A/N: It appears this story is finally starting to catch on. Woohoo. Thanks to everyone that has been reading and reviewing and alerting and favoriting. It really means a lot.

Hope everyone enjoys this chapter. There's some humor, there's some seriousness, and there's some progression of the relationship. Something for everyone.

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

Rachel:

Paul started the truck again and pulled back onto the road. We were about a five miles outside of Port Angeles.

"Do you want to stop for food now?" he asked, looking hopeful.

I nodded. He was probably starving. I wasn't especially hungry, but if I ate now I could study the rest of the way back without my stomach to distract me. As I was deciding what to study first I gasped. I hadn't grabbed my backpack out of my car. It was still in La Push.

"What's wrong?" Paul asked with concern.

"I left my backpack in my car. I need it. We have to turn around," I informed him as we were pulling into the restaurant. He looked pained, staring wistfully at the patrons eating in the diner.

"Let's go eat," he said suddenly. I started shaking my head, but he cut me off. "Let's eat, and your bag will be here by the time we're finished," he promised.

I looked at him skeptically. I decided to give him a chance. "Okay," I allowed. "But if my books aren't here, we are going back to La Push, and I will be driving myself back."

That seemed like adequate punishment for making a promise he couldn't keep. He looked at the ground, absolutely crestfallen. Did he think I had no faith in him? Or that I was looking for a way out of him coming with me?

I took his hand in mine trying to reassure him. I brought my other hand to his cheek as I comforted him. "I was just teasing," I said softly. "You know that I want you to come with me."

He eyed me doubtfully. He would need more convincing. I kissed him lightly then opened my door. "Do whatever you need to do to get my bag here, then come inside and eat. I know you're hungry."

I walked into the diner and took a seat at the counter. I pulled out a menu and scanned my options. Fried chicken, fried fish, fried mushrooms? Was there anything on this menu not fried? I wasn't health freak or anything, but whenever I ate something fried I could practically feel my arteries clogging. I tried to avoid that feeling as much as possible.

I finally decided on the BLT as Paul sat down beside me. He sat his phone on the counter, and I raised my eyebrows at him.

"It'll be here," he promised as he picked up his menu.

That waitress came over to take our order, and I ordered my BLT and a coke. I turned down the fries that came with the sandwich. Paul looked shocked and told the waitress he would take my fries for himself. Then he ordered enough food for a small army. I thought the waitress would get writer's cramp from everything that he ordered. A hamburger, chicken fingers, a large order of fries (on top of the ones he was stealing from me), onion rings, a ham and cheese melt, and a chocolate milkshake. The waitress raised her eyebrows but didn't say anything. She probably thought he had the munchies.

I laughed at that thought. "What?" he asked.

I just shook my head. "Nothing, I'm just pretty sure the waitress thinks you're on drugs."

"And why would I be on drugs?"

"Because you're eating like you have a serious case of the munchies."

He smiled at that. "I should bring all the guys up here. They'd probably call the cops on us," he laughed.

I couldn't help but smile. That would be an interesting image. The guys all sitting around a table with four plates in front of each of them then the cops busting in with guns blazing. I could just image Charlie Swan yelling, 'Drop that sandwich!' That would be hilarious.

He smiled at me and took my hand in his. He squeezed it and I could feel my heart warmed. If felt so good to be loved. He leaned in to kiss me, but I turned my head away. I didn't like PDA. It was obnoxious to the other people around you. Instead, I changed the subject.

"Tell me something interesting," I prompted him, rubbing the back of his hand with my thumb.

"Like what?"

I shrugged. "I don't know. Something about you that I don't know yet."

He looked thoughtful as he contemplated what to tell me. He was really wracking his brain for information. Finally it looked like the light bulb went off.

"I've always wanted to go to Alaska and live off the land for awhile."

I furrowed my eyebrows. That was completely random. I just wanted to know about his family or friends. Something normal like that. This was out of left field.

"Really?" I asked. "Why?"

"Have you ever heard of Into the Wild?" he asked.

I nodded. I knew the basic story of it. A kid renounced society and went to live in the Alaskan wilderness and ended up starving to death. What the hell was he talking about that for?

"I want to do something like that. There's something very noble about what he did. To give up everything and try to make it all on his own. He wasn't going to take the comfortable road and do what people expected of him. He did what he wanted and I admire him."

