I'm going home, back to the place where I belong.

[kaleigh nicole black]

Where love and feeling good never cost a thing

[/i]
and the pain you feel's a different kind of pain.[/font]
--------------------[/center]

[/b][/color]

Although she had to look up at him (he really had grown, she internally grumbled) Kaleigh raised a reproachful eyebrow at Dakota, scooping the animal in her arms. She cradled the tiny creature close to her chest, covering his ears comically as though he understood everything that was being said, before rolling her eyes and answering him. "Chance is a bulldog puppy, and if you don't be nice I'll teach him to attack on command,"[/color] she stuck out her tongue as the pup named Chance squirmed energetically in her arms. Perhaps the second thing her blood relatives had noticed the second she stepped back inside the Black household (the first being, well, their daughter, of course) was the dog she had purchased a little over two months ago while still in her dorm. Technically pets weren't allowed by school rule, but he was alone in the pet shop and snoozing and cute and well, irresistible to Kal, so she carried him in her backpack and kept him well hidden from dorm management. As it was, the unusual choice in breed only made her love the pet even more, and it was easier to focus her attention on a rambunctious puppy than have to deal with some of the more probing questions people had been giving her so far in the afternoon. There was no doubt, at least in her point of view anyway, that Kaleigh sorely missed the people in the room, most especially her parents, brother, and cousins, but she made it a point to dodge some questions that she really just wasn't in the state to answer. After all, one could only ask "Hey Kal, how long are you staying in town?" so many times, and one could only answer,"We'll see, you know? Hey, look, there's ____, I'm gonna go say hi." before it got tiresome, and before people got the hint. Not everyone did, though, unfortunately, so it only left Kaleigh with a weak mustered grin and an excuse to go see someone, probably someone she'd already said hello to. Still, she loved the people in this room, from her blood relatives to packmates to old classmates, and even the ridiculous decorations that adorned the house for the time being.

It was only with a twinge of regret bubbling inside of her gut, though, that Kaleigh realized she should have really been on more than just holiday postcard terms with her loved ones in the past years. It seemed the pack had only grown in her absence, both in numbers and size in general, hell, she hardly recognized some of them until they had opened their mouths and spoken. Surreal, almost, of how much could change in little more than twenty four months, but it had, and that was as unavoidable as the hunger of a werewolf after a patrol around La Push. But as regretable as that was, what was she supposed to do? Keep in contact and thereby learn everything that was going on about what she was trying to forget? She didn't want to hear Vivelle Grey wasn't seen again, she didn't need to be told that the case of finding Spencer's murderer had gone long cold. And figuring out how everyone's lives had been impacted in the past two years all at once, was definitely better than having to deal with that. Temporarily interrupted from her thoughts, the indignant bark (or odd squeak of some sort) coming from the puppy in her arms craving attention began to wiggle even more out of her grasp. She set the pup down, letting him waddle somewhat (he still couldn't even run without falling, not quite grasping use of limbs yet) over to Audrey, and her eyebrow raised amusedly as the usually cold girl (at least, that's what she had been told from fellow La Push High students so far) began to warm up to Chance considerably. "Aren't you adorable, Handsome?" she fell to her knees, letting him scurry and jump at the affection being offered as she stroked his fur; she threw an oddhand glance at Dakota, rolling her eyes good naturedly,"Kota just can't appreciate something that has more charm appeal than he ever will."[/color] At this, the older sibling snorted and crossed his arms, looking almost defensive and muttering something about never getting her a dog, ever.

Kaleigh grinned at the light banter: it was easy to see that the two half siblings, through their constant bickering and differences, actually did care a considerable deal for each other. But that was how most siblings usually went, anyway, she had come to recognize through observation, and besides, the pack sort of was like one huge family anyway. Forced, if anything else, from what she heard there were one or two packmates not necessarily happy with being in the back, or werewolves at all (that one was pretty much just extended to Audrey, even though Kaleigh had never heard her in the pack plural, did that girl ever phase?). She was in the middle of turning and about to ask that exact question before a three foot tall figure shot out of nowhere and tackled her legs; Kaleigh supposed if she wasn't as sturdy as she was, the random attack would have made her fall, but she still stumbled a bit. Blinking and looking down, she stared into the wide blue eyes of a boy, fiercely hugging her legs with fervor. His dirty blond hair fell into casually disarrayed spikes, but looked soft to the touch, but most importantly, those eyes looked so... familiar. "Jeremy? Jeremy!"[/color] In a swift movement, she picked the boy up off the floor and swung him around, feeling a rush of affection at his laugh as she began tickling him in mid air. Kaleigh let him settle into her arms, letting his small arms latch themselves onto her neck in a proper hug. He pulled back almost immediately, scrunching up his face and giving her a look, to which she quizzically arched an eyebrow in silent question. "You can't leave again,"[/color] Jeremy said solemnly,"The nanny that just quit tried to make me eat leeks. I didn't even know what they were."[/color] Kal shook with laughter at his seriousness, as he carried on almost indignantly,"It's not funny! I have a phobia of the color green!"[/color] A similarly blue-eyed young man stepped up to the two of them, smirking and looking affectionately towards the boy. "He still likes being read to, too much. Learns new words for that smart mouth of his."[/color]

