I do not own Twilight etc.

||= Finally My Turn =||

For multiple weeks I struggled to weasel my way into Rebecca's life. I was nothing less than a stalker as I followed her every movement, from the time she left her house until she was home again. I'd slip into the grocery store an aisle away so we'd bump into each other. I snuck into three or more movies a row or two down. Once or twice I'd even followed her to school. The funny thing was, I used to look down on the wolves that followed the girls they imprinted on like lovesick puppies. Now that I was one of them, I realized it was practically a necessity. That or go insane wondering if they were ok.

On a Wednesday afternoon I met her in the meat section as she bought a package of hamburger. She smiled at me pleasantly when I walked up to her and started a conversation. I followed her throughout the store with a can of evaporated milk and onions the only things in my shopping cart. On the way outside I started helping her load her groceries into the backseat of her little car. I was nothing less than blunt as I openly flirt with her. I moved into her personal space to examine the earring on her left ear, getting closer than necessary as I leaned even further, my breath brushing her bare skin as I made a show of examining it.

She chuckled uneasily after a few minutes had gone by, and I backed up a little, though not much. Her face was beat red as she tossed the last plastic bag into the seat. I smirked at her, putting my hands in my pockets and leaning against the car slightly, trying to look cool. She closed the car door awkwardly, arms at her sides as she gave me an unsure little smile in return.

"Seems like we've been running into each other a lot, huh?" she said, laughing a bit. I nodded slowly, the smirk slipping as I looked at the ground, attempting to work up the nerve to ask her to the movies with me.

"Are you doing anything tomorrow?" I inquired finally, moving my eyes back up to meet hers. Her face turned pink all over again.

"Well actually, I'm not allowed out on week days…" My heart sank to the soles of my feet as I grimaced and nodded.

"Oh, ok." I said.

"But, uh, Friday I can, if that fits into your schedule..." She said, rolling her shoulders and looking around at anything but me. I thought my face was going split in half. As it turned out, she gave me direction to her house (which I didn't really need), and we went to see a horror film that'd been in theaters for a little while.

I'd been out with several boys before; kissed them, held their hands, went to nice places. Sam and I, when we were together, had sex. But with Rebecca, I felt like I was thirteen again and going on my first real date, all the self-assurance I'd emitted before gone. My stomach was upset and fluttering, I was covered in a cold sweat and couldn't decide what to wear. I was fretting all the way up till eight that evening, a half hour before I was going to pick her up. By then I'd showered three times, brushed my teeth longer and harder than I ever had and brushed my hair until it lay flat down my back.

The entire way, my little pickup truck felt like a pile of jagged scrap mettle on wheels, and the clothes I'd wound up throwing on felt like they'd been dug out of a dumpster. When I pulled up into her driveway, I sat there for a few minutes straightening the wrinkles in my shirt before I got out. When Rebecca answered the door, she looked a little surprised as I stood there in a button down shirt and black dress pants. For a moment I was terrified that I'd imagined asking her on the date, or perhaps she'd thought we were going as friends.

"Uh, should I change?" She asked, blushing as she looked me over. She was dressed in a tee shirt and jeans.

"No, no. You look great. Are you ready?" I asked.

"Yeah." I opened the car door for her, then jumped in and drove us to the theater, where incidentally, we'd met for the first time. Only fitting it was our first date. I sat there thinking my luck couldn't get any better until I started thinking about what I should and shouldn't do on the first date. It must've been what a gawky, teenage boy would be thinking about as he took a girl to the movies for the first time. I got a mortifying vision of myself putting my arm around her at the climax of the film as she pulled away, stood up and left. Could I kiss her, or just hold her hand? Should I just back off this time?

As we were walking in, I asked if she wanted anything from the concession stand, but she just shook her head, pink in the face. I was beginning to wonder if she'd ever stop blushing around me. Not that I'd mind if she didn't; it was cute. It also helped me not to feel so incredibly out of sorts, because I realized I wasn't the only one unsure of what to do. I felt a little more confident in myself as we walked into the show room.

