"Mom! Dad! I'm going over to Quil's. I have my phone," I yell from the kitchen.

"Be careful driving Claire!" my mother calls back. "The roads are slick; I don't want you to get into an accident."

I sigh quietly to myself. I've never been in an accident, not once in two years of driving have I ever hit anything and yet they still think I'm going to hit something in a three mile drive to Quil's house.

I take my keys out of the bowl next to the door and call back to my parents, "Don't worry I'll be safe."

I dawn my light raincoat for the weather outside and shut the door to my house tightly behind me. Fumbling with the keys in my cold hands I unlock the door to the car and hop in quickly to avoid the rain. I try to drive quickly but carefully to Quil's house. We've only been together for two weeks, taking things slow, the way I need it to be. For two weeks I've turned off the thinking center of my brain and have just been simply happy hanging out with Quil.

We've played video games at his house whenever he's off patrol, or go hang out at first beach if it's not raining, but let's be serious it's always raining. When I pull up to Quil's house, he's already outside waiting for me with an umbrella so I wouldn't get wet when I get out of the car.

"Hey Claire bear," he says excitedly, taking his free arm and giving me a hug. "Let's get you inside."

"Claire bear? Seriously Quil? Didn't we have a discussion about that when I was like fourteen?" I ask playfully. Claire bear has never been my idea of a nick name, but Quil had used it when I was young, so I guess it never wore off. He leads me into the house where he takes my jacket and hangs it on the hook.

"My Dad's out at Sam and Emily's watching Tripp and Laker, so you and I get the house to ourselves," he says as he closes the umbrella.

"Nice," I murmur.

Quil knows our taking it slow ground rules and he still has to ask permission to do almost everything with me, but I think it's safer that way. We don't push the limits of our relationship. We simply are for lack of a better description. But there are still some ground rules. We don't discuss the pack. References to running patrol are called working for Embry. I still don't want to hear the specifics of that, not just yet. The supernatural werewolf vs. vampire stuff still freaks me out. And then there's the imprinting idea, which I still refuse to talk about. He's only allowed to tell me that he likes me, though I think I can hear him whisper to "I love you" underneath his breath every once and a while. And then there's the staring. Quil loves to look at me. It's not overly creepy if I'm talking to him, but if other people are there, it's weird when he seems to only have eyes for me. I know other girls would kill for that look, but those are girls who need romance. I have no need for that, though I do like how easy it is to get my way with Quil. All I have to do is look slightly sad and he's onto my way of thinking. That's the bonus of this relationship. It's easy for me.

"Have you eaten yet? I was just about to make lunch," Quil asks as he takes my hand and leads me towards the kitchen. He seems so much more confident around me today and I just can't pinpoint it, but I like it. I like that he's not so insecure and walking on needles around me. I enjoy it when he can just be himself.

"No. I can't cook, and my parents were getting ready for their anniversary weekend. They're going to be gone for a couple of days at the end of the week. I get to stay with Summer," I add the last part giving Quil the knowledge that there will be people looking after me. Plus any time my parents go away I usually see Aunt Emily and Uncle Sam a lot, but with the boys at their rambunctious age it's hard to get sleep if I stay with them.

"Oh good. I like Summer, she's good for you," he comments taking a few things out of the fridge. I push myself to sit up on the counter right next to where he's beginning to pull things out for lunch. As long as he's comfortable around me today, I might as well act like myself.

"Really? What makes you say that?" I ask playfully.

He thinks for a moment before replying, "Oh I don't know maybe because whenever she talks to you it ends up being good for me." He opens the cupboard next to my head, and I duck away as he takes two glasses out. "What do you want to drink?"

"Water please," I say. I try to wrap my head around the fact that he's right about Summer. Every time I go to see her I end up closer to Quil. Oh well I can't complain right now. I'm not unhappy with our current situation at all.

"Sandwiches okay?" he asks still getting things out around the kitchen.

"Sure," I agree.

I watch him cook, envying the fact that I can barely boil noodles without doing something wrong. He's concentrated on what he's doing but he's quiet, where usually he would talk to me. And with the silence gives my mind a lot of time to think. And in Quil's case, me thinking is bad.

What could make him so quiet? I just don't get it. Usually he's encouraging me to talk to him about something, but now he's just reveling in the silence. I want to kick his and tell him to snap out of it, but I don't think it's such a good idea to do while he's holding a knife.

"You're quiet today," he comments as he puts the two sandwiches on plates, and puts the excess food scraps back into the refrigerator.

I laugh, "Really? Because I thought you were being quiet. Usually you have a line of questions going for me to answer."

He faces me putting his arms out, a gesture asking if he can help me down from the counter. I nod and he puts his warm hands on my waist and lifts me up effortlessly and sets me lightly on the ground. I smile, knowing I can't help it. I really do like when he touches me, but I'm not about to tell him that. I enjoy making him ask permission, it's purely fun for me.

"Ha, maybe I do that a lot, but I wanted you to talk to me on your own accord- not by me trying to get you to talk." he replies.

