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This is a seriously important chapter that I love. :P You'll see why...

Chapter Five

Embry's POV

Her smile was the most amazing thing I had ever witnessed. Imagine an angel, with long hair that went a little past her shoulders and dark, sparkling eyes, spreading her shiny, full lips into a perfect smile. I wished I could pause time and just stare at her. True, I hoped I could be alone with her, without her boyfriend or Jake or even the amount of grease around here, but I still couldn't believe that she was sitting right in front of me, talking to me. That person was my true soul mate, and she was right here. I would do anything, no matter how impossible it might seem, to be with her for the rest of our lives. Just looking at her smile, I vowed to love her, protect her and keep her happy for the rest of being. I wanted that smile to last forever.

Much to my disappointment, it was replaced with a shaky grimace as soon as Matt told her someone was here. My brain glitched for a second. Who? Who was here? Did she tell someone to meet her here? Was that why she was all dressed up, looking as hot as ever? To meet him, whoever he was?

She looked at me apologetically. "Look, I'll explain," she promised, "But for the meantime, just -" she glanced at Matt and then at me, "Stay close, alright?"

Was it just me or was everything suddenly disordered? I couldn't understand a thing and seeing by how fast she went up and out of the garage I didn't have time to understand anything either. She straightened her dress, flipped her hair and waited in front of the garage for a couple of seconds until a tall kid, about eighteen by the looks of it, joined her. She kept her distance and didn't touch his outstretched hand, much to his obvious dismay. Matt leaned close to me. "He's her ex," he said, "Just stay where she can see you because she could use as much support as she could get at the moment."

"Why?" I asked.

"Just stick around. I can't really tell you much."

I huffed and went out to stand a couple of meters away from them, so only she could see me and he couldn't. They both stayed silent for a while, just staring at each other. She had that look on her face - a look that strived to be confident and careless but on the inside, I knew, I just knew, that she was shaking with fear. What the hell has he ever done to her to scare her so much?

"Look at you," he said, "You miss me, don't you? Is that why you're all dressed up?" She crossed her arms over her chest, silent. He approached her face with his hand and she backed away for a moment, but it didn't stop him from pulling a strand of her hair behind her ear. She winced, for some reason and I growled. How dare he touch her when she obviously didn't want him to?

"What do you want?"

He had a hand on her neck and he leaned closer to her like he was going to kiss her. Her breath audibly caught up in her throat and she bit her lip. But instead of kissing her, he leant close to her ear. "You owe me, you lying bitch," he whispered and kissed her earlobe before backing away. A tear slid down her cheek and it took me all the control I ever learnt to stay in my place and not beat him up. I was shaking so hard that even Jake noticed it and from his place in the garage, he mouthed, "Stay cool."

I glanced at Matt, wanting to see his reaction and his jaw was clenched, his hands balled into fists. I might not exactly like the guy but seeing this reaction on him pleased me just a tad. Mary looked at the kid with begging eyes. "What did I ever do to you?" she breathed.

"Ha. Let me count," he said, "You lied to me about loving me. Remember when you used to say that you loved me so much you would do anything for me?" He trailed his finger on her forearm, "And when I asked for one simple thing..."

"I wasn't ready," she said, her voice choking, "And you got what you wanted in the end, didn't you?"

"But then you left me, Mary," he said, "You left me when I told you not to. You left me when I needed you."

Her hands gripped her elbows while her arms were crossed. She looked away from him and at the sky. "Do you even know why I left you?"

"Honestly? No. I treated you like-"

She cut him off. "Like a fucking slave. You threatened me, you treated me like shit, you got every fucking thing you wanted from me whether I liked it or not." Her voice was menacingly cool. "I barely slept. I barely saw my friends. I barely had a life. You took away everything I had and gave me nothing in return, Jackson."

I was shaking so hard. Extremely hard. If it wasn't for Jake's alpha order to stay cool I would have phased right there and then and killed that asshole. No, I wouldn't have killed him. I would have tortured him, torn away his limbs, burnt him and made him beg for me to kill him. And, trust me, I wouldn't have had any kind of remorse or regret after doing that. None.

