It had been a very long week without Anthony's girlfriend by his side, like she had in middle school. They went to the same high school, but the two only had one class together, and that was first hour band. The first week of high school had almost killed him, and the only thing that kept Tony alive was the fact that he was going to see her today.

Tony finished the Geometry homework and shoved the paper in his book, then his Geometry book in his book bag, ran outside and jumped on his mountain bike and pedaled as fast as possible.

Twenty minutes later, he jumped off the bike, ran up the stairs to his second home. He never bothered knocking anymore; He was considered part of the family. Tony opened up the door to find his girlfriend asleep on the floor, using her Algebra text book as a pillow. He smiled.

He went over to her and laid down by her, his face facing hers. "Hey, beautiful," he half whispered. She blinked and yawned. Then she realized that it was her boyfriend.

"Omigosh!" She squeaked. She sat up as did he, and she wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him. After a few seconds, she pulled back.

Anthony chuckled and ran his hand through her hair. "I missed you, too." She smiled and kissed him again.

"I missed you more," she murmured sexily against his lips. Impossible, he thought.

"I bet," He played along. She kissed him, as if she'd never kissed Anthony before, once again. It never ceased to amaze Anthony-the electricity he feels when she kisses him, the rush he gets.

She pulled back and laid back down. She looked up at him from under her eyelashes, and his heart melted. She made the world known sign for "come here," and he took my spot by her side. She took his hand and he kissed hers.

"I love you," they both said at the same time. She laughed.

"Nice."

* * *

Anthony put Lizzie in her bed, and tucked her in. She looked so …. innocent when she was asleep …. He couldn't resist. Tony pulled out his phone and took a picture of his love. She groaned, cussed at hi,, and rolled over. He kissed her forehead and claimed the couch as his bed for the night.

He was just about to loose consciousness when his phone vibrated quite loudly on the table next to the couch. Tony reached over and picked it up, to discover Emily was calling.

"Hello," he mumbled into the phone.

"Where's your girlfriend? She was supposed to be here already!"

"She fell asleep while doing Algebra homework. Then I came over, and she fell asleep in my arms. I never heard her phone go off, Em."

Em paused, taking that in. "Okay," she finally said. "Okay. So she's not dead." I heard a sigh of relief. I chuckled. Leave it to Emily to have a full scale panic attack over nothing about Lizzie, and vice versa. "Can I come over?"

"I guess. No one's home besides Liz and I." The line went quiet, and I knew Em would be here soon. I went over to the door, unlocked it, and climbed back into bed.

Ten minutes later, Emily came in. She looked at Liz, and smiled. "Awww, she's so… cute!"

He nodded in agreement.

Here's the thing- Liz moved to Pinedale, Wyoming in the middle of the school year. She moved in with her mom's fiancé, Nick. Her mom and Nick both worked nights, so she never saw either of them. All three live in an one bedroom apartment, which means no bedroom for Liz. She has a blow up mattress from Wal-Mart. Sometimes she sleeps on the couch, sometimes on the chair, but most of the time on her bed.

Later in the year, they were moving into a house, where Liz can have her own bedroom . . .and bathroom . . .

Liz stirred in her sleep, then sat up suddenly. Tony rushed over to her, not even thinking about his actions. "What's the matter, love?" Liz blinked, looked at Tony and pushed him off. She stood up and ran out the door and down the steps. Her second and third shadow followed suit.

Liz ran into the forest outside of her apartments, and phased in mid stride. Her clothes lie in pieces on the ground, and Anthony found an Arctic wolf in his girlfriend's place.

She ran back to Emily, AKA Liz's "favorite human," going behind Em, knocking her off of her feet, and onto Liz's back. Emily, who still wasn't used to these kinds of things, screamed. Liz barked, and Emily noticed she was safe, so she stopped screaming.

Liz and Em made their way to Tony, who was very confused. Liz tilted her head, a cue to get on her back, so he did. The moment he was safe, she began to run again.

"Lizzie!" Emily called out, after twenty minutes of running. "Where on Earth are we going?!"

In response, Liz snarled, which meant, "You're in danger, and I'm removing you from that danger."

Emily was quiet.

Twenty more minutes passed. This time Tony spoke up. "Elizabeth, love, what are you doing?" He could feel her tension, and he didn't want her to kill him. She whined and snarled.

Emily understood what Liz said, and translated; "She says, she didn't want you to be hurt, so we're running away."

"Why, Lizzie?"

Liz shook her head, and there was an air of understanding among the trio.

Lizzie's pace slowed down a little bit after an hour and a half of running. Tony nor Em knew where they were at. Liz stopped running and Tony got off, but Em, who isn't used to 70 mile-per-hour winds whipping and whirling around her, was dazed.

Liz whined at Tony. He picked Em off of her, set her on the ground, her knees bent to her chest, and placed her head in between her knees. "Close your eyes-"

"And focus on breathing. Got it." While Tony and Emily were going through the same procedures that they had a thousand times, Lizzie began howling.

Three wolves, brown, caramel brown, and grey slipped out from the fog that surrounded the bases of the trees. Lizzie stood, and they bowed their heads to her.

Lizzie! Thought the caramel one.

Thomas! I need clothes, and two-one extra bed.

Elizabeth was one of many of her kind. They aren't sure what they are, but they look like wolves, sound like them, but they're bigger than the largest kinds of bears.

The darker brown one spoke up. Why are you here, Liz?

I had a dream.

