Special thanks to Ani and luna moon18 for their awesome reviews!
Chapter 5
I awoke disoriented to the sound of Casper's whiny bark and the incessant ringing of the door bell.
"What the hell…?" I muttered, irritated. I tried to smother my head under a pillow.
I was not a morning person.
Neither the barking nor the ringing ceased. Where the hell was my mom? When it was apparent the noise was not going to stop anytime soon, I dragged myself out of bed, taking the comforter with me.
I looked at my window and could barely detect any light shining through the break in the curtains. Who the hell was at our house this early in the morning?
I stumbled my way downstairs, the purple comforter wrapped around my shoulders like a cape and trailing behind me.
Casper was at the door, barking in sync to the sound of the doorbell.
"Casper, shut up, will you?" I asked, pushing him out of the way with my foot. He obligingly darted behind my legs and under the comforter.
I unhooked the golden chain and twisted the dead bolt, fully prepared to chew out whoever stood on the other side of the door.
"What the hell-" I froze, looking down to find a seated Embry, collapsed against the side of my house, completely drenched.
He sent me an annoyed look. "About time! I've been sitting here for half an hour!"
I was completely lost. "What are you doing here?"
He gave me another dirty look. "Did you forget? We were supposed to go to Port Angeles today!"
"Yeah, but that isn't until ten," I snapped back.
"Um, Alexis, I hate to burst your bubble, but its ten forty-five."
I froze. "What?"
"It's ten forty-five," he repeated, slowly.
"But-but it's so dark!" I countered, childishly.
He raised a dark eyebrow. "That's because it's pouring."
I looked out beyond the porch to find the skies a dark gray and rain drops bouncing off the pavement. Well, that explained why the guy was soaked.
"Right…" I replied, dumbly. My brain was still not fully awake yet.
I let the comforter slip a little, as a gust of wet wind blew in through the door. I realized at that moment I was still in my pajamas. Glancing at Embry, I found out that he had just noticed it too.
In a flash, I slammed the front door closed, face scarlet.
See, in our old apartment, we didn't have air conditioning. So, my pajamas had always consisted of a sports bra and boxers because I insisted on sleeping with heaps of blankets. And, basically, I hadn't quite broken the habit, which meant Embry had just gotten an eye full.
I banged my head against the door at my own stupidity.
"Alexis?" Embry called out over the noise of the rain. "Um, can I come in? It's kind of still raining out here, and I'm really getting wet, and I've been out here awhile and-"
I cut him off when I yanked open the door an inch.
"Look, um, give me a ten second head start to make it up to my room and then let yourself in, okay?" I avoided looking at his face at all costs.
At his sound of agreement, I dashed up the stairs, taking them two at a time, and slammed the door to my room shut. I sat there breathing heavily for awhile.
Oh my god, how more awkward could that have gotten?
And where the hell was my mother when I actually needed an interceptor?
Remembering that Embry was waiting downstairs for me, I rushed into my closet and threw on a pair of jeans and a long sleeved something. I yanked a hooded sweatshirt over my head and then rushed around trying to collect my cell phone and other necessities, stuffing them into a random purse lying on the ground.
I paused when I spotted a piece of paper sitting innocently under my wallet.
Honey,
I'm heading over to a neighbor's this morning. I put forty dollars in your wallet, but you have your own debit card as well. I hope you were able to wake up before Embry got here. Have fun!
Lots of love,
Your mother
I crumpled the paper in my hand. She had somehow planned this, I just knew it. I threw the piece of paper into the trash, letting out a snarl.
Sometimes my mother can really be obnoxious.
I stomped down the stairs, cursing her silently.
A clearing of a throat caused me to look up to find a still red-faced Embry holding my bright purple comforter and dripping all over the entryway.
"Oh, I'm so sorry Embry! Let me get you a towel or something…" I dumped my stuff and dashed back up the stairs and into the bathroom. I grabbed a couple of towels and then stumbled my way back down.
