I'm back, please don't hate me! I know I deserve a good lashing, but the muse just left...disappeared and I just couldn't. Even so, it doesn't justifies this long ass absence. I know. *Looks down and pouts* I'm back for good and I compromise for those who are still with me- and those who aren't, can't really blame you- that I will update each 20 days or so maximum. Anyway, I hope you like this new chapter. Thanks to all who still are checking for an update. On with the show!
PS: I love this song! (the band in general)
Thanks to my beta Lucy!
Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight.
STUCK WITH EACH OTHER Chapter 10: Party crashers, panty snatchers.
Hot Chelle Rae–Never have I ever
Jared's POV
º~º~º~º~ Somewhere at the Makah rez ~º~º~º~º
Never ever before
Has a colorful world
Kim was going to be the death of me. Physically, mentally, sexually…
Naughty little girl. What was she thinking leaving the rez without her parents' consent? But she was going to get it. Oh yes she was. I wasn't going to get in her good side anytime soon, but Kim needed to be inside of La Push where I could see her. ASAP.
Okay caveman, are you going to say that to her? Paul snickered, rolling his eyes. She's going to neutralize you, just saying.
Just saying, I mocked him.
We were two minutes from ending our patrol along the Makah reservation- we decided to scan the grounds just in case- our clothes waiting in my car, which was parked with many other guest's cars. Paul was driving me over the edge with his dirty imagination and over experienced- as if- thoughts.
Why are you coming with me again? I asked the wolf shaking his fur.
Since I had mentioned the word 'party', Paul's mind had been in overdrive. Somehow he had talked me into showing up uninvited- not that anyone was going to send us an invitation- just to drag Kim back home. Deep down though, I knew it was an excuse to attend that party since I could and should have gone alone.
Why so harsh Jayman? In the last few days he had been calling me 'Jayman' which was getting quickly under my skin.
He mentally pouted. I'm your wingman. He stated like it was obvious. It's only right I accompany you.
It seemed the fact that I liked Kim had small to no meaning to Paul. Eventually, he got his way since we were carrying a bag with our clothes- decent clothes- to mingle and have fun. I had told him again and again we wouldn't be there to socialize, in fact we had to get out there as fast as possible. Still, of course, he had other ideas.
My top and only priority was to keep Kim safe- even if she didn't care. I had planned a ten minute invasion. With my super werewolf senses I calculated it wouldn't take me long to find her.
Or not.
As Paul had confirmed upon gazing at the house- more like mansion- raising above the trees in the forest, the house was gigantic. Phasing back to human we put on our clothes on faster than humanely possible. I was nervous about crashing at a party but I told myself it was for a greater purpose. I half waited to find a buff watchman at the front porch, but found no one, just a couple making out. Lucky them.
Taking my mind out of the gutter, we passed the crowded living room while I sniffed my way through the people trying to catch a wiff of Kim. It was faint but her scent was all over the place and it was stronger in the backyard. Our eyes widened in surprise at the grand extension of field in front of us. If I had thought the other rooms were packed, it was nothing compared to that. Cursing at the good weather I grabbed-not so discreetly- Paul by the collar of his T-shirt when he was getting too cozy talking to a group of girls.
"Jayman, chill." Paul calling me THAT GOD DAMN NAME was just making me angrier. "Get yourself in check bro. We don't want too much of the wrong attention."
As soon as he said that, I noticed the shaking. Probably too late. Guys looked at us weirdly- probably they were just being envious- and girls seemed really interested. I knew I could do much better than I was doing that night, but having Kim MIA was getting on my nerves. My wolf was pissed at my poor attempts of being a control freak like he was.
Note to self: never let Kim out of sight EVER again.
"What is he doing here?" It was her; her angelic voice. I knew she meant me since there was a hint of annoyance laced in her voice.
Turning around I found a sight that knocked my breath away. Probably every time we crossed paths she left me breathless, but aside from Tia's party I did not have the chance to see her all dressed up again. I appreciated the way her purple dress accentuated her curves. I hated the fact that guys there got to see Kim exposing that much skin.
Held a colorful girl like you
You gotta fly
So maybe Paul was right when he called me caveman.
"Oh hell to the no," fuming, she stomped her way towards me and met me halfway. "How in the-" she paused. "world did you know about this party?"
Her breath fanning my face was slightly distracting, and before I could manage a decent answer she cut me off.
"Don't even think about lying to me because I will know."
"There's a Makah boy, back in the rez-" I started with the total truth. "He said parties here were crazy," not exactly. "We heard there was going to be a big party here," true. "So we decided to swing by, since Embry said it would be alright." White lie.
"Sure…Embry Call huh," Her eyes narrowed to slits. Fuck, that stare meant she was going to investigate. But even if she found out I had lied, we were already there, so she couldn't prevent what was about to happen. "Oliver!"
A tall guy, who was at least tipsy, appeared by her side and put an arm over her shoulders. Well, were did that touchy shit come from? After trying to get us out of the party-I was really offended- birthday boy decided to let us be. Not for being a great guy though but because he wanted to keep his teeth in place.
"Plus, the house is big enough so you won't see each other." He explained so friendly, getting closer to Kim.
"Oh, but we will." I said as I took his arm off of my imprint's shoulders.
