Sorry for the late update. I had a busy weekend and forgot to post it early on Friday. Enjoy!

Max was a good friend. I hadn't realized how desperately I had needed one until then. I knew I was lonely—I was prepared to tolerate the Denalis' company for Christ's sake—but I hadn't realized I was that isolated. Max had lifted that burden from my shoulders, and he had continued to provide gentle support and laughter as I finished my second drink. I felt much lighter by the time I left the café, and I decided I would put more effort into my friendship with him.

I started by bringing him lunch from the diner the next day. The café had amazing food to offer, but a person could only eat the same meals over and over again so many times before they got tired of it. When I presented the take-out container to him, I knew immediately that I had made the right choice.

"Is that the mushroom bacon burger?" He was practically drooling as he sniffed at the container eagerly. He flipped open the lid and looked like he could faint. It was really a monstrosity with two large beef patties, two kinds of cheese, mushrooms, bacon, onion rings, and sauce that could all barely be contained by the burger buns. A large pile of steak fries sat on the side.

I smiled and awkwardly rubbed the back of my neck. "Yeah, you mentioned you liked it before, so I thought I'd bring you one. It's kind of a thank you for yesterday."

He grinned. "You're welcome, but you must have a psychic sense because I've been craving this thing all day." He closed the lid and set the container on the counter. "I was about to ask Kate if I could leave early so I could go grab one for lunch. Thanks to you, I don't even have to do that." He pointed up at the menu. "What do you want? I'll put your order really quick, and then we can eat together."

I happily accepted the invitation and asked for one of the basic sandwiches on the menu. Max nodded, told me to wait a second, and then yelled towards the back (where I guessed Kate was) that he was going on lunch in a few minutes. He shoved the take-out container into my hands and waved me away to pick a table.

I chose my usual spot in the corner and sat his food in front of the chair while I took the booth. It took him only a few minutes to arrive with my order and two glasses of water. He set them on the table, dropped into the chair in front of me, opened the container, and took one of the largest bites of a burger I had ever seen before. He was only beaten out by Paul who could easily eat a burger in two bites.

I arched my brow as the fillings spilled back into the box. "Are you trying to have 'death by burger' on your headstone?"

His mouth was too full to actually respond, but he looked as if I had insulted his entire family. He flipped up his middle finger and returned to his burger with added vigor.

I grinned and ate my sandwich. Unlike his massive bites, I chewed careful mouthfuls that got me only halfway through the sandwich by the time he had moved on to his fries. His face was covered in the burger's sauce, and I had to stifle a laugh when he looked at me. "Good?"

He wiped his mouth clean on a napkin. "Delicious." He grabbed one of the steak fries and scooped some of the lost filling onto it. "You made my day about ten time better with that." He motioned towards the large pile as he chewed.

I shook my head. "No, thanks."

"Good because I really only asked to be polite." He popped another filling-covered-fry in his mouth. "How are you feeling today, by the way? You seem to be in a better place than you were yesterday."

I sipped my water. "I am. Our talk helped…a lot." I sat back and tapped my finger against the glass. "I've felt lonelier up here than I thought I would, I guess. It wasn't too bad at first, but it's progressively gotten worse, and I hadn't realized how much it weighed down on me until yesterday." I smiled and found his eyes with mine to show the sincerity in my words. "You're a good friend, Max."

He smiled gently and reached across the table to take my hand. "I'm glad you don't feel as lonely, Bella. You're a good person." He squeezed my hand tightly. "And you're a great friend for bringing me this lovely gift. If you do that some more, you might even be promoted to best friend."

I laughed. "I didn't realize this was going to be a friendship based on materialism."

He released my hand to grab another fistful of fries and shrugged. "What can I say? My love language is gift giving; specifically, being on the receiving end." He shoved the fries into his mouth and chewed loudly.

I grimaced at the noise. "Gross."

He took a large drink of water that drained nearly half the glass and tilted his head. "In all seriousness, you should allow yourself to make some more friends up here. You mentioned the Denalis yesterday…" I shifted uncomfortably at the family's name, and the small hesitation in Max's voice told me he saw it. "…I know you said they push your buttons, but they really are good people."

