Disclaimer: All the usual stuff. I don't own anything. Just read the story, soon, you'll see! I don't know.

?day, September ? ?:? Forks, WA BPOV

I was running. I didn't know where, I didn't know why. Every so often, I would look behind me, trying to see what I was running from. I saw flashes of colors, streaks of lights. Then I would turn around, seeing if I was running to something, instead. There I saw darkness. There I saw black. Nothing. I tried to stop my pumping legs and arms; I didn't want to go into the dark. I didn't want to go there; I wanted to go to the flashing colors, all the lights. But my body ignored the orders from my brain and kept running. My head kept screaming to go back, go back! My body kept screaming to keep going, keep going! I was being torn in two different directions, and I wondered when I would finally break. The dream faded.

?day, September ? ?:? Forks, WA BPOV

I was so cold, freezing. Everything was dark around me, but I could hear clicking and beeping, little pats of something muffled in the background, and someone screaming. I couldn't make out what they were screaming; I only knew that they wanted someone very badly. Something in my body itched and burned. My arm. My arm was itching and burning. It felt like it was on fire. I tried to move my other arm to scratch, but the limb was too heavy; I couldn't even lift it. The beeping got louder, and the little pats in the background paused, then sped up and got louder, closer. I focused on my arm; it was burning like it was dipped in liquid fire. The person who was screaming screamed louder, and I tried to decipher who it was that they were screaming for. Why wouldn't anyone give the person who they wanted? It seemed very cruel to me, very cruel indeed. Warm hands ran over my burning arm, and the screaming changed to anguished pain. I realized the screaming was coming from me.

?day, September ? ?:? Forks, WA BPOV

The first thing I noticed, before I even opened my eyes, was that I was freezing cold. Shivering almost. The next thing was that my arm still itched, but it didn't burn like before. My brain, although fuzzy, was much clearer than the last time I had resurfaced. I opened my eyes, scanning the room. White bed, white walls, white chair, a strange tangled wad of Velcro restraining my arm to the bed, beeping machines and whirring computers sitting beside the bed in which I was laying. I realized I must be in a hospital, and that the sounds I had heard before had to have been the noises of the machines hooked up to me. I looked at the bedside table, which held a phone, a glass, a pitcher of water, and a single white lily.

I tried to reach out to finger the petals, but a large warm hand engulfed mine and my attention was diverted to the figure of a relieved Sam, looking just as handsome and huge as I remembered. "Thank God."

I smiled weakly at the relief in his voice and said hoarsely, "Thank Jared and Paul. If they hadn't been there it would have been a lot worse." His eyes scanned over my body, as if checking me to make sure that I was really there, that I was really alive. His grip on my hand tightened, and he moved to sit on the bed next to me.

His other hand reached up and ghosted over my cheek, his face undecipherable. "Bella, I…" He trailed off, as if he couldn't make himself think of the right words. My arms itched to tug him closer. He just looked so...lost. And helpless. And it was easy to tell that he wasn't used to feeling that way. The idea made me want to ask him what made him feel so terrible, so I could make the problem go away. Make that terrified look on his face disappear.

Instead, I asked as calmly as I could, fearing the answer I would receive, "Are Jared and Paul ok?" I really hoped that when I sent them after Edward instead of helping me, that I hadn't sent them to their unneeded deaths.

Sam gave me a small nod, but his eyes still roamed over my body, not meeting my own. "They're a bit beaten up, but no permanent damage. More like wounded pride." He and I grinned a bit, and I tugged our joined hands to my lips, kissing the knuckles.

We both sighed at the touch, and Sam's entire body shivered, like he was cold. I felt like my own skin was being bathed in sunlight, I was warm again. Sam ran his hand flat over my face, as if memorizing the feel of my skin. "You've been out for two days, since you got to the Clearwater's. You'd lost so much blood Sue couldn't believe you were still awake, but they got you to the hospital in time." I nodded, not really listening as I ran my lips over the palm of his hand. He gave a choked sigh and hung his head, his other fist clenching the sheets beside me.

I couldn't understand why he was so worried looking. Why he looked so completely confused. He seemed to gather his courage and leaned forward. My eyes slipped closed when his mouth brushed my cheek. I relaxed, feeling safe in his presence. I hadn't expected to be this comfortable with anyone for a long, long time, but I was. I always was with Sam. He gently pulled his hand out of my grip. "I have to go." I felt desperation sink into my body as he turned away.

