This took way longer than I anticipated lol. I have a terrible habit of coming up with other story ideas and I can't just let them sit in my head so I end up working on multiple stories at once. Clearly, I have an excruciatingly horrible attention span.

I'm not totally sure how I feel about this one. Introductions to our dearest Dannys parents, a glimpse of our favorite hothead, some Cody gossiping because that's apparently all you can do in a small town. This story is taking place in the beginning of 2007, right after the whole Volturi mess.

Any thoughts, suggestions, critiques, or questions are very much encouraged :)

Sharp chirping of the alarm on my bedside table brings me from my fitful sleep. The room is dark, the only light coming from the red numbers on my alarm clock. I don't bother looking at the time, just knowing that being up so early should be illegal. Grudgingly, I swing my legs over the side of my bed, pushing the plush comforter off of me, goosebumps immediately following its disappearance.

My legs are wobbly as I stand up, cold wood flooring bringing a scowl to my face. Supporting myself against the wall, I walk to my dresser, getting changed into my usual jeans with a sweatshirt combo, running a brush through the blonde hair on my head, and fussing with my wispy fringe of bangs a little bit before I drag myself downstairs. I'm met with silence, just the hum of our heating system. The sky outside is still fairly dark, the slightest bits of dawn shining through the paneled windows of the kitchen as I get a pot of coffee going in our maker. The morning dew-covered grass glints coldly outside, shining in the little light coming from the slowly rising sun.

I seem to zone out a little, but the heavy scent of the roasted coffee beans finally draws my attention to the beeping coffee maker. A car's horn beeps from outside, and I swiftly pour the heavenly beverage into a thermos before grabbing my bag from the door and walking outside. The smiling face of my best friend/chauffeur greets me as I slide into the passenger seat of his Sedan.

"Hey there slowpoke," Cody sings, snatching the thermos from me before pulling out of the driveway. I narrow my eyes to him, grabbing it back after he takes a sip, and turning on the radio, hoping to avoid any pre-caffeinated conversation. "Ready to get back to school?" Guess I'm out of luck this time.

"We were out for two weeks, it's not like it's the first day of school again," I grumble, focusing on the heavenly brown liquid residing in my grasp. Going back to school truly wasn't as big of a deal as everyone seems to make of it. Winter break is over, we had a couple of weeks of sleeping in and lazing about. It's not like going back matters much. Just the same thing as before… the reprieve from loud boys and catty girls is always appreciated, of course. But it all just blurs together anyway, so who cares, right?

"I 'spose so, but I was talking more about your New Years' hangover that should have lasted days," the smirk in his voice makes me heave a sigh of annoyance.

The bored glance I cast in his direction goes unnoticed by the driving boy. "It was gone by Saturday, and it's not like I was wasted…"

He hums in sarcastic acknowledgment. "Do you remember anything past the tenth round of shots?" The only answer I have is silence. "My point exactly," he continues after my silence, voice dripping with smug victory. Driving into the school parking lot, Cody parks his little car before turning in his seat and look at me. "If I weren't with you, you would 100% have woken up in that Chris kids' bed. He was all over you while you weren't even coherent. Sadly, you didn't puke on him. The twerp would've deserved that."

I snicker quietly as I slide out of the car, being joined by the taller boy as we walk through the school doors. "Yes, what a shame indeed," I say, "I'm sure that would have made quite a good story for you, hm?"

"I won't deny, that would be a great one to tell to our children one day."

Raising my eyebrows at him, I respond, "Children, huh? I thought that you would have to actually be with someone for children to be made."

Cody pouts, bottom lip sticking out at me he bats his eyelashes. "Please give me a chance," he says dramatically, "Oh all of the love I could give you!" I just roll my eyes at his joke, walking into our English class ahead of him. He takes his seat next to mine in the back, just like usual, as he starts to prattle on about New Years' Eve drama that he's heard in the past three days. Once the teacher walks in, he finally shuts up, and I get to lay my head down on my folded arms, per usual.

"Oh! Mr. Lahote!" Mrs. Ellery's shrill voice snaps me out of my dozing. "It's so nice of you to join us, we've missed you this past month and a half." Snickers from my peers has my head pulling up from my desk. The first detail I pick up from him is he's one of the Uley cultists. Tall, broad, the same condescending look of superiority. I have most of my classes with at least one of the gigantic brutes but they're rarely ever in attendance, I all but forgot they are in high school. This one looks royally pissed, glare turning from Mrs. Ellery to the rest of the class, eventually coming to the rest of me.

