AN: Hello! I had this ready last night but there was something up with Doc Manager again so it had to wait until morning, I hope you all don't mind! Next chapter probably won't have a lot of Quil, but there will be sisterly bonding. :D Thank you all so much for the reviews, 38 reviews for one chapter! Its a record for me. Enjoy this new chapter!

Chapter Twenty-Four

My Little Secret

I have officially, become an addict. To Quil's lips. The whole time I'm trying to eat dinner at my aunt's house I was staring at his lips, because they looked so much better than spaghetti. He was much more polite with the situation and neither of us said anything about it. I knew it happened, he knew it happened and well… we just kind of left it at that. Of course, I wanted to continue what I started, but I restrained myself. I don't know why, he kissed me to so he clearly doesn't mind. And beside's, we're supposed to be soul mates, he's mine to kiss!

That was one side of the argument, the other was that I was still a little nervous about the whole thing. What if he doesn't want this right now? I've barely been here for a week and I've already kissed him and he hasn't even talked about doing anything other than being friends. At least he doesn't look uncomfortable, anxious, yes, but he isn't stuttering and stammering like I am.

"Claire," Emily said sweetly as I helped her wash up the dishes. Well, I think I was helping, I was kind of on auto-pilot.

"Huh?" I asked confused.

She took the plate I was drying off and set on the counter. "Want to take a walk?" She asked nodding to the back door.

I glanced over to Quil, who was currently beating the twins, Jax and Jamie, at a racing game. "Sure," I chirped with a stiff nod.

We walked out the back door and up to a path that led into the woods. Emily was quiet while we walked deeper into the woods before we came upon a cast iron bench smack dab in the middle of a small clearing. She sat on one end and motioned for me to take the other seat. "So, what's on your mind?" She asked concerned.

"A lot." I groaned.

"It doesn't have anything to do with werewolves or vampires, does it?" She asked knowingly.

"I kissed Quil." I blurted embarrassed.

"Well, it was bound to happen." She said sympathetically.

"Why, because I'm his imprint?" I snapped.

"No, because I could tell you liked him." She said surely.

"Oh," I mumbled under my breath, looking down at my hands.

"Was it a bad kiss?"She asked confused.

"No! Heck he even kissed me again after it's just I… don't want him to be awkward around me. He is like fourteen years older than me, it has to be weird for him." I rambled self-consciously.

"I doubt it." I said shaking her head.

I made a noncommittal noise and continued to stare at my hands.

I felt her hand rest comfortingly on my shoulder and I looked up to her. "You're going to have to talk to him." She said seriously.

"I know! Its just I've never been good with men before and it's highly unlikely that I'm suddenly going to be better in embarrassing situations with men now." I mumbled once again mortified.

"Don't worry about it, just do it. You'll feel better no matter what." She said knowingly.

"How are you related to my mother, because she was never that rational?" I asked amazed.

"I got it from our father." She said proudly with a smile.

"This whole talk thing is a sooner, rather than later thing isn't it?" I asked frowning.

"Yep," She said standing.

I huffed and stood as well. "Okay, but if this blows up in my face, your gonna be the one I come and commiserate with." I said with a pointed finger.

"I think I can handle that." She agreed, still smiling. "We should go back in before the search party comes looking for us." She said as she started walking down the path.

"Are they always this over protective?" I asked annoyed.

"I am a grown woman, and Sam still has one of the boys follow me whenever I leave the Rez." She answered with a sigh.

"So it never stops?" I asked pouting.

"Never." She reaffirmed.

"Good to know." I mumbled.

It wasn't even six o'clock when we got back to the house and the twins were running rampant through the home, chasing one another while Quil and Sam waited near the back door. Sam smiled down at Emily.

"The boys want dessert and 'I don't make it right'." He said nodding to the ice cream he set on the kitchen counter. Emily chuckled and shook her head as the boys ran up to her from the living room and latched onto her legs.

"Thanks for the dinner Emily." I said gratefully.

"No problem Claire, see you later Quil." She said looking between us both.

"Bye Em," Quil said with a small wave.

