Wolf Like Me

Fatin POV (Age 7)

Weeks had passed since the fry incident, and Fatin still didn’t know what to make of Leah.

On television mates always adored one another and were so infatuated that even parting for work felt like a chore. Mates were bonded so completely that they always sought each other’s company- craved it. Truth be told Fatin craved Leah's company. She wanted to sit next to her in class and share her stationary (even the cute fluffy pen she got on the weekend.) She wanted to bring her food and sit by her side. 

Most of all she wanted to hug her. 

Fatin hugged all her friends, but with Leah it was different. Leah had brushed against her finger last week while taking her pen and Fatin had thought about it every day since. 

Mates hugged, her parents always hugged and snuggled up on the couch beside one another. Yet any time she tried to hug Leah; she would go stiff before she even got one arm around her. 

“Fatin, honey, you’ve known each other for less than a month. She may be your mate but you’re still new to each other and Leah is a very quiet young girl.”

“She said she doesn’t like people touching her. She calls it her bubble,” Fatin whined. 

“And Leah has the right to set that boundary. Mate or not she is a person with her own feelings and comfort levels that differ from your own.” 

“But I’m her mate!” Fatin felt the tears welling. 

It was in a sense a rejection, one Rana understood as she sighed and ruffled her daughter’s hair. 

“Give her time. Leah seems like a very solitary person and that will not change overnight. Give her the space she needs but let her know you’re there. Rome wasn’t built in a day, and neither are bonds.” 

“She hates me,” Fatin said. “I feel like she still doesn’t want me as a mate. She barely talks to me and won’t even look me in the eye.” 

Rana nodded, though she knew Leah was far from like the other children at the school. She had met her twice now- briefly. Once in the principal’s office then once when she was running a bake sale. She had been surprised to see Leah there, away from everyone in the corner of the hall, sitting under a table with a book in her hand that turned out to be Tolkien. 

A seven-year-old reading Tolkien.

Rana had been taken with her ever since. When they met in the principal’s office she feared for Fatin, being gay was never easy. Add to that the fact her mate was her polar opposite… Well, Rana had reason to fear for them. 

Over the weeks Leah seemed to bring out a new side in her daughter. The usual cocky alpha who came home mocking people now only talked about things in a positive light. She stopped using the terms ‘nerd’ and ‘weirdo’ and instead opened her eyes to the fact that maybe some people just had different interests. 

On top of that Fatin had been studying more in an attempt to impress the omega with her brain when her usual jokes and charisma didn’t work. Rana had two calls from the principal this week alone congratulating her daughter on her efforts.

Rana just hoped Fatin would have a similar effect on Leah over time. 

Balance. 

The next day Fatin returned to school, determined to get something. Even if it was simply a glance from her mate. 

“We’re studying planets today. I want you to each make a paper mâché planet, and at the end of the week we shall assemble them together!” Miss Miles said, clapping her hand with glee. “The person sitting next to you on your left will be your partner.” 

Leah now sat next to Fatin in all classes they shared, as the teachers hoped doing so would halt the food projectiles issue faced at the beginning of the month. No student needed to lose an eye to a stray carrot. 

Fatin grinned, turning to her.  A group project meant that Leah would talk to her- hopefully. “We have Mars.”

“I can see that,” Leah mumbled, reading the write-up for it. 

“What colours should we use? Pink would be cute.” 

“Mars is not pink,” Leah said, worrying her lip. “It would need to be an orange almost.” 

“But orange is so gross a colour,” Fatin groaned. "It's so ew." 

Leah slipped into herself, chin tucking. “Pink is fine,” she whispered. Her mate pulled a book on planets onto her lap, shrinking further away as she began to read. 

Fatin felt the rejection sharp like a fist to the cheek. “We can make it orange if you want.” 

“Pink is fine,” Leah repeated, her knee bobbing anxiously. 

She ended up mixing the paper mâché on her own because Leah didn’t like the texture, wincing when she felt it gooey on her hands. 

“I can do that,” Fatin offered, handing Leah a towel to wipe her fingers off on. 

Cautiously she watched her mate as she covered the balloon. Leah stared at the thing as if she hated it. Fatin assumed she didn’t like the horrible sounds the balloon made any time her wrist caught it, the rubber screeching like hot tires against tarmac along with everyone else’s. 

“Leah, I hope you’re helping Fatin,” Miss Miles said. 

Leah sat up nodding as she reached for the sloppy paper mix, throat bobbing in disgust. 

As soon as the teacher had turned her back Fatin took it from her, placing it on the balloon and then grabbing a paper towel. 

Leah was holding her grossly covered hands out in front of her, staring at them in horror. 

“Pass me your hands,” Fatin instructed, and surprisingly Leah allowed it. 

Fatin took her hands one at a time, wiping them down with the paper towels and damp cloth that sat on their desk. She made sure to get between each finger, cleaning them as best she could.

“Thank you.” 

“No one has the bathroom pass right now. If you ask to go to the toilet, you can wash them and won’t have to use the gluey taps in here.” Fatin had noted that the sink station was already riddled in the paper and gunk mixture as Kirin O’Conner had thrown balls at it of the stuff.

Leah nodded, walked up to Miss Miles, and then disappeared with her pass. 

“Leah needs to do some of the work. She can’t simply read through tasks.”

“She was reading about the planets,” Fatin justified.

“Yes, and we have reading time for that. Now is not reading time.” 

