AN: For the record, I'm pretty sure the bonfire scene comes before the party scene in the book, but oh well! :p

Delilah stood in front of the long mirror by her window, examining herself critically. She knew that she would probably just get dirty at the bonfire from sitting on the ground, but she felt that she should still wear something nice. She had dug around in her closet for a while, looking for something suitable; she was sure no one would be wearing a dress of anything, and she still wanted to look good without looking out of place. Not that she wouldn't look out of place, anyway, surrounded by the members of the pack, who were all dark skinned and completely huge.

Eventually, she had found an old top Alice had bought her about a year before. It was a very light blue cotton shirt, simple but pretty. Over that, she put on a see-through lace shawl, and then slipped into some dark jeans and a pair of white high tops.

Satisfied with how that part of her looked, she her attention was drawn to her face.

She'd never really looked at her face before. There were her thin eyebrows, her small lips (chapped from how much she'd been biting them lately), her large blue eyes on her pale, heart-shaped face, framed by reddish hair that Rosalie called strawberry blonde. The features were all hers, and she recognized them, but she couldn't help wondering what they looked like to other people. Was she pretty? Did other people think she was pretty? Did he think she was pretty?

She bit her lip, fidgeting with her top and scrutinizing herself some more. Should she try to wear makeup? Alice and Rosalie had done her face up lots of times before, and it had looked pretty, but she wasn't sure it would look the same if she tried to do it herself. She would have just asked one of them to do it for her, but she was too embarrassed- she had never actually asked them to do her makeup before.

She reluctantly decided to leave her face as it was, and made her way down to the family room, where Rosalie was waiting for her. Alice scrutinized her outfit from her seat at the window.

"Hmm," she said. "A little more simple than usual, but pretty. Okay, you have my approval."

Rosalie drove her to Bella's house, where Edward's Volvo was waiting in the driveway. Bella and Edward stood talking, holding hands and gazing into each other's eyes. It looked like an intimate moment, and Delilah felt a twinge at having to interrupt them.

"Delilah," Bella waved at her, and Delilah noticed that she looked excited, for the bonfire, she presumed.

"Hey, Bella," Delilah said, smiling at her as she waved back a little shyly. She could tell from the way that the older girl's eyes lit up a little that Bella was happy that they were getting along, if at least a little.

"So what do you think will happen at the bonfire?" Bella asked her.

Delilah knew that Bella was making an attempt at conversation- an attempt at making friends with her- but to her it just felt a little awkward. She shrugged her shoulders. "Your guess is probably as good as mine- I've never been to the reservation."

"Oh, I think you'll like it," Bella said without hesitation. "It's kind of quiet there, but the pack makes up for it when they're all together."

The ride in the car was relatively silent on Delilah's end. She was in the backseat, looking out the window and occasionally glancing at Bella and Edward, who were having a conversation that she hadn't bothered to even try following.

Once, Edward glanced back at her through the rearview mirror, and her brow furrowed. She hadn't really been thinking much of anything, let alone something that would get his attention, so she wondered why he was looking at her all of a sudden. But in the next moment, as she slyly shifted her attention to Bella out of the corner of her eye, she understood- the girl's eyes were focused on her.

She really was trying to make it look like she wasn't staring, so Delilah forgave her for her for the slightly creepy look, but Bella really should have known better than to try to hide what she was doing when she was in a car with two Cullens. Given, the only vampire in the car was Edward, but she had lived with the Cullen family long enough to pick up most of their mannerisms, one of which being that she could generally tell when someone was looking at her. Really, she thought, unable to help it. Common sense, Bella.

Bella soon seemed to notice that Edward had noticed that she had been looking at Delilah, and she turned her head, looking out the windshield instead. Delilah sighed, relieved. No matter how much Bella loved Edward and vice versa, she always somehow felt like she was always under a microscope when her adoptive brother's girlfriend was around.

She didn't bother stopping to wonder why Bella had been staring at her- it was no secret that Bella thought she was intriguing, being not completely human and all.

When they finally got to the border, Jacob was waiting there with his car. Edward leaned over and kissed Bella firmly, and Delilah couldn't help but smirk- there was no doubt that he was trying to tell Jacob to back off. But it didn't really work so well; when they crossed the border, the first thing that Jacob did was walk right up to Bella and hug her tightly. Delilah shook her head as she got in the car, listening to the Volvo's engine growl as it sped off. It wasn't really fair, the game they were playing with Bella (or the game she was playing with them), but she wasn't about to get in the middle of it.

At the bonfire, Jacob was greeted by the pack members, who seemed to immediately take a liking to Delilah and Bella. The boys were charming in their own way, but after a few minutes, Delilah couldn't help but be a little tired of their constant banter and general loudness. She guessed that it was something she would have to get used to.

A young woman standing nearby seemed to notice that Delilah looked a little uncomfortable, because she made her way over. When her face came into the light of the setting sun, Delilah had to fight not to let her expression change. One side of the woman's face was horribly disfigured by three long, jagged scares. She tried not to stare, feeling guilty at her reaction.

