Jacob

I was so worried I could barely breathe. I don't think I have ever run so fast in my life. It normally would have taken me 3 hours to make this run but I made it back in less than two. Leah and the boys were making fake trials which was good. I didn't want any more leeches after my girl. Leah went back to pack and to set things up at the station. I ran to Leslie's to check up on her.

She was sitting in her living room with a mug of something, probably coffee, looking out into the forest. I didn't know what she was doing up at this hour but I figured she probably sensed my panic through our imprint link and couldn't sleep. I wanted to go to her but I knew it would only freak her out. She didn't know she was almost the victim of a vampire. She didn't have to know, not yet.

'Jake. I already packed up my stuff and Seth already set everything up at the shop so why don't you go pack and I'll stay and watch her.' Josh told me. I nodded. I needed to pack and to calm myself. I couldn't alarm Leslie. I also needed to find a way to get her out of the house. I ran back to the house. Embry was already there packing my stuff for me.

"Hey man. I got most of your stuff ready." Embry told me as soon as I walked in.

"Thanks man. I just can't believe this is happening." I told him. Embry nodded sympathetically.

"It could just be a coincidence. He probably caught your scent and got curious so he followed it to her place." He told me. He had said the same thing over the phone. It made sense.

"Its just bad luck that he happens to be a Volturi." Embry continued. I agreed. Its just my damn luck that a fucking Volturi happen to come across my scent.

"I need to figure out what to tell her." I told him.

"Just ask her to come with you on a road trip. Make it sound fun. She's adventurous and an artist so I'm sure she'll jump at the opportunity to snap some pictures of new sites." Embry suggested. I thought about it and it could work.

"Let me take a shower to calm myself for a moment. We'll get things wrapped up and I'll stop by her place once the sun is up." Embry nodded and kept working.

After we got everything settled with the businesses and our stuff loaded in the cars, I went over to Leslie's place. It was about 7am and she was outside in her garage barn washing the dog. She put a muzzle over its moth to keep it from biting her. She looked at me curiously probably wondering what I was doing there so early.

"Don't you ever work?" She asked me smiling. It was one of her small smiles that didn't reach her eyes. She looked tired, as if she didn't get any sleep. She wasn't the only one.

"Nope. You need help with him?" I asked her.

"Naw. I'm done. He's stinking up the place so I figured I'd give him a bath." She told me. I nodded.

"So what are you doing up here so early?" She asked me.

"I came to kidnap you." I told her with a smile. She smirked and crossed her arms.

"Oh really?" She said. I nodded.

"Remember that conversation we had about owing me. I've come to collect. Surprise!" I told her. She rolled her eyes.

"Now is not really a good time." She told me as she dried off the mutt.

"Actually, I have to take an emergency road trip to visit my family and I really want you to come. There are some really cool sites I want to show you and maybe you can bring your camera to take some pictures." I told her. She looked unsure.

"It'll be fun and I think you could use a break." I told her.

"I don't know Jake. I had a rough night and I am not sure if I should be traveling." She said. She looked at the forest line as if she expected some big scary monster to come out.

"Come on, Leslie. I really don't want to drive alone besides, where's your sense of adventure?" I asked her while she was still looking at the trees. She looked back at me contemplating.

"You know what? I think a road trip is exactly what I need. Let me take a shower and pack a few things." She told me.

"Great!" I said trying not to sound so relieved. I thought it would take more convincing but maybe some instinctual part of her knew she was in danger.

"Do mind leaving some buckets of water out for the dog while I shower? I made a feeder for him but I've been leaving fresh water out." She told me. I smiled.

"Sure. You know he can always come with us." I suggested. She looked at him.

"I don't think he would like that." She said. I laughed.

"I think you might be right." I told her. She smiled and went into the house to shower. I bent over the dog and petted his head.

"She's such a nice girl. I don't understand why you don't love her as much as I do." I told it. He just turned his head sideways and looked at me. He walked over to me and started liking my face.

"Oh come one man!" I told him. He started barking and wagging his tail playfully. I wrestled with him a bit and scratched him all over to take the scent off soap from him cause I knew it was driving him crazy.

I put out two large buckets of water next to his feeder . He had enough food and water for a week so but he wouldn't need it. I only did it for Leslie's sake because I already knew I had to find a new home for the dog. I couldn't tell Leslie to pack all her personal belongings but she probably wasn't coming back here for a long time. I called Leah and told her to return to the house after we left and pack some more of her personal belongings before she left with Embry in the van. Before I hung up told her to pack up the dog too and then I hung up before I could hear her complain. If Leslie didn't want to keep him, I could always give it to my nieces. Paul would probably hate it but that only made me want to do it more.