Matt was standing right behind her, pretending to look the other way but his fists were reddening from pressure. By the non-surprised look on his face, I had a sense he already knew about Jackson - enough that her words didn't simulate any kind of surprise from him.

Jackson's reaction was immediate. He didn't yell. All he did was slap her and pull on her hair, pulling her close to him. "You fucking bitch. I would have done anything for you."

"Stay away from her!" I yelled, yanking him away from her from his shoulder. She screeched a little as he pulled on her hair one more time before releasing her.

Matt walked out and grabbed her arm. "Get inside."

She looked once more at us, then at Matt before running inside. I could hear her dry sobs and it enraged me even more. I turned around to face Jackson, who pushed my hand away. "What the hell?"

Without talking, my fist connected with his face. He backed away slightly and I took a step forward. "Listen, you son of a bitch," I hissed, "If you ever try to see her or talk to her again I will kill you."

He tried to push me back but I didn't budge. "Mind your own business!" he said, wiping away the blood from his nose. "This is something between me and my girlfriend."

"Mary is not and will never be your girlfriend, Jackson," Matt said calmly, crossing his arms over his chest. "I suggest you go away now and not try to contact her again."

"Or else...?" Jackson asked mockingly. I growled.

"Or else we file for a restraining-"

I cut Matt off. "Listen, Jackson," I growled, taking a step closer to him, "I've killed before." Killed vampires, yes. "So don't you think for a second that I would hesitate to hurt you."

He took a step back, looking behind me at Mary. "Slut," he mumbled and got in his car. I turned to Mary, finding her sitting on Jake's chair with a bottle of water in her hand, courtesy of Jake. Her hands were trembling, her hair falling down to cover her face. Before I could make it to her, Matt had already rushed by her side and taken her into his embrace. Jealousy burned in my chest and if Mary wasn't there, if I wasn't trying to get as much time with her as possible, I would've ran away and phased. While she was hugging him she was looking at me, mouthing a 'thank you'. She patted Matt's back. "Thanks for being there for me," she whispered in his ear, "I appreciate it."

"I'll always be there for you, Mary," he whispered, "No matter what, alright? But I - I - gotta go now, I'm sorry. I have this practice thing for tennis..." He broke their hug.

"But - But it's Monday..."

"It's an...emergency thing, for the match next...Thursday," he said hesitantly.

She nodded. "Sure, go ahead. I'll take a cab home."

"You sure?" he breathed, patting her head, "'Cause I can cancel -"

She shook her head. "Don't. Please go," she said. "Thanks for everything."

He turned the other way, facing me as he got out. He patted my shoulder as he did. "Thanks, man. Take care of her." His eyes were red, his voice strained. I nodded and he took off in his Audi. I didn't wait for him to leave before I went to the crying beauty in the garage. I knelt down in front of her.

"Is everything okay?" I asked. "Do you need anything...?"

She looked at me, her eyes full of tears. "Thank you, Embry," she said, "Thank you so much. I owe -"

"You don't owe me anything, Mary," I insisted.

"But I do. You -"

I smiled at her simplicity, trying to lighten the mood. "Well I know a way you could repay me..."

She blinked away the tears in her eyes and stared at me, her face breaking into a small smile after a while. "How can I?"

"Dinner. With me."

She grinned. "Oh?"

"Mhm."

"As in a friends thing or..."

More than friends, I wished, but I knew I couldn't ask her that. I didn't want her to feel like she was going out with me, as more than friends because she owed me. I could wait for her forever. "Friends, sure. Whatever you like."

She smiled and nodded, running her hand through her long, wavy hair. "Ah damn." She stretched her arms beside her. "Do you know any place where I can get some chocolate around here?"

I grinned at her. "Why don't you come with me and we'll get you some chocolate?"

"Awesome," she said and got up, walking with me to my bike. Today was my day off here anyway, the only reason I came was for Mary so I was sure Jacob wouldn't mind. Because she wore a dress, I made her sit in the front, so that she faced the right. I sat right behind her, stretching my arms on both her sides. She looked at me, blushing, as the bike roared to life. She clung to my t-shirt as we got out of the parking lot and into the main street. As soon as we stopped accelerating her hand relaxed on my shirt, but she still clung to it slightly.

