A/N: Thanks again for reading. This chapter is quite a bit longer than previous ones. Hope you enjoy all the extra happenings! We get to hear more about Rachel's . . . ahem . . . favorite possession.

Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight. If I did there would be a lot fewer vampires and a lot more werewolves.

Paul

I sat below her window, listening to her tears slow and eventually stop as she found sleep. I focused on her slow breathing, and soon I was asleep as well. I dreamed of her, of course. It was a very simple dream, and by far the best of my life.

We were lying together on her bed. Just lying there, face to face, staring into each other's eyes. Our hands were intertwined between us, and she craned her neck to kiss me lightly. Our lips met, and the electric spark I'd felt the first time I touched her was there again. Our lips moved together slowly, and I ran my fingers through her hair. She sighed happily and rested her head on my chest.

"I could stay like this forever," she said.

I closed my eyes and kissed the top of her head. "I love you."

She moved her lips to my chest. "I love you, Paul. So much."

I sighed in my sleep, and I knew I had a smile on my face. Suddenly there was a horrible pain in my side, and I was wide awake. I coughed and struggled to find my breath. Someone had kicked me in the side. And I was pretty sure I knew who that someone was.

I sat up, and as I expected, Jacob was standing over me, seething. The sun was just starting to rise, and I knew we had about an hour before we had to patrol. I was awake an hour earlier than I needed to be. That really pissed me off. My hands were shaking, and I was close to exploding, but I knew that if I phased before my ribs healed, it would be extremely painful.

I shot Jacob that dirtiest look I could manage while still holding my side and hoping he wouldn't kick me again. He was going to regret this later. "What . . . do . . . you . . . want?" I gasped.

"I want you to stop dreaming about my sister," he snarled.

I smirked. "Fat change of that."

Wrong answer, apparently. Jacob pulled his foot back, and I didn't react fast enough. I felt my ribs shatter again, at least four this time. They had been close to healed, now I had to wait again before I could defend myself. I fell to my uninjured side, and let my face rest against the dirt while I tried to breathe. I coughed loudly, and when I pulled my hand back it was covered in blood. The douchebag collapsed my lung.

When it re-inflated, I looked up at him again. "You're a real bastard, you know that?"

"I've been made aware," he said through clenched teeth. He started to walk away but thought better of it and turned back, He raised his foot again, and I flinched. I really didn't want to get kicked again; I was close to healed now. He nudged me slightly with his elevated foot. "Get your ass up. Emily's making breakfast."

I stood and dropped my shorts. I took a deep breath to make sure my ribs were healed. There was only the small twinge of a bruise, so I phased and followed Jacob across the rez to Sam's. As we ran, Jacob's thoughts were lingering on Bella Swan. Normally I would have given him hell for thinking about the leech lover, but in the last twelve hours, I'd developed a healthy level of respect for the difficulty of keeping someone out of your head. Sure she wasn't an imprint, but he treated her like one. And now she was married to a bloodsucker. It was disgusting. I was just beginning to understand his pain.

Jacob ran into me with a lowered shoulder and knocked me off course. I don't need your pity, he shot at me.

We were close to Sam's, and he phased back a few hundred feet from the house, probably just to get away from my mind, which was centered on Rachel. I ran the rest of the way to the house, phasing at the back door and pulling my shorts on. I walked in the door and pulled a gray shirt out of the basket by the door.

I was fairly pissed that Emily had instituted a shirt requirement at the beginning of the summer. And by fairly pissed, I mean I phased in the middle of their living room and had to buy them a new couch. But now I didn't think it was that bad of an idea. If I ever brought Rachel around here, I would hope that the guys would have the common decency to put clothes on. And now that Emily had made it a rule, I could count on it.

While I was pulling on my shirt, Jacob came up behind me and pushed me through the door, grabbing a shirt of his own on the way. I let him pass me. I didn't really want to enter the kitchen without being announced first. At least then I could prepare myself for the torture that was to come. I felt bad for the way I had treated Jared and Quil, knowing that they would give it back to me twice as bad. Great.

