Chapter Five: Relationships

Niki started to turn back toward her room, but she was too late. Dane had spotted her.

"YOU FUCKING SLUT!" he screamed. "SO YOU CAME CRAWLING BACK, DID YOU? HARLOT! BITCH! HOW DARE YOU COME INTO MY HOUSE!" He hurled a steel ashtray at the back of her head. It hit her and she went down. She started crawling back toward her own room, vaguely remembering to drag her blanket-full of belongings with her.

He stormed after her. "GET BACK HERE YOU LITTLE MAGGOT! FUCKING BITCH!" He threw something else at her—she didn't know what—and missed.

Niki dragged herself into her room, rolled to her feet, and slammed the door. Locking it, she leaned against it, sobbing so hard that she shook. Dane crashed his fist into the door from the other side, causing it to bounce in the frame. "I'M GONNA KILL YOU, BITCH! DO YOU HEAR ME? I'M GONNA MAKE YOU WISH YOU'D NEVER BEEN BORN!"

"I already do," she whispered, trembling, tears dripping off her chin.

"GET YOUR ASS OUT HERE, WHORE! I'M GONNA FUCK YOU UP REAL BAD, YOU SLUT!" He slammed the door again, probably with his shoulder, and made it jump and shiver. Something near the top splintered. It wasn't going to hold up much longer. "WHEN I'M DONE WITH YOU, YOUR BODY WON'T BE WORTH SHIT!"

Niki sobbed harder. "Leave me alone!"

"YOU LITTLE BITCH! HOW DARE YOU!" He slammed the door again. It groaned. Something else cracked. "WHEN I GET INTO THAT DAMN ROOM, YOU'RE FUCKING DEAD!"

I'm dead, Niki thought miserably. I'm so dead.

Before she could give in to despair, there was a bone-jarring roar. Dane screamed. The door shook and Niki stumbled back, tripping and landing on her back.

Then there was a long moment of silence. Niki propped herself up on her elbows, eyes huge. Her breath came hard and fast.

The doorknob rattled. Then, something slammed into the door from the other side and it more or less folded inward, snapping out of the frame and spinning across the floor.

Jacob stood in the doorway, dark and powerful, eyes blazing. "Niki?" he growled.

"Jake!" Niki scrambled to her feet and fell into his arms. He lifted her up and pressed her to him, his arms folding around her protectively. "Jake, he was going to kill me. He was going to kill me!" She was shaking so hard her teeth chattered.

"Shhh," Jacob soothed. "It's okay, Niki. It's okay. He's never going to hurt you again. I've got you, Niki. I've got you. He'll never hurt you again. It's okay."

Niki peeked over his shoulder at Dane's mangled body. "What did you do to him?"

"Hush. Enough to say that the last thing he ever saw was a giant wolf. Don't look, Niki. You've had enough trauma for one day."

Obediently, she buried her face in his shoulder. He paced back and forth, rubbing her back in small circles. "It's okay. It's okay."

"I want to leave," Niki whispered. "I never want to see this place again."

"Okay." He walked down the hall, carrying both Niki and her makeshift bag of belongings. He continued to murmur assurances as they left the house and he walked into the woods. He didn't run, because that would mean having to put Niki on his back and he wasn't sure he could trust her to hang on. He just walked steadily, comforting Niki as well as he could, kissing the top of her head and occasionally her mouth when she lifted her face.

When she had stopped shaking so hard that her teeth rattled, he stopped walking. "Could you hold onto me if I put you on my back?" he asked gently.

"Y-yes."

So he switched her over, and they were off.

"What do we do? About Maria?" Gracie asked. She was sitting on top of the piano, legs swinging back and forth. Edward sat on the piano bench, his hands on the keys, but he hadn't played a note.

"Nothing," Edward said. "We do nothing. There is nothing we can do until she chooses to show herself again. When that happens, we'll be ready. But until then, we go on with our lives." He looked up at her guiltily. "Except in your case..."

"Oh, stop it," she laughed. "My dad can get along just fine without me. He isn't Charlie. He doesn't need me to baby him all the time."

Edward sighed. "But he misses you."

Her smile grew tender as her eyes took on a faraway cast. "Yeah. He probably does. I miss him, too. My dad and I were always close. He'll be really torn up about me disappearing. But he'll live."

"What is he like?" Edward asked, leaning forward with his elbows propped on the lip of the piano.

