I meant to post this earlier but I must admit I had gotten distracted by another story and I unfortunately have to work, I don't think a writing day would classify as a sick day.

Thank you to those who reviewed. I appreciated it and it is good to know people are reading it, although I would still enjoy it if it were just me. I have a couple more chapters and then our little Wanderer has something happen that could change everything.

disclosure: I do not own these characters as I am not the wonderful Stephenie Meyer.

CH 3.

It was late when we arrived with are new guests and we were all so tired, so Jeb suggested that Ian, Jared and Brandt go get the extra cots from Docs for our guests. The three of them stood off to the side, Nate and Rob were looking around the room, sizing up our accommodations. Burns was still watching me.

Jaime had rushed over to see me and Mel as soon and the introductions were over and we were all sitting on mine and Ian's mattresses going over the whole raid.

"I don't believe you guys found more rebel humans," he gushed with excitement. "Do you think there are more people my age in their groups? That would be sooo awesome! And Wanda you found another soul just like you! But don't worry you will always be unique to me. Oh man! I wish I was with you guys!"

When he had finally stopped for a breath, Mel looked over at me and rolled her eyes. She reached over and tousled his hair. "Okay you. I think you have had enough excitement for the night. Walk me over to the bathroom before I pass out from exhaustion."

"Aw Mel, do I have to?" he whined.

"Yes," she insisted, her voice changing to her big sister tone. "I missed you and want your company. I promise to fill you in on every second you missed over breakfast tomorrow."

She rose from the bed taking Jaime up with her. I tried to stifle a giggle watching her half drag him out of the room. I failed and burst into a fit of giggles, falling back onto the mattress. I could barely control myself, and in truth I didn't even know why I found it so funny. Then I remembered something Melanie had called me once, back when we shared her body. "Slaphappy…" I giggled to myself.

"Slaphappy?" A voice came from behind me.

I was startled and bolted up into a sitting position on my mattress, spinning around to see who it came from. My eyes were met by reflective duplicates of my own.

"Oh Burns! You startled me." I said to him.

"My apologies Wanderer," he apologized, half bowing to me. "I was coming over to say good night…" he paused. "What does slaphappy mean?"

I patted the mattress beside me, inviting him to sit with me. Once he sat down I began to explain. "It is basically when you are to the point of exhaustion where you find everyday normal things hysterically funny."

"Oh. I have never heard that saying before."

"Melanie had explained it to me one day when we had been up for a long time and we were laughing at the oddest things." I smiled. "These human emotions are a lot to handle."

He nodded in agreement. "You two seem very close. You must have spent a lot of time together."

"Well yes of course we are. When you spend almost a year sharing a body it is hard not to develop a strong bond. Once I gave her body back to her she became my sister, of sorts." I explained.

Burns just stared at me with wide eyes. He didn't say a word.

"Burns?" I put my hand on his shoulder and gave him a little shake, trying to get him to say something.

"Um…." He seemed to be lost for words.

"What is it Burns? Are you okay?" I was starting to get very concerned.

"Mel… Melanie was you host?" he stared at me with wide eyes. "And you gave her body back?" His eyes scanned the room. "Without a healer? Did you..." His breathing speed up slightly, suddenly very anxious.

I realized that I had said too much. I was so angry at myself for giving away that much information. What if I had put my family in danger? The one secret I was supposed to keep. The one thing another soul may not understand. I barely knew Burns. My head started to spin and I felt a little dizzy. I swayed back and forth a little bit.I put my head between my knees and tried to take a deep breath to calm myself but it wasn't working.

Burns, being a caring soul, snapped out of his state of shock when he noticed my sudden change. He shuffled his body beside me and put an arm around my shoulder. "Wanderer?"

I couldn't answer him. I was panicking. I saw the faces of my family flashing before my eyes. What have I done?

I was so lost in my thoughts I didn't hear the footsteps approach.

I felt two large strong hands grip my arms. "What did you say to her?" Ian said. I could tell he was trying his best not to sound angry as he knew it would just upset me more and he didn't want to attract too much attention in the very crowded room.

