Hey family! First I just want to give a big pidamaya for all of the feedback so far, I really appreciate all of your comments and keeping up with this story. I am starting my second year of grad school now, so I am learning how to balance more of my work and free time. Your support has definitely drawn me back to being more consistent in my writing. I'm thinking of doing the next chapter from Jareds POV, starting from right before the party, and seeing the aftermath after he sees Kim for the first time. At this point in time, Jared, Paul, Embry, and Quil have phased. I will keep the trigger warning here since Kim will be responding and working through the aftermath of the physical and emotional abuse that happened to her. Let me know if there's anything you all want to see in this story more. Wopida!

Twilight and characters are owned by S. Meyer.

- Author

laósilo (fearless)

Song: Nobody But You, Sonder ft. Jorja Smith

Sometime late in the night, I feel Jaz slide into my bed next to me and wrap her arms around me whispering goodnight. My thoughts briefly flick to how our morning conversation is going to go but I quickly fall back under the curtain of sleep. Some hours later I feel a slight breeze across my face and as I open my eyes I see the rays of pink and yellow in the sky indicating a clear sunny Sunday on the rez. I sit up slowly, feeling Jaz breathing softly next to me still oblivious to the world. I take a deep breath before reaching up slowly and feeling my cheek, wincing when I feel the hot swell of skin under my fingers. Before Jaz wakes up and I have to explain what happened with Acoya, I make my way to the bathroom and turn on the light above the mirror. I take in my face, the nasty red bruise towards the middle of my cheek turning purple as it continues up under my eye. I feel tears start to sting my eyes again, but I wipe them quickly, and that's when I notice my mothers necklace is missing. I feel myself start to panic as I look around the bathroom, and start to think where I could have left it. I hear Jaz start to wake up in my room, so I quickly pull the first aid kit out from under the sink and pull out some gauze along with some ointment and tape. As much as I wanted to tell Jaz what happened, I was more worried about getting my mothers necklace back and knew I would need to go back to Justin's house to look for it.

It only takes me a few minutes to cover the bruise on my face, and I make my way back into my room and see Jaz sitting up on the bed. She turns towards me and her smile quickly falls, and she jumps up "Oh my god Kim, what happened to your face?" She steps closer to look softly touching my cheek, and it takes everything in me not wince. "I just stumbled at some point last night, you know I was drinking, and when I got home I realized I fucked myself up." I laugh it off, hoping it comes off natural to her ears. She nods slowly, and sits back down, before laughing to herself "Girl, last night was crazy. And you know I have to fill you in on what happened with Paul." I try not to sound mean with my response, "I definitely want to hear, but last night I lost my mom's necklace at Justine's and I need to go back now to find it." Jaz stands back up, realizing the panic in my voice and starts pulling clothes from her bag. "Of course sis, I can go with you and look, no worries. Hopefully someone is up this early over there." I throw some shorts on under my night shirt, not caring how I look and once Jaz gets dressed we step out of the house and start making our way back to Justines. As we leave, I notice my ólo truck isn't in the drive and make a note to check my phone and make sure they stayed at my uncle's for the night. Jaz walks next to me, matching my quick pace and takes my arm in hers as she asks about last night "Sooo, I saw Jared come in at some point, did you see him at all?" I nod a little, remembering our non-verbal exchange at the door. "Yeah, I saw him as I was leaving, but we didn't speak" I remember his expression as she took me in, probably looking a complete mess following my exchange with Acoya. "Well girl you looked hot last night, so I am sure if he laid eyes on you, he'll remember you - this is our year to go after everything, and everyone we want" she wiggles her eyebrows at me, laughing. Now that I think back to seeing Jared before fleeing the party, I really take notice of how he looked. He was huge, filling up almost all of the space in the door and nearly passing the frame. He had on a black tshirt and low hung jeans, which were skin tight against his new muscular frame. He was missing his long black hair, instead having a cropped short style that highlighted his chiseled jaw and hard set eyes. His eyes. One of my favorite things about Jared, they were a deep brown that looked almost black but turned a warm chocolate when the sun hit them. Remembering the expression in his eyes when we looked at eachother, left a warm unfamiliar feeling in my chest and I try to shake my head to clear it away. I needed to focus on finding my necklace, without remembering anything from last night, including Jared.

