New chapter alert ;) Thanks for being so patient waiting for me to update. A couple things - 1) this is your four chapter warning until the final chapter. now i know that 26 chapters (plus 2 AN) is a little short, but do remember that this is my very first fanfiction ever. i don't want to drag on Elissa and Noah's story. plus, don't forget, just because I'm not doing a sequel right away doesn't mean it isn't possible for one to come up in the future. 2) people asking about Megan's text messages - they are in previous chapters, so go back if you missed them so you aren't missing out :) 3) a week after the last chapter of Acceptance is Key, I will post the first chapter of my new story. Again, it isn't associated with A.I.K. but it IS a second generation story that is coming along quite nicely! I hope you'll read it :)

Please review :):):)

"You sent these messages to Elissa?" Sam asked.

Megan sat on a chair at the Uley's kitchen table, nervously wringing her hands together as she nodded. Her face was pale and her hair was all over the place. Her ankles were crossed, shaking against each other as she stared at the linoleum floor.

Tanner sat next to her, close but not touching. His elbows were on the table, his head in his hands. He seemed to be more embarrassed than she was over the entire situation.

"Why would you do that?" another voice asked.

From my spot on the kitchen counter, I glanced over to the angry figure of Leah Clearwater, who was leaning against the back door of the kitchen, her arms crossed over her chest. She had just arrived here moments ago, after Emily had called her, of course. She didn't look too thrilled, either.

The moment I had found the messages on Megan's phone, I had told Noah about it. He had been furious, as I expected him to be, and had nearly phased in the middle of the school cafeteria. Thankfully, Andy and Kevin had been standing close by and managed to casually sneak him out of the building before he had destroyed it.

After he had calmed down, he called his parents, telling them what I had found.

And then we had all been called over to Sam and Emily's after school to figure out what was going on.

I already knew what was going on. Megan had posed as some lunatic, who had pretended to know that I was hiding the fact that I was a vampire. And then she had threatened me with it.

Over text messages.

I bit my lip, listening to everyone talk. I hadn't wanted it to be like this. I didn't want to cause any more trouble, especially with everything just beginning to settle down again. I had just wanted Megan to apologize and then for everyone to forget all about it.

"Hello?" a voice called as the front door slammed shut.

Dad.

Dad bounded into the room, looking surprisingly calm. He shook hands with Sam, nodded in Leah's direction, and then glared at Megan.

"Is there something you have to say, Megan?" he asked carefully.

She trembled. "I'm sorry."

Sam sighed and sat down at the table across from her. "Why did you send the messages to Elissa?"

I leaned forward, interested in hearing what she had to say.

"Because I don't trust her," Megan said, a new confidence to her voice. "She's a vampire. She shouldn't be allowed here."

I heard Dad growl.

"Megan, Elissa is only part vampire," Sam said. "And even if she were full vampire, she would be more than welcome here in La Push. Just like Tessa." He paused for a moment. "That being said, you have no right in judging people and sending them threatening text messages because you don't like them."

Megan's chin dipped down a little.

"The actual text message sending isn't a problem," Dad exclaimed. "The problem was that we actually believed someone uninvolved had figured out our secret."

"I said I was sorry," Megan muttered.

"Sorry isn't really good enough," Leah demanded. "But what will be is when I call your parents and tell them what you've been doing. So, let's go get in the car and do that right now. Huh?"

Megan stood up; shot me a quick glare, before she scurried out of the room and out of the house. Leah followed, sending me a little apologetic smile, before she hurried out after her son's distraught imprint.

Tanner raised his head, looking at me. His expression was unreadable. "I'm really sorry, Lissa. This never should have happened."

I gave a little half-shrug. It wasn't Tanner's fault his imprint was out to get me for the very beginning. But her text messages were one of the few things that had caused my family to break, to fall apart. And I couldn't let that go. Not yet, anyway.

"You didn't do anything wrong, Tanner," I told him.

It was the truth.

He sighed, standing up. "If it's alright, I'd better go see if she's…okay."

Sam nodded and gestured towards the exit.

Dad didn't say anything when he left.

I hopped off the countertop. "Can I please just go and see everyone else?" I asked.