Burns arm was quickly pulled off my shoulder. "I, I, I… I don't know." Burns tried to explain.

"Wanderer…." Ian tried to coax me out. I looked up at him with tears starting to well up in my eyes.

"Would you mind giving us a second," Ian asked Burns. Once Burns was on his way back to his group Ian sat on the mattress in front of me wrapped his arms around me and pulled me into his body.

We sat in silence as he held me. I focused on the sound of his heart beat as I buried my head in his warm chest. The steady beat of his strong heart helped to calm me down.

"I'm sorry." I whispered to him. "I made a huge mistake."

I felt his back stiffen. He took a deep breath. "What did you do? Did you….. Burns…?" He couldn't seem to get the sentence he wanted out. He took one more deep breath and squeezed his eyes closed. "Did you do something with Burns?"

I leaned back and looked up at him. "I wish. That would have been better than what I did."

His eyes popped open at my comment. He was trying to stay quiet but he had urgency to his tone "What? You wished you did something with him?"

If I wasn't so concerned with the safety of my entire family I would have been more careful with my words. I placed my hands on his face, hoping it would ground me. "I told him that Mel was my original one secret that a soul would die before giving up." I shook my head. "You should have seen his face Ian. He looked like I had slapped him."

"He was probably just shocked. He is a sympathizer just like you and Sunny. I am sure he will understand once he hears the whole story," he reassured me, taking my hands into his and kissing my fingertips. "Who can resist a story with such a happy ending."

"But what if he doesn't understand? I could have put you all in danger."

"I will go talk to him."

Ian laid me back on the mattress and I curled up into a ball. He kissed me on the forehead quickly before getting up and walking over to where Burns was sitting on his cot. I watched Ian approach him. They were too far away for me to hear them but I saw Ian jester for Burns to follow him to a quiet corner of the room. I held my breath while they talk secretly in the corner. Ian did most of the talking while Burns just nodded his head. As they turned to walk back to crowd of people, Ian gave Burns a friendly pat on the back, although it looked as though Burns cringed away ever so slightly at the contact. I took Ian's grin as a good sign and allowed myself to breathe again.

As Burns sat back on his cot I caught his eye. He had a serious look on his face still but he managed to pull a smile across his face, signalling me that he would accept this… for now.

Ian made it back to me as Jeb called for lights out. I couldn't see him but I felt the mattress move as he lowered himself onto it. He came up behind me and wrapped his body around mine. I felt his breath across my neck.

"What happened?"

"I told him that you were concerned about what he might do with the information you let slip out. I explained that there was a lot more to the story and he should wait until he hears your full explanation before doing anything," he whispered in my ear. "He said he would wait until tomorrow before he says anything. He was very understanding about everything I said."

"What else did you say?" I felt like there was more to the conversation than he was saying.

"I just explained that it was not a good idea for him to be holding my girlfriend in my bed," he stated matter of factly.

I spun my body around so I was facing him. "You said that!"

"Do you know what it looked like to me? To see you in another man's arms in my bed." He pulled me closer to him. "It was like someone was reaching into my chest and squeezing my heart. It took everything in me to not lunge across the room."

"He was only trying to comfort me. Ian you know I would never. Ever." I emphasized the last word.

"That doesn't mean it was easy for me to see it."

"I love you, Ian"

"I love you, too." He kissed the top of my head. That wasn't enough for me though. I stretched my neck so I could reach his lips with mine. It was soft at first but I needed more. I parted my lips, letting his lower lip slip between them and lightly nibbled on it with my teeth. That was all he needed. His lips shaped to mine, our tongues tasting one another. My hands were pressed up against his chest, my nails starting to dig into it.

Ian was the one to pull away as usual. If he had a super power it was definitely self-control, which I had none of. He turned over onto his back and pulled me into his side. I knew it wouldn't take long to fall asleep against his warm body. I would need all the rest I could get to face Burns tomorrow, but for tonight I was just going to enjoy where I was. I drifted off into sleep.

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