Chloe's POV:
So apparently I have quite the busy Saturday ahead of me. Quil came in my room a few hours ago, very shyly asking if I'd attend a family dinner with him tonight at his house. I thought it was actually really sweet watching him act all shy and flustered. He assured me his mom and Old Quil know we're not "official" but still they want me to join the dinner. I don't think it'll be weird, I've always been pretty close with his family, especially Old Quil. I adore that guy, he's like a grandpa to me. He acts all sour and annoyed by everyone, but he's a little sweetheart. His mom is also the sweetest lady every, she's so loving and nurturing. After that, Jake's having a little party at his house since Billy's gone on a weekend fishing trip with Charlie and Henry.
I've gotten myself nicely put together in a nice outfit for dinner, I'll just need to come back to the apartment to change before the party. I want to make a good impression, even if they've known me my entire life. I guess technically this is the first time they're seeing me as Quil's imprint. It's like bringing your girlfriend home for the first time, the stakes feel high.
I'm trying not to get myself all nervous like Quil seemed to be. When I'm all ready I walk over to his bedroom, seeing him fix up his hair in his mirror. When he's done he stands up straight and turns to me, his eyes roaming over my entire body before he meets my gaze. He has a goofy smile on his face as he walks up to me. "You look great." His voice is a little husky, but I can't blame him. I have sex on the brain too, especially since our little heated moment this past week. I think Taha Aki is trying to force us together because my body is becoming more and more responsive to his nearness. I'm a stubborn girl though, I'll win this over Taha Aki any day.
"Thanks. You look nice too." And he does. He's wearing a black and white plaid shirt that's unbuttoned, with a basic white t-shirt underneath and a nice pair of jeans. It's casually nice and put together. It almost feels like we're matching though as I'm wearing a black knit sweater dress, black sheer tights, and a white boots. "Ready?"
He nods his head, grabbing his phone from the bed and stuffing it into his pocket. "I'll drive." He offers, leading the way out of the house and to his car. He politely opens the car door for me, waits for me to get situated, and gently closes it. He's trying so hard. I watch him run across the front of the car, getting into his own seat. I suppress a laugh, letting him have this moment.
We drive over to Old Quil's, casually talking about the party tonight. I think it's shaping up to be a good one. I'm a little nervous all over again to see who will show up, like Whitney, but I'm going to pretend like it doesn't still bother me. I would hate to feel like I'm competing with her. Still, I'm mostly excited to catch up with people. If I can forgive Kim, I can forgive the boys too. Apparently Paul has also imprinted on Rebecca, Jake's older sister. I'm interested to talk to her about how it's been going. I used to look up to Rachel and Rebecca, they were sort of like older sister figures to me. Rachel moved away a year ago, but Rebecca's been around laying low. She's still living with Billy and Jake, and I hear they're not a fan of Paul, poor guy.
As we pull into Old Quil's driveway I feel myself get a little more nervous. "Ready?" He asks me. I just nod my head, silently getting out of the car. I think if I admit I'm nervous he'll be nervous too. We awkwardly walk up to the porch together and Quil pushes the door open, his hand on the small of my back, guiding me into the house. My first thought is to swat his hand away, but it's actually making me relax, so I don't.
The smell of cranberry and fresh bread wafts over me and my mouth waters. Joy Ateara is an amazing cook, on top of everything else she does. She's a school teacher and a single mom, after Quil's dad passed away when he was a baby due to a really severe storm. She's been living with Old Quil ever since and they raised Quil together. I always thought their family set up was so sweet. Old Quil took Joy in as a daughter long before Quil was born, and it's remained the same even as his son passed away.
"Mom?" Quil calls as we turn the corner, leading into the kitchen. Joy's mixing something on the stove as she turns to look over her shoulder us. Her face brightens and she rushes over to the two of us.
"Chloe! I'm so glad you could come!" She squeal in delight, pulling me into a gentle hug. I smile, laughing a little at her excitement, hugging her back. As she pulls away she inspects me over. "You have changed so much since I've seen you. You look great, I love this dress." She gushes.
