Chapter Thirty-One

For as much as she teased Jared, Kim was also dreading school starting up again. However, the reason she was dreading it was very different from Jared. In fact, her reasoning was the exact opposite of his.

Kim didn't want to spend so much time with Jared at school.

And yes, she was quite aware that putting it like that made her sound like a horrible person. That didn't stop it from being how she felt, though. If Kim could just spend all of her school hours not making any contact with Jared, then the world would be a better place. Well, maybe not better…but definitely easier.

Last May when Jared and Kim were first getting to know each other under the guise of being study partners and he invited her to sit with him and Paul during lunch, she was overjoyed. Kim's crush on Jared was longstanding by that time; actually getting to spend time with him, for however long it lasted, was basically a dream come true, as pathetic as it sounded. But that didn't mean she didn't hear all of the whispers, all of the people wondering what she was doing with the likes of Jared and Paul.

Before phasing, Jared and Paul had each been popular enough in the small tribal school. Being gone without a word for several weeks and then coming back looking completely different and spending time only with each other while they ignored their old friends, only made them stand out more. So of course people would notice when someone else started spending time with them, even if it was only at lunchtime.

And Kim hated it. She hated people talking about her and she hated being noticed in the first place. And she did not want to go back to all of that once school started up again.

But therein lay the real problem. Kim was more than happy to fly under the radar, just like she'd been doing for most of her life, but she really didn't want to not spend time with Jared. Yes, doing so—or rather, not doing so, she supposed—would be familiar, comfortable in the dreaded high school setting. But she also really liked spending time with her boyfriend.

A small part of her brain was telling her that this internal dilemma she was having was rather pathetic, but the more vocal part of her mind told her it was a problem of epic proportions. Being a teenager really sucked sometimes. Being indecisive at the most inopportune of times didn't help either.

What she really needed right now was to just get her act together. And even though that really vocal part of her brain was basically screaming at her, that rational part wasn't completely drowned out. Because Kim knew what the good choice was here.

Maybe…maybe it was like how Jared explained their imprint to her months ago, when he said they became friends first because that was what she really needed. What she clearly needed right now was to get over her aversion to anyone taking any kind of notice to her, especially in public places. And that was what her imprint was going to do for her tomorrow whether she liked it or not—and whether he knew it or not.

Because tomorrow she was going to go to school with Jared, and she was going to let him walk her to every single one of her classes when he inevitably popped up during the passing periods, and she was going to sit with him and Paul at lunch. And even though she was sure there would be a lot of stares directed her way as a result, and potentially some crazy rumors if people's reaction to Jared and Paul at the end of last year was anything to go by, Kim was going to do her best to not let it affect her.

Because she and Jared cared about each other, and she was more than entitled to spend time with her boyfriend if that was what she wanted to do, and gossipy high schoolers shouldn't affect that.

School the next day ended up being exactly like Kim thought it would be…except with a little surprise.

Yes, everyone (or so it seemed, at least) stared as Kim Connweller and Jared Cameron walked through the halls together hand-in-hand.

But Kim found herself surprisingly uncaring about that. Because that morning Jared finally got his act together and picked up his class schedule, only to discover that they had more than half of their classes together this semester. Small schools with limited resources were a godsend as far as Kim was concerned at the moment.

Because just like she'd suspected—but was unwilling to fully admit to herself until it actually happened—all of the staring and whispers were barely noticeable with Jared by her side.

She really did love him.

Wait. What?

Kim brought herself out of her pondering to consider the words that had so easily slipped across her mind. Then she smiled to herself.

Yes. Yes, she did love Jared.

She'd been working up to that conclusion for some time now, and the ease with which she thought about it made her realize something: yes, she was definitely in love with Jared, and it was now far past time she told him so.

"What are you smiling about?" A voice hissed from her right.

Kim started in surprise, glancing to her right to see Paul frowning from his place squished into the seat beside hers.

"Nothing," Kim muttered softly, glancing around to make sure their teacher wasn't paying them any attention; they were supposed to be silently working on the review problems he'd set, after all.

