Author's note- Sorry for extending the promised deadline. Reagan's piece needed a little tweaking ;) ENJOY!

Disclaimer.

"Why do I have to take these damn tests anyways?"I complained. My eyes rolled up to the ceiling as I flopped back onto my floor. My rug was littered with tons of SAT 'vocab hit parade' cards and ACT 'science reasoning' strategy lists.

"I wish I had an answer for you, Claire." Quil picked up the cards I'd thrown up into the air and stacked them back together.

"This is the worst way to spend a Saturday!" I yelled. I threw a pillow at my snowy window and grimaced as the flakes continued to collide with the pane.

"It's snowing outside anyways." Quil attempted to comfort me.

"I like the snow," I whined. He snorted.

"No, you don't."

"I do when you're in it with me," I tried to entice him; letting one half of my mouth pull into a smirk.

"Nice try."

"This sucks!" I reiterated loudly. I blew out my breath and collapsed onto the mountain of pillows that I had made into my concentration nook. Which was helping me do anything but concentrate.

Christmas was only four days away and I wasn't frolicking in the snow like everyone else, I was stuck indoors with Quil. Which typically I wouldn't even dream of complaining about if I got to do things my way, but I was stuck studying for my reasoning tests that were a month away…which made my toes curl in disgust.

"You are such a complainer today."

"Thank you, Captain Obvious."

"And sarcastic, too?" He let his eyes widen satirically as he whistled lowly.

"I bet you didn't even take these stupid tests," I snapped. He laughed at me.

"You're right, I didn't."

I chuckled out my air painfully, squeezing my eyes shut in despair.

"That's not fair!" I moaned. He scooped me out of the cocoon of pillows and rested me in his arms, just the place I wanted to be.

"Well you could be changing into a giant hairy monster right and left instead," he quipped, "that way you'd get to miss the tests." He finished bitterly. There was a whimper of sadness in me as those words floated into my ears.

"You aren't a monster, Quil."

He smiled small and bent down to me, nuzzling his nose into my neck. His hot breath spread over my skin, making it tingle.

"That's what you think," he teased, lightening up again. "Now—come on, one more, prodigal."

"I swear on my life that if I hear one more vocabulary word I will stab my eardrums out."

"That's quite a threat considering you knew the definition fourteen minutes ago."

"I know it now…" I brooded. "I just don't wanna…" I purposely drew out the shrill word.

"Claire," he said sternly.

"Prodigal, adjective: extravagantly or needlessly wasteful." I sighed dramatically and unhinged my body over his lap, flailing onto the floor.

"See?" He asked, pecking my lips, "it's not so hard."

"I think my ears are bleeding."

"I think you need some cheering up." He crawled over my sprawled form and growled sexily as he leaned towards my lips.

"This is so much better," I claimed quietly. He snickered with hisses of breath as his lips neared my own.

Ding.

The doorbell's high pitched call sounded through the room. We both froze.

"Better get that," Quil mentioned, rising up from the floor.

"No!" I called, clawing at his ankle as he walked out of the room. He laughed at me and put me on my feet, dragging me towards the front door. He rolled his eyes at me and pressed his hot lips to my forehead before throwing open the door.

"Stormy?" I said. Her grey eyes were eerie as they glinted from within a ring of snow-flake filled lashes.

"Hi," she greeted me calmly, eyeing Quil and I's positioning. "Sorry if I intruded," she teased, flashing a mocking smile. We both laughed and invited her in.

"Oh, no, no," she insisted, "I can't stay long. Chance told me you were studying for your ACT and SAT though and so I thought I'd bring these for you." She exposed a pile of prep books for the tests.

"Really?" My cheeks tightened as I smiled, gratefulness plucking my face into a happy expression. "Thank you so much!" I threw my arms around her neck, hugging her tightly. Her multicolored Billabong hoodie was a little damp from the snow.

"That was really nice," Quil complimented, taking the books from Stormy's hands.

"Oh it's really no problem. I got them last year to help me and don't need them anymore, obviously." She hugged me tight once more and then skipped back through the doorway, claiming to be late for something.

