Lily shut the door as Ryan walked in, removing his suit jacket and placing it on a hook. He rubbed the back of his neck as he looked around her home and admired all the pictures and artworks hanging on the wall.

"Your home's nice." He praised, smiling when he spotted an old picture of Lily and her family on the mantle piece. "Was this your family?"

"That is my family, yeah." Lily tucked her hair behind her ear before fiddling with Rio's ring still on her finger, watching as he picked up the picture and admired them.

"Wow." He admired, brushing his thumb over the frame. Lily was only ten when the picture was taken; Rio was ferociously tickling her sides while Delta held her feet down, and her parents had run over to tickle Rio and Delta. Ollie had been there and snapped the picture when they were all laughing with wide smiles on their faces. "You all look so happy."

Lily fidgeted as she watched Ryan. He was just standing in her living room and staring at the picture silently. Her belly fizzled. Her anxiety shifted her feet and made her speak without thinking.

"Did you want something to drink?" Lily blurted, causing Ryan to look up at her. "Not like, drink drink, but a tea? I have tea... Or coffee, if you're a coffee kind of person? Or we might have some milk and juice, not milk and juice, that would be weird - I'm just gonna grab you a water."

Lily briskly walked to the kitchen and grabbed a glass, telling herself to calm down. Was she anxious because Ryan was holding a picture of her family? Maybe because he was wearing a suit with a matching blue tie to her dress? Lily paled when she remembered she was only in baggy lounge trousers and a comfy jumper with her sling holding her dead arm. The definition of a catch, she thought sarcastically.

As she filled the glass from the tap realisation washed over her. It was the flicker of uncertainty in Ryan's light blue eyes when he was at her doorstep - Jacob's words whispered in the back of her mind yet again.

They don't understand what you are. They only understand what you can do. It's set the pack on edge, it's infected their minds. They are scared of you.

Lily took a few deep breaths, settling her churning and walked back out to the living room. Ryan had taken a seat on the sofa facing the television after placing the picture back and smiled as she handed him his water.

"Thanks Lily." His mouth quirked up but they both froze when their fingers brushed. Lily swallowed as his soft touch slid off her own and took the glass from her. As she sat down next to him, Ryan's gaze flickered and he swallowed the memory of her hands bathed in lightning.

Lily shifted when she sat next to him, placing the pillow on her lower back to avoid touching the fresh scars on her shoulder. She itched at the sling's fabric around her neck, frowning at how tight it was.

Ryan watched her as she got comfortable, seeing all her nervous ticks. The furrowing of her brows, how she rolled her lips as she shifted to face him. The only one she wasn't doing was fidgeting with her fingers - he stared at her sling, a void opening in his heart at the sight.

"It looks worse than it is," Lily said, snapping Ryan from his stare as she gestured to the sling with her good arm. "I mean, it is paralysed, but it's...okay, maybe it is worse than it looks?"

Ryan forced a smile on his face as Lily tried to laugh it off, his eyes never leaving her face, needing the reminder she was okay. She was back to normal.

"So," Lily cleared her throat. "Why are you here and not at the formal?"

"They weren't serving milk and juice." Ryan smirked.

"Please forget I ever said that." Lily hid her face behind her hair, hoping her flushing cheeks died down quickly. "But why are you here?"

"To see you, of course."

Lily raised an eyebrow. "And why now? Why not earlier when I needed my friends? You've been avoiding me all week."

Ryan sighed, leaning against the sofa. "I wanted to see you, Lily." He admitted. "I really did, but I just couldn't see you in pain."

"I'm fine Ryan." Lily said. "I'm not in pain, but...is that really the reason you didn't visit?"

Ryan licked his lips. "I can't get last weekend out of my head."

Lily blinked. He couldn't get the events of the storm out of his head? What about her? "What about it exactly?" She asked instead, watching him carefully while Jacob's warning started to echo in her mind. It's infected their minds.

"You were in Yuric's clutches." Ryan's eyes glazed over as he remembered the events of the weekend. "We were scared for you, I was terrified. No one knew what he would do to you, if you'd escape and come back to us, if you were even okay."

