Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight in any shape or form.
Gravity
Seth is seventeen when he sees her. She's just moved down from the Makah reservation and to most eyes, she would seem average. But as soon as Seth spots her, gravity moves, tying him to her and she's no longer average. She's beautiful. She controls the universe.
He's in such a rush to introduce himself, propose and lead a happy life with her that he actually trips over an unseen rock. The first time he's fallen in a while. She smiles and he knows he would endure any amount of falls to see that smile again.
Jodie is a bit freaked out by Seth's commitment. He talks to her, laughs with her and even though she's only been in her new home for two days, he's already invited her over his house and spent all of his free time with her. She can't understand it.
When he tells her about the old legend of 'imprinting', as well as all the others about being a werewolf, she guesses straight away what has happened. She listens to the story of the 'cold ones' and then she says:
"You can go outprint yourself, Seth."
He looks puzzled. "What do you mean?"
"I mean, I want a choice here. And so should you. You haven't fallen in love with me."
"You don't understand-" he begins.
"I understand plenty," she interrupts. "I'm not dating a guy who can't decide for himself."
"But-"
"Bye, Seth."
When you imprint, you become whatever the imprintee needs you to be and Jodie needs a friend. A good friend. So that's what Seth becomes. He cheers her up, advises her, sticks up for her and seems to show no romantic interest. It isn't until she hears him talking to a younger werewolf two weeks later that she learns why.
"Why don't you kiss her?" the boy asks.
"She doesn't want to be kissed," Seth replies cheerily.
"But, she's your girl!"
"She's my friend, Jack. You know the legends as well as I do."
"What if she never 'needs' you to be her boyfriend?"
Silence. Then:
"Then it won't matter. Sam and Billy aren't always right. Imprinting can't always find you a mate."
"But you'll never marry or have kids."
"I know."
For the first time, Jodie feels guilty about her resistance.
When Jodie and Seth are eighteen, the other werewolves decide to tell her off because she is still adamant that Seth is not the man for her.
Seth finds her by the beach, sobbing. He instantly puts his arm around her and she moves closer to him. As usual, he comforts her.
"They got it wrong," he explains. "It's your choice. I don't have to be your boyfriend."
"But this is how you find mates," she sobs.
"Supposed to be. But loads of werewolves won't imprint and besides, I'm all for being the first werewolf who didn't get a mate out of imprinting." He grins but she looks away. "Seriously," he adds, "it's no big deal."
"Your sister-"
"-is jealous 'cause she wants to imprint."
She looks at the waves lapping onto the beach. "I'm just… I don't like you like that. I mean, you never fight back, you only do what makes me happy and you're only here - and agreeing – because you imprinted."
"You do think I'm handsome, right?" he asks in a mock-worried voice, making her smile.
"You're alright."
"Good," he laughs, "just so long as you know it. And imprinting finds your soul mate so I'd be here anyway."
"Yeah, like Sam and Emily. And your sister. Weren't Sam and Leah soul mates once?"
Her point hits home; Seth can't think of an answer. The pair fall silent, looking across the ocean. Seth does not remove his arm. Finally, Jodie decides to leave.
As she begins to walk away, Seth calls out to her. "Hey, can I ask you something? I'm just curious."
Jodie nods.
"The reason you don't like me 'like that'. Is it 'cause you're not attracted to me or 'cause you don't want to be?"
She turns around, her face filled with pain.
"I don't know," she whispers.
Jodie goes to the nearest university but Seth – who doesn't have enough control to go – stays on the Reservation and gets a job in a garage. At University, Jodie meets a boy and, surprisingly (to her) Seth does not get mad. He only worries that this guy will hurt her.
Even so, Jodie is shocked when she and her boyfriend get into an argument, because Seth angrily tells the boy all the things about her which means he shouldn't break up with her. Even more astonishingly, it works. Yet as the boyfriend hugs her, part of her wishes that it was Seth holding her instead.
"So, Leah finally did it. 'bout time too."
"What did she do?"
He pulls a face at her ignorance. "Imprinted. On a guy called Damien."
