Isabelle opened her eyes slowly and stretched out before sitting up abruptly, confused by her surroundings. It look a moment for her to remember where she was, at Paul's house in La Push. Instantly her good mood vanished and she collapsed back onto the bed with a groan.
She must have fallen asleep while unpacking, more tired than she thought. Turning to the window she saw the sun was rising and realized she must have slept through the night. Anna must think she was horribly rude. A wave of guilt hit her unexpectedly as she realized she rather liked Paul's short and friendly wife.
Pushing herself out of bed, Isabelle grabbed some shorts and a t-shirt. She brushed her hair and tried to cover up the noticeable bags under her eyes. After a few minutes she gave up and opened her door. Peeking out into the hallway she found Will's door closed and breathed out a sigh of relief. She realized she was being silly. It was six in the morning; no teenage boy would be awake at this hour.
She made her way down the stairs and took in her surroundings. There was a small room with a couch and an old television to her right. Behind it, she caught a glimpse of what she assumed was the kitchen. Making her way down the hall, she passed by two closed doors on her right. Since she could see the backdoor from where she stood, she decided one of the two doors led to Paul and Anna's room. Tiptoeing past the doors, she entered the kitchen and opened the fridge.
She took out the apple juice and poured herself a glass before sitting at the table and taking a sip. Drumming her fingers on the table she looked around the room, debating what to do next. Before she could decide, a loud noise caught her attention. The heavy footsteps of someone coming down the stairs caused her to sit upright. It must be Will. She wondered why he was up so early.
The boy she had seen exiting the woods the night before entered the kitchen, and headed for the fridge. He pulled out three containers of food and turned to place them on the table before he took notice of Isabelle. He jumped in surprise upon spotting her.
"Oh. You're here."
His voice held obvious disdain and Isabelle was caught off guard by his reaction. Originally, she had expected dislike from both he and Anna, but when she was so warmly welcomed by Anna she had forgotten about her original expectations.
Not sure what to say in return she continued to stare up at her giant of a half-brother.
"Listen," he stated, while sitting down to eat his giant breakfast, "You're here to have your bonding time with daddy, find out what's been missing from your life. I get it. Just stay out of my way. I want nothing to do with you."
With that he turned his full attention to his food and resumed stuffing his face. Isabelle finally found her own voice.
"Believe it or not this is the last place I want to be, so don't you worry about me staying out of your way. Just keep your wolf friends away from me. I already have enough jerks in my life."
Without waiting for his reaction, she stood up, put her glass in the sink, and stormed out the back door. She stomped across the yard and into the nearby woods. Isabelle wandered through the trees for some time before building up the courage to go back to the cottage.
She opened the backdoor hesitantly, not sure what she would find on the other side. To her relief, Will was gone, and Anna and Paul had taken his place. With her back turned, Anna was making eggs and humming happily to herself while Paul sat at the kitchen table, watching her with an adoring smile.
"Morning," Isabelle mumbled as she approached.
Anna turned abruptly, clearly caught off guard.
"Oh! Isabelle! I was wondering where you'd gotten off to. You met Will, I hear. I do hope you two will become good friends."
Isabelle didn't have the heart to tell such a warm woman that her son was a jerk so she simply smiled in return. But Anna wasn't done.
"He actually invited you to the cliffs with some friends. You'll like them very much, such sweet boys."
Isabelle was horrified. She found herself unsure how to answer. She knew for a fact Will had not invited her. She also had no desire to meet these "sweet boys" who she could only assume were more obnoxious wolves. But Anna had a heartbreaking look on her face, like her happiness was riding on Isabelle's answer.
"Okay, sounds like fun," Isabelle heard herself chocking out.
Anna's reaction was immediate. She jumped in delight and swept Isabelle up into a hug. It was becoming very obvious that she was very into hugging. Paul's face lit up upon seeing the enthusiasm of his wife. Isabelle was startled by how connected they seemed. In her mind, she had always pictured her father as a cold, heartless man.
Just as Anna was releasing Isabelle, Will strolled into the kitchen. His carefree smirk fell from his face immediately when he saw Isabelle. Anna seemed oblivious to her son's change in demeanor and continued smiling and humming as she cooked.
The rest of the morning flew by as Isabelle unpacked the remainder of her belongings and before she knew it, Will was popping his head in her door, barking out a command that it was time to leave, before disappearing once more.
Isabelle left her room and headed downstairs. Will stood with the front door open, tapping his food in aggravation. Ignoring his behavior, Isabelle breezed by him and stepped outside.
Together, they walked down the narrow street. Isabelle struggled to keep up with Wills quick speed, as his long legs propelled him forward. Refusing to give him the satisfaction of her complaining, she kept her mouth shut and jogged to keep up.
