DISClaimer: I'm not Stephenie Meyer. I make no profit from this.

Hope you enjoy this.

-x-

"Seth… Seth… I-imprinted on me." Her face paled and I took a deep breath, swallowing any other words that might want to escape, "M-maybe I should make you… a cup of tea."

-x-

Seth's POV.

When I got down the stairs, my hair still damp, wearing a faded pair of denim shorts and old, greying trainers, I found mom sitting opposite Max, with a coffee mug in her hand, and a small smile on her face. Mackenzie had her lips against her own mug, which I assume had a good cup of tea in it. My own mug was sitting on the sideboard, steaming almost violently. I could smell tea from that side of the room, so I guessed that was what I'd got.

"Seth, nice of you to join us," Mom looked at me, her smile disappearing.

"Sorry, Mom, I was in the shower." I sat down beside Max, her hand dropped to my knee under the table, and I put my arm around her shoulders with as much calm as I could. "This is Max, by the way."

"Yes, she did tell me." Mom's seriously not happy now. I looked away and blushed. "You don't think you could have picked up the phone, do you?"

"Mrs Clearwater-" Max cut in in my defence.

"Call me Sue, dear," She smiled at Max, who nodded.

"Sue, um… the past four days have gone… pretty quickly, to be honest with you." She smiled, and Mom looked at her, her face softening, "He's been so… good with me, looking after me all the time… he hasn't left my side, Mrs Clearwater…"

"Even so, a five minute phone call, Seth." Mom looked at me, almost pleading. I closed my eyes and tried to fight the guilt in my chest.

"I could have, mom, I'm sorry…" She smiled and looked at me again, her face suddenly aglow with pride.

"It's fine, Seth, just a little bit of an update, next time, yeah?" I nodded furiously, and Max giggled, "So…" Her voice had changed to match her expression, pure pride emanating from her very being. "You imprinted?"

I was nodding before I could think. Max had gone bright pink somewhere in the last line of conversation, her face burning.

"I did."

"Tell me all about it!" She squeaked then turned to Max, "I'll have to get to know you better… I don't really have a lot of time today - I only came back to pick up a couple more cans of paint, I'm helping Bella's father redecorate," There was a moment of silence and I nodded, Max went wide-eyed and wouldn't look at me. Mom sent me a look and I shook my head. I didn't want to get into that whole thing just yet.

"Hey, Max… why don't you…" I paused and looked at her, "Go and get a jacket, and some shoes, and we can be ready to go, yeah?" Mom shot me the dirtiest look. I returned it with a soft, simple gaze, wishing, once more, that Jasper was around to calm the situation down, no matter how unnaturally his methods were.

Mackenzie nodded awkwardly, still blushing, and left me sitting opposite mom, my head swimming violently as I tried to make sense of the situation.

"Well?" Mom is staring at me eagerly. "Tell me, why is she the third girl you've 'imprinted' on in the past eight months?" Her smile is suddenly venomous. "Who is she, and what did you spin to get her to stay?"

"Mom! No, it's nothing like that!" Those other girls were… "They were… nobody. Mackenzie is my imprint." I couldn't get it across hard enough, she felt it too. I found her on the freeway…" I started to explain everything, right down to the almost gravitational-pull that was going on twenty-four-seven between Max and I.

Mom listened intently for fifteen minutes, not taking her eyes from my face. I was sure she wasn't convinced, because she still looked slightly uncertain, but when Max came back into the room, wrapped in a thin coat, not even as thick as a hooded jacket, and I demanded that she returned and took mine from my wardrobe, she bit her lip, sighed and let a huge smile burst onto her face.

"Incredible." She murmured, her smile positively radiant. "You are so your father's son."

"I'll take that as a compliment," I winked at her. "You don't mind if we head out, do you mom? I mean… we would hang out a bit longer, but Max wanted to see the reservation, I thought I would take her around, you know, show her… stuff."

"That's fine." She smiled, "Are you going to hike, or-"

"I was thinking we could borrow one of Jake's bikes, we'd take helmets and stuff…" I stopped talking as she nodded sagely again and smiled. "You don't mind?"