"I'm Emily," the woman said kindly, shaking Delilah's hand and smiling. Despite the scars that marred Emily's face, Delilah was beginning to notice all the little things that made the woman beautiful, but her kindness definitely outshined everything else. Suddenly, Delilah could see why all the pack members loved her.

She smiled back, quickly brushing a lock of hair out of her face as the suddenly picked up. "I'm Delilah," she said shyly.

"Come sit with us," Emily implored, leading Delilah over to a man she recognized, Sam. When she looked back, she noticed that Bella and Jacob had settled down on the ground with a group of his friends. She hesitated a moment, then followed Emily. Carlisle had said to stay close to Bella, but it wasn't like she had to hold her hand the whole time.

Being young, they saved the seats for the elders and sat on the cold ground, with Delilah on one side of Emily and Sam on the other. For a few minutes, they made conversation, and Delilah found that Emily was easier to talk to than she had thought (and definitely much easier to talk to than Bella- although it sounded mean, she was glad she had sat with Emily instead).

"Do they always eat like that?" Delilah asked, alluding to Embry, who was on his tenth hot dog and still going strong.

Emily laughed. "One downside of knowing wolves- well, for someone who has to cook for them, anyway- is the huge appetite," she said. "Those boys will eat me out of house and home someday."

They both grew quiet for a moment; it was a comfortable silence, and Delilah was so relaxed in this company that she almost didn't notice that someone's gaze was on her. She looked up to meet Paul's eyes. He was sitting near Jared and Kim but looked like he wanted to be somewhere else. She smiled at him shyly and was surprised when he stood, making his way over to them.

He sat down next to her, nodding a greeting to Sam and Emily. "So, you enjoying yourself so far?" he asked her, leaning back in a relaxed manner but looking a little nervous. Delilah realized that she was grinning like an idiot and stopped, switching to her usual slight smile; Paul's expression seemed to fall a little in response.

"Yeah, it's really nice to meet all the pack members formally like this- I like being able to put a name to a human face. Um, but," she said hesitantly. "Is this all that happens at a bonfire? The way you talked about it, it seemed like it would be a much more important kind of thing." She blushed slightly and looked at her hands, wondering if he would be offended because she had insinuated that the bonfire as it was was not important enough for her.

Paul chuckled, looking across at all the other people gathered, to Jared and Kim, and Seth and Leah, and all of Jacob's friends and the elders, before his brown eyes swiftly came back to her. "Just wait for it," he told her. "There's more."

"More?" she questioned, raising her eyebrow.

Paul's expression was mockingly mischievous, and she could tell that he liked keeping her asking questions. "This isn't just an all you can eat buffet for the pack, you know. Otherwise, why would the elders be here?" he hinted.

"So… The elders are going to say something to everyone?"

"One of them," Paul acknowledged. "Billy will tell a story in a few minutes."

"A story? What kind?" For some reason, Delilah didn't think the muscular boys of the pack would enjoy just any old bedtime story. Paul seemed to guess what she was thinking, because he laughed.

For the next few minutes, she and Paul talked about what exactly would transpire in this story. He wouldn't share too many details, seemingly enjoying all her attention, but from what he did tell her, Delilah deduced that it was a legend about the Quileute wolves, about how they came to be.

From time to time, she noticed Bella looking at her, and once when she thought Delilah wasn't looking, the girl had pointed the two of them out to Jacob. She wondered what was so special about she and Paul talking to each other that would make Bella look so genuinely curious.

Finally, Billy Black cleared his throat. "The Quileutes have been a small people from the beginning. And we are a small people still, but we have never disappeared. This is because there has always been magic in our blood. It wasn't always the magic of shape-shifting- that came later.

"First we were spirit warriors."

Delilah leaned forward, caught up by the strangely majestic tone of Billy's voice as he began the story. Beside her, Emily was scribbling his words down quickly on a pad of paper, hurriedly trying to get every last one.

Everyone seemed to be in some sort of trance, listening closely to Billy as he told the story of the spirit warriors, how Utlapa had deceived Taha Aki, stealing his body and leaving none for Taha Aki's spirit to attach itself to, and forbade the spirit warriors to enter the spirit world. He told of how Taha Aki and the wolf had shared a body, and gone down into the village to warn the people of Utlapa's betrayal. The rage Taha Aki had felt at the murder of one of his people by Utlapa had caused the wolf the transform into a man. From then on, the spirit warriors began to change into wolves, each one's different appearance a symbol of their different spirits.

It was jolting when Delilah heard Quil grumble something about Sam having a black coat to match his soul. She glanced at the alpha to see that he had ignored Quil, but Emily had paused in her writing for a moment to give the boy a slightly scolding look. Sam put his arm around Emily and she leaned into him, looking comfortable. Delilah really didn't mean to stare at them, but the two just seemed so in sync with each other, two pieces of the same puzzle, two hearts beating as one. She noticed belatedly that Billy was speaking again.

