California Girl

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Cross Promotion Time: I have another story all about Scarlett and Seth, so if you like Seth/OC stories, check it out :)

Disclaimer: I do not own anything you recognize, but I own the characters of The Bird Family, The Hunter Family and friends. Thanks!

Chapter Song INXS

12. Never Tear Us Apart

I was standing,
You were there,
Two worlds collided,
And they could never tear us apart...

Carmen POV

Embry and I were in his truck, driving away from the Cullen mansion.

"Wanna do something?" He asked, glancing at me. I shrugged and tucked my knees in, putting my feet on the seat.

"Depends, I guess."

"Well, we never finished movie night on Saturday-"

"Yeah, was everything okay with your mom?" I asked, looking at the side of his face. He furrowed his eyebrows, looking confused, then turned to me with a grin.

"Yeah, yeah, everything's fine..." He looked back at the road, and I found myself staring at him. He was hot, I could appreciate that. His bone structure was perfect and I got the urge to kiss his jawline.

NO!

I needed a cold shower later.

"Well, Grammy'll be at home right now, so she'll be watching TV."

"My mom's probably still at work... we could go to my house...?" He glanced at me, then went back to looking at the road.

"Um, sure, I mean, it's time I stole your food, right?" I laughed, nervously. I'd never been to Embry's house before, and for some reason, I was excited that he'd even asked me.

We got to his house a little while after, neither of us speaking for the rest of the journey. He stopped outside of his house, and I groaned at the thought of running through the rain.

"It's supposed to be summer." I grumbled. He laughed and got out, walking round to open the door for me. I grinned as he helped me out, then held back a scream as I felt the rain on my head. He pulled my hand to the door, then opened it quickly and pushed me in.

"This is summer in Forks." He chuckled, leading me into the living room of the tiny house. He looked at me, his eyes filled with worry. "You must be freezing."

"I'm fine..." I mumbled, peeling off my jacket. He immediately took it and hung it on a door. He looked at me, his mouth opening and closing, like he was trying to work up the nerve to say something.

"Uh... um... hmm... do... uh-"

"What?" I snapped, pushing my wet hair out of my face. He coughed, awkwardly, then turned his head.

"Do you, um, want something dry to, um, wear?" He asked, then cleared his throat, not meeting my eyes. I rolled my eyes and walked over to him.

"Yeah... one of your shirts will do." I smirked, feeling badass, like always. He blushed ever so slightly, then took my hand, leading me up a small flight of stairs to a small, clean room. He walked over to a dresser and pulled out two shirts. He blushed again, and walked over.

"H-Here..." He wouldn't meet my eyes, and I found myself loving how cute he was, all shy and nervous. "A-Are you, um, sure, th-that's enough?"

"Yes." I said, he smiled lightly, finally looking into my eyes. "Is this your room?"

"Yeah..." He mumbled, looking around. I walked to the dresser, looking at the photos that sat on top of it.

There was a photo of his mother, looking younger, and a little boy who definitely had his eyes. Also, there was a picture of him, Quil and Jacob, but they were all scrawnier and shorter, their hair longer too.

"How long ago was this?" I asked, picking up the photo.

"Um... a few years, I don't remember exactly when it was taken."

I moved to the other side of the dresser where there was a picture of all of Embry's friends. I found him immediately, standing at the edge next to Quil. I set the photo back down, then turned around.

"Bathroom?" I asked, walking to him and taking the shirt out of his hands.

God.

I was a mess.

My hair was stuck my face and my mascara was gathering under my eyes. I scrubbed my face with water until I was make-up free, then pulled my hair back into a ponytail, thankful for the hair-tie that lived on my wrist. I changed, pulling the ridiculously long t-shirt over my head. It reached my mid-thighs, the sleeves almost at my elbows.

I left the bathroom, going straight downstairs to where Embry was sitting on the couch, a bowl of popcorn in his lap.

I was a little sad that he'd changed out of his wet t-shirt, but decided to keep that thought to myself.

