Realization

by JessMissedHer

Installment Three in Imprintation Series. Continue following Quil and Claire in their journey, navigating life both together and separately as they struggle with the new challenges they never anticipated facing.

13. Chapter 13

Author's Note:

I know, I know! It took me sooo long to post this chapter and all I can say is I'm sorry and that to hopefully make up for it, here is one massively long chapter... like it could be three separate chapters, I swear! I've been so busy working on a project I'm so excited about and can't wait to drop! But for now, hopefully this massively long chapter helps heals the sting of waiting!

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CHAPTER 13

Claire:

The drive home from the rehearsal dinner with just Quil and Claire in the Camaro was quiet and a little uncomfortable. Quil seemed to be as lost in his own separate and yet also shared feelings as she was. Claire was kicking herself the whole way home for letting herself start to have even the tiniest sliver of hope for a reconciliation between the two of them, or at least the kind of reconciliation that she was looking for… She'd known where he stood on things and even though he'd been softer the last week than he'd been since her dad had died and he'd obviously admitted to feelings of attraction that he hadn't gotten over or been able to turn off, he had never said or done anything to indicate his stance had changed at all on the appropriateness of a relationship between the two of them… and yet she'd been the idiot who for just a single moment let herself believe that just because he liked her boobs in his t-shirt he must still be in love with her….

She was infuriated, but mostly with herself, she couldn't blame anyone else. No one else had told her to hope for something completely out of her control and unobtainable but she just had to rip open the wound that was only barely starting to scab over and then pour in some salt for good measure.

She'd barely made it through the rehearsal in a complete daze while refusing to look at or make eye contact with Quil again, which turned out to be pretty easy because in the end she'd been really grateful for Sofia's strategized interference. As soon as Jacob was done with his fake-practice wedding schpeel, the happy couple had cheered and then the dozen or so people in attendance had applauded before Brady and Sofia made their way back down the aisle together. Next, immediately after them, Collin escorted Gracie in the official Best Man/Maid of Honor position. Quil and Claire were next in line but just as they both stepped forward, Claire looking in confusion at Sofia's back since she was supposed to have orchestrated it so that Claire didn't have to walk down the aisle with Quil, Jacob himself stepped in between them just as Quil was starting to say Claire's name and reach a hand out toward her.

"I'm just gonna cut in real quick and walk my beautiful wife down the aisle." He said with an easy smile but the tension in his shoulders and the way he didn't really acknowledge Quil as he seemed to speak directly to Claire made it hard to believe that was really all there was to it.

Claire automatically stepped back and out of the way as Renesmee stepped forward, giving Claire's arm a supportive squeeze as she passed, before grabbing Jacob and hurrying up the aisle together before a gap could form.

Claire didn't see how that really solved the problem though until Leah suddenly stepped past her and grabbed Quil forcefully by the arm.

"Come on, Lover. Here's that chance you finally always wanted to show me off on your arm." Leah said as her unconcerned explanation while Quil wordlessly allowed her to stir him up the aisle.

Claire sighed with a confusing mixture of regret and relief as she looked up and realized that she and Tag were the only two left under the arch and the guests of Brady's and Sofia's parents had left the front row already. Tag smiled happily as he held out his arm to her,

"Shall we?"

He smiled as he said it so that it seemed so sincere and friendly, and Claire smiled gratefully in response as she fed her hand in the space above his elbow so that she was really just holding onto his bicep and doing her very best not to compare the feel of it to Quil's who'd she'd just been holding the same way only an hour before. Especially when Tag placed his hand directly on top of hers the same way Quil had in that last moment when their eyes had locked together. Claire had thought (stupidly obviously) that it had been some sort of signal, some sort of claim on her, but clearly it was a meaningless gesture since Tag was just as likely to do it, as he asked unconcerned,

"You ever feel like there must be a reason they just left us at the back of the line?"

Claire laughed as she noticed all the other couples ahead of them and already making it into the tent set up for the reception tomorrow.

"Maybe because we are at the end of the line?" Claire pointed out.

Since there was no one around to witness them, they'd fallen out of step and allowed themselves to fall behind instead of keeping the perfect spacing they were all supposed to maintain.

"Yeah, but I think in my case there might have been a reason they stuck me back here as an after-thought." Tag said with a self-deprecating shrug.

Claire turned to look at him right next to her and still holding her hand against his arm. She had to look up a few inches since he was tall, but he was only around six foot, so it was only a couple inches above her instead of the seven to nine (or in Jacob's case eleven) that she had to look up at all of the wolves with.

"I'm pretty sure you're stuck back here so that you can walk with me." Claire admitted with a slightly apologetic smile.

"Um…. I'm pretty sure it's the opposite since I volunteered to partner with you."

Claire looked at him in surprise since she'd been positive Brady had to ask him to as a favor to keep Quil away from her.

"You did?" she asked shocked.

"Yeah, I mean you're a cool girl, and we get along well, and you aren't gonna man-handle me around the dance floor." He replied easily.

"Was that a concern of yours?" Claire laughed, relieved for the distraction that gave her something to focus on besides the image of Quil and Leah twenty feet ahead of them with Leah definitely looking like she was manhandling Quil up the beach.

"Oh, definitely." Tag replied as he too seemed to notice Leah ahead of them. "You look nice tonight, by the way."

Claire looked down at her wrinkled homecoming dress she was wearing and her now frizzy braid from the ocean breeze.

"Thanks." She replied softly since didn't know what else to say. "You look nice tonight too!" she suddenly offered as she took the time to actually look at him for the first time.

He actually did look nice. He was wearing a white dress shirt that was unbuttoned at the collar and had the sleeves rolled up past his elbows with a pair of khakis and bare feet. He had nice feet. Claire suddenly blushed at the thought since she felt so weird having noticed that, he looked better dressed up without shoes than with. It was such a weird thing to notice.

Tag laughed at her clearly noting the way she was barely just now looking at him. When she didn't really laugh, he seemed to fade off a bit and asked cautiously, "Hey, are you okay? I mean I haven't seen you since that night…. I figured you were okay after everything, but I just wanted to say that I don't think of you any differently after everything that happened in Vegas."

He slowly stopped walking as he turned to look at her while he talked but Claire figured it had more to do with not being overheard since they were only forty feet from the tent and Quil and Leah were still within thirty feet of them.

"Oh," Claire started, surprised and now embarrassed at the mention of her last night in Vegas. "Thanks… that's nice of you… No, I'm fine really, I've just had a long day at work."

"Where do you work?" Tag asked and Claire could tell he was asking it to give her an out from talking about that disastrous trip less than a week ago.

"I'm a nanny for Sam and Emily's kids." Claire said gratefully as they started walking again, this time with a rather slow meander and Claire's hand was still held in his grasp on his arm.

"And which ones are Sam and Emily again?" Tag asked confused since the whole wolf family was clearly a confusing mess of people when you weren't pretty intimately involved.

"Sam was the first Alpha of the pack after the wolves came back… he was actually the first to ever phase, from that generation at least. He led the wolves until Jacob took over." Claire explained and Tag nodded his head clearly remembering or getting the gist of it as she continued. "Sam and Emily are actually my aunt and uncle."

"Oh, so is that how you fit into all of this?" he asked as he nodded to the tent ahead of them that seemed a lot smaller with almost an entire pack of wolves taking up so much space.

Claire gave a sort of ironic laugh as she replied, "Uh, no. Not exactly."

Tag just looked at her in obvious question until she continued, "I became part of the pack family when Quil met me one summer when Emily was babysitting me and my older sister….. I was two." Claire admitted, wondering why she felt the need to tack her age on at the end… it always seemed like an important part of the story but in reality, was probably irrelevant.

Tag raised his eyebrows in shock as he looked back up at the party ahead of them and the glasses of champagne Sofia's parents were passing around. "Wow." He commented obviously shocked though Claire was surprised since she figured he had to have heard the story before. "So, I need you to explain to me Quil's connection to you here." He said in a soft yet obviously confused tone of voice.

