I hadn’t known how much I needed Jacob. He made me feel complete when I was with him. Of course,
it wasn’t that instantaneous passion I had felt around Edward, but that probably had something to do with the way he dazzled me. Edward had unfair advantages that had drew me in. It wasn’t enough that he had that
intense beauty, but everything about him was designed to be a lure to humans, his natural prey. But Jacob was very handsome himself, and with the development of becoming a werewolf, he was unnaturally graceful as well. He drew me to him in ways that Edward could not. The warmth in his personality and his smile were enough to melt my heart. He was my Jacob. I felt completely safe around him, no need to fear that someone was always thirsting for my blood. In a way, it was a relief. And the more I was with Jacob, the more the hole in my chest disappeared.
     After I got over my embarrassment when Billy had interrupted us, we had decided to walk down to
the beach. The drizzle had slacked off, but the cold bite in the air remained. I was perfectly warm walking
beside Jacob, though. He really was like my own personal space heater. I wondered what he would say if he
knew the scenes I had dreamed up of him and I? No doubt we would get a fat head. I giggled quietly to myself and he looked down at me smiling.
     “What’s so funny?”, he asked.
     “Nothing.”, I lied. “I just thought of something I dreamed about.”
     “Don’t I get to know?”, he pretended to be offended.
     “Maybe sometime.”, I teased.
     I caught the mischevious glint in his eyes before he scooped me up and began tickling me. I squirmed
in an effort to get down, which was no use against his powerful arms. No part wasn’t gentle though.
     ”Jake!”, I sqealed.
     He laughed but set me back down on my feet, and I tried to catch my breath. He was still smiling as
he took my hand in his again and led me toward the beach. Before, I used to be afraid he would get the wrong
idea when he held my hand like this. Now it felt right, no other emotion in the way. This was how it was supposed to be. And now it could be.
     We stopped when we got to our tree. Like always, Jacob climbed up and sat at the roots, while I sat
lower down on the trunk. But he didn’t release my hand. It was as if he could feel the connection between us that I had just discovered was there. Somehow, he had always known. I think I would have too if I hadn’t been under Edward’s spell. This feeling couldn’t be anymore real now. I had to let him know some way that I felt the same as he did. But how could I tell my best friend I was in love with him, after I had pushed him away before telling him it couldn’t be that way between us? So much had happened in my dream and I was confused about which parts had really happened and which had been imagined. I didn’t know where to start.
     I looked up at him and he was already staring back at me. His eyes shining with an unknown emotion.
I knew this was the right time to tell him, but I was nervous. “Jake…”, I began. I paused, unsure of what to say next. He squeezed my hand urging me to go on.
     “I think our time together has opened my eyes. You’ve always been important to me, but I think it’s
becoming more than that…”
     He interrupted me by asking, “Are you saying what I think you are?”, a hopeful look in his eyes.
     “Yes, at least I hope so.”, I answered. “You’re my best friend, but it’s turned into so much more. I think
I’m falling in love with you, Jake!”
     “You don’t know how much I wanted you to say that!”, he whispered. “You’re not lying to me are you, just
because you know it’s what I want to hear?” But he could see I was telling the truth.
     Without another word he took my face between his hands and slowly began lowering his face to mine.
Our lips met and it was as if I was getting my first drink of water after wandering the desert for days. This is what my heart had been waiting for and I responded by frantically kissing him back. He wove his fingers through my hair, pulling me closer to him. In return, I clung to him. I felt like I couldn’t get close enough. He kissed me harder now, passion taking over. I gasped for breath, my heartbeat quickening. I could feel his thundering in his chest just like mine. I wrapped my arms around his neck and kissed him even more roughly than before. He groaned in response, holding me tighter. This felt so right, the hole healed. It felt as if it had never been there. We finally broke apart, out of breath. He kissed me gently before he let me go. A wide smile lit his face, a gleam in his eyes. A look of love in them that mirrored my own.
     We stayed on that tree, him holding me. It could have been hours or just minutes that we stayed like
that. It didn’t matter. We had finally found each other, true soulmates. And indeed, my soul was soaring, as I’m sure was his. We both never wanted this moment to end, maybe it never would.