Chapter 37 - Apology

After getting on the bus, he took out his phone and opened a conversation with Angie. Although he didn't feel like communicating with her, he had to let her know that he was on his way to North Hallson so they could pretend they were going home together later.

Their chat was brief. He told her that he was on the bus, and she texted back that they would meet at the end of the street in an hour and a half. Nothing more. Neither of them wanted to start another conversation, as both were too stubborn to apologize to the other. Plus, they both thought they were right.

Evan was already dreading the moment when he would see him and notice his eyes. Even though he washed his face and dried his eyes, it was still visible that he had been crying. The whites of his eyes were slightly red, the skin under his eyes was noticeably darker than before, and his eyes were puffy in general. He was sure Angie would comment on that. So he decided to reach for the last solution, which could at least make it a little better. He set the alarm clock on his cell phone ten minutes before he was supposed to go out, put his headphones in his ears and, leaning against the window, went off into the realm of dreams.

He was so exhausted from the day that he had no problem falling asleep the moment he closed his eyes. When it opened again, he saw a sign signalling that the bus would soon be entering their town, giving Evan just enough time to recover and stretch his stiff muscles from the small space.

Before he knew it, the bus was pulling up at a familiar stop and he was getting out the door.

"Hey," came a voice behind him like a few times before in the past few days and he froze in place. He was convinced that none of the Saunders would talk to him after the fiasco, but he was wrong. And what was worse, the voice belonged to the one he least wanted to look in the eyes of.

He slowly turned around, putting on a fake smile and bracing himself for the sight before him. But what he didn't expect was to find Ryan behind his back, looking guilty and avoiding his gaze.

"Hey," Evan greeted him back and only then did Ryan finally look up. Their eyes met, and Evan shifted nervously from foot to foot. They both looked like they weren't expecting the other, but Evan was sure it wasn't a coincidence that Ryan was standing at the stop where the Marwell bus in particular stopped.

After a moment of silence, Evan cleared his throat and said the first thing that came to mind, "Did you need anything?" The ink-haired boy looked surprised by his question and straightened up at the sound of his voice as if he was a soldier who had just received an order from a general.

"I just wanted to make sure you were okay." Ryan's voice sounded more confident than when he greeted him, but it still wasn't the light tone that Evan had grown accustomed to.

"I'm fine," he automatically chose the answer he always used for this question. Apparently, Ryan realized that too, as he didn't seem to believe him. He watched his face searchingly, burning him with his gaze, and only then did Evan realize that his eyes must still show that he had been crying before.

"Did you cry?" Ryan obviously had to make sure verbally as well. Evan rolled his eyes, not caring how it must have appeared to the boy in front of him. His question was pointless, and Evan had no problem pointing it out to him. For today, he had enough emotions or rather taking care of emotions, even those that were not his.

"What do you think?" He had never used such a tone in conversation with him before. Always, his wolf soul clawed its way to the surface, and his mind was clouded by the desire to be by his side and hear his voice. Today, however, even his wolf was emotionally exhausted, and so after a long time, his human won over him.

"Sorry, stupid question." And right after that, there was an awkward silence between them again. Brown eyes silently watched the behaviour of the black-haired boy in front of him. He held one hand in the other, fingernails running along the back of his hand in a nervous gesture, his whole stance screaming stressed. Evan looked at him long enough to notice that he was rocking gently, as if the gentle breeze was trying to lull him to rest, but it wasn't succeeding.

Once again, it was Evan who started to find the silence bothering him, so he decided to break it: "Did you need anything else?" It was clear from his tone that he would prefer to end this conversation, but at the same time he didn't want to hurt the boy he shared a soul with, so he stood still, waiting for his reaction.

The black-haired boy jumped at the sound of his voice as if he didn't expect him to speak to him again. Right after that, however, he recovered enough to answer him: "I wanted to apologize."

Evan was sure the shock showed on his face as he hadn't expected such a response. He was sure Ryan had nothing to apologize for, but he seemed to think otherwise.

"For what?"

The brown eyes that had been averted to the sidewalk until now met his and whatever they read in Evan's, it encouraged the black-haired boy to take a few steps forward and approach him. The imaginary rope between them, which had been taut until now, finally loosened, and with it the irritation in Evan's eyes.

"For mine and Michael's reaction. I know I can't apologize for him, but I can for myself. I didn't mean to upset you, and I certainly didn't want you to feel like we were judging you. And if it's my fault you cried, I'm sorry for that, too," he finished his apology but quickly added: "Of course, you don't have to accept my apology. I just wanted to make sure you know I'm sorry and that if you want to talk, I'm here for you. No judgment." At the end, he waved his hands in front of him to back up his words.

Evan's whole insides suddenly screamed to embrace him and for the first time, he decided to submit.

It wasn't an awkward hug where you don't know where to put your hands, which side to lean on, or how tightly to hold the other person. No, their bodies melded together as if they were two pieces of a puzzle waiting to finally come together.

To Evan, it felt like a feeling he had felt a long time ago but had erased from his mind. Like a memory that always brings a smile to your face or like that one scent you smell and suddenly feel like your life is beautiful and full.

