The next few days passed without incident. My mother and I sat on the same couch and ate at the same table and slept in the same house, but I had had probably two conversations with her since the morning I had seen Seth again. Bella hadn't stopped by to see me and I hadn't been to town. My mom had avoided talking about it and I had avoided talking about it, but the problem escalated to the point that it had to be addressed.

We had run out of milk.

And my mom, who had never worked a day in her life for anything other than the perfect body, had left me a credit card on the counter when I woke up to go get some milk. The name on the card was Disgusting Dan's, of course. I cringed but slipped it into the back pocket of my jeans.

Adam called me as soon as I left the house and started my journey to the grocery store, about a ten minute walk. I picked up after the second ring.

"Hello, Grace," Adam said in his serious voice. He used to laugh a lot, but now he always seemed serious.

"Hello, Adam," I mocked him, kicking a rock to the side of the road.

Adam is only three years older than me, but he's always tried to be older. He used to boss me around when we were kids, and I was more than happy to comply. Order in our family had been rare, even when we were young, and we sought it out every chance we got.

Adam Seeders was nearly identical in looks to me. He kept his hair curly blond hair buzzed short because it grew into an afro when it was long. His blue eyes were darker than my pale, cloudy day eyes. His freckles were lighter than mine; his skin was just a fraction darker. He was tall, taller than our dad. Too thin, in Mom's opinion, but it had been over two years since she had seen him.

I loved my brother, I really did, but he sometimes he was too much. He did everything in the extreme. He was definitely the best artist I had ever seen with watercolor. He was the fastest kid in the neighborhood, the smartest kid in his class, the biggest tree hugger at our high school, and the bossiest guy I had ever met. Maybe it was his liberal arts major that made him so extreme, but I think he just needed one time in his life to be surrounded by people who were exactly like him in his classes.

"Dad called," Adam told me. I paused for a minute but made myself keep walking.

"Yeah?" I played dumb. "What did you say?"

"I told him to fuck the fuck off, what did you think? He's a goddamn life ruiner, and so is Mom. I can't believe you went back to live with her. They are low lives, Grace. Absolute scum of the earth," Adam spat out angrily. He meant it, too. I don't subscribe to the particular brand of hatred that he does, but we both agreed that the only people we could rely on were each other.

It had made Adam so, so mad when I told him I was going back to Forks. He threw a fit for days, during which he wouldn't talk to me or even look at me. I told him that me living with him had always been temporary. I was going to save enough money to get out of Forks on my own, not just ride the coattails of my brother.

"Come on," I told him for the thousandth time, "Mom isn't as bad as you think. She came and got me the other day when I was upset and she made me breakfast. It was nice."

"Yeah?" Adam asked. "Well, have you talked since then?"

"Yup."

"What did she say?"

If I hesitated, he would know I was lying. I tried to answer as quickly as possible, but Adam already knew.

"Come back to Fairbanks, Grace. Get away from them. They'll get to you, I know they will. Let me protect you," Adam begged for the millionth time himself. I felt like we just had the same conversation over and over again every time we talked. It made me annoyed, and I wanted to enjoy our short conversations.

"I'm not coming back. It's shitty here but I can make it work. Hey, I went to our old tree house the other day. It looks awful," I tell him cheerfully, as if the past minute and a half of our last conversation didn't exist. I check out my surroundings and find myself about another minute away from the store. It's surprising, I felt like I was taking my time.

"Don't change the subject," Adam commanded. I stopped walking as if he was standing right in front of me and looking down his nose at my poor life decisions.

"I'm at the grocery store, so I'll have to talk to you later. I love you, Adam," I said to him, just like we always do. He sighs and then says it back to me and I hang up. I feel like the pressure on my chest to make something happen here in Forks is mounting with every passing moment.

