Okay technically this is not a new story, I actually already had a lot of it written and published on here, but took it down because I didn't like the way it was going. I'm reposting the old chapters first with a ton of edits, so be prepared because there's a lot of content coming up. I'll try to space out the chapters to be a little more regular, but no promises there. What I have written is already at 38K, which is longer than all of my complete stories, so this will probably be my biggest story overall. I've really loved these characters and their interactions, and I hope you do too!

Please enjoy the second debut of Beautiful Drama!

XxxxX

Outside, the coast was full of leisure craft, speedboats and sailboats. The docks were full and the water was blue, the day was clear and breezy. I left my window open and brought out a large fuzzy cloud-colored blanket, opening up the thick dusty book I found on the shelf.

It's too early to decide if I want to go to the bonfire at Sam's. It seems like it would be fun, but I won't know anyone aside from Emily, and she'll probably be in the kitchen most of the time.

Reia left a few days ago, and I miss her a little, but I'm mostly just glad to have the house to myself. It's still a little odd, though. Mom emailed me to remind me to hire a cleaner at some point so I don't have to worry about keeping the house clean, and Dad sent me a box of perfumes from Singapore. I mostly keep them for the bottles, which are sitting neatly on my dresser. I focused my attention on the book in my lap.

I noticed after awhile that the light was getting worse as the sun went down and figured I should decide about going out now. Bonfires usually start at dusk, right? I sighed, putting in a bookmark and wrapping myself in my blanket cloud. I assume I'll need something cute that won't make me catch a cold, but no swimsuit, since she said it was at her house and not the beach. I settled on a pale yellow lace halter top with dark jeans. I grabbed my purse and keys and headed out to Emily's.

When I arrived, I was taken slightly aback with the amount of hot people there. Well, hot guys. Shirtless hot guys. Lots of them. Everywhere. I tucked my keys into my purse and went into the house to greet Em.

"Onyx, you decided to come!" She grinned from her huge pot of something that smelled good.

"Yeah, I'd never willingly miss out on your cooking," I joked. "Plus, I had nothing planned for tonight, so why not socialize?" She nodded, gesturing for me to leave my purse on the end table with all the other purses.

"Billy wanted to talk to you, now that Reia is back in Africa. You know, just to make sure you're safe and all. He's outside watching those boys try to kill each other." She gestured to the boys all messing around on the front lawn. I nodded, smiling as I left her kitchen.

"Onyx Meraz, I haven't seen you in quite awhile. With Reia gone, are you allowed to go to parties again?" He chuckled when I came up to him. I smiled fondly.

"Yeah, actually. Now I'm allowed to do pretty much anything I want. How are you doing?"

"Can't complain, can't complain. Jake got a girlfriend, and I'm juggling that with Rachel's upcoming wedding, but I suppose there are worse things to be busy with. How have you been?"

"Adjusting. It's sort of weird having to do everything myself without Reia. I guess I'm pretty spoiled, but I'm getting the hang of it." I laughed.

"Yeah, you're a terrible brat," he smiled at me.

"I haven't been a TERRIBLE brat for several years Now, I'm just a normal brat." I told him, grinning back.

"I guess you're right." He nodded in mock seriousness. My attention was rapidly diverted at a yell from the lawn, and I looked over to see one of the guys had scooped up who I can only hope is his girlfriend and is now carrying her into the house over his shoulder. I found myself laughing.

"Oh, you haven't met the new boys, have you?" I shook my head, still watching the shenanigans going on. "There are a few new members of the gang now. Go find Jake, he'll make sure you meet them all." He winked, giving me a gentle shove towards his son.

"Jake," I called as I got closer, neatly dodging a volleyball.

"Onyx?" He jogged over, smiling. I haven't seen him in a couple years, and other than him obviously being more ripped, he hasn't changed much.

"Yeah, hey, what's up?"

"Nothing much, you're allowed outside now?" he joked, crushing me in a bear hug as I let out a wheezy laugh. He pulled back grinning. "Sorry. Yeah, you wanna play? We're almost done with this game."

"Sure, I'm not that good though." I said with a wink. He snorted, rolling his eyes.

"Right.. okay." He went back to his game, his team winning by a landslide. I went over to where they were picking teams.

"Everyone, this is Onyx, Onyx, you remember Paul, Leah, Jared and Quil. These losers are Brady, Seth, Collin and Embry." I nodded as he rattled off names and pointed to each.

