A/N: Thank you for your reviews! Have I mentioned they make my day? It's the best. For serious. Also, SORRY it keeps taking so long to post. I'm working two jobs at the moment so please bear with me. More to come!

Chapter 11

I woke with Tad's arms around me. It was dark, and I felt stiff from lying at a weird angle, but I didn't remember why until I peeled my eyes open and realized we were still in Tad's car.

"Tad," I murmured. "What time is it?"

Tad gave a little mumble and shifted underneath me, his lips brushing my forehead. I couldn't tell if this was intentional or not, but it kind of made my heart feel like it was going to melt.

"Tad," I said again, attempting to sit up.

Tad's response was to tighten his arms around me, jostling me around until my head was tucked under his chin. Once he had me in place, he let out a contented sigh and went right back to deep, even breathing.

Okay, now my heart felt like it was going to burst. But I couldn't get rid of the nagging worry that had sprung up in my chest. "My curfew," I said, more urgently. "If I'm late, my dad'll be pissed."

"Wha-?" Tad said groggily. "What about your dad?"

Tad let me sit up this time, and I fished my phone out of my purse. My eyes widened at the display. "Shit. Shit!"

"What? What is it?"

"It's 11:59. Drive - DRIVE!" I said, scrambling over to the passenger seat. Tad jerked upright, yanking his seat back into place.

"Shit," he said, scrubbing a hand over his face. Apparently adrenaline had taken care of his drowsiness, because he looked perfectly alert now as he cranked the engine and threw the car into reverse. We both buckled up as he turned around and roared back down the dirt road. When we reached the main road, Tad peeled out.

I peered anxiously at my phone. 12:04. Augh. But after Tad whipped a little too wildly around the first curve, I said, "Don't go too fast. Dad'll be annoyed that I'm late, but if we got a ticket or something, he'd never let me drive anywhere with you again." I said it kind of jokingly, but we both knew I was serious. Tad eased up the gas.

"I'm sorry, Jesse," he said, scrubbing a hand over his face again. "I didn't mean to-"

"Don't," I said sharply. "Don't be sorry about any of it. I'm not."

Tad glanced over at me, then grabbed my hand, pressing a kiss to the back of it. We drove back mostly in silence. I texted my dad to let him know I was on the way, and had gotten back a terse "OK." By the time we got back, it was 12:27.

I inspected my hair and face to make sure I didn't look like I'd been doing anything inappropriate. Not that I thought we had been doing anything inappropriate. But I figured the more put-together I looked when I walked into the house, the more appeased my dad would be.

Tad pulled to a stop in front of the house and I leaned over to give him a quick kiss good-bye. "I'll call you tomorrow," I said.

"I think that's my line," Tad said, and got out of the car.

I climbed out of the passenger seat. "Um, maybe it's better if you don't walk me to the front door?"

Tad gave me a look like I was being ridiculous. "I promised I'd get you safely home." He took my hand again as we went up the front walk. My dad and Mercy were nowhere in sight, but when we reached the front stoop, Tad turned to the closed door and said, "I'm sorry I brought her home late, Mr. Hauptman. It was my fault."

"No it wasn't," I said, scowling up at Tad. "We just lost track of time."

Tad gave me a wry look, but he didn't argue. He just put his free hand to the side of my face and leaned down to give me a gentle kiss. It was a super chaste, parent-approved kind of kiss, but it still sank down into my toes, making me feel warm and tingly all over.

"Good night, Jesse," he said.

"Night," I said, feeling strangely floaty. Tad waited on the stoop until I'd gone into the house, and then I leaned back against the front door, waiting until I'd heard Tad's car drive off and my heart had stopped pounding crazy-hard in my chest before pushing myself upright and making my way upstairs.

My dad was waiting for me in the hall. To my relief, he didn't look like he was about to go all angry-wolf on me.

"Hey, Dad. Sorry I'm late."

He just nodded and looked me over like he was inspecting me for damage.

"Tad was a complete gentleman," I informed him. Never mind that my dad and I probably had different definitions of gentleman.

My dad took a deep breath, then let out a sigh that had a little bit of a growl to it, which I took to mean he'd scented Tad all over me. But I wasn't about to apologize for smelling like Tad, considering I'd been riding around in his car all night.

"This is going to keep going?" my dad said finally.

"Yes," I said. Or at least, it had better.

I didn't think my dad actually objected to me dating Tad, especially considering he'd given his permission and all. It was more that - even though we'd gone through this when I dated Gabriel - he was still unwilling to accept that I was old enough to date at all.

