Againg i dont own anything Stephenie Meyer owns the characters and tootoo owns the plot

Endless Summer

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Virginia Aswad <virginia1216@gmail.com> Fri, Mar 16, 2012 at 1:51 PM

To: Virginia Aswad <virginia1216@gmail.com>

Chapter 1

Randy Uley La Push, WA, was covered by a huge sponge people dared call sky. What sky? It di dn't even look like the ones I saw in coloring books. When I was a little kid, I used to color the sky gray then get scolded by the teacher, claiming I didn't k now anything about anything. She was the one who needed glasses; the skies are a lways gray. Weird. The wind blew on the shore of the ocean, and every person who decided to come to First Beach today shivered and began to leave gradually. I rolled my eyes; it w asn't that cold. I was perfect in my black T-shirt and sweat pants, those people were just too fragile, I thought. I was tall, really tall, with muscles that I was extremely proud of (I am a boy, what do you expect me to think? I love being strong), but the look on my parent 's, Sam and Emily Uley's, faces when they commented on my growth spurt was that of sadness. I had always wondered why, but never got the answer. To think about it, I asked a lot of questions which received no answers whatsoev er, like when I asked that girl, Sarah Black, my childhood best friend who looke d much older than I was then, why she always disappeared at weird times and lied about her destination. Sarah was the only person I could open up with about how I felt about anything, more than anyone else in the world. But, since I told he

r I never wanted to see her again, she disappeared from my life. I saw her brother, Colby, and her father, Jacob Black, around a lot, but never h er. So, I was pretty sure she didn't move, but she stayed perfectly away from me . I had to admit, I was a little kid, I overreacted a bit; I should have given h er space and privacy. But, no, I just had to ruin the only real friendship I had ever had. But, no. I hated liars, and Sarah was one. I couldn't base a kind on the only thing I hated the most in the world, lies. used to trust her completely. It wasn't worth it. I kind of , but not that much. I always had a Sarah in my mind, whom I e I used to. But my Sarah was flawless. My Sarah never lied. I let out a sigh I hadn't realized I was holding and decided to snap my mind out of this topic; everybody bugged me about talking to her about it but I never ag reed, and they stopped after a while, thankfully. It was another weird thing abo ut my parents how they sided with Sarah about this; weren't I their own son? "Hey, big boy!" Bryce, Uncle Jared's son, called. Ever since my sudden growth, h e had been calling me that. He was only 12, three years younger than me. I looked at his direction, on my left. He had one of those, what I preferred to call them, the Seth-smiles. He just looked like Uncle Seth when he grinned, with no biological relation...I think. I wasn't sure; nearly everybody here formed o ne big, Quiluete family. "Hey, Bee," I answered, removing the hand I had my head resting on and placing i t on my knee instead, he sat down next to me. "How's everything?" He snorted, "As weird as Hell," he commented, "Haven't you noticed? You've been getting those 'looks' lately. Creepy." I raised an eyebrow at him. "What looks?" He leaned closer to whisper in my ears. "Your uncles have been commenting on how much you're getting taller," he explained, "Thus, the weird looks. What's up wi th them?" I shrugged. "They're our uncles, they're always weird," I reasoned, "I have alwa ys wondered if they sell any large T-shirts around here," I tugged on my own shi rt, "But, apparently, they do. But, for some reason, they practically never wear them," I pointed out. He laughed. "Weird indeed. It's our family, dude. They we re born like that, get over it." He took a deep breath. "I still bet there's something weirder than usual," he mu mbled. I half-smiled. "You're so on," I said, "Twenty bucks." "You're on," he agreed. "But it has to be something really weird." "Yeah, sure, sure." Another sentence I loathed how I caught it from Sarah, but i t never seemed to fade. It was like something had to always remind me of her. Bryce laid back on the sand, facing the 'sky'. "So where's your girlfriend?" he asked, reminding me. relationship of any Especially Sarah; I missed her presence tell everything lik

I frowned. "I'm supposed to meet her in a few, what time is it?" I asked, hoping it wasn't four. He glanced at his blue watch. "4:35," he announced and I groaned; Alyssa hated i t when I was late. I was going to get some shouting today. Alyssa was an average girl. I liked how she was smart and really, really cute. S he had black hair that was usually loose around her face, and very light green e yes that matched the luck-bracelet she wore most of the time. She was only fourt een, but I found her mature. We've been dating for almost a month, but it never went past the compliments and a kiss every now and then. But, I appreciated her a lot...well, everything about her except her temper. I decided I would run to the cliffs, which she had been extremely excited to vis it, to meet her. I kept rehearsing what I would say on my way there. 'Sorry for being late; I couldn't keep track on time right'. Naw. 'I'm so, so, sorry. But the beach was-'. No. 'Sorry.' That's it. She was laying on her back, her legs hanging dangerously on the cliff; any balan cing problems could get her falling off. I didn't want to risk startling her, as I had been doing lately to everyone, so I cleared my throat from a distance. "H ey," I greeted. She sat up and faced me, fixing her white jacket. I noticed how she didn't smile as usual. "Hi, Randy." I frowned and sat beside her. "What's wrong?" I asked, concerned. She had told m e that she wanted to talk to me. She sighed and looked at her hands. I didn't need eye-contact to follow what she was about to say, so I gazed at the sun that was slightly visible behind the da rk clouds. Slightly. "Okay, here it is," she mumbled, mostly to herself. I raise d an eyebrow at her, now turning to see her expression for a clue. "We're moving away," she blurted out quickly. I stared at her for a long time. "Excuse me, what?" She stood up and I did the same, still baffled by the news. She was moving away? What? "My family and I are moving back to Canada in two days," she announced, her voic e merely a whisper. I had to admit, to myself at least, that I didn't love her. But, it stung. Alyss a, apart from being my girlfriend for a long time now, was a good friend. Losing a friend seemed to hurt you, believe it or not. What I felt was different thoug h; I wasn't sad, I was purely angry and hurt. "You can't do that," my aggressive side that had made its first appearance mutte red angrily. "You can't go away!" My tone was getting higher by the letter. She flinched and took a step back. "Randy, what-?" she asked, stopping herself and covering her mouth with her hand , letting out a surprised, muffled sob. "I didn't mean to make you angry -I swea r!"

I didn't let her finish; I couldn't let her finish. In less than a second I was shaking gradually, beyond any physical laws I had known of. Nobody shook that mu ch because of anger. Alyssa's green eyes widened dramatically and she took a cou ple of steps back. "I- I promise I'll call?" it sounded more like a question, as if she was trying to avoid getting me more angry. Did she think I would hurt her? I would never hu rt a girl -ever. And the thought made me even more furious than before, and the shaking got worse . "You know this isn't the time or the place to discuss this!" I yelled, "You coul d've told me over the phone, you could've just left without any warning? What ar e you trying to do?" I had no idea what I was doing. I didn't even make sense, not to myself anyways. "Randy!" I heard someone call from behind but I couldn't register who it was. I only saw red, and Alyssa running away, shouting several 'Oh God's and 'I'm sorry !' as she did. I was going to run after her when someone grabbed my from behind. As soon as she was out of my vision, the grip tightened and I couldn't control the anger anymore. "What the Hell?" I yelled, my tone alien to me. That was when everything changed. In less than a blink of an eye the person that was holding me and I fell off the cliff, the scenery around us blurring extremely quickly, as if I weighed a hund red tons. I couldn't react, I couldn't talk. Please, God. If I'm going to die, let mom take it easily. She would die from the news. I thought. Oh, shut the Hell up, idiot. You're not going to die. Uncle Embry's voice said i n my head. If I could freeze mid-air just to express my surprise, I would have, too bad the water was surrounding us. Swim, you can. Not very well, but you can, come on. The weirdness wasn't making me focus any more, he had to push me to the shore. That's it, welcome to the cult, Uncle Embry...joked? Shut up, Embry, he's not doing so well. I knew he had no brains but I didn't thi nk he could stay that silent for so long. A familiar voice said with so much aut hority I wasn't used to, but it was the closest to Colby Black's voice. Yes, tha t's me. And no, I'm not your biggest fan, so don't expect me to be. What did I do? A lot of drama, Uncle Quil answered. I was getting used to hearing more voices i n my head, but I had no idea what that was. Maybe I had fainted and was imaginin g things. No, Uley, you're a werewolf-slash-shape-shifter, that's what's going on. Colby e laborated. What?

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------"And, why didn't anyone ever tell me about this?" I asked dad. He sighed and shr ugged. "We hoped it would skip your generation, since there aren't as many vampires now as there used to be," he said, "But you knew about the legends, didn't you?" I huffed, trying to get my anger under control; I didn't want to phase with mom around, now that I knew the reason behind her scars. "But nobody bothered to tel l me that you and my 'uncles' were wolves. Hell, some of them are still wolves!" Mom didn't even bother to throw me a warning glare for my language. Instead, the y both just sighed. "I know we-" I cut him off. Mom was still silent. "Nothing you can say would ever make it up to me," I told them bluntly, "I had t o find out I was a werewolf when I yelled at my girlfriend and fell off a cliff! " I walked outside the house to the pouring rain and ran towards the forest, my anger getting a better hold of me as I phased into the black wolf I was. Your patrols start tomorrow, Colby pointed out. He seemed to be in his wolf form a lot. Well, no, but I don't want to go home. Why? I asked curiously, my mind in no control of its questions. Because I hate the atmosphere there, he pointed out, the depression. Nobody has been in a good mood for a very long time now. I could tell it was only us in this form. Depression? His rage filled my brain, terrifying me for a minute. Yes, depression; no thanks to you. I stood where I was, at the edge of the forest where the trees met the grass, Wh at do I have to do with anything? What did I ever do to you, huh? And I wished I never asked that question. Flashback [Colby's Point Of View] "What? What happened today?" I asked Sarah as she threw herself on the couch, no t speaking a word. Today, she, supposedly, spoke to Randy about what had happene d yesterday, when he confronted her about lying to him because of what she is. S he didn't answer; she just held the cushion close to her chest, staring at the t able. I got on my knees in front of her but she closed her eyes. "Leave me alone," she breathed, "Please, Colby, I'm begging you." I balled my right hand into a fist; what else did he say? "Sarah, speak to me," I ordered, using my much-loved Alpha voice. She took a deep, shaky breath. "He doesn't want to see me again," she mumbled, " He said he hated me so much he never wanted to see me." I froze in my place, something that I had taken from the vampire side of the fam ily. "What?" I exclaimed, "Are you sure he said that?" "Positive," she muttered, her voice vibrating as she held in the sobs I knew she wanted to let out. "And he's not going to see me again, I can give him that muc

