Chapter Three

DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN ANYTHING THAT HAS TO DO WITH STEPHANIE MEYER'S TWILIGHT SERIES. THE ONLY THING I OWN IN THIS STORY IS CONNIE BELL AND KAYLIN HARTFORD. NO COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT IS INTENDED.

A/N: Thanks to everyone who's been reading. It really makes my day when I check my stats. If you read the story, please review! All input helps on the quality of the story!

Hope you enjoy this one.

Ashley -

It was dark outside. There had been a big thunderstorm and all the power through Forks was out. Even through the loud claps of thunder, I could hear wolves howling in the forest. They were loud, and close too by the sounds of it. I couldn't sleep. I kept wondering about my parents… And Jake. Friday seemed like it was too far away.

I got up out of my bed and put on a pair of jeans, a shirt and some hiking boots. I grabbed my coat but didn't bother with an umbrella. Because it was raining like crazy outside, I knew that even if I did run into somebody, they wouldn't be able to tell that I was crying.

Listening to the rain inside was loud, but stepping outside into it sounded like a hundred drums beating all at once. It was intense, but I didn't care.

I was still curious as to what the creature was that I had seen the other night. Some people might call me crazy, but I wanted to see it again, to know what it was. So I set out on my mission. I headed for the woods again.

The rain wasn't coming down as hard inside the trees because they covered most of the ground, so it was a relief to not be getting as drenched as I was before.

For some reason, all I could do was look up. Try to see above the trees to see if my parents were watching over me. I knew they were. I could feel it. The tears poured down my face harder now as I thought of them. I leaned up against a tree and slid down to sit on the ground. I pulled my knees up to my chest and rocked back and forth, sobbing. Before I knew it, I was completely laying on the soaking wet leaves underneath me. For a moment, nothing mattered anymore. I just wanted to see my parents once more.

I wasn't sure if I was alive or not, but I could hear something walking on the leaves, and heavy, low breathing. It sounded like an animal, but I wasn't sure. I felt really weak… Too weak to even lift my head and look at it.

Suddenly, I felt myself being lifted up and carried. Whatever was holding me was hot. The heat felt like a bubble bath engulfing my entire body, even though I was nowhere near a bath tub. I was still in the air when I heard a man's voice. It sounded like it was coming from whatever had carried me out of the woods. There were flashing lights surrounding me.

"It's okay. She's alright." The voice said.

I was at school again sitting next to Bella in the cafeteria. Everybody else was running late, and I could tell something was on her mind. I looked over at the Cullen table and Edward had a hatred and guilty look spread across his pale face.

"Is everything okay, Bella?" I asked her.

She looked up from her plate of glop and nodded. "Edward said it would be better if him and I weren't friends."

I was a little stunned, but for some reason, I couldn't get my head around why it didn't completely surprise me. "That sucks… I'm sure he'll come around, though. I mean, he would be crazy not to want to be friends with you, or even more than that."

I looked at him and he was staring down at a plate of untouched food. His brothers and sisters were all chatting away and it looked like he didn't even hear what they were saying.

You better not hurt her, you idgit. Or there's going to be hell to pay… I thought to myself. His expression on his face changed to a small smirk right after I thought that, and to be honest, it was a little strange… It was as if he heard me.

"Guess who I had dinner with last night?" I tried to brighten up Bella's mood.

"Santa Claus?" She joked.

"Haha. Funny, Bella. No… I had dinner with Jacob Black."

She smiled and looked at me like I had no idea who I was talking about. "Seriously? Wow. Charlie bought my truck off his Jacob's dad. They were over when I first moved into Charlie's. That's pretty cool."

"Yeah… It was." I went quiet. "I have a date with him on Friday night…"

Her eyes lit up. "That's great. He's a nice guy. I'm sure you two will hit it off."

We turned our conversation into something different as the rest of the table starting showing up. Mike sat next to Bella, nearly pushing her off the bench trying to get as close to her as possible.

"So what's everyone doing this Friday?" Mike asked the whole group.

"There's no school Friday, so nothing." Jessica answered for everyone.

"I say we go to First Beach in La Push. There's a storm coming in so the waves will be great for surfing. Anybody in?" Mike suggested.

I nearly jumped out of my seat to give my answer. "I'll go. I won't surf, but I'll go for the hell of it."

