Chapter Twenty Four
Good Lord – thank you so much for the reviews! I love you guys! Anyway, this is much longer than the last chapter and not a filler – yay! Please read my note at the end of this chapter.
Disclaimer – I do not own Twilight but I do own Hetani and this weird plotline from now on.
On the morning of my sixteenth birthday, I woke up with a wide smile and a bundle of nerves. I perked up my ears in an attempt to see if anyone else in the house was awake, wanting a few moments to myself before I saw everyone. Hearing faint noises from the kitchen, I sighed in resignation, knowing privacy was rare with my friends and family. I slipped out of bed and pulled on my dark pink dressing gown and fluffy blue boot slippers before shuffling along the hall to the kitchen. I raised my eyebrows at the sight of my older sister making pancakes and waffles at once with her back to me. Naturally, she was fully dressed in her favourite designer jeans, a red tank top and little red flats and her hair was curly down her back. She didn't actually live with us, so what she was doing was beyond me. She had her own place about five minutes away (although I was sure Paul shared it frequently).
"Ahem," I said, clearing my throat. She turned around and beamed so widely that I feared for her cheeks before sweeping me into a hug.
"Happy birthday, Tiny Tani!" she squealed, having no care that dad and Jake were still sound asleep. I just grinned and blushed as she let me go, wondering back to her food to make sure it didn't burn. "Oh, it's going to be a great day – even if you do have school." I plonked myself in a chair and contemplated how long it would take for Jake to drag his tired ass out of bed. Then I considered what would happen if he was awake and shuddered, deciding it was best to get it over with. She was my big sister – she should know all about the subject, right?
"Rachy?" I asked shyly as she piled two ready pancakes and a waffle onto a plate and put it on the table in front of me. Blushing too fiercely to even look at her, I focused on drowning my food in syrup.
"What's up, birthday girl?" she asked airily, clearly not sensing my embarrassment. She was my big sister for God's sake!
"I-I'm sixteen now," I stuttered and almost rolled my eyes at myself. It wasn't even the hard part and I was stumbling over my words. Rachel laughed lightly and I glanced up to see her pouring more batter into the frying pan.
"Yeah, you are. I still remember when you were a tiny little five year old that needed my clothes and didn't speak," she said fondly and I shook my head. That was a signal she was preparing for a trip down memory lane and I had to stop her. I really needed her help.
"Rachel, can you reminisce later?" I begged, finally looking up properly as she added the final two pancakes and few waffles to each of the respective plates. She seemed to get the gist that something was going on and brought the plates over, helping herself.
"Alright, I'm listening. You haven't sounded this urgent since you called me up to ask me what the thirteen year old girl in your class had meant when she said 'sex'." I flushed furiously at the reminder and how close to home she was. Rachel gazed at me curiously as she sipped her morning tea (always tea before coffee although she normally did it at her own house). Then she choked on the hot drink and slowly placed the mug down. "Hetani Black, is this about sex?" she demanded quietly and I admired her finally cottoning on to the fact that Jake (or worse, dad) could possibly hear us. I nodded meekly and her eyes went scarily wide.
"I know the mechanics – you told me – but I'm kind of . . . worried," I mumbled, blushing again. I wasn't worried, I was terrified and this was just my big sister. She wouldn't tell anyone (except maybe Rebecca) but it was humiliating. She was eyeing me carefully, one eyebrow arched in expectation.
"What exactly are you worried about?" she asked slowly and I just looked at her imploringly as my fork absentmindedly poked at my breakfast. "Oh," she said, extending the sound as she finally realised what I was getting at. "You think, now that you're legal, Embry's just going to be thinking about sex and nothing else." Ok, maybe she didn't know exactly what I was thinking.
"Maybe . . . kind of. Well, I wasn't really until you said that. I'm just . . . how do I know I'm ready? And I'm worried about making him wait . . . because he's older than me and he's waited a year now." My words just got quieter and quieter until they were basically incoherent. I was staring avidly at my breakfast until I slowly looked up and was dumbfounded at the amused expression on Rachel's face. Upon seeing my upset eyes, she quickly morphed the look into a calm, thinking one.
