AN

There will be a couple of chapters overseas for these two to get a bit closer, and we'll start seeing some major progression, as well! I'm so excited, but I have to admit that I kind of want to get it out quick so they're at home with the pack again.

I also wanted to focus on Nessie and Jacob a lot in this story, seeing as Seth is such a part of Nessie's family and so close to Jacob, but I think Seth deserves the majority of the story for himself, and I'm kind of itching to write another story focused on our hybrid and alpha alongside these guys. Let me know if you're interested in something that will fit in with our story line here but focused on other couples! It would be my dream to write one for each of the imprinted couples, like I used to do back in the day on my other account.

I'd triple-checked I'd packed everything by five in the morning. My sleep had been restless, with the excitement of the unknown adventure I had ahead of me. I'd spent the majority of the time between light, short sleeps wondering if Daisy was awake, tossing and turning as I was. I hadn't wanted to message and see if she was awake, just in case I bothered her.

Leah was still asleep when I grabbed my suitcase and headed to the front door, leaving a note on the fridge to let her know I loved her and I hoped her Christmas went okay. It was the first time I'd be away from my sister during the holiday period, and while I knew I would be distracted from missing her, Leah had nothing but her usual life to keep her busy.

There was no one on the roads as I traveled out to Forks. The sun wouldn't rise until Daisy and I were an hour into our trip up to Seattle.

Daisy was on the phone when I arrived. She unlocked the door, holding her finger to her lips to keep me quiet with a conspiratorial grin on her face. The voice on the other end caught my attention – slightly lower than Daisy's, without the child-like ring, but with the exact same cadences and pronunciation on certain words. They spoke exactly the same way, and I knew who it was without asking.

"Well, I'm packing right now. I'm almost done. And then I'm on my first flight in…" she tapped on the screen to check the time. "Five hours."

"I'm so excited to see you! And Noah's excited, too. You should see how big he's gotten!"

"I've packed a present for him." Daisy told her sister, ducking into the bathroom to grab her toothbrush and a few bottles of skin care products.

"Well, mum told you I have to tell you to be safe. Don't talk to any strangers, and don't freak out and miss either of the aeroplanes. And she said to try to make friends during the flight, she's worried you'll sit there scared and ignore your neighbors."

"I'll talk to whoever's sitting next to me." She grinned up at me, and I raised an eyebrow. "Nena, I have to go. I'll see you soon, okay?"

"Message me from the airport! I'll probably be awake when you get home, so don't worry about it when you come in. Mum's determined to stay up for you, but we know how she is."

"I have a key, anyway. Don't wait up if you're tired. Love you."

"Love you most! See you soon!"

"Sorry," she rolled her eyes as she hung up the phone. "She's a little bit excited."

"She talks the same way you do," I told her, taking a seat next to her beside the suitcase in the middle of the hall. "Do they not know I'm coming with you?"

"Not mum and Nena, I'd never hear the end of it. I thought it best to just wait until we were there. I couldn't deal with all the sly comments if I said I was bringing a guy to meet them."

"Are you sure they're going to be okay with me staying?" I knew we'd be staying at her mother's house for at least a couple of days, and I didn't want to do anything that would put my imprint in a bad light.

Daisy scoffed. "Seth, my twenty-year old sister had a baby to a thirty-two year old cocaine dealer, who most of the family thought was a wonderful person. Which he wasn't. I don't think my mum will be worried about you at all."

I raised my eyebrows in surprise at that comment. I hadn't heard there was more to the story than her sister being too unorganized with her life to have a child.

"Okay," she raised quickly from her spot on the floor and pointed at certain spaces in her bag. "Dresses, shoes, skirts, shirts, swimmers, toiletries, phone charger, presents…" she checked through the large fabric shoulder bag beside her tiny suit case. "Book, pens, face wipes, shorts…I think I'm done."

"You pack light." I complimented, impressed. I'd expected her to go overboard.

"I'm really good at travelling," she told me with a smirk. "Not to mention, I didn't need to cram in a heap of coats and tights to get me through cold weather."

I helped her carry our things to the little yellow car and hopped in my truck when she reversed it out of the drive. I pulled in after her, turning off the engine and locking it for the next couple of weeks.

