Attempt #2 at posting this chapter since FF has been suffering from FFFail. ;)

A lot of you are ready to skin me over Adam Dick and I wish I could say I was sorry, but I'm not. Adam is a necessary part of the story. Please have faith in me that I won't do you wrong. Remember...I am the girl who writes about hope in desperate times and having faith that things will work out. It's just that in this story, much like in real life, things don't always go the way you want them to, and there are sometimes diversions and unexpected events along the way.

I know a few of you have made the Adam Dick connection to Branded and Road Maps. His name is completely intentional and was intended as a fun nod to the other stories.

I hope this chapter will help some of you regain your faith in me.

You *might* need a tissue for this one.

Stephenie Meyer may own Twilight, but thanks to a co-worker I now own the Twilight board game, which I tested out with Sophilia Tantrum tonight.

Big thanks to my triad of awesomeness, Katmom, Minnakoda, and Sophilia Tantrum. I *heart* you guys.

Adam

It blows my mind that I'd be pacing in front of a porn store—over a girl.

Punctuality wasn't normally one of my fortes, but there was something about her that makes me want to be better, be on time, hell, be early; and so here I am, early. Seeing my reflection in the mirror, I noticed that my shirt was a little askew, so I fixed it, wanting to make a good impression on her.

Shit, I am so whipped.

I have never, in all my years, in all my travels, met a woman as alluring as she is, and I've been around. Seriously, I'm not prone to falling hard for anyone, and this attraction to her is baffling; it's beyond reason. Sure she's beautiful, but not in a typical way; hell, there was nothing typical about Bella Swan, and yet she was so normal…

…except that she had shot me down. NO ONE has ever shot me down, I mean girls beg me to pay attention to them, and by saying this I am by no means being cocky. It is an inalienable truth that I am alluring to women.

But not this one.

"Hi, Adam. You haven't been waiting for long, have you?"

My heart actually skipped a beat when I saw her coming up the sidewalk. "Uh, no, not too long. How are you?" I asked as I held out my hand to hold her coffee while she unlocked the door.

"Good, thanks. So, here is one of your first lessons: as soon as this door opens, you have thirty seconds to run back to the alarm box and deactivate it. The code is 5852. Alright, are you ready? You know where the box is, right?" she looked at me and smiled.

I shook my head; I had no clue.

"It's around the corner from the bathroom."

I closed my eyes for a moment and tried to recall the layout of the store. I had only been in a few times before now, so I wasn't one hundred percent positive I knew where I was going, but I was certainly going to give it the old college try. "Okay, I have visualized its location. Five-eight-five-two. Got it."

The door swung open, and I made a mad dash toward the back of the store, where I luckily found the box. I say luckily because had it not been lit up like a Christmas tree, I never would have found it. When I successfully completed my mission, I walked back out and took a bow.

Bella was laughing as she set her coffee cup down on the counter. She walked toward me and just before we were in front of one another, she veered left and reached behind a display of cock rings to flick on the harsh fluorescent lights. "Well done, Adam-san. You are quick to learn, my young grasshopper friend."

Bowing deeply at the waist, my palms pressed together, I spoke reverently to her, playing along with her game. "You are a sage teacher, Obella Wan Kenobi."

Bella laughed and my dick twitched, which was so strange. No woman had ever had that effect on me with just a laugh before now. God, it was going to be a long day.

She moved behind the counter and leaned back on it as she took a sip of her coffee. "Let's get started. There's a lot to remember, but thankfully for you I have short term memory problems so everything is written out, step-by-step and there are cheat sheets everywhere." She pulled out a drawer full of paper, each one covered in notes about everything.

I whistled long and low when I saw the mess in the drawer. "You weren't kidding," I mumbled as I rifled through them. There didn't seem to be any rhyme or reason to how they were stored. I had a feeling I'd be deciphering chicken scratches extensively during my training.

"Why would I lie?" she said, cocking an eyebrow at me.

Crap. Time to scramble, Adam, you just insulted her. "I mean, I didn't think you were being serious."

Her face was nothing short of stony. "Yup. Dead. I really do have short-term memory problems. It's not constant, and I'm better than I used to be, but sometimes it's a problem."

Hmm. This girl gets more and more mysterious by the minute. "Okay, do you mind if I ask why?"

"Why what?"

I leaned on the counter beside her. "Why you have short term memory problems?"

