A/N – I forgot to mention this in my previous chapter, but for future reference, I changed the spelling of Mina's name (Ness's daughter), to Meena. Also, a couple of people have asked me about doing a couple of chapters in Claire's POV. I do have a couple of chapters planned from her perspective, but not until she's a little older. Thanks again for all the great reviews. I hope you enjoy Claire's teen years.

Chapter 10 – "P" Word

Quil's POV

A month after Claire's 13th birthday, her parents had given Claire permission to get her ears pierced. I volunteered to take Claire for the momentous occasion. I drove up to Makah to pick Claire up after school, and we headed to Port Angeles to a jewelry store there that pierced ears. She was going to spend the night at her Aunt Emily's after that.

"So Claire, how's school going?" I asked. Claire had just started her 8th grade year a few weeks ago.

"Fine," Claire said as she slouched down in her seat and stared out the window.

I looked over at her just as she turned her head back and glanced at me. A slight blush appeared on her cheeks as she quickly turned away again. I turned my attention back to the road. We drove another 10 minutes in uncomfortable silence.

She turned her head to stare out the front window and I glanced back at her profile. I was startled to realize that there was an unnatural color on her eyelids and her lips were a different shade then normal. It was very subtle though. When did Claire start wearing makeup? Had I suddenly become unobservant or was this something new since I saw her last weekend.

I thought back to when my sister, Kya, started wearing makeup. She must have been around Claire's age, but considering she was a five years older than me, I didn't really pay attention to what she did as a teen.

It was a shame that Claire thought she needed makeup. She was a pretty kid. She didn't need it. But I guess that came with the age. I frowned as I continued to drive. The makeup wasn't the only thing different about her. I couldn't put my finger on it, but there was a change in Claire.

"Can we listen to some music?" Claire asked suddenly, reaching into her backpack.

"Sure," I replied, hopeful that the music would produce a more relaxed atmosphere.

She reached over and put a CD into the car's stereo system. Some obscure indie rock music started playing. I froze. When did she start listening to this type of music? Wasn't she listening to that whiney boy band anymore? Not that I objected; this music was an improvement over the other garbage, but it still bugged me that her musical tastes had changed and I hadn't realized it.

I guess I shouldn't have been too surprised though. Once upon a time, Claire and I had talked on the phone almost every night. After I had admitted to her that I had had sex before, she cut back on her phone calls and now only called a few times a week. Our conversations were usually pretty stilted. I wasn't even sure why she called me anymore, but I was thankful that she did. I missed the easy relationship that had existed between us though.

As we reached the Port Angeles city limit, Claire's cell phone went off. It was a present that she had received from her parents for her birthday. It was only supposed to be used for emergencies.

"Hey Lindsey," Claire said, after looking at the caller ID. "He did? Oh swoon…like, yeah, he's only the cutest guy in school…ok, let me know." She hung up the phone and put it in her bag.

"I thought that you were only supposed to use that for emergencies." I lectured.

Claire rolled her eyes, "That was an emergency."

"Uh huh. So who are you crushing on now?" I asked. I had a sneaking suspicion that that hadn't come out as cool as I wanted it too.

To my surprise, Claire didn't burst out with a name or mock me for my pathetic use of the word "crushing." Instead, her cheeks turned a crimson red color.

She hesitated before saying, "No, not me. Lindsey has a thing for this guy, Chris. He told his friend Curt, who told Ashley, who told Lindsey, that he totally likes Lindsey. He's like really cute, and she wants him to ask her to a dance we're having at school. Lindsey told Ashley to give Curt her phone number so that he could give it to Chris. I guess he's supposed to call her sometime tonight."

It was really mind-blowing how teenage minds worked. Instead of going directly to the source, they used their friends as a sort of chain mail. I'd be surprised to find out if any of the kids ended up at the dance. By the time they got their messages through to the right person, the dance would be over.

"What about you? Who are you going with?" I asked. Claire's already flushed cheeks turned an even brighter red.

"Oh, I don't think I'm gonna go," she responded, looking carefully out the passenger window again.

"Why not? No one you're interested in?"

"Umm, no…I don't like any of the boys at school…could we not talk about this?" Claire pleaded.

