welcome

[houston adrianna black]

“No, mother, I do not want to talk about it.” Houston shut the door in Renesmee Black’s face, turning the lock in the process. Not that a lock would keep her mother out if she really wanted in. But, still. It was worth a shot at privacy. In silence, she watched the handle rattle for a moment, before hearing the deep sigh, and the retreating footsteps. Curtly, she nodded, turned, and headed for the window seat on the other side of her bedroom. The window was thrown open- as always. Closing it would mean no easy access to jumping in and out. As she was about to die. Her khaki pencil skirt fell to the floor, followed by a pair of ballet flats, a red jacket, a navy blue tank-top, and her undergarments. Glancing at her naked form in the mirror, Houston smirked. How many times had the guys in her pack seen her naked? Way too many. And she’d heard what they thought each time. It was certainly a confidence booster to know that all of your guy friends- and probably some of your girl friends, though she didn’t really have any of those- thought she was sexy. With a shake of her curls, the eighteen year old held her arms above her head, and dove forward. To any onlooker, she would have looked nucking futs. That is, until she hit the ground outside of her window. Then they probably would have fainted. Or, you know, needed intense mental therapy for the rest of their lives, and all that good stuff.

Small, white paws collided with the multi-colored that were scattered across the ground, and the wolf stretched her limbs before taking off at a break neck speed. The foliage beneath her swirled up in the wind she created, making her even more like an apparition. Her mother really just did not understand what it was like to be a bipolar, PMSing, Alpha female in the twenty-first century. And every time she got annoyed did NOT mean she needed to sit down and have some deep, imploring talk as if she were still a little kid. It just meant she needed to go blow off some steam. A grin spread across the animal’s mouth, lips lifting to show off the sharp and shiny canines, that were lethal to anyone who got too close to her when she was in a mood. Though, really, her annoyed state of mind was dwindling. Running really was the greatest way in the world to calm down a werewolf. And after a while, she doused the speed, opting for a quiet lope through the trees, keeping her nose low, and her ears raised. So far, it sounded like she was the only person in the forest. But she wasn’t going to take any chances on running into one of those Uley-followers. Or, you know, something worse. With shiny red eyes and the like. That would suck. Not to mention how many people would laugh at her for letting her guard down.

Creeping into a rather large clearing that she’d visited often, Houston did a few turns, dropping down the guard that blocked her off from the nature around her. None of the others were in wolf form now- except for, perhaps, Rhys, though it was a weak signal, making her think that he was sleeping- so she had the world to herself right now. The pure white wolf pounced and jumped, colliding with trees, and rolling over onto her back. Like a little puppy. It would have been both adorable and shocking to anyone within the pack. And probably terrifying to anyone that jut happened to stumble across a huge- huge in general terms, she was tiny for her true race- Arctic wolf, looking insane in it’s freedom of action. And then, with the tiniest twitch of her left ear... she hear something. The act came to an immediately halt, her large wolf form flipping over, silver eyes glaring in the direction that the noise had come from. The snarl that tore out of her throat would have been enough to frighten even her grandfather- and Edward Cullen was not someone who scared easily. But, as the source drew nearer to her crouching spot, she recognized the scent, and relaxed. Ah. It was only him.

[lucas masen clearwater]

From a distance, Lucas watched his hero throw herself into a tree and proceed upon rolling her way across a clearing. He just stood there, marveling at her for a while. It was... awfully cute, but rather shocking to him. She was obviously upset, which wasn't the shocking part. It was a little weird that she was letting down her walls like that, but... Kind of understandable. As the Alpha Female of her pack, it must be difficult keeping up the tough-girl attitude. Not to mention all the pressure with being pretty much everyone's role model. Or maybe she was just his role model. Whatever. She still must have a lot on her shoulders.

He wanted to talk to her, without the pack distraction. He had been waiting until it was late enough they could be alone. But... This was the wrong time. His slip up today would mar any conversation he tried to have with her in wolf form. So, knowing she was in wolf form, he had left a note on his bed that he had gone out in case anyone would wonder where he was, and brought with him an extra-large shirt of his for her to wear while they talked. The poor boy wasn't even sure what he was going to talk about. Luke was being driven purely on testosterone, hormones telling him what to do. He was just going to babble on until he worked up the nerve to tell her he was madly in love with her, which he had done a good job of hiding in wolf form. Also hoping that they stayed alone long enough for him to do so.

