Someone coughed.

I then realised I had been staring at Brady for a good five minutes. I could hear some of the locals talking in fast whispers behind me. Growing red, I ignored Brady's outstretched hand and got to my feet, looking anywhere but his eyes in the process. I could still feel him looking at me; it felt way too intense. We had known each other for a whole ten minutes, yet it felt like he had been staring at me for a lifetime.

"Jade? Jade, are you alright?"

Louise was beside me instantly. Her eyes were narrowed and she had her hands on her hips. She looked pissed off. I knew before she even opened her mouth that she was going to make a scene. I tried to look apologetically at Brady. He looked medically drugged; as if he was seeing some faraway planet that I could never dream of seeing. Yet, he seemed to still be looking at me. I was ready to bolt.

"Maybe you should watch where you are going in future," Louise was glaring at Brady. It was a glare that had made me stop in my tracks countless times over the years but Brady didn't even blink.

"Your name is Jade?" He said instead. The whole Diner just stared at him. There was definitely something wrong with him.

"Is he on Drugs? I have Forks Police Department on speed dial. If he's on drugs, I advise y'all to get his ass home right now." Louise was in her element and she had suddenly developed an accent that I had never heard before. I fought the urge to curl up into a ball on the floor. I just wanted to leave.

"Would someone please make her shut up?" one of Brady's friends muttered from behind me. Amen to that. Not that it was likely to happen anytime soon.

"Are you even listening to me?" Jade stepped right up in Brady's face. That was when he blinked; it was as if something had finally registered in his brain. One of his friends stepped up beside him to put a calming hand on his arm. However, he didn't look angry. In fact, he looked more confused than anything else.

"Yes. I'm sorry," Brady took a step forward, his arm outstretched as if to touch me. Louise's eyes narrowed even further and I took a step backwards. Brady looked wounded. I didn't know what was going on with me. My stomach seemed to be twisting itself in knots and my legs were almost too shaky to stand on. The last and only time I had ever felt like that was when Matt had first kissed me, when we were fifteen years old. He hadn't had that effect on me since.

Oh god. Poor Matt. I had hardly even given him a second thought.

"I'm really sorry," Brady was still speaking, "I should watch where I'm going."

"He's always falling over things," his friend grinned beside him. I felt like I was going to throw up.

"Don't worry about it," I managed to find my voice, "I'm fine. But we have to go now. Sorry about the disruption."

"Go?" Brady looked frantic and I watched as his eyes fixed on the door behind me as if he would do anything to stop me walking through it. Another one of his friends moved closer to him. It was as if they thought he was going to do something stupid. It made me nervous; my lips were dry.

"We have school in the morning," Louise spoke up and took the take away package of chocolate cake from the waitress when she tried to hand it to me. She liked to be in control of the situation.

"You're still in school?"

"Yeah, we-"

"We're Seniors," Louise interrupted, "Which means lots of work to do."

"Really? I remember being a senior. I think Kim and I spent most of it in the carpark outside of school." Another one of Brady's friends chimed in. I watched as a girl flushed a deep red and hit him on the arm, he didn't even flinch. Instead, he bent down to her level and pressed a gentle kiss on her cheek. She sighed and folded into his side like it was the most natural thing in the world. I couldn't keep my eyes off of them.

"Well, we clearly have a different work ethic in Forks. We actually like to make something of our lives."

I just stared at Louise. The whole Diner stared at her. I had never been so embarrassed in my whole entire life. She didn't know any of the people standing in front of us, and yet she judged them all in an instant because they came from the reservation. She was turning into the kind of person that I used to hate.

"Louise? Please shut up."

"I'm only trying to help." She looked wounded.

"Well don't." Nearby, someone whistled under their breath. I felt like I was being torn in two. Strangely, I felt some weird connection to Brady and The Diner but I had known Louise forever, she had always been there for me.

"Fine," Louise started towards the door, "I'll be waiting in the car. Don't do anything stupid." I flinched as the door slammed shut behind her. I was going to have to beg for her forgiveness for days; I was wondering whether it was even worth the effort. Maybe we had grown too far apart to repair. The thought made a sob catch in my throat. When had everything gotten so complicated?

As people returned to their seats I flopped into the nearest booth. I was going to pay for the coffees that we didn't even drink and then get the hell away from La Push. My hands shook as I undid the zipper on my bag.

"Hey?" I jumped as someone placed a warm hand on my shoulder. I didn't even have to look around to know it was Brady.

"Hey. Sorry, I'll be leaving in a minute. Just need to pay." I hated how quiet my voice came out. I never had a problem with expressing my opinions, but with Brady nearby, all coherent thought seemed to seep from my body. I was a nervous wreck in his presence.

"Don't worry about money," his hand was still on my arm, "I just want to make sure you're okay."

