Disclaimer: I do not own the Twilight books. I'm only borrowing the characters and will return them mostly unharmed.

Enjoy and review! Italics are Quil's thoughts.

"How many women have you been with?"

Quil knew that something was bothering Claire. She had passively accepted his kiss on the cheek after opening the front door before gliding towards the den and settling in front of the TV absentmindedly. Quil had followed her closely and plopped down on the couch next to her, brushing her arm with his to catch her attention. He had even smirked at her in the way that always brought a smile to her face, and she had simply stared at him intently for a moment before looking away and chewing her lip.

He was torn between admiration for the now-pouty red lip and concern for her uncharacteristic silence. His brow furrowed in confusion as he checked the date on his phone, confirming that she was not experiencing general feminine grumpiness associated with certain times of the month. He mentally went through a laundry list of possible causes for her far-off gaze and distraction. Nothing particular came to mind, and he was left looking at her profile in puzzlement.

"Uhm... Claire?" She turned her blank stare in his direction, looking at him expectantly.

"Uh... Is there anything bothering you?" She blinked at him once.

"No.." she answered slowly. "Not... Not really." She shifted her weight on the cushion, and Quil saw her eyes nervously twitch towards the edge of the coffee table in front of the sofa. For the first time, his attention was drawn towards a colorful magazine resting innocuously by Claire.

"What have you got there?" He reached over slowly, jumping back as he saw Claire make a sudden movement towards the magazine as if to snatch it from his gaze. Fortunately, his lightning-fast reflexes had the magazine caught in his grasp, and Claire simply buried her face in her hands and sighed resignedly. His eyes widened as he noticed a tell-tale blush slowly blooming on her cheeks and neck. What was going on?

He looked down at the magazine in his hand, forehead furrowing as he stared at the large letters printed across the front: COSMOPOLITAN. His eyes started to widen further as he noticed the headlines splashed across the front page: 10 THINGS THAT WILL DRIVE HIM CRAZY! WHAT YOUR MAN REALLY WANTS IN BED! NEW SEX STATISTICS THAT WILL SURPRISE YOU!

He drew his gaze from the sultry woman posed provocatively on the cover and stared at Claire in shock. She was seventeen! Why was she reading this? Did she think they were going to-?

"Uh... why are you reading this, Claire-bear? You know we aren't- we won't- I mean, we're not ready for..."

Claire rolled her eyes and snatched the magazine back from him. "Relax, Quil. I wasn't going after all the sex articles to learn how to... make you happy. I know we aren't even close to that point."

Quil let out a breath and laughed nervously, pulling Claire near, settling her against his side, and plopping a kiss on her head.

"So... why were you reading it?" Claire huffed and snuggled under Quil's arm.

"Sarah said that the average man has seven sexual partners by the time he becomes an adult," she began softly. "I didn't believe her, so she lent me the magazine where she got the statistic from. I just read it."

"And?"

"And, according to this study, it's true." Claire sat up slowly and Quil idly stroked her cheek. "I was just surprised. That seems like a lot of women for each guy."

Quil nodded seriously. "Not every guy is committed to one woman, Claire-bear. You have to look around for the right person sometimes. A lot of the times it's not even about finding the right person. Some people just do it for fun and it doesn't really mean anything."

"Yeah..." she agreed quietly, looking out the window thoughtfully. Quil's brow furrowed as he noticed the far-off look enter Claire's face.

"Is there something else on your mind?"

Claire's head snapped back in his direction, the blush dusting her cheeks growing darker.

"How... how many have you been with?" Quil blinked twice.

"Women?"

"Yes."

"I've been with... sexually?"

"Yeah."

Quil rubbed his face with the palm of his hand, exhaling deeply in disbelief. I cannot believe I am about to have this conversation.

He turned to Claire, grasping both her hands in his own. He sent up a brief prayer that she would not react too badly.

"You have to realize that I'm over 30 years old, Claire-bear, even though I act like a child sometimes." He grinned playfully. "I was just over 16 years old when I met you. You realize that, don't you?" She nodded silently, her heart thumping in her chest.

Quil could feel the pulse in her palms speeding up and kissed her hands gently, trying to make her relax a bit.

"I've been with two women in my life." Claire's chest spasmed in burning jealousy, her stomach filling with heavy emotion that felt like a bucket of lead. Though she had suspected that Quil had been with other women, she could not help the surprise she felt at the confirmation that he had just given. She turned her eyes away from his, looking at the magazine resting once again on the coffee table. She began to feel alarmingly insecure and inadequate: she didn't have any experience compared to him! He must think her a naive little girl! Panicking, she tried to reclaim her personal space. Quil tightened his hold on Claire's hands as she tried to slide them out of his grasp.

"Stop. Stop it. Listen to me!" He pulled her hands roughly to his chest, trapping her tear-filled eyes with his. "Listen to me, Claire. That was a long time ago. The first was before I even knew you existed. The second was a mistake not long after I met you." Claire took a moment to process what he was saying, calming down slightly. That meant he had been single for over 15 years! Still, she had caught on to the word he had used:

"A mistake?" she asked.

"Yeah," he sighed. "I was trying to run away from something I thought I had been forced into. I thought being with her would help, but it didn't. It was terrible." Claire rubbed her thumbs against his hand, sensing that he truly regretted the incident.

"What did you think you were forced into?" Quil sighed, bending down and kissing her palms again.

"It doesn't matter anymore. The point is I never made the same mistake again." Claire heard the tone in his voice that said he wouldn't go into anymore detail and decided to let him escape with his vague answer. She sat silently, not really knowing what to say.

"Are you upset with me?" he asked gently. Claire thought for a moment. She was not angry at Quil, she decided. Jealous of the mystery women? Of course. Angry that she had to share that special part of Quil with others? Yes. Wanting to know who they were so she could suck out their private memories of Quil with a straw? Duh. But she could not blame him.

"No," she answered honestly. "I mean, I can't really get upset over what you did over a decade ago. I don't have to like it," she added with a smirk. "and I don't. But, I can't really change it."

"It was a long time ago," he repeated. "There's someone else on my mind nowadays." He smiled softly before tilting Claire's head upwards, brushing their lips together. Claire finally relaxed a bit, returning the kiss happily. She had just moved her hands into his hair when-

"Don't get me wrong! I got lots of offers." Claire sighed dramatically, moving towards the other side of the couch and resisting the urge to kick him.

"... I mean, come on! I was young, muscular, powerful..." Claire rolled her eyes.

"... couldn't resist the tattoo..." She mentally shook her head, trying to hold in her giggles.

"... just a sexy, lovable guy all over!" he declared happily. "Everyone wanted a piece of this." He caught sight of her look of skepticism. "What?! They did!"

Claire's laughter suddenly filled the air. "Of course they did, Quil. Of course they did." She settled back on his lap, kissing the petulant pout from his face.

Alright, guys! There you go. Feel free to share your thoughts/ideas!