A/N: A little shorter chapter, just because I'm figuring out where exactly I want things to go for this fic. Either way, enjoy!

For the next few days, Kim focuses on finals, which she entirely forgot were coming up with everything going on. She and Laura drive up to their favorite café in Forks, holing up for hours at a time. Jared joins them sometimes, whenever he has a free night off from patrolling. Paul is almost never round, but he's more concerned about the leech problem than he is about passing this year.

The last week of junior year rolls around faster than any of them had anticipated, and before she knows it, Kim's at her locker, cramming wildly for her first final of the season. Integrals and derivatives blur together until she has to slam her calculus book shut. She sighs, watching the clock in the hall.

"Hey." Jared's voice is a relief, and just like that, her muscles relax and she can't help but smile. "Ready to kick ass?"

"Yeah, as I'll ever be," she says, rocking up on her tiptoes to press a kiss to his cheek. Jared beams at her, wrapping his arms around her, kissing her nose lightly. "You?"

"Well, considering I had the best calc tutor in the world? I'm not worried about it," he says. His confidence is infectious, and Kim tips her things into her backpack, swinging it up onto her shoulder.

"Let's go ace that final," Kim says, slipping her hand in his and interlacing their fingers.

Ninety minutes later, they amble out of the classroom a little fried, but not devasted, so Kim counts it as a win. She's got two more finals today, and three the next day, which will wrap up the year. Kim can't believe it's gone by so quickly.

By the time school gets out, the four of them huddle together outside Jared's car, trying to decide what to do. Paul's nearly vibrating out of his skin, buzzing with excitement.

"Let's go cliff diving!" Paul interjects for the second time. Apparently, it's a pack favorite, and even thought Kim knows, Laura would have some real questions if they took her along. Sometimes, it really sucks that she can't talk to her best friend about everything, but she knows the rules, and she won't jeopardize Jared.

"What if we went down to the beach?" Kim suggests. Paul groans, but Jared shoots him a sharp look.

"There'll be tourists everywhere," Paul whines. "Come on, let's do something actually fun."

"What about Port Angeles?" Laura suggests.

"That's a good idea! We can do a mini-road trip!" Kim gushes, looking hopefully up at Jared. He shares an uncertain look with Paul. Kim worries on her bottom lip. She understands if they can't, that Sam will panic if his pack leaves, that Jared and Paul themselves will worry about leaving La Push unattended. "You know what, on second thought, let's hang out at someone's house. We can watch a movie, we can bake cookies."

Paul slumps and Jared shakes his head sympathetically, but he smiles and nods at Kim.

"We can hang at my place," Jared says. "My nephew might be around, but Kim, you can ask Eric over or something."

Kim shrugs noncommittally, but promises she'll ask. She and Laura hop in her car while Jared and Paul take the trucks. They stop off at her house, dropping their books off and trying to catch up with Eric before he runs off to do whatever middle school boys want to do.

Thankfully, she catches him on the couch, gorging himself on snacks and watch The O.C.

"Hey, what're you up to right now?" she asks. "Oh, and Laura's here."

Immediately, Eric sits up, brushing the crumbs off himself and try to fix his hair. He goes cherry red, alternating between smiling at Laura and glaring at Kim, betrayal in his eyes. Kim bites down on her cheek, trying not to laugh.

"Hey, what's going on?" Eric says, hurriedly turning off the TV.

"Want to come hang out with us at Jared's?" Kim asks. "Parker's going to be there."

"No, I don't want to come just to babysit Parker, come on," he whines, slumping.

"Don't be a baby," Kim reprimands. "Parker's nice!" He's a little quiet, but all the times that she's met him, Parker had been an absolute sweetheart, and Jared had been great with him.

"Okay," Eric relents. "But I'm not going to just hang out with him, I want to hang out with you guys."

"You both can hang out with us," Laura concedes just before Kim is about to tell him to shove it. Laura's always been sweet to him, so Kim can understand his little crush. Appeased, Eric hops up and eagerly follows them out, not even complaining about being relegated to the back seat.

Jared and Paul apparently had enough time to set up the X-box and start up a game. Kim, Laauura , and Eric head inside, dropping onto the couch to watch them finish up. Parker sits on the floor in between them, reading a comic book. Kim leans over, ruffling his hair in greeting. Parker looks up with a smile, before retreating behind his book.

The boys wrap up the game, and despite the brief scuffle that ensues about picking a movie, they settle on an old Batman movie. Everyone's appeased, even Laura, who despite not liking superhero's very much, likes Michael Keaton well enough.

It's a fun couple of hours, and even Parker and Eric get along. They call out for pizza, hanging out with Carey when she comes back from work. They wrap up the night as the sun sets, explaining that the boys had volunteering to do for the tribal council, which is code for 'Paul needs to burn off some serious energy.'

Jared pulls Kim into the empty kitchen, slotting his mouth against her in a searing kiss. Kim loops her around his neck, rocking up to deepen the kiss. Jared's hands are warm and solid against her hips, only adding to the lovely heat coiling low in her stomach.

"What are you doing tomorrow?" he whispers against her lips.

"School," she tells him with a smirk.

"After," he clarifies with a laugh. "Want to hang out, just you and me?"

"We could go to the beach, find a quiet spot," Kim suggests. "Sounds perfect."

A/N: Alrighty, just some cute fluff to clarify the timeline. Let me know what you thought!