Chapter Title taken from the song "All Mixed Up' by 311

Sunday morning Quil lay in bed his mind racing. He had been restless all night, tossing and turning, replaying everything from the night before. He had finally given up on trying to fall asleep and instead studied the cracks and watermarks on the ceiling while trying to come up with the best way to tell Claire that he didn't think any of this was a good idea. At 3:00 AM he decided he was just going to tell her he wasn't comfortable with the situation. At 3:26 AM he decided to not say anything, he knew deep down he wanted this as much as she did. At 3:47 AM he changed his mind again. And again at 4:12. Now as he looked at the clock which read 6:45 he was still undecided. With a groan he rolled out of bed and padded out of his room. He could hear the shower running and Seth singing at the top of his lungs.

As he approached the kitchen he heard the radio on and smelled food cooking. He frowned. No one cooked in their house. Their garbage can was overflowing with pizza boxes and fast food wrappers. He stepped into the kitchen and stopped. Julie, Seth's imprint was standing over the stove, spatula in one hand, cigarette in the other. She was wearing one of Seth's old tee shirts and a pair of his boxers. Quil watched in amusement as she bopped from side to side, using the spatula as a microphone as she sang along to the radio.

"Morning," he said.

Julie shrieked and dropped the spatula. She spun around a hand clutched over her heart.

The shower turned off and Seth's concerned voice called, "Julie?"

"I'm fine!" She shouted. She then leveled a glare at Quil. "You scared the shit out of me! I don't have super sensitive hearing or whatever."

Quil laughed. "Sorry. You kind of surprised me too. We generally don't use the kitchen as a……kitchen."

"Well that is painfully obvious. Do you know how long I had to look to find a skillet?"

Quil gave her a confused look. "We have a skillet?"

Julie jerked her thumb at the stove. "Apparently."

Quil gave an appreciative look. "Who knew." He dropped into a chair at the kitchen table and sighed.

"Well, you want something to eat? I managed to find eggs."

Quil made a face. "Blech." He had never liked eggs.

Julie ran her cigarette under the kitchen faucet and tossed it into the trash. "Well there isn't much else. Your fridge is sadly lacking in options."

Seth walked into the kitchen, rubbing his wet hair with a towel. "Well it was someone's," Seth pointedly looked at Quil, "turn to shop this week." He leaned over and gave Julie a kiss. "Good morning," he said huskily into her ear.

"Isn't it a little early to be all disgusting with each other?" Quil grumbled.

"Isn't it a little early to be a prick?" Seth shot back. "You pretty pissy this morning. Date not go well? Who was it with again? Claire? Or was it Sharon?"

"Joke all you want, it just rolls off my back," Quil said. "And for your information the date was…..weird. I mean it was good, but with Sharon there... and then Claire and I had a fight…."

Seth frowned. "You guys had a fight on your first date?"

Quil shrugged. "Yeah sort of. I mean we made up but, it's just been weighing…..you know?"

Seth nodded. "I get it."

Julie walked over and placed a plate in front of Seth. He smiled up at her. "Thanks, you're the best."

Julie gave him a little curtsey and then looked at Quil. "Sure you don't want anything? I could make you toast. I just have to scrape the mold off the bread."

Seth tried to say something, but his mouth was full of egg so he settled for pointing his fork at Quil. "Shopping," he choked out finally.

Quil dropped his head back on his neck. "I don't want to go shopping," he whined.

"Too bad. I went last week. Embry went two weeks ago. It's your turn. It's on the chart." Seth pointed to a color coded chart that was stuck on the front of the fridge.

Quil gave Seth a dirty look. "If I would have known what a control freak you were, I never would have let you move in."

"No take backs," Seth retorted. He shoveled the rest of his eggs in his mouth and swallowed. "Okay I'm going to get dressed." He stood up, gave Julie another kiss and bounced out of the kitchen.

Julie watched him go, a smile on her face. She shook her head and picked up Seth's plate, putting it in the sink.

Quil watched her for a moment, then took a deep breath. "Julie?"

Julie turned from where she was cleaning off the stove. "Yeah?"

Quil shifted uncomfortably in his chair. "Can I ask you something personal? I mean you don't have to answer, you can tell me to go to hell, but…." he trailed off.

Julie scrutinized Quil for a moment, then walked over and sat at the table. She grabbed her cigarettes and lit one. "Ask away," she said finally.

