Author's Note: Okay, everyone's been asking for me to continue this, and honestly, I really wanted to, so here's part 2. However, I'm not completely content with how it ended, and there's a couple more things I want to add, so I may or may not add in a part 3, BUT THAT'S IT! I swear! Anyway, just read part 2 and let me know if I should finish it with a part 3. : )

XXX

The kitchen at Sam and Emily's house was surprisingly quiet compared to normal. Emily was stirring a delicious-smelling homemade chili at the stove, Sam and Jared were talking about patrols, and Jacob was sulking quietly to himself at the kitchen table.

Suddenly the back door slammed open, making Emily jump while Sam and Jared merely paused their conversation to look up. Emily opened her mouth to yell at whoever it was for slamming the door, but stopped when Paul flew into the room. He grabbed the back of Jake's t-shirt collar, throwing him into the wall and slamming his forearm into Jake's throat, ignoring his pack mates yelling at him. Jake struggled against Paul's hold but paused when he looked at him. Paul's eyes were wild, his teeth bared and nostrils flaring.

"You son of a bitch!" Paul snarled, sounding more animal than human. "I should rip your throat out right here! If you weren't tied to Erin, I'd kill you as slowly as possible right in this room!"

"Paul!" Sam grabbed Paul's shoulder, but Paul threw him off, taking a deep breath as he kept his arm against Jake's throat.

"You wanna know what Quil and I saw on patrol, Jake?" Paul asked with a cold smirk, looking more like a sneer.

Jake's face showed his confusion at the sudden change in approach on Paul's part, his breathing raspy with his throat partially closed.

"Well, we were running by Erin's house, you know, like we're supposed to so we can make sure she's not slitting her wrists over an asshole like you." Paul started cynically, making Jake flinch slightly before he glared at Paul, "Well, guess what? She wasn't there. So, we decided to follow her trail to see where she was. Her scent lead us up to the cliffs. Not the ones we jump from. The ones with all those jagged rocks at the bottom. You know which ones I'm talking about?" Paul checked like he was talking to a little kid.

Jake was still looking at him in confusion, not knowing where this was going.

"Well, you wanna guess what we found? We found Erin; your imprint, the girl who you want nothing to do with, the girl who wants nothing more than to be loved by someone; getting ready to jump. Off. The. Cliff." he finished the last few words slowly, emphasizing each word as he pressed his arm more into Jake's throat. Jake's eyes widened as horror overtook his features, his body lurching forward in Paul's hold on instinct. "You know what I'm talking about, Jacob? You, literally, drove Erin over the edge. If Quil and I hadn't gotten there when we did, she'd be bloody, broken, and DEAD on those rocks right now. Quil grabbed her just as she was stepping over the edge of the cliff. She cried and screamed at him to let her go, begging him to let her die. You know why? She said she can't take it anymore. She heard you say you didn't want her. She heard you yesterday, you dumb-ass! She was already broken before she got dragged into this, and you just had to keep breaking her until she couldn't take it anymore!"

"Paul, enough." Sam interrupted gruffly, gripping him tightly on the shoulder. Everyone in the room was frozen at what they'd heard, not knowing what to say. Sam tugged a couple times until Paul released Jake and stepped back, his shoulders heaving as he panted for breath.

"Is she okay?" Emily asked quietly as she turned off her stove, not taking her eyes off Paul.

Paul took a deep breath to calm himself down a bit, not wanting to take his anger out on Emily. "Last I saw, she was sitting on Quil's lap balling her eyes out while he tried to calm her down." Paul couldn't help it. He turned his glare back on Jake, "I'd gladly phase with you and show you what exactly went down. Let you see what you did to her." he growled coldly, making Jake flinch again.

"I have to go see her." Jake muttered, moving to step around Sam and Paul. Until a hand shot out and shoved him back into the wall, making the house shake.

"Like hell you do." Paul snarled, his arms trembling as he barely controlled his anger, "You're not going anywhere near her."

Jake snarled back, his own body trembling as his wolf fought for control. "She's my imprint. You can't stop me from seeing her."

