Chapter Twenty-Three
This is ridiculous, Kim thought to herself as she watched her sister walk down the street. Or, rather, attempt to do so.
There was a reason their mom ended up not leaving Kylie with their grandma. Kim was rather disappointed at first, truth be told, when she found out Kylie would be remaining at home, largely under Kim's care, because she had been promised a summer free of babysitting duties. But as she watched Kylie attempting to hobble down the street on her crutches, she was starting to understand why Katie determined that having Kylie stay with their grandma for an extended period of time was not the best plan.
"I'm tired," Kylie announced, coming to a halt—the third such break she'd taken so far. "I think we should take a break."
"We've gone maybe two hundred feet in ten minutes," Kim stated. "We're never going to get anywhere at this rate. I really don't get how you're not better at using those things after a month."
"Jared always carries me when we go to the beach," Kylie informed her sister promptly. "And when we don't go to the beach, I always talk you or mom into giving me piggyback rides around the house."
Alright, so Kylie might have a valid point, Kim begrudgingly admitted to herself. Maybe she was part of the reason Kylie wasn't nearly as proficient on her crutches as she should be. But today was not going to be the day she learned. Because they had somewhere they were supposed to be in just a short while, and Kim hated being late.
With a resigned sigh, Kim held out her hand to her sister. "Crutches," she requested.
Smiling cheerfully, Kylie hopped a step closer to Kim and handed the requested objects over to the older girl while she precariously balanced on one foot.
Completely resigned by this point, Kim turned her back to Kylie and crouched down so that the younger girl could clamber on. Straightening back up, Kim readjusted her grip so that she could hold onto both her sister and the completely useless pieces of metal.
"We are so practicing on these things when we go home later," Kim informed her sister sternly.
Twenty minutes later, the pair arrived at their destination. After allowing Kylie to slip off her back, Kim quickly knocked on the weathered front door. She was in the middle of helping Kylie re-situate herself with the crutches of doom and despair when she heard the door open, followed immediately by Kylie's gasp of surprise.
Shit.
Earlier that morning, Kim was surprised to get a phone call from none other than Emily Young. It turned out she was in La Push for a few days visiting Sam, but apparently he was going to be dividing most of his time today between his construction job and patrolling. And so Emily wanted to invite Kim over to eat lunch and gossip about the boys without them overhearing. Kim was thrilled with the invitation but slightly hesitant to accept because—as was the case most days—she needed to watch her sister. Upon explaining this to Emily, however, the other woman had happily extended the invitation to Kylie as well.
But Kim forgot to explain to the little girl about Emily's injury and why it was rude to point it out or star at it. And Kim knew her sister definitely wasn't one to ever hold anything she wanted to say back. Double shit.
"We match!" Kylie exclaimed excitedly before Kim could even begin to imagine how to sort out the situation.
Wait…what?
"I'm hurt, too!" Kylie's finger moved from pointing at Emily's bandaged face to her own leg, encased in its bulky cast. "See? We match. This is so cool!"
Chancing a glance at Emily's reaction, Kim was beyond relieved to see that the older girl was clearly amused, and not self-conscious at all, as Kim had been afraid.
"Yours is definitely a more fun color, though," Emily replied with a smile, eyeing the bright pink lower half of Kylie's leg.
As Emily ushered them into the house, Kim couldn't help but notice some of the changes since the last time she was there. There was no longer a pile of mismatched shoes in the doorway, and the fishing gear was still visible but now neatly tucked into a corner. And although the walls were still devoid of any decoration, the kitchen clearly no longer had a feeling of disuse about it. They were small changes, to be sure, but Kim had a feeling it was all Emily's handiwork.
Having her around would be good for Sam.
It was a thought that was only reaffirmed when Kim began eating the lunch Emily prepared. That girl could cook. Forget Sam, having Emily around would be good for everyone—but probably especially for the wolves with their voracious appetites.
"So," Emily began after they all had the chance to take a few bites of food, "How are things with you? It's been ages since we saw each other."
"Everything's been good," Kim said with a shrug. "I spend most of my days entertaining this kid."
"And kissing Jared!" Kylie chimed in, grinning as she dodged her sister's attempt to elbow her. "They kiss a lot."
"How is Jared?" Emily questioned then, the left side of her mouth curling up in a small smile. "I haven't actually seen him since the two of you visited, and Sam hasn't said much about him."
Kim smiled. "He's very good."
"Well as long as he's doing something useful with himself," Emily grinned back. "That really just leaves Paul to worry about. I feel kind of bad that out of the three of them he hasn't—" She cut herself off, her eyes darting to Kylie who perked up at the mention of Paul's name. "Isn't seeing anyone at the moment," she amended herself.
