A/N: Ahh! I am so, so, SO sorry you guys! I know I promised to have this done WEEKS ago, but life has once again gotten in the way. I've been spending some rare quality time with friends and family, shopping for school, packing, cleaning out my room, etc etc. Now that I'm staying at my aunt's for a couple weeks before I go up to Idaho for college I've finally found a small piece of time to finish this chapter. I think it's the longest chapter so far- eleven pages! I'm hoping to have another chapter done before I go to college, but no promises. In the meantime, enjoy this chapter. It's not my best, but it's done, finally!

And to answer a few questions… This takes places three years after the last book in the Twilight series, Matty is actually 18 not 19 (but her birthday is in a couple months, so it's sort of a moot point), and those three days where Collin vanished WILL be explained but not until much later in the story. I'd also like to thank those of you who have managed to find and point out my grammatical errors- I'll be going back and updating corrected versions in the very near future. Without further ado, the story!

--

When you make new friends in a brand new town
And you start to think about settlin' down
The things that would have been lost on you
Are now clear as a bell
And you find yourself
Yeah, that's when you find yourself

(From "Find Yourself," by Brad Paisley)

--

CHAPTER SIX: Traffic Laws are Really Just Suggestions

"Left or right?" I asked quickly.

"Left," Collin squeaked. I nodded and jerked the wheel, totally missing the fact that there was a stop sign. Or, not really missing it, but… Conveniently ignoring the fact that it existed. It was almost the same thing, really.

"I still cannot believe that you just went ahead and decided that you and your friends were going to have a barbeque for me and then didn't tell me until we were halfway there!" I grumbled as I barely made it through a stoplight.

"Matty, you would please SLOW DOWN?!" Collin asked as he held onto the handle in the ceiling like it was his only lifeline. Oh please, I was only going 15 miles over the speed limit! It's not like I was going to crash or something- I did this a lot when I was in a hurry. Which, due to my bad skills at keeping track of time, was a lot.

"No way!" I said. "I don't want to be late and make a bad impression!"

"I promise they won't think any less of you for being late! I didn't even give them a time for when we'd be there! Please Matty!" I saw him glance at me out of the corner of my eye, his expression pleading. I shook my head.

"No way! And how would you know how they'll really react? I mean, it's not like you can read their minds or something!" I sped up for a moment to get around an older woman who was driving reaaaallllyyyyy slow. I'm talking I'm the hare and she's the tortoise, but without her winning the race.

Collin laughed. "Trust me, I know the way they think better then you may realize." He grinned widely, as though at some sort of inside joke. He did that a lot.

I just shook my head. "Be that as it may-" I'd always wanted to say that, it sounded so cool- "I'm not slowing down."

"This is ridiculous Ma- TURN RIGHT!" I spun the wheel quickly, narrowly avoiding a very fancy black car that looked a bit out of odds in Forks. I took a brief moment to ignore Collin's screeching and wonder why such a fancy car was in this tiny town. Oh! Maybe it belonged to a drug dealer that secretly grew weed in the woods! The thought amused me for a moment before Collin's voice broke into my brain. "Please Matty! I don't want you to get in a wreck!" Note the fact he said 'you,' not 'us.' As in he wasn't at all worried about himself. It wasn't the first time I'd caught such a wording. I swear that kid had a death wish or something. I mean really, cliff diving? CLIFF DIVING? That's pretty much just relabeling attempting suicide as something prettier to get participants! He'd shown me a video one of his friends posted of them diving on YouTube. It was one of the freaking highest cliffs I'd ever seen (not that I'd seen many, but not the point) and they'd just jumped off as though it were the edge of the pool!

Oh! That's another thing about Collin that I'd found out. He likes to make all the stupid and dangerous things he does sound all pretty and flowery and Not-Dangerous. Like motorcross, which he does with his friend Embry sometimes. Okay, I'm not going to try and pretend I know anything about motorcross, but it sounds dangerous. And they have to wear helmets! But Collin had admitted to not wearing one. Said he was a "fast healer" and junk. HAH! I don't care if you're the freaking Govonator of California; you wear a seatbelt when you drive and a helmet when you bike. End of story.

"-and that's when I flew to the moon and made the first ever holographic porn site." Said Collin with an exasperated tone. Opps. I guess I got lost in thought about Collin…'s dumb actions. HIS dumb actions, not him. And in doing so had completely missed what he was saying.