What dream? The one about M-

No, idiot. But what was the dream, Liz?

Let me get there, Elizabeth thought sourly. They're coming.

The three exchanged glances.

* * *

Emily sat up and stretched. In response, every joint in her body popped. She had been surprisingly comfortable last night, considering she hadn't talked to Lizzie for two days now.

Yes, it had been two days since she'd talked to Lizzie. Well, maybe that's the wrong way to say it. It had been two days since she'd had a decent conversation with her. Every time they talk, Lizzie gives a command or an order to Emily, and Emily was too scared to ask any questions.

The night they'd arrived, Lizzie had ordered Emily to a strange room-it was huge and painted mint green (which is very relaxing)- and she was scared. The room was big, and clearly a lot of money had clearly been spent designing it. There was a queen sized bed, with a canopy over it. Girly…

Emily put on the nightgown that had been laid out for her by the maid. This was so odd to Emily-all of this… extravagance. Emily chewed on the inside of her cheek.

Why did Lizzie do that? What is going on to make her react like that? You'd think she's trying to protect us? But from what? I've never seen her act that way. And the moment I start to talk to her, she is just cryptic! She never gives a straight answer. Not only to me, but to Tony, as well. I wish I could talk to her again.

I haven't talked to her in what seems like ages, two days, really. But when I see her in the hall, I see worry lines creasing her forehead, and I think she's getting grey hairs. She's too young for this. This- this- this horribleness! She's like a completely different person these days.

Emily settled down on her newly assigned bed, and quickly fell asleep. The next day she was disoriented and worried. It took her a full of two minutes to remember what had happened the night before.

"This isn't going to end well," she said to herself.

Ten minutes later, Lizzie marched in, yanked the curtains open, and threw some clothes at her. "Put these on. You are now Sarah Meyers. You don't remember your past, but you do know you lived in Overland Park, Kansas your whole life. I am your legal guardian, as well as Tony's. We are going to go to Big Falls High School as soon as things settle down, okay?" Lizzie looked at Emily, and she could the pain in Lizzie's eyes. So much pain, so much trouble. Lizzie took Emily's hand, kissed the back of it, and walked out, shutting the door quietly.

Lizzie walked to her lover's room. Not having the patience to wait for him to wake up, she threw the door open, and ran over to him. He wasn't asleep like she'd assume, but he was sitting up in bed, eating his breakfast. She quickly removed the tray of food from his lap and put herself in its place.

She took his face in her hands, and stroked his cheek with her thumb. He looked at her, all his questions in the deep blue eyes. She traced her thumb under his eyes. "You're need to hunt." He half smiled.

"I need my girlfriend." She kissed Tony passionately. Electricity met their lips, and that feeling of completion filled them both. True passion and love traveled from their lips to their toes. This was her way of telling him of all her problems, telling him what she needed from him. He responded, and he made a promise to her, to hold her at night, when she was crying. He promised her that he would never leave her when she needed him; he wasn't going to leave her at all, for that fact. Tears started to stream down her face.

He pulled back. "What's the matter, love?" His voice was soft, but cracking with emotion.

In between sobs and hiccups, she explained: "I have so much to-" hiccup "tell you, Anthony. I've been keeping this-" sob "stupid secret that-" She couldn't say anything more, for sobs overtook her small frame. Anthony had full faith in Lizzie; that she would tell him and Emily one day. He pulled her close, and rubbed small circles on the small of her back.

Lizzie pulled herself together after a good half hour of hiccups and sobs, then she said quickly: "You must get dressed, Tony. Emily will tell you everything you need to know." She stood up, kissed him for about ten seconds, then left without looking back.

I've never seen her like this before, Anthony mused. She looks so old. She looks as if she's been through so much, and yet… I just want my girlfriend back.

* * *

Emily settled down for her sixth night here, with the book Lizzie had given her two months before this whole drama arose. It was called Ballet Shoes, and it was about three little girls who are orphaned, and are moved to one house. Each sister has their own background, their own life, but they accept each other without thinking twice. They share one of the strongest bonds-sisterhood. They go through everything together, yet the bond never was questioned.

This book was one of Emily's favorites by far, because it reminded her of Lizzie , Tony and her. They all had different pasts, but yet they all accepted each other without a second thought. Not to mention Lizzie was like a sister to Emily, and Emily to Tony. Tony and Lizzie were dating, and their love was indestructible-or so they all thought.

She had read it so many times that there were white spots where her fingers had worn away the ink, and her bookmark was a picture of when she and Lizzie had gone to the mall-just the two of them, no Tony antagonizing them. Back when she was truly happy with life, before he dragged her down.

Emily sighed and put her book down. She needed to talk to Lizzie. Soon. She looked at the clock. Nine-thirty. She sighed again. She turned off the light, and prayed tomorrow would be a better day.

Anthony was pacing in his room. Almost six days since he'd seen Liz. Well, he'd seen her, but not talked to her. She always had a look of worry on her face, she was getting wrinkles on her forehead, and he'd seen some grey hair on her head. He gnawed on the inside of his cheek-his worry spot, he called it. It seemed to him that she was changing, not in a bad way, but she was different. She needed to relax; he highly doubted that could happen, but she needed to. He wanted to kiss away the stress from her, wanted her to sleep until the bags under eyes were gone for the rest of her life. She was too young for this…

His train of thought was interrupted by a knock on the door. He opened it to find a very stressed Emily.

"We need to talk."