Megan sat in her last lecture of the day, drumming her fingers on the desk. As soon as she realized what the beat was, she stopped, grabbing her pen and trying to take notes. Why couldn't she get that song out of her head?
Normally, she would be texting Simon, but they hadn't talked much during the past few days, since they had visited La Push. She was not really sure what he was annoyed at, but she had a feeling it had to do with the guitarist. Megan was upset that he was even concerned about it. It was just a random encounter, she kept telling him. As if he thought she would leave him just for some random stranger that she met on the street! Even if he was really really attractive, Megan thought.
After class let out, she met Simon for lunch. He seemed like he was over whatever tiff he had been in, and launched right into a detailed description of his research for one of his classes. Megan honestly wasn't interested, but she tried to remember how she used to sit through these talks happily. She used to sit there and watch how excited he was, and feel his excitement soak into her. Lately, though, she did not care as much.
And she still couldn't get that guitarist's face out of her head.
She clenched her fists in frustration.
"Are you ok?" Simon asked.
"Yeah, I'm fine." Megan tried to smile at him. Did all this thinking about another guy constitute cheating?
Simon smiled back at her easily and grabbed her hand across the table as continued talking as if nothing had happened.
Embry was working in the garage he owned with Jacob and Seth when a different smell drifted through the air, over the reek of oil and metal. It was her. She was here.
He rolled out from under Mrs. Clearwater's '81 Ford quickly. "I'm taking a break," he announced gruffly. He ducked the wrench that Jake chucked at him with ease and escaped out the door.
She was walking down Main Street, looking a bit confused. What was she looking for? Was she looking for him? Embry quickly squelched that desire. He tried to look casual, like he had come outside just to inspect the sign out front. It was a simple plywood set up, and Quil had gotten Claire, whose twelve year old artistic skills were blossoming, to paint "La Push Repair Shop." Embry banged in the back of it lightly, making sure that it stayed up. He turned around after he judged enough time to have passed, and she was a few feet away.
"Hi," he said casually. "What can I do for you?"
"Hi," she said. She was nervous, he realized. "I'm Megan. I think we sort of met on n the common the other day."
Embry smiled. Just having her here, he felt like grinning. "Of course, I remember you. I'm Embry." They shook hands. She gasped a bit when they touched, and Embry hoped it wasn't his abnormally hot skin. "What brings you back to La Push?" he asked, withdrawing his hand quickly.
"Well, actually, I meant to ask you about the song you were playing," Megan started nervously.
Embry raised his eyebrows. That was what she wanted to ask about? Not the feelings he was pretty sure she had, because he had them too? Slow down, he thought. You just introduced yourself.
Megan saw his reaction and seemed to grow more hesitant. "It doesn't matter, really," she said quickly.
Embry shook his head. "I'm sorry. It just seems like a long way to come for a song."
She smiled sheepishly. "It's been stuck in my head for days." She paused, appearing to think. "I don't know what it is about it. I feel like I've heard it somewhere before."
"Well," Embry said slowly, searching for something to say about it. "It's an old folk song. It's about coming home and finding a loved one waiting for you." He paused for a moment. "My mom used to sing it to me."
Megan frowned, searching his face for something. "She's not around anymore, is she?" she asked softly.
Embry shook his head. "She passed away three years ago. Cancer." He wondered how she had guessed so easily. Imprint insight? Was he easier to read than he thought he was?
"I'm so sorry." She sounded sincere.
Embry nodded, acknowledging her response. This was definitely not the way he wanted his first conversation with his imprint to go. He didn't want to talk about this any more. Just because she was his imprint did not mean that she was getting into his head so easily. He decided to change the topic. "Well, I have my guitar inside if you have a minute," he said.
She nodded eagerly and he ducked back inside.
Jacob was grinning stupidly at him when he came back in. "I thought you didn't like her?" he teased.
"Shut up, man," Embry growled. "The situation might not be ideal, but I'll make the best of it."
"And she's hot," Jacob added. Embry growled at him again and Jacob just laughed.
Megan sat on a bench outside to wait. What an odd circumstance. She hadn't told Simon that she was coming. She had been in her apartment when she caught herself humming the song again. Her best friend Cara had heard her humming it the other day and Megan had found herself lying about where she heard it. For some reason, she wanted to keep the encounter to herself (and Simon), and she knew Cara would read more into the situation than was necessary.
Megan had turned on her stereo loudly to blare out the music to no avail. This was it, she finally thought. The song had been haunting her for almost a week. There was something about it that she had to figure out. She had caught the next bus to La Push before she thought about it too much, and it wasn't until then that she realized that she had no idea what she was doing. Why did she think this mysterious musician would just be on the common every day? No to be deterred, she began wandering down one of the main streets.
She was once again wondering what she was doing as she waited for Embry to come back. Would hearing the song twice drive away any weird feelings she had about it? She hoped so.
Embry came back quickly holding his guitar. He sat next to her on the bench and tuned it carefully. After a few minutes, he began to play. The melody was as hauntingly familiar as the first time. The notes rose and fell elegantly. Slowly the melody became a bit faster, a bit happier, and Embry sang along in Quileute.
Megan felt like the song wrapped around her, encasing her protectively and drawing her closer to Embry. She scooted closer to him on the bench, watching his fingers pick out the chords. She was totally entranced, unable to look away.
The song could have been a minute, or an hour. She lost track of time. Megan found herself sad when it ended, the melody rising gracefully to the final chord.
It was completely silent for a minute, and she realized how close she had drifted to Embry. If she leaned up just a little bit, she could kiss him. She suddenly wished the guitar wasn't in between them.
Suddenly, she remembered Simon. She couldn't cheat on him. They had been together through too much.
She scrambled off the bench a little too quickly. "Thanks for playing it or me again, but I really should get going."
Embry frowned. "You came all this way for that?"
"Yeah, and now I've heard it and I need to leave," Megan said, smiling a bit frantically. She felt far too connected to this guy she had barely met. Who knew what would happen if she didn't leave? "I need to catch the next bus."
"Wait!" Embry said as she began walking away. He caught up with her easily. "The next bus isn't for an hour. Look." Megan reluctantly stopped and faced him. "I know I come on a bit strong sometimes and you probably have a boyfriend or someone waiting for you, but you seem like a really cool person. Can we just be friends?" He stuck his hand out.
Megan wasn't sure if she could trust herself around him, or if she would only want friendship from him. But when she met his eyes again, she knew that all she wanted to do was stay and talk to him. Nothing in her wanted to walk away, and she wasn't sure if she could at this point. Almost without realizing what she was doing, she shook his hand again. "Friends."
"Yo Embry, break's up!" Jacob shouted from inside. "I wanna meet your new friend too!"
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