What Hurts the Most

I woke up with the bright sunlight gleaming in my face. I looked at my alarm clock and it read one o'clock pm. Wait, one o'clock PM?? I moaned and turned on my side. Jake was snoring next to me. I chuckled and stared at him as his warm breath steamed onto my face. He didn't look as massive when he was asleep. He was breathing slowly and evenly, wrinkling his nose every now and then.

"Good morning," Jacob greeted suddenly. I didn't even realize he was awake.

"Awake now, are we?" I asked, cocking my eyebrow. He nodded and stretched, releasing me from his warm, tight grip. At least my room was warmer now

"Wow, one o'clock," he stated, impressed. "We slept for awhile. Good thing your parents never came to check up on you. That would've been bad."

I laughed, imagining the look on my parents face if they caught Jake sleeping next to me, with his arms wrapped around me. Their imaginations would get the better of them.

"I'd better go," He said sadly. "I'm starving." He placed his feet on the floor.

"Wait!" I stopped him. "Where do you go when you're not here?" He smiled weakly.

"The forest," he informed. "Where else could I go with no money?"

"What do you eat, then?" I demanded. He grinned and I gasped. "Not cute, furry, woodland creatures?" He laughed.

"Of course not," He chuckled. "I go fishing in lakes. Let's just say, there is now an extreme decrease in trout population." I sniggered. I could just picture him in dog form, jumping around in the water and gulping down fifty fish at a time.

"Stay here!" I begged. "I'll go get you some food!" I jumped out of bed and turned towards my door. "What would you like?" I asked, stopping at the door. He took a seat down on my bed and was thoughtful.

"What do you have?" He asked.

"Um, hot dogs, cheeseburgers, chicken, French fries, grilled cheese," I listed. "And sprite, coke, pepsi, orange crush-"

"Get me all of it," He said casually, turning my tv on. I stared at him. "What?" he asked, flipping through the channels.

"What do you mean all of it?"

"Well, you know how big I am," he explained sheepishly. "I eat a lot."

"How about I get you some of each?" I suggested. He nodded and stopped on the Disney channel. Hannah Montana was on.

"Who in their right mind would watch this crap?" He asked.

"My brother," I murmured. My brother always denied it, but I caught him watching it one afternoon. I walked downstairs, happy to see that no one was home. There was a note on the fridge that said, 'Mom's gone to the store; I'm taking Seth to the dentist. Be good.'

"Alright, house to myself!" I cheered. I quickly made three microwavable pancakes, two waffles, and grabbed a strawberry pop tart. I lugged them up to my room and heaved them on my bed. Jake shut the TV off and practically jumped into my small pile of food.

"Food!" He shouted delightfully. It was a little disturbing to watch him shove every little crumb into his mouth. I bit my lip to keep myself from laughing. In a matter of minutes, he was done with his buffet. He rolled onto the floor and patted his stomach.

"Ah, yum," He complimented. "So glad to be eating something other than fish." He paused for a moment and stared at my ceiling. "Why don't you hate me anymore?" He asked randomly.

"What do you mean?" I asked quizzically.

"Well, a few days ago I could feel the hate radiating from you." He pointed out. "And now, nothing. It's like I'm your best friend again."

"Well," I began, twirling a strand of my hair. "Yesterday, when you left early, it kind of freaked me out. I was worried about you. How would it feel if the last thing I said to you was, I hate you?" Jake blinked his eyes at me and smiled.

"You were worried about me?" He asked politely. "Aw, I'm touched!" I rolled my eyes.

"Now I have a question for you." I stated.

"Ok, shoot!"

"Are there others like you? I mean, the doggy you?" I asked curiously. He hesitated.

"Er, yes," He said squinting his eyes. "I probably shouldn't be telling you this."

"Another question," I started, jumping on my bed. "Why did you come here in the first place?" He sighed and sat down next to me, messing my hair up.

"Where to start?" Jacob said quietly. "I wasn't happy with where I was and I ran away. I didn't care where I went, as long as I was gone. And I happened to come here, find you, and you know the rest."

"What was so horrible up there that made you want to leave?" I asked, my eyebrows furrowed. He put his arm around me and pressed me close to his body.

"Something I don't want to talk about," he answered, and kissed my head. "Come on!" I complained. "I practically spilled my guts to you, and you won't answer me one single question?" He did the whole cheesy, zipper your mouth and throw away the key motion.