A short while later, Isabelle was surprised to see a strangely beautiful beach come into view. She had never pictured La Push as a particularly pretty place and was thrown off by the sight. Will grunted and pointed to a jagged set of cliffs off to the left where a group of boys stood. From where Isabelle and Will were, they appeared as only small dots teetering on the edge of the cliffs.
Isabelle found herself staring. Will and her were going up there?
She turned to Will, eyes wide, until she saw the smug look on his face. Grounding her teeth together in anger, Isabelle forced herself to regain her look of cool detachment and shrugged.
Will groaned, "Seriously? No one wants you here. Why don't you just go back?"
"I don't want to be around your wolf friends either but unlike you, I seem to care about your mothers feelings."
She heard a low growl come from Will and backed up in surprise. Upon seeing her reaction, his eyes narrowed in even more anger.
"Fine. Just stay out of everyone's way once we're up there."
With that, he turned on his heel and began climbing the path up to the top of the cliffs at an alarming sleep. Isabelle groaned at the prospect of more jogging and ran to catch up. She found the task impossible after a few minutes and ended up lagging behind.
After a lengthy climb, she finally reached the top and approached the group of giant men with a proud smile. Realizing who she was approaching, her smile dropped. Will was already among them, shirtless and preparing to jump into the waters below. Isabelle fought back the urge to ask if this was safe. As werewolves, she was sure they could handle it.
Not sure how to announce her presence and finding herself completely forgotten by Will, Isabelle sat on a nearby rock and placed her head in her hands. She starred into the distance where the water met the horizon until she felt a large rough hand pat her shoulder.
Turning in surprise, she found herself craning her neck to meet the gaze of yet another giant. He was smiling down at her, but his eyes were cold.
"Well if it isn't the wolf hater! You honor us with your presence."
Isabelle shifted uncomfortably on the rock, put off by the hostility of this stranger. It seemed her assumptions about the men in La Push hadn't been all that inaccurate. With that he turned away and returned to the large group of men at the cliffs edge. After an hour of sitting and watching the boys jump from the cliff and jokingly push each other around, Isabelle found herself feeling stupid.
She hadn't wanted to admit it to herself, but she had not just come to appease Anna. She had hoped her views of the wolves would be proved wrong. Isabelle had found Anna and Paul different than she anticipated and wanted to give the wolves a chance too. After an hour of being completely ignored by the large group of men, she felt embarrassed and upset.
She rose from the walk and made a speedy getaway. She didn't want Will to see her leave and make a nasty comment. Unwillingly, she felt moisture gather in her eyes as she sped up her pace. She was humiliated.
About half way down the path, she caught sight of a man climbing up, dripping from the water. He had recently jumped from the cliff she had just abandoned. She ducked her head and focused on her feet as she stepped past him. In return, the man walked past her, ignoring her existence.
As she passed the boy, her foot caught on a sharp rock, making her lose her balance. Before Isabelle could register what had happened, she found herself on the ground, her wrist twisted at an awkward angle below her. Her tears spilled over as she was overwhelmed by pain and humiliation.
Out of the corner of her eye she saw the man had stopped his ascent. He faced away from her, seemingly struggling with whether to help her or not. In the end, his kind side seemed to win out as he turned to see if she was alright.
Isabelle was embarrassed, and really didn't want the strangers help.
The man knelt down in front of her, "Are you okay?"
"Fine," Isabelle responded, using her good hand to push herself up. She moved to pass the man but he blocked her path.
"Your wrist looks kinda messed up. You should probably go to the doctor for that."
Isabelle grew frustrated with his sudden concern. Where had he been for the entire hour she sat alone? Meeting his eyes directly, she intended to give him a piece of her mind. His eyes widened and his mouth dropped open. His eyes softened as he stared into her eyes, and just as quickly his face crumpled into one of complete sadness as he observed her tears. Caught off guard by his change in expression, she swallowed her words and simply pushed past him to continue down the path.
"Wait!" he called, rushing to catch up, "I'm sorry! Please let me drive you to the hospital."
Isabelle whirled around, causing the man to stop in his tracks, "I'm perfectly fine. I don't want you to feel like you have to talk to me now that I'm injured. You all made your opinions of me pretty clear over the past hour."
The mans expression was heartbreaking. Never had she seen someone so affected by her words. For a moment she felt terrible, but she remembered the past hour and forgot her sympathy for him immediately.
"I'm sorry. I was so stupid. Let's start over. Please. I'm Seth."
The man stuck his hand out, with an awkward, tentative smile.
Isabelle considered taking his hand but as she went to reach for it, she felt a shooting pain from her wrist.
"Sorry Seth. An introduction an hour ago would have been better."
Isabelle turned from Seth as his smile fell and resumed her descent down the mountain. She reached the bottom and trekked across the sand to the small road back to Paul and Anna's house. The entire time, a lone figure stood half way up the cliff, watching her go.