Chapter 21

Liam's POV:

I held Milo's hand as we walked into the school for what would possibly be the very last time. It was graduation day: tears would be shed, hugs would be shared, and the entire grade would close this chapter of its lives.

Several students were skipping graduation, I knew, but Mom had insisted I go, and Aunt Eva told Sage he had better attend as well, and Daniel and the Moon Goddess would both be watching Adriel, and so Milo and Julie decided to attend too, and... well, the rest was history.

So, anyway. Milo and I were holding hands, Sage and Adriel were holding hands, and Sage and I both had our arms linked with Julie's. We took up the entire hallway walking side-by-side, but no one said anything except for the few we passed who grumbled about the inconvenience. I ignored them.

The entire grade was gathered in the band room, where the graduation gowns were hanging. Each had a number that a student was assigned to. My number was in the two-hundreds and Milo's was only double digits, so I squeezed his hand in a goodbye and followed Sage and Adriel to the higher numbers.

"How the hell do they organize these numbers?" Sage grumbled under his breath, trying to get the collar of his suit to stay down as he carried the gown over to a table where the rest of our small group was gathering. "You'd think it would go from smallest to biggest or something, but no- Adriel's is smaller than mine and his gown is nearly thirty numbers bigger!"

"You know, I think we've learned by now that the way the world works is pretty random," Julie teased as she adjusted the folds of her own gown.

"Yeah, but this is a school! Shouldn't they be trying to teach organization or numeric value or make some sort of sense out of this?"

"I think you're just an idiot," Adriel interrupted his mate, reaching to touch his shoulder lightly and turn him to press a soft kiss to his lips. Sage frowned as Adriel pulled away.

"You always say that."

"More today than usual, then."

Julie pretended to throw up. "Stop making me feel queasy with your sugary sweet shows of affection-" she pretended to shiver at the word- "when we all know today is about our journey, as a group."

"Yeah, as a group as a grade of two hundred students," I grumbled. "It's hardly just our journey."

"Shut up and let me be wise for a moment."

"The moment school's over you want to be all smart? Your timing needs serious work."

"I said shut up," Julie groaned at me, reaching over to swat my arm. "I don't care that you're gonna be in charge soon-" her way of saying I'd be Alpha soon without, y'know, saying it in a room full of humans- "I'll always be right and you know it."

"We all know it," Sage agreed with a sigh.

"Please don't agree with her," I said.

"Shut up, Liam."

"Okay."

I looked around for Milo and Adriel, who I found whispering together a few feet away, sitting on the floor cross-legged facing each other. Their words weren't audible, even for a werewolf with enhanced hearing, but the small smiles on both of their faces were visible. I was tempted to approach them and ask what they were talking about, but I figured it was probably one of those best-friend moments, so different from the ones Sage, Julie and I always shared. Like the ones we were currently sharing as I thought.

He's really come out of his shell, I realized with a proud smile as Milo caught my gaze and gave me a little wave that I reciprocated. A year ago, Milo and Adriel might have still been talking so openly, but I didn't think he'd even consider coming to graduation if we didn't end up as mates. And I was proud of him, I really was.

Because I knew how hard it must have been for him.

Yet he did it anyway.

Julie caught my gaze and frowned at me. "Stop thinking lovey thoughts," she commanded me. "It's our last official day in this school. We're going to go and get graduated together."

"I don't think that's the right way to say that," Sage mumbled, but shut up quickly when Julie glared at him.

"And also, the Single Committee wants to place a restraining order on your affectionate ass. So, unless you want that, I suggest you get over here and join the conversation," she dictated, but she was smiling despite her harsh words so I didn't take them too seriously.

"Got it, got it," I smiled as I stood by her side. We were the same group we always had been, us three together since the second grade, just now with a few added bonuses (aka Milo and Adriel). And I thought we made a pretty neat group.

-

"Fuck," Julie whispered as she rubbed at her eye using her wrist. "I didn't think it'd be that emotional."

"Language," Milo whispered in response, but even he had been quieter than usual.

"Come on, guys," I complained as we continued walking to the parking lot. "We've just closed that chapter of our lives. We've still got, like five more until we have to close the book."

"Or maybe none at all," Sage said gravely. "We could get squashed by a car in this parking lot and our book would be like fifty pages long."

"All books are welcome in the Library of Life," I nodded in agreement before starting to laugh. Sage joined in after a moment and even Milo began to smile.

"You all have the strangest sense of humor," Adriel muttered under his breath as he grabbed Milo's wrist and started tugging him over to his car, where Daniel and Moon were already standing, waving. Sage watched them go with a forlorn look.

"You're whipped," I told him matter-of-factly.

