School has been sooooo busy! Sorry this has taken such a long time. :(
Alright! Let's get on with this thang, shall we? lol
Sometimes, Kim coudn't help but wonder what would have happened if one of them had had a different last name.
If she and Jared had never sat next to each other, would things have been utterly different? She supposed he would have still imprinted or whatever, but that would have done differently too, right? Would she have fallen for his charm or been even harder for him to catch? Would she have taken all the news he was constantly throwing at her better or worse?
It was hard enough to hear him tell her he was some mythical giant furry animal, but to then see it, learn about bloodthirsty vampires, and imprinting as well? It was easier to say that had been a tough week for them than going into detail. She'd probably end up going on and on for probably days if not weeks on end.
Kim shivered a bit in the cold and Jared shifted closer, his freakin' giant cold nose pressing against her arm.
"Jared," she sighed, shoving his huge head away. "That doesn't help you know."
His tongue rolled out and his lips pulled back a bit, his slightly terrifying version of a grin. Rolling her eyes, Kim leaned back against his side again, absently threading her fingers through some of his silky fur.
The couple was on the beach, well away from anywhere anyone usually visited, especially in the bitterly cold winter. Relaxing days like this were rare, especially because they'd apparently been chasing a specific vampire away quite often. That meant constant patrols, sometimes disappearing at the drop of a hat to chase the bloodsucker away, catching up on work, sleeping. Kim cherished days like this one.
Okay, she cherished every moment with Jared, but days like this particularly.
The wind whipped some hair into her face and she tucked it behind her ear again, sighing contently.
The next was the bonfire, where they would hear the stories of their people. Emily had assured Kim the bonfires were fun and so much more interesting once you had an in on what had truly happened. Kim had told her parents she was going on a date and would be back very late. They hadn't liked it, but agreed. She thought it was probably because Jared was always so well behaved around them and because he hung out with Sam. All the adults considered Sam something of a hero, staying behind to help "protect the youth" or something like that.
Jared's head lifted off of the sand next to her and he glanced beyond her, letting out an irritated sounding huff. (It had taken time to understand the noises and inflections of a wolf, but she'd started getting the hang of it recently.) Looking over as well, Kim spotted Paul and lifted a hand in a wave. She didn't think he particularly liked her - though Jared said he didn't like anybody - so it was usually uncomfortable between them, but she had to admit that Paul was a nicer guy than she would have guessed. He held open doors and occasionally cracked jokes that had her laughing so hard her sides split.
Paul crossed his arms and glared at Jared. "Bro, you were supposed to be on patrol ten minutes ago. I could totally tell Sam and he'd chew your ass."
Jared moved away from her and, blushing, Kim covered her eyes. Childish? Yeah, but she wasn't really ready to see Jared full on naked or anything yet. Maybe in another couple of months.
"I thought I had until five," Jared grumbled.
Paul laughed once, sharply and with an amused twist to his mouth. "Moron. It's already after five."
"Shit!" Jared swore, making Paul laugh some more. Leaning down, he swiftly kissed Kim on the mouth, before flipping Paul off and rushing into the woods. Kim sighed once he was out of sight and lifted herself out of the sand, dusting off her bottom and pulling her jacket tighter around her. She started making her way back towards the main beach and the road, Paul next to her and silent. Neither of them said anything until they had reached the road, and then Paul jerked his head in the vague direction of Sam and Emily's.
"Emily said she be making soup tonight, reminded me to invite you over."
Smiling slightly, Kim nodded. "Okay. I'm actually going to head home and shower, but let her know I'll be by in about an hour."
Paul nodded silently, swiftly turning and walking away briskly, shirtless in the cold, the stretching and intricate tattoo on his right arm somehow more visible because of the lack of shirt in the cold.
Kim went home, showered, kissed her brother on the head out the door, and rushed over to Emily's.
She loved being at Emily's house, hanging out with the older woman, because Emily understood what it was like to be an imprint. There was always that constant fear that your man, your wolf, only loved you because of the imprint, and that maybe he secretly resented that. Or maybe it wasn't really love at all and one day they'd all end up getting hurt. Then there was the terrifying knowledge that the boys were out fighting cold and hard skinned, fast, deadly monsters that took pleasure in killing people. There was the very real and very present worry that this time... they wouldn't come back. This time, it would be over and you'd never see your man again, never be able to hold that too-hot body and see that adoring look in his eyes.
Being an imprint was far from easy. It had to be one of the most emotionally straining ways of life ever, especially because so few people could sympathize or understand or even know what it entailed.
Hanging out with Emily, both of them got a chance to vent and express themselves in ways they couldn't to anyone else. It was necessary for them to get together somewhat often, otherwise Kim thought they both might go insane.
Kim helped Emily cook, both of them secretly talking about how distressed they were over this leech that just wouldn't go away and the Pack just couldn't catch. To keep the boys from knowing how worried they became or eavesdropping - a common occurence when you were surrouned by nosy men with extraordinary hearing - Kim and Emily had spent one afternoon when they'd been out "hunting" and created a code. It was part handsigns, part codewords, and after a couple days of practice and hashing it out further, they'd gotten down something that worked for the most part.
It was also pretty amusing and entertaining, knowing that they had a code that the boys never even knew about. You took everything you could when you were surrounded by supernatural and always shirtless hunks.
At eight o'clock at night, Jared returned, and Kim immediately met him at the back door (once his shorts were on) and kissed him. He showered, they all ate, and then Sam went on patrol at nine.
Jared walked Kim home, sitting with her on her porch and just talking about nothing supernatural or crazy, just normal everyday silly things, for almost two hours before her dad stepped out the door and told Jared to go home. With a tight hug and a warm kiss, Jared said goodbye and left and Kim went to sleep.
The next day, she woke up... And, basically? Did it all over again.
For the life of an imprint, it wasn't easy, and it certainly wasn't no fairy tale.
In Kim's eyes, though... it was even better. Because in what fairy tale did the servant girl end up with the werewolf warrior, and they lived their days taking every moment they could together, always happy just to hold each other, and live contently ever after?
Apparently, in Kim's.
Awww. It is over people. Isn't that sad?
I don't think I'll be writing too much any time soon - school is insanely busy as I mentioned and I'd hate to start something and leave you with long waits between chapters like I did with this one. So, I'll be taking a short break for school and all, but worry not. I will be thinking hard at how to continue - maybe I should do Paul? Or Embry or someone else? How AU do I want to go, if at all? Who should end up with whom? Yada yada yada... lol. And I think I might try to write the whole thing out, or at least several chapters of it, before posting anything, okay?
I want to thank you all for reading and reviewing and being simply AWESOME BEYOND WORDS and I hope that even though I might be MIA for several weeks, when I return (hopefully with another imprint story... or maybe something else...) I'll see all your lovely pennames once again. ;)
Loves and Hugs! ~IG
