DISClaimer: I'm not Stephenie Meyer. I make no profit from this.
I am, however, quite in love with werewolves. And Jasper from the movie. His face is incredible, and he wants cake.
All the Britishness in the last chapter was (and still is) dedicated to BadWolfRose, but it didn't come up last time...
I don't own Marmite, but all the mentions of it are also dedicated to her...
Hope you enjoy this.
-x-
Well… I had to say it was pretty alright, but I preferred strawberries and cream.
-x-
Seth's POV
She pulled away after three minutes, her lips bright red and her cheeks flushed.
"I like tea," I whispered as she dropped down from her tiptoes.
"Good," She smiled at me, closing her eyes tight and pulling her hand slowly over my shoulders. I shuddered beneath her touch and she looked up at me, feeling it. "You alright?"
"You shake me." I whispered without thinking. She stared for a second, and I realised neither of us were breathing. "Oh, god… I'm sorry-"
"Don't be. That was a blinding cuppa you made." her eyes closed for a second and she twitched her nose. "God, you kiss like a…" She opened her eyes and realised I was staring, watching her throat as she swallowed her words. I blinked a couple of times and looked into her eyes. "You…"
"Kiss by the book?" I paused and smiled, "No, wait, that's Romeo and Juliet."
"You know Shakespeare?" She sounded a little surprised, bounced up on tiptoe and yelped in pain. It cut me to the core, my chest tightened and I had to so something. Sweeping her off her feet, I rushed her upstairs and put her on my bed, rolling up her jeans to the knee in the blink of an eye.
"Where does it hurt? And yes, I know Shakespeare." I grinned, "Last semester of school, we had, like, some huge boom in love and stuff… and our English Lit class was all about the Romeo and Juliet."
"Oh… right," I gently ran my hand down the dark purple bruise forming down her leg. "There," She whimpered as I lay my palm against it. "That's quite nice," She breathed, "Leave your hand there."
"OK…" I paused, wondering about her state of mind.
"Tell me about Romeo and Juliet," She whispered as I released her calf and rolled the jeans down. "And pass me those Pyjamas." I looked at where she was pointing and reached them easily and threw them to her.
"I'll give you a minute," I paused and waited, watching her face cross through a range of emotions. She nodded eventually and I left, went to make another mug of tea - a strangely therapeutic process, actually.
Ten minutes later, I returned, holding a mug for her and sipping my own.
"I made it a bit stronger…" She raised an eyebrow at my mug, "Trying to make you feel at home." A small smile, "And I kind of like the taste."
"Wahey, I've converted one!" She said, her tired voice not echoing the tone of her words. She smiled at me when I frowned. "That, Seth, is sarcasm… of the less biting kind."
"No duh." she patted the bed beside her and drew her good knee up to her chest, leaning her chin on it as she stretched the leg with the swollen ankle and severe bruising. She winced and groaned. I just laughed.
"What's so funny?"
"Nothing." I smiled. She didn't believe me. "I'm gonna take the spare again-" I gestured as I spoke, but she shook her head.
"You don't have to," She smiled. "You were quite nice as a personal radiator, last night," She looked away, waiting for me to contest her decision. I didn't make a sound as she smiled. "Good." dropping her knee to the bed, and nearly slopping her tea all over her, she watched me shuffle closer to her. Her shoulders relaxed and she closed her eyes as I draped my arm around her shoulders, sipping the tea again.
"Mackenzie…" I started as I stood up and looked down at her, so pretty and fragile sitting on my black duvet, "I… I'm glad you're back." she blushed and looked down the bed at her feet.
"I shouldn't have gone." Her fingers wound into her hair and she tugged at it gently, "I… panicked." She combed her fingers through her hair and she closed her eyes. "I should have said something before I…"
"It's OK." I spluttered, she stared at me, open-mouthed.
"What?" She was thinking now. "Seth… how can you say that? I… you love me, and yet you're willing to just accept every whim and will I have… without question?" She curled her hand around her wrist and looked up at me.
"It's…" But she didn't let me finish.
"The imprinting thing, isn't it?" She licked her lips. "Is it really… love? Or is it just the imprinting? Is it real, Seth?"
I licked my lips, waiting for the answer to surface in my head. Did I love her? Or was I just drawn to her? I stared at her, looked into her eyes, and watched her face turn pink. If I had not imprinted on her, would I have pulled her from the freeway?
Yes. Her laugh was what drew me - and you don't know your imprint until they look into your eyes.
This wasn't just imprinting. Maybe my feelings had been amplified by the imprinting, but I think there was that spark there that I wanted to ignite.
