Michael's POV

I walked back into the house looking at Alex and Nikita. "You both know how hard it is going to be for you to get a second chance. Like a real second chance."

Nikita looked at me. "Jake promised this would be the closest thing."

I crossed my arms, turning to John's bedroom. "Leah, can you come out here?"

She walked out of the room in her short shorts and tank top she had been wearing for the bar-b-que looking at us. "I am working with John on his homework."

Alex snickered. "Translation she is doing his homework for him, so he doesn't get in shit anymore."

I turned to look at Alex. "Really not helping." Before turning to Leah. "How close is the bond between Quil and Embry?"

Leah looked at me. "Why do you ask?"

Nikita smiled. "Quil came up with a plan to let Alex have a second chance to talk to Charlie. Only it involves two other individuals talking with Alex first."

Leah smiled. "Who are the other two individuals?"

"Paul and Jared. Apparently, they are friends with Embry and can make him see that I am the better option." Alex smiled.

Leah scratched her head. "Paul and Jared are pretty tight. But you are talking about them convincing Embry to give you a second chance and that won't be an easy thing. See both Paul and Jared have a similar connection with girls as Embry has with Charlie. If Quil suggested it, I can probably bet that he is going to chat with one or both of their other halves if not them to make them see it his way. So, I hope you made a good first impression with Quil."

Alex hung her head. "I'm sunk. There is no way to do this where I am actually going to win. Maybe I should have gone for the first plan they had suggested, at least then I could have plead my case to Embry himself."

Leah started laughing. "I'm sorry, really I am." She turned down the hallway yelling at John to come out into the kitchen. "What happened last time someone hurt your sister's feelings in front of Embry?"

John smiled. "Like outside of the group?"

Leah nodded. "In the group doesn't really count cause Embry would take care of that another way."

John shivered. "The girl left the school, like transferred to another one. Think she might be at Forks now but can't be sure. And that is if Embry gets a hold of them, would hate to see what would have happened if Charlie had."

I looked at Nikita. "There might be nothing we can do." I turned to Leah, with a hopeful smile. "Please tell me you know something that might help bring this back to an even ground for us."

Leah thought for a second. "Honestly, I don't think there is. The only thing you really have going for you is that Paul and Jared are outside of their immediate group of friends. So maybe setting up the meeting for as soon as possible might be the best chance you have. But knowing Quil he will probably catch them tomorrow morning if your first impressions were really bad, or he could go straight to Embry and tell him about this plan. There are lots of options for him, and with bloodlines not even Sam will stand in his way unfortunately. Quil is the type of friend to Charlie alone at he would tell her and then she has power enough over both of those boys."

Alex looked at her. "Wait … how does she have power over those two boys?"

John giggled from his seat. "I still have a page of history work to get done." He kissed Leah.

I looked over at Alex during the kiss, she was awkwardly looking away from them.

"Okay go get your schoolwork done, leave your girl friend to help us."

I glanced at Nikita, gesturing towards those two and then Alex.

Leah smiled pushing John away. "Go get it done, then we can finish our other chat." She winked at him before turning to us. "Charlie is really good friends with Kim, and her and Rachel do get along really well too. Enough so that if Charlie asked both of them to freeze the boys out for a few days that they both would." When Alex gave her a weird look, Leah continued. "I have seen it happen with Kim and Jared, believe me. Charlie made everyone suffer pretty badly until Jared did what she had asked him to do. He was a miserable boy for about 2 days."

I nodded. "So basically, we have to stop either boy from talking to Quil, Embry, Jake or Charlie?"

Leah smiled. "That would work if the group was only that small. But if Quil wants them to see something one way he will make it happen. Probably the only reason why he would have suggested this is if he knew there was a way that he could fix it to go one way. Especially if the message Jake sent out to everyone was serious."

Nikita looked at me then at Leah. "What did the message say, and what do you mean everyone?"

Leah smiled. "By everyone I mean the entire extended group. As for what it said," She pulled out her phone. "I need to steal Quil for a bit, can someone cover him. I need him to help look after Embry's needs as we discuss something over at Charlie's place." She put the phone back into her pocket. "By that I can tell you Jake wasn't happy, and both Charlie and Embry are going to be asking questions, if not at breakfast tomorrow morning, then definitely in private after it." She shrugged. "Now if you don't really mind, I do have my other half in that room working on some really boring school, which he is doing himself." She turned to Alex. "Part of the issue was he was failing his tests so me doing the work isn't going to help him. I would stop digging yourself a hole and start trying to climb out of the one you are already in." With that she turned going back upstairs to John's room shutting the door behind her.

