A/N: I know, I know, this update is late, I'm really sorry. Forgive me?

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So without further ado…

Chapter 10: Knowing me, Knowing you

Please don't let them catch me. Please don't let them catch me. Please don't let them catch me.

Sneaking out at a quarter to eight wasn't something I was good at. Hell, I wasn't even okay at it, I absolutely sucked. Never in my life had I snuck out of home to go meet a boy. A boy my parents both disapproved of.

A boy I was unexplainably drawn to.

He'd asked me to meet him at First Beach at eight and there was no way I was going to let my parents hold me back from this golden opportunity. Alright, it wasn't what normal people would call 'golden' but I wasn't normal was I?

No. I was obsessed, possibly in love with a boy-man that I barely knew. At night I'd lay awake fantasizing about him, I'd dream about him in my sleep, I'd think about him all day long. It was kind of starting to effect my friendship with Kara. There she'd be, telling about an important moment in her life and I'd zone out. Thinking only of him.

Then last night, he pulled me into his arms down a dark alley and told me to meet him today. Oh and the highlight of the night? When I got home and found a strand of hair from his head on my hoodie that was identical to the one I found on my chest that morning.

Now most people would think I was insane for assuming that both strands of hair were identical, but they hadn't experienced those flashes I had been getting. If the strands were both from the same person, It would explain everything.

It would explain the warmth, the soft skin, the whole feeling I had that night.

Running down the road towards First Beach, I wondered where exactly I was supposed to meet Jacob. He hadn't said anywhere in particular, I guess he didn't have to. I'd recognize him a mile away, I was that crazy about him.

Maybe he knew?

"Nina!."

I had just reached the beach and considering I couldn't spot Jacob anywhere, I decided to take a walk along the shoreline in hopes that he'd appear somehow. And he did, even though it was pitch dark at just five minutes past eight, I could make out his muscular psych running towards me.

His silky black hair shone under the moonlight as it flowed behind him. The burning stars in the sky gave a glow to his half naked body, defining each and every muscle as I stood there breathless by his beauty.

I'd have to start accepting the fact that no matter how many times I'd see him, he'd always take my breath away.

"I'm so sorry I'm late," he apologized once he'd reached me.

He was apologizing for what? A seven minute delay? Why is he so perfect?

"Jacob you're far from late." I chuckled.

"I just got caught up in something but I made sure I got here." The words shot out of his mouth, it almost seemed like he was panicking. "I wouldn't ever bail on you, I'm sorry I left you out here in the dark, alone."

"It's fine, really."

"Like what if something happened to you? It'd be all my fault. And you'd freeze to death out here in that." He gestured to my white cardigan. "And I'd hate myself for letting that happen to you, oh gosh I'm such an idiot! It won't happen again-."

"Jacob!." I pressed a hand over his heaving chest, his heart hammering beneath my palm. "Stop it! I don't care, it's fine, really. You came and that's all that matters."

His deep brown eyes bore into mine for a long moment before he glanced down at my hand on his chest. One of his large hands reached up, his fingertips brushing over my wrist as he began to cover my hand with his but he hesitated.

Which made the situation very awkward.

I dropped my hand to my side as quick as lightening, realizing that I hadn't even been thinking of what I was doing earlier. Touching him was not what I came here to do- as much as I wanted to- yet for some reason I ended up doing it anyway. It was sad really.

With a clearing of his throat, he broke the silence. "So I was thinking we could um.. go somewhere quiet."

"It's quiet here," I pointed out.

"Yeah it's just too-." He frowned in concentration. "It's too public."

"But there's no one here and I need to get going soon before my parents find out I'm not home."

He sighed. "We won't be far and I promise I'll get you home safely. Just give me twenty minutes."

There was no way I could refuse him so we took off after that, walking side by side down the beach. The woods had always freaked me out but Jacob obviously thought differently. He took me deep into the darkness, telling me over and over that nothing would happen to me.

It was crazy how I believed him, because if it were my parents…I'd be running back home like a shot. With him I always felt safe, there was a sense of leadership about him. A sense of authority. It sucked me in.

Yet how could I feel this safe around a boy-man that I hardly knew and suspected took me home one night without telling me?

A wolf howled in the near distance, causing me to jump out of my skin with fright.

"Nina," he whispered. Grasping my hand in his, giving it a reassuring squeeze. "It's okay."

My whole body was shaking. "We're going to die."

He chuckled. "We're not, just relax. Nothing is going to happen, I won't let anything hurt you."

"Jacob there is no way in hell you can protect me from a vicious wolf, that's insane."

"They're not vicious," he said seriously. "They wouldn't ever hurt you."

"They're animals! Wild animals out in the woods and you expect me to believe that?."

