Disclaimer: I don't own any characters you recognize from the Twilight Saga.

and tootoo owns mary and the plot

Here's the Mary&Embry story you've been waiting for! SOOO... Read, and review...TELL ME WHAT YOU THINK!

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

Rhyme

Chapter One "Hey, Mom!" I greeted as I entered the house. Finally. It was one Heck of a walk from school. Maybe I'd take a nap before I meet the guys at the mall. "Hey, sweetie! Food will be ready in ten!" she yelled from the kitchen. I rolled my eyes; Mom, or just Amelia, was always rushing. It's not like we're e ver that hungry when we come back from school. Since Dad and Allen, my little brother, were still not home yet, I went upstairs to chill in my room. I entered the dark pink room and threw my book bag on the floor, as if wishing i t would disappear if I did. Exams were next week and I had a lot to do. I quickly went to my bathroom and took a quick, warm shower. I changed to my swe ats and T-shirt as soon as I got out. I was exhausted; Ugh, I hate it when I sleep late at school nights. But I had to study some 'Chemistry'. I huffed at the name of the subject. I decided to ds and maybe on, leaving today to do another day take a break today, to do nothing at all but hang out with my frien listen to music or something. I went to my computer and switched it it to open as I combed my hair and dried it. I didn't have it in me anything special with my hair so I just dried it. I mean, it's just at the mall.

I sat down on my black chair and wore my eyeglasses- the ones I only wear when I 'm reading or on the computer; it wasn't that much of a deal. I didn't wait for long before MSN finally signed in to my account. I was checking my mail and Facebook account when I heard the familiar beep. Oh G od. Who'd chat now? My heart raced in my chest in surprise when I saw the name. I thought I deleted him? Crap. I had just decided not a week ago that I'm totally over this whole me ss! Max Watson. My almost-ex-boyfriend. Yeah, I know it's complicated, but we were just so close to each other, we began as friendsthen very close friendsUntil we were at that aw kward stage, you know? When you're a couple but not officially a couple? I was ecstatic when we were that close but all my hopes were squashed when one d ay, out of nothing at all, he ignored me. He didn't answer my calls, he didn't talk to me when I did, not even a simple 'H i'. I hated that. I wanted to know why. I wanted to set this straight. I wanted relief. Back to reality Hey he sent me with this stupid smiley face that I hate. Only now though. I was determined to get the Hell over him. I wanted to do it. And I would. Stacey tried to encourage me to ask guys out after I turned down a lot, I wanted to ask Jacob out but it turned out awful; Nessie and Jacob had a 'thing' and th ey turned out to be together. I felt even worse than before but shrugged it off; it wasn't important anyways. Oh, so now you're talking to me? I sent, my tone obvious in my IM. I began browsing through my cousin's latest pictures as I waited for him to answ er me; I was curious. My bad! I won't talk to you again. Satisfied? What did he think he was? This cocky, snobbish kid! It was like he was good-look ing and he knew it. I think I'm hating him. Good. Yes, I am, actually. I smiled proudly; I wouldn't be able to do that earlier. One day, I saw him and his brother while shopping with Stacey and the next thing I knew I was hypervent ilating. Oh, you are? You're bringing this on! Yes, I AM, Max! So, STAY THE HELL AWAY FROM ME! I DON'T WANT YOU IN MY LIFE ANYM ORE. I'M NOT THE MARY YOU KNEW.

I didn't wait for him to respond. I blocked him and signed out of my account, my hands sweating from all the stress. I did it! I glanced at my clock and it was 3:30 already, I had about an hour before I move from here. I needed to call the cab now, I guessed. So, I quickly called the cab and went downstairs to find Mom still cooking. Ten minutes, huh? "Mom! It's been an hour!" I groaned." You know what, I need to sleep anyways so I'll just grab something from the fridge and head to my room, 'Kay?" She sighed. "Sorry, but I burnt it and had to re-do everything again. Eat whatever you want. Are you studying Chemistry tonight, too?" she asked, washing her hands. "No; I won't study tonight at all; I'll go out with the guys at the mall and jus t let my mind rest; I've been working a little bit too hard lately, don't you th ink?" She chuckled." Do you have a timetable? Are you sure you'd be able to finish eve rything before the exam?" she used her 'Mom' tone. I nodded as I searched throug h the fridge for anything but then realized she couldn't see me. "Yeah," I said, grabbing a huge bar of chocolate and running to my room before s he noticed it and gave me a whole lecture on diet. I snatched my iPod from my desk and jumped to my small but comfy bed, settling o n a harmless song, one without anything to do with heartbreak or anything like t hat. I had one 'safe list' there anyways. It's been a year and a half since Max started ignoring me and I needed to listen to music. I began nibbling on my chocolate and crying; I loved Max. I didn't know how I co uld hate him all of a sudden. The only way I began to get over him is that I swi tched schools last year. I didn't want to do that. Somewhere in my subconscious, I needed him. Then it hit me. I didn't need him, not Max Watson anyways. I needed someone to be there for me, to hold me close, to listen to me and love me no matter what. I needed to fill that gap in me. Max was the closest thing to boyfriend that I'd ever had, and now I lost him for good. Maybe, deep down, I had hope. Maybe I hoped he would come back. But I had to have a healthy life. And this wasn't in any way healthy. I cried even harder and got back to my chocolate. I didn't even realize it until my alarm went off, announcing it was 4:30 already. Crap! The cab would be here in, like, well, NOW! I hurried and grabbed a pair of faded jeans and a red sweatshirt. It was useless to do anything to my hair now so I just made it a decent ponytail.

I ran downstairs and grabbed my purse, which I quickly snatched my cell phone an d money in. "Mom! I'm going now!" I yelled, hurrying. "Humph. She gets to go out today and I don't!" Al whined. Such a baby! I can't b elieve he's only two years younger than I am. I found the cab waiting. "Ms. Anderson?" he asked professionally. "Yes." I slid in the backseat and took a minute to collect my breath. I was about ten m inutes late when I finally got to the mall. "Thank you," I whispered as I handed him the charge, already coming out of the c ab. I entered the mall and scanned the entrance for them, until I found them there; Nessie, Stacey, Brad, Matt and Jacob. "Hey, guys!" I said, forcing a smile; I was in a terrible mood. "Hey," they all replied in unison. "So, what do you want to do?" I asked. "I thought maybe see the latest bag collection at Guess then-" the guys groaned" What? We'll go to Starbucks afterward!" Stacey said. I nodded; I definitely ne eded shopping. Then I heard someone else. "We're here!" A guy said, looking at Jacob. I assumed he was one of his friends. But there was another one right after him. He was tan and very muscular, his perfect brown hair was in smooth spikes, bring ing out his beautiful dark brown eyes. He was wearing a black shirt on low-waist jeans. I had to collect my breaths for the second time today. The way he stared at me, his eyes full ofwhat? Love? I've been imagining things; after all, I was on chocolate, milky chocolate. I walked absentmindedly with the guys, well, next to Matt, the only single guy. I was thinking about this mysterious guy, or rather man, he looked like he was a t least 20. I felt my heart pound in my chest with a feeling that I had lost a very long tim e ago, only that it was much stronger than the last time I experienced it. I liked him. Oh, Mary, Mary, Mary. It was the chocolate talking there. I knew I shouldn't hav e!

I could feel his stares burning holes in my back. Naw. I should probably go to D r. Brooke, Stacey's father, to see if I had any permanent brain damage because o f that dose of chocolate. Who knows? I entered Guess and started scanning bags and shoes with my eyes. I needed some shopping, but all I could afford at the moment was only one bag, so I picked up the purple one, though I have nothing purple in my wardrobe. When I got out I heard one voice that made my knees so weak that I thought I was going to fall. "May I carry this for you?" the Mystery Man asked. I blinked and felt my face go t hotter. I loved those delusions anyways. I handed my bag to him. "I'm Embry, a nd you are?" he spoke. It took me a moment to be able to form an audible response . "Mary," I managed to whisper that I thought he wouldn't hear it. I was surprised that he did. He smiled, showing those super-cute dimples he had. It totally contrasted with h is manly look but it still looked adorable on him. STOP IT, MARY GRACE ANDERSON! YOU'RE NOT DOING THIS MISTAKE AGAIN! YOU'RE NOT FA LLING FOR ANYONE! I sighed mentally; I didn't want to get hurt again. Once is way more than enough . "So, Mary-" Oh my God, the way he said my name made- FOCUS, GIRL!-" What do you want to order?" Oh, I didn't notice we were at Starbucks already. "Chocolate," I said automatically, reluctantly breaking eye-contact with him. Di d I just say chocolate? Again? What am I doing to myself? "I mean, chocolate mil k shake," I quickly corrected, still not looking at him; I didn't want to make s omething or feel something I would regret later. I hate more than anything now, Max! I hate you for doing this to me! I hate you for breaking me that much! I felt tears forming in my eyes and, being in open-air, some dust entered my eye s that I had to blink, forcing my tears down my cheek. Ugh. Embry seemed alarmed, he immediately took my face into his hands and looked into my eyes. "What's wrong?" he asked quickly then realized that his hand was on my face, so he dropped it immediately, cursing under his breath. NO! In some weird way, I wanted his super-warm hand to stay on my face. I wanted his voice to soothe me. I wanted to hug him and let everything out. Hell, I don't even know his last name. "Can we take a walk or something?" I suggested, whispering; if I'm doing this I was going to need to be alone. He nodded and turned to his other friend. "Seth, I'm going to take Mary and walk," he informed him, he looked at him quest

ioningly and he shook his head. What was that about? I felt crazy and stupid for doing this. I was going on a walk, alone, with a guy that I barely knew his first name and I was already in danger of falling for hi m. What kind of a freak was I? I got up and walked beside him around the place. "So, what's wrong? Why have you been crying?" he seemed truly concerned. Yeah, r ight. This whole thing seemed like a dream that I was just having. Now, I'd wake up to realityNaw! I sniffed, fighting the tears that threatened to fall. "Max is the reason this is going on with me! He broke my world. He squashed ever y tiny bit of confidence I had. I hate him for that! And I've been eating chocol ate and-and-" I stuttered, now, sobbing. He wrapped his arms around me in a warm hug. "Who's Max?" he suddenly asked. I could swear I heard a low growl. I couldn't believe I was telling him this. But I felt so safe in his arms, sosohap py. "It doesn't matter," I mumbled, finally breathing evenly." Thank you for listeni ng, Embry." He still had me in his arms but he unwrapped them from around me almost hesitant ly. "It does matter, Mary; he hurt you too much. Too much for me to bear." I raised an eyebrow at him; he had just seen me. I know why I felt this way about himwell, I didn't but, whatever. But, why was he acting this way? "Can we talk about this later?" I asked. Was there going to be 'later'? It bette r be! He smiled. "Sure, Mary," he said. What had just happened? What were we? Friends I suppose. We got back to the table at Starbucks and joined the guys in their conversation. I was acting robotically, as if I was on 'auto-pilot'. "So, where do you live?" I asked him, smiling. He smiled back at me. "I live down at La Push. Do you live here in PA?" he asked, leaning his elbow on the table so his hand was supporting his face. I nodded." Do you want to come t o La Push tonight? I'll show you something really cool," he said then frowned, " Nessie and Jacob will be there, too," he added, as if trying to tell me it was s afe. I didn't need that; I trusted him already. MARY, MARY, MARY! WOULDN'T YOU EVER LEARN?

NO! Oh, great. Now I was talking to myself. I suddenly asked a question that I had in me for a while, almost without thinkin g. "Why do you act like this towards me? I mean, you just met me not a while ago an d you already act like-" he cut me off with a laugh, almost bitter. "I like you," he said, but I sensed that there was a lot that he didn't tell me. I sighed; I was doing this again. It was almost like he could read my mind- or my expressions just gave out too much because he took my face in his massive han d for the second time today and whispered," I would never hurt you, if that's wh at you're worried about." I was about to protest then I closed myself and frowne d, knowing that that was exactly what I was worried about. "Thanks," I whispered back. Then, Seth nudged his arm. "Come on, man! Aren't we going to leave?" he asked, winking at him. He let go of my face and stood up. "Yeah, sure. We're going to La Push now, right, Nessie?" he said as I began to t ake my purse and searched for my bag." No, I'm taking that," he whispered in my ear. I smiled and blushed again. Embry joined Jacob and Seth and I just stared at him, my brain incapable of comp rehending the whole day, and I couldn't blame it on chocolate anymore. "Earth to Mary!" Nessie said. I blushed and chuckled. "What? I like him!" I tried to sound as normal as possible when whispering this to her. "Sure you do," she mumbled," What did he tell you we're doing at La Push?" she a sked, almost suspiciously. Weird. "He said that he had to show me something really cool and that helikesme,(He Lik es Me)" I said, so fast that I wasn't sure she'd be able to know what I was sayi ng. "Great!" she said. She sounded genuinely happy for me. ""But I-I...well, dunno how to describe it. I more than like him. It's creepy, c onsidering that I first met him a couple of hours ago." Ness was one of my very close friends, maybe she'd tell me something. "No, it's not. Really." Huh? Hmm We went into Nessie's black Ferrari and Jacob drove, I sat on the side, Embry wa s in the middle. I could feel his heat radiating through me. I loved that feeling. "I like your sweatshirt," he commented. Wow, I haven't noticed that before. I'd never thought anyone would like me in my pony-tail-and-sweatshirt-no-make-up state. I must look horrible. I suddenly felt self-conscious.

"UmmUh, yeah. It's my favorite." Now. He smiled. "Red is definitely your color," he whispered," It goes with your hair" he mumbled . I blushed, again, and smiled. "Thanks. You look great yourself," I commented. Did I just say what I think I ju st said? Oh my God. Oh, well, it was a weird day anyway. His dark skin darkened even more. Was that a blush? Aw! After chatting randomly with him for a long time, Jacob spoke. "Here we are." We got out of the car, which was now parked in front of a small red house, and b egan walking towards the forest. This was getting weirder than ever. "I'll go check on Amy," Seth said and left us. I began feeling cold, scared. "Okay, Mary. Before I show you anything I just need you to stay calm. Don't be s cared. There's really nothing to be scared of," Embry told me as he came closer. I didn't know whether I was getting warmer because of the sense of security I f elt around him or because of his freakish temperature. I nodded. "Okay." It sounded more like a question. He got away from me, only a few feet though. The look on his face suggested that he was concentrating really hard on something. He started shaking gradually unt il, in a blink of an eye, he was gone, a giant gray wolf with cute black spots o n his back replaced him. Was that him? Embry? Oh my God. A W-Werewolf? I felt the blood drain from my face as I stared at him. "E-Embry?" I stuttered. He howled. It was getting harder to breathe. This wasn't real. NO, it couldn't be real. Werewolves don't exist. This whole day is a dream-Yes. Except that it wasn't. "It's okay, really. He won't hurt you," Nessie said, rubbing my back soothingly as I froze in my place. "You knew?" I asked in a whisper, she rolled her eyes.

"Sure; Jake's a werewolf, too." T-This is justOh my God. Oh my God! I tried to collect my breaths before I passed out and, surprisingly, I was able to calm myself down. He approached me, rather cautiously, and nudged me with his nose. I laughed nerv ously, I didn't know how it came out though and touched his fur with my hand. It was so soft, so beautiful. God, Mary! You're talking about a guy that just morphed into a horse-sized wolf thing! A few minutes later, another guy, who looked like he was from here, too, came in only his sweats, carrying another pair of them in his hand. "You're stupid, you know that, Embry? You got me running to your house just to g et you those!" he complained. Then he noticed me. "Oh, hi" he said, "So you're E mbry's imprint?" Im-what? "Huh?" I said. "Sometimes you're stupid, too, Quil. He hasn't told her anything yet!" Jake said as the gray wolf ran behind the trees to phase back. What more would he tell me now? Is there anything more than this? Wait a second! Why was he showing me this in the first place? He came back in the pair of sweats that Quil gave him. So, clothes didn't just p op in and out of existence, did they? Too bad; I liked the shirt. I couldn't tak e my eyes off him as he came closer, shirtless. I hoped he wouldn't hear my erra tic heartbeat. "So, no full moons or silver bullets?" I asked. "Nope," he answered. Then, Jacob, Quil and Embry were explaining a lot of things to me. They said tha t those were only the 'basics' and that I needed to attend a bonfire when the 'e lders' explain more of their legends to me. Embry stayed by my side the whole ti me. I didn't know why I wasn't scared of him, why I didn't just run away and scr eam my lungs out. I felt the total opposite; I trusted him, I felt safe around h im. I was sure I was going to go into shocklater. One thing they told me caught my attention though. They said he imprinted on me, which means, and I quote, that "he would always be there for me and protect me as I'm the most important thing to him; the gravity that attaches him to Earth." The what? He's WHAT? I'm.What the Hell? He was myprotector. My guardian angel. This was just too much.

Chapter 2

They kept telling me about the wolves, their abilities and they told me everythi ng about imprinting, I think. Embry sighed," The main reason we phase in the first place is when vampires are near; our mission is mainly about keeping the safety of the tribe." Yeah, sure. Wait, WHAT? "V-Vampires?" I stuttered for the millionth time today. Hey! I had very good rea sons to do so. "Yes." He, for some reason, kept his reply simple, maybe because I was shaking n ow. "Would you like to go home now? It's 10:30 already...I bet your parents would be worried," Jake said, "Nessie?" he called afterward, as if suddenly realizing sh e wasn't standing with us. Yeah, I just hope Dad wouldn't call the police or something. Jacob went to Nessie, who was sitting on the grass, probably tired, while Quil e xcused himself to go home. "Please, Mary, don't be afraid; I told you there's nothing to be afraid of. Trus t me," he almost begged, wrapping an arm around my shoulder. "I do trust you, maybe that's why I didn't run." I let out a small smile; I was relaxing bit by bit. He chuckled," I would've caught you anyways," he whispered in my ear. He was rel axing, too. Yeah, right; super speed, super strength, super hearing. I smiled; I had my ownsuper-hero-protector. I never thought I'd ever feel that comfortable around anyone. Is that something to do with those legends and magic and stuff?

I tried to tune out everything that had to do with the supernatural for now; I w as saving the whole shock for later. He was just a guy that I reallylike (though that word didn't cover it, but I didn't want to feel so weird) and he liked me a s well. Though I didn't know where we were. Friends? Maybe more? How does that w ork? "Yeah," I whispered, moving to where Nessie was. "How long have you known about that?" I asked curiously. "Six years," she answered. "Wow." Was my smart reply. "Yeah, I know." "Aren't you afraid of those vampires? I never thought that world even existed," I commented. I heard Embry and Jacob cough, probably hiding their laughs. Hey! I t's not my fault I didn't know about this! They act like it's nothing, like vamp ires are justnormal. But they aren't. The wolves' mission is to protect people from blood-sucking vampires. Because th ey're not normal. They're dangerous. That was ABC mythical creatures. "Ummm...Look, Mary, this is something I think we'd have to talk to you about lat er," she said. "We?" "Later, Mary," she said with finality, I just nodded. We who? Maybe the 'Pack'or other imprints? I don't know I slid for the second time in the backseat of the Ferrari at the same time Embry did and told Jacob where my house was. He smiled, erasing every reason I was af raid. Right now, I wasn't afraid of vampires or even heartbreak. I trusted him. He looked at me and smiled, coming closer to me. I approached him, too; getting closer to him only made me feel better, and wrapped my arms around him. I hoped he wouldn't mind. He didn't; he wrapped his arm around me, too and kissed the top of my head. My h eart lost its track as he did that. God was I falling for him! "Take care of yourself for me," he whispered. I smiled and nodded. "This is it?" Jacob asked, slowing down. "Yep; the Anderson residence," I answered, " I guess I'll see you later?" I spok e to Embry, hope filling my voice. "Right after school. Promise," he replied. I chuckled, still not believing what had happened tonight. "'Kay then, bye everyone!" I said, "See you, Embry." Very soon, please. I got out of the car and walked towards the house. I knocked quickly and prayed

they would be awake; it was 11pm. Uh-oh; I was going to have a long night. Allen opened the door. "Well, well, Mary. What brings you here so early?" he asked sarcastically, I stu ck my tongue out at him. "Go sleep, squirt; you have school tomorrow," I muttered. He smirked and let me in. "Where have you been?" William, my father, asked. I flinched at his tone. "I told you guys I'd be out with my friends today," I mumbled. He crossed his ar ms over his chest. "I was just on the phone with Dr. Brooke and Stacey had been home almost 3 hours ago!" he was yelling now. "I was with Nessie," I whispered, lowering my head. He sighed. "Nessie who?" he asked, calmer. "Renesmee Cullen, Dr. Cullen's daughter." I looked up at him to find him sighing again. "Okay. But next time, remember to recharge your cell phone when you go out alone ; a lot can happen in Port Angeles. I know that more than anyone." Of course, he was a police officer. I nodded and got up to my room. I threw my purse and bag on the floor and changed quickly into my pajamas before I drifted to sleep. My night wasn't as peaceful; nightmares that had disappeared long time ago were coming backexcept they were different; instead of calling after Max and he kept r unning away, I was running away from him. I woke up early that day, at 5am. I quickly took a shower and changed into a den im skirt that went to my knees and a red top that had black writings on it. I kn ew Embry was seeing me after school and I couldn't help but feel like I needed t o do that. I grabbed my eye-liner and applied it on the inside of my eyelid and applied my Chanel mascara. I had to turn it upside-down for ten minutes to get anything out of it; I'd got it at my last birthday, and that was last January. I put on ligh t pink lip-gloss and kept it in my bag; maybe I'd need it later, after lunch. Oh! Lunch! I had the Yearbook committee meeting at Lunch! It was still early; 6:30. I had half an hour before I started walking to school. So I grabbed my iPod and started listening to music. I deleted the 'safe list'; I wouldn't need it anymore. I was officially over Max freakin' Watson. I got downstairs to Mom. "Good morning, sweetie." She smiled at me. I smiled back. "Morning, Mom. Slept well?" I asked, chewing a bread stick.

"Yeah. What about you?" she asked, fighting a smile. What was that about? "What is it, Mom?" I'd always been straight with Mom. She looked at the ceiling before she spoke. "Who drove you here last night? I saw the car from upstairs, you know," she whis pered. I smiled. "It was Nessie's car, her boyfriend was driving." She couldn't have seen Embry i n the backseat; the windows were dark. "Oh." Was all she said. I glanced at my cell phone's clock and found it was 7am. Finally. I grabbed my book bag and stormed outside. "Love you!" I called and started walking. I was actually proud of myself; I didn't get scared, I didn't pass out, and I di dn't get in trouble. Plus, I was seeing Embry today. The thought of his name sen t butterflies in my stomach. Max was history. I couldn't wait to go to school and talk to Stacey about everyt hing. Well, not everything; they told me I couldn't tell about the vampires or t he wolves. I got to school at 7:45. Always the perfect timing. I smiled at myself. I was de finitely in a better mood than I'd been in about 18 months. Wow; it's been that much? "Hey, M!" Stacey said from Brad's car as she got out." How've you been?" "I'm more than great!" I said, grinning. She should get the hint. She smiled. "Hey, Brad?" "Yes, Stacey?" "I have to talk to Mary, so, I'll see you later, honey, 'Kay?" she kissed his ch eek and he nodded, waving at me. I waved back and paid attention to Stacey, whos e grin was from ear-to-ear now. "What's going on?" she asked. "You know that guy I was talking to yesterday? Embry?" I asked. "YeahWhat about him?" She'd never expect me to say what I was about to say. "I kinda love him" I mumbled. Her eyes widened. "Miss I-didn't-get-over-Max say what?" she asked, raising an eyebrow. "Okay, translation: I'm so totally over Watson and I think I'm falling for Embry !" I whisper-yelled. She hugged me. "Good for you, sweetie. Just be careful," she whispered. I nodded." Are you goin g to see him again soon?" she suddenly asked as she let me go. "Yeah; he said he'd be here after school." She nodded. First class was English with Matt. I met him there.

"Mornin', M!" We high-fived. "Morning Matt!" I said as I threw my book on the desk. "You have next class with Stacey, right?" he asked. I nodded, frowning. "Why?" "Just tell her to tell Brad that the whole football team is taking Lunch and the fourth period to train; we have a game against Forks High after school," he sai d, playing with his pen. Forks HighMy former school. "Sure, I'll tell her." I sat down and prepared myself for another boring Grammar revision. After English, Chemistry and Geometry, I rushed to my locker and put my books, g rabbing my notebook to attend the committee's meeting. "Hey," I said as I got into the room. "Hello, Mary. Have a seat." I rolled my eyes at Mrs. Cox's formal tone and sat d own. After setting our tasks straight, we were dismissed. I was supposed to design th e cover. Mrs. Cox realized then that we already missed the fourth period and hal f of the fifth; the boys were kidding a lot. Anyways, we were excused from schoo l today. Oh, great; now I had to wait for half an hour before Embry comes. Butterflies ar e back! He was totally worth the wait. So I got out and sat on the stairs in front of th e main building, facing the parking lot. I got out my Chemistry book and started studying a little to kill the time; Chemistry was the only subject I had troubl e with. I was revising the Periodic Table for the third time when someone nudged my shou lder. I smiled and looked up to see who it was, expecting Embry. Except that he wasn't. The smile faded from my face and I felt a lump in my throat as I saw the creamyskinned boy with the familiar light brown hair and green eyes smirk at me. "Max," I whispered, acknowledging him. He sat down beside me, so close that I st ood up to avoid physical contact with him. "Hey, Mary," he said, standing up, too. My hand was trembling. Yes, I got over him but I haven't seen him in a lot of ti me. I was nervous. "Didn't I tell you to stay away from me?" I snapped, trying to calm myself down; being hypotensive didn't really help my situation; I was starting to get dizzy. "Oh, Mary, don't be like that," he whispered, approaching. I took a step back, c lutching to my book as if for support. "I told you I'm not the Mary you used to know. Please, Max. Leave me alone. Why are you here in the first place? Didn't you decide to kick me out of your life?

What. Do. You. Want? Did your cheerleader girlfriend dump you?" I rushed through the words, annoyed. "I want you back, Mary," he said. "And I don't want to. So, stay away from me! Stop following me if that's what yo u're doing!" I whisper-yelled; I couldn't raise my voice any harder. "I'm not following you!" He yelled," We have a game with your school's football team! That's why I'm here! We were best friends and then you switched schools!" he yelled. I flinched. "That's after you started ignoring me! I couldn't take it anymore! We all had to move because of what you had done to me!" I accused, tears forming in my eyes. "I'm sorry, okay? I'm just sorry! I've missed you!" He said, approaching and rub bing the back of his neck. "Sorry? Is that the best you could come out with? A year and a half, Max, 18 fre aking months, not a phone call or even a Hi, and you're sorry?" I was crying now , my back to the wall. He was closer than necessary. "Hey!" Matt yelled from behind, gripping his shoulder." What the Hell is going o n?" he asked, eying my tear-soaked face. "It's none of your business!" he spat, annoyed. I felt blood drain from my face and my knees weren't supporting me anymore. "Yes, it is! What have you done to her?" he asked. "I did nothing!" he defended himself. People were starting to gather around us. My vision was starting to get blurry. Damn blood-pressure issues! "Mary? Mary? Are you okay?" I heard Stacey call. I nodded weakly. "Mary?" I heard another voice call. The only voice I really needed at the moment . Embry. I scanned the crowd with my eyes to find him pushing through the students. He su pported my weight as I felt myself give in slowly. "Edward?" he called. Edward? I felt a cold hand on my wrist, contrasting with Embry's super-hot arms that hel d me. "She's-" That was when I lost it completely; I drifted to peaceful unconsciousne ss. It felt like a lot of time had passed when I started hearing some voices "Come on; you've got me waiting for long," Embry's soft voice said. I smiled and opened my eyes slowly. "Hey," I whispered and started to see my surroundings. I was in the nurse's offi ce. I saw him grin. "Hey. Are you better now?" he asked, holding my hand. It felt so good right ther

e. "Yeah; I'm fine. I was just-" I shrugged and sighed," It's no big deal. I hate b eing so weak," I mumbled, mostly to myself. He squeezed my hand more. "That's why I'm here. I'm sorry; I should've got earlier but I got lost," he apo logized. "It's not your fault, Embry! I'm really fine!" I got up and hopped on my legs." See?" he chuckled. "I'm glad you are." That was when the door slammed open. "Are you alright, sweetie? What happened?" Mom asked. "Nothing, Mom. I'm really fine and I really don't want to talk about it now. Ple ase?" I begged. She sighed and nodded. Then she saw Embry. "I'll wait in the car. Grab your stuff and come. I have my work to go back to," she said. I looked up at Embry with pleading eyes; I didn't want to go home just yet. "Or I could drive her home, Mrs. Anderson so you wouldn't be late. Is that okay? " he offered. She looked at both of us and smiled. "Sure. Be home before 4!" she said as she exited the room. I searched for my boo k bag around me but didn't find it. "Where is-" he cut me off. "This?" he asked, flipping the bag as if it was a feather. And it was pretty hea vy. I smiled at him. "Yeah." We got out of the room to find Brad, Stacey and Matt waiting for us. Stacey rush ed to me when she saw me. "I'm so sorry, honey. However-" she smiled proudly," I yelled at him and told hi m to leave you alone and not come anywhere near here!" she came closer to me," b efore Embry kills him. Boy was he mad!" her lips twitched into a knowing smile. I looked at her, horrified. "They fought?" I whispered. She nodded. "But he was more concerned about you so he left me, Matt and Brad shouting at hi m and took you to the nurse who just left because she said that you're going to be okay and that she needed to go home." She rolled her eyes. I sighed. "Thanks." "This jerk!" Matt muttered as he hugged me," I couldn't believe he had the nerve !" I chuckled. "Guys! Really! I'm more than fine!" Stacey winked," And I have to go now, so" I m umbled. "Take care!" Brad yelled from behind as I began running towards the parking lot.

