A/N: Thank you all for waiting so patiently for this next chapter! I know it came a little slowly, but I've been really sick these past couple of weeks, and wasn't up to writing…or eating, or walking, or talking. Needless to say I don't want to be experiencing that again. Well, read, enjoy, and please share your opinion!

Disclaimer: This is a real shocker: I still don't own anything related to Twilight.

Chapter 21

Kim

"I have got to get out of there!" was the first thing Leah said to me as she let herself through my front door on Monday morning. I peeked my head out of the bathroom and spoke through a mouthful of toothpaste.

"Get out of where?"

"My house! Don't get me wrong, I love my Seth and my mom to death, but I'm nineteen, and sharing a room with my baby brother lost its appeal somewhere between the fourth and fifth grade." Leah walked into the bathroom and perched on the side of the bathtub as I rinsed out my mouth, taking the time to think.

"Live here." was my simple solution.

"Seriously, I-what?" Leah looked at me as though she wasn't quite sure I was being serious.

"Well, you could have the guest room, and you wouldn't have to pay rent, but I completely understand if you don't want to. I don't want you to feel like you have to-"

"Kimmy, this is perfect!" She stood up pulled me into a friendly hug; an act that I had never before seen from her. I smiled at the thought that I would no longer be living alone. I heard the front door swing open and closed again, and before I knew it, Jared appeared in the bathroom doorway.

"What's going on here?" Jared asked in a suspicious manner, eyeing Leah's smile.

"I'm Kimmy's new roommate." Leah said in a gleeful tone; Jared just stared at her incredulously. "That's right, bitch. I'm here to stay." I rolled my eyes at their antics and ran a brush through my long hair.

"Ready?" I asked Jared.

"As I'll ever be," he replied with a grin, hooking his arm around my waist and pulling me in for a kiss that tasted like coffee. I pulled back reluctantly with a sigh, and grabbed my crutches as I headed out the door.

"The door's never locked, so feel free to move in today while I'm gone," I called to Leah, smiling thankfully at Jared as he held open the front door long enough for me to pass through.

When Jared and I entered the school, all eyes were on us. I heard the not-so-soft whispers as I crutched through the hallway, and heard the word 'suicide' thrown around a lot, but shook it off and kept walking. Jared escorted me into my first class, setting my backpack at my feet and helping me into my chair. He squatted down to look me in the eyes.

"If you need anything, just say my name." He told me with sweet sincerity. My expression went soft with those words, but any reply was cut off by the late bell.

"Mr. Thail!" My trigonometry teacher rose from his seat and sent a pointed look toward Jared. "I don't know where you are supposed to be right now, but I do know that it isn't here. Go to your first hour before I give you detention." Standing up, Jared mockingly saluted the teacher before kissing the top of my head and heading off to his first hour, causing my face to heat up until it neared tomato status.

By the time lunch rolled around, I was getting a little tired of all of the ridiculous gossip produced by the La Push rumor mill. Using the small bits of conversation that I had picked up throughout the first half of the day, I had pieced together the general story as to how I was injured. Apparently I was battling an extreme drug addiction which led me to become depressed, at which point I jumped in front of a car in an attempt to end my own life. In addition to all of this, the only reason Jared was still dating me was because the doctors had informed him that dumping me would cause my depression to spiral out of control. I had to make a conscious effort not to roll my eyes at that.

"Hey, beautiful. Ready to eat?" Jared came up behind me, wrapping his arms loosely around my midsection and kissing my temple. I smiled and nodded, fighting the urge to turn and wrap my arms around him and kiss him full on the mouth. I held onto my crutches instead, focusing on that wonderful warmth that spread through me whenever Jared's lips graced my skin.

"Mhmm," I sighed as he released me and headed toward his usual lunch table. "I packed you a lunch today," I told him with a blush before he could make a break for the lunch line. A smile spread slowly over his face.

"You did?" He asked hopefully, sounding like a child who had just been told Christmas was coming early. I nodded and flashed him a smile of my own as he pulled out my chair and set down my backpack. I unzipped the first pocket and pulled out the abnormally large brown paper bag that I had filled to the brim this morning. His smile became bigger and bigger as he pulled out everything that I had packed.

A huge tub of fettucini alfredo, an apple, and five home-made brownies later, Jared leaned back in his seat with a content smile on his face. I slowly chewed my own lunch, watching in amusement as the other boys looked sadly from Jared's empty food containers to their own.

