Blowout {Arabelle}

[Seth Clearwater]

The problem wasn’t that Seth wasn’t social. He was far from the type that stood in the back of a room during any sort of social gathering, especially one that involved the pack. Around the pack Seth felt more lively than he did around anyone else. They knew him better than any of his old friends did. The pack had all been in his head, they all knew how they’d saved him from depression after his father had died. They were close, how could they not be? This was the group of people that had sworn to have one another’s backs. These were the guys, and girls, that Seth had worked with to fight off that leech who’d entered their territory. Ever since that night, Seth had been on edge. That said nothing for the other’s. But he was worried that they’d come back. Somehow he knew that whoever she’d been with wouldn’t be happy that she was killed. That leech they had killed had said little before she’d been done in. But he knew as much as she was with someone else. She was with those vampires Edward Cullen had mentioned to Jake.

A few of his pack mates tottered about the cliffs, drunk, but not Seth. He was seated on the hood of his old, silver Mustang. The car was far from great. It needed a lot of work, but at this point, it was running. The car had a decent stereo system hooked up to it as well, which was why Seth had brought it up to the cliffs for their party, rather than run as most of the others had. They needed something to listen too after all. The incoherent singing of some of the more wasted guys in the pack was hardly adequate.

Other than his pack mates, there were the few girlfriends, and imprinte’s floating around. Among these, was Paul’s girlfriend, Arabelle. Seth had found it odd that Paul would find a girlfriend, when he was so surly and obnoxious. But then again Arabella was good for him from what Seth could see. She didn’t put up with his more irritating qualities. She wasn’t the type to often bite her tongue and take some of the stuff Paul dished out. To be perfectly honest, Seth found the two rather amusing really. The idea of Paul with anyone was a bit amusing. Seeing his relationship in action was only better.

When a song started up that Seth didn’t particularly want to listen to, Seth moved around to the open window of his car, and leaned inside. One of his arms rested against the windowsill as he fished around for his iPod, in order to change the song. The song continued to play through while Seth scrolled through bands, trying to decide on a new one. Finally he stopped scrolling on a band that wasn’t terribly well known. One that was most famous for their song that was used on a shampoo commercial. The Transplants. Their hit Diamonds and Guns had only begun when it happened. Curious as to why there were raised voices, Seth turned around, his shaggy brown hair falling in his eyes. Habitually, Seth jerked his chin to the side in a fashion that tossed the hair from his eyes, allowing his focus to fall on the arguing pare.

[allie]

Paul had talked Arabelle into attending the beach bash, that somehow turned into a cliff bash. She was already irritated with him previously, but he seemed to at least be trying to make it up to her, which was a point she could not easily ignore. For all of Paul’s horrid qualities, he is looks often out weighted anything that he could dish out of his mouth. The word almost should definitely be considered when talking about Paul. The brunette was far from her breaking point with him. He couldn’t stay sober for more than five minutes it seemed, and he was always late everywhere they went. It was enough to drive a girl insane. Naturally, the stereotype is placed on girls all too much, because Paul was just as bad as any girl she knew if not worse. She had long since grown weary of his antics, but tonight, oh tonight was something special. They were arguing over his car. The piece of junk that it was and Arabelle had suggested that Jacob look at it. He got overly defensive and started yelling at her for suggesting something. She had had it. “Paul Alge Phillips I’ve had it. You can take your truck and your poems and your whatever else you have to offer and stick it up your own ass.” She fumed, making sure everyone else heard them. Okay, she didn’t mean for everyone to hear them fighting, but she was so angry that it couldn’t be helped.

Slamming his car door shut, she quickly moved away from him as he tried to grab her. He stumbled on the ground as he was drunk to no end as perusal. She pushed him once he got back up to try and grab at her waist. He started to talk, but she quickly made her way away from him and over to the blaring music as to where she could not hear a single word he uttered out of his blatantly loud mouth. Walking by Seth, Arabelle leaned up against his car and took of her heels, thanking God that they didn’t go to the beach, but now she wanted to. She was going to march her way right down to the sand and hope the waves swallowed her up before Paul could make his way down there. They were over. She couldn’t stand it anymore. She didn’t see how other girls dated him, okay she did see. It was the same reason that she had fallen for him. Anyone with looks like Paul could get whatever girl he wanted until of course he showed his true nature. Then she wasn’t so sure that every one would be so keen to be with him. “Bloody bastard,” she mouthed as she pushed off the car with her butt, shoes in hand as she made nice retreat down the ledge that lead to the beach. She was definitely not happy about her particular situation, which was vivid on her face. Scowling, she stumbled only slightly on the steep hill, thankful again that she had sense enough not to wear a skirt and settled for jeans instead. Though she was sure once she was down on the beach she would be thinking otherwise.

Once down on the beach, she plopped down to watch the waves coming in and out. She wanted desperately to get away from Paul and his friends for the day, but she didn’t really have a way home at the moment and it was a good five to ten mile hike if she was lucky. Oh well, people spent the night on the beach a lot right? It’d be no different. She’d just stay near the cliffs, though she did remember that there was a trail that Paul had showed her before. She looked back over her shoulder, trying to decipher where it was. No one would bother her there, but it was a tricky place to get to. Of course, that only made her want to go there more. For some reason, Arabelle got a thrill out of doing dangerous things. She loved to challenge herself, which was another reason she had been with Paul for as long as she had. It was the thrill of trying to tame him, but she had learned the hard way that taming Paul was impossible. Besides, she didn’t need to get so close to someone that would imprint on another. She had heard the story already about Leah, Emily, and Sam. It definitely wasn’t something she was prepared to go through.

[Seth Clearwater]

The fighting began before the pare even got out of Paul’s car. Of course the whole pack could hear every word before they even left the vehicle. Seth wondered absently if Arabelle realized that. He knew that Paul had told her what they were…much to the displeasure of the rest of the pack, and Sam, but he’d told her. Weather or not she knew about their exceptional hearing was another matter though. The hearing wasn’t something that was flaunted. It wasn’t as if they constantly listened in on conversations they weren’t a part of and commented on them. Seth realized there was a good chance Belle wasn’t aware that several teenage guys were listening as her boyfriend complained about his old junker. This was what Seth didn‘t understand. He had been in Paul‘s head, thus he understood that the guy did try to impress Belle, Seth had skimmed poems, making sure there were no errors, that they sounded good. That as well as the fact that he was in the head of several females. Even if Paul was a jerk, he was apparently the cute jerk…the bad guy personified.

Seth, along with others, watched as Arabelle shoved Paul away from her, and walked quickly away from him. Paul continued to try and stop her, to get her to listen to his plea, but Belle wouldn’t have it. She kept moving away from Paul, passed in front of Seth, and leaned back against his car to pull off her heals. Seth watched her calmly, wondering if this was going to be the extent of the drama tonight. Seth was on edge for something bigger. Something much bigger. What if one of the leeches came back? Half the pack was drunk right now, they’d never be able to hold their ground against an enemy right now. It was that that kept Seth worrying. This party wasn’t any fun for him simply because of that thought. His eyes fell on Belle’s lips as she mouthed something, and pushed off his car, heading for the cliffs, and one of the steep paths leading down the side. Seth didn’t move right off. But Paul did. Seth jumped into action before Paul reached the edge of the cliff, and took a hold of his arm. Even though they both knew Paul wasn’t going to get hurt on a hike, Seth didn’t think it a good idea for Paul to follow his irate girlfriend…sorry, ex girlfriend.

“Paul just stay here, go have a drink with Quil and Embry. I’ll go talk to Belle for you.” Seth suggested calmly. Somehow he felt like the safe option of the guys in the pack. Though none of them had imprinted on Belle, some of them still may try to flirt with her. Seth wasn’t one that usually flirted with his friend’s ex girlfriends. He usually stayed away from them, formed a friendship rather than relationship. Belle already knew about what they were, so she was the best option among most the girls in La Push. There wasn’t that huge secret hovering above them all the time. Around Belle the guys could be themselves and not worry about letting someone find out. Thus, it was a danger. Seth’s hand came down hard on Paul’s shoulder before he headed off in the direction Belle had just gone. Seth glanced down the cliff, making sure she was a the bottom before heading smoothly down the hill.

Until he’d phased, Seth had never been very big on hiking, or being out doors. The computer geek within wouldn’t allow it. But since he’d phased it had become easy to go running down this formidable path, down to the beach. He jogged down the steep hill, not even thinking twice about the possibility of loosing his footing. Seth was more concerned with Belle getting lost and hurt. His eyes scanned the darkness, now that they no longer had the light of the fire they’d just abandoned. He found her sitting a short distance from the ebbing waves, bare feet buried in the sand. Seth moved from the base of the cliff over to where she was seated, and plopped himself into the sand next to her.

“I’m sorry if you wanted to be alone…but that isn’t a feasible option at this time.” Seth stated. Some times it was hard not to feel awkward. Seth was only fifteen, almost sixteen. He had the mind of a fifteen year old, one that had seen things no one should have to. He was also stuck in the body of a man around twenty or twenty three. Furthermore he had the instincts of a full grown wolf urging him to do strange things, wanting him to phase and run off into the trees…somehow he’d found a safe place to be himself among all of that. Some how his mind had come to terms with everything it had been through, and maintained a fairly normal person.

Seth watched Belle out of the corner of his dark eyes, keeping his main focus on the waves before them. He didn't want her to feel babysat, but he wasn't about to let her out of his sight. Not with the possiblity of her meeting a leech. Not after what had just happend, what he and his pack had just done.

[allie]

Paul wasn’t one to just lay down and give up. He had more fight in him than that, but when Arabelle pushed him, well it was obvious that it had angered him beyond reason. Her walking off didn’t help matters any more either. He was going to go down there and try to console her, but Seth got in his way. He let out a low growl, trying to calm himself down. His friend was right. Paul needed to stay up here and cool off. He’d then try to go and talk to Arabelle. It wasn’t as if he just wanted to let her go. He had told her his secret because deep down he did care about her, but they just weren’t the best match in the world. Couples were not supposed to fight day in and day out, but Arabelle and him were notorious for the late night rambles. He had to admit that he make up sex had been superb and well worth the extra hassle they both put each other through. He knew deep down that once he imprinted, Arabelle would be like a second news story to him, so why did he care so much? Why did he care if she stayed down by the beach all bloody night? He didn’t know, but he did know that he needed to let someone else go down there and talk sense into her. Turning his head away, he pushed Seth’s arm off of his and merely nodded. Of course everyone heard the fight, he already knew that. Arabelle how ever didn’t know that. He had told her enough to keep her curiosity sedated, but he didn’t want to go into everything with her. It wasn’t as if he truly wanted to be this way. Popping a top, Paul nodded to Embry and Quil. “Jake fix that damn thing?” he said jokingly trying to lighten the mood as he watched Seth follow his now ex-girlfriend down the beach. This was probably the reason Sam didn’t want him to tell her, which made sense now.

