Hello lovey my lovely readers! It's about time I finished up this Chapter. I'm so excited to finally have it complete. Especially the cut off point for this one. The previous sections had a little editing done, but for the most part stayed the same.

I'd like to thank the follow readers for their wonderful reviews: MileyRowling (welcome to the club!), GizzyRedbird, Stark my guy, and last but not least, House of Night Geek (Also, welcome!). I can't ever thank you all enough for the motivation and commentary that you put forth in your reviews.

Well on to the completed version of Chapter 22!

Zoey

It felt good to be home. I look over to Jane, completely grateful that she didn't ignore my cry for help. She didn't seem as tough as usual with her eyes closed, laying across from me. We both should have just headed straight upstairs to bed, but the couches were closer. I close my eyes again, taking in the silence.

Not a second later the door bursts open. My eyes snap open, instantly finding Stark's gaze. He's the first one to come through, followed by Logan and Duchess near his side, as the rest of the gang trailed in behind. Sitting up, my eyes don't leave his until he's standing right in front of me. There's so much I know I want to say, yet the words don't seem to come out.

Luckily, Stevie Rae unknowingly saves me by coming straight to me, tossing her arms around me to pull me into one of her famous big hugs. "Ohmygoodness Zoey! I'm so glad you're okay. You had us worried sick." Her sternness shocks me, but she doesn't give me a chance to take it in, as she pulled me into another hug. I take my only option and hug her back.

I see Jane smirk and shake her head. Getting up, she walks over to us. "Stevie Rae you're going to suffocate her. How about we get away from the couch?" Stevie Rae glances at her knowingly. "We're going to head to the kitchen like everyone else should."

Even though I know everyone's eager to get some answers from me, with one death glare from Jane, the gang quickly shuffles out behind her. Although Jane isn't subtle, I'm glad for her controlling ways.

As everyone clears out, Stark kneels down in front of me, meeting me eye to eye. Circling us, Duchess whined. I'm sure she could feel the tension radiating from me. His eyes search my face for answers. Raising it up, gently his hand brushes against my cheek. "You okay?"

I want to say yes, but after what happen in the park, I'm even more confused. Just when I think I fixed the problem, another one pops up. "Zo, we don't have to talk now. I just need to know if you're okay?" Realizing it was exactly the same question he asked me the first day we actually talked to each other, I should have known I could count on Stark to be there for me, no matter what.

I feel Duchess place her head in my lap. I smile at the big bear and then back at Stark. "I am now."

Pulling me into a hug, he lets out a breath. "Okay." As he gives me a kiss on my forehead, I can feel him smirking. "You scared the crap out of me Zo."

Ashamed, I look down at Duchess instead. "I'm so sorry Stark. I swear I wasn't thinking."

"You're home. That's all that matters."

Resting my head on his shoulders, it's hard not to feel safe in his arms.

With Jane plopping herself back on the couch, everyone takes that as their queue to join us back in the living room.

Taking a glance at us in disbelieve, Jane's smirk spreads across her face. "Stark please remind to never fall in love. It's exhausting enough having to take care of you two. I don't think I want handle a third."

Moving her legs so he can sit on the couch too, nudging her shoulder with his, Logan asks, "Is Jane not up for a challenge that is love?"

Not even giving her a chance to respond, Stevie Rae went up behind her, smooshing her face together so that she looked like a fish. Doing a voice that most people use when talking to puppies and babies, Stevie Rae asks, "With a pretty face like this what's not to love?"

Waving her hands around playfully, she shooed Stevie Rae away. Sarcastically she asks, "Is there something you need to tell us little miss sunshine? Are you hitting on me? Playing for the other team?"

"Whatever. You know you're hotter than a glob of butter melting on a stack of hotcakes."

Both Logan and Jane give each other confused looks before looking back at Stevie Rae, who's oblivious to their reaction.

As if nothing outlandish just happened, Damian and Jack come over to give me a hug. I'm starting to get that this must be pretty normal for them. "Zoey we're glad to have you back."

