A/N: This chapter is a little longer than the other ones; there wasn't a good place to break of the chapter. (actually, the first four chapters are the entire chapter one...)

I don't own Twilight or any of the characters. (sure wish i did though...)

The rest of the morning passed way too quickly, just like the kiss, but it gave me time to learn about her.

Meghan had been very close to her grandmother, Ruby. Ruby had opened the store a while ago and when she died, gave it to Meg. At the time Meg had been a senior in high school in Northern Montana. She saw the possibilities of opening the store and becoming a business owner. Her father however, wasn't too keen on the idea. He said that owning a store was a very variable business, especially in a small town like little Alberta. He didn't want her to go into business so he wouldn't pay for her two year business degree. She moved to Canada, to start the business after college and moved into her Grandmother's little house that had also been left to her. She had always felt bad about the distance between her dad because of there different views so a year after she left she invited him up to visit. He saw how successful she was and ever since then they had gotten along extremely well, calling every week.

She had always wanted to open a store up in the states, but hadn't had the opportunity. Apparently it was harder to get a business license in the US than in Canada.

We worked up until noon when a flustered old woman came in.

"I'm so sorry I'm late honey, I just couldn't find my keys!" the women said as she hurriedly put away her purse and reached for an apron. She had trouble with the tie in the back so Meg helped her.

"It's ok Irene, I had Jacob to help me," Meg said waving her hand in my direction.

"Oh my word…" Irene muttered under her breath. "Well it's nice to meet you Jacob." Her eyes looked like they were on hinges as they swiveled back and forth between us.

I stifled a laugh as I came over to shake her hand, "It's nice to meet you too." I glanced over at Meg and noticed she was pursing her lips to hide her amusement.

We walked out of the mall to a small restaurant. It was dimly lit with oddly shaped tables and mismatched chairs. I couldn't tell what the food they served was. It smelled spicy but I didn't recognize it. Then again, it wasn't like there were a lot of food choices in La Push.

"Its Indian food," she said, reading the puzzled look on my face. It was like she could read my mind.

A tired looking waitress led us to a table, dropped two menu's, and mopped off to through the kitchen doors.

"Aren't waitresses supposed to be… perky?" I asked. "That one looked like she was about to pass out."

Meghan laughed her carefree laugh and looked back towards the kitchen. "That's Tina. Her mom just had triplets and her dad's away on business, So yeah, she probably is about to pass out."

"That would explain it. I never pegged you for the town gossip though," I teased.

"Oh I'm not. Irene however is, and when you work all afternoon with her in an enclosed space, you learn things." She smiled and picked up your menu. "I'm assuming you have no idea what Indian food is like so I'll order."

"Um, Okay, but I don't have any money."

"Yeah, I figured that since you needed to steal those clothes." She whispered the word steal.

"Fine, but how can I pay you back?"

"Easy, just work at the store for a week." It seemed like she had thought out this solution a while ago, as if she had foreseen this problem. I was beginning to wonder how exactly imprinting worked.

I ended up ordering something spicy with chicken and potatoes; I wasn't even going to try to pronounce it. We talked while we ate, keeping the conversation light. We ended up staying an hour after we had finished eating.

When we were finally done, she took me to a park. It wasn't very big. It looked like a clearing that had been fashioned into a make-shift park. There was a pond in the middle with a gravel path leading around it, and a few benches scattered here and there.

"So…" I started as we sat down on one of the random benches.

"I like to come here sometimes. My house is really small and there isn't a back yard." She sighed. "Sometimes I wish I could just leave. Kind of like what you did."

"Except I doubt you'd explode into a giant wolf when you run," I teased.

She laughed. "No I probably wouldn't." her smile disappeared as she turned serious again. "But still it be nice to just leave everything behind. Just to go somewhere because I wanted to, not because I felt obligated to."

I was confused. "Didn't you do that when you opened the store here?"

"No, that was because I felt obligated to. I was just taking up room at my dad's place and he wanted me to do something with my life. Unfortunately, he wasn't too happy about my decision at first. I told him what I was planning to do and he basically said not while you're living here. So I moved out. Luckily I suck at holding grudges." She smiled. "Man, I probably sound like a cry baby. My life has been relatively easy you however turn into a giant wolf and protect your town against… you never told me why you're called the 'protectors'."

"No I didn't want to freak you out," I said looking down at my hands clasped in my lap.

"What's freakier than a werewolf?" she asked skeptically.

"Werewolves aren't the only myth that happens to be true."

"What are vampires running around now, too?" She didn't realize how right she was until I didn't laugh at her joke. "Vampires are real too?" her face was so surprised it would have been funny in any other conversation.

"Unfortunately," I said with distaste. I could clearly remember the too-sweet smell that burned in my nose, raising the hair on my arms. I could feel my hands shaking so I got up and walked a few paces away.

"What's wrong?" Although her back was turned to me, I could hear her getting up.