I walked over and threw myself down next to him, tucking my legs up. I took some popcorn, then picked up the stack of DVDs that sat on next to him.

"Titanic." I said immediately, not even looking at the other options.

"I-I thought you'd say that..." He murmured, then the TV started playing the movie. I grinned and sat back.

"You know me so well." I laughed, turning to look at him. He sat, his eyes wide as he looked at me. "What?"

"Y-You... you look..."

"Oh, god, I know. Fricken rain." I rolled my eyes, suddenly feeling self-conscious about what I looked like. He swallowed, then shook his head.

"No... you look... amazing."

I scoffed, and pushed his chest slightly. He shook his head again.

"I'm serious."

I blushed and scoffed again.

"Shut up." I murmured, sitting back, leaning onto his arm as it lay across the back of the couch. The movie started, and I kept my eyes forward, not looking back at Embry, who I knew was watching me.

I love Mr Wolf. I love Mr Wolf. I love Mr Wolf...

I was in hysterics by the end of it. I had moved to sit in Embry's lap, not that he seemed to mind. I had my face pressed to his chest, crying into his shirt. His arms wrapped around me, and I swear he was crying too.

"C-Carmen?" He whispered. "You okay?" I could only nod. His arms tightened around me, and his fingers ran back and forth along my thigh.

"I cannot believe you let me watch that!"

"What? I...I..."

"I get too emotional. I'm a wreck. I hate crying in front of people." I wiped my hands over my face, hoping that I didn't look like a blubbering idiot. He chuckled and ran his warm hand across one side of my face, pulling my head away from him to look into his eyes.

"Don't worry about crying in front of me." He whispered, then wiped his own face. "I'm no one to judge."

I brought my hand up to his face and cradled his cheek, wiping his eyes with my thumb. I couldn't stop myself and I moved my face to meet his, kissing his cheek.

"You look manly as hell when you cry." I kissed his other cheek, then cupped both of his cheeks with my hands, before giving in and brushing my lips over his.

"Carmen, I'm Mr-"

"Sweetie? Are you home? Embry?" I froze when Embry's mom walked into the room and gasped.

"M-Mom! Y-You're home early..." He stammered, not moving his hands from around me.

"Why are you on his lap? Why aren't you wearing pants? Is that his shirt?!" She looked shocked and pissed and I felt like faking a heart attack or something, just to get out of there.

"Uh, uh, movie, rain, yes?!" I yelled, suddenly shy, I pulled the t-shirt down, trying to cover my legs, where his hand rested so casually.

"Embry!" She scolded, putting her hands on her hips.

"We weren't doing anything wrong-" He said, calmly, and part of me wondered if he'd done this before.

My heart sank at the thought of Embry kissing another girl.

"I-I should go... Sorry Tiffany- Ms Call..." I stood up, and pulled the shirt down slightly, wondering if the rain had let up any, especially if I was walking home dressed in this.

"No, you don't have to!" Embry stood up and put his hands on my waist.

"Yes, she does. You and I need to have a talk, Embry."

I knew exactly what she was gonna say.

'She's bad news, Embry, she sexed up your friend and she's already been pregnant, just imagine what people'll think!'

I'd heard that a lot over the past couple of years. At least Ms Call had the decency to ask me to leave first, plus she'd caught us in a somewhat compromising position, at least it wasn't just because she'd heard all the 'bad things' I'd done.

Though I'm sure that had something to do with it.

By this time tomorrow, Embry would've been asked to stay away from the whore of Forks High School, and sooner or later, he'd find a nice, pretty virgin who'd make a good wife.

My heart sank even further.

"Mom!"

"I'll, uh..."

I was gonna say 'see you later', but I wouldn't, would I?

"Um... bye..." I mumbled, walking as fast as I could, pulling on my tennis shoes, and leaving.

Embry POV

I'd never felt so angry at my mother. Never. Even as she yelled at me when I was protecting the town from vampires. I felt as if I could never be more angry.

I was wrong.