"Wanna bet?" Jared stepped up behind Paul, glaring Jake down.

Jake snarled at both of them. "You can't stop me from seeing her. It goes against pack law and I can easily take you both out myself."

Sam looked between Jake and the other two for a moment before looking back at Emily. When his eyes went back to Jake, he spoke, "Actually, I'm not so sure it is against pack law, Jacob. Granted, I can't Alpha order you to stay away from her, since she's your imprint. But the pack law is that an imprint cannot be harmed, and it seems like you've done nothing but harm her. And after what Paul just told us, I doubt Erin will want you anywhere near her. If necessary, the whole pack will keep you away from her, if that's what she wants."

Jake gaped at Sam. "What?! You can't be serious! Do you actually expect me to stay away from her after hearing she tried to kill herself? I have to check on her!" he argued.

"She's with Quil right now. He won't let anything happen to her. I'm sure she'll be fine." Jared reasoned, fighting the urge to glare at Jake again so he could support his Alpha.

"How long ago was it that you left the two of them alone?" Sam asked Paul calmly.

Paul thought for a moment before shrugging, "Not sure. Maybe ten, fifteen minutes. Not too long ago."

Sam nodded. "Well, I'll give Quil a call to check on her, then we'll go from there, okay?" he looked among the wolves in his room, who all nodded, albeit hesitantly on Jake's part.

XXX

Quil's arms tightened slightly around the small girl in his arms when he heard her sniff yet again. It'd taken her about ten minutes to stop crying, and after that, he'd gathered up her things, pulling her sweatshirt over her head as she stood quietly, not looking at him. Then he'd put all her things in the large pocket on the front, picked her up, and was currently carrying her through the forest.

"You want me to take you to Emily's?" he murmured near her ear. After a second she shook her head silently. "Your house?" she shook her head again. "How about my place?" he offered gently. Erin stayed still for a moment before she slowly nodded her head. Quil silently turned just enough that he was heading in the direction of his house.

When he walked in through his back door, he saw his Granddad sitting in his recliner, watching something on TV, and his mom poked her head out of the kitchen when she heard the door close. When she saw Erin in her son's arms, Joy Ateara's face became worried, but when Quil gave her a slight shake of his head, she kept silent. Quil silently walked down the hall and stopped in front of the bathroom door. He looked down at her.

"Do you want to take a quick shower? Warm up?" he asked gently. She was quiet for a couple seconds before she gave a tiny nod. He opened the door and carefully set her on her feet. He glanced around the room, subtly making sure there wasn't anything in the room she could use to harm herself, before he closed the door.

When he entered the living room his mom walked up to him, her worried 'mom' face over her features.

"What happened?" she asked quietly.

Quil glanced over his shoulder before wrapping his arm around his mother's shoulders, leading her over to the couch to sit down next to her father-in-law.

"I'm not going to go into any details yet, but, for now, I'll just say she's going through a tough time…with the whole… imprint, Jacob, Bella thing." Quil finally explained after several seconds of thinking. Erin had been over to his house a number of times, and Old Quil and Joy loved her like she was family. Quil knew part of his mother wished he had imprinted on Erin, just because she could tell they were close, and sometimes Quil wished for that, too, if only to make Erin stop hurting. But, the spirits had chosen Jake, for whatever reason.

As an after thought, Quil pulled his phone out of his back pocket. He knew Paul had a knack for picking fights with Jake, especially after what went down at the cliffs, Quil would be surprised if Paul hadn't wolfed out on Jake.

So, he wasn't surprised to see he had a missed call, and it looked like Emily's house phone. He gave his mom and grandpa a small smile, holding up his phone to show he needed to make a call. So he walked over towards the back door, standing by the wall as he dialed the number.

After two rings Sam's voice spoke into the phone, "Quil?"

"Hey, I'm guessing Paul filled you in?"

"Yeah, is she okay?" Sam asked quietly, his voice worried.

Quil glanced toward the bathroom, where he could hear the shower running. "Don't know if 'okay' is a great answer. But given what just went down, she's…physically unharmed." Quil finally decided on a word.

"Do you think she'd be okay for visitors?"

