A/N: Anyone seen the new Russell Crowe movie Noah? I've heard it's supposed to be a bit of a mess and not very good, but the trailer looks kind of cool. I was considering going to see it now but I think I'll just wait for the DVD release instead.
Enjoy!
Six
-The Because I Say So Argument-
Part II
*Annabeth*
//
“Hey,“ Don’s voice said suddenly, making me spin around.
“What are you doing in my room?” I cried, too pissed off and frankly too tired to deal with him. “Get out.”
“Relax Annie,” Don said smiling. “I’ve come with a proposition.”
//
“I don’t want to hear it,” I growled at him. “Get out of her you fu-”
“Careful,” he said, eyes narrowing. “I’m not here to make trouble. I’m here to help you out. If you’ll let me. If you’ll listen to my proposition.”
“You want me to listen?” I said crossing my arms over my chest. “I want you to GET OUT.”
Don smiled wider and walked over to my bed, touching -Bobby- a green elephant I still kept on my bed even though it had been a long time since I actually had played or otherwise needed a stuffed animal to make me happy.
“It’s cute how you still keep this around,” Don said. I walked over and snatched Bobby from him.
Something in Don’s expression right then made me realize I wasn’t going to get rid of him until I’d heard whatever he had come here to say.“What you want then?” I asked with a sigh, hugging the stuffed animal.
Don headed over to my desk and sat down on the pink swivel chair I’d had since I was ten. “Your werewolf-boy seems okay I guess.”
Surprised, since that hadn’t been what I’d expected Don to say at all, I put Bobby down on the bed and walked over to Don. “You talked to him? He’s awake?”
“He was for a while in the truck on the way over,” Don said casually. “Ink had some morphine we doped him up with which I guess calmed his wolf down. He even said he was sorry.”
“He said he was sorry? You were the one that fucking shot him,” I said venomously. “You should be the one saying sorry to him. And to me for shooting my…” I wasn’t sure what Ryan was to me so I lamely said, “...my friend.”
Don stood, his neck a little red. “I shot him because he was out of control. And I would do it again, even if it means you’ll stay pissed at me forever.”
“Whatever,” I said turning my back to him and walking over to the window. It was looking a little like it might storm tonight and I was beginning to wonder if I shouldn’t be happy Ryan was somewhere warm and safe for the night. Even if he did have to get shot for it to happen.
“Look Annabeth I didn’t come here to argue with you,” he said heavily. “I came here because I think your dad listening to Jimmy and sending Ryan to some weird cult in Europe is a bit extreme. He seems okay. I mean he seemed scary in the cabin but in the car and later while Doris got him fixed up he was calm. He was worried about hurting us. He asked if you were okay. He seemed decent and I figured you wouldn’t be hooking up with the guy if he was a complete ass. At least I hope you wouldn’t.”
I took that in, back still turned to him. I was waiting for him to get to the point.
“Anyway,” he continued when it became obvious to him I wasn’t going to speak. “I thought I might look into his story. I got his full name and the town he’s from. He told me he killed the wolf that turned him and he was fairly certain he hasn’t ever attacked any humans since he turned.” Ryan had told Don all that? He had mentioned all most nothing about how or what had happened when he was turned to me. Or about killing anyone, even the wolf that had turned him. Not one word. “If that’s true then I should be able to find out.”
“How?” I asked turning to him. How would Don find out something Ryan hadn’t done? That made no sense. It wasn’t like Ryan would send an I haven’t killed anyone this week into the newspapers.
“The curious incident of the dog in the night-time,” Don said, his eyes twinkling.
“Say what?” I asked, eyebrows raised.
“It’s a Sherlock Holms thing,” Don said. I tried to remember anything and everything I could about Sherlock Holms but only got the BBC series Hannah loved and I was pretty sure there wasn’t any dog on that show. ”If I look at the papers and find odd wolf or animal attacks before the date Ryan was turned and none after, the lack of something happening will tell me something. In this case that there were a werewolf attacking people and that Ryan killed it. Like with the dog. It didn’t bark in the story and that meant the killer knew the dog and therefore also the murder victim.”