"Glad you're safe Zoey."

Sitting on the arms of Jane's couch, the Twins pipe up. "Same here. Besides, who would want a good shopping spree to go to waste?"

Erin followed predictably after Shaunee. "Ditto, Twin. Not to mention you still have to see what we picked out for you, Zo."

Yawning, I nodded. "Sounds like fun. We can do that tomorrow."

Shaunee stood up. "Well we've done our part."

Getting up and heading out the door, Erin said, "Get some beauty rest Zo."

"You're going to need it." Shaunee followed behind. The Twins were the first to go their rooms.

After giving me a more hugs again, both Jack and Damian followed soon after.

With half of the group gone, I decide to focus on Stevie Rae first. Even though she was smiling, the worry hadn't left her eyes. I didn't like being the jerk who made it happen.

"Stevie Rae you should stop worrying about me already. I'm home." Getting up from my seat, I grabbed a hold of her hand.

Standing up, she replied, "I'm fine. You don't need to get your panties in a bunch about me. I really am glad that you're okay and home safe."

"And I'm really sorry that I worried you."

"Like ya said. You're home." Getting a big smile from her, I know I'm forgiven. Giving me a goodnight hug, she headed up to our room. I couldn't let go of the feeling that I failed her somehow. I would just have to figure a way to make it up to her, and to everyone for the dumb stunt I pulled today.

With Logan in the kitchen, Jane possibly passed out on her couch, and Stark patiently waiting for me on the couch with Duch, there's no one to keep me from letting the exhaustion take over, even when I know I have a lot of explaining left to do. I'm tired and wound up at the same time. I didn't want to wait. "Stark, join me for a walk?"

Questioningly he states, "It's pretty early. You sure you're up for it?"

Not giving him – let alone myself – a chance to back out, I grabbed his hands, tugging him off the couch and out the door. Dutifully, Duchess follows behind Stark. It was a comfort having her trotting beside us. Unsure of how I was going to tell him everything, at least it was a relief that maybe this time, I could finally put the past behind me.

Jane

As everyone made their departures, I daze in and out of sleep. I couldn't really bring myself to get up. Opening my eyes, without much effort, I double check the area to make sure everyone's gone for the day. Sighing, I'm relieved to be alone. A great perk about being alone was that I wouldn't have to worry about people asking questions. I could do whatever I wanted. And right now I just wanted this pesky little headache to go away.

As if it could actually make a difference, with my eyes closed, I press my forearm up against my forehead. This time my headache starts to disappear almost immediately. However, I'm fully aware that my efforts have nothing to do with it. As much as I want to, I couldn't fix my tiny problem by applying the pressure back to the source. No fighting fire with fire.

While I contemplate on just passing out here on the couch, I hear a fridge door shut, and realize I'm not alone like I thought I was. When I end up hearing more noises coming from the kitchen, I know somehow I was horribly wrong. With a groan, reluctantly I open my eyes to see Logan walking back in my direction with two water bottles in hand.

Annoyed, I shift my arm down to cover my eyes. I figured maybe if I ignore him, he'll go away. He's smart. He'll get the hint that I want to be left alone.

To my dismay I hear him sit on the couch opposite of me. Nope. I knew it was too much to hope for. As I sit up I can't help the irritated sigh that escapes me.

Without notice, Logan tosses a water bottle my way.

Like nothing, I catch it with ease.

"Drink up."

I narrow my eyes at him. Begrudgingly I quickly twist the cap off to chug some of the water. Twisting the cap back on, I toss the bottle to the side of me. Wiping my face with the back of my hand, I put on my most sarcastic smile and ask "Happy now?"

Smirking, Logan answers my question with a question. "Are you going to tell me what's going on or do I have to drag it out of you?"

Confused I reply, "I have no freaking clue what you're talking about."

"You sure about that Jane?" He looks so calm. It annoys me even more.

