Heyyyyyy 3 Thank you so much for reading and I wanted to say to my latest review, I have it all planned so you don't even need to worry. This is a Jared and Melanie fanfic so it's all good :) But I like to play with the characters too so it could be fun!

Everything belongs to one of my Goddesses, Stephanie Meyer. Would not be able to do any of this without her.

It had been three days since Melanie left the caves. Jared had counted the hours and minutes since he arrived back home two days ago. He missed her by a day and he just wanted her home. All he did now that he was back was worry about her and it wasn't that much fun to worry all day.

There was knocking at the door and Jared looked up. Kyle. He had this suspicious grin on his face and it made Jared wonder what he was up to. He never knew what was going through Kyle's mind.

"What do you want?" Jared snapped more than he meant to. He felt bad but pushed the thought away.

"I was just thinking how funny it is," Kyle shrugged.

"How funny what is?"

"The situation," Kyle smiled. He was playing with Jared, he knew it. "I mean, your girl's out there with my brother, alone. He spent all these months in love with the person inside that body and now even though she's not there, he could still feel like in some ways. And she's gotta have some of Wanda's feelings in her mind, don't you think?"

"Kyle," Jared said through gritted teeth. "Get out of here."

Kyle just laughed. "Oh, come on, man. It's funny. What if he hit on her?"

"I mean it, Kyle," Jared stood up, fuming and trying to pretend his friend was not saying anything. "Get out of here or so help me I'll -"

"What's going on?"

Jared looked behind Kyle in the doorway. Jamie stood there, confused about the fight he seemed to just walk in on. The two older man tried to erase the tension so Jamie wouldn't sense it but he did anyway.

"What were you guys talking about?"

"Nothing," Kyle cleared his throat. Jared didn't want him telling Melanie's little brother his jokes, he gathered.

Jamie walked in the room, pushing past Kyle and looked right at Jared. "I'm not a kid. It's not like you have to hide things from me."

"We're not hiding anything," Jared answered. "Kyle was just acting like Kyle and he was just leaving." The last words were like acid, telling him he better leave.

"Yeah," Kyle agreed. He was in mood to fight in front of a thirteen year old. "I was just heading out to go see Sunny."

He nodded and almost bumped into the doorway. Jared stifled a laugh and looked at the younger boy once Kyle was gone. "Do you want to eat?"

"I already ate," Jamie replied. "Why did you stop talking once I came? You sounded mad."

"I wasn't mad," Jared answered honestly. "I was more...annoyed at him. You know how Kyle is."

Jamie sat down across from Jared in a chair. "Was it about Mel?" Jared didn't answer. "It was, wasn't it? What did he say?"

"It was nothing," the older man murmered. "He was just talking about how her and Ian might come back."

His mind raced to what Kyle said though. He had already been thinking like that and he did not help. He didn't want to worry about anything between Melanie and Ian but Kyle made the thoughts come back. Jared tried to clear his mind instead.

"You wanna go play a game?"

That distracted Jamie. 'Yeah! I wanna be on Aaron's team. He kicks butt when he plays!"

Jared laughed, glad to have distracted the younger Stryder.

xxxxxxxx

"Ready?" Ian asked as the two souls walked away from the garbages in the back of the medical center.

"Ready," Melanie nodded.

They checked both ways before they ran to the back door before it closed and locked them out. It took them two days to find a hospital they could get into. They had waited outside two other ones but there had always been someone waiting outside like a guard. Melanie wondered why the souls would need a guard but maybe they knew about the humans coming.

Ian ran in first and looked both ways again. Melanie stood behind him while Ian held out his arm to block her from people. The halls were empty and he ushered them both forward and slid into an empty examination room. Right in the little cupboard, just as Melanie remembered, was the medicine for the flu.

The two of them decided to grab some extra stuff just in case and buried it all in their bags. They were fast. After all, they had done this before on Wanda's raids.

The two of them checked the way they came with Ian first just like the last time. He guarded her again as they left the building and they ran to their car. As soon as Ian got in the car, he saw a girl walk past. She didn't see them but he was struck by her. "That's her," he whispered.

"That's who?" Melanie whispered to Ian. She looked in the direction he was facing and saw a blonde girl walk into another door of the building they had just been inside of.

"That's the body," he whispered. "That is Wanda."

xxxxxxx

Jamie and Jared ate quietly. His thoughts kept going back to what Kyle had said and he couldn't seen to erase them. He didn't know what to say to her brother either and he didn't want him worry about something like that, either.

