Chapter 12 - Strong Emotions

Nessie heard Seth coming long before he arrived panting into the backyard of the Blacks' house, but she waited to let him shift and change into some clothes before going outside to greet him. She hadn't expected him back this early from her family's house, but the familiar smell on him told beyond a doubt that he had been there. But was his returning back so soon a good thing or a bad thing?

Jacob got there before her in order to confront Seth about what happened. What Nessie didn't know what was Jacob knew from their mind connections as werewolves: that Seth had imprinted. It became very clear what had happened as Jacob and Seth started talking though.

"I don't know whether to be happy for you or to offer you a hunt, give you a chance to rip into something," Jake said.

Seth ran his hands through his short hair. "Yeah, I don't know what to feel about it either. Edward gave me some time earlier to go and clear my head, but nothing's helped so far."

Jacob patted his shoulder in sympathy. "Don't worry, it's just the shock stage of it. You'll get past it quickly."

"Hey Seth, what's going on?" Nessie asked, skipping forward.

As always, Jacob looked happy to see her there—not that he smiled or anything, but there was a look that just came over his eyes, something light and calmly contented—but this time Nessie also sensed a bit of awkwardness about him. "Seth imprinted," he told her.

"Oh." Well, no wonder it was awkward; although her entire life she had known this about her and Jacob, and it was something they'd both had time to get used to, to Jacob it was still something that he didn't mention often. It wasn't that he thought that she might not accept it or anything, but rather that, as always, he didn't want to feel like he was forcing her into having any specific type of relationship with him. Because, Nessie had learned long ago, although imprinting usually led to the imprinter and imprintee becoming a romantic couple, that didn't always have to be the case. Jacob would always be for her what she needed him to be—a brother, a friend, a protector. For most of her life, their relationship had been based in those things, but surely Jacob knew by now that, especially recently, Nessie's self-consciousness around him and her possessiveness of him implied something more, right?

But until he says something, really proposes and sees me as his equal as an adult and not a child, I'm not going to force things, Nessie had concluded. Looking back, though everyone sort of took it for granted, she knew Jacob to be more of a gentleman than just to put the moves on her because she was a guest in his house. They slept in separate bedrooms and, to this day, Nessie was sure that Jacob hadn't ever tried to overstep boundaries in an inappropriate way. Several times, they had been really close to kissing, just barely holding back.

In any case, what a time for Seth to imprint as well!

"Congratulations!" Nessie said, turning to Seth and leaving aside the question of her and Jacob for the moment. "So, who is she?"

Seth scratched his head. "That's where it becomes complicated."

"No, it doesn't have to be," Jacob said. "The only problem as I see it is that you didn't meet her first, but no one, and I mean no one, can stand between you and her once the connection's been made."

"I don't understand," Nessie cut in, hoping not to be left out of the discussion again. Jacob gave her an apologetic look. He kept forgetting that there was nothing to keep from Nessie anymore, but that was just his over-protectiveness. As long as he lived, Jacob doubted he'd ever get over that, although he was trying to improve so that he didn't make her feel excluded anymore. Gotta work on that...

"It's...a girl named Charlotte, and she's kind of Adrian's friend," Seth explained. "I met her just this morning when she came over to the Cullens' house to study."

"What?" Nessie exclaimed. "So a human gets to go into my house but I don't?" It was surprising, to say the least, and, quite frankly, not the most important thing she should've taken from that, but still...

Jacob put his arm around her shoulders, and she thankfully leaned into him, but her eyes were still focused on Seth. "So, what happened, exactly?"

Seth sighed. "I just...met her, for only a few minutes, but I knew right away. She seemed really nice and I know I won't be able to stay away. Edward asked me to, just for today so they could explain things to Adrian, but...you know I can't leave things at that."

"Obviously. So what are you planning to do?" Jake asked.

"It'd be weird for me to show up at her house or anything, but I know I can wait until Monday, maybe meet her when she finishes school," Seth said hesitatingly.

Jacob shook his head. "I tried that once, meeting one a vampire's turf. Didn't work well."

Nessie glanced sideways at him. This must be from the days when Jacob and her mother were kind of involved, at least as very close friends that pissed her dad off.

"Got any better ideas?" Seth asked.

Jacob smiled. "No. At least it's a public place so he won't try anything, and who knows? If Charlotte wants to be with you, it's not like Adrian can stop her."

"Don't get my hopes up, man," Seth chided, but he was smiling.

"Anyway, if you get a chance, bring her here. You know this Friday's another bonfire ceremony, right?"

"The ushering in of spring, I know," Seth laughed. "That's definitely date territory though, and I don't know if she'd be into that."

"After, what, five minutes with the girl, you can tell that?" Jacob shook his head. "Give her a chance, she won't be able to resist your charms."

"And I'm sure everyone would love to meet her," Nessie added. She had known Seth for years and considered him one of her best friends after Jacob of course, so she was fully rooting for him in finding happiness.