Embry was waiting in front of his motorcycle. Cool. "Come on! I want to take you somewhere before we go to your house!" he said. I s miled. "Where to?" My mood gets better around him. Rule Number One. "I want to show you First Beach. It's 2:30 now so, if we go there fast enough, w e'll be able to be at your house at 4 exactly. Just a quick visit." His cute dim ples were showing as he grinned. "Sure." Then I eyed the motorcycle then looked down at my skirt." Err- how am I going to ride?" I asked. He chuckled. "Come," he lifted me up easily as if I weighed 2 pounds and sat me in front of h im in the motorcycle, I was facing the right side. "And how will you drive?" I asked, raising an eyebrow. He smiled even wider. "Like this," he said, stretching his long arms that reached the controllers perf ectly. I could feel his heat. My heart was pounding very hardly in my chest. He started the engine and the motorcycle vibrated. I held his shirt for support. "Shall we?" he asked, amused. I nodded eagerly. I could feel the wind flow threw my hair and I automatically leaned on his chest , relaxing. I didn't feel the time pass until he told me we were at La Push alre ady. "So?" he said. I watched the extraordinarily beautiful waves flowed on the softlooking sand, leaving cute white traces there. "It's beautiful, Embry," I said," Wow." He smiled. "You're more beautiful. I love you, Mary," he whispered in my hair. I froze. Did he just say what I thought he just said? He loves me. Oh my GOD. Too much info for two days. "I love you, too," I whispered automatically, meaning every single word of it. I didn't know I had it in me. I knew it was crazy and probably stupid but I couldn't deny myself that. I really did love him. I could see his eyes light up as he took my face in his massive hands and leaned closer. Now, my heart wasn't just pounding, it was protesting, yelling, telling me it was too much. I brought my face up to his as he kissed me. I didn't know what to do; I'd never kissed anyone before. So, I just did what I thought was right.

I kissed him back, I think. He pulled away, smiling at me and hugged me. "I don't know your last name, by the way," I commented after a moment of comfort able silence. He chuckled. "Call. My name is Embry Stephen Call," he said," And I don't know your middle na me." "I'm Mary Grace Anderson," I stated. "Lovely," he whispered in my ear and I smiled, riding back on the motorcycle tha t he had already started. "Hey, Embry." "Yeah?" he answered. "Were you really going to kill Max today?" I whispered. I didn't like the idea o f him fighting for me. He tensed. "He hurt you," he reasoned," I couldn't just stay there doing nothing. But I cou ldn't leave you; Edward said your pressure was so low that it wasn't normal." Hi s tone was hurt. I felt the need to comfort him so I leaned on his chest. "It's okay. I'm fine. But you have to promise me one thing," I stated. "Yes?" he said, waiting for me to speak. "Please don't fight for me. I know about the imprinting thing and all but I'm no t really worth it. It wasn't that big of a deal anyways." He raised his eyebrow. " Okay, okay. It was a big deal then but it wasn't worth it. Please?" I begged. "I'm sorry." "What?" "I'm sorry, Mary, but I can't promise you that." I had to admit it, I loved bein g taken care of like that. "Okay, Embry," I said, trying to sound mad but failed miserably. " I know you're not mad," he said matter-of-factly. I chuckled. "I discovered that I'm not good at getting mad at you." He grinned. "So, do you want to go out sometime?" he asked. How could I refuse? "Sure. When?" "Tomorrow, I guess. You know what, I'll tell you tonight." There was going to be a 'tonight'! "Do you have my number?" I suddenly asked as he parked in front of my house. "No. I'll take it when I come tonight. You're going to study, right?" I nodded, frowning. "Do you think Dad would allow you in?" I asked," I mean, it's gonna be awkward."

"Why does he have to know?" he asked." I'll come to your room." I half-smiled, n ot sure if I'd have the nerve to do that. "Or we could say that I'll study with you, okay?" he asked, changing his mind immediately. "Sure, it'd be great," I whispered, kissing his tan cheek. He was about to kiss me again when I heard Al's voice call. "Hey, Mary!" Ugh. What are little brothers for again?

Chapter 3 Embry chuckled and kissed my cheek, smirking at Allen, who looked rather a combi nation of confused and disgusted. "I'll come by at 7, okay?" he asked, stroking my cheek with his warm hand. I smi led. "Sure. See you!" I waved at him, going to where Al was standing, in front of the door. "I don't like him," Al commented as we entered the house. I rolled my eyes at hi m. "You're not supposed to," I simply replied. Throwing my bag on the floor and hea ding to the living room. "Whatever, Mary. Just make sure we don't have to move, again." Ouch; that hurt. I just ignored him and got up to my room, changing into a pair of loose-fitting jeans and a white t-shirt. I decided to sleep a little before Mom and Dad came home so I'd have some energy to study. Then, before I even got to grab the covers, my stomach growled. I gro aned; I hadn't eaten anything at all but the bread stick this morning. That defi nitely helped the passing out thing. As I ate some yoghurt, the phone rang. Allen wouldn't bother to move from in fro nt of the TV anyways so I went to answer. "Hello?" I answered. "Hey, M! How're you now?" Stacey asked. "I'm fine, Stacey. How's everything going with ya?" I asked, playing with my cup of yoghurt. "Good good. How's Embry?" she asked, her tone playful. I smiled then noticed tha t Mom was unlocking the door. "Uh- Later. I have to go now." Please get the hint.

"Oh, Amelia or your dad?" she asked. "First." "Okay, then. I'll talk to you later." She hung up. I put the phone down. "Hey," Mom breathed as she kissed my cheek. "Hey, Mom." "I need to talk to you," she whispered, getting to her room. I followed her, my heart racing; I knew what this was about. "Yes, Mom?" I said, trying to sound calm. She sat on the edge of her bed and smi led at me. "You tell me," she said. I blushed and looked at the ground. "About Embry, I suppose." Awkwardness was creeping there. "So that's his name?" she asked. I could tell she was fighting a smile. "Yeah." Awkward. She sighed. "Mary, I'm really happy for you." What? I didn't tell her anything "Mom-" I tried to object but she cut me off. "I know there's something going on between you two. I'm not that stupid; I saw i t in both your eyes." It was my turn to sigh. "Okay, Mom. So what?" I asked, shrugging. "So what? Do you remember what happened last time?" No one would let me forget t hat! No one! Flashback I called him several times. No answer. I sighed; why was he ignoring me? Was he even ignoring me? Maybe he'd just forgotten his phone somewhere or he's busy. So, to be sure, I borrowed Mom's phone and dialed his numbers. He answered after two rings. "Hello?" "Max!" "Who is it?" "It's Mary, Max. What's-" That was when I heard the familiar beep. He ended the call. I fell on my bed, unable to comprehend what I had just discovered. He was avoiding me. I replayed every single moment in the past two weeks. I couldn't find one thing that I'd made that could have made him mad. I know him too well.

All I could remember was how I called after him and he didn't faze, how he just, over the night, kicked me out of his life. He..He Oh my God. I broke into tears, rocking myself as if trying to calm down. I heard knocks on the door but I didn't move. I didn't have it in me to respond. Why would it matt er? Why would anything matter anymore? I love Max. He changed a lot in me, I became a different person. I used to be a tomboy, a careless girl. All she could think about was only her schoolwork and b est friends. But he showed up, and changed it all. He taught me what 'butterflies' are. He taught me how to love. He was the reason I got up every morning and went to school. Now I have nothing to wake up to. He didn't care. But I did. I locked myself up in my room, lying on the bed, until Dad broke the door and fo und me like that. I thought he got a doctor or something but I couldn't be that sure. It didn't ma tter. Nothing mattered. "We have to move," I heard him tell Mom. Move, ummmI don't care. "If that's going to help herthen fine." "Chief Swan was very understanding; he managed to get me another job in Port Ang eles. I found a school there, too. Well, two; for Al and Mary." Move? Huh. I wish it would help. Maybe No. I would never get over him. I just know that. End of story. End Flashback "Mom, please-" she cut me off. "No, Mary. You have to listen to me!" she said sternly. "Mom! I know what you're going to tell me so just save it! Embry wouldn't do tha t to me. I just know that," I whispered the last part, tears already down my che ek. "Oh, honey. I didn't mean it that way. Just, be more careful. Don't trust just a nyone easily." I already trust him with my life Mom. "Sure. By the way, he's coming to study with me tonight at 7," I informed her, a lready coming out of the door. "Does William have to have his gun ready?" she asked playfully.

"No, Mom!" I yelled from my room. I jumped to my bed and drifted to peaceful sleep. I felt really tired. I felt someone gently shake my shoulder, I frowned. "Aloneminute," I mumbled groggily. I heard a chuckle. "I'm Embry." My eyes shot open and I found him sitting on a chair beside my bed. I sat up immediately and blushed; my hair must look horrible now. I glanced around me to find Dad standing at the door, his arms crossed over his chest. If awkwardness was visible, I would've been blinded by it. "Um- IDad?" I stuttered. "Yes?" he answered, his glare focused on Embry. I sighed. "We're going to study, so" I mumbled, trailing off. Why did they treat me like I' m incapable of dealing with people? "Okay," he said," But the door remains open." I chuckled. "Sure, Dad." I started to get up. He went downstairs. I turned to Embry," Um-I'l l be right back." I ran to the bathroom and groaned as I saw my reflection; I lo oked terrible; my hair was going everywhere and the eye-liner made my eyes look like pandas'. I should have remembered to wash my face before I slept! I quickly grabbed my make-up remover and started working on my faceand hair. Embry Call She looked so beautiful just laying there, sleeping peacefully. Even when her sm ooth hair was flowing on the pillow next to her. She looked so tired though. I wouldn't have waken her up of it wasn't for her fa ther standing in front of the door, glaring at me. I wouldn't blame him though. She ran to what I assumed was the bathroom. I couldn't understand how anyone wou ld hurt this angel. My hands turned into tight fists and I let out a low growl. This Max did. I wish ed I could rip his head off. But I couldn't Flashback Ugh; I hate getting lost. Jake was very specific with the directions. I chuckled at my sarcastic thought. Oh, here it is! I entered the parking lot on my motorcycle, scanning the place to find her. Mary. My Mary. Definitely mine. I found a group of people gathering around the entrance of the main building. Wh at was that about? Is she in there? I parked the motorcycle and shut off the engine, running to where they were all

gathering. "Mary? Mary? Are you okay?" I heard someone ask. Mary? What was wrong with Mary? Is she hurt? I pushed through the crowds, calling her name. She stood there, her face was much paler than usual, her small hands were sweati ng, trembling. She didn't look like she could be standing for long. I rushed to her side, supporting her weight. I remembered then that all the Cull ens went to school here, I even saw the Volvo in the parking lot. "Edward?" I called, praying he would be there. He came out from between the crow d, obviously hearing my call. He held her wrist, measuring her heartbeat; it wou ld've looked weird if he could tell her blood pressure without touching her wris t. "She's fainting slowly, Embry; her blood pressure is lower than anything I would consider normal. Unless she's hypotensive or something" he mumbled."I'll go get the nurse." He went inside the main building and I put Mary's passed-out body on the floor, resting her head carefully on the wall. I paid attention to my surroundings then. I saw Mary's friends; Matt, Stacey and Brad, I think. They were yelling at a guy "Isn't it enough what you've made her go through? She was just starting to get t he Hell over all of this and you just decide to show up? What are you? A piece o f ice?" Stacey yelled. So he did this to her. The son of a- Matt's words cut my thoughts off. "Get the Hell away from her, Max! Look what you've done to her!" he pointed at M ary, passed-out, her face still pale, her now-white lips were shaking. So, that's Max? I couldn't contain my rage then, my body started shaking. But I couldn't phase w ith all those people around. "So you're the one who had done this to her!" I spat, pushing him. He tried to push me back but he could've been pushing a brick wall. "And who are you to her? This is between me and her! It's none of anybody else's business!" he yelled, defending himself. "Listen, you jerk, if you EVER and I mean EVER come anywhere near her, I swear t o God I'll kill you and I'll kill you real slow!" I felt a cold hand on my shoul der then. Edward. "She needs you now."Was all he had to whisper to get my attention back to her. End Flashback She got out of the bathroom, her hair pulled up in a cute messy ponytail and her

face looked much better than this morning. "Hey," she said, rubbing the back of her neck." Talk about awkward," she mumbled , I guessed to herself. "Hey, honey." Did I just say that? Smooth, Embry. Real smooth! She blushed and looked away. "UmmI guess I should study." Her voice was barely a whisper. She leaned down to grab her book from her bag and threw it on her desk. Then, sh e jumped on her black chair, then on her desk and got another book and a noteboo k from the bookshelf she had up there. She looked down at the floor and gulped a s she held the back of the chair for support and tried to jump back at the chair but it turned around. I rushed to her and caught her before she fell on the flo or. She giggled and blushed, looking away again. I helped her back on her feet, relu ctantly though. "Sorry, I-I don't usually fall from there," she rushed through the words. "No, it's okay. I told you that's why I'm here," I whispered. She smiled. "Yeah, Mr. Bodyguard." We both laughed."Now, I really have to study. Look, I'll revise those equations," she opened the book on some numbers and letters that I couldn't get myself to look at; I hated school," And if I could answer those exe rcises in that book-" she pointed at the book she got from the bookshelf-" I'll be free tonight!" she finally concluded. "Great," I said and kissed her cheek, she blushed again," I'll stay silent." And watch your beautiful face. She nodded and got immediately to work. She looked so cute when she concentrated, wearing her eyeglasses and playing abs entmindedly with her pen. Poor pen; she bit it when she didn't know the answer. Hell, I was jealous of that pen. I think we're moving too fast. But this isn't just a girl that I met and liked. She's my imprintMy soul mate. "Yes!" She said, a little too loudly, snapping me out of my reverie. Her smile just made me smile back immediately. "Are you done?" I whispered, making sure her father wouldn't hear us. She nodded and glanced at her watch. "Mom and Dad should be gone by now; they go out together every Thursday night at 8," she said, smiling. "So, we only have Allen now, who I bet is watching TV." Her smile got even wider. I took the other chair and sat beside her. I could hea r her heartbeat lose its track. "What do you want to do?" I asked. "Umm- Uh- I don't know. Do you want to help me with the yearbook cover?" she ask ed. She worked too hard "Sure. What are you going to do?" The only thing I could really help her with is cars. Hmmshe doesn't have one, does she?

"I have to design the cover. I don't know much about Photoshop but I guess I'll just have to find out." She sighed and got out a CD from her bag," I still have to install it, you know." "Sure." She put the CD in the computer and leaned back on her chair. I leaned closer and kissed her cheek again; I could never get enough of her. Her breath hitched but she grinned widely. She did something I didn't really expect, not like I didn't like it. She leaned closer until our lips were inches apart. Then, she shook he r head and blushed. She was about to pull back when I grabbed her creamy face be tween my hands and kissed her. It got deeper, more passionate; her hands were in my hair and mine were already on her waist. I could feel myself be carried away; my hand was on the edge of her shirt. That was when she pulled away, her face tomato red. "I-uh, umWow," she stuttered. She was so cute when she stuttered. I felt embarrassed myself; I didn't want to get carried away with her. After all , I had only known her for one day. It seems like I'd known her for centuries al ready. But this was just wrong. "Yeah. Sorry I got carried away." She looked at the ground, blushing even more. It took her a moment to collect her breath. "Uh- No problem. I-I- the program is installed." She smiled." You know what, the cover can wait." I laughed lightly. We ended up on the bed, looking at her pictures when she was a baby. She had alw ays been so exquisite. Her dark brown eyes-almost black if I didn't have the sup er-vision- was always so wide and beautiful, like an angel from heaven. Her phone rang then. She hopped out of the bed and grabbed it, answering the cal l. "Hello?" she said and paused." Yes, I have her number. Why?"Another pause." Oh. Okay. I'll call her." One more pause." Love you, too. See ya." She pressed the e nd button. "What is it?" I asked then slapped myself mentally; she must think I'm rude now. Who asks about that? "It's Stacey. She was just asking about Nessie; apparently, she didn't go to sch ool today." HmmWeird." I'll call her now, 'Kay?" Was she asking for permission or something? I nodded my head anyways. "Hello, Mrs. Cullen," she started," Yes, I'm Mary. Is Nessie at home?"she asked and waited for a second."Oh, okay. I'll call her later." She ended the call with a frown on her face."She's with Jacob," she explained then shrugged," good thin g she isn't sick or anything, right?" I snorted. Sick. Yeah, right." What?" she was confused. "Nothing. Wait, what time is it now?" I suddenly asked. It was Jacob's turn to p atrol tonight. " 9:30. Why?" she sat next to me again.

"Jacob was supposed to be on patrol now." She looked even more confused," Wolf t hing," I explained. She nodded." Look, I have to go now." I hate you, Jacob Blac k! Her expression turned a littlesad? I hate you more now, Jacob, what's so important that you have to skip patrolling to be with Nessie? I rubbed the back of my neck," I'll see you tomorrow, Okay? I'll pick you up aft er school. Love you." I rushed through the words. She nodded and smiled at my ru sh. "Okay," she mumbled. I kissed her forehead and was about to exit when I realized I didn't have her number. "I don't have your number," I commented. Her eyes widened as if she realized the same thing too. "Here it is," she handed me a piece of paper with her number written on, with he r name right above it. Like I'd need that; I'd remember it was her anyways. I put it in the pocket of my jeans and rushed out, leaving a stunned young broth er at the door. Dammit! I was running full speed. Whatever. Mary Anderson This couldn't have been any more perfect. Well, it could have id he stayed longe r. But, whatever. I was getting more and more attached to him by the second. I didn't regret it th ough; I trusted him. If I could choose something now, I would choose to live my life with him. Crazy, I know. But that's just me. I got back on my computer and opened the program to start working. I couldn't he lp but remember the last time I sat there, about an hour ago. Wow. I spent another two hours on the computer and felt my eyelids become heavy; I wa s more tired than ever that day. I shut down the computer after I saved my work and got into the shower, enjoying the hot water on my skin. I changed into my pajamas and hopped into bed, turnin g on my iPod. The first song was Always by Bon Jovi. I snorted; I used to listen to that one l ong time ago. NEXT! I Believe In A Thing Called Love. Wow; some of the lyrics just fit. "Can't explain all the feelings that you're making me feel My heart's in overdrive and you're behind the steering wheel." I laughed at the

huge similarity. Embry did that to me. I kept listening; I hadn't listened to it for so long. I believe in a thing called love " Just listen to the rhythm of my heart There's a chance we could make it now We'll be rocking 'til the sun goes down I believe in a thing called love Ooh! Huh!" I smiled to myself as I drifted to peaceful sleep. "Mary, sweetie, wake up," I heard Dad say, shaking my shoulder. I opened my eyes reluctantly and yawned. "What time is it?" I asked. "It's 4:30." I groaned; it was too early." I just want to talk to you." Ohh "Dad, if it's about Embry then I am careful and I won't go into anything like 'l ast time'. Can I sleep now?" I almost begged, re-closing my eyes. He sighed. "Where does he live?" He suddenly asked. "La Push." I buried my face in the soft pillow. "What's his last name?" "Call." I got up then and turned to face him," What, Dad? Are you going to run a n investigation or something?" I asked. "Not exactly. I just need to know you're safe, sweetie." I smiled at him. "Don't worry about that." Especially that. "I'll try not to." He chuckled." Are you seeing him again soon?" "Yeah; he'll pick me up after school." I got back to bed. " Can you come here first? The two of you, I mean?" What was that about? I sat up for the second time and looked at him suspiciously. "What's that about?" I asked, narrowing my eyes. " Nothing; I just need to meet my daughter's boyfriend before he takes her out. Any objections, young lady?" he said, using his 'Dad' and 'Officer' tonestogether . "Yes, sir," I muttered sarcastically and managed to get back to sleep before he spoke about it any further. I got up again at 6:30, so I had to rush through everything but finally managed to get downstairs at 7 sharp. I'm proud! I grabbed my now-recharged cell phone and got out, missing breakfast again. I re membered to get my box of vitamins though; Stacey sent me a message telling me t hat her father recommends them. Whatever.

I walked to school but I was being slower than usual; nobody wants to pass out i n the street, right? I didn't have breakfast and my vitamins were safe in the bo x. I arrived there at 8:03am. Uh-oh; I just hope I wouldn't get a detention or anyt hing. I ran my way up the stairs to the English class to find the teacher late. I let out a sigh of relief and entered the class. "Hey," Matt greeted me," How've you been?" "I'm great. Any news?" I asked as I sat down, getting out my notebook and pen. "Not that I'd know of," he said," So, you have a boyfriend." I blushed and nodde d. He hugged me with one hand. "Good for you. Just tell me if he hurts you or an ything so I could beat him up." We both laughed. Matt and I were pretty close, e specially after he and Samantha broke up and Stacey and Bradwell, hooked up. The rest of the day passed by pretty quickly; I was looking forward to meeting E mbry. I wondered why the Cullens and Hales didn't show up today. I just hoped there wa sn't anything wrong with any of them. I ran my way downstairs, expecting to wait for Embry. But, to my surprise, he wa s there already. "Hey," I said, riding behind him and holding his waist for balance. I remembered to wear pants today. "Hey, honey." Butterflies again! Oh God. I was just glad that he couldn't see my blushing face just now; he'd seen enough yesterday." Shall we?" he asked. "Yeah, sure. But we kinda have to go home first," I mumbled. "Why?" he asked." Did you forget something?" "Umm-No. But Dad wants to talk to you," I stated directly. "Oh." Was all he said. I just hoped it would go well.

Chapter 4 He started heading towards the house on his motorcycle. Although I felt so safe around him, I couldn't help but feel afraid of what was going to happen next. Da d was going to 'talk' to Embry. I bet that wouldn't be pretty. He parked in front of the house but I didn't let go of his waist. He unwrapped m y arms gently and turned to look at me. "Hey, nothing will happen. He'd just give me the same old talk." I shuddered," I

heal fast, you know." He chuckled but it only made me grimace; Dad did have a g un. He stroked my face with his hand and then wrapped his arm around my waist. I hel d his hand that was on my waist with both of mine as we entered the house. Dad was already waiting in the living room, he got up and eyed both of us. Our s tance wasn't that impressive, not to my father anyways. "Mr. Anderson," Embry greeted him. "Hello, Embry," he greeted him back. A massive difference between their tones th ough." Come in," he gestured towards the living room. I have never seen Dad at w ork, but that's the way I'd guess he'd treat a suspect before interrogating him. We both entered the living room behind Dad." Sweetie," he called me. I went to his side. "Yes, Dad?" "Would you excuse us for a moment? I need to talk to Embry," he said. Uh-oh. "Dad-" he cut me off with pointing at the door. I huffed and got out, fore mouthing Embry a 'good luck'. I couldn't leave them alone, could ood beside the door, listening. Sorry, guys, but if this is about me, d to know it. Imprinting or no imprinting, Dad could easily scare him but not be I? So I st then I nee off.

I just hoped he wouldn't ask him a question like 'what are your intentions' or s omething. What would he say? 'We're kinda soul matesso." God. Dad began with a sigh." I guess you know by now what had happened to her the las t time she had a boyfriend or whatever." Smooth, Dad. "I don't know any details but yes." Embry was being super-formal. Good for him. "She was in a terrible condition. I think she's just too sensitive. My point: Yo u'd better not hurt her the way he did." I wished I could see both their faces t hen. "I won't, Mr. Anderson; you have my word. I won't let anything happen to her." I heard Dad sigh. "One more thing, the two of you-" I cut him off. If that's what I think it is th en he'd better stop. "Dad, you're not giving him 'the talk', are you?" I went into the room." Please say you won't," I groaned. "Mary," he said sternly," I-" Embry cut him off. "I know my boundaries, Mr. Anderson." He sounded a little annoyed. Well, who wou ldn't? "You'd better," Dad muttered. "Dad!" I whined." Can we go now?" "Okay. Where to?" he asked, looking at Embry.

"La Push," he quickly said. "Where at La Push?" Dad pushed. "My place," he answered," Where Mom is. I want to introduce Mary to Mom, that's all." I knew he would add a 'Jeeze' in his head now; I knew I would. "Fine," Dad muttered. I rolled my eyes at him; what would Embry do? Kidnap me? G od! "Come on," I mumbled, practically dragging Embry. " This is unbelievable," I mum bled as we got out of the house. "He's just taking care of you. I would've done the same," he defended him. I sto pped mid-way to the motorcycle to glare at him. He smiled and I just huffed and went to the motorcycle, leaning at it. "Come on; I have a Chemistry exam on Monday so we'd better get going so I could study later." I hopped on the motorcycle but tripped in something I couldn't rec ognize. He caught me before I fell on the floor. "I can't stand it when you're mad at me. Sorry, Mary." He apologized. I smiled. "And I don't know how I managed to stay mad at you for that long. Apology accept ed." I stuck my tongue out at him. He grinned."Embry?" I began as we were on the way. "Yeah?" " Can you tell me more about vampires?" I could feel him tense. He came to an im mediate stop. "Why?" he asked. Was it that unexpected? "I just want to know. Out of curiosity." He sighed. "What about them?" He started moving again. " What they look likewhere they arestuff like that." I was surprised myself at the courage I had to ask a question like that. But I'd grown used to the fact that he's a wolf. Well, I try to tune it out but whatever. Vampires didn't seem as re al anyways. I found it hard to believe. " The cold ones are strong, beautiful and have the 'super senses' we have, some even have special powers like mind reading and stuff," he said robotically," The y're everywhere. They don't age but they can't come out in the sun in public; th ey sparkle. I guess that's it." I could feel his discomfort talking about this s o I dropped it. " Sorry I asked," I mumbled against his back," I didn't know you don't feel comf ortable talking about them." That was stupid, I admit. I mean, they're his enemi es of course he's uncomfortable! He sighed," No, it's okay; I just didn't expect that" he mumbled, trailing off." So, what do you want to do?" he suddenly asked. "Aren't we going to your mother?" I asked, confused. "Uh- Rule number one, daughter's boyfriend never tells her father what they're a ctually doing. But we can visit Mom later." I laughed.

"How many fathers did you have to deal with?" I asked. "A lot." He seemed embarrassed. Why? I don't expect him to have no girlfriends b efore me. Actually it would've been weird. I mean, just look at the guy! "I dunno what you guys do there. Whatever you wanna do I'm fine with it." He see med to think about it for a moment. "I can show you the cliffs we cliff-dive from," he suggested. "You cliff-dive?" I asked, the awe obvious in my tone. He chuckled. "Yeah." "You so have to take me cliff-diving one time," I demanded. "No," he replied shortly. What? "Why not?" I whined. "I've seen humans jump, Mary, so I'm not allowing this." Now he really did sound like my father. One word caught my attention though. "You are human," I mumbled, leaning on his back. He sighed. "Sometimes I don't feel like I am," he said, his tone sad." But, you know, on th e up side, if I were completely human, maybe we wouldn't have found each other," he whispered gently. I smiled. "Yeah," I breathed. We got there in about half an hour. He parked on the cliffs. The scenery was more than beautiful; the cloudy sky gave the ocean a shade of da rk blue, while I could see the white waves struggle with the rocks down there. W ow. "Embry, this is-" he cut me off. "Still not as beautiful as you are." I blushed as he hugged me from the back. "Too much for my ego," I commented. We both laughed. He turned around and had to lean down to kiss me; he was about 8 inches taller t han I was. This was literally heaven. " Do you want to meet the guys? We're supposed to meet at Sam's at 4:30." He sat down on the edge of the cliff with me on his lap. "Sure." We spent the next few hours at Sam's. I found out that, for some reason, Jacob w as leaving Sam in charge of the Pack; he was travelling or something like that. I met everyone there and their imprints. I had to admit, Emily was an awesome co ok. The rest of the girls were really nice, too. There was supposed to be a bonfire next Thursday, before Rachel's, Jacob's siste r, wedding.

