I'm Right Here

by Lady Fingers20

It's time for a celebration in the caves and everyone is having fun, when something goes wrong. None of Ian's careful planning could have prepared him for what happened next.

2. I'll Take Care Of You

A/N: Well, here's an update for you all! I'm glad that you're enjoying it thus far, after only one chapter! : )

Thanks to TopKat90, Ms. Disturbance, Vanessa-Wolfe303, Anaeli, EdwardAlways and EagleGirl12 for your awesome reviews! : )

Disclaimer: I do not own The Host or any of its characters; they belong to the lovely Stephenie Meyer. Vanessa-Wolfe303 is responsible for the plot; I just brought her idea to life.

Wanda POV

Saying I was surprised would have been an understatement; I was definitely overwhelmed by all of this, and I hadn't taken more than three steps into the room. Ian and I broke away and I could feel the intense heat on my cheeks after this little display of affection in front of everyone. Ian cupped my cheeks with his hands and just beamed down at me. His smile was contagious and I ended up giving him a huge smile back. He gave me one last kiss before taking my hand and pulling me forwards into the crowd where I seemed to be swallowed up by everyone.

Freedom and Isaiah ran up to me and they both gave me hugs around my legs. I picked up Freedom and he wrapped his arms around my neck, resting his head on my left shoulder. I then was greeted by a lot of people at once and once again felt overwhelmed at all the well wishers. I glanced at Ian for help and he nodded.

"Alright everyone, we can have some time to chat later, but for now we should all take a seat and—"

"Open presents!" Mel cried out and everyone cheered.

I looked over at Ian and he just smiled, guiding me forwards towards my seat with a hand on the small of my back. They couldn't actually expect me to accept gifts; I mean, I specifically asked them not to get me anything. I sat down in what evidently was my seat, as it was draped in streamers and balloons and Freedom jumped down out of my lap to run over to the over flowing table of gifts to retrieve something.

I took this opportunity while everyone was finding a spot to sit to look around the room and see exactly what everyone had done to the kitchen. There was a big paper banner hanging from the ceiling that looked like it had been homemade and read "Happy Birthday Wanda!" I saw that everyone had signed it. Across the walls were different decorations; some kiddie in a way, I noticed a donkey by the door with a target on his bum by the door. I figured that they would appease the kids for a little while at least; maybe that was the goal.

There were also pictures that I didn't even know that people had taken of me. I couldn't really see them, I would have to get up close, but I did not remember taking a whole lot of pictures. Ian had obviously been planning this for a long time in order to get so many of them. Either that or he had been arming people with camera over the last few days and I was just completely oblivious to it all.

On either side of the door were two sets of balloon columns, one pink and one white on each side. I noticed that there were others floating around in different colors; anything from green and blue to purple and black. They were taped to the walls and the booths and even the ceiling. I couldn't help but to smile taking it all in.

"What do you think?" Ian whispered into my ear.

"I think that it's wonderful," I whispered back to him.

"Really?"

"Yeah, why wouldn't I?"

"Well, to be honest, art of me was expecting you to completely freak out about me doing this for you," he admitted and I turned to kiss his cheek.

"Well, you know that I would have been happy if you didn't do anything, but still. I know how much work you put into this and it shows. Thank you, Ian."

He grinned and gave me a fast kiss.

"Presents, Wanda?"

"Do I have to," I groaned quietly in his ear.

"Do you really want to disappoint all these people that spent time and effort on finding you the perfect gift?"

I thought about it and shook my head.

"Didn't think so," he chuckled before standing up.

Freedom crawled back into my lap and looked up at me expectantly.

"Open it," he said with pure excitement written on his face.

I smiled and began to pull the bow on top of the box, letting it fall to the floor. I saw the wrapping paper on the outside and tore a little piece off.

"Do you want to help me?" I whispered into his ear and he nodded eagerly.

I held the box out and he tore right into it, just like I knew he would. We were just down to the box then and he looked up at me, waiting for me to open it. I giggled and took the top off, rifling through the paper until I found it. I reached in and pulled out a little beaded bracelet. It had various colors to it and no sort of pattern, but it was precious all the same.

"Let me put it on!" he exclaimed and grabbed it.

I held out my wrist for him and as he slid it on the crowed 'awed' and a saw a few flashes of cameras going off.

"Did you make this yourself?" I asked him and he nodded.

"All by myself," Freedom announced proudly, taking my wrist and talking to me about all of the beads that he put on it.

"Are you going to keep it on?" he asked then, almost worried about the answer.

"Of course I'm going to keep it on!" I reassured him and gave him a big hug. "In fact, I'm never going to take it off."

His eyes widened at the prospect. "Never?"

"Never ever," I vowed and he started clapping, jumping down from my lap.

"Momma did you hear that? She's never going to take it off!" he ran to her and danced around while everyone laughed a little.

People descended upon me then, I guess they were waiting for the okay to make sure that I wasn't going to put up a fight about the presents before giving them to me. I suppose they were right in a way, I could have been a brat and not accepted anything from them, but I didn't want to be mean or rude to them. After all by the looks of things in here, everyone in the caves had been involved in one way or another for making this day possible.