Ryan's gaze snapped to Lily, clearing. "And then we walked into that graveyard and you were just fine. You didn't need us at all - you weren't tied up, you...you were fine."

Lily's stomach hardened, all anxiety fading as her instinct braced herself. Jacob's words repeated in her ear and she started to realise the old supernova might be telling the truth. Not that he was a liar, but seeing how hesitant and cautious Ryan was, and how he flinched as their fingers brushed, the pieces were starting to slot together.

"I'm was so glad to everyone there though." Lily said, twisting Rio's ring on her finger, finding her sister's courage.

"But you didn't need us to be."

"I was terrified." Lily whispered. "I did need you guys because up until then I was alone. And...and...the rogues had tried to..."

She couldn't get the words out. She couldn't talk about how she almost died. "I'm grateful everyone was there, Ryan, honestly."

Ryan didn't stop looking into her dark eyes, he could stare into them forever. "I was expecting a fight on our hands with the rogues. I wasn't expecting you to not need us, not need me, and walk away without a scratch, you know?"

"Hang on," Lily drew back, "I didn't walk away without a scratch, my shoulder is shredded and my arm doesn't work."

"That's not what I meant-"

"What did you mean then?"

"I went in that forest to save you Lily!" Ryan ran his hand over the back of his neck, irritation prickling his spine. "Andrew gathered all the wolves that could fight, even the school got the vampires and witches and fairies involved in the search for you, and it was all a waste because you didn't need us!"

Lily lost her words for a moment, gobsmacked at his answer, and didn't know what to say. Why didn't he understand she did need her friends there? That she wouldn't have got out of that forest without them?

Ryan took her silence as permission to keep talking. "Look, I know you don't know what you are, but whatever it is you don't need us. You don't need a pack. Your creature scares me, okay? We walked into that clearing and you literally had lightning around your hands. Rogues had bowed to you Lily and you walked out of that forest alive."

Lily felt a part of her shatter. They don't understand what you are. They only understand what you can do. "Ryan, I don't have a creature. I am my creature, like a witch is her magic. What you're really afraid of...is me."

He began to shake his head. "No, not you Lily, never you. How could I be scared of you? You're the quiet girl in class who knows all the answers to the homework, who doesn't get involved with any drama, who's read all the books in the library but still wants to learn more about the world. The girl whose family died and yet you're still smiling years later. I can't fear her. I can't fear you."

"I'm the girl who saved Alice by beating up three rogues." Lily whispered after a moment of silence where she heard her heart break at the truth. "I'm the girl who threw a rogue across a field and into a tree with a push of her hand."

She saw Ryan still under her confident gaze. "I fractured your cheekbone. I've made a class of students pass out. I had a hundred rogues fall to their knees because of who I am Ryan, not what. I may not know the supernatural I am but I know there's only one side of me."

"I'm not afraid of you Lily." Ryan grabbed her working hand tightly, not flinching under her cool skin. He stared into those soft dark eyes beginning to water and a bad feeling sunk into his chest like talons. "I promise you, it...it was just the shock for a moment - but you're wrong, that's not you. I'm not afraid of you."

Lily stared back, all to aware of Ryan's hold on her hand. It was a firm grasp, not gentle. He was desperate to keep the Lily he knew without acknowledging the rest. There was more to her than being a reader, a smart student, being quiet in nature. She was also brave. She was strong because of the hardships she's endured and she could survive the most powerful of things and walk away. Lily was more than a frail girl who needed a wolf to save her, more than Ryan's depiction of her.

Lily was the Supernova.

A tear rolled down her freckled cheek as her eyes burned to the brightest of stars, a soft grey glow dancing over Ryan's paling face. "What about now?" She whispered, hating how broken she sounded.

Ryan tried to keep his grip on Lily's hand but he couldn't hide the shiver of fear from her molten gaze. All he could think of was the lightning underneath the skin he was touching, the storm within Lily's eyes that could be released at any moment.

