A.N: This story is now nearing the end. Only one chapter to go, in addition to this. And a little epoilogue, sort of.

The reason I'm a fast updater right now is purely because of Kaplu. If not for her, you wouldn't have read this until tomorrow!;)

Surprise

-NPOV

It had been a disaster. An absolute disaster.

I got Jacob out of there as soon as I could. He kept laughing but I ignored him steadily. He phased and I jumped up on his back as he started running. I showed him where I wanted to go; the little clearing in the forest. It was safely out of hearing range.

I was fuming inside, mostly by embarrassment. Disaster. Horrible disaster.

The first thing I did when we arrived at the clearing was to jump down from his back and kick him in the leg. I put a bit more force into it than I normally would. He winced and sent me a confused look that clearly said "Ow, why did you do that for?"

"How could you do that?" I fretted.

My hands were visibly shaking. Jacob whined. At least he had brains enough not to laugh.

"My dad! Dad!"I continued. "You could just as well give him a videotape!"

Jacob shook his head vigorously.

I let out a little groan. Even though I was mad at him I couldn't help but lean forward and bury my face in the soft fur by his shoulder. He turned around and nuzzled my neck with his snout. He yelped a little, saying he was sorry. I sighed.

"Don't worry" I said. "It's really not your fault"

He couldn't help what he was thinking. A normal dad wouldn't be a mind-reader. Jacob nuzzled my cheek.

"Change back" I demanded " I need to talk with you"

I took a step back with my hands firmly planted on my hips. I didn't bother to turn away; I had seen him naked before.

To watch someone phase was a strange experience. His whole frame sort or started to shrink down. His head became level with mine and then lower. And then the fur started to grow back in, the reddish brown color transformed into his normal skin tone, paws became hands and feet, his ears grew back into messy black hair and his tail disappeared.

All this happened in less than a second. Jacob crouched down, before he quickly stretched up. He stood there in front of me, naked, completely unabashed. I glued my eyes to his, not letting my gaze sway down his body. It must have been pretty obvious on my face though, because Jacob grinned and bent down to loosen the leatherband that fastened his shorts to his ankle.

I looked down his body then, and my head instantly filled with wonderful, warm memories. My stomach started to tingle and my brain got all fuzzy. I could feel the anger pour out of me.

The dim light from the setting sun made his russet skin glow as he crouched down in front of me. I followed the sunbeams with my eyes; over the defined muscles of his shoulders and down his back. The muscles were clearly visible on his stomach and back, and I got all fuzzy just by looking at him.

I loved his arms. I had a little thing for his arms. The firm shape of the muscles over his shoulders, his triceps and oh-so-wonderful biceps, down his elbow to lower arms where the veins were visible as he undid the leather band, it all ending in big, smooth hands.

He was incredible. It hit me how absolutely lucky I was for him to imprint on me, to love me. Loud thoughts or not, that didn't really matter. I felt warm all over when I thought about how this wonderful person loved me. And only me. Tiny, little insignificant me. Right now, I couldn't get to wrap my head around it.

Jacob straightened up (still very un-shy) while starting to put his shorts back on. All the memories from our week-end rushed back while I looked at him. I didn't blush, but I felt heat rise within me somehow.

"You're ogling me" he noted.

I snapped out of my little reverie and realized I was staring at him. I looked up to find him watching me with a smile that was both amused and smug. Had he noticed? Of course he had. I decided to ignore it.

"What were you thinking back there?" I said, trying to sound firm but didn't manage.

"I'm sorry about that" he sent me a honest and careful smile as he walked over to me and grabbed both of my hands in his. "It wasn't so bad as it may have seemed to you, I think. But this weekend has been sort of printed into my mind, Nessie. I simply can't just stop thinking about you. I tried. It's impossible"

I guess I should be irritated about that, but instead I was flattered. In some way I was happy that he was thinking about me that much. Big minus that my father could see those thoughts too, but that wasn't really our problem. As long as Jacob and I were good, the rest would be as well.

"It's okay, I guess I'm overreacting" I sighed, looking into his eyes. "Dad will get over it. At least they know now."

I looked down at our entwined hands, because I couldn't longer meet the intensity of his stare. He tugged my hands a couple of times, making me look back up. When I did he didn't let go of my eyes for a second. He eased his hands away from mine only to frame my face before he leaned forward and kissed me. It was serious, deep and filled with emotion. He didn't let go of my face, but buried his fingers in my hair.

