Embry wondered if he should ask the Cullens about Delilah's nightmare. He was sure that she'd told them about it at some point. And really, he was pretty sure that they knew exactly where it stemmed from. He wanted to know, he needed to know in order to protect her.
But he also knew that his dynamic with the Cullens was the best that it had ever been, and likely the best that it ever would be. He considered what it would mean to rock the boat with them at that point in time, how it would impact his relationship with Delilah and how she saw him. If they would take it as him not trusting them still. So he decided against bringing it to their attention. For now.
Instead, he focused on her. Delilah was unbelievably smart, so she took a lot of AP and Honors courses at the Forks High School. She often did her homework with Edward, and he'd help her recite poetry, Shakespeare, different things she had to memorize for history. Embry wished he could help her, but Edward was one of the smartest men he'd ever met. And he was really interested in writers and famous figures that Delilah liked talking about. Embry only found interest in those things because Delilah found them interesting, nothing more.
Embry was fine with his position overall, really. He'd be sat on the couch with Delilah and Edward as they studied. Delilah's head would be in Embry's lap sometimes and he'd run his fingers through her long brown hair as Edward asked her questions or had her read off something she had to have memorized. It could definitely be worse, Embry thought.
He wondered if his instincts had him jumping the gun when it came to Delilah's nightmare. After all, Embry watched the Cullens very closely whenever they were around Delilah, again, instinctually. And they all took care of her, really. They looked after her well, did anything she would possibly want them to do. Maybe they were protecting her, the way they'd said that they were when Embry had first confronted them.
Delilah really liked them, too. She lit up when they came around and had good individual relationships with every member of their family. Embry noticed that, just like he noticed everything else about her. Though he still saw the Cullen's natural way of life as a liability. After all, Delilah was a human girl, she was in danger around them at least to some degree. Embry had started coming around more and more though, and the more he was around, the less worried he was.
He thought about what Delilah had said, that her nightmare had stopped coming back once she met him. It was jarring to hear it come out of her mouth, it was all but confirmation that she felt for him similarly to how he felt for her. He wondered if there was more for her to acknowledge, but she couldn't bring herself to because she didn't know why her feelings were so strong in the first place. He couldn't tell her anything, of course. And that fact always seemed to be in the way.
Rosalie and Jasper still picked Delilah up from school, so Embry asked if he could drop her off. Delilah was hesitant at first. She didn't see the point in him coming all the way down from the reservation just to take her on a six-minute drive. She could walk there in the time that it took him to arrive at her house. She told him that, trying her best to brush him off. He was adamant, though, and she soon learned why. Her dad had started working mornings on every weekday except Tuesdays, so Delilah started letting Embry in while she would finish getting herself ready. He started coming by earlier and earlier, until it came to the point of him showing up during the time at the beginning of her morning routine where she sat on the couch and watched TV, maybe eating breakfast, depending on the day.
He fit himself right into her schedule, sitting next to her while she watched whatever it was she'd recorded the night before.
He was smart enough not to show up on Tuesdays when Delilah's dad would be home. Delilah was grateful, considering she was still not talking to her father very often, even when she was home. She'd seen Tracey leaving their house one afternoon when she'd decided to stop by the house with Rosalie so she could grab something. He hadn't stopped seeing her, clearly. And Delilah still didn't know how to approach the situation with civilized language and behavior. So, her dad no longer dropped her off when he could. She'd leave the house, only mumbling some sort of farewell on some days. On other days, she said nothing.
After two weeks of Embry dropping her off, Delilah noticed that her father had started staying home three mornings a week rather than just one as he had been. Her solution was to get ready earlier and then sit in the parking lot with Embry until it was time for her to go to class. And it worked, but only for half of a week.
"It's really early to be taking off for school." Delilah squeezed her hand around the doorknob that she'd just taken hold of right as her father spoke. She turned, seeing him with a cup of coffee, leaned up against the door frame of the kitchen.
"I have stuff to catch up on." She tried to brush him off the way she had been ever since she'd first argued with him. It was clearly no longer a situation that worked for him, though, and he wasn't letting her walk out of the door without at least some effort.
"Who's the guy that's been taking you to school?" Delilah felt her breath hitch as she looked outside the front door's window. Embry was waiting for her patiently in his jeep, scrolling through his phone.
"Huh?" Delilah didn't know what else she could do but play dumb. She knew her father had already assumed that Embry was her boyfriend, and that she'd probably been with him some of the times she'd told him she'd been with the Cullens. Which was true, but not in the way that he thought.
"I dunno, maybe the boy parked outside of our house right now? I figured it was one of Dr. Cullen's kids who'd started taking you to school, but apparently not." Delilah finally turned to face her dad for the first time in a while. She felt her heart ache a little bit, she'd never been in this sort of situation with him. They'd always been close.
"That's Embry. He's friends with the Cullens." Delilah quickly decided she wasn't ready for the conversation, and that her dad couldn't really force her to have it. She knew her explanation wasn't entirely true, but she didn't have time to explain whatever the truth was.
"And you, apparently. You didn't tell me you made another new friend." Delilah could feel that her dad was still staring at her. He was trying to push her into having the conversation that he knew she wanted to have, because he knew her.
"I thought that was our new thing, not telling each other things." She couldn't help but quip back. She felt guilty after she said it, just as she always did when she allowed herself to be rude to people. But she was doing anything she could to get out of the house.
