Not as funny and lighthearted as last chapter. This story was tagged as a drama/romance, after all.

I frowned. Picking up the green dress, I held it up in front of myself, staring at the reflection in the mirror. I had never really done this before, and this uncharted territory was really fucking with my fashion sense, which, admittedly, wasn't much in the first place. It was times like these that I actually needed Kaitlin's assistance, but, of course, her parents decided to take her on a hike that took up the entire day, and they - of course - chose to do it today, so she was out.

I sighed again, setting down the dress and picking up the red one. I stroked the material, reveling in the silky material. I loved this dress – my mom and I had picked it out at one of those blowout sales at a department store. I had never worn it before, partially because I've never had a chance to, and also because...it was sort of daring. For me, at least. It was tight, form fitting, and had a plunging (again, for me) neckline. Definitely not something I would normally pick, which was why I was warring with myself. Over a freaking dress.

I groaned, tossing the dress carefully aside and sitting on my bed, brushing wispy strands out of my eyes.

"I would go with red."

I started, still weary of surprises. I looked up, eyes widening when I realized that it was Evan. Also known as the newest member of the, uh, La Push werewolf pack...

"Sorry," he apologized, nervously stuffing his hands in his jean pockets. "Can I come in?"

I bit my lip, not able to withhold the nerves that flinched at the thought. I saw him wince as he watched me hesitate, and immediately felt horrible. I was his sister, after all.

"Sure," I said, clearing my throat and making room for him next to me on my bed. I patted the spot. "Sit."

"Thanks," he muttered, taking a seat.

"Yeah," I whispered, staring down at my clasped hands that rested in my lap.

"I just..." he said after a moment, breaking the tense silence. "I just wanted to apologize. I...I lost it back there." He said guiltily, rubbing the back of his neck. "And I'm so fucking sorry for scaring you like that. And for endangering you like that." My mind flashed to Emily, the scars marring her face. Sam had done that. "I'm so stupid."

"No," I sighed. "You're not. You couldn't have known that was going to happen. And it was partially my fault for provoking what is in your blood."

"But I could have handled it better," he replied, regret still strong in his voice.

I wondered for a moment if Jared had talked to him, but decided to let him bring it up himself. I'm sure he didn't need more to his already overflowing plate.

"I should have known though," I replied, unable to stop the slight bitterness in my tone. "I should have attempted to warn you, or handled it better." Although I have to admit that some of the aftermath (i.e. second base in Jared's bedroom...) was rather pleasant.

"Warn me?" Evan asked incredulously, turning his newly shaved head to look at me in confusion. "You had no way of knowing what could have happened."

Well shit. Jared hadn't told him. Damn it.

"You're wrong," I shook my head, avoiding eye contact. "I knew. Like, seriously, I knew."

It took him a couple seconds, but he got it. "What?" He exploded. "You knew before me? About the wolves?"
"Shhh!" I cried, staring at him and quickly jumping off the bed and running to the other side of the bed when I noticed his hands were shaking. "Do you want to tell the whole family?" I asked in a harsh whisper.

"Sorry," he said shortly, apologizing both for his volume and the scare. I slowly came back to the bed, taking my seat. "It's just...all so fresh."

"Overwhelming," I said, nodding in agreement. I knew what he meant, and I wasn't even a werewolf, just an imprintee.

"Right," he sighed. "But how did you know? I mean, besides the stories and the legends. Nobody really believes in those."

"Oh, um..." I searched my room, frantically hoping for an answer. "Well, you see." I swallowed. I didn't know how much he knew. If I told him about imprinting, would that freak him out and provoke an unwanted transformation? "Jared told me," I finally settled on it. Might as well get it out and over with.

"Jared?" He repeated slowly. "I think I remember him. Maybe."

I nodded. "Yeah. We're um, kinda going out on a date tonight."

"Oh," he said, looking at me. I avoided his gaze, biting my lip and running a hand over the red dress. "Ohhh," he said again, this time with more understanding. "You like him."

"Yeah," I choked out.

"Hm."

Silence.

"Yeah." Smooth Kim, real smooth.

"Well," he said, standing up. "I'll let you, er, get to it."

I nodded, feeling the awkward tension in the air.

"But...we're good, right?" He asked, concern showing in his brown eyes.

"Of course," I replied, smiling. I loved my brother, werewolf and all. Sure, he almost killed me and scared me enough to run into the arms of an Adonis (not a horrible punishment, if you ask me), but...I could deal. He was family, after all.

"Good," he said, blowing a sigh of relief. "Thank God."

I smiled at him. He would always be a kid to me, even if he was nearing Jared in size. I watched him walk to the door, still sitting on my bed. I was about to return to the fashion war when he spoke again.

"And I would go with the red, by the way."