"…. He imprinted on me. I'm his imprint." Claire said quickly after a second but with surprised confusion because Tag should definitely already know this. "He imprinted on me when I was two and that's how I joined this whole crazy family."

"Yeah… but are you like one hundred percent sure about that?" Tag asked mischievously and Claire suddenly laughed when she realized he was just teasing her about it. "But really, I've met more than a few imprint couples over the years and seen enough of Brady with Sofia to last me a lifetime…. But I dunno, somehow Quil just doesn't seem to…" he faded off suggestively as Claire suddenly pulled him to a stop again.

"…. To what? To care about me? Is that what you were going to say?" Claire asked with only a slight quiver in her voice under the almost urgent accusation.

"No, that's not what I was gonna say. I'm sure he cares about you, Claire." He immediately replied before blowing out a breath and trying to nudge her forward again as if he regretted ever asking her about it.

Claire only managed a single step forward before she stopped to ask,

"Well what were you gonna say?"

Tag just shrugged his shoulders with nonchalance,

"I was going to say he doesn't really seem to love you…. or at least he doesn't act like he loves you the way all the other wolves seem to love their wives."

Claire's heart seemed to bottom out and then drop to the approximate place where her stomach should be that also wasn't there since it too had dropped.

It was her deepest fear realized. Her greatest insecurity on full display.

Quil didn't love her. Not only did he not love her but anyone around them with two eyes would apparently see that. And after her conversation that afternoon with Emily she was now convinced how pathetically obvious her own unrequited love for him was.

And then just to make it even worse there was that word. Wives. Tag had just thrown it out there completely blasé… but even if he hadn't said it the implication would still be there. They were all wives. All of the imprints were married to their wolves. After this time tomorrow, besides Macy, Claire would be the only imprint who wasn't married to her wolf. Besides Emily and Sam, and Jared and Kim, Quil and Claire had been together the longest too.

Claire's hand start shaking against Tag's arm and he looked down at it in his and started to say something before a commotion ahead of them had both of their heads snapping up. It wasn't loud so they could only hear the subtle voices of Quil being held back by both Collin and Leah as he pointed with his open hand directly at Claire with Tag and said something angrily to them that they couldn't make out from thirty feet away.

"Oh shit. Do you think he heard that?" Tag replied a little off handedly before he looked back at Claire and gave her hand a comforting squeeze.

"Yeah, supernatural hearing is a serious inconvenience sometimes." Claire replied but only with an echo of the voice she seemed to have lost through the course of the evening. Quil looked directly at her with a look that made it clear he'd heard exactly what she'd just said and didn't appreciate it as he continued ignoring whatever Leah was trying to emphatically tell him.

Suddenly Sofia was calling everybody to come practice the dance sequence for the next day and music started playing as Quil turned his back on her and moved back into the tent with Leah still hanging on his arm. Claire sighed as Tag led her forward and they hurried to take their spot in the tent.

The dancing was easy since it was actually going to be Sofia and Brady's first dance and they danced by themselves for the first half of the song before the bridal party filled in. Tag was easy to dance with and held Claire steady while pulling her in close enough that their faces were side to side instead of having to look directly at each other. It probably seemed like a pretty intimate way to dance but at least he smelled nice, Claire figured he probably wore an expensive cologne, and he moved at a fast-enough pace that there was no real lingering in each other's arms... plus, there was no way to really speak to each other which was the real reason she figured he'd pulled her in closer than Collin did with Leah or Quil did with Gracie. Trying to have casual small talk in a room full of people who just overheard your private conversation from thirty feet away is never a very comfortable thing to do.

Fortunately, the music was loud since they already had the speaker system set up in the tent, and the only thing they had to do was dance…. until the dinner when it was the bridal party's turn to offer toasts since only the Maid of Honor, Best Man, and the parents would toast at the reception. Since Claire was the last Bridesmaid in line, she and Tag got to go first.

Standing up alone to offer the toast at the wedding she'd been preparing for since February but had anticipated attending as engaged,possibly even married, or at the very least Quil's girlfriend, was not an experience she'd ever wanted to have. She stood with her champagne glass and suddenly realized that her hand was visibly shaking around it. She quickly brought the glass to her stomach so that her arm was supported by her body and the shaking seemed to stop but she couldn't be sure since she was now looking at the dozen bodies all seated around her and giving her their full attention.

"Sofia and Brady," Claire started with a smile but then suddenly froze.

Her heart was pounding, and she was definitely starting to sweat as a panic came over her.

What could she possibly say to them? Everyone in the room knew she was single and why. She couldn't even give helpful thoughts on an imprint-wolf relationship because she was the epitome of an epic failure in that regard.

The entire tent was staring at her and she wasn't saying anything.

She definitely needed to say something.

She cleared her throat and then continued without really knowing what she was going to say, "… I've known you both long enough to call you friends." Brady suddenly smiled affectionately at her and she suddenly had a distant memory of her third birthday where she played Pretty, Pretty, Princesses with him and Quil. The memory made her smile and calmed her enough to focus just on the couple she was speaking directly to. "Sofia, when Brady met you, I was just relieved to finally have a girl close to my age join the pack." There were some brief chuckles from the guests in response before she continued, "But it didn't take me long to see the way you completed him. The way he was so much more himself with you than he ever was without you…. You two make love look easy and I wish you the complete happiness you both deserve. -Cheers!"

Everyone raised their glasses in response as Sofia beamed at Claire and Brady smiled at her again. Claire just took a large swallow from her glass, barely refraining from draining the thing when she remembered at the last second that everyone could still see her before she sat back down.

When Tag stood up, she didn't hear any of his toast…. or anyone else's. She was too overcome with relief and exhaustion once the adrenaline left her to do anything but sit limply as she listened barely enough to register when she was supposed to lift her glass and drink to the couple. She didn't even notice Quil give his toast until he sat back down, and she had no idea what he'd said. She barely kept a yawn back during Renesmee's toast which was a shame since she was sure it must have been beautiful.

As soon as the toasts were finished, and casual conversation broke out over top the abandoned dinner plates Quil stood up from the other table and made his way to Claire before anyone could say anything to stop him.

"You ready to go home?" he asked quietly as he grabbed the back of her chair and refused to acknowledge Tag sitting beside her.

"Yup." Claire replied as he pulled her chair out and she stood up.

Leah, Sofia, Collin, and Renesmee were all looking at them with great concern as Claire said happily, "Goodnight, Everybody! See you tomorrow!"

"We'll talk tomorrow, Claire!" Renesmee rushed to call as everyone else called goodbye.

Claire managed a small smile in her direction in response as Quil put his hand on her lower back and steered her toward the side of the tent. Claire moved without question, heading away from the wedding party as he walked beside her.

She'd expected him to say something as soon as they were far enough away from the tent to grab their shoes and have a private conversation, but he hadn't said anything, even when he'd opened the car door and help her get her dress inside of it. Claire had been too tired and angry at herself to say anything to him anyways. She was staring out the dark window trying to relive her toast and figure out exactly how pathetic and lonely she must have sounded when Quil suddenly broke the twenty minutes of intense silence between them.

"Claire?"

She turned to him in response as she waited to see what he'd have to say. He took a deep breath before he suddenly asked,

"Did something happen between you and Tag in Vegas?"

Claire almost choked and had to clear her throat in shock at the random accusation that was probably the last direction she'd expected him to go in as she turned to look at Quil more seriously next to her. He wasn't looking at her since he was driving but his hands were shacking against the steering wheel and even though she had no idea where the question had come from, it was clear that he was upset enough over it to have a hard time controlling himself.

"No, Quil." She sighed in a resigned voice too exhausted to analyze it. "Nothing happened between Tag and I in Vegas."

"Did something happen not in Vegas?" he clarified.

"No!" she answered in disgust and he blew out a relieved breath in response.

It was silent between them and for some reason Quil didn't have any music playing like he usually did so there was nothing to break up the quiet in the car. When he didn't say anything for a few minutes Claire turned back to the window and went back to trying to remember exactly what she'd managed to spew out for her toast and try to think back to the amount of champagne she'd drunk and if that was why her brain was so tired and foggy. She had planned on counting the glasses she had but Tag had kept refilling her glass every time it was even half empty and there had been so many toasts she kept drinking to, plus she thought she had at least half a glass during dinner before they'd even started on the toasts.

