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During the time it took to get to town, get the fishbowl accessory, and then sit down at the ice cream parlor, I discovered three things: 

Number One: Climbing fences are not my forte.

Walking in complete silence next to someone who isolated the world was not as uncomfortable as it should have been. The shortcut we took into town was cutting through the football field of the high school after climbing over the fence. 

I threw Easton a look when he let out a huffed chuckle from my pant leg catching at the top of the fence where I was spending a minute of trying to shake my leg down. Of course, that didn't happen because I just seemed to make it much worse. 

I grumbled, trying to use my upper body strength to lift myself upward and tug my leg up and over that way, but when I did, the threading at the hem just tightened more. I groaned out in frustration, shaking my head as I shot over my shoulder that I think I was stuck.

"You think?" came the smartass reply. 

Narrowing my eyes, I shot the smug blond a look as he was standing there with his arms crossed over his large chest and with his head tilted to the side. I huffed, snapping at him that instead of just staring and thinking it was funny that he could assist me somehow. 

I wiggled around, grunting in between huffed out breaths, and Easton then replied, "It's a nice view though, Red."

Again, I threw him a look that he found amusing before I begged Easton to just help me. 

Easton sighed, lowering a brow before stepping towards me and jumped up to grasp onto the top of the fence, and then used a hand to reach towards where my leg was caught. I frowned when he, at first, grabbed at my ankle and tried tugging at the thread. But that little shit was not letting up!

"Hang on..." Easton muttered, climbing up some more and then gestured for me to move towards him so that he could try something. 

"What are you going to do?" I frowned, eyeing the way he was motioning me closer. 

"Just..." Easton sighed, rolling his eyes. "Would you relax, Red? Just come over here." 

"I can't bend that way, Easton. I happen to have a part of my anatomy that can be shish kabobed if I climb anymore over the points of this fence!" 

I didn't miss the ghost grin on his lips, his blue eyes twinkling again and I narrowed my eyes as I looked down and shook my head, grumbling, "Asshole..."

 In my attempt to follow through with his request of leaning towards him, I didn't calculate my grip on the fence accurately and ended up missing it completely. 

"Wh--Whoa! Hey!" 

But it was too late. 

I ended up tipping backwards and smacked my back into the fence, bouncing against it. I could have sworn I was going to fall since that thin ass thread would have not held me upside down as I was, but then I slowly peered my eyes open to see my world tilted.

Frowning, I blinked a few times before curling up a bit to see that Easton---and his Werewolf strength---had gripped a good enough hold to my leg that had given way. He was looking down at me with a grin and raised brow. 

"Woulda been a nasty fall, Red..."

I sighed, letting myself fall backwards again and let my arms hang by head. I frowned, staring straight ahead as I grumbled under my breath that this was so embarrassing. Easton chuckled---the most he's done so far today---and slowly started easing me down towards the ground. 

When I was close enough to the ground, Easton released my leg and I rolled over onto my haunches, sitting up with a pout as I watched him jump off the fence with no problem. He clapped his hands of imaginary dust, raising his brows that disappeared under his blond fringe. 

He then stood in front of me with his head tilted to the side. 

"So you can't jump a fence..." I narrowed my eyes at him, grumbling back that I could so jump a fence but my stupid pants caught on it, but he went on to nod, "Sure..." 

I stood up, dusting off the back of my pants and then looked at him with a frown. Easton was more than amused with my annoyance and then shrugged, "C'mon, Red... It'll be our little secret."

Rolling my eyes, I started walking away but then Easton quickly caught up to me with that damn smug look on his face. Though I wasn't as pleased with having hung upside down as I had been, I had to admit that it was actually pleasant to walk next to Mr. Moody without him glaring my way. 

So it was a peaceful silence that we shared. 

Number Two: Neon lights in a darkened area make a sneaky good way to stare at someone. 

We rounded the corner towards the street that Easton said the pet store was, and the whole time we didn't say a word. A comfortable silence as I mentioned before. Every few steps I'd glance his way as he was letting himself take in our surroundings with that scowl of his. 

He didn't look angry or anything, just more observant to what he was passing by. 

I faced forward again, slowing when Easton pointed silently to the door coming up. I looked up to see "Sal's Pet Friends" in a bright green cursive font on the glass door, and in a bigger font size across the glass window where puppies of all breeds were yipping at the glass, jumping around, or sleeping. 

Easton led the way in, pushing the door open and the bell above our heads jingled as we walked through.

