-Somewhere in the Pacific-

"You mean you can't tell me when you're arriving?"

I rolled my eyes at my big brother's whining. "No, Zach, I can't, I use paper maps, so just take my estimate and roll with it," I teasingly paused "Well, if you're cool enough to roll with it."

"You suck," he sighed. Just by his tone I could tell he was scowling and potentially pinching the bridge of his nose. "Riley," he let out an audible sigh and changed the subject. "How's the Cressida doing?"

I raised my eyebrow, Zach wanted something. He doesn't know a thing about sail boats, and I doubt he wanted to know anything about my sailboat. "She's fine," I stretched out the 'i' "Why do you ask?"

He snorted before replying "I'm asking because you've sailed a freakin' few thousand miles on that thing, I'm surprised it hasn't turned to dust."

I grinned "I'm loyal to my girl, Zach. You'll see a sublime sight at the La Push Docks in a few hours."

"Very well. Goodbye dear sister."

I mocked his droning and replicated his farewell, zipping my phone back into a plastic bag and shoved it into my pocket. As my thoughts about my upcoming arrival flooded my mind, I became.. content.

Maybe I'd find my homebase.

-a few hours later-

I was sailing Cressida right off the coast of the La Push beach, but I couldn't find the dock. 'God damn,' i muttered and started scanning the shoreline again. La Push really was beautiful; the forests were vast and lush and the cliffs sharp and violent. The Quileutes really took good care of their land.

My eyes finally caught on the fairwood dock, the wood having weathered the color out of it, almost blending in with the sand. I jogged to the stern of the boat and turned the tiller so the sail caught onto the wind and began progressing forward.

As the boat sailed closer I began making out three figures standing on the dock, the longer I looked the more people I started seeing. "Do these people have nothing better to do than watch me?" I wondered aloud.

"Well, at least they're getting a good look while they can."

I approached the dock and pulled my anchor out. Out of the corner of my eye I saw a few freakishly tall natives. After noticing this dock would be a tight fit for Cressida I shouted out for them "Hey forest men, grab the ropes piled by the sides and start knotting them to eat pole!"

It took them a second to process that I was referring to them, but three of them hopped on and came to my aid.

One of them, turned out to be a girl. Oops, maybe I should've said mountain men and women.

Soon enough my boat was anchored and docked, meaning my journey was taking a much needed pause. I turned to the towering giant-people and gave a nod of thanks. Something must be in the water for them to grow that tall.

One of the guys stopped on the dock, offering me a hand to step off my boat. I took his hand and looked up at him. Man, they're tall! The guy looked down and smirked "Hello down there."

Another guy chuckled and grabbed ' 's' arm. "Come on Paul, you don't want to be the last one to Em's, do you?" My hand was immediately let go and the vertically gifted boys began sprinting, it appeared aimlessly. The girl who helped he however was taking her time following them, even glancing at her nails for a moment.

I forced my eyes away from the strange people and my eyes settled on an identical set of eyes. Zach's eyes.

I hadn't seen anything familiar in the past year, so seeing his small, almost unimpressed smile, was heartwarming. Zach walked towards me ruffled my hair. "It's been a long time, little wolf," he greets. An alarm went off in my head again. First he was nice and then he greeted me with my pet name. He did want something." While I had no clue what he wanted, I was going to milk this opportunity for all it's worth.

"Zachary, carry my bags!"

He narrowed his eyes slightly and sighed "You're staying here out of the goodness of my heart, carry your own bags Riley-Anne."

I kicked the back of his knees but continued to carry my bags. God damn it.

The walk to Zachary's home was continued in silence up until the house became in sight. "So, Riley, you're..you're not the family I have at my home, don't freak out," he warned me.

A laugh escaped me, making Zach's face contort strangely while I giggled "Is this your way of telling me you have a SO?" a snort escaped me.

"No Riley, my significant other is in Toronto," he ran his hand through his short prickly black hair. "Just brace yourself."

He opened the door to him home and shouted inside "Hey, me and Riley are home!"

I looked around the house, the spotlessness of the house didn't go past my notice. "Zachary, you cleanfreak, you," I teased.

Zach looked at the ceiling, a bored look on his face. "Will you hurry up and show your face?" he impatiently complains aloud.

This confused me until I saw who was walking down the stairs.

Wayne.

"What is he doing here?" my face hardened and my shoulders tensed.

"Riley-Anne, is that anyway to greet your Daddy?" Wayne feigned hurt and laughed. "Come here and give me a hug!"

Instead I took three steps back. "Stay the holy heck away from me you sick bastard," the coldness of my sneer surprised even me. "Don't think I won't call the cops on your fat ass."

"Please, Riley, Dad, behave," Zach positioned himself between the two of us. "Dad, I will throw you out. Riley, you have no evidence of what he did to you. If either of you want to stay in this house you'll have to NOT disturb my peace, I'm a very busy man."

