For those that have read last week's chapter, I have had to edit the ending because of this absolute behemoth of a chapter, so I would highly advise going to read that before you come shouting at me.

Chapter 12

Just Call Me Florence Nightingale

Scott

Why did he think that working in hospitality was a great idea?

Did he even know anyone that enjoyed working either as a dishwasher or a waiter? One that didn't own the building he was working in, that was?

Sighing to himself, Scott threw his hair up in a tight bun as he stepped in the back of the Diner, dishes already piling up in the sink for him to work on. The only reason he was working there was that he needed the cash and something to fill his free time.

'You look like you just want to spin and walk right back out again.' The new girl in town, Naoma Hemming, grinned from where she was taking a long sip of water, her teeth a shock of white against the warm honey shade of her skin.

She had just arrived in town in January – what was with new people and arriving then, seriously? – and her Dad had gotten a job as a new English teacher at the Middle School. Over the hours of the two of them working together, Scott had managed to get a few little details out of the sixteen-year-old. Her mother was of the Quileute tribe and she and her father had split due to the relationship just fizzling out, Scott also knew that her mother had happily remarried and had, 'like a horde of kids' with her stepfather and that Naoma was trying to get to know them, but it was weird for her.

With Bella doing the whole 'let's build death trap' thing, Scott had thought about seeing if Naoma wanted to come with him and Bella down to the reservation. Bella and her might get on with the whole 'new kid in Forks' and being the kid of a divorced set of parents and one having remarried thing. Scott could provide the 'get out of jail' card if she wanted to have a reason to head off, but it might be nice for the girl to get some interaction with others, without the stress of trying to be overly polite.

'Haha.' He rolled his eyes, 'Like you don't want to do it either.'

The girl snorted, lip ring shifting as she rolled her lips together to hold in a laugh. 'I'm just doing it the same reason you are. How was your weekend?'

He turned the tap on after punching in, 'Oh, you know, Bella found motorbikes that she wants to get rebuilt, she knows a guy on the reservation she's been childhood friends with for years, so we were down there yesterday. You?'

'Mum had me remeeting some of the elders – Harry Clearwater and his family, the Uleys and then the Atearas – said it was important that I know of my culture and stuff.' She shrugged black covered shoulders, scratching at the inner corners of her dark eyes, careful not to smudge the heavy eyeliner she drew there. She was going for an emo vibe, Scott thought, most likely taking notes from the same style bands. Scott didn't judge – he thought the heavy eyeliner looked great with her eye colour.

And if having piercings on her lip, nose and upper parts of her ears pissed off the traditionalists of Forks then all the more power to her.

It wasn't as if Scott wasn't planning on permanently drawing on his own body in less than two months, so he didn't have a leg to stand on.

'It might be good for you though.' He spoke as he placed a handful of dishes into the deep sink, careful of the hot water. 'I mean, you're going to school in town instead of there, so maybe, to balance things, you could start hanging out there more.'

She sent him a dark scowl as if she expected him to side with her. the water bottle got put down with more than the necessary amount of force. 'I got to get back to work.'

'Just…' Scott called out, 'just think about, Naoma, that's all.'

Naoma headed to the pass with a huge-ass storm cloud over her head and, as he took an iron scrubber to the dried fried egg still stuck on the plate, Scott wondered why the fuck he opened his mouth.

At the end of his shift, more than a little bit damp and smelling of oil and wet bread, Scott gave a wave to the rest of the kitchen staff, who were just cleaning their stations, before he meandered to his car. He had started working at the Diner just before Thanksgiving, and the checker trousers he wore were already more grey-and-black than white-and-black.

Fuck, he couldn't wait for Spring Break.

As the Micra turned over, he scrubbed a hand over his face, hand rasping over the stubble there. Maybe he could look into doing a bit of travel? He had a few more months left till he had to start looking at schools, so it was an option. He always liked the idea of going to Rome, and Greece and other cool places like that with ancient history. Stuff that had been around for millennia, that didn't get torn down because white people didn't want people knowing about it.

Humming to himself, he headed for home, thinking about how he would go about doing that – though he should probably bring it up with his parents before they went apeshit.

He couldn't remember the drive as he pulled into the driveway, tired and sore as he lugged himself into the house. His steel-toes got put by the door and he headed for the shower. Again and again, the idea of just saying "fuck it" and heading out on his own swirled in his head, occupying him as he cleaned himself off and tugged on a clean pair of underwear as he brushed his teeth, hair and did his face – Lucy had gotten to him.

