When two worlds collide

Awkward.

You know, those stares parents give when they see their child's friends as a bad influence on them? That's how he felt right now. He was pretty sure he heard Kai say that his Aunt Amelia was a kind and affectionate person so Ender didn't understand why he was being stared at like this.

And on top of it, she and Kai would give each other these weird looks that Ender couldn't decipher. He was sure of one thing though; Amelia was clearly opposed to him being there.

"Why aren't you eating? Is the sandwich that bad? Why don't you try this?" she asked, pushing the plate of neatly sliced cake toward him, urging him to eat.

"No, it's good actually" Ender mumbled as he munched on his chicken sandwich, wondering how the hell did they have mayo here.

"Honestly, I didn't expect tasty stuff in a place like this" Max spoke around a mouthful of cake, "Did you bake this?"

Now that he had asked, the question triggered something in Ender's mind. These people did not have power here and as Kai told him before, they didn't even have sufficient supplies in their tribe.

"But there's no power supply here right?" Ender asked and watched her eyes go wide like a deer caught in headlights but it was gone in seconds.

"Few old tricks, amongst the many things you aren't aware of" She smiled, "So, you live in Ashville?"

"No, we were here for work and we'll be traveling to New York soon"

"And your parents?" she asked and Kai subtly squeezed her hand

"They passed away when I was young" Ender

"You don't have any siblings?"

"No, I was raised by my uncle" Ender felt annoyed now, this was like the typical interrogation that every parent makes. "How far is your settlement from here?" He asked Kai instead, to divert the focus from himself

"Far away, an hour by car and another hour by foot"

"So a visit is out of the question then." Ender sighed, "Too bad, I wanted to see it"

"I wish I could've shown you" Kai pursed his lips

He didn't miss the glare that Amelia directed toward Kai and wondered what was going on between them. Was it something he did? Setting aside his plate, he stood up then, "Can I use the restroom?"

"Come here" Kai walked through another door with both Ender and Max in tow. The house was massive and well furnished, in contrast to what he expected. The people living in hollers were well known for not having any modern conveniences so imagine Ender's surprise when he caught a glimpse of a small television in the bedroom on their way back to the living room. How was this possible?

"How does your aunt have a TV if there's no power supply in this area?" Ender asked, startling Kai and watching as he struggled to explain.

"I uh-"

"We do have a power supply but on rare occasions" Amelia answered as she came to stand behind him, making him jump in surprise. "The mountain tribes here make a lot of things, in fact, Kai here has a knack for wood carving. I get them the supplies they need in exchange for the products they make that's why you'll find a lot of things in my house that people around here normally don't have"

That certainly explained a lot but before he could ask a few more questions, Max pulled him by the arm toward the door, "Thank you for the food but I think we should be leaving now. We must get out of the woods before the dark. I don't wanna get lost here"

"We still have time Max and besides, the trail is easy to navigate"

"Endy, did you forget the bear carcass we saw that day? The woods are alive at night they say, Lord knows what roams around in here. It's better to get back to the borders before sunset"

And even though Ender wanted to stay, Max had a valid point. He handed the keys to Max while he lingered back to say goodbye.

Kai gestured for him to wait before he went inside, when he returned, he had a figurine of a wolf, standing on a half moon, howling to it. He gave it to Ender, "something for you to remember" he smiled.

It was small but solid, intricately carved, and polished, "It's....beautiful, Kai, thank you. You made this?"

Kai nodded, stepping in front of him, taking Ender's hand in his own, the simple touch made butterflies erupt in his tummy, "Don't worry okay? Nothing will happen to you here, I promise"

And even though that was a silly promise, Ender felt safe somehow, having an assurance was nice. He shuffled on his feet, he didn't understand the how or why but right now, he felt heavy in his heart. He had a little crush on the other guy, in his defense, who wouldn't develop a crush when the man looked so handsome? Was it even possible to get attached to people in 2 days? Or maybe it was just him, Ender thought.

"So this is where we part ways huh" Ender bit his lips, wondering if it would be okay to just go over and hug the other man. "You know I never got to see the Rainbow falls, maybe I'll visit again before leaving"

"Let me know when you come and I'll show you around. There are much better places here than the ones you humans always visit." Kai rubbed circles on the back of his hand.

