Disclaimer: Twilight is the property of Stephenie Meyer

This chapter is dedicated to Noble, Alphabloodwolf, M-Bianca94 and Asherah Isa

Yeah just a little epilogue from Seren

It was my last day on the Res before Zoë and me travelled down to San Francisco ready to settle in before college began. Luckily we were sharing a room. I know college is about new experiences, but one step at a time was ok. Right? It was one thing living away from home for the first time, never mind having to share a room with a stranger. I suppose it would have been different if I was going to college on my own, I'd have no other choice, but if Zoë is there anyway why not? And at least I don't have to think up any excuses as to why I'm not dating since Zoë would know why. Not that I think it would be any of their business anyway, but whatever made life easier was better for me.

We were going to Stanford, we could have got into Harvard, but it was in Massachusetts, which was so far into Nomad Lands it was not even funny. Sure two little dhampir might go unnoticed, but it was better not to tempt fate. Dhampir girls went missing in Nomad Lands all the time if they weren't careful. Not that the general vampire public liked to acknowledge the fact, especially the Nomads, because it meant they all got tarred with the same brush. Not that we thought all Nomads were bad, that was a stupid thing to think, but them not acknowledging that bad stuff were happening on their land and getting in the way of Jane and the guard meant that they unwittingly perpetuated the problem. After all, the covens of the south had their lands to tend to and they would be held accountable if anyone decided to set up a baby farm there so they tended to act immediately if there was anything suspicious looking taking place on their land. So it was safer to avoid Nomad Lands, even if it meant taking my second choice university.

Tomorrow Zoë and I would drive down to San Francisco, taking it in turns so we wouldn't have to stop off anywhere to sleep. As you can guess Zoë was pretty excited, jumping around all day, revelling in the fact that we'd finally be out from under Mam and Dad's nose. Not that they were strict, but Zoë likes to imagine that they are because it's way more interesting. Or something.

I was looking forward to going to college, but there was a snag. Rupert had his work here; he couldn't come down with me so we wouldn't see each other for months. I was sure I'd cope with it, but right now it seemed like an eternity before we'd get to see each other. We had to make the most of our last day together. I wondered if I could get him to kiss me. I wasn't holding my breath on that last one, but it wouldn't hurt to try. Right?

I held my phone out in front of us and got my finger ready over the capture button before I leaned in close to Rupert and took the picture. I snapped a few more before I turned my face to his and kissed his cheek as I took the photo. He chuckled, but it sounded forced.

"Haven't you got enough pictures now?" He asked.

"No." I said, snapping a few more.

"What are they for anyway?" He asked, frowning slightly.

"So that if any guy tries to bug me in college I can just say, I got a boyfriend, this hot six and half foot Native guy, so you'd better not give me any crap. He's only a phone call away." I explained.

"I'll have to fight for you?" He asked in mock horror.

"I'm not worth fighting for?" I asked with a pout.

"Of course you are my little star." He said and ruffled my hair.

I tried not to sigh as I looked away. I'd come to recognise the hair ruffling for what it was. It was his gesture when he wanted to do something a little more intimate, like maybe kiss me, but knew he shouldn't. So a quick ruffle of my hair kept the barrier between us. I wouldn't push the matter though. It would be wrong to start an argument and we would part with bad air between us.

"What's wrong?" He asked, noticing me turn away.

"It doesn't matter." I said, shaking my head and I jumped to my feet. "Come on, race you to the creek."

"Really? Wouldn't you rather just relax today?" He asked, just stopping short of a yawn, he'd been out running the night before and hadn't slept at all so he could spend some time with me.

"Well it's the last time we'll get to run there for a long while, and I got my swimming costume today. Or we could always run up to the lake, I know Zoë was thinking of taking Addie up there with Leda, Loki and Robyn." I said with a shrug.

"I guess a swim in the creek wouldn't be so bad. I can soak my aching paws." He said as he got to his own feet.

