Hey there! I hate the word 'fluff', but this chapter is pretty full of it. Also some minor to medium mature content. Fair warning for both. Since Katie and Seth have virtually no experience, it's been fun to write their first encounters as awkward learning experiences for them as a couple.
Katie
I slam my textbook shut with a frustrated sigh. It attracts the attention of several other students in the library. Although it's April, it's still a few weeks too far from finals to be this distraught over studying. Another week or two, though, and no one would have looked twice.
I finish off my now-cold coffee, staring down at the textbook in front of me. It feels pointless to try with my education classes. They were empty credits now. Only a handful of them would count as electives for my new major. The rest were, as my new advisor had put it, useful for expanding my horizons in other ways. Right.
I don't regret it, though. A weight I didn't know I'd been carrying lifted off my shoulders when I sent in my transfer request, complete with my intent to major in Photomedia. That same day, I deposited the prize money and hardly waited for it to clear before I purchased a new lens for my camera. I mailed it straight to La Push.
I consider opening my textbook again – I do still need to pass my classes for my scholarship to transfer.
But I just really don't feel like doing it now. I eye the clock hanging above the wall. I still have close to an hour before my next Thursday class. I should have savored my coffee instead of draining it. Seth's still working, and going to my apartment was pointless if I just had to turn around and come back for my last class.
With another sigh, softer this time, I stand from my table and make my way to the stairwell. I pull my phone from my pocket and force myself to make the call I've been dreading, to a number I've never had a need to call before.
"Hello?" Edward's voice fills my ear.
"Hi, Edward. It's Katie."
"Ah, hello Katie. How are you today?" I try not to think about how smug he sounds. I wonder if Alice had already seen the moment I'd decided.
"I'm okay, thanks," I say. "How are you?" I prompt as a way to prolong the part of this conversation that would undoubtedly make me uncomfortable.
He chuckles. "I'm well, thank you."
I wait for Edward to say something else, but he doesn't. He's going to make me bring it up. "I've been thinking about your offer," I finally say. I must sound so cryptic.
"Oh? And?" He asks, even though his tone assures me that he already knows what I've chosen.
I'm thankful I called him. If we were in person, he'd be able to see how much discomfort this conversation is causing me. Hear how much I really don't want to do this in my head.
But Seth did want to do this. He was excited about the possibility of having a nice, "real honeymoon", and not just something we'd slapped together with what spare change we had, which for me, was virtually none. And if this was something I – or Edward – could fix, I was willing to try and get over myself just a little bit.
"It's very generous. Too generous, obviously, but..." I trail off, looking down at my clunky rain boots. "I'd like to accept it," I finally mumble, embarrassment flaming on my cheeks. I press my free hand to the side of my face to try and squelch it. "Thank you again," I add.
"It's my pleasure. Did you have anything special in mind?"
He starts spouting off far-away, expensive-sounding locations. Tahiti, Fiji, the Maldives. The thought makes my skin crawl. Baby steps are okay, right? They're going to have to be.
"Something continental, please," I interrupt. And for good measure, although I'm not sure it matters if the Cullens are as wealthy as Seth claims, I add, "I don't have a passport."
"Of course," he says. "I'll speak with Seth. We'll take care of it."
"Thanks," I say, because I'm not really sure what else there is to say.
Edward asks, "Are the rest of your wedding plans coming along? If you need help, I'm sure Alice would be happy to lend a hand."
It was Leah, not Seth, that had warned me of Alice's tendencies to go overboard. "They're coming along well. My mom and Sue have a handle on things, I think. I'm just planning to show up."
He chuckles into the receiver, and even over the phone, it sounds like wind chimes. "Glad to hear it. And Katie, if you need help with anything, just call. I consider Seth a part of my family. That now extends to you."
Fresh embarrassment surfaces on my cheekbones. "Thanks, Edward. Talk soon," I say before ending the call hastily and heading back to my dreaded textbook.
When I walk through the front door after my last class, my stomach is grumbling. Ashley's hunched over, peering into the fridge. Great minds think alike.
"Hey, can we order Chinese? We have no food," she says, letting it swing shut.
I shrug as I drop my backpack on the floor by the couch, falling back into the well-worn cushions. "That's fine. Is Devon going to be here?"
"No, he's got a thing. Why?" she asks.
"No reason," I say, staring at the stucco ceiling.