After that he literally moon walked to the living room.
"We don't know each other here." That was a no-go. "So get out of my way Thail."
"You see Kimberly," I used her full name which was used in rarely occasions and saw how much she hated it. "You are underage," I said in a low voice. "Drinking alcohol, partying with strangers, away from home and without your parents consent."
Her eyes widened. It was obvious I shouldn't have known the last bit of information, but it was what got her attention.
"What do you think you are doing?" I asked almost enraged. "Don't you know all the things that could happen to you? How are you supposed to get home? You don't know what's going on behind doors at this party. Have you no self preservation?"
She gasped.
"Wow, I-I think," she stuttered. "Oh God, Jared, I-I think I've come to a realization." Maybe I had gotten to her with my little speech. "I don't give a rat ass."
Maybe not.
"Tell your friend to behave, will you?" I heard Angela say. Her face was scrunched up in disgust.
Looking back I saw Paul right in the middle of a group of five chicks checking him out and giggling at the stupidities that were coming out of his mouth. Rolling my eyes I let him be, 'cause we weren't going to stay much longer.
"We are just leaving." I told her so she wouldn't worry.
"Perfect timing, see you in class." Kim marched away but not before I grabbed her by the arm.
"No you don't missy." Her eyes were blazing with anger. That only made her sexier. "I don't know about your friends, but you are leaving with us. Right now."
"Jared," she breathed trying to calm herself down. "Did you hit your head this morning? Or I don't know… eat something toxic?"
"Kim, you're not supposed to be here, you are barely sixteen!"
"And you are what? Sixty? Last time I checked you are as young as me, so stop it with the parenting crap."
"Whatever you say, all those boys out there just want to get you naked-, "
"And you don't?" she cut me off looking sultry.
What do you say to that?
Sure I did… I'M SEVENTEEN FOR CHRIST SAKE! Why she keeps on testing my control? I couldn't explain to her what was going through my mind at that moment. Hell no.
"Wha…" I trailed off not sure of what to say. I shook my head to clear my thoughts. "No! What? No! Kim! No!" I didn't know if I was trying to convince me or her.
Pulling her arm away from my grasp, I saw her lip trembling. She looked hurt and I didn't know what I had done to her, again.
"Of course not," she snorted. "You had your share of naked girls already didn't you? Yeah, why would you want to see boring little Kim na-," she covered her mouth with her hands as if she wasn't supposed to say that out loud. "Forget I'd said that."
I couldn't even if I tried.
Never ever have I
Been just black or just white
All this freedom and flight has got me feeling high
After that I followed her everywhere I could -she closed the restroom door in my face though- and threw away two of the six cups she drank. I considered kidnapping her, but there were too many witnesses and to top it off her friends helped her to get rid of me in three occasions. My keen sense of the smell made their attempts futile. Two hours passed while I tortured Kim with my constant presence when I felt she was walking funny. If I had thought she was difficult before, it was nothing compared to her wasted.
"I'm fiiiiiiine," she kept repeating every time I asked her to sit down. "You are the one out of balance."
"Sure I am," without asking for permission, I grabbed her by the elbows and took her to the front porch.
Once outside I sat her in the recliner- way stylish and very expensive recliner- and I sat by her side not touching her. She moaned and fanned herself a lot. Little by little I thought she was recovering, but when I tried to move her I heard her mumbling about two stupid Jared's.
"Unngh,"
She was so cute when she was complaining.
"I…I must look like shit." I looked at her properly and sure her eyes were a little bit hooded and her hair was a tad in disarray, but she was beautiful. "I need to brush my hair or something."
Rolling my eyes, I told her she was just fine, that she didn't need to worry.
"I saw Paul dancing the conga," Great. She snorted and began singing. I was caught out of guard when she asked. "Why are you here?"
What could I tell her? I asked myself. That I was going crazy because she wasn't near? That I couldn't live with the idea that she could get hurt? I sighed. At least I could touch her without her biting my head off.
"I was worried about you," I said timidly. Kim looked at me, her long lashes making her gaze more innocent. "I know you can take care of yourself, but there are things out there… Something bad could have happened to you."
"I don't understand you, and never will."
I sighed again. I couldn't comprehend myself sometimes.
"Jared," she blushed, but then rolled her eyes, probably thinking she was being stupid. "You appear out of thin air like a freaking ghost whenever I go and try to impose your will. I'm sick of it. You wouldn't have done half of it before, I know something happened to you and you changed because of it, and I want to know what happened."
I wanted to tell her, and I almost did. It was at the tip of my tongue, but it wasn't such a great moment to drop it on her. I'm being a freak because I can turn into Scooby Doo, you see. Oh! And I imprinted on you and I'm your slave for life. That would go just fine.
A part of me was glad she had opened up to me so I could know what was going on in that pretty head of hers, but the other felt trapped knowing I couldn't tell her what she wanted to hear.
I cleared my throat and after thinking a suitable answer- one that would calm her fears temporarily- I turned my head looking directly at her.
"I'm-I'm a…" I coughed nervously. "I tend to be impulsive sometimes and I scare you, I understand." We both chuckled because it was true. "Things have happened in my family, and had changed who I was. But they are really personal-"
She looked hurt and pulled away a little so I backtracked.
