I'm not normally one to leave big old A/N, but I thought you'd all want to know why the hold up in updating.

It's not been a fun month or so for me in the real world; the cold and damp brought on the most epic arthritis flare-up, cutting my typing speed down to less than 10 words/minute on the days that I could manage to type at all. But with the use of Siri and cut & paste and email on my iphone on the worst days, and sheer bloody minded determination on better days, I slowly managed to cobble together the next chapter for you. Sorry it's taken so long, and thank you to all of you that sent me messages checking I was ok and cheerig me on to keep working through the arthritis. With new painkillers and anti-inflamitories things are improving so there should't be such a gap between chapters again.

Also, a **HUGE** thank you to whoever nominated me for 7 categories in the Fanfic-n-tastic Awards! I can't tell you how warm and fuzzy it made me. I won't stoop so low as to beg all you wonderful readers to go and vote for me... oh who am I kidding? PLEASE go vote for me! PLEASE?! Just google fanfic-n-tastic awards and go to the voting page. I'm up for all time fav story, All time fav author, Best kiss, Hottest Lemon, Best AU, Best Wolfpack, and Most alpha worthy wolf. So I leave you with one more quick and unashamed plea.. Please go vote for me? lol

And now after your patient wait, please enjoy! :0)

Chapter 33: Panic and Pills

Bella POV

I paused in my doorway, frozen like a deer in the headlights. Despite the nagging pain, I'd forgotten all about more hand. Or, more accurately, I'd forgotten that Charlie might ask about it. I didn't know what to tell him. I didn't want there to be any friction between him and Harry, especially as I now knew I was going to have to keep a closer eye on the guy, if I was going to prevent his untimely death. I ran through the options in my head. "'I burnt it.' No that's actually not true. I hadn't done this to myself, it was done to me. Maybe 'it got burnt' was better. No, He'd just ask how. Oh. I know. I'll go with 'It's just a little coffee scald.' That's nicely non-committal whilst still being completely true."

"It's just a little coffee scald." I told him, trying to duck back into my room before he asked anymore. Unfortunately it seemed I'd hesitated too long before answering and had alerted him to the fact that there was more to the story.

"I see." He said. "And how did the little coffee scald happen?" My shoulders sagged in defeat and I turned to face him fully.

"Sam and I went to the diner for breakfast and Leah was our waitress." I told him. "Dad, please don't say anything to Harry. It could've been an accident, and I don't want her to have any more reason to hate me that she already has. Getting her into trouble with her dad would really not help me out at all." He regarded me with serious eyes for a moment, considering.

"I think Leah has some issues at the moment." He said eventually. "I'll do you a deal kiddo. I won't say anything about Leah's "Accident" to Harry." I could hear the quote marks around the word. "And you keep away from Leah as much as you can until she's worked out her issues. Deal?"

"Sure Dad. No problem at all." I agreed quickly. I had no problem with avoiding Leah as much as possible, within my plan to keep an eye on Harry that was. "Night, Dad." I said, before he could think of anything else to question me on, and closed my door behind me. My bed had never looked so welcoming in my life. I knew I really should have a shower before I collapsed, but I just couldn't summon the energy do so. "First thing tomorrow." I promised myself, and I slowly began to strip off my damp and dirty clothes, throwing my cell phone onto the bed, and pulling my used panties out of my pocket before I threw the jeans into the wash basket for good measure. If Charlie was going to start doing laundry every so often, and remember to empty the pockets into the bargain, I really didn't need to give him anything else to find in my jeans pockets which might lead to awkward questions. Pulling off my jeans had stretched the muscles in my inner thighs and reminded me just how sore and abused my entire lower body felt. The burnt hand certainly sucked, but at least the pain had distracted me from every other sore spot I had on my body. I looked down at the bruises on my thighs and hips, now darkened into dark purple, clearly defined finger marks and I let the memory of that morning's activities run through my mind. The feel of his body against mine, of being filled so completely, the panting and the heart racing as I peaked each time. Considering that people always said the first time was the worst I couldn't help wondering what the next time would be like. "Was that really only this morning?" I thought in wonder. It felt like about a month had passed since then. "I certainly managed to pack a fuck load into my day. Had a couple of important dreams, lost my virginity, encountered and got injured by a jealous ex-girlfriend, reconciled Sam and Alison, learned that a long dead shape-shifter is hitch hiking in my head, met a murderous vampire and some wolves, set up protection for Charlie, Sam and I, and had a deep discussion with Charlie." I whistled under my breath at the list. "I really should stop slacking off quite so much and try to get something done tomorrow." I thought with a sarcastic snort. I pulled on a tank top and a pair of old track bottoms to sleep in and flopped down onto my bed, my cell phone digging into my back. It wasn't until that moment that I remembered that Sam had said he'd call once he got back from whatever job he'd been called away on. Pulling the phone out from under my back, I lay back down and unlocked the phone and sure enough I had two missed calls from him and one text sitting in my inbox. I'd put my cell on silent when I went out into the forest, not wanting to run the risk of it ringing at the wrong moment, and I'd completely forgotten to switch it back. I opened the text.