The rest of the day passed by pretty quickly, I didn't get the chance to meet Em bry's mother but I thought I could meet her another time. Embry, somehow, managed to convince Mom to take me to the beach on Saturday. She really was happy for me. We were sitting at the beach in comfortable silence when Embry started talking "Jacob got back yesterday." He seemed nervous about something. What could that b e? "Good. Does that mean Nessie's back, too?" I asked, he raised an eyebrow at me. "How did you know he's with her?" he asked. "Well, at the same time he was gone, she was, too. It doesn't need a rocket scie ntist to figure that out." I rolled my eyes at him. He laughed. A few seconds later, I saw him nod to someone I couldn't see. So I turned to see who it was. Jacob and Nessie. "Hey, Nessie!" I greeted her; I'd missed her, and waved at Jacob," Where were yo u the last two days?" I asked. She smiled, but I had a feeling it was forced. Hm mI wonder why. "Italy," she answered quickly. "Italy?" I repeated to myself. They just flew to Italy over the weekend? Cullens . "I need to tell you something important, Mary," she whispered. I looked at her q uestioningly. "About the vampires Embry, Jake and Quil told you about." What wou ld she want to tell me about them? I nodded, a little bit late, I realized. "What about them?" I asked. "Well, I-uh, well, um," she stuttered. I got suspicious. Did she know them? I saw Jacob whisper something in her ear as Embry squeezed my shoulder reassurin gly. What the Hell was that about? "I'm half-vampire, my family are all vampires." W-H-A-T? The blood ran away from my face, I didn't know where to because I couldn't feel my limbs either. Embry was holding me close, keeping me from falling. I had to r emind myself of his presence so I wouldn't faint. "It's okay," I heard Embry whisper in my ear. What's okay? I just found out one of my very close friends is aa vampire. "Please, don't be scared. I'm right here. I won't let anything happen to you." "Vampires?" I whispered," That's not a prank?" I asked hopefully. She shook her head. I stretched my hand to touch hers; I'd never noticed that she was cold. She wasn't. In fact, she was a little bit warm. I looked at her questioningly.

"But you're not cold. Embry told me they're called 'the cold ones'." She sighed. "That's because I'm half-vampire. I'm half-human, too," she explained. "So that's why you eat like us?" I remembered the chocolate I always saw her eat ing. "I can survive on either that or blood, but I prefer blood." I gulped and got cl oser to Embry, if that was even possible. Blood. Why wasn't I running away? Why wasn't Embry moving?"Animal blood," she corrected. What the Hell? "What?" I whispered. "My family doesn't drink human blood; we survive on animal blood instead." I loo ked at Embry who nodded reassuringly. Renesmee Cullen is a half-vampire. All the Cullens arevampires. The day passed by pretty well, we went to the cliffs afterwards. Nessie had show n me her own 'gift', too. That would take a while to get used to. And she told me that she and Jacob are gettingmarried. Like, married married. Wow. It was amazing watching the relationship between the wolves and their imprints; they were so close. Like love was filling the air. Quil's and Seth's imprints weren't like the others; they were just best friends. I wondered when Amy and Seth would finally be 'together'. I knew for sure it wa s great. Embry was more than a boyfriend to me; he was my own safe harbor, my super hero. He was always there, I knew I could rely on him, I trusted him with my life. I trusted him not to hurt me, I trusted him to never leave me, not under any circu mstances. Myths or no myths, I was deeply in love with Embry. I knew Dad would know sooner or later about Embry being 24 and he'd be mad, cons idering I told him a lot that we 'study' together. It wasn't much of a lie thoug h; I did study. But I didn't expect it to be that soon "Mary!" I heard Dad call from downstairs. What, Dad? I need to get ready for Rac hel and Paul's wedding tonight! "Yes, Dad?" I answered. "I need you here!" I rolled my eyes and got downstairs, not quite expecting what I found.

"Yeah?" I answered as soon as I entered the kitchen, where he and Mom were. She lookeddisappointed? While he was just plain angry. " Do, or don't you know how old your boyfriend is?" he asked, crossing his arms over his chest. "I know he's 24, Dad. It's no big deal," I said. "It's no big deal? The guy is eight years older than you are!" He yelled. "And why does that make a difference? You're 5 years older than Mom and I don't see a problem." I never spoke to my parents that way. I regretted every word I s aid but right then, I didn't care. "I can't trust him around you," he concluded."How do I know he's not using you?" "Dad!" I practically yelled." Embry wasn't, isn't and won't ever use me!" I defe nded him, knowing I was one-hundred percent right. " It doesn't matter," he said. What?" Because you're not seeing him again." "What?" Tears were forming in my eyes. How could he do that to me? "What you've heard, young lady," he said sternly. He wasn't going to take him away from me, never. Embry meant the world to me now . I loved Mom and Dad. But if they're taking me away from him, I would just leav e. They could control Allen of they wanted but not me. Never. I was late already, Embry was supposed to pick me up at 9. Now it was 8:45. Grea t; I have 15 minutes. I ran up to my room and locked the door behind me. I kept crying as I continued wearing the black dress I'd prepared for tonight. I put on my heels and grabbed a t-shirt and jeans; that was all I could do right then. I took out my cell phone and dialed Embry's numberI hoped he would answer. "Hello?" he answered after the first ring. "E-Embry," I stuttered, my voice hoarse from all the crying. "What's wrong?" he asked immediately. "I-I want to leave," I finally said. "What? Leave what? Mary, what the Hell is going on?" "DadLook, I just can't stay here anymore." "Mary," he breathed," Did you fight with your Dad or something?" he guessed. "Yeah," I breathed, too. "I'll be right there in two minutes; I'm on my way. Just stay where you are; don 't do anything stupid." Stupid? Now staying with you is stupid? If you only knew Embry Call

What was that about? Mary, the goodie-two-shoes, wanted to move out? I knew she was somehow crazy but not that much. God, what happened? I was already in full speed in Jake's Rabbit; I'd borrowed it. I had to go there Here I am I parked in front of the small house and got out of the car, locking it. I knock ed on the door, not expecting what to find. Her mother opened the door. She looked at me apologetically. "I don't think she could come with you tonight" she mumbled. "What's going on? Where's Mary?" I asked, confused. "Open the door!" I heard her father yell. What the Hell? What did she do to dese rve this? "NO!" She yelled back defiantly." I'm not opening the door until he comes!" I co uld hear the tears in her voice. Poor Mary. "Excuse me, Amelia." Her mother had insisted I'd call her by her first name. Wom en. She let me through, I ran upstairs passing by her brother's bedroom, which I cou ld hear music from. God, could he be more careless? "MARY GRACE ANDERSON! Open the door!" He yelled at her. I wanted to get back at him for yelling at her like that but I just couldn't. "What's wrong?" I asked for the millionth time. I just wished someone would answ er me. "Stay away from her!" he hissed at me." Go find someone your age," he added. What the Hell? "Embry?" she called through the door. "Mary!" Her father yelled at her. "NO, Dad! Look, we're a package deal, that's if you want me to stay here." I'd n ever expected her to say something like that, not to anyone, let alone her dad. He stayed silent, frozen. She opened the door, tears soaking her face. "Mary." It was my turn to speak." Let's go inside." Her face was shocked, confus ed. But she went inside her room anyways. "I will find somewhere to stay, Em. Even if I have to stay at the Cullens'," she mumbled, looking at the floor." But he can't take you away from me; you're all I have now," she whispered her last part, crying even harder. I pulled her into a tight hug. "ShhEverything's going to be just fine," I cooed." But you can't leave, Mary; the

y're your parents, your family. You don't know how lucky you are hey care about you, Mary," I whispered. I knew exactly how lucky ver even met my father, at least when I knew he was my father; I he is, and my mom doesn't even know I'm a wolf, though it's been

to have them. T she was; I'd ne don't know who about 7 years.

"I know they do," she whined," But I can't let him come between us. Never. Embry ?" "Yeah?" "You're the only good thing that had happened to me in a very long time, I can't just leave you." It hurt me terribly to hear those words and not be able to res pond. Were we in a different situation, I would've leaned down and kissed her un til she can't breathe. "We'll find a way, we'll talk to him. I promise you, Mary, I would never let any one come between us." "I know," she whispered against my chest. I couldn't imagine my life without Mary. It was like my life before her was a li fe of loss, when I found her, I found light, I found beauty. I found my soul mate. He wouldn't take her away from me. We'll talk our way out of this, right? I couldn't support her in her decision, though it would've been better for me; I 'd see her much more. But I can't do this to her, I can't take her family away f rom her. I can't just deprive her of the happiness that I'd never found. "Let's go to the wedding now, shall we? We're late, you know," I muttered, strok ing her hair. "Come on," she answered." Dad?" He was still stunned; he only kept glaring. "Yes?" "I'm going to the wedding now, I'll come before 12," she whispered." Please thin k about what I'd told you," she begged," because I really, really don't want to move out." Poor Mary; and she's also meeting the vamps tonight. Who knows what's going to happen next?

Chapter 5 Meeting the Cullens went well. Now I still have one tiny little problem. Dad.

I calmed down a lot, mainly because of Embry's presence. Now I feel guilty for w hat I'd done. I'd never spoken to my parents like that. "I'll talk to him tomorrow, okay?" Embry said on our way to my house. I nodded. "Thanks, Embry," I breathed but he would hear. He smiled. "My pleasure." I could feel he meant every letter. I let out a small smile. Then I remembered something. "There's this party tomorrow," I said, he frowned in concentration," I'm going t here with the guys from school, do you want to come? I don't think Hamilton woul d object." Bryan Hamilton's party of the year was going to be tomorrow. He shrug ged. "When?" he asked as we got closer to the house. "9pm," I informed him, now thinking about what I would wear. It's not like it ma ttered that much beforeBut now it does. "I'll pick you up at 8:30 and you'd tell me where to, okay?" he offered. I nodde d. "Sure," I said. "Here we are," he announced as he stopped in front of the house," Take care." He kissed my forehead and I blushed," And please calm down," he added. I nodded. "I'll do my best. Promise," I said, trying to smile but it turned out more of a grimace. "Love you!" he yelled after me as I got out. I giggled. "Love you, too," I said, waving him goodbye. The porch light was lit. They were still awake. I knocked and Dad opened before I could blink. "Well, I'm back," I mumbled as I got in," See? No harm done," my tone was dark. How could he think that way of Embry? He sighed. "Mary," he started as we entered the living room, I kicked off my heels first th ing; they were killing me," I did that for your sake; I want you to be safe," he reasoned. I held my breath for a second to avoid crying. "Don't you trust me?" I asked," Or my judgment?" He sat down beside me. "I do trust you, but, honey, I've seen things happen," his voice was restrained. "Then, trust me, Embry would die before anything happens to me." I know that mor e than anyone. He rolled his eyes. "Sweetie, you're sixteen, I know, but I'd never thought you'd fall for such talk ," he said. I laughed mentally. I wanted to tell him that he imprinted on me, th at we're meant to be but I didn't know how to explain that to him without blowin g the secret I was bound to keep. "Can I reach some kind of compromise with you?" I asked, hopeful. He raised an e

yebrow at me. "How so?" he asked, suspicious. "Embry would always be with me somewhere public or with parental supervision or whatever, just don't keep us from seeing each other," I was begging, not comprom ising. He thought about that for a moment. "Okay," he agreed. I wanted to squeal, to jump, but, instead, I hugged him. "Thank you," I whispered," You don't know how much this means to me." Really, yo u don't."I can still go to the party tomorrow, right?" I asked. "'Bryan Hamilton's?" he asked. I nodded. "I told you I would think about it," he started," No," he said with finality. I pouted. "But-" he cut me off. "No buts! The kid has a record," he said. I sighed. "Okay. Can I go to La Push, then?" I asked. "You both can stay here," he suggested," Don't push your luck." I wanted to obje ct but thought against it. "Is Mom asleep?" I asked, not really caring about Allen. It's not like he cared when the whole argument happened. Dad nodded." Okay. I'll be in my room," I stat ed and got upstairs, snatching my heels on my hands. I threw them as soon as I e ntered the room and changed into my pajamas. I jumped on the bed and let out a h uge sigh. I felt my muscles relax as I laid on the comfy bed. I decided that I d idn't want to sleep just yet so I texted Embry. Hey =) I talked to Dad. He's better. No party tomorrow btw. Come at my place? I turned on my iPod and listened to some Rihanna songs as I waited. My phone vib rated while I was listening to the third song, Hypnotized. Told you =P 7 is fine? Miss you already. I rolled my eyes and kept listening to the rest of the song before I texted him back. I loved its lyrics, especially now. I'm feelin somethin that I can't understand It's like I'm captured by the touch of your hand It's your vibe It's your style It's the way that you smile Get a little rush when I hear your name It's so magnetic when you're here next to me Pullin' me closer happens so naturally We connect It's electric This feelin' inside Couldn't hold it back even if I tried God. I started texting

Great. Miss You too. What are you doing? My credit was going to end, soon, but whatever; I was texting Embry. I couldn't care less. By the time I finished the song, he texted me back. Watchin' CSI, wbu? I started writing again Was listening to Hypnotized *hint**hint* =P Look I gotta sleep nw. C u tom. HypnotizedI surely was. Lol. Sleep Tight xD I sighed. I didn't have any idea how my relationship with Embry would continue. Frankly, I didn't care much about the hows; I just cared about the result: I wou ld be with Embry Call. My superhero. I felt like a little girl, crushing over the guy next door and waiting for him t o come. I wouldn't trade that for anything though, even if I'm friends with vamp ires and is a werewolf's girlfriend. I don't care. Embry has changed a lot in me, he taught me what true love is, he taught me this feeling of security and safety, he taught me what it feels like to trust someon e so much, he taught mea lot. Like I needed any more reasons to love him. His brown eyes were mesmerizing. I don't care if that's because of all this magi c and myths. And his hairGod, his hair. I sighed again and forced myself to sleep; if I thought about him more I wouldn' t be able to sleep at all. I woke up next morning on my mother's voice, which I hadn't quite expected. "Mary?" she called. I nodded groggily for her to keep talking," It's 1pm already . Get. Up!" she said, her voice cheerful. "'Kay, Mom, just one minute," I mumbled. She stroked my hair. "Okay, honey, just get up before William comes back from work and finds you asle ep." I could hear her exit the room and close the door behind her. I got up and rubbed my eyes then groaned; remembering that I hadn't washed my make-up from la st night. I must look terrible now. I washed my face then used the make-up remover that I'd been using for a while n ow. Then, I stepped into the shower and let every single ounce of stress that I had from yesterday disappear. I got out and dressed up in a pair of jeans and a red pullover; it was pretty co ld. Then I combed my hair and dried it, leaving it down on my shoulders. I notic ed that it came about three inches after my shoulder line. I needed to cut it; I hated it too long, it bothered me.

I turned on my computer and waited for it to open as I ran downstairs and began preparing my breakfast; Mom was busy tutoring Allen. After eating, I got back upstairs to find the computer had finally finished load ing. I signed in into my e-mail account and began checking the Online list, want ing to kill the time before Embry comes at 7. I scanned through them until I fou nd her. Couldn't you find any longer name, Stacey? I rolled my eyes and double clicked o n her name and the chat window appeared. JustMary: hey sweetie : hey M. h r u? JustMary: gd gd wbu : same as usual. Hows ur bo? JustMary: *sigh* dad is debating whether to kill him by hand or gun *rolls eyes* seriously, he cant stand him since he knew how old he really is. I only told Stacey about this; I needed to tell someone. Wolf secret remained sa fe though. : OMG! Wt dd u do? JustMary: sorta compromised. Parental supervision and stuff like tht. : Aw! Im sorry hon. Good luck doing THAT. JustMary: I don't mind tht muchReally don't wanna knw wt u n Brad do *shudders* : Idiot; it's nt like tht. Anywho I gtg nw JustMary: *still shudders* kk c u : Still an idiot *sticks her tongue out* bye! I laughed and closed the chat window, spending the next hour checking out my Fac ebook account. "Mary!" I heard Mom call from downstairs," Grey's Anatomy is on, wanna watch?" I loved med-shows. "Coming!" I yelled and signed out of my accounts, heading downstairs. 6:59I couldn't wait for him to come. I began counting seconds .3, 21 The bell rang. I hopped out of my seat and stormed to the door, opening it with a massive grin on my face, and there he stood, smiling softly as he kissed my fo rehead. "Hey, sweetie," he said," Any better?" he asked, removing the strand of my hair that was on my face and putting it behind my ear, my heart thudded hardly in my chest and I blushed.

"Yeah," I breathed and got on my tiptoes to kiss his cheek." Come in," I said, g esturing for him to come inside and he did, knocking my breath out with his arm wrapped around my shoulder. "Hello, Embry," Mom greeted him, smiling politely. Apparently, dad was the one b ehind yesterday's little argument. "Hello, Amelia," he greeted her, smiling and taking his eyes off me for the shor test second. I held his hand and dragged him to the living room; Dad said that m y room was off limits. He stayed upstairs, refusing to see him then. He was just beingwell, dad. "So," he started, sitting beside me on the couch," What were you watching?"he as ked. "First was Grey's Anatomy, then ER, then I just let Mom watch this movie," I kep t trying to remember its name," Oh yeah, A Walk To Remember." I just wasn't the type for romantic movies. He chuckled. "You like med-shows a lot, don't you?" I rolled my eyes. "Yeah," I said, then I looked up at him," Being a doctor was on my wish-list whe n I was little," I stated truthfully. I always imagined myself working at a hosp ital, helping people. "Why did you give it up, then?" he asked, curious. I grimaced. "It's just, well, I discovered that it's too much work," I said, rather playfull y; that wasn't the real reason. He chuckled. "Really?" he asked," Because you don't seem like the type of person who'd back o ut just because of more work." He knew me too well. And we haven't been together for a long time. I sighed," I don't think I can make it, you know?" I broke eye-contact," A lot o f 'doctors' graduate every year and, well, they're not all good." I hated doing something less than perfect. Especially if it's something I love. He took my face in his hands and forced me to look at him. "Don't think that way; you're amazing. I'm sure you'd be an awesome doctor," he smiled proudly. I rolled my eyes. "You're just biased," I commented, smiling. He grinned. "No, you're perfect." "That proves my point further," I said. "See? You'd make a great doc." I laughed. "You're weird, Em." He smiled. "I know." We kept on chatting like that for the next hour, then Dad made his appearance. "Hello," he said, entering the living room. We both tensed, especially Embry. I don't blame him.

"Hey," I said as Embry said his 'Hello'. Dad came by my side and put a hand on m y shoulder. "Allen needs someone to explain a grammar rule to him, could you go?" he asked. I knew right then that it wasn't about Al; he wanted to talk to Embry. But I dec ided to play along. "It's grammar! What's so hard?" I asked rhetorically as I got out of the room an d Dad closed the door, killing any chances for me to hear their conversation. I sighed and got up to Al's room. Turns out that he didn't need anything and that I was right. I chuckled to myself, a little nervous about this conversation. I went to my room and closed the door, turning on the one song that I decided re minded me of Embry; Hypnotized. I didn't realize that I fell asleep until I felt a hand shake my shoulder. "Wake up, honey. It's 12am. Change and go back to sleep," Mom suggested. I got u p immediately. "What? 12?" I said, removing the iPod headphones from my ears."Where's Embry?" I asked and yawned hugely. "He left about half an hour after you fell asleep," she said. I sighed; I couldn 't believe I missed that. "Fine." I got up and changed as Mom went downstairs. Then I decided to call Embr y. I waited for him to answer but he didn't. Maybe he was on patrol or something. B ut he told me it wasn't his turn tonight A few seconds later, I received a text message that made my heart miss a few bea ts. I can't come tomorrow. I need some time alone. Sorry. Will call later. Dunno whe n tho. ~Embry. No! No, no, no, no! I knew this wasn't normal; Embry always came, even if he had patrolling to do, even when their Alpha was in Italy, even if the world revolve d the other way he always came. This wasn't happening! Not again!

Chapter 6 Matthew Davis [Matt] Finally the exams were over. And partying was actually the best way to finish th em; Hamilton's party was tonightas in now.

I was the DJ, well, just for a couple of songs or something then I would give it back to Bryan or Brad. I kept switching between songs and everyone just kept dancing and having funthe k ind of fun that would probably end with a police cruiser. But, whatever. I settled on Low and Brad and Stacey had the spotlight on that one, moving with the beat. I kept humming the familiar lyrics and moving my head with the beat un til I was tired; it was 1am already and I had been there since 9. I cheered for Brad and Stacey, "That was awesome!" I commented using the microph one I had access to," Now everybody cheer for the one and onlyBryan Hamilton." I wasn't in any way staying there for one minute. They cheered and waited for Hami lton to come up where I am and take the lead. I smirked as he glared at me, leav ing the bar and continuing what I was doing. I left the 'stage' or whatever and went outside by the pool, relaxing as the fre sh, cold air hit me. "Hey, dude," David, one on our football team, said. I would've bet he was drunkok ay, maybe half-drunk. I gave him that much. "Hey," I replied, leaning on the wall. He came and got what looked like a cigar out of his pocket. "Check this out," he said, grinning. I took it in my hand and flipped it on both sides, waiting for him to say something but he didn't. "A cigar? So?" I have smoked before. I didn't like it that much, frankly speakin g, but it wasn't such a big deal. "'So?'" He quoted, looking at me like an idiot." That came straight from Cuba. A vanilla cigar which people would beg for. And you're saying 'so'?" he snorted. I chuckled at his exaggeration and took it. "Well, I guess I'll see what people 'beg' for," I mumbled as he lit it for me." Thanks, man," I said before I inhaled. He smiled and turned the other way, going to someone else. As soon as he turned his back, I coughed, getting out the toba cco mixed with vanilla that I'd been taking in. It didn't taste that good at all , for me at least. So I just threw it on the ground and stepped on it, leaning b ack on the wall. I got out my phone and dialed Mary's number; the girl said she would come tonigh t. Where was she? She answered immediately. "Embry?" she whispered. I frowned; why was she expecting him to call? I mean, we ren't they, like, together now? "No, it's Matt. Where are you?" I asked casually, though the whole situation fel t awfully familiar to me. Ohthat's what happened the night Samantha, my ex, broke up with me. The roles were switched though. She sighed," Home," she whispered, her voice breaking as if she was resisting te ars. "What's wrong?" I asked, concerned. What could've happened?

She broke into tears," I don't know, Matt, I wish I do," she managed to say. "Whoa, whoa! Calm down! What happened?" I pushed, slightly guessing where this w as heading towards. "Hewon'tcome," she panted. Huh? "What?" I asked," Look, does your dad have a night shift tonight?" I asked, reme mbering that she'd told me before that he takes double shifts sometimes. "Yeah," she breathed," Why?" she asked. "What do you say, I come get you and you can tell me all about this?" I offered. I owed her more that that; Mary was actually the one who helped me get over the whole Samantha issue. Plus, I had promised before that I would be there when sh e needed me like she had been right by my side when I needed her. She was my bes t friend. "Are you nuts?" she asked," Oh, wait, you are." She paused," Dad would kill me i f he knew," she said. "Why would he? He would go home at 5, right?" I asked. "Yeah," it sounded more like a question. I rolled my eyes. "It's 1:15 now, I'd get you back home before he's anywhere near it, promise," I said, already worried about her. She sighed ,"'Kay. I'll be at the corner in 10," she said, slightly distracted." See you," she said. "See you," I said to the now-dead cell phone. I stuck it back in the pocket of m y dark blue jeans and got out the keys to my Nissan, going inside to find Brad. There he was. I nudged his shoulder and he turned around, reluctantly leaving Stacey's side. H e looked at me questioningly, giving me that 'that-better-be-important' look. "Just make sure you end up sober enough to drive; I'm leaving," I announced and turned my back to them he grabbed my shoulder. "Why?" he asked suspiciously. I didn't want to tell them, honestly; they might g et worried. Besides, I didn't want anyone to know about this and tell her father . "I'm tired." No lie there; I was. He raised an eyebrow at me then shrugged. "Okay, I guess. See you tomorrow," he waved me goodbye and I turned it back, get ting out of there. The road to Mary's street was short; only five minutes away so I waited for her at the corner as she told me she'd go. I wondered what was wrong with her. Did he leave her? Is that possible? I mean, just the way he looked at her didn't suggest in any way that their relationship was going to end after only one week. He used to get her from school every day, call at Lunch to check up on her, take her out on weekend.This is just unexpected .

Naw; that couldn't be it. But, then, what happened? I was snapped out of my reverie with her knocking on my window. I opened it and eyed her tear-soaked face. The one I hadn't seen since last time Max visited. Oh , that was only a week ago. It seemed like forever. "Hey." I tried to smile but not the cruelest demon could do that when just looki ng at her heart-broken expression. She tried to smile back, I think, but it turned out more like a grimace. "Well, come in," I offered, unlocking the other door with my master lock. She sh ook her head. "I don't want to be late. We can walk around here if you don't mind?" she offere d, zipping her sweater to her neck. I rolled my eyes. "Come on; it's cold," I tried to reason but she shook I knew that asking her again would just end up in her home. Just the old typical Mary Anderson. I closed my from the backseat and got out of the car, locking it. llowed there. her head again. I sighed; insisting or getting back window, grabbed my jacket I hoped that parking was a

She started walking towards the end of the street and I kept with her slow pace for a moment before I spoke. "So," I started," Tell me what happened," I demanded. She started crying, again. "He left. I don't know if it was Dad or just me. I mean, it's the second time th at happens with methere must be some kind of a reason for this. But then I don't know what I did for him to react like thatIf I only knew-" she kept babbling do I cut her off. "Left? Did he just break up with you or what?" I pushed. She stopped and started sobbing instead of justwell, crying. A couple of seconds later she got out her c ell phone and opened a message that I read. "So? Maybe he really needs some time alone," I concluded. Why was she reacting t hat way? She shook her head," N-NoH-He always comes," she panted, sobbing even harder," HHe does-doesn't a-answer his p-phone." I pulled her into a hug and she kept sobb ing, her breath becoming more and more rigid. That was when I patted her back; s he needed to calm down. "ShhI'm sure this is nothing," I cooed, truthfully. I mean, the guy said he neede d some time alone and that he'd call later. Why did she think he left? "No!" she whisper-yelled, probably unable to get any more voice out of her, and sobbed even harder, if that was possible. I could feel her hands tremble on my b ack." He im-" I waited for her to continue but I felt her body become heavier an d she collapsed in my hands, almost causing both of us to fall on the ground. I just stared at her for a moment. Wow; she fainted. What to do now?

When people faint they get them to the hospital, right? Right. But I had to try once before I carried her to my car; okay, so I was stronger th an a normal guy; being on the football team and such, but just not that strong. "Mary? Mary, can you hear me?" I stroked her cheek. No response. Of course! I, somehow, managed to get her to the Nissan. We weren't that far away after all . I opened the back door and laid her body in, sighing heavily as I did. I slipp ed quickly into my front seat and turned the key in the ignition, speeding my wa y to the hospital. I knew Dr. Brooke, Stacey's father would be there. Brad told me that he had to c onvince him to take his daughter to the party while he's out. I didn't get his p oint though, Dr. Brooke I mean. I left her in the car and rushed inside, calling for anybody to go out and get h er. I accompanied them as they took her on a white bed. I followed them inside a nd went directly to the 'reception' or whatever. I was met by a nurse. "Hello, how may I help you?" How do you think? "Is Dr. Brooke here?" I asked. I had to get someone I knew; I wouldn't be able t o do anything if they asked me about anything there. "Yes," she answered and got back to her paper work. Seriously! Did I come here t o ask whether or not he was there? "Can you call him?" I asked, she looked at me suspiciously. "And you are?" I rolled my eyes. "Matthew Davis, his daughter's friend. Just call him or page him or whatever you do!" I was getting impatient. Normally, a person wouldn't be in the best mood a t 2am with his friend somewhere he doesn't know at the hospital, knocked out and a nurse was just being so very annoying. "Why do you want Dr. Brooke?" I glared at her. If Stacey wasn't at the party, he r phone probably somewhere she can't hear, I would've asked for her father's num ber. "Just call him already!" I yelled. "Matt?" I heard a familiar voice call. I turned around to find Dr. Brooke standi ng with a file in his hand, which he put on the counter and turned to face me. I sighed in relief." Is everything okay?" he asked," Where's Stacey?" I shook my head. "She's fine, probably still at the party or heading home," I answered, relaxing just a little bit." It's Mary," I informed. He frowned. " Is she okay?" What do hospitals do to people? I'm here, asking for a doctor, a t 2am and telling him that Mary's the problem. How could she be okay? "No," I answered simply," I just got her here, knocked out. They took her somewh ere but I don't know where," I said truthfully. He nodded in understanding, moti

oning for me to follow him to what I realized later was the ER. I followed him. " Was she drunk?" he asked professionally. "No; she wasn't at the party in the first place." That was when he returned Stac ey's father, not the doctor. "Then, why was she with you?" he asked curiously. Damn! How couldn't I think of it? Now she's in trouble. I sighed knowing that I couldn't have left her without getting her here. It was my fault. "She needed to talk about some stuff, we were walking in the street." I was too young to be shot by Officer Anderson. Seriously. He nodded," Wait here and I'll be right back," he said. I nodded and waited as h e went deeper into the ER while I was just in the front. I crossed my arms over my chest and waited then I decided that I should call her father. We were in tro uble anyways so I'd better call him myself instead of Dr. Brooke or the hospital . My family was out of town for the weekend anyways so I didn't need to make the m worried. I pulled out my cell phone then remembered I didn't have her father's number and he was at work. Before I could think of anything else, I felt Dr. Brooke's hand on my shoulder. I turned around and looked at him questioningly. "She's fine now. Apparently, there wasn't enough oxygen for her brain, and being hypotensive, she fainted. How did that happen?" he asked. What did he think? "She was crying, well, sobbing actually," I explained and he nodded. "I'm going to call William." He left and I sighed, going inside, scanning with m y eyes until I found her, sitting up and taking off some kind of a mask. She let out a small smile when she saw me. "Sorry," she whisper-apologized. I smiled back at her. "Better?" I asked. She nodded." Were you even supposed to take that off?" I aske d. She rolled her eyes. "It's okay," she reassured me. "Your father is going to be here in-" Dr. Brooke cut me off. "Ten minutes tops." She gulped and grimaced. "My funeral," she concluded. I laughed along with Dr. Brooke. "He's more worried than anything now." Yeah, I bet that what you are when your f riend calls saying that your daughter is in the ER with one of her guy friends, who actually got her there, while you think she's safe at home. About 15 minutes later I heard someone call her name. But it wasn't her dad. It was her boyfriend. Embry Call I didn't want to leave the Anderson residence. But she was asleep, how would I s

tay longer? Especially with her father around. I knew about the compromise he had with Mary and I didn't mind it one bit; I wou ld be able to see her. He told me to take care of her, to promise to never hurt her, physically or emotionally, to never use her, to never force her into anythi ng. I wanted to laugh at him; I would never do any of that. But I couldn't blame him; I would have done exactly the same if she was my daughter. Thank God she i sn't. The way home was just as long as ever. About half an hour, I guess. I didn't hav e patrol tonight so I didn't need to worry about the hour that much. I parked in front of our little house (Mom and I) and noticed that the light was still lit, and it was 11pm. What was Mom doing this late? I walked in and called for her and she came out of the kitchen, her glare sugges ting that she would kill me if I wasn't just about one-thousand times stronger a nd taller than her. "It's 11pm," she said. Yeah, and? So what? "Yeah?" I was heading to my room when she stood in front of me, blocking my way. "Don't you think I don't know what's going on!" She yelled. I sighed then I froz e. She knew about the wolf thing? "What's going on?" I asked cautiously. "You're barely ever home and most of the time, you're not in your room at night, " she accused, frowning. I let out a sigh of relief. "Again, yeah?" I said. She set her lips into a hard line. "What do you do every night outside the house?" she asked then sighed," Tell me if you're, I don't know, having problems or anything." I snorted; yeah, right. No, Mom. I'm completely fine. I just go out every night and either turn into a g iant wolf and patrol around La Push, or just go check on, I don't know, my soul mate? "No; no problems," I replied simply. She frowned. "Then what do you do?" she pushed. "Nothing, mom. Nothing at all," I lied, looking at the ceiling. I felt like a li ttle kid again, getting all guilty for lying. She knew me just a little bit bett er than to believe me. But I didn't expect what she was going to say. I mean, we had been having a similar conversation every year or something ever since I pha sed the first time. "Your father wouldn't have been proud if he was here." Oh, no, we're not playing this game. "I don't even know who my father is," I snapped and her eyes widened. I could he ar her heart beat unevenly. "W-What do you mean?" she asked. I balled my hands into tight fists, fighting th e urge to phase right there and then. "We both know that my father isn't from Mekkah reservation. He's not the man you told me he is," I finally confronted her after about 7 years of knowing.

