I walked down the beach and stared at the multicolored rocks at my feet. Today was the 12th anniversary of my adoption into the Cullen family, though I'm not officially a Cullen, yet. I will be someday, though, but, currently, I'm still Alina Evens.

I looked out at the choppy, wavy waters of the ocean, and then up at the skies. It was growing darker; there was going to be a storm. I smiled to myself; I love stormy weather, and sitting by a window watching the lighting strike the earth. Listening to the boom of the thunder right before lightning, counting the seconds between them...it was actually quite fascinating. Emmett taught me how counting the seconds in between the thunder and lightning tells you how far away the storm is.

I loved being with the Cullens. There, with them, I felt secure, and, overall, loved. This stood much in contrast with what I could remember of my biological parents. I was taken from my original parents when I was three, and placed with the Cullens.

They had thought of taking in a human child for sometime, but only if the human child was in need. It would turn out to be a win-win situation; the child (a.k.a.-me) would grow up in a loving, safe environment, and with food and shelter. The Cullens would become slightly less noticeable, having one normal child that wouldn't draw suspicion to them. By that, I meant that no one would find out that they were vampires. But when they took me in, they didn't expect me to totally become part of the family, and to develop a relationship with them.

By the time I was eight, they told me that they were vampires. I remembered that, instead of being scared, I asked if they were like Dracula, the guy Emmett showed me on TV one night while he was babysitting me. I remember Rosalie chuckling and Emmett and Jasper roaring with laughter. Esme and Carlisle gave Emmett a reproving look, and Edward and Bella looked at me like I was another daughter, smiling and happy. Edward and Bella had always been my siblings/parents to me, as Carlisle and Esme were mom and dad. Rose and Emmett are like another mom and a...not-so-father (Emmett's a little too...immature, I guess, to be a father figure. He's more like a big brother). Alice and Jasper were always my siblings and best friends; they are always there when I need them. I loved my family and never could imagine life with out them. I had grown used to there strange habits and staying in cold, wet, and rainy places.

I finally realized I had walked too far when rain splashed down on my face in steady drops. I looked around, and estimated I had at least a 2 mile walk from here back to Renesemee's car in the parking lot. Renesemee would be so mad at me...By now, she'd probably be done with her visit with Jacob. I sighed, and started to walk off towards the direction of her car.

About an hour later of trudging along in the usual manner of someone with waterlogged clothes, I saw the dark outline of a big man running down the shore in my direction. The person obviously wasn't vampire, due to their restrictions, but he wasn't human, either. I slowed my pace. It was probably one of the wolves doing patrol, or something. I kept my eyes straight ahead as I walked, trying to find out who it was.

"Alina!" screamed the person, his voice booming across the distance deeply "Is that you, Alina?!"

I couldn't see who it was, but, judging by the tan coloring of his skin, I confirmed my previous accusations; it was one of the Quileute wolves.

"Yeah, it's me!" I yelled back, coughing slightly.

Great, I thought. Esme is going to freak out; her goal in life is to keep me as healthy as possible. This means Carlisle is going to give me a check up, and Rose is going to make sure I get plenty of rest. I thought further into that. That also means Rose won't teach me about cars today. I've been taking lessons from Rose about cars. I got some of it, but, mostly, she taught me how to hot wire a car, in case of emergencies. She always told me, "Never for fun!"

As I watched the boy run down the beach, I noticed it was Seth. I sighed in relief. Thank god it was Seth! I don't know what I would have done if it was Jared or Paul. I probably would have heard some stupid jokes about me smelling like a vampire, or that I was waiting for my date with Seth. I hated it when they said stuff like the latter; it was so off the mark. He was just my best friend-nothing more, nothing less.

I smiled at Seth as he ran down the beach, and waved, ignoring the rain as much as possible, which was pretty hard due to the fact that I was soaked, and it was pouring cats and dogs.

Cough. "Hey Seth," I greeted nonchalantly, as if there was nothing wrong with my waterlogged clothes, nor the occasional cough.

