Max spends the better part of the morning in his room debating on whether or not to text Narhi. Like, what do you say to a stranger you went through a life or death situation with who doesn't know you have his number in the first place? Also, how and why does he have Narhi's number on his phone? Obvious Keelie would've had to put it in there, but why? And why does she have his number?

Max drops his phone on his face. He grunts in pain before he rolls to the end of his bed, catching himself before he falls off completely.

"Relax." He says to himself. "He's just some guy." Except apparently, he's a freaking wolf so he's not really just some guy and this is why Max has been pacing around his room for an hour and a half. And what does that mean anyway? Like, a werewolf?

"Maa-aaax!" Keelie calls from downstairs in sing-song. "Come here! I want you to meet someone!"

He has a mini panic attack for a moment. "Oh, god." He's not prepared to meet new people. He steadies himself. "It's okay. It's probably just some lady she knows. Just smile and nod and you'll be fine."

It's better to get it over with anyway. If he thinks too much about it he'll have too much anxiety to go and that would look bad. It's fine. He calms down as much as he's able to and goes downstairs. He's looking at his feet until just about when he gets downstairs and realizes that it isn't a lady. There's a guy around his age sitting at the table with Keelie and he gets up when Max approaches like a nice country boy.

"Max, this is Russell, our neighbor. Russell, this is my nephew, Max." There's so much to unpack in that sentence and not enough time before Russell's hand is out in front of Max and Keelie is back in the kitchen doing who knows what.

"Nice to meet you." He smiles a dazzling smile and Max melts a little. He hesitates longer than he means to but Russell just waits patiently, looking all laid back and cool and Max can only nod and shake his hand. He pulls back quickly and holds onto his hands just to have something to do with them.

Russel, who is smokin' by the way and way taller than Max, leans over and smiles curiously. His chocolate brown hair falls lightly over his slanted hazel eyes and Max thinks he may die.

"You're not much of a talker, huh?"

Max opens his mouth to answer and pauses for what seems like a long time. "I just… have nothing to say." He immediately looks up at Russell and starts wringing out his hands. "Sorry! That... didn't sound as rude i-in my head."

Russell stands up straight and laughs out loud in a way that makes Max think this guy's never felt insecure in his life.

"It didn't sound rude at all."

Max is visibly flustered and this guy just keeps living his life in his cool guy atmosphere. Keelie peeks out of the kitchen and makes a face that says "ignore me and talk, you're doing great" which is not what Max needs from her right now because talking is not his forte.

"I guess it's probably weird for you, suddenly being around people like us."

"W-what?"

"Keelie told me that you were raised with humans. That alright?" He makes a bit of a guilty expression but he doesn't sound guilty at all and Max looks back at the kitchen for a moment and then at his feet.

"To be honest… I keep, um… forgetting. Everyone looks so…"

"Normal?" Russell has a look in his eyes that Max can't quite place. Max sees him look at his scar and look back to his eyes.

"...Yeah… I guess." They stare at each other for a minute and Max's eyes give him away.

"It's rude to ask." Russell smiles mysteriously. "You, know. About what people are. Just so you know. Since you're going to have to go to a school full of us. We wouldn't want you getting into any trouble with some reckless supernatural teenagers."

Max doesn't say anything to that but if Russell wasn't smiling when he said it, Max would've thought it sounded like a threat. Then Russell laughs loudly again.

"You're funny, Max." He smiles wide and the tension is gone. "You need to lighten up!"

He excuses himself shortly after with a, "See you at school," leaving a pie he brought on the table and a glass vase with a small bunch of Daffodils, Keelie's favorite. His mother had apparently sent him with them as a welcome gift, but Max didn't feel very welcomed by Russell.

Soon after, Max was back in his room, pacing again because, let's be real, the true takeaway from that conversation was that Max was going to have to go to school soon. A school full of moody teens with superpowers that you can't ask about.

Max stands in the middle of the room.

Echeveria, Calocedrus, Sequoia, Zantedeschia.

We'll just forget about Felicia. It's an annoying thought anyway and this isn't helping at all.

He paces across the wooden floor, his socks buffering the sound. He sits. He stands back up. He paces again. He stops to breathe and then he sits back down and puts his face in his hands.

"It's just school. You've been to school. You're only feeling this way because it's new. You'll be fine once you're there. You're freaking out over nothing."

"Yeah, it's not that serious."

Max leaps back on his bed and Narhi's leaning against the window sill like he's been there a while.

"Narhi!"

"Shhhhh!" He steps closer to the bed with his hands out. "C'mon, man. That was hella loud."