But hey, what kind of daughter would I be if I didn't give him a chance to feel all protective and fatherly every once in a while?

"Next time, don't be late," my dad said.

"I won't," I said cheerfully, and gave him a peck on the cheek before disappearing into my room.

I waited for my dad's door to click shut down the hall and all my noise-canceling fans to power up before flopping on my bed with a happy sigh and letting all the emotions and floaty sensations come flooding back in.

"Sixteen and a half days," Izzy said. "Oof. That's not very many. Any exciting plans for how you're going to spend them?"

"Mostly in denial," I said, taking a sip of my iced chai.

Izzy snorted in amusement. "Well, hopefully Tad has some ideas, then. You guys need to get in some killer dates before he ships back off to Hah-vahd."

"All of our dates are killer," I informed her. "Even the ones where we're literally just sitting around doing nothing." Which, actually, was what we'd done yesterday. We'd brought a blanket and some snacks out into the woods, set ourselves up in a secluded little clearing, and just lazed around all afternoon. There wasn't anything remarkable about it, except that the whole thing had felt super peaceful and kind of perfect.

"Ugh," Izzy said. "Look at you. You guys have only been together for like three weeks and already you're relationship goals."

I shrugged, but I couldn't stop a goofy smile from spreading over my face. I didn't want to get ahead of myself. But Izzy wasn't wrong.

It was possible that everything between us felt so perfect because the weeks preceding our first official date had been so incredibly hard and awful. But it was more than that, too. I could be myself around Tad, in a way I couldn't be around anyone else - not even Izzy. I mean, Izzy was the best, but there were still things she couldn't know, for her own protection.

And the more time I spent around Tad, the more time I wanted to spend with him. Which would have been completely embarrassing to admit, except that Tad clearly had the same problem.

Since our first official date, we'd made excuses to see each other almost every day. If Tad wasn't over at my house after school, then I usually came here to the Bean Counter, where I'd either hang with Izzy or do homework until Tad finished his shift. At which point we'd go hang out and/or make out in his car until it was time for me to go home for dinner.

On days we didn't end up seeing each other, Tad called to say good night, just like he had when he and Zee were out on their not-so-secret mission. I'd curl up on my bed while I talked to him. Sometimes I'd even shut my eyes just so I could focus completely on his voice.

Slowly but surely, I was becoming an addict. A Taddict. It was both pathetic and amazing.

It also meant that when we'd gone on our fourth date a couple weeks ago, Tad's news had been a complete and total heart-rending bummer.

Our first three dates had involved dinner, lunch, and brunch - "Gotta make sure we have all our meal bases covered," Tad had declared on the third date - so it wasn't until date #4 that we finally made it to the movies.

Theoretically, we both actually wanted to see the action flick we'd chosen. But not long after it started, Tad decided to be a complete and total distraction. He pulled up the armrest between our seats and put his arm around me, tugging me close. At first, he seemed content with just having me tucked up against him. But then he started doing things like playing with my hair, or tracing his fingers up and down my arm. At one point, totally out of the blue, he brought one of my hands to his mouth and kissed my fingertips.

I had no idea what had gotten into him. And while I wasn't super into PDA (everything got back to the pack eventually), we were alone enough in the mostly-empty theater, and I was keyed up enough from the way he'd been touching me that when he ducked his head to kiss me, I leaned into him, a shudder running through me as his mouth found mine.

"I thought you actually wanted to see this movie," I whispered when we broke apart.

"I do," he whispered back, tracing a finger down my cheek. "But I want to do this too."

He tipped my chin up and kissed me again. And because we were in the middle of a long, noisy action sequence, I let myself get lost in it. Maybe a little bit too lost. I was halfway in his lap by the time we broke apart again.

"We're gonna get kicked out," I said, breathing hard, and scooted back into my seat.

"You think making out is the worst thing that's gone on in this theater?"

"Ew. Please don't elaborate on that," I said. Somebody shushed us, and I sank back into my seat, folding my arms across my chest in an attempt to keep my hands to myself.

I turned my focus back to the movie. Or I tried to, anyway. I'd halfway managed to figure out what was going on plot-wise when Tad put his arm around me again and pulled me snug against his side. Well...fine. I hadn't really been able to concentrate on the movie while I'd been wondering if he was going to do that again, anyway.

He didn't try to make out with me again. But his thumb kept making slow circles against my shoulder, and toward the end of the movie, he started tracing the shape of one of my hands with his free one. His fingers ran up and down the length of mine until I felt like I had an electric current running up my arm, and then I twisted my hand around, twining my fingers through his.

