cold -embry call-

thirteen

As I'm walking Seth home I hear something in the woods. "Now, Alex, I'm gonna need you to stay beside me. We're gonna run." Seth calmly says. "What?" "Now, Alex." We take off running, getting to his house in under a minute. He opens the door, pulling me inside. "You've gotta stay here tonight. Embry won't want you walking home by yourself." He says as Sue comes in, a questioning look on her face. "Mom, Alex has to stay here tonight." Seth tells his mom, his face serious. "Oh, okay, I'll get the guest room set up." She says as I pull my phone out. "I gotta call dad." I state, walking away.

"Alex?" Charlie asks when he answers. "Hey, I can't get home tonight, Embry doesn't want me walking in the dark. And he's out for the night so he can't drive me." I say, twisting my hair around my fingers. "Are you safe?" Is his next question. "I'm at the Clearwater's. I'm most definitely safe." "Okay. As long as you're home in the morning." I nod, saying okay before hanging up. "Everything good?" Seth asks. I nod, turning to him. "We probably should've stayed at Sam's." I laugh slightly but I'm more worried about what was out there. "Yeah, probably." He chuckles but it's forced.

"I'm sure we're okay." I state, setting my hand on his shoulder. He nods. "I'm sure we are." We sit in the living room watching movies for a while before I end up falling asleep. I wake up the next morning in a bed. My heart picks up when I realize I'm not in mine, Sam's, or Embry's bedroom. The door opens and in walks Leah. "I wanted to make sure you were okay. Your heart- I heard- Are you alright?" She stumbles through her words as I nod. "I forgot where I was." I laugh slightly, running my hand through my hair. She forces a small smile, looking down at me. "Hungry?"

I nod quickly. "Come on then." She almost grins when I trip over my feet climbing out of the bed. I hit the floor with a loud thud, groaning when I do. "Ow." I mumble, looking up at her. She laughs, helping me up. "Embry's on his way over." She says, brushing my hair out of my face. "Thanks for helping me." "I wouldn't thank me yet." She says, motioning for me to follow her. We walk to the bathroom and she points to the mirror. Blood drips down my chin from my lip. "Damn." I mumble, quickly grabbing toilet paper to wipe it away. "Sorry I laughed at you." She says quietly.

"I would've laughed too." I admit, pulling my lip between my teeth, trying to stop the bleeding. I hear the door open downstairs and I will myself to stop bleeding because it'll just worry Embry and he might blame Leah. We walk downstairs, as I slightly hide behind Leah, wiping my lip with my sleeve one last time. "Hey, baby." Embry grins, reaching his hand out to me. I take it, walking toward him. Immediately his hand comes up, his thumb setting on my lip. "What'd you do?" "I tripped climbing out of bed." He laughs as Seth and Sue walk in. "I'm always clumsy." I shrug.

"True." He says, wrapping his arm around my waist, walking us toward the door. "I appreciate you letting her stay here, Sue, but we're gonna head out." He smiles at her, pulling me with him. "Thank you, Sue." I step away from Embry, hugging the woman carefully. She hugs back, sighing. "You're welcome here any time, Alexandria." She smiles when I pull back. "Thank you too, Seth. Had you not thought so quickly something could've happened." I hug the young boy. "Of course, Alex, gotta keep you safe." He grins, hugging back. Embry clears his throat.

"Alright, well apparently we're leaving, I'll see you guys around." I smile as Embry takes my hand, walking us out. We're in the truck when he turns to me, grabbing my face and pressing his lips to mine. "I missed you." He mumbles between kisses. I laugh, pushing him away. "You just saw me yesterday." He drops his hand to my thigh, starting to drive. "And?" He says, looking at me for a split second. "And I missed you too." I admit, messing with his fingers. "I knew that. I also heard you walked Seth home at dark. Don't do that again." "What was I supposed to do? He had to get home."

"You stay where you're at. You call Sue, call your father and you stay where you are." He states, not looking at me. "What was out there, Embry? What do you know?" I ask, narrowing my eyes at him. "Nothing, baby. Just wanna make sure you're safe." He says, squeezing my thigh. He looks at me, a goofy grin on his face and I can't help but drop the glare and smile back at him. "You're such an idiot." I laugh, shoving his shoulder. We pull into the Black driveway after he tells me that he and I were supposed to hang out with Jake and Bella. We mess around for a while until we just walk.