Chapter Thirty Seven - Anniversary
Lincoln's P.O.V -
I was sat in a bar surrounded by a few of our best pack warriors and Wyatt. He had forced us to come here tonight so he could meet someone, he hadn't said who but I could only assume it was his mate.
"Why are we here Wyatt?" I asked him slightly annoyed, I didn't want to be here I had homework and packwork to do.
"Because." He shrugged. "I felt like it."
"You never feel like going out on a school night." I raised a brow leaning back in my chair.
The other pack warriors were in their own conversation about patrol only two of them were listening to us.
"You met your mate didn't you?" I smirked lightly. "She's meeting you here?"
He sighed before begrudgingly nodding. "Yes okay, she said she might meet us here. If she's not busy."
"So why are we here?" A pack warrior spoke up.
"Uh." Wyatt looked around embarrassed now. "I didn't want her to think that I was just sat here waiting for her to turn up."
"I don't understand." I stated. "She'll expect you to be waiting for her, you're mates after all."
"She's human, so I don't want to creep her out." He mumbled.
Everyone nodded in understanding at this point.
"Fair enough." I replied. "But it probably would have been easier to ask her on a date."
"I would've but she has a boyfriend, so I had to change my tactics to this." He gritted out. "Plus I wanted to seem cool, so I said we hang out here all the time and can get her free drinks whenever."
I stared at him with a deadpanned expression. "Wyatt we never go here, we never even go out."
"For her I would live here." He quickly drunk the rest of his drink before standing up. "Okay she's here, don't embarrass me."
He looked over at where the entrance was behind me before turning back to the table.
"I also said she could bring her gay friend because I lied and said that I had a friend I could set him up with, so if one of you could just talk to him all night that would be great. You don't have to do anything just keep him company so I can talk to Lucy." He spoke rushed before moving away from the table and heading over to where his mate was.
I rolled my eyes turning to face everyone else who were laughing slightly. "He's awful." I said with a chuckle.
Everyone at this table was straight and most of us were mated apart from me and two others.
After a few moments I turned to look for Wyatt and his mate to see what she looked like but my eyes were immediately drawn to someone else.
"Holy shit." I breathed, everyone at the table looked at me confused but I ignored them.
He's beautiful. There were no other words to describe him, I'm not even sure if that word is good enough. He was stood beside some blonde girl and talking to her, I felt some jealousy rise in my chest.
In my peripheral vision I could see Wyatt walking over and I breathed a sigh of relief. This must be the friend that Wyatt had mentioned. I watched as Wyatt reached them and started talking while handing out the drinks.
"Uh, i'll talk to that guy for Wyatt." I announced to everyone at the table standing up and virtually running over to them.
"Wyatt." I called as I got closer to them.
All of their eyes turned to me but I only cared about my mates brown ones.
"Who are your friends?" I spared Wyatt a glance before turning my attention to my mate.
He was even better up close, I could see some light freckles spread across his nose which made my smile spread even wider.
"This is Lucy and Milo." Wyatt told me gesturing to each of them.
Milo. What a perfect name for him.
"And this is Lincoln." Wyatt introduced me to them, I wanted to do it myself but I didn't mind too much.
"Hey." The girl, Wyatt's mate, smiled at me but I hardly looked at her.
I waited for my mate to speak so I could hear his voice for the first time but instead he just nodded.
"Hi." I let my eyes flicker over to Lucy so I wouldn't seem rude before looking at my mates eyes in details. I opened my mouth ready to begin small talk but his phone began to ring cutting me off.
He answered the phone walking away and I could here his faint voice saying 'hello' but it was muffled by the music in the bar. I watched him talk on the phone ignoring Wyatt's conversation with Lucy. Milo quickly returned.
He looked somewhat distressed and I wanted to ask why but I knew that he would think I was intruding.
"I'll be back in a minute." He whispered to Wyatt's mate, I was grateful that my werewolf hearing allowed me to hear his voice.
He left quickly and I frowned to myself. I noticed how awkward I was being stood beside Wyatt and his mate so I decided to go to the bathroom. When I returned I spotted Milo sat at the bar with a guy beside him.
I was slightly jealous, well actually I was very jealous. The guy wasn't wasn't exactly ugly and I was about to interrupt their conversation when the guy got up and left.
Almost immediately I walked over and sat beside my mate. I smiled at how close I was to my mate before beginning a conversation.
"Okay good, you're doing great." Louis reassured me. "You're breathing is back to normal."