"Hey, Joshua,"[/color] Kaleigh greeted warmly, not noticing when they had arrived; she leaned in for a quick hug, surprised slightly when he held it a little longer than what she would have expected from the Joshua Davies she had last seen two years ago. Maybe Annie had did good to him, after all, it wouldn't surprise her that her best friend would be capable of such a thing. She always knew there had to be some good in the heavily disliked, well renowned rich boy of Forks: the way he always looked at his sibling with loving protection was one clue she had picked up on. The other being, well, if he shared DNA with Jeremy, there had to be something salvageable in his personality to be considered likable. "Yeah,[/color] she agreed after a beat, grinning down at the kid,"Picks up after his big brother that way, I should have guessed."[/color] Joshua rolled his eyes as Jeremy chuckled, still staying within the arms of his favorite babysitter. "The nanny called me a nasty little vermin child,"[/color] he paused for a moment, before adding,"If you ask me, I think she was just mad I said her daughter had cooties, all girls do."[/color] Her grin seemed almost impossible to falter now, leaning in and pressing a swift kiss on his forehead. He huffed and made to rub at it with one of his hands, wiping at it exaggeratedly for a few seconds, keeping Kaleigh from noticing a few more new arrivals entering through the front door as she focused her attention on him.

"Well, you nasty little vermin, I missed you."
"I missed you, too. I was just kidding about the cooties, you don't have them."
[/size]
[/ul]

--------------------

APPAREL kal. aud. kota. joshua. jeremy.
MUSIC home - daughtry
WITH the quileute pack, the blacks, anyone that knew her before she left.
SETTING the black household!
NOTES =] fun to write. if you catch the GG reference, you win at life.

[archer elizabeth black.]

IF I TOLD YOU THAT I REALIZED
YOURE ALL I'VE EVER WANTED
AND ITS KILLING ME TO BE SO FAR AWAY
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[/FONT][/CENTER]

Just take a few deep breaths, Arch. Come on now, there isn't anything here for you to be so worried about. You know this place by heart, you used to know these people so well, nothing bad will happen. So stop thinking such bad things, stop being such a pup you don't want to seem like your some sort of pup whining to come back home...

It had been the first time being back here, in this place that for the longest time she had come to call her home. The place that she had been born in, and raised for the first practically sixteen years of her life. The same place that Archer Elizabeth Black had come to just get up and leave, without much in the way of any second thoughts. Not that, at the time, she had let her mind's thoughts get to her during that time, and now upon returning to this place, she was going to do the same thing. Archer was going to make sure that she could keep herself as calm as she possibly could, there would be nothing to stop her. She would keep walking towards the memorized house, take in the scents that she had known, missed, and longed for, for so long now. And simply focus on what she was here for, for the fact that she as here to hopefully stay. That there wouldn't be much else in the way of that, of course knowing her family, knowing her pack, there would be something extra that would happen. Plus it didn't help that she knew they had no clue that she would be returning to them this day, let alone at all. Then again, Archer wasn't expecting the fact that this would be the same day that her sister would also be coming home for the first time.

Her hands ran over the white strings of her jacket several times, fiddling with anything it seemed her hands could get a hold of. The self control that Archer could have sworn she had just moments before, was slowly slipping away from her. It seemed to slip more and more the closer she got to that house, her movement seeming to become so much faster. Even if in the back of her mind she knew that she was going at the same pace she had been just seconds before hand. The fact she was just trying to keep herself from hypervenalating took more of her attention than anything else at the time. shit! Tripping over her own two feet she managed to quickly regain her balance, hands slamming into one of the near by trees and she felt herself duck behind the same tree. A way of keep herself hidden from what she was afraid of, even though Archer knew nobody outside was around her. At least nobody that she could honestly say that she knew, or knew her at least, and if they did they either didn't see her or never said anything. Biting roughly down on the bottom of her lip, Archer sucked in a breath of air, trying to calm herself down, tugging down on the bottom of the bright yellow jacket she slowly moved from behind the slim tree.

