Chapter title taken from the song "Human Behavior" by Björk from the album "Debut".

"If you ever get close to a human and human behavior

Be ready to get confused"

-Björk

"What do you think he wants?" Quil asked me for the fifth time in as many minutes.

"I already told you I don't know," I replied.

"Well, but I mean, what do you think this is about?"

I groaned. "I have no new information since you last asked me that question."

Jacob had called Quil that morning and had asked us to meet him in Forks at noon. I was surprised by the location. Usually if Jacob wanted to call a pack meeting we had it in La Push. It all seemed a little hinky to me. Not to mention the fact that Seth and Leah, both members of our pack as well, had not been asked to attend this impromptu meeting.

Quil nervously chewed his nails and stared out the window of my truck. "Do you think he's kicking us out of his pack?"

I thought about that for a moment. "No," I finally said. "That would be ludicrous. He wouldn't have any reason to kick us out." As I said it, I started to wonder if maybe that was the case. Maybe he thought we'd lost our edge or that he didn't need us anymore. There hadn't been much activity since our encounter with the Italian vampires nearly a year ago. Perhaps he thought he didn't need to have a full pack. If he thought we weren't good enough to be in his pack anymore well… a part of me – the wolf part – ached at the very thought. To be asked to leave the pack would be a devastating blow. The other part of me though –the part I tried to keep as deep down as possible – whispered spitefully 'good let him kick me out'. Then I'll be free to leave this place and never look back. Of course I immediately reprimanded myself for the self-centered thought. As badly I wanted to leave La Push, I couldn't let my selfish desires come before the pack. No matter how depressed that prospect made me. Which for the record was very depressed.

My windshield wipers thunked melodically as I drove. The rain was coming down in sheets and my windows were fogging up on the inside. I leaned forward and rubbed a clear patch on the windshield. Next to me on the bench seat, Quil's legs bounced rapidly with nerves. He was making the whole cab of the truck rock back and forth.

"Dude, will you chill out? Please? I'm sure this is nothing. He probably just needs help with something."

Quil nodded but didn't respond. His legs still bounced.

I pulled into the parking lot of the McDonald's Jake had designated as our meeting place. His car was already there, Jacob still sitting in the driver's seat. I pulled up next to him and rolled down my window. A shock of cold rain hit me in my face and caused my breath to hitch in my chest. I sputtered and coughed.

"We going in?" I finally managed to ask Jake after catching my breath.

He shook his head no. "Follow me, okay?"

A frown creased my brow at the weirdness of his tone and demeanor but I acquiesced to his request.

I put my truck back in gear and followed Jake through downtown Forks.

"That's kind of strange, huh?" I asked Quil.

He gave me a worried look, but didn't answer.

After a few more minutes of driving I realized where Jake was leading us.

"We're going to the Cullen's," I said to Quil.

Quil sat up straighter on his seat. "Why do you think he's taking us there?"

"Don't know buddy. He must have a good reason for it though; otherwise he wouldn't be doing it."

Even though our pack has a truce with the Cullen's, and Jacob had imprinted on Edward and Bella's daughter Renesmee, that didn't mean we were any more comfortable spending time with the bloodsuckers on a social basis. Especially in their territory.

I tailed Jake up the long driveway to the Cullen's large home and parked my truck next to his car.

Quil and I both hesitated before getting out of the truck. Jake had already jumped out of his car and took off at a jog, motioning us towards the front door.

Quil and I exchanged a look but hurried after him, if only to get out of the driving rain.

We met up on the Cullen's front porch.

"What's this all about?" I asked Jake as he went to open the front door.

"Let's just talk inside, okay?"

We trailed Jake into the large foyer of the home. The house was dark and cold and despite the fact that cool temperatures don't affect me, I felt a chill run down my spine.

"All right what's going on?" Quil asked, a pleading tone in his question.

Jacob went to respond, but at that moment Edward and Bella joined us in the foyer.

"Jacob, why don't we sit in the living room." Bella beckoned us into the large room off the entrance of their home.

Slowly Quil and I moved into the living room.

"Have a seat," Edward said, joining Bella on one of the large couches that adorned the room.

"I'll stand, thanks," Quil said quickly. "Just tell me what this is all about."

