Thirteen

~Tate's POV~

      I'm back at the house now and I can't get that face out of my mind. I'm damp and I'm zoned out as I'm walking into the little barn that Jake fixes up stuff. I hear Jake as he comes up next to me with my clothes, "Are you okay?" I just say, my voice hoarse, "Y-yea. I just wanna get changed, please." He nods, confused and being careful around me. He closes the doors and I put my old clothes back on. The doors open again and he asks me, "What happened out there? I though you were having fun."

      I say, "I-I was I just...I thought I saw something." He asks, gravely concerned, "What?" so I tell him. If we're going to be as close as we were before then I can't hold anything back. I also tell him about my newfound relationship with Jasper. I didn't tell him about Jasper being a vampire being as it's not my secret to tell, but I really wanted to. To make me feel better, he let me sketch him while he worked on a bike. He looks over and I get up smiling, "Finished." I show it to him and he laughs, "It looks great. Are you sure that's me?" We laugh.

      He says, "Doesn't this usually take like, days to do?" I shrug and he says, "Mind if I look at the rest of them?" I just shrug and hand him the book, walking over to my bag. He asks, "Who's this?" I say, "Tyler...I did it just before I came here with Bella. Whenever I have nightmares, I draw it out and they usually come less and less often." He asks, "Does that really work?" I just look at him. Honestly, no, but I don't want to work myself up more than I already have.

      He says, "Let's get a burger and then I'll take you home." I nod and put my sketchbook up, walking out behind him. We walk to my bike and I ask, "What are you going to do for when it's time to go home?" He says, "Sam is gonna pick me up." I just ask, "Are you sure?" He gets on first and smirks, "Just get on the damn bike." I put my hands up defensively, "Alright, pushy." We laugh and we both put on helmets; he grabbed one of his own.

      We ate burgers for a bit and we've gotten closer than I thought that we would at such a fast rate. Right now I'm at home and I've just put my keys and helmet down on my desk and plop down on my bed, placing my head In my hands and sighing. I hear the window opening and take a baseball bat that beside my bed, swinging it in the direction. It's Jasper and he caught it. Thank goodness because having to apologize for that forever would have turned into such a drag.

      I let out a breath and put the baseball bat on the ground, tiredly. I sit back down on the bed and he asks, "What's wrong, darlin?" I talk with my head in my hands once again, "It's nothing." He has me look at him and looks me in the eyes. I look away and sit crisscross applesauce in front of him, "It's Tyler. I went cliff jumping with some of Jake's friends and when I was in the water, I swear I could've seen him. He was holding me down...trying to kill me...If Sam hadn't pulled me up out of the water, I don't think that I would've made it." I look solemnly at my feet and he gently puts his hand on my face, of course making me lean closer.

      He says, "I will kill him If he ever tries to touch you again." I just smile and hold my hand on top of the one that's on my cheek. We're in very close proximity now and my breathing is growing erratic, along with my heart being as how nervous I am. I lick my lips and his eyes are trained on them while mine are trained on his. I whisper, "Kiss me." He's silent so I become more clear, "I want you to kiss me." He starts stuttering, "Tate I...I don't...I don't know if..." but I stop him saying, "Just try it." He thinks for a moment before nodding.

      It's quiet as everything around us stops. The closer he gets, the slower time seems and I couldn't be happier. This is it. He's finally going to kiss me. Our lips just barely touch and my stomach erupts in butterflies. After another excruciating second, he finally places his lips on top of mine and we kiss. It's like I'm on cloud nine and I never want to get off. We separate for second, taking it in. It was even a second after we parted that we crashed our lips onto each other again. Now we're making out.

      After a few seconds I had to break away to catch my breath. I say, "Wow." He says, "I have something for you." I look curiously at him, and he pulls out a box out of his back pocket. He hands it to me and I open it, revealing a necklace. (The pendant design is like Hope Michaelsons necklace but instead of an m its the Cullen crest). He explains, "It has my family's crest on it." I look at him, speechless, "It's beautiful." I take it out and ask him, "Put it on?" He smiles and I turn around, grabbing my hair out of the way.

      Once it's done, I face him and hold it protectively,  asking, "I love it, but why are you giving it to me. I don't think they like me much, let alone accept me as being with you." He chuckles, "Trust me, they accept you." I just smile and he says, "There's just one thing left that I have to do." I ask, "What is it?" He asks, looking deeply into my eyes, "Will you, Tate Swan, be my girlfriend?" I smile from ear to ear and he smiles as well. It's not a look you would normally see on him and when I do, I cherish every moment.

