If driving in a car had Braydon mesmerized, the train ride was just as thrilling. While he remembered so much of the world, small things like transport had left him. The distraction of staring out the window as the carriage flew along the tracks also helped clear his mind of the woman.

Arriving at Miranda’s parents house, the sound of music, barking dogs and light chatter greeted them as Miranda paid for the taxi. Braydon took the time to absorb in each detail of the house as it stood surrounded by a perfectly mowed front lawn. A variety of roses filled the garden beds leaving a welcoming fragrance in the air. A few cars lined the street and driveway, and the open verandah of the colonial style home looked like it could fit many more people inside.

“You’re okay with dogs and stuff aren’t you?” Miranda paused as they made their way along the wooden decking to the stairs.

“Yes?” Braydon looked confused by her question as going into the house, it felt like a place to call home.

The neutral palates of the walls and furniture had been brightened with splashes of color. Everything looked plush and comfortable and the cool air of the air conditioning was a nice change to the outside heat. The aroma of cooking meat on the grill had Braydon finding his own way through the expansive living area to where he could see a few people sitting around the outside table by the barbeque.

“I told Mum to keep it simple, instead she invites the whole family!” Miranda groaned after peeking outside too. She took the bags Braydon forgot he was holding and headed up the set of stairs he hadn’t even noticed yet.

Opting to follow her, the bedrooms all came off the main corridor and a sitting room turned home office and library filled the space by the small balcony at the end. Miranda pointed out his bedroom and then the bathroom and following her into her room, it was almost like stepping back in time.

Pale pink covered the walls and the white iron, double bed sat proudly in the center of the room. The cover was a matching shade of pink covered in a white floral design. It was so feminine and so different from the more modern, simple design of her furnishings at her apartment. Photographs remained stuck around the mirror of the dresser, and a poster of a boy-band was on the wardrobe door, but apart from that the room was rather empty.

“I keep telling them to redecorate, I don’t know why they keep it like this.” Miranda sighed, not drawn into the nostalgia of her old room.

“It’s so, girly!” Braydon was at a loss for words and Miranda only thumped his arm as she walked by to put her bag in the wardrobe.

“I know!”

Funny thing was, she seemed to belong here more than she did in her apartment, but Braydon kept that thought to himself. Walking over to the mirror, he looked at a very young and different version of Miranda in the photographs. In some her blonde hair was changed to pink and she had kept it short above her shoulders, unlike now as she let it grow half way down her back.

In the center of the mirror he noticed the familiar scrolling text of her tattoo as a banner over it all and as she came to stand beside him, he could sense her sadness.

“What a feral!” She laughed, picking off one of the pink haired photos, “Dad nearly died when I came home looking like this!”

“I kind of like it?” Braydon mused, “Who is that girl?”

Miranda hesitated, but still answered. “That’s Casey, Jason’s sister. The pink hair was her idea. All the crazy was her idea!” She laughed nervously.

“Crazy?”

“Crazy. When we turned fifteen, she changed from the girl I grew up with. Her parents put a lot of pressure on her because when Jason was fifteen he had created this software stuff and was bringing in millions. Her claim to fame was making it on the cheer team, didn’t really add up you know? I don’t blame her for anything, I could have said no at any time, but I didn’t. I didn’t want to lose my friend and went along with everything until that was what was suddenly normal. We skipped school and she had these older friends who’d take us to parties on the weekends, we’d drink and smoke, and dye our hair pink. I never let her pierce me though!” Miranda laughed nervously, going quiet as she stared at the photo.

Braydon waited for her to continue, but she didn’t so instead he pointed up at the banner. “Young hearts run free?”

“We lived by that, it was our motto. We were so young and stupid. Before my seventeenth birthday, my parents sent me away to my grandparents who at the time lived a couple of states away. Casey got into drugs then, not just smoking some pot at the parties, but the real shit. We kept in touch, but soon she stopped returning my calls and once I was away from our friends and her, I saw the big picture. I’d only been back home a week when she committed suicide. She even put that in her note and I really hope she found the peace she didn’t have here.”

