AN: It's been a long, long time, so criticize nicely? :) It's good to be back and I hope you all love the rest of the story. It's done and just going to be posted in regular intervals now.

Charlie POV

It had been two days since Leah had asked me to take a shower with her. When she asked me, it was more than a simple invitation.

There was a haunting vulnerability in her eyes that made me ache to comfort her. I had learned in my short time with her, that when she was emotionally fragile, the best thing I could do for her, was simply hold her and let her feel safe and loved.

I needed to hold her for my own sanity. Just touching her hand wasn't enough to erase that bone deep fear that had consumed me as I waited with her, hoping she would survive until Carlisle reached us.

I had almost lost her.

Every time I thought of that reality, it was like a sledge hammer to the gut.

I had barely found her, and to have lost her would have been unbearable.

I didn't answer her question with words; rather let my actions speak for me, drawing her up gently from the bed to lead her into the bathroom. She didn't speak either, just followed, holding my hand with her fingers laced in mine.

As I helped her out of her clothes, she looked down and stared at her stomach. I saw her eyes water and her lips compress and I touched her face.

"I…" she began in a choked whisper. She looked up at me. "I just kept thinking I would never see you again. That I had just begun to be happy with you and I would never be with you again."

Her jaw shook and a tear rolled down her cheek.

I hugged her to me, knowing she was about to lose it completely.

"I've got you," I whispered, feeling my own eyes burn. "And I'll never let you go."

Her jaw shook and she squeezed me lightly with her uninjured arm. Tears were silently sliding down her cheeks unheeded as I guided her into the steam filled shower. I held her under the running water, trying to impart peace and comfort as she cried.

I didn't feel the same helpless panic as I usually did when women cried. She had been through a near death experience and from everything she had told me in our weeks together, the only time she had allowed her emotions out in the past few years was with me.

"I want to go home," she said as her tears finally slowed and the water cooled just a touch.

Not sure what she meant, I asked, "Home to the reservation?"

She gave a little huff of bitter laughter. "No, home to your house."

She let out a long sigh.

"Our house," I heard her whisper almost silently.

"I just want to get away from here. I don't want to be around anyone from the pack or even the Cullens. I just want to sleep and have time to think and be with you when you aren't working. I want our little world back."

'Our little world.'

I wanted that back too. The past few weeks had been like a fantasy cut out of time, in which we had our own little world. Where just the two of us had mattered; where the two of us had lived to make each other whole and happy.
I didn't want to lose my world with Leah.

I wanted it forever.

I couldn't bear the thought of losing her; of one day waking up and her not being there in my life. She was most important part of my life now. I didn't just want her with me when we hung out and had a great time together and had house burning sex.

Hell I wanted everything. I was too old for pussy footing around what was most important in my life. I didn't want a girlfriend. I wanted more. I wanted a wife.

An idea had been marinating in my brain for the past day or so and I thought about bringing it up to her.

But first things first.

"Let's get you out of the water and dried off, okay?"

After making sure she was comfortable and had everything she needed, I took the opportunity to make a phone call. Wanting a little privacy, I left the Cullen's house and drove down their long driveway in my cruiser, parking to one side. I had a weird feeling that they could hear what ever was said anywhere in their house. Maybe I was paranoid but I just couldn't shake the feeling that there was not a shred of privacy in their house.

Tapping my fingers on the steering wheel, my mind wandered as I waited for the line to be answered.

If I could arrange everything just right, by this time next month, life would be very, very different.

"Hello," the gruff voice pulled me from my thoughts.

"Hey Joe."

"Charlie! You son of a bitch. How is your hottie woman?"

He was in a jovial mood and I chuckled.
"Do you still have that vacation rental on the lake?"

"Course I do. Why? You wanna use it?"

"Is it available to rent?"
"Hmm," he pondered and let me wait a few moments. "Can't say it's available to rent, but if you're looking to bring your pretty woman down, it's currently unoccupied."

I decided to tell him partial truth, as he would see some of Leah's injuries anyway.

"Leah was in an accident and I thought it would be good for her to get away and have somewhere peaceful to recuperate. If you wouldn't mind, I wanted to bring her down tomorrow."

Joe breathed out. "Damn, that's terrible. Is she okay?"

"She will be, she just needs rest and some time."
"Well, bring her down! Sammi will smother the hell out of her when you aren't here. And we'll make sure she's taken care of."

I smiled, relieved to know I had at least one true friend I could rely on right now. "It won't be too early in the day. She's been sleeping a lot, so we'll leave whenever she wakes up."

"Don't worry about it," Joe brushed me off verbally. "You know I don't go to bed early; unlike some old men I could mention."

I recognized the dig but ignored it. "Thanks Joe. I really appreciate it. And don't worry about setting anything up. I'll bring whatever she will need and food."

"Hah! I'm not doing anything. Can't guarantee that Sammi won't get in there though."

