Hello my fellow twilighters! I bet you're super pissed at my delay of TEN DAYS! But I just started summer classes so I really can't help it. I kept waiting for a 3rd reviewer because I'd promised them a sneak peak of this chapter, but I got two. Weird, I know. So if any one reviews that chapter now I obviously won't give any sneak peak since Chapter 10 is up now.

Anywho, who is excited to see Snow White and the Huntsman? MEEE!

Oh and just for mystery's sake: I have officially chosen Nicole's final love interest. Not that I'm gonna tell you, but I have decided. It will disappoint one certain "Team," so sorry but I have plan to fix their disappointment in the form of a spin off story that will not be in Nicole's POV.

Also I am now adding a quote or more to the start of the chapters, just for my amusement.

Don't forget to review especially since the lack of reviews caused me to take longer updating ch. 10.

Sooooo buckle your seatbelts! for Chapter 10!

CH. 10

"How does one know she has forgiven? You tend to feel sorrow over the circumstance instead of rage, you tend to feel sorry for the person rather than angry with him. You tend to have nothing left to say about it at all.–Clarissa Pinkola Estes

The party was over. Thank goodness! I didn't think I could handle wading in and out of the constantly dancing partiers. Tara and I were able to gradually clean all the trays and the food off the table. I was still scrubbing a few food droppings off the Cullen's finely polished wooden floors. Laura wouldn't stand for a half-done job.

I was constantly aware of Embry watching me. He stood in the corner of the room, not interacting with anyone. Jacob and Quil found a ride with someone so that Embry was left with Jacob's old Volkswagen. I hadn't acknowledged Embry's presence at all. I didn't want another scene on my hands.

Alice was still bouncing about the room, cleaning up stray cups and plates. She moved so gracefully I was momentarily distracted. Jasper still kept watch over the room, though everyone had left. I noticed his eyes flickering every few minutes to Embry's stationary form. Rosalie had disappeared with Emmett to a place unknown and Edward had taken Bella home already.

The Cullen's had offered to clean everything up themselves, but Laura was adamant that she take care of all the mess from the food. Meaning that she talked with Esme, while Tara and I cleared everything out. It seemed as if we'd been a little shorthanded so I asked Tara about it while we worked.

"Why didn't Laura call in more people for this party?" I asked, quietly. I didn't want Laura to hear me, voicing any complaints.

"You ain't seen nothing yet, sweetheart. This was easy, small even, compared to the usual things we cater," she replied.

"Really? That worries me a little," I replied, as I swept up some spilt California rolls.

"You'll get used to it. If they'd wanted servers walking around with individual platters, it would've been a whole different matter," she said."Probably would've been around twenty of us here."

"Hmm," I dropped the subject, yawning.

"Who's that?

"What?" I looked up.

"That guy over there staring at you. He your boyfriend?" Tara asked.

I looked to were she was glancing. Embry leaned against the glass wall, and he was, indeed, staring at me. His eyes were locked on mine, a small smirk gracing his lips. I tried to make it seem accidental that I'd looked at him by glancing around room before turning my gaze back to the floor.

"No, he's just a friend," I answered, my face heating.

"Honey," Tara looked at me, "He wants you.

"What?" I guffawed, struggling not to look back at him again.

"You heard me," she replied.

I huffed. "I think you're wrong."

"Okay, then. Don't believe me. Your loss. That boy is fine," she said, before walking to the kitchen.

I continued cleaning—trying to convince myself Tara was seeing things. It didn't help very much. Goosebumps were still gracing my arms from his smirking face.

(BREAK)

"Thank you so much for your help tonight, girls," Esme told us once we finished cleaning up.

"It was no problem, ma'am," Tara replied shaking Esme's hand, before exiting the house.

"Your home is very beautiful," I told her, not wanting to repeat Tara's conventional sentiment.

"Oh, thank you! I'm glad you like it," Esme smiled at me.

"I really do," I replied, yawning.

"Oh, dear, you must be exhausted. Do you need a drink or something?" Esme asked, concern coloring her voice.

"That won't be necessary," a voice said behind me.

