A/N: Hey folks, long time no chapter right? Sorry about that, this one was pulling me in a lot of different directions. However, as usual, I appreciate your patience :)

I don't own Twilight, I'm just proud that this story celebrated its first anniversary almost 10 days ago! Thank you :)

"'Do you like scary stories?' He asked ominously."

Jacob Black- Stephenie Meyer, Twilight

JESSPOV

"Is it true that the Cullens are vampires?" I asked Bella.

Earlier that day…

I woke up to a text message from Jacob this morning.

I can't wait to see you

I felt giggly just seeing the words on the screen. Most people would start to think that we were moving way too fast; I remembered meeting him before, but all of a sudden out of the blue he asks me out on a date.

It wasn't that I felt uncomfortable…it just felt like so much too soon. There was something about Jacob that made me want to know everything about him- and I was scared that I was going to push him away because of that.

I'm probably just stressing over nothing, I thought to myself. And it's not like I have to bring all this up on one date…

I got in the shower and got dressed in some jeans and a t-shirt. It seemed like we were mainly staying in La Push today, so it was no reason to get all dressed up. I grabbed some cereal and toast for breakfast, responded to Bella's text about some beautiful decorations she found for centerpieces and left my parents a note that I was going to the reservation and left.

I should be a bundle of nerves right now, but I was ridiculously calm-as if I had known Jacob…Jake for years rather than just really meeting him a couple days ago. I finally pulled up and saw Bella and Jake standing around talking. I knew they were friends, but it still bothered me to see them that close together.

Hang on a second, we haven't even gone on a date yet, I thought to myself. There hasn't been a DTR talk or anything! Just relax…

I got out of the car to let them know I was there.

"Hey, you guys!" I greeted them. "I'm surprised to see you here, Bella."

"I'm just here to pick up my dad," Bella told me. "He came out to do some fishing with Billy."

"Speaking of my dad, I actually have to run into the house and grab the stuff for our date," Jake told me. "Did you want to come in and meet him or…"

"No, I'd like to meet him," I said excitedly.

"I don't want to intrude on that, so can I just pass you Charlie's stuff and you can let him know I'm outside?" Bella asked Jake.

"Yeah, no problem," Jake said taking Chief Swan's bag. "Ready?" He asked me, taking my hand in his.

His hands are so warm, I thought to myself.

"Yeah," I said sweetly.

"I'll call you later, Bella!" I called back to her.

We walked hand in hand towards his house. It was a simple red ranch, but it felt comfortable…more like home than my own house.

"Dad?" Jake called as we entered the house.

"In the living room, son," I heard a strong but calm voice reply.

Suddenly the nerves were back. I started panicking about not dressing up or putting on a little more makeup or at least doing something more with my hair when Jacob squeezed my hand slightly.

"You look beautiful, Jessica," he said instantly calming me down. I took a deep breath and smiled up at him to show I was okay and we walked into the living room where his father was sitting in a wheelchair and Chief Swan was sitting in a recliner next to him watching highlights from the last baseball game.

"Hey dad, there's someone I want to introduce you to," Jake said in order to get his father's attention.

His father turned around in his wheelchair to face me and smiled at me. I could see where Jake got his good looks from.

"This must be Jessica," he said reaching for my hand. I took his hand and he shook mine. "It's nice to finally meet you, sweetheart."

"It's nice to meet you too, sir," I said. He chuckled warmly after releasing my hand.

"You can save the 'sir' for that one," he said pointing a finger at Chief Swan. "Billy is just fine."

"Oh sure, make me sound like the old fuddy-duddy," Chief Swan said playfully rolling his eyes. "Have either of you kids heard from Bella by any chance?"

"She's actually waiting outside," Jake said slinging the bag off his shoulder. "She asked if we could bring this to you."

"Thanks, Jake," Chief Swan said taking the bag from him. "I'll get dressed and get out of your hair then."

"Here, come have a seat," Billy directed us towards the couch. "So you're a friend of Bella's?"

"Yeah," I told Billy. "We were actually talking about prom planning when Jacob came to pick her up from school the other day; that's how we were sort of introduced to each other…again," I tagged at the end.

"Well, it's nice to finally put a face to the name my boy won't stop mentioning around here," Billy teased.

"Thanks, Dad," Jake sighed. Aww, he was talking about me to his dad already…that's actually really sweet.

Just then Chief Swan came out of the back in his fresh clothes to tell us goodbye.

"Hey Billy, you don't mind if I leave the cruiser here until Bells and I get back into town, do you?" He asked.

"Sure, sure," Billy waved him off. "Tell Bella I said hello."

"Will do," Chief Swan playfully saluted him. "You kids enjoy your day."

"We will!" I called back

"Thanks, Charlie," Jake said at the same time.

With that, Chief Swan left out the front door to meet Bella for some father/daughter bonding time and Billy shooed Jacob and me out of the house so we could enjoy our day. Jake grabbed a picnic basket and we went outside to walk down towards the beach.

