Hey y'all! Glad everyone seemed to like Nahuel's chapter!! Anyway, here's another major chapter- let the drama begin!! *insert evil laugh here*

Disclaimer in chapter one!!

Don't forget to review!!

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oh, and be warned, this is the longest chapter I think I have ever written- but enjoy anyway, because there probably won't be another update for at least a week!

Old Ties That Bind

My heart started to beat faster as we climbed in the yellow Porsche that had been in a long-term parking garage for the last two weeks. We had had some trouble getting back into the States, something about illegal immigration laws… it took us longer than I would have guessed to skip back over the border.

It didn't help that I didn't have any money or identification on me, having left the small bag of my most important things with Jake and Seth. I figured if the shadow was after me now, the least I could do was stay far away from its previous targets.

Two weeks had passed since I had run from the place that had become my home. Just fourteen days. It already seemed like months, maybe even a year. So much had changed, but so much had not.

The adrenaline pumped through my veins, my hands shook, and so I gripped the steering wheel harder. A song came on the radio that nearly pushed me over the edge. I reached to turn stations, but I changed my mind and turned up the volume, wondering how it even got onto this station.

Nothing you can know that isn't known.

Nothing you can see that isn't shown.

Nowhere you can be that isn't where you're meant to be.

It's easy.

All you need is love.

All you need is love.

All you need is love, love.

Love is all you need.

The song took me back, back to one of the best times in my life, really living for the first time. The six short weeks before Chase had changed my life forever, seemed like a lifetime ago.

Luckily I had quick reflexes, and though my eyes stayed on the road, my mind did not.

That had, without a doubt, been the weirdest movie I had ever seen. It had actually made me kind of nauseous. Everything had been changing colors repeatedly, and swirling around uncomfortably.

It was the third "Thirsty Thursday" of the school year, and Sarah and Kate had decided to take full advantage of that fact. I, on the other hand, still had some of my brain cells.

Tyler had gone with the girls, who were meeting Caleb and Pogue at some huge house party, obviously Tyler was reasonable enough to realize that he would be the only sober one at the end of the night, and wanted to make sure everyone got home safely.

That left Reid and I with an open night, and we'd already spent the majority of the week at Nicky's. Instead we opted for a night in, and spent a good amount of time arguing over which movie to watch.

A movie at the bottom of the large stack caught my eye. Being a music buff, I immediately recognized the title of the movie as the song title to one of my mother's favorite Beatles songs.

Pulling it out, I waved it in his face. "What about this one?" I asked, having never seen it. I wasn't a big movie person, I enjoyed music, books, and of course, dancing- more.

He cocked an eyebrow. Then he started laughing. I couldn't tell what was funny, but soon I was laughing too. Which made him laugh harder… which made me laugh harder… a very vicious cycle.

He stopped first, and yanked the DVD case out of my hands lightly. Popping it into the player that was connected to a large home entertainment system, he pulled me back to the giant leather sofa that occupied the center of the large living room.

It was not the first time I had been to the mansion that he sometimes called home, but it was the first time his parents were out of town. I lay with my head on his chest, my eyes trained on the screen.

Halfway through the movie, I started singing along to the modern renditions of the old classic Beatles songs that completed the soundtrack. I hadn't bargained for a musical- silly me. But it kept us both extremely entertained- Reid laughed so hard at my impression of 'For the Benefit of Mr. Kite' that I thought he was going to start crying.

The last song before the credits, however, was my all-time favorite, because it declared what was so clearly true.

"What, I don't get a free concert for this one?" He asked, when I didn't start belting out the lyrics, in a purposely-off-pitch voice like I had for the rest. I shook my head shortly.

"I just want to listen. This is one of my favorite songs." I said shortly, so I could go back to listening.

Suddenly I was on my feet, with no idea of how I got there. Then I was spinning and swaying, and I realized a beat late that Reid had pulled me up to dance. His hand was light on the small of my back, his other held mine tightly.

His breath was light on my ear when he leaned his cheek down next to mine. His voice low and intense.

