AN: Sorry this took longer than normal, I had a hospital stay and I've been on some serious pain killers from an emergency surgery making writing a little harder than normal. Luckily I am already well into the next chapter so I should have it out soon. Oh, and thank you all so much for all the reviews! Over a hundred and I'm only on chapter eleven, you guys are great! Enjoy!
Chapter Eleven
Familiar Surroundings
Seth rushed me out of the house before I could do, or say, anything to my dad and I was hauled into an old black van, stumbling next to Nessie in the back of the empty bed. Jacob was in the driver's seat and sitting in the passenger seat was Paul, in the back of the van with Nessie and I was Seth and Quil. I think I landed on poor Quil when I was tossed in, but I couldn't tell because Nessie pulled me into a neck breaking hug before I could see.
Nessie pulled away after someone coughed. "Good breakfast?" She asked happily.
"Was I just abducted?" I asked once I got my bearings on the whole situation.
"Technically, no, your father entrusted us with your care. But it does kind of feel like it, huh?" Seth explained with a goofy grin.
I looked around the van, I was smooshed behind the passenger seat and Quil while the van ambled down a bumpy road. Nessie was on the other side between Seth and the back of Jacob's seat. "Where are we going?" I asked looking at the back of Jacob's head then to Nessie.
"Down to First Beach, it's actually a nice day for once, we won't let this opportunity pass." Nessie answered with a bright smile.
"Do I need a bathing suit?" I asked looking down at my dress.
Seth was the first to answer me. "Nah, were not swimming today, just goofing off until the bonfire tonight." He said with a small shrug.
"Bonfire?" I asked confused. I was pretty sure no had bonfires anymore.
Nessie nodded. "Yup,"
I looked directly to my left to Quil for clarification. He seemed to know a lot. "You never got to go to one before you left, so that's your welcome home party."
I was about to express my undying gratitude when Jacob had to take a sharp turn and I was about to go barreling through the bed of the van when Quil's arm shot out in front of me and pinned me to the side of the van until the turn was done. He threw a vicious glare toward Jacob once the van wasn't trying to throw around anymore of its passengers.
"Sorry! It was a squirrel." Jacob yelled over his shoulder.
Quil reluctantly let his arm fall from in front of me. "They get crazier in the summer." He mumbled to himself as he relaxed against the van.
"It's the heat." Seth said knowingly.
"It's like seventy-eight degrees." I pointed out befuddled. Apparently, these people have never been to Florida in August.
"Technically that's warm for the weather around here." Nessie answered my questioning look.
"I forgot, its usually cold and wet around here." I mumbled, I kind of thought it was always wet and cold here.
"Yeah, not very exciting, but at least you came when the weather was nice." Seth said excitedly, still bouncing like a six-year old on Christmas. I like Seth, he's always just so happy.
"How long do you think I have before it goes back to being cold and wet?" I asked hopefully. I don't mind cold and wet, but warm and dry is nicer.
"About two months tops." Seth answered frowning.
"So, I guess we better soak it up now." I said trying to look out of the window next to Jacob's head only to see the big blue sky and the tops of trees.
"That's the plan." Jacob said as he turned on to a much smoother road.
Seth started talking about the beach and the bonfire in great detail. Quil and Nessie were trying their hardest not to roll their eyes at their over-excited friend. We bounced around the van a little longer before Jacob stopped. Seth bailed out of the back and Nessie gracefully climbed out. Quil half crawled out and waited for me and helped me out as well.
I looked up at him once my feet were on the ground. "Thanks," I said smiling.
He smiled back at me. "No problem," he said as he shoved his hands into his pockets. I definitely like this new talkative Quil.
I looked around the beach of black stones and all of the people frolicking on it. There were several groups playing with kites and Frisbees while one large group played football. Very few people were actually swimming. "Are there always so many people here?" I asked confused.
"Only on good days." Nessie sighed with a slight frown.
"Come on, we brought fishing poles." Seth said brightly, nodding to Paul who walked up to us with an armful of fishing gear. I never thought she would be excited about fishing.
"Fishing?" I asked confused.
"Yeah, got a problem with that?" Paul asked defensively. Jacob threw his elbow in the shorter man's ribs while Quil glared at him.
"I've never fished in my life." I muttered, giving everyone an apologetic look.
"You did once when you were little." Quil said quietly.
Was there anything I couldn't do when I was a kid? "Unfortunately, none of my younger skills carried over into adulthood." I said with a shrug.
"That's okay, we'll teach you again. You've got a better attention span this time so it should be easier." Seth said taking a fishing pole from Paul and handing it to me.
"What else could I do as a kid?" I asked curiously. I'm still not sure if I could trust what my mother had told me about when I was younger.
"Walk on your hands, roller skate backwards and jump from any height and land on your feet." Quil answered with a hint of a smile.
Well, Mom sure left out a few details about when I was little. "Wow, I was talented." I mumbled, feeling a little self-esteem drain from my being. Nothing is more self-deprecating then when you loose a talent or two from when you were younger.
"You had a lot of time on your hands." Seth said patting my shoulder.
"Hey, I was a kid, all I had to worry about was nap time." I countered.