Unlike what I expected, she didn't deny it. "How did you know?" she asked, whispering. I began shaking. "I just do," I replied. "How did you know, Embry?" she pushed. I was shaking even harder. I decided to t ell her everything then. The elders wouldn't be very happy about it but I couldn 't care less. "Because seven years ago I turned into a freaking werewolf! That's how!" I snapp ed and her eyes widened even more. "A what? Embry, what are you saying?" she asked, confused. I sighed, my anger is n't an inch less. "Didn't you hear the legends? The ones about the werewolves and the cold ones? W ell, they're all true and I can morph into a giant horse-sized wolf because I'm a 'direct descendant'. My father is definitely not from another reservation." I hoped she would understand; I wasn't really in the mood to explain the legends t o her. She gulped and just stared into nothing at all for a moment and I was getting im patient; I wanted to get the Hell out of there; the tension was too much for me to bear. But since it was the moment of truth, I wanted to know the answer to th e question that the whole Pack was wondering about for seven very long years. "Mom," I started, trying my best not to yell. She looked at me with teary eyes w hich made me regret opening the subject in the first place, but I had crossed ha lf the way already," Who is my father?" I asked, closing my eyes and waiting for her response. "Embry," she breathed, her voice breaking. "I would know sooner or later, just please tell me," I begged, my hand hurting f rom the strength of my fist. All she said was one word that made me relax a little, frankly speaking, but, at the same time, it hurt to know the truth, though I had known I would have to fa ce it one day. "Uley." Oh, thank God. "Thanks, Mom," I mumbled as I went out of the door again, not even caring to get my cell phone with me. I ran into the woods, letting out all the stress and anger I had been holding fo r the past couple of minutes as I took off my clothes and morphed into my other self- the gray wolf. I didn't know that finally knowing the truth would hurt that much. Only then I r ealized that living in the dark for 24 years was better, that it was painful to finally know who my father really was. I couldn't deny anything now. I couldn't blame it on anything. I kept running through the trees until I began hearing voices in my head. Damn! I forgot about that! What's wrong? Jacob asked- yesterday Seth and now you. What happened?

For how many years would you hold that on me, Jake? I said I was sorry and every thing'sbetter now- Seth thought. I replayed what happened in my head and I could sense their scrambled thoughts. It gave me a 'wolfy headache' as we called it. You told her.- Quil wasn't asking. Yeah. It's better that way, right?-Seth thought. I mentally snorted. I just need some time alone, please. I don't know how much time; I just need to run; it's easier to deal with the pain like that, you know? I do know that part, but what about Mary? You can't just disappear- Jake thought . Yeah, Mary. I haven't considered that, have I? I can't go anywhere that far from her; she's like gravity to me. Yeah, yeah, yeah. We all know that. What will you do?-Quil thought. My cell is at home, send her a text message saying that I would call later and t hat I can't go tomorrow. Don't specify time 'cause I don't know. Maybe I'd just run around PA or something. I can't be any farther than that. Will do. Take care- Quil thought. Who should tell Sam?- Seth asked. Anyone. I don't care right now. That was when I ran even faster towards Port Angeles, where my Mary would be. It was much easier to deal with human feelings when you're a wolf; everything is m uch simpler. Only now I knew what Jake felt during that time before Bella's wedd ing. I didn't care if I'd stay in this form for hours, days, or even years. I'd still keep an eye on Mary, right? But I knew she wouldn't be seeing me, and I couldn' t put her through that. I had to go back. Soon, I know. Very soon. Maybe an hour or two? Those 'hour or two' passed pretty quickly and I decided to go silently check on her. I was behind the house in no time, thanks to my super speed. The light in h er room was lit. Weird; it must be at least 1am. Maybe she just woke up or somet hing. But, then, I heard her voice. "Embry?" she whispered and I literally froze. How did she know I was there? I got closer to the house to be able to hear well. I heard her soft voice again, strangled though. What's wrong? "Home," she mumbled. Then I realized she must be either speaking on the phone or talking in her sleep. Relief rushed through me and I howled, stepping back into

the trees. I didn't know I would miss someone's voice that much. I mean, technically, it ha dn't been a long time since I saw her but it seemed like forever. I didn't want to waste one more minute. However. I needed to get home. I knew Mom would be asleep by now; she didn't wait for me for seven years and she wasn't going to start tonight. Especially tonight. I hoped Sam would take the news well. After all, that was what we hoped for, rig ht? Good thing he didn't turn out to be Billy or something. That would've been a pro blem. It took me another half an hour to get to the Rez; I was taking my time, excludi ng any chances that Mom would be awake. The lights weren't lit so I knew that sh e wasn't. Thank God. I phased back and untied my clothes from my wrist just to slid them back on me b efore I entered the house. As I got in and lit the living room, I noticed my cel l phone flashing, announcing that I either had missed calls or messages. It wasn 't that smart to put different 'flashes' to each kind of alerts or something. I picked it up and checked it. I had about 5 missed calls from Mary. Weird. Why would she call that late? She'd probably text me or anything. And what was so ur gent that she called me five times? Before I had the chance to call her back or even text her, my phone went off. Bu t it wasn't Mary this time; just a number I didn't recognize. I answered anyways . "Hello?" "You took her to the party, didn't you?" Huh? "Who is it?" I asked, already guessing," Oh, hello, Mr. Anderson." Then it sank in. Took who? Where? The party? What? "Just answer me," he was getting impatient," I told you to take care of her." Ok ay, I don't get anything now. "What happened?" I asked. He paused for a second. "Don't you know?" he asked, apparently surprised." Dr. Brooke just called saying that Mary was in the hospital. I don't know what happened yet but I thought you were with her." I froze. What? She was in her room not 40 minutes ago. What cou ld've happened to her? Was she okay? Why did he assume- he cut my thoughts off." You'd better not have anything to do with this." That's when I heard the familia r beep. He hung up on me. I quickly grabbed my keys and my phone and sprinted outside, not caring to lock the door behind me; what could happen here? I didn't care if anything could thou gh. Did she have some sort of an accident? Did she fall or something? Hurt herselfNo, she wouldn't do that, would she?

Did she faint? God. What happened? I was on xtremely I would hour to autopilot as I drove to the hospital, way over the speed limit. I was e worried about her. I didn't care if I get a ticket or crash into a car; probably walk out of it unharmed, or in worst cases, take about half an heal. The result would be one though- I would go to Mary.

I didn't think it took me more than fifteen minutes on the high way to get there . I left my motorcycle in front of the door, not really caring if it was legal o r not, and hurried through the automatic door, bursting into someone who looked like a doctor. "Sorry. Where's the ER?" I asked. Mary would be there, right? I mean, where else ? I hoped she wasn't somewhere else; the ER was more than enough. She looked at me, her eyes screaming 'idiot'. I didn't care. "This way," she said, pointing at a door with a huge 'ER' written on it. I felt stupid, honestly, but, again, I didn't care. I ran towards the door, which, by slamming into it, I knew it wasn't automatic l ike the first one. I began looking for her until I saw a glimpse of the mahogany hair of the person I adore. Mary. I called her name loudly as I hurried towards her, noticing her friend, Matt, st anding beside her. I wondered for a second if he had anything to do with this bu t decided to save that for later. I slowed my pace as I came closer and heard th e one sound I didn't want to hear. The only thing I hated the most at the moment . I heard her cry.

Chapter 7 Mary Grace Anderson I liked how it felt like to faint, to lose that annoying consciousness and aware ness of what was really going on. I loved to feel carefree, to restore one of th e feelings I used to feel around my...well, Embry. I could think about him, righ t? Embry. His name was like magic to me. Though only now I felt like it was much heavier; I couldn't have him like I used to. Used to.

I couldn't believe I was about to tell Matt about the whole imprinting thing. I thanked God I didn't. But, could it be what Matt said? That he only needed some time? That we weren't over just yet? But he always comes, or at least calls. I hated reality more than anything now because, A, Embry left. B, I'm in HUGE trouble. C, The previous combined. I was about to hop down the bed when I heard someone call my name. I knew this v oice too well. The only voice I loved to hear my name in. Embry's voice. I felt a fresh wave of tears rush through me as I remembered his voice. He could n't have been here, in the hospital, right? I had to calm myself down; I didn't want to stay here for much longer; I wanted to go home and sleep, restore that feeling I missed. I just hoped I wouldn't hav e nightmares. "Mary," Embry's voice said again but in recognition this time. I didn't move an inch, hoping to hear his voice just one more time..."Mary, honey, look at me." T hat was when I felt his super-warm, massive hand touch my cheek. I gasped and lo oked at my left to find him actually there, sitting right beside me, in the hosp ital. Everything just didn't make any more sense."Are you okay? What happened?" he asked, frantic. I just kept staring at him, unable to comprehend anything now . He frowned and turned his head to Matt, who was standing not a foot away. He c ame closer and bent down to my eye-level. "He's really here," he reassured with a smile," Just answer before he thinks you can't talk any more." "Embry," I finally spoke, a smile creeping on my face. He sighed and Matt steppe d back, a triumphant smile on his face. "What happened?" he repeated and I suddenly felt ashamed of myself; he didn't le ave, did he? Why else would he be here? I could feel my cheeks get hotter. "I..." I paused, looking for an explanation," fainted." I simply said. He frowne d again. "Why?" he pushed. I grimaced and looked at Matt for support but I was surprised he wasn't there, and neither was Dr. Brooke, to think about it. Great; I had to deal with this all by myself. "I-I was crying," I, again, kept my reply simple. He ran his hand through my hai r and kissed my forehead. I relaxed for a second, thinking he wouldn't ask for a reason but I was wrong because the next thing he said was... "Who made you cry?" he asked, only to make it harder for me to explain; what wou ld I say? 'You'? Apparently, that was what I said.

He looked extremely shocked, confused and...hurt. I wanted to slap myself for do ing this to him. "What did I do?" he asked, his voice came out merely a whisper,"Tell me what I d id to make you cry, I promise, Mary, I would never-" I cut him off, my breath he avier from all the pressure. I leaned back on the bed. "You didn't do anything. I was just being stupid." I avoided eye-contact, playin g with the edge of my sleeve. He stayed silent for a moment. I hated this silenc e; it was uncomfortable. "No, there has to be a reason," he said, probably more to himself,"Just tell me what I did wrong. I wouldn't get upset, I promise." I let out a tear I didn't re alize I was holding. He wiped it away before it even reached my chin." Please," he begged. I just hugged him. "Promise you wouldn't get upset?" I asked. He nodded in my shoulder. I liked it better this way; I wouldn't have to see his face when I tell him." I-I thought y ou...left-" I choked the word,"When you sent me the text message and then didn't answer your phone, it all seemed awfully familiar to me; it reminded me of what happened...before. I mean, you're always there; you always come. I just couldn' t make any sense out of it. It hurt like Hell, Em. It hurt to think that I lost you," I whispered the last part, my tears ruining his shirt."Then, Matt called a nd wanted to know what happened- He wanted to help me and he was at the party so I told him I'd meet him at the corner, then I told him and well, I'm here now." He pulled away and I avoided eye-contact with him. "Mary," he breathed." I told you that I would never leave you," he said. I looke d at my hands, resisting tears; I have ruined everything. "I know," I managed to choke, my fingers hurting from the strength of my fist."I 'm sorry," I apologized, still not looking at him. "No- No, Mary, that's not it," he said," I wanted to apologize for that; I know I shouldn't have-" he paused. I never heard him stutter."It's all my fault," he concluded. I looked at him immediately. "No!" I objected," It's not your fault I have...issues." It's not your fault I'm all broken, it's not your fault I'm so weak, it's not your fault I don't have a ny faith in myself. It was never your fault. He was about to speak again when Dad came into view, reminding me of B, I was in huge trouble. I was just glad he couldn't take it on Embry this time. He rushed to my side and Embry stood up, his face unreadable. I grimaced, knowin g that I shouldn't have told him any of this. He must think I'm nuts now. "Sweetie," Dad breathed, stroking my hair," Are you better now?" he asked," Matt and Dr. Brooke told me what happened." I felt a knit in my stomach, and not a g ood one. He would get back to dealing with me with over-sensitivity like 18 mont hs ago, after the Max thing. They all dealt with me with great care, like I coul d snap any minute. I just nodded, getting on my feet again. "You have to take your vitamins regularly. I suppose you still have them?" Dr. B rooke asked. I nodded again." Just make sure they didn't expire." I let out a sm all smile.

"I didn't buy them that long ago," I said, grabbing my sweater. "Let's go home," Dad said, his hand on my back. I glanced at Embry who nodded an d ran a hand through my hair again. "I'll call you tomorrow," he promised. I nodded and went with Dad, unable to do anything else. I felt really sleepy by then; it was about 3am or something. As s oon as we were in the car I spoke up. "Aren't you going to yell?" I asked,"Punish me? Ground me? Do anything at all?" I hated this silence. He sighed. "Do you want me to?" he asked, focusing on the road. I sighed in frustration. "No, it's just-" I decided to just tell him what was on my mind and get this ove r with,"I hate it when you deal with me like I'm super-sensitive." "You fainted from crying, Mary," he reminded me. I rolled my eyes," I'm hypotensive and I don't take my vitamins, that was to be expected." I noticed how his grip tightened on the steering wheel," Matt really told me eve rything." Thanks, Matt. "And?" I pushed. "Honestly, honey, it's not normal. You thought he left you because he said he ne eded some time alone," he said. Since when was anything about our relationship ' normal'? "Right after you talked to him," I pointed out." If it was anywhere near last ti me then that was to be expected, too." "I only told him to take care of you," he defended. "How would I know?" I asked rhetorically. He sighed again. "Alright then," he started," What were you thinking, going out in the middle of the night without telling anybody? Who knows what could've happened to you? Than k God you only fainted." He was really mad. I could sense he didn't just say tha t because I asked him to. I gulped and looked out of the window. We were finally home. "Sorry, Dad," I whispered as he parked. He smiled and kissed my forehead. "I just need you to be more careful, sweetie. You're almost a grown up now, you need to think more about stuff." That's better." I know you can do that," he sai d. I kissed his cheek. "I'll do my best," I promised. "That includes taking your vitamins," he said in a warning tone. I just nodded a nd got out of the car, heading towards the house. This is much better. I woke up the next morning on some noise downstairs. I groaned as I glanced at m y watch; it was still 10am and I haven't slept well enough. However, I got up an

d did my usual routine, trying to pretend my best that yesterday didn't happen, especially the very last part. I was going to call Embry but decided it was too early; he could be asleep. So I went downstairs just to find Mom and Dad in the kitchen, arguing, apparently. "Still! You should've called!" Mom yelled. "Amelia," Dad said in a warning tone. I entered the kitchen then. They both noti ced my presence and stopped talking. I rolled my eyes. "Good morning," I said, grabbing a toast, not really caring to heat it, and nibb ling on it; I wasn't that hungry. "Good morning, honey, are you okay?" Mom asked, I stopped eating and sighed. "I'm okay, everything's fine. Dunno whether I'm grounded or not. And, no, Dad sh ouldn't have called; you would've freaked out," I said, playing with my food. Da d chuckled. "You're not grounded," he announced,"But, you're not allowed out of the house af ter 8pm." I opened my mouth to object but shut it immediately; at least I got to go out in the morning. "Is Embry allowed in?" I asked," After 8pm, I mean?" He thought about it for a m oment and nodded. "9:30 tops," he said. I smiled and kissed his cheek. "Thanks," I mumbled. I left and got upstairs to open my computer, work a little before Embry calls. I thought again about that, my life was revolving around him. Not that I minded t hat much. I spent the next hour on Facebook and MSN then I checked my inbox...I only found one message that wasn't spam. From: j-cox pghigh. com Subject: Yearbook Content: I hope you had a fun weekend. Our next meeting will be tomorrow at 11am. Don't f orget to get your tasks. Please reply if you are having any problems. Sincerely, Mrs. Cox Oh. I almost forgot about the cover thing. I'm almost done but I still have to c omplete the plain drafts I have. I, immediately, began working on it. I didn't r ealize that 3 hours had passed except when I heard my phone ring. I ran to it, k nowing it was Embry. I answered immediately. "Hey," I said.

"Hey, honey," he said. I smiled and blushed. Good thing he wasn't here to see it ."How're you?" "'Am good," I said," You?" "Fine," he said," Do you want to go out? Oh, wait," he paused," Are you grounded ?" "Nope." "Weird," he commented. "I know," I replied, the smile never leaving my face."Where do you want to go?" I asked, knowing that I'd still have to stick to the compromise I had with Dad. "I don't know," he said,"Maybe First Beach? It's sunny today- Something that doe sn't happen often around here- and the water is good." I thought about that for a second. Where was my tankini? Oh, right- In the dr-"Mary?" he called when I di dn't answer. "Oh, okay," I answered," It wouldn't be that cold, right?" I asked. "You have me," he answered," Plus, I don't think it's that cold." It's almost De cember, Embry. "Okay, then." I didn't really care about the cold around him. "Pick you up in an hour?" he suggested. I glanced at my clock; it was 1:30pm. "Sure," I said," See you." "See you." And, with that, I ended the call. I sighed happily and threw myself o n the bed. I drifted to thoughts a little- What made me think that he really left? Am I tha t unconfident? As soon as he said that he wanted some time alone he- What? How couldn't I think about that? Something happened! Something super-major happened with Embry that made him send me this message. God! I feel so stupid. I wondered a little what could have happened with him but remembered I had to ge t ready. Oh, and tell Mom I was going out. I ran downstairs to find Mom with Allen in the living room, watching TV. "Hey, Mom?" I said. "Yes, honey?" she answered, turning her head to me. "I'm going to First Beach with Embry in a few, is it okay?" The question wasn't really for permission, I just wanted her to know. She smiled. "Yeah, sure," she said,"Just the beach, right?" she asked and I nodded. "Gee, I wonder where they're really going," Al commented, only to earn a glare f

rom me. "If you had a girlfriend, maybe I would've asked you to come. But, too bad," I t eased. I wasn't going to take him with me even if he had a girlfriend. "Whatever," he grumbled and Mom chuckled. I went upstairs and got the tankini ou t of the drawer. I eyed my blue-and-black tankini and decided to wear my white, V-neck top with m y dark blue skinny jeans on it. I wasn't going to tell anyone what we were going to do. I wore them all and grabbed my sweater, my over-sized, never-really-used, white bag and put extra clothes in there, just in case, along with a towel and my hair brush. As for my hair, I just dried it and let it down, knowing it will be wet l ater, so there wasn't a need to do anything special. "Mary!" Al called from downstairs,"Your boyfriend's here," he announced, monoton ously. Sometimes I wished I could trade Allen for Matt. I chuckled at the though t and went downstairs to find Embry waiting and Mom wasn't there; she had to wor k. He grinned when he saw me,"Hey," he said and kissed me cheek. I blushed. "Hey," I greeted him back,"I'm ready," I said. He took my bag from me. "Do you have your vitamins?" he asked. Ugh; I forgot to take them today. "No." Sometimes he made me feel like he's my father. Now was definitely one of t hose times. He gave me a disapproving look," Go get it," he said and I nodded and left him f or less than a minute to get my box of Centrum. I opened it and swallowed one wi th a glass of water, putting it back with the medicine. "I took one," I said, me to his motorcycle. y hand now. He hopped ned back on his chest grabbing I sat in on, too, and felt his hand." Come on, let's go." He smiled and led my usual spot; right in front of him, my bag in m and started it, causing it to roar to life. I lea the wind hit me, without any rain.

"So," I started when I noticed how silent he was," What happened?" I asked. I co uld almost see his eyebrows furrow in confusion. "W-" I cut him off. "Yesterday," I clarified," What made you send me this text?" 'If you're not leav ing me', I wanted to add. He tensed. "Nothing," he said. But even I could tell it was a lie. "Aw, come on, Em," I pushed," Maybe I could help." He sighed. "I- Just-" he stuttered," I had a little...argument with Mom," he said. I could tell that wasn't all the story. But if he didn't feel comfortable enough to talk about it, I wouldn't push. "Oh," I said," It's going to be fine," I reassured him though I didn't know what the 'argument' was about."I mean, I argue with Dad all the time," I said. He ch uckled.

"Yeah," he breathed." Your brother doesn't like me that much," he commented, cha nging the subject. I rolled my eyes. "He doesn't like me that much," I said and we both laughed," No, really. Besides , since when does girlfriend's brother like the boyfriend?" he laughed again. I loved it when he laughed. Or, to be more accurate, when I made him laugh. "Yeah, you're right," he said."Here we are." He parked the motorcycle and we bot h headed towards First Beach. The water looked good indeed. In fact, there were about 15 people there, something that I didn't think happens in this time of the year. As soon as we were finally about a couple of feet away from the water he turned to me,"Are you going to go?" he asked, gesturing towards the water. I nodded and he grinned. He took off his shirt and jeans to stay in only a black swimsuit. I had to focus really hard to be able to concentrate on taking off my own clothes . I did quickly and threw my jeans and top on my bag, turning to Embry a little se lf-consciously; I wasn't the skinniest person alive. Talk about self-consciousne ss. He smiled when he saw me, something he always does. I'd bet that blush was becom ing a permenant thing. "You're beautiful," he whispered in my ear,"Now, come on," he took my hand and l ed me to the water. The temperature of the sand wasn't suggesting, in any way, t hat the water would be warm. Which was to be expected, I think. The freezing water hit my foot and I shivered, stopping in my place. Embry chuck led. "It's not so cold," he commented. Yeah, easy for you to say, Mr. Can't-feel-thecold. I didn't move, waiting to get used to it."Come closer." He was a couple of feet deeper into the water so I shook my head. He sighed and came closer to me. I could feel his heat better now. "Okay," I mumbled and he laughed at my tone, dragging me inside. When he was so close, the water actually felt refreshing more than anything. We kept walking for a while until the water came to my waist. He jumped into the water and got his head out, gesturing for me to do the same. I shot him a horri fied look and he rolled his eyes and did something I didn't expect; he got up an d carried me, bridal style, and ran, really fast, deeper into the water, until t he water came to his neck, that I was, now, gripping with all I had of force. "N-No," I said as I tried to put my foot down but realized I couldn't; I was too short. "Calm down," he said gently, removing a wet strand of hair from my face; the wav es totally soaked us when we were there. I could feel my heart pounding loudly i n my chest, but not for the usual reasons; I was afraid. I hated to feel like I couldn't take control. "E-Embry," I said," L-Let's just get a l-little bit out." His face was smug. "I won't let you go," he promised. Why did I have this feeling that this wasn't just about the water? "I know, I know," I said, a little frantically,"Just- get us to a place where I

can actually stand up." He rolled his eyes. "Do you trust me?" he asked. I nodded."Do you trust that I would keep you safe?" he asked. "Yeah," I sighed, relaxing just the tiniest bit. He leaned down and kissed me, n ot quickly this time. I kissed him back, forgetting about where we were or how w e were. "I love you," he said and a wave hit us right when I wanted to say my "I love yo u, too." More than I ever thought possible, Em, more than I ever thought possible.

Chapter 8 I shivered again as the cold breeze hit my damp skin though Embry had an arm wra pped securely around me. He kept gazing into the beautiful waves, narrowing his eyes a little bit, his perfect brown hair a shade darker, some of it still on hi s forehead. His hair was the only thing that stayed wet; probably because of his freakish temperature. After a while, I wasn't so cold anymore; his heat was eno ugh to dry me too. Apparently, when it's 'almost December', a towel is barely en ough to dry your hair. Frankly, I didn't like this silence. Especially that I knew it was uncomfortable . Of course, by now, and after the little 'show' Embry made in the water, I was really sure it wasn't me that made him upset. But, again, what kind of 'little a rgument' with his mother would upset him that bad? I thought of possibilities but couldn't come out with something that didn't soun d so soap opera-y. So I decided to speak up; I still felt this urge to comfort h im, wipe away his worries. I wanted him to be happy. Just as simple as that. I looked up at him and found him still gazing, unaware of all the staring I'd be en making for the last couple of minutes, which was good, I guessed; I would've blushed even more than usual if he caught me staring at him. I touched his smoot h, warm cheek with my not-so-cold hand and succeeded to get his attention. "Earth to Embry," I said, smiling. He smiled back immediately. "Sorry I got lost for a second." A second? How aware were you? "It's okay," I reassured," Are you ever going to tell me what's bothering you?" I asked. He sighed. "It's nothing, really," he said immediately." Just like I said, a little argumen t with Mom." I rolled my eyes at him. "Embry," I tried to sound persuasive," You can tell me. You know that, right?" I said, seeking reassurance." Do you trust me as much as I trust you, Embry?" I a sked, repeating his question from earlier. His eyes got wide for a second.

"Of course! Of course I trust you, honey," he said immediately," It's not that I swear- It's just-" he paused and I sighed. "Come on," I pushed, fully aware that he'll feel much better if he let it out," Like I said, maybe I can help." I didn't know where all this courage came from b ut what I knew was that I wasn't going to keep pushing if he didn't tell me. "Okay, I'll tell you but you have to promise me something." His face was...worri ed when he said that. I wondered why but nodded." Promise it won't change the wa y you...look at me. I'm still the same, okay? Really. It's no big deal, but it's -" He was rambling so I cut him off. "I promise, Em. I don't see what could've happened that would make me 'change th e way I look at you'." I made quotation marks in the air, earning a small smile. He sat upright, and so did I, facing him now. I could feel the difference betwe en when I was so close to him and now, it was so cold. "So, here's the deal." He was looking at me straight in the eye, making me lose any chances to think straight in the first place."You know how only direct desce ndants from the first werewolves phase later?" I remembered what he had told me before and nodded, frowning; I couldn't see how those were connected."Well, back to before I was born, Mom moved here, to La Push I mean, from another reservati on, the Mekkah reservation," he explained," And, in a couple of months, she had me, which is why everyone immediately connected me to her ex-husband, but, then, after 17 years, I phased." His eyes were sad when he said this, almost ashamed. " Which brings us to point number one-" I cut him off. "Your father is definitely a Quiluete," I concluded. He nodded. "Exactly." There was more to the story, I could tell, but I wanted to get to the point of what really made him upset; he must've known about THAT for at least 7 years, from the time he first phased. I patted my head mentally; I was getting to understand this. "And?" I urged him to continue. He sighed again. "I didn't tell Mom I knew. But then, last night, I told her about everything...e ven the wolf thing, she didn't know about." His tone was getting lower by the se cond," And I haven't seen her since then," he finished, grimacing." I'm worried about her, Mary; after all, she's my Mom," he said,"She's the only family I have and I don't know what this had done to her. But, again, I don't want to go home now; afraid I might not find her there, or worse, afraid I'd find her there and she hates my guts...or afraid of the monster I am." He took a deep breath."This sucks!"He concluded and I hugged him tightly. "It's going to be just fine," I cooed," She's going to accept it, believe me; I did. You're her child, Embry, she would never hate you. I can guarantee you that ," I said soothingly, truthfully,"Now, do you want to go home? We can-" He cut m e off, shaking his head. "No, no, not now. I can't do it," he replied immediately. I nodded understanding ly."Plus, I have to speak to Sam first." I frowned. "Why?" I asked, not able to connect Sam Uley to the incident in any way. Okay, m aybe because he's a wolf, too? I didn't know... He chuckled humorlessly," Turns out he's my half-brother," he said. I tightened my grip around him then brought a hand up and ran it through his now-dry hair. "Do you want to go now?" I suggested. He broke away from our hug.

