Author: Amy

YAY! Another update. Okay, so I took a really big risk with this chapter and I'm afraid that Hannah might not like it. The story wasn't even supposed to go this way but you know me and my twists ;)

Chapter Ten - Jacob's POV

"Mmm, something smells good," I said, strolling into the kitchen. It'd completely blown my mind that Annie had stayed the night so it was a shock to see her standing by the stove making pancakes with my dad. She turned to me, blushing and turning away again when she noticed that I was still wearing only the pants that I'd slept in.

"Oh...uh, sorry, I forgot you were here."

"That's okay." She smiled down at the pan she'd just poured some fresh mix into. "Billy and I were just making breakfast. The first lot's already on the table." I looked over at the little wooden table and arched a brow. There were at least a dozen pancakes covered in golden syrup with three little blueberries on the top. "He told me how much you like to eat," she explained.

"No kidding."

Annie laughed as I made my way over the table. Helping myself to the pancakes, I slapped three onto my plate and greedily dug in. "Oh my God," I frowned.

"What? Do they taste bad?" Annie's expression suddenly dropped. She looked to me in alarm as I continued to ogle the sugary dough on my plate.

"Are you for real? These things are delicious."

"Thank goodness," she sighed. "You scared me there for a minute."

"Look's like Emily's got some competition on her hands," Billy piped up from his chair. He was also indulging some of Annie's delicious pancakes and, by the looks of it, he seemed to enjoy them just as much as I did.

"Who's Emily?" Annie asked.

I momentarily tore my gaze away from my food to look at her. "Just a friend's partner. She cooks a lot for me and the guys."

"You mean the guys I see you hanging around with at school?"

I nodded.

"Cool," she said, "Emily sounds nice."

We spent the next hour getting to know each other a little more and eating the breakfast that Annie had prepared. She told me that she had a younger brother named Ethan who'd opted to stay with his mother when she left three years ago, and that she also had a passion for the piano. Her father had forced her into lessons at the age of nine but she had clicked so well with the instrument that she thanked him for that demand.

"Forgive me if this is a personal question but if you really fight with your father that much, why didn't you choose to live with your mom, too?" I asked after she'd finished telling me her story.

"Because I would've had to leave everything I've ever known behind," she explained. "My whole life is around here; all of my friends and my childhood. I know that I've said my dad can be a complete idiot at times but at the end of the day, he's still my dad. And he always will be. Theres nothing I can do to change that." A hint of a smile lingered in her eyes and she suddenly clasped her hands together in a merry gesture. "Well, these dishes aren't going to clean themselves and I have places I need to be."

"Oh sure, let me take these." I whisked the plates from under her nose and beat her to the sink. "You've done enough just by bringing heaven to the table."

After I'd successfully finished cleaning up the kitchen, I took a shower, got dressed and told Annie that I had to give Billy a ride to Sue's. He was having a meeting there with the Elders and I was pretty sure that by the time I got back Annie would be gone. Fortunately, her red backpack was sitting by the door when I returned.

"Annie, I'm home," I yelled, shutting the door loudly for emphasise. "Hello?" I called when I was met by the silence. "Annie?" I checked the main room and the kitchen, arching a brow at their emptiness. I also checked my bedroom but she wasn't there either. I started to worry until I heard a short gasp of air with my wolf hearing and the sound of someone fumbling around with some kind of object.

"There you are." I sighed in relief when I found her in the bathroom. She was staring into the mirror, eyes wide and searching, her mouth open slightly. "Are you okay?"

There was a pause before she answered. "Um, yeah I'm fine. Just cleaning myself up." She self-consciously tucked two strands of hair behind her ears and pretended to mess with her eyelashes.

"Ok..." Girls and their appearances. "So, how do you say we go grab some lunch?"

"Jacob, we just had breakfast, like, an hour ago. It's too early to eat again."

"We'll go for a walk first then. I'll introduce you to the guys."

"Look," she sighed, "I appreciate what you did for me yesterday, and I appreciate you letting me stay here last night. But I really do have places to get to. Maybe we can do something another time."

"Alright cool."

I watched as she ran her hands through her messy ponytail and tightened it up. Her movements were tense and every once in a while she would glance down at her jeans pocket and then back up to the mirror again, almost as if she was scared that I would notice.

"Are you sure you're okay?" I asked, totally unconvinced by her actions.

"Yeah, why wouldn't I be?" She shrugged into the mirror, gave herself one last look over and left the room. I followed her to the front door. "Thanks again," she said, slinging her bag over her shoulder. "For letting me stay the night. I'm sorry that I have to bail on you now, though. I promise we'll do something again soon."

