Hey everyone. Thought I'd go ahead and put up a new chapter today. I know you all love them and I just felt like writing today. So, in this chapter Seth takes Erin home from the bonfire. This is meant to be really cute. I expect to see lots of 'oohs' and 'awws' in the reviews you leave me. Well, I think I've kept you all from this chapter long enough. Read my two other stories 'With Wings Wide Open' and 'In the Blink of an Eye' if you haven't already. They are Maximum Ride fanfictions. Trust me, they are awesome. Okay, here's Chapter 9 for all of you awesome people out there in cyberspace.

No one made a single sound while Billy told the legends. It was so quiet, you couldn't even hear anyone breath. Not even a single heart beat could be heard. I don't even think I heard a cricket chirp the whole time he talked. I told you the legends were captivating.

"Wow." Erin breathed when Billy was finished. The stories were especially breathtaking if you'd never heard them before. I vividly remembered my first time.

Erin turned to me, bathed in an orange glow from the fire. "That was amazing." There was a twinkle reflected in her eyes. Man, was she beautiful or what? I wanted nothing more than to hold her, but that wasn't what she wanted. I had to remember that.

Everyone was silent for another minute or two. No one wanted to admit that it was late and we should really be getting to bed, especially those of us who had jobs and school to look forward to in the morning.

Erin leaned back on her hands and looked up into the starry sky. "I really wish I didn't have to go to school. I'd rather stay here with you."

My heart lurched when she said that. Stay with me. I knew what she meant though: School sucked for her because, with the exception of me, the Cullens, and the pack, she had no friends.

"You know," I said, capturing her attention, "my mom could probably pull a few strings, get you into my high school. That way, you wouldn't feel so lonely." I offered. I'd do anything to make her happy.

She smiled. "Thanks Seth, but I couldn't do that." She sighed. "Besides, school's over at the end of the week. Just exams."

I nodded and said, "Yeah, but maybe next year." I studied her face carefully. She noticed and looked down, slightly embarrassed. I chuckled and said, "Come on. Just think about it."

She looked up and cocked her head to the side, this time she was the one studying me. She straightened her face and sighed, tucking her hair behind her ears. "Okay, only if it's not too much trouble." she decided, causing me to break into a huge grin.

"Only if what's not too much trouble?" Mom asked from behind. I must've been so happy that I didn't hear her come up.

I turned around and looked into her face, a faint smile danced across her features. She knew something was up. "Well, Erin and I were wondering if she could go to school on the rez. She doesn't really like Forks High and…" I trailed off.

My mother's grin became more pronounced. "Of course she can. I'd have to talk to some people, but they should have no problem with it."

Erin looked up and smiled. "Thanks Mrs. Cl- I mean Sue. I really appreciate this. Things haven't been easy."

My mother smiled back. "Think nothing of it honey." She turned and walked away, towards Charlie.

Erin stared at her retreating figure and said, "Your mom's nice. She reminds me of mine… a little."

I noticed tears glistening in her eyes, so I wrapped my arms around her. She went rather rigid, surprised I guess, so I leaned down and whispered, "This is okay, right? If it's not, I can let go." I also noticed she was really warm, but that was probably from the fact that we were sitting right in front of a blazing fire.

She was still for a minute and then slowly nodded. "It's fine." she whispered. I held her for a minute before she said, "What time is it?"

I checked my watch and said, "Almost midnight. Need a ride home?"

She was hesitant for a moment but then said, "Yeah. I guess I do. No sense in walking."

I let go of her slowly, reluctantly, and walked her into the house so she could get her bag. I waited in the hall for her and a moment later she returned, book bag in hand. We walked outside and I noticed a slight chill in the air.

"Need a jacket?" I asked Erin, seeing as she wasn't wearing one. "It's kinda cold."

She shrugged and shook her head. "I'm fine. Really Seth. Don't worry so much."

The fact that she wasn't even the slightest bit cold, while everyone else had jackets on and were close to at least one werewolf, worried me, but she had said everything was fine.

We walked over to Jacob who was arguing with Billy over something. Whatever it was, they stopped as soon as they noticed us.

"Erin needs a ride home." I told Jacob.

He rolled his eyes at us, clearly annoyed. "What am I? Her personal chauffeur?"

I nodded and said, "Unless you'd like me to use your car."

He groaned. "You know that's the last thing I'd ever do. It even comes after 'Get my legs chewed off by an alligator' on my list." He pulled his keys out of his pocket and turned to Billy. "You can get a ride home right?"

Billy nodded. "Don't you worry about me." He turned to Erin, smiling. "I hope I'll be seeing more of you around here."

She nodded. "Sue's trying to get me enrolled in the school up here. Forks High isn't working out."

Billy smiled. "Well that's too bad, but I'm sure you'll enjoy it here just fine." He sighed and said, "Well I won't keep you." and rolled off towards Mom, probably asking for a ride home.

We walked to Jake's car and climbed in silently. I guess none of us had very much to say. Jacob pulled out of in front of my house and started driving.

"So, where do you live exactly?" Jacob asked Erin after a few minutes.

She yawned hugely and said, "Uh… 362 Vance Avenue. Do you know where that is?"

Jacob nodded. "Yeah, I know the way."