Sam narrowed his eyes on Quil for a moment before they shared the manly 'goodbye nods' while I bid my goodnights to the twins. They really weren't all that enthusiastic about hugs when Emily had started making their ice cream sundaes. After Quil tried to get the boys attention and failed we left.

I spent the whole minute and a half drive thinking about how I would start the conversation I barely noticed Quil was already parking in the driveway, watching me with amused eyes.

"Uh, Claire." He said trying his hardest to sound serious.

I snapped my head to him and saw his little grin creep into a larger smile. "Oh," I mumbled, trying not to look at Quil. It was now or never. "Uh, well, it was fun, I-uh-don't know what I'm doing tomorrow but if you have other plans that fine…" I stammered, trying to lead into my conversation with him.

Quil reached out and touched my shoulder. "Claire, calm down." He said coolly.

"I'm calm." I chirped.

"Sure," He sighed, dropping his hand back to his side. I watched him carefully as I searched for something to say, but he started before I could. "If it made you uncomfortable, I'm sorry, it was an in the moment kind of thing and it won't happen again if you don't want it to." He said somberly.

"It wasn't uncomfortable for me, was it uncomfortable for you?" I asked hastily.

"No, you just got really quiet afterward, I thought it you were." He mumbled confused.

I looked at him and shook my head. "Well, it was kind of weird after, but before… I didn't mind so much." I said anxiously, chewing on my bottom lip.

I think Quil blushed because he looked away from me and down to his lap. "Come on," He said while he opened the door and got out of the truck.

I followed quickly and walked with him up to the front door. I craned my neck to look up at him with a worried look. "Is there any way we can get rid of the awkwardness?" I asked, almost pleading.

"Maybe," He mumbled, shoving his hands into his pockets.

"Maybe? That's not promising." I said with great concern. I like Quil too much to lose him to awkwardness in the air.

"It's not the same anymore." He said firmly.

"Well, I know that but does it have to be so tense?" I asked with a little bit of hope.

Quil's brows knitted tightly and his body became rigid, just like he used to when I mentioned something stupid. I didn't like to see him like that, it made my heart clench because I knew it was my fault. I frowned and closed the space between us and wrapped my arms around him, hugging him tightly.

"Are you always in pain?" I mumbled against his chest, squeezing him a little tighter as I felt his arms wrap around me.

"Not always," I heard him sigh.

I pulled away from him and looked up into his still pained eyes. "No more hurting, okay?" I implored feeling pain of my own.

"I'll try," He promised, reaching around me to open the front door. "Goodnight,"

I sighed tiringly. "Night," I murmured, turning to walk into the house. I was going to walk to the living room, but I couldn't just leave that sad-faced Quil. I spun quickly back to him and ran out onto the porch. "Quil," I said warily.

"Yeah?" He asked expectantly.

I ran up to him and grabbed the collar of his shirt and yanked his face down to my level and smashed his lips against mine. Truthfully, the kiss could have been smoother but it smoothed itself out and Quil helped, a lot. Those massive hands of his had found my hips and covered them easily to either pull me closer or push me away, I don't know which because he was doing both. I let go of his collar and lowered myself from my tippy toes and Quil followed. I laughed against his lips and pulled away to look at his dazed face. I suppressed another laugh and turned on my heels and skipped back to the door then turned back to him.

"Night," I said playfully as I shut the door in his still stunned face. I giggled and leaned against the door, forcing myself not to go back outside and start another round with my personal Quileute.

"Our little girl's grown up." I heard cooed from the stairs.

I jumped a few feet in the air and glared at the voice, which was of course my loving little sister. "Geeze, Willa, don't do that!" I warned as I clutched my chest.

"You better call lover boy and tell him tomorrows date is off, I need your help tomorrow." She said as she came down the stairs, with her arms crossed over her chest.

"With what?" I asked breathlessly, my heart still hammering in my chest. I could faintly hear the door of Quil's truck shut and the engine start. I had to swallow my giggle.

"Doctors appointment." She answered bluntly.

"Why do you need me?" I asked confused.

