A/N: Things have been super busy around here with our school year drawing to a close. Excited to share another chapter with you all. Maybe some day I'll be able to post on a consistent schedule, lol.

Stephenie Meyers owns the world and characters.

CHAPTER 39

Good dreams had been few and far between for me over the past several months. I was more likely to be plagued by nightmares that drove me awake with a scream or to have no memories of any dreams at all.

This was a good dream though… and one I wanted to stay in.

After having so much trouble getting to sleep because of Jake's absence, and not sleeping well once I did, this dream was very welcome. Mostly because Jake was there and I was lying in his arms, right where I wanted to be… and it felt so real. I was hyper aware of my head on his chest, our legs loosely twined together, the heat of his body, and even the smell of him perfectly mirrored reality. With any luck, I would stay in this dream until morning when I could actually be in his arms.

Once I began to feel my mind waking, I desperately tried to cling to sleep, to make the dream last, but I was slowly losing that battle. As the haze of sleep lifted, the feel of Jake didn't fade though… in fact, it became stronger.

Awareness flooded my mind suddenly, and my eyes blinked open. I wasn't dreaming at all. I really was in his arms.

"Jake," I breathed softly, overjoyed at his presence. I pressed myself closer as his arms tightened around me.

"Good morning beautiful," he whispered as he stroked my hair.

We laid there silently for quite some time, savoring the comfort of each other's arms. Jake had always been a comforting presence for me and, for the most part, being with him had always been easy. With my memories returned, I could really and truly say that it had been that way between us since the very beginning. Even when I wanted nothing to do with boys, it had never truly applied to Jake. In fact, the only time things were hard was when one of us (mostly me) had tried to fight it.

And now? Well, the level of ease and comfort we had with each other in that moment was so much more than anything I had ever experienced. Not only was it comfortable and easy, it was just right. Nothing had ever been more right in my life.

I finally broke the silence to quietly ask, "How are you here right now?" My head popped up and my brows scrunched together as I looked at Jake. "Where's Charlie?"

"Don't worry." He pressed a hand lightly to my head to encourage me to lay it down again. "He's fishing with my dad this morning. He was already gone when I got here, so I let myself in with the spare key. I hope you don't mind."

"Of course I don't mind." I snuggled against him once more. "I thought I was dreaming when I first started waking up, but I'm so relieved you're really here. What made you come over so early?"

"You mean besides the fact that I could hardly stand to stay away from you any longer? You called for me several times this morning."

"Like, in our minds called for you?"

He nodded. "Yeah. I could tell you were still sleeping, but after the third time I just had to come make sure you were okay." His finger traced along the edge of my jaw. "You were so restless when I first got here so I tried to calm you, but when I touched your face, you clung to my hand and pulled me down toward yourself. I couldn't resist your silent plea, so I laid down with you.

"It didn't feel right being away from you last night, Bella. I had this overwhelming need to protect you, but I thought I might go crazy with the feeling that I couldn't since you weren't there.

"It didn't feel right for me either. Even after the day I'd had and as tired as I was, it took me forever to fall asleep. Even then I don't think I slept well."

"I didn't sleep well either. I nearly ran over here several times throughout the night. I probably would have, but I wanted to see if it might go away if I held out. It didn't."

I let out a deep sigh. "I don't know how we're going to keep staying apart if it continues to be this hard."

Jake kissed the top of my head, trailing his fingers down my arm. "We'll figure something out. Maybe it'll get easier once the newness of the imprinting wears off."

"Yeah, maybe." After my conversation with Angela last night though, I wasn't so sure.

Jake shifted to his side and adjusted me so that we were lying face to face. As we gazed at each other, Jake caressing my face, I felt the world fall away again. The peace and calm deepened between us.

Are you doing that Bella?

I don't think so, but I don't know what's causing it. It's nice though. I wish I could control it… I've never felt a peace like this.

Me neither.

After just a short while, the world returned once more. I noticed sounds from outside I hadn't even been aware of before, birds singing, a dog barking, and the wind rustling leaves, all returned. However, just like the other times, the peace lingered.

