You Were Always on My Mind

“It’s the end of the summer, what are you going to do?” I hear Tim ask Sammy. I stand outside the door not wanting to enter at a bad time.

“I don’t know,” she says and it sounds like she’s been crying, “I can’t leave Jacob, but mom’s all alone over there.”

“Well, she’s not completely alone. Your Aunt Teri moved in and your mom started seeing someone a week or so before your birthday,” Tim answers and Sammy laughs a little.

“Well that worked out well for her,” she comments, “are you sure that it’s fine for me to transfer and stay here?”

“Of course, I’ll even tell your mom.”

“Thanks daddy.”

“Anytime sweetheart,” he says hugging her close to him. She’s staying in La Push! I wait a minute or so then enter the house and head to the living room. Sammy is curled up in a blanket and she’s watching her usual show.

“Hey there,” I greet. I haven’t seen her since last night when we changed shifts.

“Hey,” Sammy greets and pats the spot next to her. I sit next to her and she leans against me.

“Want to talk about it?” I ask. It’s obvious she’s sad so I don’t have to tell her I was eavesdropping.

“I might stay in La Push,” she replies smiling up at me, but her eyes are still sad.

“You didn’t exactly answer my question,” I tell her and her smile fades.

“My mom’s going to be all alone in San Diego, but I don’t think I exactly get the choice to live over there with the transformation.”

“You can always visit. Maybe we can go before school starts because you still have to get all your school stuff too and bring whatever you need over here,” I say attempting to cheer her up. It works.

“Would you mind spending a week there? I know we only have three weeks left, but it would be nice having you there,” Sammy asks.

“I would love to we just have to make sure it’s fine with my dad, your dad, and especially your mom,” I answer.

“It’ll be fine with my mom and I don’t think we would phase there but I’m not really sure how that works...”

“Hey Jake,” Tim greets as he walks past the room.

“Hey dad, could I maybe visit mom for a week next week… with Jake?” Sammy asks biting her lip nervously.

“We just have to take some precautions, but I think so,” Tim answers, “did you ask Billy?”

“Not yet, we just kind of came up with the idea,” Sammy informs him.

“Go ask him now so I can call your mom and talk to her,” Tim says. Sammy quickly gets up from the couch and I follow her lead. I rest my hands on her hips as we walk to my house. Rachel and Paul are in the dining room laughing while my dad is in the living room looking slightly annoyed.

“Hey dad,” I greet. He turns and sees Sammy and I then smiles.

“Why hello there Ms. Reed,” he greets.

“Could we talk to you?” I ask and Rachel and Paul shut up.

“Sure,” he says. We sit on the couch and Rachel’s peeping over. “Mind your own business.”

“So, I’m planning on staying here, but I was going to go visit my mom for a week,” Sammy starts, but my dad is already smiling.

“Jacob, you can join Sammy on her trip to San Diego,” he says and Sammy jumps up in joy.

“Thank you!” She exclaims. My dad laughs, but Sammy stands up, takes my hand and takes me along with her. We get to her house and she looks around for her dad.

“Dad?” she calls out lost.

“I’ll meet you downstairs in a minute,” he responds. We sit in the living room as she looks expectantly at the stairs. He walks down the stairs in his hospital scrubs and walks over to us. “What’s up princess?”

“Billy said yes,” Sammy exclaims.

“I’ll call your mom after my shift at the hospital then buy two tickets, maybe three if Alex wants to go, for four days from now, so Monday,” Tim plans out. “I will see you two later.”

“Bye dad,” Sammy says then turns to me after her dad closes the door. “Two hours till our next shift.”

“Nap time,” I state and she just laughs at me. She turns on the TV and curls up next to me.
***
After my shift, I head over to Sam’s house.

“Hey, I have to talk to you,” I say when I find Sam.

“Go ahead,” he tells me. He looks exhausted.

“Sammy and I are leaving for a week on Monday to visit her mom,” I inform him.

“But you need to be patrolling, the Cullens said there’s one more lurking around,” Sam informs me.

“Sammy’s going to be living here now and she should go see her mom while she can. I’ll be there to protect her.”

“Only a week?”

“Yes.”

“Fine,” Sam gives in. “But you’re still working your shifts till Monday.”

I leave the house and head over to mine. It’s difficult to walk straight since I’m so tired. Once I reach my house, I head to my room and find Sammy curled up on the bed. I change quickly and squeeze in next to her.
***
Sunday morning, I wake up and head over to Sammy’s. I finished my last shift at midnight and Sammy was planning on spending the day with her friends before heading to San Diego.

