A/N: This is not a sequel to 'The Cullens are Gone?'. This is after BD happened, and there are just a few changes, such as a few more pack members. I hope everyone likes this one.
Frozen Love
Chapter 1
"Uncle Jake!" I shouted, running towards him.
"Hey, Claire. You've got another babysitting job." He said as Renesmée walked up with a two-year old Jenna in her arms. My Aunt Renesmée was two years younger than me, but she looked like an adult. "We're heading out for a hunting trip for a while. We'll be back in a few hours." She said, handing Jenna over to me.
"C'mon Jenna, we'll go do something fun." I said as they left, turning to bring her inside the house.
The phone rang as I was painting her nails. "Hold on." I said, stretching her fingers out so the paint didn't touch anything. "Hold them just like that.
"Hello?" I asked the phone.
"Claire, you're going next week, right?" Lily's voice asked.
"To your birthday? Of course!" I told my best friend.
"Great. We need to go shopping then! When do you-"
"Can I call you back? I'm babysitting." I interrupted.
"Oh, sure thing. Later!" she said, hanging up. I returned to Jenna, to carry out my duties, picking up the bottle of paint once again.
Aunt Renesmée came by after hunting, to pick Jenna up. "Wow, your nails look great!" she told Jenna happily.
"Thanks for watching her. Again. How is everyone?" she asked, meaning the rest of the pack. "oh, everyone is great! We haven't had any vampire problems since... well, I don't remember any! I think that the last one was the Volturi, all those years ago!" I laughed, thinking to the last time Quil ever left to fight vampires, which was to far back to remember. "Of course, everyone still goes on their rounds, but I think they expanded their boundaries to include Port Angeles, even."
"Well, with the two packs, it makes things a bit easier. Haha. I keep seeing Wolves running around whenever I go somewhere at night. And during the day for that matter!" I thought about the thirteen wolves in Sam's pack, and the four others in Jacob's. Well, three, not counting Leah. She left a while back, going to live in Seattle. Then there was Jacob himself, bringing the total in his pack to five.
"Well, say hi to Quil for me." She said, handing me my money. "We should get going. She needs a nap."
"Alright, goodbye Aunt Nessie. Thank you!" I called as she turned to run. I turned into the house, and called Lily.
I then sat on the couch, turning on the television. I watched an old horror movie, bored out of my mind.
She crept through the house, expecting the creature to jump out at any minute. Slowly, she opened a door, attempting to find some weapon. She heard cold, dead breath behind her, and froze. Slowly, she turned around. "Rawr!" it bellowed. She screamed.
"Claire!" I jumped, screaming as the deep voice screamed my name from right behind me. Quil fell over laughing as I straightened out, calming my heart. "Quil!" I screeched. "Some imprinter you are! I thought you were supposed to protect me from heart attacks and arrhythmias, and things like that!"
He walked over to me, suppressing new laughter. I turned away. I felt his arms come around me, and my little anger melted away. "I would never let one of those silly health problems hurt you." He said quietly in my ear.
"You can't help me if my heart stops." I argued.
"I would be there, beating it for you." He persisted, becoming very corny. He turned me around, but just before our lips met, a bloodcurdling scream sounded from the TV. "I don't know why you watched that." He said, turning it off.
"It keeps me busy." I said.
"I know something else to keep you occupied." He said, pulling his corny lines again. Sitting down on the couch, he pulled me onto his lap. His lips met mine, and I was thoroughly distracted.
We broke apart as we heard a car in the driveway; my mother disliked having Quil and I in such close contact, despite the imprinting.
"Claire!" she called from the driveway. "If you and Quil are making out, you have three seconds before I come in." Quil chuckled as I sat next to him, an acceptable distance for my mother. She opened the door and immediately said, "Quil, use your big werewolf arms and help me carry stuff in." She put a grocery bag on the counter and left, Quil following.
"Hey, Ellen?" Quil asked from outside. "Can Claire spend the night at my place? There's a bonfire and it will probably go until early morning. Yes! I crowed silently. I had waited for another bonfire since I learned about the whole 'wolf thing'. "Will there be other people there?" she asked. "Besides pack members and imprints?"
Ugh! She is so nosy/overprotective/annoying! She thinks that just because it's only pack members who won't care that he'll try something!
"Yeah, there'll be normal people. Probably not overnight, but during, yeah." He told her, his voice calm and assuring. "Don't worry, she'll be perfectly safe." I guess she was still conflicted. "It's not her safety that I'm worried about." She mumbled quietly. Mom!