I tried my best not to scowl. I didn't necessarily doubt him, but I wasn't too inclined to discuss the family knowing that Kate was within hearing range. The last thing I wanted was for her to share whatever she heard with the rest of her family. A thought, I'll admit, that didn't really matter much to me yesterday mid-breakdown. I was heavily relying on the hope that she had the basic etiquette to keep what she heard of it to herself. "Right."

He chuckled and scratched his chin. "Look, I know they can come off a little eccentric at times—they're the richest family in town after all—but they do their best to help whenever they can. Shit, they were the ones that helped us pay for my sister's treatment."

"They what?" Tanya had mentioned the town came together for Max and his family, but she hadn't mentioned anything about their personal involvement.

He nodded, and his smile faded. "Yeah. The bills were killing us, and the town held a fundraiser to get the funds. The Denalis put in over ten thousand dollars. They didn't have to, but they really saved my family with that." He motioned towards the back. "Kate really pays me way more than she should, but it's honestly the only reason I'm able to pay for classes without any debt. They're good people."

I blinked. The family was really that involved in the community? I knew that they were more involved than the Cullens who for some reason chose to be around humans just to be incredibly reclusive, but I hadn't realized how attentive they were to the town. When Tanya and Kate had told me that their place in Denali was at risk, I thought they simply meant all the hard work they had put in for a cover was at stake. Now, though, I believed it to have been more than that.

The town had been fostered by the family. The Denalis treated the people as if they were their own. They had founded it, and they had nurtured it to be the thriving community it was today. They actually cared about their home, and they were more than willing to welcome Charlie and I into it despite the potential threat we posed.

I mulled over his words and studied the lines of the water glass thoughtfully. "They do actually care about what happens to this place," I admitted slowly. "And it's people."

Max nodded. "They do," he said with utter conviction, "and they are the kindest people you'll ever meet. Everyone here as a story like mine and my family's. The Denalis help everyone out when it comes down to it." He pressed his lips together and quickly looked around the café. It was mostly empty except for a teen in the back and a couple across the room. He leaned over the table and spoke softly, "If they seem a little…eager to get to know you, it's probably because Tanya has a crush on you."

My head snapped up. "What?"

He smiled conspiratorially. "Kate let it slip when she told me about your discount," he said. "She didn't say it, but she implied that she needed to be on your good side for one of her sisters."

I stared at him, gob smacked, and mutely tried to force words out of my mouth. He was wrong. Tanya had absolutely no reason to feel that way about me. Almost all of our conversations had turned into arguments so far, and I had done nothing but be an absolute bitch to her. Why the hell would she feel anything remotely romantic towards me?

"She barely even knows me," I protested. I pulled the glass towards me and wrapped my hands around it tightly. "And I've been a complete bitch to her and her family."

He shrugged cheekily. "Maybe that's her type. She's never shown any interest in anyone in town before, so I really have no idea, but I could definitely see it. All I know, is she's never given someone a fifty-percent discount before."

I winced as he reminded me of our first meeting. I had analyzed the interaction at least a dozen times on my own afterwards. It hadn't gone past my attention that she had flirted with me, but I had brushed it off as part of her vampiric nature or what-the-fuck-ever. I still had until then. Had she been serious with her flirting?

No. I shook my head. No, that was stupid. Why would she have been interested in me? I was just the new girl to her—just like I had been in Forks with Mike. The dynamic between us was completely different, and Max had simply drawn a conclusion from the wrong context. "She's not interested in me."

He rolled his eyes. "You know you're not actually bad looking, right?"

"Max, I really don't want to talk about this anymore." I shot him a look. "And it's not because I'm self-conscious about my looks, it's just…it's more complicated than you think, okay?"

His brows pinched. He looked at me curiously and leaned forward again. "Is everything okay?" he asked seriously. "Did something happen between you guys?"

I dropped my face in my hands. "Max, please…just drop it."

"Bell—"

"Hiya, Max!" Kate appeared from behind the counter, and my stomach dropped to my feet as I remembered her presence. She had heard the whole fucking thing. She was all smiles as Max turned to her. "I know you're on lunch, but I need the mail run to the post office before it's sent out, and I won't be able to make it. I'll give you an extra twenty minutes for your break when you get back." She held out a pile of envelopes.