The moment he held him in his arms, he felt as if he had everything in his hands. His insides stopped screaming, his mind became clear, and everything that weighed him down seemed to suddenly disappear. One hug and he felt reborn.

"This is..." Ryan obviously felt it too and before he could finish the sentence that would bring Evan back to reality very quickly, he promptly broke away from him and did it himself.

"Sorry." This time it was Evan who was apologizing, but for entirely different reasons. He had just made another mistake that only added to his confusion and complicated his life. And thus, Ryan's as well.

A sort of awkwardness returned to the atmosphere between them again. They were still standing close to each other. Far enough that no one could mistake them for lovers, but too close considering they had only known each other for a short time.

Ryan cleared his throat, and Evan was afraid of what would come out of his mouth. He was honestly surprised that he hadn't put two and two together after all the misses Evan had done and pointed out their bond. It was only a matter of time since Evan clearly couldn't control himself in his presence.

"I'm starting to feel like every time we're in the same room together, one of us is meant to screw it up," Ryan chuckled, and Evan immediately joined him. He couldn't have said it better.

"And I thought I was the only one," Evan matched his playful tone. Suddenly they were just two peers, standing together at the bus stop and laughing together as if they were friends. And in a way they were.

"So friends?" Ryan said, and Evan caught himself nodding automatically.

"Friends." Evan had a lot to think about, but until he made his final decision, it couldn't hurt to be friends with Ryan.

"Does this mean you'll finally confirm my friend request?" he asked with a grin. Despite the reproach that was barely audible in his voice, Evan laughed. He had completely forgotten that he had ignored it at the time, and if he hadn't reminded him, he wouldn't have remembered.

"I'll think about it," he gave him a vague reply, but Ryan didn't seem to mind. His face still wore a wide smile that revealed his perfect teeth and created a small dimple on his left cheek.

The contented moment between them was interrupted by Evan's phone ringing. Even without seeing her name on the screen, he already knew what it was about based on the time. He was late for the meeting with Angie, and she was sick of it. Evan thought it was quite ironic since she was the one who was late the last time.

In one fell swoop, he cancelled the incoming call and sent her a quick message to let her know he was on his way.

"Sorry, gotta go. See you later?" Although it was supposed to be an assurance, it sounded more like a question. This time it was Ryan who nodded eagerly. Evan laughed at his expression and turned to leave, shaking his head. He only made it a few steps before Ryan called out behind him, "See you later, Lightwood!"

---

His steps did not indicate that he was in a hurry, and Angie's annoyed look only confirmed it. In order not to make her even angrier, he decided to speed up at least for a few meters before stopping in front of her.

"You're late," she snapped instead of a greeting. It seemed that at the stage where they were constantly arguing, the greeting was being deliberately forgotten by both of them.

"I ran into Ryan," he answered truthfully. Angie's eyebrows shot up, and Evan waited for her next remark, which surprisingly didn't come. If he didn't know her, he would say that she kept quiet on purpose so as not to anger him.

"No comment?" he deliberately used a mocking tone. She just shrugged her shoulders and still didn't respond.

"You wouldn't listen to me anyway," she added after a moment of silence. Evan hated to admit it, but he was fed up with them not talking. She was his best friend, and he was in the most complicated time of his life, clearly, he wanted her by his side. Sighing, he decided to give her an opportunity to make up.

"I'd listen to you if you just told me. No games or tricks." After this sentence, he waited for her reaction, which he knew could only be twofold. Either she admits that she misses him as much as he misses her, or she gets angry and blames him again.

"If I tell you to pick just one of them?" she pitched.

"Then I'll tell you I can't do it," he answered immediately. She didn't seem surprised by his answer and even nodded her head as if she agreed. Confused was an understatement when it came to Evan's reaction.

"So what do we do?" If it had been Evan's attempt at peace before, this was definitely Angie's.

"We?" he repeated after her.

She nodded vigorously and confirmed: "We." Despite the fact that he still needed to make sure of her other intentions, a broad smile appeared on his face.

"I expected an apology, but your strategic skills will do." It wouldn't be him if he didn't add a teasing comment.

"You're the face of the operation, I'm the brain. I'm surprised you've survived this long without me." Of course, she did not hesitate and returned it to him immediately. They both laughed, their laughter carrying a lightness that their relationship had lacked for so long. For some, it might have been just a few days, but for them, it was almost an eternity. Evan never admitted it out loud, but Angie was like a sister to him - his second closest person after Riley.

In good spirits, they made their way to Evan's house, and this time it wasn't just a pretence, but Angie really planned to hang out with him at his house.

"So what did I miss?"

With a dramatic sigh, Evan began to explain the events of the past few days to her, and as he expected, she was most shocked by the fact that he somehow became friends with Michael. Her expression was so funny that he nearly flopped on the pavement laughing, which made her laugh in return.

This day was just a chain of reactions, and if someone had told him in the morning that he would finally be honest with Kieran, Ryan would apologize to him, and he would make amends with Angie, he wouldn't have believed it.

Maybe it was another mistake on his part, but if Kieran could give him a chance, he saw no reason why he couldn't do the same with Angie. And as he had told Angie before, he wasn't ready to choose between the boy who owned his heart and the wolf he shared his soul with. However, he did not doubt that together with her, they could come up with a plan to have everything.