I took a deep breath and walked into the kitchen. Everyone was there already. I decided that was good. Get it all over with at once. I scanned the room, waiting for the first person to make a comment. I looked to Leah first, knowing hers would be the most biting and probably truest of all of them. She just stared back at me, and I could tell she was holding back.

I realized the room was oddly quiet. I looked to Sam for an explanation.

"Jacob has asked that we don't make any comments," he clarified.

I spun around to face Jacob. I was shocked. "You just broke my ribs, and now you're keeping them from calling me names?" I narrowed my eyes. He had to have a hidden agenda. There had to t be something else up his sleeve if he was letting me off the hook this easily.

"I just don't want to hear people talking about my sister like that. Trust me, it has nothing to do with you."

I shrugged my shoulders and grabbed a plate from the counter. If he didn't want to give me shit, I wasn't going to complain. Emily had just finished the eggs, so I filled my plate until it was overflowing. I grabbed a seat at the table before they were all taken. Jacob, Leah, and Quil joined me, all intent on giving me dirty looks for the duration of the meal. Jacob and Leah already hated me, so I was used to the death glares coming from them, but Quil's resentment was a new development. He was intensely jealous that yet another one of us had imprinted on someone our own age. Of course he still loved Claire, he was just envious that he was the only one that had to wait for him imprint to grow up.

I shrugged all three of them off, knowing that they just didn't understand. Well, Quil sort of did, but the only desire he felt toward his imprint was brotherly. I, on the other had, was having extremely lustful thoughts about my imprint even though I had only spoken to her once. I was going to have a harder time of it than Quil.

I was just finishing my first plate and was about to get seconds when I felt a tap on my shoulder. Colin, the youngest of the pack, was waiting anxiously at my shoulder to ask me a question.

"What kid?" I asked, hoping he just wanted to know what time I wanted him to start patrolling when I was finished.

Unfortunately, my hopes were crushed. "What's the name of Rachel's bunny?" He was asking if Rachel's vibrator had a name. My eyes narrowed. Someone had put him up to this. Quil and Leah were coughing their food back onto their plates and Jacob's mouth was gaping open, letting all of his half-masticated food just fall out.

"Okay, first of all, you're thirteen years old. That is way too old to be saying 'bunny.' Secondly, it's none of your business. And finally, as far as I know it doesn't have a name."

I looked to Jacob for confirmation, but he shook his head. "Thor," he said with a look of revulsion on his face.

I groaned. Why did the love of my life have to already be in the love with the mechanical version of the Norse god of war? It just didn't seem fair.

Colin turned to walk away but I caught the collar of his shirt and held him there. "Who put you up to it?" I demanded.

He looked at the ground, not wanting to give up either Embry or Jared, my two prime suspects. "You know I'll find out when we phase anyway," I warned. "Tell me, or I'll come over to your house for dinner tonight." He looked appropriately horrified. Everyone knew that Colin's parents didn't know he was a werewolf and were convinced he was going to get fat if he ate too much, so they controlled his portion sizes. Even a normal teenage boy wouldn't be able to survive on the scraps they gave him. And I had every intention of showing up unannounced and eating most of Colin's portion. Then I'd eat a full pound burger when I got home.

Colin shuddered at the thought. He knew I meant it too. He looked down at the floor again as he ratted one of his brother out. "Seth."

My jaw dropped. Cute little Seth who was supposed to be almost as innocent as Colin and Brady? I was going to kill that little bastard. I stood from my chair the same time Jacob did. I moved quickly, determined to get in the first punch, but before I got to him, Sam was between us.

"Seriously, guys," he said, using his Alpha voice. "Cut it out."

Jacob and I both glared at Seth, who looked concerned for his safety. He should be. As soon as we were out of Sam's sight, I was going to break his nose. Though, looking at Jacob, I wasn't sure I would get there first. It felt strange that we would be on the same side of any argument, but I didn't dwell on it. I knew he was only doing this for his sister. This was as far as our camaraderie would go.

