Warning: As per usual, this will most likely have triggering scenarios. Read at your own discretion.

Disclaimer: I do not own Until Dawn

CHAPTER ONE

"Mm…" She rolled to her side and smiled when her eyes set on the peacefully sleeping man beside her. She brushed her fingers down the side of his cheek and kissed him. He didn't even stir.

He was such a heavy sleeper.

Clara wiggled closer until she was tucked under his chin. He smelled nice – none of that sweat and motor oil that he always end up with at the end of the day.

He groaned and nuzzled the top of her head, wrapping his arms tighter around her waist. "Clara…?"

"Good morning, handsome," she whispered with a smile.

Josh mumbled something incoherent before falling silent once more.

She chuckled and closed her eyes.

Since getting off the mountain and purchasing the rather luxurious house, she never wanted to take anything for granted. At any given time, this could all be ripped away from her. She could lose everything. She could lose Josh.

Just as she was being lulled back to sleep by his deep, even breathing, she felt a bit of sickness flush through her. She frantically pried away from his arms and rushed to the bathroom. Her stomach churned painfully as she coughed up everything.

She laid her forehead against the edge of the cold, porcelain seat. What was wrong with her?

"Clara, you okay?" Josh was groggily rubbing his eyes and draped sleepily atop of her.

She moaned and tried to push him off, but he was clinging like a monkey. "Josh, get off…"

"No." He held on tighter and promptly began to fall asleep on her. Literally on her.

Clara quickly reached over to flush the toilet. She shifted so that his warm body was more comfortably positioned around her. Something about him had always made her feel better. She smiled and ran her fingers through his thick, dark hair.

Suddenly, she was swept up and bouncing in his arms. Another wave of nausea hit her. "Josh!" she shrieked before she was thrown on to the bed.

"That's my name, beautiful." He left a trail of butterfly kisses down her neck. "You know, we have a couple of hours before your appointment." He grinned at her. "I know a few things we could do in the mean time."

Despite just emptying her stomach, she laughed before pushing him off. "Not today, lover boy." She placed a kiss on his lips. "My first visitation with Morrison. He wanted some extra time for a new set of paperwork. Apparently, the ones from Dr. Hill weren't 'relevant' anymore." She was annoyed that the new shrink was basically going to dismiss everything that Dr. Hill had done for her. What did he even know? All Morrison had done was read a few pages of her profile and now he thought he could help her.

"Do you need me to come with?" He kissed her shoulder as she changed.

She shook her head. "I'll be alright. Go deal with your… stuff." It was still difficult for her to even think of his family. There was just far too much bad connotations with them.

Josh frowned at her down expression. "I can always tell them – "

"No!" she loudly cut him off before trying to reel her emotions back in. "Just go, okay?"

He looked hurt as he continued to watch her with wide, round eyes. It was no secret how much she hated his parents and for them to want to see him right on this day when she needed him must've stung more than usual. "Clara…"

"I'm sorry, but I can do this," she told him. "I'm a big girl." She twirled around in his arms and pulled him closer for a kiss. "Besides, if I need you, I can always call, right? There are actual cell towers here, you know?"

Despite what she told him, she was nervous about the session and wanted nothing more than for him to be with her, but she had to do this alone.

When she walked into the office, she could feel the judging eyes on her. The receptionist was middle-aged with a sneer on her face. The two people sitting in the lobby were whispering quietly to themselves while sending looks her way. None of them were particularly discreet.

Clara quietly took the clipboard from the receptionist and found a seat in a corner, away from the leering eyes.

Question one: Her name – first and family.

Question two: Her birthday – day, month, year.

Question three: Her sex – male or female.

Question four: Her address.

She put the clipboard down. How were these questions going to help her? This was everything that Dr. Hill probably already gave them. Why were these people wasting her time?

With a deep breath, she continued. Her writing slowly became illegible scribbles.

"Josh, I have a question… Why were there only bones left of the Stranger's body?"

"Ms. Rose? Dr. Morrison will see you, now." The receptionist extended her hand for the form, which Clara promptly handed over. "Right this way." The heels clacked loudly on the well-polished floor. The sound was like a hammer pounding in Clara's head.

