A/N: Yeah! I didn't make you wait very long! Aren't you proud of me? Okay, warning, this chapter was hard to write! I hope I did it justice and you like it. Leave me a note at the end telling me what you think.
Stephenie Meyer owns it all.
Chapter Fourteen
Fighting for Love
Kara's POV
"Answer it or I will." He was quiet, but I knew that if I didn't he would. I pulled out my new phone and saw the number.
"H-hello?" I need to get my emotions under control and convince Jake that I'm okay.
"Kara! The message you left…are you okay? I am coming to Seattle. Where are you? Are you with your aunt still?" No, no, no! He can't come here!
"Jake! I'm fine, I ran into some friends…" Josh grabbed the phone before I could continue.
"Hello Jacob. I am so glad that you have made it easier for me. Kara wasn't being very helpful and she was determined not to call you. Now, if you want to see her alive I suggest you meet me at the private beach right down the street from her aunt's house, alone. Are we clear?"
Jacob's POV
I was shaking so bad that it was hard to control myself, but I knew I had to keep it together for Kara.
"I understand, now let me talk to Kara." I need to know that she is okay.
"Fine, but don't try anything." He hissed into the phone.
"Hello?" She sounded terrified and I had to work even harder to control myself.
"Kara, I am coming to get you. I am so sorry about yesterday. It is not what it looked like. I don't like her. She just kissed me and I pushed her off. I promise you that I can't ever think of her like that."
"It's okay, Jake. I just want you to be happy." She doesn't understand!
"Kara, just be careful, I will be there soon. Please, don't get hurt. Bye"
"Bye Jake." She hung up and I ran outside and changed so I could phase.
Jake! Kara's with the leech? We're coming with you.
No, Embry, I can't risk him ki…hurting her. He said to come alone. You can't come with me.
Jake, we aren't letting you go alone. Not if Kara is in danger. We can help. We can sneak up on him.
No, Quil, I already messed up too many times with Kara. I am not going to make another mistake. Just let me do this alone! I can handle one leech.
It is stupid to try to do this alone. Let us help you!
No, Embry, don't make me issue a command. I hate doing that to you guys.
Fine. Come one Quil. We'll go tell Sam what's happening so he knows. Let us know what happens Jake.
I will, thanks guys.
I was already half way to Seattle by the time they had phased at Sam's house. I was skirting in the woods by the ocean and I could tell that I was getting closer to where her aunt lived. I can't let anything happen to Kara. I can smell the leech and I am ready for the fight.
Kara's POV
"So, it looks like Jacob has found someone new. Who is she? Anyone I know?" He was taunting me and trying to get a reaction, but I wasn't going to give him the satisfaction.
"I am guessing that to chase you off it has to be someone you are close to. Considering you don't have many friends and no girl friends I would guess it is your sister, Ashley, was it? I can see why Jacob chose her. She is beautiful, for a human." He was laughing at me and I am trying so hard not to react. I keep thinking about my aunt, who is in her room waiting for my uncle. I don't want her to get hurt because of me.
"I know that you fear for your aunt, but there is no reason. I will not harm her as long as you do not fight me. Now, we need to get ready to meet your Jacob. Well, I guess he isn't yours, but we'll just pretend." He was so cruel. I could feel tears forming and I was concentrating on not letting them slide down my face. "Now go tell your aunt that you want to take a walk on the beach and that you will be back later. Then you will meet me outside. Do not try to escape, it won't work and it will irritate me and I might just have to kill your aunt if you do." With that he hopped out the window. I walked to my aunt's room.
"Hey Aunt Cece. I am going to the beach to take a walk. I'll be back later." I couldn't say anymore without giving away the fear in my voice. She looked up at me and smiled her understanding smile.
"Okay Sweetie. Be careful." She was so kind and I wasn't sure if I would ever get to see her again. All I could do was nod and walk out. I can't help but think about my family and the guys. I won't see them again and it kills me. I hope that Josh will keep me alive long enough to see Jake again.
"Good, you are very obedient. I am impressed by your courage. Normally my victims are screaming and crying by now, but I will get you to do that soon enough." We are walking down the street to the path that walks through the woods and out to the beach. It is about a half mile to the beach through the woods. I was scared that he would try something as soon as we were out of sight, but all he did was move closer and grab my arm.