I pushed past Sam and went outside. I wasn't going to phase in Sam's house again and risk having to hand over more of my grocery money to buy them furniture. When I got to the yard, I was taking deep breaths in and out, focusing on not phasing. Then I realized I wasn't shaking. I was so used to phasing at the slightest thing that I'd just expected it, but right now I had no trouble keeping myself in control. I was completely confused, but I didn't really care what it was. Anything that kept me from phasing against my will was fine with me.

Once I realized I didn't have to phase, I decided I wanted to. I would start my patrol early and hopefully make most of a circuit before my brothers joined me. It was easier to concentrate on the task at hand without other people's thoughts clouding my head. Especially today.

I pulled off my shirt and dropped my shorts, feeling my form changing. I would never get sick of that feeling. To feel my strength and speed increasing exponentially was indescribable.

I started running toward the Black house first, starting my patrol on the eastern side of the rez. It wouldn't hurt to run past the house and sneak a peak in the window. I wanted to make sure she was still sleeping, that her tears had not crept back to her.

I ran up to the house, and I only had to raise my head slightly to see in the window. I sighed as I viewed her still sleeping form. She was curled up in a ball, arms hugging her knees, under the blankets. She shivered, and I wished again that I could go in and warm her up. However, I knew I would have more broken ribs if I did that.

It took all of my self-control to tear myself from the window and continue my patrol. As soon as I was away from the house, I felt Jacob and Jared phase. Jacob was very satisfied with himself, and I saw in his thoughts that Seth's nose was disappointed; I'd wanted to take care of that myself. But I smirked, knowing i could still get him later. The threat of getting your nose broken twice would be enough to keep anyone from talking about Rachel.

Jacob was agreeing with my thoughts when he was where I had just been.

Stay away from my house, he warned.

I just shook my head, knowing he was going to have to accept it sooner or later. Even if his sister wasn't near me, I would never be far from her. I would sleep under her window every night if I had to.

Jacob seemed to like this idea. He would much rather have me sleeping outside than inside the house, which we both knew was bound to happen eventually. Well, I thought I knew. Actually, I was really just hoping. She was pretty unambiguous last night. She didn't date. And if she didn't date, she definitely wasn't going to like the idea of imprinting. Why did loving her have to be so difficult?

Difficult? Jacob asked. You think Rachel is difficult?

Then he started on a tirade about how Bella Swan is the most wonderful person alive, assuming she was still alive, and about how he couldn't imagine being without her, even though he was, and on and on, blah, blah, blah. I blocked him out as best I could. I really wasn't interested in his whining at all. He'd known this was coming; it was his fault if he couldn't cope with it.

We ran our patrols in blissful silence, passing occasionally on our routes. Jared was controlled in his thought about Kim, thankfully, and Jacob had finally calmed down from his vampire-girl rant. I tired to get information out of Jacob without his knowledge, just thinking random things about Rachel. I wondered what her favorite food was. Jacob thought of macaroni and cheese. I wondered what her favorite color was. He thought of neon green. I wondered about her favorite movie, and he showed me the Godfather. I almost shit myself. It was during my freak out that Rachel and I had the same favorite movie that Jacob realized what I was doing.

Don't do that again, he snarled.

Yeah, I guess that was wrong, but I had to try, right? And I'd gotten some valuable information. I couldn't wait to watch the Godfather with her. That was just about the hottest thing in the world, a girl liking a mafia movie.

When Colin, Seth, and Sam phased, Jared, Jacob, and I phased back, done for the day, but not before I sent Seth the image of him with another broken nose. He shuddered involuntarily, and I smiled. I'd let him live in fear of a few days before I let him have it. I'd be fun.

Without meaning to, I phased back on the east side of the rez. I'd been in such a hurry to keep Seth from seeing that I'd be waiting, that I phased as soon as possible. I pulled on my shirt and shorts and stepped out of the trees about a mile from the Blacks'.

