--- Beonnie ---

I woke up early. It was unclear why I was so pumped up about this. Perhaps it was because it had been a long time since I had gotten to do something normal. Like going shopping and maybe to a coffee shop or just hanging out with a... well, I had never hung out with a friend, but today was the day!

The wound on my forehead was turning into a small scar, but nothing that I worried too much about. I just had to remind myself that even if I was relatively unscathed from all recent events, Hild was not. She had gone through a terrible ordeal, and somewhere, I knew that it should be dealt with somehow, but I didn't know what to do. She also seemed to have a rock psyche as she appeared entirely focused on creating a promising future rather than reminiscing over the past.

Hild moved beside me. Her face looked much better now that the swelling had subsided. Now, all visibly left on her face from that horrible night was the yellow-purple colour scheme, as she called it. One or two more days and only minor cuts and bruises would be left. And then, hopefully, nothing would be left. 

She was pretty. She had dark, long lashes, blue eyes just like mine, and long hair that cascaded over her back. The hair was black, and I had a feeling that it wasn't her natural colour, but it suited her well.

We did our morning routine with eggs, bacon, and Harry the dog before we put on the most suitable clothes we could find for a day in town: tights and long-sleeved T-shirts for both of us. I couldn't deny that I was looking forward to getting something a bit more high school and less fugitive to put on.

I took some cash from my bag, enough for clothes, groceries, and whatnot. I could spend a little this day, and then it was back to survival mode. Only from then on was I not in survival mode alone anymore. Hild was with me, and we would survive together.

Eagerly, we walked the short way into the town centre, from where we could take the bus to the other town. As Hild said, it took about half an hour. It wasn't a big town, but it had a small outdoor mall in the centre of a long main street with shops just waking up for the day.

Our eagerness had made us arrive early, and the clothing stores were not quite open yet. So, we decided to head to a nearby café or bakery. We stumbled upon a cute three-story house on a side street that hosted a café/restaurant on the ground floor. As we entered, the aroma of freshly brewed coffee and baked goods greeted us. The place was much larger than it appeared outside, bustling with activity even at this early hour.

We found a table in a booth in one corner by the windows, giving us an excellent view of what happened both inside the place and outside on the street. We sat down and leaned back, taking in the bustling atmosphere. I couldn't help but let out a small cry of happiness, the day's excitement bubbling over. Hild smiled, her eyes livelier than yesterday.

"What was that for?"

"I just am so excited about this day!" I exclaimed. "Should we also have pretence names? I have always wanted to be called Molly."

Hild laughed.

"If you want to."

I thought about it.

"I will be Molly... Harryson! Oh, Hild, that is perfect! And you can be-"

She raised her hand to stop me.

"No, I will be me. Hild. But I can be Hild Harryson."

The bell by the door jingled ever so often when someone entered the café, and soon, there was a small queue in the pick-up line. The exhausted lady talked to everyone and seemed to know most of them by name. It was lovely and homely.

Finally, the queue was gone, and she hurried to our table with a hearty smile.

"Dearest me, what a busy day it is today. I am so sorry, lovelies, to have kept you waiting. Oh, you are new here in town, I see. Welcome to Patty's! I am Patty, and that old devil over in the kitchen is Darren, my husband. What can I do you for this morning?"

We ordered a couple of sandwiches, Hild some coffee and leaned back again to wait for the order to arrive. The doorbell jingled, and some girls entered the shop. It sure was a busy place. Hild found a newspaper and immediately looked at job listings, houses, or apartments for rent.

Patty returned with our order and made some small talk to the soundtrack of the doorbell, which jingled again. Oh-la-di-da. This time, it wasn't two girls who entered but some sort of excellent specimen of a man. He was tall, had unruly blonde hair, and was just... simply... gor - yikes. I never finished thinking about his gorgeousness before he turned his head towards us and squinted with his eyes. Did he sniff the air, or was it my brain projecting? I sniffed the air. Nothing. He was not a werewolf. Oh. Why couldn't he have been? Admittedly, he probably was a bit old for me. But still. Spectacular.

Then I realised he was still looking towards us, and I was still staring at him. I fidgeted with my hair and leaned over the table to see what Hild was doing. I was trying so hard to look engulfed in her doings that I almost, but only almost, didn't notice that Patty had left to get back to the counter and the specimen actually had ordered and now was making his way towards our table. Was that sweat on my forehead? And we were still wearing Tristan-clothes!

Without hesitation, he slid into the seat next to Hild. She looked up from the newspaper, her expression a mix of surprise and annoyance.

"Can we do something for you?"

Ice.

"Oh, I'm sorry. The place was so full, and both of you looked like nice people. I hope it is ok?"

He looked utterly innocent, and I could see Hild was letting her guard down. At that exact moment, Patty returned with a pot of fresh coffee and carefully put it on the table. Then she looked at the three of us.

"Why Vidar, you didn't tell me your family was visiting? I thought these ladies here were strangers in town! But looking at you now, I can see the family resemblance."

Vidar. I immediately contemplated abandoning Zac as my primary love interest and putting all my teenage romance fantasies in Vidar's fate.

As if he knew what I was thinking, and of course he was, he flashed a knock-out smile towards us.

"Oh, Patty! You have a sharp eye, don't you? But this time, you are out of focus. These lovely ladies are, unfortunately, or not, related to me."

"Oh dear, I am sorry. Darren always tells me never to open my mouth about things I do not know for certain," Patty replied with an embarrassed frown.

Hild nodded royally.