"Yes I do!," he shot back.

I stared at him wide eyed. "I came here tonight thinking we were going to talk about things but we haven't even done that yet. Instead we're in the middle of the woods, surrounded by wolves and you expect me to just relax?."

His grip on my hand tightened, a flash of hurt crossed his face. "Don't you feel safe around me?."

"How am I supposed to feel safe here?," I asked.

We weren't even moving. We were just standing there in the confines of the forest, hardly able to see each other in the darkness while a wolf howled nearby. There was no way we'd make it out of here alive if it stumbled upon us. And yet Jacob expected me to believe I had nothing to worry about…

"Because I know La Push like the back of my hand, this isn't the first time I've been here in this exact spot and it won't be the last."

I pulled my hand out of his. "Jac-."

"Nee," he sighed. Reaching for my hand again.

When he called me that, it turned my legs to jell-o. "J-Jacob."

"We're almost there, just… just trust me. Please," he pleaded. Lacing his hand with mine once again.

"Fine," I mumbled.

So we started moving again, except this time we were holding hands and I couldn't help but walk closer to him. His warmth was both shocking and inviting at the same time. It certainly wasn't normal, but on cold nights like these, it was wonderful.

No wonder he walked around half naked all the time.

Five minutes passed and we finally emerged into a clearing which wasn't as a dark as the woods. The moon casted a glow throughout it, revealing how big it really was to me. Then just as I started to relax, thoughts of a pack of wolves surrounding us plagued my mind.

"It's safe here, I promise," Jacob told me, reading my mind. Tugging on my hand for me to sit down next to him on the grass.

Giving in, I fell to my knees beside him. "So… a clearing?."

He smiled that breathtaking smile of his. "Yeah, I thought it was appropriate enough for a talk."

"Can I ask you something?."

"Sure."

My gaze fell to his bare chest. "Why are you always shirtless?."

It took a lot of courage to ask him. My whole body was covered in goose bumps as I waited for him to answer the question. I couldn't find it in me to look him in the eyes, so I found myself staring down at the space between us.

"I um-." He coughed. "It's necessary… at times."

"Necessary?," I asked. Meeting his eyes.

Jacob was chewing on his bottom lip at this point, his eyes now the ones to leave mine. "It's part of what I do Nina."

"And what do you do?." I couldn't help but ask, I wanted to know everything about him. So many things confused me about him.

A blush crept into his cheeks, barely noticeable in the dark. "I protect you," he whispered so softly that I wasn't too sure whether I'd heard him right.

"Protect-."

"How about you? What do you do? Do you work or have any hobbies?," he asked quickly. Cutting me off.

Our eyes locked, causing my mind to drift away. "I.. no, I don't work and I haven't really got any hobbies." Though I do consider watching you a hobby— yeah, like I'd tell him that.

"What about school?."

I frowned. "School? Well I hate school but-." But I love seeing you there. "This is my last year so I don't really care. I'll probably hate college too…"

At this, Jacob's whole body stiffened noticeably. His eyes took on a hard look as he broke eye contact with me and stared off into the distance. The heat he gave off seemed to have gone up a notch too.

The awkwardness and abruptness of the situation left me speechless. I just sat there watching him, wondering what I'd said that had upset him so much. There wasn't a single cell in my body that would hurt him intentionally so I was completely confused by his sudden change in behavior.

"You're going away to college next year?." He asked, yet it wasn't really a question.

"Well it's not set in stone but ninety nine percent of me is sure I will be."

"What college?."

"I have no idea."

"Anywhere in mind?."

"Um no."

"Did your parents talk to you about it?."

"Not yet."

"Is it completely necessary?." His voice had a rough edge to it now as his deep brown eyes burned into mine.

All the questioning was driving me insane.

"Jacob!." I sighed. "Yes, it is completely necessary! There's no way I wouldn't go, why would I want to not go to college just so I could stay in La Push? That'd be crazy. This place has nothing to offer me."

"I… you… we…" his voice was shaky and unclear. "There's so much…"

"So much?."

Running a trembling hand through his silky hair, he shot me a pained look. "You're right, La Push has nothing to offer a girl like you."

Although his words were touching, they left me feeling guilty for some reason. "It's not that I dislike La Push Jacob, I just don't want to spend the rest of my life here when I could do so much better."

He nodded before laying back down on the grass, his arms folded behind his head as he stared up at the sky. Everything about him was god-like, from his beautiful face to his muscular, sculpted body.

Instinct told me to lay down and curl up next to him. To kiss away the sorrowful look on his face but I knew that I couldn't, as much as I wanted to.

"Are you going to college next year?," I asked quietly.

