A/N: Written for TeddyBear 8P. Sadly, this pairing does not get enough love. I hope this inspires people to write more about it!

Genre: Romance/Humor
Pairing: Quil/Embry
Warning: Slash
Plot: Embry's afraid of cats. Can Quil save him before he falls into depression?
Spoilers: If you know about Claire, then no.
Disclaimer: If I owned this, these two would be snogging nonstop, and Claire would be nonexistent.

It's not widely known that Embry is afraid of cats.

It could be the werewolf in him that makes him afraid, but that would be pushing reason.

He just doesn't like them.

Quil is the only one who really understands how deep this fear goes. The others in the pack realize that Embry is afraid for some reason, and occasionally tease him about it until Quil threatens to throw them off a cliff.

The pack began to notice the fear take a turn for the worst sometime after Quil imprinted on Claire. Embry went out of his way more often to avoid the feral cats that roamed the reservation's streets. They all began to become a little worried.

Quil was now becoming closer to Claire, and growing farther from Embry. The pack was worried. The two had always been closer than anyone, and now they barely spoke to each other.

Eventually, Embry stopped changing into a werewolf. When Sam questioned him about it, he said he was too tired to be a werewolf anymore. The pack was shocked.

Quil went to Embry's house that night, but no one answered. Growing worried, Quil reached for the spare key under the doormat and unlocked the door.

"Embry?" He called, stepping into the dark house. It really did appear that no one was home, but Quil was determined to find out what was wrong with Embry.

"Embry, if you're here, come out. Now."

Quil heard a small noise coming from a room off to the side. Flipping on a light, Quil walked cautiously into the room.

"Embry? Is that you?"

Suddenly, something small and furry jumped on him. Quil screamed and fell back into a wall. Catching his breath, he looked at his attacker.

It was a kitten.

What was a kitten doing in Embry's house? Quil stared at the orange ball of fur while it stared back at him.

"What are you doing here?" Quil turned towards the voice.

"Embry!" He embraced his friend, who stiffened. Quil pulled back. "What's wrong?"

"You should go." Embry looked bad. His eyes were rimmed with red and were tearing up, and his hair was matted and dirty.

"Why is there a cat in here? Aren't you-"

Quil was cut off by Embry's lips on his own. They were gone before he could even process what happened.

"Just leave, Quil."

Quil narrowed his eyes. "No way. Not until you tell me what's going on. And why did you kiss me?"

Embry blushed. "I- well, I like you." He cringed, as if waiting for Quil to hit him.

When no blow came, Embry reopened his eyes. "What?"

"I like you too," Quil said, smiling.

"No you don't. You have Claire. Why would you want me?"

Quil laughed and pressed his lips to Embry's tan cheek. "I don't really like the whole imprinting thing. She's three years old, Embry. She'll have plenty of time to find someone else, and she'll forget about me when the time comes. Meanwhile, I'll have you."

"But, I thought an imprint was impossible to ignore."

Quil frowned. "It's hard, but I think I'll have enough distraction."

Their lips met again, and the kiss lasted much longer than the last one had. When the two boys pulled apart, Embry sneezed.

"Why is there a cat in here?" Quil asked again.

"My mom thought I was depressed and she bought it for me. I think she was too concerned to remember I'm allergic to them. I went out to get some allergy medicine, but it made me really tired, so I couldn't change into a werewolf without falling asleep."

Suddenly, Quil burst out laughing. "You idiot. We were really worried about you."

Embry blushed again. "Well, I was kind of depressed. I mean, suddenly my best friend and crush wasn't talking to me because he had found his soul mate. It's enough to make anyone upset."

Quil buried his face in the crook of Embry's neck. "I'm sorry, and I'm here now. I always will be."

Embry made a small noise in his throat, causing Quil to laugh.

"Did you just purr?"

"No, it was the darn cat."

As if in protest, a loud 'meow' resounded through the room.

Outside, the pack was crowded around the window. Jared groaned as the two boys dove in for another kiss.

"I knew Leah would turn one of us gay. Now we've lost both of them."

Both Sam and Leah conked him on the head for that comment, before turning back to the two snogging boys.

A/N: Time for a shame(ful) plug: Please check out my fictionpress. There, I said it.

On a less self-centered note (but not by much), please review! No flames about the pairing!

~Arkadian Toad.

P.S. It's totally true. Leah's the one to blame for Quil/Embry