You guys. I am so sorry. SO sorry. You don't even know. I had absolutely no intention of leaving it this long. I thought it had been maybe 6-8 months since I'd updated, but as I was reading through the previous chapters to refresh my memory, I saw that it's actually been over a year.

A YEAR!

I can't apologize enough. I know the frustration of following a WIP and hoping and checking for updates and there are none. Believe me, I do. I really am so sorry.

But hey. I bought a house. An awesome house. So, that's kind of one excuse. Anyway, I'm sure you don't want to hear my groveling. Here is Chapter 11 for you. I hope it lives up to your expectations.

Thank you so much to my beta, Mel Cooley. She got this read and back to me in less than 24 hours. I don't know where I'd be without you, sister from another mister. You are my rock and I love your face so hard!

Also, one more thing. I have to do a fic rec. My good friend and #teamfireball cohort just published her first ever fic yesterday and it is absolutely wonderful and hilarious and finishes off with a pretty juicy lemon. She is PurpleBrina17 and the fic is PYT (Pretty Young Thing). Y'all should really go check it out and leave her some love!

Merry Christmas you guys!


Before:

Warning bells were going off, hell, there were air raid sirens in my head! We couldn't be about to kiss! It was only date one! Who kisses on the first date? Who? This was a five alarm emergency, and needed to be stopped. His lips were definitely incoming, oblivious to the sheer panic in my brain.

I coughed, and immediately the spell was broken.

"Sorry, sir, I have garlic breath, and I believe I've committed myself to a somewhat early engagement in the morning," I said suavely, turning and shoving my key in the door and pushing it open. I stepped in but before I closed it I turned back to see Seth's disappointed but thankfully not shattered face. "Thank you for the flowers," I added, and then smiled. "I'll see you at nine. Hope you've got good running shoes."

He smiled back and straightened up, scoffing. "I don't need running shoes."

I closed the door and listened as he got back into the car and drove away, still grinning to myself. When the car was out of my hearing range, I went to the kitchen to find something to put the daisies in before heading upstairs to dream what had turned out to be a fantastic evening.

Now:

Running with Seth was exhilarating. The speed! The speed was unimaginable! The wind whipped my ponytail around in my wake. Seth was leading me, but only just. I was hot on the heels of his worn Nikes. The trees on either side of the trail flew by in green blurs. I knew I could go fast, but this fast?

I was tired of trailing behind. I pushed myself just a little more, gaining a few inches closer to Seth. I was going to do it! I was going to pull ahead! Just a few more steps and-

The toe of my sneaker caught an upraised root and as I went down I panicked and shrieked and reached out for the closest thing to me: Seth. We both went tumbling, both laughing because of course it didn't really hurt. We rolled twice while our momentum ran out and I ended up on top, still giggling. I opened my eyes to apologize to Seth, but my grin fell from my face.

Seth stared up at me, eyes lifeless, a pool of blood quickly forming under him, gushing from the open wound in his neck. His normally warm body was unnaturally cold and still.

I gasped and began to back away, but the scent of his spilled blood pulled me closer instead. My throat was aching, burning with dryness. I was so thirsty; I knew it wasn't water I needed.

Suddenly the dry ache was quenched. With a slight roll of nausea I realized I was slurping the remaining blood from Seth's body. I couldn't find it in myself to care. The only thing I cared about in that moment was the sweet, satisfying liquid that soothed my overly sore throat.

Absently, I heard a steady thumping in the background that was continuously growing louder, closer. I sucked. A rustle of underbrush. Still, I sucked. Then, hot breath on the back of my neck. I couldn't bring myself to stop drinking even for a second as I looked up into the hateful eyes of a very large, black wolf. It bared its teeth and released a ferocious growl right before-

I woke up gasping for air, covered in sweat and my throat in agony.

And my phone was ringing.

Aunt Rose.

I took a couple steadying breaths before sliding the answer button across the screen.

"Hey Aunt Rose, what's up?"

"Don't you 'what's up' me, young lady," she said mock sternly. "Details. Go."

I groaned. "Aunt Rose, there's nothing to tell. We went to a movie and ate dinner and he took me home. That's it."

"Is it? He didn't kiss you?"

"Aunt Rose!"

She gasped. "He did!"

