ARIA

He was always there just like he said he would be. He was there the day of my father's funeral. He was there the countless weeks afterward. He was there when I had to go pack all of Dad's things up. He even helped me, along with Embry. He called me every night before bed and every morning after a time he could be sure I was awake.

But one call set me off.

Jacob called me to tell me he was going to the movies with Bella and a few of the other Forks kids. He asked me if I wanted to go but with everything that was going on I had missed a lot of school so I had a lot of make-up work. He said he would come over when the movie was over and stay the night.

"Okay." I said, half distracted by the paper I was writing.

"Alright, I'll see you in a little bit. I love you."

"Love you too."

He hung up the phone first and I continued my work. Around eleven, I stopped working and just decided to watch TV. It was actually kind of difficult to focus on my work with the idea of Jacob and Bella spending so much time together. The Cullens had left a few months ago and lately she's been around. She had gotten herself lost in the woods the night they left and Jacob went running to help find her. He broke a date for her that night.

The next morning I woke up on the couch alone. I reached for my cell phone and I had a voicemail from him.

"Sorry I didn't make it. I got sick last night. I would've called but I didn't want to wake you. I'll call as soon as I can. I love you."

I didn't hear from him until the next day. He told me his dad had taken him to the doctor and he was diagnosed with mono.

"Oh, is there anything I can do?"

"Just keep in touch. You can't come over 'because I don't want you to catch it."

"I'll call every day."

"I'll try to answer every day."

"I love you Jake."

"I love you too. I should be fine in a couple of days. But I gotta go. I'll talk to you as soon as I can."

Then I didn't hear from him. I called him but he didn't answer. Embry said it was nothing. Weeks went by and he said Jacob had been going to school. He just missed so much so he had a lot to catch up on. Something told me that was only half the story.

That couple of days turned into a couple of weeks of silence. But one afternoon, I was sitting in the living room at the coffee table doing some homework when Jacob just strolled into the house.

"Hey." He said.

"Jacob, what the hell?" I yelled, getting to my feet.

"What did I do?"

"Excuse me. It's been weeks and I haven't heard from you. Where have you been?"

"Home, around, I had mono remember."

"Right, mono. How come you didn't call when you got better?"

"Didn't Embry tell you? I had a mountain of make-up work for school. My dad said I had to finish it and if I called you I would have spent more time with you than on my work."

I sighed and shook my head. He put his hands on my shoulders and I flinched away but didn't move although his hands were scorching hot.

"Jacob, why are you hot?"

"It's natural."

"Temperature wise, Jacob?"

"That's what I came to talk to you about."

His smirk faded and his expression turned solemn.

"Jacob, what's happened?"

"Can we go in your room?"

I nodded and took his hand. I led him to my room. He sat on my bed and beckoned me to join him. I stood in front of him but didn't sit down. He pulled me down onto his lap.

"I have a question." I muttered, running my hand through his now cropped hair.

"What is it?"

"Were you at least thinking about me?"

"Every second of every minute of every hour of every day, you were always on my mind."

I smiled and kissed his cheek.

"Now there's something I have to tell you but I need you to be open-minded."

"I don't get it."

"Well you're not supposed to, not yet. I haven't explained it yet. Okay, a while back, Embry went through a change and I know you noticed it. Well, all of us have gone through the same thing."

"You're talking in riddles."

"You know the legends of this tribe. Well, they aren't all legends."

"Jacob Black, if you don't tell me what's going on, you can just get_"

He shut me up with a kiss. When he pulled away he was scrutinizing my face. The kiss was brief but it had left us both breathless, me more so than him.

"Can you feel the difference?"

"Yes but what_"

He cut me off with another kiss. He pulled away again.

"Stop that."

"No."

Then he was kissing me again. He moved my arms around his neck and I didn't resist. It had been so long since I felt his kisses. I didn't know if it was the length of time we were apart but these kisses were different.

I pulled away, very reluctantly.

"Jacob…" I whispered; his lips were against my shoulder as he hummed his response, "what's happened to you?"

His deep brown eyes met mine, "I've changed Aria and I swear it may not be for the worst."

"More riddles, Jacob, really?"

"The legends are true, or at least one of them is. This tribe is descended from wolves. We're a tribe of shape-shifters, spirit warriors."

"How do you know?"

"I'm one of them, along with Sam and Paul and Jared and Embry."

"But how... I mean, Embry's not Quileute. He's Makah just like me."

"Only half, otherwise he wouldn't have changed."

"So what does that mean?"

"Someone here has a half-brother. It's Sam, Quil, or me."

"So you could be my cousin?"

"We're not gonna talk about it. Plus, there's no proof so there's nothing to talk about."

"Alright, whatever, so who else knows?"