From the outside, the pet shop didn't look very big. Now that I was standing inside, I realized that it was pretty expansive. I think the shape of the door being a little narrower than normal is what threw me off. 

I looked around at the displays with animals for sale, as well as their accessories and food. There was an aisle for everything and I let my eyes wander a little to figure out where the fish aisle could be but then I heard Easton call me. 

"Red."

I blinked, staring in his direction and he raised his brows, nodding behind him. 

"This way..." 

I followed, still looking around the shop. 

We walked towards the back of the shop where I really took in how large this place was. It was a lot brighter at the front where the shop keeper was. I'm assuming it was what kept most customers attentive to. But Easton was walking further into the back of the shop where there were curtains, and the split in the middle were tied off to the sides to leave a small opening to walk through. 

Easton disappeared through first and I stopped in front of the curtains. I frowned, questioning him on why he was going in there. Easton's head popped out to lower a brow at me.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, yeah..." I started, pointing to the tall shelf right by the curtains to show him that all the accessories for fish bowls and tanks were displayed. Easton stared at where I was pointing for a moment, then looked at me to shrug a shoulder that how would I know what Maddox would like if I didn't check them out live.

I lowered a brow, "You're kidding..."

"'Fraid not, Red. Now..." He nodded again, "C'mon." 

He disappeared behind the curtain, leaving me to stare at a darkened space. It made me a little nervous to go in there, and I helplessly looked over at the shelf display with the fish accessories. I could easily protest Easton and just tell him that I was adamant of just grabbing the most colorful thing and buying that. 

But somehow... for some odd reason, I kept glancing at the curtains. 

"Shit..." I sighed under my breath, then bent to walk through the curtain space. 

My eyes blinked a few times, trying to adjust to the darkened area, but then they widened when I saw how awesome it looked back here. Every fish tank was a different shape and size, but they were lit up along the edges with neon lights. There was blue, green, pink, yellow, and purple. The only way to really see where the tanks were was because of them being outlined with the lights. 

Some of the lighting in the tanks was normal for fish survival, but accompanied with the neon lighting made me smile as I took it all in. The faded blue light reflecting from inside the tanks made a pathway on the floor to know where to walk around, but I'd never really experienced anything as neat as this. 

I stepped a little further in, looking from one side of the room and then let my eyes wander in front of me until looking to the other side. Grinning, I felt a bit of excitement to exploring. Call it pathetic, but it was the simple things that mattered. 

"Easton?"

I peered from behind a tank to squint and try to find the Werewolf but then I heard him call, "Over here, Red!" from the opposite side and end of the room. Straightening, I walked behind the tank to find the long second aisle where Easton was bent down a little so that his face was looking into the tank in front of him. 

His gaze broke from the tank for a moment, looking my way, and then went back to looking at the fish as he nodded, "C'mere." 

Making my way over, I took the time to admire the different types of fish swimming around in a huddle; some large, some small, and some smaller than small. I even studied the accessories that the fish tended to enjoy more than others. One of the fish was swimming in and out between the stems of what looked like a plant sticking out of the rocks it was wedged out of. 

I grinned, wondering if maybe I could add that to Maddox's fishbowl. 

Once beside Easton, I bent my head beside his to see what he was staring at so intently. When I obviously wasn't catching on, Easton's finger rose between our faces and the glass and tapped on it lightly. 

"See that fish there...?"

I let my eyes squint, shifting around to figure which fish he was talking about. 

"That red one there, Red." 

I then saw it. It was fluttering around, gaping at the air with small bubbles coming out of its mouth. It was a blood-red fish, a little smaller than medium sized and it was swimming around in circles by itself in the corner. 

"Yeah...?" 

Easton lowered his hand, staring at the fish a little more and then sighed, "It keeps swimming around in circles... like it doesn't know where to go. Like it feels it doesn't belong." 

I lowered a brow, glancing at Easton who got all that from a fish swimming around in circles. 

Then the Werewolf continued, without looking at me, "That's you." 

Frowning, I turned my head to stare at him when he waited a moment before turning his head to face me. I just stood there, staring at him and saw the way his blue eyes looked a lot more sapphire in this dull lighting. 

"How do you figure?" I asked softly, not breaking the stare. 

Easton's brow lowered, his eyes scanning my face for a moment then met my gaze. 

"Because it doesn't even try to mingle with the other fish. It just rather stay in a corner and swim around in circles than try to put itself out into the open. Somehow... It doesn't realize that maybe it's not as different to the other fish in the tank as it likes to think."

Don't ask me how... but I don't think we were talking about the red fish anymore. 

