May 6

Dear Diary,

I think without you I would have gone crazy by now. Although, I am talking to an inanimate object, which I didn't do before hand, so I might have lost it and I'm just in denial. That's probably more realistic with all the stuff that's going on at the moment.

I met Momma and Papa Thail today. Jared was really excited about it and I haven't got a clue why. If he were meeting my parents I'd be crapping my pants. But he wasn't and thus I was even more nervous because that means that he thinks it was going to go well, so if it didn't then it would be even worse. Unfortunately I wasn't very good at trying to hide the nervousness.

"Kim, you know how I mention that I'm like really strong, as a werewolf? And we can't get hurt easily and we have super endurance?" he asked as we walked up his driveway.

"Yes," I squeaked, looking ahead of me as if I were about to walk into a haunted house.

I thought he was just trying to distract me.

"Well, you're kind of hurting my hand," he teased, smiling. I looked down at his hand, not even realizing I was squeezing it to an inch of its life. I relaxed the grip but didn't dare let go.

"You worry too much. It'll be fine," he told me as he walked straight into the house, not even letting me prepare myself by standing outside the door for a moment.

Affectionate arms engulfed me before I could finish the trepidatious step inside the threshold.

"Oh, Kim! It's so good to finally meet you!" Momma Thail pulled back and smiled that genuine smile I so often see gracing Jared's face. "Oh, you're as pretty as he said you were! Jared, where have you been hiding this girl?" she squeezed my arms and then let me go.

Jared turned to me as he over took us and stuck his tongue out at me. I shook my head at him as his mom ushered me into her house, telling me to "call her Joan, dear".

"Would you like anything to eat?"

"No thank you," I said as Jared happily rummaged through their fridge, leaving me alone.

"Oh, but you will stay for dinner, won't you?" she asked.

Even if my natural instincts were telling me to leg it and get the hell out of the house as fast as I could, her natural kindness had me nodding and saying, "Yes please."

She smiled. "It really is so good to meet you, Kim. I've heard so much about you from Jared."

I blushed but smiled. "It's lovely to meet you too."

She grinned as Jared came back out, shoving a Pop Tart into his mouth with one hand as he threw the other arm around my shoulders. He offered me a bite but I shook my head.

"I don't know how you can eat them cold."

He shrugged. "I like it better like this."

"You're just too lazy to toast it."

He grinned and nodded, kissing my forehead before he stuffed the other half of it in his mouth.

Joan stood there, smiling at us for a moment. I looked up at Jared and didn't know whether to laugh or sigh. I brushed off the crumbs from all around his mouth and he just smiled and winked at me.

Momma Thail sighed happily before retreating to the kitchen.

Jared pushed me backwards into his lounge with his hands on my hips and then onto his sofa.

"I don't want to say I told you so," he said, flopping down next to me. "But I told you so. She already loves you. I did the crumb thing on purpose so it looks like you care about me."

"I'm sure you did," I replied sarcastically and he pulled me closer.

"I told you that you worry too much."

I rolled my eyes and he just smiled as his mom came back, sitting down and talking. No quizzing. No punching in the face. No accusatory 'why are you hanging around with my son you inadequate bimbo?'.

It was actually, I dare to say, quite pleasant. If Momma Thail was seething and wanted me dead for hogging her son, she didn't show it. She was just so genuinely lovely. And when she asked me questions she did it in a really calm, relaxed way. I had to say that Jared actually was right.

Not that he would have been any help if he were wrong. He just sat there. His input into the entire conversation was maybe a nod here and there and a couple of chuckles. He just stared at me and stroked my hands.

He at least talked more when his dad came home and we had dinner – they're like a proper little family, they sit around the table and discuss their day. I don't remember the last time my family did that when it wasn't for a special occasion. His dad was still lovely but he wasn't so open about it. He was the strong silent type, if you know what I mean. Whereas Joan was rather short and bubble, his dad Stephen was massive and calm. Well, Jared was still taller but his dad was at least six foot tall, with quite broad shoulders.

I can happily report that there were minimal stuttering and embarrassing outbursts from my part. I probably still looked like a car in the head lights, but I didn't act like too much of an idiot.

After thanking Joan more than you probably should for just a meal, we hugged for about ten minutes. Jared had to pull her off in the end. It was lovely. I don't even remember the last time I hugged my own mom.

Jared shook his head, smiling as he got in the car.

"You're like a mother's dream girlfriend," he said and I looked up at him. "Err, not that you're my girlfriend," he added quickly.

