Congrats to RosesAreForWriters for being review #350 for this story on FF.
Sorry for taking a little while on this. Important family stuff to deal with that took away my typing time. But to make it up to you, I'm giving you a very long chapter this time—I think it might be the longest one yet. Just couldn't stop writing.
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Bella POV
As I planned to spend the day with Embry in La Push, I didn't mind this trip down in Charlie's cruiser. He'd head to work right after we saw Leah and her parents off, and Embry would see that I got home at some point.
"Another year and this will be you," Charlie mused.
"Yeah, guess it will be."
"Any ideas where you might want to go or what you'll study?"
"Not really. I've always liked literature, so I could study that; but I'm not sure what jobs are out there."
"You could teach, like your mom."
"I don't have her energy," I protested.
"They need teachers in colleges, don't they? Maybe you could teach that literature stuff."
"Maybe," I hedged. Speaking in front of an audience was still speaking in front of an audience, no matter its size or age. And I thought that college classes usually had a lot of people in them. But...those students were usually there because they wanted to be, so that might help. "I'll think about it, okay?"
"Fine. Just keep your mom and me in the loop, okay? If you want to visit schools and stuff, apply for financial aid..."
"I will."
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Embry was leaning against the porch railing when my dad pulled the car up in front of the Clearwater house. Leah's car was packed as tightly as one of the circus clown cars and a station wagon was in similar shape. Leah's younger brother Seth slammed the wagon's back door shut and hollered, "Can I go now?" toward the house.
"You can wait half an hour until your sister leaves," his mom, Sue, called back, exiting the house with a bag in her hands.
"Hi, Charlie. Hi, Bella," she greeted us.
"Sue."
"Hello."
Shoving off his spot, Embry walked over to me and boldly leaned down for a quick kiss. Seth gagged noisily, my dad made a choking noise in his throat, and Sue gave a funny look. From Embry's smirk as he pulled back and shifted to stand beside me, I knew it had been deliberate. And somehow I didn't mind. It was...nice that he wanted people here to know how he felt about me.
"Charlie," Embry shook my dad's hand and then wrapped his arm around my waist.
"Embry."
"Mmm, something smells good," my new boyfriend sniffed appreciatively.
"Food for Leah and her parents for the drive," I explained.
"Why, thank you, Bella," Sue said.
"No fair," Seth groaned.
"That's life, little brother," Leah breezed past him. "Hey girl."
"Hi, Leah. Snack mix and cookies. Easy to eat on the road and nothing you have to worry about keeping at a safe temperature. There are even some extra cookies for you to share with new friends once you get there."
Leah looked horrified. "Share my food? You know that's cruel-to them and to me. I don't want to share your goodies; if I do, they'll only expect me to make more, and you know I can't cook this good."
Pretending to be put-upon, I sighed, "Just give me a little notice of when you're coming back for a visit, and I can try to make something up."
"Oh, bless you," she pulled me away from Embry and into a hug.
"Man, that's really not fair!" complained Seth.
I pulled a baggie of cookies out of the sack I held and tossed them over. "For you." Presumably, the mumble that he gave a few seconds later around a mouthful of the cookies was meant to be "Thank you".
"I'll miss you," I whispered to Leah.
"I'm just a call, text, or email away-just watch the time if you're calling me, okay?"
"I thought college students pulled a lot of all-nighters?"
"They shouldn't," Sue decreed. "Getting plenty of sleep is important both to help them learn and also to stay healthy."
"You two have fun," Leah directed at Embry. To me, "Keep me in the gossip loop, alright?"
"Sure."
"Leah, Harry, time to go," Sue started to marshal her family. "Seth, please remember your manners."
"Mom! It's just Brady and his parents. They're family."
"Even more reason to behave. Be good and we'll be back the day after tomorrow."
"Okay..."
"Bye, squirt," Leah grabbed him and mussed his hair.
"Cut it out, Leah," he shook his head.
"Up for a fishing trip this weekend to unwind?" Charlie asked Harry.
"Oh, yeah."
With a few more goodbyes and waves, Leah and her parents were gone. Seth ran off to join his friends before they were out of sight. Charlie looked at me and my boyfriend.
"You two have plans for today?"
"I thought maybe a walk on the beach and lunch at my place," Embry answered.
"It's starting to rain," my dad noted.
"Usually is," laughed Embry. "We'll swing by my place and I'll get a better jacket for Bella."
