A/N: I am sooooooo sorry I haven't been able to update a lot, I've literally had half this chapter typed up sitting on my desktop for about six months, just waiting for me to be able to get to it. But here it is!

Lying in bed that night I had a lot to think about. You know the kind of thoughts that should have kept me tossing and turning all night while I tried fruitlessly to fall asleep? But the funny thing was they didn't. Once Tori shut the light off, I fell fast asleep and slept through the entire night. Not that I'm complaining at all because that was the best night of sleep I'd had in ages—I just found it kind of ironic, and it explains why now all the thoughts that should have bounced around my head last night are all vying for my attention like puppies who all want to play with the same toy; a toy I have the unfortunate luck of holding. Lovely, isn't it?

So I set off for breakfast hoping I could find some way or someone to distract myself—which may have worked if I wasn't the only one under twenty who was fully awake at nine o'clock in the morning.

I walked into the kitchen and rolled my eyes at Derek's usual gluttony, and he smirked, "Don't get your panties in a wad Starr, Andrew says as soon as everything checks out and he knows you don't have a reward on your head, he'll take you shopping and then I can have as much good food as you can cook."

He licked his lips and scraped the bottom of his third can of soup, trying to get every last morsel. Seriously, this kid had a black hole for a stomach.

"Good! Then I'll finally have something to do all day!" I shot at him huffily.

And then Tori had to open her mouth, "You sure your back can handle that?"

Great, she remembered bad backs tend in my mom's side of the family. My own mother can't even bake by herself anymore. In the time it takes to make one batch of cookies her back would go from perfectly fine to being in so much pain she'd be laid up in bed for the rest of the day.

I hadn't quite inherited that yet, but too much cooking could be rough on anyone's back, especially if they just fell out of a tree. All eyes turned to me, so time to improvise, "Yeah, I'm sure it'll fine by then, you know it'll probably be a few weeks before Andrew Okay's it anyway. And hey look I'm already getting better; I could limp all the way down here without having to stop or turning white!"

I smiled sheepishly and shot Tori a warning glare which she immediately recognized and understood to mean if she got me on lock down before I even got the chance to cook, her food might just turn out to be grilled road kill. Or sushi, she hated fish with a passion, especially raw fish. And unfortunately, neither of those courses of revenge was beneath me.

So she just said, "Okaaaayy then, guess you got more of your dad's genes," and left the room.
An awkward silence settled over the table after that as everyone finished their respective meals. I tried to sit quietly, as no one else seemed to be in a rush to break the silence, but I just couldn't, it wasn't in my incredibly sweet and lovable nature to do so. Instead I chose to break the silence myself, "So anyone up for cards again today? I can teach you guys some more games, we could throw on some music in the background too! Maybe even make some popcorn; ya know have a party for no reason!"
At this point I think it would wrong not to admit that the eager smile I flashed after my proposal was totally meant to sucker them into agreeing with me, and man, did it work!

Tori, whose ego got fairly bruised when she kept losing, was the first one in for a chance at redemption, followed by Simon who always liked to hang with groups of girls. Derek shrugged and figured it couldn't do any harm so why not, and little Chloe joined in last, not wanting to be left out.

I'd also by lying if I didn't say I was pretty excited for our 'no reason' party. I think it might really help everyone forget they were trapped in this 'safe house' for a little while. So I sent Tori off to make the 'gourmet' popcorn we'd engineered when we were younger and Simon grabbed some playing cards as well as some poker chips and –for some reason—beads.

I gave him and odd look but before I could ask about the beads he shook his head and smirked. I sighed exasperated, and went off in search of my iPod. Finding it quickly in my room I paused on my way back at the basement door. There were five of us on board for our afternoon plans but I could think of a least two games hat needed even numbers.

That was all the persuasion I really needed, so I headed downstairs, not so subtly. It was pitch black once again but I knew he was down there, "Ryan!"

I called out his name again, "Look, I know you're down here so just answer me before I have to look for you!"

And still silence, if threats didn't work, bribery was my next choice weapon, "The sooner you answer me, and the sooner I'll leave you alone!"

I paused for a minute, and listened carefully, and still received no reply, so I started to worry, "Ryan?" I called out again, "Ryan, you're starting to scare me; I'm turning on the light, okay?"

After another minute of silence, I crept forward and found the pull-chord for the light. It couldn't cover the entire room in a bright light but it was strong enough for me to find Ryan passed out in the middle of the floor. In fact, I had almost stepped on him looking for the light.

I knelt and nudged him gently, he whimpered a little, "Shh, its okay Ryan."

I pressed the inside of my wrist to his forehead, and to my surprise, it was burning.

"Ez?" Simon shouted from the living room, "Where are you?"

Thinking quick, I shouted back, "Basement, I need help!"

Derek was the first to respond to my call; in fact he got there before Simon could even call back, "Are you okay?"

I motioned for Derek to cover his ears, so that he didn't go deaf from my shouting and replied, "I am but Ryan isn't!"

I heard a sound of disgust from Derek, "I suppose you want me to carry him upstairs?"

His voice made it clear to me that he didn't want anything to do with him, so I figured a little reverse psychology was in order, "No I was just being considerate, it's your choice after all; you, Mr. Big Bad Super Strong Werewolf, could carry him, or little me, could hurt myself again trying to do it all by myself."

He glared at me and then threw Ryan over his shoulder with a small grunt. I winced, he may be helping, but he sure wasn't being gentle. Derek motioned for me to go upstairs first as Simon and Tori showed up in the doorway. I bowed to him and then ascended the stairs making sure both boys came up behind me. Simon and Tori both frowned; and Tori voiced her confusion first, "You called Derek down there to help you take out the trash? Starr, I could have done that so much faster with an electricity ball."

I swear, English was a second language to Tori, sarcasm being her first. So I translated my response in boy body language and her native tongue, meaning I rolled my eyes at her, "Oh but Tori, dearest, I wouldn't want to risk you burning a fingernail—or the rest of the house."

Derek grunted and Simon chuckled, "Can we get moving, this idiot is a ton of dead weight."

Like Derek had any reason to complain, he was clearly the strongest one of us and he wasn't even breaking a sweat. I snickered at him before pushing my way out of the basement, with Derek following silently behind me.