Fred handed me a beer and leaned back in the comfy outdoor chairs. Soft indie music played at a comfortable volume so we could still talk.

“So, you went out with Abel?” she asked and smirked at me.

“Did he tell you that or?”

“Oh, he’s been obsessing for weeks. Like he was really excited about that date. And he’s still really excited, so that’s good. I won’t have to curse you. For now.” She sent me a saying look.

“He’s really nice.”

“And you better stay really nice too. I mean it, Gael, he’s very special, alright?”

“Alright. I get it. I really like him though, so… If that matters.”

She smiled and softened up immediately. “It most certainly does. Did you like the date?”

I nodded and started fiddling with the label on the beer bottle. “It’s nice to date someone who knows about the whole… ‘I turn into a wolf two nights every month’ thing. And like, he’s so nice.”

Fred closed her eyes and nodded sagely. “He is.”

“It’s odd though, because like… He’s also really good-looking. Like ridiculously good-looking and it’s like he doesn’t even know? Like usually guys who look like him know they’re hot and they kind of act like jerks. But he’s not at all like that.”

“He doesn’t know what he looks like,” Fred said seriously. “He has no reflection. He doesn’t show up in photographs or video recordings. You can’t document his appearance in any other way than drawing or painting him.”

“So, he genuinely doesn’t know how gorgeous he is?” I raised an eyebrow.

Fred snorted and shook her head. “No, and I’m not sure it’d change a lot for him either. Like, he has a really good heart. He’s a complete moron, but a genuinely good-hearted moron.”

I chuckled. “I don’t know why you guys keep saying he’s a moron. He’s studying some super nerdy shit.”

“Oh yeah, he’s a complete nerd. But he’s dumb. You know, he can read a book, absorb all of the information, retain it and use it in practice. But he has zero clue how to socialise with regular people. I’m surprised he hasn’t stuck his whole foot in his mouth with you yet.”

“I mean, I’m not the uh… Best socially either so…” I shrugged. “I’d probably always assume he wasn’t trying to be malicious.”

“That’s the right approach with him. He’s literally never trying to be malicious. He’s just an idiot.” She chuckled a bit. “I mean, I love the guy like a brother, but… Yeah. He’s a moron.”

“It’s good to know though. I’d hope if I had any other friends they’d be as caring about me, as you guys are about Abel.”

“You don’t think I’ve had this talk with Abel too?” She arched a brow at me. “Come on, now. Don’t be a moron too. I’ve had this conversation with him too.” She winked at me, and I couldn’t help but laugh.

 ***

“I want a cat,” Abel said and showed me the screen on his laptop. “This one. Look at it. It needs a home.”

A picture of a three-legged cat showed up from an adoption site. It did look awfully cute. Scruffy and only had one-and-a-half ear. A very cute kitten.

“Let’s go get it then.” I rose to my feet.

Abel looked almost dumbfounded up at me from his position on his sofa. “Am… I allowed?”

“Who’s gonna say no?” I shrugged a bit, and he did too.

“Alright, yeah. Yeah!” He nodded and rose too.

So, we went to the animal shelter to get Abel the three-legged kitten. It was a scruffy little thing, but it immediately crawled towards the much larger boy and settled in his hands. It was so small it fit in the palm. Abel looked like he was about to die from happiness as I helped fill out the adoption forms for him. He had his hands full with the kitten which he chose to name Gary. It perked its one-and-a-half ear whenever he said “Gary”, so he took it as a sign of it choosing that name. Didn’t matter that the kitten was female, her name was now Gary.

It was ridiculously cute to observe him as we drove back to his. He was holding the kitten who had fallen asleep, and he had let me drive his car. It was fun to drive and even more fun when we arrived at home and Abel walked Gary through the whole flat.

On the way to the shelter, we had bought everything a little kitten could want. A big scratching tree, that was more like a castle, with little rooms and a hammock.

We sat on the couch and watched Gary walk around and then she circled back to us. I held my hand out for her to smell and she immediately hissed at me and ran under the couch.

“I guess she can smell the wolf on me,” I muttered. “Cats usually don’t like me much. Dogs on the other hand are totally my biggest fans.”

“She’ll realise you’re an absolute sweetheart at some point,” Abel said and smiled at me.

He thought I was an absolute sweetheart? I couldn’t stop smiling and I was sure my cheeks were redder than a fire-truck.

It was as if he realised what he had just said and made a weird grimace. “What I meant was… You’re really nice. No, you’re a sweetheart. If you like that term.”

I leaned in and kissed him just to bail him out. And because if he kept complimenting me, I’d probably die from melting.

“I guess you did like the term,” he murmured against my lips, smiling so I could feel his teeth.

I kissed him again, running my hand up in his hair. He had really awesome hair. Very soft. I was jealous.

He exhaled loudly and pushed me down on the couch, him on top of me, the leather creaking under us. I hadn’t really planned for that to happen, but I welcomed it. Whether it’d turn into more or not, didn’t really matter. I enjoyed this. And quite frankly, I had enjoyed dating before moving on too. Like holding hands and kissing was nice, getting to know Abel was even nicer. There also wasn’t that pressure to look absolutely perfect and be perfect right from the get-go. I should’ve dated more before jumping into bed with people in the past, I realised. It was just nicer.

He was cupping my cheek with the palm of his hand, his thumb running over my cheek. It was all so soft. I never expected him to be this soft and gentle mainly because no one had ever been this… Gentle. To me. Before.

