Keeping the secret of her boyfriend being a werewolf was a lot easier than Addy had originally imagined. The majority of her time was spent with Emily and the guys anyway, and Bella had still yet to speak a whole sentence in weeks.

"Wait, so you're telling me that you guys can hear each other's thoughts?" Addy raised an eyebrow skeptically.

She sat at Emily's kitchen table, the older woman giggling as she prepared dinner.

Jared released a cackle of laughter, his eyes shining in giddiness, "Hell yeah we can. Pretty cool, huh?"

Addy crinkled her nose, giggling slightly as she shook her head, "I don't think that'd be fun."

Paul's eyebrows shot up as he chuckled, "It's pretty fun until Sam and Embry can't keep their thoughts to themselves." He winked at Embry, the younger boy's russet cheeks darkening with embarrassment.

Addy's eyes shot to him, widening as her hand shot out to hit his chest, "Embry!"

"I, Addyson!" He held up his hands in defense, Jared and Paul's booming laughter filling the small house.

She scoffed and shook her head, Paul's laughter continuing on as he stuffed another handful of chips into his mouth. Embry's cheeks remained a deep scarlet as Emily began placing plates on the table.

"That's enough, Paul, leave him be." Emily chastised, clicking her tongue and swatting his arm with a potholder. He looked up to her with shock, his eyes wide as he gestured wildly towards Jared's laughing form.

Emily shook her head once more before returning back to the stove.

The following morning Addy found herself skipping down the front steps, the snow crunching under her boots and snowflakes already pooling up upon her knitted hat. Bella had taken to driving her to school again, though their time was spent almost silent. On the occasions when Addy would dare to speak, she spoke primarily about hers and Embry's relationship and her friendship with Jacob- though Bella never answered, albeit her small huffs of air.

It was a day before Christmas Eve, Addy was giddy with excitement. She couldn't wait to see everyone open the gifts that she had gotten them all. Embry would be coming over to their house for Christmas Eve festivities with her Uncle Charlie and Bella, and considering that Charlie worked on Christmas, Addy and Embry would go to Emily's with the pack.

"Bella, do you still love me?"

Her question rattled Bella, the older girls ferrel eyes darting in her direction, "What're you even talking about?"

Addy sighed and pursed her lips, her eyes scanning the white tipped scenery as they drove. She shook her head solemnly. Sometimes she forgot that Bella wasn't the same Bella that she had once been. And she just had to accept it.

They fell silent as the truck roared below them.

"I do love you."

Bella's voice was quiet when she finally spoke, her eyes never leaving the road ahead and her knuckles white.

Addy hummed a response.

XXX

Addy had never been so nervous about a family dinner.

But it wasn't just any family dinner.

Embry would be officially meeting her Uncle Charlie and Bella, and she could feel the knots forming in her stomach the whole day as she cooked. Her and Bella worked without speaking with one another, Addy turning up the Christmas music on the radio to try and drown out the silence. She sang along quietly, giggling every now and then as she did so.

She had just put the ham in the oven when she hurried upstairs to change.

She wore a forest green sweater with dark jeans and fuzzy green socks, her hair dangling in loose curls, a twist from each side pulled back from the front with a clip.

A knock on the front door sent her heart into her throat, her small feet scurrying to answer the door. She knew it was Embry without having to see him, she felt his presence.

She flung open the door and launched herself towards him, throwing her arms around his neck and peppering his face with kisses. He chuckled against her soft skin and inhaled her sweet scent, savoring the contact with the prior knowledge that he would have to keep it to a minimum around Charlie.

He stood tall and shook hard when he was introduced to Charlie. Though he towered over the chief of police, he still felt small.

Charlie approved of Embry, to Addyson's delight. She bounced with giddiness when he had allowed a small grin and an even smaller nod to slip after speaking with Embry for a few minutes.

They had both chuckled at her, Charlie shaking his head and Embry's eyes watching her with adoration.

Charlie watched carefully how Embry looked at his niece. Addy was still a child in his eyes and it would surely take some time to swallow the fact that she had a serious boyfriend. Seeing how devastated Bella's first serious relationship had left her, though, made him even more weary of the situation.

Embry and Charlie were left to their own devices when Addy had returned to the kitchen to finish preparing dinner with Bella. The snow fell heavy outside the windows while Embry and Charlie made small talk over the football game on the small television.

