"You're looking better," Tasha said as I let go of her arm and sat down by the tables that had been placed outside on the curb. She was on walking duty with me today. I had to walk to town every day, get a coffee from Liza and then walk back home again. I still couldn't manage the whole trip alone because I needed support. Today that support came in the shape of someone who was actually shorter than me, but I reckon Tasha could snap me in half quite easily.

"I feel better too."

She smiled and took a sip of her coffee. Liza was allowed to make her coffee. She had apparently mastered the way it was supposed to be done. I'd never figure out why she just couldn't drink regular black coffee.

"Are you planning on coming to the town fair?" she asked.

"Yeah, I have a couple of paintings showing in the gallery. Just a little intimidating to have my teachers and the other people from the course see me. I mean, we told them I was in a car accident. So, they know about the crutch and stuff. And they know why I'm not at school. But I haven't talked to them, you know? Not beyond just saying hi when I've met them around town."

"Yeah, you have to face it all head on. You're not the same as the last time they saw you. You're more vulnerable."

I nodded. "Yeah, exactly."

"If it gets too overwhelming, then you can always leave. You can totally bail and make an excuse that your leg is hurting." She shrugged a shoulder and started fidgeting with her hair. She was wearing her hair in twists with green incorporated into it. Like an almost startling neon green. It suited her a lot. She was dressing a little more alternatively now than when she got here. I wondered if it was because of Fred. I knew they went shopping together. Tasha also seemed generally more comfortable. In the beginning she could come across as quite hard, but she had softened over time. There was still no bullshit with her, but it seemed like she was showing more and more of herself, and I enjoyed getting to know her.

"I invited Dee and Frank and their wolves to come to the fair too. I hope they can see that this town is thriving with the way we're doing things."

She grimaced a little. "I don't know if that's such a good idea, but on the other hand, it's probably the best time for them to come. They wouldn't arouse suspicion."

"Arouse suspicion? What are we? A crime novel?" I asked and couldn't help but laugh.

"You're an idiot, Gael," Tasha said and rolled her eyes. "What I mean is, it doesn't look weird for a bunch of strangers to turn up to the fair. So, it'd be a good time for them to see the town as a group. But I don't personally like having that many strange wolves here at the same time. I think it's intimidating, and we don't know them. Like we genuinely don't know them."

I nodded a bit. "Yeah, I hear what you're saying. But I do think this might be a good time to get to know them. We don't have to be as alone as we have been. Imagine having other groups to lean on for whatever we might need support with. Like last summer, I would've killed to have the network I have now. We might've not lost so many people to the feral dryad, if there had been a larger network."

"That is true. And that's also why I'm not aggressively disagreeing with them coming. Because I don't have the experiences you have, and I do actually trust your judgement there."

I swallowed something. It felt a little overwhelming to have that kind of support. To have her trust in that way. It also felt really good. It reassured me that this was what I should focus on. Tightening the bond to the other wolves. Make us all grow closer and grow stronger together.

"Oi, can you tell your dumbass brother to get my dumbass brother home for dinner tonight?" Liza asked as she came with some cakes for us, pulling me out of my line of thought. For a second, I had to figure out what that string of words even meant, but then it dawned on me, she was talking about Creek and River.

"Are they playing lesbians?" Tasha asked.

"Might as well. Creek barely comes home and when they do, they have this dumbass look on his face. Just goes around and smiles. Barely touches the ground when he walks. My mum wants him home."

"River has been less annoying lately too. Almost like he's nicer. It's almost uncomfortable," I said. I shook a little before taking a bite of the cake. It was a cinnamon bun. They made the best ones here. It was honestly worth the walk.

"Who would've thought those two morons..." Liza trailed off and narrowed her eyes at something. I followed her gaze to the other side of the road. As if they had heard us, they appeared. River and Creek were walking closely together, and Creek was wearing one of River's smart jackets.

We must've all looked super weird, our faces scrunched up like that, wrinkles chasing away any signs of our apparent youth. Creek shrank. So did River. I had never seen either become so small. If River had a tail, it would've been firmly tucked between his legs. They slowly made their way across the road, probably hoping they'd get hit by a truck. But this was a lazy little mountain town, and no trucks drove through here, unless it was one of the locals and they didn't run people over.

"Hey," River tried when they finally made it to the café.

"Hey? Is that all you've got to say? Hey," Liza said with a put-on deep voice, clearly mocking River. "And what about you? You don't even have anything to say to your own beloved big sister?"

"You're not so beloved when you act like this," Creek muttered under his breath.

"What was that? Put your full chest into saying that again." Liza lifted her chin.

"Nothing... I didn't say anything."

"Didn't fucking think so. Dinner's at six, and you," she said and turned towards River. "Better show up too. You're taking my brother all over town, and you can't even come face his mum? Pathetic." She turned on her heel and walked straight back into the bakery without waiting for anyone to reply.

"I wasn't avoiding anyone. I haven't been invited," River said and shrugged, digging into his pockets for his fags.

"Uh, I didn't even know my mum even knew about us." Creek shrugged too.

"You're literally wearing River's jacket," I said and pointed my cinnamon roll at them.

They looked down and it seemed like it dawned on them. "Oh, yeah. I hadn't even noticed."

"I did. It's hot," River said with a sly smile and winked at Creek.

"You're dipshits and you get to follow Gael home. I gotta run," Tasha said while looking at her phone.

The sly smile slipped right off River's face, but Creek looked excited. River probably wasn't happy I was cutting into his time with Creek, but I had a hard time caring. Creek was my friend first. He could just go home if he didn't wanna come with us.

Creek offered me his arm almost gallantly and I didn't hesitate to grab it. I was done eating and drinking anyways, and it was too funny to give up this opportunity to bother River.

He didn't say anything, but just grabbed my crutch and held it until we were out on the curb. The bakery had a small fence keeping the outdoor space of the seating area free from pedestrians and I couldn't navigate it with the crutch.

"Have you heard from Meera?" River asked as Creek let go of me.

I grabbed a better hold of the crutch and started walking back towards my house. "No. I haven't. Tasha got in contact with her roommate, and she has moved out. So, I don't expect to hear more from her. Unless she decides to come back."

"See, I think that's weird. Like, wasn't she settling? Becoming friends with Cal?" River asked.

"Cal hasn't heard from her either. So, she must've just left," Creek said and grimaced as River blew out smoke that hit them right in the face. They fanned the smoke away and shot River a very disappointed look. "Don't let my mum see you smoking, or you'll never hear the end of it."

River rolled his eyes and dropped the fag on the ground, stepping on it. "I just think it's weird to leave without saying anything. Especially after Fred helping her and all." He shook his head and buried his hands in his jacket. "Maybe it's just me."

"I wanna give her the benefit of the doubt, to be honest. I don't think it had anything to do with us, but everything to do with the fact that she was so new, and then this might've been super overwhelming for her." I wanted to shrug so bad, but I was focusing on not falling on my face at that moment, so they would just have to imagine me doing it.

River grabbed my arm, and I was so happy he did because I was about to get tired and needed support, but I didn't wanna say anything as we were walking. The conversation had shifted to what Creek and River had been doing the past few days, and I didn't wanna interrupt or ruin the mood.

Thankfully I didn't have to. I just had to grab a good hold of his arm and not say anything. He didn't say anything either. That was the good thing about River. He'd try and push me a little here and there, but he'd never push me too hard. And he never said anything when I needed help. He knew I knew my limits. It seemed like he knew my limits as well.