Esme and Bella had planned tonight for the past week after finding out the wolves all have off of patrol for the night. The wolves haven't all shared a day off in a long time and I can tell they're excited to have some fun. Before all this went down we would normally spend our weekend's at Quil's house drinking, watching movies, or playing games and if not we were at the beach. Leah is used to being a homebody, her and Sam never came out to hang. They were like an old married couple, just how Sam and Emily act now.

I can tell Jake misses the guys a lot, and I think Seth does too but he's good at hiding it. He doesn't want Jake to feel like he stole Seth away from them.

The wolves have to drink quite a bit of alcohol to feel anything, but I on the other hand am a lightweight. Emmett offered to supply all the alcohol for tonight. I think he's excited to have a good time too. Rosalie was less than thrilled that we'll all be over tonight, but Alice is excited to host. I had no idea vampire could get drunk until we started planning this and I actually can't wait to see Emmett under the influence. He would have loved Quil's parties back then, if we had known him.

I took my time in the shower, which I hardly get to do these days. I wanted to take the extra time to care for myself, adding a hair mask and doing a ten minute face mask. It's more than I've done for myself in the past month honestly. I've been the least of my worries.

While my face mask is drying I paint my nails and toes too and then wash it off. I carefully comb through my thick black hair, leaving it to dry straight. I always keep my makeup simple, but I take a bit more time adding in some darker brown eye-shadow. I put on some gold jewelry, including the adorable necklace with a wolf shaped charm hanging on it that Sue made Leah and I. Sweet Sue has been doing a really good job with all the wolf stuff and Harry always suspected the tribe would come back.

I know tonight's not a big going out thing, but I do put on my favorite jeans that make my butt look good and a cute going out top that shows off some cleavage, even if I fully expect some teasing from Jake and Emmett. I spray on some perfume, just some since the wolves can smell everything so strongly, and I rebrush my teeth.

My apartment has definitely seen better days. I'm hardly home but I always leave it a mess after getting ready and my laundry is piling up. I take a few extra minutes to put my clothes and makeup away, and shove more dirty clothes into the hamper before grabbing my keys and heading out the door.

My apartment is very small, but it fits me perfectly. It's one floor with a small bedroom, a bathroom, and a small kitchen attached to the living room. The perk is that I have a ton of backyard space and an adorable front and back porch. I've decorated each porch with a colorful rug, two chairs and a matching little table, and tons of potted plants. I even grow my own strawberries, or at least I try to. I wanted to make a comforting space, something different than what my home with dad was like. It was always manly and messy, it never felt like mine.

Sue has also offered to help me plant some flowers along the front, but I haven't had a free moment to do it. It's been nice having Sue and Esme around.

I drive the short distance to Leah's house to pick her and Seth up. Seth offered to drive my car back since his is in the shop and Sue doesn't like him drinking much since he's still in high-school. And I desperately need to drink and let a little loose. Not too loose, of course.

I honk my horn and they both come out right away. Leah's wearing black leggings with over-sized flannel that hangs loosely off of one shoulder. It's a comfortable night for August. Her short hair is now growing down to her shoulders and she has some caramel high-lights throughout it. A little change to say "Fuck you, Sam". I love it. I even notice some mascara and blush, something she would normally never do. "Wow, you look hot!" I call out my window at her.

She just gives me the finger as she walks around my car, plopping herself into the passenger seat. It will be a cold day in hell before Seth gets a chance at that seat. Seth trails behind her with his usual happy-go-lucky smile. He's wearing a tight light blue t-shirt and some dark blue jeans, it's simple, but he looks really good in it. His hair is neatly placed, like he spent some extra time on it today. When he climbs into the car all I can suddenly smell is his cologne. It smells warm and manly, with a hint of something sweet.

A gagging noise erupts from Leah, pulling me back to reality. She turns to look at him, her eyes mere slits. "God I can hardly breathe in here, what are you a middle schooler who just found Axe?" She gasps, putting down her window.

I sneak a peek at Seth from my mirror and I see a red flush on his face. His eyes are on his lap, looking awfully shy. "I think he smells nice, leave him be." I say in a teasing tone, pulling out of their driveway. "I'm so ready to drink." I drum my fingers along the steering wheel, my rings clinking as I do.

