Please, please review! Sorry it took so long. Things have been hectic, what with me starting school and all. Anyway my 16th B-day was August 16th! So, as a present, PLEASE tell me what you think!

A Cinderella of Sorts

KimPOV

"Hey daddy," I whispered to my father.

He is standing across the room from me and not a second later he drops his coffee mug. I flinch as the pieces shatter all over the floor. The next thing I know I'm in his arms. I feel something wet on my cheek and I reach a hand up to wipe it off. It's a tear. I look up at my dad and see he is crying. He kisses my forehead and then wipes away his tears. I sniffle and that's when I realize I was crying too.

I miss him. I miss the dad I had, the dad who had disappeared when I was seven.

"I'm so sorry. I am so, so sorry, bumblebee." He apologizes.

I frown confused.

How was this his fault?

"For what? This wasn't your fault, daddy." I tell him.

"No, it was yours. You should have been careful," my mom says snidely, walking forward to stand in front of me. "Now all the chores have piled up, the house is dirty and we're running out of fresh clothes." My mother interrupts my dad before he can reply to me.

Jared makes a gruff, rumbling sound deep in his chest and scowls at my mom. She looks appalled and takes a step back, which, if she wanted to keep her limbs attached, was wise. I tug on Jared's arm and bring him down for a kiss to calm him. He is still tense with anger for a moment and then relaxes into the kiss. I pull back and turn to my shocked mother.

"I will get right on that as soon as the police are done talking to me."

She sneers again and stalks away with an 'humph'. I turn back to my father and find him frowning in the direction my mom went. I clear my throat shyly and he turns to look at me.

"We need to talk, don't we?" he asks me.

I nod and purse my lips together firmly. I missed him and I am happy he cared I was kidnapped, but I haven't forgiven him for the last ten years, when he was gone, leaving me alone. He nods to himself and before I can tell him when or where the talk was going to take place, someone knocks on the door. I jump at the noise and Dad goes to sit down on the couch.

"It's probably the police." He says.

And not two seconds later another knock sounds out, along with a loud, 'Police, open the door.'

"I'll get it." Jared says and gently pushes me in the direction of the couch.

I stand by the couch instead of sitting, though. I have never been allowed to sit on it. Dad looks up at me confused. He opens his mouth to say something, but before he can continue Jared opens the door and two police officers step inside. I smile at them and stay quiet.

"We received a call that Ms Kimberli Birche has been found?" one of the officers says, voicing it as a question.

He has a beer gut and has balding brown hair. Despite the gut he is quite strong-looking.

"Yes. That would be me." I speak up.

Both officers turn their heads to look me up and down curiously. The other officer who has not spoken as of yet, pulls out a picture and holds it to the side of me, looking back and forth between me and the picture.

"It's her." He says in a deep voice.

I smile and they come further into the room. I step forward and gesture to the couch.

"Would you like to sit, gentlemen?"

The beer-gut one takes a seat on the couch next to my father, looking bored. The second officer, who is really tall and buff, with a blonde crew-cut, stands by the door. I squint at both of their badges.

"Well, Officer Ridges and Officer Bryant, what can I do for you?" I ask politely.

Officer Bryant, beer-gut, takes out a little notepad from inside his jacket, as well as a pen.

"Well first, who are you?" he speaks to Jared.

"Her boyfriend," he replies, jerking his head at me, not breaking his stare with the officer.

My heart sped up when he said boyfriend. Officer Bryant nodded after a moment and then turned to me.

"We need a statement from you about several things. Let's start with how you got kidnapped." He says as Jared comes to stand beside me.

I concentrate hard, trying to remember what happened exactly. It was a little fuzzy. It came to me when Jared put a warm arm around me and settled his massive palm at my waist, stroking small soothing circles on my hip bone. The motion relaxes me and I start to remember.

"It all started the night before…," I tell them the whole long story, editing out the inhuman parts and werewolf stuff.

I explained I was beat a little bit, but the bruises were made early on and they healed already. I couldn't exactly tell them I had some kind of power that let me heal super fast, now could I?