*************************************

Arabelle however had found herself scowling at the beach. She was not going to let herself cry over him. The girl was sick of his yelling, and she knew that their fight did not have to end that way, but she just couldn’t take it anymore. Letting out a sigh, She found a rock and threw it into the water as hard as she could. It didn’t go far, not as far if one of the boys threw it. That was the trouble with hanging out with werewolves, there was no room to improve. They would always beat you to the punch first. The thought made her chuckle, brushing her hands off to her side so that the sand wouldn’t fall on her pants. It was inevitable that she would come back sandy, but she was going to try not to pick up as much of it on her clothes as possible. It was only when she heard someone move behind her that she turned around. “Paul. GO…oh.” She muttered the last word as she looked up at Seth. She had a few classes with him, knew him decently enough to say hey each time she saw him. “Sorry I thought you were him. I should have known though,” she said a bit perturbed though it wasn’t supposed to be directed at Seth. After all, he didn’t do anything wrong. Though as much as she didn’t want to see Paul, she sort of wished it was him sitting beside her as crazy at that sounds. No, she told herself. They were done, and this was just an early sign of it. He wasn’t going to come to her and tell her he was sorry for the millionth time. He wasn’t going to whisper he loved her in her ear anymore. Part of her wanted to scream and the other part wanted to cry. “It’s fine. It’s dark and cold anyhow, and since I know you guys have this special ability for warming people up by merely sitting beside them, I can’t say your presence is totally unwelcomed or unwarranted.”

“He’s up there drinking isn’t he?” she questioned idly. Arabelle found that Paul often hid in the booze, but then didn’t most teenagers? She would be up there having fun if it weren’t for his stupid childish antics. It was as if she talked to him and he didn’t want to hear it they fought. Curling her knees into her chest, Arabelle wrapped her arms around her legs. Her eyes found the soothing crashing of the waves on the rocks. She sat like that for a moment, not really wanting to move or talk. It was only when the silence became deafening and a loud roar could be heard from up above did she turn her head on its side to face Seth. “And why isn’t me being alone feasible Seth?” Her curiosity finally getting the better of her. She knew little about what was going on. She knew about the vampires, but she hadn’t got many details out of Paul. He hardly ever wanted to talk to her about it, which was understandable. She probably wouldn’t want to talk about it either. Since her eyes had gotten used to the darkness from the time she had stayed out there with no light, she could see the path to the cave. It looked a bit dangerous to go on just bare feet, but she wanted a challenge. She wanted to do anything but sit there and mope. Seth didn’t deserve that, not from her. “Come on. Lets go for a walk. If you’re going to miss the party you might as well find something else to do.”

[Seth Clearwater]

One could almost feel the waves of hostility rolling off Belle as he approached her. Were he not infinitely stronger than her, Seth would probably have been worried. He lived with a girl, and knew that when they were feeling hostile, you back off. But It wasn’t safe to leave Belle alone. Anything could show up at any time, and there was no guarantee that they’d be as friendly as the Cullens were. Paul would be terribly upset if anything were to happen to Belle. The breakup had been her idea, and Seth knew he’d miss Arabella were she to get killed. It would only spur on a whole new level of angry if she were to get hurt. Since Paul coming down here probably wasn’t a good idea, Seth knew it was his job to keep an eye on her. What was in the best interest of one person in the pack was in the best interest of them all. If one of them was upset they all were. Resisting it would be terribly tiring, and Seth didn’t need to try that theory out to know it either.

The instant she turned around Seth was flooded with thoughts he’d picked up on from Paul. He’d seen Aree’s face countless times when he’d been running around in wolf form. Seth knew as well as she did how her relationship with Paul went. Part of him was prepared to find the two of them being the same couple as always in the morning. They always fought like this. Aree would run off, irritated, and either Paul or someone else would follow her. All the two of them needed was some time to cool down, and they were able to make up again. Why should this fight be any different?

“Yeah, I didn’t like the idea of Paul stumbling down the cliff…I didn’t think he’d be able to climb back up.” Seth responded, he wasn’t bothered by the frustration in her voice. She’d just fought with Paul, a terribly frustrating person to argue with. There was never any winning with Paul, she was bound to be irritated. “But he didn’t wan to come. I’m sure he’s sorry for being a jerk.” Seth told Aree as he seated himself next to her. At her statement about keeping people warm, Seth laughed.

“I see, all I am is a space heater.” Seth replied. He scooted closer to the small body next to himself, and draped his arm around her shoulders. “Can’t have you freezing to death then.” Seth commented lightly, hoping not to bother her by his action. He hoped that Aree didn’t know the gory details about werewolf-ism. He hoped she didn’t realize that he knew Paul’s ever thought of her, every memory. Knowing that would probably make her a bit awkward, especially if she understood how her ex boyfriend’s mind worked. But Seth knew many such things about everyone, including his own sister. It didn’t bother him the way he feared it would her.

“Yeah I think he just asked Jake to mix him something when I headed down here.” Seth responded disapprovingly. He caught movement in his peripheral vision as Arabelle hugged her knees to her chest. Naturally, he turned towards the motion, and watched her as she rested her chin on her knees, staring out at the waves. “There’s just a lot going on lately.” Seth responded vaguely. “It’s just not safe right now.” He insisted, not wanting to worry her with the details. “It’s nothing for you to worry about. I’m just paranoid. I don’t like the idea of you running around alone at night is all.” Seth insisted, and turned away from Aree’s profile.

As much as he hated the idea of leaving the pack alone when half of them were drunk, Seth stood up, offering a hand to Arabelle. “A walk sounds good. Anywhere in particular you want to go?” Seth asked while waiting for her to let him pull her up.

[allie]

“Yeah,” she mouthed wordlessly to him, forcing herself not to look back at the cliff. She would not feel sorry for herself. She came out tonight to have fun, and she was going to have it. She didn’t need Paul to have a good time with the fellas. All she needed was a means of getting along with someone and voila. Arabelle was hardly the downer of the party. She had always tried to make impossible situations work, which explained why she stuck with Paul for so long. “Oh yes, but you’re a sexy space heater at that. Don’t forget that minute detail,” she whispered and couldn’t help but to lean into his arm. His body temperature was so refreshing against her cold one. It was the wind off of the waves that made the female so cold, but her outfit she had worn was for swimming. She had intended to go with Paul, which would have made the water bearable if she were wrapped up in his arms, but not anymore. He eyes shot up to his as he talked about things going on. Paul hadn’t mentioned anything, but did he ever?

“Nothing to be worried over and yet you came to my rescue. You know Seth, that doesn’t make sense at all. I’ve got a right mind to coax the information out of you, but first. I think we should find somewhere a bit warmer! I know a place that way,” she pointed to her left. No doubt he would recognize it from Paul’s memories. Oh and those would be lovely memories as well. Inside that cliff, there was a body of warm water that had metallic stones that shown on the pool’s floor. It was a beautiful place. She still remembered the first time Paul had ever taken her there. It wasn’t that she thought she was going to lose her virginity there. No, that wasn’t what she had intended, but Paul was ever the resourceful character.

Shrugging those memories off, Belle took his hand as he lifted her off the ground without much trouble. “You know I had planned on doing it myself, but an extra set of hands going up those cliffs would be helpful,” she teased slightly not having let go of his hand yet. After she spoke, Arabelle let go of his hand and directed him in the direction of the covered pathway. “I think it’s around here somewhere. It’s got a warm pool of water, which though you don’t need it, I wouldn’t mind it.” She chuckled and moved against he rocks, letting her hand fall against the stones as if she were trying to remember the place. Taking a step, Arabelle almost fell face first against the rocks, but quickly caught herself. “It’s a bit slippery,” she whispered trying to regain her composure of her embarrassing miss-step. “You ever been here before?”
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[Seth Clearwater]

At her response, Seth smiled. He knew that being happy about this would only make Paul mad. Seth knew there was no hiding the truth. If he flirted back with Belle, Paul would know, and Paul would snap at him. Seth wasn’t nearly as big as Jake. Seth wasn’t nearly as capable of defending himself as Sam. Paul would kick his butt. He knew it very well. Seth had many talents. But resisting Belle just wasn’t one of them. When she leaned into him, Seth wrapped his other arm around her. Though the contact wasn’t much, he was warm enough that it should help with the breeze a good deal, especially considering the sheer sweater she wore. Seth imagined any sort of excess heat would be appreciated by Belle. His chin rested atop her head as he spoke, explaining himself. But at his words she shifted, turned to look at him.

“It’s nothing for you to be worried over. It’s something for me to be worried over.” Seth explained. “I never said there is no danger or reason, I said you shouldn’t worry about it. Which you shouldn’t. So long as your with me or another pack member, your perfectly fine.” Seth stated, and slackened his hold on her. He felt himself struggling with the desire in his mind, the urges to play into her teasing comments, to flirt back. But she’d been broken up with Paul for a matter of minutes. Flirting with Belle now wasn’t a good idea. Giving into her depression and becoming her rebound guy would only incur the wrath of Paul, and that was something no one wanted, including Seth. Why, then, did he respond with those two words?

“Sounds fun.” God only knew. Seth knew he shouldn’t have said it from the moment he had, but his mind was running away from him. His mind was running away to the cave he had seen in the mind of Paul. The one where he and Bell had gone the first time they ever--

“Yeah…” Seth responded, suddenly feeling terribly uneasy about this decision. “I think I’ve been there before.” Seth finished quietly. He mentally cursed the mind of Paul for infecting him this way. Paul put Belle in his head, then forbade him from acting on these thoughts. It was his fault, still, he would beat Seth senseless when he found out. This would only lead to a lot of avoiding one another. But why would he not see reason? Why could Seth not respond to the logic in his brain? Paul needed to be more important to him than Belle. Of course he needed to keep her safe, but that didn’t mean he had to follow her up to the hot spring. Seth could drag her back up to the fire and she’d be fine…still, he followed behind her as she started up the hill. When she nearly face planted on the rocks, Seth jumped, ready to catch her, however, she managed to save herself before he got there. No harm done.

Silence fell over the pare for a moment as they moved up the hill, up the path they both knew. Seth saw this trail in his mind often. He knew Paul’s every foot step as the pair had made their way to this cave, back in the day. Seth could see the ghost of Belle, the image that held strongly in Paul’s mind. The one Seth had been unable to forget from the moment he saw it.