When we broke apart we just looked at each other for a couple of seconds. I threw myself at him then, and he kissed me back just as forcefully. Somewhere during this we both must have lost our balance, because we both tipped over and fumbled around on the forest floor. We never stopped kissing each other though, and in lack of air we were both gasping after just a few minutes.

His hands were roaming up and down my sides the same way mine were roaming over his back. His weight was pressing me down into the cold grass and I didn't mind one bit. With his palms he started to push up my t-shirt, and then his fingers fluttered under it to caress his way up. It hit me that this was a pretty funny reaction to the supposed serious conversation we'd just had with my parents.

"Oh." My eyes popped open and I abruptly stopped kissing him. I moved my hands to his chest and pushed him over on his back. I sat up and looked down at him. He had a baffled look upon his face.

"We can't do this now!" I exclaimed " I have to be home in less than an hour!"

His look changed to confusion and a little bit embarrassment.

"Uhm, don't you think we've made it by then?"

My heart warmed all over for him then. "That's not what I meant" I said softly and laid down beside him on the grass. " I meant that I have to be home with thoughts pure as heaven in one hour, and they wont be if we do this now."

Jacob smiled.

"I thought you could control your thoughts" he teased.

"You have to give me some time to prepare" I leaned down and kissed him tenderly. " And one hour is just not enough"

He made a little grumbly sound, mimicking a wolfy whine.

"And that pout you've got there isn't helping" I continued.

"I'm not pouting!" he said, generally surprised. I just wrinkled my nose and nodded and then he was all over me once again.

I had to break free though, and not long after we were walking hand in hand back to the little cottage.

"Maybe I shouldn't bring you all the way to the door" I teased.

"I'll behave" he promised.

"I've heard that one before"

He was laughing as we reached the little clearing, and the little cottage appeared in front of us.

"Any plans for tomorrow?" he wondered.

"Not much. Maybe meet you" I said casually. Tomorrow was Monday and school-day. He grinned.

"Sounds like a good plan"

We reached the front porch and I turned around to kiss him. He stroke his hand across my cheek before he left.

I turned around and walked inside, kicking off my shoes as I went into the living room. My parents were there.

"Hi" I said weakly "I think I'm just going to bed"

I sincerely hoped they hadn't planned another talk for tonight. I was tired of arguing and besides I knew it all so they really didn't need to say anything. To my surprise they didn't object. When I hugged my dad goodnight, he whispered "You're still my little girl". I had been afraid he was still mad, but he smiled and didn't seem mad at all. I smiled back.

I was in bed and almost asleep when mom gently knocked on the door.

"Can I talk to you for a minute?" she asked quietly.

"Sure" I said, and she walked in and sat down on the bed beside me. I looked at her quizzically. She just smiled.

"I just wanted to make sure you're all right."

Great. More talk.

"Mom, I'm..." I began, exasperated.

"I know you're fine, Nessie" She finished my sentence for me. "But are you happy?"

The question took me a bit off guard.

"Yes" I said honestly after thinking a little bit. "Yes I am."

"And you and Jacob are good together now, with everything?"

"Yes" I answered again. My eyes must have gotten a bit dreamy, because my mother started to laugh.

"Good. I never thought any less of him, or of you. Just promise me that you're being safe and sensible."

"Mom!" I buried my face in the pillows.

"You think this is bad?" she laughed "I had to have this talk with Charlie!"

"Really?" I had to peek up to see if she was joking or not. She wasn't.

"Yup, he made me spell it out for him." She shook her head and I giggled. Grandpa Charlie? I simply couldn't picture it. Mom leaned down to kiss my forehead. Her lips were cold as ice, but I was used to it.

"Promise to be safe and sensible?" she whispered.

"Promise"

She stood up and walked over to the door. With her hand on the door-lid she turned around.

"You know you can come to me with anything. Anything at all. And if you don't want anyone else to know..." She tapped one finger to her forehead. "...this is a safe place."

That was true. Not even dad could get in there unless she wanted him to.

When she left, I realized this night hadn't become a horrible disaster anyway. I smiled into the pillows. Everything had actually turned out quite good. I let my mind wander, and my thoughts landed on Jake and how he'd looked in the little clearing right now. With the sun gleaming of his skin, over his arms and shoulders and back...

I heard my dad sigh somewhere in the house. Ops. Sorry. I think I might hear him chuckle a little bit, but then again, maybe not. Maybe it was just my wishful thinking.

"Oh my god oh my god oh my god"

Joan was practically tearing her hair out beside me.

"Relax" I told her. "I don't see the problem.

"Of course you don't. You have a boyfriend. You two are practically married. An I have nothing to wear!"