"But it's your-" I cut him off with a glare. "It isn't always about me, Embry. Now, come on." I was about to stand up when he opened his mouth, probably to argue," I need a place to change in anyways." I r olled my eyes. Damn this imprinting, making him forget about himself. He agreed, getting up, too. Then, as I took the jeans and top in my hands, he wr apped the towel around my shoulders. I smiled as he picked up my bag- Something that I'm really getting used to- and took my hand with his free hand. Walking on the sand in half-wet flip flops isn't really the most comfortable thi ng in the world, but I managed. It made us the tiniest bit slow though. We walke d our way to Sam and Emily's in about 15 minutes. I was honestly tired by then; I have slept for almost 5 or 6 hours only and I hadn't eaten anything but a toas t. He must have noticed. Awesome. "You're okay?" he asked," You're panting," he pointed out. I rolled my eyes. "People tend to pant when they walk a lot, Mr. Wolf." He smiled but then slapped his forehead. "I should've-" This was getting a little bit annoying. "Embry Stephen Call stop that!" He looked surprised by my tone. I sighed," Serio usly, I'm fine. I would tell you if something's wrong, promise." He kissed me qu ickly. "Sorry, ma'am," he said sarcastically, laughing a bit. I laughed along as we fin ally made it to the door, he didn't bother to knock, he just opened it. Emily wa s there, she got out of the kitchen immdiately. "Mary!" She said, greeting me with a brief hug," Long time no see, young lady," she said. I chuckled. "Missed you, too, Emily." She looked at Embry with worried eyes. "How are you doing now?" She asked. He just shrugged. "Is Sam here?" he asked. "On his way," she said." Hey, don't be upset. Now, I'm your sister-in-law you kn ow that?" He chuckled. "Never really thought about it that way. It sounds better." She laughed. "Are you two hungry?" She asked." I have some food left in the kitchen. Can you believe it? There's actually some food left!" She seemed really happy. We smiled . "Sure; I can smell the chicken from here," he said. Seth came out from the kitch en, chewing something. "And the dessert is much better," he said while eating. It sounded more like 'Ad de desset id much better'. He finally swallowed." Hey, Mary!" I waved at him. "Hey, Seth." He smiled, getting back into the kitchen as he ran his hand through his long, black hair to get it away from his face. "Seth Clearwater!" Emily practically yelled at the much-taller, much-stronger bu

t obviously younger guy." You got cake in your hair!" He rolled his eyes. "Gee, Em! Watcha gonna do when you have your own child?" he asked. She rolled he r eyes. I changed into the dry underwear I got and pulled on my white top and skinny jea ns in Emily's bathroom. Then, when I got out, I got to eat some of those delicio us chicken rolls that Emily had made. Sam arrived while we were eating and Embry excused himself to talk to him. I smiled and kissed his cheek, reassuring him a gain that everything will be just fine. I went on eating silently, wishing that everything will turn out alright. Emily sat next to me on the kitchen table. "How was he?" she whispered, her tone concerned. I sighed and stopped eating. "Not so well, Emily," I replied," He's so worried about his mother." She nodded in understanding. "Of course he is," she said," Nobody has seen her ever since." She looked at me, " Are you better now?" she asked. Yeah, yeah. Nothing stays hidden here. "I'm more than fine," I reassured with a smile," A lot of people have been askin g me this lately." I rolled my eyes. She chuckled. "That's what you get for being imprinted on," she joked, washing the dishes. I w as about to get up and hel her when my phone rang. I had to dig in my bag for a couple of seconds until I found it. I glanced at the caller's ID. Matt. I answer ed immediately. "Matt!" I said. "Hey, M. How're you doin' now?" he asked. I smiled. "Fine, really," I said," Did you just wake up now, Matthew?" I asked suspiciousl y. He chuckled. "Matthew?" he laughed," Yeah, I just got up now and, y'know, took a shower and s uch." "Great," I said then remembered what Dad had told me," Oh, by the way." "What?" he asked. "Why, oh why, did you tell my father about what I told you yesterday?" I asked, trying to make my tone a little mad but wasn't that successful. "Oh," ?" he then ond." he said," Didn't any one ever tell you how intimidating your father can be asked," The man knew I was smoking and I didn't come anywhere close to him he asked me about what happened. I thought he could read my mind for a sec He freaked out.

"No, it's okay," I said," Really, I'm not even grounded." "Really?" "Yeah. I can't believe it either." I smiled," So are you-" I was cut off by a ho wl outside. I glanced out of the window to find the huge gray wolf with the blac k spots- AKA, Embry. "Oh my," I whispered.

"Um, Mary, is something wrong?" Matt asked. "No, no. I'll- Uh- talk to you later. Bye." I didn't wait for him to reply, I hu ng up on him and threw the cell phone on the kitchen table, running outside to s ee what went wrong. I was about to get out when I felt two strong arms grab my s houlders, preventing me from moving any further. "Don't," Seth said." He's not in control right now-" He tried to reason as we st ood on the front porch, now two wolves in the scene, Embry and Sam, I assumed. "What happened?" I asked as Seth loosened his grip on my shoulders. "His mother," he explained," She was with Quil's Mom this morning but she's nowh ere to be found now." My eyes widened in horror. "What?" I whisper-yelled, "Where do you think she went?" I asked, still staring worriedly at my wolf that was now whimpering on the ground. "Nobody knows," Seth answered, sadly."And don't worry about him, Jake's probably phased, too. He looks like he took one of those Alpha orders." I sighed. "Can I go to him now?" I asked. Seth just looked at the Black Wolf, Sam, before he talked. "Okay, I guess." The other wolf stepped back, giving me space. I ran to him and sat on my knees, making our heads in the same level. My hands were shaking as I gently stroked his fur and he whined. It was the second time I see him in this f orm. "I know, I know," I said," She probably just needs her time, right?" I asked, no t really sure, honestly." She's not going to leave." Who'd believe I was saying that? "You have to believe that she's okay." Physically, at least. His head rest ed lightly in my hand and I ran my other hand through his silky gray fur, feelin g his pulse everywhere I touched. He licked from my collarbone to my cheek. I made a face at him but laughed. "You're...So...Going...To...Pay...For that, Em!" I was rolling with laughter as he licked me again. I managed to stand up and straighten my top." Go phase back so I could talk to you," I smiled. "Come on!" I pushed him as someone threw a pa ir of pants at him. I turned around reflexively and found out it was Jacob. He s miled when he saw me and I could feel the Embry-wolf run towards the woods. "Thank you," he said. I frowned, confused. So he explained,"He relaxed a lot." O h. I nodded and turned around to find Embry coming, his face quite unreadable. He h ugged me. "I love you, Mary, you know that?" he said. I rolled my eyes. "Yeah, mmm, let's see," I said," You said it about one million, two thousand, on e-hundred and fifty-seven times now." "And I still can't make it clear enough." Aww, Embry! I pulled away from our hug . "Do you want to go home now?" I asked," I still have about two hours before I go home." And I really don't care about the compromise with Dad now; it's not like we're going to his house to make-out. He nodded.

"If you don't mind," he said. "Wow," Seth and Jake said. I turned around and looked at them questioningly. The y just looked at Embry and laughed while he glared darkly at them. "I'll just go get my stuff and come, 'Kay?" He nodded. "Sure," he said," And I'll go get the motorcycle; it's a long way there." 'And y ou seem tired' hung in the air. I smiled as he kissed my forehead and walked awa y. Seth and Jake were still laughing when I got inside, while Sam and Emily were talking in the kitchen. I grabbed my bag but I still had to wait a little befor e Embry would come so I decided to ask what they were laughing about. "Hey, Seth," I called," Jacob." They turned to me, still muffling their laughter . "Okay, okay, I'll tell!" Seth volunteered. I raised an eyebrow at him, "It's jus t-" he laughed again-" weird that Mr. I-Dated-Half-The-Females-In-The-State is a sking before taking you home!" I blushed crimson red as I realized what they mea nt and was about to talk, defend myself when Embry got here, throwing daggers at both of them. I noticed that he had a shirt on. "Shut up," he growled and looked at Jacob," You of all people should know it isn 't about this!" he yelled and wrapped an arm around my shoulder. "Come on, honey ," he whispered in my ear and we went out of Sam and Emily's and we hopped on th e motorcycle as usual. "Do you want to go to your home now? I know about the com p-" I cut him off. "No, let's go to your house and hope your mother is there, okay?" He sighed and nodded. "'Kay," he said and sped up until we reached a small, brown house. He parked in front of it. "Uh- Em, I know now isn't exactly the best time, but I really like your house." He chuckled, a nervous shade in his voice. I took his hand and squeezed it as we entered. "Mom!" He called and a woman was running downstairs with a suitcase in her hand. He dropped my hand and went to her side. "Embry." She looked surprised to see him there now. She looked over his shoulder and saw me. I could see she was a little confused but she dropped it. He looked at her suitcase and balled his hands into fists. "Mom, where are you going?" he asked, dragging the letters." Please don't tell m e you're leaving." She dropped her head. "I just need to sort some stuff in my mind," she whispered, still looking at the ground." It won't be-" He cut her off, grabbing the suitcase from her. "No," he said, "No, Mom. I'd leave for a while if you want. Just-" He sighed in frustration," Don't go anywhere." I could see she was crying. "Baby, I don't want you to-" she sobbed," I talked to Kiki today," she said. Qui l's mother, I guessed." She told me all about- you know, the 'wolf thing'." She sighed," I know you're disappoin-" he cut her off. "Mom!" he said." I'm NOT disappointed. I'm NOT mad. I'm perfectly FINE with...wh

at happened. Okay?" I could feel the tears in his voice. I never thought I'd see the day when Embry Call cried. He hugged her and she hugged him back just as ur gently. I felt like an intruder all of a sudden."You won't leave, right? Promise me you won't." She nodded into his shoulder then took a couple of deep breaths before wiping her tears and noticing me, again. I forgot that we weren't introdu ced. Awkward. I cleared my throat as they broke their hug. He turned to me after he quickly ran his hand on his cheeks, probably to check that no tears were the re. I smiled and waved at his mother. She smiled back and looked at her son for explanation. He stretched out a hand for me and I took it, getting closer to him . "Mom, this is Mary, my girlfriend," he introduced," And my imprint, since you know about that, too." She smiled, contrasting with her teary-eyes. "Hello, Mary," she said, her voice still low," Um- As you know now, I'm Embry's mother, Amber." I smiled and reached out for her hand and we shook hands briefly . Embry glanced at his clock. "We'd better get going now so you could go back before, 8 right?" he asked. I no dded. "Better than grounded," I muttered. He nodded in agreement. I glanced at his mot her. "See you later-" What do I say? I settled for nothing but my tone was obvious. S he smiled again. "Call me Amber." I nodded. He kissed his mother's forehead and put a hand on my back, leading me outside. We went out and rode on his motorcycle again. I put my bag between my legs and rested my head on his strong chest as he sped and close d my eyes. I was pretty tired by then. "It went well," he commented after a moment of silence. I inhaled the fresh, col d air and smiled. "I told you." That sort of reminded me when I had trouble with my parents. Appar ently, he remembered too; he chuckled. "Yeah, I know," he breathed. I remembered something then, as all the nervousnees s from the previous situation subsided. "Did you really date half Washington?" I asked, honestly curious. He laughed. "About," he replied." How many did you date?" he asked. I opened my eyes to glan ce at his curious face, almost nervous. "Technically?" I said. He nodded."None." "No. Way!" I rolled my eyes. "What makes it so hard to believe?" I asked. He shrugged. "Nothing it's just-" he paused, "Here we are," he announced as usual as he stopp ed in front of my house. I sighed as I hopped down, exhausted by now and literal lly dragged my over-sized bag. I looked up at him and smiled, pecking him on the lips. "Call you tomorrow?" I asked. He nodded. "Sure," he said." First thing." I grinned. Well, duh, Embry. First thing! My life kinda revolves around you now! I sighed h

appily and turned on my heels, already half-asleep as I knocked on the door. All en opened. "Done making out?" he asked. I rolled my eyes and pushed him out of the way. "Shut up."

Chapter 9 Allen was just being the annoying little brother he is. I still wonder sometimes how come I care for him that much but, whatever. He's my brother anyways so it must be some kind of a package deal. I chuckled at the thought. "Hey, sweetie," Mom greeted me from the kitchen, apparently making something for dinner. I threw my white bag on the floor and went to her, praying that my nowwavy hair wouldn't expose me; it's always straight when I blow-dry it like I did this morning. Thankfully, she was too engrossed in cooking to realize that. "Hi, Mom," I greeted her back, not really affected by the smell of the mac and c heese she was making; I had eaten at Emily's. I was just so tired that I thought I could sleep right there on the kitchen table. "Had fun?" she asked," It was raining down here so I bet it wasn't that fun on t he beach, eh?" she asked and I smiled mischievously; I had found a way to explai n my hair. "Yeah," I answered, stretching the word unnecessarily." It was so cold." That wa sn't a lie. She nodded and came to sit beside me as she waited for the microwave to heat up so she could put the couple of sandwiches we had in the fridge there . She rested her head on her hand, reminding me slightly of the way Embry did the day I met him while we were in Starbucks. "So, tell me," she started," Did you spend all day at the beach?" she asked. I r olled my eyes. "Nope," I answered truthfully," We went to Sam and Emily's," I count as parental supervision," we both chuckled," And then we ouse so he could check on his Mom. Amber is so sweet," I added t to deliver the message that his mother was actually there; I ore interrogations for the night. She nodded. said," Who quite went to Embry's h the last part jus didn't need any m

"Maybe I could meet her sometime," she suggested," How about you invite her over here next weekend?" she pushed. I knew this wasn't about extending our family's social network. This was just to meet my boyfriend's mother. Nothing else. I si ghed, feeling my eyelids become heavier by the second. "Sure, Mom," I said."Now I really wanna sleep, 'Kay?" I said. She pouted. "What about the mac and cheese?" she said. I knew she wasn't that serious.

"I already ate at Emily's," I answered, getting up with a yawn. She nodded in un derstanding." Oh, by the way," I said. She frowned in my direction. "What?" she asked. "I'm going to school tomorrow at 11; I have this yearbook committee meeting," I announced and she nodded. "Of course," she said," Just don't forget your keys because your father and I wo uld be at work and your brother has an exam then he's going out with his friends so no one would be at home to open the door for you." I nodded and made a menta l note to remember the keys. I went up to my room and got out my pajamas from my wardrobe, heading reluctantl y towards the bathroom to take a quick shower, rinse away the salt. I got out of the bathroom in my pajamas, still drying my hair with a towel; I would blow-dry it next morning so I didn't need to do that now. And just before I was going to sleep, the phone rang. I huffed and picked the phone which was, for some reason , in my room right now, and answered it. "Hello?" I said, waiting for an answer. "Mary!" Stacey exclaimed," Where were you?" she asked. I rolled my eyes as I sat on the bed. "At First Beach with Em. Why?" I asked. "I've been calling you on your cell phone for the last couple of hours and you w ouldn't answer," she accused. I frowned. "Really?" I said," I must've forgotten it at Emily's." When Embry phased and I p ut it on the table. "Oh, okay, then," she said," I was just checking on you; Dad said you were in th e hospital last night." "Oh, yeah," I said," I'm really fine. You know how I am." I could actually feel her roll her eyes; I knew her too well. "Stop being paranoid, girl," she instructed. Yes, instructed. Not that I minded; she was my best friend and she was saying that for my sake," He wouldn't have l eft you like that. End of story. May I remind you how much f a jerk that Max was to do that?" I grimaced, staying silent," So, you know?" she said," Embry isn't like him, Mary." I sighed. "I know, I know," I said and she chuckled. "This so much reminds me of when you used to think of Max," she said and I chuck led bitterly; I didn't like that time of my life, to no one's surprise. "Yeah," I breathed." Look I gotta go sleep now, okay?" I said."Tell me all about the party tomorrow morning," I demanded. She giggled. Oh God. "Okay, fine," she said." I'll tell you tomorrow," she added," Sleep tight." I ya wned. "You too." Was the last thing I said before I put the phone on the nightstand, s et my alarm on 9:30am and switched off the lights, giving in to sleep. If I ever study electronics, I should really invent an alarm clock that doesn't

wake you up cursing. It was like I was peacefully asleep a minute, the other min ute the whole house was on fire. BEEEEP! And I woke up. I really miss my cell ph one with its cute, slow alarm ring tone. I didn't realize I had this awfully terrible I groaned, slightly reminding myself to take re I went to school. I got up and clicked on it to start up as I did my usual routine so mory before I go out. headache until I sat up on my bed. a pain killer with my vitamins befo my computer's power button, leaving I could save my work on my flash me

I took one quick shower and dried my hair, putting it up in a high pony tail for a change. I wore my regular pair of jeans, a brown sweatshirt and a cream jacke t over it along with my brown flats and brown bag. This outfit was one of my fav orites. I grabbed my flash memory from my other bag and saved the couple of draf ts I had on my computer to show it to Mrs. Cox when I get there and turned off t he computer to head to breakfast. And, me being me, I took my vitamins, ate some yoghurt and totally forgot about the pain killer, leaving me with that headache to start my day with. Luckily, I remembered to take my keys before I left. Today wasn't that cloudy, I didn't expect any rain so I walked, slowly, to schoo l, taking my time and listening to my iPod. The iPod was one invention that chan ged humanity, I'm telling you. I got to school in an hour, perfectly on my time, 11am, and ran my way to the ro om where we usually meet. Mrs. Cox wasn't there yet, just me, Bryan Hamilton who was a genius photographer besides being an athlete and a couple of girls from the design team. "Mary Anderson," Bryan acknowledged, I smiled politely. "Bryan Hamilton." Well, you see, when I first got to this school, Bryan asked me out and I declined which sort of made me and Stacey closer as I told her my sec ret, if that made any sense. He came and sat on the desk next to mine. "You didn't come to the party on Saturday." It wasn't a question but his tone su ggested that he wanted me to reply. "Dad wouldn't let me," I answered truthfully." How was it anyways?" I asked, get ting out the flash memory in my hands, hoping to distract myself from the bangin g in my head. I should really pass by the nurse's office and see if she's there and if she could get me some Tylenol or something. Though Tylenol might be too m uch for a headache... "Smokin' hot," he answered," You should've came," he said. I shrugged. "Maybe next time." And don't take that as a promise. He smiled. "Sure," he said. That was when Mrs. Cox came. The meeting went pretty well and lasted about two hours. They all voted on one o f my drafts and I was supposed to add some final touches and supervise the girls ' work, leaving me to deal with Bryan for the rest of the yearbook's designs so we would pick the most suitable photos to put, covering all the activities we di d this year. It wasn't that big of a deal; work is work.

By the time I came out of the room, the nurse was gone, and it started raining. Oh great. Raining in Washington isn't something unexpected, really. But it still catches m e every time. I walked my way home in the rain, careful to place my iPod in my p ocket so the water wouldn't ruin it; I wouldn't be able to buy another one anyti me soon. I set the volume on high, avoiding the sound of the splashing rain, and walked until I was only a quarter of an hour away from home, that was when I fe lt a warm, strong hand on my shoulder, making me jump, startled as I didn't hear any footsteps or something. I removed the headphones from my ears and turned to see who it was, relieved it was just Embry, who looked... weird, rather worried , angry...etc. "Hey," I broke the silence as I smiled at him. He sighed and smiled back, leanin g down to kiss my forehead. "Hey," he greeted back. I was about to ask him about what exactly he was doing h ere when he spoke again," Come here," he led me to his motorcycle and I sat in m y usual spot as he hopped up behind me. "So," I started," Wh-" He cut me off. "You forgot your phone at Sam's yesterday," he said," And your mother told me yo u had a meeting at school," he added." Why didn't you tell me so I could pick yo u up?" he asked. I rolled my eyes. "Maybe because you're not my own personal driver?" I suggested. He chuckled. "I got worried about you," he said," I don't like you walking alone around here, especially when it's raining." I sighed but decided to drop it before he was in full father mode, I liked full boyfriend mode better. I leaned back on his chest,"How was your day?" I asked. "I just woke up not an hour ago," he said," So it went pretty well until I began doing maths problems in my head to know whether or not I should go to see you a t school." I laughed. That was when we got home. My home, I mean. I hopped down, groaning slightly at the headache that was becoming more annoying by the second ; I'm not the type of person who can live with constant pain. I just hoped he wo uldn't notice that, but he did. "Are you okay?" he asked, immediately, of course. I sighed. "Just a headache. Nothing major," I reassured. He nodded. "Uh- I'm gonna go now," he said but I could see he was reluctant. Besides, I did n't want him to go. "Can't you come in with me?" I suggested," I'm all alone today." Well, until 3 o r 4pm only. "Won't your dad-" I cut him off. "I'll deal with Dad later." I pouted, feeling like a six-year-old, frankly. He c huckled and kissed me, which was quite romantic in the rain but, unfortunately, it didn't last for long. We went inside and he gave me my cell phone that, appar ently, he went to take from Sam's after Emily answered him on it and told him it was there. I excused myself to change into some dry clothes and told him to mak e himself at home, shutting up my conscious by sending Mom a text telling her he was with me. Not Dad, of course not. God forbid. He would come straight from wo

rk just to give us some 'company'. I went downstairs to find him watching TV in the living room. NCIS to be exact. I remembered to go grab a pain killer from the kitchen and put some water to boi l; I wanted to make some tea; it was cold and I coughed a little. I just prayed I didn't catch a cold from all the "swimming" yesterday. The water would take at least 3-4 minutes to boil so I went to sit with him. I sat next to him on the couch and he opened his arms for me, pulling me closer to him. I rested my head on his shoulder and stayed silent as the show was still on. He decided to speak though. "So how was your meeting?" he asked, playing with my pony tail. I shrugged. "Normal," I answered," They voted for one of the drafts I made and I'm supposed to finish it before the next meeting." He was still playing with my hair. Doesn' t it get boring after a while? Apparently not," I love playing with your hair, you know," he suddenly commented after another moment of silence. I smiled. "I noticed," I said and got up to make the tea." Do you drink tea?" I asked, fro wning to myself as I realized I hadn't asked that question before I put the wate r to boil. He nodded. "Are you making some?" he asked and it was my turn to nod. He smiled."Okay, then ." I went to the kitchen and put my favorite blue mug and another white one and pou red the boiled water, inserting the tea bag after I did. I put my two spoons of sugar, mixed it then got out some milk from the fridge and added it to the tea. It tasted slightly better that way. Then, I removed the tea bag from his mug and put the sugar can and the milk bottle beside it. But, instead of waiting for me to get him the tea, he came to the kitchen himself. "That smells good," he commented. I rolled my eyes. "Can you even smell tea?" I asked. I knew I didn't. Or maybe I didn't pay enough attention. He shrugged and chuckled. "Yeah, kinda," he said," Maybe it's because I can practically smell everything b ut this smells really good anyways," he grinned. I got closer to him and used th at fade of pain that's happened right now and kissed him lightly. "Well, I hope you like how it tastes," I said then just a millisecond later, I r ealized how wrong it sounded. I blushed."Uh- How much sugar do you take?" I aske d, avoiding eye-contact as he looked slightly amused. "Three tablespoons," he said," Maybe four," he added. "Maybe it's easier to put it in the sugar can then back in the cup, don't you th ink?" I said, chuckling and recovering from the embarrassment earlier. He laughe d. "Maybe I'll try it once," he said," But, really, I like it too sweet." I nodded in understanding. "Sure," I said as I put his sugar into the mug," Want some milk?" He shook his h ead and I handed him the mug as we headed back towards the living room. I sat ne xt to him, again, on the couch and noticed he switched to a movie. I knew this o

ne...I knew this one... "The Notebook," he said when, apparently, he noticed my confused face. I smiled in recognition. I drank the whole mug, sip by sip during the first half of the m ovie while he just swallowed all of it like some water. Sometimes the wolves are just too weird. I was getting more sleepy by the second, partly because of the tea, and also bec ause of the pain killer. So, somehow, I ended up laying my head on his lap and h e just kept stroking my cheek automatically, gently, leaning for a quick kiss ev ery now and then. I turned my head to look at his face when the movie ended and he focused more on me, okay so I doubted he ever focused on the movie but whatever. He frowned. "What's-" He paused," You're not as cold as usual," he commented. It was my turn to frown. "Huh?" 'As cold as usual'? Was I usually cold? "You- Everything's cold to me but now you're not," he tried to explain. I realiz ed what he meant a second late. "Oh," I said and was going to put a hand on both our foreheads to compare but re alized he was no comparison."I'm gonna get the thermometer," I said, getting up. He wouldn't allow me. "Just tell me where it is," he demanded and I rolled my eyes but told him where it was anyways. He got it, full speed. Okay, so even if I do have a fever he sho uldn't be reacting like this. It's just fever. And, when I put it under my tongu e and waited for that always-long minute I realized it was fever after all. Comb ine that with the headache and the slight coughing I've been doing, I just caugh t a cold. He wanted to go get me some medicine but I just stopped him. "It's just a cold, Em," I reasoned,"It happens." He sighed and hugged me as we s at on that same couch. "I'm sorry," he said. "What? Why?" Okay, so he's either sorry for me being sick or for worrying about me, both of them didn't require an apology anyways. "For making you go to the beach yesterday," he said," You shouldn't have; it was cold, apparently." I sighed. "First of all, you didn't make me do anything," I said, slightly irritated," And , secondly, you have to stop doing that," I added," Stop blaming yourself!" I pr actically yelled. He kissed my forehead. "I'll try," he promised," So do you want to-" We were cut off by Allen's arrival . "Is anybody home?" he asked as he shut the door behind him. I bit my lip as I ex pected awesome comments from him. Really, really awesome. "I'm right here!" I answered back but decided not to yell any more because it ma de my throat a little sore. Embry was going to pull away from our embrace but I decided to tease my little brother. Besides, we weren't doing anything wrong. He came into view," Mom's-" He was cut off by noticing my boyfriend, my imprint'

s appearance. His eyes widened." Not the couch!" he whined," People actually use that," he said and I blushed, burying my head into Embry's chest, who shot him a glare himself. "Stop it, Al!" I groaned," We-" Embry cut me off. "Sorry but the bed wasn't comfortable enough," he teased, obviously; we didn't e ven make-out. Not once. Allen's face was disgusted but he managed to regain his composure and came insid e to put his cell phone on the table- He always put it there. To my surprise, he sat on the chair opposite to us. "Mom's going grocery shopping before she comes here," he announced, resting his head on the chair then noticed the thermometer on the table, I could see it. "I'm gonna go now, 'Kay?" Embry whispered in my ear, kissing my cheek."Take care of yourself," he said," I'll check up on you in the morning." I nodded and kiss ed him chastely. "I love you so much, Em, you know that?" I whispered, smiling. He smiled back. "Yeah, I do," he said as he stood up but leaned to whisper in my ear," But I lov e you more." He said and was out before I could recover from my 'Aw' moment to s peak up. I just threw my head on the arm of the couch and sighed. Allen rolled h is eyes. "Are you sick?" he asked and I didn't realize what he was talking about until he explained," The thermometer- Do you have a fever?" he asked and I could sense h e was truly concerned. Good; after all it turned out that he actually loves me a s much as I love him. Still part of the brother/sister package deal though. I no dded. "Just a cold," I said and smiled at him," You care." It wasn't a question. He ro lled his eyes again. "Well, of course I do," he said," You are my sister after all." I chuckled." But , don't, and I repeat, don't get anywhere near my stuff. I don't want to catch t hat cold from you; I wanna go out tomorrow." "Really?" I said," Where are you going?" I asked, using this truce. He smiled pl ayfully. "I have a date," he said, and I could sense he was genuinely happy. "Who's she?" I asked, interested in whatever little kid that he's going to go ou t with. Yes, to me, 13-year-olds are kids. I'm 15, so- yeah. He stood up," Too much brother/sister talk, dontcha think?" He walked out and I could see his cheeks turn pink. I laughed; Aww.