'Jesus.' He jerked as Georgie pushed the door open from her side, standing in the doorway like Samara from The Ring. 'The fuck are you on, psycho?'

'I knocked like three times. What are you on?' she gave him a look, shoving a little to get her toothbrush. It seemed like she had just come back from a date with Riley, if the left-over traces of eyeliner and mascara, along with the sagging curls, had anything to do with it. The two of them had been going through a rough patch recently – Georgie usually coming home snappy and snippy, causing everyone to either get their noses bitten off or be wary of what they said – and had only recently worked things out. Scott didn't get into the source of the problem because it wasn't his business. He'd make it his business if Riley hurt her, no doubt about that – maybe even get Jasper and Emmett down to help – but he already had one semi-stable brunette in his life that he was in the process of reacclimating back into society, he didn't want to have to balance two.

'Nothing. Just thinking.'

'Don't hurt yourself.'

'Oh, haha.' He scowled at her. 'So funny.' Headed for his room, where he moved the chords sheets, he had for a song he was learning, Georgie followed him in, jumping onto his bed. 'Dude, what the fuck?'

'What'cha thinking about, though?'

'None of your business.'

'Is it a girl?'

'No.'

'Oh.' She sneered, looking like he'd just taken all the wind out of her sails. 'Is it college?'

'No, Gi.'

'Tell me.'

'No.'

'Tell me.'

'No.'

'Tell. Me.'

'Fuck off, no!'

'Hey!' Daniel called from the doorway; eyebrow raised with his arms crossed. 'Quiet down, Soph's just fallen asleep.'

'Scott's got something on his mind and he won't tell me what the problem is.'

Frustration had his teeth grinding and knuckles cracking. Whilst he loved his twin sister, her lack of self-awareness when it came to keeping her nose out of other people's business was non-existent. He would tell her that he wanted to travel when he talked it over with their parents when he had some form of a plan worked out. He needed to have one so that when she badgered him with a multitude of questions, as always, he could answer them and then get on with things.

'Because, right now,' he gritted out, trying to squash the urge to snap at her, 'it's none of your business. Now go away, Georgiana.'

Sometimes it felt that Georgiana only respected her boundaries and never anyone else's, and this was one of those times.

Looking offended that she had been full-named, Georgie scowled at him before climbing off his bed and heading to her room. 'Fine, be a bitch then.'

'There are boundaries, Georgiana Jane,' Daniel spoke, eyebrow going up, 'and whilst everyone abides by yours, it would be beneficial for you to recognise everyone else's. Watch the attitude, madam.'

Georgie didn't say anything but closed the door behind her. Daniel frowned at her closed door for a while, giving Scott time to throw on a pair of sweats and a shirt before he tipped his head to the stairs. 'Come down and we'll talk, yeah?'

'It's nothing life-changing,' Scott was quick to throw out there, less his parents thought he'd gotten a girl pregnant or something, 'I just thought of something to do with my time, you know, before college and stuff.'

Scott followed Daniel into the kitchen, where Elizabeth was pouring herself a glass of wine. 'Scott has something on his mind, dear.'

'What?'

He wet his lips, swallowed, and decided to just get it out there in the open. 'I'm thinking about backpacking around Europe during the summer. I just, I want to travel but I also want to challenge myself and you know I've always loved history and well, nothing we've got in the US is ancient and Italy always seemed like a great place to start.'

He watched as they shared a look, almost knowingly. 'Is this before or after you come back from Canada?'

'After…'

'And you're still planning on going to college?' Daniel confirmed.

Scott nodded, his heart echoing in his chest as he grew warm. 'Maybe not this year but next?'

'And you'll be careful?' Elizabeth followed up; wine abandoned on the counter.

'Always.'

Once again, the two of them shared a look before Daniel spoke slowly. 'Give us a while to think about it but we don't see why not.'

'I mean,' Scott was nearly throwing out his words, 'it's not completely set in stone and it's not like it's happening tomorrow.'

Elizabeth smiled at him. 'I know, baby, but it's a big step. You've never been so far away from home, or from Gi for that matter. Give us time to get our heads around it and we'll talk, okay?'

Scott nodded, unsure if the release in his chest was from relief or the adrenalin drop now that the hard part was over. He left after kissing his mother goodnight on the cheek before heading up to bed.

