There comes a time when everything starts to fall apart...

But just wait because things fall apart for even better things to fall into place...

Are You Okay?

Embry

We sat on the fallen log and I took her hand

She looked deep in thought.

"are you okay?" I asked.

"no." she said simply. I looked her over and nothing seemed to be wrong.

"are you going to tell me what's bothering you or am I going to have to guess?"

"do you love me?" she stared at the ocean as my mouth fell open in horror. She thought that I didn't love her?

"what?!" I half shouted. She didn't seem to react but continued looking at the water.

"answer the question Embry. I know you heard me, don't make me ask again." she said quietly.

"babe… of course I love you. I love you more than anything…you are amazing. What have I done to make you believe that I don't love you?" I squeezed her hand tightly.

"would-" she was cut off by Quil stumbling out of the woods yelling, "there you are, everyone's waiting for you. come on… chop, chop i'm hungry." He picked Izzy up and put her over his shoulder. She started hitting his back and yelling at him to put her down. He complied and she stomped away angrily. Kim came and dragged her into a corner as soon as we arrived at my house. I frowned at her but went to get food anyway. I piled up my plate and all the guys were doing the same. They mumbled their hellos and continued snatching at the food.

"are you okay Em?" Sam asked as he looked me over.

"something is bothering Izzy and she's not telling me what. Well she was about to when Quil here interrupted us." I smacked him round the back of the head… hard, and the sound echoed around the room. Everyone turned to look at Izzy, but turned back quickly when she caught us all staring.

"she does look a little upset." Jared said quietly. Kim walked over and Jared perked up.

"can we talk Embry?" she asked ignoring everyone else completely. Jared slouched down in his seat and looked like he was going to murder me. I would have laughed if I wasn't so worried about my angel. I nodded and she dragged me outside and started walking towards the woods. I stopped between her and the trees cause you never know when a hungry little vamp will jump out.

"so… do you know what's up with Izzy?"

"yupp." She said.

"elaborate please?" it might help a little.

"she's finally asked the whole 'what if he hadn't imprinted on me' question. And she's very worried that if you hadn't you wouldn't love her."

"shit. I was hoping this would never come up. wait… why did it take her this long?"

"Sara told her about you're… uh… romantic history…" she looked down and I finally understood. She thought that if I hadn't imprinted on her I would be with Sara. And in all honesty I reckon that if I hadn't met her, I would be with Sara.

"Aww shit. did you try explaining things to her?"

"I did I thought she listened and that she was going to drop it, but apparently she's more stubborn than I thought."

"yeah, she can be like that sometimes."

"I also think that she wants to hear it from you." I lead Kim back inside and sat down next to Izzy on the couch where she was chatting to Emily.

"sorry to interrupt ladies but could I talk to you for a moment please Izzy." Emily smiled and went to see Sam.

"what did you do that for?" Izzy snapped at me.

"we need to talk." Whoops, wrong choice of words, her face paled and she gulped loudly. She nodded slowly, I grabbed her hands, pulled her down the hall and into my bedroom. I closed the door behind me as she sat on the bed. I sat next to her and once again took her hands in mine.

"I need you to ask me what you were going to at the beach before Quil came." She looked into my eyes, opened and closed her mouth a few times before whispering, "would you still love me if you hadn't imprinted?"

"yes Izzy, of course I would. Imprinting doesn't make you fall in love with someone, it merely points out your soul mate and makes them known to you. the whole first night we met and spent talking at Baillie's party- I didn't even know I had imprinted. It wasn't until Sam, Jake, Quil and Seth told me that I knew."

"but-" she started but I cut her off.

"please listen to me Izzy. For us it wasn't love at first sight, unlike the other imprints, excluding Quil and Claire and Jake and Nessie, it was more of a need to get to know you. of course I fantasized about kissing you and things like that but it wasn't the same love that I feel now. I think deep down you didn't want a boyfriend at the time but couldn't admit it to yourself, that's why it wasn't immediately love-" she silenced me with her lips on mine. I kissed her back and pulled away frowning.

"I had to shut you up sometime." She smirked. I started laughing and pulled her into my chest.

"you have to believe me when I say that, I love you so goddamn much, and nothing will ever be able to keep me away from you unless you tell me to." I felt my shirt getting damp and I knew she was crying quietly. I hugged her tighter and kissed the top of her head.

"I love you too Embry." She whispered barely audible even to me and my superhuman hearing.

