Don't own anything except OC's.

Chapter 11: Sweet sixteen

2019: Claire sixteen

Quil's POV

I parked outside Claire's house and glanced down the driveway. Cars were parked all along the street and were most likely going to the Young house considering it was Claire's sixteenth birthday. She was having a party, friends and family together, in her backyard and house. It was supposed to be a barbeque and from the smell it was, but you never knew the weather around here and it could be washed out within seconds.

I didn't bother to knock like I usually did, assuming that it was an open house. People buzzed around like flies, screaming and shouting their hello's to people they hadn't seen in a while. There was a wide mixture of ages, from Claire's grandparents to Evelyn Uley who was only two.

I searched with keen eyes for any sign of Claire. I knew she was somewhere in the house by the imprint pull but finding her in the mass of people was going to be hard. After ten minutes of aimless searching I found her in the backyard near the table that was stacked high with presents and cards. Excited to see her, I rushed down the stairs with the intention of running to hug her, then I stopped.

She looked beautiful.

Not in a cute, delicate beautiful, but in a curvaceous, womanly beautiful. She had a tight, form fitting dark purple dress that showed off her hourglass figure and long, smooth legs. Her dark brown hair was curled, flowing down her back like a waterfall.

When the fuck did that happen?

I was so shocked I couldn't move, so I just stood in the middle of the backyard looking like someone had told me aliens from mars wanted to probe me. It wasn't for another five minutes Claire noticed my arrival, smiled widely through lip gloss covered lips and walked over to where I was stood. With blurry eyes, I noticed she was taller than usual, cursing when I saw the thick black wedges she had on her feet to make her legs look longer than ever.

"Quil, hey," she said, leaning forward to hug me. I gently patted her back and pushed her away. "I've been waiting for you to come," she smirked, flipping her hair slightly.

"Yeah," I breathed shakily. "Um, well, I'm here."

She raised her right eyebrow and grinned. "I can see that. And with a present, cool."

She took the package from me and dropped it down onto her the present table. "Come meet my friends," she said over her shoulder with a coy smile. "They've all wondered about you."

What was happening?

Feeling dare devilish, I sneaked a peak at her round bum as she walked forward with it swinging slightly. It looked even better than it did in jeans.

STOP IT! You're checking out you sixteen-year-old best friend, idiot! STOP IT! STOP IT RIGHT NOW!

My eyes snapped from her bum to her hair, focusing on the way to curled and waved. When had Claire turned into a woman? Had it been overnight? I had seen her only last week to plan this party and organize music with her and I hadn't acted like this then, so what was going on now? I hadn't acted remotely like this since several months ago when I realized my feelings for Claire were becoming...inappropriate. After that, I focused on the fact that Claire was, well, Claire. Since then everything had been going relatively normal for us. My stomach churned as we walked over to a small group of girls and boys around Claire's age near the food table. I was in complete turmoil and she wanted to introduce me to her friends? Didn't she know I was about to faint any second from now?

"Hey guys, this is Quil," she greeted the group. Gabby, who I knew quite well from being Collin's imprint, smiled brightly at me and waved. My mind was too fuzzy to smile or wave back, so I just nodded in greeting. "Quil, these are Mia, Nikki, Karl, Isaac, Mac and Lola," she pointed them out. I didn't even pay slight attention to the names or faces. "And Behati's over there getting a drink," she pointed to a reddish-brown haired teen near the punch bowl.

She made chitchat with the group and I stood silently, looking like a complete freak. People had always said to me the day I noticed Claire for anything other than my Claire-bear would come slowly, surely, and that I would be ready for it. Well, I could assure people that it didn't come slowly or surely, and I'm certainly NOT READY FOR IT!

Okay, now I'm shouting at myself in my own head. Brilliant.

"Quil, are you okay? You've been quiet," Claire asked in concern as she dragged us over to the food table. Even the smell and sight of food wasn't enough to snap me out of my daze.

"Yeah, I'm fine," I managed to choke out.

"Okay, good," she smiled softly. "Listen, I want to talk to you later about something important, but I want it to be in private. Maybe we could talk after the party or something? I really need to tell you before I lose my ne—yeah, afterwards?"

Numbly, I nodded, unable to do or think of anything else than how grown-up she looked and sounded right now.

"Presents!" Jasmine shouted over the noise of the people around. "Come on, Claire!"

Claire smiled at me, squeezed my hand and walked over to her mom's side. I joined the circle forming around her and leaned against a nearby table, completely overwhelmed though I didn't know why. She opened a few random presents from family members and friends until she got to mine. Her eyes lit up in excitement and she practically dug her way through the wrapping paper.

It was a teddy-bear and a book.

Right now, I looked pretty shit compared to previous years, but this year I had also spent weeks and weeks fixing up the new car her parents had bought her. I had also spent a good amount of money on new parts, a paint job to make the car her favourite colour yellow, and I had made sure it was the right car for her, searching high and low in Forks, Port Angeles and Seattle to make sure the car was safe enough for me to feel comfortable with her in it. However, I wasn't allowed to tell her that because her parents were keeping it a surprise until the end of the day.

Trying to act casual, I walked over, ruffled her hair and grinned. "Happy Birthday, kiddo."

Yeah, call her kiddo, that'll make this less awkward.

Claire's eyes darkened and her smile dropped. It hit me in the heart like a stab with a knife, but I couldn't bring myself to take it back. I wasn't ready for her to be grown up. I wasn't ready to find her attractive. I wasn't ready for her to have a car.

"Thanks, Quil," she mumbled, looking down at the teddy-bear. She squeezed it slightly and then settled on the floor with the book underneath.

