"I don't care about what your new wife thinks of Autumn and I!" Mom yelled into the phone, pacing through the kitchen. "I'm telling you, as her father, that someone is out to harm Autumn!"

I cringed at the tone of Mom's voice, wrapping the blanket closer to my body as I listened to her conversation from the living room. Charlie had driven me home and was currently on the front porch with another officer. I could see them through the window, expressions grim as they tried to piece the case together. Mom's voice snapped me back to the living room.

"You know what, Clint? Forget it! Obviously, your daughter isn't important to you. When are you going to stop treating her like a burden and like she's an actual human being? She needs you! She needed you for the last 18 years and not once have you come through for her! So you know what, just stay with your new wife in Michigan. I will take care of Autumn by myself like I always have. I hope you burn in hell!"

The sound of the phone being slammed on the phone indicated Mom hung up before Dad could utter another excuse. Tears swelled in my eyes as Mom appeared from the kitchen, her face showing exhaustion.

"Aww, baby. Don't cry," Mom sat down next to me, cradling me in her arms. "We're going to be okay. Charlie will figure this out, I promise."

"I'm sorry," I choked out between sobs. "I'm sorry I'm such a burden."

"Autumn Bernadette Watson. You are not a burden." Mom scowled. "You are far from a burden. Don't let your father tell you or make you think otherwise. It's his loss that he doesn't want to be involved in your life."

"Is it because I did something wrong?" I mumbled after a short silence. "Is that why he hates me and doesn't want anything to do with me?"

"No, sweetheart. This is not your fault. He decided that being a family with us was too complicated for him, years ago. The only reason why the divorce happened was because I was too tired of trying to make things work while he was off chasing other women. Granted, I didn't know that before. I would've left him a lot sooner if I did. But no, you did nothing wrong."

"I agree with your mom on that one," Charlie's voice floated from the doorway. "You're a great kid, Autumn. Anyone would be lucky to know you."

"Thanks, Charlie." I sniffled, wiping my eyes with the edge of my blanket.

"Anything?" Mom asked him as she held me against her body.

"We have a lead, a fingerprint. But we won't know for sure until it comes back from the lab."

"Do you have any ideas?"

Charlie grimaced, rubbing the back of his neck.

"Yeah. Yeah, I do. And I think Autumn has the same idea, from what Jake said."

"Reed and Chloe." I whispered, my gaze dropping to the floor.

"It's a good possibility. We're looking into it." Charlie sighed. "I have a connection in Michigan checking things out over there, keeping an eye on them."

"Thank you. For everything." Mom told him, laying her cheek on the top of my head.

"Get some sleep, kiddo. I'll be right outside if you need anything."

Charlie squeezed my shoulder reassuringly before stepping out onto the porch. Mom sighed, her body relaxing into the couch.

"You heard the man. Go get some sleep, sweetheart. You have school in the morning."

"I love you, Mom." I said as I stood up, wrapping the blanket around my shoulders.

"I love you too, Leaf. Always have, always will."

I kissed Mom's forehead and headed upstairs to my room. Silently changing into pajamas, I curled up under my comforter and stared at the full moon. A sense of peace washed over me as I took in the pale beauty illuminating the dark sky. Slowly, my eyes fluttered shut and the world dissolved into nothing.

* * * * *

"Hey, guys. Autumn and I were going to get a group together for the movies on Friday. To help get Autumn's mind off of... things." Bella said as she slid into the empty seat next to me at lunch. Our friends looked at her in surprise.

"We invited some friends from La Push too," I added quickly, coming to Bella's aid. "You all know Jacob and his friend Quil."

"Uh, yeah. I'll go." Mike spoke first, smiling wide at Bella.

"Oh yay, movie night with Bella," Jessica mumbled under her breath sarcastically. It was just loud enough for me to hear and I shot her a dirty look.

"I'll be there." Angela squeezed my hand in comfort.

"If my girl is going, then I'm going." Eric slung an arm around Angela as he leaned back in his chair.

"Great. We'll meet at the movies around 7?" Bella glanced around the table and everyone nodded in agreement.

I smiled at Bella warmly, glad to see her back among us almost like her old self again. I knew a big part of that was because of all the time she was spending with Jacob; I was grateful he gave me back my best friend, but the stabbing pang of jealousy in my chest was still there when I saw them together.

"Earth to Autumn," Angela's voice broke through my thoughts and I shook myself back to the present. My friends chuckled as I smiled sheepishly.

"Sorry. What were you saying?"

"We were just talking about going to the bakery for study group tonight, if that's okay with your mom. The utility room at the library is closed for maintenance this week."

"Mom would love the company. She likes having you guys around, it helps her worry less about me."

"They'll figure out who's texting you," Angela whispered. "Do you really think it's Reed or Chloe?"

"It honestly wouldn't surprise me," I whispered back before glancing at my watch. "I'll see you guys at the bakery after school. I promised Mom I'd go to the police station with her after lunch for a follow-up with Charlie."

"Good luck," my friends called out as I made my way through the cafeteria, earning a few raised eyebrows and whispers from the jock table I passed. Noah Lodgeman looked up from his conversation and laughed when I walked past him

"Hey Autumn, where's the fire?" Noah jokingly called out, earning a couple of chuckles from the football team. This semester, Noah had been assigned my lab partner in Biology, which meant more interactions than we had last September when Bella got lost in the woods.