"Well, he's very Irish. Hard-headed, laid back. Really funny. He can't say three sentences without cracking a joke." She laughed. "He's also in the Army. I grew up saying 'yes, sir'. My mom was military, too, but she tried really hard not to be when she was around me. She didn't want to be an army mom. She wanted to be a soccer mom. She was always setting up crafts for us to do, taking me to the movies, on picnics. It was kind of nice, but it was ruined by the knowledge that she was trying so hard to be perfect." Gracie frowned briefly. "She failed. She was always trying too hard, trying to give me everything she thought a little girl growing up in America should have. She didn't get that I just wanted her to stop trying so hard and love me." Gracie sighed. "She finally gave up. 'I can't take it anymore,' she said. She'd had enough of trying to be something she wasn't. It drove her almost clinically crazy. She moved out of the house. Dad was crushed."

"Where were you living at the time?"

"Boston, Massachusetts. But like I said, Dad's military. He got re-stationed soon after that. There's a base not too far from here, did you know that? We were supposed to live there, but Dad wanted to give me as much of a normal life as possible. He moved us here, to Forks. He works at the base, though. It's not so bad. When he's gone for a long time, I stay with friends." She paused thoughtfully, then corrected herself. "Stayed."

"When I... when we met, you were rock-climbing."

Gracie laughed. "Dad used to take me climbing in the Appalachians. It was great. Father-daughter bonding time. I always was a daddy's girl."

"You said he was Irish—did he live in the mountains, in Ireland?"

"Yeah. Wicklow." Gracie frowned wistfully. "I'll bet it was beautiful. I've never seen it. I was born right after Mom and Dad came here." She shrugged. "So, yeah. I like the mountains."

He laughed softly. "I would have guessed that. You smell like snow and pine needles."

"What did I taste like?"

He stared at her for a moment, mortified with embarrassment, then looked away. "Mountain air."

She grinned. "Makes sense. So, enough about me. What do you like to do?"

He didn't reply. Instead, he leaned back and put his hands delicately on the piano keys. He hesitated a moment, then began to play.

Gracie listened, her eyes unexpectedly filling with tears. The music was light and silvery, dancing around her in a melancholy way. When Edward finished at last, Gracie's throat was burning.

"That was beautiful," she said softly, feeling inadequate. Beautiful didn't begin to describe that music.

"It's Esme's favorite." Edward closed the piano lid and smiled tremulously. "Well, you did ask what I like to do."

"Do you write your own music?"

"Yes." He sighed. "I've tried to write songs with words, but it never sounds quite right."

"If I write words, could you write music to go with it?"

He looked up in surprise. "Yes, I... I think I could do that."

"Great! Stay right here." Gracie disappeared for a moment, then reappeared holding a sheet of paper. "Here. Can you write music to this?"

He took it and looked at it. Reminiscence of the Titanic was scrawled across the top in Gracie's hand. He read over it, then looked up at her. "Did you write this?"

She nodded, looking anxious. "Do you like it?"

"It's beautiful," he said simply. "Can I borrow this? I'll let you know what I have on it tomorrow."

She nodded eagerly. "Great!"

"I'll get to work on it right now." He rose, still looking at the paper.

"Okay." She watched him as he left the room, then lifted the piano lid. As she trailed her fingers lightly over the keys, her eyes closed and she sighed.

"Jake? Come lay with me. I'm scared."

"No, you're not."

"Come lay with me anyway."

Jacob sighed. She really hadn't stopped trembling since they'd left her house, he excused to himself. So she needed him. She needed to feel safe.

Climbing into his bed next to her, he felt her pull the covers over them both and then curl into the curve of his body. He slid his arms around her and bent his head over her. "Are you still scared?" he murmured into her ear. She shivered, but not from fear.

"Hold me tighter," she whispered.

He did, feeling her body tighten next to his. "Mmm. You smell good."

"Gracie thinks I probably taste like a cookie."

"She's never going to find out."

"No, but Leah said you might."

"She said what?!"

"You heard me. Don't go off on Leah. I've said worse things, in case you don't remember."

He remembered. "Yeah, I know."

Niki smiled discreetly. "I'll get you someday, when you're least expecting it."

He was silent for a long moment, stroking her hair slowly. At last he said, so quietly she almost didn't hear, "You can have me now if you want me."

Niki went cold. She hadn't really been expecting him to capitulate. Trying to make a joke out of it, she complained, "Well, where's the challenge in that?"

"Is that challenge that important?"

Hearing the honest question in his voice, Niki decided to answer seriously. "No, Jake. The challenge isn't important. It isn't that I don't want you either. I do want you." She sighed longingly. "Oh, do I ever. But..." She was quiet for a moment, frowning as she tried to phrase her thoughts. "Losing your virginity isn't something to be taken lightly. If anyone knows that, it's me. Jacob, we're both werewolves. We can choose to never age. If we don't do this right, we'll have all of eternity to regret it."