"It seems that you are scared of not seeing Jacob again. Well, we will see. I am rather hungry and I might need the strength to fight him, though I doubt that." I was terrified. I was shaking and he knew how scared I was. He was smiling like this was the happiest moment of his life or whatever. When we reached the beach the beauty was not lost on me. This would be as good a place as any to die.
"Ah, right on time. He seems overly concerned for you if that is any comfort." I saw Jake jump through the bushes in his wolf form. This snapped me out of my mute condition.
"Jake! Please don't, I'm not worth it, please just go home." I knew I was screaming and acting insane, but I couldn't help it. I didn't want him to get hurt. Josh jumped at Jake and knocked him into a tree and the force of the blow broke the tree. I was sobbing.
"Jake! Please leave him alone!" I lost all control of my senses and ran towards Josh. I don't know what I could do, but I had to do something to help Jake. Right before I got to Josh something knocked into me and carried me off to the tree line. I couldn't think of anything except to save Jake so I was struggling against my restraints.
"Please, Kara, you need to calm down. Jacob is worried about you as well. He asked me to keep you safe." I finally looked up and saw Edward.
"Edward you have to let me help him! He is going to get hurt and I can't watch that!" I am beyond hysterical. All I can think about it getting to Jake and nothing could stop me.
"Kara, there is nothing you can do to help. I promise that Jacob will be fine." His words were soothing and I started to calm down. Then I saw more vampires come onto the beach and I screamed.
"Kara, it's fine, that is my family here to help Jacob!" Oh, okay that's good. Edward was laughing; I could feel it against my back. Then I felt him stiffen and hiss. He seemed to get really tense and I looked back into his face and saw a torrent of mixed emotions. I followed his gaze and saw a beautiful vampire that I had not seen at the mall. She had long brown hair and porcelain skin even more translucent than the others. She had a heart shaped face with full lips.
"Alice, Rose, please restrain Bella. Jasper and Emmett can help Jacob." All of this happened so fast that I hardly could keep up. So that is Bella. No wonder Jake didn't want me. She is beautiful, well beyond beautiful, she was perfect. How could I ever think that Jake could want me? I am so stupid! I heard crashing and looked over to see that Josh was clearly loosing and that Jake was fine. The relief washed over me in waves and I couldn't take my eyes off of him. I had to make sure that he would be okay.
"You're wrong, you know. Jacob loves you. He let go of Bella when he realized that you were the one for him. He doesn't have those feelings for her anymore."
"How can that be possible when she looks like a model and well I don't. He obviously loved her for more than just her looks since they were best friends and he hasn't really given me the time of day. It just doesn't make sense for him to love me." Just then Bella got away from the girls and was heading towards me. I saw hunger in her eyes and I was scared. The boys saw what was happening and ran to her to restrain her again. Jake jumped in front of me and in the midst of all this chaos, Josh got away. I saw him pick up pieces of himself as he went.
It took just a couple of minutes before Edward had taken Bella away and the rest followed behind them. I looked at Jake to make sure that he was okay and saw that he was. I wanted to touch him; to feel tangible evidence that he was here, but I'm not sure that he would want that. He turned and walked into the forest and I was alone and scared. I felt the tears streaming down my face, but I did nothing to stop it.
He left.
I don't know how long it had been. It could have been only a few moments or a couple of hours, I don't know. I felt like I was being watched so I looked up. Jake was standing just outside of the tree line in nothing but a pair of cutoff shorts. He was looking at me with intensity in his eyes. He didn't take his eyes off of me and I didn't realize he was walking until he was right in front of me.
It was happening so fast. He took my face in his hands and leaned in. He was so close and I didn't want to lose this opportunity no matter what it meant so I closed the distance and our lips met. He was unsure at first, but I kissed him back so he would know that it was okay. It was slow but then our passion took over. He moved one of his hands to my back and pulled me closer. I wrapped my arms around his neck and he lifted me up so we could be closer. Our lips were moving fervently against each other. It was like we were scared that it wouldn't last. When his tongue slid across my bottom lip I smiled and let him in. We were moving in perfect harmony like we had done this so many times, but this was the first and it feels amazing. My whole body was aching to be closer to him, so I pressed in as much as I could and his arms tightened around me. We had to break apart to breath, but Jake didn't stop. He started kissing every inch of my face and I caught parts of his face with my lips.
He started to move down to my neck and I kissed his ear and he groaned deep in his throat. My heart was soaring to know that I was creating these feelings in him. Slowly he kissed my lips again and gently put me down. I can't stop smiling and I was still when I looked up in his eyes. He was smiling too and that made me feel like I was finally wanted. I belong with him. I have never felt like this before.
