Author's note- Some bonding moments.

Disclaimer:I own nothing of the recognizable characters, plots, places, etc., all rights reserved for Stephenie Meyer. No copyright infringement is intended.


It had been a couple of weeks since the beginning of my life…my real life. Dramatic, I know. But I just can't help but admit it.

I was at Embry and Quil's house one day lounging on some of the patio furniture that they used in the family room. Embry was flipping through the channels, a box of pop tarts in his lap and a bottle of Hershey's chocolate on the table beside him. He lifted one of the s'mores pop tarts out and squeezed chocolate over it in zigzags.

"Oh gross, Embry," I whined with a smile on.

"Claire you have never tried it, how would you ever know?" He jousted back, stuffing half into his mouth. The excess chocolate sauce globbed into the edges of his lips and got licked off slowly.

"I guess I never will," I shrugged, laughing half in disgust half in amusement. Quil walked into the room in cut off jeans, his perfectly chiseled chest gleaming with water beads from his shower. He shook his head as he approached me, showering me with the spray. I squealed and raised my hands as shields, cracking up as he lifted me up and threw me over his shoulder.

"Take the PDA somewhere else guys, I'm trying to watch Family Guy!" Embry complained, throwing a large overstuffed pillow at us. Quil growled playfully at him but set me down (much to my disappointment) and asked if I wanted anything to eat.

"No…I think Embry has grossed me out of eating," I smirked at Quil's roommate, who stuck his tongue out at me, "thanks though."

Quil grabbed my hand, making it erupt in tingles, and pulled me towards the kitchen.

"Well, ice cream sounds good to me," he explained, swopping me into a stool as he reached for the freezer. His hand emerged with a full pint of Ben & Jerry's chunky monkey attached. He raised his eyebrows as he grabbed for a spoon and grabbed two instead of waiting for a response.

"I didn't take you for a banana person," I said through a mouthful of chocolate chunks, banana ice cream, and pecans.

"Only ice cream, really," he mused, drawing the upside down spoon from his mouth gradually.

It was weird how even the most insignificant of moments, like that one, stuck with me. There was nothing grand or ornamental about them…just a big chocolate wolf that made my heart swell and race whenever he was around.

I lay in bed at night, unable to erase his face from behind my eyelids. I cuddled into my comforters and ached for the smell of pine and sea breeze. In the morning I would rush through my routine, skidding to the front door at 7:43 AM exactly. Quil had taken to picking me up for school every day since that weekend, insisting that the bus was unnecessary. He was always waiting, not bothering to knock on the door.

Sometimes he had dark circles beneath his eyes and a dimmed expression. He would say on those days that Sam had given him rounds overnight. It dragged my heart down to see him so tired but he would always grin and say that my morning greetings were enough to get him through the fatigue.

This one morning started as every other did, I jumped from bed at seven and made myself cereal, accidentally bumping into a hormonal Chance.

"Claire, could you watch it?!" She sneered, smacking my arm.

"Wow, Chance," I actually remember wincing as this passed through my lips, immediately regretting my next few words, "buy some Midol for the sake of us all."

My sister unfortunately had a tendency to overreact during that certain time of month.

And oh was this a good one!

Chance reached for the closest sharp object, which happened to be the handful of spoons that she had been putting away from the dishwasher, and chucking them my way. I gasped and flew up onto the counter, dodging all but one. Which ended up hitting me square in the center of the forehead. The rest clattered loudly to the tile floors, shimmying against the hard surface so that their metallic rings continued for a few seconds.

I pushed the palm of my head against the future bruise and mumbled curse words under my breath.

"You are a CRAZY PERSON!" I screamed down the hall as she stormed back towards her bedroom. I hoped that she would take my advice but somehow doubted that the PMS would be any less severe when she chose to reemerge.

After that exciting escapade I had fewer minutes to get ready and ended up hopping into the truck with less than five minutes before school.

I met a warm smile with one of my own and felt the irritation from my sisterly brawl fall away.

"Excited about school?" He asked, switching the radio station dial.

"You betcha," I laid the sarcasm on way thick; I couldn't think of a place that I wouldn't have chosen over school. And that included back in the kitchen with Chance.

"C'mon sour puss look at the bright side."

"Hm? Let's see…seven hours locked in rooms with old people spitting words like spectrophotometer, romanticism, Monterrey, and law of cosines at you. What bright side could I possibly be missing?"

He laughed aloud, tilting his head back and allowing his teeth to gleam in the light from the window.

"Did Chance kick you on your way out or something?" He mused. I chuckled lightly and punched him in the arm.

"No, she just threw a spoon at my face, no big," I said, rubbing the sore spot on my head. His eyes grew wide and he reached over, pushing my bangs out of the way to see the spot.

"Claire!"

"What?" I murmured, suddenly regretting having told him.

"Why the hell would Chance throw a metal object at your skull?"

"Sisterly love."

"You're not being funny."

"Okay, okay," I retreated, pulling away from his probing hand, "she was just in a bad mood this morning and I made a rude comment about it and she…expressed herself in an atypical manner."

He raised his eyebrows in the most theatrically unbelieving expression I could imagine.

