What Hurts the Most

"Jake! I just can't leave!" I yelled at him. We were in my room the next day and were arguing. Jake wanted me to go with him to where he used to live. I knew I couldn't leave; what would my parents think? Or my friends? Luckily at the moment, neither my parents nor my brother were home. The sun was just beginning to set and dye the skies a pink and orange tie dye.

"Sure you can!" He retorted. He was reclining on my bed as I was pacing back and forth. "That's what I did."

"But that's different!" I pointed out. "You have some super secret reason why you left. Me? Not at all!"

"Your reason to leave is so you won't get killed." He replied. I moaned and fell backwards onto my bed next to Jake.

"Can we at least wait until spring break?" I negotiated. "It's in three weeks."

"Nope," He answered stubbornly. "You could be dead by then."

"Please?" I begged, turning over onto my stomach. "That way I could say I'm going on vacation with a friend or something." He was thoughtful for a moment. He opened his mouth to say something, but I cut him off. "Otherwise, if we just up and leave, my parents will call the cops on you," I pointed out. "Then the whole country will be searching for you. Do you want that?" He grumbled for a second.

"Fine," he muttered. "But not a day later."

"Excellent." I said triumphantly. "Now I need to find someone to cover for me. I'll call Holly and tell her to meet me at the park." I reached for my cell phone but was delayed by Jacob's hand.

"Wait," he stopped me. "What are we going to tell her? That you're running away from a vampire? She'll want an explanation."

"Hm, you're right." I admitted, dropping my hand. "We could tell her that I'm going somewhere with Ryan but I know my parents won't let me because Ryan's a guy..."

"But then we'll have to let Ryan in on the secret." Jake pointed out.

"Ugh," I moaned. "What're we going to do then?" I sighed and walked over to my window, watching the last few rays of light for the day. Jacob came behind me and wrapped himself around me, warming up my entire body. I closed my eyes and relished the moment. Suddenly, Jacob tensed.

"Oh, not again!" I complained.

"He's near," he growled. His grip around me grew tighter. "I'm not leaving you tonight."

"What about my parents?"

"I'll try to be inconspicuous." He said, still tense. I looked at him skeptically.

"You're kind of, on the big side," I pointed out.

"Trust me." He breathed. And I did. Then I saw a pair of flashing lights headed towards my house.

"My parents!" I whispered as I slid back from the window with Jake still attached. "You've gotta hide!" I shoved him into my closet just as they pulled up into the driveway. I went downstairs and greeted them and their hand-fulls of groceries.

"Hey honey!" My mom said happily. She handed me three bags of groceries and I brought them into the kitchen.

"What did you guys buy me?" I asked sweetly. Seth rolled his eyes at me.

"Nothing!" he answered for all of them. "But they brought me some Power Ranger: Jungle Fury underwear!" I messed up his hair and glared at my parents.

"You bought him underwear and me nothing?" I said, disgustedly.

"Here," My dad said as he tossed a bag to me. "It's a lunchable." I eyed him curiously.

"Turkey and cheese sandwich crackers?" I asked suspiciously.

"Ahuh," my dad said and I smiled. Who doesn't love a turkey and cheese sandwich cracker lunchable?

"Thanks!" I said happily, kissing him on the cheek. I grabbed it and tore off to my room. Jake was on my bed, flipping through a J14 magazine.

"Jessica Alba," he said when I walked in, smiling and nodding his head. I glared at him. He looked up at me and smirked at me.

"I was just kidding. I knew you were standing there."

"You better be," I mumbled. He started eyeing my bag and sniffed the air.

"Is that a lunchable I smell?" Jacob asked, lifting his eyebrows up.

"Maybe..." I said quietly. "It's mine!" He dove for my bag and I turned around, causing him to bring me to the ground. A huge 'thump' rumbled through the house and my head shot up, well, it would have shot up if it wasn't underneath Jake's armpit. I could hear my parents talking.

"Is it thundering out there?" My mom asked.

"Sure is!" my dad answered. "It's lightning, too."

"Phew!" I said, though it was muffled by Jake's huge form. "We've got to be more careful! Huh! Oh no! My lunchable!" It was smashed underneath me.

"Did the crackers crumble?" Jake asked sadly. I nodded my head.

"But the turkey and cheese are ok!" I said positively. "And the airhead is good. Let's chow down." I ripped the box open and fractioned out the cracker sandwiches. We finished them in 30 seconds flat.

