It's been a quiet couple of days. I thought I was used to Wolfe's silence but I never realized how much it actually hurts when he uses it to shut me out. I don't know what the hell is up with him lately but this isn't the Wolfe I know. I'm sure of it.

I won't lie — I always suspected he was hiding something from the minute I moved in. He would spend hours in his room working at his job that I knew absolutely nothing about. He'd occasionally run out for "errands" only to come home empty handed and in a pissy mood. I've even seen his phone light up with messages from a mysterious "D" who's always asking Wolfe to do whack-ass things I can never decode. It makes me wonder what the hell a supposed software engineer is doing that seems so shady. I can't be certain because I've only been living with him for a month but I think lately this job has been getting more and more demanding with him. He just doesn't seem like Wolfe and it sucks.

He came home the day of our argument and I expected him to come knocking on my door because that's the kind of person he is. Instead, all I heard was his door closing shut and I didn't hear from him all night. The next morning at breakfast he looked like he didn't catch a wink of sleep and avoided looking at me altogether. I didn't know what to say because I was still upset him from the previous night but that didn't mean I wasn't worried about the crash in his mood. I didn't see him all day until at dinner where he grabbed a plate for himself, thanked me quietly, and softly brushed past me and into his room again. I didn't see him at breakfast this morning either because he was already out of the house when he woke up. Now it's mid-afternoon and I don't know where the hell he is or what he's up to and now all my earlier anger is long gone, instead replaced with worry because something bad is definitely up.

"Fuck this," I curse under my breath and abruptly shut my sketch pad when I zone back in. My brain is drawing blank after blank and I can't come up with any designs for the life of me. I'm too distracted. I abandon it altogether on the couch and head out of the break room, making my way to my office before my next client gets here. I didn't even bother reading them up, just committed the time slot to memory. That's why I don't expect them to already be sitting on my recliner when I step inside.

And I definitely don't expect Asher.

My steps slow down and I blink at him in surprise. We've got a good thing going as friends but he hardly pops up like this. I'm confused as fuck seeing him here leaned back with his hands behind his head, that arrogant and lazy smirk in place.

"Hey, loser," I greet lightly and shut the door behind me.

"She-devil," His smirk kicks up a notch and he sits up. His hair is wet and curly so I'm going to guess he grabbed a shower at the gym and came here. "How's it going?"

"Fine," I eye him suspiciously and lean against my desk, crossing my arms. I tip my chin in his direction and ask in a bored voice, "To what do I owe this pleasure?"

"Is it a federal crime to visit you?" He throws back. My brow raises and his facade immediately cracks. He chuckles and drops the act because Asher is as allergic to bullshit as I am. "You're right. I'm here for something."

"You could have called me or met me for lunch like a sane person."

"Have you ever known me to be sane?"

"Valid point," I smile reluctantly. "What's up?"

"Noticed you change your name to Melanie on the studio website for bookings," He observes, his glass eyes seeing right through me. I scowl back at the unexpected remark and how it makes heat creep up my neck.

"So? What's it to you?"

"Just curious," He shrugs.

My mouth pinches at the corner in irritation as I debate if I should humour him. Part of me wants to shut him down because that's just what I do but then I remember how much problems this has caused Wolfe and I and how I'm so, so done with being an unapproachable and distrusting person. It's so fucking exhausting constantly being on guard and nothing good comes out of it. Nothing.

"Haven't been feeling like such a Lenny lately," I finally offer in a quiet voice. Asher's gone noticeably somber. "I used to be Melanie. She liked making colourful art and constantly smiled. Kind of lost her along the way but I found her again and the bitch isn't so bad."

Asher smiles in a rare moment of softness. Dude's too dark for his own good sometimes.  "She seems pretty badass," He tips his chin in acknowledgment and I tip it back. "I could use her help."

I clear my throat when the moment passes and shrug it off altogether. I may be getting softer around the edges but that doesn't mean I want to feel like a pussy. I reach for my tattoo gun expectantly. "Tat?"

"That's one of the things," He nods as he strips off his shirt.

