Broken Home | 1

twenty-one

Kim walks in a few minutes after Jay gets off the phone, earning her attention. "Embry's out front, he wants to talk to you." She tells the younger girl.

Jay goes outside and she smiles when she sees him. "You cut your hair." She says as she looks up at him, and he nods.

"Yeah. Yeah, it was a little long." He says, avoiding her gaze.

"What's going on? I haven't seen you in awhile." She says, and he sighs before reluctantly meeting her anxious brown eyes.

"That's actually what I want to talk to you about." He says, and she just looks at him, waiting for him to continue. "We can't...date anymore."

"Um... Okay." She nods as she looks down for a moment. "Can I ask why?"

"I just... I can't. I know that you deserve an explanation, but I can't give you one without some half-truth story, and I don't want to lie to you." He tells her, and she nods.

"I appreciate that, I guess."

"I wish that I could explain this all better. Hell, I wish I didn't have to do this." He sighs. "Jay, I-I'm not the one who can give you the answers that you deserve."

"What— What does that mean?" She shakes her head, obviously confused.

"It means I'm sorry that I can't be with you. And I'm sorry that I'm hurting you. I never wanted to, not ever." He takes a step toward her and rests his hands on either side of her face. "You have no idea how much I like you, and how incredible I think you are. And I'm so, so sorry for the way that I disappeared before. I need you to know that I never wanted to hurt you."

"I believe you." And she does. She's confused, but she can see that he's been nothing but honest and sincere this whole time.

Embry leans down so that he can kiss her one last time, but he hesitates for a moment. His lips hover near hers, giving her a chance to pull away if she doesn't want to kiss him after everything that he just told her...and didn't tell her. When she makes no move to pull back, he presses his lips firmly against hers. His hands are still resting on either side of her face, and hers settle on his sides, just like their first kiss.

He pulls back and rests his forehead against hers, wanting this moment to last as long as it possibly can. He knows that Paul's gonna be angry when he sees this in Embry's head later, but he can't bring himself to care at the moment. He understands why Paul will be pissed — he's seen what Paul feels for her — but he cares a lot for Jay as well.

"I'm sorry." Embry whispers once more before pulling back, and then he turns around and walks away from her.

—

It's a bit cramped in the truck because Jay's sitting between Bella and Jake as the former drives down the highway; they have the two motorcycles in the back. The youngest has her head leaning back as she stares at the ceiling, and she then glances at Jake when he pokes her cheek.

She's seemed a little down lately, and he wants to make her laugh. Deciding to play along, Jay fills that cheek with air, making it puff out toward him. He smirks as he pokes it again, and she blows the air out of her mouth. He chuckles, and she shakes her head as she smiles.

"Sometimes it amazes me the ways that you two amuse yourselves." Bella says, having seen a bit of the exchange between the younger two.

"It's called making your own fun." Jay tells her, and she nods.