→ Jack had been avoiding Warner for as long as he could, giving him his space. But it was just killing him and finally, he went in search of the other in town because that was where Tes had said she'd seen him last. He'd asked Wendell to drive him in, and Wen had, of course, agreed. It was a big deal for Jack to go into town, but when Wendell asked if he needed someone to walk with him, Jack had refused. Now he was sitting in Mabel's cafe because he felt safe there.

→ Warner had taken to walking to town in the mornings just becuase he didn't want to spend all day stuck at wolfhaven when he was feeling how he was feeling. Especially becuase Jack was avoiding him and it was obvious. So he would go to Mabel's for breakfast and then to the track shack when it opened to listen to new music and eventually he would make his way back to Mabel's for lunch. That was where he was going now, stepping in through the door to find his usual booth. When he saw Jack he decided to skip to the booth and just went right to the counter.

→ When Warner saw him, but didn't come sit down with him, Jack swallowed hard. It was decidedly worse than he'd thought. Staring down at his sandwich, he poked at it with his finger before gathering up his plate and glass of lemonade and going to sit next to Warner at the counter. "I came to find you." He said, as he sat down. The last few days had been horrible. All he could think about was how he'd treated Warner poorly, after everything he'd done for him.

→ "I just came to get some lunch." The same thing he'd ordered everyday for the past few days and the waitress brought it over without him even having to ask. It was a burger and fries, with bacon and cheese on it but nothing else. "I was going to walk back to Haven after I ate."

→ "Right," Jack nodded, looking back down at his meal, feeling like crying. He'd really messed up. "Wendell could give us a ride back." He offered, taking a drink of his lemonade. His feet swung over the edge of his chair anxiously.

→ The fact that Jack wanted to cry was something that Warner could just sort of tell and he wrapped his arm around the younger shifter's shoulders as he picked up his burger with the other hand to eat.

→ The touch was a surprise, but a welcomed one, and it was all Jack could do not to throw his arms around Warner and make a scene in the middle of the diner. "It's nice here. I forgot how nice." His words seemed to hold a lot more than their face value.

→ Warner brushed his hand down Jack's shoulder and along his arm until his fingers came to rest at his elbow. He nudged his plate closer to Jack so that he could eat some of the fries if he wanted them. Warner didn't mind sharing and he knew Jack had a sandwich but sometimes it was nicer to share.

→ Jack leaned his head against Warner's shoulder. "Does this mean you don't hate me anymore?" He said very quietly as he took a french fry, putting it gratefully into his mouth. It wasn't that he particularly loved french fries, but they were Warner's, so he appreciated them all the more.

→ "I never hated you, Jack. I was upset." and he was still upset so that much hadn't changed but he wasn't going to ignore Jack anymore. Well, he hadn't really been ignoring him but he hadn't been spending time with him anymore either because it was easier to just let Jack avoid him.

→ "You were upset. Does that mean you're not now?" He liked the sound of the past tense in that sentence. He got his hopes up that this was all put behind them and they could continue on where they'd left off.

→ "I'm still upset." He said to him. "but I'll get over it. I was just trying to give you space because you were avoiding me so I didn't think you wanted me around." He brushed his thumb in a small circle around his elbow. "It'll take a little time but I'll get over it.'

→ It wasn't perfect, but it wasn't terrible either. Jack nodded, understanding that Warner needed time. His mind wandered to Cal, and he wondered if he'd ever see him again. Sighing, he sat up straight on his stool, finishing up his sandwich. "I was trying to give you space because Hunter said you'd come around eventually."

→ "Well I would come around if you didn't duck out of a room everytime I walked in." he laughed softly. "Did you talk to Hunter about me?" He had seen Hunter giving him looks but he'd ignored them in favor of pretending like he didn't notice.

→ "Yes, I'm sorry--should I not have?" He was just a touch paranoid now, not wanting to do anything worse to Warner. He never had any bad intents with the things he did, but he often did them without thinking about the consquences. "I went to apologize to him for what I'd said, and to ask his advice."

→ "It's okay." Warner didn't mind. "I will be okay, okay? I just wanted to think about somethings and just figure out what we are to one another, you know?" It was just something he needed time with. "We can get a ride back with Wendell and talk for a while if you want."

→ Jack laughed a little. "You're far too good, you know. I've never met anyone as steady as you are." Not even Hunter, though Hunter was steady in a different way. He liked the sound of riding back with Wendell and talking. He wanted to know what Warner had come up with--what they were to one another.

→ "Is that a good thing?" He aske,d not sure if Steady was what he wanted or if it was just something that made him want Callahan more, because the little bug was far from steady. "I hope that it's a good thing>"

→ Stealing another french fry, though he didn't suppose it was stealing since they were offered, Jack nodded. "It's a good thing. It's not something you find a lot among--well, where we're from." By that he meant shifters. Jack had once been perfectly easy going, philosophical, and youthful. In many ways, he'd been Warner's exact opposite, or perhaps compliment was a better word.

→ "Well as long as you think that it is a good thing." He leaned down and put his chin on Jack's shoulder. Once he was finished eating he just sat there and let his chin rest on Jack, his arm stilla round him. "Can I sleep in your room tonight?" Because he hadn't been and he missed sleeping with jack curled up against his side.

→ He could feel his heart leap into his throat with happiness at that request and he nodded quickly. "Yes, of course you can." There was nothing else in the world that Jack could think that would be better than that. His room had felt so profoundly empty after Cal left, and even worse now that Warner wasn't sleeping there either.

→ "Jack." He said softly, just wanting to get the boy's attention as they sat there together. Warner lifted his chin so that he could face him a little bit and he brought his hand up to touch the side of Jack's face. "I'm never going to stay mad at you and there isn't anything you could do to make me hate you... because I love you."