"Here, I'll trade you," I said, holding out the pile and reaching for my comforter. I had yet to look him in the eyes.
I dumped the heavy comforter onto the couch before turning back to Embry. As he was preoccupied with using a towel to dry his hair, I let myself actually take in his appearance and later regretted I had.
The boy really was gorgeous. His black t-shirt stuck to him like a second skin, revealing what had to be a six pack. His cut-off jeans were darkened by the rain and his tennis shoes looked waterlogged. I flushed with guilt. Poor guy had been sitting outside my house in the rain for thirty minutes. I was surprised he even bothered staying so long; I knew I would have definitely given up a long time ago and just gone home.
He pulled the towel off his head, and I nearly died. His brown eyes cracked open to see me clutching my stomach and gasping for breath.
"Your-hair" I choked out.
He self-consciously ran a hand threw his hair, succeeding in only making the ends stand up in all sorts of directions.
Still chuckling, I padded over to him and yanked on his arm. He obligingly bent over, and I attempted to smooth out the wet hair.
"There, all better," I mockingly cooed.
"Thanks, mom," he replied sarcastically, straightening.
It was then I realized how closer we were. So close, I could feel the heat radiating off of him.
I ruined the moment by blurting out, "Are you sure you're not sick or something?"
He hurriedly backed away from me, muttering, "Yeah, yeah, I'm sure. I told you it was a Quileute thing…"
"Whatever you say…" I replied, skeptically.
"Right, whatever I say." He sent me a cheeky grin.
I rolled my eyes. "So are we still heading to Port Angeles?" I asked, drifting into the kitchen.
"Eh, well I guess we could, though it might not be the best idea considering the weather…" he trailed off, looking uncertainly out the window.
"You must be crazy to think I would get within six feet of you and a car in this kind of weather," I declared, reaching for the box of Cocoa Puffs above the fridge.
I felt a rush of heat behind me, and then suddenly the box was gone.
I turned jumping for it. "That's not fair! Unjust advantage! Foul!" I cried leaping vainly at Embry's outstretched arm.
"All's fair in love and war," he mocked.
I made a motion, as if to knee him in the groin, and he immediately curled in on himself. With quick reflexes, I tore the box out of his grip.
"Hey! That was cheating!" he whined.
I stuck my tongue at him as I got out a bowl. "What was it you just said, 'all's far in war'?" I let out a laugh.
Suddenly, his intense heat was behind me again. "You forgot about love," he breathed into my ear.
I completely froze.
And just like that, the Cocoa Puffs were plucked from my hands, and Embry fled laughing into the living room.
"Embry Call! You better bloody run 'cause when I catch you, there will be hell to pay!" I cried, picking up the nearest weapon and dashing after him.
I found him crouching triumphantly behind the couch.
"You're going to regret messing with my Cocoa Puffs," I hissed.
"I'm shivering in my little booties," he mocked.
We began to do a weird dance around the couch. He faked left, I mimicked; he feinted right, I followed. This continued for awhile until my stomach growled and my patience ran thin.
"That's it!" I cried and threw whatever I had grabbed earlier at his head. He ducked just in time and turned to see the utensil bounce harmlessly off the wall.
"Did you just throw a spoon at my head-"
"HA!" I let loose a war cry and leaped over the couch towards the Cocoa Puffs. Sadly, Embry moved just before I was able to grab them, and we collided with a loud thud. However, a collision implies that both parties were equally affected, and that just wasn't the case at all.
"Oww," I moaned. It felt like I had just hit a concrete wall. "Wat de blady 'ell are ew mad av?" I cried, clutching my throbbing nose. He didn't even budge! I practically bounced off of him!
I sunk to the floor in pain, and Embry followed, trying to pry my hands away from my face.
"I'm so, so sorry, Alexis. Here, let me see," he told me, pulling on my hands. He was nothing but a brown blur to me as my eyes watered uncontrollably.
"Ow, ow, ow," I repeated over and over, as he gently cradled my face, inspecting the damage.
