THE NEXT DAY, LYDIA DROVE OVER TO EMILY'S. Sam had promised to explain what had happened between Leah and Gwen a few days before, and Lydia was undeniably curious. On the drive home that night, Gwen had wondered aloud if she'd done something to upset the girl, already mourning the loss of a chance with such an "intimidatingly gorgeous girl."
Gwen's words, of course.
"Hey, River Phoenix," Embry greeted from Emily's kitchen table.
"Hi, Lydia!" Seth said, beaming at the girl.
Unable to resist the urge, Lydia ruffled Seth's hair, earning a playful pout from the youngest shape-shifter. "Hey, guys." She looked up to see Sam in the room, and raised an eyebrow at him. "So," Lydia said, skipping straight to the good part. "What happened between Leah and Gwen?"
Instead of answer, Sam looked at Embry. "Embry?"
Embry looked slightly sheepish as he stood up, grabbing two muffins from the plate in the middle of the table and handing one to Lydia. "Wanna take a walk with me? I'll explain everything." He glanced briefly at Sam. "Promise."
Lydia frowned at Embry's strange behavior, but nodded. "Sure," she said, following the boy out of the house. Seth and Sam were quiet as they left, though it wasn't as light as Lydia was used to. There was a weird sort of tension, and it left her a little on edge.
She and Embry walked in silence for a while, Lydia letting Embry lead the way since he knew the woods of La Push better than her. After a few minutes of simply walking and eating their muffins, Lydia finally asked, "So... what happened with Gwen and Leah?"
Embry seemed to hesitate for a moment before he answered. "It's called imprinting," he told her.
Lydia frowned. "Isn't that what ducklings do with their moms?"
"Kinda similar, but also not really," Embry said, which was no help. "It's... it's hard to explain, really. To put it into words, it's... it's like love at first sight, I guess? But not entirely. That's how Sam described it, but..." He cleared his throat nervously, as if he wasn't entirely comfortable talking about the subject but was pushing through it for her sake.
Before Lydia could tell him he didn't have to explain it if he wasn't comfortable, he continued, "When a shape-shifter imprints, they form this instant bond with the person they imprint on. They become like... like an anchor for us. Grounding us to the earth. It happens the first time we lock eyes with them after our first phasing."
"So, Leah imprinted on Gwen?" Lydia guessed.
Embry nodded, his lips tilting upward in a small smile. "Sam owes you a lot for bringing Gwen to the beach that day."
"Why?" Lydia asked curiously.
"Sam and Leah used to date," Embry told her. "They were actually engaged. Then he imprinted on Emily—Leah's cousin." Lydia winced at that. "Sam fell in love with Emily and broke up with Leah. It... wasn't pretty."
Lydia frowned, feeling a sense of pity for the female shape-shifter—not that she would ever dare admit it to the intimidating girl. "So, because Sam imprinted on Emily, his feelings for Leah just... disappeared?"
"That's how he explains it," Embry said. "Sam didn't mean to imprint on Emily, it just... happened. Sam feels awful about breaking Leah's heart, but he couldn't help but fall in love with Emily."
"And since Leah imprinted on Gwen, she's in love with her?" Lydia asked with a frown. "That seems... sudden."
"Leah isn't in love with her—not yet, at least," Embry told Lydia. "We'd all thought that imprinting was basically love at first sight, but recent developments have made us reconsider."
Lydia raised an eyebrow at him. "Recent developments?"
"We were all under the impression that all imprints are romantic, or at least, have the potential to be romantic," Embry explained. "Sam fell in love with Emily, Jared fell in love with his imprint, Kim. But..." He bit his lip, looking more nervous than Lydia had ever seen him. "Then I imprinted on you."
Oh.
Lydia stopped, the shock and impact of his revelation hitting her right in the chest. "You... what?"
"Yeah," Embry murmured, stuffing his hands in his pockets.
"When?" Lydia asked softly.
"The first time we met," Embry revealed sheepishly. "On First Beach."
Lydia frowned. "Were you... were you ever going to tell me?"
"Of course," Embry said immediately. "I just... I wanted to figure it all out before I told you."
"Figure what out?" Lydia asked, still reeling from what he'd just told her.
Embry bit his lip again, seeming to consider his words. "When I imprinted on you, it wasn't the way Sam and Jared described it. It wasn't like I was all of a sudden in love with you, it was more like... like all I wanted was for you to be happy and safe. Sam and Jared said as soon as they imprinted, their first instincts were to kiss their imprints, but with you, I just wanted to make you smile. It was weird—a good weird, but still weird."