"Say what?" I asked as I made another turn. "I mean, I knew you were a pervert but WOW." I smirked at him and we laughed.

"A little lost in thought there are we?" he teased.

"Blah blah blah." I muttered. "Don't we have a party to go to?" I asked. He rolled his eyes.

"Yes, and as I was trying to tell you before, you missed the turn." He smirked at me as I scowled and started to look for a place to turn around to do a course correction. "Of course, someone was a little caught up in her thoughts." His smirk widened. "Thinking of how devastatingly attractive I am? Don't worry- I can handle praise."

It might have been funnier if I hadn't actually been thinking of him. I decided not to let him in on that little bit though. And in any cause I hadn't been thinking about how hot Collin may or may not be- I was complaining. There is a difference. Just because the basic subject was the same meant NOTHING. Nothing at all. Zip, zero, zilch, goose egg, nada, no nachos.

"Actually," I started to lie eloquently (if I do say so myself), "I was thinking more along the lines of how your friends will react to me." I frowned, since it was a legit concern for me. I wanted Collin's friends to like me. He'd told me a lot about them, and they seemed like a cool group. I just hoped I wouldn't embarrass myself in front of them with the blushing and stuff. Most of them were boys after all.

Unexpectedly, Collin reached over and gave my knee a light squeeze, causing my foot to jerk off of the gas for a second. I mean, I told him not to ever touch my hands when I was driving since I needed to keep them on the wheel, but I didn't think as to what he'd touch instead. … That sounds so dirty.

"Trust me, they'll love you." He said. He grinned again. "In fact, I've been talking about you so much they feel like they've already met you." Collin snickered. I was not feeling so lighthearted.

"You… What?" I glanced over at him nervously. Was he serious? No, he couldn't be serious. Could he? I glanced at him again and mentally groaned. Of course he meant it. "But now they'll have expectations and then I won't live up to them and then they'll-"

"Shush! I will hear no more nonsense words out of you woman! Now shut up and drive!"

"But-"

"No!"

"I don't think-"

"Then don't talk."

I glared at him. His dark eyes twinkled back at me with repressed laughter. In retaliation I pressed down harder on the gas pedal. Ha! Take that Collin!

But he refused to be cowed by me (darn male pride) and just grinned at me. That accursed boy could read me like a book. He knew there must be a limit to my speeding- I was too much of a worry-wort to let my love of speed have too much control over what I did. I sighed and eased up a little.

"I knew I'd win." Collin said.

"Did not." I snapped, although without any real malice.

"Did too."

"Did not."

"Did too."

"Did not."

And so our argument went for much of the ride to the beach in La Push.

But the odd thing was, he kept his hand on my knee the whole rest of the way there. And for some reason, it made my ability to concentrate on driving a little harder then it should have.

--

"Wow." I, for one, was rather impressed with our final destination. It was this gorgeous beach, although of the rocky type as opposed to the more commonly thought of sand kind. I didn't mind though. The rocks were beautiful in their strange shades of greys and browns- all tinted with overlays of greens and blues and purples and just all sorts of colors that one doesn't normally see in rocks. Bone white trees littered the area like a giant had decided to play 'Pick-Up-Sticks" and then forgotten or found something more interesting- like carving out the cliffs that spread out on the far side of the beach, rising up so steeply it was a wonder anyone could get up there. Farther down on the other side of the beach I could see a group of people gathered around a large fire, talking and laughing and generally enjoying life.

Unlike them I suddenly was not enjoying life. Fear ripped at my stomach. Oh dear lord. What if they didn't like me? What if I did something stupid, like trip over a rock and break my face open? What if I said something dumb? What if I couldn't even say anything to them? What if-

Collin whacked the back of my head. "Ouch!" I grabbed rubbed my aching skull. "What was that for?" I snapped.

"I could practically hear your nervous brain chatter. Stop it at once or I'll hit you again." Collin said with an evil smirk. I glared at him for a long moment before turning away. He was a much better glarer/stare-er then I am and I had no desire to end up in a staring contest (that he would probably win and gloat about later. Darn prick).

"Ooooohhhh! I'm going to get you for this later Collin, mark my words!" I muttered under my breath as I reluctantly began to walk towards the people veerrryyyyy slowly. Slow like the old lady I'd passed up slow.

