Chapter 17

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"Are you tripping or something? Your leg-bouncing is driving me fucking insane,"

My leg froze in place as I looked at Cameron, and their wide-eyed 'stop or I'll kill someone' expression.

I shook my head. "No, sorry. Just... haven't seen my parents in a while, I'm excited to see them," I shrugged and looked out the window, my eyes drifting to the clock hanging on the wall. 2:48 PM. Just another half an hour.

Ember smiled half-sadly, shaking her head. "I ain't seen my parents in a while either- they weren't all too happy about Stella. They would've preferred for her to be a 'Sebastian' if you get what I mean, they don't wanna see me," she shrugged, a playful smile playing on her lips.

My stomach felt like it was filled with stones. "Uh, I, I'm sorry," I whispered, my brain failing to come up with a better response at her words. Her smile widened, and she rolled her eyes.

"Don't worry about it- I'd rather live without them than without Stella. My parents thought that if I became anything less than a doctor, I'd be a complete failure as a human being. At least Stella supports my dreams," she smiled fondly, looking down at the table.

I swallowed a bite of my sandwich. "What do you want to do?"

She blushed and bit her lip, looking down. "I want to be an artist,"

"What kind? Like, what art?"

She smiled. "Oil painting, I usually focus on human anatomy- you know, bodies, mainly women... or... woman..." she smiled and bit her lip.

I smiled, a blush traveling up my cheeks as well. Why she ... well, loves Stella, I'll never understand, but she does, and... very much so, apparently.

The bell rang loudly in the room, informing us that we had to go to our last class of the day. We picked up our stuff and trays in unison, before heading for the door. Cameron wrapped their arm around my shoulder with a smile as we headed off for our trigonometry class.

***

I looked out of the window by the front door, waiting for a car to show up, my foot tapping against the wooden floorboards.

"What on earth are you standing there for?" Alpha Allen asked me, walking up behind me. I kept my eyes locked on the window.

"I'm waiting for my parents,"

He chuckled behind me, and I heard him walking closer. "Listen, I have some serious doubts about the quality of education in the HSA, so I ask you, in all seriousness... you realize they won't arrive any faster just because you're looking for them, right?

I rolled my eyes, shaking my head, not even bothering to look at him."Of course, I do, I'm not an idiot. I just.... I've missed them. A lot," I rested my forehead against the glass, staring hopelessly at the driveway.

Something brushed softly against my arm, and I turned my head to find Alpha Allen pulling his hand away. "I'm sorry for keeping you from them for so long I should've arranged visits back when we weren't on speaking terms. I realize that now, I'm sorry. It will never happen again,"

Shaking my head, I looked down at the floor. "It's... okay, just, please... I hate not being able to speak to them. I use the phone you gave me all the time, I call them every day, but just... having them here is different," I shrugged.

"I know, sorry. And I'm glad you like your phone," he smiled, before his eyes shifted to the window. I turned my head, letting out an involuntary squeal at the sight of a car slowly making it's way up the driveway.

I pulled open the front door and ran down the stairs, jumping in the place as I watched the car coming closer and closer, before parking at the foot of the stairs. The driver who drove me every morning opened the back door, my mom coming into view as he did.

She ran up to me, throwing her arms around me, a sob leaving her as she did. My dad joined in, crashing into us, his arms enveloping both of us. I hugged them both closer, squeezing as if my life depended on it.


My mom pulled away, giving my father full hug-access. "We've missed you so so much sweety," he whispered.

I hugged him closer, resting my forehead against his shoulder. "I've missed you too, so much Papa," I pulled away and smiled up at him, but turned my head as my mom gasped.

She covered her mouth with her hands, shaking her head with wide eyes. "Oh my god, sweety, you're practically skin and bones- haven't you been eating? Why? Has he been starving you?" she whispered, running her hand from my shoulder, down my arm, shaking her head.

We all turned or eyes to the top of the stairs as he spoke behind us. "On the contrary, I've been trying to make her eat more- unfortunately, it seems I've had a negative effect on Paige's appetite. And I must admit that I don't appreciate the accusation," He raised his eyebrows, but still kept a warm smile on his lips.

My mom ignored him, and turned to me, her forehead wrinkling in confusion. "What? You promised me that you'd stay healthy?"

I looked down at my feet, a bag of stones appearing in my stomach. "I'm sorry mom, I just..." I shrugged.

She put her hand softly against my cheek, her eyes filling with worry as she looked at me. "Paige, you need to promise me that you'll eat from now on. You need to stay healthy, for yourself and for us,"

I nodded, taking her hands in mine. "I will, sorry mom," I added, before turning my head to the sound of Alpha Allen clearing his throat to get our attention.

He smiled at me, a warm smile I couldn't decide whether was calming or unsettling. "Well, Paige, do you and your parents want to sit in your room, the living room, the other livingroom?"

"The living room sounds good, if it's not a problem,"

He shook his head. "Of course not, Love, you lead the way," he gestured with his arm towards the front door, and my parents followed me, Alpha Allen trailing along behind us, closing the front door after entering it.

