.・。.・゜✭・.

Eva had yet to speak to Bella after the stunt she had pulled in Port Angeles, at first, it was easy. The two hardly spoke anyway, especially now that Bella had taken on almost an oath of silence around the Swan residence, but it did mean that Eva had no means of getting around. While school was easy, Bella would wait for her sister, and they would ride to school in the same awkward silence that they always did; anything else was off the table, including Eva's weekly trips down to the reservation to wander through the shops and take a stroll along the beach.

The younger girl had always been drawn to the Quileute reservation, she had spent a lot of her summers with Charlie there, spending afternoons in Billy Black's back garden running about with Jacob, building sandcastles on the beach, and learning to surf on the choppy, ice cold waters of La Push beach. She also adored the town, unlike the sparse collection of a supermarket, a sporting goods store, and a library in Forks, the reservation was filled to the brim with shops of all kinds of origins. Classic touristy spots for anyone who stumbled upon the town, hoping to enrich their knowledge of old America's history. People fascinated with old Quileute stories, just as Eva had been as a child, tucked up on her father's lap beside the campfire listening to Billy's gravelly voice telling tales of time past. But even the people of Forks enjoyed the pleasure of shops enriched with soul, something that, despite her newfound love of Forks, was something the sleepy town lacked.

It seemed a shame to have to miss out on her day, but Charlie was at work and Bella had just returned, heading straight to her bedroom leaving Eva a little stranded.

So instead, she let out a heavy sigh, turning up her music just a little bit, the gentle melody of Billy Joel's 'Vienna' echoing through the small bedroom. The book in her hands forgotten as she stared out of her window and into the woods behind her home, Eva had only wandered into the depths of the woods a few times, often unnerved by the thought of running into any kind of wildlife while out there. Charlie had taken her some walks, allowing her to appreciate the crunch of fallen leaves beneath her feet and the sweet fresh smell of rainfall on the canopy of leaves that hung overhead. But since Bella had disappeared within them, Eva had always kept her distance. A feeling of melancholy stuck to the bark of the trees and driving her away.

"Eva," The sound of Bella's voice caught the younger Swan off guard. She spun around in her chair, light eyes clashing with Bella's deep, chocolate brown ones. "I know you aren't happy with me..." She said slowly, watching as her little sister raised a brow in her direction. "But, I was thinking of heading down to the reservation to see Jacob, and I was wondering if you wanted to go down with me? I know you like heading down there... so..." She trailed off, instead waiting quietly.

"Okay," Eva murmured after a few moments, "Sounds good." Bella looked stunned for a second before a smile twisted on her lips; it was small, but it was there.

In Bella's ancient truck, it was almost impossible to hear anything over the roaring engine, especially now that Bella had torn the stereo out, leaving a gaping hole in the dashboard that Eva had chosen not to mention. Bella never brought it up either. So instead Eva lay her head against the window, inhaling the soft scent of peppermint oil and tobacco and humming quietly beneath her breath.

"Can you remind me of the way?" Bella asked once she began to drive down the road leading into the reservation, so Eva agreed, guiding her sister down the winding roads until they drew close to the edge of the small Quileute village that Eva often frequented.

"You can just drop me here," Eva told Bella, "Billy's house is just down the end of this road, and then turn left, you can't miss it." She said as Bella pulled over, allowing Eva to hop out, tugging her hood up as she felt the spatter of rain atop her head.

"Thanks, Eva," The elder Swan said softly, "I'll call you when I'm leaving, and if you finish up early, you can just come over to Billy's?"

"Yeah, sounds good," Eva hummed, shutting the door and heading into the town, watching as Bella drove away.

The air was cooler on the reservation, a thick cloud of mist hung over the little village, sheening everything in a cold spatter that made the roofs and doors glitter slightly beneath the murky sunlight. Eva headed down the familiar path, tugging her ipod from her pocket and slipping her headphones on, Bon Jovi's powerful voice cutting through the quiet of Eva's mind and allowing her to settle slightly as she ducked into the first shop.