He had decided earlier that day that he would talk to her tonight. If he was going to have to jump through her window and wake her up with some pitiful sob-story, he would do it. Which would probably be a problem, since he was such a terrible liar and she’d see right through it in a second, but that just proves how much he wanted to have a heart-felt conversation with the girl. After he made this decision, he had wracked his brain trying to think of the right words to say, but gave up after an hour of unfinished math homework and guessed that he’d think of the right thing when he was actually talking to her. Hopefully. He always thought better on his feet; not much of a planner. It’s why he loved being a werewolf—so much on-the-go action, so many things happening at once.

But, now that he was actually here (which I suppose still didn’t count as on-your-feet thinking, since they weren’t speaking yet) he still couldn’t conjure up some witty opening line like he hoped he could. Also, the fact that he needed at least some excuse for interrupting her steam-blowing session was rearing it’s ugly head. Why didn’t he think of it before? Oh, man, what have you gotten yourself into? if he left now, there was a chance she would hear and that might blow up into something like her thinking he was spying on her, or something absurd that he didn’t want to deal with, because the whole pack would know by tomorrow morning, no doubt. Okay, just… Go at it like a man. What would she think if she found out that you lost your nerve? Girls don’t like wimps. Especially Houston.

He sucked up his chest and, his eyes shut tight, took a step forward. She didn’t turn. Too lost in her anger to notice, probably. So he could’ve left undetected. Oh well. Just keep going. He deliberately stepped on a twig, instead of the usual werewolf ghosting around. She looked up at him, and he saw her fierce eyes searching the woods before she relaxed a split second later. Such gracefully fast reflexes. Gosh, and that fur, it was beautiful. He blinked before realized he should probably say something. Or at least move. He stepped into the clearing, running a hand through his thick curls. “uh, hey.” Jesus, what now? Uhm… The shirt. Clothes. “Uh, I brought you some clothes… Erm, Clothe… Something for you to wear, if you don’t mind being in human form?” He tossed the shirt her way. He had seen her naked (oh, God, had he) before, but she might still want some privacy. He looked to the ground and turned.

[houston adrianna black]

Houston eyed the giant shirt that he’d brought for her, suspicious before the words had even left his mouth. He wasn’t changing. Which meant one of two things: He was hiding something from her, and the two of them being in wolf form would force him to expose the secret. Or, there was something big- and I mean massively, horrifyingly big- and he needed to tell her in human form, rather than while they were both giant dogs. Both were understandable. But neither sounded like any sort of fun to her. Still, Luke was her best friend, the person who she trusted more than anyone in the entire world, and cared about as if he were the other half of her, and not a separate entity. It was much the same way that Bella had felt about Jacob, before Renesmee was born. Or, at least, Houston suspected that it was roughly the same. Though she doubted the reasons were. Luke was so not going to take her baby, and rape it’s brains out. The thought was just... gross. Uncles couldn’t marry their nieces! And Luke was as close to a little brother as she was going to get... you know, if you ignored the fact that she actually had little brothers, and she cared about him a Hell of a lot more than she cared about those two annoying knuckle-heads. Which was probably not a good thing. But whatever.

With her graceful lope, she snatched the shirt from his hands with her mouth, and meandered off behind a rather large tree. Not that she really had a problem with Luke seeing her naked. It wasn’t as if he was going to start having wet dreams about her. Shifting back into her human form, Houston pulled the t-shirt over her head and looked down to admire herself. Okay, so she actually looked... was cute the word? Maybe that was the word. It was insanely baggy on her, but still only went down to her upper/mid thighs. About the length of most her dresses- the ones that she wore stockings and leggings with, anyways. Yeah, cute was probably the exact word. Granted, a pair of underwear and a bra might have been nice. But she didn’t expect Luke to own any of those. Boxers would have worked though... Shrugging, she brushed her hair away from her face, and walked back around the tree, that impish little grin that was rarely given to anyone but Luke spread across her face. He was so... god, cute. Cute was, apparently, her word of the day. But he looked nervous, and her stomach knotted once more at his possible reasoning for making her shift back into her human form. Still, she walked over to wrap her arms around him in a tight hug. Her hugs were reserved for a very select few people.