"You're right." He kissed her softly on the lips, running his tongue along her full bottom lip. "I love you, Niki. I know we're both kind of young, but... as soon as it's legal... will you marry me?"

She started laughing.

"Um, Niki, I'm trying to propose here. You're not supposed to laugh."

"No, no! Jacob, I'd love to marry you! I'll marry you! It's just—the way you said it—" She laughed harder. " 'As soon as it's legal'..."

He looked confused, then he started laughing, too. "You're right. That sounded kind of ridiculous. But, you know, I'm sixteen, you're fifteen..."

"Sixteen tomorrow."

"What?"

"You just reminded me. I'm sixteen tomorrow." Her face was utterly serious, so he didn't think she was joking, but how could anyone be so nonchalant about their sixteenth birthday?

"You're serious, aren't you?"

"Yeah. So what?"

"Why are you so calm about this?"

"...why shouldn't I be?"

"You're turning sixteen!"

"I repeat: so what?"

"Niki! Haven't you ever celebrated your birthday?"

She looked at him blankly. "No. Why would I?"

"It's the anniversary of the day you were born!"

"All the more reason not to celebrate it. It's the anniversary of a horrible accident."

"Niki! Don't say that!"

"Why not? It's true."

He kissed her hard. "You might have been an accident, but you're also the best thing that ever happened to me." He kissed her again. "Don't ever say that again, okay?"

"Oh... kay?"

"Give me your word."

She snuggled into his chest. "I promise, Jake."

"Do you keep your promises, Niki?"

"It depends on the promise."

"Will you keep this promise?"

"I don't know, Jake. I'll probably slip up and end up saying it anyway. It's kind of been ground into me. When you're told day after day for fifteen years that you were an unwanted surprise and you should never have been born, you start to believe it."

Jacob kissed her forehead softly, tenderly, his lips traveling down her face to her mouth. "It's okay, Niki. I'll just have to repair the damage. I'll tell you day after day for another fifteen years that you're amazing. You're wonderful. You're loved. You're the best thing that ever happened to me. Maybe, after a while, you'll start to believe it."

"Maybe," Niki said softly. "Jake... as long as we're 'repairing damage', there's something you should know."

"What?"

"I have a lot of... baggage. A lot of things that I've been dragging around for years. A lot of regrets. A lot of things that haunt me." She looked so forlorn, so troubled. She was beyond his reach right now, in a dark corner of her mind where the terrible memories slept. "If things are going to work out between us... you'll have to know everything. Everything. You'll have to take on all my burdens. All of the fire will spill over onto you, Jake, and believe me, you will be burned."

"I'll take it," he promised. "I would take all of your pain onto me if it meant it would stop you from hurting."

"No, Jake." She cupped his cheek. "I don't want you to hurt. All I'm saying is that, before we get in too deep, I'll have to lay bare my soul. After that, I'm not sure you'd want to go deeper. But it has to happen before we get in so deep we can't get out."

"I'll still love you."

"We'll see. But, Jacob, I don't want to talk about that right now. Right now, just hold me."

He buried his face in her neck. "Always."

Alice, sitting in the main room with the others, suddenly stiffened, eyes going wide. The conversations going on around her petered off as they noticed her state, tensing to wait for her announcement.

When the vision ended, Alice frowned thoughtfully. "Hmm."

"What did you see?" Emmett demanded.

"It was strange. We were throwing a party. Niki came, and Jacob, too. I don't know why, though." Her frown deepened. "Is there some kind of occasion going on that I don't know about?"

Everyone shook their heads or murmured negatives.

"If Niki came, maybe it had something to do with her," suggested Gracie, perched on the arm of the couch beside Edward.

"Maybe we were celebrating her being alive," Rosalie murmured. Rosalie had a genuine, although perhaps distant, liking of the mischievous Niki.

"Does it matter?" Jasper asked Alice. "You're going to throw a party anyway."

"Yep," Alice said gleefully. "We'll have it set up by tomorrow." Then she turned to look at Gracie. "Since you're closer to Niki than any of us, you invite her over tomorrow."

"Will do," Gracie said cheerfully, trying to distract herself from Edward's cool presence by her side.

"Then we're all agreed," Alice said, satisfied, leaning back into the couch.

Later that night, Gracie was sitting on her bed, staring out the window and marveling over the fact that she felt no need for sleep. There was a soft knock on her door.

