Guys, I'm so sorry I took so long on this! I did have a plan for this and more than half of it written, but as it didn't go the way I felt like it should go and ended up rewriting it multiple times. This chapter is probably the closest I can get to feeling a little satisfied at how it turned out. I hope you guys enjoy this chapter much more than I did writing it! - BL


"We often find that denial is the easiest

step for us to accept when facing something we

would much rather ignore. Yet, it's acceptance that really

frees and heals the soul from whatever plagues us."

- Anon


"You and Embry; what the hell is going on between you guys?!"

Nina frowned, shoving her hands into her pockets as she glared at the ground. She could feel the leash in her hand tug slightly as Otto moved to sniff a tree just out of their range. With a soft sigh, she moved from her spot and closer to the tree he wanted access too.

"You and Embry; what the hell is going on between you guys?!"

Nothing is going on. She thought angrily as the pair began to continue their walk down the hiking path. But, even she knew that was somewhat a lie. Things had changed the moment he had went to check on her that night she broke down at the beach. Every night she had gone Embry would show up without fail. Sometimes they would sit in a slightly awkward silence, and other times the conversations he'd tried to start would just end up with her storming off.

Honestly, it bothered her deep down that suddenly he was showing an interest in their old friendship again. Why now? That was a question that had started to run through her head more often thanks to his unwelcomed company by her side at the beach.

Though, ever since Jen's accusation, Nina could only lie to her friend and herself. There was a reason she had been avoiding running to the beach since their fight, and how she avoided both parties involved at school. She was grateful that in her art class, the seats they had sat down in on the first week of school had become their assigned seats for the rest of school year. It didn't stop Embry's unnerving stare when she either showed up late or early to class just to avoid seeing him.

Otto tugged against the leash, wanting to resume their walk now that he had sniffed the area to his heart's content. She easily complied to his request, moving slowly to let him wander as far as the retractable leash would allow him.

Nina pulled out her phone from her jacket pocket, checking to see if she had any new messages, only to see she had just one from Greg. With a soft disappointed sigh, she put her phone up knowing that she knew better than to get her hopes up.

"I don't think I can do this much longer." She murmured to herself, running her hand through her hair. She grimaced at the feel of its greasiness, making a small note to change her shampoo and conditioner the next time she went shopping.

Her mind wandered to the two people she had wished would talk to her. Jen, she could easily placate by telling her whatever she needed to hear, the thing is, Nina didn't know exactly what that was. How could she explain the odd situation between her and Embry, when she herself didn't even understand it? Maybe, just apologizing to Jen and explain about the bizarre night Embry showed up would be enough to calm her down and everything would finally go back to normal between them.

Zach on the other hand, that was a completely different matter. She was growing tired of waiting for a call or text from him. Nina understood that his studies came first, it was something he had made sure to tell her when they had decided to go ahead and try a long-distance relationship. Yet that didn't mean he could just ignore her, and talk to her whenever he felt like it. Even when she had gone to visit the day of her accident, it ended up with her staying in the dorm as he worked on whatever homework he had for the weekend.

There's a saying that distance makes the heart grow fonder, and perhaps for others it's true. Though Nina knew deep down it wasn't for her; all that was growing was an emptiness, and she could no longer ignore it, not anymore.

It scared her truthfully, that toying with idea of letting go was starting to become more welcoming thought than before. Just the thought of trying to keep holding on had made her stomach constrict and squirm uncomfortably.

If Jen was there, she would easily tell Nina to just suck it up and end it already. She would be there as encouragement and support as she helped Nina finalize her decision on what to do. Easily, Jen could make her feel better about it all, because it's Jen. Her best friend who other than Greg, probably knew her better than she did. If anything, she should ask Greg instead, he was more understanding and empathetic than his twin.

Nina pulled out her phone, biting her lip as she texted her friend to meet her later that day. Hopefully, Jen would be in a forgiving mood and the two could make up with the help of Greg. She missed her best friends.


