Claire's POV

I don't remember falling asleep. When I wake up, the first thing I notice is Quil, laying beside me. My shoes have been removed and I'm cozy under the covers. Quil is as close to me as he can get with out touching me, fully dressed and on top of the blankets. Such a gentleman.

Keeping as quite as possible I slip from under the covers and tip toe from his room. Not a minute later, there's a knock on the front door.

"Your not suppose to be here." Well good morning to you to, Uncle Sam. "Where's Quil?" My uncle brushes past me and into Quil's home without an invite.

"Sleeping," I said, closing the door back. "And I'd like to keep it that way."

Sam turned to me, brows raised. "Really now?" I nodded. "And just why is he sleeping? If your here, you should both be wide awake."

I resisted rolling my eyes. "Not really your business, now is it, Sam?"

"Your my niece, so yes, it is my business." Sam started for Quil's room on that note. I had to sprint, but I managed to make it to the door before him. I guarded the closed door with the sleeping Quil behind it, like my life's savings were behind the door. "Move," Sam ordered with a sigh.

"Like I said, I want him to sleep."

"Either you move yourself, or I move you. Which shall it be?" I stood my ground.

"What do you want with him? Can't it wait until he's awake?"

"What I need to discuss with Quil, isn't your concern."

"Much like who's awake and who's asleep isn't your concern?" I couldn't help but smile smugly, he'd walked right into that one. And from the annoyed look that graced his features, he realized it too.

"Alright, enough games," Sam reached out but before he could even place a finger to me, the bedroom door swung open.

"I strongly suggest you keep your hands off her," Quil said in a pretend nice and calm voice. "Unless you want to lose a few limbs." I stepped out of the way, trying hard not to smile at the speed in which Sam moved his hands away. "We can talk outside. Claire, don't eavesdrop either." Shoot.

"Fine, I'll make breakfast instead," I called as the men headed out the door with grim faces. In my deference, breakfast did hold my attention at first. Until shouts started to drift into the kitchen, from outside. At that point, my curious side caused me to peek at Sam and Quil from behind the curtains. Sam was yelling at Quil, while Quil just stood there looking pissed.

"What did you tell her?" I heard Sam question.

"Nothing! It's none of your business anyway. Your not pack leader, Sam. I know that's hard for you to handle sometimes, but it's the truth. Jake is the one who decides what Claire knows." Okay, so they were talking about me. I had a right to listen in, right?

"Jacob's to hung up on Nessie to realize just how close you and Claire are getting. If Jake were ever to hurt Nessie, the Cullen's will be there to help and assist. Claire? She's got no one right now. Lisa's to blind to see what's going on right up under her nose."

"What about Emily, Sam?" Quil spat. "Who's going to be there to help her when you lose it again?" Sam brought his fist around to met Quil's nose so fast, I almost missed the action. I flinched as Quil stumbled backwards. "Looks like I struck a nerve."

"That was an accident!" Sam bellowed, turning red in the face with anger.

"I hear a lot of that lately," Quil muttered, righting his footing and using his t-shirt to wipe the blood from his nose. "I think it's time for you to leave. Before things get out of hand."

Sam shook his head in a helpless manner. "If anyone needs to leave it's Claire."

"Claire can stay as long as she wants."

"No, Quil, she can't. Your going to have to face the truth, man. Claire's just a kid."

"You don't even know her."

"I know she's not safe here."

"I would never do anything to hurt Claire!"

Sam raised his brows in an unbelieving manner. "You already have." Before I could stop my feet, they had already taken me outside. Both men turned their attention to me. "This doesn't concern you, Claire."

"Like hell it doesn't," I muttered, heading right for my Uncle. Despite his having at least two feet on me in height, I stood as tall as I could and stared him right in the eye. "Quil didn't mean to hurt me, just like you didn't mean to hurt Emily. So, stop throwing it in his face. It's not up to you what Quil and I do or how we spend our time. Your not my father, my mother, or even related to me by blood, so it's not up to you. Just accept that fact and deal with it, okay?"

I heard snickering behind me and assumed Quil enjoyed seeing me stand up to Sam. I rather enjoyed it myself. Sam didn't look like a happy camper though. He opened his mouth to say something, but never got around too it before howling filled the air. Sam and Quil exchanged looks and I could tell their argument was going to have to be put on hold for the time being.

"I'll be back as soon as I can," Quil called as he and Sam started off into the Forest.

"Wait," Quil stopped and I walked to where he stood. From the anxious look on his face, I knew not to keep him longer then I needed too. This worked out in my favor in a way. He was in a hurry, so he wouldn't have the chance to argue. "I'm going to see Chris."

Quil made a frustrated sound low in his throat before sighing. "Well, it's not like I can stop you. Be careful, alright? I don't think I could stop myself from killing him if he were to hurt you again." He gave me a quick kiss and ran off to join the others where ever they were.

XxXx

It was late afternoon when I knocked on the Jones' front door. Chris's car was in the drive and I had high hopes he'd be the one to answer. Those hopes were crushed when the face of Carter came into view from behind the opening blue door. At least, I thought it was Carter. His face was sort of unsightly.

"Come to finish what your boyfriend started?" He croaked, his voice sounding as bad as his face looked.

Having no sympathy for the boy before me, I smirked. "Maybe," The frightful look in his eyes was priceless. "I thought you were in police custody."