"that's good cause I would seem like a stalker otherwise." I said trying to lighten the mood and it worked. She cracked up laughing and gently pushed herself away from my chest so she could kiss me. We continued kissing and as I was nibbling on her neck she let out a moan. I laughed when there was a knock on the door and Andrew's disgusted voice spoke through the door, "ugh… guys. everyone wanted me to remind you that there are about ten other people in this house that can hear everything your doing and believe me, it aint pleasant. So can you uh… knock it off. Also Seth said don't do anything or he will throw up and you have to clean it… again." I laughed and rolled off Izzy and the bed, pulling the straps on her top up and laughing a little louder when she stood up looking like a tomato.

"come on babe, nothing to be embarrassed about." I took her hand and dragged her into the other room where everyone was talking quietly.

"well, me and Anna are off. Are you coming Izzy?" Sara said standing up and grabbing her keys.

"yupp. I'll just get my bag." She grabbed her bag and was halfway out the door before she stopped and turned to look at me. She cocked an eyebrow. "are you coming or what?" she asked. I broke into a smile and ran to grab a change of clothes and my toothbrush. She laughed and slid into the backseat of Sara's car. There was no way I was going to fit in there.

"I might take my motorbike; I don't think I'll fit in there." I told them they laughed and just drove off. I ran over to my bike and kicked it into life. I was riding beside them in no time.

"you're an idiot Embry." Izzy said rolling her eyes.

"what did I do?" I asked faking hurt.

"you left the toilet seat up, don't ever do that again or I may have to kick you're ass." She scolded.

"sorry babe." I mumbled. She just rolled her eyes and climbed into the bed next to me.

"I forgive you… this time." She added as she slid across and cuddled into my side.

"um… babe, why are you wearing my shirt?"

"because I felt like it… and it smelt like you."

"Aww, its okay babe, you don't need my shirt. You can smell me anytime you like."

"you make me sound like a creep." She complained sitting up.

"I know its fun." I added in a sly voice. She glared at me and I kissed the tip of her nose. She lay back down on my chest and kissed me again. "so are we all good?"

"about?..." she asked.

"the whole… Sara being my ex thing?"

"yeah. I suppose I mean its not like you are still secretly with her or anything. You're with me and that's all that matters."

"yeah it is all that matters babe. I hate that I kept it a secret from you but I thought it might freak you out and I didn't think it was necessary."

"I know okay, don't worry about it Em."

"I promise I wont keep any thing from you, I swear. I love you." she stayed silent for a minute before muttering "I love you too Em." Why he silent for so long? Was she lying or was she hiding something from me? I shook it off as her breathing slowed and evened out. I fell asleep with my gorgeous imprint in my arms.

I woke feeling empty. Izzy was already awake… damn. I love waking up to her sleeping peacefully next to me. I caught the smell of bacon, eggs, toast, pancakes, hash browns and sausages. God I loved that woman! I threw my pants on and half ran down the stairs. "in a rush are we Embry?" Sara said as I flew into the room.

"I'm just hungry. Why do you ask?"

"nothing just seems you're a little impatient." She smiled knowingly and went back to eating her food.

"here you go baby." Izzy said putting a massive plate of food infront of me. She pecked me on the cheek but I pulled her back for a proper kiss. When I pulled away she stumbled backwards, her face all flushed and it looked like her eyes couldn't focus. Man I loved that I could do that… although I must admit that kiss was pretty damn amazing. It did leave my head spinning after all.

"whoa! Are you going to die or something Embry?" Anna said as she walked into the room rubbing her eyes.

"um… no. why do you ask?" man that girl confused me.

"you're eating like its your last meal or something." Oh…

"uh… no I eat like this all the time. Most of the guys do."

"oh yeah… that's right." She blushed and looked at the plate of food Izzy had given her. she blushed at the mention of the other guys. I then remembered something Brady had let slip while on patrol one night.

If you think Izzy is beautiful when she sleeps wait till you see…he stopped but I already saw Anna flash through my mind.

Dude… do you like… watch her sleep through the window?

Oh god no! i'm not a freak like you.

Shut up. so how did you see her sleeping?

i…i…well…I had another memory of his flash through my mind. And it was definitely not something I ever wanted to see again.

Aww, dude! What did you have to show me that for?

Sorry! Sorry, I didn't mean to… it just slipped out.

Great. Thanks for that. I'm never going to be able to look at her again…

Anna stood up and grabbed an extra plate and took it away with her. I wasn't surprised I could smell Brady. But the girls obviously didn't know he was here. Izzy came to sit on my lap.

"what was that about?" she asked Sara looking at her with wide eyes.

