A/N: Man, have I missed this. It's been a while, I know, college is hard! Since I'm taking a leave for the semester, hopefully I can catch upon some writing. You guys don't know this but I actually already have 40 chapters written in total so far, so there's a lot to look forward to!

Chapter 18

Hero

"Hey guys! Over here!" Aaron waved at us and climbed the sand mounds to our cars. Aaron's parents and his older brother Joshua followed as well to help us out.

"Mr. and Mrs. Blake, great to see you again. Thank you for allowing us to come with you on this trip." I greeted, exchanging hugs with Aaron's parents.

"The more the merrier!" Mrs. Blake said happily, grabbing a bag.

"This is a sweet ride here, Callie." Mr. Blake said, inspecting the interior.

I smiled at him kindly. "Oh, thank you, Mr. Blake. It was a birthday present." I explained, locking my car and placing the keys in my bag.

"A Camaro. Didn't know this was your style, Callie." Joshua teased, kissing me on the cheek in greeting.

I smiled at him. "Hey Joshua. Long time no see! How's college life?" I asked as we walked down to the beach together. As if I've never been in college before.

"It's great. Really great." He said, helping me with my stuff. "You're gonna meet lots of new people, and it's like the stuff you learn? Actually important in life."

"That's good." I chuckled.

"Hey, Callie." Seth appeared by my side, walking between Joshua and I.

I was taken aback, shifting looks between the Quileutes on the far other side of the beach and Seth.

"Hey, Seth." I greeted, still in surprise.

"Who's this?" He asked, referring to the boy he was clearly getting jealous of.

"This is my friend Aaron's older brother Joshua." I introduced. "Joshua, this is my friend Seth."

Joshua smiled at Seth. They were pretty much the same height. Joshua reached his hand out. Seth took it and shook firmly.

I sighed and rolled my eyes at the dominance play.

"You're burning up, man, are you alright?" Joshua asked, squinting in confusion while feeling Seth's rugged hands.

"Yeah, he's fine. Just heats up easily in the sun." I explained, and placed a hand on my imprint's shoulder. "Just excuse us."

I pulled Seth away from everyone. "Seth, what are you doing?"

"I saw him kiss your cheek." He said hotly, glaring past my gaze at the boy.

"Seth, you need to calm down. He's just a friend. They all are." I explained, trying to get him to focus on my words. "Please relax. They want to meet you."

"Really? Did you tell them about me?" Seth's mood immediately shifted, grinning down at me.

"Shut up. Are you having mood swings or something?" I questioned playfully and took him by the wrist to where Sage, Sam, Laura, and Yasmine were waiting for introductions. "Guys, this is Seth Clearwater. He lives here on the reservation."

"Seth, pleasure to finally meet you, especially since Callie's been keeping you a secret. I'm Sage." She said, eyeing him from head to toe flirtatiously.

Why did Seth have to be shirtless?

"Sage, please." I rolled my eyes. "This is Laura, Sam, and Yasmine. Over there is Aaron." I pointed at the boy by the grill.

"Nice to meet all of you." Seth said politely, shooting them his million-dollar smile.

"How old—" Laura began.

"No, he can't stay for chit-chat, he must return to the others. Say bye, Seth." I commanded.

He waved dumbly as I pushed him backwards.

"Dude, you can't just intrude when I'm with my friends." I said as we walked to the Quileutes.

"I'm sorry. I just got defensive." He said innocently, stopping me in my tracks. "You look beautiful, Callie." He smirked at me.

I hid a blush and walked past him. "Thanks." He happily trotted beside me. The Quileutes greeted me as we reached the group.

"Hey, guys." I smiled.

"So, introductions." Seth said when we reached them. "This is Kim, Jared's imprint. Rachel, Jacob's sister and Paul's imprint. And Claire, Quil's imprint and Emily's cousin." I shook hands with each of them, then was surprised when I noted that Claire was a baby girl.

"Oh, my gosh, hi." I cooed, crouching down to greet her. Quil instinctively sat up and put an arm around her.

The kid smiled and tried to grab hold of my hat. Quil tried to make her let go, but I waved it off. I put my hat on her head and she laughed, gurgling.

"Oh, my gosh she's adorable." I smiled at Quil, who smiled back.

"Ladies, this is my imprint, Callidora Cullen." Seth announced proudly, puffing his chest. "But just call her Callie."

"Yeah. I'm glad to meet all of you." I stood back up, nodding. "I've heard a lot about you guys." I smiled.

"Nothing bad, I hope." Rachel joked. "I heard you were the one who helped my brother out after the vampire attack?"

I nodded coyly.

"Thank you for that." She smiled fondly, leaning into Paul's embrace.

