Hello! I am feeling that less and less people are reading my stories. I don't get many reviews at all, and it's making me wonder if people aren't enjoying it much. Please, leave a review with your thoughts on it. Let me know what you think. Remember though, I am trying to follow the guidelines of Twilight, so Bella is still Bella the way she is. I am trying to keep her characteristics the same and her personality, but if I have strayed from it, please let me know. I really do look forward to reading your thoughts. Let me know what you are thinking about each chapter... anything really! I just want to feel connected to my readers!

I am not Stephenie Meyer, all rights to these characters and story go to her. (: Enjoy!

Chapter 41: Promposal

My nerves baffled me at the thought of the party on Saturday night, how I was invited and so was the rest of the Forks high school seniors to a home that once encased those that I had called my family. I was annoyed that this invitation was anonymous because it concerned me about who had learned of this vacant house, but it concerned me more that maybe it wasn't necessarily just a regular passerby.

When I got home from Jessica's, Charlie was on the couch ready for me to make dinner. Thankfully I had pulled out the chicken this morning, so it would be easy to whip up chicken enchiladas for him. The prep time would be a little long, but I already had all the ingredients for that dish. And it was warm. I diced up the onion and green peppers and shredded the cooked chicken, putting them into a saucepan. After that concoction was assembled, I put together the enchiladas and laid them in the dish. I poured the pre-made sauce over it and into the oven.

I didn't really want to wait in the kitchen all night while it cooked. I felt bored and annoyed at the same time. All my homework was caught up on, and I hadn't had really any other activities to do. I knew if I tried to call Jacob, only Billy would pick up the phone. I really needed to see him, I was going crazy with nerves and I just wanted to talk to him. I wanted to let whatever was on my chest out, and he was the person I wanted to talk to. It was my fault, though. I continued to take up his time on the weekends, so he had to make up the time for it. It was mostly irritating because he wasn't imprinted on me and it felt like I was more physically clingy to Jacob than Emily was to Sam. Not that it was a competition in any way, she did live with him. The idea of that sounded nice. Living with Jacob. I knew that wouldn't be any time soon, though. He was still sixteen and wouldn't be turning seventeen until next January, while I'll be nineteen by the end of this year and going to college. Ugh

The age difference was annoying in a way. He still had his teen years ahead of him while mine were counting down. Mine were pushing me out of this house, ready to move forward in life. But I wanted to move forward with him.

I silently sighed walking over towards the couch to see what Charlie had on the tv. It was just a basketball game played by a team that Charlie didn't care too much for. He was mostly just watching it because it was on.

"Bells, you okay?" I guess he heard it.

"Yeah, I'm fine, just tired," which wasn't exactly a lie.

"Did you have fun at Jessica's?"

"Yeah, she gave me a dress."

"For prom? I didn't know you were going."

"No, she just never wore it, so she gave it to me. We are going shopping Friday, though."

"Well, that's nice. You taking Jake?"

"That's the plan," I said nodding at him.

"I'm just surprised you're going, is all. You made such a big fuss about it last year."

"Yeah, I guess it's just high school nostalgia or something. It's not till next month anyways." It was in a way like high school nostalgia. Me having to move forward forever after June, and I was ready, but I wasn't ready to move on just, yet. Not with the unanswered situation I had here, with Jacob here. Jacob had to stay, and I would too to attend the college nearby, but it wasn't really what I wanted, entirely. I wanted to go somewhere else. I wanted to leave Forks behind; leave the memories for good. But I couldn't bring Jake if I wanted to, because he had to stay here. And for me to continue a relationship with him, I had to stay too. I've seen the movies, I've read the books. Long distance never seemed to work, and it had only been since Saturday that I had seen him, and I already felt alone without him nearby.

