"
You cannot teach a man anything; you can only help him discover it in himself.
"
- Galileo Galilei
Pain & Panic
Embry was certain that fate was a stone-cold bitch. After Jared and Paul hauled him to Emily's they waited until Sam got back from his shift of waiting for vamp stench to waft by to explain what the fuck had just happened.
"Are you sure?" Sam asked quirking a disbelieving eyebrow.
Embry swiveled his head to the man as he was previously looking at an essay Harper wrote that had been hanging on the fridge. Something about mendelian genetics that he didn't understand the depth of but he read it over thrice. "I'm reading about something I don't know or care about because she wrote it. Yeah, so I'm pretty fucking sure," Embry snapped. "But I am starting to understand genetics so," he deadpanned to the group of them with absolutely no emotion in his face, "yay me."
Sam and Jared explained imprints to him before he was able to shift back. He understood it as a weird cosmic connection soulmate bond thing that was... weird to say the least. Like one minute of course he had a crush on her and it was like speeding through every stage of a relationship development straight to love and it was weird. It was completely unconditional as well. Like he couldn't help it. He cared about her deeply.
Kim and Jared's story was the blueprint. She already had a crush on him so it was easy peasy once he started actively showing attention to her. Emily and Sam, on the other hand, were a walking disaster. They were the kind of thing he was avoiding.
So he liked her, found out she was doing things with somebody else, ignored her, made her ignore him, and now she's actively avoiding him because he's an idiot. To top it all off there's this imprint bond which essentially means he's indebted to her forever and he likes it.
It's weird, but it would be a nice weird if Harper liked him.
Paul was snickering from where he stood across from him, leaning against the counter. "I'm just- this situation-" he let out another round of laughter that left him shaking.
Emily rolled her eyes and swatted at his head. "Paul if you could not, that'd be great. Thanks," she said with an edge in her tone that implied that she would do something dangerous if he continued.
He would not put it passed her.
Paul sobered up soon after while Sam looked anxious and Jared, well Jared looked confused.
"Wait, so you're not feeling an eternal bliss?" Several pairs of eyes turned to look at the shameless boy. "What, I read. Kim got me hooked on-"
Sam gave him a tired look and he clammed up. "Embry," the boy looked up from the paper to meet Sam's eyes, "you have a choice to make."
Oh yeah, he had completely forgotten the part that now that he had imprinted on the girl who was currently being stalked by a freaky vampire he could either let her know that he's not in some weird steroid cult and instead it's like a brotherhood of werewolf stuff. As if that's any better. If he told her about the wolf stuff he would also have to tell her about the vampire stuff and if he had to tell her all of that why not throw in the imprint bond that makes him her bitch.
Embry paused. He knew how Emily and Kim acted after being told. He also knew that Harper wasn't like them. "I don't want her to like me because a weird part of my genetic code makes me prioritize her to like everything, I want her to like me because she chooses to," he said lightly as his eyes went through the A+ paper again. "I am so pathetic," he mused out.
Emily turned to look at Paul and Sam. "Were either of you guys like this?"
"It was more like wow the girl I love likes me and I would kill for her, but no," Jared put bluntly earning a bewildered glance from Paul.
Sam shrugged. "It was a," his eyebrows furrowed as he tried to find the right words to express how weird it was, "time?"
Emily seemed fine with his hesitant answer before worriedly turning to Embry. "If you hurt her, I will cut you."
Embry just nodded nonchalantly as if he had heard the threat a thousand times. "I can't. I'm bound to be whatever she wants me to be," Embry paused as if the words felt foreign in his mouth. "She's-"
Emily's ringtone cut him off, he was grateful because he would rather not have said what he was about to. The woman answered it immediately. "Hey sweetie, how's the party."
The music was still pounding from where she was on the sidewalk. Harper didn't feel cold and she was blaming it entirely on her inebriated state. Sage was nowhere to be seen. It wasn't like her to just up and disappear and even then her car was stil at the party. It wasn't like she just flew away. After spending nearly an hour going through the entirety of Mike Newton's home twice over she was tired and wanted to sleep in her bed despite her and Sage's tradition of sleeping in hers and cuddling.
