Ever's P.O.V.

I yawned and blinked against the sunlight that shown through me bedroom window. I squeezed my eyes shut and sat up, shaking the covers off me. I stood up slowly, stretching. The dream I'd had last night was very weird, much like the other dreams I've had since Roderick healed me with his blood a few months ago. I padded over to my closet and threw on a pair of leggings and a long athletic sweatshirt. I slipped on my running shoes and made my way to the kitchen, the smell of french toast drawing me in.

"Good morning sleepy head," Rie grinned as I leaned against the counter beside him.

"Oh hush. This is early for me," I smiled.

"Five in the morning is late for me," Jack laughed from the table, sipping his coffee. I stuck my tongue out at him and poured myself my own mug of coffee, dumping a ton of vanilla creamer into it, and sat down beside him. Rie made me a plate of french toast and I thanked him by ruffling his hair.

"Hey!" He yelped and shook his head, causing his pitch black hair to fall back into place. "Watch it Radke," He chuckled.

"I'd rather not," I grinned and ate a bite of the french toast.

"Oh my gosh," I groaned. "How do you cook so well?"

Rie wiggled his fingers at his the apron that had the words 'Kiss the Chef' embroidered on it and grinned. "My apron is magical of course," He chuckled.

I laughed and leaned up, kissing him gently. "Of course. Silly me," I smirked.

"Woah there. Spare my eyes you two," Jack groaned and covered his eyes playfully. I rolled my eyes at him and he gave me a sweet smile.

In the past few months since Dakota was killed to resurrect my mother and Damien, who I still didn't remember much about, had left, Rie and I had started... getting closer. We officially defined our relationship a few weeks ago. Jack found it very amusing to tease us and claimed that it was his job as my best friend.

I finished off my french toast and coffee and gave Rie a quick kiss on the cheek before heading to the front door. The air outside was cool and the branches on the trees were bare. I started running along the tree line of the neighboring forest, keeping my breath steady. Every Saturday morning, I ran to visit Dakota's grave. It was roughly six miles from Rie's house but thanks to werewolf speed, it only took me about forty-five minutes to run it, there and back.

I turned off into the woods and let my feet carry to my destination. When I arrived at the burned skeleton of the old pack house, I slowed to a stop in front of a makeshift headstone. I sighed and noticed that I could see my breath but I wasn't cold.

I knelt down beside Dakota's grave and layed a pale yellow flower that I had picked up on the way on top of mounded dirt. I had just recently stopped crying every time I looked at the grave. Now it was just like a couldn't breath. Every time I went near it, my breath caught. At first, I couldn't even place flowers on it without passing out.

It was strange but I eventually got over that too. I pushed past it all, for him. He would want me to be strong. He didn't sacrifice his life for mine just so I could cower in the shadows. I was not going to waste this life that Dakota had made sure I could live. I took a deep, shuddering breath and whispered a quick goodbye before turning on my heals and darting back the way I came.

I arrived at the house and was immediately greeted with the sound of someone screaming. I swung the door open and walked in, closing it behind me. Rie poked his head over the back of the couch and he rose a finger to his lips, telling me to be quiet. I nodded, a smile creeping onto my face, and slipped my shoes off. Rie and I tip toed towards Jack's room and opened the door a crack.

Jack was sitting on the floor in front of his television with a game controller in his hands. He was staring at the screen with his tongue sticking out and his brows knitted in concentration. It was evident that he was playing a horror game. His character opened a door and a monster scrambled towards him causing him to let out a high pitched shriek.

At that moment, Rie and I lost it. We simultaneously erupted into laughter and fell on the floor, leaning against each other for support. Jack yanked open the door and glared at us as we literally rolled on the floor. I pulled myself over to Rie, who was propped against the wall, and layed my head in his lap.

"I- c- can't b- b- breath!" I choked out between laughs. Rie was laughing so hard that he couldn't even speak so he just waved a hand at me in agreement.

"Oh shut up," Glared Jack. "I didn't ask you to watch me."

"We didn't ask you to scream like a girl!" Rie finally got out then burst into laughed again.

I took a deep breath and calmed myself down, for the sake of my abdomen. My now tight stomach mussels ached and I tried to pull myself up but I fell back, Rie catching me in his arms and situating me in his lap. I snorted and layed my head back, staring up at Jack.

"Rie has a point," I added coolly.

"Whatever," Jack groaned. Rie got to his feet and pulled me to mine. I staggered a bit but Rie caught me with his shoulder and I shot him a thankful smile.

"Oh come on Jack! You know just as well as we do that that, indeed, was hilarious," I stated matter-of-factly.

A small smile crept onto his face and a nodded slowly. "Okay okay. It was kinda funny."

"Kinda?" Rie smirked.