"Not that I don't trust you," I grabbed her face with my hands. "I do, it's just hard for me to… get used to, I need to deal with it first, and then I would be able to… tell you…everything."
Truthfully, I couldn't picture the day I would have to tell her what I really was and about our imprint. It scared me more than anything. Rejecting the jock at school was something, but if she ever decided she wanted nothing to do with the wolf… A lump formed in my throat at that thought.
"I'm asking you to wait for me to be ready?" I asked, somehow freaked out at how it had come out. "Trust me, I wouldn't like to deal with a freak like me and my stuff…As you can see… I get umm... sort of ahead of myself sometimes." I was blushing now. Admitting I acted like an idiot almost every time we were together at least made her smile. "But when I care for someone I'm capable of everything."
A passion runs from my heart
The room is spinning to red
The connection our eyes held at that moment was worth every minute of discussions we had that night. I wanted to kiss her so bad. Not that the idea had left my mind since we got trapped at school. I could tell she wanted me to and I was happy to oblige.
"I don't think you are ready for this though," she turned her face sideways at the last moment. I almost groaned. "You are so warm," Kim said as she nuzzled her face against my chest. She let out a single moan of comfort when I rubbed my hand against her almost frozen arm.
I was trying to be a gentleman, and was succeeding for the most part. Then she moaned again.
If she keeps doing that noises I might not respond for my actions, I thought as she let out another 'hummmmm' of contentment. She wrapped an arm around my waist and pulled her body closer to mine. My wolf was so happy it was doing a happy dance in my head.
"So warm…"
I didn't know what was going through my head anymore.
I didn't know what we were, or even if I wanted us to be something- as in Sam and Emily something. I wanted to smack my head against a rock hard surface.
One thing was telling me that indeed I wanted her, to be with her, make her happy. Common sense told me to wait, I barely knew her, and I just couldn't be in love with her. I shouldn't. And I was not.
I looked at Kim who had kind of fallen asleep on me. She was so innocent, such a great kid. Feisty and downright stubborn. I wanted nothing more than her happiness, knowing her much or not. My eyes trailed at her exposed cleavage which was at plain sight. I pressed my lips tightly suppressing a groan.
So I was attracted to her. At least.
Damn. Who wouldn't? If I hadn't noticed her before it was because I was a dumb motherfucker.
So I liked her, and had sort of romantic feelings towards her.
And an obsession with her lips. A voice inside my head chided.
The blood is leaving my head
You're such a chemical
Whatever I felt towards Kim; I didn't want it to be ruled by the imprint. It seemed wrong, but at the same time it felt right. I snorted. It was supposed to, dumbass. I was such a nutcase. One thing I knew, I needed to talk to Sam.
But first I got to wake her up, without realizing it I had been lost in my own world for an hour.
"Kim," I said softly. "Kimberly," I immediately smiled when she scrunched up her face and small wrinkle appeared over her nose. Even her subconscious hated her full name.
"Five minutes…"
"No," I laughed. "Come on, it's late." Indeed it was. Four PM and there we were.
"Oh god, I fell asleep." She blushed, while recoiling from me. "Why was I almost on your lap?"
"You were pretty comfortable there." I held her hand and helped her steady herself. "Come here."
"No!" Kim's face was red like a tomato. "I was angry with you and your overprotective butt. You confuse me."
I laughed hard at that. "Alcohol confuses you,"
I all but huffed at her refusal. What was wrong with this girl? I never thought taking care of a drunken girl could be so frustrating. Well you never took care of one, in the proper sense of the word, I reminded myself. God I was such a jackass. I tried to argue with her but she wouldn't have me nowhere near her.
"Is it that hard to do as I say?" She didn't know how much.
"I want to help," so you won't fall in your butt.
"I don't need your help,"
I approached her and stood right in front of her shaking form. The blush on Kim's face had faded and had a sickening pale color instead.
"Kim? Are you okay?" I asked panicked touching her face. Cold sweat ran over her face.
"Mo-move," she swatted my hands away. "I'm going to-"
And she couldn't finish her sentence because she was puking her guts out. All over my shoes. Maybe I should have listened to her advice, I thought cringing.
My first instinct was to reach out for her and rub soothing circles on her back. Grabbing the loose locks of hair from her face, I saw color turning back to her cheeks. My heart, which was beating erratically, calmed down once I saw Kim get the alcohol out of her system. She couldn't hold her liquor that was for sure.
Just as she was making some progress, her friends appeared, looking grossed out.
"Yuck Kimmy bear!"
I had hoped Paul in a friendly honorable act might have looked after them while Kim and I disappeared. Seeing Kayla and Angela stagger their way to us I realized there wasn't an honorable bone in that dog. Rolling my eyes, I cursed under my breath knowing I would have to look for his horny ass all over the house.
"Where is Lily?" Kim asked, feeling slightly better.
"She was… somewhere," Angela giggled. Oh good, more drunk teenagers. As if one wasn't enough. "Lil bean! Where are you?" she yelled to no one.
"Maybe I should go find her?"
"Kim you can't walk straight… much less help find anyone." Rejecting gently her offer, I told her to wait for me while I looked for Paul and Lily.
