I woke to the sound of Sue gently calling my name. I took a second to remember where I was and the events that happened the day before. I opened my eyes and looked at Sue.

"Seth couldn't bring himself to wake you, so I wanted to let you know I've set out a pair of Leah's old clothes in their bathroom that should fit you. Your dad should be by soon." Sue told me and I thanked her, un-cocooning myself from Seth's blanket and making my way into the bathroom that was shared by the two rooms.

I quickly took a shower and put on the clothes she set out for me, then made my way down the stairs. Seth was the first person waiting patiently at the bottom of the stairs.

"Good morning!" He said cheerfully.

"Good morning," I replied as I made it to the bottom step. He closed his eyes and breathed in deeply.

"Whoa," he muttered leaning closer, opening his eyes and looking at my confused expression. "Be right back, need to ask Sam something." I just laughed at his innocent expression. Sam must've only been in the kitchen because he was back in less than a minute. "Sorry about that."

"What was that about?" I asked him curiously.

"You just smell different than yesterday. It took me by surprise, is all." He said before quickly continuing. "It's a good different, I promise, really good."

"I did just take a shower, maybe that's it?" I suggested.

"That's part of it… it's kind of embarrassing, though." He said, turning pink and scratching the back of his neck.

"It's a wolf thing, Bella." Sam said as he walked into the living room. "He's still adjusting to all the new senses and your scent as his imprint is and will be very comforting to him. Right now, your scent is heavily mixed with his, and his wolf reacted a bit strongly to that because he wasn't expecting it."

I looked over to Seth who was looking off at the wall, bright red.

"It's a territorial thing, isn't it?" I asked, not mad about it. They literally turned into giant wolves, obviously some k-9 attributes would come with that.

Sam nodded. "It's the same for me with Emily and Jared with Kim. You don't have to worry though, it's good for him to have that type of comfort right now."

"Thanks, Sam. Is it alright if I come by to see Emily sometime this week? I have a few questions for her." I asked, knowing I wanted to talk to her.

"Of course, Bella. Feel free to come by the house any time. Emily would love to have the company." He replied and I smiled to him before he turned to Seth. "Seth, I'm going to start you on the patrol schedule on Wednesday. I won't be putting you and Jacob together for a while until he calms down. Pack meeting tomorrow night at my house."

"Hey Sam, who was the vampire near my house last night?" I asked quickly, having remembered.

"It was one of the Cullens, the small pixie one. She thought you'd killed yourself when you jumped off the cliff yesterday and had come to give her condolences to Charlie. I spoke with her and let her know you were just fine and here with your father. She asked that I not tell you she was here, and that she was not staying. Seeing as you're pack now, I wasn't going to lie to you." Sam replied and I found myself suck in a breath unintentionally.

So long I had waited and wanted one or all of them to come back. Now Alice had, and didn't even want me to know. She'd only come because she thought I'd killed myself. I didn't feel longing for the vampire family I'd once considered my own any longer. I felt betrayed. I must've lost my footing because I felt strong arms wrap around my own. I looked up to see that Seth had caught me. I still felt the electricity between us.

"Tell me you didn't fall down the stairs, Bella?" I heard Charlie say from behind Seth. He quickly stood me upright again and let me go.

"No, she just lost her balance." Seth replied for me.

"Well, good thing she had you here, kid." Seth smiled up at Charlie before excusing himself. It was only then that I realized I'd never responded to what Sam had said and I worried that Seth might have taken it wrong.

Charlie went off to help Sue with things and I looked up to Sam. "Can you please tell him that wasn't what it looked like? I just had a moment of realization and got lost in my thoughts. I'm not going to break down again like I did before."

"I'll tell him, but Bella, I've been in the kid's head. Let me tell you that he has the kindest, purest soul out of all of us. You are the single most important thing in the world to him now. Everything else is secondary. He worries that he'll lose you to them if they came back, but he's made up his mind that he'd let you go with them if that's what you really wanted, if it would make you happy, no matter the cost to himself." Sam said to me and I felt my heart nearly crush.

"What would happen to him, Sam?" I asked, not that I'd do that, but curious.

"You don't want to know the answer to that, Bella. When I say you're everything to him, I mean it." He told me and I felt like crying.

"I wouldn't do that to him. Even if they came back, I wouldn't go with them." I said honestly.

"I'm not the one you need to convince. He's having a hard time right now, whether he shows it or not. The funeral is tonight, maybe you should take a walk with him down at the beach so that he can be calm enough for the ceremony later." He suggested and I nodded, agreeing.

I couldn't seem to find my jacket anywhere, so I grabbed a hoodie that was hanging on the hook by the door and put it on, making my way out back to the woods. I assumed he was phased, so I called out for him into the forest. I heard a yip and saw a sandy colored wolf trot behind a tree. A minute later, Seth walked out. I felt myself warm again at his presence, and it felt good, very comforting.