"Don't push it," Jack chuckled. I patted him on the back as he strode past Rie and I and he stuck his tongue out at me from over his shoulder. I followed him into the kitchen, Rie close behind me, and I dropped into my favorite spot at the dining room table. Rie and Jack rummaged through the fridge for some food but came up empty handed.

"How about we order pizza?" I suggested.

"Wonderful idea," Jack grinned and grabbed his phone, dialing the number. When the person on the other line answered, Jack bite back a laugh and spoke.

"Ello there. I would like to place an order for 1 large cheese pizza and 1 large meat lovers please?" He said in a terrible British accent. I snorted and he hushed me with his glare. "Thank you mate," He said then hung up with a laugh.

"That was offensive to Brits everywhere," Rie chuckled, shaking his head.

"Agreed. I thought you were going to practice," I smiled humorously.

Jack frowned and tilted his head. "I did practice!"

"I can tell," Rie and I said sarcastically in unison. Jack looked back and forth between the two of us then shook his head.

"The similarities between you two are insane," He chuckled.

"Really?" Rie inquired. "I could have sworn Ever was more attractive than I am."

"Oh hush!" I laughed and tossed my head towards him. "Down boy!" Rie then got down on all fours and started panting like a dog.

"Ugh," Jack shuddered. "This is just disturbing." He got up from his perch on the counter and pulled Rie to his feet, pointing a finger at him.

"Don't ever pant at my best friend," Jack smirked, shaking his finger.

"Don't ever not pant at my girlfriend," Rie countered, grinning. I jumped up and stood between the two of them, my palms extended.

"Don't make me send the both of you to obedience school," I warned and leaned against the island. Rie and Jack exchanged a quick look then they both started barking. I groaned and dropped my head onto the counter until the stopped.

"You two are idiots," I muttered.

"But you love us," Jack pointed.

"Unfortunately," I smirked.

Rie put his hand over his heart and put on a fake hurt expression. "Ouch, honey. Love you too," He said in an offended tone.

"Of course you do," I smiled sweetly and kissed him on the cheek quickly. He grabbed my arm and pulled me closer to him, pressing a kiss into my lips. I pulled away and grinned at him, ignoring the fact that Jack had pulled his shirt over his eyes.

Instantly, Jack and I's heads snapped towards the door and we sniffed the air, exchanging an eager look.

"Pizza!" We exclaimed in unison.

The door bell rang and Rie got up to get it, casting an impressed look over his shoulder. He payed the woman for the food and took the large cardboard boxes from her, kicking the door shut behind him. He slid the two boxes onto the corner and Jack grabbed the one labeled 'cheese'. Jack always ate an entire pizza by himself while Rie and I halved one.

I put my four pieces on a plate and sat down at the island beside Rie and dug in. I finished all four slices in record time and leaned back in my seat. I sighed and glanced at Rie, who had eaten two slices, and smirked.

"What! It's not my fault that I like to bite my food, not inhale it!" Rie laughed.

"I do not inha-," I began but cut off when I felt my chest contract. Rie tilted his head and I hopped down from my seat and dashed to my room, locking the door behind me. I crumpled to the floor in a fit of violent coughs and tried to focus on my breathing like Isaac had taught me when this first happened.

Isaac had said that this was the 'negative side effect' of magic tainted werewolves blood that Roderick had mention. There were other things too but the crippling strokes of bad health seemed to be the only thing I had contracted from it so far.

"Ever!" Rie shouted, banging on my door. "Let me in!"

"No way!" I shouted back and broke into another fit of coughs. It had always made Rie frantic when I had my attacks so I had taken to locking myself away without a word of warning. It upset me to see him so worried so I did everything in my power to keep him from seeing me like this.

After the wave of coughs finally passed and Rie stopped pounding on the door, I forced myself to my feet and stumbled over to my bedroom door. I fumbled with the lock until it clicked and I opened the door slowly, my eyes on the ground.

Rie grabbed my shoulders and pulled me into his arms, hugging me tightly. He wove his fingers through my hair and rubbed the small of my back as I shuddered against his tall frame. He sank to his knees, taking me with him, and cradled me in his arms. I shivered and clung to him, for his sake more than mine. We sat that way for a moment then he hepled me to my feet and led me to the living room. I sat down beside him on the couch and buried my face and his chest.

"How are you feeling?" Rie asked me quietly as he ran his fingers up and down my spine.

"I'm fine," I said quietly, shivering against his side.

"You have to stop doing that. You have to let me help you," He sighed.

"I know, I know. It just makes you so upset when I get like that. I don't like seeing you so worried," I frowned.

"Sweetheart, I'm your guardian angel and your boyfriend," He smiled faintly. "It's my job to worry about you."

____________________________________________________________________________________

So, what did you think? Was this a good start to Forever's sequel? Please comment what you think! I would really love to hear what you have to say about it!

Please vote and comment! Thanks for reading!