You guys are awesome! I'm up to four reviews so far and I love you all so much for reviewing, favoriting and following this story. Thanks sooooo much! This chapter is Embry and Anna's first (technically second) meeting. A little background as to why she might have been dreaming about him in particular (though not as to why she managed to picture him so accurately after only having met him one time prior as a child) comes out and some funny things Anna's done to Bella over the course of their childhood come out. Also, there's some cute moments, but I'm trying my best to keep things at a nice and slow or steady pace. But there are cute moments with Embry and Anna in here too. :)

CHAPTER THREE

"Are you totally sure this is okay?" Anna asked for what had to be the fifth time since Leah and Anna had gotten out of Anna's black Mustang. Leah gave her friend a raised brow and then said "If Bella can come to one, so can you. Now come on already, I'm starved!" as the two girls walked down the beach, towards the bonfire in the distance. As soon as her scent hit his nose, Embry's head shot up and his eyes started to dart around, searching for Anna.

He found her standing with Leah, the two of them talking, laughing about something as they sipped sodas and looked out at the water. Seth nudged him and then asked with a laugh, "Well? She's here. Now all you have to do, Embry, is walk over and say hi."

Before he could retort to Seth's comment and remind him why he was bad at that sort of thing, Jared and Paul had shoved him out into the direct path of Anna, who'd just turned around. And when she saw him, she stared a few moments, this wide eyed deer in the headlights look on her face.

She quickly recovered after gaping like an ass for a grand total of almost 10 seconds and then said quietly, "Hi."

"Hey. It's Anna, right?" Embry asked, shuffling his feet a little as he looked at her, smiled to himself a little.

"Yeah, it's Anna.. Embry, right?" Anna asked as she sipped her soda, looked up at him, trailing one hand through her long dark hair as she tried desperately not to blurt something stupid out. She had the tendency to do that when nervous. Finally, she managed to come up with, " I think I met you once.. We were younger.. My dad bought us to the beach.. Right?"

And then it hit her.. She had met him before! So that proved one theory about her long recurring sexual dream about him correct. She felt herself calming down a little because for a little while there, she'd been seriously debating on her actual sanity since finding out that apparently, Embry was not a figment her imagination created, some realization of her 'ideal man' or something that didn't exist.

He did exist and she'd spent an entire day playing with him right here on the beach. He'd been as shy as he apparently still was now, back then.

"I can't believe you remember that. My mom and your dad were talking and stuff.. And I think I actually picked up a lizard and you ran like hell." Embry said as he smiled a little, blushed. Okay, so that hadn't been too awkward. Now he just had to keep the conversation going.

"Yeah, I'm not scared of 'em anymore.. I actually owned about 3 geckos while I was living in Florida with my mom and Phil." Anna admitted sheepishly, adding a few moments later, "How have you been?"

"Good.. Mostly just going to school, working part time. Trying to get my own place, actually." Embry said quietly as he realized that the two of them had sort of started to walk away from the rest of the group.

"Same.. I mean I'm living with Dad right now, he needs the company, but I'm looking for a place.. I'm sort of doing a work study thing at the police station. I wanna be a coroner. Or a crime scene investigator, maybe both.." Anna said as Embry looked at her a moment and she explained with a shrug, "It's interesting? And steady work.. Okay, I'm a nerd, damn it. There is no other explanation."

" There's nothing wrong with it.. I just don't think I'd be able to handle it." Embry admitted with a shrug as he raked his hand through his hair.

"Your hair.. You cut it off." Anna said as she pouted a moment. One thing still had her puzzled though.. If she'd only seen him when they were much younger, how the hell then, did her brain form such a damned accurate picture of how he looked now, as an adult male? She puzzled over that as she finished off her soda.

"Yeah, but not all of it. It's growing back out, I'm too lazy to be bothered, really."

"Good."

Embry smiled at her and then asked, "So.. How long have you been back?"

