Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight. I do own the books and the movies.

Quil flopped down next to Bella on the couch. Charlie sat in his recliner, tying his boots. He had to be at work in half an hour.

"Promise me again that he won't break the furniture." he said looking at Bella.

"I'll make sure Dad." she said giving him a reassuring look.

"How do your mom and grandfather keep you from breaking theirs?"

"My mom whacks me upside the head with a rolling pin." Quil said with a shrug.

"That explains a lot." Bella said with a nod.

Charlie shook his head as he started to laugh. He stood and walked out of the room. He could be heard buckling his belt then putting his gun in his holster.

"Don't forget your dinner." Bella called from the living room.

Charlie opened and shut the refrigerator before saying goodbye. Bella turned towards Quil as the door shut. She knew that she could possibly worry him; he didn't talk about other people behind their backs but she needed answers. He also had a right to know what was going on. She didn't know how to broach the subject without jumping right in.

"When was the last time you talked to Embry, or Jake? I mean really talked."

"Like dude to dude kind of stuff?" he asked furrowing his eyebrows.

"Yeah."

"I can't tell you that. You know that." he said giving her a stern look.

"It's important." she said with a sigh.

"I'm not telling you." he said shaking his head.

"My relationship between the two of them is at stake. I have to know."

"Embry told you, didn't he?" he asked, finally understanding what she was hinting at.

"How long has it been going on?" she asked before squeezing her eyes shut.

"He told me a year ago." Quil said just above a whisper.

"And Jake?"

"This is the first time I've heard about it."

"I am a horrible, terrible person." she said as tears started to sting her eyes.

"No you're not." he said as he put a hand on her shoulder.

"Yes, I am. I told him that I didn't believe him. I laughed at him Quil." she said as she tried to control her breathing.

"Alright, I don't normally do this. This is Jake's thing. Come here." he said as he pulled her to him.

She cried into his chest for over five minutes. In those five minutes she thought about what he had just told her. Embry had kept this from her for a year, possibly longer. How was she supposed to react to that? She had some serious thinking to do.

XXXX

Quil had noticed the change in Bella's behavior as soon as she calmed down. She was quiet, but not withdrawn. She was obviously thinking about Embry and Jacob. He'd had no clue that Jacob thought of her like that. Then again, he'd had a feeling that Embry had long before he had told him.

Bella and Embry had always been close. But could he really see them together? It would definitely be interesting. Now, he needed to get her mind off of Embry, even if just for the night. He knew exactly what to do.

"I'm bored." he said once the movie they were watching was over.

"I am too. I don't feel like going to bed though."

"We can go to Wal-Mart."

"Let me go change." she said getting off the couch.

"What's wrong with what you're wearing?"

She gestured to herself before giving him a weird look. She was wearing a form fitting white tank top and short shorts. He shrugged his shoulders, not seeing what the big deal was.

"I'm not going anywhere dressed like this."

"I see girls wearing worse than what you're wearing all the time." he said, rolling his eyes.

"Well, I'm not them." she said walking out of the room.

"Chicken."

"I am not." she called from upstairs.

"Tell you what, you wear what you're wearing now and I'll buy you breakfast."

"You've got a deal." she said coming back downstairs.

"I knew you wouldn't change. What did you go up there for?"

She held up an elastic and a flimsy head band as she grabbed her keys.

"It's freezing. I at least need a jacket."

"Nope. That's not part of the deal. We're taking my truck."

"In these shorts? They'll ride up into my crotch!" she whined.

"Oh well." he said before going outside.

She wrote a quick note to her dad before heading out the door. She opened the passenger door to Quil's truck and a rush of hot hair enveloped her. The truck towered over her. He had only had it a few days, and he had wanted to take her for a ride since the day he got it.

She gripped the hand hold as she hoisted herself into the cab. She pulled the door shut before buckling her seat belt. Her dad was pulling up as they were pulling away. Quil told him where they were going and Charlie nodded his approval.