As he lay there, watching the streetlights cast shadows over his ceiling, he couldn't quite believe that there may be a chance for him to see the Colosseum, and the Gladiator School - places he'd dreamt of seeing in person from the time that Daniel had sat him down to watch Ben-Hur when he was ten. He'd grown up reading Asterix and Obelix and to see where history had been made, it had been a pipe dream that Scott had quietly nurtured after he and Willow had come out of their Mythology phases when they were twelve.

He'd start in Rome, Scott mused, letting his eyes close and his mind wander, and then just see what took his fancy after.

He had time.

Bella scowled when Scott put the first aid kit in the back of the truck before he and Jacob loaded the bikes up onto it. He ignored her. She was the one wanting to ride the death traps, both of which looked presentable and not about to do a Looney Tunes on her as she learnt how to ride.

And apparently, both nutters thought they were too cool for helmets, Scott couldn't help but mentally quip as he swung into the cab of the Beast, so there were none. He crossed his fingers that Bella didn't end up a vegetable.

Because the Chief would have his guts for garters in a second.

As they drove to a quiet spot, not far from the coastline, Scott couldn't help but keep track of the conversation – Sam Uley and his little pack of followers having come up after Bella nearly had their necks breaking with how fast she braked when she spotted the cliff jumpers. Another adrenalin-filled activity that looked fun. You know, if the choppy, grey sea below was blowing glacial wind at them. 'Wait? Sam Uley was the one who thought that long jean shorts were a great idea in September, right?'

Jacob nodded, grinning slightly. 'Yeah, you were put off by that.'

'Because he was wearing jean shorts in September. In Washington State. Where does that make sense?'

The other two looked over at him, Bella's glance was a little quicker with the fact that she was driving. Jacob grinned at him, cheeks still round with baby fat. 'It doesn't. Makes sense with his character though.'

'Whose?' Bella asked, as the Beast turned over again, moving on from their little momentary pause.

'Sam's.' Jacob offered, word bitter in his mouth. 'He and his lot, they're like hall monitors gone bad. They don't start fights, they keep the peace.' He snorted, much like an irritated horse. 'There was this guy from somewhere by the Makah rez, a big guy too, scary-looking. Well, word got around that he was selling meth to kids, and Sam Uley and his disciples ran him off our land. They're all about our land and tribe pride…' his mouth twisted. 'It's getting ridiculous. The worst part is that the council takes them seriously. Embry said that the council meets with Sam. Embry also heard from Leah Clearwater that they call themselves 'protectors' or something like that.'

Now that Jacob had been taking, Scott remembered back to when Edward had left, and that the mammoth of a man seemed intensely locked on Jacob, to an extent that had the hair on the back of his neck standing. Making a note just to keep an eye on the kid beside him, Scott listened as Bella tried to defuse the tension that had lined Jacob's shoulders and then how the kid ranted.

'Yeah.' Jacob scoffed. 'Annoying is a good word. They're always showing off –like the cliff thing. They act like…like, I don't know. Like, tough guys. I was hanging out at the store with Embry and Quil once, last semester, and Sam came by with his followers, Jared and Paul. Quil said something, you know how he's got a big mouth, and it pissed Paul off. His eyes got all dark, and he sort of smiled…no,' Jacob shook his head, thinking back on it, 'no, he showed his teeth but he didn't smile, and it was like he got so mad he was shaking or something. But then Sam put his hand against Paul's chest and shook his head. And it was like the fight went out of him.' He groaned, 'It was like a shitty western, you know, And it's not like Paul's a big dude – he's nineteen when Sam's twenty – he's shorter than me.'

'Jacob,' Scott drawled, 'my dude, you are six foot seven or something whack, everyone is shorter than you. Apart from maybe, Emmett but then again, I'm not so sure anymore, continue.'

'Yeah, but Paul isn't as beefy as Quil so it's not like any of us couldn't have taken him.' Jacob continued, cheeks flushing with frustration. 'Sam was supposed to go to college, but he just didn't. And no one gave a shit about it, either. The whole council pitched a fit when my sister turned down a partial scholarship and got married. But oh, no…' he bit out, 'Sam Uley can do no wrong.'

Scott found himself getting frustrated for the kid, on Jacob's behalf. Yes, Georgie drove him up the wall as Sophie chased from behind with annoying clackers or whatever noisy toy she had, but their lives were their choices – well, once Sophie reached eighteen, that was, - but then again, Scott was not from La Push or a part of the tribe. He didn't know how the council worked and he wasn't inclined to badger and stick his nose in where it was not wanted.