We fell silent again. Erin was next to me in the back seat, about ready to doze off and I stared out the window at the passing scenery.

After about five minutes, I felt Erin's head fall on my shoulder. I turned my head to look at her. She was asleep, probably dreaming about werewolves or who-knows-what. I smiled a little and wrapped my arm around her. A moan escaped her lips, but she didn't move.

I noticed Jacob was peeking at me through his mirror, but I really couldn't have cared less. I was about the happiest person alive at that moment. I stroked her hair and kissed her forehead gently. "I love you." I whispered, knowing she hadn't heard.

Jacob rolled his eyes. "You know, it might've been better to tell her that when she was awake."

I shook my head. "No, it's better this way. She didn't hear me say it, but I told her anyway. I had to tell her, just once."

Jacob rolled his eyes at me again. "Whatever."

I sighed and placed my hand on top of Erin's and got a shock. She was warm, really warm. Was she getting sick?

"Jake, I'm worried." I announced. "Erin's really warm. I think she might be sick or something."

Jacob snorted with laughter. "Seth, has it occurred to you that she might be warm 'cause you have your arms around her and you have a body temperature of like 107 degrees?"

I thought about that and breathed a sigh of relief. "You're right Jake. That's all it is. She's fine."

Jacob stifled a laugh and we were quiet the rest of the drive to Erin's house. There was no noise in the car except for Erin's breathing. Music to my ears. It was so quiet that if I listened closely enough I could even hear her heart beat faintly.

Soon, Jacob came to a stop in front of a two story house. He squinted out the window at the mailbox. "Yup, this is the place. You better wake her up Seth."

I nodded and nudged Erin with my elbow. She stirred, but made no other sign of life. "Erin, wake up." I whispered, shaking her gently, trying to rouse her.

Her eyes cracked open and she seemed surprised to be laying on me. "Seth?" she asked, sleepily as she sat up, pushing her glasses back on her nose. "Where are we?" She let out a yawn and stretched.

"You're home. You fell asleep." I informed her. I smiled a little, thinking about kissing her forehead. It had been nice. I wished I could do it more often, but no. I wouldn't do anything else unless she asked. I just had to do it once.

She nodded and picked up her bag. "Thanks for the ride. And thanks for inviting me. I had a nice time." She gave me a small smile and I returned it.

"No prob." I told her. "I love being around you." I said, wondering about the next time I'd see her.

Jacob laughed. "That's an understatement don't you think Seth?" he asked me, smirking. Erin looked confused so he said, "Imprinters can't stand to be away from their imprintee for too long. Even a day's hard."

She looked at me and I nodded sheepishly. "Yeah. So, can we do something after school tomorrow?"

She looked in my eyes and nodded. "How 'bout you call me?" I nodded back and then she added, "If you want, you can call as soon as you get home."

"Yeah, that'd be great." I said, happily.

She smiled and opened the car door. "Bye Seth." she said, lingering for a moment, looking at me. Then she looked away and added, "See ya Jake." as she slammed the door shut.

I watched her as she ran to the front of the house, pulled the door open slowly, gave a quick glance back at the car, and disappeared inside.

I sighed and sat back in my seat. "Step on it Jake."

He rolled his eyes. "Just for that, I'm gonna go extra, extra slow." he joked, but pulled out anyway, going at a nice, sorta fast pace.

We were at my house in record time. I grabbed the phone from off the coffee table and made a mad dash to my room. I flopped down on my bed and began dialing Erin's number (I knew it by heart.).

The phone rang a few times before someone picked up. What was strange was that I didn't hear anything except a muffled sound. It really freaked me out and I began to worry. "Erin? Erin you there?" I asked, panicking a little.

I heard a sniffle and a voice quavered, "Yeah Seth… fine. Everything… fine." I heard another sniffle.

Fine my eye. "Erin, are you crying?" I asked, trying to sound as comforting as possible. What had happened?

I heard her sniffle and take in a shuddering breath. "I told you I'm fine. It's just that… my uncle…"

"What happened?" I asked, getting madder and madder by the second.

"No, no" she said hastily. "Everything's okay." I heard her sniffle again. "He just got mad that I came home so late. He thought it'd be sooner. I shoulda called I guess." Another sniffle. "I'm grounded for the rest of the week."

My heart sank. A whole week? An entire week from my Erin? Yeah, I considered her mine even though she wasn't my girlfriend. Could I handle a week away from her? I supposed I had to. I supposed I just had to suck it up.

"You okay Seth?" she asked. "I think you're taking this harder than me and," sniffle, "I'm the one who's being punished."

I shook my head. "I'm being punished too. I can't see you for a whole week."

She gave a weak chuckle at that and then sighed. "I better go. If my uncle catches me on the phone I'll be grounded even longer."

I sighed and said, "Don't want that."

"Well, bye."

"Bye." I said, glad that I finally got to tell her this time.

I set the phone down on my bedside table. A week. An entire week. What was I going to do for an entire week? I groaned and put my pillow over my head. Sometimes imprinting was a pain in the butt. But if it wasn't for imprinting, I wouldn't know Erin. I guess, like everything, it has it's ups and downs.

Okay, how was that? I hope you enjoyed. No idea when the next update will be. Soon I hope. Review. See ya!