Title: Permanent
Summary: Embry just wants a different life. Jacob wants things with his imprint to be simple or, even better, not to have an imprint at all. Renemsee wants to live a happily ever after but how can she when some mistakes are irreversible? Leah didn't ask to be a part of it all. When old ties are severed people will seek comfort in the most unlikely of places... Post BD.
Chapter 1: The Friends of Embry Call
Embry POV
If someone had told me, five years ago, that Leah Clearwater would turn out to be one of my best friends, I wouldn't have believed them. Now it was hard to remember a time when I had thought of Leah as a defiant, bitter, bitch of a girl. Of course, she was still all of those things, but they were the qualities that made her Leah. The traits that marked her as one of a kind. Thinking back, it was hard to remember the exact moment where I had started thinking of Leah as a good friend; even harder to recall when I began to feel more...
"Hey, Leah," I grinned as she opened the door.
She rolled her eyes and stepped out of the way so I could get in. "What are you doing here, Call?"
"I can't just stop by to see my favourite bitch?" I asked innocently, pouting for effect.
"Only my friends get to call me that, pup," Leah strode off into the living room, her hips flicking ever so slightly in that sexy walk she had mastered without ever realizing.
I smirked and closed the door before heading in behind her. Leah was sitting on the black leather sofa, her legs crossed; wearing a slim fitting vest and some short khaki's.
"So what's the plan for Seth's 21st?" I sat down at the opposite end of the sofa, facing Leah, and stretched my legs until my feet grazed her thigh.
"First," Leah began. "Get your feet away," She shoved my feet off the couch with a smirk. "And second, we're having a party, what more is there to plan?"
"Guest list, food, music, venue, invites."
"Well, aren't you just the ultimate party planner, next thing you know Kim will be asking you to plan her wedding," Leah said sarcastically.
"Well, sorry for wanting to give your little brother an awesome birthday," I said coldly, playing the card I knew always worked. Leah's Achilles heel was Seth.
"Listen up, Call," Leah edged closer until her face was inches away from mine. "If there's one thing I care about in life, it's Seth so don't go shovelling me that crap."
Her fresh, minty breath was cool on my lips and sent tingles up my spine.
Leah cocked an eyebrow before standing abruptly. "Glad we're on the same page," She smirked in that superior way as she walked off into the kitchen.
We had been having a lot of moments like that lately. A secret glance. A close encounter. A slip of the tongue – or hand in some, more awkward, situations. I didn't know if these things played on Leah's mind like they did mine. Or what they meant. It was a game of cat and mouse with her. It always had been. And more often than not, I was the cat. Which is meant to be good, right? Cat's have power over mice. It's the way of the world. But what power do we have when the mouse is constantly on the move, choosing all the routes while we follow.
"Move your ass, Em. I don't plan on getting the door!"
I snapped out of my thoughts and went to open the door I hadn't heard ring.
"About time," Jake commented before I even had the door fully open.
"Well hello to you, too," I said sarcastically, heading for the kitchen.
Leah was sitting on the counter, her legs pulled up to her chest, as she waited for the pancakes to cook. "Hey."
"Hey, Leah," Jake eyed the food. "I hope you made enough for me."
"Jake, if I wanted to make enough for you I'd need about twenty frying pans. You're lucky if you can fit two pancakes in this crappy pan."
"And since you were last..." I shoved Jake's shoulder in our brotherly manner.
"No way, that's not how it works, Embry. The hostess needs to serve the guests first."
Jake and I grinned at Leah.
Leah grinned back. Not a good sign.
"Sure, these are most definitely for you two," Leah flipped the two pancakes onto a plate each and handed them to us. "Enjoy."
Jake eyed them with distaste. "I don't smell anything poisonous."
I poked mine about my plate. It was big but thin as paper. "Lee, you need to learn how to make a proper pancake."
Leah grabbed two waffles from her waffle maker and smirked. "There's a reason I'm not good at making pancakes. I don't tend to make breakfast in the morning for random guys." She said as she walked around my side of the table, leaning in to whisper in my ear. "But we can always change that."
I almost dropped my fork. Was that an invite? Had she honestly just said that? I looked over to Jake for his reaction but he was too busy wolfing down the rest of his meal.
"What's up, Em?" Leah asked innocently. "Lost your appetite?"
"No," I snorted – not the hottest thing to do – before digging into my paste-like pancake.
"So," Jake said, setting his plate in the dishwasher – an appliance Sue had had fitted when her two children turned into shifters. He began raiding the pantry for anything else to eat. "What's the deal for next Friday?"
