Summer Nights

Roisin sighed as she listened to Mae chatter about the latest gossip while they set up for the party. Half the names she mentioned, Roisin didn't even recognize, though she probably should have, considering the school itself wasn't that big and they had been attending for a month. And it wasn't that she didn't care, she was just feeling slightly on edge for reasons she couldn't quite explain.

She hadn't even wanted to do another party so soon, but as usual, Mae and the others in their mixed friend group had talked her into it. Or, rather it was Mae and her friends that talked to her into it. Tara, Megan and Trey seemed to not care one way or another, which was the very reason Roisin was starting to spend more of her free time with them rather than Mae, Carly, Josh and Carly's second-in-command Rosemary.

Mae was over the moon with their new status at Forks High School courtesy of the first party, wanting nothing more than to solidify it with another and walking around like she owned the place, quickly taking over Carly's status of Queen Bee. Either the other girl didn't care or she was really good at hiding it, though Roisin wasn't exactly sure which. Roisin only really tolerated her presence at lunch since Mae insisted they eat together every day. And well, Mae had way too much fun creating drama between the two vastly different groups of teens.

"So, you think that yummy guy from the store will be here?" Mae asked, suddenly appearing next to Roisin after quickly running the last bit of furniture to an upstairs storage room.

She had complained almost non-stop when Roisin said they would have to do all the set-up for any parties themselves rather than hiring someone like they did in LA. But the closer they got to the party's start, the happier she got and seemed to finally have laid off on the complaints.

"Maybe," Roisin said from where she was fluttering in the air setting up lights with Sean. "I don't really care."

"Really hope Embry and Quil come again. I think Embry's sweet on you," Mae continued. Roisin shot Sean a look, who only returned it with a smirk. "You should date him."

"Don't really care to date anyone, Mae," Roisin said as she lowered herself to the ground, tucking her wings behind her, and surveyed her work.

"Please, you know it's good for you. This party is too. You need it," Mae pushed. Roisin raised her eyebrows and looked over at her best friend.

Mae did have a bit of a point. Being in the mortal world came with its own toll and partaking in frivolities did help. It wasn't so much that being here weakened her by any means. It was more so about keeping balance. Royal fae rarely ever left the fae world and without some sort of connection to it, they could get a bit unstable. And well, no one wanted an unstable fae as strong as Roisin running around in the mortal world. It had caused problems before.

While lately Roisin kept it in check - again, the parties and occasionally being around groups of fae helped - something had her feeling off kilter since the day she and Mae wandered into the outdoors store by accident. Thankfully it hadn't caused any major disruptions, but she had accidentally caused a glass to explode in Physics just yesterday.

"You know I'm right," Mae said, her voice taking on a sickly sweet yet haughty tone as she tossed her blonde curls over her shoulder. "Which is why I've done something to help out my dearest, bestest friend."

Roisin turned towards her fully, now feeling a bit suspicious. Mae's "help" often got them into trouble.

"What did you do?" Roisin asked. Mae giggled as the doorbell rang and she began skipping towards the front door, her wings fluttering happily behind her. "I'm serious. What did you do?"

"You'll be thanking me later," Mae sang, winking over her shoulder at Roisin.

Roisin looked over at Sean, who was watching the whole ordeal with a mildly amused, yet cautious expression.

"Do you know anything about this?" she asked.

"I may pretend to be your guardian for the mortals, but you know I don't actually watch everything you two get up to," he replied. "You're both 150 now. Definitely don't need me minding your every step."

Roisin turned back to the door as she heard excited squeals and then rolled her eyes as a group walked in. Of all the stupid things to do, Mae had gone and invited a bunch of fae.

She knew they were solitary - a vast majority in the mortal world were, deciding to leave the politics of the fae courts behind for a more independent life. And even though she felt a bit more at ease with more of her kind around, she knew that this was playing with fire. Inviting too many fae into one place would not go unnoticed - by the Fae world or the mortals around them.

"Mae," Roisin said, an edge to her voice that Mae completely ignored.

"Come on, we need to liven things up a bit!" Mae shouted. "And we both know that it'll help you settle down." Roisin scowled at her and then looked at the various fae, who were taking in the large house.

"Fine, but they follow my rules," Roisin stated.

"This one seems territorial," one of them retorted jovially - a fae with impossibly beautiful features and skin as dark as night - as it studied her closely. Roisin took a deep breath, managing to keep her truest self hidden even from their eyes.

While the solitary fae mostly stayed away from the few court fae that ventured into the mortal world and never went back to the Fae world as they were either in self-exile or forced there, she had to be cautious. They were technically supposed to be in hiding.