Everyone waved, grinning, and I got out on a team with Leah, Quil, Jared and Collin. I'd spent several years on the res by now, but the last few had been spent mostly indoors while Reia 'homeschooled' me. She basically gave me all the home ec I could possibly want, and made sure I spent plenty of time studying after school every day. She was very strict, but I find myself missing the structure she brought to my life. I'd been friends with a few of the guys and Leah, but hadn't seen much of them recently.

I took my place next to Leah, a little surprised when she blatantly ignored me. I made a mental note to get on her good side, she's one of the people you want on your team. She seems very different from when I was friends with her. Seth, on the other team, served and we broke into action. It took a few seconds to kick into game mode, but while I was getting going, I watched my team's powerful hits. I wasn't surprised with the guys, since they LOOK so strong, but I was impressed with Leah. She has a ferocity that's hard to ignore. When we scored a point, I turned to her.

"You're a better player than all these beefcakes," I said, putting my fist out. She actually grinned, bumping her knuckles against mine.

"Damn straight."

I grinned back, and we launched back into the game. I let loose my favorite moves, smirking when both teams looked shocked at the little girl in skinny jeans and yellow lace getting point after point. Only Jake knew that I used to play volleyball competitively, and he groaned when he saw I hadn't forgotten how to play. While we were waiting for them to retrieve the ball that went out of their court, I felt a hand on my shoulder. A very hot hand, it almost felt fevered. I turned to see Collin behind me with a small smile on his face. I smiled back, taking note of his bright green eyes, a color that's pretty rare here. His smile faltered for only a second before he started talking.

"You're really great, where did you learn to play?"

"I used to play tournaments in junior high." I explained. "I don't know if that's cheating or whatever, but only Jake knew." He nodded, laughing a little.

"Jake's team usually wins, so it's nice that he's losing for a change."

I laughed.

"I will gladly kick his butt anytime." Collin laughed, and we returned our attention to the game. I didn't miss the taunting face thrown at Collin by Leah.

{Collin POV}

I caught Leah's knowing look, hoping my blush wasn't as dark as it felt.

I tried to focus my attention on the game, but it kept going back to Onyx. Because of my distraction, I almost missed two shots, although thankfully, Onyx was nearby so if I hadn't gotten them, she probably would have. The other team noticed this, and served in my direction more, so I went into intense game mode to shut distractions out of my mind. Quil scored us the winning shot and we all yelled our triumph. Jake looked annoyed as he went to find Ness, and Zoe jumped on Seth's back from behind, kissing down his neck noisily. I made a face and turned to go into the house. I jumped when Leah jabbed me in the ribs from behind.

"Hey, look at the idiot who jumped on the imprint bandwagon. Don't screw it up, monkey." She grinned at me. I've gotten along with Leah better than most of the other guys do, and I think it's because we're both pretty private people and don't need to talk when we're around each other. It's nice.

"Don't tell anyone please?" I look at her, and she gives me a wink before walking away. I sigh in relief.

I went into the house, dropping into my corner to finish the plans for the project my mom dumped on me for our yard. Emily smiled at me as she passed through to the put food outside, setting Sam and Billy up as guards. I tried not to think about Onyx, so that I wouldn't overthink and end up creeping her out. I need to watch myself because although I know I can't live without her, she doesn't know that, and it would be weird to explain it so suddenly. I engulfed myself in obsessing over how import it is that I don't obsess, only stopping when Emily told me it was time to eat. I jumped up to get a plate before the pack takes everything.

Onyx sat with Emily and Sam, talking politely with them, although I could tell she wasn't really comfortable. She probably wants to talk to a girl her age, or maybe not talk at all. Maybe she's an introvert like me and she's tired. I smiled at the thought that she might not need constant conversation to hang out.

Through the end of the night, she talked less and less, eventually hugging Em goodbye and sighing in relief when she grabbed her purse. She got into her – admittedly very nice – car and left. I dropped my head into my hands. I had one awkward conversation with her, and now she's gone and I have no idea when I can see her again. Damnit! I sighed heavily before leaving the party too, going down to the beach to swim for awhile to calm myself down and take my mind of it. As I headed home, I mentally prepared a plan of action to gradually get Onyx used to me.

Maybe this could work out okay after all, all I have to do is not screw everything up, right?

Thank you so much for reading! It would mean the world to me if you would leave a review! You don't need an account, and it takes like 2 minutes. I'm working on the next chapter now so I'll be trying to incorporate any suggestions into the upcoming posts. Let me know if there's anything you'd like to see!

We'll meet Daenarys and Paul soon;)