Gulping, I stepped back until I was around four yards away from the crowd of people around her. I needed to get away, to think, to freak out on my own. I needed to figure out what was going on with my whacked up hormones and stupid, gross thoughts about my best friend. The only thing that made me stay was the fact that I knew Claire would be upset if I left. So I endured the mental torture for another hour as she opened all of her presents. She was onto the last pile when I caught the eyes of a concerned Sam.

Seeing him made me freeze. He was technically my Alpha again now. Jake, Nessie, Aurora, Harry and Seth had moved away just after Christmas of 2017 to Routot, France. Embry and I had switched back to Sam's pack until the day Jake came back (he had promised he would come back one day), so Sam was now in charge of us again, though he didn't phase as often as he used to due to wanting to age with Emily.

He was also Claire's uncle.

Sam trusted me. He trusted me not to hurt or take advantage of his niece and I had promised him since the day I had imprinted on her that I would treat her right. Finding her attractive at the tender age of sixteen wasn't protecting or keeping her safe, it was silly, stupid—weird. Sam had risked a lot by going against Oliver when he thought I was a sicko when Claire was younger. Not only was I defying Claire, but Sam.

I couldn't help it, I ran away.

I phased on the fly into the woods around Makah and wondered pointlessly around the thick, green woods. Claire was my best friend, she was my Claire-bear. I couldn't see her like that yet, she was only sixteen for God's sake. She had yet to finish her teenage years without me interfering, she had yet to explore other options and completely find herself. I couldn't and wasn't going to act on my feelings. It was too early, not only for me but for her. If I acted now everything would only fall apart in a couple of months and I couldn't loose what I had with Claire. Everything was perfect just the way it was, I wasn't going to be the one to mess it up.

I ran back to La Push and stayed in my bedroom in the apartment. Collin badgered me about Gabby was doing for half an hour until he realized that I wasn't in the mood to be messed with (I almost broke his nose) and he left me alone on my bed. Claire didn't call, I didn't expect her to. I had run out of her birthday without so much as a goodbye. She was probably severely pissed off at me but I needed time alone for a while.

Four days later, I ran up to Makah to see and (hopefully) make up with her. I had no idea what I was going to say, all I knew was that I missed her like crazy and I needed to hang out before I exploded. I only paused to knock on the door and wait for Jasmine to open it, say a quick hello and I ran into Claire's bedroom. It was still painted yellow from the days we had spent redecorating, though there were some dark marks and scratches now from years of being used. Instead of being laid on her bed watching telly or doing homework like I thought, Claire was stood in front of her full length mirror dressed in skinny jeans and a dark blue top checking herself out.

I refrained myself from walking over and combing my finger through her mane of dark brown hair, and instead asked. "Going somewhere?"

Claire looked up from the mirror in shock and stared at me with her hazel eyes for a moment. Quickly, her face turned dark and she frowned at me. "Yes. What are you doing here?"

I flinched slightly and closed the door behind me. "I'm sorry I ran off. I wasn't feeling too good and then I ate some food from the buffet and it made me even worse—"

"Save it, Quil. It doesn't matter anymore," she stopped me with a stern edge to her voice. I thought her eyes looked slightly watery but it might have been the lighting. She sat on her bed and pulled on some knee length brown boots without so much as glancing at me.

"Where're you going?" I whispered through the tense silence.

"On a date," she replied casually. "A guy asked me from school so we're going to the movies and food."

"Oh."

I felt like I'd been punched in the gut.

"Yep." She popped her lips, bending down to pick up her brown bag from the floor. "Why are you here, anyway?"

"I—I just wanted to hang out, I suppose," I answered quietly.

Her eyes softened considerably and she licked her lips like she felt guilty. "Sorry. You should have called or something," she muttered, smoothing down her hair. "Unless you want to hang out with Nora, I suggest you go," she told me, walking past towards the door. Her kiwi and lilac scent washed back behind her and I greedily inhaled the scent. Feeling utterly rejected, I watched her begin to walk around the corner. "By the way," she paused at the door looking over her shoulder. "Thanks for the car. I love it, especially the colour."

She smiled softly at me and then disappeared down the hallway. Two minutes later I heard the roar of her engine and the squeal of her wheels as she drove off down the street. I stood in the middle of her room for a while, looking at the pictures of her friends, family, the pack and me. She had them stuck all over her bedroom wall above the flowers Nora had drawn at the head of her bed. There was a particular one in the middle of her and me from a few years ago when she was about seven-years-old. Her front teeth had just fallen out and she was showing it off proudly, her tongue poking between the gap.

Those were the simpler days when I didn't have to worry about boys, dates, growing up and bipolar emotions.

I didn't want to hang out with Nora, so I ran out the front door and phased into the woods. I slowly trotted back to the rez with a heavy heart and aching muscles. I felt lost without Claire by my side on a Sunday night. Weekends were when Claire and I had our time together, without her I didn't know what to do. What made it even worse was that the reason she wasn't by my side was because she was on a date. No doubt with one of the guys from the party. Damn, I wished I could have memorized their faces so I could track them down. A bitter, cold emotion rang through my veins and I shivered, quickening my pace to get back to my big plans of stuffing my face with pizza and watching shit telly on our screen in the living room.

It wasn't until later that night I realized that emotion was jealousy.

Thoughts?

Thanks for the reviews, favourites and alerts! Hope you like this chapter! Sorry for the late update I was so busy writing that I didn't realize it was late!

Also, I put on photos from my stories onto photobucket. The link is on my profile if you want to check it out!

-Laylax