Jake moved in closer, sliding his fingers into my hair, and pressed several gentle kisses to my lips. When our lips touched, they tingled as if from a multitude of tiny sparks snapping between us, and my breath caught in my chest at the sensation. I realized that it had been there the whole time, a constant low hum just under the surface. Something was growing between us… a need for more. I felt it coming through from Jake as well.

A loud rumbling sounded in my tummy, demanding to be fed. It dissipated the needy feeling and a laugh broke free from me. I looked at Jake, whose eyes were dancing with amusement.

"Your stomach sure has become demanding lately," he chuckled.

I shrugged and smiled back. "Maybe it's because I'm a true wolf girl now." A glimmer of pride at that statement slid into me down our mental connection. "Are you hungry?"

"Starving." Jake jumped off the bed then helped me up.

I whipped us up some eggs and toast and we talked about what we wanted to do for the day as we sat at the kitchen table and ate. The forecast for today showed no rain until this evening, so we decided we should spend some time down at the beach. It had been several weeks since we'd been there, and as much as I'd tired of it before, I found myself actually missing it.

"I think want to try cliff diving again sometime," I announced suddenly. Even though the last time was a near disaster, I had actually enjoyed the thrill up until I almost drowned.

Jake met my gaze over his water glass, one eyebrow lifted. "Really?"

"Yeah, really. As long as you're there this time, then it'll be perfectly safe. Right?"

He looked at me skeptically. "That and making sure there isn't a near hurricane level storm rolling in, yeah, you'd be safe. At least way safer than the last time."

"Okay then. I want to do it."

He huffed out a small laugh and shook his head. "You trying to prove something?"

"No. It's just I actually enjoyed the thrill of the jump. It was just what came after that wasn't fun. Plus, it's something normal to do, right?"

"Normal for who? Because that doesn't seem like something you would have been up for before everything that happened.

I paused to consider that before answering. "Maybe through all that crap I went through I discovered some new things about myself." I let out an exasperated sigh. "I don't know, maybe I am trying to prove something. Now that I'm not in danger with a vampire hunting me, maybe I just want to do stuff with you. You know, all the things that were too risky to do before."

Jake smiled at me gently. "You know I want that too, but you don't need to do anything you're uncomfortable with just to prove a point."

I pointed my finger at him. "Don't start getting all Alpha controlly on me, Jake."

He made a 'pft' noise then grabbed my pointing finger and brought my hand to his lips to kiss my palm. "I'm not trying to stop you, baby. I just want to make sure you're doing it for the right reason. I didn't stop you from any of the crazy things you wanted to do before, and you got hurt… many times. Now, knowing why you were doing it all, I feel kinda bad about that."

"Jake, I'm not in the same mental state I was then. I promise, even if I do want to prove something, I'm only mentioning the cliff diving because it's something I want to do."

He considered my words then, satisfied, he nodded. "Alright then. Maybe we jump from the lower ledge this time though."

I laughed, but then jumped in my chair at the shrill ring of the phone on the wall. I gripped my chest as my heart hammered away inside. Jake smirked at me, and I stuck my tongue out at him as I got up to answer the phone, which made him full out belly laugh.

It was Angela.

"Hey Ang. What's up?"

"Oh, you know. I just wanted to say hey and see how you're doing this morning."

"I had a bit of a rough night, but Jake's here now, so I'm doing good at the moment."

"Oh man, sorry you had trouble sleeping. Well, hey, Embry and I also wanted to see if you guys would want to go to Port Angeles tomorrow for dinner and a movie. We could go to a matinee and then get dinner after, so we don't get home too late. We were just realizing that with that vampire gone and you all healed up, it'd be safe for us to go do some stuff now. What d'ya think?"

Jake smiled and nodded his approval, since he had no problem hearing Angela.

"Yeah, Jake and I were just talking about that very thing. We would love to. Do you have a particular movie in mind?"

"Nah, you guys can pick the movie and the restaurant. Sort of an imprinting celebration." Her light laughter flitted through the phone, making me smile.

"I'm pretty sure that's not a thing."

"Well," she drug out the word, "I'm pretty sure you're the only ones to glow when it happened, so it's a special thing just for you two."

"Psh, alright, whatever you think." Her laughter came through again and my smiled widened. "I have no idea what's even playing."

