Xavier parked the car in the public carpark, checking his phone quickly to make sure that it wasn't on silent, just in case Noah needed to contact him about the pack. Ever since Jude's stunt the other week, Xavier had been a worried wreck whenever we left the pack for more than ten minutes. I couldn't blame him, but it was certainly taking its toll on him.
"Look at that couple over there." I snickered, "I'm pretty sure that level of PDA is against the law."
"Uh, Cameron..." Xavier shot me a bewildered look, "That's Heather and Mike."
"Fuck off, no way!" I exclaimed, scrambling closer to get a look.
I couldn't see much in the dark, but now that Xavier had mentioned it, it actually was the two of them. Mike had Heather pressed up against a wall, a cigarette still burning in her left hand while they made out. This was who she left her boyfriend for? So much for not pursuing...
A devilish grin spread across my face as a plan formulated. I reached over to Xavier's side of the car again and hit the car horn twice, startling the two of them. Heather dropped her cigarette in a puddle and they both jumped forwards, hitting their heads against each other as they tried to scramble apart.
"You're evil." Xavier chuckled, watching the two of them turn bright red and try to compose themselves.
I climbed out of the car and waved innocently to the pair, smirking. Once Heather realised it was me, her embarrassed look twisted into one of rage and she marched towards me while scowling. I held up my hands, surrendering, but she ignored me and hit my chest as hard as she could- which I barely even felt.
"That was totally unnecessary, Cam." Heather seethed, fixing her skirt, which had been hitched up during the make out sesh.
"Fair play, Mike. I didn't think you had it in you." I teased, receiving another glare from Heather.
"She said I'm better in bed than you, so take that." Mike shot right back, making me burst out laughing.
"I did not!" Heather scolded him, making me laugh harder.
"Looks like I'm the reigning champ, Mike." I shrugged smugly, "How does it feel living in my shadow?"
"Very funny, Cameron." Heather's voice was dripping with sarcasm, "Heather and Mike are together, ha ha- very funny. Now that the joke's old, why don't you introduce us to your boyfriend?"
"Somebody hit a nerve." I teased, "Anyway, this is Xavier. You already know all about him, so I'll skip the pleasantries."
"Just so you know, I played no part in the beeping of the horn." Xavier apologised, "It's lovely to meet you."
"I hadn't expected you to be such a gentleman. I'm shocked, who knew that Cameron could have taste?" Heather got her own back at me, shooting me a glare.
"Everyone else should be inside if you want to follow me." Mike offered warmly, leading the way inside the pub and to our usual table.
"Can we expect a shit show like last time again?" Heather jested, slipping into the booth on the opposite side to Mike.
I may be a dickhead, but I wasn't a total dickhead. If Heather didn't want the others knowing, then I wasn't going to out her for fun- that would just be rude of me.
"I mean, I hope not." Xavier chuckled nervously, sitting next to me.
"This is Xavier." Heather announced to the group, gesturing to him with a flourish.
"God I wish he was single." Fred remarked, complimenting Xavier.
I shot him a playful glare, keeping my possessiveness at bay so that I didn't ruin the fun. I was getting better at controlling the emotions that Xavier made me feel, which was a relief because I couldn't keep snapping at anyone who thought that Xavier was attractive- it's inevitable, since he's the hottest guy on earth.
"Fred, you're such a flirt." Oscar shook his head, "Ignore him, Xavier."
"What were you two doing outside?" Mick scrutinised Mike and Heather, who did a pretty good job of hiding their reactions.
"I asked them to wait outside for us." I covered for them, Heather sending me an appreciative look in return.
"And why would you do that?" Mick challenges, surprising me.
Why the hell was Mick so caught up about this?
"We had a cigarette outside before coming in." I was quick on my toes with a lie, "I forgot mine at home and I was gagging for one."
Heather simply flashed the carton of cigarettes in her hand, but that wasn't enough for Mick.
"Explains Heather, but why Mike?" Mick shot back, narrowing his eyes.