Mike smiled. "Alright! Any other takers?"

Everybody eventually agreed to go; Jessica and Eric were going to surf, even though the only thing Eric had ever surfed on in his life was the World Wide Web. He was excited, though. I wasn't going to lie to anybody who was surfing, if they fell, I was going to laugh at their wipe-out.

The only real reason I was going to go on Friday was to try and catch another peek at Jake. We had our date Friday night, but it would be a nice co-ink-ee-dink if we ran into each other before that night.

By the sounds of what was outside when Bella and I were in class, a storm was already rolling in. The thunder clapped really loud and it made me jump. I blushed when everyone looked at me. Well that wasn't embarrassing.

The school day was FINALLY over, and I jumped in my van to head home. I hated thunderstorms. They reminded me of the night that my parents died. It was a thunderstorm that made the roads slippery from all the rain slamming down. They didn't stand a chance when the tractor-trailer jack knifed.

I felt a tear roll down my cheek and I quickly wiped it away. Nobody needed to see me crying in my van. I looked over at Bella's truck and she was all smiles getting into the driver's side. I had seen her and Edward talking earlier after lunch. I hope he didn't give her the wrong idea about anything or lead her on.

I drove home cautiously, taking my time and slowing down to about 5 miles an hour around any corner. My mood slumped now. There wasn't much of a good mood left in me, to tell you the truth.

When I pulled in the driveway, Aunt Connie's car was nowhere in sight. She probably left a note on the table explaining where she was. Probably gone to bingo again. I walked into the house and my cell phone starting vibrating. I looked at the caller ID and my stomach jumped up into my throat. It was Jacob.

What do I do? What should I say. My brain clicked in and gave me a kick in the rear – answer the phone you dummy!

"Hi, Jake," I answered. "What's up?"

"Hey Kaylin. How'd you know it's me?"

His voice was godly. "Um… Caller ID?"

He laughed. "Should've known. Are we still on for tomorrow?"

"Tomorrow?" I thought out loud. "I thought we were hanging out on Friday."

"We are… Tomorrow is Friday."

I ran to my calendar on the wall in the kitchen and checked. "Oh my God… Where has the week gone?"

"It went by fast, I know." He paused. "Are we still good for the movie tomorrow?" I could detect a hint of hope in his voice. That made me smile.

"For sure. I'm actually heading out your way tomorrow with a bunch of people from school. I guess with the storm and everything, the surfing conditions are great." I hinted.

"That sounds… Fun."

I laughed. "Not when you don't surf. I'm just going to watch."

"Maybe I'll run into you there. I know my friend Quill said he wanted to go hang out since there's no school here either tomorrow."

"Sounds great." I was smiling from ear to ear now. "Hopefully I'll see you there. We could have a whole 'day date'." God I sounded like a jack ass. Day date? Who uses that term anymore?

"Awesome."

"Bye Jake."

"See you tomorrow."

I hung up my phone and realized that my face was as red as a cherry. I was very excited to see him sooner than I thought.

The thunder clapped one huge bang, and all of our power went out. Aunt Connie wasn't home yet either, so I was beginning to worry about her. The house was filled in darkness, and I decided it was time for bed since I couldn't do anything else. It was around nine anyway, might as well catch up on some beauty sleep.

I tossed and turned, never hearing the door open downstairs, or any sign of Aunt Connie's car pull in the drive way. I pulled my school clothes back on and decided to go for a walk. My parents were the only thing on my mind. Tonight, I felt really empty just thinking about them. A piece of my heart had been ripped out of my chest a month ago, and it was like it could never be replaced.

I grabbed my coat but didn't bother with an umbrella. Because it was raining like crazy outside, I knew that even if I did run into somebody, they wouldn't be able to tell that I was crying.

Listening to the rain inside was loud, but stepping outside into it sounded like a hundred drums beating all at once. It was intense, but I didn't care.

I was still curious as to what the creature was that I had seen the other night. Some people might call me crazy, but I wanted to see it again, to know what it was. So I set out on my mission. I headed for the woods again.

The rain wasn't coming down as hard inside the trees because they covered most of the ground, so it was a relief to not be getting as drenched as I was before.