She looked at me, visibly confused. "I have short term memory problems? Shit, I must have forgotten."

I gaped at her. Good Lord, what have I got myself into with this one. Back off, Adam, back off. "Really?"

Her serious façade cracked and she laughed. "Nah, I'm shitting you. Well, not about the memory problem. I had a closed head injury a few years ago," she knocked on her head. "I kind of broke my brain, oh, and my skull. I have a titanium plate. If I hadn't been in a coma I would have asked for adamantium, then I could be more like Wolverine, snickety snick." Bella waved her hands in front of me, doing her best Wolverine impersonation.

It wouldn't surprise me if my chin hit the floor. She really didn't look like someone who'd been in a coma, but really, what does a coma victim look like? "Really? Coma? Brain injury?"

"Yup, I brained my damage. Sexy, huh?" she smirked, devilishly.

More than you know, I thought as my man bits strained to find freedom and make her mine. "Wow, you've had quite the life. How did--?"

She cut me off, turning to face the computer on the left hand side of the counter. "Nope. We stop here. You need to learn more about the cash system than my pathetic so-called life."

"Will you tell me someday?"

"Maybe, but then I'll have to kill you. So," she took a deep breath and pointed under the counter at an outdated-looking computer, "this is Beulah. She's our out-of-date system. You need to turn her on and then the fun begins—in about ten minutes. She's slow."

I'd like to turn you on and let the fun begin, I thought as I pictured taking her on the counter.

"What?" she said, turning to stare at me incredulously, "did you just say that you want to turn me on?"

Shit. Inside voice, outside voice, Adam. "Um, no, I said that I couldn't wait to turn her on, you know, Beulah, so we can get to work."

Bella

I cringed inwardly when I heard him mumbling something about wanting to turn me on. I knew he wasn't referring to Beulah, and the only thing going through my head was that this was not going to end well.

Putting on a smile to counteract the scowl that threatened to darken my features, I went about showing him how to open the programs he would be using and digging around to find the cheat sheets to help him. My plan was to keep him busy so that he wouldn't have time to be weird.

As he had none of the learning and memory retention issues that I did, he caught on quickly, which made things so much easier on me. In fact, the more we hung out and talked, the more I realized that he was a nice guy, and that he was probably just nervous. Don't get me wrong, there is no doubt in my mind whatsoever that he was thinking about how many different ways he could bend me over the counter and do me, but once he got over that, we actually had fun.

"You really are a great student, Adam," I said as we began preparing for the shift change. "You caught on so easily that I'm thinking I'll be able to hand things over to you sooner than I thought." I couldn't help the smile that crept up on me at the thought of not having to come into the store at the crack of piss on the weekends and never having to do dildo inventory again. I think I may have sighed.

Adam cleared his throat, breaking me out of my self-indulgent train of thought. "Bella? You okay in there?"

"Yeah, sorry, I drifted off for a second." My eyes found him staring at me worriedly. I shook it off and smiled at him, which prompted him to smile back. "So, you're really okay with being Jazz's co-captain? He's a great guy and I think you two will work well together. Just be prepared to deal with finding him and Alice in some, uh, compromising situations if you're reviewing security tapes. Sometimes they forget to turn them off."

The smile dropped from his face. "Really? You won't be working with me?"

"No, not after you get settled," I said, pausing, my eyebrows crinkling in confusion. "You do understand that you'll be taking over for me, right?"

"Oh yeah," he replied, "I knew that, but…" he turned away and began tidying random piles of magazines.

Crap. I pinched the bridge of my nose and sighed heavily. "Is there a problem? Are you having second thoughts about this? If you are, you need to let me know now so I can hire someone else. School is starting up in a couple of days and I'm running out of time." Panic-stricken thoughts ran through my head like the bulls in Pamplona. God, I don't want to have to deal with training anyone else. Please don't flake on me!

"No, no, I want the job, I just thought maybe we'd be working together for a while, that's all. I like hanging out with you, Bella. I won't lie. Spending time with you is a definite perk."

The rush of blood to my cheeks was hot and left me wondering if I was sweating. This sudden blush wasn't just embarrassment, it was frustration. I don't need him pursuing me, not now, not with things finally starting to smooth out with Edward. This needed to be nipped in the bud.

Adam looked back at me briefly, before turning his eyes to his sandals. He spoke very quietly after a moment. "Can we go talk after work?"

