Hello everyone! Welcome back! I recognize that this is super late and super short compared to earlier updates. I just finished my first year of my masters so I'm just trying to get something out to get back in the groove. I have been seeing a lot of desire for a chapter from Jacob's perspective, and to make up for the length of this one, the next one will have a big event and be in his POV.

Thank you all for your support and encouragement, I appreciate it so much! I hope everyone is staying safe and doing well!

Guest:

:I'm sorry but Paul shouldn't have imprinted on Jules, it's unrealistic that all three friends would be imprints.

(So If I continue reading I'm going to pretend he hasn't imprinted on Jules.)

I appreciate you leaving a note, but I wanna take a second to address this. The first thing I want to remind you is that none of this is realistic. Secondly, I don't accept plot direction or guidance from anyone. Constructive feedback aimed at structure, or delivery, is always welcome and encouraged, but the story I choose to tell is my own and my words will reflect that. Thirdly, this just lands as incredibly rude. I'm not sure whether that was the intention, but it definitely was the impact. You are free to choose not to read if you don't like it, but I am free to write what I please. If you feel that strongly about it, I would encourage you to write your own piece where this doesn't happen. Hell, even let me know if you do, I'd love to see your take on things!

My story reflects my conceptualizing of the ideas expressed in the source work. I don't think it's beyond the pale at all that on a small reservation you would be friends with and/or know everyone in your age group and thus, there's going to be sometimes significant overlap. This is not the average public school in North America where you will have hundreds of children in your grade alone, let alone your school!

Thanks for your time!

You are my entire world

And the entirety of my love

Is just for you

Jenna froze, debating whether she should act as if she was completely unbothered by his absence or if she should turn around and let him have the full force of her wrath. While the second option was indescribably appealing, it also created a circumstance in which Jacob would know that she had been very much bothered by his absence. Did she want to give him that kind of power just yet? Ever? It was difficult to say. The short answer was no.

"You're going to ignore me," Jacob sighed, and, in her mind's eye, she could almost see him shifting his weight. "Are you that upset that I wasn't at school today?"

How dare he correctly assume the source of her distress?

"I meant to show up, I just - something unexpected came up last night, and I got stuck handling that."

What suspicious business could have come up that he was so immersed in handling?

"If you're wondering what came up…" Jacob hedged, and Jenna resisted the urge to turn around and throw something - anything - at him. With her good arm stuck in a cast, she'd only embarrass herself. "It was major, let's just say that."

She took a deep breath, bracing herself and attempting to look as blase as she possibly could under the circumstances as she turned to face him. "You're assuming that the thought crossed my mind at all."

Jacob scoffed, lifting his gaze to look at her. Jenna had the satisfaction of watching him freeze, of seeing shock filter into every inch of his body. He gaped at her in horrified silence for what felt like hours, his eyes glued to the cast on her arm. Then he was moving, faster than she'd ever thought possible, standing in front of her and speaking so quickly that Jenna had a hard time piecing together the waterfall of words spilling from his mouth.

"What the fuck happened?! Did you go to a doctor - of course, you went to a doctor, what did they say? How did this happen?! Did someone - who did this?!"

His hands were hovering over her body as if he couldn't decide where he could possibly safely rest them without giving her some other terrible injury. Jenna was a lot of things - a liar was sometimes one of them, but she wouldn't lie to herself and pretend that Jacob's display of concern wasn't something that soothed a deeply hidden fragile part of her.

"Jennifer," he growled, settling on wrapping his fingers around her shoulders when she didn't answer soon enough for his liking, "what happened?"

Jenna frowned. "I don't think I particularly appreciate your tone with me right now."

This was basically his fault anyways. She'd construct an explanation as to exactly how that was later, but she knew this to be fact in her very bones.

Jacob sneered back at her. "I don't think I particularly care what you think right now. Who did this to you?"

How rude. And to think that only moments before she'd thought that his concern was so gallant, dare she say … romantic. That had been a lie. A blatant falsehood. Jacob was just as horrible as he'd always been.

"I did this to me," Jenna snapped, realizing belatedly that she'd have to explain how this happened without actually explaining how it happened. There was no way in hell she could be candid about the fact that she'd been testing for the possibility that he had superhuman strength, which would likely not go over very well.

"How?!" Jacob demanded, looking like he wanted to shake her. "What did you do to yourself - for fuck's sake, I leave you alone for what - two days?!"