Another tear rolled down Lily's cheek as she stood, taking her hand away from Ryan's, and wiped her cheeks. "I think you should leave." She cleared her throat.

"No," Ryan's heart cracked. "No, Lily, please. I'm here because I want to see you, I wanted to see you at the formal, and I want to give you something." He grabbed his jacket he'd hung on the hook, rummaging in his pocket for the letter he'd written this week, putting all the words to paper he didn't have the guts to tell her in person.

"I don't want it Ryan." Lily's lip trembled, staring at her sling and the ends of the lightning scar at her fingertips. A reminder she would always be feared, that people wouldn't ever see her as Lily, but as either the orphan or the Supernova. She looked up and into the mirror over the mantle piece when she heard Ryan yank an envelope out of his jacket and hold it out to her. She kept her back to him.

His eyes were a soft blue, like the sky was melting away under her bright gaze, and desperation drew lines across his face. "Please read it." Ryan whispered. "I wrote it this week, for you. I was thinking of you, believe me, and I just, I don't know, I thought you'd like a letter."

Lily didn't say anything, staring at him through the mirror. His hand was still shaking. He couldn't quite look her directly in the eye. Lily looked at herself in the mirror, trying to see what he feared, but she was only captivated by the colour of her supernatural soul.

She finally knew what colour her eyes turned. The bright glow enveloped the room like the crest of a wave before it came crashing down on the sand. They were the colour of the sea when the sun had set, that remnant hue of light grey dancing over the water, and they swirled as another tear rolled down her cheek.

Lily may be seeing with another set of eyes but she hadn't changed. She only saw herself in a brighter light. She saw the same girl she'd always seen in the mirror.

"Lily," Ryan wet his lips. "I say it better in the letter but I want you to know what I was going through this week, okay? Read it."

Lily slowly shook her head, her chin wobbling as she tried to keep herself together, to stop herself from sinking into the pit in her stomach. "You wanted to be there for me and yet you weren't, because you were scared of me. You can't care and fear me at the same time Ryan."

"Lily-"

"Please leave my house." Lily's voice broke and her control began to melt, tears pouring out and a sob was lodged in her throat. Even with someone in the room with her, she had never felt more alone.

"I want to be with you Lily." Ryan whispered, still holding out the letter.

Thunder cracked in the distance and rain began to pour outside. Ryan flinched at the sound, eyes flashing feral gold for a second. Lily's eyes remained a hard silver. Her tears glowed as they filled up her shining eyes. "Leave." It was all she needed to say.

Ryan gave up when his heart crushed under the weight of finality in Lily's voice. He blinked, not letting himself cry in front of her, as he turned, grabbed his jacket, and ran out her house without glancing back.

He hesitated at her front gate with the rain drenching his gelled hair and washing over his suit, making his blue tie run and stain his white shirt. Wiping the water from his eyes, Ryan yanked out the letter from his pocket. The ink scratched into the paper began to smudge in the rain, ruining its contents and destroying the one emotion he'd written down.

He threw the love letter in the bin by Lily's driveway as he marched to his bike, determined to get out of the storm pouring down on him.

Lily watched as he rode away and closed her front door, falling to her knees against it and finally letting out the sob lodged in her throat. Alone, once again, she cried. Ryan's words were branded onto her soul, the way he looked at her etched into her memory.

He was scared of what she could do. He wanted to be with her. Which was it?

Lily knew that you just couldn't have both. You couldn't be with someone you were scared of. You couldn't hold a person's hand in joy if you were only waiting for them to snap. That wasn't a relationship. That wasn't love.

It didn't mean it hurt any less sending Ryan away. If the sobs she was wiping off her face as she tried to breathe were any indication, it hurt a lot. Lily's heart was weeping with her, a cold feeling seeping into her bones as she finally calmed down and sagged against the front door.

Lily was sniffing, wiping her leaking nose when she heard someone scamper up the driveway and rapidly knock on the door. Lily quickly brushed herself down and hoped she didn't look like a mess, and opened it.

Jack stood on the other side, holding her black wedges in one hand, with the other raised to knock again. Her green dress was spotted with rain from when she ran to the door from her car, but Lily wasn't looking at her formal dress.