We all walked into the living room, my parents looking all over the large room and expensive furniture- I couldn't blame them for being taken aback. Even after staying here for a ... well, almost a week now, I still got overwhelmed by the fanciness of the house.

Alpha Allen smiled at all of us separately. "I'll leave the three of you alone for now, I have some work to do. I'll join you around 7 for dinner," he left out the door opening, heading for the stairs.

Once he was out of sight, I gestured for my parents to take a seat on the massive couch. My mom threw one last glance at the doorway, before looking back at me. "So... how are you? You didn't call yesterday, why?"

I shook my head, resting my back against the couch. "I... I was exhausted yesterday. I met his parents,"

My mom's eyes widened in horror. "Oh god, are you alright?"

"Uh, yeah. I didn't talk much to his dad, but his mom was really nice," "The first thing she told him when she saw us was to get his hands off me, and then she threw him and his father out of the room," I couldn't help but smile at the thought of her. I couldn't help but find her lack of precaution around wolves entertaining- and a bit terrifying, like the woman didn't have any sense of mortality.

Mom threw herself back into the couch, mouth and eyes wide open. "She did?"

I nodded with a smile, a thought popping into my mind. "So, how's Grandma and Grandpa?"

Mom sighed, her eyes saddening at the mentioning of her parents- they always did. I knew how much she missed them, now that I'd myself experienced being limited to over-the-phone contact for the past few days ."They really want you to call them, they want to talk to you so bad, they're so so worried about you,"

I felt the heavy feeling of guilt at her words- I would have to get better at calling them. I missed them as well. "I will, I've just had a lot of my mind lately. Talking about grandparents... I have a surprise," I couldn't keep the stupid smile off my face.

"What kind of a surprise?" my dad asked, now speaking up for the first time since Alpha Allen left the room.

Smiling widely, I clapped my hands together. "Alpha Allen has arranged a visit to go see pops and nana,"

Dad's eyes widened. "Re-really? Even though it isn't Christmas? Wait, does this mean we won't get to see them at Christmas?" his hopeful expression turned dark with worry.

My brows furrowed at his words. "I... I don't know. I don't think so. Believe it or not he... he's been... quite... nice about it. He said that I could ask to visit them... anytime I want, so I guess not. No, I don't think so," I nodded, my head to myself. He said just to tell him whenever I wanted to see them, that must mean I can see them whenever I want- also at Christmas.

Dad nodded slowly, not quite assured by my words. "Okay, but when is it? We'll need to get time off work,"

"Sunday, I don't know what time, though," I shrugged.

His face fell flat in disappointment. "Oh... I can't do that, I promised to take Howard's shift Sunday, so he could take mine today. Perhaps you could go and then... maybe if he'll allow you to see them again then I can come along then..." he looked at the floor, and my heart ached as I looked at him. I'd just promised him that he'd get to see his parents and now he couldn't.

I furrowed my brows and tried to keep my voice hopeful. "Can't you have someone take the shift Sunday and then take their shift some other day? Maybe tomorrow? Or Monday? Anything?" a desperate expression covered my face.

He shook his head. "I'm sorry sweety, but you should go see them, and your mother too, you don't have work Sunday, right? Then the two of you can go see them. Say hi from me, then I'll hopefully be able to come along if he'll let us see them some other time," his voice was filled with disappointment.

"I'm sorry dad, I really wanted you to see them,"

He shook his head before plastering a smile on his face."It's alright, lets just hope we'll get another chance," he sent me a not-so-hopeful half-smile. I smiled back.

Mom was the first to break the silence."How about we talk about something a bit more... cheerful. you said that you were going to a new school? How is it? Are the people there nice?"

***

We all stopped laughing at the sound of a knock. We turned our heads to the doorway, in which Alpha Allen was leaning to the side, a smile on his face. "Hey there, am I interrupting? Dinners ready,"

"Oh, alright," I said, getting up from the couch. My parents followed me into the dining room and took a seat on each side of me, Alpha Allen sitting on the other side of the table by himself.

My mouth watered at the sight of the beautiful lasagna placed in the middle of the table, and I think my parents did too- they at least made sure to fill their plates to the breaking point.

"Has Paige told you about Sunday?" Alpha Allen asked, breaking the silence,  making us all look up from our food.

Dad's eyebrows furrowed, disappointment taking over his face. "She did," he muttered, taking another miserable bite of lasagna.

Alpha Allen looked from him to me, and back, confusion taking over his face. "Is anything wrong?"

I shrugged, pressing my lips together. "It'll just me and my mom going, uh, dad can't get time off work. I was hoping that maybe you'd let us...see them at another time, also, soon," I looked up at him through my lashes.

Alpha Allen nodded. "Of course, I will, just say when you want to go. But how come you can't get time off work?"

"I had to take a guys to shift Sunday, so I could come here today," dad shrugged, stabbing at his lasagna with his fork.