I swallowed hard, and pushed past any insecurity I felt (since when did I feel insecure around Sam?), asking him hurriedly, "Can't you stay? At least until I fall asleep?"

His body shuddered, like he was trying to fight off something. Like he was trying to fight off me. I cringed back into the bed when he said harshly, "No. Leah and Sue will take care of you until you're better enough to go home." I didn't care about that. I cared about Sam. I reached out, stretching my limb and it brushed against the warm, bare skin of his arm. He clenched his hands and grit his teeth at the contact, while I sighed in relief. Touching Sam made me feel so much better. Sam's eyes still stayed away from mine as he said blandly, "See you around, Bella."

And then he was gone, my hand hanging in the air, the machines beeping away, and the only proof I had of his visit was another white calla lily sitting next to the first one, and the warmth slowly ebbing from my body. I closed my eyes, hoping that he would come see me tomorrow.

?day, September ? ?:? Forks, WA BPOV

I woke up freezing again, and for some strange reason, really anxious. My eyes scanned the room, with more ease and less pain than the first time. There were no more lilies, but a few of the machines were gone. Unfortunately, a certain huge Quiluete was absent as well. The window was dark, still, but with no hint of the rising sun like the last time I had awakened...

I wrinkled my face worriedly, wishing that Sam was here. Someone knocked on the door, and a nurse prattled in, her perky face smiling brightly. "Hello there, dear! It's nice to finally see you awake! I'm going to make some adjustments to your bandages, and you might find them painful. Would you like some anesthetic, it'll help you catch up on your sleep and block the pain. Kill two birds with one stone and all."

She laughed lightly, and I resisted the urge to tell her that the only thing I wanted was Sam. My arm throbbed painfully, and I nodded tightly. "Just do whatever you want." She pulled out an already filled needle and inserted it into my IV. She prattled on about this thing and that thing, busying herself around my room until the anesthetic kicked in.

As my eyes slipped closed and everything started to fade, I heard a wolf howling in the distance. A single word escaped painfully from my lips, my heart twisting. "Sam."

?day, September ? ?:? Forks, WA BPOV

This time, when I woke up all but one of the machines were gone, the one remaining was just the IV drip. My arm had far less bandages than the last time, and it was unrestrained. I moved the fingers there to test the movement, and although it was painful, I sighed in relief as each one moved. I had been so afraid to lose my hand's mobility. The phone, sitting closer to me now that all the beeping machines were gone, started to ring shrilly.

I lunged for it, my heart pounding at the thought that Sam might be on the other line. "Hello?"

A deep voice did answer me, but it wasn't the one I was hoping for. "Bella girl, hey! It's Jared, in case you didn't recognize my wonderfully sexy voice." I smiled at his antics.

Jared, while not as much of a ladies man as Paul, was apparently pretty popular among the Forks girls. Or so Jess had told me. Thinking of my friend sent a smile onto my face. I asked Jared curiously, "How did you know how to call me? Like in the hospital and all, I'm sure there's a lot of rooms or something…" I rolled my eyes as my voice trailed off, feeling undeniably stupid. The only reason I asked was because I hoped that Sam had told Jared, and then I could open a discussion up about where Sam was, what he was doing, and more importantly, when he would come back.

Jared apparently wasn't my friend at that point, because he said, "Oh, Leah gave it to me when I asked her for it. She asked why and I very humbly told her that Paul and I saved your life."

I grinned, knowing Leah she wouldn't let that one fly when they hadn't even been there when I'd shown up on the Clearwater's front porch, half bleeding to death if my doctor was to be believed. "What did she do?"

Jared laughed in an almost maniacal way and said, "Well, let's just say that my jaw still hurts a little from her punching me when she found out that we left you to go off in search of the, ah-hem, wild animal that attacked you." He laughed. "She told me that I was a stupid, stupid boy."

I laughed with him for a bit. "Somehow I don't think that Leah would say something like that without including at least a half-dozen cuss words in there somewhere. Or something like that."

I could hear the smile in Jared's voice when he said, "Yeah, or something like that."

