A/N: I WANTED TO POST THIS ON MAY 21 (CALLIE'S BDAY) BUT I COULDN'T I'M SORRY. I do plan on posting the following chapters before my classes start in August, though, but not unless I get reviews! I run on reviews guys, so please, let's make it happen! Is it far-fetched if I want 50 by August?

...I hope not.

Chapter 10

Nowhere but Up

"Are you sure?" Seth asked, holding my hand in a firm grip.

"Yeah. Are you gonna jump with me?" I asked.

"Of course. I have to phase first, though." Seth said. I nodded, and he went to undress behind a tree.

Ready. He thought.

"Sorry I had to put your mom on hold." I said regretfully, pushing the fur on his head backward.

He shook his head. It's fine.

I backpedalled a few paces from the cliff to make for a running start. When I reached the edge, I jumped, and landed safely by tumbling then steadying into a crouch. I waited for Seth.

He managed to jump, and actually quite well, landing a few feet before me.

He gave me a wolfish grin. I rolled my eyes.

"Get dressed." I said, stripping myself of his hoodie and tossing it to him.

He caught it by the large teeth of his snout and phased behind another tree. I waited for him and he joined me once more, taking my hand in his.

"You know, I'm surprised I've never met you before all this. What with the security detail for Bella." He mentioned, rubbing his thumb across my hand.

"I never came along. They often just commanded me to watch the house." I sighed, squinting at the sky. It was marvelously blue, and I could clearly see the golden rays of sun that peeked through the drifting clouds.

"Don't do that." He stopped, taking a good look at me.

"Do what?" I raised an eyebrow.

"Think you're useless. Don't underestimate yourself, especially when other people do so."

I looked at him. "Sometimes, it's just the plain truth that I'm not as powerful as a full vampire." He remained silent as I lifted my mental shield, and suddenly I felt the unique connection I had with Edward.

Callie? Edward asked. Seth and I continued to walk towards my house.

Yeahp. And I brought company, I warned.

We're coming.

We continued to walk, and I didn't realize I was shaking until Seth squeezed my hand. "Are you alright, Callie?" He asked, taking my hand and placing our fists over his heart.

I sighed and leaned my head on his shoulder. His height was perfect for me, and I reveled in the closeness.

"I don't want you to leave me. You know, in case they..." I trailed off.

"I'm not. Never." He said, leaning his head atop mine. "That's physically, psychologically, and emotionally impossible for me." I smiled and hugged his arm tighter as we walked.

"Callie." Esme's voice appeared before us, sounding the most tired and worrisome as a vampire could ever be.

Seth and I stopped walking and I looked up to see the whole family. Seth tensed visibly and gripped my hand even tighter.

"Hi." I said indifferently, not daring to move.

Esme looked to Seth and smiled the way Esme could only smile. "Seth. Thank you for taking care of her." She said, advancing towards us.

"He's not some babysitter." I said defensively, letting go of his arm.

Esme stopped in her tracks at my forwardness.

"We know, Callie." Carlisle interrupted.

The words hung in the air so we all remained silent first, anticipating the other's first moves.

"Are you coming home?" Alice asked, clearly unable to see the future.

"I'm here, aren't I?" I stated.

She sighed in relief.

"Let's head home first, we can talk there." Carlisle said. "Hunting can wait."

I looked to Seth and he nodded at me. He took my hand in his and we started walking once more. The vampires didn't move and just let us pass through them. As we walked, Seth laced his fingers with mine and I leaned into his shoulder again.

They're so cute. Esme's thoughts read.

She found a mate. Carlisle's thoughts read.

His scent isn't... so bad. Alice's thoughts read.

I sighed and let out a small smile as I listened to them. When we finally reached the house, Seth whistled.

This is crazy big, he thought.

I smiled at him and squeezed his hand, leading him inside. I walked him to the living room, where I sat with him on the couch. The others followed.

"We want to sincerely apologize to you, Callie. And you too, Seth. It was wrong of us to say, let alone think those things about your relationship, and we all mean it. Callie, you're part of the family and your happiness does count, just as much as ours does. We shouldn't have treated you that way, and we see now just how good of a match you two are. We are terribly sorry and hope you can find it in you forgive us." Esme spoke up. The others nodded in agreement and started muttering out apologies.

"Yeah, who knew wolf-boy could be a romantic. I'll be her home. Damn." Coming from Emmett, this was a compliment.

I nodded and Seth met my eyes with forgiveness. I gulped down and looked at them. "Okay, apology accepted." I said after a while.

They smiled, and Carlisle, Emmett, Rosalie, Alice, and Esme came up to hug me. I stood to meet them, and Seth shook hands with the men.

"Oh, Callie, it was so incomplete without you here." Rosalie admitted while hugging me tightly.

"Yeah, you're suffocating me." I said, and Seth immediately placed his hand on the small of my back, sending warm shivers down my spine.

"Let me make you breakfast." She offered, already walking to the kitchen.

"Actually, we already had breakfast." I said as Carlisle, Edward, Emmett, and Jasper talked to Seth.

"Lunch, then." She said.

I nodded. "Yeah, sure."

"Steak sound good to you?" She asked, taking the meat out of the refrigerator.

Seth's head whipped around at the mention of steak.

I laughed at him. "Yeah, it's good."

"We have to go now. Edward needs to get Bella and we need to meet with Jacob at the site." Carlisle came up to me and gave me a quick hug, looking into my eyes. "Glad you're back safe, Callie." He said, and meant it, too.

