Under The Skin

C h a p t e r F i v e

She pushes off the hood of her sweatshirt and runs her nails over her scalp. She's letting this get to her more than she should, she decides. Avoiding Connor won't do much good and if Cassidy accepts him then he'll be pretty unavoidable. So, with a newfound determination, she decides to just watch the sunset and let whatever comes, come.

Not like she has much of a choice.

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After a shower and pulling on a pair of clean sweatpants, Poppy comes out of her bathroom with wafting steam following her wake. She's running a towel over her hair when she looks up to see Connor on her bed with a picture from her bedside table in his hands. Poppy would be disgruntled about the fact he's broken in if he hasn't done it five million times before. Maybe she needs to start latching her windows and locking her doors from now on, she thinks absently.

"You know," He says lowly, "I've looked at this picture so many times and I never really saw it. How young you both are, I mean and how close."

Poppy rolls her eyes and steps forward to snatch the picture of her and Cassidy from his hands. It's a picture a few years after the great rogue war. Poppy was twelve and Cassidy was nine. Both of them have huge smiles on their faces and wearing hand made beaded necklaces with each other's names on them. Poppy keeps it on her bedside table and sometimes, when she's lonely she'll even talk to the Cassidy in the picture. She kept somehow hoping maybe Cassidy would hear her and come back but she never did. Not until now anyway.

"I assume your here for a reason," Poppy says as she sets the picture back in its place.

"I saw you running this morning."

"I run every morning. What's your point?"

Connor hesitates before speaking again, "I asked her out."

"I'm going to assume again and say you're talking about Cassidy."

"Yeah."

Poppy closes her eyes at the unexpected anger she feels, "And you're telling me why?"

"Because she accepted."

"And that means what to me?"

Connor stands up and comes to her side, "You're my best friend, Poppy. Who else am I going to talk to about this?"

"Talk to Vick or Bryce. You're friends with them too."

"They're not my best friends. You are."

Poppy's heart aches and in reaction her wolf attempt to push over. She wants to take over and stop whatever is causing Poppy pain but Poppy won't let her. She doesn't want this to become another time when she acts out. She doesn't want to risk hurting Connor.

"You must be really pleased about her saying yes." She says thickly, her back still to him. When he doesn't say anything else for a while she sighs in annoyance and moves away from the table, "Maybe you should go."

He follows after her, "Why are mad at me?"

"I'm not mad at you," She snaps irritably.

"You've been avoiding me. Cassidy said last night you were even acting weird every time I was even mentioned."

Poppy scoffs, "What so you two are gossiping about me now?"

"It's not like that and you know it." He snaps as he runs a hand through his hair, "Why are being like this?"

"I'm not being like anything! You come in here telling me I'm your best friend but do you even think about me? How much this whole thing is hurting me too? You get your happy ever after and what do I get? Condolences and pity visits?"