#PLEASE READ IMPORTENT AN: If you haven't just started reading this story I have changed Ava's receptionist from Ryan (male) to Max (female). I went back and updated the chapters but don't feel you have to go re-read them, just remember Ryan is now Max.

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#Day 9

Chapter 15

Word of me being home travelled fast; mostly because Mum called everyone and told them, but oh well. People came from far and wide; aunts, uncles, cousins, second cousins, friends, and friends of friends. Everyone gathered for a Saturday lunch, to celebrate my homecoming. I've been out and said hello to everyone, gotten hugs and kisses from them; but now I'm hiding in my bedroom. I don't know how I got here; I think I was coming to get a jacket or something, and just stayed. I peek through the curtains to look at all the people chatting, eating, drinking, having fun. Chaska is playing tag with some of the younger kids, having a great time.

"Why are you hiding in here?"

I gasp in surprise, having not heard Embry enter the room. He stands in the doorway dressed in cut-off jeans and a black t-shirt.

"I umm, I'm not hiding, just came to get my jacket."

"It takes you almost two hours to pick a jacket?" he smiles, raising an eyebrow in amusement.

"It hasn't-" I look down at my watch and sigh. "I guess I just got distracted."

"If you get distracted again you'll miss the whole party," Embry says pushing off the door frame with his shoulder and taking a step into the room.

"It's just so-" I stop myself, shaking my head. "Never mind."

"It's just so? So what? I want to know," he smiles wider, chuckling slightly as he walks across the room to stand next to me.

I pause, biting my lip as I think over what to say without sounding completely "…Stupid. It's so stupid the way they're all acting."

"How do you want them to act?" he asks, looking behind the curtain, out to the backyard like I had been. It's a good question; one I don't really have an answer for though.

"…I don't know, but not… I don't know," I sigh sitting down on the bed. "It just feels like… like they're treating me like I just came back from college or something like that," I shrug.

Embry takes a seat next to me and we stay in silence for several long moments before he asks, "Do you already regret coming back?"

"No." I shake my head instantly.

"Do you regret leaving?"

"…No," I shake my head again, but not as fast this time.

"What do you regret then?" he asks with a serious look on his face; his smile vanishing.

"How do you know I regret anything?" I ask, looking up through my eyelashes at his face.

Embry smiles again, "You just have that look on your face."

"You always could read me better than a book," I smile, and draw in a long breath. "I-I regret that I didn't come back sooner. I could have easily come back months ago… but I didn't. And because of that I missed out on even more family events and just… just happy times." Embry reaches out and takes my hand in his.

"You're here now," he says putting emphasis on the 'now'. "That's all that matters." We sit in silence for a while. It's not an awkward type of silence, just silence that doesn't need to be filled. "Do you know when you're going back?" Embry asks, his voice now sounding a bit pained.

"I umm… I'm not."

"Huh?" he asks, his eyebrows furrowing together, confused.

"After everyone leaves I'm telling Mum that I'm moving back," I say.

"Really?" His whole face lights up as I nod.

"Yes. I've just started selling everything. Just sold my perfume line, X's and O's on Monday. Another three companies are going up for market in the next week. I cashed in all the shares I had in… well in almost everything. My apartment in New York is up for sale and I have Max trying to find me a place to buy in La Push."

At the mention of Max Embry's hand – that I had forgotten was cupping my own – goes tense, and I hear him mutter something that I can't quite understand before he asks, "Max is your receptionist, right?"

"Yeah, she's really great, I don't know where I would be without her," I smile.

"She?" he asks.

"Yeah," I nod. "Max is short for Maxine… but she hates that name with a passion." I laugh and Embry relaxes again.

Embry POV

My day couldn't get any better! Ava just told me she's staying in La Push and to put icing on the cake, the Max person I thought was her boyfriend – even though Sam, Paul, Seth and everyone else tried to tell me otherwise – is her receptionist and girlfriend… girlfriend as in a girl that is her friend not girlfriend… even though I'm okay with that lifestyle; I think I would have preferred her having a girlfriend to a boyfriend. But I'm getting way off track, Ava is single and staying in La Push!

"What are you two doing in here?" Both our heads snap towards the doorway where Leah stands, a tight smirk on her lips.

"We're just talking," Ava says.

"Oh yeah… and why can't you do that outside with everyone else?" the older Clearwater sister asks.

"We just got distracted, I guess," I say, letting go of Ava's hand and standing up.

"Sure," Leah says, with a sarcastic tone, rolling her eyes. "Just get back out there Ava, people are starting to leave and want to say goodbye."

"Oh," Ava's face drops a little. She stands up though, straightening out her red blouse before walking by Leah and out the door. I go to follow her but Leah steps in my way.

"Not so fast Embry, I want to get one thing straight before you go chasing after my little sister like a lost puppy. She is-"

"She is my imprint, she is everything to me now, my first thought in the morning and my last wish at night. She is beautiful, smart, strong, and a mother to an amazing little boy I would be happy to call my own." Leah's eyes look at me wide with shock but I continue, "Ava was my best friend, my first love, and the last person I ever thought I would get a second chance to make amends with. I will never hurt her, and I'll do everything I can to make her happy, even if it kills me." I step around Leah, but don't lose eye contact with her, showing her I mean every word.

"Umm… I was going to say take things slow... But I think it's too late for that." Leah gulps, and her eyes show fear as they drift past me. I slowly turn around to find Ava standing in the hallway. She looks from me to Leah, confused. Leah and I are both frozen in place as Ava starts to speak.

"I was just umm- getting my jacket?"

#PLEASE READ: Did YOU like Ava over hearing Leah and Embry? I'm not sure if I liked it or not, really that just came too me at the end when I was trying to get a few more words. If three people review they don't like it I will change it to just Leah saying "...I was going to say take things slow, but that works too." And Ava staying in the dark about how Embry really feels about her.

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