Torn: Chapter 14

When Jacob ignores Bella in New Moon she develops a friendship with Quil. They become close and then he too makes the change into a werewolf. What will happen in this Quil/Bella/Jacob triangle?

Title: Torn

Rating: T

Penname: Katbug86

Characters: Bella & Quil Jr.

Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight.

Chapter 14: Friends Again

Wednesday after school I met Quil in La Push on the beach front. I had spent my time in class contemplating the revelations of the day prior, causing a self induced headache. It all felt like information overload and I still had many more questions to be answered.

As odd as it was to think of my two best friends being werewolves, I knew it was the truth. I accepted it. A part of me was just thrilled to be in on the secret, to have my friends back.

I still was having difficulty trusting Sam and realizing that this was not his fault in any way; that he was actually helping Jacob and Quil. Time was the only thing that could change how I perceived him.

Quil was waiting for me by the familiar bleached driftwood log that Jake and I had claimed as our own many months ago. That particular piece of driftwood held many memories for me. He was dressed once again in nothing but a pair of cut off shorts and my eyes drank in his tanned, toned body as he stood there.

I had seen Quil without a shirt many times before, but seeing him now, nearly left me breathless. He was…beautiful. Edward had been the epitome of perfect in my mind, but seeing Quil now, I couldn't remember why I even had that thought. There was no other way to describe the well defined muscles clearly visible under his dark skin. My heartbeat quickened and unfamiliar butterflies found their way into my stomach.

Quil turned his head as he heard my approach, standing up and closing the distance between us to give me a quick hug. I thankfully had enough sense to stop my blatant staring before he took notice.

"What's in here?" he questioned as he removed the bag I had been carrying from my shoulders.

"I packed us some food. There are a couple towels too," I explained, following him as we selected a spot to lay out our things. Quil laid out a towel, taking a seat and motioning for me to join him.

"Mmm…I knew I liked you for a reason," Quil joked while trying to sneak a peek at what food I had brought along for us to eat.

I quickly swatted his hands away before moving the bag next to myself. "Well, I certainly hope it isn't the only reason," I laughed.

His face still shone in amusement, though his voice held a more serious tone, "Definitely not the only one." My cheeks turned slightly pink at his words. Being with Quil again is exactly what my heart and mind needed, any anxiety or worries from the weekend were gone.

Quil jumped up suddenly, nearly knocking me over in the process. "What are you-?" I started but was unable to finish my sentence before I was scooped up and thrown over an excessively warm shoulder. "Put me down!" I screamed. Quil just laughed at my yelling while ignoring the futile pounding on his backside I was doing to encourage him to put me back on my feet. I was probably hurting myself more than him anyway.

The next minute I was air born before landing in the chilly water with a loud splat. The temperature was much colder then I would have expected and I was instantly freezing. When I resurfaced I could see Quil standing in the sand near the water, hunched over and laughing hysterically.

I stood up once my feet could touch the bottom and marched towards Quil. He stood up to face me but continued his uncontrollable laughing. My eyes narrowed as I approached him. "You're gonna pay for that," I threatened.

"And how do you plan to do that?" He was right…it's not like I could shove him into the water, he's practically twice my size. Plus with how warm he is he'd probably enjoy the cold water. Wait a minute…

"I won't share the food I brought," I stated with a mischievous smirk. His laughing instantly ceased.

"You wouldn't," Quil said in disbelief.

"Oh, I would."

Something in my face must have shown him I was serious because he was in front of me apologizing within seconds. "I'm sorry Bella…really sorry. I didn't mean it…I wasn't thinking. Please forgive me?" I tried hard to contain my laughter at the sight of Quil begging like a child. My efforts failed as a giggle escaped my lips before turning into my own round of hysterical laughter.

At first Quil looked at me like I was crazy, probably confused as to what I found so funny, but soon joined in anyway. Once we gained control of ourselves, we both returned to the towel once again to sit and eat. I wrapped the extra towel around my shoulders to dry off and warm myself before starting to pull sandwiches and side dishes out of my bag. I placed one turkey sandwich in my lap before placing four in front of Quil. I then set out chips, various fruit, and a couple soda cans. I had told Charlie I would be spending the evening in La Push so he had decided to order take out and work late at the station. Quil greedily eyed the amount of food before him.

"Even if it's just sandwiches, I still love it when you make me food," he complimented between bites. I managed a 'thanks' after taking a sip of my drink. By the time I was half way through with my food, Quil had already finished three of his as well as a majority of the fruit and chips.

Once I had finished my small portion of food I sat back and watched Quil devour the rest. How he could eat so much was beyond me but I assumed, it too, was a werewolf thing. A breeze came through and I shivered, still wet from my impromptu swim.

Quil must have noticed because he scooted closer, wrapping an arm around my shoulders in attempt to warm me. "Do you mind…?" he trailed off, questioning me with his eyes. I shook my head at the unspoken part of his question. He pulled me up into his lap, wrapping his arms around my waist while I curled into the warmth of his chest. It took only a few moments before the shivers subsided. His body heat was pouring off of him and it felt wonderful against my own. It didn't escape my knowledge that this position was the most intimate we had ever been in.

