The skies were still clear when Seth dropped Ashley off at home later that night. He gave a polite greeting to Terry.
"How was your trip, Seth? Tell me all about it!" She asked, eager to hear all about it.
Ashley took a seat on a barstool at the kitchen island, and turned it to face her mother. Seth stood beside her, holding her hand. The couple hadn't been physically separated for very long as a result of the scare from the day's events.
"It was fun!" Seth responded, legitimate elation audible in his voice. "Everything went pretty well honestly. Jake's pretty banged up though. His motorcycle spun out on his way home and he wrecked it. We got a hold of the Cullens, I don't know if you know them, but they live in Forks, and the dad's a doctor, so Jake's in good hands."
Ashley's hand tightened unconsciously around his, but Seth's excitement didn't falter, he merely squeezed back, rubbing small circled over the back of his hand with her thumb.
Recognition flashed across Terry's face.
"Oh! I think I know the girls in the family. There a little one with a pixie cut, and a taller brunette woman who's chatted with me a couple of times when they dropped by the boutique. She has a unique name. Pretty though," she trailed off.
"Sounds like Alice and Esme," Seth smiled.
Terry snapped her fingers. "Yep! That's it. Nice people."
"I like them!" he exclaimed.
After a short lull in the conversation, Terry piped up once more.
"You didn't see any wolves, did you?" concern casting an uncommon shadow across her usually juvenile expression. "Sue and I heard them today. I'm guessing you guys did too. She was really concerned for you kids, being out in the woods and all."
Seth shook his head. "Yeah, no. We didn't see much of anything exciting. No rogue wolves to report," he had a childish grin on his face, know Terry didn't understand any of the underlying meanings of his words.
"That's a relief." Terry turned on her daughter. "I know you must have had a good time, Missy. I tried calling you after that freaky wolf howl and you didn't even pick up! If it weren't for your sister answering her phone, I would have been a lot more upset this evening!"
"Sorry Mom," Ashley muttered, looking down at her swinging feet.
"It's okay, just don't make a habit of it!" her mother cautioned, attempting to play bad cop.
"Yeah, sure," she said, noncommittally.
Terry simply sighed at her daughter's evasiveness, and bid the pair goodnight, and headed up to bed.
"I'm going to go drop the car off, and I'll be right back, okay?" Seth whispered into Ashley's ear as soon as Terry disappeared.
She nodded, and a small smile appeared on her lips as Seth kissed her temple, and was out the door.
From her place in the kitchen she saw his headlights brighten, and fade away as he reversed out of the driveway. It took her a minute to hop down from her stool and head upstairs.
Ashley grabbed the pajama shorts she had left on her bed, and headed into the bathroom. She washed what remained of the fading makeup from her skin, and tamed her waving hair by throwing it into an untidy bun on the top of her head. She brushed her teeth quickly before returning to her room. She had just walked through the entryway when two arms encircled her from behind.
She leaned back into Seth as he began kissing her neck. He spun her around quickly, but instead of the desire she expected to see, his eyes were glazed over with glee. Like a child receiving a new gift, ready to show it off. Ashley rolled her eyes at her boyfriend.
"Are you ready to hear what happened today? Because I really, really want to tell you!"
When she hesitated, Seth brought out his best puppy dog eyes.
"Please, Ash?" he drew out her name as he took her hands.
She couldn't deny Seth any longer. He was bursting with pride and excitement, just begging her to listen to his recount of the day's adventures.
His goofy grin grew as he saw his girlfriend's reluctance melt away. She moved to sit cross-legged on her bed, her elbow propped on the side of her knee, holding her head up. She looked at the boy expectantly.
Seth plopped his large figure on the bed in front of her, and began from the moment he left her house the night before.
"Jake had to call me early because it was so cold on the mountain, Bella wouldn't stop shaking. Obviously we were fine, between the body heat and the fur, but Bella was having a hard time. Jake's solution was to act as a space heater for her, so he called me to take watch early.
"It was nice up there though. Still snowy, so I get why Bella was struggling, but the view was nice.
"I didn't actually get to sleep much thanks to Jake and Edward's fighting. I mean, I get why Jake did what he did, but he didn't have to be such an ass about it. Bella is Edward's girlfriend – er – fiancée – after all."
Ashley cocked an eyebrow questioningly, everyone seemed to be getting married all of a sudden. Seth ignored her though, continuing on with the events in chronological order.
"Things simmered down eventually as Bella's temperature returned to normal, and eventually drifted off to sleep. Jake and Edward had a heart-to-heart that I didn't see coming, but that ended quickly, and everyone fell asleep.
"I woke up to the two of them fighting and jumped in to defend Jake, but Bella calmed them down before it got ugly. Eventually he stormed out of the tent into the woods. That's when he heard Edward mention how Bella agreed to marry him and he got real torn up over it.
"I wasn't too impressed with the two of them at that point. Jake may not have imprinted on Bella, but he's sure as Hell close with how in love with her he is. It doesn't help that Bella doesn't seem to know what she wants because the second he took off, Bella begged Edward to go after him and bring him back.
