The Wolves and the Snow Buddies

Disclaimer: S. Meyer owns Twilight

. . . . .

Quil was really looking forward to the snow outing this weekend with his best girl, Crystal. The powder had settled on the mountain peaks; he could see it from his home. Just an hour away, and the winter fun would begin.

He drove the Jeep Cherokee up to her house, and was met at the door by a girl with a decidedly glum expression. "C'mon in."

Seating himself in one of the living room chairs, he waited to see what put her in such a mood.

She sat across from him. "I'm sorry, Quil, I can't go with you. My mom and dad say, Unless there's another couple going along, the answer is no.

"You're kiddin'."

With a roll of her eyes, she said, "Do I look like I'm kidding?"

"Well, no … Cripes, I guess I better drum up another set of peeps, then."

"Not Paul."

She got that right. "Agreed. Tho' he is handy in a crisis."

"I don't care." Crystal took a deep breath, and huffed, "And not Jake either."

He jerked upright. Most girls liked Jacob. "Why not?"

Her head swayed back and forth. "Because he'll drag along that Swan chick, and I can't stomach her. She's so whiny."

Quil chortled. "Don't let Jake hear you say that.

"Okay, that leaves Em." Damn, could he even dredge up a date, especially on such short notice? He stood up. "I'll work on it. Go get your coat if we're going shopping for snow boots, the store closes at 6:00."

# # # # #

Eureka, Leah had mercy on the poor boy, and promised to be Embry's date. She'd listened to Quil's tale of woe, while she stood there in her doorway. But honestly, it would be a relief to get off the rez for a while. "Embry's okay. At least he won't try to charm me like some people I know." She glared at Quil, giving him the heebie-jeebies. He'd never tried anything with her, but the she-wolf heard enough tales of what that octopus was capable of, compliments of the La Push grapevine. No wonder Crystal's parents were leery.

# # # # #

The weekend came. Embry and Quil loaded up the jeep, and picked up the girls. As expected, Leah and Crystal brought a box full of snacks, extra socks and gloves, and … their ice skates.

Their first stop was the lake. It was walking distance from the cabin owned by Quil's Uncle Omni. The lake was frozen over with a thick layer of ice. Embry walked along it, jumping up and down a few times to make sure the ice was secure enough to withstand their weight.

He waved, and yelled, "Time to get the skates on. Let's go."

# # # # #

Crystal felt awkward skating beside the others. They all had such great balance. And Quil … well, he showed his skill and actually impressed the girl. Because of her butt hitting the ice every few minutes, he had a legitimate reason to have his arms around her. It was funny, but she had no qualms about him even lifting her in the air. He had the muscles and the agility to make each maneuver, and she felt comfortable knowing he'd never drop her.

She had to laugh when Embry went skimming by her with Leah on his shoulders. The wolf girl had playfully placed her hands over his eyes. Woops—he hit a bump in the ice, catching his toe pick. Leah went sailing in the air, and into a snow bank. She sat up giggling, and brushed off the clinging powder. Quil helped Embry up on his feet again.

# # # # #

They skated a little while longer, then headed to a clearing for snowman construction. Quil, ever the clown, stooped over, pawing through the carpet of white stuff, doggy-style, until he'd heaped up a small mountain.

Leah quipped, "Did ya find that bone yet, Rover?"

Quil peered over his shoulder. "Oh, you're real funny. Em, keep your woman under control, huh?

"Now, let's have a bet going. Crystal and I will build our monument to winter, and you both do likewise. Whoever gets done first, wins lunch at Subway."

"Geesh, can you spare it?" Leah groused.

"Denny's?"

"Now you're talkin'."

Embry pointed a finger at the other male. "You are on, pal."

# # # # #

Leah and Embry busied themselves, rolling the material into a huge, round ball, then another, stacking them one on top of the other. With the third crowning their creation, Embry pulled several chunks of coal from his pocket, fashioning a mouth and two eyes.

"I don't believe it. Where did you get that coal?"

With a dead pan expression, Embry answered, "From Santa Claus, where else? Mom told him, I'd been a bad boy all year, stayin' out after curfew … shredding my clothes."

Kissing his cheek, Leah murmured. "You poor little boy. Momma will make it all better."

Quil turned around, and spat, "Phfft! Liar—I was with him when he scooped it up off the railroad track."

Leah shoved Embry. "Gawd, I'm so gullible."

After finding two suitable branches, they inserted them, one on each side of the snowman. Leah clapped and shouted, "We're done. We win, we win."

"Not so fast, chumps," Quil brayed.

"He has no nose, so we win."

Embry disagreed, "So what? Your's has no arms."

"Where do the rules say, he has to have arms? But … everyone knows that a carrot nose is a must. Sorry, I only brought one for me and Crissie."

"Nah-ah. We finished first, we win. No arms, no deal."