"Well I was just wondering, I mean I was just curious about whether well….what I mean is…"

"Hun, I don't have all day. What's on your mind?"

"Okay. I was just wondering if it bothers you. The age difference between you and Seth."

Julie took a drag on her cigarette. "I'm still getting used to it," she admitted, exhaling. "The thing is, the first time I talked to him, you know that day in McDonald's…"

Quil nodded.

"Well I felt something. Right away. And it's not just because he's a total fox….though that helps," Julie smiled. "But it was the way he looked at me, the things he said. He made me feel so good, so special, that I didn't even register how young he was. I just saw him. And I could see the way that he saw me. In his eyes, I wasn't this old married woman who has three kids and a crummy job. I was beautiful. And that feeling Quil, that matters more than our ages."

Quil sighed. "So you don't care what people think when they see you together?"

Julie shook her head. "Nope, I've been around long enough to know that the only person whose opinion matters is your own. If we all lived in fear of what other people thought about us, the world would be full of shut ins."

"What if you could get arrested? Would that change your opinion?"

Julie shrugged. "Maybe. Is that what you're worried about? That you're going to get arrested?"

"Well it's not just that. I mean, I just feel…."

"Guilty?"

"Yeah I mean Claire is fourteen. I feel like a pervert." Quil rubbed his eyes.

"You know a week ago I would have thought the same thing. But this imprinting thing….it kind of changes the rules. I mean when Seth explained it all to me I was a little freaked out." Julie gave Quil a meaningful look. "I know I don't know you that well Quil, but Seth told me about your situation. You aren't a pervert for having feelings for a young woman that you plan on spending the rest of your life with. Especially if she feels the same. You aren't forcing her. You love her. That's something you should never feel guilty about." She put out her cigarette and smiled.

Seth stepped into the kitchen from the hallway where he had been waiting for Quil and Julie to finish talking. He pulled Julie up and kissed her, then folded her into a hug. "I can't ever express how lucky I am to have found you."

Julie smiled up at him. "That's true. You are lucky. Okay let me go, I need to get dressed."

Julie wrenched her self from Seth's grasp and headed down the hallway.

Seth sat at the table with Quil. He grabbed Julie's cigarettes and crushed the pack. "I've told her that I can't have her die from cancer but she keeps smoking anyway. She says she doesn't know me well enough to stop just because I ask her too." He made a face. "Which I find interesting considering she's sleeping with me."

Quil stood up and clapped Seth on the shoulder. "Keep trying man. What else can you do?"

Quil wandered back down the hallway to his bedroom and flopped onto his bed. His conversation with Julie made him feel a little better, but he still couldn't get rid of the feeling that he was going to be heading into dangerous territory.

Monday afternoon found Quil in the parking lot of Forks High, waiting for Claire. He was leaning against the hood of his car, enjoying another clear day. They happened so rarely that he couldn't stand being cooped up, even in a car. From in the school he heard the final bell ring. He hoped Claire didn't dawdle. He had sworn to Seth and Embry that he would go shopping today. Their food situation was reaching critical mass. Fifteen minutes later there was still no sign of Claire. He knew she didn't have any sort of practice today so he didn't know what was taking so long. He pulled his cell phone out and dialed her number. It went straight to voice mail. With a sigh he tossed the phone into the cars open window and went back to leaning on the hood.

When he was about to give up and go inside to look for her, he saw Claire walking out of the school with a friend. Claire spotted him and waved. He waved back and pointed at his watch. Claire rolled her eyes and whispered something to her girlfriend that Quil couldn't quite make out. I have to stop listening to my headphones so loud, he chastised himself.

Claire and her friend made their way to Quil's car. When they arrived, Claire dropped her bag, jumped into Quil's arms and attacked his lips.

"Hey, hey," Quil sputtered when she pulled away. "Can't we at least exchange pleasantries first?"

"How are you, blah, blah," Claire replied kissing him again.

"Hey come on." He detached Claire from his body and set her on her feet.

Claire made a face. "What?"

"Nothing, I just…"

"He's ashamed because there are a bunch of people in the parking lot looking at him like he's a perv," Claire's friend piped up.

Quil gave her a dirty look. "Mindy. A pleasure as always."

Mindy gave Quil a haughty look. "Claire, call me." She turned and flounced away with all the flair of a teenage drama queen.

