Okay, this chapter ended up pretty long, and I'm pretty proud of it. I was having a great time writing it and doing my proof reading, so I really hope you guys enjoy it!

Also! I've decided to start putting quotes at the beginnings of the chapters. They're ones that I feel someone relate to either the undertone of the chapter or the content within.

Chapter 6

"Don't walk in front of me… I may not follow
Don't walk behind me… I may not lead
Walk beside me… just be my friend"

- Albert Camus

Jessica, Bella, and I were released from Port Angeles Hospital the Sunday morning after the terrible night previous, having all given a police report and getting some of our scratches and bumps checked out. Bella, thankfully, hadn't given herself a concussion from her trip in the alleyway.

I couldn't remember much before I passed out. I remember those sleazy guys chasing us, and cradling Bella in the alley. I remembered that someone came to our rescue, and that was it. After that I'd completely blanked. We'd been found in the alley, just Bella and I by ourselves. Jessica had almost made it to the car before she'd gotten knocked out by someone. Part of me wondered how one of those guys had gotten to Jessica, when we'd all been in the alley and I was pretty sure none of them had squeezed around Bella and I, but she'd been found knocked out just feet away from her car after she'd dialed 911 on her cellphone.

The men who had chased us were nowhere to be found. We'd given the most vague police reports ever, because none of them had really had any defining features for any of us to remember. We'd been more concern about getting away from the drunkards, instead of trying to look at their features. All we were really able to tell them were some pretty general hair colors and skin tones, but other than that we had given then nothing to go off of.

At the hospital, we'd been given sleeping meds after they'd checked us out, despite my protests. I spent the rest of the night in a haze, not sleeping but with a cloud hanging over my face. It only started to fade in the morning, when the doctors started getting the paperwork around for our release and the police had come back to grill us some more about the men.

I had never been happier to be riding in the back of a police cruiser than I was then.

I was so relieved that we'd all come out practically unscathed. That had been way too real of an experience, one I'd never expected to happen to me. Though I think most people attacked in the night felt the same. That mentality of 'Surely it'll never happen to me, nothing ever really happens to me so I should be safe.'

"I can't let you girls out of my sight, can I?" Charlie grumbled as he drove us home, after we parted with Jessica and her parents in the parking lot.

Jessica had been very quite the whole time we were being picked up by the ambulance and at the hospital, a small, angry looking bruise blossomed against the side of her face. She hadn't seemed like she'd wanted anything to do with Bella and I after we'd arrived at the hospital. I was fine with that. After my panic, I'd concluded that I owed Jessica for calling the police, but that still didn't make me feel the need to be her friend.

Bella was leaning her head on my shoulder, sitting with me in the back of the cruiser. I had my arm over her shoulder and my hand was running through her hair, like I used to do with Sierra when she was upset. Bella had a small set of stitches on her temple, from where the rock she'd faceplanted into had cut her head open. Thankfully, that hadn't been very deep cut.

I sighed, looking at my uncle through the bars between the back of the cruiser and the front. "I'm sorry, Uncle Charlie."

"Sorry?" He said angrily. "What are you sorry for? You girls shouldn't have to fear for your damn lives having a simple movie night! Those scum bags better hope that PAPD catch them first, because if I find them first I'll-"

"Uncle Charlie," I soothed, interrupting my visibly distraught Uncle. "It's okay. We're okay. Whoever it was that saved us and scared those guys off came at the right time. No one got hurt, they hadn't any time to touch us. We're okay."

His fists clenched the steering wheel tightly, and then relaxed. "I know, I just… I can't imagine something like that happening to my girls. I don't know what I'd done if they'd managed to get to you two."

"You'd have had to learn to cook for yourself, for one," I teased, trying to make him feel better. "Because you know we'd both be haunting you if you kept ordering only take out for meals."

He glared at me in the rearview mirror, his mustache twitching as he fought off a smile. "I'm serious, Gwen."

"Are you kidding?" Bella spoke softly, lifting her head off my shoulder. "Pizza is one of dad's major food groups."

That did it, and he shook his head as we giggled in the back seat. "You two just gotta gang up on your old man, don't ya? Alright, you'll be singing a different tune when you're asking me to order something tonight for supper."

Cooking really didn't sound that appealing to either of us, I could tell by the look on Bella's face that even she wanted to just relax once we'd gotten home. We'd had too rough of a night to feel like even looking at the stove, let alone cooking on it.

There was a moment of silence, where none of us really said anything, until I finally broke.

"…I could go for a meat lover's pizza," I whispered, and Charlie started to laugh.

Bella smiled, nodding in agreement.

God, I loved this family. Even though Bella was a work in progress and Charlie a bit emotionally stunted sometimes, himself, they were everything I could've asked for in my blood family.

"When can we come visit, sis?" Sierra asked, her voice cracking slightly as I tried to find good reception in my room.

The best spot seemed to be at the very corner of my bed, near the window. I sighed, plopping onto the mattress and sitting Indian style. "I don't know, squirt. That's up to Janette, and you know she isn't going to let you guys take a vacation from school unless you get your grades up."

I heard her groan loudly. "It's only a couple classes! And they're really, really hard, Gwen! The teachers grade too tough."

"Wait until you get to your senior year," I told her, chuckling.

Sierra huffed. "I just want to work on my drawing."

