Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight.
AN: This chapter was not easy to write. I swear I had a brain fart the entire day because I had to look up over a dozen words in the dictionary and half the time I had spelled them right to begin with! But I digress...
Embry had never thought about the future before Bella. He knew what he wanted but he had never thought that he could achieve it. She had taught him that anything was possible and that you shouldn't let anything stand in the way of what you wanted. She could say the same thing about him since she had never felt like she belonged before he imprinted on her. She had been indecisive and unsure of herself and had been afraid to go after what she wanted.
Things had changed gradually for them and before Bella knew it she was seeing things differently. She had a purpose. She needed Embry just as much as he needed her. They were each other support system. She had never thought that she would be the kind of girl who thought that she needed a boyfriend to survive. It wasn't like that at all, Embry filled a piece of her that had always been missing and she was his piece.
If she had tried to explain this to her mom or friends from school they would never understand. How could they? Bella had a hard time understanding it sometimes. Embry had taken a little longer to accept it, not because Bella had been tied to Jacob; even if for a short while, but because no one other than his mom had ever cared enough to break through his walls and make him face his demons head on before her.
When Bella had first come into his life he saw a lot of himself in her. They had both been hurt and abandoned by someone. Granted, Embry didn't know who to focus his anger on at the time but he still hurt. She was the only person who understood him.
Why not make things permanent? What was stopping them? Yes, they were young; but when you planned on spending the rest of your life with someone what did that matter? He didn't need to waste his time looking for someone better. Bella was everything that he wanted and needed. He needed to get an outsider's opinion before he acted on things and did something irrational.
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Jacob was growing listless. Quil had been accepted to the University of Vancouver at the beginning of the summer after being wait listed for five months. Jacob hadn't even known that he had applied. It was all Quil could talk about lately; at least he would have Allison close by. Jacob was being left behind while all of his friends grew farther away.
No one had known that Quil wanted to be a lawyer. He wouldn't be going to an Ivy League school but he would still be getting the education he would need. Jacob wasn't used to being alone, he thrived off the energy of his friends. What would happen when he was left to his own devices?
Billy was worried about Jacob. He was seeing his son fall apart little by little and it was time to step in. If something didn't change soon he knew that the fallout wouldn't be pretty. Jacob could be just as stubborn and hard headed as he was and there would be only one person who would be able to get through to Jacob. It was time to call in reinforcements.
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Bella knew without a doubt that something had changed in Embry. He was keeping something from her, but she couldn't figure out what. Had he been in touch with his dad? Was there bad news from home? Not knowing was driving her insane. It was almost like he was detached at times. She had tried everything she could think of to get it out of him which made him act even more secretive.
Then out of the blue everything had gone back to normal that morning. She was just glad to be off the emotional roller coaster that she didn't care about his odd behavior. He had woken her with breakfast in bed as a peace offering and she had forgiven him without thinking twice. She wanted to move forward, not rehash the past. They only had a week and a half of alone time and she planned to make the most of it.
He sat on the edge of the bed while she ate. She had pulled the sheet up to cover her naked body, giving him only a glance of her collar-bone leading down to her barely covered breasts. She placed her empty plate on the bedside table along with her now cold unfinished tea. She drew her knees to her chest with a sigh before resting her head on them. Her hair fell over her shoulder giving him view of the expanse of her back.
He resisted the urge to run his fingers along the curve of her spine as she gave him a hooded stare. Was she teasing him on purpose? She smiled wryly at him before reaching for his hand.
"What do you want to do today?" she questioned.
Yesterday they had done everything that she wanted. They had taken a boat tour of New York harbor and walked across the Brooklyn Bridge to grab lunch before taking a walking tour of Brooklyn had finished off the day with a tour NBC Studios and dinner at a cheap Chinese place in the warehouse district. It had been a busy day and he knew that she wasn't up for another day like that. It only took him a few seconds to come up with a plan for the day.
"We could go for a walk in Central Park and then go see the Empire State building."
"That sounds really nice," she said with a smile.
He had gone for a run in the park that morning and knew that she would love it. There was so much to see and do that they would probably spend a good part of the day there. He had been looking forward to visiting New York since they left Washington. He could see them making a life here after college the city was loud and the people were generally friendly. He knew she'd say the same thing.
They left the hotel half an later and Embry led the way to the park on foot since it was only a few blocks away. At the entrance Bella took in the expanse of the park. It was never ending and that was just the entrance. She could see herself getting lost if she were by herself. There was a map of the park a few yards away from where they stood and she moved away from Embry to look at it.
"What are you doing?"
"Don't you want to decide what we should do?"
"I already have," he said with a shrug.
"You came her earlier, didn't you?" she asked with a teasing look.
"Yep, come on," he said draping an arm over her shoulders.
She leaned into him, glad that he was out of his funk. She had been worried that they would end up arguing. They'd had differences of opinion every so often but they'd only fought once, they'd been really lucky.
They walked past the wishing fountain and walked under the arch of trees before stopping at one of the largest open spaces Bella had ever seen. There were so many people engaging in different activities that her head spun as she took it all in. A dog ran past them sans leash and a guy whizzed past in pursuit. A large group of what looked like college co-eds played in the field below them but their laughter carried all the way to Bella and Embry.
A woman, pushing a double stroller came towards them showing no signs of going around them. Embry pulled Bella out of the way and the woman tossed them a dirty look as she jogged by.
"I guess we were in the jogging lane," Bella observed.
"Don't worry about her," he said dismissively.
"I know your itching to join that extreme Frisbee game."
"But you don't want to," he stated.