I turned to find Embry very close to me. His face was carefully free of any expression. In his hand was a can of soda. He opened it and gave it to me. I took in a full gulp appreciatively.

"Thanks," I murmured.

"No problem," he answered. "Ready to go?"

I nodded, and then faced Esme. She was smiling at us. My brow furrowed in confusion.

"You two are a lovely couple," she said.

"Oh. We're not…" I gestured my hand, looking for the right word. My face was burning in embarrassment.

"Oh, I just assumed," she apologized. "Forgive me." She smiled meekly.

"Its fine," Embry muttered.

I could tell he wanted to leave so I said my final farewell and we left. Embry silently drove out of the Cullen's driveway. The trees were still lit, though the guests were long gone. Once we hit the highway, my yawns were increasing by the minute despite the caffeine from my soda. I fought to stay awake as we drove through the darkness.

I kept glancing at Embry, trying to read his face. He gave nothing away, however, so I racked my brain for conversation starters. I wanted to confront him—ask what the hell his problem was earlier. But what could I say?

'What the hell is your problem' didn't seem like a good place to start. Not unless I wanted an all out brawl like earlier.

The silence engulfed us like water, until he broke it.

"I'm sorry."

I froze. "For what?"

"I was out of line earlier. I just thought you'd gone the party behind my back," he answered.

I could handle Embry's apology one of two ways. One, I could throw a hissy-fit and demand to know why he thought he could control me. Or, two, I could accept his apology and try to understand his reasons. Option one seemed very appealing to me, but I couldn't be sure his temper would remain intact. Also, I figured he'd be more likely to tell me the truth if I chose option two.

"I don't do things just to spite you, ya know?" I said, smiling a little.

He looked at me, a smirk forming on his lips. "You mean I'm not the center of everything you do?

"'Fraid not," I bit my lip to hide my grin.

We drove on in a now comfortable silence. I watched the dark trees fly by as we rode the curves of the highway. Soon I started thinking about things—about Embry and Seth and double-standards.

My easy acceptance of Embry's apology startled me. I wanted—needed—an explanation, but could not bring myself to demand it. This event made me realize something important. I trusted Embry. Despite all the weirdness that surrounded our friendship, I was positive I could count on him. His overbearing actions were his way to show protection. He'd protected his mom from jerks who thought they could take advantage of her. He'd even protected her from herself by forcing her to attend AA meetings. I knew he meant well. Maybe that was why I didn't question Embry. Because I knew he did the right thing no matter what.

This placed me pretty high on the hypocrisy scale. I could write off Embry's outburst, but could barely look at Seth. Both guys had scared me, acted irrationally, and cared about me. Why did I see things so differently between them? Both situations were eerily similar. I was being terrible to one and not the other. Suddenly, I felt sick from my own stupidity. I was very thankful when Embry asked if he could roll down the window.

"I get hot easy, and Jake's car kinda smells," he grinned.

"That's fine," I replied. I felt a little lightheaded anyway.

"Are you okay?" he asked, glancing at my serious expression.

"Fine, just tired," I yawned, accenting my claim.

"We're pulling up now," he replied.

The house had a few lights on and Leah's car was in the drive. Great. I unbuckled my seatbelt preparing to get out. Embry grabbed my hand, stopping me.

"I really am sorry for tonight. You didn't deserve anything I said.

"It's okay," I smiled. "I've already forgiven you." I paused for a moment."But…can you just tell me… why didn't you want me there? I don't understand why it upset you so much.

I held my breath, praying his response wouldn't be another yelling match. But he didn't yell. His face was guarded as he considered my question.

"There are some—things you don't know," he began, slowly. "I really wish I could explain, but I can't. Not yet anyway.

"Why? Is it bad?" I asked, nervously.

"It's not like that," he replied, reassuringly. "I just need permission to talk about it.

"From who?"

"From S he gasped out. He was breathing hard, voice straining on his words.

"Are you okay? Here, take my drink," I shoved the can in his face.

He didn't take it, but was suddenly okay again. "Naw, I'm okay. I'm just tired too.

I could tell this was an excuse, but decided not to press the issue. I'd already pushed my luck with my earlier questions.

