Sorry about the last chapter being so short. I was in a hurry and had a tad bit of writer's block. O.o UGH! Anyway... I'm having trouble deciding if I really want to kill Edward, or if I want to kill Scottie... or neither...So... I apologize for the delay, because I am trying to sort things out. Oh, and for those of you who don't get the "one-eight-seven" thing, it's a song by Senses Fail, on their "From the Depths of Dreams" CD. One-Eight-Seven is the chapter in the California Penal Code for homicide. (still don't get it? look it up on Wikipedia.) Oh, and you know (or maybe you don't) Alex Varkatzas, the screamer for Atreyu? Well, his real full name is Ektor Alexander Varkatzas. THAT'S cool.

Senses Fail - Skydiving Without a Parachute: "I had a dream last night, and in my dream I took a knife to you. I slit your throat from ear to ear. The wound was gasping for the air, your screams so clear. But every dream could never come true. Only in my sick mind can I do these things to you. Every passing moment, it just keeps getting worse. The walls are getting smaller, and I am six feet beneath the earth. I had a dream last night and in my dream I robbed a country club. A five-year-old tried to stop me but I shot him through the head... and now he's dead."

Chapter Thirteen-- The Departed

Edward drove me back home, and accompanied me to my room. I slug my book bag next to the computer desk and plopped down on my bed. I sighed, then flipped over onto my back.

"Scottie, I'm going to have to leave for a while."

"Oh, yeah? What's going on?"

"It's... well..."

"Vampire stuff."

"Yeah."

"It's fine." I said to him.

"I just worry about Malikai showing up..."

"Ehh... Don't worry about it. If he wanted to kill me, he would be causing chaos all over the place."

"That's partly true... He may just be taking his time... I don't know his strategy..."

"Look, Edward, it's fine. Just go and do what ever it is you have to do, and I'll see you when you come back."

There was a pause.

"Edward? You are coming back, right?"

"Of course. It's only temporary." He appeared worried.

"Why are worrying so much?"

"Because you could easily be killed, and I would never forgive myself." He snapped.

"Edward... I promise you, I will be fine. Besides, Raab is in town, and he is watching for Malikai. If anyone can protect me from him besides you, it's Raab Hurley. You can't just center your entire life around me, no matter how good of friends we become. I mean, we're both going to live for God knows how long, and we can see each other when ever we want. We both know there is going to come a time wen we leave each other, and we may not even see one another for many, many years. If we become so attached that we can't bare to be apart from the other, then we're screwed. Neither one of us will be able to do anything alone. Do you understand what I'm saying?"

"Yes. But the status of our friendship will not protect you from a maniacal vampire who will stop at nothing to kill you." He was clearly agitated. I wished he'd just chill out and not be so protective.

"Edward... if you have to leave, then you have to leave. It's like you said; it's only temporary. Who is going with you?"

"Everyone... Alice, Jasper, Emmett, Rosalie, Carlisle, and Esme. That's part of what worries me. If your... friend, Raab, is no where around, and we're all gone, who is going to be here to save you? There is no way we could make it home in time."

"I'm not completely helpless, Edward."

"I understand that. But is it such a bad thing that I care enough about you to worry?"

"Well, not that I'm being ungrateful, but out of all the people in Forks, you pick a werewolf to be your best friend? That's not exactly vampire-ish, if you know what I mean."

"I know, but that's not the point, Scottie. Does it matter that it's you? I explained this to you before."

"Please, elaborate once more." I sat up.

"At first, we were pissed off because we knew you were a werewolf-to-be, and we thought we were sent here to wreak havoc. Well, we saw that you weren't even a fully transformed wolf yet, so we thought we'd put ourselves around you as much as possible so that your vampire-hating instincts wouldn't come into effect. If they did, we'd all be screwed because there is no way in hell a werewolf can fight a vampire without things being absolutely obvious that we aren't human. And who wants that? Not us. So we took the chance, and I just happened to look past that beast inside of you, to your heart. I monitored your thoughts, your patterns, your every nightmare. I knew you were turned against your will, and thus, you didn't care about murdering humans or picking fights with vampires. I understand exactly how you feel, and I felt pity and sympathy at first, until I realized you didn't care for anyone's sympathy. You just want to live your life and keep on moving, so I accepted you. My family accepted you. And I wanted to get to know you a bit more, so here we are today. Elaborate enough for you?"

"Well, I guess so. Look, I'm not trying to offend you, but are you telling me the truth when you say that you're not using me? Because if you're just trying to manipulate me so I'll be who you want me to be, then we're going to have some serious problems."

"I'm not offended, even though I told you before, I'm NOT using you, and neither is my family. So it's about time that you just rule that out of your mind. I swear to you, on everything I am, you're not being used. You mean far to much to me."

I sighed, feeling exhausted. "You mean a lot to me, too, Edward. But having a friendship means you have to be able to trust each other. Which means you should trust me when I say I will be fine."

He was silent. Then at last he said, "Alright. But if anything happens, I get the right to throw it back in your face, considering you're not dead before I get to you."

"Deal." I stood up. "Now, do you need me to give you a ride home?"

"No, it's alright. I'd rather you stay here. It'll be safer."

"There you go again."

"I'm sorry, but let's not get into this again. I'll just walk home, okay? It'll be fine."

We walked downstairs and stopped at the door.

"When will Vivian be home?" He asked.

"Next Wednesday. She's been asked to fill in for the press conference, too."

