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Every year there is a gathering, and I keep telling myself that the purpose of it is to celebrate the lives of those we lost that day four years ago. Or at least that's what Alpha Brown would point out to us when giving the welcome toast at dinner. 

We lost quite a handful of Weres that day, but for us---though we still offered condolences to those others lost---it was Langley and Maddox that made that day so painfully significant. 

Particularly for Easton and Thea. 

Over the years, Thea has managed to deal with Maddox's death. She never acted like he never existed, but she lived like he had wanted her to. Happy. Which she was with Dennison and her boys. 

The difference between Thea and Easton on how they have handled what happened four years ago... is that one of them embraced the support of others in order to heal while the other chose to shut everyone and anything out. 

I could see Thea at the moment with Dennison bending down to kiss the side of her head as he held her close to him. They were both watching their boys run around chasing other children. Sitting near the parents were Mr. Dennison and my Aunt Emeel. My aunt was seated on her lover's lap with her arm around his neck as they both smiled adoringly at their grandchildren and the other pack children. 

It should be weird that my aunt is in a relationship with Mr. Dennison---her late husband's best friend---who also happened to be a Werewolf; the Supernatural creature Aunt Emeel had been brainwashed to annihilate since she was able to walk. Oddly enough though, my aunt wasn't normal herself. 

She was a Hunter---Ex Hunter, if you will---and had fallen in love with a human who had befriended a Werewolf to begin with. Then there was my aunt's odd ability to see things of the future by touching people. The only exception to her gift was Dennison, though, who my dad and aunt explained had an aura that was eerily strong at one year old. 

I think what probably made the whole idea of who my aunt fell in love with even more odd was that her very own daughter fell in love with a Werewolf. And to be honest, it really didn't seem that odd since we were a pretty dysfunctional ass family to begin with anyway. 

My point is that the rest of my family was here with the other pack members running around, talking, laughing... the works. Even Violet, Jonah, and Valentine were present and accounted for. 

You know who wasn't?

Which is why I found myself weaving through the crowded pack grounds, a small smile tossed to a few I passed by in greeting, until I was out of the sea of celebratory Weres. I looked over my shoulder, my eyes taking in the busy noise of laughter and happy chatter and then faced ahead of me to the more secluded part of the grounds where it was outlined with trees. 

It was more quiet, more calm. Though I knew that the Werewolf inside those woods was probably anything but. 

Scrunching my nose, I groaned as I kept telling myself that I was insane for even thinking of entering those woods alone. Either way, my feet moved me forward, past the treeline and the gathering noise started to fade the more I made my way in. Leaves crunched and twigs snapped under my sneakers which were the only sounds that surrounded me as I kept attention down at the ground. 

Don't ask me how I knew where he was. I just had a feeling it would be in the one place he'd be able to reunite with his twin. 

I stopped at the short black gated cemetery that had a crooked gate door leaning on its last hinge. My eyes wandered over the handful of marked graves until spotting, at the very end of the cemetery, the red flannel and blond hair that belonged to Easton. 

I took a deep breath, making my way onto the grounds and silently stuffing my hands into my pockets. When I was at a good enough distance, I took in that Easton's back was facing me as he was hunched forward with his elbows propped up on his knees. Beside him, I noticed the large bucket of beer bottles that he hadn't touched yet. The other six bottles lying on the ground beside the bucket were empty. 

Pursing my mouth to the side, I decided it was too late for me to turn back now. I was already all the way over here. So I stepped forward two steps before he acknowledged me without turning around.

"What do you want, Red?"

My brow rose, surprised that he knew it was me. 

"How'd you know it was me?" I asked as I came to a halt beside him.

Easton didn't say anything, just shrugged his large shoulders and took another swig of his beer. 

"Just did." 

I frowned, not really thinking that sufficed as a good enough answer but let him have that before deciding to sit myself down beside him. I glanced between us to make sure I hadn't sat too close and then rested my arms on top of my knees. 

We sat there for a moment, just Easton and I, and I could only hear the liquid in his beer bottle swish around as he lifted the bottle to sip. 

Glancing at him sipping from the bottle again, I frowned, "Don't you think that's a little too much?"

With the beer bottle still pressed to his lips, Easton's eyes shifted to me with his brows furrowed. Clearly he was offended with my question. I raised my brows, shrugging nervously as I muttered that I was just asking since that looked like it was his seventh bottle. 

