"You can go to him now. I know you want to." Mr Rhodes said with a smirk.
"I did want to check up on him, but I have a sneaking suspicion you mean something else, but I won't question it. Anyway, I'm going to go now." Kellian stated.
"Ah, young love. I'm glad I didn't adopt her." Tyler stated.
"It didn't seem that way to me," Liam stated.
"That's because you're too young." Tyler pouted.
"She treats everyone like that, even me," Liam informed.
"That is because you're brothers, and you just remind her of him," Tyler responded, not wanting to admit he may be wrong.
"I highly doubt that," Liam stated, then walked off.
"Alone again..." Tyler said with a sigh.
Kellian wondered around the house, searching for Ryder. She finally found him outside. He was sitting alone on a swing, an empty one next to him. The swings were attached to a large beautiful tree. The leaves were a pretty shade of green, and the area around the tree had mesmerizing flowers of different colours. Kellian tried to go over to him but—
SLAM.
Kellian had walked into the sliding glass door, not realizing it was closed. "Ouch."
Ryder had heard the noise, saw Kellian on the ground, walked over and opened the door.
"You're so dumb. How did you not realize the door was closed, Blueberry?" He asked, helping her up.
"It's not my fault! It's see-through!" She complained with a pout.
"Hahaha. Come sit with me." He laughed then invited her.
'This is weird. Why is Ryder acting nice? Is this what Tyler noticed and figured out something was wrong with him?' Kellian asked herself.
Ryder led Kellian over to the tree, and they sat next to each other on the swings.
"..." Ryder was silent.
"..." So was Kellian, and thus began the awkward silence.
"Do you really forgive Leo?" He asked, breaking the silence.
"Yes. Leo didn't do anything wrong, and he is still the same person." Kellian replied almost immediately.
"He did do something wrong! He pretended to be defenceless. Why are you so nice?" Ryder asked, annoyed.
"You heard it from Tyson. That was a good thing. I probably would have died if he did. And I'm not that nice. I understand him is all."
"But he could have at least tried!" Ryder yelled, his fluffy tail waving in anger.
"I forgive him. And you should too. You have to sympathize with him. He knew if everyone knew the truth they would be scared of him. So he tried his best to hide that fact. He was only scared we wouldn't like him." Kellian explained.
"I guess," Ryder said, looking down. His ears and tail drooped.
"Sounds like you guys fought, and you're at fault. You're regretting it, right? So, don't you want to do something nice for him and apologize?" Kellian asked, smiling innocently.
"I will."
"Good boy," Kellian said, then the awkward silence resumed.
"Do you... remember...N-nevermind," Ryder hesitated to say something, breaking the silence again.
"The pictures?" Kellian asked, finishing what he wanted to say.
"You actually remember them too?" He asked, surprised.
"No. I don't, actually," Kellian replied.
"Yeah. Of course. Haha. Because it never happened. Haha," Ryder laughed nervously.
"I don't want to believe it, but you were really cute, and we seemed very close." She teased.
"I'm not cute!" Ryder pouted.
"Sure," Kellian said sarcastically.
"..." The awkward silence resumed.
"Does this mean you officially acknowledge me as a friend?" Kellian asked, realizing this was the nicest he had ever been to her.
"Idiot." He said, looking away.
"I'll take that as a yes. Where's Dexter I thought he came with you?" Kellian asked.
"I told him to go buy Ice-cream."
"Can you eat it?"
"I'm only lactose intolerant. It won't kill me."
"Oh... By the way, your ears and tail look super cool! Why do you hide them?" Kellian asked, staring intently at them.
"W-what!?" He asked, shocked, then immediately made them go away.
"Huh? You didn't realize you had them out?" Kellian asked, tilting her head.
"N-no. You saw nothing! Okay?" He said, seemingly embarrassed.
"Even if you didn't have them out now, they're out in the pictures anyways," Kellian said, showing him the pictures.
"He gave you those!?" Ryder exclaimed.
"He did." She smiled proudly.
"Ugh... I just don't like my ears and tail..." Ryder said, looking away.
"But they're so cute! They look so soft and pettable." Kellian stated.
"..." Ryder remained silent, not facing Kellian.
"Fine. They are yours, and I can't tell you what to do. But promise you'll let me pet them. I miss the feeling of soft fluffy ears and tails." He giggled.
Ryder blushed as he looked at her.
"Fine... I'll let you."
