#undertherain

She got out of the bed and went to her little chest where she kept her clothes. “What happened? Are you okay?” She asked her attention, shifting to her hands. She had always been good at listening to you when you were serious. And she knew you hated waking her up, so it must have been serious.

“I can explain it better later, okay, when we’re out of here.” You replied, grabbing a handful of black leggings and shoving them into one of your hiking backpacks.

“How long are we leaving for?” you heard Euina ask from behind you. Shrugging, even though she most likely didn’t see you, you opened your underwear draw and shoved a handful of underwear and three different bras into the bag.

“A couple of days, I don’t know.” You replied after a few seconds.

“A few days? Then we need to take Tuttle!”

Your motions froze for a second as you came to remember that you owned a pet. A small cat affectionately named Tuttle as a kitten by your sister. She wanted to call him Turtle but at the young age of three when she was still getting the hang of the pronunciation. Tuttle was almost ten years old, small yet mischievous (she really liked knocking mugs off of tables) and she loved being cuddled. She was a Russian Blue, her fur on the darker side of steel-grey with big, round green eyes that seemed to always be curious. Tuttle was a present for your twelfth birthday. However, you had let Euina name her because you wanted to share her with your baby sister. You always wanted to share things with Euina, especially after your parents had left.

“Well, we’ll just take her with us. Don’t bother with her cage just grab her okay, I’ll get some packets of food in a minute.” You concluded, zipping up your bag. “And before you grab her, get another pair of my trainers please.” You walked from your room to your bathroom, shoving practically all of the contents you own from the shelves into a zip lock bag. You threw it onto your bed next to Euina’s open bag before making your way back into the main room of your apartment. You spotted Sehun straight away, he wasn’t sitting anymore, but you didn’t particularly care at this moment - you didn’t have the time to. You flipped the switch to brighten the lights and grabbed a plastic bag from a metal shelf free-standing next to the fridge.

“We have food.”

You swore your eyes could have rolled into the next dimension. You weren’t an idiot, at least seven people were living under the roof Sehun called home - of course, they had food. You’d be willing to bet that there were even more of them - considering the snippets of conversations you heard about names people you hadn’t met yet.

“Do you have cat food?” you asked, making your voice light and innocent, turning to face him with a small smile, tying the plastic handles in a knot. Sehun’s confused expression dropped at your words before his brow began to furrow. He looked confused. 

Cute. 

The smile on your face grew. Naturally, you didn’t even feel it as you patted his shoulder to move past him. You walked back to your bedroom to help Euina finish up, but you could hear him following.

“Why do you need cat food?” He asked once you were in the room. Apparently, both of you had forgotten that Euina had no idea he was here. She turned to face him before you did, mouth open and eyes narrowed.

“For Tuttle, who are you?” She asked, zipping her back closed with a sharp tug.

“Sehun. Who’s Tuttle?”

“My cat.” You replied, picking her up from where she had padded over to you on your bed. You turned to face him with a small smile but, when you looked up to see the expression, he was pulling, you couldn’t help but let out a loud laugh. He was glaring at Tuttle like she was his worst enemy. He looked like a mix between a toddler who had just had his favourite toy taken away and a man who was extremely close to losing his shit after a long day of listening to his annoying desk partner. You handed Euina Tuttle.

“Let’s go, shall we?” You grabbed both Euina’s and your bags having packed everything into them: you were efficient, they fit. However, before you could sling both of them over your shoulders, Sehun grabbed one of them and slung it over his own – broad– shoulder. You didn’t know which one he had, but you suspected that it didn’t really matter. Euina left before the both of you, Sehun trailing after the thirteen-year-old like a lost puppy, and you switched off the lights before scanning the room in case you left anything. You grabbed a small cat toy from the floor.

“We’re taking my car.” You announced, making your way back into the main room, giving the carrot toy to Euina for Tuttle to play with. “I’m driving.” You cut Sehun off, his mouth opened as if to protest. “Danbi said not to use your ankle.” You reminded him quietly, patting his shoulder. You made the split decision to switch off all the lights (you didn’t know when you’d be coming back, and you were not paying an extra bill for lights on during the day) and grabbed all the keys from the bowl you kept them in. You lived on the third floor of the eight-floor apartment block, you didn’t have to use the elevator – it was quicker to use the stairs anyway – so, you used the stairs. Your car was parked in your usual spot. You didn’t need to use your car very often, only when you were taking Euina back to your aunts or if you wanted to visit one of your favourite food places on the other side of town, but it wasn’t like you couldn’t drive.