"All you need is love, love… love is all you need."

I was brought quickly out of my stupor by a loud screeching noise. Suddenly the steering wheel was yanked out of my hands. I shook my head and whipped over to look at Nahuel, who was currently glaring.

"I never exactly learned how to drive, but isn't it a safe bet for me to guess that we're supposed to stay on the road?" He asked, and I shrugged sheepishly. It wasn't like a little fender-bender would have hurt either of us.

"My bad." I muttered, turning down the main street of Ipswich. It was getting hard for me to breathe again… how was I ever, ever going to explain this?

I knew they would more than likely be at Nicky's; it was, after all, Friday night. Though the small, dingy bar was perhaps my favorite place in the world, it still took all of my will power to even open my door.

Nahuel lightly slung his arm over my shoulder, though we hadn't kept in contact over the years, he still seemed strangely familiar- which was nothing but welcoming in my current state of depressingly perpetual loneliness.

If I didn't get a hold of myself soon, I was going to pass out.

Pulling myself together, I lightly tread up the old stone steps- clutching Nahuel's hand in mine as though it was the only thing keeping me from going completely bat-shit crazy.

The old wooden door creaked, and a blast of smoke-filled air and loud music met us. Although I still felt sort of faint, the strangely welcoming warmth of the bar calmed me considerably. I couldn't not feel better with the immense sense of belonging that always greeted me here.

Nahuel did not share my sense of relief however; he tightened his hold on my hand. I felt half bad that I was throwing him into the modern-American party scene with no warning, but it really couldn't be helped.

I immediately caught sight of the very full, very depressing looking table my friends and I normally claimed. The occupants were perhaps the only people in the place that looked like they would rather be somewhere else.

"Here goes nothing." I muttered, dragging Nahuel with me- glad that we'd jacked some normal clothes from a thrift store. We looked like we had walked out of a seventies fashion magazine, but at least we didn't look like we had been hiking through the rainforest for the last week.

Sarah seemed to feel my stare, and her head snapped up before I was close enough to start apologizing. The glare that met me was one of the harshest I had ever seen. Looked like the fun was about to start.

Surprisingly, she slid down from her stool, offering no explanation to her boyfriend or friends, and skirted the many dancers. Stomping past me, she grabbed my wrist, and yanked me toward the door.

Her sudden movement jarred me, and I dropped Nahuel's hand. He silently followed me as I was dragged out into the ally. She quickly turned toward me, I had my back against the brick wall, and I honestly thought she might throw a punch.

She looked possibly too mad to speak. I sighed. "What. The. Hell." Was all she managed to spit out.

I took a deep breath. "I know, I'm in trouble. Are you honestly surprised? Seriously Sarah, I'm so sorry, from the very bottom of my heart." I said, filling my voice with all the sincerity I could.

Her expression didn't clear. "What heart?" She asked viciously.

Ouch.

I swallowed past the lump in my throat. She may have been entitled to that, but it still hurt badly to hear her say it so quickly. She didn't feel the need to wait for me to recover.

"You disappeared. You made promises to all of us, and chose your werewolf buddies that have done nothing but lie to you over honoring those promises. Do you have any idea what you put everyone through here? We are a family Renesmee, we welcomed you into it- and you threw it away like it was nothing. You don't deserve a second chance- not after what you've done to Reid and Tyler." She said, balling her hands into fists.

It had started to rain, and we both began to shiver. Nahuel stood silently, looking ready to interfere if needed- but he had wisdom enough to let us argue this out as long as nothing got violent.

Trying to keep my teeth from chattering, I formed as good a sentence as I could under the circumstances. "I'm not asking for acceptance, Sarah. I'm not even asking for understanding. All I wanted to do was let you know how very sorry I am. I counted you all as family too.

"I wasn't going to put you all in the middle of a fight that none of us would have survived." I said slowly, digging my nails into my palms. Ever since speaking to Sam, I hadn't been able to completely warm up. The freezing rain only added to the torturous cold.