      I say, "Yes." We kiss and put our foreheads on each other. For the rest of the night, we lay in bed together, my head on his chest and his arm around my body, securing me tightly. Who would have thought that almost two months after moving to a new place, I would be in love with a vampire and wearing his crest on my neck? Not me, that's for sure.

THE NEXT DAY

      Me and Bella arrive to school, walking next to each other, when she looks down and smiles, "Nice necklace." I blush and chuckle, "Yea, Jasper gave it to me last night before officially asking me out." She lifts a brow and we giggle. Suddenly, Mike comes out of nowhere and says, "So, you guys are with the Cullen's, huh?" I say, feeling a little awkward, "Yea, we are." He shakes his head, pressing his lips into a fine line and saying with pure jealousy for Edward at least, "Mmm...I don't like it. They just look at you like you're something to eat." We both share a look and hold back our laughter. The rest of the day ran by pretty smoothly. Jasper wasn't here because he was doing more training to control his thirst.

AT THE DINER

Me and Bella run in, going over to dad at our annual table, and we apologize, "Hey, sorry we're late. We had to work together on a biology project for fourth period." We sit down and Cora brings us some food, "I ordered you guys the spinach salad; I hope that's alright." Bella says, "You should order one for yourself next time. Cut back on the steak." I smile, taking a bite already, and dad says as he puts down his newspaper, "Hey, I'm as healthy as a horse."

Me and Bella chuckle and he smiles. Cora says, clearly upset, "Say, Chief, boys want to know, did you find anything by Queets River today?" I heard about this...someone murdered Waylon, the old Santa...I turn slightly and see the table behind us looking in the corner of my eyes. Dad sighs, "Yea, we found a bare human footprint, but it looks like whoever that is is headed east, so Kitsap County Sheriff is gonna take over from here." The second he said they found a human footprint, me and Bella both share the same look. The nomads. They're trudging through here and leaving too many bodies with too many messes that can't be explained.

Cora says solemnly, "I just hope they catch him fast." She leaves and I hear Mike outside the window with his friends doing a dance that instantly makes me groan. Dad sees and says, "Looks like your friends are flagging you." Bella turns to look and instantly turns back around. Yea, that is definitely not something that you want to look at more than you absolutely HAVE to. Dad says, "It's okay if you wanna go join them. I'm just gonna turn in early anyway." Bella says, "Me too." Me and dad both share a worried and skeptical look.

Dad says, "Bella, It's Friday night. Go out. Looks like the Newton boy's got a big smile for you." Bella says, "Yea, he's a good buddy." Dad asks, "What about any of these other yahoos in town. Anybody interest you?" I ask, "What are you talking about? Jasper isn't a yahoo?" he just shakes his head and asks, "What are you guys anyways? How do you kids do it nowadays?" I ask, equally uncomfortable as Bella, "Dad, we really gonna talk about boys?"

He chuckles, smiling, "Yea, I guess not. I just feel like I leave you guys alone too much. You should be around people." Me and Bella both reply at the same time, "I don't really mind being alone." We both point out, "Guess we're kind of like our dad in that way." He chuckles and smiles, nodding, and we all eat our meals.

THAT NIGHT

I'm standing in my bra and shorts, towel drying my hair when I feel someone's presence behind me. I turn and see Jasper, causing me to gasp. I yelp and cover my chest area, locking my door and whispering, "You gotta stop startling me." He smiles, "Sorry, just felt you a little stressed so I wanted to lend a hand. What's got you upset?" I say, "I had a nightmare the other night." He asks, "Tyler?" I shake my head, putting my shirt on and walking over, sitting next to him, "No, this was different. It was like a scene out of a horror movie...

I was running through the woods; someone was chasing me. I couldn't see who or what is was at first. I just knew that I had to run. I was cut up everywhere and I could hear snapping in all directions around me. I fell down the same hill that I tripped down my first day here and my head was killing me. I was bleeding from well...everywhere. It got quiet. Too quiet. Then It came. First I just heard the growling. Then I saw it's eyes. It bared it's teeth at me, snarling and drool hanging out. Out of the shadows came wolves. Lots of them.

I woke up and I couldn't go back to bed." He asks, "What do they look like?" I bend down and pull out my sketchbook, flipping through the pages until I landed it. A very detailed and slightly colored in wolf. It was huge. I see him studying it with a weird look on his face. I ask, "What is it?" He says, "These are werewolves..."