[A/N: Happy Monday! Enjoy, enjoy, enjoy!]

When we arrived home, I saw Quil sitting on our front porch. He had his face in his hands and was rubbing furiously. Kail exited the van before Ty came to a complete stop.

I looked at Tyson. He began to leave as he said, "I'll make sure they don't fight, okay? We'll take him in the back and just bring the kids in." He slammed the van door.

Eric was clinging to my shoulder. "What's going on? What are they mad at Quil for?"

I closed my eyes and shrugged at Eric. Holli was next to worry. "Where are they going? Are they going to find Gene?"

I took this as my signal that they were going to the back yard. I got out, opened the back and helped my siblings out. I carried Holli inside and set her down on our old rug. She and Eric rushed into Tyson's room, trying to get the best look at the action as they could. After a few minutes of internally debating, I joined them.

I grabbed Holli from the window, sat down on Ty's bed and sat her on my lap. "They look really angry Claire, why?"

I didn't answer her as I tried to figure out what they were saying. Wolves had a super sense of hearing, so none of us couldn't hear a thing.

Tyson stood between Kail and Quil. He was mostly using his strength to keep Kail back but was also moving his lips. Quil looked up suddenly, right into my eyes. I drew a sharp breath. "Claire," he mouthed. "Please, Claire, can we talk?" He moved towards the window while loudly saying this at me. Kail pushed him down before he could get too close.

I gently lifted Holli off of my lap and ran to the back door which was all the way down the hall in the kitchen. I slammed the door closed as I rushed out onto the spring green grass. I waved my hands in front of me, only to see that only my brothers remained on the yard. Quil was nowhere in sight.

I ran to Kail and slammed against him hard. 'What the hell?' Kail didn't know the least bit of sign language, but he sure understood body language.

"What? Did you want him to come through the window and kill you?" He growled at me.

Tyson stepped in then and threw me over his shoulder. "Come on now, you two. Kenzie's pulling in the driveway. Let's act like a normal, happy family okay?" He carried me through the house and out front. Kenzie was laughing as she stumbled to us with a shit ton of supplies for tonight.

"Hey you two, have you heard from Gene yet?" She tried to sound just curious, but we knew what she really was thinking. Ty set me down and we shared a look of amusement.

"Oh, I wouldn't worry too much Kenz. Gene is a strong, smart boy; the worst situation would be that he's lying face down in a ditch somewhere," Kail joked as he came out the front porch area to join our group. I didn't look him in the eye.

"Ha ha ha. So funny I almost forgot to laugh Kail!" Kenzie pushed past him into the house. She set all of the stuff down on our couch. Holli and Eric entered the room and listened eagerly for news on the 'fight'. Kenzie turned to me and squealed. "Claire! Can, can you believe it? In three and a half hours the limo is going to pull up and we're going to come out of the house and all eyes are going to be on us and finally people will realize our true beauty!"

I rolled my eyes. Over the years I had realized Kenzie was a bit bipolar and obsessed over the little things.

"Do you mind if I use your shower? I need to apply a shit ton of conditioner so I can curl it up all like- well I'll show you later." Without me answering, she already entered the bathroom and could hear the quiet scream on the water after a minute or two.

Holli looked up at me with a puzzled expression. "Your friend's one crazy bitch!"

I gaped and stared at Kail who was literally on the floor laughing. Even Ty was having a hard time holding back a smile. I glared at him.

He cleared his throat and tried to look serious. "What I mean is: Holli, where did you learn such a song?"

She smiled. "It's from a song. I found the CD in Kail's rack!" She was beaming at all the attention she was getting from Kail. He was still heaving.

I frowned and pointed at the jar on top of the television set. When she didn't go right away I stomped my foot and she ran to her room to find some loose change.

"Holy fuck, that was the best!" Kail stood up and held his chest as he tried to stop laughing. I gave him the same look at Holli. "Yeah, yeah, I'll go get some money."

As he left I stood there rubbing my forehead. Though I was the middle child, I sometimes felt like a mother.

"Claire, there's a limo in the driveway!" Holli burst into our room, running right to me. I had been leaning against the dresser for an hour as Kenzie did her hair and make up perfectly.

I sighed, Finally! I took one last look in the mirror, tugged at the hem of my green dress a little and tried to slide out of the door. Before I could Kenzie grabbed a firm grip of my wrist. "Not yet! We have to keep them waiting if we're going to be fashionable."

I groaned and shook my head at her. She gave me an evil eye as she walked slowly to my bed and unzipped the casing of her dress. It was a red ensemble with a sweetheart neckline and left barely anything for the imagination. There was a red sheer material running along the left and right side of the dress. I don't know how she planned wearing panties with that dress.

