Too late, too short, I know. Please enjoy nonetheless as I rush off to work on the next chapter.

-Kiddo

I groaned and pushed myself away from Quil. Every single time it looked like we were getting somewhere, we were interrupted by forces unknown. Life sucked.

"Oh my God, Claire. I know you said that you guys were serious and whatever, but I never figured you were like..." Amy crinkled her nose, causing her pretty face to scrunch up and take on the characteristics of a very ugly pug. "This kind of serious."

"There's a difference? Get over it, Amy." I tried to play it off nonchalantly, but my heart was pounding in my ears and I couldn't seem to get a grip.

"Are you going to tell Mom and Dad? Because they will seriously flip. Wait... Do they already know? Is that why they left you here while we went to England?" She babbled on, unaware of the death glare that Quil was shooting her from where he was leaning. I could only hope he carried through with it.

"No, they don't know." I sighed and buried my face in my hands before looking back up at her. "And they won't."

"Are you telling me I can't tell them?" Se raised her eyebrows in amusement.

"No, but I'm suggesting you don't." I gave her a tiny smile that could go two ways.

She let out a small sigh and rolled her eyes. "What?"

I slid towards her, the tiny smile still plastered on my face. "You shouldn't tell them. I would hate to have to explain to them about the...you know." I blinked innocently up at her, my face blank except for the smile I had practically cemented on my face.

Amy's gaze skittered to Quil and then back at me. "Wait..."

"Pardon?" I gave another overly innocent blink.

"You would..." She dropped her gaze to the floor, her face turning a bright cherry color despite her dark skin. "You wouldn't tell them, would you?"

"Not if you don't." I reached up and tweaked her flaming cheek. "Goodbye now, Amy." I dropped my facade as she turned and skittered out the door, refusing to meet Quil's gaze.

"What the hell was that about?" He pushed his massively dark body away from the counter and came towards me.

I gave him a genuine smile and a small shrug. "I honestly have no fucking clue."

"Language," Quil reprimanded me without thinking about it.

I snorted. "So sorry, Dad."

"Claire," He warned and I smiled and reached towards him for a hug. I was eager to get back to where we were before Amy had interrupted us. I was even ready to forgive him for telling Sam on Jackson.

"Claire," He repeated, his voice strained.

"What? What's wrong?" I finally realized his hands were slack at his sides, not around me like they were supposed to be.

"We shouldn't be doing this."

"No! No, no, no, no, no!" I was throwing a fit, but with good reason. "I just got this you are not taking it away because Amy interrupted us. That's just ridiculous!"

"But she's right. Your parents wouldn't approve of this at all. They would think I'm taking advantage of you." He pulled away from me gently, giving at least a few feet of room between us.

I glanced over his almost seven feet of tanned male covered in a layer of thick muscle and flecked with dirt from his run earlier. He could take advantage of me anytime he wanted.

"I'll be back tonight." Quil started for the door and I felt my heart plummet to my feet. All those months of waiting and I was right back where I started. I was going to be a virgin until I was thirty. I was going to be like Quil.

The wheels in my head stopped turning immediately. Wait, was Quil a virgin?

"Sorry," A voice made me look up suddenly as Quil came back into the kitchen, his eyes soft. "I forgot something important to me."

I opened my mouth to reply, but as soon as I had a witty retort to throw back at him, his warm lips covered mine and I completely forgot what I was going to say.

"See you tonight." He gave me a peck, causing my knees to go weak and watched him walk away. Fantastic.

Embry had picked me up that afternoon and walked me to the house he shared with Quil. After choking down the dinner that Embry made, Quil and I sat in the living room. He was bent over the desk, concentrated on a pile of papers he had spread out there. It was odd, seeing a scholarly Quil, but soon after seeing his disinterest in fooling around I decided I didn't like this side of him and found a book on the shelf above the television to burrowed down into the couch with.

My vow of silence while he worked lasted an entire ten minutes. "I think-" I choked on my words and cleared my throat, trying to draw a deep breath through my lips and into my dry mouth. "I think we should-"

"No." Quil didn't look away from the paper he was scribbling on as he leaned over the desk, giving me a delicious view of his backside.

"What do you mean 'no'? I haven't even finished my sentence!" I scowled and made a rude gesture since I knew he couldn't see me.

"You've got that tone in your voice. The one that you think makes you sound older? And stop making those gestures. I can see your reflection in the picture." Quil still hadn't turned to face me and I was becoming rather put-off.