"Haha, very funny Lodgeman. Maybe you should go into comedy if football doesn't work out for you." I called over my shoulder, flashing a smile at him. His friends caught the smile and began teasing him loudly about his "girlfriend," making Noah's face turn red.

I shook my head in amusement, smiling to myself. Noah was everything a girl could want in a guy - funny, sweet, smart, humble. Had I met him before Jacob, I was 99.9% sure I would've crushed on Noah the second I saw him. But with things as complicated as they were with Jacob, I didn't want to risk that with Noah. He was firmly on my friends-only list.

Mom was already at the police station when I parked my car in an empty parking space. She stood outside with a dark expression on her face, Billy next to her. They both turned when they heard the door shut.

"Hey, Billy. What's wrong, Mom?"

"They may have some news about your stalker."

"Isn't that good news? Why do you look so angry?"

Mom took a deep breath to calm herself before she made eye contact with me.

"Your father is here."

My lungs flattened against my ribs as the wind was knocked out of me. I clenched my fists so tight, my fingernails were cutting into the skin.

"Why?" I hissed out.

"Because he doesn't think I can take care of you. He wants to take you back to Michigan."

"He can't do that. You had an agreement!" I turned on my heel and stormed into the police station.

Charlie was sitting at his desk when I burst through the doors, quickly jumping up to stand in between me and the room where they were. My boiled as I glared through the window. Charlie placed a hand on my shoulder, the gesture both reassurance and a warning. The step-monster noticed me first and turned to my father, who turned to face me through the glass. My body tensed as I braced myself as they walked out of the room toward me.

"Hello, Autumn." He smiled.

"Clint." I gritted, venom clear in my voice.

"That is no way to talk your father!" The newest Mrs. Watson, Angie, hissed sternly, as if it was her place to scold me. I rolled my eyes.

"First of all, you're not my mother. So don't try acting like you are. Second, this man," I spat at her, "has not been my father in at least 10 years. So yes, I can talk to him however I please."

"You." I turned toward my father. "How DARE you think that you can just come swooping in when it's convenient for you and try to be a parent? Huh? You really think that you're taking me back to Michigan because in your opinion, Mom is unable to protect me from someone I used to be friends with or used to go out with? That makes me laugh, seeing as you have done NOTHING for me and Mom has literally done EVERYTHING."

"That's enough, Autumn." Clint glared at me.

"Or what?" I challenged. "You take me back to Michigan, you take me away from Mom, and you're only putting me in more danger. Plus, I'd like to see you try. I'm sure Judge Carmichael would be happy to hear from me. Don't you think?"

The color drained from their faces at the mention of Judge Carmichael, much to my secret delight. The female judge hated my father and Angie, and had personally told them she wouldn't lose any sleep throwing them in jail at the divorce hearing.

"That's what I thought. Get out of here and never come back. I don't want to see you again."

"You heard her." Charlie spoke up, turning so his body was partially shielding me from my father, who looked like he wanted to slap me.

Without another word, the two stalked out of the police station, glaring icily at Mom and I. Once they were outside, Charlie motioned for us to follow him into the conference room.

"Your ex friend Chloe is pregnant, right?" Charlie asked as he shut the door behind us. I nodded.

"I don't know how far along she is. She might've already had the baby." I shrugged.

"Our contact in Michigan can confirm that Chloe hasn't left town during the time the car almost ran you over and when your tires were slashed. In fact, she hasn't gone anywhere lately except for school."

"What about Reed?" Panic settled into my chest like an elephant was sitting on me.

"He's been labeled as a missing runaway since Christmas."

"That means he could've been the one driving the car." My eyes widened in horror. "It's only been a couple weeks between that and the Valentine's poem, but it fits."

"It does." Charlie agreed. "We know what he looks like from his surprise visit a few months ago. His motive could be jealousy, because you were with Jacob when he saw you."

"I didn't think of that."

Mom reached for me absentmindedly, wrapping her arms around my shoulders. I closed my eyes and buried my face into her shirt.

"So now would be a bad time to ask about going to the movies on Friday with Bella and our friends?" I mumbled into her shoulder.

"Yeah, it would probably be best if you stayed home for the night." Mom sighed deeply. "I'm sorry, Leaf. The last thing I want is to put you on house arrest."

"It's okay, Mom. You're just doing what you can to protect me." I glanced at the clock on the wall. "We probably should get to the bakery. We had to change our study group to the side parlor because the library is closed for maintenance."

"Thank you for telling us." Mom said to Charlie as we rose from the table. "I hope you catch him soon."

"We're working on it." Charlie grasped my shoulder. "Hang in there, kiddo."

"I hope they catch that punk soon," Angela sighed, shaking her head. Twenty minutes after we got back to the bakery, I had filled my friends in as soon as they all arrived for study group.

"Man, he's lucky one of us haven't seen him around," Mike growled, hitting his fist on the table. I rolled my eyes at him.

"I'm sure you would protect me, Mike. But I'm going to let Charlie handle this. I don't want any of you getting hurt because of me. And I'm really sorry I have to bail on the movie."

"It's okay," Bella said, facing me. "I'd rather have you home too. Charlie would do the same if it were me."

"Let me know if it's any good. Maybe I'll go see it after school sometime."

As my friends turned their attention to the homework questions, the hair on the back of my neck stood on end as the feeling of being watched began to overpower my senses. Turning toward the window, my eyes scanned Main Street but nothing out of the ordinary stood out. Just breathe, the voice in my head said. You'll be okay.