I frowned, remembering what he had said earlier about me being attacked by a wild animal. "Uh, Jared?" "Yeah, Bella?" I frowned, opening my mouth to speak, then halting and checking the door like I was expecting someone to burst in and call me insane before taking me to the nut house. I pushed on, anyway. What the hell did I have to lose? "I just wanted to know if the whole thing really was a, uh, wild animal."

Jared paused on the other side of the phone, and I heard him trying to say something, but it was like he couldn't get the words out, like they were stuck in his throat. "I'm sorry, Bella, but I can't help you right now with that." Then he abruptly changed the topic of discussion. "Your friend, Jessica, remember? She went over to your house to deliver you your homework, and after a long, utterly boring story here, it somehow wound up in the trusty hands of Paul LaHote."

I wrinkled my nose. "Paul has my homework?" Somehow I couldn't think of Paul actually knowing what homework was, he didn't really strike me as the intellectual type.

I had paused for longer than I realized because Jared asked almost cautiously, "Uh, Bells? You with me?"

I jerked back to the present and smiled, even though he couldn't see me through the phone. "Oh, yeah, sorry. I was just trying to reconcile Paul as one of those nerdy types."

Jared was silent on the phone for a couple of beats, before he burst out laughing, in the kind of happy way that you simply had to join in with. "Jesus Christ, Bella, that mental picture I just got was priceless, fucking priceless!" He chuckled again, but softer this time. "Man, I've gotta sh-" He kind of choked on his words again, like he was trying to say something but couldn't. He sounded like he was trying to get the words out, but couldn't.

He sighed in frustration, and said tensely, "Sorry about that, I had…uh…something in my throat." I frowned, my eyebrows creasing in thought.

Jared is a really bad, bad liar. Wonder what he's lying about…

Jared cleared his throat, bringing me back to our conversation. "Oh, uh, yeah. I was just calling to check on you and to give you a heads up that Jessica's on her way over there, with your homework. She came and got it from Paul, and-. Never mind, long story. She's quite a talker, you know?"

I grinned, thinking about how Jessica must've talked Jared's ear off. And given how much Jared liked to talk as well, it couldn't have been a brief conversation, by anyone's reckoning. "Yeah, I know she likes to talk."

"Who likes to talk?" The very girl under discussion breezed into my hospital room, carrying a vase of daisies (with a Get Well Soon balloon), and a nurse chasing after her, seeming out of breath. Jessica waved at me happily. "Hey, look at you, all alive and stuff!"

The nurse glared at Jessica and said to me, "She has ten minutes, and then you are to be left alone to rest. Only ten minutes." With one more glare at Jessica, the nurse left the room, the door swinging shut behind her.

Jessica turned to look at me, surprise and a bit of amusement on her face. "Holy Hell, all I did was bring you flowers! And…" She held my backpack up as if presenting a prize, complete with a cheesy smile. "I come bearing homework!"

I smiled and told Jared, "Hey, I'm going to have to call you back, ok?" Somehow I thought that if I left Jessica to her own devices while I talked to Jared, it wouldn't end well. Plus she'd come all the way out to La Push with my homework. The girl at least deserved her ten minutes.

Jared said quickly, "Oh, sure, ok. Hey, get better, like tomorrow. Ok? Are we in agreement?"

I laughed. "Yes Jared. I will try to be fully healed by tomorrow." Jared may have been older than I was, but sometimes when I was talking to him, he acted as if he were much, much younger. It was oddly endearing to me.

He said with a very formal, educated voice, "Do or do not, there is no try." He laughed and said happily, "Bye Bells!"

He hung up before I had a chance to reciprocate the goodbye, and as I put the phone back in the cradle, I glanced at Jessica curiously. "You only have ten minutes?"

She rolled her brown eyes, sighing dramatically. She walked over to where the calla lilies were and placed her own surprisingly not-hideous arrangement next to them, and setting my backpack down by my bed. "Ugh, unfortunately, yes. The mean old nurse lady told me you were very, very ill; and you needed your rest very, very badly. I told her that we were very, very good friends and if she didn't let me see you that she would end up very, very hurt."

I giggled. "Did you really say that?" It's not that I doubted her; I could see her doing it. But the idea was so bizarre to me, mouthing off to authority, that it ended up being adorable when Jessica pulled up the visitor's chair to my bed and nodded proudly.

