PREVIOUSLY-

"Sleep time, honey. It's been a big day for all of us." Sam whispered to me before kissing my head.

Jared wrapped his arm around my waist from behind and together we all fell into a deep and restful sleep.

The next day, we managed to move all of my things down to the reservation in one trip, considering I didn't have much. My schooling was officially transferred, and I began my 'tutoring' with Sam and Jared, although Sam took it a bit more seriously than Jared.

The day of September 28th came upon us quickly and Sam and I had made up a plan for Jared's birthday that I hoped he would appreciate.

On the morning of Jared's birthday, I'd woken up early with Sam so that I could make Jared's favorite breakfast before he got up. I knew that Jared wouldn't sleep long without me in the bed with him though; he never did.

Sam was patrolling and then he was going up to Port Angeles to get some things, giving me and Jared time alone for his birthday. I told him that he didn't have to leave but he insisted, saying that Jared would appreciate it and that he needed to get some things for the house anyway. He then reminded me that he had his own 20th birthday the day after Christmas with a wink.

Sam grabbed one of the fresh pancakes I made (I'd learned that pancakes were by far Jared's favorite) and ate it quickly before kissing me and heading out the door.

Just as I was finishing up the rest of the pancakes, I felt warm arms snake around my waist from behind and lips trailing up my neck.

"The bed was cold…" Jared whispered in my ear.

I leaned back into him. "You don't feel the cold," I replied cheekily.

"Let me rephrase… the bed was empty." He returned.

"Should I have sent Sam back up while I made your birthday breakfast?" I giggled.

He kissed my neck. "I would've rather had my birthday present nice and wrapped…" his fingers moved over my stomach. "In the sheets…" He nipped at his mark on my shoulder. "Naked." I sucked in a breath at the feeling. "With me."

I turned around in his grasp. "It wouldn't be a present if you didn't have to unwrap it…"

The pancakes were left forgotten on a large platter next to the stove as Jared lifted me, wrapping my legs around his waist.

After Jared managed to unwrap me very thoroughly, we both finally made it around to eating the pancakes.

"Sam is going up to Port A after his patrol this morning, so you get me all to yourself until dinner time tonight. We're doing a bonfire for you and Charlie is coming down too." I told Jared as we cleaned up.

"I want to take you somewhere." He said to me out of the blue and I looked at him with a confused expression.

"Where?" I questioned.

"It's a surprise." He replied.

"It's your birthday. You're not supposed to surprise me." I said in response, wondering where he could possibly want to take me that I hadn't been yet.

"I promise it'll make me happy to take you." He told me, making me smile. "I will warn you, it's a little bit of a hike though."

"I'm up for a hike if it'll make you happy," I replied to him honestly. I wanted to do whatever he wanted to do.

He drove me to a small pull-off and parked the truck. There were no trails in sight, but I knew that he didn't need one.

As we walked through the forest he held my hand, guiding me over fallen logs and through the brush toward our destination.

"I found this place shortly after I first phased. Sometimes I come here when I just need some time to think for a little while." He said to me as we continued on.

"So, it's like your hideout?" I asked him curiously.

"Sam and Paul know about it too, but I guess they kind of let it just be my place." He responded.

"If it's your place to be alone and think, then why bring me?" I questioned, worried that I'd be intruding on something so personal to him.

He looked over at me a grinned. "Because I love you and I want you to be part of this place too. Instead of just my place, I want it to be our place. You and Sam go to that spot on the beach. I want this place to be for me and you."

I loved that idea so much. "I love you too. It really means so much to me that you want your place to be our place."

Once we reached a certain spot, Jared stopped me.

"Close your eyes." He said to me, and I did so as he reached down and grasped both of my hands to lead me forward. As much as I wanted to take a peek, I didn't.

When he stopped, I felt his arms slide around my waist from behind and his hot breath ghosted my ear.

"Open your eyes." He whispered.

I blinked my eyes open and looked at the beautiful sight in front of me. We were standing in front of a waterfall. It wasn't a huge one, but it was perfect. It was probably about 15 feet of cascading water that flowed down several steps of falls into a pool below, making the most relaxing sound in the process. There was an open area under the cover of a treetop canopy on one side of the falls, covered in soft green grass. It looked like something out of a storybook.

My breath hitched in my throat. "This is incredible, Jared."

He kissed my cheek before releasing my waist and coming out from behind me. "I'm glad you like it."

"Like it? I love it!" I exclaimed excitedly, still looking around. I could feel his happiness at my statement, and it was addictive.

"Having you here makes it so much better now." He told me as he pulled me close to him, leaning down to kiss me several times.

After a few minutes, we both sat down on a soft, dry spot of grass.

"So, what do you usually come out here to think about?" I asked him curiously, hoping I wouldn't be overstepping any boundaries by my question.

He looked over at me with an unreadable expression before he began. "In the beginning it was for a lot of different reasons. I couldn't think on my own unless I was phased on my own because I had Sam in my head. The pack mind is great, don't get me wrong, but sometimes it gets difficult not being alone in your own head. Everything I'd think, he'd hear. Before I phased, my parents weren't ever around anyway, they've always had their own agenda and I just happened to be there to tag along. So, when I phased, I was gone for two weeks. Sam didn't want me to accidentally hurt anyone, and I agreed. My parents didn't even notice I was gone. Sam and I decided that they weren't trustworthy enough to tell them and after a few weeks I just stopped going home. Billy had me emancipated from them and they didn't even bat an eyelash. As much as that was probably the best outcome for that situation, there's always that thought in the back of my head that my own parents didn't even care if I was their son."