After what seemed like a few minutes, really, we were down to the last four gifts. Jeb stepped forward then and wordlessly handed me an awkwardly wrapped package, stepping away again. I looked at him curiously, but he just folded his arms and waited for me to continue. Cautiously, I began to unwrap it and once they all fell away, I saw what was inside and couldn't help but to laugh.

It was a pink lantern that was decorated with daisy's and had a curly border around the top and bottom of it. It wasn't glowing; for it needed to be charged, but I loved it all the same.

"Thank you so much Jeb," I said to him, standing up to give him a hug.

"I figured you might need one sooner or later with all the late night trips you seem to be taking lately," he said and I pulled away, blushing.

I had been making frequent trips to the bathroom in the night because I had been drinking a lot of water during the days and I guess that he had noticed.

"Well, thank you," I practically whispered and Ian patted my shoulder in reassurance.

Sunny handed me a heavy box and I wasted no time in tearing through the wrappings on it to find five classic books. I gaped at them in awe before looking up at her and smiling.

"From Kyle and I. We figured that you could use something new to read besides those old books that Jeb has in here," she explained, backing into Kyle who wrapped his arms around her.

"Hey, they are not bad at all," Jeb chimed in, defending himself lightly.

"But I have read them each at least five times," I reminded him and he chuckled.

"Thank you," I said to both of them, hugging them separately and returning to my chair.

"Are we done yet?" I joked lightly.

"Not funny," Mel said, sitting down in the booth across from me and placing a large square object on the table in front of us. "The two most important people in your life are last, no offense to the rest of you," she said to the others and they laughed politely. "Well, go on," she encouraged me and I opened it up.

Underneath all the paper was a black book. It looked plain until Mel grabbed it and turned it over. On the front was a picture of Melanie and I with our arms around each other. I remembered taking that one. It had two silver lines that intersected in the bottom left-hand corner and under the picture of us were three words, 'Live, Laugh, Love."

"Mel," I whispered, but she interrupted.

"Open it up."

I nodded and opened the cover.

On the inside were pages and pages filled with pictures of people in the caves. A lot of them had me in them. I recognized a few from when we posed for them, not knowing that she was actually going to have the picture developed, or even that there was film or whatever in the camera. The majority of the pictures were of Mel and I doing various things, being goofy in a number of them.

Towards the back were pages filled with Ian and I. I touched them briefly, tears spilling over at the thought and care that Mel had put into this book.

"Mel, it's beautiful," I said, looking up at her through my tear-filled eyes.

"Oh no, please don't cry," she pleaded as I stood up. "Now you're going to get me going too."

Mel stood up and I hugged her tight, standing up on my tip-toes to do so. It felt like it was just her and I in the room, as I couldn't even really see anyone else there.

"Thank you so much," I said and she sniffled.

"You're welcome, Wanda. You so deserve all of this."

Her words made me cry again and we embraced one last time before pulling away and wiping our eyes. Jared, the ever thoughtful one, offered us a tissue to mop ourselves up with and I graciously accepted.

"Awe dammit, your make-up!" Mel exclaimed, looking over at me.

"What, is it all over?"

"No, you've just wiped it all off." She sighed. "All that hard work for nothing, huh?"

I giggled as she wiped the remainder of it off my face.

"Don't worry, I'll redo it later for you," she said fondly, kissing my cheek. "Happy Birthday, Wanda."

"Thanks Mel."

"Now sit down, there's one more for you!"

She pushed my shoulders and guided me back to my chair. To my surprise, I didn't land on the cold stone that I was sitting on before, but instead on something much softer. I looked up to see Ian's eyes looking down at me as his arms circled around me, holding me in his lap.

"I was going to give you this in private, but I figured that everyone would want to see your reaction, and I didn't want to be so selfish, so I'm giving it to you here," he explained, reaching into his pocket for something.

He pulled out a small blue box with a simple silver bow on the top of it.

"Happy Birthday Wanda. I love you so much," he said into my ear, hugging me tight.

I grinned and kissed his cheek which was right beside me before turning to the little blue box. My fingers were shaking as I carefully reached for it.

"Part of me doesn't want to open it at all, it looks so beautiful," I admitted.

"Just do it!" Jared shouted out.

"Get it over with already!" I heard someone in the back say and I smiled. I could feel Ian shaking with laughter, but I resisted swatting him.

I took a deep breath before giving the ribbon a gentle tug and it came apart. Ian took it out of my hands and laid it on the table beside us. I held the box in my hands and lifted the top off of it. What was inside took my breath away. I couldn't help but to gasp and my eyes clouded again with tears as I took in the sight of it.

Nestled inside was a beautiful necklace and a matching pair of earrings. On the necklace, there was a simple blue raindrop pendant hanging from it on a simple gold chain. The earrings had the same raindrops on them, dangling from a chain that was very similar to the one on the necklace.

"Ian," I whispered, but he shushed me.

