I told you I would write this today, and I did:-) R&R please

Angela

"Is everything okay, Jake? Is it the pizza guy?" I shouted as I descended into the kitchen. It took me a few seconds to realize that we were not alone in the house, and the intruder was not here to deliver a pizza. Standing in the room was a man even taller than Jake, with a commanding presence and a face that betrayed many sleepless nights. I wondered what this man was doing in Jake's house. "Um, Angela?" Jake said to me, with a subdued look, "This is Sam. He's…a friend of mine." He explained who I was to Sam, who seemed too distracted to give me any more than a brief, tight-lipped smile, saying, "Hi, Angela. I'm sorry to…interrupt, but Jake, you have to come with me. We need you to… work the late shift tonight… we're short staffed and … we have reason to believe that we'll get a lot of… business in the next few days." His words were ordinary enough, but the way he said them gave them a strangely cryptic meaning. I was distracted by this mystery, and it took me a few minutes before I realized the import of his order- for his words did seem to be an order. He was asking Jake to leave. I felt a strange sense of despair at the idea, and I realized that, in the short time I had known Jake, I had become dangerously dependant on his warm presence. I was reeling from this unexpected anguish, and almost didn't notice when Sam left to wait for Jake outside. Jake turned to me, and I gasped at the almost desperate pain evident his visage. The next thing I knew, I had wrapped my arms around him, holding him close. I wanted to say so much to him, to thank him for comforting me tonight, for sheltering me through the storm, but I found that speech was impossible at the moment. He was the first to break the silence. "I'm sorry about this, Angela. You don't know how much I want to… stay here. But I… can't." "I understand, Jake." I said in a shaky voice. He stroked my cheek again, his fingers scorching my skin, and I wished the moment would last forever. Suddenly, I heard a wolf bark in the distance, like a reprimand. This, strangely enough, seemed to remind Jake that Sam was waiting, and he reluctantly released me from his grasp. "Oh, and Angela?" He said, seeming to remember something. "You need a way to get home, don't you? Why don't you borrow my car?" I was surprised, to say the least. "Don't you need it, though?" He smiled at a private joke, and said, "No, that's not a problem. I insist you borrow it. I'll come by and pick it up tomorrow." I accepted the generous offer, feeling a slight glow from the thought that I would see him again so soon. I heard the strange bark again, and I thought I heard Jake mumble, "I'm coming!" in an annoyed tone. "I have to go, Angela." He threw the keys to me, looked piercingly into my eyes one last time, and then… he was gone. I tried to steady myself from the thrill his look had given me and then walked to the garage for his car, trying to make sense of it all.

Jake

Saying goodbye to Angela was torturous, to say the least. I found myself falling apart as I gazed at her, unable to mask the pain tearing my heart in two. I was worried that the intensity in my eyes would scare her, but instead she came towards me and wrapped me in a warm hug that I never wanted to end. "I'm sorry about this, Angela. You don't know how much I want to… stay here. But I… can't." I said, sighing. "I understand, Jake," she replied. I wondered if she really did understand, though. Could she feel half of the anguish I was currently experiencing? I reached for her and stroked her cheek, trying to divine the feelings hidden in her sweet face. Just as I was once again losing myself in her eyes, in her warmth, I heard a wolf call. Sam! Ugh! Why was he always interrupting? I regretfully left the sanctuary of Angela's embrace, and offered to let her borrow my car to drive home in. She accepted, and I walked out into the night, my heart breaking with every step that carried me away from her.

The second I reached the dark forest, I changed, unable to bear the pain in my human heart. As I ran towards my brothers, I tried to put Angela out of my mind and focus on the task at hand, trying to think only of the mud under my paws, the pale glow of the full moon behind the clouds, and the cool wind coming of the sea as I flew towards the beach. But no matter what I did, my thoughts continued to return to Angela, to her eyes, her smile, her voice; my heart skipped at the memory of holding her close; my pulse raced as I imagined what a kiss from her would taste like, imagined the feeling of her sweet, soft, gentle…

"Uh, Jake? Can you shut up?"

I suddenly noticed that I had been too wrapped up in my fantasies to notice that the rest of my pack had arrived, and I embarrassedly realized that they had heard all my thoughts. "Sorry, guys…" I apologized.

"No worries," thought Jared. "It happens to the best of us."

"You imprinted, didn't you?" thought Quil

"Yeah…" I thought, my mind drifting again. "On the sweetest, kindest, most precious…"

"Earth to Jake! Get a grip!" thought Paul

"Give the guy a break, Paul," thought Quil. "Paul doesn't know what it's like. Imprinting is overwhelming. Since I met Claire, every second she's not near me I feel sick. She'll be starting preschool in a few months, and I'm already dreading it. How can I spend a whole day without her smile, her laugh…"

"Can you loverboys focus, please! This is nauseating!" thought Leah, as she joined us.

"I'm sorry our falling in love is so inconvenient to you, Leah," thought Jared angrily. "I certainly couldn't help falling for Kim. She's so perfect…"

As Paul and Leah were groaning and Quil, Jared, and I were daydreaming, Sam finally arrived after having gathered the pack together. "Okay, everyone, here's the situation…" He described what we needed to do to make sure the area was safe. We went over the plans and then separated into pairs. Quil and I were assigned to patrol the eastern forest. Together, we raced away from the rest of the pack, ready to sacrifice anything to protect our home, our families, and most of all, our loves.

Angela

There was no way I could sleep on this night. It was not the storm, with its pounding rain and gusting wind, that disturbed my rest. Neither was my recent breakup with Ben the cause of my agitation. If I was being honest with myself, it was the memory of Jake's flashing dark eyes, of his warm touch, of his husky voice, that was driving the thought of sleep from my mind. I felt as if I had changed irreversibly from the girl I had been before Jake entered my life. I tried to reason with myself, convince myself that it was impossible for me to feel such a connection with a boy I had just met. But the feeling of Jake's embrace seemed burned into my skin, making reason impossible. Could Jake love me? That was the only way I could account for his strange treatment of me, for his tender comfort and searching stares. I shivered, and turned to look at the storm outside my window. I wondered where Jake was right now. One would think that his job would be over by now- no one worked this late- but then again, something in Sam's words had implied a long night ahead. Well, whatever Jake was doing, I hoped he was dry and warm, not out in this terrible weather. As I slowly drifted out of consciousness near morning, I thought I heard the soft cry of a wolf in the distance.

Jake

Quil and I found a leech near our border, searching for a meal. He was alone, a nomad, and clearly had no idea that we existed. It was an easy job. On any other night, I would have been glad for the opportunity to destroy an enemy, but tonight, the victory felt different, more serious, somehow. It wasn't the rush of the fight that I savored, this time, but the knowledge that I had made Angela's life that much safer. This bloodsucker, at least, would never harm her. Sam dismissed us for the night, but I had no intention of going home tonight. Still in my wolf form, I raced towards forks, feeling the exhilaration of running through the dark woods and the dizzy anticipation of being near Angela again. It was not difficult to find her house- I could easily recognize her scent, and there was something else- some feeling- that led me to her. I found that I instinctively knew where she was, based only on a sense of calm that radiated from her presence, that grew stronger and stronger the closer I came to the Weber house. Finally, I located her bedroom window. She was already in bed, but I could hear her tossing and turning in her bed. I desperately wished I could know what was keeping her up so late, that I could soothe whatever worries were disrupting her rest. I sighed in frustration, but being a wolf, it came out more like a howl. She soon quieted, however, and I was left to my own reflections, waiting for the dawn.