She didn't like it. Not one bit. The Rye was too quiet and she wasn't sure where she stood with the burly duo. Reyes had ran off after she confronted him and Askan ran off after him. The Rye second was left confused and worried she had reacted too irritablely. Where was her compassion and understanding? Did she really have to snap at him for having just a simple attitude towards her? Perhaps, he was mistaken or just misunderstood something. But, he didn't give her a reason why he was so angry. So how was she supposed to fix it?

With her mind swirling with confusion and worried thoughts, she thought back to her night with Laike. That night was so simple. There were no worries. She had been happy and she was sure Laike enjoyed their time together. Or she was really bad at reading others. So instead of wallowing inside the Rye about fixing things between her packmates, she escaped the borders that bound her and retreated to wherever her paws took her. The woman thought about traveling the few days to see Laike, but she didn't tell anyone and didn't think it was a good idea to travel the few days to him without a word to her alphas. Instead, she escaped to the lake where she discovered she was in the Lore.

As she came upon the lake, her mismatched eyes gazed out across the waters surface, admiring the beauty of the sun reflecting off the lake. The tawny woman thought she was alone until she heard noise to the side of her. To her pure luck, there stood Laike in the shallows, growling and snapping at the water. Mismatched eyes lighting up, she crept up towards him though she was sure if he was paying attention he would of heard her. Nonetheless, she prowled closer to him until she was just a few lengths behind him. "Fancy seeing you here, handsome."

Taking a step backward at the sight of the raised hair on his back, she feared she shouldn't of snuck up on him like she recklessly did. Did she interrupt something? With no words from his parted jaw, just a subtle fiery stare looking back at her, she took a hesitant step forward which seemed to knock him out the trance. Instead of a biting tone that she almost expected, his smooth, deep baritone was calm and inviting. Mimicking his smile, she approached him then as he asked what brought her out here as he too approached her, exiting the shallow waters of the lake. Her smile faltered for only a second before masking her true feelings that wallowed inside her mind. "I was sitting here waiting for another stranger to not give my name to again until the second date." 

Teasing came easy between the two of them and so far that was the basis of their relationship. Sure, they were serious to the point of telling each other where they lived and names of course (though she made him wait until their second meeting before she reciprocated). The basics really - the essentials. So when his brows creased and his hot gaze lingered on her with a concerned look, she began to fidget and glanced away from his stare that seemed to be make the skin beneath her tawny fur hot. Her ginger ears twitched back for a moment before returning forward as her tail fidgeted behind her. If she was trying to hide the fact that something was indeed bothering her, she was failing horribly if Laike had keen enough eyes he would be able to see that. However, she didn't care if she was failing horribly, she truly didn't notice her fidgeting. Instead, she put on a smile like she always did when something was wrong. 

"Of course, I'm fine." As if she was reassuring herself that there was nothing to worry about - that there wasn't a problem back home. Whenever anything was bothering her, she would deal with it on her own. She'd smile and laugh through it until she resolved her problems or they disappeared on their own. That was the way she was. It was the way she dealt with everything. There was nothing a smile couldn't solve or mask. "I'm lucky to spend my almost birthday with you," she muttered with a grin. Tomorrow was going to be her third birthday, the first one she wasn't going to be able to spend with her dear mother. In a week, it would mark a year since her mother's death. It was a day, she intended to spend with only herself. She wasn't ready to open up about that to anyone, not Laike or even anyone in the Rye. 

"What is a busy man like you doing out in these parts? Little far from home too, huh?" She teased lightly, trying to direct the subject elsewhere. Though, she wasn't sure if her pale companion would take the bait.

Chuckling lightly, the thought had never even crossed her mind to give up on Laike. The thought of not seeing him again saddened her and she didn't even want to imagine that ever happening. Not now. Not when she needed someone to distract and comfort her from the problems worrying her mind and heart. The worrywart hoped those thoughts never crossed his mind either. Perhaps if he intended to give up on her, he would have done so after their first meeting when she played the hard to get card. She wouldn't wonder too much why if he did give up and ignore her. But she was thankful though, he wasn't running away at her surprising appearance. Yet at least.

As she fidgeted and tried to ignore the feelings threatening to burst from her, her bicolored gaze rose to meet his burning eyes as he took tentative steps closer to her. Her breath silently caught in her chest as he stopped and stood inches from her, his hot breath brushing through the ends of her tawny guard hairs that rested on her pale cheeks. Her muzzle just had to reach out a few inches to touch his and the urge to was so prevalent and strong it threatened to rock all her walls down. She yearned for his touch, to feel the warm skin beneath his silver cheek. She yearned to be comforted and told everything was going to be alright, that she shouldn't worry about anything that was plaguing her soul. But, she fought herself again and kept herself from reaching out for his help. 