Quil laughs a little at us. "Calm down mom."
She turns to him, giving him a look. "Oh you shut your mouth." She swats him a little bit. She walks back to the kitchen, tending to the stove. "You guys can take a seat, I laid out some snacks." She calls out.
Quil motions me to follow him into the living room area, where Old Quil is occupying the couch. He has a plate of crackers and cheese in his lap and a beer in his hand. He's watching a football game intensely before noticing us. Quil lazily plops down next to him as I take a seat on the other couch.
Quil reaches for a piece of cheese on Old Quil's plate, but he's met with a sharp slap to the hand. "Don't touch my food, kid." He warns threateningly. "Chloe how have you been?" His eyes rise to me, a small smile on his face.
I smile back. "I've been good, just working at the library. How about you?"
He folds his hands, shrugging. "The same as always, happy as ever that this one moved out." He jabs a thumb at Quil. "How's Mrs. Lisa doing?"
"She's been great." I nod reassuringly. I move forward, scooping up a few crackers to munch on. I haven't eaten much today, half due to nerves, half due to laziness. I miss having someone cook for me all the time. I've gotten a little more interested in cooking over the last year, but still it takes a lot of effort. Someday I hope to be a good cook though, I always wanted to be the type of mom to have great food so my kids friends always want to come over for dinner. I think I want a big family someday. I just want to be surrounded with family when I'm older.
"How's work with you?" He asks Quil, but Quil's got a mouthful of cheese. He gives him a thumbs up, which results in a face from Old Quil. "Manners, boy." He shakes his head at his grandson.
"Foods done!" Joy calls from the other room. We all pile into the dining room which is nicely put together with some fall decorations and candles.
"Looks great." Old Quil compliments, taking his regular seat at the head of the table. "Thank you Joy." He nods to her. She smiles at him, motioning for him to stop.
We all take out seats and I end up sitting right beside Quil. She's made quite the homey meal and my stomach gurgles in anticipation. Without a word Quil steals the bare plate in front of me and starts loading it up with food right as Joy and Old Quil also help themselves. I raise an eyebrow at him, but then he sets the heavily piled plate back in front of them, waiting for everyone else to pile up before he really stocks his plate. I guess the new wolf jeans effect his eating habits a lot. I wait for Old Quil to pluck a mouthful of food into his mouth before I start eating, to play it safe.
"So Chloe how have you been? How's your father?" Joy asks me, smiling across the table.
I nod, swallowing my food. "I've been good, I've just been working. Dad's good too, he's been busy with his girlfriend."
She aw's at me. "How sweet, good for him. You like her right? She treats you well?"
I nod quickly. "She's really nice, I'm just hardly at home lately." I'll admit it was a bit weird at first seeing him date, but I really enjoy seeing him be happy and kept busy. "How have you been? How's the school year?" Joy's a elementary school teacher and has been for decades. She was my reading and phonics teacher at one point actually, a long time ago.
"It's been going great, but I'm hoping next year to start working with older kids at the high school. I think I'm ready for a small change." She shrugs a little, smiling to herself. "I think I can handle some teenage boys." She laughs, looking towards Quil who's overly focused on his meal. "How about you Quil, how's the shop?"
He wipes his mouth with a napkin, nodding his head. "All good. Work is getting busier so the pay is better lately."
"Great, hows Embry holding up?"
He shrugs. "He's fine. He's around more now." She nods her head at that, knowingly. I wonder if he leaned on his mom for support during those times when he lost all the guys. Joy and Old Quil were always aware of Quil's destiny, but they had to keep it a secret. I wonder how he felt about that too. I guess it would suck knowing my dad knew of my destiny before I did.
"How's the pack?" Old Quil leans back in his chair. "How's Sam doing with leading you boys? Are you giving him issues?"
Quil rolls his eyes. "Everything is fine with the pack."