I shook my head. "No problem whatsoever." I crouched down again to talk to Claire. "I hope you return my hat by the end of the day." I joked.

She squealed, taking the hat in her hand and shaking it. "Hat!" She exclaimed.

I giggled. "Yeah."

"You're not staying?" Emily asked, with her man lying on her lap.

I shook my head. "I'm here with my friends. I can come back later, though." I promised.

"We're having a bonfire tonight." Jacob emerged from a small tent set up to the side.

"Jake! You're better." I smiled, looking him over.

"Thanks to you. I owe you one." He smiled, tossing the older guys beers. "Or two, or three."

"No thanks necessary, happy to help." I reassured. "Anyway, I best be going first."

"Callie, you're glowing." Embry pointed out, squinting. To the wolves with better-than-excellent eyesight, this was apparent.

"Yeah well, that's what the hat was for, but it's okay." I joked. "She can hold on to it. See you guys later."

"Cliff-diving, anyone?" Sam Uley suggested and the guys whooped, standing to follow him as I walked back to the other side of the beach.

"Those guys are hawt!" Yasmine said when I returned. She lowered her sunglasses and peered at them.

"And that Seth guy is bangin'!" Sage added, nodding in approval.

I rolled my eyes.

"No, seriously, where are they going?" Laura asked, laying down her beach mat.

"Cliff-diving." I said, picking my surfboard up.

"You're going to go surfing now?" Sage asked, lifting her sunglasses.

"Just going to go floating." I said, and undressed myself of my top and shorts. I walked to the shore line.

"Callie, the water's great!" Sam waved, floating on his surfboard. "Not too cold at all."

"Coming!" I announced, taking my first steps into the water and then laying my board down to paddle. I joined their little group in the sea, yards away from the beach itself.

"They're not joining in?" Joshua asked, gesturing to the girls with his chin.

I shook my head, looking at them. "Nah, they don't know how to."

"There's a wave coming. Aaron, you wanna take it?" Mr. Blake asked.

"Sure." Aaron said, grinning and paddling toward the wave.

Aaron was a great surfer, and so was his brother. They both learned from their pro of a father.

Mr. Blake used to live in California, where he'd surf to his heart's content. He fell in love with Mrs. Blake when she visited her cousin in California, who happened to be Mr. Blake's best friend. They got married and moved here, where they claimed it was a better place to raise a family since the cost of living was cheaper and Mrs. Blake's family already resided here. Together, they opened up my group's favorite diner, which sells the best burgers in town. And my custom made-to-order vanilla toffee milkshake.

Aaron shot the curl and eventually wiped out, then resurfaced.

We applauded him, and the girls on the beach gave him pretend scores.

"Sage really adores you." Mr. Blake told Aaron, pointing at her perfect ten written on her little whiteboard.

Aaron shrugged.

"He's a good boyfriend, that's why." I teased, punching his arm.

Mr. Blake raised an eyebrow, grinning. "Is that so?"

"Totally. He told her his favorite food was sushi, too, just because Sage didn't want to pressure him into eating Japanese." I chuckled.

"You hate sushi." Joshua laughed.

Aaron grinned.

"You little Casanova!" Joshua playfully teased, pushing Aaron off his board. He then looked to the loud cries of the Quileutes as they jumped off the cliff. "Those guys seem like a lot of fun."

I chuckled, watching them as well. "Yeah, they are." I smiled especially when Seth jumped off, his arms like a windmill. My smile grew even wider when I realized that was the same cliff where we spent hours talking that first night.

"How do you know them, Callie?" Mr. Blake inquired.

"Oh, family friends. Their parents are friends with my brother's girlfriend's father. Chief Swan." I said, only then realising that I confused them.

"Huh." He replied simply, nodding as though he understood. "You wanna take the next wave?" He asked, changing the subject.

I nodded enthusiastically, paddling into the incoming wave. I stood on my board at just the right moment, getting my footing right. I pulled a few tricks before going right in, and coming out on top of the wave and bowing.

The group cheered, as did the girls on the beach and the Quileutes. I grinned; I felt like a queen.

I successfully rode the wave out until it calmed down. They cheered once more and I intentionally wiped out. I paddled back to them.

"Callie, that was awesome!" Joshua commended, clapping my back.

"You have great technique, Callie." Mr. Blake praised.

"Thank you so much." I chuckled, re-tying the strings of my one-piece: considerably modest, with a vintage look. It consisted of a baby blue and white polka-dot bustier with strings tied at the back of my neck and a horizontally striped blue bikini bottom.

We continued surfing in rotation as the sun made its way down.

"This looks like a big one." Mr. Blake said, eyeing the incoming wave. Indeed, the waves seemed to only get more violent as the tide started coming in.

"It does, sir." Sammy agreed.