Hard expression erased, look of wonder forming, he maintains eye contact with me as the back of my neck starts to prickle in apprehension. My lazy gaze gets drawn away from him as Cody leans across the aisle to whisper in my ear, "Lahote? More like Lawhore." I eye him in confusion, but he sits back in his seat. I don't even know the guys' full name, and Cody expects me to know why this guy has a more fitting, less polite name? Well, that doesn't seem to be any of my business.

I look back up at the Lahote guy, who is still looking at me, frozen in his spot. I don't know about his other nickname, but Creepy Boy Lahote seems to be a bit more fitting. Lazily leaning back in my chair, I maintain eye contact with him, eyes half-mast, trying to get the message across that I don't appreciate the staring. A loud throat clears, and Lahote breaks eye contact, looking towards Mrs. Ellery again, glare back in place. The teacher gestures for him to take a place, and he heads towards a desk by the windows.

Relaxing the muscles that I didn't even realize were tense, I resume my light dozing as class wraps up.

Getting through the next four classes was a bit difficult, seeing as the Lahote guy was in two of them, and he seemed to not be able to stop staring at me. His gaze was constantly burning into the side of my face. I didn't bother to look at him again. Instead, I focused on not focusing. Zoning out or sleeping were my go-to methods, much to my mother's horror when she gets a peek at my report card. By lunch, I was just glad to get away from being in a confined classroom with him.

"Hello," I mumble as I sit down in my usual seat. The boys seem to be in a heated discussion about something I couldn't care less about, but Cody turns away from the conversation, giving me a bright smile.

"Hey there, gorgeous." There's a glint in his dark eyes as he leans forwards and kisses my cheek, snickering when I give him a light smack on the arm as I pull out my water bottle from my backpack. "Did you notice that the rest of the entire cult's back today?"

Shaking my head negative, I say, "Not really, there was that Lahote guy but I wasn't really paying attention to whoever else." He nods, glancing behind me, probably towards the table filled with said cult. They were back enough to their boisterous behavior, loud enough to overpower most of the noise in the cafeteria. I can already feel the headache starting to build.

"You know, I heard a lot of people talking about how their group has almost doubled," he says in a conspiratorially hushed voice, "but a lot of them are still pretty young. Like, twelve years old young." My eyebrows shoot up a bit. What highschooler would willingly spend time with a twelve-year-old? "And yet they all look just like the rest of them, and that's coming from one of their native brethren, not even me being racist." I must look unimpressed, because Cody puts his hands on my shoulders, making me really focus on his face. "They all look ten years older than they actually are. Overnight. Magic beanstalks sprouting right up to tower over us humans." Nice metaphor. "Do you realize what this means?"

I narrow my eyes a little bit, gently removing his hands from my shoulders. "No, I can't say that I do," I say slowly.

With an exasperated sigh, he shifts his gaze to look behind me again, eyes widening, fear emerging on his expression. Turning around to check out what's got him bothered, my eyes come into contact with Creepy Boy Lahote. Staring, once again. Hardly even blinking. Looking back at Cody, he's flicking his eyes from me back to Creepy Boy. Raising a questioning eyebrow at the panicking boy in front of me, I bring a hand up to lightly slap his cheek. Finally snapping out of his shock, Cody looks at me worriedly.

"Has he talked to you at all? Are you in trouble with their gang? Do you need help getting out of the country?" He rattles off his questions, seeming more frantic by the second.

I shrug. "I'm fine. I don't even know who he is." I rub the back of my neck a bit, trying to scratch away the feeling of Creepy Boys' dark eyes away. My reassurances don't seem to quell my friends' distress.

"He's Paul Lahote. Commonly called Lawhore." I still prefer Creepy Boy. "Womanizing delinquent, one of the oldest Uley Cult members." Cody swallows hard, glancing behind me -once again- and back, swiftly continuing, "He's… well, he's just not good. Don't…" he softens a little, looking at me, genuinely concerned, imploring me to listen, " Don't get involved with him, 'kay? I don't want him to go hurting you."

Furring my brows, I look back at Creepy Boy, finding that he's stopped looking at me, but he's glaring at my friend. Poor Cody. If looks could kill… well, I'd be down one dramatic, overly flirtatious best friend. His friends (Fellow cult members? Gang buddies?) have quieted down too, looking at who Paul is staring at curiously, questioning gazes going from him to Cody, falling on me, before realization seems to cross their faces. Turning back to Codys' almost begging eyes, I nod calmly. Whatever those boys are thinking, it doesn't matter. I've dealt with assholes before, I can deal with whatever they might pull. Though, I never have dealt with cults before… guess I'll just see with whatever happens.

