Yes! I finished the chapter! It only took 4 months. Sorry :/ things have been super busy around here. I've been facing some heart trouble and then senior year is kicking. My. Butt. And it's freaking expensive! Like really? $122 for a cap and gown and senior hoodie. Okay. And my homework load is insane! Two research papers, a video, and my graduation project. I hope you realize I put off finishing one of my college applications to write this for you! Now, make a wish! It's 3:33… AM :/

Ok, that's enough. Sorry. Again. Here it is, chapter six. Woot woot!

Jake's car was sitting outside in my driveway. I felt my eyebrows furrow in confusion. "Why-" I started, but Seth cut me off. "I don't have a car and we couldn't exactly walk, could we?" He said, smiling down at me. I shook my head and reached for the door handle, but he beat me to it, pulling the door open for me and helping me in. "Thanks," I said, blushing when he squeezed my hand before letting it go and shutting my door.

I tried to calm my nerves by taking a deep breath, but it didn't really work because as soon as Seth slid into the driver's seat, my heart started pounding all over again. He glanced over at me curiously. "Are you ok?" He was just staring at me, making me even more nervous, I clasped my hands in my lap and forced a smile. "Of course," I said, it coming out more of a squeak than actual words. I cleared my throat and tried again. "So, where are we going?"

"It's a secret, and no, it's not Piccola Italia, like everyone has told you." He glanced over at me mischievously, taking the complete opposite direction to Port Angeles. I felt my eyebrows furrow together as he turned into a wooded driveway with twinkling lights woven into the trees. I gazed in wonder at the trees, wondering how the lights got there and just marveling at the beauty of it. We drove in silence for about five minutes as he made his way slowly down the driveway and to a gorgeously lit glass house. "Uhm, where are we?" I ask breathlessly as he stops the car and puts it in park.

"If I told you, I'd have to kill you," he says, giving me a wicked smile and jumping out of the car. Before my hand even reaches the door handle, he's there, pulling it open and helping me out. I followed him up the porch steps and into the house, which was dimly lit. I could make out stark white furniture elegantly placed about the sitting room, but Seth didn't allow me time to admire the house, but instead pulled me to a formal dining room, where there was a small table set for two. A single red candle was lit in the middle of a stark white table cloth, surrounded by red rose petals. Elegant glasses were set on either side of the table and what looked like a bottle of wine in a chest of ice.

"You do realize I'm not old enough to drink, right?" I whispered. I thought if I talked too loudly, the whole room would shatter to pieces and I'd be left standing alone in the middle of nowhere. "I didn't think it mattered," Seth whispered back, leaning close to my ear. His warm breath brushed across my face and I felt my cheeks heating up. I swallowed thickly as he grabbed my hand and led me to my seat.

A man suddenly appeared. I didn't really pay much attention to him because Seth was staring at me in that weird, kind of creepy, but incredibly sweet way. He pulled the wine out of the ice and poured us both a glass. I took a sip of the wine and realized that it wasn't what I thought. I glanced at the bottle and laughed. "Sparkling grape juice?" I said, between giggles. "Very nice."

Seth beamed at me. "You didn't actually think I was going to give you alcohol did you?"

I shrugged, "Who knows, you're a mystery to me Mr. Clearwater." A mystery I want to solve.

He quirked an eyebrow. "Is that so? How?"

I shrugged. "Well, you gave me a concussion a couple of days ago, then randomly show up at my place of work and stick around until I accept a date from you, then you start showing up on my lunch break, perfect timing by the way, and sit outside with me and cause me to spit food everywhere. Then, on our date, I walk into a completely romantically set dining room in a house I've never seen. I don't know what to think about you."

"Well, hopefully good things."

Definitely good things. I froze when I realized the words had slipped out of my mouth. I cleared my throat and could feel my face turning as red as the rose petals on the table. "I mean… I uhm… ah," I reached for my glass and took a small sip of the juice.

He beamed at me, looking almost proud of himself, but not in the player, I just scored kind of way. No, he looked happy that I said those things.

"Whose house is this anyway?" I blurted, searching through my mind to find something to talk about.

"I thought we already discussed this, if I told-"

"Me, you'd have to kill me, yea I got that." I sighed. "Please?" I tried one last time.

Seth struggled for a second and seemed to be contemplating. "It's a close friend of the family's," he finally admitted.

I shrugged. "Good enough. So, what's for dinner?"

The waiter suddenly appeared next to the table. I tilted my head up at him, finally getting a good look. He was tall and kind of skinny, probably my age, maybe a year or two older. He had blonde, curly hair and was incredibly gorgeous. He held two platters in each hand and gently set them in front of the two of us. "Chicken Parmesan," he said. "Enjoy."

