A/N: About Kim being weak in the previous scene: Well, I don't know. I've always preferred characters who had a weakness, a certain flaw (or many flaws :-D ), and I think these are Kim's: indecisiveness, insecurity, self-doubt, shyness. Sometimes she manages to work through them, sometimes she doesn't. I believe that makes her more credible, more… human, to be honest. If she were to stand up for herself all the time, it would make her less Kim and more Leah (or even a Mary Sue). These little weaknesses are, in my opinion, Kim's core (along with other much better qualities). I don't know if you agree? Let me know in the comments :) Thanks for not giving up on me!

Declaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.

Jared gave another sad sigh and Embry looked his way.

"Do not ask him," Paul growled at Embry in their collective mind.

"I wasn't going to," Embry growled back.

"I can feel your weakness. Ask him and we'll never hear the end of it. So don't do it."

"I wasn't going to."

"Sure you weren't."

"Well, I wasn't."

"Sur-"

"Oh, for the love of- Jared, stop that pathetic sighing and just tell us what happened, so these two idiots will shut up," Sam said.

"Sam! No!" Paul started, but a glare from Sam instantly shut him up.

Jared didn't really feel like sharing, but it was a chance to mess with Paul, so he just showed them his memories.

"So, basically, your date didn't go well? That's why you've been behaving so-" Sam tried to ask.

"First world problems much?" Paul interjected.

"You wouldn't get it," Jared said.

"Oh, I wouldn't? Try me," Sam retorted, and an image of Emily's scars flashed through all of them, together with a collective pang of guilt.That shouldn't have happened. They had to make sure nothing like that ever happened again. The group stood in silence for a moment, before Sam spoke up.

"Jared, I'm sorry," he said. "But it's not the end of the world."

"It's not like she broke up with you or anything," Paul replied, rolling his eyes. "Just ask her out again."

"It's not just that," Jared said, his voice low. "I felt like… like she didn't want to kiss me. Like she hesitated. And it's not the first time, either. I don't know what's wrong with me."

Embry just snorted.

"What?" Jared asked bitterly, feeling a little agitated already. There he was, making a fool out of himself, sharing his fucking feelings with his pack, only for them to just dismiss everything. To snort at him. "If you have some wisdom to share, please do, everyone else already fucking did," he added crossly.

"No, I just- Well, it's just clear you're unused to this," Embry said quietly.

"What exactly does this refer to?"

"Well, all of it. Not being popular. Not being liked. Being rejected. Actually having to work hard to get something."

"Excuse me?" Jared said incredulously. "Are you for real? We've known each other for, what, 2 days? What the hell do you think you know about my life?"

"I hate to say it, but the noob has a point," Paul interjected. "You got semi-dumped for the first time in your life and you haven't stopped whining about it all day."

"Oh, wow, look who's talking! Mr. Know-it-all himself! Because you know everything there is to know about relationships! I can't wait to see you get rejected by your impr-"

"Good God, not this again!" Paul groaned. "Shut the fuck up about my imprint and worry about your own!"

"I was trying to, but you guys told me to stop doing it, so here we fucking are!"

"Well, maybe if you weren't a dumba-"

"ENOUGH! Everybody just stop! My head's going to explode. God, it's like I'm sharing my mind with a flock of hens," Sam growled. "I feel like a dozen vampires could have just passed us by and none of us would notice anything with all this goddamn noise. Just… stop," he sighed deeply. "Jared, I know how stressful it is to navigate the first days of imprinting, but you have to understand that it's not the end of the world. It goes both ways, so Kim's probably just as confused as you are. Give it time and try again. Learn from my mistakes and don't push her too hard. She'll be ready in her own time. You need to be patient. As for you two," he said to Embry and Paul, "be helpful or be quiet. Let's just finish this patrol. Preferably, in silence."

