A/N: Hey, so sorry for the delay guys! I was trying to use the copy and paste function on here and it came out really janked. This should work out much better! Enjoy!
Kim starts feeling weird after dinner. Not a sick kind of a weird, just… weird. Mom's hosting an all-night radio contest, and probably won't be home until lunch time tomorrow, so she and Eric decided to eat on the couch for once.
They're watching reruns of Becker and Kim hugs a pillow to her chest, trying to dispel the feeling. Eric gives her a weird look but doesn't comment. Kim's heart starts to thump and she curls in further on her herself.
She can't tell what's going on, maybe a heart attack? But that's ridiculous, she's too young for that, right? She gasps roughly, trying to breathe through her nose. Eric mutes the TV, looking at her with concern now.
"What's wrong with you?" he asks. "Are you going to puke?"
"I don't know," she says, pulling herself back up. She feels cagey, almost trapped. For a moment she's seized with the sudden desire to go for a run, which is strange in and of itself. She stands abruptly, shaking her head like a dog.
"What?" Eric asks, a little frantic, he's on his feet too. "Are you going to spaz out? Jessica Worth's grandma died like that, you know, spazzing out."
"Jessica Worth's grandmother had epilepsy," she corrects him absently. She feels miles away from her living room, like her body and herself aren't connected.
"Well do you?" he demands. "Can you catch it?"
"No," she says faintly. "I'm… going to lay down for a while."
"Okay," he says suspiciously, settling back on the couch. "I'm going to be down here."
"Don't watch anything inappropriate," she tells him in an attempt to sound normal. Kim sighs, running a hand through her hair. Her hearts still racing, and it's harder to breath, like she's working out or something. She's never felt so strange in her life.
Upstairs, she settles under the covers, trying to keep still, but her heart is relentless and she squirms restlessly. She huffs, throwing back the comforter and dropping heavily into her desk chair. Her homework for the weekend is done, but there is a paper due next week, so she pulls out her English notebook, starting an outline.
Doing something helps, and if she focuses hard enough on the paper, she can push the weird feeling to the back of her mind. She works for an hour, finishing the outline and even going so far as to review her history flashcards.
She spins in her chair, hugging her knees tights. The feeling sinks into manageability, but she's more aware than she's ever been. She can hear the TV downstairs loud and clear, as well as Eric's every laugh and snort. She can even smell the casserole they had for dinner, cooling in its pan on the counter.
There's soft footsteps on the stairs, so Kim beats Eric to her door, pulling it open just as he's steps onto the landing.
"I brought you water," he says, handing over a cup.
"Thanks, E," she says, going to hug him. He dodges neatly, clearly already too embarrassed by doing this single nice thing for her.
"You didn't pass out or anything, did you?" he asks. "I tried the station office, but they didn't answer."
"It's pretty late," Kim reasons. "The only way we're going to reach her is calling the show directly."
"Is it… woman stuff?" Eric whispers, flushing deeply. Kim snickers, figuring this was as good a lie as any.
"Period stuff," she says, and then, to make him wince. "Menstruation."
"Okay!" he laughs nervously. "I'm going to let you handle that. I'm downstairs if you need me but try not to need me."
"Sure bud," she says, hooking an elbow around his neck and tousling his hair before he can escape.
"Freak!" he hisses, thrashing to get out of her grasp. Kim shakes her head, smiling broadly. Being around Eric helped a little. She gulps down the water eagerly, deciding to take a shower.
Stepping into the warm water is relaxes all of her muscles, even lowers her heart rate a little. She scrubs down meticulously, even going so far as to rinse and repeat. She daydreams a little, thinking of the lush forest that lines the highway and La Push. Maybe she'll go for a hike or something.
Suddenly, there's a pounding and thumping sound, like someone running up the stairs, but that's too loud for it to be Eric. Kim cuts off the shower, drying off as quickly as she can. She trips over her sweatpants, catching herself on the counter. Kim stuffs herself into an old college sweatshirt of her mom's.
"Jared, what's your deal man?" Eric's voice carries from the hallway. "What're you doing here?"