"Would you tell me if you had?" Quil suddenly asked after multiple minutes of silence.

"I think I drank too much." Claire muttered more to herself than to him before she tried to think back and figure out what he was asking her.

"How much did you have?" he asked concerned as he looked over at her from the driver's seat.

"I don't know." She replied honestly as she adjusted the air vent, so she was getting hit with a little more cold air and not feeling so overwhelmingly tired. "… would I tell you if I had what?"

Quil just stared at her for a second and she could tell that he was trying to gage her sobriety. Since she was sober enough to notice that, she figured she couldn't be completely wasted.

Quil suddenly reached his hand across and touched her face. She froze in stiff shock at the contact as he pressed the back of his hand to her cheek. "You're definitely a little flushed. You feeling tipsy?"

Claire was a little shocked that they were speaking so calmly about it especially seeing as how exactly a week ago he had freaked out when he saw her drinking a single glass of champagne on a casino floor.

"No. Just sleepy." Claire sighed before she leaned her head back against the cold window subtly pulling away from him in the process. "Would I tell you what?"

When Quil didn't respond and Claire was starting to get tempted to close her eyes like they were begging her to, she forced her head to turn so that she could look at him until he answered.

"…. Would you tell me if something had happened between you and Tag?"

Claire felt her eyebrows scrunch as she tried to think through what he was asking and possibly implying.

"Why would you even think something had happened?" she asked confused.

He sighed in what sounded like almost frustration and Claire realized that she had managed to avoid answering the question just as they pulled up in front of her house. Quil put the car in park in the driveway where she usually parked the Jetta.

"I heard him talking to you." He acknowledged like that explained it all.

Claire nodded a little distractedly as she pursed her lips, trying to look like she got it. "Okay, maybe I am a little drunk because I have no idea what you're referring to."

Quil sighed again as he put both hands back on the steering wheel and gripped it as he faced the windshield, "He said he wanted to know if you were okay because he hadn't seen you since that night…. And he's really comfortable holding you." he tacked on at the end as an explanation.

Claire thought back on the night and the conversation she had with Tag before she shook her head and muttered, "He was talking about you, Quil. He hadn't seen me since I was completely berated and humiliated in front of the entire wedding party and then left Vegas in tears." She sighed at the thought before she bent forward to pick up her purse and shoes from the floor of the car, she wrapped her train around her arm as she reached for the handle and muttered, "Thanks for the ride."

She stopped when she felt something too hot on the skin of her left leg. When she looked down to see Quil's hand basically covering most of her lower thigh since she was pulling the train to her right and lifting the skirt in the process of preparing to get out of the car. She looked over at him in shock, but he was looking down at the steering wheel in front of him with his left hand still wrapped around it. He looked stressed and frustrated, but he made no move to say anything, he just held her in the car with his touch against her leg.

She didn't like it. It was too warm, and she was too fuzzy. It was making her feel things, or imagine she was feeling things. Things from him in his touch. It wasn't what he should be doing. It wasn't what Bennett would do. It wasn't what an uncle would do. She shook her head in a mix of confusion and disapproval, but he wasn't watching her.

"Do you want to come with me to fix your car in the morning?" he asked blankly while still not looking at her or removing his hand from her leg.

Claire took only a second to think about what he was asking before she simply said, "No."

"Why not?" he asked as he turned to look at her finally and she was shocked by how open and vulnerable he suddenly was, like there were no walls between them at all. The last distinct memory she had of him looking at her like that was the first time he'd asked her to move in with him, they'd been sitting in this car with his hand holding her then too.

"Because ….. because the wedding is tomorrow. I'll be too busy getting ready."

The truth was she just couldn't take spending any more time alone with him. It was too confusing and frustrating, and she couldn't afford to backslide any more than she already had this weekend.

"How are you going to get to La Push if you don't have your car?" he argued.

"Bennett's my date, he'll drive me."

Quil looked away and it was almost like she could see him putting walls up between them again except that his hand was still on her leg, "Right." He muttered in a detached voice.

Claire reached into her purse until she was able to find her wallet and pulled out the card with her name on it.

"Here." she said as she slid it between her leg and the heat coming off his hand, hoping he'd take the hint and let go of her.

"What is it?" he looked over at her to ask instead of moving his hand.

"It's a credit card." She sighed as she rubbed at her temple lightly and then pressed her head against the cool glass of the window again. She was starting to get a headache, but it didn't seem like he was in any rush to let her go so that she could go rest on her bed in peace.

He chuckled lightly at her response and it was almost enough to get her to open her eyes and turn to look at him, but she was too tired to interact or care.

"Why are you giving me your credit card?" he obviously rephrased in response.

"Because I'm pretty sure alternators aren't free." She mumbled as she tried to do an internal tally of everything she'd brought into his car without opening her eyes to make sure she'd already grabbed everything.

"Oh no, Claire. Don't worry about it." He replied easily.

"Oh no, Quil. I am going to worry about it." She said irritably in response, annoyed by his dismissal of her.

"Seriously, Claire. I got it." He urged her and for some reason the fact that he wanted to take care of her annoyed her to no end. She didn't need a father-substitute to fix things for her.

"Seriously, Quil. I got it." She snapped as she turned to look at him and she could feel her annoyance written across her face.

He finally pulled his hand back from her leg and the card she'd slid under it stuck to her skin where he left it.

"…Why-?" he started to ask in obviously aggravated confusion before he took a breath and finished more calmly, "You've never had a problem with me buying stuff for you before, why won't you let me just take care this?"

"Because I don't need someone to take care of me!" she huffed as she grabbed tighter to her dress and reached for the handle on the door again, "You know what!? Don't even worry about it. I'll call AAA in the morning. Just forget I ever called you."

"Wait, wait, wait!" Quil said with a mix of ease and annoyance as he reached over and swiped the card off the bare skin of her lap so that his fingers brushed her leg and sent a burning singe all the way up her body. A singe she deeply resented. "I'll take it, okay? I'll even use it to buy the parts, alright?"

Claire just huffed her frustration before she nodded her head in agreement and then finally pulled the handle so that the door unsealed.

"Claire?" he said again softly before she could push the door open.

Barely holding back the urge to forcefully snap WHAT!? at him, Claire took a breath in through her nose as she turned to look expectantly at him, shocked to find again the same expression of open honesty and trust written across his face.

"Would you tell me if you had hooked up with Tag somehow?"

Claire's frustration melted slightly because of the soft, endearing way he'd asked, like he was begging her to tell him.

"I have no idea." She replied honestly. "I can't even imagine hooking up with another guy right now."

Quil nodded his head in reply before he turned to face the front again like he was prepared to finally let her leave. For some reason though instead of actually taking her chance to leave she used his same tone of voice and whispered,

"Would you tell me?"

He looked back at her and they're eyes snapped back into that stupid connection again that they couldn't seem to escape from.

"Tell you if I hooked up with someone else?" he clarified in a whisper just like she had.

She just nodded in response without breaking away from his eyes that she was locked into.

"Yes." He promised softly.

For a single moment she thought his hand was reaching for her face again but then his answer caught up with her instead of just his tone, and she shoved the door open at the same time she turned away from him. She didn't reply as she forced her way out into the chilly air and let the door fall closed with a slam behind her.

She said she couldn't even imagine hooking up with someone else and his response was that he promised he'd tell her if he did?

"What a douche!" she mumbled under her breath as she marched up the path and hoped he overheard her. He was still sitting in his car, clearly waiting to make sure she got into the dark house okay.

She was the only one home and she was having a hard time keeping her balance up and straight as she made it to the dark porch that she'd forgotten to leave the light on for tonight. She dug through her purse until she found her keys and then shoved them into the lock, barely managing to twist her wrist at the correct angle to unlock it, but as soon as the door opened, she yanked the keys out and stepped in. She slammed the door behind her before she dropped her stuff on the table and marched up the stairs. She only got halfway up before she stopped and turned back around to face the door again.

