Chapter 92 - Almost Normal

Although Evan had excellent healing, it looked like his leg needed a few more days to heal. So he had no choice but to borrow crutches from the pack doctor. On Sunday, he visited him on his way to the Alpha's office, where his father had taken him to tell him about the potential threat of wolves near their pack.

Fortunately, it went smoothly, and Evan was able to make his story believable enough. Alpha Lucas made him nervous, but he managed to remain calm and, as with his parents, decided to tell as much of the truth as he could.

However, he now faced a new challenge. Surviving a day at school surrounded by unnecessary questions. And the worst part was that Angie had to go to the dentist in the morning and so had to face the situation alone.

It seemed that his crutches were an invitation for people he barely spoke to to ask him what had happened to him. And he didn't feel up to telling them that he had fought wolves.

Instead, he made up a story about falling down a concrete staircase in his socks and scraping his foot so badly that it bled.

But then he met Aiden and Lola in the hallway, two people he didn't want to lie to and was taken aback by their questions.

"Oh my God, Evan. What happened?" Lola was immediately at his side, her face betraying her concern. Even Aiden's distant gaze faded and the hands that had been on his chest fell to his sides.

"Wild animals," he admitted truthfully, quickly working out how to finish his story without lying to them. "I was out after dark on Friday night, and it turned out that wasn't the best idea."

"Animals? Are you telling me they chewed on your leg?" Lola looked shocked, but he just nodded and shrugged like it was no big deal.

"Sounds worse than it looks," he tried to play it down.

"Should you even be at school?" Aiden seemed to forget their argument for the moment and let his concern be heard.

"Guys, seriously, I'm fine. Kieran and Josh treated me as soon as it happened and then I went to the doctor who gave me crutches. It's not that bad, it just needs time," he explained.

"You were with Kieran and Josh?" The concern on the blonde's face was replaced by surprise. His whole aloofness towards Evan was based on the fact that he was explicitly on Kieran's side, so to hear that Kieran and Evan were spending their free time together must have been more than a little shocking to him.

"Yeah," Evan admitted a little nervously. "We met on Friday and hung out at Josh's house."

"And we weren't invited? How rude," Lola scolded him, but it was obvious that her tone was playful, and she was actually happy for them.

"It just happened." Evan shrugged, a small smile finally appearing on his face.

"So you and Kieran are cool? Totally?" Aiden was clearly having trouble stomaching it.

"We are," Evan replied, though he still couldn't believe it himself. "We talked and cleared some things up."

"Glad to hear it." Lola's tone betrayed that she was genuinely excited. And so did the wide smile on her face.

"You have cleared up some things? How about everything? Did you finally tell him the real reason?" Aiden's tone was accusatory, and it sounded like he was grasping at straws.

"Aiden!" Lola shouted at him.

"It's all right," he assured her, then turned to the blonde. "Actually, I did."

Aiden's eyes widened comically as he didn't expect that answer. Evan couldn't help a small smile, and Lola disregarded him outright and chuckled at his expression, though it was obvious that she was surprised by the news as well.

"Hey, guys." Evan didn't notice the footsteps behind him until Josh was standing right next to them.

"Hey."

Josh had a smile on his face as they greeted each other, but then his gaze fell on the crutches, and he frowned. "I didn't think it was that serious."

"It's not," he assured him immediately, adding, "I just didn't want to lean on other people all day."

"Are you sure?" Josh asked, not looking convinced, and Evan rolled his eyes. While he was glad his friends were concerned about him compared to all the months he'd been shunned, he didn't want them to be overly concerned, especially since it shouldn't be a problem with his healing for more than a week.

"I'm sure I won't need crutches by the weekend," he assured him.

"Never said anyone with crutches," Lola added, reminding Evan that she still didn't know his biggest secret. Something he planned to rectify in the near future.

"Speaking of the weekend..." Josh interjected, "I thought you all could sleep over." Evan stared at him in surprise, wondering if he'd managed to talk to Angie or if it was just a coincidence. However, the quick look Josh gave him immediately betrayed that it was the former.

"Sounds good," Evan answered him first. It made him all the more motivated to spare his leg so that it would actually heal by the weekend, and he could shift.

"I'm all for it, of course," Lola replied with a smile. The only one who hesitated was Aiden.

"I'll let you know," he eventually said, his eyes falling on Evan for a small moment, confirming the reason why he was so hesitant. Evan didn't want to take it personally, and he knew he was doing everything he could to repair their relationship, but it still hurt.

"Great," Josh assessed, closing the subject. "You want me to help you get to class?" He turned to Evan, and he immediately nodded, imagining the masses of students he'd have to walk around on his way to class.

"No need," Aiden interjected, surprising everyone. "We have the same class, I'll help him." And just as he said, he immediately fell into step at Evan's side. Maybe their relationship wasn't completely lost after all.

...

The next time they all met was during lunch.

Josh, Aiden, and Kieran sat on one side of the table while Lola, Angie, and Evan sat across from them. It was the first time in all those months that they had sat together like that for lunch, and surprisingly the atmosphere between them was not as awkward as it had been in the garden.

"Just so you know, I'm still mad that you didn't call me to hang out with you," Lola declared, then took a bite of her sandwich. Her tone was still playful, so it was clear that she wasn't trying to make them feel guilty, but instead was trying to get more information about their encounter.

"There wasn't time," Kieran replied. "We weren't planning on hanging out together either. It just happened. Plus, Evan managed to hurt himself, so we realistically spent an hour together before his boyfriend picked him up," he explained, and Evan gave him a surprised look when the word fell out of his mouth so easily. Kieran, however, continued eating as if he hadn't just dropped a bomb.