I put my hand out, palm facing her, and said, "Stay there for a minute."

I heard her sit back down. "Did I do something wrong?" She whispered.

I turned around to face her again and saw her eyes wide with worry. "No it isn't you. I just have to control my anger. I phase when I get really angry and it usually doesn't work out too well for someone whose too close." My brow furrowed in frustration. I hated that feeling of being out of control and even worse thinking that I might hurt her. "Thinking about the bloodsuckers makes me a little angry."
"Why?"

"Werewolves have one enemy: one guess who." I said with a grim smile on my face.

"Vampires."

"Yeah. A long time ago they came to the reservation, about eighty or so years. My great-grandfather was chief then. Ephraim Black. They made a treaty to keep the bloodsuckers off our land. The leader told us that they were different, that they only hunted animals. Otherwise it would have been a war right there. Bella's boyfriend" – I refused to think of him as her husband- "was there."

She was silent for a moment, probably filling in the blanks in the legends I had told her earlier. It was hard to think that it had only been this morning.

"You miss La Push." She asked surprising me. I thought back to our conversations, and I realized that I had said things that would have made her think that. It was true after all. I missed everything about it except what I was running from.

"Yeah I do."

"why don't you go back?"

I smiled. "Because you won't be there," I said softly, taking her hand.

Her answering smile compensated for the lack of sun. "But you do want to go back." She was still beaming, but her statement was serious.

I sighed. "Yes. I miss my friends and my dad." Billy. I wondered what he thought of my disappearing.

We sat there for a few more hours talking, laughing, and joking. We had moved on from the harder subjects and just talked about movies, school, and anything and everything else. I hadn't even noticed it starting to get dark.

"C'mon, my house is just through the woods." She said getting up.

"And over a river?" I asked.
Her house came into view quickly as she promised. It was more like a cottage actually. It was wood on the outside but plaster on the inside. There was a bedroom, living room connected to a small kitchen, and a bathroom. She picked up the phone and ordered a pizza. I took the time to look around the living room and kitchen. The kitchen had dark brown cabinets and a tiny table with a chair centered perfectly. The living room had long white lacy curtains that were tied back with ribbons. There was a leather sofa facing a TV. that almost took up the whole room.

"It was my grandma's," she said catching me staring at the monster television. I could only guess what the picture quality was on the thing.

The door bell rang indicating the Pizza was here. "Quick service," I noted.

"Small town," she called as she grabbed her wallet and skipped to the front door.

She was back in a minute with two large pizzas, remembering that I said I ate a lot. She set the pizza's down and got two glasses. She filled them with Pepsi and sat down. After an intense discussion about her delusion that Coke was better than Pepsi, she asked a hard question. "Tell me about this boy that stole Bella away from you."

I snorted at her use of the word "boy" but tried to compose myself enough to answer. "Well according to her, he was extremely good looking and talented and stuff." I shrugged and furrowed my brow. "I don't know what exactly she saw in him, he was a freakin' vampire, but when he left for a while"- I shuddered at the thought of what he had done to her- "it killed her on the inside. She was just an empty husk; or… shell. It was horrible."

She looked at me with curious eyes. "But he came back."

"Yeah, eventually. She still isn't back to normal though. She was really jumpy when she was away from him." I stared out the window. "Can we talk about something else?" I asked; this wasn't exactly my favorite subject.

She understood my discomfort immediately and asking questions about non- Bella/vampire subjects. She asked about Billy, school, and my other friends. We chatted like that for a while and before we knew it, it was nine forty-five.

"I should probably get going," I said as I stood up and stretched.

"Get going where exactly?" She had a motherly look in her eyes.

"Oh, ah… I found a really nice cave-"

"And I have a really nice couch." She interrupted. "Are you going to insult me by picking a dirty cave over my clean comfy couch?"

"I didn't want to over use your hospitality," I said smiling.

She smiled back at me and pointed at the bathroom. "Clean up while I set up the couch. There's an extra toothbrush and towels under the sink."

I shook my head – the motherly look was back- as I turned, heading toward the bathroom. I took a quick shower, brushed my teeth, and ran my fingers through my hair.

When I returned to the living room, the couch had been transformed into a bed and was neatly made with floral sheets. Meghan was sitting on the edge of the bed but hopped up when I entered.

"Thank you, Meg," I said taking her shoulders and kissing her cheek.

She put her arms around my neck and kissed me. I wound my arms her waist and kissed her back. The kiss was, again, too short but longer than the last time. She smiled a huge smiled when she pulled away and I grinned back. "Your extremely welcome." She seemed to dance as she went into her room and closed the door quietly.

I went to the bed, a little dazed, as I pulled the covers over me. I closed my eyes and pictured her face. For the first time in a long time, I looked forward to tomorrow.

A/N: rewiew!! give me a strength to continue! please! im BEGGING! also give me for some a new title... Im not feeling this one.