I turned to look at him. "You know, giving your older sister fashion advice will not help you convince the other guys in the pack that you're ready to fight and, well," I smirked. "Be a man."

"Oh...yeah, you're right," he sighed. "Damn it."

I laughed as he walked away, standing up again and holding the red dress up against myself. I looked into the mirror, unable to hide my smile.

I was going out on a date with fucking Jared Haida.

Jared. Haida.

Delicious abs. Amazing smile. Shining personality. Good hair. Protector.

Not to mention a last name that really went well with my name. Kimberly Haida had a ring to it.

"Thank you Evan!" I called, hoping he could still hear me as I slipped the dress off the hanger and hung the green dress back up.

"Where exactly are we going again?" I asked, staring as dark green flashed by.

He sighed. "It's a secret," he said patiently, his eyes on the road.

"But why?" This was probably the fourth time in forty minutes we've had this conversation.

"Because," he said, frustration creeping into his tone. "This is our first date, and this is how it is supposed to be done." He said this very sensibly. I had a sneaking suspicion that his mother had instructed him on the "perfect" first date, and looked out the window again to hide my smile.

"Of course," I replied, as if this all made sense.

He sighed, squeezing his eyes shut for a moment. "Why are you making this so difficult?"

I shifted in my seat, making it so I was facing him but not flashing him. That would be embarrassing. But maybe not a terrible idea. I had heard that some boys were really attracted to black lace...

But anyways.

"Because you should know that this doesn't have to be perfect. Everything and everyone has their flaws."

Besides you, I whispered in my head. I do believe Jared Haida was perfect. A specimen that belonged in a museum.

"I know," he replied. "But I do want it to be special. And nice. I mean, look at you." He looked away from the road, instead looking at me, causing a bright blush to spread over my cheeks. This made him grin, which made my ears turn scarlet.

"I'm sure it will be nice," I said after regaining my composure.

"But good enough?" He asked, reaching casually over to take my hand. "I can only hope."

I rolled my eyes, but was secretly pleased that he was as nervous. To avoid his probing and beautiful eyes, I instead took his huge hand, examining it with interest. Even his hands seemed muscled, like the rest of his body. I had never thought of hands as hot, but now, seeing Jared's long fingers and feeling his soft skin, I definitely had to reconsider my initial thoughts.

"We're here, by the way," he said softly, breaking my reverie of hand fantasies.

I dropped his hand into my lap - a place where it was quite welcome - and examined the front of the fancy restaurant. It was rustic looking outside, with vines draping the entrance, giving it an Italian feel.

"Huh," I couldn't help remark. "Impressive, Mr. Haida, very impressive."

He grinned at me, obviously pleased. "My lady," he said grandly. "You have not seen nothin' yet."

He got out of the car and jogged quickly around to open my door for me, offering me his hand as I stepped outside. I smiled at him, hoping the nighttime would hide my blush. Based on his cheeky smile, I would say not, but I chose to ignore it as he locked the car and laid a hand on my back to lead me into the restaurant. Soft violin music was playing in the background, and there was a decent crowd inside. Fortunately, Jared had the sense to make reservations, so we were seated immediately.

I smiled a thank you to the waiter and then picked up the menu, ignoring the fact that Jared was staring at me. After picking out fettuccine alfredo, I decided to bite.

"Yes?" I asked, folding my hands on the table. "You want to say something?"

He nodded. "We need to talk."

I gripped the the sides of my chair, needing something to occupy my hands. No fucking way.

"About what?" I asked, my voice shaking.

He stared at me for a moment before realizing what was going on in my mind that caused my to react with such paranoia. "No no no no no!" He said, shaking his head and speaking loud enough to garner attention from fellow diners. We waited until something else caught their attention, staring at each other the entire time, his eyes burning with passion. After a few moments, when the sounds of dining picked up again, he started again as well.

"We need to talk," he said. "About the uh, werewolf thing."

I relaxed, calming down my breathing.

"There are things that you need to know about," he said, twisting his napkin nervously in his hands. "Things you need to know about if you're going to be doing...this with me."

I nodded, telling him silently to continue.

"There are certain aspects of being a were-"

"Are you guys ready to order?"

We both looked up at the waiter, who was probably my age, and then back at each other.

"Sure," Jared replied, obviously annoyed at the interruption. "I'll just have the spaghetti and meatballs."

The waiter nodded, looking down to write it on his notepad and then looking to me.

"Fettuccine alfredo," I said. "Thank you."

We both watched him walk away before I continued.

"We need a different word," I said. "We can't use werewolf. It's too..." I shrugged, the words not coming to me.

"Yeah, I know," he said, running a hand through his hair.. "Um, how about pitcher?"

"Pitcher?"

"Yeah, you said you liked baseball. Why not?"

