Well guys... here it is! I was so excited writing this chapter, and I can't wait to hear what you all think!

Chapter 20-

Aria had never really liked her birthday. Not that she didn't love an entire day devoted to the joy that was her very existence; however, March 16th never sounded as nice as she'd like it to. The days leading up to her birthday were somehow a blur, and in the midst of it, Quil phased for the first time. It was Monday when Embry alerted her of the signs being, as he said, as obvious as rain.

"As obvious as rain?" She twisted her face, "that's the dumbest thing I've ever heard," she chuckled, "and I've definitely never heard you say it before."

Embry stared at her with narrowed eyes for a moment before he shook his head and lazily grabbed her hand in his. They were walking to lunch, though they would part ways as they entered the cafeteria, as always.

"I'm telling you, rude comment or not," he pointed a playful finger in her direction, "Jake and I both noticed something was off when we saw him this morning, but free period really sealed the deal. I'll be surprised if he hasn't phased by dinner tonight."

Aria shrugged, her lips subconsciously curling in reference to the werewolf stuff. It still didn't sit right.

They were nearing the doors to the cafeteria when Embry gripped her hand tighter and pulled them to a stop. She raised an eyebrow up at him.

"Just," Embry pursed his lips, eyes scanning over her face with that look of his, "just be careful around him today-"

"He would never-"

"I know he would never purposely hurt you, Ari," he held up a hand, "phasing for the first time is totally unexpected and no one really knows what'll happen."

Aria pursed her lips at him and sighed, nodding sadly and twisting her fingers out of his. His face fell. After a moment of awkward silence, Aria quickly wrapped her arms around his abdomen and was welcomed against him like she was going home. His arms so quickly, and instinctually, returned every act of affection.

With one more squeeze of validation, they entered the cafeteria and walked in their separate directions.

Quil's head was on the table, his lunch already discarded beside him, when Aria arrived. With pursed lips, she took her seat across from him and gingerly reached a hand out to grasp his own. She nearly grimaced when it was met with heat only comparable to Embry and her brother.

"Hey…" she winced, "buddy?"

He lifted his head up, and the sour look remained on her face as she took in his gaunt features, sweat, despite the chilly nature of their underfunded school building, pooling around his hairline and slicking the dark curls.

"You feeling okay?"

"I feel like I'm gonna die."

She frowned deeply and squeezed at his hand.

They were nearly silent as lunch carried on, Quil ignoring his food and Aria casting nervous glances over her shoulder at Embry. She was angry he had even said anything about it. She wasn't afraid of the wolves, but the prospect of sweet, harmless Quil turning into one as well made her even more uneasy than the concept itself did. By the time the bell rang, she had worked herself into a tissy and wordlessly slinked out of the room and to her next class.

At some point during the later half of the day, something must have happened, as all of the boys were gone by the time the school day ended. Instead of Embry leaning against her locker in wait, it was Seth, a bright smile on his youthful face.

"Hey, you," Aria chuckled, shoving at his shoulder as she opened her locker, "funny seeing you here."

Seth beamed back, practically glowing, "Eli grabbed me after P.E. and said to make sure the girls didn't leave without you today."

Aria rolled her eyes at the mere thought of locking herself in the truck with her sister and Leah, though she tried to hide her disgust as she and Seth worked their way to the parking lot. The girls were waiting, chattering pleasantly with one another when they approached them. With just one glance at Aria, Reanna sighed and opened the driver's door. Leah moved silently towards the passenger side, and Aria felt her irritation from lunch grappling its way back up her throat.

"Hey!"

She marched towards Reanna, the older girl turning in surprise to face her.

"It's not gonna kill you to give your sister," she spoke enthusiastically with her hands, "a ride home. You're not cool for being a bitch to your own flesh and blood."

Reanna stared at her, her mouth a thin line. Seth awkwardly thrust himself into the back seat.

"We're not having this conversation here," Reanna gestured to the parking lot around them, still bustling with teenagers and beat-up vehicles. She turned and hopped into the driver's seat.

Aria wordlessly hopped in the back beside Seth and waited only until Reanna had put the truck into reverse before she leaned forward between the front seats.

"Alright, now we're not out in the open. How about that conversation?"

Reanna threw the truck back into park, "you are so annoying!"

Leah and Seth became painfully silent as their eyes widened.

"I'm annoying? You haven't talked to me in weeks over, what, exactly? Leah and Sam and Emily?" she gestured towards Leah in the passenger seat, "try fighting your own battles for a change, tough guy."

