Chapter 9

It was finally about to be 9:30 am and Seth was about to reach at Scarlett's place. He saw the twins standing in the driveway when it was 9:28 am, Seth smiled at this. It was not until he was in front of the house that he saw Scarlett talking to some other guy. He had a strong jawline and high cheekbones, his blue eyes sparkled as he looked at Scarlett, he was a bit tanned and tall but shorter than Seth, and he was not muscular but toned and he had brown spiky hair, overall he was handsome. Seth felt a pang of jealousy but tried to avoid it, their relationship was supposed to be platonic and nothing else. He parked in the driveway and got out of the car, "Seth" the twins ran over to him happily, and he bent down to their eye level and said "Hey guys" with a grin.

"Are we going to go now?" Ethan asked happily, "Let's first tell your mom okay?" Seth asked and then got up, the two of them followed Seth like puppies. "Hey Scarlett" Seth greeted Scarlett who had not even noticed that Seth had arrived, "Hey Seth" she greeted back happily. "We will let Evelyn know that we are leaving" Seth said feeling awkward standing between Scarlett and the other guy, Scarlett gave him a nod. Seth, Eliot and Ethan went inside to let Evelyn know they were about to leave. "Seth, Hey, you are right on time" Evelyn said happily, "Hello" Seth greeted her, "Mom can we go now?" Eliot said happily, "You two will be behave yourself and not give Seth a hard time, whatever he says you have to follow" Evelyn instructed her kids and they nodded frantically, "If they give you hard time bring them back immediately" Evelyn told Seth, "I bet they will enjoy" Seth said. "Are you sure you will be okay by yourself? I don't want to cause any troubles" Evelyn enquires, "We will be fine, besides our friends are also coming to the beach, everyone will help" Seth admitted.

"Go grab your bags boys" Evelyn told her kids as they ran off to the living room, "I am glad that Scarlett has a friend like you, she needs people around her" Evelyn said after she was sure no one was listening. "I feel the same way, she stays alone all the time" Seth confessed, "I hope it will change now since you are here" Evelyn hoped and Seth gave her an assuring nod. After a pause Seth could not help but ask "Who is the guy Scarlett is talking to in the front yard?" "Oh that is Nathan, he is um – he likes Scarlett, they have a history" Evelyn admitted, what Seth had gathered about Evelyn was that she never lied, she was into the idea of love and she was naïve. "Oh" was all Seth could say, he felt as if someone had punched him in the stomach, he and Scarlett had known each other for just a little more than a month, and Scarlett and Nathan had a history.

"Seth we are ready" Ethan said from the living room, "I guess we should get going" Seth told Evelyn who nodded, the boys were carrying two bags, and Seth took those bags with him. Scarlett was still talking happily to Nathan and Seth had to interfere, "Scarlett we are ready to go" he felt good while interfering since Nathan was standing too close to Scarlett. "I will see you later?" Nathan asked Scarlett with a smile, his voice was deep and clear. "Sure" she said and he gave her a small peck on her cheeks, Scarlett turned crimson and Seth could hear her heart skip a beat, 'I am supposed to make her feel that way' Seth though with an irritated look on his face.

Seth buckled the twins in the back seat with trembling hands and went to put the bags in the car's trunk, finally Scarlett walked to them and Seth opened the door for her and she got in the passenger's seat, Seth closed the door a little louder than he intended to. Finally they drove off to the beach and Seth gave Nathan a death glare as they passed by him.

"Seth, what are we going to do at the beach?" Eliot asked politely, breaking Seth out of his trance. "We are going to do whatever you guys like, there is this girl of your age coming there too" Seth told them, "Is she pretty?" Ethan asked, Seth could not help but laugh "She is older than you" he told them, "Then how is she our age?" Ethan asked, "Well she is 12, but she loves to play with kids your age" Seth told Ethan. "What is her name?" Eliot asked, "Her name is Claire, and there is this guy Quil, he is older but he would love to play with you too" Seth answered with a smile, "Are you going to play with us?" Eliot asked, "If you want" Seth replied with a shrug. "Scarlett will you play with us?" Ethan asked happily, "She can't get in the water" Seth replied before Scarlett could speak, "Yeah, so if you want me to play we have to stay out of the water" Scarlett joined in. The twins babbled about what all they were going to play the whole trip. Seth and Scarlett on the other hand barely talked, which was unusual.