"Three if you count today," Jenna muttered, fixing her gaze on his t-shirt, "which I do."

"Jennifer." Jacob's voice was hard, unyielding, and she didn't need to look at his face to know he wasn't pleased with her. "I won't ask again. Tell me what happened."

She resisted the urge to point out that she was fine with him not asking again, figuring that if she continued to push his buttons, he would probably lose his mind very soon if the clenching of his jaw was any indication.

"I hit the car - my hand hit the car, that is. My mom's car. My hand hit my mom's car."

Jenna both felt and heard the rumble of displeasure that erupted from Jacob's barrel of a chest.

"What could you have been doing that you hit your mom's car that hard?" He insisted.

"I was… gesticulating," Jenna offered, the excuse sounding stupid even to her own ears.

"You were what?"

"Gesticulating." She might as well double-down now. "You know that I talk with my hands. I was explaining something to my mom and my hand came down on the car."

Jacob pulled back to stare down at her, his gaze was probing and searching. "So, I can't let you out of my sight at all then."

It didn't sound like a question but Jenna shrugged in response anyways. She both felt and heard Jacob's answering sigh. He nudged her chin up so her neck was craned back in order to look up at him.

"Are you okay?" His voice was soft, with no small amount of concern infused in it.

Suddenly embarrassed at receiving the full force of his undivided attention, Jenna could only nod mutely.

"Are you in pain?"

She shrugged again but froze when Jacob made another sound of displeasure in his throat. "Tell me the truth."

"A little bit, I just need to take another painkiller," Jenna sighed, wishing she could squirm away from the unadulterated force of his piercing gaze. She felt like a bug under a microscope, being analyzed and perused more closely than she could understand.

"Where are your meds?"

"They're inside," Jenna made a vague gesture towards her front door with her chin.

"Why don't you have them with you if you're in pain?" Jacob pressed, pulling her keys out of her fingers and ushering her towards her front door, clucking like a disapproving mother-hen the entire way.

"I'm not going to take prescription-strength analgesics with me to school," Jenna protested, feeling very small under the weight of his disapproval. "I'm not looking to get mugged."

Jacob whipped around to stare at her with wide eyes, and she could tell he was running the possibility over in his head, riling himself up again. More intriguing still was the ease with which he fit her key into the lock on her front door and twisted it open, without so much as glancing at the door. Some people had all of the universe's blessings.

"I would kill anyone who tried," he said finally, a dark expression crossing his face as he motioned for her to go inside before him.

Jenna wanted to laugh, to scoff, to shrug, but she had the oddest feeling that he wasn't exaggerating and he definitely wasn't kidding. It was an odd realization, partly alarming and partly flattering. More flattering than alarming. What was really alarming was how flattering she found it.

"Simmer down there, Rambo," she muttered, finally deciding that sarcasm would be her route forward.

Jenna could hear Jacob mumbling under his breath as he came in behind her, closing and locking her front door. Not loud enough for her to make out what he was saying, but enough to intrigue her.

"What are you mumbling about?" she demanded.

Jacob ignored her. "Where are your meds?"

"I asked you a question first." Jenna pointed out, glaring at him.

"I was born first," Jacob retorted. "Tell me where the meds are and go sit down."

Jenna gaped at him, resisting the urge to stomp her foot and resort to juvenile behaviour. "Don't tell me what to do."

"Jennifer," he warned.

"No," she reiterated, elongating the vowel.

"I will pick you up and put you there myself."

Jenna took a wide step backwards, eyeing him wearily. The terrible wretch, he'd found the one thing she would rather die than have him do. That wasn't entirely true, there were so many things that Jenna would rather die than have anyone do, but anyone trying to pick her up was very high on that list.

"I feel like sitting." She growled.

Jacob raised an eyebrow, crossing his arms over his chest.

"That is why I am going to sit down."

He remained silent.

"It has nothing to do with your barbaric," she hissed, putting emphasis on the word, "display of toxic masculinity."

Still no response.

"My medication is in my room, on my bedside table," Jenna sneered. "Again, I offer this information because I feel like offering it. Not because it was demanded."

"Understood," Jacob said simply, continuing to stare at her with a vaguely amused expression on his face. "Have a seat then, honey."

Jenna froze on her way to the couch, heat flooding her cheeks. "Don't. Call. Me… That."

"Okay... honey."