"Stormy!" I called. Her head whipped around from the driver side of her sedan. "Where did you say you were going?"

"I don't think I said," she avoided the question, winking at me. "But I think you can guess." She bent down to slide into the seat but I just had to affirm the suspicion that was crawling in my belly.

"Stormy!"

"Yeah, Claire?"

"How are Jake and you?" They'd been hanging out a lot lately, ever since the bowling night. They seemed to fit. She was quirky and sarcastic, but still sweet. He was quiet and pensive, but romantic on the inside.

"Awesome." She nodded and beamed, finally sliding into the seat and zooming off to wrap herself into the warmth of a different werewolf.

I squealed and jumped up and down, overtly happy for them both.

"Excited, Claire?" Quil said, amused by my reaction.

"They are so cute!" My feet kept hopping around. "I'm so happy for Jacob!"

"Yeah, Stormy's cool," he agreed, walking into the kitchen. He grabbed two mugs from the cupboard and heated up some milk, dumping in spoonfuls of chocolate afterwards.

"Thanks," I whispered, kissing his cheek for a long second as he handed me the steaming liquid and snuggled next to me on the couch. "I love hot chocolate on snowy days."

The fire Quil had built crackled in the fireplace, snapping as the logs glowed.

"So where are you thinking of looking for college?"

I knew this question had been coming. I knew the time to look was coming up. I was really young for my grade, having skipped third. But this whole college thing just snuck up on me. I didn't even know if I wanted to go to college, not if Quil couldn't come with me.

"I'm not sure, but I liked Gonzaga, Seattle Pacific, and WashU when I toured with Chance," I covered my hesitation in what I hoped to be a smooth manner.

"I'm glad you've thought about it."

I heard the twinge of sadness that rolled underneath his tone. I knew I was sneaking into hot water here, but being cautious never was my thing anyhow.

"Well, I'm not sure that I'll go to college."

His eyes widened as his posture went rigid. Definitely hot water.

"What do you mean you won't go to college," he asked indignantly. My heart stung from his words alone, but the tone and expression lashed against its already sore walls again. College meant dorms, which meant moving away, which meant distance. If he was mad about me not going…did he want all of those things to happen?

"Quil," I mumbled quietly, "do you want me to go away?"

He sighed loudly and his mug clicked loudly on the coffee table as he set it down. He fit me into his side and blew out his breath into the crown of my head, making me shiver.

"Claire, if I could keep you next to me forever than I would." I sniffed a little bit, rubbing my watery eyes. "It's just—you're so smart. I never could have even hoped for grades like yours in school and…for you to say that you might not consider the opportunities that are available to you…it just frustrates me."

"I just don't want to leave," I answered honestly. He closed his arms around me and stuffed me into the hollow of his chest.

"I just want the best of everything for you, Claire," he replied, his lips against my shoulder.

"I know," I murmured against the skin of his arm. His breath fanned over my neck as he slowly closed his lips over the sensitive spot underneath my jaw. I felt the blood in my veins rush in response. He detached from me and kissed my hand as he stood up.

"I have a patrol to take with Jared and Sam but I'll be back tonight."

I huffed and sank further into the couch, punching out my bottom lip.

"Your face could get stuck like that you know," he commented warily. I smiled.

"Are you saying that you don't like this expression on me?" I bantered. "I think I might just make it permanent."

"You can do whatever you want to that face and I'll still love it," he promised, winking at me as he stepped out of the house.

I must have dozed off because the next thing I felt were a pair of small hands shaking me awake.

"Claire?"

"What." I didn't open my eyes and burrowed deeper into the couch. The girl laughed at me.

"Oh, come on." She shook my shoulders. "Get up! I have to tell you something!" I popped one eye open to Reagan's flushed face.

"Hey, Reag," I whispered sleepily. My hand closed over my mouth as a yawn stretched over my lips. She bounded onto the couch next to me and pulled me into a sitting position. Her brown hair was in a messy bun, her lips looking swollen, and her eyes fevered.

"How long have you been asleep?" She asked, glancing to the clock.