"Leave me out of this, this is your fight," Leah interjected, waving a finger between the sisters.

"Oh, is it, Leah? This has nothing to do with me not ghosting our cousin for something she had no control over?"

"No control?" Leah's face grew red, "she had no control over going after my boyfriend? How delusional are you?"

"I…" the words got lost in Aria's throat as she realized that Leah would never know that neither Emily nor Sam had any say in the matter. She swallowed hard and flung herself back into the back seat, sighing harshly as she crossed her arms over her chest.

Without another word, Reanna put the truck back into reverse and was the last student vehicle to leave the parking lot. The rest of the ride home was quiet, and Seth continuously peeked at Aria out the corner of his eye as they rode along.

Aria flung herself out of the cab before Reanna had even parked the truck, and she let the screen door slam behind her as she went.

Naomi turned to her with raised eyebrows, but Aria had only managed out "they'll just never get it" before the door opened again and the others joined them. She clamped her mouth shut and made it the rest of the way to her room.

That night, Embry called her to tell her of Quil's phasing and how unusually happy he was about it.

"It's nuts, Ari," Embry laughed, "kid's tickled pink that he's a part of the pack. Oh! And you should've heard his thoughts when he found out you're my imprint, he thought it was the craziest thing! Crazier than the fact that he's a big brown wolf."

Aria's cheeks blazed at the mention of the imprint, but she smiled, nonetheless. Despite all that she felt towards it, the fact that all three boys were in on it together again, that she was somehow in on it with them too, made her otherworldly happy. She allowed her eyes to linger on each picture of the four of them on her wall as she thought of finally hanging out with all of them again.

"So this means he can come to part two of my birthday, now!"

The realization hit her with a smile, and Embry's airy sound of content from the other end of the call confirmed it.

"He should be fine by then, honestly, I mean, like I said, he's loving it. Phasing is gonna be no problem for him."

Aria squealed with delight. It had been decided that on Thursday, her actual birthday, her family would celebrate with a big dinner- both Reanna and Leah had been warned by their mothers that Emily would be there and would be treated with respect. The following evening, Emily and the pack would be hosting their own celebration for her. While the notion seemed a bit much, she was oddly grateful to have both groups so happy to join in the festivities. For the first time since the supernatural had invaded her life as she knew it, she felt somewhat lucky.

None of the boys were at school the following day, and a strange, childish part of her was jealous that her boys were more connected with one another than her. That thought lasted only a moment, though, before she was reminded of the supernatural bond that bound her and Embry together for eternity. Her stomach leaped at that thought.

When it came time for lunch, she took her time wandering to her locker to grab her food. When Kim, Jared's imprint met her there, she allowed the shock to show on her face.

"There you are," Kim smiled, pushing off of the lockers behind her, "I thought you bailed out to be with the guys."

Aria released a nervous chuckle and opened her locker, allowing the silence to linger between them until she had retrieved her lunch and shut the door. Kim met her stare with a pleasantly kind face and even offered a smile as they began walking.

"I'm glad we get to spend lunch together from now on," Kim began, her eyes trailing along the floor as they went, "it gets a little lonely with just the pack, especially when Jared has patrol."

The way that Kim spoke so easily of their supernatural put her on edge, though deep down, she knew she'd have to accept it like that at some point. Though that didn't stop her lips from subconsciously pursing with mild disdain.

As Kim's words sank in, she thought of the way Kim was always seated at the boys' table, mostly tucked neatly beneath Jared's arm, though she did recall a few times when he had been missing, but she never really stood out- it just seemed like she belonged there. Perhaps she, too, would look as if she belonged once she started sitting with them. The relief at Quil's finally joining them washed over her in waves each time she realized how much easier life would be with everyone in-the-know.

They reached the cafeteria, and Aria felt strange as she walked by her and Quil's empty table and followed Kim to where the pack typically sat. They sat down across from one another, and while Kim happily unpacked her lunch onto the table and began eating, Aria found herself struggling to settle into it. As if on cue, Kim looked up and smiled at her again.

"You must be relieved that Quil knows now, huh?"

Aria pressed her lips together and nodded, "yeah, I could do without the whole," she swallowed, struggling to find a word she was comfortable speaking, "the whole…" she looked at Kim with a guilty stare.

"The whole werewolf thing?"

"Yeah, that."

After taking another bite of the sandwich in her hand, Kim grinned knowingly. Aria stared at her questioningly across the table. A moment passed, and the curiosity got the best of her.

"How did you take it so well?"

