AN: This is one of my smaller chapters as of late, but its a daily update! And yes, its back to Claire's POV. No Quil, sowwie, but the next chapter is nothing but Quil and Claire! Thanks for all the reviews, I'm almost to 300! That's crazy! You all must really love this story. :P
Chapter Twenty
Father-Daughter Fishing
I was numb when I walked into my house. I barely remembered fleeing this place last night, or how I got the cuts on my hand, but the bits of gravel did give away that I fell on the road. I was still embarrassed that I had walked all the way to Quil's barefoot because of a nightmare, which turned out to be a memory of him being attacked by a vampire.
And I thought my week couldn't get anymore complicated.
"That you Claire?" Dad called out as he came out of the garage.
"Yeah Dad," I said sadly.
"You okay? Quil called me early this morning, said you were really shaken up." He said worryingly.
"Well, I had a dream I found Quil lying in the woods in a pool of his own blood with his chest mangled." I said a little harshly. Dad winced and recoiled from my snappy answer. "Yeah, it was a little disturbing to say the least." I added, sarcasm dripping from my every word.
"He told you?" He asked painfully.
"He told me." I reaffirmed slightly agitated.
His face contorted into what I could only guess was a pensive gaze then he snapped suddenly. "We should go fishing." He said surely.
"What?" I asked incredulously. What is it with people and fishing around here?
"Come on, go get into something comfortable and get your rain boots." He ordered pointing to the stairs.
I stared in disbelief at my father as he walked into the garage carefree and I think he was whistling. If the whole neighborhood wasn't starting to feel crowded, I wouldn't have gone up stairs and changed into just my jeans and hoodie without my pajama's and trudge down the stairs in my rain boots.
I stalked up to Dad's Cherokee and slid into the passenger seat and he sped out of the driveway before I could say anything or even put my seat belt on. Once I was safely secured in my seat I looked angrily to my father.
I was more confused than I had been all week and needless to say I was angrier than I had been. "Wha-" I didn't even get the word out before Dad threw his hand up to cover my mouth.
"Ah! Not until we get to the river." He said sternly. He let his hand drop and drove off toward, I'm guessing, the lake.
There was no more talking for the drive, only the slight hum of country music from the radio. The drive was a lot longer than I thought it would be, maybe because there were no conversations to fill the time. I had to force myself not to think about everything I had just learned after a very long night of horrible nightmares. If I even thought about that I would be sent into an impatient fit of rage and I don't like to be childish when I can help it.
When we got to the river there was a dirt lot that was used for parking and Dad did just that. I helped Dad unpack his massive amounts of fishing gear and started walking. I had no idea where he was going but I followed. Of course I think we damn near hiked a mile while I tried to balance a tackle box on top of a cooler, which only frustrated me more.
Dad found a spot on the side of the river he liked and finally dropped his gear. I set the cooler down next to the backpack and two fishing lines and waited for more orders. He started pacing up the river then found a rock he seemed to like and walked back to grab the tackle box, cooler and a fishing line, I grabbed the other and followed.
He sat on the edge of the rock and I was easily able to sit next to him on the large rock. He laced a worm through his line and helped me do the same. I waited until we both had our lines in the water.
"Can I talk now?" I asked impatiently.
He adjusted his line and nodded. "You can." He answered surely.
"Why was Mom so scared about Quil?" I asked frustrated. Truthfully that was not my first question but I think it'd be better to start out here.
"He just told us that werewolves and vampires were real and that he was your soul mate. That boy was never good with words." He answered shaking his head.
"Not the vampires, or the werewolves, Quil. Just Quil." I revised sternly.
"She was scared that he would take you away." He said simply as he started reeling in his line. On the hook was a fish about as wide around as my fist and Dad took the fish off and dropped in into the cooler and wrapped another worm around his hook. "Dana and Willa were always Daddy's Girls. They loved their Mom, but most of the time, it was Daddy's show. You were attached a little more to your mother. She realized you were already slipping away from her, and she didn't like that." He explained casually.
"So she left and pretended that the scary monsters were after me and she was worried about my well being?" I asked incredulously.
"No, she was truly worried about you, the whole Mommy's Girl thing was the underlying reason." He shrugged.
"That's no excuse." I ground out.
He looked at me harshly. "I'm not excusing your mother, but she thought she was doing right." He said firmly.
