I was released a couple of days later. My stitches were well on their way to healing completely over, and Dr. Cullen decided that staying in the hospital wouldn't do my stitches any good, so why bother staying? Was I ever grateful for that. I hated hospitals.

My mother drove me home, and I stood in front of my mirror and lifted my shirt to look at what was going to be a scar. There was the spot where the stick had gotten me, then there was the spot where red eyes had bitten me. All around it were dark, purpling bruises. I had taken to calling him that because I still didn't know his name. And I was sure he was going to be coming back. I didn't know how soon he would be, but I know he would be. He had said that I would learn his name and I haven't.

He had to be coming back. I could feel it in my gut, it was almost like growing anticipation. But different.

I flopped back onto my bed and grabbed my phone, dialling Jake's number. A number that had been called frequently. I would talk to Jake late into the night to keep my mind from wandering to the thought of red eyes coming back for me. It had been the frequent cause of the nightmares that plagued my every sleeping moment. Jake had offered to stay in the hospital with me, but I had declined because I knew he didn't like hospitals. Reasonable, I didn't either.

"Hello?"

"Hey, Jake."

"Oh, Piper. What's up?"

"Dr. Cullen released me today!" I told him happily, rubbing my hand over my scar absent-mindedly.

"That's great! I'll pick you up at eight, all right?"

"Yeah. I'll see you then." And he was gone.

So let's just say that by six thirty, I was officially freaking the flip out. I was, honestly, on the brink of a panic attack. I jumped into the shower and was maybe a little extensive. I washed my hair three times, and same with the conditioner. I dried myself off, careful around the bruising and headed to my room, where I had layed out an outfit. Suddenly, looking at it now, I hated it. As I stood in my bra and underwear, I stared at my choice. Nope, it just wouldn't do. I had to change it, but to what?

"Piper! Jacob is here to pick you up!" My mother called up the stairs. I froze. What? He wasn't supposed to be here till eight. I looked at my clock on my bedside table, it was seven fifty-five.

"I'll be down in a minute!" I yelled. I pulled on the outfit that I had chosen. A pair of blue jeans with slight rips down the front, and a light pink t-shirt. I pulled a beige leather jacket over my shirt, pulled my hair up into a ponytail as I slipped on a pair of black trainers. I ran down the stairs and found Jake leaning against the door frame of the front door. Yup, still distractingly attractive. "Hey," I muttered to him as I reached him.

He smiled brightly at me, "Hey. You ready to go?" He asked and I nodded, slipping my phone into my back pocket.

"I'm leaving now, mom!" I called to her, unsure of where she was before heading out the door. "Oh!" I exclaimed to myself as I darted back to the house and grabbed the spare key. I ran back to Jake's car, and slipped in the passenger seat. "I forgot a key..." I muttered, blushing lightly at the smirk and raised eyebrow. "Shut up!"

He laughed. "I didn't say anything!" He argued, but I fixed him with a look and he backed out of the drive.

The journey was spent with another light-hearted argument, this time over whether or not the presence of stuffed animals on a sixteen year olds bed was normal. I thought it was. He thought it wasn't. But I mean, come on, do you really think that there aren't a few things in the world that you just can't let go of? Most of those things were stuffed animals, for me, a blanket or two and even the house I grew up in. It wasn't far from Charlie's actually, and if I got the chance, I would drive by it whenever I was headed back to Charlie's.

Jake pulled up to parking lot where there weren't a lot of cars, but in the distance, I could hear laughter and voices once I was out of the car. Jake was by my side almost instantly, and I smiled up at him, and he gave me a bright smile in return. His spirits seemed to be quite high, and I briefly considered the fact that I was the reason but quickly dismissed it. That couldn't be it.

"Come on, this way." He lead me towards the beach, and if I looked carefully down the sand, I could see a bunch of people and a huge bonfire. The only sound from this far was the sound of the waves crashing against the rocks and the shore.

"Is that where we're going?" I asked Jake, motioning towards the fire.

"Only if you want to." He said, face falling slightly.

"Of course I want to. It seems like the perfect place for our non-date." I said with a smile and walked next to him, itching to get closer. We were halfway towards them when several people turned and looked at us. They all had the same basic features as Jake. Black hair, dark eyes, tanned skin. I almost matched. One boy, who looked younger than most of them, came running up to us as we walked. Well, it was more of a fast jog than a run.

He smiled brightly when he saw me. As if he already knew me. "Hey Jake!" He said.

