The Girl Named Bambi

We all went into the living room and sat down. Tiffany had left to go run some errands. Embry introduced me to everyone. I met Seth, Sam, Emily, Quil, Paul, and Leah. Jacob was also there. He greeted me with a kiss on the cheek and a look into the eyes that made me slightly dizzy. Seth was very sweet, and his smile was infectious. I just wanted to cuddle with him. He was like a little brother to me. Sam was professional and formal. He had a very deep, persuasive voice. Emily was his girlfriend, who was very sweet and motherly towards me, but I couldn't help but notice her large scars across her face. Quil was funny and smooth. He winked at me, and Embry rolled his eyes. Paul was nice, and something about him seemed oddly familiar. Lastly, there was Leah. Her eyed had a cold, nasty glint to them, and her thin lips had lots of secrets hidden in them. Her russet color had a tinge of off-white like soured milk. She was still pretty, and she would've been beautiful, had she not looked so pissed off. Everyone sat down, and I sad between Embry and Quil. 

"Hey Bambi," Quil said and smiled at me radiantly with those white flashing teeth. Just like Jacob's. And Embry's. And everyone else's. Everyone was just staring at me. As if they all had one big question for me. As if they all just wanted to accuse me of something. 

We had a nice conversation. Seth kept laughing and blushing whenever I told him something funny. Quil didn't seem to be listening, but he was. More than occasionally he would be the only one to respond to my questions or replies. Jared came over without Kim, for once, and pushed Quil in the shoulder. 

"Flirting it up with the new girl, huh?" he teased and Quil laughed it off. I blushed. 

"Not unless she likes it," he smiled devilishly at me and shoved me playfully. I grinned. Paul migrated towards us. 

"Quil, I see you still got it. Getting it on with your best friends sister... Not a good idea," he joked menacingly. 

We talked and talked for hours. Jacob kept eyeing me, I could tell. I tried not to look over at him. His stare was frequent. It was getting late, and there I was, next to Quil on the couch, starting to drift off into sleep. The last thing I saw before my eyes fluttered shut was his small smile. 

My eyes opened after a night of dreamless sleep. My blinds were closed, but I could see the grey clouds and hear the pounding rain. It was oddly warm in my bed. I looked up and saw a sleeping face. I looked closer. It was Quil. I shook him awake. 

"What are you doing here?" I asked and he looked around, confused. 

"Oh, you fell asleep. Embry told me not to wake you up, just to carry you up here. Then I fell asleep I guess." He was holding me. One of his hands was in the small of my back and the other was in my hair. He was what was so warm. I realized that because of how snuggled up to him I was. I was literally laying on top of him. 

"Oh, well you're really warm," I commented quietly. 

"I like you. You're so polite. And small. And sweet," Quil said sleepily and smiled as he hugged me tighter. I blushed. Then we talked. 

"Have you ever dated any girls before?" I asked and listened closely to his answer. 

"Just two. Lauren Thomas and Amanda Lisle." I was surprised by his truthfulness. 

"What girls don't understand," he continued, "is that relationships really are give and take. They think it's the guy gives and the girl takes. But it's not. It's I take, you give. I give, you take. Just because you're female doesn't mean you're superior to any male. Or any female. That's the worst, when a girl goes 'Oh I hate her she thinks she's all that' and so on. It's like, 'So do you,'. Sorry if I offended you with any of that. Just speaking my mind."

I hesitated before I answered, "You didn't offend me. I am no more superior to you than any other man. I learned that from my foster parents. I've never felt superior to anyone." My eyes stared blankly into his caring ones. He stroked my hair. 

"Embry told me what happened. I'm so sorry. How could they ever hurt a delicate, beautiful girl like you?" he wondered, smiled softly at me, and leaned real close. 

"Can I kiss you?" he asked with the same soft smile. I winked and turned away. I scooted close to the wall. You could barely say I was still on the bed anymore. He tried to tap me. I giggled and didn't respond. 

"Okay, I'm going to have to pull out the big guns," he warned teasingly and a heard something light hit the floor. "Bambi, you know you want to look. Just do it. You already won. I'm just going to desperate measures for you." I peeked my head under my arm. There he was, no shirt on, and I couldn't help myself but stare at his perfect practically eight-pack. He looked perfect. My eyes widened and my jaw dropped. 

"Whoa! How did you get them like that?" I asked like a child looking around in a toy store. 

"I don't know... So about that kiss..." he grinned and I still kept my guard up. He took my small hand and traced it up and down his stomach so I could feel how real. Showing off. I rolled my eyes and turned away again, secretly smiling to myself. He brought his hands on my hips and pulled me away from the wall. 