Archer now only stood a few feet from the entrance way of the house, she could hear voices from inside of the house, something good was happening. That could always add some points onto her case that she was sure she would have to present at some point to them, but the nerves kept crawling up and down her spine. They didn't seem to want to leave her in one piece, and she could hear herself grumble under her breath. Archer telling herself that she just needed to calm down, that there was nothing for her to really be all that worried about. Archer's hand moved forward towards the door and then away from it several times and when she was sure of herself she let herself then come to knock on the door a couple times. Unsure if she should actually just go a head and walk right into the house, or fi she should just wait for someone to answer, though the thought of that just seemed to make her even more nervous. Especially since she was constantly worried that her sister would be the one to open the door, and that was probably the one person who Archer was truly afraid of at this point.

"Alright....Here we go Arch..." Hand dropping down to the door knob as she then turned it, again listening to the voices on the inside of the house. Trying to place them one last second before then pushing the door open, eyes glued to the ground as she took her first couple of steps into the house. Looking up once she knew that Archer could trust herself to look whoever was there in the eyes, and she that as soon as she had done this she had regretted it. "fuck..." Hardly above a whisper as a forced half smile came to her lips and she looked around at all of the familiar faces, though eyes seemed to be mainly studying Kaleigh for the longest time. "Hey there..." The only real words spoken clearly that had yet to come from her lips as she looked back around and her cousins.

[/color]
[/font][/blockquote][/size][/blockquote]

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count: 898
tagged: everyone.
music: posion - all time low.
notes: bahahahha. this shall definitely be interesting methinks.
outfit: tight skinny jeans, white shirt, the norm.
credit: mrs. jones @ caution 2.0

[/font]

[kaleigh nicole black]

Where love and feeling good never cost a thing

[/i]
and the pain you feel's a different kind of pain.[/font]
--------------------[/center]

[/i] to be back. There still seemed to be a small steady stream of people dropping by, familiar faces identified by their smiles if not anything else that hadn't changed: it was something Kaleigh noticed, that out of everything that the years can weather away on a person's face, their "kind" of smile never wavered throughout time's battle. So as far as it came to identifying people, she was okay, and in the event itself, everything seemed to be all right. Kaleigh turned with the doorbell rang or when it was knocked, and looked sometimes even if there wasn't either: it hadn't been too far of a stretch to realize most of the pack's family homes were like their own, and some just let themselves in with wide smiles and ravenous looks towards the refreshment table. She was able to sympathize with those and tell them to have anything they wanted: she was always tired and ridiculously hungry after running patrols, too. Jeremy had been poking her sides in an attempt to get her attention in a long-winded explanation about how shampoo, no matter how good it smelled, was not meant to be ingested by any means; however, her eyes on the new occupant that had just arrived left her completely fixated.

She was... different, but somehow still the same. Although there was no doubt in her eye that Archer Black was still very much the baby sister she had watched while growing up, there was also no misconstruing the growth between being adolescent and the slow maturing into an adult. Not that her actions necessarily helped her there, however, being the last time Kaleigh saw Archer was quite a while ago, and by no fault of her own: it was Archer that left her, not vice versa as she could say with most of the La Push residents. "Archer,"[/color] she whispered almost silently, her voice radiating the state of awe she was currently victim to: this couldn't be real, she just got up and left without word and there was nothing left behind to assume she would ever be coming back. But she was. And she did. She was here, right now, and that was slowly becoming painfully obvious. And as it did, Kaleigh found her teeth locking and her form stiffening, and it was only the fact that A) she had Jeremy in her arms, B) some of the people here were human and blissfully unaware about werewolves or anything of the supernatural, and C) her mom seemed to like the furniture, that she didn't allow the slight trembling of her form to grow into trademark convulses before phasing completely. Eyes still on her sister, her quiet trembling eased somewhat, until a few seconds later her shoulders relaxed and there was no shaking at all. There wasn't much doubt between the other wolves that Kal had a decent sense of control over phasing, but this, well, it tested that notion, and she was only slightly pleased to find out she passed.

