CHAPTER TWENTY

"Make them shut up already." Jared groans as he sinks into the recliner that he always sits in with his girlfriend, and Bella chuckles as she glances over at him.

"They've been drinking. Good luck with that one." She says, watching the two younger girls as they sing Christmas carols at the top of their lungs.

"Who wants to play a game?!" Kim suddenly yells, and everyone looks at her. "Never have I ever." She smiles as she looks at her friends.

"I'm gonna get Kim drunk." Jay smiles as she goes to grab a beer for the game, and soon enough everyone is sitting in the living room.

"Who's first?" Jared asks as the youngest makes fun of the Root Beer that Bella's holding.

"Never have I ever been drunk." Bella smirks as she watches the other four all take a drink.

"Lame." Jay mutters.

"You try living with the chief, I think you'd drink less too." She argues, and the youngest just shrugs. "Who's next?"

"Just go around the room in order." Paul says, which makes Jay next.

"Ooh." The little brunette smiles, and he chuckles as he looks at her. "Never have I ever... Why is it hard to think of something good?"

"She's already struggling." Jared smirks. "What's that say about our quiet one?"

"That I'm not creative. Don't be mean." She glares at him. "Oh! Never have I ever broken a bone before." She says, and Bella, Paul, and Jared all take a drink.

"Never have I ever been out of the country." Paul says, and Kim and Jay take a drink.

"I've never tried to swim in the ocean in November because I was drunk off my ass." Jared looks at Jay, and she narrows her eyes as she looks at him.

"That's cruel, mister." She says before taking a swig.

"I've never been high." Kim goes.

"Stop ganging up on me!" Jay scolds the laughing Quileute girl before she and Paul take a drink.

"You've been high?" Paul asks, seemingly surprised, and she nods.

"Jeremy's not always the best influence."

"I've never had an entire pizza to myself, and ate it in one sitting." Bella says, making the two boys take a drink.

"I've never...been skinny dipping." Jay says, and Paul's the only one to take a drink.

"I've never lived outside of Washington." Paul chuckles as he watches Jay shoot him a dirty look while she and Bella drink.

"I've never been in a fist fight." Jared says.

"Lame." Jay says as she and Paul drink.

"Have you had to drink for all of them besides your own?" Bella asks as she looks at the youngest.

"You're all saying stuff you know I've done!" She defends, the alcohol clearly starting to take effect.

"Fine." Kim looks at her. "I've never shot a gun." She says, and Jay groans.

"Seriously?" Jared asks.

"Ric took me a few times." The little brunette explains as Kim offers her an apologetic look; she really wasn't trying to get her that time.

"Never have I ever had sex." Bella says, and the three Quileutes take a drink.

"Jay, I didn't take you for a prude." Jared teases.

"I'm not a prude." Her eyebrows furrow. "I've never been in a serious relationship before."

"Is that your turn?"

She smiles. "Yes. Drink." She tells him, and he and his girlfriend both drink, as well as Bella.

"I've never had a pet." Paul says, and Jay drinks.

"I've never...had a near-death experience." Jared says, expecting to give everyone a break, but the two girls on the couch both take a drink. Nobody comments.

"I've never intentionally hid my feelings for anybody before." Kim says, and Paul's jaw tightens before he takes a drink. He knows that she directed that at him.

"I've never lived alone." Bella says, her eyes on the ceiling. She figured everyone would get a pass, but Jay sees when Paul takes a drink.

"I've never used baby-talk while on the phone with my significant other." Jay purposely directs that one at Jared and Kim to make Paul laugh, and it works when he sees them both take a drink.

"You're a little bitch." Kim says, though she seems amused, and Jay shrugs.

"And you're annoying while I'm trying to go to sleep at night."

The night continues that way for awhile longer, and then Bella needs to head home — another reason that she doesn't drink with them, she has to drive back into Forks. After saying bye to her friend, Jay turns to head into her room, but she stumbles, and Paul quickly reaches out to steady the little brunette. She glances up at him, mumbles a thank you, and then goes to her room.

A few days later, a bunch of them are at a Christmas party at Harry Clearwater's house, and Jay's spending most of her time with Embry. He asked her to be his date for the party, and she was more than happy to say yes. Both of them are entirely oblivious to the very irritated Paul who's been watching them for more of the night than even he'd prefer.

"You know, I get that you've never been a fan of this whole imprint thing — even before we met her — but you like Jay either way. So, why the hell don't you just tell her already?" Jared questions as he walks over to his best friend.

"I only like her because of the imprint." Paul argues, and he slaps the back of his head. "What the hell?" He turns to glare at him.

