Chapter Twenty-Nine:

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And I was right. Everything turned out okay for Quil. I watched as he played with Claire in the sand, helping her build sandcastles. "I wonder if Quil is still worried about cooties" I leaned up to whisper at Embry. I was tucked away nicely between his legs as we sat on the beach together, enjoying a nice summer evening. I felt his chest rumble behind me as he let out a short laugh. "He probably is…but to him Claire doesn't have cooties" his warm voice filled my ears. I closed my eyes and leaned against him. I was so warm with the sun beating down on us and heat radiating from Embry. Content. Happy. Later that evening the pack set up a fire on the beach. Billy showed up with Rachel, Jacob's sister who was moving back to La Push. I had met Rachel before, but it was when I was little. I hardly remembered her. She was absolutely gorgeous though. Long naturally tanned legs, beautiful long dark hair, and dark brown eyes. She smiled warmly at me as Billy introduced us. "Good to see you, Rachel". "You too, Amelia" she said kindly, sounding a little nervous. "Lots of people here, and are they all giants? What is Emily feeding them?" she questioned sounding like she was only half-joking. Embry chuckled besides me, and Rachel shot him a playful glare. "Last time I saw you, Call, you had a squeaky voice and stood a foot shorter than me…. how did you manage to convince Amelia to be your girlfriend?" She joked with him, shooting me a wink. Embry's face turned red, and he shrugged, "Honestly I have no idea how" he turned to smile at me, his cheeks still pink. I rolled my eyes, "What can I say? I'm sucker for those big brown eyes" I flirted with him, making him blush further. Quil interpreted our small talk by calling Embry over to help with firewood. Embry kissed the top my of head before wandering off. I smiled at Rachel then, "Here…have a seat by me" I patted the spot where Embry had been sitting. Rachel took a seat next to me as she said "Sure, I heard you're the fun imprint anyway…or the crazy one…mixed reviews". She shrugged lightly and I felt the color drain from my face. She knew? But how? I guess she is Billy's daughter. I didn't tell her. Maybe I shouldn't say anything in case she doesn't know… I'll just laugh it off….what did she say again? I'm the fun imprint…DUH. "Wow the look on your face…I'm sensing some inner turmoil…let me put you out of your misery…I KNOW." Rachel announced interpreting my inner thoughts. I raised my eyebrows at her. She knows? "You do? All of it?" I asked unsurely. Rachel rolled her eyes, "Yes all of it…werewolves, vampires, and soulmates…the whole package". I recovered from my shock quickly then, giving Rachel a wide smile. I sighed in relief. It was so nice not to have to lie or keep secrets around everyone. "Oh, thank god. That makes all this so much easier!" I admitted happily. Rachel chuckled, "I'd imagine so…". Rachel and I chatted about many different things. I learned that she graduated with a business degree from some school in California and was hoping to start a business in Forks or La Push. I told her a little bit about the daycare I worked at and how I could use her help on some things, business wise. We were becoming fast friends until she brought about Bella. "So, your sister is marrying a cold one?" she questioned rather bluntly. I blinked at her temporarily surprised by her bluntness, but quickly recovered and became defensive. "Look I'd rather not talk about it with you and his name is Edward, he's very…" I paused for a second struggling to find the right word. "Caring, he loves my sister, she loves him…end of story". I ended my rant holding her down with my cool gaze. Rachel held her hands up in surrender, "Woah…I swear I didn't mean anything by it…I just know some of the details and I know that your sister and my brother…" she cringed and didn't finish her thought, instead looked away toward Jacob who was laughing with Embry and Quil. I dropped my badass sister act then, realizing she was only asking because she was worried about her little brother. I understood that. Billy had probably told her that Jake had been a flight risk lately. "Jake and Bella…well" I struggled to find the words. "…it was complicated, she did love him…probably still does, but she loves…the other guy more" I continued on, trying to remain neutral. Rachel gave me a half smile before saying, "I get it, it happens…I'm glad Bella is doing well and is happy". I nodded, appreciating her respectfulness toward my sister. "Thank you, I'm sure Jacob will be okay…he's got a lot of support here". We sat in silence for a moment, sharing an understanding that we would support of our younger siblings no matter what. We began to talk about lighter subjects then, like Emily and Sam's wedding. Embry wandered back over to us as the air got colder. "You stole my spot, Black" he commented playfully toward Rachel. "Ha. Ames gave it to me" Rachel smirked at him. I grinned widely at him, "It's true, Rachel and I are besties now…find somewhere else to sit" I teased him. He rolled his eyes, "Oh sure you say that, but I can see the goosebumps on your arms from here…your cold and Rachel isn't going to keep you warm" he joked. Rachel winked at me then, "Oh but I could try" she grinned widely, and Embry frowned. Jacob gagged, "aww c'mon guys…". We giggled together in response, but it was short lived as Embry lifted me off the ground and took my spot, placing me carefully on his lap. "I don't think so, Rachel, I'll be the only one keeping her warm". He squeezed his arms tightly around me and I found myself relaxing into them.