"You can't be serious," I grumbled and set down the book I had been pretending to read, almost ready to explode from embarrassment. "How do you know that its bad when I use this tone?" I wisely decided not to mention my stupidity about the reflection.

"Because when you talk like that, usually you want to discuss sex or one of the other nonnegotiable aspects of our relationship. I'm not up for it tonight, Claire." He let his voice wane at the end to give me the impression he was tired. Too bad for him I knew what a rotten, rat fink liar he was.

"Maybe I wouldn't use that voice if you wouldn't treat me like I was five instead of sixteen." I stood up and crossed me arms over my chest, thrusting my hip to one side and setting my jaw.

"Maybe if you would act like you're sixteen instead of five, I would." He stopped writing and finally turned to face me, his face void of any emotion.

His words struck a hole in my heart."You never give me a chance! You always have to have complete control of my life." I tried to keep my voice steady, but my knees were shaking. I hoped Quil wouldn't notice.

He shot me an exasperated look. "We still aren't discussing sex." His voice was firm and held no room for argument. Anyone with half a brain would realize a losing race and admit defeat. Unfortunately, I never listened to common sense.

"You can't be serious."

He rubbed his brow slightly before speaking again. "I'll get Embry to drive you home."

"I'm not welcome here?" The words hurt.

"Not tonight, no. Go home, get some sleep. We can talk about this later." Quil's blank face was still carefully constructed as he broke my heart. Again.

"Other guys don't treat me like I'm five." I whispered, knowing he would hear it anyways. I saw the sudden wounded look in his eyes and I knew it was a low blow, but he wasn't exactly playing fair either. "At least Jackson thought I was old enough to..." I trailed off, unable to finish my train of thought. I didn't want Jackson, I just wanted Quil to want me like Jackson wanted me. Well, maybe not exactly, but in the heat of the argument I didn't have time to be selective and cunning.

Quil flew up out of his chair and advanced on me, his eyes flashing. It was the first emotion he had shown all night. "Enough to what? What exactly did he do, Claire?"

"Oh, God! Nothing! I was just saying...None of my friends have boyfriends that are like you." I tried to bite back the flow of words, but the stupidity just kept coming. "Maybe we shouldn't be together right now if thats the way you choose to feel about me." I stared at the floor, blinking furiously at the polished wood.

Suddenly he was pressed against me and I was pressed against the living room wall.

"You will not." His voice was very still and incredibly calm.

"W-will not w-what?" I tempted, happy as a pig in mud now that he was touching me.

"See other guys. I don't think you understand this, and I don't know any other way to get my point across. You are mine." He pressed himself into me possessively and I could feel every single inch of him through our clothes. "No man will ever touch you in this way again." His hands illustrated his words, causing me to shiver involuntarily when they landed on my hips. "The way Jackson touched you... When Jake told me... it took all of them to restrain me. How dare he even look at you..." Quil trailed off, muttering obscenities under his breath in the tribe language.

The meaning of his words hit me like a ton of bricks. "I am not a possession!"

"No, but you are mine." He nuzzled his face into my shoulder, almost having to bend double to do it.

"Quil," I began to protest, but he cut me off.

"Just listen to me, Claire. I want you to stay away from that boy. I don't care if you talk to him first or he talks to you, if I see him within ten feet of you I'll kill him." He inhaled slowly, but didn't move his head.

I shook my head to clear it and slowly slid my arms up over his dark, broad shoulder to lock them behind his neck. "I love you," I whispered, still unsure if I should be furious or elated and decided the latter when Quil groaned into my neck.

"You have no idea, Claire." He told me, finally pulling his head back enough to look me in the eyes.

"I miss being your friend." I admitted.

"I don't want to be your friend," His lips hovered over my forehead before touching down. "I want to be your boyfriend," He kissed both of my closed eyes. "I want to be your husband," He pressed a kiss into my chin, right below my lips. "I want to be with you forever." His lips finally touched mine and it was the sweetest, gentlest kiss he had ever given me.

I basked in the feeling of Quil. I could stay like this for the rest of my life. I didn't need food or oxygen as long as I had him. "This is perfect,"

"Claire," He said suddenly, pulling away enough to look me in the eyes. "Will you do something for me?"

"Anything," I assured him without hesitation. I wanted his lips back on mine and I wanted them there now.

"Anything?"

"Yes,"

"Marry me."