Her gaze never wavered from his though as she fought her internal civil war, it was steady unlike her previous fidgeting. He whispered then, his words brushing across her cheeks again as her auburn ears sunk back against her delicate skull for a moment. Was all this worth bottling up? Was it worth shutting him out and everyone else out? Was it that big of a deal? It should just be petty pack disagreement stuff. It wasn't life or death, but to Adelayde, it was still much more. She was confused and worried that she had hurt her relationship with everyone in the Rye for acting so irrationally. She feared she crossed a line that she didn't know existed. The Rye beta had simply reacted without a second thought as to who's feelings were being hurt. Granted, Reyes hasn't been the most model status packmate with his fight with Icicle and seeming grumpy attitude, though perhaps now the albino male had it coming as he took off soon after anyway. But still, she felt like she was in the complete wrong and needed to fix everything or else it was all going to be ruined. The close knit pack she thought she found who accepted her for who she was, she thought she was on board to destroy it all. 

Yes, perhaps she was being too dramatic, but her past explains quite well why she fears such things happening again. She had lost everyone she loved in her birth pack over a petty disagreement. And she was scared it was happening now in the Rye. The Snow woman needed comfort, but she never knew how to accept it. She always dealt with her problems on her own. In her mind just then, her cream muzzle reached out then for his touch, for his comfort, for his understanding that perhaps she wasn't the most simple being in the world, but her body did not move an inch. She was complicated. She had twists and turns, caves and mountains, oceans and puddles. She wasn't as simple as she tried to be. No matter how much she tried to tell herself. 

"You are no stick in the mud." She retorted after a few moments as a smile slipped easily onto her lips, though it was a meager one at best. "And even if you were, this is better than spending it alone." Ade didn't want to be alone anymore. Being alone was hard most of the time. Though, she knew she had her alphas and she didn't particularly knew where she stood with Askan and Reyes, she at least had someone. But they could never be just her someone. And for now, unless Laike objected, he was going to be her someone for today.

Pausing then, she looked at him as he shrugged off her question. "Would you be truthful and tell me if I was in the wrong for something I did?" If he was willing to listen, tonight she was willing to open the bottle.

What was wrong with her? Laike was offering comfort, understanding, and his protection and she decided to be hesitant. What was she so afraid of? The Snow girl longed for someone to be there just for her. Now here he was, waiting with open arms to accept her and be the one person she needed. But instead, she choked. Was she honestly scared of the commitment, if thats what this was? It certainly was a step towards it, but wasn't that what she wanted? To be accepted and loved for who she was. She was conflicted as ever. The yearning for freedom clashed with the need for commitment and comfort.

Her internal civil war raged on as the silence fell over the pair. As her mask never faltered, neither did his. Neither of them were budging. They were both solid walls though the gate was opened only on his side. Hers, still closed though her hands were resting hesitant on the door handle. All she needed was a push. She needed a tipping point to where she just needed to dive straight in without looking back. But was there one in sight? Was she going to make him shut the door to her forever? 

His baritone words brushed against her skin again, leaving behind a trail of hot, tingling skin that swept down her back. Perhaps if she had told someone in Wild Rye, they may of spent the day with her, but instead as typical Adelayde, she kept it to herself. Anyway, she thought she needed to get away from the tension she thought she felt there - whether it was felt by the others was a different story. 

Fiery eyes clashed with blue-green and again, Laike never wavered. He never seemed to faltered, no matter what she threw at him. He was strong and sturdy, a castle along the shore of an angry sea. He never shook. No matter how strong the white caps were that threw themselves against him. It was then that she finally unfroze. With his words comforting her confused mind, she finally reached out to close the distance between them. She was finally accepting him. The guarded woman seemed to melt into his touch, her cheek running against his, her nose burrowing into the fur of his nape. Her bicolored eyes closed as she leaned further into his embrace. She didn't realize how much she needed this. She didn't realize how alone she truly felt, but this - this was not simple anymore. They weren't as simple as she thought they were together. There was more to them now. What exactly that was, she wasn't sure.

As she continued to embrace him, the words began to spill out. "I think I screwed up. Like big time, maybe, I don't really know-- see thats the thing, I have no idea what I did." She whined, confused and worried, she then took a step back, but her gaze didn't reach back up to his. "I was simply comforting Askan, who needed something to get him though his own worries of the Rye loosing members. I hugged him and then his friend Reyes, who ever since he joined has been sealed to the hip of Askan, came from behind us all angry and told me to 'Back off' like I wasn't supposed to touch him. I was upset too about having so many desert us, so I snapped at him not wanting to deal with it." Her gaze lifted off the lake behind him back to his fiery gaze that she felt on her face the whole time. "You should of seen the look on his face, he was so hurt. I don't understand, and I don't know what to do to fix it. Why was he so upset?" It as the question of the month that she seemed to be too oblivious to see the answer to.