"Consider the marked." He said. I could practically hear his smirk grow. I knew he expected me to whack his arm as usual, and I am not one to disappoint a friend. I regretted the action at once though and rubbed my now aching fingers with my unhurt hand.

"I keep forgetting you're partially made of concrete."

I mean really! How on earth does he end up being so… Concrete like! Forgive the repetitiveness of my statement, but it's true! Every time I try and hit him I just end up bruising myself. And I'm not even that prone to bruising! Sometimes I can't help but wonder if the kid takes steroids or something. It'd help explain why he quit basketball… But then again he didn't seem the type. I shook my head. Now really wasn't the time to consider such things. I had more important things to worry about.

Like the fact that Collin had grabbed my elbow without me noticing and made me walk much faster then I had intended over to the bonfire. So quickly in fact that in the time it took for me to muse about steroids and Collin possibly taking them we'd already come within hearing range of the group of people around the fire.

Curse Collin to hell.

"Oy! Collin! What took you so long?" called one of the guys. I blushed. I knew it! I knew I was going to be late! I swear I was going to give Collin such a talking to he'd begin to think I was his mother! Granted I'd be far too young to be his mother, but oh would that boy rue the day he crossed me! He would remember well the revenge I would have! Forget getting back at Tina- I'm using all of those cans of Silly String on him. And the glue. And the hair dye. Particularly the hot pink and neon/snot green. Hah. Hah hah hah. Ah-hah HAH hah hah. You can't hear it, but I've got an amazing inner evil laughter. Really diabolical here. Just try and imagine it, okay?

Collin, forever the self-absorbed jerk, just laughed and ignored my distress (and thankfully he also ignore my evil plotting). Jerk, jerk, JERK. How could he laugh? He knew I was freaked out about this whole thing! But noooo. He put his arm around my shoulders and called back, "Like you're one to talk Paul! As I recall you didn't even make it last week!"

The person that I now assumed to be Paul scowled at Collin, but made no other comment. Thank goodness for that. I tried to resist as Collin led me over to the group, but it was really rather useless to try. A lot like trying to resist a tank pushing you down the road when you are tied to said tank, in fact. Our feet crunched against the rocks, and we slid down the rocks in a few places. Collin seemed to know the best places to go to keep from slipping though, and he kept a good grip around my shoulders to prevent me from fall flat on my face or twisting my ankle. He may be a jerk, but at least he's a gentlemanly jerk.

As we walked a woman in her mid-twenties picked her way over to meet us. Collin squeezed my shoulder, and I knew without looking at her face that this must be Emily. He'd told me on the way here, and had warned me not to stare. He told me how her face was really scarred, and so I had been expecting it but… Lord. I didn't think it would be so heartbreaking. Half of her face was gorgeous- beyond stunning, even. But the other half… The contrast between the perfect smile and perfect skin with the twisted grimace and scarred eye and cheek… It was so sad. I don't mean it in a demeaning or a pitying way. It was just sad that anything like that should be forced into a person's life. Thank goodness Sam (I think Collin said it was Sam) had been there to keep anything worse from happening when that bear attacked her.

"Hi!" said Emily with a huge smile. Before I knew it, she had wrapped me into a tight and motherly hug that screamed 'WELCOME TO THE FAMILY.' For a second I just stood there before putting my arms around her as well. "You must be Matty. It's so nice to meet you at last!" she released me and stepped back to get a good look at me. I squirmed a little, hoping I met her expectations. It's kind of like how I imagine people on American Idol feel in front of the judges. I think Emily is a fair bit nicer then Simon is though. And less judgmental. And younger. And less British. "Collin here has told us so much about you." She threw Collin an amused look. I however, was slipping farther and farther into 'not amused with Collin.'

"Has he now?" I said with a somewhat strained grin as I threw Collin what I hoped to be a subtle glare. He winced. He got it. I looked back to Emily and felt my smile turn into a real one, albeit nervous. "Well, I hope it was nice things. If they weren't, I swear they aren't true."

Emily laughed- a lilting thing like a bird's song. Dang! Why can't I sound like that when I laugh? I always have to be careful that I don't snort when I laugh. Not fair AT ALL. "Don't worry, it's only good things. And if it makes you feel better, I could always tell you a few stories about when I babysat for Collin when he was younger." She grinned conspiratorially at me, and I felt the nervousness go away.

"That sounds wonderful."