Jaz and I make it to Justine's, who answers the door after several knocks and texts from Jaz. I apologize for coming so early in the morning, and explain about looking for my lost necklace. Unlike most of the 'popular' kids at school, Justine was actually the type of person who intermingled with all different groups at the rez highschool. She was shorter than Jaz but taller than me, with smooth brown skin and a long braid down her back. She was also muscular everywhere since she played on a competitive soccer team in Port Angeles. Everyone said she would leave the rez and get big at some college far away one day. If Justine knew any details from what happened the night before, her face didn't show it. Even when she took in the bandage on my cheek. I leave Jaz in the foyer with Justine, and make my way up to the same guest room from the night before. I put my hand on the door knob and took a deep breath before twisting it and letting myself inside to look for my necklace. I searched for ten minutes, becoming more anxious as I overturned the covers, looked under the bed, and skimmed my hands over the different parts of the carpet - no necklace. I close my eyes and count to ten, before making my way back down the steps and looking in the kitchen, and through the living room that was still littered with leftover cups and beer bottles. As I keep searching and coming up short, I slowly admit defeat on finding my mothers necklace. I try not to show my heartbreak on my face as we say goodbye to Justine and make our way back to my house.

As we make our way to my house, I can feel Jaz staring at the side of my face, waiting for me to speak. I suddenly stop walking, and turn to Jaz, and as I look at her expectant face I can't but burst into tears. I feel her warm long arms wrap around my shoulders to comfort me, and she rubs my back waiting for me to calm down enough to speak. After a few minutes of this, I wipe my eyes and step back from her. She is looking at me confused, and worried, but before she can ask me what's wrong the words begin to tumble from my mouth. "I saw Acoya last night, and he was drunk. I didn't think anything of it, I have dealt with him wasted before. I tried to avoid him, but he got me alone in Justine's guest room and wanted to apologize. I could tell he was so drunk, he was slurring and all over the place but I felt trapped…He tried to kiss me and…" I reach up and slowly begin removing the bandage from my face, feeling the pressure of the cool air of the day touch my cheek. I can't bear to look at Jaz in the eyes, but I hear her gasp loudly and she again pulls me into her chest and lets me cry there. "I bit him. And he got so mad Jaz, more mad than I have ever seen him. I tried to run but he kept pulling me back and hitting me. He said I was a slut…that I was the reason he hurt me like this." I shake my head back and forth, and Jaz pulls back to look at me. She had fresh tears on her face, her lip trembling "Kim, you didn't deserve any of this. Do you hear me? You are the strongest person I know, and you did nothing to deserve any of this." We hug each other for the next ten minutes, crying and consoling each other. As we continue walking to my house, we keep our arms linked to one another and we don't speak again until we're sitting in my kitchen with hot mugs of coffee and bowls of cheerios between us. Jaz takes a sip of her coffee before speaking first "You may not be ready to talk about this, but what are you going to do now? Are you going to report him to the council? Call the police?" I warm my hands on my mug, thinking about Jaz's questions. "I'm not sure Jaz. I still feel so shocked and overwhelmed. I know I want him to answer for what he did to me. But I don't know if that's what I want right now. I wish I never saw him again, but our rez is small. You know that will never happen." Jaz nods her head, "You're right. Which is why thinking about a restraining or protective order would be something to think about. No rush, you know whatever you choose I am here to support you." "I know, talópat." I take a sip of my black coffee, and we continue eating our cheerios in a comfortable, but heavy silence.

After we eat, Jaz asks me if I want her to stay with me but I tell her I'm just going to stay in bed for the day and rest so no need to stay and worry over me. She has a hesitant look in her eye, but she understands my wishes and after we hug, she leaves for home. As I press my back to the door, I realize I never got to hear what happened with her and Paul at the party. I know she'll tell me at school the next day, including all the dirty details - she's a graphic storyteller. I make my way up the stairs and sit on my bed, picking up my phone to see a missed call from my ólo "Hello my girl! Sorry we're coming back later than expected. We caught a lot this time around, and your uncle wanted to teach Aka how to skin and fry his catch. We'll be home tonight. Love you." I turn on my playlist, letting the notes of Sonder and Jorja Smith play from my nightstand as I make my bed and get ready to shower. I light my favorite cinnamon candle, smiling as the scent reminds me of my mom - it was her favorite scent to burn. I grab some of my boyshorts and another oversized shirt to change into, and go into the bathroom to shower. As I stand under the hot water, I take care in massaging my tea tree oil conditioner through my hair, using my fingers to comb away any tangles. I lather the strawberry scrub over my body, cleaning away the emotions of the day that have clung themselves to me. I wash my face tenderly, trying to avoid my bruise, as silent tears are washed down the drain with the suds. How could I have gotten myself into the situation? I think back to the night before, criticizing my own actions as I try to find exactly when I misstepped and let Acoya isolate me. I shouldn't have let him drag me up those stairs. I shouldn't have carried on a conversation with him. I should have fought harder against him. I shouldn't have gotten involved with him to begin with. I knew I couldn't go back and change my actions, or his, but I didn't know how to move forward about them either. What was I going to do? How were people going to look at me at school tomorrow? What was I going to tell my dad when he saw me? I know he would want to kill Acoya. For his and Aka's sake, I had to come up with an excuse to keep my face covered until the bruising went down enough and I could figure out what I wanted to do. Before Jaz left, she helped me to take pictures of my face, just in case I wanted to move forward with getting a protection order. She felt that was the minimum I should do to keep myself safe. I considered myself a strong wisatsópat (woman), but I didn't know if I was strong enough for this.