Max blinked at her in confusion and glanced at me. I avoided his eyes and mutely shrugged. He frowned and turned back to Kate. "Okay…sure." He stood and took the mail from her.

She beamed. "Thanks, you're awesome!"

He nodded. "Yeah, sure thing." He sent me a small smile. "Thanks again for bringing me lunch, Bella. It really made my day."

I nodded and did my best to appear genuine. "No problem, it was only fair. I'll see you later, yeah?"

"Yeah, I'll see you next time." He waved and walked out of the shop with the mail in hand. The bell jingled behind him as he left.

Kate took his old seat and folded her hands together with a small smile. "I'm sorry for interrupting, but it sounded like you were getting uncomfortable," she said. Her chin tilted in the direction Max left. "He means well, but sometimes he doesn't know when to stop pushing. A good quality when it's needed but incredibly inconvenient when it's not."

I shifted back into the booth as far as possible. "He's just confused."

"Not entirely." She held up her hands when I snapped my head to her. "Geeze you have a glare on you," she whistled. "I just mean that you and Tanya have chemistry. You get more of a rise out of her than I did when I redesigned her whole room yellow." She tilted her head and smirked. "Frankly, I'm a little jealous. I'm supposed to be the annoying one in her life."

I frowned. "She could avoid that by avoiding me."

Kate snorted. "Yeah, but then the chemistry would be wasted, and my sister isn't always that smart when it comes to her personal life." She rocked back in the chair and crossed her arms. "Besides, we avoided you for two weeks and look how that turned out."

"Yeah. I was happy."

"Were you?" she challenged. Her eyes glinted as she grinned maliciously. "Because I distinctly remember a few comments about your loneliness. In fact, you were so nice to Tanya when you saw her again, I would almost think you missed having us around."

I wanted to tip Max's leftovers into her lap. It was a bitch move to bring up something so personal, and I hated it even more because it was true. I hadn't missed them, but their absence had been noticeable. They had forced me to become familiar with their presence in town, and I had been more susceptible to its sudden disappearance than I thought. My jaw clenched, and I shifted my glare out the window. "You're fucking annoying."

"Yeah, that's what everyone else says, too." Her grin never faltered as she rested her chin on her palm. "I'm also right, though."

"You're familiar to me," I said flatly. "Even if it's a shitty familiarity, it's the only familiarity I have up here." I turned my eyes back to her. "It's not exactly an invitation to be more friendly."

"No, but there's nothing wrong with being neighborly!" She waved her arm dramatically over the table. "Why else would I give you a discount on your purchases?"

"To buy me."

"No, to be neighborly."

I snorted. "Oh, yes, because everyone has heard the story of Dracula the Neighborly Vampire."

"Have you seen the romance section at bookstores? That's what almost every book is nowadays." Kate's eyes danced with mirth before they suddenly grew serious again. "My point here, Bella, is that I think you can give us a chance. I think you like us a little more than you wanna admit, and I think that deep down you know we can get along."

"For the love of…Why are you all so insistent?" I snapped. "I really don't understand why you all want to be my friends so terribly."

She shrugged. "Oh, you know vampires. We're all quite vain and petty. We can't stand when someone doesn't like us. Everyone likes us."

"Bullshit."

"True shit, actually." The wide grin was back on her lips as the door opened behind her. She glanced over her shoulder at the new customer, waved, and turned back to me. "Duty calls. I'll see you next time, Bella. Maybe we can have a coffee date together." She winked cheekily and whisked herself towards the counter before I could retort.

I thought about hanging out in the café a while longer, but the grins and winks Kate kept throwing at me let me know it was a horrible idea. I threw a few bills onto the table and left with Kate's enthusiastic goodbye following me out the door. She was annoying, but I had to admit she had a strangely charismatic personality.

I shoved my hands in my pockets and started down the road towards Tom's truck. I hadn't even made it halfway before I noticed the figure standing beside it. I paused mid step, but I wasn't even fully surprised.

"Oh…" Tanya stood beside the hood with her arm extended halfway in the air. In her hand was a book with a bright blue post-it stuck on the cover. Her eyes darted between me and the book. Slowly, she lowered her arm. "Hello, Bella."

"Hi…?"