Daisy left her car on the street outside of her house and walked back inside with me, throwing my keys in a drawer in her coffee table. Then she sat down on the couch, pulling Hugo until he fell heavily onto her chest.

"I'm going to miss you so, so much," she said sadly, kissing him on the forehead multiple times and closing her eyes as she rested her forehead against his. He stared up at her with large eyes that looked way too young for a three-year-old dog, listening to her intently "You're going to have so much fun with Poppy, aren't you? Be good for Stacey and Paula. But not too good, because Stacey keeps threatening not to give you back when I'm home. I'll see you in a couple of weeks." She kissed him again, wrapping her arms around him so tightly Hugo should have resisted, but he didn't. He let her sigh into his fur, breathing him in as if it was years they would be going without seeing each other. "Stacey's going to come get you in a few hours. I'll get you a carrot, and then have a nap until she's here, okay?"

Hugo's ears perked up at the sound of the word 'carrot', and he followed her into the kitchen excitedly, sitting for her and grabbing the vegetable out of her hands quickly.

She sighed and followed me back to the front door. "He's not even going to miss me."

"Of course he will," I insisted. "He'll be all over you when we get back."

"He'd better be, or he's going back to the shelter." She joked, frowning at the large dog as he chewed the carrot to pieces on her clean living room carpet. She fiddled with her keys, opening the door and letting me walk out first. "Let's do this."

We had a three hour drive to Seattle, then a two-and-a-half hour flight to Los Angeles, where we would wait for an hour before boarding to fly directly to Sydney. We bought burgers on the drive up, talked comfortably about anything we could think of, and played a game Daisy said she was the master of.

"You have to think of a person, and I have to ask yes or no questions until I guess who it is."

She was remarkably good at it. She usually guessed within ten questions or so, and I was trying to be difficult. I was struck with a reminder of Edward's ability to read people, but I supposed she was just very lucky. She laughed each time I gave up in frustration.

I watched her draw on the short flight to Los Angeles. She curled patterns around with different colored pens, making a mess of her pages before filling the squiggles out with leafy and floral designs, creating rainbow forests and gardens, turning the pages over to start another as if they weren't works of art. It was fascinating to watch her draw, creating such detailed images as they fell straight out of her mind.

We grabbed a pastry and a coffee each in LAX, or in Daisy's case, her usual cup of black tea. We didn't have a long enough stop over to manage lunch, but we'd be eating three meals on the next flight. Daisy lugged her carry-on over one shoulder, not allowing me to help carry it. She'd dressed in layers, a high-waisted pair of loose white pants, thick socks and boots and a t-shirt, jacket and coat. She told me she would be losing the pants and boots as soon as we arrived in Sydney and changing into shorts. I was in my usual jeans and t-shirt, and I intended to stay in them until we got to her mother's house.

We boarded the second flight, the airplane much larger this time. She insisted I take the window seat, and no one filled the space to her right. We were waiting for takeoff when a young man handing out bottles of water stopped at our seats.

"Daisy Wilkins-Jones?" His Australian accent was a little rougher than my imprint's.

"That's me," she grinned up at him. I studied him curiously.

"We just wanted to say that we hope you have a great flight, and we'll be taking a look to see if there's any more comfortable seats that we could upgrade you to when everyone's finished boarding. And please let us know if there's anything we can get you."

"Thank you so much." She smiled warmly, and he wished us a good flight.

I threw her a puzzled glance. "Is this where you tell me you're famous, or something?"

She giggled. "No, my aunt and uncle get them to do that at the beginning of every flight. Usually I don't know who's sitting next to me, and they spend the rest of the time being really friendly. It's less fun with you here."

"Do they ever upgrade you to First Class?" I could only imagine how the leg room up there could compare to this joke I was going to be a part of for the next sixteen hours.

"Nah," she smiled. "I did get moved to Business Class once, but it was only for a four-hour flight. It was fun, though. I told everyone I was an escort."

I choked on my bottle of water, and she laughed loudly, earning us a couple of amused looks from the people in the aisle seats.

We tried to sleep for a few hours after dinner, then gave up and chose the most ridiculous-looking movie the airline was offering. We hit the buttons on both of our screens so that they were playing simultaneously. Daisy held her hand over her face to smother her laugh, smacking my knee at the poor-quality gore on the screen each time someone was ripped to pieces.

