Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight
After spending the entire night tossing and turning, I woke late Saturday morning to find the boys gone with a note, "Off to get camping supplies. Didn't want to wake you." Fantastic. Now I'd get to spend a day with Anne. Sighing, I trudged down the stairs to find the kitchen empty, much to my great relief. After another sleepless night, I doubted my ability to handle whatever crap she intended to dish out.
I popped some Poptarts into the toaster- cinnamon, my favorite- and reached over for the paper. I opened to the comic section, and began reading.
When I was done with my breakfast, I decided to kill some time with a little thing called television. After switching to Great American Haunting- my favorite show, aside from Mythbusters- and prepared to spend a lazy day in front of the TV.
My wonderful plan, however, was interrupted when Anne barged into the den and proceeded to change the channel. Irritated, I muttered under my breath, "Isn't it polite to ask before one changes the channel?"
Anne whipped her head around, "This is my house. I can watch what I want." I could smell alcohol on her breath, but was too ticked of to care.
"Actually, technically it's mine too. You see, I'm not 18 yet, and, I'm not sure if you remember this, but you did sign this little document thing saying that you'd, you know, adopt me...which means that, not only are you my guardian, which by the way, you're doing a terrible job of, just so you know, but you're also entitled to provide me with shelter...which, believe it or not, generally means a house of some sort," I babbled angrily on, not even sure of where the words were coming from. All I was aware of at this point were my shaking hands, the anger I felt rising in my chest. "At least Mike tries."
Anne glared at me- the phrase if looks could kill ran through my mind- "You ungrateful little girl." Her teeth were clenched, eyes wild. "Who are you to question what we've given you- we didn't have to do any of this. Believe me, if I could go back, you wouldn't be here at all."
I let out a humorless laugh- it sounded hysterical- "Oh, trust me, if you weren't blatantly neglecting your other kids, I would have walked out long ago."
"How DARE you!" she jumped to her feet, voice shrill. "How DARE YOU! HOW DARE YOU QUESTION MY PARENTING SKILLS! YOU HAVE NO IDEA WHAT IT'S LIKE TO BE ME!"
"OH, RIGHT, I'M SURE IT'S SO HARD TO BE A SNAPPY LITTLE BITCH WHO GETS THE WORLD LAID AT HER FEET BECAUSE ALL OF US ARE AFRAID OF..." My screams were cut off as Anne stepped foreword and slapped me across the face.
"Don't you DARE say that." she hissed, "Ever."
I stared at her in shock- sure, I'd been hit by my brothers before, but this was different. Never had an actual adult ever actually hit me hit me. It took me a moment to regain my breath, but when I did, I turned on my heel and ran out of the room.
I thought I was heading upstairs to my room to get out some, er, supplies, but I found myself running out the front door instead, completely oblivious to the fact that I wasn't wearing shoes, and was dressed only in pajama pants and a tank top, and that it was freezing and pouring outside.
I couldn't tell you how long I ran for- only that I was at the beach when I finally collapsed, soaked from the rain and panting. I'd known this was going to be a hard day, but that didn't necessarily mean that I'd been prepared for it.
I don't know how long I lay there in the cold for. I do remember absently wondering if perhaps laying motionless in the cold was a dumb idea or not...after all, I'd had hypothermia once. It wasn't fun, or at the very least, not an experience I'd care to repeat.
Suddenly, footsteps came as though out of nowhere. "Liz?" A voice that seemed much more familiar that it should have came from behind me. I looked up to see Embry staring down at me. "Jesus, are you ok?" His voice was full of worry as he knelt down and put a hand up to my face. "You're freezing!"
"I'm fine." I tried to say, but the words were lost. I hadn't really realized that my teeth were chattering so hard until, well, now. His expression become more concerned, and he reached both arms around me and pulled me to his chest, which seemed extraordinarily warm to me, despite the fact that he wasn't wearing anything over it. He easily lifted me, and began to head away from the beach.
"Hang in there" he whispered into my ear as we ran...RAN..at what seemed like an impossible speed. I wondered if I was delirious. "You'll be ok."
We arrived at a cheerful looking, but small, house and Embry ran right through the door. "EMILY!" he called out, sounding panicked. "SAM? HELLO?"
A woman appeared in the doorway. I saw, with a jolt of horror, that her face was covered with 3 huge scars. The shock on my face, however, must have been misinterpreted as some sort of odd illness, because she took one look at me and hurried us inside, talking frantically to Embry. I couldn't really hear- or understand- her; I was much too tired, too comfortable in Embry's chest. I could hear his responses, "I just found her like this...I don't know...I don't know...Yeah, that's a good idea..."
We headed up a flight of stairs, and I was set down on something soft and cushy. Embry let go- I tried to hold on tight to him, but my exhausted self was no match for his strength- and left the room quietly. I just looked up at the woman, confused and slightly scared- It was childish, but I wanted Embry back.
Emily seemed to know what I was thinking. She placed her hand on my forehead, and whispered, "Don't worry- we're just going to get you out of these clothes, and then he'll come back." I nodded- what else could I do- and she helped me remove my soaking wet tank top, try off, and then replace it with someone's over sized T-shirt and a sweatshirt. Then she helped me take off my pajama pants and handed me a pair of sweatpants. They were comfortable, and I felt better almost instantly.
"Thanks." I whispered gratefully.
"Poor thing." she clucked, "You're so hoarse" She handed me a glass of water that was sitting on the beside table, "Drink this." she instructed.
