~Chapter One~

Rachel's P.O.V.

"You sure about this Rach?"

I glanced across at Lavender who was driving the car and shrugged.

"I suppose so. It's a change of scene, if nothing else" I mumbled.

She was driving me to my aunt Tiffanys's house. I hadn't been to La Push in over two years, which was crazy. I used to be extremely
close with Embry, especially when we were children.

Now that I had just finished high school, I had the whole summer free before I would be going to University, taking some social studies course that I only half wanted to do. I figured it might be good for me to spend a bit of time away from home and this was the first place I thought of coming.

Aunt Tiffany was very keen on the idea. From what she had told me Embry was going through some sort of rebellious streak, and she was very much hoping that I'd have a good influence on him.

Although I was grateful for her enthusiasm, I was doubtful I was the 'good influence' he needed.

For the last two and a half years I had been living with my uncle and his wife in Virginia and I certainly had done my fair share of sneaking out at night. Of course, she knew this, but I suppose she thought if there were two of us, it would happen less.

"You can just drop me off here Lav, that's the house right there" I told Lavender quickly, once I could see the house.

She nodded, pulling into the driveway.

"You a hundred percent sure about this?" she asked again.

I chuckled slightly.

"Yes, I am. Thanks for the lift" I reached across the car to give her a hug, which she returned.

"Take care of yourself, okay?" she replied when we parted.

I nodded, hopping out of the car and heading to the back to get out my bags.

"Give me a call when you get home" I told her, before finally closing the car door.

When I got to the front door, I turned to give her a wave.

She waved back enthusiastically before pulling out of the driveway.

This was it, I was on my own now.

I took a deep breath before knocking on the door.

It took less than thirty seconds for Tiffany to open the door.

"Rachel! Come on in honey, I was wondering when you'd arrive" her smile was bright, making me feel instantly at home.

She stood back a bit to let me walk in past her and once the door was closed, she pulled me into a hug.

"Its been far too long! I haven't seen you since-" she quickly cut herself off when she realised when the last time I had seen her was.

I smiled back weakly.

"Since the funeral" I finished for her.

She nodded slowly.

"Yeah" she sighed.

Both of my parents had died in a car crash just over two years ago and since then I hadn't been to La Push. Tiffany was my moms sister and they had been pretty close so we had come here often enough.

"Embry's out with his friends right now but he should be home soon enough" she told me, though she didn't sound so sure.

"You'll be staying in the spare room , it's here next to Embry's. You can just get settled in the room there and I'll make us a cup of tea" she continued.

I nodded.

"Sounds great" I replied honestly before wandering off to the guest room.

As a child I had never stayed in the guest room. I had always just slept in with Embry. Things were sure to be a lot different between me and him now though.

Once I had left my bags in the room and freshened up a bit, I headed to the living room where she was waiting with two mugs of tea and a plate of toast.

I sat down, quickly nibbling on a slice of toast.

"So how have you been auntie Tiff?" I asked, making myself comfortable on the couch.

She sighed, explaining about Embry's recent behaviour and how stressful it had been.

"You know at first I thought it was just a phase. All teenagers rebel. But it's been going on for so long now. I'm so worried about him" her voice had turned into a whisper at this point.

"I'm sure it'll get better! Maybe he's just sneaking out to see a girl or something. You know what guys are like" I tried to comfort her.

She just nodded, though I could tell she wasn't feeling much better.

Before I had a chance to say anything else, laughing from the kitchen distracted us.

"That must be them back now" she told me, standing up from the couch quickly, stacking the dishes into one pile.

I followed her out to the kitchen and admittedly was a little surprised at what I saw.

"Embry?" I asked softly, not fully sure it was him.

His eyes met mine and I knew then it was him.

He was so different, it was crazy. There was two others with him but I barely glanced at them. I couldn't help but stare at Embry. He certainly wasn't the same guy I used to play on the beach with.

He was so much taller, so much more muscular. He was topless so it was easy to see the tattoo on the top of his right arm.

"Embry.." I whispered again.

Walking over to me he engulfed me in a hug. I was surprised at how warm his skin was. Was he running a fever or something.

However I wrapped my arms around him tightly nonetheless.

When we parted I couldn't help but smile.

"Someone grew" I giggled slightly, scanning him again.

He rolled his eyes.

"Rachel, you remember Jacob and Quil" he turned around, one arm still around me, pointing to the other boys.

My eyes widened slightly.

Jacob and Quil?

As in Embry's skinny friends with the long hair and remaining baby fat. Were all the La Push boys on steroids or something?

Both of them had grown a few foot and were now huge.

"Wow.." I mumbled.

Embry nudged me.

"Whenever you're done leering at my friends" he teased.

Both Jacob and Quil laughed causing me to roll my eyes.

"Well c'mon, don't we get a hug?" Jacob chuckled, opening his arms wide.

I found his skin was surprisingly warm aswell, just as Embry's had been. The same with Quil, though I decided to overlook it for now.

"Its good to have you back Rach" Embry grinned, once Quil and I had parted.

"It's good to be back"