Erin smiled softly down at her hand, which was linked with Jake's with their fingers woven together. They were walking down the pier in Port Angeles after a wonderful day. Jake had taken her to a nice restaurant as a surprise, luckily nothing too fancy or expensive. Then, they'd gone out for ice cream for a simple, yet welcome, dessert. Now, they were walking down the long pier, the sun almost done setting, leaving the sky a beautiful blue and purple color since the day had been surprisingly sunny.

"You didn't have to do all this, you know." she murmured as they neared the end of the pier.

"Well, I wanted to. It's our first anniversary, I wanted to do something special. And it's not like I went overboard or anything, right?" Jake grinned at her, running his thumb down her finger.

"I guess not. But we're not doing this every year. Maybe for big ones, like ten years, but not minor ones like three years." Erin answered.

"What if I think every year with you is worth celebrating?" Jake asked playfully.

Erin grinned at him, bumping her shoulder into his before she answered. "I'm not saying we can't celebrate at all. Just do something simple, like breakfast in bed or cook a nice dinner at home or something. Just simple and sweet."

"Simple and sweet. Got it." Jake confirmed with a playful grin as they reached the end of the dock. Jake sat himself down on the end, holding Erin's hand to help her sit beside him with their legs dangling over the side of the pier.

"I feel bad. I only got you a movie." Erin stated casually, leaning into Jake's side so his arm could go around her waist.

"You got me Batman Begins. Babe, we're even." Jake chuckled. "Besides, us going out to dinner and ice cream isn't necessarily a present for you. I enjoyed it as much as you did. So it's a gift for both of us." he pointed out, which caused Erin to roll her eyes.

"Whatever you say." she sighed, resting her head on his shoulder. They sat quietly for a few minutes, Jake's warmth chasing away the evening chill as the sun went the rest of the way down. The only light was from the lampposts going down the railing.

"Hey, Erin?" The girl in question turned her head to look up at her boyfriend when he whispered in her ear.

"Yeah?" she whispered in return.

"I've got something for you." he answered as he pulled something from his pocket.

Erin gave him a look. "Jake, you've already done enough-"

"I know, I know. But this your real present, I just needed a somewhat romantic setting to give it to you." Jake answered with a small, nervous smile.

Erin smiled in return, showing him she wasn't upset. She didn't want him going overboard, but she could also tell he was nervous she wouldn't like his present. "Okay, I'll forgive you for now." she smirked playfully, earning a more relaxed smile in return.

"Okay, well…here." he said quietly before extending his hand and opening his fist to reveal a bracelet.

Erin's lips parted in wonder as she stared at it. It was a woven bracelet made up of intricate designs in blue, green, and russet brown strings.

"Jake…it's beautiful." she whispered.

"Can I put it on you?" he asked slowly. Erin swallowed thickly at the question. She'd been in the Tribe long enough to know what a bracelet like that meant. It was a sort of promise bracelet, the Quileute's version of a promise ring. For a guy to give one to a girl was a big step in a relationship.

"Are you sure you want to?" she finally asked, looking nervously up at him.

Jake paused and blinked, having not expected that question. But one look in her eyes made him realize he wasn't the only one who was nervous.

So, he leaned down so he was staring right into Erin's eyes. "I've never been more sure of anything in my life." Erin's breath caught in her throat. "I love you, Erin. I know I want to spend the rest of my life with you. I don't care what anyone else says or thinks, I want everyone to know how much you mean to me. I know I want to marry you someday. I want to have a family with you someday. If you don't feel ready to wear this bracelet, that's fine. But I want you to at least have it."

Erin blinked tears back before smiling up at him. "Jake, I want to wear it. I want all of that with you someday, too. I just didn't want to cause you any trouble, like at school or something."

Jake scoffed. "Like I care about what a bunch of jealous snobs say or think. I only care about you, my pack, and my family. And they all love you. Not nearly as much I do, but you get the point."

Erin laughed at his big, cheesy smile, wiping away the single tear that had run down her cheek. "I love you, too."

Jake grinned. "So, I can put it on now?" he guessed, holding the bracelet up.

Erin nodded her head. "Absolutely." She lifted her left hand so he could tie the bracelet around her wrist. His fingers brushed her skin when he finished. He leaned over and kissed her cheek.

"I love you." he whispered against her skin before pulling away. He smiled at her before wrapping his arm around her waist and pulling her into his side. They sat there for several long minutes, just staring up at the stars and exchanging whispered conversation about what they hoped for their future.