It was strange to feel this way. I've always been comfortable being alone. I had my mother growing up, but it was like I had to take care of her. I've never really had a problem entertaining myself, or ever felt truly solus when I had my own company… but then I met him… him… and I didn't want to be alone anymore. And then he left me, left me alone to succumb to the ghastliness atmosphere that my mind was clouding itself with; no emotions were present anymore. But Jacob had come into my life, and the void was partially filled. Being near him made me feel less vacant. My own company didn't suffice me as it used to. It was like I craved the attention, not just from anybody though. Just from one other person in my life. And now that attention was craved for from Jacob, and he couldn't fill it when I needed it the most. He had a busy life, much busier than my own.

I went upstairs to clean my room, stripping my bed sheets, grabbing the hamper full of my used clothing to wash. The enchiladas were taking over half an hour, so I had time to finish it up, or at least get them in the wash and tidy my room up. The vacuum was old, so it had a mildew like smell mixed with the scent of burning dust whenever it was turned on. It was unpleasant, but it still did the job. Lighting a candle would help anyways. All things can be fixed.

The enchiladas weren't as good as I had made them the last time. I couldn't figure out what ingredient I missed, but Charlie didn't seem to mind or notice. He was just happy to have an edible home cooked meal. If it had some flavor or meat, he was happy. It could just be because I'm making it for him that he enjoys it though. Charlie has always been easy to please which makes it favorable to live with him.

Jacob didn't call tonight, and it was making me anxious. I paced back and forth in my room, breathing in the aroma of the lavender vanilla candle that was burning on my nightstand to rid the room of the mildew burnt smell of the vacuum. It had made me feel calmer— the lavender. It forced me on my bed at the very least instead of pacing back and forth so much, but my mind wasn't fully relaxed yet. It had been filled with the idea of what Jacob was doing. Running through the woods? Check. Searching for vampires? Check. Outside my house? I checked the window to look, but no. He was not there. It made me feel glum to know that I shouldn't be expecting him at night. That opening my window wasn't an invitation because the invitation was never RSVPed. He was always busy, and it was my fault for taking up so much of his time the past few weekends. It was my fault that he was chasing down a vampire. It was my fault that a vampire was after me. It was my fault that his recent endless nights these past couple of months included chasing down a red head. A nuisance my own existence was.

I reached over to my nightstand to grab my portable CD player and my headphones. I decided to listen to the CD that Phil gave me for Christmas two years ago. The music was okay. It definitely had its loud ways to keep your mind off of anything. I already knew the lyrics of the songs from the last time I needed the distraction. I knew most of the chorus and hummed along to it, just moving my lips to the words.

I heard the washing machine downstairs beep, needing me to move the laundry over to the dryer. It was already so late, and I didn't have a new pair of sheets for my bed that were mine for that matter. I switched the laundry and pulled out some of Charlie's sheets and bedding from the linen closet. They weren't as soft as mine — very old and overly washed— but I could always change them back to my softer sheets and bedding tomorrow. I tucked the portable CD player into the front of my jeans, holding it compressed against my hips as I spread the bedding across the mattress.

The music at the point was starting to agitate me, so I decided to just turn it off and head to my computer instead where the email from the anonymous sender was still on the screen. I read it again, nit picking at each word used, each phrase. The attire seemed important as they stretched out the importance of not dressing casually, but nothing else really screamed at me besides the address. I knew the address was to the Cullen house, but it could very well be just a senior at our school throwing a party at a vacant house they found at the end of a long winding road that was isolated. It was the perfect setting for an underage drinking party. No cops, no parents, no neighbors to complain. Could get away with murdering someone and no one would be the wiser, especially when done by the owners of the house.

"So, who's that email from?"

I swiveled around in my chair quickly, losing balance in it as the chair legs quaked underneath the force. I had to grab hold of the desk to steady myself. It was Jacob standing there, a few feet of what was then behind me. I normally wouldn't have jumped at his voice, for I recognized it very easily with its deep but boyish huskiness to it, but I had been so deep in my thoughts that it did cause a short panic in me.

