Chapter 20

Will's POV

"Sweetheart, I've missed you like crazy!" My mom hugged me again. I shifted away from her a little; my body was still trying to calm itself from Neah's and my activities in the truck.

"I've missed you too!" I murmured as I patted her back. I watched grandma and NanaEsmetake the spilt groceries into the kitchen while mom held me in her unyielding grasp.

"Give him a minute to breathe babe," dad laughed as he looked at us from the couch. "The poor boy looks like we shocked the crap out of him." I nodded and fought to hide my annoyance at this situation. I looked again to Neah, who was now embracing with her father. I was never going to get any alone time with her now, and if I did, I'd probably be afraid to capitalize on it. I looked away from them and focused on Miss Leah who was looking around at the pictures on the mantel. She picked up one of the pictures of her sister and smiled. I took a moment to take her in fully.

"Oh my God, Miss Leah, you're pregnant!" I leapt up and pointed at her like I was accusing her of something. She looked at me like I'd lost my mind, and then gawked down at her stomach.

"Oh my God, you're right!" She held her stomach pretending to be shocked. "Thank you for telling me Will, or else I may have never known." She giggled.

"Wow mom," Neah whispered; she quickly darted to her mother' side and rested a hand on her stomach. "All those times when I asked for a little sister, you finally decide to deliver now!" Neah glanced distractedly at me, dropped her hands to her sides and began to make a step towards me, but stopped herself before any of the others caught on. Her instincts pulled her to me just as mine led me towards her. I was clenching my jaw and balling my hands into fists as I battled the impulse to bridge the gap between us.

"Excuse me," Jady said hesitantly. "I don't mean to interrupt but I was wondering where the bathroom was." Most eyes in the room turned toward her. Something about her was most definitely different her scent had changed and her appearance was sharper. However, that wasn't what had shocked both Neah and me. It was the fact that she had just gotten up from sitting contently in Nate's lap. I growled slightly; it must've been nice to be able to openly show affection. Neah was flipping out; in her mind she was elated to see Jady, but she knew something was off. She wanted answers and I knew she was going to seek them out quickly.

"Come on, I'll show you," Neah said slowly. "It will give us a moment to catch up." She smiled brightly at her friend who didn't know the trouble she could potentially be in. I was sifting through Nate's thoughts and found out that they had injected her with his venom and that for some reason she hadn't completely turned. He secretly was happy with the way things had turned out. He had saved her life and she got to keep her heart beat. He felt like the luckiest guy in the world… maybe he was.

The family spent some time visiting, then the women migrated into the kitchen; all but Neah and Jady who still hadn't come back down from upstairs. Grandpa Billy and Charlie escaped the female invasion and made their way into the living room, joining Carlisle and Granddadthere; they all sat around the television watching sports. It would have been a typical scene for any household except for the fact that the majority of us were monsters.

I hung around with the TV watchers hoping Neah would return, but finally couldn't take the invasion any longer, and escaped into the garage. As soon as I saw our cars, the memory of our first real kiss ran through my mind. I examined both primed vehicles and debated which to work on first. Normally, I would have worked on Neah's first, just because she's a spoiled little brat and I loved to give her what she wanted … but I decided to practice on my car. It had been a while since I painted a car, and the last time I did it I had my dad's help. I glanced up toward the stairs and gave some thought to asking him to help me; but in the end, I wanted to do this myself… for Neah. I sighed as I prepared the paint and the materials I needed. I was glad that it seemed like I was going to be left alone with my thoughts.

Nate's POV

I sat in the living room with the family for a few minutes, waiting impatiently for Jady to come back from upstairs. I was worried that my sister had gotten a hold of her and was filling her mind with guilt over our situation. I shook my head and shifted in my seat hoping that my downer of a sister wasn't filling my… girlfriend's head with a whole bunch of junk. It was weird putting a title to what Jady and I were, but the feelings came just as naturally as my desire to be close to her. Like right now, I was fighting against all of my instincts to follow her upstairs and eavesdrop on whatever Neah and she were talking about. I would never rag on Will for being a Neah's lap dog ever again.

I looked around and, for the first time, realized that Will had gone AWOL. That seemed a little rude, considering that the majority of us came here so that we could help him with his stupid situation. I tried to catch his scent, and when I did, it surprised me that it wasn't headed upstairs where Neah was, but instead, it was down toward the garage. It was easy to sneak away since everyone was so engrossed in the game that was on.

I bounded down the stairs to inquire what Black was doing. I mean, once I got down there, it was pretty obvious he was painting a car. I guess my true intentions were to annoy the hell out of him. He cut off his spray gun and eyed me, then contemplated the car. "Does this look even to you?" I looked at the wet paint. It wasn't as smooth as it could be, so I used my "magic" to make it better. I marveled at my work. My bratty sister thought she was the only one with tricks up her sleeve.

"Now it does." I patted Will on the shoulder and he cringed away from me. "You're not happy we're all here, are you?" I chuckled as I picked my way over to the work bench.

"Not particularly," he sighed. "I'll never get any alone time with Neah now that her two babbling friends are here." He stared at the paint. I assumed that he was making sure everything looked perfect.

