14
I draw into the parking lot at First Beach, La Push and park up. Rosalie jumps out of the back and runs to greet her friend Jacob, while I wait for Kate to find a brush in her bag and pull it through her hair.
"What's up with Rose?" Kate asks as we watch her walking back toward the car, stony-faced with Jake at her side. We climb out and Jake greets us both, leaning forward to kiss Kate on the cheek.
"Everything ok?" I ask Rosalie. She grimaces.
"Whitlock's here." It doesn't take a genius to guess what she's trying to tell me. I drop my head back and sigh.
"Ok." I tell her, straightening up.
"Do you want to leave? We can go somewhere else?" she offers.
Yes.
"No. Unless…" I turn to Kate. "Izzy's here." I tell her. She doesn't look surprised, I guess she'd already figured as much. We'd talked at length the previous night about Izzy and me. She was surprisingly accepting of all of it – even the worst details about me.
"I don't care," she replies. "If you want to, we'll stay."
I smile at her, grateful for her self-assurance and confidence in the face of the shit-fest we're possibly facing.
"Okay, we'll stay."
Rosalie still doesn't look happy, so I give her a shove and tell her to lighten up. We're supposed to be out to have fun. She smiles, but as she turns away, I catch the look she throws Jake and I know she's pissed. I'm not exactly ecstatic myself, but I can't live my life running away. Avoiding someone is one thing, turning tail and fleeing is another altogether.
~S~