"Taha Aki had lived the span of three old men's lives. He had married a third wife after the deaths of the first two, and found in her his true spirit wife. Though he had loved the others, this was something else. He decided to give up his spirit wolf so that he would die when she did."

Delilah felt the corner of her lips turn up in a smile. She could just imagine the kind of love Taha Aki had held for the third wife, to give up an eternity so that they could die together, so that he wouldn't have to be heart broken when she left him. She glanced at Paul to see that he was watching her closely, dark eyes unreadable. She was about to ask him what he was thinking when Old Quil Ateara began to speak.

"That was the story of the spirit warriors. This is the story of the third wife's sacrifice."

He went on, but after a while Delilah only half heard him. The sound of his voice was relaxing, and between the fire and being near so many of the wolves, she felt so warm. It wasn't long before her eyelids were drooping and she was leaning on the thing nearest to her, falling asleep.

Paul tried to listen to Old Quil, but it was difficult to pay attention to anything but the beautiful girl sleeping against his chest. Each slow, even breath on him was like a little electrical shock, and he shivered each time one of her deep exhales swept across his skin. The wind blew her hair around for a minute before it finally settled on his stomach, tickling him. Holding his breath, he reached out and carefully picked up the strand and moved it away. Not able to help himself, his hand traveled up to her head, his fingers moving her hair away from her face, tucking it behind her ear. He touched her cheek; her skin was soft as silk, pale as the moon.

He pulled his hand away quickly when she shifted in her sleep and didn't have the courage to touch her again. Instead, he just looked at her, noticing how her expression sometimes changed, how the corner of her lips sometimes twitched. She was beautiful, there was no way around it- and especially when she was sleeping. He had only seen her asleep a few times at the trainings with the bloodsuckers, and he had never been close enough to actually study her face.

He was so distracted by her that it seemed like no time at all had gone by before Old Quil had finished his story and everyone was going home. Paul lifted Delilah carefully into his arms as Bella and Jacob made their way over to him. She felt so tiny in his arms, little more than a doll, and he didn't want to let Jacob carry her. But he reluctantly handed her over, watching as the three of them disappeared to go find Jacob's car.

There were few people left now, and all of them were talking quietly to each other. He sighed, sitting down heavily on a piece of driftwood that had been dragged up the beach for a seat. His head was in his hands, eyes closed, when he heard someone approaching. He looked up as Sam sat down next to him.

"It's bittersweet, you know?" He didn't know why he wanted to share his feelings all of a sudden, but he went with it anyway.

"What is?" Sam asked, even though Paul had a feeling he already knew.

"When I see her, even if it's just for a moment, it's like nothing else in the whole world, like I'm in some kind of perfect place- heaven. But then she leaves, to go home to them, and I remember that I have to be careful. I remember that one wrong move could take her away from me. One wrong move and I won't have anything left. I can't take care of her like I want to- I have to let other people make sure she's okay and happy.

"I just don't know who I am anymore. Before, I was a hot-headed jerk who always wanted his own way- that was me. Then all of a sudden I see her face and it's like I'm a different person, and I want to be a different person, for her."

Sam said nothing for a good long time; Paul knew that his silence was supposed to be supportive, but what he wanted was reassurance. He turned to the man. "Does it ever get easier?"

Sam's eyes weren't on him- they were looking across the way, where Leah and Seth stood. Leah's face was nearly hidden by shadows, but Paul could still make out the scowl on her face.

Sam finally turned back to him. "It hasn't for me. There are many people that I've hurt because of my imprint and because I'm a wolf. But when you're with your imprint, everything is just better. It's not that you forget about the struggles you've gone through or the things you've put others through, but being with her makes everything, even the guilt, worth it."

When Delilah woke up, it was to the hushed voices of Bella and Jacob and the hum of the engine. The first thing she saw when she opened her eyes were trees, passing by quickly, making her a little dizzy; she was leaning against the window. She must've fallen asleep at the Bonfire. She felt her face heat up in embarrassment; someone had obviously had to carry her back to the car, and she hoped to the heavens that she hadn't been drooling or anything.

Her cheek was frozen from leaning against the cold window, so she shifted down in her seat a little, trying to be as inconspicuous as possible. It was easier to just keep pretending to be asleep, because that way she could turn the night's events over and over in her head without any interruptions.

She felt guilty about drifting off during such an important story; she wondered if she could get Bella to tell it to her sometime later. Her mind went back to the end of the first story, how Taha Aki had given up imortality to be with the one he loved. Again, she wondered what kind of love was that strong, how someone could give up eternal life for someone who could just as easily change their mind about them altogether. She cursed herself as Paul's face came unbidden to her mind, his eyes watching her carefully, his mouth turned down slightly at the edges.

She shook her head to clear it, wincing when she realized that the two in the front seat could have seen her. But they just continued their muted conversation, and she let out a silent breath of relief. Knowing that they would be near Forks any moment now, she tried to clear her mind, leaning back further in her seat as she relaxed. Despite the cold weather outside, her skin felt very warm, warmer than she had felt in months, and she knew she wouldn't have any trouble sleeping that night.

AN: So what do you think?