Chloe's POV:

Sitting down with Quil to talk about our soulmate status has got to be the most embarrassing and thing I'll ever do. I never thought I would actually ever want to be vulnerable with Quil, but it looks like Taha Aki gave me no freaking choice in the matter. We decided last night we'll talk today while Embry's off on patrol, leaving us with some privacy. That was more my request than his of course, him and Embry might as well be imprints. Of course during the texting Quil tried to get off topic and flirt with me, but I shut that down quickly.

There's no more messing around with me.

So after I've eaten breakfast and gotten ready for the day I've sat myself in the living room, waiting for him to join me.

Our apartment has been furnished thanks to Quil's mom getting all new couches for their house, so we get the old ones. They're still in mostly perfect condition and fit nicely in our small apartment. I've brought over an old TV my dad was no longer needing, a large area rug we've had in storage, and some tables. Embry brought over all the kitchen supplies. It's a neutral space thanks to Embry. It's not overcrowded with boy stuff and I didn't get crazy with making the place too feminine either. I hardly sit out here anyways, if they really wanted they could have made this place a man cave.

The boys mounted the TV above the fireplace, which actually works, but that's the only thing hung up on the walls. They're a calming tan color and the flooring is a light wood, which I really enjoy.

Quil's door squeaks open and I listen for his footsteps to approach me. His comes into my vision and quickly plops himself down on the two seated couch across from me. He gives me a lazy grin, stuffing his hands into his pockets. Yet again, he's not wearing a shirt. I don't know why that bothers me so much all of a sudden, but it does.

"What's with the no shirt thing." I mumble, motioning to him.

He shrugs, giving me a playful look. "You can join in on it too, it's really comfortable. Maybe just not when Embry's home." He gives me a cheeky smile, pointing at me. "I think I'd really enjoy that actually." He looks thoughtful, like he's picturing what I look like under these baggy clothes.

I used to really like dressing up for school and putting myself together. Lately it's been harder to care about stuff like that. Now that summers over I'm ready to just wear sweats and baggy sweatshirts just about everyday, but the library wouldn't really allow that.

I roll my eyes, ignoring that. "So how do we move on from here?" I dive right into it. I'm dying for clarity and a next step. My mind continues to race for possibilities of how this can work but I come to no conclusions on my own.

He shrugs calmly. "Well it would be a matter of you accepting the imprint and us starting a relationship."

I reframe from losing my cool all too quickly. This conversation is going to need some hardcore patience. "Well I'm not ready for any of that right now, Quil."

He sighs, nodding his head. "Well I figured, you can be stubborn. What do you want to do?"

I fidget in place, trying to think through my words carefully. Telling him I want nothing to do with him or this won't do me any good, it's not a realistic conclusion. I need to decide how to work this out properly. "Well I think it would be best if we just stayed sort of friends." I shrug a shoulder, picking at my fingers. I've curled up on the couch, my legs tucked to the side of me. I've pulled a throw pillow into my lap, holding onto it like some sort of barrier.

He raises his eyebrows but stays silent for a minute. "But we're imprints, we can't really just be friends. It's a relationship kind of thing."

I nod along to show I'm hearing him. "It's supposed to be romantic, but it can also be a friend thing. Aren't you supposed to be what I need you to be?" Jake had loosely mentioned that piece of it, which Bella reminded me about yesterday.

"I mean yeah but not forever. Eventually we'd have to take the next steps." He says. "Oh, I don't mean sex, just yanno dating." He adds in, not in a teasing way. I can tell he's trying a bit here.

I nod along again. "Yeah I know what you mean, it's just not what I want. I think maybe us being friends can be a good thing though."

"We're already friends." He says it like it's common sense. "We wouldn't be changing literally anything in that case." He frowns, his eyebrows strung together. Quil's really mastered the pouty look. His eyebrows will tug together and his lips just slightly frown, like a sad golden retriever. It's how he gets girls attention. He likes to play innocent, sweet. Sort of like 'I'm sad because no one thinks I'm attractive, but you could make me feel better'. It's like a pity thing, but it works. He also plays on the 'chubby kid' thing a lot which drives me nuts.

"We're not really friends though Quil. We can't stand each other, we always fight-"

"It's light teasing." He corrects me with a small smile. "It's not actual fighting, it's not that serious. I just like to mess with you because you get worked up and pissed off and it's just funny to goof off. It's not actually me disliking you. We used to be closer if you care to remember."

I chew on my lip, balling my hands into fights for a moment. "Well either way we don't hangout or have similar interests. We wouldn't go to each other if we had an issue or wanted to just talk."

He nods along with me. "Okay yeah I guess that's true, we can hangout one on one more. That could help us be more comfortable with all this." He says thoughtfully. I'm actually thankful for a moment that he's taking this seriously. Maybe this can actually work.

"Yeah, exactly!" I smile, feeling a little relieved. "So we just work on getting along better, no romantic stuff."

"For now though, because eventually things will change. We can take our time though, I'm not trying to rush you." I'm sure he's busy trying to fit in as many girls as possible until then. For now I guess it wouldn't be cheating since I don't want this, so really he could if he wanted to. It won't make me like him any sooner though, that's for sure. I already don't trust his intentions.

