LET DOWN

thirteen.            shapeshifters

▬ EMMETT HAD A HABIT of watching Cori, his eyes always somehow found her and he just didn't want to look away. Usually, there was adoration dancing in his eyes, and an insurmountable amount of happiness.

But there was worry in his eyes. She'd complained about a headache three or four times, she had to sit out in gym, and she couldn't really focus in history class. And she had taken a nap in English, using Travis' jacket as a pillow as she held onto his hand. Though her nap seemed to be plagued with nightmares, which is why he reached for her hand in the first place.

At lunch, Cori sat with her head on her arms, her eyes closed and Travis' jacket pulled over her like a blanket. She really wished she had insisted that she wasn't ready to go back to school yet. That she just wasn't up for it no matter what Dr. Cullen said. She just wanted to be at home, in bed sleeping. And the thought of Emmett being with her did cross her mind, but it had been just a few weeks, she couldn't possibly like him that much.

Sure, she liked being around him and he made her smile. He offered her his hand to hold when she got nervous. He helped her study for classes he wasn't even in when she was behind. And most of all, he made her feel seen.

Still, she knew it was too soon to like him that much.

"Hey, maybe you should go to the nurse." Emmett leaned forward, his hand on the table and his chin on the back of his hand, his voice a mere whisper.

"I've been three times." Her voice was muffled slightly, but he could make out what she was saying. "She keeps giving me ibuprofen and sending me back to class."

"I can call Carlisle."

"Uh-uh." She shook her head without picking it up. "He's the reason I'm here." She grumbled, getting a soft chuckle from the boy on her right.

"Do you want me to call the school pretending to be Chief Swan? I'll tell them you're leaving school early." Travis offered.

"My dad would be so pissed if he found out." She sighed before lifting her head up, her eyes squinted against the fluorescent lights as she turned towards Emmett. "Can I have your hand?"

"Always." He held his hand out, expecting her to wedge her fingers between his like she had so many times before, but she simply grabbed his wrist and moved his hand so his palm rested against the side of her head. She sighed a little, his hand felt like a permanent ice pack.

"That's better." She hummed, leaning into his palm and all he could do was smile as Travis and Rosalie chuckled at the interaction.

"Cori, are you sure you should stay?" Rosalie asked, she was worried for the girl, though she'd never openly admit it. "If you're in this much pain..."

"My dad thinks I've missed too much school."

"I brought you all the notes." Emmett told her, lightly moving his thumb against her forehead.

"He said seat time matters." She huffed. "Whatever the hell that means. And when your dad called this morning, giving me the all clear to return to school, he got the green light to send me off."

"Why don't you skip the next few classes, take a nap. I'll take notes for you."

"That's sweet, Em, it really is. But you're not in my next two classes. And my last class is art."

"So?"

"This may be the concussion talking, but I think they'd be able to tell the difference between me and you."

"Really? How?" He hummed, clearly amused.

"Oh, for starters, you're a freaking tree."

"Even when she's concussed, she's hilarious." Travis mused.

"I try." She hummed before closing her eyes again but she jumped a little when her phone buzzed.

"You okay?" Emmett asked and she gave him a smile as she pulled it from her pocket. But her smile faded as she looked at the caller id, her face even paled slightly. "Cori? Do you need-" She quickly declined the call and turned her phone off before slipping back into her pocket.

"Who was that?" Travis asked, all three Cullens found her behavior very un-Cori-like and it was a bit unnerving.

"Just Paul. I'll, uh, I'll call him back later." She shrugged. "Now let me sleep. I have, like, thirty minutes left." She laid her head down, Emmett keeping his hand against her head as he and his siblings shared a look.

They had all been worried since Edward had told them what he had seen in Cori's head. Emmett was worried about what it might do to her friendship with the wolf, even if he didn't like the shapeshifter he knew that Cori cherished his friendship and losing that would absolutely crush her. Travis was worried about how it would affect her emotionally, seeing something that like that out of the blue had to have some kind of effect. And Rosalie was worried that now that she knew about the wolves, she might learn the secret she and her family had been keeping.

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▬ CORI SAT ON THE HOOD of Emmett's jeep, the owner of said jeep stood in front of her - her knees on either side of his torso. He was leaning against the car, his back to her and his head against her stomach as she toyed with his hair. A giggle left her lips as Travis caught her up on the school gossip she had missed, not that there was much. All that really happened was that Bella was incessantly questioning Edward only to get vague non-answers in return, though that hadn't stopped the older Swan from asking.

"Your sister is relentless."

"Yeah." She hummed. "She can be. And she won't stop. I don't like your brother all that much, but I kinda feel sorry for him."

Emmett chuckled, wrapping his arm around her calf, his hand lightly moving up and down her leg. "Don't be. He's a pain in the ass."

