Hands On Me

by FadingSlowly

COMPLETE Embry Call could be a psychologist with the amount of time that he spends inside the minds of his pack brothers. But he's never been inside a head that thinks entirely in pictures, until he imprints. On a Deaf girl. Embry/OC

4. ME MISS YOU

A/N: You guys are absolutely incredible! I have over 30 reviews now, which is more than what I asked for. AND a day early! So, as your reward, you get this chapter a day early! Cool, huh?

Disclaimer: See chapter one.

* * *

It was a Wednesday when her mom came to the library, and it was still Wednesday when I rushed home and text-messaged her. I mean, video-messaged her. I didn't want to wait, but as I opened up the phone and prepared to video-record my message, I suddenly didn't know what to say.

I had said sorry. And she hadn't accepted it. I wondered if she had cooled down in these past three weeks, or if she was still as upset as she had been that day she left me at the library.

The thought made me feel sick all over again. I really hoped she was okay now.

But if she was okay, then why had her mom gone out of her way to meet me all the way at the library?

The thought popped in my mind that there was a possibility that the separation anxiety I felt had crossed over to her. Or maybe it went two ways, as in, she felt it too. I perked up at the thought that she could be missing me as much as I was missing her.

I took a deep breath…

C-E-L-L-I-E. ME SORRY, VERY-MUCH. ME MISS YOU, WANT TALK. PLEASE CALL ME.

… and pressed send.

And then I sat by the phone, and waited.

And waited.

And waited some more.

And five minutes later, my phone chimed with a new video message.

Holding my breath, I opened it, accepted it, and waited for it to load. Thankfully, the phone my mom bought me was kind of amazing, and it didn't take any time at all. Within three seconds, I was watching Cellie's reply message.

E-M-B-R-Y. TOMORROW, CAN 2-OF-US MEET LIBRARY? SAME, ME WANT TALK.

I exhaled, grinning from ear-to-ear. I felt like doing a celebration dance all around my living room. But, the last time I tried that was when I learned to fully control my phasing. And it was all fine and dandy until it resulted in a broken DVD player. And an angry mother.

So, yeah, no dancing allowed.

Instead, I quickly signed, YES, THANK YOU MUCH, and sent it back.

Needless to say, Thursday dragged and lagged itself along. I had a group presentation to do in one of my classes, and normally I liked things like that because I got to sit there, listen, and not do any actual class work. But this particular teacher wanted us to fill out participation worksheets as each of the groups presented their projects. Ugh.

After school, I paused only long enough to let Quil know what I was up to, and then raced to the library, grateful that my mother canceled my punishment on the grounds that she, too, had committed the crime of leaving the oven on. Once again, I shook my head.

Surprisingly, Cellie was outside when I arrived, so I didn't have time to collect myself before she spotted me. She held up a hand, hesitantly, and I jogged over to her.

"Hi," I mouthed, nervously, and then, because I was unable to stop myself, I wrapped my arms around her and pulled her into a hug.

At first, she went stiff - from shock, I imagined - and embarrassed, I made to release her when I suddenly felt her relax into me. The contentment that I felt then was unlike anything I had ever felt before, and to my horror, I felt my eyes begin to moisten with tears.

I pulled away from her, and her eyes flew to my face, questioning. I watched as surprised flittered over her face followed by a dozen of other emotions too quick for me to identify. She gave me a small smile, her eyes darted to the ground, and then up to me again. Her shyness was endearing.

Also, embarrassingly enough, it was turning me on. And without a table to hide behind, that was kind of a problem.

HI, I signed sheepishly, and watched her smile widen so that it was almost a laugh without sound.

HI E-M-B-R-Y, she signed back, grinning.

YOU WANT GO-IN? I signed, willing her to say yes. She nodded, and this time I took the lead so that she followed me all the way to our table.

We sat down, and for a moment, it seemed we couldn't do anything, except stare at each other and smile, and try to act like we weren't affected by this. This new tension, whatever it was, seemed to beat out of the walls making it impossible to ignore its presence.