I examined the chicken in front of me, trying to decide if I'd like it or not. A large chicken breast was smothered with some type of red sauce on top of a pile of noodles with a little sprinkle of cheese on top. "Looks good," I said and then leaned down to sniff delicately, "smells good." I paused and smiled up at Seth. "I think I'll try it."

"You don't like Italian?" He asked, digging into his food immediately.

"My family isn't big on Italian food. Spaghetti and Stouffer's lasagna is about as Italian as it gets." I say, picking up my knife and cutting the chicken breast in half, then a small piece off of that piece. I place it in my mouth and count thirty chews before swallowing. It tastes delicious.

"Really? What do you like?" He asks, taking another huge bite of his food. I glance at his plate and my mouth nearly falls into my lap. His plate of Chicken Parmesan is nearly four times the size of mine. There are even two breasts on his heaping pile of pasta.

I snap my mouth shut, ignoring his grin, and shrug. "Chinese, but Mom and I only eat that once in a blue moon. Special occasions mostly. We eat a lot of healthy stuff, tofu, fruits, veggies, all organic."

Seth makes a face and it's my turn to grin ruefully up at him.

"So, you're on a permanent diet," he makes the question more of a statement and I nod.

"Uh, yea. Kind of. More like we made a lifestyle change. 'The moment it becomes a diet is the moment you fail'" I mutter the last part, remembering the quote used by our meeting leader at my first Weight Watchers meeting.

"I see. And how is that lifestyle change holding up in La Push?"

I can't help it, I laugh. I think about the three get-togethers that I'd been to. At Emily's there'd been cakes and pies and other sweet temptations that I wasn't allowed to touch. The next get-together was at Kim's. It was her baby shower and all the girls were there, no guys. I'd liked that one better, but again with the cake and food. The last one I'd gone to was after work one night. It wasn't even planned, Val just wanted to go. So we went. More fatty foods. Nothing I'd eaten in the past week was organic, kosher, or tofu-ized.

"It's a whole different kind of lifestyle change," I say after I've caught my breath. "I mean, have you seen where I work. The only vegetables are the lettuce and tomato on the burgers."

He laughs. "So, you and your mom are health freaks. I'll keep that in mind next time."

Mom. It's been four days since I saw her. Twenty four hours since I last talked to her. Only four days? More like four years. We've never been separated more than two days. This, this is different. I know I won't be seeing her for awhile. It makes it harder to think about. Four days down, a hundred more to go.

"Kat?"

"Hmm?" I realize I've gone silent for too long and smile weakly. "Sorry. Got a little homesick all of a sudden."

His eyebrows furrowed together, creating a crease. "What did I say?"

"Nothing! I'm fine, I just miss my mom and talking about the whole diet food thing kind of brought that back. But I'm ok. It's good to talk about it."

"It's hard, being away from her," he says it as both a question and a statement.

I nod. "Yea. It was just Val, Mom and me for a long time. Then Val left and then it was just me and Mom. She's home all by herself now," I frown as I say this. I can see her, sitting in her favorite spot on the couch, curled up in her favorite red and white blanket watching lifetime. It's what we did when we were depressed.

"I guess I kind of know how that feels. My dad died a few years ago. It was just her, Leah and me for awhile. Leah left last year so it's just me and Mom."

I gave him a sympathetic smile. "I'm sorry. What was your Dad like?"

He smiled sadly, almost proudly. "The perfect Dad. He loved to fish. He used to try to get me and Leah to go out with him and Charlie, Nessie's grandpa, all the time. Leah hated fishing and she always made this face when he asked. I'd feel bad for him and go, even though I never caught anything and it was way too quiet for my taste."

"That's sweet," I commented.

He shrugged. "So, what's your mom like?"

I rolled my eyes. "A perfectionist. I think she's OCD. She's a publicist and works mainly for small businesses, getting them good advertising and such. She used to be really social until the divorce. Now she has like, one friend. She doesn't date and focuses solely on work and me. It's kind of comforting and sad at the same time."

"So, she used to be like Val is now?"

I chuckled. "Val is much, much worse."

Seth finished his dinner about the same time I finished mine. The waiter, who I finally found out was named Jasper, brought out this completely mouth-watering volcano brownie cake. I thought I was going to drool all over the table. I had exactly four bites. Go me.

Seth devoured the rest. I sort of envied his eat anything and still look all muscle-y and delectable. I wouldn't mind taking a bite out of that.

My eyes widened at the thought. Oops. Oh gosh, now I'm going to be thinking about that the whole ride home. I felt a blush riding on my cheeks and I yanked my glass off the table, successfully sloshing sparkling grape juice all over the white table cloth.