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I woke up startled to deep voices yelling. The fire was beginning to die out and something was pulling me away from the fire. My heart began to race as panic set in. Something had a hold of me and wouldn't let go. "Ahhh…let go!" I yelled as I struggled, kicking my legs and attempting to pull my arms out of the hold. I felt so disoriented. The voices were still yelling. I blinked a few times, trying to gather my thoughts. "Ames…it's just me…calm down…" Embry mumbled into my ear, his voice was calming, yet there was an edge to it. Something was upsetting him, my body relaxed at the warmth of his voice. Oh yeah…fire…friends… "I fell asleep" I said dumbly out loud as I put my thoughts together. Embry wasn't paying attention to me, instead his eyes were on the scene ahead of us. "YOU IMPRINTED MY SISTER!" Jacob was yelling at Paul, who was shaking uncontrollably. Sam was in the middle of the two trying to keep them separated. Rachel was being pulled away by Quil and Leah. Leah looked annoyed as hell, while Quil looked apologetic. "Jacob stop…Paul calm down now" Sam demanded. Imprinted on my sister? Paul imprinted on Rachel?! When? How? What? Damn. I slept through the best part. "Dammit…why didn't you wake me up sooner?" I grumbled at Embry. Embry's body remained tense and he kept his eyes on Paul's shaking form, but a small smile formed on his face at my words.

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The party ended with Paul phasing and running off, with Jacob and Sam hot on his heels. Embry and I stayed back to help clean up. If Rachel was shaken by anything that happened, she hid it well as she silently helped us clean up. As I observed her, I thought of my own reaction to finding out Embry had imprinted on me. It was so overwhelming to hear…especially with everything else that had been going on at the time. Rachel caught me staring at her and she made a face before turning away from me. Busted. Poor girl probably thinks everyone is watching her… She wouldn't be wrong. I cringed as I remembered entering Sam and Emily's kitchen after Embry had told me he had imprinted. Embry squeezed my shoulder, interrupting my thoughts. I looked up at him and he gave a small smile, "Ready to go, sleepy head?" he asked softly in a playful voice. I couldn't help but smile back, "Yeah, in a second, I wanted to talk to Rachel first". Embry made a face and shook his head, "Are you sure that's a good idea?" I rolled my eyes. Why does everyone always question me and my ideas? "Oh, shut it, I know more about this than you do" I said with sass before wandering away toward Rachel. She was standing closer to the water now, watching the waves come in and out. "I love the ocean; I was sad when my mother moved us out to AZ" I commented as I approached her. She didn't say anything, for a while we stood watching the waves come in and out together. "What was it like when you found out?" she asked her voice remaining neutral, but I could tell something was brewing in her mind. I let out a long sigh and I looked up at the sky. Where did I begin? "Well, I was in a bad place at the time…had commitment problems…and vampire problems, but I remember it being…" I paused struggling to find the right words Rachel turned to look at me, giving me her full attention. ….Overwhelming….scary. Those were honest answers. "Overwhelming…and scary" I started calmly, but my voice quickly became louder and more excited as I explained, "I mean here was this guy that I barely knew, telling me that we were basically soulmates…that's some heavy shit". Rachel let out a long sigh and turned back to the ocean. "Yeah, it is…so what did you do about it?" She questioned me first, then herself, "What should I do about it?". Her voice sounded tight and confused as she finally let go of some her emotions. "It's not like you