Chapter 9 – The heart wants what it wants
The next day was spent much the same. I took a day off from school because even though the fever was almost gone, I felt weak. That morning after breakfast I was helping Emily clean up and I was talking to my mom over the phone and calming her down.
"Mom it was the rain" I told her the millionth time, "I just don't understand why you would not listen to Emily" she started "We only agreed to let you stay back if you listen to Emily" honestly, I think mom was overreacting. I always catch cold and fever, my immune system is weak – very weak, this was nothing new. But I could understand, I was away from her and she could not help but worry.
"I am sorry mom; I will listen to Em from now on" I promised as I passed a smile to Emily who smiled back. "Are you helping her around the house?" mom finally jumped to another topic, "Generally? Yeah" I nodded even though she could not see it. "Good, you would not want to be a burden on your cousin" she said, of course, that is the last thing that I want. "Obviously, mom, I don't want that" I told her. "Good, I taught you well" she jested and both of us chuckled.
"Honey, I gotta run and get groceries for dinner tonight, I will talk to you later?" mom asked, "Sure mom" I knew they were 8 hours ahead of us so it must be evening and dad would be home soon. "We will have a video call tonight, I promise" I had been asking them to have a video call but the time difference made it almost impossible. "Okay Mom" now I sounded more enthusiastic. "Bye Honey, I love you, say my 'Hi' to Emily" mom said softly, "Bye mom, I love you too" I replied in a loving voice too.
I disconnected the call and kept the phone in my jeans pocket before going to the kitchen to see if Emily needed any help.
"How's mom and dad?" she asked me when I entered the Kitchen, "They are fine, mom said Hi" I told her and she grinned. "Do you need some help here?" I asked her shoving my hands in the back pocket of my jeans, hoping she would finally let me do something. "Why don't you go to your bed?" she asked me, "No, I want to help" I was persistent and she sighed.
"Fine" Emily looked around the kitchen to find me some work and she did – quite an easy task. "Why don't you keep these dried off utensils back in the cupboards?" she smiled at me, I was happy to be of any help and got to work at once.
It was not a task that needed to keep my mind busy so naturally it sometimes wandered off to Embry. I remember having a dream about him last night and as much as I tried to avoid it, it replayed in my mind.
There was nothing out of ordinary about this dream. I was sitting in some sort of profligate ballroom; it has gold pillars and a polished wooden floor where people were dancing. I was sitting diagonally opposite to Embry, who was looking flamboyant in his black tuxedoes.
I kept stealing glances of his face but whenever I looked at him he was already looking at me with the most adoring eyes I have ever seen, just like when he first saw me at the beach. I was talking to and laughing with someone – a girl whose face was a blur just like everyone else's except Embry's.
Just when she told me "Oh! He is coming this way" I looked up to saw Embry quickly walking towards us. I got up from my place too and with adequate distance between us, Embry asked me to dance with him.
We were not in sync at the beginning and it was a bit clumsy but once we got the hang of it, we both danced beautifully in each other's arms. It was beautiful. He was looking down at me and I was looking up at him. His grin was hard to miss and so were the summersaults that my heart was doing. It was beyond flawless, our hands fit in each others' hand perfectly.
I had not had such a dream in a very long time and when I woke up abruptly during our dance I closed my eyes hoping to go back and continue the dream but much to my consternation that did not happen and I had to get up.
Here I was, standing in the kitchen and thinking of the dream that was so vivid and flawless that I almost accidently dropped a plate. It was then that I shook my head and brought myself back from my daydreaming. I would only increase Emily's workload if I mess up and I could go back to my fantasy land before bed anyways.
It would be much better then since no one or no work would disturb me. There was another reason that I did not want to think of this dream now. Embry was coming over to hang out with me today as well – just like he had promised and I did not want to act all awkward and shy when he is here.
I finished my work just in time when the doorbell rang. Emily looked at me and I said "I will get it" before skipping to the living room. I quickly ran my hands through my hair and straightened out my shirt, standing before the front door, before opening it.
There stood Embry looking at his black boots, holding a beautiful bouquet of colourful flowers, he wore a black denim jeans, he had folded the sleeves of his fitted dark blue shirt, the folded cuffs of which were white just like the buttons on his shirt. He looked completely impeccable standing there and I had this strong urge to hug him and feel his arms around me.
