April's POV
"Hey," I shook her lightly by the shoulder, "wake up." She murmured slightly, her curls falling onto her face. She looked so much younger when she was asleep – well, unconscious.
"Mum, come on." Splashing some water on her face, her eyelids shimmered with movement before opening slowly.
Her eyes searched until she found a familiar face – mine. She visibly relaxed before another cautious glance at her surroundings made her sit upright. "April."
At the time, I was half shaken with worry and guilt and half rolling my eyes at the irony of there being a room full of super-fast, super-agile werewolves and not one of them catching her in time.
"You hit your head pretty bad. You'll probably be disorientated for a while. Take it easy, okay?" I cautioned, propping my elbow behind her back so she wouldn't fall back.
"We-" her lip trembled, "werewolves? You said werewolves."
I shook my head at her, exasperated. "Woman, you open your eyes and the first thing that comes out of your mouth is picking up on something I said before." I smiled, "do I not get a hello?"
"April, I need to –" she was cut off by an arrival in the doorway.
I lifted slightly from my crouch besides her; she had been lain down on the sofa bed by Kaden. Aiden stepped inside the room, tray balanced on one hand.
Once she had fainted, there was an instant flurry of movement; Antonio questioning why my mum had walked into a werewolf meeting, Daniel squealing for some reason, a tangle of arms fighting to pull the unconscious human woman up and me, standing there for a few moments in disbelief.
I fainted, she fainted – both at very different things. He smiled at my mother guardedly, though he still managed to appear as charming as ever and put the tray down, crouching on the other side of her.
"Mrs Evans, how's your head?" His eyes examined her worriedly, hand skimming over the back of her hair for any signs of a bump. I watched him carefully, noting the way the muscle in his cheek tightened when he pursed his lips or the way his hair curled slightly at the temples.
She flinched ever so slightly. He withdrew, sighing. "There's toast and coffee on the plate. One sugar, a dash of milk." He recalled, probably from the amount of coffee they drank at the hospital together. "Call me if you need anything else?"
"We will." I replied for the both of us.
I turned to my mother, taking a deep, rattling breath in order to explain myself as soon as Aiden had left, too quickly for my liking. He could have been a mad man and I still would have loved him, I though guiltily.
She cut me off, sitting up. "You said they're werewolves. All of them. Didn't you?"
"And you fainted." I pointed out calmly. "Meaning you believed me – did you faint from shock? Disbelief? Fear? If I said 'vampires' would you have passed out there and then as well?"
"I don't know, April. I want to believe you because in that one moment, my mind went through every single sign and possibility I could think of. I want to believe you because on my way here, I thought I saw wolves in the surrounding forest area. I was so confused. America doesn't have this many wolves in this area, right? Well, I was obviously wrong. America does have a lot of wolves in this area. And the scary thing about it? They all looked so humane; their behaviour, stopping and staring at the car, looking as if they were, I don't know... communicating – they didn't look wild."
"You drove here? How did you know exactly where here was though?"
She looked down sheepishly, her cheeks flushing. "Don't get angry at me for this, but I followed you and Nina." I inhaled sharply, "but only because I was on my way to your apartment to talk to you. When I saw you and Nina leaving – looking dodgy as hell –" she shot me a sharp look. "I decided to follow you. I didn't plan on doing it!"
My jaw slackened. "You followed me." I repeated. "Here." I was dumbfounded to say the least. "But if you followed us as soon as we left the apartment, why didn't you arrive immediately after us?"
"I lost you guys," she shrugged. "There were so many turnings and you guys were driving in and out of lanes like mad women. I eventually arrived here and I saw one of your friends – Noah, was it?"
Her recollection must have been from when he and Kayla had visited at the hospital; I didn't realize they might have met my parents on their way out of the hospital room and that she'd remember his face.
"Mum, you followed us. For nearly an hour – hell, we were following GPS and still got lost. I don't know how you made it." I stated and then, after a few silent moments. "Didn't you didn't think to call us?"
Her mouth opened in a small circle of defiance. "I did! You weren't picking up."
I shook my head at her. "It doesn't matter. You're here now and safe. That's all that matters." I nodded to the tray Aiden had set down. "Eat something and we'll talk."
She was halfway through her second toast before she broke the heavy silence between us; I could almost feel her questions buzzing in the air. "Please tell me you're joking about this werewolf business. Wolves exist, I know that much. But werewolves?" She sounded skeptical.
I frowned. "Why did you faint when I said it then?"
"Partially due to the heat – I'm not used to American summers. British summer is 40% rain, 30% uncertainty, 15% wind and 15% warmth. Maybe also because I'd missed breakfast." She shook her head at me. "April, you're not messing with me, are you? You can't be messing with me. There is no evidence for lycanthropy –" upon seeing my expression, she fell silent.
"Mum, look outside this window and tell me what you see." She looked and I followed her gaze, speaking softly. "That forest is teeming with wolves. Those people out there? They're not here for a party or anything; it's more like a social gathering – of werewolves. I didn't believe it at first either but then I saw one of them changing." I flash backed to when Diego had shifted. "Werewolves exist."
"I believe in werewolves. Aiden's one, Diego's one, his father's one. They're all werewolves."
Her lips moved as though in prayer. "Is - is Nina one too?"
I shook a no at her, snorting. "Werewolves," she tasted the word like a foreign delicacy, a bitter-sweet stranger. "Are they – dangerous?"
"If they were, I wouldn't be alive today."
She had plenty more questions, I knew that much. But right now, I reverted to hugging her gratefully, breathing in her familiar scent, feeling the bristle of her hair on my cheek and calloused hand stroking my back as though I was a small child again.