"Jerk!" she yelled at it.

It didn't respond so she eventually turned back around and stomped all the way up to her room.

Quil:

Quil sighed as he pulled up in front of Claire's house. It was still fairly early for a Saturday morning, but he had no idea what time Bennett was going to be there, and he didn't want to wait until later and take the chance of running into him. He wouldn't have stopped at the Young's at all if it weren't for the fact that he needed Claire's car keys. He would have preferred to drive straight down to La Push and stay the day there, he needed it after the week he'd had. Spending time in La Push always felt like getting back to his roots, like he could recharge and just go back to a time in his life where all he worried about was fighting vampires or outrunning Paul or how to get a girl to go out with him.

Plus, the fact that he knew Claire didn't want to see him today didn't help his feeling of not wanting to be there, but he couldn't work on her car without the keys so there he was at 8:45, not even ten hours after he'd dropped her off, pulling up to park in the driveway again the same way he had the night before. He blew out a breath as he tried not to think about the previous evening. He'd been putting off dealing with it all morning. He didn't want to think about it or analyze his own feelings. He'd have plenty of time to do that as he was working today anyways.

He looked in the back seat of his car to see his dress clothes laid out with his to-go bag packed next to them. He was pretending to double check that he hadn't forgotten anything but in reality, he was just procrastinating having to face Claire. He shook his head at his own stupidity as he forced himself out of the car and then up the drive and across the walk to the front door.

He didn't knock, even though he figured he probably should. It just seemed like the formality would just give the weirdness between them even more power. Instead, he just tried the unlocked handle and let himself in. The house was empty which was mostly expected since he'd assumed she was the only one here since Jamie was in La Push and Rachel was in California, but it was entirely possible for Susan to have randomly decided to show up.

"Claire?" he called as he looked around the downstairs that looked exactly the same as when he'd been there the day before to pick up her dress for her.

When he stopped to listen for a response, he finally noted the sound of the shower running upstairs, he could even hear her moving around as the water splashed off her.

He breathed a sigh of relief when he noticed her purse on the kitchen table and figured he could just take the keys and leave before he sent her a text telling her he'd been there. When he grabbed her purse though he wondered for the first time if he should really being going through it….. he only considered it for a second before he figured he was too committed to getting in and out to stop now and just dug right into it.

Her wallet was there, along with some lipstick, a couple tampons and a ton of paperwork. No keys though. He did wonder what the hell all the paperwork was for. It was all folded in half to fit in her purse so he couldn't read any of it, but it all looked official and he was incredibly tempted to open them and see what they were for. He resisted though as he put everything back in again, knowing he was already on incredibly thin ice with Claire right now and she probably wouldn't forgive him for invading her privacy by reading personal documents that he'd found in her purse he wasn't supposed to be going through in the first place.

He shook his head to shake off the temptation as he looked around again trying to think of where else her keys could be. When he didn't immediately spot them or think of any other alternatives for where they could be, he finally gave up and slowly started climbing up the stairs knowing he was just going to have to bite the bullet and ask her.

When he got to her room, he just slowly made his way inside of it since he could still hear her in the shower, and it was the only way to get into her bathroom. It was still a mess, shockingly so when he considered the condition she usually kept it in, but was a marked improvement on the day before. Her suitcase was gone, and it looked like she'd finally unpacked it. And the sprawl of clothes on her floor were now limited to three or four piles all distinctly separated. Quil could hear the washer running down the hall and knew that she must have already started a load. Her bed was even made now. Her desk and dresser were still a cluttered disaster but at least he could walk from the door to the bathroom without having to navigate a minefield of teenaged girl underwear on the floor.

The bathroom door was open, and the counter already had tons of products laid out on it like Claire was preparing for a whole make over once she got out of the shower. Her blow dryer was out along with multiple curling irons and about a dozen bottles of hair products plus her makeup bag all set out within easy reach of each other.

Quil wondered suddenly what her roll was for tonight and why she had so much prep to do. Before he could delve any further into it, he looked at the door to the shower that he could still hear running and knocked insistently on it. The sound of Claire's movement on the other side immediately froze before the water shut of completely.

"Mom?" Claire called a little nervously, obviously knowing she'd been the only one home when she'd gotten in the shower.

"It's me." Quil called back through the door and then held his breath for her response.

"Quil!?" she called back with obvious aggravation clear in her tone.

He could hear her moving around behind the door before it suddenly whipped open unexpectantly. There she was right in front of him. Looking almost directly up at him as she held the door opened with one hand and used the other to hold her towel securely closed around her chest. Her hair looked darker since it was so wet and all dripping directly down her back to where it disappeared under the towel that she hadn't pulled it out of. She was soaking wet, and he could see the water still clingy to her skin, as he noted with surprise the gold necklace he'd given to her lying across her skin that was shiny and wet and smooth, completely uninterrupted until her towel covered her.

It was a lot seeing her like that. Especially after seeing her in just her underwear the day before. It was worse though because it was just a towel, a towel that would take only one small tug to send tumbling to the floor. A towel that was quickly getting wet with her skin and molding more tightly to the curves of her body. Quil barely had time to catch the groan in his throat that almost made its way out just as Claire asked,

"How did you get in here!?"

Quil blew out a breath, determined to force his answer out in a completely normal voice,

"The front door was unlocked." His voice did sound a little strained, but she didn't seem to notice which was a relief.

"It was?" she asked shocked as she reached her hand from the door up to push her wet hair back some more and Quil had to swallow and look up at the ceiling to avoid looking at the top of her breast that lifted up when her arm did but then looked right back down at her again hoping she wouldn't notice how affected he was by her. He'd already told her too much about it the night before. He didn't need to make the problem worse by giving her another live example of it.

"Yup." He suddenly said when he realized it was his turn to speak, his voice sounded like he might be choking.

He was losing too much control. His body was heating up and his hands were starting to shake. If he stayed much longer something bad was going to happen. He wasn't sure if he would just explode and turn into a wolf or just shove her against the shower wall and kiss her until she couldn't remember why she'd ever looked at him with that look of mistrust and disdain she was currently giving him… he really wasn't sure which, but he knew he'd definitely lose control and that it'd be bad.

"So, you just decided to come in and interrupt my shower?" she questioned, and he could suddenly tell that she was starting to think he was intentionally looking for moments where he could check her body out.

Apparently, she had noticed his reactions more than he'd been hoping for. He cleared his throat and shoved a hand into his hair as he turned away from her so that he wasn't looking at her anymore but could still have a conversation as he faced the bathroom around him instead of her in the open doorway.

"I need your keys to work on your car." He said roughly, resenting the implication she was suggesting while still refusing to now look at her. "I already looked everywhere I could think to find them."

"Oh." She said in what sounded like a mix of regret and surprise. "I think they're on my desk."

"Great." He replied without emotion as he turned away from her to move back into her room.

She didn't reply as she stayed in the bathroom behind him. He pushed his way into her bedroom again and then navigated around her laundry until he spotted her set of keys on her desk and reached over to grab them.

"Did you find them?" she called out to him from her spot still behind two bathroom doors.

"Yup." He called back simply as he started making his way toward the door, ready to leave again. He didn't need to stay and be accuse of more things he couldn't really defend against when he kept reacting so stupidly strongly to her.

"Are you leaving now?" she called out again since they couldn't see each other around all the walls and doorways between them.

"Yup. I'll be in La Push for the rest of the day." He offered simply as he stepped over another pile of clothes on her floor.

"Okay…" she said simply, and he nodded his head in response even though she couldn't see him. "… Quil?" she called back hesitantly, and he froze with his hand already on the side of her open bedroom door.

For a second, he debated just leaving and pretending he didn't hear her. Her soft voice still echoing with that unsure tone in his head got the best of him though and he called back just as hesitantly,

"Yeah, Claire?"

"Thank you for taking care of this for me."