"Everything okay?" he asked quickly, looking down at the hoodie but not saying anything about it.

I nodded, "I just wanted to see if you wanted to go for a walk down on the beach?"

He nodded and we walked through the forest until we got to the sandy black beach.

"I'm sorry for how I reacted to Sam's news in there. I promise it's not what you think. I was just taken off guard." I began.

"You don't have to apologize, Bella. It's cool, really." He said, trying to deflect the conversation.

"No, it's not." I said. He tried to say something again, but I cut him off. "Just let me explain it all and then I'll answer any questions, okay?" he nodded. "The Cullens were like my family for a long time, and when they left, they took a huge part of me with them. I was lost for months. I waited and begged for them to come back."

As I spoke, he looked only at the ground while we walked, kicking stones as he went. "I did reckless and stupid things, because when I did, I would see Edward there, telling me to stop. That's why I jumped yesterday. I just- I wanted to see him again. When I went to bed last night, I laid there for probably an hour, thinking about how stupid I'd been. As I was thinking, I realized I could think his name, say his name out loud and not hurt. I haven't been able to do that since he left. I don't know if it was the imprint or the jump, but whatever it was allowed me to let him go."

"Seth," he looked up at me with weary eyes. "when Sam told me it was Alice who'd come, I didn't react like that because I wanted to go with them. It was because at that moment, I realized I didn't. Even if they all came back and begged for my forgiveness, I still wouldn't go with them. I wouldn't ever do that to my dad, or to you. If it came down to the Cullen's or the pack, I'd pick the pack."

He looked back down for a minute, but I could see the stress lifting off his shoulders, just a little.

"I realized last night that I could have lost not only my dad, but my imprint too, all in the same day. And then when Sam said that it was a Cullen that came back, that fear came back, too. That I could lose you again. That they would come back and take you away and turn you into one of them… I've already lost my dad, I can't lose you too." He told me, letting a tear drop to his cheek, despite his attempt to blink them away.

"I'm not going anywhere." I did the only thing I could think of. I wrapped my arms around his chest and rested my head against his shoulder. He wrapped his arms around me as well and hugged me tightly, letting more tears fall. I knew he hadn't had the chance to properly grieve for his dad, so I just held him tightly. His hugs were officially better than Jacob's and I looked forward to getting more of them. It still amazed me that he was already so much taller than me when he was 3 years younger. After a while, I pulled back and looked up at him.

"I'm sorry." He said as he looked down at me.

"Don't be. You needed to grieve. I told you I was here for you, and that includes moments like this." I told him honestly.

We walked down a little further and found a large log. He sat on it and motioned for me to sit down between his legs. I sat on the dried sand and leaned up against the log. He began running his fingers through my hair and it felt heavenly.

"Can I braid your hair?" He asked and I just nodded, having lost the ability to use my words. "I used to braid Lee's hair and my mom's too. Now Lee's hair is too short, so I can't. I guess it's just calming for me. Not to mention your hair is so soft, and it smells like my shampoo." He laughed. I hadn't realized I'd used his shampoo in the shower… oops.

I closed my eyes as he braided my hair and felt myself leaning into his leg. When he was finished, I wondered how he was going to tie it, but he asked me to hold it for a second and pulled a leather tie off his wrist. Looking down at the finished result, I was impressed. Not many teenage boys knew how to braid, and it looked wonderful.

"I love it, thank you." I told him, smiling up at him. He smiled back brilliantly, and it was addicting. "And it was very relaxing. Was your hair long before?" I asked him curiously.

"Yeah it was but having long hair as a human makes you a really shaggy wolf, which makes it harder to run, so Mom cut both of ours right before you got there yesterday." He explained, which I guess made sense.

"Hey Seth?" I asked, looking out at the waves as they crashed. He responded with a 'hmm'. "When's your birthday?"

"I'll turn 16 on April 17th he said proudly. So, I was only two and a half years older, that wasn't too bad. And he'd be 16 in almost exactly a month. "When's yours?"

"August 13th." I replied.

"I'll have to remember that." He said with a lighter tone to his voice.

"I don't like presents." I told him, laughing.

"I promise you'd like any presents that come from me. I give the best gifts ever." He said excitedly.

"I guess we'll just have to wait and see, won't we?" I replied and he nodded.

We stayed there for a little while before I got up, suggesting we start heading back.

"I don't want to go back yet because I know that when we do, I'll have to put on a brave face and scatter my dad's ashes instead of sitting here with you, replaying the moment I imprinted on you." He told me as I reached out my hand to help him up.

"Tell me what it was like for you?" I asked, curious.

