Boxes drop to the floor, the cardboard thudding gently against the wooden tile as William goes back and forth from the sidewalk.

“Where do you want me to put this box?” He calls out to Noah, the girl fussing over organization and where to put things in their proper place. The bathroom things go in the bathroom, bedroom things in the bedroom, etc, etc, etc.

“Uhh, here, put those in the kitchen.” She passed by him, peaking inside the box quickly, then clearing off a space on the kitchen counter in a jittery motion before she was in another corner of the apartment.

With direction, he shuffled over, setting it down and wiping his brow of sweat. Boxes that never end taunt his sore muscles and curse his leg as he refuses to take a break, pushing himself to finish bringing them inside before he can crash on the bare and empty floor of Noah’s new apartment.

Eveline gives him a pointed look when he breaths heavy, but says nothing as she grabs more boxes and deposits them in Oakley’s confused arms.

Opening his mouth to complain, but deciding against it as he caught on, Oakley just huffs in amusement and walks over to a spot unoccupied with boxes.

Ignoring them, he continues to pick up boxes, surprised to find that the heavy ones had been picked up by Eve.

Looking at her, he finds a pleased smirk on her face as she has the three heaviest boxes stacked on top of each other in her arms. Scoffing in exasperation, he grabs what’s left and tries to conceal his wobbles as he walks over to her, leaning into her space and whispering.

“Just because my leg is faulty, doesn’t mean my arms don’t work!” He whines in mock indignity, his brow twitched in embarrassment as his leg copied its movement, jerking from overuse under the weight of the heavy but lighter still box.

“Mmhmm.” Eve lets out a sarcastic bit of agreement as she narrows her eyes at him playfully.

Her stoic face makes way for sarcasm and then surprise as she crosses the threshold, then is immediately dragged away to one of the rooms. Noah noticed her strength and kidnapped her to build a bed frame.

It’s the last few boxes, so he locks the door behind him as he walks into the living room. Each box is ferried away from its original resting place to be sorted into each room, some boxes already making their way there.

Noah comes back around to grab each box from their hands and set it down where she decides. Her couch, the same one in her last apartment, calls his name as soon as his arms are empty and he’s relieved of his box duties.

“Sit over there, doofus, your face is red.” Oakley pushes him in the couch's direction, forcing him, with no resistance on his part, to sit in a jelly pile on the couch.

Not at all complaining once he’s in the clear of being needed. He begins to meld himself into the couch, satisfied that he helped to the best of his ability. Fusing with it as he watches his friends wiz around, in a slow and deliberate pace, as Noah unpacks, and Oakley and Eveline help her.

This specific apartment complex has good pack policies in place, so if Oakley wanted to later, he could move in with her. With how his dad’s been put away, he’s home alone quite often, which isn’t new by any means, but isn’t exactly desired.

Convincing him to leave his fancy, cold, and dreary manor is a slow and grueling process. Oakley talks about how he would miss Kaitlynn if he moved, not sure if he could still contact her if he distances himself from his father’s business, if he even can. The nice lady, who’s more of a parent to him than his parents are, is under payroll, and he muses about not wanting to assume she would like to keep in contact.

Alexander Hawthorne isn’t the nicest employer, and he isn’t sure if she even meant to be so important to him. But if you ask Will what he think’s he’d say Oakley’s oblivious and making excuses, he notices how sweet and almost motherly she looks at Oakley when she drops him off.

The crinkles in her eyes and the fond and forlorn looks she gives when she notices his pain and struggles.

It’s painfully obvious she’s one overheard conversation away from inviting Oaktree to her house, over for dinner, or at least letting him know she was there. So he’s fooling no one when he denies the thought that the lady would want to be cordial when his father wasn’t there.

Not even a week later, Oakley texts them about considering moving. Before he can say any multitude of long words, Noah offers him an extra room at her apartment.

Werewolf bonds, especially strong pack bonds, often end up in communal living. It’s completely reasonable to live together if you’re in a pack, bonding, communication, safety, you grow closer when you’re right next to each other.

The same can be said if you hate each other, though there are regulations for detrimental bond situations. Nevertheless, Will could imagine Noah jumping for joy when Oakley popped up in chat with his recent contemplation.

She’s good at hiding it, but her teasing is mostly pointed at Oakley, bordering on flirting if you want his opinion. However, he would say nothing if questioned.

William is acutely aware of how much his feet feel like they’re going to fall off as he unloads yet another truck of boxes to Noah’s front door, in the apartment complex made up of a village of affordable pack houses.

He would gag dramatically at the icky sweetness of Noah and Oakley making googly eyes at each other if he wasn’t struggling to carry what felt like half-ton boxes to his achey-from-previous-use arms inside.

Instead, he chose to trudge lamely into her apartment and drop the box half begrudgingly in the middle of the same wood tile as before.

People, people, please decide whether you want to move in together at the same time. He would tease, but he’s happy Oakley isn’t in the same house as the asshat of a father he hates.

It’s progress, even if it would take a crooked finger for Oakley’s dad to know he’s moved. The jury is still out on what he might do when he figures it out. But Will is proud of his friend as he braves whatever he’s onto next.

He’s nervous and fidgety, but it’s his own choice. Whether his dad knows or not, he can’t physically reprimand him, at least not unless he can break out of prison.

Which is an absolutely out-of-pocket thought he needs to shove away from his nightmare production factory.

Remembering where they are, the two of them chuckle and turn away from each other to pick up boxes.

Awkwardly shuffling away from each other, and obliviously categorizing that interaction as #just-normal-things, and they call him a doofus.

Will rolls his eyes as he turns around to see Eveline sweating over an easel.

The liquid rolling down her face in slow motion as she wipes her forehead with her arm, her muscles hidden underneath a sweater, as she effortlessly props it under her arm and carries it to Oakley’s room.

The record of his thoughts comes to a scratching halt, as he almost clutches his non-existent pearls at the sight of Eve’s strength.

What is he doing again?

He shakes his head rapidly in reprimand to himself; getting distracted was not in the plan of helping.

Back to work, William, back to work. Pulling his eyeballs away is a task, but he’s not a 12-year-old, and ogling you’re best friend is rude, so he turns his attention back to the boxes.

Completely blind to the amused stares he receives from Noah and Oakley, he wrestles containers and organizers to sit patiently inside Oakley’s room or around the hallway.

Fresh from earlier that day, Will remembers the conversation Kaitlynn Hall and Oakley shared when she drove him to Noah’s.

It was a sweet recognition of everything up until now, mushy parental feelings leaking out of their container, as she gave him a big hug full of tears and the ‘I’m proud of you’ conversation.

The woman recognized everything he could have been and everything he chose to be. Different from his father, far from what he wanted him to be. Not in a disappointed way, he was in no way let down.

He used to be their student council president, the smartest student at their school, and a model for everyone who went there, but that’s just how controlling his dad is. Being how he wants him to be is too much, so even when he’s not, he’s still a cut above the rest.

Did Will mention he’s proud of his friends? Well, he is, and it’s not like he did anything to be, he’s just happy when they do well.