Sierra was just as good at drawing as she was at makeup. She was aspiring to become a tattoo artist, from what she'd always told me. She wanted to practice drawing as much as she could, so that she could get good enough to do beautiful portraits and pictures on people's skin. I thought it was a wonderful dream and goal, but Janette would have to take some time getting used to it when Sierra finally decided to tell her she wanted to go to art school once she graduated.

"You'll get more electives," I told her, from what I'd heard of high school from Bella. "They even have more tiers of Drawing classes in some schools. I'm sure they have stuff there, just take those."

"Mom wants me to take accounting, she thinks that would be a good job for me."

I could practically hear the younger girl rolling her eyes through the phone.

I smiled. "Well, how about going for Personal Finance? It certainly isn't accounting but that should placate Janette some. Besides, that class teaches you the life stuff you need to know like budgeting, saving for a house, for a car, and how to do your EZ tax form yourself. That stuff they don't really teach you unless you take that class."

Sierra hummed. "Sounds boring as hell, but I guess you're right. If it keeps me from accounting then I'll do it."

"Hey," I told her, a smile in my voice. "I'll always be up for a tattoo from my lil sis once you get on your path. As long as I'm still here once you're certified, I'll be your first customer."

"Don't say that like that," she said, her voice quivering. "You're going to make it. I don't believe it."

"Sierra," I sighed, softly.

"No!" she shouted, upset. "I can't… you can't. You're my big sister. I won't have anyone to talk to when you're gone, you can't go."

I played with the strings of my hoodie, feeling tears building up in my eyes. We'd had this conversation more than once, but Sierra was very strong willed. She didn't want to believe that I was going to die, even when I'd lived with them and the evidence had been right before her eyes.

"Listen to me, little bird," I told her, calling her Lukas' favorite nickname for her. "When I die, and I will die,"

She went to protest, and I shushed her. "Now, listen. When I die, I will never be fully gone, okay? I don't know what's out there. Heaven, hell, God, gods, or just a void. Maybe I'll die and become another star in the sky, who knows. I've never had the time to waste contemplating on any of that. But I do know that I will always be with you and Eric, and mom and dad, okay?"

I heard a sniffle on the other line, and my heart cried for my poor little sister.

"You know, little bird, I never met my mom," I continued. "But I feel her. She's with me, in my heart. Every time I need her, I know she's there cheering me on or comforting me. Just because we can't see the ones who have passed doesn't mean they've left us for good."

She sobbed. "I know, I know."

Great, now I was crying. I hated crying.

Tears spilled over despite my efforts to keep them down, and I quickly swiped at them with my sleeve.

"I love you, little bird," I told her, trying hard to not let her know I was crying.

"I love you, too," she croaked, clearing her throat. "And you're right, I know you're right. It's just going to be so hard."

We continued talking, and I tried to soothe her the best that I could before changing the subject away from death. She was fifteen, and while most kids her age had usually experienced some sort of loss by that time in their life, it wasn't always as dire and intimate as losing a sibling. I couldn't imagine how awful she and Eric felt, losing their older sister. I know I feared my death, but I was coming to my terms with it. But they would have to deal with losing me for the rest of their lives.

"Sierra Anne Johnson, you have homework to finish, time to hang up!" I heard Janette yell somewhere in the background of Sierra's phone.

She sighed. "Okay!" she called to her mother, then spoke to me. "I've gotta go, sis. Thanks for talking to me, I really needed it today."

I smiled, even though she could see it. "I think I did, too. Talk to you later, squirt. Call me whenever."

"I will!" she chirped, and the line clicked.

Pocketing my cellphone, I heaved out a long sigh. My shoulders felt heavy with guilt. I knew there was nothing I could do about my death, but I felt bad that everyone around me was feeling the effects of it, as well. It was inevitable, people got sad when people they loved went through tragedy or died, but it still sucked to know that I was hurting my siblings.

There was a knock on my door.

"Gwen?" Bella's voice came from the other side. "Can I come in?"

"Yeah!" I called, not moving from my bed and trying to wipe any lingering tears away from my cheeks and eyes.

Either way, I probably looked like a hot mess. I always did anymore. I really gave up on my vanity first thing, when I realized how my disease made me look like a walking corpse. Sure, maybe a little eyeliner and mascara helped me feel a bit nicer, but I just stopped feeling like there was anyone I needed to impress over my own comfort. I figured that if I was going to die, I was going to wear and do whatever I wanted with my body. I didn't care if I threw my hair in a ponytail and walked in town wearing a sweat shirt and jeans, because, goddamnit, if I was dying young, I had the right to die comfy.

Bella walked into my room, and plopped onto my bed. "Jake wants to know if we feel up to coming over? He knows Charlie let me take off from school today to recoup."

I smiled. Just what I needed, a good distraction. "Yeah, sounds good. Charlie shouldn't care, he's been enjoying that we've been hanging out with Jacob, anyway."

We got around and hit the road just as a small drizzle started. We loaded up into my Buick this time, because my speakers were in better condition than the ones in Bella's truck. I think she also enjoyed the break from driving. Me, I just enjoyed the freedom of driving and the fact that no one had to help me into my car, while anymore I needed someone assistance to get in and out of Bella's truck.

When we got to La Push and to Jacob's, I could see Embry's truck in the drive.

"Ahhh," I mused, putting my car in park. "The whole circus is here, I see."