"It's real." I said, sitting down beside her and pulling her against me. "It's… the start of love. And I want it to blossom." She closed her eyes and I pulled her closer, wrapping my arms around her tightly. Her lips curved into a smile as she leaned into my warmth again.
"Thank you." She murmured, nuzzling against me. Her lips turned back to a frown and I tilted her head up to look at me.
"Kiss me, Max?" She nodded and I leaned down again, quite enjoying the taste of the over-sweet tea this time. Her scent - the strawberries and cream - slipped into my lungs as I moved to kiss her gently again, keeping her close with one hand, holding her around the waist with the other.
"Seth I-" She started, but I couldn't stop myself, I kissed her again. She pressed me away with the hand with the mug in it; I felt the heat of the tea and looked up. "Seth?" She repeated, her hand curling into my hair, gripping it hard, pulling it gently as she leaned close and kissed along my jaw line.
I loved that feeling.
"Max… maybe we should sleep… I mean, it's late-" She pulled away, a reluctant look in her eye, and got up, limping away and disappearing for five minutes. When she returned, she climbed under the covers and laid down against the pillows.
In absolute frickin' silence.
What was she trying to do to me? Kill me? Or what?
I climbed in beside her after going to the bathroom and finding a pair of pyjama bottoms to wear. She watched me as I flitted around my room, closed her eyes when I changed and put her hands behind her head as I joined her under the covers.
"This…" She said softly, "Is nicer than last night." She whispered, leaning back against me. My arm reached around her reflexively and she took my hand, held it against her.
"Bedtime, Mackenzie," I muttered softly, she nodded and turned to give me a kiss goodnight. Her lips hit my cheek and I grinned to myself. "Remember what Carlisle said - no exertion…" She smiled at me and turned back over, I decided to tell her all about Romeo and Juliet.
Max's POV
He snuffled in his sleep, in an extremely cute way- his deep, soft voice translating into the semi-growl I had become quickly accustomed to hearing as he dozed and slept. His lips were close to my neck, as I rolled over to face him, his face split into a smile and he looked at me, eyes dark and heavy-lidded with sleep.
"Seth?" I whispered, half-asleep myself.
"That's me," he returned, "What's up? You cold?"
"Aye." I murmured, suddenly feeling it. His arms wrapped around me and I closed my eyes, burying my head into both his chest and the pillow. As I dozed, and he gently slid his hand up and down my arm, I closed my eyes and listened to him, whispering the story of Romeo and Juliet dopily into my ear again, then the tone of his voice changed and he was whispering that legend, the Quileute one he'd told me about the wolves. Now that I knew everything about it, it made so much more sense. And in a very strange way, it calmed me.
"Ugh! Seth, two days and you're already sleeping with her? That's so pathetic." I opened my eyes at the girl's voice and Seth released me. The pair of us shot into sitting positions, Seth wrapping one arm around me protectively. I looked at the girl in the doorway, she looked daggers back. It was all I could really do not to snarl at her, like Seth did beside me.
"Back off, Leah." So this was his sister?
"Ooh, so frickin' protective of your little imprint, ain'tcha?" I looked at Seth; he gave me a tiny smile.
"You Seth's sister?" I asked softly, trying my best to be nice, "S'nice to meet you." I didn't hold out my hand.
"You bike?" she muttered, then "Jake told me,"
"Clearly you know I do, then." I stopped, feeling frustration building in my chest. "Yes, I do." I paused, thinking I should be polite.
"And you're English. That's just lovely." She said it so it was clear it was neither appreciated nor lovely. "Seth, mom's staying at Charlie's for the next couple days- helping him decorate, so I was thinking we could get the guys over, you know, play some cards, race a bit…" Oh, good. I'd clearly gone past the stage of existence-acknowledgement and into 'I'm going to ignore you completely'. That was fine with me. I fell back to the pillows, closed my eyes and ignored the conversation, realizing with a jolt that it was my birthday- my 20th birthday, in two days.
Bugger.
Now, I knew I should probably phone home, let them know I was alright, that I was happy, and not to worry about me, because I wouldn't be coming back for a while. Where could I go to do that?
I sighed heavily as Seth's bedroom door slammed and he returned to my side- I hadn't even noticed he was gone.
"She's gone off to one of her friend's places in Port Angeles." He grinned at me; it slid off his face slowly as he saw my expression. "Don't worry about Leah - she's just jealous- she hasn't imprinted yet and she thinks it's her, so she hates the world…" Another small pause, he gently wrapped one arm around me, pulling me against him.