"Hey, Bella." It read. "I tried calling but just got your machine. Hope you're ok, and that your hand isn't giving you too much trouble. Thanks for a wonderful night and an even more wonderful morning. Talk soon. Sam. X"

After texting him back a quick.

"I'm fine, it's not that bad. Thank you too, I had a really great time. Talk soon. B. x" I dropped the phone onto my stomach and just lay there and grinned for a few minutes. It really had been wonderful. Not exactly what I had imagined as my first time, but all things considered I wouldn't change any of it. As I began to drift off to sleep, I let myself run through my favourite things about Sam. His kindness and honesty, his chest, his sense of humour, his chest, his toned abs, his chest. But most of all I thought about how beautiful he was when he laughed. Not just when he chuckled, but when he threw his head back and really let go. Like he had this morning when I'd managed to say the most embarrassing thing possible. "Come to think of it, I've made him laugh like that a few times." I recalled. "And quite often when I'm in the process of embarrassing the hell out of myself. Like that time outside the store when I dropped the giant box of condoms right at his fee…"

The thought cut off as though sliced through with a sharp blade. I sat up, bolt upright on my bed, my mouth open and my eyes wide in horror.

"Condom." I breathed. "No condom." I jumped up, suddenly buzzing with adrenalin. Feverishly pawing through the drawer in my nightstand, I pulled out my diary and flicked back through the pages to find the last red X.

Finding it, I then counted forward to the correct date. "Sixteen days." I mumbled. "Right smack in the middle of my most fertile time." I began pacing back and forth across my room, arguing with myself. "Stupid, stupid, stupid girl." I told myself. "What the fuck was I thinking?" I already knew the answer to that; I hadn't been thinking at all. I'd been so caught up in the moment that not even the slightest flicker of anything as responsible as birth control had entered my idiotic head.

Stopping myself mid-pace, I made myself take a breath. "Ok Bella. It's too late to change it now, so there's no point harping on about it." I thought. "Instead I should be thinking about what I should do now. What are my options here?" Without thinking, I began the pacing again as I thought things through. "Ok, option one; I do absolutely nothing and hope for the best. After all, it was only the one time and how likely is it that I would get knocked up on my first time?" Even as I thought it I could hear how 'movie of the week' I sounded. "Right. Option one is definitely a no go. On to option two: Go talk to Charlie and ask him what to do." I gave in to a burst of hysterical giggles at the thought of that conversation. Charlie might've surprised me with the times he'd managed to hold deep and meaningful conversations with me over the last few months, but I was pretty sure that any conversation that started with "Dad. I had sex for the first time yesterday and didn't use a condom." Would be bordering on torture for both of us and quite possibly a trip to the emergency room for Sam. "Option two is no good either then. So. Option 3: Go to the doctors and get an emergency contraception pill." Really it was a no-brainer. Unless I wanted to run the risk of having to have a much worse conversation with Charlie, I was going to have to go see the doctor in the morning. "Except its Sunday tomorrow, and both the doctor in Forks and the clinic on the Rez are both closed on Sundays." I realised. "Which means either going to the hospital in Forks, where Lauren fucking Mallory works in the dispensary on the weekends, or taking a drive into Port Angeles to visit the hospital there." Again there was no real choice. If I set foot in the hospital while Lauren Mallory was in a position to know what drugs I was being given, I might as well hire a billboard outside the school and plaster it with a twenty foot picture of me in my underwear and the message 'Bella rides bareback'. Not going to happen. So a trip to Port Angeles was in order. Decision made, I stopped the pacing again and flopped back down on my bed. I stared at the ceiling for a few minutes, my head spinning with thoughts about my day. It had been a real mess of highs and lows, but I tried to hang on to the good points. Chief amongst them being that I'd secured protection for Charlie, Sam and myself with the wolves.