"I love you so much, mum. I'm sorry about everything I've put you through. You didn't deserve any of it. None of it at all. I'm so sorry," I mumbled into her hair, my throat thickening.
She released me, leaning me away from her and gazing at me with eyes that suddenly seemed so much older. "I – I didn't realize how much you've grown up without me. I never realized how much you didn't need me anymore. I – I suppose I didn't want to accept that my little girl was growing up. I love you, April. And I'm sorry about everything I've done. But as a mother, I had my reasons. Every mother has a reason for doing what they do – they do it to protect you. They do it because they don't want to acknowledge that their child is grown. With you it was different; I hadn't seen you for so long that we were beginning to forget each other. I still saw you as a young girl when you weren't."
I hugged her again. I wanted my mum – not the monster-mum she was before, because she wanted what was best for me, even if she went about it in ways that were questionable. I loved her because she went through so much for me only to find an ungrateful bitch at the other end.
I was being hypocritical and selfish when I did that weed; despite it being for a new experience and morsel of fun, it wasn't right for me to do something as thoughtlessly stupid as that when the very same thing had nearly killed one of the people I loved most in the world.
Honestly, I was grateful that I was no longer that girl before with no backbone and sass to match her sarcastic thoughts; I was glad I'd grown into my own skin and learnt to accept who I was with – if not a slight recklessness. I had changed; but in ways I was proud of, in ways I was happy about. I wasn't a different person – no-one ever changed who they were. Not really. But they developed and grew into themselves, into their own skin and character.
My mother's voice snapped me out of my trance. I hadn't realized I was smiling.
"You won't be smiling as much when your father finds out about this," she waved her hand around, "werewolf business."
My smile drooped. Olivia would immediately think Taylor Lautner, Tyler Posey or Tyler Hoechlin. Too bad they were nothing like those types of werewolves. My dad would think we were playing a practical joke and would probably faint too, just to keep the family tradition up.
"Also, mind you, April Evans, I don't agree with you speaking back to me the way you were before. Don't let that inflated attitude get in the way of your mind. Maybe..." she hesitated, teeth chewing on her lower lip. "Maybe Aiden can teach you a thing or two about that."
"Aiden?"
"Aiden, yes." She mused. "I don't particularly like the fact that he'd been doing drugs and alcohol for such a long time. But - but I also heard about his mother and suddenly, as a mother myself, it made me change my perspective. When you were in the hospital..."
"He was by your side those entire 6 months, April. He only left when he was literally forced to. He charmed a nurse - a male nurse," she added quickly, flashing me a knowing smile. "Into allowing him to stay longer. Me and your dad were so confused when we first arrived. We didn't know you even had a boyfriend let alone one as dedicated as Aiden. But we accepted it because he was quite clearly adamant about not leaving your side until your eyes opened."
She took a deep breath, carrying on. I was latching onto her every word, eyes widening with each one that revealed slightly more about my 6 comatose months. "I saw him drinking something that looked like alcohol once. Only once. No more than that. He gave up everything for you, not that we knew it at the time. I, your dad and Olivia were impressed but we were too focused on you to spend a lot of time talking to him. He seemed like such a good boy." She finished ambiguously, breathing in softly.
"But he's quit all of that now," I breathed, my eyes wide and hopeful.
She shot me an easy smile, suddenly the adult again, though now, it felt like it was a shared responsibility.
"I know. I was skeptical, but I believe it. Nina told me why you two had broken up since you were being so defensive about it," she was careful to keep her tone light. "But now I understand. He wouldn't have ever done that if it wasn't to keep you in his best intentions. He did it to protect you – because he loved you."
My jaw slackened slightly. My mother understood my 'love' life more than I did, I thought. "So you like him now?"
"I never disliked him." She scowled at me. "I just didn't trust him – because I didn't trust you. And because I never knew he existed until we stepped into the hospital." She admitted.
"That's good. Actually, that's great." My smile widened and then dropped. "Mum, it's all good you liking him and all but they all think I'm crazy."
She frowned. "Who?"
"My friends – everyone."
"You're being melodramatic," she snorted, "why do they think you're crazy?"
I did weed and not they think I'm an unstable, freakish girl who's going to fall off the rails if she doesn't hold on tight. "Oh, you know," I trailed off awkwardly, "things happened."
"You should talk to them," she shrugged, "or give them time to cool off and for yourself to cool off. I forgot what a temper you had; as a small child you were so calm, but then, once in a blue moon, all of your anger would bubble over. It was amusing at the time, but I suppose it's something scarier."
Stunned, my mouth fell open. "Everyone's talking about me like I'm some sort of axe-murderer. Like if you step on my shoes, I'll find you in the night and kill you."
"Am I monster?"
She shook her head. "I think you're just... hormonal. Are you on your time of month?" She sounded dead serious.
My mouth dropped in embarrassment. If any werewolf was listening into our conversation, I would die from embarrassment. "Mum!"
"What? Oh, can the werewolves hear?" She laughed. "Hey everyone, April might be PMS-ing right now so she's going to need a straitjacket before she goes Incredible Hulk on us all." She said loudly. I felt my stomach knot in embarrassment and I dropped my head into my hands, begging her to quieten down.
Then, I saw the funny side of the situation and laughed with her, still embarrassed. I stood up, heart soaring at the sound of my mother's laughter. Things were still going to be weird considering there was still so much about werewolves she didn't know yet and I would have to be the one to eventually answer. But that was for later.
For now, I had to convince my friends I wasn't psychologically ill or a descendant of the Hulk.