I walked over to the house, hoping I'd make it there before Jacob. I was closer, but I wasn't sure he would phase back before he headed home. I walked around the back of the house to peek in the window. It was after noon but I knew some college students slept late, so I wouldn't have been surprised to find her still in bed. I was disappointed when I saw her bed empty. I walked around to the window that looked into the kitchen and peered in, hoping she wasn't nearby to see me leering into her house.

She was nowhere to be seen. Where could she have gone? I walked to the front door and knocked. As soon as I did, I realized I had no reason to be there, and I prayed she wouldn't answer the door. I didn't want to have to make up some lame excuse about wanting to talk to Jacob when she knew I was just with with.

No one came to the door, or even moved in the house, so I figured she was probably not home. When I turned to leave, I caught her scent and wondered how I ahd been blind to it before. I started to follow it, and as soon as I was away from the shade of the trees, with the sun beating down on me, I pulled my t-shirt off.

I wasn't sure why I had even left Sam's with it on. I'd just have to return it later. I was surprised Emily didn't have a sign out sheet. Yet. I figured it was probably coming, since she'd been getting angrier and angrier that no one was bringing shirts back. Or they were exploding in them. Either way, her shirt basket was getting drained.

I was thinking about the prospect of having to sign out a shirt that I didn't even want to wear, when I caught Rachel's scent wafting strongly in my direction. I was at the beach, walking toward a scantily-clad tourist, who I had to admit looked pretty good in her bathing suit. Girls didn't wear suits like that around here enough. I kept following her scent, and I kept getting closer to the sun-bathing tourist. I was confused until I realized that the girl I thought was a tourist was actually Rachel.

Damn. She looked good. And I'd thought that before I knew it was here. A dark cloud settled over me. That meant other guys were probably thinking the same thing. I didn't want other guys looking at her like this. I needed to cover her up. I considered just picking her up and running her back to her house, but she probably wouldn't have appreciated it much. I thought about stopping to talk to her and offering my shirt, but I knew she wouldn't accept. Finally, I settled on the third, and most cowardly, course of action.

As quickly and quietly as I could, I ran up next to her, making sure not to disturb and sad close enough to alter her to my presence. I took my shirt and flattened it out, then laid it on her so that it was covering her from shoulder to mid-thigh. If I had my way, I would have covered her to her ankles, but I wasn't going to toss my shorts on her too.

I bolted away as fast as my legs could carry me and was behind a tree before she even sat up to see what had happened. She looked confused, and it was the cutest thing I had ever seen in my life. She stood from her towel and gave me a full view of her suit as she tossed the shirt over her arm. How could I want to cover that up? Wow.

She started walking toward my hiding place, following the footprints I left behind, and I knew I had to get farther into the trees before she reached me. She took a few steps in. "Hello? Is someone there?"

Yes, I'm here. I love you. You're perfect. I wanted to say it, but I didn't. I knew my best course of action would be to stay silent, and I accomplished my goal. She gave up, annoyed, and turned back to her towel. As she walked away, I came to a new realization. I'd always thought of myself as a boob man. My eyes tended to be glued t any girl with a decent sized chest. But now, watching Rachel walk away, I could feel myself becoming an ass man. She looked almost as good from behind as she did from the front.

She laid back down on her towel, leaving the shirt in a ball next to her. Okay, so my plan hadn't gone off exactly how I wanted it to. I watched her lay there as she grew warmer with the sun beating down on her. She turned over to get her back and while she turned, I noticed a smirk on her face. I could only hope she was thinking of me, but I knew better. She'd only known me for fourteen hours.

She only stayed for another five minutes, grabbing her clothes and towel and walking back to her house in just her bathing suit. I considered running up to walk with her, but I had already decided I was inviting myself over for dinner. She didn't have to agree to a date for me to share a meal with her.

I yawn once she was out of sight. I was really tired. I'd only gotten about four hours of sleep last night, and I was leaning against a house. I started back toward my house, hoping to get a few hours sleep before I went over for dinner.

I walked in the front door and collapsed onto the couch, too tired to make it back to my bedroom. My eyes were about to close when the phone rang. Normally I wouldn't have answered it, but for some reason I felt like it was something important.