The town of Forks looks like any other small towns does. It has a main street, a few stoplights, and a lot of quirky little shops. I locate the grocery store, the only store not owned by a family in town, and quickly make my way inside. It had started to drizzle while I was talking to Adam and I still didn't have my rain jacket back from Seth. My hair frizzed to the point it could break the hair band when it rained.

I had barely set foot inside when I heard my name being called. It was Seth Clearwater of course, just as my hair had extended like Einstein's. I tried to ignore him but he was running straight at me. I grabbed a basket and turned to face him, fighting the smile that crept on my face at the sight of him dressed in a tight white shirt and nice, dark blue jeans.

"Gracie, hey, how are you?" he asked, looking over his shoulder every so often to give a frantic shake of his head.

"I'm feeling suspicious. First I find you naked in the woods where you steal my jacket and run off without an explanation, and now you're here. Are you following me?" I asked while I quirked my eyebrows and shifted my weight to one side. I felt nervous, but I didn't sound like it, which I was glad for.

Seth threw his head back and laughed loud, just like he did in the woods. I wondered if he was really not embarrassed to think of people hearing him laugh like that or if he was just faking it.

"Hello," a tall girl who had the same high cheekbones as Seth and identical coffee colored eyes said as she sidled up behind Seth. "And who are you?"

"This is Gracie," Seth said hastily, then turned to push the girl back a few feet. "Go away, Leah."

The tall girl shrugged and walked back towards an older lady who also had the same angular features as Seth and Leah. She walked the way I imagined a cat would if it could walk as gracefully on two legs as it did on four. She looked like she was on the hunt. I bet she always looked like that.

I always walked like a penguin that needed to take a shit.

"I have your jacket, I washed it and everything," Seth said, rubbing his neck and looking sheepish. I shrugged noncommittally and pretended like I didn't care, but I definitely did. I was not looking forward to walking in the rain with all of the groceries we needed without a rain jacket.

"Thanks," I said. I wasn't going to ask for a ride, I wasn't going to ask for a ride, I wasn't going to ask for a ride.

"My mom is actually taking these groceries we're getting to Charlie Swan's house, if you want a ride. I'm really just here for the heavy lifting," Seth told me, flexing his arm like he was a performer at the circus. I laughed despite the corniness of it all.

"I would actually fucking love a ride," I told him, glancing up after I had stopped laughing. He moaned quietly, and I felt my eyes widen. I had never heard anyone moan like that. It made me want to moan right back, just to see what he would do, but I didn't.

"Okay," he finally let out, sounding strained, "let me take your basket."

I gave it to him willingly, hoping that would help whatever pain he suddenly seemed to be in. He followed me around the store and seemed to ease up after a while, even making some jokes when I contemplated buying the store brand shredded cheese or Kraft brand. They were bad jokes, but they still made me laugh. I couldn't help it, really honestly truly.

It surprised me, how much he made me laugh. I think it surprised him too, because his big round puppy eyes would get even bigger and wider every time I did.

I paid with Disgusting Dan's card, much to my chagrin, and we met Seth's family in the parking lot. Seth introduced me to his mom and his sister, whom I had met earlier in the store. His mom seemed friendlier than Leah, but not by much. I sat in the back of Seth's ancient looking Ford Bronco with Leah and she played a game to see how red my pale cheeks would go.

"So, have you ever had a boyfriend?" Leah asked as soon as I buckled my seatbelt. I locked eyes with Seth in his rearview mirror and quickly looked away.

"Um, yeah, in the eighth grade I dated a boy for a week and a half," I told her, my blush creeping up my neck.

"Leah, cut it out," Seth whined, "Mom, make her stop."

Mrs. Clearwater crossed her arms over her chest. I couldn't see her face, but I don't think she was inclined to make this stop anytime soon.

"Why did you break up?" Leah pressed; cocking her head to the side just like Seth had done a few days ago in the woods.

"Well, we were in the eighth grade," I laughed nervously, feeling my entire face go entirely warm, "it was never that serious."

