AN: I'm such I horrible person I know, this took entirely too long but I was really lost about what to do here! Luckily, I found it and everything should come easier now! The time line is still a little off from Boys Are Frustrating, but I don't think you all would mind that much... Lost of Quil/Claire stuff and in the next chapter as well, with a little angst thrown in! Speaking of angst, I am working on The Family Legacy, that will be next on my updating crusade so keep checking your email! Thank you all for the support and all the reviews! I love the fact that you love my story as much as I do! Enjoy!!!
Chapter Thirty-Three
Not Just Friends
So, it's practically official, me and Quil are now together as a couple. I don't think I've ever been so happy in my life. The fact that I had a psychotic mother didn't seem to matter now. Hell I was forcing myself to be concerned about Willa's whole dilemma. It was the third day she was out there and there still wasn't any word from Seth. I had Quil phase a few times and tell Seth a few things I wanted him to know. Or at least he said he did. I'm not entirely sure about it all.
I had never grown up thinking I would be one of those girls that hangs all over their boyfriend, but really, who wouldn't hang all over Quil if they had the chance? Dad didn't seem to mind Quil constantly being around. They were practically best friends, it was a little scary but still extremely relieving. Nothing makes you feel better about having an older boyfriend than your father actually accepting him. It almost made up for the fact that my mother seemed to despise him.
It made me curious about my mother's family. I knew Emily loved Quil like a little brother but she was only a small part of that group. I asked my dad about them and he didn't have much to say about it but he did tell me to go up to the Makah Rez and visit them. Quil quickly offered his truck to my cause and we started packing. The truck was halfway loaded when I realized I was missing someone.
"Willa!" I called out suddenly while Dad helped me out to Quil's truck with my two bags.
"I'll call you when she comes back, I promise." He said reassuringly as he threw my bag in the back of the truck.
I sighed and tossed my other duffle in the back, next to Quil's only bag. "Okay," I mumbled. We shared a brief hug and then Dad opened the truck door and I climbed in.
"Have fun." He said with a somewhat sneaking smile and I would have been worried about that if I wasn't already worried about Willa.
I nodded with a little bit of sureness, I was after all going to see people I hadn't seen in years and that I have no memory of at all. Dad closed the door behind me and gave Quil a serious look. I knew it was probably something about keeping me safe. Quil flashed a smile and pulled out of the driveway.
I stared out my window uneasily while Quil drove toward the highway. I didn't know exactly where the Makah Rez was since Quil didn't really let me research it much before we left. I would have liked to at least seen a map and family tree before I just traipsed up there.
"How long does it take to get to the Makah Rez?" I asked, turning to look at Quil.
His eyes jumped from the road to me from the road and he shrugged slightly. "About two hours." He answered.
I took off my seat belt and slid over to the middle seat and strapped myself back in. "Better get comfortable then…" I murmured snuggling closer to him. His arm wrapped around me and he drove with one hand while the other slipped through my hair and a contented sigh fell from my lips.
Just leaning against him let me calm down. It probably would have been horrible if I went without him, for both of us. Once I felt my anxiety ease to a controllable level I looked back up at Quil.
"What are they like?" I asked curiously.
He made a face crossed somewhere between thoughtful and frustrated. "Well, they're not as laid back as we are." He answered slightly conflicted. I could see it in his eyes, he wanted to say something else but he wasn't because of me.
"Did they like you?" I asked hopefully. I mean, Emily liked Quil, then again my mother hates him…
"I think they tolerated me." He said honestly. Well, there goes that hope. "They really didn't like the fact that the Quileute boys were stealing all there women." He added with a wink.
I laughed at him and relaxed just a little more. I'm still amazed that he can make everything seem okay no matter what's going on. "Do you think they're over it yet?" I asked teasingly.
He winced playfully. "I dunno they were really peeved about it." He said faking worry.
I chuckled and laid my head on his shoulder, completely relaxed against him. It was getting harder and harder to be worried about meeting my other family. Its gotta be that werewolf-imprinting thing.
"Did I have any favorites?" I asked with a little more cheer.
"What do you mean?" He asked confused as his fingers twirled my hair.
"Like how Emmett was my favorite Cullen and you're my favorite werewolf." I explained nestling closer to him and gripping his arm that was wrapped around me.
He laughed at that. When he finally stopped laughing his brows knitted tightly in thought. "You loved your grandfather and great uncle, but that's really it." He said shrugging again and then paused. A few seconds later he laughed about something I didn't know. When he saw my confused face he explained. "You tended to get really pissed when everyone carried you around like a doll because you still barely weighed forty pounds." He chuckled.