"Fine then," I said, pulling away and crossing my arms. It was his turn to roll his eyes. "Then at least answer me one more question. Where did you go when you left the formal early?" He sighed.

"Sorry, can't tell you," he told me. I glared at him.

"Uh!" I yelled at Jacob. "I think it's time for you to go back to your forest now."

"Do you hate me again?" he asked, giving me the puppy dog lips.

"No, but I am very unhappy with you," I grumbled. "Leave. Now."

"Sure, sure!" He laughed. I didn't even turn around to say good bye or anything. All I heard was the opening and closing of my window. I guess he left in the nick of time, for I heard a honking from outside indicating that my parents had returned. I immediately wanted Jacob back.

The next couple of weeks were pretty boring. Just Jacob following me around and bugging the hell out of me in class. I still hadn't forgiven him for not telling me where he had gone during the formal and why he left his home. February and Valentine's Day were just around the corner. Once again, Holly was giving me grief about getting a date. This time, she was going with Jim Lansky. For some reason, Ryan hadn't said a word to me since formal. He even left our lunch table, which his spot was soon replaced by Jacob. One day, Holly pulled me into the bathroom where I was finally away from Jake. I was pretty sure he was still able to listen to us.

"What is with him?" She asked while fixing her make up in the mirror.

"What do you mean?" I asked, even though I already knew the answer.

"He follows you around like a lost puppy!" She told me. "Have you seen the way he looks at you? If he even catches another guy looking at you, he gives them a look like he's going to rip their head off! As scary as it might sound, it's pretty amusing. Now the whole school thinks you're taken!"

"That's a good thing! Now no cheesy losers are going to hit on me." I said, looking on the bright side of things.

"Why are you defending him?" Holly demanded. "I thought you hated him?"

"I don't hate him," I corrected. "I am just annoyed by him. He really isn't that bad once you get to know him."

"He chased Ryan away," She stated matter-of-factly.

"That's because Ryan was jealous," I pointed out.

"Didn't you ever realize that Ryan really liked you?" Holly asked.

"Not until the day he asked me to go to formal with him," I said sheepishly. She sighed and then continued her rant.

"Jake is cute, I'll give him that," Holly complimented with a grin. "And he's buff. And tall. But that's all I'll give him credit for!" I laughed and rolled my eyes.

"Come on, we're gonna be late for class," I said and dragged her away from the mirror. Jake was waiting with a huge smile on his face near the water fountain.

"Ready ladies?" He sniggered. "My buff arms are ready to escort you to class." Holly gasped, but then laughed. I took his arm and the three of us walked to class. The next class, which was the last of the day, we didn't have with Holly, so we went our separate ways. There were posters all over the walls advertising the Valentine's Day dance in two weeks. Jake casually draped his arm around me.

"So, got a date to the dance?" He asked with a smirk. Again, I pulled his arm off of me.

"No, and that's because half of the school thinks we're together," I stated.

"Well, we kind of are together, aren't we?" He asked.

"And when did we decide this piece of news?" I asked, stopping in the middle of the hallway and glaring at him.

"Isn't it obvious?" He asked as if it were. "We're always together. Always."

"We're not ALWAYS together!" I protested, then bit my lip. "Most of the time we are, but not always. I'm also sometimes with Holly or Ry- wait, not him. He's mad at me and you. Again, another problem caused by you. Are you happy with messing up my life?" I turned to walk away but didn't sense him following me. I turned around again and looked at him funny. He had his hands in his jean pockets and he was looking at the floor sadly.

"Is that what you think of me? A mess up in you life?" he asked without looking me in the face. The way he said it was so sad. My voice was caught in my throat.

"No, no Jake!" I managed to answer quietly. "Of course not. My life has never been so interesting before. Without you, I'd just be any other boring loser." This cheered him up a little bit, but he wasn't a hundred percent better. I walked over to him and placed his arm over my shoulders, allowing it to stay for once. I smiled at him sideways and he smiled back. People were staring again, noticing that the rumors of us being together were true.

"Come on puppy," I said with a sigh. "Let's get to class."

I stretched and yawned as the final bell rang. Jake was already at my side, waiting to walk me to my locker. I smiled at him as I packed up my folders and notebooks.

"Ready to go home?" He asked cheerfully. I nodded and slung my bag over my back. We walked together to my locker and I grabbed my jacket and backpack. He wound his arm around my waist and I didn't remove it. I still felt guilty about what he had said before. I was walking towards my car when Jake stopped me.

