Say When

Chapter 1:

I woke up in the forest alone. No one was around. I was grateful that no one could see my bare body. The bruises that were scattered along my arms and legs were purpling some were even worse. Red slashes on my forearms were too much for my eyes to bear to look at. Memories flashed across my mind and I gasped at the final one.

I heard a low growl behind me. I froze in place when I saw a large wolf standing over an unconscious man. That man… My first instinct was to run away, but out of the corner of my eye I could see movement. There were more wolves. I did all I could and just dropped to my knees and pulled myself into a fetal position. With them around I felt so self-conscious about my nakedness. One of them neared me and I held my breath—trying to calm my nerves down in the process—and hoped that it wouldn't harm me. It sniffed me and whimpered. I looked up at it and, much to my surprise, all my fears towards the wolf washed away. But the fear of the man laying only a few feet away from me reinstated that terror I felt only a few moments ago. My eyes flickered unconsciously towards the tree where I was thrown against and there I saw my sweater and shorts. I quickly made my way towards them, slipped on my sweater first and then my shorts and tried running away.

Though fast as I may have thought I was going, the wolves were gaining on me. I could feel the earth under the pads of my feet and it was excruciatingly painful, but I had to leave that place.

"Wait!" I heard a male voice yell from behind me.

My body obeyed it. That voice was one that I knew I would walk through fire and ice for. My breathing was trying to steady itself and so was my heart. A hand gently touched my shoulder and turned me to face them. I looked up and looked into the most beautiful eyes I had ever seen. The boy's brown almond shaped eyes met with my own and I choked back a sob. His face rippled with a suddenly pain I couldn't understand, but it still hurt me to see him that way. He wrapped his bare russet arms around me and pulled me into his toned chest. I wrapped my arms around his waist and let out a sharp sob.

"I'm sorry." Was all he could whisper in my ear and I was glad that he didn't say that it was going to be okay.

It wasn't going to be okay. I had the most important thing taken away from me and I wouldn't ever get it back. It wasn't ever going to be okay.

I cried my eyes out and his burning skin evaporated my tears. His warmth was enough to burn away the disgusting feeling I felt along my skin. He held me through the whole thing. This stranger was comforting me, his words were like water quenching my thirst after walking through the desert for millions of years, his arms were a fortress that would have guarded me from any danger that may have threatened me and his heart beat against my ear was the strength of the earth.

"Seth!" His head snapped up, one of his hands held my head against his chest in a protective manner.

"Seth, tell us what happened here," A smooth honey-like voice asked him.

"What's happened to her?" Another gentle caramel female voice asked him.

"She was..." I listened as he struggled with the word as if it hurt him too, "Well..."

"Don't worry Seth," A velvety voice said, "I know."

Seth exhaled in relief, "Thanks Edward."

There was a tiny bit of wind behind me or at least that's what I was hearing. Maybe it was a whisper? I didn't know my mind was spinning in so many different directions.

"Oh my," The caramel voice sounded horrified.

"We need to get her to the hospital Seth," The velvety voice, Edward, suggested.

"Okay," Seth swept my off my feet and carried me in his arms.

My fingers touched his face and he smiled a weak smile at me. I wondered why it hurt me so much to see him this sad. Why did I feel this strong connection to him? This sort of… pull as if he were the only one for me. Why would I be feeling like this towards someone I hadn't even met formally? Strange...

A silver Volvo pulled up once we got to the edge of the road and Seth sat me down in the backseat and buckled me in. I would have done it myself, but it seemed like he wouldn't let me do anything that strained my body, even something as simple as buckling myself into a car. He was a little overprotective as far as I could tell in these past ten minutes. The car ride passed by very fast. I was dozing off so I couldn't really tell if it was the car that was speeding or if it was my sleepiness. Hmm... I guess I wouldn't ever really know.

"Hey," Seth whispered against my temple, "Let's get you out."

I only nodded, exhaustion and sleep was taking over my body. He carried me out of the car and to the emergency room where I was immediately admitted. I wondered how I was going to pay for this later. The process went by very fast: the swabbing and the questioning. Officer Swan pulled every detail I could remember out of my mouth. He spoke with Seth as well, but for my own sanity Seth spoke with him in a different room.

"Nadia Belmonte?" My head snapped up and I saw a honey blonde haired man, he was breath-taking.

"Yes?" My voice was so hoarse at the moment.

"I'm Doctor Cullen," He smiled gently down at me, "How are you feeling?"

I lowered my eyes and they stayed on my cut olive colored thighs, "Not so good, I feel empty. My body is sore and raw and everything just hurts."

"Your files say that you're from Seattle," His forehead stayed smooth as his worried eyes looked down at me, "He brought you from all the way there?"

"He… lured me. I thought that he was just like any of the other guys at school, but I was wrong. He told me too meet him at his dorm room and I did, but I didn't think that he would… drug me. When I woke up all I could see was lush green and then him. I started struggling and—"I gestured to my arms and legs, "He obviously didn't like that. He knocked me out again and when I woke up Seth was there."

"Have you called your parents?"

"If heaven had a number I would," I sighed, "They've been gone for a while so had I disappeared no one would have noticed."

"You're lucky that Seth came when he did," Doctor Cullen smiled again.

I smiled with him this time, it was genuine. Seth was the reason I was here, had he not been there who knows what would have happened to me.

"I am," I said.

"How are you?" Seth walked in and stood by my side taking my hand in his.

"Same," I shrugged.

The pained look hadn't left his face since we got to the hospital. I was beginning to hate that look on him. Doctor Cullen didn't miss the small pout I had on my face as Seth and I looked at each other, our brown eyes focusing on each other.

"You're free to go now if you want Nadia," He said, "But I'm a bit hesitant to let you go if you don't have a place to stay for the night."

"She can stay at my house," Seth volunteered.

"What about your mom?" I instantly asked him.

He'd told me about his family in the little time we had in between the E.R. lobby and the E.R. He had an older sister named Leah and his mom's name was Sue. His dad had passed away four years ago of a heart attack, Seth was only 14 years old when this happened. My heart broke when I heard of it, but the way he spoke of his father was what pieced it back together. His love was unwavering and he held him in such high regard.

"Already taken care of," He smiled down at me, "She said that you could sleep in Leah's room since she left for college."

"How did you manage to get her to agree to me staying?" I realized that we were talking to as if we'd known each other forever.

"She just sort of agreed when I used a couple of words here and there," He shrugged.

"You had better not have cursed at her," I took it the other way.

"Don't worry I didn't use any of those words," He rolled his eyes at me, "Do you think I'd be alive right now if I had? She would have sped over here and ripped me to shreds!"

I laughed at this. The heaviness in my stomach was leaving as his personality began to shine through.

NOTE: I do not own any of the Twilight saga characters, no matter how much I would love to own Seth Clearwater3