Both Sehun and Euina were quiet as the three of you found your car, a black five-door Ford Focus (you didn’t know much else, you don’t particularly care about cars), and piled in. Euina sat in the back with Tuttle, laying down over the seats, seatbelt around her waist. You always had blankets in your car, in case she wanted to sleep or if she got cold, so she simply grabbed one to pull over herself. Tuttle scooted under one of Euina’s arms, paws next to her face. You knew Euina had questions, you could tell by the tone of her voice when she said she’d try and sleep more, but you were grateful she kept them to herself for the time being.

You honestly had no idea what you would tell her.

Once out on the road, you turned to Sehun, having come to a conclusion. “Where do you live?” You asked lowly. You switched on the radio (The CD player – you were never one for listening to adverts) and turned the volume down to almost a mumble, so the car wasn’t silent. You knew Euina couldn’t sleep in silence.

“Turn left, I’ll direct you,” Sehun answered. You turned left.

After what felt like an hour (fifteen minutes) of nothing but the music too low for you to focus on and Sehun’s occasional chiming’s of where to go you had to break the non-silent-silence. “What am I going to tell her? She’s not stupid. And she knows when I lie.” You asked. You weren’t sure why you added the last part, you hardly knew Sehun – he didn’t need to know you couldn’t lie to your baby sister to save your life. “Am I even allowed to tell her about you guys? Was I even allowed to know? What–”

Sehun cut you off, placing a large hand on your knee. You wanted to look down at it, but you kept your eyes on the road. It was beginning to get lighter as the early morning broke its way through the horizon, but it was still quite dark, and you had no idea where you were going. “You would’ve known eventually.” He said quietly, after a few seconds.

“I would’ve?” Your voice was just as quiet. Your shoulders relaxed, not that you had stiffened when his hand came into contact with your knee, not seeing the need to be ‘at odds’ with him. Not right now, anyway.

He nodded, a movement you caught from the corner of your eye. “I would’ve told you eventually.” He paused. “In fact, I think I may have blurted it out on our date if you had gotten the chance to accept. Turn right.”

A smile crept on your face as you slowed to turn. You had been driving for almost half an hour by now. It was a strange feeling, the emotions you felt in your tummy. Your eyebrows creased in confusion. “Why me?” You asked, voice a dash above a whisper.

He heard it nonetheless.

“It’s a wolf thing.” Was his reply. Was it just you or were things getting a little awkward? God, you hated awkward. His words sparked a feeling of dejavu in your head. Now, you had read the Twilight Saga: sparkly vampires and raging werewolves. You had a thing for werewolves, ironic to know now, but Euina had taken a liking to the series in both book and film form.

“Did you just quote Twilight?” You almost laughed. He did laugh. You joined in not long after, sparing a glance at his profile. He really was quite pretty.

“Not quite.” He looked back at you. You looked back at the road. “Next left.”

You left your question alone for a few minutes, biting down on your lip in a weak attempt to keep it from slipping. ‘What’s a wolf thing?’ Before you could actually ask, you took the turn and not even a minute later the outline of a house could be seen. As you drove closer, the house grew bigger (perspective, a funny thing) and more significant. The house, if you could call it a house, was huge. It seemed to have at least three floors, with seven windows lining the front of the building. The walls were white, the bottom floors walls had been replaced with ceiling-high windows – a warm light coming from what you assumed was a living room. The driveway was long, and the land that surrounded the house seemed to conceal it. It was beautiful. You looked back to him with an astonished look. “You live in a mansion?”

Sehun broke into a laugh again, “I do.” He nodded with a grin forming on his lips. “With my eleven brothers and three of their mates.” He pointed across the car, and you followed, stopping next to another vehicle. This spot would have to do. The word mate had caught your ears, ringing around them as if the word was the most important word for you right now. You shook your head a little and took the keys out of the ignition.

“I knew there’d be more of you.” You mumbled, hands falling into your lap, one brushing his on the fall. Neither of you went to move. You finally looked down at his hand on your leg, a small wave of butterflies flying through you as you finally recognised the gesture. They were gone after a moment. When you looked up, Sehun was already looking at you. His eyes shone green once again. You knew you had to ask your question. Or maybe you’d do something you’d regret with your sister in the back of the car.

You knew you were attracted to the man next to you. You knew that there was a connection between the two of you. You also knew that he was a werewolf. A werewolf, like the ones from your favourite myth. It had been a while since you had re-read it, but you knew the just of mates. Although, you had never quite understood the term. Before you chickened out (you were no chicken), you moved a hand over his and asked your question. “What’s a wolf thing?”

He took a few seconds to, well, move. His eyes zeroed in on where your hand had held his, which held your knee. Then his eyes met your own and, he opened his mouth to answer. A small meow filled the silence before he could. Your eyes closed, a smile forming as you tried to keep your laughter from escaping.

Great timing Tuttle.