California Girl

Thanks for the reviews! And thank you to the people who read this and my other story too, you're all wonderful! :D

Cross Promotion Time: I have another story all about Scarlett and Seth, so if you like Seth/OC stories, check it out :)

Disclaimer: I do not own anything you recognize, but I own the characters of The Bird Family, The Hunter Family and friends. Thanks!

Chapter Song Elvis Presley

11. Can't Help Falling In Love

Like a river flows surely to the sea
Darling so it goes
Some things are meant to be
Take my hand, take my whole life too
For I can't help falling in love with you...

Two months later...

It was wrong. I knew it was... But she just loved him so much more than me.

I sat in the tree line outside her house, waiting for her to run outside with a plate of pancakes, just for me and her.

"Mr Wolf!" She yelled, walking down the steps on her porch in a little white sundress that made me want to give up the vow of celibacy I had apparently taken right before I met Carmen.

She lay a blanket down on the ground and put a blanket next to her. She placed a plate of food just next to it, before sitting down carefully smoothing her dress as she went.

I ran out, sitting beside her, before lying down, placing my head on her lap as she stretched out. La Push was good to us today, giving us sunlight every now and again- it was summer vacation after all.

And yet... Carmen still didn't know who I was... Or care that I was in love with her as a human.

'It's wrong, Emb!'

'Dude, just tell her.'

'The longer you wait, the harder it'll be... That's what she said!'

But I'd ignored Jared, Quil, and Paul, and asked them to keep it secret from their imprints- if they could.

Quil had told Claire instantly, and Sam said he was allowed to tell Emily because he's alpha and he's awesome- his words. Kim and Rachel probably knew too, but Scarlett didn't, having never been too good at piecing together parts of the supernatural, therefore, never asking Seth, so he never needed to tell her.

"I missed you so much." She scratched my head and stroked my neck. She was totally a dog person, no matter what she said about liking cats more. "I'm so glad that it's summer... Mom and Dad said I can go back for a couple of weeks... but I don't really want to... I mean... I wanna spend all summer with you!"

I couldn't believe it.

Was this Carmen 'I hate Forks more than anything on the whole entire planet, please, please, please take me back to San Diego!' Bird?

Carmen liked me as a human... But she refused to admit feelings for me because, and I quote from Carmen and Edith talking in Port Angeles last Friday (when I wasn't stalking her), "My guy is too great to throw away for Embry... No matter how amazing his butt looks in those cut-off jeans..."

I've also recently gained a wide collection of cut-offs, and I regret nothing.

We ate and she talked, but I felt as if she didn't really wanna tell me about Edith going to the Netherlands or Juliette going to London.

Finally, she sighed and some sort of barrier seemed to break down in her.

"Mr Wolf..."

I looked up to see her face slightly sad, which made my heart start beating harder.

"I really wanna..." She stopped and looked down, seeming nervous.

I bumped my nose against her, something that she knew meant to keep talking, and she blushed.

"I want to kiss you."

So go call Embry.

"...If I promised not to peek... Would you become a human for just a second?"

Oh god.

Oh crap, oh crap-

"...Unless you don't like me..."

Carmen from San Diego would've never been shy about kissing someone she wanted to kiss, but I had made her that way by not wanting to rush into having sex with her.

Damn my morals!

"Please, Mr Wolf."

She looked at me with those big brown eyes and I knew I couldn't say no.

I nodded, and stood up, walking round to the bundled up blanket.

"I-I brought that because I didn't know if you'd still be naked or anything..." She was blushing, but held a smirk. "Though I wouldn't object to some butt-action."

Thank god she wasn't gonna see my face, because, damnit, was I blushing.

She closed her eyes and I stayed still for a few moments, deciding if she was going to try and look.

At least then you wouldn't have to deal with telling her...

Taking the blanket and a few steps backwards, I phased back and wrapped the blanket around myself. I walked back over slowly, my heart racing at the thought that she could catch me and hate me for lying to her.

I heard that her heartbeat was racing just as fast as mine. I moved closer, and her heartbeat got faster. I sat down and stared at her face for a few seconds.