"I-I can't find Sage... I miss Sage," Harper said, her words slurred. Even then the five could make it out. Harper shook herself out of her stupor and held her clothed arms tighter to her self. "I don't like this shirt," she babbled on. "It's too... too, ugh what's the word for something being not tall?"
"Short," Emily guessed while furrowing her eyebrows. She had gotten somewhat drunk calls from Harper before and even when she had seen her she wasn't nearly this bad.
"Yeah, thanks, Auntie Emily... Oh yeah and I'm tired and the ground is so cold and inviting," she rambled.
"Harper," Emily began curiously knowing the answer to her question might cause a right, "were you mixing your drinks tonight?"
"Yep." Harper eventually decided it would be best to sit on the ground. As expected the ground felt nice. And then suddenly she was laying on it. Weird how the world works, right? "I want to hold somebody's gosh diddly darn hand."
Emily hummed in response while her eyes were wide. "Okay sweetie, I'm going to have Embry pick you up in Nova," Emily tossed him the keys and he was already outside by the time she finished.
Harper let out a whine and for some reason, she began to cry. "I-I just love Nova so much. She works so hard."
Paul and Jared looked at each other incredulously. They were cool kids before this, and they knew how to party. Harper was wasted. She was incredibly completely wasted.
"I'm going to take a nap, night night," Harper mumbled out.
"If you do, I'll ground you," Emily threatened.
In an instant, Harper was trying to lift herself. "Okay, you got me. I shan't sleep."
Until Embry arrived, which was a cool 11-minute drive as he sped through and almost missed every stop sign, Emily spent her time trying to keep Harper awake by quizzing her random math questions, not paying attention to if she was right or not, just if she was answering.
Soon enough a familiar face was peering down at her and Harper's features screwed up in confusion. "Hold on Emily, a nuisance is here," she said before pulling the phone away from her ear. "What's popping, bro?" At this Emily hung up knowing that Harper would be safe as long as Embry would be there.
Embry should not have been as affected as he was at the sight of her. He could feel his heart beat faster and cheeks warm. She called him a nuisance, but he was sure she would never be the type to roll out pet names. He couldn't see it. Nicknames, yes. Embry felt his smile grow at the sight of her plopped down on the sidewalk. He rolled his eyes, but let out a laugh. "Taking you home," he admitted before sitting next to her.
Harper could feel the warmth rolling off of him in waves. She looked him up and down, her eyebrows furrowing. And then she put a hand to his forehead.
Embry was always nervous. Constantly second-guessing everything he did and he was never sure if he made the right move in any situation. But as soon as her cold hands met his forehead he could have melted right then and there. It was a simple gesture that made him at ease. Her putting her hands on his forehead was easy to write off as her being curious or concerned (what Embry hoped for). That was before she moved her hand down to his arm.
He thought his stupid heart was going to beat right out of his stupid chest.
Her brows were still furrowed. "You-you're like hot, like everywhere... Like bad hot, like you should go to a hospital hot."
Embry shrugged, a small smile coming onto his face as he looked over to the concerned/confused girl before him. He stood and Harper followed as he led her to her car. "Hey," he said once they finally got in her car, "do you want to get Taco Bell?"
Drunk Harper was twice as emotive as sober Harper in the positive feelings department. The smile that instantly came on her face and the girlish giggle were an indication enough, she didn't even have to add the, "Hell yes!" He knew that in the morning she would probably go back to not liking him, but he liked this moment where Harper was calm and happy, not stressed out or angry.
The two sat in the parking lot of the 24-hour Taco Bell and feasted like kings. When they finally did get back to Emily's he tucked her into bed.
God, he was pathetic.
He was right, though. She didn't end up remembering the next morning
Sage wasn't answering Harper's calls. It wasn't like she had a choice in the matter seeing as how Mina took her phone, for safekeeping and all. That and how she was in agonizing pain and, according to Florence, it wouldn't end for another three fucking days.
She was never one to regret anything, but maybe she should have thought over Florence's offer a bit more. Become a Gorgon Sister, have awesome powers, insight some real change in the world with said power, help Mina figure out if Atlantis is real, be extraordinary or stay human, go to college, work a boring job, retire, die. It had seemed like a no brainer. Nobody would miss her. She was sure nobody except for Harper would notice. And Harper would eventually get over it.