The blonde smiled sheepishly, and I found it strange to see her look so embarrassed. "I saw your truck through the shop window, and I wanted to give you this." She held the book towards me. "I was disappointed that you weren't able buy it last time because of Glenn."

After a beat, I reached out took it from her. I lifted the post-it to confirm it was the book I had left behind. I let the note flip back down. Her handwriting was elegant and pristine. It reminded me of the writing you would see on wedding invitations: I hope you find it worth the wait.

A strange feeling appeared in my chest. It was warm and gentle, and it made my stomach turn over a little. I couldn't tell if it was a good feeling or not. "I…thanks."

Her smile was soft. "You're welcome. I hope you like it."

"Yeah…thanks." I didn't really know what else to say. I tucked the book under my arm and shuffled my feet. "I wasn't sure when I would be back in to get it."

Her face soured. "I really do hope Glenn hasn't ruined your desire to stop by," she said. Her thumbs hooked into her belt loops, and her shoulders rolled. "He's really not worth that much care, to tell the truth. He's a total gossip with no sense of social etiquette." She paused. "If you'd like, I could ban him from the shop for you."

My eyes widened. "What? No! You don't need to ban him because of me."

She chuckled. "I was kidding."

"Oh."

Her eyes sparkled with amusement as she rocked on her heels and glanced over her shoulder. "I was thinking of heading to the park." She turned back to me with a hopeful smile. "Would you join me for a walk? I could use the company."

My first instinct was to say no. I had the answer loaded on my tongue, but the book tucked under my arm stopped it. I thought of what Max had told me in the café not more than five minutes ago. The Denalis were good people by the town's standards (a standard the Cullens hadn't had in Forks even with Carlisle being the best doctor in town), and I had to admit I wasn't quite able to ignore the people's reasoning. It made me curious.

A small piece of my brain reminded me of the other thing Max had told me about Tanya, but I refused to give the thought any merit. I pushed it aside, sucked in a breath between my teeth, and nodded jerkily. "Alright."

Her eyes lit up with equal amounts of surprise and delight. "Wonderful!" She quickly sidestepped to allow me to leave the book into the truck's cabin. Her smile didn't falter as we fell into step together. "I see you were at Kate's shop. Did you go for lunch?"

I glanced at her from the corner of my eye and momentarily double-guessed indulging my curiosity. "Uh, yeah," I said slowly. I scratched at my neck. "I brought Max lunch."

"That was kind of you," she smiled. "I'm sure he appreciated that."

"He did."

I had absolutely nothing else to add. It had become a default setting to be on guard around the Denalis, and it didn't exactly help with casual conversation. It was easier for me to keep my mouth shut and focus on keeping my eyes forward to avoid any awkward glances.

Tanya didn't appear to mind my silence. In fact, she just seemed happy that I agreed to take a walk with her. Given how our last several interactions had gone, I couldn't exactly blame her. The bookshop was the first time we had ever really been civil towards each other—even if it was because of Glenn. The extended truce was kind of nice.

The silence carried over as we arrived at the park and started the trail. I had to admit it was a good day for a walk. The sun wasn't out, but the temperature was just warm enough to be comfortable. The wind blew softly in the trees, and a few birds were chirping at each other from across the park. Tanya's presence was more calming than I had anticipated it to be, and I tried not to think about the reasoning too hard.

We were on our second loop of the track when my legs started to feel like cement blocks were attached to my feet, and my pace slowed drastically. My breathing grew labored as I (stupidly) tried to push through the fatigue. Tanya noticed the change immediately and turned to me in concern. "Are you alright, Bella?"

"Yeah," I huffed. "Just tired." I looked towards the empty swing set and moved off the track. I heard Tanya's soft steps in the grass behind me as I sat on the left swing. I exhaled heavily in relief as the weight was taken off my legs. "I'll be fine in a few minutes."

She sat on the right beside me. Her eyes swept over me quickly a few times before she relaxed. "Do you get tired often?"

I shrugged. "Sometimes," I admitted. I leaned against the chain and let my feet rock me back and forth. "Usually right after treatment is the worst, but I went for a longer walk this morning, too. It was just a lot for one day, I guess."