I breathed out a sigh. "Alright let's hit this tomorrow morning or maybe wait until Monday. I will catch Jake after class and see what we can do to actually give Alex a fighting chance here."

Nikita and I went into the bedroom down the hallway and shut the door.

"Do you really think it is possible that she does get an even chance?" she asked me.

I shrugged. "Honestly, I don't know. Right now, it isn't going to be easy especially with that comment she made to about John and then the one about the kiss. Leah might be right that Alex has dug herself a hole that she might not be able to get out of."

Nikita shook her head. "You want to text Owen find out if he is coming back here tonight?"

"You going to try and catch him in the hallway again?" I asked her, pulling out my phone to look at it. He had already texted me though. "He already has texted saying he is staying over on Birkoff's couch."

Ryan's POV

I texted Charlie trying to just make sure she was okay. She only sent me back a thumbs up which I was completely fine.

Owen was in the living room playing video games with Birkoff. I did think he would be the best one to chat with Charlie. Though I was slightly annoyed at Nikita for not coming to me about the fact that Alex wanted to talk to Charlie before she decided blow this all up in our faces tonight.

"Birkoff, was this the first you heard about Alex wanting to talk to Charlie?"

He shook his head. "Last night, Owen and I both got a text from Michael that Alex wanted to be the one to chat with her. Though I wasn't expecting what happened tonight to actually happen."

I turned to Owen. "Is she over Sean yet?"

He shook his head. "When that Nolan guy mentioned him. You didn't see her face she was almost in tears. I don't think her talking to Charlie is going to be good for either one of them. Charlie needs to be able to talk openly about how she feels."

Birkoff nodded. "If Alex isn't over Sean, we could be looking at a massive problem when she goes to talk to Charlie and without any of us there it isn't going to be good. She could very easily start to spiral again on us."

I looked at Birkoff. "Is there anything we can do?"

Birkoff nodded. "I have Kim in one of my classes. She is Jared's girl friend. I can ask her to see if he will come see me on Monday at lunch."

Owen gave him a funny look. "If Nikita hears about this, she isn't going to be happy about it. She wants it to be Alex talking to Charlie."

I shrugged. "We all know how bad that will turn out. If Alex asks you, just say you are doing your job protecting her."

Birkoff shrugged. "But with how Quil and Jake were being this evening when they came back. You can probably bet that Quil is going to be on your side for who gets to talk to Charlie. He didn't like how Alex was talking to him. Nor did he like the idea that Alex was listening to the conversation you were having with Charlie."

Owen smiled. "So, if that is the case we just let it be. Paul and Jared will make their recommendation to Embry but since Embry already knows me and Alex refused the chance for him to get to know her, we just make sure he knows about that."

I nodded. "Sounds like a valid plan. Did you want to invite the two of them over for Sunday night's dinner and have some more video game time?"

Owen smiled. "I would love a rematch, maybe in a game they aren't so good at." He turned to Birkoff with an evil grin. "Please tell me you have a game she is bad at."

He thought for a few minutes before going over and looking through his collection. "There are some I don't know if she has played or not but other than that I'm not sure."

Embry's POV

After Jake sent out that text, I itched with need to find out what had happened. I mean I knew what I walked into. A girl standing there, I later learned her name was Alex, listening as Charlie talked about her assignment and a few of the pictures in her sketch book.

Quil hadn't returned yet. Though Charlie was sleeping soundly in the room upstairs. Emily had been baking part of the night and Charlie had helped her. Quil had stopped by here before heading over to Charlie's place to handle this discussion what ever it was. I could email Birkoff and find out though it wasn't a school matter.

I sat in the chair in the living room just waiting for her to get up. Paul and Jared had taken the shifts last night so the two of them would be tired today. Though it was Saturday, so they would probably come for breakfast then head out to see their girl friends and get some sleep.

Quil smiled at me as he walked into the living room. "Charlie, awake yet?"

