*waves* Hi there! Bet you weren't expecting this so soon. But here it is! LOL. You all certainly do deserve it for being so patient with me on this one.

Chapter song - Angel ~ Aerosmith

Many thanks to shepeppy for her beta work and for being my own personal emo-meter with this chapter.

SM owns Twilight. I own a Seth and his sweet angel.

SPOV

I took a swig of my soda and swished it around a bit, letting the fizzy liquid pop and fizz around my tongue and teeth. I swallowed and grimaced at the sweet taste of it.

Ugh, orange soda. Why the fuck am I drinking orange soda?

I hated orange soda. It was too sweet to do anything but make you even thirstier than you were before you started drinking it. I grumbled to myself about being an idiot for telling Jenny, the girl who took phone orders at the pizza company, to just give me 'whatever' to drink, and grabbed another piece of pepperoni pizza off my plate. I sunk my teeth into it, chewing the hell out of it to try and combat the sweet, syrupy aftertaste of the drink.

I ate the piece quickly, not bothering to taste it as I swallowed it down and let it fill my stomach. When I was done I blindly reached for another one while staring at a random infomercial for some kind of chopping device on TV, grimacing when my hand met an empty plate.

I looked down at the plain white plate littered with crumbs and wondered when the hell I'd managed to pound back an entire twelve slice pizza without really noticing it. I guess it wasn't really that big a deal, considering the fact that it was probably the third pizza I'd ordered in a week. Meals all seemed to kind of blur together when they were a never ending train of pizza, burgers and macaroni and cheese. Thank God I'd at least perfected the art of making mac and cheese before I'd left home. After my dad passed away Leah and I took on a lot of chores and responsibilities at home to help my mom out whenever we could. I loved food; there was no denying that, so at the time I thought cooking would be a great place for me to help out. I tried really hard, following recipes and directions on boxes, but nothing ever seemed to come out right. After about a month or so of trying, it was pretty clear that the only thing I'd be able to pull together without burning, overcooking or drying out was mac and cheese, toast and the occasional hot dog.

Now that I was on my own it was pretty safe to say that meal times sucked. Jake and Nessie took pity on me and had me over a couple of times a week, seeing as both of them could cook really well. I didn't like going over there too late, though. I was eating late quite a bit lately because my job as a stock boy at the local department store usually had me working until nine or ten at night. I didn't mind the hours because it paid well. Apparently there weren't many young guys out there willing to haul ass, dragging and piling boxes around a stock room for hours on end. I could see where most of them would have a problem. It was hard work and involved a lot of heavy lifting. It was no problem for me, though. With my added strength I could lift several times more than most of the other guys at one time, and even at that the loads weren't really heavy at all. I had to put on a good show for my co-workers, though, so I took it a lot easier than I could have and did my work just fast enough to impress my boss, but not fast enough to draw any suspicion. My shifts were supposed to end at eleven, so finishing at ten or even nine, like I did tonight, was somewhat reasonable. Imposing myself on Jake and Nessie at that time of night to eat wasn't, though.

So on the nights I worked I was usually left to fend for myself.

I hefted myself off of the couch, grabbed my empty plate and half empty can of soda and made my way to the sink. I dropped the plate down into it and tipped the can of soda over with a sigh, letting it drain over the plate and into the sink, washing my crumbs down with it.

I hesitantly glanced at the clock as I waited for the can to empty.

Ten thirty.

I felt my stomach sink, right along with my shoulders, which slumped forward in disappointment. It was ten thirty and for the third day in a row I hadn't seen Olivia. Not only that, I'd barely talked to her over the last few days either. It was really starting to get to me. When I dropped her off at her dorm three nights ago everything seemed fine – better than fine, actually. At least... it was for me.

She'd accepted me by agreeing to wear my bracelet, she started opening up to me and letting her walls down a bit and best of all... she started to feel our bond. I'd dropped her off feeling happy and secure that we were turning a corner and heading someplace good - a place where we'd get to know everything about each other and really start living in the light and the warmth that we created together. Because that's what our bond was like – light and warm.

My phone rang and softly buzzed in my pocket, pulling me out of my thoughts. I reached for it quickly and held it up to check the display, hoping to hear from Olivia and that maybe she had actually called me after work tonight, instead of it being the other way around.

No such luck.

It was Jake.

I flipped the phone open and held it to my ear.

"Hey," I said flatly, still feeling really disappointed that she hadn't called. She got off work half an hour ago and should have been home about ten minutes after that. I wondered what she was doing and if she was planning to call. Then I wondered if I would even get to talk to her at all if I didn't call myself.

