Ok wow. I am so sorry about how long this has taken. And about how meh this chapter is. I'm having a hard time figuring out where I'm going with the story. I've got a few chapters for later on written, but now it's a matter of connecting them into the present story line. I'll figure it out, but posts are definitely going to take me some time.

Disclaimer: Same as before. I don't own Twilight or Jared and Kim.

It was, surprisingly, one of the best nights sleeps I had ever gotten. Jared's warm body was unbelievably soothing, like sitting in a tub of hot water or basking in the sunlight. And he held me as if I would somehow be taken from him if he let go in the slightest. Normally I wasn't a huge fan of possessiveness, but it suited Jared. The way he so obviously needed me, now that I was finally starting to notice it, was endearing to me. If I had my way, we would stay in this spot for the rest of the week. However, my daily alarm went off and I knew that both of us would be expected at school sooner or later. I, of course, would have preferred later, but I had used by 'get out of school free' card the day before. That meant that the pair of us were going to have to get up and go. I sighed and nuzzled my face into his chest a bit. The movement caused him to stir a bit and he yawned before blinking his eyes to rid them of sleep. I propped my chin up on his chest and rolled off my side and onto my stomach, half on top of him and half on the mattress. He readjusted his arms to hold me there firmly and smiled sleepily down at me.

"Can I wake up like this every day?" he murmured, brushing some of the hair out of my face. I couldn't help but smile.

"I'd like that." I admitted. Sleeping with him next to me had felt right. The sort of right that only happened in romance novels and chick flicks. The sort of right that no one my age believed in anymore. I felt as if I was living in some kind of secret, far corner of happiness that no one knew about.

"Good. Because I wasn't exactly planning on giving you a choice in the matter." he said, matter of factly, before he grinned at me with scheming look in his eyes. I raised a questioning eyebrow, but didn't have enough time to speak, because in the next second he had flipped us both over. While I was thoroughly pinned, the way his muscles were slightly tense indicated to me that he was being cautious about setting his full weight on me. He immediately took advantage of the situation, descending upon my lips with a forceful and unbelievably passionate kiss good morning. I responded enthusiastically, sliding my hands around his neck in a effort to pull him closer and weaving my fingers through his short, dark hair. His lips seared over mine with unbelievable heat as his tongue dove into my mouth with the same possessiveness that was evident in all of his actions towards me. And just when I was certain that my lips would burn off from the contact, he broke away and began to work his way over my chin, down my neck and across my shoulder, leaving a burning trail of soft kisses in his wake.

It took some serious refocusing to remind myself that we actually had to get out of my bed eventually, but I waited until he reached the top of my arms and began moving in reverse to speak up.

"Jared?" I sighed.

"Mm?"

"We're going to be late for school." I said in a flat tone. He groaned loudly and buried his forehead in the crook of my neck. He was quiet for a moment.

"Or we could just not go." he suggested, without moving at all. I could feel his breath on my skin.

"I didn't go yesterday." I reminded him.

"Nasty, 48 hour bug must be going around." he said, lifting his head and grinning at me.

"Marcus isn't going to go for that." I sighed, though I wished I could be able to convince him to let me stay home with Jared all day, "Come on. We can pick this up after school."

He frowned, obviously unhappy with this suggestion.

"See here's my problem with that." I made a move as if to push him off of me, but he held firm, "I had to wait weeks to kiss you. So I've got a great deal of catching up to do. Can't waste time with school when we've wasted so much of it already."

"That is a compelling argument." I said, lifting my head to peck a kiss on his lips. He was distracted for the moment and I took the opportunity to wiggle out from under him. "But not quite compelling enough."

And with that, I moved towards the closet, just as he reached out to pull me back. I was quicker though, but suspected I wouldn't have been had he been trying harder. I sifted through my clothes for a moment before I settled on some knit stockings, a dark denim mini skirt and a black v-neck shirt. I took a few steps towards the door and heard Jared shift on the bed behind me.

"You know, you could just change in here." he suggested, with a hopeful smile. I shook my head and just as I was halfway out the door, I turned and gave him a cheeky smile.

"You're such a dog, Jere." I laughed. He chucked a pillow in my direction, but it missed me by a foot as I ran down the hallway to the bathroom. I grinned in the mirror as I quickly tossed on my clothes and attempted to turn my hair into something that didn't look like a mess. Finally some hair spray got it falling in waves over my shoulders and I gave one last look to the mirror, deciding I was satisfied with my appearance. I reentered my room to find Jared sprawled out on my bed in the manner I had left him, the only difference being that he had changed his clothes.

"Do you have a closet in this house that I don't know about." I teased him, as I sat down to brush on some quick makeup before we were seriously late. He just laughed and tugged on my hand. I set my makeup down on the vanity and followed him out the door. We were both smiling as we came into the kitchen. Apparently, Marcus was starting to make a habit of being downstairs when I woke up and, sure enough, my brother was perched on the counter top with a box of cereal in hand. He raised an eyebrow at the pair of us.

"So do you live here now or something?" he asked Jared in a dry tone. Jared just grinned sheepishly and rubbed the back of his neck. I rolled my eyes at Marcus. My brother shrugged. "Not that I really care. But if you're pregnant or something when Mom gets back, she'll murder me."

"Oh my God, Marcus." I groaned. I could tell that he was only slightly concerned that my mother would come home to find me pregnant and that he really just wanted to make Jared as uncomfortable as possible. Jared didn't seem phased by the fact that my brother had just made an implication about our sexual activities. He just laughed again.

"Somehow, I feel like I would be the dead one in that case." he said lightly, like it was nothing. "So I wouldn't worry about it too much."

I wasn't sure if Marcus was annoyed or impressed by the fact that he had a hard time intimidating Jared. Ian had held a bit of wariness towards him and had always sought some form of approval in one way or another. Jared didn't seem to care if Marcus liked him or not, if he laughed at him or with him. It didn't matter. He was happy just to be around.

We arrived at school with minutes until home room. As we walked towards the main doors, Jared stopped me.

"Just so we're clear," he said slowly, winding his fingers into mine, "I get to tell everyone you're my girlfriend, right?"

"Girlfriend? God doesn't that sound a bit too..." I wrinkled my nose, "Normal?"

He laughed.

"Well it does. If you'd rather, I could tell everyone about the whole 'wolf-soulmate' thing. I'm sure that will go over so much better."

"Right. Girlfriend it is." I sighed, squeezing his hand a bit as we began walking into the school once more.

As I slid into the seat next to Jackie, I was smiling broadly. She raised an eyebrow in my direction, looking confused.

"What are you so happy about?" she asked me, obviously intrigued.

"Jared Cameron is my boyfriend." I said lightly, as if it was nothing at all. Her jaw dropped a bit and I could help but grin.

"When did that happen?"

"Last night." I replied, "He came to see me, worried about me being sick and it...just sort of...happened."

"It?" she asked, with a skeptical glance. I elbowed her roughly.

"No! We didn't. Not like that." I muttered. Jackie's mind always seemed to go right down the drain. "I mean, we talked about what was happening with us. I mean, after the fight with him and Ian, we had to sort things out."

Like the fact that he was my wolf changing soul mate. Or something. I had conveniently left that part out.

"Just like that?" she asked.

"Just like that." I replied. Jackie sighed.

"God Kim." she said wistfully, "But really? How on earth did you resist sleeping with him?"

I sighed.

"Pure willpower."

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