Nothing was more frustrating than sitting in a darkened room – that he could see well enough in to know that she was blissfully unaware of the turmoil he was going through – while his cousin got to hold hands with his mate but he had to be satisfied with her sitting three seats away from her.

A low growl built up in him and rumbled through him.  How on earth could everybody be so damn calm when he was ready to orbit the moon a couple hundred times?  His hands were itching to touch her, hold her … and he couldn’t.  Not yet anyway.  And to make matters worse, she had to be about six years younger than he was; if she wasn’t younger than Mandy.  Goodness!  He hoped she wasn’t.

This movie lasted much longer than any other movie ever had and by the time they all stepped out of the movie theatre he felt like bursting.  It was already close to eight and Tyler had to have Mandy back at home by twelve.  That meant he had less than four hours for her to get to want to see him again.

“So,” Mandy said after a long silence while everybody else just stood around not knowing what to say; “what are we having for dinner?”

“Pizza.” 

“Pasta.”

Tyler spoke the same time Abigail did.

“Pasta sounds good.”  Quinn threw in his ten cents worth and shot a hopeful glance at Abigail.  He was rewarded when she flashed a shy smile in his direction without meeting his eyes.  One part of him thought it was incredibly sweet while the other part felt like it was dying to feel her eyes on him.

Tyler quirked an eyebrow at Quinn.  “Pasta it is then.  Shall we go here, or rather to the other little place on Maple Street?”

“The place at Maple Street!”  Mandy said enthusiastically.  Their lasagna was amazing, even better than his mom’s; and that said a lot.

Tyler chuckled softly as he wrapped an arm around Mandy’s shoulders and led her in the direction of the car park.  He stifled a laugh when he heard Quinn address Abigail.

“Shall we, fair maiden?”

He heard a soft surprised gasp then a throaty laugh before their footsteps followed.  A silent snicker came from him as he remembered how Quinn’s mom; Amanda; always teased Dennis that his son had inherited his Uncle Conrad’s sense of humor.  Daring a peek, he shot a quick glance over his shoulder to see that Quinn was beaming; Abigail’s hand in his as they strolled along behind them.

Her face was a little bit puzzled as she kept glancing down at their hands; a frown and the beginning of a soft smile playing tug of war between her eyebrows.

Abigail did not know what was happening to her.  Or why she should be so pleased that this boy; no, man; was holding her hand and quite frankly; it was making her jittery.  And why on earth did it feel like her hand was about to burst into flames?

Taking a risk, she shot a glance at his face; and instantly forgot how to breathe as his green-green eyes swallowed her whole.  Her heart started drumming in her ears, getting louder and louder by the second and it was only when his concerned face was inches away from hers and his breath fanned across her face that she came back to reality with a hard thump when he spoke.

“Breathe Abigail!”

Her whole body flushed in warmth as a blush covered every single part of her.

“I, um…” she blinked her eyes rapidly to try and clear her mind, “you, um…” why couldn’t she think of something clever to say?  “Hot!”  She said, desperate to find something interesting to say as her hand fanned her face.  “Aren’t you?”

Quinn flashed an impish grin at her.  “Yeah, I am hot alright.”

Her eyes grew to the size of saucers when she realized what she had just said.  “No you’re not!”

Abigail stared in horror as his body slumped; his whole posture defeated as his words to her were spoken softly.  “I’m not hot?”

‘Goodness!  What have I done?’  She wondered for a long heartbeat.  “That’s not what I said, what I meant to say …”

The words stopped in her mouth the instant she saw his eyes.  They were brimming with laughter!

“That’s not funny!”  She hissed at him; completely forgetting that Mandy and Tyler were watching them, as well as the rest of the population currently strolling around in the mall.  Pulling herself up to her full height and not reaching further than the top of his shoulder, she marched off and stomped on ahead of Mandy and Tyler.

She was still fuming as she waited for them to unlock the car so that she could get in.  It was only her stubborn pride that kept her from asking them to take her home.  There is no way that she was going to let him know how badly he was unsettling her.

Quinn was whistling a silly tune when he arrived right behind her best friend and Tyler, a strange gleam in his eye.

“Have you made up your mind yet?”  Quinn asked her as she moved past him to duck into the car after the ‘beep’ announced that the car was unlocked.

“About what?”  She asked skeptically as she watched him through narrowed eyes.

“If I’m hot or not?”

If it weren’t for the fact that her jaws were actually hinged together; her lower jaw would have hit the floor.  Did he really just ask that?

A very unladylike snort blasted from her mouth, then she shoved past him, and just before she shoved herself into the car, she slapped him on the back of his head.  She scooted in right to the far side of the seat and crossed her arms while muttering so softly even he could not hear what she was saying.

