IDNOT - I do not own Twilight

AN: Sorry this took a while. I needed a couple rewrites. But it's finally ready.

Chapter 3

Closer

What the hell was going on here?

All night I kept wondering about that girl up on the cliffs. All night I kept seeing her face in my dreams. I wondered where she lived, what her name was, if I knew her parents, and why she smelled faintly like a bloodsucker. But the point was I couldn't get her out of my mind.

But I was haunted by worse. Up on the cliffs…I could have sworn what happened matched what I heard from Jared and Quil. And that was simply not possible. Because I wasn't… I mean I'm not, right? Ugh. I just wanted to beat my head against the wall.

Because it was Sunday, I had no patrol. I could have stayed home and laid around all day but I needed to get out of the house and find a way to make my head stop spinning. So instead I got dressed, ate a couple pop tarts and headed down to the beach. As I walked over I saw a couple of the guys throwing a football around. I immediately turned and walked toward the other end of the beach. I wasn't really in the mood for sports, I really wanted to be alone.

I had been walking for over and hour, and had left the main strips of the beach far behind me. I had no idea where I was going until I found myself walking the same trail where I had run into the girl the other day. Gah! What was I doing here? No. No. I was not going to do this. I forced myself to jog back to my house. Running, surprisingly, allowed me to clear my mind. I got home and took a shower and felt much better about myself. Maybe I was just stunned to see her up there instead of a filthy leech. Maybe I just marveled at her appearance because I didn't recognize her. That had to be it.

A week went by and I hadn't seen the girl again. None of the guys had reported seeing anyone on the routes other than the regulars. I was still interested and thought about her from time to time, but it wasn't a big deal. Ok, so it was a huge deal. It was really only from time to time that I could get her off my mind. I didn't know what to do. And I couldn't very well talk to any of the guys about how I thought I had imprinted on another girl. Yeah. That would be just what I needed, to be the lame ex-girlfriend of the pack leader, a freak she-wolf, and then have the pack think I was…gay. Was I gay? I didn't know. But at the same time I couldn't just ignore the situation. She kept featuring in my dreams. I had to find this girl, but I had no clue how.

It was a Thursday morning and I was running my routes when I caught the smell of coconuts. I knew then it was her. I crept as slowly as I could, following my nose, until I saw her walking along the same overgrown trail. I followed her until I was certain, then I circled around and made my way to the overlook where I knew she would end up. I sat in the trees and waited. And waited. And waited. It had been a half hour and she hadn't made it to the cliff. I instantly had this feeling of dread. What if she smelled like a leech because one was stalking her? What if the only reason they didn't attack her already was because I had been following her?

I whirled around and barreled down the trail, and caught her scent at a different fork. She had taken an unexpected turn at the last minute. I turned to follow after her and slowed my pace, steadied my gait, and silenced my footfalls as much as possible. Finally I saw where she was. It was a little glen. Heavily wooded, with shafts of weak sunlight shimmering down through the leaves and mist and reflecting in the water droplets left over from the drizzle. I had to hand it to her; she knew how to pick her landscapes. I crept slowly out of the trees from behind her and sat down next to her.

It didn't take her long to notice my presence. And when she did she fell off her log and let out a blood curdling scream before clamping her hand over her mouth. I cowered down and whined, trying to show her that I was not going to hurt her. She slowly rose, fear in her eyes, but also confusion. She was trying to figure out what I was and probably why a huge vicious wolf the size of a bear wasn't ripping her limb from limb. As she brushed herself off I slowly sat up, perked my ears and thumped my tail on the ground. When I saw the puzzled and amused look on her face I tried to picture how I must look.

Oh my god. I was acting like a dog, sitting and waiting patiently for a treat from its owner. Jeez, if I wasn't careful I would make myself sick.

But it seemed to do the trick. She moved her station down the log, eyeing me as she went. I decided to stay where I was. I picked a spot, laid down and heaved a sigh. And I heard her giggle. I jerked my head up at the sound. She had such a great laugh! It was like a little silver bell that you ring at Christmas, light and musical. I watched her paint for an hour or so before sauntering off to finish my route in time for shift change.

Every time I ran from then on I searched for her. I usually found her once or twice a week, surprising with how often it rained. Mostly she just wore a windbreaker or something, but when the rain was heavier she moved her work just into the mouths of the caves to the northeast, the overhang protecting her canvases from the downpours.

I spent an hour or so with her every day, each time gradually creeping closer to her, until one day I laid down right at her feet and she didn't even flinch. But I wasn't happy with this anymore. I still didn't know anything about her. Every now and then she would ask me what I thought of her painting or a sketch and I would look at it, tilt my head this way and that, and then yip approvingly, but that was pretty much it. I needed to meet this girl. Actually meet her. For real.

AN: Ok. What do you think? Really interested to hear form you guys, even if you hate it!