Cody still looks nervous, quite possibly fearing for his life. Hesitantly, I place my hand on his forearm that rests on the table. He looks at it, surprise painted all over his features at my initiation of contact. When he seems to be adequately calmed down (or distracted. Eh, same thing), I quickly remove my hand, tugging at the cuffs of my sweatshirt.

Smiling tenderly, he grabs my hand lightly. "Sorry, Danny, I just don't want you going and getting hurt, especially by someone like him." I smile back at him. It's the usual small, fake smile, but it has its intended effect. Leaning forward a bit, Cody whispers in my ear, "I am seriously terrified right now though, so if it takes you going out with him to get him to not kill me, I'm afraid you're going to be sacrificed."

Huffing a little bit, I press on his nose with my index finger, pushing his face away, rolling my eyes. "You know I don't date. You'll have to deal with whatever homicidal things he's got planned."

Bringing a hand to his chest, Cody puts on an offended look. "Excuse me? After everything that I have done for you! You would just throw me to the wolves like that?" He borderline shrieks. There's loud laughter from behind us. Of course, the cultists would hear that.

Shrugging once again, I say sarcastically, "And what exactly have you done that makes it necessary for me to go against my own wants?" Cody just about looks positively aghast.

"I have provided you with almost round the clock chauffeur servicing, a constant source of entertainment, and a shoulder to cry on." I open my mouth to remind him that I've never once needed one, it's not like I go having crying fits in the middle of school, but he interrupts, "Yes, I know, I know. You're an emotionless tiny big girl who doesn't ever need to express her negative emotions with her best friend." Even with his joking tone, I inhale a sharp breath. He's gotten a little bit too close to home on that one. Much, much too close to anything that I would ever want to talk about, even with my best friend.

After my body tenses, Cody's lightheartedness turns to concern again. He nudges my arm with his elbow. "Hey, are you okay? Was it something I said, or are the assholes staring at you starting to get to you?" His voice is quiet, but it sounds like a speaker right next to my ear, pounding in my head. Hammering heartbeats reverberate through my skull, the sounds of the cafeteria only add to it.

I rub my forehead, pushing my bangs up as I wipe my hand down my face. "Yeah, I just got a really bad headache all of a sudden," I paste on a smiling mask, grabbing my bag and standing up from my seat, "I'm gonna head to my next class, I need to talk to Mr. Anderson about an essay due next week."

Completely overlooking his bothered expression, because he sure as hell knows me well enough to know I don't give a damn about essays, I walk out of the cafeteria, agony attacking my head with every step. A grimace forms on my face at the internal pummeling, even the quiet of the hallways barely helping. I go for my locker, leaning against the cool metal, sliding down onto the ground as my legs go weak. I start to dig through my backpack for some ibuprofen when footsteps echo through the silent hallways. Ignoring it, I continue searching, grabbing the little pill container and pulling it out, but stopping when the footsteps stop right in front of me.

Two dark and worn shoes are just a few feet away. I look up at the owner's face, biting back a groan of annoyance. The smirking face of the one person that I really did not want to see is right before me, basically taunting me forever coming to school.

"Hey, Danny." I merely blink up at him, refusing to say a word to spur on a conversation. Not that using that technique has ever deterred him. "So, there's this movie playing this weekend, some romance. You like that stuff, right?" Nope. But he pushes on without an answer, "Well, I was thinking that we could go out, y'know, dinner and then a movie?" Just as I'm about to shut him and his fantasies down, he continues, "So what time should I pick you up?"

I scowl up at him. "Christopher, I'm not interested in going out with you. I don't date."

He just rolls his eyes, coming around to my left side and sits down beside me. "Just call me Chris. And, we both know that's not true, you're just playing hard to get." Why is it that every guy just assumes that a girl is playing hard to get when all she wants is for him to leave her the hell alone? "I mean, you were all over me at that party, remember?" Can't say that I do. I can't remember anything from 9:30 PM to 11:00 AM when I woke up in the morning. If he thinks that my incredibly drunken flirting means that I want to go out with him, he is dead wrong.

"Listen, I'm really not in the mood, Christopher," I grumble, holding my head. "I don't date."

Chris glares at me. A fiery, misplaced passion-filled glare. I think it could be a bit scary for anyone else, but I know he's too much of a pansy to try anything in the middle of the school hallway. "Just quit it with these games, it's really starting to get on my last nerve."