"What?" I answered angrily. I just wanted to sleep.

"Paul?" her voice asked hesitantly. I was wide awake.

"Rachel? What is it? Is something wrong?" My overprotective side kicked in.

"No, nothing's wrong. I was just wondering if you would come over. I wanted to talk to you about something."

I was completely terrified. What had Jacob said about me?

Rachel:

When I woke up the next morning, I wasn't sure if I felt better, but I didn't feel worse, so I decided that was progress. I'd slept for about eleven hours, and I was a little overtired considering I usually got less than six hours at school. I needed something to do to keep me awake, or I was going to sleep the whole day.

I didn't really have any plans for the day, and no one was around to entertain me. Dad was out fishing with Charlie Swan. (He tried to cancel his plans, but I told him to go anyway. Charlie was having trouble adjusting to his daughter being out of the house, and I knew Dad had some experience in that area.) Jake was 'working', whatever that meant.

I rolled over to the side of my bed and pulled my jeans up from the floor, grabbing my phone out of the pocket. I flipped it open and dialed Becca's number. I'd promised her that I'd call when I got home, but I'd forgotten. She wouldn't be surprised though. I rarely remembered to call when I said I would. It rang a few times and went to voicemail. I realized it was only eight a.m. in Hawaii. The likelihood of Becca being awake was slim to none. I left her a short message telling her I'd call her on my drive back tomorrow then hung up.

I sat on my bed, trying to think of something to do. I hadn't been around La Push in so long that I honestly couldn't think of anything. At school I spent a lot of time at the coffee shop. There wasn't one in La Push for sure, and it was fairly unlikely Forks had one either. Not that I had any desire to drive anywhere; I was still recovering from yesterday.

I finally decided to go out to the beach. It was supposed to be extremely hot today, so I went to grab my bathing suit from the dryer. When I arried in the mud room, I remembered I had left my clothes in the washing machine overnight. I sighed and opened the lid and was immediately hit with the dank smell of mildew. I stepped back, trying to clear the smell away from me and set the machine to run through the rinse cycle again. There was no way I was going to sit around the house throught the rinse then wait for the dryer. I would go crazy.

I went back to my room and pulled open the dresser that I had emptied three years ago when I moved out. I prayed that I had left a bathing suit behind. I rummaged through each drawer, finding horrible item after horrible item. I no longer was embarrassed by the clothing that Jake wore since my wardrobe was obviously just as bad when I was his age. I finally found something in the bottom drawer that was intended for swimming, though calling it a bathing suit would have been generous. It was a string bikini with Brazilian bottoms and an extremely small top. I was pretty sure that was originally Becca's since this was more her style than mine. (She was much more into showing off her body than me.)

I sighed, knowing that if I really wanted to go outside, this was my only option. I pulled it on and checked myself in the mirror. I wasn't fat, but wearing this suit made me feel exposed. I put a t-shirt and shorts over it and hoped I wouldn't overheat before I made it to the beach.

I grabbed a towel and my sunglasses as I headed out the door. I walked slowly to the beach, savoring the sun's rays. I could feel my skin heating already, and I knew I should have put on some sunscreen, but as usual I was too lazy to look for it. I surveyed the beach, looking for a secluded spot to lay my towel. I finally found a spot that was empty of tourists and close to the water. It wasn't that I didn't like the tourists; I just had no interest in answering their questions about the reservation just because I was there. There were people at the resort who got paid to do that.

As I laid on my towel, I knew immediately that my shirt and shorts had to go. As I pulled both off, the heat reduced my awkward feelings about my bathing suit. Honestly, in this heat, the less material the better. I breathed deeply, feeling warm and happy. I raised my arms above my head to try to get some sun on my inner arms when I felt something fall onto my chest. I opened my eyes and found that there was a gray man's tshirt sitting over me, covering me completely.

I looked around to see who had dropped it, but there was no one nearby. There were a few footprints that looked like they were headed towards the woods. I stood to follow them and return the tshirt that had been dropped on me.