"And how's the imprinting going?" The room seems to fill with an uncomfortable silence. I continue to pick at my food, not daring to look around the room. Quil seems to have paused with shoving food in his mouth. "Chloe?"
I look up at him, giving him a nervous smile. "Things are..good?" I say it more like a question than a statement. It feels weird having to talk about it with other people. I get our situation and so does Quil, I think, but maybe it seems a little odd to outsiders.
"We're taking thing slow." Quil answers confidently. "Things are all good." He sounds sure of it.
We finish with dinner, focusing on lighter subjects that the pack and imprinting. Joy and Old Quil got into a conversation about work and his next hunting trip, as Quil and I quietly ate our food. The boys have quickly retreated to watch the end of the game while I stuck around to help Joy clean up everything. There house is so nice and big, it's been in their family for generations and it's seen a lot of renovations more so in recent years. Joy has really put a comforting touch to the place. It's not overly feminine, just cozy and comforting. She has candles all over the place making the house small like pine and apples. There's also a lot of family pictures scattered around the house, which I've seen before many times.
I'm bringing plates to the sink as Joy's wiping down the counters. "The food was really good, thank you." I compliment her.
Her eyes seem to light up. "Aw thank you, I enjoy cooking. It's relaxing for me, do you?"
I bite my lip. "I want to enjoy cooking, but it still feels like a hassle for me."
She nods her head. "Oh it did for me too for a while, but then I found recipes that I really enjoy making because they're easy and the work pays off. Once you find a few you enjoy, it'll be better." She rests a hand on my shoulder. "So honey you can tell me honestly, how has the imprinting stuff been for you? You don't have to say everything's been easy, I know it was probably a shock."
I let out a breath, nodding. "It was a big shock, yeah. I don't think I was ready for something so big to happen at this point in my life and I've been having a hard time wrapping my head around it."
She nods, giving me her full attention as she puts down her rag, turning towards me with her hip resting against the counter. "I can imagine. How has Quil been to you? Is he putting pressure on you to move faster-"
"Not at all, he's actually been really very forgiving of my need to slow things down." I chuckle a little to myself.
She shakes her head and I worry I've said the wrong thing. "There's no need for forgiveness honey, you need to come to terms with it on your own time. He must respect your boundaries and needs over anything." She presses. "He's a good boy, but he gets carried away easily. This is all new to him too, but for him it may feel like things are suppose to fall into his hands. He feels things strongly because of his ancestors pushing that onto him." She motions with her hands. "He'll respect what you want, the situation is in your control now." I nod slowly, taking in her words. She's a very calming person to talk to and I'm thankful Quil has such a kind family. Someday I guess they'll be sort of like my family too. "I always knew you two would be together." She says, shaking her head with a smile.
"Really?" I ask.
She nods. "Oh yes, I had a sense about it. Ever since you two were little kids, I just knew it in my gut." She shrugs a little. "When Quil told me I was surprised, though I was really happy. No matter how long things take between you two, just know I always have an open ear if you want to talk." She rests a hand on my shoulder, before going back to cleaning.
Ever since I've left Joy's house I've been stuck on what she said and how happy I am to be apart of her family. Quil seems to be a in a good mood too as we got back and started getting ready for the party. I've changed my clothes and touched up my makeup for tonight, wanting to look and feel good. Jake's house is small but he has a pretty nice basement and a firepit outside. The weather has held up again today, no rain and no strong winds. The boys I'm sure will want to occupy the outside area because even the strongest of winds wouldn't really affect them. I've made sure to bring a jacket, along with Ryan's in case he makes an appearance.
Embry's offered to be the DD for the night as he always kind of is. He's not a big drinker, which probably stems from his mom being a huge drinker. He's more of a smoker, though I'm not sure if he still does that. The boys have a huge tolerance to substances now apparently, so they have to drink and probably smoke a ton to feel anything. Just like with medicine, their body burns right through it. I can't say the same for myself.
I've pulled this shirt out of the darkest crevice of my closet, I haven't had a opportunity to wear it yet. It's a big revealing in the chest area, but it's also a gorgeous brown color and it's flattering. I've paired it with light wash jeans and some docs, not wanting to overdo it.