"Hate to break it to you, but no one smiles like that for no reason while they're doing math," Paul stated, and Kim could feel her cheeks heating up in embarrassment.

Paul smirked now. "I know that look. You were thinking about lover boy, weren't you?"

"Shut up," Kim hissed at him, resolutely turning back to her math work. That didn't block out the sound of Paul's sniggers, though.

"You should hear how he constantly thinks about you while we're on patrol," Paul began, but was suddenly cut off by their teacher.

"Mr. Lahote and Miss Connweller! I distinctly remember specifying that the work was to be done silently. Don't make me assign you two detention in the first week of school."

Even more embarrassed now, Kim muttered an apology before shooting Paul a glare for getting her in trouble (he replied with his trademark cocky smirk, the asshole) and then did her best to focus on the worksheet in front of her.

But of course her mind kept wandering back to Jared.

She really did love him. Now to actually tell him...

The first two weeks of school passed quickly, and before Kim knew it, she was waking up on the second Friday of the year to the feeling of a large projectile landing on her bed and then jumping onto her back. It was a rather painful way to be woken up.

"Kimmie!" Kylie fairly shrieked in Kim's ear. "Kimmie, wake up!"

"It's too early for this," Kim moaned, pulling a pillow over her head as Kylie began to jump on the bed (thankfully avoiding Kim's back this time).

"But Kim-mie," Kylie drew out the second syllable in her sister's name. "You have to get up. It's your birthday!"

Kim paused. As a confirmed non-morning person, the significance of today's date was the furthest thing from her mind when she was oh-so-delightfully (note sarcasm) awakened just a moment ago.

She lifted her pillow slightly and cracked one eye open to look at her still-bouncing sister.

"Did you bring a peace offering for waking me up?" Kim questioned.

"Mommy says no presents 'til later," Kylie recited dutifully, thankfully finally bringing her bouncing to a halt.

"Darn, it was worth a try," Kim muttered.

But before she could replace the pillow over her head, Kylie spoke up again.

"There's a surprise downstairs for you!" She announced. "I'm not allowed to tell you what it is, but there's a surprise. Mommy says you should get dressed for school before you come down."

Well Kim was certainly intrigued by that, she decided as Kylie scampered off her bed and out of the room. While their mom always made a point of making their birthdays special, actually planning out and carrying through with surprises was not her strong suit in the slightest.

And so Kim stumbled out of bed in a rush, quite certain she set some kind of world record for how quickly she got ready for the day because less than five minutes later she found herself following her nose into the kitchen, the scent of bacon luring her there.

"No offense, mom," Kim said she entered the kitchen, "but you make me breakfast every birthday, so this is kind of a lame surprise."

Katie turned away from the stove to smirk at her daughter. "It got you up quickly though, didn't it? Besides, this isn't actually your surprise."

"That would be me," A familiar voice spoke from Kim's left.

She turned to see Kylie and Jared seated side-by-side at the kitchen table, both with heaping plates of food in front of them. Kim narrowed her eyes slightly.

"Not to sound like a broken record, but you're kind of a lame surprise, too, Jared," Kim informed her boyfriend teasingly. "I see you every day."

"You're sounding rather ungrateful today, Kim," Jared informed her, though she didn't miss the sparkle of amusement in his eyes.

"That's what tends to happen when you send a hyperactive child to wake me up and lure me out of bed with the promise of spectacular birthday surprises," Kim retorted promptly. Then she caught sight of the clock hanging on the wall behind him. "Ugh, and it's a half hour earlier than I normally get up. I'm not sure bacon is worth less sleep."

"Kim!" Katie gasped in mock shock. "How can you even say something like that?"

"I'm totally with her on this one," Jared chimed in, gesturing towards Kim's mom while Kylie continued to cheerfully shovel food into her mouth (seriously—that kid was a bottomless pit). "I feel like I don't even know you anymore."

"Shut up," was Kim's only quick-witted reply.

Once Kim to the other seat by Jared at the round table, Katie brought over the remaining two plates of food, and the four ate a companionable breakfast together. And forty-five minutes later, once everyone was done eating and the dishes were put away, Kylie went to put her shoes on while Katie went to finish getting ready for work. This left Jared and Kim standing alone in the kitchen.

