Delilah was nervous when that next Wednesday morning. It would be the first day that she'd be hanging out with the other girlfriends of the patrolmen. She didn't feel like she really belonged, considering they'd all known each other growing up from what she understood, and she felt like something of an outsider right away. Maybe even an intruder. But they'd been really excited to have her, so she wondered if it wouldn't feel that way once she got there.
Embry was excited for her to get to know the other girls, he'd made that much clear. He said that he liked it when she was on the reservation and wanted her to feel as comfortable as she possibly could whenever she was there. To be clear, he wished he was spending the evening with her rather than working He made that clear too. But Delilah making friends on the reservation aside from the budding friendship with Emily was a good alternative in Embry's book. He had no idea that she was nervous about it. He'd never understand why and truthfully, she didn't much understand it either.
Embry had grown comfortable hanging out in Delilahj's house while she ran around getting ready for school in the mornings. He'd watch TV, talking to her whenever she walked by after eating breakfast with her. So, there he was, flopped on the couch and flipping through the channels.
"I get to pick you up from school then today?" He said as Delilah ran by him, a toothbrush hanging out of her mouth.
"Mhm." She mumbled her response as she continued en route to wherever she was intending to go. He laughed. She was always running late, no matter when she got herself up for school. She was never late, though. He didn't understand how she made it happen. But she always seemed to.
"We can hang out before my shift starts." Embry added as the girl walked back into the room, taking the towel off of her head and revealing a mop of wet hair.
"We should go get sundaes." Delilah suggested, shaking her hair out before beginning to dry it with her towel. Embry nodded at her.
"Hey, I was also gonna ask you something." He said quickly. The girl flopped her towel onto the floor, then sitting in the recliner across from Embry.
"What's up?" She inquired, paying no mind to the time that was passing. She really might end up being late this time, Embry thought. Still, he cleared his throat and looked back at her, bracing himself. He didn't know why, though.
"Do you want to come with me to Sam and Emily's wedding? It's getting pretty close." Embry then realized that he was asking his girlfriend to attend an event with him, and he was left wondering why he'd been so nervous. She smiled at him softly, getting up from the chair and picking her towel up off of the floor.
"Emily mentioned that. I'd love to go with you." Her smile widened some as she walked out of Embry's sight. Embry didn't realize until that moment that he really had gotten what he wanted. What he needed. She was interested in him, she relied on him, and they spent time together all the time. Embry wouldn't have described the start of their interactions as rocky, necessarily, but they'd definitely been awkward. But still, getting to know Delilah and getting to be with her had been relatively easy. Even though Embry still wished he was able to tell Delilah more about what their relationship, and their general connection meant, it could be worse. He was grateful that he had what he had of her, and he'd do anything to keep it intact.
Embry thought that Delilah's way of dressing was much more distinct than she probably did. She wore lots of hand made, upcycled items in her street wear. She often went out of her way to obtain pieces from the 60s and 70s because she loved the history behind them. She wasn't a fashion expert like Alice, and she didn't have a taste for name brands, but Delilah's style was very her. Embry looked forward to seeing what she'd wear every morning. He'd be able to hear her rifling through her closet from his spot downstairs, and he'd laugh to himself if he heard her make her way back to the closet more than two or three times. She could be indecisive about the little things, but she knew exactly what she wanted and was anything but afraid to go and take it when it was something bigger, Embry had noticed. She was passionate and smart and beautiful and it was everything to him to be afforded the opportunity to watch her be her on a regular basis, each day finding more and more ways for which those descriptions were true.
Delilah was never one to tell her friends everything right away. However, she felt that she and Embry were going to be lasting more than a short time, and that they deserved to know that their best friend was now romantically involved with somebody. Plus, she figured they'd catch her with him at one point or another, or that Tracey would tell Shelby, who would then proceed to tell the other two girls the new information she'd received. No, it would be much easier to just come out with it right before first period started. That way, they couldn't ask too many questions and the information was out.
Delilah felt butterflies in the pit on her stomach as she walked onto the high school campus. Embry kissed her, quickly and softly, as she'd reached for the car door. His kisses, even his touch, really, made her feel dizzy. It was like she felt some much emotion from the physical contact that her body entered a frenzy. She'd never felt that way with anyone before, and she doubted it was an easy feeling to come by. She knew that she'd only been with him for a short time, but Delilah felt that what they had was special. She was willing to acknowledge it that early because the more she thought about it, the more she realized she didn't want to lose the feeling, that she'd ever tire of it.