When they reached, Seth saw the whole group there except Leah who was busy packing her remaining things at her home. Seth parked his car next to other vehicles and got out of the car, Scarlett got out of the car herself and the two of them unbuckled the twins who jumped out of the car excitedly. Seth went to get the bags from the trunk of the car while Scarlett and the twins waited for him. The four of them made their way to the group together and everyone greeted them happily. "This is Ethan and this is Eliot, they are Scarlett's cousins" Seth introduced the hyperactive twins to the group, the imprintees grew found of them immediately and began entertaining them including Scarlett. Seth sat a little away from the group and Jacob noticed that, "You okay?" he asked sitting next to Seth, "Yeah" was all Seth could reply.

"You can tell me, or I will find out tonight" Jacob told Seth with a raised eyebrow. "There is this guy Nathan" Seth started and continued what he saw and ranted his feeling out to Jacob, even Embry joined them. "Isn't that the point of imprinting, to stay together? What is the point of imprinting if we can't be together with our imprintee?" Seth asked tossing a small pebble in the water. "Look at Quil, he is not Claire's lover, she even has this huge crush on some guy of her school, Quil is Claire's best friend, it does not mean that Claire will end up with that guy although she has a choice" Jacob started, "Even Jake was not Nessie's boyfriend till last year, they were also just friends" Embry injected, "You just got to wait for the right time, Scarlett is just sixteen and there are chances she will choose you in the end but she needs to figure this out herself, would you not want her to fall for you because of who you are rather than because you have imprinted on her?" Jacob explained, "I get it, but from what I have gathered, this guy has broken her heart once, I don't want that to happen again" Seth replied by tossing another pebble, "You cannot protect her from everything, although you can be the one to mend her" Embry said with a shrug. "Stop being all doom and gloom now, it does not suit you" Jacob remarked throwing a light punch on his shoulder, making Seth's grin to reappear.

"Let's do something adventurous, we have not done in a while" Seth said with a grin before jumping up and standing on his feet, "Like what?" Embry asked, Seth looked over to the cliff and looked back to his friends who were grinning just like him, "Cliff diving" Embry confirmed as both he and Jacob got up, "Hey Quil, you want to join us?" Jacob asked not loudly but Quil heard it, in a minute he got up and jogged over to Jacob, everyone's eyes followed the group of boys who were happy about something that only Renesmee caught with her supernatural hearing and she tried to hold back her chuckle.

"Yeah that will be fun" Quil joined in with a grin, Jacob and Quil walked over to their imprintees and told them that they would be back, while Renesmee gave Jacob a peck on his lips and said "Have fun" Claire told Quil "Take care" with a smile, Scarlett was confused, even though she tried asking to Renesmee where they were going, Renesmee told her to see for herself in a few minutes. Scarlett felt a bit sad as Seth never walked up to her like Jacob and Quil but tried to comfort herself by saying that it was because they were just friends. She saw the boys pull their shirts off and wondered if they were going for a swim but rather they ran off to the forest.

Seth was behind Jacob while they ran to the highest cliff for cliff diving. They had not done this for a long time and it was going to be so much fun, he had heard Scarlett's heart skip a beat when he took off his shirt and it made him smirk. Once they were on top of the highest cliff he looked over to Scarlett by the corner of his eyes, she was standing in her place looking over at him and she looked scared, Renesmee gave Jacob a flying kiss who 'caught it and kept it in his heart', everyone chuckled at their Alpha. "Okay who is up first?" Jacob asked ignoring the others, "Me" Seth said excitedly, "By all means" Jacob said as everyone stepped five steps back, Seth took two steps back and felt the adrenalin rush in his body, he stole one last glance at Scarlett who looked at him with shocked expressions and she had now moved forward. He launched himself and finally jumped off the cliff.

"Oh my god, Seth!" Scarlett breathed, horror washed off her features and her heart dropped to her stomach. She felt weak in her knees and eyes filled with tears, Seth disappeared in the water and a strong wave washed off the surface he had landed into, she whole body was trembling, 'why wasn't anyone helping Seth?!' she thought, "Hey Scarlett, relax" Renesmee said putting a hand on Scarlett's shoulder, 'How could I relax?' she thought, finally Seth re appeared on the surface, the boys on the cliff hooted and clapped loudly and Seth beamed up to them. Scarlett let go of the breathe she was holding, and a wave of calm hit her, Seth was okay.

