A/N: Sorry for any mistakes, I haven't bothered to proof read this one. Much more Bella x Seth action in the next chapter.

Chapter 6:

Bella's POV: I stood myself in front of the over-sized bathroom mirror one last time, assessing every inch of my body. God, the last time I had made such a fuss over what I looked like was my first date with Edward. Well, unless you counted that one Italian restaurant in Port Angeles as a date, then it would've been the second. Besides, back then I had Alice to save the day and tidy me up. I sighed- oh, how I missed my (not so) little sister.

Before I could upset myself even more, I picked up the mascara brush and perfected my left eye. Then I winced as I bent my finger too far down.

It had been a whole week, and the damned thing still hurt. I didn't know how that was possible, but I stuffed some painkillers and a water bottle into my purse in case it bothered me much more later on in the evening.

I bit my lip and considered changing my outfit once more. The clothes I had on now were a result of me getting behind on washing. A pair of black skinny (very skinny) jeans, a blue camisole my mother had bought me as a late 17th birthday gift (it still had the tags when I tried it on) and white converse (an all-time favourite of mine).

I felt my phone buzz.

Hey. Wya? –Jake

I sighed when I realised that I was already 30 minutes late, and with my truck it would take me at least 30 more minutes to get down to first beach.

Running late. Sry. Be there soon-ish. –B

The pack was holding a bonfire. And it wasn't for telling tribal legends, more like a party, apparently. Which was why I attempted to turn the invite down, but Seth gave me his puppy-dog eyes, and I just about melted.

I grabbed my purse, ran down the stairs as fast as I could without a guaranteed trip and walked over to the kitchen. I retrieved two pies out of the oven where I had been keeping them warm, and grabbed the 8 pack of soda from the fridge. Somehow, I managed to carry all this and open the front door without dropping anything.

"Bye, Dad!"

"Call me if you decide to stay out, Bells."

"Sure, sure."

"Have a good time kiddo."

With that I shut the door behind me, jumped into my truck, turned on the radio and started my journey to La Push. The weather had been abnormally good in Washington, and you could tell that everyone was taking advantage of it. I suppose that I am, too. I thought, looking at my bare shoulders.

I pulled up in the gravel parking lot opposite the beach, and started to make my way down. Though it was from a distance, I could recognise Sam and Jared walking towards the group from the forest with an armful of logs and wood. Jake, Embry and Quil's voices rang out the loudest. Jake had Quil in a (hopefully) playful headlock, and Embry was trying to sweep Jake's feet out from under him. I saw Emily and Kim by the huge food table, carefully arranging trays and different assortments of food. Seth and Leah were sitting down on a log, chatting animatedly to each other. Seth was shirtless, as per usual.

A little to my left, leaning against the wooden fencing, I spotted someone. He was definitely a wolf, but a small one at that. A bit over 6 foot, and though he was still muscled, his frame was slender- even more so than Embry's. I don't know how, but I could just tell from the way that he was standing that he was young.

"Can I help you?" He asked without turning around. I checked that it was only me that he could possibly be speaking to before I answered.

"Um, no. Sorry. I guess I was just wondering why you're not down there with them."

"Jake texted you when you were half an hour late, right? You see, I'm actual pack and I've been standing here for an hour. The only person who noticed me was Jared when he got out of his car. And he called me Braden. For god's sake, Brady really isn't such a hard name to remember. You share an entire mind with me, and you can't even be bothered to swap the 'en' out for a 'y'."

I stood there in silence for a while, not knowing how to react.

Then I heard him sigh, and he turned around slowly. "I'm sorry for ranting." Brady said in a strained, tired voice.

"It's okay. I understand needing to get things off of your chest." I replied cautiously. "I'm Bella." I held out my hand.

Brady snorted and grasped it in his. "Trust me, I know. Everyone does."

I blushed at that, and he laughed once again. "How old are you?" I asked, knowing that it would bug me later if I didn't find out.

"Thirteen."

I felt my eyes widen almost comically. If I had water in my mouth, I would 100% have done a spit-take.

"I know. I couldn't even get through my first year of being a teenager without phasing into a giant werewolf. My mom thought the unnecessary anger was the hormones, so boy was she shocked when I exploded in the middle of the living room."

"Oh… God."

"Yeah- cost us a TV." Brady said sorrowfully, as if that was the worst possible outcome.

