WARNING!: Character death!

A/N: This piece came from a random song I heard on the radio while out driving the other day. The full story whirled through my mind so much that I had to come home and write it all out. This is not an easy read so please forgive me if you want to throw things at me at any point. ;)

SM owns all. I just borrow her characters now and then.

Prompt: "Life is Beautiful" by Sixx A.M.

Life is Beautiful

Early as usual, Angela walked out of the res store, her arms loaded down with snacks for a day at the beach. She flipped the hatchback on her Civic to place the food in the large basket that she had brought just for this purpose. Her mind went back over her mental list of things to bring for her day with her high school friends.

As she drove the short distance to La Push, she happily sang along with her music, tapping on the steering wheel in time with the song playing. A quick glance around the parking lot told her that she was the first to arrive which was always the case. Suddenly, her phone vibrated. Bella's name flashed on the caller ID.

"Bella?" Angela answered immediately because she knew that her best friend wouldn't call unless something was wrong.

"Um…hey Angela." A voice croaked through the line. Had Bella been crying? "I've just received some bad news and won't be coming to the beach today."

Angela blinked in shock. In all of her years of knowing Bella, she had never bailed on one of their get togethers so whatever happened must be serious. "That's fine. Eric, Mike and Jess will be here." She paused. "Is there anything that I can do for you?" Her giving heart reached out to Bella, wanting to help in some way.

"No, I need some time to myself, that's all." Bella sniffled and it sounded as if she shifted in her bed. "I'll call you tomorrow, ok?"

"Of course, I'll talk to you then." With a heavy sigh as she hung up, Angela wondered what had happened that had Bella so upset. After thinking about her phone conversation for several long minutes, she shook off her concerns to carry her stuff down onto the beach. The first load went well but the second trip with her beach chair and blankets didn't. She found herself tripping over something that grunted. With a gasp, she let the chair and blankets drop to save her balance. The cause of her near accident was a pair of naked feet poking out from the side of a large driftwood log. Upon further inspection, she spied one Embry Call, passed out drunk, several empty mason jars littering the ground around him. Gingerly, she picked up one to give it a sniff. The smell made her crinkle her nose. Res shine and lots of it. Her friends had spent many a night, getting drunk on this stuff so she knew it was potent.

Kneeling, she reached out to touch Embry's face, supposedly to check for vitals but that was just a lie that she told herself to keep her own heart in check. Once upon a time, she had dated Embry for six months. Those were the happiest months of her life, pure bliss. Embry was completely devoted to her. They talked, hung out, went to movies, shared meals, but then suddenly, he disappeared, only to come back a month later. She was shocked when she opened the door to find him standing on her front porch. He was no longer the boy she dated, but a man full of muscles and an emotionless face. He explained that they wouldn't be seeing each other ever again and that she would be better off without him. A glance into his eyes told her more though. He was lying. Having had his say, he turned and left her, standing on her porch, confused, shocked and crying her heart out for the man she loved.

His vitals were strong so that meant he was sleeping off the effects of his drinking the night before. "Em…" Angela tapped his face lightly. "Embry, wake up."

Slowly, he started to wake but his normally graceful movements seemed jerky and slow. Maybe it was the after effects of the shine. She didn't know for sure but she helped him sit up, leaning against the log for support. His bleary eyes finally focused on her. "Ang?"

The next moment, she was pulled into his lap. His arms wrapped around her tightly as he held her. His face buried in her hair as his shoulders shook. Embry was crying.

"Embry…what happened? I've never known you to drink so I know this has to be serious." Her hands gently rubbed over his shoulder as she leaned into him. Embry was always the quiet, controlled, reserved member of Bella's reservation friends. Could his night of drinking have something to do with her phone call from Bella?

Embry held her for a very long time until his tears dried up and his breathing quieted before he answered her. "Quil…..he's…." His arms tightened around her as if she was holding him together. "He's gone….dead."

Determined to lift his best friend's spirits after he had the misfortune of imprinting on a toddler, Embry decided to take Quil out in his old beat up Beetle to drive the back roads of the res at break neck speed after imbibing more than their share of res shine. "We're shifters, dude. We're going to party like there's no tomorrow!" He drug his morose buddy out of his bedroom, out to his car and pushed him into the passenger's seat. "We're going to have some fun, dammit."

They spent the better part of the night flying over the back roads, jumping over little ravines and doing donuts in open fields with the music blaring. About an hour into their reckless behavior, Quil loosened up. "You're the best, Embry. Thanks for kicking my ass tonight." With his trademark grin, he crawled out the open window of the Beetle to sit on the door, using on to the passenger's seat for leverage to keep his balance. "WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" Quil bellowed at the top of his lungs to the stars twinkling in the night sky.

Laughing at his antics, Embry failed to see the large rock approaching on his side of the road just ahead. The second he hit that rock, the car careened to the right and then flipped. Quil was thrown head first into a tree, killing him instantly.

When the car stopped moving, Embry jumped out, screaming for help. Finally, he pushed past his fear to phase. Within seconds, howls were heard throughout the res as the Pack raced to help their brothers. What they found was a frantic, remorseful and heartbroken Embry on his knees by Quil's broken body. Nothing could console him. Nothing would bring his best friend back.

When his arms finally loosed on her, she pulled back from him to look into his face. "I'm so sorry, Embry. I know he was like a brother to you." Angela lifted a hand to cup his cheek. "But if I remember correctly from what time I spent around him and what you have told me about him, Quil loved life, right?" She waited patiently until Embry nodded. "Then I think he would want you to embrace life, rather than finding solace in the bottom of a bottle, Em."

