A/N: Sorry I haven't updated sooner like I promised! Been having a very hectic week! Also, still don't own Twilight. I didn't last chapter either, I just forgot… ;) I only own Avery Uley!

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Life just got 159% more difficult. Over the past week and a half now, I've been trying desperately to keep my mind off, him. It hasn't been easy, but no one else has guessed my secret yet. Collins' continuous glares in my direction often make it hard to focus on keeping my thoughts clear hard, but I just glare back at him.

Sam seems to get the idea that I'm lonely, and so he has taken it upon himself to make sure that whenever I do runs of the border, which I have taken to doing frequently, I'm always paired up with someone else. My partners all have different ways of 'handling' me. Jared remains silent and often urges me to run as fast as possible so he can get back to Kim faster. He aggravates me, not only in his annoying self-centered ways, but in the fact that he is allowed to have his imprint. Paul is easier to get along with. Before, I had always seen him as angry and dangerous, but now I knew how funny he was. Underneath the anger, there was a good side to him. Brady too was silent, but his silence made me even more curious about him. I couldn't give up the idea that somehow he was shielding his thoughts, much like I was; only he was much better at it. Sam never ran with me. He was always too busy dealing with other pack matters. Even though I knew he felt bad at never spending time with me, I was glad. He was the hardest one to keep my thoughts silent around. Collin was the easiest, as I didn't have to shield my thoughts. He was also the most annoying, always trying to get me to admit my love of 'him'.

Whenever I could, I would sneak off to run the border alone. I didn't mind having company, so long as it was good company, but a girl does need her peace of mind every once in a while. I always ended my run by coming to the clearing where I had first seen him. Here I would stay for most of the night until someone called upon me through the pack mentality.

For most of the time, my eyes remained closed. Even though the nights under the stars were beautiful, I couldn't dare judge such a spectacle. So I often found myself lost in my own thoughts. Although I tried to think about other things, like what I was supposed to do when school started again, and where I was going to sleep when I got back exhausted the next morning, it was nearly impossible. My mind kept revolving around him.

His eyes; calm and full of loving warmth, different to my own; full of spite and hatred of the world, the image kept playing strong in my mind. I couldn't stop replaying the few moments we had shared, locked in his gaze. It was so beautiful, so perfect, I often questioned whether or not it was real. I had proof enough in Collin. He wouldn't give up on the idea that somehow, 'him' and me were supposed to be together. No matter how I explained it to him, he wouldn't budge. I knew it could never work out. Only I knew.

Sometimes, I wondered if he hurt as much as I do. I wondered if he knew how much pain he put me through each day, simply because he stared at me. Tears streamed down my face. The pain was indescribable. It was like someone had hacked out my still beating heart with a crude knife. My insides felt shattered and torn beyond repair.

I cried for a long time. My sobs echoed throughout the forest. I cried for so long, that it was almost sunrise before I stopped. I could taste the salt on my lips, and I knew my eyes were red raw. I was not a pretty sight. It was only the thought of having to face Sam like this that made me stop. He would want to know what was wrong, and he would only blame himself when I refused to tell him.

I wiped my cheeks to get rid of the tear trails. I could still feel and awful lump in my throat, and the pain in my chest still throbbed strongly. Standing up, I quickly pulled the hair band out of my messy hair, letting the wavy black locks to fall day in a ruffled mess. It was after doing all of this, that I saw him.

His dark hair looked messy, but I knew that it was just because he had been in wolf form recently. His eyes were wide and dark chocolate, and his innocence was obvious. My eyes trailed down his chest, which was strong, and his muscles were extremely prominent. I stopped at his abs, afraid to go any further. I saw his eyes trailing me too. I suddenly came to realize how very unimpressive I was.

I found myself wearing old sweatpants and a ratty old t-shirt. My hair hadn't been brushed since yesterday, and my eyes were still red from crying. I had dirt marks around my ankles and on my arms. 'Crap!' I thought. My eyes raced back to see his. I needed to see what he thought of me. His eyes were happy and loving, rather unexpectedly. 'Doesn't he care?' I wondered in my thoughts.

