Hey everyone! I know this chapter is four days late, and I'm really sorry about that. For some reason I had a little trouble writing this chapter and I ended up writing the thing over several times. I hope you all like it though. Thanks for all of your reviews and adds. It really means a lot to me that you all are enjoying reading my story. Like I said, I hope you guys like this chapter, and please let me know what you think!

Disclaimer: I own nothing associated with Twilight.

Chapter Twenty-Five

Two hours. That was how long Jacob and Collin had been MIA and I was getting seriously worried. Thankfully, I wasn't the only one because Sam's dark eyes kept wandering over to the tree line just like mine did. The bonfire was roaring and everyone was settled around it on the large fallen logs that the guys had gathered and put around the makeshift fire pit. Gina was still tucked into Embry's side as she carried on a conversation with Leah and Embry talked to Quil who was holding a slumbering Claire. Kim and Melody were talking, Kim tucked into Jared's side while Melody was tucked into Paul's

Everyone had eaten, Emily saving food for Jacob and Collin when they got back, but I hadn't been able to eat any of the food I had taken so I had passed it along to Embry. He had asked me about five times if I was sure I didn't want it before he finally dug in and ate the two hot dogs and chips I had put on my paper plate. Despite the roaring fire in front of me I was cold and my concern about Jacob and Collin wasn't allowing me to enjoy the night with my friends like I had been looking forward to doing since Emily had brought up having a party for the girls. I sighed heavily as I looked at the trees once more before I ran my hands over my jean clad thighs and stood from where I sat beside Sam and Emily. Sam looked up at me with a frown, and I answered his unspoken question.

"I can't sit around anymore," I said. "I'm going to look for them." Sam took a deep breath through his nose and nodded his head before he looked at Emily.

"I'm going to go with her," he said. "Will you be okay?" Emily gave him a small smile and nodded her head.

"I'll be fine," she assured him. "Go with Aurora, I don't want her walking around the woods alone any more than you do. It's too dark." He nodded his head, kissed her scarred cheek, and stood before the two of us headed towards the trees.

"Do you think they're still running around in their wolf forms?" I asked Sam in a quiet whisper as we entered the tree line and Sam sighed quietly.

"I don't know, but I wouldn't be surprised," he said before he looked at me. "I'm going to phase, so, wait here," he said and I nodded before he disappeared a little further into the trees. A minute later I heard a small growl and turned to see Sam's giant black wolf a walking towards me. I knew the growl wasn't meant for me, not sure how I knew but I did, so, I met him half way and came to a stop in front of him, my head tilting back slightly so I could look him in the eyes.

"Are they there?" I asked and Sam nodded before I crossed my arms over my chest. "I know you're alpha and everything, Sam, but tell Jacob I said that if he doesn't get himself together and get his ass back here in twenty minutes, we're going to have a serious problem." Wolf Sam let out a grumbling noise that over the last few months I had learned constituted as laughter. "Tell him I'm not joking and that Collin better be in one piece or what happened in the woods is going to be the last bit of action he sees for a long time."

I definitely wasn't sure if I could hold up to that promise, he had a way of melting my defenses after all with just a look or by brushing his fingers through my hair, but I would do everything I could to hold out. Wolf Sam's laughter only increased before he turned away from me and once again disappeared into the trees. I sighed as I uncrossed my arms and put my hands on my hips as I scanned the darkness around me before I heard Sam, in his human form this time, make his way over to me; and I turned my eyes towards him.

"I think that's the first time in over a year and a half that I've actually seen Jake afraid," Sam said, a full blown smile on his face as he looked down at me, and for a brief moment I was thrown for a loop. Sam didn't smile all that much. He was more of a grinner and smirked every now and again, but when he really did smile nine times out of ten it was directed at Emily. I had never been the recipient of one of Sam's real smiles and I had to admit it was kind of nice. I finally laughed at Sam's words and shook my head as I shrugged my shoulders.

"Was Collin all right?" I asked.

"He's fine," Sam said, "scared out of his mind, but fine."

"Jacob didn't hurt him?" I asked and Sam scoffed.

"Oh, Jake hurt him all right, but he's already healed," Sam said. "Jacob was . . . yelling at Collin when I phased in."

"Yelling?" I asked with a raised eyebrow and Sam grinned.

"Yelling, threatening severe bodily harm if he ever so much as glanced in your general direction for the next month; it's all the same right?" he asked and I smiled at him.

"In Jacob's world, yeah, it's all the same," I said and the two of us shared a laugh before I sighed yet again and moved over to one of the larger trees. I rested my back against it as I slid my hands into the front pockets of my jeans. The silence between Sam and I was comfortable as we waited for Jacob and Collin to come back, and we truly didn't have long to wait. Collin came trotting over to us first, dressed in a t-shirt and shorts, and Sam chuckled before he ruffled the thirteen year old's hair, and I smiled when I noticed that Collin was very consciously looking anywhere but at me.

