Hide & Seek

The week had passed by slowly. Artemis and I did not speak a word to the other. I think Emmaleigha heard our argument, for she didn't ask anything on the subject. I hadn't slept since the argument. I'm tired, exhausted, but my body is to wired to sleep. Too many thoughts are clouding my head for me to calm down and sleep. I've even snuck a few of Emmaleigha's sleeping pills! (And boy, let me tell you, those things are strong.)

But no sleep. Just deep blue bags under my eyes, my hair always looking limp and flat against my face, even though I've taken two showers everyday and made sure to clean it well with my vitamin enriched shampoo that one of the wolves had been able to take from the house.

It was five days after the incident with my mother, a whole week of no sleep and no school, that Emmaleigha found her kitchen covered in plates of food after food. She would need to get her kitchen restocked soon. She stood in the hall outside the kitchen, staring, whether in awe or shock I wasn't for sure, at me as I listened to the same song over and over again while I cooked.

There was at least three batches of pancakes that could feed a small army each. I had bowl after bowl filled with eggs and grits, and I killed about five pigs with all the bacon I used. It smelt delicious in there, and I was tempted to eat a bit every now and then.

"Copper?" her soft voice spoke. I looked up from the batch of blueberry muffins I was about to make. It was a secret family recipe, one that went back all the way to the early nineteen-hundreds. I smiled at her, continuing to mix the blueberries in the batter.

"Hey Emmaleigha! I thought I'd let you take a break from cooking for the Pack. I haven't slept any lately, and I thought I'd put myself to good use instead of being a freeloader." My voice was fast, my words jumbled together. It looked like I was drunk - but I was just sleep deprived.

"Oh Copper, honey," she said softly, again, walking over to me and stopping my already burnt and broken hand from continuing with the stirring. "You go upstairs and take a shower. There are a few of Tate's old clothes laying on the sink that you can wear." I nodded, reluctantly putting down the bowl of muffin batter. "This is more than enough to feed the pack, but thank you."

I was pulled from my daze when I ducked my head under the spray of ice cold water. I pulled back, instantly reaching for the hot water nob. I lent back against the tile wall, shivering at the cold feeling and the hot beating against the front of my body. I stared at the steam, watching the little figures and pictures it made in my brain.

Finally, after I began to hear the Pack make its morning appearance, I finally pulled myself from the steam and dried off. Tate's old clothes fit fine, just a bit baggy around my bony hips. I pulled the drawstrings a bit tighter to make sure they wouldn't slip.

Walking down stairs, the sudden warmth and noise of the kitchen made my body loosen up and I, surprisingly to myself and all the wolves, squeezed in between Nicole and Mason. Nicole was busily eating at the waffles, and Mason was taking his time on the eggs and bacon.

"What's with all the food, Missus W? You usually cook just enough for us to get by." asked Katel, who was on the other side of Mason.

Emmaleigha smiled over her cup of coffee. "I didn't cook today, guys."

Suddenly, every eye was on me. I looked up from cutting my butter-and-syrup smother pancake. "What? I was in the mood," I grumbled, not liking the looks they were giving me. It felt like I was the blonde that had just told them the answer of what pi was. (No, not the food, the number.)

"This tastes like, an orgasm, Copper," Devin said, sitting across from me as he inhaled his plate of food. I smirked.

"How would you know? The closest you get to one is by your right hand."

The room was filled with an array of "oohs" and "burn" from the wolves as the older of the Lewis Twins flushed a darker color as he grumbled under his breath, hitting Jason as his younger twin laughed at him.

"Nice one, vamp girl," Mason nudged me in the arm with his hot elbow, before stuffing his mouth again.

"Thank you. I've always taken the pleasure in burning someone's biscuit."

I smiled, for the first time in a long time, and Artemis noticed. He couldn't stop staring at me, allowing Tate and Devin to steal his plate of food, and he didn't do a thing. I frowned when I caught him, quickly finishing and walking out. Just a few minutes after me, the first shift of patrol went on. It was Nicole and the Twins.

Gunner went off to take Mia to go grocery shopping in Forks, Katel caught a ride with them since the band had a Saturday practice. Mason left for work - he worked at the local mechanics shop that Tate and Artemis' great-grandfather started back at the beginning of the two-thousands. I believe it was called Uley and Sons. Artemis went up to his room to catch some sleep since he had been on patrol all night, and Tate helped her mother clean up.

