A/N: Okay, yes, this is a little late, but c'est la vie. Anyways, time to get into the some important questions. Enjoy!

Jared grins like an idiot pretty much the entire night. Even Parker, who's usually a bit more reserved when it comes to the family bonding activity—merciless teasing—joins in.

"I like her, Jare," Carey says. They're sitting in front of the TV, scrolling through the channels, looking for a movie to watch. "You better treat her right."

"I love her," he says simply, slouching down in his seat. Sam wants them out on patrol tomorrow night, which is totally going to suck, so he's spending as much time at home as he can. It's not like he can actually tell his family where he'll be.

"That's kind of a big deal," Carey says, mildly impressed. "She knows?"

"Sure," Jared says easily, smile going a little dreamy. "She loves me too."

"Well, you guys are being careful, right?" she asks. Jared jumps, startled at the invasive questions, sputtering out non-answers. He's pretty sure he's bright red. "Condoms, Jare, every single time. No exceptions."

"Okay!" he agrees quickly. Anything to get her to shut up.

"Say you'll use a condom every time, Jare, promise me," she presses, poking his side. Going even redder, he repeats her, promising. They pretty much call it a night after that, and Jared escapes to his room, all thoughts of sibling bonding quickly forgotten.

As he gets ready for bed, he mulls over Carey's advice, and soon enough, his mind is running away with him, imagining wild scenario's that definitely aren't going to happen. He'd like them to, obviously, considering Kim's the most beautiful girl in his world and he loves her with everything he's got, but he respects her too much to even broach the topic.

He's not scared or anything.

He's had girlfriends before, sure, but none this serious and he definitely hadn't gotten past third base with any of them. He's just… concerned about the lack of experience all around. He wants it to be good for Kim, whenever they get there.

The next morning, he sleeps in pretty late, missing Carey heading off to work entirely. In fact, when he finally drags his ass downstairs, the only person there is Parker, sitting at the kitchen table reading a comic.

"Hey, Kim has that issue," Jared says, pouring a bowl of cereal.

"Really?" Parker quirks an eyebrow. "Your girlfriend is cooler than you, then."

"Yeah, yeah," Jared laughs, gulping down cereal. Breakfast—if you can even call it that at noon—is quick, and Jared hurries through cleaning up and getting ready, driving out to Kim's. Hopefully, she'll want to hang out.

At her place, Eric lets him in, bleary eyed and clearly just having woken up.

"Kim's upstairs," he mumbles, returning to the veritable fort of comforters on the couch. "Laura's over."

Jared stills at the bottom of the stairs, listening. There's music playing on the radio, and he grins when he recognizes her mom's show. They're talking about the dinner last night, Kim breaking down every minute for Laura to analyze. Per Laura's assessment, it went really well.

Jared makes his way upstairs. Her door's open, but neither of them have noticed him. He knocks on the doorframe, delighting in the way they both jump and blush at the sight of him.

"Speak of the devil," Laura laughs. "Hey, Jare-bear."

"Hey," he says, crossing through the room to get to Kim. He presses a kiss against her lips, wrapping her in a tight hug. "Missed you."

"Missed you too," she whispers, reaching up to cup his cheek.

"Gross!" Laura complains, throwing a little pillow at them. "Get a room!"

"We have one," Kim says, smirking over his shoulder. Kim gently pushes him off and he flops on her bed, hanging his head over the edge of the bed.

"Let's go do something," he says.

"There's a new café in Forks," Laura offers. Kim and Jared exchange discreet looks. There's no way Jared's going anywhere near Forks, not with the leeches out and about.

"What about that milkshake place by the beach," Kim suggests. "I need ice cream and whipped cream."

Laura lights up, easily distracted by the promise of ice cream. It's not particularly sunny today, pretty much entirely cloudy, but it's not supposed to rain, which is cool. Jared offers to drive, and they load up Laura's bike in the bed of the truck. Apparently, her car is on the fritz.

Since it's not raining, pretty much the entire population of La Push is out on the beaches. They manage to grab their milkshakes and find a spot on the beach. They hang out and shoot the breeze for a while, and somehow, the topic of college comes up.

It's not like Jared's opposed to the idea, and honestly, he thinks it would be really cool to go. Kim looks a little forlorn at the idea, and Jared gets the horrible idea that she thinks she might have to stay here for him. They really haven't been talking about college at all, or even life after high school, but Kim's especially reluctant to talk about it.

Jared drops Laura off at her place, and he and Kim drive up to the nature center. They park and take one of the trails, just ambling and chatting. Kim slips her hand into his, tripping over the some of the rocks. Jared snickers, grabbing her waist to steady her.

They make their way back, and Kim props her feet up on the dash, rolling down the windows. She looks good like there, her hair whipping around her face. Her mom's show is playing on the radio and they sing along to some of the oldie's.

Kim quiets as they get closer to her house, her smile drawing into a contemplative line. Jared's brow creases, a little worried.

"You okay?" he asks.

"Yeah, I was just thinking…" Kim trails off, playing with her fingers. "You'll have to stay for a while, right? On the res?"

"Uh, yeah," he says, swallowing hard. "The leeches… I mean, it's not like they can stay here forever."

"I guess not," she says, slumping down in the seat. Jared looks at, trying to think through his next words.

"I love you," he says baldly. Kim turns to face him, smiling a little in surprise, opening her mouth to presumably tell him she loves him too. "And I don't want you to stay here."

"What? Wait, no, I don't want—"

"I don't want you to ever feel like you have to stay here for me," he says. He swallows, trying to keep his voice even. "I want you to do whatever you want to do."

"What if I want to stay here with you?" Kim asks him.

"I'd be over the fucking moon," he admits. "So long as you're happy."

"What if I want to go across the country," she offers. "Like in New York."

"It'd be hard, but I'd come visit, or whatever, so long as you're happy," he says. Kim frowns like she doesn't like the answer.

"What about you?" she asks. "What about what you want to do?"

Jared blinks, surprised by the question. He doesn't have an answer.

A/N: So yeah, getting into some serious questions about both Kim and Jared's future. Tune it next week and let me know what you guys think!