h, right?" she was obviously trying to convince herself. "Sarah, you heard it in many different minds, you physically can't stay away fro m him," I tried to convince her, "You can speak to Sam and Emily tomorrow -maybe now. As soon as mom and dad come back from the hunting trip, we should go, okay ?" "No!" she snapped, opening her eyes to glare at me, "He won't be happy, and I si mply don't want that. Just leave me alone, okay?" -------------------------------------------------------------------------------She sat on the grass, her face plain, lifeless, just watching the wind blow them to the left and the right. She had been doing that a lot lately, since that day her imprint turned his back on her. I watched from my window as dad sat down be side her. "Come on, honey," he urged, "You have to eat, you're killing yourself!" It had b een three days since she had anything in her systems, and she had been patrollin g way more than she used to. We'd all been worried, and we didn't need to call C arlisle, who was with the rest of the Cullens in Canada, to know it's unhealthy for her. She was already looking paler, and she was much weaker even in her wolf form, it didn't need a genius. "I'm okay, don't worry about me," she repeated for the millionth time, "I don't want to eat, I'll just throw up." Dad growled. "Sarah-" she cut him off, looking at him with her best puppy eyes. "I beg you," she whispered, "I'll eat when I feel like it, I promise. I won't st arve myself to death." He kissed the top of her head, "No," he decided, "You will eat right now, whethe r you like it or not." She sighed. "But, Daddy-" "No buts, come on."

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------"I'm not going to the bonfire, mom," Sarah decided, "I- I have to-" "You don't have to do anything," mom insisted, "It's been a year, you have to ge t out and get some fresh air!" "No!" she started shaking, losing control over her emotions for the fiftieth tim e and mom took a step back as she phased in a blink of an eye. She whined softly and got out of the door mom had opened for her; she knew she needed to run for a while; she did that a lot. Dad, silent the whole time, ran after her, yelling at me not to follow them. Tha t night passed pretty slowly, until dad came back later, carrying Sarah in her s pare white dress that was always outside for emergencies. Her eyes were bloodsho t and dad didn't flinch as she hit his chest. "Why didn't you leave me there?" she whined, "I was better! It felt better!"

His face was fixed on an expressionless state. "I know how it's like, you're not running off, Sarah. I know it hurts, but it isn't happening." "What?" Mom and I exclaimed in one breath. "Running off? What do you mean?" I as ked. Dad's eyes held more than hurt; it held grief. "As in staying in her wolf form f or a while, a long while." I turned to her with shock; I never thought she would do that. "You know what, S arah? You're not phasing unless I tell you you're needed," I decided, "And if ki lling that kid is what it takes for you to finally snap out of this shit, then I 'll do it." She glared forcefully at me. "Colby," she warned. "I won't," I promised, "But know that I'll do anything to snap you out of this, even if it meant murder." And I meant every letter. End Flashback [And back to Randy's POV] I stopped in my place, shocked. It had been over three years, and she was still hurt because of what I had said to her. How was that even possible? Why had she never gotten over me, over what happened? For a second, I forgot about the reason I was in my wolf form, what my parents s aid and everything else in between; I was perplexed by what he had shown me. For some reason, it cut me, very deep, to see her suffer that much because of me. I t made me regret every moment I had spent laughing while she was in pain. I was never a heartless person, but it affected me deeper than I thought possible. I told her I hated her, I turned my back on her and I never agreed to talk to he r, but she still cared. She never hated me. What shocked me even more right then, one very important information Colby had j ust showed me. She's a wolf?

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------I couldn't sleep that night; who would sleep with all that information bugging t heir head? Between my girlfriend's family's decision to move back to her home co untry, my phasing and what Colby had showed me, it was impossible to fall asleep . I didn't want to talk to her just yet; I needed time to comprehend it all. I knew why she was forced to lie to me, and I knew it wasn't her fault she had t o. She must have been forced to keep the secret by an order from her brother or father, whoever was the Alpha back then. She never willingly hid anything from m e. I was simply wrong the whole time, it was my fault, and it was scaring me how I felt so much sympathy for her, when I hated her not twenty-four hours ago. The sun still insisted to hide behind the clouds, as if trying to tease me. 'You wanted sunlight? Well, it's not there'. Mom had tried to talk to me an hour ago

, but I wanted to stay alone, and she granted me that. I could feel dad downstai rs, so I knew he wasn't at work today. Perfect; they decided to make this a fami ly day, when I didn't want to talk to them about it at all. Laying back on the bed was w. The rain was destroying ning to the light buzz the put my brain on snooze; it getting uncomfortable, so I stood up, facing my windo everything dry in the state. It soothed me just liste rain caused, forgetting about anything else, as if I needed it.

Not three minutes later, I heard a knock on my door. It pissed me off; what did they want now? "I said: please leave me alone!" I snapped. Whoever was standing out there swallowed hard, and their heartbeat became faster . "R-Randy, it's me," she said quietly. "Sarah." Perfect; just perfect. It wasn' t my day today. I balled my hands into fists, "Sarah, please," I tried not to sound angry, "Now' s really not the time." She sighed, her breath shaking, reminding me of Colby's flashbacks. It hurt. "I know what happened," she breathed. I ran hand through my hair. "How did you know?" I asked. "I thought-" She cut me off. "I'm a werewolf, too," she announced, "Don't you know?" I knew, Sarah. I knew. But, I lied, shaking my head; it didn't sound like she expected m e to know. I slapped myself mentally for doing that; what was I doing? I was making the exa ct same mistake I was mad at her for. "That explains some stuff," I completed my lie. "C-Can I come in?" she asked, her voice still shaky, nervous. I sighed. I had to do this. "Come in," I granted, "You've been here before, it's not new to you." She spent a lot of time with me here, "You've been here when I was little." She went in and closed the door, coming just a little closer to me. "Do you stil l hate me?" she whispered. I could feel myself shake; I was mad at myself. She felt horrible. "I don't know ," I admitted, "Now I know the reason you had to hide things from me," I mused, "I don't know what I think anymore." "You know," she started, her voice an octave higher, but still low, "I was going to tell you the other day -when you said you didn't want to talk to me anymore" I winced but turned to her. "Against Alpha orders?" I asked, finally seeing her. Standing in front of me was a beautiful woman. She looked different than the las t time I saw her, not older, but different. Her eyes no more held the sparkle th ey used to hold, and she looked...thinner. I guessed that was my entire fault; s he didn't eat as much now. I looked at her gray eyes directly as she looked at m ine, after taking her time watching how much I had changed. It was magical how I felt my whole world shift, changing every logic I had ever known. Right then, n othing else mattered; a million ties tied me to that marvelous creature right in front of me, making the gravity of Earth extremely useless. I was ready to do a nything for that girl, the girl that I had hurt so much. She was, simply, my uni

verse, my world. Her gray eyes widened the slightest bit, getting back a hint of the sparkle I ha d noticed it lost. "Sarah."

Chapter 2

Randy Uley She stayed frozen right in front of me, her face holding a mixture of happiness and surprise, if not relief as well. Her name flowing in my mouth forced my hear t to beat faster. Yes, I knew how cheesy that sounded -how unlike me- but it was the truth. It was hard to recognize what I had felt, exactly, at that moment; I was diverted between comforting her for everything that I had caused and tellin g her how much I had missed her. What kind of a messed up freak was I? I had never missed her. I was the one who pushed her away, and if I really did w ant her back, I would have asked about her, at least. But, my past with her wasn 't of much importance now, was it? Because, right now, I wanted to hold her and hear her voice. I wanted to make her feel what I was feeling - that warm flood o f an unknown emotion in me, making her presence pleasurable to me. I never wante d her to leave my sight, or walk away. Yes, I was messed up. And I had no other definition to what was happening whatso ever. What I had felt was different than anything I had experienced before; not toward s my parents, my family, my friends or even my previous girlfriends. I couldn't describe it; was it love? Or was it much stronger than that? It confused me to n o limits; I did not feel that way about her three minutes ago. Yes, I wanted to apologize; I understood the reasons that made her lie to me. Maybe I even wanted to be friends with her again, but not like that; now, I wanted more than just f riends, or even best friends. "Randy?" she breathed, her voice gaining more confidence; it was shaking a secon d ago. I closed my eyes unwillingly and took a deep breath before opening it again. "Wh at just happened?" I asked slowly. She flexed her hands together, looking down at them. "I -You," she stuttered, he r lips' color fading to a light pink, "I'm sorry."

