FSE

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Thanks for editing Ruth of Pern

Chapter 6

Damon had no idea what he was doing there, but sure enough he'd found himself on Madi's porch. He felt like a deer in the headlights. After a bit of pondering he sighed and knocked on the door. After a few minutes he became nervous nobody seemed to be answering, but eventually he heard someone walk towards the door and an older man opened it. He had to be Madi's father without a doubt. "Oh you again, what do you want?" he asked grumpily.

"I err... want to see Madi... We're going to walk to school together." Damon replied with a small smile. The man only frowned. He didn't like that Damon had taken an interest in his daughter...But something about that smile...

"Okay, she's in the shower though... you'll have to wait a bit," he muttered letting Damon in.

The house was spotless. The older man, Madi's father led him to the kitchen. It was just as immaculate as the living room. The two men sat down at the table and fell in an awkward silence for a bit. Knowing he wasn't going to get anything out of her father he sighed and decided to focus his hearing so he could find Madi. Sure enough like her dad said she was in the shower. He also heard another person's heartbeat...Madi's little brother he figured... He was pretty tempted to join Madi in the shower but decided against it. She would probably flip out if he tried to walk in on her... plus he didn't know if her dad owned a gun. Getting shot might not kill him but it would still fucking hurt.

"So, why have you taken an interest in my daughter? I've heard of your reputation from the neighbors. You better not be using my daughter in some sick game." He threatened. Or at least tried to be threatening; the man was only 5'9 not much of a threat to Damon. An unarmed human was virtually zero threat to a werewolf.

"I wouldn't use her sir... she's a friend..." he replied politely, despite the hostility.'She's my Mate you stupid old man! Hurting her would hurt me tenfold!' was what he thought to himself. He would never hurt her...Could never hurt her. She was far too important to him. And that frightened him. They'd just met... she shouldn't matter so much to him but she did and he wouldn't have had it any other way. Eventually he heard the shower being turned off and Madi getting dressed. He felt himself straighten up his posture. A few minutes later Madi finally entered the kitchen. Her hair was still wet from the shower and she was wearing a blue shirt and a pair of jeans. The color really brought out her eyes which were a very alluring green color. She looked somewhat surprised to see him.

"Morning dad, and um... morning Damon... can I talk to you alone for a bit?" She asked looking Damon dead in the eye. Gracefully he got out of the chair and smiled towards the older man who only gave him a small scowl instead. Damon quickly followed Madi into the living-room glad to be away from her father. It was getting very awkward in there.

Madi started pacing around the room while Damon just watched her. He wanted so badly to touch her...To seduce her and claim her as his, but he couldn't do that. She was his Mate. He couldn't just seduce her like he did other girls. Once they made love they were bound until death. Because of that werewolf law dictated that a wolf would have to disclose his nature to the Mate before they slept together which he wasn't ready for yet as he still didn't know how to bring it up.

"So you wanted to talk to me?" Damon asked her wryly.

"Yes, what are you doing here? In my house so early in the morning? It's kinda creepy. It makes you seem like a stalker."

Damon bristled a bit at that. He wasn't a stalker... "But really, what are you doing here?"

"I came over so we could walk to school together you know like yesterday?" he reasoned.

Madi just sighed, "Why come over so early though? I still have to fix breakfast." She muttered and Damon felt his stomach growl. He had skipped out on breakfast today as he didn't want to miss Madi. Plus he could've always gotten something at the cafeteria. Madi seemed to hear his stomach to and smiled. "Looks like I have to feed you to. Pancakes okay?" She asked him as she walked into the kitchen.

"Yeah, I love pancakes!" He yelled back and he followed her back into the kitchen. He probably looked like a lost puppy following a girl home but he didn't care. He felt at ease around her. Sitting back down at the table he was again scowled at by the old man. That was getting annoying. 'Listen old man, you don't scare me. I could easily rip you in two if I were so inclined.' He thought savagely at the old man but immediately regretted it. Madi would probably be mad at him for thinking such spiteful things towards her dad. After a little bit he heard another pair of feet walk downstairs. It looked as if Madi's little brother was finally up. He was a small guy with messy brown hair just like his sister but he had her eyes as well.

"Oh hi!" the boy muttered as he saw Damon sitting at the table, "You're the boy from Monday?"