“Hey, Lukey. Where have you been hiding yourself these past few days?” The hug- which could have very well been awkward, had she thought that she was little less than naked- ended with that, and she pulled back to continue giving him that little grin. Though, past the grin, and the innocent questions, her eyes burned. She wasn’t just his best friends, or his protective alpha female, she was his other half, whether they acknowledged this or not. She was worried about him. Even subconsciously, she knew that something was wrong. Linking her arm with his, she turned him, headed off down the trail that the wolves had made themselves, after many events of running. “I’ve called your house a few times, but you’re never home. And every time I phased today, you were in human form... not avoiding me, now are you?” In all honesty, the idea was beyond comical. Avoiding her was just not something that he was capable of. A small red and brown fox popped up from behind one of the trees, sniffing at their ankles, and following them as they headed off down the trail together. It was kind of cute. Hello, brother. She thought in it’s direction. Of course... he couldn’t hear her. But still.

[lucas masen clearwater]

Cute? Gorgeous. Beautiful. The words flew through his mind, more and more as he still couldn't find one fitting for her. Standing there, in his shirt, she was utterly breathtaking. It was all he could do to stop himself from picking her up and swinging her full circle in his arms. He considered for half a second on whether he could get away with that, then shook his head abruptly. They said you would know that you imprinted when you imprint, but he was seriously starting to have his doubts. Had he imprinted on her? He practically revolved around her. She was literally his other half, and he had already acknowledged this fact, unsure of whether or not she had. They had been friends since the crib, damn it! Why won’t she love me?

Luke was too lost in his own thoughts to realize Houston had began closing the distance between them since emerging from the divider. Too lost in desperately groping his head for an opening line. So deep in thought, that it he was caught totally off his guard when she circled her little arms around his waist and brought herself close. Slowly comprehending, he pressed his hands on the small of her back, pulling her ever closer. He brought his head down so close it was almost buried in her hair, and her delicious woodland scent, musky and sweet at once wafted through his nostrils as he inhaled. Much too soon for his liking, which would probably be forever, she pulled back to look him in the face. Her absurdly adorable smile pulled across her face, the smile that was solely reserved for him. He had just focused his thoughts enough past her captivating beauty to hear her ask if he’d been avoiding her.

Being serious, Lucas was beyond appalled that he actually did succeed in avoiding her for so long. Two and a half days? He had honestly expected himself to last no more than the first night. But he was really afraid of what she would think if she found out what he had done a couple days ago. Exposing the secret? He next to never did something so careless, and did not, under any circumstances, wish to be responsible for putting any hint of negative emotion on her angelic face, let alone disappointment. He concentrated on keeping his face smooth, and then said with a smile, “Houston, if you can think of any reason that anyone, let alone me, would want to avoid you, let me know and I’ll give you a dime.”

A woodland fox rose it’s head out of a nearby bramble bush and cocked it’s head before gracefully loping toward their feet. He watched it sniff at their ankles before following them like a loyal dog down the path. The forest truly was quiet except for the occasional cicada accompanied by a cricket. Her light footsteps, barely audible beside him, crunched along in sync with his own. He put a friendly arm around her shoulder, something he did often, but more so recently. Any hint of his feelings for her, no matter how small, that he could get away with, he would give. Or throw at her, even.

“Uh, so, uhm…” He spluttered, unable to form words longer than two syllables. “Nice night, huh?” His voice cracked, and he swallowed, feeling blood pool in his cheeks. Thankful he was the taller one, he turned his face upward and waited for the color to ebb. Clenching his teeth, he made an attempt to calm his thoughts and form intelligible sentences. “So, what have you been up to since I haven’t seen you in a while?” The thought burned. It killed him to stay away from her so long. Even if he wasn’t desperately in love with her, she’s an extremely important piece to his everyday life, and not being able to do anything for the pack hurt, too. He loved his pack and was as loyal as… well, a wolf to his pack.