I jammed my fishing line into the crease between two rocks and leapt to my feet. "This is crap you know!" I yelled angrily. "I spent eighteen years being awkward around any boy I ever liked and then plummeting into a depression whenever I was finally able to get over the awkwardness and actually have a boyfriend! And the reality of it is that I subconsciously knew that I had already met my soul mate and the guys I was ever with were not good enough and so I sabotaged it?" I finished disbelievingly.
His lips pursed and his brows furrowed in concentration then nodded. "Sounds 'bout right." He said with a hint of sympathy.
I rolled my eyes. "You know, I think I've seen a Lifetime movie like this, only the soul mate was dead and the girl didn't know…" I trailed off tiringly. I never wanted my life to turn into a soap opera and yet I was already forty five minutes into my third episode.
He snorted a laugh. "Trust me, this is way cooler than Lifetime." He said knowingly and somewhat smugly.
"Dad, I've had a soul mate since I was two." I said sarcastically, my eyes glaring into the side of his head.
He shuddered. "Could we stop saying 'soul mate' it gives me the willies?" He said cringing as he said the word in question.
"Well I'd use imprint but I don't even understand what it means!" I yelled flippantly, dropping back down next to Dad and my fishing pole.
He sighed dramatically and looked out at the water. "Well, from what I understand, its like their whole world revolves around that one person and the little troubles in live that used to bother them don't matter because they have bigger things to worry about." He explained crudely.
I looked to him with tightly knitted brows. "I'm confused." I said blankly.
He glanced back at me. "So was I." He grumbled.
I figured my father, someone who had only learned all of this in passing, really wasn't the best person to ask about something that didn't involve him directly. "How old are they really?" I asked curiously.
"Quil is… thirty-two." He said unsure. Men were really horrible with keeping track of things.
"Thirty-two?!" I exclaimed astounded. I didn't think he was that old. Okay, maybe I had considered it, but I didn't want to believe it.
"Yeah," He affirmed somewhat fearful, probably from my out burst.
I deflated from emotional exhaustion from this whole damn day. "Explains my attraction to older men." I mumbled under my breath.
"Wait a second." He said in his fatherly you're-not-allowed-to-date-until-you're-forty tone.
"Don't worry Dad, you have nothing to worry about." I said reassuringly.
"Technically, he's only physically twenty-five." He pointed out. I think it was an attempt to hinder any attraction I had to him, which really didn't help. Neither did the flash of Quil's bare chest that came to mind when he said 'physically'.
"What?" I asked with half-hearted confusion, still thinking about the dark tan skin stretched across ridiculously sculpted muscles… I really need to find something else to think about if I want to actually stay part of this conversation.
"Don't you remember, the whole spirit wolves didn't age until they stopped changing into their spirit wolves?" He asked cocking a brow. I spent a few hours talking about the legends with him when I found out about them.
"Oh," I muttered stupidly. "He just looks older than everyone else." I mumbled indignantly.
"Heart break will do that to you, but he still goes between man and wolf. Hell, he's been camped out in the woods outside our house since you got here." He laughed.
I looked at him with a bewildered expression and slightly disturbed. Did my father really let men haunt outside my window without my knowledge?
"Claire, you honestly think he was going to let out of his sight?" He asked giving me a slightly stupid look.
"That's kind of creepy." I said almost angry. I didn't like the thought of someone watching me damn near constantly.
He laughed at my tone. "He has good vision, but he doesn't see through walls, he was just listening, making sure nothing happened to you." He explained knowingly.
"Last night, did he…?" I asked meekly, trailing off as I looked down at my hands.
He nodded. "He probably heard your breathing change, and then when you screamed and ran out of the house, he probably followed you from the woods." He answered
"But he was at his house, as human Quil." I said shaking my head. At least, that's what I remember.
"Well, they are very fast, they've been doing this for fifteen years, its second nature now." He elaborated.
I plucked my line from where I had wedged it and stared blankly down at the water. "Have you seen a vampire?" I asked curiously.
He caught another fish and tossed it into the cooler and speared a worm through his hook. He's almost better than Paul at this. "Yup, the Cullen's aren't so bad. Jasper and I get along the most." He answered carefree.
"Jasper is a vampire?!" I shrieked.
"Yeah," He said casually.
If Jasper is a vampire, what about Alice? "Wait, Alice?" I asked fearfully.
"Yup," He nodded.
