This chapter is mostly a break from the Volturi business to reward my readers, Lauren and Nick were voted favourite couple right now so here's Lauren's POV for you, I may consider doing Nick's later on in the story too.

Living in Paradise will be updated in a few days, I just wanted to get this out because I know its been a bit longer than usual. I've been super busy recently, sorry about that.

January 2035

Lauren Black

"Lauren Chantelle, where do you think you are you going dressed like that?" My father asked as I walked down the stairs, I rolled my eyes.

"Out with Nick" I said to him.

"Like hell you are" he laughed, he had his arms crossed over is chest. "You look like a whore" he told me truthfully.

"I think I look hot" I told him.

"You don't need to look hot, he's your imprint, he'd love you if you were dressed in a paper bag" he told me, his voice was stern.

"I don't care, it's our first real official date and he's never seen me like this" I told him, a slight whine in my voice.

"Lauren you're 17, you're not going anywhere like that in public" he told me sternly. "Im not worried about Nick, im worried about every other man that won't be able to take his eyes off you"

"Im 18 this year" I told him with an eye roll.

He growled under his breath. "Renesmee" he said loudly. I sighed and headed for the door. "No" my father said to me, appearing in front of the door, stopping me from moving.

"What's going on?" my mom said coming into the hall. "Jacob why are you stopping Lauren from going on her date?"

"Have you seen what shes wearing?" he asked her with eye brows raised.

"She's imprinted" she told him.

"I can see all of her legs! Like all of them!" he glared. I was wearing a short dress, and 5 inch heels, I was glad I got my mother's curvy but petite shape, which meant I could easily pull off this kind of outfit and look hot doing it.

"Im sorry but I wear dresses like that and you like it" she defending me as she glared at my dad, as if there was some hidden meaning behind her words.

"You're 28 and married! And you're a hybrid vampire" Jacob told her.

"My age doesn't matter; I was wearing that her age. Younger technically" my mom defended me; I turned to my dad who was speechless, she was right, she was probably 7 years old the first time she wore a dress like this and my dad would have enjoyed every second of it, I smiled smugly.

"I'll be going now" I grinned at him and reached for the door handle.

"Lauren" he hissed, I looked up at him and was expecting anger, his face was soft and caring, and he was really concerned.

"Nick won't let any guy touch me" I told him with a sigh. I hated seeing my dad like this, I'd much rather angry Jacob than concerned loving Jacob, it tugged at my heartstrings and the daddy's girl in me wanted to go put an Eskimo suit on just so he didn't worry.

"You're human" he reminded me.

"Nick isn't" I told him and reached for the door again but this time slower.

"Renesmee" he sighed sadly.

"Jacob shes not a little girl anymore, shes imprinted and shes in love. Nick would protect her with his life. Let her go" my mom said, I smiled, I made a mental note to hug and thank my mom later. My father growled and moved out the way. This imprint thing wasn't so bad after all, I was dreading when I started dating and my dad was being overprotective, but now all I had to do was remind him I was imprinted and he let me do anything I wanted… mostly.

"Bye daddy" I said and kissed his cheek before opening the door. Nick was standing right there; his hand in a fist in the air as if he was seconds away from knocking. He dropped his hand and looked me up and down before swallowing.

"Hey" I smiled.

"Hi" he mumbled his expression looked pained almost.

"What's wrong?" I asked with a frown.

"His pants are too tight" my dad told me and kissed my head and closed the door behind me laughing.

"I can't believe you just said that" I heard my mother on the other side.

"the dress was worth it, he looks like a puppy with a treat dangling in front of his face" I heard my dad laugh, particularly loud as they walked away from the hall so I couldn't hear them anymore, I turned to Nick and blushed, I knew he'd heard them.

"You look hot" he said still looking at my body.

"Thanks" I blushed.

"Ignore your dad, ive just never seen you like this…. you look beautiful" he said with a pause, he was still looking at my body.

"Maybe this was a bad idea" I sighed and turned back to my house. I had no idea id get this kind of reaction, he couldn't stop looking at me and it was making me feel a little awkward. I had seen my cousin Holly like this a bunch of times and I always felt jealous that she was allowed to go out with her human friends, probably to clubs with fake IDs and dance and just have fun all the time. Now it was my turn I suddenly felt it was a little over the top.

