When Jack had had enough of his sulking, he found that Callahan was gone. He'd been prepared to take off after him, but he'd been stopped by Wendell who was stern with him and Jack knew exactly why. He felt guilty for his outburst and he was meaning to talk to Hunter--he just couldn't bring himself to do so yet. Instead, he went out for a walk, and more to the point, for a swim because that was the only thing that could make him feel better at this point.

Warner was sitting on the end of the doc, his legs dangling over the edge as he watched the wind blow across the water. There were no waves like the ocean but it did lap up around the edges of the lake a little and he still like the motion of it. Things with Jack had been a little strange and he wasn't entirely sure what to say or what to do about it, because he couldn't help but feel like their relationship was a fragile thing. He didn't want to put too much pressure on it or on Jack.

When Jack saw Warner, his immediate reaction was one of relief. He loved seeing him, loved everything about him. But as soon as he recalled what had happened between him and Cal, his face fell and he considered turning around. But Warner would have already sensed his presence and leaving would only make things worse. "Hey." He said quietly, walking up to sit next to him.

When Jack settled down beside him, Warner just smiled and leaned back onto his hands so he was a little closer without actually touching Jack. "Hey. If I'm invading your area just let me know." He knew that Jack liked to come here to swim and that was part of the reason that he liked coming here so much himself. Though he prefered watching the water to actually getting into it.

Jack dangled his legs in the water, not wearing shoes as a rule and letting his toes flick cold little droplets of water up higher. "You're not invading anything." He shook his head. Warner was always so careful; it was sweet and made Jack feel safer. He appreciated it infinitely. "I just--I came down here because I guess it's just what I do when I'm upset."

"Are you upset about Callahan?" He asked, because he knew that was what he was most upset about. That and what had happened with Hunter. Warner hadn't actually even seen the Alpha since then. at least not up close. He'd caught Hunter going out to run in the morning once or twice but only because he was sitting on the back porch and the alpha had to walk across it to get to the woods. But he hadn't been there for dinner the next night or any of the meals the following day actually.

"Mostly about Hunter." He admitted. No matter how much he cared about Callahan, being cruel to Hunter was the worst thing he could have done. Not only was the man his Alpha and his main source of safety, he was a friend, his family. "But about Cal too. He just left. I'm scared he's going to get killed. I don't understand why no one would let me protect him."

"They were protecting you, that's all." Warner said to him, knowing that it wasn't really his place to say something about it but he couldn't help it. "It's really brave of you Jack, to want to do that for him. It shows just how big your heart is. But Callahan isn't part of Hunter's pack and he isn't willing to sacrifice you in order to help someone that could potentially hurt you and everyone in the pack. That is why he is your alpha, he is there to make those sorts of decisions for you, when you can't see clearly enough to make them yourself."

"It's more than that." Jack looked down, unable to keep Warner's gaze. "I mean--I'm upset about more than just all this. Some of it is you." He said that wrong and shook his head. "No, not you--I mean--I don't know what I mean. I did something that I regret." That was a bit of a lie. He didn't regret kissing Cal; he just regretted what it meant for Warner.

Warner wasn't sure how to take that but he shook his head. "Whatever you did... it's within your right, you know? We never talked about what we are. You and me.' They werent' boyfriends, they weren't mates. There was no real definition so if he had done something then... well... he was entitled to doing it.

Jack wasn't sure if that was the answer he'd wanted. No, they weren't mates, and they weren't boyfriends. They just existed. He focused on the way the water enveloped his feet. He wanted to dive in and sink to the bottom where there was no sound but the thrum of water all around him. "Yeah--it didn't feel like it was within my right though."

"I don't... really want to know what you did." Warner said, thinking maybe he'd be better off without hearing whatever it was Jack wanted to say. "Unless you really need to tell me. If you don't feel like you do then just don't." Because he wasn't sure how he was going to feel about whatever Jack had to say to him.