I left my towel behind as I walked toward the tree, taking a few steps in before I lost the footprints. I called out, but no one answered. Whoever had dropped the shirt couldn't have gotten far. He should at leave be able to hear me.

I sighed and turned back. I walked back, hoping no one had tried to steal my towel. I wasn't really sure why anyone would want it considering it was least 15 years old and had one than one hole in it, but with tourists you never knew. They were always on the lookout for one-of-a-kind souvenirs.

It was still there, or course, and I set the shirt in a ball next to me as I resumed my sunbathing. I found myself smirking as I rolled to my stomach and it took me a few second to grasp why. I'd been thinking about Paul. Why was I doing this to myself? It was only going to lead to disappointment later. I tried to divert my attention elsewhere, but I realized after about five minutes that I probably should have brought a book or something with me, because I was thinking again. I really didn't like thinking when I had cried within the previous twenty-four hours. I generally needed at least a full emotion-free day before I could allow myself to think without the threat of tears.

I wasn't going to take any risks, so I rolled up my towel, grabbed my clothes including the random tshirt that had apparently fallen from the sky, and headed back to the house. Under no circumstances was I going to cry two days in a row. Ugh. I was disgusted just thinking about it.

I walked in the front door and found Jake shoveling food into his mouth. I stood there practically in hysterics for almost a full minute before his attention was diverted from the spaghetti was he inhaling. He wasn't even twirling the pasta on his fork. He was just scooping and slurping. He looked up at me with sauce all over his chin, and I almost fell to the floor laughing.

"What's so funny?" he asked me, insolently.

It took me a few seconds to get my cackling under control before I could answer. "Nothing other than your complete inability to eat without wearing at least half of it. It looks like you haven't made any progress since you were about four."

He rolled his eyes and wiped his face with a napkin before he shoved in another forkful, covering his chin yet again. I wasn't sure how I was still standing after laughing so hard. He swallowed before he even chewed it and took another bite. What a pig.

I had been standing, hoping my clothes over my arms, covering me mostly, and when I started walking to my room, Jake got a full view of what I was wearing. He almost choked up the bite he was currently swallowing whole.

"What the hell are you wearing?" he demanded.

I tried to feign innocence, but i knew full well what I was wearing was one small step away from obscene. "A bathing suit. I was at the beach. Most people wear bathing suits to the beach."

"That's not a bathing suit. That's not even underwear. Underwear covers more," Jake argued.

I decided Jake's punishment for being overbearing would be a horrible mental image. I gave him a devious smirk as I said, "Not my underwear."

He made a gagging noise, and I knew I accomplished my goal. I walked back to the mud room and finally put my clothes in the dryer. As a favor to Jake, while I was in there, I pulled on the shirt and shorts I had taken to the beach. I didn't need to torture the poor kid.

I sat back down at the table with him while he finished his plate that was really more of a serving platter. Where was all that food going? He'd probably eaten more in one sitting than I usually ate in a week. I shook my head.

"What now?" he asked warily. He probably thought I was going to tell him more about my underwear.

"Nothing, you're just eating enough food for a horse. Where does it go? You're still so skinny."

He looked offended. "I am not skinny." He raised his arms and flexed, showing me his bulging muscles.

I laughed. "Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to offend. How could I not realize that since you're so buff, that you need enough food to feed an entire third world country?" I said sarcastically.

"Buff?" he asked. "How about ripped?" He flexed again. When had he become so self-absorbed? I didn't bother asking. I already knew the answer. 'When I had my growth spurt.' I was getting sick of that answer already.

"So, how was work?" I asked him.

He rolled his eyes. "You know I can't talk about it, Rach."

"Come on, Jake. Was it good or bad?" I prompted.

"Pretty good, I guess," he answered.

"Can you tell me about it?"

"Nope."

I sighed in frustration. I was never going to find out, was I? Then I remembered when Jake had told me last night. He said he wasn't allowed to tell me about his job, but Paul was. I got up from the table and took the phone from the cradle. I looked to Jake. "What's Paul's number?"