Finding Cujo wasn't difficult but kind of traumatizing. My innocent ears- loud snort-wanted to fall from my face when my keen sense of smell followed his scent and stopped right in front of a big wooden door. Loud moans could be heard. I was astonished at the amount of couples with a private room. And I was supposed to leave Kim here? Over my dead, furry body.
Knocking furiously at the door, I laughed when I heard a grunt followed by swearing. That is definitely Paul there.
"PAUL HILL, GET OUT THIS ROOM RIGHT NOW!" I roared trying to hold my laugh.
It feels like fire and ice
You bring my body to life
Melting into the night just like a butterfly
I thanked the gods- and mainly Sam- for not ordering Paul his beta. He was once, but after seeing my amazing control and how I was way more responsible because of my beautiful imprint, Sam decided there was no need to put one above the other.
Now you just have to drag his ass home. Nice move Jared.
I heard shuffling and complaining from the other side of the door, but I knew he had to do as I said because neither he nor I wanted to face Sam's wrath again. We had been testing our A-boss far too much.
"Dammit Jared," he came out buttoning his jeans. "Just because you don't get laid doesn't mean the rest of us can't."
"You left those girls alone!" I scolded him while hitting him with his own T-shirt. "And now Lily is gone, so you are going to help me find her."
His nostrils flared and he pushed me trying to get away from my chiding. I couldn't help but chuckle at the head peering from behind the door. After apologizing for my rudeness I followed Paul, looking everywhere for Lily. Luckily she wasn't too far, just getting out of the bathroom. Someone was waiting for her outside. A guy, who doubled her size and age, took her hand while smiling like the freaking Cheshire cat.
Sick bastard.
"Hey! You!" Paul yelled over the loud speakers. Surprisingly Lily and her companion turned around. Her face needless to say, was priceless. "Your friends are waiting for you."
I mentally slapped him, knowing she would put up a fight. She was Kim's friend after all.
"Says who?" She replied in her daily sassy tone.
"Me,"
Paul grabbed Lily by the arm and pulled not so gently, Cheshire complained but backed off at Paul's snare. What a pussy.
"Don't you dare put your paws on me again!" Lily and Paul argued, while I took Kim and her friends to the parking lot. They had been yelling at each other for five minutes.
"Not that I wanted to," he huffed.
"Shut up you two." I stopped their bickering. "You made a point Lily, Paul don't touch her-"
"I DIDN'T WANT TO!"
We all laughed at Paul's outburst, he just needed to stamp his foot. Swearing the whole way to the car we found ourselves with a hard decision to take. They weren't in a good state to drive.
"Paul and I should drive, I'll drive my car. Kim you're coming with me?" I asked hoping she wouldn't reject my offer. Not that I would have left her ride with Paul anyway.
"Do I really have a choice?"
Atta girl.
"Just what I thought." She mumbled and got into the car.
Before I could get in Paul shoved me to the side and took my car keys.
"Jared, so help me God you aren't making me give a ride to those three… alone!"
I rolled my eyes at his correct assumptions. So what if I wanted to spend more time with Kim? He should have seen it coming. I promised I would make it up to him. He didn't believe one word, but there wasn't much he could do, and letting those girls drive themselves was something not even him would let happen.
While I got Kim comfortable in my car and left my shoes at the back I could hear Paul telling three crazy drunk to shut up. They weren't listening to him though; they went as far as starting singing Dirty Beat dedicating the "I had the time of my life" bit to an almost gone wolf, Paul Hill.
"I'm sorry about your shoes…" Kim said looking at the window.
"Don't worry about it," I replied barely holding my laugh.
I knew she was embarrassed, but it was downright funny. I kept looking straight because if I looked at her I would have exploded in a fit of ungentlemanly roars.
"I will not comment it in the near future, but you owe me."
She gasped but couldn't quite argue with my reasoning. I didn't want her to feel bad about my ruined shoes, but if I could hold it against her so she would owe me then I was all for it.
"If you had moved as I told you to, none of that would have happened…" she trailed off getting upset.
"If you had told me you were feeling sick,"
"Oh yeah, I was going to say in my most seductive voice: "Jared, I'm going to barf"." After chuckling she added in a whisper. "'Cause that's so sexy."
"If you say it like that-," that got her mad and she hit me. "What?" I asked innocently. "Aw Kim-,"
Never have I ever felt like this before
I've never been the one to knock but now I'm at your door
"I'm not listening," she cut me off feigning sleep.
"Really mature." I snickered.
Way to soon, we were on the rez. The rest hadn't quite made out the outskirts of town yet, and I could feel Kim's apprehension rolling of off her in waves. As we decided to stop I realized we hadn't agreed on what we were going to do next.
If they had lied to their parents it's not like they could walk into their houses at six a.m. It only occurred to me after I had dragged them all out of that infamous party. Dumbass much? Thankfully they had planned sleeping on Kayla's car till eleven, when Kim's family was out of their house. She had saved herself from an all Connweller lunch. I didn't want to leave her just yet, but I didn't have a choice. The sexy passenger beside me had been silent the whole ride and I didn't want her to leave like that though. I wanted her to understand my alter motives and was about to tell her so when someone behind us honked.
"Asshole," I muttered knowing Paul could hear me. From the rearview mirror I could see his smug face.
