I stared at him from across the room—if he wasn’t a pack brother, this kid would so be dead.
We all ignored Paul and let Seth go wherever he needed to go to prevent a potential brawl. Sam came into the room holding two large hammers in hand.
“Yo Jake, come with me to the back, the Shed door is broken again.” He rolled his eyes towards the kitchen.
“The fiancé, huh?” Jared whispered from where he sat beside him with a mischievous smile.
Sam turned to him in deadpan and swatted him with the hammer- obviously Jared didn’t even flinch at this. We all laughed knowing Emily’s hold on Sam, something he did not appreciate us poking fun at.
“Are you coming?” Sam questioned, turning to me and holding out the hammer.
I nodded and got up, following him out to the back.
LUCY POV
The warm water felt amazing on my muscles and after being out in that cold rain last night, it felt even better. I let the hot droplets hit against my back and let my mind wander back to him. It’s all I’ve been thinking about all shower. I didn’t even know how to find the words to describe how happy I was. I’d always wanted to have my own love story- always seeing girls in coffee shops with their boyfriends while I sat in the corner alone sipping my latte, and hoping the creepy man beside me didn’t decide to make conversation. I would see the couples holding hands during my morning jog through central park, the guy with his arm protectively around her, shielding her from the cold air. Even on the subway, I would see the couple who couldn’t find a seat just like me, except the girl would have her tall broad guy to hold onto so she wouldn’t fall over while I had to clench every one of my muscles to avoid falling down on the woman seated behind me (totally great workout by the way). I always wanted to be the girl with the guy to lean on both literally and figuratively. I wanted someone to always call to tell them about my day and to go to when I was sad. I mean, yeah I’ve always had Jake- but he was 3000 miles away and even if we weren’t so far away, we were best friends, so his kisses weren’t really an option for me. And I needed those kisses. Just a taste of him and I was already addicted to this boy.
And now I had that love story- even if it was really out of this world and crazy. I had me a wolf man and just the thought of it was really sexy, right? Seriously.. It’s so weird how this ended up being our fates. We were together since we were in diapers and now we were together in a whole different way. And I loved that thought. I loved everything about it.
Reluctantly, I turned off the water and stepped out of the shower, wrapping my towel around myself. The bathroom was too steamy to even see myself in the mirror so I quickly walked across the hall to my room.Many minutes and outfit changes later, I was finally done. I had decided on a plain black mini skirt with a matching belt to go with a tight dark red turtleneck tucked in. Today wasn’t as cold as yesterday so the skirt wouldn’t be too bad, and I paired it with a pair of black suede slouch boots. Red and Black were Jake’s favorite color combinations- always been so I was happy to contribute to that particular fetish. I had my makeup done and was now working on my hair which I decided to put half up and half down with a black clip after drying it. I walked back and looked at the full length mirror, frowning at my extra white legs. Sigh. Why couldn’t we get some sun in this place? Oh well. I smoothed over my skirt and made final adjustments to my outfit before going down the stairs. I think being out in the rain gave me the sniffles because I must have blown my nose about five times since getting upstairs. I swear if I get sick… It is not pretty.
When I went down, I saw Paul, Jared, and Embry playing one of their video games, not paying attention to anything but the television. I furrowed my eyebrows, wondering where Jake had gone off to.
“Where’s Jake?” I questioned the three.
“Ionu.” They mumbled. I think it was ‘I don’t know.’
“what? Where’s Jake?” I repeated.
“Outside helping Sam,” Embry answered his eyes still on the screen.
“Oh.” That explained it. “And Seth? Isn’t he having breakfast with us?”
“huh?” Jared asked.
Oh my God. These boys and their game. “Where’s Seth?” I repeated. “You know.. Seth Clearwater? My cousin?”
“He left.” Jared answered.
He left? Why? “Why?”
“Because Paul was a douche. Now SHH!” Embry exclaimed, tossing her a look of annoyance before going back to his controller.
My eyebrows sprung up. Wow, hate to think what would happen if I happened to turn off the tv. Oh man, that’s too horrible to even think about. I walked towards the open front door and gazed outside. Where could Seth have gone? Apparently Paul bothered him? Stupid Paul, he was always doing something to bother Seth.. actually, all of us- but it must have been big this time to bother him so much he thought he had to leave. I couldn’t see any sign of him until an idea popped into my head. I turned to the three, knowing there was no point, but told them I was going off to find Seth. To which they replied a string of “uh. Ok. Yah. Mm”
I rolled my eyes and shut the door before heading off the porch. The cold air hit my face, but it wasn’t too bad- however I knew I couldn’t stay out here too long without eventually freezing. I looked around as I walked down the paths of LaPush, greeting those who I knew along the way.
