I'm soooooo sorry guys! School has just got me so defeated this fall. There were weeks when I didn't make it home to dinner for four or five nights in a row. That, coupled with extreme writer's block, forced me to neglect this story. I finished this chapter, but it might be awhile before I write a new one. I've lost some of my inspiration for this story, but hopefully I'll be back soon. I realize that I haven't sufficiently groveled enough, so feel free to throw all the rotten tomatoes you want. Digitalized ones, of course.

And thanks to the tiny amount of reviewers (you are still lovely): lovably17, Minnie Cyrus, and calalily123. On another note, I can't believe 40 people have added this story to their alert list. It shocks me that people actually like this story.

Why do we like to hurt so much?

I can't decide

You have made it harder it just to go on

And why?

All the possibilities

Well I was wrong

That's what you get when you let your heart win

- That's What You Get, Paramore

Chapter 12

Time passes more quickly when one is on the beach. I'm almost 99% sure it's a proven scientific fact. We got there at one, and suddenly it's 5. I'm pretty sure time travel was experienced.

About that time, I drove both of us to our respective homes. I pulled up to the small house that he and Billy shared. We made our way up the steps, hand in hand. Grabbing hold of the scruffy hair on the back of his neck, I pulled him closer, until the tips of our noses were millimeters apart. His eyes grew wide. I grinned,

"See you tomorrow."

I ran to the car as fast as I could, before he caught me. I raced off, laughing at the shocked expression that remained on his face.

*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*

Jacob's POV

I couldn't believe she was going to make out with me, right before my front door. I'd bet my motorcycle that Dad was spying on us. She grabbed my hair and yanked me forward, our faces this far away from colliding. Involuntarily, my eyes got bigger. I heard her whisper, "See you tomorrow." And then she vanished.

I almost toppled over.

Such a tease.

*.*.*.*.*.*.*

Cecily's POV

I felt like I hadn't seen Marie in forever. She caught me at my locker before Jake showed up Monday morning. I mean, yeah we'd talked in the classes we had together. But it had been awhile since we had really talked.

"So what are you doing for fall break?" She asked quizzically. This was after 10 minutes of trying to convince her that I hadn't abandoned her for Jake.

At that exact moment, fate decided that she would pick a fight with me. Got it in her mind to give me a roundhouse kick and a bloody nose. I sensed a body behind me, and soon a pair of strong arms encircled my middle section. I turned my head upward, smacking my nose against his chin. "AHHH!"

"AHH!" We both started cracking up. I gave his cheek a little "love tap" before turning back to Marie. Jacob felt the need to cut in. "You're staying here during break right?"

"Um, no." He must have been eavesdropping. "We're probably going back home- I mean, back to Nashville." Caught myself too late.

"You can't." Excuse me? I narrowed my eyes.

Marie, sensing an argument in the works, made a speedy exit. It was just him and me, staring each other down.

"You can't leave here."

I scoffed. "Who says I can't?" My words threw at challenge at him, smacking square in the face.

"I do. If you leave, I won't be able to go with you." He lowered his chin, letting his brown orbs fill mine.

"No one said you had to come with me, Jake. I can go places without you, you realize." I wasn't totally attached to him. Okay, well maybe I have been so far, but that can be changed!

He glanced around warily. "We shouldn't argue about this here." He clutched my hand and practically dragged me outside against my will. When we moved out far enough, he released my appendage as if it was a snotty tissue.

"If you travel back, the leech will pick up on your scent." Glad to know I could be traced like a deer would be sniffed out by a hunting dog, "He'll follow you all the way there. If I'm not there with you, he'll – he'll kill you. So no, you aren't leaving."

I was ready. My eyes distorted, shifting from milk chocolate to dark. He took a step back, nearly tripping over a thick tree root in the process. "Number 1: You don't control me. I can go anywhere I damn feel like, and you won't be able to stop me. Number 2: What would I tell my parents and my sister? Yes, well, I can't go back to Nashville with all of you. Oh, why? Well, a freak vampire with a thirst for my blood is stalking me. And my werewolf beau won't let me leave because he is overly protective of me, and I have to be glued to his side at all times."

My voice was dripping with sarcasm. I could tell that the words spewing out of my mouth were hurting him, but right then, I didn't care. I was on a role. "And thirdly: What makes you think that you can order me around? Just because you imprinted on me, doesn't mean I have to listen to you." Oh yes. I just pulled the imprint card.

"Yes it does!" His voice was gaining more and more volume, and his face turned a rather unique shade of tomato red.

"No. It. Doesn't! I'm not bound to anyone!" I got right up in his face and yelled.

"YES it DOES!" He was screaming at me. He was also shaking, but I was too heated to notice until I ran the whole scene in my head later.

"WHY? Why do I have to listen to YOU?! Why do I have to put up with all of this bullshit?!" I pointed to myself and stomped my foot.

"BECAUSE I FUCKING SAID SO!" He had never used that kind of language with me. He screamed. Or was that a growl? Luckily, my reflexes kicked in at just the right time. I shifted to the left, covering my head. His body transformed before my very sight. Temporary venom burned in his wolfish eyes.

The rage drained out of my body, and was replaced by fear. I was scared out of my freaking mind. I was scared because I had caused the sudden difference in form. I unconsciously took a step back. The venom left his brown orbs, the tension in his matching russet body leaving. Leaving. I never wanted to hear that word again in my life.

His form shifted, and he was human once again. The poison was substituted by regret. "Cecily?" I jerked my face away, tears stinging the very far corners of my eyes. I always cried when I was angry. A personal defect.

"I – I'm sorry." That word is so overused. It doesn't even justify a response.

"I can't lose it like that with you, Ce. I won't let you end up like Emily."

Still, not a word uttered from my lips. I refused to meet his gaze. His eyes were burning a hole right through me. Don't give in. Don't give in.

"Look," I made the mistake of looking toward the source of the voice. There was no staying angry at him now. "I may be a jerk, but I will never, ever hurt you. You can trust me on that."