Thank God for Edward coming to pick me up. "Uh, no, sorry. Someone is meeting me here at 4. He'll be here soon."

"So you are seeing someone?" he asked, looking confused.

"No, y…I don't know. I told you, Adam, I'm complicated, it's complicated, and everything is very strange right now." I bent over and rooted around in the cupboard where I had stashed my purse. I was starting to feel a bit of a rush of anxiety and I couldn't meet with Edward feeling too on edge, it could be disastrous. I quietly popped open my bottle of Ativan, tapped a couple into my palm and tossed them under my tongue as covertly as possible. When I turned around, he was staring at me intently and it made me nervous.

He walked toward me, backing me up into the corner of the counter. "I'm going to be totally inappropriate and tell you that I really like you and I'm not giving up. I'll wait for you to sort out your complication because you're worth waiting for."

Alice's knack for perfect timing once again proved beneficial because at the very moment I thought I might burst into tears, my best friend flew in through the front door and saved me.

"Alice!" I choked out. "Can you please go over the shift change with Adam for me? I, uh, need to go out back to look for something."

Totally picking up on the distress in my voice, Alice nodded and quickly distracted Adam by showing him the mid-day reports. While she waited for them to load, she shot me a concerned look.

I ran to the back room and gulped down some stale air as I fought to keep my emotions at bay. If only Edward had felt that; if only he'd stayed and waited for me. I have a complete stranger telling me he'll wait because I'm worth it, and my soul mate couldn't even do that. God! Hell, why does this still matter? Why does he still have me so wrapped around his freakishly long, sexy, piano-playing fingers after all these years?

A quiet knock came at the door. "Bella? You okay, sweetie?"

After a big shuddering breath, I replied with a quiet affirmation, and opened the door a crack so she could see that I was. She smiled a sad smile at me and put her hand on my cheek. "Edward's here."

Opening the door a little wider, I pulled her in. "Aw shit, Alice, I don't know. Today has been such an intense day, and Edward is King Intensity. Ugh. I might explode from the pressure."

"Do you want me to tell him to leave?" she asked, hopeful. Man, she was so Team Adam it wasn't funny.

I shook my head. "I have to do this, Ali."

"You can do it. Go hear what he has to say, shoot him down gently, and come on back for some good-time Adam lovin'. He's good people, Bells, I can feel it. Don't rush anything; take your time because a good man will wait."

My hands went to my hips and I took a defensive position. "Is that a dig at Edward, Ali?"

Alice hugged me as she backpedalled. "No! Oh no! Geez, no. I wasn't thinking." She stumbled over her words. "Now go out and get Edward out of here; I don't think he's too happy to see Adam."

"Ugh, probably not. Okay," I said, inhaling deeply. "I can do this."

Alice gave me a pat on the ass and a smile. "Go get 'em, Tiger."

I grasped at the fleeting tendrils of my courage and walked out, pasting a smile on my face. "Hi, Edward. I see you've met Adam, the newest member of our dysfunctional family here at the store. Adam, this is Edward, um, an old, er, friend."

Dread filled me when I saw Edward wince at being called an old friend. It wasn't intended to hurt him, but I didn't want Adam to realize he was standing face-to-face with my complication.

"Are you ready, Bella?" Edward asked quietly.

"Yes, I just need to grab my bag from behind the counter. Alice," I said, turning to the tiny girl beside me, trying to project a look of fear without alerting the two virile men standing beside us, "can you please train Adam until five? Show him the shift change procedures again?"

"Yup, sure can. Have a good evening. I'll see you when I get home." Alice hugged me tightly and whispered, "Are you okay?"

"No," I replied, my arms wrapping tighter around her.

"Want me to get rid of Edward?"

"No."

"Call me. Remember to breathe." She rubbed my back in an attempt to soothe me.

I nodded, pulled myself from Alice's iron grip and walked behind the counter. Adam held out my messenger bag.

"Thank you," I said, reaching for it.

Adam grabbed my arm and pulled me to him, enveloping me in a big hug. At first contact, I immediately stiffened, fearing Edward's reaction.

"Your complication is jealous. Have a great night, call me later if you want to talk," he whispered. Then, speaking aloud, he said, "I'll see you tomorrow afternoon, right?"

I tried to separate myself from him, and before I could, he kissed my cheek.