Lydia blinked rapidly for a moment, processing Embry's explanation. "So you're not... in love with me?" she asked, fearful of his answer.
Embry shook his head, which sent a slight wave of relief through Lydia. "No," he reassured her. "The way I feel about you is like how a brother feels about their sister—at least, that's what Leah said it seemed like."
"And that's not... normal?"
Embry shrugged slightly. "Normal doesn't really mean much when you're dealing with the supernatural," he teased, before quickly sobering up. "Sam had a theory about imprinting—he thought we imprinted on whoever we had the best chance of reproducing with, but now I think I have another theory."
"What theory's that?" Lydia asked.
"I think we imprint on the person we need most in our lives, and we mold into whatever they need," he said quietly. "I think I imprinted on you because we both needed a confidante, a friend." He paused. "If I tell you something, can you keep it a secret?"
Lydia nodded. "Of course."
"Me joining the pack kind of... shook things up—and not in a good way," he told her. "My mom's from a neighboring tribe, but no one knows who my dad is. Well, except my mom, but she refuses to tell anyone, even me. When I shifted, the pack and the tribe's elders realized that my father had to be Joshua Uley, Quil Atera IV, or Billy Black. All of whom were married at the time of my conception." He frowned slightly, his gaze focused on the ground as if he was almost ashamed. "They don't do it on purpose, but sometimes I feel like I'm on the edge of the pack. Like they don't know how to treat me, since I'm the bastard child of one of their dads."
Lydia winced with sympathy. Not liking the sad look on his face, Lydia said, "I'm sorry." She bit the inside of her cheek gently. "Whenever you need a break from the pack, you can come to me. We'll make this imprint thing a two-way street." She looked at Embry in a new light, feeling a strange sense of responsibility for the boy's happiness. She realized that she felt everything he'd described, or at least was beginning to—the protectiveness, the desire to see him happy and safe. It wasn't romantic, not in any sense, but when he gave her a small, thankful smile, she knew she was starting to love him.
"So, with Leah and Gwen," Lydia said, beginning to walk again with a pleasant lightness in her chest, "is it like us or like Sam and Emily?"
"More like Sam and Emily," Embry answered. "She tries to keep her thoughts private, but we've all sensed the crush she already has on Gwen through the pack telepathy."
Lydia raised a brow at him. "Pack telepathy? You can hear each other's thoughts? Why am I just now finding out about this?"
Embry shrugged, a sheepish smile on his face. "I guess we forgot?"
Lydia rolled her eyes, a smile on her face. "Of course you did," she muttered.
Embry led her back to Emily's house, and as they walked in, Lydia smiled in greeting at Seth and Emily.
"Oh, we're doing a bonfire tonight," Embry told her. "You and Gwen should come."
Lydia pulled out her phone, texting Gwen the invite. Her response only took a minute.
Gwen: Will the cute girl be there?
Lydia smirked, texting back an affirmation.
Gwen: I'm in.
Gwen: If you tell her I called her cute I'll hit you.
Gwen: Or cry. That'll hurt you more.
"Gwen's in," Lydia said, smiling in amusement at Gwen's texts. "What time tonight?"
"Starts at seven-thirty," Embry said. "Hey, maybe Leah'll get up the nerve to actually talk to her."
"Ten bucks she doesn't," Jared said as he walked into the house. "Hey, Lydia."
"Ten bucks says Gwen makes the first move," Lydia countered.
"It's on," Embry declared, the two shifters and one phoenix shaking on it.
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"Is this even cute, or am I delusional?" Gwen asked as she followed Lydia toward the already raging bonfire.
Lydia took in Gwen's outfit. It was a casual pair of dark jeans and a baby blue sweater, paired with sneakers. It was fitting for a bonfire, and it wasn't much different from the t-shirt and jeans combo Lydia had on.
"You look cute, as always, Gwen," Lydia assured her.
"I've never had a crush like this on a girl," Gwen confessed quietly. "I've had little crushes, obviously—I mean there was Alice last year, Penelope Cortez freshman year, and other baby crushes, but..." Gwen bit her lip lightly. "I've barely spoken a whole sentence to this girl, but I'm already crushing hard."
Lydia had to tame the grin on her face as she wrapped an arm around Gwen's shoulders, walking her over to the bonfire. "You'll be fine," she whispered in Gwen's ear. "Just be yourself—she'll fall in love in no time."
"Lydia, Gwen!" Embry waved them over with a smile. "I saved a bag of marshmallows from Paul's bottomless pit of a stomach, get over here!"