"I'll agree with Erika being a babbler, but Jady hardly talks." I involuntarily defended Jady. God, I was being to think I was turning into Will. The sad thing was, I was using him so that I wouldn't think about Jady so much, and yet, here I was still thinking about her.

"Congrats by the way, seems like you've gotten everything you wanted … and then some." A cocky grin went across Will's face, which made me want to punch him.

"Yeah," I murmured, "and what about you?" He frowned, turning back on his spray gun. After he finished the back side of the car, he needed to refill his paint. "So, you're not going to answer my question?" I pressed on.

"I'm not sure what you mean," he seemed legitimately confused.

"Neah! You know; my sister, the girl you've been trying to get with for years. Have you made any progress?" I fumed and threw a wrench at him that he easily caught.

"Depends on what you mean by progress," he mumbled. "We've been working on these cars together. The stingray is hers." He pointed to the car lazily.

"Both cars look nice!" I was mainly impressed with the Cobra. I would drive the hell out of that car. "But nothing besides all this?"

"Not much, really." He started to paint the other side, but I stopped him.

"Want me to finish this one so you can start painting Neah's car?" If I knew Will at all, he probably wanted to paint Neah's car himself. It would be his way of giving her a gift. He nodded and handed me the paint gun; he also turned on some fans. I was grateful; even though my system isn't as sensitive as a normal human, I was starting to catch a high from all the fumes.

"I was getting high," he snickered while he filled the other spray gun with paint.

"Me, too," I added as I started on the other side of the car. "That shit is strong!" He nodded, and I laughed. I watched Will's face. He was solemn and damned near depressed about something. Our arrival shouldn't have put him in this bad of a mood. "Did you and Neah have a fight?" I asked still searching for answer.

"No," he answered bluntly as he worked on the top of her car.

"Well, what's your problem?" I didn't stop working. I knew that if I could hear him past the noise of the equipment, he should be able to hear me too.

"I have no problems." He was getting annoyed; his hand was beginning to shake, so he stopped painting and glared at me.

"I'm not trying to annoy you man. Believe it or not, I'm concerned." I chuckled and he grimaced.

"I get that, but stop asking me the same question … I already answered it. Neah and I are closer; I'd go as far to say that we are as close as we were when we were little. Satisfied?" I nodded. I knew I shouldn't ask him any more, but I only had one more question.

"So I mean, what changed? What made Neah crack and be sociable toward you again?" I asked. I had just finished the Cobra. I stood back and looked at the vehicle. It looked nice with its color on. I couldn't wait to see it naked, you know, without all the tape and paper covering the windows and tires.

"Endora wasn't here," he smirked. "How is she by the way, and why isn't she here?" Will asked seriously. I was shocked he cared at all, all Endora did was drive him crazy.

"We left before she came home from spending the night at Amber's house. The parents thought that her presence would disrupt any progress Neah and you had made; besides that, her temper has been out of control lately."

"Really?" Will filled yet another spray gun and handed it to me so that I could work on the other side of Neah's car. Apparently he wanted to get out of the fume infested garage as much as I did.

"Yeah, ever since you left she's been focusing on the fact that she feels… well, powerless without her powers," I laughed, even though I knew I shouldn't. "She didn't go to school for the first week and spent most of it outside in wolf form. When she finally started acting a little more normal, the only one she wanted to spend any time with was Amber; who, get this, has admitted to wanting you back!" Will's eyes widened, I couldn't tell if he was horrified or in some sort of shock.

"Why on earth would she want me back?" He shook his head and turned off all the equipment; both vehicles were done. We escaped out into the backyard for some fresh air.

"Because she's crazy as hell, and so is her side kick, who, I'm sad to say, is my cousin. Even Simon thinks she's being dumb. She won't listen to anyone!" I huffed and Will chuckled. We wandered over to what I assumed was Charlie's truck. Will's eyes again became remorseful… it was like he lost something in there. He shook off his dismay and brought his focus back to our conversation.

"So what about Simon, has he finally decided if he wants Erika?" Will continued to probe.

"Dude, if he hadn't, do you think she'd be here?" I smirked at my own remark.

"Maybe." Will jumped himself up onto the hood of the truck and I did the same. "Erika is fond of Neah; it's possible that she could have just missed her." I nodded, he was right.

"True, but in this case Simon has been dating Erika for a couple of weeks," I snickered. "He thinks she's a sex addict. Simon claims that sex is almost the only thing Erika talks about. It's like she thinks he has to have sex with her to prove that he's interested. I don't believe it, I mean Simon's mad cool but he's a nerd all day long. I can't believe that Erika would be that hot to get in his pants."

"I would," Will countered; "but I've seen things in her mind that you haven't." I hated when he was so cocky about his ability. There was a moment of silence between us. I leaned my head back against the windshield and stared up towards the sky. The stars were brighter down here. It seemed more secluded than Seattle. I hoped that we'd come back and stay sometime soon; hopefully before Billy, Charlie, and Sue passed on. I didn't think it fair that Neah and Will got to spend so much time with our elders… they were all of our elders after all.

"What about Jady?" Will asked out of the blue.