"H—how did you get in here?" I asked him in confusion, stuttering my words. I felt excited to see him. I now was out of my chair as I leaped towards him, baring my face into his clothed chest, wrapping my arms around his waist. He returned the warm hug, resting his chin on top of my head. I could feel him breath in the scent of my hair. Luckily, I had washed it this morning before I went to school.

He held me in his arms for a moment, swaying me back and forth. It felt so long that we had been apart, since we had almost clung our bodies fully together. "I knocked; I swear. Just took Charlie long enough to get off the couch to answer it. I hoped you'd noticed me when you were running around changing your sheets to the dryer."

"Oh, I'm sorry I was listening to some CD Phil gave me."

"It's fine. Anyway, Charlie said I could just come up— said you were up here. I would've knocked but your door was open, so it didn't seem like you were asking for privacy." Jacob now loosened the grip on our embrace. I looked up at him as he looked down on me, smiling.

"I just didn't hear you come up, you startled me."

"It's my superhero stealthiness," he teased at me, flashing his teeth with his full smile and a wink. I looked up at him, raising my eyebrow at the word he had used. "Yeah, I said it. Superhero stealthiness. I'm a superhero, I can say whatever I want." His expression grew ceremoniously but his eyes held that slight twinkle in the dark depths of his irises. He leaned his head closer to the monitor, trying to make out what the email entailed. He now had let go of me, and had his hand placed on the mouse scrolling up and down the screen.

"Anonymous?" Jake asked me, turning his head in my direction with a raised eyebrow, but the corners of his mouth had twitched. I suppose the mystery of it excited him a tad.

"Apparently, all the seniors this year at Forks specifically got these emails. We aren't supposed to tell anyone else, though," I said under my breath looking up at his smile.

"Why not?" He asked me, reading it over again.

I shrugged. "I mean, people just want to drink without getting the cops called on them or nosy neighbors butting in."

"Sounds like a blast. Mind if I bring some friends?" His eyes looked hopeful as the corners of his mouth turned and the whiteness of his teeth showed through between his lips.

"Well, that's the thing…" I spoke each word slowly, drawing out the sentence as I sat back down into the chair. I could feel my face begin to flush. I was nervous because not even I knew who was behind this email. All I knew was that it could possibly be one of them. Last time Alice was here, Jacob was not too thrilled by her presence, and I knew mentioning where the location of the party was would infinitely worry him. He'd most likely tell the others and they would go on a long search party for vampires around the area. But I couldn't lie. "It's at the Cullen house."

His fists clenched following his furrowing eyebrows. "Oh, yeah. I guess I shouldn't… invite the others."

"I— I still want you to come, Jacob. With me," I said trying to assure him. I didn't want him to believe that I would go to this party of old Cullen territory without him and run back into their arms.

"I can't Bella, it could be one of them. And if they are back, then we can't cross their territory. But it doesn't seem likely it's them." His face looked more puzzled than bothered now. His fists were unclenching, but his furrowed brows stayed the same.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, I don't know the exact rules, but I think they might have to tell us when they decide to come back here to stay. You know, so our paths don't cross."

"Well, have you, you know, smelled them at all?"

"No, not really I don't think," His face continued to look puzzled as he thought it through. I didn't want to intrude him to cause him more worry about it. I turned my chair around to face him. I wrapped my arms around his hips and leaned my face in against his stomach until his body fell completely relaxed. I could feel the ridges in his abdomen area also relax, as they rippled under my cheeks, unraveling themselves, but still staying firm.

"In other news," I said to him, trying to change the subject now. He looked down at me, stroking my hair as I kept my face pressed into him. "Prom is in a little less than a month."

"Okay…" Jacob said, laughing as he looked away from face. He unraveled my grip around his hips and laid both of my palms against my lap and walked away from me, towards the bed sitting on it. He looked at me, raising his eyebrow with a small smile quivering at the corner of one side of his mouth. "Well, I'm ready."