Bella chuckled, and we got out. We let ourselves into the garage without knocking, as we'd gotten too much flak for being polite the first two times we'd visited. Instantly we were met with playful arguing, Quil and Embry shouting at each other back and forth. Jacob was bent over and rummaging in the fridge in the back corner of the garage, probably putting some more sodas in to cool.

"And I'm telling you that Superman would kick Batman's ass a million times over," Embry ground out, waving a half-eaten beef jerky stick in Quil's face.

"Nah," Quil said simply, not even elaborating just to get Embry more riled up.

"Batman is best hero, hands down," I told them, and all three boys jumped out of their skins, having not even heard us come in. The fridge gave a shake as Jacob banged his head on the top shelf accidentally, a curse leaving his mouth.

I pulled up a chair and sat down, taking out my inhaler and taking a puff of it. My lungs were a little tight since the morning, so I'd been having to use at more regular intervals than normal. Bella followed my lead, pulling up a large cooler to turn into her chair and sitting down next to me, her face amused as I joined in on the argument.

"Aha!" Quil said, point at me. "See, Gwen's on the path of righteousness. Batman is amazing."

Embry huffed. "I'm not saying he's not, I'm just saying that in a real fight, Superman would win."

I pursed my lips. "Hmm, nah."

Quil laughed as Embry groaned. "You two are so annoying!"

Jacob finally emerged from the fridge, arms now loaded with some cold sodas. He was grinning as he handed Bella and I our sodas first, then his friends. "Now, now, girls, you're both pretty. We shall settle this argument with the tie breaker. Bella, who do you like best?"

Bella shuffled, clearly not up to date at all with superheros and comics. I grinned cheekily at my cousin, batting my eyes lashes at her, as I wanted her to vote for my superhero.

"Uhh, I don't know. I never cared for either. I liked the Spider-man movies, though," she said, and Embry, Quil, and I groaned loudly.

Jacob cheered, raising his Dr. Pepper in a mock toast. "Spider-man it is, you heard the lady."

"Spider-man wasn't even part of this," Embry complained, swallowing a full mouth of pop, the boy was already nearly done with his. "Besides, he's Marvel, not DC. Totally different thing."

"There's a difference?" Bella asked innocently, and the three of us groaned in unison once more.

I patted Bella's shoulder. "I have a whole new world to show you, my dear cousin. I've gotta get some more good culture in you before it's too late."

She rolled her eyes. "I'm not really interesting in comics, but thanks anyway, Gwen."

"You don't know what you're missing out on!" I told her, and then caught sight of Embry out of the corner of my eyes. "Jesus, man. What did that poor bag of cheese puffs do to you?"

Embry was shoveling handful after handful of cheese puffs into his mouth, and he stopped with a full mouth when I'd caught him, glaring at me as he crumpled the suddenly empty bad in his large hands.

Quil roared with laughter at his friend's face. "He's been eating like that all week, I think he's hit his period."

Embry glared even harder at Quil, but this time it seemed more real, more angry. He swallowed, and stood. "Whatever, man. That's not really that funny."

"Oh, come on, Em," Jacob said, trying to diffuse what now seemed to be some building tension. "Quil was just joking around, we all we're. It's all good."

"No!" Embry snapped, and I blinked in surprise.

Embry had been happy-go-lucky every time we'd hung out with him and Quil, always easy to get along with. He brushed off all of his friends jokes and comments because he'd never took it to heart. He knew they were jokes, that's what friends did. They teased the shit out of each other, mercilessly. But today he seemed extremely irritated, like all the joking was actually getting to him and rubbing him the wrong way.

"I'm sick of you guys arguing with me all the damn time," he seethed, then shook his head, rubbing fierce circles into his temple with his knuckle.

I watched his arms, seeing that they were trembling. I looked at him with concern, biting my lip but knowing I shouldn't intervene. I wasn't that close with him to be able to stick my nose into it any further.

"Hey, chill," Quil said, holding his hands up in surrender. "I'm sorry, Embry. I'll quit, okay?"

Embry shook his head, his long hair falling into his face. He was seeming a little lost, looking ill, almost. "I… I gotta go, I don't feel good."

Suddenly he stormed out of the garage. We heard his truck start up, and soon it was silent. We were all staring at each other in disbelief. Embry had never acted like that around Bella and I before, and I was wondering if maybe there was a side to him we just hadn't seen before.

Jacob was quick to disprove my doubts. "Sorry, guys, he's not normally like that, at all. He's been a little off this week, he's probably coming down with something."

Quil scratched the back of his head sheepishly. "Man, he was my ride, too."

"We can take you home if you want," I offered, smiling sympathetically at the younger boy. He seemed troubled by his friend's attitude. "Don't worry about him, if he's really just not feeling well then he should come back around soon. Just let him simmer down and get to feeling better. I know all too well how feeling sick can mess with your emotions."

Quil nodded. "Yeah, that's a good idea."

Jacob sighed, stretching out his arms. "Man, I really don't wanna stay cooped up in here after all that. Ever been to the La Push beach, Gwen?"

I blinked. "You have a beach?"

Jacob barked out a laugh, and even Quil and Bella chuckled at the look on my face. "Okay, okay, now we have to go. Alright, everyone into the buick," he said, swiping the keys from my hands.

"Hey!" I complained. "You can't steal my car and then take me hostage."

Jacob turned, looking at me with a raised eyebrow. "Oh, yeah?"