"Really?"
"Not now, though. I'm not ready."
"Hm?" She tilted her head. "Oh! They're really sensitive, right?"
"...Yeah." He replied.
'Werewolves' ears and tails are sensitive to touch. For a werewolf who is not used to them being touched, it will create a rush of emotions they're not used to. Father told me that the reactions also depend on how you feel about the person. He said when I pet him it makes him happy, just like when he receives a hug. So he compared it to a hug. If someone who has never received a hug before is hugged, they may blush and be stunned by the feeling. But if they don't like the person or don't like being touched they'll push the person away. So he told me if I wanted to pet another werewolf, I always had to ask first.'
"Has anyone ever pet your ears or tail before?" SHe wanted to confirm her theory.
"No. I don't have them out. No one has ever had the chance to."
"I see." Kellian nodded. 'So he doesn't want to do it because he is not prepared, and his face is already flushed!'
"But why were you blushing before?" She was curious.
"Those pictures bring back embarrassing memories."
"So, they did happen?" She caught his contradiction.
"Maybe they did. Who knows? Anyway, they may or may not bring back embarrassing memories." He corrected himself.
"So... do you want to know what Tyson told me about what we're going to do next?" Kellian asked.
"He said that we will have to travel to every kingdom because my stepmom sold all my mothers jewellery in different places. Some of the pieces of jewellery were actually relics that I will need. So we are technically going to travel the world soon." Kellian explained
"Oh."
"I have no clue where to start first, and I'm scared. What if the people who bought the relics don't want to give them back, and I never get them, and the bad people decide to attack, and we are unprepared, and because of me, we all die!" Kellian said, panicking.
"Umm... That... won't happen." Ryder said, trying to cheer her up.
"He's right, you know," Tyson said, appearing out of nowhere.
"Ahh!" Ryder screamed, almost falling off his swing.
"Tyson?" Kellian asked.
"Hi!" He said with a smile.
"What the hell!?" Ryder yelled.
"Nice to see you too, alpha pup."
"How and why did you just pop out of nowhere?" Ryder asked.
"How? I came from M'lady's ring. Why? I want to cheer up my mistress. Do you have a problem with that?" Tyson asked, floating over to Ryder's face.
"Please don't fight..." Kellian said softly.
"I would never... Unless you want me to, of course. Anyway, If the people with the relics don't want to give up, we'll just have to take it by force. Now is probably a good time to mention this. Just anyone can't use a relic. Only your mom, you, someone you really want to be able to use us or someone we deem worthy can."
"Oh. Well, that's good at least." Kellian sighed.
"All that talking is making me thirsty," Tyson stated out of the blue.
"You get thirsty?" Ryder asked.
"When I'm out of the ring, yes."
"I'll go get some water for you then," Kellian said, getting up and skipping over to the kitchen.
"Okay. Thank you." Tyson said with a smile.
"This is so weird," Ryder said under his breath.
"Get over it, loverboy."
"What!?" Ryder was shocked and angry.
"I saw the pictures. Anyway, being mad at your best friend because he didn't try his best to save her is just plain dumb. Now that I think about it, you should be an ultima just like your father, yeah? Therefore, you didn't try you're best either. Hypocrite Tsundere." Tyson glared at Ryder. 'Stop making things difficult for my lady and just apologize already.'
"I'm back. Here you go, Tyson." Kellian said, handing him a glass of water.
"Thank you, m'lady," Tyson said with a smile.
"You're welcome."
"Say, do you mind if I look around this kingdom a bit?" Tyson asked.
"No, not at all. Just come back before nighttime."
"Of course. I wouldn't want to worry you." Tyson said, then left.
"I don't like that guy," Ryder stated.
"Why? He's so nice." Kellian asked.
"To you, maybe," Ryder said underneath his breath.
'Sigh, I already knew that Leo didn't really do anything wrong.' Ryder thought.
"I know where we should go first, by the way. We will go to the Fairy Kingdom because I know some people there," Ryder stated.
"Sure. At least we'll have somewhere to stay." Kellian agreed.
"I don't know about that..." Ryder said.
"Huh?"
"She won't let so many people stay, so we might have to split into groups."
"Okay."
"So... You want to help me become friends with Leo again?"Ryder asked.
"I thought you'd never ask! Let's start planning now! What does he like?"
They started brainstorming how to fix Ryder and Leo's relationship.