"You had no problem leaving me with vampires?" I asked hotly. I don't know why that made me upset, but it did.
"Did she try to eat you?" He asked as he rolled his eyes.
She didn't even touch me other than the two hugs I got. "No," I snapped.
"Did Willa seem upset to be in the presence of a vampire?" He asked smugly.
Damn, he has a point. "Not that I noticed." I muttered.
"The Cullen's are 'vegetarian' vampires. They only drink animal's blood." He explained far too relaxed for talking about the diet of a creature that should by nature, drink our blood. "Your mother reacted much the same way. I wasn't entirely thrilled when I learned vampires had been playing with my daughters either but your mother seemed to think that they were going to kill you, even though you'd already spent three years with them, and the only time you came back to us with scratches was when you thought you were a superhero and could fly." He snorted.
I took in a deep calming breath, I didn't want to loose it like my mother did and I didn't want anyone to think I would. "I'm sorry I snapped, I should have realized that no one would want me in a dangerous situation if they could avoid it." I apologized calmly.
Dad looked at me with a raised brow. "Where the hell did that come from, because it sure didn't come from me or your mother?" He asked bluntly.
I rolled my eyes. "It's a life skill I picked up." I said dryly.
"If you didn't have my eyes, I'd wonder whose child you really were." He muttered suspiciously. I laughed at his doubt of my paternity. "You need new bait." He said nodding to my fishing pole, which I was not paying any attention too.
We fished until the sky started to darken and I actually managed to catch a tiny fish I couldn't even bring myself to put in the cooler so I let it go back in the river. I'm a bleeding heart. We hauled everything back to the Cherokee when Dad finished reeling in his last fish, which gave him a total of eleven fish in just over two hours. He's way better than Paul.
The long ride back into the Rez gave me time to think about everything. There were still a lot of things I didn't know and Quil was the only one who could tell me. I probably could have handled this morning with Quil a little bit better, but I was still reeling from the nightmare. That really blindsided me. I've had really odd dreams, but I've never had something as real and as terrifying as that dream.
However I also knew that I had to talk to Quil again because I don't want to leave him hanging like I did. Its really not fair, he's been looking for me for thirteen years, but it could have been a lot worse. Truthfully, I usually react to information like that with the stoic mask that I had because well, screaming and fainting never happened to me, or seemed prudent to help the situation so I usually stick to the silent brooding act.
As much as I wanted to go back with my dad I knew I had to go talk to Quil before I started getting frustrated or I gave Quil the wrong idea. So, let out a long sigh and knew what I had to do.
"Dad, can you drop me off at Quil's?" I asked suddenly.
"Go easy on the boy," He said smirking.
I looked around Dad to see he had stopped in front of Quil's house, Embry and Lena's car was missing but Quil's pick up was there. "How did you…?" I asked amazed.
"I have super powers when it comes to my girls." He answered with a cocky grin.
"I'll be back soon." I said opening my door.
"I know," He said grinning. I hopped out of the Cherokee and jogged around the front of the vehicle and toward the front door. I glanced back toward where Dad parked only to find him gone already. Geeze, that's car is quiet.
I knocked on the door and waited patiently. I didn't even hear movement from inside the house. I frowned and tried to stay patient and knocked gently again. Thirty seconds later there was still nothing. Okay, no more Miss-Patient-Pants. I attempted to open the door and found it was unlocked. I slipped into the house and looked around carefully.
"Hello?" I called out softly. There wasn't even a cricket to make a noise.
I walked to Quil's door and was about to knock when I found a note taped to his door.
If you ever come crawling out of the woods there is a message from Jeff on your cell.
I frowned. Did Quil go back to being a wolf because of me? Oh great, a guilt trip is just what I need now. I huffed and thought about my options.
One, I could stay here and wait for him until he decides to come back, which is the smartest option.
Two, I could venture out into the woods and most likely get lost looking for a werewolf. That's the dumbest idea.
Or three, I could go back home and wallow in my guilt. The coward's option.
Normally, I would have done the smart thing but I really have to talk to Quil and get some answers and make sure he knows that I'm not upset with him. So, I went with the dumb, dangerous and highly ridiculous option and slipped out of the house and walked carefully into the woods. Oh please, if there is a God in heaven, don't let me trip and fall and break something in the middle of the woods. And if its not too much ask, please no rain, the last thing I need is slippery rocks…
AN: Review!