Chapter 2:

"Hey, wake up," whispered a melodic voice, I felt a hand gently shake my shoulder. I opened my eyes, squinting in the morning light. Where was I? I looked around and saw trees and the damp leaves underneath me, a man who looked like he was in his mid twenties had his hand on my shoulder. Instantly my heart started beating faster. He was the most beautiful person I'd ever seen in my life. He had short black hair and almond coloured skin with kind brown eyes. He was wearing only a pair of tight fitting shorts, showing the muscles on his arms and chest. I could feel a blush creeping up on my cheeks. I sat up quickly, feeling the strain on my back from sleeping on the forest floor all night.

"Are you alright?" the man said with a look of concern on his face. I just stared at him with my mouth hanging open slightly for a second, before remembering that I needed to answer him.

"Yeah I'm fine," I croaked, clearing my throat, "I didn't realise I'd gone to sleep."

"Why were you out here so late?" he asked, pulling me to my feet. His hand felt so warm and strong around mine. I suddenly realised how cold I actually was and my muscles shivered. The feel of his hand gave me butterflies and I tried to compose myself.

"I guess I just wanted to go for a walk, and then I got lost." It was half true. The man didn't look as though he believed what I'd said, but he didn't question me.

"You look freezing, come on, why don't I give you a lift home?" he offered kindly. I was always taught not to get into cars with strangers, but something about him made me trust him. As weird as that sounded. So I nodded, and then followed him through the vegetation.

"I'm Seth by the way," he added, giving me a little smile. I couldn't help but notice how amazing he looked when he smiled. But I shrugged the thought out of my mind, remembering that I had a boyfriend.

"I'm Cassie," I smiled back shyly, hiding my flushed face behind my hair.

"So where about is it that I'm taking you?"

"Um," I stuttered. I didn't even know the Cullen's address. "In Forks, I don't really know the address; I'm staying with people for the summer."

"I'm pretty sure I can work it out, Forks isn't exactly vastly populated," he chuckled to himself.

"Oh right," I smiled gratefully, "well I'm staying with the Cullens." Seth turned to me looking surprised.

"The Cullens? Really?" he raised his eyebrows.

"Yeah, why is that so surprising?" I asked with a slight flirty edge to my voice that surprised even me. I couldn't even talk to new people, never mind flirt with them.

"Just they don't have visitors a lot," he grinned, "I'm good friends with Edward actually."

"Really? That's cool," I smiled back, wondering why I felt so comfortable with this complete stranger. And also why he made my heartbeat go into overload. We made it to his car, an old silver coloured truck, and he started up the engine.

"So how do you know the Cullens?" Seth asked, I was pretty sure he was just making conversation to be polite.

"Bella is my boyfriend's cousin, they said we could stay with them for the summer," I explained, feeling guilty about telling Seth that I had a boyfriend for some reason. He just nodded, staring persistently at the road ahead. It surprised me that he had an almost pained look in his eyes. I had no idea why though.

"How do you know them?" I asked curiously, trying to change the subject.

"That's a long story," he chuckled to himself, "But I've known them for about four years now, since I was fourteen." This really shocked me; he was only eighteen? I stared at him in disbelief.

"No way you're eighteen?! You look so much older!" I gasped, instantly regretting sounding so forward. But he just laughed casually.

"Yeah I get that a lot," he said, with a cute smugness. "I'm guessing you're about... Fifteen?"

"Sixteen," I corrected him, feeling incredibly small being only 5'2. He must have been at least 6'4, I thought to myself. He nodded to himself in thought.

We pulled up outside the Cullen's house at about 7:30 in the morning, and Seth walked me to the door. I kept noticing him glancing at me, making me feel flustered and it made my heart beat even faster, if that was possible. It confused me why he made me feel this way. I hadn't exactly made the best first impression, my dress was covered in dirt and my hair was probably wild. That must be why he was staring at me, I thought.

Edward opened the door with a grin on his face, but Esme stood behind him looking worried.

"Oh my gosh what happened to you?" Esme ushered me into the house, her hand gently on the small of my back.

"I can't really remember... I must have passed out in the forest." Once again, this was only partly true. Her brows furrowed with concern.

"How awful, I'll let you go upstairs to sort yourself out," she said, "Aiden hasn't woken up yet, I don't think he's even realised that you were gone," she added. I smiled at her in gratitude.

"Thanks for, um, driving me home Seth," I thanked him awkwardly, feeling my cheeks go red.

"No problem, hopefully I'll see you soon," he beamed. It was strange how his smile gave me goose bumps, just the way his eyes lit up and how perfect all of his facial features were, his smooth skin on those perfect cheekbones... I realised that I'd been staring at Seth for an unusually long amount of time when Edward cleared his throat awkwardly.

"Oh, yeah, me too, thanks again," I said too quickly, shooting him a smile, then hurrying up the stairs. I felt so embarrassed; they all knew that I was blatantly ogling at him. I shoved my head into my pillow sighing deeply. How could he make me feel like this after knowing him for only half an hour? I knew that I'd need to stop fantasizing over him, I had a boyfriend and I was definitely not a cheater. Finn bounded up to me and leaped on top of me. I realised that I hadn't been there to let him out this morning so someone else must have done it, and I felt incredibly guilty.

