The sound of the front door closing echoed in my chest as I avoided Erin's stare. My arms crossed across my chest to try and ease the tension between us as well as store any warmth currently escaping my body. I hadn't been able to talk with Erin, but I didn't want to do it right now. It was cold, dark, and extremely awkward. 

Joshua had known exactly what to do to take my mind off of things for a while. It had been so much fun spending the rest of the day with just him and our wolves. But, now it was time to come back to reality. I didn't want to. I wanted to walk right past Erin and hide from the rest of the world for just a little longer, but that wasn't an option. I - we - needed the closure a talk would offer us.

Erin and I hadn't even broken up properly! It made me remember that not too long ago, I was convinced Erin and I would be together for the foreseeable future, at the very least. How wrong we were. This had to be done. 

"So..."

I finally looked up at Erin, noticing the way his eyes kept flitting from my face to the ground and back again. "So..."

This was going wonderfully already!... not.

Erin sighed after a minute, running a hand through his curls. "I guess I'll start then," he said with a weak laugh. "Uhh, I just want to know... how long did you know?"

"That Joshua and I were mates?" I asked.

He nodded, shifting on his feet. "Yeah."

I looked down at my arms, trying to avoid looking at him; if I looked at him I feared I'd feel too bad. "Not long. We found out our only night camping."

"Oh. So, it wasn't before that?"

I shool my head. "No. I had no clue until then."

"Wow, so... you didn't like the kiss because you knew about Joshua?"

My head snapped up at his question. I'd almost forgotten about that. "No, actually. I found out after."

Erin gave me an odd look. "Really?"

"Yeah..."

Is it too late to just run away?

"Look, I just wanted to say I'm really sorry. I shouldn't have assumed you'd want me kissing you when we'd been apart on such horrible terms."

"No, no, you didn't know. If things had been different, I would've liked it."

Silence filled the space between us again as we both tried to come to terms with what was going on. "Erin, I want you to know that I did love you, and I still care for you."

Erin's lips formed a bitter smile. "But not in the same way as I do about you."

"Yeah. But, we can still be friends, right? I don't want this to ruin our relationship."

"To be honest, I don't know, Wren. I still feel really hurt. I-I knew it was going to happen at one point... it's just still kind of fresh. I'm sorry."

"Don't apologize for your feelings," I told him softly. "Just know that I'll be ready to start over whenever you are. That is if you want to."

Erin nodded. With a small smile, I walked closer. Within a few steps, my heart began to clench painfully as I realized this was it. This was the end of Wren and Erin. If he didn't want to stay friends, that was fine with me. It'd hurt - especially since we'd been friends for so long before our relationship - but I didn't want him suffering anymore. He didn't deserve it.

I uncrossed my arms, looking up at my ex-boyfriend. "I'll be here for you if you need it. Even if we're not meant to be, we're still a pretty good team," I said playfully.

"Thanks, Wren," Erin said sincerely, and my heart broke a bit when I noticed the tears pooling in his eyes.

"Shit," he cursed quietly, reaching up to wipe them away before they could fall. "Sorry."

"Stop apologizing."

He nodded, sniffing once before regaining his composure. "So, this is it then?"

"Yeah. We had a good run, though. Right?"

"We did," he said with a small chuckle.

"Can I have one more hug before you leave?" I asked after a moment of hesitation.

Erin looked down at me for a moment, before a gentle smile overtook his face. "Mhm."

I moved forward, wrapping my arms around his torso. His arms moved to my shoulders to hold me close and for a moment, I was reminded of how happy we used to be. Now it was my turn to tear up. Even when we were in the middle of breaking up, Erin still found a way to make me feel warm. But, I could feel the difference now. Instead of the warmth of a lover, it was the comforting embrace of a close friend.

With a quick squeeze, I pulled away after a few moments. I reached up to quickly wipe away a stray tear and offered Erin a smile. "Thank you. I think we both needed that."

"Yeah, I know I did."

Erin rocked back on his feet, stuffing his hands back into his pockets. "Okay, I guess I should head out then."

"I'm glad we were finally able to talk things out. I felt so bad when I couldn't explain things to you," I admitted.

"Don't feel bad," Erin said dismissively, shrugging. "Aaron helped out, anyway."

I hid my displeasure at hearing the guy's name. Aaron was the last person I wanted to talk about at the moment. Erin noticed my silence and took it as his cue to leave. He walked past me on his way to the sidewalk. "You walked here?" I asked.