"What are the others?" I ask curiously and start assembling my gun. I look back up when it goes quiet and am pretty fucking floored when I see Asher go red in the face. Laughter bubbles out of me. "Are you blushing?"

"Shut up," He scowls. He looks away and I continue to regard him in confusion. It isn't until he takes a deep breath and reaches inside his pocket that I think I get an idea. My thoughts are only confirmed when he retrieves a small box and holds it up to show me. "This is another one of the things."

"Holy fuck," I gape and go over to him. I look at the box and then at him in question and when he nods, I gently pry it open. A stunning ring sits in place, a silver band highlighting the small cut ruby in the centre. My jaw drops at the sparkling jewel. "That's a beauty."

"Red like her hair," He murmurs and looks down at the ring with a soft expression. The only time Asher ever goes soft is for Ria. "Red like her. She's my fire."

"Backstreet Boys," We reference at the same time and laugh. I look at the ring again. "It's beautiful, dude. You did good."

"Thanks," He closes the box and puts it back in his pocket. "I'm going to propose the day we move into our house. I want to decorate the place but I'll need a few solid hours to do it. Problem is Ria is randomly stopping in and out of there as she transfers all her stuff and I don't want her accidentally walking in on me."

"Need me to keep her busy?" I guess and he nods. I offer him my fist and he bumps it with a relieved smile. "I got you."

"Thanks," He says again.

"So, what're the tats?" I rev my gun up a few times to check that it's going.

"The letter A on my ring finger," He holds his left hand up. "With boxing I'll never be able to maintain wearing a wedding band but I want to make it clear to the world that I'm Aria's."

"You fucking softy," I grin and he scowls back, ears going red. "But won't she notice?"

"She's in California for a few days doing a case. Tattoo should heal by then and I'll just wear a bandage. I'm proposing in a couple weeks anyways."

"Well, why'd you take your shirt off?"

"I want another tat here," He points to his chest, specifically where his heart is. "Always You."

My head tilts. "What's that?"

"Just something we say," He answers evasively. He's a private guy all things considered.

"Alright," I grab my note pad and do a little doodle of the font I'm envisioning his tattoos in. We go back and forth about the style and size but come to an agreement a few minutes later. I do his ring finger first because it takes only a minute to shave his knuckle hair and then draw out the cursive A. I gauze and wrap and then move on to the chest tattoo. I'm concentrated on the task but I can feel his eyes on me. Without looking at him I mumble, "What?"

"Not sure if I should say," He says thoughtfully after a moment.

I get to the letter L. "Then don't say it."

He chuckles at that but immediately clamps down when I glare at him for the way he almost makes me mess up. I can still feel him staring at me and I almost ask him a second time but he beats me to it. "Wolfe dropped a barbell on his foot today."

That startles me a little. Whatever I was expecting it wasn't that. I guess it's good news he's been at the gym at least. "Uh...is he okay?"

"He's fine," He reassures me. "I don't think he even felt it. He seemed distracted."

Isn't that the fucking understatement of the century? I frown as I get to the letter W. "Sounds about right."

There's even more hesitation from Asher and I start to grow restless wondering what this is about. It seems like there's something bigger here that he wants to say and I can feel him holding back.

"Spit it out, man," I sigh. "Don't bullshit me. We don't do that."

I finally look up at him to find him watching me with a serious expression. "How well do you know him?"

I raise a brow at how ominous that sounds. "Pretty well. Why?"

He nods again like he believes me and takes a minute to consider his words. Something about the look on his face makes me stop the gun so I can focus on what he's clearly struggling to say.

"Asher," I prod.

"Nothing," He shrugs. "Forget it."

"Fuck that. You can't just act all ominous and take it back like nothing happened. What're you trying to say?"

"I don't want to worry you for no reason."

"Better than keeping me in the dark when there's something to worry about."

He curses under his breath then, looking away. He looks just as tense as I feel. "Just...keep an eye on him. I heard something about him and I'm not sure if it's true so I don't want to say but...make sure he's being careful."

