|Bradlington High,

Weeks later|

"You couldn't get out of coming to school either?" Liana mumbled the question to Rick, who shook his head as he yawned as he leaned against the wall and he would scratch the back of his neck, as his jaw was forced open by another jaw-breaking yawn.

"I tried, believe me." Rick muttered and Liana, she was half asleep against the wall. "Hey, stay awake." He said as she grunted in complaint, but she forced her eyes to stay open and he was a foot away and she jumped, backing up. "You awake now?" He asked.

"You're horrible." Liana grumbled as Maddy and Rhydian trudged over to them and the four wolfbloods, they all looked absolutely miserable. "I would have stayed home, if only Maddy hadn't pulled the "It's not fair that I have to go and she doesn't" card on our parents." Liana mumbled and Rhydian was chuckling, as he nodded up to the roof where their football trophy was sitting.

"You mean soccer, right?" Rick asked and they all looked at him with annoyance in their facial expressions, as he sighed and the crane got the trophy down, as the students cheered for the people who had "saved their trophy" off of the roof and Liana was asleep against the wall, snoring and all.

Rhydian said and he swiftly nudged her in the ribs, but the girl simply rolled to the other side and she was back to sleep. He said again and Liana opened her eyes with a low growl at him, as she shut them again. "Rick, any ideas?" Rhydian asked and Rick sighed, as he held out their bags to Rhydian and Maddy.

Rick grabbed Liana by the arm and he started pulling gently, until she toppled off of the edge and she growled in annoyance. "Fine. Fine, I'm up." She growled under her breath and she was getting up and wiping off her pants and jacket, as she retrieved her bag from Maddy and she sighed, trudging into the school with the others.

"It only gets worse, the longer you've been transforming." Rick pointed out to Rhydian and Maddy, who were grumbling at Rick's constant reminders and Liana was half asleep, nearly asleep as she walked along with them

"Is that why Liana looks like death?" Maddy asked and Liana growled quietly at her.

Kara said and Liana's growl was clear, as Rick shot Liana a look and Kara sprayed perfume all around Liana and the girl looked disgusted by it. She declared and Liana lunged forward, as Rick and Rhydian restrained her quickly and she struggled, before she gave up and stopped fighting them both.

"I hate her." Liana mumbled as she tried to shake off the scent by running, only to remember that she didn't have her standard abilities of wolf speed. "I really do and that perfume is not at all, helping matters." She growled and they all went into the dark room, as they were early for class and had time to do so. "Lock the door, Mads." She advised and her sister did so.

"Anyone else think that we should just ditch and run while we still can?" Rick asked as he sat on the edge of the desk, while Liana was pacing around the dark room, trying to keep herself awake and she sighed quietly.

Rhydian admitted and Maddy shook her head at their words.

"We shouldn't be talkin' about skipping like this. We could get in serious trouble." Maddy murmured and Liana looked at her sister like she was absolutely going insane. "What? Why are you looking at me like I'm crazy?" She asked and Liana yawned.

"Because you're starting to sound like Shannon Kelly." Liana spoke bluntly and Maddy growled savagely at her, as Liana looked unconcerned and she looked around at the circle of wolfbloods in the dark room. "All in favor of skipping school and heading to the Smiths' house?" She asked and Rhydian's hand went up along with Rick's, as Liana raised her hand as well. "All opposed to it?" Maddy's hand shot up as everyone else's went down.

"So you're just going to leave me here, on me own??" Maddy asked indignantly and Liana shrugged her shoulders, as she walked over to the door and she unlocked it.

"After the American." Liana said and Rick rolled his eyes, as he walked out of the Dark room and he started to cough loudly and Mr. Jeffries looked concerned at once as Liana was sniffling as well and occasionally coughing.

"Are you two feeling all right?" Mr. Jeffries asked and Liana bolted off to the bathroom as if she was going to be sick and Rick raised his eyebrows and the door slammed behind her.

"Sir, should I?..."

Mr. Jeffries said and he nodded at Rick, who awkwardly stood outside of the door to the toilet, until Liana came out and looked somewhat "flushed" as Mr. Jeffries would have put it.

"Come on, quick. Before he is able to figure out that it was a fake thing the entire time." Rick murmured and he took her bag for her, as they walked out of the school. "Come on." He said and led her over to the edge of the alleyway, where a motorcycle was waiting and Liana chuckled quietly at the sight.

