Disclaimer: I do not own anything except for things you do not recognize. Song credit to The Maine (hopefully I didn't screw the lyrics up from off the top of my head)

Anyway, thanks for all the reviews and I'm sorry for the slowing down of my updates. Not only is the end of the semester looming ahead, but I'm at an awkward part of the story. So I'll warn you now: I will be skipping ahead a few years to get to what I need to in the story.

"Tell me that you love me and it'll be alright

Are you thinking of me, just come with me tonight

You know I needed you, just like you needed me

Can't stop, won't stop I must be dreaming."

I Must Be Dreaming

Winter flew by to give way to Spring which also meant that my senior year at La Push high school was coming to a close. After things had settled down around the holidays I had sat down with my parents and worked out all the details for school in the fall.

Even though Sophie would be going to the same University and living in the same dorm complex, I had decided not to room with her. I wasn't angry at her or anything, but I had a feeling that she might abuse our relationship if we lived together and well…her checking out Joel all the time was starting to get old. It was one thing when he wasn't officially mine, but now that he was it was a little ridiculous on her part.

"Hey, quit writing in your diary, doofo. Abby just had her baby." Ian stated as he strolled into my room as if he owned it. How I hated teenage boys; I could really say that now that Joel had officially turned twenty a week ago.

"What?!" I screeched and threw my journal into my closet where I knew no one would dare touch it in fear of a whole bunch of crap tumbling down on top of their head.

"Yup, everyone's already at the hospital but us. So grab your keys and let's go."

"Why are we the last ones?" I grumbled as I slipped on some shoes and grabbed my purse from my desk.

"We were the last ones to be called."

Nice. Leave out two of the new baby's cousins. Oh well, Mom must have been too excited to call us and since she had Livy with her she had to have been really distracted. Dad had been at work all day and I was sure that once Jared received the call they all abandoned their work and started on their way.

By the time we arrived at the hospital most everyone had already left; leaving my parents and sister, my grandparents, Kim and Jared, Matt, and Joel. When Ian and I came upon them Livy immediately ran to greet us.

"It's a boy!" She yelled.

I smiled and only felt it deepen when a very familiar arm snaked around my waist. I leaned back into his touch and watched as my Dad's face darkened just a little bit and in return my Mom smacked him upside the head.

"What did they name him?" I asked.

"I waited for you to see him, so let's find out together." Joel stated before he started to guide me down the hall where I could hear Jared and Matt's laughter. Well, at least Jared didn't want to kill him anymore.

"Hey." I greeted as soon as we walked in.

"Took you long enough, Lala." Matt laughed.

"Hey, I didn't even know she was in labor as of fifteen minutes ago." I replied easily as I took in the sight of a tired and sweaty Abby holding a little blue bundle with a dark patch of hair on his head.

"Yeah, it got a little hectic." Abby smiled. "Do you want to hold him?"

I eagerly nodded and walked over to the bed to accept the little bundle that was my long awaited cousin. Seriously, as a kid I couldn't understand why I had no cousins even though I had a perfectly healthy uncle. Siblings were nice and everything, but cousins could be sent home at the end of the day.

"What's his name?" I asked gently as I stared down at his sleeping face.

He was so cute and light compared to how I remembered a newborn Livy to be. Of course, I had only been allowed to hold her while I sat down on the couch, but she had definitely felt like a chunker to me back then. This little guy had a good weight to him, but I doubted he weighed ten pounds two ounces like Livy did.

"Martin Jared Hanner." Abby smiled. (A/N: I just had to say that I came up with the name Martin by declaring to myself that the next song's lead singer on my iTunes would be the kid's name…thank you Boys like Girls.)

I turned to look at the proud Grandpapa who was practically beaming next to his equally happy wife. Who would have believed that only eight months ago this family was pretty upset with each other? Oh well, it all worked out in the end.

I finally turned to look at Joel who was watching me a little strangely, but I ignored it and smiled up at him and gestured down to Marty, which I had just decided would be what I always called him.

"You wanna hold my cousin?" I asked proudly.

"Sure." He said a little uncertainly and held out his arms.

He was probably afraid that he would do it wrong, but we all knew that even though these wolves could throw a powerful punch, they could also be the gentlest creatures on the Earth. For instance, I may have pissed my Dad off royally when I was younger but he never laid a hand on me, a fact that I attribute to his soft side. Instead he let Mom dish out the spankings with her wooden spoon and backed her up with a few harsh words that were later forgotten when he slipped us some cookies and a kiss.

However, as soon as Marty was in Joel's arms I understood why Joel had watched me strangely. The image of him holding a newborn baby with a smile on his face was extremely appealing to me, and if it was to me I could only imagine just how appealing it was to him. Not that I wanted to have a baby anytime soon, but I definitely did want to have children with Joel…when the time came in the distant future.

I was drawn from my gawking by the sounds of Marty starting to wake up and if the rooting at Joel's chest was any indication he was probably hungry. Joel laughed and handed him back to Abby, telling her that he was handsome.

"Well, we'll leave you to it." I smiled before I hugged my Uncle, grabbed Joel's hand and led him out of the room so Abby could start breast feeding. Jared and Kim followed us into the hall to leave the new family alone and the four of us made our way back to where the rest of them were waiting.

"What did you think of him?" Mom asked me.

"He weighs less than Livy did." I chuckled. "She was a chunker."

"Who you calling a chunker?!" Livy demanded as she settled her hands on her hips.