"Anymore of them?" Jacob asked.

"Nope," I answered, turning the box upside down. "We ate it all. Hey, you're yourself again. Is Tristan gone?" He was thoughtful for a moment.

"Yeah, he's gone." He said, after stifling a yawn.

"Good. In that case, I think I'm gonna go shower," I announced and got up to grab my pj's.

I came back out of the shower with a towel wrapped around my head. Jake was passed out on my bed. He looked so calm, and at ease. It made him look less severe, more like his actual age. Unfortunately for me, he was sprawled out across my bed. I tried to lift his arm up so I could just squeeze in next to him, but his arm probably weighed the same amount as I did. I settled for the floor, pulling an old pillow and comforter from the top rack of my closet. It wasn't the most comfortable place, but it was better than nowhere. I eventually had to move my spot to an area farther away from my bed, because Jake was moving around so much that pillows and stuffed animals kept falling on top of me.

"Aw crap," was the first thing I heard the next day. "I fell asleep, didn't I?" I peeked up from my 'bed' and looked over at Jacob. His hands were on his head and he was scowling. "What if he had come? I would not have been able to save you! I'm so stupid." He berated himself. I yawned and exited my spot from the floor.

"No, you were just tired," I said cheerfully, yet tiredly.

"I always manage to fall asleep around girls I like..." He mumbled.

"Huh?" I asked, barely catching what he said. "You, um, liked someone else?" He grimaced.

"That was a long time ago," he explained. "I'm never gonna see her again." He sounded so sad, so lonely. It almost brought tears to my eyes.

"I-I see..." I said sadly. "Did you really, uh, love her?" He looked up at me.

"Let's not talk about it." He answered, and kissed my forehead. "But you never talk about your past!" I whined. "Just answer the damn question!"

"Fine then," he said angrily. "Yes, I did love her. And she loved me. But she loved somebody else even more and now they're married."

"Oh," I said quietly, slightly relieved. "I'm sorry Jake. Wait, was that why you left?"

"It's more complicated than that."

"Then what made you leave?" I pressed on.

"I don't want to bring it up."

"You are so stubborn!" I yelled at him.

"Yep." he said with a smile. It caught me off guard. Then I heard footsteps coming up the stairs.

"Shoot, my parents!" I whispered and once again, shoved him in the closet. Seth walked into my room chewing on a nerds rope.

"What do you want?" I asked politely.

"Who're you talking to?"

"No one. I was yelling at the tv. They cancelled Teen Titans!" I yelled angrily.

"But the tv's off." He said in his smart-alikey tone.

"That's because I shut it off, brainiac." I returned.

"Whatever. Mom and dad want to know if you want to go to the mall with us."

"Is that a rhetorical question?" I asked and he rolled his eyes.

"Can Jake come with us?"

"Yeah! Jake's cool!" Seth said happily. "He's got a motorcycle!" He went downstairs to ask mom and dad. I could hear Jake sniggering from inside the closet. Seth came back in a couple of seconds.

"Mom and dad said it was ok. Can you ask Jake if I could ride on his motorcycle with him?" He asked excitedly. I laughed, knowing Jake was feeling very smug at the moment.

"I'll ask," I told him and his eyes lit up.

"Thanks!" He said appreciatively. Aw, he was so cute sometimes.

Jake and I were walking hand in hand in the mall. I already had two bags in my hands; one from bath and body works and the other from Hot Topic. We were heading for JC Penny's because Jake needed some new clothes...badly. I pulled off a pair of baggy jeans, modeling them over my pants. The pants were so big, I could have become a hobo and lived in them. Jacob put his hand to his chin, thinking about whether he liked them or not.

"It is not, what do you say, me?" he said, cocking his eyebrow. I giggled and put them back. He began grabbing random ginormo jeans and headed towards the changing room.

"I'll be out here if you need me!" I shouted to him. He turned around and frowned at me.

"Don't you want to watch?" he asked. I smiled at him.

"Tempting," I told him. "But there's a blue shirt over here that's calling my name." That was a lie. It was actually a green shirt. I began to just roam about the girl's section which was only a section away from the boy's, when I caught the shadow of a figure standing down an aisle that made me do a double-take. It was Tristan. He was sporting a green turtle neck and some black jeans. His hair was its usual spikiness and he was grinning down at me. I could hear Jake growling, and him trying to escape the changing rooms. In a second, Tristan was behind me with his arms around my waist. He made some strange purring noise into my ear.

