Chapter 220

Dale flinches at the venom in his tone. "I'm sorry, I don't have my glasses with me today." He pulls out of his ass.

Dream calms down visibly at this. "Oh." Maybe he's not the one and he's just here blowing off his top at a stranger. "I'm sorry, I thought you were someone else." 

Dale goes quiet, confused. Should he correct the mistake and get in trouble or should he just go with it?

He glances down to see Jasmine furiously patting down his dusty pants with unnecessary force and he gulps, the smaller Werewolf was really scary.

"What flower is that?" Dream blurts out, curious. 

A part of him wants to make a full one-eighty degree turn to go grab his things and run home but it doesn't feel right to just go.

"Huh?" Dale murmurs, whiplashed by the question.

"Your tattoo, it doesn't look ugly, what kind of flower is it?"

Dale's brain flat lines, remembering for the first time since he shifted back that he had a very suspicious tattoo on his upper body. "It's a… um…" - crap! Getting it had seemed like the best choice of his life but now that he's standing in front of Jasmine who is staring up at him with his newest favorite color combination, he's thinking maybe it wasn't such a grand idea.

"It's a jasmine flower." He finally blurts out.

Dream frowns but pays it no mind, he didn't care if hot Alphas decided to walk around with dainty tattoos - did he just say hot? Maybe the shining sun was killing off his brain cells.

"Uh, what's your name? We might as well be civil towards each other." He says importantly, nose turned up. "Even though you're mostly a babarian who chases down people in the woods."

"I'm sorry about that." Dale apologizes solemnly.

"Hmmph, apology accepted, now what's your name? I'm Dream."

Dale's mouth falls open. "Dream? Hayden's friend Dream?"

"How do you know Hayden?" Dream immediately rounds on him, fiery blue-grey eyes narrowed suspiciously.

"We're childhood friends, I'm Dale." He explains quickly when Dream takes a threatening step forward.

He stops, disapproval on his face. "Oh."

He had heard Hayden talking about his friend Dale, sometimes. "Fine, goodbye and good riddance." He mutters tightly, stomping off into the woods in the direction of the creek.

Perhaps today was a very bad for a creekside picnic, he still had to get his favorite picnic basket though and his shirt, yes his shirt, he couldn't walk back through the woods without it.

He stops when something alerts his attention. "Why are you following me?" He demands in confusion, glaring down at the annoying Alpha, it just made it all the more annoying that he looked so striking - he means, favoritism much? Why did Alphas have to look so good? Wasn't it enough that they were Alphas?

Dale freezes up, unsure himself of why he was following the captivating Werewolf, the last of his brain cells died when Dream shifted in front of him, he wasn't claiming to be sensible at the moment.

"I shouldn't?" He asks haltingly, an eyebrow up.

Dream gives him a look full of disdain, managing to glare him down although Dale could probably easily pick him up with one hand. "Of course, what are you? Retarded?" He demands, still peeved that his wolf had been so quick to roll around for a random Werewolf that wasn't even his Alpha.

"Okay." Dale agrees simply.

"Good." Dream hmphs, continuing his journey.

He nearly trips when Dale just keeps following him like an oversized puppy. "Don't you have somewhere else to be?" He sighs in exasperation, wondering how he was going to get rid of him.

Dale shrugs, he did have something to do but suddenly none of them seemed important or fascinating enough to rival just following Dream around so he was going with that.

"Not really."

Dream decides to not care, if the weird guy wanted to follow him around then that was fine by him, it not like he would let him into his house anyway.

He stops when he gets to his destination, pulling on his shirt and packing up his pinic basket meticulously while Dale just watches him like he was the only thing he could see.

Dream tries even harder to ignore him was this what his mom was trying to avoid by making him hide his status all the time because if it was he felt sorry for everytime he had ever gotten angry at her.

"Do you mind if I buy you lunch?" Dale blurts out with one of his recently restarted braincells. "As an apology for accosting you?" He asks nervously, he's usually sleeker than this but although Dream looks soft like a doll, he was very terrified of him.

Dream pauses his actions at this, glancing up at him with shock which he quickly covers up. "You'll take me to Paper District?" He asks suddenly, an idea hitting him.

He liked that colorful part of town but his mom would never let him go there.

Dale blinks, a bit put off by this weird specific. "If you want that then yes."

Dream shrugs, who was he to turn down free food? Besides the weird idiot already knew about his status and was willing to keep it a secret.

He might as well befriend him to keep an eye on his precious secret that was now privy to the other Werewolf.

"Sure, I live beside Renee, pick me up in half an hour or the deal is off." He says bluntly, picking up his basket and promptly walking away.

Dale stands frozen for a couple precious seconds, maybe longer, did he just get a date with Jasmine?

Maybe it's all a daydream and he'll wake up to find himself at his table where he had fallen asleep on and his mom is hovering over him with a new suit she had ordered for his date.

Pinching himself is a bit silly so he just makes his way over to the stream of water and promptly splashes himself over the face with the cool refreshing water.

He blinks after this and the scenario doesn't change, he takes a deep breath and the intoxicating combination of Jasmines and honey is still thick in the air that he can taste it.

It hits him then that he just has thirty minutes to get to Hayden's bookstore where his car is to drive back and pick up Dream, this thought is enough to get him moving, easily shifting mid movement and running through the forest in wolf form.

He wouldn't put it past Jasmine to throw a pan at his head if he came late saying something like. "Get the fuck away from my house, the deal is off."

That line for some reason makes him crack up and he nearly bashes his head in on a tree trunk in his haste to get into his shirt.

He power walks the rest of the way back, grateful to find out that his mom hadn't ambushed Hayden yet because his car is parked outside his bookstore.

On a spur of the moment he glances at the flower shop at the end of the street and briefly ponders buying, it didn't occur to him at that moment that just maybe Dream didn't think it was a date - which it wasn't, it was apology food - but Dale isn't thinking straight, he's high on the scent of honeyed flowers so he locks up his car again and jogs down the street.

For some insane reason he asks for jasmines and the sweet florist gives him a delicate bundle of the pale white flowers.

Too soon, he's pulling up on Hayden's old street, a bunch of flowers sitting on the passenger seat but he's already come this far with them and they're too pretty to throw out.

He wasn't keeping track of the time but he's very sure he's not late when he parks in front of what has to be Jasmine's house.

He steps out of the car and jogs across the lawn, flowers in hand like the main character of an angsty romance movie.

He rings the bell respectfully and wait, flowers held nervously in front of him.

Dream's footsteps make their debut on the other side of the door and the rest of his brain cells get active.

"What the fuck? I brought flowers? Am I crazy?" He whispers furiously to himself in a panic when the footsteps get louder. "He's going to kick me in the balls." He croaks out, resigned to his fate when the door swings open and Dream gets a face full of flowers that smell an awful lot like himself.

"What the fuck is this?" He demands in shock, eyes going cross eyed as he glares at the delicate flowers.

Dale gulps, going deathly quiet.

Dream plucks the flowers from his shaky hand and proceeds to place the entire bunch on Dale's head. "There, you look pretty, like a 'Miss'." He says savagely brushing past him. "This isn't a date, crazy person, this is me getting a proper apology by being bought food, which is the best way to apologize by the way, now come over here, I don't have all day."