Eliza

One month.

That's how long it had been since the battle.

That's how long Mason had been gone.

That's how long it had been since I last spoke to Brady Fuller.

School was starting up again in a week. I was starting my first year at Forks High School. I'd been going to school in Forks ever since sixth grade, because that was where Lilly lived. I had always said how much I hated school, but now I couldn't wait to go back and leave this terrible summer behind me.

I could finally return to normal.

But what was normal for me?

I didn't even remember.

You know when you hang out with friends that you haven't seen in a long time and realize that you don't have as much in common as you used to, and you wonder if you changed or if they did?

That was what it was like for me.

I was at the beach with two girls who I had been friends with ever since sixth grade. Gaby and Camille. They were both Forks girls who liked drama and got in to trouble even more than I did. (But that was simply because I was better at not getting caught.) We had bonded over pranking the volleyball team and spying on the girls who liked to talk trash about each other in the girls' bathroom.

Lilly didn't like them much. She thought they were shallow and stupid. And honesty, I didn't disagree with her…

Right now shallow and stupid was what I thought I needed. Some immature girls who loved drama and gossip seemed like a good distraction from the world that I lived in. But all it was doing in reality was pissing me off. I should have just called Lilly instead.

"So I hear that Cassie isn't coming back to school," Camille announced with an evil smile.

"What? Why?" Gaby gasped excitedly.

"Sarah told me that Craig heard from Rodney that she's pregnant!"

"No way! What a slut!" Gaby squealed. I rolled my eyes.

"And guess who the father is?"

"Who?" Gaby asked frantically, hitting Camille's arm.

"Coach. Fall."

Gaby squealed again, and my ears felt like they were going to bleed.

"Coach Fall is married, and Cassie hates his class. Why would she ever be pregnant with his child?" I asked, trying to keep the annoyance out of my voice.

"I don't know, maybe you should ask Cassie," Camille offered, curling a lock of chocolate brown hair around her finger. I just rolled my eyes again.

"Damn, why don't we come to this beach more often? Quileute guys are so hot!" Gaby giggled, staring across the beach. I followed her eyes to see who she was talking about.

Of course.

"Oh. My. GOD! Who is he?" Camille inquired, her mouth hanging open.

"Stupid," I replied.

"No, what's his name?" Camille asked.

"Brady Fuller," I grumbled quietly. Even though he was down the beach a ways, I knew he could hear us perfectly. He smirked at the sound of his name and continued kicking at the sand, but now I noticed him flexing and "showing off" his muscles discreetly. He was in only his shorts, looking out at the ocean like he didn't know we were talking about him. I couldn't even think of a mean word to describe him. And I excel at saying mean things! Stupid-fucking-werewolf-boy was the only word that came to mind.

"I want to marry that boy," Gaby announced.

"You can marry him, just let me take him to my room first," Camille smiled mischievously.

Gross.

"He's annoying," I informed them.

"You know him?" Gaby smiled excitedly.

"Unfortunately."

"You're such a bitch, Liza. You've got all of these sexy boys in La Push that you aren't sharing with us!" Camille laughed.

Brady looked like he was trying not to laugh. Oh God, someone shoot me!

I was trying to forget all about Brady, not talk about him with my friends. This was why I only ever hung out with Lilly, she knew better than to bring up Brady around me. Too bad Lilly and I weren't really talking as of late, because I needed her right then.

"You can have them. All of them."

"Do you think you could get your friend Brady to ask me out?" Gaby asked.

"A; he's not my friend. At all. Never. B; he's too old for you," I snapped.

"How old?"

"Older than you," I replied, the annoyance in my voice now ringing clear.

"No one is too old for me," Camille winked.

"I'm pretty sure he already likes a girl," I added.

"Well screw her! She's not here right now, now is she?" Camille said.

If only they knew…

At that moment, Brady casually looked around the beach. He pretended to be surprised when he noticed me, even though he had checked me out from the corner of his eye at least eight times. I wanted to flip him off, but that wouldn't be very lady like.

"Oh my God, he sees you! Call him over here!" Gaby hit my arm. Hard.

"Me and Brady don't really talk."

"Well then we'll do all the talking," Gaby insisted. She was such a flirt.

I glared at him, but beckoned him over anyways. Of course he came.

"Hey Liza," he said when he reached us. "Long time no see."

"I'm Camille," Camille announced.

"And I'm Gaby," Gaby added.

Did they realize what fools they were making of themselves?

"Hey," Brady smiled, running a hand through his short black hair. "Nice to meet you."

"Likewise," Gaby giggled.

"So, are you having a good day?" Camille asked.