"Do you know Paul, too?" Kylie questioned, her eyes wide with eagerness.
"I do," Emily replied. "He is a friend of my boyfriend."
"Paul is my favorite," Kylie stated emphatically. "He's just the absolute best."
"You know," Kim began thoughtfully, "I don't think you've ever given me a reason why he's so great. You just always say he is."
"Because he is," Kylie said with a careless shrug.
Emily, meanwhile, was eyeing Kylie with a furrowed brow now. When the young girl seemed fully occupied once more with her macaroni, Emily turned to Kim.
"Is she…?" She trailed off and Kim frowned slightly. She definitely wasn't following.
"Er, what?" Kim replied cluelessly.
"Did…" Another surreptitious glance at Kylie, then softly, "Paul…you know…" Even softer now, "Imprint…on Kylie?"
Kim's eyes widened in horrification.
"NO!" She exclaimed loudly, causing both Emily and Kylie to jump in surprise, though Kylie quickly returned to her food. "Oh god no. No, no, definitely not. Paul and…oh, absolutely not. That's just…no way. Nope, not a possibility at all."
By the end of her rant, Emily was actually looking at Kim with a rather bemused expression.
"Well if you're sure…" She teased.
"Positive," Kim declared vehemently.
"I suppose that makes sense," Emily contemplated with a shrug. "You know, considering the circumstances."
Kim's heart stopped. What did Emily know?
"Circumstances?" Kim forced out, doing her best not to begin hyperventilating.
"Yes," Emily agreed. "You know, since she's so much younger than him. And, knowing Paul, I'd bet the obsession is very one-sided."
Oh. Those circumstances. Kim breathed a mental sigh of relief.
"It definitely is," Now Kim forced herself to let out a short laugh.
Kylie chose that moment to finally speak up again.
"Are you talking about me?" She questioned suspiciously.
"Not a chance, munchkin," Kim replied easily, "Now finish eating your lunch and maybe if you ask nicely, Emily will put in one of Sam's video games for you."
"Okay," Kylie agreed readily, turning back to her plate.
"How is everything with you and Sam?" Kim questioned now, swiftly steering the subject away from Kylie and Paul. "I bet he loves having you here."
"I love being here," Emily replied sincerely. "Honestly, it's a toss-up between what I love more about it: that I get to spend time with Sam or that I get to escape my family for at least a few days."
Kim winced sympathetically. "I guess I got really lucky that my mom adores Jared."
"It's not even so much that they dislike Sam anymore," Emily admitted. "I mean, they are still incredibly judgmental because they think I stole my cousin's boyfriend and I can't properly explain to anyone—even Leah—why that isn't true. But, more than any of that, ever since my accident they've been completely suffocating me. I'll be the first to admit that I was pretty shaky when I first got home from the hospital, but I've improved tremendously since then and my parents just don't see it—they think these bandages mean I'm still on the brink of death, but I don't even want to see their reactions to what it looks like under there until it's all healed better. And then when I told them I was going to spend a few days here, my mom tried to forbid me from going—she even tried to ground me! I am nineteen years old; she can't ground me anymore like when I was little and got into fights with my sister. It's completely ridiculous! And I wasn't even the one who finally managed to make her see sense! My big sister had to be the one to talk her around. Honestly, that woman drives me crazy!"
At the end of Emily's tirade, Kim was sitting there with her eyes opened wide, shocked by the outburst from the normally mild-mannered girl. She had absolutely no idea how to respond to that; she got the idea her sympathy might be appreciated, but it probably wasn't the reaction Emily needed considering the situation. (Luckily, Kylie seemed to be completely absorbed in serving herself a very generous second helping and then attacking it like she'd never seen food before.)
"Sorry," Emily said a moment later, letting out a huge sigh. "Clearly it's an issue I feel very strongly about."
Kim had to smile at that. "And at least you are here now, so you do get your reprieve, plus your time with Sam."
Emily smiled back. "Sam does have his hovering tendencies, but I can't bring myself to be annoyed by it because he's so sweet about it. Really, behind it all, he's a real sweetheart; practically a giant teddy bear."
"I don't know," Kim said slyly, "I picture him as more of a giant stuffed wolf instead."
The two promptly burst into laughter, and this cause Kylie to finally look up from her food. The expression on her face clearly stated that she thought the pair was weirdly laughing at something not very funny at all.
Half an hour later, Kylie was settled in front of the TV happily crushing Sam's Mario Kart records, while Emily and Kim were settling onto the couch behind her with mugs of tea after cleaning up their mess from lunch.
"There's something else," Emily said suddenly, and Kim turned to face her, only to see that the other girl was looking at her with a wide-eyed, slightly nervous expression.