The door to the doctor's office was already opened. She walked in and looked at the man who was frantically writing. He was much younger than Dr. Hill. His brown hair was still free of any signs of age. He must've been in his mid-thirties.

By the time she was done scrutinising him, he had stopped writing to look patiently back at her. "Please, take a seat." His voice was a low rumble. It was unpleasant to her ears. "May I call you Clara?"

"That's fine." How he addressed her really didn't matter.

"Now, I know this will be hard, but I want to skip all the introductions and start with what happened at Blackwood Pines, is that okay?" He looked at her like a reporter about to get the meat of his article. It was as if he was going to interrogate her. She didn't need someone like that in her life. She didn't need this imposter of a shrink who was making no effort to even feign consideration.

Like the cop, he wasn't going to believe her, either. Morrison would probably get her committed. She couldn't imagine being left with only her thoughts and without Josh.

"Clara?" He looked expectantly at her.

"There's nothing I have to say to you regarding the matter," she told him.

Morrison leaned back with a frown on his face. "I've spoken to your friends. They had some interesting stories to tell. A couple described you in a way that leads me to believe you had a psychotic breakdown."

Her face darkened.

He immediately jotted down notes. "Are you currently taking any medication?"

She rolled the bottle of pills in her pocket before deftly placing it on the table. It was the anti-depressants that she brought to the lodge.

Morrison looked at it quickly before setting it back down. "Did you know that these are expired?"

She shrugged. "I searched online and people said it's alright to take them. I don't exactly have a lot of money to fling away when I have a perfectly good batch."

"You shouldn't believe everything you read on the internet," he chastised. "These anti-depressants will lose effectiveness over time." He leaned back. "I want you to have an analysis done. I want to know what is appropriate for you. You'll probably have to switch medications."

She scowled at his words, but didn't refute them. It was probably for the best, especially since she was staying with Josh. It'd be devastating if she lost control, again. She was too emotionally invested in him, now.

He quickly scribbled down a prescription for her and informed her of the pharmacy just downstairs to the right of the entrance. "I've written just a couple of medication that you had been using for now. We'll end it here for today. I want to see you again next week."

Clara was relieved to finally be outside. The breeze in her face was a distraction that she definitely needed. She really wasn't looking forward to being diagnosed, again. Rather, she was afraid to hear what the good doctor had to say.

She took her phone out and contemplated calling Josh, but she didn't want anything to do with his family or riling them up. Eventually, she opted to take a walk at a nearby park. Not a lot of people were out despite the clear weather. It was far too cold.

Spotting an unoccupied swing set, she sat down, gently pushing off with her feet. It had been a very long time since she had been on something like this. In fact, she couldn't quite recall the last time she was at a park like this.

She didn't know how long she had been there, watching the occasional dog walker go by, but a sudden shadow looming over her made her stop the swaying and look up to a worried face.

"Clara!" he panted, beads of sweat trailing down the sides of his face. "Why didn't you answer your phone? I've been looking everywhere for you!"

She gave him a bewildered look before pulling out her phone. The screen remained black when she pressed on a button. "Sorry, it's out of battery."

He sighed and plopped down on to the swing beside her. "How did it go with the doc?"

"I'm going to have to go back to see him next week." She looked down at the gravel. A small cloud of dust formed where she was kicking it. "What about you?"

He shot her a noncommittal shrug. "Dad wasn't home, not surprising there. Mom was just being mom." He didn't go into detail about the discussion they had. He didn't need her to worry more than necessary about his family and he knew how hard she was trying to overlook the past. No matter how many times he told her that none of it was her fault, he knew she didn't believe him.

As she was lost in thought, a wicked grin spread across his face. He stealthily slipped behind her and gave her back a big push.

A surprised shriek filled the air as she clung fretfully to the metal chains. "JOSH!"

He gave her another push when it came back down.

"Stop it!" she screamed, catching the attention of several dog walkers.

All he could do was chuckle. When he thought that she'd finally had enough, he tugged at one of the chains, causing it to swing haphazardly from side to side. He laughed at her cries before steadying the swing and caught her in a kiss when her body hit his.

"Mm…" she hummed happily. "You're not getting off the hook that easily, Casanova."