"I do want to stay here long-term and the last thing we need is for anyone noticing too much," Roisin said. "Be careful with the mortals. I don't want anyone hurt. Glamours on at all times. And for the goddesses' sakes, no fae wine."

"We don't even have any," Mae said, rolling her eyes and then grumbling under her breath about how Roisin could use some about now. Roisin leveled a glare at her.

"Relax. We know the drill," another fae said, looking around the room with a contemplative look. "We've been living over here a long time." She then looked at Roisin as a smirk appeared and her iridescent wings fluttered behind her. "We'll be careful around the mortals. But it looks like you could use some help with getting this place ready."

Roisin looked over to Sean for support. He just smiled and shrugged.

"More hands wouldn't hurt," he replied.

Sighing in defeat, Roisin turned and took in the group of about 10 fae. More hands would make things go by faster; even with their speed and strength, parties took awhile to put together. And they were right - they had been in the mortal world a lot longer than she and Mae. They knew how to stay hidden.

Maybe this wouldn't be a disaster.

"Okay, fine. Come with me," she said, walking to the kitchen. "I hope some of you know how to cook."

"Oh, this is going to be so much fun!" Mae squealed.

"I certainly hope so," Roisin muttered to herself.

OOOO

Roisin had to admit that they had outdone themselves. This party was turning out even bigger than the other one, which was both exciting and terrifying at the same time. Pretty much all of Forks High was here, along with a good portion of students from the high school on the nearby reservation, La Push. There were also a lot of faces that she didn't recognize, meaning people from other towns had somehow heard about it and showed up. While she was mostly enjoying herself, she couldn't help but remain extra cautious. This was the first time they had allowed other fae to attend a party in Forks, and that alone had her on edge.

Or well, if she was being truly honest with herself, she was on edge even without that. She just couldn't banish the feeling that something big was about to happen, though she wasn't sure what.

"You seem tense," Sean said, walking up to her side and looking out over the party. She glanced at him out of the corner of his eye, surprised but not completely, that he was being more present for this one.

At the previous party, he had spent most of the night in his room, opting out on taking part since he was supposed to be their uncle and no one liked a party with a guardian hanging around. She supposed he was only present this time with the inclusion of the other fae, though she noticed he had spent most of his time talking to another solitary named Cara - the two of them mostly watching while unseen by mortals. Cara always seemed to pop up wherever they went and Roisin most definitely thought something was going on there, though Sean always evaded answering her whenever she asked about it. The only thing she knew was that they had met when they were both still part of the Shadow Court, though Roisin was under the impression that Cara had followed him when he left.

"Just… nervous, is all," Roisin replied, scanning the mass of people now filling the great room, with some spilling out onto the back verandah.

Even though the weather should have been getting chilly - especially at night - it was still rather warm. At the back of her mind, Roisin knew her presence here was likely behind it, but she didn't like to think about that too much. Perhaps it was just a coincidence?

"As much as I hate to admit it, Mae is right. You should relax and have fun. Nothing is going to get out of hand unless you allow yourself to get too unhinged," Sean said. "Cara and I are watching things and the solitary fae are behaving."

"I know, just… I get this feeling," Roisin said, her brow furrowed. "I don't want anything to happen here. I know we haven't been here all that long, but… I feel a connection with this place. And I want to stay for as long as I can. I'm starting to get tired of moving around every few months or so. It would be nice to stay somewhere longer than a year, you know?"

"I get it," Sean said, causing Roisin to look over at him, her eyes slightly wide. "I walked away from the courts. All of us did, but I think we're all looking for somewhere in this world to belong. Maybe you've finally found that."

Roisin chuckled and looked back out at the party.

"Wish I could understand why," she replied.

"I'm sure you will soon enough," Sean said lightly. "But for the time being, maybe just enjoy the ride." He glanced over at someone behind Roisin. "And it looks like your admirer has arrived."

Roisin turned, seeing the three boys from La Push as they walked in, finally joining the rest of their classmates that were already there. Embry and Quil were excitedly scanning the crowd while Jacob scowled. She wasn't sure why he had come back - he hadn't seemed to enjoy himself all that much before. And there was something about the three that seemed different from other mortals, though Roisin couldn't quite put her finger on it. At the moment, it was just a funny feeling she got and the fact she felt inexplicably drawn to them.

She smiled and started through the crowd. She had genuinely enjoyed Embry's company at the last party - and the boy could kiss - but she wasn't really interested in anything more than that. The whole thing about him being mortal and eventually growing old and dying. As a royal fae, Roisin would never look all that older than she did at the moment and would live pretty much forever. There wasn't a whole that could kill or hurt the fae, especially not those with royal blood, and definitely not age or illness. Because of that she was careful not to form too strong attachments to any one mortal. It was one of the first things Sean had taught them, after all.

