Chapter 16

Days started passing incredibly quick and before I knew it, it was April. School was beginning to finally come to an end and all of my end-of-year assignments' due dates were quickly approaching. This meant the final recital was getting closer and I was not at all prepared for it. I needed one song completely written with accompanying music and a prepared personal performance for it. The music had to incorporate stuff we've learned throughout the past two years and be pretty much perfect or else I wouldn't get an A. None of the stuff I have written seem good enough so I've been rewriting some songs with new lyrics or music and nothing seems to be good enough for a performance.

"Can you quit the tapping your foot, it's driving me nuts." Brady muttered one morning. I apologized and then quietly went back to my journal. Brady has been extra moody lately because of Juliana. Apparently, she broke up with her boyfriend a few weeks ago because she suspected he was cheating on her. Brady was thrilled and thought it meant she would date him right away but she told him she needed some space to clear her head so she's been avoiding him the past few days.

It's driving him nuts because he's trying to obey her wishes but his heart is telling him to never leave her side. He hasn't told her about him being a werewolf because he claims to never have the right moment even though they hang out together all the time. He also hadn't wanted to mention the imprint until her and her boyfriend ended things because he didn't want it to be the only reason she decides to be with him. Understandable.

Seth's been swamped with schoolwork, as have I, so our date life has taken a slight pause. Lately, the only time's we've seen each other are at night when we sneak into each other's room to go to sleep and when we're at school. Sam has the wolves doubling up on patrol shifts due to a weird vampire having snuck into Bella Swan's house a few weeks ago. I'm happy for the extra protection but I hate that it takes away my time with Seth.

I poked Brady's shoulder when I saw that his head was resting on his desk and his eyes were closed.

"Don't." he rudely said as I went to poke him again. He sat up and must've seen my annoyed expression because he sighed and apologized. "I'm sorry I'm being grumpy. I just, I'm so tired from all these shifts Sam has us running and then this whole Juliana thing. It's killing me."

"I know it is and I'm gonna talk to her in math later and see how she's feeling and what's going on. Maybe she's changed."

"Thanks." He gave me a half smile and went back to drawing circles on his desk. I gave him a sarcastic thumbs-up but I don't think he saw it.

Math was a bore. Juliana seemed to think the same thing because she had no problem with sitting in the back of the room and talking to me.

"So, what's going on with you and everything? Are you okay?" I asked.

"Yea, I'm finally accepting that my exe is a dick and I need to move on to someone better." She said with a small smile.

"Someone better like…. Brady?" I asked only half-jokingly. She blushed.

"Maybe. I think I pushed him away too much though. I may have ruined any chance with him."

"I guarantee you that you didn't. In fact, you should talk to him at lunch. I bet you'd make his year." And maybe fix his shitty mood.

"Alright, I will." She said quietly, almost to herself. I did a happy dance in my head. If they could just start talking again and be normal, maybe he'll spill the beans about the whole wolf thing and I won't have to be as careful when talking to her and hanging out with her.

I bit a piece of my cucumber as I watched Brady walk over to Juliana at the salad bar during lunch. He was going to try talking to her again and I prayed she let it happen.

"Stop spying on them." Seth teased me, sitting down next to me with a tray full of food. "He's a big boy, he'll be fine."

"I know I know." I sighed, turning back in my seat and stealing a fry from Seth's plate. I smirked while I ate it and Seth just rolled his eyes, pushing the plate closer.

"They were for you anyway so HA!" I willingly accepted the food and grabbed another fry as Collin and Kat joined us.

"How's your guys' morning been?" she asked.

"Eh, it's school. I haven't finished writing the song for June's recital so I'm a bit behind but it's whatever." I told them, hoping they wouldn't push for anymore music related stuff since I literally had nothing to give them.

"I finished all the work I had to do this morning so my day's been great." Seth smiled and took another bite of is burger.

"Aw that's good! Stevie, did you try looking back at old stuff you wrote? I remember sitting in your room last year and you had showed me a bunch of short pieces you had written to express how you were feeling about… things." She said, glancing up at Seth. Ah yes, the great few months of last year when I was in denial that I liked Seth but also was super jealous that he started talking to Nikki. Good times, good times.

"I actually forgot about all of those. But that's actually a good idea Kat. I'll try and find it when I go home later, thanks!" She had a good point. I completely forgot about my old journals from when I was younger but I'm sure there's something in there that can spark some creative juices in my head. Hopefully.

"Did you get Paul's text earlier?" Collin spoke up, looking at Seth. "About the meeting later?"

"Yea." Seth seemed annoyed, "It's probably just to add more patrol shifts since Jake isn't around as much." It was weird seeing Seth annoyed with Jake because of how much he respected and looked up to him.