"Oh." She looks away. "How are they, then?"
"Sickeningly in love," he replies cheerfully. "They even have pet names. Still, now we know."
"Know what?"
"Girls can imprint too. Never knew it before."
Sure, she thinks. Just like they never knew werewolves existed or liked to go chew on vampires. Is anything wrong these days? Is her life with Seth already measured out?
"That's good," she says in a falsely cheerful voice.
Seth isn't fooled. "What's up?"
"It's-" She stops. "It's nothing."
"Jo…"
"See ya, Seth." She runs away as quickly as she can.
As soon as Jodie enters his room, Seth knows she's upset and, as he hugs her, she breaks down, sobbing. She does not utter a single word.
With legendary patience, he holds her, strokes her hair and whispers soothingly for half an hour. Yet, sweet as it is, a part of Jodie – the remote, rational part – reminds her that he won't get frustrated because of the imprint, not because that's who he is.
She'll still take it.
Slowly, the story comes out. After a lot of pressure from her boyfriend, she finally agreed to sleep with him. And as soon as he got what he wanted, he dumped her and even told his friends how 'easy' she was. She feels cheap, worthless and rejected.
Seth's blood boils at hearing this and it is all he can do not to transform, not to go over to this jerk's house and beat the hell out of him. Instead, he reminds her how much better she is and proceeds to list all the things he likes about her. When he shows no signs of stopping, Jodie pokes him, wanting him to stop despite her smiles; he laughs and launches into a funny story and soon, she's laughing too.
"Thanks, Seth," she whispers at the end. "You're nicer than I deserve."
"Naw, I'm just truthful," he smiles. "You're more special than anyone else here. You're my everything."
Usually, she ignores these comments but this time she wonders. Could he be my everything too, she asks herself. Could I let him?
She loops her hands around his warm neck and pulls him down. He's surprised, but compliant.
Just before their lips meet, she stops and whispers, "No."
He moves back, confused. Seeing her worried expression, he winks and says nothing.
"I'm sorry Seth," she says quietly. "I just…I can't think of you like that. You're more like a brother." She winces at the cliché.
Gravity shifts.
"I'm sorry I'm hurting you," she whispers.
He shrugs. "Hey, what else are sisters for?"
By the time they're twenty-two, Seth is still working in the Garage and Jodie has graduated. She also has a fiancé. Out of the sixteen werewolves, twelve (including Seth) have imprinted. Only Seth and Quil have no romantic interest. But Quil's reason is because Claire is nine. They all know that when she's older, Claire will pick him.
Jodie wants to tell her fiancé - Rob – about Seth and their situation. After Jake (as Seth's pack leader) gives them permission, with a warning to edit facts, they tell him. At first, Rob is angry; an anger of despair because he is in love with someone who is bound to another. But, after some more reassurance, he grudgingly agrees not to kill Seth.
"You know what this reminds me of?"
"No idea, Jake."
"Me, Bella and Edward all those years ago. Before Nessie." Jacob's voice is not happy – it's worried. Even the thought of Renesmee doesn't cheer him up much.
Seth gets his meaning. "This is different."
"How? Come on, kid. You're in love with her and she loves Rob. Sound familiar?"
"I want her to be happy. 'Sides, there's no romance anyway."
Jacob shakes his head. "I've seen through your eyes, man. She doesn't want a brother. She wants a choice; she's being awkward."
Seth glares at him and Jacob starts; it's such an odd look on the younger man's face. "Don't be stupid," Seth says evenly. "Just 'cause you and Nessie are together doesn't mean everyone else has to be. Jodie wants a brother."
Jacob shrugs, determined not to get into a fight.
"All I'm saying is: this isn't how the legend goes."
"Yeah," Seth agrees, "but you of all people should know that legends can be changed."
Jodie leaves Seth and Rob together in an attempt to make sure that neither of them is ever tempted to murder the other. Although Rob has every intention of doing this (or, at least, threatening Seth), the other man's easy-going manner is too much and soon they're talking like old friends.