It was a good thing the movie kind of sucked, because between all the distractions and wondering what on earth was up with Tad, I only caught about half of it. I was almost relieved when the movie ended and we spilled out of the theater, because now I could finally ask Tad what was going on.

"Do you wanna grab a milkshake?" Tad asked, before I got the chance.

"Sure."

We walked to this little ice cream stand down the street, where Tad was uncharacteristically quiet as we waited in line. He just held my hand, tracing his thumb over my knuckles over and over again.

I gave his hand a gentle squeeze. "Hey. What're you thinking about?"

"Milkshakes. You. Mostly milkshakes."

I rolled my eyes. "Glad to know where I stand in the scheme of things."

"Well, it's pretty hard to compete with frozen dairy," Tad said, and dropped a kiss on my nose.

We reached the front of the line and ordered. While we were waiting for our shakes, I said, "Seriously, though. I can tell something's up."

Tad was quiet for a moment before he said, "Milkshakes now. Talk later."

"Okay."

We grabbed our shakes to-go, and then Tad drove us out to his secret spot overlooking the river. It was far enough away from town that I'd finished my cherry-cheesecake shake on the drive out there. Which meant that once Tad had parked and killed the engine, I was able to turn my full attention to whatever was bugging him. I unbuckled my seatbelt and turned toward him, resting my cheek against the headrest. "So...what's up?"

Tad unbuckled his seatbelt, too - apparently we'd both learned that lesson from last time - and stared out over the river, nervously tapping the steering wheel.

"Tad?" I said.

He finally looked over at me. He opened his mouth as if to say something, but then instead he snaked his hand behind my head and dragged me toward him. I wanted to talk about whatever was bugging him, but I also didn't resist as his lips landed on mine. The kiss was hot and fierce, filled with a desperation I didn't understand.

The situation might have escalated quickly, except I broke away and said, "Tad. Seriously. What's going on?"

"I got into Harvard," he blurted out. "I mean - I'm going back to Harvard. They agreed to readmit me."

"Oh," I said dumbly. "When?"

"Next month," he said, resting his forehead against mine. "Spring quarter."

"Oh," I said again, and my heart sank all the way down into my toes.

So that was what tonight had been about. All the shenanigans in the movie theater, the epic kiss just now in the car...Tad was saying good-bye.

I pulled away, forcing him to disentangle his hand from my hair, and shrank into my seat. "Well...congrats," I said, swallowing the sudden lump in my throat.

"Jesse..." Tad said, sounding pained. "I'm sorry. I didn't think it'd be so soon."

"When did you think it would be, then? The fall?"

"At the earliest," Tad said, running an agitated hand through his hair. "But they said considering the circumstances of me leaving" - aka an unforeseen magical incident, against which I guessed the administration did not want to appear prejudiced - "they'd admit me back for spring quarter. And then if I came back for summer term, I'd only be half a year behind. So..."

"So you'll be gone all summer too," I said flatly.

I'd always known Tad would go back to school eventually. And of course in the fall I'd be going off to school, too. But even knowing all that, it didn't stop my gut from clenching or my eyes from stinging. I hated this conversation. I'd already had it once with Gabriel. I had no desire to go through it again.

"Jesse, I'm sorry," Tad said. "I really thought we'd have more time."

"So what was your plan, then?" I bit out. "Date me until the fall and dump me then?"

"What? No," Tad said, looking startled. "Jesse, I don't want to break things off with you."

"Because if you think - wait, what?" I said, blinking at him. "You don't?"

Tad looked at me I was crazy. "Of course I don't. Jesse, I would never have started this with you if I didn't think it was going to go anywhere."

"But...you just said you were sorry. You said you thought we'd have more time."

Tad's eyes widened. "I didn't mean it like that. I just meant I'm sorry the timing sucks." I watched his Adam's apple bob up and down as he swallowed. "Although...Jesse, if you didn't want to keep things going, I'd understand."

"Me?" I blurted out. "Why would I want to cut things off?"

"Because we've only been on three dates and long distance sucks?"

Well. Okay. "But we haven't only been on three dates, Tad. We've known each other for like a decade."

"Yeah," Tad said, scrubbing his hands over his face. "It's just...Boston is far, Jesse. And it wouldn't just be long distance for a few months. You're going off to school in the fall, too. And then it will be at least two years before-"

I put my fingers to his lips to shut him up. "I know," I said. "But...if you don't want to end things with me and I don't want to end things with you, then let's not talk about anything else. Let's just figure out how to make it work."