The reasons behind it, though, not so much. Still only vaguely aware she had a four year old in her arms, Kaleigh gently handed him over to Joshua, who looked politely confused but refused to ask anything, instead holding Jeremy and murmuring for him to try and stay quiet without asking too many questions about what was going on. Some were aware, though, such as Audrey, who was still sitting but now staring at Archer, blinking as Chance continued to try to climb himself up on her lap; she seemed too busy engrossed in the arrival of her missing cousin, as well. "Well, shit,"[/color] she muttered dryly, mostly to herself, though with the deafening silence she wouldn't be at all surprised if even the humans could hear her,"Didn't know this was a welcoming party for two."[/color] Dakota, however, had a much different reaction than his half sister - and it was at this moment in time he wished, for the first time, he had that damn power one of the Cullens was rumored to have: controlling the emotions in the house could be useful about now, with enough tension in the air to set off, well, unwanted hostility. He was eyeing Kaleigh with caution, not sure if her temper was controllable, to this extent anyway. "Kaleigh...,"[/color] Dakota started, unsure, anxious, as Kal shook her head adamantly, temporarily breaking her stare at Arch to shoot him a don't-you-dare-Dakota-stay-out-of-this look. He sighed unhappily, crossed his arms and waited.

But, inevitably, her gaze fell back onto green-grey eyes, and she winced at the familiarity of them, the memories she associated them with: she had watched Archer grow up, watched as she got into her fair share of trouble but always made her way back home eventually, and been the one to run patrol for hours on end on the hope she'd hear a thought or catch a scent of the girl. And here she was, after all these years, choosing on this day, out of any other day, to finally come back home. "Archer Elizabeth Black,"[/color] Kaleigh began, voice steady, yet her voice thick with emotion: it seemed to be an odd combination of affection and an obvious display of anger,"You've got a lot of explaining to do."[/color] Light green eyes flashed momentarily, but there seemed to be something else on the edge of them, a distinct shine not related to being pissed off. She did miss her.
[/size]
[/ul]

--------------------

APPAREL kal. aud. kota. joshua. jeremy.
MUSIC midnight bottle - colbie caillat
WITH the quileute pack, the blacks, anyone that knew her before she left.
SETTING the black household!
NOTES ooooh, haha, this is getting good.

[archer elizabeth black.]

IF I TOLD YOU THAT I REALIZED
YOURE ALL I'VE EVER WANTED
AND ITS KILLING ME TO BE SO FAR AWAY
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

[/FONT][/CENTER]

Okay, so she shouldn't have expected anything else than besides this right then, she should have completely seen these reactions happening. Wishing now that she had chosen some other day to show her actual face, running into Jacen at the local store had been the thing forcing her to stay here. Had been the key thing for her to even show her face here, and now she knew that he had so set it up, he must have had some idea that her sister would also be here. Shaking her head slightly, removing the yellow hood from on top her head and fiddled with the long strands of deep brown hair, though eyes seemed to still scan over her sister. Had her sister, her cousins, really changed that much since the last time that Archer could claim to have seen them? They must have, how else could she claim to only recognize a few of their features, to be able to only remember their faces from before and never even think that they could become something so drastically different. Or maybe this was all just because of the fact that she was now really taking in the sudden tension that had settled down in the house, the sort of tension that made her want to do nothing more than to run in the other direction, and build a defense at the same time. But she knew better then that, she had been running for long enough, and now it would be time to show herself, to confront the things that she wouldn't want to face, those questions that Archer dreaded hearing. Oh how Archer wanted nothing more than to simply find her oh so darling younger brother and do nothing more than jump him for this. Or maybe find his precious collection of comic books and destroy them, but she was sure that he saw that coming and probably found a decent place to hide them.

