Author's Note and a Refreshed Disclaimer: Short chappy, but you gotta love the fluff. Thanks for all of the wonderful reviews! But all of the reviews in the world cannot change one fact—I still don't own anything to do with Twilight. All I've got is Zander, but I'm okay with that. How's that for a disclaimer?

The metaphor of the week: You are the catnip inside my kitty's mousey that causes her to keep running.

Chapter 3

The first part of the walk out of the forest was done in silence—well, what with the exception of the time Zander fell over a branch and swore. They had been walking for quite awhile, but neither of them could think of anything to say. Glancing at her with what he hoped to be an inconspicuous look, he studied her. She had long, black hair that gently framed her firm, but beautiful, face. Her skin was tanned, and her eyes were a deep chocolate brown. A small smile appeared on his lips as he stared intently at her perfect neck that led to her shoulders. Completely preoccupied, which was a dangerous state of mind for him, it didn't take long before he, once again, went crashing to the ground.

Zander jumped up and brushed himself off, hoping—no, praying—that she hadn't noticed. After shaking his head quickly in an attempt to free his hair of any forest floor debris, he looked over at her.

The girl was just staring at him, solemn-faced and rigid. A smile lightly tugged at the corner of her lips, but she was able to restrain her laughter. "Well," she said, sounding as if the laugh was winning the fight, "I guess I know why I found you on the ground when we first met."

Zander smirked in an attempt to regain his cool. "You know, you shouldn't make fun of the terminally clumsy."

Leaning against a nearby tree for support, the girl started laughing. Even though her outward appearance seemed tough, her laugh was light and melodious. "Besides," he said, stepping towards her, "when you met me, I'd just fallen out of a tree, not tripped over a branch."

Wiping traces of tears from the corners of her eyes, she managed to choke out, "Now why—although I'm kind of afraid to ask—why were you up in a tree?"

Well," he answered, taking on the tone of someone who knew what they were talking about, "it is a well-known fact that those diagnosed with terminal clumsiness are often stricken with mild ihavenoideawherethehelliam disorder, leaving them completely helpless in the face of directions. I was merely trying to figure out where I was going."

"That may be the most idiotic thing I have ever heard."

"Why thank you."

"I'm sure only you would take that as a compliment."

"You don't even know me."

"Well then, tell me who you are."

"I'm Zander."

"I'm Raechel."

A new silence overtook them as they stared at each other. As if, now that their names had been said, an unknown barrier had been broken, Zander uncomfortably rubbed the back of his neck, and started walking again, but the girl stopped him. "Where are you going?"

He turned and looked at her blankly. "We were going this way, right?"

"…You really are directionally challenged."

"Did you ever doubt?"

Smiling, Raechel grabbed his arm and started pulling him along. "C'mon."

After a few moments of walking, she dropped his arm and stopped abruptly. Putting on a sheepish smile, Zander joked, "I promise it's not contagious. It's all hereditary, I swear." Raechel shot him an angry glare before stepping in front of him protectively. Craning his neck, he tried to see what had caused the sudden change. A tall man was standing in what seemed to be the entrance of another clearing. He couldn't see the man's face, but Zander thought he could hear a low growl.

"Raechel," the man barked, "step away from that… that thing."

Slightly taken aback at being called a thing, Zander started to protest, but Raechel held up her hand to stop him. "Jacob," she said, slowly backing up to Zander. "Calm down."

"Calm down?" the man apparently called Jacob roared. "You tell me to calm down! Do you even know what he is?"

With no answer, she turned to Zander for an explanation. His face had gone stern, and his eyes bored into Jacob. If this guy knew what he was, there could be a lot of complications, and Raechel didn't need to get tangled up in them. Yeah, he'd only known her for a few hours, but she'd actually laughed at his jokes; a girl like that didn't deserve to die. He stared back at Raechel and put on a weak smile. "Hey," he said, trying to use his most convincing and soft tone, "why don't you leave me behind? I'll be fine."

"No," Jacob growled. "She deserves to know what you are, Cullen."

"Cullen?" he mused. The name meant nothing to him, but it seemed to make the man ahead of him get angrier as he said it. Taking three long strides, the man pushed past Raechel and towered over Zander.

After only a second, the man's face switched from anger to confusion. "You're…" he voiced in a barely perceptible whisper. "… You're not him."

"Not who?"

With an almost pained look, he answered, "Edward. Edward Cullen."

Uh oh, now there was a name he knew; time to shut up. Something must have tipped Jacob off about what had gone through his mind, because almost immediately Jacob had grabbed him off his feet and started yelling at him. "Do you know him? What about Bella? Is she alright?"

But before Zander could answer any of these questions (well, lie, anyway), Raechel had decided to intervene. "Jacob!" she yelled, putting herself between the two of them. "Jacob, please stop it!"

Something about her made the man start to calm down. "Raechel," he pleaded in a worried tone, "go home."

"No! I will not go home until you tell me what the hell is going on!"

"Rae, he's dangerous—please, just listen to me."

Startling both of the men, she just started laughing. "Him? Dangerous? Come on Jacob, you can't be serious. That guy could hardly keep from killing himself!"

"Can't I just go home now?" Zander pleaded weakly.

The man's face turned stern, and then he forcibly dragged Zander forward. "No. Hasn't anyone in your cult warned you about werewolves?"

Almost at once, Zander's face went pale and Raechel's peals of laughter were put to an abrupt halt. "Jacob!" she almost shrieked.

"Oh," Jacob added, turning partially toward her. "You wanted to see a bloodsucker, right? Well, guess what? You were being hunted by one."

Zander tried to utter a word of protest, but Jacob's forceful yanking made it hard for him to catch his breath. He could vaguely see Raechel with her mouth hanging open behind him. Desperately, he tried to pull away, but to no avail. He was going to die now. Not only were his parents right, but they were really going to find his dead body laying in the woods tomorrow. All seemed hopeless—until the man let go of him. Zander, surprised but grateful, turned to walk away, but then caught a glimpse of what had made Jacob stop.

"Mom?"

Keep reviewing please! I dedicate this chapter to my cat, but I owe the fact that this chapter is up at all to the wonderful editor Min. PS. I so made my deadline.