Leah snorts. "I'm so ready to see you drink. You get slutty when you're drunk." She teases me, poking at my side.

I chew on my cheek to suppress a grin. "I do not."

She throws her head back in a fit of giggles. "You so do and I fully support it. I wish I had balls as big as you when I drink, I just get sleepy."

I roll my eyes at that, the last thing she gets is sleepy. She becomes a crude sailor when she drinks and the truth spills out of her like vomit. "Big balls, huh?" Seth teases from the backseat.

"I know you're referencing spin the bottle and I feel the need to point out, yet again, that that's how the game works. You kiss who it lands on." I gesture at her. "Clearly you need to play sometime."

Last year, right before everyone turned we were all at Quil's kicking off the summer with a little party. I was completely trashed, so was everyone else back then, and Quil suggested we play spin the bottle. I thought it was a great idea in the moment. So it was me, a few girls from school, some football players, and all the guys minus Jared, Sam, and Seth cause he wasn't there. I managed to kiss Quil, Embry, Jake, among others. It was all just pecks. Or I guess it was more of a make out with Quil, but still. Just for some fun. Leah wasn't there but she heard about it through Quil, who still teases me about it to this day. Or he did when I used to see him.

She snorts again. "Right, but how many rounds went on for you to have kissed six people. I heard you even kissed Kim."

"We pecked." I lift a shoulder, a smile toying on my lips. I miss Kim. She's become collateral like me in this mess of a situation. She's Jared's imprint, so she's on their side. That means I haven't seen her since I've seen then, which really blows. She's my other best friend, although with Leah it's more like we're family.

Leah goes on to recite another embarrassing story of me throwing up on the beach, and luckily I make it to the Cullen's without lighting up in flames from my skin feeling so warm with embarrassment. I can hear the music already, good thing they live in the middle of nowhere.

I can see Alice dancing around through the many windows of the house as we walk up to the front door. I always think of her as a little fairy the way she's so light on her feet and perky. It's so cute seeing Jasper, who's normally so grumpy and serious, light up around her. I want that sort of love from someone.

Jake greets us at the door with a smile, a beer already in hand. I can tell he's had a few by now because he's much lighter than normal. Thank god. Jake is so stiff these days, the stress of everything ways on him greatly. He's grown up so much since phasing, him more than anyone else. He's patient, level-headed, and brave, a natural born leader.

"There they are." Emmett's smile grows wide as we step inside, instantly pulling me in for a tight hug. "Hi my favorite little human, don't tell Bella." He whispers the last part and I chuckle, patting at his shoulder so he lets go. Clearly he has had some beers too. I spot Rosalie standing in the far corner by the windows with arms crossed, a tight look on her face. Sometimes I don't understand how two totally different people can make a relationship work for so long, but they manage.

Carlisle, Esme, Edward, and Jasper are all patrolling tonight and it seems they're already out in the woods. Esme gave Alice strict instructions on how to heat up the food for us before I had left earlier, I can tell she wished she could stay and host too.

"Seth, are you having a beer?" Emmett points to him, walking away to the fridge.

"Just one." He calls, stuffing his hands in his pockets. Seth never got to experience all the fun we would have at Quil's and now on his one big night off he's not drinking.

I shift closer to him, instantly being hit with his warmth. "Are you sure you want to drive home, cause I can. You deserve to have a few drinks, I won't tell Sue." I nudge him with my elbow.

His smile is so sweet. "I'm fine, really. Enjoy yourself, let loose." He chuckles, placing his hand on my elbow for a moment. Instantly my elbow feels burning hot, the heat traveling all over me until I feel warm and fuzzy.

Emmett bellows from the kitchen, causing me to jump a step away from Seth. With now a foot between us I feel like I can breathe a little better without his scent overpowering my senses. "I've heard some funny stories from Bella about you Gwen." He emerges with beers in hand, passing them out to the three of us.

I turn to see pregnant Bella chuckling from the couch, rubbing a hand over her big belly. "Bella! What lies have you been saying?" I head towards her.

Bella came around before her and Edward started dating, and then again when he left and she started working on the motorcycles with Jake. I always enjoyed Bella's presence, she's just friendly and quiet. When she drinks she gets pretty sloppy though and I think it's hilarious. "I have some funny stories about Bella too." I offer up.

