Sunset Chapter 7: (Scary Stories) Beach Fun

"What kind of music do you like?" Alice asked me we slid into the backseat of Bella's truck. Jasper was going to drive the truck since Edward had taken Bella home.

"I like rock and pop mostly. Bella's more into classical but I know a few songs from her. What do you guys like?"

"I like pop too! Here," she pulled out her phone, "let me show you this new song I found. Tell me what you think."

We listened to a couple of songs on the drive back, mostly pop. Alice and I shared some of the same favorite songs and artists, like Usher and Kelly Clarkson. Jasper, cliché as it is, liked country music. We both seemed to like Keith Urban, among others, and ended up played a few of his songs. We soon got into talking a bit about some of the other things we liked, such as Alice's love of fashion.

"Wait, you play guitar? That's amazing," I said to Jasper after he let it slip that he played. "My mom had Bella and I take piano lessons when we were younger, but Bella hated it. I got really bored and could never remember what note was which. We eventually quit and moved on to other things."

"Like dance? I saw you the other day in class and you looked like you knew what you were doing," Alice complimented me.

I could feel my face getting hot the more Alice went on about me until Jasper cut her off.

"Ali, sweet, you're making her embarrassed. We're here anyway."

I looked out the window to see the front of my house. It felt like we were talking forever before, but now it felt like time had flown. Edward was in his car next to us, waiting on his siblings. We all got out of the car and I gave a wave to Edward, who hesitantly gave one back.

"Thanks so much, the both of you."

"It's not a problem, sugar," Jasper smirked when I started blushing again at the pet name, "and one day I'll have to play something special for you."

I beamed through my blush.

"I'd like that very much."

"Then it's a date!" Alice proclaimed. Before I could get confirmation on what kind of date she meant (friend meetup? A real date?! We hadn't even chosen a day!) the three of them were gone.

/-/

When Saturday finally came around, I was so excited for our trip to the beach. I was a little tired too because Bella had kept me up later than I would have liked. It had started at dinner last night.

"Dad, do you know a place called Goat Rocks or something like that? I think it's south of Mount Rainier," Bella asked fake-casually.

"Yeah – why?"

I slowed my movements, forgetting that Edward told Bella where they were going. He wasn't even trying to be subtle anymore, was he?

She shrugged. "Some kids were talking about camping there."

"It's not a very good place for camping." He warned. "Too many bears. Most people go there during the hunting season."

I wanted to face palm. Was he trying to get them all caught? It would make more sense than whatever other backwards logic would lead to this.

"Oh," She murmured, "Maybe I got the name wrong."

I then spent the next hour and a half letting her vent her frustrations about the "blood typing incident" and the weird camping spot. I eventually just told her I was going to bed and left mid-rant.

I was so glad that today was when she would finally get more clues to the puzzle. Maybe then she could leave me alone and be distracted by research.

I put on a black two-piece swimsuit with white polka dots. For a coverup, I threw on a pair of shorts and a t-shirt, nothing I would mind getting wet. I put a towel in a bag with my things and put my hair into a bun. A pair of flip-flops and I was ready to head out.

We had decided to meet the others at The Newtons' Olympic Outfitters store, just north of town. I'd been there once or twice with dad but didn't know much about the place other than Mike's parents own it.

As we pulled up next to the other vehicles, I could see the group standing around in front of the store. Eric was there, along with two other boys who might have been Ben and Conner. I didn't know which was which all too well. Jess was there by Angela and Lauren, who still hated Bella. She seemed to not like me just by proxy. That was fine, I wasn't her biggest fan either.

Three other girls stood with them, including one who gave Bella a dirty look as we got out of the truck, and whispered something to Lauren, who eyed us scornfully.

Note to self, don't sit near them.

At least Mike was happy to see us.

"You came!" he called, delighted. "And I said it would be sunny today, didn't I?"

"I told you I was coming," Bella reminded him.

"Of course, I so pumped! Let's get going!" I yelled, pushing a fist into the air. Mike laughed but Bella seemed done with my energy.

"We're just waiting for Lee and Samantha... unless you invited someone," Mike added.

"Nope," Bella lied.

I shook my head. I didn't bother, knowing that the Cullens wouldn't be welcomed. Anyway, anyone else I would have invited would have already been there.

Mike looked satisfied.

"Will you ride in my car? It's that or Lee's mom's minivan."

"Sure."

"You can have shotgun," he promised.

Turning to me, Mike seemed to remember I existed.

"There's not enough room for two so, uh –"

"It's fine Mike, I'll ride in Lee's van."