Damon nodded. "And your Madi's brother right? I'm Damon!" he said shaking the boy's hand.

"Alex, nice to meet you," the boy replied. Madi eventually finished the pancakes and put them on four plates and set them at the table and got the syrup out before eventually sitting down herself. Damon grabbed the syrup and poured it over his pancakes before handing it over to Madi who the passed it around. Soon enough they were all digging in.

"These are amazing Madi!" Damon told her with a smile.

She just blushed and looked down, "It's nothing... really," she said, "Glad you like them."

The group continued to sit in silence for the rest of the meal. Once they were done Madi quickly got up and began to wash the dishes. Damon offered to help her but she bluntly refused saying she had it handled so he sat their awkwardly as she finished up. Once she was done the two got up and grabbed their bags and went outside.

"So, you cook and clean? Do you do all the work in the house?" He queried. His family split the work between them evenly, and seeing her take all the responsibility bothered him a lot.

"Yes pretty much, dad's always working and I want Al to be a kid. I didn't really get a childhood..."

That made him curious. He knew that feeling well. His early teen years had been rough trying to control his wolf side... Werewolf puberty really sucked. "Why didn't you have much of a childhood?" He asked and she shrugged.

"I'd rather not talk about it... not now okay?" she said.

This made him frown why didn't she want to talk about it? "Did your parents hit you?" he asked and she stopped dead in her tracks.

"What!? No! My parents never... what gave you that idea?" she demanded.

Damon just shrugged, "Sorry never mind that..." He quickly stated. They fell into a very awkward silence for the next few minutes until Damon decided to try and break the silence. "So, how do you like the school so far?"

"It's nice..." was all she said and Damon just sighed. Having her open up to him was going to be difficult.

Soon enough the duo found themselves at the school. They quietly separated promising to meet at her locker before classes. So he quickly sped off to his own and began to get his books. They only had four classes today thankfully, so he only grabbed the books he needed and was about to head off to meet Madi until Patrick Wilson the linebacker approached him. Pat was a chubby guy but solidly built and he was as far as Damon knew, way in the closet. Damon could tell by his scent that the other boy found him attractive but Damon wasn't interested. He wasn't Grey, he reasoned to himself. He didn't like Grey much...they never had gotten along growing up. Matt had once said they were too alike but Damon vehemently denied they had anything in common.

"Hey man," he said not really interested in talking. He didn't want to keep Madi waiting... the other boy just blushed and looked down. "Look Pat, as much as I love being ogled I have places to be and stuff to do... so spit it out or move," he said coldly.

He was about to push the boy out of the way until he spoke, "Hey... do you want to uh... hang out tonight?" he asked hesitantly.