I nodded and he departed with Edward and Jasper, who both gave me apologetic looks.

"So, Seth, any hobbies?" Emmett asked with his arms crossed.

"I like to play football, frisbee, volleyball, baseball... basically anything that involves running, and an object to run after." He said in a sort of joking manner.

Such a dog. Emmett thought.

I glared at him.

He gave me a worried look. A...cute dog.

"Callie likes to run." Alice mentioned.

Seth looked at me and smiled. "Oh."

"You can play baseball with us one time, Seth. It's a family pastime." Esme smiled kindly at him. I could sense that her unexpected kindness and gentleness towards Seth wasn't taking much of her effort; she seemed to genuinely think of him as a part of the family already.

"I'd love to, Mrs. Cullen." Seth nodded.

"It's Esme. If you don't mind, you just have to excuse Callie for a bit-" She began, and took my arm. "-just a bit." She smiled, as Seth visibly tensed.

I gave him a reassuring smile and walked to the den with Esme. "If you're going to say something insulting, don't, because he has impeccable hearing." I whispered.

Esme smiled while nodding. "If anything, I approve. He seems like a nice guy. Edward even commended him on his thoughts. He said and I quote: sincere, genuine, optimistic, and a guy who truly cares." She chortled.

"That's Seth." I agreed, smiling myself.

Esme sighed with a smile. "Honey, let's put the past behind us, yes?" She asked warily, holding up the special one-of-a-kind charm bracelet.

I crossed my arms defensively, and looked at it from the corner of my eye. "You have to never do that to me again. Literally all of you came at me. That stings. And you can't be selectively supportive of my decisions; if you're going to be there for me, be there for me."

"We promise. Mom's honor." She said, holding up a hand with three fingers raised.

I sighed. "Yeah, ok, fine." I said, taking the bracelet and putting it on.

Her smile grew, and she took me into a loving embrace which I returned.

"I love you, Callie."

"Love you too, mom."

"This is delicious." Seth commented, wolfing down the meal Rose prepared.

"I should hope so, you've had three steaks by far." Rose smiled amusedly.

"And five servings of mash." I laughed.

"You have an appetite to rival Emmet's." Alice smiled.

"Sorry." Seth slowed, swallowing his food.

I placed a hand atop his and smiled. "Don't slow down. Just keep eating if you want to."

"Callie's right, Seth. It seems that we'll be seeing you much more often now, so, you're part of the family." Esme smiled, pouring him some more iced tea while I had some sparkling white wine.

Seth gave her a huge, happy grin. "Thank you all. I'm sorry for being so hostile earlier."

Esme waved it off. "The past is behind us. Let's just work on a better future."

I nodded at him, and continued eating.

"You know, you guys actually look really good together. Like, seriously." Alice said. "It's weird. Even your scents mix such that you smell good together." She pointed out while sniffing the air.

Seth smiled at me, then looked back to Alice. "Thank you. And you guys don't repulse me either."

I snickered, putting down my wine glass.

"Well, we better get going. I hear bears, lions, and deer calling out to me." Emmett said, standing from the table.

I nodded. "See you later."

"Behave." Emmett winked, then ran out the door before I could retaliate.

I rolled my eyes. "Don't be seen by hunters."

"Oh please, Callie, don't insult us." Alice laughed then gave me a small hug and followed Emmett. "Bye, Seth!"

"Goodbye, Seth and Callie." Esme smiled, kissing the top of my head, and following suit.

"I'll see you both later." Rosalie said last, and sped off.

"Have a good hunt!" I called out, but it was pointless.

Seth smiled. "They're not so bad."

"Yeah, they're not." I said, bringing my empty plate to the sink.

Seth finished his food then joined me in the kitchen as I washed the dishes.

"Do they often just leave you here alone?" He asked, looking around and touching things.

"Yeah, but I never really minded." I replied. "I understood that everyone had their own stuff to do, and so did I when I went to school."

"You dropped out?" Seth asked with a curious look on his face.

"They pulled me out to keep me safe from the army." I said. "Besides, it's not like I haven't gone a thousand times before."

"Right." Seth nodded. "Wait. A thousand?"

"I'm exaggerating, Seth." I laughed.

He laughed along, and we finished the dishes.

"So... what now?" He asked, placing the dish towel back where it belonged.

"I could bring you upstairs and show you my room." I offered.

"A-alright." He agreed hesitantly.

"Don't worry, I don't sleep in a coffin." I giggled to myself, dragging him upstairs by the arm.

"No, it's not that. It's just... never mind." Seth said, stopping midway on the stairs. I looked at him weirdly.

"What is it?" I asked, descending some steps to stand right before him.

"No, no. Maybe some other time. I have to go." He said, pulling away from me.

"What? Why?" I asked, confused by his change of heart.

"Sam's calling." He replied, looking up at me. "We have orders. I'm sorry." He said, coming closer to me, placing his hands on my hips. "I'll be back as soon as I can."

I nodded in understanding. "Alright. I'll... I'll be here, I guess." I sighed.

"It hurts me to go, but I can't stay." He whispered, touching the side of my face.

I closed my eyes. "Just go. I'll be fine here. I'll see you later." I said, and stepped back.

Seth nodded and walked out the door. He began running and I watched him from the window. He looked back at me once more before phasing mid-run.

Responses to reviews:

14 - I wanna let you know that I kinda tried making an episode and lemme tell you, it's like learning how to code! I'm still experimenting around with it and it's really fun, but also kinda stressful. We'll see how things pan out in the future. Thanks for your continued support, 14!