Pictures

Mia

"Shhhh!" I giggled trying to open the door quietly. Seth had his massive arms snaked around my waist and was trailing kisses up and down my neck; he wasn't really helping my sneakiness. "Seth!" I hissed giggling again. "Stop it!" I wriggled around in his arms so I was now facing him; I pressed my lips into his, kissing him softly.

The door swung open behind me, I snapped my head around, thankfully it was only Maggie; she didn't look happy.

"Mum's not here." She hissed. "So you can come inside!"

I looked at Seth, pressing my lips together and raising my eye brows, he tapped my nose and let go of me walking inside; I just shook my head.

Brady came bounding down the stairs, his muscular chest showing with his hair ruffled up; he looked exceptionally happy, this made me smile. "Hey Brady!" I called cheekily, to make sure he knew that I knew what they were up to. "Live here now or something?" I winked at him. Maggie glared at me and gave me the finger. Seth and I laughed.

"Funny Mi." He said grinning like an idiot. "What's for breakfast?" He said walking into the kitchen, Seth followed.

"Sooooo.." I said grinning, sliding up to Maggie, she crossed her arms; still glaring at me. "What did you two get up to last night?" I said playfully poking her.

The corner of her mouth pulled up slightly, she tried hard to stop it from blowing into a grin. "I would say..." She said pouting to keep her face composed. "The same thing you and Seth did." She said quickly looking up at me. I giggled and ruffled her hair before skipping off to the kitchen.

"Babe..." Seth greeted me opening his arms, out of the corner of my eye I saw Brady shaking with laughter. I sat on his knee, spooning mouthfuls of his cereal in my mouth.

Maggie stood in the threshold of the door, staring at me; I looked at her slowly, milk dribbling down my chin. She lifted her index finger and flicked it backward, ordering me to come. I got up and followed her.

"What?" I hissed following her down the hall, I noticed Mum had put pictures on the wall, but I didn't look too closely at them.

Maggie spun around to face me, her eyes full of concern. "Did you tell him?" She whispered angrily.

I looked at her dumbfounded. "Of course I told him Maggie, it's Seth."

She snorted. "What happened to the whole keeping him safe thing?!" She hissed at me. "You know how much danger he could be in now, don't you?"

I hung my head, slowly nodded. This was selfish of me. I wanted Seth back so much I really didn't think about the bigger picture, the big ugly picture...

"And does he know?" She asked. I felt her eyes bore at my head; slowly I lifted my head, already knowing the tears were giving me away. Maggie crossed her arms across her chest. "That's what I thought." She said slowly before taking my face in her hands. "Mia, I love you... But if you don't tell him... I will." She whispered, and then kissed my forehead; I just nodded. She walked out into the kitchen. I heard her talking to Brady. "Brady, could you give Seth, Mia and I a few hours, we need to talk." Her voice was hushed by the walls separating us. I heard Brady get up and walk out. I could picture Seth looking at Maggie confused.

Seth

Maggie had sent Brady home, telling him that we needed to talk. I swallowed hard. The last time she wanted to talk to me she told me my true love had run away. I could feel the sweat forming on my hands. Maggie looked at me silently before walking out of the room, only to come back a few moments later with Mia in tow, I could tell she'd been crying.

"Mia?" I whispered looking at her as she sat down at the other end of the table. "What's wrong?"

She didn't even look at me; she kept her eyes on her hands under the table. "There's something you need to know." She whispered.

Maggie sat down in the empty chair next to me. "I'll explain." She began looking at Mia; Mia nodded not bothering to look up. "Seth our life hasn't exactly been..." She searched for the right word. "...Normal."

I looked at Mia, waiting to see her beautiful her face.

"My mother..." Mia choked out, still not looking up. "Met someone after my dad left... In the beginning, he was an alright guy, he treated her right and sometimes I thought he even loved her."

Maggie sighed. "Mia, he did."

A small grumbling sound came from Mia's chest; her eyes flickered to Maggie, burning wide with rage. "Maggie, he beat her to a pulp every time they had a tiny argument! You were there! You saw it! If I remember correctly you were the one who begged me to do something!"