Eyes immediately moving back over to her sister when the name was said, even as quietly as it had been said she couldn't help but feel herself flinch. Though Archer found herself quickly diverting them back to the ground, fingers still running through her hair and she forced herself to place her hands down by her side. However, they then begin to fidgit with the bottom of her jacket, Archer couldn't stand still. But it was all because of these nervous uncertain habits that seemed to be coming from her now, again she nibbled the bottom of her lip and slowly nodded at the comment that had been named. Least she knew that there would be a party, let alone that my sister was coming home. Then again, Archer had no idea where it was that Kaleigh was coming from, where it was that she had gone. Of course, she had a decent reason to believe that it had to be a place like college, but she never thought that it would be away from the Reserve. Then again, Archer knew there were a number of things that she never thought would happen, ended up happening. Frankly, the main thing that kept running through her head right then, were a number of swear words that she wished she could get out. But actually taking note of the small child that seemed to be in her sister's arms, Archer knew better than that, besides she already knew that she was in enough trouble as it was. She could tell from the way her sister simply stood, how she seemed to be so tense in just a matter of seconds. "Hey, let's take a breather here..." Of course, Archer was hardly someone to be saying something like that to anyone here, she knew that, but it was simply something she kept telling herself and now it was something she felt needed to be said, even if her head would be bitten off for it.

Archer slowly moved away from the door and more to the side, remaining close to the wall for the time, one arm moving upwards to hold onto her second arm which seemed to have become limp. Cringing slightly when she heard her full name stated, it was that angry voice that was something that Archer had called a number of times the mother voice. The one where she could tell that she was in a fair amount of trouble, Archer knew that she would have to explain herself, even before Kaleigh had stated it. She had been trying to think of the different things that she could say in order to explain herself, but that was proving to be something that was more difficult than she thought. None of her reasons seemed to be good enough at the time, nothing that could truly explain her reasoning for just leaving in the middle of the night. Shifting from one foot to another Archer found herself looking around once more, the family faces of those who knew about the fact that most of the people here were werewolves. While, others here seemed to be in that blissful state of ignorance about the paranormal, about the fact that someone they claimed to be their friend was hardly human at all. Archer's nose slowly came to wrinkle a bit and she bit the bottom of her lip for the second time, again she found herself moving slowly in whatever way that she could think of. "Umm...Well..." The typical start, she still couldn't honestly say that she knew what she was going to say to the people around here.

"Maybe, it would be better if it wasn't really explained just yet...I guess..." Glancing towards the people that Archer couldn't place and then back towards her family members. Because some how I doubt talking about running off to join another pack full of pixies, faeries, other werewolves, and humans would be something that everyone here would want to know about. Some how I think I would get locked up in an asylum if I started telling stories about that...

[/color] Sighing slightly, she felt her arm fall to the side, and shift slightly and she shoved her arms into her pockets, hoping to some how contain them, to keep them from moving around and fiddling with whatever they could get a hold of.[/color]
[/font][/size][/blockquote]

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count: 1056.
tagged: everyone.
music: stella - all time low.
notes: xDD yeah really. I see some serious anger management issues happening here.
outfit: tight skinny jeans, white shirt, the norm.
credit: mrs. jones @ caution 2.0

[/font]

[kaleigh nicole black]

Where love and feeling good never cost a thing

[/i]
and the pain you feel's a different kind of pain.[/font]
--------------------[/center]

[/i] in to La Push without expecting any backlash, she had a lot coming to her. Not to say she would be strung out and have forgiveness forever hanging out of her reach, but that brat sister of hers was going to hear Kaleigh out whether she wanted to or not. It hadn't quite yet struck Kaleigh that Archer could have very well chosen just never to come back at all, and maybe shooting death glares at her wasn't the back welcome back greeting she could receive; the tearful and overtly cliche reunion could come later, much later, as for now the older Black was more than prepared to chew out her younger sibling. After all, that was where her attention lay most: she seemed to have coincidentally missed Dakota's eye roll and mutter of "the tempers of women in this family, I swear"[/color] and consequently Audrey giving him a reproachful look, before returning her focus on her cousins.

For the most part, Kaleigh had herself under control, up until the moment Archer spoke again and she felt a shiver run down her spine, forcing down the idea that, you know, maybe phasing and kicking her ass right now would be a good idea. Which, of course, was far from it, or that was what Kal was trying to convince herself of at the moment anyway. It did nothing to take away from the appeal of the thought, even if regrettably she realized it wasn't the smartest option right now... later, though, maybe, and with that notion she tucked the idea to the back of her mind. "Take... a breather?"[/color] she ground out through clenched teeth, an eyebrow raising fractionally to display disbelief at her words,"After you've been gone how long?"[/color] Something inside of her wagered heavily that even if she had phrased it in a better way, Kaleigh still would have found a reason to be upset. But that something inside of her mind's conscious was logic, which was reasonably far off scale for the time being. Though that really had nothing to do with the foolishness of Archer's comment, because really, how could she be expected to calm down completely after seeing her missing sister after all these years? She pinched the bridge of her nose, a slight dull pain creeping at her temples; the last thing she needed right now was a headache of all things. Taking several deep breaths (and willing to quite literally slap her sister if she brought up how she had taken her suggestion), Kaleigh's shoulders fell slightly as she glanced back at Archer, slightly calmer (though not by much), but her eyes still as hard as steel. Progress, but by a hair's width.