"Look Quil. I asked you here because I wanted to talk to you about Nessie's birthday party," Jacob said as he sat with Bella and Edward.

I made a face. "We're here about a kid's birthday party?" I couldn't keep the disbelief out of my voice. "All this cloak and dagger crap was about party hats and birthday cake?" I flopped onto one of the sofas and sighed.

"No," Jacob glared at me then looked back at Quil. "Quil, you know that Nessie and Claire enjoy spending time together, right?"

Quil nodded slowly. "Yeah. What of it?"

"Well Nessie would really like for Claire to be at her party."

Quil was already shaking his head no before he spoke. "Here? No fuckin' way man."

My eyes widened at Quil's use of the mother of all curses. Don't get me wrong, it's not like the guy was a saint or anything, but ever since he had been spending time with Claire, he had cleaned up his language. Even when he wasn't with Claire it wasn't unusual to hear him muttering things like 'for the love of Pete', 'jiminy Christmas' and my personal favorite 'fudge bunnies' in place of foul words. So his curse just then let me know he was really pissed.

Jacob jumped up. "It would really mean a lot to Nessie to have her there. She doesn't have any friends other than Claire. It would be nice if there was someone nearer her age for Nessie to play around with."

"Well Jake, you're Nessie's age…emotionally," I piped up helpfully from the couch. I was hoping my joke would diffuse some of the tension in the room. Yeah…..it didn't.

"Shut up, Embry," Jacob snapped. "Look just because Nessie looks and acts much older than her age doesn't mean that she doesn't still want to be a kid. She loves hanging out with Claire. So what do you say Quil?"

Quil shook his head more violently. "No. Absolutely not. How can you even ask me to bring Claire to a house full of bloodsuckers?"

Edward stood up, a frown on his face. "Look, I understand your hesitation, but it's not going to be a bunch of random vampires. It's just going to be us-"

"Meaning all you Cullen's?" I asked. I had moved to the edge of my seat, ready to intervene if things got out of hand.

"Yes, all us Cullen's." Edward imitated my somewhat disgusted tone.

Quil was still shaking his head rapidly back and forth. "No, no way, it's not up for discussion."

"Quil, Nessie loves Claire and would really like for her to be at the party," Bella said.

Quil gave me an incredulous look. "Why are we still having this conversation? Do they not get what no means?" He spat at me.

I threw my hands into the air. "Don't look at me, man. I don't want to get involved."

"Quil, Claire will be perfectly safe here," Jake said. "I mean she and Nessie play together all the time."

Technically from what I'd seen Nessie was a glorified babysitter when it came to playing with Claire. However they did seem to have a good time together. Not that I was going to say anything about it.

"It's not the same, Jake!" Quil shouted. "It's one thing for them to play together when it's just you and me. It's something entirely different when Claire would be exposed to a room full of leeches! I won't do it! I won't risk her like that!"

"Quil, calm down." Jake said softly.

"No I won't calm down! This is bullshit. The answer is no." Quil turned to leave, but then stopped and looked back at Jacob. He shook his head slowly. "I can't believe you of all people would ambush me like this," he said quietly, the hurt evident in his voice. With that he stalked out of the living room and a moment later the front door slammed like a gunshot causing me to jump slightly.

I gave a low whistle then slowly stood up from the sofa and looked around the room. "Well I guess I'll be going," I said awkwardly.

Jacob glared at me. "Yeah go. Some help you were," he said peevishly.

"Jake," Bella said gently.

I stared at Jacob, my mouth agape. "What the hell, man? What did you want from me?"

"You could have helped me convince him that Claire would have been fine here! That's the whole reason I wanted you to be here in the first place."

"Well why didn't you ask Seth to come then? I mean no offense," I looked at Edward and Bella as I said this, "But I've never been a champion of vampires. Seth on the other hand, spent almost as much time here as you. He would have been a better choice."

"It's Quil we're talking about. He listens to you!" Jacob snapped.

"Well you know what? Maybe if you would have told me what this was all about, rather than be all secret secret about it, I could have helped you. But honestly? I don't know if I would have helped even if I did know." I shook my head. "Remember back when you first became Alpha? How you were always worried about screwing up and stuff? Well I hate to say it, but man, this was your Bay of Pigs."

