I ended up making some breaded chicken, a salad, a bowl of fruit, and some rice.

"This is amazing," Jake moaned out as he ate his food. I giggled at him and then found Uncle Billy and Charlie nodding in confirmation.

"Thank you for cooking Bells," Uncle Billy said.

"My pleasure," I smiled. We all talked about our days. Jake's was boring and 'pointless' as he claimed, while Billy's was 'the usual' and Charlie's was busy.

Jake helped me clean up while our dads went to watch some TV. I was on washing duty while he was rinsing and drying. Silence passed over us for a while and so I decided to scoop up some bubbles. Placing them on Jake's cheek, I let out a laugh. Wiping them off, he let out a laugh and then flicked water at me. I giggled and squealed at the cold water as we lightly shoved each other. When we were done, Jake and I headed for his room. Plopping on the bed, I smelled the sheets- it smelled exactly like Jake.

"Your guitar!" I said seeing it was leaning against the wall behind his door.

"Oh yea," he said forgetting about the thing.

"You still play?" I asked before strumming the instrument. "I guess not," I said after hearing how out of tune it was.

"I haven't had much time to play it. It's been a while," he said as he watched me try and tune the thing. Within a few minutes, I strummed all the strings again and found it to be close to perfect. I played a few simple chords and smiled. I missed the guitar.

"I see you still remember how to play," he said.

"Not really," I said trying it out again. It felt awkward as my fingers held down some strings.

"Play something for me," he said closing his eyes as he lay on his bed with me.

"I really don't remember much. We learned a long time ago." I said softly. Strumming a few notes, it started to come back little by little. I ended up playing a few notes that sounded good together and found Jake egging me on by giving hums of appreciation. After a while, my fingers started to cramp up and I stopped.

"You're starting to remember," he said pulling himself up to look at me.

"Kind of," I said moving to lie on his stomach. Charlie called me out a few minutes after we just started talking again.

"Coming dad!" I yelled from the room.

"I'll see you later," I said to Jake giving him a quick kiss on the cheek.

"Tomorrow?" he asked before I could leave his room.

"Tomorrow," I smiled in conformation.

Charlie and I drove home in separate cars, both parking in the driveway.

"So your day was good kiddo?" he asked.

"Very," I smiled as he hugged me to his side. When we got in the house, we pretty much went out separate ways. I went upstairs taking a shower, while he went back to the TV.

When I was dressed in my pajamas, I sat on my bed and called Aunt Betty.

"Hello?" her sweet voice rang out.

"Hey Aunt Betty, its me, Bella."

"Oh Bella honey!" she said excited.

"How are you?" I asked.

"Very well now that you called. How have you been? Are you ready to come out here?" she asked me.

"Well no, not yet. I am still at my dads. I'm not sure what my plan. I just wanted to call and check in- see how everything was and making sure you were okay."

"Oh sweetie, I am great. And there is no rush for you to come stay with me. Just take your time with you father and call me within the week when you want to come home."

"Thanks Aunt Betty," I said softly. After that we talked about her ranch and her plans for the weekend. When we hung up, I felt a little better. It was good to know she was happily willing to take me in. When Renee died, all I could think of was how I was alone. Phil was out of the picture; I didn't really have anyone in Florida since I was in college. There was Charlie but I was scared to be a bother. But then everything miraculously turned around. Aunt Betty extended an offer to me. She said she wanted to get to know me and would be pleased to have me on her ranch, and then Charlie even wanted me to come stay with him when he heard the news of Renee.

So, I went to the Dean's office at my college and asked what I should do. He allowed me to finish out my years of school with online classes while I was away, and from there, I packed up all my stuff and went to Charlie's.

"I'm going to bed Bells," Charlie said popping a head in my room.

"Okay dad," I said looking at him. "I think im about to too."

"Okay" he said giving me a kiss. "I'll see you in the morning."

