The Elders had started talking soon after Embry, Quil and Jacob had left.

I was riveted from just about the first word and felt extremely honoured to be allowed to experience this all. It wasn't everyday that outsiders were allowed to hear the private stories of a tribe, or at least, it felt like it wasn't. There was an ever present nagging sensation in my stomach that told me that I shouldn't be listening but an even stronger feeling was telling me that I had to.

Jared kept a watchful eye over me as I sat almost motionless listening to the Quileute history. I found the story of vampires and – well, they weren't really werewolves but for the sake of literary familiarity that's what I'll call them – werewolves imperative and payed the utmost attention to that.

I had always been a werewolf nut, choosing werewolf movies over vampire movies whenever they were offered. I just never understood how people could find blood drinking zombies enticing and the idea of being attracted to something that was 'technically' dead... can you say necrophilia.

The only part of it that I thought could have been skipped a little was the discussion on how Taha Aki and his unnamed Third Wife were in love from the moment they saw each other. Surely her sacrifice was enough to show that she was in love with him and would do anything for him.

Maybe Paul was right. Maybe I was a little too cynical about love but, even if I was, it didn't change anything. Jared said that he loved me when he first saw me but I really didn't believe that. He was only sixteen, what did he know of love? For that matter, what did I know of love? Maybe my real problem was that I'd never felt it.

As the night wore on and the stories continued, it started to become chilly; to the point that I was shivering and wishing I'd brought my Driza-Bone with me. I wasn't cold for long though, because Jared and his watchful eye noticed the second I started to shake and he scooted along the log seat to pull me into a hug. His furnace like body was delightful against the bitter night air, that was being blown in from the ocean.

It was early morning before the Council Meeting disbanded and I got the feeling that they normally didn't go that long.

Jared had gone to talk to Sam and I was left, trembling slightly in the wake of his departure, with a very sleepy Emily. She was sitting on the ground with the small of her back pressed against the log, trying desperately to keep her eyes open.

"Maybe you should go home." I suggested as Emily yawned for about the tenth time in the last five minutes.

She looked in my direction, her eyes having trouble focusing on me, and shook her head, "I have to wait for Sam."

I shrugged, "Why not wait for him in the Ute? It'll probably be warmer in there."

"Sam won't be too much longer. Did you have a good night?" she stretched and pulled herself up onto the log.

There was a smile plastered to my face, I wasn't sure how long I'd been smiling for but when Jared hugged me during the stories, I'd found that I was smiling then. I hadn't stopped smiling since then but I figured Emily's exhaustion was making it hard for her to really understand what was happening around her.

"Yeah, I've had a great time."

Emily smiled, a sleepy smile, "Now, did Jared tell you you'd have a good time or what?"

I couldn't remember if it was Jared or someone else that had said I'd have a good time. I knew Sue had and I'm pretty sure the entirety of Jared's little mob had said it too at one point or another this afternoon. Or, should I say, yesterday afternoon.

"Whatever he said, I'll have to thank him for inviting me tonight."

"What was your favourite story?" Emily asked.

I was watching Jared, just making sure he was still where I'd seen him last, and he turned around and smiled at me. I smiled back, distracted from Emily for a moment. It was hard to believe that he actually wanted me around him, that he'd invite me here, that he'd ask me out, that he'd kiss me. I wanted him to kiss me again but I was starting to think that wasn't fair on him. Not as long as I refused to make, whatever it was that we had, official.

"The umm..." I tried to think of a term better than werewolf but in my own fatigued state I couldn't get past it, "werewolf origin thing-a-me."

Emily's lethargic smile seemed to lose its tired edge and her eyes widened and brightened, "Really? Why?"

I rubbed my eyes against the wave of smoke that had just washed over me; it was the only part of the bonfire that I didn't like, the smoke, "I've always liked the werewolf myth. Not that I'm saying the stories are myth, I mean... I like the whole howling at the full moon, man-beast combination thing. Traditional werewolves. So that story just appealed to the folklore-lover in me."

I finished rubbing my eyes to find a dark shadow between me and the fire. I looked up and could just make out Jared's cheerful features. His hands were stretched in front of him to help me up and I took them gratefully, if he was going to get me away from this bloody smoke.

"I figured I could walk you back to the Clearwaters'." he chirped as I steadied my feet and he slung an arm around my shoulders.

I shrugged, "Okay."

We walked in silence most of the way, but it was a comfortable silence. I felt warm and safe under Jared's muscular arm and at points it felt like talking would just ruin the moment. Unfortunately, the Clearwaters lived very close to the site of the Council Meeting and it felt like the walk was almost over before it had actually begun.

"So, you liked Taha Aki's story?" Jared said as we passed a mailbox a few houses down from the Clearwaters' and he stopped to wait for my answer.

This confused me a little but I stopped with him and answered his question, "Yeah. It was a good one."

Jared smiled at me but I could tell that he was nervous; more nervous than I'd ever seen him. His voice wavered as he spoke, "You remember how I said that I'd explain stuff to you after the Council Meeting?"

I nodded with caution. My brain was ominously quiet and I couldn't think of anything to do except wait for him to continue. And the longer that Jared took to answer the more nervous I became.