Suddenly I was slung over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes, and I squealed with laughter.

"Jacob Black! You put me down right now, you asshole!" He was handling me as gently as he could, it seemed, and I was thankful for that. If he'd slung me too recklessly he'd have probably forced out all the airflow I'd been working on all day long.

"Nah," he said simply, mocking Quil and I from early. "Your chariot and escort awaits."

He set me down in the back seat, and Bella climbed in next to me from the other side, a smile on her face and laughter in her eyes. Quil was laughing the whole walk outside, letting himself into the car and plopping into the passenger seat.

"Isn't it too cold to go swimming?" I asked, still grumbling about being picked up.

Jacob started driving, not even bothering to put a seatbelt on. "We're not going to swim, doofus. But it's a nice view, plus it is a little warmer today. You can always dip your feet in, if you can stand how cold the water can be sometimes."

We were at the beach in no time, and I was surprised I'd never seen or heard about it before hand. I'm sure Charlie or Bella probably mentioned it at some point in time, but I must've been thinking about something else, because I sure as hell didn't think there would be a beach right on the edge of the reservation.

"Holy moly," I gasped. "This is awesome!"

"It's a wet sand beach with a lot of dead wood," Quil deadpanned. "It's not that awesome. Good spot for bonfires, though."

I was already out of the car, and he complained that I hadn't even been listening to him. I was too concerned with taking the beach. Truly, it was a wet sand beach with lots of washed up logs. The sand was a dark gray and squelched softly as we walked, and the logs washed ashore were either dark brown or black, completely soaked through and rotted. Some were growing a beautiful green moss along their sides. There were several fire pits littered closer to the shore, most looking recently used.

They really do love their bonfires… I'll have to see if we can have one of those, soon, too. I love the smell of campfires.

The beach lead down to the shore, where the dark waves lapped at the land in lazy motions. The beach and shoreline was shielded on both sides by two rather impressive cliffs, both covered in dark trees. Looking closely, I could see that there was a path that winded towards the beach and lead up to the top of cliffs.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa," I said sharply, grabbing Quil's arm as I spotted three people atop the cliffs. "What are they doing?"

Three rather large, shirtless men were standing on the highest spot of the cliffs, laughing and pushing at each other. They were whooping and hollering at one of the guys, seemingly threatening to push him off if he didn't jump, himself.

"Cliff diving," Quil said simply, a frown on his face. "Lots of us do it. People don't normally go that high, though. Sam Uley and his gang just like showing off to everyone."

The three men stopped for a moment, and actually stared at us. Or, at least, faced our direction. There was no way that they actually heard what Quil said, though, as they were much too far away.

Jacob snorted in distaste. "Yeah, and they always do that. They're always staring at us. I don't know what the hell their problem is."

"Looks like they got someone new," Quil mused. "It was just Sam and that kid Jared from school, before. I can't tell who it is with them though."

The boy the other two had been harassing playfully suddenly lurched forward in a quick sprint, and I gasped with awe as he leapt from the peak in a perfect dive. He'd jumped out far enough to safely clear any rocks at the bottom, and his russet toned body pierced the surface of the water like a hot knife through butter.

"Oh great," Jacob groaned, watching as the other two jumped off after the man.

Bella and I raised a brow at each other, and I leaned gently against a piece of driftwood as the strange men swam towards the shore. The one who leapt first came strutting out like a peacock with his feathers fanned, his water-logged shorts sagging against his tone hips. Guy was built like a goddamn monster, his muscles toned and taut.

He wasn't overly built like those gross looking guys you'd see on TV, the ones who looked like they couldn't even move their neck and arms properly because of how big they were. He was a few steps from that, at the perfect level of a sculpted body. I knew some men would kill to look like that.

He was grinning at openly us, like he'd thoroughly enjoyed his show and believed he'd impressed us. That was what turned me off, instantly. Guy had a body to drool over, but he knew it, and was way too proud of it.

"That's Paul Lahote," Quil whispered. "He's always with his own friends. The hell is he doing with Sam?"

The name rang no bells for me, nor for Bella, who looked just as confused as I did when I glanced at her face.

The other two men came trudging out of the sea, both equally as built and toned as Paul, but not trying to show off like he was. They walked passed us, not come too closely. But they looked at us, first at Jacob, and then, for some reason, on me.

The tallest man narrowed his eyes at me, his stare lingering longer than I was comfortable with, stepping a bit closer. For a moment, he looked like he was subtly sniffing the air, but I waved that thought from my head. Surely these guys couldn't be that weird.

He took a couple more steps closer, analyzing me with a fierce look on his face, until Jacob stepped in front of me protectively, seeing the uncomfortable look forming on my face. Quil stood next to him, folding his arm across his chest.

"What do you want, Sam?" Jacob snapped. "We can't enjoy the beach in peace, or what? We breaking any laws?"

Sam stared at Jacob long and hard for a moment, then shook his head. "No, nothing. You're fine to be here," he said, glancing at me one last time before walking after his two friends, who'd stopped to watch their friend's confrontation.

"Not like we'd need your permission anyway," Jacob sneered under his breath, and for moment Sam paused, his fists clenching, but then he continued.

"Do you think he heard that?" Quil mused, once they'd gotten further up the beach.

Jacob shrugged, looking angry. "I don't care. Don't see how he did, but whatever."