"That's just not fair," Quil complained, crossing his toned arms over his chest and making a pouty face that elicited dreamy sighs from girls at nearby tables.

"What?" Jared asked, raising an eyebrow.

"The way you sit there and flaunt your food. It's not our fault we don't have a Kim to cook for us."

"And you never will," Jared growled, yanking my chair as close to his as was physically possible before deciding that wasn't good enough. He looped an arm around me and pulled me onto his lap, causing my face to burn bright red under my naturally bronze skin.

"Maybe if you asked nicely…" I trailed off, leaving all of the boys staring at me with hopeful puppy looks. It was at that moment that the bell rang, and Jared lifted me effortlessly off of his lap before setting me gently back on the ground. I looked up at him to say something, but the words were immediately lost when he hooked a hand around the back of my neck and pulled my lips up to meet his in a kiss that was gentle and slow and tasted like brownies. I was a little disgruntled when he pulled away, savoring the warmth that was slowly spreading all the way to my toes before opening my eyes.

"So you have lessons after school?" Jared asked as he walked me to band, my last class of the day.

"Not today, no. Today is rehearsal."

"Rehearsal? Rehearsal for what?" He asked curiously.

"Well," I answered hesitantly, "I didn't mention it, because I know you're busy with patrols, and I didn't want you to feel obligated, and I know how busy you are-"

"Come on, Kimmers, tell me!" Jared urged, and I shot a questioning look in his direction about the new nickname. "It seemed to fit the moment," he stated with a shrug.

"Well, tonight is our spring concert, the last one of the school year." I told him a little hesitantly. With the exception of the other band students, most teenagers didn't want to spend their free time going to a classical music performance.

"It would be my honor to attend." He flashed me a stunning smile and held open the door to the music annex.

Jared

It was a little hard for me to believe that Kim actually thought for even a second that I wouldn't want to go to her concert. It was clear that she loved her music, and I loved anything that made Kim happy. I held the door to the music annex open for her, ignoring the neon sign informing me that I wasn't permitted past this point if I was not a music student. Walking into the band room was a little bit like walking into a whole other school. Gone were the plain white walls of the main building, replaced with brightly colored posters, quotes, pictures, awards, a huge dry-erase calendar, and an elevated podium facing rows of chairs. Music stands and instrument cases were everywhere, but what was most striking was the complete lack of your everyday, run-of-the-mill classroom order. People were everywhere, standing, sitting, playing, talking.

"Need some help, Kim?" the question came from a small girl carrying a set of drumsticks.

"That'd be great, Lila, thank you." Kim replied with a kind smile. Lila took Kim's backpack from me and took a quick look across the room.

"You should leave before Ms. Kinsey sees you. She'll freak." Kim nodded and shot a nervous glance toward a woman standing by the podium. I dropped a kiss on Kim's forehead as a goodbye and walked to my last class.

When the last bell rang, and I headed out to my car, I was unpleasantly surprised to so see Daniel Rowland leaning against my truck.

"What are you doing here, Dan?" I tried to control my voice, but it still came out like a growl.

"Well, I must admit, I thought you'd be a little bit more excited to see me." Dan said, his tone arrogant. "I just thought that maybe you could help me with a little…project while I'm in town." With his words, I felt my hands begin to shake, but my voice came out calm and deadly.

"What makes you think that I'll ever help you?"

"Well, that's just it…you already have. You helped me once before, and you'll do it again. You'll do it because your girlfriend thinks you're perfect, and you don't want to jeopardize that. You'll help me because if you don't, cute little Kimmy isn't ever going to look at you the same again." And just like that, my whole body was shaking, almost vibrating, and Daniel was beginning to notice.

"Dude, what the hell's wrong with-" he started, but the sentence was cut off when my hand wrapped itself around his throat, and lifted him off of the ground like he weighed nothing more than a feather, and I pulled his face close to mine.

"I'm not going to help you." I stated; my voice calm. "I'm not going to help you, and you're not going to do anything about it. You won't talk to Kim, you won't look at Kim, you won't even breathe the same air as Kim, because if you do, you'd better believe that I'll find out. And if I find out, there is not a thing in this world stopping me from tearing you limb from limb. Got it?" I didn't bother waiting for an answer. "Good." And with those words I released him and watched him gasp for breath as he staggered to his car and drove out of sight before running off into the woods.

A/N: I hope this extra-long chapter helps to make up for the extra-long wait! Thank you all so much for your patience and for your reviews!