Tariana leaned in, her forehead pressing against Jacob's. "It could happen. What if you couldn't phase quickly enough to stop me? I'd rather die than hurt you, Jake." Her hand reached up, running through his short hair.

Jake brought his hand up to caress her cheek. "I know Tari, don't worry though so much. There is only one way you could ever hurt me."

Tariana's eyes locked with Jacob's as he said that last sentence. She froze, her hand still in his hair. "Oh yeah? What's the one way I could hurt you?" She was completely clueless to the answer.

Jacob smiled when she stopped, "If you left me. Tari, I can't live without you. Whether it be as my friend, or something more. It doesn't matter, as long as your in my life."Though of course he'd prefer the definitely more... He was a little surprised he had to explain on that point.

Removing her hand from his hair, Tariana took his hands in hers, holding them up so he could see. "I'm never leaving you, Jake. Never. No matter what happens, I will be by your side until the day you die, unless you ask me to leave." She pulled his hand to her mouth, kissing the back of it.

Jake pulled his hands back and lowered his head to hers, pressing his forehead to hers, before whispering, "Good, and I'll never ask you to leave." he then brushed his lips against hers in a teasing manner.

Tariana shivered at the feeling of his lips on hers. "I hope you wouldn't ask me to leave. Father would not be pleased." She grinned, brushing her lips against his. It was her turn to tease.

Jacob chuckled, wasn't that the truth! Mr. Zakir would be so mad at him! Jacob groaned when she turned the tables and teased him. For once he was going to be pushy with her. One arm snaked around her waist the other tangled in her hair and he crushed his lips to hers.

SEVERAL WEEKS LATER

Tariana emerged from the woods, her eyes lighter as she kept the hood of her long black cloak pulled up, hiding her face. It was early morning as she headed up to the school for breakfast; she could hear the chatter of several students in the great hall. Quickly and soundlessly, she entered the school, slipping her hood off as she headed for the Gryffindor table. Taking a seat, she reached out for a cup of coffee, drinking it without cream or sugar.

Katheryn walked into the Great Hall early one morning and sat down at the Hufflepuff table. She smiled as she remembered the snowball fight she had with Jude and Tyler several weeks ago. She poured herself some milk and started eating her cereal; still smiling. She couldn't help being a bit sad about her and Tyler but she knew that being friends was still a good thing.

Jacob was confused, where had Tari gone? She'd kind of disappeared. One moment they were hanging out in the common room, the next she was gone. Like disappeared completely. And as far as he knew, she didn't come back. He raced down to the great hall, he was concerned now. What if something happened to her? He wouldn't be able to live with himself.

He sighed in relief when he saw her at the table. Sitting next to her he gave her a once over, checking for unseen wounds, "Where were you Tariana? I was worried something happened to you." he said softly, his eyes going back to her face.

"I was in the woods," Tariana answered, not looking at him, as if she were hiding something from him. Not like she could; Jake could see, hear and smell almost as well as she could with his wolf senses, even in human form. But she was still being mysterious, and it was bound to tip him off. Playing it cool, she took a plate and shovled some eggs onto it. She grabbed a fork, stabbing the eggs and putting them into her mouth. Yuck. They were no where near as good as blood was; she would always prefer blood to human food. She thought agian; eating human food would definitely tip Jake off, because he knew she hated the stuff. Quickly, she shoved the plate away and took out her wand, accio-ing a book. Opening its pages. she began to read as if nothing else were going on and this was a typical Saturday morning.

Jacob watched her, she was acting very suspicious. He reached out a put his hand over her newly aquired book. "Tari, something happened that your not telling me. What went on in the woods? Something happened, or else you wouldn't be acting this way." he stared at her, and used his other hand to tilt her chin up, forcing her to look him in the face. "I know when your lying, you might as well save us both the time and trouble and tell me the truth."

