What Hurts the Most

I woke up with my head pounding as if someone had just finished beating it with a giant hammer. I started to lie up, but then immediately fell back down. My head hurt way too much to move. I sighed, and inhaled deep breath of cool, fresh air. I could hear birds chirping above me, singing their own little songs. I opened my eyes and saw that I was encircled by trees. My hands gripped the ground around me, and I found I was grabbing grass, dirt, and twigs; obviously some sort of forest floor.

Was I still in Gram Woods? How long had I been asleep for? And who knocked me out?
These questions and questions like them formed an avalanche inside of my mind. The last thing I remember was leaning next to Jake and then, black. Nothing.
"Hey, you're awake!" I heard a familiar voice shout. "Thought I killed you for a second there."
"Feels like you tried to," I said with a smile. "What did you do, Jake?"

"Old La Push trick I learned when I was a kid," he explained. "Knocks people out for hours. In your case, days." I shot up from the ground, despite my throbbing head.
"DAYS!?" I exclaimed. "How long have I been out?"

"Just for, oh, two days now," Jake answered calmly, as if it didn't bother him at all.
"My parents must be worried sick!" I moaned, standing up. I wobbled a little bit like a sailor who hasn't gotten his sea legs yet. Jake was sitting around a small, home-made fire pit. He was roasting some sort of fish on it.
"Oh, they're probably out looking for you right now with the police," he stated, yet again, nonchalantly. I looked at him sideways.
"You didn't..." I said, my voice trailing off. Jake shrugged at me.
"I had to get you out of there," he told me. "I don't want anything else bad to happen to you." I tensed up and glared at the overgrown little child.
"Jacob Black, where are we?" I demanded. He looked up at me, in fakeshock.
"Why, Nathalie is that a tone you're using with me? Relax; we're about only a mile away from La Push. Just thought I'd stop and take a quick rest," he stated with a smile. I sat down slowly on the spot where I was laying a moment ago. My heart beat had quickened its pace.
"You know, the police are going to be hunting you down, now," I said, not looking at him. I shivered, totally oblivious to his presence at the moment; too lost in thought of what could happen. I didn't even notice him walk behind me until he had wrapped his arms around me.
"We'll be ok," Jacob said soothingly. "No one'll think to come looking in La Push, Washington."
"One will," I muttered distractingly. His grip grew rigid around me.
"He won't ever get to you. Never." His response was so intense, so severe that it made me believe him. I turned so our heads were only a hair away from each other. I stared directly in his deep, brown eyes.
"Then let's go."

I could just tell that Jake was ecstatic about returning home. We were walking hand-in-hand down the side of a road, and Jake was beaming. I swore that any second he was going to start skipping. Thankfully, he didn't. The scenery began to change from an old country type of place to a woodsy area. Jake pace became faster, so fast that I had to run just to keep up with his long strides. Finally, we came up to a little old house. Jake stopped and smiled at it, like a little kid staring at a puppy in the window of a pet store. He looked down at me and said:
"Welcome to my home!" Then he dragged me through the front door into a little living room and kitchen.
"DAD!" he yelled, and a man in a wheel chair rolled himself into the room. His eyebrows were furrowed together, and he was speculating Jake as if he were an apparition of some sort. He looked as if he were made of stone, just sitting and staring at his son. It was very awkward, and the air felt stagnant. Suddenly, his lip began to quiver and his eyes started to water.
"Finally!" He shouted, holding his arms out for Jake to hug. Jake looked so happy, his smile was ear to ear. I felt like backing out of the room, just to give them a minute alone together. It was very awkward being in the middle of a reunion. Jake turned and smiled at me, holding his hand out. I took it timidly, shy to meet his dad.
"Dad, this is Nathalie, Nathalie Hunter. She's from Illinois," Jake said, presenting me to his father. His dad squinted his eyes, scrutinizing me. After another long and awkward pause, he returned my nervous smile and nodded.
"So does this mean you're over-"
"Not now, dad," Jake cut him off severely. He took the hint.
"It's very nice to meet you, Nathalie." He greeted politely, sticking his hand out for me to shake.
"Nice to meet you, too, Mr. Black," I returned. He shook his head.
"No, no! Call me Billy!" He told me.
"Alright then, Billy," I said with another nervous smile. Billy nodded and turned to his son. Randomly, he smacked him in the head.
"Ow!" Jake exclaimed, rubbing the spot where he was struck. "Was that really necessary?"
"Yes," Billy replied calmly. "You deserved that after what you did."
"Not to sound rude, but, what the hell are you talking about?" Jake yelled, sounding offended.
"Watch your language. And you ran away from your home and your pack. That's what you did," Billy explained in the same tone. "I suggest you go pay them a visit." Jake rolled his eyes, concealing a smile.
"Sure, sure," he mumbled, taking my hand and walking out the door.
We held hands as we trudged up the rock road to a little clearing around a lake. There was a tree with a stump that a person could sit on, so I did. Jake leaned on the tree, crossing his arms.
"I guess I should call them..." Jake muttered.
"Want to borrow my cell phone?" I offered, and he grinned at me.
"I know a faster way." He said this, and then stepped into the forest where he was concealed by trees. Moments later, I heard a howl. I recognized it immediately and grinned to myself. He came back to the beach, pulling his pants up.
"Could you at least be fully clothed before you return?" I complained, smiling.
"I thought you would appreciate it," he said in a smart-alike tone. "They should be here soon."
"Who?" I questioned.
"The pack." He sounded distant, and then I heard the sound of hundreds of dogs running in the same direction. Almost like a stampede. As suddenly as it came, it stopped. I slowly got up out of my seat with my heart-pounding. I really hope this was the pack!
"Nathalie, meet my family!" He announced, wrapping an arm around my shoulder. I took this opportunity to snuggle close to his big, muscular, warm body. Then, I finally saw them. The other wolves Jacob had told me so much about. They came out one by one, twigs snapping with every step they took. There were five wolves of all kinds of color; some brown, some gray, some spotted, and so on.
"Ok guys, you've scared the crap out of her," Jake said, tightening his grip around me. "I think you should change back now." The wolves crept back into the shadows and returned as humans. Fully clothed, thankfully. There were all guys except for one girl. The bigger on stood in the middle. They were all smiling at Jake, well, except for the girl who was glaring. The big one took a step forward.
"Hey Sam!" Jake greeted and they pounded fists. Sam nodded his greeting.
"Long time no see," he said in a gruff, deep voice.
"Anything exciting happen since my little vacation?"

