Note: I'm aware this is a slow burner, and hope it's not too repetitive. I just like stories that really set the scene and let you get to know characters instead of forcing them together, but things will happen soon!

Kim POV:

If I thought yesterday was bizarre, it was nothing on how the rest of my week went. I was still in shock from the way Jared had spoken to me, the wild look in his eyes when he was shouting at me, how it had felt to have him so close. He was entirely overwhelming.

I'd had an awful phone call with Tokala, to top the day off; he had started by saying he missed me, he wanted to go on a date for dinner this weekend. By the time we'd organised that and I mentioned meeting Jared at the diner and that I was happy with our project, he had flipped completely, saying he didn't trust him, asking me why I was playing up to it, telling me all our friends agreed with him.

That bit hurt. Bly was my closest friend and had been since before Tokala and I were together. Meda came with Dakota, and Dakota was like a brother to T, so that I could understand. But still. We had been a group for years; it was upsetting how quickly they were blaming me.

Was I to blame? The pull and draw I felt towards Jared was confusing as hell but I tried as hard as possible to push it from my head, I had made it clear to him over and over again that I was with T.

By Monday the heat had dissipated somewhat but it was still nice out, so I'd decided to walk. I honestly liked the time to myself, to clear my head. T wasn't there to meet me outside the school and Jared wasn't waiting at my locker. I gave myself a telling off when I realised, I was more upset at the lack of Jared's presence than T's. You told him explicitly not to be here, what did you expect?

I didn't see Jared at all that day, not in the halls, not at lunch. Lunch was awkward enough though, I sat with Bly and the others, but T came and went in about five minutes claiming he needed to study, and Dakota and Meda barely spoke to me. Screw it, I couldn't be bothered with them right now anyway.

I passed Embry once in the halls and could swear down that he had winked at me again as he walked past but then he was gone.

I had trudged home that afternoon, dejected and annoyed and didn't even bother going to the beach. T was seriously getting on my nerves; the constant silent treatment was petulant and childish. How could anything be resolved if we didn't talk?

Tuesday started much the same, no one outside the school and no one at my locker. I rolled my eyes at myself when that pang of disappointment came.

I entered my History classroom, the one I shared with Jared, expecting him not to be there as he wasn't around yesterday, but there he was. Sat right next to the desk I normally sit in, instead of his usual spot. His huge form looked ridiculous trying to fit into the chair, his long legs stretched out so the were under the chair of the guy in front of him.

Another kid barged past me and took one of the two remaining seats left. I sucked my breath in and focused on my seat, aware of Jared's eyes on me as I sat next to him. The heat was rolling of him in waves, his eyes burning their usual hole into the side of my head. I didn't look at him. Thankfully the teacher arrived quickly, the class started, and I was able to focus on the board for the entirety.

Jared cornered me on my way out, standing to the side of my desk so I couldn't escape.

'Can you move, please?' I glared up at him. His face was also hard but his eyes soft as he looked down at me. He really was ridiculously tall.

'Kim, I'm sorry I scared you in the woods, will you just talk to me?'

I scoffed, 'You didn't scare me Jared, you pissed me off.'

He cocked his eyebrow at me and folded his arms over his chest. His big, muscly, tanned arms. Get a grip.

'Why have you stopped driving to school?'

'Excuse me? I drove today?' I was confused, what was he talking about?

He sighed and looked me up and down slowly, I willed myself not to blush under his gaze. 'You walked last Friday, and you walked to and from school yesterday. Why did you not drive?'

'How did you know I walked yesterday?' I folded my own arms now and narrowed my gaze.

'Embry told me.' He said simply.

I threw my hands up in annoyance, 'Oh cool, it wasn't enough having one stalker, now I've got two!'

Jared said nothing just continued to stare at me.

'Is walking not allowed now either?'

He sucked in a breath and continued to stare, taking half a step closer to me. 'I'd prefer it if you didn't walk alone. It's not safe.'

I let out a laugh, he didn't actually think he was behaving like a normal human, did he?

'Got it Jared, thank you. No jogging alone, no walking alone, am I allowed to use the restroom alone or should I ask for your guys' permission for that too?' I hissed at him as I threw the rest of my books into my bag.

