Sooo, you're all excited for the next chapter. Hope you like it.

Don't worry, everything will work out soon enough.

Playlist For Chapter:

Psycho Ceilidh Mayhem Set--Neck (This has nothing to do with the chapter-I just bought it on iTunes:J)

Chapter 17--Son Of A

I was tired, my eyes were heavy, and it felt like I was using all the effort I had left to pull air into my lungs as my throat burned. It felt raw. My thoughts were foggy as I tried to remember where I was. Where was the last place I remember being? I don't know. I just remember Brady. Needing to speak to Brady. I can remember why-that much I'm certain-but where is he? Where's Brady?

"Andy? Andrea? Can you hear me?" I recognized the voice, and I could feel the hand that was squeezing mine, but it wasn't the right one. Yeah, I wanted to see my brother, but not right now. I just need Brady.

"Where is he?" I rasped, my throat hurting even more as I tried to talk. It sounded like I had been smoking for forty years-felt like I had been too. I could barely even hear myself.

"Who? Where's who?" Derek's voice asked quickly as I tried to peal my eyes open.

"Brady? I need…I need Brady," I whispered, my eyes finally opening up. It was foggy at first, different colored spots blackening my vision but when they cleared I could see my brother leaning over me. He hadn't shaved, his hair was sticking up all over the place, and his eyes were red and puffy.

The door burst open suddenly and Derek looked away from me. I would've looked up too but just by one set of click-clacking footsteps I knew it wasn't anyone I wanted to see. "Oh my God, Andrea," Mom said, leaning over my bed and putting her hand gently on my cheek. "How are you feeling honey? Are you in any pain?" she asked, her eyes flickering across every surface of me that was visible.

"Where am I hurt?" I asked quietly, ignoring her questions.

"Well," a new voice said, one that I didn't recognize. A graying man in a white lab coat walked closer to the bed, I could see my Dad hovering behind him. "You banged yourself up pretty good Miss Fuller," he said, looking down at a clipboard. "Seven stitches in your forehead, something similar to road rash all over your left side, arm, and face, and it seems the kickstand to your bike went right through one of the muscles in your calf. You also dislocated your right shoulder-but we put that back into place easily, it's the least of your problems right now," he informed me. Oh is it?

"Why does my throat hurt?" I asked, glaring up at the doctor. I hate hospitals and I really hate doctors.

"We wanted to make sure we kept you breathing. You had one heck of a concussion young lady. I have to admit we don't get many extreme sports accidents around here," the doctor told me with a slight smile. What? Is that supposed to be funny?

"You'll be back on your feet in no time Andrea, you'll just have to use crutches for a while until your muscle tissue heals," Mom told me, stroking my hair. "You're not feeling any pain? She can't feel any pain now, can she?" Mom asked, not giving me a chance to asked before turning to the doctor.

He shook his head. "She should be just fine," he told her. Mom nodded.

"Erika's been so upset since we got the call. She thinks it's her fault you over did it last night," Mom said, rolling her eyes. I internally cringed. Crap, she probably does really think this is her fault.

"Is she here?" I asked.

"No, we had her go home and eat, finish her homework and all that. She left not much before you woke up," Mom told me. I nodded slightly, my eyes sliding over to my Dad. I hadn't really looked at him since he walked in. He didn't say anything, he just watched me carefully, though by the set of his jaw and the crease in his forehead I knew he was worried.

I looked back over at Derek and squeezed his hand, letting out a sigh. He didn't look at me, just squeezed my hand back as he glared at Mom and Dad, not saying anything as he unblinkingly stared them down. I could tell they were starting to get uncomfortable. "We're going to stop home and then we'll be back later, alright?" Mom said, leaning down to kiss my head.

"You guys don't have to come back tonight, I'll be fine," I told her. She looked down at me for a moment before pursing her lips and nodding, walking out with the doctor following behind her. She shot an uneasy glance inside the room before the door closed and it was just me, Derek, and Dad.