"You can't be serious."

"It's not that big of a deal," I promised. He didn't seem to agree though.

"Does your sister suffer from toxic anger syndrome or something?"

"No, Quil. She suffers from PMS."

I said this so matter-of-factly that I actually watched the blush bloom beneath his dark skin, his eyes darting away from mine. It was amusing how macho the wolves were until you brought up anything that had to do with womanly processes.

"Well…don't let her do that-erm- anymore," he stuttered, beyond embarrassed. I laughed and shook my head, groaning inwardly as I saw the school's walls approaching.

"I don't really have to go to school, right?"

"Get out, Claire," Quil joked, laughing underneath his words. I stuck my bottom lip out in an exaggerated pout and he gently pushed me towards the door, shaking his own head and rolling his eyes.

The classes passed dreadfully slowly, each teacher more boring than the last. Camille and I had Physics together before lunch. I sighed in relief once I saw her, blowing a large bubble with her gum, in our usual seats. I threw myself into the chair and fell onto the desk.

"How was Quil this morning?" Cam asked sweetly, popping the bubble with her teeth.

"Mad," I laughed.

"Why?"

"Chance threw a spoon, wait sorry, multiple spoons at me this morning."

"Ha, I love your sister," Cam commented, chuckling. I looked over to her and attempted a glare. "What?" Cam demanded, still laughing.

"She bruised my forehead with a metal utensil!"

"Oh come one Claire. That is the funniest situation to imagine, admit it."

I only groaned and turned back to the front of the room where the teacher had taken his place. My mind started to wander as he began listing the formulas to determine the amount of work performed by simple machines when given the weight of the load and direction of spin. I wondered uselessly what Quil was doing right then.

The class scattered as the bell rang, eager to get to lunch. Cam and I stumbled out into the crowded hall together but somehow along the way she had drifted to a different part of the passageway. I set my backpack down at the corner of my next classroom and began walking towards the lunchroom when I saw Casey coming towards me, and fast.

I tried to duck around the next corner but felt a firm grasp around my bicep. He immediately released me as I spun around.

"Claire, please, can we talk?" His eyes glistened pleadingly, his hands tucked mercilessly against his sides.

"I- well…it's not that good of a—"

"Just talk, I swear," he pledged, pointing towards a bench beneath some trees by the parking lot. I shrugged and followed him there, my hands shaking the whole way.

We sat down as far away from each other as possible.

"I—erm…well I wanted to apologize, Claire," he whispered, running a hand through his hair. I nodded, looking down to the knots my fingers were making with one another. "I don't have any excuse for what I did, I'm just so sorry."

We sat there for a few uncomfortable seconds, the silence breathing down the back of our necks. I shifted in my seat and glanced sideways to Casey. He was staring at me, his eyes pained. I looked him in the eye and noticed a small scar on the left side of his nose.

"I've just tried to forget about it, Casey," I said softly, running my fingers along the lines of the wood beneath me, "honestly."

"I just…liked you so much," he maintained quietly, resting an elbow on his knee, "I just thought that I could make you like me back…you had to like me back. I kept saying that to myself, desperate to keep you."

I bit my lip, restraining the tears that wanted to come. I loved Quil. But that didn't keep me from feeling awful about what had happened with Casey. I hadn't exactly broken it off completely with him before my heart blabbered out everything about Quil. I felt something tickle my fingers and looked down to see Casey's hand on mine, gently stroking the back of my palm.

He smiled when I didn't immediately recoil and squeezed my fingers between his.

"I suggest you get as far away from her as you can in the next three seconds unless you want a second scar on your face," an angry snarl came from in front of us. Quil stood rigidly less than two feet from me. His eyes were fiery as he glowered at Casey.

Casey jumped up and looked apologetically back at me, turning and then walking in the direction of the cafeteria.

"Quil!" I seethed.

"Claire!" He returned.

"He was apologizing!"

"Last time he tried to talk you into something I remember him pinning you to a wall!" His face was flushed red. I sighed deflated and glanced to my feet. The laces were sprawled out over the sidewalk, untidy and wet. Quil flopped onto the bench beside me. I pressed my nose against his shoulder and breathed deeply, allowing the smell to calm my nerves. "I was here because you left your math binder on the floor of my car."

He pulled the orange folder from underneath his arm and tucked it into my lap.

"Thanks," I muttered. He stood and ruffled my hair. He stared for a long time at the direction that Casey had run off in. I shivered a little bit as some of the rain blew under the branches of the tree. Quil uncharacteristically was wearing a hoodie and tugged it off, tossing it into my chest.

"Keep that," he stated, his eyes still glued to Casey's path of retreat, "please keep out of harm's way and I'll pick you up at three," he said and then turned back to the parking lot, jogging through the sheet of constant rain to his parked truck.

I stuffed my arms into the sweatshirt and stuck my head through the hood. It was deliciously warm and smelled like the wet bark of spring shoots. I wound into its embrace and snuggled into its softness, at least I'd have something to get me through the day.

The bell rang electronically, pulling me forcefully from my reverie. I sprang up and trotted to geometry, my forgotten binder under my arm.


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