❛ guilt-ridden gravestones and corny confessions. ❜
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𝐓𝐨𝐝𝐚𝐲 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐚𝐲. Mia was finally going to tell her uncle about the life changing news that she was an imprintee. After conversing with Embry about it the previous night at the diner, the girl's mind was set. She was going to do it - and she knew the perfect place to do so.
Wesley Lewis Henderson was buried at the top of the tallest cliff in La Push. His body had become one with nature for years now, and the only thing left of his memory was a small wooden cross engraved with his birthday and initials.
It had been a couple of months since Mia had last visited the grave. The pain she felt deep in her chest whenever she saw the small memorial had discouraged her from making the long hike to the peak of the hill. But alas, she soon found herself trudging through the dark forest, her uncle only a few steps ahead of her leading the way.
Jay was used to the brisk walk and uneven terrain as they trekked through the trees, but knew his niece was less accustomed to the wilderness, something which made him slow his movements considerably as he turned to speak to the girl only to spot her further away from him than he liked.
"We should do this more often, get out in the fresh air, let our mind and body become one with nature." The older man happily suggested as he stopped to tie his shoe which wasn't actually untied on a nearby rock. A ruse used to let Mia catch up with him without embarrassing her.
"I'd rather crawl through a tunnel full of rat piss." The teen huffed out as she cringed at the thought of having to do strenuous exercise outside of gym class as her side was already forming a stitch. Mia could practically vision the eye roll from her uncle from where he now looked ahead, and was quick to assume he now regretted bringing the idea up as he quickly carried on down the small path where Wesley was.
It always felt rather eerie walking up the last few steps of the trail, as Mia's memories were filled of when the man was alive and the two would watch Jay jump off that very cliff into the water below as they laughed and giggled. But what was once a fond memory now only brought pain as the brunette watched on for a moment in the shadows, a sad smile gracing her features as she watched Jay silently lean down to press a kiss to the wooden cross which had faded over the years.
It was an unusual request from the girl to ask to join her uncle that morning. Typically the two would go separately to pay their respects, Jay visiting every morning before work meant the teen hadn't even opened her eyes before the uncle had make the hike there. But he didn't mind the unexpected visitor after her long shift at the diner the previous night, and he quickly patted the spot beside him in hopes Mia would make herself comfortable.
Something which she didn't have to be asked twice as she soon made her way over to the man whose long legs stretched out in front of him. The light breeze made Mia tug Embry's hoodie closer to her body, quickly sitting cross legged in hopes to block out the wind which whoosed above them. Jay could sense she was anxious about something. Her heartbeat was practically drumming against her ribcage as if it was desperate to escape. But he didn't push her, he never did, instead opting to lay back against the plush grass with his hands behind his head.
The casual stance of her uncle had made Mia feel slightly less nervous at the revelation she had decided to tell him. But as she went to open her mouth to reveal her biggest secret to him, she soon bottled it and stumbled over her words, opting to make small talk before she jumped into telling him about the Call boy.
"Tell me again how you told Wesley he was your imprint?"
Jay opened one eye to look at the young girl skeptically as he knew she she knew the story off by heart. Hell, he was sure she knew it better than himself. However, instead of questioning her he told her the fairytale of him and his late lover.
"Wes had just graduated college. He was the new, hot young doctor at work. All the nurses had a crush on him and it used to drive me insane the way he flirted with everyone to get out of doing his paperwork. But there was something about him that made me like him ever since the day I met him. There was something about him that made me go absolutely crazy." The older man began as he closed his eyes again.
"I couldn't figure it out at first. Why this arrogant kid could make me smile from ear to ear and made my heart want to explode. And it wasn't until I told Sam about the feelings I had that he reminded me of imprinting, much to my dismay. I tried to deny it, push the feelings aside. But the damage was done the moment our eyes met, I was utterly in love with him before I even realised I was."
"Luckily I had spent so long pining after him, Wes somehow felt the same. And after a couple of dates I brought him up to this cliff and told him how I felt, what I was, what he was to me. And the rest; The rest is confetti."
Mia couldn't help but let the tears fall. She always cried whenever the man told the story, one of the only times she truly showed her vulnerability. Jay was sat up now, quick to wrap his arm around the girl in hopes she wasn't too upset being up there so close to the memory of the man they both loved tremendously. What he didn't expect her to do was blurt out the one thing she had planned to do with a lot more calmness and compassion.
"I'm Embry's imprint."
"And I didn't tell you because I didn't want you to panic and now I'm looking at you and you're not panicking it's making me panic and-" The girl continued before being cut off quickly.
A laugh was heard bouncing off the top of the cliff. It echoed through the trees and was what cut off Mia's rambling almost instantly. She looked up at Jay as if he grown three heads as he sat there with a grin on his slightly aging face. The teen had expected him to explode, shift in a fit of anger as Jacob had done or at least curse out the young boy who had imprinted on the girl he treated as a daughter. But nothing like that happened. Instead of a tantrum or screaming match between the relatives, the man when gentle when he replied to the teen.
"Thank god it was Embry, I think I would have passed away from heart failure if it was Paul, or god forbid... Jacob."
Mia didn't know whether to laugh or cry at the revelation Jay wasn't mad. She was so used to overreactions and raging hormones she seemed to forget her uncle was a grown man who only cared about his nieces wellbeing, something which since meeting Embry he could sense had changed for the better.
"So you're not mad?" Mia decided to ask directly as she needed to hear it. But what Jay had said quickly washed away any fears or concerns that still lingered around being an imprint to the kind boy.
"Your happiness is my happiness, sweetie. As long as you treat each other with love and kindness, then who gives a damn."
