Disclaimer: I do not own any part of Twilight. And the song credit goes to Paramore.

I want to say thank you for the response I have already seen only after one chapter! Please keep up the reviews; it motivates me.

"Just talk yourself up and tear yourself down

You've hit your one wall, now find your way around.

Well, what's your problem? You've got a lot of nerve."

For A Pessimist I'm Pretty Optimistic

I was cold, angry, and confused. Jake had carried me all the way home and into the bathroom. After he set me down on the toilet, he'd left and Mom had came into the bathroom a minute later to check on me. After a warm bath and some hot chocolate, I curled up on the couch and tried to ignore the sound of the vacuum from the other room. Some things never changed; my Mom loved sweeping.

What had been that guy's problem? And why the hell had Jake decided to take me for a dive with him? As far as he knew I could have had absolutely no swimming ability; I could have died! I wanted an explanation, but Jake had taken off, without any sort of explanation, after he had dumped me in the bathroom.

He didn't return until Mom had just put dinner on the table. He didn't offer any explanation to my inquisitive eyes; instead he piled a bunch of food on his plate and dug in. He absolutely no attention to the three of us.

I cleared my throat, "So what was with your friend today?"

He blinked up at me over his forkful of beef. He shoved it in his mouth, chewed, and swallowed before he finally answered me.

"That's just Paul."

"Well, what possessed you to take me off the cliff with you?"

"It seemed like a good idea at the time." He shrugged.

I scoffed, "I'll give you a good idea."

"I hate to break this love fest up, but we have an announcement." Billy stated. "Robin and I have decided to get married."

I smiled delightedly and jumped out of my chair to embrace my Mom. Jake reached over and slapped his Dad on the back; smiling through his mouthful of food. Yes, it would be weird to see my Mom getting married to a man that wasn't my Father, but she was happy; beaming to be more exact.

"It's not going to be anything huge; we're keeping it small." Mom assured me. "But I want you to stand up with me."

"Of course, of course!"

"I'd like you to stand with me too, son."

"You got it, Dad."

Mom and Billy exchanged smiles and Billy placed his hand over hers on the table. "Well, that went better than expected."

"Well, our other children don't know yet." Mom sighed.

"Kevin will be fine."

"We're worried about Rebecca and Rachel." Billy sighed.

"It'll be alright, Dad. All that matters is that you're happy, and if Robin is the one to do that, then so be it."

***

After the cliff fiasco I decided to discover La Push on my own. Once again it was a bit chilly, so I threw on my jacket and headed out the front door. The sun was nowhere to be seen as I wandered down the road, glancing into the woods every so often. It was so green, and the woods looked even greener; moss covering absolutely everything.

I wanted to investigate, and I had nothing else to do anyway. So, I turned towards the woods, over a huge branch, and into the woods. The trees stretched on for miles ahead of me, and I slowly made my way through the brush that covered the ground. The only sound to be heard was the rustling of the brush under my feet and the birds up in the trees.

It was so peaceful in here; nothing from the outside world to taint it. I hadn't felt this content in a long time, and I wanted to savor the feeling. So, I sat down on the moss covered ground and leaned back against one of the trees. I stared around for a while until finally I felt my eyes get heavy. I didn't fight it; instead I closed my eyes and welcomed the slumber that beckoned.

I woke up to a loud smash. My eyes shot open and I looked around frantically; I was disoriented for a second, but quickly took in my surroundings. I was still leaning up against the tree, but there was one major difference in the surroundings. I wasn't alone.

There was that Paul guy lying naked near the base of a dented tree holding his head and cursing. I couldn't see any special parts of him, but I could see his stomach and face and that was enough to make my face burn in embarrassment. I averted my gaze as he made to stand, and looked down at the moss by my feet.

"What are you doing out here?" He asked.

I kept my gaze at my feet and replied, "What are you doing out here naked?"

He muttered a curse and I heard a shuffling sound of some sort before he crouched down by my feet; a pair of cut offs on.

"You shouldn't be in the woods alone." He stated an edge to his voice.

"I'm fine; I'm not a child." I replied slightly agitated by his demeanor. Really, what had I done to him besides meet him? Nothing, and he acts all pissed off to have to be talking to me.

"Come on, I'm taking you home."

"I can get home by myself thanks; I wouldn't want to inconvenience you." I replied, glaring at his dark brown eyes; resisting the urge to let my gaze run down his toned chest.

"It's not an inconvenience, and it's getting dark." He insisted.

I knew I wouldn't win this battle, so I stood up with a sigh and started to walk out of the woods.

"Hallie." I had to admit I liked the way my name sounded in his husky voice. "That's the wrong way."

I felt my face turn red and followed after him in the opposite direction I had been headed. He walked a few feet in front of me, keeping his distance. Was I that repulsive? Lost in my thoughts, I didn't notice the rather large limb before me, and as I careened towards the ground all I could think about was how I didn't want my jeans to get muddy. Instead I felt strong, warm arms wrap around my waist and pull me back against a firm chest.

As soon as I was stable he quickly pulled away and began walking again as if I had never tripped at all. Well if he didn't want a thank you then he sure as hell wasn't going to get one. I followed behind him the entire way back to the house and didn't give him a second glance as I disappeared into the interior.

"Is that Paul out there?" Jake asked as I slammed the door shut behind me.

