A/N: This story will switch between Rachel's and Paul's POV. Rachel is up first. Not much angst to come here, just a werewolf and his imprint trying to bring their lives together. Reviews are always appreciated. The current plan is to post every Thursday.

Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight, but if I did, there would be a lot more werewolves and a lot fewer vampires.

Rachel:

I pulled my laundry basket from the trunk of my car and slammed it shut. I really didn't want to be here, but I wanted to be at school even less. I couldn't believe that I had allowed myself to be so trusting of someone who obviously didn't deserve it. I felt betrayed, hurt, and above all stupid for not seeing this coming. That's what I get for trying to be an optimist.

I lugged my basket to the front door and took a deep breath to calm myself before inserting my key in the lock. I knew that my dad and Jake were expecting me, but they weren't expecting me in the shape I was in. I had managed to keep my emotions in check when I called to say I was coming home, but I had spent more than half of the eight hour drive crying - at one point I had to pull over because the tears were clouding my vision. The rest of the time, I was on the phone with Becca. She was trying to assure me that things were going to be fine, but I wasn't sure how. Everything was different now. I was different, broken.

After you've lost someone close to you, it's hard to form new attachments. I was always afraid I was going to lose someone else, so I figured if I didn't get close to anyone, it wouldn't hurt as bad when something happened. Against all common sense, I ignored this feeling and got close to someone. And I was pretty sure I'd never be able to trust anyone again.

There was only one thing I was grateful for. At least now I had made my decision about grad school. There was no way in hell I was going back to that place for a minute longer than I had to. Unfortunately, I hadn't quite figured out what I was going to do when I didn't go back in September. Maybe I could think about that this weekend too.

I pushed the door open and took in the familiar surroundings. There was a reason I stayed at school close to year round, only coming home for Christmas break when they kicked us out of the dorms. Memories of my childhood rushed past me as I set my basket on the coffee table. I closed my eyes and tried to push them away. I didn't need any of that added on right now; I was at my emotional breaking point.

"Dad?" I called after shutting the door. "Jake?" No answer. I was surprised to find the house empty. They knew I was coming home. Usually they would be waiting at the door with smiles and all kinds of bribes to keep me at home longer. When I came home for Christmas my dad actually offered to help me with my car payments if I came home more often. That was hard to turn down.

I was happy to have the house empty. I would have some time alone to collect myself. I hated crying, especially in front of other people, so any progress made toward reining it in was good.

I walked back through the kitchen to the mud room that held the ancient washer and dryer. I they think came off of the assembly line some time before World War II. Seriously. I started the washer and threw some detergent in before walking back to the living room to grab my basket. I dumped it into the machine and realized I wasn't going to fill it on my own. I looked around the room to see if there were any of my dad's or Jake's clothes to toss in, but there was nothing. I took my basket to the bathroom, knowing the pile of dirty clothes on the floor was probably mountainous. I was not disappointed. I filled my bin and made my way back to the laundry room, leaving twice as much as I took. I definitely did not miss living with boys. Although from the way things had been going recently, it appeared I wasn't very good at living with girls either.

I dumped the second load into the machine, noticing that it seemed to consist almost completely of cutoff shorts. Didn't Jake own anything else? I sighed and closed the lid, allowing the machine to start agitating. Becca and I had really failed when it came to teaching him how to dress to impress (or least how to dress to keep from embarrassing his family with his fashion sense straight from the 80s).

I went back to the living room and flopped on the couch. I turned on the TV and started flipping through channels, but since my dad was too cheap to get cable there was nothing on. I sighed and turned it off again. I laid back and pulled a blanket from the back of the couch to cover me. I put my arm over my eyes and tried not to think.

I didn't mean to fall asleep, but I apparently I had. I was rudely awakened when Jake jumped on top of me, knocking the wind out of me.

"Hey Rach!" he said with enthusiasm. I gasped for air as he hugged me tightly.

"Jake! Air!" I yelled as loudly as I could with no oxygen in my lungs.

"Oh sorry," he said, backing off. He stood up and his head almost touched the ceiling. My dad told me he had a growth spurt but I didn't think he'd grown this much. I stared with my mouth open, and he chuckled, "I know I'm pretty to look at, but you're my big sister. That'd be creepy."

I laughed out loud. "Oh Jakie, you think you're funny. That's so cute," I said sarcastically, pinching his cheek. "No, seriously, how much have you grown since Christmas? You're huge!"

"Again with the creepiness. Stop looking at me like an object!" he said laughing.

"Since when do you have such a dirty mind?"

"Since I had my growth spurt," he laughed.

I smirked as I sat up to make room for him on the couch next to me. He threw himself down with enough force that it rocked back on legs that seemed to be already seriously broken.

"So, to what do we owe the pleasure of this visit?" he asked, putting his arm around my shoulders and propping his feet up on the table.

"I just wanted to come home," I replied, hoping that would be explanation enough.

Obviously it wasn't. "And why did you want to come home?"

"I had a bad day at school and I needed to clear my head. It's a long weekend so I don't have to be back until Monday night," I said, being as vague as possible. Jake opened his mouth to start again but I cut him off. "I don't want to talk about it right now."

"Fine," he pouted.

"So, Dad tells me there's a girl that you like. Bella Swan right? What's going on with that?" I asked, changing the subject.

Jake's face went slack and his expression was horrified. Finally he composed himself enough to answer, "She got married about 2 weeks ago."

I was shocked. "What?"

