A/N: So, I was going back through my old fanfics, and rereading this and A Year with Quil and Claire (the sequel) gave me an itch to finish AYQC. And then I felt a little bad about finishing that and not this first. So here we are.

Chapter 13

"We need to talk."

Quil and I were alone. My parents and Audrey had gone to find food, leaving us alone for a few brief minutes. Probably the last time we'd have a moment by ourselves for a while—the doctor had said I could probably go "home" later that afternoon, and since my parents were still in town, that meant I wouldn't actually get to go back to mine and Quil's for days yet.

Basically, it was now or never. If we didn't talk about this now, I'd probably never get the nerve.

Quil had been watching the TV in the corner of the room. When I spoke, he turned to look at me, and then reached for the remote and turned off the television. "Okay."

I shifted uneasily. How did I even start? "So. I'm not sure where we go from here," I said. I looked down at my blanket, picking at its seam instead of looking at Quil. "I don't… I don't think that I can be what you want me to be." Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Quil start to protest, but I kept going. "I've had a lot of time to think about this."

I'd had nothing to do but think for two and a half days. Of what I'd do if I got out of there. Of how we were going to continue from here. And mostly what I'd figured out was that I had no idea what I wanted. A part of me—a part that I'd forced to lay dormant for a very long time—wanted Quil. It should have been easy then, right? But there was another part of me that was scared. Not really scared that he'd hurt me, or that things would end badly or anything like that. Just… scared.

"What I'm trying to say," I continued, "is that I don't think I'm ready for… anything more than what we have now." I dropped the handful of blanket I'd been holding so I could wrap my arms around my middle. "I don't know when I will be. Right now, I can't think past these next few days, and I—"

Quil leaned forward in his chair to take hold of one of my hands, pulling it away from my abdomen so we were connected over the side rail on the bed. "Okay," he said. "It's okay. We don't have to do anything, or be anything, that you don't want or aren't ready for." He squeezed my hand gently. "I'm not going anywhere no matter what."

I offered him a watery smile, unable to think of a proper response. So instead, I just returned his hand squeeze and settled back against my pillows. I didn't know what was going to happen next. At that moment, the future was terrifying. But at least I had someone to hold my hand through it.

A/N: …And that is that. No I could not tell you why I couldn't manage that before. I'm going to blame madness.

If you're new around here (and I'm going to assume you are, because… I mean it's been 9 years), there's the sequel up, A Year with Quil and Claire, which begins nine months after The Experiment. Quil and Claire are together and dealing with the ups and downs of being a werewolf and a very stubborn, very independent imprint. Also Claire probably has PTSD from the whole being stalked and nearly murdered by someone she thought cared about her thing. And everything's needlessly complicated with these two, always. But it's balanced with a lot of fluff. So if you'd like, you can go catch up on the first half of the year while I try to chip away at the second half. Hope to see you there!

…Also on that note: Both The Experiment and AYQC were begun before the publication of Breaking Dawn, and therefore deviates from canon post-Eclipse. That's… kind of important to know.