“I’m not sure how that relates, but I’d be really grateful if you’d do it. I think any information you bring to my dad will hold more weight than whatever I can find. He sent me to my room. Like a kid,” I said bitterly. It wasn’t like my dad to treat me like this. Because I say so. Stupid argument.
“Maybe because you acted like a child when you hid something as big as a werewolf showing up on our territory from him,” Don said.
“I didn’t know it was such a big deal. If I had known you would all freak out like this I would have told you about him,” I said loudly. At least I might have, I added to myself. I might have told. “But how am I supposed to know when I thought werewolves were just another one of the creatures my brothers made up, huh?”
“I guess someone should have told you those stories weren’t just stories,” Don said, standing up. “I think your dad meant to talk to you about it last Christmas before…” He looked away from me and at the floor. “…anyway he didn’t think you were ready before that.”
My dad liked Don a lot. He’d thought Don would be the one that would take over as alpha after him. They were friends. But it still somehow bothered me to know they had talked about me. And not just like chatting about where Don was taking me for our date, but about how ready I was to be let in on magic secrets.
“Great. And he’s sending me to my room. He was the one that didn’t talk to me about it,” I said. “He should blame himself not me.”
“I think he is. And I also don’t think he thought we’d ever get a werewolf or any kind of other creature up here. Mostly they stay off our territory,” he said pleasantly like we were talking about the weather. “I didn’t even know all that much about anything before I left for college. Just before that Ink like took me aside and we had this talk about what else there are out there and what to do if I ran into it. It was almost as weird as when my Papa tired to give me the Birds and Bees talk.”
I had to smile at that. Don’s Papa had given him ´the talk´ ? I just couldn’t see it.
“What’s worse is it was when I was leaving to come here,” Don said, his ears going a bit red.
“Really?” He had been seventeen when he came here and he’d already been quite well versed in the art of making sweet, sweet love.
“Really,” he echoed. “And talking about Papa….” He pushed his hand through his hair. “I want you to come home with me next weekend. Pretend we’re still together.”
“I already said I wouldn’t do that,” I said, annoyed and slightly worried.
“Come on now Annabeth. I help you with Ryan. You help me with this. If you remember how great you and I were together while we go home…” Home for Don was the Tri-Cities in Washington. A seven hour drive. “… then great. If not, you’ll get a chance to have Christmas two times.”
“It’s not nice to lie to them,” I said quietly. “We’re not together anymore Don. You should just tell them that.”
“Come on,” Don said walking over and putting his hands on my shoulders. “We were good together. I get that you’re into this Ryan guy but he’s not the one for you. He’s a werewolf. I know you-”
“No, you don’t. Not anymore.” I moved away, making his arms drop away from me.“It has nothing to do with Ryan. We were never a good match. Why are you suddenly trying to make our relationship into something it never really was?”
“Come on. Just say you’ll come with me. I’ll help you with Ryan,” Don said, beginning to sound frustrated.
“And what? If I say I won’t go with you, you won’t help him?” I asked, studying Don’s face. I couldn’t read what he was thinking. How important me going home to see his grandparents with him was. If he was just trying to see how far he could push me. If he’d still help Ryan if I said no way to his little proposal.
“I’ll help. I just might get distracted by thinking about how upset my poor Granny would be to hear about-” His voice had gone all sweet and annoying.
“Whatever,” I said, holding up my hand. “If you get dad to let Ryan go – and not to send him to some weird place in Siberia – I’ll go home with you next weekend.”
“I think it was Europe not Siberia” Don corrected. I glared at him. The corners of his mouth twitched. “Fine. You got a deal. I’ll spring the werewolf and you-”
“Will grudgingly pretend to be your loving and doting girlfriend for a weekend?” I said sarcastically.
He held out his hand for me to shake. “Sounds about right.”
“But no funny business,” I said as I shook his hand.
He tugged at our connected hands, pulling me closer to him. “No funny business. I swear,” he said, in a way I didn’t believe at all. “I’ll be a perfect gentleman.”