Lost, Then Found

Kim’s P.O.V.

I wasn’t in a deep enough sleep to not be aware of where I was. I noticed when the truck stopped, and when Jared carried me from the truck to my bedroom and placed me on my bed. I could hear Jared’s feet move across the floor to exit my room.

“Please stay with me.” I whispered half asleep. Jared’s movements stopped, but he didn’t respond, nor did he come back to me. I couldn’t feel his heat, the heat that soothed me.

Finally he whispered, “What’s wrong?”

“I don’t want the Cold Ones to get me.” I tried to laugh, but it came out muffled.

Jared slid beside me on the bed and pulled me close to him. Instead of a pillow, my head laid rested upon his chest. “Much better, now I have my own personal wolf to protect me.” Jared’s body tensed beneath me for whatever reason. I was too tired to ask what’s wrong. Instead I kissed his chest and fell back asleep listening to the fast pace beating of his heart.

“A bigger coven came, and your own great grandfathers prepared to fight them off. The leader spoke to Ephraim Black as if he were a man, and promised not to harm the Quileutes. His strange yellow eyes gave some proof to his claim that they were not the same as other blood drinkers.”

I was taken back to the day when I first met Jacob and Jared, overhearing bits and pieces of the argument between Jacob and Bella.
“BLOODSUCKER…. Stay…. I could….”

I was then fast forward to the day Jacob came to my house upset about Bella marrying Edward. I was again following Jacob to the big house with the weird man that had been standing on the porch as if he knew we’d be coming. Those strange colored eyes, and his pale skin constantly stuck out in my head.

And lastly, reminded of the night Jared took me home from the beach.

“I obviously get why Jacob hates him so much, but the way your voice changed when you said his name, it’s almost as if you hate him too. May I ask why that is?”

“Um, it’s hard to explain, you would have to know the legends of our tribe to understand.”

Have you ever had one of those dreams where you wake up abruptly in a cold sweat? That’s exactly how I woke up. I turned to the side which now was empty. It still had the indent of where he’d been laying, still so warm from his hot body. The fact of the matter was, he was gone, and I had so many new questions. About him. About the tribe. About Edward. About the Cold Ones.

My current dream had me frozen in place. These kinds of creatures were supposed to be made up in tales to scare children. It all suddenly felt too real.

“Kimberly Sabine Schmidt, get out here right now.” Shianne called from the kitchen. She brought me back from my thoughts of my horrible nightmare, although I’m not quite sure it was just a nightmare anymore.

Pushing all those thoughts to the back burner for now, I tried to think of why Shianne would be trying to sound mad. I slid on an old pair of jeans and a light blue t-shirt, and then made my way down the hall to the kitchen. Shianne was sitting at the kitchen table with the biggest smile displayed across her face while she looked at the piece of paper she was holding in her hands.

“You slept with him Kim?” She asked still with the big smile on her face.

Oh, that. “Technically yes, the way you’re thinking, no!” She laughed and handed me the piece of paper. I knew it was from him before I even had to read the chicken scratch on the paper.

Good morning Gorgeous,

I’m sorry I wasn’t there when you woke up. Sam needed me back at work.
If it’s possible I’d like to see you tonight. I need to talk to you about something.
Meet me at the spot where you first stole my heart away, I’ll be waiting.

Love,
Jared

“Have any idea what he wants to talk to you about?” Shianne asked with one eyebrow raised.

“Yeah, actually I think I do.” I reply.

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Shianne practically begged me to take her around town. I wasn’t really up for the adventure after the weird dream I had. I just wanted to wait until it was time to meet Jared, hoping he would clear everything up for me. I wasn’t sure what I was expecting him to say, or even be hoping he would say. Maybe it was better for me to get out of the house and show Shianne around, I was hoping it would take my mind off of this.