"Yeah, especially Leah," Jacob added.

Seth froze, blinking. "You mean she's back?" For the past four months, ever since Emily had given birth to her and Sam's second child, Angel, Leah had been on the run, travelling north to Canada as a lone wolf. As such, though for the moment she didn't make up part of the La Push pack and thus couldn't hear Seth or anyone else's thoughts, every time she came back, Sam let her in.

One would think that after nearly thirteen years of getting used to the idea of Sam and Emily being together, Leah would have learned to let it go by now, but Seth knew his sister well, and nothing could ever take out the sting of losing whom she had once thought of as the love of her life. Besides which, werewolves felt these things keenly, and hearing Sam's thoughts, practically feeling everything that he felt towards Emily, only made things worse. Already Leah had run away twice before, one after Sam's wedding, at which she had refused to be Emily's maid of honor, and then after the birth of Sam's first child, Todd. Biologically, Leah should be thirty right about now, and thus psychologically mature enough to handle heartbreak; but it turned out that for her, things ran even deeper than that and she had never truly stopped loving Sam.

Twice, loneliness had brought her back, and both times she had relied heavily on Seth to bring her back into the scheme of things with the pack, stabilize her when she couldn't do it herself; this time, there was no telling how she would react at finding out that he had also imprinted—the one thing about being a werewolf that she envied about everyone else.

"She gave me a call and told me she'd be on her way," Jacob said. "By the time of the bonfire, she'll definitely be here."

"Well shoot," Seth said. On the one hand, of course he was happy to have his sister back and not have to live alone anymore—their mother had moved in with Charlie Swan, Bella's father, a couple of years back—but on the other hand, her return could not have come at a worse time. Seth couldn't guess how she'd react to his imprinting, but he guessed it wouldn't be good. "How did she sound on the phone?"

Jacob considered before replying. "Sad, lonely I'd say. She stayed away longer this time than before, and I think it's taken a hit on her." Werewolves weren't solitary creatures, after all, and lone wolves often went insane; even two months should have done quite a number on Leah, but then, as she herself bitterly remarked, she was "used to being alone".

Seth nodded. He would be prepared for whatever state she was in. But then, was it such a good idea to invite Charlotte over?

"Having second thoughts?" Nessie guessed, to which Seth nodded. "Well, don't. It's not my place to get involved or anything, but this isn't one of those cases where Leah can step in and what she says goes just because she's your big sister. There are some things she just has to accept, whether it's hard for her or not."

"It's not her I'm worried about," Seth replied honestly. "It's Charlotte. She's...well, she happens to be blind, but that doesn't stop her from noticing things." He paused, unsure himself how he knew that after just talking to her for a few minutes, but...

"When I first spoke to her, she perked up, like she knew something was different about me. I can't explain it, but she was surprised." He shrugged, but Jacob understood how Seth had noticed all these things about the girl he imprinted on—how could he not? "And when I shook hands with her, she definitely got a read on my temperature. I was half expecting her to ask me if I had a fever or something but she didn't, even though most people would have. It seems to me that if she's that perceptive, she's also picked up her fair share of things on the Cullens."

"That's jumping the gun on a few things, but then, I'm not sure if vampires and werewolves have ever been around someone like her," Jacob said. "Usually the looks of vampires are distracting enough, apparently, so most people wouldn't be clued in, but if she's noticing other things and Adrian's just letting her..." He paused. "But anyway, that's none of our business." He glanced apologetically at Nessie, but she understood. They may have united before in defense of her against the Volturi all those years ago, but their business was still decidedly separate, especially now that Nessie lived full-time in La Push.

"It's my business what happens to her though, and that makes it pack business," Seth said. "And even though I don't know how she feels about me, I'd rather keep her close to our side of things than let her get any closer to Adrian." There were hints of jealousy there, which of course was a first for carefree Seth. "Like you said, the problem is that I didn't meet her first, though I wish to God I had!"

Nessie stepped forward and wrapped him up in a hug before either Jacob or Seth realized it. "It'll be okay once things settle down a bit. Leave the weekend to think about it, and then invite her to the bonfire this Friday. Especially if it's a new experience for her, she might like it, and besides, how could she resist your natural charms?" She grinned. "And don't worry about Leah. Sam and Emily are coming and bringing the baby along, so there will enough to distract her even without her knowing about you."

"Yeah," Jacob agreed. "Just...maybe try not to shift and if you keep your thoughts to yourself, I'll get everyone else to promise to do the same."

"Think it'll work?" Seth asked.

"Hell...no. But we gotta try, right?"

A/N: I think (hope) that this ties up all loose ends as far as the initial meeting between Charlotte and Seth is concerned, and I tried to also work in a bit on the Renesmee-Jacob angle as well.

For those of you missing Charlotte, I'll be moving the story forward plot-wise with her P.O.V. next chapter, so stay tuned for that! Please follow, favourite, and review to support the story! 3