Twenty minutes later they were in Wal-Mart and she was laughing like crazy. Quil had found a toy gun and was pointing it at her. Whenever someone would pass by he would press it to her back and nudge her.

"Even kidnapped people have to shop." he would say with a shrug.

Her response would be, "I keep taking him back to the hospital. He always comes back." with fake tears.

People had to have thought that they were crazy when they got a bag of suckers and started throwing them at each other.

Bella had gotten more than a few looks for what she was wearing. She was constantly pulling her shorts down. That would leave a good patch of skin exposed then her boobs would be exposed when she pulled her shirt down.

"This is ridicules." she said in frustration.

When Quil didn't answer her she looked over at him. His phone was pointed at her he had a shit eating grin plastered on his face.

"What are you doing?" she asked as she lunged for his phone.

She got it from him and groaned when she saw a picture of herself on the screen. She had a sucker hanging out of her mouth for Christ's sake! Her shorts had fallen down and her shirt was low enough that you could see her breast straining against her shirt. It was just her luck that she had forgotten to put on a bra before leaving the house.

"Who did you send it to?"

The phone vibrated and Embry's name came across the screen. Her eyes widened in surprise as she handed it back to him.

"I. Hate. You." she said before walking away.

"Oh come on. He liked it." he said running after her.

She stopped and he handed the phone back to her. She deleted the picture before handing it back to him.

"It's a good thing I told him to save it."

"What did he say?"

"Something that I can't say because there are children present." he said gesturing to a preteen boy who was staring at Bella.

"What else?"

"Something about not being able to sleep for the rest of the night."

"Is that a good or a bad thing?"

"I'd say it's good. I'm not telling you anything else. I promised him that I wouldn't."

She let the subject drop as he picked up a video game. He put it back before pushing the cart farther down the aisle.

"I'm going to the book section." she said before walking away.

She was reaching down to reach for something on the bottom shelf when someone reached around her to grab what she wanted. She looked over her shoulder and saw a girl biting her lip. It was one of the girls from the bonfire Saturday night.

"Kim, right?"

"Yeah, Bella?"

"Yeah. Thank you." she said taking the book from her.

"You would have given the kid at the end of the aisle a free show if I hadn't."

Bella looked over her shoulder before rolling her eyes.

"He's been following me for half an hour." she said with a sigh.

Kim laughed as they walked through the store. They found Quil and Jared playing video games.

"I broke the gun."

"How?" Bella asked with a laugh.

"I threw it at him."

"Why?" she asked slowly.

"He was being stupid." he said gesturing to Jared.

"He can't be any worse than you."

"Thank you." Jared said with a smile.

"You're welcome. You're going to have a nasty goose egg right in the center of your forehead."

"You're kidding." he said rubbing his head.

"My gun is in the cart. I'll hold him." she said grabbing hold of Quil before he could react.

He twisted away from her but she was able to him back.

"If you fight it's going to hurt worse. Take it like a man." she said tightening her grip on him.

Jared threw it at his chest and Quil grunted in protest. Bella let him go before shoving him.

"She's a klutz, and yet she can hold me down." he said in astonishment.

"My dad's a cop stupid. He taught me to take care of myself." she said before hitting him upside the head.

"That's something every girl should know." Kim said with a nod.

"I bet you couldn't hold Jake down." Quil mumbled.

"You're not much smaller than he is." Bella said with a shrug.

"We should go. Her mom doesn't know that she's gone." Jared said as they walked towards the exit.

"It was good seeing you again." Kim said before walking away.

"You too." Bella said with a smile.

The ride back to Bella's was quiet, except for when Quil warned her not to fall asleep. He wouldn't be able to get her out of the truck if she did.

XXXX

It was almost dawn before Bella finally fell asleep. Quil was fighting off sleep as he pulled his cell phone from off the coffee table. He quickly took a picture of her sleeping before sending it to Embry it was even better than the picture from a couple of hours ago. His phone vibrated less than ten seconds later.

Thanks. Was all it said.

He shut his phone before burrowing himself farther under the blankets. He was asleep within seconds.