"Yup, see you in the morning." I told him as I slipped into bed. I debated on shutting off my lamp on my nightstand. Maybe if I kept it on, I would sleep better. Shaking my head, I turned it off and slipped into a dream state.

I woke up gasping for breath in cold sweat around 4:45am. Well at least I slept through the whole night, I thought to myself. I continued to shake and shiver at the repeated dream I had. Why couldn't I just get over it?

Getting out of my sticky clothes, I put some new pajamas on and headed downstairs. Going back outside again, I sat on the step and watched the sun rise. It was beautiful- just starting to come up, barely showing itself.

There was a rustling in the forest and I looked up waiting for whatever it was to come out. A black furred wolf head popped out, staring at me. I gave Sam a small nod before looking away. I needed to be left alone. What happened the night before could not happen again. He must have gotten my message because he just laid at the edge of the forest watching me.

My phone rang a few minutes later and both our heads snapped to look over for the noise. Getting up, I took a quick glance back at Sam before going back inside the house.

"Hello?" I asked in a soft voice. It was only around 5am.

"Bella, its Aunt Betty," she said. "I just wanted to call and- oh I didn't wake you did I? I forgot how early it was."

"No you are fine, I was up. Couldn't sleep."

"Oh okay," she said relieved. "Well I was up feeding the horses and I couldn't help but remember that I have a wedding next weekend and I know you aren't coming here that soon, I just wanted to give you a heads up just in case. I don't want you to think im pushing you or anything," she said gently.

"Oh no, don't worry you aren't. And please, go to the wedding. I want to work around your schedule as much as possible when I do decide."

"Okay, you're sure?" she asked.

"Positive," I said. We talked a little while more till around 5:45 we hung up. Walking back down the hall, I peeked back outside and saw Sam no longer at the edge of the forest. My heart fell a bit, but I shook my head determined to push the feelings away.

I cooked breakfast early again; only this time it was pancakes, hash browns and fresh orange juice.

"I'm getting spoiled," Charlie said stepping into the kitchen. "Still not sleeping well?" he asked.

"Its getting better," I said, trying to justify with myself that it was.

"Alright kiddo, well I wont be home till late tonight. Probably 8 at the earliest." He told me as he wiped his mouth and to up to kiss me goodbye.

"Okay," I said wishing him a good day. When he left, I once again cleaned up and went to get dressed. My heart was aching, and I knew just the reason why. I haven't talked to Sam since that night at Jake's and the only time I saw him now was when he was in wolf form early in the morning. It was weird how this imprinting thing worked. Was I really going to be hurting like this for a while?

Shaking away the thoughts, I pulled a shirt over my head and huffed. It still doesn't change my mind- I will not be seeing Sam. Nothing should change because I am here. I can't be responsible for breaking up Sam and Emily because of some supernatural thing.

From there, I realized I had a whole 'nother day to myself. Finishing getting dressed, I headed down the stairs, when a knock on the door sounded through the house. Rushing to see who it was, I quickly opened it and found the deliveryman with a bunch of boxes on the porch, holding out a clipboard to sign.

I did as I was told and went to grab the mystery items.

"Have a nice day," he said behind him as he walked down the front steps of the house.

"You too!" I called as I pulled the boxes into the house. My stuff.

Taking multiple trips up and down the stairs, I quickly got them all out of the foyer. It was weird to have my stuff here now. Unpacking everything actually took a while. I wasn't sure where I wanted to put everything or if I really wanted to unpack.

By the time I was done, it was around 2:30. Skipping down the steps and turning off all the lights, I headed out the door and to Jakes.

"Hello!" I called as I turned the corner into the garage.

"Hey Bells!" Jake and Embry said.

"Hey guys," I smiled plopping down on the couch near Embry. "Where's Quil?" I asked, finding them to be like the three musketeers.

"Kitchen." Jake said rolling under his car.

"Where else?" Embry joked. I let out a laugh and enjoyed the company in the room. Quil got back a little while later with a sandwich in hand.