"Where did you get this?" She asked quietly and Rick smiled a little at the motorcycle, as he tucked his hands in his pockets.

"It was the going away gift from the pack back in Nebraska." Rick noted as he smirked. "I started buildin' it when I was 7 or so, and I finished it when I was 14. They shipped it over." He said and she chuckled.

"Carving, woodworking and mechanics. You might just start giving Mr. Smith, a run for his money." Liana said and smiled a little bit as he hands her a helmet and she raised her eyebrows at him. "I'm a wolfblood Rick."

"Safety first. If anyone in town sees either of us without helmets on this, we would get in some serious shit for this." Rick pointed out and he put his own on, and Liana sighed, as she put the helmet on.

Rick started the bike and Liana moved her arms around him to hang on, and Rick drove off and Liana was smiling, and she watched the scenery flying by.

Rick cut the engine as Liana hopped off of the bike and they walked it the rest of the way, which was about half a mile.

They both got to the Smith family house and Liana carefully opened the door, making sure to be careful of the squeak that often happened. Liana motioned for Rick to come in and he parked the bike out by the shed.

Liana carefully shut the door behind them both and she locked it like it was before, as she dropped onto the couch and she looked at him.

"What??" She asked and he sniffed quickly at the air before he walked over directly to the snack cupboards and she raised her eyebrows.

Rick opened the cupboard and he brought the chips over and he also brought bowls and popcorn. "Here you go." He said and she smiled a bit at the snacks, and he handed her one of the bowls of popcorn.

Liana started to eat it and she turned on the TV in silence, as she was eating and Rick raised his eyebrows, as there was a horror film on the screen. "That works." Rick noted as he shoveled the chips into his mouth.

Liana looked over at the rest of the bag and Rick held it out of her reach with a smirk on his face.

"Give it." Liana said as she grabbed for the bag, but Rick still held it out of her reach. Liana jumped for it and she ended up grabbing the bag, but it was at the cost of them both toppling off of the couch and Rick coughed, as he got his wind back. Liana grunted and she was on the ground next to him with a quiet cough.

"Ow." Rick mumbled as she spotted the chips and he sighed, as he handed the bag over to her.

Liana took the bag of chips and she moved to lean against the couch and Rick grumbled as he got up off of the ground and he was moving over to sit next to her. "Thank you for the crisps." She murmured and he looked at her.

"They are chips." Rick countered and they were arguing, but they were not legitimately arguing or upset with each other, thankfully for their sanity.

Just before dusk, Rick reached out to her, and he silently took her hand in his and she looked over at him, as he was smiling a bit. "Why are you smiling like that?" She asked, and he simply shrugged.

"Do I need a reason to smile?" He questioned and she looked at their hands, as they had started to vein up once again. "About damn time." He said quietly and she moved over and since she was still exhausted, her head drooped down onto his shoulder and he smiled a little bit.

"Why did you save us from Tom and Shannon?" Liana asked and Rick was nodding a little.

"It is my secret too." He admitted as she nodded slightly and he moved his arm around her shoulders. "You smell like you're worried." He said and she looked at him.

"If the Smiths find out that I skipped school..." She mumbled as she felt his hand squeeze hers once again.

"It doesn't matter. If they love you as much as they seem to love you... you won't have problems." Rick mumbled and she looked at him, as they looked at each other for a few seconds, and their veins started to show.

"What about your foster parents? I mean, they're human aren't they?" He nodded and she blinked. "Will you get in trouble?" She questioned and Rick shook his head.

"Not any trouble that you could get me out of, Liana." Rick murmured as he looked past her and out of the open window, as he stood up and grabbed his backpack, swinging it over his back and she held out the crisps/chips to him and Rick looked at the bag for a second, before he shook his head. "Can I ask a favor?" He asked awkwardly and she shrugged. "Can you keep the bike here for a couple of days? My foster parents don't like their kids having motorized vehicles."

Liana nodded slightly and his veins were showing, as his eyes flared and he walked over to the door. "You sure that you don't want to crash here?" She asked and he cracked a half smile, but there was buried emotions in his eyes that she could see.

"I'm sure. See you at school Lia." He said and she raised her eyebrows at the nickname, as he ducked out of the door and she saw him racing off into the woods at wolf speed and she shut the door behind him in silence.