"I wouldn't have a clue. Maybe she had one of her mates over?" Sara suggested.

"I think they're a little more than friends…" I muttered quietly… or not so quietly. Izzy and Anna started at me with their mouths open.

"oh my god Em! What do you know?" Izzy asked me whisper yelling.

"not much…" I started.

"…except…" Sara pressed.

"that her and one of the guys have been like secretly seeing each other. Izzy's eyes widened and I knew what she was thinking.

"no… no. he is single, well apparently not because he is seeing Anna, but no one is cheating on anyone." Izzy looked relieved.

"so who is it?" Sara asked leaning forward eagerly.

"Brady." I grimaced as I said it getting that… that image in my head again.

"oh my god did he imprint on her?" Sara asked. Damn I forgot she knew everything. Anna didn't though so I still had to be careful about what I said around her.

"no he didn't. that's why they haven't said anything. He's afraid of what everyone will say." I was the only one who knew as he as pretty good at keeping his thoughts locked away, except on that one occasion.

"poor Brady."

"yeah. He's finding it pretty hard to keep it a secret."

"oh my god what will happen if he imprints and breaks her heart?" Izzy asked.

"I don't know. Neither does he but it scares the shit out of him. he doesn't want to hurt her." I heard a muffled giggle from the direction of Anna's room. I shuddered and Izzy cocked her head to one side.

"oh, god. I can hear them." I groaned as I buried my head in the small of Izzy's back as she as still sitting on my lap. She laughed.

"Aww, my poor baby. how about we go show them how loud we can go?" she suggested in a seductive voice. I nodded against her back and held her to my chest as I ran up the small staircase to her room. I set her down and launched myself onto the bed. She followed suit but landed on me, not the mattress. She kissed my jaw and made her way down pressing kisses into my bare chest. She made it down to my stomach before I pulled her back up and captured her mouth with mine. She responded eagerly and I felt her hands on my zipper. I flipped her over so that I was on top, I pressed most of my weight on her as we kissed. One of her hands was on the back of my neck the other was tangled in my shaggy hair. I pulled her top up and laid a trail of wet kisses down her stomach undoing her pants as I went. I was going down on her when I heard a howl.

"Aww shit!" she moaned. I growled and she sat up, "you have to go don't you?"

"I probably should… but I'll be thinking of this and the guys wont appreciate it very much."

"fair enough." She gasped and arched her back as I continued. The door flew open and Jared was standing there looking pissed. Izzy screamed and pulled the blanket over her naked body, and my head. I peeked out from underneath it.

"what the fuck are you doing Jared? Piss off."

"we need you now. There's six vamps. So far we've got two and we need everyone's help. Plus Collin's hurt… badly. So get your ass out of bed NOW!" he screamed. I jumped up pulling my pants on and running out to the woods. I phased and all heard was screaming. I ran as fast as I could to where they were fighting. Jared was right behind me. I pushed with all my might until the sweet stink of vampire burned my nostrils. I saw a male lunch for a sandy wolf; Seth. I took off running again and sunk my teeth into its raised arm. I shook my head viciously and the arm came off with an ear splitting screech. The vamp turned to me and smiled showing gleaming white teeth. It narrowed its shining red eyes and ran at me. I dived out of the way just in time. Seth and Jared dived in from either side each grabbing a body part and pulling. Looked like a fun game of tugga war so I joined in closing my jaws around its head. We all pulled in opposite directions and the vampire was ripped apart. I sighed when I saw that all the other vampire's were dead too.

Glad you could join us Embry Sam said to me. Oh crap… he. Was. Pissed. Damn straight I am Embry! Where the hell were you, and why didn't you phase when I called?

I thought of Izzy and the position I had been in before Jared burst in. there was groans from all around and I lay down putting my paw over my eyes. I was ashamed of myself, I had let my brothers down. Yes you have Embry. I expected better of you now phase back and you can help me take Collin back to my place. I phased back quickly and pulled my shorts on before walking over to where Sam was kneeling. Collin looked horrible. He was curled on his side and he had dried blood all over him. his leg was twisted at an odd angle, from what I could tell healed incorrectly in three places. Brady came running out of the trees in wolf form carrying a stretcher. We lay it down beside Collin and counted to three before moving him onto it. Collin screamed in protest, and everyone flinched.

"fuck." He called out as tears rolled down his cheeks. We carried him to Emily's and just as we were taking him up the steps a canary yellow Porsche 911 turbo pulled up. Dr. Cullen stepped out and rushed forward. The pixie was right behind him.