She paused, ready to retort something biting and sarcastic at her attempts to respond to such hostility, but then blinked and took in her later words. Archer, in all honesty, did have a point... somewhat. Not everyone in the room was a Quileute wolf, or in on the tribe's secret; hell, she glanced towards Joshua and Jeremy, some didn't even live in La Push at all. For now, anyway, she amended silently in her head: although Annie hadn't mentioned anything of the sort, the fact the two lasted together this long hinted at something extraordinary between the couple, something that maybe could be imprinting? Kaleigh wasn't sure, she had to have a "girl talk" with her best friend soon, about that as well as a few other topics. Shaking her head, she crossed the room in a few, quick strides to confront her better, and slightly more privately so that regular human ears wouldn't be able to overhear; it was at this point Kaleigh realized how much of Archer's growth that she had missed during the years. They were roughly the same height now, and it was with slight disgruntlement she caught onto that; it was easier to be intimidating when she was several inches taller, and that obviously wouldn't work anymore. "Let's get this clear,"[/color] Kaleigh murmured while looking her straight in the eye, looking composed but her voice coming out forced,"I'm not going to yell right now because as luck would have it, there's a cute four year old in the room who doesn't need to hear my choice words for you."[/color]

Kaleigh took a deep, steady breath and waited a beat before continuing. "That and we don't need Mom and Dad stressing even more considering the fact we both decided to come back on the same day."[/color] She paused again but not by choice, involuntarily wincing at the mental image of her mother's probable tears over having her girls home again and her dad's gruff bear hug they were both bound to receive; no clue what Jace would do, probably make a snarky comment about there being an overdose of estrogen in the household, or something else that would just be very atypical Jacen of him. Whisking the temporary distraction away, she focused her attention back on her sister. "But I swear by Ephraim Black's grave, Archer, I will not hesitate to hunt you down and drag you back here with my teeth if you pull another disappearing act again, do you understand me?"[/color] She growled at this, rolling her eyes at herself this time before something resembling a half smile graced her, her features considerably lightened.

"You self-obsessed, stubborn, stupid brat, I missed you."[/color]
[/size]
[/ul]

--------------------

APPAREL kal. aud. kota. joshua. jeremy.
MUSIC we could love - goot
WITH the quileute pack, the blacks, anyone that knew her before she left.
SETTING the black household!
NOTES ohh, kaleigh. -shakes head- only she would go from "I'M GOING TO KILL YOU >O" to "I missed you D:" in .5 seconds.

[Hannah Parkes]

TONIGHT I'M DREAMING
of the things we've been through
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Annie had yet to recover from anything that had happened in the last two years, and having lost her best friend for that period of time was agonizing. A light was on inside Annie that quite honestly hadn't been seen in her for quite some time. This light was caused by one miss Kaleigh Black, her best friend, and practically family to her. Throughout everything, Kal had been the one she needed to speak to. While she could speak to Joshua, she couldn't in the way she could with her best friend. There were things she had been hiding from him, things she was scared about and something that she needed to consult about with her best friend. Right now though, was for welcoming said friend back to La Push after her long absense with her schooling. Annie was glad that Kal had had a chance to be away from here, something that they all seemed to need at least once before. However, Annie was not happy that she hadn't honestly seen or spoken to Kal as much as she had always done before. Annie stepped up to the door, taking in a deep breath and trying to compose herself. ( You can do this. Kal is your best friend, and the people in there are your friends, your loved ones, your pack. ) The pep talk wasn't doing much for her at all. It had been hard for quite some time for her to even get out of bed with any type of enthusiasm. While she was ecstatic to see Kal again, there was so much guilt inside her stomach, and anguish in her heart that she didn't feel she could look all of the people she had known for so long directly in the face without feeling like she was a total stranger to all of them, and didn't really belong anymore. Her pep talk and wavering reason was pushed aside as a voice came from behind her. "Annie. Hey." Emily's bubbly personality and optimistic attitude was enough to make a dying elephant jump with glee. It was hard not to be happy when in the presence of such an influential free spirit. Annie gave her sincerest of smiles and hugged the younger girl, one she hadn't seen in a while. "You are back in town too? How many of you Blacks are coming back?" And for the first time in a while, she honestly laughed. Emily joined in with the laughter. "We all have this thing of doing the same things. Running away on whatever whim or I guess plan in some cases, and then coming back all at the same time. We are an unpredictable breed, you know." she joked, beginning to open the door and pull Annie in along with her.