I pushed on. "All I knew from my dreams was that this… thing wasn't going to stop, not until so many people were dead, children, wives. An entire tribe wiped off the Earth. I didn't see any way out of it, and I couldn't sit and do nothing either. I had to find a middle ground, and it hurt me to do it too- please, believe me." I said, and clenched my jaw, before I broke a tooth shivering so hard.

There was water running through her blonde hair, but it was easy to see that it was not just rain that streaked down her face. She furiously wiped at her cheeks. "It's really… damn it Rainy. Why are you always so infuriatingly selfless? You're sixteen, you're supposed to beg for your friends' help. We all wanted to help you." She said, continuing to glare, though she wasn't half as angry as she had been moments prior.

That was the first time she had ever used my relatively new nickname. I began to tear up as well, though I did not bother to wipe them away. I was completely soaked regardless, from my woven green headband to my long sleeved purple tie-dye peace sign midriff shirt, all the way down to the authentic bell-bottom jeans and bright blue Chucks.

"I know, they also wanted to help me with Chase, and we all know how well that one went over." I said with a hiccup and a little chuckle. She couldn't help but laugh too, though I could see she hadn't entirely let me off the hook.

"Yeah, but last time you at least let me and Kate in on it. So we weren't all freaking out." She said pointedly, no longer glaring.

I nodded. "I guess I just got a little… hasty in my decision making. When Jake called… I don't know, I just stopped thinking about anything but saving him. You have every right to hate me." I said softly, internally cursing when I realized my fingers were all but numb.

Finally she laughed for real. Throwing her arms around my neck, she choked out, "how could I hate anyone that dresses like that?" I giggled, hugging her back.

"What, hippie isn't back in style yet? Darn it, I picked up the wrong magazine again." I joked.

"Not to interrupt, but now that everyone is friends again, may I suggest we return to somewhere a bit… dryer?" Nahuel asked, quirking one dark eyebrow, and looking pointedly at the door that led into the smoky hot bar.

Sarah stiffened, her expression hardening again. Apparently she had forgotten that I had not shown up alone. "Okay, the leaving, I forgive you for… mostly. But really? You brought a guy back? And it couldn't even be like, Seth? Haven't you-" she began to ask, but I cut her off.

"Put Reid through enough?" I finished for her. "I really don't know how many more times I can be accused, even indirectly, of cheating on him before I snap. I haven't, I'm not, and I won't. This is Nahuel, the only other living Guardian. Nahuel, this is Sarah, my roommate." I said, making the introductions as quickly as possible. I was beginning to really like his idea of going back inside.

Her mouth dropped open, clearly this was not what she was expecting. A sly smile tugged on the corner of his mouth. "Nice to meet you, I'm sorry for any trouble I have caused by being here." He said.

She stuttered in reply, obviously struggling with coherency. Apparently she was discovering first hand how charming vampires, even half-vampires could be when they so wished.

"Hi… it's ni-nice to me-meet you t-t-too." She said. I laughed, and grabbed her by the arm, fully intending to pull her back inside. I stopped dead when I was facing the door, mostly because my heart had stopped beating in my chest.

My eyes filled immediately with tears again. Sarah, I could handle her anger. But my heart, and my nerves had been through so much recently that I didn't know if I could take his rejection on top of it all.

"Uh… Na-huel? I think we should go back inside now." She said, slipping out of my slackened grip and gently brushing past the blond boy standing in the doorway. Nahuel gave me a hard look, I knew he could sense the change in atmosphere, and he wasn't sure what to make of it.

"Can you give us a minute?" I asked him, trying to convey that there was, at least, no physical danger. I felt my cheeks burning, and there was no way I was getting through this with an audience.

He dipped his head once in agreement, and gracefully slid through the dark doorway, back into the crowded bar.

I wasn't even sure I could make myself look Reid in the eyes. I didn't deserve anything but a very brutal break-up. "Reid I-" I tried to start, but my voice cracked twice, and my breath caught in my throat.

And then my back was against the brick again, and my head was spinning. The world fell away, none of it made sense anyway- and none of it really mattered. Electricity ran through my veins once again, heating my body from the inside, chasing away the terror and the chill.

