"How time does make us wiser," he teased, the grin on his face keeping the mood light. He just couldn’t imagine his — Sonia doing anything that serious…at least not serious enough for her to do time for. Alcide had done the whole juevy thing and had even spent a couple months in county but it had never been anything that serious.

Okay, maybe that was debatable.

He chose to leave it at that — if Sonia wasn’t comfortable sharing details with him it wasn’t his job to pry…even if he really wanted too. Thankfully what she said next changed his train of thought. He chuckled. “They sure as hell make it seem that way,” he replied in agreement, watching as the bartender placed another round of drinks in front of them, “but don’t trust everything you hear. Especially if the last name Belfront is involved.” Of course Alcide had had the pleasure of running into those nut jobs the very first day he’d gotten into town. Thankfully, they were one of the few werewolf groups that didn’t want to eat him.

Seriously, what was the big deal between shifters and werewolves? What the hell was the deal with these supernaturals in general? Was Oxford really that great of a town to start a war over? Shit like this only reassured Alcide’s decision to have remained a lone wolf — or fox — all these years. Getting close to others usually resulting in things like getting hurt or worse — and the proof was sitting right next to him.

Turning on her stool so that her body was facing him, Sonia couldn’t help but laugh. “Okay, so I’m not the only one who thinks there’s something seriously weird about that family, right?” she shook her head, excited though that Alcide might think things were just as off in the Belfront family as she did. Sure, everyone in Oxford knew they were crazy and got into all sorts of trouble, but it all seemed to endear the family of wolves to the town even more.

The bartender dropped off another round for the pair of them and without hesitation, Sonia finished hers off. She could feel the effects already hitting her, the dull ache in her chest was turning into a stronger throbbing, but she wasn’t going to let it overcome her now. Not the first time she was seeing him Alcide in… years. 

But the more she stared at her sister, the more worry began to set in. They couldn’t talk about it here… Was someone watching them? Was she on the run from someone? Shea glanced around them and realized that maybe she was over thinking this. Maybe it was just because they were in the middle of the sidewalk and there were people staring at them. “Right,” Shea said, clearing her face off and doing her best to keep herself together. “We can go back to my place?” she offered, “It’s just down the street.”

She wrapped her arms around her sisters and held onto her tightly as they went down the street, as if letting go of her would mean that Sonia would float off to heaven again or something of the kind. Even so, Shea couldn’t keep herself from gazing over at her sister in wonder. Their dad was going to be so happy. Shea was so happy. It was a miracle.

It took only a few short minutes to get to Shea’s house, where she pulled out her keys and unlocked the front door and stepped in, holding the door open to let her sister in after her. When Sonia didn’t step in, Shea turned to gaze at her oddly. “Are you going to stand out there all night?” she asked with a playful smile before her eyes went wide. Shea didn’t know much about vampires, but the one thing she knew was that they had to be invited in.

As Shea practically dragged Sonia along the street towards her home, Sonia tried to keep the smile on her face, tried to keep from worriedly glancing over their shoulders as if expecting Eric to pop up behind them any second, tried to keep herself from fearing that coming back to find her family was dragging them into danger as well. She tried and tried. But that didn't mean she succeeded. 

When they arrived at Shea's apartment, a problem that Sonia hadn't quite considered presented itself. She looked at the doorframe, contemplating how to tell Shea she had to be invited in. When she looked up at Shea, her sister's eyes were already beginning to fill with comprehension. Sonia let out a sigh when Shea finally invited her in. She knew. There was absolutely no way, no point really, in not telling Shea everything now.

"It's been that long since you've seen them?" he asked, surprise evident in his voice now. He couldn't help but turn his head slightly to look at her now, genuinely curious as to what could have possibly kept Sonia from seeing her family for that long. The look on her face only further confirmed Alcide's suspicions: something had to have happened. Something big.

Instead of asking like he wanted too, Alcide merely tossed back the rest of his drink. He wasn't even sure if he was allowed to ask at this point; hell, he wasn't even sure Sonia would answer honestly.

Alcide couldn't blame her if she didn't.

"I think that's great," he began, placing his glass back down on the bar before continuing, "that you want to make up lost time with them, I mean. Family's important. Or so I've heard." He flashed her a teasing smile, but it didn't fully reach his eyes. Family wasn't just a touchy subject to Sonia, that much was still obvious.

Running a hand through his hair, Alcide let his eyes linger on the bar momentarily. "I'm not sure." For once it was true. "Honestly, I'm still not too sure why I even bothered coming back. I've been here for almost two weeks and haven't finish unpacking just in case but...here I am," he chuckled, motioning to the bartender for another drink. "Still...I've made worse decisions," he added, a small smile on his face as he turned his attention back to Sonia.

But Alcide had made it clear that he didn't really want things to be that way. In fact he hadn't wanted any part of whatever it was they had had, not even her. And Sonia was having an inward battle as she tried to force herself to remember that while her heart battled for the part of her that wanted him back in her life.

Finally, the rational part of her managed to regain control of her heart and she made a compromise, deciding that she'd wait and see if Alcide actually stuck around this time before spilling her guts to him again. Till then, she wouldn't completely shut him out, but she wasn't about to go into a whole ton of detail. He probably didn't care anyways.