I raised an eyebrow at her, taking a step closer; it felt better. "Don't be," I said, "I should be -What happened?" I repeated. She grabbed the only chair I had in my room, the wooden one, and sat on it slowl y, still looking away from me. I wanted to change that, but I was too distracted . "Have you heard about imprinting, Randy?" Imprinting, imprinting. I could recall that legend -when wolves see their soul mates and recognize them by their instinctual feelings. Wait, whoa. Soul mates? "You know it, don't you?" she whispered, "I'm sorry you feel that way, Randy," h er voice was restrained. She stood up and turned to leave but I caught her arm a nd she froze. I had no idea what she was talking about; I felt...I didn't know h ow I felt, exactly. Maybe surprised. Yes, definitely surprised, in the most amaz ing kind of way. "What are you talking about?" I asked, "This is...great," I expressed, "I don't know how you feel but-" She cut me off, her eyes fixed on mine as she faced me. "I imprinted on you when we were three," she informed. My grip loosened but she stayed where she was, looking at me and waiting for an answer. She imprinted on me when we were three? This was definitely not my day. "Wow. You mean-" "Yes, Randy," she reassured, "Even if it wasn't like right now; you were like a little brother to me, then my best friend," she explained, a smile forming on he r perfect lips. "You gave me the best days of my life, Randy," she said. I grimaced, knowing where this conversation was leading us, "But then I left you behind," I completed, "And ruined your life." "No, you didn't," she defended quickly, automatically. I sighed; she was still stubborn. "I know what I have done," I admitted. It made it much worse knowing that she had imprinted on me back then; if it was the sam e as I was feeling right now, it must have been one-thousand times worse than wh at Colby had shown me. "Look at you," I said, taking her face in my hands. It se nt an electric jolt through my body, and she felt just right; she wasn't cold li ke everything else was these days, she was just perfect. "You're -" "I'm just fine, don't worry about me, okay?" she rushed through the words, her f ace gaining some color as I felt her soft cheek. "Can you promise me something, then?" I asked, reluctantly dropping my hands; it wasn't even appropriate. She looked at me questioningly. It was wonderful how s he could communicate with just her eyes. "You have to eat better," I stated, "An d stop lying to me, please." She broke eye-contact with me. "Who told you?" she asked. "Your brother," I answered truthfully, "You were a mess." "I really hurt him, didn't I?" she mused. "And I hurt you -and dad, and mom, and -" I cut her off with a hug, shushing her gently. "It's okay, I swear," I said, "I don't really care right now about what happened three years ago," I continued, "

And I'm sure they won't, either, as long as you're better. They love you." She w rapped her arms tightly around me, their feeling different than when she used to hug me before. They felt right, like they fit where they were. I didn't know where all those comforting words came from; I wasn't the type of p erson to speak up. But, again, this was Sarah, I always open up to her. She had always had something about her that made her comfortable to talk to and easy to trust, which was probably why I was that shocked when she lied to me. It made me remember something though... "Were you going to tell me what you are against Alpha orders?" I repeated, cocki ng my head to one side as I broke away our hug. She forgot about what she had said for a moment and frowned. "What orders? I cou ld've always told you," she admitted, "You're my imprint, even the Alpha can't t ell me not to tell you," she elaborated, "But, honestly, it was always Sam and E mily who didn't want to tell you. I had to respect their wish, you know." "Oh," I said; it was my parents from the very beginning. That explains why they wanted me to talk to her; they felt guilty, maybe. Did they even know about the imprinting? Did anybody tell them about it? Or were they imprints in the first p lace? I had to ask them that later. I took her hand, frankly just taking any cha nce to do it; they felt simply good, and dragged her to sit beside me on my bed. She gave me a tired half-smile. "I missed looking at you," she admitted, "Directly, I mean." I frowned. "Directly?" I quoted. She blushed subtly and looked away, at olding it. She didn't seem to mind. "I ," she mumbled, "It's not...physically d, "Besides, I needed to check how you our hands; I was still playing dumb and h -I couldn't stay away from you completely possible. It hurt too much," she whispere were doing. I was worried about you."

I squeezed her hand gently, showing her that I understood. But I needed more exp lanation. "How so? How did you manage to still see me? I never noticed you aroun d." She took a deep, relaxed breath. "I don't know if you will find this creepy, but -" she paused for a second, licking her lips, "I used to follow you to and from school, and when you sat on the beach and just hung around La Push," she said ge nerally. I tittered. "It is sort of creepy," I admitted. "But, I know I would've done the same if the roles were switched." This force -this magic that was flowing in th e room right now confirmed it. I wasn't sure if I could take all those years wit hout seeing her, or even talking to her directly. I would need some sort of cont act. I would need to hear her say my name, speak to me, open up to me -trust me. But, again, that was what messed her up. "Don't blame yourself," she said, touching my hair. I guessed we were both looki ng for chances. Before I could even ask her what made her think I was thinking t hat, she spoke. "I can read you like an open book. Years and years of practice," she chuckled. I smiled at her, noticing how the sparkle in her eyes was getting more evident. "I'm sorry you had to go through this." She shook her head. "It's not your-"

I cut her off. "Yes, it is," I insisted. "Now, just accept the apology without s tubbornness." She laughed, her laughter like musical bells. "A lot of people complain about th at," she said, "But, I guess that's how I am." I sighed. "How can I make it up to you?" I asked. "You just did," she replied. "Just talking to me-" I rolled my eyes. "Sarah, I'm serious." She pondered that for a second before she leaned on my chest. "I need to sleep," she yawned. I, hesitantly, wrapped an arm around her shoulder. "You can sleep here if you wa nt," I granted. She closed her eyes. "Thank you," she breathed, "For everything, for giving me a chance." "Thank you for forgiving me now," I said after a second of thinking, but I never heard her answer; she was already asleep. I laid her on her back gently and sat on the wooden chair, knowing she didn't need the covers. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------I woke up to the gentle breeze hitting my face. I had fallen asleep as well, app arently, on the chair. But, to my surprise, Sarah wasn't asleep, or anywhere in the house when I woke up. I just found a note where she was sleeping. I stood up and picked it up. 'You looked tired. I couldn't sleep, sorry. Call me when you wake up, maybe we c ould hang out as friends. I'll tell you later. -Sarah' I sighed; I knew I couldn't ask for any more right now, even though, I had to ad mit, that I felt like I needed more. Maybe that wasn't how it worked, maybe it d idn't require being 'soul mates'. I knew, for sure, that what I felt for her was much bigger than just what I had felt for previous girlfriends; she was more im portant than just any other girl. I decided I would call her after patrolling though; I knew I had to go from the bright green 4:00PM on my alarm clock; it was time for my patrol today, and I di dn't want to make the 'big boss' angry with me. Well, more than he was anyways. I wouldn't be surprised if he hated my guts. Not wanting to talk to my parents just yet, I jumped out of the window and sprin ted my way to the forest, inhaling the fresh air that smelled different than bef ore. I couldn't deny it; I was happy. Even though I had super-heightened senses I couldn't sense Colby as he showed up from behind, speeding to stand right in front of me. I stopped before I could p hase. "Um, hey?" I mumbled, not knowing what to say. What would you say to your imprint's brother, who's also your 'boss' and the one who had to see his sister hurt because of you? "I need to talk to you," he clarified, crossing his arms over his chest and remi nding me so much of his father, Jacob Black, at least in his glare. His brown ha ir was messy, like usual, and his green eyes were on fire. Yeah, he hated me.

"Yeah?" I said, "What did you want to tell me?" I asked, leaning on a tree behin d me. I wasn't afraid of him. What could he do to me? We were both equal in stre ngth, right? He narrowed his eyes at me as he approached slowly, the grass shuffling undernea th him. "Do you think it's that easy, huh?" he said, his voice venomous. "You ju st imprint on her and everything is back to normal? Everything is okay?" I raised my eyebrows at him. "What do you mean?" "You broke her too much, Uley," he said, "You can't expect her to just heal with one magic look or any of that." I stared at him. "Did she say something?" He shook his head. "No, but that was what she was thinking on patrol," he explai ned, "She was thinking how she couldn't feel for you more than just a friend, an d she blames herself for it," he added. "I don't know about how you feel, but I came here to tell you one, very important thing, Randy." "What is it?" I asked bluntly. He half-smiled. "Don't you ever dare to force her into anything just because she cares for you," he warned, "The last thing you'd ever want to do is mess with a part-vampire shape-shifter." I had forgotten about that. He really was stronger than me. "I would never-" I started. He cut me off, his hand on my throat. "You don't know how much I hate what you h ave done to her -how much I just want to-" he paused, taking a deep breath and s tepping back. "Don't hurt her more, understood? She was supposed to patrol this evening as well, but she's sleeping at home. Don't think of going there, if you don't want any angry vampires and a werewolf. Family's visiting." I grimaced but nodded. He ran a hand through his hair before running and phasing mid-air. "What? No other rules?" I mumbled sarcastically, making the golden wol f growl fiercely. I shrugged, knowing I would do my best not to hurt her more th an I did. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------A week later "Here you go," I muttered, "Twenty bucks." Bryce looked at me questioningly, ignoring his burger for a second. "Oh," he lau ghed, "So, what happened?" he asked, referring to our bet last week. "Can't really tell you right now," I answered honestly, "But, you'll know. Somed ay you will." "Mm," he mused, getting back to his burger. "So," he started, "Sarah Black, hot. " I dropped the knife that I was holding. "Excuse me, what?" I asked, a little irr itated. He smiled slyly. "Tell me you two aren't together," he mumbled, eating. "One day

, you don't talk to her. The other, nobody sees you without her. And the girl's" I glared at him, he cleared his throat. "Positive or negative?" I sighed. "As much as I would love to..." I trailed off, "but negative, dude. It isn't magic." He raised an eyebrow at me. "What? You can't trust her yet?" I looked at my hands, turning to open the fridge, "It's her who can't trust me." He cocked his head to one side. "Really?" he stretched the word unnecessarily. I snatched the soda and closed the fridge. "Exactly," I said, "She had actually told me that last night." Well, not really; she thought it. Although Colby -and Uncle Jacob- made sure, for some reason, that we didn't patrol on the same time, I had phased by accident; I got too angry. I saw how she thought she couldn't t rust me completely, even if her conscious was telling her it was okay. I saw one very important thought as well, though. As much as I loved her, she loved me.