"Yup! Every damn word! Oh, you are so freaking lucky that you weren't there today, today's Monday if you didn't know, at school when Tyler saw Ben walking around with Angela. The poor guy started bawling, right there in the middle of the hallway! So, trying to save him from further embarrassment, I walked up to him…" And so followed a normal conversation, with Jessica motioning and flapping her hands, me listening with fascination as she laid out whatever tragedy had happened out for me to see.

The nurse popped her head in the door, glaring. "Ten minutes are up! Get out, Miss Swan needs her rest." Jessica flapped her hands at the nurse and turned back to me, rolling her eyes in her typical dramatic way.

"Ok, ok! Bella, today's homework includes English Lit., Bio, Spanish, and Trig! Have lots of fun, darling!" She blew me a kiss from the door way and waltzed past the nurse, who hmphed before leaving the room as well.

Without anyone around me, I let my head fall back onto the pillow, and began to think of the one thing that always seemed to be hovering around my mind, lately.

Sam Uley.

Sam with his coal black eyes, his short black hair, those cheekbones, that smile, that ridiculously attractive body he possessed. Those were the things any normal teenage girl would think about. But me, not being normal, wondered if because he hung out so much with Jared and Paul, he was like them and something…different, too. There was no denying from the way Edward reacted to them that they were a force of nature to be reckoned with. And Paul had seemed to know what Edward was right away.

Suddenly I remembered my conversation with Leah from a few nights ago. Leah had said that all of La Push was celebrating because the Cullen's had left. Edward had said that the Cullen's were all vampires. So did that mean that all of La Push knew what Edward was? Or maybe just the Council? How did they protect themselves, how did anyone protect themselves against not just one, but from Jessica and Angela's description, seven of those monsters?

I shuddered, wishing Sam were here, with his uncanny ability to make me feel safe. I needed to feel safe. I pushed those thoughts to the back of my mind and reached for my homework. I needed to think about something else for a while, maybe doing my homework would help me center in on what the boys really were. I pulled out Trig first, wanting to get the hardest stuff done first.

The divide in my body reappeared; worry and longing that echoed my own arriving with it. Along with a destructive combination of self-loathing, pain, and anger. I shivered. These weren't my own emotions that I was feeling, but who did they belong to? And how did I suddenly manage to see them?

While I was lost in thought, a howl outside startled me from its proximity. And I'd never want to admit it to anyone lest they know how crazy I was, but the howling seemed to have some sort of soothing effect on me.

I refocused on my Trig book with grim determination. Everything just gets more confusing by the second. I decided to just do my homework before I focused on anything else. As I began to work, a tiny pinprick of pain appeared at the base of my skull, like a headache.

Saturday, September 21 6:32 A.M. Forks, WA BPOV

I did get better as the week dragged on, at least my arm did. The wound was still serious, but it wasn't so serious that they didn't let me get up and walk on Wednesday to keep my mind from going any crazier than it already had.

That tiny pinprick of a headache didn't last long, either. By Tuesday it was a dull, low throb in the back of my head, and by Friday morning, it pounded against every nerve.

Jessica had come and gone almost every day, Leah too, and while they were there I was fine, I was alright. But once they left, worry and fear engulfed me. I was so sure that Edward would come leaping in the hospital bedroom window any second that I didn't sleep at all, when the morphine didn't make me. I was too frightened. When I did sleep, I had nightmares about him arriving in my room with his blood-red eyes and his terrible white teeth. I always woke up screaming, with a nurse shaking me awake.

I wanted someone to come and take the dreams away. I wanted someone to make me feel safe again. I wanted someone who already knew the truth about this whole situation. I wanted…hell, I wanted Sam. And that was what was ridiculous. After my conversation with Sam, and then with Jared, I didn't even talk to any of the boys. I'd called Jared at least ten times, Paul only three because he was still a bit scary, and I was too scared to call Sam. Which was confusing all in itself, because I wanted Sam, I felt like I needed him; but did I need to know why I felt that way?

But the most ridiculous thing was that the longer I was in the hospital, the more clearly I could feel the divide. It's like whoever this person was, whose emotions I was feeling, was feeling the same growing longing and fear as I was. They were in pain, too. I didn't know what to think about it, only that their anxiousness made me even more anxious.

