Author's Note: Honestly I get so lazy about proof reading sometimes, so I apologize! I try to do it, but sometimes I forget and I post it. Sometimes I'll go back and resubmit the same chapter, just without the mishaps lol. I appreciate your patience and support! I will try to do better, I can imagine it's annoying.

Chloe's POV:

I've heard of getting wrapped up in the heat of the moment, but I almost feel like that is an understatement for what went down last night. My head's been in a spiral ever since and my thought process seems to be getting sidetracked by my bodies needs to complete the imprinting. It's just not fair. I'm not ready to commit to Quil, but my body is more than ready. I feel even worse than I did before things got started last night. Ever since he touched me I can't think straight and I realize now that I really should've finished the job so I could focus a bit better today. Every time my mind isn't completely focused on a task I start thinking about Quil.

I tried to talk to Bella about it, and while I appreciate her, she doesn't get Quil.

Quil's more complex than Jake or Embry, he has a past. We have a past together. He burned me before, he has no respect for women, and he has sex on the brain all the time. Bella just thinks I should make things official with him because I'm horny for the guy and it's destined to be. I get it, but I'm not there yet.

I also can't seem to shake the guilty feeling of not reaching out to Kim, while knowing she's not doing well. It's like a logical part of my brain knows she screwed me over and I should wait for her to apologize, but my heart misses her. Kim knows all about what Quil's like and why I would be so hesitant.

Maybe I should just text her.

No Chloe, that's not what you want. You want her to apologize and to feel bad for hurting you.

I'm wiping down a table when I get a sharp pain in my hip. It's dull at first, like a cramp, but then it becomes piercing. I wince, dropping the cloth and stumbling a few steps back, clutching my hip. I look around quickly and then tug my jeans away from my body, inspecting my skin. Nothing is there. Weird. I graze my fingers over the area and soon the pain subsides.

"Chloe are you okay?" I turn to see Mrs. Lisa looking wearily at me.

I nod my head, forcing a smile. "All good." I assure her, going back to my task. "I can lock up again if you want to head out."

She smiles kindly at me. "I appreciate it hunny but I'm going to stay late tonight, I wanted to let you know you're free to go..are you sure you're okay?" Her smile fades a little.

I nod quickly. "All good. Thank you." I smile, grabbing the cloth and heading to the front of the library. I put my things away and collect my belongings before heading out. It's awfully stormy today with on and off heavy rain. I rush to my car as fat water droplets pour down on me. I slip inside the stuffy vehicle, smoothing my damp hair out of my face. Sighing heavily, I turn my car on and head home.

Luckily the library is a short drive, as most things are in the area. The only thing separating it from my house is a long road of woods. I drive slowly, though I'm pretty experienced driving in the rain. My phone buzzes and I retrieve it from my pocket, placing it on speaker on my dash.

"Hey dad." I call, increasing the wipers on my car. The sound of the rain is soothing but awfully noisy.

"Hey kiddo, how was work?"

"Not bad, slow day. How about you?" Moving out was the best thing to happen to my relationship with my dad. I loved living at home, but we bickered a lot about chores and curfews. It's easier living on my own, we get to spend time together without additional stress.

"Eh not bad, I just wanted to check in with you. How's the boys?" He's familiar with all of my friends of course, including Quil and Embry. If it were any other boys I wouldn't be able to live with them, but dad knew them since diapers. He's also good friends with Old Quil.

"They're doing good." I can't imagine telling my dad the stuff that's been going on. Oh by the way dad, I'm basically married to Quil. Oh, and he's a wolf! I smile to myself, thinking about how ridiculous my life is. I was always such a normal, borderline boring person. Look at me now, I'm a mess.

"Good to hear. Quit being a stranger okay, come over for dinner this week."

I smile, nodding to myself. "Of course I'll be over, I need real food. Hey can I call you back? I'm just getting home?" I ask, parking my car in the driveway.

"Sure, sure. Love you kid."

"Love you too!" I call, hanging up the phone. I grab my things and brace myself for the rain. I carefully run through the grass, not wanting to slip. I shove open the front door, letting out a heave as I get out of the rain.

Jake, Embry, Jared, and Paul are all crowding our living room, sitting quietly on the couches. I frown at them, kicking my shoes off. I wish I was asked before company came over right after work..the boys can get rowdy. I like having people over normally, but of course things are different these past few months. Plus I'm just tired from work and need a break from everything.