"Okay what do you want me to talk to you about? There's not much going on in my life, just summer vacation and getting stuff ready for college, and you of course," I add the last part and he smirks. He likes that I've added him into the things that are going on in my life now.

We sit on the couch to eat and Quil turns the TV on low, so that we can talk.

"So are you excited about college?" he asks. I know I've gotten him to bring out the questions now.

"Yeah," I begin, "but I've got so much left to get for my dorm. My mom's buying me a new laptop and I think I'm getting some new clothes and things. Mostly I have to pack my entire life up into all the boxes that I've started to assemble."

"You know I can help you get stuff ready," he offers.

My response is to smile. I try not to think about the fact that our relationship most likely has an expiration date, the day I leave for UCLA. Though I don't think Quil sees us that way, I do. It saddens me, but I want to have a college experience. I want to date a bunch of guys and see where life takes me. I don't want to be tied down to any boyfriend. I know that it would be the same way if it was any other guy not just Quil.

"What's going on in your life though Quil?" I ask. "We never seem to talk about you."

"Well I just like hearing about you I guess. You ignored me all through high school, I'm trying to catch up," he laughs. "Right now, I'm hanging out with you. My life contains working for Embry and hanging out with you really."

"You should do something for yourself," I suggest. "Why don't you go to school?"

"Claire, I have a master's in Mechanical Engineering that I got when you were still in elementary school. Plus I have a bachelor's in education now. I finished that about a year ago. I'm going to start teaching math over at Forks High School next fall."

"What!" I exclaim. "Quil you never told me about that! That's so awesome."

Setting down my plate, I lean over and give him a hug. Whoops. I let my impulsive brain get the best of me.

Quil smiles at my action and chuckles, "Well if I knew you would have responded like that I would have told you earlier."

I turn my head away in embarrassment.

"So," he continues after a brief moment of silence, in which time he demolished the rest of his sandwich. "Do you want to go get stuff for college today?" he asks changing the subject back to me.

"What do you mean?"

"Come on. Let's go," he says grabbing my plate and taking it to the kitchen. I stay put on the couch, wondering what he means by 'getting stuff for college'. He's only gone for a moment, just long enough to grab my light rain jacket off the hook and his car keys. I'm astonished that he's actually serious about going out. Impatient he beckons once more, "Let's go Claire, I haven't got all day."

I get up mechanically and tack my jacket pulling it on quickly. Quil twirls his keys in one hand and holding the umbrella in the other. "Ready?" he asks pulling his hood over his head.

I nod, still slightly confused about what exactly we were doing, or where exactly we were going. As we make our way outside, it's simply pouring, the rain blowing sideways. Quil holds the passenger side door of his truck open for me, and I quickly climb in to get away from the rain. He runs around the car quickly, getting in and turning on the car, shuddering away from the wet rain.

"Where are we going?" I demand after we ride in silence for a few minutes.

"The store. I getting you stuff for college. Things that I wanted but we didn't have enough money the first time I went," he says calmly, looking over his shoulder as he merges onto the highway.

"Okay. Whatever Quil," I concede. I have no idea what the hell he's up to or thinking, but I'm not going to ask. Right now my impulsive brain needs a surprise so that it doesn't think to much. I yawn, tired for really no apparent reason.

"Sleep," he says. "I'll wake you when we get there."

"How long until we get there?" I ask to get a judge of how much time it will actually take for us to get there. If I only get ten minutes of sleep, I'll be angry when I wake up.

"About an hour, maybe a little longer with the rain today."

I lean my back against the corner between the seat and the passenger window and close my eyes. The hum of the windshield wipers moving back and forth rhythmically lets my mind drift into sleep.

"Claire," Quil's voice registers in my brain. "Claire," he says once more, but I keep my eyes closed, too content with the sleep state. I try to grasp myself back to the restful place I was in, but I feel a very warm hand brush my cheek. My eyes flutter open, and I blink a few times to regain the focus in my eyes. Quil's face is right in front of me, only inches from my own. "Good you're awake," he says leaning back towards the drivers side.

I exhale sharply smiling. Good thing he can't read my mind. He'd get too much satisfaction out of finding out that I really liked him that close to me. Jesus Claire! I scold myself. My rational, thinking mind reminds me that that's a thought that I've jumped into for only going out with Quil for two weeks. Along with the whole 'taking it slow' thing, that's not a though I should be having.

"I didn't know if you died. It barely looked as if you were breathing, you were so peacefully asleep," he chuckles. "We're here."

He climbs out of the car, and I follow. Once he locks the truck with a definite click, I look up at the store that he's leading me into. There's no words, just a symbol. A black background with a large white apple.

"Oh no Quil. What are we buying here?" I ask apprehensively.

He only takes my hand dragging me into the store. Too late. My mind is already thinking. What the hell are we doing here? He better not be doing what I think he's doing.

"Anything I can help you with today?" a sales guy asks. He's tall, blonde, and very nerdy looking. Just the type of guy one would expect to see selling stuff for Apple.

