Previously: Getting high and watching Buffy reruns with Bella after spending the morning surfing together would soon become my favorite way to spend the day.

Ch 7: Seth POV

As fall approached and Bella and I were both busied with school work we spent a little less time together. She loved her cooking classes, tolerated her business classes, and was doing really well. It was easy to forget about the threat of Victoria and the fact that Bella's trek to and from class was still fairly dangerous if she was unaccompanied by one of the pack members. When she wasn't in class, Bella was usually in La Push. Between me and Jacob and the rest of the pack, Bella was busy and seemed almost happy. I would've had to be an idiot not to notice how much time Charlie was spending at La Push as well… especially since 90% of that time was spent at my house…..with my mom. It's all good, though. My mom's a good woman and she deserves to be happy. And, if nothing else, Charlie getting together with my mom would further cement Bella's position within our pack. It also gave Bella more of an excuse than ever to be at the rez and stay down with us on the weekends.

Bella and Jake still had a close bond, and yeah, he was still totally in love with her, but I was cool with that. She was happy when we surfed together and also when we had what we jokingly referred to as our "twice baked Saturdays". On those Saturdays Bella and I would meet up early at Third Beach and surf and then come back to my shed and "get baked". A stoned Bella was a hungry Bella, so we'd usually head to my kitchen after that where she would come up with something delicious for us to eat. Bella's gourmet baking would be the second part of our "twice baked" Saturday. Sometimes I'd help out, but usually I'd just wash up the utensils as she used them and joke around with her while she would improvise ingredients to fit her latest craving. One Saturday Bella set her eyes on me with a deadly serious face and asked "What are your true feelings on cream cheese icing?"

In my somewhat altered state, that was the funniest question I'd ever heard and we both dissolved into fits of laughter. That would remain one of our favorite random things to say to one another and always managed to make us smile. That question did lead to a fantastic batch of chocolate cupcakes with peanut butter cream cheese icing, the likes of which I'd never tasted.

By Spring Break of that year, Charlie had moved in to our house on the rez which meant that Bella moved in, too. It was a fantastic situation for someone who was secretly imprinted, really. Bella was always near enough to me that I didn't feel the pain of her absence, and having her asleep in the room that was attached to mine via a shared bathroom meant that I could protect her if she needed it. Since Leah was the oldest, she got her own bathroom and the larger bedroom down the hall, but Bella and I didn't care. We were close enough that we'd rather be close together anyway.

Our closeness didn't seem to bother anyone else. In fact, most of the pack figured that Bella and I were like a brother and sister. I don't know about that. Bella never tried to make me miserable like Leah did. She didn't try and make me feel younger or more immature than her, and I certainly didn't feel like she was a sister to me. We didn't argue with the assumption, though. That was something I began to notice about Bella. If someone had an idea about her, made an incorrect assumption or whatever, she wasn't going to correct them. Bella would let them go right ahead and think whatever they wanted. So most of the pack was under the impression that Bella was still some sort of naïve little girl who read sappy old books all day while pining away after Edward Cullen.

One early summer bonfire just after my junior year had finished and everyone had wrapped up their exams at school, Bella thought it would be funny to shake things up a bit and let everyone know just how skewed their idea of her really was. The bonfire had gone late and it was the point at which Bella would typically have to head back to Forks. Now that she lived at my house there was really no reason for her to go. The wolves had all been eyeing each other for a while, waiting for their chance to cut loose, not knowing whether she'd leave. Bella caught my eye and smirked, raising her eyebrow conspiratorially. She reached into my leather messenger bag and dug out and lit my bowl before any of the pack registered what was happening. Without looking directly at anyone, she hit it again before passing the bowl and lighter to me. The she looked up and demanded "What?!" in a smart-assed tone to the stunned-silent crowd.

Quil was the first to recover, probably because he had the biggest mouth. "See! I knew Bella wouldn't give a shit about some weed! Here we've been sneaking around her for years and she and Seth are probably getting stoned together every day. Damn!" His eyes sparkled with amusement. Paul shrugged, gave Bella a grin and demanded that she "pass that shit over his way". Jacob was the only one who didn't seem too pleased with Bella springing that bit of information on everyone. "What the hell, Bells? Were you ever going to say anything to the rest of us?" he sounded pissy.

"I don't know, Jake. Were you ever going to say anything to me?" she asked in a soft voice while looking up at him from under her lashes. I watched her bite her lip and he visibly melted. Sucker.

"Aw, Honey! Don't be like that," he pleaded. I just know how you hate lying to Charlie about what you're up to, so I didn't want to put you in that position," he reasoned.

Bella, being Bella forgave him immediately. "So what else are you two creeps hiding from us?" Jacob laughed as he threw his arm carelessly around Bella's shoulder.

"Yeah, well Seth taught me how to surf," Bella deadpanned. The pack all laughed raucously at that, particularly Jacob, but Bella didn't say anything more. She didn't bother to argue or correct them; she just let them go on thinking she had been joking. I looked into her eyes and saw a bit of hurt there, but when she caught my glance she just smiled slightly and shook her head almost imperceptibly. Fuck it. Fuck them. They shouldn't make Bella the brunt of their jokes. She is clumsy as hell and she had to work her ass off to even be able to stand on her surf board on the sand. Now she was fucking grace on water. It was their loss not being able to share that part of her. Somewhere inside, my wolf rejoiced in the fact that a certain piece of Bella still belonged only to me and maybe she wasn't quite ready to share it with the rest of the pack either.

Unfortunately, I didn't get to keep that part of Bella to myself for much longer. Once summer was in full swing, Bella and I had woken up early one morning to grab some breakfast and hit the waves at Third Beach. We'd been out in the water for nearly an hour when I noticed Embry and Jacob's silhouettes on the sand. I don't know how long they'd been watching, but it was long enough for them to ascertain that Bella was no longer a novice.

I began to paddle in to shore just to make sure that everything was okay. Bella, however, had spotted her next wave and I watched from the shore as she paddled, popped up, spread her feet, and rode in. The lean muscles in her legs flexed and tensed as she shifted her weight almost imperceptibly in an effort to maintain her balance. Bella's dark hair hung in wet tendrils with the ends curling almost at her waist, and the look on her face was pure joy. She took my breath away.

Jacob nudged me with his shoulder and I was afraid I got caught drooling. "Thank you, Seth."His voice was serious and quiet.

"For what?' I honestly didn't know.

"For giving her that. I haven't seen Bella smile like that in like… well … ever really. You did that. You taught her how to do that and all of us fucking laughed at her like she was making a damn joke when she told us about it." The guild was thick in his voice and I could tell Jake was feeling like shit. He probably should, too. Underestimating someone isn't a great way to endear them to yourself, you know.

"S'okay man," I said, brushing off his thanks. She did that, though, not me. She worked her ass off to learn and wouldn't give up. You know how stubborn she is. It's like a curse and a gift." I wanted to make him feel better without taking the credit. Bella was the one who deserved the admiration here, not me.

Quil was still just staring at Bella as she paddled back out through the breakers to catch her next ride. He looked a little dumbstruck as he watched her pop up and command her board again. "That is so not cool, dude. As if Jacob wasn't hard enough for Bella 24/7 already, now we're all gonna have this image burned into our minds for the rest of our lives. She looks like a fucking goddess" Quil admitted. I couldn't help but agree.