I tried to process this. I shook my head. "I guess I just don't understand."

He took at deep breath, and his eyes bored into mine.

"So many people live within unhappy circumstances and yet will not take the initiative to change their situation because they are conditioned to a life of security, conformity, and conservatism, all of which may appear to give one peace of mind, but in reality nothing is more damaging to the adventurous spirit within a man than a secure future. The very basic core of a man's sprit is his passion for adventure. The joy of life comes from our encounters with new experiences, and hence there is no greater joy than to have an endlessly changing horizon, for each day to have a new and different sun. "

"Wow. That was beautiful. How did you come up with that?"

He shook his head. "That's a quote from the book."

"You memorized the book?" I questioned, almost disbelievingly. I'd never loved a book so much that I could quote it so reverently.

I'd never thought of Paul as deep, but here he was, baring his soul to me, and I was incredibly moved. I leaned in and touched my forehead to his.

"That is so amazing." His smile grew wide. He'd been afraid of my response. "Just promise me one thing."

"Hmm?"

"If you go, you'll make it back to me alive?" I asked seriously, meeting his eyes with intensity.

He nodded. "Don't worry. I couldn't be away from you that long. Plus I'd probably cheat."

I cocked my head to one side. "How could you cheat?"

"I can turn into a wolf remember? It's quite a bit easier to track down dinner when you're faster than anything else in the forest."

I laughed and pushed him back. If he did decide to go, it would make me feel infinitely better if I knew that he wouldn't starve to death. Even if he did consider it cheating, I didn't. Anything that kept him alive wasn't cheating.

The waitress came over and set our plates in front of us, and we dug in. I was hungrier than I thought, inhaling my sandwich almost as fast as Paul. I was done long before he was since he had enough food for a small army, so I sat and watched him eat. He was very interesting when he ate. He was completely focused on the food in front of him. The way he was shoveling it in you'd think he hadn't eaten in weeks.

As he downed half of his shake in one gulp, he glanced sideways at me and caught me staring. He set the glass down and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand.

"What?" he asked.

"Nothing. I was just watching you eat."

He just shrugged and went back to his onion rings.

He was finished much faster than I expected. I thought for sure he would have indigestion, but he assured me he wouldn't. I just shrugged. Must be nice to be a werewolf and be able to scarf all of that down without a bottle of pepto bismol to go with it. I could already feel my stomach acid rising. I pulled my Tums out of my purse and chewed a few. I hoped it would help.

After an extremely heated discussion over the bill it was decided that I would pay since he was the one whose gas was being used. I didn't think he liked to very much, but I was starting to enjoy that he couldn't say no to me when my mind was set on something.

We walked out of the diner hand in hand and found Seth leaning against Paul's truck, holding my backpack.

He held it out of me, and I took it, thanking him immensely. I looked around for his car and was confused when I didn't see one.

"How did you get here?" I asked.

Seth looked warily at Paul and just shrugged. Apparently he wanted me to think that he teleported or something. I wasn't going to worry about it. I had my bag now, that was all the mattered. I slid the bag onto my shoulder and started heading to my door when I felt something wet.

I pulled the bag down and found a huge wet mark around the top strap of the bag and what appeared to be teeth marks. I gasped.

"You had this in your mouth?" I accused.

Seth nodded. "Yeah, how else did you expect me to carry it? I think I would have looked a little weird if I had it on my back." He laughed and Paul joined in with him. Was I the only one that found this a little strange? Plus, I had wolf drool all over my bag. And I could tell already that the smell was not going to go away when it dried. Great. Now I was going to smell like werewolf saliva.

Paul:

Rachel looked so beautiful sitting next to me in the truck. I hardly remembered to breathe. All I could do was look at her.

After we had been driving for a few miles my stomach started rumbling, and I knew I was going to pass out of I didn't eat soon. I hadn't eaten a full meal since breakfast yesterday. I was on the brink of starvation.

I asked Rachel if she wanted to stop for food, praying she was even the tiniest bit hungry. Thankfully she nodded, and I pulled off into the little diner on the opposite side of the road. As I pulled into the parking space Rachel gasped in horror.

"What's wrong?" I asked. I hoped it was nothing horrible. No suddenly-discovered reason why she couldn't date me. No recent realization that she absolutely had to go to grad school. No irrational need to eat anywhere but here. If it was any of those I would have been very unhappy.