I could feel his anguish over the thought immediately and I grabbed his hand. "They don't deserve you, Jared, and you don't ever deserve to be treated like that. You have a family now, and we love you more than anything. Guaranteed, Sam loves you in a much different way than I do, but even Paul does too."

He smiled back over at me. "I know. The family I have now is a million times better than any blood relative I've ever known. I'm the happiest I've ever been in my entire life."

"You know that if you ever need to talk about anything that you don't want to in the pack mind, you can always talk to me. No one can get in my brain." I told him, remembering that literally no one could.

"That's why I wanted to bring you here, so that we could have a place to be alone." He took a deep breath, and I knew something was on his mind. "And I think it's why Sam wanted to give us some privacy today. He did it because it's my birthday, but he also did it because he's been telling me that I needed to talk to you for a little while now and I haven't."

I immediately became worried. Needing to talk didn't ever sound like a good sign. I bit my lip and mumbled an "okay?"

He squeezed my hand. "You don't have to worry, babe. It's not bad… or at least I hope you won't take it that way. It's just something Sam's picked out of my head and thought I should bring it up with you."

I relaxed slightly but was still worried about what it could possibly be about. "Well, it's just us so talk to me. What's going on?"

He released a sigh and began. "Let me preface this by saying that I love our relationship and I wouldn't want to change it for the world. Yes, you being with two of us is different than a normal relationship but we all know that for us it just works. We all fit together, and I love that."

"Somehow I don't feel like that statement is relaxing me as much as you intended it to…" I mentioned, now feeling more worried than I had been before.

"Bella, please let me finish before you jump to conclusions, alright?" He asked and I hesitantly nodded, so he continued. "I know you've noticed by now that Sam and I are similar in a lot of ways, but at the same time we have pretty different personalities." I nodded again. "I think a lot of the reason I am how I am is because of how I grew up. My parents were never the affectionate type and I'm the complete opposite from them. Sam is affectionate with you but not nearly as much as me and we all know that. I guess what I'm trying to say is that I feel the need to be closer to you on a more personal level than Sam and I didn't know how to tell you without you thinking that I want to take up more of your time than him. We both need our separate alone time with you. I know when you need Sam, and he knows when you need me but here lately, I almost feel like I need you more than I should. To be honest, I worry about it at a lot. I don't ever want you or Sam to think I'm trying to monopolize you just because I need to be closer to you in a different way than he does. It's really the only thing I worry about in our entire relationship."

How did I not realize that he was so worried about that sooner? I knew that Jared needed it. I could feel that he did, and I returned the sentiment. I never felt like Sam thought it was too much and I definitely didn't either. I needed different things from them, and it had always been clear to me that they needed different things from me. Our entire relationship was intuitive which was why it worked so well.

Jared had begun to look down at the ground, waiting in anticipation for my response. "Jare, look at me." He raised his head to look at me with worry evident in his eyes. "You don't need to worry about anything. You need the same thing that I do and Sam knows that, just like Sam and I have our own things. It's not a competition, it's an ebb and flow between the three of us. I love you both the exact same no matter who is more affectionate. Sam needs me in different ways, and you know that. Sam is happy when both of us are happy and that's part of the leadership trait in him. I'm there to help him become a more confident alpha and take away some of the pressure that builds up with that responsibility. He needs my support and I give that to him. He doesn't show his emotions like we do, Jared. You both compliment me in the exact ways I need, and I can only hope that I manage to do that for you too."

His reply was immediate. "You do, baby, you do, I promise. I was just worried that I was taking more from you then what was fair. I have to admit that I know I'm clingy as shit and Sam really isn't. Just promise me you'll tell me if it's ever too much and I'll try to dial it back."

I climbed on top of him and pushed him back to where he was lying flat on the ground. "I don't ever want you to dial it back. I love you just the way you are."

I leaned down and kissed him, making sure to push across as much reassurance as I could through our bond to let him know there really was nothing to worry about.

This time I was in charge, and it was soft and sensual, all about the emotions we were both feeling. It was truly making love and I could feel that it was the exact thing he needed at that very moment, just like I did.

After that, we stayed at the waterfall talking for another couple hours before heading back home, seeing as it was almost time for Sam to be back.

When Sam walked in, I was sitting in Jared's lap watching the TV and he looked at us with a smile.

"Thank you for that, bro." Jared said to him as he walked over to sit in the recliner.

"I knew you needed it. I take it you finally talked to her about things?" Sam asked him in return.

"Yeah, I did."

"I told you there was nothing to worry about, didn't I? I just knew you wouldn't accept that it was okay with me if you didn't hear it from her too." Sam told him.

Soon enough it was time for Charlie to come down for Jared's bonfire and we all congregated out back.

Charlie didn't even bother with knocking, he just walked right through to the back yard. I was so happy that he was comfortable enough to do that.

I was seated on the ground between Jared's legs as he brushed his hands through my hair, braiding it for me as he loved doing often.

"Happy birthday, son." Charlie said as he walked up to us just as Jared finished my braid and tied it off.

Charlie shook his hand and Jared smiled up at him.

"Thanks chief." He replied.

Paul came and we all ate pizza while the three of them told Charlie about some of the escapades they'd had since phasing.

When all three of us laid in the bed afterward, I looked over at Jared.

"So did you have a good birthday?" I questioned.

He smiled brightly at me. "The best one yet."

A/N- how do you feel about Jared's little heart-to-heart with Bella?

Yes, drama will ensue soon. ;)