The wolves!

For the second time I sat bolt upright on my bed. "I'm going to have a wolf following me if I go to Port Angeles. A wolf who knows Charlie, and who Charlie knows too. And they'll either figure out why I drove all the way over there to visit the hospital instead of going to the one in Forks and maybe tell Charlie, or worse, they'll assume I'm there for an abortion. And maybe tell Charlie." I knew I was probably being a smidge irrational, but once the thought was there I couldn't shift it. I needed a plan to fool the wolves. Having just secured their support, I wasn't about to insult them by trying to ditch whichever one was watching over me, I wasn't that stupid. But I needed to find a way to disguise why I was there. Tapping my fingernails against my cell phone absently as I thought, I accidentally hit the messages button and there under the text from Sam was Angela's name. A crafty smile broke across my face. "Angela. She's an amazing friend; she'll help me." I looked at the time. It was just past half ten. A little late to be calling, but not too bad on a weekend. Praying that she'd pick up, I hit her contact and pressed send. Four rings later she answered.

"Hey, Bella. Having a good weekend?" She said and I smiled in relief at hearing her voice.

"Hey Ang. I'm having a pretty interesting weekend, that's for sure." I told her, thinking that I could say that twice and still be only half right. "Before I go on, I need to know two things; firstly are you busy tomorrow?"

"Nope. Totally free. Not even got any homework left."

"Good answer." I told her. "Secondly, are you alone right now?"

"Not completely." She said. "Ben's here with me." I thought for a moment. It was kind of a private matter, but then again Ben had proven himself as good a friend as Angela, and I didn't want to make her keep secrets from her boyfriend…

"Ok. Not a problem. I trust him as much as I trust you." I said and I could almost feel Angela's concern and curiosity down the phone line.

"Bella, is everything ok? Do you need some help?" she asked and I thanked my lucky stars that I'd made such a good friend as her.

"Nothing's wrong. Sort of. But yes I need your help. I did something really, really stupid today and I was wondering if you could come with me to Port Angeles tomorrow to help me fix it?" I held my breath, waiting for the inevitable questions.

"Of course. What time do you need to go?" She asked me and I was stunned silent for a few seconds. I'd known she was a good friend, but to just agree like that, no questions asked? She really was a truly wonderful person.

"You don't want to know why we're going?" I asked

"If you want to tell me about it, I'm happy to listen, but I'm not going to stick my nose into your business if you don't want to say."

"Ang, you really are the most amazing friend anyone's ever had, ever." I told her, welling up a little. I swallowed hard, willing back the lump that had formed in my throat."I'll tell you anyway, because it's only fair you know why we're going. I had sex today. My first time. And I was stupid enough to not even think of condoms until a few minutes ago, making me do a 'panic-and-pace' while I worked out what to do."

"Ok, Bella. Don't panic." She told me calmly. "I'm guessing you're not going to Fork's hospital because of Lauren?"

"Got it in one, Ang. So it's going to have to be a trip to Port Angeles. Do you really not mind coming?"

"Not at all. Earlier is probably better than later, I guess?"

"Yes. Please." I answered with relief. "Do you mind driving? It'll take twice as long if we take my truck." She chuckled down the phone at me.

"It's fine. Mom's got the car tomorrow, but Ben says we can take his car." There was a muffled low voice in the background. "He also says does he need to kick someone's ass for you?" I laughed out loud

"Tell him no, it's fine." I chuckled. Then with an evil grin I added. "Apart from the fact that I was as much to blame as the guy, tell Ben that the guy in question is Sam Uley." I waited expectantly for Ben's response. Instead of Angela's voice, Ben's came through the phone.

"Glad it's all ok then, got to go… oh no, I've broken my hand, so I couldn't beat him up for you anyway. Lucky you didn't need me too. BYE!" he gabbled and handed the phone back to Angela, who was giggling hysterically, just as I was.

"Awwww Bella. You should see his face." She laughed. "Though I think he'd probably have had a go, if you'd needed him to." I knew she was probably right. All Ben's joking aside, in knew that for a friend he'd probably square up to the hulk.

