Unsuspecting

Chapter Thirty-Seven

Alex's POV

I walked in Doug's house with him after school. I had just endured another painful day of trying to not give in to Embry. I didn't sit with him in lessons, or lunch, I didn't speak to him much either. He just followed me around, staring.

I told him I needed space and I still wasn't sure whether I was ever going to take him back, because he hurt me so bad. He just told me that he couldn't let me go.

I flopped down on Doug's bed and he laughed and laid next to me. "Rough day?" He asked sarcastically, I laughed and rolled my eyes.

"Thanks for being there for me, Doug." I said and turned to look at him. He smiled as he put his arm around me, pulling me closer.

"No prob'." He said and I smiled up at him.

"It means a lot." He just stared me in the eyes, not saying anything and my smile lessoned. "Doug?" I whispered.

He brought hand up and brushed a stand of hair out of my face and then let his hand linger on my cheek. "Doug?" I repeated. He leaned in slowly as his eyes flickered shut.

I just laid there in shock, my eyes wide until he pressed his lips to mine.

It just felt so… wrong.

I pushed him off me and sprang up. "What the hell, Doug?" I screamed, hoping he'd just start laughing and say it was a joke.

He groaned and rubbed his forehead. "Joke, yeah?" I asked. He sighed and looked up at me.

"You know it wasn't, Lex." He said quietly.

"Yes it was." I said, angrily. "Fuck you, Doug! I was being nice, and you go around and pull shit like this." I shouted and tried to exit his room.

He let out an aggravated breath, and then caught my hand, spinning me around and then he pined me up against his wall.

"It's not a fucking joke, Alex." He said as he pushed his body against mine. I just shook my head stubbornly. "Oh- don't tell me you haven't noticed."

I looked up at him in absolute confusion. "What are you talking about?"

He rolled his eyes. "Oh come on, Lex. I want you, bad." He whispered into my ear, before trailing kisses down my neck.

"No you don't, Doug." I said and he groaned and pushed in to me harder.

"I do. And I know you like me too, you came to me." He said as he started kissing back up my neck and on the spot that usually had me crazy when Embry did it. But with Doug- nothing.

Doug was beautiful, he was lovely, he was funny, he was fucking perfect, but I felt nothing for him.

I shook my head softly. "I love you, Alex." He whispered and I pushed him off.

"No! No! You don't! You don't! You don't!" I shouted as I ran down his stairs, he followed after me.

He caught my hand again but I pulled away from him. "You don't understand. I'm too complicated, you don't love me." I said and he put his hands either side of my waist.

"You don't understand, Alex. Let me help you forget about Embry." He whispered in my ear and I thought about it.

Maybe I could. Maybe Doug was there to help me forget Embry. Maybe this was my chance.

But I didn't love Doug. I couldn't put him through that.

The pack had told me about the whole Jacob/Bella/Edward thing ages ago, before Nessie came along, and I knew how much it had hurt Jacob. I couldn't put Doug through that.

What am I talking about? Doug wouldn't do that for me me. This is just a joke. People don't fancy me. This is just a joke. How could I begin to contemplate believing his lies? It's me for fucks sake. The only reason why Embry even talks to me is because of this imprinting thing,

I pulled out of his grip and walked out the door.

Oh god.

Why does everything have to ruin? Why did Doug have to pretend to like me? Now everything going to be weird.

I walked down his road, and saw Embry standing at the edge of the forest, staring at me.

I turned away and stalked to my house.

This is all Embry's fault. He ruins everything.

Two more days passed. I'm practically a living zombie.

I get up, eat regularly, throw up every now and then, pee quite often, and go to school.

The boys barely speak to me now. They keep persisting that Doug was being genuine. I know better though.

Embry still stares and follows me. I just try to ignore him, but it's getting so difficult.

My family have really pulled through though; they've helped me so much.

Effie, well, Brady told her about everything. Now, I rarely see her. She spends all her time with him and when I do see her, she just tells me that I should take Embry back. She says that I'm hurting him, and if I loved him like the imprint should, I'd take him back.

After everything I've done for her, she picks Brady over me?

But unlike Embry's, I was anticipating her betrayal. Everyone tries to hurt me, so I barely even felt it, because I hadn't trust her to begin with.

It pissed me off though, she hasn't even known about imprinting that long, she has no idea what its like, what I've been through. She can't tell me what to do, because she's never experienced what this is like for me. You can't even compare, because everything is always different for everyone. And right now, all I can think of is the hurt that I always feel. I'm fed up of that hurt, and I want it to end.

