Howl • Paul Lahote

• 0.1 •

Rain. Rain was all she saw. Ava Grayson couldn't get enough of it, she loved it. In sunny California she never saw a lot of it but in Forks, it was constantly raining. She turned her attention from the raindrops trickling down the window to her Aunt Joy who was beaming and babbling on about nothingness.

"Quil is going to be so excited to see you, we haven't seen you in years, Ava." She smiled at her Aunt.

"You know how it was, Dad was always working and I never had time." Joy nodded, understanding where she came from. She knew of her father's work ethic and how much overtime he did. The conversation then seemed to drift to her Dad but they both knew she wasn't ready for that, so the rest of the trip was in silence.

They pulled into the dirt driveway in no time. Looking up to the balcony she saw Quil and another boy running down the stairs to greet them. She got out of the car smiling.

"Ava!" Quil yelled enveloping her in a massive hug.

"Hey, Quil." She said pulling away from the overly excited cousin. This was exactly how she remembered him. She turned from Quil to the boy that stood next to him.

Quil looked from him to Ava then back again,"Oh right!" He exclaimed,"Ava this is my best friend Embry, Embry this is my cousin Ava. You two have probably met before right?"

She put her hand out for the tan boy to shake and looked him up and down. She nodded and knew from appearances that he was definitely from the reservation. Some smiles and hellos were exchanged before her Aunt had them both hauling her bags up the steps and into the house.

"It's good to have some boys in the house, they do all the heavy lifting." Her Aunt said smiling and nudging her slightly. She was always very over-enthusiastic and loud, a lot like Quil. Ava smiled back and entered the house. It was the same as she remembered, the same photos were hung of Quil and his parents and the furniture were in the same places as she'd last seen them. In all the 5 years she'd been away from La Push nothing had really changed.

"Ava you'll be in here." Her Aunt said entering a room to her right. This snapped her out of the daydream she was in and so she turned and went in behind Quil. Looking around she took in the white walls and small double bed in the corner of the room. There was a desk to the side and a wardrobe across from it. Just like everything else in the house, it was how she remembered it.

"I got you new sheets and pillows to make it feel like yours and cleared everything from the cupboards."

"Thank you, Aunt Joy. Thanks for letting me stay here, thanks for coming all that way to help me take my stuff, just thanks for everything." She smiled as they hugged for a moment before she left to let Ava 'settle in'. She fell back onto the bed and sighed, everything about her family and La Push reminded her of her parents. The book store her mother owned, the long dirt roads and the houses she used to visit every weekend to play with her cousin. The whole town just made her depressed really, when looking at it in a different perspective. She found happiness in her family but other than that she'd much rather be in California, where she could forget about everything.

After unpacking she left her room to find Quil and Embry to see if they wanted to do something. When she got out she only found Quil sitting on the lounge.

"Where'd Embry go? Did I scare him off with my looks." She joked making a face at Quil. Quil shrugged and kept watching his show. Ava sat down next to her younger cousin.

"What's up?" She asked him, he wasn't normally as stoic as he was at the moment.

"It's nothing really, just that Embry has been acting weird and, I don't know, angry? He gets really angry for no reason and just walks out. He's being really confusing at the moment." Quil confessed.

Ava thought for a minute before asking if Quil wanted to go out for dinner. With the reply she took to asking her Aunt as well but she declined as she had a late shift that night. So they went off into town. They stopped at a small grill and sat in a booth near the window.

"Hey isn't that Charlie and Bella Swan?" Ava asked her cousin. Quil cluelessly shrugged still looking over the menu. Ava excused herself and went over to see. When she got there Charlie looked up and immediately recognized her.

"Hey you're John's daughter, Ava right?" She nodded,"You used to be friends with the Blacks, I think you played with Bella a few times." Bella looked up when she heard her name. She smiled up at Ava with a simple smile on her face.

"So you're back? Did you bring your Dad with you?" Charlie laughed not realizing what had happened. Ava tried to find a way to tell him.

"Dad, um, Dad actually passed away a couple of months back, uh, yeah." Charlie's eyes went wide with shock.

"Oh God Ava I'm so sorry, I had no idea." Ava smiled and said it was fine, even though it really wasn't. She hated talking about her parents more than anything on the Earth. After their short conversation ended, she said goodbye and went to sit back down with Quil.

"How'd it go? I ordered you a burger and chips like you wanted." Ava thanked him and continued to tell him about her plans for the weekend with Bella. They were going to see a movie with Bella's friends Jessica and Mike.

After the meal was finished they left for home. Once inside she had a quick shower and got into bed, thinking about her father and their nighttime routines. He would always be home before she went to bed but now he would never be. And like most nights, she cried and cried and cried until sleep overtook her shaking body.