"I swear that when our lips touch, I can taste the next sixty years of my life."
~R.F.

Spencer

The next two weeks flew by. Elsa and I nailed our science presentation, aced the rest of our exams, and we graduated. Unbeknownst to the rest of my pack, I'd been one of the loudest people cheering for Elsa (and Anna) when they walked across the stage.

After the ceremony, we held mine and Gigi's graduation party at the compound. We had the stereo blaring all kinds of music, mainly Gigi's picks. I knew what battles to choose as an Alpha. The music choice was not one of them.

That night, I slipped out of the house as everyone slept. I itched to see Elsa, especially now that we were trying things again. Dom's and Anna's approval gave us a boost in confidence in this relationship working.

When I arrived at the lake, Elsa wasn't there. Checking my phone, I saw she texted me saying she'd be ten minutes late. That'd been five minutes ago.

I took the time to lay out a blanket on the ground, a few feet from the lake's shores. Its waters were so still, it could've been a mirror.

I'd been coming here for years. It was neutral territory for our packs when we needed to talk without risking a fight occurring. There was one thing our packs could agree on: respecting traditions set by the generations before us. Dom and I were supposed to continue those. I planned on it, but I wanted to do so with Elsa by my side.

"Hey, you," Elsa greeted, walking up to me.

"Hey, yourself," I replied with a smile, pulling Elsa in for a kiss. She smiled into it. "What?"

"I missed that," she said.

"I did too. Are you hungry?" I sat down on the blanket.

"No, but I can always eat." I chuckled as I handed her a piece of cake from earlier. "How was your party?"

"It was good. We had a lot of laughs. Scarlet and Fred announced they're daying. Callie stuck by my side most of the day. Jack and Grey nearly face-planted our cake. What about yours?"

"It was great! Josilyn is basically mine and Anna's triplet, so we all hung out most of the day. Hunter's considering proposing to her. He talked to me and Anna about it because he knows she'd tell us if she'd thought about marrying him, which she has. They've been dating for three years, and they've liked each other for longer. We're all expecting it."

"Anyone in your pack you would want to marry?"

"No," Elsa protested adamantly. "There are guys from other packs I could, but I don't want to. I don't want to leave my family. I couldn't. It'd have to be one hell of a guy for me to do that."

"You almost ran off with me," I pointed out.

"I thought we'd been caught," she argued airily. "But I would've done it. How's Dom?"

"Quiet. I mean, he's always grumpy cat around you two because you're Laroches, but he's been quieter than usual. He used to not be like this. Why do you ask?"

"I'm pretty sure Anna's been texting him. I think she changed his nickname in her phone."

"To what?"

"Superman."

I snorted. "She better not be giving him a bigger head than he already has."

"You two seem to get along really well," Elsa said.

"Yeah, we do. Dom's had it rough, but he's so successful, he's like... the perfect man. I've always looked up to him. He always seems to know the right thing to do. He's a great brother and alpha. He's too hard on himself sometimes, and I worry about him. There are things in his past he had no control over, but he silently punishes himself for it. I know he does, so he works his ass off trying to be the perfect son. Mom and dad think nothing less of him because of what happened, and they're scared he's pushing himself too hard. He's a great guy, and he has no idea. I tell him everything. He would've been the first one I told about us had Rey not figured it out beforehand, and I told him that so he knows how much I trust him. Dom needs to understand how important he is because I know he doesn't think he is. The only reason he thinks he's important is because he's the future alpha. But he's so much more than that."

I took a deep breath, exhausted from the rant. Dom had been my idol since before I could remember because I knew how proud our parents were of him. I wanted them to be as proud of me as they were of him. My refusal to marry Callie was a serious point of contention with them, but it was the one thing I couldn't agree with. It was the one thing I couldn't go through with. Callie and I deserved better than that.

"Have you told him this?" Elsa inquired.

"No," I admitted. "I don't think Dom wants any of us to know how he feels. So, I always try to make sure he's included in every part of my life. I always go to him for advice. I may not listen every time, but that's me being a brother. I don't know if Anna's interested in him or not, but the fact he's texting her says a lot about how he feels about her. He wouldn't be texting her if he didn't feel some sort of attraction considering she's not just from another pack, she's a Laroche."

"I know my sister wouldn't be texting him for the hell of it if she didn't have some sort of feelings for him. Who knows, maybe she'll be good for him."