Maggie slammed her palms on the table, scooting her chair back and standing up to tower over Mia. "OH SO IT'S MY FAULT NOW!?" She screamed.

Mia looked up at Maggie. "YOU BLAME ME MAGGIE! YOU BLAME ME EVERY SINGLE DAY! I KNOW THAT YOU THINK THIS IS MY FAULT!"

I shoved my head into my hands. "Stop it." I whispered into the silence.

Maggie slammed back down on to the chair, tears flowing down her face. Mia shook angrily, trying to calm herself down. I knew this was hard for the both of them, so I didn't rush it. They would tell what they needed to when the time was right.

I don't know how long we sat there not saying anything. I carefully looked at my hands, waiting for one of them to say something. A few times I felt Maggie go to say something, but then snap her mouth shut; the silence was haunting. I realised it had gotten dark outside and I was expected Christina would be home soon. I thought about leaving, but with each thought came a wave of pain; I didn't want to leave my Mia. Maybe I should say something... Maybe I should start the conversation.

Finally Mia sighed. "I've put this off for too long." She muttered, mostly to herself. "Seth, there's a reason why I ran away last month..." I looked up to see her staring back at me, her eyes filling with tears. I smiled softly, silently begging her not to cry, she blinked back the tears before taking a deep breath. "The reason..." She whispered locking my gaze with hers, refusing to let it go. "Was you..."

I dropped my gaze as I felt my stomach twist and turn, making me feel sick. My heart stopped, I felt like I was going to die...

I heard a chair scrape along the ground, someone made their way towards me slowly; they put their finger under my chin, forcing me to look at them. Mia looked down to me. "You have to understand..." She whispered urgently. "It was nothing that you did. Seth, you are perfect. I couldn't ask for anyone better; I don't believe I deserve you... But when I found out you were.." She choked out the last words. "a werewolf. Everything changed." I felt my fists ball up. She seemed to notice my anger. "I don't care about that Seth, I promise you; I love you no matter what you are. It's just there's something you need to know..." She lowered herself to the ground, folding her legs. "Being with me is dangerous." She said slowly, looking up at me; I wanted to laugh, I wanted to make fun of her, tell her that she was being silly and there was no way I was in danger; but the look in her eyes made me stop. Mia was scared.

Mia

Seth looked at me, unmoving. I could guess what he was thinking and if I were him, I would be thinking the same thing. RUN! RUN!

I shivered at the thought. Would he really think I was crazy after I told him? Would he laugh at me? All the questions I was too afraid to answer.

I looked back at Maggie for support; she smiled and tilted her head forward; encouraging me to continue.

I didn't know what to say. Suddenly I forgot how to use my voice, or move my lips. I sat there looking for the right words. "There's someone..." I stuttered. I couldn't get the words out, everything that I wanted to say didn't sound right. "There's someone..." I began again; nothing else would come out of my mouth.

Maggie cleared her throat. I knew this would be easier for her to say; it wasn't her fault this had happened. I felt Seth look at her, his burning hot hand slowly sliding up and down my back as I shoved my face into my hands.

"His name is Robert..." She began; I heard her heart beat faster as she thought of ways to continue. And then before I could say anything, it all just came gushing out; everything that had happened leading up to this moment flowed out of Maggie's mouth as she tried to stop herself from sobbing. Everything from the day my mother met Robert, to his studies of the human brain. She told him everything that had happened that night and to my surprise he told me he would do exactly the same thing; I felt Seth begin to shake when Maggie explained why exactly Robert was so bent on finding me, a low growl echoed from his chest. Tears escaped the corner of my eyes; I knew what was coming next. I felt Maggie eyes bore into my back, I turned and looked at her; I couldn't take this, I needed to get out.

I got up and kissed Seth on the cheek, before walking out of the room. I needed to be alone; Maggie was telling Seth everything... Our whole stuffed up life, my whole stuffed up story. I sighed walking down the hall that led to the garage. I brushed past the wall causing one of the pictures to fall to the ground, the sound made me jump; though it shouldn't. I spun around, falling to the ground, heaving in air trying to calm myself. I was coming apart at the edges and I knew it; even with Seth here I was still a mess; nothing could fix me.

