Anna and Millie moaned with pain when their backs hit the hard ground. They looked around and noticed that they were in a high-class neighborhood. Beautiful mansions surrounded them, but most of them were foreclosed.

The mansion in front of them was the biggest, and its large backyard extended into the woods. Millie helped Cole and Anna stand up on the pavement, and Cole buzzed the buzzer on the large gate that surrounded the expansive property.

"This is my grandparents' house, but they live in England now. We use this place and the foreclosed home over there as our headquarters and housing for refugees." Cole motioned to another mansion right next door to this one.

It was a little smaller than Cole's house, and it also had a large fence surrounding it. All the curtains were drawn on the windows to give the appearance that it was abandoned. Suddenly, the gate began to open slightly, and Cole motioned for us to walk quickly through it.

"Oh,"Millie said and then she looked at me with worried eyes. She was scared that the boys wouldn't make it back.

When the apartment was attacked, Griffin ordered Cole to take them somewhere safe. Cole jumped them out of the apartment, and then to several random places as Anna reminded him, until they ended up here.

"Cole, has that been happening a lot lately?" Anna asked as she and Millie followed him up the driveway.

"No, not really. But you know that Griffin and David are, like, enemy numbers 1 and 2 to the Paladins. I guess my being there made it much worse; I'm sorry. But as soon as we get inside, I'll let the others know, and we'll go back for them."

When we got to the front door, Cole knocked on the door in a strange pattern, and the person on the other side did as well. Then, a woman who looked to be in her early 50s opened the door and greeted them warmly.

"Hello, friends! We are happy to see that you have made it safely. Please come inside." The woman looked a lot like Cole but she has brown hair and was wearing a long maxi dress that did nothing to hide her ample cleavage.

Millie and Anna exchanged glances but went inside nevertheless. A warm aroma hit their nostrils instantly and there were many young people, barely older than themselves, bustling in out of the hallway.

"As my son has told you, this is the Underground Resistance. My husband and eldest son were running it…until they were captured a few days ago. Now, I am trying my best to hold it together with Cole's help. My eldest daughter, Naomi, also helps out as well. Oh, and I am Beatrice Benson, the lady of the house."

"It's nice to meet you, Mrs. Benson," Millie said as they followed the older woman upstairs.

Mrs. Benson explained that they had recently started the U.R. 3 months ago, and had about 115 recruits from ages 11-28. More than half of them lived here and in the house next door, but some had taken residence at a safe house in northern Canada.

"So how do you able to keep this place up and not be discovered?" Anna asked as Mrs. Benson went on with the tour.

"Oh, well, Joe and his team do that. Joe is a former Paladin, and we took him in when they betrayed him. He has activated some cloaking device into our computers so that we can remain under the radar. That's how we are still able to have food and first aid supplies delivered to the houses. Oh, and here he is now," Mrs. Benson led the girls into a small room with computers and wires everywhere.

A tall man with tanned skin and thin mustache and greasy black hair and glasses waved at her. Mrs. Benson greeted him with a kiss on each cheek.

"Joe, this is…"

"Anna. Anna Rice, and this is Millie Harris," Anna spoke up.

Joe gasped, "David Rice isn't your brother, is he?"

Xxx

It seemed that in this world, Griffin and David were legends and practically celebrities. And if you were dating them or one of them was your brother that made you a legend, too.

A few hours ago, Cole had gathered up a small group to go and bring the boys back. Millie and Anna were in the kitchen, poking their forks at their food while they waited for any news.

Naomi was the same age as Millie, and had long brown hair like her mom, but she had more angular features and green eyes. She was studying to be a chef, Anna learned, but decided to help out her family in the meantime.

Anna stood up and began clearing out some of the dirty dishes that were piling in the sink. "You don't have to that, you know. That was Kyle's job."

"Who's Kyle?" Anna asked as she continued to scrub a smelly pot.

"My brother. The one, who was…captured," Naomi said quietly as she poured orange juice for one of the kids.

"I'm sorry. Trust me, I know how it feels."

Naomi smiled a little, and then there was some rummaging upstairs. "What is going on up there?" Anna asked.

Cole appeared in the doorway, beaming. He had a few scratches on his face, but he was in one piece. "We found them. Griffin and David. It was a tough fight, but we got them. They even helped us rescue Dad and Kyle!"

Millie jumped out of her chair and raced upstairs, Anna, Naomi, and Cole trailing behind her. Luckily, there were makeshift signs all along the hallways, so it wasn't hard to find the 'hospital'.