"No worries. You guys just figure it out and let us know tomorrow."

We said our goodbyes and I hung up the phone, turning back to Jake. "We need to do a little research."

Ever since I got injured, we had been pretty out of touch with the outside world, so neither of us had any idea what movies were out. Jake cleaned up the kitchen so I could go get ready. While I dressed and gathered a few new changes of clothes to take over to Emily's house later, I turned on my ancient computer to give the slow machine time to come to life.

Once Jake had joined me, we spent some time reading about the movies currently playing in Port Angelas, then watched trailers for the ones we thought sounded interesting. There were three we thought looked good, so hopefully Angela and Embry would agree with one of those (even though she said we could choose, we wanted to have options).

I also took a few minutes to email Renee while Jake lounged patiently on my bed. As I was scanning through her last email, I shook my head, both entertained and horrified at some of the dippier things she had done. It was just like her to forget exactly how paralyzed she was by heights until she was strapped to a skydiving instructor. I sighed, frustrated with Phil, her husband of nearly two years, for allowing her to do that. I would have taken better care of her. I knew her so much better.

"You alright?" Jake asked, coming over to stand behind me. "I can feel your frustration." He started rubbing his hands across the tops of my shoulders and upper arms.

"Yeah, it's just my hair-brained mother and some of the crazy things she does."

I guess I needed to get over that feeling and learn to let it go. My life was here now, with Jake, and I knew I would never again be the one to take care of her like I used to. Always guiding her away from her craziest plans, or good-naturedly enduring the ones that I couldn't talk her out of. Scatterbrained Renee. I was glad that she had Phil. Even if he indulged her a little too much sometimes, he did a good enough job keeping her safe from herself most of the time.

Jake was still rubbing my shoulders and when I had finished my email and shut off the computer, he dug his fingers deeper into my muscles, relieving some tension I didn't realized I was carrying. I dropped my head forward and moaned in pleasure as he continued to work out some knots, moving down my shoulder blades.

Hot breath hit my skin a moment before his lips pressed against my neck. I sucked in a breath, my eyes slid shut, and I tilted my head back to rest against his shoulder as he nipped and kissed up my neck and a hand slid across my stomach.

Finally reaching my lips, I eagerly met his blazing kiss. A quiet whimper escaped my throat, and a pulse of need came from Jake as the fire inside of me awakened and took off through my veins with a fury. I was trembling as he pulled me to my feet and into his arms, bowing my body against his, never breaking the kiss. As coherent thought eddied out of my head, Jake's fingers wound into my hair, and his other hand slipped under the hem of my shirt, hot against my back. Clinging to his wide strong shoulders I tried to pull myself even closer to him.

This was so much more than anything we'd ever experienced before. As our lips moved in rhythm together, the kiss deepened, and the fire continued burning in me. I was lost… unaware of anything else around us. The rush of blood through my body pounded in my ears as my heart raced and another whimper escaped.

We moved and, in a blink, I found myself lying on my bed, Jake braced over me, still locked in a deep kiss, and my legs wrapped around his waist. His hand under my shirt gripped my side, and the weight of him pressed down on me. If I thought my blood was on fire before it was nothing compared to what coursed through my body now.

The force of our kiss intensified. I fisted the back of Jake's shirt and arched into him as he moved against me. Struggling to get a full breath, I finally had to break away. His lips immediately latched onto my neck, nipping and licking as his fingers stroked over my ribs and my body was trembling at his touch. Jake grabbed the back of his shirt, and he broke away from me just long enough to whip it over his head before claiming my mouth once more.

My hands now danced over his bare back, his chiseled powerful muscles flexing and moving under my fingers. My God, he was so hot… in every sense of the word, and he smelled so good, and this all felt. So. Good. I was feeling things that I'd never felt before… and his hand was moving toward… and if we kept going…

Reality of what we were doing crashed into my mind. I don't know if I'm ready for this… if we're ready for this. It's definitely not what we were planning to do.

"Jake," I breathed against his lips, moving my hand to push gently on his chest. Man, he was so solid… so powerful. Part of me was definitely ready, but I needed all of me… all of both of us to be ready.