"Come on, Collin, let's join the others," Sam said before he put his hand on the boy's back and led him back through the trees towards the beach. My smile grew as I watched them walk away over my right shoulder before a pair of hot hands on my waist startled me.

"Jeez, Jacob," I said as I looked up at him before I laughed and rested my hands on his strong forearms. Even in the limited light I could see that he was glowering as he looked down at me, but I knew the sour look was not meant for me. He was still pissed at Collin, and I was well aware of that. "I was happy to see that Collin is still in one piece," I said, earning quiet growl from my boyfriend as his hands tightened on my waist before he pulled me forward, my chest pressing against his.

"I'm not," he said and rolled my eyes as I slid my hands up his arms and across his shoulders before I interlocked my fingers behind his neck. He was only dressed in a pair of jean shorts and tennis shoes, and I sighed quietly.

"I'm not defending him or anything, but think back four years when you were thirteen," I said. "If you would have happened upon a couple doing what we were doing, would you watch?" He stared at me hard for several long beats before he sighed heavily and turned his eyes away from me. "Yeah, that's what I thought," I said with a laugh and he chuckled before his eyes moved back to my face. I could feel his body relaxing underneath my touch and I smiled at him once more. "Thank you though for defending my honor," I said quietly before I shifted even closer to him and kissed him. I had intended the kiss to be a quick chaste one, but Jacob had other ideas as he deepened the kiss. I moaned quietly into his mouth before I pulled back from him, slightly breathless, and laughed. "Not again, mister," I said as I stepped out of his arms and held out my right hand to him. "Let's go," I said quietly and he sighed before he encased my hand within his and the two of us started heading back to the beach.

"You do realize that your boyfriend is borderline caveman possessive, right?" Gina asked as the three of us were crammed in the bathroom at my house, getting ready for bed that night, and I laughed around my toothbrush before I shrugged my shoulders. "However, I got to admit it was kind of hot, especially when he kept glaring poor Collin down all night. I thought he poor kid was going to wet himself." I rolled my eyes before I spit the toothpaste out of my mouth and rinsed before I put my toothbrush in its rightful place.

"I wouldn't be surprised if he did," Melody chimed in and all three of us laughed.

"What about you and Embry, G?" I asked, and Gina smiled.

"Embry is a lot of fun girls," she said. "It's those quiet ones you got to watch out for. They're the ones that always surprise you in certain departments, and let me tell you Embry was a very pleasant surprise." Melody laughed and I shook my head quickly, my ponytail swinging behind my head as I did so.

"Please, spare me the details because I do not want to think of Embry that way," I quickly demanded and Gina laughed before she looked at Melody.

"When we were leaving tonight, did I hear right when I heard Paul ask you out, Mel?" Gina asked and I smiled at my blushing friend who nodded her heard.

"Yeah," Melody said before she looked at me. "You don't hate me for agreeing to go out with him do you?"

"Why would I?" I asked with a frown and she sighed quietly.

"Well, Gina and I came up here for the week to visit you. Not go on dates with totally hot guys," she said with a smile and I laughed.

"We don't have to spend every minute together, Mel," I said.

"It would have been really awkward earlier if we'd done that," Gina chimed in and I rolled my eyes as I looked at her, but she just smiled at me before she finished wiping the face wash from her face.

"Anyway," I said slowly, "Paul's a really great guy, Mel."

"I know," she said with a stupid smile and I laughed once more. "We're going to Port Angeles to see a movie and have dinner tomorrow night."

"Good," I said as I nodded my head. "You'll have a fun time."

"And I hope you don't mind, but Embry and I are going to be hanging out tomorrow too," Gina said and I looked at her with a raised eyebrow. "What? It'll give you a chance to spend a little more alone time with Jacob and maybe you can get him to calm down a bit by finishing what you two started today," she finished with a wink before she left the bathroom and I blushed lightly as I shook my head and looked at Melody who laughed at my expression.

"She seems to have gotten worse since I saw her last," I said and Melody laughed once again.

"It's because this is the first time you've actually had a guy in your life that she can give you a hard time about," Melody said and I smiled at her. "Aurora, could I ask you something?"

"Sure," I said before I looked away from her and grabbed my face wash.

"I didn't want to ask this with Gina around because she would just give me a hard time and say I was imagining things," she said and I looked at her after pumping some face wash in my left hand before setting the bottle back down on the counter. She was biting her lower lip and I frowned.

"What is it, Mel?" I asked as I rubbed my hands together and she sighed softly.

"Is there something different about the guys?" she asked quietly and I stopped soaping up my hands.

