Que Quowle

O2

"Wait—what? What do you mean we can't see him?" Quil questioned, raising his voice loudly. You could easily hear Jacob's pained moans in the far background, you could also hear how tired he was.

I sighed, and turned to Billy, "Please, Billy. We need to see him." I insisted. Billy sat there shaking his head.

"No can do, kids. Jake's sick, you want him to get better, right?" I wanted to retort angrily but yelling directly at an elder wasn't exactly 'legal'.

Quil stomped off the porch, and down the dirt driveway, "Fine, whatever." He said, throwing his hands up in defeat.

I looked back at Billy, and waved to him, "Tell Jake I wish him better."

"Will do," He was going to roll back inside, but I stopped him, and bent down.

"He'll come back, right? He'll be normal?" I was almost positive that Billy knew what I saying. That Jacob would come back from being sick, and walk to us, not Embry, Paul and the other guy.

He hesitated, "Y-Yes." The word was slow, like he was trying to cover the truth with a lie.

Before I could say anything more, I turned and sprung down the path, and linked my arms with Quil's.

"He'll be okay," He muttered, "Jacob doesn't like Sam and the others at all."

"Don't want to 'burst your bubble' Quil, but Emb said the same thing."

"Embry's not thinking right, he just wants to be 'popular.'"

I stopped, and looked at him insidiously, "Have you met Embry? Embry Call? Emb's shy, Quil. He doesn't like attention."

"Sure he does," Quil stated. "Their probably all on some unhealthy steroid. Five bucks says they drugged Jake." I smacked his arm, on the verge of tears.

"These are our best friends we're talking about, Quil! They are not on drugs!" I spat the words out like they were a bad left-over taste in my mouth.

He pulled at his hair, "Then explain the muscle build?"

"I don't know about that! But they grew too, Quil, they're like, six or seven feet tall!" I shouted.

He stopped for a minute, then shook his head, "You're not seriously trying to tell me that this is just happening?"

"Yes, Quil. That's exactly what I'm suggesting." I looked at him again, "Your building up in muscle too, your height not so much, but your getting there. Maybe it's a Quileute thing," I said simply.

He weighed his options, and gave in with a sigh, "I'll drop it for now."

I smiled, "Good, because we have a job interview to get me too!" I said happily, grabbing his large hand and towing him towards the local Cafe. The door opened, and the warm aroma of coffee and sugars filled my nose.

Quil's nose squished up, "Smells a little sweet."

"It's supposed to,"

"No, like, bleach sweet." I raised an eyebrow at him, and he shrugged. Marcy, one of my mother's friend's stopped beside us, and smiled.

"You're early, Aliyah." She stated teasingly.

"I know, I just didn't want to be outside in the cold." I said lamely.

"Here, sit down, and I'll grab you two some coffee and biscuts." She diddled off, and I sat across from Quil in the worn out booth.

"I don't see why you want to work here." He cringed his nose again.

I shrugged, "I just want somewhere close to home, and somewhere that feels like home."

He scoffed, and looked out the window, rain already splattering. His face twisted into disgust, and he looked away.

"What?" I asked, looking out the window. And I saw him—well, I mean he wasn't exactly hard to miss. He was walking in the pouring rain.

Shirtless.

I knew that Embry was acting weird lately, but he didn't have to prove himself to anyone. "What the hell is he doing?!" I half whisper, half yelled.

"That's Embry now, remember?" He said mockingly. I smacked his arm lightly, and looked at Embry again. He walked inside, and spoke quietly to a lady at the counter, and waited while she walked away.

He turned, looking around the Cafe, before resting his eyes on both Quil and I. Quil broke eye contact quickly, but I watched as Embry's eyes squinted slightly as if he were trying to listen.

"He's seriously hoping for death, isn't he?" Quil muttered, and Embry's lips twitched upwards. I knotted my eyebrows together, but Embry had turned back to the counter.

"He smiled when you said that?" I stated, although it sounded like a question.

"What?"

"Yeah, he was looking over here, and then you said whatever you said, and he basically smiled. It's like he heard—"

"Not possible, I said it too low. The people behind us probably didn't even hear it."

"I swear!" I insisted.

"Well, now he has super hearing. What's next? Super speed, and strength."

"Most likely." I muttered.

He looked at me, a dead tired look in his eyes, "Not funny, Aliyah."

"Yeah, sure." I snorted, poking his cheek. He laughed quietly, and grabbed my hand.

"Stop poking me." He said, biting my finger afterwords.

"Ow! Quil!"

"Say my name!" He said laughing.

I glared at him, "You're such a kid, sometimes too much."

"Aw, you love me." He smiled.

I rolled my eyes, and smiled up at Marcy as she set two steaming cups of brown liquid in front of both of us.

"'Kay, so, Rob doesn't really have the time to do your interview," I frowned at her words but she continued, "So I'm going to do it, record what I asked, and what you replied, and let him determine the rest later, how 'bout that?"

"That sounds incredible."

She walked off, and returned with a pencil and a clipboard. Embry was just leaving the Cafe with three large bags full of food in his hands.

"Still no luck with Embry, huh?" Marcy asked.

"Nope." Quil said, making the 'p' pop.

"Doesn't mean that he still isn't himself." I argued gently.

"Sure."

"Okay, let's begin.." Marcy started off on her first question, and it carried on from there.

-

"I think you're going to get the job," Quil said honestly, pushing the swing forward again. I cocked my head to the side, resting it on his shoulder.

"Maybe," I mused. Quil shifted so his arm wrapped around me, pulling the blanket over us more. I didn't shake him off, he was actually very warm. It was nice.

The rain was still in down pour, but Quil and I were sitting on the porch swing, wrapped in a blanket, and as some would put it, 'cuddling' closely.

"I know you will," He sounded so sure. I leaned into him, smiling to myself when I molded against his side.

"You're really warm," I said quietly.

"Oh, really?" He laughed.

"Yes."

"Hmm," He trailed off, and pushed us forward again. I was practically lying on his upper body, my legs on the remainder of the bench.

The silence was nice, not one of the awkward silences, but a comforting one. I was drifting into my own thoughts when I was shifted completely over Quil. I looked down at him with questioning eyes, but relaxed, and rested my head on his chest.

It felt warm, and safe, and again, Quil was another piece of home.

Was it safe to say I loved him?