Love all, trust a few and do wrong to none.

William Shakespeare

He went to hide in the barn after that talk with his dad.

There was something to love about a room filled with old furniture and absolutely no human contact.

Wow, he was really turning into a hermit.

Ollie would have a field day with that. Well, if his friend was ever going to talk to him again after he had found out that Luke hadn't told him the truth for weeks.

That was not something he was looking forward to.

But once he was in the barn, he was actually contemplating making something. He couldn't fix anything for Daphne. There was nothing left to fix.

He could, however, give his mate something that she needed. Something that she would like...

He could do that.

***

When she woke up from her nap, she buried her face in the pillow and didn't move.

She should probably go take a shower, get in her pyjamas and then go to bed for real, but Daphne couldn't find the strength for that. She was too tired, too exhausted...it took too much effort.

That was the crucial point...It took too much effort for not enough results.

"Daphne?" Came her cousin voice from the door and she turned looked up from the pillow. "There is dinner downstairs if you..." he suggested softly and she dropped her head back to the pillow.

"I am not hungry." She whispered. Not at all. Alone the idea of food...she hadn't eaten more than a few bites this morning, but she still wasn't hungry. She knew she should eat, especially now that there actually was food there that she could eat...now that she didn#t subsist on a diet of ramen and whatever was in the clearance bin at the little Cornershop.

"You need to eat," Ollie said, stepping into his room and sitting down on the edge of the bed.

"Are you...Are you feeling better?" He asked her, tripping over his words and she just nodded. It was sweet that he asked. Even when she felt like she was never going to be better.

All of it was just...

"I heard you cried all over Luke," he commented, managing to make her blush scarlet red and utter and complete shame flow over her.

Great. She knew that most people had seen that as they had been sitting in the middle of the living room but still. She had cried all over that boy that she didn't even know and he had been nothing but nice about it. Right now Daphne would like for the floor to swallow her up.

How was she supposed to face Luke on Monday?

Or the rest of the school...because half of her classmates had been at that funeral as well.

"Hey, don't be...embarrassed about that," Ollie told her but she just buried her head in the pillow again.

"He probably thinks I am some hysteric little girl now," Daphne groaned, her voice muffled by the pillow.

Great. Just the impression she wanted him to have.

"I doubt that. Luke isn't like that," Ollie snorted but then grew serious. "And you shouldn't care what he is thinking either."

"He's your friend," Daphne gave back. And she really didn't need to have the Quarterback of the football team to start talking about her hysterical breakdowns. Thank you, she would like to be left in peace for at least a week weeks of her High School careers.

"He is," Ollie agreed with a smile. "Let's go for Dinner. Come on you need to eat something."

Daphne finally sat up, mostly because she didn't want to anger Oliver and less so because she was actually looking forward to eating anything.

But hey...any food would be better than she was used to.

"Is Caroline...any better?" She asked quietly and Ollie shrugged.

"Mum stopped crying...Now she's just freezing all the food people brought over," he told her, while she stood up and rightened the duvet on the bed before she followed him down to the kitchen. Just like Oliver had said, Caroline was in the kitchen, placing what looked like around 20 different casseroles in the freezer.

Matthew was sitting on the kitchen island, reading but looked up when they entered the room.

"Daphne," he greeted her with a smile.

"How are you feeling, honey?" Caroline asked her and she could just shrug.

"I'm fine," she answered softly. Daphne really wasn't but to be honest, she had no idea what she was feeling in that moment. Relief?

"Ollie, I can't eat all of that," she exclaimed when her cousin placed a plate piled high with what looked like Lasagna and salad in front of her.

"Just try," Matthew told her amused. "You need to eat something today. Don't think I didn't notice that you ate three bites this morning."

She sat down at the island, taking a bite of the lasagna, Ollie sitting next to her and prodding a glass of lemonade nearer to her as well.

Daphne smiled at him in thanks and in the time that her cousin managed to clear two plates, Daphne was halfway through her own.

Finally, she pushed it away because there was no way that she would be able to actually finish it without making herself sick. Caroline took it from her, wrapping it up and placing it in the fridge.

"I'll go over to Grace later...Do you want to come?" Ollie asked her but she shook her head. Daphne had enough from other humans for the day.

"No, thanks. I just...Can I go down to the beach for a bit?" She brought out hesitantly.

"Of course, honey," Caroline answered.

Daphne went upstairs, changing in Jeans and a shirt, needing to grind her teeth against the pain in her back and then went back downstairs.

Caroline's voice floated from the kitchen.

"Go for a run with Grace, that's a good idea for both of you," she said at that moment as Daphne reached the first landing and she stayed quiet for a moment. Run? Did Ollie go jogging or something? Well, that probably made sense, he was on the football team.

"How are we going to do tomorrow?" Ollie asked and Daphne's eyebrows went up. What was tomorrow?

"I don't know. We'll...We'll figure something out. We can probably leave her alone for an hour or two," Caroline answered, sounding doubtful.

