Ch 21

The next morning Kerrie woke up and looked at her hand with a frown. She was hoping everything was just a bad dream. After some struggle she put on her running clothes but was shocked to see Katie sitting on the couch.

"Nope, no running. You're on some heavy pain meds and Sue said that you could get hurt."

"But I feel a lot better and I need to clear my head." Katie slowly stood and crossed her arms over her chest. "Katie-"

"Kerrie, your hand is broken."

"Fine, I'm going to go take a bath." Kerrie mumbled.

"Ok!" Katie said with a small smile because of her victory. When Kerrie finished in the bathroom she attempted to blow dry her hair and then she heard knock on the door.

"Do you need some help?"

It was Kim's voice and Kerrie slowly opened the door.

"Hi Kim, I just wanted to put it up in a ponytail."

"Sure." Kim took her brush and elastic and quickly put her hair in a ponytail. "Come on, we're all here. Emily and Rachel are making breakfast."

Kerrie smiled.

"Thanks."

"That's what friends are for. How are you feeling?"

"Better than yesterday."

Kerrie and Kim walked into the kitchen to see Katie at the table sipping juice while Emily and Rachel finished breakfast.

"Sit." Emily said as Kerrie smiled.

"Thank you, this is nice."

"Katie told us you tried to go for a run."

"I wish." Kerrie said pouring herself some coffee.

"Paul and Sam will be dropping the kids off in a bit. You can run around the beach with them." Rachel said as Kerrie laughed. Just as Emily and Rachel were sitting down to eat Claire and Sam Jr came through the front door followed by Paul and Sarah in his arms.

"Here they are, we're off to work." Paul said kissing Rachel. "How yea feeling?" Paul asked as Kerrie shrugged.

"Better, no need to take the pain meds yet."

"That was pretty kick ass."

"Paul!" Emily scolded.

"Sorry, it was pretty awesome though. I never saw a normal girl beat on someone like that. You've earned my respect." He said with a grin before leaving the house.

"What? You're not going to take the pain medication." Katie said with a frown.

"No need, I'm not taking anything that the doctor prescribed. If I need something I'll take some Motrin."

Katie huffed and the girls went back to their breakfast.

"Are you sure you're ok?" Emily asked.

"Yes, I'm ok. My hand is a bit sore but nothing I can't handle."

The girls finished breakfast and then moved to the living room to watch some TV. Around 11 Emily started making sandwiches to bring to the shop.

"I can bring them." Kim said as Kerrie stood up.

"Is Embry working?"

Emily nodded with a small smile.

"Mind if I go with you? I want to talk to Embry."

Katie's face lit up.

"This is good-"

"Don't get too happy. I just want some questions answered and he needs to see my side of things."

Katie's smile faded.

"You should eat before you go." Emily said putting a sandwich on the plate and putting it in Kerrie's hand. After eating Kim drove to the garage and Kerrie was quiet.

"Just let things work themselves out. I was in love with Jared before be imprinted on me so I saw nothing wrong with it. Rachel was pissed since she wanted to leave La Push but she got over that quickly. We all love you already so just think about it."

Kerrie nodded. Kim was right, she did feel at home but she was still thinking about her life in Boston. When they arrived at the garage Kim parked the car and hopped out. Kerrie took a deep breath and as she was about to open her door Embry appeared and opened it for her.

"Thanks." She said as he stepped back.

"Katie called and said you were on your way. I-I'm sorry." He said quickly.

"Actually I think we should talk. I have a few questions and I think you need to understand a few things."

"Jake is going to cover things for me. If it's ok with you maybe we could talk at my house. We'd have more privacy." He said glaring at Paul.

"That's fine." Kerrie said softly.

"I can drive or it's a short walk."

"A walk would be nice. Katie's keeping me cooped up."

Embry and Kerrie walked slowly to his house which was about a ten minute walk.

"How are you feeling?"

"Better than yesterday. The pain is manageable so no need for the crazy pain meds."