We were losing a day on the way over, and I wondered how jet lag affected my body. I'd never gone such a long time travelling before. We were set to get to her house at around three in the morning, so at least we would be able to sleep for a few hours before getting up to properly start our holiday.

"I'm so tired," she yawned widely when the movie was over, turning off her screen and rubbing her eyes. "Will you get bored if I try to get some sleep?"

"Nah, I might try to do the same."

She moved down a seat, so there was a gap in between us. "Move down and put your legs against the wall, you look so uncomfortable." She adjusted one blanket over her lap and rolled the one I'd been given, folding herself in half to lie on top of it over her thighs.

"Were you a contortionist in another life?" I chuckled.

"Ballet dancer for eleven years," she mumbled.

"Jesus Christ, you've literally done everything! What can't you do?"

"I can't tap-dance." She opened one eye at me to study me, waiting for my reply. "You seem pretty good at everything as well, Seth. You're not one to talk."

I snickered to myself, and she closed her eyes again.

There was no way I was getting any sleep on the plane. I leaned against the back of my chair, the arm rest between my two seats raised so I could stretch my legs half-out in front of me. I adjusted myself for the better part of an hour, then Daisy mumbled something, half-asleep, raised herself and rested her head against my shoulder.

So I stayed as still as I could for the next few hours, putting on another movie, and then another, letting her get as much sleep as she could without bothering her.

We landed in Sydney around midnight, Australian time. Daisy and I parted ways to use the bathrooms, and she came back in a tiny pair of bike shorts and the t-shirt she'd been wearing during the flight. She'd given up on her shoes, and I smirked at her bare feet.

"What? You get around without shoes all the time! This is my home turf. Everyone I know would question me if I started wearing shoes."

We waited for our bags to arrive, and she immediately opened hers on the middle of the floor, cramming her jacket and coat in and grabbing out a can of deodorant. She stashed it in her shoulder bag and zipped up the little suitcase, sitting on it to close over her coat.

"Let's go. We'll get an Uber to the train station."

The air outside hit me like a brick wall. The sun had been set for hours, but the air was hot and humid. She breathed in deeply, sighing blissfully. "Smell that? It's all that yellow wattle. Isn't is mouth-watering?"

It was mouth-watering. The rich scent of native plants hung in the air, intensified by the humidity. There were hundreds of people, chatting on phones and walking to and from different doors. We only had to wait a minute or so for the Uber, and our train arrived not two minutes after we got to our platform.

Our carriage was relatively empty, and Daisy chose two long seats that were open to face each other. She put her bag beside her, folding her legs up and grinning at me across the space.

"What do you think, so far?"

"Your trains are lovely," I said, and she giggled. "It's warm, for midnight. I thought I was prepared, but it surprised me a little."

"Just wait for midday, you'll hate it."

We both settled into reading for the commute. Daisy's phone chimed multiple times during the trip, and she told me she was keeping her sister updated on our whereabouts. Her phone rang an hour or so into our trip, and she answered with an excited smile.

"We're just passing through the Central Coast," she waited for a few moments as Nena spoke to her quickly. "Nah, I should get to Cardiff just after two-thirty. Try to get some sleep, okay? Fine, I promise I'll wake you up when I get to the house."

There was a large group of teenagers on the train, talking and joking loudly, intoxicated beyond belief. I watched them curiously as the girls in too-short dresses carried on in front of their boyfriends, causing a scene for us and the other two single passengers scattered about the carriage.

"We should have gotten on the quiet carriage." Daisy smiled apologetically, and I shook my head.

"They're keeping me entertained. This book is dull, anyway."

Our stop was coming up, and Daisy jumped to her feet excitedly, throwing her bag over her shoulder and tugging at the handle on her suitcase. "We'll get another Uber home, it shouldn't take too long. And then you can get some sleep. You look buggered."

I followed her to the doors, waited until the train came to a halt, and followed her out, onto the platform.

"Oh my gosh!" she was tackled by another figure, about half a head taller than her, and I would have grabbed the other person and ripped them right off of her if she hadn't been laughing in surprise. "What are you doing here?!"