They carried on as they'd been told, each of them in their own corner, with their own thoughts. Jared's anger soon started to fade and Embry's words started gnawing on him. Could Embry be right? Was he so used to getting everything he wanted that even a slight obstacle unsettled him? Was he really that guy, the one who expected everyone to just go with whatever he wanted? What did it say about him that Embry, the quiet guy who'd known him for 5 minutes, could notice and point out such a thing about him? As he mulled these ideas over, a thought came to his mind that he'd never even considered before: could it be that he simply wasn't good enough for Kim?

On Monday, at school, Kim greeted him with a smile, like nothing had happened on Saturday, and it further dampened Jared's already foul mood. He couldn't stop thinking about how close they had been at the diner, just inches away, and now they were back to square one. And she couldn't care less.

At the cafeteria, Jared poked at his lunch, occasionally wishing to stab Paul with a fork, as he chatted away with Kim and ate merrily, like everything was fucking fantastic in the world. Some friend he was.

"What about you, Jared?" Kim asked and Jared snapped back to reality, realizing he had tuned out of their conversation. "What about me?"

Kim and Paul shared a glance, but Kim just smiled. "Have you finished the Math homework for today?"

Jared nodded. "Yes, I did."

Kim's eyes lit up in surprise. "Really? You got it done already?"

Jared felt a pang of frustration. "Why would you think that I didn't?"

Paul looked up from his lunch. "Ok, man, take it easy, she didn't mean anything bad by it. I usually don't have my homework, like, ever."

"Yeah, well, I'm not you," Jared muttered.

Kim put her hand on Jared's arm and electricity shot up through it, all the way to his shoulder. "I'm sorry Jared, I didn't mean to offend you. I was just surprised, that's all."

Jared pulled away. "Just because I'm not you, doesn't mean I'm not capable of getting my work done."

"What? I didn't mean it in a bad way, geez!" Kim gasped. "What is it with you today?"

"Forget about it," he muttered and got up. He just left his tray and stormed out of the cafeteria.

It was somewhere on the way to his locker that Jared started feeling like a turd for talking to Kim and Paul the way he did. He huffed and almost turned to go back and apologize, but something caught his eye. Someone was leaning into Kim's locker.

"Sophie?"

She gasped and turned, dropping something. A red marker.

"Jared! You scared me, you idiot! What are you doing, sneaking around like that? Shouldn't you be at lunch?" Sophie asked and pressed her back against Kim's locker.

Jared raised an eyebrow. "I could ask you the same thing. What are you doing?"

"That's none of your business," she scoffed. "You're not the boss of me."

"That's not your locker."

"So? Is there a rule against leaning against other people's lockers?"

She was trying to dismiss him, but something was wrong. She was blinking too fast, eager to go away, but not before she'd made him go, he could tell.

"What have you done? Let me see," he said.

"I didn't do-"

"Let me see."

She looked at him, anger gleaming in her eyes, and went red. "You know what? Fine. FINE. Defend your precious nerd, the prince that you are," she spat out, moving away from the locker, waving her hands theatrically. She revealed two big, red letters: SL. "Unfortunately, I haven't had the time to finish."

"SL? What-" Jared began to ask and then it dawned on him. "Oh, my god, Soph, really?" He squeezed the bridge of his nose and exhaled. It surprised him that he didn't feel angry, just… sad. "Why? Why would you do this?"

"Why would I do this? You're honestly asking me that? You know, sometimes I wonder if you're really that clueless, and sometimes I just pity you if you are."

"Let's say for the moment that I am. Can you please explain why?"

She stayed silent for a moment, her chest rising and falling rapidly. "Because you humiliated me in front of the entire school and then, as if that wasn't enough, you had the nerve to parade around with Connweller, of all people," she suddenly said in a breath, the words rushing out of her like poison. "I mean, you disappear for a few weeks and return a completely changed person, suddenly hanging out with Lahote. What the fuck happened, Jared? I thought we were happy!" She teared up on the last part, angrily brushing away her tears with the back of her palm.

