Disclaimer: I do not own the Twilight books. I'm only borrowing the characters and will return them mostly unharmed. Except for Quil. He'll be severely shaken up by the time I'm done with him. Italic's are Quil's thoughts.

Quil awoke with a start, fumbling around in the darkness. He heard his cell phone vibrating on his side table. Frowning as he glanced at his bright clock, he prepared to yell at whoever was calling him at this hour. It was nearly one in the morning, for god's sake! He already told the pack he would be sleeping early after a grueling day of patrolling the rez. Who else would call? He finally grabbed a hold of his phone and squinted at the Caller ID: CLAIRE (MOBILE). He answered the phone with a lightning-fast click and answered the call:

"Hello?"

"Quil?!" He heard Claire's distressed voice on the other line but was distracted by the blaring music and loud voices in the background. He tried to suppress an angry growl as he began to suspect where she was. But just for clarification:

"Claire! Where are you?"

"Please, Quil!" she continued, disregarding his question in her panic. "Please! I- I want to come home! Can you come get me?! Now?"

"Claire.." he sighed at her distraught voice.

"Please, Quil!" she quickly cut him off before he could finish his sentence. He inhaled deeply, pinching the bridge of his nose and feeling his heart contract at her scared voice.

"Of course I'll come get you," he began, hoping to ease her fear for the present (he planned to give her an earful at a more suitable time). "But you have to tell me where you are." He paused, listening for her answer. He heard her stop breathing for a moment. "Claire, it's okay. Just tell me."

"I'm at Chase White's house." Quil tried to grasp the name from his memory. His anger flared up as he remembered the guy in question, bad-boy reputation included.

"Chase White? The football player?"

"Y-yes."

"Isn't he a senior? The one who got the DUI last month?"

"Yeah." Quil took some deep breaths, hoping to quell his impulse to yell and scream and stomp around in frustration. He simply asked Claire for the address, told her to stay put, and grabbed his car keys.

30 MINUTES LATER

Claire sat in the passenger's seat of Quil's car, bundled up in a blanket and frowning. Quil was silently fuming to her left, glaring at the empty road ahead of him. Both were thinking of the argument that had yet to happen. Claire quietly prepared herself for Quil's wrath, and Quil thought about what to do. He felt furious at Claire's stupidity for sneaking out to a party of wild teenagers. At the same time, he felt immense relief that he had caught her before anything catastrophic could have happened.

Should he yell at her? Yes, she had made a dumb choice, but he wasn't sure of their relationship anymore. At the age of sixteen, she was a young woman, finally growing into her independence. Did he still have the right to chastise her as a parent would chastise their child? Remembering the drunken teenagers and chaotic, irresponsible partying, he decided that yes, he still enjoyed that prerogative. He gripped the steering wheel tightly and began his speech:

"Claire, you know what you did was wrong. I'm not going to lecture you on what a stupid decision you made tonight. I just have a quick question." Claire raised her downcast eyes and looked up at Quil to show she was listening. He began again:

"What on earth made you think it was a good idea to go to Chase White's house and party with the entire football team and their slutty groupies!?" Claire's ashamed eyes drifted down to her knees. She didn't even know how to answer him.

"I.. I just thought a night out wouldn't hurt anyone. I didn't drink or anything."

"A night out wouldn't hurt anyone? Claire! You are sixteen! You have no business being at a party like that! Did you take the time to wonder why Chase White, of all people, would invite a sophomore to his party?"

"Our lockers are near each other, so we've been talking recently and I just thought―"

"No, you didn't think," Quil interrupted. "You didn't think at all. I expected you to be more mature about this and to think logically. There is only one reason why a guy like him would invite a girl like you to one of his parties." Claire blushed at what Quil was implying. She really didn't want to be talking about that with him. Quil continued on, unaware of Claire's discomfort:

"I thought you knew all this and that I could trust you to make good decisions. But I guess I can't. So, Claire, let me explain this to you: older guys are only after one thing, alright?" He found himself getting angry at her naivete: how could she put herself in such a dangerous situation? He began to rant as his raging frustration got the best of him.

"You should know that by now! God, have you learned nothing? Do you not listen to me when I talk? Don't you see all your stupid girl friends making all the same mistakes? I know you know better, Claire. What if I tell your parents where you were tonight, hmm? Maybe that would teach you to think before you act." Claire could feel her own anger start to stir: yeah, she had made a mistake, but she was not a child! He was being so patronizing! She decided to try and end the Quil's tirade before it got out of hand:

"I know, Quil, I know. I get it. You don't have to.. freak out like this."

"Oh, so now I don't get to freak out after you are the one who messed up! Don't you forget, Claire, that you were the one who accepted Chase White's invitation. What did you honestly think he wanted from you? Good, intelligent conversation?" Claire's temper was about to explode. Her eyes narrowed as she reached the end of her rope: Quil was taking this too far.

"Learn this now" Quil added, still not paying attention to Claire's reaction. "Any older guy who hangs out with you only wants one thing. He'll do whatever he can to get it from you, too. Don't be a dumbass, Claire. This is the real world."

Claire felt her blood boiling. Why was he talking to her as if she was an ignorant little girl?! She wasn't going to shut up and take it anymore!

"All this coming from a man who is nearly fourteen years older and spends most of his time with me! I should feel pretty worried." Claire regretted the words the second they left her mouth, stunned that she had actually said them. Meanwhile, Quil had pulled over to the side of the road and turned off the car. Shaking with anger, he slowly turned to face her and the words "if looks could kill" came to mind. For the first time in her life, Claire honestly had no idea what Quil would do. She had pushed him too far. Suddenly, Quil's quivering stopped and his face became totally blank. Only his burning eyes betrayed his fury. Claire remained frozen as she waited for him to react. Suddenly:

"If I wanted anything from a woman, trust me, I wouldn't have to go to a sixteen year old GIRL to get it." He smirked but felt his quick sense of triumph crumble at the stricken expression on Claire's face. She quickly turned away from him, but not before he saw the tears gathering in her eyes. He suddenly wished that the ground would open up and swallow him whole.

AN: So, there you have it. The question for this chapter was "Can you come get me?". Stay tuned!