Okay so it has been awhile since i updated sorry but hopefully i will be able to update all my stories this weekend starting with this one...so for those of you who read other stories i write sides this one you'll know ahead a time that i may be posting an update lol I will try to get updates up more regularly so taht my stories can be finished and i might just start something new but not until the ones i have are done or getting there. EnJOY Thanks always for the reviews i love heraring what you have to say

Chapter 25

I thought a lot about what Collin told me about fate and growing up fast, probably too fast if he didn't get to be a kid after the age of 13. Wow, I think I was still playing tag and hide n seek at that age; I can't even imagine what it would be like to try and grow up that early. I wonder what turned his world upside down and what his friends have to do with it all? Maybe he will trust me enough one day to open up? What am I saying? Do I want someone to trust me when might not be willing to put my faith in him?

Sunday night dinner again at Sam's house, I want to go but that sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach is back as I step out of the house with my dad. The feeling is something along the lines of what you feel when you hear or see lightening crack. Now, you're just waiting for that rumble of the thunder; no matter how ready you think you are for that first loud vibrating draw, it can catch you off guard and scare you up one wall and down the next without even trying. I am just waiting for that first rumble of thunder to knock some sense into me.

Nervousness floods me as I walk up to the house with my father, I know that Collin won't be here yet, he has to work for another hour. I still feel a little out of place with Collin's friends, they all seem like some big happy extended family. I feel like the outsider looking in on something, longing for inclusion into the elusive group. I smile at the adults as we enter and keep the smile in place as I am jostled towards the living room where the younger crowd is gathered.

"Hey, Keys." I hear a few people's hellos as I take a seat on the couch. I sit very still unsure of my surroundings and how I am supposed to act around everyone. I look to my left and see a large smiling Paul who is just watching me like I am the movie of the week or something.

"What?" I finally say when he doesn't look away.

"Just waiting for you to get up and run out of here like last time, cause I'm not supposed to let you get that far. I figure is I watch you it will either happen faster or maybe I won't have to run as far to catch you." He says with a goofy smile and I roll my eyes at him.

"Well, you can stop I won't leave the house, you big oaf." I cross my arms and slouch back into the sofa, might as well get comfy.

"You're no fun…I thought for sure I would have to chase you down tonight." He purses his lips together like he is waiting for me to respond.

"If you like chasing things so much go find a bunny rabbit or maybe you just need a good old fashioned stick." To my surprise the whole room erupts in laughter at my insult, didn't think it was all that funny to begin with, just a lame joke.

I even hear chuckles from the kitchen, everyone around here must have excellent hearing, superior genetics, or something.

Paul stops watching me much to my relief, must have convinced him I am for real about not running out of the house tonight, guess I'll have to try my best to keep my word. I wouldn't want them all to lock me in the house or something when I come over so that they don't have to worry about where I wonder off to when I get upset. Maybe I can just hide in the bathroom if I need some space…how cliché is that? I decide right then that the bathroom will not ever be my refuge no matter how overwhelmed or freaked I am I will not fall into that cliché. That one is as about stereotypical as the scared girl running up the stairs to escape from the serial killer, it just ain't gonna be me in real life.

I settle back into the couch again just watching everyone interact around me. Small talk mixed with bickering between those at odds, it all seems way beyond anything I have experienced. Me and my dad never have had family surrounding us like it seems with this group of people. Close knit and water sealed tight, this group though not all are blood related seem to hold the same complex relationship of a family. To top it all off they invited me and my father to join their group, could it be possible that I go from zero to 60 without even blinking an eye. Is it possible that these almost complete strangers could be sincere about their invitation?

My time without Collin seems to fly by as I watch the video games roll through the levels and the comical antics of Sam and Emily's children. Before I know it I hear his voice drift through the noises of the front room, my heart seems to beat faster at the thought of seeing him. I try to sit still and stay just as I have been for the last 45 minutes, but the whole situation is gnawing on me to the point where I want to rush into the kitchen. My fingers twist under the mercy of the other hand and I feel my thumbnail dig into the meaty flesh of my palm. I feel my teeth just inside my mouth grazing my lip just slightly; it isn't really a noticeable pain but more of a distracting one. What is wrong with me?

