Friends

Lucy's POV

I didn't know what to expect. I knew they were Deric's friends but I was still scared. After everything that happened to me, meeting people was nothing compared to all the torture I endured. But I couldn't help the fear that was coursing through my veins. These people, that were behind the door in front of me, were complete strangers to me. For all I knew they were going to attack me the moment they saw how weak I was. How broken I was. I knew I insisted on them coming but all the doubt in my head beat down every glimmer of my rational thinking. I couldn't help it. It wat just the way I was wired for 11 years. So I stood behind Deric, close to the staircase, ready to make a run for it if they decided to hurt me. But it was all for nothing, because as Deric turned the doorknob and opened the door, my fears vanished and I felt at ease. The two people that stood in the doorway hesitated just outside the door. Deric must have told them to keep a distance so I wouldn't freak out. It was sweet of him to think of but I didn't feel scared of these people. At least not at that exact moment. I looked at them closely, my eyes meeting the woman's. She had almost translucent green eyes with blonde hair that was darker at the roots and with very light brown streaks of hair mixed with the blonde. She had creamy colored skin. Her cheeks were flushed red, probably because of the unnerving situation, and she had a wavering but inviting smile on her face. I returned it with a small smile and let my eyes drift to the man that stood next to her. Our eyes locked and the tiny smile on my face vanished. My eyes trailed away from his and I took in his features. His skin was darker than hers but not by much. He seemed pale in the face, like he just had a fright. He was definitely muscled considering that his shirt was stretching over his biceps tightly. But I stopped my observation because I could feel his eyes scrutinizing me. So my eyes trailed back to his. We locked eyes again and his ocean blue eyes bore into mine with confusion, sadness and...recognition? I quickly looked away from his eyes and notice his dark brown hair, almost identical to mine. The sun was shining blonde highlights into his dark hair like mine did. Then I looked at his eyes again, his face, the strong structure of his jawline then his eyes again. But time seemed to be on my side because only a few minutes have passed since Deric opened the door. Deric cleared his throat and spoke, breaking the intense but breaf silence. "Liam, Crystal. This is Lucy, my mate" He gestured to me with a wave of his hand and a sweet, innocent smile on his face, while a thrill went up my spine because of his claim. I looked at Deric and he smiled at me in encouragement and I returned it with a small smile. I looked at his friends again, making sure not to look into the man, Liam's, eyes to long.

"Hi, it's nice to meet both of you." I said with more confidence than I felt. The woman, Crystal, sighed in relief and visibly relaxed. She stepped into the house and right toward me. "It's nice to meet you, Lucy. You have no idea what a relief it is that Deric found his mate." She smiled warmly and wrapped her arms around my left arm. She pulled me to the living room without hesitation. Not worrying about personal boundaries or seeming uncomfortable with being so close to me. She pulled us down on the couch and looked at me with a bright smile. "If you don't mind, can you tell me about yourself?" She said with curiosity. Her eyes were hyper focused on me and I couldn't help but return the intensity. I didn't understand my emotions anymore. One minute I was afraid and the next I was willing to spill all my guts out. Like I wanted to do the moment Crystal asked me about myself. I was so focused on her that I didn't even notice the two guys walking into the room and sitting down on the couch that was facing the TV. Me and Crystal were sitting in front of the window, and the light was cascading in, onto our faces. It made her green eyes almost completely translucent. But it didn't distract me from the sudden voice sounding in the room. It was deep and hoarse but clear, "Crystal, relax and give her some space to breathe." I looked at him and our eyes locked for a few seconds. His eyes were still scrutinizing me when Deric chuckled and my gaze automatically drifted to the deep and warm sound. Deric's eyes twinkled with amusement as he looked at me, but I could see the hesitation as he studied me. Making sure I was alright. I smiled at him reassuringly and turned back to Crystal, who let my arm go when Liam told her to relax. "Don't worry, you'll know if I was uncomfortable. I would have pulled away from you so fast, I would have given myself whiplash." I said trying to reassure her and succeeded. She burst into laughter and I couldn't help but join in. The guys laughed with us and after a few seconds we stopped and a comfortable atmosfere formed in the air. "What would you like to know?" Wavering a bit, unsure of what she wanted to know. But once again, my worry was for nothing.