"No!" Nick gasped and grabbed my wrist. "You look beautiful" he smiled softly at me and pulled me towards him. I stepped down from the step so I was closer to him; his arms wrapped around me and put his lips to mine for a kiss. I couldn't help but smile.

"Ok let's go" I said suddenly filled with confidence and pulled away quickly. He kept his arm around my waist and pulled me towards the car.

"Since when can you drive? You're 14" I reminded him.

"Do I look 14? My dad taught me, my mom said I wasn't allowed to drive on my own until I officially took my test at 16 but my dad gave me the keys" he laughed.

"Then let's go" I smiled at him and he held the door open for me, I sat down but hit my head on the top of the car.

"Ow" I groaned.

"Are you ok?" he asked.

"Yeah, I'm just a bit taller than normal" I laughed and shut the door; he went to the other side to sit in the driver's seat.

"Still not as tall as me" he said with a wink as he started the car. I laughed.

"No one without a wolf gene is as tall as you"

"You have the wolf gene" he reminded me.

"I have a semi dormant wolf gene, all I get is your weaknesses; I don't think I'd want to be as tall as you anyway" I told him.

Nick and I slipped into comfortable conversation as he drove me towards Seattle. For my first date I was surprisingly calm, I had made such a big deal out of it in my head but I know knew that was pointless, Nick wasn't just some guy from school, he was Nick, my wolf.

I almost laughed at my thoughts. I never thought I'd be calling a wolf mine.

After we parked Nick opened my door and I couldn't hold back my giggles as I climbed out.

"What?" he asked self-consciously.

"You're such a gentleman" I told him.

"That's a bad thing?" he asked, locking the car and taking my hand.

"No not at all, you just remind me of my grandfather, for some strange reason"

"Way to kill the mood" he teased as we reached the restaurant. "Comparing me to Edward. I guess it should have been my middle name not Harry's" he laughed.

"Harry's middle name is Edward?" I asked with a frown, the waiter took us to our seat as we spoke.

"Yeah, my dad is friends with your grandfather, apparently they were close" Nick shrugged.

"What's your middle name?" I asked. I couldn't believe I didn't know this.

"Jacob" he said with a shrug.

"Seriously?" I asked.

"Seriously" he laughed at my expression. "I know right, I imprint on the daughter of the guy I was named after"

I smiled, I kind of liked that his middle name was Jacob. It made him closer to the family.

"I wonder why none of my brothers were named after Seth" I said my thoughts out loud, Nick shrugged as he read his menu.

"Probably because your mother had the most say in your names, I mean Zachary, Lauren, Anthony and Isobel are all names from your mother's side right?" he asked, I nodded before he continued. "My dad named me and my brother, my mom named Cassie"

"Isn't Cassie's middle name Leah?" I asked.

"Yeah, Emma and Leah are close"

"I had no idea" I frowned.

"You don't know much of what happens outside your family" he chuckled.

"You're my family, the Clearwater's have always been close" I felt like I needed to remind him.

"Maybe so but you have so many family members to keep track of, no one can blame you. You're only human after all" he said with a wink, I rolled my eyes. He loved teasing me about what I was, it used to bother me a lot, thinking I was just human but I was happy with who I was now which meant Nick endlessly teased me about living forever together.

My first date was definitely something I would always remember, it was so natural between me and Nick that it didn't even feel like a date, it was like we were just hanging out in fancy clothing. He kissed me goodnight on the porch of my home and I crawled into bed with a smile on my face.

I woke up to screaming and crying and I groaned, I knew it was Izzy crying, she was hysterical. She must have fallen over again. I climbed out of bed quickly and headed for the door. I walked down the stairs to see my dad had Izzy in his arms, blood was pouring from her knee.

"What happened?" I asked. My mom suddenly appeared in the hall with a towel and the first aid kit.

"She fell on the way up the stairs, that went through her knee" my dad told me and pointed to the stairs, I followed his gaze to see the fixing that kept the carpet to the stairs was covered in blood. It wasn't sharp but it was small, small enough that if you put some strength or weight behind it, it would go straight through skin. I shivered, that went straight into Izzy's knee? No wonder she was crying hysterically. My mom was quickly trying to deal with her knee.