Careful? My brows come together in confusion. For a second I thought Asher might have figured out Wolfe is talking but what would he have to be careful about? Something in my gut tells me this is way more than it seems.

"Is he in trouble?" I ask bluntly. I'm not trying to be dramatic here and Wolfe's secret could be the most mundane thing for all I know but something just isn't adding up and I want to know why.

"He could be," Asher days after a brief pause and I suck in a startled breath. I was counting on my imagination running wild but...I'm right? Wolfe is in trouble? "You know the big guy way better than I do so I obviously can't vouch for what he's up to but keep an eye on him, okay?"

"You lost me, Asher. What did you hear that's making you do this?"

He hesitates, looking away from me. "It's not my place to say. I just wanted to give you the heads up because I care for the guy. He shouldn't be doing what I think he's doing."

Because that makes so much sense. I clamp down the frustration I feel at not being able to decode Asher's words. "Why didn't you just go to Wolfe about this?"

"None of us, me or the rest of the guys, know him like that. We don't know jack-shit about him and all of a sudden I'm in his business like that? He already has his walls up around us. If I said anything I can't exactly imagine that going so well."

He has a point. But even so... "What makes you think this will go well for me?"

He pauses again. When he finally looks at me his eyes are knowing and confident. "I don't. But you have the best shot."

***

When I get home from work it's late. All day I've been distracted thinking about my conversation with Asher. It seems like everything is moving so fast. Just last week Wolfe and I were on the same page and now it seems like we're on completely different books. That mindless one hour drive I took didn't do much to ease my nerves. I still have no idea what to say to him or how to bring it up that I think he's in trouble. I have to do this without mentioning Asher which complicates it entirely.

The house is quiet as I take off my jacket and kick off my shoes. I pass the empty living room and kitchen and pause outside Wolfe's bedroom, wondering if he's in there. I get my answer a moment later when I hear the sound of his keyboard typing furiously. I can tell he's in the zone right now but I need to do this sooner rather than later. I ignore the wave of nerves twisting my stomach and knock on his door loudly. The typing immediately stops and there's a few moments of pause before I hear the creak of his chair. I take a couple of instinctive steps back just as the door swings open and my heart jumps into my throat at the first sight of him.

"Hey," I greet quietly. It feels weird because we haven't been talking to each other. We've exchanged maybe three words in the past two days and speaking to him now makes it that much more noticeable.

"Hey," He leans his shoulder against the doorframe. His face is serious, full of stress lines and tired eyes. I haven't seen him smile or laugh in so long. My mouth twists when I realize that. "You didn't come home after your shift. Weren't answering your calls either."

Crap. I'd turned my phone off, needing the time to think. "Sorry about that. Just felt like going for a drive."

"You could have told me, Mel." He rubs a hand over his face, looking worn out. "I went to the studio looking for you. I was fuckin' worried."

For some reason that surprises me and I can't hide it. "You did?"

"Of course I did. What else do you expect?"

"I don't know," I mumble low enough for just me to hear as I start to turn away. "More secrets."

"What are you talking about?" He demands and I'm forced to turn around again. Guess he heard me. And if he wants to hash this out now then it's about time. I cross my arms in defiance.

"Why do you think I went for that drive, Wolfe? Or turned my phone off? I didn't want to see you or hear from you. You've been acting so weird and I'm trying to get you to talk to me but it's like I'm living with a ghost. I'm here but not to you."

"That's not true."

"Yes, it is. And whatever you've been up to lately is turning you into someone I don't recognize. I thought we were done with the secrets."

"I thought we were," He straightens up, eyes narrowing at me. "Pretty hypocritical to give me shit for hiding things when you've been doing the same."

What? I'm about ready to pull my hair out. "What secrets? I've told you everything about me!"

"Have you?" He challenges and takes a step closer to me. "Because I learned something interesting when I stopped by your studio today."

I take an involuntary step back as dread starts to form in the pit of my stomach. There's no way he's talking about what I think he's talking about.

"Titus asked me to pass a message along to you," He continues and the dread I'm feeling grows stronger. "He made it sound really casual. Probably didn't expect to know any better when he asked me to tell you that your uncle called for you. Again."