"Sure, but Claire, any guy would be lucky to be your date," I told her, reaching over to squeeze her hand on the seat. She smiled at me and held my hand until we pulled up to the jewelry store that Stacy had told me about.

As soon as we walked into the shop, I had a feeling that maybe getting Claire's ears pierced wasn't such a good idea. The look of the lady who greeted us did not reassure me that Claire would make it out of the procedure alive.

The woman had black hair that was dyed dark green in certain areas. She had earrings that ran all along both earlobes and she also had two rings in her bottom lip, one in her nose, and one through one of her eyebrows. Her name tag said her name was Raven. She walked Claire over to a stand and told Claire to pick out some "virgin" earrings. Claire's face went red again at that word.

"Do you think that's appropriate to say to a kid?" I whispered angrily at the woman. When she stared at me blankly, I said, "You know the word, virgin."

The woman looked like she was going to roll her eyes at me, but must have realized that it wasn't professional. She still said in an obnoxious tone, "Hello, that's what the earrings are called."

Claire excitedly picked out some birthstone earrings and sat in a chair that the woman directed her into. I had to sign a consent form because Claire was only 13. I also gave the woman a written permission slip signed by Stacy.

The woman picked up what looked to be a gun and loaded one of Claire's chosen earrings into it. She then stood in front of Claire and dotted both ears with a marker. Putting the gun against the mark on Claire's one ear, she pulled a trigger and with a loud click, the earring went through.

The snap of the gun made Claire and I jump. Claire had tears in her eyes after the first earring went in. It took every ounce of my control to not yank the gun out of the woman's hand and implant the remaining earring into the middle of her forehead. I was contemplating doing just that when I felt Claire's hand against mine.

Looking down, I saw Claire squeeze my hand as the woman loaded up the gun again and went to Claire's other ear. I was distracted for a moment as I looked down at Claire's nails which were painted alternatively blue and green. I heard another loud click and then it was over.

The woman handed Claire a mirror. Claire was ecstatic over her earrings and kept turning her face from side to side to see them better. I, myself, felt queasy and wondered if I might possibly faint for the first time in my life.

Why did people do that do themselves? Getting your ears pierced was completely barbaric. Never again would Claire be allowed to do something like this. If she said she wanted to get anything else pierced, there was no way I was going to allow it….well, unless she begged. Then I wouldn't be able to refuse her anything.

I paid for the procedure and bought some solution that Claire was supposed to dab the new piercings with. As we drove to La Push, Claire chatted amicably, telling me all about her friend Amber's latest fight with her boyfriend. After a half hour into the drive she started to look sick. She tried very hard to hide it, but I saw her bend forward slightly and wince.

"Claire, are you ok?" I asked, instantly worried.

"Yeah, I'm fine." Claire said, but there was something off in her voice.

"Are you sure?" I questioned. Did she have an infection from the earrings? Did she need to be hospitalized?

"I said I'm fine," Claire replied in a testy tone.

We finally pulled up to Emily and Sam's house. I saw the front door open as Sam heard my car arrive. Claire winced again and shifted in her seat.

"Claire, you're not fine. Listen, I'm going to take you to the hospital."

"Quil, I said I'm fine. What don't you get about that? You just don't understand anything." Claire suddenly yelled.

She jumped out of the vehicle and ran into the house. I heard her run up the stairs and then heard the bathroom door slam. I got out of my car quickly. I was sick with fear now. Something was definitely wrong with Claire.

"What was that all about?" Sam asked as he walked towards me. Emily followed behind him, looking equally worried.

"I have no idea. I don't know what the hell happened." I said, gesturing to the house with my hand. "One minute we were talking and the next minute she started shifting around in her seat and looking sick. I told her I'd take her to the hospital, but she jumped down my throat before she ran into the bathroom in the house."

"Oh? Oh, that's right Stacy told me…" Emily said almost to herself, before she looked at the concern on Sam's and my face and started to laugh.

Seeing my anxiety , Emily smirked and continued, "Quil, I can assure you nothing is wrong with Claire."