"Uh… oh, she's still upstairs," I tried not to sound as pissed as I was.

"No, I mean, how did she take learning about what you were? What made her decide to change? And why does she still have a heartbeat?" I nodded, they were all good questions, and it seemed like I'd have to tell him the whole story for him to get the full gist.

"Well, she freaked and passed out. This would have been funny if she wasn't in a hospital bed hanging on for dear life. Anyway, once Carlisle revived her, he told her of the severity of her situation. He had only found one medication that might work well with her other HIV meds and he was unsure about the potency and the likelihood that…that she would survive." I took a moment to collect myself. The girl meant the world to me, and going through all of it the first time was hard. I didn't really feel like reliving something I wanted to repress.

"Anyway, then Carlisle gave her the "other" option. At first she refused and said that for most of her life she knew she was dying, and that she'd embraced it. I tried to be okay with her decision, but one night she was sweating so badly, and moaning in her sleep. I stayed by her side and begged her, while I thought she was unconscious, to reconsider." I closed my eyes and I could remember how feeble she looked and how helpless I felt. I never wanted to see her so close to death again. I just knew that was the last night on this Earth. I didn't want to remember her in this much pain. I wanted to remember her as the quiet and witty young woman that she was. I rubbed her knuckles with my thumb a tried several times but I couldn't find the right way to say goodbye … even though I knew I had to.

"But she was conscious?" Will's question snapped me out of my painful memories.

"Yeah, and she still refused at first, but then she said she'd give it some thought. So I gave her other things to think about, like the fact that she had to do it for herself; she shouldn't just do it for me. Then I told her about imprinting. I told her that it ran in my family. My mom had imprinted on our dad and … that Neah might have imprinted on you." I thought that my confession would have made Will furious, but he just chuckled.

"So in the end she decided to turn. Not for me… she said she was curious to know how it felt to live life without fearing death. Plus, she says that the thirst doesn't bother her! I wish I was that lucky!" Will nodded in agreement, and this time I laughed.

"Me, too," he replied. "I am a little worried about how your sister is going to take all of this." He frowned toward the upstairs windows, and I followed his glare.

"Me, too," so much so, that I wanted to go break up their little reunion. I told Jady to make sure I was there when she told her. I hope she listened to me. I slid off the hood of the truck and involuntarily started walking toward the house.

"Where are you going?" I checked back over my shoulder, and was surprised that Will had made no movement toward going back inside. "I'm pretty sure we would have heard some yelling, if Neah had found out anything, by now." I tilted my head, weighing the possibilities. He was right.

"I know I am." He hopped off the truck. We turned just in time to see the two women that dominated most of our conversation coming out of the house and across the yard toward us. My sister embraced me, then she punched me in the stomach, hard.

"If you ever keep that big of a secret from me again I'll do a lot worse!" She snarled.

"I missed you, too, sis," I remarked winded by her punch. Jady helped me up and kissed me on the cheek.

"I'm sorry. I know you told me to wait, but she already knew. Besides, we traded." The girls smiled at each other. Neah gave Will an awkward peek, and he shook his head.

"What? What did she tell you?" Jady closed her eyes and shook her head.

"Sorry, Nate, I made a promise that I wouldn't tell anybody, not even you." She tapped me on the nose with her index finger.

"I can't believe you," Will pretended to be offended.

"There are certain people that I just can't lie to, Will," she huffed as she leaned on the truck beside him. "Jady just happens to be one of them. Plus Edward, but that's not by choice; it's just that he's all up in everybody's business."

"So what, you can lie to me?" I place my hand on my chest indicating my hurt. "Neah, I'm your brother. We shared a womb for crying out loud!" She burst into laughter.

"Please, tone down the dramatics!" She held her sides as she tried to calm herself. "I can't lie to you either dweeb." She pulled out her cell phone and sent me a text message; something all of us had started doing that when we didn't want to say something, out loud, that the parents might overhear. The message was simply put:

We imprinted. I love him.

"I knew it!" I shoved Will.

"Why didn't you tell me?" He locked eyes with Neah, who scooted up under his arm' or something.

"I didn't think she wanted anybody to know." He arched an eyebrow and she kissed him on the cheek.

"I can't lie to my brother. I mean, I physically can't, he would have figured it out. Plus, I trust him with my life." She shrugged. "I feel the same about Jady. I'm glad that you saved her life Nate. I understand why you didn't tell, even; still …"

"Yeah, yeah next time I attempt to make an immortal, you'll be the first one I contact." I rolled my eyes.

"I better be!" She tugged me in for a hug, and sighed. "I have missed you. I just wish you hadn't brought the whole family."

"Speaking of which," Jady chimed in, "we were supposed to be coming to get you. Dinner's ready."

"Dude, I'm all about grubbing Grandma Sue's food smells off the chain." I clutched my empty, complaining stomach.

"You have no idea," Will added as we all ran back to the house. It did feel like old times… way old times, when it was just the three of us. Jady just made everything better.

Author's Note: I personally love this chapter! It's fun and shows a bond between Nate and Will. Okay Eliza, 4CullensandaBlack, and last but not least Miss Ellen you all have been my review warriors! What do you say? Review again? LOL

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