"Hey." I mumble, kicking off my muddy shoes.

"Chloe, hey." Jake waves a hand at me. "Something happened today."

I hum, smoothing out my damp clothes. "Yeah?"

"Quil got hurt." Embry speaks up, sounding very serious. My eyes shoot up to them and I realize everyone is dead serious as they stare back at me. Embry looks concerned, his hand running through his hair. Embry's a natural worrier and he gets me going too. He loves Quil like a brother and if he's freaking out, I will be too. Maybe I don't want to love Quil, but first things first, he's an old friend. I also don't think I'd do okay with my soulmate dropping dead when I never got to explore that.

Worry swarms me and I get a sick feeling in my gut. "Hurt? How?"

Jake stands up, walking over to me. "He was on his shift and he accidentally crossed the border between us and the Cullen's territory. His hip got ripped up pretty badly, he got into it with Rosalie, one of the daughters." Jake's tone is calm and stern, like a leader. "He's been patched up but he's in pretty bad pain, he'll be okay, he needs rest."

My heart is pounding in my chest and I feel a little sick to my stomach, like I may just vomit. "On his hip?" I ask, realizing my hip was hurting earlier. "His left hip?"

Jake's eyebrows string together as he nods. "Yeah, how'd you know?"

I reach down, wiping my hand across my hip. "My hip was hurting really bad like twenty minutes ago." I explain, looking down at it. Still, it's fully healed and untouched. "Is he going to be okay? Was he biten?"

"He'll be okay, he broke a bone."

My mouth drops open. "He broke a bone?" I ask slowly, he nods. "Well how long until he heals? He should be in the hospital!" I feel a little shakey with the news. "Where is he?" I ask, feeling frantic. Why isn't he at the hospital? Why are they so calm? A broken bone is fixable but it's awfully painful.

Jake places a hand on my shoulder, but it doesn't comfort me. "He's going to heal in a few days, he heals faster than humans, remember? He's in his room." I nod quickly, wanting to see him. It's not my place, but I need to see him. I need to see with my own eyes that he is okay. "Look, why don't you go check on him? We're going to go to Old Quil's and get a plant remedy for his cuts."

"Cuts?"

"He's okay." Jake repeats, trying to calm me. "We'll be back." He says before everyone stands up, following Jake's lead out of the house. I find it almost frustrating how calm everyone is. Clearly it's a sign that Quil's okay, but still. It's normal to worry, he was attacked by a goddamn vampire.

I turn towards the bedrooms, swallowing. I walk on shakey legs to Quil's room, knocking. "Leave me alone, I'm fine!" He shouts, sounding grumpy.

I pause, chewing on my lip. "It's me?" I ask more than I say it. He could know it's me and still not want me in there, but he's a moment away from me barging in. I don't care in this moment what he wants. I need to see him.

"Come in!" He calls, sounding lighter.

I push open the door, peaking my head in before walking in. Quil's laying sprawled out on his bed, a light gleam of sweat covering his body. His curls are stuck to his forehead and I can tell from all the way over here he's hiding his pain as he forces a smile at me. "Sorry, I thought you were Jake again." He explains.

I shake my head, slowly shutting his door. I walk over to him, my eyes roaming over his body. I spot several surface level cuts, but one bloody bandage on his hip catches my eye. There it is, that's what I felt for a moment. I somehow felt Quil's pain. I've been in a bit of denial about him really imprinting on me, but today is real proof. We're connected, beyond what I can even understand.

I make it to his bed, pausing. "Are you in a lot of pain?" I ask.

He shrugs a little, but his body is stiff. "It's not so bad." He says, sounding breathless.

I chew on my lip, not wanting to push him. "I heard you broke a bone?" My eyebrow raises.

He points to his chest. "A rib on my left side." Ouch. "I'm fine, nothing major."

"Can I get you anything?" I ask, looking back towards his door. I'm not sure what can make him feel better, maybe Old Quil's remedies can help him.

I look back and he's shaking his head. "No, but can you sit with me?"

My heart flutters a little at his sweet request. My face softens and I carefully crawl up his bed. As if I've done this a hundred times I lift up his arm a little, moving my head to his shoulder, cuddling into the side of him. It's not natural to be this way with him, but my body feels comforted right now by being close to him. Maybe that's what he can use right now too, me not being so difficult.

His arm snakes around me and instantly I feel at peace. A peace I don't think I've ever felt. I've never been this way with a guy before. My past hookups were not into romance or cuddling. It's new to me to feel this.