"But she's in pain." I replied, looking at the house again. I thought I heard Emily mutter something that sounded like "men."

"Quil…how do I explain this…there comes a time in a girl's life when she starts to become a woman. That's all that's going on with Claire."

"You mean she got her period?" Sam asked in a loud voice which earned a "shh" from Emily.

Period? Was that what was happening to Claire? While a part of me was relieved that Claire wasn't dying, another part of me felt numb. How the hell did I handle this? I thought about how things had been with my sister. I remembered Kya always had a heating pad across her stomach when she was dealing with what my mother called the "P" word. She also became extremely irritable during that time and the only thing that seemed to help was chocolate. Lots and lots of chocolate.

"Maybe I should go get some chocolate." I offered.

"Well, chocolate is not going to help her if she has cramps," Emily said frankly. I felt my ears burn in embarrassment. I didn't think I was ready for this. Emily added, "Besides we have enough here already."

Emily looked at me and started to laugh. "Sam, why don't you take Quil into the living room. He's looking a little shell shocked. I'm going to go check on Claire."

She turned to go, but stopped and gave both Sam and me a dirty look, "Don't you dare make a big deal out of this. Teenage girls are usually pretty self-conscious about things like this. She'll be humiliated if you let on that you know."

I nodded and grabbed Claire's overnight bag out of the backseat of the truck and made my way slowly into the house with Sam close behind. I sat on the couch and stared blankly at the television. It took me a minute to realize it wasn't even on. I glanced around.

"Where are Gracie and Nate?"

"Nate's upstairs playing some video game. Gracie is spending the night at her friend's."

"Oh," I replied. I felt like I was in a daze.

"Did you hear about Rachel and Paul?" Sam asked as he turned on the TV.

"No," I replied, trying to focus. Rachel was pregnant again. They were expecting another boy which was due in another month.

"There have been some complications. Rachel was put on bed rest." Sam informed me, his brow furrowing.

"How's Paul holding up?" I questioned, instantly concerned. Rachel had suffered a miscarriage a couple of years after Devlin had been born. It had taken them awhile to get pregnant again.

"You know Paul and how he handles stress. He picked a fight with Brady earlier today. They tore into each other pretty bad before I got to them and made them stop." Sam answered before continuing, "Rebecca's coming back to help Rachel for the next few weeks. I guess she got leave from work."

I froze at this. I wondered how Embry was going to handle this. Having Rebecca around for a few weeks? Would that make things better or worse for him when she left again?

I heard a noise and looked up and saw Claire and Emily come down the stairs. Claire made her way over to where I was sitting and sat down on the opposite side of the couch from where I was. She looked over at me and blushed again.

"I'm sorry I snapped at you earlier." Claire said awkwardly.

"That's ok," I replied, feeling equally as uncomfortable. Claire turned her head so that all I could do was stare at the side of her face.

"You know, I'd love some chocolate," I said suddenly. It came out louder then I expected and I made us all jump. "Who wants chocolate…Claire?"

"I…guess," Claire said, looking at me like I had grown two heads.

Emily rolled her eyes at me before saying, "There's a bag of Reese's Peanut Buttercups in the cupboard next to the fridge."

I went into the kitchen and grabbed the bag. I carried it back to the couch and sat down next to Claire. Opening the bag, I handed her five cups. She looked at me funny again and put all of them back in the bag except for one.

"Do you need anything Claire?" I asked.

"No," she responded, avoiding my eyes. I was about to open my mouth to ask if I could get her a heating pad when Emily interrupted me.

"What movie should we watch?" Emily asked, giving me a warning look. "Claire, why don't you pick one."

After looking over at the DVD collection, Claire asked hopefully, "Can we watch A Walk in the Clouds?"

I groaned inwardly. The movie came out years ago. I had always avoided watching it because I thought it was too much of a "chick flick." Emily readily agreed to Claire's suggestion and I slouched down and tried to make myself comfortable as Keanu Reeve's robotic presence came across the screen.

I sat through the whole movie without making one complaint though. Whenever a lot of kissing came on the screen, I noticed Claire would either sit very still or would look at me without trying to be too obvious. What was going on in her head?