She was perfect. People who hadn't imprinted on her knew she was stunning and everyone (minus the Cullens, Jake and, depending on the day, Scarlett and Kim) loved her extrovert personality. She was fun and smart and beautiful.

And she was mine.

I leaned forward and slowly put my hand on her cheek. Her heartbeat increased and her breathing hitched ever so slightly. She touched her hand to mine and jumped slightly, as if she hadn't realized I was actually there.

When her mouth opened ever so slightly, I almost broke down and told her it was me, but I managed not too, and moved my hand to touch hers in her lap. She shuffled forward, her dress crinkling slightly, but she didn't care.

I realeased her hand and brought it up to cup her face like the other was doing.

It'd been too long since we'd kissed, but I didn't want to rush it. I'd never gotten to look at her like this when we'd been together before.

We were so close, and with my hands on her face, I could definitely see that her skin was more olive-y than mine. Her lips weren't thin like the other Quileute girls, hers were full. I desperately wanted to see her eyes this closely, but tried to push passed it.

She made that easier when she tilted her chin forward ever so slightly and let her mouth fall slightly open.

"Um... Mr... Man?" She giggled a little bit, and I couldn't take it anymore. I moved closer and her heart pounded even faster. I moved my face to hers and gently brushed my lips against her, but she wasn't taking that.

She brought her hands up and onto my neck, threading them into my hair, pulling me closer so that our lips fully connected.

The kiss got more passionate quickly and she ran her hand over my chest, before pulling her lips away and leaning her forehead against my shoulder.

"I've wanted to do that since forever." She whispered, wrapping her arms around my body. I put my arms around her neck and pressed my face into her hair, breathing in the mixed scent of vanilla and cinnamon.

I was about to answer when I realized that she'd know my voice straight away. How often had we sat and talked during Study Hall or PE?

"Hmm..." I cringed at the groaning noise, but she laughed and then lifted her head up, her eyes closed. She kissed my lips again lightly, before she kissed my jaw, then my neck.

Why didn't I phase sooner?!

I heard sound coming from Quil's house and couldn't stop the sigh that I did.

"What is it?" She mumbled into my neck. I didn't have to explain when the noise got louder and Carmen heard something being smashed. "Oh, oh, oh! I'll see you, see you!"

She rambled, scrambling to her feet, her hand clamped over her eyes.

"U-Uh... if you just, you know, give me the blankets and I'll see you... bye!" She held her hand out, and I bundled up the blankets for her to take, then started running backwards to the woods.

And I swear to god, I heard somebody whistle.

"Carmen, it's me. I'm your wolf." I admitted as we stood on the beach, hand in hand.

"Yay!" She grinned. "I love you so much, Embry, this is perfect!" She hugged me, then I pulled away.

"You're my imprint!"

"I know exactly what that is and I totally accept you!"

"Will you marry me?"

I never got to hear the answer to that, because a tickling sensation on my upper lip made me start to wake up. Scarlett was standing at the end of the couch.

"Hey, Scarlett." I murmured, stretching. I rubbed my eyes and yawned, before looking more closely at Scarlett.

She didn't seem to be as beautiful as I'd always thought she was. Even after I'd imprinted, I still considered Scarlett to be a close second to Carmen as the most beautiful girl in the world, but looking more closely at her now, I could see that Carmen was miles ahead of anyone as being the world's biggest babe.

God, I sound like her.

I realized that she was holding something and my eyes widened.

"What's that?" I asked, causing her to scream and throw a marker pen at me.

"It was Quil!" She ran out, still screaming, and I felt like screaming too when I ran to the bathroom.

On my forehead, 'I Love Quil', and on my lip, half a mustache.

"Embry?" I heard Emily knock on the open door, before walking in and quickly covering her mouth with her hands, trying to cover her laughter.

"I'm supposed to be meeting Carmen at four!" I yelled, rubbing my mouth.

"I-Is it permanent?" She asked, trying not to laugh. I grabbed the pen from it's resting place on the sink and let out a sigh of relief. Non-Permanent.

"No, thank god." I rubbed my face, removing the half-mustache and the 'I'.

"Emb... it's four-fifteen..." She mumbled, picking up a towel and soaking it. "Drive and scrub?"

"Thanks, Emily." I took it from her, grumbling and cursing as I ran out of the house.

