Don't own anything except OC's.

Chapter 20: Guardian angel

Quil's POV.

On my return to La Push, I went on patrol.

I hadn't been on patrol since Claire had left over a month ago, too depressed to even care if a vampire passed through the woods. I wasn't sure an Alpha command could have made me get up, not that Sam tried too. He left me, understanding the gut-wrenching pain that the rejection of an imprint can cause from his fights with Emily when he first imprinted on her. Jake had called me so many times my cell had stopped counting, but I had yet to answer a single one because I knew he would try to talk me out of my depression and, honestly, all I had wanted to do was curl into a ball in the corner.

After talking to Claire, I was able to actually function again, the peace that she was alive made my body move from comatose to a strange, welcoming numbness. Figuring that my pack brother's had held my side of the bargain for far too long already, I phased on the edge of the woods. I was hoping that they would distract me from my incessant thoughts on Claire. She wanted space, and I needed to give it to her, that included stopping myself from obsessing too much and sprinting back to Makah to hide in the trees behind her house. She didn't deserve me spying on her, and I was going to do everything in my power to stop myself.

So that's all we are to you? A distraction? Aiden feigned hurt as I trotted into the forest. Ouch.

Hey man, Collin greeted. How's it going?

Better, I replied simply.

Good. For a minute there I thought you were going to die.

Aiden!

What? I'm just saying. He didn't look too well when I checked on his the other day. As he thought those words, a picture of me flickered through his mind. I was laid on my bed, staring at the ceiling with blank eyes. Looking at myself from someone else's point of view, I saw why people were so worried. I'd lost a lot of weight, so much so that my ribs were showing as I laid on my back without a shirt on. My skin was paler and my eyes were dark and worn. Cringing, I thought back to Claire and if she had looked that bad, but I was sure she hadn't. She looked beautiful. But I always thought she looked beautiful, what if I had been too blind to see it and she was sick—

Calm down, Collin ordered as I started to panic. Do you really think her parent's would have let her get that bad? In fact, do you think Gabby would? She's fine, Quil. I saw her the other day when I dropped Gabby off at her house.

However, I wasn't convinced, so he showed me. Claire had been waiting for her friend at the door as Collin pulled up outside her house. She looked a little tired, but other than that she seemed okay. She even smiled as Gabby ran up the lawn to hug her.

Okay, okay. Sorry I freaked, I grumbled, continuing my walk through the trees.

Imprints, Aiden huffed. You're crazy. All of you.

Wait until it happens for you, Collin answered while I stayed silent. I'd been saying that to him for years whenever he took the piss out of me or any other imprinted wolf, but he never listened. Aiden was completely convinced that he wasn't going to imprint, like the imprinting gene had skipped him or something. Now, I was going to wait for the day it happened and laugh my ass off, even if I was a hundred and it killed me.

It's never going to happen, Aiden said, lifting his chin defiantly. I'm a lone wolf…literally.

Just you wait.

Yeah, yeah. I'll stick to the single life until then.

What's so good about the single life?

Aiden tried to keep it to himself, I'll give him that, but as Collin pressed for more, Aiden's mind went to his most recent sexual encounter. I was sat in the middle of the forest watching a bunch of rabbits when the image of a screaming brunette entered my mind. She was on the counter of Fix 'n' Go, my view—or should I say Aiden's view—was looking down at her as she yelped and moaned.

Ew. Collin muttered.

Scrunching my nose, I shook my head to try and get it to leave my mind, but the pack mind-link was too strong. As Aiden thought of ABBA songs to distract himself, I realized who the girl was.

Is that Miss Callahan? I groaned. Aiden, man, she's a customer!

Now I knew why her car kept 'mysteriously' breaking.

Oops. She's hot though.

I'm never going to be able to look her in the eyes again.

That's all right. I'll deal with her myself.

I rolled my eyes at the double meaning of his words and got up to patrol properly. Even though they didn't take my mind of Claire really, it was nice to talk to another human-being again. When I got home, I collapsed into bed with the intention to sleep as long as I possibly could. If I had to live without Claire for a while, I wanted most of it to be spent in unconsciousness.

A week later, I was heading for the Uley house to see if Emily had heard anything from Claire when I felt a tug on my lower back. My skin began to tingle as I got closer to the property and my eyes widened when I realized Claire must be in La Push. Confirming my thoughts was her bright yellow car on the drive way, the same car I had spent months renovating myself when Claire was only fifteen.

"I didn't know who else to go to," I heard Claire murmur. "I trust you to help, so…"

"I'm glad, honey," Emily replied.

"I guess you know everything about me and Quil. I love him, but I haven't forgiven him yet. Do you think that's weird?"

"No, it doesn't," Emily chuckled lightly. "I went through all of this when Sam scarred my face."

Claire gasped. "Uncle Sam did that to you?"

"Yes. He was a new wolf and he lost him temper when I compared him to his father. I was standing too close and his claw caught me," Emily explained smoothly. "Sam tried to commit suicide afterwards. Anyway, I don't want to get into it too much. I loved him with everything I had, but the rational side of me said, how can you love someone who did this to you?"

"I never knew…" Claire murmured.

"Well, you wouldn't," Emily said. "It's not something we broadcast."

"So the bear attack?"

"Never happened."

"How did you forgive him?" Claire questioned quietly.

