Empathy Chapter 10: Awkward Meetings, a twilight fanfic

Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight whatsoever, or its original characters. The only thing that I own is my own invention of characters and their background. So please don't sue me Stephanie Meyer. I live paycheck to paycheck just barely lol. :-)

A true friend is someone who thinks

that you are a good egg,

even though he knows

that you are slightly cracked.

-Bernard Meltzer

+Awkward Meetings+

June 26th, 2008…Thursday

Amber's P.O.V

"Wakey wakey, eggs and bakey," came Taylor's whispering voice right next to my ear. Groaning, I merely tried to swat her away with my hand as if she were a mere fly just buzzing about. However, when she realized I wasn't about to budge from my comfortable position upon the bed, she instantly lost all of her sweet disposition.

"AMBERLYNN SPARROW MATTHEWS MCCALL!"

I bolted upright out of the bed, and in turn toppled right over the edge into the awaiting arms of the cold floor. With an angry hiss, I asked, "What in the hell was that for!"

"I had to get ya up somehow," Taylor shrugged, before adding, "We both have to be at work today, which means breakfast is early."

Narrowing my eyes in her direction, I hauled myself up off of the ground and gave a quick glance at the clock.

"JESUS CHRIST! Taylor it's like 6:00 in the morning! Have you gone mentally insane," I growled, as I untangled my flaying limbs from the rope-like sheets.

"Nope… at least I don't think I have," she giggled, before rummaging through my dresser drawer. Within minutes she had a complete outfit laid out for me; one pair of black leggings, a bra, a pair of underwear, and a white dress/shirt with what looked like a large black ribbon that wrapped delicately just underneath the breasts before tying around mid-back. I only helped by adding a pair of shoes; a pair of simple white ballet flats. There was no way I was going to risk tripping again. I'd learned my lesson by now.

"You know, I can dress myself," I mumbled irritably while absently combing through my hair with my own fingers. Sadly though, it wasn't really working like I had planned. It just seemed to cause a lot of unneeded irritation.

Taylor gave me a roll of her eyes for my attitude before pointing out the fresh cup of cappuccino that sat beckoning on my nightstand. With a sigh of happiness and a thankful prayer, I made my way over to the delicious tan colored heaven.

"No offense, but that's highly doubtful. I'm sure if I even so much as let ya try to dress yourself you'd more than likely end up in something like a pair of bleached jeans, some ratty old t-shirt, and a set of ancient tennis shoes."

"So! What's wrong with that?"

"That's called laziness my dear sweet friend, and it's something I will not stand for," Taylor grinned, before shooing Rain off the bed, and away from my ballet flats. Had he really been lying there in that same spot all night without me noticing?

"So sue me if I like to be comfortable," I grumbled with a roll of my eyes. Taylor merely just shook her head, and turned away so that I could undress.

After I had at least my bra and underwear on, she turned back around and informed me, "Oh, I woke Hunter early too. I thought if I had to make you suffer, I might as well do the same to him. I mean, it is his fault for making me get up early, and having to feed not only you two, but his friends as wel…"

"Friends," I exclaimed, as I turned my widen eyes around to look at her.

"Yep," Taylor said popping the 'p', before going on to elaborate, "They're the ones from yesterday morning. Apparently they haven't been grocery shopping, and they called Hunter late last night asking if they could swing by early to have breakfast here. Supposedly the three fed him for us yesterday since we neglected to do so ourselves."

"Oh my god, Hunter is sixteen-years-old! That boy can fix his own damn food," I huffed angrily. Taylor merely just gave me a shrug of her shoulders in a what-can-I-do-about-it manner, before replying, "What can I say? He's just another typical male."

Shaking my head, I dared myself to go ahead and ask, "So, when will they be here?"

"7:15 I do believe. Thank God you got a lot of eggs and bacon at the store, or else I wouldn't know what to feed them. I just barely had enough stuff to make biscuits and gravy!"

"Taylor, how early did you get up this morning," I wondered, almost fearing her answer.

"I don't know, 5:00 I guess. Why do ya ask?"

"You're not having those dreams again... ya know… about the fire," I treaded cautiously.

Tay tensed automatically at the mention of it, and tried busying herself with getting my makeup set up upon my vanity.

"Taylor, they aren't back are they?"

Sighing, my friend answered, "They never really left."

Shaking my head, I finished getting dressed, and walked over to take a seat at my vanity again. Almost instantly I gave in to Taylor's bidding as she brushed through my hair, and began lathering me up with globs of make-up that I couldn't help wishing I had hid from her.

Though, for once, I didn't complain, whine, or cry like I normally do, because I knew this was her way of an escape. This was her way of forgetting that horrible night her biological father lost his life, and she had just as nearly came close to losing her own.

Her nightmares of the incident, obviously from what I'd just heard, still haunted her till this day; probably even every night.

That part I hadn't known.

The part that I did know was even sadder.

She thought I'd never noticed… that it wasn't just the nights when the memory would haunt her. Sometimes, when she thought no one was looking, her eyes would glaze over and she'd be transported back to that moment. You could literally see the terror in her eyes as she relived it. It was beyond eerie, but then again maybe that's what she saw in my eyes too now.

That look of a ghost dancing in front your eyes, freezing you down to the bone, as it constricts your airways.

Surly to God, she must see that same look in my eyes too, as I myself was forced to relive my own horrible memory. It has to be, because maybe that's why she understood me more than Hunter could; more than anybody could really.

Just like me, she was forced to walk the earth with the guilt of surviving, while her father hadn't been so lucky. It was a heavy burden to carry, but she carried it much so better than I did. That, I couldn't help giving her praise on.

"Lord you need to get your hair thinned again! It's already getting to heavy to do anything with," Taylor huffed, as she had already finished with my makeup and moved on to mess with my long brunette locks.

"Don't worry about it Tay. I'll just take a scrunchie with me to work incase I need to tie it back. For now it can just lay straight until I can pay for an appointment at the hairdresser's," I mumbled as I got up from my seat. Picking up a bottle of perfume Taylor had sat upon my vanity, I stepped back before spraying it once or twice. Then I walked my way through the heavily scented cloud before placing it back onto the table top, all the while admiring the crystal it formed. She had always had beautiful perfume bottles; it was almost like a part of her signature. It was just a way of telling who she was.

"Well, I'm gonna head on downstairs, and get started on the scrambled eggs. Ya good from here," Taylor asked casually, but I could tell in her voice still that she was only looking for an escape, or a way to distract herself.

'The nightmare must have been really bad. She never acts like this,' I thought sympathetically, as I shook my head.

"Nah, I'm good. You head on down Tay, and I'll be there in a minute," I supplied, before watching her saunter on out of the room. However, even through her prideful steps, it wasn't lost on me the way she held her head looking down at the floor beneath her feet. Almost as if she was ashamed; guilty that she hadn't told me about her reoccurring nightmares. I couldn't blame her though. I never did. Especially now that I knew what it was like.

I quickly finished getting ready, as I grabbed my purse from where it hung on the chair to my vanity. Swinging it lazily over my shoulder, I slowly exited my room; turning off the light behind me. Making a quick pit stop at the bathroom, I brushed my teeth, and used the toilet before a minute later I heard Hunter banging on the door to be let in. As fun as it would have been to lock him out again, I just wasn't up for it this morning. So, instead, I exited the room leaving him to his own early morning routines.

Carefully I made my way down the stairs, watching amusedly as Rain dashed past me to the bottom. Turning around, he gave me a sweet puppy dog smile, before racing off to the kitchen door.

When I reached the bottom of the steps myself, I turned the corner to follow him, all the while calling out to Taylor, "Have you fed Rain yet?"