I shoved my way out the other side of the desk. This was tricker than I'd thought, due to it being next to a wall but I managed to squeeze my way out, pulling my bag along behind me as it got stuck on the chair momentarily. Smooth.

I turned to give Jared another glare, but he was just standing, staring at the spot I'd been in, running his hands through his hair.

I managed to avoid him for the rest of the day at school. Since I clearly wasn't going to T's this evening as we normally did, I had to go into the grocery store. I knew my mom wouldn't be back until later this evening either, and she'd be no help. I was stood in the checkout line when loud voices made me turn around.

Are you fucking kidding me?

'Kim.'

Jared had entered with two others. I recognised them quickly as Paul Lahote and his girlfriend Rachel. Paul was stood with his arm slung around her shoulders, holding her into his side. She was laughing at something he'd said but stopped when Jared said my name. They both stared at me, a smirk playing on Paul's mouth as he looked me up and down quickly.

Jared was stood in front of them, his hands shoved deep in his pockets as he looked at the basket I was holding and then back to my face. He opened his mouth, but I interrupted before he could say anything.

'Just buying some food Jared, sorry I didn't run it by you first; but when I stepped out of my house and couldn't see you lurking behind a lamppost, I figured it would be allowed.'

He rolled his eyes and had the decency to look at least slightly sheepish as Paul started booming with laughter. 'I like her J,' he said, his eyes twinkling as he punched Jared's arm. Rachel just continued to watch me, a knowing smile on her lips. Blink twice if you need help, I thought as she looked at me.

I huffed and turned away from them, paying for the few items I'd picked up. I grabbed the bag and stormed out the shop, moving past all three of them as they stood there.

Jared followed me out and I heard his heavy footsteps behind me. I swung round to meet him, holding the groceries tightly to me chest.

'Don't you dare follow me.'

He threw his hands up as if to surrender, 'I'm not following you Kim, I'm just checking you're okay?'

'I'm fine. Thank you.' I couldn't help the acid seeping into my voice. This damn boy. He was making me feel things I didn't want to feel, making me behave in a way that I wasn't used to. He was shaking everything up, I didn't know whether I was coming or going at the moment.

'Kim…' he cleared his throat softly, taking a step towards me. 'I'm sorry, I'm not trying to be difficult.'

'Well what are you trying to do?' I met his gaze head on this time, prepared for the onslaught. Again, my breath caught in my throat as my heartrate sped up, the back of my neck seemed to be on fire as I started to get lost in the intensity of his eyes.

He ran his hands over his face roughly and looked at the sky for a moment before looking back down at me. 'Can we go somewhere, and talk?'

I looked at him like he was certifiable.

He groaned, 'Can I at least just walk you home?'

He looked so pained, so torn, that I almost said yes when his lips suddenly pulled up in a snarl and he muttered 'For fucks sake,' so quietly I wasn't sure I'd heard correctly.

I turned my head to where he was looking and saw Tokala striding towards us, Dakota and their friend Benji in tow. I let out a sigh. Here we go again.

The trio reached us and Tokala moved to stand next to me, 'Is he bothering you?'

I looked up at him with feigned surprise, 'Oh now you're going to talk to me?'

His eyes flashed in annoyance and then he turned his gaze to Jared, who looked frankly completely bored.

'Why won't you leave Kim alone man?' Dakota spoke now, squaring up to Jared. Which was ridiculous since Jared was several inches taller than all three of the boys in front of him.

Jared narrowed his eyes, 'Why is it any of your business?'

'She's Tokala's girl, dude, everyone knows that.'

'She's not his property, dude, she doesn't belong to him.' Jared snapped back, as he started to tremble slightly, his fists bunching at his sides.

'She can speak for herself!' All four boys turned to look at me as if they'd forgotten I was there entirely.

Paul and Rachel had exited the shop by now and Paul had come to stand next to Jared, surveying the scene with a smirk on his face. 'Is there a problem?' he snarled at Tokala.

'Yes!' I shrieked again, shifting the bag in my arms. 'There is a problem. All of you are behaving like total Neanderthals, you're so fucking annoying!' Jared appeared to be fighting back a smile as Tokala looked at me like I had lost my mind. He was not used to me yelling or causing any kind of scene at all.