I had enough of this awkward situation.

"Be my guest," Sam said, giving me a brief smile.

Dad grabbed my hand before I could escape. He tilted my chin up so I was looking him in the eyes. He didn't look very happy. I smiled nervously.

"Are you okay, sweetheart?"

I nodded, not wanting to make a big deal out of a silly situation. Now, that I knew Megan had been the one to send me the messages, a huge weight had been lifted off my shoulders. I wasn't seriously being threatened by someone who had found out about the supernatural world. It had all been just a stupid joke.

But now that I knew it was Megan, I felt like a huge deal had been made all over absolutely nothing. It was a simple teenage practical joke that had gone too far, but harmless nonetheless.

And now that I knew, I just wanted to put behind me and never speak of it ever again.

Dad's eyes searched my face, his other hand brushing my cheek softly. "Are you sure?"

"Positive, Dad," I whispered. I gave him a quick hug around the middle before I snuck out of the room, leaving the two of them to talk.

The living room at the Uleys' was thankfully not as crowded as I suspected it to be. I opened the door and slid inside, quickly shutting it behind me. The boys in the room turned to look at me, momentarily distracted from their car-racing video game.

"Hey, Lissy-loo," Andy greeted from his spot spread out on the floor.

"Hey," I replied casually.

Noah patted the empty cushion on the couch in between him and Alex. I smiled, hurrying over to cuddle up to his side. I sighed happily as his arms came around me and his lips pressed against my forehead.

"Seriously, guys," Alex grumbled, shoving a cushion over his face.

I giggled, leaning closer to Noah.

"How'd everything go?" Andy asked, pausing his video game as he spoke.

I hesitated. "Awkward," I sighed. "But she did admit to sending them."

"Good," Alex muttered through the pillow on his face. "I never liked her."

"No kidding," Andy agreed. "What kind of person does something like that?"

I shrugged.

I turned to look at Noah, who had remained awfully silent throughout it all. He was watching me, his green eyes slightly angry. I frowned and pulled away carefully. Had I done something wrong? Had I upset him?

"What's the matter?" I whispered.

He surprised me by leaning forward and pressing a long, sweet kiss to my lips.

Alex groaned, pressing the pillow further against his face.

"God Noah, how many times do I gotta tell you that if you have to kiss my cousin, can you do it when I'm not in the same room?" Andy muttered.

I laughed, blushing. I turned to look at Noah. "What was that for?"

He leaned his forehead against mine. "I'm just happy that I don't have to worry about beating up some idiot who threatened my girlfriend," he murmured. "Mind you, Tanner's going to be getting an earful about this."

"It's not Tanner's fault, though," I said, confused.

Tanner had no control over what his imprint said or did. He didn't have a clue that Megan would send me those messages. It definitely had nothing to do with him.

"Not about him," Noah corrected. "I'll be talking about Megan. He needs to lay it down for his imprint. Imprints don't rip and ridicule other imprints. That's not how it works."

I opened my mouth to argue, but Andy shot me a look.

"He's right, Lissy," my cousin told me. "She had no right to do that."

I knew I wasn't going to win this argument, so I just nodded, appeasing them.

Noah leaned down and kissed the side of my nose. "I love you."

I grinned. "I love you."

Alex stood up. "That's it, I'm out."

"Sorry A," I mumbled.

He mussed my hair before he left, shutting the door behind him.

"Your poor brother," I whispered to Noah.

He laughed, squeezing me to his side. "He'll survive. Soon enough we're all gonna have to deal with it when he imprints, too."

I raised my eyebrows. "You think he'll imprint?"

He nodded. "Oh definitely," he said. "And I think she'll be the most stubborn brat of a kid in the entire world."

"Why?" Andy asked with a mouthful of Cheetos.

"Because Alex is so level-headed," Noah said with a shrug. "Some crazy girl out there needs him to balance them out."

"You're so weird," Andy said after a moment, laughing at him. He turned to look at me. "Liss, best two out of three you can't beat me at this game."

I grabbed the extra controller from his outstretched hand.

"You're on."

That Megan sure is a real character... review guys, thanks! means the world :)