She hummed in understanding. "We can sit as long as you would like, then. I have all the time in the world." I smiled a little at her poor joke in spite of myself. The toe of her shoe pushed against the ground and rocked herself back. She held the position. "It's been a few days since I last saw you. How are you doing?"

I looked at her incredulously. "You were there when I started to huff like a thousand-year-old grandma, right?"

She rolled her eyes. "You know that's not what I meant." Her head cocked to the side with a coy smile. "You should also know I find that comment offensive as someone who is over a thousand years old."

"Wait, seriously?"

"I was born during the High Middle Ages."

I had thought Carlisle was old when I discovered he was over three hundred, but I couldn't even begin to imagine the amount of life Tanya had experienced. She would have seen the rise and fall of empires, witch trials, plagues, and so many other milestones of humanity. A part of me wanted to ask about that period of her life, but I held back. The Cullens had horrific stories of their early lives, and I had a theory hers was the same. Instead, I pictured her in one of those heavy looking dresses and pointy hats you saw in old paintings…she annoyingly pulled it off without effort.

Tanya chuckled as if she knew what I was thinking and lifted her foot to sway gently in the air. "Are you going to answer my question?"

I snapped my jaw shut that had apparently hung open the whole time. That explained her laughter. I shrugged. "I'm dying."

"I know." Her face pinched, but she didn't look away from me—people usually looked away when I was so nonchalant about the matter. I supposed, though, she had seen more death than I could imagine. She was used to it. "I still want to know what you're feeling or thinking. It's just as important to me."

My eyes found the ground; my cheeks were too warm. "Still seems like a wasted question."

"Only because you won't give me an answer," she quipped. I frowned at her, and she smiled in return. "I'll keep asking, though, until you decide to give me one." Her legs swung gently in the air to gain height. "Was Max all that brought you into town today?"

I was too focused on watching her swing to respond for a second. There was something so surreal about watching a millennia old predator use a swing set. When the chains creaked loudly, I was snapped out of my thoughts. "Not much else to do around here."

"You could always visit me in my store if you need a cure for boredom."

"Didn't realize you were that easy."

Her feet stomped into the ground so hard that identical centimeter-deep craters were created around them. Her head snapped to the side so fast I didn't even see the movement. She stared at me in bewilderment, and I felt the glow of victory in my chest for making her speechless.

Then, her mouth that had hung open slowly morphed into a sideways grin. Her eyes became hooded and zeroed in on me with so much intensity, I nearly leapt from the seat. Slowly, she leaned forward until I could smell the coconut of her bodywash. "Why, Miss Swan," she purred, "are you flirting with me?"

I forgot how to swallow.

My ears burned, and I struggled not to choke on my own saliva like an absolute moron. I looked away sharply to hide my cheeks. Stupid, stupid, stupid. "Absolutely not."

She tsked. "Shame." The chains creaked as she leaned back. "I was quite flattered for a moment."

I grumbled petulantly under my breath. My stomach still felt too warm. "Aren't you literally designed to get hit on by humans?"

"Technically," she agreed, "but that doesn't mean the attention is always wanted." She arched her brow at me. "Someone as beautiful as you surely had the lovely experience of unwanted attention to know what I mean."

A brief memory of an alley in Port Angeles and a silver Volvo crossed my mind. I winced and pushed it aside—Mike Newton and his horrible flirting took its place. "I know you have to put up with it more than I do." Another memory appeared of my first day at Forks High School when Jessica introduced the Cullens. "They always talked about how much they hated the added attention," I thought aloud. I barely noticed the way Tanya stiffened from the corner of my eye. "Well, most of them did. Some of them thought it was funny and tried to spread rumors about their love life."

Emmett once spread a rumor in the sixties about Edward being a swinger. It led to a lot of propositions and invitations that drove Edward to the point of faking his death. The family ended up having to move from his overdramatic reaction, but it was a funny story. The thought of it still made me smile a little bit.

"You were close."

My heart cracked. "They were my family."

Her eyes darted towards my wrist. I'd never seen Tanya angry before, even during our heated arguments, and I suddenly felt grateful as her face darkened. "I'm sorry," she said stiffly. "Whatever they did to make you hate my kind so much…I'm sorry."

I stubbed my toe into the dirt. "I'm sorry I hate your kind, too."