I narrowed my eyes at Jared, 'I don't know what you're grinning about, you're the worst fucking one.' T shot him a smug look as I turned to him, 'And you,' I cast him a scathing stare, 'you're meant to be my partner, my best friend. You've ignored me most of the week and treated me like a piece of crap. This is the first time you've spoken to me in 48 hours!' I let out a breath as they all stood there, staring.

'Fuck this!' I ended my rant with a laugh, this place, these people, this is why I wanted to get out of here as soon as possible. I turned on my heel and marched away, all of them having the sense to not follow.

Later that evening Tokala had tried to call me, I ignored it.

He sent me a message. 'I'm sorry I upset you Kim, it's just I feel like everything's changed in the space of a week and I don't know what to do.'

You're telling me. I understood what T was feeling, I knew I'd been acting strange but I couldn't control Jared's actions and I had no idea why he was coming on as strong as he was or why he couldn't just leave me alone. It was true that since Jared had stared at me like I'd explained the meaning of life to him in Maths a week ago, things had become strained, but things were difficult between T and I before that. He just hadn't ever wanted to address it.

Since we had started talking about college, moving away, he'd shut off. He assumed I'd stay with him and it was frustrating. It's like he felt he'd put the work in for a couple of years when we were teenagers and then that would be it. I'd automatically be his, we'd get married, have kids and life would be done. He never asked me how I felt about it, what I wanted. It had been bothering me more and more, long before Jared started doing whatever it was he was doing with me.

On Wednesday morning Tokala was waiting in his usual spot and I supressed a sigh. I couldn't argue today, it was exhausting. He offered me a small smile as I approached and dropped his lips to my forehead, 'Sorry. I'll be better.'

It was enough, for now. I smiled and accepted the hand he had offered me as we walked inside.

In History I sat between Bly and Embry, as usual, however this time it was Embry who kept staring at me. He said nothing, just kept watch as I worked. Bly noticed too and whispered over to me whilst the teacher was talking, 'Honestly Kim, it's getting creepy. It's like they're trying to pull you into their little cult.'

Whilst I was sure he couldn't have heard her, Embry suddenly snorted out a laugh as I turned to look at him, he kept his eyes on the board ahead.

As we were leaving the room some kid came barrelling down the corridor, knocking into me and almost sending me flying. Embry's hands flew out in front of me, catching me before I fell. 'Watch where you're going you prick!' he yelled in the direction of boy.

'Are you okay?' he tilted his head down towards me. Once again, I was taken aback by the heat in his hands, they were searing against my skin.

I snatched my arm out of his grasp and rolled my eyes, 'I'm fine.' I stalked away from him, aware of Bly close behind. I flew into the closest bathroom and she followed me. I leant by the sink and took a deep breath.

'Kim, what's going on with you and those guys?'

I sighed heavily, 'I don't know Bly! They're behaving so strangely, Jared won't leave me alone, Embry keeps winking at me as if there's some big joke I'm involved in but have no idea about…' I trailed off and looked at her. 'I swear I'm not doing anything wrong.'

She reached over and enveloped me in a hug, 'I know you're not Kim.' I returned the hug, grateful that she believed me, 'Maybe you need to talk to Jared. Explain to him how uncomfortable this is making you? He can't just lay his eyes on you; decide he wants to get involved in your life and then bully you into submission.'

I laughed gently into her shoulder, 'He's not bullying me Bly, but yeah…I agree with the sentiment.'

Jared wasn't bullying me. Sometimes the way he looked at me it was as if he hated himself for bothering me and others it was as if he just couldn't help it. I think he genuinely did want to be friends, or something, he was just going about it in a really strange way.

She pulled away and squeezed my shoulder, 'Come on, let's go to class.'

After school T came over and stayed the night. I found the whole evening kind of awkward and stilted. We tripped over each other in the kitchen when I was cooking, he sat on my foot when we flopped into the couch to watch a film and when he tried to make a move in bed again I just shuffled away and said I headache. We had fallen asleep in awkward silence and barely spoke again over breakfast. The lack of communication was becoming stifling. Tokala seemed fine as long as the status quo was maintained, and I knew I should start the conversation myself, but I just couldn't. I didn't know what I wanted to get out of it yet.

