DISCLAIMER: I don't own Twilight.

If you like this story, please go read Shooting Star! It is in the same universe, and I promise you, you won't get disappointed! :)

Thank you to my lovely beta and friend, Kallmecrazy! Her stories are amazing, you should go check them out !

Okay, so this chapter took me unexpectedly long to write.. Probably because I kept rewriting a certain part ;)

Enjoy!

10. Dawning

Evelyn's POV

There was some knocking at the door and I rose from the bed shouting "I'll get it!" to Embry as I passed him in the living room. Behind the door there a girl with beautiful chocolate brown hair color was standing. She was tall, lean and her boobs were the right kind of size shape. Her skin was fair and glowing, and she was smiling brightly, with teeth that had potential for a Colgate ad.

"Hi!" She said. "I'm Nikoline. I live right next door. I was just dropping by to welcome you!" She had extended her hand, and I shook it mystified. What a friendly girl. She looked as old as me, and I noticed her straight hair falling down her back naturally. She was wearing very short denim shorts in a light color and a stretchy white tank top along with a pair of golden classic flats. She was beautiful.

"Hey, um, Nikoline," I smiled back. What a weird name she had, but I found it kind of sexy. It sounded European.

"You can just call me Niko," Her cadet blue eyes that were framed with long black lashes met mine.

"Okay. I'm Evelyn."

"Evelyn," She marveled. "Nice to meet you! Lucas mentioned a new neighbor, so I just had to come and say hi."

"Well, yea, nice to meet you too," I grinned sincerely.

"The two of us and a friend are hosting a beach party tonight. Wanna come?"

"Um, sounds fun. I'll think about it,"

She gave me the directions to where on the part of the beach the party would be, and when we were supposed to come, if we wanted to. She said she was taking care of everything, so we didn't have to bring anything. When she told me goodbye she fell around my neck, and hugged me tightly. When I closed the door, I sat down on a kitchen chair, astonished at how much she reminded me of Ellie and Alice with her friendly attitude and warm eyes.

I wondered if she was some kind of girlfriend of Lucas's. It wouldn't be unlikely, since she was real pretty and I'm sure he was able to get to that kind of girl. But on the other hand she had only mentioned him as one of her "friends". That could easily be a friend with benefits, I knew that. One thing was sure, Nikoline and Lucas were close, since they were both living in the same house, and even setting up a beach party together. I thought about who the third person might be. Probably someone with the same dazzling looks.

"She's nice, isn't she?" Embry said as he sauntered to the kitchen.

I bobbed my head.

"You wanna go tonight?"

"I'm only going, if you are,"

He smiled and leaned on the counter. "Do you want to go?" He asked slowly, making it clear he wanted me to answer.

"Yes!" I giggled. When the frig am I ever going to stop giggling around him 24/7?

"Then it's a date," He agreed, and my heart was in my throat suffocating me. A date. Oh God. Oh no. I'm not single. I'm not free. Jason's back home. No, no, no.

"But what about Jason?" I protested feverishly.

"Who's that?" He winked with a small smile.

"But –"

"Don't you worry about him. He's in Seattle, we're in Hawaii – there's nothing he can do about it."

I sank a lump, and hesitantly nodded at him. If Jason ever found out about this, I would be a dead woman. Literally. If refusing to have sex with him made him beat me up all over, what wouldn't being on a date with another man make him do to me? Embry clearly didn't care. He obviously had no idea how strong Jason can be. But then I took a moment to really look at Embry. He was tall, big, huge arms, and abs so defined, I could see them even beneath his t-shirt. Maybe he didn't really have anything to fear, but I definitely had.

Embry snapped me out of my thoughts, when he started talking. Today he was wearing a blue t-shirt, along with regular grey surfer shorts. "There are a lot of places I wanna show you, and I was wondering if you wanna get started now since neither of us really has any plans?"

"Sure," I smiled. "I'll just go change, and I'm back in a minute."