"You almost ready dude?" he asked Jake.

"Yea, all done here," Jake said getting out from under his car while wiping his hands.

"What are you going?" I asked a bit sad. I didn't want to go home to an empty house.

"I have patrol till 6:30. You're welcome to stay here though," he said obviously feeling guilty.

"I can keep you company if you want." Embry said speaking up, "I have patrol right after them so they can just come back here when I have to go."

I looked over at Jake for approval. Embry's plan was great.

"As long as you are okay with it," Jake said to me not finding a problem with it.

"It's perfect," I said beaming. Being alone was not something I was fond of, especially with the crazy nightmares that have been going on. With a kiss to my cheek and an exchange between Quil, Embry and Jake, the two men were off for patrol and I sat with the tall Quileute in the garage.

It was amazing how at ease I felt with Embry. He was really easy going and fun to be around. Nothing was awkward with him and we found something to do right away.

"Slap jack," I said with a daring tone as I grabbed the cards off the top of the mini fridge Jake kept in here.

"You're on," he told me as I passed him a soda. Making my way back to the sofa, I opened the worn out deck and began to shuffle the cards. We split our hands evenly waiting for the game to begin.

"Go!" I shouted furiously flipping and watching for a Jack. I screamed and jumped up crazily as our game progressed. Both Embry and I seemed really competitive and very into the perks of bragging rights we had set.

"I won!" I exclaimed as Embry ran out of cards. Smirking I let out a happy squeal and began my torment. Rules were rules- we set that whoever was to win could brag all they want, to whomever they wanted and they needed to make sure the other person was to agree with them.

From the game of cards, we moved outside and played football. It was really just getting the ball past the lines where we had set, but we liked to try and be like the pros.

Embry had about 3 touchdowns on me already and I was cursing out at him about his werewolf skills. Because he was now a giant fur ball, he not only had really good agility, but also enhanced speed, mental processes and reflexes.

I ran with the football tucked at my side. I wanted to score at least one touchdown before we called it quits. Running at full speed, I tried to push my way through him and past the boundaries we made. Embry caught me with ease around my waist, spinning the both of us around. We laughed hysterically and gasped for breath as we let our circles stop.

We played a few more rounds of cards after that. Rummy, Old maid and goldfish were our games- each turning out to be more loads of fun since from when we were kids.

"Hey Embry, your shift," Quil said interrupting our games.

"You're early, we still have 10 minutes." Embry said a bit confused.

"I was let out early to come and get you- so you can be on time and everything." Quil said with a small smirk.

Embry let out a huff and he showed me his hand. Shoot, I had almost been rummied.

"Maybe next time," Embry said giving me a wink as he noticed my shocked face. We had only been playing the new hand of the game for about 5 minutes now and he had almost his whole hand complete.

"You're ridiculous," I said to him as he got up from the couch.

"Or just amazing at rummy," he smirked. Rolling my eyes, I held back a laugh and began cleaning up.

"He cheats," Quil said coming further into the garage.

"Do not!" Embry exclaimed.

"That's what I thought too! But hell, I even shuffled the deck and he still beat me." I told Quil. Maybe Embry did something when I wasn't looking.

Quil narrowed his eyes at Embry.

"I do not cheat!" Embry said.

"Sure," I said skeptically, teasing him with my tone of voice. He rolled his eyes and smiled at me.

"I should get going but Bella- it was fun. I liked whooping your ass in football and rummy."

"Stupid werewolf gifts," I muttered. Both the boys laughed and I smiled a bit. "And you didn't necessarily win in rummy yet. Our game was interrupted and called off."

"I beat you in the five sets we just played a few minutes ago, you really don't think I get bragging right to that yet?" he asked slightly joking.

"It was four games, and no. I could have still made a comeback. Hell, this right here could have been my game," I told him as the deck sat in front of me on the sofa cushion.

"Okay Bells," he laughed.