"We need Carlisle, I can't stop the bleeding" my mom said frantically. "Lauren keep the towel on her knee please" she told me and threw the already bloody towel to me; I walked over to my baby sister, crying in our fathers arms and put the towel to her knee. I cringed at the wound; it was a really deep cut just below her knee cap. Tony and Zac had come down the stairs to see what was going on. It was also completely the wrong time for Will and Sophia to walk in the door.

"Oh my god!" Sophia gasped, I thought she was talking about Izzy and was about to run over to hug her but it surprised me that her hand went to her throat. She curled over her large 7 month pregnant stomach and gripped tightly onto Will, I frowned.

"What the hell happened?" Will asked over Izzy's cries.

"She fell on the stairs." I answered.

"Get Sophia out of here" my dad ordered him and took the towel from me as he started to walk into the living room with Izzy.

"What's wrong with Sophia?" I asked. She had her eyes tightly closed and she was swallowing loudly.

"She hasn't had blood in 7 months; the babies aren't vampires, she hasn't been able to keep blood in her body since she got pregnant. I think Izzy was too much for her"

"Get me out of here" Sophia gasped and turned for the door. William led her to the step and she sat down on the porch letting out a big sigh of relief.

"It really affects you that much?" I asked her.

"Izzy is particularly sweeter than the rest of you, ive never wanted to drink her blood, of course I haven't but when I haven't had any for 7 months and shes bleeding that much it burns a bit" she laughed. We looked up to see Carlisle coming towards the house, so was Edward and Bella, all with something in their hands.

"Living room" I told them as they came closer, they barely acknowledged us and entered the house. I sat with William and Sophia for about 10 minutes before Edward came out and sat next to me.

"She ok?" I asked.

"Shes fine, Carlisle stitched her up and shes getting chocolate and ice-cream made for her" he smiled to me.

"She's so clumsy" William sighed.

"She is" Edward laughed. "Are you ok Sophia?" he added.

"Yeah" She smiled.

"Renesmee was the same when she was pregnant with William, except she encountered her singer after 7 months of no blood, imagine the pain you just felt magnified by a million"

"I don't think I could have stopped myself" she admitted sadly.

"You would have, you'd never hurt Izzy and Renesmee managed it, you're just as strong as her. She had training to be able to stand with her singer and not smell his blood, now he's a vampire so she doesn't have to" he chuckled. I smiled at the mention of our Uncle Zac. He had gone back to England to his wife and children but it worried me how long he could keep up the façade with them, what was he going to do in 10 or 20 years when his wife is an old lady and he still looks 36?

"He'll probably come back here, he was thinking of ways to fake his death over Christmas" my grandfather told me.

"Oh how awful" I frowned, it must be horrible for him. Why couldn't he just tell them the truth?

"With the Volturi back in business I didn't recommend he chance it. He needs to lie to keep them safe. Until we know exactly what the Volturi's intentions are with leading this world he needs to be careful"

It was then my grandmother and Carlisle came out of the house.

"It's all ok now Sophia, all you'll smell is bleach" Bella said and kissed her forehead as she passed her. Edward stood up and took his place at her side.

"We'll probably see you later" Bella smiled as they headed back to the Cullen mansion. William stood up and helped Sophia to stand, her stomach was huge. I had no idea how she did anything being that pregnant, and she still had 2 months to go.

We entered the house to see Isobel lying on our fathers lap; she was eating ice-cream and watching TV. Her leg was strapped up in bandages and looked swollen.

"You ok little sister?" I asked her kissing her forehead, her face was blotchy from crying but she looked up and nodded.

"What did you learn this time Izzy?" William asked, giving our sister a kiss too.

"Not to run up the stairs" she sighed as if she was repeating something that she'd recently been told a dozen times. It was Sophia's turn to hug Isobel the best she could.

"When are you having your babies?" Izzy asked Sophia.

"Im about 2 months" She told her and sat next to Jacob on the couch.

"Im getting a shower" I announced as my family started to talk to each other. I realised I was still in my pyjamas and I hadn't even done my morning routine yet. I left the living room and took the steps two at a time to my bathroom.

One of my favourite times of the day was when I got to shower, it was one time where I was truly alone and had no chance of someone annoying me or interrupting me. I often sing in the shower, the only time I ever sang was in the shower.