Kim looked out the window and mouthed the word "HELP"- I could see her from the rearview mirror. Rolling my eyes at such childish antics; I asked her where she wanted me to park. After hesitating she decided the beach would be the best isolated place. Once we were there we swapped cars- Paul mumbling the whole way until he plopped his ass on the passenger seat. He was going to grow old just by being so damn angry all the time. It didn't change the fact that he was funny to look at.
"Thanks for…" my little rebel began sweetly then her tone changed drastically. "I don't know what for exactly. You acting like my dad is something I don't appreciate in the least."
So much for a gratitude speech…
"I wouldn't have done so if you weren't acting like a five year old." That angered her further but I couldn't stop myself.
"Who do you think you are to claim being my protector?"
There she struck a nerve.
No one had asked that from me, and no one needed to, because my over-protection switched on whenever danger got close to her. I just was, and she couldn't know. Not yet.
"That's what I thought." With that, she hightailed and got inside the car with her friends.
When we got home, I made sure to park the car like it had never disappeared and crept our way through the forest. Letting the anger and frustration get a hold of me I exploded into a ball of fur howling at the impotence I felt.
"I told you that was going to happen," the know-it-all with blue balls said. "You can't really blame her for snapping like that."
"Let it go, okay?"
After that, hours passed without communication between us- not that I felt bad- but our thoughts always ended up in the same place. For the first time since I had imprinted; I willed myself to think about other things instead of her scent or the ring of her voice. Paul noticed and tried to distract me, giving me a visual about what was going down behind doors. It was entertaining at first then it got downright nasty.
"That chick was hot," that thought hadn't left his mind in hours since we were tracking vampires scent.
"And you'll find someone hotter, get over it!"
"Cock-blocker-"
"Horny dog,"
We heard twigs break behind us and quickly stopped our barreling. Sniffing our way into a clearing we found and angry Alpha wolf sitting alone, looking annoyed. Paul and I gulped at the same time, knowing we were in for the lash out of our lives.
"I'm asking this ONCE," his nostrils flared and big puffs of air shot out of his snout. "What the hell were you two thinking leaving the rez without MY consent?"
Oh man, this was going to be a long, long day.
º~º~º~º~ The day after, The Thail's household ~º~º~º~º
You know what sucks more than not being able to talk to the person you need the most? Not having her phone number. And never be able to ask for it. In the past two days I had been daydreaming about possible situations and all of them involved a slap. Then I understood no matter what I said to her, I would be saying something wrong, always.
Not that it only happened with imprints.
Paul had got tired of my whining- again- and offered to ask her for it even if he had to risk his own life at Lily's venomous tongue. I wondered why he never offered for a role on soap operas. He had such a gift for drama. Unfortunately we found out he wasn't far from the truth once he ran into Lily and decided to give it a go. Not only he did not get Kim's number, but won a new arch enemy.
Talk about guard dogs, I laughed at my own joke. Danni sitting by my side looked at me worriedly then went back to his Sponge Bob cartoons.
When I first started my "oh so willing" job of protecting the tribe, I thought how it would be cool to get to roam the woods with no curfew, living like a wild animal for a few hours. After weeks of patrolling and no other place to go than mines or Sam's- which lately was rubbing me the wrong way- I got bored to death.
"Jared, someone is asking for you." Mom yelled from the front door.
I got up from the couch and smoothed my clothes- mom insisted that I should wear a shirt- while my heartbeat ricocheted. In less than a second I was at by her side, but my hopes deflated instantly upon seeing Paul's horny face.
"You." I almost pouted.
"I'm happy to see you too bro," he feigned being hurt. "I'm here to take your sorry ass on a date."
Well listen very closely you can hear the sound
Of a love that makes my heart beat and my head spin around
"Language boys!" Called my mother from inside the house.
He didn't need to tell me twice. I grabbed my keys and followed him to a small café in front of the beach. A chubby woman, known as Cynthia, asked for our orders and pinched our cheeks afterwards. She was like an old aunt who smothered every single teenager who came her way. We loved her all the same.
"Quit that long face, will you. She can't hate you."
"She is trying, that's what counts." I remarked him.
"And whose fault is it?" Said the smartass.
Supposedly, it was my fault. What should I have done? Leave her there with those macho-wacko college's boys? I was still fuming over the fact that she had the nerve to be her sassy self after I called her on her wrongs. Still, I shouldn't have imposed. It was driving her insane and away from me.
But I was as stubborn as Kim, if not more and I was done apologizing.
"Whatever," I rolled my eyes at him. "You gonna pay for this, right?" He shook his head taking a large sip of his coke.
"Paul, dude, you asked me out,"
"You're not going to "repay" me later," he deadpanned making air quotes with his fingers.
"Sick man," I said throwing a napkin at him.
Laughing and talking about nothing time flew by till the sky turned orange and the temperature dropped several degrees. People- mostly kids we knew from school- started filling the empty boots around us. I glanced at the entry every once in a while waiting for Kim to appear and brighten my sky. Gee, cheesy.
One kid called my attention, Embry Call, was asking the waitress for a take away. With him were his goons, Quil Ateara and Jacob Black. Jake was the younger son of Billy Black, the tribe's chief. He was expected to follow onto his dads steps one day. But by then they were three goofy guys who spent too much time in a garage. It would do them well to start dating. Not that Quil hadn't tried to… I snickered remembering that.
