Blue's body was soft and malleable when Eivind climbed into the truck beside him and pulled him close. That morning, Blue had been angry and stubborn, unwilling to allow Eivind to comfort him in any way though the comfort had been desperately needed to soothe his rattled nerves. Now, however, many hours later, the sun in the slow process of falling down behind the horizon, Blue did nothing to stop his lover from placing his hands on him and peppering kisses all along Blue's wet, tear-stained face. Perhaps it had something to do with Eivind not being the subject of his ire, but whatever the reason, Blue was grateful for Eivind's efforts, and he clung to the wolf as he kissed, pet and offered words of condolence to his young mate.<br/><br/>"I shouldn't have expected them to understand," Blue mumbled, his speech interrupted by soft sniffles and choking noises as he attempted to get his bawling under control. He buried his face into Eivind's clothes, not caring if he got tears and snot all over them, knowing Eivind wouldn't care either. "But I don't know what I could've said that would have made it better. Maybe nothing."<br/><br/>Eivind continued to coddle him, pulling him as much into his lap as their relatively confined space would allow. Blue reacted positively to this, shifting his body to the side so his long legs stretched across the front seats while he continued grasp around Eivind's shoulders. "I don't know," he replied softly. Maybe Eivind was right. Maybe it wasn't his fault. The reasons why he hadn't returned home were certainly out of his control, but he couldn't stop himself from wondering if perhaps there had been another way, a better way, to handle this. Maybe he should have called first, given them time to adjust to the idea of him stopping by with his boyfriend. He had avoided the phone in order to escape the possibility of too many questions, but he saw now that it put his family in an awkward, difficult place of shock. He had forced that upon them. It wasn't fair for him to have placed that kind of pressure on his parents, to expect them to push away their feelings immediately and just accept him and Eivind. Maybe it hadn't been his fault, but he certainly didn't proceed with the care he probably needed to have in order to make things go more smoothly.<br/><br/>Blue couldn't stop himself from giggling at Eivind's joke, and a small smile cracked through the sadness that had taken hold of his face. "Sorry about that," he said, stroking Eivind's hairless cheek affectionately. The wolf seemed to like that, and that made Blue smile even more. "You know I can never resist the opportunity to brag about your dick."<br/><br/>He hadn't noticed the door to the house opening, nor the footsteps that rushed up to the side of Eivind's window. Blue's eyes were closed as the truck rumbled beneath them, his lips locked with his mate's, and a knock sounded just as Eivind pulled away, causing Blue to jump. When he turned to look, his sisters' sweet faces were at the glass, so Blue reached over to lower the window.<br/><br/>"What are you doing?" Blue asked, wiping at his face to get rid of the left over remnants of sadness, though he still looked puffy and broken.<br/><br/>"We think Mom and Papa are being assholes. We don't want you to go away again," Birdie said, her eyes darting back and forth between her brother and the man he was wrapped around. "We think it's really great that you two love each other and want to be together."<br/><br/>"We get why you didn't want to come back," Chrysanthemum added, nodding.<br/><br/>"I did want to come back," Blue replied, shaking his head. "I just couldn't. I can't explain it, at least not right now. But I promise I'll tell you guys eventually. Mom and Papa just don't want to listen."<br/><br/>"They'll come around. They really did miss you. Papa took time off of work to follow up on any leads about where you had gone. He searched everywhere for you. He'll realize what a jerk he's being, eventually. But we just wanted to tell you that we love you, and we hope you at least visit." Little Bird leaned forward through the window of Eivind's truck, hefting herself up a bit so she could kiss Blue's cheek.<br/><br/>"And call us!" Chrys added enthusiastically.<br/><br/>"I, uh, I lost my phone," Blue said sheepishly, leaning forward so Chrys could give him a peck as well.<br/><br/>"Get a new one," Chrysanthemum demanded before turning her gaze onto Eivind. "Please take care of our brother. If you hurt him, we'll have to come after you," she said playfully, tugging on her older sister's sleeve. The two girls waved and rushed back into the house before their parents could come and forcefully pull them away.<br/><br/>"Let's go, Eivind," Blue suggested, sighing as he slipped from his lover's lap and settled back into the passenger seat, staring blankly out of the window now that his crying had ceased.<br/><br/>When the two arrived back at the hotel, Sig was sitting outside waiting for them. The small wolf bounced up at the couple's approach, a wide smile on his face, though it sank once he saw the sorry state of Blue: red, puffy eyes, sunken cheeks and a sorrowful curve on Blue's pale lips. Blue was pleased to see Sig, and he gave the wolf a hug, but he quickly fumbled with the key card at the door and pushed his way instead, locking himself in the bathroom so he could gather himself, wash his face, and attempt to rid himself off the ache still lingering in his chest.