Greykin Valley

| 81 | It Will Always Be Him

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| Jackson |

As Jackson approached the guarded room where Wilson had been put, his heart started beating faster. He felt anxious, dismayed, and a little angry; he didn't know what would come of the conversation he needed to have with his friend, but he hoped that he wouldn't have to cut ties. Despite everything...Wilson was still his friend.

"What do you want?" the man guarding the door asked when Jackson, Tokala, and Damon stopped in front of him.

"Uh...to see Wilson," Jackson answered. "Sebastien told me where to find him."

The man's sights shifted between the three of them but quickly locked on Damon. "Not you."

With an irritated huff, Damon turned to face Jackson. "I'll just be down the hall," he said and kissed his lips.

Jackson smiled and nodded, and as his mate headed back down the hall, he did his best to calm his racing heart. "Can I go in?" he asked the guard.

"Why are you here?" the man questioned Tokala.

"To make sure that Wilson doesn't harm Jackson," the orange-haired Zeta answered.

"Hmph. Make it quick," he said and then pushed the door open.

Jackson nervously fiddled with his fingers, stepping past the guard and into the room.

Wilson, who was sitting cross-legged on the bed with a gloomy, hopeless look on his face, sat up straight the moment he set his eyes on Jackson, and a surprised but wary expression contorted his face.

When the door shut behind him, Jackson flinched, and while he tried to work out what he wanted to say, he gawped across the room at his friend.

"So..." Wilson started, "are you here to tell me to pack my bags...go back to Dawnward?" he asked despondently.

Jackson frowned. "No," he said, moving closer. "Well...I hope not," he corrected, stopping a few feet from the bed.

Wilson scoffed and looked over at the window. "Right. That's why you've got a bodyguard, right?" He turned his head and glared at Jackson. "Afraid I'm gonna attack you or something?"

"No," Jackson said as his thrown thickened. "He's here because Damon's worried for me."

"Damon," Wilson snarled.

Jackson sighed deeply and shook his head. "Look, I wanna talk so we can move past this. I don't want to send you back to Dawnward or wherever; I want you to stay, but only if you calm the hell down!" he exclaimed. "I told you how I feel, and if you can't accept that, then you can't stay here. All this fighting with Damon isn't helping anyone and one of you is gonna end up killing the other."

Wilson went to say something, but he hesitated and glared out the window again.

Unsure whether Wilson was taking him seriously or not, he moved closer to the bed and sat on the edge. "Wilson," he insisted.

His friend slowly set his gaze on him.

"Do you get what I'm saying?"

The muto scoffed. "Yeah. Stop trying to save you from that narcissistic piece of—"

Jackson shot to his feet. "This is what I'm talking about! Damon hasn't done anything to harm or manipulate me, ever! And if you can't see that and get over this stupid hatred that you have for him, then we can't be friends anymore."