“She doesn’t like the texture.” 

“What?” 

“The paper goop, she doesn’t like it. Leah can paint our one without my help then she’s done half, but she doesn’t like sticky things.” 

Miss miles agreed as long as Leah was the one to paint their finished product. 

When Leah returned her cardigan was tugged over her hands, but Fatin could feel that she was calmer. As she sat, she looked at Fatin briefly and smiled. Fatin’s heart thudded steadily, and she smiled back. 

“Leah smiled at me today and even let me clean her hands!” Fatin yelled in the car as her mother drove. 

“That’s lovely. As I said, you must be patient.” 

“Miss Miles was angry because Leah didn’t want to touch the paper mâché but I got her to let her paint it instead.” 

Rana frowned. “That’s good you stood up for her. Do I need to have a word with Miss Miles for her?” 

“No,” Fatin said, staring at her console. “We don’t do crafts like that much. Normally it’s just cutting things and Leah’s always fine with that. That paper was so icky though.” 

It’s two weeks later that she gets her hug.

Leah agreed to come over to her house, and Fatin made sure the movie room was ready and that they had popcorn freshly heated. 

However, when they made it there Leah didn’t like the movie room as she thought she would. Fatin now easily knew the signs when Leah was uncomfortable or when she worried. She knew the change in the feel of their bond as well as the visual cues that alerted her, sending Fatin into a protective state. 

When the film came on Fatin paused it less than a minute in, asking Leah if she was okay. 

“I’m fine.” 

Fatin stood. “We should go watch it in the living room instead.” 

So, Fatin moved everything. Rana watched as her daughter walked to and from over and over carrying drinks, popcorn, and a mass of blankets and pillows. 

“Sweetie, why are you up turning the movie room?” Rana asked as she passed for the third time. 

“Leah doesn’t like it. I think it’s too loud maybe, but she won’t say.” 

Smiling, her mother ruffled her hair. “Need any help?” 

“No this is the last of it.” Fatin heaved the last of the blankets onto the sofa. 

She got up the movie again, this time on the smaller screen with Leah tucked up on the sofa. Fatin took a seat beside her, leaving thirty centimeters between them because Leah liked her space. Then she threw a blanket over her as Leah always ran cold. 

With a sigh Leah pulled it up to her chin, feeling far more comfortable as Fatin pressed play this time.

About halfway through the movie, she felt it- Leah gradually moving closer to her. Minute by minute she seemed to gravitate towards her as Fatin felt the butterflies in her stomach growing the closer she got.

Eventually, Leah huffed and then fidgeted, leaning her cheek against Fatin’s shoulder. 

Fatin didn’t want to break Leah’s bubble so she sat stock still even though all her senses were screaming at her to hug her mate. She didn’t dare to breathe too loudly or move an inch.

After another ten minutes, Leah wrapped her arm around her. “This film sucks,” Leah said. “They’re all far too dramatic for it to be realistic.” 

Fatin breathed out a nervous breath. “We can watch something else?” 

“What’s your favourite show?”

It turned out that Leah loved Fatin’s favourite show, which was odd because it seemed like the last thing she would like. Goosebumps was scary yet her mate smiled away. 

Fatin almost didn’t want to break Leah’s bubble that now included her. 

“Fatin, we need to drop Leah home for her tea.” 

Fatin could have yelled because Leah immediately sat up and parted from their hug.

“She hugged me!” Fatin bounced in her seat on the way home. “Did you see? Leah likes me. She doesn't hate me!” 

Rana stifled a laugh, shaking her head. “I saw. No kissing until you’re forty though. Do you hear me?” 

“Yes Mum,” Fatin groaned, heat rising to her cheeks. “That’s super gross anyway.” 

“It’s very gross,” Rana agreed. “Best wait until you’re fifty.” 

Fatin wanted to shrivel up and die at the talk of such things with her mother. Kissing was disgusting, even when she was old, she wouldn’t want that. Hugs, however? Fatin hoped Leah would still be hugging her when they were elderly. 

She gets her first proper hug where she can wrap her arms around Leah a month after that. 

It’s unintentional, and Fatin isn’t sure why she didn’t even think about it. 

“I’m sorry that you have to come with me to my cello rehearsal. I can ask the teacher to call your mum if you want. I forgot I had it.” 

Fatin hated that she had booked Leah over on a day when she wouldn’t even get home for another hour. 

“It’s fine. I have my book.” 

The teacher agreed to let Leah join them, after all she was far from a disturbance. Her mate sat in the corner quietly as Fatin and the other string instrument players rehearsed their piece. 

She was so set on getting it right and on not missing a note, that she didn’t even realise that Leah had put her book down and instead was watching the class intently. 

The book was lost the moment Fatin’s fingers found the strings, and Fatin was so obsessed with landing the piece finally that she didn’t note the change in their bond either. The way Leah felt far calmer through it than before. 

After everyone had left it was just Leah and Fatin who remained.

Fatin fought to get her beast of a cello into its case. As soon as she did, she looked up. Leah stood there, her chinks pink as she walked forward and wrapped her arms around Fatin. 

No explanation was offered, but Fatin finally felt the difference in their bond as her own arms wrapped tightly around Leah. 

“Did you want to watch the movie still?” 

Leah blushed further, chin dropping. “Could you play for a bit when we get to yours? I like the sound.” 

Fatin’s eyes widened but she agreed, letting Leah give her one more hug before they left.