Chapter 91 - Surprising Outcome

Although Evan was apprehensive about returning home, he eventually decided to just tell his parents the truth. Or an altered version of it.

When he got home, and Ryan helped him to the door, his mom nearly had a heart attack when she saw the condition, he was in. She immediately ordered him to sit on the couch so she could look at his leg, even though it was bandaged, and Evan decided to let her.

Ryan stayed in the living room with him, sitting on the couch next to him, not quite close enough for anyone to figure anything out, but not far away either. Michael, on the other hand, had decided to go home, figuring that Ryan was planning to spend the night at Evan's place, though nothing had been officially arranged yet.

Evan's father appeared in the living room moments later and, like his wife, was concerned about their son's condition. Unlike her, however, he didn't want to take a close look at his injuries and instead asked what had happened.

Evan explained that while he was out running, he had come across wolves that were getting too close to human territory and decided to follow them just in case. He stated that when he noticed them getting to the edge of the woods near where the road was already starting, and human voices could be heard, he decided to lure them away so they wouldn't be spotted and also so that no one would get hurt. However, he wasn't fast enough, and the wolves eventually attacked him. And although he fought them off, they managed to injure his leg. Then again, he changed his story a bit and claimed that he ran to a pile of his clothes to call his friends and they helped him and then took him home. Nothing more, nothing less. And by not specifying which friends were involved, he wasn't actually lying.

When he finished the last words, and his gaze met his mother's, he saw something that looked suspiciously like pride alongside the tears. He didn't know that for sure, though, since his mom had only told him: "I'm glad you're all right. You did good."

His father then moved to sit beside him and gently pressed him against his side in a sort of embrace for a bit, and Evan, carried away by the moment, rested his head against his chest for a second.

"Are you staying the night?" Evan's mom asked later as she shifted her attention from her son, and her eyes fell on the black-haired boy.

"If you don't mind. I just wanted to make sure he's okay," he replied honestly.

"Of course," she replied, and his words seemed to reassure her. "It'll be good if someone stays with him overnight. I'd do it myself, but if you want to stay..."

"I'll keep an eye on him." Ryan immediately promised her, and she gave him a small smile.

And so it was decided that Ryan would stay at Evan's house and even sleep in his room.

Speaking of his room, Evan had forgotten the state he'd left it in until Ryan, and his dad helped him up the stairs and he opened the door.

His dad gave one look to the mess on the floor and then turned to Ryan, announcing: "I guess you'll have to share." As much as it sounded like a disadvantage to Evan's father, the boys couldn't have been more thrilled to suddenly have an excuse to sleep in the same bed.

Two pairs of hands helped Evan sit up on the bed, and after his dad made sure he didn't need anything more, he left the room with a promise to get Ryan some blankets. At the same time, he asked the black-haired boy if he could move the things on the floor so that Evan could walk to the door if he needed to, holding onto the furniture if he did. Ryan immediately agreed and moved straight to the floor.

After the door closed behind the older man, however, Ryan's attention turned to something else. At first, he planned to sit down next to his mate, but then something caught his eye that captured his full attention.

"Is that me?"

Evan's cheeks instantly turned red when he noticed where Ryan was looking. In fact, the same eyes were staring back at him from the canvas, and though Evan never finished the entire painting, it was obvious at first glance who was in it.

"It's beautiful," Ryan echoed again while Evan was speechless. He carefully moved across the floor closer to the canvas and began to examine Evan's work more carefully.

"Something's missing, though," the raven-haired boy commented, and Evan's face showed confusion.

"What?" he finally spoke up.

"You," Ryan declared, turning to Evan with a tender smile on his face that immediately caused the blush that had managed to disappear from Evan's cheeks to return to his entire face this time.

"Shut up," Evan responded as Ryan's smile grew even wider, and he covered his face with his hands so he couldn't see the richness of the hue it had taken on.

Before Ryan could say anything more to him, the door opened again, and Evan's dad appeared in it, holding a blanket and pillow. Ryan immediately stood up to take them from his hands, partially obscuring the view of a blushing Evan as he quickly tried to calm himself.

"Thanks, Mr. Bludd," Ryan said.

"You're welcome," the older man replied, adding, "If you need anything, just say so."

His eyes flitted over the mess on the floor before he left the room but thankfully didn't linger on the incriminating canvas.

"I think I should take it home. You know, just in case," Ryan stated with a mock-serious expression, then quickly hid his smile behind the pillow in his arms.

"It's not even that good," Evan said in an annoyed tone, rolling his eyes at him. He tried to play it down, even though he knew he had managed to capture Ryan's wolf exactly as if he had taken a picture of it with a camera and stuck it on the canvas.

"Yeah, you're right," Ryan agreed, looking back at the canvas and nodding his head as if he'd just realised how it actually looked.

Evan raised an eyebrow in surprise, not believing what he had just heard. But then their eyes met again, and he immediately understood that Ryan was just teasing him.

"I don't know how you could have thought I was serious. You know I love everything you do." Ryan walked over to him and sat down on the bed next to him, putting the covers on his other side.

"I'm pretty sure painting is all I do," Evan pointed out.

"Nah," Ryan disagreed instantly and took his hand, intertwining their fingers. "You love reading and films that make your imagination run wild. You love unnecessary fights with Angie and teasing Michael. And don't forget, you give the best hugs," he listed before quickly adding, "And something else too."

Evan pushed his shoulder at his last words, blushing, and Ryan laughed.