When I dropped my hands from Tad's mouth, he said, "It wasn't my idea, you know."

My eyebrows shot up in surprise. "To go back to school?"

"Yeah. I mean, I do want to go back, but to be honest...I haven't really been thinking about it. Not lately, anyway. My dad's the one who reached out to Harvard. He got them to make the exception."

"Zee did this?" I said incredulously. I knew Zee was capable of a lot of things, but I'd never pictured him as a meddler.

"Yeah. He can be kind of funny about time."

"Time?" I said, scrunching my eyebrows together. "How so?"

Tad let out a deep breath. "Okay. So my dad is basically immortal, right?"

"Sure," I said. "I have one of those, too."

Tad gave me a wry look. Yet another thing we had in common. Not that my dad was likely to live as long as Zee, what with the crazy-violent werewolf lifestyle and all. But if he and Mercy kept outsmarting their enemies, my dad would almost certainly outlive me. Something I tried not to think too hard about.

Tad cleared his throat. "Right. Well...I think something about my dad having lived so long makes him worry about me not having enough time. Like if I'm not careful, I won't have enough of it to do everything I want to do."

"Ah," I said. "I guess mortal lifespans must feel pretty short compared to Zee's." I didn't know how old Zee actually was, but I was pretty sure it was in the millennia. "So I guess he wanted to make sure you don't miss out on your youth, or something?"

"Yeah. Something like that. I think he also feels guilty I got dragged away from school in the first place. Not that it was his fault. But I think this is his way of trying to make amends for lost time."

I mulled this over before saying, "Well, for what it's worth, I agree with your dad."

Tad's eyebrows shot up in surprise. "You do?"

"Yes. I mean, I'm not saying I want you to be thousands of miles away, but you shouldn't have been dragged into any of this. You deserve to go back and live your life."

"My life isn't just in Boston, Jesse," he said quietly, in a way that made my cheeks flush.

"You know what I mean. College is where you're supposed to be right now."

"Yeah. I know. I guess it just felt kind of nice for once, being able to work and lay low without anyone coming after us. But Dad could see I was getting too comfortable here. Every time I thought about going back to school, it felt like something I was happy to put off. Dad made me realize the longer I put it off, the harder it will be to go back."

"Why?" I said curiously. "I mean, I get wanting to take a break from all the craziness. But I know school's important to you. And...college is supposed to be fun, right?"

"It is. Mostly, anyway."

"Wow. Glowing recommendation."

Tad gave a quiet laugh. "It's kind of a long story. I don't want to get into it just now."

"Okay," I said, giving his hand a gentle squeeze. "But for the record...if I'm going to be your girlfriend, I'd really like to hear it sometime."

"Girlfriend?" Tad echoed. To my relief, a smile spread on his face.

"Yep," I said. "I mean, I'm not saying we have to label it, but if you're going to be thousands of miles away and we're going to keep carrying on with this, then it would be nice if we at least-"

Tad cut me off by kissing me. My heart was pounding like crazy, and I couldn't tell if it was from excitement or fear. Maybe a little of both. Because Boston was far. And I was still in high school, and Tad would be off again soon, surrounded by college girls, and if this kiss meant what I thought it meant, then our relationship was officially about ten seconds old -

But as he buried his hands in my hair, I realized I wasn't worried about any of the things I might have been worried about with somebody else. Tad wasn't going to mess me around. Not just because of the threat of my dad inevitably tearing him limb from limb, but because that just wasn't the kind of person he was. He was brave and kind and fiercely loyal; lethal in a fight; smart and dependable and true to his word. I trusted him. And I wanted him.

So when we broke apart, I couldn't keep a goofy grin from spreading across my face. "So I take it that's a yes kiss?"

"That's a whatever label you want to slap on me, I'm in kiss," Tad said.

"Oh, reeeeally?" I said. "What if I want to call you Fancy Pants? Or Sugar Lips?"

"Those aren't labels. Those are nicknames," Tad pointed out. "And I would like to protest that I do not have fancy pants. My pants are completely normal."

I reached over and put my hand on his leg, squeezing his knee on the pretense of testing the fabric on his jeans. "Okay, fair point. So does this mean you don't object to Sugar Lips?"

"Only if you don't object to Butter Tongue."

"Butter Tongue?" I sputtered.

"No Butter Tongue? Okay, how about Candy Neck? Or Sweetie Loins?"