My parents always told me off for taking such long showers so considering I got out after only 15 minutes I was quite proud. I entered my bedroom and got the shock of my life. Nick was sitting on my bed with an amused expression.

"Oh my god Nicholas" I gasped, quickly grabbing my towel and making sure it didn't fall from my body.

"You didn't tell me you can sing" he told me.

"What?" I gasped, he was sitting in my room after I had just had a shower and he was commenting on my singing?

"You're like really good. I had no idea" he responded.

"Im descended from vampires that are perfect at everything. What do you expect?" I mumbled and walked over to my closest, I realised what I had said and regretted it, I didn't want him to think I thought of myself as perfect, I was far from it, I just happened to be good at singing. I closed the door behind me but not too much so we could still talk, I was glad I was thoroughly out of his sight though.

"I know but I never expected you to be good at singing, you're human" he responded.

"My grandfather taught me piano, I was never any good at it really, but he would sing the notes to me and I had to sing them back. I was really good at recognising the notes and copying but not really any good at actually playing the piano." I told him as I finished getting dressed; I pulled my hair into a high pony tail as I walked out the closet. "I guess I picked up on the singing more than the playing." I told him with a shrug.

"Can all your family sing like that?" he asked.

"My mom can, my dad can't sing" I laughed. "I think Sarah can too, Izzy can't, bless her" I responded, he smiled.

"Maybe you're more vampire than you realise" he told me.

"It's not unheard of for humans to be able to sing you know" I told him with a laugh.

"I know" he grinned.

"I just don't sing in public" I told him and walked over to my vanity to do my makeup.

"Why do you put makeup on? You're pretty enough without it" he told me.

"I don't put a lot on; there are girls in my school with inches of it. I just like basic makeup. Luckily ive been blessed with good skin. Thanks mom" I said looking at him through the mirror. He smiled.

"I suppose having vampire relatives has its advantages" he said and lay back on my bed, I smiled, I liked the look of him on my bed. I quickly shook the thought from my mind and turned back to do my makeup. "Can you sing again?" he asked.

"No" I laughed, I was blushing scarlet.

"Please. Just for me, sing what you were singing in the shower" he told me, I blushed again.

"No" I told him, this time my voice was weaker. He pouted but didn't say anything. I sighed and started to sing quietly as I finished my makeup. I looked down to put my makeup away and my heart did a little jump when I realised Nick was right behind me and his lips were at my ear.

"You can sing at our wedding" he whispered, I laughed.

"Im not singing at anyone's wedding" I responded, I turned to look at him and he pouted. "I won't sing for anyone, the only reason I sang for you is because of the stupid imprint compelling me to make you happy." I joked.

"I suppose having a piece of you no one else has is pretty awesome" he winked.

"You'll have plenty of me no one else will have. You already know that" I reminded him. His cheeky grin dropped at the tone of my voice.

"Do you still hate the imprint?" he asked. My face softened at his saddened face.

"No" I said instantly. "I hate how it can control me, but I don't hate you or the fact you imprinted on me" I explained, he nodded slightly. "I know it's taken away my free will to some extent, I still remember what I thought of imprints before you phased, that's still a part of me but back then I didn't know what an imprint was fully, I didn't understand it because I wasn't subject to one. Now I know, you're my best friend and you will be for the rest of forever, you'll always be there for me, you'll always protect me and love me and there will never be a day where you get bored of me. That for me, makes it worth it, it outweighs all the cons of an imprint I can think of because the idea of spending forever alone is heart-breaking but now I don't have to" I added with a smile, he smiled back his face inches from mine.

"I love you" he told me, my heart raced. Nick and I hadn't said I love you to each other, we had joked about the imprint and getting married, we both knew that our feelings would expand into love and utter devotion but we hadn't said it yet, until now. My smile dropped for a second before I blushed and managed to smile back.

"I love you too." I told him and his smile grew wider than I have ever seen it.

"So are you ready?" he asked happily.

"For what?" I responded.

"You're coming to my house, my parents are going out for the day so I thought i could spend it with you whilst I baby sit my little sister. I know Harry won't give her the time of day"

"Sure" I smiled at him and stood up. I didn't bother with my hair; I left it in a messy bun and went down stairs to ask my parents if I could go to Nicks.

