I have no clue why I wrote this. I'm really nervous about a Soci test and I think this relives anxiety. Be nice even though it's sucky. Don't lose faith in me!

-Kiddo

I stared at the phone in my hand, my jaw hanging open.

"I cant believe he just said that. Why would he... Amy! Did... did you tell him?"

"He called while you were squandering around in detention. I told him I thought you had missed class because you were getting hot and heavy with him." She rolled her eyes at me.

"So you told him?"

"Yes, of course I told him. Did you want me to lie for you?"

"What else did you tell him?" I demanded.

"That I thought you were really happy with Jackson. Why?"

"I'm not!" I threw the phone onto the counter.

"Then why did you walk around all morning with that gooey look in your eyes?" She looked at me suspiciously.

"I don't know." I did know, though. Because of Quil. And when I called him and... Oh, no.

"He is being really oversensitive about you having a boyfriend, you know." Amy told me, flipping her curls over one shoulder.

"Jackson is not my boyfriend." I told her, reaching for my jacket and shoving my arms in. I didn't care that they were wet and this was probably the most uncomfortable I had ever been. I needed to get to Quil before he got to Jackson. I felt being the cause of a murder was not something I wanted on my hands.

"Oh, yes. He is. You can't just switch on and off with the most admirable guy in school. Think of the gossip, Claire! Can you just stop and think what that would do to your social standings? Really."

"Really? Amy, let me make this very clear to you. I. Don't. Give. A. Fuck." I shrugged past her, her face frozen in complete shock. I will remember that look forever, because its the first time I've ever left my sister speechless.

You see in movies where a character walks out into the rain and two minutes later they look like they've been drenched with water. Theres people that still believe that this is impossible. They have obviously never been to Forks.

I sprinted through the rain, hoping with all my body and soul Quil wouldn't beat me there. My shoes were leaking water and my hair was matted to my head, dripping under my jacket and down my back. It gave me the eerie feeling of what I was going to face in a few minutes.

The small path to Jackson's house was upon me in no time. I don't think I've ever run faster in my life. That was until I looked down at the mud and saw the trail of foot prints leading up into the trees. They were to big to be anyone else's.

"Quil!" I screamed and took off full-tilt. "Quil! Stop!" I knew by the time I got to him it would be too late. I was always too late. "Quil! I don't want you to do this!" I was running low on air and couldn't yell and follow him at the same time.

I kept going, ignoring the mud I was kicking up onto my clothes or the way my hair blinded me. Sodding wet and caked with mud I skidded to a stop in front of Jackson's house and flung the door open.

"Jackson?" I asked the empty house, my voice frantic.

"What are you doing here, Claire?"

I gasped and spun around, staring straight into a very live Jackson. "You have to leave. Now." I told him, not caring if he thought I was crazy.

"Why would I leave?" He asked, folding his arms across his chest.

"Because!" I fumed, angry that he was just standing there while I was trying to keep him from getting beaten into a bloody pulp.

"Because of Quil?"

"How do you..." I trailed off, anger forgotten.

"He was over here to visit." Jackson told me, still not moving from his spot.

"But shouldn't you be more..." I felt like an idiot who couldn't think of anything to say. I didn't understand.

"Oh, we had a nice little talk."

"Did you?" I furrowed my eyebrows.

"Oh, yes. He held me against a wall and told me if I ever touched you again he would 'rip certain body parts off and stick them in places I didn't know existed'." He didn't crack a smile when he said this.

"Oh." I winced, trying desperately not to laugh. It sounded like something Quil might say. When he got mad he was truly vulgar.

"Go home, Claire. You're not worth the trouble." He muttered and turned away. I saw with some satisfaction that he was hobbling and looked very much in pain.

"I know." I whispered and turned back out into the rain

The walk home was one of the most uncomfortable things I have ever experienced. My jeans were laden with water and rubbed against my skin with every step. I could hardly walk and was definitely going to chaff before I got home. I could have called Amy to come pick me up, or taken my pants off and gone the long way home, but my pride allowed neither.

All I wanted now were some dry clothes and to yell at Quil for going to see Jackson. What was he thinking? That he's in the Mob? A few more steps and I was ready to yell at Quil again for a whole new set of reasons. Why didn't he pulverize Jackson when the boy so clearly deserved it? Why didn't he come check on me?

I stopped walking and took a deep breath through my nose. I was quickly becoming an emotional train wreck. There was too much for me to process rationally. My parents were falling apart. Quil, my Uncle Sam and a bunch of guys I had known my whole life are werewolves. Quil had and would always love me; as Emily said I was the center of his universe. (It was too bad he didn't show it.) Jackson told me that I wasn't worth it, but he's still obviously planning on making my life hell. And the most important thing: I was moving away from the guy who loved me for an entire year unless I convinced him to let me live with him.

I don't think it can get a whole lot worse than it is right now.

Wrong. I am always wrong.

Quil was waiting for me when I got home.

"Claire," He looked shocked to see me stomp through the door, caked with mud and soaked to the bone. "What happened to you?"

"Oh, I just decided to take a little stroll and got caught up in the rain." I threw my hands up sarcastically and headed straight for the bathroom, trying to unbutton my jacket with frozen fingers.

"What were you doing outside in that storm? It looks like hells coming down out there." He followed me into the bathroom and watched me struggle with my coat.

"I was going to try and stop you from killing Jackson." I told him and gave up on my buttons, feeling like a complete moron.

He looked amused. "You were going to try to stop me?"

"Get out." I muttered, sitting on the edge of the tub and wiggling off one of my converse.

He chuckled and shook his head. "I wasn't going to kill him. Well, I was, but I calmed down enough by the time I got there to just... rough him up a bit."

"Why thank you for being so noble. It was very discreet." I continued in my sarcastic tone. My other shoe off, I flexed my fingers and tried to wrestle my coat into submission. "Damn buttons. Next year I buy one with a zipper."

Gentle fingers brushed my hands away and went to work on my jacket. I tried not to gasp as he slid it off my arms and tossed it away. "I'm sorry, Claire. It was impossible for me to do nothing. He won't bother you again."

"Emily told me." I blurted out before I could stop myself.

"I know. I'm sorry I didn't tell you myself." He stripped off my socks and tossed them into the same pile as my jacket and shoes. "Are you angry at me?"

"No." I muttered. I was so giddy with happiness that he was touching me at all it was impossible to feel anything.

"Good. We can talk about it after you get a shower." He looked at my face briefly before judging I would never be able to myself and hooked his fingers under my shirt, "Arms up." He commanded and I happily obliged as he slid it over my head.

It was a good thing I was sitting down because it felt like my knees had gone out.

"Can you take it from here?" He didn't look at me.

"Yeah, I got it." I managed to choke out and stared behind him as he left. I took my shower, scrubbing away as much of the mud as fast as I could. I had become much more optimistic about what he would say when I brought up moving in with him.

AN: See what I mean?