On Saturday morning, they removed the IV. My father was visiting, looking distracted. I was leaving the hospital that day, and Charlie had packed up all my clothes and stuff in a duffel bag that lay on the floor between us. I pushed my hair back behind my ear, sighing in relief when I noticed that although bulky, my bandaged arm wasn't as much of an encumberment as I'd feared. I shoved the recurring thoughts of my terror and longing aside, and asked Charlie cautiously, "Dad? What's on your mind?"

He ran his hand over the back of his neck and sighed. "We're still out looking for that trail hiker who went missing last week. You remember?" I nodded and he continued, "Well, we're going out further tonight, and if we don't find him, we'll have to label it a cold case." I knew my father hated doing that to any kind of case, even one as simple as a car that was broken into. It made him feel like a failure.

I offered him, "Well, I won't be terrible off at home, if you have to work late."

Charlie shook his head fiercely, his eyes staying glued to the floor in front of him. "No, I don't want you home alone after this. Whoever did it might get someone else." He frowned further at the floor. "Do you think that you can stay the night with the Clearwater's?"

I raised my eyebrows at his request. He doesn't want me staying home alone? Since when? Then I thought about how I would be spending the evening alone in my bedroom with my super-safe bedroom window lock, and memories of a certain breaking and I thought about it like that, my mind was almost made up for me. "Sure, Dad."

He wrung his hands together, looking tired and worried at the same time. "Bella, did Jessica have to go into your room last night to get something?" I tried to remember our conversation from earlier this morning when she'd called, I still have no idea why she called me at six in the freaking morning, but I couldn't really try to appear normal for Charlie, try to remember a conversation with Jess that I'm pretty sure I didn't take part in, and try to hold off my hysteria at the same time.

I finally gave up after wallowing in thoughts of Sam, where's Sam?, Need him. Want him., He's going to get me, he's going to get me., and my personal favorite, Not safe, not safe, need to get safe. "No, not that I remember. Why?"

Charlie rubbed the back of his neck again, a worried look on his face. "Bella, someone broke into your room last night."

I froze, and silence engulfed my mind. Even the headache, even my hysterical thoughts of Sam and Edward were silent. I managed to choke out, "W-what?"

Charlie's voice seemed to come from far away when he said, "I don't know what they took, but I thought you might want to know." I faintly heard his phone ring, and a hurried conversation between him and the person on the other line. I didn't pay attention. Charlie sighed and stood, saying, "I've got to go, Bells, I'll call you at the Clearwater's later, ok?" I nodded dreamily. He kissed me on my cheek and left the room.

Edward must have broken in. There was no other answer as to who would break in. He must have been there to…to…dear God. He's really going to kill me.

And just like that, everything snapped back into focus. The divide in my emotions was gone, but the headache was back with a vengeance. A mantra began to chant in my head, Get to Sam. Get to Sam. Get to Sam. Get to Sam. I knew he'd keep me safe, he'd protect me. I needed him. I wanted him.

I pushed myself off of the bed, grabbing my duffel bag of stuff from the floor that contained all of my clothes and other things from the last five days here. I walked out of the room and to the front desk, an odd sort of calm coming over me. I asked the nurse hurriedly, "I'm Bella Swan, can I check out now?"

The woman flipped slowly through some papers, and I reined myself back from snapping at her to hurry it up. She looked up, saying blandly, "You're all set, Miss Swan, your father checked you out when he got here."

I didn't wait for anything else. I turned and spun out of the room, racing down the halls and elevators and waiting rooms to the exit, everything blurry to me except for one purpose. Get to Sam. Get to Sam. Get to Sam. Get to Sam. I pushed open the hospital doors, looking around the parking lot for my red truck, finding it near the back corner.

I didn't pay much attention to the looks I got from other people when they saw my bandaged arm. Because the bandages were so thick, I couldn't wear anything with sleeves longer than a t-shirt. I shivered fiercely in the cold, which reminded me yet again of Sam, and how much I missed his warmth. That caused me to begin gasping for breath, hunched over, trying to rein in my hysterics. When I managed to calm down enough to stand and walk, I resolved not to think about how much I missed him or how terrified I was until I got to him. Thinking about when I could finish my Trig homework got me to the truck. Thinking about what was in my duffel got me into the cab, said duffel landing beside me on the seat with a thwack.