"Look, why don't we both go down together. You can help me carry my food, and I'll give you first dibs."

"You don't need to be all nice because you feel sorry for me. I'm fine on my own."

"I don't feel sorry for you. I like you. And I need a substitute best friend for the night- no way am I getting involved in whatever that is." I gestured over to Jake who was somewhat violently play fighting with his friends.

Brady raised a brow. "Substitute?"

"Well, if you complete the job sufficiently then I'll look into a more permanent role for you. Come on, let's go."

When we finally reached where the rest of the pack was situated, another wolf caught my eye. Paul Lahote. He was standing in a small huddle with Sam, Jared, and a girl- introducing her to them I think. I actually remembered her from Forks High, she was a year below me, so a junior. Taylor Avery, her name was. It wasn't common at our school for a girl to be ridiculously pretty and a jock, so I guessed that was why she was so popular. If she was like any of the other well-known juniors then it was pretty predictable that she would be here with Paul Lahote. But by the way they acted around each other, something told me that this wasn't just a date night for them.

Paul's arm twitched awkwardly by his side, as if he were wondering whether to wrap it around her or keep to himself. Taylor kept on looking at Paul for confirmation on something, and he was quick to reassure her, an almost panicked look on his face. Jared and Sam kept smirking at the two of them, shooting knowing looks. Something told me that things were complicated between the two of them, and I was suddenly grateful for the simplicity of mine and Seth's relationship.

"Hey, Bella." Sounded out Seth's voice.

"Hey- how are you?" I gave him a short embrace, trying not to fumble or blush. It had been a good few days since I'd last seen him, with school being busy and all.

"Good. How's the hand?"

I held it out for him, showing the long, deep purple scab. "Getting better. They took out the stitches yesterday."

He sighed happily, and I couldn't help but smile. Then I saw Brady edge away from me, and I figured that he was trying to escape. I grabbed him by the edge of his shirt and pulled him back to me. Then I clocked that he was actually wearing a shirt.

"Hey, why do you have a top on?"

Brady frowned. "I don't know, I just prefer to wear them. Am I really the weird one in this situation?"

"I guess not." I said with a shrug.

I caught a glance of Seth looking at Brady apologetically, then turning back to me. "Hey, do you mind if we take a walk? I promise it won't take long."

I'm pretty sure my face took on an odd expression as nostalgia washed through me from the night I had asked Jacob to take a walk with me. That was a night that I would never be able to forget. God, it seemed like years ago.

"Oh, um, we don't have to. I just figured that-" Seth was quick to start talking again.

"No, no, I want to." I glanced back at Brady hesitantly, who just shrugged and pushed me towards Seth gently.

"Don't worry, I'll still be here when you get back."

Seth and I walked past mine and Jacob's driftwood tree, and another wave of nostalgia came along. So much had changed.

"I didn't think that you and Brady knew each other." Seth started off.

"Yeah, I don't think a lot of people know Brady." I muttered, slightly annoyed that Sam would neglect the newest pack member so much.

"Huh?"

"Don't worry. So what did you want to talk about?"

He scratched his head. "You see, the thing is, I have no clue what you want, and it's driving me crazy. I'm your imprint, so I'm supposed to know. It's kind of my job, but it's messing with my head. It's like you keep changing your mind, or fighting against yourself. All I know is that you said we could definitely be friends, and I think we are, right? But you keep looking at me in this way, and I don't know if I'm deluded by the imprint so stop me if I'm crazy, but-"

Seth was starting to pace nervously, and I put myself in his path to stop him. "Seth, honey, calm down. It's okay, I get it. I just… I know it's not fair on you. Most of the time I have an idea of what I want, I guess I'm just too scared to put it into words. I have baggage, Seth. A hell of a lot of it, at that. And then there's what other people would say."

"What people?" Seth asked incredulously, as if he were really to knock out anyone who would stand in our way.

"Seth, I'll always be the leech-lover. It might not bother you, but I don't want to see how much grief the pack will give you over it. Just look at Jake, for example. And we weren't even together."

"But I don't care!" He exclaimed.

"And then there's the fact that it wouldn't even be legal."

Seth blushed then. "Actually, I googled it. Quite a lot of things aren't illegal."

I laughed breathlessly, shaking my head borderline hysterically, and tugged his hand. "Come on, I think Emily's about to serve food. We can carry on later."

"Promise?"

"Promise."