"No."

"Why not?."

"Because what I do, well— I'm in it for life."

Okay now I was more than confused.

"Jacob I know that you don't want to tell me what it is that you do but-."

"I do want to tell you," he said. Turning his face to look up at me. "But right now I can't… it's too soon."

"Well when will it be the right time?." I moved closer to him, staring down into his handsome face. "At least tell me that."

He leaned up on his elbows. "Time will tell."

"That's not-."

"I know it's not a good enough answer but I don't know either, all I know is that you and I are here right now and I want to be able to do this with you every night. I want to see you, all the time. I want you to sneak out of your house for me, so that we can get to know each other. I want all of that."

I was speechless. "My parents will find out, I was lucky tonight."

"But you'll do it right? To see me." He asked. Already knowing the answer.

"Yes," I whispered.

"Oh my god! What is he.. oh my god!," I screamed.

This was my third night with Jacob. Thoughts of my parents (specifically my dad) catching me sneaking out weren't enough to stop me from going to First Beach at eight when I wasn't supposed to. As a matter of fact I should've been doing my English homework.

But school, family and friends went flying out the window when I was around Jacob. All that mattered to me in those moments were him. From his dashing smile to his unbelievably kind nature.

The first night I had spent with him ended sooner than I expected. He simply told me that I should be getting home and I agreed— as usual. Last night had been the same, around nine o'clock he decided to take me home and not a minute after I entered my house I heard the howling of a wolf.

I'm telling you it was so close that I instinctively locked the door, almost catching my parents attention... yeah, that wouldn't have gone down too well.

School was the same as usual, I'd see Kara and she'd gush about Nick or some other guy she found attractive to me the whole morning. In English I'd see Jacob, we'd talk after class but that was it. We both knew we'd have all the time to talk later.

Kara was flabbergast when I filled her in on everything. Though as usual she warned me about my dad, dampening the mood instantly.

So here I was on a Wednesday night with Jacob. We were nearing the cliffs he had been telling me about when I saw one of his friends jump off from the very top, deep down into the water. Scariest sight ever.

"Nina!," he laughed. Squeezing my hand in his— yes, he held my hand today. "They're cliff diving."

"Is he alive?," I asked. Panic stricken.

"Yeah, we're— they're used to it, it's nothing to them."

A sigh of relief escaped my lips when I saw the guy emerge from the water, laughing over at us. We weren't that loud were we?... no wait, he couldn't have heard us underwater.

"Jacob?." I turned to him. "Do you.. cliff dive? Just like him?."

He swallowed. "I kinda do, yeah."

I gasped. "What if… what if something happened to you! Are you insane?."

"It's fun Nina, besides what if something happened to me." he smiled. "Would you care?."

At that I blushed. "Yes of course I'd care."

His hand slipped out of mine. "Watch me."

"Jacob!."

But there was no use in running after him, he was faster than I thought he was. All I could do was stand there, shaking with fear and hoping that nothing would happen to him. That he'd make it out of the water safely, just like his friend had.

So when he reached the top of the cliff and waved down at me, I squeezed my eyes shut, unable to watch him dive from such a height. Besides, if I stood like that for a few minutes, he'd be making it back out of the water to me in no time.

…two minutes, two minutes and one second, two minutes and two seconds…

There wasn't any sign of Jacob when I opened my eyes, just the unusually calm sea and the dark sky filled with rain clouds, blocking the moonlight.

Cliff diving was insane but even more insane at nine fifteen at night.

"Jacob?," I called. My heart hammering in my chest as I started making my way towards the shoreline.

No answer.

Sucking my lower lip into my mouth, I kicked off my flats and stepped into the freezing water. I shivered with the cold, my teeth chattering as I made my way in deeper. Hoping that Jacob was okay.

"Jacob!," I called again. Knee deep in the water now, my voice strained.

Once again there was no response.

Hadn't his friend been around only minutes ago? How could he have just walked off like that knowing Jacob was going to cliff dive? Humans were weird sometimes.

"Answer me Jacob!." I was now waist deep in the ice-cold water, there was no way I wouldn't get sick after this. "Jacob Black! You told me you could do this! Where are you?."

There really wasn't any sign of him, so I stood there in the middle of the sea, scanning the whole area in search of him. Sadly there wasn't anyone around.

"Jacob please," I begged. Tears pooling in my eyes at the thought of him underwater, drowning.

Worst part was, I couldn't swim.

So for the next minute I continued to call out his name, over and over and over again but all that answered me was silence. And when I was chest deep in the water, the tears started flowing from eyes in floods. Sobs escaping my throat.

I was afraid, alone and starting to believe that he really was drowning.

