Firstly, a massive thank you to everyone who reads and favourites and reviews! I started my master's degree and have been swamped so I am deeply sorry for the delay in getting this up.

It's a shorter update and a bit of a filler but you do get Jacob and Alana in here but I really wanted to get something out now that I know I have some time to write each week! Starting the next chapter we will actually move into more plot progression!

I appreciate the attention this fic receives SO MUCH! I've been dealing with a glitch that doesn't let me respond to reviews or even see them so if you've reviewed, please know that I appreciate it so much and will definitely take the time to respond to everyone as soon as this gets sorted!

Secondly, from the e-mail notifications that I got for the reviews, the consensus seemed that we did very much want the full sm*t addendum to Chapter 15. I will write that and post it as a separate story, rated MA for obvious reasons…

Thank you for your support and enjoy!

You never asked

You never demanded

Whatever you gave, you gave from the heart

You never said anything

You never weighed the odds

Whatever you gave, you gave happily

You're the sun, you're my relief

You're my family, you're my everything

I don't know much, but this much I do know

I see God in you, my love, what am I meant to do?

"So, you fucked Jacob Black?"

Well, that was one way of putting it.

Alana paused for a moment, her face flaming. "I don't know that I would put it that way."

"Right, I'm sorry," Megan drawled, "would you prefer the term 'love-making?'"

She loved her cousin, she really did. At the moment, however, she couldn't stand her. Megan and Alana had been close all their lives, when Megan's mother had picked her up and moved out of La Push to Vancouver, it had felt like a natural decision for Alana to decide to go to university in Vancouver. They'd gone through undergraduate degrees, masters degrees, even doctoral degrees together. It was odd now that Alana had received arguably the biggest news of her life and Megan wasn't here. Worse, Megan could never know the full truth.

"You better not be reminiscing while on the phone with me, Lana, that's fucked up in a way that I do not want to touch with a ten-foot pole."

"No! No, I am not - oh my god."

Alana wished a hole could open up in the ground and swallow her whole. This was the worst.

"We - something happened-" she began in a halting voice, not knowing how to describe the night before.

"Well, I would hope so!" Megan interrupted.

Alana sighed, a mixture of irritation and embarrassment coursing through her. "Are you going to keep interrupting me?"

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry. Please, continue."

"He took me out to the cliffs for a picnic and we just talked about… us. It was really nice, actually." She wondered if Megan could hear the smile in her voice.

"And then?"

"Then… you know… one thing led to another," Alana trailed off, toying with a loose thread on the edge of her sweater.

"Oh my GOD, no, bitch, I do not know. You know that" Megan lamented, before tossing on a snide additive, "and up until last night, nor did you."

Alana laughed, giddiness coursing through her at the reminder. "Well, that's no longer my problem, I'm a changed woman."

"Ugh, spare me." Megan groaned. "I cannot believe that your bucket list item - arguably the top thing on your bucket list - has come true. No, wait - I think the top item was the motorcycle ride, no?"

"The motorcycles are gone," Alana sighed, flopping back down onto her bed with a dramatic huff.

Megan made a sound of sympathy. "Tragic. Well, I suppose you just rode the next best thing then."

"Megan!"

"I'm kidding… sort of," she laughed, "but seriously, Alana, I'm really happy for you. Both of you, actually."

Alana made a sound of agreement, still not trusting herself to speak more than a few words without squealing.

"I'm so glad that the two of you found each other again, I honestly really feel like it was meant to be."

"I think so too," Alana whispered, a pang of sadness touching her heart. Megan would never know how right she was.

"I don't want to burst your bubble, Lana, but I feel like the two of you are pretty serious about this thing?" Megan's voice had changed, becoming slower, hesitant.

"Yeah, I would say so," Alana agreed, her body beginning to respond to the concern in Megan's question.

There was a long pause on the other end of the phone. "So what are you going to do? About coming back here?"

It felt like ice water had been poured down the back of her shirt. It was the oddest feeling. She had tried her hardest not to think about this exact question. Had spent the last few weeks ignoring it. Every bit of training she'd received, her own knowledge and observations - all of it was telling her that all of this was happening too quickly. Her nerves were on fire, her heart pounding, and yet her brain already knew what its answer would be. There were so many things to consider, so many things to plan around and think about - but her mind was somehow already made up.

"Meg," she hesitated for a brief moment, "I know this is going to sound crazy, but-"

"You're staying there." Megan finished in a soft voice.

Silence stretched between the pair of them before Alana could bring herself to speak, feeling a tightness in her throat. "I am, yes."

Megan sighed. "I understand. No, really, I do," she insisted when Alana began to apologize.

"It sounds like you two have found a good thing, a genuine thing. Plus, the draw of home and community is a large one. It's not like you're starting over in a new place."

Alana nodded, realizing belatedly that Megan couldn't see her. Her cousin seemed to know her well enough to anticipate her response.

"Lana, you're a forensic psychologist, you're trained to literally think of the worst-case scenario and run so fucking far with it, it's ridiculous. None of this makes sense in your world, I know that."

It really didn't.

"I see things a little bit less clinically than you do. So I'm going to tell you - if it feels right, grasp the opportunity. There's more at home than just Jacob Black, he doesn't have to be the only thing tying you there."

