Flowerchild23: I'm really glad you love it!

RenesmeeLover18: Will do. :) Glad you love it!

rebelforcauses: I'm happy you like it! Honestly, the Embry vs Mitten conflict is probably my favorite thing too!

LoveFiction.2017: Thank you!

Guest: I know right? :')

I went back and edited earlier chapters for mainly errors, but I did change in chapter 4 that Ava didn't meet Alice. I kind of developed a different plan with this story and her meeting Alice kind of got in the way with future events. The Cullen's have already left Forks. Sorry for anyone who liked that part. :(

Other than that, thank you everyone for the support!

I hope this chapter is acceptable :)


Ava is currently laying on her bed. Her head is propped up by Mitten's big form and the white cat is curled up on her stomach. She hopes her mom will let her keep the cat. It hasn't even been a full day with the feline yet and she has already grown so attached to it. Already, possible names for the cat run through her head. She is kind of feeling the name Frosty.

Her eyelids are draped over her gray eyes, dark lashes tickling her cheeks as they rest upon them. Ever since Embry left she has been laying here, trying to think of anything else but him. She needs to stay away from him no matter what. That is what she keeps telling herself.

He is a liar, runs as fast as The Flash, he's sweet, he's innocent—

She shakes her head to rid these thoughts. Evidently, there is something odd about him. She lets out a annoyed sigh. Why are all these people suddenly trying to work their way into her life? For so long she kept to herself and no one bothered her. She was like a ghost, wandering around and keeping to herself. She wants to keep it that way.

Her head turns so she could see her digital clock. It is barely four in the afternoon. Her mom won't be off work until six or so. She sits up, making the cat climb off of her and meow at her in curiosity of her sudden movement. Ava stares at the cat.

She should go out and buy the proper necessities for it, and take it to the vet on top of that. She hasn't the slightest clue of what gender it is. But she'll wait until her mom says she can keep the cat instead of going out and buying everything for it. It would be a waste of money if she were to buy everything necessary for it only to be told she can't keep it.

Just then, the beeping of the drying machine meets her ears. She nearly forgotten she was washing her muddy clothes from earlier as well as… Embry's. His clothes are still here and he is gone. Her hands move over her face as she lets out an miffed sigh.

Either he would have to come back for them or she would have to bring them to him. Or, perhaps he would forget about the clothing. She doubts that last one. Earlier she said she never wanted to see him again, yet there is always something that seems to be dragging her back towards him.

Throwing her legs over the edge of her bed, she stands up. She exits her room after petting Mitten and the cat, and after she grabs her wallet. She will bring Embry his clothes real quick, then after that she won't see him anymore. All of the days after today will be Embry free for her. Her heart twinges at those thoughts and she growls under her breath. She doesn't understand what is wrong with herself. She hardly knows the guy. So why does the thought of never seeing him hurt?

She enters the laundry room, pulling Embry's clothes out and folding them as neatly as possible. His clothes now smell of fresh vanilla. She hopes he doesn't mind. Whenever she washes her clothes she uses that fancy vanilla detergent because she loves the smell. ...Why should she care if he likes the smell or not?

Having a feeling her nice folding would get messed up, she grabs one of the many laundry bags she has. She thinks her mom has bought way too many of these. They hardly use them so they can do without one. It's a travel type bag, pale green in color with a drawstring closure.

She slides on her worn UGG boots she normally keeps by the front door, not bothering to change her current attire. Her attire is the same oversized sweater and leggings. Since she no longer has her beloved skateboard, she will have to drive. She is a good driver, but she isn't very fond of it. She always prefers her skateboard. To her it is more relaxing.

Somewhat dubiously, she grabs her car keys from the key rack. Her eyes bore into the keys in her palm. These keys go to the 1968 camaro, an eye-catching car. It is a very nice car that is coated in silver metallic paint with black dual rally stripes that stretch across it. The car would be even more nice if the air conditioning worked and if the windows rolled down. It has been sitting for a while in the garage. The battery probably doesn't have much juice in it. It should have enough juice to get to where she plans on going. She's no car expert though.

The car belongs to her, but before it belonged to her it belonged to her dad. When her dad left, he left everything behind. Her mom, herself, his loads of money, cars, everything. The reason why he left is unclear, but her mom was completely heartbroken. After he left they had moved here from California. Ava was only nine years old at the time, so what was going on wasn't really understandable to her. Now she's sixteen, almost seventeen.