"Yeah, I got into a bit of trouble a few years back and couldn't see them for a while." Okay, so it didn't explain what had happened at all really, but it was the truth and Sonia couldn't seem to tell Alcide anything but the truth. Even though his disappearing act all those years ago really had hurt her, Sonia couldn't bring herself to lie to him. Not about something like this.

Besides, he'd see through her lie anyways.

She couldn't stop the grin his own teasing one brought of her and she shook her head slightly. "From what I've heard about family from the people around here, family's like the freaking most important thing in the world." she replied with a slight roll of her eyes, though the smile was definitely still on her face. Sonia wasn't really sure what was with this town and 'family' but everyone she'd talking to about it, who coincidently all shared the last name Belfront, seemed to think the world revolved around your family. Maybe because in Oxford, everyone belonged to the same one. And maybe, if he stuck around long enough, Alcide would be the one other person in this godforsaken town who didn't quite understand its inhabitants either.

"Ah, thank you!" Shea said happily to the CVS worker who’d gone and gotten out a bag of sweethearts from the back for her. All they’d put out so far were the boxes, and Shea? Well, Shea needed a whole bag. Sweets kept her afloat, and Sweethearts were the best of all time. She didn’t care what anyone said. She plopped down her money for them, tore the bag away and had already popped three in her mouth before getting her change.

She then bounced (because Shea LaCroix didn’t know how to just walk) out the door and glanced up at the stars that dotted the night sky. She took in a breath and smiled, “What a pretty night.” She turned to head off down the street and stopped dead in mid bounce when she found herself face to face with her older sister, Sonia. Shea’s mouth went dry and she nearly dropped her bag of sweethearts. “S-Sonia?” she whispered.

Shea found her hand reaching out to touch her sister - as if thinking her hand would simply pass through her like a ghost. But then her fingers actually found that her body was solid, and this brought a gasp from the younger LaCroix daughter. “Oh my god,” she said voice shaking from the sobs that were already overcoming her. She reached out and wrapped her arms around her sister, holding onto her tightly.

Her family was wonderful. But would they accept her and her thirst for blood? 

She'd been beating herself up for days now, knowing that if Shea found out she was in town from someone other than herself, she would be incredibly hurt, when it happened. The one thing Sonia had actually wanted to plan out, to have time to really think through to make sure it went right, happened at the spur of the moment, without Sonia having a second's notice. In a split second, Sonia was face to face with her sister. 

She couldn't move. If she actually needed to breathe, she wouldn't have been able to. The thing she had wanted most desperately ever since that horrible accident five years ago, to see her sister's face, she'd finally gotten. But she was too terrified to do anything about it. 

I hear you Tumbling fast Here and now, you're afraid Don't you worry I'll teach you to fly before you fall away

It's in the moments when you're left all on your own And it hits you from out of nowhere You try to hide it sometimes unsuccessfully With a smile that fades quickly

Well, that had been the last time he tried listening to something other than his logic.

He noticed the slight hesitation on her behalf when it came to her drink. For a second Alcide found himself wondering if maybe Sonia had given up drinking because hey, a lot had probably changed in the past few years. Or maybe she was second guessing her decision to agree to drinks? It couldn’t have been easy for her - or maybe it was just too weird. Having drinks with someone who…well, Alcide knew what he was and what he’d done.

Or maybe he was over thinking things. The shifter tossed back his second drink, ordering a third before Sonia finally reached for hers. Thankfully she hadn’t given up drinking. That would’ve been a bummer considering all the good times they used to have.

Used too.

Alcide had long ago accepted the fact that he and Sonia would never be what they once were. Yet here they were anyway, drinking away (or at least Alcide was) and for a split second things almost felt…normal. 

Which meant Alcide was bound to screw up sooner or later.

Once he received his drink, Alcide turned his attention back to Sonia and shit -she was looking right at him. He’d always had an easy time getting lost in those gorgeous brown eyes of hers. The fact that they could see right through his bullshit never ceased to amaze him either. “So you decided to have yourself a little family reunion,” he replied, before reaching for his drink, “nothing wrong with that.” Alcide knew a thing or two about the LaCroix family but who was he to judge? He and his family weren’t exactly the Brady’s either.

Looking over at the bartender, she signaled for another shot. "Dunno yet." she replied as the bartender handed her the shot, refusing to make eye contact with Alcide again for fear of getting trapped in his gaze again. She knocked back the shot, immediately feeling the effects of it on her body. She wasn't going to last much longer without having to puke her guts up if she kept going like this. But with the way things were going, with the effect Alcide was having on her... she was going to need more to drink.

"I think for a while though, wanna make up for lost time with Shea and Dad." she explained. "It's been 5 years since I've seen them." she added, quietly, finally looking up at Alcide, the pain of being separated for as long as she had, easily visible on her face. As crappy as things had been at home while Sonia had been growing up, as little attention as she got from her parents, Alcide knew better than anybody, that Sonia still fiercely loved her family. And now that Shea and her dad were the only ones left, Sonia was going to make sure she spent as much time with them as possible. She didn't care about many, but when she did, she really cared.

Alcide was one of the few people who knew that from experience.