I shook my head. "Not yet. She seemed pretty freaked out still last night. Her mind was racing so fast on me I couldn't keep up with it."

Quil nodded pointing outside. "Jared and Paul will be back in about 3 minutes. I want to chat with them and you, outside."

I nodded as he walked for the door, and I walked for the kitchen. "Hey, Emily. I'm going to go see what Quil wanted, he is joining Paul and Jared outside. Let Charlie know where I am if she is wondering please."

Emily nodded to me with a small smile.

I went out smiling at Paul and Jared. It was a bit weird we hardly hung out anymore though Jared had been suggesting a movie night with dinner some night soon. He said we should since our two girl friends got along so well. Problem was despite all the guys looking at Charlie like she was my girl friend we hadn't actually had a conversation about that yet and until we did, I had kept telling Jared we would not be joining them for a double date.

Quil glanced around. "Jake went to see Nessie last night and he won't be back until later so we can talk freely." He took a seat on the pouch. "So last night when we went over to Charlie's place it was because somehow there was a miscommunication as to who was to talk to Charlie about her issues. Apparently, a few of them thought it should be Owen, and a few thought it should be Alex."

I glared at him. "What … no Alex can't talk to her I won't allow it. How could you have said yes to that idea, Quil?"

He let me rant then shook his head. "I didn't exactly have a choice, but I threw it in their face that it had to be someone that you were comfortable with. I tried every idea I could think of then I came up with one that I thought you might be okay with."

I laughed looking at Jared with a smile. "What me be there for the entire conversation and it happen over text between me and Charlie?"

Quil shook his head with a giggle. "Not quite. Both Alex and Owen are going to have a chat with Paul and Jared, and they are going to give their recommendation about who Charlie should talk to." He smiled at both of them.

Jared laughed. "And everyone went for this idea?"

Quil nodded. "Surprisingly, yes. Bit of a shocker too as the idea Jake had suggested would have been a lot easier and Alex may have actually had a chance."

Paul smiled. "Now we have to hear the other idea."

Jake smiled walking up to us. "It was that Alex gets to talk to Embry here on Monday after school and explain her side of the story." He turned to Quil. "How did I know you were going to discuss this idea with these three? Actually, I'm surprised that Charlie isn't out here too."

I shrugged. "Was a rough night."

Jake nodded. "What happened after you left the house last night?"

"We went to the beach so she could eat. For a bit she just wanted to be hugged and cuddled. I could barely move an inch away from her. Then we came here, and she practically dragged me into the kitchen to help make the muffins that she was working on with Emily. After that she started talking but it was really broken, like the thoughts in her head were moving so fast that her mouth couldn't keep up with it at all."

Jake nodded. "Almost like the memory nights you told us about?"

I thought back to the days after she had lost her parents. We would be talking about something then something would catch her attention and pull it off towards something about her father usually. That led me to think about the journal, I wonder if it is still in the same location it was in. Her father had given it to me said the key was somewhere else, and when Charlie turned 17 just before her 18th birthday, I was supposed to give her the journal.

I both nodded and shrugged. "Kind of like those but this was jumping thoughts." I stopped him from walking away. "But we aren't going to be letting Alex talk to Charlie. She was spying on her last night, like really spying on her." I lowered my voice so that Charlie couldn't hear me talking. "I don't want that girl anywhere near my imprint."

Jake nodded. "I understand. Though to keep good faith with them would you allow Paul and Jared to just attend that meeting with Alex. I know it will be a waste of time but seeing how they made the deal, will you help me keep our part of it?"

I nodded. "Just those two." I met eyes with Jake for a second, so he knew I was serious. All of these guys knew what it felt like to have an imprint. They knew the connection my wolf had with her even if she could only feel the want for physical closeness. "Then you break it to them that it will be Owen talking to Charlie. She knows him. I know him."

Jake nodded. "I will do that, and I will make sure I have Quil with me and we do it in front of everyone so there are no more miscommunications."

I nodded. "I'm okay with that then."

Jared waved to someone at the door to come outside. Charlie came wrapping her arms around my neck with a smile kissing my cheek.

Jared winked at me then whispered over to her. "Your boyfriend here needs some cheering up. Maybe talk to him about that double date Kim had mentioned to you."

Charlie glared at him for a second before sitting down on the steps. "Breakfast is ready if you want to go get the food."