"Your father seems like a really sweet guy," I told him as we made it on the shoreline.

"Yeah, he is," Jake said with a small smile. "It's surprising to me, even after everything that's happened to him-he's still a pretty happy guy."

"So he wasn't always paralyzed?" I asked. "I'm sorry if that's too personal…"

"No, it's okay," Jake said. "He and my mom, Sarah, met when they were about our age and were head-over-heels in love with each other. They got married as soon as they were able to and maybe a year or two later, they had my older sisters Rachel and Rebecca."

"When I was around 5 or 6 years old, a drunk driver hit my parents head on. It killed my mom instantly and left my dad wheelchair bound," he said sadly.

"I'm so sorry," I whispered.

"I think she would've really liked you," Jake said turning to me with a smile.

"Do you remember much about her?" I asked him. "You were pretty young when she died."

"She was really warm, friendly…she loved to cook…she was my dad's world, basically," He told me.

"It seems like it," I said. "There were a lot of pictures of her around the house. She was really beautiful."

"Thanks," Jake said quietly.

"Okay, enough of the heavy," I said trying to change the subject. "What's in the basket?

"Well, my friend Sam's fiancée, Emily packed it for us…so I guess we'll find out," He responded with a smile.

It turns out Emily made a serious spread for us: turkey and Swiss sandwiches, fruit salad, homemade chocolate chip cookies, and double chocolate brownies. We sat, ate and talked about everything and nothing for hours. We talked about his favorite memories with his older sisters, my attempt at the regional spelling bee when I was in third grade, his friends in La Push, and even the part I was dreading most: what would happen to our relationship if I leave for New York.

"So there's something I wanted to talk to you about…" I trailed off.

"What's up?" Jake asked after he swallowed the brownie bite he chewed.

"I'm trying to figure out how to say this without scaring you off," I admitted to him.

"Whatever it is, Jessica, you can tell me," Jake said after tilting my head up to meet his eyes.

"I got accepted to NYU on a full scholarship for next year," I sighed.

"And you're worried I might not want to do the long distance thing?" Jake asked me. I nodded and Jake started laughing. I must have started looking upset because Jake started clarifying why he started laughing.

"Jess, I'm not laughing at why you feel that way," Jake began to explain. "I'm laughing that you're concerned that I couldn't wait around for a year."

"You mean, you would be willing to do long distance for a year?" I asked in a surprised tone.

"Jess, I'd be willing to do anything for you," He admitted to me. Jake must have been a little embarrassed because he started blushing right after he said that.

"Wow, we've gotten really deep for a first date, haven't we?" I joked, trying to lighten the mood.

Jake laughed shortly and I feel that we were leaving a lot of things left unsaid. I sighed and felt I may as well admit how I felt.

"Honestly, Jake, I think I was hoping you didn't want to do the long distance thing because of how I felt," I began to tell him. "My feelings for you are way stronger than they should be for a first date."

"Like it's almost hard to breathe if you don't get this off your chest," He added.

"Yes!" I cried out. "Wait, have you been feeling this too?"

"Yeah, and I was afraid to say so because I thought I would scare you off," Jake said rubbing the back of his neck.

"That's understandable," I said. "Is it weird though that we feel so strongly for each other already? I can't really put it into words…" I trailed off.

"I want to be able to explain why, but there's something I need to show you first," Jake said hesitantly.

"Whatever it is, you don't have to be afraid," I tried to reassure him.

"It's not me that should be afraid," He sighed. At that point, Jake stood up and started walking towards the forest.

"Jake, where are you going?" I questioned, starting to stand up myself.

"Wait here, please," he asked me in a strained tone. I did as he asked and waited. About five minutes had passed and I was starting to get worried.

"Jacob?" I called as I peered into the trees to see if I noticed him. Instead, a giant russet colored wolf slowly started coming towards me. I looked around to see if there was anyone that could help me or even something I could use to defend myself. I began to back away gradually as it kept coming closer until I saw it pause and lay on the ground.

We had a stare off for what felt like hours but may have only been a few minutes. Once I seemed sure that it wasn't going to attack me, I took a better look at the wolf. It was actually sort of beautiful, if not abnormally large. What got to me was the look in its eyes; it almost seemed familiar…human. The realization finally hit me.

"Jacob?" I whispered. The wolf put his head down on his front paws as a sign of submission and waited for me to come closer.

Against my better nature, I crawled towards the wolf slowly and lifted my hand towards his head. I gently put my hand against its fur and he closed his eyes in relaxation. I rubbed his head as he relaxed further. My mind was going a mile a minute: how is it possible for Jake to turn into a giant wolf and how am I not freaking out about this?

After a few more minutes, he lifted his head and walked back into the woods. Shortly after that, he emerged from the trees putting his shirt back on.

Well, that's a nice sight, I thought to myself. Focus! You need to find out why your possible boyfriend turns into a giant dog!

"I honestly thought you'd be running back to your car screaming right now," Jake said shyly.

"Honestly, I'm pretty sure you could catch me," I countered. "You were the giant wolf I saw just now, right?"