"Did you really run that hard last night?" I asked as I pulled my bag onto my back.

"Tony had us run out further than usual, I went all the way to the Canadian boarder, around to Port Angeles and back. Five times." He said.

"We can just stroll there if you want." I said, "It'll take, fifteen minuets that way?" I estimated.

"I guess there's nothing wrong with strolling." He conceded.

I nodded my head and we started walking in the direction of the creek.

"So how come Uncle Tony has you running so hard?" I asked.

"Just putting us through our paces. We haven't had a good test of our abilities in ages, and though it's been years since we've had any real threats on the boarder we don't wanna get rusty." Rupert explained.

"No. You have to be on top form. What if you went up against a vamp and… I don't even want to think about it." I said shaking my head in despair at the thought. "Promise me that you'll be careful?" I asked, putting my arms around him, not caring in that moment that I was supposed to keep a safe distance.

"We always look out for each other." Rupert said, actually putting his arm around my shoulder. "That's what a pack means."

"I know, but sometimes there's accidents." I said with worry.

"The last one, with Opal, was down to her being stupid and not waiting for the rest of the pack." Rupert said with a shrug and he pulled me closer to him for a moment, he was so solid and warm, I had to resist the urge to cwtch into him further, it was just too tempting.

I resisted though, he'd never had his arm around me this long before and I wasn't about to ruin it by drawing his attention to it. I just walked beside him with my arm around his waist as he continued to hold me. Yeah he was holding me. I wondered if he realised. Maybe he did and didn't care so much today, we wouldn't see each other until probably next summer. Zoë and me wouldn't be back for Thanksgiving, it was pointless taking that long flight up here for one weekend and Christmas we'd be at Tregarran as usual. Rupert might come to visit, but it would depend on how much Nikki nagged at him to spend time with his family. Probably the next chance I'd have is Winter Break, or maybe Spring Break, but that really would depend on whether Zoë and me would want to pay the airfare for a week. So the guaranteed next time I would see him was next summer. That was so long away.

"Thank god for the internet." I murmured.

"What did you say?" Rupert asked, maybe his mind had been wandering too.

"I was just thinking about how long it will be before we'll see each other again. At least we can talk to each other online." I explained.

"Yeah." He agreed, he still had his arm around me and his fingers closed around my arm a little, as if he was afraid I'd suddenly disappear right there.

"We haven't got much time left together." I said, moving just a tiny little bit closer.

"No." He said.

I could almost hear him thinking, I waited expectantly, would he?

"But like you said, we still got the internet and you'll be so busy in college you won't have time to miss me." He said it like he believed it.

"I will." I insisted. I knew I would miss him.

"Yeah, but you want a bright future don't you? You want to help on the Res by becoming the resident doc?" He asked, being a reasonable adult.

"I do." I agreed; I'd always wanted to become a doctor and being the one on the Res made more sense.

"Then you need to go study, get your degree and train as a doctor. We're gonna live for a very long time, so if you think of it like that it's only a small fraction of time we have to spend apart. When you're a fully qualified doctor and move back here to help Auntie Portia, then we can have all the time we want together." He stated, and I guess he really did believe that.

"I suppose when you put it like that." I said with a shrug.

Rupert was quiet for a long while as he watched me, still walking beside him, he hadn't moved his arm away yet. I wasn't going to shift it. I liked it there.

"I guess this is one of those times where our age gap means something." He muttered after a while.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"Well I've been around for forty seven years, you've only been around for eleven, a few months is a bigger fraction of your life than it is mine." He explained.

"But does that really mean anything when we're imprints anyway? Won't that make being apart unbearable?" I asked, just short of demanding, would he really not miss me? Would it really seem like nothing?

"It would be a pretty stupid system if that was the case." Rupert said. "And yeah I'll miss you, if you're worried I won't, I will miss you. But I'll get through it with hard work and knowing I'll get to see you happy in the career that you want at the end of all this. I prefer to be away from you for a few months now but have you happy for the rest of your life, than to selfishly keep you here with me, and you be unhappy later. You probably wouldn't tell me, but I'd know. It's a little sacrifice now for a big payoff later. That's the way I see it."