"It's a woman doctor and Dad still isn't used to that." She snapped. I couldn't doubt her reasoning on that.

"You still didn't answer my question." I pointed out.

"Look, if Dana were here I'd be asking here, just please?" She growled. I could see saying please was very hard for her, I think she actually shuddered when she did.

"Okay," I answered in shock.

"And don't tell Dad we're going." She said firmly, almost yelling it at me. I took half a step back and watched her cautiously.

"So what do I tell him?" I asked quietly. I don't really want to get Willa angry, she looks scarier than most of the werewolves in town.

"Nothing," She said rolling her eyes.

"I can't tell him nothing." I said insulted. I just got my dad back, I'm not going to lie to him so soon and without much of an explanation.

"I do." She said smugly.

"I'm not you." I pointed out seriously.

She made an annoyed sound and threw her arms in the air. "Tell him we're shopping, that's easy enough to believe." She said flippantly, huffing in exasperation.

"I don't like lying to him." I said frowning.

"Get over it. I'll tell him when we get back, I just don't want questions before we go." She sounded almost upset so I let the lying subject drop.

"Alright," I said conceding to her will.

"Be ready by eight tomorrow morning, the appointment is in Port Angles at nine-forty-five." She ordered as she strode back up the stairs and slammed a door behind her a few seconds later.

"Okay," I mumbled to myself as I walked up the stairs and to my room, only being much quieter.

I dropped to my bed and my cell phone rang before I could lay down. I groaned and looked at the caller ID to see it was my mother. This was the first time she has actually called since the whole thing started. I eyed the phone wearily before answering it.

"Yes?" I asked, my tone laced with annoyance.

"Claire, I know you don't want to talk to me, but I want you to know that if you ever need me, I will always be there for you." She said honestly. I knew she was telling the truth, I just wished she would be able to accept what I wanted.

"Do you really hate Quil? Or just what happened with him?" I asked as the question popped into my head. I was tired of editing myself for the day.

"Quil was a good boy, but I didn't want you with him when I learned the truth." She answered firmly. I could tell it was hard for her to tell me that she did actually like Quil.

"You under estimate them, they're really the good guys." I said defensively.

"They are trouble." She said sternly.

"Can you just accept that this is where I feel at home, this is where I'm happy?" I asked tiringly.

"What about your plans for the future?" She asked desperately. She was trying to get me to remember the 'plans' I told her to stave off her questions.

"I never had any Mom!" I yelled into the phone. "All I ever wanted was to find my home." I murmured sadly.

She was silent for a long while before I heard her take in a shaky breath. "I'll send your things to you, I know your missing your comics." She said with a dark laugh. I was so shocked I couldn't say anything. "I don't want you to have more reasons to hate me then you already have." She said to my silent question. She does know me well enough to know what questions I am thinking of.

"You should talk to Dad. He needs closure." I offered coyly.

"Claire-" She said exhaustedly.

"It would help me forgive you, if you did." I told her honestly. I wanted to see my dad happy, and I wouldn't be able to think about forgiving her until he was.

"I'll think about it." She said breathlessly. I could hear tears in her eyes and I didn't push it anymore.

"Okay," I said simply. There was a long uncomfortable silence between us. "Its late Mom, I have to wake up early tomorrow." I lied. I knew it wasn't even eight and she knew it too.

"Goodnight Sweetheart," She whispered.

"Night Mom." I said back, and hung up quickly.

It was odd, to have a civil conversation with my mother after such a fight. Then again, I kept Quil out of most of the conversation and that's what usually makes the whole exchange nasty. I think she is finally starting to understand that I wasn't going to give into her will because she stamps her feet and tries to order me around. It would take a while for me to truly forgive her, especially if she keeps her surly attitude toward Quil. He is after all my new boy toy, I can't have my mother have issue with him if I wanted a peaceful existence. It would be nice to have one of those, of course, I doubt I will. I have fallen all over a werewolf, peace doesn't sound like it will go well with keeping vampires out of the Quileute land. Oh well, that's what I get for being soul mates with my gorgeous werewolf.

AN: Review!