Quil glared at the wall as he tried to answer that question rationally. "Maybe not right now, but maybe later you, Emily, Paul, Jared, Embry,…hell anyone could probably come over, but tell Jacob that if he comes within a hundred feet of her, family or not, I'll rip into him like a carcass." Quil could hear a snarl in the background that proved his suspicions that Jake was with them

"Yeah, kinda figured that much." Sam answered tightly. "And you're not the only one who feels that way, either, Quil. So relax, no one is letting Jake near her." Quil could just imagine Sam staring Jake down, daring him to argue.

"Okay, good. She's showering right now, and I think she's going to want to stay here for a while, but I'll let you know of any changes."

"Thanks. Just stay with her as long as you can, someone can stay with her next time you need to patrol, and we're going to make sure Jake stays away from her."

"Alright. Well, I'll keep you posted." Quil finally said goodbye as he hung up the phone.

XXX

Erin didn't go to school for a couple days, claiming to not feel well. There always seemed to be a pack member or Emily with her at Quil's house at all times, if Joy or Old Quil weren't around. Sam even spent a few hours during the day with her while the others were at school, and Emily brought a few of Erin's clothes from her house. Erin's mother probably didn't even notice, or care, that her daughter wasn't at home. Erin also tried to keep herself busy, not wanting to slip back into her 'dark pit', no matter how tempting it was. So she often helped Joy with household chores and cooking breakfast and dinner, which was good because sometimes an extra wolf tended to pop in around mealtimes and check on her; usually Paul, Embry, or Jared.

Quil had given up his bed so Erin could have somewhere to sleep, despite her arguing that she could take the couch. And the couple times she managed convince Quil she could have the couch, he simply waited until she was asleep before carrying her to his room. He was stubborn like that.

No one told Erin that Jake was constantly asking about her. Or that he often slept in the woods behind the Ateara's house as close as Quil would allow. Or that he couldn't stay more than a couple hours at school because his wolf was antsy not being allowed to see his imprint. And certainly no one told her that Old Quil actually asked Quil to take him to the Blacks' house just so he could whack Jake upside the head with his walking stick.

When Saturday rolled around, Erin was chilling on the couch with Jared, one of Joy's quilts wrapped around her legs, as they talked. The house was empty apart from them because Old Quil was on a fishing trip with Charlie and Billy, Quil was patrolling, and Joy was working.

"She's just…I don't know, she's quiet, smart, the most beautiful girl I've ever met." Jared breathed, his eyes clouding over as he thought back on how he met Kim, his imprint, on Friday.

Erin giggled at the love-struck look on his face. She'd been listening to him ramble about his new imprint for the past fifteen minutes. She wanted to be happy for him…she WAS happy for him…But she was also jealous. Jealous that another girl would have her other half, a happy ending, someone to love her unconditionally. She just felt a painful twinge in her chest that she would never have that. Maybe she wasn't good enough to have that kind of happiness. Maybe-

A loud howl ripped through the peaceful afternoon, not far from the house. Jared leapt to his feet and hurried toward the back door of the house. He barely paused long enough to look over his shoulder at Erin and say, "Stay here." before he bolted towards the woods, phasing in the trees.

Erin sat there, frozen, in shock at what just happened. She was used to it, the guys running off because of a howl, but she was used to having Emily around to lean on. Because no matter how many times the guys ran off to chase a vampire, it would never get easier.

She didn't know how long she sat there. Five minutes? Ten? An hour? It felt like forever. But she was just staring at the TV screen in a daze when the back door slammed open, making her jump to attention.

Quil stood in the open doorway, his hand braced against the open door as his chest and shoulders heaved with each breath. His wild, frantic, golden-yellow colored eyes met Erin's blue-gray ones.

"Quil? What happened?" Erin asked worriedly, pushing the quilt from her lap as she stood up.

Quil took deep breaths to try and calm down, having second thoughts about what he was about to ask of her.

"Quil!" Erin demanded worriedly as she walked up to him, looking up into his panicked face.

Closing his eyes, Quil gave a resigned sigh before he looked down at her, his expression a mixture of sad, worried, and anxious.