I opened my eyes immediately remembering where I was, I wished that I could live in that moment forever. I was oblivious to anything bad which could happen between me and Milo then, in that moment everything was perfect.
I noticed that I was taking somewhat normal breaths now and that my heart had slowed down to its normal pace.
"Thank you." I spoke sincerely.
"It was nothing." He shrugged. "That's just the same thing Bella would always tell me when I had panic attacks."
I wiped the tears from my face letting out a small laugh. "She'd make you remember the first time you met Milo?"
Louis rolled his eyes standing up. "I should get back to class, the teacher's probably already annoyed that I've taken this long."
"I can mind link whatever teacher it was and say you were with me." I offered. "Just tell me what teacher."
Louis nodded with a small smile.
***
I knocked on the door of Milo's house frantically. I left school the moment the last bell rang and sped in my car.
The door swung open and Milo's mother stood in front of me. She was in what I could only assume were her pajamas, her hair was not brushed and her face was red and puffy from crying. Something must be seriously wrong if Gianna is in this state.
"Where's Milo?" I asked not bothering to greet her.
She looked at me with slightly sympathetic eyes which scared me even more. "He's in his room."
I passed her in the doorway running up the stairs without another word. I hesitated when I reached his closed bedroom door, I grasped the cold handle standing still for a moment.
What could possibly be wrong? What kind of state would he be in?
I turned the handle, opening the door and stepping into the room. Milo was laying in bed staring up at the ceiling with a blank expression but he had tears streaming down the sides of his face.
"Milo." I breathed stepping towards the bed.
He didn't turn his head but his eyes darted over to me.
I sat down on the edge of the bed reaching out my hand stroking his hair. I wasn't sure whether I should talk or not, I was worried that if I asked too many questions about what's wrong I'd upset him more.
"Hey." I whispered giving him a weak smile.
His bottom lip wobbled as he stared at me before he choked back a sob. I quickly kicked off my shoes laying beside him and pulled him into a tight hug.
"You're okay, everything's going to be okay." I mumbled before kissing his wet cheek.
"It's the anniversary of my sister's- of her-" His sobs prevented him from continuing but I understood what he was trying to say.
This was the day that his sister died, no wonder he needed the day off. I was slightly relieved, in the sense that nothing new had gone wrong and rather it was something I was already aware of.
There wasn't anything I could say, or that I knew to say, in this situation. I just squeezed his waist burying my head in the crook of his neck. We stayed like this for hours.
I must've drifted off to sleep because the next thing I knew Milo was nowhere to be seen. I sat up slowly looking around the room, he wasn't in here.
I stood up from the bed running a hand through my hair before making my way out of the room and down the stairs. I found him sat at the dining table half awake, his head was only being supported by his left arm.
"Hey." I breathed making my way over to him.
He looked up at me with a blank face, the only emotion I could see was tiredness. His eyes were still red but there were no tears in sight.
"Are you joining us for dinner?" Gianna asked as she stepped into the room. "We're about to eat."
"If it's not a bother." I answered slowly.
She forced a smile at me, it was now that I noticed that Milo's mum had got dressed, brushed her hair and applied a face of makeup.
"Of course not, we'd love to have you here." She spared a glance at Milo. "Take a seat."
Her emotions seemed forced and her posture was tense, I wasn't sure if this was because of me or Ana.
I nodded walking around the table to Milo about to sit in the chair beside him but I was stopped.
"No." Gianna spoke quickly before I could even touch the chair. "Not there, sit opposite Milo."
There was a shake in her voice which told me that this was important for whatever reason. I smiled at her.
"Of course." I nodded moving to the chair I was told to sit at.
Gianna left quickly most likely to get the food. I attempted to make eye contact with Milo but he was staring down at the table.
I reached forward grabbing his hand, the one which wasn't holding his head up. He lifted his head meeting my eyes.
"Are you okay?" I spoke quietly.
He shrugged before pulling his hand away as his mum walked back into the room.
She placed down a plate in front of each of us before sitting down beside me. Nothing was said for a few minutes as we began to eat.
"So, how was your day?" Gianna broke the silence.
She was staring at me intently waiting for me to answer.
"Um." I looked down at my plate. "It was fine, a bit boring."
She continued to look at me before frowning slightly. "Is that all you have to say?"
I nodded slowly.
"What lessons did you have today?" She continued to ask questions for the next ten minutes about random times in my day.
