A/N: SO. It has been awhile my friends, and I'll apologize a thousand times for it. There will be a really good explanation for it at the bottom of this chapter. For now, let's read.

Thanks to Anaeli, Vanessa-Wolfe303, meggi115, sarah12345, EagleGirl12 and InLuvWithFictionalCharacters for your wonderful 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.

Mel POV

Jared sat down on the hard stone floor in Ian and Wanda's room shortly after they fell asleep together and tugged gently on my waist on the way down. I looked at his pleading face before giving in and smiling as I allowed him to pull me down until I was seated in his lap with his arms around me. I sighed and leaned back into him, feeling Jared's lips on the top of my head, giving it a kiss.

"I feel so horrible," I commented to him, looking over at Ian and Wanda's sleeping forms. "I mean, it was her birthday and everything, you know."

I could feel Jared nodding his head against the back of mine.

"You don't think it's contagious, do you?" he asked and I could tell by the slight waver in his voice that he was a little nervous for the outcome of the answer.

"I don't know," I admitted and he huffed. "But if it was, we've been exposed for a long time to it, so we'd get it for sure. You are more likely than the rest of us though."

"That's because you made me clean it up," he replied and I knew he was still sore over that fact.

"Well, someone had to do it," I shrugged.

"So you make me do it then? What about Ian?"

"Ian was busy taking care of Wanda," I pointed out. "Think of it this way; if the roles were reversed and it was me that was sick, you would have made Ian clean it up, I'm sure of it."

Jared chuckled softly and tightened his hold on me.

"You're probably right," he admitted. "I can't argue with that."

We must have fallen asleep as well, as I didn't remember anything else being said or done after that point. I did, however, sit straight up as if I had a subconscious feeling like something wasn't right; I felt like Miss Clavel in that book Madeline that my Mom had read to me when I was younger. I unravelled myself from Jared's arms and looked over towards the bed, quickly noticing that Wanda wasn't in it. I swiftly looked around the room and didn't see any traces of her at all, so I stood up as fast as I could; a little panicked, and half ran over to the bed and began shaking Ian awake.

"Ian!" I hissed repeatedly and all he did was try and swat my hands away. I stood back, looking down at him with my hands on my hips before I tried a new method of attack.

"Ian, get up!" I whisper yelled at him; hitting his shoulders rather hard with my hand.

"What is it?" he asked groggily, reaching out to the spot where Wanda had been sleeping and immediately sat up once he realized she was gone.

"Where is she?" he demanded, looking around and throwing the blankets off of him.

"I don't actually know," I admitted and he glared at me. "I swear it's not my fault! I just woke up and she wasn't here. I'm sure she couldn't have gone far," I said, practically running after him as he took off out of the room.

"Okay, it's okay Ian," he told himself like a mantra and I felt a little sorry for him.

It must have been heartbreaking to wake up and find the love of your life gone. I couldn't imagine doing that. I then remembered that I had done that to Jared back there and I quickly scrounged around in my pockets for a piece of paper. I found a list from earlier today and asked Ian for a pen or something. He stopped walking and just looked at me like I was crazy, shaking his head.

"No, but there's one right there," he pointed to a stray pen that was randomly lying on the ground. I quickly scribbled a message on the paper to Jared, knowing that he would come this way and left it in the middle of the floor so that he would clearly see it.

"Okay, let's go," I told Ian once I had finished and we began walking again.

Once we got out into the main plaza, Ian turned to me and I could tell by the look on his face that he had a plan in mind.

"I'm going to check out the kitchens; she might have gotten hungry or really thirsty or something. You go check the bathrooms; she might have gone to take a bath or something, okay?"

I nodded at him. "Ian, you don't have to be so worried. She won't have left the caves or anything; she's safe down here."

"I know she wouldn't have left, but I like to have a general idea of where she is, particularly when she's sick and feeling like that; throwing up and all."

"Don't worry too much," I told him, giving him a light push in the direction of the kitchen.

He shook his head and started lightly jogging off in that direction and I turned the other way to cross the big room again in the direction of the bathrooms. I walked silently and came to a fork in the roads; one led the way down to where I was supposed to be headed, and the other led back to the party that was still going on by the sounds of it. Part of me wanted to go and dance to one song, as it had been forever since we had been able to have music and a party like this down here, but I immediately felt guilty for even thinking of ditching Wanda and trotted off in the right direction.