"I felt it when you hurt your hip." I mumble, my cheek pressed against him.

His fingers play with my hair and I shiver a little. "Seriously? Did it hurt?" I hum. "Wait really, it hurt?" He asks, sounding more worried.

"Only for a few seconds." I assure him, patting his chest. "No big deal, I just didn't know that happened."

"I'm going to talk to the council about that, that can't happen again." He mutters, sounding agitated.

I hush him. "How bad does your hip hurt?"

I feel him shrug. "It's better now that you're next to me." It sounds corny, but I know exactly how he means. Letting myself touch him is very comforting, it's a reminder that I'm holding out for something inevitable. I feel safe and secure right now, like I'll never feel scared again. We lay in a comfortable silence and I feel my eyes droop a bit as he continues to stroke through my hair. I shift so my legs are wrapped around his, resting some more weight on him. My fingers lazily draw over his chest, enjoying the sound of his heartbeat.

"Why did you hate me in high school?" His chest vibrates as he talks. His questions comes as a bit of a shock, but it's a conversation I knew would be coming soon. I've avoided this topic long enough.

"I didn't hate you."

"Then why'd we stop being friends?" He doesn't sound mad, more curious than anything. I guess it's time to air out our past. We never talked about it, I never felt the need to tell him how he hurt me. I figured he would know why I didn't like him.

"You rejected me in middle school." I say casually, no longer feeling mad about it after all this time. I just simply built walls around myself when it comes to him.

His fingers freeze in my hair. "I never rejected you..what are you talking about?"

I sigh, carefully lifting myself so I'm sitting up, able to face him and look him in the eye. His arm moves back to his stomach, staring up at me thoughtfully. "Remember? I found you crying on the bench in the park by school and I asked you to the dance? You rejected me. You made me feel shitty about myself." My back feel stiff and I play with my fingers, feeling a blush tint my cheeks.

When he's silent I pry my eyes up to look over him. He looks stunned. "That's not what happened. You..you did it out of pity. I was so mad at you for pitying me.."

I shake my head. "I didn't do it out of pity. I liked you for a year and I finally had the courage to ask." I correct him. He looks like he's working overtime trying to remember this. "You looked at me so disgusting that I would ask you, I was pretty hurt for a while. Then I wanted nothing to do with you and you went right back to asking out everyone except me."

His face goes from stunned to hurt. "Chloe, I read that whole thing completely wrong. I was so embarrassed thinking you felt bad for me, I didn't want to be pitied. I was fat-"

"You weren't fat Quil." I correct him. He was adorable at that age and I thought he was plenty attractive. He was never fat, he just let his friends pick on him too much. He started to believe them.

"Yes I was. And you were way out of my league."

I shake my head. "You asked out girls way prettier than me, you-"

"No one was ever prettier than you, Chloe." He says it so genuinely I feel my body flutter. His hand reaches out, touching my knee. "I always thought you were better than everyone else, it's why I didn't bother asking you out. I didn't think I had a chance. When I lost weight and gained a bit more confidence I asked you out in high school, but you weren't interested in me."

I shake my head. "Yeah, because I was happy to hurt you back. I was so upset when you rejected me, I got insecure." I shrug a little, hugging my arms to my chest. "I got over it in time."

"I had no idea you actually liked me, I'm so sorry. I would've never thought you were being serious." He shakes his head, looking at me with that pouty face he does, without meaning to. "Is that why you don't want to be with me?"

I pause, thinking on it. "I guess it was one of the reasons, yeah. You also have a horrible track record with girls." I add in, snorting a little. "I wanted a guy who would just have eyes for me, not everyone else to." I admit. "Maybe it sounds silly to you, but to me it would mean a lot if someone only wanted me and thought I was special." I shrug my shoulder, feeling shy about my feelings. It's not easy to admit I want to be loved and special, it's not something I'm so sure I should get. I'm not special, I'm boring, average.

There's a tap at the door and I turn as Jake dips his head in. "Hey-"

"Go away!" Quil yells at him, waving his hand around.

I rise from the bed, shaking my head. "You're good Jake, his hip is hurting him." I tell him, walking towards the doorway. Jake walks in the room, despite Quil's moans and groans about being interrupted. I said what I needed to say, it's best he thinks on it. Embry follows behind him, looking awfully worried.

I dip out, headed to my room to clear my head and take a hot shower.