"So you admit that you have commitment issues," Leah said, sounding triumphant.

I gasped and shook my head, feeling frantic. "No, no, its just- like- I'm pretty sure he asked me to the movies because his friends dared him too, and then we broke up because he stopped texting me back and I never really liked him that much anyway because we had gym together and I wasn't sure he wore deodorant but I had a friend named Hannah who had wanted to get his friends number so she made me go on a date with him. His mom picked us up in her minivan, and—"

"Oh my god," Leah laughed hysterically, cutting off my rambling. "Oh my god!"

Leah laughed until we pulled into Charlie Swan's driveway, and she laughed even while she helped her mom carry the groceries into his house. Her laugh followed me into my own house while Seth carried the groceries in and put them on the table. Seth apologized for Leah embarrassing me, but I just brushed it off. Everyone needed to laugh sometimes, and I didn't mind being the punch line if it made someone else happy.

"Thanks for the ride and for helping me with my groceries," I thanked him, digging in my back pocket to put Disgusting Dan's credit card back on the table.

"No sweat," Seth said with a wide grin. I turned around to put the milk in the fridge, thinking that he would let himself out and I would see him again whenever.

"Hey, Gracie?" Seth said, notifying me of his presence. I spun around, nearly dropping the eggs. He lingered in the doorway, resting his hand on the chipped paint. Suddenly, I felt very self-conscious of the state of my house.

My mom and Disgusting Dan were hardly ever in the house, and in the week that I had been back I hadn't done any cleaning. Dirty plates and dirty clothes were scattered around the floor, and half the lights had burned out but I hadn't bothered to check which half. Plates that had made to the sink piled up there, and the trashcan beside Seth's leg was overflowing.

"What is it?" I asked, turning back around to hide my returning blush. I pushed the eggs inside the fridge and tried to close it before Seth could see the molding containers filled with expired food.

"Do you think that you would want to hang out sometime, maybe get some dinner?" He asked, and I heard a little hopefulness in his voice. It made my chest fill with bubbles again.

In such a short time of knowing him, I felt like I have gone on the deepest emotional roller coaster. At first he terrified me. Then I hated him, then I was interested in him, and now he made me feel happier than I had felt in a long time. Did I want to go out with him? Yes, of course I did. He was beautiful, he was polite, he was funny, and he seemed to like me.

But there was that voice that sounded remarkable like Adam's, nagging at me in the back of my mind, telling me to not get attached. I was only going to be in Forks for a little while. A year, at the most, and then I had to leave. Plus, I just wasn't in the right place. Not mentally, at least.

Seth was just so hot. He was tall, tall, tall, and he had the brightest smile of anyone I had ever met. His eyes were so dark and they held so much. His hair was short and held rain in the most delicate way. His skin was dark and beautiful and I wanted him to pick me up and hold me like a man has never held me before. It would be so easy to turn him down if he didn't look like everything I'd never known I wanted.

"Yeah," I heard myself say, practically blurted out. God, I bet he thought I was such an idiot.

"Awesome," Seth said with a smile. "I'll pick you up tomorrow, if that's okay."

"I have work tomorrow," I blurted again. It was my first day of work. I had gotten a job over the phone with a law firm as a secretary. The firm was nestled above one of the shops in town, owned by two old guys named Nelson and Jacobson. They had done my parents divorce. It was the only job I could get with my GED that paid above minimum wage.

Seth looked unsure, so I backtracked as quickly as I could. "But I get off at five."

He smiled that beautiful smile and I grabbed a scrap of paper and a pen to scribble my number down, telling him to text me tomorrow. Seth took it from my hand kind of clumsily, and tripped over the carpet on the way out the door. I smiled as I watched him from the window above my kitchen sink. He talked to his family as they left Charlie Swan's house and said something that made his mom smile and Leah look over her shoulder at my house. I ducked down below the sink, hoping that she didn't see me. I waited until I heard Seth's car roar down the street before stood up again.