Zara rang most days, and I talked to her a lot. Like I'd said before, I'm closest to her, so it's easier to talk to her about stuff. I even told her about Embry. She promised not to tell Josh yet though. Zara's still a mess, so that makes things easier to talk to her about, as well. She can at least partially relate.

But right now, I'd just emptied my stomach in to the toilet again. My back hurt more than you can imagine. Everyone had gone out. I was lonely and desperate. I was tierd, but I could barely even sleep without Embry here.

So I did the only thing I could. I called him.

"Alex?" He answered straight away.

I took a deep breath. "Will you come – hold me?" I asked quietly and I was answered with silence. "Oh, god, sorry. I shouldn't have-," I started as I mentally slapped myself for being so stupid.

"I'll be there in a second." He said quickly and the phone went dead.

Within seconds, Embry was indeed here.

I opened the door and he smiled at me. He stepped in and I shut the door.

We stood in an awkward silence for a bit.

"Take me upstairs?" I whispered and before I even knew it, we were half way up the staircase.

He laid me on my bed gently. "Are you comfortable?" He whispered.

I moaned and pushed at my tight jeans.

He nodded and unbuttoned them, pulling them off me gently.

"Turn over." He whispered, as much as I actually hated him right now, I couldn't not do what he said.

I wanted to jump on him and beat him uncontrollably, but I just couldn't find the energy. So I just succumbed to the fatigue and did what he said.

As I turned over, he pulled my top off and I groaned slightly as he straddled my back.

I unclasped my bra and slid it off as he started massaging my back.

My back had been hurting so much lately from being constantly bent over the toilet, but Embry's hands, they felt like magic. I couldn't even hold in my moans and almost outright screams of pleasure.

Eventually, I drifted off for the first good nights sleep that I've had since I went to England. Finally, to be back in Embry's arms…

Embry's POV

I couldn't fucking believe it. Alex is usually so stubborn, so when she called, I was fucking speechless. I thought it was my mind playing tricks on me. It wouldn't have been the first time. But it wasn't, it was actually her. I know this doesn't mean she forgives me, but still, it felt like I was whole for a little while.

Maybe, she'll let us do this more often. Just to ease the constant pain that there is when I can't see her. But I doubt she will though. It's not like I deserve it.

And when she started moaning when I was rubbing her back- Jesus Christ. If it wasn't for the whole situation what was going on, I surely would have taken her, right there and then.

But now, she's fast asleep in my arms, very nearly naked. I'd missed being able to touch her so much I can't begin to explain. It's been so long.

I shuffled down and kissed her face gently, so gently that she wouldn't wake up.

Her intoxicating scent washed over me again as she moved about.

The past couple of days Alex has been ignoring me. It hurt so much. To think, a month ago I'd been walking around school with her, so totally fucking happy. She would spend all day with me, usually night as well, whenever I didn't have to patrol. I was so fucking lucky back then. It's not like I even for one moment took it for granted, but I just hadn't ever thought that I wouldn't be able to do that with her.

So now, I had to follow her around like a stalker. Wherever she went, I was only moments behind. I slept in my wolf form in the woods outside her room every night. But at the moment, with her laying peacefully in my arms, I just couldn't fucking believe it. My heart was going mental as I stared down at my sweet angel.

I don't know how I was going to survive without her.

The sun rose and her eyelids flickered open. She snuggled closer into me, causing me to start smiling madly and my heart to flutter. Then she paused, as she seemed to realise what was going on and pulled back.

"Embry…" She started saying, sounding kind of pained and apologetic.

I shook my head and she bit her lip. "It's okay, Alex. I understand." I said softly and she breathed out in relief, causing my heart to break a little more.

"I'm sorry." She said.

"Don't be." I replied softly.

"I need to go." She said as she pulled away softly and I could feel my heart starting to tear again. I just nodded at her.

"I'm sorry, Alex. I didn't ever mean to do what I did." I said when she walked me to her door.

She nodded and looked up at me in the eyes. She looked so sweet and precious and delicate and … breakable.

"I don't want to be hurt again, Embry." She whispered. I let out a soft whimper and pulled her into a hug.

It's because of me that she feels like this. She can't trust anyone because she thinks she's going to get hurt.

It felt so long ago that she had told me she couldn't trust me because it always ended in her getting hurt. But I changed that. I made her love and trust me… Then I went and hurt her.

"I don't want you to be hurt again either, Alex." I whispered as she hugged me back.