"Where are Sam and the others?" I asked quietly.

He was silent for a moment before answering. "Jake and Paul are patrolling and Jared is with Kim," he paused a moment more.

"What about Sam and Embry?" I prompted. The mentioning of Kim's name reminded me of the reference to imprinting Embry had made, but I decided to save that particular question for another time.

Quil let out a sigh. "They're in the woods. Watching," he finally finished. It took a minute for the words to process and for me to become aware of his meaning; they were watching us.

"Why?" I pulled back to look up at his face and saw him peering down at me.

He seemed reluctant to answer but did anyway. "He's just making sure everything goes ok. That I don't let my temper get the best of me or anything."

"What does that mean?" I was confused by his statement.

"It means that when we get too upset or angry, we can lose our control and phase. Sam just wants to make sure nothing like that happens because if I phase too close to you, you could get hurt."

"Oh." Another thought occurred to me. "Is that what happened to Emily?" Quil's eyes widened in surprise that I had made the connection.

"Yes," he said flatly, like just the thought of it was too much. "I will never hurt you," he stated more firmly.

I knew he was telling me the truth. I wasn't scared of him, not even when I first figured it out. Nothing will make me think any differently of him. "I believe you." Quil's face brightened.

"Can they hear us talking?" my curiosity was getting the best of me.

He chuckled, "Yes. We have extremely heightened senses. I could hear your footsteps as you got out of your truck. I can even hear every beat of your heart."

"Wow. This is going to take some getting used to."

"Tell me about it. I've only been doing this for five days, I'm still getting used to it myself," he half grumbled.

I smiled. "Tell me more." I wanted to know everything about his new life. About Jake's new life.

Quil went on talking about his first time phasing. How it happened right after taking me home from our first date. When he started telling me about hearing voices in his head I did interrupt, "Wait, you can hear each other's thoughts?"

"Only when we are in wolf form together," he explained.

"I guess that makes it easy to communicate with one another, but really sucks for privacy," I tried to sympathize. My thoughts couldn't help but flicker to someone else I once knew who could read minds.

Everyone's except mine that is. I had always been grateful to have my thoughts be my own.

"There is most definitely no such thing as privacy when it comes to the pack. Each of us knows nearly everything there is to know about the other."

Understanding of what that meant took over and I asked the one question I wasn't sure I wanted the answer to. "Does that mean Jake knows about us?" He simply nodded his head in confirmation.

"He already knew we had been spending time together, but he was less than happy when he found out I kissed you," he said, his voice filled with amusement. I blushed as usual, remembering the kiss we shared in my back yard and then the one from Friday night on this beach.

I would have to talk to Jake at some point and discuss everything that happened after his departure from my life; he didn't even know I had come to terms with Edward leaving me. And even though Jacob and I were never technically together, I still felt the need to explain my 'relationship' with Quil.

"I'll talk to him. He and I still have some catching up to do."

"That you do," Quil agreed. He seemed lost in thought before smiling down at me brightly. The change happened so quickly I thought I'd imagined the far off look in his eyes.

"We're having a bon fire here Friday night, would you like to go with me?" he asked hopefully.

The idea of spending time with Quil, no matter where, was quite appealing. It was most likely a given that the entire pack would be there and being around a bunch of rowdy werewolves again actually sounded like fun.

"Will they mind?" I asked timidly, thinking of Paul's less than enthusiastic response to me last night.

Almost as if he could read my mind, Quil replied, "If you're talking about Paul then you can just ignore him. He's just temperamental towards everyone. And as for everyone else, they'd love to have you there. Besides, Emily wants to see you again too." I quirked an eyebrow, questioning his last statement. "She really liked you. You'll get a long great," he quickly explained.

"Besides, you're both awesome cooks," he continued in appreciation.

"I'd love to go," I finally agreed. We continued on in conversation until I noticed the sun setting behind the clouds. I began to shift to gather my things, only now realizing I was still seated in Quil's lap. He took notice of my movements and placed me next to him. I immediately missed the warmth of his touch, also noting that my clothes were now completely dry.

"You should get home. I have to take over the next patrol," Quil spoke beside me while helping to put empty food containers away. Once finished, we stood to fold the towels. He took my things and carried them to my truck for me as I followed beside him, my hand placed in his.

"I know you told me not to say 'I'm sorry', so I won't, but I do want to thank you for coming today," Quil started once we stopped next to my truck. I scowled at his hidden attempt at an apology despite my telling him not to.

"No need to thank me for coming either. You couldn't get rid of me if you tried, which you kind of did."

He understood I was joking and laughed along with me.

"I probably won't get to see you tomorrow, so just come by around six on Friday. We're meeting at Sam and Emily's first."

"Sounds good," I said while climbing into the cab of my truck, only slightly disappointed at not being able to see him tomorrow as well. Quil handed me my bag before shutting the door.

"See you Friday Bella," he called over the roar of my engine. I waved in response, pulling out of my parking spot and heading back home.