The irritation from having to deal with this boy has made my headache worse. I climb to my feet, slinging my bag over my shoulder. I stumble a little before putting a hand onto the lockers at my side for support as I start to walk away. I half expect him to call after me, or chase me down, but he doesn't, so I just walk straight out of one of the schools' side doors.

Pulling out my phone, I flip it open and go to Codys' contact to send him a text.

'Dont need a ride. Going home. C u tmrw'

With a sigh, I tuck my phone into my back pocket. The walk home is short, and the weather is rather pleasant. About 45 degrees Fahrenheit. I can barely feel the nip of the wind on my ears. Climbing onto the porch, I fumble with unlocking the front door, before getting inside.

I take my shoes off and walk upstairs to my bedroom, leaving the lights off and climbing into my bed. The weight of the blanket does wonders for any of the tension that's built up throughout the day. Creepy boys, boring classes, a raging migraine. Just the way to start off the new year.

Just as my head starts to go fuzzy with sleep, a light weight lands on my mattress, a small indent appearing by my feet. Sheets rustle, and the needing paws of my kitty come closer to me. The sight of the little furry creature brings a smile to my face.

"Hey there princess," I whisper as she nuzzles against my cheek. As she curls around herself, I drift off to the soft sounds of her rumbling purr.

Silverware clinks on dishes, everyone is quiet as we go about our meal. It's a relaxed, comfortable silence. Everyone tired from their long days of work, or in my case, my half-day of school. That's going to be an interesting conversation when mom gets the call saying I ditched.

I lean back in my chair, sighing a little and looking at my half-finished dinner. The two adults pause and look up at me.

"You okay Bunny?" my mom asks, eyes bordering into concern through her glasses. I nod a little, raising a hand to cover a little yawn.

"I'm not that hungry tonight."

"Are you sure? Do you not like it? I could whip up something else if you'd like," Eugene says in his gentle, deep voice. Shaking my head, I give him a lazy smile.

"It's really good, I'm just gonna have to have some later. I kinda want to go to bed early tonight."

That gets my mom to raise her eyebrow at me. "Didn't you just wake up from your nap not that long ago?" Her tone is a little clipped. She seems to have a bit of a problem with my napping. It's all out of worry for my constant need for sleep, and the way that it apparently has a negative effect on my grades. She thought I had a vitamin D deficiency for a while, but I don't think that it's that abnormal for someone to like to sleep.

"Mhmm… but y'know, first day back at school after being able to sleep in…" I mumble, "gotta get used to it again."

"Well, how about you just hang around down here a bit. I haven't been able to talk to you in a while," Mom says, "How was your day?"

I pause to think about it. Looking back on it, the only thing I can properly remember is being stared at all day. "It was kind of boring. Nothing much happened."

She hums a bit. "You have a fresh start this semester. You should try focusing more in class, 'kay?" A large puff of air comes out of my mouth before I nod in empty agreement. "Please, Bunny? This is your last few months, just pull through, then you're on break. Plus, it's your junior year! You need to do good to get into a good college. I remember my college years. They were some of the best of my life."

My nose twitches a little bit as I shrug. This whole college talk that she keeps going on about is kind of my fault. Avoiding the topic has made her want to make sure that it was constantly on my mind.

"I was looking into some colleges that I think you should apply to," she pushes on, clearly not sensing my discomfort towards the matter. "Seattle University has a very pretty campus, good classes, nice reputation. You know that me and Eugene will support you in any decision that you make. If you wanted to go back to Chicago-"

"No," I cut her off. No Chicago. No Illinois, even. I'd prefer to stay out of the midwest.

Raising an eyebrow, mom looks like she's going to comment on my harsh response, before Eugene speaks up before her. "That's okay sweetheart. Anywhere you want to go is okay. We'll help with tuition in any way that we can." Thank goodness for him. Where mom doesn't take any bite from people, Eugene is always a soothing balm for her temper. "And you still have a year to think about this, your mother just thinks it would be nice to decide these things a bit early, but no pressure."

I nod, giving him a thankful look. He smiles gently at me. Pushing my chair back from the table, I stand up. "I'm gonna go get ready for bed."

"Okay, goodnight Bunny," she sighs. "Me and 'gene are going to be on later shifts tomorrow, you should be able to handle dinner for yourself, right?"

"Yup. 'Night mom, Eugene."

I fall asleep almost as soon as my head hits my pillow.