"Almost a month now, give or take. I was just tired of bouncing around from place to place. I think I've lived in Florida, New York, Louisiana and Georgia.. Finally realized that nothing beat home and so here I am.." Anna said as she shuffled her bare feet in the sand a few moments, looking out at the ocean. She was more than tempted to dive in, of course, but presently, she was enjoying conversation with Embry.

Maybe she'd get him to go for a swim or something later.

She mentally kicked herself for even thinking that.. For all she knew, he had a date or something.

"So.. Who'd you come with?" Anna asked boldly, surprising herself a little even as the words left her mouth.

"Myself, actually."

"I came with Leah. She threatened to sit on me for a third time this week. Last time we were goofing off, Sue kinda kicked us out in the yard at Dad's, said she was afraid we were going to break something." Anna admitted with a laugh as Embry chuckled too and then asked, "What were you guys doing?"

"Honestly?"

"Yeah.."

"We were fighting over the remote.. She wanted to watch some movie, I was watching American Horror Story, it was a friendly bullshit thing, mostly." Anna said as she laughed, shaking her head as she added, "And the entire time, Renesmee sat there watching us like we'd both lost it. Renesmee is my niece.. She's a pretty cool kid."

"Yeah, Jacob babysits her sometimes." Embry said as he laughed a little at what she'd just told him, the whole horseplay thing with herself and Leah.

"Are you hungry?" Embry asked as he couldn't help but hear her stomach growling. Anna laughed as her stomach growled and admitted sheepishly, "I could eat, yeah.. I seriously think I could eat my own weight in food sometimes or something."

She mentally kicked herself again, she knew she was awkward most of the time, but seriously? She had to be this awkward? In front of Embry, who'd made more of an impression on her mind than she'd ever imagined if her long recurring dreams were anything to go by?

"Cool." Embry said with a laugh as the two of them made their way over to the grill and picnic area, grabbing plates.

Paul threw a football in Anna's direction, intending to throw it to Embry but Anna caught it and smirked as she threw it back. "Seriously, man?" Embry asked, glaring at Paul, growling a little. Leave it to Paul to try and antagonize him or something.

"What? She caught it." Paul asked Embry, noting the jealous look in Embry's eyes. He mouthed an apology while Anna was still loading her plate down.

"Yeah, well it almost nailed us." Embry said as he turned his attention back to Anna, who now stood there with a fully loaded plate, a red plastic cup of tea in her hand, looking at him, an amused smile on her face as she asked, "So.. Where's everyone sitting?"

"Over there, by the fire." Embry nodded towards the bonfire, Leah catching up to them, asking Anna with a teasing smile, "Well?"

"Leah, damn it." Anna grumbled quietly as Leah smirked and shrugged and then said "Hey, I told you, one way or another, you should meet him."

"A little warning though, I mean I literally look like hell."

"You look fine, damn it. Natural." Leah said as she laughed at her friend who was currently a bundle of nervous energy.

They made their way to the bonfire to sit down and eat, Embry and Anna keeping a conversation going almost the entire time.

Anna's cell phone went off and her ring tone made Seth snicker as he raised a brow and asked, "Ring of Fire?"

"What? It's a good song."

"Okay then.."

"How's work going? Jacob said something about you working in a police station now?" Rachel, Paul's imprint asked as she smiled at Anna, noticed how well Embry and Anna seemed to actually be getting along.

"It's going pretty good. I think I'll wind up doing both forensics and being the coroner.. The guy working there now is pretty old, he told me earlier that he's depending on me to get the hang of things so he can retire.. Wants to move to Montana and fly fish."

"I just remember when you were younger, all the tutus and stuff." Rachel admitted with a laugh as Anna laughed too and then shrugged, looked down at herself and said jokingly through a mouth full, "Yeah, it's safe to say that was a phase or something. I still like shoes though. Sadly."