I let out a very unlady like curse under my breath and threw my napkin over the spill. I glanced up at Seth. He looked halfway on the verge of laughter and like he was contemplating helping me or not. I pray he didn't hear me swear, but just my luck, he probably did. "Sorry," I mumble, mopping up the mess, slightly angry that he was laughing.

Jasper suddenly appears. "Don't worry about it ma'am. Nothing that can't be fixed."

We left shortly after and I fidgeted on the drive back to La Push. I couldn't take the silence anymore, though Seth seemed perfectly content.

"Can we turn on the radio or something?" I blurt and then bite my lip at the outburst. "Sorry, I hate silent car rides."

Seth shrugged. "Sure, what's your favorite kind of music?"

I thought it over. "Anything really. I like country the best. And some alternative."

He grimaced. "Country?"

"Don't give me that look. Have you ever actually listened to it?"

He shrugged. "I don't particularly want to."

I rolled my eyes and reached for the radio, flipping through stations until I found a slightly static-y country station. I smiled in triumph. Country must be country wide. "Just listen."

I smiled as one of my favorite songs came on: The Trouble with Girls by Scotty McCreery. I swore one day I would marry him.

The trouble with girls is they're a mystery
Something about 'em puzzles me
Spent my whole life trying to figure out
Just what them girls are all about

The trouble with girls is they're so dang pretty
everything about them does somethin' to me
But I guess that's the way it's supposed to be

Seth quirks an eyebrow at me. I shake my head and motion for him to keep listening.

They smile that smile
they bat those eyes
they steal you with hello
they kill you with goodbye

they hook you with one touch
and you can't break free
Yeah the trouble with girls
Is nobody loves trouble much as me

He kind of chuckles and I feel my heart skip a beat, whether its Scotty or Seth, I can't tell, but I'm thinking it's the latter.

They're sugar and spice and angel wings
Hell on wheels in tight blue jeans
A Summer night down by the lake
an old memory that you can't shake

One corner of his mouth quirks in a lopsided grin. He's hooked, I know it.

They're hard to find yet there's so many of em
The way that you hate that you already love em
I guess that's the way it's supposed to be

They smile that smile
They bat those eyes
They steal you with hello
They kill you with goodbye

They hook you with one touch
And you can't break free
Yeah the trouble with girls
Is nobody loves trouble much as me

The way they hold you out on the dance floor
The way they ride in the middle of your truck
The way they give you a kiss at the front door
Leave you wishing you coulda gone up

And just as you walk away
You hear that sweet voice say
Stay

I watch him through the rest of the song, gauging his expression as it ends. Oh yes, he loved it.

We pull into my driveway as the song ends and I know that it was the perfect song to end the night with. He walks me silently to the door. I turn to look up at him. God he's tall. I barely come up to his ribs.

"I had a really great time tonight," ah, the standard end of date line. I swallow and say sincerely, "Thank you."

He smiles down at me. "No, thank you. Tonight was perfect." His hand comes up to cup my cheek. It's ridiculously hot and warms my whole face.

He's leaning down to kiss me. The sky is clear I can see the stars behind his head, the moon shining brightly. His eyes flutter closed. Oh God, he's gonna do it. He's gonna kiss me. On the first date? Oh, what do I do? Do I want him to kiss me? Yes! A voice screams in my head. God yes, I want him to kiss me. My eyes slowly drift shut, he's merely centimeters from my lips. My heart is pounding in anticipation.

The screen door slams open, missing my back by an inch. Val.

"Hiya guys! How'd the date go?"

I pull away from my Seth and roll my eyes. I swear Seth lets out a growl before he straightens. Like a dog. I send him a confused glance before turning to glare at my not happy for long sister.

"It was going great, wasn't it Seth?" I say through clenched teeth.

"Well, come on inside Kitty Kat, don't want you to catch a cold. It's a little chilly outside."

I restrain from rolling my eyes and begin to follow Val inside. "Bye Se-" I start to call over my shoulder, but am quickly cut off.

He grabs my wrist and pulls me back, quickly pressing his lips to mine. I freeze at the current that zaps through my body when his mouth touches mine. I slowly relax into the warmth of his embrace. It feels so right to be in his arms like this. He pulls away after a few seconds, beaming down at me.

Val clears her throat from inside the house.

"See you tomorrow," Seth says huskily, walking away and leaving me standing stunned on my front porch.

Aww! Darn Val! He still got his kiss (: How romantic. Where's the Seth in my life? Ugh, whatever.

Thanks for reading guys! Make sure you review! I need them! They make my story better!

-M