AN: Helloooo. It's almost nine in the morning and I'm so tired. I was planning on submitting this yesterday morning, but things just got in the way (yay for ten hour shifts at work...sense my sarcasm?). Thanks to alicecullenisrealinmyworld for beta'ing (: She's a doll, folks! Anyhoo, please enjoy and review and the end! Tell me what you think!


"So, how long have you and Avenue been best friends?" Jared asked.

I gave him a weird look. "We're not."

"You're not what?"

"Best friends," I said and shoved my hands into my back pockets.

"Oh," he said, frowning. "Well, then why did you go to her?"

Hm. "She called me, asking to pick her up. I didn't really think about it. I just did it."

"And would she do the same for you?" he prompted me, like he already knew the answer. "If you needed help, would she help you?"

That was a loaded question. "Oh," I said and thought for a second. "Um."

Would she?

"No, probably not," I said after a minute. "But then again, she wouldn't be the first person I'd call for help either."

"Who would be?" he asked when I said it out loud. My face turned red.

"You," I mumbled under my breath. I sincerely hoped he hadn't heard me, but he just laughed and threw his arm around me, hugging me to his side. My body vibrated in excitement as I was engulfed in his heat once more.

"I'm glad," he said after a minute.

"Why?" I whispered. I felt him inhale.

"I want you to feel safe around me," he said. "Always."

It took me a minute to process what he said. I looked up at him and was briefly overcome by his scent. It clogged my mind until I gave myself a little shake.

"I do," I said.

"Good," replied back and hugged me tighter.

We came to a break in the road, and I realized then that we were standing in front of my house.

The car was missing. Dean's bedroom light was off.

"Oh my god," I said, stopping short.

"What's wrong?"

"My car," I said, looking around frantically. "It's gone- Dean, he's gone!"

"I'm sure he'll be back-"

"No, you don't understand," I said, rushing across the street. "My little sisters are home alone!"

The front door was left unlocked.

I barely noticed that Jared was running behind me as I ran down the hallway. I threw the girls' bedroom door open, and the feeling of wanting to vomit got stronger-

But they were still in the exact same position they'd been in when I'd left. Snuggled up together.

I breathed a sigh of relief, closing the door and then turned-right into Jared's rock hard chest.

"Whoa," he whispered, reaching out to steady me. "Sorry."

"It's okay," I whispered- or almost croaked, actually. He followed me into the living room and I sat tiredly down on the couch. He sat down beside me, but with space between us. Enough space that I couldn't feel his heat.

"I can't believe him," I said furiously.

"Dean?"

"Yes! He just left the girls home alone! And the door unlocked! He said there wasn't any gas left in the car, I bet he just lied so he could go out when I left."

I felt like crying. I could feel Jared staring at me.

"Kim?" he asked timidly.

"Sorry," I mumbled, wiping my eyes. "My darling twin brother and I haven't been getting along lately."

"I could tell," he said. "But, um…where're your parents?"

"Ahh," I said and laced my fingers together. The moment of truth.

Sensing my hesitation, Jared scrambled for words. "If it's personal," he said quickly. "You don't have to tell me, I don't mean to pry-"

"You're not," I told him. "It's okay. Really."

He nodded, waiting patiently.

"My mom's at work," I said. "She works nights at a diner in Forks." He nodded again. "And- I, uh, I don't know…exactly where my dad is."

"As in, you don't know where he is right now…or-" he paused. "Or you don't know where he is period?"

I gave him a small smile. "Period."

"I'm sorry," he said.

"We manage," I reassured him. "But it's more difficult having a flighty brother who acts like he doesn't give a shit about his family."

"Who's older?" he asked.

"He is," I said, rolling my eyes. "By four minutes. And he never lets me forget it, either."

He laughed and leaned back on the sofa.

I realized with a sharp jolt that Jared Cameron was in my house.

Jared Cameron.

Sitting in my living room.

My stomach churned and my eyes did a quick sweep of the house. The living room was a wreck; there was a pile of half folded laundry on the other side of Jared; the girls' toys were sprawled everywhere. Dean hadn't cleaned up the dinner dishes. I could tell- they were sitting on the coffee table, in front of the TV where the girls weren't supposed to be sitting. I groaned internally and hoped that Jared hadn't seen it.

Of course he'd seen it. He didn't seem to care, though. He was just looking at me. I shifted.

"What?" I asked nervously.

He shrugged. "I wish I knew more about you."

My heart jumped.

"All I know about you are three things," he held up his hand and began ticking off his fingers. "You have three siblings and you're anemic."

"What's the third thing?" I asked, feeling more nervous than before.

"You're beautiful."

The butterflies that had been assaulting my stomach before were now trying to rip my insides apart with millions of tiny claws.