"Ugh," Leah moaned. "Let's make snap decisions. Venue?"
"The Cullen's," Jake answered quickly.
Leah wrinkled her nose. "Fine. Food?"
"Everything," I replied.
"Good choice," Leah nodded in approval. "I'm upping you to assistant planner. You know what that means, right?"
"What?"
"You get to make the guest list," Leah winked. There was no point in arguing. The look in her eyes was that of a winner. "And Jake, you get the easy job of making sure Alice decorates appropriately. This is a guy's 21st, not a flowery occasion."
"Fine," Jake rolled his eyes.
"Embry?"
"Yeah?"
"Get to work." Leah threw a pen at me and I sulked off back into the living room.
I tore a few pages out of a notebook on the coffee table, my pen hovering over the page.
I would have to invite practically half the Rez which, coincidentally, meant every family that was in on the wolf secret. There was Sam and Emily with their twin girls. Paul, a very pregnant, Rachel and their son, Dan. Jared and Kim, soon to be newlyweds. Collin and Brady, who were eighteen and still looking for an imprint – as long as I was concerned they could wait five more years, I was first on the to-get-an-imprint list. There was the group of part-time wolves that were all about seventeen that I should probably invite. Then there was our pack. They would all be there, invite or not. Quil, Claire, Jake, Ness, Leah and me. On top of that there would be the Cullens and the elders. So it was a pretty packed party.
"Leah, can't we just post some flyers in the shop or something?" I complained.
She came to the doorway just to glare at me.
"Practically the whole town is coming anyway!"
"I don't care, Em! Just make the list!"
XXX
Three hours later and I was finally heading home. Well, Quil's house. It was my home away from home. I knocked the door a few times and waited for someone to answer. You could never be sure who would answer the door at the Ateara's. They were such a massive family. There was Old Quil who lived in his little house down the road but was usually here, then there was Quil's mom and dad; his older sister, Nadie; the twins, Aaron and Noah and then his youngest sister, Avery. Not to mention the many aunts, uncles and cousins that always seemed to visit.
The door pulled back slowly and I looked down to see little Avery, half hidden by the door, smiling shyly.
"Hi, Avery," I said gently. "You look pretty today."
Her smile widened and she stepped out from behind the door, pulling at the edges of her sundress. "You think?" She asked softly.
"Definitely," I winked, crouching down to her level.
She giggled sweetly. Avery was only four years old and the sweetest kid I had ever met. It was a shame she had to compete with Claire sometimes for Quil's affection. Even though Claire was eight now she was still cute and small, even for her age. Quil spent a lot of his time with Claire, understandable since she was his imprint, but it was sad for Avery. She really adored him.
"Embry!" Mrs Ateara clasped her hands together as she walked out into the hall. "You're just in time for dinner." She ushered me into the living room and closed the front door.
The TV was on, a cartoon that Avery must have been watching, there was music coming from upstairs and loud voices coming from the kitchen. I really loved this place. It was never quiet or boring. And they made way more food than necessary for every meal.
"Nadie!" Mrs Ateara called up the stairs before rolling her eyes at me. "If she isn't down in a few minutes will you shout her for me?"
"Yeah, sure."
"Thanks, Embry," She smiled before bustling back into the kitchen just as Aaron and Noah ran out.
"Embry!" They said in unison, smiling up at me; looking mischievous as always.
"Hey, guys!" I said enthusiastically. "What are you up to?"
"Not much," Noah shrugged.
"We're waiting for dinner so we can go and play our new video game," Aaron explained. He was the more talkative of the two.
"Hey, Em," Quil waved a gloved hand at me from the kitchen doorway. He didn't need the protection, obviously, but it was to keep up the pretence for his parents. It was only Old Quil that knew about Quil being a wolf and his parents were never suspicious thanks to his reassurance.
I laughed. "Hey, Quil, how's dinner coming?"
"Awesome, we're having Italiano," He said with a grin.
"Quil, little help here?" I heard Mr Ateara say. Quil pulled a face and disappeared back into the kitchen.
Nadie still hadn't appeared so I opened the living room door. I could vaguely hear music which meant she must have been listening to her iPod, or something with earphones. No chances of her hearing me shout, I climbed the stairs and gently opened her door near the end of the hallway.
"Aaron! Noah! What have I told you two-" Nadie stopped when I stepped into the room. "About knocking," She finished, smiling at me. Nadie had a gorgeous smile. Actually, she had a gorgeous everything but I would never try anything with her. One, because Quil would go mental; two, because I had known her as long as I could remember and three, if I was with her and I imprinted I would never be able to show my face here again.