The numbers worked out in Bella favor, not so much for me. Lee brought two extra people, and suddenly every seat was necessary. I managed to get between Angela and Samantha in the Van with the both of them squished between others. I had to end up half on Angela's lap by the time we took off but she didn't seem to mind too much, thankfully.

It was only fifteen miles to La Push from Forks, with gorgeous, dense green forests edging the road most of the way and the wide Quillayute River snaking beneath it twice. We rolled down the windows to get the sunlight and breeze going. It was getting hot with so many in the car and I was glad I had already changed. Connor decided the best way to make more room was to push himself out of the sunroof like we were in a limo. No one complained except Lee, who was worried that if anything happened to his mom's car, it would be on him.

I'd been to the beaches around La Push many times during my life with and without dad, so the sight of First Beach was familiar to me. It was still breathtaking, even now.

We picked our way down to the beach, Mike leading the way to a ring of driftwood logs that were used for parties. There was a fire circle already in place, filled with black ashes. Eric and Ben gathered broken branches of driftwood from the drier piles against the forest edge, and soon had a teepee-shaped construction built atop the old cinders.

"Have you ever seen a driftwood fire?" Mike asked us. We were sitting on one of the bone-colored benches; the other girls clustered, gossiping excitedly, on either side. Mike kneeled by the fire, lighting one of the smaller sticks with a cigarette lighter. I was waiting until we had settled in a bit to go swimming.

"No," Bella said as he placed the blazing twig carefully against the teepee.

"You'll like this then – watch the colors." He lit another small branch and laid it alongside the first. The flames started to lick quickly up the dry wood.

"It's blue," She said in surprise.

"The salt does it. Pretty, isn't it?" He lit one more piece, placed it where the fire hadn't yet caught, and then came to sit by Bella. Thankfully, Jess was on his other side or who knows what would have gone down. I watched the attractive blue and green flames crackle toward the sky, already having seen it dozens of times before but still loving the sight.

After a while I made my way with some of the girls out towards the sea. Some others had decided that they were going to the tidal pools. I ignored most of the other girls, including Lauren and her friends, and just floated around.

Near the camp I started hearing chatter and moved myself closer only to see some of my friends from the tribe.

"Hey strangers. How's it hanging?" I yelled out as I ran out of the ocean.

A chorus of "Emma!" sounded out as I reached the group.

"Yo, sis! How's it been!" Jacob said as he pulled me into a headlock and messed up my hair. "I heard you and Bella had moved here but didn't know I'd be seeing you this soon."

"Don't noogie the child!" I shrieked as I attempted to wiggle out of his arms. As much as he was younger and smaller than me now, he was still strong. Jared laughed and pulled Jacob from me before I could go limp.

"Yep! I'm back and ready to party with my boiz!" I laughed, making sure to vocalize the 'z' as much as I could, like the disgrace I was. I got a lot of groans as a result.

"Yeah, yeah, mushy we-missed-you aside, are we swimming or what?" Paul impatiently started to drag Embry towards the ocean. Embry couldn't fight as his arms were full of water guns. "Last one in has to be on Brady's team!" Said kid shouted out at that.

"I call Seth!" I yelled, snagging the arm of the younger boy as he tried to race past me towards his sister.

"Ugh, no! Emma, you can't aim, and I refuse to be used as a shield the entire time again."

"Seth…" I groaned even as I let go of him so he could run away.

"Still missed you! Just not enough to be on your team!" he yelled back at me. I laughed as I moved to follow the others.

"Hey."

I jumped a little as Sam appeared besides me. We started walking together towards the water.

"Hey. How's everything going? Not having too much fun without me, I hope."

Sam gave a chuckle. "Everyone's doing good. Better than good even. Mostly thanks to your help." His grin fell. "You haven't said anything, right?"

My smile fell as well.

"Of course not. You know me Sam. I wouldn't betray you like that."

He grimaced. "I know, I know. But this is bigger than just me and you."

"I get that. I don't take it personally. I want them to stay kids as much as they can. Just you still? Or…" I looked out to where the others were messing around with the water guns.

"Jared and Paul." A beat of silence. "Thank you. Without you my relationship with Leah, even with the other boys, would have been a lot worse."

"It was nothing, really. You guys are my friends and it would have killed me if I knew I could help and did nothing. How are Emily and Leah, by the way?"

"Good, really good. It was hard at first, trying to work out two relationships at once, but we got there."

"That's good. If you need anything, just let me know, okay?"

