The health fair was in full swing. The rez clinic offered free flu shots and other annual vaccines every year during Quileute Days. Jake had probably given three dozen shots and I'd made small talk with so many people I didn't know. Everyone knew my parents and I quickly lost count of how many people offered me condolences for my father's death.

I felt bad that constantly talking about my father didn't hurt more than it did. How could I be sad when I had everything else I could ever want? Leah was weeks away from getting married and giving birth to my niece or nephew. My mom was doing great. I had a good relationship with Bella. I missed my father, but I knew he wouldn't want me to be sad. I had to be there for my mom and sister and that would be a lot harder to do if I let my grief overwhelm me.

I won't pretend there aren't days when it hits me harder than others. Sometimes I see Charlie Swan getting out of Billy's truck with a fishing pole in his hand and I can almost see my dad standing beside him. I can see myself as a child, running from Jake and Embry with hands full of worms while my dad and his friends sat around the lake and laughed at us. Leah will roll her eyes at me and I can hear my dad telling me not to bother her. Usually, though, I remained stoic in my interactions with others about him. I know he'd be proud of me for keeping my positive demeanor.

My mom burst through the clinic doors and tore me from my thoughts of my father. My mother was the strongest woman I'd ever known. It was hot and I knew this day had been stressful for her, but she looked flawless as ever with her slick braids and a smile plastered across her face.

"Sethy," she called for me. "Come on, son, it's almost time to leave for Leah's appointment."

I looked down at my watch and realized how late it was. Mom was punctual, preferring to be thirty minutes early. It wasn't a bad way to be, but today she'd have to settle for arriving at my sister's dress fitting on time.

"I'm sorry, Mom," I said to her. "I got caught up here with Jake."

Jake looked up from the form he was filling out for the last shot he'd given. "He's right, Mrs. Clearwater. I knew I'd need a hand with the registrations since the other tech is out with the flu."

"Maybe they should've gotten the shot," she joked. "Sarah would be so proud of you, Jacob. She gave flu shots at the beginning of the festival every year."

Jake beamed at her praise. My mom didn't hand out compliments often, so when she did it truly meant something. Jake's mother had died when we were little, and she was one of my mom's closest friends.

"That means a lot, Mrs. Clearwater," Jake responded with tears in his eyes.

She put her hand on his shoulder, but quickly pulled him in for a hug instead. "Call me Sue, sweetheart. Thank you for doing this. I'll come check in when we're back, ok? Don't overdo it, if you get tired or need a break they can always come back tomorrow."

I walked outside while the two of them finished talking and climbed into the driver's seat of Mom's car. It wasn't long before she came out and sat beside me. She filled me in on her day as we drove to Leah's house. I couldn't hide how proud I was of her for stepping in and filling Dad's role in the festival the way she had. She'd been up crying the night before but you'd never know that today. I admired her bravery.

Leah was sitting on her front porch when we pulled up. She poked her head in the door and yelled something I couldn't make out before she hobbled over to the car. I tried not to make fun of how my sister walked at this stage of her pregnancy, but I was still her little brother. She couldn't expect me to be mature and understanding all the time.

The scowl on her face kept me from saying anything as she climbed in the back. Mom drove a van, and Leah demanded the seat in the middle row. She wouldn't sit in the third row, where there was no immediate access to an exit.

Bella and Paul walked out of the house together a moment later. Bella looked sad, but better than she had earlier. Paul wore his normal scowl. I wasn't a violent person, but I wanted to wipe the disgusting look off his face. I hated the way he hurt Bella.

"Oh, I didn't know Paul was joining us!" Mom exclaimed as she clapped her hands together.

"Yay," I replied unenthusiastically.

Leah hit the back of my head. "Hush, Seth. He's my best friend."

"Hmph. I thought I was your best friend."

She rolled her eyes and didn't respond to me. It was a typical Leah gesture.

Bella greeted me with a bright smile as she climbed into a seat in the very back of the van. Paul sat behind Mom. She gushed over him, quickly engaging in a deep conversation. I hadn't completely forgiven him for his comments to Bella yet, but I wasn't one to hold a grudge.