She was still wearing the sundress from earlier, looking as stunning as ever, which made me feel ridiculously stupid, standing at my truck, dressed in cut-offs and a t-shirt.

Me and Carmen had become friends and had a movie-marathon every Saturday.

Last week she'd told me about her ex-boyfriend, Vince, and even though she seemed to leave out parts, he still sounded like a total-

"Hey." She grinned.

"Hey." I missed you.

"You wanna pick the movie?"

"No, you can."

"You said that last time."

"Well, there's always next week!" I felt her freeze, probably because she'd only told 'Mr Wolf' that she was staying in Forks, but had been telling me that she couldn't wait to 'get the hell out of this dump that's full of losers like you, Emb'. "...U-Unless you're already in California then."

"Y-Yeah, I probably will be." She was lying, but I pretended not to notice. "Grammy's at Billy Black's again. I'm really worried that they're dating or something because I really hate Jacob." She started to walk back inside, and I followed.

"So, uh, what are we watching today?"

"I don't know... I guess... maybe-" She stopped walking and looked at my face. "Do you have 'Quil' written on your forehead?"

"Probably." I rubbed my face again, and she laughed and kept walking, opening the front door.

"Quil's such a loser." She shook her head and laughed, then closed the door behind me.

"You don't have to get out to great me every time, you know."

"I know." She smiled and sat on the couch, patting the place next to her. "Do anything nice today?"

Spent all morning with you and then ate and slept at Emily and Sam's, having dreams of you accepting me being your wolf and stuff.

"Uh, hung out at Emily and Sam's, helped with wedding plans and stuff, you?"

Spent all morning with me and then did other things while being so beautiful I don't understand how I deserve you as an imprint.

"Just hung out with Grammy. Made a cake. You can have a slice later."

Half an hour later, we were sitting eating the best cake on Earth, watching a really bad Lifetime movie that my mom would love.

"Lawrence, I love you."

"I know, Sharon, but my body is in a coma, and I can't keep living in the body of my best friend, Gabe."

"But Lawrence-"

"No, you should marry Gabe. You'll be happy. I have to go now, other people need my help."

"This is really bad." I murmured.

If I hated it, it was terrible.

My mom had raised me to find these sort of movies sweet and filled with ideal men that I should strive to become.

Carmen shook her head and swatted her hand at me. I chuckled and took the time to watch her. She was leaning forward, her hands covering her mouth and nose. She sniffed slightly, then sat back against the couch, right next to me.

"It's so sweet!" She rested her head on my shoulder, so I put my arm around her shoulders. She settled right into it and wrapped her arm around my waist.

"Carmen, I'm Mr-" My phone cut me off by vibrating from my pocket, onto her stomach making her squeal.

"Don't do that! I'm ticklish!"

Commit that to memory.

"Sorry..." I checked my phone to find a text from Quil.

Dude, sorry if you're busy, but Jake says there's trouble, all wolves to the Vamp house now.

I texted him back that I'd meet him at his place and then looked at Carmen, trying to figure out how to pull away from her.

"Is that your mom?" She asked, turning off the movie. I just nodded, hating having to lie to her.

Yet you still have yet to tell her about your being a wolf, much less her wolf! IDIOT.

"See you later?" She asked, sounding... hopeful. It was nice. She actually cared about me, even if just as a friend. I nodded again, grinning. I walked to the door, but she stopped me by grabbing the doorknob.

"Yes?" I asked, not sure what to do. She smiled and laughed lightly, then pulled me into a hug. "You're my best friend, Embry."

Dude, you got friendzoned.

He totally did!

God, stop being such a chick about it and screw her.

I phased back, really not needing the helpful commentary from Jared, Leah and Paul.

We'd met with the Cullens two days ago, and yesterday Scarlett had turned up in the woods and been threatened by Aro. It was horrible, seeing her up there, tiny and frail, being told that she'd be perfect for the experiment.

Which experiment, you ask?

Only the experiment to turn girls into the surrogates for their hybrid children.

Seth wasn't just upset about that, Alec, a kid-vampire, had 'laid the moves on her' (as Paul so elegantly put it).

Now, I was picking up Carmen, who had been alone since all of her friends had been busy.