I couldn't get the look on Sam's face out of my head. When I'd thought he'd been sniffing the air, when he glared at me, he almost looked like he was smelling something foul. I'd showered that day, there was no way I stunk. Not that he was even close enough to remotely smell me, anyway! What a weirdo.

Humming as we got to the shore, I stopped next to log and started pulling off my shoes and socks.

"Gwen?" Bella asked, amused. "What are you doing?"

"We're at a beach, Bella. It may be too cold to swim, but damnit I'm going to put my feet in the water," I told my cousin simply, rolling up my pant legs until they were over my knees.

Bella stuck behind with Jacob and Quil, the three of them talking together and with me as the watched me walk the shore. The first lick over my toes from the water sent a jolt up my spine. It was freezing, still! But I couldn't expect different, it took quite a few warm days for water to start feeling warmer, anyway. One nicer day wouldn't make that water temperature change that much.

"Are you enjoying yourself, you dork?" Bella mused. "You're shivering."

I glared at her. "Don't you rain on my parade, fun sucker," I said childishly, and then leaned down to splash some of the ice-cold water at my cousin.

She shrieked as the water seeped through her clothes, and both boys laughed at the shocked look on her face. She glared at me playfully, and started tugging off her shoes, holding onto Jacob for support. He looked over the moon that her hand was grasping onto his arm, even though she was just using him so that she didn't face plant.

"Wait, wait," I said, putting my hands up in surrender, "Bella, let's talk about this for a moment. You might slip and fall and drown in a puddle if you come closer."

Jacob and Quil roared with laughter, and Bella marched closer, now barefoot herself and her jeans rolled up. She was glaring at me playfully, but jolted like she'd been stung when her feet touched the freezing water. "Jesus, Gwen! It's freezing!"

"You're the one who came out here!" I said, pointing at her.

"Yeah," she agreed. "Because I have to return the favor."

Bella leaned down and splashed water at me, which I was barely able to dodge. "Ooo, missed! Try again!"

The next time she hit me square, water splashing all over the front of my jacket and little droplets hitting my face. I cried at the cold that bit at me through my clothes, and instantly retaliated. Soon, the two of us were splashing at each other like crazy and Jacob and Quil were observing from the safety of the shore, watching us with amused faces.

"Okay, okay, okay!" Bella cried, after getting a big splash to the face. "We're soaked Gwen!"

I huffed with effort, and pulled out my inhaler after Bella called the ceasefire. I breathed in a couple puffs, and managed to stop the clenching in my lungs that'd started when our laughter and splashing had began.

"Shit!" I cursed as it fell out of my shivering hands, into the water. I hadn't had a good enough grasp on it and it'd shaken right out of my hands.

"Oh, crap, Gwen," Bella said, coming closer.

I bent over to fish it out, my back to her. My hands searched through the dark water frantically, even just the foot of water too dark to see through. Finally my fingers found and closed around the inhaler and I pulled it out, looking it over. "I don't know if it's still good," I sighed. "Oh well, if not it's almost time for me to get a new prescription, anyway. I can go to the pharmacy tomorrow."

I turned, and nearly jumped from the stricken look Bella was giving me. I hadn't expected her to look so scared of me, I hadn't done anything. She looked like someone had just died in front of her, her eyes wide and she was trembling. I couldn't tell if it was from the cold, or if something she'd seen had actually scared her.

"Bella?" I asked, tentatively. "You okay?"

"G-Gwen," she whispered, her eyes flickering down to my legs. "Your…. Your leg."

I looked down at my legs, confused. "What? Do I have a leech? I don't think leeches are in the ocean, Bella," I told her, twisting and bending myself around to look at my legs.

She shook her head roughly, stammering. "I… I-"

"Hey, would you two get the hell out of there already?" Jacob yelled. "Charlie is going to murder me if you two get sick."

"Coming!" Bella called back, spinning on her heal and walking away from me quickly.

I blinked a couple times, then slowly followed her out. I don't know what I did to upset her so badly, but apparently it had to have been pretty bad.

Quil let me use him a stabilizer as I put my shoes and socks back on, and then we left. Jacob took Quil home first, after I'd given my permission since it was my car we were using, and then drove us back to his house. Instead of leading us into the garage, he ushered us inside the house. He was trying to joke and talk with us the whole time we rode in the car, but even he had noticed that Bella had suddenly reverted back to her quiet self. She was staring out the window the whole ride, not saying a word except for some simply responses.

"Hey, dad. Bella and Gwen got wet on the beach so I'm going to let them take a hot shower and I'm gonna toss their stuff in the dryer real quick, okay?" Jacob said as he lead us through the front.

Billy waved at us from his recliner in the living room, smiling. "Hello, Gwen, Bella. Long time, no see," he joked, having just saw Bella and I the last time we visited Jacob. "I see you two had fun. Go ahead, Jacob. The dryer's empty."

"Thanks, Billy," I said sincerely, following Jacob further into the house.

"Uh, you can go first," Bella said quietly, stepping away from me as Jacob showed us where the bathroom was. "I'll run your stuff through the dryer while you're in there."

I frowned, concerned. I was trying to figure out what I'd done to upset Bella so much that she was barely talking to me, but I did as she said. When I undressed, I handed her my stuff through the door and hopped into the steaming shower.

A sigh of relief left my lips as the heat began to warm up my chilled body.