Besides even if it had been possible, Melanie loved Jared. She wouldn't let it happen so he took a big sigh of relief. There wasn't anything to worry about and he was just overreacting. That's what he kept telling himself at least. He wasn't too sure about Ian.

"You keep daydreaming," Lily said to Jared. He hadn't even realized she came to sit with them.

He broke out of it. "What?"

"Your face," she nodded at him. "It looks like it's elsewhere. What are you thinking about?"

"He misses Mel," Jamie answered for him. He didn't even look up from his plate as he said it and Jared looked at him but it had no effect.

Lily nodded. "How long has she been gone now?"

"Three days," Jared said to her. Three very long days, he added to himself. "We don't know when she's coming back, though."

"She might be back soon," Lily shrugged. "It shouldn't take that long, right?"

"It depends," Jared replied. "They don't have the eyes to fool the other souls so it might not be as simple. It might be like our old raids except trying to get into a hospital or anyplace they might have their medicine. They have to be more careful."

Lily nodded thoughtfully. "It might only be a few more days. Ian's resourceful and from what I've learned about your girlfriend...she won't let herself be away from you any longer than she needs to be."

Jared nodded this time. "Thanks." Lily gave him a small smile and he smiled back. He was glad that she was comforting him right now especially when all Kyle had done was try to make his fears worse.

xxxxxxxxx

That was Wanda's body?, Melanie wondered. How could they get her? What if the human was still alive? They would have to find out.

Ian sat there staring at the door she went in. She didn't seem like a doctor but maybe she lived around her. He needed to know. Melanie shook at his arm. "Ian, we need to go."

"Not yet," he whispered. "I just need to see -"

"No, Ian," Mel fought. "We can't stay here. It's night but will be daytime at some point. We can't stay here. The next raid, we will find her but we can't anything right now."

"All right," he answered her. "Let's go."

He started the car and drove out of the parking lot. Before they knew it, they were down the highway at just the right speed.

"Ian," Melanie started. "How can you be so sure that's Wanda's body? I thought it wasn't about what she looked like."

"It's not," he suggested, his hands gripping the wheel. "It's...I could feel her when she was inside of you. Like I could see her. And I just know that's what she looks like. I know that is Wanda."

"How will we get her?"

"You and Jared can come back," he said calmly like it was so obvious. "You can show her to him and bring her back. If the human's still alive inside of her, then I won't pressure anything but if not...we can try putting Wanda in."

Melanie thought about it for a moment. It sounded like a good plan but they needed to find her when they come back. That might be difficult. "That sounds...possible."

"I told you," Ian smiled. He was not letting her go or Wanda for that matter. He knew it was right. "We can do it, Melanie. Just wait and see."

"I believe you," she smiled.

Now they just needed to get home and tell Jared the plan.

xxxxxx

Jared laid in the bedroom of his father's cabin. It was quite quiet that night and the cricket's chirps were the only thing you could hear. Yet for some reason he couldn't sleep. Melanie and Jamie had stayed up watching a movie on dvd last night and fell asleep on the couch. Melanie had suggested that Jared stay in the bedroom since they were stealing his bed.

He knew what was wrong. A little while ago, Melanie had suggested that they consummate their relationship and Jared being Jared didn't want her do something she might regret or just because she thought she had to. He had used the excuse of birth control to delay her but on his raid after that, she had told him to get some. Just in case.

He brought it home like she had told him to and he placed it somewhere, telling her that when the time was right and she no longer felt so much younger, seventeen was a big difference from his twenty-six, that maybe it could happen. Melanie didn't like it but she agreed, hoping to persude him.

It was probably after midnight now and Jared knew what that meant. Melanie was officially eightteen. She was a legal adult by law now and she would want to be with him. He couldn't hide how much he had wanted it as well either.

There was a soft knock on the bedroom door just like he suspected there would be. It was Melanie. She wanted to come in and see him for her birthday. He wasn't sure he would able to say no if he let her in but he let her walk in the room anyway.

She was dressed comfortably for the night, a white tee shirt and sweatpant shorts that were as long as carpris. Jared knew what he was hoping she'd do. Melanie walked closer to him and smiled. "Hi," she said as she sat on the bed.

"I know why you're here," Jared whispered. "It's your birthday."

"Uh-huh," she nodded. She was happy. "It's my first birthday since before the invasion I feel safe. That I feel loved. And it's because of you."