"Yes." I said shortly.

"Did he do anything to you?"

"Besides being a bastard for no apparent reason? No." I replied and then stalked into what had become my room.

***

I didn't understand why it was such a big deal that I go with Billy and Jacob to the bonfire while Mom had to stay home. If it was so important for me to come, then why couldn't she? Even though I didn't really want to go, I put on my shoes and grabbed my jacket from the closet.

"Have fun." Mom smiled from her position on the love seat with her crocheting in her lap.

Everyone stared at me as Jake wheeled Billy towards the fire and I followed behind. It wasn't exactly a bad kind of staring, it seemed friendly enough, but I didn't like being stared at period especially by people I didn't know.

I sat on the log next to where Billy was parked in his wheelchair and looked around a bit awkwardly. I was such an outsider; heck, my skin practically glowed in the moonlight! I looked across the fire and saw Paul staring at me; an unreadable look in his eyes.

"Hello Hallie, I'm Emily."

I looked up into the kind face of Emily who was currently holding a toddler against her hip. I saw that she had scars along one side of her face but I barely noticed them as she smiled down at me warmly.

"You should get some food before it all disappears."

"That's a good idea; I've seen Jake eat."

"They're all that way." She sighed. "You get used to it."

I followed her over to the food table where only the girls were getting food. All the boys were off to the side, staring at the food a bit longingly, but they didn't move an inch towards the table.

"Hallie, that's Kim and the little one is my niece, Claire." Emily said as she handed me a plate and Claire stuck her tongue out at her aunt.

"I'm glad you came." Kim smiled as her hand absently stroked over her very pregnant belly. "We need more women around here."

Once I had my plate I joined Kim on her log and watched as the boys practically attacked the table full of food. The food was delicious and I thought about getting seconds before I realized that the boys had already devoured everything.

"Man, they are pigs." I sighed.

"I know." Kim agreed.

I talked with Kim for a while before all at once everyone seemed to get quiet and everyone's attention turned to Billy. I guess it was time for him to tell the legends. Mom had told me that Billy was the one who told the local legends at the bonfires, but she had never been to a bonfire to hear them. She knew the legends, but she refused to tell me, insisting I wait for tonight.

My complete attention was focused on Billy as he retold the story of the cold ones and the spirit warriors; the pictures vivid in my mind's eye. Everyone was equally enthralled as I was even though I knew they had heard the stories a million times.

When he was finally done everyone started to pack up and get ready to go home. I sat there; still processing the stories. It reminded me of a time when my family had been a family. When my brother and I had been little, our parents had taken us to some cabins in Tennessee a few times. There had always been a loft in the cabins and it was in those lofts that I fell in love with ghost stories thanks to my Father. I always loved a good story and these stories were no different.

"You like the legends?" Emily asked as she sat down next to me, her sleeping child cradled in her arms.

"Yeah, especially the whole imprinting part. That's pretty cool; kinda like baby animals."

She smiled, a somewhat secretive smile, as her husband, Sam approached. She was still smiling at me as Sam took their son from her arms and walked away.

"It is." She agreed. "Well, good night, Hallie."

"Good night."

I sat there for a while until Jake finally called me.

"No, I'll take her home." Paul said.

What? Why would he volunteer to take me home when he could hardly stand to be around me? I met Jake's eyes, hoping he would read the wild desperation contained in my chocolaty depths. Obviously he did not get my meaning because he shrugged his shoulders at Paul and walked away towards Billy. Some step brother he was going to be.

"Let's be upfront here." I began as Paul moved towards me. "Why do you, of all people, want to give me a ride home? You've been sending me vibes that clearly state you don't like me."

The arrogant bastard grinned at me. I was momentarily distracted by how white his teeth were and how the grin lit up his handsome face, but then I came back to my senses.

"How would you know how I feel about you? I haven't said more than a few sentences to you before now."

Man, his voice was husky. "Whatever, since you wanted to take me home let's do just that."

"I think you're the one sending off vibes that you don't like me." Paul chuckled and started to head for his truck.

"Well maybe you've got one thing right." I stated as I followed after him.

The ride home was silent, with me staring out the window the entire time. There was something about him that pissed me off and intrigued me at the same time, and I didn't like it. I was more than happy when he finally pulled into the driveway, but confused when he turned off his truck.

"I'm walking you to the door." He stated after I shot him a look.

"Yeah, because I'm going to be mauled by an owl or something on the way there."

"Billy said you were nice." Paul chuckled. "I guess I have a habit of bringing out the feistiness in some people."

"How else am I supposed to act? You seemed all pissed at me in the woods and now you're cracking jokes and smiling at me. It's a bit confusing, just to let you know."

I unbuckled, opened the door, and stepped out of his truck. I was about to head towards the house when suddenly he was right in front of me, blocking the way. I craned my neck to look up at him and scowled. Meanwhile my body pinged in awareness; I had never been this close to a good looking guy before and I hated my response.

"I was going through some stuff." He explained. "I'm sorry if I hurt your feelings."

"I guess I can forgive your behavior, but it doesn't mean I'm automatically going to like you."

He grinned, "I think you'll come around. You and I; we're more alike than you think."

"I'll be the judge of that." I said as I opened the screen door and started to step inside.

"Good night, Hallie."

"Night."