"I can be a cheerleader. Go, have fun," she said shoving him gently.
Embry took off at a jog down the hill to the field. Bella found the stairs leading down since she wasn't up to making a fool out of herself by falling down the steep hill. Embry was talking to a couple of guys about joining the game when Bella made it to the group. No one had a problem with Embry playing and Bella sat with a small group who were watching the game.
Playing sports had always come easily to Embry. He wasn't a klutz like Quil and he had been able to outrun Jacob when they were in school. He hadn't played sports in school because his mom couldn't afford it.
Bella had never seen Embry's competitive nature in full force. He was like a machine and most of the players were afraid of him which his team used to their advantage. After an hour her throat was raw from cheering as the game wound down. Embry's team had nearly run the other team into the ground.
A large part of the group left and Embry fell to the ground next to Bella. He lay on his beck, chest heaving and sweat running down his face to pool at the collar of his shirt. The under arms of his shirt were stained with sweat but he didn't care. He had loved every minute of the game. He had a 'play hard or go home' attitude towards sports.
Bella had bought him a Gaterade while he was playing and he opened it, taking a long pull.
"I got a work out and all I did was watch you," she said with a laugh.
"That was the most intense game I've ever played."
"Do you want to chill here for a while? I don't mind."
He nodded before closing his eyes. His heart rate had returned to normal and he was no longer sweating but it would be at least another twenty minutes before his body caught up with him. He placed his head in Bella's lap and she placed a hand on his arm. He decided to take a quick nap before going anywhere else.
Bella let Embry sleep for half an hour before they headed down to the lake. He had never been paddle boating and it was something that he wanted to try. Bella was willing to try it with him because she was open to trying new things.
Embry kept a pace that she was able to match easily. They both wanted to take their time and take in the part of the park they were now in. It was more for parents with small children and the elderly so it was more quiet than the lawn area.
Ducks gathered at the waters edge where kids threw bread and popcorn on the ground for them to devour. Bella bought a small box of popcorn to feed to a family of squirrels and Embry watched as they descended on her once she ran out. A few of the squirrels chased her and she shrieked in terror. He laughed, not able to hold it in and she smacked him, making a sound of disgust.
"Come on, it was funny," he said once he gained control of himself.
"Whatever," she grumbled.
He pulled her down to sit on the bench with him and wrapped an arm around her waist. She kept her distance until he pulled her to him. He buried his face in her neck, nuzzling her until she laughed in submission.
"Still mad at me?" he whispered in her ear.
"No," she answered quietly.
She turned her head to kiss his temple before pulling him up. They still had more than a mile of the park to see before heading back. It was a hot, sunny day so they were thankful that the last part of their walk was under the shade of trees. It was a low key day compared to the day before. Bella wanted to cram in as much as they could before they left in the morning and Embry would go out of his way to give her what she wanted.
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On a rare day that both Julian and Leah had free he woke her up before dawn. She had threatened, begged, pleaded and groveled for another hour of sleep before relenting. He had something up his sleeve that he wasn't letting her in on. She slept in the car and when he woke her forty-five minutes later she was surprised to see a thick, dense forest spread out in front of them and mountains as far as she could see behind them.
"What are we doing?" she questioned.
"Have you ever been rock climbing?"
"No," she said with caution.
"That's not a problem. I'm sure you'll pick it up pretty fast," he said opening the trunk.
He shouldered a backpack before slamming the trunk shut. She followed him wordlessly. She wasn't scared but she did have reservations about what they were about to do. She had been terrified of heights before she had changed and she hadn't tested out her new found fearlessness. What if she froze a hundred feet in the air? She sighed, steeling her courage. If this was something that he enjoyed that she would try it once; if she didn't like it than she'd let him know.
They followed the trial that led to the base of one of the smaller mountains. Leah looked up the steep incline with trepidation. Julian open the bag and pulled out everything they would need. He handed her a pair of fingerless gloves and she slipped them on silently.
"It's okay to be nervous, I was nervous my first time too."
"How often do you do this?"
"I try to go once a year."
He secured a harness around her and clipped a rope to it before telling her to test its pull. She pull on it a few times and it hardly had any give to it. She nodded to let him know that it was fine then took the bottle of talcum powder he offered her and shook some of it into her hands.
"I'll go up first so you can watch what I do," he said grabbing hold of the rock.
She shielded her eyes from the sun as she watched him scale the mountain with ease. It was all about planting your feet then pulling your upper body up once you found a place for your feet. Julian's upper body strength surprised her. She never knew that he had it in him. She held the rope tightly from the ground, making sure to not let it go slack once he reached the halfway point.
"You think you've got the hang of it?" he called.
"Are these picks safe?"
"As long as you distribute your weight evenly you won't have anything to worry about."
She blew out a puff of air before reaching up with her pick and planted it forcefully into the rocks like he had shown her. She planted her feet on a rock jutting out five feet up before pulling herself up. She jerked the pick from the rock and flung herself upwards with a grunt. The pick sunk into the rock and she hoisted herself up, looking for a place for her feet.
"You're a natural," Julian called from the top.
Leah grinned up at him, this wasn't as bad as she thought. She continued up the incline and was standing next to him ten minutes later.
"Go ahead and look down. You just climbed your first mountain," he said proudly.
The ground was at least twenty stories below her and she stared at it with wide eyes. She felt a sense of accomplishment.
"Getting down is a little harder so we'll go down together."
She nodded in agreement, in awe that they were standing on top of a mountain that they had just climbed. She would never doubt herself again. She could do anything as long as Julian was with her.