Harper never was one to let go of things. She was more of a 'you'll have to pry it from my cold dead hands' kind of girl than 'forgive and forget'. So it was pretty self-explanatory as to why she was driving all over La Push and Forks to see where her friend was. It was worrying, to say the least. Until finally she called Sage's parents to ask them where she was.
They hadn't even realized she hadn't been home. And that was how Harper had found herself in the Forks Police Station with Sage's parents to report the girl missing.
"I have never been more concerned about something in my life," Embry groaned out as he walked back to the Young house with Sam in tow.
Sam chuckled and clapped the younger boy on the back. "It's been known to happen." He thought back to how many times he sought out Emily after imprinting.
Embry shook his head and threaded a hand through his hair. "How-how do you deal with this?" His eyebrows threaded together and he bit his lip as worry made its way through him.
The older man shook his head and the two bounded up to the door. "Well, I followed every impulse and hurt my best friend/girlfriend/girl I was going to propose to."
Embry stared shell shocked and stuck in his place as Sam entered the home to Emily's embrace. "Was that supposed to help me?" He asked rhetorically as he finally came to his senses and moved into the house.
Sam shook his head. "Nope," he said popping the 'p' as he and Emily settled down on the couch.
Embry groaned and dropped himself on the seat at the table. The boy put his head in his hands and groaned again. "I'm not saying I hate the imprint bond I'm just saying that this level of worried is unprecedented," he explained. Or well, complained. The boy then put on his shirt which Emily had gladly washed after seeing the multitude of stains on it
Emily smiled over at the younger wolf. "Aw, you're having a crisis. That's adorable," she cooed only to be met with a slight glare. "Suck it up."
Sam's raucous laughter reverberated around the house and ended when Harper came into the home. The first thing Embry noticed were her tearstained cheeks. She looked like a mess, her eyes were rimmed red, her hair looked like she just rolled out of bed, and she was wearing a hoodie over last night's clothes.
Overall the image made her look distraught. That along with the way she was wildly looking around as if someone might pop up at any moment.
"Harper," Emily began softly as she bounded over to the girl who stood frozen in the entryway with her hands gripping her keys, "what's wrong?"
Harper's bottom lip shook and Embry could see her pursing her lips to keep her from crying. "It-it's Sage," she finally got out. "She didn't come home after the party." Harper couldn't say it. She put a hand to her mouth and the other crossed across her stomach. She felt sick. As soon as the m-word was uttered she would breakdown.
Embry hadn't realized he had stood or even walked to the girl. All he knew was that he was within reaching distance of the girl. So his hand was reaching to her arm that crossed across her.
His hand was warm. Insanely so. Like a walking talking space heater. It was searing hot, but it brought her attention to something other than the fact that Sage wasn't there. She turned her gaze from nowhere to Embry. Concern was etched into every feature as his eyebrows stitched together and his lips parted slightly.
The words were slipping from her lips faster than she had meant to. "Sage is missing," she whispered. And like that the resolve broke. First, it was one tear. And then another. And another. And the full waterworks came out as she brought her hands to cup around her mouth.
Embry tore his gaze away from the crying Harper to Emily. All it took was one nod from the aunt and his arms were around her.
For a second Harper stiffened before settling in the warm embrace and allowed him to hold her. Her cries lessened. Embry took it as a sign that it was working and he hesitantly placed his chin on her head.
Harper eventually let go. It seemed she had realized what was happening and the fact that Embry was a nuisance. She turned her head down and without another word she was moving to go upstairs. She had missing person's posters to print and spread around La Push.
"Well that was adorable," Sam teased while Emily sighed.
"Is there any way this has anything to do with the leeches around here?" Emily asked in a hushed tone.
Immediately Sam sobered. "I don't know," he admitted. "Paul and Jared are patrolling now. I can phase and ask them if they've seen anything."
Emily smiled at the offer before nodding. "I would like that a lot," she murmured out before turning to an awkward and very panicked Embry. "I'm going to go up to her and talk about it okay. I think you should go home and see your mom."
Oh right, his mom. Not that he had completely forgotten about it or something. No, that would be ridiculous.
