What Hurts the Most

"Wake up, Nathalie," I heard a voice whisper to me.

My eyes slowly fluttered open, but I didn't recognize the shadow of a figure that towered over me as I slept. And then that smell hit me.

"Jake?!" I squealed and jumped up onto the bed. I was still fully-clothed; must've fallen asleep in them.

He picked me up into his arms and twirled me around.

"I missed you," he sang as he smiled down at me.

"You weren't gone that long," I pointed out, snuggling close to his abnormally warm body. "Only...6 hours."

I had to check the clock to make sure.

"That's five hours and fifty nine minutes longer than it should've been," he responded with that look in his eye.

He finally stopped spinning but still continued to hold me in his arms.

"So what's the verdict?" I asked Jake as soon as he had set me down.

"Sam and I were discussing-" he began to say, and then he tripped and tumbled backwards down onto the floor.

He came up cussing and swearing. "What the hell-Seth? What are you doing on the floor?"

"Wha?" the younger wolf called out groggily. He stood up and yawned. "Hey Jake! You're back!"

He beamed an adorable smile at Jake.

"Yeah, good job, captain obvious," Jake laughed, rolling his eyes, and then grew suspicious. "Wait a minute; were you two sleeping in here? ALONE?"

Seth smiled and nodded happily, which immediately turned into its reciprocal.

"No, Jake!" Seth began to explain, panic screaming off his face. "You got the wrong idea! I was lying down on the floor, her on the bed, and we must've fallen asleep. But I was protecting her the entire time!"

I could see Jake getting angrier by the second. Seth was backing into the wall as Jake charged towards him. I instantly slipped off the bed and jumped in between them. I put my hands up onto Jake's chest.

"Nothing happened, Jake," I assured him, wetting my lips. "You're being paranoid. Why are you ready to throttle Seth at any chance you get?"

He looked down at me but his glare didn't go away.

"Experience," he murmured.

I backed away and looked at him both surprised and hurt.

"What?!" I exclaimed. Was he saying that he's cheated on someone before? Or is cheating on me now? Bella's image came into my mind. Well, my image of her, at least. I envisioned her being this beautiful young girl with long flowing hair, much better looking than me.

"No! No," he said, holding his hands up in surrender. I crossed my arms and glared at him expectantly, waiting for an explanation.

"Bella kinda cheated on her man with me," he explained. "Remember? I told you the story."

"Oh," I said guiltily. Maybe I overreacted just a LITTLE bit. Maybe I was the paranoid one.

"I just don't want that to happen with us," he continued. "I don't want you to have to choose between us."

"Well, relax. Seth already promised that he would not interfere. He's a good kid; you don't give him enough credit."

"Yeah, I know," he sighed and took a seat on the edge of his bed. He looked tired. I crawled up next to him and took his hand. Seth took a seat down on the floor once again. "I just don't want history to repeat itself."

"I know you don't," I told him, giving his hand a squeeze. "And I don't want that to happen, either."

There was a brief silence, and then Seth spoke up.

"Sorry to break the mood," Seth called out from below. "But what did Sam say?"

"Right. As I was saying before I was tripped," Jake began, glaring at Seth. I could hear Seth mumbling about how Jake should've been watching where he was going.

"Sam and I discussed about what happened with the whole, lake thing. Sam felt guilty about it and said he would help to capture the blood-sucker."

"Yes!" I squealed. That made it so much easier on Jake.

"And what about telling Nat about the, uh," Seth made a face and made a little nod with his head. Jake got the hint.

"He said we can tell her about the Cullens being vampires."

"Alright! No more secrets!" Seth yelled triumphantly.

"Who're the Cullens?" I asked awkwardly.

"Edward's family," Jake elaborated. "They're all adoptive brothers and sisters. And now, Bella's one of them."

He looked upset, but not as much as I would have thought. Maybe he was finally getting over her.

"The Cullens said they will also be on the lookout for Tristan," Jake continued. "Geez, a lot's happened since I've been gone. The pack's ok with the Cullens, and then there was an almost war."

"But you're here now," Seth pointed out. "That's all that matters."

"There you go with the cheesy Disney crap!"

"I'm sorry!" Seth said with an apologetic grin. "I lived a sheltered life as a child; Disney movies were all that were available to me! I can recite all of the songs out of The Little Mermaid, if you'd like."

"Uh, no," Jake refused.

"So, what now?" I asked. "We all going to go off searching for this guy?"

"No, WE are going to look for him, as in me and the other wolves, and YOU," he said, emphasizing 'we' and 'you', and then pointed at Seth and I. "Are going to stay here."

Seth and I both jumped up and immediately began protesting. We were both tired of sitting and waiting to see what would happen next. Jake moaned and rested his head in his hand.

"I can go out and fight!" Seth argued, eyebrows furrowed and fists clenched. "Haven't I proved myself yet? I'm not that young werewolf that you left almost a year ago, Jake. I've grown up. A lot."

Jake gave him a skeptical look, and then said, "You? Grown up? You who just offered to sing all of the songs from The Little Mermaid five seconds ago?"

Seth paused and wet his lips. Jake had him pegged.

"The only reason I want you to stay here with her," Jacob continued, standing up and slipping his arm around my neck just like he used to before we left Illinois. "Is to protect her."

"Wouldn't you want to be here and protect her?" Seth pointed out, stepping up close to the taller wolf's face.

"Yes, on normal occasions," Jake growled, closing the paper-thin gap between them. "But I want to be the first guy to rip his face off."

"What if I want to be the first one?" Seth snapped.

Jake looked a little impressed. He even said, "Maybe you have grown up a bit."

Seth's response was a triumphant smile, and then continued to look confused. "How so?"

"Before, you wouldn't dare stand up to me," Jake said with a smile. "Not so much now. Or maybe it's just because of Nat."

I would've stepped in earlier, but this had been too much fun to watch. Now it was getting cheesy. I pulled Jake back beside me and grasped his hand. He looked away from Seth and down at me, smiling. His bronze skin stood out in the small strips of white moonlight the filtered in through the small window. I so wished we were alone.

"So that the plan, then?" Seth interrupted quietly, twiddling his thumbs. He was looking down at the hard-wood floors, obviously trying to avoid watching us.

"I stay and protect Nathalie...again..." he mumbled the last part. "And you go off and fight the vampire with the others? LAME."

"Hey, you had your chance," Jacob responded, glancing up at him and then back down to me. "Now it's mine."

"When's the battle that I'm not invited to attend going to be?" Seth asked sarcastically.

"I don't know," Jake answered, turning away from me. "But we start our search tomorrow. I'll make sure there are always some wolves stationed around here, just in case."

"Great. Now you don't think I can handle myself against a single leech. Thanks."

"It won't be just one," Jake warned him, squeezing my hand. I knew he was thinking about that night at the Valentine's Day dance.

"But just incase, be ready."

"So you're going to fight him again tomorrow?" I cut in nervously, tired of being excluded. "I don't want you to. Can't you stay here?"

"No, Nat," Jake began, cupping my face in his hands, heating my face up. "I do want to be here, but I need to kill this guy myself. I don't want anybody else to do it. I was the one that got you into this mess."

"I don't want you to...to..." I began to cry out.

"What?"

"Die," I finally uttered.

He pulled me into him in a warm embrace and slowly a tear fell down my cheek. I kept thinking of that night; the night I almost lost him. I never wanted that to happen again. I never wanted to feel that way again. Right then, I decided that I would not let him out of my sight, even if that meant I would stay up all night and handcuff our wrists together.