Miranda never talked about Casey, not even with Jason anymore and now she had mentioned it, she couldn’t shut up. All Braydon did was put his arm around her shoulders and let her say what she wanted. They all had stories to tell and he knew how hard certain things could be to talk about.

“I stupidly blamed my parents for not letting me come back sooner and for not helping her too since her parents didn’t care. They thought she was being a teen, pushing boundaries and all that, not doing half the shit she was. Jason didn’t know about it either, he’d been over in Europe somewhere and when he came home, it was too late for even him to help her. ”

“Somehow I managed to keep her family together, still visiting them occasionally. I don’t know how exactly because I returned to our old lifestyle pretty hard when she died. The only thing I think saved me completely was that I refused to do drugs. They don't beleive me though and I ran away from home, still blaming my parents. I really put them through hell.”

“Then Jason got you of out of it?” Braydon remembered what she had told him before about Jason. He gave her a chance so she didn’t end up like his sister.

“Yeah, he took me home and helped my parents get me counseling and I ended up finishing school from home before he offered me the internship. I know I wasn’t the best daughter in the world, but even now I think they’re just expecting me to suddenly turn up to drunk or high and I hate it. I’ve moved on, I just wish they could too.” Her voice broke slightly, holding back tears of frustration.

Braydon never expected any of that and had no idea what to do or say. He didn’t have the social skills or comprehension to deal with it. He had only known the adult version of Miranda who had only been such a strong, confident and kind person to him. Surely they could see who she was now and not who she used to be? He remembered hearing Helen and Jason talking that morning Miranda got him the Playstation. Maybe Miranda wasn’t giving her parents enough credit on forgiving her and moving on. Was the person still bringing her down, Jason?

A few minutes of silence had them both lost in thought. Finding a tissue, Miranda wiped her eyes and fixed her self up in the mirror. Coughing to clear her throat, she turned and forced a smile at Braydon. “I’m sorry, you didn’t’ need to hear all of that!”

“Maybe not, but I’m glad you did. We both have a lot of stuff behind us.”

“Yeah, but you’re innocent in it all. I have no one to blame other than myself!” Miranda sighed and rolled her neck in an effort to free herself of the tension in her shoulders. For some reason she didnt worry what he would think of her now, knowing he wouldn't judge her like the others and that made her feel better. “ Come on, let’s go get this over this. I’ll even introduce you to our pack!”

“What?” He asked dumbly, following her outside. Even if he wanted to dwell on what just went on he didn’t stand a chance to do so as her family bombarded them.

“There they are!” Helen stood as she saw the pair come out onto the patio.

Two identical little girls came running over with their arms outstretched to Miranda who instantly dropped down to greet them both in a giant hug. “Girls, this is my friend Braydon. Do you want to say hello?”

They were barely three and nodding, their cherub faces beamed up at him. “Hello Brayon!”

“The cutie in purple is Alyssa and the princess in pink is Anita.” Miranda stood and quickly told him.  Their blonde hair and blue eyes resembled Miranda in such a way it would be easy to think they were hers.

“Hi!” He greeted, before being dragged back to Helen and seeing the woman beside her, it took Braydon a second to realize she too had a twin. The older sisters moved in to greet them and he barely heard Miranda groan before they started their assault on him.

“Thank you for saving my niece!” The other woman cried, grabbing him tightly before Helen pushed her away.

“Settle down Denise, you’ll scare the boy!” Helen shooed her away, before doing the same thing. She had missed their mornings together and letting Braydon go, moved onto Miranda who was hearing all about something someone called Dora did.“Sorry, Braydon, that’s my Aunty Denise. My cousin Izzy is over with Dad and her husband Ryan.” Miranda quickly mumbled a bunch of other names off while pointing out people. It was as if her whole family was there, which then Miranda clarified was.