"Everyone was very worried about you. Billy, Sue, and Old Quil have taken care of everything. Kathy won't be an issue."

"I shouldn't have beaten her. I always have self control but something in me snapped. It was like when Katie and I were kids and the neighborhood boys were teasing her and I lost it. I'm sure I made things difficult for you and her-"

"She means nothing to me. She never did and never will." Embry all but whispered.

"You said that but she seems to think-"

"Kerrie, I imprinted on you. That means you're my life. I never felt anything for Kathy and now that I found you I never will even look at her again."

They reached Embry's house and Kerrie was surprised it was one of the larger houses and recently built.

"Come on in. If we're going to talk I want you to be comfortable."

Kerrie looked at the house.

"It's nice." She said with a small smile.

"Thanks, the guys helped me build it. It took longer then planed but it's great."

Embry opened the door and gave Kerrie a quick tour. The house was very clean and orderly much like her condo back in Boston.

"I-I don't even know where to start." Kerrie said as she took a seat on the couch.

"Let me just say this one more time. I don't want to scare you but anything you need I am here. As much as this might be strange for you but I will be whatever you need me to be."

"Before we even get there you need to know somethings about me. Sure you know about my dreams or visions and you saw my idiot ex that showed up but there's more." Embry could tell she was nervous as she took a deep breath.

"You also saw how terrible things are with my mother, it's been that bad most of my life. I hid it well and kept Katie out of it. I can't remember when it started but I can say it got worse when my grandmother got sick. I saw her die, I was 8 years old and I asked why was nana going to die. Helen slapped me hard across the face told me I was a smart ass. Luckily my grandfather was home and came to my rescue. She told him what happened and he was the one to tell me that nana was sick and she was loosing her memory because of Alzheimer's. Then he asked me if she was peaceful. When I said yes that she was asleep he broke down in tears and told me I had a real gift while Helen continued to yell and rant about how I was crazy and why was he listening to me."

Embry sat silent watching his imprint try and be strong. Kerrie's lip began to quiver as she finished talking about her mother.

"It's just been most of my life trying to defend myself against the woman who is supposed to be my mother. It was exhausting and I'm glad it's over. I'm going to tell Katie to let her go to the wedding, it's only fair for Katie to have her there since it is her big day. Since Helen means nothing to me I can cope with looking at her for a few more days."

"Kerrie, I-"

"Please don't stop me, I need to explain one more thing and if I stop I'll never get it out."

Embry nodded and Kerrie continued.

"Rob…when I met him online he seemed like a savior. He had a crappy childhood and could relate to my issues with Helen and at the time it seemed we had a lot in common. Things went well for 2 years, we were hardly apart and everyone was used to only seeing us together. I was waiting for him to ask to marry me and he thought I was pressuring him so we started to fight. He started giving me trouble about my teaching license and making fun of me when I had a hard time passing one of the teachers tests. As much as Rob hated his father he was becoming him and when I said it he couldn't see why. Rob started to side with my mother and around six months into our fighting things got even more tense. I thought I was pregnant and when I mentioned it to Rob he lost it. He accused me of trying to trap him…luckily I wasn't but things between us were seriously broken. He did the cowardly thing and sent me an e-mail. When I called him we yelled at each other and that was it. I hadn't seen or heard from him in 2 years. I turned in on myself and I first started to eat a lot and gained some weight then I went the opposite way, the only time I was happy was at work. After a year I pulled myself together and got my social life back and got healthy. I still wasn't ready to date but a co-worker and I started a casual thing. James was a special education gym teacher and even though we weren't dating it was nice having someone around. Things ended a few months back when he started talking up a pregnant woman who worked at the pool where he took the kids swimming."

Kerrie wiped at her cheeks.

"I had no right to judge what went on with you and Kathy but I was letting myself go with you and I can't do it. I can't let myself get hurt again. Rob and my mother hurt me too much and I don't think I can let myself get hurt like that again."