Okay, just FYI, it's been ~2 weeks since le cuddles. Now, back to the show:

And I also have a funny feeling that you guys are gonna hate me- or rather, Paige.

Oh, and this chapter is dedicated to @AshRhoads because... honestly she's one of my most supportive readers and leaves the sweetest comments and I love her- not that the rest of you aren't cool though- you all have your own little special spot in my heart.

And this chap is also a bit longer than usual- to make up for the wait- I apologize.

***

My stomach felt hard and dark as I looked out of the car window, my heartbeat becoming louder and louder in my own ears.

The thought of the conversation last night played over and over in my head.

We hadn't talked much in the past few days. It had felt so wrong, after waking up in his arms. He'd smiled oh-so-happily at me and whispered a 'good morning, Love' into my hair and placed a kiss on my forehead. The thought of his facial expression when I'd turned my face away without and answer always made a cinderblock of guilt weight at the bottom of my stomach.

Yet, despite our lack of communication, he'd knocked on my bedroom door last night, his eyes wary as he'd entered the room. To say that I was surprised would've been an understatement.

"Hey there, Love,"

Pulling my legs up to my chest, I turned the volume on the TV down a nudge. "Uh... hi,"

He sighed. "I have some kinda good news and some kind of bad news- for you, anyways,"

"What is it?" I'd asked, slowly.

He rubbed the back of his neck. "Uhm, the good news is that... we're going out tomorrow, for dinner,"

A wave of uncomfortableness went through me at his words. I didn't really like the thought of going out... on what I would guess to be a date... with him. I swallowed hard. "And the bad news?"

"We're going out... to my parent's place. You're... going to meet my siblings- all of them, I tried to talk my mom out of it but... she's scary."

I would've probably smiled if I hadn't been so terrified at the time.

The houses flew past the windows in a blur, my stomach turning and twisting for each minute passing.

"Take a deep breath, please, Love, if you start hyperventilating I'm going to panic, and then we're going to crash, and I wouldn't want to hurt you, and fairly, I'd hate to harm my car as well, so would you please take a deep breath?"

Automatically, I took a deep breath and turned my head. Allen was looking at me out of the corner of his eye, the concern clearly visible on his face. "Love, you really don't have to worry, my mom will make sure that my siblings are on their best behavior, and if it really becomes too bad, we'll go home right away,"

I didn't answer. The minutes passed by slowly, and suddenly, Allen turned to the right, into a large, long driveway- longer than the one at his house. As we came closer, the building- the house, became clearer. Or rather, it wasn't that much of a house, it was more of a mansion, two stories, old from the looks of it, yet with a modern twist- quite charming if I hadn't been terrified of going in there.

Allen parked next to a Mercedes in the line of covered parking lots, and less than a second later he was around the car, holding the door open for me and offering me his hand, I took it, but even after I'd gotten out of the car, he still didn't let go.

It didn't bother me as much as I thought it would- I mean, I had other things to worry about. My heart hammered unevenly in my chest.

"Don't worry," he whispered as we came closer and closer to the front door, his thumb rubbing back and forth on my hand. It was... oddly comforting. I grimaced at the thought.

We reached the front door, and before Allen even had a chance to knock, it was opened, a very happy and welcoming Claudia coming into view. She smiled and basically dragged us in, wrapping her arms around Allen's shoulders- the height difference making it look a little funny. "Hi there Ally," she whispered, stretching on her tiptoes, before letting go of him and turning to me.

Her smile grew wider, and she carefully wrapped her arms around my shoulders. Her embrace was weirdly familiar- and comfortable. "Hi, Paige, it's so nice to see you. How have you been?" she let go of me and wiped some hair away from my face with her palm, her eyes scanning over me.

I couldn't help but smile. She reminded me so much of my own mom. "I've been fine, thank you,"

She placed her hand on my shoulder, and leaned slightly closer to my face, and then whispered, "Is he treating you nice?"

My smile fell just a little. "Yeah,"

Her's on the other hand, widened."Good, otherwise I'd mount his ass to the ceiling," she glared over her shoulder, and Allen stood up just a little straighter.