Everyone welcomed Braydon like he was apart of the family and Helen rarely left his side as she dragged him around to each person. Miranda was trapped with her Father and the twins, yet they rarely left each other sights. The crowd didn’t bother Braydon as much as he thought it might. They were all friendly and very interested in hearing about how he had ‘saved’ Miranda. After the first hour went by, he felt like he knew them all as well as he knew her and finally escaping her grandmother, Miranda made it back to Braydon’s side.

He was happily listening to Ryan talk about some camping spots he had gone to so far that summer and without thinking Braydon had put his arm around Miranda’s shoulders as she stopped beside him. Reaching over she took his drink and looking at her father, she was surprised to find him looking between the pair of them with a knowing smile on his face.

It was then it hit Miranda what they had just done and slipping out from beside Braydon, she went to stand by her Dad looking guilty.

“So, how are you settling back in sweetheart?” He finished cleaning the grill and closing the lid, Miranda held open the rubbish bag for him.

“It’s like I haven’t been away. I go back to work Monday.”

“Already?”  Donald wasn’t sure if that was such a good idea. Not because of the accident, but because he didn’t like the whole situation.

“Yeah, just three days until I ease back into it.” Miranda followed him over the bin and at their arrival, the dogs started to crowd to one corner, barking for attention.  “Hey boof heads!”

Their tails started wagging even faster, even the new one she didn’t know in the back. “Who is this Dad?”

Making them all sit, they backed off from the kennel door and let her in with Donald following behind.

“I call him Rufus.” He chuckled, and holding out her hand, the rather timid German Shepherd inched closer to her.

“Hey Rufus, how you doing big guy?” Miranda softly cooed.

“Got dumped at the tip of all places, they wanted to put him down as he was acting too feral for themdto much with. He’s smart, bit submissive though and I have to feed him away from the others.”

“He’s really underweight.” Miranda ran her hands along his sides, feeling where the ribs still stuck out.

“Yeah, I got a bit of weight on him now though. Only got him the week you disappeared, still have a long way to go with him yet!” Donald sighed, frowning at the dog.

“You can do it Daddy, can’t he Rufus?” The dog wagged his tail, starting to learn his name. Looking up, Miranda could feel Braydon looking at her and turning around she wasn’t disappointed. Waving him over, he left Ryan and he hovered outside the cage. “Meet our pack Braydon!”

All the dogs were interested in the newcomer, their whines of excitement building up the hysteria in the group. With a sharp whistle, Donald had them all backing up from the gate so he could get in and they all bounced forward, curious of Braydon – even the nervous Rufus.

“You have a lot of dogs Mr Wright.”

“Come on Braydon, call me Donald! These guys are like my kids,” Donald boasted, “that one there, the rotti is Razor, and a rescue from a car yard. Meant to be a guard dog, but didn’t have it in him so he was beat up and left for dead. The lab, Milo, is a retired sniffer dog and now spends his days on Helens sofa. At least when she isn’t home!” He laughed.

“Dad got Milo as a pup and went through all his training with him. When he was due for retirement, his handler died in a car accident and the only place Milo was able to stay at without getting stressed was here.” Miranda filled in Braydon on the details as she ended up sitting on the ground with Rufus in her lap.

“Tracey here is a mutt and proud of it. She is top dog and has seen and done it all. I sometimes go around to schools and do police demonstrations with her. An angel in a animals body!” Donald nodded at the dog and in seconds she had moved to sit by his side for an affectionate head rub.

“And you train the tracker dogs?” Braydon asked, taking the other end of the chew toy to play tug with Razor.

“Yup, my father was in the police force for forty years doing this. Now, I have these guys at home and work with a few rescue groups in town too. It’s a tough job, but I love it.” Donald watched Razor and Milo with Braydon, “I think they like you.”

Braydon only smiled; glad that literally all of Miranda’s family was accepting him.