Rob is curious about imprinting and Seth tries to explain how it works and feels. Rob seems to understand.
"So you're saying I can never feel as strongly about her as you do?"
Seth shakes his head. "It's not… it's…she's my universe." He wills him to understand. "Long as she exists, I couldn't even think about someone else." He smiles sympathetically. "It's hard to get your head round, I know."
Rob shrugs and then smiles. "Ah, but you're her brother now, right?" Seth nods. "Which technically makes us brothers-in-law." Another nod. Rob's smile grows wider. "In that case, 'bro', I am taking you girl-hunting. No brother of mine or Jodie's is living single, imprint or no imprint. We'll fight it!"
"Okay…no, wait, what?" Before Seth can form a fully articulated protest, he is bundled into Rob's car for a wasted afternoon of girl-hunting. Perhaps Rob doesn't understand after all.
Seth becomes the Best Man at the wedding. He offered to be the Maid of Honour but Jodie refused to let him.
The wedding is attended by the La Push werewolves, most of whom do not look overly pleased with the situation. Before it begins, Seth asks Leah not to shout at Jodie because that is the sort of thing his sister would do.
The ceremony goes smoothly but when Rob and Jodie exchange vows, a sudden stab of jealousy and longing hits Seth. It's only fleeting but it's there. He has to look away to control his feelings. Because, until that moment, he had only thought of Jodie as a sister.
No. Maybe he had only thought that he had thought of her as a sister. Maybe he had never really done it. As he signs the Witness Register, he tries to ignore Jacob's suddenly-remembered words.
These new stabs of jealousy afflict Seth occasionally but he does his best to ignore them. His life settles into a new pattern; work, patrols and seeing Jodie, Rob and their sons. By the time they're all twenty-five, he is used to his new schedule.
One day, Seth and Rob go out and Rob asks why Seth loves Jodie.
"What's not to love?" the werewolf answers, confused. Rob frowns.
"Do you ever think Jodie married the wrong person?"
"She married who she picked." Seth shrugs. "Her choice."
Rob looks away. "Yeah, but you never argue with her. You're like her other half."
"Aw, Rob, you can't get second thoughts now, man," Seth teases. "You're already married with two kids. 'Sides, she likes to argue, you know?"
He nods. "Seth?"
"Yeah?"
"If Jodie asked you, right now, to be with her – as a lover – would you…" He breathes in. "Would you do it?"
"Would you argue with gravity?" asks Seth before looking away. "I'd do it. I'd do whatever it took to make her happy."
Rob nods again. "Even if it made me unhappy."
"Rob-"
He smiles painfully. "It's alright. I get it. Man, I'd hate to be a werewolf. Why the hell can't you fall in love by yourselves?" It's not an insult but a genuine query.
"We can. Imprinting just gives us a bit of help."
"I know," Rob replies, sighing. "And that haunts me every day."
He doesn't know what makes him snap. He's out again in the forest with Rob and Jodie when Rob hears a noise. Seth goes with him and, suddenly, he loses control. Perhaps it's the smell of an unfamiliar vampire. Perhaps it's the sudden sting of fear. Either way, Seth phases instinctively and, hearing another movement, lunges. Rob falls, blood streaming from his face.
"Seth! What have you done?"
Upon hearing her voice, he phases back and the sight of his friend fills him with guilt. Seeing Jodie's distress makes him feel worse.
"Jodie, I'm-"
"Go away!" she hisses. "Until you can control yourself, I never want to see you again."
Gravity moves in a way which feels alien. Wrong. He needs to be near her but her revulsion is so strong that he has no choice but to turn and run.
Life without Seth feels empty. As soon as he left, part of Jodie wanted to call him back. Yet the injuries on Rob's face are so horrifying that the thought of Seth fills her with revulsion.
When Rob wakes up, Jodie cannot help but see the similarity between him and Sam's wife, Emily. Half of his face is the handsome man she married. Half is a scarred grimace.
