Thanks for giving this story a shot. I know Brady isn't a popular choice for a main character, but I wanted to explore the idea of an innocent person putting pressure on Bella and Edward's relationship through no fault of their own. Brady is a child in Bella's eyes and a rival in Edward's. How will everything shake out? To be clear, there is NO romantic relationship between Bella (18) and Brady (13) at these ages.

Chapter 1: The Imprint

Bella's first reaction was fear. Was this the end of her happily-ever-after with Edward? Would he use this as an excuse to leave her again?

"What have you done?" Edward hissed at Brady.

Everyone out on the lawn in the Cullens' backyard turned to Brady. He was a lanky teenager, standing a head shorter than Seth, with a youthful face that gawked unashamedly at Bella. His unwavering stare was too intense, and Bella didn't know where to look.

"No, no, no! Everything's black! It's all gone!" Alice wailed. She rubbed her temples and lost herself in another vision.

"Alice?" Bella gasped.

Alice groaned in frustration and glared at Brady. "I can't see anything because of you dogs."

In the blink of an eye, she was gone.

An awkward pause stretched on in Alice's wake, and Bella felt compelled to fill it. She turned to Brady with a hopefully convincing fake smile. "I guess we'll be spending more time together from now on."

The young wolf looked at Bella like she hung the moon, and it reminded her that she was his entire world now. How could she live up to that expectation?

"Dude! Did you just imprint?" Seth blurted out, one step behind the rest of them. "We should talk to Sam. He'll know what to do."

"She's not yours," Edward hissed, probably in response to Brady's thoughts. "She'll never be yours."

Bella flushed in embarrassment. "Edward, stop." He acted like Brady was his rival, but everyone understood that the imprint wasn't the romantic kind, not with Brady being thirteen.

Edward continued to glower at the kid, but Brady didn't seem to care about the menacing vampire. He only had eyes for Bella.

"Come, Bella. Let's go inside." Edward beckoned her towards the house with an outstretched hand.

Bella instinctively reached for Edward, but she stopped when she heard a pained noise. Brady's hopeful expression had fallen and turned into anguish.

Bella froze. For the first time, she felt what it was like to choose between them. Bella hesitantly stepped towards Brady and held out her arms. Brady practically jumped into them.

"Hey, it's ok," she crooned as she rubbed his back soothingly. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. It's going to be ok."

Bella was freaking out inside. She didn't know what to do, so she just continued to babble reassuring words until the boy calmed down. Eventually Brady pulled away, and Bella got a good look at his face. His eyes were still watery but he gave her a little smile. Relief washed over Bella, and she smiled back warmly.

"We're going to La Push to talk to Sam," Bella announced with more confidence than she felt. She waited a second for an outburst, but thankfully no one tried to stop her.

So as not to upset Brady, Bella surreptitiously peeked over her shoulder at Edward. He was fuming mad. Bella gave him a reassuring smile, but it didn't change his expression one bit. She faced forward with some worry. Did Edward think she was rejecting him? Surely he understood that Brady was the more vulnerable one here.

Bella was sure Edward could handle a short time apart. He knew how much she loved him, after all. Patience was never his strong suit, though. Bella thought humorously.

Once under a covering of trees, they stopped.

"From here, we ride." Seth grinned widely, and Bella bit back a groan. She turned her back to give the boys some privacy until she heard a yip.

Two wolves stood in their places, and Bella walked over to get on the larger one, presumably Seth. The smaller one growled, and the wolves looked at each other like they were communicating. After a few moments, the Seth relented and nudged Bella over to Brady.

"Are you sure I'm not too heavy?" Bella asked uncomfortably. The small wolf jerked his head in response, telling her to get on. Bella gingerly threw her leg over and settled on his back.

"Ok," she told them and they took off.

Bella was tense at first, but she quickly relaxed when she realized how fast Brady was. Even with her added weight, Seth had a tough time keeping up with them.

Quicker than Bella thought possible, they arrived at Sam and Emily's pretty little cottage by the sea. Bella headed up the porch steps as the boys phased back.

"Emily?" Bella called, peeking through the screen door.

Emily rushed up with a smile, wiping her hands on a towel, and pulled the screen open. "Come on in. You know you don't have to ask."

"Thanks." Bella smiled shyly. She'd been worried that she wasn't really welcome on the res anymore, but she should have known that Emily wouldn't turn her away.

Emily led her into the kitchen where she was, of course, making food for the pack. She stirred a pot on the stove, and then turned back to Bella. "So how've you been?"

Bella was about to reply when Brady and Seth burst through the door. The screen slammed loudly, and Emily hollered, "What did I tell you about slamming the door?"