“Lunch!” Helens’ voice echoed over the yard and struggling to get Rufus off her lap, Braydon called the dog over. He obediently went to him and sat at his side as Tracey had done to Donald without so much as a command, impressing the older man.

“You have quite a way with them Braydon, seem to know what you’re doing.” He pointed out, glancing at Miranda who was busy brushing dog fur off her jeans.

Braydon only shrugged, and with a final pat joined Miranda outside the pen while Donald closed the gate.

“Animals are often used as a type of therapy for people in nursing homes, you know helping with anxiety and depression, all sorts of things. I know amnesia isn’t quite the same, but maybe I can see about getting you involved in some things at work. You know, see if working with the animals can help trigger something in you?” Donald offered as they headed back over to the house.

“Really? You’d do that for me?” The kindness continually being shown towards him by these strangers was hard for Braydon to believe and only made him feel like a fraud. He had taken Miranda from them, not saved her. Everything worked out in the end, but originally he had little intention of giving her back and he never expected to follow her home.

“Of course, we owe you for everything you did for Andy and between us, I haven’t seen her so happy for a long time! Thank you!” Donald patted Braydon’s shoulder, leaving him feeling even worse.

Going inside the dining table was covered in different plates of food. There were cold pieces of roast chicken, hot sausages and steak from the grill, salads and something he was told was potato covered in cheese to make some kind of bake. It smelt amazing and as everyone got themselves organized in a line to walk around the table, the chatter was light and easy with a few laughs in between.

Miranda flitted in between her family, skillfully managing to hold two plates, which she quickly piled up, and going back outside Braydon watched her deliver them to her grandparents who still sat outside.  Coming back in, she spied him standing alone and away from the buffet, so headed over to check on him.

“Is it too much, if you need a break from the madness, let me know? You can hang out the front or upstairs if you need to, they’ll understand!” Miranda glanced over her family, despite portraying that she wasn’t a fan of it all, Braydon could tell that was fake and she really did enjoy it. Braydon couldn’t help keep a judging eye on her family though, thinking of what she said earlier. Oddly enough, the only thing he saw in their faces when looking at and talking to Miranda was love so wondered if the demons she fought from the past were only her own.

“No, nothing like that. This is great.”

Narrowing her eyes at him, Miranda decided he wasn’t lying so dragged him over to the table and passed him a plate. “Good, now eat. Anything that is left over, Mum will pack up and send home with us!”

With their plates full, they headed outside to join the others around the table and Izzy looked at Miranda’s full plate confused.  “What happened to only eating green, or was it white foods? You do know bread is a carb right?”

“Eating berries, mushrooms and I think rabbit – kind of made me appreciate food a little more. I’m done with those stupid diets.” Miranda cringed thinking some of the meat she had eaten in the wild. She never did ask Braydon what it all was, and she didn’t actually want to know.

What Miranda didn’t expect was for her grandmother to start clapping. “Finally sweet heart! We keep telling you you’re perfect just how you are!”

The table erupted into murmurs of agreement.

“I’m surprised you’ve even been allowed to have the time off, not getting your pay cut because of this are you?” Miranda’s Uncle Robert added to the conversation.

“Oh no Rob, Jason has been very accommodating through all of this!” Helen quickly threw into the mix and then the conversation turned to discussing all of the things Miranda should do, which included finding a new job, eating more and not listening to her Mothers suggestions of dating Jason.

Braydon had never met a bunch of people he liked so much.

-x-

It was just past three am when Miranda snuck into Braydon’s room. It had taken him a long time to fall asleep despite being so tired and the second his sensed Miranda’s presence he woke up yawning.

“Since when don’t you sleep in?” He whispered, rolling over in the warm bed to find her going into the wardrobe and pulling out a pair of sweatpants and a hoodie, she threw them at him.

“Get dressed and meet me down stairs.” She ordered, slipping back out.

Now he was curious and did as he was told. Finding her at the front door, the dogs were all inside on their designated beds, except Milo who was on the snoring from his position amongst the cushions on the sofa.