"We couldn't sleep, so we wanted to come out and surprise you." An older woman walked toward her, a small baby on her hip and a huge bouquet of sunflowers in her spare hand. The woman was small statured, like Daisy. She had pale skin and dark hair, and I was struck with her narrow eyes, the same bright green as the wide almond-shaped eyes Daisy had herself.

"Hi, mum," Daisy let go of her sister, wrapping her arms around her mother, being careful not to touch her nephew. I smiled awkwardly at her sister as she eyed me curiously.

"Oh! This is Seth," Daisy introduced me distractedly, stepping back from her family to stand beside me. "He's from the town over from where I'm living."

"Hello, Seth," Nena grinned at me, eyeing me up and down. "Daisy didn't say she was bringing anyone with her."

"It was a surprise." Daisy reached out to take her nephew and bounced him gently. "Noah, look at you! You're so big!"

"He's in one-year-old clothing now," Nena stated proudly. "He's going to be huge."

"I'm Jo," Daisy's mother introduced herself with a warm smile, taking her daughter's suitcase.

"And I'm Nena,"

"Nice to meet you both. I've heard a lot about you." I gave them the best smile I could manage through all of my nerves.

They both smiled in response. "Oh, you can keep talking all you want, your accent is delicious!" Nena laughed and took Noah, and Daisy thanked her mother for the flowers.

"Are you guys hungry? We can stop through drive-thru on the way home."

"Yeah, we might as well eat before we get some sleep. The plane food was pretty gross," Daisy waited for me to grab my things before we followed her mother and sister to their car. "Thanks for coming to get us. We were going to get an Uber."

"We were too excited to wait for you," Jo popped open the boot on her car and we fit out bags snuggly into the small space. "Sorry about the room, we didn't expect to be cramming two people in there."

"We'll fit," Daisy slid into the middle seat in the back, helping her sister get Noah in his seat, and I followed her, closing us in.

We ate enough to feed a family, tossing empty wrappers back in the paper bag as we drove. The journey lasted half an hour, and we drove out of city lights, through the dark. I eyed the spots of sand and water as we travelled, grateful for the air conditioning in tightly packed car.

We stopped outside of a small house with a huge pine tree in the front yard. The street was long and quiet, and most of the houses had their lights turned off for the night. I carried our suitcases up the concrete stairs and waited for the house to be unlocked.

The living room was small, but opened into the kitchen and dining area. There was one small table, not unlike Daisy's in Forks, and the rug on the floor was covered in baby's toys.

"Have showers. Daisy, you guys are getting my room."

I was about to protest, but Daisy shushed me. "Mum sleeps on the lounge, anyway."

"She falls asleep in front of the television every night." Nena piped up, carrying her son into the short hallway and disappearing behind the door.

"I'm going to stay with Nena, actually," Jo told her eldest daughter sternly. "There are fresh towels in the linen closet. Did either of you want anything before we go to bed?"

"I think we're okay, mum. Thanks,"

Jo enveloped her daughter in another long, tight hug and murmured how much she'd missed her in the few months she'd been gone. "I'll see you in the morning. Sleep as long as you want."

Daisy watched her go, before she turned to me and smiled nervously. "They're being very good at not questioning us."

"They're really nice," I told her genuinely. "Do you want the first shower?"

She shook her head. "Nah, I'll get my things organized." I followed her down the hall, and she stopped at the linen closet, fishing out two folded towels. She handed me one and motioned to the bathroom. "The shower's small, but the water pressure's good."

I followed her into the bedroom at the end of the hall, and she flicked the light on. The bed had been freshly made, and a small blanket was folded on the end of the mattress. She turned on the ceiling fan and hopped on the bed to push open the wide, double windows. The smell of salt water filled my nostrils, and I wondered how far we were from the beach.

"This was my room, before I moved out when I was eighteen. You can hear the ocean from here, when the house is quiet." She told me softly.

I opened my suitcase, grabbing a pair of shorts to sleep in, and left her to take a shower. As soon as the water was running I heard Nena leave Noah's room and make her way to my imprint. I listened closely, lathering myself up in fresh-smelling soap, washing the gritty feeling I had from the long flight away and feeling much more refreshed already.