"Not at all." Her voice was almost sad, I don't know, it was… strange. She seemed to be reluctant to say no, but at the same time, I think she was glad to see me happy. Dad's death had been hard for me, it was five years ago, but I could have done with him around, you know? Max had been one of the best things that had happened to me in the past… hell, what was I saying? She was the best thing that had happened to me in my whole life.

I put my arm around her as we walked down the street to Jake's house. It was a mile or so, but we walked it anyway, at a leisurely pace, nothing really making us want to accelerate, no real need to get going, or be anywhere.

I just enjoyed being with her. Her relatively cool skin was comforting, her soft hair against my cheek was marvellous, the sweet scent of her mixing with the earthy scent of the woods around us. Her lips curved into a nervous smile, and she bit her lip as she saw the bikes, gleaming in the sunshine, on Jacob's driveway.

"You know… maybe it wouldn't be such a bad idea if we did hike…"

"Yeah, because you've got boots, don't you?" I replied jovially. "There's no getting out of this, Max, you're gonna get around in style, if you're gonna get around at all." She laughed. "I'll go get the keys and the helmets." She nodded and stretched out on the front lawn for a couple of minutes while I went inside.

Max's POV

I waited for Seth; he appeared about two minutes later, a pair of helmets under his arm. It made me feel better just seeing them, and as he threw one to me, and pulled the other one on himself, he laughed.

"What?" The visor muffled my voice; I slid it up and repeated my question. He grinned.

"You're wearing my jacket."

"You're not wearing anything."

"Jeans."

"On your top half, then, boyo." I grinned, "Come on. I want to see the reservation before I turn twenty one, thank you very much." He grabbed me around the waist, laughing, pulled me off my feet and half-threw me into the air. I shrieked aloud as he caught me before I hit the ground, smacking him hard on the chest.

"What?"

"You're a cheeky bastard." I smirk.

"Thanks." He swung his leg over the bike and motioned for me to get on, I obliged happily, pulling the coat tighter around myself. It got warmer suddenly as he turned the bike around and I wrapped my arms around him tight. He laughed and the bike roared into life. He was moving so fast, I barely had time to register his gentle command of, "Feet up," before we were racing along the street.

Seth's POV

She was holding onto me tight, I was her personal radiator for the day, if she said the word, I would be her personal slave for the day… hell, if she said the right words, I would be her personal radiator for life. Who was I kidding? I was already hers for life. She just didn't know it yet.

"Seth, slow down!" she squeaked nervously, her voice barely carrying to me at the speed we were going. I laughed and did as she requested, sighing sadly.

"I was having fun…" I protested mildly. She growled from her throat loudly and my head snapped round.

"Watch the road." She said softly. "You look away for a second, we could go smack! Into a tree."

"You growled." I think my tone of voice might have betrayed the panic in my heart.

"I did indeed." She laughed. "Don't worry, I'm not a wolf." her arms tightened around me. "I think my stitches prove that unconditionally." She laughed into my ear again. "I don't wanna die on my birthday," She whispered, barely audible as I turned the corner, onto the main track into the forest.

I kept going for five miles, until the trail really ran out and it left us rumbling along, dodging trees and roots pretty dangerously. We abandoned the bike, locking it up at the furthest-into-the-forest gatepost, and carrying on on foot.

I ended up walking towards the beach, to be honest, as we got to the cliffs where Jared, Sam and Embry still went diving from, I realised Max had seen the people standing up at the top and stiffened, probably scared of being introduced to anybody new. I looked a little longer and realised it was just Embry and Jared, probably waiting for Sam to turn up, or Jacob. He'd mentioned taking a trip up to the cliffs.

Then I remembered what I'd said to Embry on Thursday.

"Well, you can always come diving, Seth, if you wanna?"

"Remember last time, Em'?" Jake laughed, "He nearly broke his leg…"

"I'll come next time, OK?" I laughed as he pouted, and he smiled.

"I'll hold you to that, Seth."

They were looking at me expectantly, too.