I grabbed one of the jackets from the coat hanger as I walked out, slipping into a random pair of snow boots that seemed to fit. I walked outside, my feet crunching under the snow. A few small winter birds looked up from their spots in the bare trees before pecking at the wood again. I stuffed my hands in the wool pockets of the jacket, keeping myself balled up to keep warm.

For a moment, I missed the warmth that came from the wolves, but simply flicked it away and continued on walking. The road was icy, and I slipped a few times, but caught myself. I stayed to the sidewalk once in the small block that made up La Push, The few stores and buildings were just opening for the morning. The reservation school lay off to the side - it was a small building, since there was only a small group of children of the Quileutes that were able to go to school. It was empty for the day.

First beach was covered in melting snow and ice washing up in the surf. There was one or two brave souls out in the water, playing amongst themselves and surfing the waves. I watched for a few moments before taking a few steps into the forest just beside La Push. It was dense, with snow covering bare branches and evergreen trees.

A flash of fur pulled my attention away from the trees. It circled a moment before coming out before me. I could tell instantly it was Nicole. Her lean, feminine structure gave that away, and she was a deep cherry wood color. Almost as dark as Artemis' coat, but still with flits of red and brown that highlighted in the sun. The twins came up behind her - a making tan and brown colors. One had a completely black right paw, while the other had a completely black left foot. I'd have to ask them who was who.

Nici gave me a silly wolfy grin, her tongue hang out one side of her muzzle as she stepped closer. Her breath was a hot puff of dog breath in the cold.

"Hey guys," I said, my lips pulling up in the colors. I waved and began walking back in the direction I came. One of the twins followed me, probably Devin since he had always been fascinated with my backside and didn't seem to get the hint that I threw at him this morning. I wasn't interested.

Once to the edge, closer to the rode that led back to Emmaleigha's, I turned and waved again. All three gave an amusing bark before shooting off to take patrols again.



Everytime I close my eyes, I see this place that seems perfect. I'm just a little girl, and I have my father back. We're happy, and mom has just started writing.

And then it slips right out from under me.

I'm falling in an abyss that never ends. It's just a room full of white. I'm falling, yet I'm floating. I can spin, I can flip, I can swim through the air like there is zero gravity.

And when I open my eyes, I see nothing that's prefect. I've grown up, and I don't have my father. I'm not as happy as I used to be, and my mother has stopped writing.

Everything comes falling back down.

And then the abyss ends, and its black. I'm still, I'm standing. I can't move, I don't want to move. There is so much on my shoulders as I stand there.

And that nonperfect place, is my paradise.



Emmaleigha didn't have to make lunch, there being so much left over from breakfast, and the wolves happily ate it.

I sat on the counter, nursing a cup of hot chocolate. The warm milk caused my body to go into a shut down since the exhaustion was finally creeping up on me. I nodded off a few times, and the extra warmth from one of the wolves being right in front of me caused the sleep to overtake me even more.

There was no noise in the kitchen. They had all gone, or were my ears just not working?

"Copper."

I heard that perfectly.

Looking up, Artemis towered over me, his arms trapping me in my spot as he looked down at me. I wrapped my arms around his waist, resting my cheek against his chest as the warmth filled my body.

"Hi, Arty," I mumbled. He chuckled, wrapping one of his strong arms around my waist, the other around my shoulders.

"Hey, Copper," he spoke. I looked up, eyes half open from the laze that I felt with the sleep wanting to overtake me.

"Yeah, Arty?"

And then the noise of the kitchen stilled again. The house didn't even make its usual creaks. I couldn't hear Emmaleigha moving around in the other room, or Tate upstairs moving around to some random music playing on the radio.

"I love you, Copper."

And the sleep deprivation was thrown out the window. I stared at him, the sleep away from my eyes. I was wide awake.

"What?" I stuttered out, instantly taking my arms away from him.

"I love you," he said again, ducking his head to kiss me. I slipped away from him, thanking my sudden spurs of flexibility as I tried to get away from him.

"What are you talking about, Artemis? We're friends, nothing more."

He trapped me again, this time against the fridge. He ducked his head to be eye to eye with me.

"But we are more than friends. You're my imprint, and it wasn't until this morning, watching you laugh and smile with the pack that I noticed. I love you, Copper, more than anything."

I quickly covered his mouth with my hand, my heart breaking as I looked him in the eye.

"You didn't imprint on me, Arty. I would have felt it too."

And then the noise came spilling out. The wolves came in through the back door, changing out patrols. Emmaleigha was laughing with a few of her old friends as they sat drinking tea in the front room, and Tate came bounding down the stairs.

Even in paradise, there are flaws.