Disclaimer: I don't own the Twilight Saga, only my original characters (Astoria, Ezra, Asher, Gideon, Tobias, Dr. Reed, and Evan). Enjoy!

Chapter Six

Evan watched the girl across him walk in and out from the kitchen to the back terrace as she prepared their tea after the very sumptuous dinner, which he made a mental note to thank Asher later before leaving for Seattle to visit his grandmother. He was glad to be back, and seeing Astoria after a year of being away made the long trip to La Push worth it. He had noticed the odd glow on her face. Maybe she was dating someone? Not that he minded, Evan would be delighted for her if there was someone already making her happy.

"What?" Astoria asked, raising a brow at him then handed him his cup of matcha tea.

"What?" he asked back, sipping his tea.

The younger girl knitted her brows together. "I could have sworn you were staring at me," she insisted

"I wasn't staring, I was observing."

"Right, observing." Astoria snorted, "So, how was life back in Tokyo?"

"Oh, you know, there are good times and bad times. But it's been great so far, and lots of good food too," he replied. "You should visit sometime, I'll tour you around and might even introduce to a few good looking guys from some of my university classes." Evan teased, playfully wiggling his brows.

"No thanks," She declined, "I can't leave the three idiots with the house to fend for themselves without me, dad & Ezra around, or else I won't have a house to come home to."

Evan knew she had a point, without her or Ezra to help their dad with managing the house, everything would be an absolute mess. And being the good friend that he was, Evan only wanted to give her a break, he thought that Astoria might need it right after their mother's passing.

"Hey, *obaasan's been asking about you when I was talking to her over the phone," Evan brought up. His grandmother had always liked his childhood friend ever since they were kids, and the old woman had also been pestering him to ask the girl to be his girlfriend so she could finally be part of their family, but Evan had always insisted that they were nothing more than friends.

Astoria perked up at the mention of his grandmother. "How is she? I haven't had the chance to visit her in Seattle. Tell her that I send my love. Is she still planning our future wedding?" she joked.

"Oh you bet, she's still hoping that we miraculously end up together one day," he chuckled. "Then I told her that it would be weird and that it was like being with your sister if I dated you, and guess what she did?"

"What?"

"She threw one of her very fancy *yunomi teacups at me."

"You really shouldn't mess with her, she's one feisty old woman," his friend teased, laughing as she punched him in the arm.

"Her birthday party is coming up, by the way," he reminded her. "And I might know a guy who doesn't have a date for the party yet," Evan grinned, winking at her.

"You're talking about yourself, right?"

Evan pretended to be shocked, placing a hand over his heart. "How did you know? Are you a psychic?" he gasped.

"I might have been blessed with mind-reading powers, who knows?" Astoria shrugged.

"So, will you go with me?"

"And be uncomfortable in heels for four hours? No thank you, I value my feet."

"I'll buy you a month's worth of spicy cheese ramen noodles and banana milk if you agree to go with me," Evan negotiated. He knew how much she loved those things and he was smart enough to use those for her to say 'yes'.

Astoria was in deep thought, if she did agree to go with Evan to the birthday party she would be obligated to dress up, and even though she loved the old woman, his grandmother would never leave her alone without mentioning what their future wedding's theme would be like and she wouldn't be surprised if the old woman already had a list of names had already been thought of for her future grandkids. But with the mention of her two favorite things, Astoria's resolve was slowly wavering.

"Make it a year, throw in a box of Pocky and you have yourself a date to your grandmother's party," she bargained.

"Anything else?"

"Your stash of *konpeito candies too."

"Hey! Not those!"

Astoria raised a brow at him, nodding upwards, "No konpeito candies, no date to the party."

"Fine, deal," Evan grumbled, crossing his arms. He then glanced down at his watch. "Looks like it's time for me to leave," he announced, rising from the loveseat.

She flashed him a small smile, a bit sad that he was already leaving. "Go, you wouldn't want your grandmother to throw another fancy teacup at you if she caught you coming home late."

"Not if I tell her that I went to visit you," he grinned, making the girl hit him with a throw pillow. "Ow! Stop being violent!"

Astoria laughed as she got off the couch. "Sorry, can't help it," she apologized, stepping closer to give him a tight hug, "It is great to see you, Evan, thanks for coming over."

Evan ruffled the girl's hair playfully which earned him a scowl. "Anytime, pumpkin," He smiled, "I'll see you on Saturday!"

Paul hated the hollow feeling in his chest that has been growing since he left the school parking lot. He knew he could never control his imprint's choices, and seeing her smile so sweetly at someone that wasn't him felt like a thousand knives were stabbing his heart. And truth to be told, he was already getting impatient. All he wanted to do was to tell her everything but Sam ordered him to wait for the right time as Astoria was an outsider and has no clue that shapeshifters like him exist.

"Who do you think was that guy at the parking lot?" Quil asked curiously, munching on his third humongous cupcake.

Jacob shrugged, "Beats me."

"Probably a friend of the Reeds, they all seemed close," Embry responded, leaning back against his chair then turned to Paul who was sitting quietly the whole time. "When are you going to tell Astoria about you imprinting on her anyway?" he asked.

"Yeah, the bonfire is almost near," Quil reminded him.

"Hey man, if you keep waiting like what Sam orders you to do, somebody might steal her away from you," Jared jested, cackling loudly but was cut off when Paul chucked a cupcake towards him but Jared was able to catch it and mockingly take a bite. "Don't go crying to us when that happens."

"Shut the hell up or I swear I will rip your wolf ass into shreds," Paul threatened, gritting his teeth.

"Hey! No fighting at the table!" Emily ordered then threw a reprimanding look at Jared then Paul who got up from his seat and left to go on his patrol.

Hours later, he found himself hiding behind the trees near the Reed household. Paul's eyes surveyed the surroundings for any strange movements then his gaze landed on the two figures at the back terrace, he watched as his imprint and the strange guy from the parking lot earlier laugh together then hugged each other — which caused the hollow feeling on his chest to grow even more.

Maybe Jared was right, he should have just told her the truth instead of waiting for the right time like what Sam ordered him to do. He took one look at his imprint then howled as loud as he could.

After Evan left, Astoria had stayed behind at the back terrace of their home, as if waiting for a certain someone to appear. Her late-night talks with Paul had become one of the things she looks forward to the most every day. She was about to fall asleep on the loveseat but was suddenly woken up after hearing what seemed to be a wolf's howl which came from the forest near their home.

Being the curious person that she was, the girl carefully walked to where she suspected the howl came from but suddenly halted.

"What the—" Astoria muttered then blinked and rubbed her eyes repeatedly.

She heard a rustle of twigs and leaves then looked to where she could have sworn that a pair of glowing eyes were looking back at her but instead, saw nothing then darkness.

[A/N: Obaasan - Grandmother, Konpeito - Japanese sugar candies & Yunomi - Japanese teacup]