"You don't mean that," I whispered.

"Why would I say it then, if I didn't mean it?" he asked me quietly. I looked down, shrugging and afraid to open my mouth.

Jared moved closer, eliminating the space between us. Our thighs touched as he settled beside me and I was once again encompassed by the warmth that rolled off of him in an endless wave. He tilted my head up by my chin.

I nearly fainted.

"You are beautiful," he whispered. "Anyone who tells you differently is absolutely blind."

And the impossible was happening- Jared was leaning forward and my eyes fluttered shut, my stomach and heart the main acts of a circus show that was going on internally.

"Kimmy?"

I jumped away from Jared, my heart pounding.

Raven was rubbing her eyes sleepily, with streaming tears.

"What's wrong?" I asked, trying to catch my breath. I was partly annoyed, partly disappointed, and partly grateful.

Grateful because if Jared was going to kiss me, I didn't know what I would do.

What if I messed up?

"I had a bad dream," she whimpered and sniffled, then ran into my arms, wrapping her clammy hands around my neck.

"It was just a nightmare," I told her, glancing at Jared. "It's not real."

"It felt real," she mumbled into my shirt. "It was scary."

Jared chuckled and Raven turned her head towards him.

"Hi," he said. "What's your name?"

"Raven," she whispered.

"Wow," he said. "That's pretty. My name's Jared."

"Hi," she whispered shyly and then turned her head back into my shoulder. Jared smiled.

"What was your dream about?"

Her grip tightened around my neck, but she didn't move her head to look at him. I nudged her when she didn't respond right away "…flying monkeys."

I groaned. Jared looked up at me.

"What?"

"Dean," I muttered. "I must not have heard it before. He doesn't fast forward through the flying monkey scene in The Wizard of Oz, like he's supposed to," I added with a sigh. "It gives the girl's nightmares. I'm surprised Maqahla isn't out-"

"Kim?"

"-here," I finished, looking up. Sure enough, Maqahla was standing where Raven had been moments before, though she wasn't crying.

"I had a nightmare," she said. "And-" she stopped short when she saw Raven wrapped around my body and her eyes grew wide. "Why is Raven out of bed?"

Raven turned to glare at her. "I had a nightmare, too!"

"You're such a copy cat," Maqahla told her in a disgusted voice. There was a burst of laughter; Jared was cracking up.

"Sorry," he said, grinning wide. "Your sisters are cute."

"Who are you?" Maqahla asked him. Raven glared at her again.

"His name is Jared, Maqahla. He's Kimmy's friend!"

"Oh," Maqahla said. "Your boyfriend?"

And these were the times that I wished my sisters had muzzles.

"I think it's time for bed," I said after an awkward silence. The girls immediately started protesting.

"But what if I have another nightmare?"

"You're such a baby-"

"You had a nightmare too-"

"I didn't cry about it though-"

"You know what you have to do to make a nightmare less scary?" Jared asked suddenly and they both shut up real quick. They turned to him with wide eyes.

"What?"

"Make it silly," he whispered. He let it sink in and Raven smiled slowly.

"Silly," she repeated and he nodded.

"Yep. Next time you dream about flying monkeys, pretend that their wings disappear or something, and they fall out of the sky."

Maqahla giggled. "Falling monkeys." Raven grinned at him and nodded.

"Are you okay now?" I asked them. They nodded. "Then go back to bed. I'll see you in the morning."

"Okay," Maqahla said and yawned. She gave Jared a once over before smiling. "Bye!"

Raven smiled shyly. "Bye."

They ran down the hallway and I heard their door click shut.

I looked at Jared sheepishly. "Thanks." He shrugged.

"S'what my mom used to tell me. I used to have bad dreams all the time."

We slipped into another silence, but this time it was comfortable. I glanced at the clock and my jaw dropped.

It was 11 already. I cleared my throat.

"I should probably go to bed," I said quietly. He nodded and we stood up. He grabbed my hand when I started to walk around the coffee table.

"Kim?"

My breath caught in my throat. "Yeah?"

He stepped closer to me until our breaths were mixed together and my head was spinning. My eyes grew wide.

"I meant what I said," he whispered and his voice turned husky. My eyes closed against the heat of his body. "You're beautiful."

And then he pressed his lips to mine and it was like molten lava molding around them and it was perfect against my cold skin-

It stole a couple of heart beats before he pulled away. The heat lingered. I opened my eyes to find him grinning at me. "Goodnight."

And then he was gone, leaving me there with his lingering heat. It never went away.


AN: Ahhh, they kiss. I didn't want it to be this huge thing, I wanted it to be little and nondescript but something that completely blows her away. TELL ME WHAT YOU THINK! Mwah 3