superficial | twilight

04 - Hikes

"I'm.. So glad... You told me.. To change." Kingsley pants a little as she follows Embry up the trail, the potential brother not being nearly as out of breath as her. The gym leggings have been protecting her shins and legs from getting cut by low branches and things.

He smirks. "Wanna stop? I thought you said you hiked?"

"I do - did." She rolls her eyes. "M-Mom made me go like 3 t-times a week." She exhales slowly, catching her breath. "But never like this."

He shrugs. "Ah well, we're here anyway." He smiles and disappears through some bushes.

King grumbles as they scrape her arms as she pushes through, but she instantly silences when she sees the clear skies, the point where the ocean meets the skyline and the entire beach that stretches out below.

"Woah..."

"Beautiful, right? We use this spot to cliff dive but when you wanna be alone, it helps then too." He says, walking to the edge.

King peaks over but definitely decides to stay back - she's far too clumsy to be near the edge. "Cliff dive?"

"Yeah, like you run and jump off." He shrugs. "It's pretty self-explanatory-"

"Ha ha ha." She says sarcastically. "I mean, what possesses you to do that?"

"It's fun. Like, reallllly fun. And freeing. Adrenaline rush." He smiles and sits down, his feet dangling over the edge.

She shudders. "Nope. I'd definitely end up killing myself doing that."

Em laughs. "At least sit next to me?"

She sits a few inches from the edge with her legs crossed. "This is as close as I will ever get, thank you very much."

He rolls his eyes. "So when do you start school? Which one are you going to?"

"I'm not - thank god. Billy said if I show I'm willing, I can do online classes to graduate on time." She smirks. That took a lot of convincing to get him to agree to, but she knew he couldn't say no.

"Damn you're lucky... High school sucked ass!" He shakes his head as King giggles. "It honestly wasn't too bad, I'm exaggerating - but it wasn't all great."

King nods. "I get that, more than anything. One wrong move.." She sighs.

Embry watches her as her demeanor changes. "Do you wanna talk about it?"

King shakes her head and smiles small. "Naa, it's cool. Guys suck is all."

He laughs. "Yeah, they do. Especially your brother and our brothers."

"Brothers?"

"It's what we call our group of friends - I mean, we are brothers, don't get me wrong, we're just always together. Always bickering about something."

King smiles small. "Must be nice. So many people having your back."

"It can be - it is." He changes his answer. "But there's a lot of us. Sam, Jake, me, Paul, Quil, Jared, Leah, Seth, Collin, Brady... the list goes on."

"What's the story there? Why are y'all so close?" She leans back on her elbows to enjoy the sun above them a little more.

He does the same, both laying back on the grass. "Family, I guess." He says; obviously he can't tell her the real reason, his alpha, her brother, told him not to. "I mean, we've all grown up together, our families have known each other for years. And we've all been through a lot together."

"Again, it must be nice. Family isn't always blood."

"And the story there?" Embry asks this time.