Kim's cheeks flooded with color, and she finally looked up to meet Aria's stare.

"Any drip of pride I might've ever had is out the window, so…" she giggled, a very feminine sound that even shocked Aria, "but I've had a crush on Jared forever. Him imprinting on me made me happier than I've ever dreamed of," she shrugged, tucking a hair behind her ears as the redness of her face intensified. "I'd accept just about anything if it meant I got him in the end."

With creased eyebrows, Aria continued to stare at her as she took her words into consideration. She was slightly overwhelmed with the raw honesty and intensity of such a statement, but she was endeared, nonetheless.

After another moment, Kim looked back up at her and grinned, "from what I've heard from Jared, the same went for you and Embry, just the other way around," she giggled again.

Then it was Aria's turn to blush uncontrollably. She rubbed at her cheeks with embarrassment and shook her head slightly, "I don't know about that."

Kim leaned forward slightly and smiled, "don't you think he'd still be obsessed with you even if you had a little," her smile faltered, "baggage?"

"Baggage?" Aria snorted, her nose scrunching and lips twisting up in amusement. "You call that baggage?"

Suddenly, the two were laughing lightheartedly and sitting more comfortably in their seats, Aria finally beginning to pay attention to the salad her mother had packed. To her surprise, she even found herself disappointed when the bell rang and they parted ways in the hallway; she made a mental note to ask Emily to make sure Kim was at her celebration that Friday.

On the morning of her birthday, Aria was awoken by three mountainous and scorching bodies toppling into her bed. The pure joy of all three of her boys being together and with her again was enough to push away any morning sourness, and she was soon squealing and laughing beneath the weight of their embraces.

"Happy birthday, princess!" Quil shouted.

All four of them sat up, Aria squeezed between Embry and Jacob, Quil sitting cross-legged at the foot of the bed. She smiled down at him cheekily before her eyes widened and jaw dropped at his appearance.

"No shit, Quil!" she laughed, leaning forward and squeezing at one of his biceps, suddenly filled with warm, round muscles. "How?"

Quil winked as he flexed that arm haughtily, "it's a werewolf thing."

"Oh my God," Jacob groaned playfully, "this is never gonna end with you."

"Dude, we're superhuman, how are you not psyched about this?"

"You get used to it," Embry shrugged, lazily casting an arm over Aria's shoulders. She turned to look at him incredulously.

"Do you?" She tilted her head slightly to the side, nose scrunching.

With an eye-roll, Embry chuckled and pulled her closer to his side.

Upon her discovery of the boys' presence, Reanna snorted with distaste, snatched her plate from the table, and marched out the front door, presumably leaving for Leah's. Aria took that as an indication that she would not be receiving a ride to school with her.

"Someone's certainly grumpy," Quil mumbled mockingly, blushing as Naomi and Michael looked to him with amusement.

The air in the house was lighter with everyone inside knowing about the secret, and Aria tried to soak in every moment of that simple happiness- laughing with the boys and her parents, savoring the chocolate-chip pancakes that her mother made specially for her birthday. In those moments, it seemed like everything was somehow, in a very strange way, coming back together.

As breakfast came to a close, Aria found herself jammed into the backseat of Jacob's Rabbit with Quil at her side. They had only just pulled into the school's parking lot when she and him began fighting.

"No!" Aria laughed, pounding at his chest. She had made it only a step away from the car when he had swept her off of her feet and began carrying her bridal-style.

They had only just made it inside when Mrs. Oonagh appeared, as if on cue, and ordered him to put her down.

Spending lunch with the majority of the boys was both unsettling and as easy as breathing. She found herself laughing along with most of their jokes and stories, and even sharing smiles with Kim from across the table, each seated by their respective imprint. And as the day carried on, Aria grew more and more comfortable at the idea of that being her new normal. Kim's words from the previous day rang in her head each time she looked at Embry smiling or met his eyes- ever swimming with that emotion saved just for her- and she found herself understanding them more each time.

That night, as her mother and Emily bustled about cooking her birthday dinner, she sat back beside her father on the couch and found herself resting her head against the side of his arm.

"Everything turns out alright after all, I'm telling ya," he murmured, rubbing a calloused hand on her own. She nodded lazily against his arm and smiled.

The front door opened, and Seth came toppling in, legs suddenly too long for the rest of his body, and his smile bright enough to light up even the darkest of corners. Harry came in behind him, a gift tucked beneath his burly arm, and a smile that reminded Aria of where Seth's had originated from. Her Aunt Sue had an armful of food and sweets and quickly joined her mother in the kitchen. And then came Leah, her frown deeply etched into her beautiful features. Aria found herself narrowing her eyes at her for only a moment before deciding to ignore her and her surliness.