We nodded as we raced for the house. "You know the food has been a hard topic for her."

Jared nodded. "Breakfast has been hard for her, that girl will out eat you sometimes during the day. She just can't eat breakfast, no problems with that."

I smiled and nodded at him before getting a plate and making sure I put some aside for Charlie for later as they had made some of her favourite food for breakfast.

I walked out handing her the plate I made up for her that was all wrapped up. "Don't worry, I'm not expecting you to eat that now. I just grabbed your favourite things so you can eat it later."

She smiled and snuggled against me as I at my breakfast. "Do I have to go home today?"

I shook my head. "You aren't going home until tomorrow afternoon. Ryan texted your phone asking if we want to come over for some video games tomorrow night. Apparently Birkoff and Owen want a rematch against us."

"So, dinner here or over there?" she asked me with a smile, pulling out her phone to look at it to see what the message said.

"Depends on which you want to do, now what was this about a double date with Kim and Jared?" I tried to play it serious, but all I wanted to do was laugh.

She giggled for a second. "So, Kim has been saying that we should have a dinner and movie night in Seattle some time. I keep trying to tell her that it would be weird cause we aren't dating, and they are though she doesn't listen to me."

I nodded. "So, what if the guys just went out, we get the original group together again and we go have a video game night or something?"

She shrugged. "I'll think about it."

Saturday passed without a flaw, about 9:30 Charlie had gotten hungry enough to eat the plate of food that I had set aside for her. Jake had gotten a call about Paul and Jared going over to meet with Alex on Tuesday. They were due to meet with Owen on Sunday afternoon. Both had promised that they would keep in mind how they would feel if it had been their imprints who had been spied on. As well as promising they would find out the full reason for the spying and why Owen hadn't stopped it. Though I was willing to give him the benefit of the doubt that he may have been paying more attention to Charlie then to other things around him because what I had told him the other day.

Dinner that night Sam announced that we were having a bonfire on Saturday night. When he said it he looked at me then pointed between me and Charlie. He was giving me permission to fill her in on us being wolves despite I don't think they have been able to find out anything more about what she was.

It seemed like everything was going fine until Leah came rushing in wearing a bra and shorts running over to Sam and whispering to him. Sam followed her out of the house not even giving Emily any indication that he would be back any time soon.

Later that night I was standing on the back porch as Charlie was sleeping. Sam returned looking a little cut up. "You okay?" I asked him.

He nodded. "John phased tonight. Still a little freaked out, I accidently got between him and Leah, and that didn't go so well." He wiped at the tiny scratch. "Emily shouldn't freak out too badly." He stayed quiet for a moment before motioning to the chairs. "How is Charlie doing?"

I shrugged. "Honestly, I don't know. I don't know if bringing her into this is actually going to help anything at all. I know it will probably help John deal with issues with his now parents, but I don't completely trust them."

He nodded. "I think you explaining the imprinting to her is going to help. It will help her sort out her feelings a little bit, at least about you. I know it won't answer everything, though one of these days we will sit down and explain what we learned from mine, Jake's and Quil's fathers or grand fathers. Though I am not entirely sure that is going to help either, other than to explain why Johnathan is the way he is right now." He laughed for a second. "Are you staying here for dinner tomorrow night?"

I shook my head. "Charlie said she misses her own bed but completely understands why I needed her here last night and tonight."

He paused for a second. "She knows the legends already, her father used to tell them to all 4 of you guys when you were little. If you wanted to, and Jake doesn't have a problem, you could show her and tell her before Saturday if you wanted."

I nodded to him. "I will check with Jake on Monday at work then maybe later this week we can chat about that after school or something."

He nodded. "Get some sleep. I know the weekend has been rough on you, I also know you haven't been sleeping very well lately."

I nodded to him. "Any ideas of how to help?"

Sam nodded. "Go join Charlie in the room. Let your wolf know she is safe. That connection will make it easier for you to sleep."

I nodded following him inside and upstairs. 2 minutes later Sam came to the door throwing me a pair of sweatpants with a wink. I smiled waving a thanks to him before getting changed. Charlie was curled up in a ball on the bed so very gently I pushed her over slightly then hugged her close. When she relaxed in my arms I smiled and kissed the back of her neck as I went to sleep.

Jared's POV

I glanced across the living room at Paul. "What time is that thing this afternoon?"