"Who is Seth?" Nena asked quietly, as if there were any chance I would be able to hear her over the water.

"Don't be weird," I heard Daisy mutter back. "He's just my friend. He's been helping me get settled in at home, and I wanted to show him around here. He's never been to Australia before."

"There is no way you brought someone like that here, and you're just friends." Nena told her dismissively. "Good job though, Dais. He's definitely an improvement on Alex."

"I promise nothing's going on." Daisy insisted.

"So you haven't kissed him?"

"No,"

"I don't believe you."

"Well, believe what you want. But I'm telling you there's nothing. I'm not dating anymore, anyway."

"Yeah, yeah," Nena chuckled. "What do you want to do tomorrow?"

"Probably an easy day, before everything starts on Christmas Eve. I already have everyone asking when we're going to catch up, and I don't want to plan anything yet. The next week is going to be crazy."

"Well, make sure you spend some time with mum. She's been miserable since you left."

"I barely saw you guys when I was living here," Daisy sighed. "Why does she always do this?"

"She was worried about you."

I turned the shower off, and their conversation paused for a moment. "Try to get some sleep. I don't know how you're going to manage lying next to that."

"Goodnight, Nena." Daisy's voice was short and to the point, and Nena laughed again before she left the room, closing the door to her own behind her.

I carried my toothbrush and dirty clothes into the small bedroom, dropping them into the top of my suitcase. Daisy had her pajamas waiting in her lap, and she jumped up to wander in to the bathroom.

I fell heavily into the large bed which had been crammed in to fit snuggly between three walls, lowering myself down onto the pillows. It was comfortable, and the air circulating through the room was cool enough to sleep in. I switched on my phone for the first time since boarding in Los Angeles, skimming through my brother's messages in our group chat, grinning at some of the things they'd discussed throughout the day. It was five in the morning at home now, and I knew the only people awake would be those working through the forests.

Made it safe, going to bed. Her family didn't know I was coming, but they're nice. Talk tomorrow.

I was going to have more than one crude joke to ignore when I woke up.

Daisy's shower was quick, and she wandered back into the room, squeezing at her damp hair with her towel. Her vanilla scent was fresh and paired with the floral soap that had been in the shower. She was in the same small pair of pajamas she'd worn the night I'd stayed at her house. She grinned at me as she eyed me. "Comfy?"
"Extremely," I groaned happily. She shut the door, locking it for safe measure, and threw her towel over the pedestal fan in the corner of the room.

"Am I sleeping on the window side?" It hit me that we were doing this again, sleeping beside each other, as she switched the light off and found her way to the bed, climbing over my legs to make herself comfortable beside me. She reached down to grab the light blanket, throwing it over her legs, and I frowned.

"You're not actually sleeping under that, are you?"

"I don't like being uncovered." She tugged at the sheets on either side of her and snorted. "You're not even getting under the sheets?"

"No way in the world, it's warm enough as it is."

We were silent for a moment, and I heard the waves in the distance crashing on the sand. "What did you want to do tomorrow?"

"I don't know," she thought about it for a moment, and I turned toward her. The moonlight was enough for her to be able to see me in the small room, and she smiled at me softly. "I want to go and see Juniper and Peggie, and I think we'll walk to the beach. We can go swimming, if you want?"

"That sounds nice, after all the flying," I yawned. She reached out and took my hand, and I froze. She seemed more comfortable here, as if she were confident surrounded by what she knew. I squeezed her hand back gently.

"I promise, we'll just be here until Christmas, and then we can go and do our own thing. Jasmine invited us to stay at her house for a few nights, and I feel like that would make you more comfortable."

"I'm comfortable here," I insisted. "Once I get to know your mom and sister a bit better I'll be fine."

"They're really welcoming," she said. "They just don't know when to stop asking stupid questions."

"They seem okay with me staying."

"I told you they would be!"

She folded her arm under her pillow, the other hand still laced with my own. "Let's get some sleep. I turned off my phone so we don't have any interruptions in the morning. Thank you for coming with me, Seth. I can't wait to show you my world."

"Thank you for bringing me," I said gently. She smiled at me for a moment, until her eyes got too heavy, and I followed her into sleep.

