A / N:
A quick update! I'm pretty happy with this long chapter. Lots of growth here for Jared and Kim. There are a few more cannon characters in here (just a snippet though) but I plan to incorporate more in the next chapter.
Grey clouds blanketed the sky as Anna and I headed out of the house for school. We trudged down the driveway and even with my eyes glued on the ground in front of me, I could sense that he was near. Like how you can feel someone looking at you without ever actually seeing their eyes on you.
It was that insistent pull, the intoxicating smell, that beating of my heart, that thumped: Jared, Jared, Jared.
And then there were the tingles all. over. my. freakin'. body.
It would settle down after a bit, I hoped, but that first instant, my heart did a full-on triathlon for him. All before even seeing him.
I popped my head up and he was indeed leaning against his truck by the curb. Shoulders relaxed, hand in his worn jean pocket, legs crossed, and his eyes dead set on me.
I tried to reel my ogling back in as I made my way over to him, ducking my head a bit as I got close. We had left things somewhat strained last night on the beach.
"Hey," he said in a deep voice. He reached out and stoked my shoulder, knowing I'd want, need, that touch.
"Hi," came out more breathy that I intended.
Jesus, Kim. Get. It. Together. He is just a dude.
We looked at each other for a moment, both pondering our next moves. I glanced over to Anna who gave me a sisterly salute as she headed off to walk to school on her own. He watched her walk away too.
"Want a ride?" He let out in a low tone.
I nodded and then got in the cab of his truck. It felt like the air was bit cooler in there once the doors were closed behind us. We both sat silently, looking out the windshield.
"I'm sorry," we said in unison, then awkwardly laughing.
"I feel guilty about yesterday. How we left things…"
He nodded as I spoke, acknowledging my words, but then offered, "You don't need to be sorry. I was harsh and I didn't mean to be. I'm sorry for being a dick. I get that you're or trying to sort everything out. It's a lot. I get it."
Silence. Then he continued.
"If you're not ready to tell me everything, I'm not going to pressure you about it, but you don't have to be scared, Kim. Not of me. Not of this."
I closed my eyes. Why couldn't I confide in him like I did with Anna? Clearly there was something between he and I, evident by how I physically reacted to him. But, even if our souls were somehow magically connected, Jared was new to me.
I rubbed my hands on my face. I thought about Anna's theory, how the catalyst for the imprint was trust. Why did he trust me? And why couldn't I fully trust him enough to tell him everything?
"I get we are connected, Jared. But in someways, a lot of ways, it feels like you are brand new to me. I don't seem that way to you?"
He turned to face me, but didn't speak, he just studied my features. The morning light made him more boyish looking. I continued to verbally vomit.
"I mean we had some sort of delayed imprint. Right? Couldn't that mean this is some weird false positive…are you sure…"
"Yes." He was emphatic. "I've always liked you Kim. And my wolf… it wasn't until yesterday… that, I don't know, something changed and he was fully ready. Ready for you."
I crossed my arms, annoyed that he was basically corroborating Anna's theory. What did this mean for my exit plan? "Well, I think your wolf is confused. I'm the wrong one."
He laughed and shook his head. "No way, baby. He might be a lot of things, but confused isn't one of them." He angled his body more toward me and placed his large, warm hand on my jean clad thigh.
I pursed my lips together and looked at it in wonderment while it simultaneously calmed me.
What did I know about Jared. Hardly anything except I was instinctively drawn to him. But what were his passions? Who was his family? What made him tick?
"Jared, I feel like I hardly know you…"
"Kim, we have seen each other almost everyday since Kindergarten…"
"Ok, but do you know me… really know me?"
He squeezed my thigh, like he was so incredibly familiar with me. But instead of rolling his eyes or asserting that he did, he offered something else.
"Want to play a game?"
"Wha.. a hame? What kind of game?"
"Two truths and a lie. If I win we cut school today and I get to to take you on a date. We spend the whole day together."
"And if I win?"
"Whatever you want." He looked at me expectedly. I wanted to crawl in a hole and hide until Anna figured this shit show out for me. I didn't think that would fly.
"Anna's doing some intensive research and needs access to the university library in P of A. Can you give her a ride?"
"Done. I'll go first:
1. I've never been on a plane. Whenever we travel anywhere my dad drives."
1. I had a dream about you a few days ago. You were on a warm beach, surfing in a teal bathing suit.
2. I want to get my kids names tattooed on my arm."
My face fell. For being a Florida girl, I had only been surfing once, a few weeks ago with my brother Alex. I was horrible at it and didn't last long, but I indeed was wearing a teal bathing suit. Did he some how envision me in my world in his dreams? If his world was a book/movie phenomenon in my world, would it be possible that he could see into mine too?
"Where's the lie, baby girl?"
"Umm. Name tattoo thing?"
A smile brushed on his face. "Truth."
He was already thinking about how he wanted to honor the birth of his kids? "I have been on a plane before. And yeah. The plan is to get this arm loaded with kids names." He padded his right bicep.
Loaded??
"Your turn." He smiled, seeming to enjoy my mystified state.
Two truths and a lie. What did I want to reveal about myself? What did I want him to know?
"1. Anna is my best friend.
2. Jello is my favorite dessert.
I paused. Could I just tell him. Just spill and say that I was from another universe, but not to worry because Anna and I were working on it and we'd get your Kim back in a jiffy. I gulped. It was on the tip of my tongue.