She took off her robe, revealing that she was completely nude. I turned around and covered my eyes. My god, she was going to go commando, wasn't she?

I don't know when this person took a hold of my former best friend. When I first met her in the seventh grade we had connected because of our more reserved personalities. Well, also the fact that Gene had imprinted on her around that time and she was completely smitten with him.

Within five minutes I was finally able to convince her to put on a pair of undies and borrowed her one of my nude colored bras. Gene owed me more than he could imagine.

Finally we left the room and descended down the hall. Before I could shield myself Eric jumped in front of me, a flashing camera in his hand. "Your friend gave me this so I could take pictures Claire!" I pushed passed him lightly to see a group of fifteen people standing in my living room.

Derrick came to me first with another rose in his hand, almost identical to the one he had given me earlier. He took a hold of my waist and whispered very close to my ear, "Let's just skip the dance, beautiful, because when I see you in that dress all I want to do is lock you up so your only focus is on me." I tried not to laugh. Derrick wasn't the exact best at flattering a girl, but he was oh-so sweet.

There was a bright flash and I pulled away to see Eric pointing the camera at us. He had a smirk smile as he ran across the room towards Tyson and his date. "Sorry, Claire. I just wanted to involve him in something, so I lent my camera."

I shook my head as I place my hands in front of me. 'Don't worry. But promise you won't put that one online?'

"Yes," he smiled and pulled me in the large group for pictures. We stood next to Kenzie and Connor who were having trouble looking at the camera while they snogged restlessly. Again I helped out my absent brother by wrapping my arm around Kenzie's neck and tugging her towards Eric and the camera.

The next hour was spent arranging and rearranging couples and groups for endless pictures, both inside and outside. We were almost done when Tyson's date suggested we do one last one wearing the boys' jackets. I thought it was a fabulous suggestion since I was getting colder and colder by the minute. Derrick slipped his black suit coat around my shoulders and I put my arms through the holes. Since the other girls weren't as fast I slid my hands into his pockets for more warmth. I froze when my fingers touched a thin, square package. As Derrick headed in to the limo I opened the pocket enough to figure out what it was. I opened the slot slightly with my fingers and I was right. It was a condom.

I gasped and shook just a little with fear. Did Derrick plan on having sex? No, no, that couldn't be... maybe he was just holding on to it for a friend... or maybe it was a substitute balloon for the party afterwords. No matter his intention, he wouldn't be getting anything. I had barely even had my first real kiss, I wasn't ready for such intimacies!

Tyson ushered me into the limo and I took a spot between Derek and Kenzie. I gave him his jacket back, trying to forget the contents in the pocket. As Derrick slipped his arm around my waist and kissed my cheek I noticed how crowded it was in the limo. Many of the girls were sitting on their dates lap but I wasn't giving in. I didn't want to lead Derrick on in any way. I gulped as he squeezed my side more harshly.

Was it bad that, as I sat there surrounded by cute boys and some good friends and a whole wild night of dancing and partying in front of me, all I could think of was Quil?

A group of ten, including me, sat around one of the tables that was set up inside the gymnasium. I played with the light blue plastic tablecloth because Derrick had temporarily disappeared to use the rest room. I checked the small, decorative watch around my wrist. The lines for the boy's room must have been piling out of the school if it took Derrick this long.

I took a look around the huge room, the blue accents all around soothing me a little bit. Blue was my favorite color, and the corny and very cheap decorations were still cute. Streamers hung about along with hundreds of balloons attached to whatever was available. Some guys at the table next to me were taking turns sucking in the helium and making jokes. I found even myself laughing internally at what they were saying.

And out of nowhere came Derrick through the sea of people. He smiled when our eyes met and reached out his hand to me, grabbing my left arm that had been resting on the back of the chair, and pulling me to my feet. "Let's dance, I like this song." I went along with him willingly. I had been waiting all night for a dance with him. I always imagined he'd be such a classy, fashionable dancer. He proved me right as he placed his hands on my hips and I slung mine around his neck. We swayed and turned to a song I did not know but enjoyed very much anyways. I hardly noticed Kenzie and her date doing the same thing only inches away from us, or the change of music. It felt like I was floating and I couldn't figure out why. Maybe I did really love Derrick. Maybe even more than Quil.

"Will you come to Connor's after party tonight?" He inquired, breaking a long silence.

I shrugged and retracted my hands so I could sign. 'I have to work at eight thirty tomorrow.'