First beach wasn’t as deserted as I thought it would be. People walking their dogs and younger teenagers littered the sand near the water, but nobody dared to go in, it was probably below zero. I squinted, trying to see through the every patch of black hair and dark skin, looking for the particular boyish face of my cousin. I continued down the beach, away from the water because I was too worried the waves would somehow come and take me. Don’t ask. I wrapped my arms around myself against the cold, the breeze from the tide blowing my hair back. Maybe I was wrong about where he would be. Seth and I would always come here when one of us was upset and we needed a little cousin bonding. Sometimes the rare times Jake and I would have an argument, Seth was always the one I’d turn to, even if he was a year younger than me. But then again one year wasn’t really such a big difference. As I was about to give up and turn around, I spotted the familiar back of Seth, seated on a log right at the end of the beach. He was huddled forwards, his arms rested on his knees and his face scrunched in anger. I quickened my pace and when I was finally there, I quietly took a seat beside him. He either wanted to ignore me or was too into his thoughts to notice, so I rested my head on his shoulder not saying a single word. He let out a heavy sigh and turned his head to look at me. Despite the sadness in his eyes he offered me a small smirk and looked ahead again.
“What are you doing here? Shouldn’t you be spending every moment with Jake?” He meant it to be a joke, but I felt the pain in his words.
I shook my head. “No, I’d rather be with you. Don’t tell Jake.” I whispered with a smirk of my own.
He laughed half heartedly and looked back at me.
“Are you hitting on me, Lucy Clearwater?”
I nodded. “Again, don’t tell Jake.”
“You nasty girl. We’re cousins!”
I laughed with him. “Hey, you suggested it!”
I felt Seth’s shoulders shake as he continued to chuckle, making me quite proud of myself for getting him to laugh.
“Well.. how’d you find me?” He questioned looking ahead and tossing a pebble forward.
I sat up and looked at him incredulously. “I may have been in New York for a while, but I’m pretty sure my memory serves me correctly when I say that this is our spot.”
He smiled again and nodded. “Okay fair enough.”
We sat in quietness again before I spoke. “so what did that meanie Paul say to you. Want me to beat him up?”
He shook his head with a loud exhale. “As much as I’d love to see that, nah.”
I laughed lightly and nudged him, “Well come on then, what’d he do?”
“Eh” He shrugged. “It’s stupid.”
I gaped. “Seth Harry Clearwater, I will have you know that I am the Queen of Stupid.”
Again, he laughed. “Not wrong there.”
I gaped for another reason this time. “Oh shut up and tell me.” I pushed my body against his in a harder nudge.
“It’s fine, really Luce.”
“I’ll start singing that song…” I threatened.
Seth’s eyes widened. “Please don’t.”
“I’ll do it.”
“No.”
I smiled victoriously and took a deep breath. “Jon-JACOB-jingle-heimer-Schidt!” I began.
“Okay! Okay! We were sitting after you left” He began and couldn’t help but laugh at his desperation to get me to stop singing. Yeah, I was slightly tone deaf when I sang loud. And all the guys knew it. But on the plus side, it kinda gave me power I guess. “And Paul just started being a dick as usual.”
Shocking. “Well what did he say?”
“Just some crap about how I can’t get a single girl’s glance.” He shrugged like it wasn’t a big deal. But I knew it hurt him more than he was letting on.
I gasped. That little cockroach. “Ew! He said that? What a little douche!”
“Okay, before you go on, please don’t tell me how he’s wrong and any girl would want me and blah blah blah. Spare me all that.” Seth interjected. “In fact, don’t reply at all. I was just trying to shut you up.” He added with a laugh.
I scowled. “Who the hell does he think he is? Just because he’s a man-whore doesn’t make him so great.”
It was true too. Paul was by far the biggest player I had ever seen. He collected girls like Jake and I used to collect state quarters. (We got all 50 thank you very much). I hated how he thought he was so much better than everyone else. Argh. He infuriated me. I got off the log and quickly began heading back in the direction of the house. I wanted to give that jerk a piece of my mind.
“Whoa, whoa!” Seth was quick to grab me from behind, his arms circling my waist. “Where are you going?”
“To give that jerk a piece of my mind!” I exclaimed, struggling in his grip. “Nobody talks to my family that way. “
“Okay, I’m flattered.. But Paul will flatten you. And Jacob will kill him. And do you really wanna cause all that trouble?”