Paull pulled out his phone. Rachel happened to be sitting on the side where he doesn't keep it where Kim was sitting on my lap so I couldn't get to my phone. "1:30 he said to come when we are done lunch that he would be at Charlie's place."

Embry had taken Charlie out for the afternoon so we could even call Owen and have the meeting here not that we wanted to make the guy uncomfortable.

Kim turned around looking at me. "Why do you have to do this?"

I shrugged. "Ask Quil, he is the one that came up with the idea. Though the meetings are just a formality though Embry did ask us to find out a few things."

John walked into the living room holding hands with Leah.

I smirked at him. "Can we please finally say that you two are a couple now and make you patrol together so we can stop listening to her love monologue for you, John?"

John laughed. The change had made him calmer. He pulled Leah into his lap. "Yes, we are a couple and no we aren't patrolling together at least not alone. So, someone is going to have listen to us together."

I glanced at the clock. We had eaten lunch really early today we had decided to wait until about 130 before he headed over there.

Paul seemed really nervous as we walked over to Charlie's place. I glanced at him. "You heard Jake, this is basically just a formality. We get the answers to the questions that Embry has then we bounce."

He sighed. "It just feels wrong us doing this behind Charlie's back. You know she won't be okay with us doing this."

I nodded. "I know but Embry wants to keep her out of this decision. I'm sure he will tell her soon or Quil will. I'm surprised what we are, has managed to stay hidden as long as it has with those two."

Paul smiled. "Though I think that Embry has been given permission to tell her, you know with the bonfire happening on Saturday. There is no way that Sam would plan that just for John."

I nodded as we knocked on the door. Mr. Birkoff came the door with a smile. I only knew him because he was one of Kim's teachers.

"Owen is in the living room though I think you guys are heading to the back deck to talk." He smiled looking over to the living room. Owen was standing in front of the stack of games Birkoff had there. "I would stop trying to find a game we can beat those two at and go have your chat with these two, maybe ask them they might have an idea as to which game we can play and win at."

We both laughed. "Only two who have a prayer in beating Charlie and Embry together is Quil and Jake and that is only because they play just as dirty."

Owen looked up with a smirk on his face. "So, we just need some more education from those two then, should be easy to arrange."

Paul laughed and smiled. "We tried; they don't give out freebies to anyone."

We followed him out to the back deck and took seats in the chairs they had there. The deck was shielded sort of from next door as I didn't really want Alex to know when the meetings were happening.

"Charlie and Embry are coming over for dinner tonight."

Owen nodded. "Ya heard about that. Birkoff called and offered for Alex to come over. Almost an olive branch I think for me to try and fix that problem. But I can't see it actually helping, she is pretty pissed at me for unintentionally playing video games here with those two the other night."

Paul nodded. "Does Embry know she has been invited?"

Owen nodded. "I said I wasn't leaving until they get here and making sure they know about it. Though Ryan did text Charlie about it."

I nodded that was at least a good thing. "So, we really just have a few questions that Embry wanted us to ask you."

He laughed, before turning to the door. "Birkoff, you were right. Quil didn't keep his mouth shut."

We heard a yell come from the house.

Owen smiled at us. "Birkoff thought that Quil would end up telling Embry about the plan even though Jake said he would try to keep it quiet."

I smiled. "Well, they are close. So, I am guessing you have already figured out that we are just here for the answers to the questions and the chat will be over unless you need to ask us anything."

Owen nodded. "Charlie seems really sweet. I know she has lived through hell, and she has survived it which is amazing."

Paul nodded and I knew he was remembering that day when we found out their parents had been killed, and their bodies weren't able to be recovered. John had left almost immediately, to this day we still don't know where he went other than to see Sue Clearwater for a little bit. Charlie had not shown any kind of emotions, that was until the rage came out.

"So, I guess the biggest question that Embry wanted to know is why didn't you stop Alex from spying on the two of you last night?" I asked him.

He looked at me almost ashamed. "Embry had told me the night before about her sketch book. She had it on the table and immediately put it away. But before he left, we chatted about it. He had said that if it was on the table and I asked her about it to take my ques from her about if I could ask her questions concerning it. I was paying so much attention to her and watching for any sign that something could be wrong. I knew Embry was on his way over, Leah had told me that he should be here soon, so I went in to chat and she had the book there. She didn't say much about the drawings she was more interested in the school project she was working on."

