The ride to La Push was shorter the next day; Bella felt more sure of herself and we arrived at Jacob's quickly. The three boys were already waiting outside.

"Hey Quil, hey Embry!" I cried, hopping out of the truck. Quil slung an arm around my shoulders enthusiastically. "Ready for the E-Q tour, shortie? Jacob's not allowed."

"You need to get some IQ." Embry casually told his friend.

"You're just jealous."

"Of what?"

"I don't see you with your arm around a girl."

This was why I liked guys as friends more than girls. They were more easygoing, with no trace of cattiness or true jealousy.

"You're not staying?" Bella asked shakily, looking at me.

"No, I thought I'd go look around La Push with Embry and Quil." I explained gently. "I will be back later though." I assured her. She took a deep breath and nodded.

"Okay."

"Where're we going today?" I asked as Jake led Bella away, chattering.

"Walking around." Embry shrugged non committingly.

"Lead the way then."

La Push was extremely tiny, with not even a mall. It reminded me of my hometown.

"So about those pick up lines you need practice with." I said to Quil, grinning. "Ever hear the library card one?"

"No, tell me." He demanded

I stopped walking, folding my arms across my chest like a tough guy and smirked convincingly. "I've got my library card right here, and I'm checkin' you out."

Embry and Quil howled with laughter, clutching their stomachs. I'd always been a good actress.

"Wait, wait." Quil gasped, wiping tears from his eyes. "What about: Are you from Tennessee, cuz you're the only ten I see."

Embry groaned and I giggled, my lips stretched in a wide smile even as I scoffed.

"Heard that one already Quil, gotta be more creative. How 'bout: Slow down sugar, I'm a diabetic." I plucked one out of my memory.

We continued down the main road, laughing insanely and trading pick up lines back and forth.

The rest of the day was spent at the beach, and Quil's house. We talked about things other than cheesy pick up lines, surprisingly. As always, it was easy to talk to them and I had to constantly remind myself not to slip up.

Quil didn't really care about school but since I was a year ahead of him, I gave him tips that had helped me when I was in grade eleven. Embry was a good student and he told me that he'd like to maybe attend classes somewhere after high school for architecture or mechanic work.

To tease me they took turns speaking in rough Spanish and Quileute, shocked that I couldn't understand even basic terms, that they claimed 'everybody' knew.

"I took French at my old school." I finally admitted. "I lived in Canada, on the east coast."

"Whoa. Long ways away."

"Yeah." It seemed so long ago that I'd lived in Nova Scotia and dreamed of travelling far away with my friends, making stops in places like New York and California before flying to Europe. I knew that I would make a home somewhere and I would always come back to it. I imagined that my home would be in Nova Scotia where I could bring back all my new memories to live with the old ones.

This had to be home now.

We met up with Bella at the end of the day in Jacob's garage again, but she didn't look like she was ready to go yet.

I wandered outside again, away from the noise and the sharp metallic smell of rust and hand tools. Embry followed me and together we looked up at the sky. He fidgeted nervously with the hem of his shirt and I finally asked him what was wrong.

"Quil and I were never planning on going to a movie. I just wanted your number. I just…I really l-like you." He stuttered, looking shy and nervous, a combination I was used to feeling myself.

Embry…liked me? How was that even possible? We hadn't known each other for very long at all. Even setting that aside, he was beautiful, not the ethereal beauty of the Cullens, but a human beauty that was almost as intimidating because it was attainable. Someday he would fit easily under the category of tall, dark and handsome, someone's Prince Charming, and I would always be excruciatingly average. I always had been, and though I was happy with it, what could possibly change?

I stood gaping at my friend, eyes wide and mouth slightly open. My heart was beating faster than ever, my palms clammy and my spine tingly. My thoughts were jumping around from panic at the thought of what a big change this was in the storyline, to a strong sense of flattery and joy, to a kind of denial that this could ever happen.

