Disclaimer: Twilight and all related elements © Stephenie Meyer and Little, Brown and Company 2005. All characters and situations—save those created by the author for use solely in this fan fiction—are copyright Stephenie Meyer and are used without permission. No profit is made off this story and is for entertainment purposes only.
A/N: A series of vignettes set during either Twilight or New Moon, from prompts given by members of Topaz & Debussy over on LJ.
For auboundgrl. (I love her for this one)
oOo
The fire burned inside him, eating at his brain, his muscles, his heart.
Breathe.
It shouldn't have been like this, Quil thought desperately, blinking back hot tears that trailed down his cheeks but never quite made it past his lips.
It had always, always been him and the others. Quil, Embry, Paul, Jake.
"Something's wrong," he had said, his voice hollow. He glanced nervously at the group of boys that loitered languidly across the street.
"I'm sure it's nothing," Jake had said, his baritone voice confident, but his eyes betrayed him. His eyes gave him away, as they had always given him away even when they were boys.
Quil shuddered, and the movement seemed to rip through him. His hands were shaking; why were they shaking?
Breathe.
It was wrong, this, being alone. His stomach twisted and knotted, and he would have heaved had he anything in it. How could he do this alone? Deep shuddering sobs threatened to break free and cut off his breath, but he swallowed them, coughing wetly.
Breathe.
He was alone, the others had gone. Fierce emotion pulled through him, searching for outlets. He couldn't keep himself still. Tears that dripped from his eyes evaporated before they'd hit skin.
Jacob's smile. Emry's firm slap on his shoulder, stinging but feeling good. Paul's coarse humor, three friends laughing.
If they wouldn't come to him, he'd go to them. He closed his eyes.
Breathe.