Focusing on not choking on my water, I nodded. After swallowing, I said out loud, "Sounds great." Thankfully, he didn't notice my strained tone.

"Great," he said. "And I'm sorry. This won't be the perfect first date."

"It's fine," I said, waving it off. "It's probably good that we're all on the same page. Especially with Evan now a were..." at his look I trailed off, remembering the code word with a slight cringe. "Especially with Evan now a pitcher."

"Right," he said, blowing out a breath. "So. Let's just get to it, eh?" I nodded in agreement then sat back in my chair, preparing myself.

"As a, uh, pitcher, I, well, we have certain duties. That includes protecting La Push and all of its inhabitants." I had the feeling that he had been lectured on this many times before. "As a pitcher, we have upstanding traditions to hold ourselves to. People have died, Kim. They died for their tribe, and as a w-pitcher, it is our duty to do everything for our tribe."

There was a sharp passion in his words, an emotion that spiked my heart and filled me with pride, and also scared the shit out of me.

"So me and the guys run shifts. You know, maybe Jake and I will run the perimeter one night, checking for leeches, and then the next day, Paul and Sam will take it. We all work together as a team to function and protect. And when we're in wolf form, we can all communicate. Basically, we share one mind. So, in wolf form, I can think anything, and the guys will hear it."

I frowned. I didn't know if I wanted the guys to hear everything. That would be embarrassing, and I already had enough of a blushing problem.

"But I'm pretty good at keeping certain things out," he quickly assured me, that twinkle in his eyes as he smiled. "They don't get all the good stuff, trust me." I felt my cheeks heat, and he continued with a smile. "It's mainly just for battle purposes, so we're not constantly howling and barking at each other."

I nodded in understanding, ignoring how my heart skipped a beat when he said battles. Based on his tone of voice, that type of thing excited him. But in me it emitted a sharp terror that started deep in my belly and filled my chest and my head with fear.

That would be my brother out there.

That would be the love of my life out there.

"Kim?" Jared asked in a whisper, his eyes concerned as the waiter silently set the plates down in front of us and left.

I shook my head, trying to get the thoughts and images out of my head. "Sorry," I said, picking up my fork. "Go on."

He stared for another minute and then picked up his fork, taking a huge bite and then talking around his food.

"So, anyways, since we're always running around, we have a big appetite. And we're growing boys."

I watched with wide eyes as he demolished half of his large plate of spaghetti in one minute.

"Wow," I mustered to say. Wow, indeed. He had a big mouth, and an even larger stomach, it seems.

"Yeah," he said somewhat sheepishly, shrugging. "I enjoy my food."

"I'll say," I remarked, taking a bite of my own food. That made sense though. They would expend a lot of energy phasing from form to form. And running around. Suddenly those twenty hotdogs at the bonfire seemed like a normal number.

"But there is a reason we always need to be fueled, and on it. Because we're protecting La Push," he explained seriously, taking a sip of water. "Do you know who the Cullens are?"

I nodded. Everybody knew who they were on our reservation. They were rumored to be vampires, the same ones who initially set up the boundaries for our tribe many years ago.

"Well, they are...we'll call them catchers. Vampires are catchers, kay?"

I nodded my assent, setting down my fork as a nervous feeling broke out in my bones.

"So, the Cullens are catchers. An entire family of them."

I stared at him.

"I'm serious."

"Really?" I asked, doubtful.

"Yes," he sighed. "They live as vegetarians. So they don't...drink human blood. Only animal blood."

I looked at him.

"It's true!" He said indignantly. Lowering his voice, he said, "That's why they're not allowed on the reservation. Those myths, those legends, they're true. All of them."

I blew out a breath, not hungry any more. "You want my food?" I asked, my voice sounding weak and feeble to my own ears.

He winced and nodded, taking my plate. "Sorry, this isn't the ideal first date."

I nodded absently, trying to take it all in.

I think every kid in La Push (and many adults) scoff at the legends the elders of our tribe drilled into our heads. We never thought any of them were true, we just thought of them as Native American tall tales. This would change a lot though.

"Are all...catchers vegetarians?" I asked, mentally noting how weird this conversation would seem to an outsider.

"No," he replied quickly, already finishing with my food. "Definitely not."

I looked at my napkin, which was now torn to pieces by my nervous hands.

"Kim," he called softly, continuing once he knew he had my attention. "I will always protect you. No matter what, I...it is my duty to make sure you are safe. Always understand that. I doing this to protect La Push, yes, but for me, now, you are a huge part of La Push. I'm doing this to protect you. I will never let you get hurt. Never."

I held his eyes, which were burning with emotion, their fiery chocolate depths shining brightly in the candlelight. After a long silence, I nodded, telling him that I understood. This was something he had to do; it was in his blood.

"Okay," I said, unable to say anything else. "Okay."

