"I'm going to be meeting your family?" I shrieked, grabbing his face. "Are you freaking kidding me? Why didn't you warn me or something Jacob?"

He squirmed under my hands. "Would it really have made a difference?" he asked in confusion.

"Yes! What were you thinking Jacob Black? I can't meet your family like this!"

"Like what?" He asked, looking slightly perplexed.

"Like this! All messy and stuff! I need to make a good impression Jake, this is important!"

"Cor, relax. It'll be okay, they won't care about that kind of thing," he said, looking amused.

"Please Jake, I want them to like me," I pleaded, pulling my face into a puppy dog pout. I tried to keep my face straight when I saw his amused face flicker into one of concern.

"Well, what do you want to do about it then?" he asked. I turned my face away so he wouldn't see me grin.

"Just drop me off at the nearest clothing store for a few moments" I stated smugly, secure in my victory.

"How much will this cost?" He inquired primly. I laughed at his dubious expression.

"Nothing," I smiled charmingly at him.

"Nothing?"

"Nope, I got this one covered Jake," I dug into my bag and pulled out a plastic bag with a few bills. "The last of my gas station gig."

He grinned and counted the bills in the bag, "I was wondering where that went."

I hugged him tightly, "So deal?"

"Sure, sure, I'll drop you off in Port Angeles okay? You can shop for ten minutes then we gotta get going. I want to be there before dark," he looked worried enough that I agreed without hesitation.

"Let's go then!" I cried, leaping forward to give him privacy to phase. He caught up with me almost immediately, his paws treading heavily beside me. I twisted my fingers through his russet fur absent-mindedly. He stuck his tongue out of his mouth in a lazy wolf-grin.

"Can I ride again until town?" I asked. He nodded his shaggy head and I clapped my hands in delight. I tucked my shoulder bag into my side more securely and swung my leg over his huge form when he crouched on the ground.

Then we were off.

I laughed into Jake's ear, feeling delight as the world whipped by us in a blur of green and brown. He barked his agreement and went even faster. I felt completely assured riding on his broad back, barely jostled as he ran. He was so warm that the cold wind didn't even affect me.

We got to Port Angeles too soon for my liking.

"Remember, ten minutes Cory," Jake said seriously. I saluted him and ran towards the picturesque town.

Quickly I found a department store that looked like it would carry some nice, cheap clothes. I sorted through their clearance section first, finding an inexpensive sequined top, then headed over to look through jeans and shoes where I found a pair of twenty dollar jeans and some pink ballet flats. I even had enough left to buy a cute cardigan and a polo shirt for Jake. I didn't want his family to think I hadn't been taking care of him either.

Normally shopping was a hobby I tried to stay away from. Jake and I didn't have enough money for me to be getting new clothes all the time. I wore the two or three sets of clothes until I either grew out of them or they wore out. Jake bought new clothes even less often, claiming that since he spent so much time out of them he barely needed them.

But today was a special occasion so I splurged a little. I mean, I was meeting his family - his former pack! It was important that they thought well of me. They needed to see how well Jake had been taking care of me; I couldn't look (or act) like a wild child around them.

I rushed my clothes to the counter, watching the clock with anxious eyes. Jake would come and actually pick me up by the scruff of the neck if I was even half a minute late. The cashier was so slow though that I was fidgeting anxiously by the end, with half a mind to jump over the counter and check myself out. But I withheld the temptation to whack the girl and was able to dash outside just as Jake was coming in.

"Safe!" I gasped.

He chuckled and grabbed my bags from me, pulling me with one hand towards the forest.

I climbed onto his back when we were once again in the safety of the trees. The sun was fading a in the sky but instead of slowing Jake, it only made him faster. I closed my eyes to avoid panicking because of the speed coupled with the lack of light to see by. Jake could see and he was really the only one who needed to.

The sun had almost completely disappeared when he began to slow. I was getting a little chilly and was mentally thankful for buying a cardigan.

Jake stopped running in the forest just a few hundred feet from where I could see a road with lights. I was surprised – he never came that close to a town without phasing into a human again.

I slid off his back and we went in opposite direction to change – him to human, me into my new clothes.

The cold air stung my skin a little bit but I just thanked God that it wasn't raining. Jake had told me that it always rained in La Push. Heh, he was wrong.

