Hey,

How are you guys doing? Sorry I didn't update yesterday, I had the chapter sitting there and written up, but at the exact time I was going to upload it, the machine decided not to work. How typical is that?

I really hope you didn't mind the last chapter, and that you are still listening to this story, because I'm a bit worried that people will have lost interest by now. Hope nobody minds about the half-cliff-hanger last chapter (I'm not really sure if that was a cliff-hanger or not).

Anyhow, without further adieu, here is the 9th chapter (9th already? I'm begging to feel quite pleased with myself!).

I don't own anything; however, I DO own an obviously functioning brain.

Chapter 9: Did you just say what I think you said?

I had spent most of the day riling myself up for what Jared was going to ask me.

When I came out the front gates of the school, Jared was leaning up against the side of his silver pick-up, waiting for me, looking as gorgeous as ever, and incredibly Quileute-skater-boy.

"Hey Kim. C'mon, get in the car."

I followed his request with a mumbled, "Hi", and tried to climb into his truck, but the truck wasn't having any of that.

With my short height, I had to jump to get in, and on the way in, I, in a typical fashion, managed to scrape my knee.

"Owwww", I complained, while vigorously rubbing at my leg.

"Oh no, Kim, are you okay? Do you need a plaster or anything? I'll ever rub it better if it will fix your pain! Kim!" Jared said, in instant panicky tones.

"For goodness sake, I'm fine, it just hurt briefly, and that's all. I don't understand why you always get so worked up about things."

"Well, you're my friend, and I hate it when you hurt, so I'd do anything to make it stop."

I was touched by his sweetness, but decided to put on a tough, uncaring face, or I, being the sap that I usually was, would cry. So, I shrugged.

The cab was silent for a few minutes, neither of us knowing quite what to say, so I stared at the burred moving shapes that moved past me as we sped towards the beach. I for one was nervous, as I had no clue what to expect. I hesitated as I got out the car, pausing briefly to gather my courage to get out the car. I was nervous because all my hopes for the last 4 years had been centred on the man sitting next to me. Imagining things is so different to reality. I had realised that I was getting all excited over nothing, I was just assuming (and hoping) that because of his recent behaviour in the past few days, he had realised that he truly loved me. If this was one of my dreams, he would be taking my hand, and running down the beach with me, but of course there were no sharp stones, just smooth, warm golden sand. I would be wearing a white dress, with a flower in my hair, and we would both be barefoot, when he would lead me to a nearby rock, with no sharp points, and announce to me that he had always and always will love me.

I was dragged back to my real life with a sudden start. I had been sitting there in the truck cab for a few minutes now, and Jared was waving a large hand in front of my zoned-out eyes.

"KIM! Kim? Are you there Kim? Kim?"

"Oh, yeah, sorry, I just.....went away for a minute there" I replied to his frantic tones.

"Sure, well, there's this place I want to show you, nobody else knows about it. I wanted to bring you there so that I could talk to you. Is that Ok?" he asked.

"Sounds nice" I answered, doing a mental happy dance in response to his words. He was taking me to a private place. He wanted to share that with me. Little old Kim, who never spoke to anyone. This reality was so close to my fantasy.

He gently took my small hand in one of his soft, large, warm ones, and started to lead me across the beach. I was absolutely thrilled at the way things were turning out.

We were walking for around 10 minutes, when we stopped outside a large cave.

"Come on Kim," he urged me.

I cautiously followed him in, as I wasn't too sure about the light in this cave.

He reached a certain point in the cave, and reached down for something.

A light slowly flickered on, and all was revealed. It was quite a large space, and it looked quite homey, due to the assistance of a worn out cushion in one corner, a lamp, a lump of rock that I assumed Jared must use for a table, and.....is that a.......pizza box?

"Jared, what is a pizza box doing in a cave?"

"Well.....what happened was, when I was about ....7, I think it was, I went for an explore around the beach, because at that point, I wanted to be an explorer. I stumbled across this cave, and have been visiting it ever since, so it sometimes feels like a second home to me. Nobody has ever been in here before, except me. You're the first person I've ever shown this to." He answered.

I let out a hugely embarrassing laugh that sounded a bit like a snort. Oh, dear God, I swear that when I was near Jared was when the embarrassing things happen to me.

Thankfully, Jared seemed to smile at the sound of my laughter, and sat down beside me.

When our laughs subsided, he looked me seriously in the eye.

"Kim," he started, "there is something I wanted to ask you, and I've been meaning to do this for a while now."

I waited anxiously for him to continue.

"Kim, well, have you ever...." he seemed to struggle to say something.

Then he continued.

"Kim, do you believe that in life, there is that one special person who you are destined to meet, and they are your soul-mate?"

I was speechless.

"Well, Kim," he said softly, "I believe that you are my soul-mate. You are the one I am meant to be with. I know this is early and everything, but I just wanted to ask you, do you feel the same sort of way? If you don't, its fine, I'll just back off, but I just wanted to let you know that I really, really like you, but I don't want this to stand in the way of our friendship. Honestly, if I freaked you out I will leave you right....." His voice was blocked off by my hand, as it had risen on its own accord to his wonderful, smooth, dark, full lips.

"No...." I began.

Hehehe.

I was hoping to give you a cliff-hanger. Just once. To see what it was like.

I'll try and post the next chapter A.S.O.P, and at least I seem to have caught my bearings on this story for now, but I will try to post soon. I hope the chapter was long enough for you.

Lots of love,

Deany-Bob101