She could hear Jacob laughing as he headed to her room to retrieve her medication. He was the worst. Jenna slowly lowered herself onto the sofa, her face still flaming. She wasn't sure who he thought he was, disappearing for days and then returning in a burst of controlling authoritativeness. It was beyond the pale, it would not be - it could not be - tolerated. Jenna had worked herself into a fine, righteous rage by the time Jacob returned. He could not be allowed to order her around like he was anything other than a first-class idiot.

"Oh, look," she sneered as he ducked under the doorframe to return to her living room, "you actually came back this time."

Jacob sighed, throwing a wary glance in her direction. He stopped in front of her and nudged her legs out of the way. He crowded onto the sofa beside her, squeezing in against her uninjured side. He waved the bottle of pills around in his hand and reached for her backpack that she'd set down beside her legs. Jacob pulled her water bottle out of the pocket on the bag and fixed her with an expectant look, holding out a pill and the bottle.

"Go on," he urged.

Jenna fidgeted under the force of his gaze. She reached for the pill, ignoring the thrill that shot through her nerves at the feeling of his skin against hers. The shocking heat of him was underscored only by the intensity of his regard. She wasn't sure which would burn her up faster. Jacob's eyes didn't leave her for a moment, and taking a sip of water had never been a more performative activity in her life. Was she doing it right? Did she look stupid? Was there water dripping all down her chin? There was not supposed to be this much pressure attached to something as simple as drinking water. Stupid Jacob Black.

"Don't ask me if I feel better," Jenna warned when she saw his mouth open.

Jacob's eyes narrowed.

"Acetaminophen is a beta-blocker. It works quickly enough, but not instantaneously. It's not like an opioid - which they wouldn't prescribe me anyways, there's a lot of politics behind prescription practices -"

She broke off when she saw Jacob stifle a yawn behind his hand. This time it was her turn to narrow her eyes in his direction, her free hand clenching into a fist.

"That wasn't because of you -" he was interrupted by another yawn - "I swear, it's totally unrelated."

"Maybe you should leave," Jenna suggested, glaring at a spot on the wall.

"I can see why this looks bad," Jacob cajoled, looking for all the world like he was fighting a grin. "The timing is definitely suspicious."

"Your entire existence is suspicious," Jenna mumbled under her breath, casting a resentful look in his direction.

He did grin now, a wide burst of pleasure that seemed to light up the room.

"You have no idea," he laughed, settling back into her couch and draping his arm over the back so his fingers dangled onto her shoulder.

Jenna resisted the urge to violently shrug his hand off of her shoulder where it had taken up a casual proprietary position, kneading the tense muscle there.

"Didn't I tell you to leave?"

"No," Jacob explained with a fond smile, "you suggested it. I'm declining your suggestion."

"If you don't, I'm -"

Jenna broke off again, struggling to find the words. It wasn't made any easier by Jacob's excited, anticipatory expression like he couldn't wait to hear what she came up with. Asshole.

"Are you gonna fight me?" He smirked. "Beat me up? Push me out a window? Murder me and bury me in your backyard?"

"No," Jenna muttered, bitterness flooding her veins at the reminder of his superior strength. "I'm going to lure you into a false sense of security before I poison you with a slow, but increasing, dosage of potassium."

Jacob was silent for a long moment. "Death by bananas? It's out of the box, I like it."

"You may be stronger than me -" Jenna began.

"No, honey. I am stronger than you, there's no maybe about it," he interrupted gently.

"-But I am smarter than you," she continued, ignoring the way her stomach swooped at Jacob's casual usage of the endearment.

Jacob grinned, moving closer to her so his face was dangerously close to hers. "You're smarter than everyone, sweetheart. It's hard to take that personally."

Jenna kept her eyes firmly trained on the wall in front of her. He was so close to her that if she turned her head, his lips would brush against her forehead. She was suddenly filled with the urge to do just that. To turn towards him and lean into the warmth of his broad chest.

"What are you thinking about?" She felt his fingers trace gentle circles on her shoulder.

"Nothing really," Jenna lied, swallowing the insane urge to recline against his chest. "Just wondering where you'd disappeared to while I was fracturing my finger."

The reminder wiped the amusement off of Jacob's face, and he cast another dark glance at her cast. He narrowed his eyes again for a moment, moving from his position to kneel in front of her. He took her injured arm in a gentle grip, manoeuvring her position so he could read the sloppy scrawl on it. Quil's message. She'd completely forgotten.