Shianne insisted that we first make a pit stop to any kind of store in town to pick out something “presentable” for me to wear on my date tonight. When I was little I was like any little girl wanting to play dress up, wearing beautiful dresses, but as I got older I grew out of that phase. I was more content just wearing jeans and a T-shirt, not that I was worried about it, but I fit in here.
The only way to shut Shianne up was to give in to her. That’s how we ended up in town at one of the few stores to offer in Forks. She picked out what she thought would look the best on me, surprisingly I liked it. It was just a plain brown sun dress with spaghetti straps.

We were in the process of making our way to the cashier when I heard a high pitch voice call my name. “Kim, it’s so nice to see you again.”

The little black haired pixie looking girl came up bouncing up and down. She gave me a quick hug, but quickly let her hands fall to her side when I sucked in a gasp of air and cringed at her touch. She was unbelievably cold. Her eyes were the same honey color as Edward’s were when I met him for the first time.

“Sorry about that.” She said, as if she regretted hugging me. “I just saw you and was excited I ran into you. You haven’t RSVP for Bella’s wedding. It is in a couple of days, are you not coming?” She asked with her smile quickly turning to a frown.

I had completely forgotten about it, which could have been due to the fact that for the past few weeks my life had been a complete disaster, or it could have been just because I didn’t care. Bella’s marriage to Edward brought Jacob pain, and the last thing I wanted was to see Jacob hurt. Yet again, part of me felt like I owed Bella, for introducing me to my new life. The least I could do was sit through a few hours of boredom. “Oh, life has taken me on a crazy roller coaster and it completely slipped my mind. If it’s not too late I would like to RSVP right now.” I finally replied, trying to push the slightest hint of excitement through so it wouldn’t hurt her feelings. As if I should care about her feelings.

“YAY, Bella will be so glad to hear that.” She replied jumping up and down clapping her hands together.

“Has Jacob RSVP?” I asked. It was a dumb question, but I wanted to pry info from her, see if anyone else had been invited. I felt out of place among Alice and Bella, there was no telling how I would feel surrounded by a bunch of other people I didn’t know. At least if Jacob was there I would have family there.

“Jacob was sent an invite, but he has yet to RSVP. It has really upset Bella; she would love nothing more than to have her best friend there to join in celebration on her day. I do believe Billy, Seth, and Sue are coming though.”

She would love nothing more than to have her best friend there to join in her celebration on her big day. More like to cause him more pain as her and her ugly husband sit there and laugh. I couldn’t help the automatic reaction of my hands balling up into fists, or the rage coursing through my body. The thought of Jacob not going, and not seeing that calmed me. Even if he wasn’t going at least I wasn’t going to be alone, I would have Seth there. Billy and Sue seemed friendly; I guess I would sit next to them.

“Oh, that’s too bad. Maybe I can put in a good word with him.” I lied.

“That would mean the world to Bella. Thank you so much. Well, I’m off to get some final errands done before the wedding. See you there Kim.” She said before swiftly turning around and skipping out of the store like an idiot.

“Who was that?” Shianne asked with her nose crinkled up.

“A friend of Bella’s, you know the girl that introduced me to Jake.”

“Oh, she’s annoying, I don’t like her.” She replied. I couldn’t help the laughter that fell from my mouth at that comment.

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The next stop was the beach as promised. Shianne’s eyes lit up as soon as she saw it.

“It’s beautiful. You were right; it is a little piece of heaven on earth. I have found the spot where I will be spending most of my time.”

“When you’re not working, I hope you didn’t think you were staying with my for free.” I laughed.

She sighed. “Of course not.

I happened to see Embry and Seth walking along the beach directly in front of us. “Oh no.” I said with a smile on my face.

“What?” Shianne replied.

“That’s Seth and Embry, they were a little too excited to hear about you moving back here with me. They were actually curious as to when they would be able to meet you.”

“Well here I am and there they are, let’s go.” She practically jumped from the truck making her way to the sand.

“Embry. Seth.” I shouted over the roaring waves. They turned and made their way over to us.