"Hey, Seth," Jake said cheerfully but hesitantly. I could tell that he knew something was up with me. I hadn't really talked to him much over the last couple of days either. When I'd talked to Olivia the first night of the last three she seemed really distant and kind of closed off, more so than usual, and it really worried me. I didn't want to bother Jake with it since we were all getting ready to start school tomorrow and Nessie was really excited about it. So I just kind of kept to myself a bit, which admittedly, wasn't very like me.

"What's up?" I asked him, trying to put a little more enthusiasm into my tone of voice. Didn't work, though. I still sounded pretty flat, even to my own ears.

Jake sighed under his breath and stayed silent for a moment. It was a heavy kind of silence that didn't usually occur between guys like us who were more like brothers than friends.

"Well, I was going to give you a bullshit excuse about calling to see if you were ready start classes tomorrow, but what I really want to do is ask you the same thing yourself." He paused for a beat. "What's up, Seth?" he asked knowingly.

I rolled my eyes and huffed a bit. I had no clue how to explain what was wrong without sounding completely whipped. I knew that Jake would get it. I just never pegged myself as one of those guys that would get all down in the dumps because of girl troubles.

"I, uh... shit," I mumbled weakly. What the hell was I supposed to say? I'm feeling a bit insecure and frustrated because I haven't seen my girl in three days and I feel like she's pulling away from me and it's freaking me the fuck out?

Yeah... no.

Jake chuckled under his breath softly.

"Let me guess... Olivia?" he asked smugly.

I rolled my eyes again, but this time I was shaking my head a bit at myself. Who did I think I was kidding? The other guys who had imprinted could always tell when something like this was up.

"Um, yeah," I breathed heavily.

"Did something happen? Everything seemed good after we talked the other day," he reminded me, and he was right. Everything did seem good when I spoke with him the day after our little celebration party. He knew what I was planning to give her and ask her that night, and he was really happy for me when I told him how well it had gone.

I hadn't told him anything about what I learned about her past, though. I didn't want to go behind her back with something like that. She was finally starting to loosen up around him a bit, and she was a really private person, so I was pretty sure that telling him about her past would make her feel awkward and undo the progress they'd been making.

I had avoided hanging out with Jake in wolf form over the last few days for that very same reason. I needed some time to deal with what I'd learned and find a place to tuck it away in the back of my mind so I wouldn't be thinking about it when we phased together. I was pretty darn good at controlling my thoughts, after having years of practice, so I knew it wouldn't take long. But Jake had been coming with me for an hour or so every night that I patrolled around Olivia's place, just to hang out and stay loose. We hadn't done that together in almost a week. Combine that with the lack of phone calls, and I should have known that he'd figure something was up.

Only, now that he was asking me about it, I was struggling with how to tell him what I was worried about without spilling the beans about Olivia's confession of sorts. I had a very strong feeling that what we'd touched upon that night had something to do with the reason that she was avoiding me, or pulling away from me... or whatever it was that was going on.

I sighed and sucked it up, figuring that I might as well get it over with. He was probably going to find out sooner than later, and I didn't like avoiding him. I knew he'd never talk about it outside of talking to me, if I wanted to. Every wolf in the pack recognized how sacred and private anything to do with our other halves was, and we did our best to give them as much privacy as we could, all things considered.

But... I needed some advice and I definitely wasn't above going to Jake for it.

"I haven't seen her since that night," I confessed quietly, "and besides all of the good things that happened... some other things happened too that... weren't as good. I didn't think it was a problem, but now I'm pretty sure I was wrong about that."

Jake sighed heavily.

"Ok," he answered hesitantly. "What happened?"

"She told me some things about her past. Not much, but..." I trailed off, trying to find the right words. I fucking hated thinking about it. Talking about it was even worse. It made my muscles tense up and my heart start racing and the heat creep up along my spine. It was like repeating what she told me made it feel a bit more real... and I hated that it was real.

"You've gotta give me a little more than that, Seth," Jake said quietly. I knew he was trying his best to be respectful and not cross any lines, but he was right. I needed to tell him more if I wanted some help, and as much as I hated talking about it, I hated the distance between me and Olivia right now even more.

So I sucked it up again, and just spit it out. Literally. My jaw was clenched so tight that the words shot out of it like nails from a nail gun.

"She told me that she dated some asshole motherfucker in the past that didn't treat her very well."

There. I'd said it. And I wasn't a bit surprised that my mouth felt dry and bitter after spitting the ugly truth out.