And I kind of didn't want to ignore its presence. Cellie was absolutely gorgeous in her yellow sweater. It was a great color on her. Everything was a great color on her, actually, but today, with her in that yellow sweater, I really just wanted to jump over the table and -

E-M-B-R-Y. ME SORRY. LONG TIME, ME NOT GO-TO LIBRARY, she said, biting the inside of her cheek. I had missed that.

NO, ME SORRY, I said, shaking my head. ME PUSH-AWAY YOU. NOW UNDERSTAND, SAME-AS SAY SHUT-UP. MUCH SORRY. ME S-T-U-P-I-D.

She nodded, solemnly agreeing with me. And okay, I was a little offended by that because I totally didn't expect her to just agree with me calling myself stupid. I guess something of that must have shown in my face, because as soon as I thought it, she unexpectedly burst out laughing. Loudly. And, God, I had missed that, too.

Then, her eyes widened and she signed, E-M-B-R-Y! YOU SIGN BETTER! GOOD, GOOD!

I grinned. ME PRACTICE.

Then, she smiled back, and asked about my cell phone.

MY MOM. SHE B-U-Y. GIVE-TO ME, I explained, and she made a, 'Y' and bounced it up and down.

Seeing my puzzled look, she spelled out, O-H, I S-E-E, and then did the sign again. I copied her.

Then, blushing, she hesitated and signed, ME MISS YOU.

* * *

She missed me! She missed me! She missed -

Haha, okay, Embry. Get a -

Awesome dude!

- really don't think there are any -

- much longer, Sam?

- missed me! She missed me!

MAYBE ANOTHER HALF AN HOUR?

Embry, cut it out. We get -

It's not taking advantage if you know, right? Maybe -

What's that smell?

- reeks, man!

- me! She missed me! She -

- so, can I look at your English paper -

Brady! That's disgusting!

EMBRY, PLEASE SHUT UP.

She missed me! She missed me! She missed -

I just want some ideas, I swear I won't copy it.

- the hell? That wasn't even -

- MISSED ME! SHE MISSED ME -

Never seen anyone so unbelievably gorgeous.

Hey, Collin, why don't you -

- wondering? What does 'dude' actually mean -

SHUT UP, EMBRY!

* * *

Needless to say, I was ecstatic. We had been talking again for about two weeks, and I couldn't wait for school to be over everyday, so that I could rush to go see Cellie. At the same time, though, I was nervous to see her in a way that I hadn't been before. Like, I took extra care to make sure I looked okay, and I studied her face surreptitiously to see her reaction to my appearance. I thought I glimpsed attraction more than once, but sometimes she was very easy to read, and sometimes she was damn near impossible.

Though, how she could not be attracted to me? I was almost six feet tall with rippling pectorals. Almost everyone I met was attracted to me, unless they had good reason not to be. And I wasn't trying to be conceited, it was just a fact of life.

E-M-B-R-Y… E-M-B-R-Y… Snapping out of my reverie, I looked up and across our round table to find Cellie grinning at me, and mouthing my name. "Em-bee… Em-bee…"

I had gotten here before she had today and I had saved our seats. I jumped up and went to hug her, living for that tiny bit of contact. She let me and I closed my eyes, praying that my erection would give me more than two seconds this time before I had to pull away, or risk being incredibly embarrassed.

Success! It gave me three seconds today. And then I started thinking about how amazingly soft she was, and how well her body seemed to fit pressed so tightly up against mine, and -

Extremely reluctantly, I pulled away, smiled, and went to sit down. I pulled homework out of my bag, and eagerly, Cellie leaned across the table to see what I had to do today. She loved to help me with my homework. Once, I told her that she was lucky to not have homework, and she replied that I was lucky to get to go to school. Even though, I didn't feel lucky at all, I knew what she meant, so it was a, 'touché' kind of moment and after that, I shut up.

With Cellie helping me, my homework actually went by a lot faster. If she could have gone to my school, I thought proudly, she would probably pass the placement tests with flying colors and end up in my grade. She was definitely smart enough for it, and I guessed with being homeschooled, the advantage was that you didn't have to stay on the same schedule as everyone else. Though lonely, it must have been refreshing at least, to get to learn at your own pace.