"What are you doing?" I hissed at him. Had he not had my arms pinned to his beefy sides, I would have slapped him square across that chiseled jaw of his, or blackened the blue eye hiding under his mop of hair.

"I'll be waiting."

If I could have done one thing at that moment, it wouldn't have been hoping the ground would swallow me whole, or that lightning would strike me; I wanted lightning to strike him and knock him into a hole. God, I haven't been that angry in so long. The nerve!

Edward

I was standing behind Bella, seething at the display before me. Beautiful boy Adam was trying to lay claim to Bella. Territorial pissing was now on in full force.

When she turned around, I turned to smile and look genuine instead of creepy and angry. From the look on her face, I didn't exactly pull it off.

"H..hi, Edward," she was flushed, but it wasn't her normal blush of embarrassment; she looked angry.

"Bella."

We left the store in silence and stood on the sidewalk. The tension weighed as heavily on us as if a ten-ton load of bricks had fallen onto us. I was beginning to worry I might suffocate beneath it when she finally spoke, breaking the tension momentarily.

"So," she said quietly, "where did you want to go?"

I shrugged. It really didn't matter to me, as long as we were far, far away from Surfer Boy in the store. "I don't care."

Seems she didn't like my answer because all of a sudden she flew into a rage. I knew this was a mistake, and here was my proof; not even off the stoop of the store and she was yelling.

"You have a lot of nerve, Edward." She grabbed my hand, causing a huge shock to travel up the length of my arm and raise my hair a good inch off my head, and dragged me down the sidewalk to the park further down the block.

I felt her drop my hand and watched in helpless fear as she paced, her brow furrowing in deep thought. She was pissed and I was about to get lambasted, not that I didn't deserve it, because I totally did. Maybe this would unleash her real wrath, because up until that moment, she'd really not gotten angry with me, not in a way befitting of my crime.

Finally, Bella turned to me, angry tears spilling down her flushed cheeks. "HOW DARE YOU GET JEALOUS?"

"I…" Wait, what?

She paced back and forth in front of me. I backed up a bit to get out of her path of destruction, but she wasn't about to let me off that easily. "DON'T EVEN DENY IT, EDWARD ANTHONY CULLEN! I know you well enough to know that you were one word away from a statement of total denial. How did I know that? Oh, probably because you're the king of denial, or should I say, Denali. Did you ever notice that by switching a couple of letters around, DENIAL becomes DENALI? How fitting that you run off to your cousins' place in fucking Denali to hide from reality."

A scream tore from her lungs, making me cringe. "I am so beyond angry right now that I could…I could…I could tear out a tree and beat you senseless with it. HOW DARE YOU FEEL YOU HAVE ANY CLAIM ON ME? How is it possible that you could feel any right to be jealous over someone you voluntarily gave up? You walked away, Edward. It was your choice, not mine."

It was as if roots had grown from my feet and secured me to the ground. Her words weighed heavily on me as she continued.

"I was actually looking forward to spending time with you today. Now I want to go hide, get away from you, because you confuse me and infuriate me to no end.

"Adam is my employee, and maybe I'd like to try to date him. I don't know. What I do know is that it's no business of yours. I don't need you breathing down my neck, Edward. I don't need anything from you."

"B…but…" I stammered, unable to grasp the words I needed to make things right.

She threw he hands up in the air, and I noted just how close they came to my head, but I was paralyzed, I couldn't move. "But nothing! This, this isn't going to work. There's too many memories, too many emotions. I have spent five years trying to let you go. I need us to be over."

When those last six words fell from her mouth, I felt the agony as my heart sank. I'd come to tell her that I was still very much in love with her, but there was no way I'd dare breathe a word of that now. Her anger burned so hot I feared if I got much closer to her that I might blister. I didn't know what to do, what to say, so I said the only thing I could think of at that very moment. "If that's what you want, then I'll leave."

"There you go, leaving again," she muttered.

I felt something begin to surface that I hadn't felt so intensely in a long time. I cringed as I could feel the anger bubbling. "Wait one fucking minute, Isabella Marie Swan, you're telling me to go, yet you chastise me for leaving. Make up your mind! Do you want me to stay or go? The other day you're telling me not to leave, now you want me to go, but if I do, I'm leaving again. I feel like a fucking yo-yo!"

Clearly I had shocked her with my outburst. My feet, suddenly free from whatever hold had been on them, allowed me to move closer to her so I could see her eyes, because the only way I'd know for sure if she meant it was to see her brown eyes because they never lied. "I need to know one thing: will you EVER forgive me for leaving? Will you always hold it over my head?"

