ojandtostitos:

Characters: Sam & Tatum. And Sam's daddio!
Setting: Sam's house, Friday afternoon.
Rating: SFW.
Summary: Pre-wolf anxiety attack, take one.


It had been Hunter's idea, but Tatum had agreed for once. Getting out of the apartment early, before Mack came back, was probably a wise idea. It was the right thing to do. She was so scared on this particular day that if she had seen the blonde girl, she was fairly sure she would have clung onto her and possibly never let go. Which was no good for either of them. Escaping the apartment at the ass-crack of dawn was her best move, and she took it. She was still semi-exhausted from their night before with the Sykes and with packing the things she wanted to take to Sam's, and she was half asleep as she drove into town in eerie early morning silence, getting herself some breakfast at a drive-thru despite how nauseous she felt. She got some for Michi as well, bringing it back and leaving it in the fridge for her and a note on the front of the freezer, before changing her jeans and then leaving the apartment again.

Things were surprisingly good since the attack, she had her friends to support her and their new apartment was really quite nice, even if she still felt like an intruder on Hunter and Michiko's space. Especially with the baby so close to arriving. What if she just got in the way? Still though, things were better. Rath was getting an apartment too, and they had both agreed to split housing Sera on breaks and weekends, if she wanted. Their mother had her own apartment now too, though it wasn't as close as Bluebell. It was just nice to know they were welcome. Hell, she had become closer with Madeline since the whole werewolf ordeal than she had ever been in her whole nineteen years of life. They had no father, but they had each other, and their mother, who seemed finally willing to let them live their own lives. It was nice.

But things weren't perfect, and there was still her transformation looming. It had been close to a month now since she had been hurt. She had gotten Sam to come with her last week, when the effects of the on-coming moon began to hit her, to talk to Headmaster Sato. She had been experiencing a lot of different things, an almost insatiable hunger and sex drive, for one. Not to mention all of the worry, emotions and feelings, but anxiety and fear the most of all. How was it going to feel when she turned? Especially for the first time? Terrible, from what she gathered. What if she hurt someone still? Or Sam's dad couldn't control her! She was so incredibly weak-willed, she was sure the wolf would have no problem controlling her completely and totally once the moon was out.

But talking to Ichirou had made her feel better, as it often did, and so did Sam's calming presence, and the two of them were formally excused from classes for the day of the full moon. They'd be leaving for NOLA extra early in the morning instead of after school, so she could have extra time to prepare. Sam's dad was expecting them. Besides, she didn't think she could focus on class today, especially with how badly Marney Sykes would probably razz on her after the shenanigans of the night before. Being allowed to cut class on this day was imperative to her.

She had arrived on campus when classes were just starting, some people milling about as they walked from their dorms toward the various academic buildings. She was pretty sure she saw Jenny walk by, but Sera was nowhere in sight. She was probably incredibly sour about being tricked into staying out the whole night by Hunter. She was probably hung-over as hell too, or so Tatum could only assume. Little sister would probably be ditching class today, too.

It didn't take her long to find Sam in his room, and the two of them had been at his house shortly after that. They had a lot to talk about, but Tatum didn't feel much like talking. She had brought her guitar, and they had jammed for several hours now, trying to keep their minds occupied until his dad came to collect them later. She was both dreading and anticipating it, but for now, it was just them. They sat outside on the back deck in the mild air, Tatum squinting through her sunglasses as she strummed absently. It was mid-afternoon before she became officially frustrated, shoving the instrument aside and huffing a little. She was starving, but still felt nauseous with nerves. It seemed that the more the day went on, the closer the night came, the more her emotions began to swirl around inside of her, freaking her out.

Hesitation held her only for a split second, before she quickly scooted over the small distance between herself and Sam, shoving his guitar carefully out of his hands before crawling unceremoniously into his lap. Her head touched the bottom of his chin, and she felt her lips trembling despite herself as she snuggled in. Nothing sexual, despite all of the hormones that the full moon was causing her, just comfort from her best friend, exactly what she needed. "I-I'm scared," she admitted, as if they both didn't already know. She immediately felt bad, knowing how guilty he still felt about all this, and she made haste with leaning her face against his neck. "Not y-your fault," she added. "Just am."

She was wishing more and more now that she had said goodbye to Mack, that she hadn't listened to Hunter's big plan about a painless goodbye. This wasn't painless.