Thanks for the reviews I got on the last chapter! I decided I missed so much time writing, that I would post this one right away. I really enjoyed writing this chapter, even if it doesn't have any big love scenes. It shows Brysdon and Rose's relationship from someone elses point of view, I guess you could say. Let me just say that Amanda and Rose have an interesting talk. I hope to post the next chapter either today or tomorrow, so more is coming. thanks you! Read and review pleease!


Everyone walked to the kitchen and out onto the deck where Frank sat down at the table and Elizabeth placed the cake in front of him. Someone moved all the presents on one table besides us, and balloons were tied to the chairs. The deck became crowded, so some people, including Emily and me, sat on the railings.

"Okay, everyone," Frank announced, "Rose agreed to sing the birthday song for me. You're on, Rosie." Everyone turned they're eyes toward me and I laughed. I began singing slowly but loudly, pronouncing each word with meaning to make the song longer. I looked at Frank while I sang, and he was grinning from ear to ear the whole time.

"Happy Birthday, dear Frankieeee," I paused shortly,

"Happy Birthday...to yooouuuuuuu," the last line I made extra long and I hit the last note perfectly. Everyone began clapping and whistling and I got up to hug Frank.

"Thanks," he whispered in my ear.

"Alright, Frank, why don't you open some presents while I serve out ice cream and cake." I laughed at his mom's enthusiasm while he picked up a present.

He opened Emily's first and looked at the clothes. He told her thank you, even though I knew he was only going to wear them to school when she forced him to. Sean and Damien got him tickets to a professional football game, and Rick gave him money.

"This one's from Brittany," he said, and handed Frank a small box. He opened it up, and inside was a weaved necklace with a small medallion hanging from it. I couldn't see it exactly but the hemp was black and the medallion was silver. He put it on right away, and I had a feeling he wouldn't take it off for a very long time.

"She made it," Rick told him proudly. Frank grinned and said he was going to thank her a soon as he could. He continued to open presents and he finally got to mine.

"That ones from me," I said, throwing my plate in the trash. He ripped open the wrapping paper and then tore open the box. He lifted the board carefully out of the box and ran a hand over the top of it.

"Woahhhh!" His friends from school exclaimed, and they rushed over to look at it. He flipped it over and his eyes widened at the black wolf howling at the silver moon.

"That's such a tight board, man!" His friend said.

"I hope it's big enough, that was the biggest size they had," I told him.

"It's perfect, Rose!" He got up and hugged me. "This must a cost a fortune!" I looked at Emily and she giggled.

"Nah," I said simply and sat back down.

He continued to open the rest of his presents and thanked everyone loudly. He asked Jona if he could go out front quickly and test out his new skateboard with his friends, and Jona complied. Emily, Sean, Rick, and I all got in the pool and started splashing around, and then Kellen, Erik, Kevin and Pete all joined us. Once Frank came back with his friends, they got in also. Amanda was sitting on the deck talking with another vampire girl, and when she noticed me she smiled and waved.

"Come in with us!" I told her.

"I don't have a suite with me," she laughed.

"Nonsense," Emily said, "I have so many extras. You want to borrow one?" Amanda looked a little hesitant at first, but then she smiled and nodded. Emily got out and went upstairs with Amanda and her friend, and they came back down a few minutes later in Emily's bikinis. Unfortunately, Amanda saw Diane on her way to the pool and invited her in also. So Diane ended up borrowing another one of Emily's bikinis and before we knew it, Brysdon and Greg got it also. It was a good thing the pool was so big, or we would all be rubbing up against each other. I tried not to look at Brysdon so much, but his bare chest and defined muscles made it hard not to look. Plus, he was taller then pretty much everyone in the pool, which made him stand out the most. We all splashed around and jumped off the diving board for a while and just had a good time.

I started noticing that one of Frank's school friends was following me around, but I ignored him. At one point, he accidentally rubbed up against my stomach, and he was so embarrassed that he couldn't speak and was just blushing like crazy.

"S-sorry, I-I didn't mean to..." he stuttered.

"It's okay," I laughed and smiled at him. He wandered off towards Frank, and Amanda swam up next to me.

"What?" I asked her.

"He has a crush on you," she laughed.

"Not uh."

"Yep," she said, "I can hear his heart beat. Every time you come into a five foot range of him its speeds up until I think it might burst." She laughed again and I couldn't help but laugh with her. "Too bad he doesn't have a chance. This heart," she said, pointing to my chest, "is taken." I stopped laughing and looked at her.

"What do you mean?" I asked her.

"I might be a vampire, Rose," she said, "But I'm also a girl. And girls have an uncanny ability to detect when two people are falling for each other."

