CPOV

Half an hour later, we finally found a suitable convenient store. And by suitable, I meant there were no security cameras anywhere. It was probably unnecessary, but I like to be thorough when making sure to minimize my chances of being tracked down by the Edison Group. Before I could reach the door, though, Derek held me back and led me to the side of the small building.

"Chloe." He said. "You can't ignore me forever. I haven't really had the chance to talk to you yet, so could you at least hear me out?" After putting a finger to my lips and pretending to think about it for a moment, I slumped my shoulders and gave in.

"Okay, sure. Tell me everything you have to say." I said, but only with passive sarcasm, because his was the side of the story that I was actually waiting to hear from the whole time. He took a deep breath, and flicked his green eyes to the left for a few seconds. I could practically see the gears turning at hyper-speed for him to gather his thoughts together.

"Okay first of all, I never wanted you to leave. I know that's what you think, but you're wrong. You heard Andrew, right? That was proof right there! Over the course of a few days he's been trying to control me under that spell of his. But the more I resisted, the harder he fought. By the time you were at the door ready to leave, Andrew had already renewed the spell on me. So while I was concentrating on gathering enough control of myself to make everyone come to their senses, you were gone. I was too late. But even after you left, the spell didn't fade. I guess Andrew made it lock on me for a while, but I'm not a sorcerer so I don't know any details about how he did it. I'll have to look into it later. But anyway, I was a little brainwashed for a while and when Rachel suddenly joined us I was completely overwhelmed. I literally felt insane. But after a few weeks, the spell faded just a small amount, and my thoughts stopped constantly telling me that you were a useless person. I was able to regain a bit of my senses, but the spell wouldn't even let me leave to house. I was physically unable to chase after you. It was an extreme form of house arrest, and you know how I hate being confined in small spaces." He stopped to take a deep breath.

"As for Rachel, she took advantage of all of that. She tried flirting with me, and telling me everyday to forget about you, but I don't she understood that I couldn't. You're my mate, Chloe." He looked at me intensely, his green eyes practically glowing in the dark.

"And there was no way I would forget you. Everyday, I waited for that spell to wear off, so I could escape and find you. But it never happened, until you came back to the safe house. Well, Sarah, I guess. Andrew noticed my sudden interest with you and probably thought I was too distracted to think about the real you anymore. After a few days you were with us, he lifted the spell. That was the same night you decided to sneak out. Just saying, a werewolf like me notices when that sort of thing happens and I knew what you were doing as soon as you got out of bed. I also left when I heard that Rachel was right behind you. I didn't know what she was gonna do to you, but I knew it wasn't good." He breathed again and ran his hand through his long-ish, dark hair in frustration.

"Okay, so this story is a lot longer than I thought."

"You think?" I shot back, even though I didn't notice how long we've been standing out here. I was too interested in his story.

"I really would continue, but the fact that it took us half an hour to find this store, if we take too long here, the others will start to worry and think we ditched them." I almost slapped myself. Duh. What was I thinking? Derek's story was interesting, but I should've at least remembered that when you're on the streets you have to move fast. He started talking again.

"But what I'm really trying to say from this story, is that even though you may not feel the same way about me after all this, you're still my mate, and I well… I'll always love you, no matter what happens. I promise you." He said nervously, but his eyes were wide, urging me to forgive him. My heart started to warm, and the warmth spread all the way to my face until I was blushing like mad. I started to smile dumbly and, before I knew it, I was kissing him. It's been so long since we've been together, and this kiss felt just as thrilling as the first one we'd ever shared. After a few seconds I pulled away.

"Ditto," was all I could say, because I was so out of breath. But I didn't care. I started kissing him again. After a few minutes ticked by way too quickly, Derek pulled away, his eyebrow raised.

"I'm all for staying here and doing this forever, but I figured it'd be rude because the others are depending on us still." He reminded me with a huge, genuine smile that almost killed me. I was so happy by then, I just laughed.

"Fine, Captain Responsible. Lead the way." We finally entered the store and bought as much stuff as we could hold. Food, snacks, cheap backpacks, and other things we would need for life back on the streets. And sadly, my red hair had to go. So Derek and I chose brown hair dye this time; the color of caramel. I was actually exited to apply it, because the color didn't seem half bad.

When we were done shopping, we headed in the direction of the checkout counter. We paid cash, of course. I didn't pay any attention to the cashier, until he bagged all of our stuff and gave started handing it back.

"Here you go, guys." I froze at the voice. Why was it so familiar to me? I glanced up at him to get a better look, at the same time he did. Our eyes met, and time seemed to stop. I made a small gasp.

"Chloe? Is that you?" Nate Bozian asked, with his crimson red hair. I was hit with a wave of remembrance. I felt like he didn't belong here, that he belonged in a different world of mine. One where I knew nothing of supernaturals. I didn't say anything, hoping he'd see my red hair and green eyes and realize that he'd made a mistake. Only he didn't.

"Oh my god, that is you. Wow, I haven't seen you in forever! Ever since you were sent to that crazy home. You remember me from school, right? Those were the days. Sorry you had to see me like this. This is my uncle's store and since it's Christmas break, I had to come all the way from Buffalo to work here. Totally a dream job, right? Wrong." He rolled his eyes, completely disregarding that this was a one-sided conversation.

"You know what's weird? I actually saw you on the news. Yeah, it said that you were kidnapped by a…suspicious dude." It seemed like he just noticed that Derek was standing next to me. His eyes narrowed, as they darted back and forth between us. But he kept up the conversation.

"And you know what else it said on the news?" His eyes suddenly glittered with greed and happiness.

"That anyone who found you and turned you in would get a million dollar reward." Derek and I shared a panicked look, and I was sure he was thinking the same thing I was.

Oh snap.

THE END! Finally, after like two years I've finished my story. Looking back, I know there are a few holes in the plot, but I really do hope you all enjoyed it. Thanks to everyone for their reviews and support, I really can't tell you enough how much that means to me. Will there be a sequel to this? I don't know, but I'll definitely keep thinking about it. So wait and find out! Love, april03