The room was one of the biggest in the house and almost looked like an actual hospital. There were five hospital beds, and at the moment, four of them were occupied.

All of the men had IVs hooked into their arms, and they were all battered, bruised, and bleeding. But alive and well.

Millie and Anna threw themselves onto David's bed and hugged him until he started groaning from the pain. Griffin cleared his throat the best that he could and Anna bounced from David's bed to his, placing kisses all over his face.

"I was so worried about you!" Anna cried out between kisses.

Griffin laughed, "If this is how you're going to react when we get ambushed by Paladins, then maybe I should get captured more often."

Anna stopped kissing him and gave him a death glare that sent shivers down his spine. He wasn't afraid of Paladins, or even death, but when Anna glared at him like that, he feared for his life a little.

"I was joking, Anna," Griffin said as he rolled his eyes.

"Don't joke about that. You could've been killed! Then what was I supposed to do!"

"Anna, calm down."

"NO! I WON'T calm down, Griffin! You had me sitting up here worried sick about the both of you. Don't you get it? I LOVE YOU! I DON'T WANT ANYTHING TO HAPPEN TO YOU, DUMBASS!"

Everyone was quiet as Anna stalked off, leaving Griffin staring back at her in shock and amusement. She had never, ever yelled at him before. This time was different, though, since she had said the L word out loud. Even Griffin hadn't said it yet. It had just never come up; it was more of an implied thing.

Griffin turned to look at David and Millie. Millie was looking at him with a sympathetic look on her face, while David was trying not to laugh.

Griffin snorted, "Oh, shut up."

Xxx

Anna barely spoke to Griffin while he recovered. It bothered him that she was so mad at him. Fortunately, in the tussle with the Paladins, he had managed to hang onto the ring. He took it out of his pocket and stared at it for a long time.

Later on, when he could walk again without trouble, he found Anna in an empty bedroom upstairs. She was lying on the bed, facing the ceiling with her eyes closed.

Griffin just stood in the doorway and stared at her. It reminded him of the day they met. Only now, Anna's hair was much longer and her eyes were more adult and mature. Griffin's hair was bushier and his muscles and stomach were much more toned from fighting Paladins nonstop.

Griffin wrapped his hand around the velvet box in his pocket, suddenly doubting himself. He didn't deserve her, and she didn't deserve this life. Maybe it just wasn't a good time to…

"Griffin? What are you doing here?" Anna asked as she sat up on the bed.

"I came to see you." Griffin suddenly felt uncomfortable under her gaze.

"Well, I'm okay. How are you?" Anna smiled lightly and patted the space beside her on the bed.

Griffin smiled back and closed the door behind him. "I feel a lot better. Actually, I came here to-"

"Griffin, stop. I wanna apologize first. I shouldn't have yelled at you like that in front of everyone. You were doing what you've always done. I always told you that I wouldn't get mad at you for that. But this time, I did. I'm so sorry."

Then, Anna leaned over and placed her hand on top of his. Griffin examined her for a moment, before he leaned in and kissed her, sliding his arms around her waist and pulling her closer. Anna responded with enthusiasm, her hands trailing down his back as she deepened the kiss.

Griffin began kissing down her neck, nibbling lightly and causing Anna to tilt her head back and gasp in pleasure. He laughed, his breath hot against her skin, and she shifted herself on top of him, so that each of her legs was on each side of his waist, pressing herself closer to him. She ran her hands under his shirt, her fingers tracing the muscles of his chest. Griffin groaned and kissed across her collarbone.

Griffin's hands crept under her shirt, sliding past her stomach. He squeezed her breasts through the fabric of her bra, and Anna couldn't contain the moan of pleasure that escaped her. She fisted her hands in his hair, and Griffin's hands slid down her body to hook his fingers in the waistband of her denim shorts.

Anna broke apart from him and moved his hands away. "Griffin, I think we should stop this," Anna panted.

"Why? I thought that…"

"I know. It's not like I don't want to, it's just not the right time for that right now. I…I…wanna wait. Until I'm ready. Can you do that for me?" Anna asked sweetly.

Griffin sighed and nodded, obviously disappointed.

AN: Yep, 3 chapters in one day, and I wrote them all last night. I'm on a roll. For my lovely reviewers, what do think will happen next? Will Griffin propose? Will the Paladins find them before he does? Will David propose to Millie instead? You know what to do, REVIEW!