'Tales of Time' was a quaint little book shop, almost always empty, but stocked with more books and plays, and history than Eva had ever seen before. While a little run down, the hardwood floors marked and scuffed after years of use, and the old flowery wallpaper curling and yellowing at the edges, it was perfect. A small record player in the window played an almost constant loop of old folk songs, while the single worker, a young man in his early thirties, lounged at the desk in the centre of the room, his eyes always glued to whatever book was in his hand. Eva liked that she could drift undisturbed, simply browsing until her heart's content.

She, as she always did, headed to the romance section first, unlike Bella, who clung to classic novels, adoring the old love stories of bitter tragedy like Cathy and Heathcliff or Romeo and Juliet. Eva preferred reading in the modern age. Unimpressed by complicated word patterns and riddles, instead, she preferred to enthrall herself in a tale she could relate to. Not that she really could, because she had never fallen in love. Never been captured by the butterflies that would whirl her stomach into knots and bring a flush to her face. She was alone, but that was how she liked it.

Nothing in the romance section drew Eva in, so instead she drifted, trailing her fingers along the spines of books, reading slowly until one caught her eye.

'How to Love after Loss' by Catherine StClair.

Eva slowly pulled the book from the shelf. The cover was simple, a wilted rose and block letters. She flipped it over to read the back.

'Love is the most beautiful thing the world can give us. It fills us with so much excitement and adrenaline that once we lose it. Our bodies will do anything to feel those endorphins again. People say that love makes you crazy. But I don't think I truly knew that until I lost him.'

Eva wasn't sure how Bella would react to this; she feared that just showing it to her sister could send Bella postal. She was so hard to read these days, so empty. Eva had thought she knew the new Bella, the one who didn't smile, or talk, or feel. But Port Angeles had changed that. Because Bella wasn't simply sad over breaking up with Edward, she was grieving him. A grief that was poisoning her alive.

Heading over to the counter, the youngest Swan pushed her headphones down around her neck, smiling slightly at the man as she set the book down before him. He glanced up, a friendly smile gracing his cracked lips.

"Back again," He said, as he had every week since Eva had become a continual visitor of his little slice of Elysium.

"Of course," Eva replied, already fishing in her bag for her purse, fingers brushing a top, the embarrassing amount of cassettes and books littering the bottom. She needed to clean her bag out soon.

"Oh," The man then said, voice dropping, "I'm sorry," Eva flicked her eyes up, confusion flaring until she saw the book in his hands. Her book.

"It's for a friend," The girl said quickly, "I'm just hoping to help her out." The man nodded, but he seemed a little unsure as he told Eva the price, and she quickly handed the money over.

"Well, I hope this helps her," He replied, though something in his tone told Eva that he hadn't quite believed her. Strange, but she had been told on numerous occasions that she had a perpetually sad face. Lips always tittering on a frown. Eva wondered what they would say if she told them it wasn't just her face that was wilted with sadness.

"Me too," Eva said weakly, rushing from the shop without a glance back.

She wished she could be stronger sometimes, or all the time. But something inside her was so soft, so delicate that every pump of her heart seemed to grate against it, tearing it. She wished interactions didn't weigh down on her like the weight of the world, she just longed for normalcy. Forks was supposed to offer that. It did at times. When she was in her room, the rain falling like a curtain around her, washing away the days passed. Or even with Charlie, his steady heart against her ear like a lullaby. But sometimes it was cold, and empty, and...

"Oh!" A warm body slammed into Eva, sending her stumbling back a few steps.

"I'm so sorry!" The voice was pitchy, strained with panic, and suddenly there were hands on Eva's forearms, holding her in place as her feet continued to wobble on the rain-slicked pavement.