"Stop!" I shrieked, burying my head into my pillow. "I have to go. He'll be here to pick me up in an hour."

"Pick you up for what? Do you have a breakfast date?"

I sighed. "If you must know, we're going for a run."

She sighed on the other end. "I expect you to call me when you get home. I want details!"

I hung up and ran for the shower.


At 8:58 I was just finishing tying my hair up in a high ponytail when I heard a familiar old engine pulling up my driveway. I hurriedly threw on a little mascara, smudge proof of course, and ran down the stairs, tying up the laces to my sneakers just as my doorbell rang.

I straightened up, smoothed out my clothes one last time, and opened the door.

There was Seth, grinning brightly and shirtless once again, wearing only baggy shorts that hung to around his knees and that big silly grin on his face.

He was so adorable.

"Ready?" he asked.

I couldn't help grinning back at him. His excitement was infectious.

"Ready when you are!"

"Cool."

I stepped out and locked the door behind me and headed toward his car, but I realized he was heading toward the trees on the far side of the yard.

"Uh, Seth?"

He grinned over his should. "Trust me."

And then he took off.

It took me 2.4 seconds to process just what his intention was, and then I took off after him. How he was running through all the brush and tree roots barefoot was a mystery to me. I caught up to him quickly. He was nowhere near as fast as a vampire, but still fast enough to give me a run for my money.

"Don't get cocky just yet," he said, side eyeing me. He was hardly winded, but he slowed to a stop, making sure I stayed with him. "Check this out!"

He darted behind a tree and I heard a strange ripping sound and a wave of heat flashed out, followed by a gigantic, sandy-brown wolf. I immediately recognized him from Monday. I had thrown the black one into him.

He slowly approached, and stopped about six feet away from me. He sat down and lowered his head, looking up at me with his eyes.

"Seth?"

His head popped up and his jaw dropped down, his tongue flopping out in what appeared to be a huge grin. I grinned back and stepped toward him with my right hand held out. When I was close enough, I hesitantly reached out and he moved his head to close the distance, rubbing his face against my palm. I took that as an invitation and stroked his face and scratched his ears.

And then he moved his face to mine and ran his slobbery tongue up the side of my face from my neck to my temple and into my hairline.

"Ew! Seth! You jerk!"

He jumped up, tail wagging, tongue still hanging out, then turned tail and booked it further into the trees as I stood desperately wiping the slime from my face with the sleeve of my hoodie.

"Oh, it's on, furball!" I shouted after him. I wasted no time taking off after him. In his human form he wasn't much faster than I was, but in his wolf form, he was faster than anything I'd ever seen, even the vampires, as far as I could tell. He must have realized this because he never left my sight, but he never actually let me catch up either. He kept pausing to turn and taunt me by bearing down on his front legs and waggling his butt or jumping around and yipping a little, all the while his mouth hung open and he just looked happy.

We eventually made it to the coastline and followed it north for about an hour and a half until we reached a small clearing. The trees were beginning to thin out and I could see a path up ahead. Seth let me catch up to him then and nudged me with his nose and whined a little before darting behind a tree again.

He reappeared ten seconds later and came to a stop right in front of me.

"I was worried you'd freak out," he said. "I'm glad you didn't."

"I almost did, for a second," I admitted. "But I knew it was you. Um, sorry for throwing that other guy into you that day."

He shrugged it off and grinned again. "It's cool. No damage. Come on, I want to show you something!"

He took my hand and led me through the trees to the path and we followed it along at a leisurely pace.

"So where have you taken me?"

"It's a surprise," he said. "You'll see."

We walked a few more minutes. The dirt path briefly turned into walkways of wood planks here and there. At one point a line of tree stumps stuck up from an empty stream bed and we used them to step across.

"So why Forks?"

"Huh?"

"Why did you come to Forks, of all places?" he elaborated. "I mean, how many places between here and New York could you have settled?"

"Oh, right. Well, at the time I didn't really have a plan. I packed up the necessities and loaded the car. I dropped my gun and badge off at the front desk of the nearest precinct with a resignation form, and just got in the car and drove. I just wanted to get away from the city. I took my time, just enjoying being alone. Mostly alone, anyway. Just me in the car, but there were still people around when I stopped to eat or get a hotel for the night. I was outside Spokane when I decided I needed a plan and started looking for places with low populations and houses for sale. Forks had that and an opening in the police department. So I sent my resume, made a cash offer on the house with my inheritance money, and here we are."

