Sarah's Trust

For the whole week Sarah hoped that something would come up and that the bonfire would be cancelled, but when the day finally rolled around and Embry turned up at her house at four in the afternoon she knew that she wasn't getting out of it.

Her mother opened the door when he knocked and let him in. Sarah was sat on the sofa drowning in her jumper that she was wearing for comfort. It was fairly big on her but then it had been her mother's until she decided to take it after the accident and wear whenever she felt like the world was slowly closing in on her. Sadly, she felt that too frequently for it to be something worth mentioning to her parents. They just wouldn't understand how she felt being blind.

"You ready?" he asked and she raised her head at his voice.

"I guess."

She got up from the sofa and felt her way towards his voice, reaching out and grasping his arm when she got to him.

"Where's your cane, Sarah?" her mother asked, puzzled as to why her daughter didn't have it with her when she couldn't navigate her way around the place perfectly without it.

Sarah shrugged, letting go of Embry's arm. "He said he's not going to leave my side so I have no reason to take it with me."

Her mother sighed at her words but didn't say anything and saw both Sarah and Embry out of the house, emphasising that her daughter couldn't be out later than nine because of it being her first time out properly since the accident. Sarah knew she probably wouldn't last that long but knew that her mother was just giving her a time that was the further deadline for her. She had no problem with that.

With being outside Sarah felt exposed and vulnerable and found herself holding onto Embry's arm again in a tight grip. It was then that she acknowledged just how warm his skin was. Whenever she had brushed against his arm or gripped it they'd been inside and she hadn't taken too much notice of it. Of course when he first helped guide her back to her house he had touched her, but she hadn't taken notice of anything apart from the fact that she was outside and she'd had to have help getting back home.

So with the fact that they were outside, she took the oppurtunity to ask him about it to try and help take her mind off it. "Hey, Embry, you're really warm," she commented nonchalantly.

He nodded. "It's normal for me," he replied.

"But I didn't think that it's healthy to have a temperature like you have, judging by how warm you feel."

"I'm fine, Sarah. Trust me."

She couldn't trust him but she took his word for it and didn't ask anything more. They got to his truck and he opened the door for her, helping her in before closing it and going round to the other side. Truthfully, she wasn't thrilled about being in a car because of the fact that losing her eyesight was down to being hit by a car. She'd been in a vehicle after the accident, of course, but she wasn't all that comfortable in them and much preferred to not have to endure a ride in one.

There was no talking during the ride. The lack of talking on Sarah's part was due to her nervousness and the lack of speech on Embry's part was because he didn't want to make Sarah more uncomfortable than she already was. He hoped that the bonfire went well because he wanted to see Sarah more than he was currently, and by exposing her to the outside more then maybe she would become more comfortable leaving her house. She already knew that there were others that were going to be at the bonfire, mainly Embry's friends, but she didn't know just how many because he'd only said a few and a few could range from two to ten in her mind. She didn't know whether a few meant more to Embry than it did to her.

It took a few more minutes until Embry parked and got out. He walked around to Sarah's door and opened it for her, holding her hand to help her climb out of the vehicle.

"We're here?" she asked.

"Yeah. C'mon, I want to introduce you to some people." He grabbed her hand and guided her across the sand and towards the group in the near-distance. Sarah tightened her grip as they got nearer, feeling more and more nervous with each step. By the time they had reached Sam who was stood up to greet them, Sarah's grip on Embry's hand was exceedingly tight and her other hand was clutching onto his arm as well. This didn't seem to be going well for her as it was, and it hadn't even started yet.

"Sarah, this is Sam," Embry introduced, not having to introduce her to him as he already knew about her from Embry.

Sarah looked around in front of her, trying to see whether she could sense whereabouts the person was standing. When she couldn't she coughed awkwardly. "Can I, urm, shake your hand? Just so I know that you're actually there," she mumbled quietly, embarrassed about her reasoning behind the question.

Embry nodded at Sam before the latter person agreed and shook Sarah's hand. She noticed the similarity of the warmth of his skin like she had done with Embry.

"Oh, you're really warm like Embry is," she commented, surprised.

Both boys shared a short look with each other before Embry jumped in. "Like I said, it's normal," he explained.

"Oh."

"Let's go sit down." Embry led Sarah over to the seats and got her to sit down before he sat in the seat next to her, despite the fact that Quil and Jacob were on the other side of seating area. He looked at Sarah. "How are you liking being out so far?"

She gave a brief smile before dipping her head a bit, pushing her hair back and looking back at Embry. "It still feels too exposing for me. And truthfully, I'm a little scared that you're going to leave me," she confessed.

Embry placed a hand on her shoulder in a comforting manner. "I won't leave you, Sarah. I'll never leave you when you need me."

She didn't quite know what to make of his words but for the moment she accepted them gratefully because she was happy that he wasn't going to leave her while at this bonfire. She couldn't even begin to imagine what it would feel like to be left by him while being outside, especially an area that she didn't know. Her street was fine because then there was a good chance her parents would find her or a neighbour would notice her and direct her back to her house, but she didn't even know where they had come for this bonfire except for the fact that it was still in La Push. Plus, she didn't know anyone else if Embry suddenly left her so she didn't know whether she would be able to find someone that would help her and actually feel safe with letting them help her considering that she wouldn't know whether the were actually helping her back home or whether they were leading her further away from the house. A part of her knew that the worry of that was a little over-the-top, but she couldn't help it and would rather be wary of something like that happening than be oblivious to the chance of it happening in reality.

Just as she was about to speak, the ones who were on their feet began to find seats around the bonfire and the talking stopped so she figured something must be about to happen judging from the silence. Sarah made sure to have her arm touching Embry's arm just so she would know if he decided to break his word and leave her where she was. She didn't think he would but couldn't be too sure.

Embry mostly watched Sarah's expressions as Sam told the Quileute legends. He knew that she probably wouldn't make a lot of them as she wasn't aware of anything to do with the legends, but he just wanted to make sure that she looked to be enjoying herself. For the whole time that Sam was speaking, her eyes never left the fire. The light of the flames shone for her so she took advantage of it by not moving her eyes away while she listened to what was being said. For once she felt at ease with being blind.

Before she knew it, Sarah was lightly nudged by Embry before he helped her stand up, signalling that the legends were over with. Not wanting to push his luck, Embry began leading her back to his truck. He wanted to spend more time with her but understood that she had already been out for a lengthy period of time despite not being comfortable. It was a bit frustrating for him but he would do anything anything for her.

"What did you think of the legends?" he asked casually.

Sarah shrugged lightly. "They were interesting, I guess." For a moment Embry felt like the whole thing hadn't been of any use. "But, even though I still disliked being outside, you kept your promise and didn't leave me so it wasn't all that bad," she continued which brought a smile to his face.

He then knew there was hope that she could end up trusting him despite her uneasiness.