"Jake…Jake's been hurt." Erin's breath caught in her throat, "And…well, he's asking for you. He's not too badly hurt, but he's still in wolf form and he refuses to phase back, and he's bleeding really badly, and-"

"Take me to him." Erin's voice was a quiet whisper, but she still managed to sound firm.

Quil searched her face, even as she did the same with him. "Are you sure? You don't have to if you don't want to. After everything he's done to you, you don't have to go to him. He'll heal, it'll just be a bit more painful as a wolf."

"Take me to him, Quil." Erin demanded once again, her voice a bit louder than the first time.

Sighing in both relief and defeat, Quil nodded before turning and leading her toward the trees. She expected him to hide so he could phase, but he simply hunched over and bent his knees, looking over his shoulder at her expectantly. So, she climbed onto his back and he raced into the trees, the wind blasting her in the face. She instinctively tightened her arms around his neck, trying to keep her bare arms warm in the crisp breeze. She was wearing only a T-shirt and an old pair of sweatpants since she'd been lounging around the house.

After only a couple minutes, Quil slowed down to a walk and Erin noticed voices from nearby.

"Come on Jake, just phase back." Jared was pleading with him as they came into view. A sand-colored wolf as well as humans Leah, Sam, Embry, and Jared were all standing around where Jake was laying on his side, pained whimpers and growls escaping his teeth every so often. The others glanced up as Quil approached them. Sam stepped up next to Jared, in Jake's line of sight.

"Jake. She's here." was all he needed to say before Jake barely managed to lift his head and turn it toward her. Her body froze as his eyes landed on her. He could barely keep his head up and when he let it drop back to the ground, she fought the urge to run to him.

Erin wiggled enough to let Quil know she wanted down, and then she moved to stand beside Quil. She hesitated under Jake's gaze. She could see the raw pain in his glistening brown eyes, both physical and emotional. It felt like her brain wasn't connected to her limbs as she slowly approached him, her eyes traveling over his body to the four long gashes in his flank, blood flowing in a steady stream from the wound and staining his fur. Her fingertips brushed along the edges of the clean cut, causing the flesh to twitch under her touch.

"What happened?" she asked in a hoarse whisper, not even looking up as her eyes studied the wound.

"A leech ran through the area." Sam explained, watching her closely, "Strongest leech we've ever come across. It threw Paul into a tree before Jake managed to rip its arm off, but it got in one good blow before the rest of us ripped it to pieces."

Erin nodded absently, glancing ahead just enough for her eyes to catch the small flame and purple smoke between two trees.

"We've been trying to get Jake to phase back since it happened, but he can't. He needs to relax and let his wolf melt back, but he's too tense from the injury. And he knows it'll hurt worse once he phases back to human. Our human bodies aren't as strong." Jared explained quietly, his eyes switching from Erin to Jake. He could already see Jake relaxing just a smidge with Erin so close to him, his eyes were closed and he was taking deep breaths. This was the closest they'd been to each other in about a week.

"What do I need to do?" Erin asked quietly, looking up at Sam for the first time since she'd got there.

"Could you just…try and get him to relax? Talk to him and try to convince him to relax so he can phase back?" Sam asked hopefully, not knowing if she'd be up for it.

Erin bit her bottom lip before nodding hesitantly. She looked around Jake's body, trying to decide what she was supposed to do. Finally, she slowly shuffled her way around Jake's enormous body until she stopped near his head. His eyes watched her every move as she knelt near the top of his head, the tips of his ears only an inch from her knees. Timidly, Erin reached out and ran her fingers through the short fur at the top of his head, watching as his eyes closed and a sigh escaped him.

"You need to phase back, Jake." she whispered, trying to give both herself and him the illusion of privacy. "You won't be able to heal properly unless you're human." Jake whimpered and lifted his head, setting it down on Erin's lap.

Erin froze, not knowing what to do with Jake's eye looking up at her from atop her legs. Finally, she lowered her palm to his cheek, gently stroking through to his skin.