After drying myself from the shower, and combing my hair into a long braid, I brushed my teeth and did my nightly skin care routine. The hot water helped ease my swelling at least, my cheek no longer as puffy and inflamed. I cleaned up the bathroom, putting my dirty clothes in the hamper and hanging my towel. Before going back to my room I go in the kitchen and make myself a plate of toast, and grab an ice pack to put on my cheek. When I get back to my room, I feel an instant chilled breeze on my legs and face coming from my open window. I didn't remember leaving it open. I suddenly feel dread in my stomach as I think about Acoya possibly climbing through. He wouldn't do that…but then again I didn't think he could hit me either. I set my toast and ice pack on my nightstand and grab my phone, turning off my music and getting ready to dial the tribal police. I lean down and look around outside my window, but in the twilight of the night, I don't see anything or anyone. I shut my window, and lock it. I wasn't going to take any chances. I pass my desk ready to lay down, wanting to sleep early and forget this day, when I notice something shiny laying on my desk on top of a scrawled note. It was my mothers necklace, coiled up in a circle like someone wanted to show the care they took with it. I grab it, looking it over, and opening it to see the picture of my ká (mother) alongside my ólo. I pick up the note, and ready the quick messy scrawl, the handwriting giving me a feeling of familiarity. 'I found this at the party. I noticed you weren't wearing it when you left. I hope you are ok. Someone who makes you cry like that doesn't deserve you…I hope to show you that one day Kimber.' This person knew me, used my whole name. Reading it on the paper, my mind wandered to a distant memory of my childhood.

I was seven, playing in my moms backyard shop, as she showed Jared's mother how to trim his long hair. I stole glances his way, admiring the silky black hair that fell around his face. He smiled politely my way, and I remember blushing as I went back to playing with the various items on my moms counter of supplies. I watch little Kim approach Jared after his haircut, handing him a lollipop from the jar my ká kept under the counter. "It's strawberry. My favorite." He smiles at me, taking it and sliding it into his pocket. "Strawberry is my favorite too." I suddenly hear my mom calling little me from outside the shop. "Kimber, my taxíit (girl/daughter) come out so we can close up." I follow my younger self outside the shop, younger Jared following behind. My mom locks up the shop, and she makes her way up to the house with Jared's mom, and I watch as little Kim looks at the ground shyly in front of Jared. I watch as little Jared takes out the sucker from his pocket, and smiles at little Kim. "Liátskalax (thank you)...Kimber." The memory goes blurry, and I feel myself brought back to my room, the smell of cinnamon making my head foggy. I feel the note in my hand, and as I recount the memory, I shake my head not believing the thoughts that want to break free about who wrote it. I refused to let myself go that deep. I would just accept that someone found my necklace, and returned it. Nothing more, nothing less. Regardless, I hesitated to throw the note away, instead deciding to slide into one of my desk drawers before placing my mothers necklace in the drawer of my nightstand. I shut off my light, sliding myself under my covers, and texting my ólo 'Going to bed early. I'll get Aka ready in the morning. Love you too.'

As I drift to sleep, I only have one thought in my head. I needed to avoid Jared. No matter how strong my heart yearned for him.

What do you all think of this chapter? I know it has been a minute since I updated, so getting back into the groove of the story. Would love any feedback and/or questions. I think the next chapter will be from Jared's first POV starting from either before or during the party - or maybe even before that. I definitely want to capture for you all Jared's perspective of what has happened, knowing he has imprinted on Kim, his emotions, and his thoughts of how to move forward from how he saw her at the party. It may be a little bit before I can write that chapter as I am still getting into the swing of things for my grad classes, but no worries, I will be updating soon.

As always let me know your thoughts, family. Wopida for reading!