Daniel's POV
"So, how long are you two planning to be weird?" I asked, moving forward so I was leaning between Edward and Bella. We were in Edward's Volvo, the two of them in the front and me in the back. Neither of them had spoken to me since they picked me up, but the looks Bella kept throwing me made it obvious she had something to say. As soon as I spoke they glanced at each other, still with secretive expressions.
"We're not being weird." Bella said, although her blush made it obvious she knew what I meant. "And put your seatbelt on." I rolled my eyes and sat back, although I did put my seatbelt on. I sat in the back fuming for the entire ride, then as soon as we got to school I jumped out the car and walked away without another word.
School was boring, same as always. Except...it wasn't the same. It was worse. I felt like there was something missing. It was a dull ache in my chest, and I needed something to fill it. I kept rubbing my hands together because they felt cold, and empty. Twice I went to the school nurse, but she told me I was fine. Actually the second time she told me something rather more pointed, but still.
The only fun I had came in the ever hyper form of Ashley. She apparently knew every gay joke ever written and she was determined to use them all when I was in hearing range. Luckily they were all good-natured and I have a sense of humor. She clearly loved the idea of having a gay friend and took every chance she could get to, and I quote, 'talk gay' with me.
Finally the bell rang and I got to leave, that stupid lonely feeling still inside me. I made my way to the car park as slowly as possible, dreading the ride home with Bella and Edward. Neither of them had gotten less weird over the course of the day. In fact they had spread their weirdness to the rest of Edward's family. I had caught every one of them giving me the same strange looks.
I was so preoccupied I didn't even notice the red Rabbit in the car park until the horn sounded and everyone turned to look. I stared at it blankly for a few seconds before I realised that Jake was sitting inside. And he was waving me over. I walked over to the side of the truck and climbed inside, grinning in confusion.
"What's going on?" I asked, still grinning. It took me a second to realise that the second I had climbed into the car the hollow feeling in my stomach had vanished. I shut the door and immediately Jacob's smell surrounded me. It was just as amazing as I remembered.
"I thought you said you wanted to see my garage." Jacob replied, giving me a shit-eating grin.
"I didn't mean right after school." I laughed. His face fell slightly, and he gave me a concerned look.
"I can take you home if you like." He offered, sounding disappointed. I hated that sound, Jacob in my head had a permanent smile on his face, and I immediately felt guilty for taking it away.
"I wasn't complaining." I said quickly, then smiled at him. Instantly he started grinning again and my heart leapt. I had never met anyone before that could make me feel this happy just by smiling at me. I couldn't help but wonder what it would feel like if he did other stuff to me...
Jacob's POV
I had spent every moment since I dropped Daniel off thinking about when I would get a chance to see him again. I had been on patrol while he was at school and I thought that would help take my mind off it. But I kept ending up heading through the woods by his school, close enough to smell the people inside it, and I spent half my time trying to separate his scent from the others.
Finally I couldn't stand it anymore and as soon as my shift was over I got dressed and jumped into my Rabbit. Actually I forgot to get dressed the first time and I had to turn around and drive back home. I had gotten so used to running around with nothing but shorts on that my t-shirt felt uncomfortable and strange. Still, I was pretty sure that turning up at his school half-naked would do more to scare him off than anything.
Although since he had called me hot last night it might have the opposite effect. I had nearly jumped up and whooped for joy when I had heard him say that. I wouldn't have been able to hear it if it wasn't for my werewolf hearing, but that didn't matter to me. All that mattered was that if he thought I was hot then hopefully he would want to...
No, better stop that thought right there. Better take things one step at a time. And the next step was probably the hardest one. Telling him I was a werewolf. I didn't want to start a relationship with him, then have him run off when he found out.
With that thought in my head I drove to his school and waited for the final bell. I saw him walking out of the building towards the car park and it was exactly like when you were ill. You didn't realise how bad you felt until it was gone. I beeped and waved him over, then took a deep breath as he climbed in. He smelt like vanilla and strawberries, but he smelt a thousand times better than either of those things.
After quickly checking he was fine with coming with me, because I couldn't force my imprint to do something that made him unhappy, I drove us to my house and tried to think of how I was going to tell him. Finally I realised that the best way was just to show him. I would phase in front of him and hope he didn't scream or run away or faint etc, etc... Somehow I managed to keep the tension out of my face as we arrived at my house and I parked the Rabbit right outside the garage.
"Is your dad in?" Daniel asked as we climbed out of the truck.
"No he's up at Sue's." I answered. He gave me a blank look and I realised he had no idea who Sue was. "Seth's mom." I added quickly and he nodded in understanding.
"Oh yeah, the one who Sarah..." He trailed of and looked around with interest as we walked into my garage. The place was filled with car pieces, a wrecked car mounted on concrete blocks, and the two motorbikes I had fixed up for Bella in the corner. In retrospect I should have cleaned up slightly, because Daniel took one step inside and slipped on a patch of oil.
His feet slid out from under him and sent him crashing to the ground. He banged his head on the hard floor and groaned, then looked up at me and gave me a dizzy smile. "Ow...so this is how Bella feels every day..." He muttered as he sat up and rubbed his head. I laughed and offered him my hand.
"Must get it from Charlie's side." I teased as I pulled him to his feet.
"You know, if I wasn't concussed I'd...have a really witty reply to that." He promised, still smiling. I smiled back and we stayed like that for a few seconds, then he glanced down at his hand and I realised I was still holding it.
