Adam Browning

Grace sighed as she stopped to pull open the diner’s glass door. She had been right the night before. Things were easier in the moonlight. “Table for two,” she said with a smile to the hostess. Turning to Adam she added, “You know we have to talk about it right?” If she had learned anything in the last few months it was that trying to go it alone didn’t work. In fact it only got a person drunk in the forest in the middle of the night. 

He walked into the diner after Grace, secretly glad to be out of Grace’s apartment and back in familiar turf. He’d spent time at plenty at the restaurants looking for information on the town, on other werewolves and shapeshifters. He was still set on finding the one who had killed his mother. It was the only way he knew to make things right, the only way he could ever forgive himself from leaving his brother alone in the world was if that monster was dead too. It hadn’t left much time for actually trying most of the food at the restaurants though.

Grace tried not to laugh at the mess that was Adam’s hair. She managed to tamper it down to a smile. She did have to laugh at him calling her a local though. Not because it wasn’t true, but because it felt odd. She hadn’t been a local anywhere in years. Eventually she’d have to decide how she felt about that. “The diner down the street. Their milkshakes are killer, plus bottomless coffee,” she replied. 

“What? You are a local. You even bought an apartment.” He teased. It was strange and foreign to him. He hadn’t been a local since his mother had died, and although he could never imagine it for himself, he couldn't help but feel a sense of pride at what Grace had accomplished for herself there. “Sounds good. I’m sure you could use the coffee.” They both could, although honestly Grace was dealing with the hangover much better than he could have.

The second time Grace woke that morning she found herself a bit more uncomfortable. Sure her headache had lessened, but Adam had gone all ridged. She guessed that he was awake. And probably overthinking just about everything. “Fries,” she said without opening her eyes, “I need fries.” With that she stretched and got up. Rather unceremoniously, but considering last night she didn’t exactly have a hope of impressing Adam anyway. That was a nice thing about him seeing her at her worst, everything else was better by comparison. 

He heard her breathing change and suspected that she was waking up, but what he hadn’t been expecting was the first thing she said once she was awake. He looked at her surprised as she got up from the bed and headed towards her bathroom. “Alright....” He mumbled. She looked messy and disheveled, and he found it endearingly amusing. His own hair was standing on end, and some of the wrinkles in Grace’s shirt had left some marks on his chest where she had lain on top of him. 

Grace woke early as she always did. Her head pounded and it took her a minute to reorient herself through the noise. She opened her eyes to find someone’s chest filling up her vision. It took her a minute to recognize it at as Adam’s. They were a tangle of limbs, all overlapping and close with her head on his chest and his arms wrapped around her. Grace knew she ought to be embarrassed or something. But between the hangover headache and the memory of waking up worse places she didn’t mind it so much. Besides it was warm and comfortable in Adam’s embrace. She felt safe for the first time in months. Her head hurt too much already to try and work through that. 

Adam felt Grace wake up more than he actually heard her. Her bed felt warm, and he slowly pulled himself out of sleep, which was nice, in contrast to waking up with a start and a racing heart. He felt peaceful and drowsy, so it took him quite a while to remember everything. Then he did. He remembered Grace, crying and drunk last night, and he remembered the vampire attacking them and what he had done to stop it. He opened his eyes, but Grace had already closed hers again. He looked down slightly, not wanting to disturb her. She looked very peaceful in her sleep, and he smiled to himself at her short red hair standing slightly on end. Once he was sure she was asleep again he ran his hand through her hair to smooth it out a bit, although he figured she probably didn’t mind it. 

Things were more honest at three in the morning. Instead of claiming he was fine and trying to ignore her offer of help Adam crawled into bed beside her. Again though he asked if she was sure. To be fair at this point Grace wasn’t sure about a whole lot in her life. But helping people was always something she’d been sure about. With his new heightened sense Adam probably saw Grace roll her eyes at him. Honestly though she wanted him to know how ridiculous she found him thinking that she didn’t want to help him. 

He saw her roll her eyes and he smiled, amused. He supposed that all hunters -even former hunters- shared a sort of bond or understanding, but it occurred to him that the greatest difference between him and Grace was the way they saw each other. To Adam Grace was the hero and he was the monster, and everything was dangerous and messy and complicated. Grace joked around, rolled her eyes and and made him feel like things should be much simpler. At the same time he had no idea what he must be like in her eyes.

Grace sighed, relieved, as Adam sat up. She’d known people to get trapped in their nightmares. Hell, she’d gotten trapped in nightmares before. Of course that was only when she could sleep. Moonlight from between the blinds enabled her to watch as Adam, muscles rigid, lay back down. She sighed, this time annoyed. 

He looked back up at her surprised. All his life he had been taught not to ask for help, and he was always surprised on the rare occasions when someone offered it nonetheless. His father had taught him to be strong, that it was weak to need help, weak to need comfort. He was a soldier. When his father died, he had to comfort his mother and care for his brother, he couldn't afford to be weak. When their mother died his nightmares had started, but his brother and already been through too much, and Adam had to look after him, not burden him with his own issues. He couldn’t be weak.Then his brother had gone off, and Adam had been on his own. 

Adam appeared a moment later. He settled into the sleeping bag near the foot of her bed. It seemed a little silly still. But Grace wasn’t drunk enough to hit on him and any other bed sharing arrangement would be awkward. Well the other one would be awkward in the morning anyway. She noted that Adam had taken off his shirt, but decided to not pay attention. Except to check that he had no wounds from the attack. “Good night Adam,” she said in a sleepy voice. 