Despite her poor driving skills, Leah was a terrible backseat driver. I could tune Paul out while I listened to my sister telling me to slow down, go faster, or pay more attention. I didn't text and drive, and I hadn't touched the radio, but Leah could somehow tell all of my attention was on our passenger in the back rather than the road in front of me.

I couldn't help how Bella stole my attention whenever she was around. She captivated me. The way she talked, the way she moved, the way she interacted with my family, it all just deepened my infatuation with her.

"You need to tell her, Sethy," Leah whispered.

I turned slightly to see my very pregnant had leaned up from her seat and into the back of mine. And she had the nerve to critique my driving.

"Leaving your seat while the vehicle is in motion is not great passenger etiquette, LeeLee." I jokingly scolded her.

She rolled her eyes. "I don't care, this is important. You have to tell her what's going on."

Leah was probably right, but I wouldn't do it. Bella was happy, and I couldn't take that away from her.

"Not yet," I said. "The timing just isn't right."

Leah shook her head. "It never will be. Tell her, little brother. Before it's too late."

Paul spoke to my mom, but I could see in the rearview that his eyes were cut toward my sister. He had listened to our conversation and he gave me a subtle nod.

We were almost to Forks when Bella's phone rang. None of us stopped talking, but I tried to listen to her conversation as much as possible without being too obvious. I could hear the high-pitched squealing of Alice on the other line. Bella was grumbling with her, but I could see her resolve fading.

"Fine, Alice!" Bella snapped. "I'll tell them."

Her outburst caught everyone's attention. "Tell us what, dear?" Mom asked her.

"Alice says I need to come to her house," Bella mumbles. "I don't want to, but she made it feel like I couldn't say no. The Cullens do that to me sometimes."

The thought of them manipulating or mistreating her made my blood boil. I could see my knuckles turning white as I gripped the steering wheel. Mom must have noticed too, because she put her hand on my knee and tried to soothe me.

"That's ok, Bella," Leah told her. "We can pick you up when you're done if you still want to spend the night."

"I do," Bella answered quickly. "Can you drop me at my place, Seth?"

I didn't answer, and my mom eventually promised we would. I thought for a moment and realized how ridiculous I was being. They wouldn't manipulate Bella. Carlisle and his family were good people, and they cared about her. Bella wasn't the most assertive, so I'm sure she often felt unheard. She'd tell me if they made her uncomfortable, or that's what I told myself at least.

I exited the car at Bella's house and hugged her tightly before she could walk inside. She seemed like her normal self again, unfazed by the conversation she'd just had with Alice. I wished I could hold her like this forever. It felt so natural for her to be in my arms, even if it was wrong. She had a boyfriend, and I'd promised to let her be happy.

I pulled my arms back quickly but she didn't seem to notice.

"I'll see you later, Bella," I mumbled as I stepped away from her.

"Bye, Seth." She said quietly as she struggled to unlock her door.

Paul was sneering at me when I got back in the driver's seat but he said nothing. I should have been more tuned in to the conversation Leah started about her upcoming wedding, but I couldn't focus on them. I just stared out the road and drove until we reached Neah Bay.

We had family in the Makah tribe, and a few women had a sewing shop. There were some wonderful seamstresses there, and Leah had insisted they be the ones to complete the alterations on her wedding gown.

Before I could turn off the car, Paul had come around to my side to help Leah out. I could see our cousin Emily through the shop window, and my heart sank as she looked at Leah in disgust and ran toward the back.

Leah and Emily had been close when we were younger, but things started to change between them when Leah's relationship with Sam got more serious. Emily started coming around less and less. Her weekend visits became every other weekend, and eventually monthly. When Sam proposed to Leah, they stopped altogether. Emily had great excuses, I'd give her that. I saw what Leah didn't see, though. Emily was jealous of her relationship with Sam, even if she wasn't intentionally malicious. Maybe Sam had come on to her and she didn't want to hurt Leah. Perhaps it was just easier for her to stay away.