Chapter 3

Sarah Black I pulled my red, silk sleeves up to my palms and rested my head on my soft pillo w as the soft tunes flowed in my ears. As relaxing as this scene might be, I was n't the bit relaxed. Today, I went to Randy, as Aunt Rachel told me to, and talk ed to him. He also imprinted on me -as simple as that. I had been looking forward to this for a very long time. Maybe that was the reas on I was rushing to see him in the first place. I had convinced myself it was be cause I was worried about how he was coping after he found out what he really wa s. But, no. I was sure I just wanted to confirm everyone else's theory that we r eally were soul mates, and it was destined for us to be together. Thus, the impr inting. Although it would've been interesting to prove that imprinting didn't have to do with soul mates, but with something else we had no idea what it was, I was reli eved he really was my soul mate. Because, honestly, I wouldn't have taken it mor e than that if all what I had suffered for years wasn't for the person I was mea nt to be with; I was already on the verge of breaking, if I hadn't been broken a lready. I couldn't blame Randy for anything though. If I could blame anyone, it was me. I was the one who had to hide the truth from her imprint and watch him go away -

turn his back to her. I was the one who let it hurt her too much. But I couldn't help it, could I? Could I have spent those years just like anyone else? Hell no . I was, am and will always be committed to the one man that held my heart, my s oul and everything else in between. I jumped as I felt a cold hand on my face; I didn't hear anyone come in the room . I opened my eyes to find grandma, Bella Cullen, sitting beside me on my bed, h er legs curled under her and her topaz eyes sympathetic. I didn't know whether I should be surprised, or get back to thinking about the most important person in my life; nobody had told me our family was going to visit us. Or maybe they had , but I couldn't register it nevertheless. I smiled, the first genuine one in a very long period of time; I didn't have a r eason not to anymore; my imprint imprinted back on me, and he was probably in lo ve with me, something I couldn't offer him just yet. "Bella!" I exclaimed, huggi ng her. I had gotten used to the stingy smell of half my family; theirs wasn't a problem anymore. She hugged me back without saying a word for a moment before breaking it and loo king directly in my eyes. "How are you?" she asked. I knew she was aware I under stood she was talking about my...'zombiness' before, as she had put it. I took a deep breath, removing my headphones from my ears. "I'm much better," I said truthfully, giving her a half-smile to confirm it. "A lot has happened toda y." She took a minute searching my eyes for more than what I had said. "Don't lie to me," she said softly, "I know how it is like, believe me, I do." I was sure gra ndpa was wincing somewhere here. If he was here, that is. "I'm not, believe me," I mumbled. "Today, Randy imprinted on me." Her eyes widened before she grinned at me. I glanced at the door, expecting some one to burst through it, but my guess wasn't correct. "This is great," she comme nted, her joy obvious in her tone. "You should-" she paused for a second. "Why h aven't you told anyone about this?" I shrugged, not really knowing the why. I guessed Colby must have known somethin g while we were on patrol just before I came home, but I wasn't exactly sure; I was too distracted. "I don't know," I sighed, "I have been doing a lot of...thin king," I admitted, my eyes drooping. I was exhausted; I couldn't sleep at Randy' s. She kissed my forehead, her freezing lips contrasting with my blazing skin -ice and fire. "Sleep, now, sweetie," she mumbled. "We'll talk to you when you get so me rest." I had a feeling she wasn't talking about just sleeping; I knew her too well. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------When I woke up, it was dark already. I noticed that someone had pulled the cover s over me, and I mentally thanked them for it; not because I was cold, but I lik ed the warm gesture, it made me feel...home. It made me feel that maybe they did n't hate me for what I had been doing to them all this time. I was stupid all al ong to think that my family would ever stop loving me. I heard grandpa Edward laugh at that from outside my room before he knocked on t he door, asking for permission. The man was just too much of a gentleman; where was Daddy to teach him barging in? Okay, okay. Dad also knocked, but let's face it, they were different. I rubbed my eyes and jumped into my flip flops before I

opened the door for him. Grandpa, from the first look, wasn't like any of the other vampires. He wasn't c old, regarding his expressions, I mean. Other than his pale skin -and the smellyou wouldn't have guessed he was a vampire. He smiled at me. "And the last time I had seen you was...?" he mumbled, giving me a quick hug. I chuckled. "Last...Christmas?" I guessed, frowning. He gave me a worried smile. "No," he answered, "It was actually your last birthd ay. You don't recall it, do you?" I looked at my feet, ashamed. "I owe you all an apology," I stated before I look ed at his face again. "How much did I hurt you?" I asked, referring to everyone. He sighed. "It's not that important now, is it?" he pondered, "Your parents just want to talk to you - to have you back," he elaborated. "It's only you, Bella a nd I here the rest are in the mansion -our old house." I nodded understandingly, trying not to think about my situation with Randy. It wasn't easy, however, to do that when the person that's on your mind was your wa lking gravity. And it wasn't that easy, either, to keep it just in your mind whe n a mind-reader was around, and the mental-shield didn't think of using her powe r on you. Bella joined us when we made it downstairs, walking slowly to both of us. Nobody said a word until we were out of the house, not bothering to lock it; who would the lock stop? The weather was cold to a March evening; the wind blew mine and Bella's hair, but it was only me who shivered. I had noticed, along with everyon e else, that not feeding well had affected my strength, that and the fact that I didn't phase as often now. I used to take Colby down in most of our 'fights'. "It's either genes have more effect than every scientist thought possible," Edwa rd mused, "Or you have taken too much out of your father's thoughts." I gave him an amused look; I knew what he was talking about. "Genes," Bella and I replied in one breath. He laughed. "We should...follow Alice's advice," he spoke to Bella, "Unfortunate ly, though. I have never thought I would say that." Bella nodded seriously. "We really should. What about tomorrow, maybe? Will she be able to put it together?" He shrugged. "She had arranged Nessie's wedding in a couple of months, and ours as well. Can't she arrange a simple reunion in one day?" I raised my eyebrows at both of them and cleared my throat loudly. They both gla nced at my direction, the same wicked smile on their faces, I gave them a suspic ious look. What reunion were they talking about? "You'll know, I promise," he said. I sighed and shrugged. "Now, if you could ple ase hop on my back; your speed is getting on what's left of my nerves," he tease d. I loved a good challenge, and he was well aware. "The back door?" I decided. He grinned and Bella rolled her eyes. I crouched, ready to sprint and I did, feeling the delicious taste of the musky wind of the woods that I had missed, even if I was just patrolling a couple of h

ours ago. Everything felt different now, for some reason. From my peripheral vis ion, I could see Edward's trail, just a couple of meters ahead of me, and I knew that, by this rate, I couldn't win. So I collected every inch I had of my insti nct and focused hard, jumping the highest I could in the air, just to land on fo urs, in my white wolf form. Edward glanced at me and gave me a mischievous half-smile as my speed increased, almost reaching his. I was panting though; it was more difficult to me since I had nothing to eat today at all. I was soon on my full speed, that was when it s tarted to turn sort of automatic, and I could think clearly once again. Being in that form, my mind could process everything much simpler. I had to ask myself one important question. Was, or wasn't I in love with Randy? How did it f eel like? When he looked in my eyes, it felt like he was seeing through me, and it sent butterflies through my stomach, making thinking a minor issue. When he t ouched my face, it sent an electric current through my whole body, leaving it ti ngling as he dropped his warm hands. When I touched his hair, his soft, beautifu l hair, it was as if I was in my own world -my own perfect fairy tale. When he t alked to me, his voice didn't even pass from my ears to my brain; it went straig ht to my heart. I knew I sounded like a stupid teenager in a movie that never made it to the big screen, but I was truthful with every word. He really did make my day brighter than it usually was -even before I ever imprinted on him. I, however, couldn't let him get into me that easily. My subconscious was tellin g me not to trust him with my heart just yet. I had trusted him before, and he l et me down. He couldn't trust me with what I was doing, and he insisted on not s eeing me. He was a kid, yes. But I wasn't sure if I could start a relationship w ith him just yet, I had to wait a little, and hope I could be fixed - hope I was n't broken beyond repair. I knew I had to take my time before any decisions now. Very unlike me, wasn't it? Me tripping on a stone on the ground snapped me out of my reverie. Bella managed to catch me before I fell on my face and Edward followed right after, frowning. I almost chuckled at that; did they really think I would get hurt? Oh well; it was probably a reflex reaction. "You really don't eat well, do you?" Edward aske d worriedly. I was just thinking, I thought, You should know. He showed no reaction to my words as I straightened myself. I glanced at Bella w ho looked like she was focusing on something. Great; she must have been shieldin g me the entire time. Well, it was kind of relaxing to know that your grandfathe r wasn't in your head as you thought about the person you were in love with. Yes , I had to admit it, I was in love; whether it was because of the imprint or any thing else, I wasn't sure. "Bella, could you please-?" Edward asked. She rolled her eyes and unshielded me, but not before a warning look in my direction. We were still standing, the hous e in my vision line -which meant we were in hearing and vision distance of every one. I'm okay, I reassured, Don't worry about me. He shot me a worried look. "It's Bella all over again, just like I had seen her through Jacob's eyes," he mused. Bella looked up at him and kissed his cheek, wh ispering something too fast and low for me to hear, and I honestly didn't want t o hear; imagining my father with my grandmother just sent chills through my spin e.

The rest of the walk home was silent, and slow. Mom was waiting for me with her usual kind smile and a bag in her hands. I ran to her and licked her face, showi ng her my appreciation. Her eyes lit up and her smile turned to a grin. Mom knew me too well, and she knew I was different than before, different than yesterday . "Sarah!" she exclaimed, her breath shaking. "Sweetie..." she mumbled. I whined l oudly, unable to express my feelings using decent words -or any words for that m atter. He imprinted on you, didn't he? she projected in my head, My God. Honey, you loo k better. I gave her a full-length wolf-grin and snatched the bag with my teeth, trying no t to get it wet as I ran to the cottage -Edward and Bella's- to change; I knew i t was clothes; it had been some sort of a routine. After changing into the jeans, white chiffon top and white heels that Alice, obv iously, or Rosalie had prepared for me, I took my time getting back to my family . I thanked God multiple times nobody was on patrol then, or else they would've heard my thoughts. Imagine that. You're on your way? Colby asked in my head. We could communicate in any of our f orms. Yes, I answered, who's there? There's Carlisle, Esme, Alice, Jasper, Emmett- he started but I cut him off. All of them, I summed, Right? I could feel his amusement. Yeah, exactly. You know? Although I would've loved t o get back to those blood-hunting days and try some vampie techniques on that Ul ey guy, I'm slightly, just a little bit, thankful he imprinted on you. I laughed loudly. You hurt him and I shred you into tiny pieces and feed you to the dogs, Thomas. No pun intended. It's good to have you back, he commented. Hey! I wasn't that - I thought but he cut me off. Yes, you were.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------Even though I was 15 years old, and had been fully mature -physically, at leastfor about 12 years, I was still not too old for the classic Jacob-Black-hug. Da d was literally squeezing me as we stood in my room, after a long, entertaining day with half my family -the Cullens. I was glad I wasn't completely human, or e lse I would have been dead from lack of oxygen three minutes ago. "Sarah Rose Black," he started, his voice restrained. "If you dare go where you were again, well, I don't know what I'll do then," he admitted.