Very gently he reached around me and delicately took the necklace out of the box. He held it up in front of me and I could hear the crowd around us gasp at the sight.

"Hold up your hair, Wanda," he said to me and I complied, trying not to hit him in the face in the process.

Ian slowly brought it to my neck and I touched it as the coldness of the pendant touched my skin. I could feel him do up the clasp and give it a kiss, letting his arms wrap around me again. I let my hair down gently and Mel spoke up.

"Put the earrings in, Wanda," she said gently from Jared's embrace.

I smiled and reached for the box, carefully removing one earring and putting it through my ear lobe, attaching the clasp on the back. I did the same with the other one and Ian kissed my cheek as I was putting the clasp on the back.

"How did you—?" I started to ask, but he placed two fingers on my lips, stopping me.

"It doesn't matter how. None of that matters, Wanda."

He wiped away the few tears that had escaped my eyes and kissed my cheek again while I leaned back into him. Someone announced that it was time to eat and everyone scurried away, leaving Ian and I sitting there. I wondered how he was able to get a hold of a necklace like this. I played with it while thinking. He would have had to go right into a sore, in the middle of the day with all those Souls around. Surely someone would have noticed him wandering around, so how did he do it?

"Wanda?" he asked me.

"Hm?"

"What are you thinking about?"

"I'm still wondering how you were able to get this," I admitted. "You would have been seen, right? I don't understand..."

"Wanda, I don't want you to worry about this. It's your birthday; you shouldn't have to think about the how's or the why's. Nothing is impossible, love; remember that."

I shook my head and slid off of his lap as people started bringing out the food. I started to stand to go and get ours, but Ian grabbed my hand as someone put a hand on my shoulder to stop me. I looked up to see Lily with her hand on my shoulder.

"Sit, Wanda. We're going to serve your table. The rest of them can fend for themselves," she told me with a smile, setting down a bowl of salad on the table.

"I... well... thank you?" I said, and she giggled, kissing my cheek before looking at my necklace. "It really is beautiful, Wanda."

I smiled as she turned away and I looked over at Ian.

"That's not fair that they're doing that to just our table," I said to him and he laughed.

"Wanda, they honestly don't mind. This day is all about you; let them do whatever they would like to do."

I sighed. "Alright."

To my astonishment, a bowl of potatoes and carrots were placed on the table before a big plate of meat was put in the center by Kyle.

"What is it?" I asked, and he laughed, sitting down across from Ian as Sunny sat beside him.

"It's roast beef," Jared answered, sitting down on the other side of me while Mel sat beside Sunny.

"How?" I asked, turning to look at Ian once again, who was smiling at me.

"Wanda, it doesn't matter how. Remember? Nothing is impossible," he repeated, kissing my forehead.

"Let's eat!" Jared called out, dishing potatoes onto my plate.

I smiled at the scene. Here I was, sitting at a booth with the people that I love the most in this world, eating roast beef of all things, on my birthday. Ian had truly done wonders to pull this off and I would forever be in debt to him.

Ian POV

As we were eating, I found myself just watching Wanda. She looked absolutely beautiful today. There seemed to be an air about her and she was positively glowing. I looked at the necklace around her neck and smiled. It made me eternally hap[y to see it resting there, and to know that she hadn't even tried to refuse it.

I was quite content to just sit there and watch her, but Kyle interrupted me by making kissy faces at me and batting his eyelashes. I rolled my eyes and refrained from reaching across and hitting him. Instead, I settled for giving him a kick in the shins that made him jump and choke on the water he was about to drink.

"Kyle are you okay?" Sunny asked him in a panic.

"I'm fine, Sunny," he told her, between coughs.

I held up a napkin for him to wipe up the little bit that had dribbled down his chin, but he just glared at me instead of taking it. I shrugged and returned it to the spot on my lap, folding my hands together on top of it. To my shock and delight, Wanda reached her right hand over and took my left hand in hers, lacing her fingers with mine.

I smiled and held it with both of my hands. Her small one seemed to disappear in mine. I started playing with her fingers and tracing patterns on the back of it. Someday I would put a ring on her hand so that I could sit there and play with it during moments like these and smile with satisfaction, knowing that she was all mine. I could see a small smile creep up on her face and resisted the urge to lean over and kiss it; I didn't think that would go over well with her at a table with all of her friends, as much as I would have liked to do it.

Eventually they cleared away everyone's dishes. There was a conversation going on, but honestly I wasn't paying that much attention to it. I was just focussed on Wanda and her reaction to everything.

"Ian!"

I looked up to see Lucina glaring at me with her hands on her hips.

"Yeah?"

"I've called your name at least five times," she shook her head.

"Oh, sorry," I apologized.

"I need you to come back to the kitchen for a second," she said to me, turning and walking away.

I sighed and released Wanda's hand, standing up and walking across the table, jumping to the floor in the aisle.

"Ian, that is so gross; we eat on that, you know," Melanie harassed me once I was down.

"So I'll clean it up," I said shrugging my shoulders and walking back into the kitchen.