I couldn't quite convince my mouth to form words, so we simply stood there in silence. After a few moments trapped in each other's eyes, he broke the silence. "Hi, m-my name is-" he began, but I cut him off. "Seth, yeah, I know. I'm Avery." I said, my confidence finally rocketing out of nowhere. I didn't want to stop looking into his eyes, but everyone has to blink.

In the time it took to blink, I heard the rustling of the grass and leaves that scattered the forest floor. Suddenly, it became very warm indeed. I felt his breath on my face. I opened my eyes to look up at his. We were standing on opposite sides of the border, an imaginary line being all that separated us. It felt like such a miniscule detail, but I knew we'd be declaring war by crossing it. So all we could do was stand, so close yet so far away from each other.

I pulled my eyes away from his, and they traced his lips. I wished to kiss them so badly, but I held myself in reserve. I wasn't going to throw myself at him. That would be crossing so many lines, not even just the imaginary one on the ground; which kept our bodies apart. He pulled my eyes up to his, and we stared with longing in our eyes and etched upon our faces for a few precious moments longer.

I broke the tranquility of the moment this time. "I have to go. Sam will be wondering." I said, forcing my eyes to the ground. "Will I see you here tonight?" He asked, so hopeful. I felt as if I would crush him like an ant if I were to say no. "I dunno, I'll try, but." I said, leaving my sentence open. I would try with all my might to come again tonight, but my prospects didn't look great. It was Jared's birthday, so we were all invited to a party at Emily's. Being there would be torture anyway, but being there and knowing that I could be alone with 'him' made it agony.

"Do try." He said, before turning and running back into his side of the forest. I remained standing, frozen to the spot where we had almost touched. A howl was what finally broke my reverie. I recognized it as Collin's howl almost immediately, and three seconds after that recognition, I was fuming.

I changed and shifted, before dashing though the forest, my angry thoughts attacking him. 'WHAT?! What could possibly be the matter?!' I thought angrily. He answered, attempting to mimic my tone, although I could tell he was more worried than angry. 'Where have you been? Sam's going nutso! He says you need to help Emily get the place decorated for tonight. I'd run because he's pretty pissed!' he thought back.

I changed my course within a fraction of a second, and I was soon rocketing off to Emily's place. I shifted, changed back into my clothes, and ran up to the door. Opening the door unleashed fury upon me from Sam. Behind him I noticed Emily dashing about, trying to tell Paul and Brady where to pin the decorations. After Sam's little rant at me about irresponsibility and carelessness, of which I answered him back a few times, he motioned for me to go and help Emily.

I darted up to her constantly moving figure. I didn't even have to ask. She just gave me instructions. "Ice the cupcakes in the kitchen and put the cookies in the oven. Bake them for fifteen minutes, and then take them out. Then I need you to assemble some snacks. Take anything you think is good from the pantry. Got that? Now go!" she ordered me, and then went to yell at Paul some more for placing a banner in the wrong spot on the wall.

I marched towards the kitchen, leaving the madness to the living room. The kitchen was reasonably calm, and as I iced the cupcakes and waited for the cookies to bake, I let my thoughts become unguarded as I thought of 'him'. I let myself replay those special few moments we shared in the clearing earlier over and over. I was so engrossed by these thoughts, I almost forgot about the cookies. I pulled them out, and decided they weren't too over baked.

After I finished icing exactly 72 cupcakes, I made my way to the pantry. I pulled out four large bags of chips, and two large packets of pre-popped popcorn. Taking out six bowls, I poured the contents of the bags into them. Placing the bowls on the side of the kitchen, I sighed, and noted that it was 2:00pm. 'Must of spent at least three hours baking and icing.' I thought.

I found Emily desperately setting up cups and plates, and double-checking that all of the decorations were in the correct place. 'It does look pretty fantastic' I thought, admiring the house, before Emily grabbed my arm and dragged me upstairs. I sat dumbly on her bed, wondering what she was up to now. She opened her closet and rifled through a few clothes, before reaching a stunning dark green dress. It had a dark green ribbon sewn around the middle, and lacy layers down to just below the knee. She then found a pair of black pumps, which were engraved with green markings. I stared at the outfit she had assembled. "Don't say anything, just get changed, and do your own makeup in my bathroom." She said, before dashing downstairs again.