"Are you going to come to the Halloween carnival?" Leah asked, seeing a chance to sort of provide another run in between Anna and Embry, just in case Anna didn't actually follow through on her advice for tonight and actually get Embry's number or something.

"Duh, it's only one of my favorite holidays.. I'm also toilet papering my sister's yard.. Nessie is helping.. Bella doesn't know yet." Anna admitted, hints of a mischevious grin coming out as she said it. Leah snickered and Jacob grumbled, shaking his head for a moment and then asking, "You two aren't starting the prank war from hell over again, are you?"

"She never actually participated in the last one, Jake."

Embry asked with a raised brow, "What happened?" as he tried not to laugh at the mental image of Bella having to keep an annoyingly calm demeanor while left and right there were pranks being played on her.

"Let's just say that for the one entire week the summer she and that weirdo came to visit, I made her completely insane. Paper mache body parts in the fridge, jumping out of closets in hockey masks in the dark and scaring her.. Sort of why the weirdo calls me Trickster. I think he's just still bent out of shape that I put temporary blue hair dye into his shampoo or something." Anna said with a shrug as she licked barbecue sauce off of her fingers and finished eating the ribs on her plate.

"Are there pictures of this alleged prank war?" Paul asked, getting nudged by Rachel who spoke up and then said "There don't need to be any, trust me.. I've seen her get her sister quite a few times."

Jacob chuckled and then said "The water pail above the front door."

"That one actually got our dads." Anna admitted, shaking her head as she laughed and looked up at Embry, shrugging, a sheepish look on her face. "Okay, so I was an overgrown child sometimes.. But not this time. I'm stopping at the toilet papering. And I'm only doing that so Renesmee can actually be a kid.. I mean the weird one and Bells really don't let her do too much, I've noticed."

"There's nothing wrong with it." Embry said as he laughed a little, taking a bite of his burger, noticing that she'd already eaten half the food on her plate, that it was cute when she ate, she tended to appear as if she were inhaling her food.

"No, but I'm an adult now." Anna mused aloud, laughing a little, shrugging. She finished the ribs and started in on the burger she'd made herself, grumbling when mustard dripped from the burger and onto her Guns N Roses t shirt.

"Want a burger with that mustard?" Leah joked with her friend as she laughed.

Anna blushed a little and happened to look up at Embry, saying through a mouth full, "I might have overdone it on the ketchup and mustard."

"Maybe a little." Embry said with a laugh as he swore a little when he wound up dropping the rib slab in his hand onto the cargo shorts he wore. "I have no room to talk though."

They finished eating and Anna eyed the water then suggested, "I'm thinking a swim.. Not right now, because the thirty minutes thing.. But in a little bit.. Are you in?"

"Yeah." Embry said as he smiled at her and then asked, "Wanna walk down the beach a little?"

"Yeah.. I need to walk off this food.. My kickboxing instructor would have my ass right now, eating all of this." Anna admitted, laughing a little.

"You do kickboxing? Remind me not to piss you off." Embry joked, laughing, waving his hands defensively, giving her a gentle smile.

"I'm pretty sure, Embry, you could take little ol me." Anna said as she smiled back, bit her lower lip. Okay, so that had come out more flirty than she intended.

They walked down the beach, talking and laughing, and when they finally decided to go for that swim, it was getting close to midnight. And Anna was pleasantly surprised. Okay, so letting Leah talk her into coming tonight, meeting Embry for the second time in her life..

It might have been one of her better ideas.

She smiled as she looked up at Embry, they were standing by her car again by now, she was about to have to leave. "So.. If you want my number.." Anna suggested as she held out her phone to him, taking his phone when he'd taken hers. Before she got into her car to leave, she said with a softer than usual smile, "I had an amazing time tonight. I'd like to hang out again."

"Me too. I'll call you.. You can call me too if you want." Embry said as he smiled, waving to her as she pulled away, drove off, heading back to her fathers house.