My gaze on him now grew wider. "Ready? Ready for what?"

"I'm ready for the proposal, of course," He laughed harder now, multiple barks of air heaving out of his chest as he looked at me, taunting me with his eyes.

"Proposal?!" I asked him. My breathing quaked saying the word aloud.

"Oh, I'm sorry… were you planning on taking someone to the prom?"

"Yeah, you…" I blurted out at him. What did he mean was I planning on taking someone? Of course, the only person I would have planned to take to prom with me was Jacob. I wouldn't possibly have considered the idea of attending at all if it wasn't for him.

"Okay, so ask me," the smile returned to his face as he grinned at me, baring his teeth like a child waiting for their parents to give them a new toy. He was teasing me. This is what Jacob was doing. He wanted to embarrass me.

"Jacob, do you want to—"

"No, no. That's not gonna work, honey." I could feel my cheeks grow red now as the blood hurdled under them, trying to break through the surface. His smile didn't fade now, nor did his poster on the bed. He had his hands folded on his lap as he had done to mine. "I want you to ask me the right way."

I knew what he wanted obviously. I knew he wanted me to embarrass myself, to get on both knees beneath him and ask him to prom like those guys do for their girlfriends in high school. He wanted a promposal.

I shrugged my shoulders at him, shaking my head. "You either go to prom with me or you don't Jacob."

He chuckled at my response looking down at his thighs and seared a breath of air through his teeth causing a high-pitched noise. He heaved out a sigh and lifted himself back off the bed, crouching onto the floorboards onto his knees, looking up at me. I raised my eyebrow at him as he continued to shuffle himself over to me slowly with that chagrin facial expression that hadn't left his face.

"Bella," He said with his husky voice, looking up into my eyes as he grabbed both of my hands. "I would love to go to prom with you." His white teeth escaped his lips again. He was so hopelessly beautiful when he smiled, and his laugh was contagious. I could feel my chest throbbing faster from his response, until he leaned his hand towards my cheek, pulling my face into his.

Our lips didn't connect, but they were close. We held our foreheads against each other, and the anticipation was causing me to ache, mentally and physically. I could feel the blood rushing through my body, causing my cheeks to heat up more than they already were, until I had leaped in, grabbing my hands onto his cheeks pulling him in.

Soft moans escaped his throat as our lips parted and moved together. I shifted my body closer to his, now trailing my fingers aggressively threw his hair that was starting to grow out longer. I pulled onto it, clutching a fistful of it into my grasp. I felt assertive. I wanted him, I wanted him now.

He lifted his hands away from my cheeks and now down towards the back of my neck, wrapping his grip down my spine, pulling my body closer to his. I swung my other arm around his neck, pulling our bodies closer until he grabbed his other hand under my thigh, lifting me up, wrapping my legs around his hips. I could feel my body being increased in height as he lifted me up, with his hands now clutched under my rear, squeezing it periodically as our lips continued to unlatch and then latch to each other. Adrenaline was coursing through me, causing my body to react to the hormones flooding my system.

"Oh, Bella," he continued to moan. His soft but husky voice pulled me closer to him. I couldn't detach myself. The heat of his body was radiating through my clothes forming beads of sweat down my neck as he detached his lips from mine. He was lightly pressing his lips to the side of my throat, kissing down my jaw line as I tiled my chin upwards. His grip against my rear was increasingly getting firmer.

His lips were now kissing down my chest, inching further down to the middle between my breasts. "Jacob…" I moaned. Jacob started to stumble back until his calves met the end of my bed, causing him to back further no more until he was sitting upon it. My body moved against his pelvis, more and more, but his grip on me was becoming more relaxed at each rhythm I made against him. I tried to edge him on more by pushing his face up to mine so that I could kiss down his neck, pecking the ridge of his jaw line as it grew sharper towards his chin.