"You better warn Call about Kim." Paul advised looking directly at him.
We had been watching them for a while now, I just trying to find the words to simply let him know what to say and not ask for explanations. I heard Jacob saying he had to go with his dad to Forks. He wanted to see Bella- a crazy chick who ran with vampires- the poor kid had a crush on the Forks chief's daughter. Personally, I didn't know what he saw in her.
"She is openly avoiding you Jake," Embry said exasperated. "She hasn't even called you once!"
"Bella is busy studying and taking care of Charlie." Jake defended her. You wouldn't know who he was trying to convince.
"You follow her like a puppy," his friend rebutted raising his voice. "How long is this going to last?"
A small group next to them stopped their conversation at Embry's outburst. Far from blushing and cowering- he was known to be a little shy- he got angrier and angrier and no words of Quil or Jacob could calm him down. Paul shrugged and said he might be PMSing. Just then Embry turned to look at us as if he had heard something.
"What's wrong with you dude?" Jacob said and left the cafeteria, not long after Quil left too.
I did not think that was a good time to ask him anything, so I waited till I saw him breathing normally. He hadn't stopped looking our direction though. When he was about to pay to the cashier I approached him and poked him at the back. He got stiff and dug holes in my skull with his eyes.
"Hey," I asked suddenly timid. He didn't respond, just acknowledged me with a nod so I went on. "I-um, maybe Kim, Kim Connweller might ask you about some party of sorts, you just have to say you talked to me and told me to go."
My head spin around, spin around, spin around, spin around, round, round
I spin around, I spin around, I spin around
His face scrunched up and his eyes blazed with anger again. Okay…
"I don't have to do shit for you," he spat. I blinked twice in surprise. I was bigger and bulkier than him, he had some balls. "You come here to order me around after a whole hour of staring?" He gripped the bar and started trembling slightly.
"Are you okay?" I asked sincerely worried. I hadn't seen that behavior since…
"Why does everyone keeps asking me that?" He yelled and left in a huff.
Paul came by my side almost being thrown back by Embry leaving. He seemed confused- he couldn't understand the kid's outburst either.
Looking back at the bar, I saw the indents of fingers in the wood. Things were turning ugly faster than I thought.
º~º~º~º Monday, La Push High School º~º~º~º~
"I had never seen a guy your age get so excited on a school Monday."
Paul had been teasing me since I'd picked him up from his house that morning. His mom fed up with his sudden disappearances decided to take away his car keys because of his lack of responsibility. He had been fuming and needless to say, it took him very little to phase. After that we discussed with Sam the possibility of telling Paul's only parent- Christine- about tribal stuff. But first the elders needed to consent that.
Anyway I was glad to be in class once again. That meant I could torture Kim some more before she gave in to my unquestionably charm. As I expected, I didn't catch sight of her till late that day in history class. On the brighter side, I hadn't seen Embry, Tom, Tanya or my ex-friends either- I hadn't noticed if they were there really. Life dragged on indefinitely without seeing that someone you care so much about.
The last hour came and with it my never ending bliss- although it did end- and I dragged Paul's ass early into an empty class. I tapped my foot impatiently until I saw her enter the room, laughing with a friend. The way my whole being felt when she was near could only be described as utter peace.
"Kim!" I almost shrieked while an idiot smile appeared in my face. So much for keeping it cool.
"Psycho," I heard Paul mutter from the other side of the room.
"Hey,"
As she sat down, Kim didn't even try to make a snarky remark and I blinked my eyes stupidly. That was the first time-since my transformation- she had talked to me without contempt in her voice. I was about to cry.
"How was your weekend?" I felt sort of retarded asking her the same question week after week.
"Pretty boring, I might have had a blast on Friday but someone decided to rain on my parade."
I held back the nasty comment that was building in my throat. No need to argue the very first hour we met. After that I asked her trivial things about her weekend and plans for the day. She kept her answers short but we engaged on a small chit chat until Mr. Polard yelled at me to shut up. Boring little man.
"Now that Mr. Thail had graciously accepted to remain silent," he shot me a glare but had no real effect. "I can tell you there is a project due in two weeks-"
Everyone started to groan and complain making our teacher want to roll his eyes. After shushing us, and threatening with an exam the room felt silent.
"Two weeks from today you will have to deliver a 20-page-project- don't fill it with photos, I'll qualify with an F if there are more than 5 images. Anyway, you have to choose a partner and in case you find none I will assign you one. Go!"
I saw Kim nod at Lily from the corner of my eye when the teacher first said the word "project". Alas, nothing was set in stone and we had yet to confirm our partners. Before she could get up I grabbed her arm gently and tugged. She plopped down in her chair with and "ommff". Her eyes could have dug holes in my face from the intensity. Then I remembered she doesn't like to be manhandled. Oops.
Never have I ever felt like this before
I've never been the one to knock but now I'm at your door
"Hey, maybe we could be partners," I said adding my most dashing smile. "It'll be fun."
"Not in this lifetime," that was to be expected. But I had an ace in the hole. Oh yes you knew it, my shoes.
Still smiling so she wouldn't feel too threatened by my next words, I leaned in her ear and whispered: "You owe me." As soon as I saw her about to reply, I cut her off. "What about my shoes? They are all sticky." I couldn't refrain myself from breathing on her vanilla smell.