"Freaked me out when they came back. I was in fight-mode thanks to the buzz in the guys' minds, so when Edward came back with Jake in human form, my initial reaction was probably a bit more protective than necessary," he chuckled to himself.
"Edward pulled me away, giving Bella and Jake some time. He's a really good guy, Ash. He got me to relay a couple of messages to Sam and Alice about some vampire police that were going to show up after the fight ended, according to her. I ignored Bella and Jake's conversation out of respect for him, though we all heard about it later.
"Thank God Sam didn't let Jake think about Bells too much and snapped him back into reality. It was getting to be too much, and that's saying something being in Paul and Jared's heads.
"It wasn't long until the fight started, and as much as I know you hate it, I wanted to join them. The way some people are drawn to the water or the mall, I was drawn to this fight. It's who I am. I'm here to protect people, and that means fighting vampires, and putting myself in danger.
"It also didn't help knowing you were closer to the fight than I was. I trust the pack, but if even one slipped by them, who's to say they wouldn't have gone for Emily's. It wasn't easy sitting it out."
"So anyway, the three of us were listening in when I heard someone coming, at the exact same time I smelt them.
"Edward tried sending me away immediately, no doubt to protect me, but his main concern was Bella. I don't know if he didn't notice, or just didn't say anything when I didn't go far, just to the edge of the forest on the opposite side of camp.
"I waited until Edward had the guy off guard before I jumped in. I could see the redhead was going to jump Bella the second Edward got tangled up with this guy, so I didn't let that happen.
"It was crazy! Instinct took over and I somehow knew what I was doing. I remembered some of Jasper's fighting techniques, but a lot of what I did, I did without thinking too much about it.
"The guy got a couple of good shots in, but don't worry, the all were healed by the time I got to my feet.
"He I started backing up towards Bella, putting myself between her and the vampires so Edward could focus on the chick in front of him.
"I faked being hurt to throw them off, give them some false comfort, you know? But Bella suddenly grabbed a rock shard that had fallen from the wall and was clutching it way too tight for comfort. I thought of the Third Wife story, and jumped up.
"I won't go into too much of the gory details past that, but I was able to take down the guy pretty easily at that point," he gloated smugly. "Edward took the girl down just as fast. We did it together which was really cool. The redhead seemed pretty shocked that I didn't turn on him, but we actually kind of helped each other." Seth's voice seeped admiration.
"I stayed around just long enough to make sure we got everything and burned them, but that's when Jake got hurt. Those were the howls you heard. I could feel everything he felt as strongly as if my own body shattered, and I was terrified for him.
"On top of that, the vampire government were on their way. I immediately thought of you, and I guess Edward noticed. He told to come straight to you, and that's where I found you," He trailed off.
Ashley immediately felt her face flush with embarrassment of how she acted leading up to that day. Though justifiable, it still felt unnecessary in retrospect.
"I really want to apologize for making this harder on you. It wasn't fair of me, and I can't change the fact that I'll worry for you, every time you have to leave for something like that anymore than I can change the fact that you still have to go." Ashley was staring at her hands in her lap.
Ashley let the words seep in. She knew she couldn't fight it anymore. She loved Seth for who he was, and like it or not, he was a kind, genuine, protective person who really just wanted to help. She had to accept that was a part of him, a large part of him, and that wasn't going to change.
His expression began to soften at her words.
"But I love you Seth. And that includes every part of you – idiotic courage and all. I promise next time I'll try my damnedest to handle it better."
Ashley looked up, and saw Seth, with an expression of pure awe on his face. He stared at her long enough to make he look back down shyly. He then crawled across the bed, catching her chin in his fingers before his mouth crashed onto hers.
"Have I ever told you how amazing you are?" Seth asked when he pulled away, breathless.
"Come to think of it, no, I don't think you ever have," she teased, grinning.
"Well Ashley Montgomery, you're the best thing that's ever happened to me, and I fall in love with you all over again, every single day."
Ashley's heart swelled with bliss.
"I don't know how it happened," she admitted, "But I can't imagine my life without you, Seth Clearwater."
Seth beamed down at her, before abruptly hopping out of bed.
"You trust me, right?" he asked, a cunning look flashed across his face.
"Why would you even doubt that at this point?" Ashley scoffed.
"Good!" The grin returned. Seth went over to her closet without an explanation, and tossed her a pair of sweat pants. "Put these on."
Ashley opened her mouth to question him, but he cut her off.
"Trust, remember?"
"Yeah, yeah," she said, rising to pull the sweats over her pajamas. He grabbed her one of his sweaters from the corner of the room where it had been left, and brought her to the window.
He climbed out expertly, grabbing the edge of the roof, and pulling himself up. He leaned over a minute later and extended his hand to Ashley. She hesitated, but was still wary to be away from him, so she eventually offered him her hand, knowing he was more than capable.
Seth pulled her up onto the roof with ease, and settled in on the slanting surface. Ashley followed, nestling in between Seth's angled knees. The two of them sat there, just looking up at the clear sky.
The stars were more visible than Ashley had ever seen them before. It amazed her how beautiful and peaceful the night was.