Shit. My eyes fall shut and I fight against the urge to throw up. Fucking Titus. This is going to ruin everything.

"Your uncle has been trying to contact you?" Wolfe demands now. "Why didn't you say something? Why does that motherfucker even have access to you?"

"Why do you sound like you're accusing me?" I throw right back. "You think I let this happen? I don't know how he found me or what he wants because I've never answered a single one of his phone calls in the five months he—"

My mouth clamps shut so fast I bite my tongue and taste blood. Damn it! The way Wolfe's face contorts makes me take another step back and I know I've fucked up again.

"Five months?" He repeats incredulously. "Five months, Melanie? This whole time that piece of shit has been trying to contact you and you didn't say anything? How many chances did you have to tell me about this?"

"Don't you fucking dare," I push my hands against his chest when he starts to crowd my space. I'll be damned if he thinks he can play knight in shining armour when he's been acting the way he is. "It wasn't your business to begin with and you had no clue. But what about me? I've known for a while that you've been hiding something and asked you so many fucking times and you still haven't told me. You're deliberately lying to me!"

"Not telling me about this is lying!" He shakes his head. "Just a couple of days ago you said not telling the truth is lying. Yeah, I didn't ask, but you hid this from me to begin with and that's a lie too."

"So, what? We're just back to where we started? All these secrets and lies and not knowing shit about each other?"

"I guess we don't," He takes a step back but it feels like so much more. It feels like I can't reach him at all.

"And you still won't tell me what you've been doing, huh?" My laugh is humourless. "Even after all this."

He doesn't say anything for several moments. Instead he opens the door to his room all the way and gestures a hand inside. It's such a sudden change of dynamic, the calmness of his actions after the screaming match we just had, that for a second I can't make sense of what he's asking me.

"What?" I ask because he's not elaborating either.

"Look at the computer screens," He says evenly.

That doesn't explain shit. Still confused, I crane my neck until I can see inside the room from where I'm standing and finally notice all the computer screens. He has five and each one of them is opened up to various articles about who knows what. It isn't until my eyes land on the screen furthest to the right that I realize I'm looking at a picture of a couple — and they look alarmingly like Wolfe.

"Your parents," My breath whooshes out of me in surprise. My eyes cut back to his in question. "What..."

"You're right," He starts. "I'm keeping secrets from you. I didn't know how to open up because I'm not good with sharing my life, Melanie. I only ever had Gramps and he's gone too. I just needed some time to think of how to tell you what's been going on and I finally got it. I was waiting for you to come home so I could tell you everything. You think I like the secrets? But apparently you don't want to see me or hear for me and you don't trust me the way you say you do, either. So no, I don't think I'll be telling you anything."

"That's not fair," I whisper when panic takes hold of my throat. It's like everything is falling apart in front of my eyes and I don't know how to stop it. "I didn't know."

"I know," He looks away from me and even his side profile looks tense. Closed off. "But you made me feel like shit for lying when you've been doing the same thing this whole time. If anything isn't fair, it's that."

"Okay, fine." I admit. "I didn't handle this so well. But I'm just like you. I didn't know how to tell you about this either. You're not the only one who's always been alone."

The both of us go quiet then and it's obvious no one knows what to say. Either way, I know that nothing can be said to make any of this better. At least not right now.

"I have a match tomorrow," He finally says and his voice sounds raspier than usual. He looks more tired than usual. "I need to sleep. I can't do this right now."

The back of my eyes sting and I look away before he notices. "Yeah. Me neither."

There's more silence and I think he might say something else but I hear the door of his bedroom closing instead. I look over my shoulder and he's gone. I know he's inside his room, that he's still here, but somehow it seems like I can't get him back anymore. And who can I blame, but me?

____________________________

A/N

THESE TWO ARE SO STUBBORN GAHHH. I'm sorry lol it's just that they're so similar I imagine them butting heads a lot. They've made tons of progress but they clearly still have work to do! Keep rooting for them! I swear when it all works out you'll be so in love.

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Happy Reading :)