"Sorry," I said. "But dinner's almost ready."
"Thanks." She got up off her bed; she had tiny denim shorts on and a vest with her college name on it.
"No problem," I mumbled, wondering if she had caught me looking at her vest and thought I was doing something else.
Nadie cocked her head to the side.
"What?"
"I just realised I haven't seen you in months. And you seem years older," She came over to give me a hug and I hesitantly wrapped my arms around her waist.
"Older, how?"
Nadie stepped back and examined me. "Stubble, rock hard abs, older," She shrugged. "I guess I just never noticed before."
"Dinner!" Aaron and Noah said, jumping in the door.
The atmosphere lightened and I laughed. "Good, I'm starving."
And with that we all headed down stairs and into the dining room. The table was massive and took up the whole room. It was big enough to seat ten – and it did so on a regular basis - so with the eight of us tonight it seemed less crowded. There were a lot of different platters laid out in the middle of the table: three home-made pizzas, two bowls of spaghetti Bolognese, a tray of lasagne, a multitude of different cheeses and breads and then a colourful bowl of salad. Everyone dug in, heaping their plates with the delicious food. Quil's parents were amazing at cooking and Quil wasn't too bad either considering he had learned his skills from them.
"So, Embry, did you do anything nice today?" Mrs Ateara asked, nibbling on her pasta.
"Not really, I was at the Clearwater's helping to plan Seth's party."
"Oh, yeah! When is that?" Quil mumbled through his food, already onto his third slice of pizza.
"Next Friday at the Cullen's."
"Is that the family with the doctor?" Nadie checked.
"Yeah, they live in Forks. Awesome house," Quil told her.
"So that'll be Seth... twenty one?" Mr Ateara said.
"Yeah."
"My, my," Mrs Ateara gushed. "You boys grow up so fast!"
"Mom," Quil rolled his eyes. "Not this again."
The family laughed and carried on eating. Quil was so lucky. He had an imprint, an awesome family and a job. I had a mom who acted like she hated me, no job and no imprint. Some people had it all...
Quil and I had finished about six courses in the time it took everyone else to eat two and we pushed up from the table, stuffed.
"We'll be in my room," Quil said, leaving the dining room and ruffling Aaron's hair as he went.
"Thanks for dinner," I said. "It was delicious."
"Any time," Mrs Ateara said in her motherly, don't-worry-about-it, voice.
I followed after Quil, through the living room, up the stairs and then the last door on the landing.
Quil dived straight for the bed. "So... how was party prep?"
I pulled the chair out from under his desk, straddling it so that I could rest my chin on the back. "It was good. Leah being controlling as ever," I said with a smirk.
"Yeah," Quil laughed. "Although..."
"What?" I asked when he didn't finish.
"Nothing," Quil blushed. "It's nothing."
"Oh, c'mon," I moaned. "You can't avoid it now. I'll be in your head sooner or later."
"Fine," Quil huffed. "I was just going to say that don't you think Leah's so cute when she's all controlling?"
"I was thinking sexy but whatever you say Mr Imprint."
Quil laughed. "This is why we're best friends."
"Aww, don't go all sentimental on me. Besides, I'm not done with you yet, what happened to not being able to see other girl's faces?"
"I can see them, I just don't care. Leah's different, she's a wolf," Quil said, like it was the most obvious thing in the world.
"And I'm only just realising how hot she is," I mused.
"Dude, she catches you thinking that stuff and she'll rip a very important part of you to shreds with her teeth."
I winced at the thought.
"And she's practically family, and Sam's ex, and messed up," Quil stated.
"I know, I know," I sighed. "We were only talking; it wasn't like I planned anything. Before Jake imprinted he used to think Leah was hot."
"No way," Quil gaped at me.
"Hell yeah," I grinned. "I caught some thoughts in his mind of when Leah had just turned wolf and couldn't control herself."
"But, Jake? For real?"
I nodded. "He said he thought she was 'kinda pretty'" I quoted, rolling my eyes. "But not a patch on his Bella."
"Ugh," Quil winced. "Don't even remind me of his Bella phase. I try to block that from my mind or else him and Ness will forever make me cringe."
"Yeah, that was a little bit messed up. I mean, how can you love the person you used to love's daughter?"
"Well, Jake never was simple," Quil shrugged.
"I guess. And it isn't like he has to be with her."
Quil raised an eyebrow. "Embry, Jake is so going to be with Renesmee. That's just a load of crap that keeps the adults calm and the people who haven't imprinted not think it's a bad thing."
"Well hell, thanks for that Quil."
"Welcome."