I hugged him closer, if that was possible. "I won't," I said, "I promise, okay?" He chuckled. "Fine," he surrendered and broke the hug, grabbing my face in his h ands. "We love you," he stated, "We want what makes you happy," he continued, "B ut, if that boy ever touches you inapp-" I cut him off with a long, genuine laugh. "Don't worry, Daddy," I kissed his che ek, "We're not even a couple," I said truthfully, adding a 'yet' mentally.

Chapter 4

Randy Uley A reunion? Who the hell came up with that idea? Yes, I wanted to meet Sarah agai n, since I had only seen her yesterday morning and damn how I missed her now. Bu t I didn't need everyone else from the Reservation, plus the veggie vamps. I kne w they were family, but all I needed right now was to take her, and talk to her alone. I wanted to make her feel better. I wanted to replace every stinging memo ry she had for the past three years. However, I was going to take that chance to see her. Colby had warned me, though , that their grandfather was a mind-reader, their great uncle could sense emotio ns and well, they could all tear me to little pieces if I 'misbehaved with their little princess'. I had to admit, they were intimidating. I had seen them befor e, though. It wouldn't be so hard, would it? "I don't get it," mom admitted, "How come you're so tall?" she laughed, jumping to kiss my cheek. I smiled at her and hugged her. "It's not my fault you're short," I mumbled, kissing her cheek as well. I couldn't stay mad at my parents for hiding the wolf secret from me for more th an 24 hours straight. We spent hours talking last week, just figuring everything out. It was mean, however, that they used the whole old memories weapon on me; they reminded me of when I was a little kid, and how I used to laugh at the lege nds and tell them it was bull and that it would never happen to me. They also re minded me of how easily I was scared. Gee, they had to find excuses, hadn't they ? Oh well, I forgave them for it anyways. Who could be mad at someone as gentle and caring as Emily Uley? Or someone as ex tremely responsible as Sam Uley? See? I simply couldn't. She hit my arm with all she had of force, wincing right after. I guessed she had forgotten I couldn't feel what she had just done. "Shut up," she scowled, groan

ing a little and dad was right behind her in less than a second. You would think he had lost his speed -well, he had, but he never lost his love to my mother. T he love of an imprint -how amazing. "What? What happened?" he asked her, hugging her from behind. I rolled my eyes a nd skipped past them to hurry downstairs. I fixed my brown t-shirt and regular, blue jeans before I stepped into my sneakers and waited for them at the door. "Are you two going to come?" I yelled, smiling but urgent at the same time; any second they were going to waste was a second from my time with Sarah. "I can go with Embry or something." Embry was the beta of the pack now, and he was, I thou ght, the best one I could get along with in the pack; the rest were only Paul, C olby, Quil and Seth, and only Embry was the one who could forgive me for what I had caused to Sarah; Paul was her uncle, Quil was her father's best friend, Seth was her great-uncle and Colby, obviously, was her twin brother. Embry was close to her as well, but he seemed to understand better. "No, no. We're here," mom reassured, marching quickly outside to our car. Dad an d I followed her. "Can't believe I'm going to the vamps house by my own free will," Dad muttered, getting into the driver's seat. I laughed, but mom didn't notice what he had said so she looked questioningly at me. I ignored her and spoke to dad. "It's not like you haven't gone there befor e." He shrugged. "It was always Dr. Cullen, Jacob, your mother, or, well, you," he e xplained. "It's the first time I actually want to go." "They're nice people," I commented, "That's how I thought of them before, and ho w I think of them now, after I knew what they are." It was the up side of knowin g the vamps before you knew what they were. You would think that my imprint being biologically related to vampires would dis gust me. Well, I wasn't really an average guy, the Cullens were different than t he ones we had to rip apart and Sarah wasn't a vampire or a werewolf to me; she was my best friend. I didn't care if she was a fairy or if she turned into a cro codile at night, she would still be the Sarah Rose Black I trusted, and was now -surprisingly though- deeply in love with. "By the way, I want you back alive, please," mom, or just Emily, commented. "Don 't piss Paul off," she warned, "Or Jacob," she added, "Or Co-" I cut her off. "Don't piss anyone off," I summed, rolling my eyes. I didn't real ly care, and I would like to try and challenge Paul for once. Colby was a dead c ase; he was biologically stronger. The rest of the ride was more or less silent; I was on the edge of my seat, and there was no conversation they could start that would catch my attention that wa s directed to only one person -Yes, it was her. I couldn't wait to meet her agai n, which what made me jump out of the car, to where she was standing in front of the huge mansion with Alice. As soon as I took my first breath, though, I was struck by the strong scent of t he Cullens, which made me growl violently. Sarah's worried eyes snapped to my di rection, meeting mine. She shook her head ever-so-slightly before she ran to me, extending her hand. Everyone had a surprised stare on their faces, apart from E dward, Colby and Jacob; Edward read my mind and the Alphas probably expected it.

She grabbed my hand and dragged me away with her to the deep forest. "How didn't you expect it?" she scolded. "It's-" she sighed, "One-oh-one vampires," she com pleted, losing her interest in yelling at me and stopping in the middle of the w oods. I was still struck by the situation, but I regained the ability to speak after a few seconds. "Why did you get me here?" I asked, "I was going to do just fine. I'm good with controlling my temper," I defended. She rolled her light eyes. "No, you're not," she simply stated. "I know it took me a lot of time to get to perfection." I smiled at her, amused. "You've always had this temper..." I teased. She narrowed her eyes at me, its color almost disappearing between her thick, bl ack eyelashes. "I did not!" I leaned my back at a tree, crossing my arms over my chest, calm. "Yes, you did, " I insisted, slightly enjoying this. She half-smiled. "I'll prove it to you," she sat down on the grass, "And not be provoked by what you're saying." Sarah had always loved a good challenge, even if it was a simple bet. It made he r special, more like...her, like Sarah Rose Black -the most unique character wor ldwide. My imprint, ladies and gentleman. I was proud of her. "I bet you can't beat me in a fight," I changed the subject, and didn't change i t at the same time. I insisted on making her lose her temper. She flashed her eyes with a hint of anger. "I'm genetically stronger, Randy," sh e reminded me, her voice restrained. "I can beat you in a second." "I bet you..." I mused, "Your heart." She froze and cleared her throat. "Randy," she whined, closing her eyes and zipp ing her lips shut before letting out a long, exaggerated breath. I was a man, not a little child. My words meant a lot to me, and I meant every w ord I said. But when it came to her, I couldn't help but kneel down in front of me and take back every letter my mouth had pronounced. "I didn't-" I inhaled sha rply, taking back the lie I was about to say, "I'm sorry," I apologized. "I know -" She cut me off, her eyes still closed. "S'Okay," she mumbled. "I overreacted." Silence crept over the whole setting, and we both stayed frozen for a good while . What had I done? 'Your heart'? Seriously? Was I some sort of an dumb-ass? Yes, I wanted her to give me her heart, and trust me with it. I wanted her to feel t he pleasure I was feeling just saying her name. But, no. Those were two differen t matters. She did feel that pleasure when she said my name, something that I wa s pleased to know. Yet she couldn't trust me with her heart. Trust. The word consisted of five letters but infinite meanings. I heard someone once say, "Trust's like paper, once it's crumpled, it can't be perfect again." Trust was the only thing I needed right now, and the only thing I couldn't get. "Do you want to race back to the house?" I asked, "O-Or I can go home and-" She cut me off again. "Fine," she answered.

I frowned at her surrendering face. "Fine?" I repeated, asking for explanation. She looked at me with more determination than I'd ever seen in her eyes. "I bet you my heart," she concluded, "But it's going to be on hell of a fight, Randy Ul ey." I stared at her beautiful face until I could comprehend what she had just said. "You can't be serious," I muttered, "This is-" She stood up, her stance confident. "Do you, or don't you, want it?" I stood up as well. "Are you kidding me?" I grinned, "Of course I do!" "Come take it," she challenged and did her oh-so-famous back flip, phasing into the bright white wolf that captivated my soul and I followed right after, turnin g to her opposite: a black creature that happened to be of the same species. You're actually asking me to hurt you, I thought, in order to win this bet. She encircled me slowly. We both know you want it. But this doesn't make sense! How am I supposed to win your trust by hurting you? I exclaimed loudly, my brain incapable of making any logic out of it. She leaped on me from behind, startling me enough to fall. Who said you're going to win this thing? I think I already won. How would something wrong happen in this world and a girl beats me? I asked, get ting up and forcing her to fall. I winced as she did. Sexist, she growled. Not! I defended as she stood on her fours, facing me, our noses touching. It was the only time that I noticed how huge her wolf eyes were. Don't make me hurt yo u, Sarah. Don't make me hurt you, Randy! She challenged, her thoughts crossing the 'amused ' limits by several miles. I tried not to think my next move as I, unwillingly, scratched her neck. Her gro wls deepened and her glare gained more strength before she took a couple of quic k steps back. Confused, I stopped moving for a second. And a second was all she needed to push me, knocking down the poor, short tree. My back hurt nearly as mu ch as I felt her throat burn due to the scratches. I stood up and tried to leap at her but she always managed to escape, leaving me to land on the grass. Desperate, I ran after her, both literally and figurative ly. She glanced behind her to see where I was, even though she didn't need to as she could see it through my mind, and tripped on a large rock. Damn, she thought, that happens way too often. I approached her slowly as she lay on the grass, her forearms on her chest, and looked down at her. Are you okay? I asked, Does anything hurt? She howled loudly, distracting me as she pounced on her legs again, replacing ou r positions. Her large, pearl white head looked down at me that time. I'm not th at weak, Randy, she stated, And the best thing I've learned since I'd first phas ed was to act spontaneously.

I growled loudly and lifted my akened for less than a second, ass once again. Today, I had a t was her stomach, which I had

head to bite her weakest point - her neck. She we which was all I needed to have her back on the gr little discovery as well: her second weakest poin also scratched.