Slowly, I closed my mouth, attempting to compose my face into a natural-looking expression. I touched Embry's arm lightly, shyly, shocked to feel the high temperature. It wouldn't be long now until he joined Sam.

"I like you too." I finally said. It was true. Sometimes you couldn't help how long it will take for attraction to set in and this was one of those times. I remembered Esme's advice to me. Sometimes you just had to throw yourself into something and hope for the best. I wasn't the kind of person to do that. I was more likely to spend ten minutes deciding what brand of shampoo I wanted to buy. Something was telling me to throw all caution to the wind now. I decided to be honest and yet keep the caution that was so essential.

"I would like to get to know you better." I said carefully. "I don't know if I'm ready for a relationship though."

"Okay."

I stretched on my toes and kissed him on the cheek.

He smiled, the shy boy once again as we went inside. His slipped his large hand over mine companionably as we walked past Bella, Quil and Jacob, who all gaped. Quil smirked and whispered something to Jacob and Bella rolled her eyes. It felt weird to have something this different and unexpected happen to me. Embry's hand was nice and warm against my chilled skin as we went to the back of the garage to sit against the wall. I didn't pull away.

Quil joined us two minutes later, and we waited together, talking and laughing until Bella finally realized what time it was. I didn't mind leaving late. It was fun sitting on the garage floor, listening to Jacob and Quil chattering, feeling Embry's unnatural heat as his arm pressed against mine, laughing at my friends' jokes, and watching as Bella smiled, sitting in the passenger seat of the Rabbit. It was nice. It felt normal, just five friends hanging out. At least, it was normal, until I realized that I was the supernatural one, and yet this time next year, I would be the only one close to human left out of the five. The boys would be experienced werewolves by that time; Bella would be a vampire mother, married to her vampire husband, a Cullen at last. This world was not one of stasis, change was constant and varied. The question was: did the myths and magic take away from what was potentially true and pure, like hanging out with your friends on a Sunday night, or did it not matter at all, as if as long you could spend time with loved ones, being human or werewolf or vampire didn't take away or contribute? Did the myths really matter? If there was no magic, no werewolves and vampires, Bella would never know what she was missing. She would be happy with Jacob, perhaps blushing as his eyes lingered just a bit too long on her face. In a year from now in a world without magic, Jacob and Bella would most definitely be dating, happy and in love, human love. Would everyone still be friends, or was the magic what kept them together, showing who pulled us through hard times? I could see several flaws to a world with no magic.

The Cullens would have all died long ago, and no one would know the brilliance that was Carlisle, or Esme's good heart, or Edward's deeply caring nature towards everyone he loved. The second flaw was that everyone involved with magic now, though they wouldn't suffer at the hands of it, would never discover the great things either. The Quileute boys would never turn into wolves and never imprint. Kim would continue to be ignored by Jared and maybe she'd never feel special or as much love as Jared was able to give her.

The third and possibly most obvious flaw in my thinking was that if there was no magic, I would not be here. I would be at home in my world, never knowing what went on outside of my little universe.

These thoughts whirled around in my head and when I finally surfaced, Embry's coffee brown eyes looked at me questioningly. I smiled feebly, a headache forming behind my eyes. His hand was still in mine, his skin too hot, the beginning of his magic already appearing.

Would he think of me when he was part of the pack, before he knew that I was in on everything? Maybe he would think about what could've been, or maybe he would be too overwhelmed by the cataclysmic change in his life. A thought struck me so suddenly I was breathless for a few seconds. What if, when he learned the Cullens' secret, he hated me? What if he was disgusted that I'd accepted them for who they were? I would not be able to stand seeing him or Quil look at me with loathing. I had spent the afternoon seeing them smile and those memories could not be erased. I didn't want them to be erased, but, judging from the heat of his skin, soon, very soon Embry Call would be the next Quileute to join Sam Uley's "cult".

And "we" would never be.