"Great..." He said sarcastically.

"Edward... do you have an estimate of when you will be back?"

"...A week at the least."

I groaned. "Are you serious? Why are you leaving, anyway?"

"We have sunny weather moving in..."

"So?"

"We can't go out in the sun... So we're telling everyone that Carlisle has to go to a doctor's thing somewhere south of here, and that we're all going. So... yeah..."

"What's the big deal with the sunny weather? Are you gonna melt or something?"

"No. I... well, I can't really explain it... It's something you have to see."

I looked at him. What could it possibly be?

The two of us were silent for a moment until he said, "Well... I guess it's time for me to go."

"I guess so..." What in the world was I going to do without him? Boredom would set in soon, and without Edward there with me, there was simply nothing left to do. I fumed privately, regretting that he was a vampire.

"It's only temporary, Scot..." He pulled me into a hug. His cool skin felt good against mine; I could feel my body temperature dropping.

"I know."

"You're not scared, are you?"

"ME?" I pulled away from him and looked him in the eyes. "Scared? Is that supposed to be some kind of joke?"

He smiled. "I'll take that as a no."

"Good choice."

"Well... I'll come and see you as soon as I get home, okay?"

"Alright..." I hugged his waist, and then he made his departure.

I never realized how much of an attachment we had formed. Saturday was bound to be hell without him. I woke up that morning, feeling bored, even though my day had yet to even begin. I sat up in my bed, looking around. The entire house was silent. No stereo, no television, no Vivian...

No Edward...

I sighed, feeling alone. The thought of me lying on a shrink couch, explaining to some over-friendly, seemingly gay guy my problems, popped into my head. I shuddered. I couldn't imagine anyone putting me through even one session of psychiatric care… Then I'd REALLY need a shrink. Then again, I thought I may need one before Edward came back. I hadn't even been awake an hour and I was already getting depressed. I decided to diagnose myself.

Edward Deprivation.

I sighed and rolled out of the bed, then walked downstairs. For most of the day, I just moped around the house. I finally decided to bring my CD's into the living room. I put a few of my CD's into the 6-disc changer stereo and turned on the surround sound. Within moments, I could hear my Senses Fail: Still Searching CD through the entire house. I sat on the couch, in between two of the surround sound speakers and closed my eyes. Around 1:00 PM, I finally came up with an idea.

I should call Jess. Maybe if she's not busy she can come over.

I picked up the phone and dialed her number, hoping she would answer and say she wasn't busy.

"Hello?"

"Umm, hey. Jess?"

"Yes, this is she."

"Hey, this is Scottie."

"OH, hey! How are you??"

"I'm… bored, actually…"

"Oh… sorry."

"It's fine. Uh, do you have plans for the weekend?"

"Nope. I'm just sitting around. My parents are out of town for the weekend. Mom went to see my grandma; she's sick. And my dad is at a business meeting in Arizona. So, I figured I stay home… It was the only good choice…" She laughed.

"Cool. Vivian – my mom – she's not going to be back until next Wednesday. She got called to fill in for some lady who got pneumonia and couldn't do a presentation, and now she's been asked to go to a press conference. Rather than coming home, she's just going to go get a hotel room, attend the conference, and then fly back home. And I'm pretty much just moping around, which brings us to why I called… I wanted to know if you were busy, and if not, I was going to ask if you wanted to come over and spend the weekend, and you can ride with me to school Monday, and then I'll take you home. I just think it'd be a good way for us to get to hang out, you know, get to know each other a little better…"

"Oh, wow. That sounds like fun. Sure, there's just one problem; I don't know where you live."

"I can come pick you up." I jumped up and grabbed a pen and a note pad from the junk drawer in the kitchen. "What's your address?" I scribbled it down as she wrote and gave me directions.

376 Northward Street

Go into town, turn left at stop light, keep going,

Stop at Westbound Circle, go straight, turn onto dead end road

Jess' House is last on right (small and brick)

"Okay, I got it."'

"You're sure?"
"Absolutely."

"Alright. I'll grab a bag of clothes and my book bag for Monday."

"Okay, be there soon." I hung up the phone and started for the door, then realized I was still in my Linkin Park shirt and The Used shorts. I turned back to the stairs, then shrugged and grabbed my keys and ran out the door.

Senses Fail: One Eight Seven – "It's so nice, sitting very still in a room where no one else can feel the pain that breaks my heart each day. I'm not okay. Sunlight shining through my window lets me know that I'm still alive. Why did I ever let you inside my heart? I'm such a fool. Paint my face in shades of blood and grey and take the seat right next to me. But I should have known that you were a killer, but now I'm dead. A gaping hole shot through my heart, a lost connection from your poison dart. Shot from your tongue to end my life, but if you're blowing at the fire to light your strife, you'll never know the hardest thing about dying is knowing you'll never see the light of day. A gaping hole shot through my heart. A lost connection from your poison dart. My head now spins and my ears bleed gold. I try so fing hard, but I can't fit your mold. The hardest thing about dying is knowing you'll never see the light of day. You ripped my heart out, you tore my eyes, now you're gonna pay. I'll stab you one time, I'll eat your heart out so you'll feel my pain. Don't you know that I always see you in all of my dreams? I wanna kill you, I wanna kill you, but now I'm insane."

this is my favorite song by Senses Fail. I tried to type just a simple verse, but… things got a LITTLE out of control. HAPPYFACE.