AN: My faorite chapter so far I think ^^ Again thanks to all who reviewed, I really apreciate it!

Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight

Chapter 8

Seth's POV

I arrived at Elli's door earlier than usual on Saturday morning, my car out front instead of my bike because I'd volunteered to help her with the room painting. She tried to dissuade me but once she'd mentioned the task an idea had taken hold inside my head and refused to let go.

I made sure the stuff I needed was well hidden in the messenger bag slung over my shoulder for the fiftieth time, it wasn't unusual that I had one for when I was with her I kept a hefty amount of first-aid supplies on me. She answered the door, clad in a loose painter shirt rolled up to her elbows with a bun bobbing on top of her head. Artist Elli... flipping adorable. She smiled, completely unaware of the effect she had on me and invited me inside as she struggled to keep dog from me.

"You don't have to do this you know," she attempted. "You can just, I don't know, sleep or something while I work,"

"I'm not tired," that was a lie; I'd taken more than twice my usual night shifts so I could spend time with her. "Besides, you wouldn't be able to reach the top half of the room,"

I earned a pout on her behalf, something I would've felt bad about but it was just too damn cute.

"Karen and Pete went out for groceries, they'll be back to help us after lunch," Elli explained as we retrieved the materials from the garage. She struggled lugging one of the cans of paint up the stairs and I took it to her along with the other two I was already carrying.

"Why must I be such a weakling?" she exclaimed when she saw how easily I brought them upstairs.

"You're not... okay, maybe a bit" I grinned at her and she stuck out her tongue.

"Have you got your iphone?" she asked, recovering quickly.

"Yeah, why?"

"Pete let me borrow his speakers; at least we can have music as we slave away,"

"You know I like painting,"

"Yes, I do," she assured. "Look at you, you've even got the professional-looking garb!"

"This?" I asked, motioning towards the paint-splattered jeans and black t-shirt. "These are my usual painting clothes,"

"Such an artist thou art!" I laughed at her terrible accent as I got the music playing.

I stopped when I spotted a single paper on her desk and without really thinking read through it quickly.

Dear Elli, it was written.

I'm sorry, I don't have much time to write. I've been terribly busy since Emma gave me a part-time job at the bookstore. She says Hello, by the way.

How is everything? By this I mean everything, as it says. The trip, house, guardians, health, people, etc. Be honest please, if you're unhappy I'm sure I can arrange for you to come back somehow.

I miss you and I know everyone says this but it just isn't the same without you here. Especially after you lived here for a moth, my family misses you too. Mum particularly, but not as much as I do.

Write back as soon as possible, just to let me know how you're doing, if anything. Just so I know you're alright.

I love you

Will

Elli peeked at what I was looking at and smiled, sending a shot of envy for Will through me. I was strangely angry at the letter, or at least its writer. He thought she was unhappy here and could just take her away? I couldn't help but ask about that.

"He's just worried about me," Elli said lightly. "He always is, for some reason," the reason is that you're a walking accident magnet. I thought to myself, remembering Edward describing Bella in such a way.

"He wrote that he loves you," I commented, attempting to only seem mildly interested.

"It's normal for us; we're kind of like family. We've always said it for as long as I remember,"

"If you say so," I felt another stab as I watched her walk over to the paints. 'As long as I remember' it wasn't fair that Will had had her for such a long time. She's my soulmate!

"Isn't it pretty?" she sang, interrupting my thoughts, when she got one of the cans open, revealing its pastel-purple contents. The floor and furniture was already covered in plastic so we set right to work, listening to my music ring throughout the house.

"I like this,' I said suddenly. "The music, you can't really hear the scope of it with tiny little earphones. This is way better,"

At that I saw an idea flash in Elli's eyes but she disguised it before I could ask, turning back to her work.

Her guardians returned and we gave them a hand unloading the car, I took the opportunity to talk to Pete quickly.

"Could I ask you a favor?" I asked discreetly.

"That depends on what it is," he said seriously but then laughed. "Sure, what is it?"

"Would it be possible for you to occupy Elli for about half an hour after this? Keep her away from her room?"

"I suppose so," he responded. "What for?"

"I've got a surprise for her," I explained and said nothing more.

Elli and I were about to go back to her room when Pete stopped her.

"Could you give me a hand with lunch Elli?"

"I would, but..." she looked over to me. "There's still a bit to be done upstairs,"

"I can take over for you," offered Karen.

"Actually, there isn't much left before it has to dry during lunch," I interjected "I can just finish it myself,"

"You don't' need to do that!" Elli's voice rose with unnecessary worry.