"Yes, that was me," he admitted. "You probably have a million questions for me…"

"Yeah, exactly why do you turn into a giant wolf?" I asked him.

"It's something in the Quileute genes that allows us to shift; we're not werewolves if that's what you're wondering," he started.

"So no silver bullets or full moons?" I asked. Jake shook his head.

"What does that have to do with our feelings for each other?" I asked. That was the question that confused me most of all.

"For the shifters in our tribe, there's this thing called imprinting…" Jake began.

"Imprinting?" I interrupted.

"The best way I can describe it is love at first sight, but more powerful," He explained. "It's more like the person you imprint on is the one that holds you to Earth. We're whatever they need us to be: a friend, a lover or a protector."

"Wow, that's a lot of devotion," I exhaled. "What would happen if the imprint didn't return that affection?"

"We would still feel that connection to them, but we would be respectful of their choice," Jake answered.

"Oh," I responded brilliantly. "Well, luckily for you, I don't mind all of the affection," I said trying to lighten the mood.

Jake finally smiled and sat back down next to me. "That, I'm really glad to hear," he said to me. At that point he leaned in to kiss me and I gladly returned it. He was warm and his lips were firm but gentle at the same time.

We broke away, grinning like fools and attempted to catch our breath. After the kiss, we just went to back to talking about mundane things for the next few hours. As the sun began to set and it got cooler on the beach, Jake noticed I was starting to shiver.

"Ready to head back up?" Jake asked me as he put his arm around my shoulders. I could get used to having an extremely hot boyfriend…literally, Jake's super warm.

"Yeah," I answered as we started to walk up. "Can I ask a couple more questions?"

"Go for it," he said.

"So does your shifting have anything to do with your body temperature?" I asked him.

"Yeah, we run at about 108 degrees to help maintain both forms," he explained.

"Okay last question for now: you say it's in your genes to shift into a wolf, but what else causes it? Can your dad transform too?" I asked.

"While the gene runs through our bloodline, it doesn't affect everyone," Jake explained. "It's triggered by something else."

"Jake, I saw you as a giant russet wolf today…I don't think much else could shock or scare me today," I said nudging his side.

"We only experience the shift if our natural enemies are around," Jake said with a heavy side.

"I know you said you're not like traditional werewolves, but the only enemies of theirs I can think of is a vampire," I tried to laugh off, thinking to the cheesy horror movies I'd watch with my dad when I was younger.

When I saw Jake wasn't laughing, I suddenly got the chills even though I could still feel Jake's warmth.

"There's actually such a thing as vampires?" I asked. Jake nodded as I was beginning to put some of the pieces together.

"So all of the animal attacks…" I trailed off.

"Were vampires feeding on people," Jake answered.

"Well, I guess Washington would be the perfect place considering we hardly get any sun…" I trailed off again. The Cullens always stayed out of school when the sun was out…

"Are you okay?" Jake asked me.

"Yeah, I'm okay," I tried to keep myself calm.

"Maybe on our next date, I should pretend to be normal," Jake teased.

I started laughing because this probably was the strangest, yet funniest, date I've ever been on. Our laughter continued as we reached his house. We walked into the house were Bella was sitting with Billy.

"Hey Bella," we greeted her together.

"Sounds like you kids had a good time," Billy said facing us.

"We did," I said looking up to Jake with a smile. "I just wanted to come back and say good night."

"Well, I really appreciate that," Billy said warmly. "I hope to see you around more."

"I'm sure you will; I just hope you don't get sick of me," I joked.

"If you keep that silly grin on my boy's face, I certainly doubt that," Billy joked back.

"Alright, I think that's my cue to get him out of here," Jake said with a roll of his eyes. He leaned down to give me a soft kiss on the lips. "I'll talk to you later?" he asked.

"Definitely," I said.

"Walk with me, Bella?" I asked her.

"Sure," she said getting up from the table. "Good night, Billy; night, Jake," she said.

"Night Bells," they both called back. Bella and I walked out Billy's front door and to our cars.

"So how was your date?" Bella asked me.

"It was good, but there's something Jake said that I wanted to ask you about," I said hesitantly.

"Yeah, what is it?" Bella said. Please be honest with me, Bella…

"Is it true that the Cullens are vampires?" Jess asked me.

I think her heart may have actually stopped…

So it wasn't Jake that told her...but he may have planted the idea in her head. Man, imprinting is serious stuff! On a serious note, thank you guys for a great year so far. I'm not new to FFN, but this is the first story of my that has really gone somewhere and I have you all to thank for that :)

Speaking of thanks, thank you to: Bnhannah, jeasterl, and AHealingRenaissance for following the story; vampire and inuyasha lover 13, dixitlor, Jaenelle Masen, , hmr711, Twiggy85, and for favoriting the story; lil-legs-93 and Mr. Dark Raven for favoriting and following the story; and wicca7002 for favoriting the story and my author page.

Thank you for reading and until the next time,

xoxo