"I know it'll probably hurt a bit more than it does right now," she continued gently, "but…you might heal wrong as a wolf." she wasn't sure if that was true, but she didn't know what she was supposed to say. "Please, Jake?" she pleaded, causing him to whine pitifully.

A throat clearing made her glance up at Seth, who must have phased back. "Um, he, uh, wants to talk to you. And he's afraid that you'll leave again as soon as he's human."

Erin looked down to see Jake watching her, his large, watery, brown eye pleading desperately with her, not wanting her to leave him. Sighing, she gave in against her better judgment.

"Okay." she whispered, "I won't leave, Jake. I promise. I'll stay here with you and we can talk, okay?" Jake let out what sounded more like a happy whine, shoving his head into her stomach as his tail gave a few 'thump's against the forest floor. A quiet giggle escape her before she could stop it, thinking Jake looked like a giant, adorable puppy. She was starting to think she liked this version of him better than Human Jake.

She watched as he closed his eyes, taking a deep breath and relaxing his muscles. Erin's fingers continued stroking his cheek as she watched the fur melt away. His face scrunched up in pain as the last of the russet coat disappeared into his tan skin. A pained yelled erupted from his throat, and Erin pressed her cool palm to his cheek, running the fingers of her other hand through his short, black hair.

Gradually, his expression relaxed, the pain slowly ebbing from his features. Finally, he sighed in relief and looked up at her, rolling onto his back with his head still resting in her lap. His dark eyes seemed to scan her face, making her self-conscious. Hearing a rustle, she glanced toward his feet to see Jared had laid an old, ratty T-shirt over Jake's waist, hiding his private areas.

Without all the fur, Erin could see the gashes on his ribs. They were much smaller than they were when she showed up, though that might be a combination of the fact that they were healing and he was smaller as a human. The sight of the torn flesh and blood made bile rise in Erin's throat, so she had to look away. Looking back down at Jake, he was still watching her.

"Did you really mean it when you said you'll stay and talk with me? Or were you just saying that so I would phase back?" he asked quietly, sadness creeping into his attempt at a monotone voice.

Erin couldn't swallow past the thickness in her throat and had to take a deep breath before she could look him in the eye.

"I meant it, Jake. I think we need to talk, anyway."

Jake nodded

Erin glanced up at Sam before looking back down at Jake, silently hoping he'd take the hint and give them some privacy.

Luckily, Sam was good at reading silent cues. "Come on, guys. Lets give them some privacy." he ordered as they headed in the general direction of Emily's house. Sam paused and looked back when he realized Quil wasn't coming. "Quil?"

Quil met his eyes defiantly, crossing his arms over his chest. "There's no way in hell I'm leaving him alone with her, last time she tried to kill herself." he stated firmly. Jake glanced painfully up at Erin, making her look awkwardly to the side.

Sam sighed patiently. "Quil, how about you just wait at the edge of the woods behind your house, that way you won't be able to hear their conversation, but if Erin needs you, you'll be able to hear her if she yells for you. Would that work?" he checked with Erin, who nodded, and Quil eventually nodded as well. So, Quil turned and went back the way he'd come and Sam turned to follow the others to Emily's.

They were quiet for about two minutes before Erin couldn't take it anymore.

"Aren't you going to say anything?" she whispered, trying not to feel awkward with his head still in her lap.

"I figured you'd want to yell at me for a while first." Jake whispered back, not taking his eyes off her face.

"You kind of deserve it, but I figured we'd try to talk this out like civilized people."

"I'm not completely a person." Jake joked weakly, but Erin just stared down at him, not in a joking mood. Jake's pathetic smile dropped and he sighed.

"Look, Erin, I…I don't know what to say." he admitted quietly.

Erin bit her lip and looked off to the side.

"Are you okay?" Erin looked down at him, confused at the question. "Since you tried to, you know, are you okay? The guys wouldn't let me check on you."

"Maybe they wouldn't let you near me because you're the one who caused it." she couldn't help it, but she sounded like a bitter, spoiled brat.