If she went to my school, though, she would probably still be lonely. Around all those hearing kids, I would be the only one who would understand her. I wondered if I would be the only one to actually try - besides the pack, who knows almost as much sign language as I do now.

Again, I was snapped out of my daydreaming, though this time with her hand waving in front of my face.

WHERE E-M-B-R-Y? she signed, inquisitively, looking up at me from where her chin rested in her other hand.

HERE, I replied, smiling. Then, on impulse, C-E-L-L-I-E, MY FRIENDS… YOU WANT MEET MAYBE? I asked, hesitantly.

Her answering smile abruptly disappeared to be replaced by large, round eyes. MEET YOU FRIENDS? she repeated, and I nodded.

IF YOU WANT, I signed, nervously.

It took her a minute, in which I fully indulged in her cheek-biting habit, aware that I had picked it up from her.

O.K. she signed, smiling fleetingly.

This was going to be an experience. I realized that as I made my way to the library to pick Cellie up the following day. Feeding off my excitement, the wolves who still went to school - Quil, Seth, Collin, and Brady - met up afterwards to make it Emily's and Sam's house before I did.

Quil especially couldn't stop talking about it. Every time I saw him in the hallway, he signed, HI, YOUR NAME Q-Y-I-L, with this gigantic smug grin on his face. I didn't bother correcting him after the fifth time this happened because he was kind of annoying me. Plus, I figured Cellie would probably get a kick out of it.

Actually, I was kind of worried about that. I mean, my friends picked up ASL straight out of my head. Well, all of them did except Rachel, and she was actually kind of jealous of the fact, but she was trying to learn it anyway simply because she was interested.

Besides her, though, what if Cellie picked up on the fact that my friends knew more ASL than was natural? I had decided I would tell her that I taught them, which was literally true, but it's not like I put any effort into it. Apparently, in my head was just an interesting place to be.

So, with all this stirring around inside of me, plus the fact that my hormones seemed to multiply by a million lately every time I was around her, I approached her somewhat cautiously where she waited in front of the library. And took delight in the fact that her eyes lit up quite obviously today when she spotted me.

HI, she waved, and I waved back. I didn't even attempt to hug her today. It was already too much for my overloaded senses. I definitely didn't expect her to launch herself into my arms.

"Whoa," I said, weakly, as she snuggled her head into my chest. And I was woefully unprepared for how my body reacted. Instead of pushing her away - like my mind was screaming at me to do - I pulled her closer, tighter, right up against me… right up against my - fuck - erection, and even though I had excellent hearing, I wasn't positive I heard her gasp because my heartbeat was pounding so incredibly loud.

Was that hers, too?

We didn't move. Both of us stood stock still, only too painfully aware that this hug was much longer than just-a-friendly hug had a right to be. When we finally pulled away, there was an awareness there that we had maybe crossed over into uncharted territory, and it was kind of terrifying. And it kind of made me feel like I was going through puberty all over again.

One quick glance at her face, and it obvious that I wasn't alone in this. I chanced a smile, and her lips turned up quickly, before she looked away.

Cheeks burning, I willed my heartbeat to slow. And then I did something very daring. I reached out and I took her hand.

We didn't sign for the entire walk to Emily's and Sam's house.

* * *

To say she was surprised by everyone's knowledge of Sign Language was an understatement. Her mouth dropped open when they immediately began trying out different signs on her, and I only detected a flicker of uncertainty at first before she began to relax. I was relieved, because for a minute, I thought that maybe everyone had been too intense, but within the hour, she was laughing out loud at Rachel's and Quil's matching enthusiasm.

It was lucky that everyone was there to distract her because I couldn't keep my eyes off of her, and if we had been alone, I don't know what would have happened. I'd never felt so sexually charged in my life as I felt when we just walked hand-in-hand.