I rounded the last corner and couldn't see anything; there wasn't any light and I had forgotten to bring a lantern down with me, clearly not thinking beforehand.

"Wanda?" I called out and there was no response.

I sighed and decided to check them out anyways just to make sure that she hadn't fallen into the river or anything. I walked in and stepped gingerly over the part of the floor that threatened to give way any moment, crossing to the bathing room and the pool. I stopped suddenly when I heard sniffling, and I tried to figure out which direction it was coming in because it was unclear with the echo in this room. A louder sob from somewhere on my left in the direction of the pool and I carefully stepped closer to the room, up on my tip toes.

"Wanda?" I called out again and this time there was an answer.

"Mel?" she asked, confirming my suspicions as to where she was and I tore off in that direction.

"Wanda where are you?" I asked, trying to look around in the dark, obviously not being able to find anything.

"I'm... I'm in the washroom," she answered and I knew that she was actually in that part, not taking a bath or something.

"Are you okay?" I asked once I got to the door and peered inside.

"No... I'm not."

"Ian's looking everywhere for you," I started saying. "I should go and tell him that I've..."

"No," she cut me off and I stopped talking.

"Wanda, what's wrong?" I asked again gently.

"I had to use the bathroom really, really badly when I woke up and I didn't want to wake Ian up or anybody else because it's sort of really... embarrassing," she finished.

"Is it? You should have told someone though," I said to her and I could practically hear her shaking her head from wherever she was sitting.

"I didn't want anyone to know. I really had to go," she repeated and I looked around again.

"Even if you just would have..."

"Mel, there was no time, I had to go," she stressed those few words and I got it.

"Oh," I said quietly.

"Yeah."

An awkward silence fell over us before anyone dared to speak again.

"Hey Mel do you think that you can do me a huge favour?" she asked me and I quickly agreed. "I really want to take a bath and change, but... would you be able to get me a towel or something?"

"Course, Wanda" I agreed and told her to stay put.

I lightly jogged out of the cave and back towards her and Ian's room when I ran smack into Ian's chest. He chuckled a little bit while holding his arms out to steady me.

"Hey there, where do you think that you're running off to so quickly?" he asked and I shrugged. "Did you find her?"

I didn't answer him right away and he looked at me like I was mentally incompetent, which I probably seemed to be, but I was just trying to decide whether or not Wanda would want him there. I decided that if I were in her shoes, I would want Jared there, regardless of the situation, but this was Wanda, and she tended to get embarrassed over the littlest things, and I didn't think that she would want Ian there.

"Yeah I did, she's down in the washrooms like you thought," I told him and he started to turn in that direction so I quickly grabbed his wrist. "But wait. She's okay... she just wants a towel and stuff so she can take a bath." Ian began to nod his head and slowed a little bit.

"Okay. I'll go get her stuff; you go back to her, okay?"

I nodded and be began to take off in the direction of their room while I sighed and yelled after him,

"She's not dead, you know!"

He obviously didn't hear me as he was far away, so I just shook my head and walked back in the direction that I had just come from. I made it back to the washroom in record time and found Wanda sitting on the hard stone floor with her head resting on her knees, legs pulled up to her chest and her arms wrapped around them.

"Are you okay?" I asked her once I got close and she nodded. "Ian's gone to get you a towel, okay?"

"I said that I didn't want him down here," she groaned into her legs.

"But you know Ian; he would come down here whether you wanted to or not," I pointed out to her and she nodded, agreeing with me.

"You should go and take your bath now," I told her. "He'll be down in a few moments anyways."

She silently stood and nodded, walking into the room and I remained rooted to the spot, sitting and waiting for Ian to come down so I could go and get some more rest.

Ian POV

As I lightly jogged back to the room I tried to think of different reasons as to why Wanda would just disappear like that without leaving a note or anything. I didn't come up with anything by the time I got to the doors and I noticed that we never did close them as I slid through the opening and crossed to the shelves to where Wanda's clothes were. I started rifling through them and I guess that I disturbed Jared who was still slumped on the floor, as he woke with a start and tried to get his bearings.