Taylor popped her head around the doorframe, and shook her head. "Sorry, I forgot. Mind getting him for me?"

"I thought he was supposed to be your dog, Taylor? You swore up and down that you were going to take care of him," I chuckled, as I entered the kitchen; immediately being assaulted by the mouthwatering aroma of freshly cooked bacon. Glancing greedily over at the huge pile of bacon Taylor had set out on a large plate, my left hand slowly began moving of its own accord toward it. Well, at least until something steaming hot and rock hard slammed into it. Yanking my slowly bruising hand back to my chest, I cuddled the wounded extremity, before realizing that something wet and sticky was covered all over my beating red knuckles; eggs (slimy uncooked eggs to be exact.) I turned to glare at Taylor as I reached over her for a paper towel to wipe the gunk off.

"No touchy until the others get here," Taylor warned with a scrunched up nose and pursed lips in my direction, "Now shut up about my forgetfulness and feed Rain, or else you're cooking your own breakfast from now on. I'll teach you to question me missy."

Rolling my eyes, I grumbled under my breath, "I could always have a bowel of cereal, and you could feed your own dog."

"I heard that, and before you even try it, I think Hunter already ate up all the Corn Pops last night anyway," Taylor hummed with a sickly sweet smile coating her lips.

"WHAT! He ate that whole box already!"

"What? I'm a growing man," Hunter supplied, as he ambled on around the corner to join us in the kitchen wearing his normal work clothes; a pair of faded blue jeans, an old white T-shirt stained with dark smudges, and his tan colored work boots. Hopping up on the island's counter, he lazily watched as Taylor chopped away almost viciously at the eggs in frying pan.

"Man my ass. More like a little boy," Taylor mumbled, as she dumped the first batch of scrambled eggs she'd been cooking into a bowel.

"HEY! I am too a man," Hunter snapped, before snatching two pieces of bacon off of the plate before Taylor could notice. Holding them behind his back so that she couldn't see, I silently rounded around the corner to snatch one for myself from him, before heading on into the sunroom to feed Rain.

"I still say I want to see that birth certificate that proves it. For all we know that chest you've got there could just be some really small boobs," Taylor grinned evilly while cracking a couple of more eggs into the frying pan.

I doubled over in laughter at that one, all the while spilling bits and pieces of dog food all over the floor from the Pedigree bag as I went to lift it up. Rain immediately dove in for the kill before I could even think of picking up my mess. I just shrugged my shoulders and let him have at it. There was no use in fighting him. He just seemed way too happy for me to take it away from him. So, instead, I just finished filling up his doggy dish, before setting the bag back in the cupboard where it had been before. All the while my chuckles had still yet to die out from Taylor's earlier quip.

"Stop laughing, Amber! I didn't have to give you that piece of bacon you know," Hunter yelled from the kitchen, before I heard a sudden THWACK as Taylor's spatula made contact with Hunter's skin. Peeking around the corner of the doorframe, I could see Hunter rubbing the back off his head with great vigor.

"One of these days ya'll are going to break my skull with all that hitting. Then where will you be? Crying around my bedside as I'm dying I bet, but don't expect an 'I forgive you,' from me as I take my last breath. Ya'll can live with your guilt and let it eat you up inside," Hunter hissed, as he pressed a little to hard on the sore spot Taylor's spatula had left.

"Don't worry, I won't expect it. I'll be to busy partying outside in the waiting room," Taylor guffawed as Hunter openly glared at her, "Besides which, maybe if you stop doing stupid things, we'd stop hitting you so much upside that thick skull of yours. Simple as, really."

With a shrug at her words, Taylor continued on to finish up with what little cooking she had left to do. All the while I (and a now happily fed Rain) lounged around in the sunroom watching the rain slosh against the diamond clear window panes. Squinting, I could just make out the Garden through the trickling water. Even in this rainy weather, it was still a beautiful sight to behold. I could barely take my eyes off the water fountain as the clear liquid rushed past its smooth outer edges, or the blissfully smiling angel as she stared down the storm high up in the sky with her hands held fast in a prayer.

I guess I still couldn't get over the fact of how beautiful this place truly was. As much as I complained about the rain, I couldn't help feeling that in a way it had its own calming and ethereal effect.

A lot of people would probably argue that it was gloomy and depressing, but in a way, I guess it really wasn't. It was like the Earth was just trying to wash away the problems of yesterday, so that the land could sprout new life, and begin anew.

Looking over at Rain, I couldn't help wondering if maybe that's why he liked the rain so much. However, as soon as that thought passed through my mind I brushed it aside. What would Rain know? He was just a dog after all.

Then again, as I glanced at his powdered blue eyes, as they glanced between the rain on the windows and the food in his bowl, I knew better than that. Animals, like my grandmother had always told me, had a sense of knowing. Animals were possibly even smarter than us. They never let their hearts hurt for too long. They knew how to enjoy life instead of dwelling in the past.

A part of me suddenly wished I could be like Rain.

Forgetful of a time that should be forgotten.

"Earth to Amber," a voice suddenly called from behind me, as a hand materialized itself out of thin air in front of my face; all while waving itself vigorously in front of my eyes.

Startled, I jumped a few inches off of my seat, as a squeak escaped past my lips. In the process it also halted Rain in his mission to gobble down the entirety of his food bowl. Perking his head up to glance over at me, he whined at my distress before giving my assailant an annoyed look; a look I never thought I'd see a dog wear.

However, once seeing that there was really no true danger, Rain gave an aggravated swish of his tail before relaxing and returning to his food once again.

With my own heartbeat also now returned back to its normal state, I turned around to look accusingly at the speaker who had just nearly given me a heart attack.

"Man, you must have been dug in pretty deep in that head of yours to scare like that," Hunter chortled, before motioning for me to follow him, "Come on, Taylor wants us to set up the table for her."

Groaning, I got to my feet and ambled on into the kitchen behind him to wash my hands in the sink before we retrieved the dishware from the kitchen cupboards, and carried them on into the dinning room. Quietly the two of us set up the table for Taylor, as she began slowly coming in and out with food to place upon the table. Though our eyes often wandered over to it, it seemed Hunter and I had finally learned our lesson. Plus it helped that with each time she entered, she came in brandishing a silver metal spatula in her hand and bone-chilling warning dancing deep within her eyes.

Just the thought of such punishment again brought the ghost of tears back to our eyes.

Nevertheless though, we kept our hands to ourselves, and before long we were just finishing setting up when we heard the door to the foyer creak open; followed soon by a timid knock against the fog stained glass.

"We're in the dinning room," Hunter called out as he took a seat at the head of the table by the diamond paned windows.

Three pairs of footsteps were then heard making their way towards the doorway. Turning around, I greeted the visitors with a polite smile as they rounded the corner.

"Morning, boys," I said, before taking my seat next to Hunter's right.

"Morning Amber, Morning Hunter," the tallest of the group yawned, before grabbing the seat directly in front of me, "How are you two this morning."

"Sore," Hunter and I both supplied, as Embry once again quietly took a seat next to me, while the curly haired boy opted for the one beside his friend.

Hearing our words, the boys raised an eyebrow at the two of us, before Quil got the sudden courage to ask, "Why?"

"Don't touch the food until Taylor gets in here. Then, hopefully, you won't have to find out why," Hunter grumbled, as he greedily eyed the homemade gravy and biscuits nearby.

"Hey, where did those marks on your knuckles come from," Embry suddenly piped up from beside me. Reaching over, he went to try to grab at my hand, but I quickly moved it away. I wasn't ready yet to feel someone else's emotions this early in the day.