Seth blinked, and focused on Belle’s back as they walked up the hill. His eyes wandered down her back, over the soft curve of her hips--he sighed loudly and looked away from her. This was a bad idea. This was a very bad idea. They should stop and go back. But Seth knew that Belle didn’t want to. Until he new she did, he’d keep on going.

[allie]

“Keeping me in the dark after all our time together. Tut-tut, Seth. I thought we meant more to each other than that.” She quickly bated at him once more nudging her shoulder into his for a matter of seconds. Arabelle was the curious type. She didn’t like secrets at all and the fact that Seth was keeping one from her in visible sight made her mind all but wonder on what could have been happening. He was not usually this reserved, or was he? Well he had always been more reserved around her before, but that was probably because she was dating Paul at the time. After all, you just don’t flirt with your best mate’s girlfriend. Just like she knew she shouldn’t be flirting with Seth at this time. If Paul were to catch wind of the two, well it would be bad and Arabelle had already had enough bad for the time being. Especially where Paul was considered. Shrugging lightly, “Well I suppose I’ll just have to use a few methods to coax it out of you then. I didn’t take you for a masochist Seth, but we can play by your game.”

By the time they got to the rocks, Arabelle had already fallen about three times on the slippery slopes. The first time she caught herself. The other few times, Seth had been able to catch her before any damage was done. The girl was obviously clumsy, but that didn’t stop her from wanting to try new things. Well this wasn’t exactly new to her. She had been here before, obviously. She had relished the idea of going in with Seth though. He wasn’t trying to molest her from behind every chance he got. Well, that was probably because he wasn’t her boyfriend. The logic made sense, but at the same time she wanted him to look at her with a bit of longing. Vanity wasn’t her thing, but Arabelle did like to feel wanted. She had just broken up with the guy she had been going steady with for six months. She hadn’t as much as looked at another boy, but she still wanted to feel wanted in a demented since. She wanted to know that boys, not just Paul, saw her as something worth while.

“Oh good, so if I get lost you’ll be able to figure out how to get us out of the cave,” she chuckled, pulling herself up on a rock to enter the small cave. It sloped down a lot, considering it was connected to the cliff. Arabelle had bumped her head enough times to know to duck. “You have to duck a bit Seth. The ceiling is low,” she whispered hoping no bats had decided to take refuge in the cave for the night. The thought made her catch her breath and shiver. Her hands held both of her arms as she turned slightly behind her to see if Seth was close by. “It’s only a little bit of a ways down, but the closer we get to it the more light we’ll have and the warmer it will be. Not that you really need the warmth, but I’m just a bit cold.” She added in, hugging herself all the more. “You okay?” she added in without turning around. The slope was a bit slippery, but she had so far been able to keep her balance. Once she saw the light at the bottom, she turned slightly once more to look behind her.

“It’s here,” she cooed. Just then her foot slipped again as she tried to grab a hold of the walls for balance. Seth was just within reaching distance, so she quickly moved her hands to hold onto his shirt. She was sure that he would slip too and they both would tumble into the water, but hopefully he could hold his balance against the wet slope better than she could. She cursed herself for not being able to hold onto the wall better, uttering a small curse and tried to fain a blush.

[Seth Clearwater]

After all our time together. The words rang in his mind with a strange feel to them. I thought we meant more to each other than that, she persisted. It felt strange to her Belle use that sort of tone in relation to him, rather than Paul. It didn’t seem natural that a girl was interested in him, rather than another member of the pack. Girls always fell for Jake or Quil. Seth was the runt, the youngest, newest member. Yet here Belle stood, sounding as if the idea of flirting with Seth wasn’t completely repulsive, and it was nice.

“Masochist? You say this coaxing involves dragging me off to a cave? This is either going to end really bad…or really good.” Seth noted, his voice laced with mock worry. He watched Belle out of the corner of his eye as they made their way up the slippery path. Belle had tripped twice in the first three yards. She wasn’t nearly so sturdy as Seth or Leah was, so watching her stumble about the rocky pathway made him feel uneasy. He was slightly on edge the whole way to the mouth of the cave, which proved to be helpful. Three times he was able to catch her, and keep her from getting hurt.

It was strange feeling so nervous, and so easily distracted at the same time. His eyes were fixed on her back as they made their way towards the infamous cave, but his emotions were a messy vortex. It wasn’t as if Seth were only watching her because he was afraid she’d fall off the cliff soon, or because he had an irresistible urge to stare at her butt. Seth had never felt so confused, or unable to control himself. No matter how many times he told himself he couldn’t be going off alone with Belle, with Paul’s girl…he still did it. Somehow his body wouldn’t see reason, his body only reacted to this undeniable impulse to be with Belle right now.

“You’d have to be really good to get me lost in this area.” Seth responded. He spent more time in these woods, in this area, than he did anywhere else. In wolf form his sense of direction was much different. He never seemed to have a question about which way he needed to go, he never questioned which way he’d gone…his sense of smell was stronger, and he could smell his own scent on the trees. He knew where he’d been, where the others he was following had gone. Over the past year, that had changed into a vast knowledge of the area.

When she warned him about the low ceiling Seth nodded. He’d been expecting as much. Seth was around six foot four inches tall, and most natural caves weren’t that big. As they walked through the cave Seth kept thinking how much easier it would be to make this path if he were in wolf form. Not that it was terribly difficult as it was, but his shoes didn‘t have very good traction on them. Seth hadn‘t been anticipating a hike of this nature. Still, it was easier for him than it was Belle. He glanced down at her bare feet, then up to her torso, which was wrapped in her arms. Seth had decided to step in and piggy back Belle the rest of the way, when she turned around, and lost her footing.

One hand darted out, and took a hold of his shirt. At the same instant, his arms moved around her waist, intending to keep her from falling. However, the sudden, unexpected movement threw off his balance. It wasn’t a matter of strength. There were few beings that would be able to pry Belle from his grasp when he had it in his head to hold onto her, but his shoes had bad traction, and that was bad when coupled with his lack of balance. The couple toppled over, and slid a short distance before lading in a pool of water. Seth held Belle close as if that would keep her from getting hurt. Still, he knew that she’d likely bumped something on the fall.

[allie]

She smiled at his comment about their little tryst being really bad or really good. She couldn’t help but to play into his words. Nothing about Seth was unattractive. Of course, she hadn’t really noticed before. How could one possibly stare at all the boys she was around day in and day out and not notice their impending features. Truly, Arabelle had ignored the certain facts about the boys she spent most of her time with. “Oh that is too be decided,” she added in teasingly again. The teasing tone often came easy for her.

She had much practice in being coy and slippery before. After all, if she had to keep getting out of trouble, well the girl had to be a little coy. Once she had started to fall though, all thoughts of Seth’s attractiveness rushed out of her mind. She was concentrating more on the impending fall below her and how well Seth could keep his grip. She hadn’t fallen yet, luckily. Well now though, she was barely holding onto his shirt as her feet tried to find their grip. One hand was on the rocky wall trying to find a notch to gain her stance. Trust Belle to be the one to have a dramatic fall right at the end of the line. “Wait no,” she tried to tell him to be still, but they were slipping quickly.

It was no use, she was going to fall. They were going to fall because she couldn’t find her balance and tried to steady herself with his. Too bad that he couldn’t keep them up together, but she felt it as soon as he started to fall. They were both going down, not just her. Attempting to save him the trouble, she let go but he quickly held onto her as they slide down the rest of the slope and fell into the water. Needless to say, Seth could have probably saved himself the trouble of falling with her, but instead she knew he had tried to prevent her from getting too bumped in the travel downwards.

Her hand scrapped against the rock wall as she tried to keep them from plummeting into the water. Her foot had hit the edge of the pool before they landed in. She felt the sharp scrape and knew that the blood would come. Though Seth had to take most of the fall on his back. Once the water comforted the rest of their fall, she pushed her head quickly up because she had not had the mind to hold her breath as they rushed into the water. Using her hands, she turned her head around to look for Seth. Thankfully he was right there beside her. “You alright,” she sputtered out before moving to the edge.

The pain in her hands was dulling, but she was more worried about Seth. He had to have been hurt. “Turn around,” she whispered once he made his way over to her. Lifting up his shirt was a bit harder than she had anticipated. Arabelle ignored her own pain in favor of making sure his back was alright. “Sorry,” she muttered as she lifted the material on his shoulders. Her fingers lightly traced the edges of the scratches. There weren’t as many as Arabelle would have thought there should have been, but still. It was her fault that he fell and she couldn’t help but to place the blame on her clumsy ways.

[Seth Clearwater]

The pare continued to walk along, casually teasing one another about the possible outcomes of this little outing. Seth was leaning towards the possibility of her attempting to torture him into submission, but another part of him couldn’t deny he was hoping for an entirely different outcome. Her tone, and body language insinuated that she would be pushing it in the opposite direction entirely. The really good side of the spectrum. Even that would end in a fight though. With each step Seth could see Paul wailing on him, pissed that Seth had moved in on his girl moments after they’d broken up. Seth had come while pretending to have good intentions only to--

But what would they do? Seth stepped closer to Belle, and spoke in a low voice, right behind her ear.

“Well, be warned. You can torture me all you want, but I won’t give in that easily.” Seth responded. By this point it was easy to forget the more serious topic this teasing had started from. It was easy to forget the fact that this area wasn’t safe. Not right now. It was easy to forget his worry that something would happen to Belle if he hadn’t come with her. Seth was rather absorbed in their playful banter, in the way she gave him the attention that so few ever had. She was flirting with him. Not Jake, not Quil, not Paul. Him. Seth Harry Clearwater.

All such thoughts vanished the instant she began to fall. Seth didn’t think twice as he moved forward, and attempted to keep Belle from falling. His attempt had been futile. Before he had a chance to process what was happening, the two of them were sliding down the rock incline, towards the pool of water. Seth could feel the rocks scraping against his back, but found that he didn’t care. The part that worried him was the sight of her hand scraping the rock wall, the sound of her foot crashing against the edge of the pool, the smell of blood filling his senses as her foot scraped on the wall.

“I’m fine.” Seth responded, as he moved to take her hand, assess the damage. Before he did that, however, She insisted he turn around. Without thinking, he did what she told him to. Seth turned around, and stood still as she lifted up his shirt, and examined his back which was already most of the way healed. “Don’t be sorry. I’m fine.” Seth insisted, feeling the last of his skin knit together. He turned around, out of her grasp, and grabbed her hand, turning it palm up to assess the damage.

“It’s already healed.” Seth insisted, and ran his fingers over the scrapes on her palm. “How does your foot feel?” He asked looking up to meet her eyes.