And now, here we were sitting around all of my friends and I couldn't stand up because I was still fighting an semi-erection. I had given up trying to hide it from the guys. They could hear my accelerated heartbeat, and the amused looks they kept shooting me was getting a little ridiculous. I, for one, didn't think it was funny at all.

It didn't help that Cellie also kept shooting me looks when she thought I wasn't looking, except they weren't the amused kind. They were the unidentifiable kind. And I was always looking.

YOU MEET E-M-B-R-Y, HOW? Paul asked Cellie, even though he already knew.

Surprisingly, he had picked up Sign Language better than any of us. Even me. I was kind of jealous. He was naturally talented at it in a way that even Cellie wasn't. The way he signed was just… it seemed to flow.

It was hard to explain, but I had learned quickly that everyone seemed to have a different style when it came to signing, much like talking. And surprisingly, most of us signed the same way we talked. Especially Sam.

His signs were short and to the point, almost militant in nature, and I was sure it wasn't because of his lack of sign vocabulary.

And funnily enough, Brady, who had a bit of a stutter when he was nervous, almost seemed to stutter with his hands as well, especially when learning something new.

Kim signed small, with her hands very close to her body, as if she was whispering everything she said. Which she totally did. And I noticed that whenever Jared signed to or with her, he also signed in a whisper.

It was pretty cool, and made wonder what my signing style was. I made a mental note to ask Cellie later.

LIBRARY, Cellie signed. E-M-B-R-Y SCARE ME. HE WEIRD. And everyone burst into laughter while Cellie shot me a furtive look, and I rolled my eyes.

ME NOT SCARE YOU, I argued, and she grinned. LIAR.

She shrugged. E-M-B-R-Y TABLE-ROUND. HE NOT HERE, ME SIT.

Rachel's eyebrows shot up, and she grinned at me, and I watched her expression turn sly as she turned back to Cellie. I wondered what she was up to.

B-E-F-O-R-E YOU MEET E-M-B-R-Y, YOU KNOW TABLE HIS? Rachel asked, and all eyes turned to Cellie as she nodded.

IF YOU KNOW… YOU SIT E-M-B-R-Y TABLE… WHY? Rachel asked, and at this Cellie blushed, but I saw that several people didn't understand, so Rachel interpreted aloud, "If you knew it was Embry's table before you met him, why did you sit there?"

Keeping her eyes trained on Rachel, Cellie replied while biting the inside of her cheek, BEFORE, ME GO-TO LIBRARY EVERYDAY. ME KNOW E-M-B-R-Y TABLE-ROUND… ME SIT. WHY? EMBRY COME AGAIN, MAYBE.

But this time, Rachel didn't understand, and unable to fight back my blush, I interpreted, "She used to go to the library everyday, and she knew it was my table, but she sat there anyway… hoping I would come. Before we met."

* * *

I held her hand on the way back from the library and I wanted so badly to kiss her, but I knew neither of us were ready. Instead we walked back, again without signing, and waited in front of the library for her mom to come.

She pulled up about fifteen minutes after Cellie called her, but instead of letting go of my hand, Cellie tugged me over to where the car was.

"Embry!" her mom greeted me, both talking and signing at the same time, so that Cellie and I could both understand. "Cellie and I were wondering if you and your mother would like to join us for dinner next Friday night?"

Cellie turned to me, the excitement almost tangible in her eyes. PLEASE, she signed, but she totally didn't need to beg me.

YES! I signed without hesitation, completing forgetting to talk. Cellie and her mom both laughed, and once again, I was struck by how much they looked alike.

"I'll ask my mom," I said, signing it at the same time for Cellie. She grinned, then climbed into the car.

"Fantastic. Do you need a ride?"

"No, that's okay," I said, except I absolutely, definitely wanted a ride. But I didn't need one. Honestly, after all my nerves and hormones had been through today, I didn't think I could take being stuck in such close proximity to her without being able to do anything about it.

A pang went through me at Cellie's disappointed look, but I forced myself to ignore it. I waved as they drove off. Then, I started walking.

And as soon as I got home, I took a very hot shower. Then, a very cold one.