Easton's eyes narrowed, lowering the bottle and I leaned back a little because I swear it looked like he was gonna punch me in the face or something. It wouldn't be the first time that Easton lost his cool and hit someone. The Six often had to hold him back or haul him off someone that irritated for whatever reason. 

I don't think I was an exception to that instinct.

"Eight, actually," Easton corrected, raising a brow and nodding in a particular direction of the cemetery. "If you count that smashed bottle over there." 

I looked in the direction he pointed out and sure enough there was a smashed bottle. 

Turning back to face him, I sighed since that seemed to be the only thing that I could think of doing. Pursing my mouth to the side, my eyes lifted to the graves in front of us. Langley's had a fresh new batch of sunflowers in a vase with a yellow bow wrapped around the belly. I grinned, admiring how much prettier those flowers made even a gravestone look. 

I shifted my attention to Maddox's gravestone beside Langley's and noticed that there were flowers there too. I knew that Thea comes every now and then to visit Blood Moon Falls and makes it a point to leave fresh ones for our departed friend, but my cousin's flowers were settled next to ones that were already there. 

"it's the least I can do, I guess..." Easton's voice startled me to look at him. 

He was frowning, taking another sip of his beer as he was looking at Maddox's grave. 

"He was there for my sister when I wasn't... He was the last one with her. He did what he could... didn't he?" 

He looked to me for confirmation, and though I wasn't there to see Maddox and Langley's last moments, I just nodded; assuring Easton that Maddox would have done everything in his power to protect Langley.

Easton took a deep breath, scowling at his sister's grave and I slowly peered at his profile to see that his eyes looked tearful. I wasn't sure though since I hadn't seen Easton cry since that day seven years ago. It was hard to tell. 

"Are you alright?" I asked, knowing that was a really stupid question to ask him. 

He didn't answer, just took a final swig of his beer before tossing it to the side with the others by the bucket. It clinked against its empty companions and I stared at them for a moment before glancing up to see Easton dipping his hand in to grab another beer from the bucket and used his free hand to squeeze the cap and twist it off. 

He tossed the cap off to the side and then took a long gulp from the freshly opened bottle. 

"Easton..." I frowned. "Take it easy with those..." 

My urging seemed to make him glance my way, but he deliberately continued to sip away and I frowned more. 

"You really shouldn't be out here with so much alcohol in your bloodstream. What if you pass out or something, and we have no damn idea where you are?" 

Easton grunted, shrugging as he shook his head, "Who gives a damn?"

I hesitated a second, staring at the side of his face as he ignored me and continued to drink. But then I quietly muttered that I would care which made Easton halt from raising the tip of the bottle to his lips. I felt my face grow hot all of a sudden. Only because it was certainly not likely for me to be considerate of Easton's well-being since I've pretty much avoided the guy like the plague since Day One. 

But this time it was different. It was obvious he was hurting. He just dealt with it differently. Wrong... But differently. 

"What is it about you?" He frowned, his blue eyes narrowed into what I wasn't sure was a glare or... or something else.

"What do you mean...?"

"Yeah," He nodded, his frown deepening as he shoved himself to his feet and took a few steps in front of me before spinning to face me. "One moment... You're this squirmy little twig that doesn't want to be anywhere near me... and the next, you're over here trying to get deep with me."

I raised a brow, wrinkling my nose a little and eyed him warily at his choice of words.

Easton rolled his eyes, shaking his head that he meant that out of everyone he would expect to pry into his life; to not take a hint that he was perfectly fine, I was there all the time. He scoffed out that if it was some sort of pity-party tactic then I could just stop. That he didn't need that.

"I'm perfectly fine, Red. And I don't need you. I don't need anyone, got that?"

I stared up at the blond guy whose personality changed so drastically since that night those years ago while he narrowed his eyes back at mine.

He wasn't the same anymore. I'll be honest, it freaked me out when I first met him and he was ogling me; enough to deliberately sit his ass next to me at my aunt's wedding. I remember him smiling a lot that day. But now... well, now I couldn't even remember if Easton knew how to smile anymore.

Even at me.

I blinked, frowning downward at my sneakers as my mind kept reeling to figure out why I even gave a crap. He had a point that I was always scurrying away from him before. But it's different now... I don't know how to explain it. I don't know what it means. But there was a part of me that was egging me on to not let Easton shut everyone out.

Shut me out, even.

I took a deep breath, glancing up at the still glaring Were who lowered a brow deeply.