He still couldn't see her, but he imagined her as she said it, standing there still dripping wet with her thin towel wrapped tightly around her, keeping her legs crossed against her shins to try to make herself smaller and the towel cover more as she crossed her arms to try to hold it down and brace herself against her insecurities all while still reaching one hand up to play with the charm on her necklace.

Quil bit on the inside of his cheek as he closed his eyes. He let his head fall forward until it hit the side of the door frame and blew out a discouraged breath as he slid against it. She was so…. Just everything. She was too much. That's what it was, she was just too much, too much of everything. Too beautiful. Too tempting. Too sweet. Too innocent. Too aware. Too young. Too much of what he needed.

He had a million responses running through his mind. Everything from apologies, to promises, to begging for another chance to be with her again, to trying to explain why he still couldn't in a way that she'd maybe understand this time, to rolling his eyes in annoyance as he pointed out that he'd always take care of her. The silence stretched out until finally, he just simply swallowed before he called back.

"You're welcome. I'll lock the door on my way out."

"Okay." She called back and he pictured her running her hand down the door frame next to her as if touching it the same way he was touching the frame he was leaning against was almost like they were touching each other…. Except so so so different. "Wait, actually you can leave it unlocked, Bennett's probably already on his way over."

And with that response the little bubble Quil had managed to convince himself they were in, burst. Bennett was on his way over. He'd now be the one to get to discover her naked in a towel. Who would probably hold her and say whatever was on his mind. He'd be one hundred percent honest with her and she wouldn't resent him for it. And then he'd even probably try to kiss her again since neither of them had bothered to explain to him that moment he'd definitely overheard.

He walked out without saying anything else and shut her door with a little snap. He heard her shut the door she was behind before she turned on the shower and stepped back in again. He crushed her keys in his palm until it hurt as he hurried down the stairs and out the front door, slamming it shut behind him since he knew she wouldn't notice. He was halfway down the walk when he turned around and went back and locked the front door anyways. He felt good about that move until he was back in the Camaro and starting it and realized that he might have just given Bennett an excuse to climb through her bedroom window again.

He growled in frustration as he pulled out and forced himself to drive away from the house. He knew his resentment towards Bennett was unreasonable. He was a good kid. He was protective of Claire, that was it. And if he happened to use that protection as a way to drive Claire away from Quil …. Well that was just a side effect of their current situation….. he couldn't be in love with her though. Quil knew that. He had his own imprint he couldn't move past but that didn't mean that he couldn't use Claire as a distraction if he wanted to or use the position of trust he was obviously in with Claire, to convince her to use him as a distraction from Quil. The thought of those distractions was what had Quil in danger of snapping the steering wheel as he drove to La Push.

He didn't need to be thinking of this and yet he couldn't seem to stop himself. First it had been Tag at the rehearsal dinner the night before….

Tag was way too intimate with her. Way too comfortable for any twenty-six-year-old with a girl a decade younger than him should ever be. The way he'd danced with her… like any second, he was going to whisper something in her ear for just her to hear and then graze her ear with his teeth before he moved his way down to brush his lips against that spot on her neck that made her melt…. Like he already knew that about her. DID he know that about her!?

No. Quil reminded himself, she said they hadn't… She said they didn't fool around.

Quil was so frustrated at this point that he was even frustrated with Claire herself now. He didn't know what she could even want from him. He'd been completely honest with her this week and yet she'd resented him for it. It was like this ultimatum with her now. Either he gave her everything and said screw convention or safety or laws or what was right and justified and healthy to just whisk her away to become the next Mrs. Ateara years before she could even vote, or else he needed to move on and get out of her life…. though she'd probably resent him for that too. How unfair was that? They needed each other. They both did. But she wasn't interested unless she could begin the rest of her life with permanent decisions a decade before her brain was even finished fully developing… and yet he was the jackass?

Jacob had barely even spoken to him the night before. He'd pulled him aside the second he'd gotten there to simply ask, "What the hell's going on here, Quil? You broke up with Claire!?"

"Yes. And frankly it's no one else's damn business." had been his annoyed response. He had just left Claire on the beach moments before. They were just starting to make some headway in their emotional relationship, just starting to reconnect and rebuild some of what had been broken and the last thing he needed was to report to anyone on the subject of their fragile progress.

"But you punched Collin over it? And made Claire cry? And forced her out of Vegas and then had to chase her home? And almost laid out some random dude on a casino floor? And Bennett, Bennett, Quil, the most well-adjusted and laidback wolf we've ever seen in their first year, can't run with you or even be in the same room with you without losing control?" Jacob asked as he listed off each point and then gave Quil an increasingly annoyed look with each one.

Quil blew out a frustrated breath as he put both hands behind his head and turned from facing Jacob to staring out over the open ocean spread before them. The whole damn pack is a bunch of narks! He thought annoyed before he muttered.

"Vegas was a low point for me."

"Yeah, I'd say so." Jacob agreed to Quil's extreme irritation.

"Look, seriously, whatever is or isn't going on between Claire and me is no one else's business. Just because none of you agree with my decision doesn't make it the wrong one- just because she's hurt now doesn't mean I'm not protecting her in the long run." Quil huffed out while even knowing that Jake Black was the only person who he respected enough to even try to justify himself to….. well and Robert. He would have shown enough respect to explain himself to Robert.

"What the hell happened, Quil? You and Claire are so much better together." Jake asked and Quil could feel the genuine confusion almost rolling off him.

"I told you last time. I took things too far with her. I was selfish and I didn't protect her the way I should have and now I just want to fix that however I can." He admitted with a shrug while wishing that Jake would just drop it.

"How? By giving her virginity back!?" Jake accused as he dropped his voice low enough so that the other wolves wouldn't overhear, "That's bullshit, Quil, and we both know it. You never did anything to hurt her until you left her in the dust and tried to piece things back together by acting like she was a child you needed to keep in line."

Quil snapped his head back around to look at him as he dropped his arms again. They were shaking now anyways, and the heat was climbing up his spine already, seeming to bypass his gut to go straight to the morphing part.

"That's bullshit!? And how the hell would you know? You're off living your life in France and getting started on your happily-ever-after, forget the fact that it drops all your responsibilities in my lap, but a couple of bogus reports from Collin and Leah and you're the expert on what Claire and I need!? Oh well, thank fucking goodness you're here, Jake! What would I do without your condescending, unqualified, psychoanalyzing, bullshit to point the way for me!?"

It was quiet for a second as Quil's words sat between them before Jacob said in what sounded like a mix of annoyance and concern, "Damn, Quil. Did I hit a nerve there?"

"Look if there's a problem with your pack why don't you stick around long enough to fix it. I don't need your relationship advice so stay the hell out of it." Quil spat at him as he took a step back which felt counter intuitive since he wanted to step up toe to toe with obvious challenge but if he didn't step back and soon, he'd definitely phase.

"What the hell happened to you?" Jake asked in shock like he didn't even recognize him anymore. That made sense, since he hadn't stuck around long enough to really know him in years.

Quil spit on the sand to the side of him as he tried to shake out his hands and reel in the surge of heat rolling through his body. "Screw you, Jake." was all he managed to say in a shaking voice as he turned and walked away.

Quil was still reliving it all from the night before with an equal mixture of regret and fresh anger just as he pulled up to Sam and Emily's house. He turned off his car before he brought both palms directly to his eyes and groaned as he forced their solid pressure against them. He jumped suddenly when there was an unexpected knock on the car window only inches from him. He'd been too distracted to even notice someone approaching the car and he jumped in shock as he looked over to see a very muddy Jamie beaming at him from the other side of the glass.

"Quil!" he cheered as he held up a squirming worm in his fist that was at least eight inches long. "Look what I caught!"

"Nice." Quil laughed as he forced himself to try to shake off his musings and frustrations and open the door as Jamie jumped back out of the way for him.

Sam and Jonah were about ten feet away from them where Sam was digging in the dirt with a little garden shovel and Jonah was holding what looked like a plastic cup of worms in his hands with the utmost reverence and fascination.

"Are you coming fishing with us?" Jamie asked excitedly as Sam looked up at him in question and raised his eyebrows with a distinct, what ARE you doing here?