With a sigh, she grabs her phone off the table and opens the garage door. She should pick up a dress while she's out— Mitten suddenly runs into the garage, barking happily and running laps around her car. He wants to come along. Her lips purse. She's not sure if a dog would be allowed in a boutique. The obvious answer is pets aren't allowed in a boutique.

"Mitten, you have to stay here." She starts, crouching down and pointing back inside. Mitten starts whining, lying in front of her and looking at her with pleading eyes. The wolfdog is giving her the puppy dog eyes. Her hand ruffles up the fur on top of his head. "I'm sorry. I'll buy you a toy from the pet store."

After she gets Mitten to go back inside with difficulty, she gets in her car. It starts to her appreciation. She pulls out of the driveway, taking off down the street. She's glad it's not hot outside or else driving would be torturous. She decides to stop by the pet store first considering it is the closest.

She buys a couple cans of food for the cat. A person who works there kindly helps her. Ava isn't sure at all what kind of food who be best for the feline, so the worker shows her their most popular and top rated foods. Of course she also buys a bag of bones for Mitten. Mitten loves to chew on things. After shopping for the animals, she starts to shop for herself. A dress.

She goes to the best boutique she knows of downtown. The place is expensive, many people walking away from it due to the price tags. Although she never dresses to impress and she doesn't like pampering herself, when it comes to picking out dresses for something such as a Piano Recital, she's very picky. She finds that fact weird about herself. She doesn't like dressing up but when she does she's fastidious.

Her crystal eyes scan over the many dresses on display carefully, picturing herself in each one. So far, she's not feeling any of these. They are all too revealing, to transparent and fluffy. She's not trying to dress like someone begging for outrageous attention. However, that is unfortunately how some of the girls dress at the piano competitions and recitals.

Piano events are supposed to be classy, or so she thought. Some girls have too much chest showing. Some of their dresses are too short and when they bend down everything is on display. Personally, she doesn't see how people can show that much. She knows for sure she can't. But, she never comments. That's just how some people are.

Everyone is different, not one person is the same. There are naturally going to be people you like and don't like. There are naturally going to be good and bad people. Ava doesn't want to deal with it. People are hard to read, it's hard to determine their true intentions. You never know what someone is thinking.

In the past, people she thought were good turned out to be bad. Her friends weren't really her friends. Everyone has a mask on their face to her, a giant "X." She doesn't want to worry about anyone else other than herself and her mom.

She starts thinking about Raye and Embry. She just met them a few days ago, and they seem like genuinely nice people. Her mom said she is hurting herself by not wanting to let other people in her life, hurting them too. But is she really? She doesn't feel hurt… just devoid. But Embry… he does look hurt when she constantly turns away from him.

There is something about Embry that makes her feel so many things. She can't name all of the emotions, she's not familiar with them. However, she is familiar with one, and that one being hurt. She is also familiar with the emotions of irritation and complete confusion. She doesn't understand how someone she just met can make her heart flutter so much. Whatever. After today she won't have to worry about it anymore. Everything will be back to how it was before.

She abandons her thoughts, focusing on her current task. It takes her longer than she would have liked, but she finds a dress she's comfortable with. In fact, she kind of likes it more than she thought she would. Soon enough, she's back on the two laned road again.

One of her hands is on the driver's wheel while her other is resting in her lap. She's only going off of memory where Embry's house is, but she is seeing some familiar sights which makes her know she is going the right way. Soon she drives into the woody area of La Push. She likes all the greenery in La Push.

The tree line to her left gradually clears, showing First Beach. She lightly presses on the brakes, pulling over to the side of the road. There are people down there. Quileutes. There is a nice fire pit set up with logs surrounding it for seating and what appears to be tables topped with mountains of food. A get together maybe?

She stares, trying to distinguish faces which is kind of impossible from her position. Embry is Quileute. Maybe he is down there. If he is, it would save her from driving an extra mile or two. She guesses it won't hurt to walk down there and check if he's there. If he's not she'll just apologize and act like she is lost by asking for directions or something. She grabs the laundry bag full of his clothes, putting the car in park. Somehow though, she knows he is down there.


Embry sits on the log by the little bon fire, staring at it as he sulks. He messed up with Ava already and he's not sure how to approach her after that. He had tried to kiss her on their first day together. That was way too soon… well… for her he guesses. He would've kissed her the first moment he saw her if he could.

He looks at his hands, remembering how she felt in them. Suddenly, he glowers. She wasn't moving away when he was leaning in. In fact, he'd say she looked ready for him until that stupid wolfdog Mitten started barking. She has to feel the imprint, right?

"What's wrong, Embry?" Emily asks him from her spot by the food table. She is making sure everything is neat and that there is enough food. "How'd it go with Ava?"