Jenna waited with bated breath, knowing the exact moment he'd finished reading and understood the message. His shoulders drooped as if a huge weight had suddenly been dropped on them and he shook his head with a quiet curse.

"So," she began hesitantly, "did you join the Sith...Anaheim?"

Jacob sighed heavily, dropping his head into his hands. "Anakin," he groaned. "It's Anakin, and no, I did not."

"It's not the Sith," he explained, a weary note entering his voice. "This is the Jedi, and the Force is far beyond anything we could have thought. The Sith is something different entirely. The Empire may have fucked off, but they left us with a shit ton of problems."

Jenna nodded, figuring it wouldn't do any good to remind him she had no idea what he was talking about.

"Yeah," she hedged, "totally. Fuck the Empire."

Jacob snorted, shaking his head. "You have no idea what I'm talking about."

"None, whatsoever, no."

He regarded her for a long moment before he expelled a great gust of breath. "I don't know enough about Harry Potter to explain this to you."

"That's why nobody likes you," Jenna sighed, shaking her head. "You're such a Slytherin."

Jacob glared at her. "I know enough to know that's not good. I'm not a Slyther...ing."

He was right, of course. He wasn't. He was stupidly Gryffindor if anything. He didn't need to know that.

"Why am I a loser for liking Star Wars but Harry Potter is a socially acceptable obsession?"

"The problem isn't Star Wars as much as it is you," Jenna shrugged. "I like Harry Potter, that's 8/10ths of what makes it cool."

"Of course," Jacob scoffed.

"I'm serious."

"I know you are," he sighed. "It's your world, honey, I just live in it."

Well. The sooner he realized that, the better. This time, she didn't want to argue the endearment. It was beginning to grow on her.

"It's a big secret, you know," Jacob finally said. "The disappearances and the …"

"Radical physical improvements?" Jenna volunteered when he paused.

Jacob's eyes were razor-sharp when they landed on her, a smug note entering his voice. "So you agree that I look good?"

"I didn't say that!" Jenna protested, feeling her face flame in response. "Improving on a 0 is still only a 2."

Jacob rolled his eyes. "Tell me that next time you make out with me."

"And besides," Jenna continued, ignoring the comment, "don't think I haven't noticed that you switch subjects every time you get close to talking about it."

He froze, casting an assessing glance in her direction. He muttered something under his breath that sounded suspiciously like 'too smart for your own good.'

There was a long pause.

"Can you give me some time?"

No trace of his earlier mirth remained. Jenna knew down to her bones that Jacob was dead serious now.

"I have every intention of telling you," he continued, "but it's… a lot. I need some time to - hell, I barely know how to explain it myself."

A feeling of dread arose within Jenna. "Is it that serious?"

Jacob looked miserable for a moment, struggling to find the words before he finally nodded. "It's life-changing. For everyone involved."

"Is anyone in danger? Are you in danger?" She asked, concern for him overpowering any hesitance she might have at grabbing his hand in her own. Her hand was dwarfed by his, enveloped completely in the warmth of his fingers.

He glanced down at their entwined hands before looking back up at her face, a softness in his features that shot directly to her heart.

"Not in the way you think. It's difficult to say anymore right now."

Jenna wanted to press further, push him for answers. She wanted the truth of the matter and she wanted it now. The exhaustion on his face, the stress, the worry that didn't belong on the face of a high-school boy - all of it stopped her. Could she throw caution to the wind and trust Jacob? And it would likely involve a hefty amount of trust, possibly more than she'd ever put in someone in her recent life.

Whatever this was that had sprung up between them - this awareness of something years in the making - was it enough to abandon caution and trust that he wouldn't lead her to destruction? A single glance into his eyes, so dark but so warm and inviting, gave her the answer. It was. She would make sure it was.

If he couldn't tell her, she would respect that. But no one had said anything about finding out on her own. If this was something that put Jacob in danger - which it obviously did one way or another based on his evasive response - that was enough to tell her that it was essential she know about it. Jenna wouldn't dwell on the particulars of the need to be assured of his safety, possibly even at the cost of her own.

She hadn't been lying when she'd told him that she was smarter than him. And he hadn't been lying when he'd told her she was smarter than most. It was only a matter of time before she uncovered exactly what was eating Jacob Black. Jenna could only hope it wasn't a truth that would consume them all.

"I'll tell you what," Jacob volunteered after a long pause, his eyes lighting up. "I'll answer your questions if you go out on a real official date with me."