“Hey there,” I greet as I enter the house and find Embry, Becka, Nicole, and Sammy in the living room. Sammy stands up when she sees me and kisses me quickly on the lips. I notice Embry’s arm around Becka and I’m happy that they finally told everyone they had imprinted. I sit next to Sammy on our couch and listen to their conversation.

“You’re so lucky you get to miss patrol for a week,” Nicole states, “I rarely get time to see Adam.”

“They don’t want imprints with each other so that they’re more focused rather than trying to line up routes,” Sammy says, “it makes sense, but it sucks.”

“But it also leaves the imprints worried,” Embry states pulling Becka closer to him.

“Hello?” I hear Amy call out. We stop all conversation about the wolves.

“In here,” Sammy replies. Amy, Nick, and Johnny enter the living room. Sammy gets up and hugs them all and sits back down next to me. I wrap my arm around her waist and she leans against me. "So how have things been?"

"Lonely, I miss you Sammy," Johnny answers.

"I've been busy," she replies and leans closer to me. They're not allowed to know the truth and they'll probably never find out. I notice Amy and Nick sitting very close. I'm glad he's finally moved on.

"I can't believe you're going to stay in La Push," Amy says, "I never thought it would happen."

"I never thought I would either," Sammy says then smiles up at me, "but I just don't think I'd be able to last a whole year without Jacob."

I kiss quickly on the cheek, not trying to make a scene in front of everyone. The imprints all understand.

"Can I come in?" I hear Adam ask. I've been talking to him a lot more since the transformation.

"The door's unlocked," Sammy calls out. Adam joins us in the living room, but goes straight to Nicole. The next pair that has imprinted.

"What have I missed?" He asks.

"Nothing really," Nicole informs him.

For the next hour, we just sit around and talk about the summer and what's going to happen throughout the school year. Everyone tells Sammy about our school. Anyone who's really serious about sports joins our school because although we're small, we excel in sports.

"I'll get to be around to cheer you on during football season," she states looking up at me while the others talk about schedules.

"I get to have my favorite girl on the sidelines," I reply and she kisses me this time, much more passionately than our small peck earlier.

"Save that for the bedroom," Jared states walking into the living room. Sammy hops off the couch to greet him.

"I didn't think you would come," she states hugging him. They've become like brother and sister and I've grown much closer to Jared. He plays football with me but we rarely talked until I went through the transformation.

"Of course I'd come," he insists. He greets the guys with fist bumps and just gives an overall greeting to the ladies.

He sits next to Sammy on the couch. Maybe I let them hang out too much while I was on patrol.

"So you two are ditching me for a week for San Diego?" He asks.

"You can't hate on San Diego," Sammy replies. I had never been so I wouldn't know.

Sammy starts talking about how amazing San Diego is and everyone listens and asks questions.

"There's this giant outdoor mall, it's two stories tall," she says.

"That's a workout and a fun trip," Amy states. Most of us hadn't gone farther than Seattle. There was no need to and I was actually nervous about flying on a plane.

"The foods ready outside," Tim calls into the house. We all quickly get up and grab a plate then head outside. We grab our food and sit at the tables spread below the porch. Sammy, Jared, Embry, Becka, and I all sit at the same table.

"How are shifts going to be while we're gone?" I whisper, concerned.

"Sam's making us run longer shifts although we haven't changed shifts much even when we gained new people. He's just worried," Jared answers, "we found a track last night and we're pretty sure it's not the Cullens. We're meeting them tomorrow so that we all know their smells."

"This sucks," Sammy says and she looks worried.

"Don't worry about it, we all have it covered you need to go enjoy the sun in San Diego and enjoy your mom's company," Becka assures Sammy.

"You have nothing to worry about, the both of you. We've had less people," Embry states. I wrap an arm around Sammy. They would be fine without us, at least I hope so.

"I would like to declare a game of football," Adam states while standing on one of the chairs.

We quickly choose teams, Sammy and I together with Adam, Embry, and Becka. The other team consisted of Jared, Amy, Nicole, Johnny and Nick. Embry and I go hard on Jared since we can all handle it. Sammy and Becka do most of the scoring since they have the energy and won't get badly tackled. Nick and Jared do most of the tackling for their team which really isn't smart since we play tackle football. A few times I carry Sammy to the touchdown.

