Discalimer: I don't own anything, it all belongs to Stephenie Meyer...

A.N: Thank you for reviewing! Its great to get your opinion on things:)

Wolf-kisses

When I woke the next day, my room was filled with light. Jacobs arms were still around me, holding me closely to him. He was still asleep. I peeked over his shoulder to my alarm clock. It shoved 1 pm. We had been sleeping for a while.

I still felt horrible. My head was aching. But most of all I just felt vulnerable. I wasn't used to feeling like this. So fragile. Noone had ever wanted me any harm before, not like this.

I touched Jacobs lips. His breath was warm, as always. He didn't react. I touched his lips again. His eyelids moved a little. Slowly he opened his eyes.

Good morning, I thought.

"How are you feeling?" he asked quietly. His arm tightened around me. It hit me that we had never been sleeping this close before, his arms holding me this tight.

"Okay" I didn't want to complain. I think he saw right through me, though.

"Anything you feel like doing today?" He frowned as he took in my face. I must look horrible. Didn't care.

"Nah. Not really. I just feel like... not doing much." I finished awkwardly.

"How about we go and visit Billy?"

I thought about that. It sounded relaxing.

"That sounds good. We could do that. I'll probably frighten him the way I look though."

"Yeah, maybe it's not a good idea" he said, frowning again. "You could give him a heart attack"

He looked up at me through his lashes, a little smile lurking in the corner of his mouth. He was joking.

"Oh, shut up" I threw a pillow at him, and the little smirk turned into laughter. I even laughed a little bit myself.

"I knew I could get you to smile" he said, and put the pillow back over his head. He looked at me, and after a while his smile disappeared and he slowly turned serious. "But really, how are you feeling?

"I'm better" I said. That was true. I smiled and put my hand on his cheek before I went into the bathroom.

I pinned my hair up in a pony tail and found one of Jakes sweaters and pulled it on. I was right. I looked horrible. My right cheek was now covered in a bright purple bruise. It looked like I'd been in a fight and I had a slight resemblance to a panda. I said this to Jacob.

"Don't you always?" was his reply. Joking again. Ha ha.

This lead to another round of laughter as I accused him of resembling to another certain animal.

"You're cheeky today" I pointed out later. I was sitting opposite him on the kitchen, watching him eat breakfast.

"Well it works. You're laughing"

"So this is your new plan? "How to make Renessme laugh"? Or maybe I should call it a mission"

He took another huge bite of the bread but that didn't stop him from answering.

"You're right. Today my mission is to make you smile. I'm doing pretty good, huh?"

He sent me a teasing smile

"You're doing alright" I admitted, and he laughed

We drove in his car over to Billys'. It was a beautiful day, the sun peeking through the clouds. We got out of the car and Jacob entered first without knocking.

"Dad?" He called, throwing of his shoes. "You home?"

"In here"

Billy was sitting by the kitchen table, reading the newspaper. He looked up when we entered.

"Oh, hey kids, you coming to...."

I had entered the kitchen behind Jake, and when Billy saw my face he abruptly stopped what he was about to say.

"Nessie! What happened to you?"

I sat down on a chair beside Jacob, and Jake answered before I even got to open my mouth.

"Nessie was assaulted last night"

Billy burst into a round of questioning, sending me frightened and concerned glances. Jacob told him everything that had happened. I was glad he did; I didn't really feel like talking about it. I sat beside him as he talked, not really paying attention to his words, focusing on the patterns in the wooden kitchen table in front of me.

"How are you feeling today, Nessie?" Billy turned towards me, his voice filled with concern. "Are you sure you don't need to see a doctor?"

"Yes, I'm sure." I tried to reassure him. "I'm fine"

"Maybe it would have been wise to let Carlisle have a look at you. When do your family come back?"

"I think by the end of the week. I'm not sure. But there's no need for it, really. I'm okay"

"Have you told your parents about what happened?

I met his eyes, but didn't answer. I knew I had to call them, but I didn't look forward to it. Both my mom and dad would flip out and insist on coming home. I was fine, really, and there was no need to ruin their trip. I didn't want them to feel like they needed to come home because of me.

"You have to tell them". Billy read my silence correctly, sending me a slight lecturing look.

"I know" I sighed. "I will"

We stayed at Billys the next couple of hours. Jake and I went for a walk down the beach, helped him move some furnitures, and then Jake and I made dinner. We ate in the tiny kitchen, and after cleaning the dishes we headed home.