Embry ran his hand down his face tiredly, stomach grumbling angrily at him as the scents from the diner invaded his sensitive nose the moment he opened his truck door. He could already see through the windows of the diner that the last person he had wanted to see was now waiting for him in one of the booths. If it wasn't for the fact he had mentioned Nina, Embry wouldn't have bothered to come meet him.

With a deep sigh to calm the agitated wolf inside, Embry walked into the diner, ignoring the cheerful smile sent his way and sat himself in front of Greg Salamander with a glower. This only made Greg's smile widen, his eyes holding a mischievous tint to them.

"Now this is a day I didn't think would ever come; Embry Call sitting in front of me willingly!" He laughed loudly, the sound grating on Embry's nerves.

"Oh cut the crap Salamander," he snarled, his wolf getting the better of him, "what do you really want? Brady said it was important."

Before Greg could reply, the waitress came over to their table, placing a hamburger basket in front of him. The smell caused Embry's stomach to rumble loudly, making him blush slightly as Greg snickered at him. Sending a warning glare at Greg, Embry gave his order to the waitress.

"Well," Greg began, shoving a fry into his mouth, "in a way it is. It was either face me or my sister, and I wouldn't wish that evil on anyone." Embry rolled his eyes at the mention of his sister who Collin would say was a demon, and recount the memories of her in a dramatic manner. "Jen is as stubborn as she is dramatic – which is saying a lot - so as much as she likes to blow up everything, there's always some truth to it."

Embry gave a small thanks to the waitress when she placed his drink down. He rose an eyebrow at Greg, wanting him to get to the point fast. It was one thing to grate on shapeshifter's nerves, it was another to grate on a hungry shapeshifter's nerves.

"Long story short, my little group had a little fallout because of you." Greg snorted at the incredulous look Embry shot him, taking a long sip from his tea. "I know right, of all the guys in school, you would be the one guy they fight over."

"I don't know what you're talking about." Embry glared, his temper flaring slightly when Greg laughed at him. He gripped the edge of the table, knowing if he let his temper get the better of him, it wouldn't end well at all.

"Right, right. It's not what you think," Greg took a bite out his hamburger, chewing slowly as he grabbed a handful of fries, "Jen doesn't give two shits about you, but she does about Nina. Now she has it in her head that there's something going on between you two. Ridiculous, right?"

Embry froze, not liking where this conversation was heading. If he had any chance to make things right with Nina, it would fail if either of the Salamander twins were against him. After all, they were the ones to replace them when the boys had shifted and turned away from her.

"If anything, I thought it would be Seth Nina would end up with eventually." Greg looked Embry in the eyes, whiskey eyes studying the looks of anger and jealousy flash through Embry's face, until it finally settled to impassive. "After all, Nina wants nothing to do with you," a flash of hurt, "and she does have a boyfriend." There it was, a look of shock that fell into sadness, before fading away.

"W-What?" Embry breathed out, feeling as if Paul had just punched him the gut. Inside, he could feel his wolf howling in pain at the revelation. He barely registered the fact this his food had finally came and been sat down right in front of him. Instead, the words echoed in his head.

"You know, for someone who doesn't care about Nina, you sure have some intense reactions." Greg hummed, taking another long sip of his drink, breaking Embry from his daze. His phone vibrated in his pocket, and he shoved another handful of fries into his mouth as he pulled out his phone. With a frown, he waved the waitress over asking for a to-go box just as Embry finally realized the claim he had just made against him.

"I do care about her!" Embry retaliated, angry that he dared to say that he didn't care about his imprint. Of course, he cared about her! He was going insane, and barely sleeping since Sunday because she has been avoiding him. All he wanted was to talk to her again, regardless if she took bared her teeth at him.

"Really?" Greg rose a brow, giving a small thanks to the waitress when she handed him the to-go container. "Because it doesn't feel like it. I bet you thought that Nina would happily welcome you back the moment you so much as looked at her." Embry winced, knowing that in a way he was right.