"You made it," she said happily, finally feeling some of the anxiety from earlier leave her. Embry turned to look at her and beamed.

"Looks like there's even more people here than last time," he said, glancing around.

"Yea, you know Mae. Always making friends," she said lightly as she looked over, seeing the fae in question now dancing with one of the solitaries.

Even though to mortal eyes they looked just as human as anyone else, Roisin could see Mae's wings fluttering happily behind her, though a nearby student from Forks felt a bit of a breeze and turned to look around, wondering what it was.

Oh dear. Well, at least it wasn't a more overt sign of what they were.

"If you'll excuse me," Quil said with a grin as he started towards Mae.

"Good to see you again, Jacob," Roisin said, smiling warmly at him. For a moment as he looked at her, the scowl eased. But just as suddenly, it reappeared as he nodded and then stalked off. "I get the feeling he doesn't like me for some reason."

"Nah, that's just Jake. He used to be more fun, but got a hell of a lot more serious over the past year or so. It's his new normal," Embry replied with a chuckle. "You'll get used to it. We all have."

Roisin nodded, feeling a bit better. She was starting to worry that she had done or said something to him that offended him, but couldn't figure out what it was.

"So… drink or dance?" she asked, smiling up at Embry.

"Definitely dance. And then maybe a drink," Embry said, already reaching for her hand. Roisin grinned.

"I like that plan."

OOOO

Roisin laughed as she and Embry walked over to a makeshift bar they had set up outside on the verandah. After dancing for a while, she noticed Embry was feeling a bit warm and suggested they get some air. As he quickly made up some drinks - with water that she and Sean had charmed to taste like alcohol so that no one would get in trouble - she looked around, noticing that everyone seemed to be having a good time and so far there had been no disasters.

"God, I don't think I can ever remember the weather being this nice at this time of year," Embry said as he handed her a cup.

Roisin's eyes widened slightly as she took a drink.

"Oh? It's not usually like this?" she asked, keeping her tone calm.

Granted it's not like he would ever in a million years suspect that it had anything to do with her. As far as Embry was concerned, she was a normal high school senior.

Not a royal Summer Court fae.

And well, in her defense, she hadn't realized that she could affect the weather this much. Everywhere else they had lived always had warmer climes.

"Not really. Though still as rainy and cloudy as usual," he replied.

Roisin nearly breathed a sigh of relief. Okay, so she wasn't fucking with the weather too much. But she was sucking in a breath rather quickly not a moment later as Embry stepped closer to her, smiling down at her as his hand moved to rest on her waist. As she looked up into his eyes, she could see that she was clearly affecting him. In fact, the whole party seemed a bit more energetic now that she really looked at it - the dancing a bit wilder, the laughter a bit louder, people acting a bit more reckless. Of course she knew why. It was only natural with as many fae present as there were. And well, with two of them being Summer fae and few former Shadow Court fae, it was only natural that people were a bit more charged in the lust category.

They were the two courts most associated with intense emotions in that regard.

"How about we go somewhere a bit more private," he suggested, his eyes darkening slightly.

While Roisin felt her heart stutter a bit and a surge of longing spike through her, something stopped her. Normally, she would have gone off with him - maybe made out for a bit or done a bit more - but something inside her warned her to stay in the party. Probably because she still didn't completely trust Mae or the others to behave themselves. So she smiled coyly up at him, placing a hand on his chest to stop him from moving closer.

"Actually, I want to dance more," she said, fluttering her eyelashes slightly in a way that she knew he wouldn't be able to resist. Embry chuckled and stepped back, taking another large drink from his cup.

"Fair enough," he said before finishing the drink and putting the cup down. Roisin did the same and then took his hand, leading back inside and to the middle of the dance floor.

In no time, he had his arms around her as they moved in time with the music, his hands gliding up and down her exposed back and causing shivers to run through her. For a moment, she wished she hadn't let Mae talk her into wearing a halter top with a nearly completely open back. But then she tossed her head back, closing her eyes slightly as she allowed the music to take over, her heart matching the beat.

She was supposed to be relaxing and having fun. So, by the goddesses, she would do that.

OOOO

Roisin managed to pull herself away from Embry a bit later, needing to put some space between them. Not only did she need a break, she worried if she spent too much time with him, especially with her nerves all over the place, she couldn't stop things from progressing down the direction she could clearly see he wanted to go.

And again, somehow she felt like she shouldn't do that.

"You look like you could use a real drink."

Roisin nearly jumped, seeing Cara was next to her, holding out a cup, her violet eyes swirling in mirth. Roisin didn't ask questions, just took the cup and downed a good portion of it, sputtering slightly.

