Chapter 19: Cupid's Arrow.

Embry's POV

Laurence got off work and she brought me to her favourite ice cream booth. This wasn't technically a date, so Laurence paid for her own ice cream without even glancing in my direction. She ordered her soft, swirled ice cream in a cone as for I asked for a bowl. Ice cream tended to meld in my hands. The last thing I wanted was for the cone to start dripping and to mess up my clothes so I would look like a messy idiot.

This is not a date. I had to remind myself constantly. Laurence is my imprint and also my friend. Nothing more. I repeated it again and again throughout the day. I didn't want this imprint to ruin my loved ones lives like it had for Sam. Sam loved Leah so much but the second Emily came around he dumped Leah faster them you could say "bamboozle". That wasn't his fault, I knew that, but we couldn't deny that he had made promises to Leah. He promised to love her, forever. He had promised to be with her, forever. He had promised to never hurt her, ever.

He did all those things and then some. We couldn't deny that he loved Emily, he was happiest with her, but had he even tried to stay with Leah. After all the promises he made to her, he owed her that much. Didn't he?

I couldn't imagine Amber turning into a sour, bitter, shrew like Leah had been. She wasn't as bad anymore since she'd left Sam's pack but in the beginning she was just so awful. First she was sad—after Sam had left her she locked herself in her house and hardly spoke to anyone and when she did it wasn't anything nice. Once she started talking, it was just useless comments and insults that everyone could have lived their lives without hearing. I didn't want my beautiful, bubbly Amber to be like that.

Laurence and I ended up walking down streets for hours. We hadn't even notice how much time had passed till the sun had set and it was dark.

I learned allot about Laurence. She was born in L.A, she studied cosmetology, she enjoyed intense rock music and screamo. Amber had just gotten into screamo as well. Laurence liked listening to small bands that were going to become big someday—bands that nobody knew. My chemical Romance was also a band she adored. She admitted to a small guilty pleasure of the Jonas Brothers. Amber was obsessed with the Jonas Brothers. In the back of my head I was glad I didn't have to deal with those three fags with their sheep hair and tight jeans. Of course I never said that to Amber or she'd have me castrated.

There was a buzzing sound and Laurence sighed. She reached in her black purse and pulled out her cell phone. "Shoot!" she gasped, "Oh, no! I forgot, I have this stupid dinner to go to. My dad's in the military, he's kind of a big deal…" she started to say apologetically. Her expression brightened out of nowhere and she looked flawless. Her eyes actually sparkled when she got an idea, "I have an idea! You should come with me. As my date."

I grimaced. That didn't sound very faithful. Her dinner sounded a little high class and my jeans and t-shirt wasn't really appropriate. Meeting Laurence's family didn't seem right either. Every fibre in my body wanted to give Laurence everything she wanted but I had drew myself a line and Laurence was dancing on it.

She misread my expression, "My dad doesn't go around shooting my dates if you're worried about losing a limb." She grinned.

I laughed nervously, "No, that's not it…I can't, sorry."

"Oh," she looked down a bit embarrassed and swallowed, "But I'll see you tomorrow, right? I don't have work…"

"I…" I wanted to break it off here. I'd had seen Laurence and she was amazing. I had imprinted with her and it felt great. I came, I saw and I felt what I wanted to feel. It was time for me to go and live my life with Amber. Maybe three or four years from now when Amber and I would probably not be together anymore I could come back to Laurence, tell her about our imprint, and be with her. The majority of me didn't want to be with Laurence later, I wanted to be with her now. But I was being selfish, I wasn't in this alone. "I don't really live around here so…"

"So this is it, then?" Her sad voice had a hint of disbelief.

"I guess," I shrugged and put my hands in my pockets feeling the velvet box with Amber's bracelet that I didn't care whether I gave it to her or not. I didn't even care if she took me back or not. That was just because Laurence was right here and Amber was far away. Once she was within my reach, I would want her again. Did that mean that at that moment I didn't want her?

I stood in front of a shocked Laurence for a few seconds in an awkward silence. Laurence wasn't looking at me, she was just staring into blank space in my direction.