"Seriously Call, she was heartbroken the moment all three of you left her. Even more so when none of you were there when her parents died. You want to know why she's able to stand Seth more than any of you? Because he was there for her, just like she was for him when his father died. They bonded, and got through it together. Did you even know that every Sunday they have a movie night? That whenever either of them were sick, they would take care of each other? Do you even know who she is now? She's not the girl you abandoned two years ago, and then the nerve you have to come back out of nowhere thinking she'd forgive you on the spot."

They locked eyes, and Embry could see the fiery anger in his gaze, burning away at the playfulness that once was there. "I may not know the truth of what's going on between you two, but I do know it's interfering with our relationship. You messed it up Call so you better fix it!"

"What do you expect me to do?"

"I don't know man, maybe apologize for one? Acknowledge that what you and your friends did to her was shitty? I don't care, but if my sister and Nina keep fighting over you, I will kick your ass." Greg took another long sip of his tea, ignoring Embry's heavy gaze on him. "Seriously dude, if you cared for her at all then you wouldn't have come back into her life thinking that everything would work out smoothly; that's called being an entitled asshole."

"How do I fix it?"

Greg snorted, shaking his head at Embry. "I'm not fixing your relationship with her for you Call. In fact, I'd prefer it if you didn't try making things up with her, because really, you don't deserve her. I don't know why you choose now to try and get back in her life, but she deserves better than some shitty ex-friend trying to act like everything was normal between them after two years of acting like she didn't exist. Get over yourself; selfish prick."

Throwing a couple bills on the table, Greg grabbed his things and left Embry to his thoughts. With a soft groan, Embry pushed away his food from him, stomach lurching at the smell, He knew Greg was right. He actually believed that he could manage to fix things with Nina by himself and he did it so carelessly. It's no wonder she had avoided him and could barely look at him.

If it wasn't for the fact that he imprinted on her, he would've gone on with his life easily ignoring her. It's only because of the imprinting connection that he's even trying to fix things with her. How selfish of him. That shouldn't be why he wanted to fix things with her. What a such a shallow reason.

Embry called the waitress over, pulling his wallet out. He needed to tell her. He needed to fix things with her. Not because she was imprint, but because she was his best friend for years. He needed to apologize to her. Even if it'd be awhile until he told her the truth, she deserved his apology no matter how over-due it was, because he was wrong with how he ended things. He did it because it was the easy way out for him, and he knows she deserved much more than that. It doesn't matter if she doesn't forgive him easily or at all for how he treated her. He can't change the past, but he can try and fix the present, not for him, but for her.


"Penny for your thoughts?" Greg couldn't help the shit-eating grin on his face when he heard the low groan escape from Nina. He threw a couple of popcorn kernels from his side of the couch at her, laughing as she used one of the couch pillows for a shield.

"You did not just make that pun." Nina mumbled out from the pillow she buried her face into, peeking to see if he had any more 'ammo' in his hands.

"Oh c'mon Penina," Greg stressed her name, mirth dancing in his whiskey orbs, "I just asked a simple question."

"I knew I should've never have let Asher tell you my full name." Nina shook her head, looking up to her ceiling wondering if he'd ever let it go.

He would not.

"Well, if it helps, it was worth every penny to find out your full name."

"Oh my – if you don't stop, I swear I will smother you with this pillow!'

Greg laughed, defending himself weakly at the pillow thrown his way. "You wouldn't! You'd miss me otherwise. We both know I'm your favorite twin."

"Mmm, I don't know about that." She hummed out mischievously, raising her hands to catch the pillow thrown back at her. "Talking about twins…"

"She's still mad at you. I don't get why you guys are fighting – over Embry of all people – but I'm really bummed because we had planned to have a bonfire or camp out tonight."

"It's just she thinks there's something going on with Embry…but there's not." Nina sighed shifting to look at the movie playing forgotten in the background. "I don't even know where she got that idea."

"Oh that's Brady's fault." Greg admitted with no shame in throwing Brady under the bus. "He's the one that said Embry wanted to take you to homecoming. Then Jen overheard Quil and Embry mentioning how said guy got super angry about me asking you."

Nina gaped for a moment, trying to see if Makah native was trying to play a joke on her. Greg just shrugged stuffing his face a handful of popcorn.