She glanced up, startled. "Hello?"

"Gracie, it's Edward. May I come in?"

"Oh—yeah, of course."

He opened the door, stepping delicately over her floor and stopping at her side. "I finished the song," he said softly.

She looked up at him in surprise. "So soon?"

"I've been thinking about it all day. Come on—I'll play it for you."

"Won't we wake someone up?" She saw the look on his face and smiled sheepishly. "Oops. I forgot again."

"Come on," he said again, taking her hand in his and tugging. She quickly rose and followed him downstairs.

He sat down at the piano and lifted the lid. Giving her one shy look, he began to play, reading off of a sheet written in his own hand.

As the music began—heartbreaking, filled with light notes and deep undertones—Gracie saw that he had not only written music for the piano; he had also written the melody for singing the words. Starting out soft, her voice barely detectable, she began to sing.

Jasper heard from his room and, curious, came out to find the source. He stopped in the doorway and watched as Gracie stood by Edward, one hand on his shoulder, singing her heart out.

"...maiden voyage..."

Alice had soon joined him. They exchanged looks, Alice with one eyebrow raised. That girl could sing.

Emmett appeared at Jasper's shoulder. "Wow," he said softly. Alice shushed him. Rosalie, having followed Emmett, stopped in the doorway with the others. Neither Edward nor Gracie noticed their growing audience.

"...echoes of laughter..."

Carlisle came, and just a while later, Esme appeared with tousled hair.

"All they will find is an ember..."

Esme leaned against Carlisle, who snaked an arm around her shoulders. Alice tilted her head to one side, cocking her ear to better hear the music. Rosalie sighed.

"...Titanic." Gracie finished singing as the last note lingered. She gave a long, contented sigh and allowed her hand to slide off Edward's shoulder.

Alice squealed. Gracie's head jerked up. When she saw that she'd had an audience, a slow blush tinged her cheeks. She turned away, closing her eyes and biting her lip. Alice bounced up to her.

"Gracie, that was amazing!"

"Edward wrote the music," Gracie mumbled.

"But your voice! Your voice!"

Gracie chewed her lip. "Thanks," she whispered awkwardly.

Emmett, drifting over, smiled. "Aww. Gracie doesn't know how to take a compliment."

"Shut up, Emmett," Gracie mumbled, cheeks still burning.

Rosalie was leaning over the piano by Edward, reading the music with a slight frown. "Did you write this?" she asked him.

"The music, not the song."

"The song was Gracie's?"

"She wrote it, yes."

Rosalie ghosted over to Gracie. "You know that we were there, when the Titanic sank?"

Gracie looked at her, startled. "I—no, I didn't."

"Well, not there, exactly. But we were all alive at the time." Rosalie looked at her. "It was very well written. Very... realistic."

"Oh." Gracie blushed harder. "Thank you."

Edward rose fluidly and started to leave. Gracie gave him a pleading look, as though to say, "Come rescue me!"

"Gracie," he said, "may I have a word?"

"Of course." Happy to escape the doting Cullens, Gracie followed him out of the room.

Once they were out of earshot, Gracie turned to Edward with a wry grin. "Did you have something to say or was that just a rescue tactic?"

He shrugged. "Rescue tactic. You do have a nice voice, though."

"Oh, not you, too!" She threw her head back in frustration. "Emmett didn't know how right he was when he said I didn't know how to take a compliment."

He chuckled. "Then don't worry about it."

"Thank you."

He seemed about to say something, but when he did, it didn't seem to be what he wanted to say originally. "Do you have any other songs I could write music for?"

"Actually, yes..." She took his hand and started pulling him along. "I'll show you."

As Niki slowly drifted out of sleep, the first thing she noticed was the smell of the forest. She sniffed again, trying to pick out the different smells. Sunlight; fresh rainfall; damp trees. She opened her eyes.

"Mmm... Jacob?"

"Huh? Wuzza? What?" He blinked and looked down at her. "Oh. Good morning."

"Mornings aren't good."

"Not a morning person?"

"Nope. I'm going back to sleep."

Then there was a knock on the window. Niki sat up, glaring toward the window, running her fingers through her tousled hair. Then her eyes widened and she gasped, throwing the covers off and flying to the window. "Gracie!"

Gracie was crouching at the window, smiling warmly. Niki threw open the window and Gracie sprang inside, landing lightly on her feet. "Good morning, Niki. Good morning, Jacob."

"I'll say it again," Niki said grouchily. "Mornings aren't good!"

Gracie looked at Jacob. "Not a morning person, is she?"

He shook his head mutely.

