A/N: Thanks again for being so amazing!

Chapter 18: Birthday

I woke up fully clothed, but incredibly well rested. For once, I slept free of nightmares. When I realized why that was, I flushed crimson. Seth had cradled me while I fell asleep, and before that, we had very nearly had a full on make-out session in my bedroom. I felt wild and rebellious just thinking about what my parents would do to me if they ever found out. They wouldn't, not this time. He'd dutifully left once I was sleeping, even managing to shut my window.

The thought of riding in the car with my mom made me cringe, so I bundled up and prepared to walk to school. I almost screamed when I turned the corner onto the main road, because Seth was waiting for me. He squeezed my hand.

"I don't have a car, but I figured you weren't riding with your mom so I came to walk you to school." He said, already grabbing my backpack.

"Aw, that's so sweet!" I flashed him a smile. "I really appreciate it, it's so cold our here!" I teased.

"Well in that case…" He rested his arm lightly around my waist. "Allow me to defrost you!"

We set off down the hill. Either he didn't notice the cars slowing down to gawk at us, or he really didn't care. He literally paraded me into the school and to the door of my first period class. At passing time, he appeared to walk me to my next class, and again right before lunch. The sun was shining generously down onto our table, adding extra happiness to my already ridiculously optimistic mood. Seth pulled me onto his lap.

"You know you owe me, right?" Seth asked casually.

My heart pounded, was he referring to last night, having to comfort me? "What?" I asked quizzically.

He smiled. "You haven't let me kiss you all day." He said, feigning hurt. I giggled.

"If you insist." I murmured, trying to be alluring. Apparently it worked, because next thing I knew, his lips were moving affectionately against mine. I pulled myself closer to him, and it was very much like our first kiss, which I was happy about. I doubted my heart could handle kissing him like I had last night again, at least so soon. Almost immediately, I was zoned out, lost on my special little planet where only Seth and I existed. I pulled back. "I love you." Then I heard a soft voice gasp.

"Oh. My. Gosh."

I looked up to see Aimee's bemused face watching me kiss my boyfriend two days after we started going out. How in the world was I supposed to explain this to her?

"As wrong as I think this is, you are your own people. Just… I don't really want to see it." She said uncomfortably.

"Don't worry, you won't." I assured her.

"Good."

The weeks passed and my life was as perfect as it had ever been. Being with Seth was as easy as breathing, as cliché as that may sound. Aimee and Levi were still together, but they were progressing much, much slower than me and Seth. She still giggled when he touched her and as far as I was aware, they still hadn't kissed. Something told me I would know almost immediately if they had.

Occasionally, Seth borrowed Jake's car and took me out. We hiked, saw a movie, went back to the cliffs. You know, normal couple stuff. No repeats had happened of the kiss in my room that night, but for me, that was fine. I met the whole pack and learned the interesting dynamic. Seth, Quil, Embry, and Leah were in Jacob's pack and the rest were with Sam. Jacob liked keeping the peace, so Sam generally assigned duties for both packs while Jacob strived to keep them all happy.

A few imprints were introduced to me; Emily, the pack mother, Kim, the petite shy girl, and my personal favorite, the tiny toddler Claire. She really was enchanting; I got roped into babysitting her several times. Eventually, I met Jacob's older sister who had married Paul. We didn't spend long with them, Jacob clearly resented them and it had rubbed off on Seth a little bit.

My birthday slowly approached, but nobody mentioned it. I think Seth was secretly excited to have me closer to his age in a quantifiable way, so people wouldn't be able to pester us anymore, namely my mom. Deep down, I was a little sad that nobody, not even my parents, wanted to give me a party. But, I stored it in the back of my mind and put on a happy face for the world like always.

The day I turned fifteen was miraculously a Saturday. Saturday's were 'Seth Days,' so it was nothing out of the ordinary when he picked me up that morning. The surprise was the red rose and the little plush wolf that he brought me.

"Thank you!" I said happily.

"Happy Birthday!" He replied enthusiastically. We drove towards the forest. I wondered if we were hiking, thankfully I wore comfortable clothes. He drove until the road ended.

"You don't mind hiking, do you? I have something special planned."

I shook my head. "As long as I'm out of my house, I'm happy." My mother had been unusually cruel the past few weeks.

"Sweet." He flashed me a smile, though there was a small crease of worry between his eyes. We set off into the woods, and even though there was no sunlight, it was still beautiful. I loved nature, it felt ingrained in me. The hike lasted a couple hours, and I vaguely wondered if hanging around with Seth all the time would help me lose weight. I giggled at the thought. Seth kept up a steady stream of easy conversation as usual. Talking seemed to be something he quite enjoyed, a fact I didn't mind. It was nice to be talked to. Suddenly we broke through the trees into a circular, breathtaking meadow. My jaw dropped.

"Do you like it? I borrowed it from a friend." He asked with a small chuckle.

"Yes!" I breathed. Somehow, in this secluded meadow, there were still tiny, fragile, summer wildflowers. The scent was intoxicating. "How on Earth are there still flowers here? It's almost winter!"

"It gets good old fashioned TLC, I guess." He shrugged. "So, I brought you here for a reason."

"Oh?" I inquired.

"I think it's time that you saw me in my wolf form." He said delicately.

"Really?!" I asked, excited.

He nodded. "You stay here, I'll be right back." He loped into the trees. A few moments later, a large, sandy colored wolf broke through the trees. He was about the size of a small horse, and tied around one of his ankles were Seth's clothes.

"Seth?" I inquired in an undertone. The wolf whimpered, and then his tongue lolled out in an easy pant. "It's you!" I cried, running up and hugging his neck. Then I scratched behind his ears. "See, not scary at all!" He made a weird noise in his throat- laughter? Then, he returned to the trees and came back fully human.

"That was incredible!" I cried.

"I'm glad you thought so." He said, amused. He glanced at his phone. "Almost time." He murmured. He led me to the middle of the meadow where we sat and basked in each others company; except, he kept looking at the time on his phone. The irritation welled up within me. What was so much more important then my birthday? I turned to make a rather sarcastic comment. Then I saw him looking at me very intensely. Next thing I knew, his lips were on mine. They trailed up to my ear. "Happy birth-minute." He whispered.

A/N: Cute, no? ;-) Anyways, softball is in full swing every day after school and I'm team captain, but I'm going to try to keep up with this. Spring break is around the corner! :-D Oh, and I randomly put a picture of me as my avatar if any of you are curious lol.