I revved the engine and tried to figure out how to get to Sam's from the hospital. I watched as my hands began to turn the wheel, my hands seeming to know where they were going even though my mind didn't. The headache seemed to increase the closer I got to Sam's. Or, at least I thought I was getting closer. I couldn't really focus, with my mind screaming Sam. Sam. Sam. Sam. Sam., and the roar of the engine, and the headache threatening to bust open my head.

Before I even knew that I had stopped, I was in front of Sam's house. I threw the truck into park and wrenched the key out. I looked, and sure enough, the monstrous white truck was in the drive. I more or less fell out of the truck, slamming the door behind me. I shivered, and walked up the stone path to the front door. My hands were shaking violently when I raised one fist to pound on the red wood, flinching at the reaction of pain my ears had to the noise. It opened almost immediately.

I gasped. My eyes rose up, up, and up to see Sam towering over me. A week without seeing him, while so very confusing and painful, had also dulled my memory of just how huge he was. He was massive, larger than any man I'd ever encountered before. But instead of being terrified, I felt relieved. He frowned heavily at me, his eyes were shielded. When he spoke, his voice was guarded too. "Bella."

I said in a rush, "I know. I know that Edward's a vampire; that the whole family is. And I don't know what you are, but I don't care. Please, Sam." I couldn't help it; I raised my arms to him like a child. His face was hard. He didn't move toward me.

Finally I lowered my arms and he said very calmly, "You should know what we are." He stepped outside, past me, and towards the forest. I leaned into his heat, trailing after him without question. I trusted him. We stepped into the woods, and after walking a bit more, Sam spun and said, "Don't ask any questions until it's over." He ripped his shirt off of his body, and I couldn't help it when my eyes locked onto his body.

He stepped out of his shoes and socks, and took a deep breath. If I would have blinked, I would have missed it, it was just so fast. There was the shredding sound of ripping clothes, and instead of Sam, a gigantic wolf stood in front of me in the clearing. It was midnight black, standing at probably seven and a half feet tall, with powerful shoulders and keen, intelligent eyes.

The air shivered around the wolf, and Sam was kneeling on all fours. Naked. I blushed and he said, "Behind you, there's a pair of shorts. Would you-" I snatched up the shorts, and tossed them to Sam. He caught them and I averted my eyes, with difficulty, while he pulled them on. He turned to face me, his eyes cold. I felt something inside me ache at the look of almost hatred in his eyes.

I cleared my throat. "So. Vampires and…werewolves?" He nodded curtly, his arms crossing over his chest. I looked away from him. I couldn't take that look, not from him. The silence hung heavily between us, I shuffled my feet. He continued to stare. I asked him cautiously, "Can you talk about it, or are you forbidden to? Or something?"

He shook his head, his eyes never leaving my face. "No, I can talk about it. I'm sorry for the confusion with the boys, but I ordered them not to tell you anything." I raised my eyes to his, defiance and hurt welling within me.

"Did you not trust me enough, Sam? Did you just not care? Or did you just want me to keep waking up screaming every night that I actually do sleep, because I'm so fucking confused and afraid?" I didn't know where my angry words were coming from, but they did have an effect.

Sam's mask fell, anger replacing the unwanted guard. "What the fuck kind of person do you think that I am?"

I yelled right back. "The kind of person who keeps secrets and hides things from someone else, someone who needs to know. Someone," I hadn't realized I was walking closer to him until he stepped back, as if he finally realized how close we were. The silent rejection hurt. I continued, "Someone who needs you."

His eyes fell onto mine, desperation among the many emotions visible before the mask fell back into place. I decided to just tell him everything, hopefully he'd quit being this new, distant Sam and go back to being my Sam. I lowered my eyes. "I guess that I knew from the beginning that you and the boys were different. I can't explain it, but I've always felt safe with you. With Jared, too, hell even Paul. I guess I always knew that you guys, you guys are special. And I…I feel like…when I'm with you and the boys…I'm really home."

My voice cracked on the word home, and I realized I was crying, softly. I squeezed my eyes shut. "I was so scared when Edward attacked me, and even when the boys showed up and I was so relieved, all I wanted was you because I knew you'd make it ok, because somehow I know that you always make it ok."

I heard Sam mutter softly, with pain in his voice, "Bella…"

I shook my head, still speaking. "And I knew once the hospital let me go that the only place I wanted to go was here, to be with you, and that if I could get to you, everything would be fine, I'd be safe, because you make me safe, and I needed you, I still need you, please Sam."

