HONEYBEE| Sam Uley

three

"Yee-Yee" a voice quipped and Estella couldn't help but smile slightly as she turned around to face a smiling Seth, that call, was something he had adopted from Harry and Michael Clearwater when he was seven; he had proceeded to run around the Rez shouting it at the top of his lungs for days and hearing it now, again, made her heart melt. It was something so undeniably him, something that the other Rez boys incredibly slowly seemed to catch ahold of, using it for themselves to oppose the usual greeting. "Stella!"

"Seth." She smiled, turning to the boy who had turned fourteen in her absence. As Estella giggled gently, he grabbed her around the waist with his gangly arms, spinning her on the spot as she held on for dear life- it was something Seth took pride in finally being tall and strong enough to accomplish. "Look how tall you've gotten! Talk about a growth spurt. What has Sue been feeding you?" she teased, eyes trailing over to the little white house perched beside them, hidden in the trees at the bottom of the hill beside the river. The other Clearwater house was impossibly far away from his brothers- but nothing was more than walking distance in La Push.

"Look how short you've gotten!" he grinned boyishly in return and it made her own smile widen into a real one. There was something so warmly inviting about reunions. "We'll have to get Aunt Liz on the phone, ask her why she neglected to feed you," he teased, poking her stomach mockingly and she giggled softly.

"Wait until mom gets her hands on you, she'll have a buffet laid out purely in your honour," a feminine voice and Estella turned in excitement to Leah who bounded down the stairs toward her- shrouding her in the tightest hug she could muster. Leah acted so sweetly girly with Estella, the only consistent female in her life that was her own age. And it was always a shock to the boys who had watched her shovel food boisterously into her mouth at the previous dinner. Estella and Leah giggled in excited reunion, swaying on the spot and they clung to one another.

"You cut your hair!" Estella giggled, hands coming up to take Leah's now-shorter hair in her hands with a grin, ruffling it slightly. "I love it!" the long hair had never truly suited Leah Clearwater as it did the others.

"And you haven't cut yours," Leah laughed, gesturing down Estella's back where the smooth hair now fell. Once, it had been littered with small braids, ribbons and beads- all courtesy of Katherine who had too much time on her hands when the dinner was done. Now, her hair was completely free of accessories and it made her seem oddly older, oddly mature. She looked beautifully glamourous, and Leah- who was born only a month before her- suddenly felt as though Estella was at least five years older. It was oddly disconcerting to see people progressing in life without you, especially someone with whom you had done everything alongside- learnt to talk, walk, starting school, graduating.

"I had a trim." she defended and Leah just rolled her eyes, it was a classic response from her cousin. The sun glittered down on them, lighting up their reunion in a warm fondness. Though they were more than certain that the sun would not last. "I spoke to Allison Uley when I first arrived..." she hummed somewhat suggestively and Leah smiled, slightly dreamy as her eyes landed on her hand.

Estella took her cousin's hand excitably, eyes widening largely when she took in the beautiful shimmering ring that sat on her cousin's finger. It seemed so strange, seeing Leah wear jewellery- especially something of that grandeur- but it seemed to belong there, fitting perfectly. And Estella directed a proud smile toward her cousin as she pulled her down into a tight hug.

"I am so happy for you, Lee. And Sam, of course," she mused as something of an afterthought- it was difficult to feel happy for him when she barely knew him, though she still offered a grin in his regard. Leah was positively glowing in excitement, their engagement was rather fresh and had still already progressed through its own difficulties but she trusted in Sam. To Leah, Sam was the one. In his 'illness', she hadn't been able to see him and he had returned, weirdly more muscly, slightly angrier, flesh hotter and hair cropped short- all things she found strange but would accept- because it was him.

It also seemed that whatever had overtaken Sam, had very recently swarmed Jared too because he was currently MIA, 'ill' as they called it. Everything was changing across La Push, the younger generation was coming of age, graduating and growing out of their childhood- it was beautiful, yet slightly saddening for their parents to see. No longer were they promised teen mood swings, homework panic and the need for private tutors- now they were being promised long-term boyfriends and girlfriends, full-time careers, houses, marriage... It was terrifying for them all.

"I thought I just heard-" Sue's confused voice swept through the open front door of the Blue house like wind and the mother drew to a halt with a slightly agape mouth when she set her doe eyes upon her niece. Sue didn't even give it a second thought as she made her way to her and tugged her easily into a tight hug. "Oh, my little Honeybee! Look at you! You look so beautiful. And you need to get some food in you, you've gotten all skinny! Come on, Come on, I've made blueberry muffins."

Estella had not, in fact, lost any weight in her time away from the Rez- she in fact, possibly gained some given the fact that her grieving aunt Liz spent the past few months cooking and baking everything her cookbook had to show to distract from her own misery. However, the concern of Sue was appreciated- it made her feel so loved.