This chapter is short 1,500 words or so. Fala's character and Brady's character might seem really off at times, but that's because it's been a loooong time since I've last written anything *cough*. And since I'm lazy as all hell, I didn't bother to re-read and do a half-assed edit. So this is completely unedited xP

But the next chapter is the last one; so this is the pre-wrap to the whole wrapping the story thing :3

…And a good day to all you sirs. :D

Review?

Some of this was here before us
All of this will go after us
It never stops until we give in, give in

Fala's point of view-

"Maybe I should bring something heavy? Pepper spray? No, I don't even have pepper spray. Is it too late to go to the corner market? Would they sell that kind of stuff? Oh for crying out loud, I don't even know where he is… how could I possibly-?"

"Fala?" Turning around slowly I stare at Emily in a not-so inviting way, and considering she seemed less than affected, I'd say she was used to it by now. Not that she really ever cared before to not be used to it. And, supposedly, since Emily seems to be the friendliest person around, I guess it wouldn't hurt to ask her? Although, she'd probably just go to Sam right away, and Sam would just throw the final shit and let it hit the fan. That would be a headache to avoid.

"Not to be purposely bitchy, Emily, but go away. I'm busy with something." Too blunt… why do I even care? I need to find Brady and punch in the face or something, then hit Collin with a metal bat. A metal bat with a legit signature on it. No, a metal bat with a legit signature and nails coming out it.

"Sam and- everyone's worried about you Fala," Emily starts, doing the usual and ignoring what I said beforehand to spout out some sweet-as-sugar apology, "I just thought I'd check up on you since the boy's downstairs said they could hear you mumbling to yourself and I-" The boys? I suck in a quick breath, looking over at her. And either my expression must have looked as crazy as it felt, or Emily ran out of things to say, because she finally shut her trap long enough for me to respond.

"Boys… as in Brady?" I ask slowly, my heart feeling just a little lighter and my head a bit more chaotic at the thought of him being downstairs. Rubbing my already sweaty palms together I began pacing, wondering just how in the hell to approach him. Do I do it with a glare? Smile and pretend everything is cool? Or should I just shout and tell him from upstairs to avoid meeting him face to face? My gaze slides over to Emily who's rambling about something in the doorway and I move closer, truly feeling like I've snapped when I grab her by the shoulders. Emily blinks like any oblivious imprint should.

"Are you sure you don't need anything?"

"Send him up," I murmur urgently as quietly as possible, staring at Emily with enough intensity to make her head bob up and down like a broken bobble head.

Brady's point of view-

"That was really fucked up, Collin."

"What? You wanted me to get her upset-"

"No I didn't! That was your dumbass idea!" Collin holds his hands up in surrender, but the stupid grin on his face is firmly in place. It was like he wanted me to punch him. It was like he made it his job to misunderstand everyone and make an ass of himself in front of other people. At this rate Fala will probably never want to talk to him. And what kind of pack would that be if she can't stand to look at my best friend?

Or former best friend; depends whether or not I'll kill him for treating my girlfriend like that.

"Well it'll work," he chirps innocently, humming quietly to himself. I sink down further into my chair in defeat.

"I don't know about that. She sounds like she's ready to kill me, chop me up, and bury my limbs in various places in the woods. Anything so I can't have an open-casket funeral." The idiot snickers in my face.

"Chill, the worst she could do is cut off your hands or something before the imprint holds her back from beheading you." I think I was about to throw up.

"You're sick," I mutter, letting my head rest on the table and dreading Emily's footsteps as they came closer to the kitchen. How pathetic was I? Afraid of my own imprint… and I wasn't even sure if she had anything sharp upstairs to harm me…or behead me. I send another glare Collin's way.

"Brady, Fala wanted me to send you upstairs," Emily says calmly, patting my back on her way towards the oven.

I breathe in deeply. All I have to do is relax, play it cool, make eye contact with her, calm her down and… I can't do it. What if I can't do it? What if she says no? What if she cries? Dear God, I can't take it if she cries. What should I even do when a girl cries? What do I do when Fala cries?

"Brady... she's not that scary," Seth says from across the table, concentrating on scavenging any left over breakfast food on the table.

"Yeah, she's kind of like a tiny puppy with one hell of a bark," Embry offers, taking a muffin a millisecond faster than Seth's hand could reach it.

"Bet she doesn't mean half the stuff she says anyways. Like one of those defense mechanisms," Quil snickers, taking the last bacon strip before Seth even had a chance to look at it.

"There, you see Brady? Imprints are easy to handle when you know how to," Collin smirks, snatching a sausage out of Seth's hands with ease. Shifting nervously I give them all a suspicious look.

"You guys don't even have imprints."

"Quil's got one," Embry offers before Quil could, and Collin and I snort simultaneously.

"She's two. I doubt she knows how to curse you out yet."

"Actually, she's been learning really quickly!" Quil enthuses, his eyes wide, "Plus she's been-"

"Aaaaand, I'm going upstairs," I mutter, Quil's Claire-talk giving me enough motivation to suck it up and talk to Fala.

Fala's point of view-

Sitting on my bed I rub at my temples, glancing up at my bedroom door every few seconds. This was ridiculous. I felt like I was going through some kind of withdrawal symptoms, which, by the way, was no way in hell healthy. Everything was just too confusing. The fact that Collin came up here to practically squeeze every possible pleasant feeling out of my body, and the fact that Brady left me all alone upstairs without saying anything to go hang out with his pack; which wasn't normal.

I've seen how an imprinted boy acts, and that was most certainly not it.

But there was no way I broke the imprint either; otherwise Collin wouldn't have bothered to come up here?

Just… what the hell is wrong with me? I wipe my hands on my pants, trying to squish my building anxiety. Goddamnit! I can't take it! Standing up quickly I start to move towards the door, stopping immediately when Brady comes into view.

Feeling my eyes widen I take a step back, watching as he nervously scratched the back of his head, a worried look on his face. And, dare I say it… he looked… he actually looked…

Fucking hell, no.

"I can't take this," I grumble finally, satisfied when he stopped his nervous shuffling. I stare down at his feet during the silence, trying not to notice how calm his breath sounded despite what I said. Doesn't anybody ever listen? Why does everybody not take me seriously? Why, out of the one person that should doesn't?

"Yeah." My eyes shift upwards, blinking in shock at the stupid smile on his face.

"…yeah?" Relaxing a little my shock turns into suspicion, knowing fairly well that this was probably another one of his stupid tricks. It's not like he hasn't tried pulling this before, any second now he'll just spout out some stupid love confession from the imprint, or try closing the distance between us and gently caressing-

"Yeah. I can't take this either. The imprint, you, us; it's really frustrating, isn't it?" Me? Us? What about me? What about us? Licking my lips in slight irritation I take a step forward, glaring up at him.

"Frustrating doesn't even cover it." His response is to pat me on the head, turn around, and leave.