Hey, folks. I'm trying to get this fic caught up to where it's at on AO3. - Some of you might have read ahead there but if you haven't, let me know your thoughts on this fic. All reviews are appreciated and welcome! Thanks for sticking with me, readers. You are appreciated!
Ps. Extra Hello to the Ratties. Let me know if you're here. xoxo
Quil called back a few minutes later, telling Bella to come and get him. He rarely missed school, so Joy gave him the okay to spend the day in Forks instead. Leah couldn't call off, however. Her job allowed her three days off for Harry's heart attack, and she feared she was on thin ice already.
With a little more shake in her anxious hands than usual, Bella fired up her truck and drove to LaPush to get Quil.
As she neared the reservation, she screamed as a massive, half-naked figure darted into the road. Luckily, she avoided impact by a hair and skidded to a stop on the shoulder of the highway. Bella turned to see if they were okay, and her passenger door flew open. She gaped in stunned silence as a sheepish Embry climbed into the passenger seat.
Despite his much larger stature, he flinched as she shrieked, "What the hell are you doing? I could have killed you, you idiot! "
Embry wiggled his finger in his ear as though trying to clear it. "Shit, Bella. I think they heard you in Canada!"
She was in no mood for teasing. Bella yelled, "Why the hell did you do that?"
Cringing over her volume, he asked, "Make you stop?"
"No. Get ice cream without sharing," Bella hissed sarcastically.
He grinned as he tried not to laugh, rubbing his ear. "I gotta warn you, Bella." Embry glanced around as if searching for someone.
"If it's about Jake…" Bella shook her head as she recalled Jacob's cold tone on the phone. Embry's eyes widened as he impatiently waited for her to continue.
She said, "He's part of Sam's crew now, right? I know. I talked to him this morning, and Sam was there. We fought. It was pretty clear he had no intention to see me anytime soon… if ever again. I'm sure Sam would rather he didn't."
Embry's face fell. "I see. That wasn't what I planned to say, but I knew you'd figure that part out somehow."
So, Embry knew Jacob would eventually blow me off, too? Bella hated admitting how much that hurt. Why couldn't Embry have told her sooner? She could have prepared herself for the heartache. Bella had already known something was going to happen… She'd felt that in her gut for days. And now she'd lost Jake, and there was nothing to do about it except hope he came to his senses.
Harsher than intended, she grumbled, "What did you plan to warn me about? Obviously, not Jacob phasing into one of Sam's disciples."
Embry snorted, but Bella was unsure why what she said was so funny. He sighed and said, " Sam. Let's just say he has a superior sense of smell."
And an ego to match. Bella scoffed. " And ?"
Embry's cheeks reddened as he said, "Sunday night when I went to your house… " He held his hands up in peace, confusing her again as he added, "Which was a complete coincidence, Bella, I swear to the Gods."
She tapped her fingers nervously on the seat beside her thigh as she waited for him to finish his point. Embry grabbed her hand and gave it a gentle squeeze to stop her nervous fidgeting.
He said, "Apparently, Jake's whole bedroom still smelled like you on Saturday." Embry cleared his throat and added, "From the night before, I guess."
Okay? I don't get it. She always slept in Jake's room. Of course, Sam had known Bella was there, and, of course, her scent would probably linger, too. It wasn't shocking when she was there so often. Jacob was also very fond of her perfume. Despite the light, fruity scent, she probably wore too much if it lingered behind for days.
Bella couldn't understand why any of that mattered to Sam or Embry. Embry was at her house when she got home, so Sam must have been in Jake's bedroom while Bella was still at Leah's. Billy had said Sam helped him take Jacob to the ER that night. Had that been the truth? Still, why would Sam need to be in Jacob's bedroom? Not to mention what a mess the small space became when Bella didn't pick up for him. Jacob rarely changed his sheets unless Bella spent the night. It was as if he was always saving the clean ones for her specifically. How dirty he liked them was his problem as long as they were clean when she was in them, so Bella never bothered to think about it.
"Okay, I'll bite," Bella grumbled. "What the hell does my scent have to do with anything?"
"When I returned to the Res on Sunday morning, Sam… smelled you. On me." Embry laughed nervously. "He didn't even question why, which was surprising, but he griped about being saturated in your scent, just like Jake. I didn't tell him I slept over, and he never asked, but he acted suspiciously all day."
"That's fucking weird," Bella grumbled. "It's weird that Sam knows my scent and weirder that he recognized it on you well enough to identify it."
Embry said, "He told Jacob, Bella. He told him about me showing up, reeking of your scent."
Oh… OH! "Wait, please tell me Jake doesn't think something is going on with…" she gestured between them, and Embry shrugged.
"I honestly don't know what Jacob thinks. I didn't know you and Jake were doing whatever you were doing. I still don't know what you're doing, but with how Jacob whines about you and how defensive he gets. I guess something changed. And that shit doesn't matter because nothing happened between you and me. Sam's been more or less camping out at Jake's side all week, taking care of him."
Bella sighed. "Does that mean he's actually sick?"
Embry hesitated to answer. "He's… not well. That's all I can tell you."
Definitely not mono. No wonder Billy had been cold and avoidant. He probably felt guilty for lying to my face. And yet, she'd heard Jacob in his room, clearly in pain. Was that pain because of her? Did he think she'd fooled around with Embry? Had Sam convinced Billy of the same thing? What had Sam done?
Her cheeks burned as Bella fumed, "So, Sam knows what my perfume smells like. I could have simply run into you somewhere. Why does it matter? Why would he interfere like that? Please tell me you will set Jake straight about this, Embry!"