"Bad." He mutters.

"Would she rather smooch her skateboard than you?" Paul laughs out crudely. Embry growls, his body quivering as anger builds up. Paul is convinced Ava is a weird girl who is obsessed with skating and is practically boyish beyond words.

"Paul, leave him alone man." Quil sighs at his natural coarseness.

Paul hasn't imprinted so he doesn't understand the deeply painful feeling of not being with their imprint, especially the feeling of being pushed away by them. All Paul does is sleep around with girls. Claire suddenly runs over to Quil, climbing atop his shoulders like a monkey.

"What happened?" Emily asks Embry with a slight frown.

"She's just really hard to approach." Embry sighs, leaving out their almost kiss.

"You were with her for a while though. She even invited you over, didn't she?" Kim asks from her seat in Jared's lap.

Kim is Jared's imprint. Her russet skin glows and her thin and straight black hair flutters even in the smallest breeze. Her brown eyes peer at Embry in question. Kim always had a thing for Jared before he became a shapeshifter, before he even imprinted on her. The two of them hit off fast, while him and Ava are clearly having trouble.

"Yeah she made me a meal." Embry replies, looking back at the fire. "I thought…" He trails off.

He thought she invited him over to her house to hang out, to get to know each other better. He thought he was getting close to her that fast. He thought she wanted to be with him. The whole time he was thinking about how perfect she was and just taking in the little details about her. Another sigh escapes his lips. He should've known it wouldn't be that easy.

"...Her cooking was amazing." He says almost dreamily.

"It'll work out. You just need to be a little patient, that's all. Her making you a meal sounds like a good sign." Emily smiles as Sam walks up behind her, hugging her from behind.

"Yeah! She'll open up eventually." Seth grins. He's kicking a soccer ball around. "You both are bond to each other."

"You should give her room. We have that redheaded leech to worry about anyways." Sam speaks, making Embry's eyes meet his. Is he implying that he should stay away from her? He can't do that!

"Who's that?" Paul suddenly speaks, looking up the tiny slope of the beach and towards where the road is.

Embry follows his eyes, seeing a nice and old school camaro. Then, the most wonderful scent travels up his nose as the car door opens. Vanilla and orchids. His imprint, Ava, steps out of the car. Her loose hair flows in the sudden wind gust, making it blow all over like a model's hair would. Ava however is annoyed by her hair fluttering about.

"Damn she's hot." Paul whistles lowly to himself.

"Back off." Embry growls at him, jumping onto his feet in an instant. His possessiveness gives away who Ava is to everybody.

"That's her?" Kim asks, leaning forward.

Leah who is standing off to the side alone merely glares. Leah is the only female shapeshifter and she hates "imprinting."

Instead of looking curious like the rest or angry like Leah, Claire runs towards Ava screaming her name loudly. She has her arms thrown dramatically in the air.

"Ava!" Claire screeches happily, startling Ava as she makes it to the bottom of the sandy slope.

Ava easily notices Claire's small form running towards her. The little Quileute looks beyond happy. No matter what, Ava can't stop a small smile. She's actually happy to see Claire again. She crouches down a bit so Claire can give her a giant hug to which she returns a little uncertainly.

Embry now finds himself jealous of Claire, but a smile does slowly creep onto his face. Ava, his reason for living, she's here. Quil walks past him and towards Ava and Claire, snapping Embry out of his trance. He needs to get to her!

When Ava straightens back up, she wastes no time to look around for a certain Quileute. She wants to leave quick. Clearly she is interrupting some sort of get together, and she wants to get home before her mom does so she won't discover the cat on her own. She is also unnerved by all the buff and… shirtless guys. A large body walking towards her catches her eyes. She recognizes Quil.

He is probably walking in her direction because of Claire, but he also looks inviting like all the other faces behind him. All the faces but a girl who she has yet to learn goes by "Leah," but her unwelcoming face doesn't bother her. She doesn't plan on staying. Another person jogging up from behind Quil makes her heart speed up against her will.

Ava's crystal eyes meet Embry's chocolate ones. Immediately, Ava starts walking towards him which makes him grin widely. She went straight for him. Claire releases Ava's hand and watches excitedly, secretly hoping they will marry right now. Before Embry can speak, she holds out a pale green laundry bag to him.

"These are your clothes." Ava starts, breaking eye contact and looking to the side. Suddenly, she feels she should apologize for earlier, for how she gave him the wrong idea. "I want to apologize about earlier. I'm sorry."