"I don't like that girl," Quil grumbled.

"Is it true? What she said? Are you ashamed to kiss me? Because I thought we talked about this the other night?" Claire said quietly.

Seeing her devastated look, Quil sighed. "No I'm not ashamed. I'm just not a big fan of PDA."

Claire looked up at him. "Are you sure that's all?"

"Yeah," Quil swallowed hard. "That's all."

"Let's stop for ice cream."

Quil looked over at Claire. "We can't stop for ice cream, I have a trunk full of groceries."

"Quil you have Easy Mac and beer. I think it'll keep."

"Fine, but if I catch hell because the beer was not in the fridge at 6 sharp, I'm blaming you."

"Whatever. Take me to Scooter's."

Quil relented knowing Claire would pout until she got her way. He pulled into the parking lot of Scooter's and cut off his engine. He grabbed a few bucks from his change holder and handed it to Claire. "Hurry up. Get your ice cream and let's go."

"Quil," Claire whined. "I want to sit outside and eat it."

Quil sighed. "Fine, fine. You are really high maintenance today you know that?"

Claire smiled. "It's why you love me."

After they ordered - Quil got a soda, Claire a mint chocolate chip cone - they sat on one of the benches outside the small ice cream stand.

"Want to hear something funny?"

Quil took a sip of his soda and shrugged. "Sure why not."

"Today, when I told Mindy about my date, she asked why I would date a guy that looks like you."

Quil looked down at himself. He made a face and said, "That Mindy is a bitch, I look damn good."

Claire laughed. "Yes you do look good. But that's not what she meant. She meant why am I dating an Indian guy that still lives on the reservation."

Quil frowned. "First of all, I prefer the term Native American…"

Claire rolled her eyes.

"Secondly…….YOU'RE NATIVE AMERICAN. And you live on the reservation."

"That's what I said! She said she didn't mean anything bad by it, but just thinks I should set my standards higher."

"Tell Mindy to go to hell. How can you get better than a werewolf?"

"She suggested a guy with a job."

"I have a job," Quil defended himself.

"Quil three mornings a week at the machine shop hardly constitutes a job."

"Well, you know I have the pack stuff. That's more important than any stupid "real" job."

"Well I mean, we have to think about our future. How are you going to support a family when we get married making three hundred bucks a week?"

Quil choked on his soda. "Married? Claire you're a freshman. We've been on one date," he sputtered.

"You haven't thought about getting married have you?" Claire gave Quil an accusing look.

"Well to be fair Claire I'm still wrapping my head around the idea that you're going to be getting your license in a year."

"Quil, you have to start thinking about these things."

Quil looked down and studied his feet. "You're ice cream's melting," he muttered.

He heard Claire sigh and his heart constricted. The fact was he had thought about their future together. He thought about it all the time, but hell she was still in high school. He knew he was going to marry Claire, there was no question in his mind about that, but did they have to talk about it now? He looked back up and started to explain this to her, but the sight before him caused all words to get caught in his throat.

Claire was leaning back against the picnic table, her eyes closed, her tongue swirling around the top of her ice cream cone.

Quil licked his lips and tried to look away. He should not be turned on by her eating ice cream. He had been taking her for ice cream since she was three. But as he watched her pink tongue dart out, licking her cone, a small spot of ice cream on her upper lip, he had to try very hard to suppress a lustful moan.

Claire opened her eyes and looked over at Quil. "What?" She asked.

"Noth-" Quil cleared his throat. "Nothing."

"What do I have ice cream on my face or something?"

"Actually, you have a umm a bit right there," Quil whispered and leaned forward, pressing his lips against hers.

Quil pulled Claire closer and she dropped her cone to the ground, wrapping her arms around his neck. Her mouth was cool from the ice cream and she tasted like mint. Quil moaned softly into her mouth.

"There are children present here," An angry voice snapped.

Quil and Claire broke apart. "Sorry, sorry," Quil gave the woman an apologetic look.

The woman just sniffed at him and walked away.

Claire made a face. "Whoops." She giggled.

"See what I mean about the PDA?" Quil grumbled. He was not very happy with himself. That was exactly the sort of thing he was trying to avoid. If he was going to get turned on just by watching Claire eat an ice cream cone, there was no way he was going to be able to control himself when she decided to pull another stunt on him like the lap dance episode.

Quil stood up. "Come on, I've got to get home," he mumbled.