"What do you mean?" I asked, my heart starting to hammer away in my chest.

"Well, they're all so similar that it's kind of freaky," she said with a gentle shake of her head. "They all look like a lot older than they are. I mean, Collin and Brady are only thirteen and they look like their twenty. Plus, Paul feels like he's running an insanely high fever his skin is so hot and he looks at me . . . he looks at me like . . .," she trailed off and shook her head as she looked away from me, seemingly unable to find the right words. "He looks at me like Jacob looks at you," she said after a beat, her eyes returning to my face. "He looks at me the way Sam looks at Emily and Jared at Kim." I opened my mouth to say something, anything to try and play it down, but Melody cut me off. "Believe me, I'm not complaining but it's just weird since we haven't even known each other for a full twenty-four hours yet."

"Mel," I said softly before I took a deep breath, "as much as I want to tell you, I can't. It's something that Paul has to tell you himself. It's a . . . rule of sorts."

"But you know what it is," she said and I nodded.

"Yeah," I said.

"Is it bad?" she asked quietly and I shook my head and shrugged my shoulders at the same time.

"It all depends on your view of certain things, but to me . . . to me it's not," I said. "In fact, what's different about Jacob is what makes me love him even more." I finished with a small wistful smile as I looked at my friend before my smile slipped away and I took another deep breath. "When Paul tells you, Mel, you'll probably be seriously freaked out, but you don't have anything to be afraid of, okay?" I asked and she frowned slightly at me.

"What's that supposed to mean?" she asked and I sighed. "You can't tell me, can you?" she asked exasperated.

"No, I can't," I said, "but I'll talk to Jacob and have him tell Paul that he needs to tell you everything. That you know something's up."

"Are you sure it's not anything bad, Aurora? The way you're talking makes it sound like it's something bad," she said and I shook my head.

"It's not bad, Mel, I promise," I said and she took a deep breath through her nose before she nodded.

"Good because I really, really, like him," she said and I smiled at her. She smiled back at me before she yawned. "Well, I'm going to head to bed. Hopefully, Gina won't hog the covers tonight." I laughed and Melody grinned before she wished me good night and left me on my own in the bathroom. The second I finished up in the bathroom, I was going to go in my room and call Jacob. He'd be happy that I was letting him come over, but he probably wouldn't be very happy with just why I wanted him to come over.

"Rory, baby, relax," Jacob said quietly as he stopped my pacing and grabbed me around the waist before he pressed me up against his bare chest. I sighed softly as I looked up at him, my hands rising to rest on his chest as I bit my lower lip, and his eyes flickered to my lips before his dark eyes settled with mine. "You've been tense all night," he said as his hands gently rubbed up and down my back.

"I know, I'm just . . . worried," I said and he chuckled as he shook his head.

"You don't have to be," he said softly, his hands settling on my upper waist once again. The house was quiet because Charlie was at work, Gina had just left with Embry, and Melody and Paul were also gone, leaving Jacob and I completely alone. He's spent the night, and when Gina and Melody had come in my room to get ready for their respected dates, poor Jacob had been hidden away in my closet and forced to listen to our girl talk. "When I talked to Paul this morning, he said he'd tell her today at the end of their date."

"What did Paul say when you told him that she knew something was up?" I asked.

"Nervous that he had to tell her so soon, but not surprised," Jacob said and I raised an eyebrow. "He said she's really smart and that he'd figure that he would have to tell her about everything sooner than he wanted to." Jacob chuckled as he slid his hands down my waist to grip my hips firmly in his hands as he tilted his head to the side curiously. "Why do you look so confused?" he asked.

"I didn't expect Paul to be so observant," I said and he righted his head as he shrugged his shoulders.

"They talked a lot yesterday, and Melody told him about where she wants to go to college and what she plans on doing with her life," Jacob said.

"How'd he take that?" I asked.

"He wants to do what he can to make it happen for her," he said, his dark eyes unwavering from mine. "Just like I'll do whatever I can to make whatever you want to do happen." I had not been expecting that turn in our conversation and I knew it showed on my face because his fingers tightened a bit on my hips. "What do you want to do, Rory? We've never really talked about what you want to do after high school."

"That's because I still don't know what I want to do exactly," I said. My thoughts on what I was going to do in the future were the same as they were the first day Jacob and I met. "I do know that I want to go to college, but I have no idea where or for what."

"It's something we should talk about, Rory," he said and I sighed softly as I slid my hands up his chest to rest on her shoulders before my right hand laced into his short hair on the back of his head.

"I know, but not right now, Jacob," I said softly.

"When then?" he asked.

"Soon, because I'm going to have to make some decisions in the next few months," I said as I massaged his scalp with my fingers, "and when I do, you're going to be right there with me helping me decide."

