Disclaimer: I still don't own twilight, I'm just having some fun.

Chapter 11: The waiting game

Jared had skipped school this morning, because he was still sitting at Sam and Emily's kitchen table unable to get control of his emotions. He hadn't gone to sleep, because he honestly didn't think he could, he was just in so much pain. How had he not noticed Kim for all those years? Why had he stood by doing nothing as Paul had routinely bullied and beat up his soul mate? He deserved every ounce of pain that he was feeling now and more. He only hoped that someday Kim would find some way to forgive him. But he honestly didn't know what would happen, all night he had just sat here thinking about every decision he had made over the course of his life.

He didn't regret being friends with Paul, but he did regret every time the two of them hurt someone to get popular. At first it was just little things, a comment here, a comment there, and then as Paul's home life got worse and worse he started to pick on people as a way to vent. Jared had stood idly by, not stopping it, and for that he regretted it. He remembered the first time Paul had slammed a boy into a locker; it was the morning after his father had taken his anger out on Paul's stomach. Jared had used that as a way to justify not helping the boy, that and school kids can be cruel and Jared just ultimately wanted to fit in and Paul was and still is his best friend. However seeing the look of pure hate and disgust on Kim's face when he asked if she was new was enough to break him. Although he blamed Paul for part of this situation, he knew all the blame didn't lay on Paul, he was also to blame. ? Although he was still mad at Paul, he knew that ultimately their friendship would be ok, Paul was like a brother to him and he could never turn his back on him.

Plus he really had no one to blame but himself for this situation had he just once over the years spoken up, he may not be in this situation, but no he had chosen his path and now unfortunately fate was out to get him for it. All he could hope was that somehow his angel could forgive him. He had overheard Sam say that Paul was going to attempt to talk to her today, and he could only hope that it didn't blow up in his face. He knew Paul was a good guy, but what girl in their right mind would want to talk to a boy that had tormented her?

Jared was starting to get a sickening feeling in his stomach, and it was almost like his heart was being wretched out of his body. He felt immediately dizzy and he had no idea why. He heard the front door to Sam's house open and immediately he smelled that unique scent of coconut, vanilla and home, realizing that Kim was here, he was completely shocked and unsure why she would be here, until he smelled a rusty metal smell of blood. There was so much blood that it almost starting to mask her scent. He immediately felt like he was going to be sick. Emily had been standing at the sink and Paul flew in and dragged her to the living room where Kim was. Jared was still stuck at the table, his wolf was demanding that he help his mate, but the man in him was so overcome by grief, shock and fear that he was unable to move.

"Jared please get in here now please! Bring some water and grab the first aid kit under the sink!" Emily screamed from the other room. Jared immediately sprung into action and headed into the living room. Seeing Kim passed out on the couch, with blood dripping onto the floor his legs immediately buckled and he started to shake uncontrollably.

"Jared honey, if you're going to phase please head outside, but if not you need to calm down, Kim is hurt pretty bad, and I'm going to need your help if you can manage" Emily said soothingly to Jared. Truth be told, Emily was very concerned about Jared, she had sat with him most of the night while he sobbed and looked so broken, and now that Kim was here she could see he was fighting an internal battle. Although he was happy Kim was here, he was enraged that she was so beaten, and it was taking all his willpower not to go find the person that had caused this. As well Paul was looking rather shaken, he was pacing back and forth and kept mumbling to himself about never being late for class again. Emily was happy Embry was still outside with Sam otherwise there definitely would have been a wolf or two exploding in her living room, and she really didn't want to have to buy new furniture.

Emily worked quickly and efficiently stopping the blood flow from the deepest wounds in Kim's neck and arm first. Then she worked on the gashes on her face. Someone really had it in for this girl, and for the life of her Emily didn't understand why. She had never had a conversation with her, but she knew that Embry was one of her best friends and Sam had a deep respect for her. Respect from Sam was hard to earn, and so she knew Kim must be quite a special person. Finally getting all the wounds cleaned and dressed, Emily had Jared carry Kim to the guest room off the living room, where she kicked the boys out and started to clean up the blood that was staining Kim's skin. She then grabbed a pair of her sweats; thankful her and Kim were about the same size and took Kim out of her bloody clothes. Now all they could do was wait for Kim to wake up.

Heading into the living room she saw that Sam, and Embry and Paul, who had burst out of here earlier, had arrived. Embry upon smelling the scent of blood in the air looked on the verge of phasing again and Paul immediately grabbed him and threw him out the door to the forest. Sam was on the phone with the Billy Black, trying to figure out how best to deal with what had happened at the tribal school. From her personal experience with Billy, she knew that he hated bullies, and this incident would not go unpunished, especially since it happened to a tribal warriors mate. The person who did this would be lucky if they were kept alive as she knew all the wolves would want to shred the offending person for hurting one of their own.

Looking at Jared she could see the worry and insecurity etched in his eyes. At least he was now up an moving, but unfortunately she knew he had a long road ahead of him in order to earn Kim's trust and forgiveness. She knew all about having to forgive your soul mate, as Sam still spent every day regretting the scars that he had given her. But she knew that with time Kim and Jared would be ok, why else would the spirits have paired them together? Tapping Jared on the shoulder Emily motioned for him to head into the room with Kim, knowing that being near her would help calm his wolf down.

Once Sam got off the phone, she knew something was horribly wrong based on the expression on his face. "So the girl that caused all this mess is claiming that Kim struck her first, and she has a black eye as her evidence." Sam's frame was shaking uncontrollably and he started backing away from Emily.

"Sam it's ok, all this mess will be sorted out, surely the school can't believe that one black eye warrants all the damage that was caused?"

"No they don't , and Billy and the elders are down at the school, he's convinced that this girl got one of her friends to punch her so that she can blame this on Kim, as he knows as well as I do that Kim would never hurt a fly!"

"Relax baby, it will be ok, she's alive and at least Jared is moving again. Plus Paul and Embry seem to be getting along." Emily said as she came up to Sam and ran her hands soothingly up and down his back. Sam melted into her touch, allowing her scent to calm his wolf. He knew things would be ok, he just didn't know what would happen when Kim woke up, he really needed Embry to get it together and stay in human form as Kim trusted him more than anyone.

A couple minutes later Embry and Paul entered the house, and although Embry still looked angry he wasn't nearly as furious as he was earlier. Taking his aggression out on a few dozen unsuspecting boulders and trees had helped, as had sparring with Paul. Paul knew all about phasing out of anger, and oddly the sparring had brought them even closer together. Embry just couldn't believe all that had happened to Kim. He wasn't even out of school a full day before someone tried something. Sensing his anger rising he worked hard to regain control and took a couple deep cleansing breaths. "How is she?" he asked Emily, unsure if he really wanted to know the answer.

"Better, although she hasn't woken up, Jared is with her, but I think it would help if you were there when she woke up, as she trusts you more than anyone else right now." Nodding his head Embry entered the guest room and sat in the only other chair in the room.

Jared looked briefly away from Kim, giving Embry a nod, before turning his eyes back to Kim. The two boys hunkered down unsure of what was going to happen next, and both pleading with the spirits to let her wake up soon. All they could do now is wait.

A/N: So what did you think? Based on some of the reviews I got I decided to add a bit more to Jared's POV in this chapter. Also at some point we will find out why Amber hate's kim so much, but it might not be for awhile. Let me know what you think, and if there is anything you think I could do better, or stuff you would like to see. Although I don't reply to all reviews I try to reply to the ones that ask questions and I do read every single one of them, they make my day! Plus the more reviews I get, the faster I update :)