Jake flinched. "Erin-"

"It's not even that you don't like me, Jake. I get it, you want Bella, not me. Fine. The problem is that you played with me, my emotions, my head. You reached out to me, claiming you wanted to be my friend. And you were actually fun to be around. But then you turn around and started ranting about Bella to me, rubbing your 'friendship' with her in my face, and to top it off I heard you admit to Jared how you felt the imprint took away your choices, and how you didn't care about me."

Jake flinched again. "I didn't say I didn't care about you-"

"But it still hurt, Jake." she whispered, finally looked down at his face, meeting his eye with tears blurring her vision. She laughed, a short, harsh, cold sound as she looked at the ground above his head instead of him. "You think I'd be used to people not loving me." she whispered to herself, but Jake heard her, and felt even worse.

"Erin, I'm sorry." he whispered, staring up at her face as a single tear rolled down her cheek, "I'm so sorry about what I said, I was mad, Jared and everyone was pissing me off and I just wanted him to back off. That's no excuse at all, but I swear to you, that I really do care about you."

Erin scoffed before she could stop herself, "I fell for that once already, Jake. Don't expect me to do that again."

"I screwed up, Erin." Jake tilted his head, trying unsuccessfully to meet her eyes. "I'm sorry. I was bitter about everything going on with Bella, and I was mad about not imprinting on her and I took it out on you. You didn't deserve any of that."

Erin simply stared off into the trees, not responding to him for a minute. Jake was about to say something else, when she finally spoke what was on her mind, "You know what sucks the most about all of this? Not just the imprinting, but this whole mess in general? I don't even know if it's the imprint making me feel like this, or if it's just my stupid emotions. But after getting to know you, and becoming your friend, if you want to call it that, I actually started to care about you. I actually started to have feelings for you. But all you ever cared about was Bella. Do you know how painful that is? Having feelings for someone who's so wrapped up in someone else that they barely give you the time of day? Knowing you're not good enough for them?" she finally looked down at him, accusations in both her tone and her stormy, blue-gray eyes.

Jake's body went cold as the realization hit him. He could suddenly see everything he never noticed before, all the signs he missed in his Bella-induced haze. While he was talking with Bella at Emily's, Erin was by the stove, glancing at them every so often. Whenever he was ranting to her about how stupid Bella was for going after the leech, he could see the pain in her eyes as she looked down at the tabletop. How had he never realized it before? He was no better than Bella, he lead Erin on and then gave her the cold shoulder in favor of being with Bella.

"I know how that feels better than anyone." he whispered quietly, even though she already knew that.

"And yet, it never stopped you from doing the same thing to me, did it?" Jake closed his eyes at the bitterness and sadness in her tone.

"I'm sorry." he breathed.

"'Sorry'? That's seriously your answer to everything you put me through?" Erin demanded. "Sorry doesn't mean crap in this situation, Jake. I know this isn't exactly what you wanted in life, but did you really think it's what I wanted?"

Jake shook his head, which was still rested in Erin's lap. "No. And I know you deserve better. Especially after everything I put you through, I'm no better than Bella. You'd have been better off being imprinted on by one of the other guys, like Quil or Embry. They would've been happy to take care of you the way you deserve."

Erin bit her lip, her thoughts at war with each other. On the one hand, he said he thought she deserved better, which was a little sweet to hear. On the other hand, it sounded like he just wanted to dump her off on one of the other guys. The little voice in the back of her head that her mother caused pointed out he obviously deserved better. After all, he was the next in line to be Chief of the tribe, not to mention his 100 watt smile and body like a Greek God. And after everything Bella put him through, he needed someone who could make him smile, and make him happy; not the other way around. One of the things Erin and Jake had in common was that they both sort of needed someone to cheer them up. They couldn't possibly work well together, right?

"Erin?" Jake's voice pulled Erin out of her thoughts, and she flinched in shock when she felt the pad of his thumb swipe across her cheek. She didn't realize she'd been crying until she saw the wetness on his thumb. "Penny for your thoughts?" he asked quietly, a small, uncertain smile on his face as his eyes scanned hers.