"Hey Alina! How is it going?" he asked, going along with what I was doing. I noticed that his clothes were just as soaked as mine; his undershirt clung to his chest, and his short hair drooped as far as was possible, which wasn't to his eyes. His shorts weren't very different, nor his sneakers that, surprisingly, weren't making squishy sounds with every footstep, as mine did.

"Eh, not to bad," I stated after these observations, smirking. "How about you?"

"Some rotten weather we are having, aren't we?" he answered in a polite, mocking tone.

Cough-cough. "Very much so. " I mimicked him, trying to make him bypass my coughing fits.

My attempts were in vain, as was obvious to see by his facial expression. "Okay, well, here is the deal," he started. After I groaned, he continued quickly, "Esme said to bring you back as soon as possible. She said something about it being flu season and that you're a good person to get it at the moment. Oh, and she also told me to tell you that, and I quote, 'Alina Marie Evens! No trying to trick Seth into letting you stay out! If you're not home in 15 minutes, I'll send Edward and Emmett out to get you!'"

"Great, that's just what I need," I stated sarcastically, trying to hold in my giggles at his comic imitation at Esme's tone of voice. "Emmett coming just to laugh at me, and Edward scolding me to high heaven. Haha-" Cough. A brief moment of awkward silence commenced."Well, lets get walking," I offered, trying to cover up my awkwardness.

"Who said we were walking?" Seth stated. "It's been about three minutes since she called..."

"Well, we can run, then," I suggested, starting to jog towards Renesemee's car. "Race you t-"

"Or I can do this," he said. Before I could realize what he was doing, he had already grabbed me, and threw me over his shoulder. I saw him smiling before my head was jerked over his back. After the initial irritation, I realized the only thing that really annoyed me about this was that it reminded me-again-how much more graceful, strong, and fast everyone was compared to me. Since I had gotten used to this over the years, this didn't annoy me as much. Besides, his body heat warmed me, making me realize how cold I must have been.

Despite this, I couldn't resist yelling to no one in particular, "Help! I'm being kidnapped!"

Seth just chuckled, and ran faster. Just like Princess Fiona in Shrek...seriously! Knowing that I wouldn't win any arguments, I just pleaded, "Please, just don't drop me."

Suddenly, he shifted his grip on me, letting me slip slightly.

"SETH!" I screamed at the top of my lungs, fear gripping my heart so hard as to nearly rip it to shreds just by pumping too fast.

Immediately, he reaffirmed his grip on me before I could fall a mere millimeter. "Alina...Did you really think I would drop you?" he chuckled.

I knew fully well that he wouldn't drop me, but it had taken me totally by surprise. "Well...yeah, I guess," I admitted.

"Alina..." he sighed, seemingly exasperated.

I laughed. "You're forgiven, though."

He chuckled. "I don't exactly regret doing that, you know, so you shouldn't forgive me."

"I know that you didn't mean to actually drop me..." I reasoned.

"Okay," Seth chuckled.

"You know," I changed subject, "You still haven't given me a ride on your back as a werewolf..."

"Oh!" He seemed to just barely remember. "Sorry! Remind me next time you're caught in a storm on the beach two miles away from civilization..."

Giggling, I mock-scolded, "I can't believe you forgot!" Cough.

"Have you already caught the flu, or something?" Seth asked.

"No!" I immediately retorted. "I'm just coughing because I'm cold!"

"Why are you cold?" he asked. "You're right against my body!"

"My back isn't," I declared. Cough.

Sigh. "All right," he muttered, quickly cradling me in his arms.

Suddenly, I was slightly dazed; I could notice all too well his muscular chest, and his hot arms against my cold back. Obsidian hair, and onyx eyes...A slight overdose of...wait. What was I saying? An overdose of what?

Obliterating these stupid thoughts, I quickly stated, "Hey! Who said that you could...cradle me?"

He seemed...dazed, as well. Or maybe...I don't know...intense, all of a sudden. It took him a moment to respond. "I...uh, is it-"

"Awkward?" I offered. "Yes, it is quite..." Again with those deep eyes. How had I never noticed them before? Maybe I was too busy...doing what? Of course, we're only best friends. That's definitely right...right? Cough. "...awkward?" I finished. It sounded more like a question than a statement of fact.