"Are you call-ing me on it?"

"Damn straight, Ateara."

Leah patted some snow in her hands, shaping it into a ball. "Sore loser," she screamed, as she flung it at Quil. He ducked in time, unfortunately, Crystal, standing behind him, wasn't as quick, and it hit her right in her open mouth. That did it, a free-for-all broke out, the snow balls flying back and forth, pelting them unmercifully.

Crystal pounded Quil, with one after another. He raced after her, ignoring her shrieks, and stuffed a wad of snow down the back of her coat.

"Quil," she yelled. "That is so unfair. How am I going to dry out my clothes?"

"Ehh … we'll go on to the cabin now and warm up. My stomach's talkin' to me anyway. Lunch time!"

Muttering all the way to the cabin, Crystal brushed away Quil's arm, and groused, "That was not funny, mister."

The other couple walked beside them. Glaring at Quil, Leah snarked, "Idiot."

Quil shrugged, and shamefacedly apologized. "I'm sorry, Crissie. I wasn't thinking."

"Humph ... you said it, not me."

# # # # #

The door to the cabin was padlocked. Quil got the key from his pocket. It didn't fit. He retrieved another. Ditto.

"Dammit, why won't one of these open the stupid door?"

Embry offered, "Maybe it's jammed with ice? I'll go get the ax."

He returned a few minutes later with the wooden implement braced on his shoulder. Quil took it from him, and with one blow, the lock came away from the door, which suddenly opened. Mr. Muscles flew into the room, skid on his belly, and torpedoed into the gaping jaws of the cougar-skin rug lying in front of the fireplace. His audience roared in appreciation. Embry stuck his hands into his pockets as he laughed. All at once, his face sobered. With fingers surrounding a key, coated in coal dust, he raised it, and announced, "Hey, I must've had the right key all this time. I forgot to return it last November, when I came up here, huh …"

The girls tried not to snort while they extricated Quil's noggin from the beast's maw. But they nearly choked, when he came out sputtering with a mouthful of dust and fur. Leah could not resist. "What's the matter, Quil? Cat got your tongue?"

If looks could kill …

Getting up from the floor, he trudged to the couch, plopping down on it. The couch buckled under his frame, and collapsed under him.

"Boy, this is more fun that I could've imagined," Crystal blurted, even though she was shaking from the cold.

A loud sigh escaped his lips. He gestured to Embry. "Let's get some firewood. Crissie's starting to shiver."

Embry picked up the ax, and followed him to the wood shed. They both had their arms full of firewood when they heard screams coming from the cabin. Dropping the wood on the front porch, they entered the living room to find the girls cringing beneath the kitchen table. What the hell?

Crystal pointed to the fireplace. "Bats!"

Their heroes swatted at the flying rodents, chasing them out the door with the ax and a worn out broom.

"Where the hell did they come from?" Quil asked.

Catching her breath, as she climbed out from under the table, Crystal explained. "They were up in the chimney. And when we were sweeping up the ashes in the fireplace, they swooped down on us. Ooh, that was so creepy."

# # # # #

Everyone settled down, and the boys placed the wood on the hearth to start a fire, which kept going out … naturally.

Leah frowned. "Maybe the flue isn't open?"

"That's probably it," Embry replied."

He moved the damper control, and a rush of black smoke and ash poured out of the fireplace. The two wolf boys coughed and wiped the sediment from their eyes.

"Yep, that was it," Quil groaned.

# # # # #

"While you two get that gunk cleaned out of your ears … eyes … nose …shirts … pants."

"Yeah, yeah, we get it, Lee," Quil grumped.

"I was gonna say, I'll get the food from the jeep."

"Good idea."

She was gone for quite a while. Now what?

Leah reappeared, finally. Unfortunately a scowl accompanied the girl.

Getting hungrier by the minute, and grouchier to boot, Quil grumbled, "What took ya so long? And where's the food?"

"That's what I wanna know," she shot back.

He turned to Embry. "Tell her where you put the food."

"Where I put the food? I thought you packed it."

Quil's eyeballs rose to the ceiling. "Great—you mean to tell me there's no food.?

"Looks that way, don't it?" Leah responded acidly.

"Okay, don't get your pantyhose in a bunch. Embry, bring me the ax. I'll go down to the lake and cut a hole in the ice. Meet me there with the fishing poles."

Embry looked like someone had stolen his lollipop when he arrived. "I guess we forgot to bring the poles too."

"Damn, they were sitting right next to the FOOD!"

"Hey, it wasn't my fault. Why didn't you check off a list or something, Ateara? This was your trip, remember?"

"Yeah … Sorry I bit your head off."

"No problem. You know, all is not lost. We can phase, and bring back some meat at least."

"You're right. One of us needs to stay with the girls though."