"What is his problem any-" She trailed off when she saw a familiar black truck pull into the parking lot. Her entire body went stiff, her hands tightening in Emmett's hair as they shook slightly.

"Cori?" Emmett titled his head back, looking up at her. "You okay?" He asked but she didn't answer and all three Cullens followed her line of sight right to a black truck as a shirtless boy pushed the door closed. "Damn." He sighed, his hand tightening around her leg a little, as nothing more than a comfort.

Cori swallowed hard, forcing her hands to let go of the boy's hair then Paul's eyes landed on her. He had his hands shoved into his pockets, his head down a little and, more than anything, he looked sorry. She watched as he took a breath before starting towards them, all three Cullens straightened up, Emmett untangling himself from the small Swan as he stood to his full height, putting himself in front of her as the wolf stopped a few feet away from them.

"Cori, can we talk?" He asked, ignoring the Cullens, his eyes solely on the girl, who had her head down, her hair covering her face and her beanie pulled over her head. He could see that some parts of her face were a dark shade of purple with tints of blue from where she hit the pavement. It looked worse than it had the day everything went wrong. "Please."

"Okay." She mumbled. "Em." She lightly rested her hand on his shoulder and he turned towards her, his hand on her waist as he lifted her up before putting her on her feet.

"Cori-"

"I need to talk to him." She told him, gripping his hand for a moment.

"I know." He nodded, though he didn't want her anywhere near the boy. But he knew he didn't have the right to stop her.

She gave him a soft smile before she made her way over to Paul, who gave her a small frown - she'd never seen him frown before and it didn't look right on his face.

"What?"

"Um, can we go somewhere a little more private." He asked, glancing up at the Cullens, who had yet to take their eyes off of them.

So, they sat in his truck, Cori was as close to the door as possible, leaving a huge space between her and the boy she had never once imagined she'd ever be scared of.

"Please look at me, Munchkin." He sighed, his shoulders hanging low, his head down. He looked absolutely defeated.

So she took a breath as she looked up at him. "Did that actually happen or was it a concussion induced nightmare?"

"The Quileutes have this legend. Our ancestors had this gift, it was meant to protect our land and our people. They could transform into wolves. They're called the spirit warriors."

"So you're telling me that not only are werewolves real, but you are one?"

"Not a werewolf." He shook his head. "A shapeshifter. We're not bound by the moon."

"We?" She questioned. "There are more?"

"Me, Jared and Sam." He nodded, his hands tight on the steering wheel - this was something he never thought he'd be able to tell her. There was a gag order in place and every time he tried to talk to her about it before, the words got caught in his throat and his mouth would go dry. Then he'd end up stuttering like an idiot until he thought of something to say that wasn't that he could change into a wolf.

The only reason he could tell her now was that after the incident at the beach, he had told Sam about what happened. And the alpha gave him the go ahead to explain himself and what she had seen. He knew that it was a lot and to have that sprung on her like that couldn't have been easy.

"The Cult." She mumbled, weaving her fingers in and out of each other.

"Not too far off actually." He halfheartedly joked to ease the tension but she didn't even chuckle. "Look, Munchkin, it's a lot. I know. But I'm still me. I just turn into a wolf when I get mad."

"And the fact that I'm friends with the Cullens made you so mad that you turned into a wolf?"

He watched her, confusion written all over her face and he knew that she had no idea what the Cullens were and he didn't want to be the one to break the news. "The Cullen family's ancestors and our ancestors didn't exactly get along. Years ago, like, a lot of years ago. They were found hunting on our land and when the elders found them they made a deal. They would stay off our land and we would leave them be."

"Just because they were hunting?"

"People were weird about land back then." He shrugged, trying to brush it off. There wasn't really a good way to explain it without spilling the beans about the Cullens. "Look, it won't happen again. I-"

"I'm not gonna stop hanging out with them." She told him, her fingers weaving in and out of each other. "They're my friends. My only friends here. Everyone else, all they do is gossip about me. And the only reason anyone talks to me is to ask how I got them to let me into their circle."

His hand tightened around the steering wheel. "And I'll have to learn to be okay with that. But it's gonna be hard."

"Thank you." She hummed. "For explaining. I'm still confused about a lot and I don't think any of this will ever make sense. But, uh, I do think some distance is what I need, for now at least."

"Munchkin-"

"I just found out that my best friend turns into a wolf and my other best friend knew about it. A little bit of time isn't that big of an ask."

"Okay." He nodded. "Um, so, do you need a ride home?"

"No, I'm waiting for Bella." She shook her head. "Um, I'll see you in a few days, I guess." She mumbled as she reached for the handle and opened the door before sliding out, her shoes hit the wet pavement and she closed the door. Paul watched as she rounded the front of his truck before crossing the parking lot. He noticed how a few students turned just to watch her, all whispering about her. When she reached the Cullens, she made her way towards Emmett and leaned against his chest, her arms still at her sides as he wrapped his arms around her.