Allen's father appeared out of what seemed to be thin air, a friendly but cautious smile on his lip. He offered meh is hand, keeping his distance, and I took it. "Hey there, Paige, it's nice to see you again," his shoulders fell down a bit, and he took a step back.

"Uh, thanks," I whispered, hiding my hands behind my back. Even when smiling politely, I couldn't help but finding him slightly intimidating.

Allen gestured to the doorway on the right, and I followed him silently. It looked like a living room- white couches and matching armchairs placed gracefully around a large, unlit fireplace- larger than the one in my room. In the closest chair, a girl with dark, slightly wavy hair was sitting cross-legged with a phone in her hand, not even looking up from it- strangely comforting.

On the couch closest to said chair, two girls were pressed against each other, their eyes focused intensely on the computer screen in front of them- they were sharing a pair of earbuds. They were at the left end of the couch- at the right end, a boy with a curly mane of brown hair was reading a book- Harry Potter and the prisoner of Azkaban. I couldn't help but smile.

My eyes moved at the sound of movement. For the first time, I saw a familiar face- Lila, the only one of Allen's siblings I'd met so far. She dumped her phone on the coffee table placed in the middle with a cheerful smile. "Hey there, Paige,"

My heart stopped in my chest as everyone turned their eyes to me. The horrifying thought of being the main attraction in the room made me kind of nauseous.

To my surprise, Lila walked up to me, and more (carefully than the last time) wrapped her arms around my shoulders and gave me a quick squeeze before she took two steps bags, Allen sending her evil eyes.

"I'm sorry about last time, I really thought that Al was fucking with us when he told us how scared shitless you were- my mistake," she shrugged and smiled. She was comfortably casual and yet still... not scary, but something like that. She made me wary.

"Lila, your language, think about Austin,"

The boy with the brown curls and matching eyes rolled them. "Mom, I already know the word fuck. Jeez, I'm not 4," he shook his head, the curls shaking along, and looked down at the book- he was almost finished.

"You absolutely do not know the word fuck, do you understand me?"

He rolled his eyes once again and looked back down in his book. Allen's mother pressed her lips together with horror in her eyes.

One of the girls sharing the computer, the one with the lighter shade of brown hair, took out her earbud and left the computer to her sister. She smiled carefully and walked up to me, still keeping her distance. She was close enough for me to take her hand when she offered it to me, though. "Hey, I'm Halley- and the off-brand version of me back there is Sophia," she gestured with her eyes over her shoulder, to her now quite annoyed looking sister.

"We're the twins," the other one, with the darker hair- Sophia- explained, and placed the computer on the table. I looked back and forth between the two- they looked the same age, but I wouldn't have assumed for them to be twins.

Halley bore even more resemblance to her mother than Lila, her full lips curling in a friendly smile, the large, almond-shaped eyes wrinkling in the corners as she smiled, her light brown hair, lighter than Allens, but darker than the other boy... Austin's, fell flat, and straight down to her collarbone. Her eyes had the same shade of green as Allen's father- or so I assumed, I'd tried to avoid eye contact as much as possible, but I had noticed that his eyes were not brown.

Sophia's features, on the other hand, were less soft and not as femininely rounded. Her cheekbones were sharper, her skin hugging closer to the bone, her upturned brown eyes looking at me with that weird-ass look I'd almost gotten used to- the animal in the zoo enclosure. Her nose was slightly wider than her sisters- the only feature which she'd apparently inherited from her mother. Her dark brown hair, shame shade as Allen's, reached almost down to her waist, it wasn't exactly straight or wavy- just some sort of middle thing, like wavy hair that had been straightened yesterday, or straight hair that had been curled a few days ago.

Allen hadn't mentioned two of his sister being twins- at least not as far as I could recall. I took a small step back, Sophia eyeing me curiously. I suddenly wanted to hide under a blanket.

"Emmely, put your phone down and come say hi to your sister in law- now," I jumped slightly at the word. The thought seemed incredibly weird at the moment. That the people in this room were my in-laws, in their eyes, at least.

The girl wrinkled her nose in distaste and threw her phone onto the couch, got up, and yanked my hand into hers. "Hi," she said, and then got right back into her seat with her phone- if my hand hadn't been stuck mid-air where she'd left it, I would've barely believed that she had ever gotten up.