"You shouldn't be hanging around with girls like that!" She said, walking over to me.

"Girls like that?!" I couldn't help the growl that erupted from my chest.

"You know exactly what I mean, Embry! I've put up with your late nights, your friends, your drugs-!"

"I'm not on drugs!"

"I will not put up with you getting someone pregnant!"

"We're not even having sex!"

"Girls like that aren't 'just friends' with boys, Embry-!"

"She's not like that! She's perfect-!"

"Did you hear what she said at the Black dinner? She had sex with your friend-"

"He's not my friend!" I couldn't help but growl again. "A-And we didn't even know each other..." I took a deep breath and my hands stopped shaking.

Her glare faded into a soft expression, and she walked over to me slowly. "Embry... I don't want you to end up like..."

"Like you?" I whispered. She nodded slowly, looking at the ground. "I won't, Mom."

"I know, sweetie... but you're so smart and... and you're supposed to go off and be a doctor or something... not... not working for nothing in this town!"

"Mom, Carmen's..." I swallowed and clenched my teeth. "She's just a friend."

I hated sneaking out. I always had, and I was sure I always would.

But tonight, I was happy to sneak out.

I was happy because it was a normal teenage this to do- sneaking out to see a girl you really like.

I was also happy because I missed Carmen and I hated leaving her like that.

Especially when I'd once again worked up the nerve to tell her I was her wolf, and once again, I'd been interrupted.

I had fought a little more with Mom, defending my friendship with Carmen, then, after dinner with awkward small talk, I'd gone up to my room to 'sleep'. I dreaded my mother's reaction to my empty bed, but I had to see Carmen.

I phased and pulled on my cut off shorts and t-shirt, before running to her window in the rain. The drapes were already closed, since it was pretty late, but I could hear her talking on the phone to someone.

"I don't know, J... I really like him... But this other guy... Wolfgang... he's... Perfect... But I mean, sure, he reminds me of Wolfgang and all, but I just... I wish there were, like, I don't know... The same person..."

"I'm sorry, but is this guy seriously called Wolfgang? There was that one guy who's name that was... Shakespeare?" I heard the voice that I recognized as Juliette, her San Diego best friend who was currently in London.

"No, Jules, that's not even a little bit right."

"Go for Emillio, the name's less weird."

"Embry."

She sounded defensive of my name.

She was talking about me.

She was comparing me and 'Wolfgang'.

"Whatever, the name is still less weird."

"I love the name Embry."

"You would!"

What's wrong with my name?!

Especially if Carmen likes it.

"What was it again? Embren..."

"Embry. God, you're worse than I am."

"No one is worse than you. You called Vince 'Victor' at least ten times when you first met him."

"Duh, I was playing hard to get!"

"So... Are you and Vince over now? I mean, we are discussing you dating two boys, not just screwing them."

"Well... He calls me every once and a while... but... I don't know... I mean, I don't even know if Embry would be able-"

"Oh! Gotta go. It's nine AM here and my mom is taking me to Buckingham Palace or whatever. Later!"

"Bye." She mumbled, then I heard her sigh.

I counted to ten, before lightly tapping on the window. Her heartbeat increased, then she walked over to the window, peaking her head out from in between the drapes. She looked unbelievably cute when she smiled and popped her head back through, and after a couple of minutes, she opened the back door.

"Hey..." She said, quietly.

"Hey." I watched as she looked at the ground. She crossed her arms over chest and shivered slightly.

"Uh... um... come inside... it's freezing..." She walked back in and I followed in too. She pointed to her bedroom, before walking in, me following. She closed the door, then rubbed her hands together. "You okay in just a t-shirt and shorts?"

"Yeah, yeah..."

"Oh... okay..." She walked over and sat on her bed, then rubbed the space beside her. I sat down next to her, gently, trying not to break it under my weight. "W-What are you doing here?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well... it is one AM..." She giggled, then brought her knees up to press against her chest, putting her arms around her legs.

"Oh... sorry." I felt ridiculously stupid. I hadn't even looked at the time before I left the house. She giggled again, then shook her head.