The exhaustion from all of our travel had wiped me out more than I was used to. I managed to sleep through whatever was left of the night, too tired to remember any of my dreams. When I woke, I was confused. It was too warm, dry and hot as though I was seated in front of an open oven. I was sweating against the sheets, and I hazily opened my eyes, blinking tiredly as I took in the too-bright yellow sunlight streaming through the open windows above me.

"Morning, Sleepyhead." Daisy was sitting beside me, her legs crossed as she leaned against the headboard, her phone in her hand as she typed furiously with both thumbs. "I was wondering if you were going to sleep through the day."

"What time is it?" I asked groggily, feeling somewhat trapped in my deep sleep and the warm weather.

"It's past midday. I'm glad you had a good rest. I only got up a couple of hours ago."

I eyed her more closely. She was dressed in a pair of loose white shorts and a singlet, her arms completely exposed. Her hair was bundled on top of her head in a thick ribbon, and I realized it was the first time I'd seen her wear it up completely.

"I didn't mean to sleep so late."

"It looks like you needed it. At least now you won't be struggling to enjoy your holiday." She pursed her lips as watched me wipe the sweat from my forehead. "The sun's up a little longer here thank in Forks. We have about fifteen hours of full sunlight in summer. It will be a bit better around eight o'clock."

I internally groaned, but pushed myself up so I was sitting. "What have you been doing?"

"I had a cup of tea with my mum. She's working today, but she'll be home to have dinner. Nena's in the lounge room with Noah, she's watching some ridiculous kid's show about a tiger. I think she's into it more than her kid."

I chuckled and looked around the room, trying to sort out my next move.

"I suggest going to take a cold shower. It will wake you up. Or, I was thinking we could go for a swim, get some sun. I would like to visit Peggie at some point today, but you can hang around here if you don't want my entire family thrown at you all at once."

"I want to meet Peggie," I told her sincerely. Her grandmother was the most important person to her, and I was excited to get to know her. She held a special place in my imprint's heart.

We agreed to swimming first, so I bypassed a shower. Daisy was already dressed for the beach, and she grabbed us two large towels to carry down, telling me it would only take five minutes or so to walk there. We invited her sister, but Nena was happy to stay at home and spend time with Noah out of the sun.

The beach was almost the complete opposite of the one I'd shown her at home. The sand stretched on for miles, curling around different pieces of land and cliffs, ultimately disappearing from my view as it cut and fell beyond the distance. It burned my feet while we walked, and Daisy hopped from foot-to-foot, not complaining about the pain but wincing silently.

The sun beat down at us from the center of the sky. Daisy explained most people arrived earlier in the day or late in the afternoon to avoid getting too much sun exposure. There were scattered people along the beach, but not so much that we wouldn't have a large amount of space to keep to ourselves. There were red and yellow flags set up at one end, where a small crowd had gathered, swimming and laying on their towels, some under large umbrellas. Their laughter and screams carried down the sand to us, and I watched them with a small smile while we threw our towels to the sand and sat on them.

"We're meant to swim between the flags, that's where the lifeguards keep watch."

"Should we walk down?"

She scoffed. "No, it's too crowded. I know where it's safe to swim. It just means that if we get into trouble, we'll have to save ourselves."

I chuckled. If it were any other circumstance, I wouldn't feel comfortable with her venturing out into open water without anyone to protect her. I felt as though she were safe with me, whether she should get tossed around or not. I wouldn't let anything happen to her.

"Want to go in?" she asked. I agreed, and she immediately stood and pulled her top over her head, dropping it to her towel. My eyes took her in hungrily before I looked away to give her her privacy. I followed suit and stood, pulling my t-shirt off. I was dressed from the waist down to walk straight into the water.

She didn't wait for me. She left her shorts with her shirt and skipped down the beach, giving me a great view of the back of her. She was in a tiny, lemon-colored thong bikini with small straps on the top to match. I'd never seen her in less clothing, and I was surprised she hadn't opted for a more covered cut. I hadn't picked her for someone who liked to show off so much skin.

She was lightly tanned allover, which I assumed in part was to what she'd worn to the beach to get sun before moving to Washington. Her hair was now down, and she slowed as she started walking into the water, being a pushed a little by the waves around her shins.