"About what?" Kim questioned, struggling to recall anything vaguely important-sounding from the idle chit-chat they'd engaged in while doing dishes that might relate to what Emily had to say now.
"Sam asked me to move in with him!" Emily blurted out. "I can't believe I only just remembered to mention that!"
Kim's eyes widened in surprise; in her opinion, this was unexpected only because of how new their relationship was—it was abundantly clear to Kim that Sam and Emily were very much in love.
"What did you tell him?" She questioned curiously.
"Well after he finally stopped apologizing for letting the question slip out, because he knows we really haven't been together very long for such a big step in our relationship, and after he finished reassuring me that I definitely didn't have to if I didn't want to, I told him I would think about it and let him know by the time I go home tomorrow."
"Have you decided?" Kim asked tentatively.
"I think so…" Emily replied. "No, that didn't really sound very sure. Yes, I have decided; I realize that now. It's going to make my parents angry, but I really don't care; I'm an adult and I can make my own decisions. Plus, even if it is quick, I know this will work out perfectly in the end, despite my mom's claims that Sam is going to dump me for the next pretty girl who comes around—"
"Your mom said that to you?"
As one, Kim and Emily both turned in surprise to see Sam standing in the doorway to the living room, a furious expression upon his face. Jared and Paul both stood just behind him also wearing displeased expressions.
"She thought I was sleeping," Emily stated comfortingly, "And it's not as if I believe it's true, anyway. You know that I know it's not."
"It's still rude," Sam muttered darkly.
"That's how she is when she doesn't think people are listening," Emily replied with a shrug, her expression carefully blank as she continued, "But pretty soon we'll barely be around her anyway, so it's a small thing to put up with for now."
Kim watched in thinly veiled amusement as Sam frowned in confusion, clearly attempting to decipher the meaning behind his imprint's words. Then his eyes widened as it finally registered.
"Really?" He questioned eagerly and, behind him, not it was Jared and Paul who looked confused by their Alpha's sudden change in demeanor.
Emily nodded, grinning broadly. She placed her mug of tea on the floor and stood up from the couch in just enough time to be pulled into Sam's arms in a bone-crushing hug that still somehow managed to appear delicate in his handling of her. Kim was distracted from their celebration, however, by Jared collapsing across the seat Emily just vacated and resting his head in her lap.
"Hey," He smiled sweetly up at her.
"Hey yourself," Kim replied with a smile of her own, her hand automatically lifting to run through his hair. "I thought you were supposed to be on patrol."
"I was," Jared said shortly. "But it was dead quiet, so Sam said we could be done for a bit, and then I remembered you were going to be here, so I decided to just follow him home; Paul tagged along for the food."
At the reminder of the other pack members, Kim glanced up to see that Emily and Sam were now completely involved in each other, standing with their foreheads pressed together as they whispered to each other with matching grins on their faces. Paul, surprisingly, hadn't made a break for the kitchen and had instead somehow been coerced into playing a video game with Kylie. Kim felt like she should be concerned or at least slightly nervous about that (or maybe upset that her mother still hadn't gathered her wits enough to talk to Mr. Lahote), but in that moment she just couldn't bring herself to care about a secret only she was privy to right now, thanks to Jared's sudden presence in her day.
"Hey! I just realized!" Jared said suddenly, sitting up and twisting awkwardly on the couch so that he was facing Kim.
"What?" Kim questioned, amused.
"How did you get here?" He demanded.
"We walked," Kim replied with a shrug. "That's how we usually get places. Well, to be fair, I walked while carrying Kylie, who is way too inept at using those damn crutches for my liking."
"But you live on the other side of La Push!" Jared protested.
"Yes, because La Push is so huge," Kim rolled her eyes, easily catching onto the point her boyfriend was trying to make.
"But you were carrying Kylie the whole way!"
"Have you seen her? She's got to be the tiniest seven-year-old in the world."
"But you're tiny, too!"
"Jared…" Kim said slowly, "You're freakishly tall, remember? I'm actually of above-average height, which is only tiny to you."
Jared frowned. "Is there any chance I'm ever going to win this argument?"
"Not a chance. But if it would make you feel better, you're more than welcome to carry her home for me."
"Is that an invitation to go home with you?" Jared asked, cocking an eyebrow slyly now.
"I do believe it is," Kim replied mock-seriously.
"We should probably go now, then," Jared stated, his tone now matching Kim's.
"Well, I would agree," Kim told him. "But I'm not going to be the one to tear Kylie away from her B.F.F. and those video games."
Jared contemplated that briefly, and then settled back into his previous position with his head on Kim's lap.
"On second thought, I think I'm good right here for now."