"Well, you're going to have to get over that today," Gracie informed Niki. "You've been invited over to the Cullens'."

"No," Jacob snarled, at the same time as Niki whined, "Let me sleep!"

"Come on, Niki," Gracie sighed. "They're not going to pick on you just because you're a werewolf."

"Jake won't let me out of my box."

"She's not going!"

"There'll be food," Gracie said temptingly. "The rest of the pack is invited, too, and if you want to go ahead and invite someone else, that's fine."

"No," Jacob said firmly.

Gracie glanced at him. "We're not going to hurt her, Jacob."

"No!"

Gracie drew herself up to her full five-feet-six-and-a-half-inches, which looked pitiful next to Jacob's six-feet-seven-inches. Her face, however, was anything but pitiful. She was calm, collected, and totally in control.

"Jacob Black," she said quietly. "We can do this the easy way, or the hard way. You are completely welcome to escort Niki to the Cullens' and enforce any security measures that you feel necessary. If you refuse, Alice and I will kidnap Niki without being able to guarantee her safety or her continued mortality."

Jacob growled, eyes glowing with black fire. "Over my dead body!"

"Very well. This has resulted from your own choice, then." Before anyone could react, Gracie scooped Niki up and hopped out the window, taking off running as soon as she hit the ground.

With a roar of anger, Jacob dove out the window after her. He glanced around, trying to figure out which way they had gone. He followed their scent around the front of the house, then stopped, confused. The scent went right in the front door and up the stairs.

Following it slowly, Jacob went right back up to his room. He found the girls in there, Niki strapping on her five-inch spike heels, Grace comparing a red tank top and a black tube top.

Jacob stopped in the door, utterly confused. The girls looked up and smiled at him. "Oh, good, Jacob," Gracie said. "Come here a minute, would you? Which do you think would look better on Niki—the red or the black?"

"Why run away and then just come back here?" Jacob asked stupidly.

Niki leaned toward him and said, in a stage whisper, "I felt exposed."

"She was still in her nightclothes," Gracie explained, "and I wasn't taking her to the Cullens' like that. She wasn't going like that, either. She said she needed her heels."

Niki stood up on her five-inch spike heels and threw her hands exultantly into the air. "I'M AVERAGE HEIGHT!"

"Joy," Gracie said dryly. "Choose your poison, Niki. Black or red?"

"Definitely black," said Niki, reaching for the tube top. "Jacob, get out. I need to get dressed."

"Then I'm going to do her makeup, and you'd just be in the way for that," Gracie added.

"No makeup," Niki snapped.

"Hmm. How about just mascara and foundation?"

"Not foundation."

"Eyeliner?"

"You've got yourself a deal."

Jacob quickly left, shutting the door. He didn't need to hear this.

An hour and a half later, the girls walked out. Niki, in her spike heels, was the same height as Gracie. Her hair was swept forward and her eyes were done in dark makeup. She wore a leather jacket over her black tube top and a pair of tight black dress slacks. Two rings sparkled on her fingers. Her iPod was in her pocket, the earphone cord trailing up to her ears.

"What took so long?" Jacob snapped.

Gracie shrugged. "We're girls, remember? After she got dressed, I had to straighten her hair and do her makeup. Then something was wrong with one of her shoes and while I was trying to fix it, she smudged her mascara. So I had to redo her makeup, and then she couldn't find her iPod..."

"You know what?" Jacob said, hands up in surrender. "Forget I asked."

Gracie smiled. "Don't worry. I will."

Jacob looked Niki up and down. Noticing his scrutiny, she popped one earphone out of her ear and snapped, "What are you looking at?"

"You," he said softly. "You're beautiful."

She mellowed a little. "Thanks."

"Come on," Gracie said, already halfway down the stairs. "We're gonna be late!"

Alice opened the door. "I foresaw your approach," she said ominously.

Niki pulled her earphone out. "What? I didn't hear you."

"Nothing. Are the other wolves coming?" She let them inside.

"Yeah, but they lagged behind." Niki glanced around, taking in the nightclub atmosphere—darkened room, flashing strobe lights, pumping music. Deciding that she didn't need the iPod, she pulled the other earphone out and shoved them into her pocket. "What are we celebrating?"

"I was hoping you could tell me." Alice had to raise her voice over the music.

"Niki's sixteen today," Jacob yelled, pointing at Niki.

"Oh. That must be it."