Emmett rubs his hands together as I crack open my beer. "Get to talking."

"My favorite is the one where she got so drunk she let me read her dirty texts with Edward. I was mid-read when she started puking in Quil's moms's tomato plant. She told Quil he could just scoop it out the next day and she would never know." Bell and I laugh over the memory and everyone else snickers too. I was shocked to find out Bella had rushed into marriage so quickly, before I knew of what Edward is. I thought it was a little foolish to rush, but now I can see it's really what she was always meant for. She'll be an amazing mom and she's already an amazing wife. Married life suites her.

"A wild child before the baby, hm?" Rosalie teases her, looking a little more lighthearted. I notice Emmett smiling at that. While Jasper is a natural born romantic, Emmett is more quiet and reserved, but the love is there. You can see it in his face every time he looks at her. Where some others may see her faults, he finds more to love. Her grumpy personality is nothing that his sunshine one can't handle.

Bella's still laughing over the story. "Alright alright, I'm sloppy. Jake starts getting sensitive when he drinks though." She puts her hands up, shrugging her shoulders.

That sends Emmett snorting, "No way."

Bella shakes her head. "I walked in on Jake expressing to Embry how important their friendship is to him and how he loves him more than Quil." She makes me laugh so hard I bend over, holding onto Leah's arm for support, but she's laughing just as hard. "He was so earnest the way he said it, and he had his hand over his heart."

"Poor Quil!" I giggle, wiping at my tears. I take another few sips of my beer when I calm down a little.

"Embry was just silent the whole time too, just nodding his head and saying "I know Jake, I know" it was so bad." Bella wheezed, trying to calm down.

I move to take a seat on the couch opposite to Bella, while Leah and Seth sit on either side of me. The couch is white leather so it's cool to the touch, at least if I wasn't squished between two heaters. In the winter the living room here becomes even cozier as they light up the fireplace to the left of the couches. My favorite is when the Christmas tree is up too, taking up a lot of the extra space in here. In the summer months it's tricky to keep it cool enough in here with all the windows and the people moving around. The poor wolves sweat to death on the hotter afternoons, but luckily August is coming to an end soon.

Jake rubs his hands over his face. "Alright but Leah gets brutally honest when she's drunk and that's pretty funny too."

"Oh my god, you told Kim you didn't actually hate her, you just hate her voice!" I pout, pointing at her. Poor Kim. She was so taken aback when Leah said that, but it was pretty funny and Kim knows how to take a joke. She wouldn't let Leah's words bother her much, she knows Leah's just a bit judgmental.

Leah sighs and shakes her head. "Poor Kim."

"One time Leah got in trouble for sneaking out of the house when she was sixteen. She was going over some guys house but told our mom she was going to Gwen's, which was before they were friends. Our mom was so excited she made Leah take cookies with her." Seth chuckles from beside me. I stare at the side of his face as he talks, taking in the way his eyes light up at the memories.

I turned my head to see Leah's face is now painted red. "No way! Is that true?" She shamefully nods her head, her hair bouncing. "Leah! That's such bullshit, I never got any cookies!" I jut my lip out at her. Sue loves to bake sweets and I love to eat them. She made my birthday cake this past year and it was freaking amazing.

"Yeah well I didn't get away with it, she found out and grounded me for a month." She grumbles, crossing her arms over her chest. "Seth still says he didn't tell her, but I think he's lying." She sneers at him. He puts his hands up in defense, shaking his head.

Alice comes floating in from the kitchen, giving me and Leah a look. "Ladies lets take a shot, Rose you too." She beckons us to the kitchen, practically twirling her way there. Rose reluctantly follows behind us, her arms crossed tightly across her chest. Emmett yells something encouraging to her, but she keeps a straight face.

"Tequila?" Leah shivers when she sees the bottle. "It's been a long time."

I have to suppress a shiver too, it's been a while since I've taken a straight shot of anything. Leah's my go to when it comes to making me a drink and she always floods mine with plenty of mixers. "You girls know how to take a tequila shot right?" She smiles at us, her hands on her thin waist. She has all the ingredients already lined up for us.