Another fake smile strewn across his face, he looked down at her for an answer.

[houston adrianna black]

A chuckle escaped her lips at his words. He was right, of course. Lucas wasn’t a clingy, needy little boy, but he did care about her, a lot. (She’d often suspected he cared about her a little too much. But that was beyond the point. If anything, it was just a stupid little crush that he would get over within the next few years, when he found someone and imprinted on them.) The thought of him staying away from Houston, with the actual attempt of doing so, was absurd. Still, hand in his larger hand, she shrugged her delicately pointed shoulders. “I’m sure there are a few people that would kill to be able to stay away from me for that long.” And this was true. Just because Lucas loved her didn’t mean that everyone felt the same way. Lots of people in La Push couldn’t stand her, thinking Houston to be a snobby, superficial girl, who didn’t care about anyone but herself. Not that she particularly minded. When people thought little of you, they expected less than you were likely to give. Which meant that Houston had less expectations to live up to. Less people she was likely going to let down in the future. (Something she constantly worried over. It was going to kill her when she did something to put a look of disappointment on the faces of anyone in her pack. She cared much too much about how they thought of her.)

“Like... Charlie for example.” The way she said his name was a forlorn sigh. Oh, Charlie. Growing up, they’d been closer than two people had any right to be. Finishing each other’s sentences, sneaking out of their windows to spend the night with one another, and- eventually- leading the pack together. Back when she’d lead a single pack, a large; unbreakable unit. But, no. That had all come to a screeching, terrifying end, six months ago. He’d made his choice. Charles Blake Uley was not built to serve a half-breed like herself. He was built to lead on his own. Pride had crippled them both, and they’d ended up at one another’s throats. Literally. Oh well. She had new friends now. People like Lucas, and her boyfriend, Daniel, to stand behind her and back her up when she needed it. And Charlie had... whoever it was that he was hanging about with nowadays. She peeked at him from underneath her eyelashes, smiling softly. “You know how much he’d like to have my head on a silver platter. You owe me a dime. I expect it by the end of the night.” Houston teased him, not quite giggling, but sounding like she was in a good mood. Hell, it was mostly all BSing, though. She was never really in a good mood these days. Showing Lucas that, though, would be a vital mistake. He, above anyone else, had to believe that she was happy. Should the pup see the pain she dealt with every day... should she be the one to taint his pure spirits... she wouldn't be able to live with herself. And things would only continue to spiral from that point onward.

He stuttered, and she eyed him warily. Okay, something was definitely going on. But she wasn’t going to pounce on him just yet. Lucas would tell her what was on ihs mind in good time. And he had, after all, made the trouble of catching her alone. Soon, she would know. Patience, love. Houston thought to herself, before looking up at the sky, through the canopy of trees that hung over them. “Yeah... the moon is really low tonight, too.” And it was. The moon- not full, for I’m not that clichéd, but somewhere close to half- looked close enough that Houston could simply reach forward, and pluck it from the sky. (Or, at the very least, that Lucas could. He was four years her junior, and already half a foot taller than her. Damn werewolf growth spurts making him look like he was twenty!) With his next words, the Alpha let out a dry chuckle, kicking over a rock that was unlucky enough to get in her way. “You don’t want to know...” She chuckled, swinging their hands slightly. “Mostly, I haven’t even been in town. I ran up to Canada the night before last, to spend some time with mom’s family.” She cautiously left out the part that they’d taken her hunting, and she’d drained a moose of all his blood. Lucas didn’t need to hear the gory details of her vampiric side’s hunger. After a moment of silence, she let out a small sigh of frustration. She was just as patient as any teenage girl... which meant she wasn’t patient, at all.