"Kara, I was so scared. You could have been killed! I am so sorry. I can't believe that I almost lost you!" He was clinging to me and willing me to believe him. "I don't want Ashley, I want you, only you. Always you, Kara. Can you forgive me?" His voice was deep and husky and it sent tingles up my spine.
"Shh…" I put my finger on his lips, "It's okay Jake. I believe you. My sister can be rather determined when she wants to be. I was just shocked and I jumped to the wrong conclusions. I'm so sorry. I should have let you explain before I left." I feel so stupid for leaving and blowing things out of proportion. He kissed my finger and took my hand in his and my heart skipped happily.
"Kara you don't need to apologize. I want you to know that I will always be here for you. I will never let you go again, I promise."
"I know, Jake." I sighed into his chest and wrapped my arms around his waist. He lifted my face to meet his gaze.
"Can I kiss you again?" He whispered and it sent my heart into overdrive.
"Always." His lips were on mine before I could say anything else. He was caressing my mouth with his and rubbing my back with his warm hands. It felt so right to be with him. I could hardly control myself. I just wanted to get as close as I could. I started to push into him again when he pulled back. He chuckled and looked into my eyes.
"I need to get you back to your aunt's house before she gets worried. I'm not going to leave you though so we need to convince her to let me stay with you the rest of the weekend." His voice sounded breathless and that made me smile. I knew I was panting as well and it felt so good. These were my first kisses and I couldn't be happier.
"That won't be hard. She will be excited that I have a friend over."
"Friend? Is that all that I am?" Even though he meant it teasingly I could hear a hint of hurt in his voice. I was caught completely off guard.
"Well…um…do you want more?" Yeah, that's the best I could come up with. I am such an idiot.
"Kara, I want you to be mine, and only mine. I know that after everything I put you through I don't really deserve you, but I can't live without you. So I guess I want you to be my girlfriend?" I was so excited! My heart was practically beating out of my chest.
"I want to be your girlfriend too. You know that already. I'm just glad that you were able to heal enough to want to be with me." I looked him in the eye as I said this and he smiled the biggest and goofiest smile I have ever seen. It made me laugh. He shocked me by picking me up and swinging me around. When he set me down he looked in my eyes and I could see how much he wanted to be with me. He leaned down and kissed me briefly, yet passionately.
We walked back through the forest to my aunt's house. It was starkly different from the walk I just made to get to the beach. I finally feel like my life is falling into place. It is a bit heavy to know who I will be with for the rest of my life and I am not even sixteen, but it is also comforting. It scared me to know that we still had to deal with Josh, but it was hard to feel too scared with Jake around. We made it back and I walked in first holding onto Jake's hand.
"Aunt Cece, I'm home and I brought someone with me." I called out to her. She walked out of the kitchen and stopped mid-step. She looked from me to Jake and then to our hands that were entwined. "This is Jacob Black, my boyfriend. Jake, this is my Aunt Cece." A huge smile erupted on Cece's face and she walked forward to shake Jake's hand.
"It is so good to meet you. So are you going to be in the area for long?" I looked sheepishly at Cece when she said this.
"Actually I was wondering if he could stay here with us?" Cece had that twinkle in her eye and she was practically bursting with happiness.
"Of course he can. You are more than welcome here Jacob."
"Thanks and you can call me Jake, all my friends do." Oh jeez, he is charming her. She is going to love him!
"Well, why don't you get Jake settled in the guest room and I will finish up dinner." She was beaming and it made me happy to see her this way.
"Thanks, Aunt Cece." I called while pulling Jake up the stairs. We got to the guest room, which happened to share a Jack 'n Jill bathroom with my room, and I plopped down on the bed. I hadn't realized how tired I was after everything that happened today.
"Kara, how are you doing with everything?" It's like he can read my mind!
"I'm okay. Really, I'm just happy that you are safe. I was so worried that Josh would hurt you. When he threw you into that tree…" I couldn't finish. It was too hard to remember. He pulled me onto his lap and put his arms around me.
"It's okay. I'm very durable, you know. I'm just mad that he got away. I can't believe the Cullen's let Bella come with them. They knew that you could be there and that Bella could lose control. I thought that I was going to have to take Bella out in order to save you." I was shocked to hear that.