We switched once I was warm and my clothes had done about thirty minutes in the drier. Some of them were still a little damp in spots, but it was much better than before. Jacob and I hung out in the kitchen while Bella got warm in the shower, both of us sitting at the kitchen bar with some snacks Billy had made Jacob pull from the fridge.

"What do you think got Bella so upset?" Jacob asked, popping a grape in mouth as his brows drew together in concern. "I didn't do anything, did I?"

"No, no," I consoled, plucking a few grapes off their stems. "I think she just… I think sometimes she still thinks about her ex too much and it gets her down. Maybe that's what happened?"

I didn't want to tell Jacob about our weird encounter in the water. It didn't make any sense to me, so I didn't see why it would make any sense to him, either, if I told him. So, I just came to the closest conclusion that I could think of. It made sense. Even though Bella had been coming around a lot better lately, she still had her moments, even her days, where she needed to just be alone. It was like she could shake the thought of her boyfriend from her head.

Jacob glared at the table, huffing. "Why is she still hung up on him? He left her in the damn woods, for Christ's sake."

I shrugged. "Love does some crazy things to people. You might do the same in her shoes, if you'd also been over the moon about someone and they suddenly left you."

The dryer buzzed in the other room, and I was thankful to get away from Jacob in that moment. I really didn't want to talk about his issues with my cousin's love life, knowing now that he had a pretty huge crush on her. It was unrequited, as Bella seemingly held no extra feelings for him other than friendship and a brotherly type of bond. Hopefully, he'd be able to come to terms with that nicely.

I rapped my knuckle on the bathroom door once I had Bella's clothes in my arm. "Bells? Your stuffs done."

The door cracked, and I could see her brown eyes peering out at me. "Thanks, Gwen," she said softly, grabbing the clothes and shutting the door in my face.

I sighed loudly. Why did I feel like we were suddenly back to square one?

Bella Swan

I felt like I was living again, weirdly enough.

The hole in my chest hurt, but it was easy to ignore when I was with Gwen and Jacob. They were good friends to me, I realized, and I wanted to start living again. I wanted to enjoy all the time I was spending with them, especially Gwen since we only had a limited time together left.

Port Angeles had been terrifying, but I'd seen Edward again. None of us had gotten hurt, thankfully, from my stupid mistake. I had tried to reach for Edward, even with knowing that his appearance in front of me was not real, and it had probably been what had enticed those men to chase us.

I felt remorse for it, I did, but I couldn't help myself when I saw him. When I could see him, when my mind was temporarily tricked into the believing we were actually close, the hole in my chest felt more mended then it ever did with Jake and Gwen. But, when the apparition was gone, I was left emptier inside, knowing it wasn't real. I was torn between trying to see him more and trying to stop seeing him all together. My mind, body, and heart were torn to bits from him leaving, from his family leaving. I couldn't choose whether to leave them all in the past or try to move on.

Thankfully, Gwen said a couple had shown up and must've drove the men off. She couldn't describe them well, saying she couldn't remember too much because she'd been so close to blacking out when they'd come, anyway. I was just thankful she didn't get hurt from my stupidity.

Gwen had asked Charlie and I to not tell her family about what happened in Port Angeles, because she knew Janette would come racing once she heard. It took some persuading, but Charlie did finally agree. He didn't want Gwen to have to leave, either, because he was enjoying the time he was getting to reconnect to his niece. In a way, I think he felt he owed to not only to Gwen, but to my aunt, Annie, as well.

It was Monday, after school had let out. Gwen and I had lounged all day, because Charlie had decided I needed to stay home and rest another day after what had happened Saturday night. I wasn't going to protest, because my head was still hurting from time to time where I'd fallen and hit it against a rock.

Gwen's adopted sister had called her in the middle of one of our movie sessions, and she'd retreated to her room to have a more private conversation with her.

I drummed my fingers against the couch, looking at the paused screen for a moment, when my phone suddenly beeped. I looked down, smiling when I saw it was a message from Jake.

'U out of school yet?'

I replied, telling him I'd stayed home with Gwen. His reply came back almost instantly.

'U guys coming over? We can work on the bikes some'

I got up and walked from the living room, to Gwen's bedroom door. I could faintly hear her telling her sister good bye, and I gave it a moment before I knocked on her door. I called out to her, asking if I could come in. When she replied, I stepped inside and asked her if she felt like going to Jacob's. Of course, she felt the need to get out of the house just as much as I did, and we were soon on our way to La Push.

I let her drive us in her Buick, she seemed to really love having the freedom to drive whenever she wanted, now. She also liked playing DJ with the radio. I was actually starting to enjoy the music she and Jacob always listened to. The heavy beats moved through you like a wave, and I felt like they actually soothed some of my inner turmoil. I never thought I'd like music ever again, after he'd left me, so I was thankful for that.

It was like, with my cousin and with Jacob, little pieces of me that I'd thought were lost were slowly coming back to me. Bit by bit they were helping me rebuild the shambled mess I'd let myself become.

We had gotten there just after Quil and Embry had arrived, it seemed. The two were arguing about comic book heroes, something I had absolutely no experience with nor interest in. It was fun to watch them all joke around together though.

Embry had a weird outburst towards the end, seeming to be angry with Quil and Jacob. It was strange, because he always seemed so nice and playful every time Gwen and I were around. He seemed really bothered this time, however, and left in a hurry.

