Author's Note:
Oh.
My.
GOD!
Thank you, thank you, thank YOU so much for the overwhelming number of reviews! I so didn't expect it! *squeals* The total number of reviews of this story TRIPLED!
Oh, oh, and Allie does know how Alice can see the future of humans; Alice told her that while she took her from the woods to Nessie's and Jacob's house. But she doesn't know about Edward. I know Colby mentioned how Edward knows the reason she's upset, but she doesn't know how. All explained below :)
Special Chocolate for: Edwardlover75, tilley12, peacelovextwilight30, Jennyedwardlover, ashley0111992, bonnie xoxo, vicky8515, kassyjakey, fangsforfur97, opaline star, Breathless In Voice, Stretch 19, JellyBeane, Tana101, Boo, nicketmouse69, lala and ARod1585 :) for reviewing last chapter. Thank you.
COLBY BLACK
Twenty minutes later, I ended up with a panting Alison, a ruined shirt and a shaking body I had no idea how to stop.
Normally, these would be the expected consequences of either a stray vampire, a stupid, uncontrolled pack brother or a car accident; I had no idea how, one day, this would be the result of letting someone as young and as angry as Alison Anderson tell me the reason she was upset. I couldn't blame the irrational amount of emotion and my personal out of character behavior and reactions on imprinting this time - no, never; because if I had witnessed the same situation sans the supernatural, I would've reacted the same.
Well, if you didn't count the shaking.
She had just told me what really happened last night; she told me she heard her own parents call her a 'mistake'. This time, if it wasn't for the imprinting, I wouldn't have imagined the kind of pain such a simple word could cause; my parents were always loving, supportive and proud of both Sarah and I, the idea of a parent hating a child or regretting him or her just made me confused; they were their own flesh and blood - part of their souls. A person who hates part of him is a person with serious complications.
She told me how she never felt connected to them, how she blamed herself every time she couldn't make them understand her. She told me how people used to judge her just because she brought a book to read during her free lesson, and how when she came back home and tried to tell her parents, they would say she needed to "fit in" with everyone the way they were and try to be something she wasn't.
I hated it.
And what I hated even more was how I came in a very inconvenient way and overwhelmed her with everything mythical - even yesterday, when she was stupid enough to go to the forest alone, Alice found her and explained how she could see the future. Allie, of course, being Allie, connected it to what I'd told her about the vampires' super powers and asked Alice, who explained she was my great aunt.
Perfect, just freakin' perfect.
"Colby, why are you shaking?" Allie asked, pulling herself away from my shoulder.
I closed my eyes, almost squishing the unmoving steering wheel with my bare hands, taking a deep breath. "It's nothing."
"Colby," she whined, "You can't just make me gush my heart out then just say it's nothing - c'mon!"
I didn't mind telling her anything, but admitting I wasn't in control of my anger - especially around her - just hurt my manly ego - and that's an understatement, so I just sighed. "Seriously, it's nothing. Happens a lot - it's a wolf thing."
She nodded. "Can you take me to school now?"
"Sure, sure. When do you want to go home?"
She shrugged. "Dad said he's coming home at four, and I don't know if Mom's going to come home today; she usually takes a whole day before she does after a fight with Dad."
She said it so casually my stomach clenched.
I turned the keys in the ignition, heading towards her school. "What did you want from school? Don't think you'll miss anything on your second day."
She chuckled. "I won't. I just need to get something from my locker."
"How important is it?"
She narrowed her eyes. "Why?"
"Well, I thought you wanted to see the cliffs."
"I thought you're unreasonable enough not to let me."
"Well, I changed my mind."
"Well, a man doesn't just change his mind."
I blinked. "What?"
"Get me to school, Colby."
Why me?
ALISON ANDERSON
"Whoa, whoa and whoa,"Cloe exclaimed, her eyes wide, standing half-way between our football field (where the gym class is) and the main building of Forks Middle. I mentally groaned, trying to ignore her and rush inside. "Hey, Allie, wait!"
Shit. Shit. Shit.
I stood still in my place, deliberating whether or not I should run to the Ferrari and tell Colby to get out of there, full speed. Instead, I just turned to her. "Cloe," I acknowledged.
"What's that?" she pointed to the Ferrari.
"Yeah, Allie, who's that?" her other best friend, Jarrett, asked, practically drooling over the car.
"You know what's that, Cloe," I said, "That's Colby's car."
"Colby, huh?" she smiled, and I knew she remembered, "The one you have a huge c-"
I put my hand on her mouth, my eyes widening. "Shut up." He'll hear you! And the last thing I want to explain is why I told you I've a crush on him.
She laughed as soon as I let her go, a very confused Jarrett staring at both of us like we had finally lost it. "You don't get it! It's not like that."
"Oh, yeah, it is."
"It is?" Jarrett asked, and I could bet my life he had no clue what he was talking about.
"It's not!"
"What's not what, honey?" Colby said, and I almost cursed out loud when I heard his voice right behind me. He kissed my cheek and I almost punched him. I would've if I didn't know for sure I would hurt myself doing so. "Who are your friends?"