She walked into the classroom, immediately noticing that all of her friends were already seated. It was usually Shelby or Julie who showed up last, but Delilah had admittedly run late that morning.
She slid into her seat, staring at her desk for a moment before looking at and smiling at all of them. They smiled back, but clearly seemed confused by her lack of verbal communication.
"I've been meaning to tell you guys. I'm dating Embry now."
Olivia's reaction was the most quick and visible, which wasn't surprising to Delilah. Shelby looked like, for once, she was thinking before she spoke. Delilah figured that she was worried about the friendship being on thin ice now that her mother was officially dating Delilah's father. It wasn't true, of course, but it made sense that it was impacting how she acted around Delilah. She felt bad, in a way. Julie looked a little stunned. She even visibly paled somewhat. Delilah knew why that was. She knew that Julie hadn't exactly taken to Embry after his behavior after their game a while back. She'd even gone as far as to voice her concerns to Delilah. So, she wasn't surprised by her friend's less than enthused or passionate reaction to her news. She just hoped she could get past it enough to support her new found relationship.
"I knew it." Olivia not so surprisingly skewed things to be about herself. Delilah couldn't help but laugh at the comment.
"He's really cute, Del. You look good together." Shelby finally spoke, smiling in a way that offered surrender and peace. They hadn't been fighting, sure. But it had been tense, and this was Shelby's way of finally telling Delilah that she didn't want it to be tense anymore.
Julie didn't say anything, though. She just turned back, sketching on her folder as she always did. The other two girls looked at Delilah, clearly not expecting that reaction from their friend. Delilah just shrugged and faced forward in her own seat. She didn't want to drag either of them into Julie's confused feelings on Embry. Not only because it would complicate things within their friend group, but because she wanted them to like Embry.
Even so, Delilah waited outside of the classroom after the bell rang, still wanting to talk things out with her best friend. Olivia and Shelby took the hint, heading off to their respective second period classrooms. Jullie seemed to have anticipated this action on Delilah's part, having not looked startled by Delilah's presence, but grimacing. Delilah's heart sank a bit at the reaction, she'd been hoping it would be easy to brush under the rug.
"I know you're uneasy about him, Julie. I love you for caring. But he's good to me." Delilah tried to reassure her. Julie shifted her weight from one foot to the other a few times, blatantly feeling uncomfortable and trying to find the right way to say what she wanted to say.
"I'm sure that he does. I just feel like… do you really know him well enough to be dating him?" She finally inquired, looking like she was going to be physically sick after she said it. She clearly knew she might be overstepping, but her care for Delilah outweighed her care for boundaries.
"I know him, Julie. We've spent a lot of time together and I don't think I've ever liked anyone as much as I like him." Delilah admitted. The warning bell rang, cutting the conversation short at the worst possible time. Julie looked around, collecting her thoughts before leaving Delilah with one last comment.
"I guess I just want you to ask yourself, does the way he acted that night match the rest of his behavior in the time that you guys have spent together?" Delilah's silence was enough for Julie to sigh, shift her weight again, and then continue to speak.
"If the answer's no, maybe that's a sign that there's things you don't know about him." Julie said, sympathy glinting in her eyes as she began to walk away, then turning away from her so she could hasten her pace to class.
Delilah turned and began to walk to her class too. She thought about her friend's words, how she hadn't had anything to say in return because she didn't know what to say. She was left wondering if Julie was right. If there were things about him that she didn't know. Suddenly, her head flashed with all of the times she'd felt she'd been told lies and half truths. Not just by Embry, but by the Cullens.
As Embry drove her to Emily's place before heading to his work shift, Delilah stared at Embry. He didn't seem to mind, he'd just look at her and smile softly every once and a while. He had no idea what was actually going on inside of her head. She was wondering if she really knew everything she needed to know about him. If there was anything about him that would change her opinion of him if she knew. If that was why he might be hiding whatever it was.
But her heart and her mind softened when he got out of the car, opened her door, and held her hand as he led her toward the door. Not enough though.
"Embry." She blurted, stopping in her tracks. Embry did the same almost immediately, turning and looking at her.
"You-you'd never lie to me right? Or keep anything from me?" Delilah finally asked. He looked at her for a moment, seemingly studying her face before he finally spoke up.
"No. Of course not. Why do you ask?" He finally questioned. This made Delilah feel sheepish. She hadn't meant to come off like a suspicious nut. She hoped that he didn't give the question too much thought in how it reflected in her opinion of him. Because it didn't, really it didn't.