'Who'd your sister marry?'

Scott's question cut Jacob out of whatever anger cesspit he had fallen into. 'Oh, uh, a Hawaiian surfer, Solomon Finau, that she met when he was here for the Westport comp, the Clean Water Classic, just after she turned eighteen. Up and headed for Hawaii not long after. The last time I heard, they were down in Australia for some competition down there. You missed the turn.'

'I mean,' Scott couldn't help but throw out there, as he thought about Italy and being warm, with bright blue waters and amazing food, bracing himself against the door as Bella executed an overly wide u-turn. 'I don't blame her for getting the fuck out of the Rainy City but eighteen? I knew fuck all then.'

'Dude.' Bella laughed, glancing over at him as she pulled into a shoulder along the empty side road. 'You just turned twenty?'

'And my longest relationship was six months, I ain't getting married any time soon.' Scott rolled his eyes, falling out of the Beast, boots squelching in the mud underfoot. 'Besides, this is Forks. Anyone getting married below the age of twenty and tongue and gossip will be running amuck.'

'To be fair,' Jacob followed him with a laugh, 'eyebrows did go up for a while in La Push too.'

'Love that.' Scott grinned as he followed him to the back of the Beast. As Scott undid the back, he snagged the board they'd use to get them on and off when Jacob spotted the first aid kit. 'What?' Scott shrugged, 'it's a precaution, that's all.'

'I doubt we'll need it.'

Scott gestured to Bella dramatically, 'Bella trips over air. And you two are getting on death traps…oh good, I've turned into Willow.'

Bella shrugged with a grin, awkwardly taking the red one, 'Someone had to.'

Jacob seemed to have perked up a little, hands steady and comfortable as he backed his off the back. 'Happy late birthday.' He kicked gently towards Bella who seemed to realise that she was about to learn how to drive a two-wheeled death trap with no safety precautions, on a back road with no professionals there to help her. Wonderful.

Scott could see that this was going to just turn out brilliantly.

As he waited for Jacob to get his settled against the fender of the Beast, Scott took the time to get his hair out of his face, rather than allow the wind to obscure his vision. Bella spoke up then, tentative, as they could both see that something was irritating Jacob. 'What's bothering you? About the Sam thing, I mean? Is there something else?'

Scott was quiet as he leaned against the bed of the truck. He had a little insight into how Sam had acted around him that past September night. As he listened to how Sam was almost hyper fixated on the sixteen-year-old, Scott wondered if there had been something else about his actions. Could it have been uncertainty, that he had a thing for kids – which would make the fact that he's hanging around others that age bracket a little weird – that he was just over-protective?

He fell silent, foot still thumping against the tyre in frustration. 'What?' Bella prodded.

Scott took in his profile – brow deep furrowed, cheeks rippling as he gnawed the insides. Jacob wasn't angry if anything the kid looked worried. 'It's Embry.' He admitted after a few seconds of drawn-out silence, 'He's been avoiding me lately.'

Scott shared a glance with Bella, 'To be fair, kid, you have been hanging out Bella and me a lot.'

He shook his head in agitation. 'No, that's not it. It's not just me he's been avoiding, it's Quil as well. And everyone else in school. He missed a week and when we went to see him, he wasn't there. Then he came back, and he looked so freaked, jumping at everything and shit. And then when I and Quil tried to get him to tell us what was wrong he didn't say anything.'

Scott caught Bella's eye and shook his head when she went to speak, Jacob needed to get this out, otherwise, he thought it might eat him alive. 'Then what?'

'Then,' the sigh was a gust of wind, 'Then this week, out of nowhere, he's hanging out with Sam and the rest of them. He was there on the cliffs today.' His eyes flicked up, wide and earnest, impossibly young and so confused. 'I-I don't understand. They bothered him more than they ever bothered me. He never wanted anything to do with Sam, and now he's following him around like he's joined a cult. It's been the same way with Paul, from what I could remember. He vanished from school for a few weeks and then, just before his finals, he came in and it was like he was Sam's shadow, who's been freaky-staring at me. I don't understand.'

Scott stepped forward, letting him see his hands. 'Jacob, I need you to take a few deep breathes for me, okay?' the kid's eyes dropped to him, melting into the embrace that Scott pulled him down into. 'We'll help you figure things out, okay? You've still got Quil and us, and Naoma, she's been thinking of spending more time down here so maybe you could start showing her around, yeah? People change, kiddo, so do friendships.'