I buried my face in my hands. Oh, God. Oh, God. Oh, God.
I could swear he was laughing as I angrily strode inside the building towards my locker. I opened it hastily, grabbed both my diary and the homework that was due tomorrow, and snapped it shut.
"Oh, wow," Cloe said, "I'm not going to ask you anything but - how?"
"What do you mean?"
"I mean," she started, "He's- sorry- but you're just a little kid to him - and you're - you're-"
"I'm what?" I snapped.
She sighed. "You just don't match." I walked past her, not speaking a word. "Wait, Allie, I didn't mean it like that!"
"Look," I said, my free hand on my hip, "Colby and I don't have a 'thing'," - I made sure the quotation marks were visible - "He's just a friend; he's Embry's cousin!"
"Who's Embry?" Jarrett asked.
"Oh, God," I whispered to myself, "Embry is my cousin's husband, okay? I asked him to drive me here since no one else could, okay?"
They both nodded curtly, startled by my tone, I assumed, and I just huffed, running my way back to the Ferrari, sliding in.
"A-"
"If you dare talk to me, I will-" I huffed again in frustration, "Don't talk to me."
He laughed. "Your face was priceless."
"I hate you."
He kept on laughing, then pouted at me. "Aw, come on, Allie-bear."
"I still hate you, very, very much."
"I'll take you to First Beach."
"No."
He was still laughing. "I'll show you how I fight vampires."
I stayed silent for a second, thinking it through. "No, not even that."
"Cookies?"
"Nope."
I would've told him to take me home if I wouldn't be so bored; sure, I was angry at him - very, very angry at him - but I had to admit it, again: he was better than cable.
"I can still take you to my house, right?"
I bit my lip. "Who's there?"
COLBY BLACK
Alice, Jasper, Emmett, Rosalie, Mom, Dad, Sarah, Carlisle, Esme, Edward and Bella should have been home, but, as I took the final turn to our driving path, Dad called me and told me they were divided into two groups; one went hunting and the other went shopping (I didn't even need to communicate with Sarah mentally to know she was on the first group), and that they wouldn't be home for the rest of the day. So, instead of a day at my home, I was taking her to the zoo.
A.K.A Sam and Emily's.
Once she stepped inside the house, she was welcomed by pretty much everyone. She smiled politely at them, fidgeting in her place awkwardly, repeatedly glancing towards Mary, something definitely on her mind, when Paul came. "Look who's there!"
Please don't tell her I called her a mini version of you. Please don't tell her I called her a mini version of you.
"...The oh-so-famous Allie. Hey, kid."
Phew.
She frowned. "Hi...?"
"Paul; this jerk's uncle."
Yeah, yeah. He was pointing at me.
I rolled my eyes. "Good afternoon to you, too."
"Oh," she said, a smile playing on her lips, "Can you do me a favor?"
He glanced at me with the corner of his eyes, suppressing a smile. "Sure, kid, what do you want?"
Everyone in the room (Embry, Mary, Quil, Claire, Jared, Kim, Sam, Rachel and Emily) was watching silently, not even a hum in the room. "Can you tell me how can you hurt a werewolf? Like, real bad."
I raised my eyebrows at her while everyone was coughing laughs, trying to be discreet about it. Paul grinned seriously at her. "Well, there's always the classic baseball bat," he suggested.
"Mhhmm.."
"...But you'll probably hurt your wrist. Or you can just pout at him and tell him he's so mean-"
"That didn't work."
"Wrong!" I corrected from my place, leaning on the wall, "I remember you saying you hated me, not that I'm mean."
She just turned to stick her tongue out at me, and the coughed chuckles turned to full-blown laughs. "...Or I can just personally beat him up for you. What do you think, kid?"
"Think I'll risk my wrist with the bat, then you can beat him up."
Everyone couldn't stop laughing, except me. I stayed silent, expressionless; she was getting along with Paul more than she could get along with me at first.
Paul attempted to pat her head, but she stepped back.
Well, well.
"Here's your Alpha, Alpha," he winked at me then returned his attention back to her, "What did he do, then? Stalked you again?"
"You're the last one to talk about stalking, Paul," Rachel and Jared said in one breath. He rolled his eyes.
"No," she said, her cheeks darkening, "I just feel like hitting him."
"Do all imprints suck at lying?" Quil asked, wrapping an arm around Claire who pinched him lightly. "No, really. What's up with that?"
She just grimaced, looking at her feet, then glancing at me, her cheeks still dark. Adorable. "Um..."
Emily decided to speak. "The food should be ready by now. Who's hungry?"
ALISON ANDERSON
Emily practically saved me. Apparently, today was the international Embarrass Allie day and I wasn't aware. I turned to Colby, sighing as half the room (all the wolves, except Colby) sprinted to the kitchen, and he motioned for me to go to him. I stood beside him, leaning on the wall as well.
"What do you say? The bat or Paul?"
He pinched my cheek. "You're not really upset, are you?"