I ran up the stairs to change from miniskirt and chiffon top with vibrant flowers on to cowboy shorts and a dusty pink tank top, which was more appropriate for exploring Hawaii. I put on my golden gladiator sandals and settled my Ray-Ban sunglasses in my loose hair.

This morning I had gotten up early to write in my diary from my not-so-hidden-spot on the beach, while watching the break of dawn. Lucas ran by me on the beach this morning too. He gave me a jaw dropping smile, and kept on running. I kept my face blank and continued writing. Despite that Lucas and I's daily routines were bumping together, it was a refreshing way to start a day. I felt more rested and more peaceful than I had ever been feeling.

I hurried down the stairs. Embry was waiting for me on the porch, facing the bright light of the sun.

"So what do you feel like doing today?" He asked. "There's hiking, scuba diving, surfing and camping, just to name a few. What do you say?"

I thought it over for a few sunny seconds. "Hm. I don't know... what do you think?"

"Babe," He grinned. "I'm asking you! This is your free time, so you decide what we're gonna do,"

"Fine. Surfing?"

"Deal," He winked at me and grabbed my hand, which made my world spin around.

For the first time since we got here, I noticed the little shed, that was hidden behind a few bushes and flowers. Embry motioned for me to follow him. Inside, was a lot of stuff. He had five surfboards stored up, and a whole bunch of gardening tools. He explained that this was for the gardener he'd hired, who came here every other Wednesday. I picked out a white surfboard with blue Hawaii flowers. Embry's surfboard was black with a picture of a very realistic and frightening wolf head, and on the back was written "Wolfe" with curvy red letters.

Embry put the surfboards on the backseat of the blue convertible. There wasn't much space for them, but he stuffed them in anyways. We drove off, first stopping by a store that sold swimwear. I chose a heart lined bandeau bikini in a coral pink, with straps going around my neck. I wanted to pay, but Embry had his credit card ready, before I had even reached for my wallet in my bag.

He distracted me by telling me about the very small island we were going to called "Garden Island". There were perfect waves for a beginner like me. They even had the Kauai Surf School there, but Embry assured me that it wasn't necessary; he had plenty experience about surfing, to be able to teach me.

Embry's POV

Seeing Evelyn in bikini – revealing her fair, perfect skin – left me sexually frustrated. In the worst way possible. Sex for me had always just been a craving. Like an alcohholic thirsty for his daily shots. Last time I had felt sexually frustrated was back in my teenage years. And that hadn't even lasted for very long. But right now, I wanted nothing more than Evelyn's body. And the weird part of it just was that I had so many times wanted a woman's body, but the next night her body would be boring to me. I would know every part of it. I would just go on to the next woman, who seemed interesting to me. Hypothetically speaking, if I had slept with Evelyn, and studied every part of her over night, I would still be hungry for so much more of her.

The worst part of it all, was that I couldn't get to Evelyn. I was uninvited. I couldn't release myself. I and the smaller me were dying slowly and painfully.

Surfing came naturally to Evelyn. I was jealous that it had come so easy to her. I'd had to work hard to get on the level I had reached now, and I still didn't count myself very good. Although my trainer said I was the best surfer he had ever taught. Whatever. The problem with Evelyn just was that she was easily bored with surfing. She'd learned it, she'd surfed, she'd watched me surf, and she'd surfed again. Then she swam to the beach, and spread the towel out, so she could sit on it. I kept on surfing, because I loved it so much, but Evelyn just sat quietly smiling to herself while writing in the diary I had given her, often glancing up to stare at me. I was freaked out, when I felt myself blush. Worried that I might turn into a girl, I continued being occupied by surfing.

I could surf for five hours without getting tired; a benefit of my wolf powers. I thought Evelyn would get bored of just sitting there on the beach, or complain that I was still surfing and she wanted to go home. But she never did. She kept writing and gazing up at me. When I realized that I was pretty hungry, I swam to the shore.