"Taylor, she swatted my hand while I was reaching for some bacon earlier. That's the reason why we're so sore. Hunter got the worst of it though. I'm sure she left a bigger mark on the back of his head," I shrugged, as Embry's face reddened slightly. His eyes were still glued to the slight bruise forming on my knuckles. For a moment, I could have sworn I even heard him growl, but maybe that was just Taylor's feet scuffing against the floor as she entered into the dining room.

Embry and the other two boy's heads snapped towards her in an accusing manner.

"You hurt them just because they wanted food," Quil exclaimed, as he gawked at Taylor.

Rolling her eyes, Taylor took her seat at the other end of the table, while placing a large pitcher of orange juice on the counter in front of her.

"Oh they'll live. Besides which, they should know better than to bother a girl when she's cooking," Taylor scoffed indignantly.

"Yeah, but you left bruises on Amber," Embry all but growled out. Why he was taking it so hard, I had no idea? Though, it seemed his tactic did apparently work.

At his words Taylor's head had snapped up to gaze across the dinning room table at me. Getting up from her seat, she rounded around the table to yank my hand into hers.

Suddenly her emotions hit me like a ton of bricks.

….Fear…Worry…Guilt…Concern…Sorrow…

However, the last one I knew wasn't from the current situation, but from what we had discussed this morning. Guess it was still hitting her harder than I thought it was.

"Oh Amber, I'm so sorry! I didn't think I hit you that hard! Are you okay, does it hurt…here let me go get you an ice pack," Taylor rushed, as she glanced over the bruises with guilt deeply set within her eyes.

"Don't worry, I'll get it for her," the taller of the group of boys announced as he got up from his seat, and headed on over into our kitchen.

"Hey, I don't see you cooing over me here! You hit me too remember," Hunter whined as he eyed my hand with sympathy.

"Oh shut it. You're fine. Besides which, your skull's thick enough to handle a whack like that you big crybaby," Taylor snapped at Hunter, while Quil nearly toppled over in laughter from her snide remark. Still chortling, he managed to gasp out in his mirth, "I like her. That one's got spunk."

Taylor blushed slightly, while Hunter eyed Quil with a fixed glare and firm shake of his head. "You're a moron then, Quil," Hunter quipped, as the other boy returned at that moment with an ice pack in hand.

"Here you go," he said handing it over to Taylor.

"Thanks Jake," Hunter replied for her.

However, at my cousin's words my heart abruptly skipped a beat, and clenched inside my chest. My eyes suddenly shot over to my cousin, before swiftly sliding over to the boy in front of me. His eyes were now widening as big as saucers as he turned to stare at me in worry. Thankfully though, at that moment, Taylor had decided to press the searingly cold ice pack against my knuckles.

Hissing, I bit out, "Careful. That shit is freezing, Taylor."

"It's supposed to be, dummy. That's what helps it," she murmured, before letting go of my hand to return to her seat.

"Helps my ass! My fingers are going to end up falling off," I blared, before turning my eyes onto the food, "Can we eat now that everyone's done babying me? I'm starving."

"Keep whining and you'll go to work hungry with that attitude," Taylor jested, before motioning for everyone to go on ahead.

Yet, before I could even reach for anything, Embry had already taken my plate from in front me. Glowering at him, he replied to my look of disdain, "Keep that ice pack on your hand. I'll fill up your plate for you."

As much as I wanted to keep glaring at him, I just couldn't. My eyes softened at his kindness, and before long I was instructing him on what to put on my dish. Within seconds it was back in front of me (full to the brim might I add), and I was already digging in.

"Oh ma Gawd," Quil moaned happily through a mouthful of biscuits and gravy. Swallowing, he replied, "This is the best damn breakfast I've had in a while. Don't tell Sam, but it even beats Emily's."

Taylor once again reddened from beside him, before answering, "I'm planning on going to school this fall to be a chef."

"Well you'll make a damn good one, that's for sure," Jake hummed, as he took another bite of his own biscuits and homemade gravy.

My eyes once again shot back over to him as I remembered the name Hunter had called him. Not to mention the look in his eyes as he had looked over at me.

It was like…

No, Hunter wouldn't…

However, as I glanced over at my younger cousin as he shoveled forkful after forkful of scrambled eggs into his mouth, I could already feel the anger rolling off of me in waves. Slowly Hunter looked up to take a drink of his orange juice, and met my eyes in the process.

Taking in the glare, he didn't even have the nerve to look innocent.

"Sorry," he murmured in a near whisper; almost hoping the other boys wouldn't hear it in their mission to scarf down the entirety of their plates. Sadly though, it seemed they had as their eyes turned to look at the two of us.

"If it makes you feel any better we dragged it out of him," Jake announced as he twiddled with his fork against his nearly emptied plate.

Sighing, I leaned back in my chair, and breathed, "It's alright; doesn't matter anyway. Probably would have gotten out sooner or later. However, that doesn't mean I want to talk about it though."

"Understood," Jake smiled, before dropping his fork, and holding his hand out to me, "My name's Jacob Black by the way."

Shuddering slightly at the name, I hesitated to reach forward to clasp my hand in his. However, as stares around the room began to grow, I raised my hand and slowly clutched it around Black's.

Immediately I was hit with a wave of his emotions.

…Guilt...Worry…Concern…Friendliness...Care…

All around he seemed like he was a good guy from his emotions, but I'd had my fill quickly enough. Letting go of his hand as rapidly and nonchalantly as I could, I hurriedly returned it to my plate as I went to pick up my fork again.

"It's nice to meet you Black," I said with a forced smile, but he had caught on quick as he took notice of the use of his last name. However, he thankfully chose to brush it off.

"Hi, I'm Quil Ateara, since we're making introductions," Quil piped up with a grin plastered across his messy face.

Nodding, I mentioned, "I remember it from that day out on the worksite; including Embry's."

Embry broke out into a big grin next to me, before murmuring "But you don't know my last name do you?" Taking a bite of his piece of bacon, he gave me a subtle wink.

Chuckling, I said, "Nope, but it's only your first names I need to know anyway."

"Oh really? What if say you're stuck over in La Push, and your car dies, and your phone's dead, and you're trying to find someone for help? Then you think, if only I can remember that Embry guy's last name, so that I can ask someone where he lives at," Embry challenged, with a twinkle in his eye.

Laughing, I answered, "I wouldn't have to. First off, I probably wouldn't be in La Push that much too even have my car die on me. Secondly, I would just go to the first house I see, and ask if I could borrow their phone to call Taylor or Hunter, before calling a tow truck."

"But what if Taylor and Hunter have their phones turned off and the guy at the auto shop isn't answering because he's out picking up another car?"

"Well then, I guess I'd just call Jasper or Alice," I shrugged, as a dark shadow passed over his eyes.

"Their not allowed on the reservation," he mumbled irritable, before replying, "or did you forget."

Suddenly our little game had turned serious, as my eyes narrowed in his direction. With an angry huff, I replied, "Ya'll could deal with them coming to pick me up if they had too, and no I didn't forget ya'll's prejudice attitude towards them."

"OKAY! Well, I think we better be going," Jacob suddenly spoke up, as he finally finished off his plate, "Come on, Hunter, Quil, Embry."

Nearly inhaling the rest of their food too, the boys stood up from their seats. Thanking Taylor for her hospitality, they began to make their way out of the room. However, before he left, Embry had came to stand behind me. Bending down, and placing both hands on either side of me at the table, he whispered into my ear coyly, "My last name's Call by the way. Embry Call. Remember it." However, even as I heard his words, I was too focused on his lingering presence, and the bare hand that was just barely brushing past mine as he slowly pulled it back.