"It's fine, just make sure there's enough for me, Okay?" finally a small smile tugged at the corner of her mouth.

I ran upstairs to finish the small amount of trim that was left within five minutes, then I opened my bag and set to work.

Elli's POV

We ate, well, Pete, Karen and I ate while Seth became a living vacuum for the duration of lunch. We worked steadily through the afternoon and finished around five thanks to Seth.

"This is wonderful!" Karen exclaimed while looking the room over. "We were aiming on finishing tomorrow but thanks to you, Seth, I can spend the day decorarting!"

I rolled my eyes playfully and she pinched my cheek before leaving to return the paint. Seth and I started clearing the plastic once she and Pete were gone.

"Now that you're free tomorrow, do you want to maybe come over to La Push?" Seth suggested. "Everyone's meeting at the beach since it's supposed to be really warm for once,"

"Um..." I hesitated, unsure I was ready to face the giants again "Are you sure I should come? I don't know what they think and I don't want to disturb you guys either,"

"Nonsense, you don't need to worry about that! I want them to meet you properly..." the way he said that made me think of his sister for some reason.

"Oh, alright then," I sincerely hoped he wasn't expecting me to be the life of the party.

"That's a lot of freaking books Elli!" he said suddenly when he'd uncovered the huge pile I'd gotten at the library the day before.

"Yeah, there's a wonderful library near here. My card got certified yesterday so I took as many as I could carry,"

In fact, it had been more than I could carry. Every time I'd returned to the library I'd sat across from the same boy as the day before, he was unmistakable with his red hair, but he'd never acknowledged me.

Not until I attempted to get my haul downstairs to the front desk. The twenty-odd books made me nearly fall over before he silently took the majority of them from my hands and led me to the front desk. Once he'd sat the books down he nearly walked away but I caught him before he left.

"Um, th-thankyou," I said timidly. "I'm Elli, by the way,"

"L-luke,' he stuttered slightly. He's shy like me! I gave him a smile but that made his cheeks go a bit pink. I hope I didn't embarrass him I worried as I cleared the last for the plastic.

"I'll bring it downstairs," Seth offered, holding out his arms for the last of the folded plastic.

When he left I wandered over to my suitcase with its sparse contents, the books already sitting on shelves. I took out my teddy I'd had since I'd been a bay and sat it against my pillow, straitening his lilac bowtie before going back to the rest.

I had just taken the first of my old family pictures into my hands when I heard Seth kneel down beside me.

"Is that your family?" he asked quietly, I nodded but couldn't stop there. I told him everything, about my family before my dad's death, my mom, the money, the stress of keeping everything from everyone, the loneliness...

Tears started pouring at some point and he took me into his arms, preventing me from falling to pieces as I sobbed into his shirt. I calmed down eventually with him stroking my hair gently, surrounded by his warm embrace and worked up the courage to look at him. His eyes were sad and worried and his voice was ever so gentle when he spoke.

"Thank you for telling me your story,"

I hugged him again, thrilled that he wasn't repulsed by my past. That he, somehow, still seemed care.

"I need to leave," he said a while later and I felt my face show how sad that made me.

"I'll see you to the door," I obliged, trying to hide how much I didn't want to. I didn't fool him though and a tender look came into his eyes.

"I'll see you tomorrow," he reminded as he often did when he had to leave. "What time do you want me to pick you up?"

"Actually, I think I'm going to get a ride from Karen," I tried to say nonchalantly as we walked downstairs. "I've got something to do,"

"You sure?" he asked.

"Yes, I'll be there at ten,"

"Alright," he smiled knowingly, I was rotten at subtlety. "Night Elli,"

"Night Seth," I said before slowly closing the door, leaning up against it after. I know, cliché.

I went to bed early to spend a couple of hours reading my borrowed books. I stopped only when it'd been dark outside for a while, turning the light off after having stacked up my books neatly. I gasped.

Hundreds, no, thousands of stars appeared as soon as the light was extinguished \, glowing softly on my ceiling. In an instant I knew it was Seth's doing, but couldn't comprehend how he'd managed. However that was, the effect was magical and I even found myself recognizing constellations amongst the dots.

I laid down to admire the expanse in wonder and placed my hands under my pillow. I felt a piece of paper brush against my fingers; I took it out before tuning the light back on to see what it was. The stars disappeared without a trace, but I wasn't paying attention to them anymore but rather to the paper which read

A starry sky for Elli

I love you

-Seth

AN: Thanks for reading!

pepper-rabbit