Embry sheepishly nodded as he went into the woods to run over to his home. Harper would have to wait. Even though he didn't want to and felt a terrible pit growing in his stomach at the thought of her crying.
Sage's Have You Seen Me posters were a work of art. Or at least that was what Harper had been telling herself after spending three hours on them. Truly amazing. Fantastic. And halfway through printing them, she ran out of ink.
There are different types of tiredness. There's the tired where you slept eight hours and are emotionally exhausted. There's tired where you're running off of three hours and are manic. There's sleepy where you're about to drift off into the gentle arms of sleep. And then there's complete and total exhaustion where you're running off of nothing but pure willpower.
Harper was by far the last one. Since she came home she did nothing but focus on finding Sage and then that stupid ink ran out and then the waterworks started coming because she didn't know what to do and then well, she grabbed a flashlight and with a will stronger than tungsten she stomped out of the Young home and into the woods.
It was dark. The moon hung high in the sky and Harper's eyes stayed focused on the light. She was calling for her. Over and over and over again. Her voice was hoarse and it was getting hard to see with Harper's bleary eyes.
She had to keep going.
She had to.
She was the last one to see Sage.
It was her fault.
It was her fault.
Harper was the one who left her friend. Harper was the one who drank. Sage was cautious. She wouldn't leave with anyone. She made sure to prepare her water. She knew the signs and signals. So why was Sage the one missing?
Harper felt like an idiot. And then she heard it. A laugh. A small laugh that sounded concise. Harper found her feet moving to the sound without her even wanting to. She closed her eyes just for a moment, not even a second. Just to wipe them, get the tears away. When she did open her eyes she saw her.
Mina Fucking Murray.
Harper's hopeful face became dismal once more as she surveyed the woman. She was still wearing sunglasses and didn't seem phased the slightest bit at the flashlight blaring on her. Her skin was weird. Like glowy, no glittering. Her skin was glittering. A cool smile was fixed onto her face that only broaden when Harper sighed.
"Hello, Harper Diana," Mina greeted in a tone that was anything but polite.
"Have you seen my friend, Sage?" Harper asked bluntly, narrowing her eyes at the woman who simply shook her head.
Mina seemed to coo as she held a hand over her heart. "Poor dear, what happened? Is she lost?" The way she was talking was weird. Like everything was a fucking joke.
Harper scowled at Mina and rolled her eyes. "No, she's missing," Harper put bluntly.
Mina bit her lip and nodded. The woman turned her head behind her into the thick of the forest. "Theo, come on out," she called.
Harper took a step back, and then another, and then bumped into something harder than a rock and colder than ice. She jumped forward and swiveled around, tripping over her own two feet. He wasn't all that tall, she barely had to look up at him. It was his presence that was intimidating, even if he had a mirthful expression. Everything about him felt wrong. He took off his sunglasses to show bright red eyes.
"Harper," his voice was smooth and soft, "don't worry about Sage."
It wasn't a request. Harper shook her head as her eyes went in and out of focus, confusion flowing out of every pore before finally locking on his bright red irises. "Okay. I won't," she spoke blankly with no emotion or tone.
A toothy smile broke out on Theo's face and he nodded, strangely enough. "Perfect. Now, go back home and go to bed. You think you're trying to find wolves, but couldn't tonight. Forget you saw us here," he commanded.
Harper nodded and about-faced. It was about time she was heading home. She hadn't found a single print. Or at least she thought as she stepped through one. As the girl got home, carefully putting herself on the bed, she ignored the paper spilling to the floor with pictures of Sage spattered across them. In the morning she would throw them away. She wasn't worried about Sage anymore.
That was the last night Sam Uley and his pack smelt the Gorgon Nomads.
***
Embry imprinted and bih he's CONCERNED like after hearing about the absolute trainwreck with Emily and he still thinks that Harper's doing whatever with Eli he has no fucking clue that she's single and willing to mingle if he just apologizes for being a massive douche canoe,,,, but that's none of my business. I have this picture in my head of Bella at Emily's that one time and Harper pulls up and all the guys rush around to pull on shirts and look as though they definitely weren't talking about vampires. There will be so many accidental puns I'm HyPe.