Erin forced herself to swallow past the lump in her throat before she spoke, "I just don't understand why you imprinted on me." she whispered, looking down at the healing scars on his side, "I mean, despite everything, I know you deserve someone better than me. I mean, look at me! I'm not, well, I'm not pretty. I'm not something guys want. I'm, hell, I'm a half-breed! I'm not full Quileute, and everyone in the tribe will expect you to be with someone 100% Quileute, so, I don't know, so your bloodline won't be tainted or whatever. And you need someone who can make you smile, and I don't think I'm that person. I just, I don't understand." she finished weakly, looking away as tears burned her eyes.

"Hey," Jake whispered before he grunted. Erin instinctively put her hands on his shoulders when he tried to sit up. He winced as his healing scars pulled, but managed to push himself into a sitting position before he turned and faced her, looking her right in the eye with a stern expression.

"Let's get a few things straight, here. Alright, I may be an ass, but me not wanting to imprint on you had absolutely nothing to do with any of the things you listed. I was obsessed with someone I couldn't have, a childhood dream that I didn't want to let go." Erin looked down at her lap, but Jake took hold of her hand and kept talking.

"First off, if anything, I deserve to rot in hell alone for what I did to you, I do not deserve someone better than you. Whatever 'better' even means in this situation. Second, 'pretty' is the last word I'd use to describe your looks because it's the most boring word ever. You're beautiful, Erin. And I know your mom always used to talk down to you and tear you down, but she's wrong. Any guy would be lucky to be with you." Erin refrained from rolling her eyes, even as her cheeks flamed up in a blush.

"Third, it doesn't necessarily matter that you're not full-blooded Quileute. At least not to me, or anyone else whose opinion actually matters. The only reason the Elders or pack would care about bloodlines is if it concerns any future packs. And we've learned from Embry's situation that it doesn't always matter if one of the parents isn't Quileute. Since I'm a Black, any of my descendants are going to carry the wolf gene, so the fact that you're half white doesn't effect that. And fourth," he squeezed the hand he still held in his own, using his free hand to tilt her chin up. When they made eye contact, he continued, "you do make me smile. Yeah, sometimes you have bad days, but there have been times when you've made me smile, sometimes even unintentionally. We have a similar sense of humor, and, well, uh, yeah." Jake coughed and looked away awkwardly, pulling his hands to his own lap.

"And what?" Erin asked curiously, watching his cheeks grow a red tint. It was actually an endearing sight. Here was this strong, nearly seven foot tall man who pretty much held the weight of the world on his shoulders and has experienced more heartbreak than someone should in a lifetime, and here he sat before her blushing over something he was about to say to her.

Jake sighed, peaking up at her with a shy smile. He bit his lip for a moment, looking back down at his lap as he continued talking, "Well, um, it's just that, well," he sighed before just going for it, "Okay, I love when you laugh because I love how your laugh sounds, and sometimes when you're laughing really hard you let out this cute squeaking sound. And you're eyes get this sparkle in them and I can't help but stare when I see it, and you get this huge smile, and one of your cheeks gets a cute dimple and sometimes your whole face flushes a cute red tint." when he finished, he squeezed his eyes shut, his muscles tensing like he expected her to freak out on him.

Erin blinked, her mouth falling open as her mind processed everything Jake just said to her. She didn't know he noticed any of that, heck she didn't even notice all of that. Well, she knew she squeaked when she laughed really hard, but it annoyed her. All that other stuff she didn't know she did. And no one else had ever paid her that much attention.

When she didn't start yelling at him, Jake slowly peaked one eye open. When he saw her shocked expression, he opened both eyes and looked at her nervously.

"Well? Are you mad? Creeped out?" he asked timidly, his hands subconsciously twisting together.

Erin slowly shook her head. "Noooo…To be honest, no one's ever noticed any of that about me, I mean, I never even noticed any of that." she stared at him for a moment, her mouth hanging open as she thought of something to say, "Thanks." she finally whispered, looking at her lap as a blush spread over her cheeks again.

Jake shrugged awkwardly, looking at his own lap. "You don't need to thank me for noticing you. Besides, it still doesn't make up for what I put you through."

