The ride was uncomfortable. For me at least. Embry would look over at me every now and then. And every time he did my face would get really hot and I would have trouble breathing. Sam wasn't any help. Every time that happened he'd look back at me and smirk. Finally, it felt like I'd been the car for years, Sam pulled into a parking place in front of a dress store and we got out.
"Emily, just think about this. Paul and the rest of the pack will be there. Do you want them to be looking at her like… you know?" Sam asked. Emily was quiet for a second and then sighed.
"Fine. She will have straps or something. But she gets to pick out the color." Emily concluded. I rolled my eyes and shut my door as Embry got out. He looked over at me and grinned. I managed a shaky one back. A few minutes later, Embry and Sam were sitting on a sofa while a lady tried to help us look for a dress. I stood back while they flipped thru dresses. I spotted one I liked but Sam would definitely not let me have it.
"How about this one Clair." Emily asked drawing my attention away from the dress in the corner. It was lilac and not too bad. I nodded my head.
"Why don't we pick out a few dresses and just see how they look?" Emily asked.
"Okay." I said looking thru the dresses. I picked out five and she picked out three.
"You can use the back dressing room. There are a couple of chairs back there and your men and can help you decide on what dress." The lady that owned the store said.
"That would be a great idea." Emily said happily and handed me the dresses so she could go get Embry and Sam. My stomach clenched and I groaned. A few minutes later I was behind a curtain in the dressing room trying on one of the dresses I picked out. I called Emily in to help me fasten the back then stepped out.
"No!" Sam said. I looked down at the dress as Emily smacked his on the shoulder.
"I think it looks good." Emily said glaring at him.
"You're half naked!" Sam cried angrily.
"Oh I am not." I protested.
"What do you think Embry?" Emily asked and my face went bright red. He opened his mouth then shut it when Sam glared at him. I touched the black ribbon that went around the waist of the red dress and shrugged.
"Go try on one of the dresses I picked out." Emily suggested. I sighed and came out a few minutes later in the lilac colored one.
"Sam?" I asked looking at him.
"It doesn't have sleeves." He muttered.
"Sam none that we picked out have sleeves so I suggest you just deal with it. Besides our wedding will be in the summer so she needs a dress that's right for hot weather." Emily said.
"Oh all right." Sam said with a sigh.
"Ok that's a maybe. Try on the others." Emily said with a bright smile. I went back in and tried another one I picked out. This one was white with black trim.
"Oh that one's pretty." Emily said approvingly. Sam looked at me with an eyebrow raised.
"Why are all the dresses you pick out short?" He asked.
"Because I can move in them." I said slowly. He rolled his eyes. Then next time I came out I was in a long brown one with a cream colored ribbon around the waist.
"I actually like that one." Sam said thinking.
"You would of course because it's long." I snapped. He only smirked.
"You look like a slut!" Sam yelled standing up and pushing me back into the dressing room when I'd come out in a black and red dress.
"I like this one!" I protested pushing him away.
"Go change before people see you." He ordered. I stomped my foot wheeled around.
"Sam I didn't get a good look at it!" Emily complained.
"You don't need to see it." Sam answered back. I rolled my eyes pulled another long one on. This one was black with a pink strip around the middle.
"Oh you look good in that one." Emily said. Sam clenched his jaw but say anything. I smiled at Emily and stuck my tongue out at Sam. Embry laughed and Sam hit him.
"I don't want to try on anymore." I whined.
"We've only been here two hours!" Emily exclaimed.
"You're sitting! I'm tired and if I put on one more dress I'll shred it." I muttered.
"Just try on one more." Emily pleaded. I sighed and went back in the dressing room. I flipped thru the stupid dresses until I came to the one that caught my eye in the beginning. I slipped it on and went out. Sam smiled slightly and Emily gasped.
"I like that one." Sam said.
"Oh I think you need to get that one." Emily said. I smiled and caught Embry smiling at me and I went red again.
"Can we go now?" I asked.
"Yes." Emily sighed and I went back to the dressing room and got my clothes back on.
"I could wear this to the wedding." I said jokingly. Emily quirked and eyebrow and Embry laughed.
"Where are we going now?" I asked as we put the dresses back.
"Well why don't we split up and go shopping for a while." Emily said and Sam nodded his head. I gulped knowing they were going to leave me with Embry.
"We'll drive to the mall and we can split up there." Emily said and I nodded following everyone out to the car again. Emily began talking about needing new shoes and dragged Sam off into one direction. I stood there feeling awkward next to Embry. He had his hands stuffed in the pockets of his jeans watching Sam and Emily's retreating backs. Embry turned away and looked at me just as Sam turned and winked.
"You want to go in there?" He asked pointing behind me. I looked at what he was pointing at and nodded. He led me into the FYE. This is good. I can handle this. Just look at CD's. You won't need to talk. Maybe he'll go off and look at something else. Like the movies at the other end of the store. I groaned mentally when he walked towards the music section. I stopped and picked up a CD and pretended to look at it. I didn't even know what it was. Until he spoke.
"You like Lady Gaga?" He asked. I jumped and looked up at him. One of his dark eyebrows was raised and a corner of his mouth was twisted up in a half smile that had me struggling to breathe.
