Chapter 6)

"Our moms used to be really close to one another. When your mom decided she wanted to leave Charlie and move away, it caused a rift between them. My mom always liked Charlie and thought he was perfect for Aunt Renee. I think she assumed he could tame her adventurous side. Guess she thought wrong when she moved away from everyone." Nick lets out a small chuckle.

I crack a smile. Renee has always been flighty. She was never one to settle down in one place for too long. It makes me happy she's with Phil and able to move around with him. "That can't be all to the story though," I say nudging him with my elbow.

"It's not. And I don't really have the full story. I just know it got bad enough between them, that they haven't talked in seven years. Must have been a huge arguement." He pauses for a moment. "Anyway, enough about our moms. Tell me about you. How's school? Do you have yourself a boyfriend?"

"School's great. I like all the classes I have. I just wish English had a different book list. I've read them all before," I frown but then grin. "And yes. I have a boyfriend."

Nick looks up at me. "Do tell!"

Gasping, I throw my hand over my heart. "Don't tell me my cousin has turned into a gossiper."

He shoves my shoulder gently. "Of course not. But I do want to know about him. And meet him soon."

My smile fades. "Oh, well, you can meet him eventually. He's out of town right now visiting a sick family member. He'll be home by Monday."

Nick notices my upset voice and gives me a hug. "I'm sure everything will be alright. Let's go to bed. We have plenty of time tomorrow to catch up. It's a Sunday after all!"

I wake up to the sun shinning brightly through my window and the house phone ringing downstairs. I groan and roll out of bed. I pick up my cellphone and turn it back on. When I see I have some more voicemails from Edward and Alice, I groan again. What does he expect? He was allowing a girl to flirt with him while he was on the phone with me. I bet you it was Tanya Denali. She had always had a crush on him. I have that feeling that maybe, just maybe he won't come home and he will stay with her. I shudder away from the thought.

I realize I also have a message from Jake. It was he telling me that he talked to Charlie and made sure I got home safely. He's upset that I walked away with Seth instead of talking with him. His second message was asking if he could come over and hang out. I grit my teeth in anger. He wants to come over here after telling me he'd rather me dead?

Definitely no. I text him and tell him I don't want to see him.

I hear some clattering from downstairs and remember Nick is here. A smile replaces the anger I was just feeling. I slowly get out of bed and stretch. My muscles are achy and I have no idea as to why. I haven't been lifting anything heavy or doing any type of workout. I brush it off to a rough night's sleep. A soft rapping on the door makes me look to the door. "Come in."

"Good morning sleeping beauty," Nick jokes.

"Morning," I mumble. I move around my room and gather my clothes for the day.

"Breakfast is ready when you are. I'll meet you downstairs after my shower. Oh, and Charlie called. He's staying until lunchtime because of the case they are working on. It's bad enough he went in late last night now he'll have to stay longer." Poor Charlie. He is getting too old to have to do that. Couldn't they get someone younger? I sigh and pick up my phone. I miss Edward's voice but I was also a little upset with him. I'm debating whether or not to just call him.

After a few minutes of my internal debate, I dial his number.

"Bella, Love?" Edward breathes out into the phone as soon as he picks up.

"Yes?"

"Thank god. Are you okay? I'm sorry about last night. It's not what you think. It's Tanya. You know how I told you about her. She won't leave me alone."

I listen to him drone on and on about Tanya. I didn't really want to hear it. I heard him tell me about her plenty of times. I just wish I knew what she looked like so I knew what I was up against. "It's okay. I just wanted to check in and see how everything was."

There's a long pause. "Oh, well everything is good. We haven't made a move for the rogue vampires yet. We are trying to get a feel on how they think and what they do. Jasper is trying to come up with a strategy. So we should be out of here in a few days."

"A few days? I thought it was only going to take the weekend."

"It was going too, but Jasper didn't want us to rush it. He had a feeling that things would have ended badly."

"Badly," I scoff. "I'm sure it would have been fine. You're all more experienced than a newborn vampire."

"But newborn vampires have more strength than us. If we came at them the wrong way, some of us could have gotten ripped apart. It's their natural reaction as newborns. Take out any threats that are upon them. They go for obvious kills, which could be easy to prevent. But if they get ahold of one of us, it could get bad, Love."

I stare down at my feet. "Ah, I see. Okay then. When do you think you'll be home?" I ask timidly.

"We're hoping to get this done tomorrow if it all goes according to plan. Then we'll be back on Tuesday."