"Katie," she says, her tone telling me my lie was not well-received or believed. Ashley sits on the arm of the couch and looks down at me. "Do you have a problem with him?"
I purse my lips. Ashley told me once that my conflict resolution style is avoidance. That's obviously true; I've been trying to avoid this conversation altogether until I moved out.
"Well?" She prompts.
With a sigh, I finally sit up and meet her heavy eye contact. "Devon's great. It's not a problem with him…" I trail off, but she kicks my foot, and it forces me to laugh dryly at her insistence. "It's more of the two of you together," I say.
Ashley's mouth twists into a smirk. "Too loud for you?"
Blood rushes to my cheeks. "It just…"
"Spit it out, K," she laughs.
"It makes it hard for me to not jump Seth's bones," I mumble.
She giggles, but then she progresses into full blown cackling.
"I'm glad this is funny for some of us," I say, standing to my feet and brushing past her. She's still doubled over in hysterics by the time I return with the menu for the Chinese place. "Pick something," I say, waving the menu in her face.
She wipes away her amused tears as she swipes the menu from my hand. "I thought you said you guys were 'exploring each other' or something," she says with a haphazard air quote as she browses the menu.
I drop my eyes to my hand briefly, twirling my engagement ring with my thumb. "Explored, past tense, one time, him only."
"That's boring," she says, pulling out her phone and dialing the number printed on the front of the pamphlet.
Ashley doesn't ask me what I want. She doesn't need to – it's the same thing every time. She rattles off our address and order to the person on the phone.
"Don't forget the—"
"And an order of spicy pot stickers, please," she interrupts, rolling her eyes at me as she listens to the response.
When Ashley's finished with the phone call, she slides down onto the cushion next me and continues our conversation without missing a beat. "Why hasn't he returned the favor?"
And just like that, my blush returns with a vengeance. "It's not like he lives alone, Ash."
She scoffs. "I don't live alone either," she says, eyes twinkling.
"Yeah, and this whole conversation started because of how uncomfortable that makes me. I don't want to do that to Leah."
"You're not uncomfortable because of me, you're uncomfortable because you have pent-up sexual tension."
I chuckle. "Is that from your sex psychology class?"
She grins. "Tell me I'm wrong, though."
I drag my teeth across my lip but remain quiet.
Ashley reaches for the remote. "The only point I'm trying to make is that God's not going to strike you dead if Seth helps you get off before the wedding. And you're going to have to get over the possibility that your grown-ass roommate or his grown-ass sister might hear it. Especially if you're still going to have to live with her after the wedding."
It wasn't a possibility that Leah could hear us, it was a certainty that she would. But Ashley doesn't know that. So instead I say, "That's a lot of 'only points.'"
"And they're all so valid," she says with a laugh, flipping to her favorite TV channel. "But if it makes you feel any better, it's my dad's birthday on Sunday, so I'm going home this weekend."
It's an Olympia weekend. I'll be alone with Seth – for the first time in nearly a month, since the late night in his bedroom when I'd surprised even myself.
My heart thuds, and I try to control my voice as I respond. "It might make me feel a little better."
I do not feel better, however, when I wake up at four in the morning with severe stomach cramps.
I try to ignore it, thinking I'll be able to fall back asleep. But I feel my stomach churning, and the back of my throat is thick with saliva. I barely make it to the bathroom, and after I'm finished hurling I'm so spent that I don't even bother getting up off my knees.
My body is coated in a fine layer of sweat. I try to kick my sweatpants off without jostling my stomach. It doesn't work, and I end up hunched back over the toilet as a result. Great. So begins a vicious cycle.
When Ashley enters the bathroom a few hours later, surprise coats her voice as she asks, "Are you okay?"
"Sick," I moan, not lifting my head off the cool tile floor. I'd just started flirting with sleep again thirty minutes ago.
"You're not pregnant, are you?" she asks, hand frozen on the doorknob.
I want to laugh, but I think the movement would agitate my stomach again. "Har, har," I say instead, sitting up slowly.
"Something you ate? Your sweet and sour—"
"Don't talk about food," I groan in interruption.
"What do you need?" she asks instead, helping me to my feet.
I shake my head slightly. "Just gonna go back to bed."
She thrusts the bathroom trashcan into my hands as a parting gift.
When I make it to my bed, I pull my phone from the charger and dial Seth's number.
"Hi babe! Good morning," he greets much too cheerfully. I can hear his smile.