I watched them as they stared at each other, wondering which one would start the fight first. Neither moved nor spoke-they didn't even look at me-but I knew it would only take the twitch of a finger to set one of them off. It was like waiting for a bomb to go off, the seconds long and tense, about to burst with the tension that was rolling off both of them…

"What the hell is wrong with you?!" Derek yelled at Dad suddenly, glaring daggers across the bed. "How could you let her do that to herself? A double? What the hell were you thinking letting her try that? In December? At night? I knew you were an ass but I didn't think it was that bad," Derek seethed, his voice dripping with venom.

"Be quiet Derek, you have no idea how far along Andy is in her training-it was her idea to try the trick in the first place. I tried to stop her, there's only so much I could do," Dad shot back.

"Well you could've done more. You could've jumped in front of the bike yourself before she got off that hill-you could've shut off the lights; Andrea's not stupid, she would've stopped if she couldn't see anything. Hell! You could've jumped on a bike and cut her off yourself!" Derek exclaimed, standing up from his chair so he could shout back at Dad. "You just don't try hard enough," he hissed, his face contorting into a harsh sneer.

"You're one to talk about trying hard enough," Dad boomed, his face turning purple in about a second. "Look at where you are now! You threw your whole life away! Everything you've ever worked for; in the garbage!"

"But I've never wanted that! It was you Dad. Just you! Do you think Andrea wants this for herself? The traveling, the training, the pressure, the injuries? That's not something too many people jump into, Dad. Did you even take a second to think about what we wanted? Who we wanted to be? You just go around assuming things and you know what? You're wrong!" Derek yelled, the resounding silence as loud as the conversation that took place before it.

Dad turned to look at me, almost seeming to just remember I was still there. "We can start training again whenever you want, Andy," he said in an emotionless monotone, almost as if he didn't want to say it other than to spite Derek.

"You son of a bitch!" Derek yelled, on the other side of the bed in a second and pinning Dad up against the wall in another. I pushed myself up instantly, not exactly comfortable with the feeling but being too numb to feel the pain anyway.

"Derek, don't," I said, my rough voice cracking. He didn't even glance back at me as he glared at Dad, his face inches away, my Dad's eyes narrowing. But he didn't fight him.

"Leave her alone Dad," Derek told him, his voice quiet but that only made him sound more scary. "She turns eighteen in a week and when she does I'm taking her with me. If she wants to keep competing then I'm all for it, but you train her too hard and too long and she is going to hurt herself again just to try and make you happy. We're lucky this is all that happened to her," Derek growled, giving him one last shove before heading towards the door. "I'll be back in five minutes. Just scream if you want him out, they have a huge nurse in the waiting room who could hall his ass out of here in a second," Derek told me with a smirk before the door swung shut behind him.

"Was it because I was pushing too hard?" Dad asked after a short moment of silence. I looked over at him. He wasn't looking at me, he was just leaning against the wall where Derek left him and staring at his shoes.

"That was part of it," I admitted quietly, easing myself back down. I hadn't realized how rigid I had gotten during that last conversation and it was starting to hurt. "I really do like riding Dad, it's just not as important to me as it is to you," I said, not looking at him. I took a deep breath. "I want to be a mechanic," I told him. "I already know a lot about it from you and Derek, I think I could be really good at it," I said. I glanced at Dad out of the corner of my eye who as slowly nodding to himself.

"What was the other part?" he asked.

I looked away. How do I explain to him that I was upset because I found out that the guy I…loved turned into a giant wolf? Yeah, kind of impossible. I know I hit my head and everything but… "I broke up with Brady," I lied. A complete lie. I don't think I could've broken up with Brady if him and his wolf-self had attacked me on the spot. I couldn't, but for the benefit of this conversation, it's all I've got to work with. "I know that I shouldn't have gone behind your back but Erika promised she wouldn't say anything-please don't blame her-and…Dad, I really like him," I said, looking over at Dad. 'Really' wasn't exactly doing this justice.