"It doesn't look broken, just really swollen, but I'm no doctor," he told me, sounding more and more guilty. "We should take you to the hospital."
"Ew, gawd neu!" I cried in protest, shaking my head furiously, only to cry out in pain as the movement caused needles to shoot through my head.
"Well, we at least need to take you to someone who can take a look at it…" he muttered absentmindedly brushing a curl back from my forehead.
"Neu! Neu! Ahm phen!" I cried, trying to jerk away from his warm hands.
"Alexis, you are not fine, you're bleeding," he told me, holding me steady with little effort. "And, we are going to get you help, okay?"
I nodded at him, distractedly, and let myself be hauled up and led out. I was bleeding? When did I start bleeding?
"Now, I just have to figure out where to take you…"I heard Embry mutter, but was unable to really see anything between the black dots dancing across my eyes and the water pouring out of them. "I'd take you to Emily, but this was supposed to be Sam and Emily's day alone…"
I immediately jerked my head, "Neu, neu emlee, neu emlee!"
Embry placed a fiery hot hand on my head, "Okay, okay, I won't take you to Emily, promise."
I let out a satisfied hum, before letting myself drift back into the pain. More water poured out of my eyes. It wouldn't stop.
I felt the hood of my sweatshirt tugged over my head. A door closed behind us. The roar of pounding rain muffled Embry's reassurances. We must be outside.
"I guess I could take you to Billy, he'd be the most reliable right now…" Embry thought aloud, rushing me over to the side of his old truck. In what I could have sworn were simply seconds, I was buckled in, and Embry was at my side attempting to start the car.
After a few tries and prayers on his part, the car roared to life, and then everything got real fuzzy.
"Alexis, come on now, stay awake, okay?" Embry shook my shoulder roughly, voice laced with worry and panic. Why was he panicking? Nothing was wrong. I had gotten nose bleeds before; it wasn't that big of a deal.
"Alexis, promise you'll stay awake, okay? Come on, promise," he insisted, and I was tempted to yell at him to pay attention to the road. He was already a bad enough driver as is. But I felt drained of energy, and could only nod obediently at his command.
"No! No drifting off!" His shout jerked me up from my slumped over position against the door. "You promised, remember. No sleeping allowed, we're almost there, I promise."
Okay, so Embry was officially freaking out. I didn't see what the big deal was; I had gotten hit in the nose with a soccer ball plenty of times. It was nothing a simple bag of ice wouldn't fix.
I would look back on the situation and think differently.
"We're here, okay? Just hang tight." He shook my shoulder for good measure before darting out of the car.
I heard him yelling, screaming 'Billy' at the top of his lungs as he ran around to my side of the car. Before I was able to process what was happening, I had been plucked from the car and carried to the door of the house, which Embry was now banging on hard enough to knock down.
I winced laying my head on his shoulder. The loud noise hurt.
"Embry? What are you-who is this? What happened?" I vaguely heard a deep, raspy voice ask, but everything was getting fuzzier. It felt as if I had dunked my head underwater.
"Here, here, put her down. The first aid kit is in the bathroom, the one by Jacob's room."
A pair of hands gently held my face. I winced at their contact. "Shh, everything will be fine; you're alright now," a voice soothed me.
I tried to calm down, but my mind was a whirling jumble.
"I got the kit, what do you need?" That had to be Embry, right? I couldn't even bring myself to make sure.
"Well, she's going to need something for that cut on her nose. I don't think its deep enough to need stitches…" the voice trailed off, and my head was titled back gently. "Hand me the butterfly bandages, they should do. I need the rubbing alcohol and Neosporin and grab an ice pack, will you? Poor girl is going to have such a headache."
"You don't think she has a concussion, do you?"
"Possibly, but if it is, it's only a minor one. You have a lot of explaining to do, once we get this young lady patched up, Embry Call."
"Yes, sir."
I vaguely heard the sounds of what had to have been Embry scrambling around, but my attention was drifting in and out.