Knowing Sammi, I was pretty sure that the cabin would be clean, the bed freshly made, and she would probably go as far as having fresh flowers and a full fridge.

Maybe Sammi and Leah would become good friends. Not having a lot of female friends, it would be nice for Leah to have someone who was there for her, especially as precarious as everything was at the moment.

"Thanks buddy, I really appreciate it."

Anything more I had to say was cut off by Daniel Tanner's truck driving fast up the Cullen's driveway.

It didn't slow down as it passed me, and I barely made out the figure in the driver's seat.

What the hell?

"Hey Joe, I gotta go. I'll call you back."
Hanging up, I turned as quickly as I could on the narrow drive and headed back to the house.

Alice POV

"Someone is coming." Jasper's quietly spoken words were unnecessary, as we had all heard the vehicle approaching. It wasn't Charlie's cruiser returning. No one moved or said anything more as it crunched to a stop and then footsteps approached the house, followed by a knock.

Carlisle answered the door, as was customary when we weren't expecting someone.

"Hello. I'm Kassi." The woman on the porch spoke with an absolutely charming Irish accent and a beautiful smile. She was vaguely familiar and that was surprising, because with our memories, we never forgot anything.

"Hello," Carlisle answered in kind, puzzlement in his eyes.

"I'm looking for Leah," she said pleasantly. "We were supposed to go shopping today and she never answered her mobile when I rang."

In the moment of silence that followed, a little line appeared between her brows. "There's nothing wrong is there? Oh gosh, has something happened? It never occurred to me something bad may have happened to her."
Though the words and expression seemed completely genuine, there was just the tiniest thread of something off in it. It was like she was lying and was acting with sudden concern.

Kassi looked around at all of us, stopping to focus on me. Her head cocked and a little frown of concentration puckered her eyebrows.
I stared back at her intensely and had an explosion of confused visions. Jasper grabbed my hand as she smiled and gave me the tiniest nod before she looked back at Carlisle. I only half listened to their exchange as I looked through the future trying to see who this Kassi was.

I heard Charlie's cruiser come to a stop by the front porch and he jogged up the steps as Carlisle invited Kassi inside.

"Oh hello chief!" She greeted him cheerfully as she saw him and he gave her a tight smile in return.

"Hi Kassi." He scrubbed the back of his neck nervously. "Um, what are you doing here?"

"Oh, I had a shopping date with Leah and I couldn't reach her, so I stopped by to see her."

"Leah was in an accident," Charlie said and Kassi gasped.

"Oh no! Is she alright?" Her concern this time was completely genuine.

"She will be. She just needs some time to recuperate."

Biting her lip, she looked around at all of us again. "Oh, well, give her my best and tell her when she is feeling better I would like to visit."

"She might like to see a friendly face now," Charlie said kindly, though I could see he was clearly uncomfortable. Kassi smiled at him.

"Are you sure? I wouldn't want to intrude."

Charlie smiled. "It's no intrusion. I'll see if she's awake."

Seth leaned over the upstairs railing and grinned.

"Leah said she wants to see Kassi."

The Irish girl smiled up at him. "You must be Seth."

He nodded cheerfully. "Yep. When she heard your voice she told me to get my butt out here and tell you to come up and see her."

Out of curiosity and a little confusion, I silently followed Kassi and Charlie as they ascended the stairs to Leah's room. Standing by the open door, I was intently focused on Kassi as she crossed to Leah, who sat propped in her bed.

"Hi," the blond woman breathed out melodically as she gently hugged Leah.

"Gosh, you look horrific. What happened ta ya?" Her accent thickened with the genuine concern. "And here I was fretting over a stupid shopping trip."

Leah gave a little smile. "I'll be okay. I'm sorry, I don't know where my phone is and I wasn't really in any place for a day or two to even think coherently much less contact any one."

Kassi waved her off. "Oh, don't even think about me. I just wish I knew you were hurt so I could have helped you somehow."

Again, though her words were caring and sincere, I felt like she was hiding something. She sat on the bed next to Leah, taking a hand in hers.

Why did I keep getting a weird feeling that I somehow knew her?

Watching her visit with Leah, while Charlie stood to one side and smiled vaguely, I searched for visions of her.

Finally after long frustrating minutes of seeing nothing informative, Kassi hugged Leah again and stood up. "I'll come see you in a few days. I'm so happy you are okay."

"Thanks Kassi. I appreciate you coming out."

"It's no trouble. You just worry about getting better." She leaned close with a conspiratorial smile and a whisper I knew Charlie couldn't hear. "I think it's absolutely perfect that you are with the chief."

Leah's eyes widened and Kassi laughed. "What? Did you think I don't have eyes?"

"I'll see you out," Charlie said to her and I could see he had put two and two together and was aware Kassi knew he and Leah were a couple.

Kassi smiled at me and paused when she was almost at my side. "It was very nice to finally meet you Alice."