His lips caught mine roughly, his body pressed against me tightly. One of his hands had both my wrists pinned above my head, the other was on my bare hip, pushing me back into the wall even harder.

Catching my lower lip between his teeth, he caused me to nearly faint again, only this time it was the most amazing feeling ever. They weren't lying about the fireworks. Instinct kicked in, and I tore my wrists free, throwing them around his neck and pulling myself closer.

I hopped lightly, wrapping my legs around him, letting myself forget that we were, in fact, in a dark ally behind a bar. Not that I really cared- I wasn't the most conventional girl in the world.

The rain hadn't let up, and for once it was probably a good thing. I started to shiver again, and it brought Reid back to his senses. He lightly set me on my feet, but pulled me into his chest. I buried my face in his wet t-shirt, holding on to him for dear life.

I felt so safe, safer than I had in a really long time. This was right.

His arms were tight around me, and he dropped a light kiss on my rain-soaked hair. "Let's get you back inside, before you freeze to death." He said, his voice reverberating through his body.

I pulled back, just enough to catch his icy eyes. "Wait… at least give me a chance to explain myself." I pleaded, though I was starting to freeze.

His lips landed on mine again, this time gently. "You don't owe me an explanation Rainy. And I'd really like it if you'd let me take care of you now that you're back. We can talk later- somewhere dry maybe?"

Did he really just say that I didn't need to explain? He was kidding, right? I didn't even know what to make of it all. My eyes filled with tears again, "B-b-but.-" I stuttered, trying to at least apologize.

He sighed, keeping his arm around me, but lightly pulling me around the building toward the parking lot. This confused me, and I stopped shivering for a minute. "Aren't we going back inside?" I asked, somewhat clearly.

He gave me a condescending look, though the spark in his eyes gave him away as always. I marveled that he really wasn't mad at me. "I don't think you can really handle talking to Tyler right now, do you?" He asked pointedly. "We'll have a meeting tomorrow morning, right now, we're going back to my place." He said, no question in his words.

Usually that kind of attitude irritated me, but I was so tired of being in charge. I nodded, and gave him as grateful a smile as I could muster. He pulled open the door to his Chevy, and let me in.

Moments later he was behind the wheel. "Wait," I said, as he threw it in reverse after turning on the heater full-blast. "You haven't been drinking, have you?" I asked, wondering if I could even drive if I wanted to at this point.

I got a dirty look as reply to my question. "Do you really think I'd drive with you in my car if I had been?" He asked. My cheeks warmed, and it wasn't from the car's amazingly fast heating system.

It didn't even cross my mind until we were in his driveway that I had forgotten something, or rather, someone. "Shit." I muttered. "We have to go back- I can't believe I forgot about Nahuel."

I couldn't tell if it was amusement or annoyance in his expression, and I was too exhausted to figure it out. "Sarah will take care of him, I'm sure she'll take him back to school. Don't worry about it." He said, pulling me up the driveway.

It was relieving to see there were no other cars here. I didn't have to ask- Reid's parents spent more time in Europe than they did in their own home. When we got inside he pushed me toward the huge pristine bathroom.

"Go, take a shower." He said, pointing. I didn't argue. As much as I didn't want to lose any time with him, I was still shivering, and a hot shower sounded amazing.

Fifteen minutes later I wrapped one of the plush warm towels around myself. I didn't know what I was going to do for clothes- it wasn't like I'd ever made a habit of sleeping anywhere but my own room.

He was way ahead of me. He had left a t-shirt and shorts out, though he was nowhere to be seen. Pulling them on quickly, I toweled through my wild hair, knowing it was going to be impossible in the morning.

I made my way toward the kitchen, guessing I'd look there first. I was right.

He pressed a mug of hot chocolate into my hands. "Warmer?" He asked.

I set it down on the counter and wrapped my arms around him, laying my head so my ear was over his heart. "You have no idea." I said, the chill of the spirit world finally just a memory.

His hands rubbed my arms lightly. "I think I might." He muttered.