I got there and Lucina was beaming up at me. She gestured towards a small cake and I took a few steps to look at it. It was small, about the size of my hand and covered in pink icing, with white icing around the top and bottom. They had also written on the top of it in white, "Happy Birthday Wanda."

"What do you think?" she asked nervously and I turned to her grinning.

"I think that it's perfect! She'll love it!" I assured her, giving her a big hug.

"Good. I wanted to give her a little one of her own and we've made this bigger one for everyone else." She gestured towards a big square one that was covered in chocolate icing that Lily and Candy were in the middle of cutting up.

I nodded. "No, yeah, it's perfect."

"Okay," Lucina leaned over and stuck a single candle in the middle of it, reaching for a match to light it with. "You know the drill?"

"Course I do, I made it," I replied, looking out and catching Jared's eye, giving him the signal.

He nodded and excused himself from the table, going around and dimming all the lanterns in the room. Lucina lit the candle and I carried it over to the door, hiding behind the little piece of rock until Lily nodded at me and I slowly started walking out with it, careful not to drop it.

As I started taking my first few cautious steps, everyone in the room started singing to Wanda and I couldn't help but to smile. She would be red with embarrassment, but she would look lovely all the same. I neared the table and the candle flickered, so I placed my hand in front of it and it came back to life. Very carefully and gently I placed it onto the table and sliding it in front of Wanda. I looked at her face to see that she was a little red as I had predicted, but she was also beaming and glowing more than ever. I loved to see her like this. She may not like all the attention, but she was worth it.

Once everyone stopped singing, I saw a few flashes from the cameras and Wanda finally looked up at me. I smiled back at her as Melanie spoke.

"Make a wish, Wanda!"

She frowned in confusion until Mel explained what that meant and then she smiled. Wanda closed her eyes, making her wish before taking a big breath and blowing out the candle. The cave erupted in applause and I could see her blushing again. Lucina handed me a knife, fork and a plate as she called out to everyone.

"Cake's ready, come back a get some!"

There was a mad rush of people to get some and Jared climbed out of the booth, so I stepped in. Carrying the plate, fork and knife, I told Wanda to bend down and I stepped over top of her and settled into my original seat.

"You know, you scare me when you do stuff like that," she admitted as I placed everything on the table.

"I'm sorry, Wanda," I apologized. "I don't think I was really thinking when I climbed over you with a knife in my hand. I swear I didn't mean anything—" she silenced me with a small finger on my lips and I couldn't help but to grin.

"I know, it's okay," she reassured me.

"You want to cut it?" I asked her, turning the handle towards her, but she shook her head and pushed the cake in front of me instead.

"Why not?" I asked.

"I don't like knives. Plus, I'll probably screw it up or something," she said and I smiled.

"You would not."

"Just do it for me?"

I couldn't refuse her, so I nodded and cut her a piece, putting it on the plate and pushing it back over to her.

"Aren't you going to have some?" she asked and I shook my head.

"Not right now. I have to be in the mood for sugary things."

"And you're not now?"

"No, sorry Wanda."

"Why are you apologizing?" she asked. "It's not like I'm mad at you or anything."

I shrugged as she took a piece of the cake on her fork and put it in her mouth, closing her eyes. I smiled at watching her before Kyle slammed his fork down and I jumped.

"You know, if you keep smiling like that, your face is going to stick," he told me, pushing a plate of cake in front of me, but I pushed it back. "What, you don't want it?"

I shook my head. "I'm not a big sweets person, you know that."

"I try to do something nice for you, and this is what I get?" he shook his head. "Last time I do that. Oh well, more for me."

"No way, it's mine!" Jared called out. "Ian?"

"I don't care who eats it," I told them and they began to squabble over it.

"This is so good," Wanda said, smiling up at me. "Are you sure that you don't want a piece?"

"I'm sure," I told her, wrapping my left arm around her waist and kissing her temple.

"It's got strawberries in it and everything," she said, taking another bite.

"That's enough, you two!" Melanie cried out. "It's a stupid piece of cake for heaven's sake! You know what? Because you two are being such pansies about it, Sunny and I get it."

To Jared and Kyle's shock, she pulled it between her and Sunny; stuck her fork in it and took a big bite. She then glared at Sunny who followed suit. I couldn't help but laugh at Jared and Kyle's faces and grabbed the camera that was sitting in front of Melanie to take their pictures.

"That is not cool, Ian," Jared growled.

"Yeah, this is your fault to begin with. Now delete them."

I showed Kyle the back. "You can't. I have no access to the photos after they're taken. They're all on the memory cards, but can only be printed off. You know, like the old film cameras."

He shook his head and returned to his solitary piece of cake to wallow.

The rest of dessert went by without incident and Kyle excused himself to go get the games room up and ready. He nodded at me before he left and I nodded back. He ran running from the room and I nuzzled my face into Wanda's hair.

"What is it?" she said, half giggling.

"Nothing, I just love you," I replied in her ear and could feel her blush. "Don't blush, it's the truth."

"I know." She turned to face me. "I love you too."