"No one else knows on the outside but you. My dad knows and Harry Clearwater but not his wife or his kids and Sam's grandfather."

"So…"

"No, Bella does not know. At least, I can't tell her. I'm not supposed to tell anyone but you are an exception, my exception."

"Riddles, Jake."

He sighed, "Sam said that if I came through that door and you didn't hate me and a simple kiss took your breath away, that I could tell you."

"I'm still not following you."

"Okay, um, come with me to Sam's. He can probably explain this better than I can."

I nodded and moved from his lap. He grabbed my hand and started to pull me from the room. I pulled back in protest but he seemed a lot stronger than he used to be.

"You know, shoes would be nice."

He sighed and grabbed my flip flops from next to the door, but instead of letting me put them on, he lifted me up and put me on his shoulder.

"Seriously?"

"You can walk home but we'll get there faster if I carry you."

So for the walk to Sam's, Jacob carried my shoes in one hand and made sure I didn't fall with the other. I hung there and watched his feet.

"Are we there yet?"

"Just about, you should really stop complaining."

"It just seems to be taking a long time to get there."

He flipped me over his shoulder and set me on my feet.

"We're here."

I turned around to look at the house. Jake took my hand and led me inside. Jacob sat and pulled gently on my hand.

"Aria, how are you?" Sam asked as I sat down on Jacob's lap.

"I'm a bit confused right now. I'm glad to have Jake back but I really want to know what's going on."

"Tell her Jake."

He sighed so I turned to face him completely, "Jacob?"

"I… We," he gestured around the room, "are werewolves."

I started laughing, "That's good. What's the real secret?"

"It's the truth. Remember, I said that the legends weren't all just legend. This tribe is truly descended from wolves."

"Prove it."

He took my hand and pulled me outside. He didn't say anything but gestured at me to stay where I was. He ran into the woods and seconds later a huge brown wolf came out. He came closer to me and in his eyes I saw Jacob.

"Oh my god, holy shit, this is awesome."

Jacob did what seemed like a laugh. I heard everyone laughing behind me as I moved forward and hugged Jake around his neck. He rubbed his head against my shoulder.

"I could get use to this." I pulled back, leaving one hand on his body, "Wait a sec, Embry came from the Makah Rez. How does he fit into all of this?"

I watched Embry back out of the group and try to leave. Sam caught him by the shoulder.

"Jake, go phase back."

Jacob disappeared and came back a few moments later. He put his arm around my waist.

"Tell her Embry."

"There's a possibility I'm related to Sam, Quil, or Jacob."

"What?" I looked at Jacob who was diverting his gaze, "You could be my cousin?"

He nodded.

"Jake doesn't want to think about that and you shouldn't either. He phased before Jacob. He may belong to my family. It's more likely."

"But there's still a possibility."

"Jake why don't you take her down to the beach? You can explain how things are going to go from now on."

"Yeah, that's a good idea."

He took my hand and pulled me from the house. He must have thought I was taking too long cause he lifted me over his shoulder and carried me away. When he let me down, my feet touched sand. He took my hand and we walked for a little while in silence. It wasn't until we got to the driftwood tree that he said anything.

"Let's sit."

He pulled me to the tree and sat on the ground next to it. He pulled me down to his lap and nuzzled his head against my hair. We sat like that in a further silence. We didn't have much to say.

"Aria, I'm sorry."

"Don't apologize to me, Jake. Just tell me. How is it going to be from now on?"

"No one can know what I am. I'll be gone a lot and sometimes I won't answer your phone calls. I'll be tired and irritable so if it seems like I'm not listening to you it's because I can't. I won't always be around and if it seems like I'm canceling plans with you it's for a reason."

"So are you guys the 'bears' the radio's been talking about?"

"That's another thing. We're not the only supernatural creatures out there."

"What else is there?"

"Vampires, the vampires have killing all those people." He paused and looked out the ocean, "It was a vampire that caused Bella to break her leg last year."

"The Cullens…"

"The Cullens are vampires."

"If it weren't for what I just saw back there I would call you all crazy."

"But you do believe us?"

"Yeah, do I have a choice?"

"I guess not." He pauses, I have a question."

"What's up?"

"Can you forgive me?"

"For?"

"For leaving you when you needed me and for just showing up like it had never happen. I'm sorry. Can you forgive me?"

"Jake, how could you think I wouldn't? Just because you left doesn't mean I stopped loving you. You mean the world to me Jake. I love you. The only way that would change is if you cheated on me."

"Well there's no chance of that."

I ran my hand through his short hair and smiled, "Then there's nothing to worry about."

"I just have one more question."

"What?"

"Why the haircut?"

"If we don't keep out hair short our wolf fur gets really long too."

I laughed at the idea of a shaggy wolf pack.