"Nothing. It doesn't matter." Delilah noticed that he was still put off by the question and wasn't satisfied with her answer. She quickly used her right hand to pull him down toward her, kissing him longingly for a few moments before taking his hand and leading him toward Emily's door. Embry felt better, sure. But he was still left wondering about her.
Embry and the rest of the boys didn't stay long, they decided they'd do team workouts before they were on the clock.
"Oh, Delilah. This is Rachel, Paul's girlfriend." Emily said once all of the boys were out of the house. The girl shot Delilah a small wave, nodding hello.
"Hi, Rachel." Delilah said, giving her a friendly smile. There wasn't much of a silence before Kim began to speak.
"Okay, now that we all know each other… let's play black jack!"
Delilah got along well with all of the girls, actually. They were fun and they made her laugh, which Delilah thought was a vital part of friendships.
"So, you all grew up being friends?" Delilah asked later on as Emily began to deal cards for a game of Go-Fish at Kim's request.
"Not exactly, we didn't all start hanging out until the boys started working together." Rachel replied as she picked up her cards off of the table. Rachel was Jake's sister, and she looked it after Delilah was told so. She had similar eyes to his, and there noses were somewhat similar, though hers was more delicate.
"We just started seeing a lot of each other because of the boys. And it was nice to have other people to relate to." Kim explained, then examining her own hand, pulling two cards out and setting them on the table in front of her.
"Right, that makes sense. Their job is pretty dangerous." More than agreeing with Kim, Delilah was trying to explain the reasoning aloud to see if it would make more sense than it did when she was trying to understand it silently. It didn't work, really.
"Well, yeah. It's just a relationship that no one else could understand." Kim further explained. Delilah's face contorted, she couldn't help it. The description Embry had given her of his job couldn't be that different than most other security jobs.
"Anyways. We're starting to plan Emily's bridal shower, if you want to help us." Rachel moved the conversation along quickly. Maybe too quickly. Delilah tried, and somewhat succeeded in letting the interaction roll off of her shoulders.
"Really?" She was again surprised that she was being included in things on the reservation so quickly. It was nice, definitely better than the alternative of them not taking to her the way she would want her boyfriend's friends to take to her. So she decided to ignore her surprise.
"Yeah! It'll be fun." Kim encouraged.
"Okay, anything for Emily." Delilah smiled at the older girl. It was only then that she saw Emily's scar for the first time since she'd met her. She wondered when it had happened exactly, and if it had been the boys' patrol team that found her and helped her. She wanted to know, but she wouldn't dare ask.
After watching Grease and part of A Walk to Remember, the boys collectively entered the house. Delilah watched as the men made their way to their respective partners, embracing them. Delilah felt Embry crouch down behind her spot on the couch, wrapping his arms around her, leaning upward and kissing her temple. Delilah turned and looked into his dark brown eyes. It was weird, though she had seemed to doubt that he had been completely honest with her, she had no doubt of his feelings for her. There was no denying how sweetly he looked at her.
"Have fun?" He quizzed, pecking her lips before looking into her eyes again. She felt her heart rate pick up after he did this, as was the usual.
"I did." She finally replied, getting up from her seat and walking from the couch to meet him, resting her head on his chest and hugging him closely, her arms wrapped tightly around his toned, warm body.
"I need to get you home." He hugged her back, running his fingers through her hair.
Delilah pulled away, knowing he was right. She walked to Emily, who was now doing dishes in the kitchen.
"I'll see you soon. I need to head back." Emily hugged her.
"Okay, make sure Embry brings you by next Wednesday," Emily said as she pulled away. It made Delilah feel good that she felt good enough about the evening to invite her to their next hang out. She wondered how the other two felt, especially Rachel, considering Delilah had only met her that day.
Delilah turned to the rest of the room, waving goodbye as Embry rested his hand on her back, leading her toward the door.
Delilah took one last look at Emily, more specifically her scar. And again, she wondered about the details that surrounded it. She didn't know why, but when she thought about how Embry had talked about her wound, it felt he was explaining it from a more personal place. Like he'd been there.
On the way home, Delilah stared at her hand that was intertwined with Embry's, set on the dashboard.
And, for the third time that day, Delilah was forced to wonder about what she knew and what she didn't know about him. And the rest of the people that had entered her life as of late.
Hi again! The world is still crazy, so I'm still hoping everyone reading this is staying safe. Here's another reminder that you are worthy and loved! I hope this chapter is sometihng of a good distraction for someone out there. I've enjoyed writing this so much and will be seeing it all the way through, I believe. Thank you for your continued support! It means the world to me.
=J