Megan was right. Of course, she was. That didn't make it easier to wrap her head around. In the span of a few short weeks, she'd reimagined her entire life to include Jacob. Clinically, that was a bad thing. If it was so bad though, why did it feel so right? Why didn't it feel like a red flag? Although, if red flags felt like red flags, why would people ignore them?

"Listen, it's not like the door is shutting on you here. You can stay at home, figure things out there and in the worst case, you can come back here. What I'm trying to say is that you have a foundation either way. I think you'd be an idiot to choose comfort over exploring this thing you have with Jacob, especially if both of you seem to be so strongly in the same place."

"You're right," Alana whispered, closing her eyes and taking a deep breath. This was fine. She was fine. This was the right decision for her. That was all that mattered. She felt good about her decision, she felt excited at the thought of exploring life in La Push. Besides, she had a virtual guarantee in Jacob. What more could she really ask for?

"Of course I am. You may be more intelligent than I am, but I am smarter than you."

Alana sighed, hating that she could see the truth in the comment. "I'll let you have that."

"Of course you will, that's something that I live by. Listen, I've gotta run, some of us don't get to sleep with male models under the stars, we have to live in the real world."

She scoffed, bidding her cousin goodbye and staring up at the ceiling in her room. God, what a rollercoaster. It was hard to reconcile the mass of excitement and anxiety she was now with the mellow, deeply rooted happiness she'd felt this morning.

She'd woken up around dawn, protected from the chill of the air by the blanket and the warmth of Jacob's arms. His skin was warm and his chest was firm under her cheek. She'd enjoyed the stolen moments to simply watch him, shifting slightly in his tight embrace to look at his face, relaxed in sleep, feel the steady thump of his heart under her palms. It was odd, she'd just had a night to do just this, but she felt like she'd never get enough of admiring the beauty of him. Even now when he was asleep and vulnerable, he seemed so strong and larger than life. She'd rested her chin on his chest, trailing her fingers over the broad curve of one of his shoulders, revelling in the feeling of being completely and absolutely protected. Safe. She had spent the night on a cliff face with no tent, potentially at the mercy of any number of wild animals and yet she'd probably never felt safer in her life. Stranger still, was that she was technically currently wrapped in the embrace of a wild animal. Well… half a wild animal.

Alana had glanced back up at his face, jolting in surprise when she found him watching her with a slight smile on his face. She'd been unable to keep the answering smile off of her own face, resisting the urge to hide her face in his chest again. She was sure she'd have never lived that down.

"Morning." His voice was gruff from sleep and she was struck by that same feeling she'd had that first morning she'd seen him. It felt like almost a lifetime ago now.

"Morning," she whispered. "I thought you were asleep."

"Hmm, I'm a light sleeper," Jacob said by way of explanation, one of his large hands sliding up her form to play with strands of her hair. "Have to be to keep up with patrols."

She made a noise of agreement, gasping when he curled her hair around his fist and gave it a gentle, playful tug.

"It's pretty, I can't stop touching it," he explained and grinned wolfishly. "That goes for all of you."

She lost her battle then, burying her face in his chest and muffling her embarrassed groan. His answering laughter reverberated through his chest, making it doubly terrible.

"You're the worst."

"Hmm I don't know," he hedged, combing his fingers through her hair, "I feel like that's not what we decided last night."

"You're so mean." she cried, banging on his chest in reproach.

"Okay fine, we can talk about something else."

Her momentary gratitude was quashed immediately when he continued. "So how did I measure up to your expectations? Was I as … opposite of small as you originally thought?"

Her mind immediately flashed back to her horrifying mishap in the Blacks' hallway.

I don't think anything about you is little.

She groaned, starting to push away from him. "Okay, I'm tapping out, I can't-"

Jacob laughed again, tightening his arms around her and pulling her back flat against his chest. "No, don't go away, honey. Stay here with me."

"What if I don't want to?" she challenged, pushing upwards to make eye contact with him. "Maybe I was wrong and there is something about you that's little."

A rumbling, playful growl vibrated through his chest and he shifted suddenly so that she was trapped underneath his broad form.

"See," he murmured, giving her a gentle kiss, "now if I refute that, you'll say I'm mean."

Alana giggled, part of her horrified that she'd just giggled, and ruffled his hair, enjoying the casual intimacy between them.

"It is what it is."

He grinned down at her before his expression sobered. "Are you okay? I mean - after last night - I didn't hurt you, did I?"

His question forced her to stop and take stock of her body, of her mind, and of the reality of what they'd shared the night before. Aside from some minor soreness, she felt … fine. Great. It was strange, she'd almost expected to feel like an entirely different person after finally… doing the deed. All that had changed is that she felt closer to Jacob, in the strangest way. Not even as a result of the physical activity but the fact that she'd trusted him and he'd been so gentle and so wonderful with her.

"Ally?" He sounded worried.

"Sorry - I got caught up," she explained. "No, no, you didn't hurt me, I'm okay. I'm … better than okay."

"I'm glad," Jacob smiled, leaning down to kiss her forehead. "I love you."

Her heart swelled up with emotion, and she was struck by how tame the word love seemed in describing what she seemed to be filled with just then. Love didn't seem like it could encompass the way every inch of her felt like she would die if he wasn't with her.

"I love you too, Jake."

She'd just have to settle for that for now.