Then the others started arriving—not just pack members, but Billy, Emily, and Kim, too. Niki felt oddly safe with so many familiar faces around, although it was obvious that the pack and the Cullens were not enjoying each others' company much. Aside from Niki herself, only Gracie was comfortable with both, flitting between Emmett and Leah, Quil and Esme. She chatted with everyone. After a while she disappeared, but by then, the tense atmosphere had relaxed a bit.

There was food, just as Gracie had promised. The Cullens didn't touch it, of course, but the werewolves—always ravenous—dug in with great relish. Niki complained that it was still too early for food—she wouldn't eat until at least ten-thirty. Jared was dancing with Kim, and soon Niki convinced Jacob to come with her and join them.

Paul hadn't actually run into Niki until then. "Tinkerbelle!" he shouted over the music. "You grew!"

Niki gave him a look. "Yeah, Paul. I grew five inches overnight."

"You did?"

"No, you goof! I'm wearing five inch spike heels!"

"Oh. Hey, Jake, can I cut in?"

Jacob glared at him, but surrendered Niki to her surrogate older brother.

Meanwhile, Edward had pulled Gracie out of the room. "I need to talk to you," he told her. His cheeks were filled with rare color, and she wondered why he was embarrassed.

"Sure," she said, confused. "What's wrong?"

He shook his head. "Nothing's wrong. I just need to talk to you." He drew her into the kitchen, which was only there for show, of course.

Gracie hopped onto the counter and sat there, swinging her legs as she waited patiently. Edward paced back and forth, trying to find the right words to say what he wanted to.

At last he turned and looked at her directly. "You know I was in love with Bella."

She kept her face blank, although her heart jumped when he said was. "I know."

He started pacing again. "The whole time I was with her... well, she loved me, I think. But she also loved Jacob Black."

"Jacob?" Gracie repeated in confusion. "He's with Niki."

"I know. But you don't understand. Niki only came into his life around the same time you came into mine. Before that happened, Jacob was all hung up on Bella." Edward bit his lip and turned around to look at Gracie again. "Then Niki came, and Jacob imprinted. Suddenly Bella decides that she wants him back." He started pacing again. "She tried to turn Jacob against Niki."

"She did what now?"

He stopped and looked at her. "Don't do anything stupid, Alice handled it. And don't tell Niki. She'll kill her and be wanted for homicide."

"Yeah... that wouldn't be good." Gracie frowned. "But you were talking about Bella."

"Well... yes." He was pacing again. "When Bella talked to Jacob, she thought they were alone. She didn't know I was listening."

Gracie was beginning to see what the big deal was. "Oh," she said, letting out a soft breath.

Edward bit his lip and nodded. "You see my point. Alice wasn't happy when she found out. She sent Bella home."

"So that's where she went."

"Right. Bella doesn't love me as much as I thought she did. And..." He stopped pacing again but wouldn't look at her. "I... don't love Bella as much as I thought I did. In fact, maybe not at all." He started pacing again.

"Edward, Edward..." Gracie hopped off the counter and caught him by the shoulders, planting him in place. "Stop pacing. You're driving me crazy. Now, you were saying?" She looked up into his eyes and paused.

Edward sighed. "I'm not going to try and explain any more." Leaning down, he kissed her.

Gracie froze in shock, but when he tried to draw away, she wouldn't let him. She wrapped her arms around his neck and cupped the back of his head, pulling him in further. He tasted like cinnamon, she decided. His lips pressed hard against hers, and his hands slid around and rested on the small of her back.

When their lips finally parted, Gracie giggled. "I'm not just a consolation prize, right?"

"Never," Edward whispered, kissing her throat softly.

Just then, Niki walked in. Edward and Gracie sprang apart quickly. Glancing around, Niki said, "Hey, this isn't the bathroom..." She spotted Edward and Gracie standing a few feet apart, looking guilty. She looked confused for a moment, then a slow, evil grin spread over her face. "Hey. I thought this was my party."

Gracie shrugged. "It's a free country."

"Mm-hm. I don't even want to know what you were doing before I walked in. Hey, where's the bathroom? I've got to get rid of these heels. Hurry up and tell me before Jacob comes in here looking for me."

Edward directed her to the bathroom and she disappeared. He and Gracie looked at each other.

"Well," Gracie said. "That was interesting."

"Very," he agreed.

"Was that..." she began, then hesitated. "Was it... what you were expecting?"

"Not even close," he informed her. "I expected sparks, not lightning."

"Oh. Good to know."

He placed one hand on the small of her back and pulled her to him again. "I was telling the truth before," he told her. "You really do taste like the mountains."

She laughed and put her arms around his neck.

"So, Paul..."