We woke to the crackling of flames. We were still on the beach and I was curled up into him. I sat up and looked around to find everyone sitting around a fire, eating s'mores.

"Hey guys, nice of you to rejoin the world." Paul said, smartly.

"Shut up." I said as I took a bag of marshmallows from him.

"How long were we asleep?" Jake asked, rubbing his hair.

"Long enough for the sun to set."

"Yeah and Mom's really mad." Embry mumbled through his mouthful of food.

"What did I do?"

"You were supposed to cover her shift at the store tonight."

"Crap, she's gonna kill me. Jake can you take me home?"

"Yeah."

We stood up quickly. I gave Embry a kiss on his cheek and ran off with Jake on my heels.

"I thought I was taking you home."

"You are."

"Did you want me to drive you?"

"Carry me. It'll be faster."

He scooped me up and ran. I made it home in record time. I opened the door slowly and listened for the lecture I knew was coming.

"She's not here."

"How do you know?"

"It's part of the wolf thing. I can't smell her or hear her for that matter."

I let out a breath.

"Do you want me to stay here with you?"

"I should be fine. Thanks for bringing me home, Jake. I love you."

"I love you too."

He kissed my forehead before turning to leave.

"Hey, Jake."

"Yeah?"

I took his hand in silence and pulled him inside. The series of kisses was sweet and gentle. As he lifted me, his lips kept contact with mine.

"Aria…" he whispered before kissing my neck softly.

"Jacob, you know, um, no one's home. My aunt will probably be working late now."

His breath caught and he looked at me, "What are you saying?"

"You know what I'm saying."

He let me down and I took his hand. We ran through the house, stopping in the hallway leading to my bedroom. He pinned me against the wall, kissing my forehead, my neck, my collarbone, my chest. He pushed the bottom of my tank top up and kissed my stomach.

I tried to say his name but the simple word got caught in my throat. His lips met mine again and he pulled me into my bedroom. He shut the door and before I knew it, I was on my back on my bed. He kissed every inch of my bare skin. I pushed him back and pulled my shirt over my head. He followed suit.

"Did the abs come with change?"

He laughed, "More or less."

I touched the muscular tan skin of his body and pulled him toward me by the belt loops of his shorts.

"So eager."

"You've been gone for weeks. Excuse me for missing you."

"Maybe I should leave more often."

I shook my head and pushed myself up to kiss him again. I parted my lips and that was when things really heated up. Our tongues met and wrestled. He took his lips away from mine so he could pull down my shorts before unbuttoning his own. I noticed he didn't have any underwear on. I started giggling.

"What's so funny?"

"No undergarments?" I asked as I took off my own.

"If I phase unexpectedly I don't want to rip my underwear too."

"Fair enough."

He kissed me softly and as he kissed me just below my left ear I whispered, "I'm ready, Jake."

"You're sure?"

"Yeah, I love you Jacob."

"I love you too."

When all was said and done, we laid there, snuggling.

"Are you hot?" he breathed against my neck.

"A little."

He kissed the back of my neck and I closed my eyes. He got out of the bed and pulled his shorts on. He cracked the window above my bed before leaning down to kiss my forehead. He walked toward the door.

"Jacob?" I tensed.

"I'm not going anywhere. I'm just gonna go find something to eat. I plan on having dinner with my girlfriend. Now put some clothes on."

I smiled as he blew me a kiss. I found his t-shirt and my underwear. I pulled them on and followed him out of the room.

He put me up on the counter and kissed me. He opened the refrigerator.

"There's left over spaghetti on the bottom shelf."

He reached for the container, "I love your aunt's spaghetti."

"That's why I saved you some."

"You knew I'd come back?"

"I hoped."

"I guess I was gone for a lot longer than I ever thought I would be."

"You were never supposed to leave."

He sighed, "I guess I was afraid I would hurt you. Hell, I still am. You saw Emily. Sam did that to her because he got angry and lost control. What if I get angry and you're standing too close. I could seriously hurt you."

"And I would love you no less. Jake, you're my wolf and no one will replace you. No matter what happens, I'll love you."

He stepped between my legs and wrapped his arms around my waist, pulling me to him. I wrapped my arms around his neck and held him there. We stayed like that until we heard someone clear their throat.

"So this is where you've been." My aunt said; Embry standing behind her, arms crossed with a smirk on his face.

I pushed Jake away and jumped off the counter.

"I'm sorry about tonight. We were at Sam's then we went to the beach. We fell asleep and I completely forgot about working tonight."

The scowl on her face turned to a big smile before she embraced Jacob, "I'm just glad to have you back. I don't think I could've handled the mopey version of Aria another day."

We all laughed, ate leftover spaghetti and enjoyed the rest of the evening; Jake even stayed the night.