…Anger…Betrayal…Hurt…Protectiveness…(and what seemed the most shocking)…Jealousy…

My breath caught in my throat, as my heart froze in mid beat. All I could do was continue to stare ahead as I heard him walk away, and on out of the front door. Not long after, I finally heard their car pulling out of the driveway, and only when I heard complete silence did I finally relax into my chair.

"You okay, Amber," Taylor whispered, as she went about picking up their dirty plates.

"Yeah, I'm um fine," I mumbled, before meeting her eyes, "I'm going to go make a phone call really quick, do you mind?"

"No, not at all," she shrugged, as I all but jumped out of my seat. Hurrying into the kitchen to grab my purse, and the phone that was inside, it was only then that I'd noticed the side effect his closeness and his feelings had had on me; my legs felt almost like they'd turned to gelatin, and they were getting ready to collapse underneath the weight I suddenly felt within my chest from his emotional hit.

Turning my cell on, I quickly scrolled down through my contacts, before finding the right one. I glanced over into the dinning room to see if Taylor was still there, before grabbing my stuff and heading on out of the kitchen again and across the hall to my study. Only then, once I'd made sure the door was locked behind me, did I press the call button.

Riiing

"Hello," the voice of a man answered, but not just any voice. It was the sweet southern drawl of none other than Jasper Hale; my now newly adopted friend.

"Hey Jasper, it's Amber. I hope I didn't wake you or anything. I know it's early," I replied tentatively.

"No not at all, darlin. I was just…eating breakfast," he said, as I heard him shuffling the phone around to another ear, "What do you need?"

"Remember what you told me yesterday, in the car? About if I ever needed to talk, or needed help?"

"Of course."

"Well, I think I need that now."

Hours later I found myself sitting in a diner with Jasper adjacent to me in the booth. It was my lunch hour at the bookshop, and Jasper had decided to come pick me up so that we could talk. Silently, I was currently fiddling with the utensils the waitress had left for us.

I gazed around the room, thankful that the diner was nearly empty save for the couple at the end of the restaurant, and the old man enjoying a cup of coffee at the bar with a newspaper neatly propped up against the napkin dispenser. What helped the most though I think was the music playing from a modern day jukebox nearby. I could only hold out on a prayer that it would mask whatever conversation we were about to have.

"So what did you want to talk about," Jasper finally spoke as he eyed me warily.

"I…" but the words caught in my throat almost immediately. Fear began itching its way up my spine, and through my throat. It was like a firm hand had suddenly cut of my airway to breath. I was scared. Maybe this hadn't been such a good idea.

However, as soon as that thought entered my mind, I suddenly felt a wave of calm crash over me. Within seconds my eyes had gone up to meet Jasper's. The moment our gazes met it was like it was the push that I'd needed; the reassurance that he wouldn't see me as some crazy psychopath for telling him. For whatever reason I felt this way, I wasn't sure, but I just felt as if I could trust him. With that in mind, only one thought occurred.

I can do this.

"I'm going to warn you. This is probably going to sound strange, and I don't blame you if you want to get up and walk right out that door afterward. I just feel…I don't know… like you'd understand. You'll be the only person I've ever told, which is kind of scary in the bigger picture of it really," I ranted as my nerves got a hold of me once again. However, while I still had that can do attitude left, I forced myself to say, "I think I can feel other people's feelings through touch. Better yet, I know I can. It's weird I know, and you're probably thinking I'm lying, or I'm some crazy, nutty, batty…"

"Like empathy," Jasper cut me off mid way through my slur of words.

Nodding, I said, "You think I'm crazy don't you?"

Shaking his head, he answered earnestly, "No, I think you're quite sane actually."

"Yeah, but still, the idea of it…"

"Isn't as far off as you think it might be, Amber," he concluded, before going silent as the waitress returned with my order. Jasper had declined a free meal from me, insisting that he had already eaten.

Only when the waitress left, did he begin to speak again, "Many people who have accidents, or come back from worse, have odd things happen to them as well. Especially people who come back from death, claiming they now have the ability to see spirits of long dead ancestors. It isn't uncommon."

"Yeah, but it's not ghosts I'm seeing, and I didn't die. I just had a slight concussion, and now I'm just feeling other people's feelings through skin to skin contact. Wow, just that sentence proves I sound crazy. Maybe I should be committed," I groaned, not even lifting a finger toward my food. I had suddenly lost my appetite.

Jasper chuckled at my expense, however noticing my distressed look he whispered, "You're not crazy, Amber. I believe you. In fact I've known all along what you were capable of."

My eyes quickly snapped up to meet his as I suddenly grew wary; wondering silently if he had lost his mind too. "How do you figure," I questioned cautiously, while squirming closer to the end of my seat of the booth.

"Because I'm just like you; I possess the ability of empathy…well, of sorts," he supplied with a harmless shrug. My eyes nearly burst out of their sockets at his words. Things were starting to get creepy way too fast; even for me.

I went to get up and leave, but noticing my oncoming departure he swiftly reached over the table to grab my hand and pull me back down. Almost immediately that all too familiar dizziness returned that seemed only to happen when I was around him. It was like there were emotions everywhere. Some that seemed not even his own.

"Believe me now, as I'm holding your hand here," he wondered, as I finally returned to my seat as the disorientation got much worse. Quickly seeing my declining state he let go, but by that point it was already too late. The food from this morning's meal slowly began to rise, as the feeling of butterflies floating about in my stomach took effect. It almost felt like I had been twirling around the room for an hour, before I'd tried coming to an abrupt stop.

'Oh God, it feels like my stomach's in my throat,' I thought with a groan as I tried to swallow it back down.

"You okay, Amber? Amber ar…" but he never got to finish that sentence, because the next second I was hauling ass back to the diner's bathrooms. Not a second to soon either, as I burst through the stall's door, and bent over the toilet to empty my stomach's contents.

"AMBER? ARE YOU OKAY IN THERE," Jasper called through the woman's bathroom door.

"JUST PEACHY," I called back, before retching one last time. Flushing the toilet, I walked over to the bathroom sink and cleaned myself off. With one last look in the mirror at my horrible appearance, I straightened myself the best I could before walking out of the bathroom door to find Jasper there leaning against the wall.

"Sorry about that. I didn't think it would do something like that," he apologized, before adding, "I asked the waitress to wrap up your lunch by the way. I think we should probably go somewhere more private to talk."

Nodding, I followed him back into the lobby of the diner where we grabbed my lunch that I was sure I wouldn't be eating for awhile, and paid for what once looked like a delicious meal. As soon as the change was given back to Jasper, he turned and motioned for me to follow him on outside and to Alice's car that she had once again loaned him.

Getting inside, I buckled myself up and not a moment to soon as he'd swerved carelessly out of the diner. As soon as he hit the highway, he'd sped up even more; nearly giving me the fright of my life. 'And here I thought Alice was bad. Jasper's just been holding back on me,' I couldn't help thinking as I watched him search around for a secluded spot.

Suddenly, Jasper spoke up from beside me in the driver's seat, "I'm sorry again for that… you know, back at the diner, but it was the only way I thought I could prove to you that what I was saying was true. Well other than making you feel something."

"It's alright, Jasper. It just caught me off guard, or maybe it was just…I don't know… too much. Either way, I get it and I do believe you, but why so many emotions. Surely you can't feel all of that at once."

"No, I don't. Well at least not from me, but from everyone else in the diner," he answered turning off into an empty parking lot at the resident park. Quietly we both stepped out, and made our way over to the swing set nearby. Taking a seat on one of the swings, I turned to him and asked, "How is it you can feel everyone at the same time."

Squinting at the sound of the swing as it rocked back and forth, he answered, "Because I don't have to touch them to feel their emotions like you. I can feel them just by being in the same room with them. Not to mention I can force my own emotions upon them if I want. That's what I did earlier with you… to calm you down. Didn't you feel it?"