[allie]

Belle watched his back in amazement. She had never seen anything like it before. “What in the world,” she muttered under her breathe as she watched each piece knit slowly back together. It was really freaky to watch. She of course assumed that it had something to do with being a werewolf, but Paul hadn’t really explained any of that to her. She had mostly been left in the dark and half the time when Arabelle asked him a question he brushed it off or ignored her. Arching an eye brow, she let her fingers trace the remaining scratches as they healed. It was amazing. She had no words for what had happened, but suddenly he turned back around. His shirt had still stuck to his body revealing his chest. Her breath caught in her throat at his simple movement. She was in aw of how truly beautiful Seth was. She had hardly responded to his hand as he grabbed her own to see the damage. Her hands weren’t hurt that bad. There were just a few scrapes across her palms. Her foot wasn’t even that bad, but she could tell that it was deep. She frowned looking up at him. “How did you…” she shook her head. Of course he could smell it. She at least knew Paul had impeccable scent. Obviously the others did as well.

“It hurts,” she said softly as she leaned down to pull her foot up and rest on her knee. She was almost grossed out by what she saw and put it back down. “I’m sure it’s not as bad as it looks,” she offered trying to console herself and Seth at the same time. He was being very kind at the moment, and she did not want to try and travel back up the cave again. She didn’t want to imagine the torture that would put on her bare feet. Gulping, “I think that the salt water well help it.” She attempted to pull herself up on the ledge and swing over, but the pressure bit into her hands. “Could you help me hop up,” she said softly turning to look over at him. She still wanted her foot to dangle in the water, for fear of what the air would do to it, but she wanted to dry off as well. “I’ll be fine. I’m a tough girl. A little bit of pain isn’t going to keep me down so don’t worry so much.” She tried to lighten the mood, but Seth still seemed slightly worried. “Besides I think I’m still supposed to be torturing you for information,” she added in wirly. It was easy enough to ignore the throb in her foot for now. Once it came out of the water, well that was a different scenario all together. There was no way she was getting back in her heels tonight. She was dreading the walk on the beach back up to the bonfire as well.

She really shouldn’t have done it, but she did. Her shirt was soaked, but had a bathing suit on underneath the sheer garment. It wasn’t as if the boys hadn’t ever seen her in a bathing suit before. This wasn’t her first rendezvous with them. Taking off the garment, she laid it down a bit away from the water. The next thing she did was wring her hair out and ruffle it so it wasn’t plastered down her face. “There went that hour of straightening,” she sighed shaking her hair still as the girls littered her frame. “You going to stay in the water or let your clothes dry a bit?” She thought about taking her jeans off, but then thought better of it. She wasn’t going to go completely nude in front of Seth. Well, she wasn’t nude, but she felt like she needed to cover up around him and at the same time she kept feeling that she wanted to take everything off and lunge into his arms. Stupid hormones! She cursed them slightly in her mind as she shifted her body against the rock beneath her. “Thanks for catching me, or attempting to catch me. I doubt my back would have healed like yours,” she added in with a small smile. Leaning over she ruffled his hair softly making the water fly off of his head. “You still owe me information Mr. Clearwater! I’m an inquisitive human being. I need to know things.” She nodded as she jutted out her chin in a fake nod, not being able to keep the laughter off her face for more than five seconds.




[/size]

[Seth Clearwater]

“I don’t understand why either.” Seth mumbled in reply. Truly he had no idea why he healed so quickly. Wolves healed at the same rate as humans as far as he knew. But werewolves weren’t just any wolf. They were special. That much was obvious. “But we all heal really quickly. I thought that would have come up with Paul before now…” He added It was strange that Paul had never hurt himself around Belle in the past six months. Paul was the type to constantly be in a fight with someone. He wasn’t the docile type. Though it was rare that he’d actually get hurt in his fights. Jake was one of the few that could actually leave a mark on Paul…

Seth stood still for a moment while Belle examined his back, wondering how much she didn’t know about werewolves. Seth had just been assuming she knew everything. It was easier that way. Of course, he’d hope she didn’t know about some stuff, such as the mind thing…but this only made it seem more possible that she didn’t know. The idea was a comforting one.

The feel of her cool fingers on the heated flesh of his back was entrancing. It was tempting to keep standing as he was, to let her keep marveling at the rate at which he healed. But still he turned to face her. The first thing Seth noticed was where her eyes were fixed, his chest. Seth was feeling too sheepish to have bother to assess the look in her eyes. Seth looked briefly away from Belle, and tugged his shirt down, covering himself back up, before taking a hold of her hand. It wasn’t as bad as it could have been. Her palm was a tiny bit scratched, but it would heal quickly. Resisting a strange urge to kiss the cuts, Seth dropped Belle’s hand, and looked over at her foot as she rested it on her knee. Her foot looked awful, even if she was denying it, and trying to downplay the injury.

She moved, trying to seat herself on the ledge, and his eyes were torn away from her injury. Even if her hands weren’t badly hurt. Putting pressure on the fresh wounds was bound not to feel good. Obligingly, Seth took a hold of her waist, and lifted Bell onto the edge of the pool before examining the cut on her foot. She could pretend the cut wasn’t bad all she wanted, but Seth knew better. It needed to be cleaned out…something.

“You can torture me after I’m done with your foot.” Seth insisted as he stepped back and tugged his t-shirt off. He dipped it in the water, even though it was already wet, then turned his attention to her foot. He dabbed at her cut softly with his damp gray t-shirt, trying to clear it of dirt. He noticed red painting the shirt, but didn’t particularly care. He had plenty more at home. Seth was use to shirts becoming useless, though usually it was because they were in shreds. When she spoke, Seth finally looked away from the wound.

“You look--” Seth’s voice died when he looked up. He blushed lightly under his russet skin, then turned back to her foot. “--you look fine Belle.” Seth insisted in a low voice. He focused his attention more vigorously on her foot as silence reigned. He was determined not to look back up. Not to let himself become flustered once more. But he could only dab at the wound on her foot for so long. Again, he looked up when she spoke. “Don’t worry about it Belle. I’ve had worse injuries than that.” He responded honestly. He’d been hurt a lot worse when fighting that red-head leech, and her little pet. Some scrapes were nothing. Her next statement brought a smile to his face.

“What do you want to know?” He inquired, deciding it didn’t matter very much any more. Sam knew Belle had been told what they were. She wasn’t about to go rat them out to the leeches. She was safe. She was involved. While he awaited her next statement, Seth picked up her more scraped hand, and began to clean the small rocks from it with his blood soaked t-shirt. He didn’t comment on her question about him drying off, but he didn’t get out of the water either. He wasn’t going to catch a cold or anything. Being dry was unnecessary.

[allie]

His hands around her waist, she tried to ignore how wonderful they felt. Her eyes glinted over slightly as she was placed on the ledge. He didn’t bother with getting out of the pool, obviously set on taking a small gander at her feet. Gulping, Bell attempted to keep her foot as far away from his hand as possible. It –hurt- and she did not want him to mess with it. Yes she down played her injury, but it was for his benefit as well. She didn’t want him to stress of her small cut. Small, deep cut that is. “Seth,” she said in a slightly worried tone. She wasn’t sure if she wanted him to look at it. Bell was a tough cookie, but she had never been one for pain. It was not one of her best qualities. “Please,” she reached for his hand and tried to stop him from picking up her foot out of the water. She felt the cool air instantly and sucked in a harsh breath as she bit her lip. “Ow,” she groaned, trying to force her leg from his grip.

No use, he held her injury tightly in his hand and she was all but trying to keep his grip on her. Once he placed his shirt around her foot, she felt a small twinge of relief. The pressure helped keep the wound’s ministrations at bay and for that she couldn’t be happier. “Yeah, but apparently your healing rate is a lot faster than mine,” she nodded, trying her best to keep steady against the rock as her foot was dangling out of the water. It was nice to have him take care of in this way. Her father had only ever taken care of her like this and it was odd having someone other than him at the end of her injury. A small smile pressed against her features as she leaned back slightly to let him work on it. That was until he tied a bit of cloth around her foot and started for her hands.

“Thanks,” she whispered as he complimented her. The wounds on her hand wasn’t as bad as her foot, but he insisted that he take out the rocks. “I swear if I didn’t know any better I would think you a nurse,” she chuckled softly and moved her wrapped foot up on the ledge. She cringed slightly, but relaxed once she got used to the pressure that she had placed on her foot. It felt awkward as he dug into her hand and she had her legs spread open. Hating the situation, she moved her other leg up and placed it on the ledge to.

“You know this was supposed to be the other way around.” She was definitely supposed to be torturing him. Or at least that was how she planned it. Instead, she was on the other end of the spectrum. It wasn’t as fun as she had anticipated. “Well, you said there was danger, so what is the danger?” It was one of the many things that she wanted to know. One of the others ones was to know more about werewolves. She had no clue really. Paul thought it best to keep her in the dark. She didn’t know why, but perhaps it was because he already had grief from Sam. She had always assumed that was the problem. Piercing her lips together, she winced slightly when another chunk of rock was dislodged form her hand. “Hm,” she groaned once more as he let her hand go. “Done?” It was a silly question, but it was one that needed to be asked.

“Now that you’re done trying to completely tear me apart,” she teased softly. “I think I should get some answers. I have another question that isn’t related to the dangerous things you are about to tell me about, but what about werewolf abilities. Paul hardly let me in on anything and I’m dying for more information. You’ll tell me though right?” Her brow arched slightly and she laid down against the cool rock. She placed her hands on both sides of her to gain a bit of comfort from the cool compress.
[/size]

[Seth Clearwater]

He lifted her onto the ledge without hesitation or a second thought. Seth was capable of lifting much more weight than Belle had to offer, so no trace of strain showed on his face. Once she was settled, Seth moved easily into tending her wounds. Each time Belle tried to struggle, and pull away from him Seth felt a part of himself die. It absolutely killed him that he was making the pain worse for her, even if it was necessary in the long run, Seth would have rather prevented the pain from the beginning. She shouldn’t have to go through any of it. Even so, he held tightly onto her ankle, with a grip she never would have been able to break. Belle was only a human, she wasn’t nearly strong enough to get him off her. Of course he’d have caved to her will if he hadn’t known what he was doing was necessary.

“I’m sorry Belle. I’ll be done in a bit.” Seth stated in a low voice, trying to hide his own pain at causing her grief. After dubbing the wound clean, Seth tied his shirt around her foot, knowing he’d be carrying her back down the cliff, to the beach. It wouldn’t be a strain. But still, if he brought her back to the bonfire like this, Paul would kill him. Seth let her foot go, looked up, and felt his stomach lurch. While he’d worked on her foot, she had pulled her soaked sweater off. Now, Belle was seated before him in not but a bikini top. In hopes of giving himself some time to get use to this idea, to become less flustered, Seth tended to her hand, picking the small rocks out of the cuts. His conscious thoughts were on her hand, on cleaning her cuts so she didn’t get infected. But still, it was impossible to ignore the other aspects of their situation…such as Belle’s lack of clothing.