"Alexis?" I weakly acknowledged my name with a hum. "I'm going to be asking you some questions, while putting these bandages on you, okay? Is that alright?"
I inclined my head slightly.
"Good, just hold still for me, okay?" A hand tilted my face a little to left. "So, you live down in Forks?" I nodded. "You're new in town, aren't you?" I nodded. "Thought so, I would remember a face like yours. Move here with your mother and father?" I shook my head. "By yourself?" I shook my head. "Just your mother?" I nodded.
"How's she doing?" Embry was back.
"Fine, fine," the gentle voice responded. "Alexis?" I hummed. "This will sting a little bit, so you might want something to squeeze, okay?" I hummed. "Give her your hand, Embry."
It immediately felt as if my hand was enveloped by a burning warmth. Seconds passed, and I didn't feel a thing. I began to think crazy thoughts. Was it possible to paralyze your nose? Was that why I couldn't feel anything? Would that even be that big of a loss anyway?
And then the pain came, the horrible, sharp, stinging pain that every kid remembers from their childhood. It was the pain you got from that time you fell on the playground, and your mom whipped out that horrible brown bottle. It was the sting of the liquid of Satan, hydrogen peroxide.
I didn't make a sound; instead, I focused all of my pain on Embry's hand. Despite as sadistic as it might sound, I was going to make him feel as much of my pain as possible, because, in reality, all of this was his fault. If he had simply left my Cocoa Puffs alone, none of this would have ever happened!
Stupid Embry.
The stinging eventually faded, but I held onto Embry's hand for good measure until I was completely sure it had passed. I couldn't even describe the satisfaction I got at the noise of discomfort Embry made when I released his hand.
"Serves you right," the deep, gravelly voice told him. I mentally cheered; whoever he was, he was certainly on my side.
"Now Alexis I'm going to put on the bandages now. This may hurt a little when I squeeze the cut together."
I hummed to show I understood. "Here goes," he muttered. I twitched, feeling slight discomfort, but nothing major.
"All done," I felt someone pat my hand reassuringly. "Now all you need is an ice pack and some aspirin for the killer headache you should be getting anytime now."
I nodded, somehow comforted by this knowledge. I liked to be informed.
"Why don't you move her to the couch, Embry? She'll be more comfortable there."
"Good idea," Embry agreed, and, before I could protest, hoisted me up. I let out a whimper at the sharp throb of my head.
"Easy now, Embry, she's a little shaken."
I was settled gently on to a rough sofa, worn and, from the smell, old. But it was heaven to me at that moment. Embry propped my head up with a pillow and gently placed a cold weight on my face. One of his burning hands guided one of my own to hold what I assumed to be the ice pack in place.
"If you think you'll be okay by yourself for a few moments, Alexis, I would like to have a word with Embry," the gentle and raspy voice asked.
I gave a thumbs up with my free hand. I heard a chuckle and smiled to myself. This whole fiasco was getting a little too serious for my liking.
And just like that I was left all alone in some random person's living room.
Funny how a day never seems to turn out like you expected.
I drifted off to the thought of how my mother would react to this whole thing.
That could get ugly…
"Alexis? Alexis," a soft voice and warm hand gently nudged me awake.
I turned over, trying to escape whoever was trying to make me leave my dreams. "Nghh…." I moaned, Alexis-speak for 'leave me the hell alone'.
"Come on, Alexis. You've been asleep for more than an hour now. It's nearly two."
I finally gave in and blearily opened my eyes. The first thing I saw was Embry's concerned face. "What died?" I asked, rubbing the sleep from my eyes.
"Your face," he replied, but without the teasing edge my voice had held. In fact, he was beginning to look a little angry.
"Look, I'm really sorry," I began, afraid I might lose my only friend over something so stupid. "I was an idiot, trying to tackle you. You're like four times my size. I had just figured that since you were distracted, it would be easier to take you down, but clearly that backfired and I-"
A burning hand cut off my words.