[lucas masen clearwater]

Charlie? Luke had been too busy concentrating on composing his face to really pay much attention to what the love of his life was saying to him. The mention of Charlie Uley, however, got his ears to prick and his attention to retarget. Charlie Uley… He unconsciously wrinkled his nose in disgust as he thought of the foul creature. He never used to have a problem with him. Maybe a little jealous, sure. Jealousy would be a good word for it. But he was supposed to be Houston’s best friend. Best friend![/b] Doesn’t that mean anything to anyone anymore? He saw girls at his school, even guys sometimes, getting into stupid drama and catfights and switching sides all over the place. It repulsed him. What was wrong with this generation? Everyone was so starved for attention, cutting themselves and cheating on their boyfriends just for something to do. He detested people who didn’t value those around him, who didn’t just look around and realize who is really worth sitting down and having a chat with. The person who sat next to you all year, begging for your attention, wishing you someone who won’t abandon you, who won’t wrong you. Or maybe even that best friend you’ve had since the beginning of forever who just wants you to turn and see things through his eyes, to at least understand how he cares if you can’t return the feeling. And what does Charlie [I]Uley do? He breaks Houston’s heart in two. Maybe not, like, heartache, but she loved him so very much. I should know, I’ve been in her head. If poor Luke wasn’t such a pacifist, he’d snap that jackass’s neck right then. He didn’t doubt at all that the anger which pulsed through his veins would be enough to take him down, however much bigger he was. For the last six months, Luke hadn’t been able to stand the thought of Charlie Uley. Fortunately, he had a gift for retaining his anger. Though that didn’t mean he didn’t almost phase. He shook violently, and then calmed himself down quickly before he could cause Houston any worry.

He was calm before Houston commented on him owing her money. It was good for him to hear the smile in her voice, to know she was at least happy now. He smiled at her, cheerful now, fishing in his pocket for loose change. A nickel and some lint would have to suffice. He gazed up at the moon, really noticing how pretty it was. Was it usually that low? He wouldn’t know. She said something about something else for a sentence or two, but he still couldn’t pay attention. Again, back to worrying about how he was going to do this. Confess his almost pathetically strong feelings for her. Say it, damn it, Say it! He breathed in deeply, in sync with her little sigh, and suddenly found words to begin. Stopping their slow pace, he slid his long arm from her shoulders and gently turned her body to face him, his big hands on her sharp shoulders.

“Houston, listen to me for a sec. As you probably know, I mean, you’re smart… Like, one of the smartest and most clever and witty people I know… That there is something I have to tell you. It probably won’t help anything. In fact, it might make it worse, I really hope it doesn’t. You know how much I want you to be happy. But sometimes I have to take care of my needs first before taking care of someone else. Maybe this thing that I really have to tell you has been eating at me for days, weeks even, probably longer. Or maybe I’m being dramatic. Per say. I’ve never had more of an urge to tell anyone anything more than this before. You know you’re like my best friend in the whole wide world. You know I’m not as stable as I would like to be, and I need you. I like to think you need me, too, and, gosh… I guess… I don’t know… What I’m trying to get at, is…” He scrunched up his cute little face and sighed. QUICK! BEFORE YOU LOSE YOUR NERVE! His peripheral vision caught a glimpse of something white and brown on the path ahead of them. Looking up, he saw a bunny-rabbit. A white bunny-rabbit, starting to shed it’s brown coat for something more fitting for the coming winter. Weren’t rabbits the symbols of hope? This had to be a sign. Please, let it be a sign. With another huge breath, he opened his mouth, and—whoosh. Something brown and orange streaked between their feet and lunged for the rest of Luke’s hope. The fox, following them so comfortably, was obviously very hungry, and was simply hoping they would lead it towards a snack. Very hungry, by the look of how quickly the fat and innards of the rabbit were being devoured.

Luke’s face drained of all blood. Okay, you wanted a sign. This is obviously not to be. He was able to go stiff, unfeeling, long enough to make up an excuse and run off, a skill he had developed. “What I’m trying to say is,” He said, head turning to face her once more, absolutely blank, “is that I didn’t think I was getting the point across that I will always be there for you, no matter what.” Fate could keep them from being together, but not apart. Not on Lucas Masen Clearwater’s watch. “Is there anything you need to say? My parents are expecting me home soon.”