I pulled him out of the kitchen with one hand, grabbing the mug from the counter with the other. He let me drag him to the huge living room. I sat down on the couch, yanking him down next to me.

I crawled up onto his lap, holding the hot chocolate with both hands. "Okay, now we're both dry, and warm, and I want to explain." I said resolutely. It didn't matter what he said, he deserved the truth.

"You don't have to. I know you were just doing what you thought you had to." He said, tightening his arms around me. I could hear the slight pain in his voice, though it was well hidden.

"I want to. I was doing what I thought was right. That doesn't mean I should have done it. At least not the way I did. I never meant to cause that much trouble. I mean, I saw the whole thing with my parents—why did you defend me like that?" I asked, remembering Caleb throwing him into Jasper, who just so happened to be my scariest relative.

"You saw that? Why do you think? I know you Rainy- the kind of person you are. I love you for it. Tyler and Caleb were both wrong, and I wasn't going to sit there and let them start so much shit over it." He said, and I could hear the sincerity.

I sat the empty mug on the floor and turned around, so I was facing him. "Can I show you… what's going on? I'm so tired of being alone, please?" I asked, hoping my request made sense.

He kissed my forehead lightly. "Don't ever think you're alone. You aren't getting rid of me that easily." He said with his signature smirk back in place. I took it as acquiescence.

I laid my fingers lightly on his face, and let the story flow through. I started with the day in the woods, when Jake and I argued all the way through the shadow taking me to see Sam, and him leaving me with Nahuel. It was the best explanation I could give him.

My eyes had closed, concentrating on details. I left out our nearly week-long trek back into the country- it was too exhausting to even think about. When I let the images drain out at last, I opened my eyes, hoping to be met with the extraordinary acceptance that I had somehow been graced with all night.

The acceptance was there, but it was nearly overpowered by something else. If I hadn't known Reid better, I would have said it was fear. Suddenly I was no longer sitting on his lap, I was on my back, and the electricity was sparking through me again.

I had never had much in the way of self control, but apparently Reid's had slipped, his mouth was rough, his hands everywhere. It was like wildfire. I gasped, and for once it didn't pull either of us back to our senses.

Finally the intensity made me pull away. We were both breathing heavily. Reid collapsed lightly, and rolled over so I was laying with my head on his shoulder. "Sorry. I couldn't really help myself, not after seeing how close I was to losing you." He said, his fingers tracing the tattoo on my hip.

I snickered. "Nah, I would have had to come back as a ghost and haunt your ass." I teased. He smirked.

"Is that supposed to be comforting or frightening?" He asked. I shrugged.

"I dunno. I guess it's as scary or comforting as you make it." I said. "Just like everything else." I paused. "Reid?" I asked hesitantly.

He raised an eyebrow, inviting me to continue. "Thank you so much. You didn't have to be so easy on me."

His fingers had stopped their tracing on my hip, and his arms were now wrapped around me. "Right, because you haven't been through enough in the last two weeks." He pointed out.

I laughed. "Welcome to my life." I said. He rolled his eyes. I reached up to kiss his cheek, and then let my head fall back to his shoulder. "I love you." I reminded him.

We both fell asleep on the giant leather sofa, and for the first time since before Chase, I was able to sleep without nightmares.

Morning came too soon. Although it had been the best sleep I had gotten in over a month, I was still tired, and still nervous. Deep down I knew Reid was going to be nicer to me than I deserved. Just as, deep down, I knew Tyler was going to tell it like it was. He was going to be brutally honest- and I deserved every second of it.

I held Reid's hand tightly in mine, as he all but dragged me down the stairs to Caleb's basement. This was the usual meeting place, though I couldn't help but feel slightly apprehensive. Last time we all got into it down here, they all found out I was a vampire, and then locked me and Kate and Sarah in the Colony House.

Everyone was waiting for us, of course. No one said a word, until Reid had flopped down in the unbelievably comfortable armchair in the corner, pulling me onto his lap. Nahuel was standing silently off to the corner.