Collin didn't agree.

"That sounds like a bad idea to me." He grumbled. We ignored him. I like ignoring him. I think it's hilarious, to be totally honest, because he always pouts. Well, I think it's hilarious until I get a good look at his sad pouting face, and then I feel a bit bad. But I didn't look and he did deserve it, so I didn't feel that bad this time.

So let's move on, shall we?

Emily looped her arm through mine and we stalked off without Collin, who trailed behind us, muttering under his breath. Ha ha. Serves him right, the git. Doesn't tell me about the bonfire, talks about me to his friends so they have high expectations, ignores the fact that I was totally freaked out. Pah!

"Sorry, I forgot to introduce myself! I'm Emily Uley." She nodded over to one of the taller guys, who was looking over at us (or rather Emily) with a smile on his face. "That's my husband, Sam." She admitted with a shy smile.

That. Is. So. Cute. Okay, I'm sorry, I know I'm younger then they are, but just from the way that he's looking at her and she's looking back, I can tell that they are probably TOTALLY adorable together. I mean, it's hard to describe in written word, but the way she said 'That's my husband, Sam.' Wow. I wish I could emphasize it properly, but I can't. So just imagine, alright? I really, really hope that someday I can say that about someone the way she said it. Heck- if I could say it with even half of the feeling that Emily put into that sentence, I know I'm going to have it good.

As we neared the bonfire I felt myself freezing up. Oh man oh man. There were so many guys! There had to be about… Jeez, a good 12 guys there (plus some girls, but girls don't make me freak out)! And to top it off these are Collin's friends! I want them to think I'm cool, because… Because I really want to be friends with them too. Because I want them to like me. That was a strange thought. I didn't usually see people and think 'wow, I want for that kid to like me.' I'm not exactly a very social person. But I wanted- no, I needed for them to like me. I needed to be friends with them.

Damn it Collin- what have you done to me!? Because clearly this sudden change in my behavior is his fault. He's changed me. I didn't like being social before I met him and became friends with him, and now I do. I used to be fine doing nothing but working and then reading or watching TV at home before sleeping and going back to work. But now… It's like… Ug! It's like I need to be social! Need, need, need. Is that all I can think about now?!

We were almost there now. Emily unlooped her arm from mine and practically skipped over to Sam, leaving me totally alone. I took a deep breath. Okay, I can do this. I can do this. I can so totally do this.

I looked at the group of people- 10 guys and about 7 girls, nearly all of whom were staring… Right. At. Me.

I wanna die, I wanna die, I wanna diiiieeeeeeee.

Then Collin- whom I had totally forgotten- put his arm around my shoulders (no easy feat with the height difference) and said, "Matty, these are all of my friends. All of my friends, Matty." I could practically hear the huge grin in his voice. I'm sure he thought he was being very clever and funny. (And of course, I thought he was too. But shhh! Don't tell him I think he is- he'll get a huge ego from it.) His presence and attempt at humor helped to calm me down, at least a little. Itty bit. Teeny tiny. Flea sized.

Sam rolled his eyes at Collin's antics and stepped forward, his arm outstretched. I reached out as well (I really hope that he couldn't see that my arm was trembling) and shook his hand. His skin was just as blazing hot as Collin's, and he had a firm grip. I glanced up at his face, and there was something about him… The confidence in his eyes maybe? Or perhaps it was his nose. That's a very noble nose that Sam's got. Or maybe it was the way he stood- taller and prouder then the other guys. At any rate, there was something about Sam that made me feel very much like I was greeting a king or an emperor. A leader. Someone I should most certainly Not Mess With or else Bad Things Would Happen. But he smiled- a big dazzle-white welcoming grin. Clearly Bad Things weren't going to happen to me.

"Nice to finally meet you, Matty." He said. Even his voice was commanding! That was a voice that could lay down the LAW, and it would be OBEYED. End of story. Suddenly I felt very glad that I was so nervous and could say so little, because that meant I would be less likely to say something stupid and make him mad at me. He seemed to like me well enough at the moment, and I'd like to keep it that way.

"Likewise." I said in a half whisper, my mouth trying to imitate the warm smile he had given me. Don't quite think it worked, but hey, I tried, right? Even if it is more like a grimace. Oh well.