"Where the hell is everyone?" She asked as we got into my truck.

"We've been at the Cullen's... They have these camping trips and they invited us because we know Nessie."

"Well, Kim didn't go. I saw her in the grocery store the other day. She didn't want to talk to me though, 'cause, you know, she hates me."

"Kim doesn't hate you!"

"Sure she does." She didn't look the least bit upset. "You know why? Because Jared is in love with me!"

"Huh?"

"Yeah, but I've already made it very clear to him, I'm totally all for Kim and Jared because they're adorable, and yes, Jared is über hot and all, but he's like a brother to me."

"You think Jared's hot?" Well, I'm gonna bite Jared later.

"Duh." She rolled her eyes. "Where are we going?"

"Where do you wanna go?"

"Hmm... The Cullen house."

"No... Nessie hates you, remember?" It was a cheap shot, but I didn't want Carmen anywhere near Forks.

"Fine. I'll go myself." She put her hand on the door, even though we were still moving. She began to pull on the handle, which made me freak out.

"Fine, fine! The Cullen house!"

She giggled and sat back in her seat.

"You're such a pushover, Emb."

God, I love the way she says Emb.

Carmen POV

I didn't really know why I was going to the Cullen house, I think it was because Embry had said that everyone was there, and I felt bad about myself.

I hopped out, Embry following closely behind.

I don't like Embry, remember.

I liked Mr Wolf. My heart belonged to Mr Wolf. Embry was... my friend... that's all I wanted.

The Cullen house was...

Oh my god.

This was a house that seemed to elite for the people of Beverly Hills to live in, yet, it seemed to fit in perfectly with the thick forest that surrounded it.

It also seemed to fit the Cullens perfectly, and I realized that this was exactly the house I would've pictured Nessie living in.

An angel opened the door, her hair all pretty and her skin all pale. Her eyes were the color of the Cullens, and I assumed this was their adoptive mother.

"Oh, hello... I'm Esme. You must be Embry's girlfriend-"

"No!" I didn't mean to sound so offended, but I also wanted to make sure that everyone knew that Embry and I were just friends. Plus, I had Mr Wolf, and I only wanted him.

Pretty much...

And the dreams of Embry being Mr Wolf mean nothing!

"Esme, who is it?" A total hottie walked to the door and stood beside Esme. "Oh, hello, Embry! Glad you could come over! Nessie and Jake are inside and Scarlett's still asleep." He laughed a perfect laugh, then they both stepped aside to let us walk in. "You must be Carmen, we've heard a lot about you."

"Welcome, welcome. Please, come and have some lunch." Esme gestured towards a room behind her in the huge house. We followed them both into the large kitchen.

"It's beautiful." I whispered without realizing, thankfully, I said it quietly enough that no one would hear-

"Oh, thank you!" Esme smiled.

"It's nice to meet you." I murmured to the couple. They smiled perfect smiles that made me feel ridiculously ugly.

"I'm Carlisle, I'm a doctor and I've worked with your grandmother, do tell her I said hello." He grinned, then looked to the door. "Please excuse us."

"Help yourself to any food and please, make yourself at home." With a smile, they left. Embry immediately walked over to the cabinets and pulled out some bags of chips with a grin.

"You hungry?"

"Sure." I sat at the breakfast bar and gazed into the direction that the Cullens had left. "How hot is Doctor Cullen?"

"What?" He froze as he was placing the bags of chips down in front of me. "You think Carlisle is... hot?!"

"Duh." I rolled my eyes. He had been shocked twice when I'd told him that, yes, I did notice super hot guys.

"...So... uh... Edith... she's not- I mean, you're not... hanging out with her today?"

"Nu-uh. She's gone to Neverland so-"

"Neverland?" He grinned, and I felt myself blush. I never usually let people noticing me being an idiot get to me, but the way that Embry chuckled his wonderful laugh really hit me hard.

"I meant Netherland..." I inwardly groaned at my stupidity. "The Netherlands."

"You're too cute for your own good." We both froze. I think that even as best friends, we both knew each other was hot, but we never... talked about it. I blushed and stayed still as he walked around the counter to sit next to me.

"So... why is everyone here?"