I smiled all afternoon.

It was late when I got a knock on the door. I sprung up from the couch and grabbed the cash from the counter, thinking that it was the pizza that I had ordered thirty minutes before. Instead, it was Bella Swan and Alice Cullen.

"Heya, girlie," Alice cooed, side stepping me so that she could enter my house. "Where's your mom?"

I stepped back from the door to let Bella in, feeling some surprise that she didn't try to stop Alice from trespassing. She seemed to always be trying to reign in her feisty friend. It made me envious of things that I had left behind in order to go to Alaska. "I don't know where she is," I told her, feeling like Alice probably Knew if Bella Knew. They didn't seem the type to be able to keep secrets very well.

"Probably with Disgusting Dan, right?" She asked innocently, giving Bella a side eye as she glanced around our small living room. I froze, my hand crumpling up the wad of ones I still held in my hand. There's no way she could've know that I called him that without reading my mind. I hadn't told anyone, for fear of it getting back to my mom.

"I think what Alice is trying to say is that we want to be your friends," Bella atoned. I glanced in between them for a moment before starting to laugh. It was just ridiculous. Too ridiculous.

"This isn't how you make friends. You guys know that, right? This isn't how you make friends," I told them in disbelief. Bella shrugged and Alice offered me a small smile. "We can be friends as long as you never tell me how much you know about what happened," I acquiesced. It would be the first and only time that I would ever purposefully bring up what we all knew the others knew.

Alice nodded in agreement, and Bella followed begrudgingly. "We are here to collect you for shopping," Alice announced after we all stared at each other for a somber moment.

"Heard you have a hot date tomorrow," Bella said through a smile.

"Well, dinner's coming any minute," I said with hesitation, still fisting the dollar bills tightly in my hand. How did they even know about Seth and mine's date tomorrow? I had only just agreed to it a few hours ago. Word didn't travel that fast in Forks. Plus, I felt like if I went with them, it would just seal my fate as the girl who is majorly pathetic.

It wasn't that I didn't want to go with them. It was just the anxiety of it all. Going shopping with people from my high school who were seniors when I was a sophomore made me nervous. Shopping with people I didn't know well made me nervous. Hanging out with people who I didn't know well made me nervous. On top of everything else, they were so much prettier than me. So much so that people would probably stop and stare at us as we walked down the street wondering why some girl with frizzy hair was hanging out with a pair of models, and I just didn't need that kind of attention on me. They may be used to it, but I sure as hell wasn't.

"We can eat in Port Angeles," Alice decided, practically dancing over to me to take the dollar bills out of my hand. "Its on us."

I knew that the Cullens were loaded, everyone did, but it made me ashamed that they knew that I wasn't. It shouldn't have mattered, it wasn't like Alice and Bella were going to say mean things about me behind my back, but it still rubbed me the wrong way. It was the principle of the thing, which was one of Adam's favorite things to say.

"Um, okay. Thanks, I guess. First a ride to a bonfire and now I get to go shopping," I cheered, grabbing my cell phone from the couch and giving them a tentative smile. "This was been a great week."

"Shouldn't you tell your mom that you're going?" Bella asked, worry coloring her voice. I shook my head.

"Ah, no. She won't really notice. If she does, she has my number," I told her, following them as Alice practically shoved Bella and I out of the house and into their shiny Mercedes SUV.

As we pulled out the driveway, the pizza guy was pulling in. Alice leaned out the window, much to Bella's chagrin, and yelled, "We won't be needing your services today, sir," and ordered Bella to gun it.

It made me laugh. Today had started with milk and ended with the acquiring of two friends. All in all, it was going pretty good for me in Forks besides my disastrous first day. It only made sense, then, that what happened to me next had to be the worst luck ever.

Don't own.

This chapter was kind of a filler for the next chapter, which may or may not have some sexy times in it.