Chapter one – Our arrival.

(Thankyou for taking your time to read this. Reviews if you feel the need.)

The crisp air burnt harshly against my lungs. I breathed out and the air spiralled in flowing swirls about me, I could tell that whereever Jake was driving to wasn't going to get any warmer very fast. I let my breath roll off my tongue and steam up the chill mirror. "Will you stop that?" He looked at me just as I stuck me tongue back in my mouth.

"But why is it so cold?" I moaned pulling my legs towards my chest and hugging them tightly. "Come over here then." He held out his arm to me, an offer I was unable to refuse. I curled up into his chest and felt his arm tighten around my shoulder. He really cared about me. I knew that.

It was just hard relating to the reasons behind this. A holiday was suppost to be somewhere warm, or at least somewhere exotic. I had heard my friends at school talk about Ibiza and Amsterdam and all these clubbing centrals with off the record beaches but Jake refused to let me near one. And that was without asking my father. He wouldn't even let me outside when the sun out, so I sparkle. So what? But really. All Jake had done was drive for hours on end. I wasn't even sure we were still in Washington anymore. There had been road signs but I was never any good at those, they were all lines and names of places I had never heard of. Places I had never seen.

"I know you wanted to go somewhere where the sun was" Jake looked down at me for a moment, taking his eye off the road. I didn't look up back up at him but I could feel his adoring eyes on my back. I was glad when they were lifted but that was only because I was a worrier. I didn't really mind how much he looked at me. "But your Dad only just agreed to this trip, never mind somewhere where you could be exposed." His tanned warm hands stroked my delicate white arms sending warm tingles through my body. "I promise you'll love it anyway" his lip curled to the side where he was smiling.

"I trust you Jake." I told him, "But next time, somewhere with a beach." I was half joking, let me point that out, "and a bar and a pool" I was going to carry on but he digged me in the ribs sending me into fits of laughter. He seemed to find this hilarious also and we sat laughing to ourselves like deranged lunitics.

"Honestly though," He said after a few minutes, "Who said this place doesn't have a beach, a bar and all those other cool things?" He turned down a road that forked off the larger road.

I sighed "Because its colddd. And anywhere this cold can't be cool." I was starting to get warm now, so I tugged my thick coat off and let my exposed skin tingle against his warm body.

"Stop complaining, We're almost there." Jake took a harsh left down a think road, "Do you want to know where we're going now?" he smiled, exposing his pearly teeth. I nodded, "Of course" I told him.

"This," He said "Is where spring break happens." He pulled into a spot next to another car, cutting the exhaust. "Spring what? Its Autumn. And I'm not old enough for spring break? I dont even look old enough" He rested my hands in his.

"Calm down" he said. "This is just a place me and a few friends used to come in the holidays, call it our own holiday land. At first there was just a few of us, then the next year there was 3 dozen. This is the third year." He indicated the field behind him. It was filled with makeshift tents and small fires, a couple of gazebos and a thrown together stage, the carpark, she had to admit was impressively full and there were people everywhere.

"Woah, Jake wait." I said my heart was beating fast as he threw his car door open and jumped over to my side pulling the door open, at an inhuman speed. "Are they?" He nodded. "Some of these guys are werewolves, most are friends or familes of werewolves. Thats what brings us together" He said as he lifted me out of the car, "Hey just a thought, pale face, you best stick this on for a little while" He said pulling the jacket out of his car. "You look almost dead out here." I shrugged, maybe this wasn't going to be so terrible. Yet again, maybe it was. There was no coffee or booze, there didn't seem to be a decent bed in the whole place and their wasn't any running water but yeah I trusted Jake. God only knows why.

"Hey Jake man!" Paul appeared from almost nowhere highfiveing an expecting Jake.

"Hey – you made it" Quill stood on the other side of Jake with a grin reaching to his ears,

"I wouldn't miss it for the world Bro," Jake was at home here I could feel it, at the least I was going to try to enjoy this. For him. I thought to myself as I perched myself on the edge of the Rabbit.

"Oh it's you, pale face right?" Embry sat next to me, Our high five wasn't quite as enthusiastic no matter how much I tried but I still led to a full hug.

"Yeah, I sure do look pale here" I said running my fingers along my blemishless ivory skin.

He laughed standing up "Don't sweat it. As long as your with Jake your one of us, Ness" he said patting the Rabbit "Did it get here okay?"

"I'm sure the heatings broke" I rolled my eyes.

"The heating?" Embry almost leaned in, "You wont have to bother with any heating while your here. We pretty much set the place alight." I noticed that, since I had arrived I didn't feel the cold and my jacket was starting to feel a burden.

Jake waved to me "Come see our tent,Ness!" he called. I turned back to Embry who nodded "See you later." I smiled before running over to Jake. "I pitched it last night" Jake explained, as we weaved past a few dozen tents. "I wanted us to be right in the action." He smiled.

We were right in it, I thought. Right dot in the center. It looked as though everybody was crowding around us. "I love it here" I told him. Holding his arm tightly, "I thought you might," he said pulling me into the tent.

The inside was beautiful. It was as though he had modeled it exactly to my taste. I was almost sure my aunt Alice had given Jake some advice. The roof wasn't too low so I could sit upright and still have 5 or so inches above my head, the cover was a pearly pastel pink and was embroided with small flowers under this laid a thin double sleeping bag and a thick air bed for my comfort (I was a terrible sleeper) but mostly it was the details which were touching. The light with the pink handle, the double padlock on the zipper, the fact that the little plastic holders were filled with pictures of home to make me feel more at ease, the tiny stuffed lioness on the pillow, the box of chocolates and my Copy of "Jane Eyre" resting to one side of the bed, the side furthest from the door. Truth was I loved it all.

"I wanted you to love it." He admitted, pushing the waves on hair from out of my face and holding my face in his hands.

"I love it Jake." I told him wrapping my arms around his waist and drawing him close.

"Good." He said quietly, I felt his warm breath rest on my cheek before he kissed me tenderly.