Thinking back, I could remember when my throat had tightened in fear, and I was just getting ready to abort the plan when…when I'd felt calm.

"How do you do that? I can't even do that!"

"It's because your ability is different than mine. You only take in; not give out. However, it seems it has a nasty effect when you come in contact with me," he replied almost regretfully.

"How long have you known? About my ability I mean," I said wanting to quickly change the subject away from the former.

"Since I met you; when we first came into contact."

"Is there anyway for me to…I don't know…control it. No offense but the whole reading other people's feelings seems a little intrusive. I mean, I can barely handle my own right now for that matter," I exclaimed, watching quietly as thick clouds moved across the sky; blocking out the rays of the sun. How I missed the sun. Though, I guess I couldn't complain too much. At least the rain was gone.

"Meditation would probably help, but I couldn't be sure. I could teach you, if you want? It'd probably be a long and grueling process, but hopefully you'll eventually be able to control it all," he offered, as he turned to look at me with his bright amber eyes; eyes that reminded me of a ghost long past.

"At this point, I'll take it. I can't handle dealing with this anymore, and if I can learn to block it out it'll be a real big stress reliever for me," I sighed feeling as if a weight had been lifted off of my shoulders. Jasper patted my back in comfort, before getting to his feet, "Come on. We better get you back to work or you're going to be late. I'll call you later to figure out a time when we can start."

Nodding, I got to my feet as well, and followed him back to the car. As I slipped inside, I waited for him to slide into the driver's side before asking, "How long…how long have you dealt with this?"

Chuckling darkly, he answered, "For more years than I would've liked."

However, as he glanced at me, and noticed my uneasy expression, he asked timidly, "So am I really the only one you've told about this?"

Nodding, I mumbled with a ghost of a blush flushing my cheeks, "You were the only one I didn't think had the capability of sticking me in a mental institution. Taylor and Hunter would have thrown a fit if I had said anything."

"Well, I'm glad you told me at least. That burden had to be weighing heavily on your shoulders," came Jasper's reply as he turned on the car, and began backing out of the deserted parking lot.

"More than you know," I whispered, as we drove off and back to the bookstore.

Embry's P.O.V

Instead of opting to follow the other guys over to the McDonald's in Forks, I chose that time to replenish the short supply of food we had in our house. I could always eat later if I felt like it. However, just that sentence had me reeling. It wasn't like me to not be hungry; especially as a shape shifter that constantly needs to refuel almost every hour. However, I had money on the guess that my supposed decline in appetite had a lot to do with Amber.

This morning had been nothing but a whirlwind of feelings the moment I had walked through her door.

Jacob, Quil, and myself quietly pulled up to the English cottage in front of us in Jacob's old, rusty, beat up Rabbit. Almost immediately our noses were assaulted by the horrible stench of lingering leech. My inner wolf growled, and from the tense looks on the others faces I could tell they weren't as happy either.

"They were here last night," Jacob surmised, before going on to say, "Nessie told me over the phone last night that Jasper and Alice have been keeping a close eye on the three."

"We can handle watching out for our own," I mumbled, as I got out of the car. Jacob and Quil followed me up to the door; each step feeling as if it was longer than the last. The smell was nearly ungodly strong as it seemed to burn away the very hair follicles in my nose. I didn't think I would ever get use to that bleachy-like, sickly sweet smell. Eventually though as Jacob stepped in front of me to open the door to knock, I was finally hit with a much more calming and mouthwatering scent.

Sure the smell of bacon, eggs, and biscuits wafted toward me, but it was the other smell of honeysuckles, sugar cookies, and sweet ice tea that had me relaxing almost immediately. Any trace of the leech was soon forgotten as I took in her scent. Though, just as soon as I began enjoying it, reality slowly kicked back in.

'No need to go and get soft. You only told the pack you were going to give into the imprint by protecting her. There's no reason to lose your man card now,' I thought gravely, as I heard Hunter call out to us to come in.

Jake went in first, following Hunter's voice into the dinning room. As soon as he turned the corner I heard her voice politely greet the three of us, "Morning, boys."

Turning the corner, I found her taking a seat beside Hunter at the table. She looked amazing this morning; then again through an imprinted wolf's eyes his mate would always look beautiful. However, that reminder still didn't deter my wandering eyes as I greedily drunk her in.

"Morning Amber, Morning Hunter," Jacob yawned, probably still tired from the patrol we did last night. Grabbing a seat directly in front of Amber, he asked politely, "How are you two this morning."

"Sore," they both mumbled, as I quietly took a seat next to my imprint. My eyes never left her as I made to plant myself in that chair, but out of the corner of my eye I saw Quil dropping down into the seat in front of me with a smug look on his face. He was enjoying every last bit of my ordeal; just like I had when he'd imprinted on a tiny child. I guess paybacks can be a bit of a bitch.

However, as her answer from before finally sunk in to my thick skull, I couldn't help raising a brow that mirrored my brothers'. Thankfully Quil had the courage to ask the million dollar question, "Why?"

"Don't touch the food until Taylor gets in here. Then, hopefully, you won't have to find out why," Hunter grumbled, as he greedily eyed the homemade gravy and biscuits nearby. I followed his gaze, and my stomach gave a sudden lurch. Man had I missed biscuits and gravy! I hadn't had any since my Mom kicked me out. Thank God for my imprint having a friend that could cook. Then again, it's not like I couldn't. I'd had the pleasure of my mother teaching me when I was little. She always said it would go over well with the ladies when I got older. So far she had been right.

My eyes turned back around to look at Amber, but they froze as I caught sight of her hand. There, as plain as day, was the forming of new bruises on her knuckles and fingers. Where in the HELL did those come from!

Trying to remain calm, I subtly asked, "Hey, where did those marks on your knuckles come from?" Amber froze and I took that as my chance to reach for her hand. However, before I could even get a hold of it, she was already yanking it away. My inner wolf growled at that. It didn't like being told no by its mate; that was for sure.

Amber gave me a sheepish look, before supplying, "Taylor, she swatted my hand while I was reaching for some bacon earlier. That's the reason why we're so sore. Hunter got the worst of it though. I'm sure she left a bigger mark on the back of his head." Then she shrugged as if it was no big deal. However, it was a very big deal. Her friend had left bruises on my imprint's hand. She had hurt my imprint. I could care less about Hunter. He was a strong boy so he could handle it, but Amber…Amber was different. She was delicate, and from the looks of it, bruised pretty easily as the marks became darker each second. With every shade darker they got, my wolf began clawing more and more at my insides to be released. He was very angry.

I couldn't help the growl that escaped past my lips. Thankfully though, it was covered up by another entering the room. My eyes snapped over to the culprit immediately, as she sauntered in like she hadn't done anything; with a look of ignorant innocence in her eyes. I wanted nothing more than to wipe that look off her face.

Apparently the others weren't too happy either.

"You hurt them just because they wanted food," Quil exclaimed, as he gawked at Taylor.

The bitch actually then had the nerve to roll her eyes. Yes ROLL HER EYES! My wolf was just begging to be released by this point. It watched her with anger as she pompously took her seat at the head of the table, all the while placing a pitcher of orange juice down in front of her. The words that came out of her mouth next had me straining not to break the seat of the chair as I clutched onto its cushion with both hands, "Oh they'll live. Besides which they should know better than to bother a girl when she's cooking."

The scoff that came with her words finally sent me over the edge. Before I could stop myself the words came accusingly tumbling right on out of my mouth in a growl, "Yeah, but you left bruises on Amber."