"W-what are you, how, weren't you, did you come through the window??"

"Uh, yeah." He says it like it's obvious and that was a stupid question.

"Does Keelie know you're here?"

"Of course not."

"Use the door, Narhi!!" Keelie calls from downstairs.

"Of course she does."

"What, um… what are you… doing here?"

"I'm here to see how you're doing." He says it while looking around the room. "Actually, I came by earlier but then I saw your douchebag neighbor so I left."

"Russell?" Max raises an eyebrow. Narhi seems to scoff at his name. "You don't like him?"

"Ugh! How could I? His stupid face and his stupid… face." He blows past it like he didn't just repeat the same thing twice and Max smiles with one side of his mouth. "He acts like he's so cool!"

"Is he… not cool?" Max can't help feeling a little embarrassed asking. Like, it is unacceptable for Narhi to know how hot he thinks Russell is because then he'd have to go into a lengthy explanation about how people can be physically attractive but that doesn't mean you like them. Oh, no. He's spacing and Narhi's staring at him.

"Oh my god." Narhi has a straight up c'mon man expression. "You like him."

"No, I don't!" Max answers too quickly and Narhi looks a little… something Max can't place. Upset? "Narhi, I don't. I don't… even know him." He almost doesn't think about how naturally he says Narhi's name.

Narhi looks at Max suspiciously and makes a noise like he's got a million new questions.

Max doesn't know when they got so close but they're standing by the window and the breeze is amazing. There's a weird energy whenever Narhi's around.

"What?" Max says quietly. His elbow is on the window sill and Narhi's arms are crossed and he looks like a classic bad boy in his leather jacket and ripped skinny jeans.

"I guess I was expecting you to say something like," then Narhi's voice gets all timid and it sounds completely out of place on him when he says, "I don't even... like guys like that."

Max is lightweight offended at how accurate the speech pattern is. They couldn't have spent more than a few hours together collectively. How closely is this guy observing him?

"I'm… It doesn't… I don't care about… stuff like that…"

"Like what? Like gender? Or like people thinking you're gay."

Max doesn't answer for what seems like a long time and then their eyes catch right when he says, "Both." And both of their faces are suddenly red and Max's eyes are on his shoes and Narhi's scanning the room for anything else to look at. "You?"

Narhi clears his throat. "I'm gay if that's what you're asking."

Oh. They both seem to be thinking it and it feels like a step has been taken forward somehow.

Narhi clears his throat again, louder this time.

"So what did 'Russell' want." He does a mocking kind of voice when he says his name like a little kid.

"I'm not sure, really… he... brought a pie? A-and some flowers... for Keelie." Max shrugs. Narhi looks skeptical, to say the least. "He said… it's rude to ask about… people… like… what people are. Is… that true?"

"Ask about what people are? Like how?"

"You know… like how I'm a… l-leech. A-and you're…"

"A wolf?" Their eyes meet again. "No, it's not true. And even if it is, who cares? What if someone tries to fight you? You need to know what they can do if you're going to defend yourself. "

"Fight?!" Max stands up straight and Narhi laughs.

"That was literally the loudest I've ever heard you talk."

Max is thinking about how this is the longest conversation he's had without wanting it to end in years. He turns to look out the window. From his bedroom, he can see the woods and the edge of town. His eyes lock on the woods and he can remember the feeling of Narhi’s hand on his thighs and his back and he pushes those thoughts down. A blue sedan is parked next to Keelie's Sheriff car and it must be Narhi's. Max leans his arms on the windowsill. He's surprisingly comfortable. He's not thinking about things he'd normally overthink. Like his movements and all the embarrassing things he could do just by moving.

"Did he say anything about me?" Narhi suddenly asks. When Max looks at him he's looking away and that hurts a little bit for some reason.

"He… didn't. I mean… you didn't come up… why?"

"It doesn't matter," Narhi answers too quickly. Then he's leaning against the windowsill too, his face so close to Max's that the space between them feels warm. "I think I'd better go."

Max is surprised by how disappointed he is to hear that. He looks away from Narhi and steps away from the window, his hands clasped together again.

He doesn't say anything.

Neither does Narhi. He just steadies himself on the windowsill. He looks back at Max one more time to say, "Don't worry about school so much, Max." He pauses like he's debating on whether or not to say the next part. Then he looks Max in the eyes and says, "I'll be right there with you."

Max looks like he wants to say something but he doesn't. The sun disappears behind the clouds and Narhi's eyes are neon against the dark. Then he's gone.