"That's fine. I was only thinking of staying for a half an hour or so. I wouldn't even bother going myself but he might be real bummed if I don't show up even for a little while. It would be a lot less painful if I had some good company," he ran his hands up and down my hips once and my stomach flip flopped.

'Okay, I will come.' I signed and then rested my head against his chest, which he seemed to like as he crushed me in closer to him.

"Claire!" A strong, familiar voice boomed at me from yards away.

I shoved my hands down to my side and removed Derrick's, looking around for a tall head poking out of the crowd. 'Be right back.'

Finally I saw his dark brown head of hair and he saw me. We met right in the middle of some sort of dance orgy. Tyson looked out of breath as he spoke.

"Come on, you have to come outside," he tugged on my wrist and I ran with him past the entrance and through the back lawn of our school. I made him stop before we got to the tree line.

'My shoes, my dress! What are we doing out here Ty?' I gestured to my feet as the pointy heels sunk in the new mud as it started to sprinkle rain just slightly.

I heard a wolf howl not too far away. I inhaled as I grabbed a tighter grip on Ty's forearm and looked up at him. I searched for the answer in his eyes.

He just smiled straight forward at the trees. "Yeah, that's Gene. Come on, jump on my back. Maybe we can catch him." I tore off my shoes in a flash and he lifted me on to his back so easily. I squirmed to get comfortable as he took off flying through the woods.

It didn't take us very long to get to our destination. Tyson stopped and let me off. He told me just to stay as he vanished from my sight. I panted a bit, holding to a tree trunk while I closed my eyes and tried to rid my feeling of vertigo.

Before I got too afraid that he wasn't coming back, he returned with Gene behind him. Gene was wearing only an old pair of boxer shorts that I have seen many times since I did the laundry at home. They were red with different patterns of race cars and black tar tracks. He claimed them to be the most cozy article of clothing he owned.

I ran to him and embraced him as if we hadn't in years. He just laughed in my ear and squeezed me lightly. "How's the dance going?"

I gave him a so-so gesture with my hand and continued to clutch on to him with all my strength as he turned to Tyson to talk. "What are you doing all dressed up? I thought you weren't going?"

He glanced down and kicked at the dirt. "Yeah, well, neither did I. Jake's daughter asked me to go and I agreed stupidly. She left me mid-dance for some other guy a while a go and I didn't see her again. That's when I took a walk outside for air and I caught a whiff of you, man."

I couldn't help but agree as I held against him. He chuckled, "Yeah, I know. I got to take a shower soon. I'm getting sick of the scent myself."

My eyes lit up and Tyson said what I had been asking in my head, "You coming home then?"

He sighed and closed his eyes together tightly. "No, probably not tonight."

I bit my lip and released him from me.

"I promise I'll be back tomorrow, okay? Give me twenty four hours and I will be home. I just have to sort through my head just a bit more," he glanced at the sky as it started to rain harder through the trees. "You guys better head in before you get soaked."

I sniffled once and was glad the rain hid my tears so well. For some reason I couldn't get myself to believe that Gene would ever be home.

"How's Kenz?" He asked finally, releasing the question that I knew he had been trying his hardest to keep silent. "Is that Connor kid treating her okay?"

I had to smile in spite of my brother and nodded.

Ty sucked in a tight breath, "I'm sorry bro. I know it must be hard for you to picture her out with another guy."

Gene just shook his head. "No. She's happy and she's doing well. That's all that matters."

And that was the sentence that carried my brother's essence of who he truly was as a person. It was so hard to realize I would have to spend another painful night with wondering where he was and if he was all right. I gave him one last hug and he kissed the top of my head. He and Ty hugged quickly after that, and then he was off.

Ty looked at me and sighed heavily. "He'll be fine, Claire. You got to stop worrying so much, you have to realize how indestructible we are." He gestured towards his back and I climbed on sloppily. At this point I was feeling so gross and sad that all I wanted was to see the one person who made me feel beautiful. Well, one of the persons that make me feel that way.

[What's to come? :

Before I could enter the school again Ty pulled on my shoulder. "Hey, I think I'm going to head home. Do you want me to come pick you up when the dance is over?"

Luckily before I could confuse my eldest brother with sign language I felt a pair of warm hands slip around my waist and a head on my shoulder. "No, we're going to head to Connor's for a party. I'll drive her home when it's over with," Derrick told Tyson directly.

Tyson only rolled his eyes at this but stood there enough to tell me, "Stay safe, Claire. Don't drink or smoke or have se-"

Before he could blurt out something that would thoroughly embarrass me I slammed my hand over his mouth. I nodded and mouthed that I'd promise him I would be okay. After that he gave one last warning look at Derrick and walked across the parking lot. ]