"Well, what is your favourite color, favourite food, and so forth?" Her questions seemed bland, common, because she wanted to know small, meaningless things. Things that I could answer with ease because it didn't cause me pain to talk about it. Liam and Deric leaned forward on the couch, leaning their bodies toward me. I sighed and rested my back against the couch. I didn't like that all their attention was on me but at the same time it felt nice because they didn't seem to have any motive to hurt me, like they would. I took a deep breath and exhaled slowly, then I answered most of the small, yet meaningful to them, questions. "My favorite color is blue, but not like the sky. Sky blue is too light. And I don't like blue that is so dark, it almost looks like black either." She looked at me and giggled then said, "I like blue too. But I'm not as picky and detailed as you. Favorite food?"

"I don't have one at the moment. The best quality food I ever got for the last eleven years was slimy mashed potatoes and I rarely get lucky enough to get the scraps of garlic bread that they didn't eat." I answered her question in a casual way but impulsively. And it seemed as of that were a mistake, because of their reactions. Crystal stared at me in shock with a bit of concern. Liam's face contorted in horror and a growl started building up inside his chest. Which seemed strange, because I was a complete stranger to him, he wasn't as nice as Crystal and he wasn't my mate. So he had absolutely no reason to react almost defensively. But I anticipated Deric's reaction. He burst into a primal, protective growl that bounced around the room and made the walls, and the window behind me, vibrate because of the volume. I stared at him. His eyes were averted away from me, but I could guess it was because he didn't want to scare me. His breathing was heavy and a few grunts slipped out. It bothered me to see him struggle, even if it was something like keeping himself from me. He shouldn't have to hide his true self from me. My wolf paced in the back of my head, ready to take control if I did something she didn't like. But my natural instincts took over and I leaned forward. Liam looked at me in wonder and something that looked strangely like awe, but I ignored him and stretched out my hand, placing it on his shoulder. He was shaking slightly but his breathing started to even out and the stray grunts ceased. I squeezed his shoulder and pulled on his shoulder, making him turn toward me. His eyes were closed and his face was contorted in frustration and restraint. Sweat was starting to form on his forehead with the struggle to keep himself under control. I sighed and whispered softy, "Open your eyes." He didn't, he squeezed his eyes closed even tighter. Without my thinking of it, my hand brushed up his shoulder and rested on his cheek. The strain to keep his eyes tightly closed, relaxed with a fraction. "Please?" I all but begged him and it seemed like it worked. His eyelids slowly opened and crimson orbs bore into my eyes. Fear and self-loathing filled the red orbs and he looked down at the floor avoiding my eyes. I put my hand under his chin and tilted his head up to look at me. "I am not afraid of you, Deric. I would have acted afraid if I were, when you growled." I said, trying to reassure him. He looked met my gaze with a confused expression. His brows furrowed. He nodded and looked down at my hands. My gaze dropped to my hands too. Without realizing what I was doing, I moved my hands so that I was cupping his cheeks. I slowly dropped my hands from his face and a small smile spread over my lips. The corners of his lips were quirked up too. Crystal and Liam were staring at me in wonder. There was obvious tension in the air and I made myself a mental note to choose my words wisely in future situations. Trying to defuse the tention I thaught hard about a different answer to Crystal's question. After a few seconds of awkward silence I finally remembered something of my short childhood.

"I don't remember much of my childhood, but I do remember my brother. He and I used to walk home together after school. He was three years older than me and every day when we got home, he used to make us something to eat." The three of them were listening intently, all of them with different expressions on their faces. But none of which to discourage me, so I continued. "He always made something different every day, but as per my request, every Friday he made french toast. He would cut it into tiny cubes for me and on each cube he would squirt a drop of ketchup on it." I finished talking with tears blurring my vision. Liam shot up from his seat and with one glide he was knealing in front of me. His eyes were brimming with tears and recognition and deep anguish shone in his eyes. "I know this is probably the least important question right now, but what was your brother's name?" He asked me. Hesitating at some words. Concern flashed through his face when I remained silent. After a minute of not answering, I said, "His name was Liam, like yours, but I always called him a-" He interrupted me with two simple words that made my heart falter. "Alpha wolf" he said with more confidence than I've ever seen in his eyes since the moment he arrived. He continued with the new found confidence. "My sister called me that even though our father wasn't the Alpha. He was the Beta, but she said that people followed me like they would an Alpha. And while she called me that, I called her Lulu." He finished with tears streaming down his face. My body moved at it's own accord again and I lunged myself at him. I wrapped my arms around his neck and he wrapped his around my slender waist. He whispered in my ear, "Sis, I missed you so much."