We all laughed at her, which only served to tick her off more until Dad scooped her up into his arms and tickled her belly causing the frown to leave her face just like we all knew it would.

* * *

"Viola Lee Mire." The principal of La Push High School said into the microphone from the makeshift stage that had been erected in our small gymnasium for the graduation ceremony.

This was it; I was officially done with high school. I took a deep breath and stepped up the two steps carefully. Once I was on the stage I heard loud cheers coming from the stands where my family and friends were sitting and blushed even as I smiled. After I shook a whole bunch of people's hands I finally accepted my diploma and turned the tassel on my cap to the other side indicating that I was now graduated.

After everyone's name had been called the principal announced us as the newest graduating class of the High School which we replied to with cheers and as we threw our caps up into the air. I made sure to catch mine and then darted towards my family, leaving Sophie to find her brother.

"My baby is a high school graduate!" Dad yelled as he pulled me into a huge and suffocating bear hug.

"Don't hog her, Paul." Mom smiled from off to the side.

Dad immediately released me and then I was passed off to be hugged by all of my family and friends. Everyone had hugged me but Joel, and when I turned around to see where he was he was right there waiting for me with a broad smile and open arms.

"I'm so proud of you, Lala." He whispered once our arms were around each other and my head was burrowed into his chest the best it could be without messing up my hair and makeup.

"Just think, in a few more months I'll be eighteen." I stage whispered.

"Excuse me?!"

"I'm just messing with you, Dad. Calm down." I chuckled as I disentangled myself from Joel before Dad pulled me away from his warmth himself.

"Vi!" Sophie screeched as she and Mr. Reid walked up to us.

I held back my own screech, but still rushed at her as she was me. We met half way and hugged excitedly, laughing at the kids that still were in high school. Lame.

"Congratulations, Viola." Mr. Reid smiled once Sophie and I finally parted.

"Thanks Mr. Reid."

"You can call me Eric now that I'm not your teacher."

I thought I heard a growl and turned to look at Joel with a raised eyebrow. I sent him an amused smile before I turned my attention back to Mr. Re—Eric. And since I knew Joel was watching on a bit jealously I sent Eric a nice big warm Mire smile.

"Thank you, Eric."

"So is this your Joel?" Eric asked gesturing to Joel, who had come to stand by my side a bit protectively. I giggled a little at that, but on the inside of course.

"Yeah, this is my boyfriend Joel Uley." I said making sure to emphasize the boyfriend part for Joel's benefit. Silly wolf.

Eric quirked a brow, "You finally figure out what I was talking about in your paper?"

"I guess so." I shrugged with a smirk.

"Nice to meet you, Joel." Eric said as he held out his hand.

I nonchalantly nudged Joel and heard him sigh before he grasped Eric's in his own for a nice firm handshake. When they released each other's hands I saw Eric cradle his hand with his other one and shot a look up at Joel.

"What?" He asked innocently.

"You're horrible." I rolled my eyes before I started to weave through the crowd towards the doors that led to the lawn where my parents had gone once Sophie and Eric had come up.

* * *

After my graduation dinner Joel had insisted on stealing me for the rest of the night; which I happened to be perfectly fine with. However, I did not miss the look that my Dad shot Joel or the look that Joel sent him back. Oh yes, things were about to get very interesting in our relationship.

Once Joel had parked by the beach, he turned off his truck and turned to me with a smile.

"Ready for a moonlit stroll on the beach?"

"That isn't clichéd at all, Joel." I laughed as I opened my door and jumped out of his truck and into the night air.

Even if it was cliché, it still was pretty romantic. That's why things were clichéd weren't they? Because they were true and always seemed to work well. Besides it was hard to be 'originally romantic' in La Push with limited resources for romantic evenings. I was just fine with his hand clasping mine as we traveled down the beach in our bare feet.

"So, to make this even more clichéd I wanted to tell you something."

My heart started to beat faster. Was he finally going to tell me what I had known from the very beginning? What was I going to say to him?! I should return the sentiment shouldn't I? Especially since the past few months we had had with each other were possibly the best of my life. Maybe I should just shut my brain up and listen to the man.

"Go on." I urged.

"Well I think you already know this, but I love you Viola."

I couldn't help the idiotic grin that appeared on my face. Yes, I had known that he did, but it was just so nice actually hearing it come out of his mouth.

"You don't have to say it back." He continued. "In fact I don't want you to; I want you to say it to me once you know how well we will make it work when you're gone."

I nodded at that; he was right. Our relationship really needed to be tested first, and I was happy that he only wanted to hear me say it after we had been through some rough times.

"Tell me again how often you're going to come see me?" I stated with a smile on my face as I moved closer to his warm body.

"Every weekend if I can." He replied easily. "But as far as your parents know…only once a month, but that'll be in my truck."

I laughed a bit evilly. My parents had sat the both of us down and politely explained that having my boyfriend come up every weekend would put a hamper on my college experience. Bull shit, I could have my college experience during the week and enjoy the weekend with Joel. Right after that meeting Joel and I had agreed that he would come up once a month in his truck and every other weekend he would come up as a wolf, being careful to phase when he was sure none of the other wolves would be. If they found out, I knew they would tell my Dad and we did not need a pissed off Paul Mire.

"Let's not worry about that now; we have a whole summer together."

"You're right." I replied as I stretched up on my tiptoes and placed a sweet kiss on his lips. I pulled back with a little smile, but he wasn't having any of that. He grabbed my hips tightly and pushed our bodies impossibly close as his lips captured mine in a passionate kiss.