"And it's not weird at all that we all go out around ten in the evening?" Ollie snorted.

...What was in Fairbury to do at 10 on a Sunday evening? There was a diner, an ice cream shop and that was it? And none of that would be open at 10 on a Sunday Evening? Were they in some kind of religious sect or something?

"We'll figure something out, Ollie," Matthew said quietly and Daphne shook her head.

Weird.

She didn't think about it for longer, grabbing her Parka and slipping on her boots to get down on the beach.

The air was colder than it had been a few days ago and Daphne pulled up the fur-lined hood over her head, burying her face in the red scarf she had wrapped around her neck as she slowly walked around the waterline. The waves were higher, the ocean rougher. It matched her mood.

She was completely alone there thankfully. Nobody that expected her to have a grip on her emotions or expect her to handle her mother's death well at all.

She wasn't. She was relieved and angry at herself and the world. She wanted to scream and shout and punch something but there was nothing. Nothing.

She kicked against one of the rocks at the beach, the small pebble managing to fly a few feet until it hit the sand again.

Why did this need to happen to her? Why? Why didn't she have a normal family why didn't she had parents that loved her, why hadn't she grown up in a nice little suburban house with a white picked fence and a dog?

Why was it her that needed to deal with all of that?

She was still one of the lucky ones, she knew that. Her aunt and uncle had taken her in, no questions asked, were doing their very best to make Daphne feel welcome in Fairbury and she was so very thankful for that.

She didn't want her old life back. Not really. She didn't want to work 3 jobs and need to be the one who actually managed to buy groceries.

Still, she missed New York. She missed the hustle and bustle of a big city, she missed the old apartment, which she knew was ridiculous.

All of it was ridiculous. She had a bigger room than she had ever had before, she didn't need to worry about food or rent or electricity...all of these worries had been struck from her mind suddenly. She had new clothes that actually fit her, she had new school supplies, there was no other thing she needed to do but to go to school and do her homework...her life had been simplified a lot.

Daphne would just need to grow used to it. She had 2 more years of school in front of her and then university or whatever else she wanted to do with her life.

Grieving her old life wasn't going to help her in any way shape or form.

She would just...she would enjoy this new worry-free life and just ignore everything else. She could do that.

She could do that.

She turned to walk back to the house and she could feel the hairs at the back of her neck stand up. Suddenly, suddenly there was the feeling that she was being watched.

Don't be stupid, Daphne, she scolded herself.

She still walked back towards the house, having decided that she had spent enough time outside and would go to bed early.

***

He watched her from the forest, hidden among the trees, laying there and just for a moment watching his mate walk along the shoreline. He was very much aware that he was being a stalker at that moment.

The worst part was that his wolf was terribly content for the time being, attentively listening to their surrounding and protecting that little human that was already starting to become the centre of their world.

Luke had spent far too much time in the barn, had then finally answered his phone when his sister had called him to let him know that she and Ollie were going for a run and if he wanted to come with them and had declined that invitation because he really could imagine a better way to spend his time.

So he had gone for another run that evening, letting his wolf pull him in the direction he wanted to go. Of course, that just so happened to be near the Hyde's House.

And the moment he had caught a glimpse of Daphne there had been absolutely no way to get away from her again. So he had laid down on the ground and just watched for a little while.

She was upset. That much was clear. Her whole body language screamed that. He had yearned to comfort her again, to do something, anything that would make her feel any better.

In any other situation, it maybe would have been amusing to watch his mate stomp her way across the beach in a snit but right now it really wasn't.

She turned around suddenly and for a moment she stood still before suddenly she was walking back to the house, quicker than she had before.

Maybe she had found some peace with her situation. He could only hope he did.

He got up from the forest ground shaking the leaves off that clung to his fur and with one last glance at her as she reached the house he turned around, slowly walking back home.

*Hey, Luke!* There was his sister's voice, her small grey body suddenly appearing through the trees, followed by Ollie.

*Hey,* he greeted her, wondering if his scent was clinging badly through the place he had just laid for at least 30 minutes.

*Are you coming over tomorrow morning? I know there is a pack run in the evening...* Ollie asked and they both nodded. Luke thoughtfully looked away when Ollie and Grace said there goodbyes and then looked as Ollie started towards his home.

*Where did you hide this afternoon?* Grace asked curiously as they both made their way towards home.

Great. That answer was not going to go over well probably.

*The Barn. I built Daphne a desk,* Luke answered, trying his best to seem as nonchalant as possible about it. It hadn't been...that much work.

He had used an old kitchen worktop as the tabletop because that would be able to be cleaned easily and he figured that would make sense with her and her art and then had spent far too much time constructing the table "legs" which were actually chest of drawers from some old wood they had laying around. It had taken nearly 5 hours for the desk to finally take shape.

*Why?* Grace asked him, sounding incredulous and he just snorted.

*Because she needs one?* He gave back, with a shake of his head. Daphne needed a desk, Daphne would get a desk. If it was anything in his power to give her, he would happily do that.

