DAKOTA LAHOTE - e.c

8. bedrooms and warm bodies

four weeks later

it was april 1st. fools day.

dakota was sitting at her usual lunch table with the boys, eating goldfish, listening to quil tell a story on how he pranked his dad this morning. every time dakota laughed, her eyes wandered to embry, and he looked at her.

they've been seeing each other since they kissed in the rain that one night. the only person who knew about them was amara, since they both knew the boys would think weird of them.

it was friday. dakota and embry made plans tonight. paul would be at some bonfire with sam, and their dad was away on a business trip.

paul only got a three day suspension. kai goes to a different school now, but he still lives here. dakota doesn't care though. she bought pepper spray that attaches to her wallet.

paul and dakota ended up going back to normal within a few days. he told her that their dad forbid him from seeing sam and jared, and paul told dakota that they weren't friends anymore. she knew he lied straight to her face about it when she saw him talking to sam outside her house. and paul and jared still sit with each other at lunch, so that was a dead giveaway.

she was just counting down the hours until she and embry could have some alone time.

within a long school day and a long drive back, it reached 4 pm. paul left to go to the bonfire, and dakota called embry to let him know he could come over.

they ate pizza, watched a little bit of NCIS in her bedroom, laughed a bunch, kissed a lot.

they were laying down in her bed, the lights down low. the transparent curtains showed a pitch black night outside.

dakota had a history textbook open, quizzing embry for his test next monday.

"okay, what president took a bathtub on his vacation?" she asked.

"uhh, jefferson?" he says in a high pitched voice.

she makes a buzzer sound. "ooh, no, it's taft. nice try, though."

he groans, plopping back down on the bed. dakota put the textbook on her nightstand and laid next to him, giving him a hopeful smile. "hey, c'mon. don't give up just yet."

"i am giving up. this is me giving up." he says. "i can't do this. can we take a break?"

she almost doesn't give in, but he adds a 'please' with his warm, beady eyes. she couldn't not give in. "fine, but only for ten minutes."

he fiddled with the dreamcatcher hanging from her bed frame. "so, what should we do now?"

she raised her eyebrows, knowing where this was going. he smirked, moving closer to her, locking lips. his hand went to her back, causing her stomach to erupt with butterflies. she placed her hand on his neck, once in a while moving it to his cheek or the back of his head.

three minutes later, she started tugging on his flannel jacket, suddenly in a certain mood. he stops kissing her with his eyebrows in a scrunch. she nods. he asks, "are you sure?" she nods again.

an hour later, they're in bed under the covers. her head is near his chest and her arm is draped across his body. he's holding her body back, enjoying the moment.

she couldn't have been happier.

her phone starts ringing, interrupting them. she gets up, making him frown.

"hello?" she says after she picks it up.

"hey, can you do me a favor?" amara's voice asks. "can you grab one of your -"

"oh, i'm kind of in the middle of something. sorry." she looks at embry, who's admiring her. "i'll call you tomorrow."

"oh, okay. wha-"

she puts the phone back and hangs up. she climbs back into bed, going into the same position. she pulls away almost immediately though. she presses the back of her palm on his forehead, wincing.

he sits up, leaning against the bed frame. "what?"

"you're like, really hot."

"oh. thanks."

"no, i think you're coming down with something." she says worriedly.

"is my skin hot?" he asks. "maybe it's just a post-sex thing, i don't know."

"um, no, i don't think that's normal." she says, remembering the details about amara's first time, which did not go well, but that's another story. "do you want some medicine?"

he pauses, looking around. "i-i think i should go home."

"oh, okay. you sure? i could make you some soup or something."

"no, actually, my head feels funny. i should probably go home."

she sighs, wishing he could stay the night. "yeah, i guess you're right. paul's probably coming home any minute now."

she walks him to the front door, opening it slowly. he wraps his arms around her. "i had a good time tonight."

"me too." she pulls away, giving him a kiss. "okay, go home before you throw up all over my carpet."

he smiles, saying goodbye and that he'd call her when he got home. she watches him get in his car and drive away before she shuts the door.

she goes back to her room and calls amara.

"amara speaking."

"hi amara, it's dakota."

"oh. are you gonna hang up on me again?"

"no, and stop pouting, i have big news."

she grabbed some aspirin from her desk drawer, taking two for the pain she was suffering in her crotch. "god, i didn't think it'd hurt this much."

"WHAT?!"

"amara, i just lost my virginity."

"WHAT?!"

"oh my god, i think i'm in love. gross."

"WHAT?!"

"amara! stop yelling what into the phone and ask me all about it."

"okay, okay. so... how was it? who was it?"

"it was weird. but in a good way. and obviously it was embry, who do you think i am?"

"maybe you'll fall into my footsteps. just saying."

"two bodies in a week is crazy. no, but this is different from yours. embry's a good guy. it couldn't have been with anyone better."

"oh my gosh, details, now."

so dakota filled her in on the details, starting from him coming inside to leaving with a burning fever. amara was a good listener, but she always interrupted her every time dakota talked about embry and his ways.

they stopped talking until 2 am.

dakota was too tired to realize paul never came back from the bonfire, and embry never called her back.