When the movie was over I got up and stretched and made motions to leave for the night. I reached over and cupped Claire's shoulder. She looked up at me and met my eyes directly for the first time in a couple of hours.

"Why don't you and I go for a walk on the beach tomorrow morning before I take you back home?" I offered then cursed myself as I saw Claire stiffen. The beach was the scene of our infamous "talk" last year. I didn't want to remind her of it.

Instead of saying no though, Claire said, "Okay."

"Alright, I'll see you then." And with that I left the house and went back home.

The next morning, I hurried back to Sam and Emily's place and knocked on the door once before entering the house. Claire was just coming down the hall to answer the door when she saw it was me and stopped.

"Hey Claire, you ready to go?" I asked.

"Sure," Claire responded. She turned and hugged Emily, Sam, and Nate goodbye, before grabbing her overnight bag off the floor and following me out the door. I grabbed it from her and put it in the car. We got in and drove down to the beach.

It was a cloudy, but somewhat warm day for late September. I looked out at the ocean and could see people on surf boards and boogie boards, gliding on the waves. The salty breeze hit our faces gently as we walked along the beach.

Claire seemed almost nervous when we first started walking. After a while, she started to relax and began to talk about her classes and her teacher, Mr. Blane, who she called Mr. Bland. She reached out and held my hand as we walked. I felt the warmth of her hand clasped in mine and felt truly content for the first time in a long time. I heard a scream and looked over to the water.

I saw a woman boogie boarder wave frantically before she went under the surface of the ocean. I didn't even hesitate. I ripped off my shirt and ran into the water and dove under the waves.

As soon as I swam out a little, I slid my shorts off and held them in my teeth and phased. I could see better under water when I was in wolf form. A few seconds later I could see someone thrashing in the distance. As soon as I got close enough, I phased back and quickly pulled on my shorts and grabbed her arm.

As soon as I had her, I pushed up to the surface. Pulling her against me, I made my way back to the shore. She was obviously terrified because I could see her clearly as I laid her on the sand. She started to shake horribly as she stared at me with frightened eyes.

"You ok?" I asked, holding her hands together and rubbing them with mine.

"I think so. A wave hit me and I lost my board. My leg cramped up and I couldn't swim." She told me through chattering teeth.

"Quil, is she alright?" Claire asked as she joined us. A couple of the woman's friends also came running over.

"Yeah, I think she's fine." I told the group. I felt the woman's trembling hands on both my cheeks and turned to look back at her.

"How can I thank you enough?" she asked and as I stared back, she went from being in focus to blurry again a second before she kissed me. I was so surprised that I didn't break away for a few seconds until I heard one of her friends' whistle.

"Typical Abby. She's okay everyone. Let's hit the waves again," someone said. I jerked back. Abby was starting to take on a reddish gleam and I knew that the imprint magic was warning me to back away. Speaking of which, I looked over at Claire.

Claire was a few feet away from me standing so straight that she reminded me of wooden board. There was an odd mix of emotion displayed on her face. I could definitely read disgust, but there also seemed to be curiosity and something else. It was the something else that made me jump back away from Abby quickly. Claire walked over to me and handed me my shirt.

"Quil, can we go now?" Claire asked as I put the shirt on. As soon as I was done, she grabbed my hand quickly. I could have sworn I saw her give Abby a dirty look, but I couldn't be too sure. I saw Abby glancing from Claire to me curiously. I could just imagine what she was thinking.

"Sure kiddo," I replied to Claire's question, ruffling her head affectionately with the hand that wasn't holding hers. I saw Abby's shoulders relax. Claire's seemed to stiffen angrily. Women! You can't win for trying. We made our way to my car and headed back to Makah. Claire held my hand the entire drive back and we chatted freely just like we used to.

I remembered thinking before there was something different about Claire that I couldn't put my finger on. Now, I knew what it was. I didn't know if it was because she had finally received the "P" or something else, but there was a new maturity about her. Claire was growing up.

It was funny. I didn't know if that made me feel happy or sad.

A/N – Thank you to everyone who left me a review for the last chapter. The more feedback I get, the more motivated I am to write, so I appreciate everyone who leaves a comment. As always, please review.