* * *

YOU'RE BEAUTIFUL, C-E-L-L-I-E, I signed. Then, I held my arms out and she walked right into them. As if she had been there all of her life.

She leaned back and smiled at me. I-LOVE-YOU, E-M-B-R-Y.

I beamed. Then, I leaned down and gently pressed my lips to -

"It's supposed to snow, people, so look alive! Get the good work turned in now! Speaking of good work, great job, Embry!" Mr. Haggerty, my Advanced Placement Science teacher said, as he slapped the most recent test on my desk.

I jumped, and he smirked at me, then tapped his cheek. Mortified, I wiped the drool off my face, and looked around to make sure no one else had seen that. Luckily, most people seemed just as startled as I was, meaning they had just woken up, too. Either that, or they had been daydreaming.

I sighed. This had been happening more and more recently. Luckily, I seemed to retain information in my sleep, or daydreams, whatever they were, because it's not like I didn't know what was going on in my classes. I still got straight A's, perfect grades, everything. I just couldn't stop thinking about Cellie. Sleep or awake.

My schedule was basically: wake up, think of Cellie, eat breakfast, shower, think of Cellie in shower, another shower, school, think of Cellie at school, think of Cellie in between classes, see Cellie after school, maybe hang out with the guys, think of Cellie, patrol, think of Cellie, listen to everyone complain because I'm thinking of Cellie, go home, think of Cellie, sleep while dreaming of Cellie. It was bad. And what was worse was that I daydreamed about Cellie while Cellie was in front of me.

Paul's solution was to just kiss her already, but I didn't want to be all barbaric-caveman about it. It didn't help that Cellie seemed to sense my mood, and if I wasn't mistaken, seemed to want to move forward just as much as I did. There were way too many awkward moments for me to be mistaken.

But, I wasn't exactly sure if kissing her would help or make the situation worse. The mating instinct was there, and I doubted it would be satisfied with just a kiss. I also knew for a fact that neither Sam or Paul - I purposely excluded Jake - had stopped with just a kiss with their imprints. Quil didn't count either, since his imprint was like 5 years old.

No, when I kiss her, it's going to be in a romantic setting and I'm going to make sure both of us are ready, and -

"Cherry chap-stick," I muttered, completely oblivious as to what was going on around me.

"Embry…" my teacher sighed from my right side, startling me. "That answer is incorrect. Please try to pay attention." How long was he standing there?

I sighed, and raised my head from the desk. When had he even asked me anything? Annoyed, I put it out of my head, and trained my gaze on the teacher for the rest of the class. Within five minutes, I was off in la-la land once again.

After all, trying to pay attention and actually paying attention were two different things.

* * *

"Oh, Embry, I don't know. You sure it won't be… awkward? I mean, will Cellie be able to understand what I'm saying? You said she doesn't lip-read, right?" My mom tugged at her dress and I grinned.

"It'll be fine, Mom," I said, as I pulled her towards Cellie's front door. "And besides, it's too late now. We're already here."

It was Friday and I was more than excited. The only thing that put a slight damper on my excitement was the fact that it was supposed to snow tonight, and my mom wanted to leave early just in case. She hated to drive in snow.

I rushed my mother to the front door so she wouldn't see the flurries that my sharp eyes had already picked up, and thankfully, before I raised my hand to knock, Cellie yanked the door open.

I grinned, my hand still in the air, and she signed, YES, WHAT? teasing me. I stuck my tongue out at her, and she laughed before beckoning that we come in.

My mom gave me a look that was partly confused and partly impressed, and I just laughed again. It felt very nice to be in the know for once.

"Mom, this is Cellie," I said, signing simultaneously, and she smiled and gave Cellie a nervous wave.

C-E-L-L-I-E, MY MOM, I signed, while my mom watched my hands.

Cellie nervously waved back, and then her mother came in the hall from what I assumed was the kitchen, judging by the amazing smells that were coming from it.

"Hello, hello, welcome!" she said, also simultaneously signing. "My name is Noelle. It's a pleasure to meet you. Loraya, is it? That's how you pronounce it, Embry?" Not waiting for me to answer, she pulled my startled mom into a hug, and I met Cellie's eyes as both of us tried to stifle our laughter.