Jake cursed lightly under his breath and hesitated before responding cautiously. Again, I could tell that he was trying not to pry.

"How did he... mistreat her?" he asked. I was really fucking grateful for his careful choice of words. Mistreatment sounded a lot better than hurt in my mind. I don't know why, but it didn't seem as harsh.

"I don't fucking know," I admitted quietly. "All she said was that he wasn't kind to her, but -." Fuck. I thought about the look in her eyes when she told me. She didn't have to say anything else for me to know that it was more than that.

"I don't know, Jake," I continued. "Maybe I'm just getting all worked up over nothing, but... it seemed like more than that. I could feel it, you know?"

He sighed heavily. "Yeah, I do know. You can feel it in your gut when something's really wrong."

I knew that too. It was like a sixth sense our bond gave us about our other halves. I'd never felt it myself before, but there was no mistaking it once I did. It was like my gut and my heart were tied directly to hers. And when hers twisted and ached in pain, mine did too.

"I feel like she's been avoiding me the last couple of days," I continued, wanting to get the whole truth out there. "We barely talk and when we do it's usually because I call her after work and even then... she doesn't say much. Less than usual." I shuffled over to the couch and slumped down onto it, leaning my head back to stare up at the ceiling.

"I don't know what's going on and she won't let me in," I mumbled miserably, completely aware that to anyone besides another imprinted wolf I'd probably sound pretty pathetic at that point.

Jake was quiet for a minute or two, and so was I. I was busy trying to figure out how to bring it up with her myself if I needed to. I still didn't want to push her, though. I told her she didn't have to tell me anything and she flat out admitted that she wasn't ready to. But... where did that leave me when she was shutting me out like this?

To be honest, I was pretty fucking clueless about what to do next. I just knew that I missed her something awful and would do pretty much anything she asked me to do so that we could get back to the good thing we were starting together.

"Maybe she needs some space, Seth," Jake said quietly.

I groaned under my breath and shut my eyes tightly, hoping for any advice but that. I missed her quiet voice and shy smiles and her bottomless blue eyes. I hadn't seen her in three whole days. To an imprinted wolf, that was damn near an eternity. Space was probably the hardest thing for me to give her at that point.

"Look, just hear me out, ok?" Jake asked, obviously hearing the exasperation in my groan and knowing first-hand how difficult it was for me to give my other half space when all I needed was to be close to her.

I kept my mouth shut and listened, hoping like hell that he would explain how keeping my distance for even longer would do anything to help me at that point.

He sighed and continued when he realized that I was planning on listening.

"I don't have any advice to give you when it comes to the relationship part of all of this, so maybe Jared or Sam would be better for you to talk to about that but... I do know something about what girls Olivia and Nessie's age are like when they get upset." He paused there and I nodded to myself, knowing more than Jake how frustrated Nessie was feeling lately with their lack of a relationship, and figuring that he's probably had quite a bit of experience dealing with her when she's got something on her mind and doesn't feel much like talking about it.

"Ok," I prompted.

"I don't have anything specific to tell you about what to do with or for Olivia, Seth, but I do know that when Nessie's upset about something or needs to think, she tends to shut everyone out... including me. She'll head to her room and play her guitar for hours or pop in her iPod and go for a run. When she was younger I could interrupt her and cheer her up with a joke or offer to take her mind off things with a game or movie, but these last few months have been different. She glares at me if I peek in on her to check if she's ok and she usually shakes her head at anything I suggest to help cheer her up. So I leave her alone for a few hours and she usually comes back less grumpy and somewhat sorted out. She sometimes tells me what it is that was bothering her, then. Not so much lately but... I'm guessing its girl stuff, maybe. Sometimes it's longer than hours, though. Right before we left to come here she went a whole day and a half without saying a word to me or anyone else. I was definitely worried about her and missed her like crazy the entire time, but Bella told me to leave her be. She said she was sorting herself out and the best thing I could do was give her the time and space she needed to do it – so I did. And it ended up working out for the best. She came to me first after that and told me that she was feeling really badly about being so excited to leave home and move up here for school with me, because she somehow felt like she made the decisions for both of us and wasn't sure that it was what I really wanted to do."

I chuckled under my breath, knowing that she was half right and half completely wrong about that. Nessie was the one to decide to go away to school and ask Jake to go with her, but Jake was one hundred percent just as excited as she was about doing this with her. Every single thing they'd done together for her entire life had been in the shadow of her family and the packs. He saw this as a chance for them to just hang out and ... be. Not to mention that he was pretty fucking stoked about experiencing college for the first time with her. It was the first time they'd been able to do any sort of major life experience together, without Jake having done it first.

