So, I only got one review for my last update. :( That makes me kinda sad, because I know there are people reading...
But that's okay; you don't have to review if you really don't want to. If you did, it would make me super happy though. I always do a little happy dance when I get a review...
Enough of me though, here's the next chapter. Tell me what you think (:
BPOV
Mrs. Bronson let me stay after I dropped Skylar off. Brent wasn't back yet.
"I'm sorry for bursting out at you yesterday. I just don't want to see her hurt like that again." I looked up from the cup of tea Mrs. B had given me. It seemed so fragile in my hands, kind of like Skylar.
"I'm sorry, but did you say again?" She smiled at me, nodding.
"It's a long story," Mrs. B muttered, backing away towards the oven. She leaned against it, staring at the wall behind me.
I shrugged.
"I've got time." Truth was, I didn't. I had patrol in an hour, but she didn't need to know that.
"That's alright Brady; you don't have to listen to our less than perfect family story."
"I want to know." Mrs. Bronson sighed.
"Of course, you are planning to shove your way in here after all." I grimaced. Obviously I had to try harder to get back on Mrs. B's good side...
"Of course." She shook her head at me.
"My hus- Skylar's father was a werewolf too you know." That was a shock. I thought Billy's generation didn't produce any werewolves?
"He was?" She nodded, her eyes taking on a faraway look.
"He ran away from it. He got as far away from La Push as possible, ended up in Australia." Mrs. B smiled again. "I met him when I was nine. He was our weird neighbour. He was always indoors, he never went to block parties. He would only speak to me. I never understood why..." She frowned.
"I was seventeen when he told me. I was about to leave for the States, for school. He followed me to the airport and cornered me. It was there that I noticed that he looked exactly the same as he did when I was nine.
"I didn't bother to ask questions because he told me everything anyways." Her eyes locked with mine.
"The first thing he said was that he loved me. He told me he was a werewolf from Washington and that I was his soul mate." Mrs. Bronson shook her head. "I was so naïve... I had a thing for fairytales back then, so I believed him."
She glared at me.
"I don't want Skylar to make the same mistakes that I did. I don't want her to end up like me and her father." I didn't answer for a few seconds; her story was still going through my head.
"What happened with you and Mr. Bronson?" I couldn't help but ask.
Her eyes narrowed at me.
"You don't have to tell me, if it's too personal or something..." I looked down at the untouched tea.
"No. You should know." She stared at me for a few seconds before she spoke again. "I moved to La Push with him. By then he had stopped phasing, and no one here ever really knew he had ever been a werewolf in the first place." She shrugged, looking down at her hands. "It was great for the first ten years. The bond we had as imprints held tight, and we were in love. We had Brent and then Skylar a few years later." She sighed.
"After Skylar, things started to fall apart. His part-time job wasn't providing enough money for the family, and he had no other options because he had never finished school." She looked up at me. "I couldn't work because that would mean hiring a baby-sitter for the two kids, and that meant more money loss..." Mrs. Bronson looked away from me, her eyes glistening. "We fought, a lot. And the bond started to crumble around us... Skylar was seven when we got divorced. He took her with him, back to Australia, to the house he had lived in when he met me." Mrs. Bronson took a shaky breath, tears streaking down her cheeks. "I didn't know what he was doing to her. I only got to see her once every few months. I didn't know that he blamed her for everything that happened with us." Her voice cracked, and she looked away. "I didn't know that he was beating her. She lived in that house for ten years and he beat her everyday. I'm such a horrible mother; I don't want to see her hurt like that again." Through her tears Mrs. B glared at me.
"I don't care about the imprint. Imprints can be broken, I should know. I've experienced it first hand. Just don't hurt her the way he hurt me. That can be much more painful than any physical pain you've inflicted on her." She smiled slightly.
"But don't you dare think that's a pass for you to hurt her. You injure my daughter again and you will regret the day you ever laid eyes on her. Do you understand me?" I nodded, still a bit shaken by Mrs. Bronson's history.
"Yes ma'am," I muttered, still distracted.
The imprint could be broken? No one had ever mentioned that before. Then again, Mr. and Mrs. Bronson were the first ones I'd heard of. No one had even known they were imprints.