Kim was just about to ask Jared if he planned on walking to school with them, when he surprised her by grabbing her hand and pulling her into his embrace and a kiss that left her breathless.

"Happy birthday, Kim," He spoke softly once they separated, lifting a hand to brush a stray strand of hair behind her ear. "You look beautiful today."

"You say that every day," Kim replied just as softly, an embarrassed blush tingeing her cheeks pink. Although, admittedly, she was kind of starting to hope his kisses would always have that effect on her.

"You become more beautiful every time I see you," Jared replied instantly. "Now, I do actually have a bit of a surprise for you: I'm driving you to school today. You and Kylie. And you can't say 'no' because it's a birthday treat and I'm going to be all sorts of offended if you reject it."

Kim's lips twisted in a small grin. "Well, that doesn't leave me with much of a choice, now, does it?"

Throughout the school day, Jared kept popping up to do little things for Kim that he kept calling 'birthday treats.' It was small things, really, like walking her from her third period class to her fourth ("Yes, I know the classrooms are right next door to each other, but I was feeling some separation anxiety and thought you wouldn't mind"), and brining her homemade cookies for lunch ("Not to worry, I swear my mom did most of the work; I've become quite proficient at stirring, though"), and even showing up outside of her last class of the day with a bouquet of flowers ("Alright, yes I clearly did just ditch class to go get these, but it was P.E. and we all know that's basically the most pointless class I'm ever going to take").

Honestly, Kim found it all rather endearing. It was by far the best birthday she ever had—and the day was only half over. And it was all thanks to Jared. Any lingering reservations left over from the beginning of the year were most definitely long gone by now. Jared was perfect and he was hers and she was never letting go.

"The flowers are lovely, by the way," Kim said, lifting the bouquet to her face and inhaling deeply as she and Jared walked hand-in-hand to his car. "Daisies are my favorite."

"I know," Jared said simply.

"So," Kim began, changing the topic, "Are you coming for dinner tonight? I'd actually invite you, of course, but you and my mom seemed awfully chummy this morning, so I'd imagine she already invited you over herself."

"She didn't, actually," Jared said shortly, a small grin appearing on his face.

"Oh," Kim was slightly taken aback. That was very unlike her mother. "Do you want to come over, then? Mom usually brings food home from the diner, and she'll make a cake."

Kim looked at Jared expectantly as they came to a stop beside his truck. She had a feeling this would be a no-brainer for him. There were two things Jared enjoyed above all else (she knew because he mentioned it rather frequently): spending time with her and eating food. (And it was usually ranked in that order, too.)

"Actually, I have other plans," Jared replied easily.

Kim felt her face fall. He wasn't obligated to come over to celebrate her birthday, of course. It was perfectly understandable that he had other things to do; in fact, she was nearly positive 'other plans' meant patrol, which was definitely more important than eating take-out for her birthday. But that didn't mean she wasn't going to be at least a little disappointed; Jared was her boyfriend and he had been making a huge deal about her birthday all day long, after all. She figured that he would want to spend as much of the day with her as possible. But it was alright if that wasn't going to happen; she was more than happy to spend her birthday with just her family (well...mostly happy).

"Oh my god!" Jared exclaimed suddenly, his eyes widening in what appeared to be panic. "No! Oh my gosh, no, sorry! I didn't mean it like that!"

"…what?" Kim was confused. Did she miss something? What was he apologizing for?

"I have other plans," Jared said again, but more pointedly this time, "But with you. I already have plans to do something else with you. For your birthday. It's your birthday present, actually. I'm sorry, I probably should have mentioned that sooner."

"Yeah, probably," Kim agreed, equal parts relieved and slightly embarrassed that he caught on to the reason for her disappointment so quickly.

"My bad," Jared said sheepishly. "That's okay though, right? That I made other plans? I asked your mom if she minded, and she thought it was a good idea. But we don't have to go, if you don't want to. I don't want to ruin your birthday traditions or anything, it's just…this was the only weekend…and I really thought you'd like it and—"

"Jared," Kim cut him off with a laugh, her brief disappointment easily forgotten, "Calm down, it's alright. I'm impressed, actually. If you got my mom to agree then what you have planned really must be good."