"It is quite alright. They do look similar, actually," she said, smiled, tilted her head, and looked at us. Then she pointed at her hair. "Wrong colour."

"Ah yes, but the blue eyes are there," Patty said, smiling and looking down at the paper where Hild had circled some apartments for let. "But you are planning on staying in town?"

Hild hastily closed the paper.

"Well, we are considering our options at the moment. As you can see," she gestured towards her face and my forehead. We have had some rough times and are now looking for a place to get a fresh start."

She glanced warily at Vidar as if it were okay to share such information with Patty but perhaps not with him. He had one Y chromosome, too many.

Patty scooted me over and sat down with a sympathetic look.

"I can see that, my dear. Well, I don't usually, but since you both seem so nice, I will make an exception," she said in a conspiratorial tone. We have an apartment for rent on the third floor. The tenant has just moved out, and we decided to have it for guests, but seeing how you... well, you can rent it if you want to."

Hild had, up until now, done a pretty good job at keeping her calm and unaffected composure, but now she almost jumped up from the table smiling.

"Really?! That would be great!"

Then she looked at Vidar again, composed herself, sat down, and with a dry voice, she added:

"We would very much appreciate the opportunity to look at it and then decide. Oh, but we have a dog..?"

Patty slammed her palms on the table and smiled towards Hild.

"I love dogs. It is settled, then! Let me know when you are ready to have a look," she said, getting up. With a nod to Vidar and me, she left to go back behind the counter.

Vidar smiled towards us.

"Well, ladies. It looks like we are going to be neighbours. So if you need someone to howl at the moon with.. "

I snapped up my head towards him. Howl at the moon?

He noticed my confusion and winked his eyes.

"..just let me know. I live in one of the small cottages just fifteen minutes into the woods in that direction."

I didn't know how to interpret his words, so I didn't know what to say. And so far, I hadn't said a word to him, and with my conversational skills, I was probably better off being silent. Hild noticed my confusion, but being such a newbie werewolf, she could not grasp why.

"Uhm, okay. That's good to know. Thank you, Vidar," she said, getting up as if she were ending a business meeting and holding out her hand. You should better be off then. Take care."

He nodded in agreement, got up, smiled, took her hand, and shook it.

"Ladies, it was exceptionally fascinating to see you."

See? Not meet. Yep, specimen – I noticed your choice of words.

I got up, and as if I was re-enacting Hild, I also held my hand out, and with a royal nod, I said:

"Vidar. It certainly was interesting to meet you."

He took my hand and bent over as if to KISS IT, and I lost the ability to breathe when he almost touched my hand with his lips.

"I am sure it was. And do let me know if I can be of assistance," he held up his finger as if to silence us. "But don't cry wolf too often."

He mocked a bow and left us with our jaws on the floor.

Hild turned to me.

"Wolf? Was he a... ?" she whispered frantically.

"I don't know. He didn't smell like one at all," I was confused.

We gathered our stuff and took our plates and cups with us to help Patty. As we approached the counter, she turned back towards the kitchen and yelled to Darren to take over.

She then ushered us up a stair to the left of the counter, and we walked up to the third floor.

"Now, we have not had time to check the place out after he left, but he always was such a tidy man, so I think..," she opened the door, and we walked into a large, sunny living room. 

Hild took a few tentative steps into the kitchen area in the room and, as you do, drew her fingers across the surface of the large wooden table. My eyes turned to the left, towards a door on the leftmost wall, but my steps followed Hild to the right, past the kitchen, and into a large en-suite bedroom. Her bedroom, by the look of her smiling face. I backed out again, crossed the living room, opened the door, and entered a smaller bedroom - my room. I smiled.

There was more to explore, so I walked out into the living room again, only to discover a third bedroom in a small hallway to the right, which also led to a balcony facing the garden below. Lovely! But the heart of the apartment was the living room, with two big sofas just by the windows.

It was warm, felt spacy, wooden, and welcoming. I loved it. Love, love, loved it.

I turned to Hild with a pleading look. She smiled enthusiastically.

"How much is the rent?"

The rent was reasonable, and Hild shook Patty's hand.

"We would love to rent it. Thank you so much for this!"

She swallowed.

"This Vidar person - is he a possible... problem? We don't have that good experience with men.. and.."

Patty shook her head and smiled.

"Vidar is an absolute gem. He has been living in this town for five years now. Never looked at a woman the wrong way, always helpful and kind. All of them are."

I raised an eyebrow.

"All of them?"

She shook her head and smiled as if she again had said something wrong.

"Oh, I know I shouldn't group them together, but they all look the same and live together in the woods. Except for Vidar and maybe one or two more, they are all the quiet types, though. But always very polite and considerate. Well, except for one, who is a bit louder, let's say. But oh, never mind."

Then she clasped her hands.

"I shouldn't stand here gossiping. You'll see."

She turned around and closed the door after her.

We looked at each other and squealed. YAY!

Then we did what all people do the first time in their new home. We walked around again and mentally decorated it. We had nothing to decorate with, but still. I went into the smaller bedroom and lay down on the bed. Life at this very moment was good. And this room was now my corner of the world.

Hild walked in from the living room and leaned against the door.

"Good?"

I nodded.

"Very good."

She walked over to the bed and lay beside me, and we both stared at the roof.

"Ok. So, that was one thing on our list to do. Do you want to shop for clothes, or should we go back, get our stuff, check out, and start our new life?"

I turned towards her.

"We can start our new life in a couple of hours in new clothes?"

She rolled her eyes but smiled.

"Sure."