"Emmely!" horror shook through my sound at the loud voice of Allen's father. He was glaring at his daughter, who's eyes had widened in surprise of her father's outburst- she clearly wasn't used to him raising his voice. "Either you cut the crap, or I will cut the wifi, and your data, understood?"

She nodded silently, and pressed the side button on her phone, stuffing it in between the couch cushions, and muttering a low 'sorry' to... no one, in particular, it seemed. She was looking at the floor, red spots moving up her neck in embarrassment.

"Austin- you too. Your book won't disappear because you put it down for a few minutes, say hello to her,"

With a sigh, the boy put a bookmark between the pages, carefully placing the hardback book onto the coffee table, before he got up and extended his hand for me to take, which I did. "I'm Austin, I'm Al's little brother, nice to meet you," he said the annoyance over being disturbed vanished from his face.

"Uh, thanks... Austin," I mumbled, avoiding eye contact as much as possible.

He looked away from me, to his mother standing behind me, patience and a question in his eyes. "Fine, you can read- but only until dinner's ready," Austin let go of my hand and got back down, picking up on the page where he left off.

Claudia rolled her eyes and sighed. "I'm raising a bunch of uncivilized, antisocial animals," she said, with fake heartbreak in her voice. She quickly gave up the acting though and headed out through the doorway we'd come from.

Allen's father looked over the couch and then gestured to the doorway. "Emmely, come and help me set the table,"

Allen's sister furrowed her brows, her chin pushed out in an angry pout, fury filling her eyes. The threat of having her wifi taken away was apparently very close to her breaking point, and this didn't seem to help the situation. It reminded me of Kirby with a knife- slightly threatening, and yet, somehow oddly adorable.

"Emmely, it's your job as well as mine, your mother's, and your siblings to help out around here too. Trust me, no one is willing to deal with a  mate that can't cook or set a table,"

She scowled at him, but finally gave up the fight and followed him through the door opening, in direction of the dining room, I supposed.

Something softly graced my right arm. I looked at Allen of r the first time in a little while. "I think I'll go help out mom as well, so you girls can... talk. If you're alright with that, of course?" he whispered softly.

I swallowed the lump of terror in my throat. "Sure," I said, nodding. He smiled and brushed the back of his hand over my cheek, before turning around and walking after his father and little sister.

I looked after him until he turned around the corner so I couldn't see him anymore and then turned back to Allen's sibling. Sophia tilted her head to the side. "So... why do you look like you're about to shit your pants?"

Shock froze me in place, my mind going completely blank at her question. "I... I-I..."

She raised an eyebrow, her lips pursed. "You ain't spent much time around wolves, have you?"

I shrugged, my eyes finding their way to the floor. I didn't like the way everyone in the room (except for Austin who paid close attention to his book) was looking at me- a mix of pity and humor, as if it was funny yet sad to them that I wasn't totally cool with being in a house full (or almost full) of werewolves. "I, uh, worked for one..."

Halley threw her legs up on the coffee table. "Nice one?"

I pressed my lips together and looked back down on the mahogany wood- fancy stuff. ".... not really, no," I admitted quietly.

Sophia smiled widely. "Ah, I see. Don't worry- the only one here you gotta be scared off is dad, and that's only if you beat his ass in Monopoly," she raised her voice towards the end, turning her head in the direction of the doorway.

"You cheated!"

She scrunched her nose, a flash of neon green flashing over her eyes as she yelled. "I did not!" she looked back at me, the green disappearing immediately, and rolled her eyes with a smile. "Bitter old man,"

Halley rested back against the couch, her arms behind her head. "So, Paige, has Al begun acting like a fool yet, or are you still waiting for that part?" she asked, her head tilting to the side.

"I... I don't know, I uh... I don't think so I guess," I shrugged.

She chuckled and rested her head back further. "He ain't reached the fool point yet then if he was you'd know,"

I pursed my lips and looked away, to the windows giving me a view of the front yard, driveway, and parking spaces. "Right..."

Sophia laughed. "You really don't like being here, do you?"