My brows furrowed a little from his words, wondering if I was that much of an odd one out if Easton---Mr. Fucking Moody Pants who pushed everyone away---could point this out to me. But it's not like it was easy for me. He lived in a town that had other Werewolves in it. He could cope with them. 

I didn't. I didn't live in a town with other Ex-Hunters who were my age. The others went back to living at the Society. And I didn't want to live there again. 

So I was here in Blood Moon Falls where I had my dad, aunts, uncle, and Maddox's fish (temporarily) for company. I felt comfortable enough to be around them, but I guess everyone else must have thought that I was a little too closed off. 

But I was closed off more than Easton? 

Well shit... that was saying something. 

I looked away to the tank in front of us. My eyes landed on the red fish still swimming around in circles and I worriedly wondered if it was going to do that the whole entire time it was stuck in this tank. It didn't seem to have a clue what it was doing, nor did it seem to realize that the more he swam that way it would be never ending. 

"He's an idiot," I muttered, staring at the fish still. 

I wasn't really expecting a reply. But I got one. 

Easton shook his head from what I could see without looking away from the tank, and he mumbled back, "I think he's adorable." 

I frowned, turning to stare at Easton again who looked at me a second later. His eyes squinted a little, almost like he was intentionally trying to tell me something. My brows furrowed the longer I kept up this staring contest. It seemed a lot more difficult this time around than it had been with Maddox's fish. Only because I felt a bit nervous---not uncomfortable--- but nervous.

Clearing my throat, I straightened and placed my hand on the back of my head before running it forward over my hair. I stared at the tank in front of me and felt like the room was a little hotter than before I walked in here. I didn't look at Easton when he straightened too but I felt him staring. 

I moved around him to walk to the end of the aisle one tank down, then glanced his way to---yep, he was staring. I turned away, going to the next aisle and tried to calm my racing pulse by looking at the fish on either side of me. As I was walking along, I happened to shift my gaze back to the right side where I noticed that Easton was walking on the opposite side of the tank in the other aisle. 

We were walking at the same pace as the other, and through the tanks on the ones above the lower shelved ones, I could see Easton's face where his chin lifted a little to keep his eyes on me. His brow rose as we walked along, and I stopped for a second---for him to stop too---then faced the tank---he did the same. 

Furrowing my brows, I narrowed my eyes at him, turning my head a little in curiosity and the Werewolf only stared back in that narrowed-eyed gaze that seemed a little more heated than he gaze to anyone else. 

Then Easton crossed his eyes and I snorted out a laugh. 

I shook my head, turning away then glanced through the tank again to find him grinning back. I rolled my eyes, shaking my head again and continued walking down the aisle of the tanks. Every few seconds I'd glance through the glass through the other side where Easton's face was there. Still keeping his eyes on me. 

When I got to the end of the aisle, I barely rounded the corner when Easton was already there. He was leaning his shoulder against the side with his arms crossed. I raised a brow, glancing down at his 'joe-cool' posture, then back up to him. 

"What are you playing at, Easton?" I suddenly asked, squinting curiously at him. 

The guy tilted his head, not moving otherwise. "What do you mean?" 

I nodded, "Yeah..." then took a step closer to cross my own arms in front of me. "For years now you have been throwing glances my way and make me think one thing... but then you turn so cold the next that I think something else completely. It's like you enjoy seeing me get flustered around you." 

He didn't say anything, just stared with his chin lowered towards his chest. 

"I think you like seeing me swim around in circles..." Then I added, frowning, "Because you do the same damn thing." 

Easton's blue eyes faded into that gold color; almost looking like an opal hue with the neon lighting. He slowly straightened from leaning against the side of the tank and I blinked at the step he took towards me. I looked up at him, swallowing hard as I stepped back with every step he took. 

I stumbled back a bit until I was pressed back against the tank behind me and Easton was right in front of me, and a little too close. Like, our noses were almost touching close. Lowering my chin to allow myself to push further back away from him, I narrowed my eyes a little. 

Easton, on the other hand, raised his hands onto the glass that trapped me between his arms and glanced down a little at my mouth before flicking his eyes back to mine. 

"Careful, Red..." His gold eyes glistening. "Don't start something you can't finish." 

I frowned, scrunching my nose. 

"You didn't answer my question, Ease." 

Easton stared at me in surprise and I frowned, "What...?" 

The corner of his lip curled upward as a brow of his lowered, then huffed out a chuckle. 

"You called me 'Ease.'" 

My brows shot up, glancing to the side. "So...?"

Easton grinned, narrowing his eyes a little. "No one's ever called me that before." 