Obediently, I sipped the cool liquid, enjoying the relief. "Thanks." I said again, looking at her curiously, "Um...who are you?"
She smiled, and her entire face seemed even warmer than before. "I'm Emily...my husband Sam is a friend of Embry's." She looked at me carefully. "You look like you could use some warming up- do you want to see Embry again?"
I nodded eagerly, and she chuckled- "Hey Embry? You wanna come and get her?" He appeared immediately and embraced me at once. I sighed, content at being in his arms.
"Maybe she should stay here for awhile." Emily worried, looking down at me. "She doesn't look like she could handle being out in the cold. Here." she threw a blanket at Embry. "Go sit over on the couch with the heater- warm her up."
Embry nodded, and headed downstairs once again into a very brightly lit room. Embry took me over to a couch, laid me across his lap, and threw a blanket over me. "Thanks." I whispered, beginning to feel warm.
He squeezed me tightly, "Anytime." he whispered in my ear.
I don't know how long we sat like that for, but it was dark when I opened my eyes again and looked up into Embry's face. "Embry?" His head immediately turned towards me.
"You're awake! Do you feel all right? Does anything hurt?"
"No, I'm fine...I think. What time is it?" I furrowed my brow in confusion, feeling very disoriented indeed.
"About 6, no, I guess it's 7 now. You had a nice long nap there, you know. Are you sure you're ok? You nearly gave me a heart attack back there, you know! I lose sight of you for fifteen minutes, and you manage to nearly give yourself frostbite and hypothermia!" He shook his head.
I frowned. Something didn't make sense. "How did you find me?" I asked, voice hoarse again.
Embry hesitated. "I was..." he took a deep breath. "I was worried. I'd stopped by your house to see if you'd wanted to come for a walk. Nobody was there, save for Anne, who was a bit, well, drunk. She said you'd gone out. I went looking around the reservation for you, all over the place, trying to think of where'd you'd be. I finally thought of the beach, and, thank heavens, there you were." His grip tightened around me. "Don't do this again, ok?"
"Deal" I agreed hoarsely, feeling exhaustion sweep over me again as I re-rested my head against his chest.
"What were you doing out there, anyway?" Embry wanted to know, looking down at me.
"Umm...Well...I got sick of being around Anne with all her nonsense, couldn't handle it anymore, but didn't want to hurt myself again. So I decided to go run to deal with it all. But then I got really tired when I got to the beach and sort of lost it and...then you found me.".
His face was suddenly composed. "What do you mean 'you didn't want to hurt yourself again'?"
I felt my expression freeze. "When did I say that?" I asked, feigning innocence.
"Just now. And don't deny it- I can feel your heart racing. What did you mean?" he demanded. I looked into his eyes, and I saw...fear? What was he afraid of? I was the one that would no doubt get sent to a hospital or treatment center if anyone (particularly Anne) ever found out.
I sighed. "Sometimes when I can't handle stuff I hurt myself. It's not a big deal or anything, but it's something that I've been trying to avoid lately."
Embry looked at me, expression still composed. It took him a moment to respond- I supposed he was trying to get his voice under control. "Show me." was what he managed to say.
"Show you?"
"Show me what you've done."
I hesitated. "They're in awkward places."
"I don't care. Show me!"
I sighed, then bared the skin oh my hip, which was the most recent one. I heard the sharp intake of breath, and then Embry was suddenly across the room, shaking from head to toe.
"Embry?" I called, anxiously, "Embry, what's wrong?" Despite being exhausted, I tried to sit up and go to him. I managed to climb to my feet...before falling right on my butt again.
He was back over to me in a heartbeat, lifting me back onto his lap on the couch. He put his hands under my chin, forcing me to look into his eyes. They burned into mine as he said, sharply, "Promise me that you won't ever do this again. Promise."
I nodded. "Deal. I'd already been trying to stop, anyway." Embry sighed,
"I just don't want to see you hurt, ok? You mean...a lot...to me. You have no idea how much."
I looked up at him, surprised. "You mean a lot to me too." I responded, knowing that as I said it, I meant it.
"It's different for me." his voice was rough as he said this, and, when I looked up at him, he was staring into space. This confused me...
"How so?" I wanted to know. "What makes you think that your feelings are so much stronger?"
Embry shook his head. "I'll show you someday," he promised, "just as soon as you're ready to see."
I raised my eyebrows, trying to sit up again in protest. "I'm ready now! Let's go"
He chuckled, "Not so fast. You can't even stand up yet. There's no way I'm taking you anywhere until you recover a little more."
I frowned. "What about home? They must be looking for me..."
Embry shook his head, "I've already called, told them you were out running with me for the day- they shouldn't check, correct?"
I nodded, "Thanks." I smiled up at him, snuggling closer.
He chuckled, "No problem. To be quite honest, I'd rather you were here anyway. Makes it so much easier to keep track of you."
I frowned up at him, "Why do you need to keep track of me?"
He looked down at me- there was no mistaking the utter sincerity in his eyes- "I told you before. You mean the world to me."
I looked at him for a moment, unsure how to respond. Then instinct took over, and I crushed myself to his chest. "You are the best thing that's happened to me in a long time."
A noise appeared in the doorway, and I jumped. I'd probably have fallen off the couch, but Embry easily caught me. Looking behind me, I saw a man who looked almost identical to Embry, "Dinner's ready if you two want to eat."
Embry nodded, glancing down at me, "Sam's right- you should probably eat something." he told me, standing easily with me still suspended in his arms. He clutched me close to his chest as we followed Sam into the warm, happy kitchen.