"I..." Eva looked up, eyes fixing on the boy before her. He was tall, at least six feet, but he was hunched over slightly to hold Eva upright. Skin a rich russet that was shared by many of the locals down at the reservation, only his seemed a bit richer, even though the sun overhead hardly shone through the cover of clouds. But what captured her attention were his eyes. They were deep brown, so dark they almost melted into his pupils, but somehow they were warm. Gentle. Something in her stomach curled. "Sorry," Her voice was so quiet it could have just been the whisper of the breeze that whipped past them.

"No, no, it's my fault. I should have been looking where I was going," He sounded sincere, his hands were still on Eva. Warmth sinking into her bones. "Hey, aren't you Eva Swan?" He asked, lips twisting into a small smile.

"Yea..." Eva said slowly, blinking, "That's me."

"Cool, I'm Embry Call," He introduced. Embry. It was an unusual name, she vaguely remembered Jacob mentioning him a few times when she and Charlie had been down to visit, a flash of a boy with dark curly hair running across the beach, dancing across her mind. "I dunno if you remember me, we used to hang out when you visited the rez when you were a kid."

"I remember," The girl said shortly. She saw expectancy in the boy's gaze, not the usual unrestrained annoyance people usually had when Eva would hardly say two words to them. Instead, he looked curious, giving her time to find the words swimming in her mind, fighting her tongue as she tried to find something to say.

"You never did speak much, unless you were with Jake or your dad," Embry commented, chuckling, but he was still smiling at her. Not glancing to the side, or trying to escape, and he was still touching her.

He was touching her? Why did it feel... nice?

"Sorry," Eva said, wincing at how weak her voice sounded. "I... um... I guess I don't have much to say," She smiled, a little self-deprecatingly, a little to try and tame the awkwardness she was bestowing upon a perfectly normal conversation.

"I doubt that," Embry said, cocking his head to the side. Eva didn't know what to say. "Well, I gotta run, I'm meeting Quill in a bit, and he always complains that I'm late," He smiled impishly at her, something in the gesture had her heart racing. "I'll see you round, Eva." He let go of her arms finally, giving her a little wave before heading down the pavement.

"Bye!" Eva called, finally coming to her senses and Embry turned back, flashing her one more grin before jogging away until the mist enveloped him into nothing but shadows.

As her day drew by Eva couldn't get Embry out of her mind, still thinking of him as Bella pulled up in her ancient truck and asked how her day was. The younger girl didn't even question the fact that Bella was engaging with her, answering simply before sinking back into her seat and watching the world pass her by.

.・。.・゜✭・.

The following day, Eva was standing at the stove cooking breakfast. She wasn't particularly good at cooking, usually leaving that to Bella. But somehow, both Charlie and Eva had risen before the girl, something that had only happened a handful of times since Edward had left. So Eva had taken it upon herself to make omelets, one of the only things she could confidently make. She was just serving up the last one when she saw Bella walk in, eyes brighter than Eva had seen in a while.

It had also been the first night in weeks that she hadn't been woken by screaming.

"What are you up to today?" Charlie asked his eldest daughter once the three were sitting, eating around the table. Eva hummed quietly along with the radio; Angeleyes by ABBA had always been one of her favourites.

"I'm going to hang out with Jacob again," Bella told her father, sipping her orange juice.

"Oh..." Was all the man said, cutting his omelet without looking up.

"Do you mind?" Bella then asked, "I could stay..."

"No, no! You go ahead. Harry was going to come up and watch the game with me anyway," Charlie said quickly, instantly losing any credibility in his sudden disinterest in what Bella got up to.

"Maybe Harry could give Billy a ride up," Bella suggested innocently.

"That's a great idea," Charlie agreed, looking pleased. "Are you going too?" He asked, turning his attention to his youngest daughter, who blanched slightly.

"Um... I was just gonna do some homework," Eva said, wincing slightly at both Charlie and Bella's eyes on her. "I got enough of the cold yesterday."

"Okay, honey," Charlie said, pacified by his youngest daughter's excuse, even if it was faulty at best. But Bella smiled at her, standing up to wash up the empty plates leaving Eva to wonder if things were finally going to start to go back to normal? Or whatever normalcy was in the Swan Household. "You are welcome to watch the game with me and the guys if you want."