The two girls joined him on the log he was sitting on alone. Lydia deliberately sat directly next to him, leaving the space open next to her for Gwen to sit—right next to Leah on the edge of the log next to theirs. Embry glared playfully at Lydia, knowing she did it on purpose.
"Hi," Gwen said to Leah, her voice coming out small and quiet, but Lydia knew none of the shifters had trouble hearing her. "Leah, right?"
"Pay up," Lydia muttered just loud enough for Embry to hear.
"Dammit," Embry whispered, slapping a five into Lydia's waiting palm. Lydia caught Jared's reluctant gaze over the fire, mouthing to him, I win.
He rolled his eyes, standing up from his seat next to a pretty girl—his imprint, Kim, if she had to guess—and giving Lydia her five dollars.
Lydia and Embry started talking about their schoolwork as they subtly watched and listened as Leah and Gwen interacted. Gwen's cheeks were a perpetual shade of pink, soft giggles escaping her lips on occasion. Lydia couldn't keep a smile off of her face, happy to watch her best friend fall slowly in love.
After a while, Lydia and Embry decided to take a walk along the beach, the bright moon reflecting light off of the sea.
"So, the Cullens are back in town," Embry said quietly.
Lydia nodded. "Yeah."
"Jake's pretty torn up about it," Embry said. He glanced back at the bonfire. "I feel bad for him—he was seriously head-over-heels for Bella. Then her ex came waltzing back in and she went right back to him."
"She loves Edward," Lydia said softly. "If he's an option, he's the one she'll choose. Vampires fall in love once, and it's intense and eternal—it makes sense Bella would feel at least a little similar about him."
"What about your ex, that Jasper guy?" Embry asked. Lydia looked at his expression, worried she would find a trace of jealousy or anger at the name. There was nothing but curiosity and a hint of worry, though it seemed to be more for Lydia's sake than for his own.
Lydia bit her lip. "None of his family has heard from him since he found out I died." At Embry's confused look, Lydia explained, "Alice had a vision of me dying and told him, but by the time he made it to my house, I was already dead. He disappeared after that, and he's been gone ever since."
"Wow," Embry said. "That's rough." He looked over at her for a moment. "Do you still love him?"
It took a moment, but Lydia nodded. "I'll always love him," she confessed. "I don't think I even know how not to." Lydia looked at him again. "Does that... I don't know, upset you?" She didn't know all the ins and outs or imprinting just yet, so it was a valid question in her opinion.
Embry shook his head. "No," he said, sounding like he was surprised by his own feelings. "If you love him, and he makes you happy... That's all I want for you."
"Honest?" Lydia asked softly.
Embry gave her a genuine smile, bumping shoulders with her lightly. "Honest."
✦✧✦✧✦✧✦✧
"I can't believed I asked her out," Gwen breathed as Lydia drove her home later that night. "I can't believe she said yes."
Lydia smiled at her love-struck best friend. Imprinting really did work fast, it seemed. "I'm happy for you, Gwen," she murmured. "So unbelievably happy."
Gwen grinned at her. "I'm happy, too."
"If that ever changes, let me know," Lydia said. "If Leah hurts you, I'll burn her to a crisp."
Gwen smacked Lydia's arm lightly. "You would not—you're a pacifist."
"I'm a pacifist until someone hurts the people I love," Lydia corrected. "Leah ever makes you cry tears that aren't happy, I'll kick her ass."
"No offense, but I don't know if you can kick her ass," Gwen said. "She looks so... strong."
Lydia pretended to gag at the lovey-dovey look in Gwen's eyes. "Ye of little faith," she said. After a moment, she conceded, "You're probably right, though. She could crush me."
Gwen giggled. "Oh, definitely." Playfully, she added, "I'd let her crush me any day."
Lydia's shocked, "Gwen!" and the girls' subsequent laughter filled the car as they drove on.
✦✧✦✧✦✧✦✧
[author's note: hope you enjoyed this 2500+ word update! i reworked the whole imprinting concept because frankly, i hate how it is in the books. ESPECIALLY with quil and jacob imprinting on BABIES. even though smeyer tried to make it so the wolf becomes whatever their imprint needs at any given point, just the fact that renesmee & jacob are supposed to fall in love when she's older after he spends years like an uncle/brother grosses me out, and i know i'm not alone. so, i changed it since this is my fic and smeyer can kiss my ass.
just to confirm: embry & lydia will never be romantically attracted to each other. i wanted to explore the concept of platonic imprinting, and don't worry, i have some plans (wink wink) for my favorite shape-shifter (tied with seth, of course). all embry wants is for lydia to be happy and safe, and if jasper makes her happy, he's going to be the most supportive best friend a girl can ask for (second to gwen, obviously)]