“What’s up Kim?” Embry said.

“Well you and Seth were so excited to meet Shianne the other night, I just thought seeing as I saw you two here that you would want to meet her.” Their eyes lit up as they saw her.

“Nice to finally meet you Shianne. My name is Embry” Embry said as he looked directly into her eyes.

“Hi, I’m Seth. You are very pretty.” Seth said stealing her attention away from Embry and focusing on him.

“Damn.” They both said in unison.

“What’s the problem?” I asked.

They laughed. “Nothing. Well it was nice meeting you Shianne, and as usual nice seeing you again Kim.” Embry gave me a quick hug, but quickly jumped back. “Agh, Kim you smell like a bl... Never mind, just take a shower before your date with Jared tonight.” He finished before him and Seth jogged off.

I sniffed myself, I didn’t think I smelled. “Shianne, do I stink?”

She was clutching her stomach laughing. “No, but your face when he said that was priceless.”

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As soon as we got home I took Embry’s advice in hopped in the shower. My excitement for tonight pushed Embry’s rude comment from my thoughts. Shianne helped curl my hair and begged me to let her put make up on me, but I refused each time. Finally, she angrily gave up and went to her room to watch a movie.

Jacob agreed to come and pick me up, that way my vehicle would still be home incase Shianne needed to run to the store, or just simply wanted to get out of the house.

As soon as I heard Jacob’s car pull up I sprinted through the door. He was smiling as always that beautiful smile. He opened the door for me and quickly returned to the driver’s side.

“What’s with the chivalry Jacob, I thought it was dead?” I laughed.

“Ha Ha, very funny. I am quite the gentlemen, you must have forgotten.” He tried to say with his best British accent.

“So, what does Jared have planned for tonight?”

“I’m not telling you, you’ll just have to wait and see.”

“Fine. Have you decided if you are going to her wedding or not?”

His smiled faded, although he didn’t look upset or sad. “I don’t know, I might make an appearance. Why, are you going?”

“Yeah, I feel like I owe it to her to make an “appearance” as you say.”

He scoffed. “Why?”

“Don’t laugh at me, but she brought me you and Jared. I’m very grateful for that.”

His smile stretched across his face. “We would have found you sooner or later even if she didn’t introduce us to you.”

The view that I saw as we approached First Beach was breathtaking. For once there were no clouds in sight. The sun was slowly setting leaving the sky a combination of pinks, purples, and golds. I scanned the beach for Jared, but didn’t see him.

“Do you think he forgot?” I asked Jacob.

“Are you kidding me, he’s been talking about it all day. I’m sure he’s on his way.” My face lit up, before I slowly made my way out of the car.

“Hold on, don’t you want to wait in here ‘til he comes?”

“No, I’ll be fine. I could use the alone time to gather my thoughts.” He smiled and nodded.

I stopped at the spot where Jared and I first met, and smiled at the sight. I continued my way down closer to the water. I slid my sandals off and walked just far enough to the edge for the water to wash over my feet. The water was ice cold; reminding me of the hug Alice gave me, reminding me of the cold ones. I shivered at the thought.

“Kim, what are you doing?” The only voice that could sooth me, called from behind. I turned around to see Jared. He was wearing a white shirt with faded out jeans. I wouldn’t really call it dressed up, but it was different from seeing him in just cut offs.

The fact that just the sight of him could get me horny reminded me I was completely new to this. Eli and I would kiss here and there, and even snuggle, but I never went all the way with him. Seeing Jared made it all too real. We were here, alone, and for some reason that caused me to feel excited, happy, scared, and nervous all at the same time.

He sat down the stuff father up the beach and jogged down to me. He hugged me tight in his arm. “Kim you smell so good.” He whispered as his eyes rolled back. That was relieving to hear after Embry’s comment earlier.

“You look good.” I said shyly.

He chuckled. “Not nearly as good as you look in that sexy brown dress. How’d you know that was my favorite color?” I just smiled in reply.