Addy practically skipped back into the kitchen, Bella's eyes flicking towards her in acknowledgement. She noticed how Bella had turned down her music and frowned as she twisted the volume back up.

Back home, Christmas music played throughout the house during the whole week leading up to the special day. Addy and her mother would dance about the house in Christmas sweaters and belt out the classic songs.

A wave of nostalgia washed over her as she began stirring the cider.

"C'mon, it's lovely weather, for a sleigh ride together with you-"

"That's enough!"

Bella's hand slapped against the counter, her spoon dropping to the floor and mashed potatoes splattering onto the floor around it.

Addy's attention shot to her cousin, her eyes widening and her mouth falling agape. They stared at one another, Addy in absolute curiosity and shock, Bella in bitterness and even anger.

"What are you talking about?" Addy finally spoke, her eyebrows shooting upwards towards her hairline.

Bella's hand snapped out to flick off the radio, her lips falling into a thin line as she began to shake her head.

"It's too loud." She mumbled, slowly bending down and retrieving her fallen spoon. She wandered to the sink to rinse it off, Addy's deep eyes still staring at her in astonishment.

"What is wrong with you?"

Bella raised an eyebrow, her hand freezing in motion as she did so.

"It's so loud and hot in here, Addy."

"It's Christmas Eve, Bella, I was singing to Christmas music. Heaven forbid."

They stared at one another again, both of their anger rising with every passing second.

"You always have some excuse to be annoying, don't you?" Bella shook her head again and turned her attention back towards the mashed potatoes.

Every bit of self control within Addy's small body was lost in that moment.

"And you always have an excuse to be a bitch, don't you?"

She stared and waited as her words sunk into Bella's brain, the brunette inhaling deeply through her nose.

From the living room, Embry listened with careful ears, trying to act as if he wasn't hearing the chaos unravel. He tensed up at Addyson's words, he knew how angry she must've been to talk to Bella like that. She loved her cousin more than anything, for her to freak out signaled her breaking point.

"I'm heartbroken, Addy! You wouldn't know what it's like!" For the first time in months, Bella raised her voice.

"No, I don't! But I do know that I wouldn't shut down and mope around like a damn zombie!" Addy raised her voice to match that of her cousin, both girls turning to face one another.

Charlie startled in his seat, his eyebrows raising and his eyes flicking towards the yells from the kitchen. Embry bit the inside of his lip.

"You don't understand!"

"I understand how useless you are now!"

"Screw you, Addy! You haven't even tried to help me!"

Addy squealed with anger, blood rushing to her cheeks.

"How dare you! I've done nothing but try for the last two months! Screw you, Bella! Screw you!"

Charlie jumped from his recliner and rushed into the kitchen, Embry directly behind him. They bustled into the kitchen in time for a chunk of mashed potatoes to fly through the air, effectively hitting Addy on the temple and sliding down her face.

She sucked in a breath of air before her hand shot towards the counter behind her, gripping at a handful of green beans from the large bowl. They were thrown before anyone could make a sound, splashing upon contact with Bella's nose.

Everyone moved all at once, the girls towards one another, Charlie towards Bella and Embry towards Addyson. They pushed the girls backwards, each garbling out words in attempt to diffuse the situation at hand.

Never in a million years would Charlie have been able to guess that Bella and Addy would get into a fight. That was when he knew something much bigger was going on.

Embry took Addyson's reddened face into his hands, rubbing the mashed potatoes away from her cheek and stroking her skin in attempts to calm her down.

She melted against his touch, small tears finally slipping from her eyes. Her hands shot up to wipe them away in embarrassment, Embry's arms slipping around her waist in comfort as she did so.

He could feel her frustration radiating off of her in waves through the imprint, his eyebrows crinkling with discontent.

Charlie ushered Bella to the other room, the two whispering with one another sharply.

"You're okay, Addyson. I'm right here." Embry tightened her grip around her and her small body crushed itself against his. His warm consumed her and she could feel her aggregation rolling away as her form molded into his.

She sniffled and calmed herself, feeling Embry's large hand rubbing circles onto her back.

"We've never fought before." She mumbled, her voice muffled she spoke into his chest. He nodded though and kissed the top of her head.

She fidgeted under his grasp and brought her face up, pressing her lips against his in order to ground herself. And she succeeded.

Embry brought her back to earth. And though she could feel everything unravelling, she knew Embry would hold her together.