Her friend looked like she'd been dunked in a bucket of ice water - her hair was ruffled and her make up had run down her cheeks, smudging over her lids and under her eyes. The gloss was smeared over her lips from all the times Jack had bit them to stop the wobbling. Jack had been crying.

"Oh, good, you're alive." Jack forced a smile, her voice creaking under strain. "And you're an ugly crier too, this makes me feel a lot better about myself."

"Jack?" Lily's voice was hoarse. "What are you doing here?"

"Well, turns out formals aren't much fun." Jack shrugged. "And a certain alpha's name shall never be spoken in my presence again."

Lily frowned. "Andrew?"

Jack held up a hand. "No! That is not his name. I have changed it."

"Could you change Ryan's too?" Lily's chin wobbled again and Jack's eyes darkened.

"What did he do?" She said coldly. "I passed him while driving to you, I'll go back and run him over."

"No, don't." Lily stepped back and gestured for her to come in. "That's a lot of paperwork and it's not worth it."

"Oh jeez, not paperwork." Jack shivered as she stepped inside. "You know me, homework is my Hercules heel, I'm not doing work if I can help it."

"Achilles heel." Lily corrected.

"Same thing." Jack grabbed a blanket from the sofa and sat down, Lily following suit, and they both sighed. Lily was trying to forget everything Ryan had said but was struggling, it was still so raw.

"What are we calling Ryan and Andrew now?" She asked, wiping the dried tears under her eyes.

Jack's eyes lit up. "Alpha Diarrhoea... I haven't thought of one for Ryan yet."

Lily choked a laugh, slamming her hand onto her forehead. "Why?" She chucked.

"He spouts so much crap it's unbelievable how full of it he is." Jack paused. "And he smells."

Lily's laugh died down at Jack's explanation and neither of them said anything for a while, not wanting to address the words that had been burned into their minds.

Jack watched Lily's head dip, her wavy red hair falling in front of her face, and decided what they both needed was to not have any diarrhoea in their life. "Let's go somewhere."

"What?" Lily lifted her head up. "Now?"

"Why not?" Jack stood up, her plan solidifying more and more as she thought about it. "We've graduated, we've done the formal, what else do we have to do? Let's go somewhere, travel, get away from these boys and do something fun; let's blow something up!"

"Woah!" Lily held up a hand. "That can cause a landslide!"

"Okay, landslides aren't fun," Jack had a restless gleam in her eyes. "But let's not stay here! I can drive, I have a car, let's go on the road and go somewhere!"

Lily hesitated. "I actually planned on leaving this weekend."

"Great! Need a driver?" Jack said. "I can drive. Let's go...where are we going? Don't say the packhouse."

"No," Lily shook her head. "But it'll be dangerous."

"Well no more dangerous than Diarrhoea not catching any of the rogues and probably having them both after us because you broke their army and I broke their leader," Jack rapidly muttered. "So if anything, we should leave so they lose our scent."

Lily stood. "Andrew told me yesterday but what the previous supernova told me is something you need to know as well."

"We don't say his na- did you say the previous supernova?!"

When Lily finished telling her what Jacob had said Jack had sat back down in shock. "Wait, so we have to find a phoenix and a nymph and then we'll be safe from the rogues?" She summarised.

"Yeah, the phoenix is in Widderin, and the nymph is in Tyrill, on the mountain."

"Well, what are we waiting for?"

"Jack, you don't have to come-"

"Please, you'd be bored without me." Jack's wicked smirk was back as she extended her hand, rings glinting. "Shake on it. Let's have an adventure to find some more supernaturals; one witch and one Supernova - I'm not going to shut up about that by the way - what's the worst that could happen?"

"We could cause a landslide? Or an avalanche?"

"Nah, there's still worse."

"A typhoon?"

"Now that might be fun!"

Lily laughed and shook Jack's hand, glad she was going with her friend to find the two others who could protect her. School was over - now their next adventure was about to begin.

They were going to save the world.

Together.