The Beta

XXIV

*Rian*

Thea was surprised when she strolled into the kitchen to find me with a girl. Her surprise lessened when she recognized Faye.

"Hey," she greeted softly.

She was finally starting to look better. After Dave broke up with her, she'd been a total mess. I didn't know how to handle breakups, because there weren't any in my pack.

Most of us didn't have time to date, unless we had an anima. And if we had an anima, there wouldn't be any breakups. Animas couldn't be broken. So yet again, I was reminded of how complicated human lives were.

"How was work?" I asked Thea.

"Same old." She shrugged. "How are you, Faye?"

My eyes flickered to the small figure beside me. Faye smiled shyly.

"I'm great," she replied. "How are you?"

"On my way to better. I'm getting there."

Faye sent me a questioning look, but I ignored it. I would explain it later when Thea wasn't around. If I said the traitor's name aloud, she might burst into tears again. The crying just made me uncomfortable and even more emotionally useless, so I would do anything to avoid that at all cost.

"Well, I should be heading home," Faye told me. "My mom'll wonder where I am."

I nodded, though I didn't want her to leave. Our afternoon had been so good. If I wanted a lifetime of afternoons like this though, we had to respect her mother's rules.

"Thanks for the lemonade," she added on her way to the door.

The lemonade was the only reason Faye had agreed to come inside the house. She still seemed distrustful of me, which I tried not to take personally. I wanted her trust to me and know that I would never hurt her. This had been a good start to building that trust.

"You're more than welcome to come back for it." I waded in the front door's threshold, debating whether or not to walk her to her car. Debating whether or not to kiss her.

"So I'll see you tomorrow?" she queried when she reached her vehicle.

"Yep! One o'clock sharp. We'll be there."

"See ya."

"Bye, Faye."

Her headlights bathed the driveway as she reversed into the road. She was gone before I could change my mind about letting her go so easily.

Thea had started baking a meatloaf by the time I returned to the kitchen. She offered a half-hearted smile.

"You two are getting close," she noted.

"Slowly. She's still pretty suspicious of me."

"That's a good thing." A teasing smirk warped her face.

"Very funny. So you seem to be doing better today."

"I feel better. I slept most of the night, so that helped."

I leaned against the counter beside the oven. "Well, I may have something to take your mind off things."

"Is that so?" She quirked a brow.

"Mhm." Hopefully, Faye wouldn't mind. I'd text her later and see if it was okay. "Faye's graduation is tomorrow. You should come with me."

"Are you sure she wouldn't mind? I don't know her that well. It might be weird."

"Faye would love for you to come support her. It's not weird."

She sighed thoughtfully. "I guess if she doesn't mind, it's okay. I need to get out of the house anyway."

"I agree with that one-hundred percent," I said, pulling her into a hug. "It's going to be fun, Thea. You'll see."