"And I believe I won in slapjack and building a card tower," I reminded him teasingly. He let out a groan and my smirk grew. That was right, I still had bragging rights over that. Embry and I teased each other a bit more before he really had to go. He could see Jake coming out of the forest from his shift and he knew he was going to be late.

"So cards and football huh?" Quil asked me referring to my afternoon with Embry. "And snacking on some food from the kitchen. We had a pretty successful day if I do say so myself," I smiled proudly. He let out a laugh at my words as Jake came in.

"What did I miss?" my best friend wondered.

"Just that I am amazing. Super reflexes in slap jack and I have some mad skills when it comes to making card towers- that's right, you have an amazing friends" I joked talking about myself.

Jake let out a chuckle and rolled his eyes. "What great talents there Bells."

"They are amazing aren't they?" I said, fake swooning over myself to make them laugh. Their chuckles filled the air again and my heart felt uplifted even more. I loved making them laugh- in fact, I loved making everyone laugh. It was good to see smiles spread across their face.

It was around eleven when I finally walked in the front door. Charlie had kept the living room light on, but other than that, the house was silent.

"Hey kiddo," a voice said.

I gasped in surprise and looked up. Charlie was leaning against the banister looking down at me.

"Hey," I said relieved it was just him.

"Have fun?" he asked.

"A lot," I said smiling.

"I see you got your stuff in," he said watching me as I came up the steps.

"I did," I said a bit more cautiously. If he saw that, then he knew I wasn't fully unpacked.

"You still thinking about going to stay Aunt Betty?" he asked reading my facial expression.

Shrugging my shoulders, I felt slightly guilty. I was, but I wasn't sure I should tell him that. I mean, its not like I was sure anyways, so why get his hopes down?

"Bells, I know it has been a bit hard here since you came, with Sam imprinting on you and all, but-"

"Dad, its not about that," I sighed. It wasn't right? "I just want to keep my options open. I'm not even sure about anything yet."

"You don't have to hide things from me Bells," Charlie said.

"I know," I said in a short tone. He gave me a look but I couldn't seem to meet it. Giving me a kiss on the head, he said his goodnights and went to bed.

I exhaled loudly, now slumping my shoulders a bit. I didn't want Charlie to think I was ungrateful- that wasn't it at all. I was beyond happy when he said he would take me in. I just wasn't sure if this place was for me. All of this supernatural stuff- all I wanted to do was live a normal life.

Changing and brushing my teeth, I took one last look at myself in the mirror and shut off the light. Crawling into bed, I stared up at the ceiling wondering what I was supposed to do next.

I woke up late the next day, shooting up from bed with a hand on my neck. The dream was different this time. Instead of seeing my mom hanging from a ripped up sheet on the pull up pole, it was me. It felt so real- it was like I could feel the cloth around my neck.

"Bella?" A voice called behind the door. Slowly it opened and I was faced with Charlie.

"You okay?" he asked concerned as he looked at me.

"Yea," I said shakily, letting my hand go from my neck.

"I thought I heard you crying," he said.

"No, im okay," I said weakly. My dreams were getting worse. Not only was I waking up with a start, but now I was feeling things and letting out cries.

"Alright, well its almost 2 o'clock. I was going to take you over to Clearwater's house a little early to introduce you to some people before the bon fire," he said still analyzing me.

"Okay," I rasped out.

"You wanna get ready, maybe eat something, and then we can leave here around 4?" he asked.

"Sure," I said nodding, not looking at him.

"Okay," he said awkwardly. After a few seconds of silence, he gave me a small smile and left my room, shutting the door behind him.

When he was finally gone, I pulled my hair away from my face and caught my breath. What was going on? My eyes slowly shut and I let out a sharp breath. Flashes of my dreams were still haunting my mind. Why was everything getting worse? What was with this? Sliding a hand over my chest, almost near my heart, I felt this weird aching sensation. It was like I had heartburn, but I could tell it was nothing like that.

