Nightmares

~One~

Luna sits up shakily. She had the nightmare again about that night. It's been only three months, but it still haunts her to the core. She had been living with her cousins, but they only made the nightmares worst because they were reminders and Luna needed to get away from that. She needed to get away from everything that reminded her of what happened in Beacon Hills, California. It's the reason why she's moving to La Push to live with her cousin Jared Cameron.

She had arrived in Washington an hour ago and her cousin is now driving her to his home. He is looking at her now with worry, having seen the nightmare shake her. "You okay?" Luna sighs and glances over at her cousin.

"I'm fine, Jar."

"I know... I know you still get nightmares, but I'm hoping La Push will be a good enough distraction." Luna manages a weak smile as she looks down at her wrapped and gloved hands. Her left hand had five-degree burns, while the other has three degrees, but still, both haven't healed fully yet. "Hey, do you mind if I stop at my friend's house for a quick sec before heading home? I need to talk to him for a really quick minute." Luna bites her lip.

"I guess."

"I mean... it can wait if-

"No, it's fine, Jar, you can stop there and talk to him."

"Thanks."

"You're welcome." Luna already knows that people are going to want to know who she is and why she is moving here. In small towns or small communities such as La Push, people talk. The thing Luna learned is gossip is the past time for most small towns/communities. La Push isn't any different and it's what Luna is most worried about. Jared keeps telling her not to worry because he'll be there every step of the way, but she can't believe that. He won't be able to stop the whispers. To stop the questions.

"Loo, you okay?"

"Loo is the British word for toilet. Can you not use that nickname." Jared laughs.

"Sorry, Hale, forgot you Hales have bite." Luna smiles.

"Yeah, we do bite, so mind the canines." Jared chuckled as he pulls into the driveway of a home.

"Will do, Hale, come on. I want you to meet them."

"Jared-

"Relax, they're good people. Once you see Emily... You'll know you're not the only ones who carry scars." Jared holds her hands as gently as he can in his hands.

"What do you mean?"

"You'll see. Just, don't stare. Sam doesn't like it." He says before letting her hands go and hopping out of the truck. He heads over to the other side and helps his cousin out. She drops to the ground gracefully and the two head for the small home.

Jared walks in, not bothering to knock, and inside are his friends. Emily is busy making more cookies for the guys, her back to them, while Sam is sitting eating lunch with Paul. "Hey, guys." The guys look up as they walked in. Luna keeps her head down.

"Hey, Jared." Paul nods.

"What are you doing here, I thought you were going to get your cousin settled in before you came over." Sam says.

"I, uh, wanted to talk to you about something first."

"Do you guys not have manners." Luna looks up and sees Emily staring at them. She has three scars going down her face. Luna rubs her hands and makes sure she doesn't stare. "Introduce yourselves." Jared chuckles at Emily, while she rolls her eyes. "I'm Emily, it's a pleasure to meet you." Emily holds out her hand, but Luna doesn't take it.

"Uh, Em," Jared says gently. "Her hands are still healing...." Luna keeps her eyes on the floor, feeling their eyes on her hands. It's hard to see what's wrong with her hands. She has black thick leather gloves on her hands, fingerless, and underneath are the wrappings, but her fingers she doesn't bother wrapping because it's too hard to. She just puts this cream on them at night. You can see quite clearly see the burns on her fingers. Her fingers are as red as the day they got burned. Her cousin, Derek, says fire is harder for the body to heal and that her burns may never go away, which she is most scared of. They'll heal and turn white over time, but they may never be invisible.

"Oh, I'm sorry." Emily says, instantly regretting holding her hand out upon seeing the obvious pain in the girl's green eyes.

"Right, so Sam, can we talk?" Jared asks, trying to break up the awkwardness in the air.

"Yeah, sure," He says as he stands up. "It's nice to meet you by the way. I hope you enjoy your stay here." He smiles at her before heading out to the back with Jared. Emily turns to Luna.

"You get used to the stares after awhile." Emily tells her. "Trust me." She gives her a smile before turning and heading back to her baking.

"I'm Paul by the way." Luna's eyes move to Paul and the both of them freeze. Luna knows this feeling. Her parents had it drilled into her head since she was born. The feelings you get when you find your mate. Luna can feel her eyes change color, but that wasn't what she paid attention to. She can only pay attention to the feelings inside her. She feels love, hope, desire, lust, safety. Every positive emotion is directed towards Paul. Her wolf wants to be with him and wants to mate with him. Her very body is crying out for his touch, but she fights against it.

She can't have a mate. Not now. She doesn't need the stress of one after everything she's been through. She wants a normal life and having a mate isn't normal. "Wow... her eyes." She hears Sam say, which is enough to pull her back. She looks at Sam and her eyes flash back to green.

"Jared, can we go?" Her voice is barely above a whisper, but Jared heard it.

"Yeah, sure, Luna, come on." Jared says, taking her arm and leading her out. "So much for a normal life."

"I... I'm sorry."

"It's not your fault... what was that?"

"I don't want to talk about it."

"Well, we are talking about it, Luna. You came here wanting a normal life and now my pa-my friends are going to wonder what the hell was up with your eyes. Your eyes were fricken gold, Luna. What was that?" Luna looks at Jared with sad eyes.

"I found my mate."