"Where? Why? Where am I?" he asked and I chuckled.

"You're still in my room, Jared," I told him, crossing to grab Wanda's towel. "Wanda took off earlier without any warning so Mel and I went to look for her. She's okay; Mel is with her now until I get down there to bring her a change of clothes and a towel, she wants a bath."

"I'm coming," he stated, jumping to his feet and running a hand through his hair.

"You sure that you're okay?" I asked as he swayed a little beside me and he nodded.

"Just a little sleepy is all," he replied and I couldn't help but to chuckle again.

"Alright, let's go," I told him, stepping out of the room and making sure to put the red door back in place this time.

We walked silently down the hall until Jared suddenly stopped and I turned around to see why he had so abruptly stopped. I noticed that he was standing holding a note of some sort and I couldn't help but to smile as I recognized it as the one that Melanie had written for him earlier.

"She wrote that so that you wouldn't sorry if you woke up and found us all gone," I explained and he nodded his head, folding it neatly and shoving it into the pocket of his jeans.

We continued our walk before Jared spoke again.

"How come Wanda took off and left like that?"

"I don't know," I admitted. "Melanie wouldn't tell me either when I saw her, she just asked me to get a towel."

He nodded again and we rounded a corner to see a few people exiting the hallway that led down to the games room; Kyle was one of them.

"Hey, how's Wanda doing?" he asked, catching up with Jared and I and I stopped to turn and face him.

"Not so well," I told him. "She keeps throwing up and stuff."

"Ew."

I snorted. "Real mature, Kyle."

"Yeah, yeah. Well, I'm just letting you know that everything's cleaned up in there, save a few larger pieces that we'll get later on. We're going to attack the kitchen later on this morning, once everyone's a little more awake."

"Wait, the party's finished?" I asked him and he gave me an odd look. "Don't give me that, we left awhile ago, but I didn't think it was that long ago."

"Yea it's done; it ended about an hour ago, just some of us stayed behind to clean up, like you had indicated on the sheet."

I nodded. "Did Jeb ever come back?"

"He did; just asked some people a few questions before leaving again. He wouldn't tell me anything about Wanda though, it was kind of frustrating. But yeah. The party kind of died after Wanda left, you know? But I guess that's always the way it goes when the guest of honour leaves, eh?"

"Sure. Look, Kyle, I've got to go and get these things to Wanda," I said to him, gesturing to the stuff I had in my hands. "But I'll come talk to you later, okay?"

"Sure sure," he answered before running off after Sunny, who was waiting patiently for him a little ways away.

We were almost at the washroom when Jared turned to me.

"You really do love Wanda, don't you?"

I was slightly taken back by this, not exactly expecting it from him, and it took me a few seconds to recover

"Yes I do. I love her with all that I have to give. Why?"

"Well, you're just taking such good care of her that I wanted to make sure that you weren't just doing it because she is sick."

I looked at him sideways, giving him an odd look.

"Of course I love her; I want to take care of her no matter what," I said and he nodded. "If I didn't love her, would I have planned such a big party as the one that I did, even though I knew that she would definitely balk at it?"

"Well, you could have just been doing it to show that you're a really good friend?" he suggested and I shook my head.

"Absolutely not."

"Alright, I was just checking, playing a little devil's advocate. I didn't mean anything by it, I was just making sure, you know. Gotta make sure."

"You always were a strange one," I told him, giving him a playful punch on the shoulder as we rounded the corner to find Melanie sitting on the cold floor.

"Mel!" Jared practically yelped, bounding the last few feet over to her. "Are you okay?"

"Hmm?" she said, looking up at him. "Yeah, I'm fine."

"Are you sure?" he asked, looking over her to make sure for himself.

"Jared, I'm fine," she replied swatting his hands away. "I was just waiting for you guys to show up." She stood up and stretched, yawning a bit and I caught the very noticeable smirk on Jared's face.

"Let's go," Mel said, reaching a hand down for Jared to take, which he did very eagerly. "I want to get some sleep; it's almost morning, after all. Let me know if anything happens," she instructed me, as they left the cave.