"Look, you have nothing to be sorry for, I should have known better. I should have tried to avoid you, or dodge, or something." He ran a hand roughly through his hair. "I'm just so used to messing around with the guys; I guess I just reacted-"
It was my turn to cut him off.
"Let's just agree we were both idiots and leave it at that, deal?" I stuck out my hand, which he shook with his ridiculously hot one, after some hesitation. "Now, let's forget this ever happened." I declared.
Embry didn't respond. He just glared holes into the carpet. I rolled my eyes. He was such a drama-queen.
"Embry, what did that carpet ever do to you?" I teased, nudging him in the ribs to get his attention.
"Huh?" he looked confused.
"Embry, we agreed we were both idiots, right? So, you don't get to take any self-righteous trips of self-hate without me, okay?" I joked, smiling up at him as brightly as I could.
"Yeah, yeah," he replied with his own weak smile. It was start, at least.
"Oh, so sleeping beauty finally woke up?" a resonant voice asked.
I turned to see a much older, wheelchair bound man. Creases ran through his russet skin like an old leather jacket and were only amplified by the warm smile crinkling his face. Black eyes stared out at me that at the same time seemed both too young and too ancient for the broad face they were set it. He carried a powerful presence; he was someone impossible to ignore or forget. For a moment I was star struck. I felt unimportant and small next to someone so, so something, great, important, wise, all of the above, whichever.
"Oh, Alexis." Embry jumped to make introductions. "This is Billy Black. He's one of my best friend's dads, and one of the tribe's council members."
I didn't really know what that meant, but I got the impression that he must be someone pretty important around here.
I stood and made my way over to him. "Nice to meet you, sir. I'm Alexis Cunningham." I stuck out my hand for him to shake. However, he surprised me by taking my hand in both of his and cradling it firmly between his own leathery ones.
"It's a pleasure, Alexis."
I flushed a little at the attention. "I can't even begin to thank you for helping me out earlier, sir. If there's anything you need, cooking, cleaning, delivering, I'm your girl, Mr. Black."
He smiled up at me patting my hand. "That's not necessary, Alexis. I was just happy to help you and Embry out. The boy was nearly hysterical when he brought you in."
I stole a look at Embry, who had turned bright red. "I was not hysterical."
Billy sent me a knowing wink, before releasing my hand and turning towards the kitchen. "How about you start with simply calling me Billy?"
"I think I can handle that."
"Oh, and the bathroom is down the hall to the left, Alexis," he called back. I nodded, though he couldn't see it, trying to figure out how he knew what I was going to ask. It must be an old wise man thing.
"I'll be right back," I told Embry, darting off down the hallway. I missed his wince.
I found the bathroom easily enough; the Black's house was anything but large. Shuffling in, I mentally prepared myself for what I would see.
I definitely failed in that respect.
I gasped loudly, clutching the sink for support.
My mom was going to absolutely freak.
"Alexis?" Embry's worried voice floated in from the other side of the door. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah, I'm fine, just thought I saw a bug." The lie was a lame one, and we both knew it.
"You know I'm really sorry, right?"
I was tempted to hit the door. "I swear, Embry Call, if you apologize one more time, I will give you your own black eye, so we can match!"
I was awarded with a chuckle. "I'd like to see you try. We both saw how your last attack ended." The bitter edge to his voice unnerved me. "You'd probably break something in your next attempt."
"If I can't do it, Embry, I sure as hell will find someone who can!" I threatened. "Now go make yourself useful and help Mr. Black or something. You're not doing anything productive by stalking me in the bathroom. In fact, I'm a little creeped out," I teased.
"Okay, okay, I'm going," he muttered. I waited until I couldn't hear his footsteps anymore before I turned back to the mirror.
I winced at my reflection.
It was far worse than I expected.
I had an inch long cut running across the bridge of my nose. It was held together with two stark white butterfly bandages. The cut wasn't really that bad. It would heal in a week or so and probably wouldn't even scar. The rest of my nose and face was a different story. The swelling had clearly gone down, but the area around the cut was already turning green. I gingerly fingered it. Yup, definitely still hurts.