"Same to you. Stay safe. Danger can be hidden in plain sight."

The smile was back as he ran out to the others. Considering the odd warning, he must have smelled the Cullen's scent on me.

My relationship with the Quileutes and Sam was interesting. They all knew that I knew about the shifters, but there was nothing they could do about it. I had promised that I wouldn't tell anyone unless it was life or death, mostly because it wasn't my secret to tell. Billy had vouched for me and Sam was my friend even before, but the elders were still hesitant about letting an outsider know.

I guess that it was my knowledge of the future that allowed me to make the connection between the stories of the tribe about the wolves and Sam's odd behavior after his shifting because I learned about the wolves before I remembered the books. I had made the connection myself, which I guess was a good thing since it gave me realistic reaction to finding out. Honestly, if I was to find out now, my reaction would have been lackluster and suspicious.

I was also able to help Sam, Emily, and Leah's relationship problem before it had ever really started getting bad, though that was more of a fluke than anything since I had no clue about it. I have to give my subconscious credit for that one. I had been staying with Seth and Leah for a bit when Emily had come to visit and had seen the entire thing go down with Sam. With my prodding, I had managed to get Sam to confess to Leah about the wolf imprinting in the hopes that it would do something to help her pain. I ended up holding some half-strung together couples' therapy with the three of them after Emily was informed about everything.

In the end, Leah liked Sam, Sam liked Leah and Emily, and Emily was tentatively liking Sam. They ended up trying a relationship with the three of them and, so far, it seemed to be working. It was a far better alternative than Leah stewing in rage, Sam in guilt, and Emily getting scarred (amazingly, since they didn't get into a big fight, Emily didn't get hurt).

Recently, I had hinted at Sam that he needed to include Seth, Brady, and Collin into the group. While I never said why, I think Sam had gotten my hint since they were all here today. Sam never asked, and I never said, but I think he suspected that I had something special going on with me.

I grinned as I ran into the water, glad that I could do something to help make that mess better. We played around for a long time until everyone got hungry. Making our way over to the bonfire, I made sure to grab some food before joining the others around the circle. Around this time, Bella and the others who went on the hike came back.

After lunch, I decided to go with some of the kids on a second hike to the tide pools. I had been there a few times with others, but it was still a fun time. When we got back it looked like it was going to rain, and everyone was starting to pack up. I saw Jacob and Bella make their way back with Mike, who looked grumpy.

I wondered how Bella's bad flirting went. While Bella and Jacob would one day have a weird romance-thing, Jacob and I had always seen each other as siblings. I was quite thankful, since I had no want to get into that love-triangle.

Making out way back home, I stared at the rain, wondering how much longer this piece would last.


Author's Note:

Originally, I had planned to skip the car ride home but someone had commented that they wanted to see what happened. That made me think about it more and I decided to give it a go. So shout out to BeforexImxDead for the idea! It was a bit tough to write but I think it turned out fine. Also, more bonding, yay! And a maybe date ;)

I hated the way that Leah got the short end of the stick originally, but I liked Emily and Sam's relationship so I thought "If I already have three-person relationship, what's one more? I do what I want!" Here comes Emma Swan, matchmaker-extraordinaire who can't even deal with her own maybe-relationship to save the day! I also originally had Emma know about the wolfs beforehand but then realized halfway through that she couldn't have know from the books because of the timeline I had created so... she used her smarts to make connections, I guess(?). I knew I always wanted her to be a more stable bridge between the pack and the Cullens so she needed to be in the loop early but they would have never told her on her own. A little hand-wavy, but whatever.

Petra0suomesta also asked "You said that Edward can't read Emma's mind when she is thinking about future. But what about when she is thinking about her past life. I know she doesn't remember much, but for the sake of the argument let say she remembers her "first" mother talking to her about something. Can Edward see this? Or does he see it as "normal" memory? You also said that Edward can see the thoughs of future when they have happened. Now that the car incident is in the past, Edward can see it in Emma's thoughts. But how does he see it? Does he see the new version with Emma in it? Can he see the canon version where it was just him and Bella?"

Answers - Great questions! Most of my ideas just come and go randomly and I don't think through everything, so I don't have a extremely clear thought on the first part. I would say that any past memory would still seem like a "normal" memory since Emma lived through it. The second part definitely depends on Emma and what she's thinking at the time. If she is thinking about the incident as she lived through it, that's what he sees. If she is thinking about what "should" have gone down, Edward would see that.

Long authors note is long and you all have a good night/day! Thanks for reading!