Crystal crossed her arms over her chest. "Oh, no. If you think I'm staying here in this cabin, with you … all alone. You have another thing coming."

"You won't be alone, Lee will be with us."

Leah huffed, "Forget that. I'm going with Embry. I'm better at butchering than he is."

"Thanks for the vote of confidence, Lee."

She patted his cheek. "You know it's true."

"Yeah, but it still hurts."

Quil, by this point was beyond annoyed. "Suck it up, pal."

The snow had started to fall when they lit out, but Embry and Leah true to their words, came back with a deer. They brought in what they needed, and left the rest in the snow, wrapped in a tarp, to be brought home when they departed.

They laughed about their series of misadventures while they ate the venison, and what was left of the snacks. Afterwards, they cleaned up the mess, and packed up everything they brought with them.

"Phew, it's getting really hot in here," Crystal whined.

"I'll put the fire out. In the meantime, why don't you open a window?" Leah suggested.

Crystal raised the sash on the nearest window, and an avalanche of snow tumbled in. Uh-oh. She and Leah, scooped up the frosty stuff before it melted, and tossed it into a nearby bucket, emptying it every so often.

As they were doing that, Quil got worried and went to the door. When he pulled it toward him, he was staring at a wall of white. Crap!

Embry looked out the same window as Crystal, now that the snow had been cleared away. He couldn't see the Jeep. It was buried under a snow drift. In fact, the whole topographical landscape was obliterated in the fluff. There was no road to follow. They'd have to wait for the snow plows in the morning. That meant they'd have to sleep here.

It was quite a sight, seeing Quil's head hanging. His bravado had vanished. Crystal's parents would never allow him to be with her again.

There was only one double bed in the one bedroom. Embry volunteered, "I'll sleep on the floor with Lee." Looking at the she-wolf, he asked, "You don't mind, do you?"

"I've slept in worse places."

He gazed at Crystal and Quil. "You two can have the bed, after all this was your dream."

Embry, Crystal and Leah were asleep; Quil was not. She was so close, it wouldn't hurt to get in a little kissin' and huggin', would it? He cautiously nuzzled her shoulder, then pulled her closer, kissing her lips and throat.

Crystal woke with a start. "What the hell are you doing?"

"Nothing."

"Nothing, my ass. Now see, this is what I'm talking about. When we're alone together, you get ideas."

"Hey, give me a break. I'm a guy, I can't help it. You're so beautiful, Crissie, with your big blue eyes and blond hair. My body just follows my heart."

"What a load of bull. And get your hands off me. I'm not going to end up another notch on your belt."

As he loosened his grip, she got out of bed, and leaning down, whispered, "Shove over, Em. The bed wasn't big enough for me and Casanova."

So there was Quil, alone in bed while Embry had two females snuggled up to his warmth. He drifted off again with a smile on his face.

The snow plows cleared the roads the next morning, and even partially uncovered the Jeep. The little party crawled out the one window not covered in snow, the front door presenting too much work to tunnel through.

Leah and Embry went to butcher the rest of the deer before leaving. Quil took this opportunity to talk to Crystal. "I'm really sorry for everything. Can you forgive me?"

"Of course I forgive you. Quil … you know I like you, but all this physicality has got to stop."

He gazed deep into her blue eyes. "You don't trust me, do you?"

She never blinked, as she commented, "How can I trust you, when you're always mauling me?"

"If you'd just give me a little affection, I wouldn't have to be so aggressive. I'd never push you that far. That's not me."

"How can you tell me that? All those stories about you say otherwise."

Quil averted his eyes. "I have a confession. Those stories … I started them. None of them are true. I just wanted to gain a reputation as a lady's man, like Paul. The women all flock to him. I thought you'd see me as this hot stud, not some poor little boy from La Push."

Crystal hugged Quil fiercely. "You are so stupid. I like this Quil much better."

His eyes got big. "You do?"

Her lips met his. Drawing away afterwards, she heard him sigh. "Yes I do," she said.

For two weeks, Quil was on his best behavior, and Crystal, surprisingly became more loving toward him just as she predicted.

One day, they were sitting in her kitchen eating ice cream, when she surprised him further by saying, "I really had a good time on that last snow outing. Can we go again this weekend?"

"I don't know if I can get Embry to go with us this time."

"No, I mean, just you and me."

"But I thought your parents said—"

She waved it off. "Oh, I made that up."

"Huh? But … aren't you afraid that new stories will start circulating about us?"

"Who cares? It's nobody's business but mine what we do in that cabin."

Quil dropped his spoon in the dish. He was gobsmacked, but she was right. It was nobody's business. Actually it was only his snow buddy's business.

"I have one stipulation though."

"And that would be …"

"This time bring food. I'm not particularly fond of venison."

He winked at her, while licking his spoon. "You got it, girl."

The End