Bump In The Night

Bump In The Night

Natalie and I walked back to our room in silence.

I spoke up. "Are you sure you're okay with this?" I whispered.

She looked at me and smiled. "Of course I am." She whispered back. "You don't need to ask – I really am okay. I made this decision. I'm not backing out on it."

I smiled back at her.

We opened the door ever so quietly, and tiptoed to our room.

As I got in my bed, I started to feel tired. I closed my eyes and succumbed.

"Claire, wake up, you sleepyhead," Quil's voice broke through my fog.

I giggled. "Now you're the one who wakes up early again,"

He chuckled. "It's not early. It's noon."

I immediately sat up and looked at the clock on the bedside table. It read noon. I looked at him again and put my hand on my head.

"How in the…?" I asked.

"Your parents decided that you and Natalie had a pretty hard day yesterday, so they went to see the sights. Natalie woke up and went with them. I told them I'd stay here and keep you out of trouble." He smiled when he said the last sentence.

I laughed and got out of the bed. "So, what do you want to do today?" I asked.

"I don't know." He said. "After all, you're so tired, according to your parents,"

I smiled. "Why don't I get dressed and we can go downstairs to eat lunch? And then, we could go to the beach."

He got up. "Okay." He left the room so I could get changed.

We sat down at a table and waited to be dined on.

I sighed. I was tired.

"What's wrong?" Quil asked.

"I'm just kind of…sleepy." I yawned.

"Are you sure you want to go to the beach?" he asked.

"Mmm, yeah. And I wanted to go to the beach while I was here, anyway."

"You still have a week and a half to go. You can go back upstairs and sleep,"

This was annoying me now. "Quil, seriously. I'm okay. Don't worry. I'll wake up when I eat."

He noticed that I was getting irritated, so he changed the subject.

"So, I guess you don't have to worry about Natalie anymore," he said.

I frowned. "I don't really want to talk about that."

"Sorry." He tried to find something to talk about. "So what do you want to do when we get home?"

"I don't know. We could have another beach party, or barbecue…Either way, it doesn't matter," I shrugged.

"What's wrong with you?" He asked, concern in his voice.

"I don't know. I guess I'm just tired." I yawned again.

"Are you positive you want to go to the beach? You still have time to go any other day,"

This was really starting to get on my nerves.

"Yeah, I'm okay. Really. I am fine." I tried to make that clear.

The waiter walked up to the table.

"What can I get for you today?" he asked.

We both ordered, and were quiet when he went away.

Quil spoke. "You seem…annoyed."

I smiled humorlessly. "I am."

"Why?"

"I don't know. I want to go home."

He sighed. "Okay. But don't bite my head off." He smiled.

I didn't change my expression.

When we ate, neither of us spoke.

I wasn't sure exactly what was bothering me, but I knew for a fact that I wasn't mad at Quil – I was mad at myself.

I was glad we didn't talk – I needed to think.

Maybe I was mad at myself for trying to help Natalie.

That was it.

I had gotten to the core of my grumpiness. I was mad at myself because of what I did to Natalie. Now she seemed so…okay. I knew that I should forget about it, but I couldn't forgive myself, even if Natalie had forgiven me.

Maybe the beach would make me feel better.

But I didn't want to feel better. Well, maybe I did, in some ways – I didn't want to be mean to anyone except myself. I especially didn't want to be mean to Quil or Natalie. But, other than that, I wanted to put myself through what I believed I deserved.

Maybe I could be nice to everyone and be mean to myself. I could have my cake and eat it too. I knew that wasn't a great phrase to use, but I thought it was for me.

I knew that I would never do anything like I did again to Natalie. I didn't want to. I already hated myself. I didn't want to hurt her.

"Claire?" Quil waved his hand in front of my eyes. "Wake up!"

I shook my head. "Huh?"

He chuckled. "You spacing out?"

"Yeah." I smiled at him.

"Aren't you gonna finish your food?" He asked, eyeing the plate.

"Oh. Um. No. You want it?" I asked.

"Okay," He took the plate and finished it off quickly.

We paid and left to get our swimsuits and we walked to the beach. It wasn't too far away.

"Okay." Quil said. "Will you tell me what's really bugging you?"

"I'm mad at myself." I replied. I knew he'd laugh, but he didn't. He just looked confused.