I rubbed my chest and sat there thinking. It felt uncomfortable and I couldn't shake it. Was I on the verge of a heart attack or something?

Sticking my hands out in front of me, I watched them shake like they had a mind of their own. I squeezed them together tight, trying to get control over my own body. I hated when these tremors happened. Glancing to the left, my eyes caught the window that my drapes hid. The sun had been shinning through the cracks of the drapes and I wondered what it looked like outside today.

It clicked in my head right then. I knew why I was having these pains in my heart. It was the imprint. I was feeling the repercussions of it. They were bound to get worse in due time.

"Bells?" Charlie called.

"Yea!" I yelled back getting out of bed. It was Charlie's warning call. To make sure I was up and not passed out or anything. I guess I would need to think everything over another time.

Grabbing some clothes, I quickly pulled my toiletries together and padded down the hall to the bathroom.

Turning the silver handle, I let the water get hot before getting in the shower. Why was everything getting so complicated?

Stripping off my clothes, I grabbed my shampoo and body wash and got in the shower. The water poured against my skin, burning it with pleasure. Letting out a content sigh, I stood under the water for a few minutes. As I closed my eyes to stick my head under the fall, flashes hit my mind again. I staggered back and spit out some water. What had me so freaked out? Why was I still haunted by it all?

The shower seemed no longer pleasing after that. I was all tense and no longer relaxed. Taking the bottle of shampoo in my hand, I squeezed out the liquid and rubbed it into my hair. I couldn't close my eyes, I decided. If I didn't want to keep freaking myself out, I would no longer shut them.

After rinsing the soap out of my hair, I quickly washed my body. When I was done, I grabbed my fluffy towel, wrapping it around myself and stepped out of the shower. The bathroom was small- that was for sure. Sidestepping the toilet, I noticed my hair dripping down my shoulders onto the floor. Squeezing it onto the shower floor, I rung it out and let it air dry. My way back to my room was uneventful. I could hear Charlie in the kitchen reading the paper, with a beer probably in hand.

Not watching where I was going, I walked into my room and hit one of the unopened boxes I had yet to unpack. My drumsticks fell to the floor with a small bang. Kneeling down, I picked them up and smiled. I forgot I packed these up to bring. Setting them on the bed, I quickly put on a bra and some underwear to stand at my closet. What was I supposed to wear to a bonfire?

I pulled out some dark blue skinny jeans; my black tank top and flip-flops, and a plaid grey, burgundy and white three quarter length button up shirt to go over it. Slipping everything on, I sat back on my bed and held my drumsticks. Too bad I couldn't have brought my drum set.

Twirling them around in my fingers, I smiled at the feel. It was recognizable and felt good.

"Bella!" Charlie called. "You almost ready?"

"Yea!" I called down to him, dropping the wooden sticks. I still needed to put on some makeup and fix my hair. Quickly getting up from the bed, I stood at my dresser mirror and applied the little bit of makeup I knew how to do. From there, I grabbed the towel that sat on my bed and ran it through my hair.

Dry enough, I thought to myself. I put on my shoes and shut off my bedroom light.

"Let go," I told Charlie as I pranced down the stairs. We got into my car, him driving, and we left for the Clearwater's. Truthfully, I was a bit nervous to be going to this bon fire thing. I was going to be meeting more people, and personally, I sucked at names. I had just finally gotten the boys names right, and now I was going to learn more?

"Ready?" Charlie asked before getting out of the car.

"Yea," I said unsure.

"It will be fine," he said patting my leg and getting out.

"Right," I breathed to myself as I got out off the car too.

We walked around the house and to the back gate. There was a small white picket fence that surrounded the huge backyard. Trees were grown, big and tall, with lights strung all around. The yard was really pretty.

"Charlie!" a woman's voice called out in happy endearment.

"Hey Sue," he smiled coming to hug her. Watching there interaction, I thought I noticed something. Before I could bring it up, the woman turned to me and smiled brightly.

"You must be Bella," she said leaning over to hug me.