"I know, man. I know," Jake said, chuckling right along with me. "She was actually feeling guilty that I was doing all of this for her and not getting anything out of it for myself. Crazy, right?"

"Yep," I agreed, knowing that Nessie was coming from a bit of a different place with her guilt than Jake figured. It was more complicated than that. But I would never say anything. He was right – either way he wouldn't have missed out on the opportunity to do this with her for the world.

"So you think Olivia's just... sorting herself out, too?" I asked hesitantly.

I knew that what Jake was saying about Nessie was true, I'd seen glimpsed of it in his thoughts anytime it happened. Maybe he was right. Maybe she was just taking some time to get herself straight. If that was the case... maybe giving her space really was the best thing I could do for her at that point, even if it hurt like hell to miss her like I did.

"Maybe, Seth. I don't know for sure. Does she talk to you? I mean talk, talk? I know she's really shy, so maybe it's just going to take her a little longer to get to the point where she can really talk about things. You guys haven't known each other as long as Nessie and I have. It has to be harder for her to open up..." he trailed off.

He was right. I knew he was. It was just that I couldn't shake the feeling that something was wrong, especially tonight... more than the other nights. Maybe I'd just reached my limit of non-Olivia time. I mean, when heaven sends you a sweet angel like her, you want to spend your time appreciating and enjoying her, not intentionally staying away from her. But if it was what she needed... then it was just what I had to do.

"Ok," I sighed out heavily, "space. I think I can give her space," I mumbled grudgingly.

Jake chuckled again lightly. "I'd like to say it gets easier, bro, but it doesn't. Not really."

I knew he was telling the truth about that too. As a matter of fact, from what I'd seen it would probably only get harder. The more involved we got, the harder it would be to stay away. Especially when I felt like I needed to be near her, like now.

"Thanks for keeping it real, Jake," I muttered sarcastically and then chuckled with him to let him know that I got what he was saying.

"It's just until tomorrow, Seth. You know you'll see her then," he said matter-of-factly.

"Right again, brother," I acknowledged. We had all but one of our classes together. I was taking a first year engineering course while she took art. I guess giving her space for one more night would be ok, considering that I'd get to see her for a large portion of the day tomorrow.

"You going to patrol around her dorm tonight? I can keep you company if you want," he suggested.

I thought about it for a minute. I really wanted to see her. Actually, I was pretty jumpy at the thought of being near enough to hear her and maybe see her through a window... but if I saw her or heard her I'd definitely want to call her, and that wouldn't be giving her space. In fact, hanging outside of her dorm and listening in on her night would be the opposite of giving her space.

"No, I think I'll stay in tonight," I said. The words felt wrong coming out of my mouth. I didn't want to stay in. I wanted to be near her.

"Ok," Jake said, "but feel free to call if you change your mind."

"I will. Thanks, Jake."

"Any time, Seth. Are you driving yourself tomorrow?"

"Yeah, I planned on it." I hadn't been driving my car too much since I'd been in Alaska because the weather was nice and everything was so close, but I was hoping to ask Olivia to grab a bite to eat with me after class. I wanted to take her to the Thai restaurant I ordered from a few nights ago. We'd have to drive there, since it was a bit farther out, so I'd definitely need my car.

"Ok, well, I guess I'll see you tomorrow in statistics." The first year math class was the only one that Jake and I had together. We were all taking first year history, but Jake and Nessie ended up in a different section than Olivia and I had.

"Definitely. See you then," I confirmed before we said our goodbyes and hung up.

I shut the phone with a deep sigh and stared at the screen, willing it to light up with her name. I wanted her to call. For some strange reason I felt almost desperate to hear her voice. I needed to see her so badly it almost made me tear up. Almost. And that was just not fucking normal for me, at all. After staring at it for what was probably close to ten minutes, I decided to give up staring and try my best to distract myself.

I headed for the bathroom and shed my shirt, jeans and boxers. I cranked the water in the shower up as hot as it would go and climbed in. I spent the next few minutes focusing on nothing but washing the dirt of my shift at work away.

Once I was clean I just... stood there. I leaned forward into the spray, braced my hands on the wall under the showerhead, and ducked my head forward out of the water and let the droplets rain down on my shoulders. I tried to focus on the sound of the light patter the water droplets made as they slapped my skin.

As they spattered away, I zoned out, trying to man up and calm the fuck down about everything. Worrying wasn't going to get me anywhere. I'd just have to wait it out.