We walked down the beach, passing the copious amounts of people frolicking along, and climbed the rocks out toward the ocean. I ended up on a rock with Quil and Seth while Paul, the more serious fisher, had his own rock and Jacob and Nessie took the rock nearest to us. I was settled between the two giants, trying to follow what they were doing but I was already lost.
I was trying to find the hook while Seth already had a worm through his and was getting ready to cast his line. "How on Earth do I work this?" I asked looking between Quil and Seth.
Quil took pity on my clueless self and set his pole to the side. Smiling down at me and reached over to grab my fishing pole. "First of all, you have to detach the hook." He said trying not to smirk as he pulled the hook out of one of the rings the fishing wire was looped through.
"Oh," I mumbled indignantly.
Contrary to my lack of knowledge pertaining to fishing I had a lot of fun with Seth and Quil on our little rock. I almost slipped into the ocean twice but luckily my Quileute bodyguards grabbed me before I did. I caught nothing, there were a few nibbles but I didn't get a fish that wanted my bait. Seth caught one, Quil got two and Paul got five easily. Jacob and Nessie didn't really spend all that much time fishing and caught nothing like me.
Quil told me I was the reason he caught his second fish was because I put the bait on his hook. I think he was just trying to get me to feel a little less stupid, but I didn't really need it. I'll try anything once and I usually have no skill with what I'm trying so I never expect to go in at expert level.
Once Paul was satisfied with what he had caught we walked back to the van and put the fish away in the cooler that had been made as a center console and Nessie pulled a Frisbee from the glove compartment.
"Fetch?" She asked teasingly.
"How 'bout you fetch?" Paul asked lowly.
"But you guys are so good at it." Nessie said innocently, tossing the Frisbee at him.
Paul and Nessie started a staring each other down and Seth looked to me. "Wanna play Claire?" He asked hopefully.
I shook my head. They don't need to know that I can't fish and that I throw like a girl all in the same day. "No thanks, I'll watch."
"You're loss, go long Quil!" Paul said throwing the Frisbee down the beach. Quil growled lowly and ran after the flying disk.
Nessie and I started walking down the beach, down to where the four others were playing and sat away from them, watching as Seth took a long and painful dive for the Frisbee. "Are you having fun?" Nessie asked hopefully.
"Yeah, fishing is actually kind of enjoyable." I said with a surprised smile.
"The guys pretty much demanded we take you fishing, I was just hoping you would actually like it." Nessie said guiltily.
"Sitting on a rock in the ocean with two big guys and bowl of worms is always fun." I said smiling widely.
Nessie laughed at that. "Wanna go shopping tomorrow?" She offered brightly.
"Yes," I moaned thankfully.
"DUCK!" One of the deep voices of our male company yelled. I looked up and caught the Frisbee without much effort.
The guys were a little shocked that I could actually catch something. "Nice catch!" Seth yelled happily.
I smiled and handed the Frisbee to Nessie. "Here, I can't throw to save my life." I mumbled.
Nessie giggled and threw the Frisbee back to Jacob. "Well, you can catch at least that's something." She offered cheerily.
"At least." I laughed.
Nessie and I chatted away as the guys got into a seriously competitive game of Frisbee. Paul and Jacob were the ones taking it so seriously. Quil and Seth were having a good time baiting them and poking fun at any moves they screwed up. We were all having such a nice time we didn't notice the beach clear out as the clouds moved in. I felt the cold sprinkle against my skin before anyone else.
"I think it's raining." I said examining the single drop of water on my arm.
Nessie let out a sad sigh. "Yeah, that happens a lot." She frowned as she stood. I followed as she started yelling. "Guys!" They all looked to her and she pointed to the sky. They looked up and saw the dark clouds and let out a collective grumble before they jogged back to us and then back to the van.
We all piled in, taking up our old seating arrangement, only Nessie was up front with Jacob and Paul was in the back with Quil, Seth and I. "The weather always ends the good games." Seth groaned.
Jacob grumbled something under his breath. "Aw, what's wrong Black? Sore loser?" Quil asked smiling brightly.
"Yeah, well I was playing with a bunch of cheaters." Jacob snapped. The whole van erupted in laughter.
Once everyone was settled the van the sky opened up and rained poured down. So much for a sunny summer in Washington. Quil shrugged off his flannel shirt he had over his black tee-shirt and handed it to me. "Here, your gonna need it." He said nodding out the back windows.
I looked out at the pouring rain and slipped the large shirt on over my dress, wrapping it tightly around me. "Thanks," I said quietly.
"Where to now?" Jacob asked as he drove slowly away from the beach.
"Where ever, I'm still your captive." I said with a small shrug.
"She has a point." Seth said grinning like a mad man.
"We can go see a movie at our place." Nessie offered, looking at Jacob.
"Why not?" Paul muttered with a shrug.
"Alright then," Jacob said with a slight smile.
The ride was quiet for a moment then Seth looked to Paul in confusion.
"What are we gonna watch?" Seth asked openly, looking at us all worryingly.
I couldn't help but laugh at Seth and his dilemma.
AN: Review!