Chapter 10 The headache returned back on full force as soon as the pain killer's effect fad ed, like it was waiting for it to fade. I just stayed on that couch that everyth ing today happened to happen on, not it was much anyways, and forced my eyes shu t, hoping to fall asleep, either that or the headache goes away. It was still 4p m so sleeping right now didn't sound like such a good idea; I'll mess up my slee ping schedule. Again. And Mom and Dr. Brooke would kill me if I took any other pain killers right now; they would cause me something that was too long for me to memorize; I decided t o save most of the memorizing part to med-school if I ever attend it. Bottom lin e: No. I just had to endure it. Ugh. Allen had went up to his room to do whatever he wanted to do that I really didn' t care about at the moment, truce or no truce. Thank God, I fell asleep. That was what I realized when Dad woke me up. I found that, probably my mother, had gotten my blanket for me down here. Thanks Mom. "Wake up, sweetie," he said," Lunch's ready." I groaned. "Okay," I mumbled grudgingly. He chuckled and removed a strand of my hair from m y face. I noticed how he, reflexively, dropped his hand. "You're burning up," he commented and I had to stop myself from rolling my eyes. "I'm sick," I said," Hasn't Allen told you?" I asked as I sat up slowly, yawning . He shook his head and, this time, I let myself roll my eyes. Typical Allen. "Do you want to go up and sleep?" he asked. I thought about it for a second. "I'll eat first," I decided; I was starving. He smiled and got up to Mom in the kitchen and I followed." Hey, Mom," I said, fixing my hair. She looked at me and smiled after she poured some tomato soup in a bowl. One bowl. Yeah, she knew I was sick. "Hey," she replied," Slept well?" she asked and I nodded. Sleeping was the best thing that happened today, after Embry left. I smiled at the thought. She put th e bowl in front of me and went to get the rest of the plates for the rest of us. I began drinking/eating it at once. One thing about soup: I never knew whether it's eating or drinking; I mean it's a meal that you use a spoon to eat/drink, b ut at the same time, there's no chewing. Wow; the cold was getting into my head. Dad called for Allen who wouldn't refuse a call to food. Never. Especially if it was the macaroni with bashamel sauce and fried chicken next to it. And it doesn 't even show; he's the type of people who can stay all day and night eating nume rous calories but still manage to stay slim. Sometimes I was jealous of him for that; if I eat one too-fatty meal, I gain weight. That's exactly why I don't eat much; I had been through this stupid chubby-kid phase when I was Al's age. Now, I wasn't that chubby, but still not what you can call skinny. But I've had enou gh so I decided to keep it that way. "Mmm," I said, feeling the soup rin down my slightly-sore throat. From what I'd seen, it was my favorite tomato soup: With cooking cream and extra pepper." Than

ks Mom," I said. This whole cold thing better end fast. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------Embry Call "What's with the mood?" Jake asked as I went to "the Pack's secret meeting place that's not much of a secret anymore" AKA Sam's. I shrugged and grabbed a chair in the kitchen, AKA "the centre of top secret meetings that usually ended up wit h Emily's cookies". Emily had made some sandwiches today for a change. I grabbed one and actually took my time eating it, earning several wide eyes that had sto pped what they're doing. "What?" I asked, still half the sandwich in my hand. Emily came beside me and pu t a hand on my shoulder, wiping an imaginary tear away. "Someone has actually listened and chewed before swallowing," she spoke like a p roud mother of a seven-year-old that just passed his first exam. Everyone broke into laughter and I chuckled a little. "Seriously, what's wrong?" Jake asked after everyone managed to catch their brea ths. Quil had finished his third one- while I was here- and raised an eyebrow at me while he ate his forth as if to support Jake in his question. "Why do you think something's wrong?" I asked, finally finishing my sandwich. "You're-" Brady paused, raising his eyebrows." Oh my God, you decided to age," h e concluded. Huh? Everyone froze. What was up with them? "I'm not gonna start aging now," I said." What's wrong with you people?" I asked . "Fine," Jake said," We'll know on patrol tonight." I scowled at him. "Something's going on with Mary, right?" Sam spoke as he joined our 'conversatio n' in the kitchen. He didn't need wolf-hearing to hear us from the living room. Well, duh. "She's sick," I said, grabbing my second sandwich then deciding I wasn't really that hungry so I put it back down. "Something serious?" Quil assumed. I shook my head. Thank GOD it wasn't anything that serious. "A cold," I answered. "Okay so we all imprinted," Brady said," But you lost it, man." He made a semi-c ircle beside his temple. I just shrugged. "I feel responsible for this," I said. Quil's and Jake's mouths formed an 'o' at the same time. It was pretty funny. "December plus the freezing ocean," Mr. Babysitter said," Plus a human," he adde d," Not so good. You should've known." Well, I felt guilty enough, thank you ver y much.

"Babysitter," Brady and I coughed at the same time earning a shrug from Quil. "Just sayin'," he said. Yeah, he didn't mind at all being a babysitter if it was for Claire. That's my best friend, everyone. The rest of the day passed by pretty slowly. I spent a lot of time on the cliffs and thought about her request to take her cliff-diving. Ain't gonna happen. Then I tried calling her but she wouldn't answer so I figured that she was aslee p. That's why I didn't call her again, I didn't want to wake her up. I went home when it was starting to get dark, not that I cared that much about the darkness but I wanted to spend some time with Mom. After I came back home yesterday she was already asleep, but I noticed she had a smile on her face. I felt like a little kid once again and was really happy for her. You can't imagine how relieving it is to finally live with no secrets, to finall y be able to tell her everything. That's why I told Mary about the wolf thing th e day I met her, doing the craziest thing ever by risking having her run away sc reaming her lungs out. But, since I could tell her, it's better sooner than late r. It worked out pretty fine. I couldn't imagine how I actually could look into other girls before I met her, I just couldn't. I mean, I dated a lot, but nothing serious, knowing I was just messing around, looking for momental pleasure and that was it. Being a werewolf, I knew I couldn't risk getting into something serious. Not after the Sam/Leah/E mily ordeal. They were all Mary's total opposites; careless, bubbleheads at times, immature, hormone-driven. Yeah, literally. I shuddered at the thought. While Mary's everything great; mature, hard-worker, sweet, funny, so innocent in a way that it's sometimes...well, too much but I don't mind, responsible and ex quisite, really. And I don't think she knows how beautiful she really is, on bot h the inside and the outside. Mom was watching some soap-opera on TV when I walked in. Talk about irony. I sne aked behind her back and kissed her cheek. "Hi, Mom," I said and she jumped then looked at me with accusing eyes. "Next time when I do have a heart attack," I continued with her; I knew what she was going to say," I hold you fully responsible for my death." We both laughed. It hurt the very first time I did that, about 10 years ago or something but whe n I realized she was joking I laughed along with her. And she still get startled each and every time. I sank into the couch beside her. Speaking of couches, I really sat on too many today, first Mary's and now this. I glanced at the TV. "Days Of Our Lives?" I said," Again?" She smiled. "It's a new season," she said. I rolled my eyes. "Mom it's 2014, when are they going to stop?" I asked. (A/N: Uh- Nessie was born 2008 and she's six now, so, right?) She shrugged," I don't know," she said and continued to watch the show.

It ended half an hour later. She turned her head to face me. "So you imprinted, huh?" she started and I smiled- No, more like grinned. "Yeah," I answered. You see, Mom wasn't the type of person who'd go over what ha ppened in the past, I knew she wouldn't bring up what happened yesterday again. It hurt a little to feel that she's taking it all inside, you know? She looked at me with half-teary eyes and sat on her knees to run her tiny hands in my short hair. "It feels like only yesterday when you used to bring Jake and Quil here to watch the Ninja Turtles-" So a normal mother would say something along 'It seemed lik e yesterday when I first changed your diapers' or something like that. But, real ly, Mom wasn't normal. And, believe me when I say this, I don't need my mother r eminding me of her changing my diapers. I laughed," Quil still watches it," I said and she laughed. "Yeah, this little Claire is so amazing," she commented." You know what makes me even happier about this?" She asked. "What?" She hugged me as she answered," I'll never see any of those Barbie dolls around here!" She said, referring to my ex-'girlfriends'." She looks like a good girl." I nodded. "She is," I reassured her," And, trust me, she's the complete opposite of anythi ng you've seen before." I didn't really, formally, introduce any of those 'Barbi e Dolls' to Mom but, you see, Mom had, of course, a key to this house and- yeah. "I know," she said," She sure doesn't look like them," she added and broke away our brief hug to sit back on the couch," And she loves you." "And how do you know that?" I didn't doubt Mary's love to me but Mom only met he r once. "Well, if you haven't seen the way she looks at you and blushes each and every t ime you touched her, then I had a blind boy." I sighed. "I know," I said," She's so adorable, isn't she?" I said and she just stared at me with proud eyes, not answering me with her words. Amber Call was one amazing mother. I knew that for sure. And, yeah, I know- Amber and Embry. Weird. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------Mary Anderson "...Yes, I took my vitamins and the medicine you gave me and I didn't drink any milk, anything else?" I said. Apparently, milk 'deactivated' the effect of this medecine. She nodded. "Nope," she said." Do you need any help with your work?" She glanced at the Phot oshop image I had opened to edit- The cover. I shook my head. Mom was a graphic designer and most of her work was done from home, that's why s

he didn't go to work often, except on meetings and such. "No, thanks," I said," I want to do this on my own," I added. She nodded underst andingly and got out of my room. Before I even reached the mouse, my cell phone rang loudly on my bed, the sound of the vibrations muffled by the woolen covers. I sighed and stood up then threw myself on the bed before I answered Matt. "Hey," I said," And before you say anything, yes, I'm sick." I didn't need his s arcastic comments right now. He laughed. "Good morning," he said." How are you, M?" he asked and I knew this was just a c all because he was bored- or his iPod died and he forgot to recharge it. You see, Matt is the kind of guy who has this awesome taste in music. I liked ev erything he listened to- except Metal; I didn't need any screeching in my ears. Last year, he went through the baggy-pants-hoodie-messy-hair-and-converse phase and it was just so much fun until he wanted to get a piercing, that was when Bra d and I had to shake him back into reality. It was still hilarious. But, this ye ar, he was the typical, uh- preppy athlete. If that made any kind of sense. But nothing made sense with Matt, really. One day he tries cigar, the other day heHe snapped me out of my reverie. "Err- Mary?" he said. "Oh," I said," Oh, yeah, I'm fine. How're you doing?" he said. "Someone have wandered to their imaginary world," he teased. "Well, I was remembering that day when you wanted to get-" he cut me off before I continued teasing. "Bad times, end of story," he said and I laughed." And I'm fine," he said," My s ister just thought it was funny to take my iPod with her today when she went out ." His sister, Chloe, was just a few months younger than Allen. We complain abou t both of them a lot. He snorted," She says she's actually going on a date," he said," the lil' kid." I laughed. "A date?" I said," Seriously? Al is going on a- Oh my GOD!" "What?" he asked. I just broke into a fit of laughter that lasted for a good amo unt of time. "Allen...and...Chloe," I panted, gathering my breath. "Yeah?" he stretched the word. I laughed again." What the Hell did they give you ? Marijuana?" He always teased about that. When I start laughing this hard there 's no stop. No biggie. "No, no," I said," Allen and Chloe," I took a deep breath," ARE ON A DATE!" I wa s finally able to talk coherently. "What?" he said, holding his laughter," Are you serious? Allen said he was out o n a date, too?" he asked. "Yeah," I laughed again," Oh my God," I breathed. "They both deserve what they're getting, then," Matt said." Chloe Davis and Alle n Anderson," he said," Prepare yourself for the disaster," he added. Both of the m were equally annoying.

"And they don't know we know," I said. "You evil little girl," he said and we both chuckled." Look, I gotta go now 'cau se I'm almost out of credit-" Typical Matthew-" Are you going to the game tomorr ow?" he asked. "What game?" I asked. "You don't know?" he asked," Tomorrow's the semi-final," he said. "Oh," I said," When?" "At 7," he said. "Nope," I answered. "Why?" he asked. "Curfew- 8pm maximum," I explained. "Dammit," he said," Okay, then. I'll talk to you later," he said. "Bye!" I said as I pressed the red button. I heard the doorbell ring and Mom open the door. My eyes widened as I realized i t was 3pm already- Embry's here and I'm still in my PJ's- I like to stay comfort able when sick. I rushed to my wardrobe and decided to wear something new this time so I matched my off-white, high-neck top with my newest purple Guess bag that I haven't even used yet and off-white ballerina flats. I didn't have any purple shoes. I went to Mom's room to get her purple fancy-plastic never-really-used necklace- I felt like I wanted to change. I didn't know where we were going though. Mom didn't bother to call me when he came, she knew I heard the doorbell. I let my bangs loose and held th rest of my hair up in a pony tail- I didn't wan t the rain to ruin how it looks. I grabbed my cash and cell and put them into my bag, not bothering with any perfume; I usually didn't, plus, I put on some body mist when I got out of the shower this morning. I ran my way downstairs, almost tripping on the stairs. Almost. I was met by Embry's dimple-showing-grin. The cutest of them all and my personal favorite. I smiled hugely as well. He hugged me. "You look gorgeous, honey," he commented and I rolled my eyes, trying to hide th e blush. "8pm!" Mom called from behind us as we hurried out of the place. I needed out! A nd with Embry. Perfect. I noticed that he had Jacob's car today- not his motorcycle this time. I wondere d if it was because I was sick or what. But he told me he borrowed it all the ti me. "So where are we going?" I asked. By the way, today's goal was try not to say hi s name- Simply because it would sound more like 'Ebbry'. Yeah, I know. I didn't need any embarassing.

"I was thinking maybe the mall," he said," Do you want to shop a little?" My mou th fell open. A guy, my boyfriend, was offering to take me shopping! What happen ed to the world? He, of course, noticed my expression and chuckled." Jake and Ne ssie's wedding is on the first of January, you know," he said. "Oh," I said," Okay, then." It was the beginning of the month and Dad had given me my money this morning. So I had pretty much a lot, enough for a simple dress anyways, nothing too fancy. We arrived at the mall in exactly 15 minutes. I smiled as we entered the place w e first met. He seemed to remember that, too as he kissed the top of my head and wrapped an arm around my waist. "It was a...weird day, but in a good way," he commented. I chuckled. "Yeah, I remember." That was not two weeks ago and I actually walked alone with Embry and hugged him and cried my eyes out. That was one Heck of a day. We walked into one of those stores which you don't actually know its name until you see the receipt. Like I said, nothing too fancy. Nothing fancy at all. My phone rang as I entered the store. Nessie. "Hey, Ness," I answered immediately. "Hey, Mary," she said," I wanted to tell you-" she was cut off. "Hello, sweetie, it's Alice," she said. The fortune-teller. I was getting comfor table around them. "Hi, Alice...?" I said, she never called me herself. She did say we were going t o be 'great friends' though. "You're going to be Nessie's bridesmaid and I have your dress, so-" she paused f or five seconds-" don't buy anything pink!" She said." And I need you to come he re sometime soon for the last fitting." I just stared with what I expected was a dumbfounded expression until it sank in. Embry was, apparently, amused by that expression. "Really?" I was excited." Great!" I said," But how did you know I am dress-shopp ing now?" I asked; I knew she couldn't see the wolves. "Oh," she said," Jacob told me," she said," Have fun! See you on Wednesday!" She hung up on me. Wednesday? Well, she knew better. Embry had picked two dresses for me as I was on the phone. One was dark blue, st rapless and about sho- I mean, long enough. The other was bright red, floor-leng th but backless. I blushed at even the thought. "Here," he handed me the dresses," Go try them on," he said. I could feel this w asn't his first shopping trip with a girl- I just tried to shake it off. I tried on the dark blue on first; it just seemed more realistic. I wondered why there wasn't any shopping assistant with us but shrugged it off; maybe it was o ne of those 'help yourself' shops. Or Embry just dismissed him/her. I didn't kno w. It was just perfectly-fitting my chest then it loosened around my waist to becom e completely loose just right above my hip. It came a couple of inches above my knees. Embry knocked.

"Done?" he asked. I opened the door and got out. "What do you think?" I asked," Too short?" I turned around to give him a full ew of the dress. He just kept staring at me." Earth to Embry!" Which came out ke I said, 'Ebbry'. I blushed in embarassment. He didn't catch that though so went to him and stretched on my tiptoes to give him a quick peck on his lips, ich succeeded in snapping him back to reality. vi li I wh

"No, not too short it's just perfect," he said and, since we were the only ones in the room he pulled my face into his hands and kissed me, so slowly and gently and perfectly that I didn't want to stop. And I didn't want to change back into my casual clothes either; apparently, he liked the dress. That was it, I was bu ying it. He pulled away after a few- a lot of- seconds. "I'm gonna go try-" he cut me off and snatched the red one from behind me. "No, no," he said," I told you, this is, uh, great. Perfect," he added," But, th is-" he lifted the dress up," would be pushing things over the edge," he mumbled . I smiled and went back to change as I thought about what he said. I knew red w as his favorite color on me and the dressOh. I see. He can't be any more perfect.

Chapter 11 He was just the most perfect boyfrined in the history of boyfriends. Not that I have a history with boyfriends myself but I just know it. Embry Call was just aw esome. I changed back to my off-white and purple outfit and fixed my bangs and ponytail . I took the dark blue dress in my hands and got out silently to find Embry out of the changing room talking to a glaring shop assistant. So they had shop assis tants here. I could hear their conversation from here... "There's a reason I get paid every month!" She hissed," You can't just walk arou nd the shop and help yourself with the clothes!" He rolled his eyes. "Well now you'll get paid without having to work too much," he said," I just pic ked two dresses for my girlfriend. Big deal," he said," Oh, and we'll take the d ark blue one, size Medium I think, please." I just wanted to roll on the floor w ith laughter; this scene just came straight out of a sitcom. He turned to me ins tantly and took the dress from my hands, smiling. We ended up getting out of the store arguing. "Come on, honey," he said," It's just a dress," he reasoned. Very childlishly, I pouted."I never really bought you anything, just consider it a gift," he said.

I sighed. "You make me regret coming shopping with you," I said. No, no, Hell no I don't r egret it that much." If you're going to buy me everything I like I'm not going s hopping again with you," I said sternly. He rolled his eyes. "It's just a dress," he repeated," I literally can't buy you everything you like ," he said. I sighed. "So do you want to grab something to eat?" I asked," I'm hungry." He smiled. "Sure," he said," The Food Court or somewhere out?" he asked. I shrugged. "The Food Court is fine with me," I said. He grabbed me by my waist closer to hi m and kissed the top of my head. "You're so cute when you're mad," he whispered in my ear, his breath sending shi vers down my spine. I giggled. I actually, really, giggled and then blushed for giggling which made it double as embarassing. He just chuckled in amusement. On our way down to the Food Court, I noticed Charles & Keith and there was this one dark blue shoes right in the front that grabbed my attention immediately and I just had to stop to admire. I had enough money for a shoes. High heels had always had their place in my heart, but they were painful so I on ly wore them on occasions. Before I got inside, I shot Embry a warning glance before I got in. He laughed. "Won't pay. Promise," he said and, with that, we went inside. By the time the shop assistant got me my size of the super-cute heels about thre e seconds had passed. I smiled as I tried it on. The heel was thick so it was ea sy to walk in. I admired the back of the shoes. "So?" I asked him. He nodded. "Great," he said. I could see shoes weren't his favorite topic. Finally somethin g normal about the guy. "It's perfect on you," the shop assistant commented." Comfortable?" He asked. I nodded. "I'll take it," I said and sat down again, taking off the shoes and giving them to him and sliding back into my flats. I was fixing my skinny jeans when I heard a high-pitched voice that I had never heard before. "Embry!" I glanced up at the tall, skinny blonde who stood right in front of Embry with o ne huge smile that made me feel sick for some reason. I looked at Embry's face f or explanation but I found his face expressionless. He cleared his throat and st ood up, taking my hand in his. "Casey," he acknowledged." Hi," he said, his face still held the same unreadable expression. I took a better look at her then. Her blond hair was left loose around her tanned face. She was wearing, uh, a LOT

of pink. Seriously. A lot. But her looks in general made me feel like someone h ad just punched me in the guts. She was so beautiful it hurt. Maybe like Rosalie Hale, a little like Samantha Peterson, too. "How are you?" She asked and I felt more invisible than ever. "Fine," he said,"Um, Casey, this is my girlfriend, Mary," he introduced and pull ed me closer to him. She looked...surprised at first then I got that invisible f eeling again. I gave her the best smile I could muster while all my insecurities kicked in. So that 'Casey' must have been an ex. ook like she was his type of friends, taking in her looks, and considering ut of all his relatives, they weren't I mean, what else? Seriously, she didn't l not like the people I met at the Rez. And, he only knew his mother and half-brother o related.

Hell, the way she touched his arm wasn't in any way friendly. "I'm going to pay," I mumbled and let go of his hand before he would stop me. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------Embry Call Why, oh WHY did Casey Stewart happen to be at the mall at that exact same moment ? Oh God, what have I done in my life? Casey was my ex-girlfriend. She was probably the one I went out with for the mos t time- A month and a half. The thing is...I dumped her. That's what usually hap pened anyways. "So, your girlfriend, huh?" she said. "Yeah," I stretched the word." Why do you care?" I asked. She rolled her eyes. "Well, you deserve it. You did dump me," she said and I was wondering why the He ll hitting girls was such a taboo. "Go to Hell, Stewart," I muttered and walked towards Mary, she was just taking h er gray shopping bag. I took it from her as usual. She walked silently with me t owards the Food Court. Too silent it was getting weird even for Mary. Mary was usually the quiet one. Usually. "What's the matter?" I asked, playing with her ponytail. She ignored my question . "Look! There's an empty table over there!" She said and dragged me to it. I sigh ed and sat down as she did. Seriously, did Casey showing up bother her that much ? "Mar-" She cut me off. "Pizza?" she suggested," Or Chinese?" I sighed. "Whatever you want," I mumbled, resting my back on the tiny plastic chair. Well, tiny to me. "Okay, I'll go get us some pizza then," she stood up but I stopped her quickly.

"Can we talk first?" I asked. She sighed and sat back down on the yellow chair. She kept playing with her purple bag." Tell me what's wrong," I demanded. She ju st sped up her fingers. "Nothing's wrong. Why do you think something's wrong? Nothing's wrong," she rush ed through the words, mumbling. I ran my hand on her soft hair. "You do realize you just said 'Nothing's wrong' twice, don't you?" She blushed i n embarassment but stayed silent." Okay, so why did my ex-girlfriend showing up bother you?" I decided to be straight-forward with her. She bit her full bottom lip." It's no biggie, really," she reassured," I just re membered some stuff I didn't want to remember," She whispered. I grimaced. What stuff now? Did her being here remind her of that Max ? Can that be it? I bit bac k a growl at the thought of his name. "Are you sure it's okay?" I asked, not wanting to push too much for information. As long as she's okay... "Definitely," she smiled at me and I stood up. "Well, I'll go get the pizza then," I said and kissed her quickly. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------Mary Anderson He loves me. He imprinted on me and nothing can ever change that. Never. And it doesn't matter if I think I don't look as good as that Casey does because he thi nks I'm pretty. There. I said it. It doesn't matter. God, it felt so good to regain my confidence again. I owed Embry that much. Embry always told me stuff like 'You're beautiful', 'I love you', 'You look gorg eous'. I never really felt how much he meant them except for now. He loved me, o nly me, and nothing would change that. I smiled to myself; I was getting the old me back. I leaned my head on my bag that I put on the table and waited for him to come ba ck. I wondered for a second where the oh-so-famous couple, Allen and Chloe, were now . It was just funny thinking about them together. Matt and I were getting our re venge. For every time they annoyed us, for every second they made fun of us in, for every time they were the reason we sat home 'babysitting'. They were getting a taste of the venom. Where do thirteen-year-olds go on dates anyways? McDonald's or Toys R Us? Or maybe they went to see that new Disney cartoon. What else can they do? Go to an italian restaurant? They both survived on their allowance. My phone vibrated in my bag and I opened it and got it out. If it was Matt or Al len that would be super weird. Like, 'thinking of the Devil'?

Fortunately, it was just Stacey. "Hey!" I answered. "Hey, sweetie,"she greeted," How're you doin' now?" she asked. "Gettin' better," I answered. "I called you yesterday but they told me you were asleep," she said." Just wante d to talk to you about the party and such," she added," But when you get home, I hear voices around you. The mall?" she asked. "Yeah," I answered," Well, I'll talk to you later," I said. "Sure, Bye!" "Bye," I said and ended the call. Embry arrived then. "Didn't take you long," I commented, my voice more cheerful than last time I spo ke to him. He smiled my favorite, dimple-showing smile. "Nope," he said and kissed my forehead before he sat down beside me."Here's the girlfriend I know," he commented as he handed me my box. I blushed and smiled. "Told you it was no biggie." Not now anyways. I opened my box and gasped before I turned to him and kissed his cheek, giving him the tightest hug ever."Thank yo u! I haven't had that in SO long!" I felt like a little kid but I didn't care. H e laughed. "I know," he said," You told me." Yeah, I remember when I told him that my favor ite pizza was the Cheese Lovers and that I hadn't had it in a very long time. I began eating right away using the plastic fork and knife. He looked at me like I was some sort of a freak. "What?" I asked. "Nothing," he said and shook his head, smiling,"It's just that I, for some reaso n, expected you to just eat it with your hands," he commented. I chuckled. "Well, I would have if my hands weren't probably dirty. Plus, I hold too much re spect for the Cheese Lovers to eat it with my hands," I joked. He raised an eyeb row at me."I'm kidding, it's just too greasy." He chuckled and ate his own regul ar Margherita. My thoughts drifted once again to Al and Chloe. They might as well be having a H appy Meal now. I just found that hilarious so I laughed. "What's so funny?" Embry asked curiously, finishing his pizza as I was still eat ing my third piece. "Allen has a date today," I pointed out," With Matt's sister." He laughed. "Poor girl," he said. I rolled my eyes. "She's just as annoying," I said," I was just picturing the two Devils having th e romance of their lives eating Happy Meals at McDonald's," I said and laughed a gain, Embry laughing with me, too.

"How old are they?" he asked. "Thirteen," I answered. He raised his eyebrows. "It's still too early for them to date," he said. I shrugged and closed my box, full now. "How old were you when you went on your first date?" I asked. "Irrelevant," he said. "Come on!" I said," I wanna know!" "Twelve-" he rushed before I said anything else-" But Mom said it was too early and that I couldn't date until I was fifteen," he said. I smiled. "Good," I said. "Are you done?" he asked, frowning. I nodded. "Yeah; it's too big," I said. He stared at me again then shrugged. He stood up," Do you want to go now?" he asked," We can go to the Rez," he said. I nodded eagerly. "Sure!" I said,"I'd love to." This time, I carried my own pizza box. Okay, so he had the dress and the shoes a nd was holding me with the other hand, that's why I got to carry my own stuff. We got to the Rabbit and I slid in the passenger door, he turned to his side and joined me. I was surprised he stayed quiet the whole way but he didn't look upset. "What are you thinking about so hard?" I asked, curious. He flashed me a grin. "Promise not to freak out?" he asked, I raised an eyebrow at him," Or think I'm weird?" he asked. I chuckled. "I already think you're weird, Em." Sounded like 'Eb' but, whatever. He laughed. "No, really." I nodded. "Okay, I won't freak out, or think you're weirder than you already are," I said with a smile. He looked at me in the eyes for a few seconds before turning his h ead to the road. "I was thinking how good Mary Grace Call would sound."

Chapter 12

I think I just stared at him. Did he just say what I thought he just said? Or is my mind creating things for me? I swear I didn't eat chocolate this time. But, yes, Mary Grace Call does sound perfect. Just not now, definitely not now. When I didn't answer him -what did he expect as an answer anyway?- he glanced at me with a small smile. "I know it's too early to think about that," he admitted," But it just crossed m y mind, and you asked," he reasoned. I smiled back at him. "No, it's okay," I reassured," I know it's a lot early but I think it still soun ds perfect," I said and kept my eyes on the road. I didn't like eye-contact when I say something as cheesy. We were in La Push in about half an hour, we were taking it slow. But I noticed we didn't park in front of Emily's this time, we parked in front of a small red house right by the beach. Before I could ask, Embry spoke. "It's Billy Black's," he explained. Oh, Billy Black...I remembered him from the one bonfire I attended. He was Jacob's and Rachel's father." Jake wanted his car back," he explained," Do you want to go inside with me? I just have to speak to him-" I cut off his explanation; he didn't need to. "Yeah, sure," I said and we got out of the Rabbit and headed towards the door, w hich Embry just pushed without bothering to knock. I was getting used to that. As we got inside I noticed Billy on his wheelchair, watching a game on TV. And t here was another man there. All I could see from him was his curly brown hair an d the back of his blue shirt. Embry leaned down and kissed my cheek," I'll go upstairs. I won't be long. Stay here, okay?" I nodded."Hey, Billy," he said. Billy turned in his wheelchair to l ook at him. "Embry," he acknowledged then noticed me standing beside him. He smiled at me," Hey, kid," he said. I smiled back at him. "Hey." I didn't add anything else because I didn't know what to say. I couldn't just call him Billy, right? He motioned for me to come. "You into sports?" he asked. I shook my head. "No," I answered," But Dad is." That was when the other man turned to face me. O h my God, it can't be him! How small is Washington? He cocked his head to one si de. "Mary Anderson?" Chief Swan asked. I nodded. Billy spoke before I could," You two know each other?" he asked. Charlie Swan lo oked at him. "Yeah," he said,"Her father used to work with me in Forks," he explained and tur ned back to face me," You look different," he commented and I just smiled. Awkwa rd. Living in Forks meant everyone knew each other, and Chief Swan just knows them a ll. But, what was he doing here? Maybe he was friends with Billy or something. As I sat down on the armchair some thing clicked in my head.