"You'll be back before dinner yeah? You have school tomorrow" my mom told me.

"Sure mom" I responded and gave her a quick kiss before leaving with Nick.

The Clearwater's weren't that far away, even closer than the Cullen's and we were there in minutes. Nick let me in and I was greeted by Emma.

"Hey Lauren" she smiled. I smiled back.

"Hi Emma" I said, it felt weird to call her 'Aunt Emma' now. She and Seth were always my aunt and uncle growing up but after Nick and I got together properly it was weird to me knowing they'd be my future mother and father in law.

"How are your parents?" she asked.

"About to be grandparents" I laughed "Sophia looks ready to pop." Emma smiled.

"I suppose you don't remember seeing your mom pregnant with your brothers" she responded.

"No I was only 5"

"She looked ready to give birth at 6 months" she laughed and we went to sit in the living room. "Seth hurry up!" She suddenly yelled.

"Im coming" he called and I heard him bound down the stairs.

"We'll see you later, have fun." Emma said and kissed her sons forehead. "Bye Cassie bye Harry!" she called up the stairs, Cassie came skipping down and Harry grudgingly said good bye and the front door closed. Harry entered the living room, but when he saw us he frowned.

"Hey Harry" I greeted my friend, he didn't even answer, he turned and walked out the room. I turned to nick. "What did I do?" I asked, and he shrugged.

"Harry!" I heard Cassie call.

"Get lost" he answered, I frowned to myself, why was he so mean to her? I heard them going up the stairs.

"Harry will you play with me?" Cassie asked her brother.

"Nope" he replied nonchalantly and I heard him slam his bedroom door. I flinched slightly and Nick got up.

"Come on" he mumbled holding out his hand; I took it and followed him. Cassie was looking at the floor outside Harry's room, she looked up to us and she had tears in her eyes.

"Why does Harry hate me?" she asked. My maternal instincts kicked into overdrive, I reached for Cassie and picked her up to hug her.

"Harry!" Nick shouted. Harry didn't answer, I could hear loud music coming from inside. "Hey dick head!" he shouted louder. The music cut off and the door swung open, I took a step back with Cassie because Harry looked really angry.

"Don't call me that you little shit, get lost I don't want to see any of you" he told him, I flinched at his harsh words and stood against the wall, still carrying Cassie.

"She's your little sister! You don't need to be so horrible to her, she only wants to play and she loves you so much and no matter what you say she still wants to spend time with you because you're her big brother. Why can't you take 10 minutes of your precious day to spend with your sister, or me for that matter?!"

"Because I don't want to, and especially not you!" he yelled at his brother, I frowned at the conversation, this Harry wasn't the boy I knew when we were kids, Harry was so kind to me, he was one of my best friends and it hurt me that we weren't that close anymore. I watched him with a frown and Harry looked to me and our eyes locked. I just couldn't figure him out. He stared at me for a minute before slamming the door closed.

"It's not my fault I imprinted on her!" Nick yelled through the door.

"Shut the hell up Nick" Harry threatened.

"Then stop acting like a dick about it! I'm sorry ok!"

I frowned at the conversation, were they talking about me?

"Shut up!" Harry growled opening the door. His eyes flickered to me.

"Stop acting like this!" he yelled and pushed at his chest, Harry's anger flared at his younger brother. I quickly put Cassie on her feet.

"Stay here" I urged her and walked over to the angry boys, I put myself in between them.

"Stop it!" I yelled at Harry.

"Lauren" Nick hissed and put his hands on my waist to pull me behind him.

"He won't hurt me" I told Nick. My old friend had to be in there somewhere. He couldn't be this entirely new person. We stopped talking when he phased, he made new friends in the pack and didn't seem to want to be my friend anymore, and I had always been angry about this but never brought it up. I assumed he was done with me and that's how friendships worked but right now I was just angry about it. "What is the matter with you? You're not the same Harry I knew! Ever since you phased you turned into this asshole that doesn't even look at me anymore!" I told him, his anger softened but it was replaced with bitterness.

"Why do you think Lauren?" he asked; anger in his voice but not his expression. He looked… sad.

