AN: This is a little out of order from last chapter, but I felt like it was needed.

Chapter Sixteen

Bex's POV

I was in the middle of putting on my black lace knee high socks and preparing for Ella's funeral when Gazzy snuck in through my window.

"You aren't supposed to be here." I whispered with a giggle. "If my dad catches you in here agian he's going to have a cow."

"Then let him have a cow." My wonderful boyfriend said defiantly with a mischevious grin. He was dressed in a black button down shirt and black slacks, making him look adorably like Johnny Cash, only hotter.

"You're terrible." I whispered, but made no move to make him leave. Instead, I pulled up my other sock and made my way over to him. I placed a kiss on his cheek teasingly, knowing how much he wanted to give me a proper kiss instead.

"I love you." Gazzy said quietly, edging his face closer to mine.

"I love you too." I said against his lips, finally giving in to the urge to kiss him. We had only recently started saying those three magic words in the past month, but everytime we said it, I got goosebumps as if it were the first time.

My parents think I'm crazy, but I consider Gazzy my imprint even though I have no werewolf DNA considering who my real father was. (And no, I don't think about Nauhel often, only when my family points out that I'm different...which I don't like, by the way). It's not even that I'm trying to fit in with the rest of my siblings with imprints, its just that I know that the Gasman is my soul mate.

"Rebecca Sarah Black!" My father yelled from the kitchen. "This is your last chance to get some breakfast before the funeral."

"Oops, I'm in trouble now." I whispered, "go out through the window and I'll meet you at First Beach for the wake."

"I'll see you there." Gazzy said with a grin, "and I'll miss you 'til you're there."

I giggled, kissing him once more before grabbing my slip on shoes and rushing down the stairs to the dinning room. I knew that Gazzy would have flown out the window by now so I wasn't worried as I poured a bowl of Captin Crunch.

Nine year old Will pulled his chair out next to mine and frowned in disgust. "You smell like bird." He said quietly, pouring what I assumed was his second bowl of Lucky Charms. "Was Gazzy here this morning?"

I shook my head, spotted Nessie and Jake in the kitchen, and sent Will a 'please don't rat me out' look. He nodded slightly and I smiled. He had always been my favorite sibling, though the other two of the triplets were still close in my heart. Will just knew how to keep a secret when it came to seeing Gazzy; though Allie had an imprint too, she was in the responsible 'older sister' mode to Arian while Will was in the playful 'best friend/playmate' stage.

Emma rolled her eyes like the young teenager she was. "You know that Gazzy isn't allowed here without Momma's permission." She said logically, though with a little sniff of her nose, she could smell that I had lied.

"That's right, Em." Jake said as he brought in a huge plateful of bacon. Allie scooped up a handful to fill her werewolf part of her body and for the first time this morning, I noticed she was at the table with us. Crap. I knew it was only a matter of time before she ratted me out.

Will took the rest of the bacon, leaving none for the rest of us, just as Nessie came in with another plate. Emma, Momma, and I took some of the eggs and left the rest of the scrambled eggs and sausage for Dad. Being half vampire meant we had to eat some human food, but other than cereal, we only liked eggs for breakfast.

I eyed Allison with worry, knowing full well she had every right to tattle on me, but instead she looked up with her deep brown eyes and said, "Do you think that Collin will make it through?"

Jake looked at Nessie hesitantly before looking back at my sister. There was no way to get around this conversation. She and Will had both been phased when the Pack had tried to calm Collin down right after Ella's death. It had been tough for the Shifter, but once he was reminded of his children, he seemed to focus better on not killing himself. It was the only natural reaction to an imprint's death, but even so, the Pack was working around the clock to keep Collin alive.

"I don't know." He said honestly. "Imprints are something special, you guys know that." Jake said, mostly to Allie and Will since apparently me and Emma don't count.

"I know, it's just he has Esperanza and Alejandro to think about." Allie said with a frown. Though she was technically five years old like my other two little siblings, she was nineteen phsyically and thought like it too.

"They're a part of Ella, shouldn't that be enough to keep him here?" Emma piped in, clearly not wanting to be forced out of this conversation.

"I'm not sure if it's enough." Nessie said sadly. "Collin is bound to protect and love his imprint; now that she's dead, this world is doesn't make any sense to him."

I stirred my cereal in my milk, thinking about how I would feel if Gazzy wasn't with me. I don't blame Collin for not being able to handle it.

"I don't think I can go to the funeral." Emma said quietly.

"Why not, sweetie?" Nessie said gently, knowing that Emma was the most sensitive of her children. Thirteen was a hard age for most humans, but for half vampires it was the hardest. I'm just glad that I passed through that stage rather quickly.

"It's just so sad, Momma." Emma said, trying to hold back tears. "I don't think I could be around that many emotional people right now."

Emma had developed a sort of gift over the years. Though at first we thought it was like Uncle Jasper's, it was much more powerful. She basically got his gift plus Edward's gift rolled into one. So instead of just feeling someone's worst emotions, she has to see what memory went with it. Most of the time she can tune it out, but with a huge crowd, it's hard.

"I'll call Bella and tell her to shield you, okay?" Nessie said gently. "Then you can come and won't have to worry about it."

Jacob cleared his throat. "I think it's time to get going. I promised Edward that I would help escourt Collin for the ceremony, so I'll meet you there."