"What?" Jacob shouted disbelievingly.

"I'm sorry, but I agree with Quil. This was a really shitty thing to do to him. You should have talked to him one on one at home." I tossed my hands helplessly into the air. "Sorry," I said again. "I'm going to go, okay?" I nodded curtly at Edward and Bella and made my way out of the house.

I jogged through the rain to my truck. Quil was already in the passenger seat staring stonily ahead. He didn't look at me as I climbed in to join him.

I moved to turn the truck on, and then stopped, my hand still on the keys. I glanced over at Quil. "I'm sorry, man. I didn't know anything about this."

Quil swallowed hard. "I know," he choked out. "Just take me home please."

I sighed and started the truck. As I turned around in the driveway, I saw Jake standing on the front porch, arms crossed over his chest, watching us leave.

A violent shiver suddenly ran through Quil and for a moment I became panicked that he was going to phase right in the cab of my Ford. In fact I was shocked he hadn't already phased considering I could practically taste the anger exuding off of him. After a moment though his quaking subsided. "I can't believe he did that to me," he whispered, his voice cracking.

I reached over and patted his shoulder. "Hey, I know he didn't go about it the right way, but remember – he feels the same way about Nessie as you do about Claire. He just wants her to be happy and have a great party with her friend. I mean you have to know that he would never put Claire in harm's way."

Quil glared at me. "So what, you're taking his side?"

I quickly shook my head. "No man, I'm not. I already told him that I didn't agree with what he did. I'm just trying to get you to see that he didn't do it to intentionally hurt you. That's all."

"Whatever," Quil muttered. He returned to staring coldly out the window.

Knowing I wasn't going to get anything else out of him until he calmed down, I concentrated on driving us back to La Push.

At home, I barely had my truck in park before Quil jumped out of the cab and stormed into the house. I got out more slowly and made my way inside.

Seth was standing by the door and he gave me a quizzical look as I walked in.

"What the hell was that about?" He asked.

"Jake kind of waylaid Quil about something regarding Claire and Quil didn't take it too well," I told him. I winced as I heard Quil raging around in his room.

"Should we talk to him?" Seth sounded concerned.

I shook my head. "Just let it be for now. When he calms down we can try talking to him-"

Something crashed in Quil's room and Seth and I both jumped. "Yep, in about ten years when he calms down, we can try talking to him," I amended.

"Well you better be the one to tell him," Seth was telling me.

"Let's just see if he brings it up," I said.

It was the morning following the incident between Quil and Jacob. We were meeting for our once weekly dawn patrol. It was my least favorite patrol of the week for two reasons. It required me to be out of bed before six in the morning and it meant that I was doubly tired when I went into work later in the day. When I had woken up that morning and tried to rouse Quil, he had flatly refused to come to patrol. Now Seth and I were arguing over who was going to be the one to break the news to Jacob. Even though Jake was Alpha, he never really liked telling us what to do. That doesn't mean that he didn't do it –he had grown into the role of Alpha better than he thought he would- but it did always leave a sort of bitter taste in his mouth.

"Where's Quil?" Jacob snapped as soon as he saw Seth and I walk into the clearing.

Seth busied himself by looking anywhere but at Jacob, whistling as his head moved rapidly around.

I concentrated on a very interesting patch of grass and avoided Jacob's eyes as I spoke. "He's not coming."

Jacob huffed. "He's not coming?"

"Ummm, no."

"What he's still pissed?"

I looked up. "Well, yeah Jake, he's still pissed."

"This is unacceptable," Jacob frowned. "Just because he's mad at me doesn't mean he doesn't still have a responsibility to this pack."

I tossed my arms into the air helplessly. "I don't know what to tell you. He's pissed and he's not coming."

"What did he say?" Jacob asked.

"He said, and I quote, 'tell Jake he can go to hell' end quote."

Jacob paced in a small circle, a look of rage on his face. "This is just unacceptable."

"Yeah, you said that already," I sighed. "What's the big deal? Just give him time to cool off and he'll come around. If you want another wolf on patrol get Leah."

At the sound of his sister's name Seth stopped whistling and glared at me.

