Chapter 3

"Emily!"

"What happened?!"

"Are you okay?"

"Oh, Sam's going to kill us."

A chorus of worried voices rang out before Emily and her use of her "Alpha Mama" voice, which was what she loved to call it, topped them all.

"Boys! Will you calm down? I am ok, I am not hurt. Claire here just passed out and it scared me. Relax and go have fun outside again."

"Sam's going to kill us, he's going to do it Embry, I know he is!" The shortest one grabbed the one I assume was called Embry and shook him before Embry threw his hands off of him.

"Seth, chill the fuck out. Emily wouldn't let any of us get Sam's wrath, right babe?" He winked in Emily's direction and she just scoffed and rolled her eyes.

"Hey Jared, Seth's finally gone off the deep end, don't you agree?" Embry joked, shoving an elbow in another brown-haired, chocolate-eyed, guy behind him to his left.

The three continued to joke as they went back outside and started with their play sparring again. I rubbed my head as I used the counter behind me to help me back up. I winced as I straightened myself up. Thanks to a couple old scars that still gave me some problems if I put too much weight on my arms.

"Quil, you can go upstairs and get some rest if you don't want to use the energy to go home. I know you've been out all night and must be exhausted. If you want I will bring you up some food in a couple hours."

She then turned her back to the tallest man I have ever seen, and the most in shape man at that. He had abs that I would just love to take a bite out of. Wait, what? What am I thinking? I do not think like this, I have never liked a guy, or even payed attention to them. They are all immature assholes that will break your heart and leave you a weak and vulnerable mess. Not to mention my avoidance of them due to a certain asshole who has been beating me senseless as long as I could stand.

I looked down at my aunt before I got to see how attractive this man's face was.

"So Claire, I was thinking. Since it is your birthday next week, I was thinking we should have a huge birthday slash graduation bonfire to celebrate! We can invite everyone! And you can meet everyone finally. Oh! It's going to be so much fun!" Emily started gushing and making plans out loud. She loved this kind of thing, it was crazy.

She turned around and almost ran into Quil. "Oh, I didn't see you there. Why are you still here? Go to bed, go, get." She tried shooing him towards the stairs.

He didn't seem to be having any of it. He was rooted to the spot. I am confused as to why he is standing there; not moving at all, then I look at his face. It literally took my breath away. How anyone this gorgeous was even allowed on Earth, I will never know. His copper skinned face was smooth; his lips were in between full and thin but were the perfect size, his mouth was slightly agape to show off straight and perfectly white teeth, his hair was kind of short and spiked up. But what caught my attention most was his eyes. Those entrancing eyes. They were locked on mine and when I looked into those dark blue eyes with flecks of black in them it's like the universe aligned itself and everything was right now. And just like Emily described, it felt as though I have never been alive before this. I couldn't catch my breath, nor could I look away to do so. I felt a rush of something shoot through me that I have never before experienced.

He took a step forward, towards me, and that was all it took. I grabbed Emily by the hand and ran to my room. As I shut the door I heard a chorus of laughter and joking before it faded.

"Oh my gosh. Claire. You and Quil? How did I not see this before? You two would be so cute together! How didn't I see this coming? Tell me all about it!" She was so cute when she was excited. She reminded me so much of a little girl a lot of the time.

"There is nothing to tell Emily, this is the first time I have ever seen him. There is nothing going on between us. I haven't even said anything to him, and vice versa."

Emily gave me a knowing look. "Sometimes one look is all it takes. When you looked into his eyes, was it everything I said it would be?"

I sighed. "And then some. I felt something I have never felt before. I feel like I need him sort of? I don't know, it's hard to describe."

"Oh believe me baby girl, I know. I understand completely."

I flung myself down on my bed and dramatically threw my arm over my eyes. "I don't know what is happening to me. I have never felt like this before. I have never been this way. Why me? Why does this happen to me?"

The door softly creaked open. I uncovered my eyes and sat up to see who came in. Who else would it be other than Quil himself? Emily gave me a sly smile and a wink before sliding off the side of the bed and slipping out the door with a wave.

"Um…Can I come in?" His deep voice sent chills down my spine. His voice definitely matched his body in the sexy factor.

"Well I don't really have a choice seeing as you are already in." I responded quietly, but he heard me.

"Well, I'm Quil. And you're Claire right?" I nodded at him as he stood in the doorway, just sort of glancing around awkwardly, not really knowing what to do.