"You're right," he sighed. "I have changed. It wasn't fair to you how I handled our break up and I'm really sorry. But I don't think we were happy. Not really. I think you know that too. We were a pretty image together."

Sophie scoffed. "So, you think, what, that you'll be happy with Connweller?"

"Well, I guess that's for me to worry about. But you need to leave her alone. She didn't do anything wrong to anyone and she's not to blame for any of this, so if you have to write insults somewhere, write them on my locker. Please. For the sake of our old friendship."

Sophie just looked at him for a few moments, her chin trembling. Then she turned and started walking away from him. "Go fuck yourself, Cameron."

"I really am sorry," Jared said and she just gave him the finger over her shoulder, not turning around. He shook his head and sighed. He fucked up with Sophie, he knew that, but he had to make sure that his mistake wouldn't affect Kim. He would have to pay attention, make sure that Kim was safe. He would also have to find a way to remove the ugly, red letters from Kim's locker before anyone saw them. He took the hem of his shirt and started rubbing, but that just smudged the letters a little.

"You'll need nail polish remover for that," a familiar voice behind him said, making him jump.

Jared turned to face a smirking Paul. "Fuck! How long have you been standing there, you gossip?"

"Long enough. You were too busy to notice me. I liked that you finally stood up to Jackson. It was the second time since we met that I actually liked you."

"Wow, thanks," Jared rolled his eyes.

"Don't mention it," Paul teased. "Come on, let's go back to lunch, we have some more time. I left Kim and the noob alone and it's hella awkward, they're just… sitting there quietly."

Jared barked out a laugh. "But I have to remove these letters somehow. Maybe if I just draw over them? I don't know."

"Who cares? She didn't finish the word."

"But somebody else could. It's like an open invitation."

They stood there for a minute, staring at the locker, then Paul crouched to pick up the forgotten marker. He popped it open and leaned into the letters. Jared watched them grow bigger, sharper, more slanted. He peered from behind Paul's shoulder, trying to make sense of them. After a while, Paul moved with a proud grin on his face.

"There! What do you think?"

"SLAYER? Really?" Jared raised his eyebrows.

"Oh, come on! It's a decent band. It'll make Connweller seem cooler."

"I mean… I guess it's better than the alternative?"

"That's the spirit," Paul patted his back. "Let's go."

"Hey Paul?"

"What now?"

"Do you think I should ask Kim out again?"

Paul groaned, covering his face with his hands. Jared punched his shoulder. "I'm being serious. She's your best friend. Do you think it's ok for me to ask her again?"

"What are you, asking for my permission? I'm not her dad, Cameron."

"No- I just- Do you think I'm, like, good enough for her?"

"If I'm being honest, probably not. But, I would say that about anyone, I think. I guess I would say that you're better than the alternative," Paul said and punched Jared's shoulder back. "Just, ask her out again and see how it goes."

"Paul. If you answer my next question honestly, I promise I'll never bother you again."

"Yes, you will," Paul groaned.

"Do you think I have a shot with her?"

"... Yes," Paul mumbled. Jared instantly grabbed Paul's face and planted a smacking kiss on his forehead, grinning wildly. Paul pushed him away, disgustedly wiping at his forehead. "Get off of me, you imbecile!"

"I have a shot! You said it," Jared kept grinning and pushed Paul back.

"Yeah, well, I also said that you're an imbecile, so you should believe that, too."

"I have a shot," Jared sighed with relief.

"Now will you leave me alone?"

"Yeah, no, not a chance. I totally lied about that,"Jared grinned maniacally. "Hey, Paul?"

"Are you serious right now?"

"What's the second time?"

"What?"

"You said there were two times since we met that you liked me. Today and, what's the second one?"

"I'm already regretting this. The time when you kicked Akuna's ass. It was… kinda cool."

Jared's grin grew up to his ears. "You think I'm goooorgeous, you want to kiiiiss me…"

"I knew I'd regret this," Paul whined. "Ok, can you stop now?"

But Jared kept going until they reached the cafeteria.