Tariana laughed, the sound melodic. "Paranoid much? What makes you think something happened?" She kept her voice smooth and even, normal. But then again, being a professional liar was in her blood; it came with the job that was being half-vampire. Sighing as Jacob put his hand on her book and forced her to look up at him, she said, "I was going to read that, you know." She ignored his last comment, still keeping with the act as if nothing happened.

Jacob rolled his eyes. "I don't know, avoiding eye contact, gone all night, eating human food." he lowered his voice so only she could hear him. He chuckled hearing her, "And you can, as soon as you tell me what happened."

"Is being obnoxiously persistent a wolf trait?" Tariana questioned, her voice so low that only Jake could've heard it. Change the subject; that was a good move. It was like playing mind chess with Jacob. She could possibly win that one. "So now you're going to be my father and tell me what I can and cannot do?" Rolling her eyes, she grabbed his hand a little roughly, making sure her nails dug slightly into his skin, and placed his hand on the table.

Jacob rolled his eyes, "It always has been dearest Tari. Stop trying to change the subject. What happened?" he growled lowly, this wasn't working. He needed somehow to get her to tell him. He was her best friend, not to mention her gaurdian, she was supposed to tell him this stuff. He flinched slightly at the pricking on his hand. He looked down, he was bleeding lightly, but it did clean up easily.

Tariana stared at her nails, her expression full of boredom. "Dearest Jakey,"she started, her hand going up to Jacob's head to ruffle his hair, "if I tell you, I'll have to kill you, and then I'll need a new gaurdian. Sorry, but I'm not up for scouting any more Native American reservations for freakishly grown wolf boys today. Maybe tomorrow I will be; Maybe I'll find someone who prefers to walk around shirtless." She mentally snorted. "Or maybe I'll get Quil or Embry to come to me. That'd be fun! I'd take them both."

Jake rolled his eyes, "You know you love me too much to kill me." he chuckled, walking around shirtless? Ohhh, right. His abs. They were freakish. "I will strip my shirt of right now, if you tell me what is going on Tari."

"Sure, sure. You can believe that, if that's what helps you sleep like a baby at night!" Taraiana exclaimed, patting Jacob's head. She eyed him closely; that was a tempting proposition. Very tempting. But she'd never let him know it. "Jeez, Jacob, since when have you been so willing to take your shirt off? You had better not... you might start a riot with those abs. God knows you don't need any screaming fangirls. And father won't pay you overtime for that, either." She laughed, pulling his hand off her book and reading a page.

Jacob rolled his eyes, "You know it's true. And as much as you may like Quil and Embry, they aren't me. You know you wouldn't want to get rid of me." he gave her a puppy dog pout, using his hand to make her look up at him."Damn it Tariana! Why can't you just tell me? I'm worried okay?"

"Believe what you want. Having both Quil and Embry would please me like a kid on Christmas day," she said, clapping her hands together. "Perhaps I should invite them to come join me..." She made a mental note to write to them later as Jacob made her look at him. "I won't tell you because I thoroughly enjoy playing mind games with you. It's so easy to get you all upset, and I must admit, I find it rather entertaining. And attractive." She looked up at him through heavily lidded eyes. "There isn't anything like a man who can get emotional."

He grinned cheekily, "But you still miss me!" Damn it Jake! Stop getting distracted! Jacob thought to himself, shaking his head slightly. He could tell what card she was playing now, she knew how he felt about her, and he knew she semi-returned it. "Tariana, you can tell me how attractive I am later." small wink, before turning completely sober. "Tari, what is going on? I'm concerned!" he pleaded with her, this was worrying him. Why wouldn't she just tell him already!?

Tariana sighed, twirling her hair. "Oh honestly, Jake, you are no fun whatsoever. Freakin' killjoy. You should be ashamed of yourself." She took a few of her locks and began braiding them.

Jacob growled, crud, now he was getting angry. He gripped the edge of the table to control himself, he wasn't leaving, even if he transformed right here. "Tari, stop trying to distract me. What is going on?" he shook his head and added, "As your gaurdian, and friend, it's my job to know."