Chapter 10

As promised, Charlie did a full investigation and was shocked when both Ashley Masson and Jack Marrow came forth with confessions. They were brought into the principal's office, where Ashley explained why she'd set the whole thing up, wanting to get back at Bella Swan somehow. Apparently, Bella had been a cold bitch towards her one day in the bathroom on the second floor and told everyone Ashley was pregnant.

Ashley had been tossing her cookies when Bella walked in, finding a home pregnancy test on the bathroom sink. Ashley had been waiting for the results and Bella had been the only one in the bathroom who knew about the possibility. When rumors began surfacing that Ashley was pregnant, she immediately blamed Bella and it took A LOT of convincing to change people's minds.

Charlie knew Bella would never do something like that and told Ashley that there had to be someone else she'd told prior about the possible pregnancy. That's when Ashley began crying her eyes out because it finally clicked in her brain who else she had told. Chief Swan was right and Ashley apologized profusely for what she'd done to his daughter. She'd been plotting this revenge ever since Bella Swan graduated high school, knowing doing anything to a senior would've made her extremely unpopular.

Jack was the next one brought in the office and would not look Charlie in the eye, his gaze glued to his shoes. Charlie proceeded to question him vigorously and nodded when Jack immediately came clean about Ashley putting him up to the whole ordeal with Selene. He never wanted to hurt Selene, but love made people do crazy things and even Charlie had to admit the kid had a point.

Both were suspended from school for two weeks and spent them in county lockup under Charlie's close supervision. The parents had to approve of course, which they automatically did after Charlie explained in depth what their children put his daughter through at homecoming. The teens were instructed to write letters every day describing how they felt in jail along with sincere apologetic letters addressed to Selene Swan with explanations on why they humiliated and degraded her.

Charlie definitely had stroke in the small town of Forks and knew these teens would NEVER pull a stunt like that again with someone else.

During those two weeks, Selene refused to come out of her room, Charlie having to literally bring food to her so she would eat. He was the ONLY one she would talk to, not even letting her best friend Riana come to visit. Selene couldn't step foot back in that school again, tears streaming down her face every time she thought about what happened.

It took nearly three days to get all the honey out of her hair, which consisted of at least nine washes, three per day. Throughout it all she cried and even decided to chop her hair off when she just couldn't remove it all. It now rested just below her shoulders instead of to her waist. Selene had her huge bay windows closed with dark blinds and drapes, not wanting to see the outside world or anyone in it.

Charlie promised her she didn't have to go back to school, that she could finish her schooling at home if she wanted. Being as smart as she was and a straight A student, Forks High School didn't have a problem with that, especially after the ordeal she went through. Charlie had come up and explained to Selene the punishment he gave Jack Marrow and Ashley Masson, but that didn't make her feel better. In fact, it just made her feel worse because, thanks to Bella, she could never face anyone in this town again.

Selene was starting to really hate her half sister with a passion, not believing Ashley attacked her because of a stupid rumor. Seriously? Selene wanted to just punch the blonde bimbo right in her face, scowling every time she thought about them. She really wished she could just ram her foot as deep into Jack's crotch as hard as humanly possible to where he couldn't have kids any longer.

She hated them all.

It'd been two weeks since that fateful night and Selene was still holed up in her room, just laying in bed curled up in a ball. She only left to go to the bathroom or downstairs whenever Charlie wasn't home to get something to drink, not even having the will to eat. She just wanted to crawl in a deep dark hole and never come out again, knowing the entire town knew about what happened to her.

Poor little Selene Swan had to have her daddy defend her honor.

Charlie Swan throwing his weight around for his daughter.

She could hear it now and that just angered Selene even more, causing her to growl out angrily. Taking the closest thing she could get her hands on, Selene tossed the alarm clock across the room, watching it shatter into pieces, honestly not caring. Violent sobs tore through every part of her body as she collapsed back on the bed, gritting her teeth and wiped her tears away angrily. She wanted them all to pay for what they did to her, knowing Charlie did the best he could by putting them in county lockup for two weeks.