I listened to the droplets for another minute or so, emptying my mind completely, so that all I could hear was the little splats and drips of the droplets against my skin. I noticed a lot more splatters and drops by this point in my shower – bigger ones, too and figured that it was probably raining outside.

The sounds changed from splats and drips to splats, drops, louder wet slaps, and drips then. When I focused even more I noticed that the louder wet slaps were definitely pounding out their own subtle rhythm. They were definitely not part of the random water from the shower and the rain. They seemed to be pretty far out, but were getting closer.

I turned off the shower and grabbed a towel, drying off as I tried to place the steadily approaching rhythm. It almost sounded like... someone jogging. But the steps weren't as heavy as they should have been for a full grown adult, and what kid would be out jogging around at eleven at night?

It didn't make any sense.

I tossed on my jeans hastily and focused on the sound as closely as I could. It wasn't far away now, just a couple of houses away now. And it was definitely a jogger. I could now hear the distinct sound of the rubber soles of their shoes slapping the pavement.

I had just slipped my shirt on over my head when I heard the jogger approach the house... and then turn down our driveway.

I didn't even think about what I did next. I just followed my gut when it literally lurched toward the door to my apartment. I flew out of the bathroom and was up the stairs in what was probably less than a couple of seconds.

I tore the door open and gasped at the sight in front of me.

There she was standing on my doorstep in yoga pants and a t-shirt, soaked from head to toe, panting and shivering almost violently in the cool night air and cradling one of her wrists to her chest.

"Olivia," I breathed. I reached out slowly and cradled her shoulders gently in my hands. Her shivering lessened a bit when I pulled her into my chest and out of the rain. She looked up at me then, red-eyed and in some kind of panicked daze without saying a word.

"Did you... run here?" I asked incredulously.

She nodded mechanically.

I huffed out a surprised breath. It was a good five mile jog from her apartment to mine. It was cold and it was late. I knew she liked to run at the gym, but five miles was almost double the distance she said she normally did.

I didn't ask her anything else, just leaned down slowly and scooped her little body up in my arms, shut the door with my foot and carried her down the stairs. I could feel her shaking subside a bit as she laid her head on my shoulder and curled into me. I walked us toward the couch and sat with her curled up in my lap.

She shivered and shook and I wrapped my arms around her shoulders, holding her to me to keep her warm.

I knew... I just knew that she needed me tonight. I should have known that it was wrong to ignore my gut. I needed to be near her... because she needed me.

My angel somehow fell tonight. She was shaken and scared and drowning in rain and panic. I could see it in her eyes. And as of that moment, I was officially getting panicked with her.

What the hell happened?

"Liv," I breathed, trying to stay calm for her, "what happened?"

No answer.

"Liv, please..." I pled with a shaky voice. I needed her to talk to me. I needed to help her but I didn't know what the fuck was wrong. "What's wrong?"

Nothing.

I grit my teeth in frustration and hugged her to me a bit tighter before releasing one arm and reaching around to her face. I ran the back of my middle and forefingers across her cheek slowly and gently until she took the hint and lifted her head off of my shoulder to look at me.

And her eyes... her eyes were swimming with chaos.

"Are you ok?" I whispered desperately.

And then finally, I got my answer. It was whispered and stuttered and it seemed like she practically had to shake it free from her body, but she managed to get it out to me.

"No."

Bet you weren't counting on a cliffie of any sort in this fic were you? *smiles* You all should really know better. If you've already read Wicked Games you would know how much I love a good cliffie every now and again, lol.

Shepeppy (who is my beta, for those of you who don't read my little disclaimer at the top of each chapter) asked me a question about Seth's phone after reading this chapter. Yes, for those of you who are wondering, Seth cell phone is a good old fashoined flip phone. There are a few references in the fic already about him flipping it open or closed to answer or end a call. I won't go into detail about what this kind of phone is like, but I will say that if you're not old enough to know or remember what a flip phone is or how it functions, I am inclined ot believe that you are ignoring the 'M' rating of this fic. For those of you wondering why he uses an archaic phone, the answer is simple. Seth doesn't have a lot of money. The phone works just fine - why waste money on a new one if it's not necessary. Olivia is very much in the same boat. There is a reference to this in an earlier chapter (5, I think, but don't quote me on that).

Sooo... any guesses about what has happened to Olivia?

I hope that the next chapter will be out to you as quickly as this one. Mr. Hitchy is going on a business trip for a few days. This could lead to countless evening hours of productive writing, or it could lead to a few exhausted evenings after having my kidlet all to myself for a few days. Keep your fingers crossed for me!

That's it for now.

Until next time,

Hitchy