Breathe

"Don't leave," I whined, pulling on his shirt. My mood had taken a complete one-eighty and I felt like shit, in all aspects of the term. My whole body hurt, and I felt like I was going to have an emotional breakdown at any second. "Jake."

"Sarah," he said, taking my wrist and pulling it away from his shirt. "I need to go."

"Please stay with me? I need you."

He stared at me, and kissed me softly. "Why do you do this to me?"

"Because I know you love me." I wrapped my arms around his neck, standing on my toes to kiss him. His shoulders relaxed, and he slid his hands around my waist, holding me against his body. We stood in the center of my bedroom, having just come home from Sam and Emily's. Embry and Jacob had not spoken a single word to each other since their argument, and I tried to ignore his murderous stares, but it was overwhelming.

"No," he whispered, "I don't think that's it."

I fell onto my heels. "That's just part of it."

"And the other part?" Jacob raised an eyebrow. I stared at his eyes, absorbing the russett color. He was so beautiful.

"Because I'm selfish and want to spend every second with you."

Jacob brushed the hair out of my eyes, and smiled. "Well, you should probably work on that." I bit down on my lip and laid my head on his chest. "I want to stay, too, but Sam ... you know what? I don't care. I'll stay."

I smiled, sighing with content. "Thank you."

*

"God, it's hot in here," I said, sliding off of my bed. Jacob and I had been watching movie after movie while he blew off Sam and the pack. We both knew that it wasn't important that he get back. They wouldn't need him unless there was another attack.

"Are you sure it's not me?" He asked.

"I know it's not you." Jacob's (and everyone in the pack) temperature ran at 108 degrees, which was pretty dangerous for anyone else. The hardwood floor was cold against my bare feet, and when I slipped out of my mesh shorts, revealing my Batman underwear, Jacob whistled quietly. "Oh, shut up. I'm hot."

"So you take your shorts off. Wouldn't it make more sense to take your teeshirt off?"

I crawled back onto the bed. "Do you want me to?"

"Maybe."

I rolled my eyes. "Oh, Jake. You're hilarious."

"I try." He pulled me closer to him, and I curled up, my form fitting like a puzzle piece against his body. "I probably won't make it any cooler in here, but whatever."

"It's fine."

We sat in silence, not paying attention to the movie. I picked at his cotton teeshirt, which every once in a while resulted in the shirt riding up a little, only to reveal the muscular, soft skin of his belly. He would push his shirt down every time, to my dissatisfaction.

When the credits started rolling, I looked at him, biting my lip. "What?" He asked, smiling.

"Oh, nothing." I sat up, and turned so that my whole body faced him. Resting my hand on his chest, I leaned over and gave him a short kiss. Jacob stared at me, a contemplative look on his face. We looked at each other for a long time before Jacob lifted me into his lap. "What's this?"

He only kissed me, this time with more force than I was used to. His tongue found it's way through my lips, making me feel even hotter than before. I straddled him, balling his shirt in my hands. I wasn't going to ask him what was going on, because I knew that if I did, he'd stop.

Jacob's hands found the hem of my shirt, and he played with it for a few seconds before pulling it up over my head. I felt self-conscious, and wanted to pull my shirt back on. But my sex-drive was a lot stronger than my self-confidence.

It was almost a convienence that half the time that I was with Jacob, he wasn't wearing a shirt. He had told me once that it got in the way, and was a waste of clothing because half of the time, his clothes were torn to shreds. Tonight was different though, and so when he pulled his shirt over his head, I was scared.

All the other times we'd been this close, I hadn't been scared. So why now?

We swapped spots, and I wriggled underneath him until my head was on my pillow. My whole body shook with anticipation, anxiety, and pain. Jacob kissed my collarbone, his hot breath making my skin break into goosebumps.

I searched for his mouth, tugging at his hair until I found it. Jacob's fingers brushed along my waist, and then my hips, almost in a taunting way. He snapped the hem of my underwear, pushing it down almost a couple of inches to reveal the baby soft skin of my hips. Was this really happening?

*

When I woke up the next day, Jacob was gone, and that didn't surprise me at all. My head was pounding, and standing seemed like an impossible task, so I lied on my back, staring at the ceiling. The sheets were still warm from where Jacob had been last night, so I could only assume that he'd left within the last half hour.

It wasn't by accident that I moved into Port Angeles. It wasn't by accident that I met Jacob Black, or that he happened to be what he was. I normally would deny the idea of destiny. But this - this was destiny. Jacob was everything that I needed, in every single aspect. He knew exactly what to say to comfort me when I was upset, and he knew that I always wanted to be with him, so he would sneak into my room at night and sleep beside me. Jacob was the perfect boyfriend, and he was not only my boyfriend, but he was my soulmate.

How it came to be that I was Jacob's imprint is beyond me. Destiny, maybe?

Two years ago, I was still dating Peter. We were falling apart, but I didn't want to admit it. I wanted to fix it. I loved him, but Peter didn't know the real strength of love, because he walked out of it.

Jacob would never leave.

I rolled out of bed with a quiet groan, and pulled my clothes back on, trying to ignore the searing pain in my back and arms. I decided to blow off taking a shower until later in the day, and making my way down the stairway, I could hear Liz and Brenda in the kitchen.

"You should talk to Sarah. I think something is wrong."

"What do you mean?"

"If there wasn't anything wrong, why would she be gone all the time? Even I'm home at least some of the day." I rolled my eyes, and contemplated going into the kitchen, but decided against it.

"So?" Go Brenda.

"I don't like that she spends so much time with her boyfriend. Don't you think it's unhealthy?"

"Liz, leave Sarah alone."

"Mom -"

"I don't want to hear it. And if you keep trying to sabotage Sarah then we're going to have some major problems."

I heard a chair scrape across the floor, and then Liz walked by me with a priceless expression on her face. As she climbed the stairs, I frowned. I always knew that I had to have a legitimate reason to hate her, and now I had it. Why would she want to sabotage me?