"That's not how it works, and you know it." He says. "Imprinting creates a connection between two people who need each other, it doesn't manufacture feelings that don't exist. Watching her cry hurts you because the imprint told you that this girl was going to matter in your life, and you're being a dumbass by keeping her out of it. That jealousy that you feel watching her with someone else — those are your feelings telling you that you got to know her and you started liking her just like any other guy when he falls for a girl. Now stop being an idiot, and tell her how you feel before her life makes it impossible for her to let anybody else in."

"And when my temper puts her in even more danger than whatever the hell she's hiding that really goes on in her hometown?" He questions.

"You haven't lost your temper even once since you imprinted on her." Jared argues. "Not when that guy showed up in her bedroom, not watching her with Embry, not when I'm deliberately trying to piss you off because I want to fight. I think you imprinted on her because she's supposed to be good for you, but you're keeping her at arms length...and you're hurting her by doing it." He tells him, and then turns around and walks away from him.

Later that night, Jay's talking and laughing as she sits with Embry at the table that they had dinner at. She excuses herself to go and talk to Chief Swan since she hasn't seen him in awhile, and she wants to know why Bella didn't come to the party with him.

Eventually, she makes her way back over to Embry, and he smiles as he looks down at her. She raises her eyebrows, confused and a little amused as her brown eyes meet his. He then looks up, and she follows his gaze to something hanging above them.

"Mistletoe." The little brunette chuckles as she looks back at him.

"We don't have to if you don't want to." He tells her.

"I mean, it is a Christmas tradition." She says, taking a step closer to him.

"Wouldn't want to break a tradition."

"M-mm." Jay shakes her head, and he reaches up to rest his hand on the side of her face.

Embry starts to lean down, and Jay closes her eyes as he moves nearer. She rests her hands on his sides, over his ribs, and he presses his lips firmly against hers. The kiss is short, but both of them are smiling as he then rests his forehead against hers. Both of their eyes are still closed as they stand there, and Jay's smile widens as he then moves to kiss her cheek.

—

"So, you and Call, huh?" Paul asks as he leans in the doorway to Jay and Kim's room, and the little brunette nods without looking at him. "You know, I gotta admit, I don't get you two as a couple."

"Really?" She quirks an eyebrow as she turns to face him. "And how much have you really seen us together?"

"I just know you both, is all." He says. "He doesn't seem like your type."

"My type?" She echoes. "Okay." She shakes her head and turns away from him again.

He walks up behind her, and she lifts her head as she looks away from her school stuff on the desk that she shares with Kim. They're only a few inches apart now, and she can feel the heat radiating off of his shirtless body.

"You're wrong, you know?" Paul tells her. "To think that you and I aren't friends without Jared and Kim...and to think that I don't care about you."

"Nothing that you've ever done is proof of either of those statements." She argues. "You flirt with me, and then you stop talking to me for days at a time; you try to kiss me, and then you just vanish for weeks without an explanation. That isn't how friends treat each other. That isn't how decent people treat each other."

"I do it because I care more about you than I want to." He says, and she scoffs. "I don't do serious relationships, Jay, I never have for a reason. I'd never really even seen much of a healthy relationship before Sam and Emily, and then Jared and Kim."

She turns around and looks up at him. "And that's your reason for treating me like crap?" She questions. "I haven't seen very many healthy, well-functioning relationships either, but I still know how to treat people with common decency. It really isn't that hard, Paul." She tries to walk past him, but he grabs her hand to make her stop.

"Why do you like Embry?" He asks, and her eyebrows furrow as she looks back up at him.

Jay studies his expression, and he seems to genuinely want to know the answer. "Because he's nice to me." She tells him, and his features soften as he lets go of her hand.

"I don't want to feel what I feel for you, but I do want you to be happy." He tells her. "And if he makes you happy, then you should be with him...and I should stay away from you." He turns then and walks away from her, leaving her alone at the house.

Later that night, Jay walks into her bedroom and she's immediately confused when she sees an unfamiliar stuffed animal sitting on her bed. It's a Stitch sitting next to her teddy bear with a note resting on the comforter in front of it. She walks over and picks up the folded sheet of paper.

I was going to give this to you on Christmas, but I didn't want to interrupt your date with Embry, so I figured I'd leave it now. I heard you say before that you wanted a Stitch, and this is obviously the closest thing. I had to have Jared explain to me what a Stitch was, and why you liked a cartoon about a six-armed alien so much. He said it's about family, which I know is important to you. Maybe I'll watch it myself someday. Merry Christmas, Jay.

— Paul

The little brunette smiles as she sets the note back on her bed and then picks up the little, blue stuffed animal. She's surprised that he remembered something she said during a conversation that she was having with Bella and Kim. And she's even more surprised by the sweet gesture.