She eventually ran out of questions and the room returned to silence. It wasn't a comfortable silence rather one filled with emotion and unasked questions, so a knock at the door flooded me with relief.
"I'll get it." Gianna forced a smile standing up from the table and hastily walking away.
My attention was focused on Milo but he continued to stab the food on his plate, I noticed that he hadn't actually eaten anything this entire time.
"Lucy has come to see you Milo." Gianna said as she walked back into the room.
Lucy stood in the doorway of the dining room her eyes scanning the room almost to check what sort of situation she was walking into. Obviously noticing the tense atmosphere she shifted on her feet uncomfortably.
"Come take a seat." Gianna pointed over to the chair at the end of the table to my right.
Lucy nodded giving her a small smile, she made her way over to the table squeezing Milo on the shoulder before sitting down.
"Oh, I feel very important at the head of the table." Lucy laughed trying to lighten the mood.
"Would you like something to eat?" Gianna offered suddenly very happy to have someone else here.
"No." Lucy shook her head politely. "I ate before I came here."
Gianna's smile dampened slightly at Lucy's response. It seemed like Gianna was trying to control everything and make everything perfect.
As Lucy noticed Gianna's shift in mood she began to talk again. "Actually, this is my favorite."
Gianna smiled this time with sad eyes. "It was Ana's favorite too." She stared at the plate some tears forming but she blinked them away.
I moved my eyes to Milo as a sound escaped his lips. He was crying the tears streaming down his face silently. He seemed to notice when I made eye contact with him, he lifted his left hand to cover his eyes from sight but you could still see the tears running past it.
I reached forward grabbing his right hand which was resting on the table, I chose not to say anything because I knew it would only embarrass him. More than he already was. I rubbed my thumb over the back of his hand hoping this would soothe him.
Lucy glanced at him before quickly moving her eyes away and towards me. Gianna stared at him with a slightly blank face.
"So Lucy." I spoke to get the attention of Milo. "Where's Wyatt? Did he not want to come?"
She shook her head. "He was complaining that you never do pack paper work so he's doing it instead."
I laughed lightly. "That's because it's boring."
"Well Wyatt finds it boring too, so split it so that way it's fair." Lucy offered.
"Or he could do it all and quietly hate me." I suggested with a smirk.
Milo had the smallest smiles twitch at his lips, I took that as a victory. He still had tears running past his hand but at least I cheered him up for a moment.
"Lincoln." She deadpanned.
"Fine." I rolled my eyes. "I'll do it tomorrow, text him and tell him so he doesn't stay up all night doing it."
Lucy nodded pulling out her phone but Gianna turned to stare at her with a pointed look.
"Right sorry." Lucy apologized. "I forgot about the no phones at the table rule, I'll text him later."
"That's good, it means he'll do more paperwork without me." I smiled.
"Milo." Lucy said suddenly, my eyes widened slightly as I waited to hear what she was going to say. "I'm going to steal your food because you're not eating it."
She grabbed the plate and cutlery beginning to eat the meal before anyone could object.
There was silence for the rest of dinner as Lucy quickly stuffed food into her mouth and I slowly ate the small amount of food I had left. Gianna sat with her empty plate waiting for everyone to finish while Milo continued to cry.
As no one was talking the only noise was Milo's sniffles which made me lose my appetite so I quietly placed down my knife and fork. With the speed Lucy was eating she finished soon after me.
Gianna silently stood collecting the plates and left to wash them in the kitchen. Lucy and I looked at each other awkwardly not sure what to do. I bit my lip before looking at Milo and squeezing his hand.
"I'll go see if Gianna needs help." Lucy said leaving to give us privacy.
I grabbed his other hand slowly pulling it away from his face, his wet eyes met mine and I smiled softly at him.
"Why don't we go to your room?" I spoke quietly.
Milo nodded with a shaky breath trying to calm down. He leaned over to grab his crutches standing up slowly.
"Do you want me to carry you?" I offered once I noticed how wobbly he was with his crutches.
He shook his head pink spreading over his cheeks making me smile to myself. I followed him as he slowly made his way to the stairs and hopped up them. We soon reached his bedroom and Milo instantly sat on the end of the bed staring down at the floor.
I slowly made my way towards him crouching down so that he had no choice but to look at me. I reached up pushing his hair out of his eyes so I could see them clearly.
"You're going to be okay Milo." I told him. "I know it's hard at the moment, but it will get better."
"I miss her." He sobbed. "So much."