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It's not like Y/N was short. Sure, top shelves were a challenge to reach, but that was the case for most people. It wasn't fair that the wolves grew insanely tall because of their genetics, a fact that Paul liked to rub in Y/N's face when he hid snacks from her where she couldn't reach.
Like today, for example. It was one of the odd days where the pack had gathered at Jake's house since Em wanted to clean her house top to bottom and the wolves would just get in the way. Sam stayed back with her to help, though Y/N figured a lot more than cleaning was going to be done with the pack out of the house for once.
There was loud chatter in the living room, an intense match of Mario kart going on while she tried to reach for a bag of chips that Paul had asked her to get when he was the one that put it there in the first place.
"What's wrong, Y/N? Can't reach the chips?" Paul called from the living room, though he quickly shouted in distress as he fell off the edge of the map for the seventh time that race.
"Keep your eyes on the road Lahote!" Jared laughed, then let out a grunt of pain. "That's cheating!"
Y/N shook her head softly, sticking her head around the corner to see them fight on the tiny couch. Embry and Rachel were sitting on the arms of the couch with their own controllers in hand, leaning away from the boys and their flailing limbs as they passed the two on the course.
Sitting on the floor next to Rachel's feet was Seth, laughing at Jared as he was almost knocked off the couch, head thrown back and eyes squeezed shut. Thankful for the distraction, Y/N turned her attention back to the chips sitting on top of the fridge.
The Dorito bag was taunting her, sitting just far enough back that even on the tips of her toes, her fingers didn't get anywhere close to touching the unopened bag. There wasn't even a chair for her to use, all of them being used by the other pack members crowded in the living room. And Y/N didn't want to give Paul the satisfaction of asking for any type of help.
The counter space next to the fridge was out of the question, with the microwave taking up most of the room, they would hear the second she tried to move the heavy machine. With nothing else she could see to climb on, Y/N tried to stretch back up to reach the bag of chips.
"Need help?" A voice sounded from behind her, causing her to startle so hard that she fell back onto her feet at an odd angle, rolling her ankle as she did. Thankfully she didn't yell out in pain; otherwise, she would have attracted the entire pack to her, and she didn't want to deal with that sort of embarrassment.
"Shit Seth, you scared the crap outta me!" Y/N exclaimed quietly, shifting her weight to her left foot as subtly as possible. There was already a stinging pain going up from her right ankle to her leg, and moving it slightly made her lightheaded.
"I'm sorry!" Seth exclaimed, and while it was loud, the shouting in the living room picked back up, drowning him out, "Are you okay?"
Y/N nodded slightly, giving him a probably fake-looking smile as he moved closer to her, eyes immediately looking down to her foot just barely hovering off the ground. Y/N tried to lightly rest her foot on the ground to hide that it hurts, but it's too late.
"You're not okay," Seth all but whined, moving over to Y/N's side and wrapped an arm around her waist to take most of her weight. "I didn't mean to scare you, I'm really sorry."
"It's okay, it barely even hurts," Y/N says, moving to put weight on her right foot to prove her point. She quickly winces in pain the second the foot settles flat on the ground, immediately lifting back in the air, "never mind."
"You wanna go home?" Seth asks. At first, Y/N was going to say no, but with a testing wiggle of her foot that sent more prickling pain up her leg Y/N nods. "Can you walk?"
If Y/N were a good person, she would tough it out to save face and say yes, but it's been so long since she's even seen Seth with all the patrols he's been on. She's been aching to be close to him for weeks, can't blame a girl for being weak.
"No it-it hurts too bad," Y/N tries to put enough pain in her voice, leaning her weight into Seth, feeling his unnatural warmth seeping into her skin. She wraps her arm securely around his shoulder so that he can walk with her easier, but he takes it a step further, bending over slightly to get his other arm under her legs before lifting her clean off the floor and into his arms.
The swift movement makes Y/N's head swim, disorienting her enough that she didn't even notice the teasing from Paul as they walked through the house and out the front door. When she does realize they're outside, she just snuggles into his chest, trying to hide her pleased smile from sight as he carried her the short distance to his house.
"Unfortunately my mom isn't home, and since Leah is still at Jakes, I'll probably just mess up your foot more than it already is." Seth all but mumbles, ashamed that he can't help his imprint more than he wants.
"That's okay, it'll be fine as long as I don't try to walk on it again." Y/N soothed while trying to hide her excitement at knowing they were going to be home alone for some time.
The rest of the walk is short but filled with Seth's aimless, animated chatter. His happiness is contagious, and Y/N can't help the soft smile that settles on her face. Before Y/N knows it, they've arrived at Seth's house, and they have to maneuver around awkwardly so he can open the door. Getting in was a whole other struggle, Seth hit the doorframe with his elbow, nearly dropping Y/N in the process.
After kicking the door closed behind him, Seth carried Y/N to his bedroom. The door was open, so the only struggle was getting them through the door frame without knocking into anything.
While Seth's room was fairly plain, it was well lived in. His bed was shoved up on the far wall under the window that was left open. There were some dirty clothes in a pile at the corner of his room, the hamper turned over next to it. Other than that it was spotless.