"No, little man. I'm here to fix your sister's car." Quil answered both of them as he popped the trunk and moved around to access his tools in the back of the Camaro.

"You're working on the car?" Sam Jr. asked excitedly from where he was sitting on a rock a few feet away and playing with what looked like a vintage Gameboy probably from Sam's own adolescence. At the same time Jamie asked, "Is Claire here too?"

Quil couldn't tell if he was excited or sad at the idea of Claire being there. It was like a mix of excitement for the sister to experience things with and disappointment for the mother figure that'd make him wash off and go inside. Until now, Quil hadn't really realized Claire held so much power with her roll in Jamie's life.

"Uh, Yes… and No." Quil answered a little distracted as he nodded first to Sam Jr. and then to Jamie.

"Where's Claire?" Jamie asked anxiously at the same time Sam Jr. asked, "Can I watch?"

"You really won't coming fishing with us?" Sam tried to persuade him in his usual too intense from his deep tone of voice. Jr rolled his eyes in response as Quil looked at Jamie and answered. "Claire's getting ready for the wedding tonight. And he can watch, Sam, as long as you're cool with it."

Sam just shrugged as he lifted his palms up at his knees in a whatcha gonna do sort of gesture.

"I want to watch too!" Jamie announced and then immediately tried to grab a hold of Quil's hand but with the hand holding the extra-long worm in it so that there was a squirming squish between their fingers for a second before Jamie said, "Whoops!" and went to drop the worm in the cup Jonah was holding.

Quil flexed and then wiggled his fingers as he tried to shake off the squirming feeling when Sam asked, "What about you, Jonah? Are you gonna abandon your old man too all in favor of watching Quil at his most boring job of all time?"

Jonah laughed as he hopped to stand up from where he was sitting at the edge of the hole Sam had been digging. "No way! I'm gonna bring back the biggest fish they've ever seen and they're all going to be jealous!"

Sam laughed as he stood up before bending over to grab the fishing poles and tackle box, he had waiting right beside them.

"Alright, well let's get to it! Good luck, Quil, unfortunately I think you're going to need it." Sam rolled his eyes in Sam Jr's direction and seemed to imply that he was being a twelve-year-old handful.

Quil just laughed it off since he'd spent at least three years dealing with Rachel and then Claire in that phase and pre-teen girls were the only thing worse than pre-teen boys, as Sam and Jonah walked off toward the path a few feet away.

"Let's get to work." Quil muttered as he grabbed his rolled set of ratchet wrenches and a rag to stick in his back pocket.

Jamie immediately ran over to the open garage to grab the step stool and Junior hoped up from his spot as he pocketed the Gameboy in his cargo shorts and came to see what they were about to do.

Quil refused to look at the side of the garage where he was doing his damnedest not to relive the memories from the night before as he walked past it and unlocked Claire's car while Jamie dragged the stool over.

"What's wrong with it, Uncle Quil?" Sam Jr. asked, as Quil opened the car door and pointed inside at the latch on the side as he instructed him, "Pop the hood."

"This one?" he asked a little nervously while Quil nodded encouragingly at him.

Sammy pulled it so that the hood popped and then hurried to follow Quil around to the front where Jamie was already standing on the stool waiting.

"The alternator died last night, so we need to replace it." Quil stuck his hand under the hood until he found the latch to release it but then grabbed Junior's hand and stuck it in place. "Pull and lift at the same time."

He complied with an excited smile as Quil grabbed the hood and then lifted it higher than Sam Jr's arms could reach.

"Jamie, hand me that stick, would ya? Careful, don't yank it." Quil said easily as the five-year-old eagerly stuck his muddy fist directly on a handful of blackened metal and yanked up forcefully. He was a little rough, but it got the job done and Quil propped the hood up before he pulled the rag out of his back pocket and handed it to Jamie and then rolled his wrenches out across the left side of the engine.

"How do you know it's the alternator that needs to be fixed?" Sammy asked transfixed as Quil started loosening the wires to the battery.

"Because I tested the battery last night and it was fine." Quil answered even knowing that answer probably went over his head and that'd it'd take an incredibly detailed explanation to truly give him an answer he'd understand.

"Hand me that 3/4th wrench, Sammy." Quil murmured as he reached his hand down into the belly of the engine and started twisting the bolt in front of the belt with just his fingers.

"How do I know which one is which?" he asked in worried confusion.

"They say it right there on their sides." Quil explained easily and Sam Jr. relaxed as he quickly found it and handed it to him.

"What are you doing?" he whisper-asked Quil quietly like he was nervous to disrupt him.

"You see this bolt?" Quil asked as he moved his arm far enough back for the kid to lean over and look in.

When he shook his head Quil took his phone out of his pocket and turned on the flashlight. "Here, Jamie, you're going to be on light duty." He said easily as he passed the phone to him and Jamie muttered under his breath, "Sweet!"

Quil smiled before he leaned back over to see Sam pointing at the bolt, "That one?"

"Yup." Quil answered as he stuck his hand back in and connected the wrench to the bolt. "You see how it's in the way so I can't get the belt off?"

He looked up as he started turning the wrench. It stuck for a second before Quil put in that extra push with his wrist and then cranked easily as Sammy nodded in answer.

"So, I gotta remove it so that I can remove the belt." He grunted distractedly as he worked at it.

"Then what do you do?" he asked excitedly as Quil handed him the loose bolt and the wrench before he started to remove the belt.

"Then we'll remove the other bolts holding the alternator in place, and then we'll remove it."

"That's it?" he asked in surprise and Quil chuckled in response.

"And then we have to go buy a replacement and install it."

"That seems pretty easy." Sammy pointed out almost like an accusation.

Quil just shrugged unconcerned before he replied, "Well you can tell me for sure after you help me get it fixed."

He smiled excitedly at him like Quil had just invited him into some sort of secret fraternal club. Quil smiled down at his nephew in return since he'd clearly just made an impression on him even though it hadn't taken much of anything at all on his part. He yanked particularly hard against the bolt he was working on before it came loose and then handed it over to Junior again as he started meticulously removing the piece from the rest of the engine.

"Okay. Time to go to the auto parts store." Quil announced as he yanked the alternator out and then wrapped it in the rag that Jamie still held.

After Quil made both boys go into the house, Jamie to wash up before he could get in the Camaro and Sammy to tell his mother where they were going, the rest of the morning and most of the afternoon went by incredibly quickly. Quil had never made two boys as happy as he apparently did by letting them follow him around at the auto-parts store, ride in his car, and then help him work which was really just handing him tools and holding the flashlight. He figured he must have made Sam Jr's year when he had him use the wrench to tighten some bolts on the new alternator and then when he gave him the keys and told him to go try to start the car. The kid was freaking beaming and bouncing around.

Quil laughed at Sammy's look of astonishment when the car started without a problem and Jamie cheered with all the confidence of a five-year-old, "We did it!"

"Hey, boys! It's time to come in and clean up! We need to get ready for the wedding!" Emily's voice called cheerfully from the back door just as Quil was shutting the hood of the Jetta.

Sammy hopped out of the car as he started racing back to his mother, "Mom, you won't believe what Uncle Quil let me do!"

Quil smiled as he shook his head and grabbed the extra rag in his back pocket, he started wiping his hand with. Jamie stayed glued to his side as Quil reached in and turned the car off before pulling out the keys.

He wordlessly grabbed Quil's hand as Quil stepped out of the car and they walked to the house together. He didn't realize that Emily was still standing, waiting at the door until they approached.

"You made those boys real happy today." She called happily to him right before he reached her.

He just shrugged in response as he leaned in and kissed her scarred cheek. "I had to do it anyways."

"Well Sammy thinks he just won the lottery, and Jamie here thinks he's gonna grow up to be a mechanic one of these days."

Quil looked down in surprise at Jamie standing right next to him with his hand still holding Quil's, "It's true." He said with a self-deprecating shrug which only made Quil laugh.