"And you're here about...that thing we talked about, aren't you?" He swallowed hard.

"I'm not going to nag you about that," she said as she wiped a piece of hair from her face. "On'y if you want to."

"That's my line," he joked as he sat up and moved closer to her. He brushed the hair that moved back to her face this time. Melanie closed her eyes and shivered. They both could feel the fire.

"I brought something with me," she said as she took her other hand from behind her back. The box he brought home. "In case."

Jared laughed. "So you weren't expecting anything?"

She smiled. "Not expect. Hoped. But it's up to you."

"Mel," Jared moaned as he leaned closer to kiss her. The moment their lips met, they were in flames. Neither of them could control their needs and wants when they came together. Melanie kissed him back instantly, the fire consuming her.

They continued kissing and Jared leaned over on top of Melanie. She opened her eyes and looked at him with big, innocent eyes. There was an answer in them. Yes. He knew she wouldn't answer anything else.

Melanie's hands ran through his hair, pulling him down and closer to her. She needed him touching her but mostly, she needed to touch him. There was no turning back if they continued any further.

Jared pulled away for a second. Melanie made a whimper of sadness, wanting him to never let her go. He pulled his shirt over his head and stared down at her. She just marveled at him and nodded, still sure. His lips came crashing down on hers once again.

They kept kissing, not wanting to move from their positions or to rush anything. After more time passed, Melanie rolled them over so she was on top. She separated this time and he pulled her tee shirt over her head. Melanie stared at him again, wondering what he thought. He just fingered the straps of her bra and kissed her again.

"I love you," he moaned into her ear when he broke apart again. "I love you so much."

"I love you, too," she moaned back.

Melanie couldn't get enough of his hands on her but she wanted more. Her hands moved to the top of his pants, wanting them off already. She was done with the romance, she just wanted him in her. It was what mattered right now.

Jared knew what she meant as soon as he felt her fingers. He stiffened, knowing how close they were to that step in their relationship. The ten year old in the next room made him worry but they both knew Jamie was a deep sleeper. Besides, they could be quiet, couldn't they?

They slowly removed the rest of each other's clothes, hands and fingers exploring each other for the first time. Melanie worried she wouldn't be good enough for Jared, that since he was older and probably had experienced this with someone before, it wouldn't compare. But Jared never showed any signs of that. He just kept whispering that he loved her and brushing her hair back as they joined together.

They fell asleep fast, in each other's arms. The sun streamed in some time later and Melanie awoke first. Her eyes adjusted and she remembered the previous night. Her head was on Jared's chest and she looked at his face. He really was beautiful and he was all hers. For a moment, the invasion didn't matter.

All that mattered was right there in that cabin.

She smiled as she looked up at him. He wasn't just her boyfriend. Jared was so much more than that. He was the love of her life. And right here, right now, life couldn't get any better. She looked over at the table at the used package and smiled again. Last night was perfect. He was perfect. It was her favorite birthday ever.

Jared stirred and looked down at the girl who's head was still on top of his chest. They smiled at each other and he started to stroke her hair. It took a few moments for them to speak. "How are you feeling?"

"I'm perfect," she whispered to him as she leaned in to kiss him good morning.

He pulled away and Melanie was confused. "What's wrong?"

"I wanted to brush my teeth," he said as he tried to sit up. "Before...any kissing happened."

"But I just wanted a birthday kiss."

"I think you got a lot more than a birthday kiss last night."

Melanie couldn't help the blush that appeared on her face. He smiled at how adorable she looked.

"I'm glad it happened."

Melanie was surprised he said that. "You are?"

"Yes," he answered as if it was so simple. "I love you, Melanie. Of course I'd been thinking about it."

"But you don't want kids," she said to him. "Your mind is still set on that?"

Jared hesistated. "Yes. Mel, I told you why. Not in a world like this."

"What if it never gets better?" she asked. "What if humans just die out while the aliens keep living our lives?"

"Then at least we're together."

Jared kissed Melanie, morning breath or not and got out of the bed. Melanie watched him leave, for her thoughts of the conversation and because she was after all, an eightteen year old who just had her first time. She wouldn't be normal if she didn't look.

She sighed and collected some of her clothes to get ready for a shower. Jared peeked out of the bathroom door. "Hey, how do you feel about a birthday shower?"

She beamed, not quite ready to give the moment up yet and wishing last night could be forever. But for now, they had this and this was pretty damn good.