Paul nodded. "One last thing, why do you think you are the better one to talk to her?"

I glanced at Paul, and he nudged his head over to next door. Up on the balcony of the house there was someone standing. I just shook my head, pulling out my phone and taking a picture.

Owen noticed what was going on but didn't mention anything. "Honestly, it was Ryan who asked me to talk to her. He read the file on her and thought I would be the best one. He explained it something like that we have both had our loses but have moved on from them. Both had the world ripped out from under our feet, but we are still moving forward, yes, we have our hiccups, but they don't stop us from moving forward." He glanced up at the balcony, smiling and waving at the female standing there. "That would be Alex."

Paul growled. "Did she not learn her lesson about spying well enough last night?"

I put my hand on his shoulder. "Stop. Go see Rachel. I'll call Jake and we can handle this one right now."

He nodded taking off through the back yard into the woods.

My phone was in my hand, I had realized I had dialed Sam's number and not Jake's. I had completely forgotten that Jake needed to be here after all Charlie and Embry were his. Though he would need to know about Paul, however maybe he already did.

'You needed something, Jared?'

"Yes, one Paul is on his way to get Rachel. I will explain later. Two I need Jake over here. Tell him I will meet him out front of Charlie's place. Have him bring Quil with him." With that I hung up. Marching back into the house. "You need to get Alex and the others over there here now. Have them come through the back yard." I walked out the front door looking at my phone, I need to calm down before I did something but obviously something needed to be said to this girl again.

Minutes passed when I looked up from the picture of Kim and me on my phone to see Jake and Quil running towards me. They were still human so that was at least good though I don't exactly know how long that would last.

"We were chatting with Owen outside. Part way through him answering a question Paul had asked we looked up cause we seen a door open to find Alex standing on the balcony looking and possibly listening on the conversation."

Jake fumed. "Where is Paul now?"

I shrugged. "Truly, I don't know. He almost went so I forced him to go to see Rachel. You know what your sister can do to him." I smiled at him. "I did tell Sam, so he is probably gone looking for him. He knows what a hot head he is."

Quil was just vibrating standing there.

"Owen knows I called you. I asked that the ones inside here call a meeting with everyone. They need to be told that this has to stop and no I am not keeping this from Embry." I told both of them. I lowered my voice though no one could hear me. "And I will be telling Charlie too. I had to practically beg Paul not to talk to her before we came here, claiming it was what Embry wanted. But this is now beyond all of that, and she is going to know that Friday night wasn't just a one off." I took a breath for a second. "Now I have a report to give to Embry then I'm going to spend my evening with Kim." When I started to walk away Jake called me back.

"Jared." He breathed. "I'm not going to order you not to do that because we both know you won't listen to me. I'm asking you though to let Sam know you are okay and talk to him. You have my word that you can talk to Charlie about this, though I would suggest you do it in person."

With that he let me walk away. After everything she had been through, she now has to deal with a girl spying on her at home as well. Kim had told me that the girls at school had been getting really bad though she said something this week had made it worse. I wandered for a while trying to figure out what could have happened this week to make it so much worse for her. Part of me envied Embry for the connection the two of them had though I truly would not want to be in his shoes.

I breathed running my hand through my hair. I was at First Beach. A place I loved both as a human and as a wolf. It wanted to close to Kim tonight. So, I pulled out my phone, maybe Embry and Charlie would meet us at the beach. Charlie should have gotten hungry for more food by now and she should have stopped by Sam's place. I texted Kim our usually code telling her 'beach … bring snacks, Embry, Charlie not a date' I knew if she had to show them that would at least bring a giggle to Charlie and make her more willing to come down. Why those two hadn't cemented everything must be a girl thing and I had plans to talk to Kim to see if she could get to the bottom of it."

Jake's POV

Emergency call from Sam number 14 of the day. I should have turned my phone off though for this one I was glad that I hadn't done that. It truly was an emergency. Quil met me at the door of my place and seemed to be fuming.

"Claire all good?" I asked him with a smile.

He nodded. "Ya she is fine. Though I had to drop her off with her mom. I'm missing out on time with my imprint because of a problem."