I smiled and kissed her quickly as to not make her uncomfortable. What I really wanted to do was carry her off to have her to myself and kiss her senseless, but I think that it would be noticed if I just made off with the guest of honour.

About ten minutes later, Kyle returned and gave me the thumbs up. Jared stood from the booth and got up on the table.

"Okay everyone, listen up!" he shouted, but the buzz of conversation still lingered. "Yo! Shut your mouths!" Jared just bellowed at everyone and silence ensued.

"Thank you," he continued and I shook my head. "Now, for the next part of this evening's festivities, we kindly ask that you all make you way down to the games room."

Jared jumped down from the table and held his hand out for Mel to take.

"Think I got the message across?" he asked.

"I think you handled it most admirably," I said to him and he glared at me.

Wanda slid out of the booth and I followed, grabbing her hand in the process. I slid my hand from her so that it was wrapped around her tiny waist and began to lead her from the kitchen. Freedom bounded up to us as we were near the door and started tugging on my pant leg. I bent down to his level and he began whispering in my ear.

"My mom says that I have to go to bed now, can I have my balloon? Was I good enough tonight?"

As is the way that all little kids whisper, the people nearest to us were able to hear and Wanda reached over to grab a column of balloons.

"You were such a god boy tonight, that I'll let you take all of these balloons," she said crouching down with us and handed him the string.

Freedom's eyes lit up like they usually did on Christmas morning and he clapped enthousiastically before stopping.

"What it is?" Wanda asked him.

"Are... are you sure that it's okay for me to have them all?" he was clearly nervous for her answer and was fiddling with his fingers.

"I promise that it is okay for you to have every single balloon on this string," she reassured him and he threw himself at her, giving Wanda a great big hug.

"Thank you," he said to her, before pulling away and grabbing the balloons from her.

As we stood up, we heard his feet scampering towards the back and he started screaming out,

"Momma! Look at all the balloons Ian and Wanda gave me because I was a good boy tonight!"

The crowd chuckled and I started guiding Wanda out of the kitchens. She rested her head on my shoulder while we walked along the hallways and was quiet.

"Are you okay?" I asked her.

"Yeah."

"You just seem unusually quiet."

"It's overwhelming, Ian. It's a lot for me to take in right now," she admitted and I turned to face her in alarm.

"Is it too much?" I was worried that she wouldn't like what we had planned for her next.

"No, no," she picked her head off of my shoulder to look at me. "Well, I mean, yes it is too much, but I know why you did it and I love you for it. But that's not what I meant. It... it's hard for me to believe that all these people came together to help you with something that was for me."

I wrapped both of my arms around her and kissed her head.

"Wanda, trust me, they were all too eager to help me out. We're all family in here, and everyone wanted a hand in making this day special for you. It actually ended up being a little bigger than I had first envisioned because of everyone's help."

"I hope that you—"

"Shh," I shushed her. "I don't want you to worry about what we did. I want you to enjoy it. And I also don't want to have to tell you that again."

She giggled her adorable little laugh and nodded in agreement.

"Okay."

We rounded the corner nearing the games room and that's when I saw exactly what happened to a lot of those extra balloons. They were individually taped to the wall in no specific order; all colors were all over the walls. I couldn't help but to smile at the creativeness of my little team; they had done well. We stepped into the games room and all the lights were out, so we could barely see our hands in front of our faces; just how I wanted it to be.

"Ian, I can't see a thing in here," she said. "We'd better not be playing a game of soccer."

I laughed and kissed her hand that was in mine.

"No, no soccer game today, Wanda. Sorry."

"I'm not sorry about that," she admitted and I laughed.

"Ready Wanda?" I asked and heard her sigh.

"Yes."

"Really?"

"No. Just get it over with."

I smiled and clapped three times.

After my third clap echoed off the walls around us and nothing happened, I began to panic. If Kyle had screwed this up then I was going to kill him. After a much delayed ten seconds, the room and all its lights came to life, illuminating the cramped space.

I heard Wanda gasp beside me and I turned to her in horror that something had happened, only to see her looking around at everything in awe. Her jaw had dropped and her eyes lit up in wonder as she began to slowly turn around on the spot, trying to take everything in at once.

"What do you think?" I asked her, nervously.

"It's... magical and wonderful and I love it!" she gushed, wrapping her arms around me.

I laughed away all my worries and hugged her back.

"Alright people, let's get this party started!" Kyle shouted over the microphone and everyone that was behind us cheered and raced out into the middle of the room as the first song started playing.

Wanda and I stood there and let them pass, watching them go by us. I had no intentions of moving, I was quite content to stand here with Wanda for the rest of the evening, but I knew that we would have to move eventually. I decided to let her lead us and tightened my hold on her. Everything that I had planned had gone over perfect; I couldn't ask for anything better.

Wanda POV

Walking into the games room was definitely an experience. I never would have thought that they could pull something like this off. All the walls were draped in different colors of fabric to cover up the stone. There were pulsating lights all over and in the middle was a sort of makeshift dance floor. I could see Kyle up in a booth where he was playing music and activating the lights. I literally had to turn around on the spot to take everything in.