Shortly after he wakes up, he asks about Seth's whereabouts. Jodie explains her decision, trying to sound nonchalant. Rob asks no more questions because he can hear the pain in her voice. He knows that telling the werewolf to leave was like telling half of her soul to go.
Even if she will never admit it.
"Seth, I've never seen you like this," Jake says. "What happened?"
Seth explains miserably. After all, Jake has a right to know – Seth is staying in the Cullen's household.
Jake listens and, thinking of Nessie, asks, "How can you bear to be away from her?"
"I can't." It's true. Each second, each breath, each thought is torture. Because he hasn't made Jodie happy and it shows. The string which connects him both pulls and pushes. Ten times, he's begun to go home. Ten times, the anti-connection has stopped him.
"What will you do now, Seth?" Carlisle asks from the doorway.
"I don't know," Seth begins. Then it hits him. "Yes, I do."
"What?"
"I'm gonna stop phasing. I'm gonna prove that I'll never hurt another person again."
The self-control required to stop phasing is huge but Seth, driven by his need for Jodie, manages it in two years. To prove it, he walks all the way back to La Push from the Cullen's current residence, as a human. When he arrives home, his face has tightened subtly – he no longer bears the face of an adult with a teenager's features.
Jodie's eldest son – a four-year-old – is with a friend and their parent and is the first to spot him. Seth is surprised that the boy remembers him but smiles as he picks him up, listening to the shouts of 'Unky Seth!'
Jodie hears from her son that Seth has returned and goes to see him. Even though the last two years have left her with a well of pain which Rob could not fill, she intends to shout at him for daring to return after scarring her husband. But, as she sees him, her soul feels as though a vital part has been replaced and instead of shouting, she runs to him and wraps her arms around him.
Seth settles back into life as the big brother quickly. He gets his old job back and he visits Jodie at least once a day. Rob bears no ill-will towards the gangly wolf-no-more, something which Seth feels eternally grateful for. It is as though the intolerable pain never existed.
It is strange to think that although all the wolves (except Jake) will stop phasing one day, Seth – who truly loved being a wolf – is the first. Yet he does not miss it because this is what Jodie wants. Just seeing her smile when he walks in through the door is enough to keep him normal
Time passes swiftly and although Seth feels the familiar stabs of longing, his life is otherwise ideal. Jodie is happy because both of her men are in her life. Rob is happy that neither his wife nor his friend is in pain.
Yet every scene of joy is eventually marred and this is no different. Three years after Seth's return, Jodie goes to the hospital for a check-up. There, they find something wrong. Something which requires a heart transplant.
And just like that, the idyllic scene is changed to one of fear. The thought of losing Jodie is devastating for Rob. For Seth, it is worse. It is the idea of having the Universe implode. Of having every fire of Hell burn him. Of being left to drift in an endless sea. It is the idea of death.
A donor comes forward a year later but it is a bitter-sweet moment. Because a month before the operation, Rob is killed in a car crash. It's a freak accident but it still leaves a scar. A deep sadness sets in over the family. Seth seems to move in as he does everything he can to help Jodie.
Rob wasn't her imprinter. Maybe he wasn't her idea soul-mate, as Seth is. Yet he was her moon, her star. Her soul-mate of choice. He didn't always make her happy but she likes the idea that, sometimes, she can't get her own way. Losing him is hard and Jodie spends a lot of her time sobbing and comforting her sons.
And even though he's not a wolf, not a Protector, Seth is always there to hold her and wipe away the tears. He prevents her from going too far into grief.
Before the operation, Jodie is told that her chances of survival are 50/50. If she doesn't take the operation, she will die within two years.
Jodie's family, Rob's family, the Pack and Seth all visit her on the day before. Everyone says their goodbyes until finally, only Seth is left.
"Nervous?" he asks as he strokes her arm.
She smiles. "Terrified. But, I suppose if I die, I'll see Rob again."
"You're not gonna die."
"You don't know that for sure," she points out.
"I won't let you."
She sighs. "Seth against nature. This should be good."
The easy-going smile lights up his face. "Good thing I'm strong."
She laughs softly.
"But seriously, if I can stop you from dying, I will."
