Chapter 2

"When I hear your voice, it's drowning in the whispers. You're just skin and bones, there's nothing left to take."

---

Aiden was excited, and so very happy. Despite his efforts to be on time for class, he just couldn't bring himself to focus. He finally met Nick after what, two years? (He needed to see Chris, too. Maybe they could go out for a movie together?) That and he had turned 18 last month and he might finally find his mate! (Provided his mate was even in the country, but he'd worry about that later.)

He was the Beta of the Red Lupus pack (which made them all Lupins, for some genius reason), and had to leave two years ago for pack duty with his alpha-in-training Kyle (who for obvious reasons was addressed as Alpha Lupin), for something about life lessons. Speaking of Kyle, he was supposed to be coming to school today, but fell sick in the morning. (Tsk, weak.)

He couldn't wait for Kyle to meet Nick, though. He'd been rambling on and on about Nick and he was sure Kyle was interested to meet him, too. Something just told him they'd bond nicely, and it was definitely not just because of the fact that they were both gay.

"Mr. Turner!"

"Yessir!"

He jolted up in shock, falling off his seat. The teacher looked at him in disapproval as snickers echoed around the classroom.

"It may be your first day at school here, but I expect you to pay full attention in my class. Is that clear, Mr Turner?"

He got off the floor, trying to rub his sore butt as discreetly as he could with all eyes on him.

"Yessir."

---

School finally ended, and he headed straight for the park. He had been looking forward to this moment all day, but now he couldn't help dreading it. He may be a "child bursting with optimism" as Nick used to say, but he wasn't stupid.

Sure, if he was the same naive person he was two years ago he would have believed what Nick said in the morning, but life lessons meant he was more aware of his surroundings and he knew Nick wasn't okay.

Nick always told him how weird it was for "people like Aiden" to hang with "people like him", but he never really complained, and so Aiden stayed with him. He knew Nick needed the company, and he needed someone who knew him as Aiden Turner, the ball of happiness, instead of a Beta-in-training Lupin.

It was always just the two of them at school, because Chris enrolled in a different one. He'd seen Nick at his best and at his worst, but the Nick he saw today? It was almost as if he couldn't recognise him anymore.

He was quiet, unnervingly so. He didn't even respond when Aiden called out to him, as if he was used to not being noticed. He had the look of someone who just couldn't be bothered.

He looked like someone who had all emotion taken from him, left to wander the Earth as an empty shell.

Aiden sat down on the swing, his legs kicking back and forth as he waited for his one and only friend to turn up.

Quiet footsteps eventually sounded behind him, and he turned around to greet his partner in crime. (The crime obviously being that they looked too damn good for it to be legal.)

He smiled, getting off the swing and pulling Nick into another hug. "Hey Nick! It's been so long, my life has been so boring without you."

He pulled back to see Nick twitch his lips. Oh well, it was still a success.

He sat back down on the swing, and patted the one next to him as he swing himself back and forth. Now how did one start a conversation with a friend he hadn't met in two years?

"How have you been?"

Nice one, Aiden.

Nick shrugged before he caught himself and forced another small smile.

"I've been okay, what about you?"

Was it supposed to be this awkward? He'd been taught to notice emotions and lies, but not how to handle them! (So much for two years of life lessons.)

"I've been good." He said and nodded. He had been good, minus the fact that he didn't have the Carter brothers with him.

"So..." Come on, Aiden! You can do better than this! "How're your grades? They didn't drop because of my absence, did they?"

Nick snorted (yay, emotion!) and shook his head. "They've actually improved a lot, goes to show how much you were bringing me down."

If it wasn't for the fact that Nick used to get straight As, he wouldn't have been able to tell that Nick was joking. That was a scary thought.

He pouted, playfully hitting Nick on the shoulder. "You're so mean!"

"Pathetic, being hurt so easily." Nick muttered scathingly under his breath, and Aiden wouldn't have heard it if it wasn't for his wolf hearing.

He paused, his swing slowly stopping as he turned to look at Nick, really look at him.

"You're not okay, are you? What happened?"

Nick shook his head, letting out a chuckle, which would've been comforting to Aiden if it wasn't so emotionless.

"A lot of things can happen in two years, Aiden."

Well, he knew that.

"Well, what happened to kill your spirit like that?"

What happened to the Nick he used to know, the Nick who would do anything if it meant his family was happy, who realised the importance of sticking together?

What happened to the Nick who wore his heart on his sleeve, who was genuinely happy, who didn't have to fake his smiles?

"Trust happened."

Well, that was specific.

Dammit, Kyle's sarcasm was rubbing off on him!

He waited patiently for an explanation, until it was clear he wasn't getting one.

"You're not going to elaborate on that, are you?"

Nick raised an eyebrow at him, a shadow of who he used to be. How could someone change so drastically, from a loving boy to one filled with so much hatred it was suffocating?

Aiden didn't have a choice, though. One thing about Nick hadn't changed. If he didn't want to talk about something, it was best to let it drop.

And so he let it drop, and changed the topic to a happier one.

"How's Chris?"