That didn't make what happened to Selene hurt any less.

Her eyes slowly fluttered open a few hours later, hearing something tapping at her window. Selene rubbed her eyes tiredly, having cried herself to sleep, and ignored the growling in her stomach as she slid from bed. It was probably a loose branch outside her window scrapping against it since a tree was outside her window. Sighing heavily, Selene yawned and walked over to the window, knowing nightfall had arrived, her hand on the curtain.

Tap.

What the hell was going on? Selene raised an eyebrow and let curiosity get the better of her, pushing the curtain to the side to stare out the window. The lamp on her nightstand gave her enough light to see who was tossing little rocks at her window, tears instantly swelling in her eyes at the sight of Jacob Black. She hadn't seen him in weeks, ever since their encounter in the kitchen, and wondered what he wanted with her now.

No doubt he'd heard about her humiliating experience at homecoming and was probably there to gloat about being right. Shaking her head, Selene walked away from the window, tears sliding down her face. Jacob's heart completely shattered when she did that, he'd been there every night in wolf form watching over her for the past two weeks, hoping to catch a glimpse of his imprint.

This was the first night she actually looked out the window and he could see the tears in her eyes, feel her pain even two stories up. Narrowing his eyes, Jacob decided he'd had enough of the distance and immediately began scaling her tree with ease and grace. He arrived at the window and began tapping at it with his knuckle, prepared to break the window if that's what it took to feel Selene against him. He'd been in physical pain for weeks and it was time it stopped, that he came clean to her about everything.

"Selene, I know you're in there. You can't hide from me; I'm not going anywhere. I will live in your damn tree until you face me." Jacob said through the window, knowing she could hear him, and also knew she was going through the same pain as he was because of the imprinting. "Selene please, I just want to make sure you're okay…"

"Go away." Her muffled voice replied, breaking his heart even more. "I don't want to see you or anyone!"

"No, I'm not leaving you. I live in your tree now, you hear me? I'll be a tree hugger, I don't really care at this point."

Scowling at his stubbornness, Selene stormed over to the window and yanked the curtain back, fresh tears falling. "I said leave me alone! What part of that do you not understand? I don't want to see you or anyone! I just want to be left ALONE!" She practically shouted and felt the energy drain from her body at once, watching as Jacob simply pressed his hand against the glass window.

Those deep dark eyes were pleading with her to just let him in, to open the window so he could hold her in his arms. Jacob didn't say a single word, keeping his hand right there as it began to steam the window somewhat due to his body temperature. He was always between a toasty one hundred and seven or eight, depending how angry he was at the time. Right now, all he wanted was to pour all of his warmth and love into this broken woman and piece her back together again.

Selene felt that familiar pull toward him, her heart aching to just touch him once, not understanding why. Why was she suddenly feeling like her entire world revolved around him and nobody else? His eyes were putting her in another trance and Selene couldn't pull away even if a gun was pressed to her temple. It was almost as if everything vanished from sight except the man sitting outside her bedroom window in a tree, begging and pleading with her to just let him inside.

"What do you want from me?" She whispered solemnly, wrapping her arms around herself, suddenly feeling extremely chilled, which didn't make sense because she wore thick black pajama pants and a long sleeved black shirt.

"To open the window." Jacob simply answered, not removing his hand and watched as she inched closer, her trembling hand outstretched. "Please."

Selene swallowed hard and suddenly pressed her hand slowly to the glass over his, feeling the heat through it, their gaze never breaking from one another. Jacob sucked in a sharp breath when her hand pressed to his through the glass, feeling how cold it was compared to his and just wanted to warm her up, the turmoil burning in his dark eyes. Selene's tears had subsided momentarily, her hand slowly slipping from the glass, knowing what she had to do.

Within seconds, the latch on the window was unlocked and she pushed it up, standing back so Jacob could climb in. He did silently, landing on his feet like a cat in front of her, Selene's breath nearly catching in her throat. The turmoil was gone and what replaced it was burning relief as Jacob stared at her intensely. Selene couldn't move or speak, her bottom lip trembling, flashbacks of their last encounter going through her mind.

