<span style="color: #FF0000">There it was; the wolf in the room. The sweet moment as they embraced and he could just relax faded in the face of the question of the hour. <br/><br/><span style="font-style: italic">Why?</span><br/><br/>Why had he left? Why did he stay away for so long? Why did he keep her away from him and not come forward? <br/><br/>A deep sigh left his lips, eyes sad and full of regret gazed back into her own. “Can you swear that you will listen to everything I have to say? And remember that I would never lie to you or hurt you in anyway? Can you swear and promise this to me?”  he asked before the tried to explain just what he was and what she was now as well.</span><br/><br/>Whenever Eidhin sighed, or paused for too long a period without an answer right off…there was cause to worry. There’d been a pause in communication for five years, so she should have expected it, but it still caused her to worry nonetheless. Simply because he was there didn’t mean things wouldn’t be different, or that he wouldn’t leave again… The fact he waited to visit her until so late proved that fact.<br/><br/>What he asked of her, though, had her pausing. It was so “cloak and dagger” to ask that of her that the frown set in deeper, trying to comprehend what could be so terrible that he’d have to ask that of her.<br/><br/>“…Eidhin, I’ve always listened to you…and I’ve always trusted you. What could be so terrible that you can’t just talk to me about it without asking me to swear to you beforehand?” she asked softly, the confusion evident in her voice. “I thought it was always understood that I’d listen to you no matter what? Have you been away for so long that you’d need ask it of me?”<br/><br/><span style="color: #FF0000">Another sigh and his fingers this time were raked through his hair. Why did this have to be so hard? Because this was not a typical situation, it was not just something one could bring up and expect another to not only understand but believe. <br/><br/>“E…I know that, but this…it’s not the same as telling you about the time I lost my virginity to that girl from the videogame store, or the time I snuck out and took the car for a joy ride. It is….different….” he sighed and looked away for a moment only to mumble under his breath, “Very different…”<br/><br/>Eyes back on her own, a silent plea within their depths. “Just please…promise me?”</span><br/><br/><span style="font-style: italic">What could possibly be so bad?</span>she found herself asking again.<br/><br/>It had to be bad if he couldn’t meet her gaze for any continual amount of time while asking for his plea. Another sigh, another glance away with a mumble she heard as clear as day. Something that he had to tell her was so earth-shattering, and incomprehensible, that he requested she promise him something that she thought was as easy as breathing. That she thought was as understood as a heart’s beat or the blink of an eye.<br/><br/>Slowly, she managed a nod, eyes dropping from his only to reconnect as the nod became more assured. “I promise, Eidhin…I promise…Just, tell me what’s wrong? What happened?”<br/><br/><span style="color: #FF0000">There was no real away around this and no real lead up. So, he bit the bullet and dove right in.<br/><br/>"I'm a werewolf...."</span>