She groaned; this time really in pain and surrendered. I flinched at the sight o f the blood pouring from her. God, I thought, What have I done? I'm sorry Sarah. Should I go get Doctor Cullen? Or should I get Jacob, huh? What can I do? Every cell in me hurt as she took a couple of quick breaths. I'm fine, she reass ured, It's healing already. I've been through much worse. Yeah, I remember, I noted, When you came back from that trip with all your bones broken. Hey, he forgot my back, she said casually, I just had to have someone to feed me , to help me sit up, stand up, etc etc. She automatically flash-backed to when that happened, 12 years ago and I had to sit down, even in my wolf form, to imagine the amount of physical and emotional pain she must have gone through during the trip to Paris. Then I was just there to make it worse, and I could just feel how much I had hurt her. I had hurt her more than that Alec did when he broke her bones and was torturing her before he wanted to kill her. Randy, I swear I didn't mean to show you that, she thought, I swear- I would nev er want you to fe- she thought but I cut her off. This is awful, Sarah, I said, And you kept it inside you all this time it's not even bearable! What the hell were you thinking? That I would be happy? Do I look happy to you now? I couldn't help my outburst; she wasn't being reasonable, and she had hurt herse lf way too much. What if I never phased? What if it really passed my generation and I had never spoken to her? Would she keep it all inside her? Live forever wi th all that pain, or kill herself? I shuddered involuntarily. You have to promise meI already promised you! She exclaimed, her wounds healing and I wondered if her heart was doing the same as well. Randy, you have to believe me when I say that: I love you, you dumb idiot! I knew; I was well aware of that fact. I had seen her in her thoughts; she loved me. It had a different feeling when she said it herself, directly to me, though . It meant everything to me then; the feeling was phenomenal. She stayed silent the whole time, taking in my reaction. I love you, too, I admitted. I love you and I adore you and this is just way too much. It's too late for all of that now, she decided, it's past the line of admitting love. My heart clenched at her words, remembering her trusting issues with me, especia lly. I still had a lot of time to make her forgive me. Trust, again, proved to b e stronger than anything else. But, even love? Even after everything we had seen into each other's thoughts? This bond, this magical bond that held us both pris

oners of our feelings, wasn't even capable of breaking the brick trust wall I ha d built for myself, was it? She laughed, and you would think she would sound like a choking dog but she soun ded like the most innocent puppy in the world. It's not that, smarty, she noted, you won the fight -you won the bet.

Chapter 5

Colby Thomas Black I laid my head on my pillow, watching Alison re-arranging my desk with great dis may. "How do you live with all this mess? Someday you will come back here to fin d nothing but a rug." I laughed loudly as she put the pencils together, away from the clothes and book s -Yes, on the desk. Why are you asking?- "What? They'll conspire against me and run away? Seriously, Allie?" She rolled her blue eyes. "No, idiot," she answered, turning to me, her hands on her tiny hips. "I will take them somewhere where someone really appreciates the m." "I'll track you down." "Not if I told you not to." "You wouldn't do that, would you?" I scoffed. "You know you love me, kiddo." She sighed exaggeratedly, putting a hand on her chest. "Oh will my life be miser able. Get a life, big boy." "I have a life!" "Not now, you don't look like it," my 12-year-old imprint pointed out.

I narrowed my green eyes and sat up. She grabbed my leather chair and made herse lf comfortable. "No?" "No, you don't," she confirmed, twirling in the chair. "Gee. Look at yourself. W hat do you see?" "Tall, strong and handsome," I joked. She huffed. "Be serious!" she whined. "What? You don't think I'm handsome?" "Shut up, idiot. God, where did you get that brain, Black?" "Not from me!" Dad yelled from across the hallway as he approached the room. "Yo ur sister has gone to the woods with Randy; he was about to phase downstairs." Still needs to work on his temper. "'Kay; I'll check on her in a few." "Good. Come down soon, everybody's there." "Sure, sure." I could hear his footsteps as he strode down the stairs. Turning to Alison, I go t back to the subject. "So -" "It's that look!" she pointed at my face. "Whenever someone mentions Sarah and R andy." I raised an eyebrow at her. "What look?" She sighed irritably. "That one; the one - you just look really, what?, worried, angry and sad and everything that shouts 'Not good'. Why?" "She's my sister, I worry about her." "It's beyond that, we both know," she reasoned, coming to sit next to me on my b ed. "Way beyond that." "Stop acting all grown up, Allie," I changed the subject, "It doesn't go with yo ur-" "This isn't about me!" she yelled, serious. "What on Earth has Randy done to you ?" What did he do to me? I thought. He did everything. He ruined a perfectly happy family life, turned my sister into a zombie and had been terribly annoying since I could get in his head. Then he imprinted on her, got back to seeing her and t hought everything was as good as it would ever be. The annoying little brat. "Oh, nothing," I replied. "Look, I don't want to-" "You make me talk about what annoys me, now it's your turn," she said, her voice softening and growing in so many ways I couldn't have the time to ponder about. "This is different," I resisted, "You're my-"

"Imprint, I know," she finished, "But, mind you, you're mine as much as I'm your s." Oh, I didn't mind a bit. "You and Billy talked way too much that night," I commented, again diverting her attention. "You're impossible. I'm leaving," she rose to her feet and fixed her t-shirt. I grabbed her arm quickly. "Allie - don't." "Then you have to talk about it," she decided, her mouth set in a firm line. She could be very persuasive, if you haven't already noticed. That little girl w as my imprint for a reason. "Fine. Ask." Her lips broke into a victorious grin. "What did he do?" "Broke Sarah's heart," I answered, crossing my arms over my chest as I broke eye -contact. "Next." "He's her imprint, right?" she checked. "Has been since we were three." "Wow. You told me you didn't look exactly three then, right?" I smiled. "We looked like sixteen-year-olds," I clarified. "And they're back together now. You're mad because...?" she cocked her head to o ne side, uncomprehending. Sighing, I answered. "Because she was too much broken, Allie. And now he's takin g her for granted." She frowned. "What do you mean?" "He wants to be with her," I answered flatly, "As in boyfriend-girlfriend kind o f way." She raised her eyebrows at me. "Your point." "My point?" I repeated incredulously. "He does all that then gets her back, what the hell?" She took a deep breath. "Maybe he had his reasons," she said, "But he loves her, right?" I grunted. This was one point I had avoided; maybe because deep down I felt it, but I wasn't sure. "Yeah; he imprinted on her as well." "Your point?" Alison repeated. "Thomas, don't stand in the way of your happiness if you care about her." "I do, of course." "Then let them be, gee. What is wrong with you?" I licked my suddenly-dry lips. "It doesn't feel right to me."

"But it is right, so stop doing that. For me, okay?" I looked up at her pleading eyes. "Allie, don't do this to me," I warned, "You k now I'd do anything for you." "Then, will you?" I closed my eyes, inhaling sharply. "I'll give him a chance. But if he ever-" She cut me off with a kiss on my cheek. "Thank you, Tommy. I appreciate it." Tommy, Thomas, Thomas-wolf; all nicknames and all reminded me; far or near, this girl was holding me around her pinkie and freaking enjoying it. Where do you think she is? Mom asked, trying to hide her worry, her hand on my a rm. Isn't anyone on patrol now? No, I answered, everybody's here, around the house and so. It's only her and Ran dy. Who do you think can go check on them? she questioned. I glanced around me, trying to analyze the situation. Dad was definitely out of choice; I wouldn't have him worried, Quil was somewhere with Claire, Sam and Emi ly were humans now, the vampires couldn't "Edward!" I called. He turned to me reflexively, immediately and apologized to B ella before he ran to where I was standing. "What is it?" Can you hear Sarah or Randy? He was still looking at me the exact same way. Same ol' Bella Swan, shielding ev erybody's thoughts. I deliberately projected the same question to him. He though t about it for a second. "Bella?" he called gently. She rushed to his side. "Yes, Edward?" "Drop the shield, please, will you?" She frowned slightly but did as he said. He concentrated for a little more than a minute before turning his head towards Carlisle and gesturing silently for him to come, unwilling to worry anyone. But, hell, I was worried. As soon as Carlisle joined Edward, he mumbled something too fast and low for mos t of us there to make out. Carlisle frowned. "You know she's going to be fine," he reassured, "Why all the worries? It isn't the first time." "She's much weaker than before, Carlisle." "I'll go, but I don't think I would be of much assistance." Edward nodded thoughtfully, and I felt like the biggest idiot in the world. I gl anced at my side to find that Mom was gone somewhere with Alice. We were alone i n the living room, and I noticed how Jasper and Emmett politely guided everyone to our home - the Black residence.

"What happened to her? Is she okay?" Edward glanced at me thoughtfully. "Alison is waking up." "Is she okay?" I repeated, my tone different - demanding. "Nothing out of usual," Carlisle reassured, "I'm going now." He noted as he spri nted outside the open door. "Should I get her something to wear?" Bella asked, her topaz eyes holding as muc h worry as Edward's. Edward nodded slightly. I was tempted to follow Carlisle; for all I knew, there could have been a vampir e attack. Oh, who was I kidding? If there was, Edward would've said something. I was just too curious, and seeking the slightest reason. I wanted to know if he hurt her. I was pinned to the couch by Edward. I could push him easily, I knew, but I was going to calm down and wait for my rational side to kick in. "I will kill him," I calmly informed. "I will rip his sorry tail-" "You won't - we both know that," Edward muttered. "You're too good." "You don't know me," I said. Why was everyone doing that today? He chuckled. "Yes, I do." I zipped my mouth shut and decided I would wait for Carlisle, Bella and Sarah to arrive. Sarah, are you there? No lectures. She answered. Good; she was in her human form. What the hell happened, Rosie? Are you hurt? Bite and a couple of scratches. They're already healing. Slowly - yes, but heali ng. I growled. What? Did he attack you or something? Shut up; it was a bet. He had to do it. What kind of sick bet that resulted in doing that? I felt like yelling, or just destroying something within eyesight. The girl was not going to learn from her past experiences. She threw herself into danger and embraced it, the idiot. I could bet and fight with pack members - okay. But, her? Why? And why fight wit h her imprint? She wasn't in the right shape to patrol yet, and definitely not f ight. Long time ago I excluded her from any plans that involved blood, but she s eemed to develop an addiction. "Ow," I heard her moan, "Don't touch it! It stings already." Carlisle walked to us with a calm smile on his face. "I told you, Edward, there was no need to worry. I merely disinfected the wounds. She's perfect and upstair s if you want to talk to her."