handled the imprinting thing the best" Worst Imprint. I cringed as I remembered the thoughts of some of the pack members about me…well mostly Paul's thoughts. Wonder how pissed he'll be when he finds out I'm talking to Rachel about this… I smiled at little at that thought. I did enjoy pissing him off…sometimes. "Ahh…those are some great questions and to be honest I don't have answers" I shrugged at her trying to sound positive. "Helpful" she muttered sounding annoyed. I rolled my eyes and explained, "Look it depends on the situation. I simply told Embry that I needed time, and we just figured it out…one day at a time." yeah that sounded about right. It seemed like forever ago when Embry and I were figuring things out. Things were so solid now…we were solid now. "How did he react…when you said you needed time?" Rachel asked unsurely like she was afraid of the answer. I smiled to myself then, remembering how gentle Embry was with me. I looked over at him to find him staring nervously in our direction. I winked at him, and he gave me a small smile. Rachel looked between us before her gaze settled back at me. "He was great…is great…he has been since the start of all this." Then I made face at her, "and we had some hardships…you know with ex-boyfriends showing up, vampires trying to kill Bella…minor complications" I shrugged. Rachel froze for a moment, then began to laugh. I blinked at her, shocked by her reaction, before I caved in and laughed myself. "What a chaotic world you live in" she commented shaking her head as her laughter died off. I nodded in agreement, "Yeah it's a little strange with a lot of chaos". At that moment, Sam, Paul, and Jacob emerged from the woods. Paul took one look at Rachel and I, an instant scowl formed on his face. Rachel turned away from them quickly and back toward the ocean. Her body tensed up and she crossed her arms on her chest. Sam, Paul, and Jacob went to stand by Embry, I watched as Paul muttered something and Embry's face change to an angry look. Sam said something then, with that firm look on his face, shutting them all up. I rolled my eyes, no doubt that Paul had said something about me talking to Rachel. Rachel seemed to watch the interaction from the corner of her eye, trying not to be obvious about it. "He doesn't like me" I explained a second later answering her silent question. She looked at Paul who was glaring in our direction, then back at me with a frown on her face. "Well…I like you" she said defiantly, and I let out a short laugh. "I like you too, Rach. This is the start of a beautiful friendship" I winked at her and she smiled deviously at me.

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And it was the start of a friendship. Rachel and I began spending a ton of time together. In fact, she fit right into the pawprint group. Leah had even warmed up to her. Kim lost her shyness around her within an hour of hanging out with us…. which was pretty impressive for Kim. Rachel and Paul were still awkward toward each other…. but they were figuring things out. I could see it already…it would only be a matter of time till they wouldn't be able to keep their hands off each other. I was explaining this to Embry as we lay snuggling in bed together. He groaned after kissing my neck. "Do we have to talk about Paul and Rachel right now?" he whined, and I laughed in response. "Yeah, Babe, it's called pillow talk" Embry propped himself up on his elbow and hovered over me, using his other hand to caress my face. "I love you so much…but I'm done talking about the Paul and Rachel Saga". I rolled my eyes, "What do you want to talk about then?" Embry smiled deviously at me before connecting his lips to mine in a slow, drawn-out kiss. When he moved to pull away, I grabbed his face, "Get back here, Call, I'm not done with you yet" I teased pulling him back toward me. Everything was perfect.