"I left my backpack in my car. I need it. We have to turn around."

I stared into the diner, the dream of a full stomach fading quickly. I wanted to cry. How could I be so stupid to think that she had everything out of her car? It was going to take forever to drive back. We weren't going to have time to eat. I was going to have a hypoglycemic crisis. There had to be something I could do.

Suddenly, a light clicked on. I didn't need to drive her back. I could make someone bring it here. And I knew just who would be eager to do me a favor.

"Let's go eat." I started opening the door, pulling my phone out of my pocket. She started shaking her head and tried to keep me in the car. I pulled out of her reach and spoke again. "Let's go eat, and your bag will be here by the time we're finished."

She looked unsure, as if I were lying to her. When would she realize that I wasn't capable?

She took a deep breath and sighed. "Okay. But if my books aren't here, we are going back to La Push and I will be driving myself back."

I felt like she had just punched me. Did she really think that I needed to be punished so harshly? She really was a sadist. That would be the only way she could give me such a penalty. She was taking pleasure in my pain. It was a good thing that when it came to her I was a masochist.

Apparently I looked almost as depressed as I felt as she grabbed my hand. "I was just teasing," she admitted. "You know that I want you to come with me."

I wasn't sure if she was telling me the truth or just telling me what I wanted to hear. She leaned forward and kissed me then pushed her door open. As she slid out of her seat, she looked back over her shoulder and said, "Do whatever you need to do to get my bag here, then come inside and eat. I know you're hungry."

That thought made my stomach rumble once more. I watched as she sauntered into the diner and took a seat at the counter. I couldn't wait any longer. I needed food. I flipped my phone open and dialed Seth. He owed me. And I still owed him a broken nose. Maybe we could come to an agreement.

He answered it on the third ring. "Hello?" he asked tentatively.

"Why hello, Seth," I said sounding overly-friendly.

"Why are you calling?" He sounded wary. I heard a door open. Then another. I laughed.

"I'm not in your room Seth." He thought I was calling him before I jumped out and attacked him. He needed to give me more credit. I was more creative than that.

He let out a sigh of relief. "Then why are you calling me?"

"I needed you to go to Rachel's house, get her backpack out of her and bring it to me."

"Why would I do that?" he asked, adding an air of rudeness to his question. He had no room to be rude.

"If you do this, I will consider not breaking your nose for that stunt you pulled yesterday."

I heard a sharp intake of break before he answered. "Where are you again?"

I chuckled as I told him the name of the restaurant and told him he only had 45 minutes or my offer was off the table. He wouldn't need it. He was a fast little shit. He would probably be here in 20 minutes.

I ended the call and strode into the diner. I dropped my phone onto the counter. She looked at me inquisitively, and I promised her bag's arrival as I grabbed a menu.

I scanned it quickly and considered ordering one of everything. Everything sounded so good. When the waitress came to take our order I was mildly horrified when Rachel turned down the fries that came with her sandwich. Apparently she didn't want any vegetable that had more animal fat in it than a hamburger. I just shook my head. The lard they cooked it in was what made it good.

"I'll take her fries," I told the waitress. Then I took a deep breath, hoping to prepare her for my order. She didn't know what she was in for. "I'll take a hamburger with lettuce and tomato. I'd also like an order of chicken fingers with ranch on the side. A large order of fries," I continued.

"You're already getting her fries," the waitress informed me. Thank you Captain Obvious. If I only wanted her fries, would I have ordered more?

I just smiled at her. "Those aren't enough. Can I also get an order of onion rings, a chocolate shake, and…." I scanned the menu one last time. I needed something that was going to push me over the edge from fed to full. "I guess I'll take a ham and cheese melt, too." The waitress raised her eyebrows at Rachel, as if asking if I had recently escaped from a mental hospital. I wished I could have seen the look on her face if I had been allowed to tell her the truth about why I was so hungry. It would have been priceless.

Rachel laughed. "What?" I asked. How big of a pig did she think I was?

She shook her head. "Nothing. I'm just pretty sure the waitress thinks you're on drugs."

I was confused. What would my order a lot of food have to do with drugs? Don't most drugs suppress your appetite?

"And why would I be on drugs?"