"Where's your sister? Where's Kim?" Jared voice is a surprise, and she hurries to yank a hairbrush through her dripping locks, shaking them out to dry them as much as possible.
"She went to take a shower. I don't think you should be here, though. You're being, I don't know, but it's not cool. I'll tell Kim you came by, but you need to wait for her to call before you come around." That gives Kim pause. Eric and Jared get along. What did Jared do? She makes her way to her room to find Jared towering over Eric in a way that sets off her big sister instincts.
"What's going on?" Kim's voice has an instant effect and Jared sags, loosening up just like that. "Jared?"
"Oh, my god, you're safe," he gasps, hurrying over to wrap Kim in a tight hug. He breaths in the scent of her clean scent, the soft fragrance of her shampoo. Her wet hair is cold against his burning cheek.
"What do you want me to do, Kim?" Eric asks, wary. Jared turns to him, a little sheepish.
"Sorry, I was a little crazy, huh?" he asks. "Just, there was an emergency and I had to check that Kim was safe." Ah, wolf stuff.
"It's okay, E," Kim says soothingly. "Just, give us a while, okay?"
"Well," Eric struggles, frustrated. "Mom's not here, and you know the rule about boyfriends—"
"There is no rule about boyfriends," Kim corrects, a note of annoyance in her voice. Jared hides his face in her hair, and she can feel him smile.
"Well, that's because you were too much of loser to have a boyfr—"
"I'll give you five bucks to leave me alone and not tell mom," Kim interrupts.
"Deal!" Eric agrees easily. Kim huffs, squirming out of Jared's grasp to fish her wallet from her backpack. She hands over the bill, shooing her brother from the room.
"What happened?" she asks, serious now.
"Leeches," Jared says, frowning. "They we're two miles from the border. Two miles."
"Is that close?" Kim asks. Two miles feels pretty far to her, but Jared nods. He drops heavily onto the bed, shifting to let Kim join him. For a moment, they sit together, Jared's head in her lap while she strokes his hair.
"What happened with the vampires?" she whispers, trying to smooth the frown off his face.
"We caught three of them hunting right by the border, so we chased them off," he says. "It was crazy."
"That sounds terrifying," Kim says, shuddering at the thought of monsters being so close.
"It wasn't, we could handle them, but I guess, I just had to know that you were okay," he explains. "Just a weird feeling, I guess."
"Wait, when did you run into them?" she asks, an idea popping into her head. Jared shrugs.
"Nah, Sam caught scent of them earlier, so he called a patrol, like, two hours ago? Why what's up?" he explains.
"I had a really weird feeling earlier," she tells him. "Like my heart was racing and I was so restless."
"Like a panic attack?" Jared asks. "Carey gets them sometimes."
"No, it was more like I could sense something," she elaborates. "Maybe I was sensing you?"
"That could make sense," Jared says, sitting up. "I mean, I mostly thought the imprint bond was to keep you safe, like do what you needed."
"I think it goes both ways," Kim tells him. "I mean, I know it's a lot—"
"It's not," Jared interrupts her quickly. "You can tell me anything." Kim takes stock of his hopeful face, and his wide, love-struck eyes. She cups his face carefully.
"This goes both ways," she repeats softly. "This bond between us just isn't just for me. It's for both of us. You take care of me and I take care of you, like equals."
Jared kisses her, slow and purposeful. She gasps, returning the kiss with gusto. They stay like that for a while, trading kisses. Jared pulls away after a while, smiling softly at her.
"Slow, remember?" he teases. Kim flushes, having completely forgotten that.
"Right," she agrees. "I should probably... I mean, Eric probably needs help with the dishes."
"Sure," he says. "I'm pretty sure I'm right up against my curfew so I need to get home, but what are you doing tomorrow?"
"Nothing," she says. "Why, what did you want to do?"
"I thought maybe we could go to Sam and Emily's and see if she feels the same thing as you," Jared says. "Maybe we could figure out this imprint thing."
"Sounds good," Kim says. She walks him out, waving as he jogged home. She prayed that Emily and Sam knew more about this than they did.
A/N: And that leads us into exploring the whole imprinting thing! Let me know what you thought, and again, so sorry for the delay!