I closed my eyes and tried not to look at Max, but I think she felt my panic anyway, because she gripped my wrist and stopped walking. I nearly dragged her on anyway, stopping just in time as I realised she was frowning.

"Seth?" She said softly. "What's up?"

"I… kind of… it's nothing. Come on. Let's go see Jared and Embry." I gestured up the road to the cliff top.

"What're they doing?" I smiled at her words.

"Jumping off a cliff."

"You're all mental. Every one of you."

"Purely recreational purposes, Mackenzie," She shrieked as Quil appeared behind her, grabbed her around the waist and let her drop onto her bad leg. When she had regained her balance and used enough curses to damn the pain to hell, she looked at him and aimed a kick at his… area. "Hey!"

"No pain, no gain, Quil." I had to giggle as his eyes widened, and she took half a lunge towards him.

"Ooh, I'm so scared." He laughed and she nearly got him, her kicks more accurate than I had thought. "OK. Maybe I am scared."

"Be scared, Quil. I see you when you sleep."

"I love this girl." he threw his arm around her shoulders and I sent him a glare. He rolled his eyes and sighed, but didn't withdraw his arm. He did love to mess with me.

"Hey, Quil! Is that Seth and…" A moment of hesitation, "Max you got with you?" Jared was looking, Embry was laughing.

"Yeah."

"You guys jumping?" Max froze beside me, and Quil looked at her strangely. I could almost hear her heartbeat quicken nervously as she blushed and shook her head.

"I-I've never done it before." Max whispered, looking at me. "It seems to be something… utterly ridiculous to do." Another pause, "I'd probably break my neck anyway."

"Life needs spice, Max." I grinned, "But if you don't want to jump, I'll stay up here with you?" I think she could tell I was desperate to get stuck in, because she shook her head.

"I'm alright. Don't you need trunks or something to wear?" I nodded. It was probably best.

"I'll run back to the bike. Jake usually keeps some stuff in there… maybe he left some trunks." I ran back to the treeline, phased, and ran back to the bike, and awkwardly opened the storage compartment. After much rummaging, I found a couple of pairs of shorts, and a t-shirt I could wear on the way back later. I took them all back with me, figuring that as the weather was getting better, Max might want something a little less… denim to wear. She took them gratefully, disappeared for a minute to put them on, and returned with her hair up, her top, the blue and white one, pulled up so we could see her midriff if she stretched, and Jake's shorts practically falling down on her. She looked so tiny, but she drew them tighter around her and sat down in the grass by the cliff edge, watching the sea-spray bash against the rocks.

I groaned inwardly as she looked up at me, her eyes wide and slightly fearful. I didn't want to see her like this, because I wouldn't be able to say no. I bit my lip, stepped closer to her, and kissed her gently.

Her hands found their way into my hair, and she tugged me closer, almost pulling me on top of her as I nearly lost my balance. It was more exhilarating than any jump I'd made before, and probably that I'd ever make again, but I wanted to prove I wasn't the useless little pup I used to be, the eighteen year old who had nearly broken his leg diving was gone, replaced by the nineteen year old who had imprinted, and was desperate to impress.

"You're diving, Seth?" Jared grinned, "Don't hurt yourself, dude."

I laughed and walked ten paces, loving the feel of running towards what, for a normal person, could be severely painful. If I landed wrong, it would be a matter of Jared or Embry pulling whatever bone I'd broken out straight, and letting it heal quickly before I ran back up here.

I put my best sprint on, Jared and Embry cleared the way, and I flew over the mud, my bare feet loving the feeling of the earth between my toes as I launched into the air, flying.

I turned to look in midair, seeing the guys grinning and a look of horror on Max's face. But I'm flying. It's incredible. Freefall makes my heart flutter and I move into my dive within seconds.

I'm flying.

-x-

A/N: Please review and let me know how I did... :P

I'm really glad you all like it... so i'd appreciate more feedback...

And i'm really, really happy that you keep reading :)

I've had a really good day today. Several cancelled lessons and some hands of cards cleared yesterdays anger and hurt.

Still. Reviews are my hugs, so please drop me a line...

Love you guys

xxx