He moved a bit so he was in between my legs, and I couldn’t hold back a groan. He replied with one of his own and pressed his hips at mine. His other hand came to life and his fingers snuck under my shirt. My hand shot down, my fingers wrapping around his wrist.

“I’m sorry, I don’t… Like when… People touch my chest.”

“Totally fine,” he murmured and kissed me again.

I pulled back and looked up at him. “I just… I can’t…”

“Gael,” he said softly, interrupting me. “Saying; ‘I don’t like that’ is a full sentence and I don’t really need more information. I don’t wanna do anything you don’t want me to do.”

I nodded a bit and let go of his hand. It stayed on my hip under my shirt which was alright. Like my stomach and hips were fine. My back too. I just… Didn’t want him to touch my chest.

I had scars. A lot of them from when I was attacked, and it looked horrible. Most of the skin had been turned into minced beef, and despite the doctors’ best efforts to restore it with skin grafts it still didn’t look good. I also didn’t have much feeling and it felt strange when someone touched it because I couldn’t feel it directly on the skin itself, but I felt it on the skin surrounding it. It was hard to explain, and I honestly hadn’t shown my chest to anyone since I had left the hospital. I barely looked at it myself when I was changing or showering.

But Abel didn’t need that whole explanation. Me saying I didn’t like it was enough and no one had ever extended that kind of courtesy to me before.

I circled my arms around him and pulled him down, hugging him. He let me, placing small kisses on my cheek.

“You alright?” he asked after a while.

“No one has ever said that to me,” I muttered, my voice muffled against his shoulder.

“Said what?” Abel asked.

“That it was enough to just say I didn’t like something. Everyone always wants an explanation.”

“I’m sorry about that. Consent is really important to me.”

“I didn’t realise how it hasn’t been for everyone else.”

I allowed him to pull up, resting his weight on his elbows on either side of my head. “That’s not fair to you.”

“I… Have scars. From the attack. When I was bitten. And I don’t like showing it. Everyone I’ve been with wanted some sort of explanation why I didn’t wanna take my shirt off and I just… I don’t like explaining it.”

“You’re cool with explaining it to me?” He arched a brow, his eyes widening a bit.

“You didn’t ask. I wanted to tell.”

He smiled and lowered his head, placing a small kiss on my mouth. “Thank you for sharing that with me.”

I lifted my head and kissed him back. I didn’t wanna ruin the mood and I felt like I had. I just wanted a nice and normal make-out session with the cute boy I was dating, but I guess when you have baggage like mine it’s bound to blow up in your face.

After a couple of minutes though, it didn’t feel like I had ruined anything. Abel steered clear of my chest, but not the rest of my body. He lifted up a little, balancing his weight on one arm, getting the other free so he could grab my thigh. And it gave me the chance to run my hands over his upper body. God, I really wished he weren’t wearing his shirt. I bet his skin was super soft. As if he could read my mind, he grabbed my hand and ran it up under his shirt, groaning softly as I gently smoothed my fingers over his ribs.

I was right. His skin was ridiculously soft.

“This is getting very hard,” he murmured and moved away from my mouth, kissing my throat.

“What is?” I more or less moaned, tipping my head up to give him more space.

“Not moving on from here.”

“We can stop,” I panted as I ran my hand up, lifting his shirt with it.

“I don’t want to,” he whispered and bit down on my earlobe. “Do you?”

“No.”

Then he lifted up on his knees and pulled his shirt over his head. “Then that’s that.” He smirked at me and bit down on his lip as his gaze swept over me. When his eyes met mine, he didn’t look so sure anymore though.

“Abel, we can wait as long as you want.” I sat up and gently took his face in my hands. “I don’t mind waiting.”

“Yeah, but you see, you’re making it so hard to want to wait.” He pushed me down again and kissed me again. It was wilder this time. And I stopped thinking entirely. My hands went for his jeans, opening them and my hand hitting jackpot. He groaned loudly into my mouth as I slowly ran my hand over him. He let me do it for a minute or two before doing the same thing to me. It was hard to multitask because I was feeling very overwhelmed. The way he was clenching his hand around me… It was simply too much. And I finished way too fast. Abel didn’t seem to mind as he groaned, his hips now moving with my hand. I went a little faster and then he finished too.

We stayed still for a long moment, panting before he pulled his hands to him, and I did the same.

“Stay there,” he murmured and kissed me before lifting off me and disappearing into the bathroom. He was fast to return with a washcloth. He cleaned off my hand and stomach and tossed the cloth aside before joining me on the couch again. I cuddled up to him immediately, pulling him close. He still hadn’t put his shirt back on and I revelled in feeling him. He was very warm.

“I needed that,” he murmured into my hair.

“Oh god, I did too. I don’t think you realise how hard it is to not jump you all the time.”

He laughed and pulled back a little, looking down at me. “Yeah?”

I nodded and smiled. “Yeah. You’re really hot.”

“You of all people think so?” His black-dot-eyes almost filled out the white.

“Me of all people?” I asked and frowned.

“Yeah, you’re like… Really good-looking. Like, ridiculously good-looking. And you’re so smart and nice and cute.”

I was staring at him. Like, full-on staring. I had no idea what to say to that because he was the good-looking one and I basically looked like a troll next to him. But apparently, he didn’t agree with that. He thought I was the good-looking one.

I mean, I was pretty average. Average height, average weight erring on the skinny side, all in all, just very average. Or so I thought because Abel didn’t make me feel average. He made me feel nice. Actually, he made me feel really beautiful and no one had ever done that like this before.

I was lucky to have him.