Hey guys, this is a first story in a long time. Constructive criticism is welcomed :). I know this Chapter isn't terribly detailed, but I wanted to leave some things to talk about in the next chapters. Read and review 3

Chapter One

It was five o'clock in the morning in the warm season of summer. The palm trees let their leaves dance back and forth to the melody of the soft breeze. The windows in the house were left open, the wind coming in and giving the place a fresh smell of salt and air. The sky was still dark outside and most people were still tucked away in their beds. It was a Monday morning now. I could hear the neighbor, a lonely single man in his mid thirties, through the thin walls as he was getting up for work. How sad it must be to wake up alone and come home to no one each day.

For some reason, I didn't think I would miss the apartment or the town. I looked around our bare living room. Everything was boxed up and stacked on top of each other, ready for the move we'd be making later today. Even if I wouldn't miss the place, I still had this empty feeling in my chest. I tried not to dwell on it.

"Julie," I said, shaking my baby sister's shoulder. She'd drifted off again, her head lolling on to her shoulder. I swear, this girl could fall asleep anywhere. "C'mon, let's go to bed," I cooed at her, pushing the few pieces of hair away from her face. She opened her eyes and blinked a few times, then just nodded at me. I picked up the mostly empty bowl of ice cream from her lap and set it on top of mine. I tossed them in the sink, which was only a few steps away from our couch, and ran a little water on them before turning around.

Julie was stumbling down the narrow hallway of our apartment. She opened the door to the room we shared and disappeared inside. I looked around our empty apartment, pushing the empty feeling away again. I padded from the kitchen down the hallway, stopping at my mom's bedroom door. Cracking it open, I peeked inside. She was sprawled out in her bed, taking it up with her limbs out in every direction. My mom looked so much younger when she slept. A small smile played my lips, and I closed the door again.

She was supposed to stay up with Julie and me and have an ice cream party. But, she had been so stressed lately with the move and work and life in general, even if she didn't show it, that she collapsed on her bed around nine and had been there ever since. Julie and I didn't really mind. We had sat on the couch since around ten while watching sappy movies and our favorite comedian, until we eventually busted out the snacks and ice cream. It ended the last night in our little home on a nice note, I guess.

I stepped in to the room that Julie and I shared. She was already in her bed, the covers pulled up over her head. The room was strangely empty. Normally our room was covered in a layer of clothing, spewed across the floor with other various things, too. But, like in the living room, everything was boxed and stacked. The pictures and cut-out from magazines we'd had on the walls were long gone. The room was so bare and white; it was hardly possible to tell that anyone slept in here. It was a strange thing to wake up in the morning and have my toes touch the cold hardwood flooring instead of one of Julie's many tops.

I climbed in my bed and turned off the light beside it, settling down in the mattress. Just as my thoughts were begin to drift away, I felt someone get in beside me.

"Sleep over at Claire's," Julie said, snuggling in next to me, "It's too empty in here,"

At least someone felt the same. I pulled the covers over our heads. We both liked to sleep that way. It was safe and secure, somehow, underneath all the covers. Like nothing could ever touch you as long as you were wrapped in their warmth.

"Night, Jules."

"Night, sissy,"

It had been a long patrol, and I was exhausted. We had chased a few bloodsuckers all the way to Port Angeles. By the time we'd gotten back to the limits of La Push, my shift was over. Jacob and I phased back, and I pulled the tattered jeans I'd tied around my leg over my bare body. Even though he wasn't in the same pack as us anymore, we still patrolled together sometimes. Or at least patrolled in the same area.

He was down visiting for a while. He spent nearly every goddamn waking moment with Renesmee. He had been staying with the Cullen's to be around the hybrid girl, but I couldn't blame him. He did have a faint smell of sickly sweetness about him, though. The Cullen's had come back down to their old house in Forks, not letting anyone know that they were there, of course. They were just visiting the area again.

