I hope none of you guys are getting snowed-in like Ohio is. :(

Being preoccupied was a fairly easy thing to do in Bella's case.

Chores, she noted, were the most basic and time consuming. They kept her mind from thinking of things that weren't so depressing. Just being able to keep busy was enough to keep them at bay. While she knew she had to deal with those ever degrading anxieties sooner or later, she opted to continue her machinations just a little bit longer. To keep herself sane. Surely.

Whether it was something simple or something that took a little more effort, she would do it. That being said, she would eve follow her father's orders to take a job application over to Sam Uley's house instead of him having to come and get it. She knew very well that Sam was busy with culminating a bunch of rowdy teenagers, so bringing over the application was no problem. As long as it kept her engrossed, she would fulfill it.

To the mark, I might add.

Seth's old truck pulled up to Sam's house with little or no finesse. The same truck rumbled and coughed strangely as it came to a stop. Seth cut the engine and emerged from the driver side, shutting the door behind him. As he looked upon his pack leader's house, he couldn't help but be a little bit grateful that he knew the man. Though, don't get me wrong, he absolutely despised Sam Uley, he knew that he was more experienced and older in the ways of the 'wolf'. Sam knew secrets about the wolves since he had been one longer than any of the current pack members. He would have the answers Seth craved.

Hands placed stubbornly in his jacket pockets, he began his ascent up the driveway and onto the sidewalk leading up to Sam's house. Eyes on his feet, he knocked on the wooden door, scuffing his feet on the mat. While he wasn't nervous of Sam himself, but rather what he would say. Sam, being the leader, was responsible for teaching his pack, but that didn't mean he was allowed to tell them everything. Seth was afraid he may have to force Sam if he didn't give him his answers.

Strange, he thought, that my disposition can change so radically in three days.

He was terrified of himself.

He was terrified of what he would become.

He was terrified of what he had become back at the court. It was irrational for him to react in such a way. To be violent was one thing, but to threaten to kill someone? That was purely insane. Perhaps he was. Perhaps it wasn't a bad thing.

What the fuck?

The door swung open, giving way to Sam himself. He was rubbed at his scruff of a beard, appraising Seth. "Yeah?"

Seth frowned. "And hello to you too, sunshine."

Sam didn't seem impressed with his use of sarcasm. "Yeah?" he repeated.

"I have some questions," Seth began, and stopped when Sam waved a hand in the air in annoyance.

"Questions?" he spat. "Clearwater, it's eleven on a Sunday. Can't you wait until, I don't know, one to bother someone?"

Seth rolled his eyes. "It doesn't matter now. You're here, I'm here, you need to answer my questions."

Sam sighed in resignation. "Okay. Come inside."

He turned and walked back into the house, one hand over his shoulder, beckoning Seth. He followed and shut the door behind him, immediately on Sam's tail. Seth paid little attention to his surroundings. Besides, he didn't feel quite at home in Sam's abode. He felt the opposite.

Sam led him to a round table and gestured to the chair there. He didn't bother asking Seth if he wanted anything to drink or the like. Seth was perfectly fine with that. He was afraid of anything Sam might have given him, seeing as they weren't the best of friends. Seth didn't enjoy poison that well, and he was sure that his body wouldn't either.

"I went to the council two days ago," he began grumpily. "They weren't much help. In fact, they were so aggravating and wouldn't let me even ask anything." He paused, folding his hands together. "They even went so low as to talk shit about my dad. I almost lost it."

Sam didn't reply.

"I wanted to ask them why we were never informed of imprinting." Seth noted that Sam's grip on the cup he was holding tightened ever so slightly, like he was angered. Deciding not to ask, he continued, "I mean, is it a secret? Only those who have it happen to them get to hear about it? It makes me wonder what other stuff we're not told."

"What questions do you have about imprinting?" Sam demanded.

"I'm getting to that, sunshine. Jesus." Seth quipped. "Anyways, the council, Bly," he ground out the name like a curse, "they were awfully secretive."

"They value the pack's secret as if they were their own," Sam said, and it sounded like it had been drilled into his mind. "Despite me being the alpha, they are the eyes and the ears of everything that goes on in La Push. Their fathers, their grandfathers, they were the ones that fought against the bloodsuckers that used to be around back then. They have the right to be secretive, Seth."

"Why is that, Sam?" Seth retorted. "None of them have the curse like we do. Keeping secrets isn't going to do anyone any good. Especially us. Cryptic hints won't get us anywhere besides the opposite direction."

"Maybe none of us, not even me, should know all of the pack's secrets. They're protecting us from ourselves."

Seth sneered. "I don't feel very protected. I feel out in the open and vulnerable."

"So did I," Sam responded, eyes having a particular glazed look to them. "But you learn to deal with it. It makes you stronger."

Seth scrunched his nose in annoyance. "Bullshit."

Sam stiffened, head snapping over in Seth's line of sight. He had crossed another line.

"I'll –"

Three knocks resounded on the front door.

Sam's scornful expression remained for a moment before he wiped it off. He left the room to answer the door, leaving Seth to ponder his thoughts.

"Oh, hello Bella," Seth heard Sam say in an upbeat voice. Such a fucking douche.

Seth nodded to himself and then blanched. His mind had finally processed Sam's words. Goddammit; Kid is here.

He jumped from his seat and exited the kitchen, poking his head around the corner. His eyebrows drooped in something like discontent due to Bella's intrusion on their conversation, but he quickly swiped that away. He was more concerned with finishing his chat with Sam then anything else.

"Sam, can you stop messing around already?" he called. Sam turned and gave him a sharp glare.

"I'm busy, Seth." He turned back to Bella. "Thanks for bringing this, Bella. I'm glad I don't have to make a trek to Forks on a Sunday."

Bella smiled, rolling her eyes a bit. "Yeah, Forks is pretty dull."

Sam nodded. "Well, thank you again for bringing this along."

Seth groaned and stepped around the corner. He halted his stride once he was at Sam's side and looked pointedly at Bella. "Kid here is what I wanted to talk to you about."