Chapter 22: Seth's Invitation


Max PoV


Fourteen pairs of expectant eyes stared at me as I steeled myself for the great lie.

"Okay. The Volturi want me, Bella, and the Flock, right? Well we can give them what they want. Wait! I'm not finished!" I said, seeing the sceptical edge to the Vampires' gazes. "What if we could give them what they want, without actually giving it to them? Listen..."

My mouth spilled a gracious and complicated plan, and I saw the hope building in every face in the room.

To be perfectly honest, I have no idea what I said the plan was. It was simply a decoy. Something to distract them while I carried out the real plan.

So I continued to butter them all up to it, getting them to believe it would work, and I would be safe. I wouldn't really, but they would. And that's all I care about.

I rounded up my speech and everyone burst into conversation. I tried to follow some of it, but my eyes began to drift shut.

Hey, almost dying tires a person!

The noise began to fade, and then it vanished all together. I opened my eyes, to see that everyone had gone. A quiet chuckle came from behind me when I jerked upright.

"They've all gone to bed." Fang explained. He squeezed in next to me on the huge armchair.

I sighed and drew my knees to my chest, hugging them tightly. Fang hesitated, and then slid his arm round my back. Too tired to care, I leant against him and rested my head on his shoulder.

We sat like that for ages. I don't know how long. I might have fallen asleep, I don't know that either. But it was great. I would have been happy to sit like that all night.

Of course, it couldn't last.

"Seth seems to be quite taken with you." Fang said out of the blue. He sounded angry, probably just being over protective again.

He, in one short statement, completely ruined the mood.

I pushed away from him, standing up.

"Fang, I can look after myself, okay?" I turned and walked out the door.

Overly dramatic, I know. But...

Seth likes me? I can use that to my advantage. I need to have a huge fight with Fang. It'll hurt, like really hurt. Sure. But it means it'll be easier for the Flock if I get hurt too badly.

Which is incredibly likely, Maximum.

Get lost! You couldn't come up with anything better, so this is the plan.

There is a ninety-nine percent chance this will kill you.

That made me stop dead in my tracks. I knew it would be bad, but can my own head really do that to me?

I shook it off. It was for the Flock, and the Voice was just trying to scare me. Wasn't it?

Walking outside, I saw Seth sitting by himself on the porch.

"Hey." I called.

He looked up at me and smiled.

"You mind if I join you?"

"No. Take a seat."

We sat for a while, just staring out at the sunset. Neither one of us saying anything.

"So what do you have to do with all of this?" I asked, breaking the overpowering silence between us.

"Nothing really. I was just out for a walk. Thinking about a couple of things, you know. And I heard shouting, so I ran to the cliff. And I saw you guys." He shrugged. "It was just coincidence.

"Did you know about the Cullens?"

"Nope. I just knew that no-one down in LA Push likes them. Especially not Sam's gang, but I thought that was just because of Bella."

"What do you mean? What does Bella have to do with them?"

Seth sighed. "Jacob is in love with Bella. And she loves Edward."

"So they hate the Cullens because Bella doesn't love Jacob?" I seriously didn't understand what Seth was getting at.

"No. Edward left Bella. He just left. She was a mess. A real mess. Jacob helped her get herself back together. He fell in love with her. And he thought she loved him back. But then some stuff happened. I don't really know what. But Bella went away, and when she came back, Edward was with her. They've been inseparable ever since."

"So they hate the Cullens because they hurt Bella so badly, and then just came back as if nothing had happened? And the vampire thing, obviously."

"Pretty much yeah. You catch on quick."

"Thanks." I grinned at him, and he smiled back.

"Hey, do you, um, wanna go down to the beach with me? Its okay if you don't, but I just thought that I could show you this really cool place. Like nobody knows about it, and I was just wanting to show you. Just if you wanted to. We don't have to tell anyone, we could just go. Just me and you. Unless you think I'm gonna like, kidnap you, or something. Don't worry; I won't hurt you. Not that I could. No, I just thought you'd appreciate it. Like the beach. And you could get a break...What?"

The smile had been building the whole time he rambled. Then, I couldn't help it, I started laughing.

"Great. And now you're laughing at me. Great." He sighed and got up to go inside.

"No...Wait...Seth, just wait." It came out muffled between my laughter, but he got the message.

"What?"

"I'd love to."

"Huh?"

I giggled, "I'd love to see the beach."

"Really?" His eyes lit up, and I couldn't help but to smile again.

"Yeah. Why not?"