I cleared my throat and turned my head. "It's uh... it's fine..." she raised an 'are you kidding me?' eyebrow, and my mind blanked.  "No, I don't," I breathed, to my own surprise. Halley and Sophia both looked at me with amusement in their eyes.

Lila giggled, rolling her eyes."Neither do I- but if I don't come willingly, my mom will drag me out of my apartment,"

I couldn't keep my own giggle back at her words. It seemed that the kids in this family were more terrified of their mother than they would ever be of their father- but of course, that was how it worked out at my house too- dad was the marshmallow, mom was the fiery dragon, only with a few soft spots here and there.

Sophia clapped with a grin, and then gestured with outstretched arms toward me."Ey! She can laugh!"

They all laughed while a bush spread on my cheeks- it wasn't an evil laugh, though. Halley leaned forward, her index fingers pressed against her lips. "Paige, I'm curious- Allen has refused to tell us, how old are you?"

"Uh... sixteen?" I said, more as a question. All of their eyes widened, before Halley and Sophia broke into fits of laughter, Austin's mouth hanging open as the book had been dropped into his lap.

"You're fucking kidding me. My CREEPY ASS older brother has a mate who's younger than me? What the fuck?" Halley threw her head back, another fit of laughter coursing through her- this one so violent that she landed on the floor with a thud, where she continued rolling around, clutching her stomach while she laughed.

Allen was suddenly by my side, my heat skipping a beat at the whole turning-up-outta-nowhere thing- it's so creepy. "Oh goddess, you really shouldn't have told her that," he whispered, his nose wrinkling in distaste at his sisters and brother who were all dying from laughter.

I looked at him, my stomach tightening uncomfortably. "I'm sorry, I didn't know, I just... I really didn't know,"

He looked at me with furrowed eyebrows, his lips pressed together. "It... was a joke, but anyway, Halley- leave. Paige. Alone,"

She blew some hair out of her face and grinned at him from the floor. "I should probably say the same to you. Mr. Robinson,"

He was just about to say something from her when the silence was broken by Allen's mother yelling: "Guys! Dinner's ready!" from the kitchen.

Allen was quick to guide me into the dining room, his hand on the top of my back. Allen's father was seated at the end of the dining table, Emmely sitting next to him. Claudia was at the other end of the table, smiling, she patted the tablecloth on her right side. "Here, Paige, sweetie, sit with me,"

"Uh, thanks," I murmured, and then walked up to the chair, pulling it out and getting seated awkwardly, trying to scoot the chair forward a bit.

A few minutes later, when everyone was seated and had a plate filled with delicious beef bourguignon, silence fell over the table, mostly broken by knives scraping against porcelain, and the mandatory compliments to Claudia on her cooking.

"Paige, I'm curious, do you have any plans for the future? I mean, do you have a profession in mind, or would you prefer to be a stay at home mother?" I almost dropped my cutlery as Allen's father spoke to me, and then I was just about to choke at his question- I reached for my glass, filled with water, and gulped it down.

Allen groaned quietly, shooting his father a slightly accusatory glance as if he already knew this. "Dad... Paige isn't... too keen on the idea about having children," Allen said.

Allen's father looked down for a second, before connecting his eyes with mine, in an uncomfortably intense way- I had to suppress a shudder. "Oh... my apologies, Paige, I wasn't aware, may I ask why?"

Suddenly all eyes turned to me, and I felt like I was completely naked on a big scene in front of 20.000 people. "Uh... I... I just never really... thought about it, growing up in the... HSA, the uh... the apartments are pretty small so," I shrugged. Allen had seemed to agree with the shittyness of the slums so far, but I didn't want to talk too badly about in the company of six... or five and a half werewolves whom I didn't know very well.

"Hmm," he hummed, and then dug back into his food.

The sound of cutlery being set aside made me turn my head towards Claudia, who was wearing her as usual friendly smile. "Well, Paige, but since you aren't going to stay home, what are your plans?"

I bit my lip, only needing to consider my answer for a moment. "I, uh, would like to become a midwife- or a pediatrician, maybe. Or just a nurse perhaps, I just want to be in that line of work you know- healthcare and medicine ishy stuff, and if not, then perhaps psychology, I just know that I'd like to help people- but it's pretty unrealistic, so I thought that perhaps I should go for