"You don't know what you've done," I muttered, my voice low, but he heard it like I knew he would.
"It's not like they believe we're together or something." - I just glared at him, raising my eyebrows - "They do?" I crossed my arms over my chest. "Well, I'm sorry, then," he said, kneeling in front of me, putting a hand on my shoulder, keeping our eyes in one level. "I really am."
Every time I looked into his eyes I remembered how cute he looked as a wolf - as a golden teddy bear - and it made it hard to stay mad at him. "Fine," I said, "You're forgiven."
He smiled widely, happiness radiating through his smile. "You're awesome. And, everything's going to be okay, Allie-bear."
"What did that come from?" I forgot to ask him about it earlier.
He shrugged. "I dunno."
"What do I call you, then?"
"Not Weirdo," he suggested, "But you can call me by my middle name - Thomas."
"Thom-as," I tried it out in my mouth, "Sounds good."
"Wow," Rachel said, "I can't believe you! You won't let your own mother call you that!"
"A little privacy would be good, Aunt Rachel, thanks."
Someone boomed with laughter in the kitchen. "Privacy. Yeah, right."
Someone else barged in the house; I could hear the door slam open. "Hey, everyone! Look who I brought!"
Colby tensed at the sound, his teeth clenching together and I could swear I saw his chest rumble a bit. His eyes stayed fixed on me, not even glancing towards the visitor. It was just someone else I hadn't seen before, not even at Mary's little party a couple of days ago, but he looked like everyone else here, except that he wasn't as big as the others - the wolves.
"What? What's wrong?" I mumbled.
"Hi!" A girl-y voice greeted, but I didn't avert my eyes to see who it was; all I could think about was how serious Colby's shivering was, his hand squeezing my shoulder so much it hurt.
"Colby, what's wrong?"
He snapped his eyes shut, his shivering turning into stronger shaking.
"Randy! Come join us in the kitchen! Did you get your girlfriend with you?" Emily asked out loud.
"Yes, Mom," Randy, the one who just barged in with his 'girlfriend' answered, and Colby's frame almost turned blurry, my shoulder feeling his vibrations.
It took me a second to realize what was happening. "Calm down, Colby. Thomas, calm down!" He didn't look like he was listening to me, but his hand released my shoulder. Embry got out of the kitchen, running towards us, putting a hand on Colby's shoulder.
"Let's get you out of here."
"No," he snapped, "I'm fine, Embry. I won't phase near her."
You're not scared, are you?
"No," I answered his mental question, "But I don't understand why you're acting so weird."
"Colby Black, you have to get out of here now."
"Leave me alone, will you?"
"Jared! Paul!"
He stood up, facing Embry. "I'm in control, Embry."
Embry snorted. The shaking wasn't fading. At all. "Sure doesn't look like it."
His hands balled into fists, then, in a flash, he turned to me, threw me a quick 'Stay here' and ran outside, leaving me dazed.
Wow.
"What is it?" Paul asked, his face stuffed.
Embry pointed to Randy while he wasn't looking and then back to me. "Colby."
"Damn," Paul said, "I'm going - you get Allie home."
"What? No!" I said as Paul disappeared behind Colby.
Embry sighed, turning to me. "He just needs to calm down, Allie, and you're going to be late if you don't go in a few."
I glanced at my watch. 2:45. "Can't we wait for him a bit?"
He grimaced. "When do you have to be home?"
"Before four."
"'Kay," he agreed.
"Don't worry about him," Rachel said, "It's complicated."
"How complicated?" I asked Colby, sitting on the trunk of his car.
"I didn't want you to see this," he breathed, leaning both arms beside me, "I'm really sorry."
"Stop it!" I said, "Stop saying you're sorry and just tell me what's wrong!"
"I just can't stand Randy," he muttered, "I don't know how I'm gonna be his Alpha some day, how I'm going to have to endure him all the time."
I frowned, fixing his now-very-messy hair. I hated it when things weren't clean and in order. "What has he done?"
"He's my sister's imprint."
"I thought he isn't a wolf?"
He shook his head. "He's not, but Sarah is."
"Oh."
I still couldn't get it.
"Are you mad at him because he's got a girlfriend?" I guessed.
Colby breathed out slowly. "Kind of."
"Well, he has a choice, right?"
He raised an eyebrow at me. "What do you mean?"
"I mean," I licked my lips, "Just because she imprinted on him doesn't mean he has to choose her, right?"
He stayed silent, his eyes unreadable.
"Right?"
"Are you saying- you know what? Never mind; I'll have Billy explain that to you in the bonfire."
Before I could reply, we heard Emily's house's door open. "Guys," Mary said, skidding towards us, "Uncle John found out you're not home," she told me, "Allen," -her brother, my cousin - "called and asked about you, and I told him you're with me. You'd better go back now."
"Shit."
This time, I cursed out loud, and Colby had the most amused face ever.
Author's Note:
I still don't know how to thank you, guys. Seriously, you made my day! :D :D See that face? That isn't just a smiley - I look like that now :)
Please, keep the reviews coming.
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