I scowled at the point he made. “Ugh. Fine.” We took our seat again
“Anyway, that’s not the point. It’s not what he said that messed with my head. I could care less about him.”
My eyebrows furrowed, “then what was it?”
Seth groaned, annoyed at my prodding, but I didn’t care.
“Luce..” He whined, clearly not wanting to share.
I considered singing again to get him to crack, but didn’t want to push him into anything. If he didn’t want to tell me then it was right to not tell me. I guess all I could do was make him feel better- about whatever it was that’s bothering him. I pouted and wrapped my arm around his broad shoulders, resting my head back on the same spot it was in.
“Okay, well I’m here anyway.”
It was quiet around us, only the distant sounds of the teenagers from the rocks ahead heard. It seemed like five minutes passed before Seth began to speak again.
“I’m worried I never imprint.” He said it as if it pained him to admit it.
I turned to look at him.. well his neck because he wasn’t looking at me. Aw, why would he ever think that? And besides, Jake told me every werewolf will imprint in their lifetime. So why would he even let that thought cross his mind.
“What? Seth-“
“I know what you’re going to say. It’s going t happen. But how do you know for sure? What if I’m the exception?” I felt him swallow hard.
Poor Seth! How can he not know he was the biggest catch? In high school, all the girls in his grade went crazy for him.
“Seth. Come on, you know all the girls go crazy for you in school! Should I remind you?”
He shook his head. “Yeah, and none of them I’ve imprinted on. Isn’t that just a little bit strange? It’s been two years since I’ve first phased and not one of them has caught my eye.”
“Then it’s obvious the special one hasn’t come along yet. And besides, look at Embry, and Paul. Hell if what you’re saying is possible, then Paul is definitely the exception to the imprinting rule.”
Seth chuckled and shook his head.
“Embry’s different. He doesn’t mind that he hasn’t imprinted. He thinks of it as some type of adventure. Like. A scavenger hunt. It’s a little creepy. But Me?... I don’t know.. I just..”
“Want that special person to come along.” I finished for him.
“Yeah.” He nodded. “And yeah those girls may be cute or whatever, but when I don’t feel that pull that the other guys tell me about, then I don’t waste my time.”
“She’s out there. Just be patient. I promise you’ll find her.”
He nodded with a sigh. “I hope you’re right.”
“I am. And that girl is gonna know how lucky she is.” I smiled.
He rolled his eyes. “Must you be such a cornball?”
“Yes. I really must.” I giggled ruffling his hair. “And have fun with those other girls! At least until that special one comes.”
Seth turned to me with an amused expression. “You are telling me to have fun with girls? Man, New York has corrupted you.”
“Eh, it’s for the best.” I shrugged. “Think it gives me some edge.” I teased.
Seth raised an eyebrow. “I’m telling Jake.”
“I’m pretty sure he’ll like it.”
Seth rolled his eyes, “Yeah you’re probably right.”
“Of course. Jake loves everything about me.” I scoffed, getting up.
“I was gonna say you’re the best, but I take it back.” Seth replied, getting up.
“Oh shut up, you know I am.” I laughed taking his hand and getting up too.
“Unfortunately you’re right.” He wrapped his arm around my shoulder and used his other hand to ruffle my hair.
“Seeeeth!” I whined, pushing myself out of his arms and adjusting my hair back in its clip. “You suck.”
“nah you love me. Don’t deny it.” He pulled me back into a hug.
I rolled my eyes and wrapped my arms around him back.
“Thank you.” He whispered into my ear. “I really needed to hear that.”
“You’re welcome, Seth.” I rubbed his back and we pulled away.
“But if you ever mention this again, I’m going to deny it.” He slapped my arm as if I was one of his buddies.
I looked at him in deadpan. “Glad the cute cousin moment’s over Seth.
He chuckled and we continued to walk in silence. However he broke it shortly, “I can’t believe you thought you can take Paul. What are you, three feet tall?”
“Ew, shut up!”
He laughed and started running with me in tow. And let me remind you the kid’s a werewolf. And I was in a skirt.
“Seth! I can’t run that fast!” I exclaimed, nearly tripping beside him.
“Fine, you little human.” He sighed exaggeratedly and slowed down to a walk. “Aren’t you cold?” He looked down at me.
I nodded sarcastically. “little bit.”
“Well that’s why we gotta run, C’mon shorty!”
I let out a loud shriek when Seth put his arms underneath my knees and lifted me off my feet.
“Seth!” I screamed, holding on to his shirt as tightly as I can.
He laughed and he continued to run to Emily’s.
My cousin. The crazy.