Concern came to me through our bond as he pulled back to look down on me, breathing hard.

"We need to stop," I practically panted. "We don't want to do this."

Disappointment flashed through him, replaced immediately by understanding and a bit of guilt. "Oh, I most definitely want to do this. I love you so much and you're just so…" He let out a long breath and dropped his forehead down to rest on mine. "You're everything to me, Bella… and I want everything with you. But, I know what you mean, and I agree… I really do. It's just… a bit more difficult now."

I let out a small laugh. "A bit? Don't sugar coat it, this is a hell of a lot more difficult."

Jake laughed and his mood lightened.

"And don't feel guilty about anything, Jake. We haven't done anything wrong. You didn't do anything wrong. I was with you until I said stop, and you stopped. I just don't want to do anything without—"

"…without talking about it with a clear head first," Jake continued my thought, showing we were on the same page, "not in the heat of the moment."

"Right."

We reluctantly disentangled ourselves and moved to sit on the edge of the bed. He took my hand, lacing our fingers together, and rubbed his thumb over the back of it.

"Everything changed yesterday." He kissed the back of my hand. "When I touch you now, or even just look at you, it all just feels like more."He sighed. "Perhaps we need to reevaluate, but…" He caressed my cheek and studied me for a moment. "When we made the decision to wait, neither of us could have ever dreamed that all of this was going to happen between us. We should give ourselves some time to adjust to our new reality though, before we decide anything."

I brushed my hand over his forearm. "I agree. We definitely shouldn't decide anything right now."

With all the new connections between us and everything that happened when we imprinted, perhaps our reasons for waiting didn't make sense anymore. But we should be certain before taking that step.

We spent the rest of the morning at First Beach. It was weird being there at first considering we hadn't been back since I had realized that I'd seen Victoria watching us. In fact, the last time I had spent any time there was the day that I'd jumped off the cliff. What a different mental place I was in that day, so desperate to hear Edward's voice that I'd nearly killed myself.

Those days were far behind me now. I could walk with Jake, holding his hand or have his arm around me, and I no longer had to question or worry that it meant something different to him than it did to me. It reminded me anew of how wonderful my life with Jake was. Safe and secure.

Looking up the beach as Jake and I meandered hand in hand toward what I considered to be our tree, something occurred to me about one of my newly remembered memories.

"This wasn't the beach we were on that day we built the sandcastle, was it?"

"No, I'm pretty sure we were at Second Beach. The sand there is less rocky and there are larger areas without driftwood. A much better place for building sandcastles."

"You know, I remember the story your mom told me that day… the one she made up so I wouldn't be too sad when the tide washed away our creation."

Jake looked down at me, his brow lifted. "Really? Tell me."

I smiled at him as the memory filled my mind and I treasured it. I treasured every one of my newly recalled memories… even the hard ones. This one wasn't hard though. I remembered sitting on the sand with him and his mom, watching the waves inch closer and closer to our wonderful sandcastle, while Sarah told us the story. It pleased me immensely that I was able to remember it all with so much clarity as I began to tell the story to Jake.

"Deep in the ocean is the Kingdom of Crethian, which is the kingdom of the crabs. It is a beautiful place where there are many wonderful buildings and homes for the crabs throughout the kingdom. The most magnificent of these buildings is the Cerracan Castle where the King and Queen of the crabs live. All of the buildings that exist in that kingdom were created and built by the crabs, except for the castle. That one is very special because it was created on land by humans. But the one that exists today is not the same one that has always been, because whenever a castle is built on a beach, it is judged by the ocean. If the ocean deems that the new castle surpasses the beauty and splendor of the current Cerracan Castle, it calls out to the crab King and Queen. The ocean then collects the sand from the new castle and carries it to the Kingdom of Crethian. There, the ocean rebuilds the castle, exactly how it looked on land. The old castle is washed away, and the King and Queen move into the new one.

"Sarah said that you could know if your castle was chosen by the ocean if the sun was shining while the waves washed the castle away. We stayed there until the entire thing was gone and you know, the clouds stayed away the whole time. So, I truly believed that the ocean had chosen our castle for the crab King and Queen."