Niki and Paul were back in La Push, eating cookies at Emily's. The party was still going on, but Niki had escaped with Paul in tow.

"Since you didn't get me a present," Niki continued, "maybe you could do me a favor instead."

"What kind of favor?"

"Promise me you'll do it. You owe me."

"Fine, fine. I promise. What do you want?"

Niki grinned. "Well, there was this little place downtown..."

"I can't believe I'm letting you do this!"

"You owed me," Niki reminded him, waiting patiently as the professional piercer heated up a sterilized needle. "Besides, it's just a few new ear piercings. I don't know what the big deal is." The needle poked into her ear.

Paul fainted.

Niki's new piercings were exotic. One was the regular earlobe piercing. One was a double piercing from the tip of her ear to the outer edge, connected by a bar decorated with rhinestones. Her delta was also pierced. The inner cartilage had a small hole with a stud through it. Her nose had a small diamond stud pierced into it.

"Jacob is going to murder you!"

"No, Paul, he's going to murder you. You were supposed to be watching me, remember?" She grinned, eyes glittering. "But don't worry. I'll protect you."

They were now at the tattoo parlor. Niki had customized her own tattoo, with Jacob's name in black spiked letters, the ink flaring out at the ends into intricate designs. She was having it done at the base of her spine.

"So, Paul," Niki said casually as the needle jabbed the small of her back. "What tattoo are you getting?"

A loud thunk was heard. She grinned in satisfaction.

When they got back to Emily's house, they found Alice there, waiting for them.

The black-haired vampire smirked when she saw Niki's new look. "I like."

Niki grinned. "Me, too. So what's up?"

"You ran off before I could give you my present." Alice held out a card to her.

"Uh-oh," Paul muttered.

Niki ignored him, reaching for the card. She examined it. "It's a fake ID," she said, bemused. She looked up at Alice. "It says I'm twenty one."

Alice tilted her head with a smile. "We're going out tonight—you, me, and one friend of your choosing."

"Leah," Niki said immediately, without having to think about it.

"Good. Go get her."

Niki, in her miniskirt and strappy heels—not the five-inch spikes—followed Alice into the bar, The Leprechaun. "Irish people make the best drinks," Alice had told her.

The bartender was more than friendly to the three beautiful girls who walked into his bar. Each of their first drinks was on the house.

After thirty-seven chocolate martinis, twenty-three shots, and one fishbowl between them, Leah was unconscious. Niki was giggling so hard her ribs hurt, unable to speak for giggle fits. Alice—who had drunk eighteen of the thirty-seven chocolate martinis, nine of the twenty-three shots, and half of the fishbowl—was still stone cold sober.

Alice checked her watch. "It's getting late. Or early, depending on how you look at it. We'd better get you two home." Standing up, she reached down and grabbed Leah, slinging her over her shoulder. Then she hauled Niki to her feet. "Come on, you. We're heading back."

Alice dropped Niki off on Jacob's doorstep, then left to drop Leah off at home. Niki struggled with the doorknob for a moment, then opened the door and fell inside. She stumbled straight into Jacob, who supported her as he shut the door and then guided her over to the couch.

Bending over her until their faces almost touched, Jacob spoke in a low, dangerous growl, emphasizing every word. "Where... have... you... been?"

Niki stared up at him with wide eyes. "Jacob?" she asked, her voice slurring.

"Yes."

"Jacob?"

"Yes."

"Oh my God... Jacob..."

"What?"

"Oh my God! Jacob, there's a monkey on your head!"

Jacob pulled back, frowning. He could have smelled the alcohol in her breath from a mile away. "Niki, who took you to get drunk?"

"Don't worry, Jake, I'll get it for you." She slipped off her strappy heel and threw it at his head. He barely ducked in time.

"HAH!" she yelled. "Got it! Oh my God, Jacob, it's still alive! Kill it!"

"Niki... there's no monkey."

"Yes there is! What the hell, Jake?! Are you blind?! It's RIGHT THERE!"

Jacob turned around to look, then turned back. Niki was unconscious.

Sighing, Jacob scooped her up and took her upstairs.

Niki groaned. It felt like there was someone inside her head, pounding on it with a hammer. She opened her eyes and then instantly squinted. "Gah... damn light... I need Ibuprofen..."

Jacob was there, silently handing her some Advil and a glass of water. "Where were you last night?" he said softly, conscious of her horrible hangover.

"GAH... damn it, Jake! Stop screaming at me!" Niki rolled out of bed and crawled all the way to the bathroom to throw up in the toilet.

Jacob crouched over her, rubbing her back and holding her hair out of her face. "Where were you?" he murmured into her ear.

