Gravity

He didn't come.

Charlotte got home at five, made supper, then went into the front room to eat and watch TV. And when six o'clock rolled around, no one show. Half an hour later, no one showed. At eight she called his cell phone, but no one picked up. At nine thirty she sent a text message, asking if he was alright, and if he could let her know what was happening.

At eleven, she gave up, and went to bed. Caren had turned in a couple hours earlier (thank God), so Charlotte quietly washed her face, brushed her teeth, and got in a white camisole, and a pair of black sweatpants, with her school's name running down the left leg. She got into her bed, and fell asleep after an hour of tossing, and putting her headphones in her ears, and putting her IPOD on shuffle.

She woke up a couple of hours later, feeling a warm hand on her arm. She stiffened, but tried to play it off like she was sleeping. She panicked, thinking that there was without a doubt a serial killer in the room. She felt them pull her left earphone out of her ear, and rolled her on her back.

Just when she was going to let out a scream so that the house would wake up, the hand covered her mouth, which muffled her scream, "Shh! Char, it's me!" The voice whispered loudly. She opened her eyes and vaguely saw Jacob, who's face was slightly lit up by the streetlight coming through the window.

"Are you trying to scare me to death?!" She whispered, sitting up, and turning on the lamp on her bed side table.

"Sorry." He said sheepishly.

"How did you get in here?"

"The window." He said, then pursed his lips.

She nodded, "Why are you here? It's like..." She trailed off to look at her digital clock, "Three am." She finished.

"Sorry, and sorry I didn't show up, we had a problem." He explained.

"A problem?"

"Vampire." He stated, and for a split second she panicked, but remembered the legends, and the fact apparently vampires are real.

"That sucks." She said, not knowing how to respond to something like that.

"Yeah, I had to get fixed up by Emily, I felt really bad about missing your call. And text."

"Fixed up?" She asked, he held up his arm, and she saw a red line running down it. She grabbed his arm to look at it, seeing that it looked like it was days old.

"When did that happen?"

"A couple hours ago." He shrugged.

She looked at him, eyebrows raised, "This looks more like a couple days ago."

"Wolf thing." He explained, "We heal quickly.

She nodded, "I guess that comes in handy."

"Most of the time." He smiled.

"Is you being really warm a wolf thing too?"

He smiled, obviously at her interest, "Yep. We run at a temperature of 108."

She nodded again, and let go of his arm. "I'm sorry." She said.

"For what?"

"Leaving you like that. I still feel really bad." She explained, crossing her legs from under the blankets.

He shook his head, "Don't Charlotte. It's not exactly a conventional thing you were told, I know it's alot to take, and alot to understand, but you will eventually. Just like Emily, and Kim, and my sister Rachel."

"Sam imprinted on Emily?" She asked, remembering the five minutes he ran in to make a phone call. She had remembered how he looked at Emily, and touched her, and kissed her. As if she was the most precious diamond, and everything he had to live for.

Is this how Jacob looked at her, she wondered.

"Yeah. They're engaged."

"When are they getting married?" She inquired.

"Soon. They've been engaged for a few years, and have been saving up to have her 'dream wedding' or something." He said, rolling his eyes at the last part, making her laugh, since it was obvious he just didn't get what the big deal about a wedding was.

"Can I ask you something?" She asked after a second, he nodded, "What does imprinting... Entail?"

He bit his lip, "Basically just love." He said after a moment.

"Just love?" She laughed at his light use of the word.

"Love, support, and the ability to handle unlimited adoration." He supplied, she nodded slowly, "Let's put it this way Char, the second I saw you, you became my world. I will never stop caring about you, I will never get sick of you, and I will never leave you. I might be grumpy, and I might be nine hours late sometimes," He joked, making her laugh, "But you're my number one now. Nothing else matters." He said, she swallowed as he moved a piece of her hair out of her face.

"When you say nothing, you mean..." She trailed off, not knowing exactly if it was as dramatic as it sounded.

"Nothing else. My family, my pack, myself are nothing compared to taking care of you, and keeping you safe." He whispered.

She let out the breath she was holding, "Jesus." She mumbled, "What if something did happen to me?"

He shook his head, "Nothing will happen to you."

"I know, but what if s-"

"Nothing will happen to you Charlotte." He cut her off, and gave her a stern look. She nodded, defeated.

"That's a lot for three o'clock in the morning." She said after a minute, and he smiled.

"Go back to sleep." He said, leaning over and turning off the lamp.

"No." She shook her head, "You came all the way here." She pointed out, "At least stay." She requested, he looked at her, eyebrows raised.

"Here?"

"Yeah." She shrugged, not sure if he could see that in the dark, but she could see his silhouette, so she figured he might be able too.

"What if your da-"

She stopped him, "He's out on business. Only Caren is here, and she doesn't bother me unless if she has too." She explained, he nodded, but didn't speak, and she watched as he stood up, and peeled his shirt off.

Is this his secret way of punishing her?