A/N: thank you SOO much for the feedback everyone, I really appreciate it! Sorry this took me so long, I had horrible writer's block plus not having a lot of time because mid-terms are next week. So anyway, hope you enjoy!

Chapter 9

Jacob

As I stood there, unable to talk, it felt like my whole world had stopped once Brooke turned around and looked me strait in the eye. At that moment, all previous walls that I had built up around myself came tumbling down, leaving me wanting only one thing. Brooke. I'm sure she felt it too because her face shifted from looking utterly pissed to complete shock.

Max nervously shifted his weight from foot to foot. "…Come on…" He mumbled to his sister, pulling her arm so she would follow him inside but instead she shook him off.

"Give me a sec," She told him, her eyes never leaving mine.

Max sighed, "Fine, don't get too upset this time," he mumbled to her as he passed by and into their house.

The sound of the front door slamming shut behind him echoed through the quiet neighborhood as Brooke and I continued to stare.

"Brooke, I…" I began, but I was at loss for words so I took a deep breath, let it out and tried again.

"Brooke…..Do you wanna talk?"

She just continued to stare but bobbed her head up and down, telling me yes. I walked across the lawn and sat with her on the front steps of her porch. We sat in silence and I could hear her heart thrumming in her chest like a hummingbird's. I moved my hand over to be on top of hers, which was surprisingly warm. Brooke's gaze stayed transfixed out on the lawn, but her heart rate lowered considerably and she released the breath that she had been holding.

"Jacob, I'm tired of this."

"Tired of what?" I asked her.

"Of this, I don't know, this tension."

She took a big sigh and then looked over at me and then down at our hands. She slowly pulled her hand out from under mine. When she met my gaze, I knew she had put her guard back up, the one that had just so effortlessly fallen down mere seconds ago.

"What's up with you Jake?"

I wish I could have told her. About everything: Imprinting, being a wolf, how I missed her like hell all these years, how after the accident I was never the same, or even why whenever she walks into the room I can't help myself from staring. I wanted to tell her all of it. But I just had no idea how. I wasn't even sure that I did imprint on her. All I knew was that she was constantly on my mind and the most important thing in my life at this point.

Taking my silence as her queue, she asked me another question instead.

"How do you know my Dad?"

I sadly sighed. This would probably work as a good starting point.

"Our families are good friends. We actually grew up together, you and me." I told her.

She looked over to me, "Really?"

I nodded my head, "Really."

"Why haven't you said anything then? You haven't said a word to me since that first day."

"Well," I said, turning my gaze to the open skyline, "I had no idea how."

"You could have just told me. Nothing really surprises me lately."

"Oh yeah, right." I said sarcastically, "You would so not be creeped out if I came up to you randomly one day and told you that we used to be best friends and how I know practically everything about you." I turned to look over at her.

She cracked a small smile, "that does sound stalker-ish…But wait, what do you mean by 'you know practically everything'?"

"Well I do, really. Try me." I challenged her.

She thought for a moment, "What's my middle name?"

"Ava." I answered without thought.

"Favorite color?"

"That's a trick question because you have two: lavender and light green."

"Birth Mark?"

"In the shape of a choochoo train on the back of your right knee." I laughed, "anything else?"

"Yeah," She leaned forward and put her head on her hands, "Do you remember my mom?" she asked quietly.

I nodded again and gave her a sad smile, "yeah, I do. I would never forget Grace. She was like a second mom to me."

"I really wish I could remember her." She said slowly and carefully, "I really do, more than anything. It's just…the memories are so fuzzy." She gave a shaky sigh. "What was she like?"

"Amazing, Brooke, amazing. She looks a lot like you, you know. She loved you, Max, and your dad so much. She always thought about everybody else but herself. She used to lead your Girl Scout meetings and would always volunteer to go on school fieldtrips. Whenever my mom was sick and in the hospital she would always be there for me, to fill in the gaps. You and I would go over to your house every day after school and she'd make-"

"Chocolate chip cookies." She quietly finished for me. "Fresh out of the oven. We'd sit on the bar stools and try to eat as many as possible."

"Yeah. How did you know?" I asked, astonished.

She sat back up, "I've been having these dreams ever since the first night I've been here," she looked over to me, "but the constant thing in each of them is you, not her." She looked deep in my eyes, like she was searching for something, "For some reason," she said quietly, "It's like you're the key to my secrets."

Also, sorry its kinda short. I was going to add more, but I kinda liked how it ended so I decided just to continue into the next chapter. Im guessing some of you have caught onto my switching between Brooke and Jacob's POV's every other chapter. Im trying to show kinda whats happening on each side. Let me know if you like it, hate it, or anything else that I could improve. Complements/critiques are greatly welcomed :)

with love,

~Dani