"It's fine, I was already up." She shrugged, then leaned back against the wall. "...So... what's up?"

"I wanted... I wanted to say that I'm sorry about my mom-"

"No... I get it." She looked down, her eyebrows furrowed. "I get it."

"What?" I tried to meet her beautiful eyes, but she kept her head down. "Carmen?"

"I get it." She said, firmly, her jaw clenching.

"Carmen, seriously, I don't understand-"

"If you can't hang out with me any more, it's okay." She glanced at me, before looking back down. Her voice turned to a whisper. "I get it."

"Carmen, no! Don't be... No!" I couldn't stop myself from moving next to her and putting my arm around her shoulders. "I would never not be here."

"But... your mom-" She looked up, tears forming in her eyes.

"She was just worried that we were dating, but I told her that we're just friends." I smiled, she smiled back, but it didn't really reach her eyes. "Even if she'd asked me to stay away from you, I wouldn't... I couldn't..."

"Really?" She looked at me with an eyebrow raised. "God, you worship me." She smirked, leaning her head against my shoulder.

I didn't say anything, instead pressing my face to her head, breathing in her wonderful floral scent.

After too short of time, Carmen was fast asleep against my chest. I lay her back down in her bed, pulling her covers over her. I kissed her cheek and brushed her hair out of her eyes.

"I love you, Carmen."

"I would love to marry you, Embry. I really, really love you." Carmen whispered, kissing me lightly.

"I love you too Carmen!" I kissed her back.

"I really, really, really love you."

"Carmen..." I whispered.

"Wake up!" I jumped when she yelled at me, grabbing my shoulders and shaking me. "Embry!"

I opened my eyes to see Carmen grinning at me, so I rolled to lie on my side to look at her better.

"Yay! You're awake!" She sat down on the edge of my bed. "It's not raining outside, in fact, it's kind of like winter back home! Wanna hit the beach?"

"Uh... sure?"

"Great! Nice abs by the way." She illustrated this point by running a hand down my torso, leaving a tingling sensation when her hand moved.

"What time is it?" I glanced over at my alarm clock, only to see that it was missing.

"Oh, yeah, I broke that... sorry... I was here... you were unconscious... I was investigating." She shrugged, giggled, then grinned. "I'll buy you a better one... A pink one!"

"Have you taken something this morning?" I chuckled. She rolled her eyes and pushed my shoulder back.

"I'm a morning person, so sue me." She scoffed, leaning back and resting on my waist. "It's around nine. Your mom's about to leave for work."

"How'd you get in?" I asked, wondering, before noticing the open window.

"This isn't my first time sneaking in and out of a two-story house, plus your window was open, so I figured 'hey, Embry would love for me to come over- he does worship me, after all', so here I am."

"You could've hurt yourself." I grumbled, having fallen out of the tree by my window three times, even with werewolf-abilities.

Though, I couldn't help but feel touched that she'd risked her safety to see me.

"Hardly. I'm awesome." She grinned, before lying back so that her head was in line with mine. "The worst part was trying to do it in a dress."

"At least you look pretty." I smiled and she grinned back.

I was thankful for the friendship we shared, even if I wanted her to love me like she loved 'Wolfgang'. I could tell her how pretty she was, and she wouldn't mind, because I was her best friend. Hell, I beat Edith in the best friend-department, and Carmen just adored Edith.

"Well, like I said, nice abs." She pressed her hand to me again, and I had to fight the urge to kiss her.

Feeling brave, I put my hand on her waist, and pulled her closer. Her eyes widened slightly, and she raised an eyebrow.

"What?" I tried to act casual. When she didn't reply, I got worried, but she grinned.

"You're so warm." She moved her hand off of my front and slid it to my back, her head pressing to my chest. I closed my eyes as she hugged me. She didn't realize that I lived for these random bursts of affection from her.

"You tell me a lot." I mumbled into her hair. God, I wish we could lie like this forever.