She laughed again. "Because you're eating like you have serious case of the munchies."

Aah. The munchies. Of course. How could I forget about the one drug side effect I would welcome with open arms? I chuckled to myself at the thought of how bad I would get the munching if I ever decided to get stoned. That would be a sight to behold.

"I should bring all the guys up here. They'd probably call the cops on us." I would love to see that. They'd bring their drug sniffing dogs who would be scared shitless of us even when we were in human form. I don't think you can convict just because the narc dogs won't go near the suspects. God, that would be hilarious.

My smile slowly faded into a smirk as I stared at Rachel. She was staring back at me, and I took her hand in mine. I squeezed it and she smiled. I loved her so much it hurt.

I leaned forward to kiss her but she turned her head. My lips met her cheek instead. She didn't like public displays of affection, I could tell. I would have to give her time to work up to it because I knew that I couldn't go my entire life without kissing her in public. It would be far too much for me to try to endure.

"Tell me something interesting," she said as she rubbed her thumb over my hand.

"Like what?" I questioned.

She just shrugged. "I don't know. Something about you that I don't know yet."

I had no idea what she wanted to know. Did she want to hear about my parents? Siblings? My life goals? What? I had couldn't come up with anything. Finally I settled on the one thing that the guys were sick of hearing me talk/think about.

"I've always wanted to go to Alaska and live off the land for awhile," I informed her.

She looked confused. This was obviously not the information she had been looking for. I didn't care though. This defined me more than any discussion of my blood relatives ever could.

"Really? Why?"

I leaned forward and squeezed her hand. "Have you ever seen Into the Wild?" I asked.

She nodded slowly, skeptically. Obviously she didn't appreciate it the way I did. That was okay. Most people didn't.

"I want to do something like that," I told her. "There's something very noble about what he did. To give up everything and try to make it all on his own. He wasn't going to take the comfortable road and do what people expected of him. He did what he wanted and I admire him."

She shook her head from side to side a little. "I guess I just don't understand."

I breathed deeply and considered my response. I gazed into her eyes intensely as I quoted the words of Chris McCandless.

"So many people live within unhappy circumstances and yet will not take the initiative to change their situation because they are conditioned to a life of security, conformity, and conservatism, all of which may appear to give one peace of mind, but in reality nothing is more damaging to the adventurous spirit within a man than a secure future. The very basic core of a man's spirit is his passion for adventure. The joy of life comes from our encounters with new experiences, and hence there is no greater joy than to have an endlessly changing horizon, for each day to have a new and different sun." I loved this quote so much that I had made the effort to memorize it. It was like the words had come directly from my head, though slightly more eloquent.

Rachel blinked, surprised by my sudden recitation. "Wow. That was beautiful. How did you come up with that?"

I was happy that she thought it was all me. I loved that she thought I was smart enough to be able to see how the world worked and articulate it so fully. I wished I could take credit for it.

I shook my head. "That's a quote from the book."

She looked shocked. "You memorized the book?"

I searched her face wondering if that was a good thing or a bad thing. I hoped that she didn't think I was some kind of crazed fan-boy just because I related well to a book. She leaned forward, bringing our foreheads together.

"That is so amazing," she said with a smile. I grinned, glad that she didn't think I was crazy. "Just promise me one thing."

I nodded, urging her on.

"If you go, you'll make it back to me alive?" she requested.

I was momentarily stunned. She thought I wanted to get away more than I wanted to be with her. That couldn't have been further from the truth. But I understood her concern. Chris McCandless starved to death while he was living on his own in the Alaskan wilderness. I had to assure her that I was in no danger.

"Don't worry. I couldn't be away from you for that long. Plus I'd probably cheat."

"How could you cheat?"

I chuckled. "I can turn into a wolf remember? It's quite a bit easier to track down dinner when you're faster than anything else in the forest."

She laughed and shoved me back as the waitress brought our food over.

As she set the plates in front of me, I started counting entrees to make sure they were all present. I was marginally concerned when I didn't immediately see my onion rings. I looked at her questioningly but she just held a finger up in an effort to tell me to wait a minute. She cleared her arms of the plates she was currently holding, and I took stock of her small frame. She had wedged every plate she could on both arms, and I silently thanked her for deciding to make two trips. If she had attempted to carry it in one there was a distinct possibility that my food would have ended up on the floor. And it wouldn't have reflected well on Rachel when I bent down to eat it anyway.