I went into the house to wash my face and nearly toppled over. That leech had been in her house! How the hell could Seth allow that to happen?! I started shaking and I ran outside breathing heavily. He had gone into her house! Into my girl's house! I started shaking harder. I needed to calm down. I couldn't phase here. I needed to get my girl the hell out of here and into safety. I took a few long breaths and managed to calm myself. I decided to make myself useful by locking up the barns and then I went back inside through the kitchen to avoid the sickening scent of leech in the living room.

She was out of the shower by then. I heard her upstairs moving around and a few moments later she came downstairs. Her hair was still wet but somehow it made her look even more beautiful.

"You ready?" I asked her with a strained smile.

"Almost." She told me and went to a cabinet to retrieve some batteries.

"You ok?" She asked me as she put the batteries in her duffle bag.

"Of course. I'm excited." I told her trying to cover for my awkwardness. She went to the kitchen and grabbed some snacks for the road. I smiled internally thinking how perfect for me she was to have thought about snacks.

"Ok. I'm ready." She told me after she stuffed her bag with chips dip and sandwiches. She locked the house, we got in the car and drove off.

"I only packed a few changes of clothes." She said.

"Don't worry. You'll be fine." I told her calmly.

"So where exactly are we going?" She asked curiously.

"It's a surprise. We'll be there by sometime tonight or early tomorrow cause were gonna make a quick stop at another surprise." I told her. She smiled, this time her smile almost resembled one of her real smiles.

She locked up the house behind her and we got into my car. I stated the car and left there, texting Leah on the way to let her know we were leaving.

"Have I ever told you I hate surprises?" She said smirking as we drove out of town.

"Really? I had no idea." I said sarcastically. She was a bit of a control freak so this didn't surprise me at all when she told me.

"You know Leslie. Sometimes you need to let life surprise you. You might actually encounter things you never expected." I told her. She rolled her eyes at me.

"That's what I'm worried about." She told me. Then she pulled some sandwiches out of her bag and gave me one.

"Thanks!" I said and ate it in three bites.

"Geez! Pace yourself! Good thing I brought more." She said shaking her head. I laughed. I only hope that she will be able to keep up with my appetite when I became human for her, and I don't just mean for food.

We talked for a long time during the drive back to LaPush. We talked about our families a lot. She had tons of questions for me about my sister. She seemed worried which was cute and very conscientious of her. She automatically loved my dad. She was actually excited about meeting him.

I also asked her more about her family. She talked about her parents a lot more this time. She really loved them and it only made me wish that I could have met them. Her dad actually sounded like a pretty cool guy and I would have liked to think that we would have gotten along.

After a while we listened to some music and talked about less serious things like our favorite movies and foods. Later she seemed to be enjoying the views of the forest out the window. She took out her camera and I slowed down so that she could take some pictures. I took that time to day dream about our lives together. About someday, traveling to Norway asking her grandmother for Leslie's hand. About, curly haired kids running down the beach at LaPush.

"Are we anywhere near my surprise? Or are we near a place to eat? We're out of snacks." She asked me after a while. We had stopped at a drive through around noon but we had been driving for 5 hours since then.

"Actually, we're almost there and don't worry. I actually packed a whole cooler of food before we left, but…" I said and I took her hand as she was about to turn around to try to retrieve the food. "Were going to open it once we get there, young lady." I told her sternly. She frowned making this adorable little pout that made me want to kiss her even more.

"I don't think I like it when you get bossy." She told me with a scowl. Her voice sounded so annoyed that I started laughing. She squeezed my hand a little tighter and it made me realize that I was still holding her hand. I didn't let go though. Her hand felt right in mine and as long as she didn't complain, I wasn't going to let go.

"We're almost there. I promise." I told her and stroked her skin with my thumb. She smiled and looked out the window as I finally got off the highway. She had relaxed a lot during the ride. Little by little the darkness that I saw this morning was lifted.

"Are we in Washington?" She asked me. There was something off about her voice as if she were nervous about where we were.

"Oregon actually, but we'll be passing through Washington." I told her, I didn't want to tell her exactly here we were going because I didn't want to have to explain why. I needed to figure out a way to tell her what I was but I figured dad would be able to help out with that. He had become the go to person for telling imprints about the pack.

"Are we going to the forest?" She asked me when she saw me pass the national park main entrance and take one of the little side roads. I winked at her and nodded. Her smile grew wider.

"I'm taking you to a special spot the guys and I discovered some time ago." I told her.

"This is great. This is exactly what I needed." She told me. I as usual she kept her cool tone but I could sense her excitement. It was palpable.