"I kissed Callahan. But I stopped." He bit his lip--now he felt guilty for being so weak as to need to tell Warner. "Please don't hate me. Please still like me. I didn't want to hurt you; it'd just been so long since I'd felt like--since I'd felt like I could manage feeling like that about someone."

"You don't feel like that when you kiss me?" Because if that was the truth then he needed to be with Callahan and not with Warner. The thought of it didn't settle well with Warner but if it was what Jack wanted then who was he to den yhim?

"It's scarier with you." He admitted. "It's been so long and I'm still scared. Isn't that stupid? But Cal is so small. I know that if you ever wanted to, you could--" His voice trailed off and he flushed, feeling anxious and ridiculous. "I'm sorry I'm not better yet." As if it was something he could get over and be okay the next day if he'd just try hard enough.

"I wouldn't ever." Warner said, shaking his head a little bit. The fact that Jack was scared of him made him feel sort of heavy and he tried not to think too hardabout it. Sitting up, he just put his hands in his lap and looked down at the water for a minute. For someone who was infinitely patient and very good about doing and saying the right thing, he had no idea what tosay right then.

Jack sighed. "I know you wouldn't. My brain knows you wouldn't." But his illogical side, his wolf and his instincts were off kilter, throwing danger at him when there was none at all. "I love being with you." He said quietly. "You're so soft and calm. You're like the trees." Sometimes Jack made strange associations, but they always made sense to him.

It made sense to Warner too, at least it sort of did. "I don't know what to do to show you that I am not oging to do anything to hurt you, except to just keep doing what I'm doing now but I don't know if that is doing any good for you." Because they were never getting to the next step, never getting past this. "I just wish that you felt better about all of this but I understand why you don't."

"Why are you so patient?" He frowned. It was almost an accusation, as if it was a bad thing. It was just bad because it made Warner so good. He hooked his arm around Warner's arm, hugging towards him. "Someday it will run out, I think." He used to be infinitely optimistic, but there were shadows to him now.

"Because it's just the way I am." Warner said, not sure why he was willing to be so patient. Probably because his brother was Jonas and Jonas was the exact opposte. He never wanted to wait for anything. Pulling away from Jack's arm, he sat up and then stood up, not sure he wanted to be touching him right then because it was almost like being tgeased and he was sort of grumpy.

When Warner pulled away, he retracted his arms into himself, wrapping them around his waist. "Well, I like the way you are." And he was afraid he'd ruined what they'd had going. "Are you going? Don't go." Something in him wanted to just ignore what had happened and be playful. But with Cal gone, he was back to where he'd been before.

"I don't feel very well, Jack." His voice was soft, unsure. There had never been uncertainty there before and now there was a little bit. Just because he was afraid that his patience and kindness was what was going to be his undoing, but he just didn't know any other way to be.

Jack stood up, feeling protective. It helped him to feel protective. "Are you sick? Or is it my fault?" He kept his distance, but his body was poised to embrace him. "I stopped because I want you. Isn't that something?"

Warner wrapped one of his long arms around his own waist and the other came up so that he could rub at the back of his neck. His face just gave away what he was feeling because he'd never been good at hiding it. Biting his bottom lip, he frowned a little bit and his shoulders came up half an inch before lowering back down again. "I'm being really unfair, I know." Warner said. "You were just being honest and you're already going through a hard enough time without me acting like this but I'm just upset."

"You're not being unfair. I deserve you yelling at me--but I think this is worse." Warner just being hurt and feeling bad about being hurt. "I felt guilty because it was wrong for me to do. I don't care if you're not my mate; I owed you more than that. I want you to be and that's as good as being."

Warner just felt guilty that he couldn't control his own emotions when Jack really needed him to. It made everything just a little bit worse. "I think I'm going to go and walk back to the house." Because he needed to just be alone for a little while and he figured he could take the long way back. "I just need to be alone and I need to think."

He opened and then closed his mouth, wishing he'd waited to say something until later. Finally, he nodded, tugging off his shirt and ducking out of his pants so that he could get into the water. With one perfectly executed jump, he dove into the water, slipping under its surface with hardly a splash.