"Out on bail until the hearing that you so kinda arranged."

"And I can't wait."

"Me neither," Chris stepped out in front of his older brother, not before shooting him a hateful look, mind you. "Here for me?" I nodded and Chris stepped outside. "What's up?" He asked, once the front door was closed.

"I, uh, need to talk to you." We made our way over to the porch swing.

"Okay, shoot." As soon as the word left his mouth, he winced. Bad choice of words.

"I have a dilemma of sorts." I bit my lip, trying to figure how I should say this. Should I even be saying any of this? Should he know I had feelings for him at all? "You see, I've developed feelings for you, but I'm not sure how - or even if - I should act upon them because I'm in love with Quil." I said this as fast as I could, simply because if I paused at all I would have never continued.

Chris stared at me for a moment before bursting out into laughter. Yeah, this was a huge mistake. I bolted off the swing, desperate to leave now. I felt like such an idiot.

"No, no, don't leave," Chris said, grabbing my hand. A second later, he was sober and met my eyes with an apologetic gaze. "I shouldn't have laughed, I'm sorry."

I sighed heavily through my nose and sank down next to him again. "I don't know what's wrong with me."

"Nothing's wrong with you, Claire."

"There has to be! I've got a perfectly amazing guy hopelessly in love with me and I can't fully return those feelings and I don't know why. From what I can remember I didn't like you as anymore then a friend before the accident. Now I've got all these feelings for you that I can't explain. And Quil probably feels terrible because I've always been in love him and now suddenly your part of my heart too. Don't get me wrong, your great guy too it's just - "

Chris's hand clamped down over my lips, cutting off any other words. "If you don't calm down, your going to give yourself a heart attack. Now, can I say something?" I nodded, feeling embarrassed for rambling like that. Chris removed his hand in a caution manner, as if he expected me to start talking again. He looked rather relived when I stayed silent. "I'm flatter you have feelings for me and I'd be lying if I said I didn't have any for you. But, Claire, from the sounds of it, I'm not the one you want."

"But if I'm with Quil and have feelings for you, I feel like I'm betraying him or something," I admitted, miserably. This was all starting to sound like something out of a bad romance novel. Young heroin caught between two guys: one a human and one a supernatural being.

Chris seemed to think for a moment then he said, "But you have to listen to your heart. Don't think about what your memories are telling you. Listen to what your heart is really telling you here." Listen to my heart? When had we been thrown into Pocahontas?

"That's the best advice you can give me?" I asked, disbelieving.

Chris laughed again. "I didn't realize you'd come here for advice, Claire." I didn't... I don't think. "Why did you come here anyways? Other than to proclaim your likeness for me and love for Quil?"

"You know that's a very good question." I thought about this for a minute. "I suppose I just wanted to see how it panned out."

"Maybe your scared," He suggested suddenly. "Scared of giving your heart over to Quil completely."

"But... why would I be scared?"

Chris shrugged. "I don't know. You tell me."

I rolled my eyes. "Your the one who suggested it."

"Right. But you didn't deny it." He had a point.

XxXx

I spent an hour at Chris's before coming home. Mom was at work, but would be coming home soon. The fact that she hadn't sent the police out looking for me, told she'd talked to Quil and knew where I had spent last night. I headed right for the shower, hoping that would help me relax.

As I stood basking in the warm water, my mind seemed to clear. Clear of my conflicting feelings and anything else negative. By the time I got out, I felt such weightlessness. I had no idea the power a hot shower could behold. Unfortunately, that weightlessness didn't last long.

I was putting on my clothes when the images slammed into me. A short cry of pain shot from my mouth, as I placed my hands to my head. My head felt as if it had been set on fire and amongst the fire was the man I loved.

Over sized wolves fighting hideously pale creatures. Vampires being torn apart and placed into a pile. What started off as three Vampires, soon turned into one. It didn't stand a chance. As if in an act of desperation, the Vampire ran. Though there were four wolves present, only one went after it; the one I knew all to well to be Quil.

Quil was so focused on just that one Vampire, he didn't notice another one step out from the shadows of the forest. Without warning, the second Vampire leaped on Quil. The next few seconds moved to fast for human eyes to catch and the next I knew, Quil was transfiguring back to a human. An unconscious human left alone with two Vampires.

Just when I thought it couldn't get any worse, back up came to Quil's assistance. It didn't take long for the rust colored wolf and the sandy one to dispose of the two Vampires. Quil should be fine now, with the immediate threats gone. But yet, as the seconds slipped by and the the wolves became human and put their clothes on, Quil stayed where he was. Still unconscious and unmoving.

Just as fast as the fire and pain in my head had started, it was gone. I opened my eyes to find myself leaning against the bathroom sink, breathing heavily. I didn't pause to wonder if any of what I'd just seen was real, I just started running. My feet barely touched the stairs and I didn't bother closing the front door as I ran out. The forest floor tore my bare feet to a raw, bleeding mess, but I paid little mind. Where the fight had taken place was an unfamiliar place, but I was confident something would lead me there nonetheless.

Nothing else mattered but getting to him.

a.n.: This might be one of two chapters I want to post today. I'm trying to hurry the finishing chapters along. If I'm thinking right, only two or three more chapters will come after this one.

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