We'd decided to go to the beach to cool off, which I couldn't believe I'd never mentioned to Gwen that the beach was there. She seemed really excited to see it, even after Jacob had gentle hoisted her over his shoulder and hijacked her car from her. It was fun to watch the two joke around, like I had two extremely fun siblings.

We'd accidentally brushed paths with Sam Uley and his odd friends when we'd gotten there. Sam had been the one who had found me in the woods, apparently, so I didn't have any ill feelings towards him at all. But, Jacob sure did. The two seemed to have some sort of tension between them, and Jacob was quick to stand up for Gwen when Sam had been staring at her oddly.

I don't know what his issue had been, but something about him and his friends unsettled me. They were a strange group, all buff beyond belief and seemingly the only men on the reservation who wanted their hair short instead of long. Had to be something in the water, or maybe something worse…

Gwen insisted on walking through the water, and soon had me roped into a splashing match. I'd never thought I'd be laughing and playing with anyone like this ever again, but something about Gwen drew a person in. She was so happy and playful, despite her condition, and she made a person want to laugh and have fun.

It was when she dropped her inhaler that made me feel my soul just about leave my body.

Gwen's back was to me, and she was fishing blindly through dark water for her inhaler, some curses coming out from her breath. I was coming closer, intending on helping her look, when I noticed something on her left calf.

A thick, jagged scar stuck out against her pale skin. It was a very familiar shape, and the same silvery color of the one I had on my arm. In fact, it practically mirrored the bite scar on my arm, the one I'd received when I'd been attacked and bitten by the vampire, James. It was a silvery crescent moon shaped scar, nearly mirrored with that of a human's bite mark.

I felt all my life drain from me. There was no way I was imagining, Gwen had a bite on her. It looked just like mine, it couldn't be anything different. Human's didn't leave thick, silvery scars like that on people. I'd only ever seen scars like that on myself, and on vampires.

My head was spinning, I didn't know what to do, or what to say. I wanted to confront my cousin. I wanted to ask her how she got the scar, what the person looked like. Odds are, she had no idea about vampires and didn't even realize what had almost happened to her when she'd gained that scar. I had no idea how she wasn't dead. Someone had had to have helped her, there's no way she fought off a vampire.

Jacob took us back to his house to warm up, and when it was my turn to use the shower, I spent my time thinking carefully about what I was going to do next.

Maybe, it wasn't a vampire scar? Sure, most of the time scars were pinker or like discolored skin, but surely not only vampire bite scars turned more silvery and pale in color. Maybe I was jumping the gun, and it was just a weird shaped cut she'd gotten somewhere, from some sort of accident. She had pretty translucent and pale skin anyway, maybe that's why it looked the way it did.

Not everything revolves around vampires, Bella, you dolt. Besides, if you corner her screaming your head off about vampires, she'd have you committed.

I sighed, leaning my forehead against the tile and letting the water wash down my back. I decided I would ask Gwen how she got her scar. From there, I had no idea how I would proceed. I couldn't tell her about vampires, it wasn't my secret to tell and it could possibly put her at risk. At least then, though, I'd know and I wouldn't be so curious.

"Bells? Your clothes are done," I heard Gwen call faintly, her voice soft.

I knew I'd probably hurt her feelings a little, shutting down the way I did. But I didn't know what else to do, how else to react. It's not every day that you figure out that your very human cousin, who shouldn't know anything about the supernatural, had had a possible run in with a vampire and didn't know it.

I took my clothes from her, thanking her and closing the door. While I dried and started changing, I tried to steel myself. The idea of vampires shouldn't make me so jumpy. I knew they lived, I'd loved a whole family of them, and still did. I guess my heart still lingered in the idea that I would've become one one day, if Edward had really loved me.

Gwen and I drove home in silence. I was driving, because she looked absolutely exhausted from our splash session in the ocean and, without an inhaler at the moment, I didn't want her to work herself up too much in any way. Aside from that, I think she was feeling a bit dejected that I wasn't really talking to her. I felt guilty, I did, and I decided to approach the subject so I could get it out the open and move on from it.

"Gwen… I wanted to ask you something," I said softly, glancing at her for a moment.

She perked up, sitting up straighter. "Yeah, Bells? What's up?"

"At the beach today… I noticed that you… Your leg, I noticed your scar," I stammered, trying to summon the courage to keeping going with this. God, I didn't want to be right about this.

Her eyes widened a little, and she let out a soft, "Oh, right. Yeah, I have that."

I almost chuckled a bit at her spacey reply, but had to stay serious. "I just wanted to ask how you got it?"

She hummed in thought, nodding. "Yeah, okay. I guess I forgot to ever tell you the story, I kinda forget about it sometimes, honestly. I even forget I have the scar most of the time," she said, chuckling. "Okay, story time with Gwen, right?"

"Well, when I fourteen, I was shopping with Janette in this big city a couple hours from our home town. We were at the mall, and Janette was shopping for birthday presents for the twins. It was coming up in a week, and I'd told her I'd wanted to go with her so that I could spend some of the money I'd saved up from chores on their presents.

"Janette got caught up looking at one of those fancy boutiques, the really expensive ones. I'd already exhausted all my funds buying the twins presents, so I was already ready to go home. I told her I was going to walk back to the car so that I could go play my Gameboy while waiting for her to finish up.

"She gave me the keys, reminded me to lock the car until she got back, and I left the store and started walking towards where I thought we'd parked," she said, her brows furrowing slightly. "But I wasn't used to big cities at all, and I'd lost my bearings pretty quickly. I tried to retrace my steps back to the boutique and just managed to make myself more lost."

