Defect

San-Shi-San

"Yeah, Zoltan," I said breathing heavily, "please."

He made an unpleased face but grumbled out a yes.

"Both of you be back quickly. I do not want to explain why two teens are loitering in the café."

"Yeah, yeah Doc," Aria waved him off with one hand while she pushed me out the door with the other. Once we were in the hallway Aria turned to look at me with a wicked grin.

"I was gonna go whether he agreed to it or not." She quietly cackled.

It wasn't long before we found a place to sit in the outside patio. I had grabbed a salad and orange juice, while Aria had somehow managed to snatch up a plate of scrambled eggs, bacon, country potatoes, and a juicy-looking apple.

"I wanted to thank you." Aria said softly. I looked up from pushing a tomato around on my salad plate. She wasn't looking at me but instead looking at the potato she was twirling around on her fork.

"Thank me? For what?" I asked, piercing a piece of lettuce with my plastic fork, and softly chomping down on it.

She shrugged and shoved the potato into her mouth, " just for helping. You coulda easily said no and that would've been the end of that, but instead you took a chance on us."

"Oh," I blinked, "Actually, I should be thanking you guys. No one's ever really decided to help me like you guys have."

She smiled, but it seemed as though there was something else to her smile. Something I didn't know. "No, no, you don't know how grateful I am, how much I appreciate you agreeing to everything."

I gave a soft smile back, "you're welcome." I guess, even if I didn't really do anything special.

It wasn't until towards the end of our meal that my phone pinged. I had received a text message from Nick. I drank from my orange juice while clicking it open:

On my way. Btw would you happen to have any food w you?

"Who's that?" Aria asked, mouth so full of potatoes she couldn't even properly close it.

I swallowed my juice, "Nick. He's coming and he's hungry."

"Oh," she hummed and loudly swallowed her food. "Does it get annoying having him follow you 'round all the time?"

"Sometimes." I shrug softly.

She blinked at me, "then why let him?"

"Uh," I looked down at my empty plate. No one had asked me something that directly before, "Because it makes Alpha Henry happy."

"So?" she asked, drinking from her water bottle.

"It's for my safety." I added in weakly.

"From what?" she pulled the water bottle away from her mouth, "Are you guys going to war or something?"

I felt myself shrink in my chair. "No," I mumbled.

"Like, I get having someone when you're at school or somewhere potentially dangerous like the city at night, but all the time?"

I wanted to say something against it, but the only thing coming up was that it was true. I had no real threat. Kelsey wasn't a threat to me anymore.

" And you're not even happy about it, like why? Doesn't what you want matter?"

My mouth was open but no words were getting out.

"Don't allow things that make you unhappy. You're the Luna, tell him to, like, chill out."