I let out a shriek of laughter. "Sweetie Loins? Okay, that's it. You are officially fired from coming up with any nicknames, ever."

"I disagree. I think my nicknames for you are super accurate," Tad said, and then he ducked his head and pressed a slow, hot kiss to my neck. "See?" he murmured against my skin, making my breath hitch. "Even better than candy."

He nuzzled my neck as his hand trailed down my side, squeezing my hip.

"Um, you are not testing out Sweetie Loins right now," I protested.

"Are you sure about that?" Tad said. His fingers skimmed the bare skin just above my waistband. The thought of his fingers dipping lower made me ache in a way that kind of scared me, so I batted his hand away.

"Yes, Sugar Lips," I said, and turned my head to kiss him again.

Tad gave a quiet groan, and then the hand that had been at my waist was splayed against my back, rubbing up and down my spine as we kissed, long and hot and deep. When we broke apart, he curled one hand in a fist around my hair, breathing hard as he rested his forehead against mine.

"This is going to be the worst part," Tad said. "Not being able to see you every day. Or touch you."

"We'll just have to invent a teleporter. Easy fix," I said.

He gave a quiet laugh. "I'll get right on that."

"Can I tell you a secret?" I said to Izzy.

"Always," Izzy said. She nudged her empty mocha mug aside so she could lean conspiratorially across the table.

I glanced across the Bean Counter to make sure Tad was still occupied with drink orders, then turned back to Izzy. "Sooo...I might have, kind of, sort of applied last-minute to a couple of schools in Boston."

"WHAT?" Izzy shrieked, causing several people to look our direction. I gave her a glare, and she lowered her voice, saying, "Sorry. I mean - what? When?"

"A few weeks ago," I said, fiddling with the straw in my iced chai. "Like, literally on the last day of the deadline. I re-used one of my essays and copied my recommendation letters, and...boom. Suddenly I'm a prospective student."

"So, wait. Where'd you apply? Harvard?"

"No. That wasn't an option. But Boston College was still open. And Boston University."

"Wow. This is crazy. And kind of awesome."

"Izzy, it's not anything yet. I don't even know if I'll get in."

"You will," Izzy said with confidence. "You have to get into at least one of them."

"I really don't," I said. "But even if I do...Iz, do you think it would be stupid to go?"

"To Boston? Well, that depends."

"On?"

"On whether you'll regret going if you and Tad break up."

I opened my mouth to respond, then closed it again. Finally, I said, "So you don't think it's stupid to want to go in the first place?"

"Nope," Izzy said, without hesitation.

"Really? Even though I'm literally only interested because my boyfriend lives there?"

Izzy cocked her head at me. "Look, Jesse, don't take this the wrong way, but you are the least decided person I've ever met when it comes to colleges. Not that there's anything wrong with this, but you don't have a dream school. You don't know what you want to major in. The only thing I've really heard you talk about is how relieved you'll be to start over someplace new where everybody doesn't immediately know you're related to a werewolf."

I dropped my head into my hands. "Augh. So many truth bombs."

"Not trying to stress you out. I'm just saying...if your only clear goals are to get a degree and get away from the Freak Zone, why not go to school in Boston? Yeah, it's all the way across the country and it'll be expensive going out of state. But honestly, Jesse? Just now, when you told me you secretly applied to schools in Boston - that is the most excited I've seen you when you've talked about college. Ever."

I lifted my head to peer at Izzy. "You make many great points. But isn't it pathetic that only schools I'm excited about are schools that are near my boyfriend, who I've been going out with less than a month?"

Izzy shrugged. "If it were somebody you'd only known for less than a month, then yeah, maybe. But it's Tad. You've known him forever. And anyway, I stick to what I said originally: if you think you'll hate Boston if you're not with Tad, then you need to rethink it. But if it's a place you can see yourself living and enjoying school, regardless of Tad, then why not go?"

Which was how, a month and a half later, I found myself on a plane ride out to Boston with my dad and Mercy.

I'd gotten into Boston University, and since my dad absolutely refused to let me commit to someplace I hadn't seen in person, we were making an official visit. I could tell my dad wasn't thrilled, and actually had the sneaking suspicion he was going to try to use the visit to demonstrate all the ways I'd be better off going to school back home.

But the important thing was that we were going. The countdown to see Tad was now in hours instead of weeks.

And I'd have the chance to take Izzy's advice out for a spin. If I didn't love Boston, if I couldn't see myself living there, then maybe it wasn't worth going.

But I really, really, really hoped it was.