She smiled at me and I couldn't help but grin back. "No problem, you sure you don't want me to drive you?"

She waved me off. "Nah, I'll be fine."

"Alright."

"Ok."

"So..."

"I guess I'll see you around."

"Definitely," I agreed. "Unless you're planning on skipping school on Monday."

She laughed. "I don't think so. My dad would kill me if I ever did anything like that." She smiled again, and this time it was more meaningful. The shine in her eyes told me she really did appreciate everything I'd done for her. "Goodbye Jacob."

"Goodbye Annie."

Monday morning finally arrived and I was on the verge of going insane. I'd argued with myself three times on whether or not to drive over to Annie's just to see her again, but every time I took one step towards the door Billy would shake his head and I'd slouch back into my chair.

"You really need to take this one step at a time, son," Billy told me on my way out to school. "Annie may feel something for you, which is usually how it works when one imprints on someone." He frowned into his mug. "But it doesn't always mean you can jump straight in. If she really is your soul mate," he said, laying a comforting hand on my shoulder, "then things will work out eventually."

"Your right, dad," I sighed. "I can feel this pull all the time and I know she can feel it, too. I just don't know what's stopping us now that Damien's out of the picture."

"Hey, he's not completely out of it," Billy reminded me. "He's goin'ta be wanting answers when he see's you guys at school today."

"Ugh, for sure. I guess I forgot about that."

Billy shoved my shoulder playfully. "He's got nothin' on you, son. Anyway, speaking of school, shouldn't you be on your way now?"

"Yes," I groaned. "Bye dad."

The drive to school mainly consisted of me thinking of what to say to Damien if he did confront me, but more importantly – since I couldn't really give two monkeys about what Damien had to say anyway – I tried to think of things to say to Annie that wouldn't make things awkward between us. If we really were going to develop into something more, then we at least had to be comfortable around each other.

Annie was one of the most amazing, talented people I knew and I wasn't going to let anything or anyone get in the way of our relationship, even if we were only just friends. Damien wasn't getting anywhere near her – not if I had anything to do with it – and I certainly wasn't going to mess this up myself.

Entering the school parking lot, I instantly noticed Annie's car near the front and pulled up in the spot next to her. I could count on the fact that I'd definitely see her at the end of school if I didn't get a chance to see her in between.

"Hey Jacob," a petite, tan girl said. She had short, curly dark hair – almost as dark as mine, but slightly browner – and she was wearing matching coloured pants. Cute, but not my type. Annie was my type.

"Hey." I waved awkwardly and made a quick escape through the main doors. I didn't want to be caught up in all of the popularity malarkey right now.

I headed straight for my locker, scanning the halls for her on the way. I hated the desperate emotions that Imprinting made me feel. I wanted to have control over my life and not constantly want to be with Annie so bad. She was messing with my head and although she didn't know about it, she was slowly but surely becoming my world. And that was definitely not a good thing.

Fortunately for me, Damien hadn't had the balls to come face me during the breaks. But he'd most certainly seen Annie. I found her in her car, eyes red and swollen from crying. She saw me coming and tried hopelessly to wipe away her tears.

"Hey," I said as I got in next to her. "Whats wrong?"

She just shook her head and stared at her hands.

"I understand if this is something that you don't want to talk about. But you know I'm here if you need me."

"I messed up," she said suddenly. "I messed up and I can't take any of it back."

"Annie, honey, what have you messed up?" I tried to reach around to hold her close to me but she refused and turned in her seat.

"Everything! I've messed up everything!" She started to sob harder into her hands and I wanted so badly to make whatever was hurting her go away.

"Hey, don't say that. Tell me whats wrong."

She tried to stifle her sobs and control her breathing, and then she sat up fully and looked at me with scared, regretful eyes. Her next words tore painfully at the strings that bound us together.

"I'm pregnant."

My whole world suddenly came crashing down on me and I tried desperately to keep in control of myself. "You're what?" I tried to say, but the words came out as a growl.

"I took a test when you left me alone the other day."

Here I was, being informed by the girl who I was made to be with that she was pregnant with another guy's kid and all I could think to say was, "He wasn't lying when he told me that he'd slept with you."

"It was only once, Jacob, I swear! I didn't want any of it." She started to sob again but I couldn't even look at her. My soul mate; I couldn't look at my own soul mate.

"I have to go."

"Jacob, please don't tell anyone," she begged as I pushed the door open and stormed away.

DON'T HATE ME!