For some reason, all I could do was look up. Try to see above the trees to see if my parents were watching over me. I knew they were. I could feel it. The tears poured down my face harder now as I thought of them. I leaned up against a tree and slid down to sit on the ground. I pulled my knees up to my chest and rocked back and forth, sobbing. Before I knew it, I was completely laying on the soaking wet leaves underneath me. For a moment, nothing mattered anymore. I just wanted to see my parents once more.

I wasn't sure if I was alive or not, but I could hear something walking on the leaves, and heavy, low breathing. It sounded like an animal, but I wasn't sure. I felt really weak… Too weak to even lift my head and look at it.

Suddenly, I felt myself being lifted up and carried. Whatever was holding me was hot. The heat felt like a bubble bath engulfing my entire body, even though I was nowhere near a bath tub. I was still in the air when I heard a man's voice. It sounded like it was coming from whatever had carried me out of the woods. There were flashing lights surrounding me.

"It's okay. She's alright." The voice said.

I could hear my Aunt Connie crying. I opened my eyes and could see her running towards me.

"Kaylin!" She shouted.

There were other voices and people I could recognize, too. Bella was there with her father, Chief Swan.

The person that had carried me out of the woods took me into the house and set me on the couch. I didn't think it was possible, but I managed to sit up and look at everybody.

"Kaylin, what were you thinking?" Bella asked.

"I just needed to take a walk?" I replied in a mousy tone.

"All the way to La Push through the forest?" Chief Swan added.

"I walked to La Push?" I shook my head like I couldn't believe it. "How did you know where to look for me?"

"Honey I called Charlie and told him you were missing. I was worried sick. He called Billy Black down in La Push and told him to keep an eye out in the forest area in case you had gone on one of your hikes and got lost. Then Sam found you and brought you back home." Aunt Connie explained.

I looked at the man who found me. He was shirtless. It was friggen' freezing outside, and this guy was shirtless. He was out of his friggen' mind, in my opinion.

Something caught my eye. I turned my head and a smile came across my face and I layed my head down on the pillow that was resting near the arm of the couch. "Jacob… What are you doing here?"

"Chief Swan called my dad. He told me what was going on over here." He replied. He sat down beside me. "You're crazy for walking in the woods by yourself. Especially at night."

I looked over at Sam again. "Thanks for carrying me home."

He nodded. "It was nothing, really." He turned to leave.

Before he could get out of the door, I told him something very valuable. "You should really put a shirt on. You'll freeze."

Everybody but Jacob, Billy, Aunt Connie and Chief Swan had left. They had all bundled me up in a comforter with some chicken soup to warm me up after I had managed to get out of my soaking wet clothes with Aunt Connie's help.

I had my bedroom door open with my TV going and Jake knocked on the door.

"Can I come in?" He asked.

I nodded and smiled. "Of course." I pointed beside me on the bed and he sat down.

"I don't suppose you're still up for our date tomorrow, are you?" He looked a little sad.

"Are you off your rocker or something?" I said.

"What?"

"Of course I'm still going to First Beach and to the movies tomorrow!"

"But you should really get some rest. You could have pneumonia or something."

"Jake, really." I started. "I'm fine. I'm a tank."

We both heard Billy call for Jacob from downstairs.

"I guess it's time for me to go…" He said. "I'll see you at the beach tomorrow, and I'll let you pick the movie afterwards. Remember, it's on me this time."

I looked down at my cup and all the soup had vanished from it. I was about to get up to get more from the kitchen, but when I lifted my head, Jacob's lips were on mine. I don't know how it happened, but it did. I was kissing Jacob Black, and every piece of my body was melting.

He slowly pulled away and I could feel him blushing. "That was supposed to be on your cheek…" He said with embarrassment.

I was blushing just as much as he was now. "That's okay… I didn't mind it…"

"You didn't?"

"Not one bit." I smiled and I stood up to continue my mission for my cup to magically refill with soup.

He placed his hand on the side of my face and brought his lips back to mine. They were warm and made my own lips tingle. Billy called up the stairs again and Jake pulled away.

I sighed. "Right… You have to leave now…"

"I'll see you tomorrow." He managed to kiss me on the cheek this time and walked down the stairs and out the door.

I knew if I stood any longer, my Jell-O legs would collapse and I would break my Aunt's favourite mug, so I hurriedly sat on the bed.

I had finally kissed Jacob Black… Or rather… He kissed me.