Yet, it was my eye that probably looked the worst. A large purple bruise had already begun to swallow my left eye, officially making me look like a victim of domestic violence. Either that or I had just gotten my ass handed to me in a fist fight. I'm not sure which one I preferred.
My mom was going to absolutely kill me. Right after she finished burying Embry's body, of course.
I groaned into my hands. Maybe it wasn't so bad; I tried to reason with myself. If I washed some of the blood off my face, I'm sure I would look better.
I quickly set about that task, taking extra care to avoid getting water on my bandages. I didn't want Mr. Black's work to go to waste. I padded my face dry with a nearby towel.
I peered critically into the mirror. It was definitely an improvement over before. I winced. It still wasn't quite good enough to escape the wrath of my mother.
Though with a bit of concealer and maybe some foundation, I'm sure I could make this practically invisible, I reassured myself.
"Embry!" a loud voice bellowed into the house. That definitely wasn't Mr. Black. "Embry, you here?"
I picked up on a couple of loud thumps, before the house seemed to go silent again. I decided that now was as good a time as ever to see what was going on.
I tipped toed down the hallway, for reasons beyond me. I peeked into the living room, only to find it empty. My ears caught onto a murmur of low voices, which I followed into what I assumed to be the kitchen.
Standing with his back to me was another huge male. Though shorter and stockier than Embry, this guy would easily tower over me. It was odd how out of place the two looked in the Black's tiny, floral kitchen.
The conversation went silent when Embry caught sight of me in the threshold. Oh, great, as if I didn't feel awkward enough before.
The newcomer spun around. It was eerie how similar he looked to Embry at first glance. But the differences between them were obvious once I looked close enough. He had a burly built, a buzz cut, and an impish grin, which was instantly wiped away at the sight of me.
"Holy shit, Embry, is this her?"
"No, she's the other girl I gave a black eye to," Embry replied with bitter sarcasm.
"Hold up, I thought we had made it clear: no one gave anyone a black eye," I said heatedly. "I was the idiot who tried to tackle you. If anything, I gave myself a black eye. I simply used you to do it," I finished smugly, crossing my arms, as if the argument was over and won. Which it was, as far as I was concerned.
The new guy let out a bark of a laugh. "I like her! She's got a lot of spark for someone so tiny!"
I waved my hands. "Um, hello? I'm still here, and just because I'm short does not mean I'm deaf too. Plus, I'm really not short. You both are just freakishly tall," I declared.
"Oh, really?" the new guy taunted, his impish grin back in place.
"Yes, really," I responded. "It's got to be something in the water…" I muttered, but they all seemed to have caught it.
The burly guy let out another booming laugh, "Something in the water, indeed."
I noticed Embry and Mr. Black send him a warning look. What was that about…?
"I'm Quil Ateara, by the way," he grinned, sticking out his hand. I grabbed it and was somehow unfazed by its burning heat. It's a Quileute thing, I thought robotically.
So, this was Embry's friend who he had bitched about, the one that ditched him for Claire, was it?
The day was getting more and more exciting by the second.
"Ready to do some damage control?" I told Embry with a grimace. His face was oddly pale as he nodded solemnly.
I took a deep breath and slowly pulled open the front door. I flinched at the squishing noise my shoes made on the stone floor.
"Alexis, is that you?" I winced at the panic in her voice.
"Yeah, it's me, mom."
"Do you have any idea how worried I was?" she cried, marching out of the kitchen. I was immediately thankful that I had pulled my hood up. "I come home and there are Cocoa Puffs all over the living room, blood on the carpet, and absolutely no sign of you!" She was breathing heavily now.
I felt Embry shift behind me. I mentally scoffed at the idea of him trying to hide behind me.
"And then I find your purse and your cell phone left behind, and your comforter lying on the couch! God, Alexis, I didn't know what to think! I was about ready to call the police!"