"Of course." I wave my hand at her, trying to sound a little braver than I feel. We each line up in front of the sot, grabbing our supplies up. I take a deep breath before licking the salt off my hand, taking the shot, and shoving the lime in my mouth. I shiver and try to hold back a gag as I bite down, but my face says it all. I do prefer them over vodka shots though, those are impossible. Despite the taste in my mouth I find myself shouting, "Let's do another!".

I'm not big on taking shots, obviously, but I do enjoy how quick they are. Over in an instant and I'm just that much drunker. We take the second shot and this time I take a few gulps of my beer to rid my mouth of the taste better. It's clear everyone can down a shot better than I can, but I still manage to get it down at least.

Alice clears all the empty shot glasses, carefully placing them in the sink to get washed. "I love your top." I compliment her, touching the trim of the material. She's gotten into thrifting clothes lately and she spends a lot of time sewing her finds, making them perfectly fit her body. This particular shirt I recognize from before it was all fixed up by her. It used to be a dress.

"Why thank you." She smiles down at her masterpiece. "Jasper insisted I wear it tonight, even though he can't enjoy it til later." From what Emmett tells me those two have a pretty interesting and upbeat sex life. Good for them. Mine has been completely awful from my virginity on. Although, I can also say with confidence no one has gotten me anywhere near as hot and bothered as Seth has lately. All the boys I've been with were just pushy enough to get me into bed, only to be even more disappointing. I only really told Leah about my sexual history, the boys would tease me too much if they knew who I've let in my bed.

We move back into the living room, catching Bella reluctantly heading up to bed already. She calls from the top of the stairs that she's going to rest her eyes for a bit, but I know that's just her being hopeful. She'll be out like a light soon.

I take my seat back on the couch next to Seth, feeling lighter than I did before. Jake is digging into the cheese and crackers that Alice so nicely set up for everyone, but it's already nearly gone. The wolves eat a ton. Between Sue and Esme they're always catered to. Emily's stuck feeding the pack back in La Push, probably going nuts over how many mouths it is. I think she likes to feel motherly though.

"Gwen is it true you kissed the whole pack?" Emmett snickers from the other couch, facing me.

I cross my arms and stare at him. "Who told you that? That's not true." Emmett takes a lot of joy in learning of our lives before everyone shifting. He, just as much as Rose, desperately misses life before he turned, finding joy in the human experience.

Jake snorts, "Yes it is."

"I didn't kiss Jared, Sam, or Paul." I pause to think of the others. "Or Leah. Or Seth!" I exclaim, throwing up my hands. "You guys make me out to sound horrible, it was a game." I insist, taking another few gulps of my beer.

Rosalie looks like she smelt something bad. "A whole lot of dogs." She grumbles in disgust. Emmett nudges her and she sighs, looking away like she's over this conversation.

"I was drunk and Quil made it sound like a good idea. You participated too!" I accuse Jake. Before Bella was around Jake was chasing every girl in sight at one point, striking out more than anything. That was before he had muscles and a buzzcut.

Alice grimaces a little bit, "So you two kissed?" She points from me to Jake. It's something we did and never really talked about since, because there are absolutely no feelings there. Jake and I would skinny dip in his pool growing up, I've seen all his bits and can say with certainty I'm not interested. He's like a brother to me.

"A peck." I shake my head, dismissing it.

"It was the best kiss of your life." Jake speaks in a monotone voice, like it's fact. I roll my eyes at that.

"Why didn't you kiss poor Sethy?" Emmett pouts at me, his eyes flicking to Seth's for a moment. "I'm sure little Seth wants to score too."

Alice slaps the back of his head. "Don't make it sounds like a soccer game, it's kissing." She scoffs at him, rolling her eyes.

"I wasn't there." Seth casually butts in, leaning back on the couch. I remain stiff and upright.

Jakes leans over from his chair that sits in between the couches to look over at us. "Yeah we had to hear about him not being able to go for weeks."

Seth sighs. "Yeah my mom never let me go to those things back then." Poor Seth. He's always treated like the baby of the group, but that's Sue's little boy and she's terrified of him growing up. At least that's what Leah says, I can imagine it's true though.