"Okay..." Charlie seemed to question our sanity in going to the beach in the rain, but as he went fishing in the rain, there wasn't much room for comment. "Call if you'll be later than dinnertime, okay?"
"Sure. Be safe."
"Always am. Oh, Bells, your truck ready yet?"
I shook my head and Embry scowled-which Charlie noticed.
"Jake hasn't done anything with it, at least not that I could tell when I went by yesterday," Embry explained.
My dad frowned and looked at his watch, then sighed. "I've got to get to work now, or I'd swing by Billy's place and talk to him. Bella, I'll give him a call today and find out what's going on."
"Sure, Dad. Thanks."
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"The beach in the rain, huh?" I teased Embry as we began the walk to his house.
"We live in the rainiest place in the continental U.S. If we only did stuff when it wasn't raining, we'd almost never do anything outside at all," he rationalized. "Anyway, it's a warm rain."
"Sounds fun." I might not have done this on my own, but doing it with Embry somehow turned it into something fun.
"I'm feeling a little left out, you know." Embry's comment made me look at him in shock.
"How?"
"Harry and Sue got cookies, Leah got cookies—even Seth got cookies. And I'll bet you gave some to your dad for him to take to work. Don't I get any?" He gave me the biggest puppy-dog eyes. I caved, and pulled the other baggie out of my pocket.
"Yum!" he opened the bag and ate two at once. When he extended the bag back to me, I reached for one, just to be polite. Embry demolished the entire bag before we reached his house, and I found myself promising to make him a larger batch.
I swapped my jacket for the raincoat Embry had promised and my sneakers for a pair of his mom's boots. Hand in hand, we walked in the direction of the beach.
"It's really nice of your mom to let me borrow her stuff all the time."
"She's like that," Embry agreed, "but the jacket used to be mine."
"Used to be?"
"I must've had a bit of a growth spurt since last winter-it's too small for me now. And speaking of moms..."
I knew what he meant. "She wants me to send her a picture of you-of us." I sneaked a glance up at him and his cheeks were just a little pink I thought, though it was hard to tell.
"So she approves?"
"Oh yeah..."
(flashback)
As I mixed up the ingredients for Leah's favorite chocolate chip/peanut butter chip cookies, I thought about what Embry had said earlier about telling my mom about us. I knew he was right, and that this was something that Renee was entitled to know about. So after I had slid the first tray of cookies into the oven, I pulled out and called.
"Hey, Mom."
"Bella! How are you doing?"
"Good. Things are good."
"Like what?"
"Leah Clearwater is about to head to college."
"That's good. Where's she going?"
"Washington State-Pullman."
"Oh, I'm sure Sue must be all emotional."
I wasn't sure about that, but Renee would know better than I how Sue might be feeling. "She's going to be at the same school as Rachel Black."
"Billy and Sarah's daughter."
"Right."
"How are the Black's doing?"
Oh, what a loaded question. "Fine, I think. Jake's been busy, or something, this week, so I've spent a lot of time with one of his friends from La Push."
"Who?"
"Embry."
As I'd expected, Renee's mom-radar switched on, even from the other side of the country. "And is Embry a friend of yours, too, Bella?"
"Yeah."
"Anything you want to tell me?"
"Embry's also my new boyfriend," I confessed.
"I wondered. Your voice changed when you started talking about him."
"It did?"
"Mmmhmm. So, tell me more about him."
I considered. How could I sum up Embry in only a few words? "He's nice and sweet, but he's not a goody-goody. Helpful, but not someone who gets steamrollered. Only child, raised by a single mom. Smart, good-looking..."
"Sexy?"
"Mom!"
"Really, Bella. Native boys-men are very good looking. I remember that. Well, you take a picture of him-better yet, one of both of you-and I can decide that for myself."
"Okay."
"So, have you done anything together officially?"
I gave my mom the highlights of today's picnic date with Embry, and Renee agreed with Leah's assessment. "And your next date?"
"I'm not sure yet. We're going to do something tomorrow, but we haven't decided yet what it will be. We'll talk tonight and figure it out. It'll probably be something simple. He's not fancy or dramatic or anything like that-but neither am I."
"Big dates can be special, since they're something out of the ordinary. But if they're like that all the time, then it starts to not mean as much."
Thinking back to the Cullens and their penchant for always going over the top and doing things to excess, I had to admit she was right. Renee's silence now made me think that she was trying not to say or ask something.
"Mom?"
"It's nothing. I don't want to bring it up."
But I knew what it had to be. "He's nothing like Edward. Embry...understands me, respects me."