"Jake, you could never do that to her! She is your best friend, or was I don't know, but you can't hurt someone you love."
"Kara, you don't understand. If I had to choose between her and you it will always be you. She made her choice and now I am glad that she chose the way she did. It makes it so much easier to be with you knowing that she is happy with Edward." I was happy and sad at the same time. He shouldn't have to choose between us like that.
I was so comfortable snuggling with Jake that I didn't realize that I had fallen asleep until I heard my aunt's voice. I was still half asleep as I listened to her.
"Aren't they so cute? I have never seen Kara this happy. You should have seen her when she walked in today."
"Are you okay with them being that close on a bed?"
"Oh stop it! We can trust Kara and the way Jake looks at her I wouldn't be surprised if he would do anything she asked."
"I can't wait to officially meet him. I am just glad that Kara finally found someone who sees in her what we have seen all along." That was my Uncle Will. His name is William but we like to call him Will. He has a fun personality and he doesn't like really serious situations. It really is sad that they could never have kids. They would have made the best parents. Will is not Native American so that is why they chose not to live on the reservation. Cece didn't have the best experience as a teen on the res so I guess I don't blame her for marrying and moving out. I finally opened my eyes and realized that I was lying with half of my body on top of him. I can see why they were a little concerned.
"Hey Uncle Will. How was your day?" I whispered. They both looked at me and smiled.
"It was good. We have a big contract right now so I'm not around a lot. Sorry about that."
"It's okay." I was trying to extricate myself from Jake's huge arm that was wrapped around me without waking him up. It wasn't working very well. My aunt and uncle started laughing at my predicament and I scowled at them. I finally got free only to roll off the bed. The loud thunk woke Jake up and he shot up like a bullet off the bed. My aunt and uncle were laughing so hard that they had tears rolling down their faces.
"Kara! Are you okay?" Jake was already on his feet picking me up.
"Yes, I'm fine. Let's just go get dinner." I stalked past Cece and Will.
After dinner Cece and Will headed off to bed. I wasn't tired yet so I wanted to watch a movie.
"Jake, do you want to watch a movie with me or are you too tired?" I know I still sound unsure, but I am. It is hard to change your thinking so quickly.
"I would love to watch a movie with you." He said this with a wink and I couldn't help but laugh. "You know the guys aren't going to let me live this down. I don't care, but it is going to be a long time before the 'I told you so' stops." I laughed at him and put a movie in. I decided on She's the Man because it could always make me laugh.
While the previews were rolling I got to thinking about today and it dawned on me that Josh is still out there. I physically froze and Jake noticed.
"Are you okay, Kara?"
"Yeah, I was just thinking about Josh. He got away. It isn't over yet. Will he ever leave me alone?" I was starting to panic and Jake could tell. He pulled me onto his lap and started to rub my back with his big, warm hand.
"Kara, I will never let anything happen to you! I am so sorry that he got this close to you today. The Cullen's said that they would watch over you. I didn't think that you would want to see me. It was stupid and I should have come anyway. I can't trust bloodsuckers." He growled out the last part and I felt bad. He looked so remorseful.
"Jake, this is not your fault. It is the sadistic leech's fault. Don't take this on yourself. You are right and wrong. I didn't want you here, but at the same time all I could think about was you." I rested my head on his shoulder and as an almost natural reaction I kissed his neck. He sucked in a breath real fast and stiffened slightly. "Sorry, I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable." I started to move off him, but he held me closer to him.
"It's okay, that was not uncomfortable, it just caught me off guard, in a good way." I laughed and noticed that the movie was starting.
The movie was awesome, as usual. It was made even better by the random kisses I would receive from Jake and the ones I would give. When it ended I stretched out and started to climb off of Jake. He pulled me back down and started to kiss me. I, of course, lost all sense of the real world and kissed him back. It took us a long time to pull away, but I finally managed it with a huge grin on my face.
"I need to get to bed, Jake. I'll see you tomorrow." He ran his fingers down from my temple to my chin. It gave me the chills.
"Goodnight Kara, sweet dreams." I smiled and walked to my room on cloud nine.
I was laying in bed thinking about how this day was the worst and the best day I have ever had. It was the worst for obvious reasons and the best because I finally found the love and acceptance that I have been looking for all my life. I fell asleep thinking about this and woke up screaming.
Okay, what do you think? Did you like it. It was so hard to write and if you have questions or concerns let me know. Those of you who review know that I respond to every review and answer questions so feel free!