“I promise I’ll let you torture me tomorrow, Belle. Now it’s my turn. I did say I wasn’t going to cave easily didn’t I?” He pointed out. And he hadn’t. Seth had completely obliterated her idea. Belle would get her questions because she was hurt. But the torturing was all his. “And anyway, your still doing a fair job of torturing me.” Seth added, instantly wondering where the courage had come from to say that. He had a few more minutes that he could get of focusing on her hand, and Seth took them while he answered her first question.

“The danger is vampires. There have been a lot in the area lately. We killed one a few days ago, and think she was with more of them.” He responded honestly. They were in a secure area. No one was going to over hear them. Seth relaxed slightly, trying not to think about how angry Sam would be, or about how badly Paul would kick his ass when he found out…how long could he avoid phasing? One day? Two maybe? He looked up at Belle as he dropped her hand, and nodded at her question. . Rather than keep staring into her dark eyes, Seth moved around, and heaved himself up onto the edge of the pool next to Belle. He leaned forward, planting his elbows on his knees, and listened to her questions.

“We heal faster, we run faster, we are stronger, can smell better…” His voice trailed off. Seth considered telling her about the mind connection. But decided against it. That one would freak her out. The pack understood how uncomfortable it could be. They wouldn’t tease her about anything, there was no sense in worrying her about it. “We also have better sight than other humans. Our body temperature is warmer, so a coat isn’t even necessary in the dead of winter. Seriously, clothes are just a formality. We don’t need them to be warm, or safe.” Seth rambled. He tried to think about what made him special, but it didn’t seem like there was anything special about him. They were just facts of life now.

“When we first phase, we age. We all guess we stop at about twenty five. I’ll look just like this until I can stop phasing.” Seth explained. He knew he wasn’t supposed to be telling her any of this. He shouldn’t be able. But Belle already knew a lot. She knew enough that it was stupid to keep the rest of it from her. It was futile. If she wanted to destroy the pack, she could, and that would have nothing to do with Seth explaining himself to her. Seth turned once he’d finished speaking, and glance down at the female laying on the rocks at his side. Her hands were flat at her sides, feet dangling in the water. His dark eyes quickly scanned her flat, bare stomach, up over the only cloth she wore on her top half, a black bikini top, then landed on her face. For a moment he met her eyes. He felt his mind screaming at him to forget Paul, to do whatever he wanted. But he couldn't! Paul was his pack mate, his brother. How could he just....

Seth heaved a sigh and looked away.

[allie]

She could see that she was causing him some grief by trying to move around and unattach herself from his grip. It wasn’t was if she wanted him to feel bad for trying to help, so she made an extra effort to stop trying to get her foot out of his hand. “It’s fine,” she reassured softly. She had hoped her words meant something to him. It wasn’t that she wanted him to look so solemn and put off by her lack of tact. “It just hurts a bit, and I don’t deal with pain that well.” It was true enough, but she had no clue why she was admitting that to him. Shaking her head, she held her leg steady as it slightly spasmed in his grip each time he pressed the material to her wound. It really wasn’t that bad, but it was bad enough for her to not want anyone to touch it. Moving ever so slightly, Belle held onto the railing as he finished cleaning her cut.

“Promises promises,” she coated in a teasing tone as she moved to her hands. “Oh yes, but I didn’t think you’d try to turn the table either Seth.” His name sounded so odd on her tongue, but it was definitely welcomed. She had not really spent any time with him before, so their teasing was different. She couldn’t believe she was here with him, Seth, right after she broke up with Paul. It all seemed so wrong and yet so right at the same time. This was his friend after all. Paul would be furious once he found out. Belle didn’t know exactly what she was going to say to him when he questioned her about it. Hopefully he wouldn’t though. There wasn’t really any way of him finding out. Not unless Seth said something, though she was sure once Seth brought her back up to the bon fire, questions would be asked. She didn’t want to go back to fighting with Paul. It wasn’t something she really wanted to do. Part of her wanted to stay down there in the cave until he left or at least until he passed out.

The next comment caught her off guard though. She was torturing him? How? Ohh. She realized in a matter of minutes that her lack of clothing was probably…unwelcomed to stay the least. Once he let go of her hand though, she did not reach for her shirt. It was soaked to the brim. “You realize that I’ve been in less than this around you before Seth, don’t you?” Her curiosity was perked. Did he really not notice her down at the beach with Paul? She was still clothed in the right places, but perhaps she needed to put on the shirt even if it were sheer and wet. “Well at least I get some satisfaction out of the situation,” she chuckled and ran her stray hand down the side of his wet temple. He looked so appealing right now sitting in the water with droplets clinging to his hair. She couldn’t picture him looking anymore appealing side from no clothing. “And since we’re talking about torturing each other in that manner, don’t think for a moment that you’re being held unaccountable for some torture as well.”

Before she knew it, the conversation had taken a dimming turn. Vampires were not something she wanted to think about. Paul had told her that was why that had shifted, and it made her heart go out for them. It was after all the Cullen’s fault that her friends were like this. She wished she could help them, but there was no way of making the Cullens leave. “You guys killed her,” she gulped trying not to think about it. Of course they killed her. She had probably tried to kill them, but that wasn’t something one talked about on a daily basis. “Seth I’m sorry,” she quickly wrapped her arms around him in a brief hug. The warmth of his body sent a warm shiver down her spine. He would always be warm. She couldn’t help but to want cuddle to his frame. Even though she dropped one hand, she kept her body pressed to his arm. His shirt was still wet, so she had to gain what little warmth she could from his bare arm.

She listened carefully has he told her about his abilities. She knew about the smell, the strength, and the fact that they could run, but the hearing caught her off guard. Her mind was twirling, wondering how much the entire pack had heard of her and Paul’s disagreement. Oh it doesn’t matter, she quickly thought. Who really cared how much they heard, at least they all realized it was over. It was completely over. “Interesting,” she said nuzzling into his arm. His skin felt like liquid fire against her cold flesh. It was impossible to let him go at that moment. He felt entirely too good against the chill of the damp cave. “Since you don’t need clothes, you could take of your shirt and let me crawl into her lap. I’m freezing and no you’re not just a space heater to me so don’t even try using that logic!” She chuckled and let go of his arm so he could move out of his shirt. She at least hoped he would.

“I had wondered why you all looked so old, I mean it baffled me at first, but then I just got used to the idea. I don’t think my father did though,” she chuckled trying to lighten the mood. “What is the matter?” she asked softly as he turned away from her. “Seth what is it? What did I do?” She didn’t understand why he was acting as if he couldn’t look at her anymore. Sometimes she wished she could read people’s mind. She had laid back down on the stone surface previously, but apparently Seth didn’t appreciate that. She didn’t really know if it was her lack of clothing or her asking him to take his shirt off. Perhaps she shouldn’t have asked. “It’s alright I’ll put this back on,” she whispered and leaned over to reach for her damp shirt.
[/color]

[Seth Clearwater]

“Yeah…I just wish you didn’t have to deal with the pain at all.” Seth mumbled, not daring meet her eyes. As bad as he felt about hurting her more…with as many thoughts as were swimming in his mind, he couldn’t help but note how boring this task could be. Seth tended to wounds often. It wasn’t easy, as his subjects were trying to heal over his work…which could make things more interesting. But cleaning wounds was long, meticulous, and unfortunately necessary work. Of course it would be less interesting if he wasn’t working from scratch. There was more to occupy him here than there would be at home. Rather than having all the necessary materials laid out before him, Seth had to make due with what they had in that cave.

His mind drifted while he carefully cleaned the tiny stones from her cuts. Seth tried to decide the easiest way to get Belle home, the safest way. He didn’t want to have to trek back up to the fire only to drive Belle home. It would be easier to just take her to her house…not to mention it would save him from having to face Paul with her there. Even though he wouldn’t know anything at that point. Unless Seth and he both phased, Paul would be in the dark, and Seth intended to avoid such things for a few days at least. He knew what he was going to do if things kept going the way they were. He knew he didn’t have enough self control to say no to Belle.

“I won’t break my promise to you Belle. You can torture me tomorrow all you want. I won’t squirm or anything.” He spoke lightly, his voice not hardly betraying the fact that he was teasing her. Seth sounded more as if he were stating a fact. In a sense he was, but it was a teasing fact. Only brought to light because she was squirming under his touch so much.

“I noticed…but it’s much easier to stay away from a girl when her boyfriend is all over her.” Seth explained. “You being half dressed while alone in a cave with me is the torturous part. I know you’ve worn less…but now you don’t have Paul here to keep other guys off you.” Seth responded in a low voice, wishing he hadn’t said anything. He laughed at her comment. “Well I’m glad your pleased with yourself.” He told Belle, finally looking up at her. That was when she ran her hand down the side of his face. Seth leaned slightly into her touch, closed his eyes, and sighed.

“We can’t Belle.” Seth stated, doing his best to ignore his pounding heart. The efforts, however were in vain. He couldn’t ignore his heart…Belle. She was like water to a parched man. Saying no simply wasn’t an option, even if there would be a bad outcome, it couldn’t possibly be worse than saying no could it? His head turned fractionally towards her hand, and his lips contacted her wrist. Seth opted not to comment on her shock at what he had to say. Of course the idea of them killing anything resembling a human would probably not go over easily. She didn’t hold his feelings towards leeches. She didn’t understand that they weren’t humans.

When she hugged him, Seth let his cheek rest on her shoulder face turned towards her neck, arms winding around her waist, hugging her back. He wasn’t about to argue with the contact. It was more for her than anything. She was likely worried about the idea of him and Paul killing creatures by the dead of night. It probably brought Paul into a better light for her if nothing else. The idea of her using his words to get closer to Paul made him uneasy. Seth tightened his hold on Belle, hoping that that was not the case. AT her suggestion that he warm her up, Seth hesitated. His heart instantly began to pound. It was an innocent suggestion. She wasn’t asking to bear his children or anything, she was cold. He couldn‘t. He shouldn‘t. He had to.

While she spoke about her feelings on his not ageing, Seth heaved himself out of the water and sat next to her. He glanced at her briefly, not entirely set on the idea of doing anything. It was a bad idea. A REALLY bad idea. But how could he say no to Belle? The thought seemed crazy. How could anyone tell her no? She was beautiful, perfect…

When she reached for her shirt, Seth took it from her hands and tossed it towards the opening of the cave. Then he got up, and moved behind her. He straddled her with his legs, keeping them bent, and wrapped his arms around her from behind. His forearms were pressed to her bare stomach, forehead resting on her shoulder, chest to her back.