'It sucks.' He muttered into his neck and Scott laughed.

'Yes, it does.' He pulled back, hands hovering in case he wanted another hug. 'You talk to your dad about it? And Sam?'

'He didn't say anything helpful.' Jacob shifted his cadence, taking on a parody of Billy Black's tone, 'It's nothing you need to worry about, Jacob. In a few years, if you don't…well, I'll explain later.' He blinked, running a hand through his hair, 'What am I supposed to do with that? Is it stupid puberty shit? It doesn't feel that way, it feels like something's wrong.'

Bella was the one who hugged him this time, almost hilariously dwarfed by his huge figure. For a section, Jacob's arms remained akimbo as his eyes widened, shocked and a little scared about what to do with himself, with the girl he had a crush on was giving him physical affection. Scott took a section to just tip his head up, looking for some form of guidance because, the size of the crush this kid had on Bella was so fucking big, it was a wonder how she couldn't see it.

He leant heavily on the side of the truck as the two embraced, chin resting on one hand, as his eyes scanned over the coast. With the ever-present grey skies, riotous sea below, tipped by the whitewash, and bleached cliffs, there was something moody about the area. Maybe even a little scary, the waves almost seemingly calm from a first glance. Part of him could see why Jacob's sister up and left as soon as she could – Forks didn't have an awful lot, and from what he could see in La Push, they had even less so. Both towns were places where you would come back to raise kids and die, not spend your best years in. But something was comforting about that smell of petrichor and sea that would always scream home to him.

'You make me feel like a dwarf.'

'Because you are one, Bee.' Scott drawled, blinking back to the conversation, the two of them apart now.

'You're one to talk.' Jacob drawled, looking pointedly towards him.

Scott raised an eyebrow slowly, 'Kiddo, it ain't how much height I got, but what I can do with it.' He caught Bella's face screwing up and grinned like a Cheshire Cat, 'I can still get up into the attic, can you?'

He danced out of the way of the smack Bella sent towards him with a cackle and he clapped his hands. 'So shall we get on with this terrible decision?'

Grimacing, Scott held himself back as he watched Jacob run Bella through how to change gears, turn the bike on and use the throttle but that twist in his gut was coiling like an angry snake. After Port Angeles, it was like she was looking for the next adrenalin high like that rush made her feel alive. He was all for experiencing new things but he'd prefer it if there were professionals around and that they weren't doing this in secret.

Cringing when the bike jerked when her hand slipped, both boys were by Bella's side, heaving the bike up off her as the engine died with a choke. 'Bee, Bella?' Scott took her chin, catching her eye, 'You good?'

It took her a second but then a flush settled on her cheeks, eyes wide with glee. 'I'm fine.'

He helped her up and she turned as Jacob asked, 'Did you hit your head?'

'I don't think so.' The adrenalin was probably making her shaky, as her hands jittered about the front of it. 'I didn't hurt the bike, did I?'

'No,' Jacob denied, 'Just stalled. Let go of the clutch too quick.'

'Let's try again.'

Was this how Elizabeth felt when he wanted to try baseball? Or football that one time in sophomore year? Scott genuinely felt like he was going to be sick.

He stepped back as Bella settled on the bike again, this time taking a little bit more effort to get the engine to flare to life, but it roared loud and proudly underneath her, her knuckles white on the throttle. Scrubbing his mouth, Scott wet his lips as he watched Bella take off down the straight.

'Think she should've known how to turn?'

The road they were on, veered off a little to the left and well, she was going too fast down the strait of it to slow to the point where it would have been safe. Impulse had Scott grabbing the first aid kit when it started to weave unstably underneath her and he took off as he did in baseball. Jacob took off not long after him but, well, just because he was smaller didn't mean he was slower. Sliding down beside her, Scott got the bike off, pushing it onto its other side before cupping her head.

'You good, you psycho?'

'I'm great.' Her pupils were dilated but the red that trickled down the side of her face made him feel clammy. The last time he was up close with someone like this, it was Willow in the passenger side of the Suzuki and his hands were clammy. 'Let's do it again.'

'No.' he barked. 'You have a cut on your head. Don't touch it. Jacob, move the back and then get on her other side, Bella, stay down.'

