As promised... Chapter 34! IMPORtANT: Mini-spoiler: Bailey's dad will be making an appearance sometime very soon. While Bailey sorts all of that out and the resulting...um... consequences, there may be a couple chapters where Seth does not come in. To fix this resulting deprivation of Seth-ness, I was thinking of doing a chapter in his POV. Yay? Nay? Please tell me what you think!

Just a reminder... suggestions! Comments! Questions! All are welcome! Enjoy...

There is a time for everything.

For instance, there is a time for a girl to stuff her face with ice cream and wallow in a down comforter of self-pity. There is also a time for a girl to get back in control of her life, take a shower, and do something other than skulking around her house all day thinking of a particular boy with a great smile that has vanished for the past couple of days and it's all her fault.

Now was one of those times.

To take back control of my life, I mean. And though I'm not entirely sure of what that encompassed, doing anything would be better than just waiting around in the cold, empty, entirely Seth-less house. The image of his dark eyes, his back walking around from me, his words that so effortlessly wrenched around my insides like a blender so that they were one sloppy, mushy mess...

"You broke my heart."

Did I, Bailey Clera, really have the power to break someone's heart?

Seth was just such a boy. He was big and muscled and could break a lock without the use of any heavy machinery. Surely a man who could break a dead-bolt lock with his hands could break the fragile muscle that was a girl's heart. And he had; when I learned about him imprinting. But could it ever be the other way around? I looked down at myself. At my hands, all fluttery and small, my arms, which had so little muscle that they barely moved when I "flexed" them. I refused to believe that I was fragile - I survived an abusive step-father for fifteen years, thank-you-very-much. Not that Seth knows about that. Damn. I still haven't told him.

But, in weight-lifting terms at least, I was weak. How could a girl as weak as me - any girl, for that matter - possess enough strength to own part of Seth's heart? Not all of it, maybe... just enough to break it.

Maybe Buffy the Vampire Slayer could. Or Padme Amidala.

But not me.

But, if by some chance, he did in fact really love me, and I actually did manage to have some control over his heart, would I be smart enough to protect it?

My eyes were filled with a sudden aggravating wetness that accompanied a distinct surge of protectiveness over Seth.

He was big. He could turn into a wolf. Those muscles had more of a purpose then just looking sexy. He could protect himself from vampires, from any kind of animal, guns... anything physical. But what about his heart? He was so open. And happy. He was a kid whose dad had died only a month or two ago. Inside, Seth... No matter how odd it sounded to say, Seth was fragile.

How did I know this?

Because that was what I saw in his eyes this morning. There were no walls there. Even as I "broke his heart," he never put any walls up against me - he bared himself, told me he loved me.

I unconsciously snarled, my lips curling up. Had he had a girlfriend before? Was he so open to all the girls he talked to? Would any girl be stupid enough to abuse that privileges of the access to his heart? To use him, to take advantage of his openness and his feeling and wrap them around her own finger?

"I hate you...Nevermind. Go away."

Well.

I guess that answers that question.

But I couldn't really blame myself, right? Because that was all assuming he actually did love me and I was wasn't just imagining things, which I obviously was because he imprinted on me and-

Gah!

I was taking a shower.

In an unconscious act of desperation and stupidity, I didn't even take off my clothes before I stepped in. The water immediately soaked through the thin tee-shirt I was wearing, plastering it to my body. My jeans started to become heavy, weighted down with the cold water...

I just stood there.

You know what this reminded me of? It reminded me of Seth. Sopping, happy Seth with flower petals in his hair, going through my literary selections in the middle of the night. Sexy, shadowed Seth, pulling me close to him and rubbing his calloused thumb against my hip and breathing a kiss down the corner of my lips that made my spine shudder and my toes curl.

I remembered the feel of his burning skin.

I remembered the space between us this morning. My chest shuddered. I felt too empty.

I took off my clothes and finished the shower like a normal person. I took my time, scrubbing myself and pretending that I was washing away the emptiness that Seth's absence always left me with. Did imprinting affect the imrintee? Was that what the rope strung in my chest was?

Did that mean the rope was fake, too?

I also took the time to shaved my legs. Because it is a simple fact of life that all adversities a girl might have to face are made far better when she faces them with silky-smooth legs.

When I finally stepped out I didn't bother drying off, just shoved on with some difficulty my damp clothes that were waiting for me in a pile, surrounded by a pool of water. The clothes were cold and uncomfortable, but I figured it didn't matter. As per usual, it was raining outside. Steady, fat drops. I would be cold and uncomfortable regardless of if my clothes started out dry.

I clumped down the steps, shoved on a pair of Ian's boots, then figured that he might need them later and pulled on a pair of my own flip-flops instead.

"...I'm never going to give up..."

"Why?"

"Because I love you."

I walked outside and immediately started shivering, my already cold clothes being doused in the frigid rainwater. My feet squished on the ground, toes already going prune-y, the tops being covered in loose pieces of grass and dirt.

I started walking along the highway.

Each car passing by sent a misty spray of water into my face, a blur of shimmery headlights blinding me. Water dripped into my eyes and I was sure I looked like a wet cat.

I had been in this situation before. I just couldn't remember when...

What would Ian think when he came home and I was gone? Would he just assume I was with Seth? Or would he put two and two together and figure that we weren't exactly on the most excellent of terms right now? Would he look for me? Speaking of which... where was Ian, right now? And what was the deal with him and that doll? My step-father?

Shoot. My step-father.

Thinking of him sent me walking faster, refueling my purpose. What was my purpose?

I was running away.

Well, walking away. On a highway in flip-flops, with no specific destination in mind.

But still, the idea was the same.

And I would be damned if Seth found me this time.