"Hi, Seth." Jake replied, smiling at the kid as if it was his younger brother. But he wasn't, I knew that. Jake only had older sisters. Seth's eyes flicked over to mine for only a second, but I knew Jake had got the message. "This is Piper. She's Charlie's, sister's daughter." Seth paused for a moment, his features showing he was trying to work that out. Then he smiled and held his hand out to mine. I shook it.

"Seth." He said.

"Nice to meet you, Seth." I say with a smile.

Jake leads me over to the big group next, and sat me on a log, where he planted himself right next to me. I leaned into him, seeking his warmth as my leather jacket did little to repel the cold air. Soon, I realized that I was essentially in a big group of teenage boys and a few of their girlfriends. So, Jake got pulled away from me not long after we sat down, a boy whom he called Embry, had stolen something from his pocket, so Jake, of course being the boy he is, ran after him across the beach.

A woman took up Jake's spot. She was really beautiful, but three long scars marred her face, but she acted as though it didn't matter. "Hi, I'm Emily." She said smiling.

"Piper." I told her, returning her smile.

"I'm Sam's wife, and I mostly take care of all the boys." She told me, pointing to the oldest of the group. He may have been older, but he certainly didn't act it. He acted as much of a teenager as the other boys did.

"All of them?" I asked, shocked. She nodded. "That must me really, really hard."

"You get used to it." She agreed. "So you're Jacob's girlfriend?" She asked and I shook my head.

"No, definitely not. Just a friend. There was a, er, incident with my one friend back home and he had killed himself. I hadn't had a friend since, till Jake of course, and so I agreed when he invited me out." I told her, aware that I had just rambled on about Simon.

"Oh, I see."

"Besides, I don't even think he likes me that way..." I added.

She smirked. "I'm almost one hundred percent certain that you are wrong."

I shook my head. "No. Just friends, Jake and I... Just friends." I'll admit, that last one sounded a little dejected, so I added a smile.

Emily left and I was alone. Jake didn't like me that way. I knew it. But then there was another body next to mine. I looked over at the body of a boy, a teenage boy, who looked around the same age as Jake. His hair was curlier though, a mess of black curls atop his head instead of Jake's close cropped hair.

"Quil," he said, smiling at me, again like he already knew me. It was weird how everyone was doing that.

"Piper." I answered, returning his smile.

"I know. You're Jake's girlfriend?" He asked and I once again shook my head.

"Just a friend, everyone keeps saying that." I told him.

Quil shrugged. "Given how Jake feels about you, everyone assumed. And, given that you obviously like him back..." His sentence trailed off. Why did everyone think I was his girlfriend? I mean, yeah, sure, I liked Jake, like, a lot. But still. And, wait-

"What do you mean, 'given that you obviously like him back...'? Am I acting like I do?" I asked, worry creeping into my voice. I'm just Jake's friend, sure, a friend who has almost kissed him a couple times and hasn't, but I'm supposed to be acting like his friend. This isn't a date.

"Yeah, you are. But, that's none of my business, is it?" He said, and I shifted on the log to get comfortable again. Quil stood to leave, and I sat there, then realized that since I didn't know when Jake was coming back, I might as well play some games on my phone while I waited. I didn't want to seem too lonely. But when I reached my hand to my back pocket, it was gone. I checked my other pocket, then my jacket pockets and even my bra, coming up empty. I quickly looked around and there, a little ways away from me, was Quil, holding my phone in his hands tauntingly.

I was off the log and after him before either of us could even process it. But he realized later than I did, and just before I was within lunging distance, he turned and ran. He was a lot faster than I was, but he was chuckling, and trying to dodge moving people. That was easy for me, I'd spent a lot of time at school dodging moving people. So soon I was within lunging distance again. And lunge I did.

We toppled to the ground in a messy heap and I groaned. The phone was just out of his reach, and even farther from mine. So I rolled over him and snatched it, rolling again to my feet and brushing myself off. Then I turned to Quil, who was still groaning. "And there you go, Quil. That should teach you not to mess with a teenage girls cell phone." I said and stalked back to my seat, and easy blush coming to my cheeks as everyone stared. I sat and hoped Jake would be back soon. I rubbed my side, hoping the stitches didn't bust open.

"That was quite the show you and Quil put on." I whipped around and saw Jake's smiling face, beaming down at me. I relaxed instantly. Oh thank god.

"Well he stole my phone." I argued as he sat down.

"I'm not arguing. I'm happy to see you do it. He deserved it." Jake said with a laugh.

Hopefully this will go better than so far.