"Tuesday," I repeat. "I think I can live with that. It's only a day later than what you originally planned. I'm not ready to deal with the questions starting Monday. You know what everyone will think when it isn't sunny and it's obvious you aren't camping. I'll be questioned a lot." I grimaced just thinking about it.

"I'm sorry, Love," Edward apologizes.

"No, no. It's okay. I'll handle it." I reassured him. "But anyway, I have to go. I will call or text you later."

"Okay. Bye."

"Bye." I hang up my phone and get dressed. I head downstairs into the kitchen and start making myself a plate consisting of pancakes and bacon.

A few minutes later, Nick shows up with his hair dripping from the shower. He piles food onto his plate and sits across from me before shoveling food into his mouth.

"You have a big appetite," I comment raising my eyebrows.

"Yeah, I am famished. I didn't eat yesterday on my way here."

I chuckle. Of course he didn't. "Well, let's finish eating and then we can go do something." I say as I dip my bacon in syrup and eat it.

Nick's eyes light up. "Why don't we go to La Push beach, just like old times," he suggests. I tried to hide my grimace. I really did. His face fell. "Or not."

"No, no. It's not that I don't want to go. I do, with you. I'm just afraid I'll run into someone I'm mad at. He lives near the beach and frequents it a lot." I give a brief explanation. I know I couldn't tell him the truth as to why I am mad.

"Are you mad at Jake?" I look at him shocked. How did he know it was Jacob I'm mad at?

"Oh, come on. Don't think I'm some kind of idiot. I know Jacob Black was the only friend you had on the Rez back when we were kids. We used to play with him when we were younger. And during the summer, he would hang with us whenever Charlie took us to La Push. I remember. I have a big brain ya know," Nick says tapping his head with his fork.

"Oh, yeah. Well, I am mad at him. But it's okay. We can still go. I'd like to go with you. I'll just ignore him if we run into him." I finish my breakfast and hurry to wash mine and Nick's dishes.

Nick and I get dressed into clothes we can swim in at the beach. I pack myself an extra set of clothes but Nick doesn't. He believes he won't need it. I roll my eyes thinking how stupid he is. I know for a fact it will get cold with the wind. And if we are wet it will get even worse. So he will be shit out of luck with no extra clothes.

When we arrive at the beach, I hesitantly get out of my truck. Nick is grabbing our stuff out of the back. I made sandwiches for lunch while Nick packed a blanket and towels in the old beach bag. We stopped and bought a football to throw around if we wanted, since the frisbee from years ago is long gone. I grab the blanket from the bag Nick is holding out to me.

We walk to a spot that wasn't too far from the water, but far enough so no water would come to the blanket. I lay the blanket out on the ground and kick off my shoes to place on two edges. I did that so the blanket wouldn't blow away from the wind. Nick follows my lead and does the same with his shoes. He hands me the bag and turns to run straight for the water.

"Bella!" I hear from behind me.

I turned and came face to face with a woman with short hair. It was obvious she was Native American with her tan skin and pitch-black hair. I smile brightly as the woman comes closer and I recognize her as Leah. I wave at her to join me on the blanket.

"Leah! What brings you out here this fine morning?"

I notice the sour look cross her face before she composes herself. "The Cullen's called Sam early this morning. Turns out there's a vampire situation they're dealing with. Their empath came up with the idea of asking us for help. But because Seth and I are still new to the pack, they want to leave us behind."

So, it's bad enough to involve the wolves huh? Sighing, I lean forward and grab a handful of pebbles. "I was told it wasn't that bad. That they'd be able to handle it. I'm sorry they're calling for the pack and leaving you behind."

Leah lets out a small laugh. "It's not too bad. I hate that I won't be able to fight, but it gives me more time to deal with the whole werewolf thing without them breathing down my neck. They'll be far enough away that it will be hard to order me through thoughts." My eyes drift away from her when I see someone in the corner of my eye. I glance up and find Nick coming out of the water gripping his torso. "Oh, I'm sorry. You're here with someone aren't you? I can leave-"

Nick cuts Leah off as he sits on the blanket with us. Still holding his torso. What's wrong with him? "Nonsense. No need to make a beautiful woman like yourself leave."

Leah snaps her head up. "Me? Beautiful?"

"Well, my cousin definitely isn't calling me beautiful," I state poking Leah in the side.

Nick grins while making eye contact with Leah. A gasps comes from her lips as her eyes glaze over. Nick's breath is caught in his throat. Their gazes are locked on one another in an intense stare. I've never seen anything like it before.

Something dawns on me. "Holy shit, Leah! Did you just imprint?" I ask as I shake her shoulders.

Leah snaps out of it first and turns to me with a huge smile.