PROMISE - S. CLEARWATER

𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐍𝐈𝐍𝐄𝐓𝐄𝐄𝐍: 𝐍𝐎𝐓𝐑𝐄 𝐃𝐀𝐌𝐄

𝘈𝘕𝘋 𝘚𝘖𝘔𝘌 𝘈𝘙𝘌 𝘋𝘌𝘚𝘗𝘌𝘙𝘈𝘛𝘌
𝘉𝘜𝘛 𝘛𝘏𝘌 𝘖𝘛𝘏𝘌𝘙𝘚 𝘏𝘈𝘝𝘌 𝘛𝘏𝘌 𝘚𝘌𝘕𝘚𝘌 𝘛𝘏𝘈𝘛
𝘛𝘏𝘌𝘠 𝘋𝘖 𝘉𝘌𝘓𝘖𝘕𝘎
𝘈𝘕𝘋 𝘐 𝘋𝘖 𝘕𝘖𝘛 𝘉𝘌𝘓𝘖𝘕𝘎.

- 𝐍𝐎𝐓𝐑𝐄 𝐃𝐀𝐌𝐄, 𝐏𝐀𝐑𝐈𝐒 𝐏𝐀𝐋𝐎𝐌𝐀

━━━━━━♡♥♡━━━━━━

It's been a week since Sam stopped me from seeing Seth, and I've become acutely aware of how weird it is to live without him. Knowing that he's a ten minute drive away tugs at my heart every night before I go to sleep. Sometimes I think about going back to the Cullen border and waiting to see if Seth will be there. Then I remember that the woods are terrifying when it's dark out, and any number of things could be waiting for a tasty human snack like me. So I just stare out my window at them and will Seth to come flying out, normal human baby in hand so I can see him again.

    Some nights are harder than others. My nightmares have made a swift return without Seth being near, so now I wake up in a cold sweat most nights, a scream on the tip of my tongue. It's all I can do to not go find Sam and demand he take me to find Seth again, even if just to soothe my sleep. It can't be fun when he knocks on the door to check on me every night because my restlessness wakes him up. I know he cares about me - which is unfortunate, because I want to hate him for stopping Seth from seeing me. He and Emily have been trying to cheer me up every day, but there's only so much they can do.

    I spent lots of my time in my room or on the beach alone. Everyone else had things to do, people to see, except for me. I helped with dishes and cleaning and dinner, but with a few less mouths, we had a lot of leftovers. Then I packed those and went to be alone again. Most of the guys didn't really know what to do with me. Hell, I didn't even know what to do with me.

    I smile as Claire comes running into my room, Emily close on her tail. Quil must be somewhere in the house, but avoiding me is probably in his best interest. We end up arguing about Seth every time we see each other, so talking to him isn't my favorite thing either. But wherever Claire is, Quil is close behind. He's probably sitting with Sam on the couch downstairs, munching on something out of the fridge. That's all any of the guys seem to do when they're not fighting with each other.

    "Wiwow," Claire gurgles. The more time I spend with her, the closer she is to learning her L's. That day is not today, though, and I'll still love her little voice no matter what speech impediments she has.

    "Hi, Claire bear," I reply as I lift her onto my bed with me. She climbs into my lap and turns to face Emily with her fingers in her mouth. "Hey, no fingers there, missy."

    "She wants to go down to the beach. Sam and Quil have something to do, and I've got work. Can you take her? She's still not swimming but she loves to collect rocks and little pieces of shell. Watch out for broken glass, there seems to be an influx of teenagers coming here and leaving without all of their things," Emily says. She seems to be in a rush or anxious, but I can't tell which one. Hopefully she's just late for work and no one's going to be dead when I leave my room.

    "Sure, I'll take her. Do I need to bring her back at a certain time?"

"Just by dinner. Like five or something. I'll be home, we'll just have something easy."

"I'll make something. Don't worry about it."

She leans her head to the side with a small smile. "You sure? I really don't mind once I'm home."