The Fire Inside Hurts

"I'm going to ignore it"

"Pick it up Embry"

"Nope" he kissed me. "We don't answer the phone during dinner" I smiled at him. We talked about the trip during dinner. We did the dishes together. My mind went back to the times we volunteered to do the dished at Emily's. Emily would always resist so we would get Sam to make her leave the kitchen. We would throw on some music. We would take turns washing and drying. Then we would put everything away. As we washed we would get into little water fights. Once I slipped on the water and fell on my butt. I was laughing so hard that I couldn't get up. I started crying partly because it was so funny , partly because it hurt. Embry was so concerned. He lifted me up and put me on the counter. He made me count his fingers.

"Embry I fell on my big butt, not my head"

"I know, I just-"

"I'm fine"

"Maybe you should go sit on the couch, I'll finish"

"Ha , you just want all the fun for yourself" That was the end of the water fights. For like five minutes. When we were all done we would stand there and applaud each other.

"Hey!" he said as I sprayed him with water.

"What?" I said innocently.

"Yeah.. what?" he said mocking me. We decided tonight would be a good movie night and popped in Lord of The Rings. We snuggled up on the couch and I fell asleep in his arms. I felt him carry me to bed a while later. That night I had horrible dreams that woke me up crying. I muffled my cries so I wouldn't wake Embry. I looked at the clock, it was only three. I tried to fall asleep but I couldn't. I finally decided to just get up at six. You can only try to sleep for so long. I started to make pancakes as surprise. A half hour later I heard Embry's voice. "Lacey? Lace where are you?" he said panicked.

"Honey, I am in the kitchen." He was in the room before I could count to five.

"What are you doing up?" he said kissing my cheek. "And making your husband a beautiful breakfast."

"Don't get used to it, I couldn't sleep." I said.

"Why?"

"Nightmare"

"Why didn't you wake me up?"

"You were sleeping peacefully"

"Next time wake me up" he said irritably.

"Embry go back to bed, I'll keep the pancakes warm."

"No, not until you come."

"I'm fine, go back to sleep." He stubbornly shook his head. He started setting the table. We didn't really talk over breakfast. I knew he was upset, I just didn't understand why. Note to self, don't tell him about nightmares. "So what shall we do with our last free day to ourselves?" I said cheerfully.

"What do you want to do?"

"Well…"

"Yeah we can do that… what else?"

"I feel like baking in our new oven."

"Okay, we'll make cookies" We went to store a while after that to pick up the ingredients and called Emily with the recipe. We had just put the cookies in the oven when the phone rang. Embry picked up. He looked angry.

"No, today is my day with-oh really?-no-you can't really- fine I'll be there in a minute" He slammed the phone down.

"Embry, what's wrong? Is everyone okay?"

"Yeah everyone is okay, no big deal. I don't know when I'll be back. Emily will be over to help you finish. "

"Where are you going?"

"We'll talk later, I love you"

"Fuck you Embry, where the hell are you going?" my lack of sleep caused my patience to be gone.

"Honey, we'll talk about this later." He leaned in to kiss me but I stepped away.

"Just go" I said with as much venom as I could muster. He looked at me longingly but I just looked away. I know I heard the oven go off, but I had a delayed reaction. Apparently we had put the oven on to high, because when I opened the door smoke flew out and I saw fire. I grabbed the fire extinguisher. I sprayed until it was gone. I opened all the windows and tried to get the smoke out. I was crying so hard I couldn't see. I sat outside my porch stairs, crying. I heard Emily's car pull up. I didn't look up. I felt her put her arms around me."What is it? You know. Where is he always going Emily?" I yelled until I started sobbing again.

"Honey, he'll tell you when-"

"No! What is so important that he has to leave me? He is always leaving me" I mumbled. I was so overcome with exhaustion that I laid down on the porch.

"What is that smell?"

"The cookies were on fire" I said quietly. "I can't keep the cookies, I can't keep my husband."

"Baby, you need to understand, he doesn't want to keep this from you."

"Yup" Emily helped me into my room and I fell asleep soon after that. I heard voices outside, but I had lost track of time.

"Is she okay?" I recognized Embry.

"Yeah, wait let her sleep. She is really upset."

"I shouldn't have left her"

"You should have told her months ago."

"I couldn't,she wouldn't have married me."

"She thinks there is something wrong with her."

"No that is stupid, she is perfect."

"Embry, this has taken a toll on her. That girl loves you so much. "

"She is my life"

"Then she needs to know. Now Embry. I already called everyone over." I started shivering. I was so scared about what they were going to tell me. What if something was wrong with Embry? I had been so harsh. I felt him come into the room.

"Lace?"

"Yeah?"

"I'm back, I need to talk to you"

"Yup"

"Please?" I sat up and threw myself into his arms. I started crying again.

"Aren't I enough? What am I doing wrong?"

"NOTHING- this has nothing to do with anything you did. Oh GOD, I am such an idiot." He hugged me so tightly. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry. I need you to promise me you'll forgive me after for not telling you."

"Embry-"

"I know you can't-I love you so much- I will always and always would have" he held on to me so tightly.

"I burnt the cookies"

"Yeah, we make a better team than we do solo, huh?"

"Yeah" He pulled me out of bed. He pulled my hair tie out of my hair and grabbed a brush off the dresser. He ran the brush through my hair. He took me hand and pulled me out into the living room. Everyone was there, I felt like I was at a party or a funeral and had no idea why.

"Lacey-"……