"Really?" I scrunched my nose, finding that hard to believe. 

He nodded, assuring me that he'd gotten a lot of other stupid nicknames, but that 'Ease' was not one of them. 

"In fact," he mumbled, pausing for dramatic effect apparently. "I think it's my favorite..." 

I swallowed, biting my lip that I caught him glance at me doing, so I released my lip. 

"Hey, Red...?" He whispered, that gold color fading back to the normal blue. 

"Yeah?"

"I know you hit hard---" I frowned, thrown off completely by that statement. "---Just from the way Leo's nose bled." 

I glanced to the side through a squint then looked back to Easton. 

"And...?" 

"And..." He raised his brows before grinning slightly, "I'd appreciate it if you wouldn't hit me." 

My eyes squinted further, nose scrunching as I looked upward. Then I looked at Easton to shake my head a little. 

"When the hell did I ever hit---"

I didn't even see it coming. 

The kiss I mean. 

Easton had bent to close the distance between us and full on pressed his lips to mine. My eyes shut the moment he did, feeling the chaste way they fit against the other, then I snapped my eyes open wide as he slowly reeled his head back to look at me. The blond Were's brows furrowed a little, carefully studying my face I guess since I was just staring at him. 

My face felt hot, the heat prickling the back of my neck and rose up to my ears. I swallowed hard, my heart felt like it was pounding wildly in my chest but I couldn't stop staring at him. I didn't know what to think to be honest... I didn't know... what to... to feel.

It was definitely unexpected. That I know. 

And... and maybe I was a little upset that he'd done that. But I...

Easton lowered his chin a little, raising a brow as he watched my reaction and then softly asked, "You alright, Red?"

I bit my lip, frowning as I looked down between us. I could still feel the way his lips felt against mine, and I didn't know what to think about that. 

Was this normal? 

Shouldn't I have been flipping my shit right now? 

Throwing blows with the guy for kissing me? 

Swallowing, my brows furrowed more before shaking my head slowly and ducked underneath his arm to distance myself. I didn't turn around when I made my way towards the exit of the room, bending down to step back into the brightly lit room. 

I went straight past the aisles and towards the front of the store where I threw open the door, stomping out after slamming it closed behind me. My breathing was ragged, and I kept scoffing at myself. What got to me back there was that I wasn't so much upset for Easton kissing me...

I was more upset because I wasn't upset about it. 

I wasn't sure where the hell I was going. I just knew that I needed to get some air and clear my head. But not even minutes after leaving the pet shop, I was standing in the middle of the ice cream parlor. My eyes rose, taking in the other people in the parlor and enjoying their cold treat while chattering away and laughing. 

They had no idea that I was standing here... feeling so utterly freaked out. Over a kiss. 

Standing there in a daze, I jumped at the touch of someone poking my shoulder. I looked at a teenage girl with her friends raising her brows as she asked if I was in line. I blinked, frowning at her then glanced in front of me where there was a large gap between me and the person in line. 

I swallowed, looking back at the girl and nodded silently. 

I faced forward, closing the gap and wasn't even sure what ice cream flavor I was going to get when all I was thinking about was that I had freaked out like a girl back at the pet shop. And I just realized that I left Easton there too. 

"Next?"

Looking up at the older man with a tiny white hat on his head staring at me for my order, I shook my head and stammered out that I'd take a cup with one scoop of vanilla. Extra sprinkles. 

The man nodded, turning away to get my order and I turned my head to look out the window. Subconsciously---though I was fighting myself to think I was---I knew I was looking for Easton. I knew that I was hoping he'd actually show up, and that I'd be able to face what just happened back at the shop. 

But this was Easton, Mr. Moody. 

He'd probably got upset that I'd left the way I did and was on his way home right now. Where his favorite flavor was waiting for him probably. 

I blinked, frowning at myself at how irritated that made me sound. I closed my eyes, sighing heavily until looking at the man across the counter handing me the cup of ice cream. After giving him a small smile and the required payment, I walked over to the very back of the parlor where there was a booth. 

I sat down, scooting over a little more onto the seat before just sitting there to stare at the cup of ice cream. I didn't touch it. I just stared at it. My brain was going a thousand miles per minute and I didn't know if I even remembered how to lift that plastic red spoon to scoop up the ice cream into my mouth. 

I barely heard someone sit across from me that I was so concentrated on the ice cream in front of me. The seat cushion squeaked as they sat then it grew quiet. 

"Red..." 