“Can you like do some dog whisperer thing and tell them to be quiet when I open the door?” Miranda asked, pointing at the dogs.

Turning to look at them, Braydon madea  sh sound and seeing Miranda roll her eyes he shrugged. “I told you I couldn’t speak to animals. I shift into a wolf, its not like they have their own secret language that magically comes to me.”

Either the dogs were too tired from the walk braydon and Miranda had taken them on after the party or they did understand his message as not one of them moved when they left.

“Where are we going?” Braydon asked, following Miranda down the silent streets. It was always the darkest before dawn and the street lights were the only source of light until Miranda cut them through a park and ended up turning on the torch light on her phone.

“It’s a surprise.”

It was then Braydon noticed the lump on her back and after going through a few more streets, they climbed the fence into a small nature reserve that separated the two suburbs of her home town.

“We sometimes come out here and let the dogs have a big run when no one is around. People do their hikes and jogging crap from about six so we have a couple of hours here.”

“Why are we here?” There was undeniable chill in the air that only night could bring and the further down the path they went, it seemed to get even colder.

“I thought you’d want to wolf out and have a run?” Miranda stopped, looking up at Braydon.

“Really?” He hated how excited he suddenly felt and she shrugged off her backpack and handed it over.

“Really, chuck your clothes in here and do what you want.”

He didn’t need to be told twice and as Miranda heard the soft thud of paws instead of the crunching human footsteps, turned to pick up the bag and soon lost sight of him as he disappeared into the trees.  Ten minutes later he came sprinting back down the path as if the devil himself was after him and still using the phone to guide her caught sight of how happy he looked.

“Seriously, you can take the wolf out the wild, but you can’t take the wild out of the wolf!” She mocked.

Braydon only tilted his head at her before turning and running off again and finding a fallen log to sit on, Miranda started reading something on her phone while all around her the snapping of twigs and rustling of bushes gave away Braydon’s location as he kept up his run.

Eventually the sun made its appearance in the sky, the first orange lines of fire breaking into the darkness as a clear warning that the day was coming. Miranda began walking back towards the way they had come in and finally started calling to him it was time to go.

Leaving the bag, she watched as the wolf picked it up and she kept up the path only stopping once the obvious signs of human footsteps followed her. Without warning she was nearly crushed as Braydon grabbed her from behind, making Miranda squeal in a playful terror as spun her around slightly before letting her go.

“Thank you, you have no idea how much I needed that!” His smile was enormous, while his eyes were bright with happiness from his time out of his human skin.

Thought you might.” Miranda laughed as Braydon was practically bouncing beside her during their walk back home.

-x-

Getting back to the apartment, Braydon missed her parents’ house within the first five minutes of their return.  He missed the backyard and having Helen fuss over him. Even talking to Donald was something he treasured, despite feeling undeserving of their praise and affection. On top of that, there was so many questions he now had about Miranda that he didn’t think he’d get answers for away from there. Unsure of how to bring it up, Braydon planned to do it as they watched TV only in her typical fashion, Miranda fell asleep before he got a chance to.

 Feeling tired as well, he took her to bed and took his place beside her. He didn’t remember falling asleep, but the nightmare he was greeted with told he had. All he could hear was Miranda screaming, and running through the forest to find her, it wasn’t a bear chasing her, but his family.

Seeing him had her running straight to his open arms and the orders from his parents to kill her had his blood turning cold. Were they serious?

“No!” He shouted, not just in his vision, but also out loud and waking, Miranda jumped as he yelled it again.

Turning on the bedside lamp, Miranda turned back to find Braydon clearly struggling with what ever was going on in his dream. He was damp with sweat and his hands were curled into tight fists beside him. The agony on his face made her wonder if it was more than a dream and leaning over him, gently cupped the side of his face with her hand.