I knew I had to call my parents. When we arrived home, I went inside and called my dads number. My dad was more likely to listen to the whole story before he flipped out. My mom would probably freak out at once. He answered on the second ring.

"Yes?"

"Hi, dad"

"Nessie". He sounded pleased "How are you?"

"Um... I'm okay. Me and Jake have just been visiting Billy"

It was silent for one beat.

"Is something wrong?"

He was good. Years and years of practise, I guess.

"Listen, don't get upset now, okay? I'm fine, really..."

I carefully told him about what had happened last night, trying to tone it down a little bit, not giving him any details. When I was done, he was silent for another beat.

"We're coming"

I knew this would happen. I spent the next thirty minutes trying to convince him that I was fine and that there was no need for them to come home. He finally gave in, demanding to talk to Jacob.

I reached the phone to Jacob. He had been leaning over the kitchen table, listening to me trying to convince my dad.

My dad talked to Jacob for a little while, and I waited nervously. After a while, Jacob put the phone back on the shelf and turned to me.

"He just wanted to make sure you really weren't strapped to a hospital bed."

"Of course" I said, rolling my eyes and Jacob smiled.

Suddenly he bent down and lifted me up, throwing me across his shoulder.

"Hey! Put me down!" I screamed, startled, but he was totally unaffected. He carried me to the living room and carefully put me down on the couch. Then he almost buried me in one of the blankets as he wrapped it around me. He lay halfway down on the couch beside me, leaning over me and supporting his head on his arm.

"There" he said, content. "I think you should stay there for the rest of the evening. Stop distressing and worrying about everything."

I looked up into his eyes. He was studying my face, thoughtful. A sudden rush of affection ran through me, and I frowned. He was so good. Kind. I didn't know how to show him how grateful I was for that.

"Jake" My voice came out in a whisper. I didn't really know what to say.

With one finger he caressed my cheekbone, right where I knew I had a bruise. He was frowning now, too. He caressed my face all the way down to my chin, before he cupped my cheek in his large hand. His skin was so soft. I wanted to touch it, feel his skin on mine. Carefully I stroke my thumb across his chin and lower lip. There was a slight changing in the atmosphere as he leaned down closer, focusing on my lips only.

And then my cellphone rang.

His eyes didn't leave mine as he got up to get it for me. He picked it up from the table and tossed it to me across the room.

"It's Bella" he said "She's probably calling to argue about that not-coming-home-part"

He was right.

After spending another thirty minutes trying to convince my mother that I was not on the edge of a nervous breakdown, I found myself sitting in the couch with Jacob sharing a bucket of ice-cream. We were both sitting cross-legged on the couch, facing each other.

"Best concert memory?" I asked, my eyes focused on my spoon.

"That concert in Hoquiam. Last year. The day after your birthday."

"Really?"

"Mhm. You were thrilled afterwards"

He scooped up some more ice-cream.

"My turn. Best kiss?"

"That's not fair!" I argued.

"Why not?"

"Well, I've... I've kissed you! It's not fair"

"No rules against that" he said with a wicked grin. "Same question"

"I pass"

"Now, that is against the rules" He tried to send me a strict look. "Same question".

I sighed.

"Al right al right. I like wolf-kisses. That's the best answer you'll get from me."

"Hey. What do you mean by that? Wolf kisses? Like, kissing someone that is a wolf or getting licked in the face by a wolf?"

I didn't answer, but scooped up some more ice.

"Aww, come on!" he pleaded, but I didn't even let him get started with the puppy-eyes.

"Not a chance. My turn." I said. "Um, let me see... best practical joke."

"Oh, that's a long story, but it ended up with Quill wearing a ballerina skirt. It was hilarious."

"You're gonna have to tell me about that sometime"

"I will. But now it's my turn. Best wolf-kiss."

"You're totally pushing the line here"

He grinned.

"I know. Same question"

Luckily for me, we were interrupted by the sound of paws approaching.

"Your friends?" I asked.

"Yes, I think so" he said, listening. "I wonder what they want"
"You think there's something wrong?"

"No, they would have made a noise if there was"

I got up to put away the the rest of the ice-cream. Jacob leaned back on the couch, smirking.

"I won't forget my question, though. I will make you answer it."

I easily ignored that comment, and he laughed.

As I sat back down on the couch, the front door opened and we saw Embrys head peak around the corner. They never bothered to knock; they knew we could hear them approach anyway.