As soon as I thought that I heard a tiny rumble of thunder above me. Fail… Stupid thoughts.

"Jake, it's going to storm!" I called as I pulled on my new flats.

He was at my side in a moment. I handed him his new shirt, he grinned at me and pulled it over his bare chest. I stood and admired him for a moment, that colour looked good on him…

"It's okay, it's not that far," he said, startling me from my thoughts (or lack of).

I nodded, suddenly nervous. Like, really nervous. My hands began to shake and my heart beat out in double time.

"Woah girl, relax!" Jake exclaimed, reaching out to steady me. "They aren't going to eat you or anything."

I gave a weak giggle, but my throat was too tight to speak.

He pulled me close to him in a warm hug. I leaned into him, smelling his deep earthy smell. His arms tightened around me as I held onto him as firmly as my shaking fingers could manage.

"Jake," I whispered. "What if they don't like me?"

He was quiet for a moment. I concentrated on his deep, steady breaths and the sound of his heart beating steadily. I knew he would be honest with me – it was what I always needed first.

"Well," he started quietly. "If they really don't like you then we'll leave."

I pulled away, "What? No, I couldn't let you do that!" I crossed my arms and looked down, guilt tearing at my insides.

He put his hands on either side of my face and made me look at him.

"Why do you think they won't like you?" he asked.

I bit my lip, "Because I stole you away for so many years! They might not think that I'm worth it. I never wanted to come between you and your family…" To my shame a plump tear dripped out of my eye and rolled down my cheek.

Jake caught it with a finger and gently erased the track it left on my cheek with his warm fingers. I closed my eyes and rested on him. He hugged me again.

"Cory, they'll understand that you were so important to me that I had to take care of you. They won't think you stole anyone, in fact, they might be mad that I stole you away."

I opened my eyes, surprised. "Stole me away? From what?"

He let me go and ran a big hand through his shaggy hair.

"Well, I haven't exactly given you the best life. We've always been poor and moving. You hardly ever made friends and I couldn't give you all the experiences normal kids have had. If I had given you to an orphanage then you would probably have those things right now. But I kept you because…"

"Because of the imprint," I cut him off. We had been over why he had kept me when other options would have made his life easier. "And I'm glad. I love living with you, I'd give up every normal experience for you. I have my own werewolf! How many normal kids have one of those?" I snorted.

He laughed too and grabbed our bags, scattered at our feet. I slipped my hand inside of his, loving how tiny it looked in his humongous one. We walked towards the lights in silence for a minute.

"By the way, I don't think you'll need to worry about them not liking you, " Jake grinned cheekily. "They welcome fellow goofballs."

I smacked him as hard as I could without hurting myself. He stuck his tongue out so I did it right back. Yep, the epitome of maturity, that was us.

We walked out onto the street laughing quietly. I looked around curiously, my nerves calmed for the moment.

A few houses had lights on but I couldn't really see what they looked like because of the dark. I wondered what it was like for Jake to be coming back after all these years. Things must have changed in such a long time.

He squeezed my hand as he guided me up the street towards a house on the very edge of the forest. Almost all the lights were on in this one and I could see silhouettes in the front window. Half of them were as big as Jake while the others varied in size. A few kids raced by as I watched.

"Bet you ten bucks I can guess who's who from the outside," Jake said mischievously. I grinned wickedly at him, easy bet. They were sure to have changed by now.

"Deal."

"Alright," he cleared his throat. "Left to right, males only. Um… Quil, Brady… Seth… Embry, Sam… Collin, Paul… and Jared."

I took a moment to memorize the order and replayed it back to him.

"Yep, that's it. I'm positive."

I shrugged, "Your money."

He barked out a quiet laugh as we walked up the drive. I began to get butterflies in my stomach again.

"Do I look okay? Anything out of place?" I fussed as we climbed the stairs to the door. Jake just pressed a kiss to my forehead in assurance. I smiled at him in unspoken thanks.

We waited a few moments at the door, both of us looking at the yellow paint.

"So… uh, should we knock or something?" I asked. Jake just shrugged. I squeezed his hand knowing that his nerves were catching up with him as well.

I was just lifting my hand to knock when the door opened.