And then suddenly I was being introduced to a whole slew of people- Embry, Seth, Quil, a little girl named Claire, Jared, Kim, Leah, Brady, Jacob, Nessie, and what seemed like over half a dozen others- I was getting a headache trying to keep them all straight! There were just so many of them! It was a freaking flash mob of people! And the guys all looked so similar, it was almost like walking through some creepy sci-fi cloning movie with crappy special effects and an utterly unknown director. But no, that wasn't right, exactly… They were all a bit different. Sam had the 'Noble Leader' thing, as already said. Seth… He was the one with the huge grin. He'd outright hugged me when we were introduced (which Collin wasn't too pleased with for some reason). Embry was a little taller then the others and seemed a tad shy. Paul seemed a bit tense… And I couldn't really remember any of the others. Drat. Need to work on that, I think. They just told me their names not five minutes ago, and I've already forgotten half of them. What a lovely impression I'm going to make. Can't even remember more then four names (plus Claire, but that's just 'cause she's so little).

Anyways, by now half of the guys were gathered around the bonfire again, sitting on logs and large rocks, pull out hangers and packets of hotdogs out of various bags, duffles, and backpacks.

I was about to ask Collin what on earth the hangers were for when he handed me one before grabbing his own and bending- or rather unbending it- so that it was as straight as a poker. I felt the concept of my own stupidity washing over me. Duh- they were going to cook the hot dogs over the fire! I almost wanted to hit myself on the forehead, but since that would show that I had just realized what the hot dogs were for and therefore my stupidity, I didn't. Instead I just attempted to unbend the hanger myself, but I didn't get it as nearly as straight as Collin did- or any of the others for that matter. Curse my stick arms.

Collin tugged the thick wire out of my hands and bent it for me, as well as shoving a thick hot dog onto the end of it for me before handing it back.

"Thanks."

"No problem."

Collin sat down next to Embry on an otherwise empty log near the fire but out of the smoke. I sat next to him, though a bit away. It was still warm outside, plus Collin's body heat and the fire made for a very toasty me. And personally, I'd much rather cook the food, thanks. I doubt I taste very good.

Embry leaned over so he could look at me, a large grin on his face. "So I hear you're a bit of a speed-demon." I glanced over at Collin and gave him a kick. He couldn't have told Embry before today, since he had never been in the car with me before that afternoon. And that meant that he must have told Embry as I was walking over to the log, or while people were introducing themselves to me. I swear he gossips like an old woman! A teeny tiny old woman made of wrinkles and who dresses in flower print skirts!

I glanced over at Embry and tried to smile. "Yeah well… He didn't tell me you guys were planning a bonfire until the last minute, so if I hadn't we would have been very late."

Embry raised his eyebrows. "He did fail to mention that part." He said, sending Collin an amused look. Collin was looking a bit regretful of taking the seat next to Embry, or perhaps he looked regretful over the spilling the beans on both our parts, or maybe he was just sad about the fact that his hot dog had caught on fire, and now rather resembled charcoal. He gave it to one of his friends, who apparently enjoyed eating charcoal, and took another hot dog to cook.

"So- Embry!" Collin said in an overly cheerful voice as he tried desperately to change the subject to something other then him. "How is uh… How's your mom! Yeah, how is she?"

Embry didn't buy it. "My mom is fine- you should know, you saw her yesterday at the store." Ohh, burn.

Collin grinned. "Quite right my friend, quite right."

I rolled my eyes. Classic Collin, trying to fix things and then failing epicly. But I guess that's why I like him. I mean, like a friend. I don't like him like, so don't get the wrong idea. Friends. Cool awesome best friends. That hang out almost everyday exclusively with each other. Nothing going on here. At all.

Anyways.

By the time I had shaken myself out of my thoughts, I realized that half the people in the circle were staring at me. Crap.

"Umm… Sorry, I zoned out. What?"

One of the guys snickered, making me blush. A young girl that I'd guess to be about 12 or so rolled her eyes at the boy before turning to me and answering my question. "Jacob asked if you were having a good time," she said. Her voice was insanely melodic, and now that I was really looking at her… She was a lot prettier then ANY person had a right to be at her age. What the heck was up with these people and having physical impossibilities? First we've got Collin who looks like twenty, then we've got all of his friends who are tall and buff, and now there's a prepubescent girl who could make Tyra Banks feel ugly. Said pre-pubescent girl gave a small nod at the much older guy next to her with a small kind smile. Clearly she knew I wouldn't remember who Jacob was, and I was grateful for the hint. I turned to him before finally responding to his question.