"Let me show you kids how it's done." He smirked, paddling to the wave.

"With all due respect sir, I don't think that's a good idea." I called out over the growing roar.

"Yeah, dad, I agree." Aaron said, sizing up the wave.

"Oh, I'll be fine! I've handled much bigger waves in my time in Cali." He winked, continuing his approach anyway.

"This isn't a good idea." I said quietly, as the wave grew larger.

"He'll be fine. California surfing champ of eighty-one." Joshua boasted, crossing his arms and watching his father calmly.

As Mr. Blake stood on his board, my focus was pulled elsewhere. I had a vision of him having a terrible wipeout and not resurfacing for a while. His board split, and the cord detached itself, wrapped around his neck. He couldn't breathe.

"Mr. Blake!" I called out, but he was already riding the wave. I began to paddle to him.

"Callie! What are you doing?!" Aaron asked frantically. "You can't ride that now!"

"He's going to drown!" I shouted, just as Mr. Blake wiped out by a sudden harsh spray of water. "Shit." I cursed and sat up on my board, hastily removing my ankle cuff.

"Callie?!" Joshua exclaimed, paddling over.

I successfully removed it and dove into the water.

"Dad?" Joshua exclaimed. I saw the board surface, and when Mr. Blake didn't, only then did Joshua start to panic.

I figured I had at least a minute and a half before needing to come back up for air. I paddled as hard as I could, deeper and deeper, closer and closer to where I envisioned he would be. I found him struggling with the cord constricting his neck, slowing, and I used brute force to rip it apart with my teeth and free him. It was a dark area down there, so I pulled him onto my back and kicked ourselves upwards. He was heavy as a deadweight, now not being able to breathe.

We surfaced, and I took in a huge breath of air. I kicked hard and consistently to keep us afloat, and I pulled with all my might to drag him to shore.

"Dad!" Aaron shouted, making Joshua look over to where we were.

Joshua paddled to my board and attached it to his leg, paddling to shore with the others.

The Quileutes were alarmed as well, since we turned up closer to their side of the beach than ours, and I kicked faster. With my vampiric strength and speed, we appeared closer to shore faster than it would have taken had it been anyone else. Alpha Sam Uley and Jacob took Mr. Blake off my shoulders and carried him to the sand. Joshua, Aaron, and Sammy were still a few yards away, trying desperately to catch up via surfboard.

I flopped on the beach, gasping for air.

"Callie! Are you alright?" Seth asked, patting my face worriedly. I opened my eyes to see Sage, Yasmine, Laura, Sam Uley, Emily, Kim, and a few others surrounding me.

I nodded and coughed out saltwater, getting to my hands and knees and crawling to Mr. Blake.

"Oh, Jonathan! Jonathan!" Mrs. Blake cried frantically, running to his side with her grilling tongs still in hand.

"I know CPR." I breathed heavily, kneeling by the unconscious man's side.

She looked at me desperately and moved back to give me room, as did the rest of the Quileutes.

I took two hands and started pumping his chest, counting aloud.

"…Twenty-eight, twenty-nine, thirty." I announced and listened to his breathing. I took a gulp of oxygen and tilted his head back, closed his nostrils and blew into his mouth. I repeated the pattern two more times before he finally choked up some water.

I sighed in relief and fell to his side, as everyone cheered.

Sage wrapped Mr. Blake in her blanket, and Seth took his and covered me up. I leaned into his warm embrace, and he carried me to the fire the Quileutes set up.

Embry handed me a bottle of water. I gladly took it and emptied it of its contents.

"Callie, Callie, are you alright?" Seth asked with me in his arms.

I nodded, burying my head in his neck to absorb his heat and coughing sporadically. It took at most five minutes for me to return to my normal body temperature. I sat up on Seth's lap and looked at him through tired half-lids.

"Callie, are you alright?" Aaron asked, squatting before me and putting his hand on my knee.

I nodded in assurance. "Yeah, I'm better now. Where's your dad?"

"He says he's completely fine." Aaron smiled. "Firing up the grill cooking some burgers for your friends." He said, looking around at the Quileutes.

"It was no problem." Sam gave him a small smile, and Aaron went up to shake his hand.

"Thank you for helping us out." Aaron smiled, then turned back to me. "You especially, Callie." He said. "You saved my dad's life."

I stood up with Seth, who supported my weight. "It's all good."

"I just have to ask, though." Aaron started. "How did you manage to get him here so fast? And how did you know he would drown?"

My eyes widened infinitesimally in surprise. The Quileutes behind Aaron widened their eyes guiltily as well.

"Adrenaline rush, most probably. It's common in my family." I explained, wrapping myself in the blanket. "And I had a case of déjà vu." I added.

"Ah. Well, if you would all like to join us, my family has burgers coming your way."