I collect my stuff and exist my room, right in time for Embry to slip out of his. "Hey." I say to him.
"Hey." He smiles. "Do you know who's all going tonight?" I shake my head, Jake hasn't given me the details of that.
"No idea." I shrug a little. "So, did you hear about Ryan coming out?" Subtle Chloe, real subtle.
He nods. "Oh yeah, he's been out for a while though hasn't he?"
"Maybe but I just found out." I tug my bottom lip in between my teeth. "He mentioned liking you.." I'm not so sure how to play it casual with this situation. It would be easier if I knew what way Embry swings but I don't.
He laughs a little. "That's nice, but I like girls." Damn.
I laugh a little too. "Oh okay, I wasn't sure but he wanted me to feel you out." I admit, shrugging a little.
He snorts. "What do you mean? You didn't know I was straight?" He asks, sounding humored. "Chloe, I've had girlfriends before."
"Have you?" I ask, genuinely unaware of this. Embry keeps that part of his life so private, I would never have known really. He's a subtle person, lowkey even. He's very unlike the other boys, he doesn't make it known when he likes someone or goes on a date I guess.
He rolls his eyes, teasingly. "Yes, but really I'm flattered by Ryan's interest. Did you know Brady was into you?" He raises an eyebrow at me.
"Yeah I heard." I grumble. Just as I say that Quil's door pulls open and he steps out, smoothing out his tight shirt. Jesus, he looks so good right now. His shirt is so tight I can see his muscles move beneath it at every little movement he makes. His cologne and natural scent wash over me and I feel my stomach flutter. It's a little remind from Taha Aki that he wants to win in this argument.
"Fuck Brady." Quil mumbles. "Are we ready?" I nod and let Embry lead the way to his car. It's already dark out now, the last bit of sunlight trickling away with every moment. There air has that delicious crisp fall scent to it that I love so much. This time of year is so relaxing to me, I love it.
"Quil you might want to sit in the back, my front seat is a mess, I spilled coffee this morning." Embry warns, unlocking the car. I scoot into the backseat and Quil joins me. Embry's car is quite small and Quil seems to take up most of the space in here, bumping his knees on everything.
"Shit man this is a tight fit." He mumbles, pulling the door shut behind him. I laugh a little at how he looks, shaking my head at him. His eyes rise to me and he smiles. "You think this is funny? I can't even sit up straight." He motions to his head being pressed to the ceiling.
"Oh don't be a baby." Embry says, moving his seat up a bit. Quil sinks lower in his seat so he can fit better. "There."
Embry starts up the car and I settle in my seat, buckling up. His car makes a weird noise as he backs up and I stiffen a laugh. They work at a mechanic shop and still Embry rides in a shitty ass car. I sigh, stretching out my legs.
I feel Quil's gaze burning into the side of my face, but I ignore it. "Did I tell you you look good tonight?" He asks, his fingers skating across the seat between us, stopping just before touching me.
"No." I answer honestly.
His lips curl up. "Well you look so fucking sexy." He licks his lips, his eyes falling from my eyes to my chest, eyeing it up like it's the most impressive thing he's ever seen. My stomach does back flips and my heart pounds a little harder in my chest but I just snort at him.
"Don't touch each other in my backseat." Embry calls from the front of the car. I almost forgot he was here with us for just a moment.
Quil turns forward. "If Chloe wants me to touch her I'm gonna touch her." He mocks at his friend, reaching over to place a hand on my thigh, gripping me firmly.
Despite myself I shiver at his touch and I watch his smile turn to a smirk. "Cold are you?" He teases, wrapping his arm around my waist, tugging me with his ease into his side. I laugh in shock at how easily he did that. I'm pressed firmly against his side with his arm hugging me to him, his hand on my waist. His fingers graze over the bare section of my waist, further teasing me. He's flirty tonight, but I sort of like his attention like this. It feels fun, lighthearted even.