"That's not funny Greg." She glared at him and he shrugged at her, "Well it's not meant to be."

"I don't – I just – what?"

"You're not going to stand me up for Call, right? You know I don't do rejection well." He teased nudging her leg with his foot. She swatted at him playfully, shaking her head at how he could find something like this humorous, but she couldn't help the grin on her face.

"Well, according to your sister, I'm more than likely secretly in love with him and we've been having this hot passionate affair for a while now. So, I'm going to say that's a yes from me."

"Ouch, right in the heart Penina. I can't live without you!" He grabbed at his chest, making a choking sound before finally proceeding to flop over her and "die". She laughed pushing him off her, smirking at the small cry of protest as he started to fall off the couch.

"Seriously though, is there any reason as to why he's doing this? I swear if this is just a cruel prank I will kick his ass, or at least try too."

"Confession time?" Nina asked a little nervously as Greg straightened up, settling himself back onto the couch a frown on his face. Why did he get the feeling like he wasn't going to like what he heard next?

"Confession time."

"I don't even know where to begin," she took a deep breath before slowly exhaling, "I guess from the beginning – if you could even call it that."

"Ever since the accident I haven't been sleeping too well. I keep having nightmares, sometimes it's about..that time, when Jen hit that bear, or a mix of both. Well you know how I've told you how running helps me clear my mind, right? Well…um..I've taken to running at night when I can't sleep – yes I know it's dangerous, so don't look at me like that! – and I run to First Beach and I'll sit there before finally running back. I don't know why or how, but one night Embry showed up –"

"Ooh, is this where you begin to have hot sex on the beach?" Greg cut in, suggestively raising his eyebrows. Nina flushed leaning across the couch to smack Greg's arm. He laughed at her, "It's a joke! Please go on, it's getting juicy."

"Anyways, one night he shows up out of the blue –I don't know if he feels guilty or that he owes me – but ever since, every time I wound up at First Beach, he'd show up and try to talk to me. But I've been rude to him, so I don't see how that'll make him want to ask me to homecoming or get mad at the fact that you had asked me."

"I feel like I'm going crazy! It doesn't make sense – I don't know why he just all of sudden pops back into my life. And then Jen has it in her head that something's going on between us, but there isn't!" Nina exclaimed heatedly throwing her hands into the air in frustration. Tears prickled at the edges of her eyes, but she refused to let herself cry out anger.

"Do you want him– them back?" Greg asked her seriously, and when seeing her open her mouth to retort, he quickly added, "Nina, stop and think for a moment, do you really want these guys back in your life? Because let's face it, they come in a pack – forgive one you have to forgive the other two."

"My honest opinion – I think those guys are trash for what they did to you, and I understand that there's a lot history with you guys. Not only that, but Jake is your cousin. I can see how you'd want to forgive them, but I don't think you should. That doesn't mean I'm going to get mad or try to stop you if you decide that forgiving them is what you want to do. Just know it'll take a lot for me to even trust those guys around you!"

"Greg, I…" Nina faltered wondering why the next words she wanted to say were so hard to sound out. Swallowing the lump in her throat, she said the next words out her mouth with a strong conviction. "I don't want him or them back."

Nina winced at the sharp pain she felt in her chest right after her declaration. If she closed her eyes and tried to describe the pain, it would be as if something inside of her cracked the moment she decided on those terms.

Greg didn't miss her reaction, looking back to the movie for a moment, his stomach twisting it slightly.

"Then let's make our duo a trio again!" Greg forcibly grinned happily at her pretending not to notice the confused troubled expression on Nina's face. He pulled out his phone, more than glad that everything would work out itself once his twin joined them.

For Greg, all that mattered to him was the happiness from the one's he cared about the most. Which is why he had met with Embry to drill into him about what he had cause between his other half and best friend. And now, seeing her reaction to her declaration, he knew the old wound left from the guys had still lay open. She may believe that not wanting them back in her life was something she wanted, but Greg couldn't make himself believe it anymore.