"How can you not have a good day when you're in the presence of pretty girls," Brady said, looking directly at me.

Camille and Gaby giggled.

"Exactly," Camille smiled.

"So why are you all alone at the beach?" Gaby questioned.

"Well why not? There's nothing better to do. My friends are all either… out or spending time with their girlfriends."

"Well why aren't you spending time with your girlfriend?" Camille asked, taking a tiny step closer and wearing her best flirty face. "You don't have a special someone?"

"No," Brady answered, his words seeming to hit me directly.

"I'm single too!" Gaby blurted out loudly.

"Me too!" Camille added.

"What a coincidence," Brady said with fake interest. "What about you, Liza? You single too?"

My blood was boiling. "Brady, can I talk to you for a minute? Alone?" I asked, making it clear that he didn't have a choice.

"Sure," he smiled. "I'll be right back, ladies."

I walked away from the ocean and in to the trees. Brady followed right behind me. Once we had made it far enough I stopped abruptly and turned to face him.

"So Eliza Young actually wants to talk to me," Brady said dryly. "To what do I owe this extreme honor?"

"Shut up. I only wanted to tell you to go away."

"Your friends don't want me to go away," Brady smirked.

"Trying to make me jealous? Pathetic."

"I would say it worked."

"How so?" I snapped.

"I got you to speak to me for the first time in a month," Brady smiled.

"That's not because I'm jealous! It's because I think you have forgotten the last time we spoke and are under the impression that it is okay for you to talk to me. You're just making a fool out of yourself. It's obvious that neither of them are your type."

"My type?" Brady laughed. "Liza, of course they aren't, you're my type. No one else."

"Stop it. We're done with this, remember? Get over it, and get over me."

Then all of the bitterness and arrogance and coldness disappeared from his face. He gripped my shoulders in his warm hands and bent slightly to get down to my level (which was about five foot six and a half).

"Eliza, you're killing me. I tried to leave you alone and I can't! You say there's no part of you that feels the same way but somewhere… deep, deep down, somewhere there has to be something. Any shred of feeling in your cold heart!"

"My heart is only that, Brady. Cold."

"Eliza I– I–" He couldn't seem to get the words out. He sighed and seemed to change his mind. "I'm not giving up on you," He said quietly. Then, oh so gently, he touched his lips to mine. I wasn't even sure if it counted as a kiss, but was more like the ghost of a kiss. And then he was gone.

I probably should have went back to the girls, but I didn't. I just stood there. Why did he keep doing this? I thought that his delusional idea that I could ever feel anything besides annoyance towards him was over with. I thought I had broken his heart for good last month, but apparently that wasn't even enough to turn him away. Why was he so caught up in this stupid little crush?

Before I could find the answer, my cell phone rang. I pulled it out and checked who it was.

Emily. I sighed and picked up the phone. "Hullo?" I asked in a casual voice that hopefully hid how I was really feeling.

"Eliza, I need you to come home now. It's important."

"I'm on my way," I said, without asking any questions. I hung up the phone and made my way towards home without bothering to tell Gaby or Camille.

Claire

Never had any human being ever had a more perfect month.

With Mason and the vampires both out of the picture, there was nothing keeping Quil and I apart. I was basically living at Quil's house now, staying there five or six nights a week. The only nights I couldn't stay with him was the night he had to run patrols, Sundays, (which became the bane of my existence), and alternating Thursdays, when he was also running patrols.

Embry barely ever came around the house because he couldn't stand to be around the two of us. He said we were sickening, and maybe we were, but I certainly didn't care. Now that I was on birth control it seemed like Quil and I were always in the bedroom (Or sometimes the couch if the bedroom seemed too far).

I still went home every day for either lunch or dinner to visit my family, but other than that I was practically a glued to Quil. And if we weren't having sex, we were kissing, or cuddling, or any other kind of physical contact. I went to sleep in his arms and I woke up in his arms.

I wasn't sure what I was going to do now that school was about to start. School meant seven hours a day away from Quil. School meant working on homework until dinner. School meant going to bed earlier and waking up earlier. School meant less Quil and more misery.

Going back to school and leaving Quil had always sucked, but this year was going to be even worse. Now I wouldn't be missing my best friend, I'd be missing my boyfriend.

So... Summer was coming to a close. There were things that I was going to miss, and things I couldn't wait to leave behind.

Obviously, I was going to miss Quil. I was going to miss spending all day and all night with him. I was going to miss spending Tuesday afternoons with the pack. I was going to miss the freedom that came with summer.