Jake smiled the whole time I talked and laughed at the end. He was quiet for a little bit before he responded, looking thoughtfully out over the water. "I am so thankful that you got all those memories back Bella. It somehow feels like we got a little piece of my mom back, you know? Just knowing that you remember her too… it means a lot to me."

"I'm glad to have them back too… for sooo many reasons. I remember the blanket fort movies, cheese parties, learning about the trees and foliage and animals of the forest, dancing in the living room… I think I'd rather forget about that though."

Jake laughed at my disgusted look. "It wasn't that bad."

"You weren't that bad, but I'm lucky no one ever got hurt, though I didn't seem to care too much how I looked at the time. Sarah was also the one who taught me how to cook, which I am super thankful for because my mom… well it's definitely not one of her strengths. She always tried to get way too creative and never remembered to set a timer for anything." I shook my head. "I took that responsibility over when I was only nine or ten years old, I think. We might not have survived if I hadn't."

We had reached the tree and sat down close together on the giant root bench. The sky had begun to churn and roll a few miles offshore, threatening a storm. I started to wonder if the forecast had been wrong.

"Man, Bella… no wonder you're such a good cook. You've had lots of years of experience!"

I shrugged. "It was a necessity. I'm just thankful I had someone in my life who could teach me. I also called Sarah every so often to get new recipes, or if I had questions." My throat had started to tighten, and Jake put his arm around me, pulling me closer. Having all of the memories back was great… no it was incredible, but it felt a little like I was mourning Sarah's death all over again with how bad I had started to miss her. I cleared my throat and decided to change the subject for now.

"Speaking of my mom, how would you feel about going to Florida with me for a visit?

Jake's eyes widened and he raised his brow as he looked at me. "When? How?"

"Well, last year for my birthday, Carlisle and Esme gave me two vouchers for plane tickets to Florida. They obviously meant for Edward to go with me, but I talked to Alice about it, and she said that they would absolutely still want me to use them and to take whomever I wanted. They expire soon, so I was thinking maybe we could go the weekend after graduation. Do you think it would be okay if you were gone for a few days?"

"Oh wow. They don't mess around with their gifts, do they?"

"No, they definitely don't."

"Well, I'll talk with Sam and Embry about it, but I don't see why we couldn't work it out. Everyone should be well adjusted to having two packs by then." He laughed. "I've never been on a plane before… heck, I've never been much farther from here than Port Angeles before."

"I'll hold your hand if you get scared." I gave him a teasing grin and he laughed. "Seriously though, it'll be nice to be somewhere sunny for a while."

The storm clouds that had been gathering were breaking up while still a ways off shore and there wasn't as much of a chill in the air anymore. It seemed that we had avoided rain for now, however, the sun still wasn't making an appearance.

"I was thinking about giving Alice a call. Would it bother you if I spent an evening with her sometime this week?"

"Well, it won't bother me that you're seeing her. It might bother me that I'll have to be away from you for that much longer for a night."

"I know, I thought about that. It's just that I haven't seen her much since I got out of the hospital because she always has to babysit Edward, and now that I'm all healed, I don't know if they'll stay much longer."

"I know and I understand… well, I mostly understand." He smiled at me, but it didn't quite reach his eyes.

I realized then that he would probably never be completely comfortable with my friendship with any of the Cullens, even if he trusted Alice and Carlisle not to hurt me. It made me a little sad, but at the same time it also warmed my heart, because he wouldn't try to stop me from having a relationship with them either.

Jake pulled me from my thoughts when he spoke again. "I need to try to check in with Sam. Will you be okay here for a few minutes while I see if I can catch him in wolf form?"

"Sure, I'll be fine."

"I won't be long." He pressed a kiss to my temple and then ran off toward the trees. I watched his retreating form and the rippling muscles of his back, legs, and arms flexing with his movements. It was still amazing to me how much power and grace was contained within him.

After he'd been gone a minute or two, a bit of a chill started to creep in without his heat next to me. I rubbed my arms then decided to get up and walk around, hoping to get my blood flowing and warm myself. Strolling closer to the water's edge, I slowly pacing back and forth. When nearly ten minutes had passed and I felt a bit warmer, I started back toward our tree bench, watching the ground to keep from stumbling. When I was nearing the tree, I looked up and was startled to see Jake standing there, just watching me.