Dad just looked back at me, keeping his expression that calm blank that he had mastered, but he was listening and that's all the encouragement I needed. "I just…I couldn't keep doing it Dad, it's too hard to keep my motocross life separate from the other life I seem to lead at school. It was too hard and Brady doesn't deserve that…," I said with a slight snort as I shook my head. He definitely doesn't deserve that. Any of it.

"It's my fault," he said suddenly. I looked over at him with wide eyes. What? "I push you too hard and I know that I just…you could be great Andy," he told me certainly. "You've gone even further than Derek-you've just got so much talent and I don't want it to go wasted, and I know how much you like riding. And I know I don't show it very well but I'm just trying to do what's best for you and last night…," he trailed off, shaking his head. "Kid, you don't know how scared I was. What were you thinking?" he asked, almost angrily.

"Well, I wasn't thinking much if that helps at all," I muttered to myself.

He sighed and shook his head before looking up at me. "You had it you know," he told me.

I grinned at him. "I know, I was pretty close," I said. And I have to admit I was pretty stoked about it, not many girls my age can land a double back flip.

"You hit a rock," he told me.

I raised my eyebrows. "Was that it?" I asked curiously. "I thought I landed wrong," I muttered.

Dad shook his head. "You didn't, it was beautiful until you hit that," he told me as I smiled slightly to myself. He paused and looked at me. "So about this Brady kid," he began.

"Please Dad, I don't want to talk about it. He probably hates me now anyways," I muttered dejectedly. How am I going to make it up to him?

Dad let out a snort and I looked over at him incredulously. "Andrea, do you remember how you got here?" he asked me. I shook my head. Nope, nope, and nope. "He carried you here," he said quietly. "All the way from La Push. In the rain at two in the morning. That boy carried you all the way here," he said.

I just stared at him, my mind trying to process this. He carried me? All the way from his house to the other side of Forks? Even I didn't run that far put together today…

"Someone named Sam called us and when we got here they were both pacing around in the waiting room. Erika started yelling at him the second she saw him, I don't know why but she told him to leave and he left without a word, but kept looking back at that Sam guy on the way out," Dad said, staring off into space as he thought about it. "Who is Sam, by the way? Do you know him?" he asked, looking at me again.

"Uh, sort of. Brady's told me all about him and his wife. Sam kind of…watches out for Brady and all their friends, makes sure they're okay and all that," I told him. But now I'm guessing it's something else completely…

Dad nodded thoughtfully. "I thought he was going to break my hand when he shook it," he said with a slight chuckle. "Big guy."

I cracked a smile. "All of Brady's friends are like that," I told him-and now I know why. We were silent for a minute, neither of us really knowing what to say. "So what happens now?" I asked him quietly.

"You can go wherever you want Andrea. Derek's right, you're turning eighteen next week and whether I want you to or not you can go with him," he told me with a sigh. "But you can still stay with us and you don't have to do motocross anymore-I almost don't want you to after last night," he said, closing his eyes for a minute. "You really banged yourself up, kid."

I groaned. "I know…Do you have a mirror?" I asked him curiously.

"Andy, I don't think that's-"

"-Come on Dad," I said, frowning at him. It can't be that bad. He sighed and pushed himself off the wall, walking over to a small table I hadn't noticed and picking up a mirror. He held it in front of my face and my eyes widened. Whoa.

My left cheek was covered in scratches, all moving in the same direction-I'm guessing that happened when I skidded on the ground after my last go; and I had a huge bandage on the right side of my temple. I looked down and my left arm was covered in similar scratches to the ones on my face, and I could feel them extending all the way down my side and left leg. They weren't all that deep but they were irritated from some dirt that was still in them. I had bruises on random spots all over the place and I cringed slightly when I lifted the covers to look at my right leg.

There was a massive bandage wrapped around my calf, some blood had even seeped to the top layer of it. "How deep is that?" I asked, grimacing

Dad held up his hand and spread his thumb and forefinger about four inches apart. "Shit," I muttered to myself. Stupid, fucking kick stand. I didn't even realize that was possible.

"What's rule number one?" Dad asked me with a slight smile.