"I have no idea! You stopped seeing me! You were my best friend! Don't get angry at Nick because I see him every day when it was you that pushed me out of your life, not the other way around!" I reminded him.

"I didn't imprint on you! It was him! I loved you, every second of my childhood was you and I was going to marry you! But the day I phased I didn't imprint on you and I knew that you weren't the one for me but I still loved you and I tried with everything in me to imprint on you but it didn't work so I had to leave you and what goes and happens?! My little brother! My little brother imprints on the girl I wanted to imprint on! So yes im bitter because I see you with my brother and there's nothing I want more than to be him" He told me angrily. I was shocked, truly shocked. I let Nick pull me away from the angry Harry and I watched him in awe.

"I didn't know" I told Harry sadly. He tried to imprint on me? He loved me? He was in love with me?

"I can't say I'm sorry any more than I have" Nick said sadly to his brother.

"Just get lost, take your imprint and leave La Push so I don't have to look at you together" he said and slammed the door for the last time. His words stung me and I was staring at the door in shock.

"Are you ok?" Nick asked me; his hand coming to my face and stroking my cheek. I nodded slowly.

"I had no idea" I told him truthfully.

"I know, and I have to live with that. It's a constant reminder that I imprinted on the girl my brother loves. I didn't want to hurt him" he frowned to himself. I reached for him and hugged his waist.

"It wasn't your fault" I told him, he wrapped his arms around me and sighed heavily.

"It feels like it. Every day. You never wanted to be imprinted on. You hated the imprints and I knew that, I also knew how much Harry liked you. I'm just such an idiot." He grumbled. I pulled away and wrapped my arms around his shoulders so I was closer to him.

"You're not to blame. And I don't hate imprints. Not anymore" I reminded him and quickly kissed his lips, he smiled at me but his eyes fell behind me, I turned to see Cassie still standing there.

"You can move now honey" I giggled. She took a breath and smiled at us.

"Will you play with me?" she asked us.

"Sure" Nick smiled first and I dropped my arms from him so Cassie could lead us to her bedroom. I couldn't stop thinking about what Harry had said and the awful things I had thought about him the past few years. The way Nick described him he sounded like a real asshole, but suddenly I couldn't blame him anymore. I had no idea the depth of his feelings for me but it must have been awful for him to find out that Nick imprinted on me and not him. I couldn't even fathom it being the other way around in my head. What if Harry had imprinted on me instead? Would he be different to his siblings? Kinder maybe? I didn't know and I never would. It made sense though, why Harry cut me from his life so suddenly when we were children. He was only 11 when he phased and we had been the best of friends growing up, he must have thought if he ever phased he'd definitely imprint on me but he didn't.

As much as I felt sorry for Harry I couldn't help but love Nick, he was the one I was going to be with and I couldn't be constantly worrying about Harry. He needed to move on, and one day he would. Harry and I were never meant to get married, we were never meant to fall in love. It was always going to be Nick. I knew that was the imprint talking but I couldn't deny it.

Even now thinking back at the few times I had spent time with Nick in the past before he phased it was so evident we were made for each other, he was my perfect partner, we were opposites in many ways but in the things that mattered we both had the same views, children for instance. I adored my younger siblings, Izzy particularly and I knew Nick felt the same about Cassie. Seeing him first play with my little sister and then his own just made me fall harder for him. He was so good with kids. I knew I didn't want them, not anytime soon but maybe having one or two wouldn't be so bad. We could still travel, I'd hire a tutor or something and they could follow us around. I didn't want to be stuck in La Push; that hadn't changed but my mentality was definitely changing and I was glad that I knew I was changing. I thought if I was imprinted on that I would change into this completely different girl who wouldn't know the girl she was but I was wrong. I knew who I used to be and who I was now and I knew that being with Nick was changing me but I didn't care, he was changing me into the person I wanted to be and who I should be. I saw us in 30 years with our own version of Cassie and Isobel and nothing warmed my heart more.

It's so nice to write Lauren's pov again and to write her as she slowly matures into a woman and how her views on imprinting are changing, I wanted to explain how much the imprint had and hadn't changed her. She knows exactly what she felt before she was imprinted on and that part of her is still there but she also sees the good in it now and it completely outweighs the bad :)

Next chapter will be Matthew and what happened when Esther and the gang went to meet him for the 'first' time.