"Okay," he said after a beat and with a nod of his head. I smiled up at him before his hands slid down my hips and next thing I knew he lifted me from the floor, my legs wrapping around his waist while his hands settled on my backside.

"What are you doing?" I asked with a light laugh as I wrapped my left arm around his shoulders and he grinned as he turned around and walked over to my bed.

"We have the entire day to ourselves, Rory," he said before he climbed up on to my unmade bed on his knees before he laid me back down on the bed, his body still over mine as he put his hands on either side of my head. "If you think I'm going to let you leave this bed, you're nuts," he said and my heart palpitated in my chest as Jacob moved in and kissed me hard. All thoughts about how Melody was going to take the news and just what the future was going to bring went out of my mind because all I knew then was Jacob.

Third Person POV

Melody gnawed at her lower lip as she and Paul left the movie theater hand in hand and started walking down the street. "Did you like the movie, Melody?" Paul asked as he looked down at her and Melody released her lip and looked up at him, a smile coming to her lips as she did.

"I did," she said. "Did you?"

"The movie was okay," Paul said as he let go of her hand and wrapped his arm around her shoulders, "but the company was better." Melody laughed as she put her right arm around his mid back and settled in against his side as they walked.

"Good one," she said and Paul grinned down at her before he reluctantly turned his attention to the sidewalk ahead.

"So, do you want to eat now or do you want to walk around for a little while?" he asked.

"Could we walk?" she asked and he returned his eyes to her. "I sort of want to talk to you about something." Paul could hear the slight hitch in her heartbeat and he knew she was nervous, something she hadn't really been since after he had picked her up.

"Sure," he said. "Do you want to head over to the pier?" She nodded and the two of them walked in comfortable silence. However, the sound of Melody's racing heartbeat echoed in Paul's ears and in turn he too because nervous because he knew exactly what it was that Melody wanted to talk about. He wasn't sure if he was ready yet, in fact, if he would have had his way he wouldn't have told her until she was just about ready to head back to San Diego; but his imprint just had to be very observant and too smart for her own good to let him get away with that.

When they reached the pier, Melody slipped away from him and jogged lightly over to the railing, her long straight blonde hair bouncing around her shoulders as she did so. The sun was actually out that day and Paul stopped walking for a beat to just watch her for a minute. She wrapped her hands around the railing as she looked out at the water and the boats that were out here. She looked over her shoulder at him and Paul could have sworn she was an angel the way the sunlight hit her hair and made it look like a halo around her head, and when she gave him a small uncertain smile he was positive that he had never seen a more beautiful girl before in his life.

Squaring his shoulders, he quickly closed the distance between them and gently took hold of her right arm before he pulled her close to him. She gasped quietly as she tumbled into him, but she didn't pull away from him and her heart rate only picked up. Paul brought his right hand to the side of her face and brushed her hair out of her face before he cupped her cheek and took a deep breath.

"I know what you want to talk about, Melody," he said softly, his dark brown eyes holding her lighter brown eyes.

"You do?" she asked, her voice just as quiet and Paul nodded.

"Yeah, and I'll tell you anything you want to know, but I really want to do something first. I'm just hoping you'll let me," he said, his eyes wandering to her lips for a second before they returned to her eyes.

"What's that?" she asked.

"Can I kiss you?" he asked and Melody blinked several times as she looked up at him before she smiled slightly.

"I'm sure you can, but do you want to?" she asked and Paul blinked before he frowned, which made Melody laugh a quiet breathy laugh. "It's 'may I kiss you,' Paul," she said and he scoffed a laugh as his thumb ran along her cheek.

"Okay," he said slowly. "Melody, may I kiss you?"

"Yes," she breathed and the word was barely out of her mouth when Paul leaned down and his lips descended on hers.

The second his lips touched hers, Melody felt her knees grow week and her hands reached up to cling to Paul's shoulders to hold herself up while Paul's left arm wrapped around her back to do the same. When Paul finally pulled his lips away, Melody was barely breathing as she continued to hold on to him and he kissed her chastely before he completely moved back from her but kept her within his arms.

"That was amazing," she whispered as her eyes slowly fluttered open as she looked up at him, a smile on her swollen lips, and Paul smiled back at her.

"Yeah," he said softly with a pause, "it was perfect," he finished, still smiling at her as he ran his thumb along her jawline. He wanted to be able to do that again and again after he told her his secret, but when all was said and done he wasn't so sure he would. His smile slipped away and he sighed softly as he lowered his hand from her face.

"We should sit down somewhere," he said and Melody nodded her head as her hands slipped from Paul's shoulders. He was quick to take her left hand into his right as the pair went in search of a secluded place to sit; Paul hoping that his world wasn't about to come crumbling down around him.