"His what?" Aiden asked, the hand holding the sandwich left dangling between the table and his mouth.

"You've met Ryan?" Instead of someone answering him, Lola had a question of her own. Like the blonde, she too seemed surprised by the revelation.

"You know him too?" Aiden's tone was confused, but it had an undertone that suggested he didn't like being left out of something.

"We've met," Lola admitted, then turned back to Kieran, who wasn't paying attention to her, so her gaze ended up landing on Josh.

"We've assessed that Evan looks for the exact opposite of himself in men. Someone decent with manners," Josh said with a shrug.

"Hey!" Evan objected immediately.

"Can we get back to the boyfriend part?" Aiden interjected, looking surly.

"So Evan has a boyfriend, I don't know why you're making a big deal out of this," Angie replied, piercing him with a look.

"Angie," Evan called her out, but she paid him no mind.

"Maybe because he didn't tell me about it?" Aiden replied to Angie's question. His tone wasn't exactly pleasant, and Evan felt terrible when he realized that the blonde was the only one at this table who didn't know Ryan. Even Rory knew him, and he lived a few hours away.

"It's still fresh and it seemed kinda wrong to introduce you to him," Evan took over the explanation, his hand indicating that he meant everyone so Aiden wouldn't misunderstand him. "Not because I didn't want you to know him, but because I destroyed your trust in me, and I didn't want you to take it out on him."

"You didn't destroy our trust in you, don't be dramatic," Lola stated immediately, but she was the most understanding of their group, so it didn't count.

"Kieran doesn't have a mean bone in his body," Josh pointed out. "And I can be polite when I want to be," he added, then laughed shortly. Evan looked at him uncomprehendingly, having no idea what was funny about that, and Josh immediately seized on the explanation. "Not so polite that you could have a crush on me."

"Ew," Evan said dramatically, to which Josh pierced him with a look and suddenly he wasn't laughing anymore.

"I'm not gonna tell you anything on that, since I was friends with him before you two were even together," Angie stated simply, looking like she wasn't going to get involved in this conversation anymore. At least, that is, until Aiden said something she would consider stupid again.

"I really like him," Kieran remarked with a shrug as the blonde's eyes curled up on him. Aiden suddenly looked uncertain, especially when all the gazes turned on him in a second.

"It doesn't change anything, Miller, stop being dramatic," Angie almost growled at him.

"I honestly think you'd get along," Evan tried cautiously. "You'd definitely enjoy watching Alien with him more than I did."

"He likes sci-fi?" came out of his mouth before he could stop himself.

"He likes anything with cats in it," Evan replied, rolling his eyes.

"I completely forgot about his cat," Lola squealed, acting like she'd just figured out something of the utmost importance.

"If you say stupid cat, I'll tell on you." Angie immediately turned to her best friend with a warning finger.

"I wouldn't call her stupid," Evan defended himself immediately. "Marshmallow's the only cat I can tolerate."

"What do you have against cats?" Josh's expression was somewhere between amusement and confusion.

"Everything," Evan replied as if it were obvious. "Felines are just horrible. They are lazy, dishonest, unsociable, and treacherous," he listed.

His words not only amused Josh, but also drew laughs from Kieran and Lola, who shook their heads in amusement.

"Sounds like you have a personal problem with them," Josh commented, the look he gave Evan suggested there was more to his words, but he didn't dare say it out loud. Evan assumed it was a question directed at his wolf, although he had no idea of the exact wording.

"I just don't like them." He shrugged, hoping that would end this conversation.

Aiden cleared his throat, drawing all the attention back to himself. "So... when can I meet him?"

Evan stared at him in surprise, and he wasn't the only one.

"I'm telling you right away that you are gonna be nice to him because Ryan is the nicest person I know," Angie warned him before Evan could even open his mouth.

"Nicer than Kieran?" Apparently, they all had the same scale when it came to kindness.

No one answered immediately. Kieran, Josh, and Lola simply because they didn't know him well enough yet and Angie and Evan had to think about the answer. "Same level, I guess," Angie said at last.

"OK. I'll be on my best behaviour," Aiden said, his words sounding more like a challenge than a promise.

"You better be," Angie warned him, pointing a finger at him.

"That's enough," Kieran interjected. "I'm sure everything will be fine. Besides, I told him he should hang out with us sometime, so we can sort this out pretty quickly."

"You did?" Aiden looked surprised.

"I really don't mind, Aiden." Kieran seemed to know exactly what was going through his friend's mind. "Evan is happy with him, and I can assure you that I am no longer in love with Evan. Everything is fine."

The blonde looked like he was thinking about his answer and this time no one challenged him to say anything. Even Angie decided to give him a break.

"I said I'd be on my best behaviour," Aiden muttered.

"Good. Now that that's settled, how about Saturday? Is that OK with everyone?" Josh changed the subject, reminding everyone about the sleepover at his house.

"Can't wait." Angie beamed, looking genuinely excited that their secret wouldn't be a secret for much longer. Maybe that was why she'd been so hard on Aiden. She wanted to make sure that she could trust him one hundred percent.

"Hopefully I won't be on crutches by then," Evan added with a smile. His friends didn't seem to share his optimism, but no one said it out loud.

"I'll come." Aiden finally confirmed.

It looked like Evan and Angie would be able to tell the truth to all their friends after all. Now they just had to wait until Saturday.

.

.

.

.

Fun fact: Wattpad won't let me comment for some reason and it gets on my nerves. Also, my dog decided to knock my laptop to the ground yesterday and now it desperately needs fixing. I'm still using the laptop at the moment, but I'm going to have to take it in for repairs and I have no idea how long that's going to take.