*That's...nice of you,* Grace said, her voice telling him far more than her words did. He looked at his sister for a moment, her amber eyes meeting his own and he shook his head.

*Don't ask," he warned her.

*Why not?* Grace answered, incredulousness apparently.

*Because I am not going to lie to you and you don't really want to know the answer,* Luke answered honestly. Their house became visible through the trees then, while Grace stayed quiet.

*Fine. I'll leave you to your woodworking skills...and I am there if you want to talk about it,* his sister finally snorted.

***

The next morning, they had breakfast together and while both Caroline and Matthew went to their respective offices, Daphne had offered to do the washing up, being joined by Ollie, who dried the dishes, while she washed them.

There was a loud honking from outside, resulting in Daphne letting a plate slip back in the water, thankfully not breaking.

"What's that?" She asked Ollie, who was hanging up his dish towel and was already halfway through the hallway before she was finished shutting off the water.

"That's Luke and Grace," he called back and Daphne went after him at a more sedate pace.

...There were some things she didn't need to see and Ollie and Grace snogging the hell out of each other was one of them.

Oliver had been right and it were Luke and Grace, Luke currently walking across the back of his Pick-Up Truck.

"Hey," he greeted her with a smile, while he hefted what looked like a ridiculously long piece of wood up.

"Hey," Daphne brought out, unable not to stare at his forearms that weren't covered by the fabric of his green sweater.

The muscles were currently moving underneath the strain of holding that piece of huge wood.

"Ollie, I could use your help," Luke said, sounding not strained and more amused but thankfully Ollie came around before Daphne needed to try and help Luke. That probably wouldn't have gone well.

Together Luke and Ollie somewhere manoeuvred what looked like a long and slim tabletop off the Pick-up Truck and in the house.

"What is this?" Daphne finally dared to ask. What did they want to do with that slab of wood?

"Your new desk," Grace answered, grabbing what looked like a chest of drawers from the back of the Truck.

Wait, what?"

"He made it?" Daphne brought out. He made her a desk? People did that?

"He's quite good at things like that," Grace answered absentmindedly, handing that small drawer to her, that nearly made Daphne go to her knees because it was far too heavy.

Grace somehow managed to carry two of these chest of drawers up to daphne's room without even Breaking a sweat.

They went back to the house, upstairs to Daphne's room where the long piece of wood, the tabletop, now laid underneath the window, Luke and Oliver already screwing things down and constructing the rest of her new desk in what seemed to be a well-known partnership by now.

"Where did you learn how to do that?" Daphne brought out as she watched how Luke screwed another thing down, kneeling doxt to him after she had gotten that drawer finally down on the floor.

"Dad has an unfounded hatred for Ikea," Luke snorted amused and Daphne couldn't help but laugh.

"Our whole family does work in the construction business. Dad has the habit of making every single piece of furniture from scratch," he explained, fitting the wood together easily. "We grew up with that."

"Put the drawers under the window...one on each side and one in the middle," Luke told her. "The tabletop is too long for it to go without support in the middle.

Grace helped her move the drawer into position while Ollie and Luke finally lifted the top on it.

And suddenly Daphne had a desk.

It fit perfectly underneath the window, the top bright white, the surface a bit pebbled and obviously easily apple to be wiped down. The chest of drawers that worked as legs were a dark wood, all three of them different from each other. One of them was filled with slim drawers, another one just had one big door and a third one were three big drawers.

"You like it?" Luke asked her and she could just nod.

"It's beautiful. I..I don't know what I am..." What she was supposed to say to him after he had..."Thank you," she finally brought out.

The words seemed lacking to her after he had spent god knows how long doing this for her.

Just because he could.

"He takes payment in M&M's," Grace threw in. "He's slightly obsessed with them."

"I am not," Luke gave back, visible exasperated and Daphne could only laugh. M&M's. She could do that...or maybe something else...

"Thank you," she thanked him again but he just grinned at her.

"I am happy if you like it," he told her, sounding completely truthful.

"I adore it," she told him, trying to convey her thankfulness in these three words.

"So...wanna try out that new desk of yours and actually get started on English homework?" Ollie offered and she couldn't try but laugh again but nodded her agreement.

They spent most of the morning in her room finishing up the homework for the upcoming day, Caroline sticking her head in around 12 with a plate of muffins and oohing and awing about Daphne's new desk.

Luke and Grace said there goodbye in the afternoon and Daphne spend far too much time organising her desk to her liking.

"Daphne?" Caroline asked softly and Daphne looked up from her started watercolour painting. "There is a...neighboorhood meeting this evening...we'll be back in a few hours, okay?"

Daphne nodded her agreement.

It was already...9 in the evening..a neighbourhood meeting? Really?

Daphne just shrugged. Whatever it really was, it wasn't any of her business and she wouldn't stick her head somewhere it didn't belong. She would happily finish another painting tonight.