"Yeah, actually, I am." I said with yet another twitchy smile, slightly surprised that I was enjoying myself. Normally being around so many people would have me spazzing out like the freak I am, but it wasn't tonight. I still blame Collin for that.

Jacob (he grinned back when I answered, so I knew it was Jacob) nodded. "Glad to hear it." I'm glad to hear he was glad to hear it. Much rather that then have him wish I was having a horrid time.

The conversation moved on and I was no longer in the spotlight. I immediately relaxed, letting out the breath I hadn't realized I was holding. Collin slung his arm around my shoulders and leaned his head down closer to my ear so he wouldn't have to speak too loudly.

"That wasn't so bad, was it?" he teased, squeezing me a little closer to him. Whyyy was his body temperature so high? I was already starting to sweat, especially since it was combined with the heat from the bonfire. I edged away from him a little in an attempt to get away from the heat.

"Yes." I deadpanned. Collin just laughed, a deep hearty thing that I could feel reverberating in my own chest. It felt nice, and got me laughing as well, though mine didn't sound nearly so nice.

"So… Are you really enjoying yourself?" he asked after a moment, sounding a bit nervous. I resisted the urge to giggle at him. Not gonna lie, he was pretty adorable when he was nervous. I almost wish he would let me know when he was nervous more often- he usually tries to cover that sort of stuff up in his usual 'manly man' style, which usually involves a lot of bravado and joking.

Instead I just grinned at him and said, "Yes, I really am. This is a cool group of friends you've got here." I glanced around, watching as a couple of his friends tried to toss bits of hotdog at each other. "A bit different," I added, "but that's not a bad thing."

His responding smile was… Nothing short of dazzling. It looked like his head was just going to split in half it was so wide. I didn't even know it was possible to look so happy. "Good." He said firmly, like we'd settled some sort of business arrangement. No idea what it involved, but I guess whatever it was, it was settled.

The rest of the night went really well. I mostly stayed quiet while Collin joined in on several arguments and conversations (a couple which were running at the same time, which really confused me, but Collin seemed to be able to keep up for the most part) but I did throw in a few comments here in there when I felt I had something worthwhile to add. It was actually probably the most social I've ever been with a group of virtual strangers. Ever. And for me, that was really something. I even managed to have a short conversation with Embry about the differences between the Lord of the Rings books and movies and which was better! Collin looked a bit lost there, so he just ended up talking with someone else, but I saw him glancing over at me a lot. I mean, really Collin. Maybe if it had just been out of the corner of his eye I wouldn't have, but when one turns one's whole head, it's kind of obvious.

He's such a loser. But he's my loser friend, so I guess I'll just deal with it.

The bonfire didn't end until well after midnight and I was dead on my feet (well, butt, since technically I was sitting at this point). I had ended up just leaning against Collin and not caring that I was boiling because he made the best pillow blanket combo ever.

Collin nudged me gently, trying to wake me up. I must admit, it is a daunting task. "Hey, it's over. Everyone is vacating the area… You can stop drooling on my second favorite shirt now."

"Nonsense." I muttered, sleep garbling my words. "I thought the blue one was your second favorite."

"It got bleach on it, so now it looks weird and nasty. Anyways, that doesn't stop the bonfire from being over. You have to get up now." He nudged me again. And again. And again until finally I decided that having my head bounce on his shoulder was not comfortable at all.

I groaned but finally complied, rubbing my eyes. "Jeez… What time is it?" I made a face- my breath tasted funny. Like post-nap funny. Note to self- get some gum.

Collin glanced at his watch. "1:18… No, 1:19, sorry. It just changed." He glanced over at me, still wobbling and rubbing my eyes. His face grew worried, a small crease appearing between his eyebrows. "Are you going to be okay to drive?"

"Not at all, but I have to." I said, getting to my feet. "Do you have any water I could poor over my face or something to help me be more awake?"

"Yes, but I'm not letting you drive anywhere like this. You'll get in a crash and kill yourself, and then what on earth would I do with all that free time I'd suddenly have?" He stood up as well, stretching his arms over his head. He put them down and then looked at me for a long moment, a very serious expression on his face.

Well that can't be good.

"How about instead of driving home tonight… You stay at my place."

I wouldn't know until later just how right I was.