Glaring at him I ask, "I seriously hope the next step in your brilliant plan isn't to silence the answers out of me. I bet it is, isn't it?"

He simply sits there, staring but not saying anything. Even if his smirk hasn't left his face, I know he's serious. I shouldn't even bother asking questions. I should know I'll get nothing in return. I should be use to him being extremely observant, but instead it makes me uneasy.

He's all too silent for my liking, yet his stupid stare speaks volumes. His gaze practically broadcasts his annoyance, but more so his worry for me. And since I know his interrogation comes from a good place, I end up feeling a bit guilty.

Staring back at him for a sec, I make an effort to try and figure it all out. Yet, as I laid back down, I decide that I don't really care enough right now to actually solve it.

Following my lead, Logan makes himself comfortable. He seems relaxed, but I know him better than to be duped by it.

As much I want to ignore him, I can't. Despite his laxed body language, it's so infuriatingly obvious that he's upset, yet I still couldn't figure out the why.

Trying to stifle a yawn, it then dawns on me that my fatigue is what probably has him all worked up. Aside from it taking me forever to figure it out, I smirk at my own ingenuity. "You know, it's normal to feel exhausted and have a headache after surviving a day at the mall with the Twins." To emphasize my point, I get up and sit down on Logan's couch, forcing him to scoot over to make room for me this time.

"Took you long enough to figure it out." The look in his gray eyes is quizzical, like I'm some brainteaser he hasn't quite figured out. It aggravates me when he looks at me like that.

"Yeah, no thanks to you." His questioning look turns back into worry, which then practically evaporates my reasons to be annoyed with him. I sigh in defeat. I can't blame him for expecting the worst out come when I comes to me.

Almost instinctively I reach out, resting my hand on his. "I'm just having an off day."

Still, he eyes me questioningly.

Giving up, I move over to the opposite end of the couch. "Not to mention I was on babysitting duty today with Stark and Zoey. Those two had me running around like a damn crazy person."

"If that's the story you're sticking too..." Although I'm certain he doesn't believe me, he doesn't bother finishing his sentence.

Taking it as my out, I change the subject. "Besides, what's with you hanging around here?" Instead of answering me, he gets up and scoots over to my side, invading my space.

Grumpy, I figure it's time to get rid of him. "Don't you have a bed with your name on it?"

Dismissing my stiffness, he simply places his arm around my shoulders, tugging me closer to him. "I figured Stark and Zoey might need a place to talk." Ridged under his embrace, I start scheming up ways to push him away without being too obvious.

As if he wasn't grilling me a couple of seconds ago, playfully he asks, "So you're saying I need a reason to be here Janey?"

Instantly, I narrow my eyes at him. "You can't use nicknames. That's cheating."

"You didn't answer my question."

Half-heartedly I say, "Maybe," even though it sounds more like a question instead of a statement.

He chuckles. "Are you pouting?"

With a grumble, I mumble a 'Whatever' under my breath. As annoying and overprotective as he is, I still find it hard to stay mad at him. I couldn't put my finger on it, but for the longest, Logan has always been able to help me go from one-hundred to zero in a matter of minutes.

Relaxing into his arm, I rest my head against the crook of his neck and shoulder. Taking my feeble response as a win for him, Logan rested his head on mine. I can feel him grinning. I know he's not going to let me get away with my sarcastic retort from earlier. "Jane. You really know how to hit a guy where it hurts. How could we ever be friends now?"

I shrug, but I'm sure my smile completely contradicts my sarcasm. "You're just going to have to tough it out like the rest of the world."

"Am I really?"

"We both know that you're the nice one of our duo."

I can hear the smile in his voice. "You know, what you did for Stark today…"

Smirking, I warn him. "Don't…"

"That was pretty nice of you."

With a grin still on my face, I shake my head a bit. "If you're still trying to convince me that I'm sweet or nice, you have a long way to go. Let's be real. This is Stark we're talking about. He's my brother. I'd practically do anything for him. Even if I didn't really want to. It doesn't count."