"You won't be getting any today," Evan assured him almost inaudibly.

Ryan laughed again and then asked, "What about a kiss?"

Evan turned to face him and glared at him with a look that should have told him he wasn't taking his request seriously. Of course, it didn't last long, and it was he who leaned in to steal a kiss.

"Thanks for picking me up today," he said first as they moved apart.

"Anytime, Lightwood," Ryan replied immediately, a soft smile playing on his lips.

Their conversation ended there as a second later Evan yawned, and Ryan suggested that it had been a long day, and they should get some sleep. He helped Evan to a chair so he could make the bed and then let him lie down first, carefully placing a pillow under his ankle.

That night they decided to take a risk and snuggled up together as if they had the whole house to themselves.

...

Evan woke with a jolt as he accidentally kicked his foot into the wall, and his injured ankle decided to make a statement. His whimper of pain woke Ryan, who immediately panicked and sat up. Just in time as they heard footsteps approaching Evan's room.

The last person they expected to see when the door opened, though, was a petite brunette with a mischievous smile. "I heard there was a sleepover I wasn't invited to."

"Angie," Evan exhaled, glad that it was her and not his mother who had found them in the same bed, so close to each other.

"Were you expecting someone else?" She raised her eyebrows and put her arms at her sides.

"Honestly? After yesterday, nothing really would surprise me," Evan replied, and she squinted in confusion. A glance at Ryan assured him that although they had talked about him making a call to Angie yesterday, he hadn't done it, so she didn't have a clue yet.

"What's happened to your leg?" she asked as he sat up a little better and bent his leg to expose it from under the blanket.

"Long story. You'll want to sit down," he assured her, tucking the blanket to the side so she would have room to sit.

Evan knew that if he didn't start talking right away, he'd get a million questions thrown at him, so he started explaining right away, starting with the part where he went running up to the part where he told Josh and Kieran the truth about who he was.

"I also told them why I broke up with Kieran," he added, and though Angie was shocked so far, at this point she simply couldn't control her expression or find the words anymore.

"You did what?" she asked, wanting to hear it again just to be sure.

"I told Kieran that Ryan was my mate and that I found out when we were together," he explained more.

"And he was cool with that?" She still didn't quite believe him.

"He seemed cool," Ryan replied this time, obviously enjoying how shocked Angie was and decided to add to it.

"You met him?!" She didn't care that she wasn't at her house and raised her voice, making both Ryan and Evan laugh.

"This isn't funny," she warned them. "Seriously, it sounds like it's from another reality. Are you sure you didn't kick a rock somewhere and accidentally change the future?"

Evan rolled his eyes at her drama, though he understood why she couldn't believe it. He wouldn't have believed it himself if he'd heard it a few months ago.

"You said it yourself, if I want to trust someone with my secret, Kieran is the best choice," he reminded her.

"I didn't mean the secret about you and Ryan," she corrected him immediately.

"It's Kieran, Angie," Evan said as if that should explain everything. "I've been honest with him, and I've also explained that if he wants to blame anyone, that's on me. I apologized and told him that I made a mistake and even though I hurt him, I tried to make things right."

"And he was just cool with that?" She still didn't believe him, and he rolled his eyes at her again in return, this time with a sigh.

"It hurt him. Of course, it did," he made no attempt to hide anything. "But he understood my point, too. Plus, I told him that Ryan and I didn't get together until February, and I didn't jump right into a relationship with him, so he knew I had to get over him first and my feelings for him were real."

"And I apologized to him for stealing him from him," Ryan added.

"How did he react to that?" Angie immediately wondered.

"He practically did the same thing," Ryan chuckled.

"Of course, he did." Angie shook her head, smiling. Not because she mocked his action, but because she knew Kieran was simply Kieran and so it was unlikely, he would react in anything other than a kind way.

"So Kieran and Josh know," she changed the subject abruptly, returning to the beginning, her tone also switching back from amused to serious.

"Yes," Evan confirmed, not knowing where she was going with this.

"And Rory knows, too." He was starting to get the picture, so before she could say anything else, he asked instead, "What about Lola and Aiden now?"

"I think they should know," Angie suggested cautiously, though she frowned as if unsure of her own words.

"I've been thinking about that, too," Evan admitted. "We'd be in trouble either way if anyone knew about the three of them, and I think it's unfair to keep it from them."

"So the question is not if but when," Angie assessed.

"Why don't you ask Rory when he can come here and that way, you'll have them all together. That way you'll have more people on your side, and nothing can go wrong," Ryan suggested, interjecting into this conversation for the first time.

Of course, Evan responded as he always did when Ryan had a good idea. "Wow, you're not just handsome." His mate rolled his eyes at his reaction, but a small smile played on his lips and after a moment, he pressed a kiss to Evan's cheek.

"That's actually a good plan," Angie agreed as well. "I text him and ask. Maybe we could ask Kieran or Josh if he can sleep over at their place this time so we can prepare for it."

"Sounds good," Evan nodded. There their conversation ended as his stomach growled, and Evan assessed that it was time for breakfast. Of course, he'd forgotten again that his leg was injured, so the moment Ryan got out of bed and made his path clear, he tried to stand on his injured ankle, and his mouth quickly twisted into a pained grimace.

"I can take you princess style," Ryan suggested, holding his arms out to him.

"Shut up."

Evan was sure he would go mad before his leg healed, and he did have supernatural healing.