Gaping like a fish, Kim blushed tomato-red. I felt a little bad from putting this on her, it was worth it though.
"And what are you going to do? Rub them all over my face?" she hissed.
"No, but I can tell the whole class why I had to get home barefoot." I would never do that to my Kim. She didn't need to know that yet. She mumbled a curse-directed at me- nevertheless stayed glued to her seat.
"Everyone ready?" The teacher asked impatiently.
Lily tried to call Kim's attention since she was leaving her alone, but my partner looked at back and shrugged. It wasn't fair play, but it was what I needed to spend time with her without having to abduct her. We settled in a small conversation choosing the topic of our project- which almost ends up being our ancient traditions- and thought it would be original to talk about minor wars where there were important things accomplished. Kim thought it was original, it was a complete bore to me, but if she liked it I was all for it.
"Time is up!" Mr. Polard cut me off mid sentence. "From now on you should meet with your partner outside class. Due in two weeks, don't forget!"
Students gathered their books and started to empty the room until it was only Kim, Lily and me. I took my sweet time picking up my notes, stalling, waiting for Kim's friend to take the hint. Finally she did but didn't make it graciously.
"Kim," she said sternly. "I'll see you outside, NOW."
I guess she was pretty upset about being partners with one of Tanya's minion. I know I would be angry. When Lily was out of sight my imprint glared at me, forcefully.
"You blackmailed me at the very first chance you've got!" She accused me almost throwing her folder at my face.
"It only happened to be the best one I'll get this week,"
Walking to our lockers- mine was the other way, but who cares- she kept quiet. Once she finished, with her bag on her petite shoulders she said: "This ends here. No more threats."
Before she left I grabbed her hand. It felt smooth and cool against my scorching skin.
"This chance is all I needed, because when this project ends you're going to fall in love with me."
Kim blushed and her eyes widened but said nothing. Pulling away her hand she disappeared behind the high school doors, not before tripping when she turned to look at me. I smiled and thought things were going to go my way for the first time.
º~º~º~ºLater, La Push forest º~º~º~º
Later that day, getting ready for patrol I realized we hadn't agreed meeting outside class or how we were going to do our job. Guess my suave comment had left her speechless.
Roaming the zone we didn't see anything out of the ordinary, no scents, nada. Not even that was going to ruin my mood. But there again, there was Paul.
"You got some loving?" His big gray body collided with mine and I shook him off with a snarl.
"That's the only thing in your mind isn't it?" I flattened my ears and showed my teeth. "Oh wait, actually there's nothing inside your head."
It took me little to push Paul's buttons so we could start fighting –playing- getting each second deeper and deeper into the forest, where no one could hear our playful growls. After being smashed against the ground, almost losing a limb and having bold spots on our body Sam decided to intervene.
"Are you done pups?" He was still a little mad for Friday night. "Don't make me go there."
We stopped and shook our fur seeing our A-boss coming toward us. Before he could fully reach us, Sam tensed his body and snarled.
"You are on Cullen land," sniffing around I could feel their putrid scent, but it was faint.
"It's like they haven't been here for a long time." Paul confirmed scanning the trees.
"Paul come back, we can't cross the-," we already had, so it was kind of meaningless. "We can't go there," Sam said.
Their house was just a minute- werewolf running- from where we were and in a flash we were standing in front of the big glass house. The white marble shone with the low sun, but eerily all was pitch black inside. We knew they didn't need the lights on, as we either, but they tried to play house as much as possible, so it was weird.
"I was expecting a cave with coffins…" Paul so brilliantly thought.
"Wait, Jared, look inside," Sam ordered me. I approached what was supposed to be the living room but could never know because it was just an empty room, as were the adjoining ones.
"The house is empty," I thought confused. "Their scent is still faint; it should be burning our noses by now."
"They're gone." The alpha ordered us to go back to our land and to be ready for a tribal meeting later that night.
The Cullen's were gone, and we couldn't be happier.
After talking to Billy, old Quil and some other elders, they made phone calls and found out Doctor vamp had left his position as head doctor in Forks a week ago. Contacting other resources we finally concluded the treaty was broken because there weren't any bloodsuckers on our lands. Spirits were lifted after the rumor ran across the rez and everyone- knowing about vampires or not- congregated in the beach just hanging out, laughing or starting a bonfire.
Sam let us be and run free across First Beach, mingling with the few people we still talked with. Emily brought us some snacks and we camped out in the sand.
Listen very closely you can hear the sound
Of a love that makes my heart beat and my head spin around
"I didn't know them, anyway I feel bad for them…all this party because they moved," I heard and angelic voice carried by the wind.
"Yeah, they were strange though," Lily argued.
They were sitting on a log, with comfy clothes and a coffee on their hands. Kim had her long hair up in a bun and funny looking sneakers. She had never looked so cute. I watched them for a while and then I spotted Leah by their side. Uh oh.
"Go talk to her," Paul laughed. "I can see you're itching."
Following my friend's comment I got up and walked towards her. I didn't know if it was the imprint, but before I got near her Kim shot up her eyes and looked directly at me, like she had felt me. I smiled and greeted them.
"Hey," I said in general. "How you doing?"