“This is a really, really bad idea, Arabella.” He told her, his voice saying more than the words did. He’d already resigned himself to his fait. He was going to get his ass kicked by Paul, no question about it. He was going to get killed cause he couldn’t say no. He couldn’t resist Belle.

[allie]

She hardly knew how she would torture him tomorrow, though according to Seth he was getting tortured tonight. She had no intentions of seeing anyone tomorrow. Seth included because she needed to sort through things. It would be Saturday tomorrow, and he was bound to wonder near the beach where she kept close to in spite of the cold air that bit at her skin. His comment about Paul made her frown slightly. She didn’t wish to be reminded of him. She had given him everything he wanted and it still wasn’t enough. He was never satisfied, but she knew that going into their heated relationship. Seth had to know that right? He had to have seen the two constantly fighting. He would have known that the pair was not meant to be together. It was always going to end, and deep down, Belle that. She knew that they would never be the couples she saw in movies and it didn’t bother her. It never had.

“Oh but I don’t think you’d be anything but the gentleman. You’re far to kind to think of me in that way,” she scoffed jokingly and gave him a wry smile. “Well look at you. You’re not exactly invisible either Seth.” His chest was bare and she was in aw of how amazing he looked. Part of her wanted to reach out and touch him, to make sure he was real. She couldn’t help but to feel a kindling desire within her body spur. This really wasn’t supposed to happen. She refrained only because she didn’t want to make him uncomfortable. That was one thing that she had never wanted to do. He seemed so unsure of his actions, and Belle knew that she would only make it worse if she antagonized him. He had to be struggling as well. Didn’t he? She couldn’t think about that right now.

We can’t Belle. She didn’t want to look hurt. She didn’t want to feel horrid that he had said that. She just wanted to be warm. She didn’t want to cause any problems, but apparently she was without knowing it. Seth was there and he was just…beyond belief. She didn’t think she could switch from one guy to the next. No, she didn’t want him to be a rebound. She didn’t want anything like that. So why in the world did she have such strong emotions when it came to his words. It wasn’t as if he was trying to hurt her intentionally. She should have understood that he was Paul’s friend. Belle should have realized what this was doing to Seth. She was being completely selfish, but how could she not be? How could she not want anything but his gentle touch. How could she be denied so thoroughly by him. Part of her wanted to scream and the other part wanted to cry. Ridiculous as ever.

At least when she offered him a hug previous he had accepted it. It was torture not to lean up and peck him lightly on the cheek or brush his tussled hair out of his face. She didn’t want to let go of him in any way shape or form. When he hugged her tighter, she felt her body tighten with relief. He didn’t want to let go of her either? That had to have been what it meant. She couldn’t think of any other reason for the small action. It made her calm and comfortable around him. She had always been okay around guys. She really wasn’t scared of them like most girls. Perhaps that was because her father had always invited guy friends over. She enjoyed the company, even as a baby. This was really not any different. Except it was. This was Seth. Someone she had not really ignored, but not really had any type of experience with either. She didn’t know him besides him being in the pack and yet here he was still holding onto her as if it were life or death. She enjoyed that more than anything.

Before she knew it, Arabelle was in his arms. She felt his legs against her own soaked jeans and his body pressed so close against her back that she sighed slightly. His arms around her waist was heavenly. She completely relaxed against his heated frame. She even ignored the fact that he had snatched the shirt out of her hand. She ignored the fact that his heart was beating ninety miles an hour against her back. All the female cared about where his hand against her body. The girl was in completely luxury right then. Nothing could top this moment, not even her memories with Paul. This was what it was like to have someone truly look at you as a person rather than a possession.

“It is, but I don’t care,” she whispered softly as she turned her head to look up at him. The warmth wrapped around her like a soft blanket. “Thank you,” she muttered, letting one hand rest against his own around her stomach. “Thank you so much,” she nuzzled into his chest before raising her head once more. The urge was there. She wanted to kiss him once more, but she knew that she couldn’t. She knew that they were both holding back, but her lips were just a few inches away from his own as long as Seth didn’t turn away from her. She hoped he didn’t turn away from her but rather move down to lightly kiss her lips. She wanted him to kiss her. It was so wrong. She shouldn’t have wanted it, but she knew that she did.
[/size]

[Seth Clearwater]

“Gentleman?” Seth inquired, raising one eyebrow. He did try not to be a complete pig like most guys. But he was still a guy, living in the twenty first century. He had little control of his thoughts. “You and Leah BOTH think too highly of me.” Seth responded, thinking of his sister. She still thought of him as her innocent little brother, even if she could hear his thoughts half the time. For them, it was an unspoken agreement, you just ignore the stuff you’d rather not hear. Pretend you don’t know it…don’t take a mental note of the way your sibling sees the opposite sex, etc. “I try to be a gentlemen, but I can’t say I’m very good at it.” Seth added.

“The only reason Paul’s presence keeps me away is cause that guy can soundly kick my ass.” He confessed. It wasn’t much a shock, Seth was the runt of the pack, everyone was bigger than him….even if he wasn’t that small. “I’m glad I’m not. It’s hard enough feeling this way…being alone would probably only make it worse.” Would he be able to stay away from Belle, even if she were repulsed by him? Seth had never wanted someone so much. He’d never felt so conflicted, and unable to maintain a proper distance between someone before. He’d known Belle was beautiful for months, ever since he met her when he’d first phased. He’d always wanted her. But she’d been with Paul, as far as Seth knew, she was happy. The best thing for him to be at that time had been a friend, an acquaintance. But now Paul was out of the picture….sort of. Now she was here, flirting, struggling with the same emotions he was.

The pained expression touched her features, and more than anything Seth wanted to take it away. She wrapped her arms around him. Seth stepped closer, and rested his cheek against her shoulder, and tightened his hold on her. It was all he could do. It was the only way he could think of to make her feel better, to make himself feel better. His mind and body weren’t agreeing, despite the screaming protests his mind was making, his body wouldn’t comply. It was hard enough to say no, even if he didn’t mean it. His heart felt a twinge of pain each time those words left his lips, “we can’t”. They couldn’t. They shouldn’t. But how could he not? The idea of leaving Belle was beyond comprehension. The idea made that twinge of pain feel more like a stab.

Silence continued it’s reign as Seth moved behind Belle, and enveloped her in his arms. He settled his forehead against the bared flesh of her shoulder in attempt to keep himself from doing something more stupid than that. He needed to keep her warm. Period. End of story. He didn’t need to turn himself into the rebound. That wasn’t what he wanted. Being the rebound would be now, but it would also be temporary. He’d rather wait and keep her forever. There had been girls he’d had crushes on before this moment, but it had never been anything like this. Seth had never felt so compelled to throw himself at them as he did with Belle, and it had never seemed to come so naturally before either.

“It is but I don’t care.” His shoulders shook slightly as a pained, ironic laugh left his lungs in uneven spurts. The only thought that came to mind was one he would never voice. She didn’t care, but she wouldn’t have to fight Paul for the right to let this relationship commence. Seth would, and he would do it gladly. He would do anything for her, include take on Paul. Finally, Seth lifted his face, only to meet her gaze. He was startled to find her look in at him, but felt like a deer caught in headlights. Looking away wasn’t an option. He was captivated, hers entirely. When her hand rested atop his, Seth lifted his hand, and laced their fingers together. The action seemed natural, even if it was stupid; even if it did go against everything his mind was telling him.

While she nuzzled into his chest, Seth felt his heart begin to pound with renewed fervor. His eyes remained fixed on the spot where her’s had been moments before. Now, he was staring at the top of her head.

He didn’t know why he did it, what this urge that possessed with him had against his well being. Seth had never heard the voice that was compelling him to give into her, still he did.

Belle looked back up, bringing their lips closer than they were before. For a few long moments, their breath mingled, neither moving, neither speaking. There was no doubt in his mind that her mind was in the same place as his was. That she wanted it as much as he did. The look in her eyes couldn’t have said more if it were a picture. She wanted him to kiss her, and he wanted to do it. The knowledge that Paul would kill him was the last thing from his mind. All he could think about was her, the unspoken knowledge that she wanted this as much as he did.

Not thinking twice, Seth leaned in, closing the few inches parting their lips, finally kissing her. Something in his mind came to life. Seth didn’t have much experience with girls, after all, he was only turning sixteen later that month. It was true that he did look as if he were older. He had seen and done things people should never have to dream about. But when it came right down to it, Seth was still a teenage boy, despite the strange instincts coursing through him. Even being as young as he was, he knew that this was where he was supposed to be. It was impossible to explain the surety he felt in that moment, in the feel of her lips on his. But he knew. This was why he’d been born.

[allie]

Leah, she hadn’t been around his sister much. They might have had a class together, but other than that she really hadn’t spoken to the female. Was she up at the party with the rest of them? Arabelle really couldn’t remember seeing her face there. She knew Seth was there and Jake, Quil, and Embry. Of course Paul was there, but other than that she had no idea where Leah had gone off to. Perhaps she thought Sam would make an appearance and decided against going. No, that wasn’t Leah’s personality was it? She was more set on trying to ruin Sam’s life rather than being secluded from it.

“I don’t know, you seem to be keeping in all the right bounds tonight,” she said with a twinge of glee. Paul had never, ever been a gentleman to her. She remembered their first day. He had all but asked her to spread her legs that night and she barely even knew him. He was not her idea of a great partner. Seth on the other hand was respectful of his friendship with Paul and decided to play it safe for most of the night. He only seemed to let go when she offered him the advantage and even then it seemed improbable that he would use it to his advantage. He just wasn’t that type of guy. Any of the others would have taken her at face value and flirted their way until her pants. Seth however, he kept his distance and refrained from getting too close. Her hand lightly danced along his arm. “I don’t know about that,” referring to Paul kicking his arse. Of course, she had never seen Seth fight, but Paul didn’t seem all that tough. Then again, she had never seen Paul fight either. Perhaps he was pretty good at fighting. He did it enough to gain the title of hot-head around the group.

“You don’t give yourself near enough credit, Seth.” She tried to be reassuring. “If I hadn’t been with Paul I think I would have noticed you a long time ago. You’re not exactly someone people can miss. I don’t understand where you are getting your facts from, but they are completely wrong.” It was all true. How could anyone ignore the fact that he was standing there before them? She didn’t even notice that he was slightly shorter than the rest of the guys. Him seemed unseeingly tall compared to her. His body was a lot bigger than hers as well, which was clear by how he was able to wrap himself around her. She wanted to reach into him and take away all the self doubt that kept building up inside of him. At least he was being honest with her, which was another trait that she was not used to.