"Delilah, that's not fair. Look, we need to talk this through. It's enough." He said firmly and defensively, realizing he didn't have the upper hand that he thought he did with how the conversation was going.
"I think it's very fair. I'm not talking about this right before school, either." She pulled the front door open, dodging out of it quickly as she hastily walked toward Embry's Jeep. She felt herself holding back tears, blinking them away before opening the car door. She'd never been so dismissive and, well, disrespectful toward her dad before. She hated how it felt, she just didn't know how else to get him off of her back.
"You need to forgive your dad." Embry said before Delilah could even bring herself to greet him. She was startled by his bluntness, but she received it better than she would've received it from anyone else, at least when it came to this. She also wondered how he knew what had just happened, but assumed he saw them through the door's window.
"I know." She said quietly, looking out of the car as he pulled off the side of the street and toward the highway. She did know. But it was harder than it seemed. Harder than she wanted it to be.
"You're not an angry person. Being angry at him is eating you alive, because it's not who you are. You're not gonna feel better until you talk it all out with him." Delilah knew that Embry was right. And, she sort of felt bad that Embry had witnessed the only real downfall that her relationship with her father had ever had. He didn't have a dad. Well, he did, but he had never been around. She felt guilty when she thought of it that way. Here she was, with a dad who loved her and wanted to work through their differences, but she didn't want to talk about it. Even though she felt she had reason to be angry, it was childish to keep it going, the more she thought about it. And Embry was right, all of this was out of character for her. It wasn't who she was.
"You're right. I know that you're right. I'll talk to him tonight. If he's not home too late." She committed aloud. Embry looked away from the road, beaming at her. He was proud of her, which was a side perk to doing the right thing, Delilah thought.
They sat together for a while, talking about other things so Delilah didn't have any more time to build up anxiety over the conversation than she would while she was thinking about it all day at school. Embry was good at distracting her.
She hugged him goodbye when the warning bell rang, hopping out of the car and scurrying toward her first period.
"Delilah." She heard a voice coming closer to her. It was Julie. Delilah smiled at her, only earning a somewhat distant nod in return. Nevertheless, Julie met up with Delilah and they began to walk to their first period together.
"I saw you in his car, thought I'd wait so we could walk together." Julie offered an explanation that Delilah didn't really think was necessary.
"So, you and him, is that an official thing going on?" Julie continued to speak. Delilah's mouth stayed ajar for a moment as she thought about what to say, and if it warranted further explanation than one word.
"No." She settled on, shaking her head and smiling at Julie. Julie's face contorted as she thought about how she wanted to say her next thought. Delilah knew Julie only did this when she was afraid something might be taken the wrong way, so she suddenly felt a sense of worry.
"I think it's better that way, anyway." The girl laughed nervously, avoiding eye contact with her friend. Delilah suddenly didn't know how she wanted to reply. Julie was her best friend, she rarely had to think about what to say to her because she didn't have to worry about it ever causing issue, right then was different, though.
"What does that mean?" Delilah finally asked. Only after she asked the question did she realize what her friend could've meant. It was about the night of the game, and she knew it.
"I just think, the way he acted after volleyball… maybe you shouldn't be with someone who acts like that, is all." Julie looked at the floor, feeling as if she was going to be sick. She really hated confrontation, and she hated the idea of being the one to start it with her best friend. But she felt she had to say it, seeing as Olivia and Shelby, who were both much more outspoken than her, weren't there to witness the confrontation.
"He was defending me, he thought Nathan was trying to hurt me. You told him he was." Delilah suddenly knew that this was Julie's way of trying to protect her from the life that she had been forced to live as a child. And she understood, but she knew Embry's outburst stemmed from somewhere else.
"I know. And part of me was glad that he was there to put that to an end but, what if he was angry at you like that? I just don't want you to get hurt, is all." Julie stopped in her tracks, completely aware that she was probably going to be late for class for the first time in the entire semester.
"He's a good guy, trust me." Delilah tried to reassure Julie, then turning to walk forward, hoping to leave the conversation behind. Julie's feet stayed planted though.
"You said that about Nathan." There was a somber look in her eyes as she said her words, staring at Delilah as she waited for her to respond.
"That's nice, Julie." Delilah knew that the slight had gone deeper than Julie had intended it to, but that didn't stop it from hurting.
"Delilah, don't be mad at me, I just want you to be cognizant as you- if you move forward with him. That's all it is." Julie finally moved toward her friend, a pleading look on her face. Delilah knew that Julie wasn't coming from a place of malice. And the truth was, she didn't have it in her to be angry at anyone else, she was already done with feeling angry at her dad.
"I'm not mad at you. Thank you for caring." As if on cue, the final bell rang, signaling that the pair were officially late to class. Julie smiled at Delilah, happy that her friend's reasonable and forgiving nature had.
Delilah mindlessly let Julie link their arms together, leading them both to class as Delilah thought about her friend's worry, and if she had reasons to worry herself.
Hello again! I hope this chapter is finding everyone safe, still. Please let me know your thoughts if you have any on this chapter! I write a chapter a day and post it that same day, so I hope the quality is up to par with the fics you all usually read. Thank you for those who have continued to support the story, it's beyond encouraging!
-J