When I told them about how Jared saved me, it was edited A LOT. I insisted that the people who kidnapped me ran away when he rescued me, and that I never saw their faces. Telling the story made me uneasy and brought forward memories I would much rather forget. I just closed my eyes and breathed deeply, trying to not think about it. The man I was telling it to seemed to swallow my lies easily, as if he didn't care what really happened and just wanted to go home. Jared was nodding and confirming the truth of my lies the whole time. My dad just listened intently beside the officer. I finally finished my story after about twenty minutes. Officer Bryant appeared to have filled up the whole little notepad with my statement. After I was done and the officers left with a promise to file the report, I stared at the carpet, scared of what my dad's reaction would be. After a few moments, I couldn't stand the silence anymore and looked up at him. Jared squeezed my hip gently in comfort.

"Daddy, are you okay?" I inquired tentatively.

He is staring straight ahead and has a blank look in his eyes.

"I'm a horrible father." He says quietly without looking up.

I felt like agreeing with him but I realize I had already forgiven him for everything. I harbor no ill feelings towards him. I am struck by how clear everything is to me now. I know his work was no excuse to ignore me, but I can see he is truly repentant. I walk forward and drop to my knees in front of him. He looks down at me with sorrow-filled eyes.

"I forgive you." I tell him, punctuating each word with a silence. "I forgive you for leaving me all those years ago. I forgive you now, for what you think is your fault, but it isn't. I forgive you because you're my dad and I love you." I continue in the same firm voice as before.

His eyes fill with tears and for the first time in a long time, he smiles at me and I smile back.

~3 Days Later~

"So, it's all over? The police have filed the report and aren't going to bother you anymore?" Jared asks me.

We are on LaPush beach and I am sitting in the sand while he is sitting on a log right next to me. We have been here talking about anything and everything since eleven in the morning. It's now three o'clock. I nod at him and he smiles at me. That smile still makes my heart race and my knees wobbly. It's a good thing I'm already sitting or I would have totally embarrassed myself.

"That's good." Jared says, brushing a strand of hair that fell out of my ponytail back behind my ear.

I shiver at his touch. It has been four days since my rescue and Jared was attached to my side almost every second of each day. I am not complaining, far from it. I like being around him, and lately I have been praying that I will get used to his presence and not act like a total klutz all the time, because I have managed to trip, cuss, ramble, rant, and embarrass myself in many other ways ever since the first night. No such luck as of yet. He still makes me blush every other minute; he still causes my brain to get dizzy when he kisses me. I doubt Jared is someone you could get used to.

"Jared, have you guys…?" I start hesitantly.

"Found Elaine?" he finishes for me.

I clear my throat and nod; even though I am not sure I want to know the answer. Jared looks away from me and stares in the direction of the ocean, a frustrated look on his face.

"No." He answers simply.

Chills run down my spine. She is still out there and I fear she will come back for me. It may not be now, but I know she will come for me eventually. I hope I can be ready for her. Lately, I have been contemplating trying out my powers. The doctor vampire I met when I was rescued has come by once already to see how I was doing. Jared didn't like this and I had a very hard time calming him. I think the good doctor can help me with my powers because he seems to know a lot about them. I overheard him talking to Jared about them and what to do if they suddenly appear. I had planned to ask Jared today, but I keep chickening out. I'm afraid he will be upset about it. That's the last thing I want to happen.

"Jared, would you mind if I started trying to harvest my powers?" I blurt out without thinking.

I saw Jared freeze out of the corner of my eye. I kept my head down, shoulders hunched, with my eyes on the sand. I nervously squish it between my toes while I wait for his reply. When he doesn't say anything I venture a swift glance at him. To my surprise he doesn't look angry or even upset at all. In fact, he just looks to be seriously thinking about it. After a moment, he looks over at me and smiles. I smile back; his smile triggering mine automatically.

"That's actually not a bad idea. What do you want to use your powers for?" he queries, cocking his head to the side.

I sigh in relief.

He isn't mad! I squeal internally. That's just because he hasn't made the connection that you will have to work with a vampire, yet. My other more pessimistic inner voice says before I can get too happy.

"I'm not sure what I would use them for. I just think maybe they could become handy at one point in time." I tell him.

"Okay. That's cool, I guess. I'm not sure how we are going to do it though. I don't know anything about how your powers work." He says.

I cringe internally but try to act nonchalant when I present my proposal.

"You know, that vamp doctor knows a little about it right? Why doesn't he-"

"No! Absolutely not! There is no damn way I am going to let you hang around a leech! It's way too dangerous." Jared interrupts, cutting me off.

