The months leading up to June were as usual. With each day that passed, Finn could feel himself feeling better. It was only a slight change, but it was a change all the same. Sometimes the change went the other way, things got worse. These days were horrible. Sometimes those days lasted weeks.

Not everything was as usual though. He had discovered something about himself that alarmed him immensely. He had somehow became a werewolf.

It had all started when he kept waking up alone in empty fields. Then he started remembering the nights before and how he got there. But he wasn’t himself in his memories. It was like he was some primal creature. Then he realised it was always a full moon on these occasions. Still, he had had doubts. Werewolves are made up by adults to scare little kids, they aren’t anything real. But when he started waking up with scratches and bites that could only have been done by a wolf, he finally had to accept it.

He hated it. He woke up next to a dead sheep twice, absolutely covered in blood. It was horrible. Finn could only thank God that he had never killed a person. He would hate himself forever if he did.

It was now the summer holidays again. Finn was to be fifteen in a month. He still was friends with Daisy, he still stayed home most of the time, he still didn’t go camping. He wondered how his life could have changed so much in only a year. This time last year he had been with Shaun. Now he was with Daisy, someone they both used to dislike for her relationship to Jack.

“A pretty girl, man!” A passing teen that Finn didn't recognize on the street cheered. The two of them were out on a walk around the town to waste one of the many long summer days.

"Shut up, Danny!" Daisy called after him.

"Who's that?" Finn asked when they were out of earshot.

"Danny Owens, just some guy from the year above." She frowned. "He's super annoying."

“Oh, right.” He nodded and shrugged.

The walk was enjoyable. The two had grown close to each other, Daisy had fallen in love with Finn, though would never tell him. Finn didn’t feel the same about her, that she was sure about, but she could enjoy the imagination for a little longer.

“Your hair is nice by the way.” Finn smiled at her as they walked.

“Oh, thanks.” She blushed as she began to fiddle with the few strands by her face. “Nothing really.”

“I like the plaits.” He flicked one over her shoulder. “You should do them more often. They suit you.”

“Stop it!” She laughed. “Anyway,” She didn’t want to go too far into her hope, “How have you been this weekend?”

“I’ve been good.” Finn nodded contentedly. “You?”

“Same.” She agreed. “What did you do?”

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“I hung out at home mostly. Went down to the cemetery.” He had told her everything about Shaun. Well, most things about him. Some things just felt private still, like their late night conversations and his family life. But other than that, she knew it all. And she was so good about it all. She listened and she seemed like she would have loved Shaun, had they been friends then. Finn adored that about her.

“That’s nice.” She hummed. “How was your visit?”

“Good. The people a few headstones over wanted to have a conversation until they saw which grave I was at and knew my name.” He frowned.

“People still think you did it?” She raised her eyebrows.

“Apparently.” He rolled his eyes. “I can understand why, I guess. I was the only one there with him, I could do whatever I wanted. But they always forget that I didn’t want to hurt him. And it would have been impossible for me to hurt him to that extent. He didn’t have a face.” Finn shuddered when he remembered that night. His memories weren’t as sharp as they used to be, but they were still painful.

“That sucks.”

“Yeah.”

They walked on in silence for a little longer. It was a different kind of silence than Finn’s old walks with Shaun. It wasn’t quite as comfortable. It wasn’t terrible though. He liked his time with her.

“It’s your birthday soon, isn’t it?” She asked.

“Yeah, in a week.” He nodded.

“Okay, thought so. I got you this.” She pulled a small wrapped box out of her purse. Finn began to laugh.

“Daisy! You didn’t have to!” He took it happily. “Thank you so much.” Finn pulled her into a hug, which she was delighted by. When they came apart, Finn opened the wrapping carefully.

In the box was a watch, not incredibly expensive, but Finn had heard about it enough to know it wasn’t cheap. He put it on immediately.

“What do you think?” Daisy asked shyly.

“I love it!” Hee hugged her once more. “You really shouldn’t have, it’s too much!”

“It’s nothing really…” She blushed. “I wanted to get you something nice.”

“It’s definitely nice. Thank you so much.”

Eventually they reached the field that they normally took to on their journeys out in town. Here they sat down in the grass and did nothing of any importance.

“I’m going to miss you so much.” Daisy said sadly.

“I know.” Finn instantly knew she was talking about when he was going to move house. “I’ll miss you too.”

“We’ll have to call sometime, yeah? Meet up in the summers.”

“Yeah, totally.” He agreed eagerly, meaning it entirely.

Soon it was time to go home, the stars were starting to come out. Finn sighed as he looked up. It was a crescent moon. He almost pointed it out until he remembered his company and stopped. Daisy wouldn’t be interested in his dumb space nerd stuff.

“Goodnight Daisy, see you at school.” He gave her yet another hug when he dropped her off at her door.

She reciprocated the hug and waved him off as he left.

When he could no longer be seen from her porch, she went back inside and up to her bedroom. There, she could be alone with her thoughts. And her diary. In it she wrote about her night. She wrote about her feelings for Finn. She wrote about how she wished he loved her back. And it felt damn good to write it down. She couldn’t tell anyone, no one cared about her stupid little thoughts. No one that she would talk to anyway. Other than Finn, but she couldn't tell him that she had a crush on him.

Finn was walking home by streetlamp with a smile on his face. He kept looking down at his new watch and thinking about Daisy. He really couldn’t have asked for a better friend to come after Shaun. Then he felt guilty for thinking such a thing. Was he replacing Shaun? No. No one could replace Shaun. But he was still trying. He didn’t mean to but he was. And he hated himself for it.