Damon gave him a withering look. He backed away a bit before Damon spoke his voice even colder. "Listen, I told Joey this so I'll tell you also. I'll be busy tonight and the rest of the week, so no I do not want to hang out. Good-bye." He swiftly pushed passed the chubby boy and started to walk towards Madi's locker. He heard a bit of chatter going on and found her talking to an old friend of his...

~~~~

Madi had hurried to her locker and was just about to get her stuff out when a girl with dirty blonde hair walked up to her and started talking at random. Madi vaguely remembered her from homeroom yesterday. "Hi, I'm Hailey! Hailey Lockhart! And you are the new girl! What's your name?"

Madi just stared at her blankly. Realizing she was being rude she quickly replied back, "Oh, I'm Madi, Madison Lane. Nice to meet you um... Hailey." She then shook the other girl's hand. After Madi was done she went back on to talking.

"So how do you like school so far? What's Wyoming like? Who did your hair? It's adorable! And where did you meet Damon Garcia?"

Madi gave the girl another blank stare. This girl talked a mile a minute! "Um first question... school's okay so far. Wyoming is beautiful, but not many people though... but the scenery is amazing! I cut my hair myself... I cut my dad and brother's hair all the time and I used a mirror...I like the result to. As for Damon... we literally ran into each other in the park. We're neighbors actually." Madi just waited for the girl to start talking again. She seemed like a great girl... just a bit airheaded though.

"I'd watch out for him though. Believe me I know the boy. He's very handsome and a very good charmer. He'll give you attention for a little while and spit you out without warning... I should know, we've had an on again off again thing for years... but it's been off for the last few months." She muttered but smiled. "But then again we never were serious actually." She shrugged, "But don't fall for his charm," she warned.

Madi only laughed, "Don't worry, I don't find the boy the least bit charming." She told the other girl and they both burst into giggles until Madi heard someone's grumpy cough. They quickly turned around and saw Damon standing there. _'Speak of the devil, Madi thought to herself in amusement. _"Hullo Damon, how long have you been there?" she asked.

"Long enough, if you are going to talk smack about me make sure I can't hear it." He winked at her and turned his attention to Hailey. "Long time, no see Hailey, how was your weekend?" He asked her giving her his signature cheeky grin.

She only rolled her eyes, "I know what you're trying to do Damon Garcia! Flirting with me won't make me stop being mad at you." She chided but gave a small grin and winked. "But my weekend was pretty good... we went out of town the whole time what about you?"

"Matt and I went camping," he replied.

"Not Tyler?" She asked and he shook his head.

"Nope, it was just us. We wanted to take him but he said we needed time for just us," he fibbed. It wasn't a total lie really. They did want to take Tyler but it wouldn't have been a good idea. He could've gotten hurt and since he was still human he wouldn't have their regenerative abilities. Damon sighed to himself. He just wished that Matt would hurry up and turn the other boy. The Council was getting angry with his family because of the whole situation.

Hailey then turned her attention to Madi who was just watching the other two talk in silence, "You should come with me and some of my friends today! We're going skating!" Madi blanched a bit, she had never learned to skate before and she would rather not humiliate herself in front of people.

"I don't know how to," she stated lamely.

Hailey just looked at her funny then smiled. Madi didn't like that smile very much. It eerily reminded her of Damon, "I can teach you then silly! You just have to come!" she said.

"I doubt I can afford it though..." Maid muttered. Her family's financial situation was far from ideal. They were still trying to pay off her mother's medical bills and what little they had left went towards bills and food. They had very little for other things...

Hailey just smiled towards her before she said, "Okay then, I'll pay for you! I pay for my other friends anyway!"

Madi panicked a bit trying to talk they girl out of it, "Na-no! You don't have to do that! Honestly, I don't want you to spend money on me, we just met!"

Hailey just smiled and ignored her protest, "That's sweet of you but I don't mind... I have plenty of money and you don't... thank of it as charity," she said smiling but Madi only scowled.

"I don't want you to spend money on me... we just met even if it is charity I wouldn't feel comfortable taking it away from you even if you had plenty..."

The blonde girl just sighed. "Listen, I understand how you feel, but I want to pay for you to go. Nobody is twisting my arm to be nice." She said and gave Madi a pleading look. "Come-on it'll be fun!"

Madi only sighed she had a feeling that she would not be able to talk the girl Hailey out of this. "Okay, if you insist I'll go." She said and the other girl quickly hugged her tight.

"Okay! See you in the parking lot after school!" She said as she ran away to her own class leaving Madi confused.

"That girl is pretty..." Madi muttered to Damon trying to figure the right adjective to describe the girl Hailey. Thankfully the right word came to her quickly enough. "Odd... she is very odd."

Damon only laughed a bit at that, "Yeah, Hailey has always lived in her own little world but you couldn't find a sweeter girl if you tried," Damon told her, "But yes she can be a bit ditzy... but come-on we got to get to class," he told her and she gratefully followed she still hadn't learned the layout of this school yet. Eventually they reached the English and sat down. They chatted a bit through the class and eventually the rest of the day flew by and they found themselves heading for lunch just as Hailey ran out to catch up to them.