“Braydon, wake up! It’s just a dream, come on now, wake up!” She called to him a few times and finally with a strangled gasp, his hand shot up to grab her arm as panic and fear filled his face. It took him a second to focus on Miranda’s face, first noticing the way her hair fell down over her shoulder and brushed against his chest. Her concern was obvious and she leant back to give him some space as he took deep breaths to try and calm down.

“It was a just a dream okay, deep breaths.” Miranda instructed, never knowing him to have bad dreams.

The second he got his wits about himself, he sat up and held her tightly.

“It was a dream.” He mumbled to himself, still shaken from the vision of brown and white wolf that had appeared out of nowhere and pulled her out his hold. He had been helpless to save her and he was glad he woke up when he did. 

“Did you want to talk about it?” Miranda offered, slowly moving away from him.

“No, sorry. Go back to sleep.” Braydon got up and left the room, needing to check the apartment to make sure they were still alone.

It wasn’t as simple as go back to sleep for Miranda who laid there listening to him moving about and turning each light on, then off. When she did hear him coming back, she wasn’t surprised to find the shape of the wolf slink into the room or the extra weight curled up at the bottom of the bed. With a sigh she got comfortable and eventually drifted back off to sleep, unlike the wolf who stayed awake watching over her all night, ready - just incase his nightmares became reality.

-x-

“Braydon,Braydon!” Miranda’s gentle, but constant words woke the wolf and yawning, Miranda stepped back and let him get up.  Covering her eyes, she waited to hear Braydon’s yawn, which was followed by a thud as he struggled to pull on his pants. “Done?”

“Yeah. What time is it?” Braydon looked towards the window. It didn’t seem light enough to be awake.

“Seven. I’m back to work today remember?”

Turning to look at Miranda, Braydon woke up; every parts of him. Gone were Miranda’s usual jeans, pants and flowing dresses he was used to seeing her in.

The black skirt looked like it was made out of plastic wrap, tightly constricted around her legs, which as she walked around the side of the bed to stand in front of him looked tensed and toned. Her high heels gave her so much added height he wondered if she felt like she was walking on her tip toes, yet it made her stand differently in a good way.

The shapely curve of her behind had his gaze struggling to look at her face and as he did look up, the white blouse was just as fitted around the right places. The curve of her cleavage that peeked through the ruffles in the v-neck had swallowing nearly impossible and finally finding her face, she looked at him unimpressed.

“Did you just hear a word I said?”

“Ah, you look, nice.” Braydon stuttered, not liking the tight ball she had her hair sitting up in on the top of her head.  It was too harsh, and he was more accustomed to seeing her hair out and free.

“Thanks, I think?” Miranda didn’t like that the way he was looking at her had her heart starting to race, and a tornado of butterflies set off in her stomach. Biting her lip, she pushed those feelings and the thoughts that usually followed aside.

 “Listen closely, I left cash on the dining table for you and your phone is there charged with all my numbers and Rory’s in it. Mum will be here at ten. She is going to take you to get some things for your class tomorrow. I’ll be home by five thirty and if you need anything, or just to talk or if anything happens, just call me.”

“I’ll be fine Miranda, you worry too much!” Braydon smiled, daring to look her up and down again he didn’t know how legs could be so interesting. All he wanted to do was touch them, to find out if they were as smooth and soft as the rest of her. He shivered slightly, not sure where the thought of running his hands up her legs had even come from.

“I just feel bad, but I have to go back to work. It’ll be better once I know you’re not just left sitting around here all day. I gotta go, but really, call me anytime!” She bent over and kissed his cheek quickly, which despite the innocence of it was all Braydon needed for the tension to completely consume his body.

Miranda practically ran out the room then, grabbing her bag off the top of the dresser as she went past. This time it wasn’t just the curve of her butt that him enthralled, but all of her. As the front door was slammed shut with a muffled good bye being yelled out, Braydon knew the only way he was going to do anything today after that was if he went and had a very cold shower first.

--

So this turned out to be a very Miranda dominated chapter. Was there too much info on her past/going on in general or was it about time you found out what went on?