Thankfully at my words, she must have finally come to her senses as her head snapped up to look down the table and towards my imprint. Her eyes filled with fear, and I could just as nearly smell it coming off of her in waves. She shot up from her seat immediately, and rounded the table to come stand by Amber. Yanking her hand into hers, she began examining the marks she had left with worry in her eyes, and then slowly an immeasurable amount of guilt.

'Yeah, you better feel guilty or I'll rip your head off,' my wolf snarled inside of me.

"Oh Amber, I'm so sorry! I didn't think I hit you that hard! Are you okay, does it hurt…here let me go get you an ice pack," Taylor rushed, as she glanced over the bruises once again with guilt deeply set within her nearly glistening orbs. Thankfully this reaction was slowly settling my wolf inside. It realized it must have been an accident, but it still didn't like the fact that its mate was hurt; nor did I really.

"Don't worry, I'll get it for her," Jacob announced as he got up from his seat, and headed on into their kitchen to grab an ice pack for her. As he passed by me, he gave me a nod in understanding, as I as well sent him a silent thank you in return. However, the silence between us was soon broken by Hunter childishly whining at the end of the table to Taylor, "Hey, I don't see you cooing over me here! You hit me too remember?"

"Oh shut it. You're fine. Besides which, your skull's thick enough to handle a whack like that you big crybaby," Taylor snapped back at Hunter, as Quil nearly toppled over into the floor with great fits of laughter. Through his giggling, he just barely managed to get out, "I like her. That one's got spunk."

I watched amusedly as Taylor blushed next to Amber. She probably thought Quil was flirting with her, but sadly that wasn't the case. For a moment though, I nearly felt bad for her, but as my eyes landed on Amber's knuckles that cleared up real quick.

Eying Quil with a strong steely glare, and a firm shake of his head, Hunter quipped, "You're a moron then, Quil." I tried hard to suppress a snort, but Quil still heard it as he glared me down. His concentration was broken though when Jacob returned with an ice pack in hand.

"Here you go," he said handing it over to Taylor.

"Thanks Jake," Hunter replied for her.

However, at that moment I wish he hadn't as I remembered our conversation from yesterday at the diner. I watched painstakingly as Amber froze in her seat. With my inhuman ears I could hear her heart skip a bit, as her eyes shot over to meet her cousin's before sidling on over to look at Jake. However, it seemed like there were bigger problems going on inside her head as she met Jake's widen eyes. It was then that I noticed the betrayal that flashed across her face and the guilt slide over Hunter's.

Thankfully though, this moment was broken as Taylor pressed the cold pack onto Amber's aching knuckles.

I heard her hiss in pain from what I assumed was the searing cold before biting out, "Careful! That shit is freezing, Taylor."

"It's supposed to be, dummy. That's what helps it," Taylor murmured back, before letting go of her hand to return to her seat.

"Helps my ass! My fingers are going to end up falling off," Amber blared, before turning her eyes onto the food in front of us, "Can we eat now that everyone's done babying me? I'm starving."

"Keep whining and you'll go to work hungry with that attitude," Taylor jested, before motioning for everyone to go on ahead.

Before Amber could even raise a finger I'd snatched her plate from her. I was bound determined she made sure to keep that ice pack over her hand whether she wanted to or not. I could get her food for her if she wanted it that desperately. Still, as I caught sight of her look of disdain, I knew I'd better explain myself before things got out of hand. There was no need for her to end up with another broken hand trying to smack me.

"Keep that ice pack on your hand. I'll fill up your plate for you," I said, as I caught sight of the other two guys grinning smugly at me out of the corner of my eye. Yep, they were loving this. After all that time I'd spent making fun of them with Paul, they could finally turn the tables back on me. Just perfect.

Amber's eyes slowly softened at my offer, and before long I had her plate full to the brim with food that she'd pointed out for me to pick up. Placing it in front of her, I turned back to begin filling up my own. Thankfully she was too busy eating hers now to notice how much I'd put on my plate. That'd be just what I needed this morning; to explain to her why all three of us had gigantic platefuls.

Once my plate was back in front of me I dove in. The moment the first forkful of biscuits and gravy passed by my lips I was already humming a heavenly tune. It was just as good as Mom's were, if not better. Quickly swallowing, I began to ram the rest of it into my mouth without a second thought of what Amber would think beside me.

"Oh ma Gawd," Quil moaned happily through his own mouthful of biscuits and gravy. Swallowing, he replied, "This is the best damn breakfast I've had in a while! Don't tell Sam, but it even beats Emily's."

I couldn't agree with him more. Emily was a good cook, but biscuits and gravy just wasn't her thing. Now giant muffins on the other hand…well that was a different story.

Taylor once again reddened from beside him, as she listened to his praise of her cooking. Had Quil not imprinted on Claire years ago, I'm sure he probably would have slapped a ring down on her hand right now, and begged her to marry him. Sadly for her though that wasn't the case here. Still however, instead of crushing her hopes I'd let her believe what she wanted; especially after tasting this delicious meal.

Taylor smiled from beside Quil, and replied, "I'm planning on going to school this fall to be a chef."

"Well you'll make a damn good one, that's for sure," Jake hummed, as he took another bite of his own biscuits and homemade gravy in front of me.

However, as if announcing his presence to Amber again, I watched as her demeanor slowly changed once more. She slumped even further into her seat, as her eyes kept darting over to look at Hunter. Then out of nowhere they widened as if she had came to the sudden conclusion of some great mystery. However, they didn't stay that way for long as they zeroed in on her cousin; narrowing in a withering glare. Hunter had just looked up to reach for his glass of orange juice when he caught her look. It was there where I, and the other two guys, realized what her glare was all about. Hunter's expression had slowly transformed into a look of guilt.

"Sorry," he murmured in a near whisper; almost hoping we wouldn't hear it in our mission to gobble down the entirety of our plates. Sadly for him though, we had super wolf hearing, and it wasn't that hard to miss as we turned in our seats to watch how the scene would play out. Thankfully, Jake quickly decided to come to Hunter's rescue before all hell broke loose.

"If it makes you feel any better we dragged it out of him," he announced while twiddling with his fork against his nearly emptied plate.

Sighing, Amber leaned back in her chair, and breathed, "It's alright; doesn't matter anyway. Probably would have gotten out sooner or later. However, that doesn't mean I want to talk about it though."

"Understood," Jake smiled, before dropping his fork, and holding his hand out to her, "My name's Jacob Black by the way."

Shuddering slightly at the name, she hesitated to reach forward to clasp her hand into his. However, as stares around the room began to grow, she finally raised her hand and slowly clutched it around Jacob's. Almost instantly a seed of jealously began to sprout new life in my stomach for my pack brother; something I thought would never happen.

'Of course she'll let him touch her,' I thought angrily.

However, as I glanced over at her eyes, my jealousy began to slowly ebb away as I saw the discomfort growing in her mahogany brown orbs. It seemed within seconds she'd had her fill of skin to skin contact with him; something I was sorry to say I reveled slightly in. Letting go of his hand as rapidly and nonchalantly as she could, she hurriedly returned it to her plate as she went to pick up her fork again.

"It's nice to meet you Black," she said with a forced smile, but he and I had caught on quick as we all took notice of the use of his last name. However, we decided to brush it off for her sake. There was no need to make the situation more uncomfortable for her or her friend and cousin.

However, with the ice now broken in the room, Quil immediately decided to take action as he placed his fork down onto his plate. With a mouth still slightly covered in gravy, he piped up with a grin, "Hi, I'm Quil Ateara, since we're making introductions."

Nodding, she answered with a smile, "I remember it from that day out on the worksite; including Embry's."