Bella Swan. How come I never connected them together before? "You're Nessie's grandfather?" I blurted out without thinking. He looked at me w ith confusion then glanced at Billy. "She knows," he mumbled. Then Chief Swan turned to me again. "Yeah," he said and got back to watching the game. He avoided questions about th at topic, didn't he? Embry came down then along with Jacob. "Come on," he said and took my hand. The Chief looked at us then and chuckled to himself, getting back to the game. Embry took me outside and I noticed his motorcycle wasn't there. He had an excited smile on his face. I wondered where we were going now. "I want to show you somewhere new," he said," We'll leave the bags here." I nodd ed, now excited because he was. He took my hand and started walking. "Where are we going?" I asked when we were on the main road. He looked down at m e then. "I'll go phase and when I come back, climb on my back, okay?" I raised my eyebro ws and stared at him. He just kissed my forehead and sprinted towards the woods. He came back a minute later. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------Embry Call I ran my way to her in my wolf form, enjoying the speed. It wasn't really necess ary to phase, since we weren't going into the woods or something but I wanted to go there as fast as I can. I really wanted to show her the most special place t o me. I sat down so it would be easier for her to climb on my back and she did, clutching to my neck for dear life. "Run!" she said, her voice excited which made me even happier. I ran, full speed down the road and towards the cliffs. We were there in no time . I sat down again so she could get the hint and climb back down and she did. I glanced at her face that now held a confused expression, her eyebrow raised. "The cliffs?" she asked. I had taken her here before. I ran towards the woods ag ain and phased back, now having both my shirt and my pants with me, and put them on. I went to her to find her sitting on the edge of the cliff and gazing into the blue sky. I decided to clear my throat as I approached so I wouldn't startle her, not when she's on the edge of the cliff. That was just stupid. She turned and looked at me with a smile. "You never told me-" I cut her off. "It's not the cliffs," I said and took her in my arms, bridal style which made h er gasp in surprise."Just wait," I instructed and she nodded obediently. I ran as fast as I could in human form and descended down the cliffs, where the smaller cliffs were and finally got to the place I wanted to show her. I put her

down and she stared at the whole place, taking it in. "A cave?" she asked, probably more to herself," I didn't think of that." I rolle d my eyes; I didn't think of that before either. She sat down and crossed her le gs at the entrance. I sat down beside her and wrapped an arm around her shoulder . "I come here a lot," I said," Whenever I need to stay alone, think of something, " I explained," I can come here whenever I want. One time I spent the whole day here, just looking at the waves and the sky," I continued. She leaned on my ches t. "It's overwhelming," she commented," I used to have a place like that back to wh en I lived in Forks," she said," But it wasn't as beautiful, it was just the bas ement." She chuckled," Until this very moment, nobody knew I hid there," she sai d. "Life can be hard sometimes," I said, very wisely and cheesily at the same time, " But I can't say the same about this place; the whole Pack knew about it." Damn this pack plural."But you're the only person I told about this place," I spoke. I came here when I first phased, when I knew about my 'father's problem 7 years ago, the day I imprinted on her and the day I argued with Mom, after I went to M ary in the hospital; I messed everything real bad that time. I never thought I'd tell anyone else about that place. And, way before I imprint ed, I didn't think I'd tell my imprint about this but now I proved myself wrong. As I said before, Mary wasn't like anyone else. She was special, just like this place. She deserved to know. "I want to tell you about something, too," she whispered,"Something that I had n ever told anyone about either," she said, her voice lower by the second. She got me confused. "What is it?" I asked. She bit her bottom lip. "After that...ordeal with Max," she started then swallowed," the reason I never agreed to go out with anyone is that...I-I couldn't bring myself to have enough confidence," she whispered. I rubbed her arms soothingly, I hated how she had to deal with this,"But then you came-" she looked up at me with what can only be d escribed as love and trust,"And today, you gave me back what I had been missing for a long time, Em," she said and put a hand on my cheek,"You brought me back. I owe you my life," she concluded and kissed me quickly."That was so cheesy, rig ht?" she chuckled and I wiped the tear that rolled down her cheek. I chuckled, t oo. "Kinda," I joked but then remembered a question that I wanted to ask her for a l ong time."Mary, what did that Max do to you?" I spat his name but I was so curio us; she never really told me what happened. She sighed. "Can I not answer that?" she asked," Pretty please?" I nodded quickly. "Yeah," I said," Yeah, sure. I was just curious is all." She smiled. "Thank you, Em," she said," For that and for showing me this place." "Well, you're more special to me than a cave in a cliff," I whispered in her ear and kissed right under it, where her neck began. She shivered and I smirked at her. I loved how she reacted to my touches and kisses; it was just so...cute.

A few minutes later of blissful silence, and as the orange sun set, disappearing behind the dark blue line of the ocean that we watched until it ended, a cold b reeze hit us and she snuggled closer to me. Crap; I totally forgot she was still sick. "Do you want to go home now?" I asked and she sighed. "I don't want to but it's almost 7 anyway," she said,"Curfew. 8 maximum, remembe r?" I nodded. "Sure," I said. Wouldn't want to get on her father's bad side. Again. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------Mary Anderson "...And we just danced all night long!" Stacey finished. I yawned nut tried to m uffle it; didn't want to sound bored. "Then it was as hot as Bryan said it was," I concluded. "Bryan? Did he call you?" she asked. "No, I saw him at school at this yearboo- Oh God!" I whined. "What?" she asked. "I have to go to school tomorrow!" I said,"To work with him on the content!" Stu pid yearbook. "With Hamilton?" How obvious was that? "Well, duh," I said then sighed and decided to change the subject." I went shopp ing with Embry today," I said. "Shopping? Seriously?" she said," Are you sure he's a guy?" I would've glared at her if she was here. She got it when I didn't answer," I'm kidding, M. It's rea lly sweet of him," she commented," Gee!" I chuckled."Look, I gotta go now," she said. "Okay, see you Monday," I said. We were going back to school on Monday for a wee k before the Holidays. Why? I don't know. She ended the call. I got up from the bed and went to hang my new dress in my wardrobe when I heard Allen. "Do you really need to ask, Mom?" he whined from in front of his room, obviously . I smiled playfully and went out of my room to find Mom sighing and going back downstairs. I stopped him from shutting his door and he raised an eyebrow at me. "What?" he asked. "So Chloe Davis, huh?" I asked and his eyes widened. "How did you know?" he asked and I just smirked. "Matt told me she was going out on a date, too," I answered with a shrug. He smi led. "Well, she's sweet and it went out great," he said," Now, leave me alone. Please ?" Sweet? Seriously?

"Uh- Okay," I said and got back to my room, still shocked by this piece of infor mation but something else caught my attention. Little Al was growing up.

Chapter 13 I looked up at his dark brown hair and reached out to touch it, tempted to do as he arranged it in a perfect clean cut. But I couldn't, not right now. He looked down at me with his soft, dark eyes that held so much emotion in them- I couldn 't think, I couldn't respond. I couldn't breathe. He smiled as he waited for me to say what I was supposed to say. I took a deep b reath and kept myself locked in his eyes, finally making my speech. "I do." "Are you going to wake up or do I have to make you?" Allen shook my shoulder har d, snapping me out of the best dream that I had in a long while. I groaned and f elt like I wanted to cry. Seriously, did he have to wake me up now? For God's sake! I sighed as he went out of the room, barely caring about what mood I was in. It' s not like I would expect him to; brothers usually don't care if their sisters a re in the mood for school or not. I glanced at my alarm clock and it was 6:30am already. I sat up and went on doin g my morning routine. Today I was going back to school after the week off we had after our exams. I spent most of last week at school anyways, just not that early. I had a nearly -daily meeting with Bryan Hamilton and sometimes with the girls from the design team; Jesse and Emma. We had managed to set a default design for all the pages and some special design s for the activities' pages, with a little more color and suitable design for ea ch. It was a lot of work but it was definitely worth it; we only have to wait fo r Mrs. Cox's next meeting so that we could have her final permission and get thi s thing printed! I got dressed and went downstairs, grabbing my patterned backpack on my way, rem embering to take the keys and phone with me. I found Mom fixing Al's collar. "No it doesn't look 'cool'," she said," Elvis had died a very long time ago." Al len rolled his eyes. "I like it better that way, Mom," he tried to reason but she just glared at him. "Would it bother you to just look decent for once?" she asked," Only once, pleas e." He sighed. "Fine, Mom," he said and I chuckled, getting to the kitchen. I grabbed the jar o

f jam and toast from the freezer and spread the jam over it before I took a huge bite. Mom raised an eyebrow at me. "What?" I asked after I swallowed. She rolled her eyes. "You won't get late for school if you waited for the toast to warm up, you know, " she stated. I smiled as I took another bite. "Embry is giving me a ride," I said, still chewing. It sounded more like "Mmm mm m mmm mm" so I repeated it again after I swallowed. "Lucky you," Al said," I have to walk." I rolled my eyes. "Maybe you'll get some muscles," I teased. He glared before he headed out, slamm ing the door shut behind him. "That wasn't exactly nice," Mom commented. I laughed. "It's just Allen, Mom," I said,"If we don't tease, Earth is moving the opposite direction." I symboled with my fingers. I felt my phone vibrate in my pocket for a short moment."Embry's here!" I said and kissed Mom's cheek."See you." I grabb ed my backpack and ran outside to Embry's motorcycle. He hadn't brought it in so much; it startled me how loud the engine was. He smiled brilliantly at me, show ing his cute dimples in the process. "'Morning, honey," he said and kissed me quickly before I hopped in front of him . My heart lost its pace at his voice that I had missed. I hadn't seen him in two days due to my constant morning working and his night-p atrolling for Sam's sake. I hadn't realized how much my day revolves around Embr y Stephen Call until he wasn't there to lighten it. I'd missed his voice, his ey es, his hair... "'Morning to you, too," I answered cheerfully, putting my backpack on my lap. "Are you better now?" he asked, leaning to kiss the top of my head. "Well, I did say your name right," I said and he laughed. "True," he said and we were in front of the school in no time, to my bad luck."G ood luck," he wished. See what I was just saying? I sighed and hopped down. Befo re I could speak, he did," I'm going to call you at Lunch," he said and took my face in his hands for one long kiss, I forgot that we were in public for a secon d,"I missed you so much," he breathed before taking off towards the opposite dir ection, shooting me another one of my favorite grins. I turned to face the school, throwing my bag on one shoulder and taking the firs t stair. I jumped when two semi-cold hands covered my eyes then sighed, knowing who it was. "Good morning to you, too," I said. He chuckled but still waited for me to ackno wledge him,"...Matthew Davis." He laughed and dropped his hands. "Hey," he said,"Nice show," he commented as we got in. I frowned in confusion. "What show?" He snorted. "The whole lip-lock-" I cut him off with a glare. "Like we didn't see much of that when Samantha was around," I snapped but regret

ted it immediately as he dropped his gaze and looked at the floor."I-I'm sorry, Matt, really. I-" I paused, not knowing how to continue. I knew I hit a nerve. H e shrugged and looked at me again with a smile. "Don't worry about it," he reassured, "It ain't that bad anymore, you know?" he said and I nodded. "I'm glad it isn't," I said as we took the stairs again. The English class was i n the second floor. I wanted to change the subject."Allen says Chloe is sweet," I informed and he raised an eyebrow at me. "I'm sorry but is your brother blind?" he asked," And deaf?" I laughed. We hadn' t talked about that at all, the one time he talked to me last week was after the semi-final I didn't get to attend. He was thrilled, as any other player on the team, that we won and we're playing the Final game against Forks High sometime d uring the next month, probably after the Holidays, I didn't know. We tied last t ime we played against them. It was a funny feeling; Forks High was my former sch ool and now I was cheering for PA High. "It's a very good reason," I said," Maybe he is blind and deaf after all." He ch uckled. "Yeah," he said," Well, she says he was a gentleman so I guess we have two blind siblings." My eyes got wide. "Allen?" I said,"Allen Anderson? A gentleman? Wow," I dragged the word as we ent ered the class way before the teacher came; I was early because of Embry's ride and Matt had morning practice, I assumed. He narrowed his eyes dramatically. "Those two are either lying now," he said," Or have been lying their whole lives ." "Both options have equal chances," I said before the teacher entered and the cla ss, surprisingly enough, was in order. "Good morning, class," she said as she threw her books and purse on the desk,"So today is either going to be a Grammar revision-" everybody groaned-"Or we'll ha ve a reading session- The Tale of Two Cities. You have that for the next term," she said and everybody got silent. Did she seriously want us to choose between G rammar and Reading? Honestly? But, of course, there was always this one nerd... "Reading," Peter Waltz, the kid with the always perfectly ironed shirt and jeans . He was quite handsome, though, the doctor-handsome kind of way; he had wavy bl ack hair and sparkly blue eyes. It was a good thing he was handsome. The teacher smiled. "Okay, then. Dickens it is," she said and the class begun... -------------------------------------------------------------------------------"Wake up!" Stacey whisper-yelled from the seat next to me. I opened my left eye reluctantly. "Did he say something important?" I asked, still not moving from my position on the desk, hidden behind the book. She rolled her eyes. "He just said 'I can see you from behind the book, Miss Anderson'," she informed ," Plus, he was-" I cut her off as I glanced at my mobile's clock.

"...5, 4, 3, 2-" I was cut off by the bell ringing. "...And we'll continue solving the problems tomorrow, any questions?" the Geomet ry teacher, Charles Charles, said before he collected his stuff quickly and made his way out before we could even ask, if we ever had any questions. It was just so like him. I put my pencil case, book and copybook in my backpack and looked at Stacey, who was already waiting for me to make our way to Lunch."Hair?" I asked. She bit her bottom lip and stretched her hand to adjust my bangs back in place." There you go." I smiled gratefully at her and we took off towards the parking lo t, that we had to pass from before we entered the cafeteria, and where we usuall y met Brad and Matt. Nessie always joined us later; she comes with all the Culle ns. The boys were gathered around their coach in front of one of the cars, they were beginning to walk away when we were at the cafeteria door. We never wait for th em if they're late. "Wait up!" Brad yelled from behind, Stacey turned to him faster than I did. She smiled up at him."Hey," he said and kissed her quickly," Hey, Mary," he greeted. I just waved at him, still sleepy. "Someone's been sleeping in her Geometry class again," Matt whispered in my ear as we entered. I chuckled. "Well," I said," I tend to do that when the lesson is boring, Monsieur Defarge." He laughed. "Yeah, that was funny, Lucie, wasn't it?" he said, remembering the role-playing the teacher suggested to do this morning."Di-" he was cut off by Bryan Hamilton. "Hey!" he said and put a hand on my shoulder quickly and took it off- not embrac ing,"Lookin' good." Matt raised his eyebrow at me and I just shrugged indifferen tly. "Hey," I greeted back as we sat on the table- the others went to grab some food. I wasn't that hungry and Matt, apparently, found the whole situation more amusi ng than to just skip it to buy some food. Bryan smiled. Bryan was well-built, tall and a year older than I was- He was a junior. He had honey-blond, relatively short hair and light green eyes- not Emerald green but r ather tends to hazel green more. He was wearing a casual Nike hoodie and low-wai st jeans, along with his Nike Air sneakers. "So I wanted to ask you something," he said as Matt began drinking some of his o range juice that he had in his hand. I nodded encouragingly. What did he want to ask for anyways? A year- he cut my thougts off by speaking,"Would you like to g o to the winter dance with me?" he asked and I could see Matt covering his juice -filled mouth with his hand, his eyes as wide as mine. I had a dumbfounded expre ssion on my face. I didn't know what to say. I mean, what would a normal girl sa y in a situation like this? A situation in which she has a boyfriend and wants t o turn down this guy's request for the second time in two years. I opened my mou th to speak but nothing came out. I kicked Matt's leg from under the table for s upport as he recovered his frozen expression. He just gestured for me to speak. I blinked and Bryan was still waiting. "Uh- I..." I still couldn't make straight sentences. Stacey and Brad joined us t

hen. Nessie still didn't come. Stacey must have noticed the awkwardness that cre eped in. I saw Matt whisper something into Brad's ear which made him chuckle."I' m sorr-" Matt cut me off. "She'll go," he answered for me and I think I just stared at him. What kind of a joke was this? Bryan smiled but turned to me again for confirmation. I glanced at Stacey for support this time but she seemed to think otherwise. "Of course she will," she said and I almost fainted- why did I have to remember my vitamins every day? "Then next Friday at six?" he asked and I wanted to yell at all of them. Find an excuse, find an excuse, find an excuse... "D-Dad," I said," Dad wouldn't let me," I concluded and he frowned. "Why not? It's just a school dance," he said. "I have curfew," I concluded with relief. Thanks Dad. "I'm sure Dad can convince him this time," Stacey said," Come on it's going to b e fun," she urged and I was just going to give up when Nessie appeared with her chocolate bar in her hand. She pretended to not notice anything that was going o n but I knew she was in on everything. She leaned on my ear. "Nice show you and your boyfriend put on this morning," she said, loud enough fo r everyone to hear,"You would've gotten detention if any of the teachers had see n you," she concluded and looked at everyone,"Oh, hey, guys." She sat down betwe en Matt and Brad. Bryan raised an eyebrow. "Boyfriend?" he said then smiled at me,"Well, you should've said something," he added, cheerfully though. I was glad he wasn't hurt."I'll see you guys at the da nce, then." I shook my head. "I really do have curfew," I said, relaxing. He shrugged and got up."Well, I'll see you Tuesday at the meeting, then?" he said and I nodded. He finally left and the whole table- sans moi- burst into laughter. I glared at all of them. "Traitors," I said. "Oh, come on!" Matt said,"You should've seen the look on your face!" I scowled a t him. "You-" I was cut off by my ringing phone. Embry. I sighed and answered him."Hey, Em," I said. "Hey, honey," he answered,"How was your day?" he asked. "Pretty..." I paused, searching for the right word," Well, I can't describe it s o I'll tell you all about it later." He cuckled. "Okay, then," he said,"D'you wanna come see Mom tonight? She's wanted to see you ," he said and whispered,"She made me say this." I laughed and heard a faint Emb ry Stephen Call from the phone. Must've been his Mom. "Sure, I'd love to," I said and felt Matt nudge my arm and mouth 'Bowling' to me but I stuck my tongue out at him and ignored him."So, pick me up after school?" I suggested. "Great," he said," Miss you already." I smiled though I knew he wouldn't see it.

"Miss you, too. See you then." "See you. Love you," he said before he ended the call. Matt scowled at me. "I thought you were coming with us today," he said accusingly. Nessie, Stacey an d Brad laughed. "Well, I also thought you'd back me up when I needed you to," I answered. "Touch," Brad commented. I smiled triumphantly. Matt rolled his eyes. "Whatever," he mumbled," So are you coming to the Final?" he asked."You must," h e added with a bit of a warning tone in there. "When is it anyways?" I asked. "Thursday," he answered in a 'duh' tone. I think my mouth hung open. THIS Thursd ay? I regained my composure,"Red and white, right?" I confirmed. He sighed. "It's your own damn school," he muttered,"Coming or not?" he asked. "Of course!" I said and pinched his shoulder."I told you I would, right?" He hal f-smiled. "Well, you also said you would go bowling," he retorted. I grinned. "Wouldn't miss this game for anything," I said. I knew how much this game meant to him and the whole school, and I was his best friend. So, of course I would! M aybe Embry would even come with me. I mean, why not? After all, it's just a game. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------He ended his kisses with one right on the corner of my mouth. He rested his fore head on mine, breathing heavily as I was. He smiled a toothy- dimple showing smi le, not helping me with my breathing issue at all. He held my waist tight as he set me back on the floor, careful enough not to scratch my back in the process a s I leaned on the wooden, outer wall of his house. He straightened my jacket and hair for me and I bit my lip. "Here you go," he breathed," Just as perfect as ever," he added. I kissed his ch eek. "We'd better not keep your Mom waiting for longer," I said, still gathering my b reath. He nodded and held my hand, walking ever-so-slowly towards the entrance o f his house. "Anything interesting at school today?" he asked and I chuckled at the memory of today. "Yeah there was this guy who asked me to the winter dance," I said and paused to watch his expression- My turn to be amused at him for once- His face was quite unreadable but I felt his grip on my hand get stronger,"And my friends wanted to set me up to go with him." I wanted to sound like I had finished but I didn't s ucceed, apparently.

"Mmhmm?" he encouraged, his hand on the door knob, pausing. "Relax, Em, I'm not going with him," I said with a chuckle," Did you seriously t hink I would?" He shrugged."Anyways, Nessie managed to save me. Oh, and there's this- Okay, wait," I said as he started to turn the knob. He looked at me questi oningly. I bit my lip again and took a deep breath; I never asked a guy to a dan ce before, but it was just Embry...No, that didn't make me relax. "The dance is on Friday..." I trailed off, looking at the blue sky that was covered with a lot of clouds,"So, do you want to go with me there? You know, just- you- Uh," I stu ttered and he chuckled and kissed my forehead. "Of course I would," he said,"Who else would drive you there?" I scowled at him. "Is that it?" I raised an eyebrow at him. He shrugged and tried to look indiffer ent as we entered. "Oh and maybe be your date, why not?" he said and I hit his arm. He laughed a bo oming laugh and slid a hand on my waist,"Sure, angel." "Where did that come from?" I asked. He just shrugged again before calling for h is Mom, Amber. Angel. I like that.

Chapter 14 "Believe me when I tell you that you're the best thing that ever happened to thi s kid," Amber said and Embry rolled his eyes but agreed. I blushed. "Thank you," I replied and, for somehow, she had the same amused look as her son . I wondered sometimes why I amused him- now them. I shrugged it off anyways. Amber is a really nice woman. She was beautiful, I could see where Embry got his eyes and hair from. She was also very welcoming, she made me feel like I was ho me, not visiting someone. I loved how she could create this cozy atmosphere arou nd the whole place. Of course, it was the second time I ever go to Embry's house- while he went to m ine almost all the time which was quite unfair but I didn't mind that much. But, this time, I could really watch the whole place in details, not surrounded by t he awkwardness and worry that surrounded the place last time, when Embry and I g ot here, just on time, to prevent his Mom from leaving the house. Poor Amber. The walls were painted in beige, matching with the light brown furniture of the living room, that had a medium-sized TV and about a dozen of magazines on the ta ble. They varied from Cars and Sports to Fashion and Make-up. The kitchen that w e were sitting in right now was simple- like Emily's. And, right now, it smelled of apples and cinnamon, bless whoever invented that combination. The relationship Embry had with his mother was really interesting, I wished I ha d that kind of relationship with my own mother. Of course, I love her and so but

what Embry and Amber had was just so great. He was her everything; son, best fr iend, brother, father...everything. They both depended on each other very much, a stranger would notice that. She smiled proudly when she finished pouring the caramel sauce over the pancakes she had made earlier. She looked happy, which instantly cheered me up even more . She was the kind of person that would affect you deeply. Talk about first impr essions. She put our dishes in front of us as we sat on the kitchen counter. "I hope you like apples," she said and I smiled at her. "I do, actually," I said and grabbed my fork as I started eating. I noticed how Embry was watching me intently. I smiled at him, still chewing the pancakes stuf fed with buttery apples and cinnamon. "Hey, there," I whispered after I swallowe d, he chuckled. "Hey, to you, too," he said as his mother went to grab something from the fridge which turned out later to be some Coke. "This is so delicious," I said, my mouth full, not a very impressive manner but I just had to tell her-" I might actually quit following a diet." She chuckled. "You don't need it, anyways," they both said and we laughed. Like Mother like so n. I blushed a little and wanted to deny it but then decided to drop it; last ti me Embry and I had a conversation like this we ended up making out, our very fir st time, not three days ago. So I don't think it would be suitable if we have a similar conversation right now. "So," Amber started, not eating any of the pancakes herself," What do you want t o do when you graduate?" Just when I thought this is not going to end up like a usual parent-meets-son's/daughters-girlfriend/boyfriend. But I guess it runs in their genes. I swallowed my food. "I was thinking of Med-School," I said honestly. Embry had finished eating by th en, he stroked my hair."But then I'm not really sure I can make it." She had a t houghtful look on her face and she glanced at her son once before speaking again . "Med-school?" she said,"That's pretty great," she mused. I half-smiled. "That's exactly why I think it might not turn out well for me," I said," I'm the type of person who gets bored pretty easily and I'm not the one to memorize a l ot of stuff." They both rolled their eyes. "You're going to do just fine," Embry said. "So what else do you have in mind? If not Med-School, I mean," Amber asked. I sh rugged. "I thought maybe graphic design," I said," ht me a lot of stuff." She rested her chin us on the counter. I decided to change the ntion was on me." I was thinking the other Mom's a graphic designer and she taug on the back of her hands opposite to subject; I hated it when all the atte day..." I said.

"Hmm?" Embry said. I noticed how quiet he was today, or maybe not; only around h is mother. "I was just wondering how you looked when you were little," I said playfully, a hint of a grin on my face."I tried to imagine you...smaller, but I couldn't." Am ber laughed while Embry gave me a weird look.

"Well, I do have this album," Amber mused. Embry buried his face in his hands. "Oh, no. God, no," he mumbled which made me even more curious. I mean, he had se en my photos when I was a baby. I wanted to see his, too. "Show it to me," I said quickly, suddenly excited. Then remembered to add,"Pleas e." She chuckled and turned on her heels, going upstairs. Embry turned his head to me, his eyes pleading. I shook my head."You saw my photos," I reasoned. He si ghed. "Fine,"he said and managed to kiss me quickly before his Mom came into view, hol ding a huge, black album in her hands. (A/N: DON'T ask what's up with me and pho to albums these days xD) "Here it is," she handed me it and I opened it immediately. She smiled at us."I' ll leave you two alone, then." Embry let out a sigh of relief and she left to go to the living room. "What?" I whispered. He smiled at me. "Nothing," he reassured and I looked at the pictures. He looked so adorable when he was little. The album was arranged according to da te. 08/14/1989- Embry Call. 2 days old. He was sleeping in a blue crib, his eyes closed and a small smile on his face. I could not believe that he could have been that little sometime in his life. He looked so peaceful and so cute. I felt a smile creep on my face as I switched to the second one. 08/12/1989- Embry Laughing. 1 month old. He looked so adorable laughing widely, showing his dimples as his toothless mout h made one of its first public appearances. "You look so cute," I said. He smiled and played with my hair as I watched the n ext ones, only some were very...special, I think. 07/08/1990- Embry taking his first steps! Almost 11 months old. He was wearing the tiniest jeans you could ever imagine and a red spider man T-s hirt, leaning on the leg of the table and another kid behind him, giving us his back. "I was so tiny," he commented with a laugh, I laughed along with him. "Yeah," I agreed,"But who's the other kid there?" I asked. He frowned. "I think that was Quil. He wasn't much taller," he said,"I've known Quil and Jak e for quite a long time now, almost 23 years," he added. I nodded. "That's great, you know," I commented as I flipped one, other than your family, for your whole life," close to anyone. I mean, I'd had my close friends close, we rarely speak to each other now," I added ad as if in a soothing manner. the pages again,"To know some I explained,"I never got that back in Forks but never that bitterly. He kissed my forehe

Another one was proving me right; Jake, Embry and Quil were always so close. 06/23/1994- Embry with Jake and Quil dressing up for the school's costume party. Embry's messy brown hair was coming out of his Zoro hat and he was pulling on Ja cob's wolf costume, which is quite ironic, by the way, and Quil was laughing his guts out at them, dressed in a formal suit that I didn't know how he got his si ze of; they were all still tiny compared to now. "You know," I said,"I always loved Zoro," I commented. He chuckled. "Well, you have your Zoro now, angel," he said, embracing me."Except that I can morph into a giant wolf," he laughed and I did, too. Did I mention how much I lo ved my new nickname? And now he has one, too. "That's even better, Zoro," I said, laughing at the sentence; it just sounded to o funny. He kissed my cheek and rested his head on my neck, his breath sending f aint shivers down my spine. He flipped the pages for me. 06/03/2003- Embry graduating from Middle School. 06/12/2007- Embry FINALLY graduating High School. "Finally?" I asked, frowning. He chuckled. "Yeah," he said,"I repeated my sophomore year," he explained," 'Cause of the wol f thing, everyone was messed up." I felt my mouth form an 'O'. "Hey!" Amber called from behind, startling me," Look over here," she said with a grin. Embry groaned. "Mom-" he tried to object but she shook her head at him and settled her camera. He slid his hand on my waist and smiled, leaning on my head. I wrapped my arms a round him, earning a proud smile from his Mom. She snapped the shot. "December 14th, 2011. Embry and Mary," she commented and I grinned. She was abou t to turn around when she frowned and looked at us again."You know?" she said," You two rhyme." -------------------------------------------------------------------------------"So this is okay, right?" I asked Stacey, putting both the sweatshirt (the one t hat Embry said he liked that day at the mall) and white jacket that were on the holder on my body,"With the jeans and red Converse, right?" She nodded. "Definitely," she said and grabbed two white caps that had the letters PA writte n in red and tossed me one. The boys had managed to get us two. They looked grea t; I loved those two colors together. I put it on after I wore my outfit and fix ed my hair in the mirror as she applied her lip gloss."Now we're good to go," sh e commented, popping her lips to confirm the lip gloss once again. I nodded. "When are they coming to get us?" I asked, referring to Brad and Matt, who were coming together in Brad's car. Embry, unfortunately, had some Pack wolfy issues to deal with back at La Push to be able to come with us today- he said he would come at 10 to pick me up, though. The game is held in Forks High this time for a change and Jacob had the same issues, apparently so Nessie said she couldn't co me. I didn't know why no one of her family came to drive her or attend the game though. Nessie and I had been really close before Embry. But, after I knew about her "se

cret", it became harder for me to just act normal around her. I mean, now, I do act kind of normally but not as close. You can call it instinct; my mind told me to trust her but my body couldn't obey or some crap like that. I was working on that, though. I knew she didn't like that, especially when Stacey and I were th e first real girlfriends she had ever had, aside from the imprints at La Push, I mean. The doorbell rang,"That would be now," Stacey said and grabbed her bag. I took m ine, too and we came downstairs to find Dr. Brooke with the guys, waiting for us . The Doc smiled at us when we ran our way down. One thing I liked about him, he a cted like a second father to me; he considered me his other little girl. Mrs. Br ooke had passed away a couple of years ago so it was only him and Stacey. His short, black hair contrasted with his blue eyes- that Stacey had inherinted. He looked as old as he really was; fourty. "Well, here are the girls," he said and wrapped his arms around our shoulders."T ake care of them," he instructed before we all left. Brad and Matt gave him a ha lf-salute, earning chuckles from us. We went out and settled ourselves in Brad's silver Audi Coupe with Stacey in the front seat beside her boyfriend and I beside my best friend in the backseat. I noticed how Matt kept rubbing his hands together nervously. "You nervous?" I asked. He nodded. "It is the Final," he reasoned. "And we're gonna win!" Brad added confidently from the driver's seat. "Definitely," an equally excited Stacey added. I smiled at him. "I agree," I commented,"Getting nervous isn't going to make things any better." He sighed. "I just have a bad feeling about tonight, I dunno why though," he said. "Gee, Davis," Brad said,"How optimistic," he added sarcastically. He rolled his eyes. "I was just saying what I feel," he said and leaned his head back on the seat. "So how much time before the game?" Stacey asked as Brad finally made it to Fork s High. That was a long trip indeed. He shrugged. "An hour or so," he said. That was the bad side of having one of the players dri ve you- You're too early. They both, the guys, I mean, turned to us."I think you know where you should go?" Brad asked, speaking to me. I nodded. Yes, I had bee n here for only a couple of months but I knew the school too well. "Sure, we'll go now," I said,"Good luck, guys," I said and Matt smiled. Stacey h ugged Brad. "Luck's for losers," Brad commented and turned to Matt,"Come on, the coach is ri ght there," he pointed at him as he waited in the parking lot. We made our way t owards the field. I couldn't believe how much I missed this place- though I haven't been here for

long but I always felt that this was my place, that I wasn't the new girl from t he other town. I mean, the guys at PA are pretty welcoming; I hadn't had any maj or problems fitting in 'the crowd'. In fact, I am friends with two of the most p opular girls, and two jocks. That was like getting to the top of the popularity list in High School. Pretty much like chick-flicks but not at the same time. "Oh. My. God!" I heard the familiar voice say from behind."Mary, is that you?" I turned my head to Nancy Williams, my 'former' best friend from Forks. "Hey!" I said as she hugged me. "I missed you," she complained and broke away from our hug, she noticed Stacey t hen. "Oh," I said,"Nancy, this is Stacey Brooke," I introduced and turned to Stacey," Stacey this is Nancy Williams," I said. "Hi," they both said at the same time then Nancy took a good look on my outfit. "You traitor," she muttered, jokingly though,"You're with the enemies!" I rolled my eyes. "Well, I do go to their school so they're not practically enemies," I said and s he laughed. "Okay, then," she said,"I'll see ou girls later," she added before she turned an d left. Very typical Nancy. I turned to Stacey then. "Don't ask," I said before she asked any questions. She laughed. That was when m y phone rang. Embry. "Hey," I said, my voice cheerful,"How are you?" "I'm fine," he said but his mood wasn't that good,"How are you?" he asked. "I'm good," I said,"We just arrived at Forks High and we're heading towards our seats now," I added. "Mmhmm," he said,"Okay, then, I'll pick you up at ten, right?" "Yep," I confirmed,"I'll be waiting," I said. "Me, too." I sighed. I missed him so much." See you," he said. "See you," I replied before I ended the call. The game went well. It was tough but it went well. We won by a last-minute-goal. It was awesome. "Yay!" Stacey said,"This is so great!" "Yeah!" I agreed,"I think I'll go check on Matt now; he was pretty nervous befor e. I bet he's happy, now," I said and Stacey rolled her eyes. "There was no reason for him to be nervous in the first place," she said,"We're good at what we do!" She smiled,"I'll wait for Brad outside by the car," she sai d. "Okay," I answered,"See you."

