Almost Rejected | BXB

44 | The Good and the Bad

Stefan took a sip from his glass of water, it had been a good hour since Zane contacted Joseph and got the man to agree to bringing his mate over to the pack house in order to meet their Luna for a project. He didn't necessarily care if his mate graduated from high school but he wouldn't be a good gamma if he declined his Luna's request to meet up with his mate.

He put his glass back down when he heard the front door being opened, leaning back in his stool as he glanced to the side at the approaching figure; what he didn't expect to see was Ricky, the eighteen year old came through the door covered in sweat, slight smudges of dirt and grass on his skin despite his clothes being pretty clean.

Stefan watched as he ran a dirty hand through his wet hair, letting out a quiet tired sigh as he made his way through the hall and towards the kitchen. When he finally looked up, he paused, not showing an expressional reaction to seeing his life-long friend but still a noticeable physical one.

It took less then a full second for him to continue on into the kitchen, opening the fridge a pulling out a cold bottle of water before immediately opening it and chugging down more than half of it,

Stefan just silently watched him for a few moments, not necessarily knowing what to do now that he was faced with him one on one. They hadn't spoken since the day he agreed to becoming a scouter and even then a majority of the conversation was just Stefan speaking through a closed door without getting an actual response.

"Ricky." He called after several minutes of uncomfortable silence, watching as Ricky glanced behind him, sighing and looking back into the fridge when he saw his expression. "Ricky..." he tried again, "...I'm sorry." he said, keeping his gaze on his glass. "I swear... if I had realized, that Savannah was taken I would've-"

"Is that what you think this is about?" H questioned, finally turning around to face the younger male with furrowed brows. "You think I'm mad because you didn't realize my mom was taken?" He questioned further, watching as Stefan looked up with a confused expression of his own. "Is it not?" He asked back.

Ricky leaned his bac against the counter as he looed into his best friend's confused eyes, "We've known eachother for nine year." He started, "We grew up together, and not once did you mention that you were being hunted." he explained, watching as Stefan's eyes changed from confused to surprised. "I've told you everything about me, you know everything there is to know about me and yet, I didn't even know why you and Oma became rogues."

"Ricky..." He started, guilty trailing off into silence, unsure of what he should say. "I could tell, that whatever had happened in your old pack wasn't something you wanted to talk about, which is exactly why I had never pushed you to do so." He sighed, running a frustrated hand through his dark hair. "But, you were being hunted, you are still currently being hunted. Were you ever going to tell me? My mom? Dad?" He questioned, his brows furrowed as his face took on a hurt expression, "Any of us?"

Stefan swallowed nothing as he looked at Ricky's hurt expression, his mouth felt dry as he thought over a response, "I-I..." he stuttered, stopping to take in a deep breath, "I wasn't..." he answered turthfully, hanging his head in shame when he heard Ricky quietly scoff in reply, looking up to see him shaking his head to the ground. "But, I didn't hide it because I don't trust you." He stated, "This has never been about you or anyone else." He tried to explain.

His eyes searched his glass as he continued, "I'm sorry I lied to y'all." His eyes went back up to meet Ricky's blank ones, "And I'm sorry I put y'all in danger." He said, his voice low and soft as he continued to apologize. "But, It's not fair for you to be upset at me, and it's not fair to blame me for everything that's happening right now." he argued.

"I didn't-" Ricky started to say, getting cut off by Stefan as he continued, "You're the only one, that understands what I'm going through right now." He continued breathlessly, his voice slightly rising in volume. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you what was going on, but that's not a valid reason to abandon me," he stated, his voice slightly angry.