"Why isn't he around much?" Kat asked, probably thinking the same thing that I was.

"He's with Bella a lot due to that new vampire hanging around Forks. It's so annoying, we're doubling up shifts because he wants to protect her yet he's not taking the shifts with us. It's ridiculous." Seth went on, "Plus it takes away from our time with you guys," he motioned to me and Kat, "and yet he gets to spend all this time with his love. It's just not fair in my eyes." I reached out and grabbed Seth's hand, trying to calm him down a bit. He smiled down at me and I could feel his body relax.

"We'll get the guy eventually and everything will go back to normal." Brady chimed in happily, joining our table. Juliana wasn't with him but he still seemed to have this glow about him.

"What happened with Jules?" I asked, leaning around Seth to see him.

"I asked her out." He smiled.

"And she said yes?!" I was so happy.

"Nope, she laughed and told me I was insane."

"So why are you so happy…" Collin asked slowly.

"Because I told her she was probably right but that it wasn't going to stop me from trying to get her to go out with me and that eventually she'd fall for my charm and see how awesome I am. And then she laughed at me some more. And when I went to walk away she told me to pick her up at 7 on Friday and that it better be the best damn date she's ever been on." He was so happy I thought he was going to explode. "I was happy I almost kissed her right then and there." We all laughed.

"That probably would've ruined it but I'm really happy for you Brady. I told you all you needed was some patience." I smiled at him. The rest of the group congratulated him too and we spent the rest of lunch concocting the most perfect date for him.

Head lights flashed as I drove down my street and it took me a second to realize it was Jake passing by. I waved but it was too late, he had already passed. I turned into my driveway and saw Seth standing there waiting for me.

"Where's he going?" I asked, hopping out of my car and into Seth's warm embrace. He pulled me closer to him and kissed my forehead.

"He's on his way to Bella's graduation party and just came by to pick up a card from my mom." I rolled my eyes at the mention of Bella. I didn't know her that well but from what I did know, I wasn't the biggest fan of her. I looked up at Seth.

"Why is he going? Didn't she punch him last week?" Seth chuckled. Apparently, she spent the day with Jake last week and in a last-ditch effort to win her over, he kissed her without her consent and she decked him in the face. I'm pretty sure she hurt herself more than she actually hurt Jake but the fact that she rejected him is what hurt him the most. I'm surprised he hasn't taken the hint yet that she's clearly just not into him.

"Yea, but he'd never miss a chance to see her, you know that." He kissed my nose and released me, opening my trunk and helping grab some grocery bags. While Seth went to the meeting after school I figured I'd stock the kitchen with some food since my parents work late tonight.

"How was your meeting?" I asked, walking to the front door.

"It was stupid, Sam wanted to tell us that Jake was going to Bella's tonight and was sending Embry and Quil with him." He held open my front door so we could walk in. I dropped my purse at the foot of the steps and brought the groceries into the kitchen.

"Oh, thank god. I thought I was going to starve tonight on patrol." DJ was rummaging through some cabinets when we walked in.

"There's a premade sandwich at the top of that bag." I said, pointing with my foot to the bag on the floor. He reached down and picked up two sandwiches. "The other is for Seth." I said, smiling up at Seth. His eyes lit up at the mention of food and he caught the sandwich as DJ tossed it to him.

"Thank you." He gave me a kiss before joining DJ at the table to eat. I laughed as I unpacked the rest of the groceries.

"I'm surprised you didn't ask to go to Bella's with Jake tonight." DJ told Seth.

"I'm really not that close with her nor do I need to go hangout with vampires when I have a beautiful girlfriend here to watch movies with all night." Seth replied, winking at me. I blushed while DJ rolled his eyes.

"I just hope Jake keeps his head straight in that house of vamps. I don't know if sending Quil and Embry with him makes me feel better or worse." Both boys chuckled and finished eating their sandwiches. "I'm going on patrol so I'll catch you guys later." DJ said, walking to the back door. I waved bye and turned to put the last cereal box away.

I felt something behind me and turned around to come face to face with Seth. "Hey." I said, smiling at him. He took a step closer and smiled back at me.

"Hey." He said back, reaching his hands out and resting them on my hips. He took a small step closer so that I was pressed between him and the counter.

"What do you wanna do tonight?" I asked. He trailed little kisses from my forehead down to my chin and up to my lips. His kisses sent tingles through my whole body, warming me up when I didn't even know I was cold. I smiled against his kiss as he nibbled my lower lip.

"I think you know what I wanna do." He whispered, looping his fingers through my belt loops and pulling me closer. I looked up at him and could feel my cheeks getting red. I knew exactly what he wanted to do and he knew I wanted it too. Sex wasn't something that I took lightly and he knew that. It was special and meaningful and was something I felt shouldn't happen unless the moment and timing were right. We had been in the moment many times during our relationship and had come close to going all the way each time, but only a few times did we actually go all the way. Yes, yes, Seth and I have done it. But it wasn't something I felt everyone needed to know about. It was private and special and something I wanted to be shared solely between Seth and myself.