"Yeah," Quil quickly responds. "We need a new laptop for the college student here."

God I hate it when he says things like that. I know he's proud of me for getting in. He's told me about three times a week since he found out, but still. Don't do it in public.

"Awesome. Where you headed next year?" the sales guy asks politely as he leads the way to the far right hand corner of the store.

"UCLA," I say quietly. Yes, I'm happy that I'm going to college, but I'd rather not share it with the world.

"Sweet!" the guy says enthusiastically. God I hate enthusiasm sometimes. "So what aspects are you looking for your computer to have?"

Quil answers for me this time making sure that the sales guy can't annoy me. I'm thankful. "Everything, cost really isn't a issue."

Cost isn't an issue. If I wasn't in public, I'd hit him right now. Hell I'd do it right now, if I wasn't sure it'd probably hurt me worse than it would hurt him.

The tech guy was now going into specifics about computer abilities that I wasn't really sure I wanted to know because they sounded expensive. And if it sounded expensive, Quil was going to think that there are much worse things than mythological vampires.

And then when he finished picking out my laptop, Quil moves on to other expensive things like the new generation of the I-phone, the I-connect. Oh dear. Although I always really wanted these things, I did not want Quil to buy them for me. He's picking out plans when the sales guy asked me what color I wanted for my I-connect.

"Red," is all I can manage to squeak out.

Quil still speaking technical lingo with another sales guy, who's joined in on the expensive venture that I've now been dragged on. My mind is running way too fast and although Quil has never let go of my hand, I feel cold and recluse compared to the computer junkies. Quil picks out ton's of carrying cases and protective wear for my new gadgets and then makes his way to the cash register in the far back of the store.

Apparently I just didn't notice that I was hyperventilating until Quil steps aside and takes both my hands in his and looks down at me. "What's wrong Claire?" he asks tucking a strand of my back hair behind my ear.

Not wanting to make too much of a scene, I reply, "Nothing. I'll talk to you about it later." And that's the moment I turn into a complete zombie. I don't even try to listen or ever look at the amount that is ringing up on the cash register, though I know it's high enough to make me faint.

Quil collects two large bags off the counter a few minutes later and takes my hand leading me out of the store. Once outside I feel better, more conscious of what was going on in the store and what is going on around me now. Once Quil opens my door for me and puts the bags in the back seat I come to my senses. That's when I retract my arm and slam my fist right into his arm.

"Quil! What the hell were you doing buying all that stuff for me?" I scream at the top of my lungs.

Quil looks taken aback, but not hurt when he asks, "What do you mean Claire? I told you we were going to go get stuff for college."

"Quil you don't need to buy me into you. That's ridiculous! I don't understand why you bought that all for me, when my mom and dad could have bought it for me without any trouble. That was way too much to spend," I exclaim angered. I hit him a couple more times before realizing that my right fist was already swollen from the first hit. It hurt, but the pain was not intolerable.

"Claire settle down," Quil commands grabbing both of my hands in one of his. "Let me explain. Get in the car and I'll explain."

I do as I'm told mainly because if I don't have something to do, I'll hit him again. Once he's in the car, I turn to face him, crossing my arms, demanding with my body language that he speak.

"Claire, when you were little I used to baby sit you all the time. Jake used to call me the much abused baby sitter. But I didn't mind I was with you, which made me happy, just like sitting here with you right now makes me happy, although seeing you upset with me doesn't. When you started going to school for full days in first grade, I enrolled in college because I knew I couldn't work for Sam, it was Sam at the time, forever," Quil began to explain.

"Quil, what happened when I was five has nothing to do with what you just pulled off," I interrupt, angry.

"It does Claire. When I enrolled in college, I didn't have enough money to buy a computer for school. Sam knew about this and he said something to Emily, who said something to your mom. When your mom found out, she told me that since she never paid me to baby sit you, buying me a laptop was the least she could do. Since she bought me a computer I'm buying you one, as a graduation present," he smiles lightening the tension in the car slightly.

I didn't know my mom had done that for Quil.

"Fine Quil, I'll give you the laptop, but the phone?"

"That's your early birthday present. It's also so that you can stay in touch with me better," He smiles.

I set out of my rigid position, and sit normally in the seat. "Okay Quil but that's too much. How can I pay you back?"

"You don't have to."

"But I feel like I do. You just bought me, well- I don't want to know how much that all cost, but it was expensive. What can I do?"

He was much too quick with his answer. "I know I have to ask you to do anything so. You could say yes to the next request I ask you."

I roll my eyes and say, "Fine."

"Claire, can I kiss you?"


A/N: Ha I know I'm a day late on schedule but this chapter turned out to be much longer than I though it would be. As a result this one very long chapter was cut into two so that you can have this part now and not have to wait until saturday (which is probably when I will post next).

I'm not crazy about how this one ends, but what comes after I do like, but there was no other way to cut it for you guys.

Leave love, it makes me write faster...most of the time. -c.c