He jumps up off the log he was perched on and starts pacing furiously in the sand. I stand up as well and try to go to him. Before I reach him though, he holds up his hand in a 'stop' motion. I can see the strain in his arms to keep his fist uncurled. He starts to rapidly shake, convulsing in a fast blur. I gasp and back up several feet.

"Jared what's wrong? Jared! Jared, please calm down before you phase!" I yell, panicking.

I guess the sound of fright in my voice broke through to his angry haze and calmed him, because he started to slowly stop shaking. After a minute or two when he had completely calmed down, I sprint forward and lunged myself at his brick wall of a body, he catches me. I hugged him fiercely and bury my face in his chest. He rubs my upper arms softly with his rough hands. I feel very safe in his embrace, and I never want to leave it. I know I have to talk to him though, so I reluctantly disentangle myself from his arms and crane my neck back to enable me to see his gorgeous face.

"Are you okay now?" I whisper quietly.

He sucks in a deep breath and then exhales slowly. As the air leaves him, I can feel the tension in his body leave as well.

"Yes, I got it under control. I'm sorry," he apologizes, an agonized look on his face, "I could have hurt you. It's just that the thought of you being within a ten mile radius of a vampire again makes me so angry. I won't let you get hurt again." He finishes with a look of determination on his face.

"But Jared, you know, what's- his- name won't hurt me! You said so yourself!" I protest.

Jared opens his mouth to deny it but then, he realizes he did say it, and closes it again looking tongue-tied. I smirk inwardly, but take the opportunity to plead further.

"Please, Jared? I really want to learn more about my powers and their origins. You can come with me and protect me. We will meet on the boundary line or something just in case you guys need to fight or something okay? Just… please, for me?" I plead desperately.

He looks into my eyes deeply for what feels like forever as he searches for something. It seems he found it because after a while he blinks and then sighs quietly. I hold my breath in anticipation. He smiles down at me after a second and then he leans down, capturing my lips with his in a sweet kiss. Before I can get lost in it though, he pulls away. I blink dazed and look up at him.

"Alright, we can both go see him and find out what he knows." He acquiesces.

I squeal and launch myself on him again. I hear him laughing as I jump back quickly and leap up to peck him on the lips.

"Thank-kiss-you-kiss-so-kiss-much! Kiss-I-kiss-love-kiss-you!" I giggle punctuating each word with a chaste kiss.

He stops laughing abruptly and I start to wonder what is wrong as I pull back from him. And then it dawns on me, I said the 'L' word. I inhale quickly and try to disconnect from him while looking down at the ground, mortified.

What if he laughs at me? Or worse what if he doesn't feel the same way? Oh God, I am such an idiot! I mentally berate myself.

He clutches me tighter to his chest though, and I just keep my eyes cast downward.

"Kim, look at me." Jared finally murmurs in a husky voice.

I peek up at him from under my lashes, my cheeks flaming. He is gazing down at me lovingly, with a sparkle in his eyes. My heart starts racing when he slowly reaches a hand up to my cheek and trails his fingertips over my left cheekbone. He trails his hand all the way to my ear, sweeping some hair out of my face and behind my ear. He grins at me and cocks his head slightly to the side.

"I love you, too." he murmurs again.

My eyes widen and my chest swells up at those four words. I feel tears trickling down my cheek, as Jared leans in and presses his mouth to mine. I kiss him back fervently and slide my hands up to rest on his neck. He grips my small hips in his large hands and I moan at the feeling. Before we get too carried away he pulls back. I can feel how puffy my lips are as a result of the kiss. Jared leans in once more, placing a chaste kiss on my swollen lips. I smile shyly at him.

"Really?" I ask him quietly.

"Yes, really," He chuckles.

I blush, but smile at him happily. I pull my arms from his neck and lace one hand with his, leaving the other at my side. He squeezes my hand lightly before pulling me in the direction of the parking lot at the other side of the beach. I smile to myself and stroll with him. I lean my head on his shoulder as we walk. Even though I know Elaine is still out there, even though I still have the drama of meeting with the vamp doctor whose name I still do not know, and even though I was tortured and nearly raped by a sadistic vampire less than a week ago, I can't help but feel completely content, like I am exactly where I am supposed to be.

With Jared. Forever.

Pwetty pwease review? Lol, let me know what you think should happen next!