We stayed like that for a while, just holding each other, until I heard Theo come in.

"Theo's here. I should go." I said and she nodded against my chest. "I love you." She nodded again. "I'm sorry." I bent down and kissed her forehead lightly. She leaned against me again before pulling back.

I, regretfully, let her go and my arms dropped to my sides lifelessly.

Alex's POV

I sat on my sofa, my father, sister, brother and aunt all situated around me.

"So, umm, Aunt Linda," Laura started, trying to break the awkwardness. "We haven't seen you in a while."

I nearly snorted. Yeah, since that day my mother died going to meet you and you refused to talk to us.

She looked up at me, as if realising what I was thinking. "I was young and I didn't know how to deal with it, so I ran away."

My aunt was six years older than me; she'd been fourteen when she ran away from home. Her parents went mad with worry. They died not a year later, in their sleep.

I just nodded at her and she sighed.

"I didn't realise he was you're boyfriend. You know I wouldn't have done that if I'd known." She said and I nodded again, not daring to trust myself to speak or look her in the eyes. "I'm sorry for everything, Andy. You don't know much I hate myself for this."

I stood up. "You shouldn't. Don't worry about me. I don't blame you for anything." I said softly before grabbing my dad's car keys.

"I'm going to the store." I said and he just nodded, staring apologetically between the two of us.

I didn't blame my aunt. I still loved her after everything. It was just hard seeing her. Knowing it was my fault her sister died. My fault that she had to run away from her perfect life that got mauled to pieces. She turned to hard drugs and alcohol. I heard from Boss about her, because he knew about everything and everyone. She was a regular to one of his dealers in Scotland, where she'd gone to live, and apparently she was a mess.

I drove quickly and hopped out as I walked hurriedly into the store. The bitter winds slapping against my bare arms. If only Embry was-

No. I need to stop this. I have to stick to my guns. This was the right thing to do. I can't just keep running to him whenever I needed him. Sometimes, the right thing isn't necessarily the easiest. But we just have to suck it up, and deal with it.

I walked past two ladies who turned to stare at me and as soon as I turned down the next aisle, I heard their chatting continue. Great. People who I don't even know are gossiping about me. Because the people in La Push are bored and have absolutely no life whatsoever, they tend to gossip a lot about other peoples misfortune. Apparently, I'm this week's misfortune. Everywhere I go, I can hear their whispers. They don't know what's going on, so they just make up lies to fill in the gaps. All they really know is that Embry and I were madly in love, then I disappeared for a week and when I came back I didn't want him any more and broke his heart. So the gossip that's usually directed at me isn't particularly pleasant. The girls at school have constantly been calling me a heartless slag and whore and other profanities, usually saying that I was never good enough for Embry anyway and shouldn't put him through that pain. They don't know about my pain, though. What I've had to endue. They don't care. But then again, when has anyone ever known about my pain? Nobody cares about me, except Embry…

"Alex!" I heard Emily call and I span around just as she engulfed me in her arms. I smiled and hugged her back. I loved Emily.

"Hi, Em."

"How are you?" She asked as I pulled away. I looked down awkwardly. 'I'm fucking terrible, but thanks for asking' would have sounded bitchy. "Oh! Alex." She moaned apologetically and squeezed my arm.

She put pressure on where my wound was from so long ago, and pain shot through me. It didn't hurt that much- it was practically healed now, but there was still a little pain there.

And if felt so good.

"Don't worry about me." I said and smiled at her, she frowned a little. "How are the wedding preparations coming along?" I asked her, hoping for a conversation topic change, and her eyes brightened as she launched into a speech about her wedding, so I was saved.

"So, yeah, that's why it's been moved to an earlier date. You're coming to the engagement party tomorrow night, yes?" She asked and my eyes snapped up.

"Engagement party?" I asked confusedly as we walked across the store, picking up random pieces.

"Oh! Didn't they tell you? I've been so busy!" She said and then went into another speech about the engagement party that I was now going to. Great. The whole 'ignore Embry at all costs' thing is going to be pretty fucking hard at a party.

AN: Aw, so, Alex is lonely and desperate. She's not becoming a sue, right? Tell me if she starts to piss you off in any way :)

OMFG, OMFG, OMFG. I went past the 200 mark. Thank you all SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO much. It's unreal how happy I am.

Special thanks to everyone who religiously reviews every chapter! It means a lot that you guys do that, it's what keeps me constantly writing :)

Thank you everyone ! x