I started eating slower than I normally would have, not wanting to make Rachel feel awkward if I finished too much before her. Thankfully she ate her sandwich fairly quickly and was actually finished before I was.

She stared at me as I ate my ham and cheese melt. I was starting to get uncomfortable. She must have thought I was absolutely porcine. But unfortunately there was nothing I could do about my appetite. It came with the territory. The same territory that brought me to her. There were werewolf perks all around.

I started downing my shake, and her gaze intensified. She leaned closer, apparently mesmerized by my ability to chug a milkshake. I finished and wiped my mouth with my hand before I turned and asked, "What?"

She shrugged. "Nothing. I was just watching you eat."

I didn't worry about it as I turned back to my onion rings. I saved the best for last. I savored them as much as I could stand to while still shoveling them in hand over fist. I finished them and moved my fist to my chest as a small belch came up. I rubbed my chest and did my best to keep the noise reined in. It wouldn't be proper to let it go in public like I did with the pack. And it would probably scare the hell out of Rachel.

She reached into her purse and pulled out a packing of Tums, popping a few. I shook my head and chuckled.

"Eating all of that really isn't going to make you sick?" she asked curiously.

"Food is food. As long as I'm full my body doesn't really care where it comes from."

She just shook her head. "Must be nice," she grumbled.

The waitress walked over and set the check in front of me. I reached into my pocket to pull out my wallet and was startled to find the check was no longer in front of me when I looked back up.

Rachel was twirling the piece of paper between her fingers as she fished her wallet from her purse.

"What do you think you're doing?" I questioned.

"Paying the bill," she replied nonchalantly.

"Like hell you are." I lunged for the slip but she pulled it away. I could have forcibly taken it from her, but I had a feeling that would not have gone over well.

"I'm paying it and that's final." She looked unwilling to budge.

"Why should I allow that?" I asked.

"Because you love me," she said, batting her eyelashes at me.

I narrowed my eyes at her. She knew I couldn't say no to her and she was already using it to her advantage. She was a sadist, I could tell. But, when it came to her, I was the biggest masochist in the world.

She smirked at me and rolled her eyes playfully. "I'll make you a deal," she suggested.

I nodded for her to continue, waiting for hear what she had to offer.

"We're taking your truck and using your gas to get there, right?" I nodded again, not liking where this was headed. "So if you're keeping me from having to buy gas for the trip, the least you can let me do is buy you lunch."

I pursed my lips but nodded once again. I hated that she was paying for my food, but I knew there was nothing I could do once she set her mind to it. I was at her beck and call. Not that I minded. When I looked at her, with her hair hanging over her face as she figured out the tip, there was nothing in the world I wanted more than to make her happy. And if paying the bill would make her happy, who was I to deny her?

She laid the money out on the counter and we headed out. I held the door open for her, and she met my eyes with a smile and grabbed my hand, lacing my fingers with hers. I couldn't take my eyes off of her and didn't move my gaze to Seth until we were practically right in front of him.

He held his arm out to Rachel, handing her the backpack with a look of boredom on his face.

"Thank you so much!" she said, looking relieved. I'd told her it was going to be here. Did she really doubt me?

"No problem," he replied. "Happy to do it." He looked into my eyes purposefully, wanting to know if this was the last hoop I was going to make him jump through. I nodded slowly, knowing that I could only entertain myself like this for so long before it started to get boring.

Rachel turned her gaze from her bag back to Seth.

"How did you get here?"

Seth gave me a nervous look, concerned that I hadn't told Rachel about being wolves yet. He just shrugged at her and while she was annoyed she seemed to accept it.

She was about to sling it over her shoulder when something caught her eye. I saw her inspecting the strap and suppressed a groan.

"You had this in your mouth?" she said shrilly.

Seth looked almost offended as he answered. "How else did you expect me to carry it? I think I would have looked a little weird if I had it on my back."

I started laughing at the mental picture. It would be kind of amusing to see that. A werewolf on his was to school. It sounded like a sick children's story to me. I was still grinning when Rachel looked at me. I was silenced with one look. Apparently it's not appropriate to carry a backpack in your mouth while phased. I had a feeling I would be hearing about it the entire way back.