Even his enthusiasm is not enough to stifle my responding groan. "No, it's not." I pull my blanket up over my eyes to stop the light from coming in.
"What's the matter?" He asks, concern replacing his eagerness.
"I'll only tell you if you promise not to say 'I told you so.'"
He doesn't miss a beat. "Promise."
Despite the fact that no part of this feels funny, I am nearly chuckling as I say, "I think I got food poisoning from that Chinese restaurant."
Seth sighs deeply. "Aw, Katie, I'm sorry." The way he says my name is soothing to me. "What can I do?"
"You don't have to do anything. But I just wanted to let you know so you don't come down tonight."
"Is Ashley going to be there?" he asks.
I'm not sure why he's asking, so I'm not sure if I need to hedge my answer or not. "No," I finally say.
"Then I'll see you in a little bit, okay? I'll take off today and be up there in an hour or so."
"No!" I exclaim, sitting up. The fast movement causes my stomach to flip, and I only just have my head over the trash can before I heave into it.
When I'm finished, I lay back slowly, trying not to mess up my stomach again. "Sorry," I say, wiping my mouth with the back of my hand. "Seth, I really don't want you to see me like this."
He has the audacity to chuckle into the receiver. "You're going to be my wife in two months, Katie. Sickness and health."
It's hard to fight the smile that comes to my face. "Doesn't apply yet," I say, though I know I'm fighting a losing battle.
"Go back to sleep and I'll be there when you wake up. But don't forget to email Dr. Cutler about missing class. She won't accept your homework otherwise, right?"
And I totally would have forgotten. God, I love this man. "Right," I say, rolling over carefully and grabbing my laptop from my nightstand. "I love you. Thank you."
"Love you too. Sleep tight," he finishes.
As instructed, I send a quick email to my professors. I don't even bother waiting to make sure they send before my eyes are closed again.
A scorching hand on my cheek wakes me up. When I muster enough energy to open my eyes, Seth is crouched down next to the bed.
"Hey there," he murmurs, pushing my damp hair back from my face.
I give him a feeble smile. "Hi," I croak. My throat is raw.
He holds out a bottle of water for me, cap already unscrewed. Over his shoulder I see his duffle bag in its usual place.
After I take a small sip of water, I ask, "Is my front door broken?"
He chuckles, moving my laptop to my nightstand and takings its place by my knees. "No, I ran into Ashley. She gave me her key."
I eye the clock on my nightstand, and the time makes me raise an eyebrow. "Ran into Ashley all the way across campus?"
Seth's mouth twists into a grin. "You were still sleeping. I had some time."
The water seems to be treating me well, so I take more greedy chugs.
"Katie, go slow," Seth urges, but it's too late. This time when I heave into the trashcan, Seth is there to hold my hair back.
Sweat coats my skin again by the time I'm finished puking, and I throw back my comforter, feebly kicking it away from my body.
Seth's ears go pink, and he diverts his eyes.
"What?" I ask, terrified I'd gotten my period, or worse, that it was that kind of food poisoning.
When I look down, though, my face flushes. I forgot I'd taken off my pants. "Sorry, I was hot," I mumble, reaching for the blanket again.
"You are hot," he corrects, grabbing my wrist to stop me from covering myself before standing. My cheeks burn, and now I'm the one to break eye contact. I feel heat spread down my neck, and as he steps toward my dresser, he says, "You have a fever."
"Are you flirting with me, Seth Clearwater?" I ask, watching him open my bottom dresser drawer and pull out a pair of pajama shorts. Although I try to match his playful tone, my raw throat just makes it sound pathetic.
He chuckles as he takes two of his large steps back to my bedside. "Definitely not," he says, and my eyes grow wide as he gingerly lifts my leg by the calf, guiding my foot through the hole of the shorts. "If I was," he continues as he lifts my other foot. "I hopefully wouldn't be putting on your clothes."
Despite feeling like garbage right now, my stomach twists in a different way as his hands pull the fabric up my legs. I try to tell myself that my illness is the reason that my heart is pounding violently in my chest. It's a bad lie.
My hands meet his when they reach my thighs, and I pull the fabric the rest of the way up on my own. "This isn't how I expected our weekend alone to go," I mumble in agreement.
He smiles, taking a seat next to me again. "Can I get you anything?"
"Will you lay with me?"
He struggles to hide his smile. "Are you sure?"