It was best if I didn't touch her. For me, not for her. I knew that feeling her heart beat if I hugged her wouldn't make this easier for me. Feeling her coolness that would feel like warmth and her scent surrounding me would not be good at all. I was hurting, knowing that I'd never see her again but I kept telling myself it could have been worse. Way worse, this was the beginning.

"Goodbye, then," I said and turned around and started walking away. My stomach was twisting painfully, my heart was pounding, my eyes were stinging and I couldn't breathe. I was a complete wreck. I took several steps, each one taking me further away from Laurence. I wondered if my heart would even work right without hers beating near it. I doubted it would. Maybe Amber would dump me for being such an annoying, depressed emo. Now I was hoping Amber was dumping me? I was proving myself right. Imprints made everything so complicated. Who the hell did imprints think they were? They thought they could just sneak up on poor, un-expecting werewolves and ruin our lives with these strong beautiful feelings? A love so pure it made a baby look dirty? No. That wasn't fair. That wasn't right. If Imprint was a person I would punch them in the face. Why would someone screw somebody else over like that? Talk about a prick.

"No," Laurence whispered, "Embry, wait up!" her voice sounded like it was coming from far so I pretended not to hear her.

She ran up to be and touched my shoulder. She ran around me and stopped in front of me. She was grinning to make the situation look less serious but we both knew there was nothing funny about this situation, "Come on, dude. You can't just leave like that. I'm practically in love you."

My heart squeezed and I looked up from the ground. My eyes were probably pink and glistening from the tears I was fighting.

Laurence smiled sweetly so her grabbing the back of my head and yanking my face down so that our lips could touch caught me by surprise with her aggressiveness. My heart accelerated, it was automatic. I knew I shouldn't be doing this but it was a part of me to love Laurence. Whether I wanted to or not, my body couldn't reject me. My lips burnt with the intensity of our kiss. My body had a mind of its own, one hand pulling her closer to me and the other cupping her face.

Laurence's heart was as erratic as mine. He lips were amazing. Kissing her was just amazing. I couldn't imagine kissing anyone else ever again.

The kiss seemed to last an eternity but it still wasn't long enough.

"Meet me. Tomorrow at noon. Right here. Don't be late." She murmured against my lips.

"Yes." I was dizzy and breathless. I couldn't think straight but I was definitely going to be here tomorrow.

"Great!" she chirped and backed away from me. She must have tripped on something because she fell back and I caught her outstretched hands while her ass was inches from the hard ground. She bursted into laughter, "Woops! You must be an electric socket because I'm seeing sparks." She giggled as I helped her up.

I laughed, "Wow, that's really…terrible."

She laughed and nodded, "Yeah. Normal people blush when their embarrassed. I blush and make stupid jokes." She did a cheesy thumbs up.

"You're adorable." How much times had I said that sentence to what's-her-name. It was one of the things that had driven me to her—her adorable perkiness.

Laurence and I were standing so close together. It felt so right.

"Cute enough that you'll be here tomorrow?"

"Cute enough that I'll be here early."

Laurence smiled before giving a small kiss on the lips and skipping off with a subtle goodbye. I wasn't supposed to follow her so I didn't. She was a few yards away when she turned around and shouted—actually shouted though we were far from being alone:

"I usually don't kiss on the first day but you're special Embry Call. Remember that." And with that, she was gone.

"Wow." I breathed and was smiling as I practically scatted to the woods. I hadn't slept for days but I wasn't tired at all. I tried to remember the last time I slept in the woods. It seemed so long ago.

I went deep into the woods and climbed a tree. I had business to do before I slept. I pulled my cell phone out of my pocket—miraculously still in good shape—and checked my messages. My phone was off which was odd because I didn't remember turning it off. I had six voice mail messages and four text messages.

I listened to the voice messages first. The first couple was from my mother:

"Hey Embry, it's you mother, yeah." she sounded pissed, "I'm not pissed but it is past midnight. I know legally you're an adult but that doesn't change the fact that you have to call when you're pulling an all-nighter. So call me tomorrow before I head for work."

I sighed. The next phone call was from the morning after, "Did I not make myself clear?" shebarked, "I said call me. I'm heading off to work but I swear to god Embry if you don't call me…" She didn't finish her threat and I chuckled. My mother was really something.

The third one was from Amber. A few hours after my mom went to work, "Hey Embry, it's…me, Amber. Um, your mom called me."

