Chapter 62 - New Year's Eve - Part 1

One more day.

Just one more day, and he will finally see him again.

Evan could hardly wait.

He didn't care about anything else, so he didn't even mind that he was supposed to spend New Year's Eve with his parents at the Rock Pop Diner. Angie was supposed to be there too, and after he finally exchanged numbers with Michael, he found out with one short message that he was too. It didn't sound like an unbearable evening, but Evan knew it would be endless for him as he was only a few hours away from seeing his mate again.

He had exactly half an hour before he and Angie were to leave the house. Their parents were already in the diner, as they were officially giving space to the youth to have fun together. Angie immediately took this as an opportunity to dress up. Although it was a party with their parents, they planned to disappear at midnight to watch the fireworks together, so she decided to treat it as a stylish New Year's Eve party as if they were somewhere in the big city.

That's why she was wearing a sequined jumpsuit with loose sleeves and a tie at the waist. It was the colour of silver and so perfectly complemented her dark hair, which was pinned on the sides of her head with two glittering bobby pins, so that it flowed down her back like a veil.

Evan wasn't planning on trying too hard when it came to clothes. He couldn't afford anything extra in the presence of his parents. But Angie was convinced that they had to match. And so he ended up wearing black jeans, a grey crew neck long-sleeved t-shirt, and a leather blazer. She even convinced him to wear the bracelet he got from Ryan, telling him that his parents wouldn't notice anyway if he covered it with his sleeve.

"I hope you've got your New Year's resolution ready," Angie said as she adjusted her earrings. Apparently, it hurt her ears, but her outfit was incomplete without them.

"I thought we don't do those since we were like 12," he countered immediately. Their last resolution was to become more involved in pack affairs and make more friends with their North Hallson peers, and they both knew how that turned out.

"We didn't have the right priorities then," was her argument. Evan reacted as usual, rolling his eyes at her words.

"So you got yours?" he asked her, mainly to kill more time. She finally stopped adjusting her earring by the mirror Evan had subtly borrowed from his mom and turned in his direction.

"Of course, I do. Finding my mate. Yours turned out to be a great guy, so I have high hopes," she stated. However, the look on her face suggested that she was not done with the topic yet.

Evan moved to make room for her on the bed, and Angie immediately took advantage of that. Then she folded her legs under her so she could sit better and turned to her best friend. She still looked serious and for a moment, despite all the sequins she was wearing, she didn't look like she was just trying to have fun. Her gaze was almost vulnerable.

Evan automatically reached out and took her hands in his. He knew her well enough to know that there was a battle going on inside her, and she was wondering if the time was right to confide in him.

"If there's one thing I've learned, and we both know it's also because of you, it's that our mates are our perfect match," he encouraged her with his words. Her look quickly changed to a knowing one, and Evan rolled his eyes. They were both thinking about the same thing - about their argument, which seemed pointless now, but at the time had caused them not to speak to each other for quite some time.

"Okay, I have to say it. I told you so." She was grinning widely, and even though her words were somewhat of an insult to Evan's judgment, a smile appeared on his face as well.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," he used his typical response and then added: "I'm already looking forward to telling him all the embarrassing stories about you."

Angie punched him in the shoulder in response. "You wouldn't dare."

"Now I have another reason." He dramatically rubbed the spot where she had hit him.

"What about your resolutions?" Apparently, she had had enough of the topic of embarrassing her and changed the subject. And since it was the last day of the year, Evan decided to be nice to her and cooperate.

"I only have one. But I wouldn't call it a resolution," he began, thinking for a moment as if he wasn't sure if it was a good idea to say it out loud. "I want to make amends with our friends."

Although he tried not to think about it, he was still aware that he had caused all the disagreements, and even though Angie tried to hide it, he knew that she, too, had to choose a side, and of course, she chose his. All the more reason why he should have tried to fix everything.

"We'll come up with a plan." This time it was she who squeezed his hands in hers. This whole moment was becoming sentimental again, forcing Evan to think about the things that haunted his thoughts during sleepless nights.

"Maybe it's selfish of me, you know. To try to get Kieran to forgive me. I can't tell him the truth anyway, but on the other hand, it's ruining your friendship with him, and I'm afraid Rory's, too," he admitted out loud, though that wasn't even half of what had been going on in his head for the past few weeks.

"I honestly think you two have too much history to just throw it away," Angie started, but then bit her lip. It was obvious she wanted to say more, but it was probably something she wasn't sure about herself, or she wouldn't have had a problem speaking her mind. It was Angie after all.

"I'm not a baby. Spill it," he encouraged her. If he learned anything, it was that he should always listen to her opinion, even if he didn't want to hear it at the time.

"If Ryan hadn't shown up and you were still with Kieran, I still think you would have told him the truth eventually. I mean, it's Kieran. If you hypothetically ever wanted to trust someone with your secret, I think he's the best candidate." She leaned in and nudged him with her elbow in an encouraging gesture.

"You think I should tell him I'm a werewolf?" it sounded more like a statement than a question, but there was still surprise in his voice. Evan probably asked the same question in his head a million times and wondered how Kieran would react. But he never allowed himself to think about it for too long, because he knew it wasn't something he could actually do.

"I don't know. It's just a thought." She shrugged like it was no big deal. Everyone had always drilled into both of their heads since childhood that this was their biggest secret and keeping it a secret was as important as breathing. Just the fact that Evan told Rory would be a problem if anyone found out.

"We really aren't ordinary werewolves," he stated, though it wasn't necessary.

"I don't know about you, but it doesn't bother me," she grimaced, but then added, "although you have to admit that since we've been hanging out with the Saunders, they've spoiled us." They both laughed at that. If someone had ever told him that Michael Saunders would be a good influence on him, he probably would have sent them to a psychiatric ward.

"I'm sure you wouldn't mind if Michael had a crush on you now," he couldn't help himself from the remark. He noticed a long time ago how much the two of them actually have in common, and if they were ordinary people, he would have tried to put them together as a couple long ago.

"Oh, shut up." She pushed him away from her and stood up from the bed. Her cheeks were slightly red, and Evan hoped it wasn't because she actually liked Michael. Evan himself was a pretty scary example of how bad things can get if a wolf tries to get into a relationship with someone who isn't their mate.

"What are you waiting for? Get up! We're gonna miss the party." She emphasized her words with a gesture. And although his eyes turned 360 degrees, he did as she told him. After all, he wouldn't avoid this party anyway and had to admit that there was enough sentimental talk for today. This year he experienced it to the fullest anyway.

"The most boring party in the world," however, he couldn't help himself from commenting.

"Whatever," she muttered to herselfand walked out the door without hesitation, not caring if her friend was followingher.

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Life update: These past weeks have been difficult for me. I had my final exams 10 days ago and now I officially have a master's degree. I started working full-time and I'm currently in a period of adjusting to a new routine.

In the real world, I'm a journalist, which means I spend half the day writing articles, and after that somehow I don't feel like writing stories, too. However, I am trying to change that. This story and Ryan and Evan are like my children and I'm definitely not giving up on them.

So, please don't give up on me. Maybe it will take a few more days, but I will get back to the system of more frequent updating.

Love you and thank you for your support!