"I will," I promised, and stepped gingerly into the room, careful to mind the floor and sat down outside the door to the pool where I knew Wanda was.

I could hear her splashing around gently in there and I couldn't help but to smile. I waited patiently for her to finish, quietly sliding the towel and clothes into the pool so that she wouldn't see me before sitting outside the door again.

"Mel?" I heard her small voice echo from inside the room.

"Um, she left about ten minutes ago," I replied.

"Oh. I didn't know you were here, Ian."

"That's alright," I chuckled. "Just so you know there is a towel and change of clothes by the door for you," I told her.

"Thank you," she said and I could hear the splashes she made while getting out of the pool.

After a few moments, she emerged from the room and stood there sort of awkwardly, waiting until I got up to stand beside her.

"Are you alright?" I asked her and she nodded, trying to neatly fold her clothes up.

I reached over and took them from her, tucking them under my arm. She started to protest, but I just raised my eyebrows at her and she smiled, effectively ending the argument that was about to come out of her lips. I looked down at her and stepped a little closer, quickly checking to make sure for myself that she was physically okay. She looked a little, well, very tired and had purple bags under her eyes. I knew that part of that was from dehydration and I made a mental note to take her up to the kitchens when she was feeling a little up to it. I reached my hand out towards her and took her small one in mine and laced my fingers through it, rubbing my thumb in soothing circles over the back of her soft hand. I saw a smile turn up the corners of her mouth and I motioned wordlessly with my head towards the door, silently asking if we could leave, to which Wanda nodded.

We walked together back to our room and I tossed the clothes that I was holding down onto the floor.

"Ian," she reprimanded me, but all I could do was smile.

"Yes, Wanda?"

"Aren't you going to deal with those properly?" she asked me and I shook my head. "No? Why not?"

"I'm not going to worry about doing anything with those," I admitted and looked down at Wanda who I could see was already rolling her eyes.

Wanda let go of my hand and bent down and started to pick up the clothes, folded them nicely and walked over to the shelves that were by the bed and placed them in their proper places. After she finished, I made my way over to where she was and wrapped my arms around her tiny waist. I heard my Wanda giggle and I buried my face in the back of her head, smelling her luscious hair and feeling the softness of it now that she had just washed it.

"Ian," she groaned, and I knew that she was blushing, even though I couldn't see her face.

"Wanda," I teased and she laughed again.

"Seriously Ian, you're squishing my stomach and it hurts."

"Oh," I loosened my grip a little bit, but still managed to hold her close. "Sorry about that."

"It's okay," she replied and I smiled into her neck, giving it a little kiss.

"You should lie back down," I told her, backing up slowly towards the bed. "You need your rest to get your energy back.

"I don't want to, I'm fine," she tried to convince me but at that moment the back of my knees hit the edge of the mattress and we fell backwards.

"Oh, I'm sorry," she apologized as she landed on my chest.

"Don't worry about it," I chuckled, but she still rolled off of me and lay down beside me.

Within a minute she had sat back up and doubled over, reaching frantically over the other side of the bed. I sat up immediately and managed to grab a hold of her hair and a side of the bucket as she retched into it again. After she finished, Wanda sat upright and groaned.

"I'm so sick of doing that," she said and I hugged her, lying back down and pulling her with me.

"I know you are, love. I wish I could make it stop," I told her, kissing her head as she snuggled down into my side, resting her head on my chest.

"Go to sleep," I whispered to her, and began to play with her hair a little bit until I heard her breathing even out and I knew she was sleeping. I wasn't too far behind her.

Wanda POV

Hours later I woke again and looked right up at the ceiling. I noted by the color of the sky through the cracks in it that it was much later in the morning. I then moved my head so that I could look at Ian; I saw that he was still sleeping, so I decided not to disturb him. I settled for closing my eyes again, just to rest them for the time being.

Ian and I were lying in the back of the van while Jared and Mel were driving; we must have been out on another raid or something. Ian's brilliant blue eyes were looking directly into my own silver ones and I couldn't help but to look away and blush as I normally did, hating the reaction that this body had to everything. I wished that I could take away that one trait about it. I could feel his fingers running through my hair and it felt oddly realistic.