As he looked down upon her, she gave him one of her big smiles. He wasn’t turning away which was a good sign. He even ventured to intertwine their fingers together. The emotions Arabelle felt were indescribable. She felt pride in the fact that he had held her hand. She felt relief. It was a constant bubble of mixed emotions that swirled around inside of her at that smallest and simplest gesture. She was not going to say anything. She was just going to let him hold here there and relax in the comfort of him. The warmth, the smell, the soft whispers against her shoulder, Arabelle enjoyed all of them to their fullest potential. This was not something to be taken lightly, regardless of what most would think. After all, it was only a simple hand holding gesture, but it meant the world to her that he had wanted to do it. She hadn’t started the motion, he did it on his own free will.

Once she turned back up to his face, she saw it in his eyes. Desire. It was like a fire that could not be put out. It was everything she wanted to see in his eyes. A scorching new flame that burst into existence. Perhaps it was the close proximately that the two were in that made him chance his mind, but it did not matter anymore. She had finally saw something in him that made her heart race. It beat, pulsing through her chest in an unsteady rhythm. Especially as he leaned down closer to her lips. It took what seemed like ages for his lips to reach hers, but once they did she was not disappointed. Her hand quickly rose to his cheek as she leaned up further into his administrations. Her mind went wild with thoughts.

Every single though that had been there previously vanished. She quickly concentrated on the movement of his lips, making sure she followed it to a ‘t’. It was chaste, but it grew deeper as she pulled up. She wanted nothing more but to make it last longer.

Her tongue slide against his bottom lip, begging for entrance. Once it was granted, Arabelle played with his tongue slightly before opening her mouth so that if he wished to he could enter her in a manner of speaking.

Only when she couldn’t breathe anymore, did Arabelle open her eyes and lift her mouth away from his. It was saddening to have to lose the contact of his touch, but she needed a moment to catch her breath. It was wonderful. Not to compare Paul and Seth, but Seth definitely had the romantic qualities that Paul lacked. Her hand fell down from his cheek and rested on his shoulder. She didn’t want to end the contact with him, but she didn’t know what to say either. It was blatantly obvious that she had enjoyed herself very much. Her skin was flush against his warm texture.

She leaned up, not knowing what to say. Instead, she placed a small chaste kiss against his lips. It was all she had to offer because she didn’t know what to do with herself. This had really never happened to her before. She had been with boys before, but what they just did…she had never felt anything like it before. Finally, once words prevailed she whispered them into his chest. “Seth,” she said softly at first, placing a kiss against his chest. “You are so much more than amazing.”
[/size]

[Seth Clearwater]

“Ya know…you should meet Leah. I think you two would get along really well.” Seth added after a moment. To his knowledge Leah wasn’t planning on going to the party on the cliffs. She’d not arrived when he left, but maybe she was headed up later on. Of course, she wasn’t as reclusive, and angry as once she’d been, but Leah still wasn’t the most social female in the pack. That was fine, Seth loved his sister as she was, and wouldn’t take her any other way. He didn’t even mind how overly protective she could be.

“Course I‘m keeping all the right bounds TONIGHT.” Seth began, smiling at the cheerful tone in her voice. “Your injured. I’m not just going to be forcing myself on a cripple.” He teased her. “I’m saving the raping and such for tomorrow night.” His voice sounded serious at this, even though he was far from it. That was Seth’s usual humor, dry, subtle, and tasteless. Few even thought him funny. A lot of people didn’t understand when he was joking and when he wasn’t. Leah was one of the few people that did know, and occasionally found him funny. Seth wondered if Belle would join the precious few that understood this side of him. Even if she didn’t, that wouldn’t be much a surprise. He could get over it easily enough. It wasn’t his only way of cracking a joke, just his most common one.

“I do. Paul ma not seem very tough, but he has a temper that no one can touch. I’m pretty sure that’s the only reason he has such an advantage in a fight.” Seth explained. “God, once he nearly tore my head off over a drink. I do NOT crack jokes with him any more.” Seth explained to Belle. He found it strange that she hadn’t seen that side of him after six months. Perhaps Paul was calmer around Belle? Seth found that idea hard to comprehend. Paul keeping his temper in check around anyone was unfathomable. But what if Belle was the one for him? What if he were interfering with fait by being here?

NO. That couldn’t be right. If Belle were the one he’d have imprinted. If Paul had imprinted he wouldn’t be such an ass to her. If he had imprinted everyone would know. But he hadn’t.

Her words were enough. Seth didn’t fully believe what Belle was saying. She was biased somehow. He appreciated that she thought so highly of him, but that didn’t make it true. He wasn’t underestimating himself. Seth was the runt of the pack, he wasn’t the first one any girl, or enemy looked at. But that was his strength as well. No one looked at him first, no one expected him to be a true threat. When he actually put up a fight, it was generally unexpected. Another of his strengths was his generally cheerful demeanor. It took a lot to get under Seth’s skin. But when he did let his temper get to him the way Paul always did, it struck with more force than most.

“I really am glad you think so highly of me, and as much as I’d like to keep those rose colored glasses on…it is true. I’m not the strongest guy in the pack, I ’m not the oldest, the smartest, or the most intimidating. I do know what my strengths are, but standing out isn’t one of them.” Seth told Belle. He did want to let her keep thinking he was a knight in shining armor, but couldn’t. Seth wasn’t the best guy she could find. And even though he didn’t know it just then, he was the one that would love her the most.

“I give myself plenty of credit. I’m just not as vocal about it as some.” Seth assured her, not speaking the name he was thinking. There was no need to keep on bringing Paul up. They would both catch the reference. Anyone that knew him would catch it. Seth never realized how simple a gesture such as holding her hand could mean so much to her. He, of course, knew Paul, but that didn’t explain Belle any. It was Paul’s mind that Seth knew, and understood. Perhaps Belle was more like him than Seth hoped. He held her hand because he wanted to…not realizing that it would mean so much to her, that it was that silly, seemingly insignificant gesture, that would hold so much importance to her. It was that the allowed Seth to begin to work his way into Belle’s heart.

She turned around, and met his eyes. Seth could almost feel the electricity coursing between them. He knew she was overcome with the exact sense of desire that he was, if she weren’t, there was no way she would look at him that way. None at all. His sensitive ears could almost pick up the erratic hum of her heartbeat, one that only increased when he leaned closer to her. It didn’t feel natural that he should want someone this much, but he never wanted it to end, never wanted to lose this feeling…or her.

A soft hand moved up to his cheek as he kissed her chastely. But it would seem Belle wanted more than that. Seth didn’t push anything, refused to push anything. She was vulnerable. Not even two hours before she’d broken up with her boyfriend of six months, his friend, his pack mate, his brother…Paul. Pushing anything at that moment would feel wrong. Seth didn’t want Belle to feel as if he were taking advantage of her. He wanted to be there for her. He didn’t know what he expected. But the last breakup he’d seen had been his sisters with Sam, and that hadn’t been easy. Perhaps he was expecting something more along those lines. Some tears…anger…something. But definitely not this.

One of the hands resting against her stomach, the one not laced with hers, moved to her hip, where he got a firm enough grip that he could turn Belle more to face him. Before that moment she’d had her back to him, which suited him fine, but it was likely a strain on her neck. His legs parted slightly, allowing her more room to sit comfortably. No sooner had he stopped moving than he felt the light pressure of her tongue grazing his bottom lip. He needed no other indication to know what she wanted. Seth’s lips parted, allowing her the thing she was seeking. Seth allowed his tongue to enter a tango with hers while thoughts plagued his mind.

He wasn’t one to be so forward with a girl. He flirted some, but never made such a bold move so soon. Not only would his sister know about it, but half a dozen other guys would know as well. There was no need to face them with such things. Seth didn’t usually let a kiss go on too long, which he did get teased for some. A few of the guys in the pack teased him about being chicken, too afraid to let things go any farther. But the truth was that he didn’t want all of them in on it as well. He didn’t want to give every other guy in the pack a mindful of any girl he’d been with when he phased. Seth was probably as far from Paul as one could get. He was reserved, happy…and completely unable to maintain a coherent thought.

There had only ever been one other girl Seth had allowed himself get into such a situation with, and he’d been the one to break the contact. It had been stupid, and she hadn’t even realized he was only fifteen. After it happened Seth had felt terrible, regretted the whole thing. This moment was nothing like that. Belle knew what he was, she knew everything. Anything else she had to ask about he would willingly explain. But there weren’t any huge secrets between them. Belle knew him, his family, his pack, and still she was there.

Her lips moved with his in perfect harmony, her tongue brushing his. But he knew it couldn’t last forever. Both of them could only last without breath for so long…and time was running out for both of them. When her tongue retracted, Seth’s followed, lightly brushing the roof of her mouth before leaving the warm enclosure. They both needed air.

It wasn’t that Seth was well versed in such things, but he knew for a fact that Belle had enjoyed the kiss as much as he had. Seth removed his hand from hers, and settled the palm of said hand against her neck, where his thumb could lightly brush her flushed cheek. They only made eye contact for a moment before it became obvious neither of them knew what to do or say. Belle leaned up, kissing him quickly, softly on the lips, then buried her face in his chest. Seth pressed a quick kiss to the top of her head, and let his hand fall from her neck. It traced a warm path down her arm, before curling around her body. She was no longer as cold as she had been moments before. Belle was nearly the same temperature as he was now, but he still didn’t release his hold on her.

“Belle,” Seth began, a smile on his face after her words broke the silence. “You are definitely worth the fat lip I know is coming my way.” Of course this was probably the wrong sentiment for this moment. But it was all Seth could think about. The thought of her kiss wasn’t going to disappear any time soon. Paul was going to kill him.

ooc: I have never made a post this long before...ever...two and a half pages....sorry Allie m'dear.

[allie]

“I’ll just have to do that,” she nodded at his comment. Leah was only slightly intimidating to Belle. She loved making new friends, because that was just her personality. She enjoyed being the social butterfly, though Arabelle wasn’t fake with her friendships. If she offered her friendship to someone it meant that she liked them. The girl was very easy to get along with. She liked to have fun just like every other normal teenager. Leah seemed like someone she could get along with, and she was Seth’s sister. She’d have to make an extra effort to be nice, but Arabelle was going to be herself no matter what.

“Just tonight then,” she couldn’t keep the smile off of her face that was before her called her cripple. A faux look of shock formed along her features as she nudged him with her hand curled up in a small fist. She lightly hit him against the arm. “You’re going to make fun of my clumsy traits. Alright. I see how it is. I’m totally offended.” Of course she said this jokingly. Seth would realize this. Arabelle had a distinct serious tone and joking tone. “Are you? We’ll I must inform you that since you’ve totally insulted me to the highest degree I’m not going to see you tomorrow.” She crossed her arms for the added dramatic effect, even turning from his face to look over at the other side of the wall. She was not serious, but she could put on a good show for him if that was what he wanted. He was obviously joking, that much she knew. No one could be serious about raping someone. Well they could, but that wasn’t Seth. She may or may not have had a knack for telling when he was joking, in this matter she just used logic to differentiate between his comments.