"What do you think?" Ian asked me nervously, and it was really cute how worked up he was getting over my reaction.

"It's... magical and wonderful and I love it!" I told him, giving Ian a really big hug to hopefully show a little bit of my appreciation.

Ian laughed, seeming to let go of any sort of nervousness he was bottling up and hugged me back.

"Alright people, let's get this party started!" Kyle shouted exclaimed and everyone started shouting and running past us to start dancing to some song that had come on.

Ian and I stayed where we were, wrapped in each other's embrace and I loved it. From where we were we could see everyone dancing and enjoying themselves. I was really proud of all the hard work that Ian had gone to to pull this off for me. I had to admit that I was having a really good time, and although deep down I felt a little guilty about it, I wasn't letting it show. I was pushing that emotion away and concentrating on the moment.

"Do you want to dance?" Ian asked me and I looked up at him.

"Ian, I can't dance," I admitted and he smiled.

"And you think I can? Don't worry, I'll be right there."

I sighed. "Alright."

Ian grinned at me before pulling me out onto the dance floor and putting his hands on my hips.

"You don't have to worry about the moves so much as finding a rhythm that works for you," he instructed me, gently swaying my hips to the music.

"Are you sure I can do this?" I asked him and he gave my forehead a kiss.

"I am positive. I can't dance either, but that's not stopping me."

I smiled and followed his lead. When I danced with Ian it was surprisingly much easier than trying to do it alone. I looked up to see him smiling and I reached up to wrap my arms around his neck; it seemed like the natural thing to do. As a result, it brought our bodies closer together and I smiled at the contact.

Just then the crowd around us starting singing some song that I had never heard of before.

"Voulez-vous (ah-ha) Take it now or leave it (ah-ha) Now it's all we get (ah-ha) Nothing promised, no regrets..."

"Kyle and Mel chose the playlist," Ian explained and I laughed.

"I like it," I said as we swayed together and he wrapped his arms around my waist, bringing us even closer.

After the song was over and fading into another one, I felt someone tugging on my arm and I turned to see Mel standing there.

"Come on!" she yelled over the music. "This one's for the girls! You, me, and Sunny!" Sunny appeared from behind her where Mel evidently had a vice-like grip on her arm too.

"Go ahead," Ian said in my ear, releasing me and I was dragged into the very middle by Mel.

I sort of stood there awkwardly why Sunny and Mel began to dance.

"Why do you look like a deranged monkey?" Mel asked me and I shrugged.

"I can't dance."

"Bull shit. Just sway to the music, don't just stand there!"

I tried to do as she instructed, but I'm pretty sure that I looked very awkward and uncoordinated.

"That's it! There you go!" she yelled and I guessed I was doing it right. "Okay, ready? Sing with us!"

She and Sunny, to my astonishment, along with probably the rest of the female population in the caves at the moment started belting out the lyrics to the song and I sort of just stood there.

"Gimme gimme gimme a man after midnight, won't somebody help me take the shadows away. Gimme gimme gimme a man after midnight, take me through the darkness to the break of the day."

We continued to dance, and I tried to remember some of the lyrics for the next time that part came around and I tried to sing along with them, messing up a few words. When I screwed up, Mel, Sunny and I just dissolved into giggles. When this song faded into the next one, I tried to look around and find Ian, but Melanie grabbed my arm again.

"Just leave him be, he'll need to cool down after a dance like that," she said to me, continuing to dance to the new one.

"What do you mean?" I yelled back.

"He'll have a little problem to take care of, that's for sure."

"What?"

She shook her head and grabbed my hand, dancing around.

"Sing, Wanda!" Sunny cried out.

"I don't know the words!" I yelled back.

She shrugged. "Make them up!"

When the chorus came around, we all tried to sing them together. It was truly a song that from then on would belong to us three.

"That's all they really want, is some fun! When the working day is done, oh girls they wanna have fun, oh girls just wanna have fun!"

When the girl started singing something about hiding a girl from the world, Mel spun me around and I played it up a little bit, shaking my hips. She cat called at me and I laughed. I really was having the time of my life.

That song ended and I convinced them that I needed to sit the next one out. I really wasn't feeling the greatest, but I wasn't going to openly admit it to them and freak them out. I grabbed a glass of water and sat in one of the available seats that were along the wall. I carefully sipped it and noticed that my stomach was starting to hurt. I passed it off as a stomach cramp or something from all the dancing and didn't think anything of it.

Ian came to sit beside me and held my hand.

"Are you having fun?"

I nodded. "This is so much fun. Thank you so much. I know that you put a lot of work into this for me and I really appreciate it. Thank you."

"You're more than worth it, Wanda," Ian said to me as he leaned in a quickly kissed my lips.

I smiled as he pulled away, but he frowned a little.

"What is it?"

"Are you sure that you're feeling okay?" he asked, placing a hand on my forehead. "You feel a little warm."

"It's probably just from the dancing," I told him, not about to let him in on the pain in my stomach. It would probably go away quickly anyways.

"Wanda," he said in a sort of warning voice.