"Do you want to sit down?" I gestured at the bed. He seemed to relax slightly as he sat but was still very nervous it seemed. His scent overwhelmed me and I wanted nothing more in that moment to just hug him and breath in the wonderful smell of fresh air, woods, ocean, and just him.

He looked around at the boxes still piled in my room. "Do you want help unpacking?"

"That would actually be nice." I said before we both stood up and walked toward a box.

He opened the one full of my shirts. He laughed as he pulled one out and looked at me with a teasing look in his eyes.

"What?" I grabbed the shirt and held it to me defensively with a slight smile on my face. "They are a good band, thank you." I stuck my tongue out at him and he chuckled. His laugh made me give a slight laugh. He started laughing harder, and I think we just laughed out the awkwardness of the situation.

I must say it was relief. I didn't know how to talk to him, I didn't know what to say, I know nothing about this random stranger that makes me feel nothing that could be described.

"Ok, well if this band is so great, then how come I haven't heard any of their stuff?" He asked with a teasing tone in his voice. I enjoyed this easy teasing that settled in.

"Ok, well, come here. I will make you hear some of their stuff."

I absolutely loved introducing people to music, it was my life. I lived for music. I would probably die if I couldn't sing, or dance. I would especially die if I couldn't dance.

I jumped on the bed and leaned against the headboard. The shirt currently discarded on the floor. He looked at me with a questioning look on his face. I patted the bed next to me as I pulled my iPod out of my pocket. As he sat, the bed sank down. He slid over close to me, closer than he needed to I'm sure, but I wasn't complaining. I didn't care. His close proximity caused my heart to beat faster and my breath to hitch. I hoped my hand wasn't shaking as I handed him the one of the headphones as I put the other in my ear. I scrolled down through my artists until I came across the right name and found the CD I found the best and hit play.

I closed my eyes and leaned my head back against the headboard. It was so easy to lose myself in the music. The lyrics speaking to me on a level that nothing else could reach, the music quieted every fear and worry that I possessed. I let it speak through my heart and quiet all the thoughts in my mind.

I must have fallen asleep because I wake up to sunlight streaming through my window and hitting me directly in the face. I groaned and turned my head from the blinding light. I took a deep breath in and stretched my stomach. It was more difficult this particular morning due to extra weight around my waist. My eyes flew open and I looked down. There was a very long arm stretched across my waist, a long, extremely warm arm. Seriously, was this guy 200 degrees or something? This can't be natural for anyone.

I look over at the sleeping form next to me. I see my iPod on the night stand with the headphones wrapped around it. Exactly how long was he awake after I fell asleep? Why didn't he leave when I fell asleep? Um, ok, that isn't weird at all or anything. I tried to slide out from under his arm but even though he was sleeping, it tightened and pulled me back into a laying position. I think the force of my back hitting the bed woke up him. He jerked up and quickly scanned the room, almost as if looking for an attacker. Then he caught a glimpse of me and immediately withdrew his arm from my waist. I was extremely uncomfortable with all guys, and knowing I was comfortable enough to fall asleep around one, seriously unnerved me.

"Uh, look, I know this may be awkward and everything, but I have a serious issue with guys that you wouldn't understand, but I am very uncomfortable with the fact that I fell asleep around you and I am very uncomfortable with the fact that I found a guy I just met in my bed the next morning. So would you kindly get out?"

I immediately felt guilty about everything I said, but it was the truth. His face showed the pain he felt at my words. My heart broke at the expression on his face. He just took a deep breath and got up to leave. I grabbed his arm and he turned to look into my eyes. God, why did his eyes pierce me like that? I felt like he could see right through me, like everything was just laid out there for him to judge.

"I'm sorry, I know that must've sounded mean but-" He cut me off.

"I understand. If you don't mind my asking, what happened to make you hate the male species?" His eyes showed honest caring and sympathy.

I sighed. "I wouldn't even know where to start."

He sat back down on the bed to get comfortable. He could tell this was going to be a long story. "How about the beginning? Tell me everything about you Claire. I want to know everything I can."

So I did, I told him everything. I told him everything that I could remember, including things I have never told anyone, things that no one knew about. The first time I got beaten, when I started cutting, even how I felt about everything that has gone, and I found myself telling him everything about me. I trusted him fully and I didn't know why. I knew he was just going to hurt me, yet here he was listening to me, laughing with me, crying with me when he saw my pain, and comforting me through the entire thing.

God, something was seriously wrong with me. Why was everything changing so fast?