"No cell phones on the track?" I asked with raised eyebrows. And that has anything to do with anything because…?

"Rule number two?" he corrected with an eye roll, setting his hand on the top of my head.

I rolled my eyes. "Always wear your helmet," I said. "I think I'm going to remember that one…Dad, I'm going to finish high school in La Push," I told him after a slight pause.

He smiled a little and nodded. "If you think Derek will let you," he said doubtfully.

"He really shouldn't have shoved you like that Dad, I'm so sorry, it's all my fault," I said quickly. I mean, Derek has never been violent during any of the fights he's had with my parents-the worse was the last one they had before he moved out and he threw a lamp against the wall. But he had never ever laid a hand on either of our parents before and visa versa.

Dad shrugged. "It's not the first time we've fought since he got here. He's stubborn and he has every right to be angry with me. I'm surprised it took so long for him to do that," Dad admitted. "Me and your brother…we don't get along very well. I'm not sure why but we never really have. Maybe it's genetic-I've never gotten along with my Dad either," he said, mumbling mostly to himself. "It'll be okay," he told me with a nod just as the door opened.

We both looked up to find Derek carrying an armful of vending machine items. He walked over and dumped them on the end of my bed and sat down on the chair he previously occupied. There was a long silence as Dad and Derek stared each other down, both waiting for the other to say something first.

"Do either of you know what they filled the hole in my leg with?" I asked suddenly, trying to cut through the silence-and the tension.

"Nothing, as far as I know," Derek said with a shrug.

"Wait, so it's just like a hole?" I asked him, my eyebrows coming together. Can they do that?

"Yeah, they just put some stuff in it to keep it from getting infected," Derek said. "We should take a picture of it before it heals," he added with a grin.

"Do you have your phone?" I asked, somewhat excited, pushing the covers away.

"Hey," Dad said, flipping the covers back up as Derek reached for his pocket. "Now is not the time for that," he told me sternly. I wanted to roll my eyes. Well the 'somewhat' good mood was nice while it lasted.

"Alright then," Derek said, straightening up in his chair and folding his arms across his chest. "Let's talk ," he suggested with a slight smirk. Oh boy.

Dad sat down on the plastic chair on the other side of my bed, mirroring his stance. "Fire away," Dad said.

"How about I start?" I cut in quickly. I am not being ignored this time around. "Derek, I'm going to stay at Dad's until I graduate," I told him. He opened his mouth to protest but I cut him off. "And I will call you everyday and I'm leaving the second my graduation cap hits the ground," I added, turning to Dad.

"You know you're going to have to listen to his rules if you're still in his house," Derek pointed out.

"I know," I said, I had already thought about that.

"What about Brady?" Derek asked.

That stopped me in my tracks. I turned to Dad. "I'm going to date Brady, Dad," I told him certainly. "And if you won't let me then I'm out of here faster than you can say retirement," I told him. He didn't look happy but nodded slowly all the same.

"Then what about motocross?" Dad asked.

"You mother fu-"

"-Derek," I interrupted, holding my hand up as he leaned forward to cuss out Dad. "I'm undecided. I'll let you both know once I figure it out," I said.

There was a knock on the door before Mom and a pretty blonde nurse walked in, looking curiously at the three of us. "Visiting hours are almost over," the nurse said with a surprising southern drawl.

Mom walked over and kissed Derek's cheek then mine. "We'll be back first thing in the morning to check you out," Mom told me as Dad stood up and ruffled my hair as I scowled at him. I seriously hated it when he did that.

"Be good kid," Dad said before following Mom out the door. It was just me, Derek, and the nurse.

"Hi, Andrea right?" the nurse asked. I nodded. "You're Brady's girlfriend?" she asked, her eyebrows raising. I nodded again slowly, confused.

"Do you know Brady?" I asked curiously.

"No, not yet anyway. But I'm Kendra Madison, you know Embry, right?" she asked, I nodded. "He's my boyfriend," she said, sitting down on the chair my Dad had previously occupied.