"Her ex-boyfriend came back to town in the spring and they got back together. And they just got married so I'll probably never see her again."

Why didn't anyone tell me? My poor little brother. "Oh, Jake. I'm sorry." I put my arms around his waist (they barely made it) and hugged him.

"I'll be ok," he said but I could tell he was lying. I didn't want to force the issue though. He would talk about it when he was ready. "So are you coming to the bonfire tonight?" he asked, changing the subject yet again.

"Yeah, Dad mentioned something about that. I don't know Jake. Why would I want to hang out with a bunch of kids that are all younger than me?"

"First of all, they aren't all younger than you. Sam, Emily, and Leah are your age. And secondly, you'll go because you want to spend quality time with your favorite brother, and he's going to be over there." He gave me his best pouty face. He knew I couldn't say no to that face. In fact I was pretty sure he was counting on it.

I smiled as I agreed. "Fine, but I'm not staying late. I'm really tired from driving all day." It would do me good to be around different people. I needed a fresh perspective if I was going to work through these new issues.

"Sure, sure. It's so tiring to sit in the same position and move a fraction of an inch every ten minutes. How do you find the stamina?" I hid my smile to keep him from know that I found his comment amusing. When did he become so sarcastic? He would never let me forget it if I told him he was funny.

"What time is this get-together tonight?" I asked.

"Actually, everyone went over about an hour ago. They're waiting for us now." He paused for a split second to read my expression, seeing that I wasn't angry about the short notice. "Ok, let's go!"

He jumped up off the couch, pulling me with him. I flew through the air and landed halfway across the room. "Geez, throw me out the window why don't you?" I scolded.

"Sorry sis," he replied. "Sometimes I don't know my own strength." He laughed to himself like I was missing something. I shrugged it off, not in the mood to put forth the effort to find out what was so funny.

He led me out the front door and closed it behind us. He started walking towards the beach taking long strides that I could barely keep up with. "Why are you running?" I asked, hoping to slow him down.

"We need to hurry up or all the food will be gone."

"I'm not that hungry," I lied. I was, in fact, starving but my desire for bonfire hotdogs was non-existent. I would wait until we got home and eat the macaroni and cheese I packed for myself (since Dad and Jake's opinion of a full pantry was Doritos and tomato soup – sometimes together).

"Don't worry, there will be enough food for you no matter what. You'll only eat like 2 hotdogs. No one would keep food from you. Me on the other hand," he paused to chuckle, "Paul and Leah are actively working to see me starve to death."

I didn't really understand what he meant, but I laughed along with him at the thought of Leah doing anything the vicious. She was always so nice when we were in high school, I doubted she was so much different now, Sam or no Sam. I'd heard the details of their breakup were scandalous, but no one would tell me exactly what they were. Maybe I'd get some more information tonight.

He turned a corner, and the fire came into view. There was a large group of people milling around and yelling things back and forth across the fire. As we approached the group someone yelled, "Jacob's here!" and suddenly there was a hotdog flying through the air. Jake put up his left hand and caught it easily. "Thanks Seth," he said, raising a hand in appreciation. He offered it to me and when I shook my head he shoved it all in his mouth at once.

While he was still chewing he pointed to me and said, "Hey, guys." I heard a growl from the group, "And Leah – you all remember my sister Rachel."

A few of them said hi to me, but I had no idea who they were. Even if it had been light out I wouldn't have recognized most of these faces.

I saw my dad sitting close by and walked over to kiss him on the cheek. "How was your drive?" he asked.

"Long and boring as usual," I said.

"Well, I'm glad you're home. I miss having you around."

I sighed. "It's just for the weekend, Dad."

He glanced across the fire and said with a smile, "We'll see about that." Apparently he had thought of a new bribe to keep me home. I was curious to hear what it was. It wouldn't make a difference, but I liked it when my dad got creative. It always made me feel loved.

Suddenly I was being lifted in the air in a huge hug.

"What the hell?" I yelled, hoping whoever was attacking me would take the hint and put me down.

"Sorry, Rach," my attacker replied, "I just haven't seen you in forever." I looked into his face and studied his features. He looked so familiar but I couldn't quite place him. Then it hit me.

"Embry?" I asked. He nodded. "Little Embry Call who used to play Barbie's with Becca and me whenever you came over to play with Jake? Wow, you had a growth spurt too." He looked uncomfortable, and I realized I probably shouldn't have brought up his previous affinity for playing with girly toys. He shook it off easily.

"Yeah it's true, I used to love to send Skipper off to the beach, but at least I grew out of it. Hey Quil," he yelled across the fire. "When was the last time you played Barbie's?"

I saw Jake's other best friend, Quil, sigh before he answered, "Yesterday." I laughed with everyone else, though they seemed to find it less confusing than I did. Apparently I had entered a group with a lot of inside jokes. It was annoying to be on the outside when no one was offering explanations, and I didn't want to be the nosy one that asked, so I figured my night was doomed to confusion and bewilderment.

As I laughed, I looked from Quil to another face on the other side of the fire. It was a face that I recognized but, yet again, couldn't put a name to. I knew I had seen him around before but I couldn't place exactly where. He was staring at me with a strange expression and it seemed like he was trying to remember how he knew me too. He started walking to me, never taking his eyes from mine. When he reached me I stuck out my hand to shake his.

"Hi, I'm Rachel," I said. "I'm really sorry. I know that I know you from somewhere, but I can't remember your name."

He kept staring into my eyes as he took my hand in his. He smiled wide and answered enthusiastically. "Paul. My name is Paul."