"Jake! Nessie! How's it going?"

There was some noise behind him, and then Quil, Jared, Paul, Collin, Brady and Seth also stumbled in the door, laughing.

"Hey!" Seth grinned "Thought we'd just drop by to see how you guys are doing. Billy told about last night..."

His smile quickly sobered up as he got a closer look at my face.

"Wow. How are you, Nessie? That doesn't look very nice"

He eyed my bruised face.

"Don't be rude" Jacob shot back at him, irritated.

"What...? Oh, I didn't mean it like that! I meant, you know, it must have hurt."

Jacob shot him a glare. The fact that Jacob was so easily irritated, I found kind of amusing, and I started to laugh.

"Relax, Jake. It was you who called me a panda this morning, remember? Chill."

Jacob smiled a little, and mumbled something about how that was my choice of words, not his.

Paul chuckled. "Guess that's a proof you should never tease the imprint unless you want a wolf on your back"

I sent Jacob a quick look. So he'd told them I knew about the whole imprint-thing. Or they must have heard his thoughts while we were out hunting or something. It was a little weird being referred to as the imprint. It sort of inclined a partnership, witch we didn't have. Did we? Jacob sent me an apologetic look through his lashes. But I just smiled. It wasn't something negative. Just...new.

Seth slumped down beside me on the sofa.

"But seriously, how are you? Does it hurt?"

The others also settled into the living-room; on the sofas and in chairs, with their eyes on me. My family had always been big, so there was plenty of room for everyone.

"Not so much now. I'm okay" I'd said that a lot lately. "Really, we don't need to talk about it. No big deal"

I didn't really feel like retelling the story one more time. Seth wrapped his arm around me

"Al right, we'll just try to cheer you up then. Panda-girl."

"Hey!" Jacob leaned around me and jokingly tried to smack his forehead, but Seth just managed to get out of the way

"It was your choice of words, or so I've heard" Seth shot back at Jacob, and they all started to laugh. I really liked Seth.

They stayed the whole evening. Someone raided the kitchen and came up with some potato chips and something to drink – that disappeared quickly. Seth was still sitting in the sofa beside me and I was leaning back were Jake had been sitting before, my legs wrapped beside me. Seth was resting his arm on my knees. Seth was maybe the wolf I knew best (except Jacob of course, but that's different) and we'd always been getting along really well. Jacob was sitting in in a chair on the other side of the table. I'd caught him looking at me many times throughout the evening. I sent him a smile, and his own smile widened impossibly.

"We thought you were expecting company tonight" Jared noted, receiving a scowl from Paul as he emptied the last bag of chips.

"Company? Like who?" Jacob asked, turning his attention from me to Jared.

"There was a car standing by the driveway, you know, by the main road. We thought he was headed here."

"There was a man in the car?" Jacob sent me a look. I didn't know why he was so interested. The man was probably just lost

"Two. They were studying a map" Jared said. "They were probably just lost." he shrugged, echoing my thoughts.

"Where is Claire tonight?" I asked Quill, changing the subject. He was talking loudly about vehicles with Embry, but snapped out of it as soon I mentioned Clairs name. He got a marvelling look on his face.

"She's home tonight. She's gone to bed now, of course."

Of course. Claire was only ten years old. I sometimes forgot; I was in theory only seven years my self.

Actually I was getting a little tired too. I rested my head against the sofa, but resisted the urge to close my eyes. I stretched out my legs over Seths lap. He didn't even seem to notice. I noticed Jacob was looking at me again and I sent him a smile.

They left about midnight, getting up one by one. Seth ruffled my hair as he left and punched Jacob playfully in the shoulder. "Bye Nessie, Jake". When we were alone again, Jacob sat down on the sofa beside me.

"Tired?" he smiled.

"A little bit" I said, closing my eyes. "But not very"

"Hm" he was silent for one beat. "Can I ask you something?"

I opened my eyes.

"Shoot".

"What's your best wolf-kiss?"

He sent me his wicked grin.

"Actually, I am tired. I simply need togo to bed. Right now"

Jacob laughed and wrapped his arm around me.

"Yeah right, you do, don't you". Sarcasm was literary dripping from his words.

"Immediately, yeah."

"I thought you said you weren't tired"

"Oh I am. Very. Very tired" I yawned for emphasis.

Jacob leaned down to kiss my hair.

"Oh, well then. If you say so."

I chuckled, and so did he.