Standing up at a much more calmer pace than he did, I stuffed my hands into the pockets of my sweater and pursed my mouth to the side.

"Everyone needs someone, Easton. Which is why I think you do need me," I mumbled out, flicking my gaze upward to see him frown with his neck craning back. I shrugged, holding my shoulders by my ears for a split second, then dropped them. "And...And I think maybe that..."

I paused, chewing on my lip as I frowned, thinking of that last piece of the sentence I needed to say.

He said nothing, but I could feel him staring back and it was making me uncomfortable.

Sighing, I looked up at him and finished, "Well, that I need you, too."

The Werewolf's brows furrowed the more he stared at me. We both stood in the silence for fuckin' God knows how long, and I lowered my chin while raising a brow.

Did I break him, or what?

Pulling a hand out of my sweater, I waved it in front of the blond's face just as he blinked hard and shook his head. I replaced my hand to where it was before and sighed, "Well...?"

As I waited patiently, it was hitting me what I was asking of him. What I was attempting to do with the likes of Easton. I don't know if this friendship I wanted to try out would work out... but it just felt wrong not to try.

I bit my lip, lowering a brow when Easton finally spoke. And he said something that made me frown in disappointment.

"You don't know what I need, Red. You can't give me what I need... What I want. And to be honest..."

He scowled, narrowing his eyes as I blinked wide eyed at the heated stare.

"You'll never be it." 

I watched him storm past me, shaking his head as he was grumbling under his breath and I turned around to see him make his way out of the cemetery after angrily throwing the bottle he had and it smashed against a nearby tree. I winced from the sound, then finished catching the back of Easton disappear back towards the gathering. 

Sighing heavily, I was trying to tell myself that this was typical of Easton to not want help... even if maybe he did want it. Which was why I was going to follow through with wanting to help him, as well as trying to build a friendship with him. I think it'd be actually interesting to have a friend around here anyway... considering that the googly-eyed little shit would be leaving in a few days for Maddox's birthday. 

I had just started to leave when I remembered the mess that Easton left behind. I frowned at the empty bottles and then the bucket. Scrunching my nose, I moved forward to start picking up the bottles and started piling them into the bucket to throw away once back at the pack grounds. 

As I was picking up, I had been talking to Maddox and telling him what an asshole he was for not stepping in at any God damn moment to help me out in knocking sense into Easton. I jokingly told Maddox that it should have been him that Easton was giving shit to since Maddox was the one chasing after his sister. 

I felt a grim smile tug at my lips after pausing to listen to the silence surroundings me. It just felt weird without Maddox around to smack the back of my head to stop being a smart ass. 

Once I double-checked that everything was pretty much cleaned up, I lifted up the bucket and started heading back to the grounds. It was a lot longer than I thought going back, but eventually I made it back and disposed of the bottles while placing the other untouched beers back in the cooler. 

Turning around, my eyes scanned around for Easton. I frowned, wondering where it was he could have gone off to but I wanted to make sure that he was alright. After all, the guy had seven---'scuse me, eight---beers and was a walking stick of dynamite. 

As I made my way through the crowd, I ran into Thorton who was in the middle of talking to a few other guys who I assumed were his friends. He grinned as he nodded a greeting and I smiled back before asking if he had seen Easton anywhere. 

"He's kinda wasted..." I shrugged, "And I just wanted to make sure that he was alright." 

Thorton blinked, glancing at his friends whom all glanced away and I frowned, blinking a few times as I questioned, "...what?"

Thorton chuckled nervously, rubbing a hand on the back of his neck as he shrugged a shoulder that Easton was probably more than alright at the moment. I raised a brow, still not getting it until he reeled in his lips and pointed in a direction behind me. 

When I looked over by the side of my aunt's house that was hidden a bit further from the crowd's eye, my brows raised in surprise to finally finding Easton. In a very hardcore make out with a guy he had pinned against the side of the house. 

Still staring, my brows furrowed a little when I felt Thorton standing behind me with his mouth near my ear and softly told me, "He's not worth it, Kale. That's a road you don't want to go down. And it's best you save yourself from that kind of pain." 

I turned to look at him raising a brow at me in all seriousness, and I lowered my gaze to the ground before glancing over to where Easton was. Frowning, I pursed my mouth to the side as I thought over Thorton's words. 

But either way, I didn't want to take them seriously. Though I kinda wish I had.