"Yeah I know he would." I answered. "Give him a hug from me, Ang. I'll see you tomorrow. Is seven too early?"

"Seven's just fine." She replied. "I'll pick you up, and after the hospital we can grab a couple of books from the bookstore so you've got a cover if Charlie asks."

"Angela you are truly one in a million." I told her and we both hung up. I collapsed back onto my bed for a third time, wrung out from the last few minutes of panic, relief and then more panic. "And all because I was a stupid, idiot." I reminded myself. "Next time I'll make him wear two to make up for it." I snorted in amusement at the thought and finally climbed under the covers, hoping for a restful night's sleep.

For the first time in as long as I could remember, I had a long and peaceful sleep. I couldn't say I didn't dream – I had a real whopper featuring me and the chef from the Muppet Show presenting an episode of Mythbusters about pop rocks and coke. Only once I finally managed to get the chef to put down his spaghetti and meatballs long enough to eat some pop rocks, my old second grade teacher popped up from under the counter and told us it was time to make macaroni necklaces. Except she didn't have and macaroni or string so we ended up making puppets out of old socks, and the chef, being a puppet himself kept flirting with my sock puppet, even though it was cross-eyed and had a nasty run across the side if it's face.

When I woke up I was wearing a huge grin and I felt truly rested and at ease, it was an almost alien feeling after months of sleep deprivation and deep meaningful dreams. Looking over at my alarm clock, I saw it was just after six and knowing that Angela was going to be there to pick me up at seven, I started gathering the will power to haul myself out of my warm and cosy bed. The moment I moved I regretted it. The muscles in my inner thighs which the night before had merely been a little on the sore side screamed at me in protest as I swung one leg over the side of my bed, and once I was sitting up, the soreness in my pussy was enough to make me draw in a hissing breath. My burnt hand, funnily enough, wasn't really bothering me at all unless I rubbed it, it seemed that the injuries had traded shifts in the pain department. Grimacing at the painful stretching in my thighs, I pulled myself to my feet, grabbed my toiletries, and headed off to shower and brush my teeth. The first thing that caught my eye when I entered the bathroom was the dark purple and blue hickey on my neck. "Whoa. He wasn't messing around when he did that!" I thought to myself. "I'm gonna have to keep my hair down or wear high necked tops for days to keep that under wraps." The finger marks on my hips and thighs had developed over night too. A greenish/bluish tinge around the outside of each fingerprint, making my skin a real artist's palette. I rushed through my shower so I could get done and back to my room before Charlie stirred; Meeting him outside the bathroom with this hickey on full view would be bound to be awkward. Wrapping one towel around my head and another around my body, I peeked around the bathroom door to check the coast was clear. Charlie's door was wide open but I couldn't hear any hit that he was in his room. "He must've gone downstairs already." I figured, and quickly left the bathroom and got into my own room before he heard me leave the bathroom and came up to use it himself. Shutting the door behind me, I sighed in relief and turned round to come face to face with a smirking Charlie sitting on my bed.

"I'm gonna guess you were scuttling around with all the stealth of and elephant in tap shoes so you could keep that hidden from me." He said, pointing at my neck. "If so, you probably should've thought of it last night when you got in. I'll allow that it's worse this morning, but it was plenty bad enough last night for it to impossible to miss." I blushed and began searching around for the best thing to say. I was coming up completely empty handed. There really was no way to get out of the lecture I knew was coming. He stood up from my bed and held out one of his plaid shirt for me. "Keep the collar up for the next few days and tell Sam that if I see any more marks like that on you, I'll be putting a few well-placed marks on him, only my method is a lot harsher. Ok?" I nodded, still blushing, but amazed that I was getting off so lightly.

"Ok, Dad. I'll tell him." Charlie nodded in satisfaction and went to leave my room. "Oh Dad. Angela and I planned to go to Port Angeles today, and as you and I are going to be pretty much tied to the Rez for the foreseeable future I'd really like to get in a bit of time with her. I'll make sure whichever wolf I watching me knows where we're going so we're not alone." It felt incredibly strange to be talking about the wolves so openly with him, but I guessed it was a nice change from having to keep everything so secretive. On this occasion the only thing I was carefully tip-toeing around the edge of was my specific reason for needing to visit Port Angeles.