But I was ready to forget about Mason. He had disappeared the day of the battle and didn't come back. From what I heard, he wasn't phasing. Any time he did accidently lose his skin he would phase back quickly before any member of the pack had a chance to talk to him. No one in the pack really seemed to care about his absence except Danny.

I didn't miss him or anything, but I felt bad. No matter what Quil told me, I knew that Mason's running away was all my fault. Because of me he was on his own. Because of me his mother was probably worried sick. She had no idea that her son was a werewolf and ran away because of me and Quil. She probably just wanted her son back. But he wasn't coming back.

And it was all my fault.

It was a Saturday. Quil was taking care of werewolf business today, helping with Jamie's training. So it was just me and Embry at home, sitting on the couch and watching the Simpsons.

"He's not even here," Embry groaned. "Why are you?"

"Shut up," I shoved him, "You love me."

"Whatever," Embry said. "You're like a kid sister."

"Kid? I'm sixteen."

"I'm thirty," Embry replied dryly.

"No, you would be thirty if you didn't grow fur and a tail whenever you pleased," I corrected.

"Well fine, I'm an older sixteen than you, so I still win, kid sister."

"Well one year from now you'll be the kid," I said.

"So will Quil," Embry chuckled. I glared at him.

"Shut up."

"He was a cradle robber and you're going to be a cougar." I threw a pillow at him and mumbled something about Lilly being a minor.

"What's the point of this show anyways?" I asked crankily, "It's stupid."

"The show thinks you're stupid," Embry replied childishly.

"I'm serious. Like, why does the mom have yellow skin and blue hair?"

"They all have yellow skin, Claire."

"Are they sick?" I asked.

"Are you going to keep talking?" Embry sighed.

"I'm going to go home and get some more clothes," I said. I had done this a few times already. I was slowly bringing all of my things to Quil's house. Quil loved coming home and finding my shirts in his drawers and my jeans in his closet. It always made him smile.

"How about you just go home and stay there," Embry suggested.

"Nah," I laughed, grabbing Quil's keys off of the little table by the front door and leaving Embry to his show.

I arrived home to find an unfamiliar car parked on the gravel driveway in my usual parking spot. Auntie Emily probably had a friend over, or maybe Uncle Sam did. Either way, I had to park out front. The houses in la Push didn't have real garages, so there wasn't room for me on the already full driveway.

I heard voices coming from the kitchen.

"Claire, that you?" Emily called.

"Yeah," I replied, heading over to the kitchen. I froze when I turned the corner.

Sitting around the dinner table was Sam, Emily, Eliza, and my father…

No, it couldn't really be my father. I was seeing things. I hadn't seen him in eleven years, and my eyes were playing tricks on me.

"Dad?" I said uncertainly.

"Hello Claire," He smiled.

I practically collapsed.

Eleven years! Eleven years! What was he doing here after eleven whole years? He hadn't come back once in eleven years! What was he doing here? Why now? Why now after eleven fucking years?

I wasn't sure how to feel, besides fucking surprised.

"What are you doing here?" I asked when I was able to breathe again.

"I'm so sorry, Claire. No one told me about your mother's passing. I would have come for the funeral if I'd known. She's been gone for seven years and I only found out a few weeks ago when I ran into your grandfather in Portland. I feel so terrible for being gone when you girls needed me," He turned to look at Eliza, "Both of you."

"Well, we managed," I stated, still not sure how to feel about his sudden reappearance.

"Yes, I can see that. You have both grown in to such beautiful young ladies."

"So you're here to apologize for missing Mom's funeral?" I asked.

"I'm here to get my life back, Claire. I was stupid for ever leaving and seeing your grandfather made me realize that. It was unfair for me to leave you girls how I did without any warning. But I'm done running. I've bought a house here in La Push and got a job and was hoping that maybe you, me, and Eliza could try to rebuild our relationship,"

I was stunned. This couldn't be real. I was having some sort of crazy dream. I was back at Quil's house, fast asleep, cuddled up in his arms like I was this morning. Like I was this morning… when the world made sense. How could I tell my dad that I didn't actually live here much anymore? That I slept at my boyfriend's house almost every night. My boyfriend, who to my father should probably be thirty years old by now. It's not like Dad knew about werewolves and imprinting… He could never understand.

Before I could put much more thought into his offer, the front door opened again. "Claire, where are you? Embry said you were here," Quil called from the front door. Uh oh.

"I'm in the kitchen," I replied quietly.

The front door closed and I heard his feet start to make their way to the kitchen. "Whose car is that outside, by the way?" He asked.

Before I could say anything, he turned the corner in to the kitchen and got his answer.

Thank God he's wearing a shirt! I thought momentarily.