"Not really," Sam answered.
"Then there might be some, soon."
"Brought trouble with you, eh?" one boy laughed from the group.
"Shove it, Embry," Jake yelled back.
"Touche!" a different boy yelled.
"And take Quil will you!"

"Alright, Jake," Sam said soothingly. "What's happened?" Jake began to explain the situation to the others.

"And now he's trying to kill me to get to Nathalie." He concluded, and Sam looked at me as if he hadn't even noticed I was there. The pack was grim.

"Jake, not again," Embry said quietly. "You of all people know what happened last time."

"If you just really like her, then-" Quil began.

"I don't just really like her!" Jake snapped at them.

"I'm in love with her. I've imprinted on her."
Quil and Embry whistled at each other, and I looked at Jake confusedly.
What did imprinting mean?

"You said you thought so the last time..." Sam said grimly.

"I never said that!" Jake yelled, starting to stand up. "I simply said I was in love with her." This made me shrink back behind him for a second. What was the big deal with this girl, anyways? I felt like crap when he went on about her like this with such passion. I felt a little ill as well.

"I don't want anymore of THEM getting in our way." Sam shouted back, also rising.

"This is different!"

"No it's not." Sam stated boldly. "They're exactly the same. And in the end, you're going to get hurt."

"I came back here to help her," Jake began quietly. "Not for another one of your lectures."
Jake turned to me and held out his hand. I took it without looking directly in his eyes. I really didn't feel like talking to him at the moment. We started walking back in the direction of his home.
"Oh, and by the way, Sam," Jake said, stopping but not turning to look at him. "This is different. I'M the one that put Nathalie in danger. Not the other way around."
Quil and Embry stood up and started to follow us, but Jake growled at them and they stopped. I felt a little bad; Jake felt responsible for my danger. It wasn't ALL his fault. I was the one that forced him to bring me outside on the night of the Valentine's Day Dance. It was my fault.
Oh, Jake.
I squeezed his hand tighter, to give him faith. As soon as we were out of earshot, he turned around and embraced me tightly.
"I'm sorry you had to go through that..." Jake apologized. He started stroking my hair softly as if it were as fragile as glass.
"I thought they were going to help me, not remind me of my past mistakes," he continued.

"It's alright," I answered quietly. "I understand."
I made a small yawn and covered my mouth with my hand.

"You tired again?" He asked with a laugh.

"Just a little bit," I said. "Can we go back to your house and rest? I don't mean to intrude..."

"No, no. You're our guest for as long as you need."
I nodded my thanks. He lazily slipped his arm around my neck and we continued the walk to his house. It was so different here than it was at home. It was dark and cloudy, I didn't like it.

"Jacob?" I asked suddenly.

"Hm?"

"What does, 'imprinting' mean?" I questioned curiously. He chuckled and grinned.

"It's almost like love," he explained. "But much more than that. It kind of means we're soul mates."

"I like the sound of that," I said with my heart pounding excitedly.
"Me, too." He agreed, turning to face me. He leaned in and kissed me, this time much nicer, and I could feel the magic working between us. That was when I knew:
I was in love with Jacob Black.