cold -embry call-

eleven

I wake up a little while later to a cold bed and no Embry in sight but the smell of food wafting from the kitchen. I walk downstairs, rubbing the sleep from my eyes before stopping in the doorway of the kitchen. "Embry?" He turns, his face lighting up. "Hey, beautiful. Your dad let me cook when he found out as I was still here." He stands at the stove as I walk to him, wrapping my arms around his waist as the front door opens. I hear dad talking to Bella. "You know, Edward could at least respect meal times." He says, clueing me in that Bella had continued to stay with Jake when I left.

"I was just with Jake." She says. I try not to eavesdrop most of the time, but today I feel nosey, so I move to the doorway to listen. "Oh," Charlie says. "Good." He says before someone knocks on the door. I quickly turn back to Embry as he laughs. "Nosey." He says quietly, leaning over to kiss my forehead. I pout. "I am not." He laughs again, turning the stove off. "Something's wrong." I hear Edward whisper before he walks into the kitchen, taking a deep breath before shaking his head, wincing slightly, and walking away quickly. My brows furrow and I turn to Embry. He shrugs.

Soon enough Bella and Edward are rushing out just as Embry is plating the meal and calling out to Charlie that it's done. "What'd you cook?" I ask. "Chicken Alfredo. My mom taught me how to cook it a few years ago." He says, handing me a plate. I smile, kissing his cheek and sitting at the table. "Well, doesn't that look good," Charlie says, sitting at the table across from me. "Where did Bella and Edward go?" I ask after a moment of silence, all of us eating, me more slowly than them. "To the Cullens." Charlie huffs, sighing. "For what?" "I'm not sure. Bells just said she was headed out."

I shrug, moving the food around on my plate to make it look like I ate more than I did. Embry sets his hand on my thigh beneath the table, calming my nerves and distracting me from the fact that I'm eating. We joke around and that also distracts me. Embry is a huge help in getting better. Bella comes back late into the night as I'm lying in bed beside a sleeping Embry. I sneak out of my bedroom, walking into hers. "Why did you go?" I ask cautiously. "None of your business." "I'm just curious." I hold up my hands in defense. "Good for you." She snaps, continuing to text someone.

"I'm sorry?" I say my apology more as a question than a statement, not understanding what I've done wrong. "Get out, Alexandria." She stands, shoving me out and slamming her door in my face. I squeak slightly, she had narrowly missed my fingers on her doorway. Embry's out and checking me over in seconds. "I heard- Are you okay? Did something happen?" He throws question after question at me, my heart swells at the concern. "I'm okay." I smile, taking his hand and pulling him back to my room. The following morning, Embry and I are leaving for school when Jake walks out of the house behind Bella, scowling.

"Whoever it was, he left his stink behind." He says. I slowly shove my bag behind my seat, listening to their conversation. "It'll be hard to miss when we run across it again. We'll handle it from here." His voice is calm and sure. "We don't need you to handle anything. Or anyone." Edward almost snaps. "I could care less what you need," Jake says. Embry sets his hand on my arm. "We need to leave. We're gonna be late." "Yeah, just, give me a sec," I say, listening again. "All right, we're done here," Edward says, looking at Bella. "No, you're done here," Jake growls. "Andria, come on." Embry pleads.

I nod, jumping into the passenger seat of my truck as Embry climbs into the driver's seat. "You're eavesdroppy recently." He says as he drives. "I can't help it. I feel like I'm out of the loop on everything. What the hell were they even talking about back there?" I throw my hands in the air, groaning slightly. "A nomad, that's a vampire that moves around constantly, was in your house yesterday." He winces back slightly when I snap my head toward him. "And you didn't think to tell me?" "He never came in your room. I didn't think it was a big deal." He says softly. "You knew," I say incredulously.