"Please do not tell me this out there somewhere," she said, looking up at the fae as she handed the cup back, the alcohol strong in the drink even though it didn't affect them as much as mortals. Cara tossed her head back and laughed, her dark purple hair falling back from her shoulders. Though it was bright, there was a dark undertone to it.

"Don't worry, Ro. Sean and I are watching things. That's from my personal stash which is safely tucked away in Sean's room," she said, grinning.

Even though she wasn't in the Shadow Court anymore and even then wasn't strong enough to do any serious harm, Roisin couldn't help a shiver of fear that spiked in her at Cara's devious grin. Thank the goddesses none of the mortals could see it, otherwise they'd probably turn and run.

Roisin glanced around the room from the corner she was hiding in, seeing that things were still relatively normal. At least nothing that the mortals would notice was happening. Though from the looks of it, she was going to have an even harder time talking Mae and the others out of another party.

"I know you aren't as familiar with the others, but you can trust them. They know not to step over the line," Cara said, correctly guessing what Roisin was thinking about. "I may not be Shadow Court anymore, but I can still strike the fear of the goddesses in them when necessary."

Roisin looked over at her, studying the older fae for a moment. She supposed other courts would likely judge her as soon as looking at her with her many tattoos, penchant for leather and bustiers, and the harsh edge to her features and voice. The Summer Court definitely would. But the more Roisin got to know Cara, the more she saw beyond that. She was wicked funny and had a love for corny 80s movies. Seemed to genuinely care for others, though she didn't let that side show too much.

And Sean had vouched for her. If he thought she was good folk, then she must be.

"I appreciate your help tonight and… well always," Roisin found herself saying, realizing she had never actually thanked Cara for the few scraps she and Sean had helped her and Mae get out of.

Cara raised her eyebrows, looking over at her. For a moment, her face softened.

"Well, Sean told me about why you wanted to leave and… I get it," she replied. "Guess it goes to show that not all royals are the same. Some of you aren't assholes."

Roisin chuckled and shrugged as she looked around the room again.

"I honestly don't get it," she said, pausing to take a breath. But before she could continue, Roisin found her mind going completely blank as a sudden rush of butterflies hit her.

It was similar to the feeling she had gotten in the store, but much, much stronger.

Immediately, Roisin looked around the room, trying to find the source. It was then that her eyes fell on two new additions. Two tall, buff guys with deeply tan skin stood apart from the others, partially because of their sheer size. While they were both beautiful in her eyes, she found she couldn't look away from the taller, broader of the two.

There was something about the way he smiled as he took in the party. The confidence in his posture, as though he knew he could easily take on anyone in the room. The pure power that poured out from his dark eyes. Eyes that were currently searching the room for something.

Roisin could vaguely hear Cara saying something to her, but didn't pay attention as she started walking in his direction, almost as though there was some string pulling her to him. He started turning his head towards her and any second now, their eyes would meet. The anticipation was climbing inside her at a startling rate.

But then suddenly, her way was blocked and Roisin felt slightly disoriented as the connection was broken and she looked up into the grinning face of Embry.

"There you are," he said, his hands grabbing her waist to help steady her. Roisin could only blink in response, before smiling. What the hell was wrong with her? "You owe me another dance."

"Sure," she said breezily as he pulled her back into the middle of the crowd. Roisin looked over her shoulder, trying to find the guy from before, but he had disappeared.

Even though she wasn't sure what was going on, she felt like she had to find him. That something depended on her finding him. She just wasn't sure what.

OOOO

I have to admit, I have been having a lot of fun coming up with the fae lore in this story. There are so many influences out there! And the sky is pretty much the limit with what you want to do with them. Of course, my fae have a mischievous streak, though the severity of it depends on the fae and sometimes the court. And well, for some reason I wanted Roisin to be a bit more responsible – or at least trying to. But yea, some things are common throughout all fae, while some things are attributed to the court they were born into while some things are specific to the fae. As Roisin is a royal Summer fae, she's obviously more powerful and her power is very much tied into her emotions, which we'll see her struggle to control throughout the story.

And I should probably add a warning to the beginning of the story but going to put it here – things will get very steamy with this story. The fae I've created are very much promiscuous (especially Summer and Shadow fae) and have no qualms about sex or nudity. I'm not 100% sure yet if I'm going to do a full-on love scene but may do it as a bonus chapter for AO3 so that I don't get in trouble here for putting up something TOO racy. And well, I honestly have a really great idea for that… Eh, okay, we'll see what happens when I get to writing that part if I can tone it down to fit guidelines…

For references, there are five courts, though we only really get into the details of three of them in this story. But they are Summer, Winter, Spring, Autumn and Shadow, with the three we get really into being Summer, Winter and Shadow. Which will be coming in future chapters.

Guest – Thanks! And it's coming very, very shortly…

Thanks for reading and following!