Caught in Between

-13-

"What are you two doing?"

Keith and I stopped what we were doing and turned our heads toward the direction of the front door. Kaleb was standing there with his arms crossed and an angry expression across his face. I scrambled off Keith's lap, nervous of what Kaleb was going to do next. Keith seemed nonchalant about it as he sat up. "What?" Keith asked him as he shrugged his shoulders.

"Listen, I know you are on your craving right now, but will it kill you to just wait? We already agreed to be patient so she can have the both of us." The way Kaleb explained it made butterflies appear in my stomach as my mind starting to wander what it would be like with both of them at the same time.

"I'm sorry, you know I don't think rationally during these times," Keith answered stood to his feet and ran his fingers through his hair. Kaleb sighed as he took a few steps closer to us. "But nothing went any further, so you don't have to worry about that," Keith added as he glanced over at me. I felt a bit embarrassed, like I was caught with my hand in the cookie jar.

"I'm glad nothing went further. I know that we can make decisions of our own, but as brothers, this is something we agreed on. You can't break our trust on this." Kaleb explained and Keith nodded his head slowly. "Whether you are close to ending your Craving or not. Rebecca is someone we value, let's not do things irrationally even if the Craving plays into factor."

"Okay, like I said, I'm sorry. I didn't know what I was thinking."

"Clearly you weren't, but I forgive you."

They gave each other a quick hug and then they sat down on the couch. They both turned their heads to look at me and I was frozen in place. I really couldn't grasp what was going on but I was glad they weren't mad at each other.

"Do you guys know who Josh is?" I asked them out of curiosity.

"Yeah, Zach's dog friend. What about him?" Kaleb responded and I went to take a seat on the end of the couch but Keith reached out and grabbed my wrist, pulling me into the space between them.

"So Debby really likes him, but I just want to know if he's dangerous.." As happy as I was for Debby, I didn't want anything bad to happen to her. It seemed to me that Josh was a good guy, but if there was anything slightly off about him, then I would be completely worried about her.

"As far as I could tell, there doesn't appear to be anything wrong with him," Keith answered as he thought hard about it for a moment.

"Compared to Zach, that is. I sense bad intentions about Zach, but with Josh, the only thing bad about him is that he hangs around that disgusting dog." Kaleb explained as a look of annoyance came across his face. He despised Zach with every being of him, and wasn't hard to notice.

"Josh and Zach grew up in the same pack so they're brothers. It's hard to tell with Josh since he's always been the kind to keep to himself, but as far as Debby goes, he probably truly cares about her. I wouldn't worry too much about it." Keith gave me some comforting words as he placed a hand on my thigh.

"I see.. I just don't want anything bad to happen to her. I don't think she knows he's even a werewolf." I said as I sighed, realizing I was overthinking the entire thing. Debby is like a sister to me, and if she gets hurt then it hurts me as well.

"Hmm, it's difficult to say but Josh most likely won't reveal himself to her. But it might be better that way, don't you think?" Keith apple and Kaleb shrugged his shoulders. I shook my head slowly.

"You guys revealed yourselves to me." I told them as I pushed my hair back behind my ears.

"Our situation is different," Kaleb answered.

"But Debby should know the truth." I replied, growing frustrated. Deep down, I didn't want Debby to be kept in the dark. I didn't even like keeping the fact that Kaleb and Keith are vampires from her.

"People handle the truth differently. Just let her be happy with Josh right now and we'll see how it all plays out."

I wasn't sure if I liked that idea. I didn't want to just wait around to see what would happen.

***

Keith and Kaleb were long gone and I was sitting on the couch, waiting around for Debby to come back. When the door opened, I jumped to my feet but when I noticed it was my exhausted mother, I grew disappointed. I sighed as I sat back down. "How was work?" I asked her, and she shook her head slowly as she shut the door behind her. The bags under her eyes were very noticeable, they were almost as dark as night.

"We lost a patient. We worked so hard to keep him alive, but his life slipped through our hands," my mother answered, sounding hurt. It seemed that this patient's death really affected her. She put down her bag and keys on the couch and slipped out of her shoes. She walked into the kitchen, and I already knew what she was going to do. She did it every time she came home from a rough shift.

I watched as she poured herself a glass of whiskey. She took the glass into her hands and hunched over the kitchen counter, her elbows resting on the surface and her forehead against the rim of the glass. "Mom.. don't feel bad, please. I know you did everything you could. But if there was nothing else you could've done, it was just that patient's time to go.." I tried to give her words of comfort, but all I did was make her cry.

"If you need anything, I'll be upstairs," was all she said as she took her glass in one hand and the bottle of whiskey in the other before she left to her room upstairs.

A few moments passed before Debby came through the door. She had the biggest smile on her face that I have never seen before, and her cheeks were still flushed. She didn't even give me time to ask questions. She closed the door and quickly came over to me, throwing herself on the couch in the spot right next to me. "Becky.. oh my gosh! Being with Josh was so amazing.. he took me out to eat and then we went dancing! And then, we went for a little drive and it was the most peaceful time I could've had with him. We talked about a lot."

"I'm glad you had fun," I told her with a weak smile. She instantly frowned when she saw my reaction.

"You don't seem too glad. What's got you upset?" She asked as she reached her hand out to put it on my shoulder. I sighed as I leaned my head back.

"It's my mom again, but don't worry about me. I'm really happy that you went on this date with Josh. I know how much you liked him since the beginning, and now you're able to actually be with him."

"I know.. it's like a dream come true. And thank you for helping me pick out an outfit. Josh complimented me, saying how beautiful I looked." She blushed as she thought about it once again.

"I'm sure even if you were in rags, Josh would still think you're beautiful. Because you are Debby." I gave her a full smile and she immediately pulled me into a hug.

"You are such an awesome friend. I don't know what I would do without you," she said and I squeezed her a bit before we pulled away.

"I feel the same. You were so supportive when it came to Keith and Kaleb."

"Okay, but if anyone refused to date those hotties, it would be official that the world was ending. Even if they're brothers, they both want you and that says a lot. They're willing to share and treat you like a queen. And I honestly think you deserve that kind of treatment. I'm not going to be close-minded."

Debby and I spent the whole night talking about so many things. It was fun to be able to just relax and converse about pointless and random topics or about how we were feeling in that moment. But, despite all that, I couldn't help but think about my mother. She was going through a tough time, and I needed to be there for her. So, I decided to plan something for the next day that her and I could do.