"No he was upset because he didn't get to kiss Gwen." Jake teases him and Emmett starts "ooh-ing" right away to egg him on. I suddenly feel super aware of how close we sit together. Our thighs are pressed together tightly, but I'm just as close to Leah, there's no scooting over. I feel my heart skip a beat at Jake's words and my face warm up. Unfortunate for me every single one of them can probably hear my heart beat change.

Leah has a big smile on her face. "What?"

Jake leans back in his chair with a proud smile on his face, like he just spilled the hottest drama. "Oh yeah, he was very disappointed. Said he missed his chance with her." I can feel my entire body turn red now and I'm too nervous to steal a look at Seth.

Leah looks past me and shoves Seth's shoulder. "You did not say that!" She bursts into giggles.

"I didn't say that." He says quickly. I feel a mixture of embarrassment and excitement. Embarrassed because Jake is probably twisting the truth and Seth's probably embarrassed to be associated with me. Excited because a part of me hopes he did say all that. A part of me wants him to want me, because I want him, despite knowing it can't work out.

"Aw Gwen! You can be my sister-in-law!" She gushes, pulling me into a side hug. If only. I force out a smile when she pulls away. When I muster up the courage to glance at Seth his eyes meet mine for a moment until I look away, shyly.

"Well Gwen if you have to date a wolf Seth's the only acceptable one." Rosalie adds in, shooting Jake a look.

"I agree, I think Seth has some major BDE." Alice says casually, crossing her legs and stretching out her arms, a glass of expensive wine in hand.

Emmett's eyebrow shoots up. "What the hell is BDE, an infection?"

She scoffs at him, like we should all know what it is. "Big dick energy."

I hear Seth choke on his beer all the while Leah begins her gagging routine at the thought of it. "Alice!" I hiss, feeling Seth's embarrassment flood the room.

She looks back at me innocently with her big doe eyes, "What? He does!"

After we all had quite a few more beers I'm officially tipsy, borderline drunk. Alice turned up the music and everyone's in their own little conversations around the room. Alice and Rose are off in the kitchen giggling over their wine. Emmett and Jake are laughing about some movie they both just watched, and Leah and Seth are arguing on the couch about something.

I'm coming back into the living room with another beer, squeezing in between the two siblings.

"What did I miss?" I slur, looking at each of them. My whole body feels light and airy. I feel confident enough to look Seth in the eye again now after all the teasing has subsided.

"Seth won't take my patrol shift tomorrow." Leah whines, throwing her head back. She's always trying to pass her shifts along to him.

Seth rolls his eyes. "I'm already going to be here in the morning and then for the rest of the weekend, Leah."

"Fine." She grumbles, standing up and stomping off towards the kitchen.

I chuckle at her tantrum. "She'll get over it." I assure him, patting his knee before breaking into a yawn. "I have the day off tomorrow, I can't wait." I sigh happily, sinking back into the couch. I'm already picturing how comfortable my bed is going to feel tonight. I always get my best sleep when I had a few drinks or a few hits of weed.

"What are you gonna do?"

I hum in though, licking my lips. "Eat pizza, do laundry cause I have no clean underwear, and catch up on my shows." I've been looking forward to tomorrow all week, but I also know I'm going to wake up with a raging hangover tomorrow morning.

Emmett gets my attention by waving a hand at me. "What?"

He chuckles at me. "Look I have a bottle, want to play your favorite game?"

I frown, crossing my arms. "No. Everyone's coupled up, that's weird."

He shakes his head. "Not with us, with Seth." He motions at the two of us with his fingers. "Come on, make the guys dreams come true." Jake laughs along with him, loving this.

I'm too tipsy this time to blush. "It's no one's dream to kiss me Emmett." I sound out his name.

Emmett grins while rising up from the couch, reaching his arms out to me. "Come on, up you go." He tugs me up, putting in most of the work because my legs don't want to work. He places a hand on my upper back, guiding me towards the back door.

The warm summer air greets my chilly body, instantly heating me up from the blasting AC. There's a light wind in the air, keeping the temperature somewhat comfortable. It's been a dry few days, we're overdue for some stormy nights. The trees rustle with another gust of wind, making a shiver creep up my spine. I wet my lips, glancing up at the sky. It's always seems to appear like the stars are closer to the Cullen's house. They sparkle and shine down on us so heavily, making me feel like if I stare at it long enough I'll forget where I am. The night sky always reminds me of summer nights when I was a kid.