My eyes widened. "Oh! Really?" I asked curiously. I mean, the boys, Claire, and Vi had talked about her a few times but Seth seemed to be the only one who actually knew her. I've met Embry and he was a great guy-she seemed really nice.

She nodded with a grin. "Yeah, I guess we never had the chance to meet yet," she said, her eyes flickering to Derek.

"Oh, this is my brother Derek," I told her, gesturing to the brother I could see staring at her out of the corner of my eye. Hello? What happened to Beth, you dumb ass?

"Nice to meet you," she said politely.

"You too," Derek nodded quickly, clearing his throat.

"I just figured I'd introduce myself while I was here," she stood up but didn't make a move towards the door. "I just wanted to tell you that Embry and the rest of the boys are really worried about you-Emily's practically been having a heart attack of her own. She just won't stop baking," Kendra said, her eyes widening a bit. "So, you're crutches are in the corner," she said, gesturing towards them quickly. "And, just so you know, you only need to have a family member who's over eighteen to check you out-earliest time is five. So…You know, just incase your parents don't get here quick enough for you," she told me with a smile before walking out.

"Huh. She was really nice. I mean, Embry's a nice guy and he's not bad looking or anything like that at all but she was really-"

"-Hot?" Derek cut in eagerly.

"I was going to say pretty," I said, scowling at him. "What about Beth? You haven't shut up about her since you met her," I asked.

He rolled his eyes. "Beth is more than hot, I was just pointing it out. Jeez. You don't need to get all psycho on me or anything," Derek said, holding up his hands in surrender. "Can't I be shallow for a second? I mean, I say that girl was hot but I love Beth. Once you find something like that, it's hard to really look at someone else, you know?" Derek asked, grinning to himself.

I sighed and sunk down lower into the bed. "Yeah. I know," I said quietly.

NEXT DAY--ROUGHLY 6:00 IN THE MORNING.

"You know, I'm really glad that nurse gave us that tip last night-I so don't want to talk to Dad ever again," Derek said as he walked and I crutched my way to his…bike.

"How the hell is this supposed to work?" I asked, staring at the bike. Really Derek? Really?

"Well, I'll hold your crutches while I steer and you just…hold on to me. Okay?" Derek said, sitting on the bike.

"I seriously hate you right now," I grumbled, carefully sitting on the back and handing Derek the crutches.

"You want to see Brady or not?" Derek asked me impatiently.

"Yes," I said, rolling my eyes. More than want.

"Then put this on," he said, handing me a helmet. "And shut up."

"You son of a-"

"Need help getting up the stairs or anything?" Derek asked as he help steady me as I adjusted my crutches.

"Nah, I'll be fine," I told him.

"Call if you need a ride," he told me.

"Alright," I said, heading towards the little blue house with the brown fence and the birdbath.

"Don't do anything I wouldn't do," he told me.

"That's kind of a small list, you know?" I said, rolling my eyes.

"You know it. Love you sister," he said as he revved the engine and sped off.

I took a deep breath and carefully climbed the steps to the Carson household, having a little trouble with my crutches on the way. I don't know how people get used to these things. I finally made it to the door and knocked lightly, holding my breath.

It opened seconds later and the woman I saw last night was in front of me again, though this time she didn't look quite as panic stricken as before. "Um, hi, Mrs. Carson, right?" I asked nervously. I had never actually had the pleasure of meeting Brady's parents.

"Yes," she said, almost breathlessly as her eyes roamed over the scratches on my face and the cut on my forehead. "How are you dear, you gave me a terrible scare the other night," she told me.

I grimaced. "I'm sorry about that," I said quietly. "Is Brady here? I really need to talk to him," I said nervously, my eyes darting all over the place. I probably looked like a caged animal right now.

"Yes, just wait here a minute, he's practically passed out in his room," she said.

"Oh no, wait. If he's sleeping I could just come back later," I told her quickly, already feeling bad for waking him up.