Scott's hands tremored a little as he unzipped the first aid kit, Richard's voice in his ear. He needed to stem the blood flow, that head wounds bleed more because of the capillaries being closer to the surface, that it wasn't as bad as it looked. He needed gauze. After throwing a used anti-bacterial wipe into the back, he pulled on a pair of gloves, snagged the thing he needed, and tore it quickly. Cupping the back of her head, he took the folded bit and applied direct pressure to the area. Bella cringed under his hands. 'I gotta stop the bleeding first, okay? I know it hurts.'

Jacob was being used as a prop but he didn't seem to care. 'I was gonna ask,' the kid spoke, 'how you know how to do this, but Dr Crawford is known even down here.'

'I've kept my First Aid and CPR training up,' Scott spoke, eyes concentrating on what he was doing, 'it's good on a CV. Besides, after the accident, it was something I needed to do. Just in case.'

Remembering something about Bella not liking the smell of blood, Scott shrugged off his flannel, taking one hand away before swapping when he got the sleeve off. 'Here.' Bella grasped at it and stuck it over her nose, body relaxing a little. Keeping an eye on the time, Scott kept pressure for the full fifteen minutes he was supposed to before peeling it away slowly. 'Looks like it's slowed but it'll bleed a little for a while.'

'Can I sit up now?'

'Slowly…' Scott grimaced, feeling a little out of his depth. Bella wouldn't go to the hospital but he'd feel far better if she got some professional to look at it. Jacob lunged to help her as he sorted out what to clean the area with. Jacob propped her up against the boulder as Scott got the saline, betadine, dressing and tape out with the scissors. Rinsing out the area of any bits of moss and dirt, he then moved to the betadine, catching any drips before pressing the combine dressing into place and Jacob snagged the tape, cutting strips off.

'Do I need stitches?'

'I don't know.' He was angry at her, 'Because whilst I know first aid, I am not a doctor. This is why you wear helmets, both of you.' The detritus was thrown into the sandwich bag that was in there and Scott took a few deep breaths. 'C'mon, let's go.'

Leaving the two there, Scott gave himself the jog back to the truck to get his temper and his tremor under control. He took a second to just breathe, pressing his forehead against the cool metal for a shock. He gagged, bile filling his mouth before he lunged for the verge behind the truck, hunching over.

It had nearly been two years since the crash, and he was doing fine. But seeing the blood on her head, the dark hair, no time had passed at all.

Panic welled in his chest as he opened his eyes slowly.

They were upside down in the ditch on the side of the road. His arm ached but he felt fine otherwise. It was dark and the last thing he remembered was the lights of the lumber lorry. Glancing to his side, his stomach turned to ice when Willow was bloody and unconscious. His hand moved to touch her shoulder. '…low.' He cleared his throat. 'Willow. Wilhelmina, wake up.'

That groan felt like the best sound, and he had never seen a better sight than that of the glassy hazel eyes that opened. She was awake, maybe not coherent, but she was awake and breathing and he needed to get help.

It was fine, he thought, turning the Beast on and moving towards the two, she was fine and he'd keep an eye on her. She wasn't dead. That's what he had to focus on.

He couldn't remember what had happened after that, only that the other two had created this convoluted story about how Bella had tripped in the garage and Richard seemed to get that there was something else to the story when Scott stood sentry as Jacob held Bella's hand whilst he sutured the cut shot.

As Bella signed herself out, Jacob with her, Richard tipped his chin towards the office and Scott followed him in. 'You don't have to tell me, but it wasn't the garage, was it?'

Scott spotted the Goofy picture that Willow had drawn, and the watercolour skeleton foot and felt his stomach roll again. 'No.'

Richard scanned his face. 'When you get home, take some antinausea, should settle your stomach. You did good, Scott.'

He nodded and left with a tight smile.

That girl was going to get herself killed one day, honestly and Scott couldn't help but think that Bella may not care about the consequences anymore.

So for those that have just started reading this book, or that got last week's update as your first one, I needed to change the ending to the last chapter otherwise this thing would be going for days. Which, whilst I have no doubt that you all would be down for that, I like to keep these between 4-5k now just for consistency purposes.

Also, Naoma Hemming might be a person you all might want to keep an eye on, that's all I will say about her character. But yes, that girl is firmly in her emo, grunge MCR phase and sees no end in sight. Which, fair.

Love me some Soft!Scott vibes, and learning by necessity from the accident, because it wasn't just Willow who was affected. If you can't already tell, Bella's actions in this chapter will have repercussions on her relationships but I'm the only one who knows how much for now.

Let me know if you can spot a little foreshadowing and I'll see you next week,

Enjoy,

K x