Chapter Four

Collin seemed happy, even if he wasn't saying anything. Something about Jacob, she was certain, had made this boy look ridiculously, stupidly happy. Well, Jacob and her. They were walking still - silent, had hadn't spoken a word - out into the woods.

"Sorry. About the walking, and the milk. I just want some privacy." He told her quietly, as he settled on a fallen tree. She rolled her eyes from the canopy of the once mighty plant, down to the break. Nearly in the middle. No scorch marks, so it wasn't lightening...before she could contemplate it further, Collin grabbed her hand and pulled her a few steps closer.

When he was sitting, she was taller. It felt...empowering, to stand of this boy - man. He tilted his head back to watch her, eyes full of...something.

"You came back." He still sounded awe struck.

"I had to." She was practically whispering, watching as his brow furrowed in confusion.

"Why?"

"Because I had to know what...what happened to you." Her hand stroked some hair back from his face before settling on his cheek. "If you grew up. Went to school, got married. If you had kids." Her voice held a sort of urgency to it, one that drew his gaze from her lips and to her eyes. "In all the years I've been gone, I haven't had a steady boyfriend. A few flings, sure, but none of them were Collin. I had to know."

"I grew up. I finished school, but no college for me. Jake and Paul taught me about cars. I'm not married. I don't have kids. I don't even have a girlfriend." His turned his head against her head, pressed his lips to her wrist. "Laura..."

"Don't. Please, not yet. I just got back, Collin."

"Okay." He said simply, standing and hooking an arm around her shoulders. "I'd offer you my shoes, but they'd be kind of big." He looked down, grinned. "Also, I'm not wearing any."

Laughter bubbled up inside her chest, and she shook her head before resting it against his side. "That's okay. You can take my out for dinner to say sorry."

Looking thoughtful, Collin nodded. "You really should go get some hours from Jake though." He tapped a finger to his nose, lips pursed as he hummed. "And I have just the perfect place."

What Collin didn't know was that Emily and Sam's house was not going to be the perfect place to bring his long lost fling for dinner. It was the absolute worst place. If only Collin had gone to Jacob first, before deciding it. Because then he would have known that imprints don't take kindly to non imprint couples, and that Leah wasn't going to be impressed.

Paul, years later, would tell Collin that sometimes you had to learn lessons on your own.

Still, Collin really wished someone had given him some warning, because that dinner did not go well. At all.

ZZZ

An: Yes, short. I suck. I know. Like I said, these chapters will be short. And yes I will be posting the dinner up soon. It'll be the next chapter, promise. Also it will be longer than this.