𝕆𝕟 𝕋𝕙𝕖 ℍ𝕦𝕟𝕥 ➾ 𝕆ℂ 𝕩 𝕆ℂ [𝕋𝕎𝕀𝕃𝕀𝔾ℍ𝕋 𝕊𝔸𝔾𝔸]

Gwen

La Push, Washington

May 5, 2006

 Gwen woke up from a nightmare-filled sleep around 8:45 am.  She wiped the sweat off of her forehead and rubbed her tired eyes.  She still couldn't get her mom's bloodied body out of her mind, which greatly affected her sleep.  Gwen held her tears in and put her feet on the ground.

She got up and gathered some clothes.  Gwen put on her thin, light grey bathrobe over her pajamas and left her room.  Her bathrobe used to be down to her ankles and hung loosely off her body, but after she shifted her bathrobe was just above her knees and clung to her new muscles and curves.  She shuffled into the bathroom and turned the shower faucet on.

▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪

When Gwen walked into the dining room, her eyes instantly shifted to Paul talking to an older man with long salt and pepper hair at the table.  She immediately noticed the resemblance between her, Terrence, and Paul.  'This must be Terrence... Sh*t.'  She wasn't truly ready to meet him yet.  It was easy with Paul because he wasn't the absent father.  Also, something felt off.  'Why hasn't mom ever even told me his name?  Something must be wrong with him.'

Gwen gathered her courage and approached the Quileute men.  Paul, of course, knew that she was there in the first place but he didn't acknowledge her because he saw the hesitant and scared look on her face out of the corner of his eye.  Gwen cleared her throat and got Terrence's attention.  His dark eyes widened and his russet skin paled a bit.

Paul's booming laughter rang throughout the house, "Wow, dad, it looks like you saw a ghost!"  He teased.

"So did you when you met me last night," Gwen smirked as Paul blushed, not thinking that she noticed his reaction.

Terrence ignored the banter and stood up, "H-hi, Gwen.  Wow," he started to tear up as he gently held her face in his hands, "You look so much like your mother," Terrence embraced her tightly.

At first, Gwen just stood there in surprise because a man who was practically a stranger was hugging her.  But then she stiffly hugged him back and awkwardly patted his back.  Gwen eventually melted into the hug.  Gwen had never felt the love of a paternal figure before.  She never met anyone on either of her parents' sides because she never met Terrence before and Marcia was disowned by her family for having a child with a married man.  The hug was so similar yet so different from Marcia's hugs.  Terrence's hugs made Gwen feel physically safe and secure, and Marica's hugs made her calm and emotionally stable.  But both of her parents' hugs made her feel warm and loved.

Paul smiled at his father and sister.  He made his way over to them and wrapped his large arms around the two.  The small family stayed like that for a few moments before the house phone rang.  

Terrence broke the hug and answered it, "Hello," all three of them heard Sam's voice on the other side asking for Paul.  Terrence handed the phone to him.

"Hey, Sam.  What's up?"  Paul asked.

Gwen didn't bother to listen to the rest of the conversation and instead poured herself some strong black coffee from the pot on the table.  She practically inhaled the hot beverage and Paul hung up the phone once she was done.

"So, Gwen, I was thinking that since it's gonna rain all day I should take you to meet my friends first and then do a little tour some other time," Paul said as he looked out the window.  Gwen could already hear the thunder that was coming from Forks.  

Gwen shrugged, "Sounds good to me."

"Ok, we'll leave in about..." He paused and thought for a moment, "ten minutes, I guess."  Gwen just nodded and poured some more coffee.  Terrence adjusted his tie and checked his watch.

"Well, kids, I gotta head out now," the older man sighed.  He gave Paul a clap on the shoulder and ruffled his hair, he gave his daughter a peck on her temple.  Terrence grabbed his bag as he left.

The two siblings enjoyed the rest of their morning coffee in peace.

▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪

Gwen parked in the driveway of Paul's friends Emily and Sam's house.  Paul had to give her careful instructions on where to go because the house was in the middle of the forest.  Paul and Gwen could both smell the scent of fresh-baked muffins and hot bacon.  Paul threw his door open and walked up to the porch.  When he turned to look at Gwen, she was still in the car.  He waved her up and she reluctantly got out of her car and approached.  

Paul and Gwen had only known each other for less than a day, but he already knew her like he's known her forever.  He knew that his older sister was nervous.

"You'll be fine," Paul put his hand on her shoulder, "They'll love you."  Gwen nodded and took a deep breath in and out.  Paul seemed satisfied and released her shoulder to bust through the door.  Gwen followed behind him after a moment.  She felt all eyes on her.  She couldn't help but try to shrink into herself.  A beautiful woman with russet skin and long, raven, silky hair gave her a kind smile.  But her beauty isn't what caught Gwen's attention, it was the three long and jagged scars going down the left side of her pretty face.  It disfigured her skin and pulled a corner of her mouth down into a permanent half-frown.  Gwen knew that this had to be Emily.  She didn't stare too long.  Paul told her on the way here that it bothers Sam.  Also, the scars reminded her too much of the ones that she gave her mother.

Emily approached Gwen, "You must be Gwen!  Oh, I'm so excited to have another girl around here!  I'm Emily, by the way," she greeted and hugged the taller girl.  Gwen awkwardly hugged her back.

A big burly man with dark cropped hair and russet skin walked up to Gwen, "Sam Uley, and you're welcome to come here as much as you like," he smiled and shook her hand.  Once again, neither of them noticed the other's unnatural heat.

One by one, the rest introduced themselves.  Paul was making sure that they all behaved.  Mainly looking at the wolves who haven't imprinted and made sure that they didn't on his sister.  And he was eying Leah, practically daring her to act out.  But to the pack's surprise, Leah was much kinder to Gwen than they anticipated.  Seth, Emily, and Sam knew that she was empathic to Gwen's situation, as Leah and Seth's dad passed away very recently.

Gwen was ushered to the table where they had clearly added more chairs.  Emily told Gwen to help herself to anything she liked.  And so she did.  She loaded up her plate with cheesy scrambled eggs, bacon, fresh strawberries, and a lemon-flavored muffin.  

The rest looked at her in slight surprise, and Gwen noticed.  "All I had were two old Uncrustables and a smushed twinkie that I found at top of the pantry.  And that was because someone ate the leftover Chinese food that was reserved for me,"  she sent a wicked glare to Jared and Quil.

Jared paled a bit, "Wait... that was yours?"

"Yep," Gwen popped the 'p'.

"We didn't know," Quil squeaked, genuinely scared of the blue-eyed girl.

"I know," Gwen said with a shrug, "But I'm still not happy about it."

The group bantered and chatted for another hour until a howl rang out through the forest, interrupting their morning.