"That should be ok this once, Bells, but after this trip we're keeping it close to home, ok?" He said. "It wouldn't be a good idea to make them spread themselves so thin more than just this once."

"Not a problem, Dad." I replied. "Hanging out on the Rez isn't exactly a chore for me anyway." I added with a cheeky grin and he looked over with a chuckle.

"It's nice to see you so smiley again, Kiddo. Have a nice time with Angela, but don't be out the whole day. I'd kind of like to spend some time with you too. We've both been so busy the last few days that I feel like we're gonna forget what each other looks like."

"How about a night in with a movie and a Pizza then?" I suggested

"Perfect. You've got a date." He answered with a grin and left. Closing the door behind him. I looked over at the clock. Only twenty five minutes before Angela arrived. Pulling on an old band t-shirt and then Charlie's plaid shirt, I dug around in my closet to find a pair of pants. All I had left to wear were a pair of very faded and more than a little ripped at the knees jeans. "Looks like I'm channelling the rocker look today then." I shrugged. "I really need to get myself a job so I can afford to go shopping."

I rushed downstairs, as fast as my sore muscles would allow me to anyway, and fixed myself a bowl of cereal for a quick breakfast and was just rinsing my bowl out when a loud honking outside announced Angela's arrival. Charlie was just walking into the kitchen as I hurriedly shoved my feet into my purple D.M.s and I waved at him as I dashed out.

"That's Ang here for me, Dad. Have a good day and I'll see you later on." I called as I opened the front door. Angela was munching down a Pop Tart as she sat in her car and I grinned at her, she'd obviously been in as much of a rush as I had to get here in time to meet me.

Pulling the door closed behind me, I pretended to stop and tie my shoes to cover me as I spoke to whichever wolf was guarding Charlie and me right then.

"Charlie's heading over to Billy's as soon as he's had breakfast, but I really need to go to Port Angeles with my friend." Completely true, but I'd deliberately worded it so that it seemed I was the one doing Angela a favour to cover my tracks. "It's really important or I wouldn't drag you over there, I promise, and I'll be making this my last trip away from the town or Rez for a good long while. I'm really sorry to spread the pack out." I said in a normal speaking voice, figuring that if they could hear my heartbeat from about 5 feet away, then I'd be heard now even if my wolfy bodyguard was several yards back into the trees. Standing back up, I walked the last few steps and jumped into Angela's car.

"Hey Ang." I said as I pulled on my seatbelt. She pulled away as soon as I was clipped in and I waited a few turns along the road before I spoke again, not wanting the wolf I was sure would be tailing us to hear me. "I can't tell you how grateful I am for this. You're a true friend."

"It's not a problem, Bella. I'm sure you'd do the same for me if I needed it, and it's nice to get to spend a little time with you; we're both so busy these days, whenever one of us is free, the other isn't." I felt a little guilty for neglecting such a good friend, but in the end I suspected it would be to her advantage; the less Victoria knew about my friends, the better.

We spent the trip over to Port Angeles chatting about school, our families and Ben, and we were about fifteen minutes from the hospital when Angela finally broke.

"It's no good. I can't take it." She cried dramatically and I looked over at her in alarm. "We've talked about everything else apart from you and Sam, and I really was trying to mind my own business, honest, but I just can't take it another second. You can skip the details if you want, but please tell me at least something about this guy. Please!?" I couldn't help but laugh at her unaccustomed melodrama. Angela had to be the least nosey person I knew, but she was almost desperate for some kind of girly talk about the situation, and as she was doing me such a good favour, and as in all honesty I was kind of wanting to talk about the whole thing with someone anyway, I gave in and filled her in. I told her about how Sam had been the one to find me in the woods, how he'd rescued me again at the Forks grocery store and I shared the humiliating condom box in the parking lot incident with her. As she wiped the tears of laughter from her eyes to prevent causing a traffic accident, I went on to explain how we'd got talking on the Rez and how I'd volunteered with him at the drop-in centre. I then went on to explain how he'd rescued me a third time after my motorcycle mishap and taken me to the hospital, how he'd asked me out, and I told her all about our date. When I got to the part about the kiss in the parking lot and the grumpy guy whose car we'd been blocking, she started up laughing once again. She was still giggling as we pulled into the hospital parking lot.

"So then you stayed over at his place on Friday night and one thing led to another, is that it basically?" she asked me and I was grateful I could escape sharing all the juicy details. I may have actually had sex, but I still wasn't too comfortable talking about it.