He turned his head to look at me and nodded. "Well, more like ran, but yeah. I wanted to clear my head before coming here. I didn't want to say anything I didn't mean, you know?"

I hummed in agreement. "I think I'm gonna' head inside now, so... night."

"Right, right. Um," Erin paused to gather his words. "Good luck with your mate. I hope you two are happy."

"Thank you. I hope you can be happy, too," I answered.

And with a wave goodbye, Erin turned to walk off, taking a small piece of my heart with him. No matter what happened between us, even if I didn't love him in that way anymore, there was still a part of me that cared for him. And to be honest, I think there would always be a part of me that cared. Erin was my first love. Wasn't there a saying that your first love always stuck around? The few tears that spilled down my cheeks seemed to answer that question for me.

With a sigh, I turned to head inside. The moment I stepped inside, I was surprised to smell the wonderful scent of food. "Joshua?" I called, closing the door behind me.

"Hey! I made some dinner for us. I hope you like pasta," Joshua answered, popping up from behind the fridge door.

I quickly wiped away my tears and walked over. My eyes were drawn to the two plates with pasta, a bowl of salad for us to share from, and a loaf of bread pre-sliced to dip into a saucer of olive oil dip. "Wow, you work fast," I commented.

"You guys were out there for a little while," Joshua answered with a small shrug, setting down a container of store-brand parmesan. "So, how'd it go?"

He finally turned to look at me and must've noticed the red rimming my eyes because he rushed over to hug me. I let myself relax in his hold, letting my emotions go for a moment. After a few deep breaths, I pulled away to answer his question. "It went well. I don't know if we'll stay friends, but we cleared everything between us."

"That's good. I'm glad you two figured things out. I knew it was weighing in the back of your mind, among other things," he said, reaching up to run a hand through my hair. "And now that it's over, why don't we sit down and eat?"

I smiled, nodding my head. "Sounds good. I'm starving."

Joshua led me to the couch, pushing me gently to make me sit. "I'll be right back," he promised.

He took a few trips to bring the food over but within a few minutes, we were happily eating as I figured out what we could watch. "Oh, how about that!" He suddenly said.

"That? But it's so stupid," I asked, my nose scrunching up a bit.

"Hey, it's not that stupid. It's funny," he complained in defense of the movie.

I rolled my eyes but pressed play anyway. If he wanted to watch it that badly, then I could suck it up. "You're so weird," I grumbled, scooting closer so I could snuggle against him.

Joshua laughed. "Thanks. You're gorgeous, too."

"That's not what I said and you know it," I countered, poking his shoulder.

"I know, but that's what I'm choosing to hear," he said with a teasing smile.

We both turned out attention back to the TV and continued to eat our dinner, simply enjoying each other's company. I was yet again grateful for the man next to me. He'd lifted my spirits and remained my cheerleader throughout everything.

Of course, I still had my worries. I'd have to talk to Aaron at some point, and probably apologize to my parents and make sure I got the full story. There were also the seemingly planned attacks on my pack. And I couldn't forget that I needed to start packing and figuring out what to do with my cafe since I'd be moving in with Joshua soon. A month didn't feel like much time, especially when there was so much going on. Hopefully, I could figure it all out.

No, I had to think positively. I would figure it all out. With the help of Joshua, I knew I could do it. Together, we could do anything. Goddess, it was such a cheesy sentiment, but I knew it was true. Without him, I would've broken down long ago. He was slowly becoming my everything and it was terrifying knowing how quickly it was happening, but I just had to accept it. Joshua and I were mates and we would be together for eternity.

There was nothing we couldn't face if we had each other. And with that thought in mind, I knew what I had to do: I needed to talk to Aaron and Alpha James tomorrow. Even if I still didn't fully believe what they or my parents were talking about, they still had some answers. I just didn't know what else came with those answers.

~~~

Sorry, it's slightly shorter than usual. I didn't know what else to add that wouldn't become a new chapter.

Erin and Wren finally got the closure they deserved. Ugh, Erin is such a sweetie pie and I hate doing it to him like this but he'll have his own happy ending soon enough.

Now it's time to get into the meat of things. I just need a few chapters to properly set up the conflict for the next book and we should be good. That and ofc tie loose ends in this story lol.

Stay tuned for more insanity and please stay healthy and safe!

Thank you so much for reading <3

Don't forget to like, share, and comment!

The updated schedule will be every Wednesday like usual and probably Fridays or Mondays. I'm not 100% sure yet but expect there to be about two chapters per week now. The end will come a lot quicker now hehe.