I took off my dirt-ridden clothes and put them in the laundry basket at the end of my bed, then took a quick shower, pulled on a fresh pair of jeans and a hoodie, and put on a bit of make-up. I went downstairs; my hair still slightly wet from the shower, and saw two cooked breakfasts set out on the table. The Cullens really were too kind; letting me stay in their home, taking Finn out for me that morning, and cooking me breakfast. I felt as though I needed to repay them somehow. Aiden pushed past me and flopped himself down at the table, munching his breakfast while idly checking his phone. I felt a pang of anger towards him; how could he be so ungrateful? It was strange, I was never normally angry at him. I went into the kitchen to thank Esme, who was sat at the counter watching cooking channels on the TV; she insisted that it was no trouble. As I went to sit down at the table Aiden looked up at me.

"Nice outfit," he smirked at my faded jeans and baggy hoodie. I shrugged, feeling ashamed of myself. He had that knack for making me feel like that.

"So I've been messaging Jordan," he told me, with a mouth full of toast, spraying crumbs across the table.

"Who's Jordan?" I asked, wiping a bread crumb off my cheek.

"One of the guys from last night, seriously Cassie," he rolled his eyes at my apparent ignorance, "anyway, he was saying that him and some other people are going to this amazing beach resort for a guys holiday, leaving tonight, someone dropped out and he asked me to go with them." Aiden munched on a piece of bacon casually.

"And, are you going to go?" I asked slowly.

"Well, yeah," he stated, as if it was a fact, "I can't really turn it down, you don't mind right? Only for a week." I was slightly shocked, a whole week with him gone?

"But I'm staying with your family; won't that be rude if you're not here?" I questioned.

"No it'll be fine," he snorted, standing up from the table. I didn't know what to say, so I sat silently staring down at the table.

"Look, Cassie," he sighed, "I've already asked Bella and she said it was fine, so don't stress." He walked off to his room. My head was telling me that I should feel sad that he was leaving, but another part of me felt glad. I'd never had these feelings about Aiden before; I'd always seen him as someone to guide me, who I wanted around all the time. But something in the back of my mind, no matter how hard I tried to push it out, was telling me that when Aiden was gone I would have a chance with Seth. It was completely absurd, I could never cheat on anyone, and Seth wouldn't even give me a chance if I wanted to. I didn't even like him that much, I told myself. Whether I was lying was still unknown to me.

That evening, Aiden had his bags by the door, ready to take off on his "guys holiday". We'd stayed at the Cullen's house for two days and he was already leaving me there alone with his family. But I wouldn't complain. I was actually feeling excited for him to leave; realising this a wave of guilt washed over me. He gave me a half-hearted kiss at the door, and then left without another word. As soon as he was out of the door I found myself itching to call Seth and ask him to come over, although I didn't have his number and we didn't know each other well enough to do that. What had come over me? It was like I was obsessed with him or something. I told myself that I needed to clear my head, so I decided go to the beach with Finn. Taking him on walks always made me feel better, and the fresh air would do me good. But then I realised that I didn't have a car, and La Push was at least twenty minutes drive from here, which put a dampener on my plans. I sighed, sitting down on my bed and stroking Finn's fur in thought.

"What are we doing here Finn?" I asked him, feeling close to tears, as I draped my arms around his fuzzy neck. I felt like I was imposing on the Cullen's family, they seemed to go through so much trouble to keep me happy. Yet because I couldn't drive there was no way I could get out of the house, unless I wandered aimlessly into the forest. I could hear the sound of voices coming from downstairs, laughing and joking about something. One of the voices stuck out to me for some reason, and then I realised. Seth. My heart started beating faster and I felt flustered. It was as if his voice made a chemical reaction happen in my body, and I had no idea why. I tried to pull myself together, taking deep breaths and composing myself, before I braved my way down the stairs. I could see him before I even reached the bottom of the staircase, now wearing a tightly fitting white T-shirt, which I was slightly disappointed by as I was looking forward to seeing him half naked again. Ugh, why were these thoughts going through my head?

"Second time I've seen you today," he grinned. He had no idea what that did to me.

"Yeah," I laughed nervously, not knowing what to do with myself. All I could think about was touching his soft skin. What was wrong with me? Finn came bounding down the stairs and jumped up at Seth, wagging his tail and panting. Seth laughed, ruffling the fur on Finn's head playfully. Watching them I couldn't help but smile.

"So I was wondering whether you and this little guy would like to go to the beach with me?" Seth asked sweetly, "I heard that your boyfriend had left town so I thought you might be a bit lonely." I felt astounded, how did he know that Aiden had left town?

"I texted Seth earlier, saying you might want a bit of company," Edward interrupted my thoughts. That made a bit more sense, but I still found it strangely coincidental that he'd wanted to go to the beach too. I couldn't remember telling anyone that I was planning to go there? I shrugged the thought out of my mind. I wasn't sure whether Seth was hanging round with me out of pity or not, the thought of it made me feel embarrassed. But that didn't stop me from following him to his truck.