"Yeah I guess that's basically the long and short of it." I said, fighting my blush.

"But you did want to do it, right? I mean he didn't take advantage, or talk you into something you weren't really into or anything?" She asked me, ever the concerned friend.

"No, no. Nothing like that, Ang." I reassured her. "I might not have planned this to go that far so quickly, but believe me, once I realised where we were on the road to, I was more than happy to keep right on going." Despite my blush, I had a big smile on my face and I thought it was that which convinced her more than my words did.

"Ok. Well I'm happy for you then, although you really must do things right birth control-wise next time." Her voice became mock stern and I grabbed and squeezed her hand.

"Promise." I told her. "In fact, I promised myself that next time I'd make him wear two to make up for it." I whispered, not wanting my wolf bodyguard, if he was within earshot, to hear my silly joke. Angela snorted with laughter and we got out of the car and walked into the hospital.

Several forms, an interminable wait in the world's dullest waiting room, a talk with a patronising and slightly creepy doctor, and two pills later, Angela and I walked back out of the hospital, and headed off to our favourite bookstore to stock up on second hand books and coffee. I was all too aware that I was keeping one of the wolves away from his pack and possibly vulnerable, and I carefully walked a thin line between rushing Angela along in her book choices and letting her feel like I was wanting to get our trip over and done with, a tricky thing to do with someone as perceptive to others' moods as she was. I picked out a couple of classics that were in decent condition for myself and only ordered a small coffee, and she picked up on my cues and didn't linger over her own choices, but she didn't seem upset like she felt I was trying to get out of spending too long in her company so I counted that as a win. In actual fact, we were less than an hour at the bookstore – an all-time record for us, and we were back in the car and heading back to Forks less that fifteen minutes after that, chatting as we drove and comparing notes on our homework assignments. I confessed that I had barely started my weekend homework and I guess she decided that was the reason I'd been in a bit of a hurry as she said.

"Don't worry, Bella. You should have enough time to get it done and any other homework too as long as you start it as soon as you get back." Relieved to have a handy excuse, I agreed.

"Yeah I know." I said "I'm just not used to feeling like I've got to rush it. I normally get all my homework out of the way as soon as I get it, but this weekend, time just got away from me." She nodded in understanding as she pulled up outside my house and said.

"Well if you get stuck with it, just call and I'll try to help." I smiled.

"See. Best friend ever." I un-clipped my seat belt and opened the door. "Thanks again, Ang." I said quickly, knowing that she'd know exactly what I meant, but hoping that my wolfy protection detail would just assume I was talking about the offer of homework help.

"It's no problem. That's just what friends do." She told me with a smile and once I'd closed the door, she drove off, giving a little wave in her mirror. I looked around me, trying to get an idea of where my wolf friend was. I'd not seen any sign of him the whole morning, but I'd felt myself being watched, so I knew he must've been there somewhere.

"Thanks for keeping an eye on me." I told a random patch of trees, unable to decide where he might be, but figuring talking in any direction would do. "I'm sorry I had to drag you all the way over there, but I'll be keeping close by from now on." I headed inside to get my homework done. Convenient excuse though it might've been, it was also the honest truth. I had an English assignment due in the next day and had hardly done any of it. I needed to get it done so that Charlie and I could spend the evening with a pizza and a movie as we'd planned. I checked my cell phone before I sat down at the kitchen table with my books. I was kind of surprised I hadn't heard from Sam yet. I knew it was probably just that he was busy with work or some kind of tribal business, or maybe he was spending a little time catching up with his Mom, but I still had a little edge of nerves because he hadn't called or texted. I'd heard entirely too many of Jessica's 'I don't understand why they never call me' laments the few days following one of her hook-ups to feel entirely comfortable with the silence from his side. I didn't think that he was the kind of guy to chase someone til he'd had them, only to be done with them straight after, but a quick text, even just a "Hi." Would have quieted all my anxiety. Sighing as I shoved my phone back into my pocket, I firmly got my head back where I needed it – in my English assignment, and I kept it there for the next few hours until Charlie got back, hardly checking my phone for missed calls and texts at all. Well if you call twenty three times hardly at all, that is.

By the time Charlie got home I was just finishing my closing paragraph.

"Hey, Bells." He called out as he opened the front door. "You home?"

