┏━━━━⋆.˚ ᡣ𐭩 .𖥔˚⋆━━━━┓

LET ME HELP YOU

EMBRY WAS HAVING THE TIME OF HIS LIFE, HONESTLY.

Nelly's plan of seeing each other for an hour a day was working, and despite the no talking and no touching rule remaining very much intact, just spending time with his imprint made Embry have a new sort of pep in his step.

Sure, he was feeling marginally better than he had been— but there was still something missing.  It was probably due to Nelly's reluctance to give into the bond, but Embry would never blame her for that. He felt jealous whenever he saw how easy it was for Jared and Kim, but then again, Jared had never told his best fucking friend that she was simply too much to deal with. 

Yeah, he couldn't really say he didn't deserve her rigidness. 

That day, he was expecting the usual; he'd arrive to her home, she'd give him the rundown of what she'd be doing, Embry would then decide what he'd be doing, and then she'd start the timer. However, Embry would be sorely mistaken.

There was an unfamiliar car parked in Tabitha's gravelled driveway, though there was a Washington license plate attached to the bumper.   Even without his increased sense of hearing, anyone who would've venture towards the small home could've been able to hear the sheer amount of yelling.

It was coming from within, and Embry was acutely aware of one voice that was much louder than the others. Nelly. 

Embry's fight mode was activated in his brain at the mere sound of her raised, angered voice, and immediately raced toward the front door. And though she'd somehow seen him coming, Tabitha Greene pried the door open and simply looked at him with a solemn expression.

It looked like she wanted to say something, but instead opted to open the door fully. It was an invitation, one the boy readily took, and set off in the direction of his imprint with Grandma Greene trailing behind.

"I really don't understand what your deal is, honestly!" Embry heard her seething tone before he actually saw her, and when he did, he almost blanched at the sight of her stepping up to a man he only recognized through photos.

Michael Sequoia.

"You're too young to understand, but my work is a priority," her father yelled in retaliation from his spot beside a tired looking Mary–Anne. "I can't just drop things. I'm here now, shouldn't that amount to something?"

"Your son died!" she screamed, her left eye giving a subtle twitch. "Sounds like a pretty big priority to me— but no, you're just an asshole who's two weeks too late!"

Mary–Anne spotted Embry first, immediately putting her hands forward toward her daughter. "Honey—"

"You cannot call me an asshole, Penelope," Michael interrupted, a finger pointed in her direction. "I'm still your father, and I deserve some respect!"

A growl bubbled out of the girl's chest, loud and menacing as those very words must've settled in her brain. He knew the signs of an impromptu phase, and the last thing the pack needed was for Nelly to reveal their secret to someone else.

With wide eyes, Embry shot forward and instantly began hauling her ass towards the back door. She seemed to register him a beat too late, the growling being replaced by fists of anger beating against his chest. But Embry didn't let that deter him, using his body to herd her into the yard like she was a damn sheep.

"You need to let me rock his shit," she yelled, instantly trying to peer over his shoulder and look back through the glass door. "I could make it look like an accident— oh, that motherfucker!"

Embry scoffed out something that sounded like a laugh, mimicking her movements to block her from trying to go back inside. "You don't really mean that, Nell."

Her lip was pulled back into a snarl. "Like hell I don't. He wasn't here, Embry."

A little bit of exhaustion seeped into her tone, and that was something that the Call boy clocked instantly. He pursed his lip, eyes observing her. "Hurting him won't bring Tate back," he started, only to watch her eyes snap to his with fervour, "shit, I wanna kill him, but it won't do anyone any good."

Nelly swallowed around nothing, stalking toward the familiar tree in the Sequoia's backyard. "He can't just get away with not being here," she said, powering through her anger while she all but collapsed against the base of the evergreen. "I needed him, and he wasn't there."

Embry's mind was immediately filled with the stark parallels between the situation at hand and the situation Embry had put them in all those months ago. The day he screwed it all up, Nelly had needed him, and he bitterly thought that just like Michael, he too had practically abandoned the Sequoia girl.

He was no better than Michael, but Embry was nothing if not persistent in his efforts to make things right again— to turn shit around.

Something was pulling Embry closer to her, and soon he found himself sat beside her. It was closer than they'd ever been as of late, and he was surprised that she didn't outright punch him in the face for it.

Rather, as he went to speak up, her body sagged against his the moment she let a puff of air escape her lips. "I'm tired, Em."

Em. Em. Em.

The use of the nickname almost made his head swim, his body thrum. So, with Nelly's head resting against his shoulder, he dared to gently lean his own against it. Luckily, she hadn't pushed him away this time around.

"I know," he supplied, somewhat lamely before he continued with a, "but we've got forty minutes left; how about we just take a nap— chill the hell out?"

The end of his proposition was light, a joking tone just incase she were to change her mind and tell him to scram. Yet, without craning her head away from his shoulder, she made a hum of agreement.

"I'm gonna need more than forty minutes for a real nap, though."

And shit, wasn't that a win in Embry's eyes.

⋆.˚ ᡣ𐭩 .𖥔˚⋆

[ wyn's note ]

money moves !!! wonder what michael's up to...

but perhaps this is the push these kids needed ;) teehee thanks for bearing with me and my slowpoke updates lol !!

all my love xx