I shrugged. "Hopefully either Jared or Paul is there, and they have an answer as to what had happened that we got this emergency call. I was having a nap then was supposed to go over and see Nessie something about a school project."

Jared was there and he didn't seem happy. I was going to tell him to go see Kim the way he was acting but decided against it and just asked him to go see Sam and let him know what was happening. I had to let him walk away from me and this. I knocked on the door and waited patiently for someone to come and open it. When Birkoff appeared at the door he just opened it and let us walk in.

My eyes scanned the room looking directly at the two girls because I knew they were going to be the ones hitting us harder here.

"So, after Friday night I thought we had a deal?" I asked the two of them.

Nikita nodded to me obviously confused. "We do have a deal. Both Alex and Owen get to tell their stories to Paul and Jared. Then they will talk to Embry for these two." She pointed to Owen and Alex.

I glanced at Alex. "And where in the deal does it say spying on the chat would be allowed."

She opened her mouth then closed it but before she could speak Michael spoke. "You did what?"

I nodded. "Jared and Paul came over this afternoon to have the chat with Owen. Paul had to leave because he seen Alex here spying on them from the balcony." I looked at Michael. "Sam, Rachel, Jared and Kim are hopefully together or possibly separately taking care of calming him down."

Alex eyed me for a second before batting her eyelashes at me. "I was hoping to gain some insight as to what these meetings were going to be about. I only heard one question and Owen's answer to it."

I shook, though Quil who had originally been standing like a statue at my back finally unfroze and stepped in front of me. Loyalty was in him to the bone, and he was about to let it rip on everyone here that the chance to voice her opinion should be lost.

"You know that Jared is going to tell not only Embry about this but Charlie too? Though the connection between Jared and Charlie isn't that great the connection between Paul and her is huge. Her, Paul and Leah have this thing going. Been happening for years, the three hotheads of the group. Paul won't let this slide, and he probably disobeyed the request from Jared and went to Charlie first. Even if he didn't Jared will be telling her and Embry that you were caught spying again." He walked for the door, and I didn't stop him from going.

Nikita went to follow him, but Michael stopped her. "I wouldn't do that. You can't take him down even with your training. Just let him walk away, give him a chance to cool. I will try to talk to him in Gym class tomorrow."

Birkoff seemed just as mad at the situation. "Alex, I tried to offer you an actual chance to really get to know Charlie. Though I doubt Embry is going to let that happen now."

I looked between the two of them. "What chance?"

Birkoff waved his hands up in the air, as Ryan answered for him. "Don't worry Charlie and hopefully Embry knew about this. We had invited Alex over for dinner and video games. Just trying to even the playing field and hopefully giving the two of them a chance to get to know each other in a playful kind of way."

I looked at her. "So, he was helping you even the ground. And you go and spy on the conversation Owen is having with the two?"

Alex just shrugged. "I suck at video games, well most of them. And it wouldn't have been even at all because Owen had it first and he had the chat on Friday night with her. Plus, I wasn't even planning on coming or staying for after anyway. I have my chat set up with the two guys tomorrow afternoon and I was going to spend the time talking to Michael and Leah and John if they decided to come for dinner tonight at home."

I looked between Nikita and Michael. "John is dealing with some things right now. Sam is working with him on them but for the time being he is staying over at his place. Leah should be by later tonight or tomorrow morning to get him some clothes. He isn't even going to be at school this week probably other than for his tests tomorrow."

That is when my phone went off. I pulled it out glancing at it just as Ryan's went off too. My eyes shot up to his as he pulled out his phone and looked at it walking over to me.

Unknown number

'Ryan it's Embry. Thanks for trying but I don't think dinner is going to be a good idea tonight. Tell Birkoff thanks for the offer, but we need to stick around Sam's tonight. I'll be over to pack a bag for Charlie about 8ish please make sure no one other than you two are there.'

I sighed looking at him. "Reply however you want. Though now you have his number." I turned to Alex. "I would say good job. The dinner and games night you didn't want to participate in isn't happening now as I suspect Jared got a hold of Embry."

Ryan nodded but put the phone to his ear and walked away. I guess he was calling them. I know he missed her; he had said a few things to me on Friday night about how he had brought home a bunch of stuff to have her help him with it on Saturday evening when Embry was supposed to have been working, and she would have been stuck here.

