claudia | embry call

five : it's complicated

"Embry?" Embry froze in place, his head snapping up from the ground. Their eyes met, and Embry's expression softened. Claudia's however, did the exact opposite. "What are you doing here?" Her arms crossed harshly over her chest as she stepped towards her house.

"I came to talk to you." His voice was quiet. She inched around him, her back now facing her house.

"So talk." She didn't want to let him back easily. If he wanted her back, he'd have to prove it.

"Look, I'm...I'm so sorry." He said, taking a step forward. "Things just happened so fast, and I didn't know what to do, but I...I do now. I know what to do."

"What are you talking about?" She asked. "What things? You just up and disappeared, Embry! You said you couldn't be friends with us, and disappeared."

"It's complicated, Claudia, but that's why I'm here-" He started.

"Complicated." She scoffed. "I think you misspoke Sam Uley's name." She rolled her eyes at the name. "Everyone knows you joined his stupid little gang, Embry."

"Gang? We're not a-" He tried.

"Oh please!" She exclaimed. "So cutting off all your hair, getting a tattoo, and dropping your friends over a single weekend isn't all because of Sam?" He stayed silent. "That's what I thought." She shook her head.

"It has to do with that, but it's not just because of him." He said. "This is just part of it. If you don't like it, I can grow my hair back out." His voice was hopeful.

"If I don't like it?" She raised an eyebrow. "Why would I care? You abandoned me, Embry! You told me, to my face, that you didn't want to see me anymore, be my friend anymore. Do you really think growing your hair back out is gonna solve any of this? Are you kidding me?"

"I'll make it up to you, Claudia, please." He begged, taking a few more steps. "I'll spend the rest of my life making it up to you."

"What are you asking, Embry?" Her voice was light as she looked up at him. It was the first time she'd been so close since he'd left, and she almost couldn't believe it. He couldn't have been more than 5'7" or 5'8" the last time she saw him, but he now stood well over 6 feet tall, being as she now had to look up at him. She'd never had this problem before. "How'd you get so tall, what the hell?" He let out a breathy laugh, moving ever closer. Her breath caught in her throat at his proximity.

"I'll explain it all, if you'll let me." His voice was soft as he reached a hand out, his fingers brushing against her arm. She gasped lightly.

"You're burning up." She said, forgetting her anger for a moment. She reached over, her cold hands wrapping around one of his. He hummed at the contact as she lifted one of her hands and pressed the back of it against his forehead. "Are you okay, Embry? You're on fire. Maybe you shouldn't be out in this weather." He let out another breathy laugh.

"I'm fine." She looked into his eyes for a moment before dropping her gaze, and her hands, quickly. "Let me explain."

"I..." She bit her lip. Make him fight, she had to remind herself. "No."

"What?" She looked back up to see a look of shock on his face.

"I said no, I don't wanna hear it." She took a step back, even though she very much enjoyed the best radiating off his body. "You...you can't just show up at my house and expect me to forgive you, Embry." Another step towards the house, away from him. "You broke my heart, you can't just waltz back into my life like nothing happened!" Her anger had begun to return as she took another step. "I-I don't wanna hear anything from you."

"Claudia, please..." Embry stepped forward, his hand outstretched, but she took a few steps back. His face looked about as hurt as she'd felt for the past few weeks.

"No." She said again, her heels now hitting against the bottom stair. "You hurt me, Embry. You can't just walk back into my life. Just...just leave me alone." She turned around, ignoring as he called her name. She fumbled slightly with her keys, only turning around when she finally had them jammed into the lock. Embry now stood at the bottom of the stairs, his hand on the railing with one foot on the lowest one. She didn't say anything before turning back around, shoving the door open and quickly shutting it behind her. She clicked the lock before letting out a deep breath, leaning back against the door.

There was no stopping the tears that followed, so she simply covered her face in an effort to muffle them and crumpled into herself, sliding down the door. She landed on the floor with her knees up to her chest, quiet sobs wracking her body. On the otherside of the door, Embry sat down with his back against hers, his head hanging low. He stayed until the crying stopped, which was nearly an hour. When she finally had no tears left, Claudia picked herself off the floor and trudged upstairs, discarding her dirty clothes in her room before hoping into a steaming shower. The heat reminded her of Embry, so she didn't linger long.

Soon enough, she was cuddled up in bed, her lights off as she laid on her side and stared out her window. The crisp night sky had finally cleared, the moon and stars shining brightly over the water. Just as she was finally drifting to sleep, her mind stuck on the sad, pleading face of Embry, she could hear her wolf howl in the distance.