"Um, why?" he asked.

"I hurt Natalie."

He looked confused again. "You fixed that. At least, I thought so. Is Natalie okay?"

"Yeah, she's fine. She forgave me for trying to fix the problem, but I can't forgive myself." I frowned.

He didn't reply for a while. "You shouldn't dwell on it. It's okay, and she's not mad at you. So you don't need to be angry with yourself."

"Yes, I do." I argued.

He held his hand up. "Okay, do what you want. But it's not good for you. And Natalie is not mad at you."

I said nothing more on the way to the beach.

"So, when are you gonna forgive yourself? 'Cause then we could make plans for a barbecue or a beach party back home," He smiled as we set down our towels on the warm sand.

I rolled my eyes and frowned. "How am I supposed to know?" I stomped off to the water.

I knew I was being mean, and I didn't want to be mean to Quil. I had promised myself that. I was breaking that promise.

I turned around and walked back to him.

"I'm sorry," I said, hoping I hadn't hurt his feelings or anything.

He looked understanding. "It's okay, Claire. I know you're kinda p-o-ed at yourself right now, and you can't help but take it out on everyone else. It's okay."

I sat down on my towel. "Great. There's one more thing to be mad at myself for."

He sat down on his towel beside me. "You have no reason to be mad at yourself. You did nothing wrong. You were just trying to help."

"I know, but…" My voice trailed off.

"But what?"

I sighed. "I don't know." I shook my head. "Maybe…maybe you're right."

"I am, and admit it. You know I'm right." He smiled warmly.

I smiled back, glad to have that burden off of my shoulders. I looked around the beach, and my eyes locked on Natalie. I looked at who she was with, and it was my parents.

"Oh, crap." I said. "Hide me." I sat behind Quil, and he was so big, I knew they would have no chance of seeing me. Unless they saw him and decided to come and see him…

I looked, and they were coming towards us. I laid down and acted like I was tanning.

"Quil?" My mother asked. She shielded her eyes from the sun with her hand. "Is that you?"

"Yeah, and Claire's tanning right here." He pointed to me.

"Still lounging around?" She asked me.

"Yeah, and I figured that while I'm here, I might want to get tanner. We don't get much sun in La Push, so I figured now is my chance to soak it up." I replied.

She smiled. "Well, have fun." She walked away – back to Natalie and my dad.

Natalie walked over. "They were getting boring," she said, pointing to our parents.

"Ah." I said. I suddenly felt uncomfortable, even though I knew I had nothing to worry about. I was just used to the feeling from past experiences (ahem).

"So…what are you two planning on doing today?" She was trying to make conversation.

"I don't know. We just got here, so I guess this is what we're doing." I replied. She was starting to irritate me.

"What about this weather? It's really beautiful. It's sure not like this in La Push."

I sat up on my towel. This was getting really annoying.

"Look, Natalie." I said. "I don't want to be mad at you, but this isn't a good day, and I'm still uncomfortable with the three of us. So can you please just leave me alone? I'm not trying to be mean, and if I am, I'm sorry. But you don't need to make conversation. I'm not talkative today. Give me time."

Quil and Natalie looked at me with big eyes.

Natalie stood up. "Okay. I'll just go sit by myself." She walked away.

"That wasn't very nice," Quil said to me.

"I just want to be left alone." I plugged my ears with my fingers and blocked everything out.

As I crawled in bed that night, I was glad that I had fallen asleep on the beach and had some alone time.

I fell asleep quickly and dreamt sweet dreams of Quil and I on the beach, the waves crashing on the rocks, the seagulls calling above us. We were the only ones on the beach. We walked hand in hand…

I woke up suddenly. Was that a thump I heard?

I looked over at Natalie. She was asleep.

I tiptoed to my parents' room. They were asleep also.

I crawled back in my bed and closed my eyes.

Thump. I knew I heard the quiet noise this time.

I got up and looked around.

Thump.

I looked at the window.

Thump.

I walked slowly to the window.

Thump.

Thump.

I slowly opened the curtain…

What I saw was the last thing I wanted to see.

End Note: Sorry, I've been busy so I haven't been able to post a chapter for a while. Just in case you were waiting. Please review! I will try to post another chapter as soon as I can! :D