Paul helped Leah into the shop as I walked behind them. Leah had always been graceful, but she was getting clumsier as she grew with her pregnancy. Mom had beat all of us in the store and was glowing as she talked up our family.

"Paul is practically one of mine," she boasted. "I'm so proud of him and Sethy. They've both been a big help with the festival."

Paul seemed like a different person as he introduced himself to all of the women in the shop. He was usually so angry and reserved, but here, with my family, he was kind. Polite even.

Leah called for me to come back with her. Mom was introducing Paul to all of the women, and the shop wasn't huge, anyway. We knew our way around it, so Leah easily found the dress bag that was hers. I held her bag as she slipped into the fitting stall, and she called for me when she was ready to have her dress zipped up.

Her dress fit almost perfectly. It was a little baggy in her midsection to give her a little room to grow. Leah seemed certain she'd grow heavier in the next month.

There weren't any other customers in the shop, so Leah marched back to the front door to show her dress off. I could hear the women's squeals from the back. I didn't need to see my mom cry, even if they were happy tears, so I took a seat in the back and waited for Leah to change back into her regular clothes. We'd be taking the dress home since it fit so well, so I had left the open bag near the fitting room for me to hang the dress in.

Emily walked into the room and was surprised to see me. "Oh, Seth," she muttered as her dark eyes met mine. "Listen, don't tell Leah,"

I cut her off with my hand. "You don't have to explain anything to me, Em. You better get out of here though, she'll be back any second."

Emily peeked out into the lobby. "Nah, her back is to me right now and she doesn't move very fast these days."

I laughed at that. Leah had always been faster than Emily, and I'd bet she still would be even now. We raced all the time as kids and I'd even beat Emily a time or two.

"Seems she's too busy with her boy toy to notice me anyway. Wonder how Sammy feels about how they follow each other like lost puppies." She scoffed. "Look at how he's drooling over her while she's pregnant with Sam's baby. It makes me sick."

I resented what she implied, but I wouldn't start a fight over it. Paul didn't like Emily, so she'd never really seen the two of them together. He always told Leah that Emily was jealous of her, and I could see it now. Emily never understood his friendship with Leah the way I did.

"You doing ok?" I asked her. "We never see you anymore."

She shrugged. "You know how it is. Things are complicated with us. Your sister can be hard to like these days."

I nodded. She was right, Leah was more hateful during her pregnancy, but I knew that wasn't why she avoided my sister or what she'd meant by her comment. "You should at least say hi to her. She misses you."

Tears welled in Emily's eyes. "I miss her, too, I do. I just can't, Seth. She's having his baby." She wiped her tears with her sleeve. "I don't understand how she got both of them. It's not fair. Paul and Sam are obsessed with her, and she takes them for granted."

Emily was a good person. She had a good heart. I knew she'd never intentionally hurt my sister, even if she was saying some nasty things about her. They say that hurt people hurt people, and Emily was hurting. That was the only plausible explanation for why she spoke about Leah this way, especially to me.

"I get that it's hard for you, and you're scared to talk to her about how you feel." I agreed with her. "There's no need to borrow trouble, though. That's what my dad always said at least. I know you think you and Lee can't get through this, but from where I sit it seems it's far from a lost cause. Leah loves you, Emily. You should talk to her about how you're feeling."

She smiled softly at me. "I miss Uncle Harry. He always knew the right things to say." I noticed she didn't say she loved Leah, too.

"I do, too. You know Leah is the closest thing we have left of him. Mom always says the two were cut from the same cloth."

She hugged me and I could feel the dampness of her cheek as it touched my shoulder. I thought I'd gotten through to her, but she disappeared into the back of the shop without another word.

I thought of the day my dad gave me the same advice I'd just given to Emily. He had taken me and my friends hunting. I was seven years old, and I'd never been. It wasn't my dad's favorite pastime, but Charlie Swan had been dying to go. Dad had woken me up at five in the morning and we drove to Jake, Quil, and Embry's houses to get them before we met with Charlie. I hated hunting. I didn't like the thought of killing an innocent animal, but the guys loved it. Dad had dressed all of us in neon orange because he knew other hunters would be out, but Charlie had gone in full camo.