Two boiling hot arms wrapped around me, and Sam crushed me to his chest. The painfully throbbing headache disappeared almost immediately. I started to sob uncontrollably, my own arms locking around his back. I began to babble. "I missed you so much, and I was so scared all the time, I knew something was wrong because I kept calling and calling and none of the boys or you ever answered, and I had this headache but now it's gone and I think it's because of you, and then my dad told me that someone broke into my room and I knew it was him again, and I just…I wanted…I wanted you. So badly."

He pressed one large, hot hand to the back of my head, stroking the hair, and began to whisper soothingly, "Hey, it's ok. Calm down, sweetheart, you're alright. I'm here now. I'm never going to leave you again."

My eyes were still shut tight, but I started to relax. Not enough, though. Even with my cheek pressed against his chest, my fingers digging into his back, and his arms wrapped around me; it still wasn't enough. I wanted to be closer to him. I removed my arms from around his back and he froze, like he was unsure and afraid as to what I was doing. I ran my hands upwards over his chest, over the ridges of his muscles and latched onto his shoulders, lifting myself up onto my tippy toes.

He seemed to realize what I wanted because his hands anchored on my hips and lifted me up as easily as he would a pillow. I hooked my legs around his waist, one of his arms supporting me under my butt, the other around my torso. My hands drifted to run over the muscles of his upper arms, memorizing every rise, dip, and ridge. His head fell into the crook of my neck, and I felt his own tension leave him as suddenly as mine had left me. Without thinking, I turned and pressed a kiss to the side of his head, then locked my arms around him.

He gave a shuddering sigh, then said roughly, "You are never leaving La Push again."

I giggled softly, and murmured in reply, "While that's alright with me, I don't think Charlie will like it." He hmmed into my shoulder, and I sighed contentedly. My eyes slipped closed, a week without sleeping was finally catching up to me.

Sam lifted his head, his beautiful black eyes searching my face. "You look exhausted, by the way." He had finally dropped the guard he'd been wearing, and he looked a more relaxed then I had ever seen him. I continued to study his face, noting the darkness that lay like twin bruises beneath his eyes. I whispered softly, "So do you."

He grimaced. "I've been guarding you, I wanted to make sure that you were safe."

I frowned. "We need to have a talk. A really, really, really long talk." Guarding me, in his wolf form or human form? Was he the wolf that I had been hearing since the night that I had arrived, or was it one of the other boys?

He nodded too, a sigh escaping his lips. "Yeah, there's a lot to talk about. There's a lot to tell you."

I raised a hand and ghosted my fingers over his cheekbone. My smile widened when he tilted his head into the touch. "Later. Let's just get some sleep for now." I inhaled sharply, as my mind began to produce images that were really inappropriate.

His eyes gleamed. "Just sleeping, Bella. You're going to have to behave yourself."

I laughed. "You have to behave yourself too, you know." I laid my head down on one of his shoulders, and I felt him start walking back to the house. I yawned. "You are not leaving me, Sam. Not ever."

I felt his chest rumble with happy laughter. "You know, you're pushy when you're tired."

I yawned again. "I'm always pushy." His steps paused, and I heard the door open. We stepped through and it shut. I expected him to put me down when we reached the stairs, but he just rushed up them, even taking them two by two. I added that to my mental list of Things-To-Ask-Sam.

He entered a room, and laid me down on a bed, the sheets cool to the places where my skin had been heated by his. He began to move away, and I frowned. "No. C'mere. Stay." He laughed, and obeyed, slipping into the bed next to me, his arms wrapping around my waist and we tangled our legs together. He pressed his lips to my forehead, I smiled sleepily. I snuggled closer to his warmth, and kissed the bare skin of his hot chest.

Sam rumbled softly, "See you in the morning, sweetheart." I hmmed, and let sleep overtake me, willingly, for the first time in a week.

A/N: Sooo…Yeah. Stuff happened. Got caught up. I'm in a hurry. Love you all. Can't do the whole sneak peek thing this time. I'M SORRY DON'T KILL ME. I love you all. Again. Please review. I'm sorry. SORRY. Stuff happens. (EDITED: 4/24/13) So, I had to go back through and edit it, because it was embarrassing. Sorry, my darling dears! At any rate, Chapter 6 should be up in the next few days, so keep your pretty little eyeballs peeled, my lovelies!