She closed her eyes and tilted her head away from me. "I don't know."

I reached for her face, pulling it back so we were face to face. "Open your eyes, Bella. I need to see your eyes. I need to know if you can ever forgive me, because if you can't, I'm leaving for good. I realize I have no right to say this, but since I'm already in shit, I'm going to anyway. I can't live like this; the constant up and down. You're not the only one who has been stuck in suspended animation for the past five years. I need a life and I need to know if it's one that will include you."

"Why?" she choked out.

Shit, I said too much. "Because."

"Because? What kind of answer is that, Edward? Because why?"

I moved to turn away. I didn't want to get into it this way, it wasn't right. "It doesn't matter."

Bella wasn't going to take my bullshit because she could see right through it, as she always could, and shoved me backward. "Obviously it does matter."

I shook my head. Why? Because I don't want to live in a world that doesn't involve you.

Scrambling to find a reason that wouldn't tip her off to my plan, I mumbled something about moving away.

She practically spat on me, she was so furious. "You're so full of shit, Edward."

"What do you want from me, Bella? Please just tell me what you want and I'll give it to you."

Bella smacked her hands against my chest, and I won't lie, it hurt, but her words were stinging worse. "What I want, I can't have! I want our baby girl back and I want to turn back time. I want to stop being angry and I need to get a grip. I wish things could be the way they were, but that can never happen and I want to be able to move on, Edward.

"But I can't move on; I'm stuck in limbo. Sometimes I wonder if I'm still back in the hospital, trapped in my body, enduring some never ending nightmare…"

I couldn't help but scoff when she said that. I know it was totally inappropriate, but since we're airing the laundry, why the hell not. "Why can't you move on? I thought it looked like you'd done a grand job of starting a new life."

She crumpled under my ire. "I can't move on because…oh Edward, I really wanted to make this work."

WHAT? SHIT! It was too much; I slid down the trunk of the nearest tree and held my head in my hands before starting to bang my head on the thick wood of the Douglas Maple behind me. The pain in my heart was too much to deal with, a good head-pounding would take my mind off of it, or knock some sense into me, or knock me unconscious; all of which were great options.

Bella

Suddenly my intense anger turned to sadness, the void inside me started to re-open, leaving me breathless as I watched him hurting himself. My mood swings were starting to frighten me, I mean, I just went from bitch to tearful, simpering fool in two seconds. Maybe mood stabilizers would have been a good idea after all.

Resigning myself to the mother role I had often played with Edward in the past, I placed my hand behind his head to cushion the blow and stop him from inflicting any further damage. One broken brain was one too many.

"Edward, honey, calm down," I said, quietly, so as not to startle him.

His swollen eyes opened, showing just a glimpse of the beautiful green I had missed so much. "Just go, Bella. This is too hard."

I needed to bring him out of this shame spiral or whatever the hell it was he was drowning in. I tried joking with him. "What is? The damn tree trunk you're smashing your head against? Duh."

He turned away from me. Shit. My god, I'm starting to feel like a broken record with this guy. "Look at me, Edward."

He refused.

I grabbed him by the ears and pulled his face around so I was practically looking up his nose. "Damn it, Edward, LOOK AT ME!"

He pushed me off and stood up. "I'm sorry, Bella. I can't do this."

Shit! "So you're leaving again? I should have figured."

"I don't know how to do this. I really don't."

He was shaking so hard I was surprised he was still able to stand. He really was a complete mess and my heart was aching for him, and for what was about to happen; he was going to leave me again and I wasn't going to survive this time. Now that I'd had him back, even as briefly as I had, I didn't want to live in a world without him. "What's there to know how to do? I don't understand."

He paced back and forth in front of me, pinching the bridge of his nose. I watched him tearfully from the ground, where I had remained frozen after he stood up. I was starting to fall apart again, the need to mother him now gone, and I needed mothering of my own. Needing some sort of comforting, I pulled my knees up under my chin and began rocking. "Talk to me," I whispered.

Stopping in front of me, he looked down, clearly in pain. "I have no right to feel like this, to…God, I can't…you're going to hate me. It would be easier if we'd never found each other again. I need a time machine. I need a teleporter. I need a Valium."

"How do you feel?" I asked, fearful of his answer.