"Aren't you hungry, Ev?" I shouted as I came close enough that she'd be able to hear me.

She smiled. "No."

"But I'm starving!"

"Maybe it's my turn to cook?"

"Hmm," I mumbled. "If you don't want to, we could just find a restaurant somewhere."

"But I want to!" She said. I noticed how much her green emerald eyes were gleaming. When I saw them next to the turquoise ocean of Hawaii, her eyes didn't turn bluer. It was the ocean turning green. I stared at her for too long.

"What?" She said, looking down, shy. "Do I have sand in my face?"

I grinned. "No! You're just– um… beautiful."

She rose up from her spot on the towel, snorting. "Did some evil fairytale fish bite you out there or something? It seems you're not seeing clearly."

If she just knew how clearly I see, I thought. I shook my head. "Let's just go home, then,"

She pulled on a summer dress in purple shades, and that's when I noticed. I hadn't really examined her this close before, which was probably why I hadn't seen it until now. She was bruised all over. Her arms, legs, stomach, back, neck and face. Some were yellow, some blue and some were a more green color. I was shocked, and my hands were itchy for beating all life out of whoever had done this to her. I knew immediately it wasn't an accident. I knew someone had done this to her.

She noticed me staring again. "What? My body is beautiful now too? Stop looking at me!"

I gazed down in the sand. "Sorry." I grabbed my t-shirt. A while passed, as I pulled on my t-shirt and she put her stuff into her bag. "Who did this to you?" I asked, with a deprecating hand movement towards her, which failed, as both my hands were shaking with anger. No one fucking hurts Evelyn, without paying for it. And whoever it was, was going to pay for it.

"No one! I… I–" She stuttered. "This is none of your business. Just – Nevermind!"

She stalked off to the car, as angrily as I'd ever seen her. I sighed, following her in a much slower pace. She even slammed the car door, and it reminded me of that night, where she had showed up at Seth's house in Eatonville. Neither of us said anything on the ride home. It wasn't exactly awkward, but neither was it a very pleasant ride.

Evelyn hurried straight to her room once we got to the house.

I seated myself on the couch, and turned on the TV to watch the latest news from back home. Another homicide, a young girl had been killed in an intended fire. More missing people. More robberies. It felt bizarre to even think it, but nothing new had happened. It was the usual awful stuff going on back home.

After fifteen minutes Evelyn came out of her room. She was wearing tight jeans, and a shirt that covered most of her neck. She had even put more makeup in her face to cover. Silently, she started cooking. I had no idea what she was cooking, and I didn't dare to ask her. She looked angry, hurt and sad. All at the same time. It hurt me to see her so teared up. I knew I was going to be the one breaking the silence.

I didn't keep track of how much time it took her to cook, but not much later she served something I had never seen before. It looked good – kind of like summer mashed into edible form and arranged on a plate.

She was quiet, and as I had predicted it was me who said the first word.

"This tastes really good," She met my eyes. Her eyes were wide and vulnerable. It made me want to pull her into my arms, and keep her close and protected.

"Thanks," She said almost as a whisper.

I hesitated for about three and a half minute. "Evelyn?"

She met my gaze again, but didn't say anything.

"I, um... I'm sorry if I interfered in something that was none of my business." She kept holding on to me with her gaze. "It's just that I really care a lot about you, even though we haven't known each other for very long. But I just can't control myself if anyone hurts you. And, I think somebody did."

Her body sank back in her chair. "It doesn't matter. I – I can take care of it myself."

I watched her for a bit. "I'm not so sure about that, Ev."

She didn't protest this time.

"If you ever feel like telling me what's going on, please do," I continued reassuringly. "I wanna take care of you. I beg you, to let me look after you – protect you."

"Since when did I need protection? What if I just fell?" She paused. "Did you ever consider that possibility?"

"Yeah... but I don't think that's the case." I tried not to remember how her bruises resembled hand marks. "You don't have to tell me what happened, I just wanna keep you safe from now on. Please?"

