Whylight

25.

Pat shoved his hands into his pockets and walked down the predominantly empty school drive. It was late and the sky was starting to show the first signs of night, it's light blue slowly dripping into a myriad of pinks, oranges and reds.

His stomach let out a low grumble and with a bit of irritation, Pat realized that he had probably missed dinner. He had told Paul, Pawel and Peter that he would be staying behind for after school study when in actual fact he had been serving his detention for skipping school the week previous and so, Pat hoped that one of them might have kept some food aside for him.

Puffing out a small sigh, Pat continued walking. He kept his head down and scuffed his shoes against the pathway as he turned down the road that would bring him past the woods, counting the cracks within the cement until he collided with a decidedly human like figure and he stumbled backwards, eyes growing wide as he looked up only to find darkly lined eyes staring back at him. The person grinned.

"Hey Pat!" Bam said as Pat blinked in bewilderment, but then he smiled. "Long time no see!"

"It's only been a week, Bam," Pat said softly and he looked around, expecting to find Ville standing somewhere nearby however to Pat's surprise, he wasn't.

"What are you doing all the way out here by yourself?" he asked and Bam snorted.

"Could ask you the same thing pinkie, but I'm not alone. Villes just hunting, he'll be back any minute."

"Hunting...?"

"Well ya, we're werewolves. Remember?"

"Oh. Oh yeah, I forgot."

Bam sat himself down on the low stone wall that separated forest from the roadside and swung his legs.

"So. What are you doing out here all alone?" he asked.

Pat shrugged. "It's a shortcut to get home."

"From?"

"School."

"......Geez. If school days are that long, I'm glad I'm a dropout," Bam mumbled and Pat snorted.

"They're not that long silly, I just had detention," he explained before hearing a soft scuffling noise and what appeared to be a rather large black dog emerged from the foliage, carrying a squirrel in it's mouth.

Bam's eyebrows shot up but he didn't question. Instead, he turned his attention to the creature.

"Hey Valo," he said as the wolf dropped the squirrel and shook itself out,"make yourself presentable. We've got company."

Pat wasn't sure what else he had been expecting but the wolf set it's bright green eyes on Bam, seeming to glare at him before quickly turning back into a man. Pat found himself taking a small step backwards as he stared in shock and Ville ran a hand through his hair.

"I'm always presentable, Bam," he said shortly.

"Sure you are, and I'm the queen of England."

As Bam snickered to himself Ville rolled his eyes then glanced over at Pat.

"Hello again sweetheart," he said and Pat internally cursed himself as the pet name stupidly made his already weak knees feel even weaker.

"Hi Ville," he managed. "Nice to see you again."

"It's nice to see you too. How's Paul? He hasn't shown any signs of being bitten, has he?" Ville asked and Pat shook his head.

"He hasn't."

"Well that's good."

Sitting himself on the wall beside Bam, Ville reached out and began to play with the mans hair which caused Pat to smile before he suddenly felt an overwhelming need to be home and he bit his lip, hoping that he wouldn't sound rude by expressing a sudden urge to leave.

"I...I better go," he said quickly and Ville looked back up at him, raising an eyebrow while Bam just nodded.

"All right pinkie," he said. "Want us to walk you home?"

"No, it's okay. I'll be okay...but thank you."

"You're welcome." Bam smiled at him. "See you around?"

"Mhm...see you around."

Shoving his hands back inside his pockets Pat hurried off and Ville curled his fingers into Bams hair once more, keeping his eyes trained on Pat as he faded into the distance.

"Bam?" he said eventually, "remind me to keep the door unlocked tonight."

"Mm...Whys that?" the shorter man asked, twisting around to look up at his friend who still had his gaze fixed somewhere on the pathway ahead.

".......Just a feeling," Ville said softly. "Don't worry."