She had a date. Tonight. And she was nervous. Like hell.

"Isn't this supposed to be fun?" I wondered.

"FUN? This is a nightmare!"

She hadn't been on a date for a while. Not because she wasn't attractive and likeable, but she was picky, Joan. She'd just been asked out by a guy in her English class. Movie, maybe dinner in Port Angeles. Tonight. Fun, I thought. Not apparently.

"I have nothing to wear I have nothing to wear I have nothing to wear I have nothing to wear" she fretted. "You have to help me"

"I dunno about me..." I said. "But I have a sister that loves to play dress-up"

In the public eye, Alice was my adopted sister.

"Isn't it rude to ask her?" Joan wondered, peeking up from behind her fingers which she had just buried her face in.

"Rude?" I laughed. "To her this is a dream come true."

"Really?" I could detect a faint hope in her voice.

"You'll be a gift from heaven. She loves this."

"As long as she doesn't dye my hair pink, I'm all in"

I laughed. Joan had pitch black hair that was cropped short in the back. She never wore pink.

"She wont. I think. You can join me home after school."

And so she did. We drove together in my car, and I promised to drive her back later. We reached the main house and walked in.
I've got company, I thought, just in case my father was in here somewhere. Not that it was necessary to alert anyone. They could smell her and hear her from miles away. We'd been chatting all the way down the driveway too.

And Alice would know of course. She met us in the living room. Her face was already transformed into one of pure joy, and she greeted Joan like they'd been best friends forever. Maybe I should have warned Joan that Alice could be a bit overwhelming. I introduced them to each other and then explained the situation to Alice. As if she didn't already know.

"Seriously, you don't have to" Joan tried to excuse herself. "I mean, if it's too much trouble..."

"Oh no, I wouldn't miss this for anything" Alice beamed, before she grabbed Joan's hand and dragged her towards the stairs.

I followed a few steps behind. Joan would never know what hit her.

One hour later I was sitting on a stool in the upstairs bathroom, watching Alice work on Joan's hair like the was her mission in life. Then I heard muted thuds of running paws approaching down in the forest outside. It was probably Jacob.

"I'm just going to make a phone call" I said and stood up. (Hey, what else could I say? "Excuse me, I think I can hear my boyfriend running in the forest outside. Oh, and he's a wolf". Don't think so.) Alice winked at me before she continued to chat happily with Joan.

I went outside to greet Jacob, but was surprised to see Seth walking out of the forest.

"Hi Seth!" I called out happily. It had been ages since the last time I'd seen him.

"Oh, hi" His whole face broke into a smile as he saw me. "How you doin'?" Then his smile faltered a little bit and he looked around. "Is Jacob here? I need to see him."

"Thanks a lot!" I pretended to be offended. "I thought you was coming to see me, but oh no." Then I added more seriously. "I guess he'll be here soon. What's up?"

"There's no big deal, just some pack stuff" Seth said, looking down at his feet. He seemed almost nervous. Odd.

"Is something wrong?" I wondered.

He looked up then, and seemed honestly surprised.

"Wrong? No, nothing's wrong" He smiled at me, and his gaze lingered on my face just a little bit longer than normal.

"Nessie?" I heard Joan's voice from behind me. "Oh, there you are"

She walked over to me and Seth. "See, I'm all done. What do you think? It's not too much is it?" She spun around on the spot beside me, showing me the outfit Alice had given her.

"It's great" I said sincerely. Of course it was. Then I realized she'd never met Seth. "Oh, this is Seth by the way, he's a friend of mine" I gestured towards him. "Ans Seth, this is Joan. We take classes together"

"Hi" Joan politely extended her hand towards Seth. "Nice to meet you"

I couldn't help to notice a slight admiration in her look as she appraised him with her eyes. Yeah, he was muscular just like the others wolves, I guess. And he wasn't wearing a shirt, of course, so it was fairly visible. He was definitely good looking, even if I didn't see him that way.

I noticed Joan's smile falter a little bit and become unsure.

"Uhm. Nessie?" she half whispered towards me, still looking at Seth. "Why is he looking at me funny?"

I looked over at Seth then, and realized he was staring at her. His eyes were glued to her face, almost bugging out. What was wrong with him? His eyes were wide and his face completely blank as he drank her in with his eyes.

Joan shifted nervously next to me and slowly lowered her hand back down. A heavy silence was staring to build up, but Seth didn't even seem to notice. He stared at her like he'd never seen a girl before.

Like he'd never seen a girl before.

Like he'd never seen anyone before.

Oh crap.