I let her words wash over me. I knew better than to interrupt my mother when she ranted. It was better to just let her get it all out of her system first before I tried to explain and inevitably make a fool of myself.
"I actually drove around town to see if maybe you had gone there for some ungodly reason! Chief Swan finally noticed me doing laps and bought me coffee to calm me down! He explained to me that I couldn't actually file a missing persons report unless you had been missing for twenty-four hours! Do you know how much could happen to you in twenty four hours?" She cried, sounding hysterical and bitter. "Well, I certainly do because I just spent the last four hours imagining it! What were you thinking, Alexis?"
I flinched. I was officially screwed. "Look, mom, just calm down for a second-"
"Do not tell me to calm down, Alexis Nicole!" my mother hissed.
"Okay, okay," I practically whimpered, waving my hands. "I have an explanation."
"It better be a damn good one."
I flinched again.
"Just promise you won't freak out too bad, okay?" I pleaded, reaching up to pull back the hood of my sweatshirt.
"I'm getting impatient, Alexis." Her stance was hostile, arms on her hips and legs braced, as if she was ready to pounce.
I closed my eyes and tugged on the fabric.
I heard a loud gasp, "What did you do to my baby?"
My mother rushed forward, and Embry dodged behind me, using me as a human shield.
"It's not like that ma'am-"
"Do not ma'am me! I trusted you with my baby, and she comes home with a black eye!" my mother screeched.
If I hadn't been trying to hold back my mother from thrashing Embry, I think I would have melted into a puddle of liquid mortification.
"Mom, it wasn't his fault! I was stupid and tried to tackle him!" I shouted over her yells. "If anything, you should be thanking him for taking me to a doctor down at La Push!"
Okay, so that last one was a lie, but I was desperate. Plus, Billy could kind of count as a sort of medicine man, anyway, right?
I let out a breath when I saw her still. Her dark eyes peered at me, suspiciously. "So, this is all your fault, then?"
I gulped. Maybe I should not have cleared Embry of guilt so fast.
"Well, actually, ma'am, it was sort of my fault too. I, uh," he rubbed his neck, stuttering slightly, "stole her Cocoa Puffs. So, I, uh, technically provoked her, uh, attack."
Wow, that definitely sounded ten times more ridiculous when said aloud.
My mother gave us both a hard, steely look. I could feel Embry tremble a little behind me. I reflexively grabbed hold of his burning hand. He squeezed back in response.
And then my mother collapsed into a fit of hysterical laughter.
Embry and I traded worried glances.
"Um, mom, are you feeling okay? Do you want to sit down?"
My mom waved off my concern and made an effort to collect herself. "Its' just," she choked out, "only you would have such an absolutely ridiculous story."
I flushed with indignation. "Well, it's the truth."
She laughed even harder at that. "Oh, I know it's the truth. I know you well enough to know you could have come up with a hell of a more believable lie than that."
Embry's hand shook in my own. I glanced back to see him shaking with silent laughter. I sent him a glare. Whose side was he on?
"You have to admit," he said, full of mirth, "she has a point."
I let the glare slide off my face and joined the two.
However, abruptly, my mother's laughter cut off. Embry and I tensed.
"Don't think you're not still in trouble, missy," she threatened. "If you're well enough to be laughing, you're well enough to clean up the mess in the living room."
"You haven't already done that already?" I asked, perplexed.
My mother whipped around. "I am not your maid, Alexis Nicole, and you would do good to remember that."
"Right," I cowered back. "I'll get right on it."
"Oh, and Embry," she turned to him, using a sickly sweet voice.
"Yes, ma'am," he responded, quickly, straightening up.
"It would be nice of you to stay and help her, since it was partially your fault." The underlying threat was clear.
"Of course, ma'am," he stuttered out under my mother's beady stare.
"Well, the vacuum and cleaning supplies are already out there, so get to it." She disappeared into the back of the house.
Embry and I sat in tense silence for a few moments, and I wondered vaguely if she had planned the entire thing.