Was Zach really letting Dad slide for everything he did to me? The thought was making my blood boil. How dare he! This was betrayal of the highest caliber. "You're siding with Dad?!" I walked right up to Zach and slapped him with as much force as my 5'3 frame would let me. "He abused me. I can't believe you wouldn't tell me he would be here!"

Before I knew what was happening I felt my back slap the hard wood and my head lash back. Pain shot through my bones and I hissed, feeling fury shoot through my veins.

"You know what? I'm leaving. I WON'T take this."

I felt the angry glare of my father burning my back, but I didn't care.

I kicked the door open and jogged out, my eyes wet with angry tears. What I really needed was a run before I made my escape on my confining Cressida.

There was a large tree hugging the edge of the wood, and after a brief contemplation I decided it was memorable enough to find again.

I stashed my bag behind the tree and took off in a fast sprint.

The thing I liked about running was that nobody could stop you from doing it, running is freedom, and that's what I've been chasing for the past 13 months on my boat. While I was running minutes turned into seconds and feet turned into inches. 'Leaving'll be good for you Riley, you just fought the man. Be proud, that's more than you did the last time you saw him."

I started noticing the path I was taking was going more rural, kinda like the mountain paths in Peru or like something in District 12. Now that I thought about it, I haven't seen any English movies in over a year. The next Hunger Games movie had to be out by now, maybe I'll see it in a few months when I stop by Hawaii. My inner monologue had distracted me, by the time I stopped I had no clue where the heck I was. Huh, just your luck Covington.

My head was cooling down after the run, quite literally too. A light sprinkle was starting, urging me to turn around, get my bag, and crash in my boat cabin tonight. The urge was probably the safest option, so I turned around and descended down the downward slope of the path I was on. I looked up at the sky and watched it's shade morph from a silver to an intimidating grey.

I again lost myself in my thoughts and my foot caught on a jutting out piece of rock. I tumbled forward, getting a good scrape across the knee.

God damn it.

The cut didn't look too deep, but there was blood and it definitely didn't feel pleasant.

"Are you okay?" a voice worried.

I turned my head and saw one of those giant human skyscraper guys, but he wasn't any of the ones I'd seen before. "I should be fine, can you help me up?" I waited about half a second before he was by my side. He bent down and took a look at my mis-fortunate wound. "I think you've sprained this," his eyebrows furrowed. "I'm going to take you to my Mom, she'll help."

The jolly russet giant wrapped his arms around my back and around the bottom of my knees. I winced when he picked me up, not liking the pressure on my knee. "sorry," he quickly apologizes.

"I need to grab my bag, it's by a tree somewhere down there," I protested. "If you can take me to my bag, I'll be able to make it to my boat." The guy's eyebrows raised "You're the boat-girl? People have been speculating who you are. So far there's hippie and spoiled college kid." He looked at me, expecting an answer.

"I'm not a hippie, I like fighting back to much, and I'm not in college yet," I didn't want to tell him too much. After all, he could be like Christian Bale in the American Psycho and if that is the case, I'll live longer by not spilling my story.

The guy stopped and bent down so he could open the door to what I assume is his house. While he looked mature, his eyes were young, I could buy that he was in high school still so that would explain why he lived with his Mom. "Ma casa es su casa," he welcomes. He stooped through the door and walked into his living room, setting me down on his couch.

"One second," he promises and leaves the room.

The house looked normal enough. No blood stains. No obvious weapons scattered around the room. There's hope for him, yet.

The guy walked back into the room, a frown on his face and bandages in his hand. "Sorry, my Mom's not here, she's probably working tonight, but I'm gonna try to wrap this up for you."

He sat down on the couch by me and placed my hurt knee over his lap. "So, what's your name?" he asked. Well, that question was harmless enough.

"I'm Riley."

"How old are you?" he asked, taking the anti-bacterial wipes and wiping the cut clean.

"Are we going to play 20 questions?" I chuckled at his expense.

"18? 19?" he guesses.

"More like 16," I correct.

The guy placed a bandage over my knee. "but you sailed here!" He sounded like he was almost debating my age.

"I'm emancipated and take online school," I briefly explain. Why was he asking all these questions? I'm leaving tomorrow, though he wouldn't know that. The guy finished patching up my leg by putting a wrap around my knee. I looked up at him and saw a smile on his face. He stood up and smiled at me. "I hope you like LaPush."

I shrugged, feeling kinda awkward. "It's okay, I'll be..." I stopped. I didn't want to offend him by saying I was leaving the day I arrived. "I'll be walking to the beach tomorrow."

The guy looked at me weird "Haven't you been by the water for a while?" What was it with people looking at me weird.

A yawn escaped my lips, causing him to give me a small smile. "You should get some rest Riley."

I nod, completely agreeing with him.

He stood up and shut the lamp light off. "Night Riley."

Right before the guy walked around the corner I realized I didn't know his name.

"Hey, you, who even are you?" I asked, hoping my voice was loud enough.

The guy stuck his head out from around the corner.

"Oh yeah! I'm Seth, Seth Clearwater."