With the rest of the family, including Eli, in attendance, they began the night.

To her surprise, when it was time for dinner, Eli slid into the seat beside her with a smile, and Emily took the other. Having them on both sides of her made her chest warm. Her father and Uncle Harry sat at either end of the table, Leah and her sister directly across, and her mother; Aunt Sue; and Seth squeezed in around the edges. And while their elbows bumped occasionally, and their voices filled the lower half of the house with noise, Aria relished in it all. She couldn't remember the last time her family had felt so whole.

After dinner was finished, Emily and her mother began setting up for dessert, bringing an array of sweets to the table.

"Oh!" Naomi exclaimed, pointing at the dish in Emily's hand, "is that what I think it is?" She smiled knowingly and Emily nodded happily.

"I wasn't even planning on making them, but Sam loves them and wanted some around the house, so I thought 'why not,' ya know?"

The carelessness of her words caught up to her within seconds, and her mouth clamped into a thin line, the roughness of her scars puckering one corner.

"Are you serious?"

Leah's voice cracked through the room like a bolt of lightning, and Aria even noticed Seth flinch in his seat. The older girl was standing, shoulders squared towards Emily, in a flash.

"Oh Leah," Emily frowned, her voice pitchy with regret, "don't do this on Aria's birthday, don't-"

"Do you think it's funny to just come in here and, and," Leah's face was growing red with anger, "and show off the perfect little life you've created with my boyfriend? He was my boyfriend and you couldn't stop with just stealing him from me, but now you come over and just let it slip about what baked goods he likes in the house? Just shove those stupid tarts right in my face and call it a night, and-"

"Leah!" Aunt Sue finally yelled, standing up from her seat at the table.

Aria noticed in that moment that her brother had as well, and he glanced at her with furrowed eyebrows. She raised one at him in turn.

"It's not Leah's fault that Emily had to come and ruin things," Reanna murmured, all eyes shooting to her.

"You still can't mind your own business?"

The words left Aria's mouth before she even had time to register the thought itself, but her sister turned to her with such anger that she knew they had passed by her lips.

"And you're still defending her after what she did?"

"Yeah!" Leah had turned on her too, "some cousin you are, taking her side!"

"Leah!" Uncle Harry stood, her father mirroring his movements. "That is more than enough."

"Is it? Is it more than enough?" Leah's face was getting redder again. "I thought it was enough when my boyfriend broke up with me, and then I really thought it was enough when he started chasing after my cousin, and then I really that it was enough when she started dating him," she was shaking more and more with each word that she spat, and Aria's heart was suddenly racing at the resemblance it bore to something she had seen so long ago. "... and somehow none of those things were enough, but now she's here and she's-"

In what seemed like the blink of an eye, Eli was launching himself across the table at Leah, and the lines of her very existence were blurring, and Aunt Sue was grabbing Reanna out of the way. Aria felt her father's arms pulling her backwards, and then there was the sound of shredding fabric and splintering wood and Reanna's screaming in fear at what had transpired just feet in front of her.

And then, where Leah and Eli had been just moments before the room had imploded, a gray wolf was rearing about the room, wiping out everything in its wake. Eli, with a splattering of blood dripping down his arm, was backing up from the wolf, arms stretched and palms flexed outwards toward it.

"What the hell!" Seth yelled, backing up against the refrigerator. Aria could clearly make out the lines of tears running down his face.

"Leah," Eli snarled, "you need to get out of the house, now! Oh my God."

Aria's eyes, previously fixated on the beast wreaking havoc on her entryway, scanned around the table and landed on her Uncle Harry as his hands came to claw at his own chest, his mouth opening and closing without even a whisper escaping.

"Oh my God!"

She couldn't tell if it was her mother or Aunt Sue who had screamed, as both were rushing towards him in an instant. Eli had Leah nearly out of the house when Reanna's screams began again, Emily then wrapping her arms around the girl from behind, holding her against her chest.

Uncle Harry had fallen to the floor, and Aria's father was on the phone- no doubt calling 911- when Seth's voice broke through the chaos again.

"Dad! Dad! What's happening? What happened to Leah? What-"

His words were lost in a yelp as his body contorted and blurred, and suddenly he was a wolf, and Reanna and Emily were both screaming, and all Aria could do was stand there with her hand clamped over her mouth and miraculous streams of saltwater raining down her cheeks.