Sarah and I had our own rooms in the mansion. "Where's Randy?" I glowered. Carlisle sighed. "Up with her. Edward, Bella went to Nessie." I didn't care who was where. I just wanted to give him one good, perfect punch r ight on his nose. Awesome. "I'm sorry, Sam," Dad mumbled, balling his hands into tight fists. "Don't be silly, Jake," Mom muttered, rubbing his arm gently. "Just look at them , they're happy." "Aw, they're so cute together," Aunt Mary chirped. "Look at them, Embry - Embry !" "Huh?" he looked at her. "Sarah and Randy look cute together, don't they?" He shut his eyes. "I've seen those kids in diapers. I've seen those kids in dia pers," he chanted, "Don't make me look." His wife rolled her eyes. "Sometime's you're a kid, Em." "I don't care. I don't like her sitting on his lap." "Me neither, buddy," Dad and I mumbled in one breath. Sarah turned only to scowl at us. "Any complaints and we're heading outside." "No," Emmett said, "God knows what you would do." "Emmett!" Alice and Rosalie scolded in one tone. He shrugged. It had been three days since they were officially together, and I had to accept that fact despite anything I was thinking. Her wounds healed and so did her hear t. She was finally able to get completely out of the shell she was imprisoned in . I could finally see the old her, and just that made me happy. Dad had a different opinion though, he still couldn't let go of Sarah. Of course , it didn't require letting go, exactly, to let his fully-mature daughter have a boyfriend. It did require it, though, to let his daughter be with her soul mate . He knew he couldn't avoid it, but he still felt responsible of her, and he tho ught he didn't have enough time with his newly-recovered daughter. Sarah had promised her Daddy over and over that she would spend more time with h im, that she would repay everyone for every second. But we all knew the power of imprinting, how it could swap your life upside down. Especially Mom, her especially. She was the most understanding and most support ive of us all. She had always been supportive, but now she was also satisfied. M om loved how her daughter was finally happy, and relieved that imprinting hadn't skipped Randy's generation. Poor Bryce, Jared's son, he would be phasing anytim e soon and he had no idea. Well, maybe, as an Alpha, I should talk to him. The best distraction. Sarah Rose Black [A/N: Just a little part in her POV] Long time before this bet, I had known one thing: my heart was his, purely his,

and will ever be his property, with every meaning this little word would ever em brace. I could've told him he had it already the day I imprinted on him, but I w as well aware I wanted this as much as he did. "Let me make it up to you," he breathed, caressing my cheek softly. "Let's go to the cliffs - dive - do anything you want." "I'm okay just here, Randy," I reassured, switching off the TV in our house. Mom had thankfully went hunting with Dad, and I made sure Alison dragged Colby out of here. "Yeah? You sure?" I rolled my eyes at him. This double imprinting was too much love for the atmosp here. I liked it. "I am perfect." He smiled, sending jolts of happiness through my body and leaned closer, our fac es inches apart. I stared at him, not knowing what to do. "You are," he agreed, then stood up suddenly, "Do you want anything to drink?" I scowled at him before sighing. "Get me some water." He laughed and hopped next to me. "Oh, come here," he said, pulling my face towa rds him, our lips meeting for the first time for briefest moment before he pulle d back. "Sarah Rose Black," he breathed, "I love you."

Epilogue

Sarah Rose Black "Where are we going?" I asked for the millionth time, shifting in the leather se at of my Jaguar that Emmett was driving for some reason. Emmett is one person I couldn't say 'No' to, kind of like Uncle Paul. If you look at them, you'll reall y find them similar in so many ways, even though they are not each other's bigge st fans. "You'll know later," he repeated, "You can't really bore a vampire, kiddo. Your grandma would've done that thirty years ago if it's possible." I rolled my eyes. "Maybe I just want to know why we've been on the high way for over three hours at minimum speed. It's irritating, you know?" "I'm perfectly aware," he stated proudly, "That's part of the fun." "Huh?"

He laughed lightly. "Just the look on your face is worth it. You sure you haven' t told your brother, right? By your super freaky mind-stuff." Ever since he woke me up -at five in the morning may I add- and told me we're go ing on a 'road trip', he had insisted I couldn't tell anyone about it, not even Colby, Daddy or even Randy. I missed Randy. It had been six whole years since we got together. We were both now 21, well, I was going to be 21 in exactly a couple of hours. My God. "It's not an Alice birt hday, is it?" As much as I loved my great aunt, dressing up, and partying, I was not ready to spend all those hours just to find myself in their new mansion in Canada with a surprise party waiting for me. "Nope," he reassured, "I would've brought your br other if it was, right? There's a reason I took you while they were out on patro l." "But Mom knows," I assumed, even though I hadn't seen her since she went to slee p last night. You could say Emmett dragged me out of bed and into the car. You c ould also say I was in my pajamas. Wonderful, isn't it? Didn't vampires have any patience in them? Gee. "I wouldn't dare not tell Nessie," he admitted with a grin, only using his right fingers to control the stirring wheel. "She'd torture me for the rest of eterni ty, literally." "So where's Rose?" I asked, distracting myself as I fixed my hair in a higher po ny tail. I didn't have any kind of cell phones on me, which I thought was intent ional. "With Alice," he answered, "And Bella, I think. Or maybe they didn't tell her, I don't know." "Tell her what?" I tried to know, but he wasn't dumb. "Do you think I'd tell you?" he scoffed. "Sleep or something." For the first time today, I thought it was a really good idea to do so. What ben efit would staying up do when I won't know anything? So I lent back on the soft black chair and closed my eyes obediently, hoping that I'd wake up to find mysel f wherever he was taking us. But just when I was going to give in, my brother's angry voice filled my head un comfortably. I'm trying to sound calm now, but I'm not. W-h-e-r-e are you? He didn't sound at all calm, or even near it for that matter. I can't tell you. What do you mean 'you can't tell me'? You're getting us all worried. It's 8 a.m! So? Can't I go out at 8 a.m? Don't play stupid, you're not even with Randy; he's been out of town for a week now, and none of the Cullens is here. Oh, if you only knew. Randy had gone with Sam and Emily to the Mekkah reservation to visit his mother' s relatives there. He called every day but I still missed him so much it literal

ly hurt. It was weird how the pain was fading slowly since the beginning of this morning, was it some sort of getting used to it? I had no idea. It crept me out a little; like the power of our imprinting wasn't strong enough. I had to get that out of my head. Why don't you ask Mom? She knows. She wouldn't tell. Come on, Sarah! Tell Dad to stop worrying, I'm not in Europe or something. I'll tell you when I know for sure. Who's with you? Emmett Cullen. When did he come? This morning. Now leave me alone I want to sleep! Of all the times I wished I had a part of Bella's shield in me just for the pure sake of blocking Colby out, this was the time I wished for it the most. Colby w as getting more annoying as he grew up. This was going to be one long road trip. Renesmee Black Not even Jacob's pleading face would make me say where Sarah was going. It was h ard to watch him - and Colby - get all worried and protective while I knew I cou ld stop it by just saying what they wanted to hear. But I wasn't going to spoil everything that had been planned; I wasn't intending on making Sarah less surpri sed, let alone piss off Alice. The last thing any vampire, werewolf or even a hy brid would ever want was to piss off Mary Alice Brandon-slash-Alice Cullen. "She's okay, right?" Jake asked. I narrowed my eyes at him. "Do you honestly think I would be here, acting very c oolly about it if she was hurt?" "Right," he muttered, "So why can't you tell us?" he pushed. "Jacob Black," I whined, "I just can't, okay?" "Fine," he grumbled like the little kid he sometimes was and leaned back in the light sofa. "So what do you want to do today?" I smiled gently at him and snuggled closer. He wrapped an arm around me as I spo ke. "Can we go hunting? It's been a while since I have and it's starting to get just a little annoying." Hunting was a subject I didn't like to approach much since I had the kids. Nobod y in this family liked the idea in general, but they went along with it just to please me. I couldn't take any of that, so I went hunting with my other family the Cullens, I mean- until they immigrated to Canada, leaving me only hunting wh en everyone was out, something that Jacob wasn't very happy with. So I settled f or late night hunting and weekends because he had insisted I wouldn't go alone a gain. It was useless to tell him I was at least ten times stronger than the time the grizzlies actually hurt me. I couldn't believe how easily that happened, bu

t it didn't matter now, did it? I touched the back of my slightly-burning throat reflexively and he let out a sa tisfied sigh, kissing my cheek. "Sure," he granted, "We can go now if you'd like ; I have to go to work at ten. Besides, it's their birthday party this evening, right?" "Yeah," I breathed, hugging him closer, "At Billy's. He insisted." Jake rolled his eyes. "I knew he would. Will she be back before the party?" I grinned. "Definitely," I stated. If he only knew. She would be back, but not t he same as she left early this morning. Grinning, I stood up and stretched a han d out for Jacob, which he took willingly and rose to his feet. "So," he said after we got out of our house, striding quickly deep in the woods, "What do you - What's that?" he asked as a huge black figure sped far between t he trees until it was out of sight. "I swear I've just seen Randy Uley. Did you see him? Isn't he supposed to be out of town?" Busted, smarty. "What? No, of course not. It must've been something else - a huge bear or someth ing," I defended innocently. He gave me a disbelieving look. "I know a wolf when I see one," he said, "And th e Uleys were the only pure black-" "Maybe it was something else," I wondered, "Someone new phased - Bryce, maybe? H e's seventeen..." Jacob sighed. "Maybe. But then Colby needs to get out of his room and see-" I cut him off before he decided something too stupid. "Embry and Paul will care of him if that's what happened," I rushed, "We need to get going - or know what, we should go to Rachel and see how she's doing; after all, she's aring most of the party with Becca. Who's going to babysit Doli, Aiyana and , huh?" take you prep Alex

I really, really felt like a little kid once again; coming up with excuses when I was about to be busted. He looked at me with amused dark eyes, similar to when he looked at me when I was younger -a couple und or messed with someone, especially when I was out of trouble. He knew exactly what I was trying the ones that he used to have of months old- as I played aro trying to make excuses to get to do.