When I pull my sights away from the sky I realize Rosalie had moved out here too, probably looking for some alone time. She looks from me to Emmett, a look of concern pulling on her face. "What's going on?"

Emmett just stands me up straight, placing himself across from me. He places his heavy hands on my shoulders. "Gwen look at me." He says in his most serious way, though it's always hard to take him seriously.

I look into his eyes. "I'm looking." I slur a little, giggling. "What do you want?" I insist, wanting to get back inside.

"I know you like someone in your little group, you can tell me. I can be trusted." He says with a serious face.

I stare blankly at him for a moment before snorting, pushing his chest although he doesn't budge. "Emmett how drunk do you think I am?" I take a step back shaking my head. Emmett's been trying to get the "tea" on me for weeks now. He wants to know who I like cause he insists he knows that I do indeed like someone.

He groans at the sky before meeting my eyes again. His eyes narrow, like the answer is written on my face and he just as to look at me long enough to know. "Is it Jake?"

Rosalie gags from behind us and I look past him at her. "You're too pretty for it to be Jake."

"I think they can hear us." I laugh softly, running a hand through my knotted hair.

Emmett shakes his head. "No with the music and the distance we're fine. You can tell us. Right, honey?" He looks over his shoulder at Rosalie. She just rolls her eyes and stands up, moving next to Emmett.

"Is it that Quil guy?" She grimaces a bit.

"What? No!" I cross my arms over my chest. "God, no." Quil wasn't a half bad kisser that night, but that's the last time I'll ever be doing that. Quil loves women and he'll take what he can get. I so do not want to be another name on that list.

She grows a knowing smile on her perfect face. "I know who." I don't even want to press her because I think she does too, she looks a little too confident.

Emmett looks from me to her. "Who is it?"

She looks at me, studying my face, as she speaks. "I think it's Seth." She lowers her voice a bit, in case they can all hear this.

Emmett looks back at me and I try my best to keep a straight face, but I feel my lips twitch under the pressure of both of them. "I don't like anyone." I say calmly, although I hear my voice falter. "You've both got it all wrong." I give one shake of my head.

"You were as red as an apple earlier when Jake was teasing Seth about liking you." She pesters me, still studying my face.

I huff. "Yeah because Jake was trying to embarrass him and I know Seth doesn't like me and I felt embarrassed that Jake was making it up." I throw my hands up in the air, turning to look over the porch railing.

A moment of silence goes by and I can feel their eyes on the back of my head. They're both silent behind me as I turn my head to steal a peek at them, finding them both smiling from ear to ear. "Shut up." I grumble at a loss. I know they know.

Emmett comes up from behind me and picks me up, swinging me around so I'm facing Rosalie who's laughing softly. "You like him!" He teases, shaking my shoulders. "You really like him." He pouts at me, trying to poke my cheek but I slap his hand away.

"Shut it." I talk through my teeth. "Someone's gonna hear you!" I furrow my brows together, trying to get him to take me seriously.

He just shakes his head at me, looking confused. "What's the big secret? That little dork is gonna blow his load once he finds out that you like him back." He jabs his thumb in the direction of the house.

I feel my face heat up at his phrasing. "He doesn't like me back. He hasn't imprinted on me which means there's nothing there anyway. Plus Leah would probably kill me if I ever told her." I wrap my arms around myself.

"Well how do you know he hasn't imprinted on you?" Emmett frowns.

"Leah and Jake can read his thoughts, they would have said something, especially Leah. Plus I doubt Seth would hide it." I insist, shifting in place.

"Well why can't you guys just, I don't know, see how things go. Maybe he'll imprint in the future. For now you guys can just screw like rab-" I shove a hand over his mouth to stop him. God Emmett is such a horny dude.

"Sh! Leah would kill me if I got in a relationship with Seth, especially without being imprinted. You guys know what happened between her and Sam, it was devastating. I would rather never get to tell him than go through all that heart ache." My chest feels heavy for a moment at the thought of that pain. I saw Leah grieve Sam everyday for months, I couldn't imagine having to be in her shoes.

Rosalie, to my surprise, steps forward and wraps an arm around my shoulder. Her touch is cold, but I welcome it. "I understand. You're just trying to protect yourself from the hurt."