"I'm confused, you know why all this fuss over the Cullen's?" she raised an eyebrow. Did she think I should know? Why?
While panicking I answered: "Err…No, we-they, the elders I mean, weren't too fond of them." She nodded but seemed unconvinced. "I was just hanging out with," I pointed at my pack.
Leah turned her head and looked behind me. If her face was serious then, it hardened even more upon seeing Sam and Emily cuddling. Faster than light she looked away sighed and picked at the sand by her feet. I felt bad but nothing I could say or do would have done any good.
I sat by Kim's side and started asking her silly questions and telling her funny stories which not just made her smile, but made Angela and Kayla snort. Lily was the toughest.
"Dad doesn't know but it was my head what made than indent in the fridge. He just wonders how it expanded." I finished my tale. Kim was trying to hold her laugh but failing.
"There was other time-," I started so we could keep the good mood going, but I caught sight of Paul and Sam leaving the beach almost running.
Emily was left with some friends and they talked to Billy in hushed tones. The chief looked really worried and didn't even wait to finish his speech he was rolled by Jacob to their cars, Sam following hot in their heels.
"Jared?" Kim's voice brought me out of my reverie.
"Uh- sorry," I focused on her again. "Don't mind me, I spaz out sometimes."
The night was chilly. I could tell Kim wanted to heat up because she was rubbing her forearms. I wanted to hug her, but was afraid she would reject me or start her rant about how I just wanted to take advantage of the situation. I hadn't heard of Sam or Paul in twenty minutes and my patience was running thin.
Fortunately I had the most amazing girl to take my mind off of things. The way her eyes sparkled when she laughed or the way her cheeks flushed when she caught me staring at her was refreshing. Her little red nose was funny too.
"We need to talk about our project schedules," I reminded her. "We can meet at my place or yours, as you want."
She nodded deep in thought. "Okay, tomorrow we'll get started."
"Fantastic!" Maybe my answer was way too enthusiastically since all her friends glanced at my sideways.
"We can…"
The rest of the conversation was drowned out by the howl of a wolf. I turned my head in the direction it came and heard a second one. The first- Paul's was to get my attention- the latest, Sam's however was a worrying one. Something bad had happened and it had to do with vampires.
"Kim, I got to go."
She seemed thrown out a bit, but otherwise smiled.
"Yeah we were leaving now anyway,"
"We'll take a walk-,"
"NO!" I cut Angela off.
They stared at me like I had grown a second head and remained in silent. I heard another howl.
"Stay here for a while, its great here!" I persuaded her to stay put. Better to be in a place surrounded of people than walking alone where someone could attack them.
"Jared, it's late and-", Kim argued.
"Please!" I begged. Leaning close to her I whispered so just she could hear. "Stay for an hour, for your own good, please just… stay? For me? Promise?"
I think she got lost in my eyes- as I did in hers- and maybe it had been the power of the imprint, she nodded and agreed to stay another hour.
"Promise me,"
Never have I ever felt like this before (this before)
I've never been the one to knock but now I'm at your door (at your door)
"I-I promise," with that I let out a sigh of relief, hoping she would do as I asked. Knowing her I wasn't that sure, but I trusted her.
"Take care." I kissed her cheek and ran to the woods.
I phased mid air when I was deep in the forest and ran till I met with my pack at Cullen land- once was Cullen land. Panicked thoughts mingled with rage came flooding at me. I saw through Sam's mind how distraught Billy was, the way Jacob itched to go to Forks and Charlie Swan's anguished voice over the phone:
"Billy, Bella, my baby is gone."
"We need to find her, but we can't do it in wolf form, we can't risk someone seeing us." Sam explained.
What we were really worried about was Bella's safety; she could be dead, since it was hours since she disappeared. Those leeches could have drained her or worse turned her. In any case, there were blood crazed vampires running across our land.
On the other hand she could have run away with her loved coven and no one would know. Billy had turned down that idea because Bella's belongings were in her bedroom and a note she left said she was coming back in a few. Something bad had happened to her.
Jacob wanted to go with us on our search, but that was impossible. We couldn't have explained our sniffing around or our super speed. He was fuming after we rejected his help but Billy kept him in place. Sam gave a questioning look at the chief about his son, since he should have been the Alpha.
It took us two hours of scanning the whole woods surrounding the Swan's property when we first started to smell her scent. The rain had washed it previously but we could follow it.
"What the hell was she doing here this far?" Paul wondered out loud.
"She didn't come here on her own, someone led her." That was the only explanation. What for; I didn't want to know.
"HERE!" we heard Sam's voice a few miles away to the east.
We ran desperate, wanting to know if she was safe and saw Sam holding her in his arms. She looked pale- she had always been but still- seemed cold and stared at nothing. We examined her slightly, looking for bite marks, although we didn't find other than the half moon in her wrist. It was already healed and she wasn't a vampire neither was turning on one.
We only knew she was alive because she kept chanting: "He's gone, he's gone."
Well listen very closely you can hear the sound (hear the sound)
Of a love that makes my heart beat and my head spin around
My head spin around, (spin around) spin around, (spin around) spin around
Next chapter Jared and Kim get closer! (About damn time, don't you think?) Oh so just you know, I had Embry freaking out but he won't phase right away! I know the Cullens left on September, but I've changed it a bit.