It had been ages since Bella had been on his motorcycle. Charlie didn't approve, of course. He liked to tell her about the gruesome result of an accident he'd witnessed a decade ago and glare out the window at any bike that passed. After days of finals, studying, and SAT prep seminars, she was in desperate need of a little excitement.

Tonight was going to be take-two for her plan the other night. She kissed him back, and then she practically tried to swallow him whole, and then she bailed. So much for clearing things up. So much for vowing not to toy with him anymore, not that she had planned on it. She should have seen it coming, but she wasn't prepared, and now there was a palpable tension between them. It made her feel even more awkward than she did on a regular basis. Just act normal, she told herself. But what was normal these days?

They arrived at the beach, the same one where they had walked together over a year ago. His hair was long, and he was still a goofy, happy-go-lucky boy with a crush. The shoreline was covered in the same blue, gray, and pink pebbles, all smoothed out from decades rolling about in the salt water. Back then, she was flirting with Jake to get information about the Cullens, something that still nagged her conscience. It wasn't fair to him, but she had never been very fair to him, had she? Over and over she saw the hurt in his eyes that she had inflicted with her constant waffling. Maybe after tonight she could achieve some kind of karmic balance.

The huge chunks of driftwood were still there, this time arranged in a circle around a cone-shaped pile of logs that was almost as tall as she was. Quil, Jared, and Embry had been hauling them in on their shoulders, with Paul and Sam arranging them over the kindling. Behind the logs sat one of the biggest piles of food Bella had seen outside some kind of eating competition: at least a dozen packages of hot dogs and buns and just as many marshmallows, a pile of potato chip bags, and what looked like an entire case of soda. The group waved at them as they finished up.

"So I'm extremely on-board with what I'm seeing here," Bella said, "but I have to ask: What's the occasion?"

"It's been kind of a rough year for us, and Sam thought a little party was in order," replied Jared. "Just a little break so we don't kill each other."

"And these idiots managed to make it through their finals," Paul gestured towards the junior members of the pack. "I don't know how they did it."

"Thanks for the support, Paul," Jacob quipped. "You all need any help?"

"We're just about done here." Quil tossed the last pile of wood next to the stack. "Hopefully it's not too wet."

Embry watched them enter and nudged Quil. He mumbled something she couldn't hear that made them both snigger. Jacob looked like he was ready to punch them.

"Can you two shut up at least until dinner? Bella hasn't eaten and I'd be sad if she passed out and didn't get to see me throw you both off the cliff."

The winds had subsided and much of the snow had melted since their meeting last week, though that didn't stop the wind coming off the water. The water seemed to flow peacefully, punctuated by the occasional disturbance she spotted by chance. Where there whales this close to the shore? In just a few minutes, a growing pillar of smoke was rising off the bonfire, and everyone was starting to gather around it, chattering like monkeys. It would be sunset soon, and she looked forward to seeing the sun setting off the west coast.

She hadn't seen the pack eating together since the incident, and she had forgotten how insatiable they were. She watched the six of them blow through nearly all of the hot dogs in the course of an hour, along with about a liter of soda apiece. These weren't growing boys; they were locusts. Perhaps maintaining such a high body temperature required an insane metabolism, she pondered, still working on her second hot dog. Their energy was incredible, but after a night or two in a row on patrol, they were practically narcoleptic.

There was something about being around them that felt homey. They roughhoused, teased, and fought almost constantly, but they were a family through and through. She'd always wondered what it would be like to have siblings, or even just a close family. She remembered the Cullens and the family she thought she would someday be a part of, but she had been blind to the coldness and isolation of their existence. The price of perfection and immortality was steep, and she was a fool for brushing it aside. There she would sit, like mountains behind her, unchanging, as the rest of the world came and went, doomed to forever remain in her tower.

Abandoning her real family, her life, the entire world she knew, was part of the package, but here, she could keep it all. She would never need to change in order to belong. She could just stay Bella, or whatever version of Bella she was now. The ordeal and the process of shedding her old skin was agonizing, but not as much as watching everyone she's every loved die. Sure, the constant yelling and playful violence was a pain in the ass a lot of the time, but this family was warm and real. She didn't want to be a mountain.

The beach grew darker as the sun began to set across the ocean. Shades of orange and purple were seeping into blue that had been there before, and the sunlight reflecting off the water made it sparkle. More logs were added to the fire as it began to shrink back, giving off a quick burst of heat that almost burned her cheeks. She looked at Jacob beside her, laughing at Paul as he nearly set himself on fire. His hand rested next to hers on the gnarled driftwood log, like an open invitation. She carefully slid her hand over, and felt him take it almost immediately. He must have been waiting for her to notice, or maybe it was all her doing.

"Hey Bells, you wanted to see the sunset, right?" he asked, almost leadingly.

"Yeah, I did actually. I haven't seen a real west coast sunset yet."

"C'mon, there's a good spot over by the cliff."

As they both stood to leave, she saw Quil whispering something to Embry that elicited snickering from them both, only for Jared to deliver a swift elbow to his ribs. They were all exchanging knowing looks, and receiving daggers from Jacob. Did the mind connection work in human form, or was she just missing something? As he lead her away, she could still feel their eyes boring into the back of her skull.

"What's their deal?" she grumbled.