"But in every other picture you or Emmett was carrying me." I pointed out, still confused.
"I think we were excluded from that." He said not entirely sure. His brows tightened into a thinking face and I had to stop myself from giggling because he looked so adorable. The look however was lost with a deep frown. "Ah yes, I remember, we were you're personal 'minions'." He grumbled.
I laughed so hard I almost choked when I tried to catch my breath.
"Yeah, I hated Edward for teaching you that word." He said sourly.
"I can't wait to meet him." I laughed.
"Let's focus on the human side of the family for a second." He said hotly.
"Yeah, I should probably space out the vampires as much as possible, they have time, right?" I asked teasingly.
Quil rolled his eyes. "Quite a lot of it." He agreed.
Before a small silence could settle between us I asked another question. "Do they know I'm coming?" I asked curiously.
"No, its best to surprise them or there would be an ambush waiting for you." He answered worryingly.
I felt my face drain of color. I did not fair well with ambushes of any kind. "That doesn't sound promising." I chirped.
"Why do you think I'm going with you?" He mumbled, holding me closer.
"Do you have back up?" I asked desperately. We couldn't go in alone and survive.
"Embry and Lena are on call if we need them." He answered with a hint of confidence.
I let out a sigh of relief. "Good, I feel even better knowing Lena will be ready to help." I said truthfully.
"Yeah, she's pretty…" He trailed off, biting his lips tightly.
I had to dig deep into my vocabulary to find a word that fit Lena that also didn't fit someone on death row for murder. "Forceful?" I offered.
"Yeah, we'll stick with that." He muttered, still half biting his lip.
I started listening to Quil's heartbeat as I thought about Lena confronting family members about holding me hostage. There was a lot of blood. Embry and Quil were holding off the ones Lena hadn't gotten her hands on. It would make a kick ass action flick though.
"Quil?" I asked as I watched him move easily with the traffic of the road.
"Yeah?" He asked nuzzling his nose into my hair.
"Thanks for doing this with me, it means a lot to me." I told him, holding onto his waist tighter.
His lips found my forehead and kissed me a few times. "Anything for you." He murmured. I'm still entirely lost on how I got lucky enough to have Quil.
The rest of the trip was mostly silent. I fell asleep a few times along the way and bad drivers usually woke me up. Quil was able to drive for a little more than two hours with me wrapped around his torso and not get us killed. I really loved Quil and his awesome werewolf powers. I had tried to fall asleep around the hour and a half mark but I saw the sign for the Makah Rez and it was close. Really close.
From then on I was wide awake. I couldn't close my eyes to blink if I had to. It was becoming so real now. I had just gotten used to my family and the people that were always around me on the Rez as a child and now I was getting thrown a whole new group of people I had no information about. I was beyond ill prepared.
We weren't very far off the main road when Quil pulled into the driveway of a rather huge house. It was two stories and had a wrap around porch on both levels. Quil parked the truck and took off mine and his seatbelt. "We're here." He announced then pressed a kiss to my lips. I easily melted into the kiss and forgot about all my trouble until the bastard pulled away. "Ready?" He asked with a quick nod toward the house.
"No," I answered frowning.
"Do you wanna wait?" He asked, I could pick up the concern in his voice again. He's always so worried about me.
"No, I just have to suck it up and go in. I'm a big girl." I said firmly, sitting up in my seat full without leaning on Quil, but didn't let go of his hand. I wasn't that ready.
A knowing smile crept over Quil's perfect lips and he snorted a laugh as he looked me over. I looked down at my body and realized what he was laughing about.
"I'm speaking in relative terms here." I amended, rolling my eyes.
He chuckled and kissed me again. "Right," He mumbled against my lips.
I let him kiss me for a minute. Well, it might have been a minute, I don't really know, time doesn't really matter when I'm kissing Quil. I really didn't want to stop making out with him, but it was also a little awkward being parked in front of a family home. We got out of the truck extremely begrudgingly and walked up to the house, with my arm looped through his.
I dragged my feet a little but Quil didn't push me to go any faster. When we finally got up the stairs and onto the porch I was holding my breath. We walked to the door and when I didn't make a move to ring the door bell Quil did it for me. I was going to mutter my thanks when the door opened and an old man just a few inches taller than my self with skin darker than Quil and entirely gray hair.
"Quil?" The old man muttered confused as he looked between us.
"Hey Ethan," Quil said with an awkward wave.
Something clicked for the older man and he didn't look confused any more. "Claire, is it you?" He asked in shock.
I nodded dumbly. "Yeah," I answered a little confused myself. I guessed he was family but I had no clue who he was. Quil is really bad at this.