Embry nodded. "Sam hasn't talked to me about any of this himself. I only know what I heard from Paul, and Paul said that Sam claimed he could smell me on you on Sunday, too. That was hours later. And he told Jake about it because he thought he should know, especially after you made some snide comment about Sam not letting you kiss Jacob goodbye."
Great. Bella had to admit it seemed a little suspicious, but she and Embry were only friends. Jacob could have asked. Hell, Sam could've asked, even though it wasn't any of his business.
She said, "So, I'm assuming Sam doesn't know you're talking to me right now? Is this another secret interaction that's going to cause more problems?"
Embry barked out a bitter laugh. "Oh, he'll find out. I'm dead meat, for sure… but you are my friend and Sam… Sam's honestly not intentionally problematic. He's just…"
Bella scoffed and said, "A meddling, arrogant asshole ?"
Embry frowned and shook his head no. "Believe it or not, Bells, he's trying to protect everyone. I mean, all of us. Including you."
"After how he talked to Charlie this morning, it seems a lot more like he wants to protect Jacob from me. Or just separate us." Bella huffed as she crossed her arms over her chest. No one asked for Sam's protection. They didn't need his interference. She blinked back tears and whispered, "I miss Jake, Em. It's been five days, and I feel dumped. Gaslighted and fucking ghosted. Sleeping next to you was easy because it was like being next to Jake. I don't know what to do without him."
Embry passed her a sympathetic glance, "I didn't know things between you two had changed that much."
"They were only starting to… I mean. I'm not entirely sure how far we would've gone. Jacob is my best friend. I was already afraid of losing him. Sam's meddling caused the same result either way. Jacob acted like he couldn't stand me this morning, and Sam actually dared to badmouth me to my father. I'm guessing the parts I didn't hear were about this."
And Charlie had already asked her if she was the reason Jacob and Embry weren't talking. Ugh. She would have to chat with him about it again. Bella wanted to trust Charlie the way she should be able to trust her father, and she wanted him to trust her, too. Stupid Sam Uley was interfering with her entire life. Fuck.
She bit her bottom lip to stop it from trembling as their earlier conversations ran through her mind. Bella had not been very friendly to Sam, but she couldn't help but feel on guard. Judging by the result, she was right.
Embry asked, "What are you doing out here anyway, Bells? I mean, if you're not allowed at Jacob's?"
Embry knew more than he was admitting. That much was clear. She shuddered and cleared her throat as she tried not to cry. "I came to pick up Quil."
"Oh." Embry picked at the torn edge of a rip in his shorts. "I see."
One good thing could come from this situation. Bella said, "We're going to a party tonight. Maybe you could sneak away or something? Come there for a little while. Then you could explain some things to Quil. At least let him know you don't hate him."
"He thinks I hate him?" Embry looked devastated at the thought of it.
Bella said, "Embry… What did you expect? You keep running away from him. He told you how he felt, and then you stopped speaking to him. You ditched us all. Logically, he would assume…"
"That I don't care about him, too?" His jaw tightened in anger as he tensed as if bracing himself for her judgment. Turning his upper body toward her, he snapped, "Do you all honestly think I don't care? That I don't give a shit about hurting the person I care about most? You, Quil, and Jacob are my only real family, Bella!"
Embry threw the passenger door back open and slid out of the truck. "I do care, Bella. This shit hurts me too, but I'm trying to protect Quil for as long as I can. I don't want to see you hurt, either. What we do… Who we are? It's dangerous. If I have to stay away to keep Quil safe, I will. I have always put Quil first, and I'm still doing that. I will never, ever, do anything else!"
As she opened her mouth to speak, he cut her off. "It's the same thing Jacob is trying to do for you." Embry slammed the passenger door shut and began walking away.
The familiar hollow ache in her chest bloomed in pain unlike any she'd felt in months. Bella's tears fell, dripping traitorously down her cheeks. She threw open her door and shot after him, gasping, "Embry, wait!"
He spun to catch her as she threw her arms around him and broke down in tears. Embry lifted her into his arms so she could bury her face against his throat, and Bella wrapped her legs around his waist. All trace of anger disappeared as Embry held her tighter, quietly shushing her as she sobbed against him, her shudders racking them both.
When she finally calmed enough to pull away, he gently placed her back on her shaking feet. He glanced around cautiously and whispered, "Go to Quil's. I know I asked you to keep it a secret, but I want you to tell Quil. Tell him the truth. Tell him everything. Sam can beat the hell out of me if he wants, but this shit hurts worse.
Bella nodded, sniffling. "C-come to my house tonight. Or the party. Tell him yourself, Embry.'
He grinned his soft, familiar, and shy Embry Call smile. "Does that mean I still have a safe place to go sometimes?"
"Any time," she insisted. "You can always come to me. Even if I'm mad about this insane situation, I'd rather you be safe."
Embry pulled her back against his chest and pressed a featherlight kiss on her forehead. He whispered, "Love ya, Bells."
"Love you too." She wiped her cheeks as she pulled away and snorted at the eyeliner on her fingers. When she looked up, Embry was gone, disappearing like a ghost, just as Quil described. Only the faint sound of his fleeting footsteps through the forest leaves remained.
Where the hell was he going? She sighed, more frustrated than ever as she walked back to the truck. Bella didn't know they had an audience as she climbed back inside and pulled her seatbelt on. She didn't see the russet wolf hiding in the trees or hear it snarling as she drove away.