Okay, normally I'm not the kind of guy who loves hearing some girl say my name. Well, other than when I'm in a…(coughcough)…certain position with her (cough). However, the moment my name came tumbling out of my imprint's mouth it was like a wave of content had washed right over me. My wolf growled lowly within me in happiness, as I myself began beaming with a smile from one ear to the other.

'So, she does know my name,' I thought as my grin grew wider and wider with every second. Suddenly I realized the ice had been broken between us as well, and I took this as my cue to strike up a conversation with her. Slowly, I turned to her and murmured casually, "But you don't know my last name do you?"

Taking a quick bite of the piece of bacon in my hand, I gave her a subtle wink. One she responded to with a cheeky smile.

Chuckling, she replied, "Nope, but it's only your first names I need to know anyway."

Laughing, she countered with, "I wouldn't have to. First off, I probably wouldn't be in La Push that much too even have my car die on me. Secondly, I would just go to the first house I see, and ask if I could borrow their phone to call Taylor or Hunter, before calling a tow truck."

Touché. The girl was smart.

It took me a second of taking another bite of my bacon and swallowing, before I came back with, "But what if Taylor and Hunter have their phones turned off and the guy at the auto shop isn't answering because he's out picking up another car?"

Then she said something that made my hackles raise, and a growl almost escape past my lips.

"Well then, I guess I'd just call Jasper or Alice," she shrugged. Quickly, I met her with a steely glare as my wolf clawed at me from the inside at hearing her words. It definitely didn't like the fact that she would turn to the leeches, before she would turn to us. Besides which, she should know better by now that they weren't allowed on the reservation anyway; something that I made sure to point out to her next.

"Their not allowed on the reservation," I mumbled irritable, before saying snidely back to her, "or did you forget?"

Okay, maybe I made the wrong move there.

I watched as Amber's mahogany brown eyes warningly turned a shade dark, before they narrowed in my direction. Suddenly, I began to realize I had made this game turn a little bit more serious. With an angry huff, she quickly bit back at me in her southern twang, "Ya'll could deal with them coming to pick me up if they had too, and no I didn't forget ya'll's prejudice attitude towards them."

My eyes narrowed, as my wolf had finally hit its breaking point. I could already feel myself shaking, as he clawed at my insides to be released. So what if I was prejudice towards those filthy bloodsuckers? They were vampires for Christ sakes! They were dangerous, and just by being around them she was putting herself in even more danger than she already was in now! At that point, I had half a mind to tell her so, but before I could Jake intervened.

"OKAY! Well I think we better be going," he suddenly spoke up, as he finally finished off his plate, "Come on, Hunter, Quil, Embry."

I met his gaze with a steely look, which he mirrored right back to me. Immediately I was overcome by the true Alpha glare hidden behind his eyes, and my shaking suddenly slowed to a halting stop. Though he was no longer my Alpha anymore, it still registered to my wolf that he was supposed to be, and he all but bowed down to him; imprint or not. However, as my senses slowly came back to me, I began to become a little more thankful of that fact. If I had shifted right here where I sat now, I could have really hurt Amber worse than any vampire. She would have learned of the truth, and she probably would have rejected me like Emily had nearly done to Sam; and the rejection of an imprint is never good on a wolf. It could nearly destroy them, and put the whole pack at risk.

I watched as Hunter and Quil inhaled the rest of their food, before getting up to their feet. We all kindly thanked Taylor for her hospitality, before the other guys began moving out of the room to head outside for the car. However, instead of following right behind them, I came to stand behind Amber's chair. Leaning over her, I placed both hands on either side of hers at the table, while I whispered coyly into her delicate ear, "My last name's Call by the way. Embry Call. Remember it."

I reveled in the way she shivered underneath me at that moment, all the while the wolf inside me rejoiced at the closeness. From this position her scent was much stronger, and it hit me with a powerful wave that nothing could compare to. I couldn't help thinking to myself at that moment, 'It's about time I'm able to get this close to her without smelling those fucking leeches' stench mingling with her delicious aroma.'

Cautiously, I pulled away from her as I tried to imprint this moment in my brain for good. As I did so, I even made sure to brush my hand against hers so that I could also remember the feel of her skin against mine. That was when I heard her breath catch in her throat, and I could have sworn my wolf actually purred at that moment from her reaction.

Turning around, I quickly made my way for the door before I did something much worse.

Heading on outside, I got into the car with the others. As I went to buckle my seat belt, after shutting the door securely behind me, I chanced a glance over at the seat next to mine to find Hunter doing nothing but glaring me down. I decided to ignore him though as Jacob put the car in reverse. At this point nothing he could do or say would ruin what had just happened. In fact I don't think anything could.

Oh how wrong I had been though.

The moment we'd gotten to work, Hunter had finally burst. He'd all but told me off for upsetting his cousin. Saying that I had no right to tell her who she should be friends with, and that the Cullen's had been nice to them thus far. In turn I had shot back some pretty nasty words that soon had Jacob pulling me into the woods within mere minutes. Quil had taken that as his queue to drag the still enraged Hunter on inside so that he wouldn't see anything. Once in the woods I spent the better part of the next few minutes trying to calm down, before Jacob finally ushered me back towards the building. As we entered, we found Sam had returned from his one day leave, however giving me a stern look I knew I was in for a hard day of work with him already.

I was immediately given a lot of the grunt work with Hunter, and by the time lunch rolled around I just wanted to get away from him. So, like I said before, instead of opting to follow them into Fork's to eat at the new McDonalds, I'd asked them to drop me off at the house so that I could borrow Quil's car to run to the store. My appetite was long gone, but knowing it would be back eventually it was best to stock up on our food supply. Plus hopefully this mundane shopping trip would get all the shit going on inside of my mind to go away.

Slowly pushing the buggy down the aisle, I was currently eyeing the bags of chips when I heard a sudden squeaking of wheels coming my way. Looking up, I froze at the sight in front of me. There, currently looking at the chips herself, was my mother. I felt my heart clench in my chest, and I was just getting ready to turn around when she looked up.

My mother's eyes widen in surprise as she took me in. I knew she hadn't been expecting to see me again for awhile. Last time we had talked she had told me she needed time to accept what I was, and that she didn't hate me. However, the last thing she had also said to me as well was that it wasn't my business to know who my father was. After that I had given up trying to stay in contact her. I was still too angry with her about it, and I knew going around her with my newly acquired temper would only put her at risk. This was probably something she realized as well, as I took in the slight twinge of fear in her eyes. Nonetheless though, she quietly licked away her dry lips, before finally getting the courage to speak to me, "It's good to see you son."

The hairs rose on the back of my neck as I tried looking anywhere but at her. Slowly grinding away the enamel on my teeth, I gave in and answered through my clenched jaws, "You too, Mom."

However, she chose to ignore my subtly attitude, and the anger laced behind those three words. Instead, her eyes only stared me down like any mother would when trying to get a point across to their child. Finally, no longer being able to take the tension, I turned my eyes back over to hers. It was there that I saw a twinge of relief fill her eyes, before she turned them away to admire the bags of chips in front of her. Though, I already knew which one she was going to pick up even before she did. She always picked the same bag.

"How have you been," my mother asked politely, while reaching for a bag of Doritos on the bottom rack of the shelf like I'd predicted.

Rolling my eyes, I replied, "As good as any shapes shifting werewolf can be."

She went rigid at my words, as her head swiveled around in panic to see if anyone else had heard what I'd just said. However, I already knew before her that no one would've. What with wolf hearing, I could only hear the sounds of her and myself within the store; minus the employees of course, and a teenager or two stopping in up front to grab a snack. Usually during this time of day the small grocery store here in La Push remained pretty desolate as everyone else was out either working or having a good time. Nonetheless however, I let her guess on her own whether it was or not, before she finally turned back around to snap at me, "Careful, Embry! Do you want the whole town to know?"

