Fortuity // Seth Clearwater

.2.

Dammit. He was onto me.

I stopped walking and allowed my nervousness to show, hoping maybe Embry would excuse me of explaining our relationship if he saw how uncomfortable I was. He stopped walking too, looking down at me with a concerned face. 

"Hey, I don't mean to pressure you, sorry. I just know Paul really well, and I care for him a lot, so I'm curious." 

Embry's words made sense, and for a moment I considered confiding in him. 

"Can you keep a secret from him?" I tested, observing his response to determine my next move. 

He smirked slightly. "More or less." 

I wasn't confident, but something inside me stirred to know my brother. To test the waters. And maybe easing into it through his close friend was a better way to do so and protect myself from possible rejection.

I'd rather never meet him and be told early than seek him out and be turned away first hand.

I sighed once more, deciding to go for it.

"Okay, I only found out a week ago he existed. I was coming here for work, and my mother seemed really uncomfortable about it, and I ended up overhearing that..." I stopped and backtracked slightly to fill in the blanks. "I thought she was worried I'd find my dad. But it turns out she was worried I would find Paul."

He nodded along but didn't quite understand yet. "Okay, why would she be worried about Paul, does she know him?" he inquired, determined to understand.

"She does..." I shifted and took a step closer to Embry as if I was about to let him in on a secret, aware of how small this community was and cautious to not let my information spread because I was too loud.

"My full name is Oakley Lahote."

Embry's eyes widened at my statement, clearly as shocked as I was.

"Wait...so your mother is Paul's mother, you have his last name...he's your brother?!" he confirmed, putting the pieces together.

I nodded and shushed him. "Yeah. I never knew my father. Mom took off while she was pregnant with me. We moved to Minnesota for a while but then I'm pretty sure he came looking for us, which is when we ended up in Michigan. All I know about him is that his name is Terrance and supposedly he has major anger issues and lived here in La Push."

Embry's eyes flashed with familiarity, putting his own information with mine to add up to a picture. "Terrance is Paul's dad...he left when Paul was 9. He never really knew his mom, she left when he was three or something. It all makes sense now! She left with you!" he concluded out loud, allowing excitement to peak through in his tone.

"I guess that would explain why she was so nervous for me to come here. My family is here, and I never even knew it."

We were in silence for a minute, sharing a shocked and understanding look.

Embry took a step forward and laid a hand on my shoulder, bursting into a grin. "You have to let me introduce you to him." he demanded.

My eyes widened again. "What!? No, I don't know if I'm ready, he probably wants nothing to do with me Embry! I've never met him, I can't just show up and introduce myself, he may not want a sister, I can't handle more rejection, I can't handle him pushing me away if he doesn't want me," I rambled on. 

Embry attempted to hush me as I spoke, but was unsuccessful until I finished.

"Oakley, listen to me. I've known Paul for a long time, and I know the inner workings of his mind more than you realise. He's been without a family since he was 9, he's basically raised himself. I cannot explain to you how much that man has craved a family since he was abandoned."