"Yes, hi," I said trying to be warm and friendly like her.

"I'm Sue, Sure Clearwater," she said clarifying.

"Seth's mom," I said putting the connection together.

"Yes, Seth and Leah."

"Leah…" I asked confused.

"My daughter," she said with another smile.

"Right," I said with a blush. I didn't know her other kid, nice Bella.

"Its okay," she said guessing what I was thinking. "She has yet to show her face to you. You probably haven't seen Seth enough to even know about her. No hard feelings."

"Thanks," I said with an embarrassed laugh. It still wasn't a very good excuse. I felt bad, "She sounds great."

"She has her moments," Sue joked with a laugh. Charlie and I chuckled before being ushered further into the backyard.

So far, it was just Harry, Quil Sr., who were both standing near the back door talking with each other, Sue, who went back in the house, Seth, who was still stringing up decorations, and my dad and I who were walking in the yard to meet people.

"Bella, this is Harry," Charlie said with a hand on my back. I stuck my hand out for him to shake, "Seth and Leah's dad," he added.

"Nice to meet you sir," I said with a smile.

"Very nice to meet you too Bella. I heard a lot about you. You seem like a great girl."

"Thank you," I said with another blush. God, what was happening today?

"This is Quil Sr.," Charlie introduced again. The man actually looked a lot like Quil, except older of course. He stood with a red cup of beer in his hand, a jolly expression on his face.

"Bella," he said with a friendly smile. We shook hands, and stood there.

"So how are you liking Forks Bella?" Harry asked.

"Really good," I said trying my best to push my funk away. I plastered on a smile and tucked some hair away around my ear. "Its a lot different than Florida, but just as nice as I remember it."

"Well you are lucky, we have had pretty decent weather this year," Quil Sr. smiled.

"Yea, can you believe the sun has been actually out today?" Charlie asked the men. They all laughed, alongside me, who was forcing out a little laugh. The men mostly continued to talk on from there. Sticking my hands in my back pockets, I found Seth a few yards away.

"Excuse me," I said with a hand on my dad's upper arm. I nodded over to Seth and they all smiled.

"Hey," I called out to Seth who was up in a tree.

"Hey Bella," he said.

"Need any help?" I questioned.

"Nah, my mom just wants these all strung up on both trees. She thought everything should look nice for you- like a welcome or something."

"Oh, well it looks…good." I said holding back a laugh as he was struggling a bit.

"Trust me, this isn't happening every bon fire." He said now getting himself tangled in the lights.

"Here Seth," I said laughing. "Drop the lights," I commanded.

Doing as I wish, he dropped the long string of white lights. Rolling them up in a nice long oval, I guided him along as he wrapped them around the tree.

"Nice work," I said as he jumped down.

"That went a lot faster than the last one," he said. I let out a giggle and shook my head. Men.

"So who's supposed to come to this whole shin-dig?" I asked. No one really told me anything, other than that I had to go.

"Everyone," he said.

"Everyone?" I asked. He wasn't going to clarify that.

"Yup, pretty much. All of the elders, their spouses and children, then there's us, the wolves, and their imprints," he murmured.

"So why is this such a big thing?" I asked.

He shrugged. "Its not I guess, but we hold these things just to remind us of family. It's a nice get together. There's food, fun, and we enjoy each others company."

"Wow, I've never been to one of these before," I said bluntly.

He looked over at me. "You've never been to a bonfire?"

I rolled my eyes and shoved him a bit. He was giving me a look like I was weird.

"No," I laughed, "I have. But the bon fires I have been to were more like red cups scattered all over the beach, tons of kegs and people drinking, and then the part where the object of the night is to get totally drunk off your ass and then go home with someone else to get laid."

"Oh," he said with a laugh. "Well that's interesting."

I nodded and looked all around. Their backyard was just so pretty.

"So have you actually… you know…gone home with someone else?" he pushed out.

