-1A/N: this is set three months after the end of Hunter and the hound. The main reason I divided the story was because the H.A.T.H was about her finding her father and Paul. This one is about them in hiding. I didn't want those two parts together. To all those who stuck through Hunter and the hound, I hope you stick through this one too.

Cassie's POV

I scurried along the pavement, clutching the bag of groceries tightly. My eyes darted around constantly searching for danger. I hurried up to the block of condemned flats and went inside. We hadn't been here long, only a week. I knew we wouldn't stay here for long, the only reason we'd been here for this amount of time was because we'd been travelling for three months only stopping for a night or two at hotels or empty houses and we were both sick of it. We could have afforded a flat of our own, that we actually owned but that would require leaving a record of our presence.

I went to our flat (the one with the least amount of damp and rodents) and unlocked the door.

"Paul? I'm home" I called. Paul was pacing by the window. When I called out he ran to my side and hugged me so tight I could hardly breath.

"let go…can't breath" he took the shopping and put it into the kitchen "Did anyone see you?"

"Not that I noticed. I didn't see any vampires around" I sat on the moth-eaten sofa (there was a pile of abandoned furniture around). I was exhausted. I'd been tired a lot recently, getting headaches and cramps.

"Headaches again?" he asked, sitting next to me and pulling me so my head was on his lap.
"Yeah. Not sure what it is"

"Probably being on the road too much. I'd like to say we could stay here but we'll have to move off again in a couple of days time"

"I know Paul. I hate myself for putting you through all this"

"You know I'd go to hell and back for you" he said, kissing my forehead.

"You may get the chance" I said. He laughed quietly.

"Jasper phoned by the way" I jerked up, eager to hear any news about my vampire family.

"What did he say?"

"They're still being watched. Edward, Bella and Alice have gone to Denali for a while. Emily is looking after the dogs. He also says that he's managed to contact some of his vampire friends, ones he trusts, and that he wants you to train with them"

"When and where?"

"He said that they found an abandoned warehouse building a little way away. He told me to use my nose, because obviously he didn't want anyone to overhear directions and that they'd be there tomorrow. I gave him the number so they could contact you" we'd bought a cheap mobile under fake names. It was to be used if we had to contact people we weren't sure about.

"Okay. I'll go there tomorrow. You don't have to come" I knew that Paul didn't like strange vampires.

"Yes I do"

"No, you really don't. Just drop me off and then go do something fun. You deserve it"

"I'd rather we do fun stuff together"

"So would I but I need to train otherwise if we get attacked, we're screwed"

"I could take them" he said, unconsciously flexing his muscles.
"I'm sure you could" I said coolly "until they overwhelmed you and killed you, before hanging you on the wall as decoration" I sat up and went into the kitchen area (a mess of broken, dirty cupboards). Paul followed me. He'd been doing that a lot lately, following me around the flat. I knew he was concerned about me but still there are limits.

"What do you want to eat?" I asked. We'd only been having one meal a day, two on occasion, so that our food supplies would last longer.

"Don't care. Anything will do"

"Would you like a large or small helping of that?" he looked confused. Three months and he still didn't understand my humour.

"Of what?"

"Of unhelpful? I mean, we've got plenty so you can have a large if you want" he rolled his eyes at me and sat on the counter.

"You know what I meant" he said.

"Fine. We'll have beans" he stifled a groan. Beans were cheap and easy to transport so most of the time we had that or tinned spaghetti. Sometimes soup.

"What? You said you didn't care. It's beans or mushroom soup" I said, peering into my carrier bag.

"You bought mushroom soup? Who buys mushroom soup? It's the most useless, flavourless soup ever invented. Mushrooms are the crappiest vegetable grown! They're bland and slimy. They are so pointless, I don't see why people eat them!"

"That explains why it was on special offer then" I took the tin of soup and brought it over to the area we'd reserved for cooking. We had a little camping stove (there was no electricity in the flat, obviously or water).

"Tin opener please" I said, handing him the tin. He tore the top off and stuck the tin to heat. I went to light a candle or two. We didn't use many in case someone noticed a light on in the building and reported us. Besides, we both had very good eyesight.

"Do you want a drink? We've got water, water or water" I searched our drinks cupboard which was the coldest spot in the building "Oh, and there's one bottle of chocolate milk left that's not gone off" I saved our money by only purchasing essentials, and stuff that was on offer. I'd bought some of these cheap milk bottles in Seattle.

"You have it. It makes me feel like a child drinking that" I shrugged.
"Suit yourself. When your bones crumble into dust, it's your own fault" I handed him a bottle of water and took the milk.

"Here's to another night of still being alive" he said. I toasted him with my bottle but didn't drink. I rested my head on his shoulder.
"How much longer do you think?" I asked. I asked him the same question every evening and his response was always the same.

"Not much longer. They can't hunt us for ever" the us was a bit of an exaggeration. They were only hunting me.

"What would I do without you Paul?"

"Probably the same thing you're doing now. You're resilient. I mean, you are probably the most bad ass girl alive. That's why they're looking for you" I smiled up at him.

"Soup's done" he took the tin off the heat and handed me the spoon. We took it in turns to take a sip, but I knew he gave me more then him. Paul was like that.

Afterwards, having no reason to stay up, we curled up on the sofa (the bedroom was rodent country) under the blanket and went to sleep.

A/N: ahh, poor Cassie and Paul. Life looks pretty bleak right now.