I looked at the picture lying on the ground, I was surprised Mum even put them up; she hated memories. I remember that day... I fumbled with the frame, looking at the photo. It was the day we moved to Tasmania, our little house standing in the back ground. I smiled at my mother's beautiful face, for once it wasn't tense and hard, she was laughing and she looked happy... I missed that side of my mum.

I got up and placed the photo back on the wall, carefully making my way down the hall, taking in all the pictures she put up. I stop abruptly looking at the beautiful face that stared back at me, the lines in the corner of her eyes crinkling as she laughed into the camera. I smiled looking into the face I thought I had forgotten; it seemed so long since I had seen her. Her hair waved carefully around her face, and kept flowing; golden and soft. I felt a tear streak down my face as I placed my fingers on the glass, tracing the outline of her features, trying to remember what her voice sounded like or the feel of her hands as they wound around mine. All I knew that this picture didn't do her justice, she was much more stunning in real life, her presence lighting up my own existence.

Warm hands snaked around my waist, leaving goose bumps as they locked into place. Seth kissed my neck softly holding on to me tightly, I felt the tears pool in my eyes, but I refused to let them fall. I twisted around in Seth's arms and rested my head on his chest listening to his heartbeat; he pulled me in tighter.

"I love you Mia." He whispered.

I inhaled his scent, it was a musky, warm smell; it reminded me of the forest. "I love you Seth." I kissed his chest.

He didn't say anything and he didn't need to; just by the way he held me, I knew nothing Maggie had said mattered to him. I really didn't deserve him.

"What were you looking at?" He asked softly pushing me back to look at my face; his eyes filled with pure love.

"Just a picture." I sighed. "I thought I had forgotten what she looks like." I said with a small laugh.

"Blake?" Maggie asked coming up next to me. I smiled and nodded, she chuckled. "She's so beautiful. It almost hurts to think about it." I laughed with her.

I turned to look back at the photo, trying to remember the day I took it, but I couldn't. It was like she had been wiped from my memories.

"Who's Blake?" Seth asked confused.

Maggie laughed. "One of the craziest bitches you'll never get to meet." I chucked, Maggie was right, Blake wasn't much of a people person.

"If she comes here," I whispered looking at her photo again. "We run."

Maggie sighed. "We're safe Mia."

I nodded moving to the next picture. I looked at it in disbelief, shaking with rage; what was wrong with her? Seth arms tightened around me as I shook; staring right back at me was the one person I would love to rip apart with my own bare hands, he smiled right into the camera. "What's this doing here?" I growled through my clenched teeth.

"Mum must have put it back up." Maggie muttered.

A shudder run down my body, making me stretch out my fingers. I flicked my hands up and grabbed the picture, leaving a hole as I ripped it out from the wall. I pulled myself from Seth's grip and stalked out the hall and into the garage. I grabbed a bottle of petrol and walked out to the driveway, slamming down the photo on the rock hard ground. The glass shattered and split, falling further into the frame; I smashed my foot down onto the photo, my foot began to bleed as the glass soothed into my foot, but I didn't care. Again and again I slammed my foot down on the frame; ripping and pulling at it until the glass were in tiny shards. I lifted the bottle of petrol and tipped it slowly over, the liquid spilling over the rubbish that used to be a frame. Maggie skipped up beside me, holding out a box of matches, grinning from ear to ear. I grinned back at her, striking a match and watch it burn for a while before I let it fall onto the rubbish, it burst into the flames even before the match hit the ground. I watched the flames dance around; burning away any evidence he ever existed.

I threw back my head and laughed. "That felt good." I said breathless.

Maggie giggled. "It looked awesome too."

In the corner of my eye I saw Seth shaking his head, his bright teeth shining against his brown skin. "You two are messed up." He teased walking over to join us.

"We know." I sighed.

He slid his arm around my shoulder as we watched the little fire burn. I wish it was that simple... I wish I could just burn him away... But it's not; life is never that simple... Well my life isn't.

"You know what Mia." Seth said looking down at me, excitement sparkling in his eyes. "There are a few people I want you to meet." He grinned. I looked at him confused, pulling my eyebrows together. He laughed, soothing out the wrinkles. "The Cullens." He said softly.

Vampires?