"It's hard to explain because it happened so fast, but it seemed so slow at the same time. I looked into your eyes and my whole world just stopped, then shifted completely. I could see small glimpses of what I guess could be our future, but I don't know if that's just wishful thinking. Nothing else mattered to me anymore, like everything else came second to you. My family, the pack, school, all of it. I was suddenly hyper-aware of every part of you. It doesn't even matter to me if you only want me as a best friend for life, as long as you're happy. Not saying that's exactly what I'd want, especially after what I saw, but still. And all I keep thinking is that I wouldn't ever change it, not for the world." He told me as we walked back down the beach.

He was still holding my hand, having not let go when I'd helped him off the log, but I didn't correct him. The way he spoke about the imprint made his eyes light up in such a wonderful way, I wished I could see what he had.

"What did you see? In the glimpses of the future, I mean?" I asked, desperate to know. I wondered if they were subjective like Alice's visions were, based on decisions.

"I saw us, a little bit older, joking around with what looked like flour in the kitchen. Then I saw us holding hands, walking down the beach," he looked down as he realized our hands were still wound together. When he noticed I hadn't said anything, he continued to hold it. "Then I saw…" he paused.

"Something tells me you're trying to withhold the best one…" I muttered to him, wanting to hear it.

"Because it is to me, I guess. We were in the woods. I was a wolf, and I was walking up to you, nuzzling your stomach. I-uh- realized why when I pulled away. It all happened so fast, I'm not exactly sure what I saw." He said, looking down at the ground as we walked. I knew what he wasn't saying. I'd had a dream about it last night as I was sleeping.

"I know what you saw." I whispered to him. His eyes looked back up to mine questioningly. "I saw the same thing in a dream I had last night."

"That's interesting. So yeah, that's what I saw." He said as we continued on.

"I may not be ready for a relationship yet ,but I'm not saying I won't be ready one day. I definitely can't take advantage of you until you at least turn 16. I think that's technically illegal anyways." I told him with a playful smile.

"Under res law, age of consent is only 14." He said jokingly, but acting totally serious at the same time. I laughed.

"16, Seth, at the very least." I told him with a wink.

"I can wait a month." He said with a wink back. "Just kidding, Bella, I'd never push you for anything. When you're ready, I'll be ready."

"I know. Now are you going to help me over this log so that we can get to the woods or do I get to trip over it by myself?" I asked with a smirk. He looked at me for a second, then picked me up, bridal style, jumping easily over the log. I expected him to put me down right away, but he continued to carry me. "Are you going to put me down?"

"Too many things you can trip on." He smirked back at me. He carried me all the way back to the woods and finally put me down.

"You're really strong for a 15-year-old." I told him as he sat me on my feet.

"Blame that one on the wolf gene. Not to mention you're light as a feather. I could carry you around all day and not break a sweat." He told me.

"Can I see your wolf?" I asked, out of the blue. He stopped in his tracks and turned to me.

"You want to see me as a wolf?" he repeated back to me, unsure if he'd heard correctly. I nodded. "Sam's going to kill me for this, but it'll be worth it."

He motioned for me to back up as he ran behind the nearest tree. Next thing I knew, out walked a beautiful sandy colored wolf. He was smaller than the rest that I'd seen, probably because he was younger, but not smaller by much. He laid down on the forest floor about 10 feet away from me.

I approached him with absolutely no fear, reaching forward to run my fingers through the fur behind his ears. He made a yipping noise and leaned his large head into my hand before licking it. I laughed and as I looked into his eyes, I could see Seth.

He leaned over and licked my cheek before standing back up and bouncing over behind the tree again. Human Seth came out, zipping up his sleeveless hoodie before walking back over to me.

"Totally worth it." He said with a smile.

We walked back to the house and before we left the woods, Seth turned to me and pulled me in for another tight hug.

"Thank you for that, all of it. It was exactly what I needed today." He told me as I melted into the hug. It was so nice, comforting, and warm. "And thank you for wearing this. Intentional or not, it was very much appreciated." He said, pulling at the hoodie. It must've been his. He pulled away and we walked inside. I walked through the kitchen but was stopped by Leah.

"Already declaring yourself as a Clearwater? Bold move, Swan." Leah said, clapping me on the back. The hoodie must've had the name written across the back.

"Well, it's comfy, so I think I'm going to keep it. It's not like Seth needs it now, anyways." I retorted. She burst out in laughter as Seth watched with wide eyes.

"Nice braid, too. I think we'll get along just fine, Swan." She said before going up the stairs. "Come on, you can borrow something of mine to wear tonight."

A/N- So that was a lot, I know, but I really didn't want to split this chapter up. I felt like Seth hadn't had a real chance to grieve, and that was what the entire beach-walking purpose. I hope you enjoyed this chapter as much as I did. Please leave a review.