Disclaimer: I do not own any part of Twilight. And the song credit goes to Boys Like Girls.

"Throw it away forget yesterday

We'll make the great escape.

We won't hear a word they say

They don't know us anyway.

Watch it burn, let it die.

'Cause we are finally free tonight."

The Great Escape

Freedom was more than just a seven letter word. Freedom was knowing that things had finally settled back into place again. Freedom was knowing I didn't have to spend my nights away from my Mother, afraid she would kill herself. Freedom was finally seeing her happy again even if it didn't fit my cookie cutter family vision of happiness.

I had spent every minute of my college career in constant worry for my Mother and the sake of my family. Freshman year I wanted them to stay together; so I had the home I always knew. Sophomore year I really didn't know what I wanted. Junior year I decided it didn't matter anymore if I ever went back to the house I had grown up in. And senior year she finally did it. I just didn't expect her to divorce him and move clear across the country.

Although I did love my Father even after all the shit he put her through, I decided to go be with her. She had a new boyfriend now and I wanted to see the man that had finally managed to make my Mother truly happy. My Father had his lonely apartment and his bachelor brother to entertain him; he didn't need me.

So with a freshly earned degree under my belt, I packed my stuff and hopped on a plane to Washington far away from Michigan and its empty promises.

***

She wasn't expecting me, which was what I wanted. I knew that if I had told her she would have insisted that I look for a job somewhere instead of wasting my summer with her. But as the airport cleared out, I seriously hated myself for not telling her. I had no ride, and no idea how to get to the La Push reservation. The sun was making its descent down from the sky and I sighed in defeat as I headed towards the payphone.

It rang twice before someone answered.

"Hello?" A deep husky voice asked.

"Hi, is Robin there?"

"Yeah, hang on a second. Can I ask who's calling?"

"It's her daughter."

I heard shuffling on the other end as whoever it was that answered the phone went to locate my Mother. I knew for a fact that it had not been Billy, my Mom's boyfriend, that answered the phone. He had answered before when I called and he didn't sound like that. But hadn't Mom said something about him having a son?

"Hello?" Came Mom's voice.

"Mom? I'm at the airport."

"What?"

"I'm at the airport and I need you to come get me."

"I thought you were going to the East Coast to look for jobs."

"Obviously not. Mom it's getting a deserted in here, and I'm starting to get a bit edgy."

"Alright, alright. I'll send Jacob to come get you; he's Billy's son."

"Okay, thanks."

"Oh and Hallie? Call next time before you get here."

She didn't sound angry, but then again she never did anymore. It was strange not hearing the edge in her voice that had been there for as long as I could remember. The times when she had been truly happy I hadn't been old enough to recognize.

I sat with my bags near the doors watching for any sign of the guy that could be Jacob. I knew two things about what he looked like that Mom had told me; he was really tall and just plain huge. That wasn't much to go off of, but it would have to work for now.

I spent the time letting my eyes wander around the small airport. There wasn't a lot to see, but I found my eyes drawn to a mural on the opposite wall. It was of a black wolf howling up at the full moon. Being from Michigan I was used to seeing artwork of cars and crops, not of wolves.

"Are you Hallie?"

I whipped my head around and up at the tall man standing in front of me with the voice from the phone. Well, this had to be Jacob Black. Mom hadn't been lying when she said he was tall, my neck cracked in protest as I tried to look into his eyes. I finally stood up and smiled up at him.

"Yeah, it's nice to meet you."

He smiled, his white teeth flashing; a stark contrast from his dark russet skin. "You too. Are you ready to go?"

"Definitely." I said and started to reach for my bags, but he beat me to it and lifted them up like it was nothing at all. I knew for a fact that those bags all together weighed more than I did; probably because of all my shoes.

He led me outside to a small car and after he threw all my stuff in the back we both got in the car. I stared at him from the corner of my eye; I knew he was younger than me, but he certainly didn't look it. I was twenty one; I'd be twenty two in September. He looked like he was twenty five.

"How old are you?" I asked curiously.

"Twenty." He grinned. "How old are you?"

"Twenty one."

"You look a lot like Robin you know."

"Yeah, I get that a lot." I smiled. It was true; I did look a lot like my Mother. And it wasn't a bad thing. I had inherited her rich chocolate brown eyes, her dark brown hair, and her hourglass figure. The only thing I had that my Mom didn't was height.

"So this is going to sound kind of sappy, but I haven't seen my Dad this happy in a long time." He stated.

"I haven't heard my Mom this happy in a long time either." I grinned.

"Well, that's good because I think we might be step siblings in the near future." Jacob smirked.

"You think or you know?"

He grinned, "I can't say."

"That's not even right!" I laughed.

"I promised." He sighed.

"Well that means that you do know! Ha!"

By the time we reached the small but quaint house surrounded by woods, Jake and I were talking like old friends. If we were to become siblings in the near future it wouldn't be a bad thing; I had always wanted a younger brother. I already had an older brother, but he lived in Ohio with a wife I hated.

As Jake went to fetch my bags the front door to the house opened and my Mother came out. I ran up the ramp and into her open arms, feeling tears prick at my eyes. Jake moved past us with my stuff and finally we made our way inside to where Billy was waiting.