Snorting, I murmured, "I wouldn't have said it if anyone else was in hearing range."

"That doesn't matter. You shouldn't be mentioning it at all until you're in private. Do you honestly want La Push believing all those ridiculous stories about you and your pack being on drugs," she cautioned, but realizing her words were probably a bit harsh and extreme, her eyes soon softened. With a much calmer and loving voice, she added, "Because to me, it seems you and your friends have done nothing but good lately for this town. You all shouldn't tarnish your good name by creating a situation as silly as that. But anyway though, how is everything? When Billy dropped by this morning to check up on me, he'd mentioned that you've been going through a bit of a hard time lately."

Scoffing I muttered, "Figures Sam would have told him that of course."

Eying me warily, as any good prying mother would do, I could already see the questioning look swimming deep behind her chestnut brown eyes.

"Oh so there is trouble going on," she wondered, as her eyes softened and she moved closer to me, "Is everything okay, Embry?"

Both I and the wolf inside of me went rigid for a moment at her approach. It was a move that signaled warning to any of the animal kingdom; especially to me as a shape shifter. However, I quickly realized that this was not a sign of danger, but only the signal of her mothering nature taking over. I relaxed just slightly, and allowed her to take a few more steps toward me without a glare. However, remembering her words before she'd made her move, I found this morning's painful memory come crashing back into my skull. Just the memory of that argument between my imprint and I, not to mention the cold venom her brother had been spitting at me afterwards, had my wolf back on edge inside me. Though, it wasn't only just my wolf that was angry, but I as well. I had always been the guy to avoid arguments and awkward situations. However, now I was being thrown into them against my will, and it was bringing out a dormant side of me that I didn't even know existed. Before I had turned, I had always been a passive aggressive kid with a shy fun loving nature and a gentle heart. Yet now, after having nine other guy's personalities inside my head for the past three years or so... well, it had changed me a bit. Especially being inside Paul's aggressive mind didn't help. So, the anger that came next must have shocked my mother a bit…but then again I think my words must have shocked her more.

"No, I fucking imprinted," I nearly snarled, as my hands griped the buggy's handle even tighter than before. I think I even heard the metal bending underneath them.

Slowly, my mother's eyes widened as she took in my words. Yeah, she knew what that meant. Sam and I had explained it to her the same day we'd explained to her what I was. I think she had even hoped that it would someday happen to me, and now she got her wish.

Hope she was happy.

"Oh baby, it can't be that bad," she sighed, placing a hand on my shoulder.

Instantly my anger deflated at the mere touch of her palm. It was odd how a mother's comforting touch could instantly calm even the worst of children. Then again, my mother wasn't like other mothers. Her presence didn't only pacify me as a little boy, but it made me respect her even more for the fact that she was just there. That she stuck by me through everything; well almost. Yet that shouldn't matter. I knew deep in my heart that my mother was a good mother, and as she slowly rubbed circles onto my shoulders at that moment, old memories of her rocking me in her arms as a child, or singing to me until I fell asleep came rushing back. I didn't want to admit it, but I missed my Mom more than I thought I would hate her for how she'd turned me away. Maybe that was the reason why everything that had been going on lately just suddenly came spilling right out of my mouth for her to here.

"It's so frustrating Mom. This whole freaking situation sucks! I didn't want to imprint. I actually prayed I wouldn't, but what happens? Some girl comes sauntering into my place of work looking like a drowned rat and BAM! I take one look at her eyes, and immediately it's like my wolf and I can't get enough of her. It's sickening. This isn't how it should be. It should be slower and more gradual, but no. All because of my damn father's genes I'm forced into this faster than I would like. Oh and don't get me started on her fucking cousin, and those damn vampire friends of hers," I groaned, while slumping forward onto the buggy.

"Oh dear, it's that bad?"

"More than you know," I chuckled darkly while rubbing my temple.

"Well, there's not much I can tell you, son. You're just going to have to go with the flow, and hope for the best. I'll tell you now that falling in love is never easy, but the end result is usually a good one. Just take care of yourself okay. Don't let the situation get to you, and whatever you do, don't piss the girl off," she warned jokingly.

I turned to give her an annoyed look before muttering, "To late."

Rolling her eyes, she smacked me lightly upside my head, before growling out, "What did you do?"

"I may have told her in not so many words that she shouldn't be friends with the Cullen's, but Mom, it's not like she knows what they are. I haven't even told her yet about all of this," I defended, but the withering look she gave me was all but damning.

"Well you better figure out a way to tell her soon, or it sounds like your going to have a problem on your hands. Listen, I can't tell you how to go about this. This is something you're going to have to figure out on your own honey. I had to, and now it's your turn," she stated with a look I hadn't seen in awhile; admiration. "You're a smart boy, Embry. I'm sure you'll figure it all out soon."

"Thanks Mom," I said with a growing smile. Leaning over, I gave her a one armed hug as she stood up on her tip-toes to kiss my cheek. Then, when I was sure I still had her all buttered up, I asked, "Now do you mind helping me with this grocery list the guys left me? I don't even know where half this crap is."

Rolling her eyes, she motioned for me to hand it over, before replying, "Children; they never grow up."

"Hey! I've grown up," I defended.

"Sure, that's what I let you think," she replied, before waving her hand for me to follow her. All the while, I couldn't help but feel glad my Mom and I had finally had a conversation that wasn't resulting in an argument. Maybe this day was getting better after all?

Okay, so I'm so very sorry for not updating in a while, but I've been really busy with things going on in my personal life. I finally got a new job, and it's been taking most of my time. Plus my ex left me, so I'm still trying to cope with that and the mind-blowing epiphany that I literally have no social circle anymore expect for my one friend now. All in all, it's definitely been a little chaotic to come back to this story. However, I hope this update more than makes up for it for now.

Anyway, I hope you liked the interaction between Amber and Embry, or better yet Amber finally revealing the truth to Jasper about her condition. Things are going to start getting interesting from here on out. That I can promise you.

For now though, thanks to my one reviewer I had for the last chapter-…Debbie Hicks… (Your review was quite interesting lol.)

Sadly I don't have a song I listened to for this chapter really, so I guess on to the next chapter preview lol.

A preview of the next chapter

"Listen; let's be reasonable about this sonny. Do you really want to ruin the rest of your life," Arnold tried to say before the gunman turned his weapon towards him, and shouted, "SHUT UP OLD MAN. NO SUDDEN MOVEMENTS OR I'LL SHOOT."

I hid back around the shelves again quickly and took a deep breath. It slowly felt like the walls were caving in all around me. I could barely breathe, but as I slowly remembered my co-workers fear stricken faces, I knew what I had to do.

My cell phone was in my purse, so I couldn't call the cops. On top of that, even if I did have it, if I so much as even tried to call them, he would overhear me. However, I knew there was a panic button under the table at the register. If I distracted him long enough Latisha or Mr. Mallory could probably get to it, as well as the gun Arnold had hidden underneath as well; something that Mr. Mallory actually thought we didn't know about.

Taking one last deep gulp of air, I picked up the broom beside me and stood up. Carefully I peaked back around the shelf, before seeing that the coast was clear. Then, ever so slowly, I began inching my way up on him while he still had his back turned to me. In the process, I glanced over at my coworkers, hoping that they would notice this and be ready for when I attacked. Ever so gradually, my movements finally caught their attentions. Their eyes suddenly widen, and I even saw Latisha mouth a pleading, "No," right before I jumped.

Well, that's all for now folks. Hope you enjoyed it, and please, if you don't mind, please take some time to send me a review on how I'm doing. I'd very much appreciated it. Until then, have a nice day everyone. :-)