We walked out of the woods together in silence. My house was only a little ways away from this point. Jake was crashing on my couch, I was sure. He looked exhausted. He'd prolly eat half my fridge and then leave in the morning to back to the bloodsuckers.

We walked in silence, but I knew what he had on his mind. It had to be the hybrid girl. He kept his mouth shut, but I could tell he was dieing to tell someone how the gears of his imprinting experience had shifted from big brother to love interest. He was well aware of the gaping hole that was left in my chest, and I was grateful. Embry had just imprinted a while ago, and if I had to hear anything more about freaking love, I was going to spontaneously combust.

My apartment was down the street from the auto garage that Paul and I worked at, which was very convenient. I lived in a small complex. All the neighbors were pretty quiet, and you never saw much of them. It was alright. It was a two bedroom, since I roomed with Paul. But nearly half the pack crashed there on a daily basis, anyway. So, when we walked through the door, I wasn't surprised to see Seth curled up by the Xbox.

I made a beeline for the fridge and pulled out two beer cans, tossing one to Jake. The alcohol didn't do anything to us. Our bodies just burned it off. I popped open the can and took a long drink.

"Quil, I needa tell you something,"

I raised my eyebrow at him, leaning against the counter tops of the kitchen. I took another drink of my beer and nodded at him, "Shoot,"

He looked at me uncertainly for a moment, before sitting down in one of the bar stool we had at the breakfast counter. He popped open his can of beer and took few sips, obviously stalling.

"I said shoot, Jake,"

"I was at Sam and Emily's the other day, y'know, just visiting," he said, running a hand over his shaggy, black hair and looking at me.

"And?"

"Well I heard something that I thought I should tell you."

I just looked at him, my eyebrows furrowed in confusion. "Just spit it out, Jake." I said, picking up my beer again and finishing it off. I crunched it easily in my hand, and tossed it to the recycling bin a few feet away. Perfect shot.

"I heard Sam and Emily talking. They were talking about Emily's mom. She's sick and she doesn't have anyone to take care of her. I mean, Emily's home with the kids all the time and she can't do it," Jake said to me, then raised his eyebrows like I should be getting some kind of hint here. But I wasn't. I just looked at him with the same confused expression.

"And?"

Jake sighed, "And, Emily started talking about Olivia."

My face went blank.

"Olivia is moving to La Push to take care of their mom. And I think you know what she's gonna bring with her, Quil," he continued, "They're going to be arriving sometime late tomorrow." He looked at me uncertainly, and then averted his attention to his beer can. He downed the remains.

When they had moved, it was so sudden. One minute they were here, and the next they were gone. I hadn't seen her since she was around eleven. When they left, it was like something had been ripped from my chest. She took a part of me with her, and I'd been empty ever since. It had been six years since they were gone. And now they were coming back?

Thoughts swirled around my head endlessly, and I was finally broken from my trance by Jacob.

"You okay, man?" he asked, getting up from the stool and walked towards the couch, where he was most likely going to camp out on for a few hours.

"Yeah," I said, but I wasn't so sure about that myself. I shrugged it off and went into the fridge for another beer, tossing one to Jake, too. I tried to push everything out of my thoughts. But I was shit out of luck with that one. Her face filled every inch of my mind. The whole left in my chest felt as is someone was pressing it open with a car jack. I quickly chugged down my beer.

Once Jake's face hit the pillow, he was out like a light. After that, I wasn't sure what to do with myself. I wasn't tired anymore. All I could do was thinking about her. I had gotten pretty good lately about not wallowing about her. I had pushed her away from my thoughts as much as I could, and was slowly getting over the fact that I would probably never see her again. But now this crap?

I wasn't even sure what I was feeling.

I walked out of my apartment and jogged towards the trees near the back of the building. A run. What I needed was a run to clear my head. I phased in to a chocolate brown wolf after I was sure I was well-hidden by the trees, and just ran.

Her face was still swirling in my mind, the face of the little girl I was so deeply connected to.

Claire.

My Claire.