THE WILD ━━━━ embry call.

Chapter Twenty-Four

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

Beautiful Things

***

You see, Bella Swan opened my eyes. 

 But not in a good way. 

 She made me think; What if Embry dies in the battle? What if I die in the battle? Or Alyssa, or Quil, or Paul, or Jared, or Seth, or Sam, hell, even Leah! What would I do if anything happened too... any of them? 

 "You need to promise me something." I blurted out as soon as I stormed into my room. I had texted Embry previously. And now, as requested, he was sitting on my bed, lightly humming some old Taylor Swift song and swinging his legs back and forth. 

 "Sure, what?" He asked, running a hand through his hair as if he couldn't see I was completely freaking out. My heart was racing, and my hands were so sweaty I felt like putting on a pair of gloves. 

 "Please tell me you're gonna be okay."

 Embry froze, laughing in disbelief slightly and standing up, walking over to where I was standing, "what do you mean?"

 I took a deep breath, talking fast in attempts to hide how embarrassed I was that Bella got into my head. "When we fight the bloodsuckers, can you just promise me that you won't die so that-" 

 He walked forward, holding his hand over my mouth so that I would shut up. "What the hell are you talking about? Of course I'm gonna be okay." 

 "Just-" I took a deep breath as he withdrew his hand, trying to calm my rapidly accelerating nerves. "I can't loose you." 

 Embry's entire face softened, and he leaned forward to pres his lips on mine. I melted into his touch, holding him as close as I could. I can't loose anyone else in my life... I can't. I don't know how I would bounce back from that. 

 "I love you." 

 "I love you too, Tony. So much." 

 I hope that is enough to keep us alive. 

 ***

"Listen, loser, let me say something and let me do it fast." Alyssa blurted out. It was late that night, and I could tell my sister was feeling the same about this as I was. 

 Our dad died. And it's not like it was when we were babies. We were teenagers, we remember him. We remember his laugh, and how he would always roll his R's, even in English, making Lyssa giggle. 

 I remember how he would help me with my homework, even when it got to the point that he knew I didn't need it... he would call me his 'little genius.' Whenever Alyssa got home, he would call her 'beautiful', because he knew she was having trouble with school, and I wasn't exactly the kind of big brother who beat people up. Although one time, this guy called her stupid, and I walked up and just began quoting different laws of physics until he left. Another time, I kicked a guy in the shins so hard that he fell over.

 "You die, I kill you... understand?" 

 I nodded, standing up, and before she could object, wrapping my arms around her. Alyssa stiffened, but eventually relaxed, hugging me back and burying her head in my shoulder. I pulled away.