"And helping Zoey? What do you call that?"

Shifting away from the comfortable spot to glance at Logan, there's such a smug look plastered across his face. I bet he thinks that he has me with that big smirk, as if he was mocking me, daring me to give up. But I have an easy answer. "I did it for Stark. Obviously."

"Obviously." He gives me a look that reads yeah right.

"Whateves. You saw him. He's better with her. Pretty calm, actually. I seriously thought he was going to lose it by the end of today."

Getting up with a sigh, Logan looks down smiling at me. "You're reluctant aren't you?"

I cross my arms, smirking at him. "And you're insistent."

Without another word, he stretched out his hands to me. I sigh. Taking them in mine, he pulls me up from the couch. Letting go of Logan I try to head to my room, but he catches my hand, keeping me right in place.

"Jane…" Instantly his gray eyes get serious again. "You will tell me if something's going on right?"

I smirk at him. The gesture was sweet, in an overbearing kind of way. "Of course."

"Or if the headaches get worse?"

I take a long look at him. His broad shoulders are tense. With his golden-blond hair unusually tousled a bit from its normal tidiness, along with the look in his eyes, I almost break down. I can't stand the fact that he's worried because of me. For a moment, I debate on actually spilling my guts out to Logan. The fatigue really wasn't a big deal now, but knowing my luck, there was a chance it could get worse. However, I was sure I could handle it this time. If the worst case scenario happened, I was resolved. I wasn't going to put him through that again. After everything he did for me, I guess he still figured it was his job to look out for me.

Placing my hand on his shoulder, I smile innocently. "Who else could I tell?"

He folded his arms together, but his tense posture relaxes almost immediately. Shaking his head with what I assume is disbelief, he laughs. Turning away he heads out the door, but not before saying goodnight. Logan halts for a second to look back with an expectant expression spread across his face.

I smirk. "Nighty night, Logan berry." It's reassuring to see that his eyes are filled with their usual warmth again. As the door shuts behind him, I trek up to my room knowing that I would have the comfort of my bed and could deal with everything else later. Besides, there were still a couple of days left of winter break. I had plenty of time to figure it out.

Stark

I could tell that as exhausted as she was, Zoey wasn't going to go easy unless she let whatever was bothering her out. Right after Zoey pulled us out the door my phone buzzes in my pocket. Checking it to see who it's from, it's a text from Logan with three little words.

Logan: Room's all yours.

I slip my phone back in my pocket. Determined to figure out what was going on with Zoey, I give her hand a gentle squeeze. "Come on Zo. Let's go somewhere quiet."

"Yeah. That sounds good."

With her hand in mine, I lead her to my room. Opening the door for her, I guide her to the right side of the room, my side. Duchess automatically makes herself comfortable in her big doggy bed that Damian left near my dresser. Tugging my shoes off, I plop myself on my bed. Zoey awkwardly takes a seat on the edge of the bed, looking unsure of what to do next. With an attempt to try and make her more comfortable, I tell her what's on my mind. "Do you mind just laying here with me for a bit Zo? It's like my brain knows you're here safe with me, but my heart's not entirely convinced."

She gives me a small smile then slips off her shoes. With all the adrenaline gone, the exhaustion from the day starts to take root in my body. Right before the fatigue settles, Zoey's in my arms and I'm able to push through the sleepiness that wants to take over.

For a few moments, it's like today didn't even happen. It's just me and her, with my arms wrapped around her waist and her head placed on my chest. She seems completely content. It's unreal how right it feels to have her with me.

Quietly she says "Stark, I really am sorry." Her apology knocks some sense back into me. It reminds me that my job isn't done. Not until she feels safe and sound.

Settling down from the blissfulness, I kiss the top of her head. "Zoey, you don't have to keep apologizing. I just need you here, like this right now." She's quite again, but she holds onto me like there's no tomorrow. I'm at a lost. Part of me wants to know what's got her like this, but at the same time I don't want to push her into telling me something she's not comfortable saying. "Zoey do you still want to talk?"