I didn't feel nervous anymore. I knew what I wanted, and what I wanted was him. I wanted to force him against the bed; I wanted to force him to take his clothes off to reveal the bronze skin underneath the shirt he was wearing, but he gently pushed my face away from him.

"Bells," He said with my chin in between his fingers. His cheeks burned red with a large grin on his face. He looked towards the door and back at me. "Charlie knows I'm up here."

Oh crap. Charlie. The intensity of the moment had made me forget all about Charlie's whereabouts, or about the fact that we weren't alone in this house together. I was disappointed about another moment ruined by an inconvenience. Jacob wrapped arms around my torso tightly, pulling me into his warm chest with his lip against my ear.

"You don't know how badly I want this," His voice was out of breath as he whispered in my ear, and I knew we both were disappointed that the moment had to end, but I didn't escape from his lap. He pulled himself and me towards the headboard of the bed and we continued to intertwine ourselves together. I leaned my head against his shoulder, making small talk about what his plans were this weekend if he wasn't going to come to the party. We chatted about how Jessica, Angela, and possibly Lauren and I would be going to Port Angeles this Friday to pick out prom dresses, and Jacob continued to talk about the pack and their plans this weekend. He would be doing all night shifts on Saturday, but his schedule would eventually free up on Sunday afternoon. I was happy that we could finally hangout again other than tonight. I missed him immensely, and I was becoming agitated not having him around.

Apparently, Victoria seemed to no longer show her presence back here in Forks, it was as if she gave up or didn't care anymore about me. It didn't seem like it was possible, but as long as my friends were safe and my family, it didn't matter the reason. If she had decided to come back, I would probably make sure I would leave before she had the chance to hurt anyone in town. I would leave—leave to make sure they were safe.

I tried to hide my expression from him, looking away from the windowsill, but it wasn't my facial expression that bothered me. He too had something on his mind that was getting to him too.

"It was supposed to be rare," he said looking away from me. I noticed his thumbs were intertwining between each other, an obvious reaction to an anxiety entrapment. I didn't speak though; I didn't want to force what was on his mind out of him. I waited for him to speak. I could hear the change in rhythm of his heartbeat as it pounded through his chest. I kept my ear still and close against it, trying to not move.

"I didn't tell you before, but Sam isn't the only one who had imprinted on someone," he said softly to me. I was puzzled at his words, having to remember what he had mentioned before about imprinting. That it was kind of like a soulmate bond. "Jared, you know, transformed before I did. And when he did, he imprinted on this girl from school named Kim. He sat next to her every day for the whole year, but before he transformed, he had no relationship like feelings towards her. She did though," Jacob laughed dryly. "She had his last name tacked on to the end of hers all over her diary."

I shoved him in the arm, furrowing my brows up at him. "Hey that's private Jacob."

"Blame Jared. He's the one who thought of it while we were in wolf form. He spilled the business."

"I'm sure she wouldn't want you telling me, though."

"It's fine, Bella relaxed. You could only imagine how thrilled she was when she learned that Jared developed this protective bond instinct over her. She was over the moon." He chuckled at his obvious metaphor.

"Okay, but why are you telling me this now? I don't understand Jacob."

"It's Quil," he said with no emotion in his words or expression. His eyes looked dark, but they never glanced at mine.

"So what? He imprinted. That's good for him, right?"

"Sure, if you like being tied down to a two-year-old." I gawked at him in shock. I hadn't noticed that my hand was clung to my gaping mouth at his response. A two-year-old? Not even a child, but a toddler?
"Before you get judgmental, Bella. Please just remember this is Quill we are talking about. You know he would never develop romantic or sexual feelings towards a little girl, Bella."

"How could this happen?" I said, with my hand still covering my gaping mouth.