"Ian, I'm fine," I said, smiling at him. "Trust me. I would tell you if something was wrong."

"Would you?"

I looked him right in the eyes. "Of course I would." I hated lying to him, but I didn't want to ruin this night for him. "Now why is she singing about flies on the wall?"

He chuckled and dropped it. There was my Ian.

"It's some girl that was famous awhile ago. She was always a little odd, if you know what I mean. Well, to me she was. Might have had something to do with the age difference between us, I don't know."

I giggled and looked out at everyone dancing. As we were sitting there, the pain began to increase, and it took a lot out of me not to wince at it every few seconds. A few minutes later the music was cut off and Kyle began to speak.

"Alright, everyone this next song is for Ian and Wanda!" The crowd cheered as a spotlight was shone on us and I cringed away from it. "Come on out here! Everyone clear a path for them."

"I guess that's us," Ian said, pulling me up.

Lily took the cup out of my hand as we walked by her in the path that everyone had made for us leading to a circle in the middle of the floor. Ian stopped us and I nervously turned towards him. I couldn't dance in front of all of these people without making a fool of myself.

Once I looked into Ian's eyes, all my far disappeared and I just concentrated on looking at him. He took my right hand in his and I wrapped the left around his shoulder while his big arm came to rest around my waist. We slowly began to sway to the music and I listened to the lyrics.

"Keep your eyes locked on mine and let the music be your guide..."

I decided to take the music's advice and looked up into Ian's blue eyes. I barely registered that there was a single spotlight on us and that there were hundreds of eyes on us. All I concentrated on was Ian and I.

"Now won't you promise me, that you'll never forget to keep dancing wherever we go next..."

I sighed happily and lay my head on Ian's shoulder as he brought me closer to him.

"It's like catching lightning the chances of finding someone like you. It's one in a million the chances of feeling the way we do. And with every step together, we just keep on getting better. So can I have this dance? Can I have this dance?"

I felt a few tears leak out just listening to the song. It was powerful and described Ian and I perfectly. The song may have had the intention of being about dancing, but underneath, it was about love and being there for each other. I loved this song; it was not mine and Ian's for all of eternity. But, as all things go, the song had to end and another fast one came on. I danced with Ian for about half of it before being taken away by Paige and Lily.

We danced together and a few more people joined us until a whole lot of people were surrounding me and I felt trapped. My stomach pains weren't getting any better; in fact it felt like someone was stabbing me with a knife and ripping apart my insides. I was a clammy and gross and had to get out of there.

I excused myself to get another drink and quickly downed it, grabbing another one. I sat down again as I could feel the familiar feeling in the back of my throat that happens when your dinner is about to make a reappearance. I closed my eyes and tried to think of other things so that it wouldn't happen.

"Wanda, are you okay?" I jumped as Mel placed a hand on my shoulder and opened my eyes to see her kneeling in front of me, looking concerned.

"I'm okay, I just have to go the washroom real quick, okay?"

She nodded tentatively. "Want me to go with you?"

"No, no. I'll be really quick, like two minutes, I promise."

I stood up and Mel took the cup from me as I made my way out the door, following the hall until I got out of it and turned in the direction of the washroom. Once I knew that I was alone, I curled over in pain, wrapping my arms around my stomach. I was in so much pain by then that I thought I was going to die.

Mel POV

After Wanda left the games room, I started frantically scanning the cave for Ian. If she wouldn't let me go with her, she would let Ian near her. I finally spotted him standing against the wall with Jared, Brandt and Aaron and I marched over towards them.

"Hey babe," Jared said to me once I got close enough, wrapping an arm around my shoulder.

"Hi," I said to him before turning to face Ian. "Ian, you need to go after Wanda."

Sheer panic crossed his face and he looked around for her.

"Where is she?"

I gulped. He was not going to be happy about this.

"She... she. I don't think she's feeling very well, Ian. I just talked to her and she was very pale and clammy and just didn't look good. She just left to go to the washroom like two minutes ago."

"And you didn't go with her?" he asked, anger and concern now dominant on his face.

"No, I'm sorry. You know how she is, she wouldn't let me. But she'll let you near her, so you need to go find her."

He swore and ran his hand through his hair.

"Okay, fine. I'll be back."

Ian then tore off, pushing through the crowd, half running towards the door.

"Now I feel bad," I admitted.

"No, Mel, you did the right thing. She'll be okay," Jared said, trying to reassure me and I nodded.

I really hoped that she was alright.

Ian POV

I was so angry trying to fight my way through the crowd. I just wanted more than anything to get to Wanda and find out what I was wrong. Once I was through, I tore through the halls hoping that I got to her in time.

I knew that something was wrong earlier; I should have taken her back to our cave then and not let her keep on dancing. I bet that it didn't help whatever this was. I'll admit that the dance that we had together was certainly magical in every way, but if I had know that she was ill, I would have postponed it.

I booked it towards the washrooms and stopped once I heard a strangled cry.

"Wanda?" I called out, and something whimpered in her tone of voice.

I cursed and flew down the hall towards it. I was not prepared for what I saw.