Birkoff glared at her. "I told you the level of play doesn't matter. That playing was a chance for you to show her she can open up to you. That is all it was with Owen the other night. He and Embry got into it and started playing a game Charlie and I had saved. We had been questing together the other night after she was done her homework." He breathed running his hands through his hair. "I know you were upset about it. It took Ryan and I an hour last night texting Charlie back and forth, though I assume most of it was Embry answering us. To get the two of them to agree to this. Just dinner which Ryan was cooking up for us and video games. Owen was going to be here too but then he was going to get a phone call and be forced to leave handing you his remote for you to play."

I glanced at him. "Charlie knew that was going to happen?"

Birkoff shook his head. "No but Embry did. He called and we chatted. I gave him my word that nothing would happen. No serious talking just games and chilling and food."

I laughed for a second. "Not bad and if you got Embry to say okay to then he must have had an out he could have used."

Birkoff nodded. "We had discussed one if it was needed. But we had a deal that as long as no serious topic discussions came up, he was willing to give Alex a chance."

Ryan just shook his head. "Now all that work was for nothing, I don't know why we wasted our time." He glared at Nikita.

I took a deep breath. "Okay. I get that everyone seems really stressed. So, first thing first," I turned to Owen. "Did you get to finish your chat with Paul and Jared before all of this happened?"

He nodded. "Pretty much. I didn't have much more to say."

I nodded. "That is at least good. Second thing, Alex do you still want to have your conversation with them to try and win over Embry?"

She shrugged. "Would it be a fair try?"

I shrugged. "Honestly, at this point. I really don't know. I don't know if I can keep Paul away from Charlie that long because he is going to be the real problem. Though Jared and Embry talking. However, Charlie and Embry must be together if Embry was texting Ryan. So bottom line, I don't know how fair it will be for you."

Leah came and knocked on the back doors, before opening them. "Sam sent me thought you might need some more back up. Plus, next door is locked, and I have to get clothes for John."

"Quil went back to Sam's?" I asked her.

She laughed and shook her head. "Nope. Quil went to the beach. Ran into Jared, Embry, Kim, and Charlie there before Paul showed up with Rachel. Now they are all having a buddy-buddy time together chatting about all this. Sam's even bringing them down dinner to the beach. With the toppings for smores like Emily pulled out the good chocolate, you know the stuff from Charlie's secret stash she has at Emily's place."

My jaw dropped. That was super good chocolate if they were using it for that something must be wrong with Charlie. I shut my eyes feeling the line that connected me to Embry, he seemed calm enough right now that is. That must have been why Nessie was texting me; she probably got the call about the smores bonfire, and she wants to go.

I turned to Alex. "I do need an answer to know whether to send Jared and Paul your way tomorrow after school?"

Michael looked at me. "Move it to Tuesday after school."

I nodded. "That I can do."

Leah shook her head. "Jared works afternoons on Tuesday, and no one can cover for him."

I shook. Kim had a doctor's appointment on Tuesday afternoon and if Jared was over there or even at Sam's he was a mess thinking about everything. So, Sam had made it an unchangeable shift for him having taken pity on all of us and Kim. I mentally ran through Wednesday's schedule in my head. Paul was working afternoons that day, but I could swap out with him. However, if something happened Sam would have to be the one to take the call.

"How about this. It is still on, but I have to talk about dates with Sam. I will come see you tomorrow at lunch time?"

Michael nodded. "That will work. Bring Embry with you if you can pull those two apart long enough."

I nodded glancing over at Leah who was shaking her head at me.

When we got outside, she started walking next door. "Listen, Embry is telling or showing Charlie tonight about us. Sam said it would be fine. But you really need to talk to him, from what Paul said she finally opened up about something to the group this afternoon before Kim got there."

"What did she say?"

Leah shrugged. "I don't know. All I heard was Sam ordering me to come over here to help you. And him ordering Emily to dig into the secret chocolate pile and bring stuff for smores. Then he took off for the beach. Telling her to text Kim and tell her to stay home."

I scratched the back of my head. "I'll head there. You going to see John after you get him his stuff?"

She nodded. "The door wasn't locked; well, the back door was front one wasn't." she winked before walking towards the front door.

I started running for the beach. It must have been something big for all that to be required. I hoped it wasn't too horrible though.