"What? How am I?" I decided to just ignore the last part.

"You're smart, polite and you're not a slag."

"And utterly boring," I added dryly.

He shot me a look. "Don't be stupid."

It was kind of true though. Being called smart, polite and a bit of a prude isn't exactly what you want from someone you want to be with. I may be a mother's dream but I'm definitely not a boy's dream; I was far from 'fun, sexy and witty'.

Sometimes I wonder what it would be like if I was a bit more of a whore and I just slept with Jared the week he started to pay attention to me. God knows I wanted to. I stared at him. Jared was fun, sexy and witty.

I couldn't. I admit it; I'm a bit of a prude. A lot of girls my age are scared to be called that but it's not exactly a bad thing, is it? To have standards?

I don't know what Jared thinks of it though. He wouldn't of made the slag comment if he hadn't thought about it. The girls he dated before weren't exactly nuns. I know he said he was fine just being friends but he's probably a little bit miffed I didn't jump straight onto his cock, especially when he had the whole imprinting thing on his side. Finding out someone's your soul mate is enough to make any girl lose their mind.

I'm not sure. I don't think the 'soul mate' thing has sunk in yet. I feel sort of... neutral about it. Sure, I was hella scared of talking to him after I found out about it, but I don't know how I feel about it. I know I should be ecstatic because this was freaking Jared, but I think the massive amounts of scaredness is cancelling out all of the other feelings.

Which is probably why I told him I needed time to get to know him first. Although I think I'm stupid for having sid that, I'm sort of glad that I did. What if I fuck it up? What if I just make an idiot out of myself? I don't know if I'm ready to have met my soul mate yet. We're better off getting to know and trust each other. Even if I really don't want to take it slow.

Kim Conweller

Later

I forgot to mention something earlier. I have awful news. Just awful. Horrendous.

You might have remembered that I ran off with my Math workbook the other day after 'The Incident' (which is what I'm calling that dreadful moment), which meant that Paul didn't have time to copy down the homework and so Mr. Meakin decided to assign him a tutor. I felt completely awful.

But Mr. Meakin also told Jared that he needed to get a tutor too, because he hadn't done homework and because of the amount of time off they've both had they were really falling behind, and with the way they were heading they were going to fail. Mr. Meakin also asked me and this guy Andrew to stay behind – I got frightened because Mom would roast me alive if she found out I needed a tutor, but it turned out he wanted me and Andy to be the tutors. He said that extra-curricular work was good for our reports and CV's and University applications and stuff like that so we were both game – plus it meant that I got to spend more time with the wondrous Jared. And I will do anything if it means that I get to spend more time with Jared.

But did he let us chose our own partners? No, he did not. And because he apparently noticed how Jared and I spend most of the time staring at each other, he assigned me to Paul and Andy to Jared, because he didn't think Jared and I would get a lot of work done. Paul looked frighteningly angry. I looked frightened. Jared looked gutted. Andy just looked embarrassed to be there. We're not close but I know him quite well. He's a lovely guy and like me a bit of a nerd. He was probably as scared of being with Jared as I was at being with Paul.

Why? How is this fair? Paul dislikes me already; he's going to hate my guts if I have to freaking tutor him! I'd rather tutor anyone but him. He called me a swot the other day and this really isn't going to dissolve that opinion, is it? How are you supposed to even help someone when they scare the shit out of you? I mean, I guess it's true that Jared and I wouldn't get much work done, but I should hardly be punished for that!

How is that I have this incredible knack for getting myself into awkward as hell situations? There is no way that this can turn out well. Why does God find it so much fun to torment me?

What I initially thought was going to be a great excuse to spend time with Jared turned out to be another reason why I couldn't spend time with him. Why does nothing turn out right?

On a lighter note, I took the bull by the horns and told Jared that I missed him kissing my cheek. He did it when he dropped me off today. I did that stupid, girly, blissfully in love sigh when I shut the door and I'm pretty sure he heard. And guess what? I don't even care!

I love his lips. They're the nicest lips I've ever seen.

If god wants to carry on tormenting me then I think I should get a full proper kiss as compensation. It's really only fair, I'm a rational human being.

Okay, so I think Kim is just about as desperate as you guys are for them to kiss, but I promise it is coming soon! :) Thanks again to everyone who's reading, favouriting/alerting and those reviewing, I really appreciate the feedback. And if there's anything that you guys want to see happen then I'm open to ideas :) Thanks again!