"I went to the piercing studio... then the tattoo parlor..." she croaked, the threw up again.

"I see that. Who were you with?"

"Paul."

"And after that? When did you get drunk?"

"I wasn't with Paul anymore. I was... with..." Niki narrowed her eyes, trying to remember who had been with her. "Leah. And Alice." She vomited.

"Alice? Alice Cullen?"

"Yeah. We went to a bar. I don't even remember what bar. All I remember I was chocolate martinis don't settle well with half a fishbowl. And Alice doesn't get drunk easily."

"Let me get this straight. You ran away from the party with Paul, pierced both ears multiple times, pierced your nose, got another tattoo, and then ran off with Leah and a vampire to get drunk."

"Sounds about right."

"I'm going to kill you. And all of them!"

Niki turned and clung to him. "You can go on a killing spree later. Right now, just hold me and make me feel better. My head still hurts."

Jacob sighed and pulled her into his lap. "You need to brush your teeth."

"In a minute. Hold me."

He sighed again.

"Hey Jacob—you haven't seen my tattoo yet."

"Nope."

"Pull my shirt up and look."

Jacob lifted her shirt and choked.

"You like it?"

"You got my name tattooed on your back?"

"Yep. You like it?"

Jacob started laughing. "Niki, you know it's impossible to stay mad at you."

"I know. So, you like it?"

A couple of days later, Jacob had to run watch with Sam. He put Quil in charge of babysitting Niki. Quil didn't seem to think that Niki needed a babysitter, however. Instead, he seemed convinced that it was his job to keep her entertained and make sure she didn't get bored.

Niki was lolling on Billy's couch, missing Jacob. Even when he just went on runs like this, she missed him and wanted him back. Quil was sitting on the couch with her, leaning awkwardly against the armrest, trying to come to terms with his newly gangly frame.

"Do you want to go do something?"

"Like what?" Niki demanded. "Nothing is fun. The whole world is boring!"

"I could take you cliff diving," Quil offered. "I heard that you threatened to start."

Niki sat up so fast she almost fell off the couch. "Quil," she breathed, "you're a genius!" She threw her arms around him. "I love you forever!"

He laughed, unlatching her. "Yeah, but don't tell Jacob that."

"Oh, he knows what I mean. Can we go right now?"

"Are you going to swim in that?" Quil nodded to her shorts and tank top.

Niki shrugged. "Why not? I want to go. Right now."

"Okay, then."

Niki stood at the top of the tallest cliff, looking down into the dark water. Quil was standing next to her.

"Are you scared?" he asked.

"No," she replied flatly.

"Good. Jump." After he spoke, he took a flying leap and dove over the edge of the cliff. She watched as it took several seconds for him to finally splash down. She waited until his head popped up before taking a couple of steps back, then doing a running dive off the cliff.

For a few moments, she felt an unbelievable freedom. Then she hit the water and felt impaired. She floated for a moment, then kicked her feet and swam for the surface.

She came up laughing. "Again," she gasped. "Let's do it again!"

They had done it about six times when Niki, reaching the top cliff again, found Jacob waiting for her.

He stared down at her, his face unreadable. "Come on," he said stiffly. "We're going home."

"Not yet," she teased. "You have to kiss me every time I do something stupid and dangerous, remember?"

He frowned, then leaned down to kiss her swiftly on the lips. He pulled away before she even had a chance to kiss back. "Come on."

He was shocked to see her eyes looking uncertain, even a little frightened. "Jacob," she whispered, "are you mad at me?"

His face crumpled. "No, Niki." He swept her up and kissed her long and hard, trailing his tongue along her bottom lip. "I'm not mad at you," he said when he finally let her go. "I could never be mad at you. I was scared, Niki. I was worried about you."

She leaned against him, laying her head on his chest and not caring that she was getting him wet. "You promise you'll never get mad at me?"

"I promise."

Quil came panting up the ridge. "Damn it, Niki! You run way too fast..." He stopped when he saw Jacob. "Oops."

"Now you, I can get mad at." Jacob was at Quil's side before he could run. Picking his friend up bodily, he threw him off the cliff into the water. When he turned around, Niki was right in front of him.

"I love you, Jake," she said sweetly, right before pushing him off the cliff.

She watched him fall, then shrugged. "Oh, what the hell." She jumped after him.

She came up laughing again, and Jacob swept her into his arms. He nuzzled her neck. "You're an idiot, Niki," he said, kissing her forehead.

"You're an overprotective bastard, Jake."

"I know, Niki. I know."