"Because I love you Sam."
He raised his eyebrows at me questioningly.
"Not like that you dingus. I love you like you're my best friend, and the only family I have, and no matter what happens, even if you turn into an extremely large dog, I'll alwa...
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Allison, Jared, and a reluctant Sam all went shopping a few days later for the supplies for her plans. Jared was all too eager to come with, granted that they could go grocery shopping at some point. With Jared already having eaten her out of her house and home, Allison readily agreed.
Hours later, the trio arrived home, Jared escaped inside with arms loaded full of paper bags full of food, leaving Allison and Sam to carry furniture inside.
"You know I'm going to pay you back right?" Sam asked, guilt weighing on his chest as he practically glared at the new mattress that sat in the bed of his beat up truck.
Allison scoffed. "You're redoing the garage roof free of charge, consider this me showing my gratitude."
Sam said nothing, vowing in his mind anyway that he would do as he said. Allison already did so much for him, and he hated feeling like he couldn't give her the same back.
After setting his mind to picking up extra hours at the construction site, Sam gets to work hauling the new furniture in the house, rolling his eyes in disgust when he sees Jared shoving his already full mouth with food.
Allison directs him on where to set everything, and then shoos both men outside to finish the roof while she gets started on the inside of the house.
Starting first in Sam's room, Allison first sets up the bed, ignoring the laughs from above her when she curses like a sailor while attempting to read the instructions. She then unpacks the boxes of clothes Sam and Jared grabbed from Joseph's house earlier that morning, putting everything in their designated places.
Satisfied with how it turned out, Allison heads downstairs to paint the "pack rooms", but frowns when she looks through the window and sees Sam talking worriedly on the phone, and then Jared phase and runs off into the woods. Allison hurries outside just as Sam hangs up the phone, and blows out a big breath.
"What happened?" Allison asks, scared to know the answer.
"It's Paul Lahote. He phased during a fight with his dad, almost ripped the guy's face off in the process, and then took off. Jared's going to find a trail on him, and I'll be heading right behind him." Sam explains, tension written on his face as his mind runs through multiple different scenarios.
"Okay. Let me go grab my bag and I'll catch up with you guys." Allison says, turning back toward the house before being stopped by a large hand gripping her bicep.
"You aren't going." Sam says stoically, his face blank. Allison scoffs. "You're funny. Let me go." She huffs, trying and failing to pull her arm out of the shifter's grasp.
"No, Allie. Did you forget what happened last time you followed me? And that was just when Jared turned. JARED. The most harmless guy you could ever come across, tried to kill you out of pure instinct. Paul's dangerous on a good day, without being able to shift. You breathe wrong, and it could set him off, and you die. You. Die. And I'm not letting that happen, Allie. I won't." Sam seethes, his grip on Allison's arm tightening unconsciously during his rant until her skin turned white under his fingers.
Allison winces, knocking Sam out of his reverie, and he drops his hand quickly, as if he'd been burned. He glances toward her now red arm, and down to his hand, his mouth opening and closing without sound, like he wanted to apologize but couldn't find the words. Eventually he exhaled through his nose, and turned, deciding not to say anything at all. He instead runs to the forest edge, before shifting and taking off, not looking back.
After Sam took off, Allison tried to busy herself to keep her from worrying about the hundreds of worst case scenarios running through her mind. Instead, she painted all three of the "pack rooms", did the dishes, took care of the three of their laundry, and unpacked several of her own boxes.
By the time she stopped to take a break, it was 11:30 in the evening, and her eyes could barely stay open anymore. Allison wandered upstairs, changing into a pair of cotton shorts, before wandering over to Sam's room to steal one of his shirts. Finding one of her favorites that still smelled distinctly of him, she curled up in his bed, ignoring the pitted feeling in her gut over the way they left things, and fell into a restless sleep.
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filler chapter; edited and updated on October 10th, 2021