He noticed my father right away and his face became furious. "What are you doing here, Anthony?" Quil growled.

"Quil," I warned under my breath.

"This'll be fun," Eliza mumbled to herself, a smirk finding its way on to her face.

"Well, I see you're still around," Dad noted unhappily, frowning at Quil.

"This may surprise you, but not all men leave the people they love. That's just you," Quil had started to shake slightly.

"I was just hoping that you'd be gone," Dad confessed.

This made Quil even angrier. "If you thought that I would leave then you are more stupid then I gave you credit for."

"Quil!" I hissed.

"She's my daughter," Dad yelled, standing up from the table.

"No, Claire was your daughter. You left her, remember? You left her and Eliza! Sam is more their father than you ever were."

"Quil stop it," I ordered, walking over to him and placing a hand on his trembling arm. "You need to calm down."

"Not until he goes back to wherever he was for the past eleven years. I don't know what he wants but he has no business being here," He said to me and only to me, pulling me closer. "He doesn't deserve to be around you."

"Do I get my own room?" Eliza interrupted, turning to look at my father. "If I stay with you, do I have to share a room with Claire?"

"No, Eliza. You would have your own room. The house is two stories, actually, in northern La Push."

"Then I guess I can try for the first semester of school." She was so materialistic. Did Eliza even care that she had practically no memories of him? Getting her own room was enough to convince her to move in with a stranger?

"Try what?" Quil asked suspiciously.

"Anthony has moved back to La Push and would like his daughters to live with him," Sam explained tiredly.

Quil looked so mad I was sure he was going to phase and rip my father to shreds. "Not happening," He stated plainly. "Come on, Claire, we're leaving." He put an arm around me and started pulling me to the back door.

"Are you dating my daughter WOLF?" Dad shouted furiously.

Did he just call Quil a wolf?

"Not. Your. Daughter." Quil growled.

"She's fucking sixteen!"

"You've been gone so long I'm surprised you even remember how old she is."

"You are a THRITY YEAR OLD MAN! That is illegal on so many different levels. Don't try and feed me any of your wolf shit!"

"It doesn't work that way!" Quil defended, still holding me close.

"Or does it?" Eliza giggled to herself.

"If it does work that way then you've made out with a guy double your age how many times Eliza? Like five?"

Eliza turned red. "Three! THREE times!

Emily choked on the tea she had been drinking. "Excuse me?"

"It's nothing," Eliza snapped.

"I love her, Anthony," Quil said sincerely. "But you already knew that. You've known that for fourteen years."

Then every puzzle piece snapped together. "Wait!" I interrupted. "You and Mom knew about… You mean, you know about…?" I couldn't say the word.

"Of course we knew. My sister married one," He looked at Sam and then back to me. "And then you.. you were…" He moved his eyes to glare at Quil, who was still holding me protectively. "Take your damn paws off of her, mutt!"

"You don't own her life!" Quil growled.

"Neither do you," Dad shot back.

"She's more mine than she is yours!"

"Both of you, stop it! Neither of you own me, I'm a human being, stop fighting."

Dad ignored me and turned to Sam and Emily. "Clearly you let Claire do whatever she wants. She will stay with me or I'll go to court with her and Quil's little relationship," He spat, "All I need for this to be illegal is a birth certificate. Unless you want to explain to the judge that Quil is a mother fucking animal."

"Anthony, let's just talk abou–" Emily tried.

"No discussion, Em," My father interrupted.

"But Dad!" I yelled, tears in my eyes. "You can't do this!" I pushed Quil away and went to stand right in front of my father. "I love him!"

"I'm sure you do," He said with clear disgust. "I'll be by Monday morning to pick you girls up."

"This is wrong, Anthony," Sam said.

"Monday or court. No ifs ands or buts," He said firmly. "Goodbye, girls," And then he stomped down the hallway and out of the house.

"Oh family," Eliza sighed as my tears spilled over.

Author's Note: And we're baaaaack! I've actually had this chapter done since before I posted the last one, but have had major internet issues. All better now, and I have the next chapter written too, just waiting to be edited. It may even be up tomorrow. I'm really excited about Part II. It's going to be really amazing, if I do say so myself. If you don't like Eliza pov though, and hate her story, you may as well stop reading, because there is going to be a ton of her in here. Anyways, lots is coming! And if you wanted to hear about how I shared a body with Eliza this past weekend, PM me! And pretty pretty please keep the reviews coming. They motivate me so much and truly does make me want to post faster. My favorite part of posting is hearing what you guys think! Chapter 27 is coming SOON, so just hold on.