"Hey! Madi wait!" She called for them. Madi turned around and smiled a bit confused as to why the girl was chasing after her. She caught up she panted and smiled towards the girl, "Thank God! I thought I'd never catch up to you! Me and my girls are going out for lunch... Want to come?" she asked.

"Your allowed to go off school grounds to eat?" She asked amazed.

"Yup! East is an open campus school! So do you want to join us?" She asked.

Madi looked towards Damon who shrugged, "Go ahead, enjoy yourself. I'll see you in class later," he said as he walked off.

Madi then turned towards Hailey and smiled, "Sure, guess I will." She sighed as Hailey began to jump up and down and then dragged her outside. "Hey!" Madi protested but to no avail. Soon enough they found themselves outside where two other girls were waiting. One was very tall with pretty perky breasts and fiery red hair. The other girl was a brunette like Madi. She was smaller and more slender but still very pretty. Hailey stopped right in front of them and went straight to introductions.

"Hey girls! This is the new girl I told you about! Madi!" She said and then turned towards Madi. "And these are my friends May and June!" The redhead June quickly shook Madi's hand before speaking.

"Nice to meet you Madi... short for Madison right?" she asked and Madi nodded. "Cool, I love your hair! Going for the Alice Cullen look?" she asked as Madi glared. Noting this reaction, the girl smiled. "Not a fan of Twilight I presume?" she asked and Madi shook her head.

"Definitely not... my friend Katie forced me to read the damn books and I hated every second of it!" She muttered causing the other girls to laugh.

The four girls then began to walk to the chosen restaurant...Pizza Express it was called. The building was right off the campus and they found it crowded with many other students. Thankfully though Hailey managed to find an open booth and they sat down.

Just as they got their drinks the brunette...May blurted out, "So what's going on between you and Damon Garcia?"

Madi's eyes went wide and she coughed causing soda to spill out her nose. That burned like a bitch. Once she stopped spluttering she found her voice and responded. "What? Nothing is 'going on' between us! We're just friends... plus we're neighbors..."

May then smiled...A devious smile, "I think he likes you!" She teased lightly causing Madi to glare even harder along with a brilliant red blush on her cheeks. The other girls joined in the lighthearted laughter enjoying themselves at Madi's expense. She glared at all of them but they only laughed harder. Eventually lunch passed by and so did the rest of the day and soon enough she was saying bye to Damon.

"I'll see you tomorrow okay?" She said and he smiled right back.

"Yeah sure! See you then!" He told her as he ran off towards his house.

Madi sighed sitting down waiting for Hailey and the others to come out of the school. Soon enough she heard Hailey's loud voice and she smiled. She'd just met the girl and already her energy was wearing her out but she felt they would become very good friends.

"Hey! There you are! We're taking my car come-on!" She said dragging Madi across the parking lot... that was going to have to change...

"You know Hailey... you need to stop dragging me around. I don't like being manhandled..."

The blonde girl only gave her a blinding smile and let go, "If you say so!" she replied brightly.

The two finally reached the car and the other girls were waiting. Once all was settled they got into it and began the drive to the skating rink. Madi was sweating bullets. She'd never been skating...what with her mom being sick... Soon they grabbed their skates and Madi wound up making an absolute fool out of herself. After about an hour or two of falling on her ass, she quickly took off her skates and walked to the seats watching the other girls skating around having a blast. She was considering putting her skates back on before she heard a loud voice ring out at her... people really seemed to yell at her a lot today.

"Hey! It's you!" A deep voice rang out.

She turned and saw a big burly boy sit down at her table. He was gorgeous and he looked vaguely familiar. That was when she looked into his eyes a light brown like Damon's... then it hit her, "Oh! You're Matt! Damon's brother! Nice to see you again... what are you doing here?" she asked and he laughed.

"Tyler and I are having a date night... Ty loves to skate but he isn't very good at it," he said gesturing to the blond boy who was barely managing to stay on his feet but looked like he was having a blast.

"Why aren't you skating?" she asked and he shrugged.

"No reason. Just didn't feel like I today..." They talked for a bit more and Madi found she quite liked Damon's brother. Soon enough Tyler himself decided to join them and they all talked for another hour before Hailey walked up and told her that they were getting ready to leave.

"Nice seeing you two though!" she said to the boys as Madi got up and turned her skates in. They returned her sentiments and soon enough the girls were back into the car. After they got something to eat Hailey dropped her off in front of her house and let Madi out. "I'll see you tomorrow okay?" she said and Madi nodded.

It had gotten late... the sun had already set. As she walked to her door she had the strangest feeling of being watched. She quickly turned around and saw a pair of large yellow eyes looking at her from the park. Hair stood up on the back of her neck and she went to go investigate the eyes. But just as she neared the park the eyes vanished.

Confused Madi shrugged and went indoors not noticing the full moon hovering far above her head.