Yeah, this was going to be fine.

Twenty minutes after the meeting and greeting, we were sitting down to dinner. Their table was round and this made me smile. I looked up at Cellie, who had sat down across from me, and she was grinning as well.

"So, Loraya," Cellie's mom began, while signing with one hand. I needed to learn how to do that. "You're a single mother as well?"

My mom smiled at me. "Yep. Just me and my Embry," she said, and I blushed, fighting the urge to roll my eyes while Cellie continued to grin at me.

Did I say this was going to be fine? Scratch that.

"Cellie's father and I have been divorced since she was two. So, over fourteen years now. But I honestly wouldn't have it any other way. I love Cellie to death, and while it's hard raising a child alone, it's most definitely possible. And worth it," she grinned, and now it was Cellie's turn to blush.

"Oh, yes. Definitely worth it. But it has to be harder for you," my mom replied. "At least Embry is out of the house most of the day. At school, you know? And he works during the weekends, now. Does Cellie… I'm sorry, Cellie… do you go to a Deaf school? I didn't know there was one around here."

Cellie's mom interpreted, but at that, her signs abruptly stopped and Cellie's face turned to stone. My mom had said the exact wrong thing.

"Mom, Cellie doesn't… there's not a Deaf school around here. She's homeschooled," I said, trying to ease the tension before it set in. Too late.

"Embry works on the weekends?" Cellie's mom asked, and turned to Cellie, who was avoiding eye-contact. "That's funny… because I could have sworn that Cellie said she was hanging out with Embry last weekend, and that she planned to this weekend as well. But that's clearly impossible."

My mom shut up, and my eyes widened as everyone turned to Cellie. She bit the inside of her cheek.

LAST WEEKEND, WHERE YOU? her mom asked, eyebrows raised, and translating aloud for my mom's benefit. Though, my mom looked as uncomfortable as I felt, so I wasn't sure she wanted to listen in.

Cellie shook her hand and flashed a guilty look at me, but I was as clueless as anyone else. Was she using me as a scapegoat to go do something else? I was kind of hurt by that… and kind of impressed, intensely curious, and somewhat flattered that her mom would trust me so much.

Except now her mom was looking at me with suspicion, so I was pretty sure that temporary trust was dead. Thank you, Cellie.

Cellie signed something quickly, and looked at me again, face burning. She wanted us to leave. I could take a hint.

"Mom," I said. "Should we… uh… should we maybe check and see if it's snowing?"

My mom caught on quickly and nodded, then excused the both of us. She actually went to the window, but I went in search of a bathroom.

Well, this was awkward. The only thing that could make this worse was the telltale sign of an erection. Which, luckily, I didn't have. For once.

"It's snowing!" my mom hissed at me as I went back into the hall. "We need to leave, Embry. It's snowing really hard."

Okay, I lied, that was worse.

We re-entered the kitchen to find Cellie and her mother engaged in a furious fight with flying signs, but thankfully, no fists. They saw me and ceased signing immediately, Noelle's face exasperated, and Cellie's face angry.

SORRY BOTHER-YOU, I interrupted, wishing there was something I could do for Cellie. MUCH S-N-O-W. WE NEED LEAVE. GO HOME. SORRY, SORRY.

Noelle apologized as well and walked us to the door. She opened it, and the gust of wind combined with large flakes of snow practically knocked her backwards. My mom looked past her, dismayed. She shot me a look, and I shrugged.

Noelle caught the looks between us, and said, "You're welcome to stay here tonight." My mouth dropped open.

I was wrong again. This day was absolutely more than fine. It was perfect.

* * *

A/N: So, I'm aware that this is a little short, but this chapter was impossible to write, and I don't particularly like it. It was really just a transition chapter and kind of all over the place, but at the same time, a lot happened. More than I wanted to happen, I think. But, hey! Now I can move forward to bigger and better things. YAY!

You love me, I love you... so please click the button and review!

- FadingSlowly