I Could Dance with Him Forever

"Did he fall in a hole or something?" Jacob asked, noticing his friend's hours of absence. He poked at the fire on the grill to rearrange the charcoal.

"Oh, maybe this wasn't a good idea," Renesmee said doubting. "What if he scared her off again and he's running around as a wolf? Or what if she never got the vision? Argh.. I should've thought all this through."

"Relax, Seth's a big boy," Embry chimed in. "You guys think too negative anyway. What if he swept her off her feet and they're going at it against a tree right now." Jacob and Renesmee gave him a dead panned stare.

"Did you just meet Seth?" Renesmee asked.

"Hey Seth!" Quil called at he approached the grill with a big stack of uncooked meat. The three turned to where Quil was looking and sure enough, they saw Seth and Sage walking and smiling across the sand towards them. Seth raised his hand and gave a head nod.

"What the hell? He did it. Did he do it? I can't tell" Jacob said. "Nice work, Ness. You might need a reward." He gave her a wink and she gave him a side hug.

"Many happy returns, Jacob," Sage greeted as she handed him the gift. "It says it's from Nessie," she glared at her friend with a smile, "but it's apparently from me too." Nessie walked over to Sage's side.

"So what happened?" Renesmee quietly squealed. Sage and Seth glanced at each, debating whether or not to tell them. Seth shrugged, so Sage reluctantly put her hand to Renesmee's face.

"What?! Seth killed a what?!" she blurted out. Anyone within an earshot turned to stare at Sage.

"Spider?" Jacob covered. "I knew you could do it." Jacob sucker punched Seth in the arm. Sam stood up to join them.

"Care to repeat that?" he demanded. Seth leaned in towards Sage.

"You didn't need to tell her everything," he said quietly to Sage without moving his lips. Sage gave an "oops" smile and bit her lip. Seth motioned for her to show Sam what had happened.

"You knew him?" Sam asked. Sage nervously nodded her head. "What did he mean about 'they'? Who wants you?"

"I don't know, I thought he was just saying stuff to scare me, mess with my head." Sam was lost in thought for a bit before snapping back into reality. "We'll be on alert, but we won't think about it today. We'll talk about it tomorrow, after Jacob's 25. Except for you Colin, you're doing patrols tonight."

"Aw, man!" Colin whined.

Sage nibbled at some baked chips and corn; she liked the crunchy texture. Seth came to sit beside her with a plate stacked with 3 burgers. She stared at his food and laughed at him. Embry put on some music and people got up to dance around the fire. Not well, but they danced. Others roasted marshmallows for 'Smores. Some, like Paul, liked burning unused styrofoam cups, until Emily smacked him away and guarded them. Sage took in the fun and laughter of the night, seeing for the first time the human in the werewolves. Seth offered her some of his hamburger, but though she could handle most human food, cooked meat wasn't one of them. In the corner, Jacob started unwrapping some of his gifts. He picked up the gold-covered one from Renesmee and unwrapped it. Sage was with her when she bought the frame, but she never saw the picture inside. It was a black and white photo of his mom in the hospital, holding up a baby boy that Renesmee had found a few days earlier in Charlie's old things. Renesmee was right; it was the perfect gift. She cradled her love's face in her hands and Sage turned away to give them their moment. She glanced around at the others whom she didn't pay any attention to earlier. She saw a woman whom she guessed was Jacob's sister and her wolf man. Jacob's father never moved from his chair and was carried from place to place; it was probably too much of a hassle to wheel him around in the sand. Then he eyes fell on a beautiful creature whose face was hidden behind scars; she was obviously Sam's imprintee by the way he looked at her.

Sage was still most of the night, only her face lighting up whenever she was amused about or touched by something. Seth wanted so much to touch and hold her. He felt frustrated that things weren't as natural as he would have hoped. But the more he thought about her, the more content he was just to be near her. He began to think of what his role would be in her life. Perhaps hope wasn't all lost. Maybe she just needed time, and time was what he had plenty of. He waited this long for her. He crossed his arms to keep himself from reacting to the idea. Sage felt more and more at home with Seth and though she knew she wasn't sure if she'd ever be ready for what he expected of her, for now, she enjoyed his company. A slow song came up and the couples started pulling each other up to dance. Seth stood up as well and offered his hand. Embry and Paul, and maybe some of the younger wolves, were more flamboyant with their dancing, even with the slower songs. The others weren't quite as coordinated. However, to Sage, Seth was smooth. He twirled her around and held her gently. She leaned back to take him in as they danced together. In the corner of her eye, she could see the young wolves whose names she never caught doing the running man to Beyonce's "Halo." What a strange way for things to turn out, she thought. Seth saw how happy his Sage was in his arms, so for today, he would be happy too.