"That's it, this stops now!"

Jamie groaned as the curtains were suddenly yanked open and sunlight assaulted him. His eyes slowly opened his eyes and shielded them as he glared at the woman standing at the foot of the bed. Her arms were crossed. She was angry. Great.

"Sarina, what the hell?" he grumbled out before pulling the sheets over his head.

"Oh, no. You don't get to be mad at me," she growled as she started to tug the sheets off of him. "You don't get to be mad at the woman who clothed you, fed you, and sheltered you when you went into self-destruct mode. That is not something I will tolerate, Jamie."

He sighed and sat up. Why was she doing this now? They'd had a good thing going! And now was when she was going to get difficult and lecture him? But he knew how to stop her. So, instead of snapping back, he got up and wrapped his arms around her, nuzzling his nose into the soft skin of her neck.

"You've done a lot for me, Sarina," he whispered seductively. "Done a lot more than just feed me, and I think you've undressed me more than you've clothed me."

"I know what you're trying to do, and it's not going to work."

She gently pushed his chest and stepped out of his embrace. She wasn't going to let him continue on this path. Sooner or later he'd need to face what he'd done. He couldn't keep running from his ghosts. So she handed him his shirt and headed into the kitchen, knowing he'd follow soon enough. And a few minutes later walked in to grab a cup of coffee and sit across from her at the table. He wasn't looking forward to this.

"I'm not going back," he announced before she could say anything.

"Uh, yes, you are. Jamie, you don't get to just run away from the consequences of your decisions. That's not how it works."

"I can't do it, Sarina. I won't do it."

"You knew what would happen!" she pointed out angrily. "I asked you multiple times, just so you knew exactly what you were getting into, and you agreed! You still went forward with it! So you don't get to be pouty. You don't get to play the victim. You made this decision yourself, Jamie. You have to live with it."

"She's gone."

"And you knew that. You knew the consequences."

"I… I didn't know how much it would hurt."

"I'm sorry, Jamie, but I won't let you continue doing this to yourself. If you keep doing this, eventually you're going to break. And I don't think I'll be able to fix you."

"Sarina, please, don't make me go back there," he begged quietly. He couldn't go through with it. It would hurt too much. "I can't do it."

"Jamie, I know it hurts, but this is for the best. I'm sorry."

He closed his eyes in defeat and nodded. He should've known she'd win. He always let her win. Damn her and her logic. She always knew what to say. Guess they'd be going back to Forks.

Seth sat in the bed of Sam's truck beside Jae, the two of them lounging around and sharing a bag of Cheetos between them. Occasionally he'd glance down at his phone and quickly reply to his girlfriend who he insisted wasn't a girlfriend. No one believed him. Jae knew him well enough to know she was totally his girlfriend. They'd gone on a date a few nights before, but yet he still insisted the two of them were just friends.

"How's she doing?" Jae asked casually.

"Who?"

"Your girlfriend, Seth. Come on, you can tell me! I'm your best friend. Don't you think I should know about these things?"

"She's fine."

"Yeah? When are you going to introduce us?"

"Us meaning the guys or us meaning you?"

"Either. Both. Whatever."

"To be decided."

"You're no fun," she accused with a pout, "I want to meet her. I feel like we'd get along well."

"Yeah? And why's that?"

"Because obviously any girl who catches Seth Clearwater's eye is someone special."

"You're full of it, you know that?" He laughed and gently shoved her shoulder. "I dunno, Jae, I like her, but I'm not sure if I really like her as much as I do. This is the first relationship I've ever been in."

"Already doing a better job than me."

"Besides, there's a reason we're going out."

"Uh, you guys like each other?"

"Her mom's getting on her case about boys."

"Wait, what? Aren't most parents freaking out about their fifteen-year-old daughters hanging around boys?"

"I know. It's totally backwards. But, anyway, she came up to me and said her mom approved of me and then asked me to be her boyfriend."

"How romantic."

"She's pretty cool, and we are friends. So even if we aren't together, we're still getting along pretty well."

"Then maybe she'll be interested in me," Jae suggested as she took another Cheeto from the bag. "I don't know if you know this, but girls go crazy over me."

"Please. Don't make me laugh."