"Don't worry Ellen, I'll keep them out of trouble." A voice said from behind me. I turned around and saw Seth standing there. "Seth!" I called. "I haven't seen you for like, ever! Where have you been?"
"I've been up in Seattle for a while, keeping Leah company. I go up and visit her every now and then." He told me, giving my mom a big hug.
"It's been too long, Seth." She said.
"So, are we going to the bonfire now?" he asked.
"Now?" my mom asked. She didn't want me all alone with Quil. Stupid, untrusting mother.
"Yeah. Really, Ellen. They won't get up to anything. Except maybe kissing, but none of us will let it go beyond that. Besides, the Cullens are coming, so even after everyone is asleep, they won't be alone. They wouldn't do anything, anyway. You gotta have more trust in them, Ellen! Especially Quil." Seth argued our case quite convincingly. My mom gave in to his reasoning, unable to think of a good comeback for why we shouldn't go. "Fine. Be home by ten tomorrow." She said, giving in. "And Quil...If she ever comes home from somewhere with you, pregnant, vampires will be the least of your worries." She threatened. With the look she gave Quil, I think even a vampire would have backed down.
xXx
The explosions rang out all around me. Screams and shouts were adding to the chaos, making hearing nearly impossible. The largest fire of all crackled just 15 feet away from me, roaring far above anyone's heads, including the Quileutes. I screamed as an especially loud explosion rang out overhead, causing another round of screaming and pointing.
The fireworks were everywhere. I had never seen so many fireworks outside of a stadium on the 4th of July. Sam's pack had made the bonfire large enough to be seen for miles, extending above any of the trees on the reservation. Jacob's pack had supplied the fireworks; well, the Cullens had. They had brought an entire truck full of firecrackers and bottle rockets, and even a cannon to blast the large stadium rockets out over the ocean.
The Cullens, being very flammable, stood farther away than any of the humans, of course. The humans in question were probably grateful, seeing as the Cullens gave everyone, except for those used to the world of myths, the creeps.
Quil sat next to me, staring into the fire while Sam kept the normal people under control with the fireworks. Everyone had eaten, the remains of hot dogs and drinks scattered over the site; they would be picked up before anyone left.
It was probably close to nine 'o' clock, and the fireworks were running out. Explosions still rang out all over the beach, but they were smaller and fewer in number. The Cullens had really outdone themselves in helping out.
"Claire, so what did you think?" Quil asked.
"Is it already over? But it's only nine!" I exclaimed. I thought it would have gone on all night?
"Haha. No, silly. Of course it's not over. Just the public part. As soon as the fireworks are done, all the normal people will be sent home. Then, the real bonfire can start. The Cullens have never been to one of our meetings before, never heard the Quileute stories. Neither has Nessie, and She deserves it more than any of them. So tonight will be the first bonfire with vampires. Strange, the way things turned out in the end, isn't it?" he told me. I sat quietly, wondering how Sam would tell the stories with this huge fire separating everyone, drowning out all his words. I asked Quil this, and he just said, "This was just for the public, as well. There will be a smaller fire down the beach where we'll relocate to once everyone leaves." Oh. That made sense.
The fire was still roaring when all the humans left. Strange, how I didn't think of myself as a human anymore. I guess that was just a perk of being an imprintee, you didn't have to lump yourself with anything common anymore. You were special. I am special. I thought smugly as we moved down to the new spot, Quil's arm around my shoulder. It was a chilly night, now that the roaring fire was too far away to give any warmth. It's a good thing that none of us can get cold. We're either all 108.9 degrees, a little cooler in Aunt Nessie's case, frozen, or have a warm teddy bear to hug. I thought of my old nick name for Quil affectionately. Teddy bear, haha. I laughed quietly. I hadn't called him my teddy bear since I was six, when I first saw his wolf form. Had it really been that long ago?
We were sitting on a log around a smaller fire when Seth dropped next to me, opposite Quil. "So, you ready for the stories? There are two new ones since the last time you heard. We have a few members who only ever heard the originals as well. They still don't trust the Cullens, even though Jake and I live with them." Sam sat down just then, and everything fell silent.
"Welcome, pack members and imprints. Tonight is the first true pack meeting we have had in eight years, with all fifteen of us gathered in one place for pleasantries. Three of you have never met vampires, and I can see the conflict in your eyes, suppressed only by my edict. The other five have only had one encounter, and that was not pleasant. Now, please welcome, for the first time, the Cullen family."
Please R&R. I will write anyway, just because it's fun, but do please tell me what you think.