I picked up the dress. It felt light and soft to my touch. I pulled off my sweatpants and t-shirt numbly, before letting the dress slip onto my body. It felt like silk to my skin. I slipped on the pumps, before making my way to the bathroom. I easily found Emily's makeup bag, and opened it. Brushing my hair and pinning it into shape, I then made my way onto makeup. I found so green eyeliner, and after a few fumbles, applied an equal amount to both eyes. I then put on a thin layer of mascara, which made my long lashes look even longer and dark. I then applied a clear lip-gloss, and put Emily's makeup back. Looking at the girl in the mirror, and I found myself unrecognizable from the girl who was crying her eyes out in the forest this morning.

I popped out of the bathroom and made my way downstairs. Emily was already dressed in a purple dress with black high heels. Sam was wearing collared long-sleeved shirt and some nice jeans. "How did you get him to dress up?" I asked Emily, smiling as I cam downstairs. She winked and tapped her nose twice with her finger. I laughed. "You look great Ave!" said Sam. I smiled appreciatively at his compliment, but I couldn't stop my mind from traveling to the one person who I would of liked to of heard that comment from more.

The guests started to arrive, and I greeted them all with a fake smile. I was going to act happy even if I wasn't. The party seemed to drag on. Twenty minutes in, and I felt something akin to claustrophobia. I was dying to leave, to go and see Seth. I found myself lost again in the thought of him, when Collin grabbed my arm and pulled me into a slow dance. Around me, I became aware of the other wolf couples; Sam and Emily wrapped in each others' arms, Kim and Jared, Paul and Rachel. Collin let his hands slip to my waist, but he dare not let them travel further. I held him at a distance, but my arms still held onto his shoulders.

We conversed in almost muted voices. "Where were you this morning?" he said. "In the clearing, where we had the pack meeting." I said innocently. "Why?" he said. "None of your business." I replied, my tone icy. I regretted it almost instantly. Collin was the only one who knew of my secret, and here I was treating him like crap. I sighed, and looked at his face. He looked slightly irritated. "Look, I was in the clearing this morning just thinking about 'him'. Then," I found it hard to continue. I felt like I was telling my entire being to person who was just going to probe and judge me for my mistakes. "he appeared. We spoke a bit, but mostly just looked at each other's eyes. Then I said I had to go, and we agreed to meet again tonight, and he left. Obviously now he hates me for leaving him there all alone." I said, on the verge of crying again, but I held back the tears. I had been crying too much for my liking lately.

Collin kept looking at me incredulously. "What?" I asked, the lump in my throat threatening to make my voice break. "I just can't understand why you're still here." He said awestruck. Sarcasm was quicker than reason to my tongue. "Well, I would of thought it obvious, but apparently not. We're at a party in case you haven't noticed. I think my absence would be noted quite quickly." I said, my voice rising a bit. Collin just shook his head. I felt the anger accompanied with shifting bubbling up in me.

"It's none of your business anyway! I don't know why I bothered to tell you." I said, before stalking off the dance floor. I felt his arm try and grab mine, to pull me back, but I simply yanked my arm back to my side. I stormed to the kitchen, and sat down on a stool to gain back some sort of peace in my head. After a few deep breaths, I heard some sort of commotion happening in the next room.

I crept to the door and peeked through the crack. Paul and Brady were dragging Collin outside. He was shaking uncontrollably. Sam was trying to regain some sense of order. I darted outside to follow Collin, Paul, and Brady outside. I heard a venomous snarl, and it wasn't long before I saw them. Collin was snapping and growling at Brady and Paul, who were trying to calm him, still in their human forms. My curiosity only seemed to be growing.

Collin's attention shifted from the immediate threat of Brady and Paul and up to me. He growled threateningly, and then ran off into the forest. My hand practically slammed into my face as I gasped in shock. Collin was going to tell Seth everything.

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A/N: Just curious as to what you thought of the romance here. Too much? Too little? I'm planning for them to grow closer soon. Also, did you like my choice of guy? I know it was a bit mysterious. Another question, what do we think of Collin's actions so far? Another update will happen within the next few days, I promise!