"Where do you think you're going?" Jake asked.

"To my car?" I said suspiciously.

"No you're not," He told me. "Today, you're riding home with me."

"What about my car?" I asked, shocked.

"I'll pick it up later," Jacob answered, brushing it off. "Come on, let's go!" He dragged me to a motorcycle parked a few spaces away from my car. The motorcycle was very familiar.

"Wait! I can't go home with you!" I shouted, pulling all of my weight against him. "What would my parents think?"

"Who cares?" He laughed. "Now come on! Hop on!"

"Hey wait, were YOU the guy that stole Ryan's parking spot in December?" I demanded. He nodded casually and rolled his eyes while handing me a helmet.

"Hop on," he repeated. This time it was a command. I did while securing the helmet onto my head. I held on for dear life as he revved the engine and then took off. It wasn't as scary as I thought it would be. The way we were tearing down the road while the wind blew in my face was exhilarating. I even opened my eyes for a little while. He taunted me by pulling dangerous stunts like popping wheelies and turning sharp corners. Oh yeah, I was scared. Every so often he would turn his head to see me and give me a smug smirk and then he'd make the bike go even faster.

"Jake! You missed the turn to my house!" I yelled in his ear over the snarling engine.

"We're not going to your house!" He told me.

"What?!" I shrieked. "Where're we going?"

"To our spot!" Jacob informed. It seemed like only seconds later that we glided into the now leafless forest and pulled into a stop at my rock. I jumped off the motorcycle happily and threw my helmet off.

"That was so much fun!" I commented. "You went so fast, and you weren't even pulled over!"

"Yeah, I'm good like that," he said arrogantly.

"So, what did you bring me here for?" I asked with a smile, knowing his intentions for bringing me here.

"What do you mean?" He asked innocently. "The only reason you bring me to Gram Forest is because you either want to show me something, tell me something, or get into another fight with me. Which is it today?" I asked, laying back on my rock.

"D, none of the above," Jake joked. "I wanted to ask you something"

"Yeah?" I asked while I began to lie up out of curiosity. "What is it?"

"Well, don't get mad at me if you are annoyed with me asking this over and over again" Jacob's voice drifted off.

"Spit it out, dear boy!"

"Nathalie, would you like to go with me to the Valentine's Day dance?" he asked confidently. A small smile crept onto my face. This time, the answer will be different than all of the other times.

"Yes, Jacob Black," I agreed. He suddenly burst into a fluff of orange fur and began prancing around in his wolf form. He jumped and he barked, just like any other excited little puppy would after playing fetch with its master. Jake flopped over to me and began licking my face.

"Ew, Jake, stop!" I commanded through fits of giggles. "If I wouldn't let you do this in human form, would you think I would let you in dog?" He backed off and went behind a bush, carrying his pants in his mouth. His shirt was in shreds on the floor. When he was done transforming, Jake Jake came over to me and wrapped me in one giant hug of fire. I could tell he was so happy, until his head shot up in the air, and he began listening intently as he did before at the winter formal.

"What is it-" Jake silenced me by putting his finger to my lips. He turned and looked at me worriedly.

"Get on the bike!" He commanded in a panicked tone.

"Wait, what's going on?" I demanded. When I didn't move Jake picked me up and carried me to his motorcycle. He placed me roughly on the seat and threw my helmet at me. Jacob jumped on in front of me and revved the engine. In less than two minutes, we were speeding down the road, going faster than we had before. He wove in and out of the passing cars, not caring that most of them were honking at him. I gripped his bare chest tightly and closed my eyes again. This was so nauseating.

"Jake," I moaned. My stomach was starting to hurt. "What's going on? Why did we leave?"

"I can't tell you!" His explanation did me no good. "I've just got to get you to safety!" Jake suddenly whipped around in a u-turn and zoomed down the other direction. "Damn it!" He cursed. "We're not safe anywhere! Listen, Nathalie, I've got to get you home! No time to explain. Just get in your house and don't come outside!"

"What's going on?" I asked for the third time. Jacob didn't even acknowledge the question. I was suddenly in front of my house with him pulling me to my door. "Jake, why won't you tell me?" I demanded, angry this time. He looked at me worriedly and shoved me through my front door. He ran down my drive way and returned to his bike and the road, not even taking a backwards glance at me.

'I'll get him tonight,' I thought angrily to myself. 'Oh, I will.'