"Hi Dad. Yeah I'm just finishing off my homework. You want to order the pizza while I clear my books away?" I called back.

"Sure." He replied and made the call, ordering our usual meal while I wrote down my last few words and cleared my school stuff away. We had a quiet and peaceful evening, watching bad horror movies and laughing at the Hollywood versions of vampires and werewolves. The only black mark on the evening was my building unease at still not hearing from Sam. After he'd caught me checking my silent phone for about the tenth time, Charlie finally called me on it.

"Expecting a call, Bells?" he asked, raising a curious brow. Only you keep staring at that thing like it's about to sprout legs and do a little dance and you're afraid to miss it. What's up?" I shrugged and tried to appear completely un-bothered.

"Oh I was just sort of expecting a text or something from Sam, that's all." I replied airily. "He's probably up to eyes I tribal stuff or something."

"He'd just dropped in at Billy's when I left." Charlie told me. "And then he said he was going over to eat with his mom. I'll bet he just lost track of the time while they caught up. They've got a lot of time to make up for you know." I was instantly relieved. Of course he was taking he time to begin smoothing thing out with Alison. He'd seemed so happy the day before when she finally spoke to him and I couldn't be mad at him for not checking in with me while he was building bridges with her. I smiled over at Charlie, stretching and standing up.

"Yeah that's probably it." I agreed. "It's not like we'd arranged to talk or anything anyway so it's not a problem." I picked up my empty glass and took it through to the kitchen before walking back through the living room on my way to the stairs. "Well I'm going to turn in then, it's a school night after all. I enjoyed this evening. We should make a point of doing it more often.

"Yeah, Kiddo, I'd like that" he replied. "Night then. I'm on an early shift so I'll be gone before you get up, but I'll see you later on?"

"Well it's one of my days to go to the Drop-in centre." I told him, hovering at the bottom of the stairs. "So I won't be done til about 9:30ish. Did you want to wait on me for dinner, or should I grab something from the diner on the way home?"

"Don't worry about rushing back to cook, Kid. You do whatever suits you best and I'll fend for myself for the evening." He gave me a mock stern look. "Just remember it's a school night so you should be home by eleven, ok?"

"Sure Dad. No problem." I replied "Night." I climbed the stairs and headed straight to my room, pulling on my tank top and track bottom pyjamas and flopping into bed. "Still nothing from Sam." I thought, arranging the covers around myself. "Although I guess there's nothing that say I can't be the one to contact him." I sat up, struck by this new thought. He'd been the first to text me the night before, so what was stopping me from sending him a text this evening? If he was busy, or just didn't want to reply then he wouldn't and I'd be no worse off. I snatched my phone from the nightstand where I'd put it as I dropped onto my bed and, thumbs flying, quickly typed a brief message to him.

"Hi Sam. Hope your Sunday was relaxing; apart from a quick trip into Port Angeles mine was pretty quiet. I'll see you at the drop-in centre tomorrow? Bella x" I sent it before I could second guess myself and edit the message into oblivion, then sat back to wait for a reply. I reached over to the nightstand again, this time to grab my book. I figured I'd give him about half an hour to reply before trying to sleep, but I knew that spending that half hour staring at my phone would do my sanity no good whatsoever, so distracting myself with a book seemed the best plan. A nagging thought kept jabbing its elbow into the back of my mind. "I'm way too invested in whether or not he replies. I've already told myself not to get too attached and this smacks of attachment to me." I ignored the thought as best I could. I wasn't prepared to admit any kind of emotional attachment to Sam. Not even to myself. I couldn't care for him that much and therefore I didn't. Pure and simple.

After 20 minutes and the same two lines of the book, read over and over without taking them in at all, my phone finally beeped at me, telling me I had a text message.

"Hi Bella. Had a pretty full-on day myself. Spent some time with my mom and had several tribal things to deal with. Not sure if I'll make it to the drop-in centre tomorrow, as I've still got a lot of tribal duties to handle, but if I don't make it I'll miss spending time with you. I'm glad you had a good day. Hope tomorrow's another good one. Night. Sam x" I instantly felt better. I really didn't like the thought of not getting to see him the following day, but the simple fact that he'd not just ignored my text was reassuring. Putting away my book and cell phone, I turned off the bed-side light and drifted into a quiet and undisturbed night's sleep for the second night in a row.