"What if you hadn't gotten the job?"

"I suppose I would have figured something else out. Being a cop isn't a must for me, but it's the best way I can think of to help people and put all my super powers to good use, and pay the bills."

The path changed from dirt back to wooden planks, and steadily inclined.

"That's very noble," Seth said.

I shrugged. "With great power come great responsibility," I answered dramatically.

He snorted. The incline changed to steps in sets of twos and threes, meandered through the giant trees and up over a hill. We climbed along, still holding hands. When we crested the hill, the path dipped slightly before flattening out, and the plank walkway led to a raised wooden platform with benches on it. The trees and greenery were thick on either side so I couldn't see what was beyond the platform, but I could hear and smell water.

"Here we are," Seth said. He squeezed my hand once and led me to the platform, allowing me to climb up the ladder ahead of him.

I was unprepared for the sight that greeted me.

The platform was a lookout on the very edge of a cliff. On either side of me, similar cliffs jutted out from the mainland, the bases extending out into the ocean like giant, rocky feet, and caves extended inward in between. Ahead of me sprawled a blanket of dark blue, which met the clear blue sky far in the distance. Between me and the horizon was a grassy island with a lighthouse, and a smattering of large rocks rose from the sea. I could hear sea lions barking and found one of those rocks absolutely covered in the beasts.

It was breathtaking.

"This is Cape Flattery," Seth said, taking my hand again and this time interlacing our fingers. "It's the northwestern most point in the continental United States." He pointed to some blue-hued mountains to the left. "That's Canada."

I caught my breath again and squeezed Seth's hand. "This is beautiful," I whispered.

"I thought you'd like it," he said.

I chanced a glance at him. He was still smiling, but it was a smaller smile than his usual happy, excited grin. He seemed content.

"Are you still angry I licked you?"

I snorted, caught off guard. I'd completely forgotten about that. But I shook my head.

"I was never angry," I breathed. He head was dipping closer to mine.

"Good," he breathed back.

His eyes fluttered shut as his faced descended upon mine. And then mine followed suit.

Then his lips were touching mine. They were warm and soft and sweet and gentle. They molded around mine, and without giving any further thought to what I was doing, I kissed him back.

It was sweet; romantic. No tongue or heavy gasping or slobbering. Just our lips meeting gently for the first time.

Shit. There was no going back now.

He pulled away after precisely 37 seconds and we stood gazing into each other's eyes like a couple of lovesick teenagers.

Disgusting.

I chuckled, despite myself.

"Seth, what are you doing to me?"

"Probably nothing different than what you're doing to me."

"Fair enough."

"Hey, are you hungry?"

I shrugged. "I could eat."

"Let's head back," he said excitedly. He pulled me to the edge of the platform and hopped off, then turned to help me down. Not that I needed it.

"Sam's having a barbecue at his house. And he wants to talk to you anyway. So this'll be perfect!"

Sam? Carlisle had mentioned a Sam. "Sam? Is he like you? Carlisle said something about having spoken to him, that he's your leader or something?"

Seth took my hand again as we began to walk back down the path the way we had come. "Kinda. It's a long story, but basically we split into two packs back around the time Nessie was born. So now we have a… cooperative understanding, I guess you could say. My orders come from Jacob, technically, but we all work together."

"Huh. Okay, I guess I can understand that much."

He looked down at me and grinned. "All that drama is ancient history. It's not even worth bringing it up now."

I nodded. "I get it, it's cool."

Seth's grin got even wider suddenly, and so did his eyes. "Hey! Race you back?"

"Oh, you're on, fluff face!"

He was off like a shot, and I followed right after. Of course, we weren't really racing. We both knew I didn't stand a chance in that. And of course, just like the way here, he ran ahead and stopped and taunted and ran ahead again, on a continuous loop. I actually did lose sight of him a couple times, but I just followed his scent trail.

About halfway, he stopped suddenly, ears perked up, and then looked at me and nodded with his head to follow him. So I did.

We stopped at the edge of a small clearing that a brook babbled its way through. A huge elk stood lapping at the water, completely oblivious to our presence. Seth looked at the elk and then at me, his intention clear.