He blew out a breath, obviously still troubled. "Let's get some air," he said, flagging down the waiter and paying the bill. We stood, and he guided my out of the restaurant, away from his car and towards the pier. It was fully dark out now, the moon visible over the water. He wrapped an arm around my shoulders, protecting me from the chill with the pure heat of his body.

We took a seat at the end of the pier, dangling our legs over the softly turning water. I focused my eyes on the moon, leaning on the beautiful man to my right. He held strong, still shielding me from the cold, as I'm sure he always would. He would always protect me, he would always be strong.

And hot. He'd always be hot, even when he was walking with a cane.

"Is it true?" I asked, looking up at him. "Do you change when there is a full moon?"

He grinned, shaking his head. "Nope," he said, popping the p. "That's a legend, for sure."

I smiled, glad we could get back to what we were used to, not heavy stuff.

"And silver stuff doesn't bring us down either," he added with a face. "That silver bullet thing is shit."

I grinned, snuggling up to him more.

"And there was one more thing I wanted to talk about," he said softly, kissing my hair.

I sighed, shutting my eyes for a moment to ward off the aching feeling inside. I was always worried about what he had to say, like if he was going to break some news to me that wouldn't be good.

"You remember what I've told you about imprinting?" He asked into my hair in a soft gentle voice.

I nodded. He had told me that it happened after the change, and you just saw the person, and knew you had to be with them.

"And you know that you are my imprint."

I moved my head up and down again, a smile on my face.

"So you should know that I will always love you."

Okay, let's just, pause, right now.

"So you should know that I will always love you."

LOVE. Jared Haida loved me. He was in love with me.

Oh my God! Inner twelve year old me was jumping up and down, squealing.

He loved me! Not any other bitch, he loved me! Take that, stupid girls in my fifth grade class who sneered at me! Go crying back to your wimpy little boyfriends who can't turn into a mega cool wolf and kick vampire ass!

"Kim?"

Okay, we're cool. Un-pause.

I felt a hand on my face, stroking the apples of my cheeks. "Kim?" He asked again, a smile evident in his tone.

I pulled myself together, hugging his waist with renewed vigor.

"Kim?" he asked again.

"What?" I asked into his chest while inhaling his scent in gulps.

"I said I love you," he said.

I tilted my head back, not understanding what he was getting at. "I know," I said. "I'm not that stupid."

"Of course you aren't," he quickly assured me. "But uh, do you, um, do you...?"

I smiled, my confidence just about bursting from the seems. I put my hand up to his cheek, shuffling over so I was in his lap, enveloped in his warmth. "I love you, Jared Haida. Very much so."

His teeth were blindingly white, his smile huge. I smiled back, wrapping my arms in a lock around his neck. His warm hand found my waist, the other one creeping along my leg and to my neck. "Good," he whispered, latching his lips onto mine.

"WOOOOOO! YEAH! It's about time!" I heard a loud pop from right behind me, and jumped, screaming.

You know, when we first sat down at the edge of the pier, I had mentally thought about how picturesque it was, the Pacific right underneath us, waves swirling gently to create a romantic soundtrack to our first date .

Now... not so much.

"Kim!" Jared yelled.

In my shock, I had flinched my way out of Jared's arms, and right into the fucking freezing ocean, taking Jared with me. I felt his hand grip my arm, wrenching me above surface.

"Shit, are you okay?" he yelled over the now loud ocean.

I nodded, already feeling the chill in my bones as my teeth chattered. Jared was the only reason I was still above the surface.

We both glanced over to the pier, where I now saw that Paul was dying with laughter as he rolled around on the pier, his face bright red, while Embry stood to the side, a small smirk on his face as he divided his time watching Paul and then look at us.

"Oh fuck, Paul, you are dead!" Jared hissed, wrenching himself up and handing my hand – I was still in the water – to Embry. "Fucking dead!" He shot towards him. Paul got up quickly and took off down the pier, still laughing his ass off as Jared chased him, screaming further profanities.

Embry pulled me up, handing me his jacket.

"Thanks," I said with my chattering teeth, watching with amusement as the boys began wrestling with each other.

"Sorry," Embry apologized. "We didn't think you guys would fall in."

"It's okay," I said with a smile, relaxed. Jared was now pummeling Paul, who had began to beg for mercy. "Really, it's all okay."

Thank you for the reviews. They are all lovely, kind, and smiley. :) Also, sorry about the page breaks (the transitions from one scene to another, basically) Although on the preview thing they are shown, they are not shown on the final copy (this copy) and I know that's probably confusing, and I apologize. I don't know how to fix them.

Also, I would like to give credit to Wikipedia for last chapter's explanations of the amazing, intriguing, and fantastic sport of baseball... link is provided on my profile if you feel the need for further research. ;) It should be under Unseen Till Now links.