"My goodness, you look so much like you're mother." He gasped shaking his head. He started chuckling about something neither me nor Quil understood. "But you still got your Daddy's eyes." He said smiling.
Normally I would have had something smart to say but the way he said it reminded me of my mom. Like he was just a little disappointed that I didn't have her eyes but that he was still proud that I had his eyes. The sarcastic comment fell from my lips and I could only stare at the man in astonishment.
"Come in you two!" He exclaimed, moving out of the door way and waving us in. Quil and I stepped into the house and shut the door behind us. "Give you're old Pop a hug." He said holding his arms out toward me. I guess he's my grandfather. It was a little weird to hug someone my mother never told me about, but it was still nice. "I remember when you were so small you had to stand on a chair to look me in the eye." He murmured with a chuckle.
When 'Pop' let me go I nervously tucked my hair behind my ear. "I don't really remember much." I said apologetically.
"That's alright, bad memory runs in the family." Pop waved off easily. "Let me call up your cousins!" He said suddenly and shuffled into the living room and grabbed the phone.
"Okay," I mumbled confused. Quil let out a long and loud groan. "What?" I asked worried.
He let out a breath and stood straighter. "You'll see," He grumbled angrily.
Pop was talking on the phone excitedly for a few minutes. Quil seemed to be getting more and more agitated with every moment Pop was talking. I was forming a plan of how to make sure Quil didn't snap that also didn't involve jumping his bones in front of family. I was drawing a blank so far.
Pop walked back up to us with a broad smile. "They'll be over soon." He said almost buzzing with excitement. Quil and I were still standing awkwardly, having no idea what to do next. "Quil, you know where to take the bags." Pop said with a nod to the front door. Quil patted my back soothingly and then walked out the front door, leaving me alone with the grandfather I had concluded was dead when I was nine.
Pop escorted me into the living room, which had a very… antique quality about it. He sat in the large, red, reclining chair next to the couch I sat in, still smiling like no tomorrow. Pop and Mom had the same smile and eyes but they didn't share much other than that. At least physically wise.
"So, where's your mom?" He asked hopefully.
The big question I was praying everyone would forget. Looks like there is no God. "Oh, she, uh… I don't know actually." I answered lamely.
A little frown developed on Pops face but he started smiling again soon after. "She okay?" I asked with subdued fatherly concern.
"Last I saw her she was." I said, trying to be reassuring and still truthful.
Pop nodded with a larger smile. "That's good." He said happily.
Quil came back with our bags a few minutes later and instantly went up the stairs and from the living room I could hear him dropping the bags into a room on the other side of the house. Pop didn't pay any mind to the additional noise, which kind of surprised me because most of the elderly people I knew hated loud noise. Quil joined us not long later and flopped onto the couch next to me, wrapping a possessive arm around my shoulders. I really didn't mind that he was holding me tighter than normal, it was comforting at the moment.
I think we were alone for a grand total of five minutes before the door was practically thrown off its hinges and a short, plump woman that resembled Pop greatly came storming in. I was already on my feet when she made it into the living room and Quil was close behind. Pop however was as cool as a cucumber as he looked over lazily at the newest person in his home.
"Claire, this is your cousin, Marianne." Pop said holding his hand out to the woman.
I waved weakly at the shocked woman presence. "Hi," I muttered smally.
"Claire! It's been too long!" Marianne cried out and pulled me into a tight and uncomfortable hug.
I could practically feel Quil behind me tensing up. I could have sworn I heard him growl too. Marianne wouldn't stop hugging me until I started gasping for breath. She was small, but she was strong. She finally let me go and started fussing over my hair but I can't be sure because she was talking so fast. But since she was pulling at my hair and frowning when it barely got to my shoulders I figured as much.
She finally took her eyes off me and looked at Quil from over my shoulder. Her brown eyes quickly narrowed on my werewolf and her hands landed on her hips. I stepped out from between them and took a closer spot next to Quil as I waited for the sparks to fly. It must be a family trait, because my mother always got the same look when she got angry and when she looked this angry, it wasn't pretty. I ran through a sloppy plan of how to get Quil out of the house before he decapitated my cousin, not worrying about decency since jail time was on the line for my soul mate. I really didn't care if Pop or my cousin saw me stick my tongue down his throat.
"Why are you here?" Marianne spat. Quil quickly gained a defensive pose.
I had an insanely strong feeling in that moment that I was not going to like this cousin of mine. I wasn't worried so much about Quil killing her anymore as I tried to restrain myself from strangling her myself.
AN: Review!