HER Young Mate (Completed)

Chapter Twenty-Seven: Settling In

I spent all night unpacking my things. It was hard to see some things that reminded me of Wyatt. Even if I never truly loved him, even if he hit me, the past would always be there. But with all of my things unpacked and anything that I didn't want to see anymore in the trash, I felt relief. My old room now felt like a new room, I moved my bed to be under my window, cleared a bunch of childhood stuff into boxes in the attic, and hung all of my photos and art. It was actually perfect for the time being.

It was four in the morning and no one was home yet, I had opened all of the kitchen windows, put on a good record in the record player in the living room, and started making breakfast. I stirred pancake batter and stared at the beauty of the forest outside of the window, feeling so at peace. I couldn't believe how at peace I felt. My side ached, and caused me to have to sit occasionally, and my face was puffy and ached as well, but other than that I felt so happy I literally cried twice between making pancakes and sausages. It was silly, but tears of joy wouldn't stop. I was glad to be here, with my family, with Danny.

I heard laughing from outside and looked out the window and down to the edge of the forest where Durst, Sam, Alice, Danny, and my dad all walked out. They were looking tired yet revived at the same time... God I miss that. I sighed. They caught me looking and waved up at me, Danny started walking a bit faster, and they all came into the house.

"Morning cub!" My dad cheered as they all came through the door.

"Morning dad!"

"Breakfast!" Durst cheered.

"I'm starved!" Alice groaned, somehow happily.

"You need help?" Danny asked as everyone else sat at the counter. I smiled.

"Grab the plates, please?" I asked. He nodded and went to the cupboard, started handing them around, and then put out the silverware. Occasionally, between the loud chatter of how each of their duties went, Danny would glance up at me just to smile and then look away shyly and nervously.

"When are we going to get the mighty Cora, I heard so much about, back in the forest?" Durst asked as I placed the food in front of everyone, them delving in immediately.

"I'm not sure... I have a bruise on my side that needs to heal up a bit..." I said quietly. "Maybe a month or two..." I added even quieter as I sat in front of my plate beside Danny. His hand froze at the side of his plate, as it clenched tightly around his fork.

"You can't wait that long..." Danny said in offended confusion. I cleared my throat.

"I'm not ready." I said with a shrug.

"Maybe you'll change your mind in a few days." My dad said firmly, but he wasn't looking at me, he was looking at Danny, who wasn't moving, just staring it his food darkly.

"Yeah, maybe." He said, standing up and leaving the kitchen. The rest of the room started chatting about how much fun we'd have, or how helpful I'd be, but my dad gave me a sorry look, and then started eating again. Suddenly I wasn't hungry anymore, and took mine and Danny's plate to the sink, and cleaned them.

When I found Danny, after leaving the group behind with a quick 'be right back', he was on the front porch. His legs swung between the gate of the porch and over the deck, swinging freely. I sighed and he looked up quickly, but then back out to the forest, just as quickly. "Danny what's wrong?" I asked. He was shaking, as if in anger, and it made me worried about him.

"When were you going to tell me you still weren't going to change?" He asked bitterly.

"Today. When I finally had the chance, I'm sorry I was asked before I could tell you." I sighed. He stood up from his spot and looked at me seriously.