"Yes," I say. And to attempt to hide my own enthusiasm at lying next to him again after five days, I add, "It will help my fever break."
Seth has never taken so much care before when crawling into bed. If I hadn't watched him, I wouldn't have known he'd already done it.
Once I'm settled into his chest, making sure not to jostle my stomach, I sigh with content as he kisses my forehead.
"Edward said you called," he says, tracing patterns lightly into my shoulder.
I'm glad from our position that he can't see my face. "Yeah."
"I wasn't sure if you would or not," he says. "I know it was hard for you."
I shrug. "Not just about me, right? You deserve a nice honeymoon, too," I mumble against his chest.
He settles in closer to me. "So what else do we need to do?"
I know he's talking about the wedding, but my stomach is finally not churning, and my eyes are heavy. "Sleep sounds nice," I say quietly.
Seth chuckles and nods against my head. I drift back to sleep.
Judging by the way my hair sticks to my face when I wake up, my fever has broken. I feel disgusting.
"Good afternoon, beautiful," Seth says. "Feeling better?"
I sit up slowly, grabbing the water on my nightstand. I take two small sips – I learned my lesson before. "To be determined."
Seth props up on his elbow. "Do you want to try and eat anything?"
I take an inventory of my stomach – I missed breakfast, and I'm dangerously close to missing lunch too. "Maybe after I shower."
He nods eagerly. "I'll make you toast," he says, kissing my temple.
I laugh, allowing myself one more minute of his touch before I make my way to the shower.
When I spot myself in the mirror, I'm mortified. I look like a zombie. I know I didn't imagine Seth calling me beautiful after I woke up, but now I'm concerned that he's going blind.
I have dark circles ringing both of my eyes, likely from my slapped-together sleep schedule for the last twelve hours. And it looks like some of the blood vessels around my eyes have burst. My hair is damp and matted down around my face and on my neck.
A picture of beauty, truly.
I take a nice cool shower, because if I'm going to be around Seth, I'd like to have at least some chance of not sweating. I brush my teeth thoroughly – twice.
I'd been so out of it on my way to the shower that I'd forgotten my robe or clothes. Please, God, let Seth be in the kitchen.
I pull my towel tighter around me and swing open the door. And there's Seth, just standing there like a deer in the headlights, about to knock. My face fills with color. Is God even real? If so, He's making it pretty hard on me and my hormones, especially as I watch Seth's dark eyes scan me from head to toe.
It's intense enough to make my heart skip a beat.
"I'm sorry, I—I didn't know where you moved the toaster," he says, ears going pink as he looks down at the floor. "It was on the counter last time."
I swallow the lump in my throat before I can answer. "Cabinet to the left of the sink. Behind the coffee."
"Right," he says, not lifting his eyes again as he makes his way back to the kitchen. I slink to my room and shut the door behind me, face blazing.
We spend the rest of the day doing nothing – Seth scrounges something together for his own dinner, and I eat more toast, not wanting to risk my progress on anything heavier. We watch movies on TV and I fall asleep against Seth's chest. This would likely go down in history as the most boring weekend Seth's spent in Olympia so far.
By lunch time on Saturday, I'm starving, ready for some actual food.
When I open the fridge, however, I'm almost blinded by all the white space – it's nearly empty. Now I remember why Ashley and I had gotten Chinese in the first place. It was my turn to go to the grocery, and that was usually a 'Friday before Seth comes over' thing.
"I'll go, if you want," Seth says softly as he leans against the counter next to me. "To the grocery, I mean."
I pull back. "Really?"
He nods, enthusiastically and says, "Of course, Katie. Whatever you need."
I'm putty in his hands when he says my name. "Sure, if you want. That would be really helpful," I say, taking a step forward and winding my arms around his waist. "You're not going to let me pay for them, are you?" I ask, even though I already know the answer.
He chuckles into my hair. "At least you're learning. You've made so much progress this week."
"How are you feeling?" Seth asks during a commercial break later that night.
"I kept lunch and dinner down. I think those are good signs," I say, leaning up to give him a peck on the jaw. "No fever. No stomach cramps. Food poisoning over," I say, placing another kiss on the corner of his mouth.
He captures my lips with his own then, and the taste makes my head spin. This is the first time he's kissed me – really kissed me – since he's been here. I appreciate the sentiment, that he didn't kiss me until I was recovered. But I'm better now, and it's been far too long.
His thumb strokes my jaw, and my own fingers dig into the collar of his shirt, begging him closer.