"Dude, what's wrong with you?" Mike laughed nervously, "You're ruining the vibe; just chill out. Heather didn't want to wait in a dark carpark alone, so I went with her: big deal."
Mick backed down at that, but the atmosphere was tense now. Mick's outburst was beyond weird, but neither Heather or Mike looked too surprised that he was acting this way. He must be catching onto the fact that they're seeing each other- he had always had a crush on Heather, so I guess it made sense that he was upset.
"Can I buy anyone a drink?" Xavier offered, instantly lightening the atmosphere.
"I like this guy!" Oscar grinned, "You've chosen well, Cam."
"Good to know your approval can be bought with alcohol, Oscar." I snorted, making everyone laugh.
"I'll have a pint, my friend." Oscar retorted, not even bothering to hide the fact that he was overjoyed by the prospect of free alcohol.
"Would it be cheeky to order a pitcher?" A voice came from behind us, making us all whip round.
Ava was the last person I expected to see stood in the pub right now. Sure, I had invited her, but I had invited her to many things since she had drifted away from the group and she hadn't shown up once. I thought that her presence in this friendship group had came to an end after the first few times she didn't show up.
Everyone around the table- other than Xavier- was gawking at her, just as surprised as me by her sudden appearance. She hesitated, her happy facade faltering as she debated whether she should sit down or not, but she quickly regained her posture and slipped into the booth beside me.
"What you said about needing my friends was right, Cam. I just need to push through this awkward phase." Ava whispered in my ear, squeezing my hand to say thank you.
"I don't think a pitcher is cheeky at all. Why don't we share one?" I broke the awkward silence in the group, squeezing her hand to let her know I had her back.
My reminder of the free drinks on offer seemed to galvanise the rest of the table into ordering their drinks with Xavier, but Oscar was still just staring at Ava in surprise. His expression was dusted in hurt, but he didn't seem unhappy to see her here, just surprised.
Xavier squeezed out of the booth and headed to the bar to retrieve the long list of drinks, so the second he was gone everybody turned to me with wide eyes.
"How is he in bed?" Heather was the first to ask the question on her mind, making me blush.
Ava blushed too, clearly realising exactly what I had realised; Xavier could hear this entire conversation, despite him being on the other side of the room. They thought they were being slick by waiting until he left, but there was no escaping Xavier's wolfie ears.
"We haven't had sex." I admitted, "Let's end this topic here, thanks."
"You haven't?" Mike's mouth gaped open, "Who are you? The Cameron I know would be all over that by now- regardless of whether you're taking it slow, or not. You've been together ages now."
"What can I say, I'm changed." I tried to keep my voice as low as possible, but Ava shot me a look as if to say it was fruitless anyway.
"Are you happy, then?" Heather's question was actually genuine, which surprised me.
I thought about it for a second. Was I happy? Everything had changed in such a short space of time: I wasn't living at home, werewolves exist and my whole outlook on life was more focus on work and being sensible, rather than focusing on smoking and drinking with friends.
"I think I'm happier than I ever have been." I admitted, Xavier's head whipping towards me over at the bar.
I sent him a small smile, letting him know that I knew he had heard me. It was true- everything had changed, but it had changed for the better. My relationship with my mum had never been on track to repair itself before and I was finally looking after myself because I wanted to be responsible for my pack.
"Not even one drink down and this night is already getting emotional." Mick groaned, "You guys are no fun."
I laughed along with everyone at that, however, it occurred to me in that moment that Mick had a hell of a lot of growing up to do. It wasn't a bad thing, of course, but it made me realise how much maturing I had done in the last few months.
"It's good to see you, Ava." Heather greeted her finally, pulling the attention back towards the fact that Ava had actually showed up today.
I had warned the gang that I was inviting her places, but nobody expected her to come; of course, I had cleared it with Oscar first too and he was okay with it... It was just unexpected, that's all.