Wanda POV

I couldn't make it any more. The urge to vomit was too great and I collapsed onto the ground wherever I was. Hopefully someone would find my dead body and give me a proper funeral; preferably outside these caves with the others.

I whimpered and clutched my stomach, trying to grab it and make it stop. Even lying on the floor wasn't making it better. I knew that one thing would, and I did not want to do that. I heard footsteps and froze, realizing quickly that not breathing wasn't helping the current situation. Instead, I let out a pathetic cry of pain and heard a voice.

"Wanda?"

"Oh no, not Ian," I thought. I didn't want him to see me lying here like this. After all his planning that he had done, I didn't want to ruin it. I let out another pitiful whimper and heard the footsteps quicken; as if he was running.

"Wanda!?" he cried out once I had evidently came into view.

Ian ran to me and dropped to his knees by my side. I looked up at him to see that he was tentatively reaching out towards me, as if afraid to touch me. I tried to give him pleading eyes for him to do something, anything to take away this pain.

"Oh Wanda," he relinquished his control and reached over, grabbing me and pulling me so that I was sitting with my back resting against him. "Why didn't you tell me that you didn't feel well? I would have gotten you out of there."

"I know," I said to him. "But I didn't want to ruin your party. You worked so hard—"

"None of that matters right now; none of it. What matters is you and your health, and right now it's taking a nose dive. Tell me, please tell me what is wrong," he begged and I regretted lying to him even more.

"I... I feel like my stomach is being ripped apart I'm in so much pain," I started to tell him. "I'm clammy and feel gross and I feel like I'm about to vomit."

"Oh Wanda," he sighed, touching his cheek to my hair. "Why didn't you say anything before? Wait, I know the answer." He sighed again. "It feels that bad?"

I nodded and he touched my cheek lightly.

"You are pretty warm. Here, sit up for a minute."

I sat up and could hear him rustling behind me, but didn't turn around to see what he was doing. Instead, I bent over as I started coughing and gagging; the inevitable was going to quickly become a reality.

"Lift your arms up, quickly," Ian instructed me and I complied, attempting to sit up straight.

Once whatever it was he was putting over my arms was over them, he gently tugged it over my head and down the rest of my body. I didn't realize that I had closed my eyes until I opened them again to see his green shirt on my body.

"Ian," I started to protest, but he cut me off.

"I don't want you messing up your beautiful shirt."

"And I don't want to get yours all dirty," I said, trying to take it off, but he was faster, holding it down and crushing me once again to his chest.

"Do you still hurt?" I nodded as the sensation came over me again and I couldn't hold it in any longer.

"Ian!" I called out, bending over onto my knees.

"Wanda, I'm right here," he said to me and I could feel the acid burning its way out of my throat, trying to find an exit.

Just as Ian pulled my hair back, it found one, and the contents of my stomach poured out of me. After I finished I felt really embarrassed at what I had just done in front of Ian, but he didn't seem to be bothered by it at all. Instead, he pulled me back so that I was curled against him while he wiped around my mouth with the hem of his shirt.

"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry," I repeated to him, but he eventually pressed his fingers to my lips.

"Wanda, I don't want you to apologize. It couldn't have been avoided, don't feel sorry."

We sat there and he held me for a few minutes until the sounds of footsteps were heard and more people came into view, I guessed, as I was facing the other way.

"Oh!" Melanie gasped. "Jared," I heard a smacking sound and could only guess that she had hit him. "Go get some towels and s bucket of water."

"What?" he asked, confused.

"Go, now!"

One set of footsteps faded away from us while the other got closer to us.

"Is she okay?" Mel whispered and Ian shrugged.

"I don't know. Wanda?"

"Mhm?" I murmured.

"How are you feeling?" he asked me gently.

"A little better," the nauseous feeling had disappeared for the time being.

"How's your stomach?" he asked.

"Still hurts," I mumbled, quickly slipping into sleep.

"Go to sleep, Wanda. I'll take care of you. I'll be right here; I'm not going to leave your side," I heard him say to me as my eyelids closed and I drifted to sleep.

Okay. That was one heck of a writing marathon.
Anyhoo.
DID ANYONE WATCH THE CANADA/RUSSIA GAME TONIGHT?!?!?!?!
HOLY CANNOLI!!!
It was one heck of a nail biting game! Three periods, then a ten minute overtime, then a shoot out! Magnificent. I haven't seen hockey like that in years. I'll admit; Canada didn't play as well as they could have; they seemed to be searching for the pretty goals and not just shooting at the net like they should have. The Russians took away so many chances because they simply waited too long. Tavares wasn't playing as well as he could have, though it was a beauty goal in the shoot out. But holy crow, Eberle was on FIRE!! My gosh.
For anyone that missed it and wants to watch highlights, the link to them will be on my profile, or you can just go to .ca

All links to the songs used in this chapter will also be on my profile, as well as the link to the necklace and the scrapbook.

Review! : )
And GO CANADA GO vs Sweden in the Gold Medal finals on Monday night!!!! : ) : ) : )