"There's this place two blocks away - a small candy shop I guess," I said, not even trying to hide the happiness in my tone. "But I was thinking more of a restaurant. What do you think?"

"The candy shop sounds cool."

"Okay then," I agreed, "Whatever you want."

We stayed silent for a moment until I stopped in front of the shop. She stayed seated, looking at me. "Look, Embry, about Jackson..." she trailed off and I kept my mouth shut, waiting for her explanation, "I'm sorry. You didn't have to see this."

"Mary, don't - it's okay," I reassured her. "I don't mind looking out for you."

Her eyes connected with mine. "But you don't have to - I mean, I just met you a couple of days ago..."

I half-smiled at her. "You have no idea." I breathed, too low for her to hear. "Mary?"

"Hm?" Her eyes were dreamy. They made me feel like I could stare at them forever.

"I'll always look out for you," I whispered. Our faces were so close I could feel her breath on my mouth and it drove every cell in me crazy. I inched a little closer to her. "Always, Mary."

She licked her lips. "But why?"

Because I imprinted on you. Because you're the center of my universe. I breathe you. I live for you. My utter goal in this life is to be with you, to protect you, to be everything you ever needed. I am your genie, Mary. I can be whatever you want me to be. But I couldn't tell her that, could I? If I wanted anything to ever happen between us the last thing I needed was to scare her off, or overload her with information she could easily live without. I was not about to take her life away from her. I was not about to become another Jackson.

But when I leaned closer, and I gently kissed her lower lip, all I could think about was how much I loved her - how much I wanted to forget everything and be with her. It didn't last a second and I broke it off immediately. I didn't want to scare her off. What I felt for that moment was too strong to ignore, though. And maybe, just maybe, she wanted it too. Maybe that was why I felt that way to start with.

I was about to get off the bike when she grabbed my arm and pulled me close to her. I didn't resist. She moved her hands to the back of my neck, one of them sliding up in my hair and she rose her body until our lips met again. This time, she kissed me, licking my lips, taking my lips in hers. I moved my hands to her waist and pulled her closer, so that our chests were touching, kissing her deeper, unconsciously licking her lips and she opened her mouth, letting my tongue in. As soon as our tongues touched, we moaned. She sucked on my tongue for a second and kissed my lips for one last time, breaking off the kiss altogether.

We were both breathing heavily by then and her face was flushed. I gently ran a finger on her warm cheek and she kept looking at me for a second. We didn't say a word and she bit her lip and hopped off the bike. "Let's go."

I pulled out the keys and walked behind her as she proceeded towards the store. "Mary, wait!"

She turned to me, her lips quivering. "This." She licked her lips. "Never happened. Okay?"

I looked at her with sympathetic eyes. I knew, I just knew, I couldn't ask her for anything more than being friends for now. What she needed the most was a friend, I realized. "Okay."

She smiled faintly at me and skidded towards the shop, pushing the door in, rushing inside. I waited for her by the cashier and watched her as she practically took a bit of everything that had the hint of chocolate in it. Mary wasn't exactly fat, but she was...curvy. She had those delicious curves to her but she wasn't what one would call fat. However, by the looks of it, those little demons she had in her hands probably had more calories in them than my daily average. And that was a lot.

Before she made it to the cashier I had already paid more than she would need to cover for her chocoholic dose. Surprisingly, she didn't object. As soon as we left the shop, though, I knew why: she'd left her book bag, which had her money, in Matt's car. She kept rambling about how she'd repay me but I couldn't care less. My money, body, soul and everything I had was hers anyway.

"I know the perfect place where you can eat all of those..." I said, "Stuff."

"Mhm?" she said, sucking on a piece of chocolate-flavored dried strawberry and I started the engine.

"Yeah," I said, getting out of the place, "The cliffs in La Push..it's only like fifteen minutes away if we're fast enough."

She shook her head. "Nah," she said, "I have a better place."

"The top of a very old building," I stated as soon as we were there. "How...romantic."