Seth walks them to his bed, placing her down as gently as possible onto the soft surface. "I'll be right back," Seth says before he bounds out of the room. Used to his seemingly never-ending energy, Y/N isn't even phased.
There were several pillows strewn out, much more than usual. Though confused Y/N takes it a blessing, arranging them to make a cozy spot for when Seth comes back. She uses a spare one shaped as a square to prop under her foot, the soft fur tickling her ankle.
"I knew you'd pick the spot by the wall," Seth says, a bowl of chips in his hand and an old-looking first aid kit in the other. Y/N didn't even hear him come in, let alone close the door behind him when he did. He crossed the room in long strides, passing the bowl of chips to her, a broad smile on his face.
"What're you so happy about?"
"Nothing," his smile somehow gets wider, and he crawls across the small space on the bed to place a kiss right on the tip of her nose, "You're just too cute."
"You're so sweet," Y/N said, watching as Seth settled down comfortably in the pillow nest she made, sitting close enough that any slight movement made them brush against each other. He shot her a blinding smile as he set the kit down in his lap, flipping the metal lid open, the dull sound of the metal hitting his knees loudly.
"So," Seth started, turning to give Y/N a sheepish smile, "I don't really know what I'm doing with any of this."
Y/N laughed softly, leaning into his side so she could see what was in the kit. It was pretty full, considering how the only person in the house that needs any of it would be Sue. Luckily there was a gauze roll tucked into the corner, and Y/N reached in to grab it, pulling it out slowly so that the pile of bandaids next to it wouldn't spill all over the bed.
"I can do it," Seth said excitedly, taking it from her hands before Y/N could agree. He crawled to the end of the bed to sit at her feet, moving slowly so that it didn't jostle her foot. Seth grabbed ahold of Y/N's leg just above the ankle, using his free hand to slide the pillow out from under her foot.
It took some careful manoeuvring, but he was able to rest her foot on his crossed legs without hurting her ankle. Seth ran the tips of his fingers across the skin of her ankle, the gentle, feather-light touch sending a shiver up Y/N's spine.
"Let me know if it's too tight," Seth says softly, unravelling the elastic bandage and placing one end of it around her ankle. Seth worked slowly, fingers soft as they wrapped Y/N's foot with expert hands. Lost in his tender touch, Y/N didn't notice Seth was done until she felt his hand slide up her leg to settle around her calf.
His thumb was gliding across her skin, and Y/N had to tear her gaze away from it to his face softly smiling up at her.
"Hi," Y/N whispered, leaning forward so that she could reach Seth. Knowing what she wanted, Seth met her halfway, not letting go of her leg as he leaned forward the rest of the way to meet her in a soft kiss.
It was always overwhelming kissing Seth. It was like he was everywhere, but not nearly close enough at the same time. He was always gentle, kisses so soft that it brought an ache to Y/N's chest.
Slowly moving her legs, Y/N's dropped them open to accommodate Seth, looping her arms around his neck to pull him in as close as possible. Seth was barely able to settle against Y/N before they heard someone clearing their throat from across the room. They pulled apart fast as lightning, turning to look at a disapproving Sue in the doorway.
"What did I say about the door?"
"Leave it open when Y/N is over," Seth mumbled, not able to meet his mom's eyes as he carefully crawled off of Y/N.
"If you close it again you two won't be allowed in here alone, okay? I don't need grandkids this young," Sue said, laughing to herself when she saw the embarrassment on both of their faces.
"That was embarrassing," Y/N said, rearranging the pillows that had fallen under the weight of them both so that she could sit up again.
"At least you don't live here, she'll probably tell Leah, and then I'll never hear the end of it," Seth all but whined, flopping down into the pillow nest next to Y/N, wrapping himself around her.
They stayed laying like that, Y/N's fingers carding through his short hair. As she shifted to better take his weight, she felt the pillows move behind her.
"Where did all these pillows come from?" Y/N asked, glancing over to the one that was propped under her foot, now teetering on the edge of the bed.
"Most of these are Leah's from when she was younger. You have lots of pillows in your room, make little forts like this one with them all the time. Figured I'd have some here for you too."
Overwhelmed by his thoughtfulness, Y/N wrapped her arms around Seth to pull him closer, burying her face against his warm hair, "God, you're too good to me."
Seth went to protest but was quickly shushed by Y/N, who went back to carding he fingers through this hair, "I know it's an imprint thing, but you've been doing this since we were little. Always looking out for me and making me happy."
"Of course I look out for you, your so small that you can't do anything for yourself," Y/N let out an outraged gasp, pulling away to look down at Seth playful expression. With a face like that Y/N couldn't fake being mad for long, and a smile broke out across her face.
"How dare you!" Y/N exclaimed, trying to keep up the act, "I'll have you know that I'm perfectly sized, you're just freakishly tall!"
"Whatever you say," Seth cuddled back into Y/N's warmth, ignoring her annoyed grumbling in favour of taking an afternoon nap.
Thankfully they had migrated towards the middle of the bed, so Y/N was able to reach the DS laying on Seth's bedside table. With the sounds of Seth's soft snoring and Sue moving around in the kitchen, Y/N booted up Mario Party, determined to beat Seth's high score once and for all.