The rest of the group greeted her then, trying to act as normally as possible. However, they weren't so subtle with flitting their eyes from Oscar to Ava and back again- somebody would think there was a miniature tennis match happening at our booth, or they were trying to give themselves whiplash.
"What have I missed?" Ava bantered, looking at everyone other than Oscar.
"Not much, but Cameron's a completely different person now." Mick offered, scrunching his nose at me.
"He's sensible, you mean?" Mike chuckled, "To be fair, I suppose that is completely different to how Cameron used to be."
"Cameron was dumb enough to chug the entirety of one of Mike's horrendous concoctions last time Ava partied with us." Heather pointed out, making me cringe at the memory.
"I was there that night." Xavier recalled, returning to the booth with a tray full of drinks.
"Don't remind me that you had to witness me like that." I groaned, "The first time we properly met- face to face- I was face down in a bush, pissed to oblivion and smelling of absinthe..."
"And I still fell for you, regardless." Xavier flirted, making my heart flutter slightly.
The way he looked at me made my head light and I sent him a bashful smile, looking up at him through my lashes. I wanted nothing more than to kiss him right now for being such a romantic sod, but I could tell the whole table's eyes were on us.
"Us singletons don't wanna see that shit." Fred deadpanned, "It's sweeter than that toffee apple liquor at halloween that make Heather throw up."
"Don't remind me." Heather gagged, "I can't get through a single halloween without you guys forcing me to do shots of that stuff just for your entertainment."
"Entertaining it is." Ava giggled, finally relaxing slightly.
"Anyone for a ciggie?" Oscar offered, digging around in his jacket pocket for his baccy pouch.
Before anyone could reply, Ava slid out of the booth, ready to go. That was the second time that night that Ava managed to have my jaw on the floor with her unpredictable nature. She was going to go for a cigarette with Oscar voluntarily?
The rest of the group stayed deadly silent and Oscar quickly realised that he and Ava were going to be alone, but there wasn't much he could do about it now. I certainly wasn't third wheeling on that difficult conversation.
With a sigh of defeat, Oscar slipped out of the booth and stalked off outside. Ava quickly followed suit, jogging to catch up to him before he ran all the way home to avoid whatever was about to happen outside. The table was left in silence, all of our eyes trained on the door they had just left through.
It didn't take long for all of us to click into action, however. Except for Xavier, who was just clueless as to what the hell was happening.
"The women's bathroom has the best view!" Heather exclaimed, slipping out the booth and jogging over to the bathroom in her too tall heels.
We all rushed behind her, filing into the women's bathroom despite definitely not being women. I even dragged Xavier with us, so there were five grown men and one woman running into a tiny women's bathroom- which was pretty comical in itself.
"Give me a boost!" Heather demanded, trying to jump to see out of the small window.
"How did you know this had a good view of the carpark?" I wrinkled my nose, looking around the bathroom since it was my first time in any women's bathroom.
"I had to leave through the window here once on a particularly bad date." Heather replied quickly, kicking off her heels and stepping onto Mick's hands to be boosted.
"Need a lift, shortie?" Xavier teased, wrapping his arms around my waist.
"Yes please, flirt." I grinned, finally being able to see what was happening.
Despite it being dark out, I could make out the figures of Oscar and Ava sat on the wall that Mike and Heather had been making out against earlier. Both had a finger balancing between their their fingers, but neither of them were lit- it seems they were too preoccupied with talking to even get to that stage.
"What's happening?" Mick called from the floor, grunting under rHeather weight.
"I would tell you if you weren't speaking over everything they're saying!" Heather hissed, reaching down to swat at his head so that he would shut it.
We both strained to listen, but we couldn't make out a single word. I knew that Xavier could probably hear, but I couldn't ask him in front of everyone.
"That's it, I give up!" Heather pouted, "I can't hear a thing. Let's get back to the table before they come back and see us all leaving the women's bathroom."
"How would we even explain that?" I snorted.
"Gay orgy?" Mike suggested.
"Gay orgy, plus Heather." Fred corrected.