"If I was a lesser man, I might have actually pissed my pants."
"You wouldn't have been the first."
Hours later, I walked Embry to the door. It was already dark out.
Mom had graciously invited him to dinner, only after we cleaned up the mess in the living room, of course. Blood is a bitch to get out of carpet, by the way.
Though, the highlight of that little adventure had to be the look on my mom's face when Embry got up for fifths. In his defense, she did tell him to take as much as he wanted. I had been just as surprised, though. I simply couldn't figure out where he put it all. It was obvious that there wasn't an ounce of fat on his body.
I had asked him about it and got the vague reply of "I like to run." Yeah, like running had created that body.
"Thanks for, well, everything today," I told him a little awkwardly; it had been the epitome of an out-of-the-ordinary day.
"Yeah, well I try," he grinned back. His expression darkened, as his eyes brushed over my face. "I really am sorry about that," he said, voice husky. He reached down and brushed a curl out of my face and moved to touch the bruise. I gripped onto his wrist before he was able to make contact.
His dark brown eyes locked with mine. "I told you I'd find someone to beat you up if you apologized again," I said, trying to lighten the mood.
His mouth curled at the corners. "Yeah, good luck with that."
"Oh, I think Quil would be up for the job, don't you?" I grinned when his eyes widened. That certainly got his attention.
He scoffed. "I could take Quil."
"We'll just have to see, won't we?" I taunted back, pushing him out the door. "Now get going, your parents are probably wondering where you are."
He stiffened a little. "Just mom."
I caught on quickly to the underlying message. "Well, if your mom is anything like mine, she must be flipping out. It's nearly ten."
"Yeah, yeah, I can tell when I'm not wanted," he muttered, shuffling down the steps. "I'll call you tomorrow, okay? We're going to see what the weather is like before we make any plans," he told me, grinning wolfishly. "I don't want to have a repeat of this morning."
My hand twitched, wanting to wipe the cheeky grin right of his face.
"Get out of here, Call!" I shouted.
"I'm going," he called back. "So pushy…"
I rolled my eyes and made to close the door, but his shout stopped me. "Don't forget to ask your mom about Billy's this Sunday!"
Right, I got to remember that. I waved and closed the door, thinking back to that conversation.
"Break it up you two," Billy told us, cutting off Quil and I's heated debate. "Embry, you better be getting this young lady home. Her mother's probably worried."
I reluctantly stood up and moved my glare from Quil. I'm sorry, but it was simply an undisputed fact that mini M&Ms were far better than regular ones, especially peanut ones. Quil was simply living a life of delusion. I pitied him, really.
Quil and I shook hands, tensely. We agreed to disagree until next time.
I redirected my attention to Mr. Black. "I was being serious earlier, Mr-Billy. If there's anything I can do to repay you, just let me know. I'm surprisingly good at manual labor."
He seemed to ponder this a moment, while ushering us towards the door. "How do you feel about college basketball?"
I instantly lit up. "Absolutely love it!" I reddened at my loud exclamation. "I mean, I rather be playing, but I used to watch games with my friends back home all the time. During March Madness, we pretty much locked ourselves in the house with the largest TV."
"Perfect. Well, my usual company has abandoned me this Sunday, so why don't you and Embry come over and join me? Consider it repaying your debt," he said in his booming voice, grinning warmly at the two of us.
"Sure, that sounds great!" I paused and looked over at Embry. "Eh, is that cool, Embry?"
"Yeah, we'll be there, Billy."
"Good, good, why don't you ask Seth if he wants to join us too? He used to enjoy coming over with Harry, sometimes." Embry promised he'd mention it to him. "And you're welcome to come too, Quil," Billy called back into the house.
"I'll see," came the muffled response. "I think I might be babysitting Claire that afternoon..."
Both Billy and Embry rolled their eyes.
"Well, then, I'll see you two Sunday."
Now I just had to figure out how to broach the topic with my mother…
Hope you enjoyed!