→ As soon as Warner spoke his name, he lifted his eyes to look at him. Jack liked very much the way Warner looked at him, and he knew he could melt easily at the way Warner touched him. Any nervousness he felt was quickly dispersed by Warner's words. "Really?" Was his first response, but he quickly realized that was hardly good enough. "I love you too." It was easy to admit once he knew how Warner felt about him.

→ Leaning his head down, Warner kissed him softly on the lips and his hand slid down to the side of his neck, just to let it rest there. "Really>" he whispered against his lips. "I love you. I will always love youl."

→ Breathing a sigh of relief, Jack kissed him again, the ghost of a brush. "Good, because I plan to live for a long time and I'd really like for you to love me for the rest of it." He worked to keep his heartrate down, not wanting to get too excited, liking the slowness of Warner's movements.

→ warner just smiled at that and kissed him softly one more time. "Let's find Wendell and go home. We have a lot of cuddling to make up for since I haven't slept with you the past few nights." And he just wanted to curl up around Jack right then and sitting at the counter in Mabel's diner wasn't the best way to go about that. "We should take Hunter home an apple pie."

→ Mabel was a few steps ahead of them, and she glanced back and forth between the two. Setting a bag between them, it had some extra food and pie in there for them to take home. Jack laughed a little, having missed her impish, knowing grin. "Thanks." He mouthed at her and stood up, tugging on Warner's hand, feeling light.

→ Warner picked up the bag of stuff and he let Jack pull him out of the restaurant so that they could find Wendell. He was glad that they'd made up with one another because he'd really missed him and just being around him.

→ "How is Jonas?" Jack had to ask, wondering if Warner had mentioned anything to him. He walked up the street towards the police station, because he figured that's where Wendell would be. It was only a couple of blocks away from Main st.

→ "He's fine, I think. He's been spending all of his time over at Felix's house and I don't see very much of him anymore." Which kind of bothered Warner a little but Jonas had always been like that. Interested in anything but him at times.

→ Jack liked Felix. But then, Jack liked pretty much everyone. "Are they--together?" He asked innocently, walking right in to the precinct. Now that Warner was walking with him, Jack didn't really fear being in town.

→ "I wasn't sure but the last time I ran into Jonas he smelled like Felix." and he smelled like sex, so he was assuming that that meant they were together, though he didn't want to make any assumptions.

→ "Oh?" That pleased him. He knew Felix needed someone, not matter how much he liked to pretend like he didn't need anyone at all. "You know, I think Felix tells jokes to hide how lonely he is. He never really fit in with us." He caught Wendell's eye, who waved that he'd be over in a minute. Jack went to sit down on one of the waiting room chairs.

→ "I think Jonas is just mean to everyone because he's lonely. Maybe they will make each other happy." He leaned his head against Jack's shoulder again. "I mean, Jonas and I were both really lonely before we found Emmett, still kind of lonely after we found him too, but now we aren't so lonely."

→ "You didn't keep each other company?" Jack didn't know what it was like to have brothers, though he could have if he'd included himself with all of the youth of the pack. But he'd always been very content to occupy himself with solitary endeavors and he'd never felt lonely.

→ "Well, we kept each other as much company as we could but there are certain types of lonely that can't be cured by a brother." Unless you were Edmund and Cyrus Worth.

→ Or most of our other brothers...

→ Jack tipped his head and bit his bottom lip. "Types of lonely that I can cure?" He swallowed, trying back on the ability to be playful like that. It had always suited him before and it was beginning to suit him again.

→ Warner smiled a little and actually blushed, his cheeks getting hot at the idea of what type of lonely he was. "Types of lonely you've been curing since the moment that I met you, Jack."

→ Not really caring who saw, Jack grinned and draped himself over Warner, leaning into him and wrapping his arms over his shoulders. "You're the sweetest thing ever, you know." Wendell walked up to them, smiling. "I see you're doing better, Jack? What about you Warner, everything all right?"

→ "Everything is fine. We were wondering if we could bum a ride off of you back to the haven." He said softly, still not all that great about being around wolves that weren't Jack.

→ Wendell had noticed that, and he smiled warmly at him. He was probably the least threatening of all the wolves, but he could certainly understand being nervous. "Of course, I was just coming to find Jack and see if he was ready to go."

→ "Well he found me in the diner and so I thought I'd hitch a ride too." Warner squeezed Jack gently and then stood up so he coudl take the boy's hand and pull him up to his feet. "Mabel gave us pie for Hunter. Maybe you can sneak it in without anyone else eating it."

→ "All I have to say is that it's for Hunter." Wendell laughed a little. But who would protect the pie from Wendell himself? Hunter would just have to fight him for it. Unlocking the door, he climbed into the SUV. Jack bounded up into the back, leaving Wendell up front alone like a taxi driver. He didn't mind.

→ Warner slid into the back and he hoped that he didn't offend Wendell at all by sitting with jack. But he wrapped his arms around the little wolf and pulled him in for a soft kiss before just leaning his head against his.

→ Jack curled up against him for the ride home, relaxed wholly. There wasn't a shred of tension left in his muscles and he shut his eyes, trusting Warner completely. Wendell, as always, drove the speed limit, chatting--mostly to himself--as he made the drive home. Pulling into the driveway, he bid them a nice afternoon and stole the food away into the house, never to be seen again. Jack climbed out of the back and watched him go. "Hunter's never going to see that pie, you know."

→ "We should have just taken it to him." Warner said with a soft laugh ."I mean, I guess I kind of owe him one , you know?" For having given advice to Jack.