"3. I'm a cat person."
He looked at me with a bit of disappointment, but then his lips twisted in a broad smile. "1 is a truth and so is 3. 2 is the lie. Jello makes you gag. I remember seeing you try some in the cafeteria a while back."
Well, I guess that was another thing me and Twilight Kim had in common. I nodded.
"So, we're playing hooky," he said gleefully as he started the car.
We made our way over to a small rustic cottage in the woods.
"This is Emily's place, I just need to pick up a few things," he slammed his truck door and headed to the house. I sat tight inside, but noticed Emily on her porch. She exchanged some words with Jared and then made eye contact with me, and then gave me a soft broad smile, exposing straight white teeth.
"Hey, Kim," she offered as she made her way down to the car. I rolled down the window.
"Glad you're spending sometime with Jared." She was soft, friendly, kind.
"He's been very preoccupied with thoughts about you lately." That was Sam who came up behind Emily. He encircled her waste with his large palms. My face reddened. I'm not sure if it was his outward display of affection for her or realizing that they all knew about Jared and me.
"How ya feeling kiddo?" He asked, ever the fatherly concerned type.
"Oh, better, from the other night. Well, I mean, things have definitely gotten weirder than is fathomably possible, but I haven't been passing out in the woods, so that's a plus." I have them a tight smile.
They looked at each other as Jared made his way down the stairs with a bunch of towels and a cooler full of food.
"I knew you imprinted in the hospital," Emily called over to him with a knowing smile.
"Didn't," came out flatly from Jared's mouth. She looked confused. "Was't until yesterday. Wolf wasn't ready." She looked more confused.
Jared drove us over to the beach and parked the truck in the exact spot he did last night.
"A do over?" I asked, referring to our walk the pervious day.
"Well not exactly," he said as we both got out. He grabbed the towels and the cooler from the flat bed. "I want to go swimming."
"Isn't the water freezing?"
"I run hot, baby." He lightly grabbed my wrist, letting me feel his scorching heat. "I'll keep you warm." A suggestive smile played on his lips. My cheeks reddened.
"Jared, I don't have a bathing suit."
He stopped and looked at me. "Bra and panties?"
"Excuse me?" My body felt hot as his in that moment.
"You're wearing a bar and panties, right babe?"
"Um, yeah?" Came out in a question, regardless of the fact that I did indeed dress myself that morning and in fact knew I was wearing undergarments.
He beamed confidently and shrugged as he stripped down to his boxer briefs and headed for the surf.
I felt frozen there. Was I this person that could just skip school and confidently go for a dip in the ocean in her underwear? Did I want to be that person? Um, fuck yeah.
I inhaled the salty sea air, and without overthinking it pulled off my t shirt and slid off my jeans. I piled my thick black hair into a messy bun on top of my head and moved toward the water in my black cotton bralette and black cotton undies, slung low on my hips.
Jared was already in the ocean, facing away from me, his hands circling the water as he waded through the surf.
I followed several feet behind him, the freezing water smacking into me, my skin covered in goosebumps.
Jared quickly turned around as I yelped when the water bit into me. He made his way over and enveloped me in the water. His body heat immediately consumed me, soothing my skin like a wetsuit.
"I got 'cha, baby," he crooned as he lifted my feet off the floor of the ocean and he submerged our bodies furthered into the water. My body cling to his and I could feel every rigid inch of him beneath mine, anchoring me.
"Jared," is all I could say as we floated past the breakers and bobbed in the waves. My body melted into him and I allowed it, gave myself permission to enjoy that moment. The feeling of being desired, chosen, wanted. The feeling of undeniable calm and the feeling of living and embracing life. A moment everyone should feel, even those 'others'. The side characters in life. The 'other ones'.
I felt so peaceful in that moment. I looked up to see Jared and his glowing eyes again, honing in on me. But before I could questions or analyze he gently pressed his lips to mine and kissed me slowly, ravishing my whole mouth. Jared's hands tightened around my waist as he brought me closer to him and I unintentionally started to roll my hips on him.
"Jesus Christ, Kim," he let out as he broke the kiss.
"Uh, sorr.."
"Don't apologize." He let our harshly. He pursed his lips, unhappy with his tone and tried again. "Don't fucking apologize," this time softer but still firm.
I took an audible breath as I held on to his wet biceps. Twilight Kim may have been experienced, but this was all new to me. And I liked it.
"Ok," I said in a breath and went in for another deep kiss.
"What would you say if I told you something seemingly unbelievable?" I asked him as we were sitting in the sand, drying out in the towels after our dip. I was curved into him, eating some snacks he packed. His body gave me so much more warmth than the towel. I relaxed into him as he traced circles on my skin.
"I'd say, I'm a teen werewolf, meant to slay vampires and currently infatuated with my soulmate, fated to me by the tribal gods." He gave me that mega-watt smile. Not a cheesy, fake one, but an honest to god one. A 'you can trust me, I will believe you one.' So, I did.
I turned to him and my eyes met his and took a deep breath.
"Jared, I knew you were a shapeshifter and knew about imprinting because… I am from the future and not of this world."
His eyes glowed bright green: Greener than they ever were before. He reached up, cupped my face and stroked my cheek with his fingers. Like he adored me. Like he was proud of me.
"Truth," he soothed.
A/N: Dunt, Dunt, Duh!
Thoughts? Theories? Predictions? Requests?