I have never once minded living on my own. I enjoyed the peace and was glad to not have to deal with any potential drama. At least, that was how I felt initially, but I wasn't sure anymore.

It'd been three, almost four, weeks since Fen left and I had done little to nothing in that time. I mostly lay in bed, his bed usually because we still shared a mate bond and no matter how messed up it seemed, I still missed the way his scent filled the house and how I'd wake up to find him randomly by my side when he hadn't previously been there when I'd fallen asleep.

I had hoped he'd return home sometime during the first week and we could put this whole thing behind us, but he didn't. During week two, I tried to see if he was in the cabin, but he wasn't. On week three, I went to the club to see if he was there, but they told me they hadn't seen him in forever.

I did try checking a few more places, but it was clear to me that he didn't want to get found. At least, not now. He hadn't called, texted, or anything despite the fact that I left him well over fifty messages asking if he was okay.

That was how I got to now. I spent most of my time staring up at the ceiling, wondering where he could be. I got out of bed for one thing really: to feed CJ.

I don't think Fen intended to leave the cat, but he did nonetheless and CJ was not happy about it. If he wasn't sitting by the door, waiting for Fen to return, he was glaring at me with an expression that made it seem like he just knew the two of us had gotten into a fight and was cursing my existence.

The only time he approached me was when I poured his food into his bowl and even then he kept his distance.

I hadn't talked to anyone since Fen left and I surely didn't invite anyone over, which was why I was surprised to find Callie, Arlo, Eli, and even Reuben standing in a circle, staring down at me like they were about to perform a dissection.

"What the fuck are you all doing here?" I asked, pushing myself into a sitting position. "How did you get in?"

"You gave me a key," Callie responded. "And we're here to make sure you're still alive, dumbass since you can't seem to answer your phone."

"You've seen me. You can go now," I instructed, trying to burrow beneath the covers, but Callie wasn't having it.

"What's wrong with you?" She demanded. "Why do you look like you got hit by a truck?"

I groaned, pulling the covers over my head. "I'm fine, Callie. Just leave me alone."

"You don't look fine," Arlo chimed in, and something about his presence in this room, in Fen's room, bothered me more than anything.

"Get out."

"Cronan—"

"Get out!"

The words came out much louder and more aggressive than I intended, but they did the trick. The group slowly exited the room and closed the door, leaving me alone once again. Just how I liked it.

...

I woke up to the loud sound of something crashing to the floor and immediately shot up to go check on CJ. There would be no chance of Fen ever coming back if I killed his cat.

However, my feet came to a halt when I realized it wasn't CJ who had made the noise, but Eli instead. He was crouched over in the kitchen, cleaning up whatever it was he dropped when I saw him. I noticed he wasn't the only one there upon further inspection. They were all still present, sitting on the couch with CJ curled into Callie's lap.

I felt a little jealous knowing that he hadn't gotten close to me in weeks, but warmed right up to her.

"Hey," Arlo greeted me once he saw me. "Are you feeling any better?"

"Why are you guys still here?" I asked instead with a frown on my face.

"Because we care about you even if you yell at us," Callie chimed in. "When did you get a cat by the way?"

"It's not mine," I said and memories of Fen replayed in my head, making my frown grow.

"Are you ready to talk about what's wrong with you?" Reuben questioned.

"Nothing is—"

"Cut the bullshit, dude. Nobody here is buying it."

I glared at him, but he was unbothered by it.

"We just want to help," Eli added.

"Ruining my dishes and house is helping?"

"I didn't mean to break anything," he said, tone apologetic. "But I mean it. We're here to try and help you."

"This isn't something you can help with."

"Let us try," he pleaded.

I stared at the group of them, including CJ, and sighed. "Fen left."

Callie and Arlo both looked at me confusedly since they didn't know about Fen, but Eli and Reuben seemed to catch on quickly.

"What did he do?" Reuben asked.

A bitter smile formed on my lips and I sat into one of the kitchen chairs and dropped my face into the palm of my hands.

"He didn't do anything wrong," I told them.

It was the truth. He didn't. He was just being honest and I couldn't fault him for that when I was the one who asked him for complete honesty in the first place.

"Since when were you seeing Fen?" Callie asked, clearly puzzled.

"Since Reed last visited Oakwood. We weren't seeing each other though. Just occasionally sleeping together. He was staying with me while he got back on his feet."

"So why'd he leave?" Eli inquired. "You guys seemed to be getting along pretty well, better than well when I last saw you. You couldn't stay away from each other.

I cringed at his words. Was that what we really looked like to outside eyes?

"He told me he loved me," I confessed, the words feeling heavy as they left my mouth, and a silence followed.

I could feel all their eyes on me, but it was Arlo who spoke up first. "And what did you say?"

"What the hell was I supposed to say to that? It came out of nowhere. One minute everything was fine and the next he was confessing," I ran my hand through my hair. "I told him the truth."

"Which was?" Arlo continued to push.

"That I didn't see why anything had to change. I mean everything was fine—"

A pillow hit me square in the face and I glanced over at Arlo who was glaring at me.

"You're such an idiot," he announced as he stalked down the hallway toward the bathroom and shut the door.

The rest of us stared at the direction he'd gone and Callie leaned back, letting out a sigh, and said, "Why don't you start from the beginning?"