How did she know my name! But before I could ask, a vision took me so unaware I couldn't respond as she went down the stairs with Charlie.

Charlie POV

Figuring that too long an absence from work would cause unwanted scrutiny and questions, I had returned to work the day after Kassi's visit. Leah had assured me that she was totally fine to be left seeing as the entire Cullen family and her brother were there at all times.

Putting in two full days was nearly painful, as I could hardly concentrate, but I slogged through. Today though, I had decided to take a lunch break to talk to Leah about my plan.

Entering the Cullen's, I stopped in the kitchen to get a drink. Esme was there cooking something and she gave me an assessing look.

"You need some time off. I know Leah's the one who was hurt, but you look beat."

I chuckled. "You are probably right. I'm thinking about taking a little trip."

She patted my arm comfortingly. "You should. Let me know if there's anything I can do to help you."

"Thanks Esme."

I considered her for a minute. I was glad my daughter had someone like her in her life. Everyone should have someone as caring as Esme Cullen in their life.

Taking a bottle from the fridge, I went back upstairs.

Leah was sitting on the bed while Rosalie tended to her various healing wounds.

"I want to take you down to Lake Quinault." I blurted out before I had second thoughts.

Leah looked at me wide eyed. Rosalie was wrapping her hand in an ace bandage, Carlisle having decided she no longer needed a hard brace.

"Um, okay," she said hesitantly and I scrubbed a hand over my face.

"Joe has a nice cabin he rents out. I thought that maybe some time away would be nice; give you time to rest with nothing to interrupt."

"All done," Rosalie murmured and collected the items resting on the bed beside Leah. She gave Leah a smile. "Esme is making lunch. It will be done soon."

Thanking her, Leah turned back to me as Rosalie walked out of the room.
"When do we leave?"

I smiled at her answer.

"I was thinking tomorrow. I need to go back to the station and deal with a few things and check on the house. I thought I'd go now and take care of it all."

I sat next to her. "I'll have to work on Thursday and Friday, but Joe and Sammi will be around. Will that be okay?"

She nodded. "Yeah. It will be nice to be there. It's really peaceful at the Lake."

Esme served us lunch and I enjoyed the simple ritual with her before I headed back into town.

Putting things in place so I could take the next day off to drive Leah down to Lake Quinnault took a little time, and when I finally left the station I called to let Leah know I was just going to sleep at the house after I was done there. I knew she would be going to sleep soon and didn't want to disturb her later on.

When I pulled into my driveway, I have to confess I was not expecting to see a tall Indian man sitting on my front steps, looking relaxed and comfortable.
"Joe!" I said as I stepped out of my cruiser and walked slowly towards the front steps. "I was not expecting to see you on my front porch," I told him honestly.

He smiled easily as he unfolded his lanky frame and stood, stretching as he did so.
"How long have you been here?" I asked him, scratching my head in a nervous habit.

He gave me his little smirk. "Awhile."

Knowing him well enough, I led the way into the house.

"Wow," he commented as he looked around the entry way and into the living room.

I looked around, seeing my place through different eyes; eyes of someone who had only ever been in my house while I had lived the bachelor life.

Leah had done a bucket-load of upgrading I had to admit. From cleaning, to changing curtains, rearranging things and a whole bunch of other things, I only now registered that it must have taken her a considerable amount of time to do.

I led the way to the kitchen giving Joe a rueful look. "Somehow I thought we agreed I was coming down your way tomorrow. And yet here you are at my house."

He gave an enigmatic smile. "Here I am," he agreed. "You have any beer?"

Obligingly, I pulled two from the fridge and sat across from him at the small table.

"So," Joe said as he leaned back in one of my ancient kitchen chairs. It creaked under his massive frame.

"I heard what happened." He informed me bluntly. "And I just came to see how you're doing. These kinds of things can be hard for tribe members to comprehend, but somehow it seems like you're doing okay."

I looked at him sharply. "What do you mean 'these things'? How are car accidents hard to comprehend?"

Joe burst out laughing. "Do you seriously think I believe for one minute you are completely unaware of the truth of the Quileutes?"

Sobering and taking a sip of his beer, he set it on the table with a level look. "I am aware of what happened on the reservation. I must admit I was worried about how you were faring, but I was reassured you have known the truth of things for a while. Which makes you a greater man in my eyes."

That puzzled me and he chuckled.

"You knew the truth of everything and yet you still love Leah in spite of what could have tremendous difficulties and complications."

There was a silence as we both considered and then he sighed.

"You going to marry her? Or are you going to keep hiding her away in the woods in your in-laws house? Because you know, as your best friend I feel it is my duty to provide you with sound, objective council."

How did he know so much of what was going on?

"And my best advice to you Charlie, Marry that girl."

Standing, he stretched his huge frame and yawned.

"Also, Sammie has half of the wedding plans done, so if you want a say in how anything goes, I suggest you hop on it and ask her already."

"Now, you got a spare bed I could crash in for the night?"