"We won!" Sammy declares victorious. She runs toward me and I pick her up. She wraps her legs around my waist and plants a kiss on my lips. Her lips are warm but she smells like dirt and grass. "Woooooh!"

"You guys cheated," Jared mutters as he passes by. We did have all wolves and bears. We sit around the fire pit which Tim had lit for us.

"Did I miss a lot?" Alex asks with Claire by his side. They're holding hands and she looks concerned. Alex is limping.

"Just a great game of football," Johnny declares. Sammy notices Alex's limp and squeezes my arm.

"It'll heal," I assure her in a whisper, but it's strange. Alex sits down with Claire and rests his foot on the bricks around the fire pit. The others in the pack notice and we all share looks.

"I have to head out," Adam declares realizing it's his shift.

"Same," Becka states.

"I'll see you in a week," Adam tells Sammy giving her a hug. She squeezes him tight and gives him a peck on the cheek.

"Stay safe while I'm gone," I hear her whisper. "And tell your mom thanks again for letting me stay over so many times."

"See you next week girly," Becka says while Adam shakes my hand. Becka and Sammy also hug. Becka turns to me and hugs me. "Don't let her worry about us too much."

"I'll try," I reply laughing a little. They say goodbye to everyone else in the group and head off to go to their shift before Sam yells at them.

"Has anyone else heard about the giant bears in the forest?" Amy asks. Sammy looks a little shocked at first then laughs.

"Do you really believe that?" She asks.

"I know a few people who have seen them," Nick states, "they said the bears are like five times the size of a regular bear."

"They're probably overreacting," Jared cuts in, "how would giant bears even come to exist?"

That stops Amy and Nick. Johnny, who seemed to believe the giant bears story, seems stumped too.

"I don't know," Amy retorts but she doesn't say anything else about them.

"Do you know where Paul and Rachel are?" I ask Alex trying to change the subject.

"Tim is checking on Paul, he tripped and sprained his ankle," Alex informs us but gives me a look telling me it's much more serious.

"I'm going to go check on him. Paul's house?" I ask.

"Sam's house," Alex corrects me.

"I'll be back," I tell Sammy kissing her on the cheek real quick. She squeezes my hand then lets me go. I take the keys to Sammy’s jeep and head over to Sam's house. I find Rachel outside looking really worried.

"What's wrong?" I ask crouching down in front of her.

"A newborn caught them off guard and got Paul and Alex. The Cullens got the vampire," she tells me her eyes brimmed with tears. She points toward the purple-black smoke.

"How badly injured?" I ask.

"Alex has a slight fracture in his ankle. Paul has a fractured leg," She informs me, “Carlisle is coming to reset Paul’s bones.”

“I’m going to go check on Paul, I’ll be right back,” I tell her and head inside. I find Paul, Tim, Sam, Emily, and my dad in the extra room downstairs. Paul is in a lot of pain.

“I have some pain medication that will help,” Tim states.

“No, it’s fine. Just wait to give it to me once Carlisle gets here,” Paul says gritting his teeth.

“Hey Jacob,” my dad greets coming in between Paul and I. “Why aren’t you with Samantha?”

“Alex told me about Paul and I wanted to see how bad it was,” I tell him peeking around his head.

“You’re still going. That was the last of them for a while,” he says. There was only one left to get rid of and that was it. I guess it will be fine, but what if there are more that come down the week we’re gone.

“Hey Jake, can you send in Rachel?” Paul asks. He’s trying so hard not to move his body, especially his right leg.

“Will do,” I say and head outside. He’s in more pain that I have ever seen anyone. “Rachel he wants you.”

“Did anyone oppose me coming in?” She asks a little worried.

“No, I think they think he’s stable enough,” I tell her then she quickly rushes inside. I get back in the car and drive back to the house. They’ll be fine now that the newborn is gone. I pull into the driveway and find Sammy leaning against the porch.

“I heard you drive up to the house,” she states.

“His leg is fractured, but they think that’s the last of them for a while,” I inform her, hugging her close to me.

“How?” She asks.

“Newborn caught them off guard,” I answer. She nods her head then we head back to the firepit.

“He was only gone for ten minutes, that doesn’t call for a makeout session,” Amy teases as we take our sits on the small love couch. She notices Sammy’s worried look, but doesn’t say anything.

“How about you tell us some of those stories,” Claire suggests to Alex, “I didn’t exactly grow up around here so I have yet to hear them all.”