She laughed, throwing a chocolate ball in her mouth. "It's not meant to be romantic, idiot."

"Right."

From our place here, we could see the whole city. The lights, the buildings, the houses. It almost looked magical. Except that the cliffs were much more beautiful, but anything she said had to be done. She crossed her legs and sat on the ground, putting the load of sugar in front of her.

I sat down beside her, but still keeping my distance. "You can't possibly eat all that, can you?"

She narrowed her eyes at me, then hesitantly, after a moment of thinking, she picked one of the bars in front of her and held it out to me. "Want some?"

I laughed and shook my head. "It's not that."

She smiled, eating another mouth-full. "You know, Embry?" she said, cocking her head to the side, "I've never gone out with someone I don't know all alone like that."

"If you don't feel safe..."

"No, no, it's not that, silly," she said, "This was just my way of saying thanks for making me comfortable. And for buying me chocolate." She moaned. "Damn this is heaven." She stuck her tongue out, laid another chocolate ball on it and I was dying to take it away from her with my mouth. Unfortunately, I had to shake off those thoughts. Fuck. I couldn't forget how her lips felt on mine, how her tongue tasted so delicious. "Oh look!" she suddenly said, pointing at the sky. "A shooting star! Make a wish. Out loud. Let's both go at the same time."

"I wish," she said, closing her eyes. "I never have to deal with Jackson again."

"I wish this day never ends."

She looked at me and smiled, her lips smudged with chocolate. "Me too," she breathed. "I mean, look at all this chocolate..."

I patted her head. "Eat, eat," I said, "This might be the last time you ever get to see so much chocolate in one place."

She grinned, eating another bite of a new bar. "I know, right? They say I have a sweet tooth."

"One? More like teeth."

"Ha ha. Very funny, Embry."

"I'm just sayin'," I said, "You look like you haven't had any sugar in ages."

She looked at me. "Looks like someone's jealous."

"Me? No!"

"C'mon. You're as distracted by this chocolate as I am."

"Nope. I'm as focused as ever."

"Yeah? What's the top speed of the Ferrari 458?"

"2011?"

"Mhm."

"About two-hundred miles per hour."

"Damn."

"I know, baby. I know." I grinned smugly. "I am awesome."

She rolled her eyes and rolled on her side as she unpacked the last bar of chocolate. Her eyes were half-closed and her cheeks bright red. Her eyeliner was ruined from her crying earlier but I couldn't care less. She bent her knees and made herself comfortable. "I feel so good right now," she said and I kept watching her, amused, "You have no idea. Chocolate gives you this sort of...high feeling. I feel so high right now. The last time I felt that was back when I used to smoke...Ha. That...uncontrollable feeling of being so free, so amazing."

I frowned. "You smoked?"

"U-used to." She yawned, leaning her head on her arm.

"What did you smoke, Mary?"

She yawned again and stretched her arms, rolling on her back. "Sometimes cigarettes, sometimes..weed..."

"You serious?" I breathed. It was so unbelievable. It didn't match the angel that laid in front of me. I wasn't disappointed in her or anything, but it was a bit of a shock to me.

"Mmhm." She closed her eyes completely. "He made me do it a couple of times, but it's no biggie. It's not like I do it anymore." She rested her hands on her stomach and stretched her legs. "Ah, I'm so tired."

I leaned on my side. "You wanna sleep, Mary?"

She didn't answer. Her chocolate-smudged mouth opened slightly and her muscles seemed to relax. The bar in her hand obviously stained her beige dress but she didn't care. She was already in another world, a dreamy one. She almost looked like a child, with her chocolate and her innocent face. A child that grew up too quickly, a girl with hopes and dreams probably as simple as a kid's imagination. I took off my jacket and laid it over her body and she relaxed a bit more. I smiled, watching this little kid, mistakenly a seventeen-year-old girl, sleep.

I don't know about you, but I absolutely LOVE this chapter. Love it? Hate it? Tell me! This chapter was hard to write, so I seriously need to know what you think. REVIEW please! I'll even send you some of Mary's chocolate if you do ;)