Seth quickly swam to the shore and was grinning the whole time, Scarlett marched up to him and Seth was still grinning, like what he had done was something to be proud of! "What the hell were you doing?!" Scarlett shouted, Seth was caught off guard, "What?" he asked a bit confused, "You jumped off a goddamn cliff!" she shouted again, "Yes I know" Seth replied proudly, "I don't understand you" Scarlett shook her head and turned around, as she was about to walk away from Seth, he held her by her wrist and it made Scarlett's heart pick up pace abruptly. He twirled her around to face him, "Are you mad at me?" he asked, "I was scared to death" Scarlett shouted again, "There is nothing to be scared about, look" Seth made her look at Embry who hit the water with a loud splash and Jacob and Quil cheered for him, "See, it is for recreational purpose, it doesn't hurt or kill anyone, we were just cliff diving" Seth explained, "Fine" she said turning around again but Seth did not let her walk away. He twirled her around to face him again, "If you don't like it, I would not do it again" Seth promised.

Scarlett could not help but walk into Seth's arms, he was still dripping wet, and half naked but Scarlett still walked into his arms and hugged him. Renesmee heard both of their hearts beat faster and decided it was time to walk away, "It's not that, you caught me off guard, I did not knew what you were doing, I was scared for you" Scarlett admitted, Seth buried his face in her neck and replied "I am sorry for scaring you" "I am sorry for overreacting" Scarlett apologized too, they both took two steps back from each other, "You thought I was on a suicide mission?" Seth mocked, "Well, I don't know how your brain works" Scarlett gave a mocking reply too, "If you were not ill, I would have got you in that water by now" Seth warned Scarlett with a crooked smile, it made Scarlett blush a little. "Really?" Scarlett asked with a crooked smile too, Seth gave her a nod and she could not help but laugh.

The rest of the day was spend talking, and finally Seth and Scarlett fell in their normal talking relationship. At five pm, everyone decided it was time to get back home. Ethan and Eliot had enjoyed more than ever and they were just as tired, Seth readily agreed to carry both the sleeping twins to the car. Scarlett carried the bags and put them in the trunk, while Seth buckled the sleeping twins in their seats. He then opened the car door for Scarlett and she settled in the passenger's seat, after which Seth closed the car door and got in the driver's seat.

She was also tired, and quickly fell asleep, Seth smiled at her and remembered how she had reacted to Seth cliff diving. She was scared for him, she cared for him! What more could Seth ask for? It was like he had won a lottery. He drove to Evelyn's house, thinking about Scarlett which was more than enough to keep himself entertained. When they reached outside Evelyn's house, Seth unbuckled the twins without waking them up and walked to the front door. Seth rang the doorbell and Evelyn opened the door, "Oh! They are asleep" Evelyn remarked with a smile, "Yes, they were tired, I decided not to wake them up" Seth told her, "Thank you so much, where is Scarlett?" Evelyn asked taking both the twins from Seth's arms, "She is also asleep in the car, I will go wake her up" Seth said and Evelyn gave him a nod, she left the front door open and carried her boys inside. Seth jogged to his car and got in his seat to wake Scarlett up. "Hey" he said softly and shook her lightly, Scarlett's eyes fluttered open slowly, "Are we home?" she asked, her eyes adjusting to the light.

"Yeah" Seth replied as Scarlett unbuckled herself. "Thank you for today" she said, now completely up. She gave Seth a meaningful and long hug, Seth inhaled her sweet smell and wrapped his arms around her shoulder. "It was my pleasure" Seth replied when they dropped their hands. Scarlett got out of the car and so did Seth. He insisted on carrying the bags for her but she assured him that it was not necessary. Scarlett gave a smile to Seth and closed the front door behind herself, Seth stood in the driveway smiling like an idiot before getting in his car and driving off to his place.

A/N: Hey readers,

So here is an update! I hope you guys like it, please do let me know, I am eagerly waiting for your reviews, it will take less than a minute, please let me know your opinions. Waiting in anticipation -Fingers Crossed-

-JT