He obliges quickly, pulling my legs across his lap and leaving his hand on my thigh. His touch, his warm mouth coaxing mine to open, already has me hot and heavy.
I brush my tongue across his bottom lip, and he blows a hot breath across my lips as his tongue meets mine in slow but deliberate strokes.
I am molten under his touch, my body already responding with the telltale signs of my attraction to him. My pulse races as he continues to work his lips against mine.
Seth whispers my name against my lips. It's enough to send a fresh jolt of electricity to my core, and I press my legs together upon instinct, trying to create friction.
He rips his lips from mine, only to reattach them to my throat. My head rolls back at the sensation, and he takes the opportunity to drag his tongue lower.
My hands ghost down his chest, finding the hem of his shirt and pushing it up his torso. He breaks contact with my neck only as long as it takes him to discard his shirt, and then his lips are back on mine.
I want him to touch me, but I know he won't without a little guidance. Maybe this is one of those scenarios where 'show, don't tell' comes into play. Or maybe I'm scared to open my mouth and fumble over my words.
All I know is that I'm thinking entirely too much. So I reach down and pull his palm from my thigh, directing it to my chest instead.
He groans into my mouth, and that's all the instruction he needs, giving my breast a gentle squeeze and then a more heated one right after.
The sensation causes me to whimper into his mouth, and his tongue fights back with mine, more passionate than before.
I hook my fingers around his shoulders, pulling him down into me, and we become a jumble of limbs as we fall back onto the couch.
Seth's hands are all over me now, and his touch leaves a blazing trail of desire in its wake. He draws my bottom lip between his teeth and bites down.
I moan loud, without care of who might be in the hallway outside, and I drag my hands down the musculature of his back. He sucks on my swollen lip, still trapped between his teeth.
I need more, need him closer to the part of my body that's the most heated, the part he's lit on fire without even touching. I pull one leg from under him and hook it around his waist, forcing him closer to that very place.
He groans at the sensation, releasing my lip only to bite down on my neck lightly instead.
"Seth," I pant, "please."
"Please what?" He rasps against my neck, grinding his hips down to mine. "What do you want, Katie?" he asks, cupping my breast. "Anything."
His touch makes it hard to concentrate on anything. When he grinds into me again and I feel him pressed hard against my leg, I gasp. So many thin layers, it would be so easy…
Focus, Katie. "Touch me," I choke out. "Please."
Seth's responding growl sends a hot wave of lust rushing through my body, and his hand drags down my stomach. His teeth, his biting, his growl are all so animalistic. So wolf. It's in stark contrast to the sweet and enthusiastic Seth I'm used to.
I'm surprised at the reaction it has on my body. My legs open wider, almost of their own accord, and I can feel every one of my heartbeats, concentrated directly between my legs. I whimper, writhing under him as his hand ghosts across the waistband of my shorts.
His lips find mine again just as he presses his palm between my legs. The fabric is thin enough that I feel like I'm on fire, burning from the inside out. Or maybe that's just Seth.
With a gasp, I buck into his hand, chasing more pressure.
He pulls back from my lips, and I can feel his eyes on me, even though my own are closed, too heavy with longing to keep them open as he massages my core.
"Like this?" he asks huskily.
I want to answer immediately, say yes, because he's touching me in my most sensitive place, and it does feel good. But I also feel like he's teasing me. Same neighborhood, different street. And how's he supposed to know that if I don't tell him?
"Can you go lower?" I ask, embarrassment surfacing on my cheekbones as I look into his eyes.
He reaches up with his free hand to brush his fingertips across the color there. "It's a weird angle," he admits, his ears going red to match my cheeks.
"We could lay down in bed," I suggest.
He says, "This is breaking so many rules." He pulls his hand away from my center, and I involuntarily chase it with my hips, thrusting into him. He'd done the same thing when the roles had been reversed – I get it now.
I start to say, "We were in bed when—" but then his hands move to the backs of my thighs, nearly on my butt, and he pulls me back up with him as he stands to his feet.
My heart pounds against his chest, and I bring my lips to his with force as he walks us to my bedroom. I wrap my legs around his waist, missing the heat he'd given me there.
When my back hits the mattress, it takes me a second to get my bearings through the fog settling in over my brain, especially as Seth crawls up my body and sucks at my neck again. God, help me. I gulp audibly.