"Then..." Seth trailed off. I realized that I should be surprised; his mood had swung too fast for normality to allow. But, of course, I had done the same thing, so there was no reason...but...What if he was thinking what I'd been thinking?

"Piggy back ride?" he offered, bringing me out of my sort-of-epiphany. I quickly nodded my head in consent, and I was quickly moved into the aforementioned position.

I was nervous...What if we started to talk about what had just commenced? Maybe..."Don't let me hit any branches!" I mock-pleaded in an attempt to change subject, wrapping my arms around his head so that I could block his eyesight.

"Hey!" he chuckled, immediately moving my arms out of the way. "Cut it out, or maybe I will!"

After a few more minutes of conversing in this manner, we arrived. Seth, seeing a 'funny' moment coming on, ran straight through the open door, threatening to hit my head on the wall above the door. "SETH!" I screamed, just like before, and quickly slammed my head onto his. "Ow!" I cried as he ground to a halt. "That wasn't funny at all, Seth Clearwater!" Chuckling on his part commenced. "Oh, shut-"

Suddenly, Esme was by his side, glaring at me. "Alina Marie Evens, what where you thinking!" Esme yelled. "You could have gotten sick, if you're not already!" Then, her voice softened, as did her gaze. "Your staying in bed for the rest of the day, drinking plenty of fluids and eating chicken soup. Got it?"

"Yes, mom." I only said mom when I knew I was in trouble. It always softened her up a little, and it worked this time, as well. Her eyes turned to liquid gold, and her face kind and gentle, as she reached down to hug me.

"I'm so glad you're okay, honey. I don't know what we would ever do without you," she said softly.

"Yeah, who would help pull pranks on everyone?" I heard Emmett yell from his bedroom. This was followed by Emmett whining, "I was just joking, Rose! You didn't need to hit me. Gosh." After I noted the strange tone of voice he had used, his exclamation was followed promptly by another, "Ow!".

Seth put me down on the couch as he started yet another fit of laughter. Sure, it was funny for the first few seconds, but I couldn't help but be annoyed as Seth guffawed at me openly. After what seemed like an eternity of laughter on his part, he finally seemed to get the hint that nobody else (especially me) found it funny, and stopped. Either that, or my glare intimidated him beyond belief. I'd go with the former.

After his fit of giggles, Esme stated, "Well, Seth, thanks for bringing Alina home, but I think you should be heading home, now. It is getting dark, and your mom is probably wondering where you are."

"Okay," Seth agreed. Turning to me, and giving me a quick, "Bye!", he then turned to leave.

After a moment of silence, he turned back around. "What, aren't you going to say bye to me?"

I stuck my tongue out at him, and yelled, "Go crawl in a hole and die!"

"Oh, come on! I was just joking!" Seth laughed.

"Yeah, let me tell ya; threatening to cut someone's head off is 'joking'? Since when?"

"Did you think that I would let the door frame cut your head off?" he asked, his face turning more...serious, again.

I paused for a moment, dumbfounded, before countering lamely, "Well...uh, yeah, I guess..."

"I wouldn't," Seth chuckled. "Just like I wouldn't let you fall, or hit any branches, I wouldn't let a door frame cut your head off."

There seemed to be double meaning to his words. I looked at him...suspiciously, I guess, before saying, "Well, thanks, I guess." Before any comments could come from upstairs from my not-so-fatherly figure, I quickly added, "And bye."

Seth smiled, and took his leave.

The rest of the evening was a blur. Esme ordered me to stay in bed until I was better, and had drank every drop of chicken soup in the bowl. Though I didn't admit it, I wouldn't have a problem with that; her chicken soup was definitely one of the most heavenly things on the face of the planet. Of course, the only cooking I had ever tasted was hers, and the lunchladies' from here, and in Alaska. Still, hers was incomparable.

As I settled into bed, with my pajamas on, I couldn't help but wonder back to what had commenced today. Why had I just noticed that Seth looked...I didn't know...appealing? There weren't many words in my vocabulary to describe him; I wasn't like the rest of the sappy girls at school, who studied romance novels inside and out. But...no...I couldn't be thinking of him like that! We're just best friends...

Right?