Tyler burst out laughing and Quinn’s eyes shot daggers at him as he knew very well why Tyler was laughing at him.  Their uncle Conrad often had his head walloped and the whole family was saying how He; Quinn, ended up being the clown amongst the Grey cousins.

By the time they reached their destination Quinn had been teased by both Tyler and Mandy and Abigail saw first hand how much he teased them both right back.  Suddenly she realized that that is just the way he was and that he was not purposefully trying to tease and annoy her.  Heck; at one stage she was practically rolling around on the floor laughing at him and he did no more than smile sheepishly at her.

By the time they reached their destination, Abigail and Quinn had reached a tentative truce and she took his offered hand as they were getting out only after a short hesitation.  He kept her hand in his, even after they had entered the yummy smelling restaurant and she just knew there had to be silly grin on her face and she kept her head down for that reason.  As they were shown to their table, she ran her hand across her mouth, unconsciously trying to wipe the smile off of her face.

Quinn frowned at her and shook his head.

“What?”  Abigail asked frowning back at him.

Tilting his head to one side he gazed at her; making her heart flutter nervously.  “It didn’t work; it’s still there.”  He said softly as he brought his head lower until his mouth was next to her ear.

She had to swallow hard before she could manage to speak.  “What’s still there?”

“That beautiful smile on your lips.”  He whispered the words soft enough that she would just be able to make out the words he had breathed.  When her heart stuttered and started beating like crazy he found it very hard to keep a pleased rumble from turning into a full blown growl of satisfaction and he hid his reaction by pulling out her chair noisily to mask any rumbling or growling that might he audible to the humans who were close.

Throughout their meal Tyler kept wondering what it would have been like if he had not known Mandy was his when he was so young and his change into shifter-adulthood had not been so … unconventional.  Would he have felt the pull towards her more?  Would he have felt like his life had only just begun like Quinn was feeling right now?  Turning his thoughts inwards, he contemplated how his earlier days would have been without knowing her; without knowing she belonged to him and he could not picture it at all.  In fact; the more he thought about it, the more he knew with a gut-wrenching honesty that knowing Mandy was his was the biggest part of who he was.

That knowledge had become a living part of him; almost like his heart or lungs.  He smiled wryly at himself.  No.  He was sure it was more than that.  If someone ripped open his chest and removed his heart and lungs; he was sure he could keep on living as long as Mandy was there with him.  If he had her, he did not need anything more; he would be complete.

The soft touch of her hand on his thigh brought him out of his deep musings.  Taking a deep breath he opened his mouth to tell her how much he loved her but she interrupted him.

“I know.”  She said; her face reflecting the smallest amount of concern even if she did have the start of a smile on her lips.

Tyler felt his chest constrict when he thought about exactly how much he really loved her.  It took him a few seconds before he could take in a deep and shuddery breath.  “No Mandy; you have got no idea how much I love you.”  When he still saw the beginning of that little smile on her face he wracked his brain trying to think of the words that would make her realize how much he cared for her; but no matter what words his mind conjured up; none of them were suffieciently large enough; beautiful enough or even weighty enough to be able to explain to her how he felt.

The tough of her soft palm against his cheek roused him enough to see her soft smile, a knowing glint in her eyes.

“I know.  I have the same problem sometimes.”  She snorted and he smiled.  “Actually, I have that problem all the time.”

“You do?”  He asked her softly, his face close to hers.

“Yeah.”  Her admittance was a bit reluctant and he noticed that she sounded a bit uncertain.

“What’s wrong?”  Tyler’s breath caressed against her neck and she shivered slightly.

“I was thinking …”

Mandy flashed a quick glance towards Abigail and Quinn.  They were animatedly discussing some or other rock band and she figured she was safe enough to speak what was on her mind; Tyler was watching her, eager for her to carry on.

“You were thinking?”  He asked when she hesitated too long.

“Is it going to be worse, no that is the wrong word; … stronger?  Is it going to be stronger after I …” again she flashed her eyes towards Abigail.  No doubt Quinn would be able to hear what she was saying; but she knew he would not deliberately listen to their conversation.  “Is it going to be … stronger after I shift?”

Tyler could not speak past the constriction in his throat.  When Mandy was born, he was not exactly old enough or wise enough to appreciate the magnitude of his discovery that she was his future.  Now, however, he knew too well all the emotions that went hand in hand with being a shifter.  The attachment his human part had felt towards her was stronger than even he could explain; added to that the animal side of him; his dependence on her for any form of happiness during the rest of his life was so firm it scared the living daylights out of him.  And yet he would not have wished for it any other way.  But now that the two sides of the coin had merged; he needed her more than he needed air to breathe, more than he needed anything on this earth.  Life without her would be nothing but sheer agony.

“Tyler!?”  Her voice reminded him that he had yet to answer her.  “Is it going to be much different?”

