Title: Stay With Me

Author: Leaonna

Disclaimer: Everything is owned by Stephenie Meyer, not me. I'm just a big fan who enjoys her writing and characters so much that I try to write about them.

Author's Note: So, I'm really excited about this chapter! I got to mention a bit of Ian's back-story…it is seriously lacking in The Host. And I absolutely had to do something with Ian and Kyle's relationship to show how it was repaired…I hated that they were always fighting!

So, without further ado, please read and review!

Changed

Kyle walked into the room and put the door to rights. Looking up at him, I felt a little guilty about the dark bruises forming under his eyes. He had cleaned up, but still had a little dried blood that he had missed on the outside of one nostril. The bruising looked even worse as he came closer and plopped down next to me on the mattress.

"Sorry about the…" I began awkwardly with a grimace, and gestured with my finger in a circle around my face.

Kyle scoffed. "What, the whole 'kicking-me-in-the-face' thing? The hell you are. You've been waiting to do that a long time and just needed the excuse."

This was all too true. Feeling my face spread into a grin, I replied, "If that's the case, I've had so many excuses I can barely keep track."

Kyle nodded, but did not smile. Instead, his brow furrowed and his eyes tightened a bit in the corners. Then his eyes flashed down to Wanda's tank beside me. "I can think of a time where you would have been justified to do more than kick my face in," he said softly. "You almost did."

My expression began to fall when I realized what he meant: when he almost killed Wanda, about ready to throw her into the river. How I would have let him be killed or exiled for it. I could feel Kyle's eyes on mine and knew he could see immediately what I was picturing in my head. Another one of our 'internal conversations', as Jeb would call it.

"I hated you for a while, you know," I said, my voice rough. "After what you did."

"Honestly? I hated myself a little, too," he answered.

We were quiet for a time, until he spoke. "I've wanted—," he began, and then shut his mouth. I turned my head toward him; I wanted to hear this, the closest thing I would get to an apology from my brother. "I didn't feel guilty at first," he started over. "I thought I was justified and in the right to try get rid of her. I saw how you had taken to Wanda and I couldn't stand that another one of those parasites had wrapped themselves around my family again." Anger edged its way into Kyle's voice, making it shake a bit.

I looked down at my hands folded in my lap. "Kyle," I began, "you don't—"

"Shut up, Ian," he interrupted me. "You need to hear this."

He took my look of surprise as a sign to continue and let out a sigh of air in a rush, hurrying through his apology awkwardly. "Afterwards, I tried to avoid you both at all costs, but I still watched you. I finally realized that you weren't just defending Wanda because Jeb told you to, but you actually cared for her. When I…did what I did, I hurt you, too. It didn't sit right with me, and I've been trying to make it better ever since. You're all the family I've got left, Ian, and I don't want to ruin that."

Kyle was hardly one to voice his emotions, so this was a side of my brother I rarely got to see. He looked at me then and I could see the regret in his eyes, how truly sorry he was. I nodded, accepting him. The tension in our relationship was ebbing but it wasn't gone completely. There were things we both needed to forgive each other for before that happened.

"Thank you," I said quietly. "As much as I couldn't stand to even look at you for a while, I understood. Especially with what happened to Jodi…and with mom."

And I did understand. The same fury and anger that fueled him ate away at me every day, still so raw after six years. Because of it, I didn't second-guess my actions when I tried to kill Wanda the very first time. That one, singular moment is a black mark on my heart that I wish I could erase. But I can't and it's the reason that I will always protect Wanda and keep her safe, trying to make up for that.

"I know you're not the same man you were when we came here," I continued. "You treat Wanda better and I've seen how you are with Sunny. You have changed."

For the better, I finished in my head. I still couldn't put the two Kyles together in my mind; one so harsh and angry all the time and the other softened and caring. When I looked at him now, I could see more and more of our mother in him. I take after her most, I think, not in looks but personality. She was kind, always thinking of others above herself; fiercely devoted and protective. Bits of that were coming out in Kyle now, directed toward Sunny. I smiled, thinking that it added yet another way in how we are alike.

"Wanda's a nice," he paused, his face screwed up in thought. "Well, for lack of a better word, she's a nice girl. She didn't deserve how we treated her from the start. I am sorry, Ian."

"Makes everything we fought about before the invasion seem stupid, huh?" I asked.

He nodded. Then his face lifted a bit. "Do you remember when we first came to the caves?"

"How could I forget? And you, being the idiot that you were, decided it would be a good idea to ambush the three stooges."

"Hey, in my defense, I had no idea that Aaron, Andy and Brandt were human. We both thought they were Seekers at first."