"I guess I didn't think of it that way." I said with a frown. "But it does make sense. Yeah, I think that's how I should see it. It's like how I've been saving my pocket money and half my pay for the last two years so that I'd have something to put toward college. It meant going without the more expensive shoes, and thinking up activities that didn't cost money, but that's just for now. When I'm a doctor and making more money than I could from shop work, I'll be able to have all the finer things in life."

"Yep." Rupert agreed and he pulled his arm away from me. "You know what, I think I will race you to the creek." He said and started running.

I ran after him but I let him win because I wanted to tease him a little. I got to the edge of the creek a few seconds after him. He turned to look at me when I reached his side. He smiled a little, he was amused, not annoyed at all that I was letting him win. Usually he got annoyed, or at least pretended he was annoyed. I don't know, he usually didn't just smile at me like I did something adorable.

It was annoying, but I decided not to be annoyed. Instead I dumped my bag and threw my shorts and t-shirt on top.

"Last one in is a rotten egg." I called as I leapt into the water, landing in the centre and creating a big splash.

Rupert landed beside me a second later and I bobbed in the wave he created. I giggled as I began paddling around, I did love swimming and Rupert was a good swimmer too. That was one of the many things we had in common. It was surprising the amount of things we did have in common considering our age gap, but if my family was anything to go by, age was just a number, and compatibility of personality was much more important than being close in age.

I did wonder at first if it had anything to do with the wolf spirit, but then there were some imprinted couples who seemed like the only thing they had in common was the wolf link and they got along fine too. It wasn't so much having stuff in common as being able to get along with each other, and I loved spending time with Rupert. I knew I loved him with all my heart, but I never said it. I didn't want him to think I was putting pressure on him for other stuff. I guess he knew I did anyway, cause I knew he loved me even though he never said it. I didn't want him to, at least not until he could show me that it was more than just platonic love.

For now I had to ignore the fact that I had a woman's body. Ignore the fact that for all intents and purposes I was a woman in her twenties. Ignore the fact that I had dreams about him… Ok I really shouldn't think about those dreams when we were swimming about in next to nothing. And I really shouldn't think about how much I wanted trace the water that flowed over his abs whenever he rose out of the water. I should stop thinking at all.

"Are you ok?" Rupert asked.

"Mmm-hmm." I replied, trying to push my mind somewhere else before I started blushing. "Just wondering what college is like." I added as I started floating on my back.

"I wish I'd gone so I could tell you." Rupert said.

"Why didn't you?" I asked.

"Well Mom and Dad are not exactly rolling in it and I do have a lot of brothers. Not to mention it would have been difficult. I wasn't the most stable back then, you know, with all the fursploding when upset or angry or any other type of strong emotion. You know how it is when we first start phasing." He rambled as he started floating on his own back.

"You could come now." I said, voicing something I'd thought about for a while.

"I never really liked school, I don't think I could get back to studying anyway. I'm much better working with my hands." He said.

I stopped myself short from saying that I'd like him to show me sometime. It would only make things difficult. Actually some time apart might be good; at least I wouldn't have to keep stopping myself from suggesting taking a step forward. Yeah, I was starting to see why Auntie Grace had wanted to keep away from Uncle Tony for so long.

"I guess everyone should do the work that makes them happy." I said instead.

"Yeah." He agreed.

"Let's forget about all that and just enjoy the afternoon." I suggested.

"Sounds good to me." Rupert agreed.

We spent the rest of the afternoon swimming in the creek. When alls said and done it was a pretty good way to spend our last day together when there wasn't anything more intimate we could do. It was a nice memory to get me through the next few months. Even if I didn't get my kiss. Ah well, there was plenty of time for that in the future.

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Gemma x