"I don't know what you mean, Amanda," I told her, looking around us to see if anyone was listening. Luckily, everyone was busy trying to dunk Greg and Sean under water.

"Look, Rose, he's my brother. I can see him changing. He smiles more and he looks at you all the time." She smiled at her brother while she watched him push Greg under water.

"He does?" I asked her, pleased by the news and forgetting my pretense not to know what she was talking about.

"I know Diane is probably not the nicest person to you, but I promise, she's really not that bad. She's just jealous because she sees my brother looking at you, too, and she knows that he never looked at her like he does you." She smiled at me and took my hand. "I just want him to be happy. Screw it if you're not suppose to be together."

I was so taken aback that I didn't know what to say. Was Brysdon really changing because of me? It was hard to believe. But she had said 'when two people were falling for each other'. Did that mean he was falling for me too? I looked at him again from across the pool. He was laughing as Frank and Sean tried to dunk him.

"Look at him, Rose," she said, startling me from my pondering, "He's happy."

"That's not necessarily because of me, though, Amanda. I don't know if he told you, but we agreed that-"

"You'll just be friends, blah, blah, blah. I think it's just a load of bullshit. Look, my brother's just trying to do what he thinks is best for the coven, and for you and your tribe. For once in his life, he needs to think about what's best for him." And with that she dived under water and swam towards Diane and her friend. I stood there for a moment, thinking about what she had said. He did look happy, happier than when I first met him, at least. He's opening up more, I could tell, allowing himself to smile and laugh with the other werewolves.

"What was that about?" Sean asked, swimming up besides me.

"Uh, nothing," I told him.

"But-" he began, but Kevin cut him off.

"Chicken fight!" He yelled. Everyone scrambled to get a partner, and I noticed Frank's friend heading towards me.

"Will you be my partner, Rose?" He asked me. He was about my height, but he looked very skinny and not that strong.

"Um," I tried to think of ways to get out of being his partner. I felt guilty, he looked nice enough, but I didn't think he could hold me up for very long.

"Sorry," Brysdon said in his low voice, coming up beside me, "She's my partner." The boy looked a little sad, but then he smiled and looked for someone else.

"Thanks," I told him, while my stomach did a back flip from the way he smiled at me. He didn't say anything else as he went under water and I climbed on top of his shoulders. He grabbed my thighs to steady me, and I put my hands in his thick, black hair while he pushed up. My skin burned where his cool hands touched my legs. My lower stomach was pressed against the back of his head and I wrapped my legs around him to hold on.

Naturally, Emily was on Sean's shoulders, and as she leaned over, her orange hair mixed with his blonde locks. I couldn't help but think they looked so cute together. Amanda had gotten on Kellen's shoulders, and I was glad to see them getting along. Diane had gotten on the shoulder's of Justin, the vampire that was suppose to be my partner on guard that one day in the woods until Brysdon came. Amanda's friend, who name I learned was Shelby, got on Kevin's shoulders, and Suze was on Erik's. Frank had convinced his human friends to sit out one round, so us werewolves and vampires could actually use our full strength on each other. Of course, he didn't tell him that though. Damien, Frank, Rick, and Pete sat with the humans on the edge of the pool, and they declared them selves the judges.

"On your mark, get set, go!" Pete called, and we all spaced out, ready for each other's attack.

"Go for my brother," I heard Amanda tell Kellen.

"Your sister!" I said to Brysdon, and we turned around just in time so I could catch her hands before they grabbed me.

Since I was in my human form, I wasn't as strong and as fast as she was, but Brysdon was stronger and faster then Kellen. He quickly kicked out Kellen's legs from under him before his sister had a chance to push me over. I laughed while I gave him a pat on the head, and they swam over to the wall to sit with the others. We watched Shelby take down Diane and Justin, and I was glad I wouldn't have to face Diane. Suze got knocked off Erik's shoulders pretty quickly, since she was human, and before I knew it, Sean and Emily were the only ones left beside Brysdon and me.

Everyone who got out was sitting along the edge of the pool, cheering for which ever team they wanted to win, and I noticed they were attracting some attention. I took a quick glance to the deck to see who was watching, and I blew out a relieved breath when I didn't see my uncle, Daniel, or Jona. I'm sure my uncle would be so happy to see me on Brysdon's shoulders. Not. Elizabeth was there though, snapping pictures of us all.

I turned around just in time to see Emily grab my shoulders and try to knock me off. In human form, I was a little bigger than Emily's petite form, and stronger too, but Sean was good at pulling away when Brysdon was about to trip him. Our game went on for about five minutes until I was finally able to knock Emily off, and we were all laughing so hard by the end.

"Winners!" Frank declared as he lifted up our hands. I fell back wards off of Brysdon's back into the water and came up grinning.

Review please, it makes me want to write more!