Embry takes the cotton laundry bag from her, his fingers brushing against hers and sending a gratifying shock through him. She feels it too. He opens the bag slowly, noting how fresh it smells and how much it smells like her. His clothes are folded neatly inside. Naturally he smiles. Ava seems like a very organized person. He looks up to thank her but see she's already halfway down the beach, walking away. Paul snorts in laughter as Embry's face is openly pained. Sam throws Paul an authoritative and stern look, making him shut up although with a scowl. Embry runs after Ava.

"Wait!" He runs in front of her, blocking her path. Ava looks at him annoyance for cutting her off. He remembers her apology. If she meant their almost kiss, that wasn't her fault. "There isn't anything you need to apologize for."

"Alright, then I take it back." She says, crossing her arms and shifting her weight. She looks to the side so her heart will stop pounding a mile per minute while it flutters about. "I just wanted to return those to you."

Embry stares at her. Almost, he can picture a wall of thorns around her. He takes his clothes out of the laundry bag and holds it out to her. That makes her look up at his face. In her eyes, he can see confusion and hurt. He frowns at that hurt, his inner wolf whining. Everyone is watching them interact silently. Ava would be lying if she said she didn't feel a little awkward now.

"Here. Keep your bag." He says, holding it closer to her. She shakes her head, pushing it back in his direction. Her hands are on his as she does.

"No. You keep it. If you don't want it give it to Claire." She insists, her eyes then wandering to their hands. Ava, with extreme annoyance at herself, removes her hands from his as she fights an angry blush. "Bye."

Ava moves to step around him, but something comes in contact with her foot. She looks down, seeing a soccer ball at her feet. Her eyes move to the side, seeing the youngest looking Quileute guy here, Seth. He has a sheepish smile on his face. Silently, she kicks the ball back towards him with perfect aim and steps around Embry.

"Do you play?" Seth asks her, making her stop and turn her head in his direction. Seth keeps looking between her and Embry, and Embry instantly knows what Seth is trying to do. He's trying to get Ava to stay a little longer.

Embry stares at Ava. Her lips are pursed slightly and her brows are furrowed, her eyes showing inner turmoil. She's debating whether or not to answer. To Embry's delight, she does.

"I used to." She replies.

"Do you have time to stay for a quick game?" Embry asks her with a smile.

Ava's eyes widen at that smile. His perfectly white teeth are showing, and she can almost swear that sparkle. She can feel her heart growing warm and swelling. Embry's smile grows wider. He can hear her heart beating stupidly fast.

"I—" She starts, then a phone ringing sounds out before she can speak more. Ava's reaches in her sweater pocket, pulling out her phone to see her mom is calling. She turns away from the Quileutes and begins walking towards her car. "I can't. I have to go."

"Rejected." Paul smirks. Embry's muscles tighten as he holds back shakes. He's growing annoyed with Paul. In Embry's opinion, Paul is the most annoying of the pack.

Ava comes to a stop in her walk, hearing Paul's single word. She looks over her shoulder at him. The buff Quileute is looking at Embry with a pestering smirk. Her pale eyes move to Embry. Why does her heart feel like it's cracking now that it no longer wears that smile? She turns fully to Paul, a blank look on her face. Ava is convinced there is something wrong with her for sure.

"Rejecting him would of been a flat out 'no.' I said 'I can't,' which implies I have other things to do." Ava says, face impudent. She has a lot more words laying upon her tongue but she swallows them. It's not her character to bother herself with other people. "See you later, Embry." She starts walking away again, noticing her slip-up with saying, "see you later," too late.

She walks off the beach, not looking back. She doesn't want to see Embry's affectionate face or Paul's frowning and quivering form, or any of the amused and laughing Quileutes behind her. As she approaches her car, she holds her phone up to her ear.

"Hello?" She answers.

"Hey Aves." Her mom greets. Ava's brows raise. She sounds happier than normal. "I'm about to head home now, but I'm bringing somebody I met at work today with me."

"Someone you met?" Ava murmurs in question.

"Yeah. Don't worry, he's very nice. He actually owns his own Cafe in Seattle! We got to talking today and we have a lot in common…" Her mom's next words are very carefully spoken. "He might stay the night… is that okay?"

Ava is silent, staring at her reflection in her car's window. Her mom is seeing someone now? Her grip on her phone tightens and her eyes narrow the tiniest of bit. After she swallows thickly, she answers.

"That's fine." She speaks, trying to keep the discontent and anguish in her voice nonexistent. "I'll see you in a bit then."

"Alright hun, I love you."

"Love you too." Ava whispers, lowering her phone.

For the first time, Ava is dreading going home.