"Leah's in Seattle," Jacob snapped. "I need Quil."

I chewed my lip and then said cautiously,"Well, you could apologize to him."

"FOR WHAT?" Jacob yelled.

"For, oh I don't know, being kind of a jackass," I suggested.

Seth quickly began whistling again. "Oh hey look," he said. "Flowers." He wandered further down the edge of the clearing.

Jacob and I both ignored him.

"I was the jackass?" Jacob said his tone cantankerous. "No he was the one who completely blew things out of proportion."

"Dude," I said slowly. "You asked him to bring his imprint into a house full of leeches. How was he supposed to react?"

"Like a rational human being!" Jacob snapped.

"Oh no no," I said. "You of all people should know that when it comes to a wolf's imprint, there is nothing rational about it."

Jacob sighed resignedly. "Whatever. Let's just patrol and get this over with." He looked over at Seth. "SETH!"

Seth jumped as though he had been goosed and hustled back over to us. "Yeah Jake?"

"Let's get to work." Jacob stomped off towards the woods and phased, not even bothering to remove his clothes before doing so.

Seth and I glanced at each other. "You think-"Seth began. His thought was interrupted by a menacing snarl from Jacob who was standing at the edge of the woods eyeing us.

"Not now," I said to Seth. We quickly stripped and phased, then followed Jacob's retreating form into the woods.

"You went on patrol with him?" Quil shouted.

I looked up at Quil from where I was stretched on the sofa and sighed. "What did you expect, Quil?"

"That you were on my side! That you wouldn't help him!"

"Not that I had much of a choice," I reminded him, "But I will tell you that it was obvious in the way that I patrolled that it was a gesture of protest."

Quil paced in front of the couch as he spoke. "Well did he at least say he was going to apologize for ambushing me?"

I made a face. "No he did not say he was going to apologize."

Quil stopped pacing and glared at me. "He's not going to apologize?"

I jumped up from the couch. "Okay, you know what? This whole thing is ridiculous. And I'm tired of being in the middle of it. I have to be at work in like three hours and I would like to take a nap so here's what we're going to do. We are going over to Jake's and you two are going to work this thing out like the civilized adults that I know you can both be so I can get some sleep and go to work and not deal with this crap anymore got it?"

Quil gave me a petulant look and shook his head no.

"Quil, I'm serious. Yes, I think Jake was wrong for asking you the way that he did. But Nessie is his imprint and he wants her to be happy. Just like you want Claire to be happy. So right now we are going to get in my truck, you are going to check your pissy attitude at the door, and this issue is getting settled once and for all."

"Yeah, it is," Jake said through our screen door. "Can I come in?"

I nodded. "Yeah."

Jacob stepped into the house. He shoved his hands into the pockets of his shorts and looked at the ground as he spoke. "Look, Quil. I'm sorry. It wasn't right for me to ambush you like that. I should have come here to talk to you."

"Yeah, you should have," Quil snapped.

"Quil, he's trying to apologize. Would you give him a break?" I said.

"Well for what it's worth," Jacob continued. "I'm sorry. I should have never asked you to put Claire into a situation that makes you feel uncomfortable. I was very wrong, and I'm really, truly sorry."

Quil nodded slowly. "Okay." He said.

Jacob looked up. "Okay what?"

"Okay apology accepted." Quil held his hand out to Jacob.

"There, don't you both feel so much better now that you've kissed and made up?" I said.

Jacob and Quil both grinned at me. "Hey you guys want something to drink?" Quil asked as he headed towards the kitchen.

"Iced Tea me," Jacob said. He reached out and pulled me closer to him. "Hey man, thanks for what you said. I mean, you know, for saying you were going to bring him over so we could talk. I know how stubborn Quil can be."

"Shut up, I don't need your accolades," I said. "I know how awesome I am."

Jacob shook his head. "And now you're just back in the running for smartass of the decade."

I hung my head humbly. "Hey, I'm just happy to be nominated. Now if you two beasts will keep the makeup sex noises to a minimum, I want to take a nap before I have to go to work."

"SERVICE LINE ONE PLEASE! SERVICE LINE ONE!"