"Fuck you, same applies," he bit back. "And it's not my fault I'd rather spend the rest of the day with him rather than my crazy family."

"Maybe it's your fault a bit," Julie offered as she looked around for where her family was.

"And we'll see each other for the bonfire tonight, then you can go home with him and do whatever it is you freaks do in your free time," I added. The bonfire was a yearly tradition in our pack for members of the newly graduated class, to celebrate achievements and wish good luck and everything. I had attended many before and really, the only exciting thing about them were the s'mores.

Sage scoffed and looked away, but I caught his blush and smirked.

"Speaking of which, the bonfire starts in an hour, so I'm gonna go get changed and everything," Julie said, looking at her phone before glancing up with a smile. "I'll see you two there?"

Sage and I nodded.

"Great. Bye!" she called as she hurried off to find her family.

"See you then?" I asked Sage, who nodded with a grin.

"See you then."

-

A few days, maybe a week, had passed since we graduated, and the rest of the grade students had gotten out of school for summer. Because of this, I was spending more time than ever at my beautiful mate's abode instead of home dealing with crazy Paisley. And we had to unpack, so it wasn't entirely a waste of time. Just mostly, and usually on my part.

Milo busily cut boxes open, took out some of the contents, then closed them again and pushed them to another pile in the kitchen. From what I had gathered, he was getting out all the cookware Mom had told me to bring over as a sort of mating gift, even though it was really just our old stuff that I thought she just wanted to get rid of.

I had been told to organize the books (why I had decided to bring over even more to add to his already overflowing bookshelf was beyond me), but I think he knew none of that was actually getting done. Instead, I just leaned on the counter and watched as he worked, spinning around to place items on shelves or in cupboards and then whirling back around again to pick up recipe books and whatever else there was. A soft smile was playing around my lips as I watched, my fingers tapping a melody on the countertop.

Suddenly, he turned to face me and frowned. "You're not actually organizing anything, are you?"

"Guilty as charged," I admitted with a smile.

"Come on, give me some help here," he mumbled as he walked over and started to alphabetize them by the author's last name, what I assumed I was supposed to have been doing all along. With an exasperated sigh, I reached over and wrapped my arms around his waist, pulling him over to where I could comfortably embrace him.

"Come take a break with me," I suggested, threading our fingers together and lightly tugging him over to the living room, which held less boxes than the kitchen and was therefore the best space to be in.

"I don't want to take a break, I want to get it done," Milo grumbled.

"If you finish unpacking today, what are we gonna do for the next week and a half?"

"We can be lazy after we finish unpacking. And yes, that is a we you heard, because you're not getting out of this any longer."

"Milo," I groaned as I pulled him to sit on my lap on the couch. He did with a small giggle as I pressed a soft kiss to his collarbone. "Well, too bad, because I don't wanna alphabetize books. So we're gonna sit here and do nothing for the next hour, at least."

Milo groaned.

"Can I play with your hair?" I asked, wanting to thread my fingers through the dark-colored strands. He sighed but begrudgingly laid down, laying his head on my lap in the familiar position we often found ourselves in.

"Don't tangle it all up," he mumbled, closing his eyes.

I leaned down and pressed a quick kiss to his lips, loving the way his back arched when my fingers caressed his skull. "I won't."

"Somehow, I don't believe you."

I shrugged even though his eyes were closed and began to run my fingers through the strands, the slightly tangled bits coming undone through my semi-effective combing. He was relaxed, tensing sometimes if I hit a sensitive spot or a tangle. I let my eyes rove over him, finding new physical attributes to cherish and love. A freckle I hadn't noticed before, just under his left eye, was the current fixation.

"Milo, you're still okay with moving in here even after him, right?" I asked suddenly a few moments later. Immediately he tensed, his dark eyes opening. Other than the week or so after the attack he'd spent at Daniel's house, he had all but refused to talk about it. I had asked quite a few times, but to no avail other than the standard answer.

"Yeah," he whispered, raising a hand to trace along my jawline as I looked down at him. "I am."

"Please don't just say that for my benefit," I pleaded. "Milo, if this house holds bad memories for you, we really don't have to move here. We could stay in an apartment for a while, or even in my house, if you wanted."

"It's my home," he cut me off, his hand now cupping my cheek, "not his. I don't want to have to leave just because of what he did here. It holds bad memories," he smiled, "but that's okay. Because, if you're here, I know we'll create good memories here together. So I don't need to be scared anymore."

With that, he leaned up, his eyes fluttering closed, to press a kiss against my lips.

And, yet again, I was blown away by the bravery of my sweet mate.

--

woo shortish  chapter (~1950 words) :D

-bloom