"Not really, but I should."

"Zo, you know there's no pressure right? You don't have to say a word."

She sits up. Mimicking her movements, I tug her back to me. "Zo, I'm the last person on Earth who'd judge you."

Turing into my chest she says, "I know. It's not that Stark. It's just hard. I don't know where to start."

As she takes a deep breath her sigh is a bit shaky. I know she's terrified. Probably hurting and angry, like I was.

"You trust me right?"

She looks back at me with such distress. For that instance it's a struggle, but I go against my instinctive response to find and make whoever did this pay for the hurt they've caused her.

Taking a hold of my hand in hers, she gives me a small nod and then intertwines our fingers together. "I do Stark. More than anything or anyone."

"So please just give me the chance to be the new beginning that you deserve. Because that's what you've been for me ever since that night I told you about my affinity."

Nodding again, she averts her eyes away from my gaze. "Stark, did you ever wonder why I was able to get through to you?"

Trying to get her to open up, honestly I say, "I figured it had to do with the fact that I love you and want to be better for the both of us. And also that I know you care about me too."

"There's another reason why."

"Yeah? And what is that?" I gently kiss her cheek to try and help motivate her.

"It's because I completely understood what you were going through. Since I was too. Still am actually."

"Zoey, what do you mean?"

There's a pause of silence before she convinces herself to keep talking. "It was my fault."

"What was your fault?"

"I didn't even know his name."

"Who's name?"

"The guy who died because of me."

Turing away from me she leans back against me. I wrap my arms around her, keeping her as close to me as possible. "Well it all started at this party that I went to." I could easily hear the self-loathing in her voice. It was simple to spot since I knew exactly how that felt. I didn't care how, but I would prove to her that what she thought wasn't true. It just couldn't be true.

"I was still dating my ex, Heath at the time. And he kept begging me to go to one of the after-game parties with him. So eventually I caved in. It's not like I was a total shut in. But I didn't like the person he became after he would drink a ton. He promised if I went to a party he wouldn't get drunk. Anyway, we showed up with some of his football buddies. It was the same as usual. Except halfway into the night, some random guy shows up. At first I didn't really think much of it. After a while, he seemed kind of anxious. And he kept asking about a girl named Ann. Which I thought was weird since Ann wasn't really the partying kind of girl. I had seen him once or twice before, but I knew that he didn't go to our school. I don't know why but for some reason, I couldn't get rid of this weird feeling about the guy. I followed him. Turns out Ann was his older half-sister. When he did finally find her she seemed frantic about him being there. I didn't get it, but I didn't want to get involved. So I ended up rejoining my group of friends. Surprisingly Heath was keeping his promise, at least for the most part. He wasn't drunk. He noticed that I was distracted a lot. I told him I was fine. After that Heath was easily preoccupied by the guys on the team to notice that I wasn't really paying attention to him. For the life of me I couldn't get Ann's frantic look out of my head. I tried to check on them to make sure everything was okay, but I couldn't find them anywhere in the party. I didn't know what, but I knew something was really wrong. I ended up checking outside."

By this point I could see tears streaming down Zoey's face. She was even shaking in my embrace. "To this day, I can still remember how quiet the world seemed until I heard this blood curling scream. And then there was sobbing in the distance. When, I found them, he was laid up against the tree, soaked in sweat and in so much pain. She begged me to help them. I tried calling an ambulance, but I couldn't get a signal in that dumb location. She wanted me to help her convince him to go back. I didn't get what she was talking about at first. But I couldn't miss it even if I wanted too. He was Marked. The outline of his crest practically glowed against his sickly paled skin. I guess he must have had it covered before. He kept saying he didn't want to die alone."

I felt her sobbing against me. I turned her around to face me. "Zo it wasn't your fault."