"No!" I said dropping the CD back in place which made around six other CD's fall to the floor. I blushed bent down to pick them up and as soon as I did I hit my head on the corner of the table. I dropped the CD's again as tears sprang to my eyes. I cursed and rubbed the spot.
"You okay?" Embry asked worriedly grabbing my arm and helping me up. My face went red again and I blinked back the tears that threatened to spill over. I nodded biting my lip. He bent down and scooped the CD's I'd dropped and put them back where they came from. Well at least it can't get any worse than this. I thought to myself feeling a little relief. Embry stood there looking at me. I still had my hand on my head just looking at him. Finally I looked away and back at the music.
"She creeps me out." He said breaking the silence.
"Huh?" I asked.
"Lady Gaga. She creeps me out. Ever seen her music video for Bad Romance?" He asked picking up a Lady Gaga and flipping it to look at the back.
"A little piece of it on TV." I answered as he put the CD down with a look of disgust on his face.
"It was pretty weird." I said.
"What king of music do you like?" He asked.
"I like basically a little of everything." I answered picking up an Avril Lavigne CD.
"She's my favorite I think. I like how she sings about guys being stupid." I said and Embry's eyebrow went up again and I blushed.
"You like hearing songs about how guys are stupid?" He asked.
"Not all the time." I said a little too quickly. He laughed and looked down at the music again.
"What about you?" I asked.
"What kind of music?" He asked and I nodded.
"The same as you. I don't have a favorite." He said and I nodded.
"I don't really have time to listen music." He said after a few minutes of silence.
"Why?" I asked frowning. He smiled.
"Oh because of being a-" I stopped realizing what I'd been about to say out loud when a guy was just across from us as Embry's eyebrows raised.
"- guy from such a strict family." I finished. He smirked.
"Yeah." He said with a chuckle. My cheeks flamed again and I moved down the row and picked up a Celtic Woman CD.
"Besides music what do you like?" He asked.
"I like reading. That's all I could really ever do when I was living with… him." I muttered. I saw flash of anger in his eyes when I said 'him' but it was gone a second later.
"What do you like reading?" He asked.
"I love reading things with vampires and werewolves." I said and he laughed.
"Well I'm glad you're a fan of werewolves. We have that in common." He said with a twinkle in his eyes. I slapped myself mentally and looked back at the CD's.
"You like vampires as well?" He asked and I heard a little bit of venom in his words.
"Yeah. I think their pretty cool." I said and heard a low rumble. I turned to look at him and his fists were clenched.
"A-are you okay?" I asked nervously. He snapped out of it and smiled again.
"Yeah. Just not a fan of vampires." He said. I frowned but began to move towards the DVD's. He stayed at the music section and I felt a little pang in my chest but I didn't know why. I looked through the TV series, picking up one every now and then and looking at the back. I picked up a season of Angel and looked at the back. David Boreanaz is so cute! I put that down after a few minutes and moved on to Buffy the vampire slayer.
"You like that show?" I jumped and twirled around to look at Embry with a glare.
"Stop sneaking up on me!" I hissed slamming the DVD back on the shelf.
"I'm not sneaking." He said with a frown.
"Then where a bell or something so I can hear you coming!" I hissed and he smiled.
"I'm sorry. I don't mean to do it." He said softly.
"It's okay." I said feeling bad for snapping at him.
"When are we supposed to meet Sam and Emily?" I asked when we'd left the store.
"It's only been fifteen minutes. Am I that bad to hang out with?" Embry chuckled leading me to a deserted part of the mall where a bench sat.
"No!" I said in a high voice.
"I am aren't I? We can go find Emily and Sam." Embry stood up and I grabbed his hand. He looked at me and I stared at him. My heart pounded hard in my chest and I knew he could feel my pulse speed up.
"I know you're uncomfortable around me Clair. Your always nervous and try to stay away from me. I don't know if I've done anything but if I have I'm sorry and I'll take you to your brother now." He said with sadness in his dark eyes. My heart sputtered and I wanted to cry. I'd hurt his feelings.
"It's not you Embry." I muttered dropping my hands in my lap. He sat down beside me again.
"What's wrong?" He asked softly.
"I haven't really had experience with friends." I blurted out.
"What do you mean?" He asked with a frown.
"I was always weird to people. Girls would try to be my friends but I was always afraid. Because of what he did to me. And then there were the mysterious bruises that people would ask me about. When I didn't say anything they came up with the conclusion that I hurt myself all the time. And they told their parents and the parents told them to stay away from me. So I never had friends when I was little. So I don't really know what to do. I've never had a boyfriend and I especially don't know what to do when there's a really cute guy and I'm feeling weird inside whenever he's around. And my brother says he likes me too but I don't know and I get all crazy and why the crap did I just tell you all that?" I asked blushing furiously and standing up. Embry didn't say anything and I was scared I'd just freaked him out. Any minute now he was going to run away. Then I felt his hand on my arm. I turned around slowly to see him looking at me.
"I don't think you're weird." He said. I looked at him. I'd just said I liked him and told him Sam said he liked me and he just says "I don't think you're weird"? I told him this and he laughed.
"Yeah I caught that. I do like you." He said softly and my heart pounded hard in my chest.
"Wow." Was all I was able to say.