"I know, I know. Rob would probably help." Her eyes reflect her grief.
"I miss Rob," Seth says quietly. "He was a great guy."
"The best."
"I'll never forget him trying to find me a girlfriend. Like taking me to a strip-club."
"He took you where?"
Seth laughs. "He sat in the bar. Stopped taking me when I fell asleep."
They smile.
"No girls then?"
"Not while I see you."
"But that would go away if I died?"
His eyes fill with anguish. "Don't say that."
"Answer me, please."
He shakes his head. "Gravity doesn't just leave. You follow." A pause. "I would follow."
They fall silent.
"Seth… do you ever think I married the wrong person? That maybe it should have been us?"
He remembers a conversation from years ago. "You did what made you happy."
"I can cope without Rob, just. I couldn't without you."
He smiles. "It's like I heard Jake think once, back when he liked Bella. He said he was sun and air, and Edward was a drug. That's us. I'm the drug. Rob was sun and air."
"Yeah?"
"Shouldn't take drugs. They're bad for you."
She smiles weakly. He grins back.
"Even so…" She sits up suddenly and pulls Seth closer. Their lips meet briefly. One kiss. What could have been.
"If I die," she says furiously, "you don't follow."
"Huh?"
"I'm your imprintee and I'm ordering you now. I don't want you to die because of me. You start phasing and find your sun. That's what would make me happy."
"Jodie-"
She kisses him again. A second kiss. What may never be.
"I think you should go, Seth."
He stands up, looking anguished. "You know I'd go through Hell if I thought it would make you live?"
"I know," she replies sadly. "That's what I'm afraid of."
The wait is agony. Her sons sit silently, worry tight in their faces. The eldest is only eight. They've already lost their father. Two deaths in one month would be more than they could take.
Her parents pace up and down the room.
Seth stands in a corner. It's different for him. This could be the end of the world.
"How…" Her youngest son licks his lips. "How much longer?"
No one answers.
Seth feels it: the moment that Jodie dies. The pain is intolerable. He gasps as the cable connecting him to the centre of the Universe snaps. Four heads turn to look at him.
"Uncle Seth, what's wrong?"
Seth shakes his head and runs out of the room, tears falling down his face.
How do you cope when gravity disappears? When you are left forsaken and alone, with no purpose? How do you live when half of you is missing?
Seth sits on the cliff edge, staring at the sea. Jodie died three hours ago. It feels like three years. He hugs his chest, trying to repair the hole in his heart. It's taking all of his concentration not to jump off the cliff. Only Jodie's last request is stopping him.
This is worse than when she sent him away. He had had a goal then. Gravity had still held him close because she was always there.
Now, there is nothing. Nothing to hold him. Nothing to inspire him. No reason to do anything.
"He looks like you did, Bells."
"Is it normal?"
"Remember when Edward left you? Now imagine if he had died."
"Oh."
"I nearly fixed you though."
"Not fully. I can't be whole without Edward."
"But partly."
"Yeah." A pause. "Would it work for him?"
"I don't know."
The conversation ends. Seth gives no sign of hearing. He gives no sign of realising that he is alive.
Sometimes, you can't look for the sun. Sometimes, it has to come to you.
Seth never finds gravity again. He never fully heals.
He finds a once-broken person. A girl who lost everyone. They don't click as well as he and Jodie did and he can never be as devoted. But they love each other enough that this doesn't matter.
She knows how much he wishes he could join Jodie, how he only lived because she told him to. And she accepts him anyway because she remembers the feeling of utter hopelessness. With her help, he slowly heals. He's never truly fulfilled. The Universe leaves him adrift. He finds his own way with her alongside him. Two broken people on one road.
When Seth finally dies, it's not a sad occasion. Because everyone knows that he is going to meet Jodie again.
No matter what she tried, Seth always followed her. No matter how much it hurt, Seth loved her and obeyed her. And what is this but one more order? After all, no one can stop the Universe. No one can cut a cable of indestructible fibres.
And no matter what you try, no one can defy gravity.
FIN