Shaking her head, no, she went on. "It was. Heath must have been sober enough to notice that I was gone a while. He ended up finding me with his football posy behind him. I tried to keep them away, but they wouldn't listen. They were all completely wasted. They pushed me out of the way, called him a freak, and told him that they'd give him a lesson to show him his place. Another guy held Ann away and they ganged up on him. Both me and his sister were hysterical. I couldn't stop crying. After the guys got a few punches and kicks in it finally dawned on Heath that what he was witnessing wasn't a game. He ended up pushing the guys away from me and then from the brother and sister. They gave him crap but he was able to reason with them and got them to go back into the house. Ann ran to her brother, but as soon as she got to him he started coughing up blood. There was so much of it. He died within a matter of minutes."

"Zoey you can't blame yourself."

"Don't you see, if I wasn't there, then the guys would have never had to find me and end up beating him to death."

"Zoey he wasn't beat to death."

"Are you insane! Of course he was. He died right in front of me. I should have tried harder to stop them. He would probably still be alive if they hadn't gotten to him. And the worst part is no one did anything. The guys didn't even care. Everyone just kept living their lives like this was something that was normal. And Heath. He acted like they guys were right. They called me a freak-lover."

Bring up my hand, I wipe away the tears streaks on her face. It kills me to see her this torn. But I knew that if I could get through to her, I could make this pain go away. "Zoey listen to me. What those guys did was wrong. But from what it sounds like, the poor fledgling guy was sick. He on the verge of rejecting the Change. What they did to him speed up the process. But no matter what you would have done, you couldn't have saved him. Once a fledgling beings rejecting the Change, there's no going back."

Zoey

It's like my whole world is turned upside down. Again.

"You mean it wasn't my fault?"

"Even though those guys were assholes for what they did to him, it was no one's fault he died. No one really knows why the rejection happens. It just comes down to physiology. Some of us can handle it and make the Change, but not everyone does."

In disbelief I shake my head. "It's just, there was so much blood Stark. And they kept hurting him."

Gently taking my face in his hands, he looks straight at me, begging me to look back. "I know Zoey. But you can't blame yourself for this. Unlike me, you actually had no fault in matter. I've come to terms with what I did. But you shouldn't torture yourself because of what happened to the guy. He's in a better place now Zo. Nyx would never abandon us to a horrible fate."

I nod once and lean into him, with his arms automatically enfolding me into a hug. I let out a sigh. "I just wish there was something better that I could have done for both him and his sister. They deserved more from their last moments."

"Zoey there is something we can do."

"Really? What's that?"

"You can try doing a prayer circle for him. Invite the sister to have one last goodbye. A proper goodbye."

"Stark that's genius."

"I don't really know what goes into it, but I'm sure Damian will be pretty insightful on the subject."

"I could kiss you right now."

"Well why don't you?"

With a smile, I plant one right on his lips. He eagerly responds by deepening the kiss. In seconds his hands are on my hips and mine are in his hair. I need his kisses like I need air. Gradually his lips slow to gentle kisses against mine until it's just one last kiss against my lips. "I love you Zoey."

"I love you too." I can't stop the yawn that comes out of me. In return, Stark yawns back and smirks.

"We should get you back to your room."

I grab a hold of his hand. "Or I could stay here."

He yawns in between his sentence. "Are you sure- sure you're comfortable with staying here?"

I tug him down, laying my head on his chest. It's easily become my favorite spot. "I don't want to be anywhere else."

He mumbles something incoherent before closing his eyes. I'm too tired to ask him what he said. With his arms around me I'm lulled to sleep by the movement of his chest.

I'm very content with the way this chapter turned out. I do apologize for not having an extra section in Jane's POV like I originally planned. It just didn't flow as well with it in this chapter. But great news, Chapter 23 is already in progress thanks to that. I hope you all enjoyed it, even though it takes me absurd amount of time to get it done lol I can't wait to hear your thoughts for the latest version!

Also a reminder, I do leave updates on my profile for those of you who do not have accounts.