Not that I had a problem being there, but I wanted to get the hardest part over with. I knew once Tyler and I had fought it out, one way or another, we'd all be able to move on.

I climbed off Reid's lap, he stiffened, and I could tell it took him some effort to let me stand up and walk away. I made my way slowly to where Tyler was sitting on the counter that surrounded the small kitchen-area in the faux-apartment.

"Can I talk to you, please?" I asked, gesturing upwards. It was eerily silent in the basement, and I didn't want an audience for what was coming. I couldn't read the expression in his eyes-which was a first.

I could feel everyone's eyes on my back, as Tyler jumped down. He didn't even give me another glance, just headed for the stairs. I took a deep breath, refusing to make eye-contact with anyone else in the room before following him.

He stopped in the study, and I got another wave of de ja vu. This was where Kate and Sarah had talked to Seth for the first time. It all seemed like a million years ago.

"Ty, I'm not asking for forgiveness, okay? Just the chance to say that I'm sorry." I said. From the beginning I had thought Tyler's reaction would be the most frightening. And I was right, just not in the way I had expected.

Tyler was crying. I was mortified. I had no idea what to do. It wasn't like he was bawling, but he was definitely crying. My mind couldn't come up with any sort of an explanation, so I let my instinct take over.

I grabbed his hand and pulled him closer, throwing my arms around his neck and hugging him. We stood like that until it was uncomfortable, and then we both sat in front of the fireplace, that was jumping with cheery flames.

"Don't ever do that again." He said, looking at the flickering fire instead of at me.

I nodded. "You know, outside Nicky's… I didn't mean what I said. I love all you guys. It's just, when I get scared, I tend to push people away, especially the people closest to me. I guess, after everything that my parents went through with always putting each other in danger—I never wanted to do that to anyone else." I said, as way of explanation.

He smiled, but it was not his normal, adorable, happy smile. "I know, but really Rainy, we would have rather been fighting with you, even with the possibility of not surviving, if it meant that we didn't have to sit around feeling helpless." He scolded.

I snorted. He finally looked up at me, obviously not expecting my reaction. "What, so we can all feel helpless together?" I muttered. "Ty, this isn't something we can fight. I don't know what I'm supposed to do- I came back to ask for help." I said, and I knew that he understood what it cost me to admit that I needed help.

"What kind of help?" He asked warily. He knew me too well.

I sighed. "With this." I said, letting my eyes bleed into black. The fire turned blue, green, and purple before fading back into orange. "I don't know what I'm doing with it, and I need a handle on it before I can even think about facing this shadow."

There was shock on his face. "Shit, why does Caleb always have to be right?" He groaned. "This power is dangerous Rainy. How much have you…?" He asked, trailing off.

"Well… every time I have to face off with the darkness- it's the only way I've survived this long. And then once or twice when I was with Jake, just to prove a point. It's hard not to now." I said quietly.

His head fell back against the chair he was leaning against. "Damn it. That's not a good thing." He said shortly.

"What else is new?" I asked. He shot me a dirty look, before thinking about it for a minute. Shrugging, he stood, and offered me his hand. Pulling me up to my feet, he headed for the stairs.

"We need to go talk to Caleb, now." He said. I was tired of being in charge. I let him lead the way, hoping that someone else would take over.

When we reached the circle of silent people in the basement, he lightly shoved me back toward Reid, who looked extremely relieved—that is until Tyler had to go and be blunt. "You're stupid girlfriend is just as bad as you are. She's got herself addicted to the Power now." He said, climbing lightly back up on the counter and smirking at me.

I stuck my tongue out. "Thanks, Ty-love you too."


so... the next chapter will be more important as far as the whole fighting to save the world thing goes, but i hope you enjoyed the reunion chapter!! and don't worry, Caleb's reactions are yet to come. Review!!

and no, Nahuel is not done playing a part yet :)

preview:

"Oh you have got to be kidding me. Ghosts?"

"Don't tell me you don't believe in them."

"Do I have a choice? Now all we need is Frankenstein and some fairies."

"You wish."