"Listen, baby sister, you're over-thinking this entire situation. When you're ready, you will know. Just because you're legal doesn't mean you have to lose your virginity. And, believe me, Embry will not push the subject. Yes, he's a teenage boy with raging hormones but he's also a teenage boy that's madly in love with you. If you're not ready, no way is he going to make you. Don't worry about making him wait either; he's waited this long." She had been doing so well until the last part. I pouted.
"Just because he's waited this long . . ." I trailed off, my natural shyness returning as I prayed for her to get the message. Judging by her eyes rolling, she got it.
"You know that's not what I meant, Tani. Anyhow, you know he'd wait forever for you but, somehow, I don't think you'll make him. Or want to, for that matter." She cheerfully got up and refilled her mug of tea.
"What does that mean?" I asked in clear confusion but Rachel just smirked and gestured to my breakfast.
"Eat your food before it goes cold," she ordered and I dug in, praying to God that my dad, my brother or any passing wolves didn't happen to overhear that conversation. I could not live with that kind of embarrassment.
XXX
I walked into school with a bounce in my step. Jake had dropped me off before going to park and I was practically skipping down the corridors. My carefully straightened hair (with Rachel's help as I wasn't really hair product savvy) swung behind me and I knew it glinted in the lights on the ceiling. I'd dressed carefully in lilac skinny jeans that Rebecca had sent me as a birthday gift along with the cute black ankle boots she'd sent me too. I was also wearing a black tank top and the brand new black leather jacket Rachel had gotten me. How I positively loved my sisters and their sense of fashion.
"Happy birthday!" Elisha squealed, latching onto me as soon as she glimpsed me. I hugged back lightly before she pulled away and handed me a bag of gifts. She was dressed fashionably in blue denim shorts over black tights, black ankle boots and a red tank top with cropped silky jacket.
"Thanks," I said before eagerly looking down at the presents. We still had fifteen minutes before class so, after a quick trip to my locker, we found a bench outside to sit at and I unwrapped my presents. One was a photo album with at least two pictures for every six months we'd shared together. There was space at the back, with a page that said 'put here what you wish but you know it will be me!' which I had to laugh at. Another present was a cute little cuddly toy wolf (she hit close to the heart with that one and couldn't really understand why I was so excited) and the last one was a pair of earrings with little purple stones in them. Next to brown, purple was my favourite colour and Elisha tended towards that one because 'brown was boring'. That was just because her favourite colour was neon orange. I thanked her profusely and we hurriedly made our way to class after the warning bell rang. It was looking to be a great day – just like Rachel had said.
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Embry POV
I was just finished getting ready for Hetani's birthday bonfire (I'd wasted about ten minutes being nostalgic about her last birthday) when Jake walked into my living room. My mom, who had taken the wolf secret surprisingly well (I think she was just thrilled I wasn't out committing crime and doing drugs), just looked at us both affectionately before heading towards the door Jake had just entered.
"Wish Hetani a happy birthday for me," she ordered then disappeared. They hadn't officially met with Hetani as my girlfriend, even though it had been a year, but my mom was a sucker for romance. And then she learned the wolf secret and was delighted with the imprint thing and then loved to hear all my stories about Hetani. It was weird but I'd have it over her yelling at me all the time.
"What's up, Jake?" I asked, crashing onto the couch as I had time to kill and it looked like Jake wanted a serious conversation. He looked at me awkwardly then sat on the coffee table in front of me. I was suddenly reminded of when we'd both told Hetani the big wolf secret and pushed that thought from my mind as Jake fidgeted.
"I need to talk to you." I decided that it was best not to make a 'captain obvious' comment and stayed silent. This was clearly something he needed to say in his own time – no prompting. "So, I woke up this morning and was really excited for Hetani's birthday." Jake and Hetani seemed to get more excited about each others' birthdays than their own. "I went to get out of bed . . . but then I heard her talking to Rachel in the kitchen. Of course, Rachel came over for Hetani's birthday, so that wasn't weird. What was weird was what my baby sister who has just barely hit sixteen wanted to talk to her sister about." I had a feeling that I was meant to know something specific but drew a blank.
"Um . . . what was that?" I asked after a few long minutes of tense silence. Jake fidgeted some more and gazed directly at his knees, avoiding all eye contact. I was beginning to worry. What had Hetani spoken to Rachel about? Was it bad? Was it good? Was it scary?