"Jake…"

He pressed a finger to her lips, silencing her and slowly shook his head, cupping her face in his hot hand. "All is forgiven and has been for awhile." He murmured in a low voice, towering over her with his sheer size. He wore just a pair of tan khaki shorts and no shirt, his muscles rippling with every move he made. "I'm here now Selene, I'm not going anywhere."

"Jake…" Tears instantly stung her eyes and Selene blinked, feeling them scorching her cheeks once again. His thumbs instantly wiped them away, her hands reaching up to grab his wrists, soft to the touch. "I don't understand…"

"I know, but you will in due time." He promised, not believing she was actually touching him, closing his eyes momentarily to relish the feeling. "You have no idea how great that feels."

"What do you mean?" She looked confused, going to remove her hands from his wrists, when Jacob stopped her, instead placing them against his blazing chest. "Jake, you're burning up again…"

Jacob chuckled from low in his throat, wrapping one strong arm around her waist, pulling her even closer to him, their foreheads meeting. "You'll have to get used to that because I'm always this…hot." He smirked, running his hand up and down her back soothingly, warming her up like he wanted to.

"I've noticed." Selene lowered her gaze and sighed when Jacob lifted her chin back up as their eyes locked once more. "Why are you here?"

"I haven't seen you in weeks, why else would I be here?" Jacob sighed when she gave him a pointed look, closing his eyes again, cherishing every second he had with her. "I missed you, Selene…"

"I don't understand why."

"Does there have a be a reason why I've missed you?" Jacob retorted, his voice remaining low and deep, not wanting to fight with her again. "You have no idea just how much you mean to me, Selene. No idea."

If he only knew how many nights she spent only dreaming of Jacob Black saying those words to her. "Is this a dream?" She whispered, fresh tears threatening to fall, looking up into his eyes, her heart pounding thunderously. "Jake…"

"No, it's not a dream." He assured her, chuckling softly and swept her up in his arms, carrying her over to the bed. "Look, I know what happened to you at homecoming, Selene. You have to know that I wanted to rip his heart out of his chest and fry it."

Selene swallowed hard by the intensity burning in his eyes, caressing his face, still not able to get over how hot he felt to the touch. "Please calm down, I don't want you upset." Jacob instantly groaned, leaning into her touch, both of them sinking down on top of her bed as it dipped under their weight, Jacob hovering over her.

"For you I'll do anything." He vowed, moving his head to the side to press a soft hot kiss to her wrist, sending shivers throughout her body. Jacob felt it too and smirked, immediately moving to where her back was pressed against his chest, his arms wrapping around her waist. "Let me warm you up now."

Selene didn't understand the change that came over him, but definitely wasn't complaining, running her fingertips up and down his arm feather lightly. "Is that why you came, you wanted to make sure I was alright?" She asked softly after a few minutes of silence passed between them, staring at the wall.

"I've been watching you since that night." He felt her stiffen in his arms, sighing deeply in her neck, knowing he had to tell her the truth. "It was me who found you. I was near the high school, just keeping a lookout because I was worried about you. I knew that jerk was up to no good."

"How could you know?" She whispered morosely, closing her eyes tightly shut. "I didn't even know…"

"I just knew that he was no good, I could feel it. I kinda have a sixth sense…" Jacob wasn't ready to tell her about being a shape shifter yet, though he couldn't deny her the truth about that night. "I watched from the woods and when you stumbled out in the rain, I knew something was wrong. I raced over to you and caught you just before you fainted and brought you back home safely. I came back to check on you the next day, but Charlie said you didn't want any visitors and sent me away, which really hurt because I didn't know if you were alright."

Selene opened and closed her mouth, deciding not to tell Jacob about the wolf she thought she saw that night, knowing she must've hallucinated it. "Thank you, Jake." She whispered, snuggling further against him. "Will you stay with me tonight?"

"I'm not going anywhere, I'm here as long as you want me." He whispered, his mouth right by her ear, and felt Selene instantly relax fully in his arms.

Within moments, both were fast asleep.