"Billy, this is my Hallie." Mom beamed.

I smiled at Billy and his answering smile was absolutely brilliant; man this guy was in love.

***

"Are they always like this?" I whispered to Jake as our parents flirted with each other over their coffee and pancakes.

I had never seen my Mom like this before, and it was a bit odd. Sure, I was happy she was happy, but it was a little much when I saw her rest her hand on his thigh and flash him a seductive grin. Jake shoved a huge forkful of pancake in his mouth and nodded.

"You'll get used to it." He said once he swallowed.

I had spent the night in Billy's daughters' old bedroom. As usual, I didn't get much sleep in a new bed, and I about panicked when I woke up and saw flowered wall paper all around the room. But the smell of pancakes had drawn me from bed and planted me down at the table next to Jake.

"Have you heard from your brother?" Mom questioned, her attention finally diverted from Billy.

"Kevin called me right before graduation to congratulate me and he also informed me that things are becoming a bit strained with his wife." I stated, unable to help the satisfied smirk that flirted about my lips.

"Wipe that smirk off your face Hallie May."

"What? You've never liked her either!" I protested. "Besides, I guess she's ticked because Kevin doesn't want kids yet and she does. Kevin seems very unhappy; hopefully he will have common sense enough to divorce her."

"Be nice." Mom warned, wearing a look I recognized all too well.

"I'm sorry." I said and took a sip of orange juice.

Jake's chair legs scraped backwards and he jumped up. He placed his plate in the sink and then headed towards the door. He didn't quite make it until Billy called out his name.

"Where you going?"

"The beach."

"You should take Hallie and show her around." Billy suggested.

"He doesn't have to if he doesn't want to." I insisted.

Jake grinned down at me, "Let's do it."

"Well, I need to get dressed."

"Okay, I'll give you five minutes."

"Women are never ready in five minutes, son. You'd better learn that now." Billy laughed.

Twenty minutes later Jake and I left the house and headed down the road towards the beach. As was usual for this part of Washington, it was over cast and a bit chilly for June. As a gust of wind whistled through the trees, I was glad I had decided on a pair of jeans and a light jacket. Jake on the other hand, was only in a pair of cut offs and a wife beater. How could he possibly be warm?

"So what's at the beach?" I asked.

"The ocean."

"Besides that, smart guy." I rolled my eyes and punched his shoulder.

I pulled my hand away with a gasp and looked down at my hand; already it was red and throbbing in pain. It felt like I had just hit it against a wall instead of against his chest. Jake grabbed my hand in his very warm one and inspected it.

"What the hell are you on?"

He chuckled, "I think we've established the fact that you shouldn't try to hurt me. Your hand is fine; you didn't break anything."

"Well, thank goodness for that." I huffed and cradled my hand to my chest.

"My friends."

"Huh?"

"My friends are at the beach cliff diving."

My eyes widened, "Cliff diving? Are you crazy?"

He grinned, "Maybe just a bit."

Sure enough as we approached the cliffs the sound of loud laughter and shouting could be heard above the roar of the waves crashing against the cliff side. As we got closer I could make out at least three other guys, all built similarly to Jake. What did they feed the guys here? Growth hormones?

"Hey guys!" Jake called and stripped off his wife beater.

The three guys turned from staring down at the ocean and looked over at the two of us. If they were surprised to see Jake with a girl they didn't show it. Instead they waited for us to approach and sent smiles at me.

"This is Robin's daughter, Hallie." Jake stated.

"Wow she really does look like Robin." One of them stated. "I'm Quil."

"So you're going to be Jake's step sister? I'm Seth and let me say it is an honor to meet you."

"Don't be creepy, Seth." The third sighed. "I'm Embry."

With introductions out of the way, they went back to what they were doing. Quil dived of the cliff, soon followed by Seth. I stood out of their way; well away from the cliff's edge. This wasn't exactly my definition of fun. Put me on a tennis court and I would have fun; put me up high and I'd freak.

I heard someone approach behind me followed by a string of curses. I was about to turn around when Jake did.

"Hey Paul."

"What?" He snapped. "Where's that little bastard?"

"Who do you mean?"

"Seth; pushed me off before I was ready." He grumbled angrily.

At this point I didn't want to turn around and see what he looked like; he sounded pissed and I didn't want to inadvertently piss him off more. So, I kept my gaze on Embry who was stretching dramatically before he finally dove off the side of the cliff.

"Who's that?"

I could feel his gaze burning into my back, but I resisted the urge to turn around and meet his eyes. Instead I looked up at Jake, who was looking at this Paul guy.

"This is Robin's daughter, Hallie."

My manners won; I finally turned around and met Paul's eyes. He wasn't what I had been expecting. He was just as good looking as the rest of them, but something about him was different. Apparently he hadn't been expecting me either, because suddenly his face went completely blank and he clenched his hands into fists.

"Paul?" Jake asked a bit nervously.

I was still staring at Paul when I felt Jake's arms lift me up. He cradled me in his arms and ran towards the cliff edge. I screamed when I realized what he was about to do, but unfortunately that did not stop him from jumping off the side of the cliff.