"Yeah, until they showed us their neat little trick," I answered, thinking back to six years ago when we made our escape and our journey that brought us to the caves.

Kyle and I had just returned from a week-long hiking trip near Mount Hood; being the scholar that he was, he ditched classes at PSU to go with me. We had made a pit stop at our parents' house like any other day, just to check-in and let them know we made it home in one piece. Looking back, I wished I hadn't completely disregarded the sense of unease I felt when we walked through the front door.

When we stepped into the living room, three Seekers were there, waiting; our mom had already been taken and had them at the house to collect us when we returned from our trip. We were so damned confused about the whole thing, we barely escaped capture. It was Kyle who made things out for what they were and sensed the danger we were in, even if we couldn't wrap our heads around it. Through the chaos, all I saw was the woman we called mom, looking at her only children with indifference and pity as the Seekers attempted to restrain us. I guess some base part of me realized the stark difference; she had my mother's face but this was not the woman who raised us. That woman would have fought tooth and nail to protect us.

Kyle and I had put up a good fight, but then again, the Seekers must not have expected much resistance. Running as fast as we could out the side door, we tore through the backyards of our neighbors until we couldn't run anymore. Kyle was the first to stop, gasping for breath, hands on his knees. As soon as the adrenaline started to seep from my body and I was able to form a rational thought, I wanted to go back for mom and get her to safety. I fought him on it, but Kyle had helped me see there was no going back for her; she was not our mother anymore. I don't think I'll ever forget the look on his face when he said that out loud.

We laid low for a while over the next day or two. Kyle wanted to check Jodi immediately, but I convinced him that we weren't going to do her any favors by leading them straight to her if they were still looking for us. When we finally decided it was safe, we made our way to Kyle and Jodi's place. But it was too late. Through the windows in the living room we could see that Jodi was not there, but the Seekers were, most likely waiting for Kyle to come home. I think to this day he still blames me in part for losing Jodi, for not getting to her sooner. After that, I saw Kyle begin to transform into a bitter and hardened man who kept moving because if he didn't, he would break. We had lost too much.

The sense of overwhelming defeat didn't really kick in until the shock of things died down; even then, we were allowed only a moment or two to live with our grief, until we were forced to be on the move again. Kyle and I were running for our lives and everything that made us human. The movies about alien abductions had it all wrong; these takeovers didn't only happen in the dead of night with flashes of light and crazy, unexplained disappearances. This assault was much more terrifying. It went on in the light of day, so quickly and silently that you could barely stop to take a breath before everyone you knew was snatched up. Every person we considered a friend was no longer who they used to be.

The souls were everywhere in the major cities, so Kyle and I knew we couldn't risk getting caught by holing in one of them. We got as far from Portland as we could, knowing that fewer people meant fewer problems – and that meant the desert, promising a whole lot of nothing. We remembered a few places from our trips south to Arizona and Utah with our parents when we were kids. Moving from place to place, we scrounged up what we could to survive. Over time, Kyle and I learned what had happened to Portland, to the entire planet. Apparently the 'war' had taken only a few weeks, without much of a resistance. So much for us humans being at the top of the food chain.

Kyle and I were smart, though. With just the two of us it was really easy to stay hidden. We'd met a few of the souls here and there, but nothing ever came of it. Luckily we hadn't run into any more Seekers. We were constantly moving until we finally found an abandoned trailer to call home on the far outskirts of Fortuna Foothills in Arizona. Not another person in sight for miles. Too bad the thing was armed like FortKnox; shot guns, pistols, ammo, you name it. Thank God for desert hillbillies. Things were good then; well, as good as they could have been, considering, but we were surviving.

When we met with Andy, Brandt and Aaron, Kyle and I had been on the run for over a year. We were doing a routine stop at a functioning, albeit run-down, gas mart for the basics; food, water and any clothes we might need. Possibly some liquor, if Kyle could find it. He usually never could; the souls had gotten rid of any form of recreational alcohol a long time ago. When we did our raids, Kyle and I always made a point to be fast, go to the smallest stores that were closed for the night and we always chose someplace different, if we were ever spotted. It was almost too easy sometimes; the souls were incredibly trusting and kept everything unlocked so you could walk right in without a fuss. Unfortunately, it was just as easy for others to do the same. As Kyle and I grabbed what we could, we heard the bell ring above the door, followed by the sounds of boots.