Pushing a loose curl around my ear, he grinned. "You haven't changed a bit..." h e mused quietly. "Not a bit," he added before he sat down on the grass, gesturin g for me to do the same. "Now," he started when I sat down in front of him, cros sing my legs, "What are you hiding?" Randy Uley Everything was going according to plan. Sarah was now coming back from Canada wi th all the Cullens now. I had to admit, even though this whole trip was Emmett's idea, it was a good one; if Sally -my name for her, which is a long story- was around today; I was either going to ruin everything and rush to tell her. Or she was going to bust me.

"You're nuts, I swear. Just tell her or something," Bryce muttered, crossing his arms over his chest. "No need for all those stuff - seriously, dude..." I smiled. "It's perfect," I announced, "She'll love it. She'll love it, right?" He rolled his eyes. "You're getting too nervous; it's gonna go smoothly. But don 't you think it's too early?" "No," I simply answered, "It's been too long." He shrugged. "'Kay then. What are you going to do now?" "Go get her then come here," I said, "And not find you." He faked a disgusted face. "You think I'd like to be here? I'm gonna go find Col by or something." "Don't tell him," I pressed, "We will tonight, but not now, okay?" "Sure," he said, "I know, I know." We both turned, every one to his direction and I sprinted towards the Cullens ma nsion, knowing it was where I was going to meet her. It had been a whole week si nce I had last seen her. Who knew a week could do so much to me? I wanted to see her - just stare at her without any words. But, no. Words were of great importance tonight. I took a deep breath in front of the door and it squeaked open immediately, the short pixie stepping out with a wide grin. "You're just on time," she beamed. "I love you already." I gave her a nervous half-smile and she dragged me in. The ice-cold skin of hers and her too-stingy scent didn't have the same effect on me as it did before; be ing that I was trying to get used to it; I had been practicing with Aunt Nessie; she 'showed' me their scents over and over so I could get used to it; even thou gh Sarah never expressed it out loud, I knew that me not getting along with 'wha t' her family was (which was a part of who she was) was hurting her in away or t he other. I just loved that pack plural thing. Only Alice and Rosalie were there along with Sally, I could only smell them. The rest must have been in La Push already. Over the years, having the Cullens in o ur territory had become something natural; the Alpha was practically a Cullen the son of a Cullen. I glanced at the stairs, waiting for her to come down. "He's here!" I heard her say upstairs, "Rose - let me go!" "Just wait a second," the blonde vampire instructed, "There. I'm done." Not a second later, my imprint was striding down the white stairs gracefully in her simple light summer dress and sandals, her thick, wavy black hair tied up in a high pony tail with only a strand falling on her dark forehead, meeting her g ray eyes that was complemented by her black eye lashes. The perfect symbol of beauty.

"Randy!" she chirped, hugging me tightly. I wrapped my arms around her immediately. "Hey, honey." "When did you come back?" she asked, breaking the hug to look at me. "Just today," I answered truthfully. She turned to her great aunts with a smile. "You knew!" They knew way more than you think, honey. They both just shrugged indifferently, Alice winking at me as I led Sarah quietl y outside. "How are you?" "I'm good," she answered immediately. "What about you? How was your visit?" "Great," I told her, "Now, you don't have any special plans today, do you?" She laughed. "Well, I don't know. Maybe my birthday in an hour? We should head t o La Push." "We should," I agreed, "Happy birthday, sweetie," I kissed her quickly. "So," she started, "Run there or take my car?" "Running is better," I decided, "But-" "What?" she cut me off, frowning a little. I pulled out the small black blindfold from my pocket and wrapped it around her eyes. She never resisted. "You're not doing any running." Sarah Rose Black Something was off today. What was everyone hiding from me? I hadn't even seen Da d or Colby today, which I thought was for some reason intentional. And now Randy blindfolded me? "What is it?" I asked, amused; it had been a while since I had any surprises. Bu t I knew about today's party, so what else was there? "You'll know soon enough," he said as I could feel him lift me in his arms. I wo uld've rolled my eyes if he could see them. The wind blew through my hair as he sprinted towards La Push - I assumed -, staying silent for a couple of minutes. "I'm older than you now," I mused, "I have three whole weeks to be the older one ." He laughed. "But I'm bigger," he reasoned, "No matter how hard you try, honey." I chuckled. "Yeah, I know," I admitted and just settled for enjoying the wind th at - even in WA- was rare in August. A few minutes later, I could feel him descending down something. The cliffs, may be? Oh, yeah; I could hear the waves meet with the shore. "The cliffs," I breath ed, "It's been a while." "A long while," he agreed, settling me on my feet, still blindfolded, and pullin g me towards a place where the ground was less sandy. Was it a blanket? Did he p

repare a picnic here? Aw, he was so sweet. "You didn't bring any 'drinks', did you?" He chuckled. "Nope, not until I'm 21 anyway." "It doesn't affect us. We gotta drink loads to get near drunk." "Who said I'd let you either ways?" "I was just saying!" I defended and could practically feel his smirk in the air. "Now, sit down," he instructed and I did, "And open your hands." I stretched my palms open then felt something fall in my hands. It was smooth, s mall, and obviously some sort of an electronic device. He was stupid, wasn't he? Why would he get me something I knew was too expensive for him, even if he did work. I had told him over and over I didn't want anything remotely expensive for my birthday or any other occasion for that matter. He was being way too ridicul ous. "Randy-" He cut me off. "I swear it wasn't expensive," he rushed, "It's just a projector - small and handy. You'll find the memory card with our pictures in it, then you can display it anywhere, like right here," -he removed my blindfold and took th e little device from me, pressing on a black button- "Look, there's the start-up menu..." he trailed off, helping me rise to my feet, "Then there are the pictur es, look-" he switched between photos taken of us since we were three, until a w eek ago and gave me the device to control. I was displaying everything on the wa ll of rocks in front of us. Yes, it was uneven, but the resolution was high enou gh. "Sarah," he called and I turned to him to find him on his knee in front of me. I literally froze. He was holding a satin box with the cutest diamond ring ever, his eyes pleading. "Sarah Rose Black," he started, his voice low with nervousness, but even, "I lo ve you - you know I do - with all my heart, will you give me the honor of spendi ng the rest of my life with you? Will you marry me?" I covered my mouth with my hand, trying not to cry with joy. So, that was what everyone had been hiding all day! They all knew. Oh my God. "Randy," I started, my voice shaking a little, "Do you really think I'd say no?" I took the ring from him and slid it on my finger. "Yes, yes and yes I'll marry you!" He stood up and lent forward to kiss me. Our lips moved together for a wh ile, both of us just savoring the moment. I was engaged to Randy Uley. Jacob Black What was taking them so long? Nessie had refused to tell me what everyone was hiding. I mean, sure they must h

ave planned something for the twins but why couldn't I know? What was so confide ntial that I, their father and Nessie's husband, couldn't be aware of? I felt like the biggest idiot in the world. "Straighten that frown," Billy told me, "They're coming any minute." "Do you know?" I asked. My father always knew everything about everything. He shook his head. "No," he replied, "And you shouldn't worry about it - There t hey are." I glanced at the door from my place on the couch, next to Nessie. Everyone else -except Colby, who was here- was outside, heading to First Beach. Nessie had a huge grin on her face as my daughter and her boyfriend entered. Sar ah's hands were behind her back, for some reason. Before Colby or I could ask, R andy spoke. "Can we all go outside? Or do we call the others in? We have something to tell y ou." My heart sunk to my knees, my head running the worst possibilities ever. I wasn' t even strong enough to say them out loud. Nessie grabbed my hand in hers. "Let' s go outside," she decided, the grin never leaving her face. I scowled at her. Let's be honest here, shall we? I was never a huge fan of Randy, but it was only for the mere purpose of filling my ego; he dated my daughter, and showing him I liked him was something I knew, out of personal experience, wasn't a good thing - for Sarah, I knew. "It's okay, it's going to be fine," Nessie whispered in my ear. Why did I have t he feeling that she was trying to calm me down? I wasn't going to lose control o ver my temper. "Yes, I know that -" Someone was listening to my thoughts, "But j ust bear with me, okay, Jake?" I nodded reluctantly, having the slightest feeling I was going to regret it. As soon as we were outside, everyone left the small bonfire and approached the c ouple. Nessie was the only reason I was walking. This wasn't good. This wasn't g ood. Sarah took a deep breath, glancing at Randy, before she turned to the crowd arou nd them, releasing her hands from behind her back. "We're getting married." Damn right it wasn't good. "Twenty-five," I insisted, "Not before." "Dad," Sarah whined, "This is way too unreasonable." "No," Colby disagreed, "He's right." "You both are literally impossible," Nessie shook her head, leaning on Sarah's b edroom door, her bronze curls resting on her shoulders. It was too soon, I knew it. And I wasn't going to go back in my word. It was a g ood thing Sam also agreed, though Emily didn't really support him. 'They are bou nd to be together,' she had reasoned, 'You're just delaying it'.

"Fine," Sarah sighed and kissed my cheek, "We'll wait." "Are you sure?" Nessie pressed, "You're not mad, are you?" "No," she said, satisfied, smiling at me. "It really is fine." Randy Uley I didn't let her father's decision affect my happiness with what had happened to day; I wasn't planning on anything too soon anyways. Yes, it wasn't going to be in four whole years, but not in a few months for example. Who would've thought that would happen? I definitely didn't. It was overwhelming how fate lined out our lives for us, but never gave us a clue. Five years ago, I wouldn't have ever considered I would ever hear her say what she had said toda y. Her words rang through my head once again. "Randy," she mumbled, "Do you really think I'd say no?" she took the ring from m e and slid it on her finger. "Yes, yes and yes I'll marry you!" I was engaged to Sarah Rose Black.

-(`v) `*..* Ginny . . *) . *) (. (. . . ` . !!!!!!!SOCCER!!!!!!!