"Ow, ow! Dead arm." She grumbled, twisting around. "Let's spoon." I couldn't help myself as I started laughing when she flipped herself around and pulled my arm to wrap around her. "This is nice."

"You're so silly, Carmen."

We lay in silence for a little while, before she giggled. She turned her head slightly, so that she could look at me.

"What?"

"Were you dreaming about me this morning?" She asked, a grin forming on her face. I stayed silent, worrying that she'd think I was creepy if I told her about my dreams of her agreeing to marry me... "'Cause you said my name..."

I'm positive I was blushing.

She didn't scream and call me crazy, like I assumed her would. She laughed and turned her head away again.

"Carmen, I-"

"Oh, don't worry about it. It's flattering, really." She giggled again, and I felt my face heat up even more.

She thought it was that kind of dream.

"No! It wasn't like that-!"

"Really?" She turned her head, a smirk still present on her face.

"Really!"

Her face fell slightly, and her eyebrows furrowed.

"Well... what kind of dream was it?"

I paused, hating the feeling that I should probably lie to my imprint.

I wanted to tell her that I was totally in love with her and that I dreamed about her agreeing to marry me and her saying how much she loved me, but I knew that she'd get creeped out and never speak to me again.

"It was that kind of dream." My heart hurt as I lied... but she smiled and I suddenly felt better.

Her smile was that of accomplishment, because she loved being right.

But... there was something else there...

"You seem... pleased..." I said as she turned her head back, lying back on the pillow.

My pillow.

Oh my god. I am a creep. Poor Carmen.

"Self-esteem." She said, simply. Like it was the most obvious thing in the whole world.

"You're weird." I chuckled, tightening my arms around her.

"I'm not the one who loves movies specifically targeted for the other gender!" She giggled. I thought back to when she told me she was ticklish, and moved my hand to graze her stomach. Her squeal told me that she definitely was.

"What's so wrong with that?"

"Kinda gay." She mumbled, so I started tickling her. She shrieked and started slapping my arms, her wonderful laughter filling the room.

Apparently her wonderful laughter filled the entire house, because my bedroom door swung open and my mother stood with her hands on her hips and her jaw dropped.

"Just friends." She muttered, shaking her head. Carmen sat up, smoothing down her dress, then combing her hair with her hands, before twirling the ends like she always did, especially when she was nervous.

"W-We are just friends!" She said, loudly. I resisted the urge to argue with that. Mom's eyes widened, as if she couldn't believe what she was hearing.

"Embry's other friends don't lie in bed with him while he's shirtless!"

"My other friends are guys, Mom." I said, resting on my elbow.

"You have girl-friends, Embry! Scarlett doesn't get in bed with you! Kim doesn't sneak into your room at god knows what hour to do god knows what!"

"I only just got here, and we were just talking!" Carmen stood up, still twirling her hair. I sat up, making sure to keep my blanket over my bottom half.

I could just imagine Mom's face when she saw that I was only wearing boxers.

Carmen would probably just laugh and push me.

Or call me creepy.

Yes, that was always a possibility.

"I have to get to work," Mom looked at me. "But we will talk about this later."

She turned and walked away from my bedroom, shaking her head. Carmen turned to look at me, her hands still on her hair.

"W-Why is your mom so convinced we're dating?" She mumbled, glancing back to the door, then back at me. "D-Do we act like a couple?"

Definitely.

"I don't know." I murmured. "What do couples act like?"

"I-I... I don't know." She sat back down beside me on the bed, looking at the ground.

"B-Beach?" I asked, wanting her to act normal again. She nodded, slowly, before standing up.

"I'll, um..."

"I'll meet you downstairs in ten minutes?" I asked, she nodded again. I stood up and walked to my dresser, pulling out a pair of shorts. I turned to see Carmen still standing in the doorway. "Carm?"

She stood still for a second, before blinking. "Uh... yeah... yeah... I'll be... uh... yeah." She turned and walked out.

I couldn't stop myself from grinning.

Friends certainly weren't supposed to check each other out.

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