I walked down and back to inside the school. I kept walking through the halls, s earching for them. So, yes, I knew the school but I didn't know where our team w ould be. I spotted a cheering crowd and knew it was them. I ran my way there but happened to pop into someone in the way. "Sor-" I was cut off by what I saw in front of me. His green eyes were fixed on mine, probably just as shocked. I think I stood there frozen for a long while. Dammit, I should've expected that .

Chapter 15 Why me? Why now? Out of the total of- well, a lot- of students, I happen to bump into the only one I prayed for long I wouldn't meet again. Max-freakin'-Watson. I regained my composure quickly and tried the ignore-it-and-run-away method but it never worked unless both of us were willing to ignore it... And that wasn't the case. Dammit. He grabbed my wrist quickly before I could turn around to were our team were, th e opposite direction. I looked at him with pleading eyes."Wait, please," he said . I could practically hear my erratic heartbeat over the cheers and everything. "Please." Was all I said before he spoke again. "I just need to talk to you," he tried to reason, still not letting go of my wri st. "Let go, Max," I said, feeling how hard it was to say his name again. I couldn't bring myself to raise my voice higher than a whisper, and I knew that strugglin g was a hopeless case; he was much stronger than I am. Hell, Allen is stronger t han me. "Come on," he urged as I watched our team make their way through the doors. No, no, no, no. I was hoping Matt or Brad, or even Bryan would spot me and manage to get me out of this situation. "I need to go," I feel like my mind king the vitamins find a way, even actually rose my voice,"Th-They're waiting for me." Why did I was blocked out of its senses? Why did I happen to remember ta every day? I wished I could faint right then. I wished I could if it was unhealthy, to get out of it.

"Just a few minutes," he said and started walking, my wrist still in his grip. I just hoped it wouldn't bruise; I didn't need to explain that. I walked with him as he headed outside, towards a corridor between the two buildings, three minut es away from the parking lot. He let go of me then. I took a couple of deep brea ths and decided it wasn't worth the tension. I mean, what harm could a simple, s hort, quick conversation with- Oh, never mind. I knew it wasn't right. Something in me told me to leave this place and run towards my friends, towards Embry who

'd supposedly been waiting for me- He was always on time. "So?" I said, clutching to my white bag. He sighed. "I couldn't talk to you last time, at your school," he said. "No kidding," I muttered. He ignored that. "Mary, I-" I cut him off. "Stop it, Max. Just stop it! I'm not going to go through this again! What happen ed happened and it's over- I have a new life, new friends, a boyfriend- everythi ng," I said, though my voice hadn't enough power in it to emphasize on what I me ant. "Boyfriend?" he asked. I snorted. "What? What's wrong?" You seriously can't be bothered. Like I care if you are. H e broke the short eye-contact for a second and shook his head. "I want to tell you something," he said, bringing his green eyes back to meet mi ne. I pushed him away gently from my personal space. "And I don't want to listen," I answered and was preparing for my second big esc ape when he stopped me- This time from my shoulder. "Just listen, I never asked you to do anything else," he said, a little harsh th at I winced. Well, the main problem was that you never asked me anything, idiot. I sighed and turned to him. "What?" I asked, trying to sound venomous but I rather sounded like a pleading, whining kitten. Don't ask me where I got that simile from. "I've always loved you-" I guess my mouth that dropped the furthest it could sho wed how surprised I was. How schizophrenic, Watson."More than you thought." I co cked my head to one side, trying to comprehend what I'd just heard. I think it w as easier to understand the mechanics of the phasing werewolves. Oh, and the che mical bonds, too. "And yet you ignored me, completely, and went on with your life," I narrowed my eyes at him."Ha Ha." I wasn't feeling like fainting so I decided to cover up the rush of emotions with acting like that. I was confused, relieved, confused again and- and- No, this can't be it. "I left you because I felt that way about you." Oh, cut the crap. I raised an ey ebrow at him. "You know, when someone loves someone else they usually try to get closer," I sa id challengingly. He ran a hand through his hair and looked away again. "I never felt that way about anyone, and it- just scared me, not being in contro l of my feelings." Now you're talking like Dr. Phil but with hair. I heard my ph one ring and I concluded it must be Embry- if not Matt or Stacey. But probably E mbry. "Save it, Max 'cause it isn't working," I whispered, tears forming in my eyes."B ecause I used to feel that way about you but-" he cut me off by taking my face i n his hands, roughly though and bringing my lips into his, not giving me any cha nce to escape. I cried and pushed him away with all I had of force the same seco

nd he pulled away, hitting my head in the wall. I couldn't think, I couldn't com prehend, I couldn't do anything. That was when I heard the oh-so-familiar engine of the only motorcycle I'd ever rode fade into the rain that had just started n ot a couple of seconds ago. It was fascinating how a kiss in the rain could have two, very opposite meanings . It could be Heaven, like the one I had with Embry... And it could feel like burning Hell, like right now. "Mary!" Max called from behind as I started to run towards the parking lot. Plea se don't be what I just thought it was, please don't be what I just thought it w as. I scanned the parking lot with my eyes but my vision was blurred with my tears a nd the rain so I got out my phone, my hands shaking harder than ever and my head feeling 100 pounds heavier than it is. "Wait!" Max called again. I wasn't even aware of him following me. "J-Just leave," I breathed, unable to tell if he could hear it or not. I was sti ll trying to point out Brad's Audi Coupe but I couldn't think straightly. Everyt hing was perfect until only ten minutes ago...Ten Minutes. My vision was getting more blurry but I knew that time wasn't because of the rai n or the tears. Well, it took long enough! I was getting dizzy, stronger than ev er. And not because of my hypotensitivity this time. "Sit down or get inside or something," Max said. I turned to him instantly, not a very good move when you're dizzy. "Stay away from me!" I yelled at him, my voice shaking,"Enough! Just leave me AL ONE!" I continued yelling with all I had of force. "What's going on there?" I heard someone ask who I discovered later was Bryan, w hen he came into view. Max raised his hands as if in surrender. This jerk. "Nothing, nothing," Max said, probably to avoid a scene like the one at school a bout a couple of weeks ago. "What? What's-" Bryan paused and supported me as I swung with dizziness."Hey Dav is!" He called for Matt,"Brad!" he called then turned to me. I was working on st eadying myself while standing up and I thought it was working. Slowly. I closed my eyes and took another deep breath which managed to get me functionin g better. "Here, here," I heard Matt say and a door eyes to find one of the cars' door open. Hamilton's. I sat down on the edge of the ad in my hands that I had supported on my open."Get in," he said and I opened my It took me a second to realize it was backseat of the black car. I put my he knees.

"I'm okay, I'm okay," I reassured them as I finally stopped crying."I just need to get home-" I looked at Brad,"I-I don't have a ride," I said. He frowned in co nfusion for a second but Stacey seemed to get what was going on- or so she thoug ht. "Of course, we were leaving now," she said and held her hand out for me,"Come on ," she said, managing to sound cheerful though I knew she was worried.

I leaned my head on the back of the seat and closed my eyes, trying to tune out everything that had happened but I couldn't. So here's he scenario of the soap-opera that happens to be called life- Yay me-: Ex-boyfriend (or whatever you can call him) bumps into ex-girlfriend at her old school- his school. He takes her to talk. He kisses her. She doesn't kiss back. Ex-girlfriend's boyfriend shows up and sees them and somehow he thinks somethin g that's totally not the truth which girlfriend doesn't know how he made himself believe. She nearly faints, causing a scene in the parking lot and her friends take her home. How perfect. How cliche. "Won't you tell us what happened?" Matt asked for the millionth time today and I shook my head again. I hadn't talked since I stepped into the car. He sighed he avily."You can't just- God, Mary." "I just want to go home and sleep." Maybe everything would disappear in the morn ing. I just couldn't believe how Embry would think- Oh my God! How could he? And, Max! How- What? I took another shaky breath and bit my lip. "This is unbelievable," Stacey muttered,"You can't just stay silent like that!" "Yes, I can," I answered simply."How long?" "We're there," Brad announced and parked in front of my house, turning in his se at to face me."This-" he did something with his fingers,"is nonsense, you know," he said and I looked down at the ground, guilty. "I'll call tomorrow," I promised,"Congrats, guys," I said with a small smile bef ore I got out. I felt even more guilty for ruining the mood for them. I walked towards the house and stood on the porch, fixing a smile on my face as I knocked. That should work. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------"Sleep, sleep, sleep, sleep, sleep," I kept murmuring to myself as nothing else worked. I tried calling Embry several times but he wouldn't answer which just ma de me more anxious. I needed to speak to him about last night. I just did. I hat ed how I couldn't just go to La Push and visit him- I'd never know where he is e xactly. Besides, Dad wouldn't let me go that far in a cab alone. Again with his rules. I knew I could call Nessie but I didn't want to- I didn't feel like talking abou t it with anyone, really. That just sucked. A headache started forming in my head as I waited for sleep to come. I'd tried l istening to music, counting those stupid sheep, drinking warm milk- everything. But I was just one of those people who couldn't sleep when some thing's on their mind- Remember the day I went out at three AM to meet Matt? Speaking of who, I had received a few missed calls from him. And Stacey for that matter. But I didn't answer any of the calls or reply to any texts. I didn't ev en check my Facebook account or anything. I just took a shower and hopped into m y bed.

So I tried calling Embry again. Please answer. Please answer. "Hello?" someone answered. Definitely not Embry; I knew his voice everywhere. "Oh, hi," I said,"Is Embry there?" I asked. "I'm Quil and," he said,"No, he's not." I could tell something was making him an gry and I winced as I realized what it was. "Please, Quil, I just need to-" he cut me off. "He's not there. Really." I sighed. "Fine, I'll call later." He snorted but didn't answer." Bye," I said as I hung u p and threw my head on the pillow as a new, fresh wave of tears flooded through my eyes. That night, I cried myself to sleep. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------Embry Call I ran through the huge trees and on the damp grass, not really caring about anyt hing now. I couldn't believe my own eyes. I just couldn't. I saw her- God. No. I t must've been my imagination. Except that it wasn't. Embry... Leave me alone, Jacob. It- It isn't like her, you know. He said. And I just needed you to remind me, thank you very much. I'm very sure it was he r, Jake. I can't not know who she was. And it was him. I growled. Him. Him. Him. Him. Him. I dropped the tree I bumped into straight on the floor. With that rate, no trees would be left. Jacob thought. I growled again. Like I c are. That's why she never told me what happened. She never really got over him. That night, I ran myself to exhaustion.

Chapter 16

"Sweetie, wake up," Dad said, shaking my shoulder ever-so-gently. I groaned. "I just slept not an hour ago," I protested. Dad stayed silent for a second and I almost got back to sleep. "It's 7am," he said. It was my turn to sigh. "Yes, and I fell asleep at 5:30. My math isn't that good when I haven't slept we ll," I muttered. He shifted beside me on the bed, I could feel the covers move. "Well, I don't usually wake you up before I head to work," he stated,"But I hear d you cry last night after you got back from the game." I almost slapped myself for this. It was the most stupid thing to do, crying out loud when your parents are just a door away. I wouldn't be surprised if Allen asked me the same questio n today. Oh wait, I'd be surprised. I decided to play dumb,"Really?" I asked, closing my eyes tightly shut."Me? Cryi ng?" Well, it was better than a lie 'cause the last thing I wanted to tell him w as why I cried. The last thing you'd usually tell your father is that you bumped into your ex who kissed you and your boyfriend saw you and isn't answering his calls. Honestly, the last. "Mary Grace Anderson you'd better not be hiding something," he said sternly, yet his voice was extremely concerned. Ouch. The last time he used that tone I ende d up grounded, and the last time he used my full name like that- well, I can't e ven recall it. I remember him doing this to Allen all the time but not me. "Dad..." I mumbled, my voice pleading and my eyes still closed."Please, just- ju st give me some time and I'll tell you, I promise." Maybe a day, maybe a year or even a decade. I might even consider a century, if I live that long, which I wo uldn't which is kind of the point. He kissed the top of my head,"No you're going to tell me when I come back from w ork," he said with finality."I can drive you to school; you're-" I cut him off, my eyes snapping open. "It's Friday!" I concluded. Crap; I totally forgot about school! I mean, we only had half a day because of the dance this evening but, still. "Yeah..." he said,"Ten minutes. I'll be waiting downstairs." He shut the door be hind him. I quickly grabbed my phone, cash and keys and stuffed them into the sm allest pocket of my backpack along with my eyeglasses that I, for some reason, h ad got out of it. I had not time to shower so I just settled with washing my fac e, noticing my bloodshot eyes and red nose in the mirror, which definitely didn' t help my case with Dad. I untied my hair then did it again but in a decent pony tail, leaving my bangs free only because I didn't feel like thinking about what to do with them. Then I quickly changed into the same outfit I wore last night e xcept that I didn't wear the jacket and I wore my white flats instead of the red converse. And, of course, I didn't wear the PA cap today. I picked up my backpack and ran downstairs to find only Dad waiting for me, his face unreadable. "Come on," he said and stood up, leading me towards the door. We kept silent the whole way to school and I got there just on time for the bell which I was deeply grateful for; I didn't need to confront anyone about yesterd

ay- let the school celebrate the winning. I ran upstairs and headed directly to English, where Matt was. I took my seat next to him and his eyes glanced at mine as soon as he heard me; he had been looking at the desk. I gave him the best sm ile I could muster at that moment, which, if you ask me, isn't worth being calle d a smile. "Hey," I breathed and got out my notes. I doubted we would need the book todayit was the last day anyways. "Hey," he answered and glanced towards the empty teacher's desk then back to me, "How are you?" he asked and his tone suggested he was annoyed. Oh, great. One mo re person to worry about today. This was just getting better and better... "I'm sorry, okay?" I said,"I just don't want to talk about it now." He shrugged. "Don't apologize," he said,"I'm just worried- what the Hell did he do to you?" h e asked, obviously referring to Max that has been there last night. I avoided th e question. "Allen told me yesterday that he was going out with Chloe again," I said and Mat t's fist met the desk but not loud enough to attract attention. "If you want it that way, Mary, then fine. I'm sorry I ever asked," he said and the teacher entered before I could speak. I didn't need him to get mad at me, to o. I felt like I could cry; I was at the verge of tears before anything to start with. I stood up and headed towards the teacher. She looked at me questioningly . "Do you need anything, Miss Anderson?" she asked. I took a quick breath. I was s o getting in trouble for this. "Yes, actually, I need to be excused for just ten minutes," I lied,"I forgot som ething really important in my locker." Which I never really use. "Oh," she said,"Okay. Don't be late; we're continuing A Tale Of Two Cities and w e need a Lucie." I smiled at her. "Sure." Not. And I headed out of the door slowly, never throwing a second glance behind me. I left my backpack behind, in the class. I ran right after I was out of the teach er's sight and towards the entrance of the school, almost tripping on the stairs as I went out. "Where do you think you're going?" I heard a voice say from behind and I froze. On the only time I try to ditch... Alice came by my side,"You really don't know, do you?" she asked. I sighed and s hook my head. "I really don't," I breathed. She nodded. "I know," she said,"I got worried about you." I frowned at her. "Why?" I asked. "I could actually see your future," she said,"That's reason enough. What happene d?" she asked as she led me towards Edward Cullen's silver Volvo that she opened for me. I slid inside, trusting her. I didn't have any reason not to. And we ha d met a couple of times and went shopping for accessories for both Nessie's and

Charlie Swan's weddings. That I don't know right now whether I would be attendin g or not. "Embry thinks I kissed my ex," I said, refusing to use the term 'cheated on'. Sh e gasped faintly. "How could he?" she asked and frowned,"This kid," she mumbled. Sometimes I forgo t she was way older than we were. "I don't know," I mumbled, taking a deep breath to prevent myself from crying."W here are we going?" I asked. "La Push," she simply answered,"But I'll drop you at the boundary line and call Jacob; I can't cross it." She rolled her eyes and called Jacob. "He's mad at me," I said after she finished," I- I didn't even- God!" I said, a few tears escaping my eyes; I couldn't hold them. She patted my back with her ic e cold hand twice. "I know," she said,"How did he come to that conclusion, though?" Just when I was about to answer her, she spoke again,"Oh." "You saw me telling you?" I asked and she nodded. "I can't believe it," she muttered then turned to me with a smile, about 20 minu tes later,"Matthew is going to take your stuff. You are in trouble but I think y ou'll Dad wouldn't be so mad, but you have to tell him." "You think?" I asked. She shrugged. "The lesson isn't over yet so they didn't make the decision to tell him," she sa id."You have detention when we return to school, though." I nodded and she stopp ed the car. I saw Jacob's VW a couple of feet away. "Okay," I said, not really caring about detention now. "I'll pick you up later. We have some dressing up we need for tonight," she wink ed at me. "But-" she cut me off. "I already called your Dad yesterday," she said and pushed me out ever-so-gently ,"Now, go." I nodded and got out of the car, heading towards the other. I opened the passenger door and slid in for the third time today. "Hey," I said. Jacob sighed. "Hi," he said."Look, I don't know where exactly he is but I'm guessing home or e lse he would be in his wolf form which he's not." I looked down at my hands guil tily. Everyone was mad at me, apparently. "It's not what he thinks," I whispered,"I don't know how he'd ever consider that ." Jacob frowned and stayed silent for a second. He muttered something along the lines of 'I told him so' then he spoke more clea rly,"Just be careful," he warned as he stopped in front of the Calls'. I frowned . "Okay but, why?" I asked. He shook his head.

"Just keep your distance until he gets it, got it?" he asked. I nodded and hurri ed out of the car, my heart pounding in my chest as I knocked the door. I just h oped any of them would be awake at 8:30am. Luckily, Amber answered as Jacob took his car and left me. "Oh," she said,"Hi, sweetie." I could tell she was confused. "Hi," I replied and put my hands in my pockets nervously,"Is Embry here?" I aske d. She nodded. "Yes," she answered,"Come in." I did as she said."I'm afraid he's asleep right n ow, but you can always wake him up; he needs to get up now anyways." She was che erful. The only one today so I guessed she knew nothing about last night. I deba ted in my head whether I should wake him up or not but decided to do; I didn't h ave much time; I needed to get back to school at least before Lunch."His room is the first one on the left upstairs," she informed with a smile. I nodded and hu rried upstairs. I found his door half-open already so I stepped inside He was asleep indeed, the covers thrown on the floor. I blushed at the view as h e was shirtless but luckily had his jeans on, which I found quite weird. I guess ed that he was in his wolf form until late last night. The room was messy; cloth es were thrown everywhere- on the floor, on the chair and even on the desk. But it was clean. Untidy but clean. I sat down on the bed beside him and my hand was shaking as I nudged his shoulde r. I didn't have the nerve to talk right then. His eyes snapped open and he sat up immediately. "Wha-" he said and ended the word with a yawn then glanced at me, which made him freeze. We both stayed in awkward silence for a moment then I decided to speak. It was the National Decision Day for Mary Anderson today. "It's not what you think." Was my very smart statement. He looked away. "I think I know what I saw," he said, annoyed and started shaking slightly. I cr ossed my arms over my chest like a kid. "I really don't know how you could be mad at me while it's not my fault," I mutt ered," I swear it isn't." "First of all, I'm not mad at you- I would very much love to right now but I lit erally can't," he snapped and stood up, not facing me, and ran a hand through hi s awesome hair. "Well, if that's what's going to make you listen then be mad at me!" I said, my voice rising the tiniest bit, very unlike me but I wasn't myself today,"Yell! Do whatever you want but listen. All I want you to do is listen," I said. He snort ed. "Listen to what?" he turned to face me,"To how you two love each other and you c an't be my girlfriend anymore?" he snapped and I was too surprised to answer,"To how you just realized that you never got over him?" he growled and I wished I c ould shrink in my seat. "No," I said,"No, Embry that's NOT what I want to say!" I tried to snap but coul dn't, it sounded too weak."I don't love him!" He raised his eyebrows. "So what was that kiss? Some kind of- what?" he asked, shaking harder now and co ming closer to me.

"I never kissed him!" I answered truthfully and he cut me off before I could con tinue, his body lines getting blurry. "I saw you," he said and I let out a few tears at his tone. "Would you please listen?" I asked," HE was the one who kissed me and I pushed h im away! I never kissed him!" I defended and, still crying, looked at him straig ht in his eyes, pointing my finger to his chest,"And you thought it was somethin g entirely different, you don't trust me, Embry. Let alone how you left me to de al with him alone," I said, my tears now uncontrollable. His shaking got noticea bly slower until it faded away." You don't even trust your-" he cut me off by ta king my face in his hands- in a very different way than Max's- and kissed me. It began rough but became slower as he continued, I kissed him back just as roug hly, my hands reaching for his hair and his for my waist. He moved from my lips to my jaw line. "I'm...so...sorry," he apologized between kisses, my heart doing laps as he didand it wasn't beating normally before-."I...should've-" he paused when he came back to my lips, on of his hands on the edge of my red sweatshirt- his favorite. His lips moved again from mine but to my neck this time,"I love you so much, yo u know that?" he asked and pulled away, looking in my eyes, our foreheads leanin g on each other. "I know," I breathed,"I love you, too," I said," I don't know-" he cut me off. "I shouldn't have done that, I know," he said," What do I have to do to make it up to you?" Oh, you think what you just did makes me remember anything before? "What about you come with me to the dance tonight?" I asked, smiling. He kissed my forehead. "Of course," he said. That was when Amber walked in on us in a very...compromisi ng situation, with him still on top of me and my back pressed to the back of the bed. She chuckled. "Breakfast's ready," she announced. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------"For a vampire, you're either really slow or you're putting too much make-up," I accused, my eyes closed. "I know I'm not slow," she mused,"But it isn't too much," she concluded. "You finished Nessie in no time," I protested. She laughed a musical laugh. "You're just too eager to go out and see ton petit ami," she said. "You knew I'm not good at French, right?" I asked before she applied my lip-glos s. "Yeah," she simply answered and I would have rolled my eyes if my eyes weren't s till closed; she told me not to open them except when she tells me to."It means your boyfriend." "I guessed that much," I said and Nessie joined our laughter."I'm heading downst airs now, 'Kay?" she said. "Sure, sweetie," Alice said and I nodded."Now you can open your eyes," she said

and I did. I looked at the mirror and I felt my eyes widen at the reflection I s aw. The girl I saw in the mirror was exceptionally beautiful, her dark hair half-rai sed up and the edges of her bangs were slightly curled. Her light, simple sparkl y eye-shadow enhancing her dark brown eyes and matching her red lip-gloss that w ent perfectly with the shade of the strapless, slightly tight, long red chiffon dress that was truly simple with only a black belt on her waist. I moved my head to the left and was surprised a little to find the reflection move with me. Wow . It really was me. "You're a miracle maker," I said and she smiled proudly and kissed my cheek. "Now I'm going to go dress up, you go meet Embry downstairs, I can hear him gett ing impatient," she said and turned away. I stepped into my black heels and wore what Alice called a black bolero before I went downstairs to find Embry waiting at the edge of the stairs- somebody must have told him. He grinned widely and h eld out a hand for me that I took gladly. He kissed my forehead. "You look stunning," he whispered in my ear and I blushed. "You don't look so bad yourself," I said. Actually, no. He looked more than awfu lly handsome in the black suit he had on, his hair just as I remembered it from that dream I had a few days ago. He smiled and engaged my arm in his. "Let's go," he said. "I demand a picture!" Alice said from upstairs and ran to us, her camera in her hands. Everyone laughed. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------I wrapped my arms around his neck again as he put his hands on my waist. This da nce was thankfully slow. I loved how I could look at him straightly without havi ng to look up now I was on my heels. Bryan finally believed I did have a boyfriend. I was glad he did. He came with t hat cheerleader, I think...What was her name, again? I don't know. I talked to M att today at school, which I got detention at but they, thankfully, didn't call my parents. He said it was okay and he was just worried about me. Matt was a gre at friend, really. And he deserved the best. He had a date for tonight...I wonde r if there's something more, but I'll ask later. I found a text message from Allen when I took my stuff from Matt today at school . He was actually worried about me- he heard me, too. That honestly surprised me , but then I concluded that my little brother is finally growing up, something I never expected to happen, not in this lifetime anyways. But I knew he would den y that he actually cares that much about me but it's the thought that counts. "What are you thinking about?" Embry asked. "Nothing important," I said,"I really want to sleep," I mused. He chuckled. "Me, too," he agreed," And I'm hungry, too." I chuckled. "You boys are always hungry," I commented. He scowled before he laughed along wi th me. "So do you want to get out of here and go grab something to eat?" he asked,"Anyw here. But I doubt McDonald's would be very appropriate with our formal clothes o

n." I smiled. "Sure," I said and he led me out of there as quickly as possible. I sat, facing the right side, on his motorcycle-that I'd insisted he'd bring us in- and he sat behind me, opening his jacket. He kicked it to life. "Ready to go, angel?" he asked, using my newest nickname. "Let's go, Zoro." My Zoro. rhyme is gonna be rewrited and its new name will be Rhyme A Dark Imprint