"Sorry." I said quickly, and began to pull my hand out of his, but suddenly his hand tightened and I stopped.
"Jacob..." He began, and I didn't know what he was going to say, and I didn't care. He gave me the cutest worried look I have ever seen and I lost control. I let go of his hand and stepped forward, putting my hands one either side of his face and leaning down to push our lips together.
Daniel's POV
Jacob was kissing me. Jacob was kissing me! JACOB WAS KISSING ME!
As soon as he had stepped forward I had brought my hands up automatically to push him away, but when my hands touched his chest I just let them lie there. I closed my eyes as the sensation of having his burning lips pressed against mine shut down all my upper-brain functions.
One of my hands slid upwards until I reached the base of his neck, then traced the vein that ran up the side of it until I reached his cheek. I let my fingers brush his russet skin before tracing my way backwards and running my hand through his silky black hair. My other hand rested on his chest and felt his heart pounding beneath the thin fabric and rock-hard muscles.
Suddenly I felt his tongue pressing against my lips and my heart jumped, literally jumped. I hesitated for less than a second before parting my lips to let him in, his tongue exploring the inside of my mouth. I could actually taste him on my own tongue, and he tasted like he smelt, chocolate and honey.
One of his hands had stayed pressed against my cheek, but the other one had slid gently downwards while we were kissing. First he ran his hand down my chest, then he reached my waist and slipped his arm around me, pulling me closer. I shaped myself to his body instinctively, the two of us fitting together perfectly. I have no idea how long we were like that, but it wasn't long enough. Finally Jacob pulled himself away from me with an obvious effort, and despite my efforts to keep him close he stepped backwards and gave me a serious look.
"Daniel, please try and stay calm." He asked me quietly. I opened my mouth to ask him what he was talking about, when suddenly he began shaking like he was having a fit. I stepped forward out of concern, but I froze up as his form seemed to blur, then there was a tearing sound and where Jacob had been standing was a wolf. A fucking. Gigantic. Wolf.
Jacob's POV
One hour later...
It could have been worse, to be honest. There was no screaming or fainting or calling for help, all of which I had been worried would happen. What had happened was Daniel had run out of the garage, jumped into the back of the Rabbit and locked the doors. I had phased back and grabbed a pair of shorts that I still had lying around from when I had much less control over my phasing, then stood outside the Rabbit and begged him to come out, or even speak to me.
I hadn't bothered mentioning that I could have ripped the door off with little to no effort, because I don't think that would be the most comforting thing for him to hear.
Finally I gave up trying to get him to open the door and just sat down on the ground next to the Rabbit and told him everything. I told him about the Spirit Warriors and Taha Aki. I told him about the Cold Ones, and about the Cullens. I told him about Bella and Edward. I even told him about imprinting, although I didn't explain that I had imprinted on him. It took the better part of an hour to get through it all, and that was just the abridged version.
When I had finshed my extended monologue I just sat there in silence waiting to hear what his reaction would be. For a few seconds there was nothing, then I heard the car unlock and I jumped to my feet. Daniel pushed the door open and spun round in his seat, but he stayed sitting and swung his legs slowly in the air.
"What are you thinking?" I asked standing in front of him, but keeping my distance.
"I'm wondering whether I should call the police or animal control." He answered, then he glanced up at me and gave me a weak smile. "Kidding." I felt relief wash through me, if he was joking around then he was handling it well.
"So...you're not gonna run away screaming?" I asked, giving him the same slight smile.
"Well apparently you're not gonna try and eat me so..." He gave me a slightly stronger smile, then sighed and pushed himself out of the car. He gave me a long, blank look, then sighed again and shut the door behind him. "Why me?" He asked.
"Because I imprinted on you." I said simply. He stared at me for a long moment, then leaned against the Rabbit and slid down until he was sitting on the ground. He ran his fingers through his hair, making what was already a messy style even messier, and at the same time making it that much sexier. He laced his fingers behind his head and stared into nothing. "You alright?" I asked, trying to put all my concern into those two words.
"Am I alright?" He repeated. "Lets see...this morning everything was normal, and now the world is full of vampires and werewolves, my cousin is determined to become a vampire like her boyfriend, and I've got a werewolf who's apparently my soul-mate." He glanced up at me and gave me a dry smirk. "It's kind of a lot to take in."
"Anything you want me to do?" I asked, desperate to help him in any way I could. He seemed to think about it for a moment, then looked up at me again.
"Well... I never thought I'd hear myself say this, but...could you put a shirt on? It's kind of hard to concentrate with you standing there being all...muscly." He said the last word like he was short off breath, which was a massive boost to my ego.
"Sure." I smiled. "Promise you won't run away?" I was only half joking.
"I promise." He said, giving me a small smile. I turned and ran back into my house, into my room, then grabbed the first shirt I found and pulled it on. I walked back out of my room and saw Daniel leaning on the counter in the kitchen. He had his hands in his pockets and looked amazingly calm. He glanced up at me as I walked in, then sighed.
"That's ironic." He muttered. "Now I want you to take it off." We smiled at each other, then he sat down at the kitchen table and gestured for me to sit down too. "Tell me about imprinting again..."
A/N: I really enjoyed writing this chapter and I hoped you enjoyed reading it :) Thanks to everyone who reviewed, alerted or faved. That's all the reward I get since unfortunately I don't own Twilight...I just mess with the characters in my spare time ;)