All of a sudden the back doors of the van opened and the floor disappeared leaving Ian and I falling to the ground below...

I awoke with a start and jumped slightly, realizing that I had fallen asleep again. I sat up and felt Ian's hand fall away from my head; I realized that he must have been awake and brushing through my hair, making it seem real in my dream.

"Are you okay?" he automatically asked me and I nodded just as my stomach growled. I heard him chuckle a little.

"Hungry?"

I nodded again and started to get up off the bed while putting my hair up into a pony tail. Ian stood beside me and I looked up at him.

"Can we go get something? Even a roll would be awesome at this point, I'm completely drained," I asked him.

"Of course we can. I was actually just about to wake you up because I was going to go get you a drink and something to eat. You must be famished."

"I am, but I don't see how I could be; I mean we only ate a little while ago," I said and he turned to look at me funny.

"Wanda, I know that we've been sleeping for a long time, but still. It's been twenty four hours since you last ate or drank anything," he pointed out and I stepped out into the hallway and started walking down towards the kitchens.

"Really? No, it has not been."

"Wanda, it seriously has," he caught up with me and took my hand in his again. I loved the feeling of our hands connected like that.

"Well, why hasn't anyone come in and bothered me or tried to wake me up or something? I bet there are a lot of things to be done and...."

I was silenced when a large hand was clamped over my mouth.

"Wanda, nothing much has happened today, everyone was taking a bit of a holiday in light of your party last night anyways. And besides, you're sick. Doc came in and told me just to let you sleep, so if you're going to blow up about anything, yell at him."

We walked in silence while I thought about it.

"Well, if Doc said that it was okay...."

"Wanda, it's fine," Ian told me and I nodded.

We eventually arrived in the kitchen and there were only a couple of people there. Ian sent me to grab a table while he went and got us some food. I noticed that Doc was one of the people in the cave and I gave him a small smile as I sat down. He got up from his place and came over to sit across from me seconds before Ian returned with a rather large glass of water, which he placed in front of me, and a few rolls.

"Are you trying to make me float away?" I asked him sarcastically and he rolled his eyes.

"Just drink up," he told me and I took a sip.

"Bigger than that," he instructed and I glared at him while taking another one.

"He's right you know," Doc said to me. "You'll be quite dehydrated, I'd imagine."

As he was talking, I realized just how thirsty I was and just about downed the entire glass in a few huge gulps. This caused Doc and Ian to laugh and I ignored them as I put it back down on the table top. Ian promised to get me another one as he handed me a roll and I began picking it apart, a little wary as to whether or not I was going to be able to keep it down.

"So Wanda, how are you feeling?" Doc asked me and I knew that we were going to get down to business.

"I'm okay," I said simply and I heard Ian sigh beside me.

"When was the last time that you threw up?"

"Ummmm?" I looked to Ian for an answer as clearly I had no sense of time.

He chuckled, but luckily supplied an answer.

"It was a few hours before you last popped into the room." He then looked down at me. "Eat your roll, Wanda."

I ripped off a piece and put it in my mouth, chewing on it only to please him.

"How about the stomach pain? Is that any better or worse?" Doc asked and leaned forward in his seat a little bit.

I actually had to think about it for a second as it wasn't ripping through me anymore. I swallowed hard before answering.

"It certainly doesn't hurt as bad as it did, but there's still a little hint of hurt, if you know what I mean," I told him, unable to put it into words.

"I understand," he said, with a smile and I could see a little twinkle in his eyes. Ian stood and went back to get me another glass of water as Doc asked another question.

"Wanda what did you eat last night?"

"You mean as my 'Last Supper'?" I asked and giggled a little bit while Doc nodded, encouraging my answer. "Well, I had everything that the rest of you did: the roast beef and the stuff that went with it, I don't really remember what it was any more, to be honest."

"Sorry Ian," I said mentally as I knew how much work went into last night's dinner.

"Then I had the cake," I concluded and I heard a shout from the back.

"What was that Ian?" Doc asked and Ian came rushing forwards.

"No she didn't; she had a different cake than the rest of us," he said, giving my glass back and sitting down with me.