"You better shower here before you head over for the ceremony." Emily said as she started pointing toward the master suite, or at least that's what he assumed she meant since he could hear the shower running in the main bathroom and figured the younger Sam had already jumped in.

"Oh, that's alright. I'm about to head over to my mom's to get ready there." He replied as Jamie dropped his hand and ran off toward the boy's room.

"You better get ready here. I told Claire you were gonna bring Jamie with you." Emily said with a slight tone of regret like she wished she'd asked him first.

"You talked to her?" he asked surprised.

"She just called." Emily replied and he reached for his phone but when he pulled it up there were no new notifications. Claire hadn't even texted him.

"I'll take him." Quil agreed easily and then put his phone back in his pocket to look back up at Emily which he immediately realized was a mistake. She was definitely about to ask him how he was doing, and it was definitely going to be in reference to Claire. "So, I can shower in your bathroom then?" he immediately jumped in to ask before she could say anything.

"Yeah, go ahead. We aren't part of the wedding party, so I don't need to start getting ready for another hour or so."

"Okay, I'll just grab my stuff." Quil replied as he made his way out the back and let the screen door slap shut behind him.

He blew out a breath of relief that he had dodged her as he pulled his dress clothes and bag out of the car. He just hoped he could avoid the conversation she clearly wanted to have until he could get out of the house.

By the time Quil pulled up to First Beach with Jamie in the back seat they were both in matching black slacks and white dress shirts with a black skinny tie. He wasn't gonna lie, they both looked sharp, and Jamie had made him style his hair with Quil's product in the same slightly lifted way that he did his own, they were a good-looking team, and Emily had snapped a picture on her phone with Jamie in his arms before she let them leave. Fortunately, Jamie had been the buffer Quil had needed to avoid being pinned down again to talk about his relationship with Claire.

Quil got out of the car before he folded his seat forward and helped Jamie out of the backseat where he'd been sitting in his booster. He grabbed onto Quil's hand and jumped out of the car with a little kick before he ran his hand through his hair and said, "I still got it."

Quil snorted a little bit as he shut and locked his car, "I don't think you were in any danger of losing it, buddy."

Jamie just laughed as he kept a firm hold on Quil's hand and they started walking down the beach toward the tent, and chairs set up separately for the ceremony. Quil's stomach suddenly turned with nerves as he wondered when he'd get a look at Claire. Emily had already told him she and Bennett had gotten there early to help finish the setup, and he suddenly realized that he should have forced a conversation with her to clarify the nature of their relationship between them before they were forced under this microscope of well-meaning but ultimately too involved family members.

Collin was the first one Quil saw as they approached the open wall tent with all the tables set up and the open dance floor in the middle.

"Hey." He said with a slightly stiff head nod in Quil's direction.

He'd been a little stiff with Quil ever since Quil had punched him in Vegas but Quil was just grateful that he was still speaking to him.

"Hey." Quil replied as he and Jamie reached him.

It was silent as they all three stood there for a second before Jamie suddenly asked curiously, "Where's Claire?"

"She's in the bridal tent with all the other girls." Collin answered him as he nodded over toward another tent that Quil hadn't notice yet. It wasn't nearly as big as the reception tent, but it was completely enclosed and had a bunch of chords from the generator running into it. Quil could hear the soft feminine voices and giggles coming from inside even from two hundred feet away, he could even hear what sounded like the clink of glasses.

"Can I go look for her?" Jamie looked up at Collin to ask.

"Well, they don't usually allow boys in there but I'm pretty sure that they'll let you in there when they see how good you're looking." Collin told him seriously and Jamie smiled before he dropped Quil's hand and took off running for the tent.

"Don't go too far." Quil called after him before he disappeared and then Quil was left standing awkwardly next to Collin alone. He suddenly noticed Bennett dressed very similarly to himself but with a dark blue obnoxiously paisley tie on as he seemed to be helping Sofia's dad with the wires on the sound system that the emcee was hooking up to.

"He seems to like you." Collin muttered and Quil looked over to see him nodding in the direction Jamie had just run off in.

Quil just shrugged it off before he replied, "I've just known him his whole life."

Collin nodded as he slipped his hands in his pockets and muttered, "He seems to be the only one okay with you not dating his sister anymore."

He said it so casually that for some reason it didn't piss Quil off like he would have expected, and he shrugged again before he admitted, "Claire told him we're still together. He doesn't understand the difference between us being broken up, and me not being in his life anymore."

"Makes sense." Collin agreed as he pursed his lips and looked over at Quil next to him. "And he hasn't noticed anything different between the two of you?"

"I'm not sure." Quil admitted. "He wants Butch to stay at his house more… he seems to know we share custody of him now…"

Collin laughed before he replied, "'Kids are resilient'… that's what they say, right?"

"Yeah." Quil replied before he sucked in a bracing breath and finally looked at Collin as he said, "Look, man. I know I owe you an apology. I was a dick last weekend, and I never should have hit you."

Collin just scrunched his eyebrows as he looked at him with an evaluating stare for a moment and then said, "I'm not the one you need to apologize to."

Quil refrained from rolling his eyes as he replied, "I already apologized to her. The day after, actually."

"Really?" Collin asked in obvious surprise and Quil nodded in response before Collin continued, "Are you guys getting back together then?"

Quil sighed as he turned away to face out toward the ocean as he answered resolutely, "Does she look like she miraculously turned eighteen in the last week?"

"Uh yeah, she does actually. You could tell me she was twenty-three and I wouldn't question that girl for a second." Collin replied immediately.

"Yeah, but that's not the point. She's not as old as she looks, and everyone needs to quit forgetting it." Quil remarked as he fed his fingers through his hair and then suddenly realized that Jamie had been mimicking him when he'd gotten out of the car and dropped his hand again.

"So, that's what all this is about for you then?" Collin asked intrigued, "You don't want to take advantage of her?"

"Yes!" Quil agreed sincerely, grateful that Collin seemed to be the first person to figure that out.

"And how's that working out for you?"

Quil made a face a little like he just sucked on a lime after downing a shot of tequila. That question tasted a little like it too, like a heat of truth to the gut followed by a sour but cutting bite.

"Better than the alternative." Quil mumbled in response.

"… Which is what exactly?" Collin pressed.

"Not being able to live with myself for stealing whatever tiny amount of youth and innocence she has left." Quil answered certainly but with a shrug as if he was fully aware even as he said it that Collin was going to disagree with him.

"… Damn, Quil." Collin said sadly and Quil turned back to him as he muttered, "That's a lot less bullshit than I thought you were gonna give."

Quil just raised his eyebrows at him before he muttered darkly, "Gee, thanks."

"I don't know that you should take the choice away from her, but I guess I can respect the decision to try to protect her." Collin muttered fairly.

Quil was grateful for the opportunity to let it drop, except that for some stupid reason, instead of taking that opportunity he opened his mouth and said sarcastically,

"So, it's fine if I steal the rest of her limited childhood out from under her as long as she gives it up willingly even if she isn't even a fully formed adult capable of making that decision?"

Collin looked over at him even more seriously for a moment before he muttered, "Like I said; damn, Quil."

It was quiet between them as they both turned again to look out at the ocean, and both silently seem to ponder on the validity of the sucky situation Quil was in.

"But…." Collin started to stay before he faded off and started to turn back to the tent behind them that they were standing on the edge of.

"But what?" Quil asked, morbidly curious to see if there was any possibility that Collin, of all people, had thought of some solution he hadn't been able to land on.

"But what if she's already lost her childhood regardless of your influence?"

Quil opened his mouth to respond before he shut it again, it felt too arrogant to admit that he felt his impact in her life was too large to consider irrelevant in the situation and yet he had never even considered the possibility that there was nothing he could do anymore to protect Claire from what he was afraid of. Before he could think of a response, Jacob was coming up to them and they both turned around to notice the tent rapidly filling with people around them.

"Hey, we need to start ushering people into their seats for the ceremony before we take our places." He said with a simple almost cold nod in greeting at Quil.