"Hey Grace" he looked up with a smile, "I see you are doing much better" he gave me a side hug and I wrapped my arms around his torso and closed my eyes. Instinctively I took a deep breath and noticed that he had the same outdoorsy scent, that I remember since childhood. I am not sure if I was thinking too much or if he held me like that for more than he usually would, anyways I enjoyed what I felt – butterflies in my stomach, Embry's warmth – it was perfect.
We both dropped our hands and then he stretched out the bouquet in front of me. "For you, I hope you feel better soon" he said, I grinned from ear to ear when I took the bouquet, "Thanks Embry it's lovely" I looked awestruck and he grinned too, maybe because he was happy to see that I liked it. He followed me inside without a word where we were greeted by Emily.
"Hello Emily" he said as he gave her a side hug too, "Hi Embry" she was as always happy to have visitors. I noticed that he held her for barely 3 seconds and that somehow made me feel happy, that he had definitely held me longer than usual. "Embry got these for me" I told Emily as she looked at the flowers lovingly, "You should put these in water" she encouraged me and I skipped to the kitchen with a grin.
When I had put the flowers in the flower vase with water I went back to the living room to join Embry and Emily. They were already talking about something when I went to sit by Emily, who was sitting on the couch while Embry was sitting on the armchair. "Oh Emily, you don't have to sell your car it is in a pretty good state" Embry was telling Emily, I was looking at my hands in my lap as I bent forward.
"I don't know, it is just so hard to maintain" Emily sighed, I kept my eyes on the rug, looking at the patterns. "It just needs some fixing to do" Embry told her, "Fine, then I believe you can fix it" Emily stated and there was silence for a moment but I did not look up. "Yeah, we will do it" Embry said, "Great, then I will drop the car on this weekend and I would bring Grace with me" and that made my head shot up in an instance.
Emily just gave me a full-fledged reason to see Embry, Gosh! How much I love Emily. Embry looked just as happy as me, was that even possible? And Emily was smiling about this too. "Sure, I will show her around" Embry looked at me as he spoke, "I would love to see what you have been up to" I smirked.
It was good to see that Emily was sitting with us and talking and did not just leave. It meant that even though the packs were divided, the brotherhood had not changed and Emily had remained neutral in all this. I could picture how much it would have hurt Emily to see how the boys whom she loved as her own kids were divided and looking at how pleased she was with Embry sitting in her living room made it clear that she did not want any feud between the packs.
When it was almost lunch time I came up with an idea "Emily, can Embry and I go on a walk? I have been so bored sitting at home" I said with a frown, they both glanced at each other and then Embry spoke "But aren't you sick?" did he have to be the buzz kill? "No! I am fine" I replied, still frowning. "I will let you go on 2 conditions" Emily started as she held up her fingers.
"I agree" I replied enthusiastically, which made Emily and Embry chuckle. "First listen to the conditions" Emily started again and I listen without interrupting. "First, you will wear something very warm" Emily said and I nodded, "and second, you will come back immediately if you feel weak" Emily completed, "I promise" I grinned.
"What about my opinion?" Embry raised his hand. I frowned and looked at him, "Don't you want to spend time with me" I asked him as I walked to stand in front of him. He looked down with a frown, "Of course I want to spend time with you, and we can do it here" I took his huge hand in my tiny hands and bounced while pleading "Please Embry, Please, Please, please" till he finally said "Alright, but only for a short while" "Thank you" I squeezed his hand lightly and ran upstairs to get my jacket.
I wore my black windcheater jacket, it had two breast pockets and two more pockets to warm up my hands. It had black zipper and a hoodie, it was warm and perfect for this weather. I wore it over my white plain full sleeves tee and black jeans. I switched my black sneakers for my black boots and once I ran my comb through my hair, I was done.
I quickly skipped to the living room where Embry and Emily were standing, waiting for me. "Is this good enough?" I asked them, and they both nodded, "Let's go then" I led the way and they both followed me.
Once outside, Emily started giving me all sorts of instructions of not going in the water, not exerting myself and what not, I told her to stop worrying and finally Embry and I were off to the beach in his car.
He opened the door of his car to let me in and then closed the door for me. While I put on my seatbelt, he came around the car and took his seat in the driver's seat. We waved at Emily who was standing in the doorway and then off we went.
