried me to his bed, kicking clothes off to make room. Gavin curled around my smaller frame, hugging me close to him in silence. I tucked my nose into his neck and sighed softly.

"H-how?" he rasped. "How were you able to make Zaire smile? He was so angry, so hurt, just like me. I felt betrayed. I thought we were the same, but we were different."

"Of course you're different, Gav. You're Gavin and he's Zaire. You're family, and similar, but definitely not the same." I said softly, lifting my hand to stroke his cheek and pet his hair.

He accepted the touch with the slight dip of his head. We lay in silence, just petting each other's hair.

"Tell me, Anwyll, of a good time in your life before you came here."

I hummed, skimming through the memories in my head. "I vaguely remember the day of my third birthday. Would that do?"

"Nothing more recent?"

I shook my head. "No, nothing. Although, technically the day I came here she tossed me out. That was a relief."

Gavin smiled against my forehead. "I can imagine." he sighed a bit. "So, what happened on your third birthday?"

"My mom woke me up early, but she left the room. A man came in and dressed my tiny body in some nice clothes, and carried me downstairs to the kitchen. I think he was my dad, but I never saw him after that day, so maybe he was a relative." I chuckled, rubbing Gavin's scalp. He hummed and nuzzled my hair.

"He gave me blueberry pancakes, letting me get my hands sticky while eating them by hand. I remember feeling amazed. The man took pictures of me, cooing and poking at my body while I stuffed my cheeks. Mom laughed—such a nice sound that I never heard again afterwards—and let the man feed me more pancakes with a small fork. I still remember the way the morning light flowed in above the sink and from the kitchen nook, casting my mom and the man in an unearthly glow."

"Mmhm," murmured Gavin. "That sounds nice and warm."

I nodded and kissed his throat. He shivered, further tightening his arms around me. I snuggled in, which made a purr start up in the back of Gavin's throat.

"After breakfast, the man cleaned my face and hands, then set me on the couch as she sat down. The man dropped down next to me, and petted my hair while we watched cartoons that made me happy. I was placed down for a nap later at the usual time. I was too excited to sleep long, though. I crawled towards the window in my room and looked out over the treetops, roofs, and towards the buildings of the city. There was a bright blue sky, like the color of Angel's eyes, and wispy clouds spread across the horizon. I watched them glide past to lull me into sleep." I smiled, then closed my eyes.

"The man awakened me again and redressed my tiny body in some more formal clothes. I realize now that it was because he took my mom and I out to dinner at a fancy restaurant. They gave me a card, and a present, but I was more excited about the sparkly ribbons. Their laughter made me happy.

"When I did get to the present, I learned that I got a heather-colored teddy bear with a violet-colored bow. It made an impression on me. I thought it was the most beautiful little bear in the world. I felt something snap into place, but ignored that odd feeling. I wouldn't let go of that bear. I loved it.

"Back home, I was given cake and ice cream, which was deliciously sweet and very cold. I think my mom told the man not feed me too much, but he ignored her. I think he liked watching me eat. He cleaned my face afterwards, and he readied me for bed. As I sat on my bed, and they both kissed my head, I spotted something moving in the corner of my eye. The man left as I caught sight of what it was.

"It was my tail, surprise, surprise. When I asked my mom, she looked at me strangely and told me to go to sleep. I reached for the weird things on top of my head and felt ears, then demanded to know what was going on. Mom started to get upset, then shouted at me. It started getting bad from there very quickly, so that's where my only good memory ended, and my broken past began." I finished, but noticed Gavin's even breathing.

I muffled my giggle. Gavin had fallen asleep somewhere in there. I sighed softly, yawned, then succumbed to my second nap of the day.

___________________________

"Baby, won't you stay with me? Lay with me? Tell me all you want me to know."

I rubbed my eyes, slowly sitting up on Gavin's bed. He had his headphones on while he played on a nice piano keyboard I did not see before, using pedals and everything while he sat on a bench. I watched him pause, grab his notebook and his pencil, and scribble down the words he just sang.

"So, love, please stay with me. I know I'm not the best, I know I'll never be, but I want to try, want to know, want to love you 'til the end of our lives, 'til the end of time." sang Gavin, which made my cheeks flush.

His singing voice was raspy and sexy, but it went through both sets of my ears like silk. And those words were probably not inspired by me—I don't want to claim anything—but I had to admit that the melody and the lyrics themselves were beautiful.

"Now hold me close, and I'll hold you near to my heart. Just don't break me, please, 'cause I've been broken before, but I still want to try, want to know, want to love you 'til the end of our lives, 'til the end of time."

A tear rolled down my cheek as I listened to Gavin sing. It was so full of raw emotion that it felt like it had become my own.

Gavin paused in his playing again to write down the last part he sang, then placed his notebook back up onto the rest, where sheets of music were neatly standing together, which was so unlike the entirety of his room.

"So tell me, baby, please? Tell me that I'm needed, tell me that you want me, tell me that you love me. Tell me all that you want to, tell me all that you need to, just don't break my heart..."