"I let myself." Emily answered easily. "Forgiveness is the hardest thing to do, but if you achieve it, you can be happy. The life I have with Sam is more amazing than anything I could have dreamed. I went through the same thoughts as you, Claire. Sam was with Leah before he was with me and I couldn't help but think he wouldn't be with me if it wasn't for the imprint. I thought it was forced," she paused to sigh wistfully. "But when you finally let things happen like they should, you realize it's so much more than that. It's fate. I genuinely believe that Sam and I would have eventually ended up together. We're soul mates, imprint or no imprint."

"Really?"

"Yes. It might have happened differently. We could have met later in life, already been married with children like Embry and Mollie. But in the end, we would have found each other. Imprinting is just another way of finding that person you're meant to be with, just a little quicker. It's fate's version of kicking us up the ass."

Claire gave a watery laugh.

"Honey, Quil loves you. More than you know. He's just like every other wolf. He hides things to protect us, but they're really being stupid. Sam tried to hide the Volturi battle from me for weeks until I made Paul tell me. I was so mad at him…then I realized that he was doing it because he loved me and he didn't want me to worry. Since I had my children, I understand him even more. You protect those you love."

My insides rejoiced at Emily's words. I owed that woman more than I could even begin to repay. She had pretty much been Claire's therapist throughout my fuck-ups. Not to mention she had fed and watered me more times than I could count, and also accepted me into her family when I imprinted on Claire all those years ago. I really needed to start doing more for her than random babysitting jobs when she and Sam wanted alone time.

"You explain imprinting a hell of a lot better than Quil did," Claire mumbled. "I need to talk to him, don't I?"

"Only if you want to."

I heard the chair scrape across the floor. "I do. I've missed him so much."

"Then go and see him."

Jumping away from the tree I was currently hidden behind, I strolled towards the Uley house like I had just turned up. I tried my hardest to make myself look as calm as possible even though my body was ready to explode. My breathing was slightly laboured as the front door open, my excitement reaching new levels at the prospect of making up with Claire.

She jogged down the stairs and headed for her car when she noticed me. Her eyes widened for a second before she smiled. "Hey Quil," she greeted.

"Hey."

I was so close to fainting, it was almost funny.

"I was coming to find you," she said, tightening the coat around her body. "I'm not saying I forgive you, but Aunt Em explained imprinting a bit more and what you said is making a lot more sense," she paused. "I just don't understand why you didn't tell me."

"I didn't want you to feel trapped," I explained. "I wanted you to have choices and to know that anything you wanted was possible…it sounds stupid, but I thought telling you about the imprint might stop you from thinking that you could do things. I didn't want it to be something that you resented, or for you to not do something because you felt like you couldn't—"

"Quil." Claire interrupted my rambling, stepping forward to rest her small hand on my forearm with an amused smile. "Has anyone ever told you that you worry far too much? And, honestly, did you really think I'd let this imprint stop me from doing what I wanted to do? Don't worry about that. I know you'd never stop me from doing anything, Quil. You're why I would do it in the first place…knowing that I'd always have your support no matter what."

I gulped, her words laying heavy on my chest. It was amazing to hear her say this after months of emptiness and depression. Even after everything I had done, she still loved me. She still trusted me and was still willing to forgive. For the rest of my life I would wonder what I had done to deserve her as an imprint, why the spirits had been so kind. All I could think of was that my dad had made some kind of deal with Taha Aki and sent me Claire as a guardian angel.

"Really?" I choked.

"Yes, Quil," she responded laughingly. "Don't sound so damn surprised. I've loved you since I was two, I'm not about to stop now. I know you have your faults and stuff…but who doesn't? I certainly do." I wanted to protest, to say that she was perfect to me (as cheesy as it sounded), but she seemed to be on some sort of speaking mission. "I just wish you could explain things better. You really need to work on that, by the way. I'm pretty sure your wolf form would have made more sense than what you did. You need to get over the whole overprotective wolfy thing that apparently all the imprinters do if we're ever going to get along again. I can't handle that for too long. And," she bit her lip and shrugged. "I really miss you."

I smiled, the first genuine smile I'd mustered for what felt like years. "I missed you, too."

"We need to stop fighting," she grinned sheepishly. "It's ridiculous now."

"I know."

"No more lies." She ordered. "There's no radioactive pets or super powers that I need to know about, right?"

I laughed. "No. A radioactive pet would be pretty cool though."

"It would."

With a slight laugh, she walked over to hug me. I savoured the comfort of her affection. The tension from my shoulders flew away and I relaxed for the first time in many months. Breathing in her beautiful scent, I wrapped my arms around her with the intent of never letting her go.

"If you lie to me again, I'll kill you."

Biting back the comment that it would basically be impossible to kill me unless she somehow got some vampire venom, I said, "Deal."

There was a sweet moment when we stood in silence, Claire in my arms in the middle of her Aunt's front yard. It was a moment I was going to remember forever, but then again, every moment with Claire was memorable. Resting my chin on top of her head, I closed my eyes and let out a content sigh.

"Quil?"

"Yeah?"

"You're still an idiot."

I grinned and squeezed her a little tighter. "Tell me something I don't know."

Thoughts?

Thanks for the review, favourites and alerts! And thank you for answering my question!

I'm sorry it's so late, all I can say is that I've been extremely busy. I have to revise for my exams (which start in seven weeks!) and, unfortunately, that takes time away from my writing time :( However, I've already started the next chapter and I'm about 25% through, so it might be out earlier than this one...hopefully...

-Laylax