The comfort that I'd felt moments before was long gone and I felt the urge to run away growing. I knew I wouldn't run away though because it was clear whatever Jared wanted to say was important and running would really hurt him.

"I need to tell you..." He let out a heavy sigh and looked me in the eye, "I... I'm... fuck." he breathed and looked away.

My heart was racing and still my brain was silent. I couldn't do anything, to console Jared or myself. Fear was rising in my stomach and making me feel like I was going to vomit. I had no idea what he was going to say and I had no idea what to do. I didn't like not knowing. I didn't like this.

Jared took a deep breath and set his gaze back on my eyes, "I'm a-" his words caught in his throat and I couldn't catch the first syllable.

He's a liar. He's a jerk. He's a homosexual. He's a drug dealer. He's a criminal. He's a she. He's a homicidal maniac. He's a cross dresser. He's a convicted paedophile. He's a wanted felon. He's a drag queen. He's a wanker. He's a member of a boy band.

Why was my brain kicking in now? Why couldn't it have come in a few minutes earlier or a few minutes later? I wanted to smash my head against the footpath. I wanted to curl up into a ball and just rock gently until someone came to take me to a psych institute.

"I can't do this." He whispered to himself and I was sure that I wasn't meant to hear it but I most certainly did and I was starting to freak.

He grabbed my hand and started leading me between two houses. I was too lost in my own thoughts about what he was, and what he couldn't do, to stop him. My body just followed while my brain slowly mulled over the half pieces of nothing that I'd just received.

He had to tell me something. Something about himself. Something that was hard to say. Something that somehow related to the Council Meeting. He was a something. He couldn't tell me what he was because of something. There were too many somethings for my brain to know what the hell it was doing.

We stopped beside the forest and Jared turned me to face him.

He stepped away from me and kicked off his shoes. He took another step back and grabbed at the hem of his shirt; he'd gone back to his place after lunch to grab the clothing essentials. I realised that it wasn't the hem of his shirt he was aiming for; it was the waist of his shorts.

RUN!

My brain screamed and then laughed at itself. Who would really try to force themselves on me? Why would someone who wanted to force themselves on me, be backing away from me? That seemed a little counterintuitive.

"I'm sorry." he sighed and stepped out of his shorts, leaving them in a pile on the ground.

Now my brain was just about shitting itself. This was making less than no sense. With everything he did, I found myself feeling like I was getting dumber. Was he trying to freak me out and scare me away? Because he'd confused me to the point that I couldn't think straight enough to do that.

He stood three large strides away from me, in his underwear and shirt, just staring at me. He adjusted his feet and squared his shoulders, so that he was pointed directly at me. He was shaking but it wasn't from the cold. It was a nervous shiver.

"Maybe I should just show you..." he said, just loud enough for me to hear.

"Show me what? Jared? What are you doing?" I stammered and found myself inching away from him.

He didn't answer me. He just stood there. Staring straight at me, hands trembling. He didn't look like the Jared that I'd known for... well, for the last two weeks. He looked younger than ever and smaller too. So nervous that he looked more like a preteen about to be punished for accidently breaking a priceless vase, than the strong, handsome man that I was used to.

"Gahh..." he growled and broke his trance like state.

Storming forward he grabbed his shorts and pulled them back on. He didn't stop to pull them on, but kept moving towards me. By the time he reached me they were on and he'd regained a little of his confidence. Although it was still clear that the nerves were lingering.

He cupped my cheek and seized the back of my neck, holding my face so that I was looking up at him. He swooped down and engulfed my mouth with his. His delicious lips were more forceful than they had been earlier today and he controlled the kiss with some much authority that I barely knew what was happening.

His tongue ran along my lips and they parted for him like they had a mind of their own. As if triggered by the deepening of the kiss, my arms snaked forward to wrap around his neck and our bodies pressed against one another.

I don't know how long we stood there kissing. It could have been seconds, it could have been minutes, but it felt like forever and yet no time at all. When we pulled apart we were both out of breath and I felt like my legs weren't strong enough to hold me up any more. Thankfully, Jared held me close to him and I didn't have to worry about using my own legs.

"I'm a liar." he breathed and my heart ached, "I can't... I need you. I need to be your boyfriend. Please, reconsider."

I searched his face for some sign as to what was happening. I couldn't get the image of him standing semi-naked a few steps from me, staring at me. His seriousness and his anxiety. There was something he wasn't telling me, I knew it.

And it had my brain going haywire.

But after that kiss it wasn't my brain with all the power. For once I was going to do something purely because I wanted to, rather than because it was the logical thing. Logic was gone, desire was taking control.

My arms were still around Jared's neck and I tensed them to pull myself up to his lips again. His beautiful, masterful lips. I squealed into the kiss as Jared moved his arms to tighten them around my waist and heaved me up so that he didn't have to lean down so far. With my mouth at the same level as his the kiss deepened. Our tongues working together like they'd known each other for years.

This was far, far superior to the kisses of yesterday. This was more passionate, more intimate. If I'd never expect someone to give me a simple kiss, I had definitely never expected this. But now that I was getting it, I wasn't going to stop it.

Author's Note:

Please people who are reading this...

Can you take two seconds to review? Just so I know how many people are reading/keeping up with the story. Any constructive critism or suggestions are always welcome too, so please review.