"Thanks, Dad," Eva said, smiling gently before taking another sip of her iced coffee. They both knew she wouldn't, but the offer was there, and Eva liked that.

"Oh!" Bella said suddenly, spinning to face her younger sister, "Embry Call said he saw you yesterday. One of Jacob's friends." It took everything within Eva not to flush at the mention of the boy.

"Yeah, I saw him in town," Eva said, her voice brittle, which made Bella's lips twitch.
"I think he has a bit of a crush on you, he was disappointed you weren't coming," The elder girl said, Charlie rose his brows glancing at Eva, who had unfortunately lost the battle with the heat that swelled in her chest and burst across her cheeks in a flush of crimson.

"Embry Call, huh?" Charlie said, "He's a nice boy, always respectful whenever I see him around Billy's." He was smiling slightly, "You two used to be great friends when you were little, he would follow you around the beach like a puppy until Quil dragged him away." Eva sank into her chair, running her hands through her messy brown waves.

"We literally spoke for like thirty seconds because he almost knocked me over, can you guys calm down?" Eva pleaded, glaring at her sister for bringing this up in front of Charlie, the elder girl only shrugged, a glint in her eyes as she turned back to the washing up. Charlie, on the other hand, was still watching his daughter, as though he was suddenly realising that Eva wasn't that little girl running about on the beach, but instead a teenager who was nearing her sixteenth birthday in just a few short months.

"Just... be careful," Her father huffed finally, standing from his chair abruptly and heading into the living room.

"Are you sure you don't wanna come with me?" Bella asked once the sisters were alone, "I can ask Jacob to invite Embry over," She hummed.

"Isabella!" Eva snapped, skin still flushed, as she jumped from her seat and rushed from the room. She heard Bella giggle behind her. It was nice to hear her sister laugh, it had been so long, she just wished it didn't have to be at her own expense.

.・。.・゜✭・.

Twilight had just begun to settle over the evergreen trees when a knock sounded from Eva's bedroom door, dragging the girl's attention away from the book she was holding. She blinked rapidly, eyes flicking to the clock. It had been hours since she had even looked up, so enthralled in her book.

"Yeah?" Eva called, and the door swung open, revealing Charlie. The game must have just finished, and by the smile on his face, Eva knew that his team had won.

"Billy's invited us down to his place for dinner, thought it would be nice seeing as Bells is already down there. Harry's also gonna swing round and grab Sue and the kids," Charlie explained, "You remember Leah, right? She's a bit older than you, she taught you how to make those bracelets you were obsessed with when you were about seven."

Eva did remember Leah Clearwater; she was gorgeous, with deep copper skin, large brown eyes framed by feathery lashes and glossy black hair that she wore unbound around her shoulders. Eva saw her occasionally while she was down at the reservation, the older girl often tucked under the arm of her boyfriend. Sam Uley. They were always friendly, waving hello to the girl, occasionally Leah would stop to recount some ridiculous story about their fathers. It was nice. Eva might even consider Leah as a friend, but she had no idea if the girl felt the same. Eva had been wrong before about people.

"That sounds nice," Eva said, standing from the small rickety armchair in the corner of her room, stretching out her arms and legs after hours spent curled up there. "We haven't had dinner with Billy in a while." Charlie nodded, pleased.

"Billy and Harry have already left. You need anything before we go?" He asked as Eva grasped the straps of her leather bag, slinging it over her shoulder. Her ipod already tucked inside, she also slipped her book in, just in case.

"I'm good, let's go."

The drive to the reservation was quiet. Unlike Bella, Charlie still had a radio in his cruiser, and he allowed his youngest daughter to play whatever she wanted. Eva settled on a station playing the new Britney Spears song, singing along as she watched the world rush by in a blur of green.