The page echoed over the dealership's intercom system and I flinched as I usually did when the screech of our receptionist's voice grated in my very sensitive ears. I opened my mouth and tried to pop my ears in hopes of relieving the slight pain. After a minute I took a breath and went back to work on the Lexus in my bay. I tried to tune out the noise of air guns, pneumatic wrenches, and the machines used to grind brakes. I usually wore earplugs at work, but even those couldn't drown out the constant stream of noise that is common of any service garage.

I finished my work on the Lexus and started it to make sure the new ignition switch I had installed was working. When the engine purred like a kitten I smiled, satisfied with the job I had done. Like I said before I don't love the job, but I tend to be a bit of a perfectionist. My attention to detail sometimes annoyed my fellow mechanics but I say it's not worth doing if it's not done right.

I made some final notes on the Lexus' repair order and carried the paperwork up to the service desk.

Jay, the service manager, glanced up at my approach. "Done, Em?" he asked, a distracted tone in his voice.

I nodded and dropped the repair order on the service desk.

"Do me a favor, will ya," Jay said.

I shrugged. "Sure."

"Go over the paperwork with the owner."

I frowned. "That's your job," I said slowly.

"I'm swamped up here. Help me out, huh? Can you take her through the paperwork?"

I sighed heavily. As much as I dislike my job, I hate the customers even more. Working in a luxury car dealership was worse than most. The customers we had were generally uptight business types and token trophy wives who felt that mechanics were a lower form of humanity and made sure we knew it.

Jay stopped poring over the papers spread out on the desk and looked up at me again. "Come on man, I really need the help today."

"Fine," I grumbled. I leaned against the desk while Jay typed my notes into the computer system and printed the customer's final paperwork. I grabbed it from his outstretched hand with a scowl and narrowed my eyes at him. "You owe me. Huge. You know how much I hate talking to people."

Jay smirked. "Oh I know. You hate pretty much everyone, excepting those who bring to the table the possibility of you getting laid."

"That's right," I said.

I pushed myself from the counter and made my way into the customer lounge. Don't get me wrong I don't generally hate people as a principle, I just tend to be reserved and quiet and a lot of people take that for snobbery. I can't even count the number of times someone told me they thought I was stuck up because I wouldn't talk to them, and when I did talk it was in short, stilted phrases. It doesn't help that I'm pretty shy as well. I mean, I just don't speak unless I really have something to say. It's always been my way.

There were several customers in the lounge when I walked in the door so I glanced down at the paperwork in my hand and cleared my throat. "Ummm…..Mrs. Reilly?" Did I mention that public speaking is also not my forte?

No one in the room looked up so I cleared my throat again and spoke a little louder. "Mrs. Reilly?"

A young woman looked up from her magazine. "That's me," she said with a wave of her hand. She stood up and gathered her things together before walking up to me. "Though it's Miss not Mrs."

"Ummm sorry," I mumbled.

Did I also mention that when talking to a hot girl I tend to freeze up and/or turn into a babbling idiot? No? Well I do. And this girl was hot. If I was really obnoxious I would go so far as to say she was hott. But I'm not obnoxious. She was blonde, which I normally wasn't into, but it wasn't that peroxided blonde with the dark roots that I really hated. It was a nice reddish blonde. Her eyes were a bright blue and seemed very kind, a trait not often seen in our customers. She wasn't super pale like say a leech, but she wasn't tan either. She had a very nice sort of peachy complexion which I found quite appealing. Her clothes were obviously expensive, but they were very classy and understated. They didn't scream DO ME like a lot of outfits I see girls wearing these days which was good. I like it when a little something is left to the imagination. Plus she smelled really good. Like lemons and clean linen. I had to try really hard not to inhale deeply. That sometimes creeps people out.

"Hello?"

I jerked out of my reverie and realized I had been staring at her. Awesome, way to be disturbing right off the bat. "Sorry," I said again.

She smiled. "It's fine." She leaned forward and whispered conspiratorially, "I was checking you out too."

My already hot skin burned even hotter with embarrassment. Now I had to wonder if she was hitting on me. Could she be? Doubtful, rich white chicks don't hit on guys like me. In fact-

"Embry?"

"Huh?" I said stupidly, and then wrinkled my brow. "How'd you know my name?"

She pointed towards my chest. "It's on your shirt."