I pause to look over his demeanor. He looks calm and thoughtful, like he knows what he wants. He's not so hesitant to get into a relationship with me like I expect him to be and I want to know why. "Quil if you had this all your way, how would you want us to be moving forward?"

He hums, looking up at the ceiling. He taps a finger over his chin. "Well if it were just up to me I'd just claim you as my girlfriend officially now. All the getting closer stuff would just happen next." He folds his arms behind his head, leaning back into the couch. His body shifts and his muscles flex at the movement, but I try not to notice.

"Aren't you disappointed though?"

"Disappointed how?" His face drops, looking concerned.

"Well that you didn't get to choose your imprint, or even that you imprinted so soon." I explain, rubbing my sweaty palms on my leggings.

He chews on the inside of his cheek. "No."

I raise an eyebrow at that. "No?" He hums, nodding his head. "You wouldn't rather just being single and not having to worry about any of this?" I motion between us.

"I've been single my whole life, why would I choose that?" He asks me like it's a stupid thing to say.

I raise my eyebrows at him. "Because you're stuck being imprinted to me and you don't even like me. Don't you care at all that this is happening? You're like girl obsessed-"

He cuts me off, leaning forward in his seat. All the smiles and cheeky looks wash away from his face. It's hard to get him to be serious, but whatever I said it worked. "I'm not girl obsessed, stop saying that." He shakes his head. "Of course I care that this is happening, this is the rest of my life too, yanno?" He's not being mean or harsh, just serious.

I hold the pillow tighter to my chest, feeling nervous. "Okay, but it's me and you. Not you and Tracy." He remains still and unphased by what I'm saying. "Wouldn't you rather someone else? You can't actually be okay with this."

He scrubs his hands over his face, groaning. "Chloe, I don't want Tracy. I don't want anyone else. I'm committed to you now." It's a line that would have made butterflies swarm in my stomach if it were anyone else, any different situation. All anyone could want is being chosen over other girls, having a guy fully want you and no one else. With Quil though it's just not real or true. Maybe he thinks so now, but that's just the wolf hormones telling him how to feel.

"You're only committed to me because you imprinted on me." I say strongly, but the words make me want to cry. I swallow away the lump in my throat, trying to look unphased but it's hard for me to talk about my feelings. I always end up crying and that's the last thing I want.

"But that's how it works-"

"No it doesn't Quil, or at least it's not supposed to. You want to be with me because your stupid wolf brain says so, not your actual brain. Ugh that doesn't make sense! I'm saying a guy is supposed to want me because he actually like me and likes stuff about me. It's not like that with you." I sniffle and quickly wipe my tears the nearly spilled. I let out a heavy huff, shaking my head. "This is like my nightmare."

I don't dare look at Quil when I already feel so vulnerable. He'll probably laugh it off or still not understand what I mean. I just sit still, staring off into space, holding onto my pillow for dear life. My knuckles are pale from holding on so tight I don't let go. I try to calm myself down, turning away from the need to cry this out.

"Chloe." His voice is soft and gentle. I don't look at him as I dig my nails into my palm, trying to focus on anything else. "Chloe." He says again, but still I can't look at him.

I shake my head. "This isn't fair." Is all I say. "It's just not fair." My lip quivers, but I stay strong.

"I don't understand why being with me is the worst thing possible." He says quietly and it breaks my heart. I manage to look up at him and he's slumped in his seat, looking down at his lap. His puppy dog face looks genuine and he's gone quiet. I feel guilty. I hate the idea of making someone upset. "Am I that bad?"

I chew on the inside of my cheek, trying to collect my thoughts. "It's not that you're bad." I say in a soft tone. I focus on my chipped white nail polish so I can distract myself from my feelings.

"Am I that ugly?" He says so quietly I almost can't hear him. My head shoots up to look at him and he's playing with his hands. He shrugs his shoulders at me, knowing I'm watching him. "Sorry I'm not good enough for you Chloe, but yeah being friends works for me." He mumbles, standing up. He acts like I've just somehow broken his heart, but how is that possible when he didn't even care in the first place? Maybe the wolf in him makes him feel rejected, like I rejected the imprint. The real Quil deep down is unphased.

I want to stop him, tell him I don't think he's ugly at all. He's a lot of things, but those things have nothing to do with how he looks. He's an attractive guy, it's his demeanor that bothers me. He'll be content with just anyone and that's not good enough for me. I can't have a guy choose me cause I'm just the only girl to be giving it up in the moment. He feels now how he made me feel in eighth grade. Rejected, insecure, not good enough. I don't want that though, I wouldn't even wish that on Quil.

"Quil." I say as he starts to walk away, headed to his room with slumped shoulders. I call his name again but he just ignores me. His door shuts quietly behind him and I'm left feeling awful.

I get up with shaky legs, walking over to his door. I stand outside of it, thinking over what to say. I knock gently twice and pause, but he doesn't open the door. I try to open it myself, but it's locked.

Defeated, I walk over to my room instead, thinking of how I can fix this.