She took his hand again as they made their way down the beach. She marveled at the way her hand now disappeared into his. He was so powerful, but still so careful with her. Jacob groaned and shook his head.

"They've been giving me a hard time lately."

"Because of the night you came over?" she asked. She had really hoped that they would let some of that go after his punishment, but she should have known better. Or maybe this was just par for the course when it came to the being in the pack.

"Partly. I know I deserve some of it, but lately it's just been about you, which pisses me off. I wanted them to at least hold off until you weren't there."

"About me?," she said, not sure why she would be a topic of discussion. "What about me? Like the other night or…?"

He was looking down at the sand as they walked, nudging a pebble along with every step.

"Jake?"

"In general," he said with some unease. " ... but also that."

She stopped, justifiably mortified by the prospect of his brothers being privy to everything she'd said and done in the last month. The actual mechanics of their mental link were largely a mystery to her, but she couldn't help but picture an ESPN instant-replay of her horn-dog antics; the way she clawed at his skin. The way she pressed against him so hungrily that she nearly pushed herself on top of him. She might have to kill him.

"You told them?"

"Of course not!" he replied, obviously offended by the accusation.

"One of the pitfalls of turning into a giant monster is that we're all inside each other's heads while we're phased. We basically have zero privacy. I have to hear about all the dumb shit Quil and Embry get up to and every girl they go after."

She frowned. He seemed angry. This wasn't how she wanted the night to go.

"I'm doing my best here, Bells. They know the gist of things, but not the details."

"No details? None at all?" she asked incredulously. He paused for a moment to think.

"Ok, maybe a few details."

Bella groaned loudly, burying her face in her hands. She was not expecting to go through all this with an audience, especially not his brothers. She could handle Charlie's vague commentary, but at least he was otherwise totally in the dark. She could only imagine what the guys had said to him while they patrolled the forest. She could sympathize with Jacob's predicament, but not knowing was torture. Then again, she knew what Quil and Embry were like. Maybe she really didn't want to know.

"Bellaaa" he pleaded.

"All that stuff isn't really about you as much as it is me. They know my thoughts in excruciating detail, which means you come up... a lot. It's been annoying the hell out of them, actually. I'm trying not to think about anything like that while I'm with the pack but that got kind of impossible after…"

"...Right...Sorry."

"It's ok."

So she was right. They knew exactly what was going on. As if she needed more performance anxiety.

"So," she said. "Is there anything else they know that I should be aware of?"

He stopped, closing his eyes as he let out a deep breath.

"They know that I've been in love with you since I saw you on this beach over a year ago. They know that I've wanted to tell you for ages but was too afraid of ruining everything to do it. They know that I think about you every second you aren't around, every dream, every stupid hopeless fantasy I've ever had. They know exactly how I feel about you, how I've always felt about you. What they aren't sure about is exactly how you feel about me, and personally, I'd like that cleared up as well."

Her heart rate shot through the roof, like she had just braved the first drop on a rollercoaster. She always knew he loved her. Subtlety had never exactly been his strong suit, but she could admit to herself she had given him so many mixed signals that she wasn't sure how he had put up with her for so long. The countless hours spent wanting him, needing him, had rekindled a fire in her that she forgot she had in the first place. There was nothing left to hold her back from just reaching out and taking him for herself.

She had fantasized that something like this would happen, but now that it did, she had absolutely no idea what came next. And so she stood there, mouth open, trying to find a brain cell that was still functioning well enough to respond. How could she put the last six months into words, when some of it still eluded her? He watched her with rapt attention, waiting for her to say something. Anything.

"I'm glad you waited," she began. "I spent so much time trying to figure out what I was thinking or feeling or doing and worrying if I was just too screwed up now."

She could feel her eyes starting to well up, but she kept them in check at the cost of her voice.

"You mean so much to me, Jake. You've done so much all this time, and I didn't want you to ever feel like you'd be stuck taking care of some dumbass girl who can't keep herself out of trouble. I hate feeling like a child. I don't want to need to be protected by everyone around me."

A single tear trailed down her cheek as she looked up at him, still trying to choke it all out.

"I've been so shitty."

"No you haven't, Bells."

"Yes I have. I never meant to hurt you or mess with your head. There's so much I've wanted to tell you, so many times I should have just opened my mouth and said something. I've been selfish, and you were so patient while I took my sweet time sorting things out, but I know what I want now. I'm not one hundred percent better. I don't think I even know what that means, or if it's possible." She paused.

"But I do love you, Jake."

His body relaxed again, and he lunged forward to take her waist, pressing his lips firmly against hers. She wrapped her arms around his neck, bringing him even closer to her, exactly where he belonged. This should have been their first kiss, not the heated tongue-wrestling match from before. Still, she hadn't been such an anxious stuttering mess this time, so she was willing to pretend. Their pace slowed, still passionate, but sweet. She wasn't going anywhere. He belonged to her now.

They were finally interrupted by a chorus of loud whooping coming the direction of the bonfire.

"Jesus Christ, finally!" Quil shouted down the beach.

He was met with a raised middle finger from Jacob, who was laughing against her lips. She hoped that this would be the end of the audience participation, but she couldn't help but giggle with him at the ridiculousness of it all.

It was at that moment that she saw it again over his shoulder: something had dipped back under the water. The rays of the waning sunset landed on it, turning it orange and red before it disappeared. She couldn't shake the feeling that they were being watched.