"Are you coming in?" she called, turning to face me and grinning.

I followed her slowly, smiling back as best I could. The water was cold, but refreshing against the sun, and she waited for me to reach her before she took a further few steps, finally launching herself into the water, dipping her head under and rising out, her hair slicked back off her face.

I was still able to stand where she was, her toes kicking against the water, the sand below her being pushed out toward me.

"Nice, huh? Is this what I can expect from summers in La Push?"

"Not quite," I chuckled. "We'll have to soak up as much of this as we can manage while we're here."

"We'll come here every day, then." She decided.

We were in the water for almost an hour, ducking over swells and under waves that had started breaking before they reached us. The water moved us around, and I clenched my fists each time it pushed her into me, her bare skin brushing mine.

She realized, toward the end of our swim, that I'd hovered back to where I was able to stand on the sand under the water. The force of the waves wasn't enough to push me from my place, and she grinned, her cheeks slightly pink from their exposure to the sun.

"Are you having fun?" she'd ducked under the water and rose to the surface in front of me, gripping my upper arm for support to stay close enough for a conversation. I risked ruining our day and reached out, wrapping my hands around her bare waist to hold her half an arm's length away from me.

"I am." She didn't shy away from my grasp, but rather grinned at me, setting her other hand against my shoulder. We were holding each other, her feet inches above mine. They stilled, and I felt the water she'd been tossing with her toes go back to its natural rhythm.

The comfortable state she'd been in since arriving was still obvious as she smiled back at me, the two of us waiting for the other to speak. She was the first to open her mouth.

"I want to apologize, for freaking out last time you stayed in Forks. After we woke up…I shouldn't have done that."

"No, I shouldn't have made a move like that. I wasn't thinking." I said quietly, feeling my nerves further creep up on me.

"You were just acting on impulse?" she questioned. Her grin fell into a soft smile, the corners of her mouth twitching nervously.

"Yeah, I was. I just kind of went for it, I didn't really know what I was doing." Best to be honest, I decided. Even if it was going to freak her out.

"So you wanted to kiss me?"

"Yeah," I sighed. The word was barely audible over the sounds of the beach.

She nodded thoughtfully. "Was it an 'in the moment' thing, or was it something you'd wanted to do prior to that morning?" I hesitated, my eyes bright with nerves, but my lips pressed together gently to stop myself from saying something stupid. She chewed on her bottom lip as she watched me struggle. "I like that we're honest with each other, Seth. I know I've complained about my friends thinking too much into my relationships with them and our friendships ultimately falling apart, but I don't want that to happen with us. I've gotten used to having you around."

I watched her closely. I felt my eyebrows lower with disappointment, in myself, mostly. I should have been able to control myself better than that. "I'd wanted to do it for a while, honestly. I think you're beautiful, and you're amazing, and my favorite parts of the week are when I get to spend time with you."

"You're my favorite part of the week, too." She said quietly. "I just feel like you should be aware that I'm spoiled goods. I've been ruined. I'm not relationship material."

"You're not spoiled goods, Daisy." I hated that she thought of herself that way. "Lots of people feel that way after long relationships. They're a way to make you realize what you don't want in future."

She shook her head at me, and her eyes were guarded, sad. "Not from my ex. There's so much stuff, Seth. Things I've never told anyone, and I wouldn't tell you. I'm completely ruined. Moving away, where no one knew me…I thought it would make me put it all behind me and be someone new, but when we started spending time together, I realized it had followed me. You need to be with someone untouched, who's as honest and easy as you are."

I frowned at her, questioning her. My heart beat faster with anger at the thought of anyone hurting her to the point where she had to be standing in front of me today, telling me she wasn't good enough. She didn't want to talk about it, and I wasn't going to make her open up. But I was going to let her know I was here for her, no matter how damaged she thought she was.

"I want you to see yourself clearly." I stated simply.

She sighed, her hands tightening on my arms to tell me she'd heard me, but she wasn't going to agree. She pushed herself away, back into the water, and lowered herself into it until she was out of sight.

She was able to hold her breath for a long time. When she finally emerged, she threw me one more smile, though her eyes were still sad, and started to make her way in toward the shore.

"C'mon. Peggie will make sandwiches for us. I want to see my Juniper."