His dark eye searched hers, his pain vibrating out of his very soul. "But I killed him, Ang. I'm the one who took him out that night when we were more than slightly drunk." Embry's breathing picked up. "I killed him, can't you see that?" His shoulders trembled with fresh grief as his head dropped to her shoulder.

"Embry Call, look at me." Pulling on all of her training from her father the pastor, she calmly reasoned with him. "You know as well as I do what happened was an accident. There's no way that Quil would blame you and neither should you. He would want you to let go and move on, live life."

Fresh tears poured down his cheeks as he listened to her. With a deep sigh, he raised his head to look at her. "I'll try." He gave her a weak smile as he was not convinced that he could let go or go back to living life without Quil.

Angela shifted to stand up and he let her go. "Well, if you need anything…anything at all, you give me a call or stop by if you want, ok?" Smiling, she bent down to give him the softest of kisses on his cheek. "I'll always be there for you if you need me."

"Ok." was his only reply as he watched the one girl that he had ever allowed himself to love walk away…again.

"Come on, man. You need to come run with me." Jacob begged Embry, yet again. It had been a month since the funeral and Embry hadn't left his house.

"Nah, I'm good." He replied when in reality, he was anything but. Embry had refused to phase since the funeral. The moment he did, his pack would know his guilt for the accident and his deep anger at himself. They didn't deserve to go through that pain. It was his alone.

Night after night, Embry would lay on his bed. Snippets of conversations with Quil and Jake would run through his head. There were moments when they used to burst out into laughter for little or no reason at all. Memories of hanging out at the beach with him or eating his mom's warm cookies on the front porch tortured his soul. Try as he might, he could not seem to find a way to follow Angela's advice, to let go and move on. After hours of staring out his window from his bed, he finally fell into a fitful sleep. It was about 3 am when he woke yet again. His hand blindly rifled through the drawer on his bedside table, looking for his Ipod. Quickly, he flipped through his music to find "Life is Beautiful", Quil's favorite song. After listening to it on repeat a couple of times, Embry managed to drift off to sleep.

"Yo, idiot. Get your ass out of bed already." A voice called to him.

With a start, Embry sat up to see Quil sitting on his bedside. In shock, he stammered. "Q, what are you doing here? You're…." The word stuck in his throat.

Quil snorted. "Yeah, I know, but I had to come kick your ass one last time so I'm going to make this good." Giving him a wry smile, his friend smacked him in the head.

"OW! Dammit, what was that for?!" Embry raised a hand to his head, now throbbing from the blow.

"It's for being an idiot…you idiot. I told you once that you never should have broken up with her. Now get off your scrawny ass and go after Angela before someone else figures out what a catch she is." Quil's eyes were serious even if his tone was playful. "She will help you through but you have…to…get..off..your..ass." Lifting his foot, Quil pushed him off of the bed.

THUD!

Embry landed on the floor, scaring him half to death. How the hell did he end up down here? Rubbing his head which was hurting, he sniffed the air. There was a lingering scent of pine, motor oil and popcorn….Quil. Looking around frantically, he called out for his friend. "Quil!"

A book and a magazine slipped off of his bedside table, hitting him in his head. His hand reached up to rub the tender spot, unable to remember ever hitting anything during the day. The magazine that fell laid open on the floor beside him. An article on working out boldly read…"Move your butt!" The dream conversation with Quil came back to him. Move on, get back with her, live life…his message was clear.

Laughter rolled out of him, long, happy and much needed. His best friend came back to kick his ass into shape. Who was he to deny him? Besides, what would Quil do to him next if he didn't?

Knock knock knock!

Angela laid her book aside to answer the door. Her eyes went wide when she found Embry standing in her doorway yet again, but his face looked different.

"Um…hey, I thought I'd take you up on your offer." Embry smiled shyly at her, his normal shy demeanor coming out.

"Sure…come on in." Moving to the side, she let him walk into her house. "Can I get you something to drink?" Her mother's lessons on proper etiquette rattled through her brain.

"No, I'll not stay long. I just want to talk to you for a moment." He walked into the living room, taking a seat on the couch beside her book.

"So…what brought you by?" Angela sat beside him but leaving enough space to not make it feel awkward.

"Well, I'm taking your advice." He looked down at his hands in his lap. "I'm moving on."

A smile brightened her face. "Yeah, what brought this about?" Angela shifted on the couch to face him.

Embry chuckled. "Oh, Quil showed up in a dream and kicked my a…. butt…again." He corrected his language quickly, remembering her father was a preacher.

"Again… what do you mean?" She asked curious.

His eyes looked up as a chuckle escaped his lips. "Once upon a time, Quil kick my…but when he found out that I broke up with you. He told me that you were the perfect woman for me." His shoulders shrugged. "He decided to remind me again last night just how much of an idiot I have been." Embry turned to look at her. "He reminded me that Life is Beautiful…and so are you."

His confession brought tears to her eyes as she took his hands in hers. "I love you, Embry, always have."

He gave her hands a gentle squeeze. "I love you too and I want you to live this life with me, Ang." Leaning forward, he softly kissed her lips. A breeze blew through the open window beside them, carrying the faint scent of pine, motor oil and popcorn.

Indeed, Life was beautiful.

A/N: Please read and review! Also, if you've never heard this song before, I highly suggest it. It ties in well with this story. :)