"No reason." He said, almost too quickly. "What did Nina Lakes say to you last Friday? I saw her come up to you."

I rolled my eyes at the memory and scoffed.

"She said that she was really sorry that she was ever mean to me and that Juan thought we'd be great friends, and then, I said- oh, hey, Scarlett!" I grinned as she came into the kitchen, her hair on end, her eyes squinted at the light.

Her eyes moved from me to Embry, then a pitying look crossed her face.

"Hi. What are you doing here?" She walked passed me to sit next to Embry on the other side.

"Looking for someone to hang out with. No one is left in La Push, seriously. Plus, all my Forks friends are vacationing. Stupid fricken summer. I want to go home!"

I'm such a liar.

"I know, but how'd you even get through the front door?" She asked, half-joking. I rolled my eyes and stuffed more chips into my mouth.

"Hot doctor let me in. Like, seriously, have you seen that guy? Wow."

"Shut up, Carmen." She muttered, which made me only want to annoy her more.

"Like, I might have to become Chucky's best friend, because, wow, is that guy-"

"Please stop talking." Nessie said, sounding on the edge of vomit, which made me laugh. "That's my grand- my, um, dad."

Grand what? God, this family is weird.

"Adoptive dad." I pointed out, ignoring the grand thing. I went back to my mission of getting Chucky to vomit. "He's so hot, like, your entire family is, but him? Wow."

"Shut up!" Scarlett yelled, which made me pissed. No one tells me what to do, especially not the virgin with the ridiculously hot boyfriend.

"Ugh, just because you need to get laid-"

"No, Carmen, not today, go away!"

Not today? What did that meant? I'd have to get Embry to tell me later.

"I hope you don't mean me!" Edward and Bella followed some beautiful people in, and Nessie squealed.

"Aunt Carmen! Uncle Eleazar!"

I looked over at the couple. They're skin was marble-like, like the Cullens, but it had a slightly tan underlying. I stood up and walked over to them.

"Oh my god, no way! My name's Carmen! We're destined to be best friends, you know?" I put my hand on her shoulder, but I jumped and pulled it back. She was fricken freezing! "Frostbite!" I did what I usually did if I happened to touch the Cullens by accident in school, and found the nearest Quileute guy to warm me up. I put my hand on Embry's shoulder and tried to ignore the smile he gave me.

"It's nice to meet you." Other Carmen smiled as perfectly as the Cullens. It was weird how none of them seemed related, but they all had similar qualities.

"Is that a Spanish accent? My mom's Spanish too!" I was being a dork, but I wanted these people to like me. I loved the thought of the Spaniards sticking together (and fighting the evil Cullens that weren't nice to me).

"So, you speak the language?"

"Por supuesto, el español es la lengua más hermosa del mundo!" I grinned, which made her smile too and nod.

"Come on, Scar, you take Spanish." Nessie urged her, and I swear Scarlett almost broke into a sweat.

"Uh, um... 'It's, uh... super! Spanish is the language of sisters and Mondays'." I looked at Carmen and couldn't help but laugh with her and Eleazar. I totally carried her through the classes.

"She said, 'of course, Spanish is the most beautiful language in the world'." Eleazar informed her. I couldn't resist joining in.

"Idiota-"

"I know what that means, Minnie."

I scoffed at the nickname and glanced down at Embry to see my hand still on his shoulder. I snatched it back, and I swear to god, his face fell slightly.

"Come on, I'll take you home... let the Cullens talk to their friends." Embry stood up and nodded his head towards the door.

"Ugh, fine, but we're coming back, right?" I felt so pathetic and everything, but I really wanted to be friends with these Spanish people who seemed nice enough.

I only had a handful of friends here; Mr Wolf, Embry, Edith, Quil, a few of the wolves and Kim and Scarlett on a good day. I guess that Juan, the Latino I'd met on the beach, was kinda my friend, but because of his closeness with Nina and Natalie, he rarely talked to me outside of the English class we shared with Nessie.

"Sure." Embry waved at Nessie and Scarlett, then grabbed my shoulders and pulled me out of the door.

Well, I hope you guys like this! Let me know what you think! I hope you like the time skip :) Please let me know! :D