An hour or so into our hunt, we heard a gunshot and it hadn't come from any of our guns. Dad and Charlie both dropped to the ground. Time froze at that moment as everything went silent. My mind went a thousand miles a minute. Was Dad hit? Was Charlie? Would they die? Dad started to talk to us slowly and calmly, giving us directions on what to do. Charlie had been hit, and I couldn't look. I knew he was going to die. What would happen to Bella? How would she live without her dad? I didn't do anything my dad asked me to. I stood still and cried. I didn't sob, I just stood in place while my tears fell silently.

Embry, Jake, and Quil moved much more efficiently than I had. There was an ambulance there in no time. I still didn't move. They got Charlie on a gurney, transferred him to the ambulance, and talked my dad through his injuries but it was like I wasn't in control of my own body. I was so petrified I couldn't do anything but stand still.

It was a few long moments before Dad came back. He knelt in front of me and wiped the tears from my cheeks.

"Son, he's going to be ok," Dad told me. "He's hurt, but he'll heal. There's no sense in borrowing trouble. We have enough of that as it is. You can't go through life seeing the catastrophe in every scenario, boy, that's no way to live. Think positive."

"What could be positive about Charlie being shot?" I asked.

Dad laughed. "He'll remember to wear his damn orange next time."

From that day forward I'd been known for my positive attitude. I'd talked with Mom about it when we got home and she told me about how Dad's positive attitude and calm demeanor had helped Charlie. I got to see him in the hospital the next day, and we took him a gift; an orange hat.

I was laughing to myself when Leah came back. I wondered if Charlie still had that orange hat we'd given him after he got shot. I unzipped the dress for her and gave her some privacy to change. When she emerged, I gently gathered and placed her dress inside the bag. Mom was paying for the alterations and some of our cousins were fawning over Paul when I walked out to the lobby with the bag in my hands.

They didn't get worked up like that over me. I was a boy at an awkward age, not one they paid much attention to. I slipped into the driver's seat after I'd settled the dress in the back. It wasn't long before Leah waddled out with Mom and Paul behind her.

"I'm sad I didn't get to see Emily." She admitted as we pulled away.

I didn't mention that I'd seen her or our exchange, but I knew Paul had heard us. He looked furious. I knew he wouldn't tell Leah, at least. Emily wouldn't talk to her, and it would only hurt her to know what she said.

"I'm sure she was merely busy, dear," Mom said.

Leah didn't look convinced and I didn't respond at all. The farther we drove, the more anxious Paul seemed to get. He bounced his leg so hard it felt like it was shaking the whole car.

"You okay?" Mom asked him. She turned around in her seat.

He shook his head slightly. "Just thinking. Which one of the Leeches sees the future?"

"I think it's Alice?" Leah said it more as a question, telling me how unsure she was.

I honestly couldn't remember. I knew Edward, Alice, and Jasper were all 'gifted' but I couldn't remember which one had which 'gift'.

"Why do you ask?" I wondered.

He didn't respond and I let it go. Paul could be odd like that sometimes. He had never hidden his hostility toward the Cullens. Mom started telling him what she had planned for the festival and he seemed to relax a little. I missed a turn and when I backed up to turn around, I saw Leah's hand intertwined with Paul's. That's probably what calmed him down.

We were almost back to Forks when it hit me. The strongest scent I'd ever encountered. It was like bleach mixed with roses. Leeches.

"Paul, do you-"

"Seth, look out!" Mom screamed, interrupting my question.

A female vampire with fiery red hair appeared, standing in the middle of the road. I swerved to miss her, and another rushed in front of us. He grabbed the car's front end and tossed the entire van backward. I couldn't phase. I knew I was invincible in a way my mother and sister weren't, so I threw my body over Mom's, hoping to shield her from some of the impact. Her screams and Leah's filled the air and I closed my eyes tightly as we braced for impact.