"I missed you," He said dreamily. "I know it's only been a day, but I couldn't be without you." Jake charged out of the changing room with fury in his eyes. Tristan laughed.

"Let me go," I said through clenched teeth. "Oh, but you smell so," he paused, and leaned into my ear, causing me to shiver uncontrollably. "Good."

"TRISTAN!" Jake roared. "Let go of her now." This only made him sneer more and people start to stare.

"Why don't you transform, mongrel?" Tristan teased. "Too afraid?" Jake was shivering and twitching. I could tell he was forcing himself not to change into his wolf-form.

"I'm doing it for her sake." Jake answered.

"Let's take this outside, darling," he said to me. In the blink of an eye, we were outside in some sort of forest. It might have been Gram Forest, but I couldn't tell. Jake was nowhere to be seen. Tristan looked at me lovingly, and reached out for me. I backed away, out of his reach, which was totally pointless. He grabbed me a second later. I didn't notice before that wherever the sunlight filtered through the trees and hit him, he seemed to glitter. It would have been a beautiful sight, if I wasn't scared out of my mind. He crashed his lips onto mine, and I couldn't get away. No matter how hard I kicked or struggled, he was ten time stronger than I. He tried to pry my mouth open with his tongue, but I refused to budge. He pushed me onto the ground and lay on top of me. Before he could kiss me again, there was a growling coming from somewhere out of my view. I didn't have to look up to know it was Jake. Tristan smiled and backed off of me.

"Finally, you and me wolf," he said as if he had been dreaming of it his entire life. "The fight is no longer just because you're a werewolf, but because of her. Once I kill you, she will be mine." Jake was now a wolf, and dived at him, nearly missing him. Tristan laughed again, as if to tease him. I felt so helpless. What could I do? I was a weak little human, and he was a strong vampire. Then an idea hit me. Vampires like blood, right? I dove at the ground and grabbed the nearest, sharpest rock I could find. I raised it up to my shoulder, closed my eyes and clenched my teeth, and dug the rock into it. Tristan's head shot up and I knew it had worked. He quickly shoved Jake aside and started to walk towards me, his hands reaching for my blood. His eyes had turned red. Jake took the opportunity to dive at him and had Tristan's arm in his mouth. Tristan cried out in pain, not wanting to tear his eyes from me. He managed to get away, but he was clutching his arm. His teeth were clenched and he was glaring at Jake. Jake was standing defensively in front of me, panting hard.

"Fine then!" he said in a snake-like voice. "You've won this battle. But don't think it's the last one! I still WANT her!" And with that, he was gone. Jake slowly changed back and collapsed onto the ground.

"Are you ok, Jake?" I asked worriedly. He turned his head so I could see him and he smiled slightly.

"Yeah, I'm good," he assured me. "Just do me one favor, ok?"

"Anything!"

"Get me some pants please." He said with a chuckle. Jake was naked again. I laughed with him and nodded my head. I saw part of his pants nearby and grabbed them.

"Um, here's what's left of your pants," I said, holding them up. He took them and slowly laid up. I turned around so he could put them on.

"How're we going to get back?" I asked, still turned around.

"We'll have to walk," He said. Jacob grabbed my shoulder and turned me around. He slammed his body into mine in a deep embrace. "I never want anything to happen to you," he said quietly. "Never."

"It's not like it was your fault. We didn't know he would be there." I said comfortingly.

"If I had never practically brought you to him this would never have happened," He muttered angrily.

"What's done is done." I said firmly. "And we can't go back and change it."

"That's why I need to get you out of here. Tonight."

"What?" I yelled, backing away from him. "I thought we discussed this."

"I know, but I need to get you where the other werewolves are," he told me, sitting down on the ground. "It'll be better odds the next time he shows up, then."

"Jake, I can't..." I told him. "I can't just go. I've told you this before." I sat down next to him and slumped onto his shoulder. He put his arm around me and held me tight.

"Then I am going to have to kidnap you."

"You say that so casually." I informed him.

"That's because I am going to do it. I'm sure it'll take your parents a long time to find you when your hundreds of miles away."

"Jake..." My voice failed me when I felt something hit me in the neck, and I fell to the ground, knocking me out.