I watched him end the song, then he recorded the lyrics. He sat back with a sigh and removed his headphones. I wondered if I should say something. I had scared him once already.

That question of mine was answered when Gavin got up and turned to his bed. He released a loud shriek and slammed his back against the wall.

I scooted forward with a small smile. "I'm sorry, Gav." I said in an apologetic tone. "You have a really sexy singing voice, though."

Gavin was frozen in place for a good five seconds, then his face burst into flames and he disappeared into the bathroom. He slammed the door, making me wince. I curled up on the bed, a pout on my face. I tucked my tail in and closed my eyes, not for sleep, but to just snooze.

The bathroom door creaked open a couple of minutes later, so I heard Gavin's cautious footsteps coming towards the bed. The mattress dipped and I felt him curl around me again.

"Thank you." whispered Gavin.

"Hehe, you're so cute, Gav." I giggled.

Gavin shushed me. "How much did you hear?"

"From the 'Baby, won't you stay with me' part." I poorly mimicked his beautiful voice, which made a strangled laugh slip out of him.

"What did you think?"

"It was beautiful, Gavin. And the emotions were so raw that what you were feeling became something that I felt in those moments of listening to you sing."

Gavin was quiet for a minute, then sighed. "No one has ever heard me sing before."

"Really? You've got such a good voice, Gav! You blew me away."

"Then again, you've probably never listened to music before and I actually sound like trash." grunted Gavin, which made me frown.

"No, stop that. Stop putting yourself down." I scolded, poking his chest. "I have listened to music before. I could hear different genres playing in my mom's room on the radio and on her computer sometimes. I like the pop-folk blend that you have with your music, Gav."

He cuddled closer. "You could tell?"

"You could say I have an ear for music, but I have four." I giggled, slapping one wolf ear against his cheek.

Gavin chuckled lightly. "Okay, Anwyll. I'll believe you."

"Good, because I said everything I thought and nothing was bad, was it?"

"No, nothing you said was bad. It was good. Too good, really. I don't deserve that kind of praise." mumbled Gavin, so I squeezed him.

"You do, Gavin. Your singing and songwriting is amazing!"

"A-all right," he coughed. "Thank you."

"You're welcome." I grinned, pressing a kiss to his forehead.

"So, um, what did you do with Zaire last night?" Gavin sounded really curious, but he was holding himself back from blurting questions.

"I brought him his food, as you know, and I helped him with his ankle."

"You were there overnight, though. What else did you do?"

"Well, I accidentally kissed the patch of scales next to his right eye and was almost devoured, according to Zaire, then I helped him with his ankle again."

Gavin seemed like he was getting frustrated, because we weren't at the crux of the actual happening.

"I rested on top of his chest for awhile and he eventually talked to me. We cuddled together and fell asleep that way."

Gavin released the breath he was holding. "Then what about the couple clothes?"

"C-couple clothes? What are those? Zaire let me use his shower and he allowed me to borrow his clothes this morning."

"And?"

"We kissed, Gav." I finally said, which made him sigh again. "Are you happy now?"

I quirked my lips down. "Did you think we did something more? Who were you jealous of?"

Gavin inhaled a bit too much and began to cough. I rubbed his back, but felt those weird dips I had noticed before. It kind of startled me. Gavin relaxed, though, so I guess I don't have to worry too much.

"A-anyway, nothing else happened?"

"No, but he found one of my extremely sensitive areas and I kind of collapsed, so we cuddled on the bed while I got feeling back into my limbs. We talked a bit more, napped again, then he brought me out for breakfast."

Gavin sounded and appeared to be very relieved. His heart had calmed down, and his body wasn't as tense as it was before. I hummed and nuzzled his throat.

"Gav, in time I would like to know the real you. I would like you to bare yourself to me, but I won't ask you to now. It's obvious to me that you're not ready for it, and that is perfectly okay."

"What about Zaire?"

I sighed softly and moved my head to place my lips on his jaw for a few seconds. He calmed down again.

"Gav, I told Zaire this, so I will say it to you as well."

"What is it?"

"Back at my mom's house, I was never allowed to love anything or anyone, but now that I have freedom here, my love grows everyday and it fills my heart, overflowing with ease. I want to love you, Zaire, and the others as individuals, not just as family. I asked Zaire if that was a selfish thing, but he denied it. So will you, Gavin, allow me to love you?"

Gavin slowly sat up while I flipped over onto my back. He was hunched over, his face hidden by his hands, while his shoulders shook. I gently pried his hands away from his face and saw the tears, the bitten lip, and the flushed cheeks of Gavin.

"It's okay to cry, Gavin. Let it all out. I'm here for you. I stayed when you wanted me to leave. And I will stay for as long as you need or want me, maybe longer if I want the same and you don't."

Gavin gathered my body up and held me as he sobbed aloud, letting his pain emerge through keening cries. I held him as he held me, burying my face in his neck. I pressed my hands flat to his back, still feeling those weird dips, but pulled him as close as I could get him with my lackluster strength. Gavin only hugged me tighter in response.