"My baby sister was worried that, now she's sixteen, she was making you wait too long for and was not ready . . . for sex." My jaw fell open with a loud pop and I gaped at Jake unattractively. He had overheard his two sisters talking about sex? I felt dizzy at the thought of Hetani being confused about that.
"Wait, she was worried about making me wait too long?" I suddenly asked and Jake gave me a dry look.
"Yes," he ground out and I felt a lecture coming along. "Now, I don't care if you have to wait another fifty years – you will not pressure my sister into doing ANYTHING she doesn't want to do, understand? And you will not seek it elsewhere." I glared at him harshly for even thinking I would do that.
"Ok, Jake, I would never do that and you know it. If Hetani wants to wait, we'll wait and that's it. Surely Rachel doesn't think I'd do that?" I asked and I knew I'd hit the mark. Jake huffed.
"She told Hetani that you were madly in love with her and you'd wait as long as she wanted." I relaxed, knowing that I had at least one sibling on my side. And, if Rachel thought that, then Paul was more likely to side with her and I had gotten two siblings down. That was a relief.
"Well you know Rachel's right. Now, we're going to be late." And so the awkward conversation ended and I took deep breaths in an attempt to fend off thoughts that would get me beaten to pulp. Of course I was happy to wait – but my imagination had a mind of its freaking own.
XXX
Hetani POV
I laughed elatedly as I skipped around the fire, mingling with various people. The flames reached extraordinary heights and occasionally flashed green or blue due to the salt in the air. Someone had even set up a wireless iPod dock so music – mostly my favourites – swam through the air. Spotting Embry by the drinks, I walked over and smiled as I remembered my last birthday – it had all started at the drinks table.
"Hey." I knew that he'd sensed me approaching but I had to greet him. My wolf glanced up and smiled his heart-stopping grin at me before wrapping his arms around my body. I instantly burrowed into his warmth as his hands rested on the small of my back.
"You know, Jake threatened me this morning." I could hear a light teasing in his tone, so I knew it couldn't have been that bad.
"Oh?" I questioned curiously, pulling back slightly to look at his smirk. I found myself growing uneasy at the look.
"He overheard a rather interesting conversation this morning. Can you guess what it was?" Oh no . . . no way! He'd heard! And he'd told Embry! And Embry was telling me! Never had I blushed so harshly in my life than that moment.
"Oh," I managed to squeak, avoiding Embry's eyes in search of anything else.
"Hey, look at me," he urged gently and brought my flaming face up to meet his reassuring gaze. "Honey, it's ok. Your big sister is right." I relaxed for many reasons: he was basically speaking in code so any eavesdropping wolves wouldn't know what we were on about anyway, he wasn't laughing at me and, best of all, Rachel was right. I smiled up at him thankfully, pressing a chaste kiss to his lips.
"Good." He just hugged me tighter until I heard my favourite love song come on – "How do I live without you?" by LeAnn Rimes.
"Dance with me?" he asked softly and I was immediately nodding. He moved us away from the table and close to the fire, wrapping his arms around my waist as mine wrapped as much as they could around his neck. I hadn't really grown much in the year we'd been together. I let out a small laugh.
"It's our one year anniversary," I mumbled but I knew he could hear me.
"Happy anniversary, sweetheart," he whispered just as the chorus sounded.
How do I live without you?
I want to know,
How do I breathe without you?
If you ever go,
How do I ever, ever survive?
How do I, how do I, oh how do I live
Without you?
The entire song was right on target for my relationship with Embry and every other wolf/imprint relationship but I liked to apply the song just to us.
"Best birthday ever."
That was funny, tense and just embarrassing to write about. Oh, and I did my research and, apparently, the legal sex age in Washington is 16 so that's what I'm writing. Anyway, the next chapter will be up Tuesday morning (British time) but I'm kind of scared about it – it might be controversial for some (or maybe all) of you. I don't want to say directly it's going to be big and dramatic, like my usual writing is. Just tell me now – would you all prefer a car crash or something a little more cliché than what I'm planning? PLEASE tell me, I'm genuinely worried. Love Bianca :) x