It was only fifteen minutes later that Quil was lined up behind Collin, barefoot in the sand waiting for the bridal music to start. There was still a lot of excited chatter and Jamie was sitting excitedly next to Bennett and reaching a hand up high in the air to wave at Quil in the front.

Quil laughed in response just as some instrumental guitar music began to play over the speakers and all the guests grew quiet in anticipation. Quil looked over to his right to see Brady swallow nervously as he let out a breath of clear anticipation and shoved his shaking hands in his pockets. Jacob smiled like he was laughing at him before he put a supportive hand on Brady's shoulder and Brady looked over appreciatively at him.

Suddenly Sofia's mom was at the start of the aisle with Gracie's son's hand in hers. Everyone in the audience seemed to smile as they walked down the aisle. When they reached the end, Gracie's mom reached out to grab at Brady, tearfully squeezing the hand he offered before she dropped it just as Collin bent down to Noah's level and staged whispered, "Hey dude, do you got 'em?"

"I got 'em!" Noah replied way too loudly, making everyone laugh when he opened his still slightly chubby toddler palm to show the two rings tied together with a pink ribbon in a large bow.

"Good work!" Collin whispered to the three-year-old as he took them in his left hand and then used his right hand to fist bump Noah while storing the rings in his pocket.

Collin was just barely standing back up before he sucked in a shocked breath and Quil looked over from watching Noah take a seat across the aisle with his grandmother, just in time to find Leah walking down the aisle.

She had her short pixie-cut hair smoothed down and pulled back at an angle so that her face was free to be noticed with the subtle but shinning and shimmering makeup. Quil had to admit that she looked amazing in the dusty blue dress flowing softly in the light ocean breeze as she slowly walked in measured steps across the beach. The strapless dressed hugged her large-for-her-body breasts in a way that made Quil remember why he had always thought she was attractive before he'd actually known her. She really did have a great set of boobs. The skirt of the dress began right at the bottom of her rib cage and was a soft flowing material that seemed to be made of multiple cuts of fabric that came together at different heights so that the full skirt was constantly flowing with the breeze catching the different edges and lifting as she walked. With each step forward just a peek of a foot would stick out from the hem of the dress to reveal that instead of shoes she seemed to be wearing beaded strings that sparkled from around her toe and then up her foot to wrap around her ankle.

She moved confidently and smiled like she had a secret the rest of the audience was dying to hear. Quil laughed softly when he heard Collin's "Damn!" muttered almost painfully under his breath. Renesmee came into view at the beginning of the aisle as soon as Leah was reaching the end of it. Renesmee's dress was the same soft blue-grey color as Leah's and had the same billowy skirt but the top was a completely different story. Instead of the strapless sweetheart neckline hugging tightly to Leah's breasts, Renesmee's dress was spaghetti straps leading to triangles cut over her breasts with a very generous view of her cleavage completely revealed in the middle so that it was open all the way to the point where the skirt started and the two pieces covering her breasts weren't connected together at all. The start of the skirt was the entire back piece of the dress and the straps holding up the top went all the way down to the middle of her back where they connected to the skirt buttoned together where it met at her spine.

She looked hot for sure, and her body looked like it was designed for a dress like that to showcase it as she smiled excitedly at Jacob in front of her while she walked down the aisle but Quil couldn't focus on anything except his sudden worry of what Claire's dress would look like. He'd assumed when Leah had walked down the aisle that all the bridesmaids would be in the same dress, and even though the tops of Leah's breasts (and a decent amount of her cleavage) were still exposed in her dress, the back came up a lot higher and the top covered a lot more cleavage than Renesmee's dress did.

When Collin elbowed him and nodded to the beginning of the aisle again Quil's head snapped back around from watching Renesmee. Quil's stomach dropped when he saw Claire standing there, smiling slightly nervously before she looked at Jacob and took a measured step forward.

She looked….. amazing was the only word Quil could think of.

She was wearing the same dress as Renesmee. Quil wanted to lean over and cover Tag's eyes beside him but he couldn't deny how beautiful she looked as she moved forward toward Jake and Brady. The dress was covering her breasts but in the same way that a string bikini would cover her breasts. All of her cleavage was basically on display and even a little bit of side-boob until the places where the dress seemed to magically stick to her. She couldn't even be wearing her strapless bra and the thought of her at a wedding with all these people staring at her while she went braless made his anxiety spike. That was when he suddenly realized that everyone was looking at her. Every single pair of eyes seemed glued to her as she seemed to just float effortlessly down the aisle.

She never looked at Quil and he knew it was on purpose. She was focused and wasn't going to get thrown off or distracted when their eyes locked together the way they always did. Her face was glowing with soft makeup and her hair was pulled back in a way that was sleeked and smooth and had strands gently blowing in the breeze tickling her face as she smiled shyly at Brady and continued to step forward still carrying the same bouquet of wildflowers against her stomach that Leah and Renesmee had and wearing the beads instead of shoes so they all matched.

She was so damn beautiful and that was when the thought hit Quil; She could have been mine!

He thought back to the moment yesterday when he'd seen her realize it first. The moment where she went from looking at him with confusion mixed with love and affection to looking at Brady with Sofia walking down the aisle and he just knew that it hit her in that moment that he had asked her to marry him and then taken it all back.

She'd barely looked at him again for the rest of the night.

The feeling of disappointment settled heavy in his stomach as he tried to picture a future date where he could still have that with her. Where she could be walking down the aisle in a white dress, moving toward him. But somehow it was impossible to imagine a twenty-one-year-old Claire that still loved him the way the sixteen-year-old Claire had loved him when she'd said she'd marry him. That future was so separated from the past that connected them that he couldn't even picture it and he resisted the urge to shove his hand in his hair in stress when he remembered he was still in front of an entire audience of people.

What am I doing!? His mind shrieked as he continued to stare in frank shocked admiration at Claire who still wouldn't looked his way at all. He wished she would just look at him! She didn't even need to smile. She just needed to look at him! If she looked at him then they're eyes would connect in that unbreakable link and he would know again that there was a future out there for them that didn't involve stealing more from her than he already had. If she would just look, he would feel sure again instead of lost in disappointment.

He was suddenly snapped out of his intense trance when Gracie moved in front of Claire so that she blocked his direct view of her and he realized he was still staring at her way past when it was acceptable too. Gracie had already walked all the way down the aisle and the music changed to a piano instrumental of Cannon in D as he noted for just a moment that Gracie was wearing the same strapless dress that Leah was wearing before he turned to note Sofia already walking down the aisle on her dad's arm. She looked beautiful in her lacey white dress hugging her body before it spilled out in a slight poof and then trailed behind the sand at her feet, her veil was almost completely translucent in front of her face so that even though it covered her from her hair almost to her knees you could still easily see the tears already spilling out of her eyes while she smiled hugely at Brady in front of her.

They didn't even make it to the end of the aisle before Brady took a step forward to meet her. Brady was grabbing her hand before her dad could even offer it, but her dad gave a slightly tearful chuckle before he reached over and offered Brady a strong hug that Brady returned with one arm and Sofia still held firmly in his grasp with the hand that he'd just grabbed. Sofia's father pounded firmly on Brady's back twice before he pulled back to place his hands on Brady's shoulders. He smiled proudly at him with tears brimming his eyes as he nodded his head and then stepped back and let Brady lead Sofia the rest of the way up the aisle and suddenly Quil could see it. The vision he had lost of the moment when Claire would eventually marry him.

Except instead of a beautiful twenty-one-year-old walking toward him, he saw the younger blonde-ish version of Claire shoved slightly between himself and Robert as Robert held him and pounded his back before smiling proudly and then offering Claire to him, he finally released her arm and gave it to Quil so that he could take the definitely teenaged Claire from him.

And then the vision shattered as Jacob started talking and the audience laughed but he didn't know at what because he couldn't hear. He just stood there in shock as his heart pounded in his ears and his hands shook.

He had seen it all right there. Right there in front of his eyes as if it were real. But it was gone. It was gone and he couldn't get it back. The vision was gone, and he suddenly couldn't breathe. Because how could he ever marry a Claire at any age without a Robert there to give her away?