"Oh," I muttered, "Well, at least she doesn't hate me for a reason," I tried a smile but he didn't buy it for a second.
"What's wrong? Was it something I did? I said, maybe?" I shook my head vehemently.
"God, Seth, no... It's not you at all." I smiled at him then, "It's just that it's my birthday the day after tomorrow and I should probably ring home, I just... Don't know if I really fancy it." He smiled and nuzzled against my neck as he lay me back down. It relaxed me quickly and I sighed against his neck as he kissed my forehead.
"I'll take you to Jake's place... You can email them, maybe?" he paused, "That way you won't have to talk to them face to face - and you… won't need to worry." I smiled at him as he pulled me closer and hugged me half to death.
I closed my eyes and waited for sleep to really claim me, all the time aware that my leg was throbbing, and my head hurt, but not really caring, as long as I was with him.
-x-
Seth's POV
I tried not to read over her shoulder as she typed furiously, staring at the screen, and swearing as she deleted the conclusion of her little email repeatedly, trying to get it right. The temptation was a little too much, really.
Mum, dad.
Please, don't be mad… although you probably are utterly furious. I had to leave because England was suffocating me, and you guys weren't helping. Now you don't have so many problems… although I bet uni has rung you a few times wondering where I am… tell them I am pulling out, please.
I'm alright out here. I've met some people, they're cool. There's this really nice guy who I've been… seeing around a lot, and he's not been too forward or anything, so don't worry. I've met some other people, they're cool too.
I've already bruised myself and my rental broke down on the motorway, but I'm alright now.
As I said… don't worry about me, I'll be alright… and I'll have a good birthday tomorrow as well. I won't be home for a while, so don't worry about sudden appearances or anything…
Love you…
She didn't sign it, I had watched her delete the I've been seeing a lot, we're getting very close and change it to seeing around a lot, and I loved the lie that I wasn't being forward.
"You're anything but slow, Seth," She grinned as she felt me leaning over her shoulder, "I think forward's actually a bit of a weak term for it… upfront werewolf is probably the best phrase." She laughed and I kissed her cheek, she ran a hand through my hair gently, pulling me closer to her shoulder.
"You gonna send it?" I asked as her finger hovered over the mouse for a few seconds.
"You know what?" I shook my head, "do it for me." she wrinkled her nose and looked at the floor. "Welcome to the rest of your life with a coward, Seth Clearwater." Her voice was dejected and her eyes were closed. I loved her even more for admitting it. She swallowed, opening her eyes and staring at her hand. The pointer was still hovering over that lovely little send button.
My hand slid up to cover hers and she smiled at me. I felt her fingers move beneath mine and she clicked the button. Your message has been sent flashed up on the screen and she sighed.
"One less problem to deal with," She said softly as she folded her arms and looked at the screen, logging off and closing the window.
"You're not a coward, Mackenzie." I said softly. "Maybe you're afraid, but you've got every right." I swallowed loudly as she looked at me - why was it she could turn me into a complete mess without even trying? "Max…" She nodded, biting her bottom lip, "You stood there, when I phased, and jumped at you, and you didn't bat an eyelid."
She sighed and closed her eyes.
"You miss home, don't you?" I asked suddenly.
"Some things." A small pause, "The tea's taken care of… I don't really miss Mum and Dad… they were making my life hell anyway… I kind of miss the food." I pulled a face.
"The food? Honestly?"
Max's POV
"I've never gone more than three days without marmite." I have to grin, "It's kind of an obsession of mine."
He grinned at me; don't tell me he had some? I'd kick him for hiding it from me. I smile at him, slightly hopefully.
"I've never heard of it." I sighed, my shoulders dropping as I got up from the computer and switched the screen off. "But I'll ask mom if she knows where we could get some-"
"I think I'm in love with you," I grinned, he smiled at me, slightly missing the humour in my voice. Of course, I was in love with him, but I wouldn't say it just yet.
"Just for marmite?" I put an arm around him, kissed his cheek.
"Well… mainly for marmite."
-x-
A/N: Please review and let me know how I did... :P
Haha... now, tell me, should she get Marmite? Or should I make her suffer? Lol... that's cruel. She'll meet the pack next chapter (or the one after it... dependent on my rambling) haha... and if she does get Marmite, you can bet Quil and Embry will try it... lol...
Also: I need two potentially humiliating Bets... for instance: "I bet you (your humiliating bet here)" Please leave them in your reviews/PMs
I'm really glad you all like it... so i'd appreciate more feedback...
And i'm really, really happy that you keep reading :)
Love you guys
xxx