"My parents will be home soon…" I whispered, knowing they should both be getting home from work any minute now.

He smiled and pecked my cheek, "I know, I hear your dad coming in now." He said, winking as he stepped away and walked into the living room. I shook my head to clear my thoughts just as I heard my dad open the front door.

Seth left shortly after my dad came in because he wanted to go have dinner with his mom before she left for her night shift at the hospital. I knew I'd see him later tonight once my parents were asleep so I showered, ate dinner, finished whatever homework I had, and watched TV with my mom.

I woke up on the couch to the ending credits of whatever crime show was on. I looked and saw my mom sleeping on the other couch. I tossed a pillow at her to wake up.

"Hey, come on we need to go to bed, we fell asleep." I mumbled, standing up and turning the TV off. It was only 10:30pm but I was ready to pass out in my bed.

My mom groaned, "Did you see who the killer was?" she asked, following me to the stairs. I shook my head no.

"Damn, goodnight honey." She kissed my cheek and walked to her room down the hall while I closed the door to my room. I rubbed my eyes as I walked to my window to see if Seth was waiting for me, I fell asleep before I could tell him that I was falling asleep. I opened my window and peaked my head out. To no surprise, he was laying on the grass under my window. His hands were folded behind his head and his eyes were closed. I wonder if he was actually asleep.

"Took ya long enough." He mumbled, opening one eye.

"Sorry, I fell asleep."

"I know, I heard you and your mom's breathing." He stood up. "Jump." He demanded.

"Excuse me?"

"Jump! I'll catch you." I stared at him because clearly, he was joking.

"I never jump. You always climb up here."

"Yea but your parents are home so we have to be quiet, whereas my mom is at work so we can be at a normal volume." He held his arms out with a goofy smile, "Now jump!"

I crouched on my window sill and closed my eyes, turning so I could fall backwards into his arms. He caught me easily and I laughed as he did. "That was actually pretty cool." I said as he carried me to his front door. We walked in and ran up to his room where we both jumped into his bed and wrapped up in the covers. It was mid-April but the temperature outside at night was still extremely cold for me.

I cuddled up next to Seth and felt him wrap his arms around me and pull me closer. I shivered at the warmth of him and I felt him laughing. I pulled away and looked up to tell him to stop laughing at me but his gaze had me lose my breath for a second. He smiled at me and brushed a strand of hair out of my face, tucking it behind my ear. His other hand was tracing circles on the skin of my lower back where my sleep shirt pulled up a bit high. It was almost hypnotic.

"You're so beautiful." He murmured. I blushed and managed to look away from his intense gaze. His fingers reached out under my chin and gently tilted my head up. I saw his eyes flicker to my lips and I knew what he wanted. I knew what I wanted. I leaned up just enough to let him know he could make a move.

And he did.

He leaned down and his lips met mine. They were soft and gentle at first but his kisses quickly grew hungry. I pulled my arms up from between us and wrapped one around his neck and placed the other on his chest. His heart was racing and I bet mine was beating equally as fast. He snaked his one arm further around my waist and pulled me closer to him while his other hand followed the curves of my waist to my hips and down to my thigh. His fingertips left a trail of heat that gave me goosebumps and I could feel him smile against my lips when he felt them.

He grabbed the back of my thigh and pulled my one leg higher onto his waist and before I could react, he flipped us so that I was laying on top of him. I gasped at the sudden movement and pulled away from him to sit up a bit, trying not to breath too heavy.

He laughed at me, "Should I stop?" he whispered, tracing little circles on my thighs with his fingers. I sat back on his lap a bit more. This was the moment that would decide whether we went for it or went to bed and I knew he wanted it as much as I did. My heart was racing and I knew my face was probably flushed. I bit my lip and shook my head no. I grabbed him by his shirt and pulled him up so he was sitting up while I straddled him. I tugged his shirt off and couldn't help but stare at his body which was built to perfection. He cupped my face and pulled me in for another kiss. His hands gripped my waist and he moved me even closer to him. He pulled away and kissed my cheek, my chin, my neck, and down to my collar bone. I pulled back enough to pull my shirt over my head and tossed it on the floor, leaning down to kiss his lips again.

He reached an arm around and held my back as he flipped me around so I was laying on my back. He carefully laid on top of me, using one arm to hold himself up as to not crush me. He trailed kisses from my lips, to my neck, to my chest, and down to my stomach.

"I love you so much." He whispered, coming back up to kiss my forehead.

"I love you too Seth."