"Good. Now, Skylar should be waking up soon. She doesn't usually sleep for more than a few hours if it's before nine." Mrs. B grabbed the tissue box beside her before leaving the kitchen.
The imprint could be broken.
But Skylar was beginning to like me; I had nothing to worry about, right?
Someone started walking around upstairs. I hadn't even noticed Skylar waking up.
I quickly downed the tea, ignoring the burn it left behind. I went to stand at the foot of the stairs, no need to scare her.
Her eyes narrowed when she saw me there.
"You're still here," she accused. I shrugged, smiling.
"Did you want me to leave?" I was still smiling, but I really wanted to know. I couldn't tell what she wanted.
"No," she muttered, coming down the stairs. I opened my arms, but she pushed them away, walking around me. "Nice try."
I grinned, following her into the living room.
"A players gotta play," I muttered, earning a glare from her.
"Why are you still here?" I shrugged, sitting down on the couch. I patted the spot next to me. Skylar sat on the opposite end of the couch.
I smiled. At least she didn't sit on the opposite side of the room.
"Your mom asked me to stay." Okay, maybe she didn't really ask me, but same thing...
"Right, well why aren't you with her?"
"I'm here to be with you," I muttered, moving closer to her. Her heart beat accelerated and she tried to move away, but there was no where to go.
I kept moving closer, until she held her hands up against my chest. I looked down at them, confused.
"Stop," she breathed, getting up.
"What did I do?"
She glared at me. "You know exactly what you did." She ran a hand through her hair before glancing back at me. She shook her head, walking away.
I followed her into the kitchen and then outside after she took two lemonades out of the fridge.
"Is that for me?" I asked. She shook her head, but stopped herself.
"It might be," she hedged, "if you behave yourself." She sat cross legged in the middle of their huge back yard.
Skylar opened one can and put the other one behind her back.
"Before you start explaining," She looked down at the can in her hands, "I have a few questions."
"About werewolves?" She shook her head.
"About you," she muttered, sounding embarrassed. I smiled.
"Shoot." She sighed, finally looking up at me.
"Why do you keep hurting me?" Her question hung in the air around us. Why did I keep hurting her?
"I never thought about what kinds of emotions you'd bring up in me. I didn't think you'd try and run away from me either. I didn't know your rejection would be so painful. Or that it would make my anger so hard to control." I looked down. I hated talking about my feelings, but she had asked.
Skylar didn't speak for a while. She just handed me the lemonade from behind her in silence.
"Thanks." She nodded, still not looking at me.
"I'm sorry. I didn't know... It's just that I'm so used to being hurt by others. It's weird for people to actually care. I'm still trying to get used to having a family that actually wonders where I am because they're worried about me and not because..." Her voice trailed off.
"It's okay; it's not your fault." It's your freakin' fathers fault. I swear, if I ever met him in a dark alley...
Skylar sighed.
"It is, Kole and Brent both warned me, but I didn't listen. They both told me to give you a chance too." Okay, maybe Kole wasn't that bad.
"Are you giving me a chance then?" I smirked. She scowled at me.
"We'll see, explain yourself first." So she was still testing me, huh?
"You know I'm a werewolf." She nodded. "And you know that werewolves have these things called imprints?" She stiffened, but nodded again.
"So this is about imprinting?" She asked slowly. I nodded. "Have you all imprinted then?"
"Everyone except for Seth," I muttered. This is it; I had to tell her now or never.
"You," she paused, taking a deep breath. "You imprinted too?"
SPOV
He nodded.
Of course he did. Of course he had a soul mate somewhere, and I was just some random girl he was trying to make amends with.
Of course I would crush on a guy that was already attached by a spiritual bond to someone else. But, in a way I had to be glad. At least it wasn't me, imprints were bad. I'd heard enough stories in my life time to prove that to me.
Yet, it still hurt to think that I could never be with Brady. He already had someone else. She was probably beautiful and fun and not broken.
I looked down at the lemonade, willing myself not to cry.
"On who?" I managed to ask.
"Skylar." was his simple reply. She even sounded pretty!
Wait, Skylar? My name was Skylar...
"You're joking," I muttered, knowing he could hear me.
"I'm not. Skylar, why else would I be turning into your mega stalker?" I didn't answer. We were soul mates. He was mine and no one else's.
I bit my lip to keep from smiling.
