Recap: Sam was still smiling as he took Dekan's hand and led her out to his Wrangler.
"So how have you been in the past, oh, decade?" Dekan asked, looking across the seat to Sam.
Sam smiled, all the things going through his mind. He wanted to tell her about him turning into a wolf finally, but he knew by the pack's rule that he couldn't. Sam searched his mind on what he could actually tell her, without revealing the pack to Dekan.
"Well, I'm engaged now. To Emily Young. She's awesome; you'll get to meet her too." Sam said.
Dekan smiled back at him. "I can't wait. Of course you know she'll have to meet my approval and all that." She said laughing. Dekan could tell by the way Sam said her name that Emily would be everything he made her out to be. "What happened to that one girl you were dating…Leah?"
"Oh. We uh, we broke up. We're still friends though." Sam said, a bit uncomfortable. Dekan sensed a hint of sadness in his voice, but didn't bring anything else up again. Dekan looked out the window and watched the houses and shops whiz by in a blur of light.
"Nice outfit, Dekan, going for the dominatrix look are we?" Sam asked, chuckling. He didn't see Dekan's look of sadness, but he sensed it.
"Oh…uh…yeah. All I need is a whip…" Dekan mumbled. Thoughts of Jerry crowded her already full mind. She wondered how he was reacting to an empty house and how…upset he will be when he finds out that his money making daughter wasn't at Ronald's place to fulfill his wishes. Dekan smiled darkly when she thought of this. She only hoped that Jerry didn't go looking for her mother. Or her for that matter.
"Dekan…you know if you ever need to talk to someone, you can talk to me. I won't go around telling everyone." Sam said quietly.
"I know, Sammy. Thanks." Dekan replied. Sam nodded, knowing she would talk when she was ready. When she finally did talk to him, he would personally track down Jerry and make him pay slowly and painfully for his transgressions. Sam almost growled out loud as he thought of everything Jerry put Dekan and Aunt Lola through. It took every ounce of control not to transform right now and track the bastard down.
"Sam! Slow down!" Dekan screeched, staring at the speedometer. Sam glanced down and saw that he was exceeding the speed limit greatly; he was pushing 100 miles per hour easy. 'Damn, slow down, you'll freak her out. Get a hold of yourself, don't lose your control.' Sam said to himself.
"Sorry." was all he said as he slowed the Jeep down to a reasonable speed. He kept glancing over at Dekan, trying to get a read on her body language. She seemed calm. Insanely calm. It was as if she had been taught to behave like this no matter what the situation was. "Did aunt Lola tell you about Forks High School?" he asked.
"Oh, no, she didn't. I didn't even know I was coming here until this morning, after Jerry left." Dekan said. "Is it a good school?"
"Ah, it's okay. I personally prefer La Push, but mom said something about you having to go to Forks." Sam replied. He was happy that the subject that had made her so sad earlier had been changed. "I think Jake's friend Bella goes there, so he could introduce her to you and she could show you around. If you want, that is."
"I'd like that, thanks Sam. Man, I've missed this place." Dekan said, looking over at Sam.
"I think it's missed you too. Home sweet home." Sam said as he pulled in front of his house. Dekan smiled widely, almost running out of the Jeep and into the house. Now she knew she wasn't dreaming. Sam's house hadn't changed a bit.
Jerry came home at four o'clock on the dot. He narrowed his eyes when he didn't see Lola's piece of tin car in the driveway. 'That woman must be out grocery shopping. Get her lazy rear end to work for once in her life.' Jerry thought snidely. He got out of his truck and went to the front door, banging into it. He tried to knob again, but it was locked. 'Stupid bitch.' he thought, thinking Lola had done it on accident. He fished around under the mat for the key, finding it, unlocking the door and going in. It was dark and quiet.
"Oh yeah, Dekan's with Ronald tonight." Jerry said out loud, followed by a mean sounding laugh. Jerry smiled wickedly as he thought of all the hell that Ronald would be putting that useless girl to tonight. The telephone rang a few moments later and Jerry walked into the kitchen to answer it. He noticed that the dishes hadn't been done, and the kitchen was in a mess. He'd have to teach Lola a lesson when she got home.
"Hello." Jerry said, picking up the telephone.
"Where in the hell is that girl you promised me?!" Ronald shouting into the receiver.
"How the hell should I know where you put her? She was to be at your place after her school let out." Jerry said just as irritably.
"Bullshit, man! I haven't seen her all freaking day. You bring her ass over here or I'm taking the debt out of your ass! You have one hour." Ronald said, hanging up on Jerry.