His eyes slide smoothly over me as he walks across the front room and towards the bathroom, his chest bare smeared with mud and his hair tousled with a twig sticking out of the side. My thoughts might wonder just what he does when he is at work, but my lust filled eyes zone in on the lower musculature of his abs and hipbones. His frayed jeans are riding low and before I can pull my eyes away, I hear a wolf whistle.

His goofy grin matches those of his friends and I feel their stare bring the red flaring to my cheeks, caught red handed ogling Collin in front of all his friends. I squeeze my eyes shut tight willing myself away, no luck I hear Paul next to me, his comment oddly reassuring yet totally inappropriate at the same time.

I take more minutes than I thought it would take for me to get over my embarrassment, mostly due to the lingering comments that no one wants to keep to themselves.

"What exactly does he do at work to get so dirty?" I ask Paul quietly.

"That is something better left for him to explain…" He says with a knowing grin, "Let's just say that we are all in the same line of work and getting dirty is the least of his worries."

Paul's answer leaves me even more confused than I thought I was before I asked. When I think about it I don't know much about Collin and his whole concept of fate and destiny sorta freaks me out. Oh man, but when I am around him my whole thought process sure does turn to mush. Not to mention those thoughts that keep popping into my head, I am on a collision course towards acting like a love struck teeny bopper….wait did I just say love. The very word invoke panic in my mind, just as my body revolts against my better judgment and breaks my word to Paul that I wouldn't run, Collin appears before me. I freeze, now standing beside the couch feeling utterly stupid and I just stare at Collin sheepishly.

"Were you going somewhere?" He asks as I fidget a little, "C'mere," He says as he pulls me down onto his lap and back onto the couch.

His lap, not that I haven't been on his lap before, but not with my father in the other room and all these people as witnesses. I try not to tense as his arms pull me closer. His arms do feel good around me, however nervous I am it seems the good is quickly overtaking the anxiety I have over it.

I feel the heat of his body over take me a little almost making me woozy with the temperature change. His hot scorching breathe float over my neck and I smell a minty scent of toothpaste just before his lips press tenderly behind my ear. My eyes want to roll in my head at his slightest touch, I can't imagine what it would be like if things went further. Further…what am I thinking?

"I missed you…oh you don't even know how much." His whispered breath washes over me as I try an not lose myself in his voice, low, breathy, and deep.

Before I even have time to respond Emily's voice is somehow heard above the rest and calls us to dinner. Last time I missed the whole eating together thing, so now I have no clue what to expect or where I am suppose to go with this plate of food I now hold in my hands. I look down at the pot roast and potatoes stalling a little as I work my way through the small kitchen. The kitchen is full and overcrowded so I take a chance and make my way into the living room.

Surprises all around when I see a large card table set up and about 12 chairs surrounding it, I guess that explains where I am suppose to eat. I choose a chair towards the end of the table and pick at my food not sure of procedure at this house, do we all just dig in or wait till everyone is seated. I made the mistake once of taking a bite at my friend's house before the meal was blessed and ever since meals have filled me with apprehension.

In short order, I am surrounded by the same faces that filled the room earlier, Collin takes the seat that remained empty on my right, setting a soda down in front of me with as smile.

"Thanks." I murmur almost inaudibly. I glance around the table deciding it is safe to dig into my food; everyone else is eating with less than good table manners.

I pick at my food slowly as I watch in awe as the full plates before quickly empty, forks are left at the side of the plates half the time and table manners fly out the window at the same time. I blink my eyes as I watch Collin place a large piece of meat into his mouth and just as swiftly swallow it almost whole. I look down at my knife and fork where I rested them against my meat, I am in another world where parents don't teach their children how to use utensils. Is it a race to see who can finish first?

After the eye opening experience that was dinner with Collin's friends, I am once again left with more questions than I had to start with. Collin surely didn't eat like this at his house with his father, so what makes Sam and Emily's Sunday dinner different. Cleaning up the dishes and putting away tables is done in a swoop as everyone jumps to it. In only seconds, the dishes are clean and put away and extra tables are gone from the living room. Wow, everyone works so well together it is like they are a team or something.