┏━━━━⋆.˚ ᡣ𐭩 .𖥔˚⋆━━━━┓

A SEQUOIA SIGHTING

"AND THEN SHE SAID, AND I QUOTE: 'HE'S ACTUALLY DEAD TO ME.' AND THEN I TOOK THAT AS MY CUE TO LEAVE."

Embry Call was sitting at Sam's kitchen table, his mouth hanging open comically as he listened to Paul recount his most recent interaction with Nelly Sequoia of all people.

It had been months since he'd last seen her, and the events of last January seemed like they occurred a lifetime ago. Embry could remember the day after the incident, as the pack had dubbed it, because he immediately sprinted to the Uley residence and got the ass whooping of his life.

"And you just let her walk, even after you imprinted on her?" He could recall Sam's beyond frusterated face when Embry told him what had happened. He knew what imprinting was the minute Sam introduced him to Emily, explaining how it often felt like gravity wasn't tying you to the earth— she was.

And yeah, it was safe to say that Embry felt that with Nelly, right before she moved away. Sure , he tried calling her a few times, but it was clear he was either blocked on her phone or she was just choosing to not respond.

"Okay, but how did she say it?" Embry questioned further, now finding the words to speak. "How was her tone?"

Paul gave him a deadpan look. "She said it like she meant it, dude."

Another beat of silence, before Embry threw his head into his hands, slumping forward in his seat. "Fuuuuuck."

Meanwhile, the Cameron boy next to him had a pout on his face. "Kim didn't tell me about Nell being back," he mumbled, ripping a piece of his muffin apart and tossing it rather miserably into his mouth.

"She told me not to say anything..." Paul couldn't help but laugh, seeing the way Jared's gaze flickered to his with annoyance, "but she's not my imprint; I don't need to listen to her."

"Does she still look the same?" Jared asked, albeit a little curious.

Paul shrugged, purposefully meeting Embry's gaze with his lip curling upward. "She looks good," he smirked, and the growl the younger boy let out was the loudest they'd ever heard from him.

He knew Paul was just pushing his buttons (really, it was the older boy's way of telling Embry to get over himself and go see her), but his brain was kicked into overdrive at the mere thought of Paul looking at Nelly like that.

Not when Nelly was his.

Sam, who Embry somehow forgot was also in the vicinity, sighed from his place near the kitchen sink in an attempt to intervene. "Embry, you've gotta talk to her," he said, arms crossing over his chest, "you need to tell her about us."

"I need to?" Embry parroted back, a little apprehensive about the idea of coming clean to Nelly. He'd need to tell her that his outburst was because Sam told him to cut his ties with non pack members. That rule was null now, all things considered but still; telling his unrequited crush slash imprint about the fact that he phases into a big wolf whenever he needs to was something he never wanted to do. 

The Lahote boy scoffed. "Yeah right— I bet she won't even let you within five feet of her," he speculated with a shit-disturbing smirk. "We all know Nelly holds grudges like a champ."

The four boys in the home all winced, recalling a specific memory where one Quil Ateara had jokingly pulled on her ponytail in primary school, and effectively earned him a slap to the head from the girl. Till the day, whenever Nelly even catches a glimpse of the Ateara boy, she yanks on his curly hair as a reminder.

She was never one to just let things go... to let shit slide.

"You have your work cut out for you," Jared added, and Embry had half a mind to kick his friend's shin for the extremely unhelpful comment.

"Don't you think I know that?" he snapped, tossing his head back only to press the heels of his palms into his eyes. "Cant I just get Paul to tell her about our furry little secret?"

But Sam shook his head. "It needs to be you; you know that."

Sam revealed the secret to Emily, Jared revealed the secret to Kim, and now Embry was next in line. Only, Nelly couldn't fucking stand him, and the picture Paul painted could attest to that.

"Okay... I'll figure it out."

˚ ᡣ𐭩 .𖥔˚

Embry did not, in fact, figure it out— because figuring it out would entail a proper plan being set into motion.

But no; Embry Call was camped out in his living room window the following morning with a set of binoculars, waiting for the moment Nelly was supposed to leave for her morning bonfire.

Kim was a godsend for letting the detail slip in the pack's groupchat, being just a second too late to erase it before anyone could see. Embry saw the notification the minute it appeared, watching when it disappeared as the girl deleted it.

Now, Embry wasn't a psychopath, and he sure as hell wasn't about to storm up to her at the damn beach when she was with her friends. That would only had more fuel to the fire, so he settled on waiting to catch her as she left.

And because Embry knew Nelly Sequoia, he knew she usually woke up at eight during the weekdays when school was out, and would take an hour and fifteen minutes to get ready for the day. It was like clockwork, and just as he predicated, she was walking out the front door by nine fifteen.

She looked the same as the day he'd last seen her, though lacking any tears in her eyes this time around, but she'd cut her hair. The straight brown tresses that once reached her lower back now only extended just below her shoulder blades. And was that a new piercing he saw on her left ear?? Had she finally sucked it up and gotten her helix done?

Scrambling to throw the binoculars aside, he raced towards his own front door. Stopping in front of the foyer mirror, he adjusted his t-shirt to make it look less like he'd just slept in it, and combed through his hair haphazardly. When he was somewhat satisfied, he cranked open the wooden door and stepped onto his porch.

His smile fell when the Sequoia girl was no where to be found. Embry approached the end of the driveway and looked out onto the road, catching a glimpse of the girl already whizzing away on her bike with lightning speed.

He stood there, dejected as she eventually disappeared from view. He had to physically stop himself from following her, but his sigh was cut short by a whimsical laugh from across the road.

He locked eyes with Tabitha Greene, his wise old neighbour whom he was surprised to see at the pack's council meetings when he first joined. She was already looking at him from the bungalow's doorway.

"She'll come around," she winked before disappearing back into the home, the door clicking shut as she went.

Embry hoped that old Mrs Greene would be right, because he knew he had to fess up, and fast.

But she had to at least tolerate being in his presence before he could do so, first.

⋆.˚ ᡣ𐭩 .𖥔˚⋆

[ wyn's note ]

pack pov pack pov! embry pov embry pov!

homeboy regrets what he did big time, but he's about to embark on mission "get nelly back" — AHHHH young love

all my love xx