He closed his eyes with a smile. “ ‘Night Grace.” He wondered for a moment what she was thinking about, and what it would be like when they woke up next morning. For starters, she’d be hung over pretty bad, but would things be different? He didn’t know how it was for her, but even though it felt awkward and surreal, he liked whatever was going with them. Maybe he’d just been on his own too long. The last time  he’d been with anyone had been his pack, and he’d watched them all killed. Before that it had been with his brother, but that was a lifetime away. It was so strange to be lying there in her home, as if things were so much simpler than they surely had to be. Still, it turned out that sleeping in an apartment instead of his truck really did make a difference. He wasn’t a heavy sleeper, but he dozed off quickly, the smells and sounds of Grace’s apartment seemingly easing him into sleep. He could hear Grace’s heartbeat above him as he drifted off, and it eventually faded into silence. 

Grace smiled, a little bit in triumph. She’d expected more of a fight from Adam. “I do have a sleeping bag though,” she offered. It was a leftover from her hunter days. She’d used it as a layer of protection between her and the floor of an abandoned house. “I’ll grab it and then I’m going to get ready for bed,” she said. With that she disappeared for a moment to grab her red sleeping bag from the closet. When she returned Grace handed it to Adam with a smile.

“That’d be great, thanks.” He said again, noticing her smile, and he grinned back. He’d given up too easily, and they both knew it. He took the sleeping bag from her when she came back, and he stood there awkwardly holding it. Grace disappeared again. “I’ll just be here then.” He said, mostly to himself. He was still trying to shake off the sensation of being in a dream. Everything was just so homely… so casual. He looked around the apartment, but there wasn’t much to distract himself with. He could hear Grace in the bathroom moving around. He didn’t want to pry, he already felt like he was intruding, but he was still trying to figure out how to control his enhanced senses, especially on full moons. When she came back out she looked much better. She looked clean, comfortable and smiling, and he reminded himself not to stare. He followed her without a word, still feeling incredibly out of place, especially with how at ease she seemed.

“Don’t be ridiculous Adam,” Grace replied, “You just saved my life the least I can do is offer you a place to stay.” She frowned again. “I just…you know only have the one bed.” She paused before correcting, “And its not really a bed its a mattress.” It wasn’t embarrassment she felt. Well maybe a little, but it wasn’t like hunters knew what home really looked like anyway. But Grace was at the very least proud of her little apartment. It was a testament to how far she’d come, to how well she could do on her own, to how well she could survive. 

“You would have done the same had you been sober and better armed. Thank you.” He chuckled. She was a former hunter offering a werewolf a place to spend the night. It seemed a bit ridiculous. Not to mention that they hadn't seen each other in years, but in just one night so much had happened, and he felt incredibly close to her - just not close enough to share a bed. “You’d be surprised, my truck is pretty comfortable.” He said, even though at this point it was hard for him to tell. Between his car seat and the stiff mattresses or couches in the cheap hotels he usually stayed at, he couldn’t quite remember what sleeping in a nice bed felt like. Still, he didn’t need much, his truck was comfortable enough. 

At his question Grace shrugged. “I’ve been drunker,” she said, “And alone which usually isn’t pretty.” It wasn’t, but she chose not to remember it. After that though they walked to her apartment complex in silence. It was easy though. Except for his staring, but she chose to ignore that. It made sense. She was probably a lot more level headed about the whole thing than Adam had expected. But he had saved her life. How angry could she really be? 

He smiled again, but it was an empty smile. He knew the feeling all too well, and it saddened him to think of Grace feeling that way too. He followed her up the stairs, feeling like he was in a dream. Not in the poetic sort of dream; rather the kind that just doesn’t seem normal or real and just feels weird, like part of you knows this can’t really be happening but you go along with it anyways. It had been a long time since he’d been in anyone’s home, not since his pack had been killed -and sneaking into a monster’s house to kill it didn’t count as being in a home. It all seemed so mundane; walking up the steps and Grace struggling to find her keys. 

It was a bit stupid really. There were both standing in the middle of a forest unwilling to admit they didn’t want to be alone. They both knew it too. But at the very least they weren’t going to be alone. Grace wondered if it got easier, admitting you needed help. Even her intoxicated brain noticed the seeming surprise at his own words that crossed Adam’s face. She didn’t mention it. Instead she just said, “Cool.” 

He smiled again, amused by how easily she was taking everything. On one hand, it did seem very much like her. He’d always know Grace to take things in stride and eventually just brush them off or bury them with a joke. But how much could any of them barry inside? He shrugged again, but she had already turned around. He’d shrugged a lot that night, and it wasn’t like him. Even though he usually didn’t know what to do, he at least spent the majority of his time pretending like he did and doing things anyways. This was different.

Grace managed a real smile at the news that he was unharmed. But her face fell at his next words. She wasn’t ready to be alone. Maybe he was right. Maybe she was never a monster. Or maybe she still had time to make up for it. But Grace still felt like the screw up her mother had always said she would be. She had never been a good daughter. It turned out she was a shit hunter. Worse she certainly didn’t know how to be a normal person. She couldn’t leave the life behind, not when innocent people were dying. But she couldn’t be a hunter anymore either. Not now. 

“Seeing as I’m not in the mood to deal with bratty puppies I guess I’ll just have to find another way to get where I’m going.”

“Oh, ouch. ‘Puppy.’ Can’t say I’ve ever been called that before. But hey, you want to get out of my way, sounds great to me.”

What are you? Chicken? You’ll challenge someone else but you can’t do it yourself? Lame.

No, I’m just really not interested. It wasn’t even a challenge to begin with, it was just an observation.