Bumping my arm with his I winked at him and spoke, "wouldn't you like to know," before walking off.

I went into the house finding my way to the kitchen. The Clearwater's house had somewhat of a similar layout to Charlie's place.

"Need any help?" I questioned to the woman.

"Bella!" she said in her cheery tone again. "Would you just mind setting some of these bowls out onto the snack table?" she asked.

"Sure," I smiled walking in to grab some. With my hands full I lightly kicked the backdoor open and walked down the steps. Out of the corner of my eye I could see Sam and Emily walking through the white picket fence gate opening. My body tensed and I quickly set the food down on the table. It slipped my mind I would be seeing them.

"Hey Harry," Sam greeted to the man who was now standing at the other side of the house. I could feel Sam's eyes on me and tried my hardest to pull myself away from the table. It was only a matter of time before I had to face the two of them again.

Sam and Emily continued to greet the adults, as I stood stiff at the long table.

"Yo Bella!" Seth shouted. I turned my head around and looked at Seth in another tree. He held up the tangled lights and I let out a small laugh. Backing away from the table, I stood under the big mass of wood and waited for him to drop the long sting.

"Thanks," I said softly. I knew he would be able to hear me. A wolf perk, Embry would call it.

"No biggy. It looked like you needed it."

"Seth," a woman called, walking towards us.

"Mom wants you to start the grill," she said.

"Dad can't do it?" he asked."

"I don't know," she snapped. "You aren't done with those yet?" she asked with hands on her hips. She watched him go from branch to branch swinging the lights.

"Not yet," he said with an eye roll as he continued. She huffed and rolled her eyes too.

"You must be Bella," she said now noticing me.

"Leah," she said shaking my hand.

"Nice to meet you," I said with a smile. She reciprocated with a nod and then looked back up at Seth.

"Are you almost done?" she asked.

"Yea, give me a few minutes."

"Fine," she said in annoyance. "I'll get dad to start the grill."

Seth let out a grunt as she walked off. "And hey, Seth?" she called.

"What?" he said frustrated.

"That tree looks like crap." She said pointing over to the one he did before I got here. I looked up and bit back a smile. My eye caught Sam's before as I turned to look back at Leah and my face fell. He should be paying attention to Emily, not me.

"We can redo it," I told Seth as I turned my back to Sam.

"Easy for you to say," he huffed as he jumped down from the tree. We walked over to the one he did solo; ready to redo his awful looking work. As he climbed up to the top of it, I followed the cord of lights to the plug.

"Here, I got it," a voice called out handing me the end of the string.

"Thanks," I murmured softly looking away. I grabbed the plug as quick as I could from his hands.

"Ho-how have you been?" Sam asked following me back to the tree.

"Fine, you?" I asked not looking back at him.

"Could be better," he spoke. I let out a sigh and tried to ignore his words. I knew what he was trying to say.

"Bella-" he started.

"Go ahead!" I yelled to Seth, cutting off Sam to tell Seth he could start unraveling the lights.

"I'm sorry I brought her," he said to me.

I let out a breath and tried to ignore him.

"She found out and wanted to go. And I couldn't just-"

Glancing up at Seth, I saw him looking at me, silently telling me it was okay if I left him. Nodding, I quickly took off away from the tree.

"Go away Sam," I said as he followed me again.

"We really need to talk," he said.

"You keep saying that," I gritted out, snapping my head back to look at him as I went up the back stairs. Our eyes met, and I felt my body starting to mellow out.

"But its not going to happen," I pushed out before the effects of the imprint could do anything else. I rushed into the house, going straight to the kitchen hoping there were some more food bowls I could set out.

"You need to understand," he said standing right next to me.

"I don't need to do anything," I said shoving two big colored bowls of munchies in his chest.

"Why wont you just stop and listen?" he pleaded with a bit of an edge to his voice.

"Because there is nothing to listen to. I told how everything has to play out. Don't keep making this worse," I warned to him as I led us back to the backyard.