"Are you saying I'm not attractive?" She puffed up her cheeks and wrinkled her nose before leaning into his face. He laughed and swatted her away. "I'm irresistible, babe."

"Right. Okay."

"But really, I want to meet her! Girlfriend or not, she's still your friend, and I need more of those, so we can share!"

"Your logic makes no sense."

"Whatever."

"Tell you what. She and her family will be having a picnic at the beach later today. We can go show up, and you can meet her then."

"Yes!"

He watched her in amusement as she punched the air victoriously and shoved another Cheeto into her mouth. He was glad they were friends. Who else would be as weird as him? Sure, everyone else in the pack was cool and funny, but she was the only one his age he could relate to. Colin and Brady were just a grade younger than him, but there was a huge difference in a year when you were a teenager. He and Jae were pretty similar, and he liked that. They weren't too similar, but they weren't complete opposites either. It was like they were meant to be best friends. And sure, he had maybe had a crush on her in the beginning, but he knew having a relationship with her now would only end in disaster. They were fifteen. No one ended up happily ever after with their partner from freshman year. No, they were much better suited to being best friends. But who knows? Maybe one day they could be something different. He wasn't going to compromise their friendship right now for that possibility. It wasn't worth it.

"You have Cheeto dust all over your face," he pointed out with a smirk.

"Look in the mirror, dumbo," she sneered back.

He quickly wiped at his mouth to find that he too had Cheeto dust all over his face. Oh, yeah, they were meant to be friends.

Embry sat on the sofa watching Jared and Paul play video games. Minah sat in his lap, content to play with his fingers as the boys yelled at each other loudly. She was another person he'd bonded with since the departure of his imprint. He'd learned that although she looked a lot like Jae, that was where the similarities stopped. She was very social and confident now since her English had improved exponentially. She liked drawing in her free time and absolutely loved licking the frosting off of the spoons after Emily was done cooking. She was adorable, and Embry, becoming more of the boy he was before phasing, loved to be around her. She never hesitated to hug him and provide him with some much needed human contact. It was like she had a superpower, something more than seeing strings. He wondered if she could cut the strings or if she could only see them. He wondered if he would let her cut his string with Jamie if she could.

"Stop team killing, you dick!" Paul screeched at Jared as his friend killed him yet again. He glowered at the screen as the other team captured their base and won the round. "You suck!"

"Paul said a bad word," Minah told Embry softly. "I shouldn't say those words."

"That's right, Minah, you shouldn't say those words. Paul shouldn't say those words either, but you should know by now that he's not a good role model."

"Hey, shut up, man. I'm a great role model for Minah, right sweetheart?" he asked the little girl sweetly.

"Leah told me I shouldn't trust someone who calls me sweetheart," she replied immediately, giving him a distrustful look.

Embry threw back his head and laughed at her words. Now he could see how she was Jae's niece. In this instance they were almost exactly alike. He ruffled Minah's hair fondly and chuckled as Paul sputtered speechlessly. His imprint should really stop hanging around Leah and Embry. They were turning her against him.

"So, Minah, tell us," Jared started with a smirk, "any cute boys catch your eye on the playground?"

"No," she said with a disgusted wrinkle of her nose. "I don't like boys."

"Good. Keep it that way," Embry told her. "Boys are gross."

"I know," came her proud reply. "Nina is nice. I like Nina."

"Yeah? Nina a good friend?"

"Yeah!"

Leah snorted as she walked in, obviously having heard the conversation the guys were having with the little girl. She swooped in and picked Minah up, looking at her proudly.

"I'm glad that you and Nina are such good friends, little one." She then turned to the boys. "You ever think the reason she thinks boys are gross is because she thinks girls are nice?"

"Yeah, and?" Jared asked.

"I'm sure you'll figure it out if you just give it some thought."

Embry glanced over at Minah and smiled. Poor Paul would have to worry about a lot more than just boys going after the little one he'd practically adopted. He'd have to let Jaehwa and Jae do all the work with this one.

"I still don't get it," Jared whispered to Paul and Embry. "Do you get it?"

"Yeah, Jared, pretty sure you're the only one who doesn't," Paul snorted back. "Real genius Sam picked for his Beta. Real genius."