Both boys cringed and called out their apologies. They settled onto the couch and turned on a video game.

"Is Sam around?" Bella quietly asked Emily, watching the living room nervously.

Emily looked sharply between Bella and the boys, sensing that something was up if Bella wanted to talk to the Alpha. "He should be home pretty soon. Will you stay for dinner?" Emily offered.

Bella agreed gratefully and offered her help with the food.

"What's new with you?" Bella asked, feeling a little guilty that she didn't keep up better with her friends. "It's been a while."

"It has," Emily agreed. "But you're here now."

Emily told Bella about she and Sam trying to start a family.

"Wow." Bella was surprised considering how young they were, but she could see how excited Emily was, so she tried to be supportive. "That's great. You'll be a great mom."

Emily beamed and told Bella about their plans for the baby's room. Bella genuinely tried to follow Emily's excited chatter about paint colors and furniture, but her thoughts kept wandering to the young teen sitting one room away. What on Earth did he do to get stuck with her—the vampire girl? Bella expected that once the shock of imprinting wore off, he'd realize he hated her like Paul did.

"We're just about ready." Emily turned off the stove and started rummaging around for serving spoons. "Seth! Brady! Come set the table."

Bella was finishing up the salad as they came in. She looked up from slicing the tomato for a second and cut her finger.

Bella gasped, "I'm so sorry!" The blood welled up from the little cut and she groped for something to stop the bleeding. Brady handed her a paper towel, and Bella thanked him. He hovered next to her like he wanted to help but didn't know how.

"Can you find me a band aid?" Bella asked Brady.

He ran down the hall, and Bella giggled at his overreaction. She was pretty used to her natural clumsiness by now, but her new imprint had a lot to learn, poor guy.

Bella patched herself up and finished the salad—sans tomatoes. They got everything on the table and were sitting down to eat when Sam, Paul, and Collin strolled in.

"Perfect timing." Emily smiled as Sam kissed her hello.

Collin sniffed the air and squeezed himself into a spot between Brady and Seth. "Smells good, Em."

Everyone dug in—the boys because their stomachs were endless pits and the girls in order to get some food before it was gone.

"How'd it go today?" Emily asked Sam with feigned nonchalance.

Sam's gaze flicked over to his imprint before sliding back to his plate. "Just routine. Nothing interesting."

"That's... good," Emily said slowly. She took a look at Brady and Bella, who were sneaking anxious glances at each other, but decided not to bring up her suspicions.

Collin, sitting on Brady's other side, leaned into him and whispered something in his ear with a grin. He nudged his friend several times and gestured conspicuously in Bella's direction.

Bella saw the movement and blushed uncomfortably at the thought that they were talking about her. Thankfully, Brady didn't take his friend's bait and kept his attention on his food.

Apparently Collin couldn't stay silent, so he addressed the whole table. "When are we going to have a bonfire to celebrate the new imprint?"

Emily gasped. Brady shot Collin an annoyed look but otherwise didn't react.

Sam cleared his throat uncomfortably and answered, "There's no rush. We'll get to it when we get to it."

"Let's do it this weekend!" Collin suggested unabated.

Sam glared at him, but the boy didn't notice. He was too busy grinning and poking Brady's side, while Brady was doing his best to ignore him.

"This weekend's no good," Sam said pointedly. "We're, uh, out of firewood."

Collin snorted and gave Sam a funny look. "Then we'll pick some up from the store, duh."

Sam glared at Collin again, and Bella became suspicious. Clearly she and Collin were both missing something. Why did Sam not want to have a bonfire? Was it because of her?

Brady watched Bella curl in on herself and knew he had to fix it. "Actually, I asked Sam to wait until I could see if Bella wanted one."

Then he turned to Bella and quietly explained, "I know you don't really like parties, and I wouldn't want you to be uncomfortable."

Bella was touched by Brady's concern for her, and she felt embarrassed for overreacting.

"At least we won't need to hear the legends again," Paul murmured into his plate.

"We can just call it a summer barbeque if you prefer, Bella." Seth gave her a kind smile.

She could handle a low-key barbeque. "Yeah, that sounds nice," she agreed.

"Yeah?" Brady's face lit up, betraying his real excitement.

Bella nodded and held in a laugh at his boyish enthusiasm. She then reached for a piece of garlic bread, only to have it swiped away by Paul.

"Hey!" She laughingly protested.

Brady growled angrily. He ripped the bread away from Paul, elbowing him in the face in the process. Paul stood up lightening fast, chair clattering behind him, and pulled Brady into a headlock. Brady struggled. He dragged the empty serving bowl from the table and swung it blindly at Paul's head.