He let out a shuddering breath.  “You have got no idea how much it will change.”

“What is going to change?”  Abigail asked as she caught the tail part of their conversation.

Quinn smirked at them as they thought hard to come up with an explanation Abigail would believe and he cleared his throat.  “When they are married.”  The teasing expression on his face froze and suddenly changed to concerned.  “You did know about that, right?”

“Yeah.”  Her shrug said more than her words.  “It is still a bit strange to think about it though.  Not long ago it was nothing more than a crush; and now my best friend is walking around with her engagement and wedding rings around her neck.”

“Is that so hard to imagine?”  Quinn asked hopefully.  If she were more of a romantic type of girl who dreamt about her own special man who would do anything for her and love her more than life itself it could make it easier to court her.

“No.  Not really.  At least not for Mandy.”  Abigail gave her friend an understanding smile before she chuckled.  “Now me on the other hand; not at all.”

“Why not?”  Quinn asked as he put his chin in his palm, the elbow on the table now that their plates were taken away.

At first it looked like she was not going to reply; but then she sighed softly and gave him a crooked smile as she attempted a brave smile.  “The boys I have dated before do not seem to think that I am worth the trouble.”

Quinn found it hard to keep his face as bland as possible while the wolf wanted nothing more than to track down each and every single one of those boys and rip their heads off.

Then her words sunk in.  ‘Trouble.’

“So,” he asked carefully; “you gave them trouble; or you are the trouble.”

Her mouth twisted bitterly and for a short moment he could see that she was not always the happy girl that she pretended to be.  “My parents.  Actually; my whole family.”  Then she shook her head and sighed.  “Nope.  Just my parents.  My gran hasn’t really got anything to do with that.  She is always asking if I have a ‘man in my life’.”

“Your parents are the ‘trouble’?”

Abigail nodded her head.  “As soon as one of the boys I was dating met them for the first time; they would break up with me.”  An ugly grimace marred her lovely face.  “I just don’t know why.  I mean; am I that horrible?”  She thought deeply for a short moment.  “I know I am not that bad looking.  Granted; not everybody likes the same things, but still.  People have told me I am pretty.  I don’t have such bad habits that it would scare anybody away; so why can’t they just stick it out for me?”

“Because they are complete morons.”  Quinn said with venom in his voice.  Now he wanted to wring those boys’ necks because they did not stick with her.  He was starting to feel just a little confused about his own feelings and motives.

Abigail smiled at him and patted his hand as he shifted his hands to the sides of the placemats as the waiter put their deserts down.

“I am serious Abigail.”  He insisted when it looked as if she thought he was just being polite.  “If I were lucky enough to be dating you; I would not let anything stand in my way.”

Shaking her head she picked up her spoon.  “Until you meet my parents.”  She took a careful amount of the sweet concoction onto her spoon and lifted it towards her mouth.  “Then; you would dump me.”

Quinn let her finish her sweet desert while he had his fruit salad and cream.  Normally he did not care much for sweets and stuff; but now, he was imaging tasting that desert.  Off of her lips’ and the thought was driving him insane.

After dinner Quinn paid the bill and left the waiter a hefty tip.  He never liked waiting staff to hover all the time; but this one kept out of the way while making sure that he kept his eyes on them if they needed anything.  It was just before eleven and the girls did not want to end the evening yet; so they went window shopping instead.  While Tyler and Mandy got pretty involved with some of the furniture they saw; Quinn and Abigail drifted behind a bit to give them some privacy.

Quinn was still thinking about what Abigail had said about her parents scarring off all her boyfriends.  It bothered him that she was so upset about it.  If those punks could not hang on, they were not worth her worrying about them.

“Abigail?”

“Hmm?”

“Why would your parents scare off your boyfriends?”

“I have got no idea.”

“Have you ever asked them?”

“Once.  My dad said that if the boy broke up with me; he could not have been serious enough about me.  After that I did not bother asking them because, if you think about it; it is true, isn’t it?”

“And what reason did the boys give?”  He insisted.  He was not going to rest until he knew what had happened.

“None of them really bothered to give me any reasons.  Most of them just stopped talking to me and avoided me altogether.  I soon got the message.”

“Those bloody …”

His loud sigh and unfinished sentence made her laugh.  “That is what I thought too.”

“Abigail,” he caught her hand in his and twisted her around until she was facing him.  “Go out with me.  Please?”

Her eyes blinked for almost half a minute before she stared speaking in broken sentences.  “Out?  With you?  My parents?”

“Yes.  Go out; like as in a date.  Yes; with me and only me.  I am not into group things at all.  No; your parents do not frighten me at all.  I am a big boy now and I can take care of myself.”  Lowering his head he looked into her eyes; his pleading his case with her.  “Please?”