We sat in the middle seats of the very back row just as the previews were ending and the film began. I barely heard the first thirty minute's dialogue as I studied Rebecca's beautiful face out of the corner of my eye and swooned. To think I'd always hated reading fluffy romance novels as a teen; now I was a living representation of them. The sappy hags that wrote them probably would have sold their souls for just a moment of being able to feel the way I did at that moment. But near the middle, when a woman was being sawed in half, I was caught off guard as the speakers amplified her screams. I nearly jumped out of my seat, and was thoroughly embarrassed when Rebecca jerked around to see if I was alright.

The rest of the movie I spent staring down at her hand as it lay on the armrest, debating whether I should try of hold it or not. I was just about to reach out and work my fingers through hers when the lights came back on and credits began flashing across the screen. She turned to smile at me, which I returned quickly, silently cursing.

"So, did you enjoy it?" I asked as we walked back to my truck.

"Yeah, it was pretty good, but kind of stupid at some parts." She said.

"Oh, yeah. Which part did you think was the worst?" I pretended to take a wrong turn on the way to her house to have more time with her. I grimaced as I got out and opened her door, walking her to the entryway, not ready to leave her yet.

"Thanks for coming with me." I said. "I had fun."

"Me too." She said, smiling uncertainly. I looked down at my feet as she pulled her house key out of her pocket and jammed it into the deadbolt's slot, chewing on my lip nervously. Before she went inside, I called her back.

"Hey, would it be ok if I gave you a hug?" I felt like slapping myself at how stupid I sounded. The pink in her cheeks turned to red.

"Oh, yeah, sure." She said. I was a lot taller than she was, and hugged her gently around the shoulders, stooping my head a little to try and be closer. Her arms felt nice, her breasts pressed against me firmly. I held on for a lot longer than necessary, but she didn't pull away, whether it was because she wanted to stay there too or she didn't want to be rude, I didn't know. Not to say I was complaining either way. When we finally did separate, she asked how I was feeling because I was running a fever. I said I felt fine, and after a few minutes of standing in the middle of her sidewalk, I drove my pickup down the road a few blocks and went back to her house and watched her from outside her window. My stalker-like tendencies most like surpassed that of my entire pack.

She had a smile on her face, and sat on her bed just looking at her hands before flipping on the TV again. I probably would've stayed out there all night, except her next door neighbor let their dog out, which threw itself against the fence a few feet away from where I was squatting down and started barking. It didn't scare me, but the owner ran outside to try and shut it up, and I had to run off before I was caught spying.

"Damn dog." I spat angrily as I climbed into the driver's seat of my truck. The engine stalled a few times, but eventually gave way. I thanked God that it had held up while Rebecca had been with me; I couldn't imagine how embarrassed I would've been if she'd been sitting beside me while the engine choked out. It was one in the morning when I finally got back home, and walking past Seth's room I somehow managed to wake him up.

"Where were you?" He asked drowsily, rubbing his eyes. He looked like a gigantic little boy.

"On a date." I said.

"Oh." He was back asleep not a minute later, snoring loud enough to wake the house. My bed was nice and soft as I climbed under the sheets, more out of habit than the need for warmth.

I ran over my successes like a little movie in my brain; the day I imprinted, finding her, asking her to the movies, and now actually going to the movies. I was already coming up with plans for our next date as I lay there, trying to think of a fun place to go. The movies had been nice, but we hadn't talked at all. The only thing there was to do in Forks that was even semi interesting would probably be going to her house, but I had no way of asking to go inside and hang around. There was no way I'd let her see the little shack the Clearwater's called home. Maybe a walk on the La Push beach? I was out cold before I could think through all the possibilities of Port Angeles.

When I woke up the next morning I was starving, and realized I hadn't eaten anything except for breakfast the day before. My mom was already in the kitchen fixing eggs and bacon, as well as various other things while a plate of already cooked food was sitting on the table. Seth had already inhaled most of it. I sat down and snatched up three links of sausage before he could suck them down, chewing and swallowing them quickly. As she set a fresh plate down, I realized I hadn't told her about how I'd imprinted.

She would probably be happy for me, or at least until I mentioned the part about how it was on a girl. Seth had nearly cleaned the plate in the five minutes I spent deliberating, until I finally decided not to tell her, at least not then.

"Oh, Jake came by earlier. It's your turn for patrol tonight, since you haven't been around in a while." Seth said through a mouthful. I groaned.

"Ok. Just tonight?" He shrugged.

"You'll have to ask him."

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