"I'm great." I made the mistake of turning around and catching his eye once again. He was so huge; at least a foot taller than Matt. However, I didn't feel intimidated in his presence, just safe. It was strangely refreshing.

"You look pale," I stiffened as his and moved from the spot on my arm up to touch my cheek, I shuffled backwards, "I can drive you home if you want."

Outside, Louise leant on the horn as if she could hear exactly what Brady was saying. I sighed aloud. If only I had my own damn car.

"I'm great. Louise is running me home," I grinned as I found a couple of dollars lurking in the bottom of my bag and threw them on the table, "I really should be going though."

It was then I realised that Brady was blocking my only escape route. There was no way I was going to be able to go around him.

"If you could just let me by then-"

"Can I have your number?" I think I choked on the surrounding air. My face flamed once again as I let out a strangled cough. Nobody had ever asked for my number before. I must have heard him wrong.

"What?" I croaked.

"Your cell number? Can I have it?" He was talking to me like I was a three year old. His lips were curled up into a soft smile; it was quite endearing, it made him look younger. Inwardly, I cursed myself for even looking at his lips. They were not my lips to look at.

"Why?"

"To call you?"

Louise leant on the horn again. I glanced out of the window to see her watching my every movement. It was like she didn't trust me to be around Brady on my own. I was beginning to wonder if I deserved her mistrust. I was mentally flipping Matt off by even considering giving Brady my number; he didn't deserve to be treated like shit. Matt was a good guy. A great guy. My guy. I just had to remember that.

"No," I stood up suddenly, forcing Brady to step backwards and let me past, "I don't think that would be a good idea."

I could feel everyone's eyes on me once again as I walked quickly towards the door, praying desperately that I wouldn't trip and fall flat on my face once again.

"Why not?" Brady's footsteps matched mine perfectly. He just wouldn't give up. It would have been flattering if I had been any other girl.

"I have a-" I began to tell him about Matt, but my throat seemed to seize up. The thought of Brady and Matt being part of the same world made me feel a little nauseous.

"A?" Brady prompted.

"A really busy few weeks at school before I graduate," the lie felt sour in my mouth, "I don't need any distractions." Not counting my pending wedding or plans for my future of course.

"I wouldn't be a distraction." Why did his grin have to be so damn distracting? He was too cute. Way too cute to be talking to me, that was for sure.

"Sorry. I just can't."

"Wait. Wait!" My hand was on the door handle when Brady stopped me for the final time. He was making it so damn difficult to leave. It was verging on creepy, or that's what I was trying to tell myself so I wouldn't melt into his unnatural warmth.

"Take this," Brady placed a torn piece of paper into my hand, "It's my number. If you need me, any time, day or night. Call me. I'll be waiting."

Before I could even open my mouth, he had bypassed me and made his way out the door. One of his friends frowned at me as they pushed by me in an attempt to follow him. I could tell that he didn't like me by just one look. I wondered what I had ever done to offend him.

My legs felt heavy as I made my way to Louise's car. She didn't speak one word to me as she put the car into gear and released the handbrake.

"What was that all about?" She eventually spoke as we drove over the halfway line between Forks and La Push. I continued to look out of the window as her eyes flickered towards me.

"Nothing," I picked at a loose thread on my shorts, "He was just apologising again."

"He was standing a bit too close."

"You know what people are like in La Push," I tried to keep my voice steady, "They like hugs a little more than the average person. He was just being friendly."

"A bit too friendly if you ask me."

"Well, I didn't."

"It would be stupid to jeopardise everything you have achieved for one of those boys from La Push. They're like animals. Jessica told me that they walk about with no shirts on even when it rains. She says they practically live in the forest." I tried not to laugh. Since when had Louise ever believed a word Jessica Stanley said? In fact, when had Louise and Jessica ever had a proper conversation?

"You're not my Mom Louise."

"Well, someone has to be."

I felt as if she had physically slapped me in the face. She had sunk too low. My hands curled into fists and I refused to even give her the satisfaction of seeing my eyes glass over. She had no fucking right to bring my Mom into our argument.

"I-I didn't mean that." Her voice was quiet as she rolled to a stop outside my house.

"Yes, you did."

I didn't give Louise the chance to spout anymore poison. Instead, I jumped out of the car and slammed the door behind me. Relief swarmed me when I realised that Matt's truck was no longer in the driveway.

My heart felt heavy in my chest as I walked into the kitchen and found a note taped to the fridge.

'Away home for the night to tell the family our news. Hope you had a good night with Lou. If you want me to come back and stay the night, then just text me. If not, I'll pick you up at the usual time tomorrow. Love you."

I pressed a hand to my mouth as I slid down the fridge and sat on the floor. I felt dirty even though I hadn't really done anything wrong. Despite Matt's note, my thoughts were consumed with the mud brown eyes of Brady and his wide smiling face. I was a mess. My Mom would be disappointed in me. The thought was like a bullet to the chest.

Thoughts?