My jaw tightened, brows furrowing at who it was---though I already knew---and refused to lift my gaze to his. Instead, I just continued to keep focus on my ice cream that was already melting. Thankfully I chose a cup and not a cone. 

That would have been pathetically dramatic. And a mess.

"Red." 

With my eyes narrowed, I snapped my eyes up to his. Easton was frowning at me, taking in my facial expression before shutting his eyes tightly and shook his head while looking away. He cursed through grit teeth then sighed heavily when he looked back at me. 

"Look... Just... I..." He swallowed, shaking his head again. "That was an asshole move." 

Saying nothing, I just continued to glare at him. Again... I wasn't really mad at him. But more that I wasn't. If that made sense...

When he said nothing else, I frowned, "That's your apology? That you made an 'asshole'move?"

I rolled my eyes, shaking my head and sighed while slumping in my seat with my head resting back against the top of the seat. I stared up at the ceiling, its bland color making me feel like I wanted to puke. 

We sat there a moment, taking in the awkward silence before Easton sighed, "It was an impulse. One that I'd been holding back for a really long time."

I frowned at the ceiling then lifted my head to stare at him. His eyes under furrowed brows as he scanned the parlor. He then met my gaze and shrugged that if it wasn't painfully obviously by now how attracted he was to me, then he didn't know how else to explain it. 

"You'd be kinda stupid," He added, which made me give him a look. 

I could see how uncomfortable he was... Good. Now he knew how the hell he made me feel all the time. But then I sighed, shaking my head at myself before replying to his comment of me being stupid. 

"Runs in the family apparently..." 

Easton's gaze snapped to mine and I couldn't help but grin with a lowered brow. It was then that I saw he realized I meant about Dennison calling Thea a 'stupid girl' when they were teenagers, and I shrugged as a silent response. Instead I turned away to stare at the ice cream that was melting into soup. 

I glanced up at the Werewolf sitting there with a scowl on his face as he was staring at the people in the parlor. I took in the way his wavy hair fell in front of his eyes in a way that, oddly enough, made me stare at him a little longer than I should have. I think he felt this because his eyes solely shifted to their corners before turning his head to face me. 

As we stared the other down, it got too much for the Werewolf because he frowned as he turned to the side of him and grabbed something. I couldn't tell because of his reach being hidden by the table top, but then brought up a bag that had the name and logo of the pet shop on it. He rested it on top of the table, shoving it towards me. 

I glanced at it, then up at him. 

Easton nodded at it. Telling me that he thought Little Maddox would go 'ape-shit' with what was inside. 

I frowned, hesitating before reaching over and opening the bag after pulling it closer to me. I peered inside, blinking a few times before looking over at Easton. He just stared, sighing heavily. I looked back into the bag, reaching in to pull out the first of the two items. 

The first was a rather large box with a transparent sphere shaped bowl that had a LED light attached to the belly of it like a belt inside of it. I'd briefly read over the box that it changed colors every few minutes. From what I could see on the box, there was a light bulb at the end that bent downward against the bowl's surface. The fishbowl came with a short legged stand to place the bowl on top of.  

Placing the box aside, I looked into the bag again and pulled out the figurine of Superman. It was an artificial sea horse decor ornament that glowed in various colors. It was supposed to stand wedged between the rocks at the bottom of the bowl for the fish to swim around. 

I stared at the sea horse in my hand for a moment longer, then lifted my gaze to Easton. He was looking anywhere but at me, his face scrunched like a child afraid of being scolded soon. He wasn't much for words, I noticed for a while now, but this was as good as Easton was going to get into apologizing.  

"Tell you what..." I broke the silence, making Easton blink and lift his eyes to mine. His brows furrowed as I pursed my mouth to the side for a moment, pondering my next words. 

"What happened back there... At the shop," I reminded him, making Easton squint his eyes a little. 

Then I raised a brow, smirking, "It'll be our little secret." 

It took him a second to register what my words referred to, back to earlier when he made fun of me for not being able to jump the fence. So now it was my turn to throw his words back at him, and the blond Werewolf broke out into a wide, genuine smile; adding in a huffed laugh as he shook his head. 

It was then that he mumbled he'd be back and went to grab a cup of ice cream, buying me another cup of vanilla with sprinkles because mine turned to soup. As we sat there, eating in the silence, I took that opportunity to glance up at Easton as he stuffed a spoonful of Rocky Road into his mouth. 

There was still a lot of work to do with Easton. I knew that. But... But I was one step closer in the right direction. 

And as for finishing off that list I was numbering off earlier...

Number Three: Easton still knew how to smile.