Emily, if she had been anyone else, might feel a little scared to be in the presence of her family that she hadn't seen in so long, but her lie of why she had been gone was so solid and foolproof (and all of them had known of her leaving, as she made sure of this) that she could look them in the face with little to no regret. The only thing she regretted was that a family member, her child, her daughter wouldn't know the wonderful people that she had grown up with or loved for so long. This family was big enough, and the friends added to it, to make it such a welcoming place for a baby. However, that wasn't what really mattered - it was the matter that Emily, with all her heart, believed she'd never be a proper mother, no matter the support system there to back her up. She smiled as she walked around, speaking with the people in her family, and the friends and werewolves associated with them. Knowing about werewolves hadn't been the plan, but she had found out by mistake when she was younger. The secret, much like her very own, would go to the grave with her, whether she was human or not. The secret, since it was her family's, was technically also her own. She'd guard it with her life. Meanwhile, Annie had been dragged into the home, and was now standing there, feeling entirely out of place. She had guessed right. It felt so foreign being around the people she had known for so long. She didn't belong, or at least, she felt like she didn't. Seeing Joshua and Jeremy made her heart melt. Her knees practically went weak at the sight of the man she loved. She looked away, closed her eyes and took a deep breath. ( You can do this. You are Hannah Parkes for crying out loud. ) She took a step forward, waiting for the right moment to speak with Kal, as she was preoccupied with her sister. She didn't feel like interrupting right now, and besides, she wanted to see when Kal would notice - if she could even wait that long to get a much needed and long overdue hug from her best friend. First she wanted to at least say hi to Joshua if nothing else. She hadn't been in the best of moods, or said much to him lately, and for good reason. She wasn't sure if her secret would stay very secret for long, and she needed him. Even if she was scared. She walked over, tapping his shoulder. "Hey. I meant to call and see if you wanted to come together, but my phone died." She was lying. Her phone hadn't died. She had simply been attempting to ignore all calls and texts, especially from him. She didn't think she could face him, and doing it now was hard enough. That was the thing about having a secret - it felt like everyone around you knew, and they were thinking the absolute worst of you, when in reality they were completely oblivious to it.

Emily's smile grew wider as she came upon Kaleigh, and Archer. ( Wow, a real treat. All the blacks are slowly coming back together. ) Emily found happiness in being around her family. They never demanded more of her than she could give, and she appreciated it. It seemed like so much time had gone by since she had seen everyone. Having her baby girl had made it seem like so many years had passed since she had been back in La Push. She wondered, in the farther parts of her mind, if she'd ever be able to tell her family of the other relative they might never know. Recently, she had gotten a voicemail from Mrs. Andrews, Kalie's adopted mother. She had managed to get ahold of her. She hoped beyond all hope that she didn't find her. She had been serious on wanting nothing to do with the matter. She had bolted without a word for a reason. They pressed for her to be involved, for Kaelie to know Emily has her mother, and Becca as her adopted mother. Why did she have to pick such an honest and kind family? She almost groaned outloud. She hadn't fully listened to the message, except for the first part to make sure that Kaelie was alright, which had been the first words out of Becca's mouth. And that had been all she needed to know before she turned off her phone. She was too afraid to know what the new mother of her child had honestly wanted. After hearing slightly negative, but more funny words of missing Archer come from Kal, she decided to step up and make her presense known. "We all have impecable timing of arriving back home, you know that right?"

[/color] she said, her smile wide and genuine. "I missed you both."[/color] she said, trying to keep it short in case they had more to say to each other. She knew any blacks who had something to say would say it and get it done, even if there was something else they had to do.
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word count▪ 1341 :]
char. involved▪ Annie && Emily, only.
lyrics▪ Suppose - Secondhand Serenade
outfit▪ n/a
notes▪ Finished! Sorry it took so long. :] My being in and out wasn't helping. Annie is actually somewhat happy, although things are still on her mind. How unusual. xD[/color][/sup][/font]