"Knock it off!" Sam yelled sharply. The boys sat back down like nothing had happened.

Brady dropped the bread onto Bella's plate. When she didn't immediately pick it up, he nudged her encouragingly. She was a little shell shocked, but she gave him a weak smile and bit into her garlic bread. She forgot what it was like around the wolves.

"So what did the clumsy Swan do this time?" Paul asked, gesturing towards Bella's finger.

"Oh!" Bella looked down at her hand and her cheeks tinged pink. "I cut myself while I was chopping, sorry."

"Good thing you were here and not with the leeches," Collin laughed.

Brady's chair started rattling, and Bella saw that he was shaking violently.

"Brady. Outside." Sam commanded. "Now!"

Brady rushed out the door to let his wolf out. An awkward silence descended on the table.

Bella stood up and cleared her throat nervously, "I should probably go after him."

Bella didn't immediately see him when she stepped outside. "Brady?" She walked over to the tree line where the boys usually phased and cautiously looked around. "Brady?"

"Stay back," he cautioned. Brady kept his distance because of his quivering frame. He was a hair's breadth away from phasing.

"You're still human," Bella remarked with surprise. "I'm impressed."

Brady's chest puffed up at her praise, and the shaking slowed by a fraction.

"I'm sorry I upset you," Bella whispered. She couldn't meet his eyes so she spoke to his clavicle. "I'll try to be more careful next time. I promise."

Brady heaved out a sigh and walked closer to her. He wasn't shaking anymore. "Why do you keep doing that?"

Bella's head shot up in surprise. "What do you mean?"

"You keep apologizing, but you've got nothing to be sorry about." Brady wore a serious expression, and it felt like he stared into her soul.

"I—I—" Bella had nothing to say. Did she really apologize that much?

"You've got nothing to be sorry about," Brady reiterated. "People cut themselves, Bella. It was just an accident." He looked over at her sheepishly. "I'm sorry I didn't handle it well. I'm still working on controlling my anger."

Bella didn't want to argue over the blame so she joked, "If I don't get to apologize, then you don't either!"

Brady smiled at her levity. "You ready to go back inside?" He held out his hand. Bella stared at it for a second before grasping it. She couldn't help but notice how pleasantly warm his hand was against her cold fingers.

As they walked inside, Collin eyed their hands but didn't say anything. He clasped Brady on the shoulder. "Sorry, man."

"No worries," Brady replied.

Collin headed out, and Seth and Paul were nowhere to be seen. Sam came forward, also taking note of their hands, and asked Brady, "Do we need to have this conversation outside or can you handle it?"

Brady stared unflinchingly into Sam's hard eyes. "I'm good," he promised.

After a moment, Sam nodded and led them to the living room. Brady saddled up right next to Bella, despite having half a couch left of space. His body instantly warmed up her left side, and he held their hands on his leg.

"How are you both handling the imprint?" Sam asked. When Brady didn't say anything, Bella spoke up.

"If I hadn't seen Quil and Claire together, I'd be a little freaked out, but I know it's not anything ... weird. We can be friends." Bella smiled at Brady, who looked a little less convinced. "Right?"

He cleared his throat and looked down. "Right."

Bella frowned but didn't press him on his mood. She turned back to Sam and asked about earlier. "Brady's quite protective of me. Is that because he's still new or will it always be like that?"

"Brady needs to get a handle on not phasing when he gets upset." Sam gave the kid a cool stare. "But in general the protectiveness never goes away."

"Ok." Bella nodded. "What else can we expect?"

"You'll need to keep in regular contact or it will feel like you're rejecting the imprint," Sam warned. Brady's hand flinched in response.

"Anything else?" Bella prompted. She knew she should ask about her relationship with Edward, but she was afraid of the answer.

Sam shrugged. "Every imprint experience is slightly different. We're here for you, but there are some things you're going to need to figure out on your own."

"Alright." Bella accepted the advice but she felt slightly unsatisfied. The only real thing he said was about staying in contact. Bella turned to Brady. "You have your phone?"

Brady unlocked it and handed it over without a second thought. Bella smiled at his blind trust. She typed a few things in and then her own phone buzzed in her pocket.

"There. Now you have my number and I've got yours. Text or call me whenever. We can figure out a time to meet up soon."

"Thanks." Brady cradled his phone like it was his lifeline.

Bella stood up, and Brady mirrored her. "You have to go?" He asked sadly.

Bella hated to disappoint him, but she had to get back home to Edward. "Yeah, sorry. I'll be back soon though."

"I'll drive you home," Sam offered.

Brady looked like a sad puppy as he walked Bella to the car. She gave him a warm hug that cheered him up a bit, and she headed home.