"Nonsense, he's locked himself in that room for longer than I even know. I would've dragged him out sooner or later. He'll be here in a second," she insisted, closing the door quickly. I could faintly hear her footsteps retreating somewhere in the house as I turned to hobble over to the swinging bench. I practically collapsed on it. If I don't back in shape soon I'm going to be so mad at myself…

The door opened seconds later and my head snapped up, a weight seemed to lift off of me as I met Brady's eyes. He looked tired, ruffled, like he hadn't slept in ten years. His hair was sticking up and he had bags under his eyes but his relief was clearly audible as he walked slowly towards me.

"I'm so sorry Brady," I whispered, closing my eyes to stop myself from crying. It didn't work. "It's all my fault. If I hadn't freaked out none of this would've happened and I'm so sorry about last night. I just couldn't-" I cut myself off when Brady dropped to his knees in front of me, gently taking my hands in his. I just stared at him for a while, knowing I was crying but I didn't feel as bad about it when I noticed Brady was too. Finally I couldn't take it any more and threw myself at him, wrapping my arms tightly around his neck as he pulled me carefully into his lap, cradling me gently in his arms as he buried his face in my hair.

"I love you so much," he whispered quietly.

"I love you too," I whispered back, squeezing him tighter. He leaned against the railing of the porch, holding me carefully in his lap as he gently kissed my scratched cheeks. "Don't worry, the doctor said they won't scar," I whispered to him after a moment.

"That's not what I'm worried about," he murmured. "Are you feeling alright? You're not hurting or anything?" he asked quietly, his eyes darting everywhere.

"No, I'm fine. I've got pain medication," I told him, letting out a sigh as I leaned my head against his shoulder. "I'm sorry I ran the other day," I said, not looking up to see his reaction. "I'm fine with it, really, it just kind of freaked me out at first," I told him.

"It's okay. It's not your fault," he said, nuzzling my neck as I closed my eyes.

"I told my Dad I'm either here with you or I'm moving in with Derek," I told him, glancing up at him.

"Really?" he asked, obviously trying to keep the excitement out of his voice.

"Yeah, he's just going to have to deal with you being around all the time," I told him with a smile.

He grinned before frowning slightly, his eyes staring at the stitches over my right eye. "How did this happen?" he whispered to me, sounding pained.

I looked down. "Well, I was training and I was trying to keep my mind off of things…I tried to do a double back flip," I told him, grimacing as I felt him tense up. "Twice," I added after a moment, knowing that I couldn't just not tell him the full story.

"Twice," he repeated, his voice cracking. "How bad…was the first time?" he asked slowly, as if he was trying to control himself. I felt his hands start to shake and automatically slipped mine in his, intertwining our fingers. The shaking stopped.

"Just my forehead, my leg, and my shoulder," I told him honestly. No way I could lie to him now. Or ever.

"Wait, what's wrong with your shoulder?" he asked, his eyes growing wide.

"Nothing anymore. I just dislocated it, no big deal," I said with a slight shrug. It's not the first time or anything…

"Are you going to stop competing?" he asked quietly, and I knew, somewhere in a part of him that he was trying to hide, he was hoping I would say yes.

"I don't know," I admitted quietly. "I'm thinking about it but I really don't know," I said.

"Well, whatever you chose, I'll be right here," he said, resting his chin on my right shoulder carefully. I closed my eyes and leaned my head against his.

"Good."

FINALLY! Really super long chapter, yeah? Tell me what you think!! If I get a ton more reviews I'll update sooner! Chapter is should be ready relatively soon hopefully!!

REVIEW! FAVORITE LINES? PARTS? DON'T YA JUST LOVE DEREK??

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INTERESTING TWIST IN NEXT CHAPTER! (I know, ANOTHER TWIST?! How do I do it??!!) Bahahaha! Aren't you curious now??

Softball JUST started so I'm not sure how often I'll be able to update. Sorry, sorry, sorry but I'm trying the best I can. I don't have practices on Sundays so that's my best bet!

Oh! Any of my other country reader people!!! What kinda music do you guys listen to? Favorite bands that I may have never heard of?? I'M REALLY INTERESTED!