Her eyes were watery. The green in them, were turning muskier and darker. Her cheeks were flushed, and her lips, quivering. I couldn't take my gaze away from those lips. Oh God, she was killing me.

She rose up suddenly, which made the tears roll down her beautiful face. She began turning around to head for the bathroom, I assumed. But I grabbed her hand, stopping her, and rose up too to wrap my arms around her. Her body felt numb to hold, but her skin was burning, and shooting sparks where ever it touched mine.

Evelyn's POV

Embry leaned down, his lips reaching my jaw, tracing the lines of my ear to my collarbone. I couldn't stop my heart, from pounding violently in my chest. I bet he could even feel it. My blood flowed rapidly in my cheeks, reddening them, and making me as embarrassed as ever. I couldn't resist him any longer. I shut all thoughts out of my head, and took a moment to let myself feel. His hands fell to my waist, while pulling me closer to his chest. My fringe fell into my eyes, and he brushed it away, and took a deep breath. Without knowing it, I realized that this was what I had been waiting and yearning for since the very first blurry moment I saw him; that our lips would touch.

I was so eager to keep our lips pressed together, that instead of just standing there, I wrapped my arms around his neck, and clung to him. All air that had been parting us from each other before was now non-existent. I felt heated, lustful and strangely, weak. I was weak from all the intense touching. If I could barely keep my head straight, when we'd been holding hands, how wouldn't I be feeling now?

When he finally pulled away, I felt emptier, but I now knew what was behind that small, smug smile of his, and it made me love him even more.

"I've been wanting to do that for so long," He muttered.

I gasped for air. I hadn't realized I needed to breathe so much. I smiled nervously. "Yeah, um... I have a boyfriend, so this is not gonna work out. I – I…"

"Are you serious?" He seemed incredulous. What had he expected? Just because he'd taken me to a fairy tale world, and kissed me, didn't mean that now we'd spend the rest of forever together?

"I shouldn't be here," I mumbled.

"You're kidding me, right?" His eyes had widened. "You'd rather go home to your boyfriend in Seattle, than stay here... with me?"

No. I didn't. I was still dizzy from the kiss, and I wanted him to kiss me again. But I just couldn't let myself. "Ah, no. But, Embry this is just not me! I don't go to Hawaii, with a guy I barely know!"

"Well, it's too late to change your mind about that. You're here, right now. So stop thinking about that clueless jerk in Seattle."

I didn't know what to say, and looked down, guilty. And I don't know why.

"Did he do that to you?" Embry suddenly whispered.

I met his eyes, knowing I couldn't hide the truth from him. He saw it in my eyes. All the fear, the hope, the hurting and the unhappiness. Did he see the truth every time he bored his brown liquid eyes into mine? If he did, I should be really embarrassed by now. "Look, um, I need to go shower before the beach party," I got loose from his arms, and was hit with a wave of shock, at how much more depressed I was feeling without his touch.

I was still shaking a bit with all the feelings my body now contained when I got out of the shower. I had chosen to wear a strapless white lace overlay dress. It reached above my knees. I took my time to straighten my hair, apply my makeup and for last I put on my studded gladiator sandals in a wood brown shade. When I opened the door from the bathroom, I was all ready and set to go.

Embry.

He was leaning on the kitchen counter, with his eyes focused on the cell phone in his hand. I felt like just stopping to stare and drool at him. He was wearing a grey hoodie that made his chest and abs look so good, I was about to go touch. He'd added regular jeans, and sneakers. I thought it was weird he was wearing sneakers – he just didn't seem like that kind of guy. Either way, he looked sexy as hell.

He looked up, after I had had five seconds to enjoy the sight of him. "Ready?" His voice made it worse, and I could feel my knees were about to buckle under.

"Yes," I breathed.

Off we went.

What is Embry gonna do about Jason? Will the beach party pass by drama free? And was this only the beginning but also the end of Embry and Evelyn's lovelife?