“Well I don’t. I know Paul thinks he is the toughest guy in the bunch, but he is mostly talk. Trust me, I’ve seen him low before.” She shrugged. She had seen Paul in fights before. It was true that he was very good. He was actually one of the best fighters she had ever witnessed, not that she had witnessed that many fights before. He had a temper that really was in another category. She had been on the other side of it quite a few times. They tended to fight a lot. “Yeah I know what you mean. He’s a bit of a jerk to everyone when he doesn’t get his way. The smallest thing pisses him off.” She knew exactly what Seth meant. She turned back up to him, having gotten over her comment previously.

“Well perhaps you just suck at telling jokes,” she put to him with a coy smile. It was possible after all. No it wasn’t. She at least got them to a degree.

She listened to him talk, not being able to disregard his words. She was trying to believe in him, but he quickly tore himself down. That was something they would have to work on. Belle almost shook her head at the thought. Did you honestly think they were going to be together? Yes she did. She wanted him, but she wanted to make sure that this was right. She didn’t want to run away from this like she normally would have. She didn’t want to be that girl, the one that just jumped from guy to guy. People already thought her a whore, but Paul had been her first. What a crappy first he was though.

“Well, not all of that makes you strong. Not of that matters in a fight. Sometimes it hinders it. Being the tallest isn’t exactly what makes you win a fight. Being the oldest doesn’t make you more experienced you know. I mean don’t get me wrong, I know –nothing- about fighting. I know that standing out isn’t always the means of winning a fight.” Her hand rubbed his arm, trying to offer some comfort to him. Why did she feel as if she had to talk him up? Seth should have known that he was something special. But in case he didn’t, Belle felt it her personal duty to inform him differently.

She knew all to well who he had been hinting at. She was glad that they stopped talking about her now ex. He was not exactly something she wanted to keep dwelling on. “Good, I’d hate to have to beat you senseless until you started giving yourself some credit.” She chuckled softly continuing to hold his hand. Arabelle was a simple creature. She had been a virgin when she met Paul. She had morals, but Paul had tainted her only slightly. The little things mattered to her mostly, but Paul didn’t understand that. Seth seemed to though, which was why when he held her hand, it meant so much to her. She was a simple creature that liked to have fun like the next person. She wasn’t a shameless drunk like Paul. She was just a girl that liked to have a little drink here and there, explore new things, be clumsy, and just hang out with friends.

Her ex, for now that was what she was going to refer to him as, had caused her to fight daily with him. They had argued all the time, much to the discredit of calling themselves a couple. She had told him that she didn’t love him, and he had told her the same thing. So why did the two stay together? He was her first and she felt some what of a connection to him. It was the stupidest reason she could have ever had for staying with someone as emotionally as abusive as him. Seth was the complete opposite. Seth was exactly what she had been looking for at first until she met Paul.

To clarify, Belle wasn’t that innocent. Paul had turned her a little bit…adventurous. She used to be innocent and still enjoyed innocent things. It was a change from what she was now. Six months and she was hardly the same person. Even her parents had noticed the direct difference in her choice of clothing and attitude. They had a talk with her, and they even had asked her to stop dating her newest obsession. She did not comply and got worse and worse as the days progressed. She wasn’t at all happy with what she had become, but that was all going to change.

As he parted his legs, Belle was able to move around so it hadn’t killed her neck. She didn’t mind as long as her lips were touching his though, but the movement was appreciated. Her knee moved to sit in the middle of his legs while her other knee was right beside his outer thigh as her inner thigh rested on his outer one while she kissed him passionately. His lips felt like satin against her own pouty pair. She barely moved from that position, other than to press lightly up against him. As soon as they released each other from the kiss, she slumped down slightly, a shy smile formed on her features. (I know this was already done, but I felt like describing what she did.)

His comment made her laugh, hoping he wasn’t serious about it. “Don’t be so negative,” she whispered against his throat shaking her head. “He won’t find out if we don’t tell him and I don’t plan on telling him. Besides we’re over Seth. I’m free to date whoever I want as long as they want to date me.” Perhaps he would get the hint. She hoped he did. She was trying to be as blunt as she could be without being severely blunt. Looking up at him, her fingers traced the curve of his jaw, slowly moving up to his lips. “We should get back before they start worrying about us.”

Belle didn’t want to go. The warmth of his body was all too comforting to her. She loved being next to him and didn’t want to see Paul again. She didn’t want to go back up there but even if she asked Seth for a ride, his car was still up there with Paul. It was a lose lose situation. Brushing past him, Arabelle leaned to his side and grabbed her shirt. It wasn’t that dry, but it was somewhat damp. Pulling the purple sheer over her bathing suit, she pulled her wet locks out of the shirt and looked up at him after she made herself comfortable. “Part of me wants to take you home just to cuddle,” she smiled toying with his hair idly.
[/size]

[Seth Clearwater]

At her mock offense, Seth chuckled, and slackened his hold as she turned away from him. There was no way she was serious. Seth had only been teasing her, and she knew it. Thanks to the humorous look in her eyes, and the laughing tone of voice, he knew she was as well. It was a relief that she hadn’t taken offense to his words. Of course, few people would really believe someone was serious when they mentioned rape. That wasn’t exactly a topic one joked about prior. It was a risky topic to bring up, as it did have the tendency to be a touchy subject. Seth internally rejoiced that Belle could joke back with him after he’d brought such a thing up.

Seth was half tempted to nuzzle her neck, and beg her forgiveness. It would be quite easy to give into the urge to touch her, to keep on flirting. But he held back guilt from the thought of how angry Paul would be, how disappointed, and angry Sam would be, held him back, but only for a moment. A weight had descended upon his chest, seizing his heart. Seth took Belle’s shoulders, and pulled her back against his chest. He leaned his head forward and stopped when his lips hovered near her ear.

“Don’t be mad, Belle.” Was all he said. He thought to comment on how cute of a cripple she would be, hobbling about on her crutches…but the words died on his lips as a crippling wave of guilt seeped into his chest. Seth nodded along silently as she assessed Paul from her side of things. It was true enough, but it was his temper that usually won him the fights. Paul was one of the first to enter the pack, him, and Sam had been the first. Paul had a lot of experience with this sort of thing. Seth had never wanted to take him on, and had always respected Jake for not being bothered by the idea.

Maybe he was just a chicken though. He was the only guy in the pack that thought twice about a fight. Of course, Seth wanted action as much as anyone. Before the big fight with the newborns, he’d been very much gung-ho about fighting vampires, but that encounter had dulled his opinion of such things. Seth did still know that was why he was what he was, and he’d brag about having killed that newborn…almost by himself…but he didn’t like the idea of that sort of thing happening all over again. No one else was worried about the idea, but Seth was. He’d hated running into that lone female…he’d not liked fighting her, but had done it anyways. It was who he was, what he was. That was why he’d been born, that was his purpose. His instinct wouldn’t have allowed him to run. But deep down, he had hated every minute of it.

A smile touched his lips as Belle began defending him to himself. She was truly adorable. Seth had never talked to someone before who’d seemed so certain that he should feel proud of who he was, that he should have any reason to brag about himself. He knew Leah thought highly of him, as did the rest of the pack. But they all still tried to protect him, even Leah. None of them seemed to think him old enough, big enough…but Belle did. She alone believed in him, and it was different, refreshing, and he loved it.

His eyes remained fixed on hers, an ironic smile on his lips while she whispered words that should have been comforting into his neck. Seth chuckled softly and shook his head. No sense in worrying her further, in explaining the more complicated and less desirable traits of the pack. He didn’t want to worry Belle, and knew that telling her that every guy in the pack had seen her naked would do just that. Seth nodded at her next comment. He should be getting back. But she needed to go home. Belle needed to get off her feet, and brining her back to a drunk Paul was probably a bad idea…

“You shouldn’t be getting anywhere but home. You need to get that foot properly taken care of. I’ll to back and tell everyone that your ok.” He insisted. Seth slackened his hold on her once more and watched as she grabbed her sweater, pulling it back on. He sighed once she had it in her hands, and turned away. If Paul saw that one, it could look very wrong. Seth wasn’t certain that anyone would see the whole story of what had just happened. Maybe they would only see bits and pieces. Maybe only the bad stuff. His telling her everything. Kissing her…then there was the matter of his memory of her that first instant he’d looked up only to find her shirtless…there was no way this was going to end well. Seth forced a smile, not wanting to worry Belle, not wanting to raise more questions. She already knew too much. Way too much. Sam had enough reason to kill him as it was, so did Paul.

Seth turned into her hand when she touched his cheek lightly. Briefly, he kissed the palm of her hand, eyes remaining fixed on hers the whole while. What a tempting idea. It would be so easy to give into her simple request. To go with her, forget who he was, and what he had coming. But Seth knew he had to face the music. He had a swift ass kicking coming his way, and there was no sense in avoiding it. Maybe, just maybe, however, Paul would have already passed out. One could only hope.

“I’ll come over and cuddle after I leave the ICU.” Seth promised, his voice casual. While he spoke, his arms moved around her. One hooked beneath her leg, the other across her lower back. Seth shifted his weight slightly, getting his feat beneath himself, then stood up, easily lifting Belle with him. She couldn’t wear her shoes, and walking was out of the question. “Hold onto my neck.” He ordered her softly, not bothering to wait for her to comment on his first statement. Once her arms wound around his neck, Seth bent down, and picked up her heals, settling them against her body once he had them in hand. His arm moved back around her body, cradling her securely against his chest as he began moving quickly back through the cave.

The way out went much more quickly than the way in. Seth didn’t have as hard a time keeping his footing as Belle had, and his body had less restrictions than hers did. He could have quite easily sprinted with her in his arms, but that wasn’t very easy a task when he was hunched over the way he was. Once they cleared the cave, Seth stood upright, stretching out the cramping muscles in his back. He didn’t miss a step, however. The pare continued on down the hill, towards the beach, then town. Seth didn’t know what to say. His mind was playing through the possible outcomes of what he’d just done. There was no way he wouldn’t get in trouble. By Monday at school he’d have talked to Sam…maybe even Paul. But was it going to be as bad as he was expecting. Was it worth it regardless of what they thought? His eyes shifted momentarily to Belle’s face, only to find her watching him. Yes. It most definitely was worth any beating he’d receive.

A faint smile touched his face just before he leaned in, and pressed a kiss to Belle’s forehead. Seth breathed in her scent contently, then set off at a run across the sand, heading for La Push.