"I don't believe you," I persisted. Brady sighed.
"Look at me." I looked up; I hadn't noticed him move to sit right in front of me. "Tell me, what do you feel?" I took a deep breath, unconsciously leaning forward. I closed my eyes, reveling in the heat that was surrounding me.
"I-I don't know." I got up, taking a few steps away from him. He stayed where he was, his eyes watching my every move.
"Skylar, I don't have to be anything you don't want me to be. I can go away right now if you want me too." Brady's tone had changed again. I really hated it when he went all sweet and caring; it made me forget all about the cocky side of him.
"I don't want you to leave," I muttered, knowing very well he wouldn't have left anyway.
Brady smiled slightly, getting up to stand in front of me.
"Then I'm not going anywhere," he whispered. I looked down.
That's what he said now, but Father had taught me better. I knew that there was no such thing as fairytale endings. Even with spiritual bonds.
But I nodded at him, I couldn't help it. Some little part of me was hopeful. Maybe I wouldn't end up like my parents. Maybe Brady and I would be different.
Brady and I. That sounded so good in my head, like it was meant to be.
"Skylar." I looked up and saw Brady twiddling his thumbs nervously.
I frowned. "Yes?"
He sighed. "What do you want me to be? Cause I don't want to push you into anything you don't want to do..." I blushed, looking back down at the ground.
"I don't know," I muttered. "I already have an older brother, and I really do not want another one. No offense." He smiled.
"None taken."
I took a deep breath. "And I don't want to feed your ego unnecessarily, so I don't need a boyfriend either." Brady's face fell, but he smiled again almost immediately.
"That's okay; I'll just be your friend then." I bit my lip, imagining how Kole would react to Brady hanging out with us. He would draw too much attention.
"Define friend," I said hesitantly. Brady frowned, shrugging.
"I'll always have your back, shoulder to cry on, that kind of thing." I nodded.
"Well, I guess Kole can share." I whispered, hoping that Brady wouldn't hear me.
He stiffened.
"Kole?" I nodded, internally kicking myself for saying anything at all. Brady growled.
"What's wrong with Kole?" He grimaced, glancing down at me.
"He's with you too much; do you like him or something?" I had to laugh a little at the fact that Brady was jealous of a guy who had a girlfriend. Besides, I came with too much baggage; no one would actually like me out of their own free will...
"What's so funny?" I shook my head, heading back to the house. He followed behind me, blocking out the sun.
Brent was in the kitchen when I walked in the back door. He looked surprised to see me there with Brady.
"Hey Sky, Brady." His eyes narrowed at him, before he left the room.
I sighed. Now he gets all protective.
"I thought Brent was on my side?" I jumped. I hadn't noticed Brady come up behind me.
I shrugged, squeezing out from in between Brady and the counter.
"He has issues," I muttered, turning to look at him.
"What?"
"Have you ever dated before?" I blurted out. Brady laughed.
"Nope." He popped the 'p'. "Have you?" Brady frowned at me, suddenly sounding worried.
I shook my head, looking away again. I hadn't been allowed to date...
"I have a question." I glanced back at him before staring the wall in front of me.
"What was life like, in Sydney?" I froze.
"Okay, I guess." I walked away.
Please don't ask more questions; please don't ask more questions...
"Did you go out a lot?" I groaned.
"Could we talk about something else," I almost begged.
"Sure." I could almost hear the smirk in Brady's voice. "Can you swim?" I whirled around.
Yes, I had asked for a subject change, but that was random.
"That depends on why you're asking." Brady laughed at my hesitance.
"Don't worry; I'm not going to throw in the ocean or anything." I couldn't help but worry anyways. How could I be so sure he wouldn't throw me in the ocean?
"I can swim then." Brady grinned.
"Have you ever heard of cliff diving." I froze, again. Brent had talked about cliff diving once. 'A total rush', were the exact words he used to describe the experience.
I personally enjoyed good old surfing.
"Possibly." Brady laughed.
"Do you want to go? It's pretty nice outside, it won't be too cold." I bit my lip. One glance at Brady's hopeful expression made up my mind for me.
"Okay." Brady smiled.
"Awesome." I sighed at Brady's coy smile. It would be fun.
Besides, what's the worse that could happen?
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Oh, how desperate I sound...