Billy Black's house was a familliar sight, all red wood and slate roofs, it was a place Eva had been so many times before. Some of her fondest memories were stuck right here. Charlie dancing with her around the fire to some old folksy song, Billy telling stories of the great warriors of their tribe while the children snacked on s'mores beneath a star-filled sky, Jacob chasing Eva round in a game of tag that lasted hours. It was familiar. Warm.

Eva liked the warmth, she was tired of always being so cold.

Harry Clearwater and his family were already settled around Billy's rickety table, chattering amongst themselves. Seth leapt up, chattering away to Eva about his new skateboard while Leah sent the girl a warm smile. Billy's phone pressed against her ear. A few moments later, Charlie, Billy, Bella, and Jacob entered.

Bella was grinning, Jacob's hand clutched in her own.

"Sea star!" Jacob cheered when he saw Eva, face bright as he raised his hand up for a high five. Eva liked that about Jacob; he always gave her a choice. She slapped her small palm against the boy's, her face breaking into a wide smile.

"Sea star?" Bella asked curiously, stepping over and standing beside her sister. Jacob laughed loudly, fist bumping Seth before swinging his arm over Bella's shoulder.

"Yeah, your sister is a proper sea star," Jacob said, "When she was learning to surf, every time she got wiped out instead of trying to swim to the surface, she would just stretch out and let the tide bring her to shore." He said, still laughing as he explained. "She would lie on the beach like a beached starfish."

"So from then on, Jacob decided that he had to call me sea star," Eva said with a small roll of her eyes, but really, she didn't mind at all.

She had been born Evangaline May Swan, a mouthful, especially for a toddler learning to talk, so Renee had started calling her youngest Eva, and somehow it had just stuck. It was very rare these days that anyone called her Evangaline, it was always Eva, her childhood best friend had liked to call her Angie, but the girl had never been very fond of that.

But to Jacob and sometimes Billy and Harry, she was Sea Star.

"It suits you," Bella complimented, "When it warms up, I would love to see you surf." It was sweet, and Eva's chest cracked, flowers blooming in that empty space within her heart.

"That sounds fun." The youngest Swan agreed.

Dinner was nice, a bit louder than Eva liked, but it was comfortable. There was no pressure, she could sit between her sister and Jacob, listening to them talk without saying anything. Simply enjoying a plate of Billy's famous spaghetti and watching the trees dance. She spoke briefly to Leah, who had settled beside her mother, phone still pressed to her ear, and listened to her father and his friends talk about the game. Her heart remained steady, and her hands rested easily on her lap.

"So, Sea Star, what did you do to my boy, Embry?" Jacob asked, drawing Eva from her mind.

"Huh?" The girl murmured, face scrunching up.

"All he's done is talk about you," He snickered, sharing a look with Bella, who looked equally pleased.

"I don't know..." Eva said, "I think you guys are just being dramatic." She said, crossing her arms over her chest. "We only saw each other yesterday that's not exactly a long time." She pointed out after she was met with silence.

"Hm," Jacob hummed, "Whatever you say, Sea Star." He grinned cheekily, but Eva only pouted. Tuning out the two until it was time to go home.

That night Eva slept fitfully, falling into pockets of disjointed sleep. In her dreams, she saw curling tides, slamming and crashing against the rocks. A sky littered with stars fading darker and darker until there was nothing but inky black staining the world. And a boy, screaming and crying out, his limbs snapping and rolling unnaturally against the dirt floor, shifting into something else.

When Eva awoke, her entire body ached, but the dreams seemed to slip to the back of her mind, forgotten by the time she was bundled up in her coat and heading to school. Dark rings around her hazy eyes.

.・。.・゜✭・.

🪐 embry interaction oh em gee ! i love him sm i cant, and eva is so sweet what the hell. also embry already being down bad, he's so real for that

🪐 also jacob calling eva sea star, my fav besties fr. i can't wait to develop their friendship more in eclipse !!

🪐 anyways thank you so much and i hope you enjoyed ! mwah ! <3