I frowned, that was a little extreme.

Amber laughed nervously, "Yeah, I know, weird. She said you went missing but that Jacob says you're not dead or anything. Did you run away or something? Look, you don't have to call me but we have to talk…so, yeah."

The other two messages were from yesterday and the day before that. I was baffled by the fact I'd been gone for more than 3 days. No wonder mom was pissed. I was kind of hurt by the fact Amber hadn't called more often. The last message was from her.

"Okay, Embry, now I'm kind of scared. Your mom's not calling the cops, but I might. I spoke to Jacob and he said you were okay and Quil said the same thing. Even Seth is saying that you're not dead…Am I missing out on something? Call me…Love you." She was a little angrier in that message. Not as much as my mother was, but angry.

Thinking about Amber hurt too much. I forced myself to think of more important things, like the fact my mom was going to go into cardiac arrest if I didn't tell her that I was fine. I called mom who started yelling before I even announced it was me. Then she bursted into tears and telling me that she loved me, then she yelled again until she finally listened. She was so hormonal. I bet it was menopause or something. Gross.

I convinced her that I was fine and I would be home in a few days after thinking something over. I didn't call Amber. What I had to tell her had to wait. I was positive I wanted to do it but I was scared. I pushed it out of my mind and phased to make sleeping on the hard ground easier.

I was thinking about Laurence. I couldn't help it. I thought about her eyes and her smile and the way she laughed. She was so sweet and funny and the most amazing person in the world.

I was so distracted by the thought of Laurence's maroon eyes that I didn't notice that I wasn't alone in my head.

You imprinted?! Exclaimed Jacob, a little horrified.

I didn't reply. I was taken by off guard. His reaction was as if someone snuck up behind me and shouted "Boo!" while I was having a calm conversation, leaving my heart beating unevenly.

Crap, dude! I'm happy for you and all but…but Amber. He hesitated in saying her name. He understood that it hurt me.

I whimpered and lay my head on my front paws. I know.

I knew what I had to do and my heart was throbbing at the thought of it. I didn't want to hurt Amber more than I already had. She'd been so good to me all these months that we were together. She was funny and nice and slightly annoying but that was okay. We connected in ways that I couldn't explain because she'd been through nearly everything I had gone through. Her dad was a scum bag who left, she had a strong mother who loved her more than anyone else in the world. Both our mother's had us young, we knew how it was to have an understanding parent. We both could have been horrible kid. A boy needed his father and a girl raised without a dad could turn out terribly but we were both okay kids.

It was hard to believe that I could possibly have that same connection with Laurence. I felt stupid but I had to understand that Laurence was the one I couldn't survive without.

I liked Amber. Jacob said, sympathizing for me. Amber was friends with Jacob and Quil too. She got along with all my friends. She was one of the guys. Would it be the same with Laurence? I didn't want Laurence to replace Amber though! That wasn't what was supposed to happen.

But you can't have them both. Jacob reminded, It's wrong to treat the girl you love like that.

I know, that thought hadn't even crossed my mind. I would never defile our relationship like that. The sex defiled it enough, the last thing I had to do was be a cheater. I had already started…that kiss with Laurence…

So…Amber or Laurence? Jacob asked.

I just met Laurence! I spat. I wasn't mad at him. I was angry at myself and the world so I was taking it out on him, Laurence doesn't know me. She doesn't know me like Amber knows me. She wasn't there for me when I was down, Amber was. How could Laurence be more important than Amber? That would be stupid.

Cupid didn't go to college. He just shoots people with arrows.

That's stupid Jake. So was I shot my two arrows? I demanded.

One's your heart, Em, and the others the arrow.

You're not making any sense! I hissed.

Love doesn't make sense.

I glared at him mentally. He was being a prick and he was doing it on purpose. Why the hell was he talking about freaking arrows and hearts and shit like that? This was love and an imprint. I loved Amber and I imprinted with Laurence. Why Laurence? Why couldn't I imprint with Amber or at least nobody at all?

I couldn't do this anymore. I ignored Jake and tried to dream about nothing. Of course that didn't happen. I had two dream sequences. One with Amber and the other with Laurence. They were both amazing but one didn't last as long as I'd hoped.