"Maybe so. Sorry for dumping all that on you. I'm not used to venting like that."

"I'm always here if you need to vent." We finished our pieces of cake and placed the dirty Tupperware back into my bag. I put my arm around her shoulders, pulling her close to me as we stared up at the sky. I could see the vast expanse of the Milky Way. Elsa kept pointing out shooting stars. She kept seeing them, pointing at them, but I somehow seemed to miss them. Of course, my attention kept returning to her.

"So Dom, Anna, Rey, and Finn all know. Who should know next?" I queried.

Elsa thought about it. "I've been dying to tell Josilyn, but I'd never want her to keep a secret from Hunter. Riley has a big mouth. Ember doesn't like any of you. Hunter would kill Dom, Caleb would kill you. Thea wants to kill all of you. Laurel and I aren't close, and she follows Thea's lead in everything. Diana wants nothing to do with any of you. Akira and Gracie are too much of goody-two-shoes and would either tell my brothers or my parents. The rest of the boys follow Hunter and Caleb's lead. What about you?"

"Well, Lily despises your brothers. Callie wants to murder all of you. Brian would side with her. Jack has a vendetta against you. Tommy would side with Gigi, who would side with Grey, who would side with Jack. Maya and Max will follow Callie and Brian's lead. Fred and Emily would side with Tommy. Scarlet will follow Fred. If they weren't dating, I'd say maybe I could tell her, but I'm not close to her. Isabelle, Harry, and Francine go with the flow with the pack. I'd say we're monumentally screwed."

"I think my best bet is Caleb. I'm closest to him."

"I guess Lily would be min..."

"Convincing those with influence is a smart route to go down as long as we do it carefully," she said. Intertwining our hands together, we fell into silence, deep in thought about our situation. We were hoping for the best but preparing for the worst, whatever that may be.

After some time, I glanced at my phone, shocked to see it was almost three in the morning. I didn't want to leave Elsa, but we both needed to get back home. Elsa seemed to have the same thoughts.

"I don't want to go," she murmured sleepily.

"Me neither," I whispered, kissing her on the head. We got up and slowly packed to leave, not wanting to leave each other. The moments we'd have together in the future would be fleeting. It wouldn't be like school where we could homework as an excuse. We had to go into the working world. We'd have to line up our off days so we could spend some time, together.

Finally, everything was packed, and I walked Elsa to her property line. Before she stepped foot into her territory, she said, "Thank you for tonight. I'll work on Caleb, get him open to the idea of being near a Stark." Elsa shoved her hands in her jacket pockets. "I don't know when I'll be able to see you again."

"Don't worry about it. We'll figure out something. If I have to, I'll stay out all night if it means I can see you."

"As much as I would enjoy that, your constant tiredness might raise suspicion, which could lead to our secret being found out. We wouldn't want that."

"Why do you have to be logical?"

"One of us has to be," she replied jokingly. At that, we fell into another silence, shuffling on our feet, unsure of what to do next. Her hand found its way to my face, cupping it gently. Softly, she said, "Hey, we'll figure out a way to make this work."

"I know," I told her with a smile. But I wasn't sure, and I knew she could see right through me. To keep her mind from traveling down that road of thought, I kissed her.

At first, I thought it'd be like every other time we'd kissed during our midnight outings: the silver moonlight turning Elsa's hair white, her blue eyes shining like the stars.

But this was different.

Words couldn't explain this. It felt like fireworks exploding in the sky, like waves crashing into the sand, like a supernova exploding in space. Just like the fireworks in the night sky, like the sand and the water, like the star in space, we were two ordinary beings creating something fantastic.

Something much greater than the two of us.

"I love you," I breathed, not realizing what I said until I heard her say it back. I opened my eyes and met her gaze. She appeared as surprised by what came out of our mouths as I was, telling me she'd felt the change too.

"There's no going back now," I whispered.

"I don't care," she said, kissing me again. We gripped each other like we were afraid if we let go, all of this would be a dream. Our bodies melded perfectly against each other, and God knows I wanted to do more than just kiss in that moment.

But I forced myself away instead. We couldn't. Not yet. With a final goodbye, Elsa shifted and trekked off to her house. I watched her until she disappeared before heading to my own compound with the feeling of her lips still on my own.