Thursday brought Geography and the bloody presentation. As we walked to the front, I hissed at him, 'I'll do the talking, you just stand and hold up the things we found.' He looked slightly shocked but just shrugged and did as I asked. I rushed through it as quickly as possible and took my seat again, I doubt we would be getting great marks for that, but I just didn't care.

When class finished Jared reached his long arm out across my desk and gently touched my hand. A bolt of electricity shot through my fingers, up my arm and to my chest. I let out a gasp and my eyes shot to his. Jared was sat, his mouth slightly open, looking at me with such a burning intensity that it almost stopped my heart. Warmth spread from our connected hands all over my body, my eyes were glued to his as he slowly inched closer to me. His eyes flickered down to my lips and back up again, it was enough for me to snap out of the hypnotic state I was in and I shot up from my seat.

'Kim.' Jared stood up too, his hands reached for me as I ducked out of the way. 'Would you stop running away?'

'I've got another class.' My voice came out like a squeak and I fled the room as I heard him let out a sigh. The way my name sounded coming out of his mouth made my knees weak. Just touching my hand lightly made my head spin, I wanted to crawl into his lap and curl up in his arm. I placed a hand over my rapidly beating heart as I tried to calm it down, had he almost kissed me back there?

I felt like I was floating through the rest of the day and not necessarily in a pleasant way. I had managed to avoid both Jared and Embry for the rest of the day and by the time I got home I was totally restless.

I settled on another run and made my way out of house and down towards my usual route. I got to the point in the path where it forked either down through the trees, where I had been ambushed by Jared, or snaked along the road and down into town. I tried to push what Jared had said to me out of my head, I'll be damned if I was going to let him dictate what I was doing and decided to go back into the woods.

I had gone about 10 steps before I heard a long, singular, howl. The hairs on the back of my neck stood on end as I stopped dead and looked around. There was silence for a minute before another howl came from my left, too close. I backed up slowly and made my way towards the road. What the hell? I knew we had wolves in the big expanse of forest that stretched over the peninsula, but I had never heard any so close to a populated area.

My heart racing with adrenaline I shot down the road almost in a sprint, only slowing when I reached the town centre. I looped through the small town and came to a halt in front of First Beach. I stretched my arms above my head and leant over with my hands on my knees.

'Kim, right?'

I looked up and saw Rachel Black walking towards me. Her arm looped through the arm of Emily Young, Sam Uley's fiancé. I averted my gaze from the three long gashes that ran down the side of Emily's face and stood up slowly. Everyone talked about Emily, about the alleged bear attack she had suffered.

I smiled softly and waved; I barely knew either of them, but I was sure Rachel had told her about me after my outburst the other day.

'Hi.'

'You out running?'

I glanced down at my gym wear and back at up at Rachel who was grinning at me, her eyes shining.

'Umm…yes?'

She laughed, 'Good for you!'

'Thank you?'

Emily smiled warmly at me, 'I don't think I've seen you in years, Kim. Your mother still runs that lovely café in Forks?'

I nodded at her, 'Yeah, she does.'

The three of us stood in an awkward silence for a minute before I cleared my voice.

'Oh, congratulations.' I gestured at her hand, the small diamond ring sparkling, 'When are you getting married?'

Emily broke into a grin, 'Thank you! We're getting married next month, I'm so excited!'

My eyes widened, next month? They only got engaged a few months ago…pregnant?

Emily laughed at the expression on my face, 'I'm not pregnant, I know what everyone thinks. We're just really in love and I don't see the point in waiting.' She said this so simply, so easily that it made total sense for some reason.

I blushed, 'Sorry, I didn't mean to assume.'

Rachel laughed this time too, but they weren't laughing at me, they seemed to genuinely like chatting to me.

I looked at the road behind them, sure I could see two topless, very large men walking towards us. I could guess who they would be. These guys really did not like letting women do anything by themselves.

I excused myself quickly, 'I'd better set off. Have a lovely wedding.'

Emily's eyes twinkled, 'See you around Kim.'

They both looked at me as I ran back the way I came, I looked over my shoulder and saw both Paul and Sam staring at me too as they reached the two women. I shook my head and concentrated on getting home, feeling better for having been outside.

Not for the first time, I cursed this little town.