Alpha Allen sat up a tad straighter, a serious expression taking over his face."Mr. White, where do you work? Do you have your boss's phone number?" I couldn't help but be surprised by his tone of voice. He was so... business-like, as if he was a lawyer or something. What does he even do? I mean I get that he's an Alpha, but you can't possibly make this much money from simply bossing people around, can you?

Dad's forehead wrinkled in confusion. "I do... why?" he spoke slowly.

He smiled politely. "I'd like to call and make sure that you have time off every time you need to go see Paige or your parents from now on. I'm sure I and your boss can come to an agreement,"

Dad's eyes widened in the surprise of Alpha Allen's words. "Oh, uh, thank you, Alpha Allen," He mumbled, looking down at his plate.

Alpha Allen rolled his eyes. "Allen, please, Mr. White, just Allen," he smiled once again.

We ate the rest of our food in silence, and once two maids had cleared the table, (my parent's looking unbelievably confused as they did) me, mom and dad started getting ready for going back into the living room to keep on talking until they'd have to go home.

We headed for the door, but all stopped in our tracks as Alpha Allen spoke up. "Mr. and Mrs. White, could I borrow the two of you for a minute?"

We all walked back up the dining table. Alpha Allen smiled, before turning around walking up to a (mostly) glass cabinet filled with various figurines and little plants, and pulled out a few pieces of blank paper and two pens. He laid it all out on the table in front of my parents.

"Draw a floorplan, it can be any size, with as many rooms as you want. 2, 5 or 28, I don't care, draw whatever you like. I can't stand the thought of Paige growing up in a concrete block like the one I saw at the HSA, nor the fact that you're still living there. Draw the house you want, and I'll have an architect look into it, and then it should be finished in a month or so, no more than that at the very least," he said, all of our mouth falling open as he finished speaking.

"So.... we get to design our own house? Just the way we want it?" mom asked in disbelief.

He shrugged. "As long as the architect and the engineer gives a good to go, yes. I'll find a piece of land that fits with the size of whatever you draw, and then it shouldn't be more than 30 days, and I'll make arrangements to make sure you can both keep your jobs, or get better ones if you'd rather do that. Don't think about prices and money- just draw a rough sketch of whatever you want and I'll make it happen," he smiled, before heading for the door.

"Oh my..." dad whispered, grabbing a pen into his hand.

Mom's yes began turning red and wet, a single tear running down her cheek."Our own house. Our very own house..."

I turned around and headed for the door, half-running to catch up with him. He was on his way up the stairs. "Hey, Alp- Allen,"

He turned around and walked back down to me. "Yes, Love?" he asked, tipping his head to the side.

I sniffled, a smile spreading on my face as a lump found its way into my throat. "Thank you, thank you... so much. You have no idea.. this means so much to me. This will change so much for them, thank you," I sobbed, a tear running down my cheek.

He smiled, pulling a handkerchief out of his chest pocket, handing it to me with a stretched arm. "Of course love, I just want you to be happy- more than anything else. Go back to your parents. Help them plan out the house. I'll have someone bring you something to drink- cocoa for you and coffee for your parents?" his eyes flooded with warmth as he looked at me, his smile growing softer, more tender. It made my stomach feel weird- and I couldn't determine whether or not it was in a good way.

Letting out a hiccup, I nodded. "Cocoa for me and my dad please, and coffee for my mom. And if we could get the ice cream, and the marshmallows and the whipped cream in our cocoa... my dad's gonna love it," I couldn't help but let a smile spread on my face, despite the tear running down my cheek.

He nodded,  his smile transforming into a cheerful grin. "Of course, Love, anything for you. Go back to them, I'll see you in a few hours, yeah?"

I nodded, wiping my cheeks with the handkerchief. "Thank you, Allen, thank you so so so much," I whispered.

His smile turned soft once again, his eyes growing soft along with it. "As I said; Anything for you, my Love,"

A/N

So... opinions? You guys liking Allen? You like Paige? You like Paige's parents?

You guys have no idea how fucking happy I am that you're reading my story. For the simple reason that my mom promised to take me out to eat when I hit 100K readers. She did not expect it to be this soon. Gonna love those chicken tenders and corn cobs.

Question for you guys: I'm curious, about something ... physical about my readers so, there's gonna be a few, I'll underline my own answers.

You guys bellybutton an innie or an outie?

Are your earlobes attached to your head or are they 'hanging loose'?

Which one is longer; your big toe, index toe, or your middle toe?

Does your tongue rest at the top or the bottom of your mouth when you're not talking?

Do you have petite or fat fingers?

Oh and another thing I thought of today... do other countries have 'mix yourself' candy? Like where you choose and pick from boxes of different kinds of candy, and then pay based on the weight of the paperbag of candy? I know Germany does (or at least by the danish border they do)

Alright fun fact about the writer: I don't want kids. I don't... really like 'em. I mean, it's not like I'd be mean to a kid or hurt them or anything I just... don't like 'em.

Oh, and just a friendly reminder; next chapter's gonna be about Friday- the full moon...


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