He grinned back. "I await my punishment, mi'lady."

…

When they finally decided to leave the park, it was already dark. They walked down the street, hand in hand, wondering where to eat since neither could be bothered to cook at this time.

"Come on." She tugged his hand to a small, cozy restaurant.

The hostess was immediately in front of them, leading the couple to a quiet corner.

"You know, we could always skip dinner and go straight to dessert." He slid a hand up her thigh.

She was looking particularly ravishing today, or had she always been like that? Whenever she was around, he couldn't keep his hands and eyes to himself. When she was away, all he could think about was what she was doing.

He felt himself harden and tried to calm himself down, but before he could stop himself, he had pulled her chair to him and had her in his arms. "Clara…" His words came out as a growl. He gave her ear a tiny nibble as she squirmed around. Her face was flushed red.

"Public place with people watching!" she hissed at him as best as she could, but her breath came out in pants. "Look! Someone's coming to take our order!"

She tried desperately to fix the chair and herself before they were kicked out of here. What she couldn't mend, however, was how deeply she was blushing.

"May I take your order?"

She mumbled something she remembered seeing on the menu while he chatted with the waiter for the recommendations. When he finally decided on what to eat, she was already regretting not taking his offer to skip dinner. It felt as if there were eyes boring a hole behind her head. The whispers from the other patrons were filled with slander.

"Hey, I was only kidding. You okay?" She looked up to see Josh looking back at her with concern.

She nodded in reply. "Just tired."

He reluctantly accepted the answer and began to rant about his day before ending it with what he planned to do with her. He could tell that maybe he had gone too far earlier. She was quiet and fidgety. He'd have to make it up to her later.

Once the food arrived, she heartily dug in. The juicy steak was extra juicy. She usually went for medium rare, but a sudden craving had her go a little more adventurous. The flesh was smooth and soft. It was simply heavenly.

"Taste good?" He wondered why he hadn't ordered the same thing when the dish came out. It made his mouth water just watching her dig into her plate. Why did he choose today of all days to be healthy? Must've been the rant from his mother.

She licked her lips before looking at him. "Absolutely delicious." She cut another small cube out and was about to place it into her mouth when she noticed a relentless set of eyes staring at her – or more importantly, what was on the fork.

With a teasing smile, she gave the juicy flesh a small lick, moaning quietly when the slightly salty sauce hit her tongue.

Josh watched her with wide eyes. He swallowed hard and tried to calm his thoughts and the rush of blood that was slowly making a permanent home in his lower region. Who knew watching a woman eat steak could be so arousing?

Loving the effect she had on him, she finally decided to grant him mercy and held the cubed meat in front of his watering mouth. "Would you like a taste?"

His eyes looked at her, wandered to the fork waving in the air, before snapping back to her lips. Instead of making a fool of himself more than he already had, he opened his mouth and she placed it on the tip of his tongue.

Clara grinned as he groaned at the delectable taste. This was a pretty good payback for earlier.

By the time they were ready to leave, her meal was done, while Josh left most of his untouched. He quickly paid for the meals before half-dragging her out.

She laughed at his eagerness, stumbling behind his larger strides. "Josh, slow down!"

He stopped and pulled her into a hard kiss. "No time; better hurry."

Giggling the entire way down the street, they abruptly stopped as they bumped into someone.

"Sorry!" a bubbly female voice apologised quickly. "Oh…"

They stood staring at each other in shock.

Clara knew that she hadn't seen the last of them at the lodge, but she never thought it'd have been so soon.

"Josh, y –you're alive." Wide green eyes were staring at him in shock, but it was the taller figure beside her that made his blood boil.

AUTHOR'S NOTE

HAPPY HALLOWE'EN!

I can't believe it's been a year since I finished the first story! I'm very sorry for the long wait, but I do plan to finish this second part.

What's coming will, of course, all be original content. I'm not exactly sure how everything is going to go, yet, but it's going to be dark and maybe a little confusing.

I currently don't have a title, but I'm hoping to go with the theme of "Point of (Insert single word)." I will be taking all suggestions into consideration.

Also, did anyone dress up? If so, what did you dress up as? I went as Slytherin Hermione!