AN:Okay, back again. I am still working on Rosalie's Redemption but wanted to get this out while it was still fresh on my mind. Please keep in mind, I'm new to fan fic and writing and would appreciate constructive criticism and thoughts/suggestions. Thank you! All recognizable characters, settings and themes belong to Stephanie Meyer.

Alex was lazing about her grandmother's herb garden huddled between tall stalks of lavender and reading her favorite book when he found her. Warm brown eyes peered over hers from above the bushes and she all but squealed at the sight of her oldest friend.

"Still reading Harry Potter, I see." Seth Clearwater rumbled tilting his head towards the worn copy in her hands and flashing her a brilliant smile. She crawled out of her hiding spot, folding the page in half to mark her place.

"Seth!" Alex called out excitedly, scrambling up from her knees and wiping the dirt from the garden floor off the seat of her shorts. She flung her self at the massive boy a bit taken aback by his height. Seven years ago they had once been eye level but Alex supposed a lot could change in that time frame. He had to be at least six and half feet tall now and his once scrawny body was packed in heavy muscles.

Seth wrapped warm arms around her waist, his heat mingling with hers sent a shiver down her spine. God, he felt good. She pulled away and tilted her head back to take a good look at his face, he still looked like the old Seth she once knew… just a little more rugged and handsomer now.

Alex couldn't believe she had gone so long without seeing anyone from the reservation. The day her family moved to San Diego she had every intention to keep in touch; but she was in a new school and had made friends, started kick boxing and her life simply had gotten so busy she was only able to keep in contact through occasional emails. She felt kind of guilty thinking about it now, she should have made more of an effort. Seth was certainly excited to see her and she couldn't deny that she returned his sentiments. They had once been best of friends and it felt so good to be near him again.

Six months ago her father had passed away from a car accident. It was sudden and tragic and had Alex in a funk for months but her older brother Gabe (bless his heart, because he was also going through the same thing) really pulled through for her. He took two quarters off of school and flew to California to look after her while they sorted out her affairs. Alex was still 16, turning 17 in a couple of weeks and legally needed an age appropriate guardian, even though she felt she could take care of herself. Gabe tried to arrange something with UW but they told him it wasn't feasible to keep his minor sister in the dorm room and they didn't want the liability while he was living on campus.

So Alex had to move back to La Push with her grandmother. She was a bit sad to leave San Diego and her friends but she couldn't ask Gabe to stay with her anymore. He NEEDED to go back to college in the fall. There was no way Alex was going to let Gabe throw away his scholarship so he can take care of her. No way. Life with grandma wouldn't be too bad any ways, she was a pretty awesome lady she thought fondly.

"It's great to see you, Seth! I've been an awful friend.." she motioned her hands wildly up and down his figure. "Didn't I tell you to stay away from steroids?" Alex half joked, hoping he hadn't been participating in illegal drug consumption. She would have to kick his ass if that was the case.

"Haha! Yeah, I haven't heard that one before." He grumbled letting her go and pushing her shoulder lightly. Alex couldn't help but notice the zap that went through her when his bare skin briefly touched hers. He carried on without seeming to notice. "I've just been working out, hitting the gym, ya know…" He trailed off flexing his huge arms and smiling cockily as Alex watched him eyes wide.

He dropped his arms and his face got serious. "I'm really, really sorry to hear about your father. I'm here if you need anything, okay?" Seth's intense stare was almost too much to handle and she had to look away. She felt like he was looking into her soul.

Then she remembered that Seth had also lost her father years ago and she felt even shittier. She was sure she sent him e-mail about that… but still maybe she could have flown north for a weekend to comfort her old best friend. She thanked him either way. "It was really hard at first, Gabe rescued me. You know… we should start a single parents club or something." Alex joked again. She could be really awkward sometimes but he chuckled nonetheless. The reservation did have lots of children with single parents and now Alex was missing both. It saddened to her think about it.

"So what's your plan for today?" Seth asked her casually, kicking a rock and sending it skidding into the forest behind her grandma's garden. There were so many things she needed to do. Like unpack her boxes and organize the tiny bedroom she was given. This morning after she woke Alex dumped her giant suitcase on the floor throwing clothes in each direction searching frantically for a particular, favorite t shirt of hers. She almost stopped breathing thinking she had left it behind but she found it folded neatly in the carry on bag she used for the airplane and now her tiny room was a huge mess. Alex was a procrastinator though and decided to spend the morning reading in the garden, she could always clean later.

Alex held up her book and told him she was planning on reading. Seth just scoffed at her. "Come on Alex, you read that series a million times already." There was a cute smile tugging his lips. "Come to first beach with me, everyone wants to see you." Seth flashed her heart melting, puppy dog eyes and she was almost convinced. She was hoping it wouldn't be some awkward pity party. She had enough people feeling sorry for her. Of course she hadn't exactly got over his loss but she was in a good place now and able to handle her turbulent emotions in a reasonable manner. She didn't want to wallow anymore and she certainly didn't want any pitying stares.

Seth seemed to know what she was thinking and promised her that it would be totally casual and not like THAT at all.

"Okay." She finally agreed. "I need to leave a note for grandma though…" She added as an after thought. She ran inside and scribbled a quick note, while inside she grabbed a hoody just in case. Right now it was sunny and the sky was clear blue but the weather in Washington was famous for changing at the drop of a hat and Alex had learned her lesson last time.

After she grabbed her bag and her phone she scrambled out of the house jamming sunglasses on top of her head. She saw Seth standing next to a rusty green pick up truck. She was confident it was the same one that belonged to Harry and felt a wave of nostalgia hit her. She had spent many summers hanging out in in the trunk bed with Gabe, Seth, Leah, Jake and the twins slurping on firecracker popsicles, cracking jokes and drinking warm soda.

"Wow, you got the truck? Nice!" Alex admired running her hand over the side fondly. "So many memories in this thing…" she added quietly, smiling in remembrance.

"Yep! It runs like a dream too. Jake helped me fix it up." Seth told her proudly. Of course Jake would help fix it up, he was the mechanic of the group. As a child Jake was constantly in trouble for taking things apart, things that little boys shouldn't dream of touching (like the family computer or parts under the hood of the family car) But Jake had a way with engineering and was always able to put things back together, making it run better then when it was first manufactured. It didn't surprise her that he was pursuing engineering at UW, if anyone would succeed at that it would be Jake.

Seth opened her door for her and she jumped inside. After she was safely in he closed the door and hopped over to his side, starting the truck and turning up the radio. Seth backed out of the dirt driveway singing loud and badly out of tune. Alex couldn't help but laugh at her crazy friend.

It was good to be back.