We walked back to the blanket holding hands. He had everything laid out next to a fire pit where he was attempting to start a fire. After a few times and a couple cuss words later there was finally a blazing fire in front of us.

Most girls would much rather have their first dates be a dinner in a fancy restaurant, and movie to top it off. This was so much better. We had the beautiful beach, the fire to warm us, although Jared didn’t need the fire for that, but it did come in useful to heat the 12 hotdogs he had.

For the longest time there was no words spoken between us. I was shy to even talk to him, like I was meeting him for the first time. I did enjoy snuggling up next to him on the blanket as we watched the sun finally go down, and the twinkling stars and full moon appear in its place.

I knew what I wanted to talk about, but Jared continuously kissing me in the right spots left me speechless. It was as if he could read my mind. He started off kissing my lips, but when that just wasn’t enough and I’d wished he go for my neck, that’s exactly where his lips relocated.

I slowly started pushing him back, attempting to slow my racing heart and calm my heavy breathing. “As much as I want to do this right now, you said there was something you wanted to talk to me about.”

He smiled and moved to a sitting position pulling me up with him. “Oh yeah, thank you for reminding me.” He dug in his pocket, and retrieved a velvet black box. “I know that we’ve been dating for a couple of weeks now, but this is our first “real” actual date, and I wanted to do this right, and make up for everything that happened before New York and all that.” He slowly opened the box. “Kim, will you officially be my girlfriend?” Inside the box was black lace woven to look like a chain. What really caught my eye was the brown wolf dangling from it. It was beautiful. I could feel the tears waiting to spill over.

“Jared, it’s beautiful. Yes I’ll be your girlfriend.”

I soon realized that was what he wanted to “talk” to me about this whole time, and disappointment replaced the feeling of joy.

“What’s wrong Kim? You don’t like it do you?” I could see the pain reflected in his eyes.

“No, No, No, I love it.” I tried to reassure him. “I just thought you meant you needed to talk to me about something else.

This caught his attention. “Like what?”

“The Legends of your tribe.”

He sucked in a breath. “You already heard them Kim.”

“Why do you always do that? You get tense every time it’s brought up. Even last night when I made that stupid comment about not wanting the Cold Ones to get me, it was a joke, but you tensed up then. Not to mention you rudely interrupting Mr. Ateara. What was that all about Jared?” Ok, so everything came out a lot more harsh then what I wanted it to, but I wanted to know everything, because it feels like he’s been keeping stuff from me, or at least not telling me the whole truth about some stuff.

“It’s nothing Kim.” He replied looking away, avoiding my gaze. Always a bad sign, he was lying. I got up. “Fine, if you don’t want to be honest, then I’ll just call Jacob to come pick me up.”

“What do you want me to say Kim, that the Legends are true? Well there you go, the Legends are true. Bloodsuckers are real, the wolves are real, and I’m a wolf.” He slumped down just staring into the fire. Once again I wasn’t sure what I was expecting to hear, or maybe I just didn’t expect him to be so blunt, but then again I guess I didn’t really give him a choice.

There was a force that pulled me to his side where I sat down beside him and instinctively wrapped my arms around him. I wasn’t really sure what to say, I wanted to know more, but part of me was so angry that he kept it from me. “Why didn’t you just tell me?” I asked calmly.

“How would you tell someone you love that you’re a huge wolf that protects the tribe from bloodsuckers? I didn’t know how you would take it, and I didn’t want to lose you Kim. I wanted to protect you from this world that shouldn’t even exist” He said with still the hint of sadness in his eyes.

The anger left me instantly. I hadn’t looked at it from his perspective; I couldn’t imagine what he was going through. I almost felt bad for pressuring the truth out of him, but I was happy that the truth was finally out; it made me feel even closer to him. I grabbed his hand and placed it on my chest directly where my heart is. “You would never lose me Jared, you are my heart!”