He chuckles against my neck as he shifts his weight over to the side and slides an arm under me before resuming his movements from earlier.
"Oh," I breathe. This is much improved.
"Better?" he asks against my throat before sucking lightly at the skin there.
I can only whimper and nod. My fingertips ghost across his back, and my other hand clutches at the muscles of his chest.
"Tell me what you like, Katie," he whispers against my neck, voice like gravel as he feels my heat through my shorts.
Did I have this effect on him? Did my words do the same thing to his body? I have no room for embarrassment now as I reach down and guide his hands to the right spot, moving his fingers against me like they were my own.
Eager to please, Seth takes over my movements quickly. My own hand now rendered useless, I flatten my palm against my stomach. My breaths are already jagged, but when Seth reaches with the arm underneath me to cup my breast, there are so many sensations all at once that I moan.
I just barely feel pressure start to coil in my stomach. I still need more – more of Seth. I know what part my body is longing for; at least he's lucid enough to not let it go that far. Because I'm not sure I could tell him no.
I'm still thinking too much, and so far, the only thing I've found that turns my brain off completely is Seth. Before I can overthink it, I reach down and move his hand to the waistband of my shorts.
He groans into my neck, sliding his hand past the waistband of my shorts and panties with no hesitation, and when he touches me, finally without a barrier, all I can manage is a whimper as my heart pumps at an alarming rate.
"How's this?" He asks. So earnest in his wish to please me, even as I feel his length pressed into my hip.
I nod, wrapping my fingers around his bicep. "It feels so good," I breathe, and I'm sure the color from my cheeks has spread down my neck and chest. Every part of my body feels charged.
My words cause Seth to pick up his pace, and I feel the spring in my stomach coiling tighter with every circle of his fingers. He squeezes my breast harder, thumb and index finger zeroing in on my nipple. How does he know my body so well already? Wolf thing? Seth and Katie thing? I can't find it in me to care, especially as he pinches my nipple harder.
I gasp, digging my fingernails in to his forearm.
"Sorry," he mumbles, slowing his movements on my center and releasing his grip on my breast.
"Don't stop," I moan, bucking into his hand. I fumble for his hand and bring it back to my chest, breathless from my desire. "Please, Seth, I'm so close," I say, throwing my head back on the pillow.
He groans, placing a sloppy kiss below my jaw as he squeezes my nipple again. He moves his fingers in a frenzy. "God, Katie, you're so sexy," he growls into my ear, and I feel the vibrations deep in my stomach.
It's enough to tip me over the edge, and I fall apart under his hands, his lips on my throat.
I'm not sure how long I writhe underneath him. My pleasure feels infinite. When my senses finally return to me, Seth pulls back, and he's doing a bad job of fighting his grin.
God, if he did that with his fingers, what could his mouth do? And what about— I blow out a long breath to clear my head, and say, "We might end up needing a chaperone after all."
Seth's phone alarm wakes me up much too early the next morning.
"D'you have work or something?" I mumble.
He chuckles, turning off the alarm and rising to his feet. "No, but let's get ready."
"Why?" I say, flipping onto my stomach and burying my head into the pillow.
Seth rubs my back, and I can't tell if he's trying to coax me out of bed or back to sleep. "It's not raining. Not even cloudy. So we're getting food and coffee, and we're going to Sunrise Beach for a breakfast picnic," he says.
I peek over my shoulder, and even in the dark, Seth's enthusiastic smile beams back at me. It's the only thing that forces my feet to the floor.
According to Seth, we make it to the beach twenty minutes before sunrise, which is perfect timing.
After my first bite of food, I'm finally conscious enough to ask, "Have you been checking horizon times and the weather every weekend since I told you how much I liked sunrises?"
He shrugs, but his smile gives him away. "You don't have that many more chances to see them here."
I nod, taking a sip of my coffee. "Four weeks."
Four weeks. There were three weeks until the semester was over, which left me a week to pack up my life in Olympia and haul it all down to La Push before our lease runs out. Ashley's moving in with Devon.
"So you're still okay with the plan?" he asks through a bite of one of his many breakfast sandwiches.
"Yeah," I say. "I'm excited. I even started looking at some jobs. There's a few openings at Peninsula Daily News in Port Angeles. I thought about that. Or the diner in Forks."
He nods enthusiastically. "The one where we had our first date."
We drink our coffee and eat our breakfast and watch the sunrise, and I fall tremendously more in love.