"Oh that's right," I remembered. "The amazing strawberry one."

"That's good, thanks for remembering that one, Ian. I know what you are sick with now," Doc said all at once and I nearly choked on the water I was drinking and luckily Ian was there to pat my back.

"What was it?" Ian asked for me as I regained myself again.

"Food poisoning," he said simply and folded his arms across his chest.

"That's it?" I asked. "That's what has been causing all this trouble? Something as simple as that?"

"Well with it, there is a possibility that it could become much worse than what you have. In the past, there have been people who have been admitted into hospitals and become very sick and some may have even died from it."

"You're lying," I said to him, but he shook his head.

"No, it's true. This was before your souls came to Earth though."

"Sorry," I said in a small voice and bit into my roll again.

"Wanda stop apologizing for that; it wasn't your fault at all," Ian said to me, pulling me close to his side. "Besides, if they have never come, I never would have met you," he whispered into my ear and I giggled, looking up at Doc who was smiling again.

"Well, do we have a verdict?" a loud voice boomed from the doorway and we all looked up to see Jeb strolling towards us.

Doc nodded and began explaining it all over again, but I tuned him out, choosing to lean into Ian instead. I felt him kiss the top of my head and relief washed over me. I would get better; at least it was nothing life threatening. I would get better and I would have Ian there with me every step of the way.

Two Days Later

WPOV

I was sitting on the floor in the games room that had been transformed back into the regular dark cave that it always, but now it was lit up by my pink lantern. Melanie was lying next to me and we were all going through the photo album that she had given me for my birthday with all the ones off of the kitchen walls that had been taken down spread around us.

"Mel, this is really the greatest gift ever," I told her. "I don't know how you pulled it off, but I really, really love it."

"Well you're more than welcome for it, Wanda," she replied as she flipped another page that contained pictures of Ian and I. "You deserve it. How are you feeling, by the way?"

"Much better than I was before, thanks for asking."

She nodded and flipped another page.

"Thank you for helping to take care of me," I said quietly and she looked up.

"You're welcome, but honestly I didn't do much. Ian was there for you through the whole thing; you have him to thank and Jared for cleaning up your mess the first time."

I wrinkled my nose at the thought of that and laughed.

"You're right. Remind me to thank Jared big time the next time that I see him."

"I'll do that," she giggled, sitting up beside me.

She stopped and looked at me and reached out her hand towards me. I didn't know what she was doing until she touched the pendant on my necklace.

"You're still wearing it," she remarked and I nodded my head.

"Of course I am. It's beautiful; how could I take it off? Besides, I'd be afraid to lose it if I did," I admitted and she laughed.

"He really loves you," Mel said to me and I nodded.

"I know. I'm lucky to have found a guy like him," I said and giggled.

"You're damn right you are," Ian's voice sounded from behind us and Mel gave a little shriek.

"Don't you sneak up on us like that again!" she said, smacking his leg, which was the only part of him that she could reach as he sat on the other side of me.

"Okay, sorry!" he apologized, holding his hands up in defence. "I won't do it again."

"Good," she mumbled and I leaned into him.

"Thank you for taking care of me," I said to him and he chuckled.

"I wouldn't have had it any other way," he said and kissed my head.

I was glad that I was over this sickness and could get back to appreciating life and having fun, and actually eating real foods again. I was also very glad that I had my two favourite people in the world with me and I knew that nothing would ever change that.

The End.

So that's it! This story is officially completed. Thank you so much to Vanessa-Wolfe303 for coming to me with the idea and the plot, this was really fun to write! :)

As for the reason why it's so late.... it's because of a few factors.
After the last time that I posted, I got a massive virus on my laptop and we had to clean it out and then I proceeded to get another one. As a precaution, we unplugged the wireless internet and the router so that it didn't go into the main computer as it tried to. Once everything was resolved, we couldn't get the internet hooked up for three weeks.
In the meantime I was majorly swamped with schoolwork as it was mid-term time, so I decided that since this week was Reading Week I would have plenty of time to write. Not so much. Monday night we had a fire at our house so I couldn't stay here Tuesday and half of Wednesday because of the smell. Nothing major, just a lot of smell.
But now it's done!

Review! : )