"FUCK!" he screamed. Pigeons and other nearby birds flew from the trees as his shout resonated through the branches.

I cowered beneath his intense gaze. I had never seen him look like this in all the years I had known him. I was scared, but I didn't know if it was of him, or for him. "Please," I whispered.

"I still fucking love you, Isabella, and the closer we get, the harder it is."

A dam broke inside of me and I let out a cry and hid my face behind my knees. I could feel my shoulders heaving as I wept.

Worried hands fluttered around me, unsure of where to go. His voice softened, finally, when he spoke. "I'm so sorry, Bella. I really am. I should go. I'll send Alice over."

That was it. I'd had it. "NO!" I shouted. "You are not leaving again. You promised."

He cupped my face in his big, dirty hand. "I thought I could do this, I really did, but I was wrong and we're both going to get hurt if I stay. I'm going to move back to Forks or go to New York, or Siberia. I'm really sorry, Bella. I never meant to hurt you."

As much as I wanted to stop the flow of tears, to ease the sobbing so it didn't tear me apart with each gasping cry, I knew it would never end unless I told him the truth. In a tiny voice, that sounded so far from my own, I did something I swore I'd never do. I begged.

"Please, Edward. Don't leave me again."

Exhaling loudly, he stood, shaking his head sadly. "You want me to stay, you want me to go, you want me to stay…God, Bella, make up your mind! Why should I stay? I can't be near you and not be with you."

"Then don't: be with me. I can't lose you again." Okay, this was getting easier. I took a couple of stuttered breaths to ease the burn in my lungs.

"Why?"

As much as it killed me to admit it, I knew I had to tell him. "Because I still love you too. I don't know why, but I do. You make me feel alive again; that spark we used to have in high school? It's still there every time I touch you. I can't lose you again but you terrify me—I worry that you'll leave because I'm different and frankly, you make leaving me look so damn easy."

There, I'd said it, and with those few words I felt more of the weight lifting off me, and breathing became a little easier. I figured if I was going down that road, I might as well take him all the way down. Admitting insecurity was not something I enjoyed doing, and this was killing me to say it, but I had to. "Please make me believe I'm worth staying for, please try for me. It'll never be as easy as it was back before everything happened, but I love you enough that I'd risk it for you. Am I worth even one iota of that to you?"

Falling to his knees, he cupped my wet face in his hands and wiped the tears from my cheek with his grubby thumbs. "Baby, I burn so hard for you I might combust. You are my sunshine, Bella. I've been living in the dark for so long that you're blinding me. You are my life and you always have been."

"But you keep leaving," I cried, leaning into his hands, feeling the need to be closer to him. "I want you to stop running. I'm starting to think I'm not worth fighting for."

"I thought it would be best for you; I didn't want…"

"It's not about you, it's about us. You need to think about it that way or we won't survive. I need you to tell me when you're scared so we can get through it together. Don't EVER think I can't handle something without asking me first. Can you please trust me enough to understand that I know what I need? I've been on my own for long enough to take care of myself. I'm a big girl now, baby."

"I find it so hard, there's always that need to protect you," he said, his green eyes burning mine with their intensity.

"Can you please try? Can you love me enough to try?"

Two very large tears fell in tandem down his cheeks. He nodded vigorously and his smile reached his eyes for the first time in a very long time. "Yes, Love, I can. God, I love you so much, Bella. I'm so fucking sorry. Please say it," he begged, resting his forehead on mine, "I need to hear you say it."

"I love you, Edward," I said sobbing. "God, I love you so much. Is this even real?"

I knew I wasn't dreaming when I felt his lips gently touch my forehead, feather down my nose, and settle on my lips. The surge that powered through me ignited a fire I'd not felt in years and a huge piece of my broken heart mended.

"Don't fuck this up, Edward," I whispered against his lips.

"I won't."

Happy now? Consider it a Christmas present.

I'm not saying things are going to be rosy from now on. They have a long way to go, but this is a good start.

Is Adam out of the picture? No. He'll be around for a while.

Updating will be scattered and not as frequent over the holidays.

Merry Ho Ho everyone. Thank you so much for the best present ever--your reviews and your love. :)

Leave a review/comment and I'll send you a sneak peek at Chapter 11.

OH! Road Maps has a thread over on the Twilighted forums. Come on over and chat...you don't have to chat about Road Maps or Branded if you don't want to.

The link is on my profile.