"It can happen at any point, Bella. No matter the age. It's always at first sight. He could've met her in the future when she was twenty years old and still imprinted on her. But his imprint was destined to be her, and Quil so happened to meet her at the ripe age of two." His face looked darker now, but more amused by my own reaction that was clear on my face.

"But she's a baby, Jacob." I protested to him. He returned a look of dark amusement towards me, and grinned.

"Quil's not getting any older," he reminded me, rolling his eyes. "He'll just have to be patient for a few decades."

"I… don't know what to say, Jacob." I was trying my best to not be critical. The idea of it horrified me. Nothing about the werewolves had bothered me before, but I guess I was used to weird stuff happening in my life, but this wasn't a topic I was fully prepared to have with him. Morals went along with it.

"You're making judgements," he accused. "I can see it on your face."

"Sorry," I muttered. "It just sounds really creepy."

"It's not like that, Bells. You've got it all wrong," Jacob said defensively. "I've seen what it's like, through his eyes. There's nothing romantic about it at all, not for Quil, not now." He took a deep breath, frustrated. "I've told you about what it's like. How gravity moves. Quil will be the best, kindest big brother any kid ever had. There isn't a toddler on the planet that will be more carefully looked after than that little girl will be. And then, when she's older and needs a friend, he'll be more understanding, trustworthy, and reliable than anyone else she knows. And then, when she's grown up, they'll be as happy as Emily and Sam."

"Does Claire get a choice here?"

"Of course. But why wouldn't she choose him, in the end? He'll be her perfect match. Like he was designed for her alone."

"So why are you telling me this now?" I asked him. I pondered what was really going on in his mind, but I already knew. Jacob hadn't imprinted on me, and with more of his pack imprinting meant that the idea behind imprinting wasn't as rare as it was said to be. That it could happen to him.

"Because it happened so easily. Emily brought her two nieces down for a visit, and just that new person here triggered his imprint."

"And you don't want that to happen to you." I replied. The statement I formed to him sounded more like a question than a statement itself.

"Bella, I love you. And Sam loved Leah, but the imprint on Emily diluted his mind, forcing him to love her more."

"I'm not going to stand in your way of you finding your soulmate, Jacob. I'm not going to be that selfish," I said, looking into his sorrowful eyes that held aggravation.

"You aren't being selfish. I don't want to imprint, Bella."

"And how do you plan on never imprinting if it isn't as rare as you believed it to be?"

"I don't know, Bella!" Jacob shouted with an acid tone. It was clear he was frustrated, and my questions weren't helping him. I should stay quiet and let him think it through, let him talk to me. This topic was clearly sensitive to him, but if his soulmate was out there, I would hate to be the one to keep him from that. I love him, but he's only sixteen. A sixteen-year-old doesn't know what they want for the rest of their life, or in that case, what person they want to be with for the rest of their life. It could be hypocritical for me to believe that considering that my world had revolved around Edward not too long ago, but I felt that a human and vampire relationship had a different meaning to it than a human-human relationship.

Jacob was still growing up, experiencing new things all at once. He deserved to be able to explore his options. "All I know is that I don't want to. I don't want to do what Sam did to Leah. He loved her, Bella. And this fucking bullshit of a wolf thing ruined it for them both. Sam feels like crap every day for what he did to Leah, but he loves Emily more. And Leah, well it's Leah. She's annoying but she's not wrong. It sucks that she has to be put in a situation where she is tied to her ex-boyfriend this way. Reading all his thoughts all the time, knowing that she didn't do anything wrong. The only thing wrong is this stupid imprint thing. I don't want to do that to you, Bella. And if it did happen to me, I wouldn't have a choice."

I gripped my arms around him more, pulling him into me. Jacob wrapped his arm under my neck and around my shoulder, pulling onto me as well, but more forceful than I did.

I sighed, succumbed to my own thoughts on it. "Don't worry, Jake. That won't happen."

"Bella…" He said my name slowly, as if the words he was about to follow with were going to be a touchy subject. "Run away with me."