I looked down at myself. Oh yes. There it is.

"I'm Jill by the way," she said pointedly.

"Oh, right yeah, hi, sorry." See? Babbling.

"So did you figure out what was wrong with my car?"

I nodded like an idiot. It felt like my head was attached to one of those toys that pop out of a wind up box.

Jill stared at me. After a moment she said, "You going to share the 411 with me or do I guess like on a game show?" She let out a small giggle. It was very cute.

"Right, sorry. Ummm, yeah you needed a new ignition switch. I replaced it."

She looked up, a slightly confused expression on her face.

I shifted uncomfortably under her gaze. "Soooo…." I trailed off.

Jill nodded. "Okay. Let's pretend something for a minute."

She looked like she was waiting for me to respond so I said quietly, "Okay."

"Let's pretend that you're the mechanic and I'm not. What's an ignition switch?"

I suppose if she wasn't hot I would have been offended by that, but she was hot so I decided to forgive her.

"It's just what it sounds like. When you put your key into the lock cylinder and turn it, the ignition switch connects the starter to the battery. Basically if your ignition switch fails, your car won't start. Ergo, I replaced your ignition switch. Your car will now start. The cashier is over there." I handed her the paperwork and pointed out the cashier's window. Best to end the painfully embarrassing babbling as soon as humanly possible.

Jill laughed and shook her head. "You're very blunt aren't you?"

I blinked a couple of times. "I guess so," I muttered.

Danger, danger, danger! I almost looked around for the red flashing lights. I needed to end this conversation and fast before I succeeded in completely humiliating myself. Well more than I already had.

"I like it. It's very refreshing."

Whoa, hold the phone. After my embarrassing display wherein I ogled her without speaking, then practically threw her paperwork in her face, she's saying that she likes me? Could it be true? I should probably be having any number of reservations at this point-

"Embry!"

Wow I have got to stop doing that. Sometimes I can't help myself though. I get into these internal monologues and…..see what I mean?

"Yes, sorry," I said again.

"Do you want to have dinner with me tonight?"

"I'm sorry, what now?"

"You know, dinner?" Jill mimicked eating than pointed at herself. "With me?"

"Dinner?" I sounded like I had never heard the word before. Oh my God please let it stop! My brain could not seem to connect to my mouth. "Ummm, yes, okay yeah, sure, yeah." Gah!

Jill smiled. "Great. Here's my number." She ripped off a corner of her magazine than reached over and grabbed my pen from my hand.

All the little hairs on my arm stood up when her fingers brushed against my skin. I probably should have been more worried that she was a bit domineering and more than a little outgoing, but all I could really think of was the fact that I stood nearly a foot taller than her which made it very easy to see down her blouse. Her bra was white with little pink and red cherries. I liked it.

"So I'm going to go pay my bill. Give me a call when you get off and we can work out the details." Jill capped the pen and stuck it in my shirt pocket along with her number.

"That's my last name." Oh my God again with the stupid replies. Maybe she just asked me out because she thought I was "special".

"Your last name is Details?" Jill inquired.

I shook my head. "No it's Call. You said give me a call, my name is Call, so you're already sort of getting a Call before I call….." I trailed off.

Can you believe she did not double over in unbridled spasms of hilarity at that? I was floundering badly and I knew it was time to get out before she ripped her number right back out of my pocket.

"Okay," I said as I backed towards the service garage door. "Well….bye."

I turned and bolted through the service door as quickly as possible. At my clamoring entrance, Jay looked up from his desk.

"What the hell were you doing up there, Call? Translating the paperwork into the Native tongue or whatever? Cripes you were gone almost fifteen minutes!"

I swaggered over to the service desk and pulled Jill's number from my pocket. Now that I was back in a comfortable setting I could afford to be a little smug. Waving it in front of Jay's face I said, "I'd be insulted by your reference to my race if I didn't have a hottie's number in my hand. And oh yeah she totally asked me out."

I gave a cocky smirk and placed the number back in my pocket.

"Bullshit," Jay said. "A hot chick asked you out?"

"Yep. Guess it's a good thing you had me take her paperwork in for you, huh?" With a little skip I made my way back to my service bay, Jay's curses following in my wake.