Everyone gets excited and Alex obliges. I notice Jared scoot closer to Sammy and she tells him what I told her. Jared squeezes her hand and I hear him assure her that it’ll be fine. I hold Sammy’s hand and she leans against me.

“They’ll be fine. We just need a week off and you need to see your mom,” I whisper into her ear. I listen as Alex tells the story of the Makahs and where they originate from. I wrap my arms around her waist and try and let her rest. After Alex finishes the story, people decide to start leaving.

“We’ll see you in a week,” Amy says hugging Sammy, Nick trailing behind her.

“Thanks for coming over,” she replies then hugs Nick. Amy hugs me as well and Nick bumps my fist.

“So when does he leave so that you and me can have alone time?” Johnny asks sitting on Sammy’s lap.

“You’ll have to break the news to him,” Sammy answers giggling.

“Okay,” Johnny says and turns to me, “sorry sweetheart, but I’m stealing your girl.”

“You can have her,” I tell Johnny and he squeals.

“Well guess I wasn’t worthy enough for a fight,” Sammy says putting on a sad face.

“But now you have me!” Johnny exclaims. “I’ll see you in a week darling.”

“Bye Johnny,” Sammy says and he kisses her on the cheek and shockingly enough kisses me on the cheek then runs away laughing.

“I swear, what is wrong with him?” I ask laughing.

“Awww but he’s so cute,” Sammy states laughing as well. Claire and Alex head into the house.

“I’m really going to miss you guys for the week,” Jared states sitting at the edge of the firepit.

“I’ll miss you too,” Sammy says, “promise me you won’t get hurt.”

“I won’t, I can look after myself. Paul was probably too busy thinking about Rachel and I’m single so you know no one to think about,” Jared states and Sammy hits his leg.

“Shut up,” she says laughing, “you can think about how amazing I am and how you miss me. But don’t get hurt.”

“He’ll be thinking about how much he misses me,” I interrupt.

“You know, Jake and I have a relationship like no other,” Jared states.

“Well I’m being cheated on,” Sammy says laughing.

“Imagine how I feel when Johnny goes around kissing you,” I retort laughing.

“He spread the love,” Sammy states poking my cheek.

“Well I have to head to my shift, you don’t have to worry about us,” Jared says getting up. He kisses Sammy on the cheek then hugs me. “Take care of her, she worries the most.”

“Just the two of us,” Sammy states as Jared walks into the woods.

“And we get to spend the whole week together in LA,” I reply. “I’ve never been on a plane before.”

“It’s not bad, and you have me.”

“I’ll be keeping you safe and relaxed the whole time.”

“There have been so many injuries yet we’re not even gone.”

“And they’ll be fine. Just enjoy the time you have with your mom.”

“But..” she starts to say. I lean in and kiss her to shut her up. Her hand goes up to my cheek and pulls me close to her; her other hand on my chest. I place my hands on her hip and back.

“You cheat,” she mumbles against my lips.

“Mmmmhmmm,” I say and get back to kissing her. She bites on my lip tugging a bit then she slips her tongue in my mouth. She’s playful and a tease.

“We just came back to say bye, we didn’t need a show,” Becka says laughing. Embry is by her side making a face at us.

“We weren’t expecting anyone to find us,” Sammy responds and I get off of her.

“Well you’re kind of out in the open,” Embry comments.

“Get lost,” I tell Embry laughing but get up and join him and Becka. “How was the shift?”

“Uneventful,” Embry answers.

“Everything’s much calmer since they got the newborn. Shifts will be a lot easier now,” Becka assures us. Sammy squeezes my hand.

“Did you see Paul?” She asks nervous.

“He was in a lot of pain. They had to rebreak the bone because it was healing wrong,” Embry informs us. Carlisle had to come because he had the strength to do it.

“Ugh that sounds horrible,” Sammy says leaning into me.

“I happened to be passing by the house when they did it; not a pleasant sound,” Becka states shivering.

“Carlisle and your dad agreed that he can’t transform for at least a week so that he doesn’t get injured again,” Embry informs us.

“Well, you two look exhausted. Thanks for informing us,” Sammy says hugging them both goodbye.

“Last night in town,” I state then we run into the house. Sammy changes quickly then we head over to my house. I change then join Sammy on the bed. We tend to sleep at her place since the bed is larger, but we get to be closer in my bedroom. Plus, I wanted to be home just in case Rachel needed me.