"I'll give you my first kiss... If you'll take it," I said truthfully and quietly. His eyes softened, and he leaned in to kiss me softly and slowly. He traced my spine gently and moved his hands back to my hips. I wrapped my arms around his neck and he held me to him. I pulled away. Our eyes locked and he smiled and began to gently kiss my jaw and neck. My eyes closed and I ran my fingers through his hair. He broke the kiss and his mouth curved into another smile. I knew my face was still wide eyed and wondrous. He chuckled. I blushed. 

"That was nice, Quil. I really like you," escaped my mouth before I processed the commitment I got myself into. But I didn't care. Quil was giving me the soft, careful looking after I had never experienced. I liked my commitment. I trusted him. He shoved his shirt back on and silently opened my window. 

"What are you doing?" I pondered and held onto his arm lightly. 

"Leaving. Your brother doesn't exactly know about this. So don't tell him," he requested and lifted my hands of his arm to hold them in his. 

"I'll never tell a soul about this," I promised. He smiled, leaned in, and kissed me quickly. 

"Take care," he said and slid down the roof. I didn't want to watch because I'd be too scared to. I sat there in my room alone, blanket pulled up to my neck. I thought about Quil and his sweet brown eyes. He didn't seem like the type to have a way with girls but he did. He had a gift. He left me there, alone and smiling like an idiot. I'd liked the way he said goodbye. It was so sweet and reassuring. Whatever worry I had slid down the roof and out of the house with him. I took a shower and set out fresh pajamas so Embry wouldn't notice I slept in my skirt. My hair turned very dark from the shower water. The warm water wrapped around me and hugged me. I was directly under the shower head and the water flowed down and kissed my face. Embry knocked on the door, interrupting my serenity. I jumped. Naturally, I hit the shower head and fell down with a loud bang. 

"You... Almost... Done?" he asked apologetically, knowing he made me fall. 

"Sort of. I just have to wash the blood out of my hair now. Thanks a lot. I was just about to get out," I said bitterly and yanked myself up. 

"Sorry. And Jake says he has something of yours at his house and thinks you should come over," Embry informed me. I smiled, remembering Kahn. 

"Of course! Tell him I'll be over as soon as I can." I then remembered Jacob. He knew we didn't have a thing, right? Did I make that clear? Oh boy. 

I got out of the shower and dried my hair, which went into a messy bun with my layers poking out. I wore a white tank top and my sweatpants tucked into some boots. As I walked downstairs, Embry gave me a questioning look. 

"You're wearing that?" he asked. 

"I don't like Jacob. I don't need to impress him. Embry's face fell from its questioning look and he was trying to hide how worried he was. But I didn't pay attention, just wanted to see my pup. 

"Can you drive me?" I asked and grinned sweetly at my brother. He nodded and tossed on a sweatshirt as we hopped in the car. 

It was a shorter distance, it seemed, to Jacob's house than it was to our hose when I was meeting Tiffany. Embry dropped me off and told me Jake would drop me off. I rang the doorbell. Jake came strolling to the door. As soon as he saw me his face lit up. The door swung open and I was picked up by his hug. 

"Hey, babe. What's going on?" he said as he kissed me on the cheek. It had never felt weird until today, because Quil had kissed me earlier. Speaking of whom, he came around the corner to the door, also smiling. Jacob said he needed to go see if Kahn was awake. As soon as Jacob was gone, Quil drew my wrist into his chest and held it there with both hands. He planted a kiss on my forehead. My heart warmed like my wrist did, there in his hands. He released it gently just in time before Jacob came back. 

"Come see him. He's awake," Jacob smiled and led us outside to Kahn's crate. Kahn leaped out as soon as Jacob opened the door and jumped up on me. He licked my face and snuggled up to me. I hugged him. 

"You got so much bigger! And smarter, look at you! Do you like Jacob? He's your new buddy! But always remember me. You're my best friend." He wagged his tail and galloped to say hi to Quil and Jacob. They petted him, and pretty soon he got tired and wanted to sleep again, so we let him. 

"So I guess he lives here now? If that's okay with you," Jacob confirmed. I nodded. 

"Tiffany would love him, but she's too allergic, so he can stay here. But I want to visit whenever I want," I laughed. 

"He's still your puppy," Jacob agreed. I wrapped my arms around him and squeezed. 

"Thank you so much! I better head home. Bye guys," I farewelled them and kissed them both on the cheek. I may or may not have pressed my lips a little harder to Quil. But that's for him to figure out. Jacob and Quil both winked the same secretive wink at me at the same time. I turned around so they wouldn't see my jaw drop. Jake thought I liked him, but Quil knew I liked him. This was not going to be pretty...