The car ride was silent, and the silence was comfortable, nothing awkward. The only thing filling in the silence was the music from the radio and I looked outside the window as we sped off to the beach.
We reached the first beach in 15 minutes, hardly. I quickly unbuckled myself but Embry was faster than me, for when I turned to open the door he was already opening my door. I smiled at him and got out. The cool breeze hit my face and hands and I quickly hid my hands in the pockets of the jacket.
Embry stood face to face and smiled at me lovingly, before I could say anything he extended his hands towards my face and for a moment I thought he was going to cup my cheeks and my heart sped up but rather he went for my hoodie and pulled it over my head. It was not like it was any less romantic in my head when he did that.
"Let's go now" he said softly as he dropped his hand and I nodded. We both started our walk down the first beach when I finally asked the question that has been at the back of mind.
"Embry, can I ask you something?" I started, looking at him. He looked down at me and replied "Anything" "Where is Lauren?" I needed to know if I was going to meet his girlfriend today. His smile disappeared and he looked straight ahead. Did I overstep my boundary? I kept looking at his face but his expressions were unreadable. "I broke up with her" he finally said and then his lips were set in a straight line again. "Why?" I was confused, can he do that? Can he break up with his imprintee? "It could not work out" he mumbled, What?! Wasn't she his soulmate?
I hate to admit this but somewhere deep down I felt happy and I was mentally doing a happy dance while keeping a straight face, does that make me a bad person? I mentally shrugged. "Why?" I asked again, Embry was still not looking at me. "It's not like I imprinted on her" his voice was almost inaudible due to the wind blowing in my ear. He had not imprinted on her?! Did I hear that correctly?! I was so thankful that Embry was looking straight ahead because my face almost gave away the happiness I felt when I heard that.
"Then why –?" I could not even complete the sentence, why was he dating her then? Finally, Embry looked at me and answered my incomplete question. "You know, imprinting is supposed to be rare, and I never thought that would happen to me, so I started dating Lauren and I liked her but not long ago I realized that it will never work out with her."
"What if you never imprint? Would you regret losing her?" I could not help but ask, my brows creased together. I think Embry almost smiled but it was hard to tell. "No, I won't regret losing her, trust me" he replied. "You think you will fall in love with someone someday?" I asked hopefully and this time I looked away. "Of course I will, don't you think you will?" he asked me, 'I am already in love with you' I thought, "I hope so" I smiled as I looked at him.
"I do too" he mumbled and then smiled. That made me confused again, why does he hope I fall in love with someone? Did he know something I did not know? I shrugged the thought away.
"I've missed you, you know" Embry spoke after a long silence. "I've missed you too" I told him, "Then why didn't you keep in touch with me?" he narrowed his eyes at me. "I was not sure if you would want to be in touch with me" I shrugged, "What is wrong with you?" he asked, "Am I not a kid to you?" I chuckled. I sincerely hoped he would say no and he did, he shook his head and said "You have always been my friend, Grace" my name sounded so beautiful when he spoke it.
"I was not sure if that was the case, and I was not coming back here, it was never a plan until my dad got a job in UK" I told him, "Why did you decide to stay here?" He asked me, "I did not want to keep shifting" I told him, I remember he had asked me this question before. He shook his head and said "why did you really decided to stay here?" I paused for a moment before I started "I have spent majority of childhood here" I looked around, the waves were touching the shore softly, there was a thick sheet of clouds above us and yet people were hanging out here in this cold weather.
"How could I just leave everything behind" I continued, "I know I would have not been happy if I went and here –" I looked back at Embry, "Here, it feels like I am home" he had a smile plastered on his face. "I cannot tell you how happy I am that you are here" he told me and then I smirked, "Yeah, why is that?" I raised my eyebrows rapidly at him. "You will know" he winked at me, "Tell me now" I pushed me lower lip out and creased my brows together, that made him chuckle.
"You will, when the time is right" he patted my head like he used to do when I was a kid. "Okay, then tell me is it a good thing?" I batted my lashed, "I hope it is – for you" he smiled. I could not help but think that he was hiding something from me, I mean obviously he was, but this was something that was going to make me beyond happy, something that will change what is between us.
A/N: Hey Readers,
I could not wait to upload a new chapter. Please all the silent readers do leave a review. It would mean the world to me. I would be uploading a new chapter very soon! So please tell me your opinions on this chapter, I will be waiting! :)
-JT