"I ended up in this alley, and it had already gotten completely dark out. I was crying, I'd never gotten lost before, and I was definitely afraid of the city. Some guy came up to me out of nowhere, a really creepy kind of guy. I can barely remember him, but something about him just made alarms go off in my head. I tried to brush him off, but he grabbed me," she nearly whispered the last part, and her face fell into a frown.

She let out a heaving sigh, like the story almost took a toll on her. "I tried to fight him, but he was a strong guy. His grip slipped for barely a second and I was pulling away so hard that when he let go, I lost my balance and fell right to the ground. Weirdo was down next to me in a second, lifting my left leg into his grasp. He was saying a lot of weird stuff."

My heart was absolutely pounding in my chest. Everything about this so far was sending off all the bells and alarms in my head. I could tell exactly where this story was going, I just needed to know how it ended. I didn't even realized I was holding my breath while she was talking, until my chest started to ache in protest. I was trying to watch her face and look at the road at the same time, slowing down so that I wasn't driving too fast with my divided attention.

"I was wearing capris that day," she mused. "Just enough of my calf was showing for the damn psychopath to sink his teeth right into my leg. Who the hell does that, right? Just bites people, especially young girls. Maybe he had some weird leg fetish, I don't know."

"What happened next?" I demanded, my whole body feeling cold with dread, and my hands were clenching the steering wheel so tightly that my knuckles were turning white.

She frowned. "I don't know for sure. I was blacking out, I was scared out of my mind. First time I'd ever really felt fear before what'd happened in Port Angeles. I remember hearing someone start yelling at the guy, and the next thing I know he was pulled off me. I fainted, and I woke up in the hospital with Janette."

My stomach was like an angry snake, coiling and writhing inside my skin. My cousin had been attacked by a vampire, and most likely saved by another vampire. What the hell were the odds of that? She had no idea how close to death she'd probably been in at that moment.

I was staring at her, not knowing what to say next, when she shouted suddenly, pointing out the windshield in panic. "Bella, stop!"

Turning, I saw a large, dark shape dart out into the road and gasped, slamming on the breaks of the Buick. The tires squealed loudly in protest, and I held my breath as we hydroplaned. The Buick slid on the wet road, doing almost a full one-eighty turn. The large dark shape in the road darted out of the way just as the car swerved through.

"Jesus," Gwen cursed as we finally came to a stop, thankfully still on the road and not in the ditch. "What the hell was that?"

"Bear," I breathed, heart in my throat. "That was huge, it had to be a bear."

Gwen placed a palm on her forehead, looking even more faint and tired than before. "Okay, I know I'm the thrill seeker here, but that's enough near-life ending situations for at least the next two weeks."

I nodded. "Agreed."

We both jumped when we heard the loud howls of wolf's pierce through the air. This time, instead of the different calls we'd heard at Jacob's the first time we'd visited, this time it sounded like there were four. The fourth one, however, sounded almost sad, agonized by something.

"God, I hope the bear didn't get to the wolves," Gwen said softly, rubbing her arms. "Let's go home, Bella. I've got the creeps."

I nodded, my mind racing. I needed time to think all of this through, process it all. I wanted nothing more than to just get home and lay down. Not that sleeping really helped, with all the nightmares that I kept having, but I wanted to give my body and mind some rest after the craziness of the last few days.

Gwen instantly retired to her room once we'd gotten home, barely giving Charlie a proper hello before she'd shut herself up in her room. This was unusual for her, normally I was the one who tried to close everyone out, but after the past couples of days and probably all the fear she'd realized telling me her story, she had to feel exhausted. I decided to give her space, because I knew that's what I would want if I were in her shoes.

I started working on dinner, needing to distract myself from all the chaos inside my head. Things were just getting stranger and stranger as the year went on, I realized. Not only had I discovered the supernatural, but it was literally all around me and right underneath my nose. I wondered just how many "mythical" things I'd run into in my life before I had actually realized that the unreal could be very, very real.

A couple hours later, after we'd finished dinner and I'd retreated to my room to try and relax. I was trying to read a book, something I hadn't done in a while, and I actually found it calming me, even though the pain in my chest was feeling more and more prominent the more time I spent alone.

Suddenly, my phone buzzed.

I glanced over, and saw Gwen's name flashing across the screen. Raising a brow, I dog-eared my page and leaned over to my bedside table, grabbing the cellphone. I unlocked it and opened the message, smirking as I read it.

'I know what I want to do next, while we work on the bikes.'

Oh, jeeze. What was she going to get us into, now? If I remembered correctly, we'd agreed we both needed a break from all the excitement going on lately.

I replied quickly, feeling silly to be texting her even though she was just downstairs. But I knew it would be too hard for her to make it up the stairs today, and I was too comfy to move.

My eyebrows nearly shot to my hairline as her next text came in. I read it twice just make sure I was seeing it right, and lo and behold, I was reading it perfectly fine and was slowly coming to conclusion that my cousin wasn't just trying to live an exciting life, she was trying to find every single thing on the Earth that would drive Charlie and her parents up the wall if they found out.

'My dear cousin, what are your views on tattoos?'

There it is! Thank you to all who read, review, favorite, and follow the story! I appreciate all the feedback and hope to hear more from you all!