"Maybe an hour," I answered, scratching the back of my neck. She nodded and the smile that had been glued to her face since she'd gotten here didn't fade as she flipped on the television.

"Glitter, you still have a shot at love, would you like to take it?" Tila Tequila purred on her reality show. The weepy showgirl-type blonde blubbered a yes and wrapped her arms around Tila.

"I hate this show." Reagan wrinkled her nose in distaste.

"How can you hate this show?" I defended, "it's great!"

"It's stupid, look what they're tricking people into watching," she continued.

"It's the ultimate embodiment of human bestiality," I told her, snickering. She shook her head and settled into the cushions next to me. "Wait, Reag, didn't you say you had something to tell me?"

Her grin expanded as a red blush filled her face. "Yeah."

"Well?"

"I don't know how to start," she admitted, tugging her knees into her chest and tying her arms around them.

"What's it about?"

"It's about Paul," she responded quietly. Her round, blue eyes snuck a glance up to mine. I raised my eyebrows in question. "We…well, um—you know…it just…it kinda went like…" she stammered.

I felt my eyes nearly bug out of my head.

"Wait!" I screamed, my nerves tingling. "You didn't…" I insinuated.

Her cheeks bloomed into a red color as she covered her face in her hands, "yeah." She giggled.

I was happy for her…and yet kind of angry at the same time. Granted, Reagan was a year and a half older than me, but I'd had Quil for nearly fourteen years and she'd only had Paul for about six or seven months. I hated boundaries, I hated Sam, and I hated my age all at once.

The irritation settled as wobbling slivers in my stomach.

"So?" I faked the enthusiasm I knew I was supposed to feel. She couldn't keep the blood from rushing through her face and couldn't get out a word, "what was it like?" I provoked.

"Hot." She didn't flush this time. "Really hot."

I uncomfortably shifted in my already tucked position.

"No!" She corrected. "Not like that…it was just…hot like in temperature. I think I fainted once."

"Oh."

"I never expected things to get this far." She brushed a scrap of curly hair off of her cheek. "I didn't think I'd fall as hard as I have."

"You love him, huh?" I clarified. Her misty eyes found mine and she nodded, biting her bottom lip.

"I really do."

"He's a great guy," I swore.

"So…you and Quil?" She led.

"Oh no!" I promised, feeling the heat in my face.

"You're really young." She shrugged. Am not! My mind said. "But I was just wondering."

"Yeah…no…" I dragged.

"Just a tip." She smirked. "Make sure the air conditioning's working."

I felt the entire upper half of my body glow with embarrassment. I worked on keeping the sweat from beading on my upper lip. She pecked my cheek and stood up, turning towards the door.

"I have to get home…but I needed to tell someone," she confided, grinning.

"I'm glad you told me," I said honestly.

"I just didn't think Chance would—understand…you know?"

"Yeah, I get it."

She reached for the door and swung it open.

"Oh, and Claire?"

"Yeah."

"You might wanna go slowly at first…whenever it happens, ya know?" She paused and giggled. "They're bigger than big…all over." After that finale she slammed the door.

I groaned and drowned my hot face in the blanket in front of me; the itching for the experience was prickling underneath my skin. The discomfort from that entire conversation was boiling still in my stomach, her words still fresh in my head.

"Hey pretty girl," Quil said, bouncing onto the couch. I couldn't remove my face from the cover. "Sam let me off an hour early!"

"Hi." My voice was muffled by the cottony bundle.

"Are you going to look at me?" He laughed, tugging at the blanket. Not until I can get the 'bigger than big' image out of my head.

He grabbed the cover away to witness my blushing face. I forced a stale smile.

"Were you hot in there? Your face is red."

Hot. Hot. Really Hot.

This was impossible.

"Yeah…I was."

Tila winked from the screen as the show promised to return with a new episode full of writhing sexual drama in a week.

"I love that show!"Quil claimed, folding his arms behind his head as he reclined into the couch. My eyes scampered to a place that I'd never really looked before, but that was easy to wonder about now.

Bigger than big…all over.

"Me too." I gulped.

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