Thinking about what to say to that, Erin stared at a twig sticking out from under her crossed ankles. "No, it doesn't. But…I don't know, now I'm just confused." she practically whined, feeling her eyes burn with frustration.

"Confused about what?" Jake asked quietly.

"All this time you acted like you didn't want me, didn't want the imprint, now you're saying all these little, endearing details you've noticed about me, and it's really sweet, and, and, now I'm just confused." she rambled on, her hands gesturing randomly before they dropped into her lap, her shoulders sagging in defeat.

Jake sighed before scooting forward, his legs crossed like hers so their kneecaps almost touched. He cautiously pulled both her hands from her lap, holding them in both of his.

"I'm sorry for everything I've put you through, Erin. And, if you'll have me, I'd like another chance. After the past couple weeks I've realized maybe the imprint was onto something, and I'd really like to be able to explore that, with you. With Bella gone, it opened my eyes to what I was missing out on."

At the mention of the pale-faced brunette, Erin glared at the ground without even realizing it, trying to tug her hands from Jake's. But he held firm as he continued.

"I know what you're thinking, Erin, and you're not coming in second to Bella. And I'm so, so sorry for making you feel that way. I see now that my pack brothers were right. She was using me to get over her leech, and I was too blind to see it. It may take me some time to get over the betrayal and pain, but if you'd be willing to give me another chance, I'd like to be your friend again."

Erin bit her lip as she looked up at him, still on the fence about his sincerity. After all, he'd already said this once before, and that fell through and ended terribly.

Jake swallowed thickly, his Adam's apple bobbing as he slowly pulled his hands from hers. Erin's whole body suddenly felt cold.

"I get it if you want to tell me to take a hike. I mean, after last time I said I wanted another chance, you'd be crazy to trust me again." he tried to sound strong, like he understood. But to be honest, he sounded on the brink of tears. And after everything he'd been through, despite her better judgment, Erin couldn't bring herself to be the cause of his tears.

"Jake?" her barely whispered voice made Jake look fearfully up at her through his lashes. "You're right, I'd be crazy to give you another chance, especially considering I don't think I could take a repeat of last time, in fact, I'd make sure Quil wouldn't be able to stop me," pain and fear lashed at Jake's whole body when he took in the implications of her words, "but…I don't know, part of me wants to try again." The fear and dread slowly turned to hope as Jake watched Erin's face. She took a deep breath, meeting his eyes, "I'm willing to give you one more chance, Jacob Black, but I'm warning you right now it will be difficult to regain my trust, and it will be easily broken if you mess up again. And this is absolutely you're last chance."

Jake swallowed thickly, meeting her eyes. He nodded quickly, feeling as if this were a dream.

"I promise, Erin, I will do whatever it takes to earn your trust and friendship. If I screw up again, I give you permission to sick the guys on me." he promised seriously, making Erin giggle despite the topic. She had no doubt in her mind half the pack would rip Jake a new one if he hurt her again.

"I'll hold you to that. So, with that talk out of the way, can we go to Emily's? I've missed hanging out there." she admitted shyly, making Jake smile.

"Absolutely. There's just, uh, one problem." he admitted awkwardly, his cheeks once again growing a red tint.

Erin looked at him in confusion. "And that would be?"

Jake cleared his throat uncomfortably before pointing with one hand downward. Erin looked and immediately a blush spread from her cheeks to her neck as she looked away. The T-shirt Jared had laid over Jake's waist was still there, though now it was haphazardly twisted to barely cover Jake's manhood.

Erin cleared her throat, which came out as an awkward squeak. "Um, well, uh…QUIL!" she yelled loudly, making Jake jump slightly in surprise.

Three seconds later Quil came speeding between the trees, skidding to a stop several feet from them. He glanced between them, eyes wide and brows lifted to his hairline, silently demanding an explanation for the random scream.

Erin bit her lips together before pointed in the vicinity of Jake's problem. "Can you get him a pair of shorts please?" she asked awkwardly. Quil looked at where she was pointing before a slow, teasing smirk spread across his lips.

XXX

There's the end of part 2! Again, review and let me know how you liked it, and let me know if I should add a part 3.