"Oh!" I exclaimed, letting out a breath, my hand fluttering to my throat. "What are you doing!?"

"Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you. I was just watching you walk."

I eyed him curiously and realized he had a puzzled look on his face.

"What is it?" I asked him, suddenly feeling self-conscious under his curious gaze. "Why are you looking at me like that?"

He shook his head. "Somethings different about you… I'm not sure. It's like you're moving different, or something." He held out his hand to me. "Walk with me?"

"You're being weird." I eyed him skeptically as I took his hand and he led me into the trees. There was no path where he took us, so I started paying extra attention to my feet and prepared myself for the inevitable stumbles. Jake let go of my hand and I stopped.

"Keep walking," he encouraged me.

"Do you want me to do a faceplant?"

"I'll stay right behind you… but I don't think you'll fall."

"Do you even know me? Of course I'm going to fall. I can barely walk on a path without stumbling, let alone through all of this." I waved my hand at the thick vegetation with fallen trees and hidden roots and who knows what else lurking under the ferns.

"I do know you Bella… I've watched you stumble through the forest—or down the sidewalk—for most of our lives, but that's what I'm trying to say. I know how you move, probably better than you do, but something has changed. Just trust me. If I'm wrong, I'll be able to catch you. I promise!"

I sighed. "Fine, but you'd better not let me fall. I may be able to heal myself, but it will still hurt."

I spoke sternly, trying to sound threatening. He was grinning at me though, and I had to turn around quickly before he saw the smile starting to creep across my own face so as not to contradict my stern warning.

I braced myself and began to carefully pick my way through the lush green under my feet, my arms partially outstretched, ready to catch myself, Jake close behind me. When I had walked for a couple of minutes without a single stumble I stopped again and turned to look at Jake. His smile was even bigger than before, and I didn't try to hide it this time as a smile spread across my face too.

I relaxed my arms at my sides and stood a little straighter as I started walking again, moving a little faster and with less caution. I began hopping over small obstacles, further testing my seemingly new sure-footedness. I certainly felt more sure-footed than I ever remembered feeling before. I stopped and turned around to face Jake, who had allowed me to get several feet farther ahead of him.

"Your movements are so much smoother and more graceful than I have ever seen you move before," he said with wonder in his voice. "Almost like the way we move, though not as silently as we do."

"Do you think this happened yesterday?" I asked.

"That's the only explanation I can think of. I hadn't seen you move from a distance until now, so I didn't notice before." He looked at me thoughtfully. "You should try running."

That idea made me nervous, but I was curious to see just how much had changed. I took off back the way we had come, running past Jake, moving faster than I felt I should be able to. It was incredible. I could more easily see obstacles in my path and was able to move quickly and easily to avoid them or jump over them. Bounding over small fallen trees and rocks, I always landed gracefully and could continue on without losing stride. I was nowhere near as fast as Jake, still just a human pace, but a fast human pace.

I couldn't hear Jake, but I could feel him close behind me. He grabbed me up into his arms and skidded to a stop. I was breathing harder from the exhilaration, but I didn't feel winded at all.

"Why did you stop me?" I asked as Jake set me down.

"I wasn't sure if you knew what direction you were headed because the beach is over there." He pointed to his left and a little behind us.

"Oh," I laughed, "I guess I'm still directionally challenged."

"I can't believe how much more fluid your movements are. It was exciting and beautiful to watch."

The look in his eyes made warmth curl in my belly and my breath catch in my throat. I reached my arms around his neck and went up on my toes as he bent his head down to meet me. When our lips met, that humming current popped and sizzled against my skin, intensifying the warmth tightening in my belly and stealing my breath away.

When we pulled apart, we were both breathless. Jake took a step back and shook his head.

"There's that intensity again." He let out a breath. "We should probably head to Emily's anyway. I'll need to go on patrol soon."

"Okay," I whispered.

As we headed back toward the beach and my waiting truck, I wondered what else we might discover that happened when we imprinted. I couldn't help but look forward to it all.

8