"No, Seth, I can't," I whispered. "I tried, the Cullens took me and I tried but I just can't do it."

He repeated the alternating glances and nodded his head up and down. When I still wouldn't move, he leapt up and in a blur of sandy-brown fur, he was on the elk, gripping its thick neck between his huge jaws and clamping down.

The elk was dead before he hit the ground, Seth landing on top.

Seth stood and turned to face me, once again looking between me and the buck, his intention still crystal clear.

I still didn't move.

Realizing this, Seth jumped back onto the elk, ripping flesh from his body and hardly chewing before gulping it down. He paused and looked up at me briefly and went back to his meal.

I took a deep inhale through my nose. It smelled the same as it had before. Not entirely appetizing, but also not completely repellent. And if Seth could do it…

That burn in my throat, which had been in the back of my mind all day, suddenly flared and without even telling my body what to do, I suddenly found myself at the elk's throat. I didn't need to bite like last time; Seth had left a gaping wound on the animal's neck and I just sucked straight from there.

I tried not to think about what I was doing. I imagined myself later tonight, eating barbecue. Oh, I hoped they'd have ribs. I imagined sitting with Seth and eating and meeting his friends. Then I thought about my impending phone call to Rose afterward. She expected details and I wouldn't be able to hold her off forever. I also felt like Emmett would be the type to tease the hell out of me until I caved.

It felt like no time had passed when suddenly I pulled and no liquid came out. I gave two more pulls from the neck just to be certain and then I let go and slowly backed away, standing up to lean against a tree. Seth was still stuffing his face loudly and messily.

Did I do it? Could I keep it down this time? Maybe sticking to only one animal at a time was the key. I did feel so much better, like I had been sick and was suddenly cured without realizing anything had been wrong. The burning had all but disappeared and I felt… alive. I was buzzing with energy. I felt like I could take down the Hulk!

Seth stopped chomping away and stepped off, wiping his snout on the ground, getting all the blood and guts off.

"Shall the race resume?" I called out.

He opened his mouth into that huge goofy grin once more before taking back off again, leaving me to follow behind in his wake.


We crashed through the tree line into my yard. Seth nudged my arm before turning around and running back into the trees. He came right back out as himself, still buttoning his shorts.

"So we going to Sam's now?"

Seth's expression turned apprehensive. "Uh, Alex, you might want to, um, freshen up first?"

"What? No, I think I'm-" I looked down at my clothes, and no, I most certainly was not presentable. I was covered in dirt and bracken, and there was a dribble of dried blood on my hoodie that went from my neckline down my chest. "Um, actually, I think I'm gonna freshen up real quick." I went up the steps and unlocked the door, calling over my shoulder, "You wanna come in?"

He was at my heels in a flash as we stepped inside.

"I'm gonna take a quick shower, wash all… this… off. TV's in there," I pointed into the living room, "kitchen's over there," I pointed into the kitchen. "Just help yourself to whatever."

He thanked me and I jogged up the stairs and into the bathroom.


Half an hour later I came downstairs to find Seth on my couch with a bag of Cheetos in his lap, and the Seahawks just starting the second quarter.

He turned to look at me and his smile dropped. "You can't wear that!"

"What? Why not?"

"That's a Jets shirt! Don't you know who they're playing today?"

"Yeah, the Seahawks, you've got the game on already," I answered.

"Alex." He set the bag aside and stood up. "Do you even know where you live now? For your own safety, please change your shirt?"

I paused. He was really serious. "Oh, okay," I said. "I didn't realize it was that serious around here."

Ten minutes later, now wearing a navy v-neck t-shirt, I rode in Seth's car as we turned off the 101 and flew up the 110 toward La Push.

I just hoped none of the wolves were hungry.


My beta's first comment was: "I'm disappointed Seth didn't get in the shower with her."

Baby steps, people. Baby steps. That kiss is the closest thing to a lemon I've written. Ever. So, baby steps. I'm not saying no, just... Not now.

Reviews are nice. I hope you enjoyed! I've started the next chapter, so hopefully it will be up around New Year's. No promises though. This is me we're talking about here.

PS: If you haven't been to Cape Flattery... OMGYOUNEEDTOGOWHATTHEHELLAREYOUWAITINGFOR?! Seriously. Before it falls into the ocean. My descriptions don't do it justice. It's just so damn beautiful.