"Okay, I'll let you go then." I needed to talk to Seth before I fell asleep standing up.

"Alright, then.'Night," he smiled.

"Bye," I mumbled, stepping out of the car.

I stumbled up the steps, my legs shaky from exhaustion. I turned the door knob as someone else did. The door slid open to reveal the one person I was looking for. Seth moved out of the door frame when he realized it was me. His face was drawn, tired looking.

"Hey," I murmured.

His acknowledging expression was priceless. I would've given anything to have a camera. Seth's mouth was agape, eyes wide. I grinned, trying not to laugh.

"Trying to catch flies in there?" I asked, pushing his jaw closed with one finger.

"Uh…you're talking to me," he stated, still confused.

"Yeah," I murmured glancing down. "Maybe we can just—uh, start over?

His responding smile reminded me of a sunrise. "Yeah. I wanna start over."

Seth was looking into my eyes as if he'd finally, seen the sun. My face heated up, during the following silence. I cleared my throat awkwardly.

"Okay," I replied, finally.

He grasped my hand, shaking it. "Hi. My name's Seth. You?

"Nicole. It's a pleasure to meet you," I smiled shaking his hand back.

I didn't let it go until Leah stormed into the living room. She didn't look happy about our apparent friendliness. She glared at me as she left, slamming the screen door behind her. I expected to hear her car start, but it didn't. Before I could look out the door after her, Seth grabbed my hand and dragged me to sit on the couch. He turned on the TV with a flick of the remote and tossed it to me.

"What do you wanna watch?" I asked.

"Anything but a chick-flick, please," he answered, lying down on the couch.

Seth's feet were raise on the opposite arm of the couch, his head resting in my lap. I fought myself not to run my fingers through his hair. I eventually was forced to sit on one hand as I flipped through the channels with the other.

I felt more free now that I'd let Seth off the hook. Everything was the way it was meant to be. I found myself smiling, not paying attention the television at all. Soon Seth's snores picked up and he was out.

I woke up later in Seth's bed, not remembering how I'd gotten here. The room was dark and the clock read 4:00 a.m. I stood up slowly and headed to the kitchen to wet my parched throat.

As I passed into the kitchen, the front door opened and closed quietly. I hoped it wasn't a burglar, but I picked up Sue's iron skillet in preparation for an attack. I held it like a baseball bat in silence. I didn't hear anything else after the door—no steps, voices, nothing. That's why I screamed like little girl when Seth turned into the kitchen.

Lucky for him, I dropped the skillet in fear. That would've been an awkward thing to tell Sue about. You see, Sue, Seth scared me so I knocked him out cold with your skillet. I'm really sorry about it. I hope there's no permanent brain damage. Yeah, that would've been bad.

"Geez! Seth!" I yelled.

"What were you doing with mom's skillet?" he asked. Of course he'd be confused by a skillet and not my scream of terror.

"I was gonna knock you out with it," I replied, as if it were obvious.

"Why?

"Why! It's four in the morning! What are you doing out?" I demanded.

"I just took a walk," Seth answered, grabbing a glass from the cupboard.

He filled it with water and chugged half before facing me. I sighed and picked up the skillet. The floor was okay, thankfully.

"Why were you walking at four in the morning?" I asked.

"I couldn't sleep," he answered, shortly.

I wasn't going to push anymore of his buttons by reminding him he was out cold on the couch earlier. I guess he'd woken up and put me to bed. Before Seth could take another drink I took the glass from him and chugged the rest.

"Night," I replied, handing it back empty.

I was too tired to argue with him. I stumbled down the dark hall into the bedroom again. I turned off the light and crawled into bed. That night I dreamt of Rosalie Hale.

She was chasing me through the forest somewhere. It was dark all around and I could barely see in front of me. Eventually, I couldn't run any more. I stopped, wanting to reason with her—to ask why she chased me. But before I could utter a syllable, Rosalie's mouth was at my neck, drinking my blood. Before I pulled in my last breath, she released me, revealing blood red eyes and lips.

OOOOOOH! What's going on?

Why won't Embry tell Nicole about the WOLFPACK? (Give your opinions; I already know the answer)

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