"Good. He'd better. I'm happy for you."
(end flashback)
"That's great," Embry smiled down at me and claimed my hand. He set our linked hands to swinging as we walked.
Down at the beach, it turned out that we weren't the only ones there, despite the misty rain. An increasingly loud barking made me turn to see a dog running toward us.
"Pixie," Embry greeted the dog as it skidded to a halt in front of us. He bent down to scratch it's-her head and ears. "Pixie, Bella. Bella, Pixie," Embry introduced the dog and me.
"Old friend of yours?" I asked.
Embry swiped up a piece of driftwood from the sand and tossed it; the dog bolted after the improvised toy. "She's not old, but yeah. Her owner is an older tribe member and I started helping him out with her. He comes to the beach and I wear her out with games of fetch and stuff."
"Because it's easier for you to run around with her than for him to. That's nice of you."
Embry shrugged, as if to say that it wasn't a big deal. Pixie had found the stick and taken it to an elderly man sitting on a large piece of driftwood.
"Mr. Pelletier," Embry greeted him. I found myself being regarded by a pair of black eyes in a weathered face. "Mr. Pelletier, this is my girlfriend, Bella Swan. Her dad is the Chief of Police up in Forks, and a friend of Billy Black and Harry Clearwater. Bella, this is Mr. Pelletier, and Pixie."
"It's nice to meet you," I replied. His response was a nod.
The dog whined at my feet and I leaned down to take the stick she offered me. "Do you want to play some more?" I asked. The way she danced around must have been her way of saying 'yes', so I turned and threw the stick. Pixie dashed off again.
Embry laughed as we began to follow her. "You throw like a girl!"
For that, he got a dirty look. "I am a girl."
"But not all girls throw like it."
"You know me and physical activities. I'm probably doing great to even be able to throw like a girl."
Handed another chance, I thought I did a little better the second time around, even though I was laughing after Pixie delivered a juicy lick to my hand.
"Any pets growing up?" Embry asked.
"No. I would have loved a dog, but my mom didn't want all the responsibility and work and mess. Charlie might have gotten me one if I'd asked, but I was only here for a few weeks in the summer; it wouldn't have been fair to have him take care of a pet for the other 50 weeks of the year-not with the hours he works."
"I never had one, either. Pets can be expensive, and it was just something we couldn't afford. But there have always been animals around on the rez, so I was able to play with them or do like I am with Pixie, here."
When Pixie dropped the stick in front of us again, Embry was the one to grab it this time. Then he stepped behind me and took my arm with his free one.
"The art of successfully tossing a stick for a dog..." he began, and proceeded to give me a lesson. How much I actually absorbed, I wasn't sure about. Having Embry at my back, practically wrapped around me so he could guide my arm...I almost thought I could feel his body heat through all the layers of clothing.
"Time to go, Pixie," Embry told her a while later. She gave each of us a lick to the hand and ran back down the beach to her owner, just like she understood exactly what Embry had told her. Once we were sure she was where she belonged, we kept walking along the sand.
"Do you ever get tired of seeing this?" I asked, gesturing to the sand, waves, and everything else around us.
"Never. Sometimes I come here and sit for hours, just watching the waves roll in and out."
I looked that way and saw what he meant. There was something calming about the movement of the water. "Did you ever think of swimming out to those rocks?" and I pointed out into the sea.
Embry laughed. "Nope. Not that crazy. Current gets really strong out there, or so they say. And those rocks are called 'sea stacks' or 'sea mounts'. That big one there, that's called 'Aka-lat' by the people here; it's 'James Island' to the palefaces."
"Do you know what it means? 'Aka-lat'?"
"'On top of the hill'—I know, really imaginative, right?"
"Aren't native names supposed to be descriptive?"
"Guilty." As we went farther along the beach, Embry told me more about the island—which hadn't always been an island—and the other sea rocks. We both lost track of the passage of time, until Embry's stomach gave a very loud growl and my own echoed him.
"Lunch time," he decided, and turned us around to head back.
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AN: Okay, so maybe I fibbed just a little bit. I know that at the beginning of this one, I promised you a super-long chapter, but I'm just giving a long chapter. I've only gotten about half of the handwritten pages for this chapter typed up. So rather than having you wait for another day or two for me to get it done, or typing so fast that I make mistakes, I'll post this part now, and the rest of what would have gone in this chapter in the next one. And since I have part of the chapter after that also handwritten, I'm in good shape for updating.