"Nina! What are you doing out there? Nina!," he called. Causing me to turn around. "Come here!."

He was alive after all. How? I don't know.

As soon as he made it to me, I was pulled into his strong arms. Enveloped in his wonderful warmth as he started to whisper things in Quileute into my ear. His lips brushing over my earlobe, causing me to shiver.

"Jake," I sobbed. Wrapping my arms around him, burying my face into his chest.

He shushed me, lifting me up in his arms as he started taking us back to the beach. My crying had died down quite a bit, but the tears continued to fall from my eyes as I held on to him. Relieved he was here with me.

Finding us a spot under a tree, he fell to his knees with me in his arms as he leaned back against the trunk, holding me against him. The words that fell from his plump lips were foreign to me, but somehow I knew they were loving.

Everything about Jacob was loving.

"Nina, honey, why are you crying?," he asked softly. Running his hands up and down my arms, warming my shivering body.

"I thought you drowned." I sniffled as I listened to the steady pace of his heartbeat against my ear. While mine took up its pace as he called me 'honey' for the first and probably the last time.

"But I… I was only gone for a couple of minutes."

I looked up at him. "You were gone? As in you left?."

He nodded. "Sam needed to speak with me for a minute. I heard you calling me but I thought you were still on the beach."

"Well what did you expect me to do? Stand there and wait for you to show up? I thought something happened to you Jacob!."

"I thought something happened to you Nina!."

"You're lucky you found me or…" I trailed off.

"Or what?," he pushed.

"Or I would've just frozen in the freezing water." I looked away from him.

"Don't say things like that," he said quietly. "I wouldn't ever let that happen to you."

"You're not magic Jacob, that could've happened. Don't deny it."

He grabbed my face in his hands, forcing me to look into his eyes. "I would not let that happen to you." Each word came out slowly, through clenched teeth. "If…If I found you in the water all cold, I would take you home with me and I would… I would restore all the warmth to your body. I wouldn't ever let you out of my sight."

My breath caught in my throat. "That's.. that's unbelievable."

"Unbelievable but true. There would be no way that I'd ever let something like that happen to you again, we'd just have to be together, always."

I couldn't hide the smile that broke out on my face at his sweet words. "But there would be things like college-."

"College… no. I wouldn't let you go."

"Work-."

"No I'd work."

"What if my parents decided to move?."

"Well that wouldn't make any difference because you'd be living with me."

We both blushed at that but our eyes never left each other. Want was evident in his eyes, it almost seemed like he was serious about everything he'd just said. And I wasn't going to lie, I wanted it to be true.

A long silence followed as I dropped my gaze to my dripping wet shirt.

The fact that I had ran out there in search of him was all for nothing both bothered and relieved me, but I was now soaked to the core. As much as I hated my parents strict rules and ridiculous ideas, there was always a strong feeling of guilt when I snuck out every night.

And tonight, like every other night, I would unlock the hall door as quietly as I could. Knowing full well that my family were in the living room watching TV and then I would tip toe up to my room. But considering my clothes were wet, I'd be leaving evidence behind me this time.

Life sucked.

Suddenly, Jacob stood up with me still in his arms. "I need to get you warm."

"Well I was thinking of taking the window this time…"

"Excuse me?."

"I'm not going through the hall door like this," I told him. Wrapping my arms around his neck as he held me bridal-style.

"You want me to take you home through your bedroom window?," he asked seriously.

At that, I laughed. "Jacob I was joking, that's impossible."

"Right," he mumbled.

As he started walking us towards the woods, I stiffened. "Jacob where-."

"My place."

My mouth formed an 'O' shape as my cheeks suddenly started burning profusely. Jacob was taking me back to his house instead of mine at nine thirty in the pitch dark when I should've been in my room, doing my homework.

Having no idea why he was taking me there, I decided to keep my mouth shut. Refusing to go was definitely not an option, besides he was my friend and he was probably just taking me there to get me in out of the cold.

What would Billy think… I wonder what his room is like… Did he mean what he said earlier… Right, my mind was drifting away.

Entering the dark woods, trees surrounding us everywhere just like the last time, I pressed my cheek to his broad chest before I chickened out. His skin smelt of the salty sea and musk, bringing me back to that night. The night strong arms held me close, making me feel wanted and protected as I was enveloped in the heat the mystery body radiated.

This person took me home without me being fully aware of it.

This person somehow managed to make it into my room unnoticed.

This person lay next to me in my bed as I finally fell asleep.

This person was warm. Very warm.

"Just like Jacob," I murmured as my eyes shut on their own accord.

"Nee…" a voice whispered but sleep had already found me.

Little did I know that falling asleep in Jacob Blacks arms that night was a very big mistake.