SM owns Twilight. We just want to live in her world a bit longer.

Chapter 5

It was decided that Bella would drive the next couple of hours so Seth could try and get a nap.

Seth rolled his eye, "I'll give it a go, but honestly, I don't think the back seat is anywhere near big enough for me."

However, despite his protests, he was asleep within five minutes of them pulling away from the gas station. Bella smiled as she listened to the comforting snores coming from the back of the car.

Bella actually didn't mind driving. It kept her mind busy. Plus, the new scenery was beautiful. Seth had informed her that a week ago, Jake was somewhere in Ontario. This wasn't the best news she'd heard. Even if Jacob was heading west, and they were heading east, it would take a couple of days to meet in the middle. She silently wondered how long Seth could handle being squished up in the car. Cars were not really designed for werewolves who were 6 foot something tall.

Apparently, three hours of sleep was not enough for the night, so when Bella started to yawn, it wasn't long until she woke Seth up.

"Sorry, Seth," she said apologetically as she watched him try and stretch his long legs out.

"Dat's okay," he mumbled as he blinked his eyes, trying to refocus them. "How long was I out?"

"Nearly 4 hours."

"Wow," was all he managed to say.

It wasn't long before the next town appeared, and they decided it was time for a meal break. Bella couldn't remember the last time she had eaten anything, and Seth wouldn't let her go any longer without eating. "You are already thin enough," he said.

Five hamburgers later, four for Seth, they had eaten an early lunch and were back on the road. This time with Seth in the driver's seat. He could drive faster due to his werewolf reflexes, or so he said. Bella just rolled her eyes and conceded.

Bella was usually comfortable with silence, but Seth liked to talk. Unfortunately, when he started asking questions about her, it was too much of a minefield. So, to get the topic off herself, she decided to ask about the pack. She had been so involved with Edward and the wedding for the past three months that she hadn't even been on the reservation since the fateful day of the Newborn War.

Seth and his mom had been up to visit Charlie one evening for dinner, but that was two months ago. And, that was the last time she had seen anyone from La Push.

"So, what's been going on with pack? Anything interesting happening?"

"There is always pack drama!" he said excitedly. "Where to start…." He pondered for a few moments, staring out the windscreen.

"Well, Emily is pregnant. Sam found out about two weeks ago. It has put him into ultraprotective mode." Bella grimaced. She was sure that her actions today were putting undue stress on Sam.

Seth didn't notice her reaction, though, "Leah is trying to put up a good front, to be happy for them, but I can tell it is eating away at her. So that's why I give her a lot of grace at the moment. She can vent and get angry at me all she wants, and I don't take it personally."

"You're a good kid, Seth," Bella said proudly. "Not many brothers would do that for their sister."

Seth just shrugged his shoulders, "she is family." He said it like that was the answer to everything. Bella supposed that she wasn't much different. Her mom was not the greatest, but she loved her unconditionally. She would have died for her. She nearly did.

"Oh, this is a good one." Seth said excitedly, "do you remember Rachel and Rebecca, Jacob's twin sisters?"

"Yeah, I vaguely remember them from when I was younger. They were a bit older than me, so they didn't like to play with me. That's why I ended up playing with Jacob most of the time." Bella smiled as she remembers the mud pies they used to make outside in the rain.

"So Rachel came home from college in June, and Paul, you remember Paul?" he asked.

Bella smiled, "I slapped him the first time I met him."

Seth burst out laughing, "you slapped him? Oh man, I bet that went down real well."

"He was the first wolf I ever saw. Phased right in front of me." Bella was laughing with him now.

After Seth managed to catch his breath, he said, "yeah, that sounds about right. He is the hot head of the group. Took the longest out of all of us to control his phasing to the point that he could get back into society.

"So, anyway, when Rachel came home, Paul… fell for her. He fell hard, but Rachel wanted nothing to do with him. He was like a love-sick puppy, following her around everywhere, and she was not impressed.

"Paul has always been a bit of ladies' man…. well…. he was a lot of a ladies' man. He always seemed to be with a different chic every other weekend. The ladies just flocked to him for some reason."

Bella looked at Seth in confusion. She didn't understand the attraction.

"When Rachel dismissed his attempts to seduce her, he was stumped. He has never had to try to get a girl's attention before.

"Eventually, Kim, Jared's girl, spoke with her, and it turns out that Paul made out with Rebecca, in high school, at a party… and then made out with two other chicks the same night. Apparently, he doesn't remember doing it. He was probably drunk."

"Ouch," Bella said. "So, did he give up?"

Seth laughed, "nope. It took him two weeks to get up the courage to call Rebecca in Hawaii. He apologized and grovelled, and eventually, she forgave him. She is married now, so I don't think she really cared that much anymore. He then convinced her to help set Rachel up on a blind date with him."

Bella's raised her eyebrow, "people actually still do that?"

Seth laughed, "apparently. Paul organized a limousine to pick her up, and he met her at a restaurant in Port Angeles. She was pissed when she saw Paul waiting for her, but eventually, she agreed to stay for dinner. He apparently won her over, and they have now been dating for two months."

"Wow, he really went to a lot of effort for her." Bella thought aloud. "That's good for her, for him… wait… did Paul imprint on her?" Then, finally, the pieces fell together in Bella's head.

"Yeah, he did. That's why he couldn't give up. He went a whole month without sex… that's probably the longest he's gone since he was 15 years old!"

Bella, the still virgin, at 18 years old, ignored that last comment. She was deep in thought. Jacob had explained imprinting to her a while ago. When she asked if Jacob had imprinted on her, she was relieved when he said no. She didn't want him to have a 'wolfy' claim on her. But now… everything was different. She could feel her heartbeat speeding up.

"I thought imprinting was supposed to be rare?" she asked quietly.

"That's what the legends say."

"So how many now is that? Three out of eight?"

Seth shifted uncomfortably, "four."

"Four?"

"Sam, Jared, Quil and now Paul."

"Oh," was all Bella could say. She had forgotten about Quil. Her mind was racing a million miles an hour.

Jacob could imprint on someone. Jacob could imprint on someone else, and he would leave her. She couldn't stand the thought of seeing Jake with someone else. It made her heart ache painfully. With her eyes closed, she could feel the moisture starting to pool behind her eyelids.

"Bella?" Seth asked quietly, "are you okay?"

"Yeah…. just thinking."

"About wh-"

Bella interrupted him, "do you think I'm being foolish? Chasing Jacob across a foreign country when… when he could imprint on someone else, at any moment?"

The silence in the car was deafening.

Seth made an audible swallow before he spoke. "I once asked Leah if she would have dated Sam if she had known he would imprint on Emily and leave her… And she said no."

Bella felt a tear slip down her cheek, and she quickly wiped it away.

Seth continued, "but people get hurt in relationships all the time. They fall out of love, find someone else, or drift apart. It happens in the ordinary, human world every day. And there is no guarantee that we will all imprint. Do you remember the legend about the third wife?"

Bella just nodded. Of course, she remembered it. She used the same tactic of exposing her blood to distracting Victoria, so Edward could get the upper hand during the fight.

"Well, she was Taha Aki's third wife. So he lived two full lifetimes before he met his imprint."

This thought gave her hope. She may not be Jacob's 'true spirit' wife or partner or imprint, but it could be possible for them to live a long, happy life together. Maybe, just maybe.