And maybe it was Ender's imagination but Kai too seemed reluctant to let go. "Humans?" He chuckled "what are you? Some alien on Earth?"

"What if I am?" He asks in all seriousness

Ender laughed while Kai just stared at him, gently tugging him into his own arms, making him freeze up for a minute before he too put his arms around Kai's waist. Ender hid his face in the latter's broad chest, hiding the grin he had on his face because just a moment ago, he wished he could give Kai a hug, and now it felt like the latter had somehow heard his thoughts.

"Some paths are meant to be crossed but," Kai spoke, squeezing him a little, "But they are never meant to be. I'm sorry Ender"

"Since when did you start talking in puzzles?" Ender didn't understand a word and just when he was about to take a step back, he felt a light pressure on his head. No, it can't be a kiss, right? Kai could be simply resting his chin.

"Go, he is waiting for you" Kai nudged him toward the car before taking a step back. "Farewell. My Moon" he whispered, so low that Ender's human ears could never catch it.

Once he was back in the car, he waved at Kai who stood on the front porch with Amelia by his side.

In a few minutes, they were back on the road, when Max made a gagging sound and Ender turned to him with his hands in front of him.

"Don't tell me you're gonna throw up"

"All that lovey-dovey shit you two pulled up, it's making me gag"

"Jealous, are we?" Ender scoffed

"Don't tell me you like that buffoon" Max gripped the steering wheel tighter

"Even if I do, it's none of your business" Ender leaned toward the window, regretting the moment he let Max join them. He would have been better off with some good music to keep him company.

"I like you, I've let that be known since day one, we've known each other for nearly two months and you allow a stranger to kiss your head while you don't even give me chance?"

Instead of being annoyed at the fact that Max was practically yelling at him right now, his mind zeroed in on the confirmation the latter just gave. So it was a kiss, he thought, pursing his lips to stop the stupid smile as he clutched the tiny figurine Kai gave him.

"Did you like it? When that guy was all heart eyes for you? Jake told me he was being clingy with you and I saw it today, saw how you didn't even push him away. It's because he's hot, isn't it? Attention whore that you are, bet it must have turned you on, having him lust after your hot little body"

Ender turned to him, infuriated, "You don't take 'No' for an answer, do you? Now you show your true colors. You're the one with the 'playboy' reputation, who has been lusting after me since the day we met, being all touchy and making me uncomfortable." Grabbing the wooden sculpture, he hit Max, aiming at his head however the latter dodged it and pushed him against the door rather roughly.

"I'm driving, you idiot!"

Ender shrugged off his grip before picking up the statue again, leaning as far as he could from Max, "You disgust me"

"Hah…what a feisty little brat you are" he scoffed, brushing Ender's cheeks with the back of his hand, the touch sending shivers down his spine.

Ender slapped his hand away, shifting to curl up against the door, clutching the carving as his heart pounded in his chest. He had a sudden wave of fear as he realized they still had a 3-hour journey ahead of them. What if Max tried to hurt him, or worse, force him? It became hard to breathe and he did all he could to focus on taking deep breaths, he couldn't have a panic attack now, he needed to be alert. He tried hard to remember the few self-defense moves Jake had once shown him, hoping against hope that he would be able to pull them off if Max tried to do him wrong.

As he leaned on the window, he saw something flash in the trees but he couldn't tell if it was real or if he felt dizzy. Ender clutched the figurine tighter as he rolled down the windows to get a good look and that's when they heard the loud growls and barking coming from beyond the trees but oh so close.

"What was that?" Max asked, fear evident in his voice.

"Max," Ender now grabbed his arm, "Step on the gas!"

And before he could do just that, two massive wolfs, the size of a full-grown horse, crashed right in front of their car, snarling viciously at each other, causing them to swerve abruptly. Their car skidded to a stop a few feet away from the thrashing wolves, prompting them to look up. The black wolf growled in their direction before letting out a low howl while the white wolf underneath him sunk its fangs into the other one's flank.

Ender watched with horror, beads of sweat trickling down his spine when the wolfs jumped back, pulling themselves up to their full height, standing almost as tall as their car. The white wolf, stood right in front of them, a foot taller than the other one, it looked back toward their car and Ender swore it looked right at him, before letting out a guttural growl as it charged!