Jerry was seething. 'How dare that little bitch not show up?! I gave her explicit instructions!' Jerry thought to himself. He dashed up to Dekan's room, tearing it apart, looking for any clue as to where she would be instead of at Ronald's. He noticed that a gap in the clothes in her closet, as well as a couple boxes she stored photos and other personal crap in were missing too. Jerry ran down the hall to his bedroom, throwing open the closet doors and cursing so explicitly that it would make a sailor blush. Jerry saw that all of Lola's clothing and shoes had been removed. He looked around the room and saw that some of the dresser drawers had been hastily shut.
"I'M GOING TO KILL THAT BITCH!" Jerry screamed, seeing red. 'How dare she leave me?! How dare Dekan go along with it?!' he thought to himself. Jerry glanced at the clock, seeing that 30 minutes had already passed. "Shit…" he muttered, going to each room to see what else had been taken.
Every other room looked pretty well normal, with the exception of the bedrooms. Jerry sat down at the kitchen table, knowing he could run now, but he also knew that if he did, Ronald would be even more pissed off at him. One thing Jerry was certain of was that when he found Lola and Dekan, they would pay. With their lives. A knock sounded at the door. Jerry groaned, getting up to answer it. For once in his life, he hoped it was Lola. Jerry opened the door, seeing Ronald's imposing figure standing there, flanked by two other men. He swallowed hard.
"Let's go in, Mom's going crazy to see you again." Sam said, getting out of the Jeep and taking Dekan's bag. Dekan stepped out as well, joining Sam as they both climbed the steps to the door. He opened the door and ushered Dekan inside, insisting that it was 'Ladies first'.
"SURPRISE!" was shouted by many different people as lights were switched on and confetti thrown. Dekan shouted in surprise, jumping back and knocking Sam backwards with her as they both landed on the floor.
"Dang, Sam, you didn't mention she'd be as clumsy as Bella!" someone said. The others erupted into laughter.
"Come here baby girl and give your auntie Noni a hug!" Noni said, moving through the crowd of teenagers and helping Dekan up, hugging her tightly. "I'm so glad you're home, Dekan. Welcome back." Noni whispered.
"Thank you, auntie Noni. You're a life saver." Dekan whispered back, holding tightly to her aunt. Pulling back a little bit, Dekan looked around the room, only recognizing one other person besides Sam and aunt Noni. "Leah!" she shouted, going over to the tallest girl in the group. Leah immediately pulled her into a hug. "When did you get so tall? Jeez, I'm easily the shortest person in here!" Dekan said, smiling.
Leah hugged her tightly, looking down at her. "Well, you know how it is around here. You either grow with these dogs or they make endless short jokes." Leah said, happy to see Dekan again.
"You've got that right." another girl piped in, looking at Dekan. Dekan noted that she , too, was short, along with one other girl. "Hi, I'm Kim. I'm Jared's girlfriend." the girl said, looking up into yet another tall guy's eyes. Clearly, that was Jared.
"Very nice to meet you both." Dekan said, still smiling. "We short people have to stick together. Hop up on my shoulders and we'll kick their butts!" she said, laughing.
"Let me introduce everyone here. You know Leah, and that was Kim and Jared. There's Leah's younger brother, Seth." Sam said, pointing at another tall guy, who couldn't have been no more than 16, yet looked older. "Then you've got Jake, Quil and Claire, Paul, that's Embry, and finally but no less important, my fiancée, Emily." Sam said, looking at the girl with the scarred face.
"It's a pleasure to finally meet you, Dekan. The way Sam and Noni have gone about you, you'd think I was meeting a Hollywood celebrity." Emily said, coming to give her a hug.
Dekan hugged her back. "You're telling me. Sam was all 'Emily this' and 'Emily that'." Dekan said.
"Well now that she knows everyone, can we eat now?" the one called Jake asked.
Emily smiled and shook her head. "The way to everyone's hearts' in here is definitely through their stomachs. Remember that. If you ever want or need anything done, just offer a plate of brownies as a reward and it'll be done quicker than you can blink." Emily divulged.
Dekan smiled, making a mental note of this. All the males in the room rushed to the small dining room, but waited to eat until all the females were seated before piling food on their plates and eating.
"God, it's good to be home." Dekan said, looking around. She smiled happily.
Author's note: Well, there we have it! At least part of Jerry's reaction. Just you wait until the next chapter. Oooo it's going to be so good! Finally, Dekan is back in La Push. How will her first day at school go with Bella? And how will the pack get along with Dekan once they get to know her? Review me, please! It makes me want to write! Mwaaaah!