We stood frozen, just for a second, and then Kyle had reached for one of the pistols tucked into the back of his jeans. I put our bags down quietly and moved to the side to let Kyle pass in front of me, both of us lowering into a crouch. I remember my heart had been beating so fast I could hear the blood thrumming in my ears in the silence. It made hearing anything almost impossible. I followed quietly behind Kyle, but as we neared the end of the aisle, I saw the arm of his jacket sweep I reached for it too late and the metallic thud seemed to echo through the building. I cursed internally. Lot of good going with stealth did us; we probably could have just run out screaming instead.

The next thing we heard was the sound of guns being drawn and cocked, and heavy footsteps heading our way. Kyle and I braced ourselves, expecting an attack from the front, but one of them must have come at us at the back because the next thing I know I was pushed from behind, taking Kyle down into the main aisle with me. In a rush they disarmed us and had us on our feet, hands behind our back. A bright light cut through the darkness making both Kyle and I wince and turn our heads away.

"Look at us!" one of them yelled; Brandt.

We completely refused until Aaron and Andy had grabbed our faces and turned them toward Brandt's voice.

"I'll be damned," Brandt had said after a bit, lowering his gun and the light from our faces. "Looks like we've found some more."

"Some more what? We aren't one of those things!" I had said viciously.

"Oh, I know that. Can tell by your peepers," Brandt had continued, looking us up and down. "And your clothes. Those parasites wouldn't be caught dead being that damn dirty."

"Who the hell are you?" Kyle had asked, the permanent scowl on his face deepening. "And what's with the light?"

"I'm Brandt," we were answered. "That's Aaron and Andy." He pointed behind me, then Kyle. "Let 'em go, guys." He clicked off the flashlight and tucked it in the back pocket of his cargo pants. "The light's how we know who's who nowadays. Looks like you're still human. Congratulations."

"Thanks for the clarification," I had replied acerbically, then frowned. "You can tell just by using a light?"

"We'll explain it to you later. Right now we've gotta get gone. Is it just the two of you?"

I nodded once.

"Fantastic. Grab your stuff: you're coming with us to the caves," he replied.

"Wait, just like that?" Aaron had piped up. "You really think Jeb'll let them stay with us?"

Brandt had thought for a moment and then nodded. "We could use the extra muscle. Besides, we'll have time to figure them out when we're there."

"What makes you think we'll go anywhere with you?" Kyle had asked, the muscle in his jaw working. He had been annoyed that these guys got the jump on us. I was just curious to figure out how much they knew about the souls and why they weren't as disheveled and worn down as we were.

"Lemme guess: you guys are holed up in some rickety-ass place, at the mercy of the Seekers if they had an inkling and decided to take a detour in your neck of the woods?"

He had pretty much summed it up in a sentence. Kyle and I hadn't known too much about the Seekers then. From how he explained them, I guessed they were the ones we had seen before; the ones that hunted down humans to take them. We stayed silent.

"I'll take that as a yes, then. You come with us, you have protection and a safe place to live. It's an added bonus that you don't have to look at the same face day in and day out. There are plenty of us to go around."

I felt my eyes widen. "How many of you are there?" I had asked. I could almost hear the awe dripping from my voice. As far as we knew, there were few or no others left. Brandt looked behind us at Andy and shrugged.

"Probably around twenty of us," Andy chimed in. The 'give-or-take' went unsaid.

This fact alone had pretty much settled it for me. The trailer home was a shotty substitute for shelter. At best we could live there for a little while longer before needing to move on again. The others offered something somewhat more permanent, if not a little too good to be true.

I looked over at Kyle. What have we got to lose? I asked with my eyes. What I saw in his said it all: not a whole lot more to lose, but tons to gain.

"We're in," I had said after a moment, turning to face Aaron, Andy, and then Brandt. "But we've got one more pit stop to make."

I had a feeling we'd be needing the guns back at the trailer in the near future.

"I can't believe that was six years ago," I said to Kyle, bringing myself to the present.

"Feels like an eternity, huh?" he replied.

"Living with you, yeah," I joked back. I sighed as I got up from the mattress and stretched. "What time is it?"

"About dinner time, I think. Everyone had cleared out and was in the kitchen when I came here. 'Cept Doc, of course…nothing new happening with Jodi."

I looked at my brother, figuring out what best to say to make him feel better. I had no idea how things would turn out for him and Jodi. Truth was, it didn't look good; Sunny had been in her for too long.

"It's going to take a while...it's been years since she was herself." I began. "We can go and check on her soon, though. After we eat."

"Roger, that," Kyle replied and stood up.

Reaching down, I grabbed Wanda's tank and tucked her under my arm. Kyle watched me but said nothing as we left and made our way down to the kitchen.