"It is," Jared nodded eagerly. "Or, at least, I think so…hopefully."

"Am I allowed to know what it is?" Kim questioned.

"Oh, well, yeah, I guess so." Jared released her hand and turned to open the passenger-side door so that he could rummage through the glove compartment. After a moment, he emerged with a triumphant grin, holding an envelope with a bow on it out to Kim.

"Happy birthday," Jared said happily as he handed his gift over.

Kim smiled at him in thanks before turning her attention to the envelope now in her hands. It was a plain, legal-sized envelope, nothing out of the ordinary save for the bow he stuck on it. She was curious to see what it could contain, though, considering how nervous he'd been about whether or not she would like it.

Deciding not to prolong the suspense—and man did Jared look nervous again already—Kim flipped the envelope over and easily lifted the flap, reaching inside to pull out the envelope's contents.

Two narrow, but thick, slips of paper. Tickets.

Jared got her tickets for something?

Now Kim flipped the tickets over so she could read the writing on the front.

And that was when her heart stopped.

No.

He didn't.

Slowly, Kim lifted her gaze to stare at Jared disbelievingly, too speechless to actually voice the thoughts racing through her head.

"You hate it, don't you?" He questioned immediately. "I wasn't sure if you would like it, but it seemed like a good idea at the time. I even thought we could make a whole weekend of it. You know, drive down to Seattle after school—that's why Paul is picking Kylie up today, by the way. And I even reserved a hotel room—your mom packed a bag for you already; she was actually really supportive of the whole trip surprisingly. Although, she, uh, also gave me a rather long and very awkward talk about safe sex. But she really thought this was the perfect present for you. But, I mean, if she was wrong—if we were both wrong—I can totally get you something else. It's no problem, really."

The completely sincere earnestness finally snapped Kim out of her daze.

"Jared," she said lowly, cutting into the middle of his ranting for the second time in a matter of minutes. His mouth immediately snapped shut. "Did you really get me tickets for the Seattle Comic Con this weekend?"

"Er, yes?"

And that was when Kim launched herself at Jared, wrapping her arms around his neck so tightly that there was a vague awareness in the back of her mind that she may be cutting off his oxygen supply. There were more important things on the line at the moment, though.

"I love it!" She exclaimed. "It's perfect! This is the best gift ever! Don't you dare suggest getting me something else. Actually, never get me anything ever again; all of this must have been crazy-expensive and besides, nothing is ever going to top this gift. Never. Have I mentioned yet how much I love it? Jared, you are the most amazing boyfriend ever, and I love my gift, and I love you, and this is by far the best birthday ever, and I'm just so excited!"

Kim barely paused for breath in her excitement. And when she finally finished speaking and pulled back slightly from the death-grip she had on her boyfriend—for once actually on eye-level with him since Jared's arms wrapped around her when she basically jumped him and were now supporting her weight as she clung to him—there was an ear-splitting grin on her face.

Jared's face, however, was frozen, his expression one of pure shock.

"Jared?" Kim questioned after a brief delay in which he remained frozen.

"Do you mean it?" Jared finally rasped out. "You love me, too?"

"I, well, yes," Kim stuttered, belatedly realizing what she'd let slip out. So much for picking the perfect time to tell him. Then, more firmly and completely resolved, "I do mean it. I love you. I've loved you for a while and it's taken me far too long to actually tell you. But it's true. I love you, Jared Cameron."

And with that, Jared crashed his lips to hers, his arms tightening around Kim in her favorite kind of embrace.

Yes, this was definitely her best birthday ever, by far.

a/n-This chapter took far longer to write than I thought it would, so my apologies for that; I'm very distractable. Also, because I like to make things as accurate as possible, I feel the need to inform all of you that I changed the dates of the Emerald City Comicon above to fit better with the timeline of this story. I wasn't really expecting anyone to tell me it's actually supposed to be in March-ish rather than September, but now you all know I changed it on purpose anyway. You're welcome.