XXX

Erin let out a breath when her and Rachel left the front doors of the hospital. Rachel slung her arm over the younger girl's shoulders as they walked toward her car.

"See? I told you everything would work out." Rach grinned widely, earning one in return from Erin.

They got in the car and made the drive back to La Push, pulling up to Sam and Emily's house. They got out and walked up the porch steps and inside. Rachel instantly went to where Paul was sitting at the kitchen table next to Jared, seating herself comfortably in Paul's lap. Paul grinned, wrapping his arms around her as he continued his conversation with Jared.

Jake smiled at Erin as she approached him. But instead of sitting in his lap, she rested a hand on his shoulder.

"Hey, can we go talk somewhere?" she asked quietly.

Jake's brows furrowed slightly in concern but he stood up anyway. "Yeah, sure." He gently took her hand in his and lead her out the backdoor. They walked down the path behind Emily's house until they came to a very small clearing, more of a gap in the trees and bushes. Jake sat down and crossed his legs, holding Erin's hand to help her sit down next to him.

"Alright. What's up?" he asked curiously.

Erin bit her lip for a moment, looking sideways up at him. "Well,…you remember how we talked about me getting on birth control eventually?"

Jake nodded his head. "Yeah, but you were worried about your antidepressants having an effect on them."

It had been a couple months since the afternoon in Jake's garage where Erin practically demanded they have sex in his backseat. A couple weeks later, a few months before their anniversary, on a Friday night after Erin's mother left the house, they'd made love for the first time. There had been very little pain on Erin's part, because Jake did everything he could to make it a good experience for her. For a first time, it was an amazing experience.

Luckily, Jake had been prepared and had a box of condoms. Since then, the subject of birth control had come up between them a couple times, but it'd been on Erin's mind almost constantly.

"Well, you know how you got mad at me last week for keeping secrets from you?" Erin asked with a guilty grimace.

Jake eyed her suspiciously. "Yes."

"I didn't want to get your hopes up or anything…but Rachel took me to a doctors appointment last week to talk about maybe…getting off my antidepressants and getting on birth control." she admitted quietly, her eyes fixed on a small twig under her crossed ankles.

It was completely silent for several moments before a hand cupped Erin's chin, turning her face up to stare Jake in the face. He was staring into her eyes seriously.

"And?" he urged her to continue.

Erin licked her lips nervously before continuing, "The doctor said that there shouldn't actually be any issues with taking both antidepressants and birth control. But since I've been getting better with the depression, I could get off the antidepressants if I wanted. I have to go back in a couple months to make sure I'm still doing okay off the antidepressants, but…yeah. I'm off those and I'm officially on the pill."

Jake sat completely still for a few moments. "So what you're saying…is that we can have sex without condoms." he finally announced with a smirk.

Erin scoffed, reaching over and shoving his shoulder, making him laugh. "You perv! That's all you got outta that?" she rolled her eyes. "Yes, however it won't be completely effective for at least a week."

Jake nodded with a huge grin. "And…you're not on antidepressants." his eyes softened as he scanned her face, "You'll tell me if you start feeling…like you did before? Right? If you think you should get back on them or something? Please?"

Erin smiled up at him. "Yes Jake. If I start feeling depressed again, I'll let you know. But there are ways to fight depression without drugs. I looked it up on the internet."

"Like what?" Jake asked curiously, leaning forward and taking one of Erin's hands in his.

"Like…exercising, getting sunlight…which is difficult here, eating healthy, getting enough sleep, hugging and cuddling,…having sex." she added coyly.

Jake smirked. "Well, I certainly wouldn't object to having sex with you every time you're feeling sad. Heck, to be safe, we should probably do it pretty often, just to make sure you don't slip back into your depression, right?"

Erin laughed, falling back until she lay on the forest floor. "You have a one track mind."

"Yep. You." Jake agreed, laying down next to her, supporting himself on one elbow. He used his other hand to turn her face towards his, pressing a gentle, lingering kiss to her lips. "I love you, Erin."

Erin smiled widely up at him, her throat tightening with emotion. "I love you, too, Jake."

XXX

I know a lot of these 'chapters' or whatever you want to call them have been a bit on the short side, so starting now I'm going to try and link a couple moments together if I can without making it too random or weird.

Anyway, let me know what you thought of this one!