They all looked to Sam, who smiled and nodded in approval, his arm around his imprint.

I walked with Seth behind everyone else. "Thank you for this." I said, taking a part of the blanket and raising it.

"No worries. I just need to know that you're fine. You scared the living daylights out of me." He professed while looking down at me with concern.

"I'm fine. I'm tougher than you think." I smirked up at him.

"There's our hero!" Mrs. Blake cried as we approached the little camp. She dashed for me and gave me a huge hug. "Oh, Callie, dear, what would we do without you?" She said, kissing my cheek.

I blushed. "Oh, Mrs. Blake, it's absolutely fine." I brused off, and Seth followed us into the set up.

These boys are hotter up close. I heard Laura think.

I shook my head, smiling. I then felt a tug on my blanket and looked down to see baby Claire, with Quil standing behind her.

I crouched down and she pulled out my hat from behind her back. "Hat!" She smiled, giggling. She dropped it on my head.

I chuckled. "Thank you, Claire, I was still feeling it was a bit sunny." I giggled, standing up to meet Quil, who smiled reverently at the kid.

"C'mon, Quil! Fire, fire!" She then started tugging him by his hands to the bonfire we had just made before I could say another word. It actually was really getting quite dark, and I checked up on Mr. Blake by the grill after putting some warm clothes on.

"Callie, thank you so much. I can never repay you enough." He laughed, hugging me to his side.

"I'm just glad we're both safe, sir." I smiled up at him.

"Here, have a world-famous Blake Burger." He said, handing me a burger wrapped in paper.

"Don't mind if I do, sir." I gladly took it.

"Hey, if ever you're hungry and don't have a place to go, you can come to my diner anytime, on the house." He whispered sincerely.

"You're spoiling me, Mr. Blake. You know I can't resist your toffee milkshakes." I chuckled.

"Anything you want, on the house, you got it? Anytime, for as long as you may live." He said, shaking me by his side, encouragingly. "For your friends, too." He said, nudging his head at the Quileutes.

I chuckled. If only you knew how long I could live. "Yes, thank you very much sir."

"Alright, now hand out some burgers." He smiled, and I took some wrapped ones by Joshua and gave them out.

I walked to Seth and handed him one. "Here you go."

"Thanks." He smiled, unwrapping the burger.

I realized that no introductions had been made, as the Quileutes stood to one side while the rest stood to the other.

I stood in the middle. "None of you are probably going to remember this, but this is Mr. and Mrs. Blake, their sons Joshua and Aaron, Sage, Laura, Sam, and Yasmine."

I then looked to the Quileutes. "This is also Sam, his partner Emily, her cousin Claire, Quil, Paul, his partner Rachel, her brother Jacob, Jared, his partner Kim, Embry, Brady, Collin, Seth and... where's Leah?" I whisper to Seth.

"She doesn't come to these things." He replied quietly.

"Oh, yeah ok, that's it." I finished. The two sides waved at each other, and Laura asked about their matching bicep tattoos.

Sam explained in such a clearly rehearsed way that left out any mention of the supernatural world, and the two sides started to mingle.

"Good thing we brought a lot of food." Mrs. Blake laughed, pulling out another bag of frozen meat from the large cooler.

"Need me to help with that?" I asked, offering her a hand.

"It's fine dear, you've done more than enough." She smiled kindly at me, walking to the grill. "Just enjoy the company."

I retreated and sat beside Sage.

"Okay, Aaron's parents love you more than me now." She joked, bumping my knee with hers.

"They're just grateful." I said, taking a sip of my Sprite.

"I see the way he looks at you." Sage said, obviously referring to Seth.

"Yeah?" I asked nonchalantly.

"Yeah. It's like if he loses you he's going to fall off the earth or something." She remarked, peering over her cup of Coke at the wolf-boy talking to Embry.

I blushed. "It's the same way Aaron looks at you." I replied, bumping her knee, too.

She grinned to herself. "Yeah. And it's all because of you."

"Please, don't start—" I shook my head, taking another sip.

"No really. You were the one who brought us together. And even if things don't work well between us, you made us lifelong friends." She said. "That's why I hope that we stay friends forever." She smiled at me.

"Forever?" I asked, trying to hide my rising nerves and guilt.

"Yes, of course. Who else would I want to stand as maid of honor at my wedding?" She asked.

"Woah, let's not get too ahead of ourselves." I laughed shamefully.

"Cal, I'm serious. Even if it's not to Aaron, I still want it to be you." She begged sincerely.

I took a deep breath. "Yeah, okay." I nodded.

"Perfect." She grinned, hugging me by her side.

Yeah. Just perfect.

A/N: Hope that will suffice for now. I wanna post the next one soon so turn on your notifs!

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