The Truth In Love [Jon]

[Kenzie Karter]

Kenzie woke in an unrested state, lying on her bed and staring at the ceiling. It had been more than a few days since she had seen Jon and she was missing her boyfriend terribly. Even though she understood that he was needed at the Reservation for some tribe thing, she couldn't quite get over the fact that she was not able to spend time with him the way she wanted to. Nearly the entire summer was devoted to trying to spend time with her boyfriend. No matter how frustrated she was, it was still all worth it in the moments that she did get to spend with Jon. Those perfect afternoons spent on the beach or just hanging out at his house, curled up in the warmth of his arms watching a movie or kissing him.

Lying on her bed, she brushed her lips absentmindedly and thought of the last time she had kissed Jon. It had been a goodnight kiss to end all goodnight kisses, so she had not wanted it to end...and it didn't for a good ten minutes or so. Just thinking of that kiss made her wish that he was right there next to her to snuggle on her bed. Jon made an excellent pillow as well, which Kenzie was always thankful for. In fact, it seemed that Jon was made perfectly for her and no one else in the world, which Kenzie was dubiously greatful for. She wanted no one else to be with Jon but herself, which might have been selfish, but she loved him that much. She had been fortunate enough to have Jon waltz into her life at exactly the right moment when she needed to find love. And he was precisely what she needed as far as a boyfriend went. He knew all that there was to know about her and more, even down to knowing her emotions like he was reading them from a book.

After a while, Kenzie decided that she would pop down to La Push and surprise her wonderful boyfriend with a visit. Throwing the covers off, she quickly showered, using her favorite sandalwood and lavender shampoo and conditioner that she knew drove Jon nuts, and blow-dried her hair before throwing on a pair of shorts and a purple tank top before grabbing her purse, keys, and flip-flops. She hurried downstairs and out to her car, jumping in and driving to La Push in fifteen minutes, parking her car next to Jon's at his house. Quickly straightening her hair and tank top, she got out and walked up to the front door and knocked three times. When she received no answer, she gently pushed the door open and walked inside, knowing that Jon wouldn't care if she came right in.

Her eyes drifted to the couch in Jon's living room, where her boyfriend was currently crashed in a pair of sweatpants. A small smile spread across her lips as she set her purse down by the door and came in, closing the front door softly behind her so not to disturb him. She knew that whatever he had been doing at the Reservation lately had worn him out entirely, so sleep was the best thing for him. But she also knew that if he found out she had come over and then left without waking him, he would not be a happy camper. Walking over, she kneeled at his side right in front of his face. He seemed so serene, like nothing in the world could be wrong. Leaning over, she pressed her lips softly to his and knew that no matter how hard he was sleeping...this would wake him up for sure.

[Jonathan Whiteman]

   Jon's house was a vague stirring of colors as he stumbled in the front door, his eyes nearly shut with his exhaustion as he smacked it shut behind him. How did Noah and all of them do it? Patrols seemed to grow more and more exhausting each time they came around, and they at least seemed to be able to stay remotely conscious while running Torture Laps around La Push...

   Jon had been a werewolf a year now, but it seemed the nearly instant growth spurt accompanied by its alone exhausting physical improvements was not even close to being enough for him to be able to totally come even with the others. They simply had more experience in running laps over and over and over through the same old paths in the middle of the woods- or perhaps they knew by now how to handle severe sleep deprivation? Or did they just hide it well?

   He neither knew of nor cared about the answer to that question now; his mind was too preoccupied with the prospect of not running headlong into the wall just before the turn at the end of the hallway to his room. He was very, very vaguely aware of pulling on his ratty joggers- nearly falling over and hitting his head on the bedroom wall in the process- before stumbling his way to the living room, groaning venomously in the back of his throat at himself for deciding this morning that he'd wash the things for his bed. The mental cursings remained formless in his head regardless as his couch came into view, and he was nearly asleep before his body had fully met the cushions...

   For so long, when Jon would sleep- assuming he had no nightmares of frivolous dangers- if he was lucky, he'd be treated to a simple dream that could felt more like a daydream than a dream: a simple vision of a girl with delicate, ravishing chestnut hair and the most drop-dead, staggering viridian eyes ever seen by mankind. She was of a thin but firm frame, standing a good seven inches shorter than Jon; but the way she gently held the course of his will in the palm of her hand with just a mere glance into his eyes made her feel like she was bigger than him than he could ever imagine. Yet the softness of her, the way she always looked back at him, eternally reassured him she'd never use her power over him selfishly.

   The best part of the dream always came then, accompanied by her name wisping gently by: she loved him, and she was his just as much as he was hers. They were tied together, and one would always carry the other when he or she fell, bearing the burden as if nothing had been added onto them. And then the dream would always fade...

   But this time, something was different... in a majorly good way. Where he would have been blinking his way awake, there was something pressing against his lips. Something soft, something familiar... Without any true defining cause, his brain automatically, monosyllabically supplied its source while his lips simultaneously began pressing back with a low, quiet growl in the back of his throat unstoppable with this sort of surprise.

   Her.

   Keeping his eyes closed, his hand automatically sought the back of her neck, holding it softly as his lips formed magic with hers in gentle waves. No dream could ever prepare him with any moment with her; all he could hope for was that the... indescribable feeling of just seeing her in his mind would somehow grow without delay into the overwhelming bliss of just seeing her in real life. Today, it seemed, would melt the wonder of the dream straight into the awe of real life. Or at least a really good imitation of it.

   Regardless, this. Was the best. Dream. Ever.

[Kenzie Karter]

An inaudible sense of bliss swelled over Kenzie as her lips met the one person's in the world that could ever make her feel the way she did right in that moment. Jon's eyes remained closed as his hand found the back of her neck to hold her close. His lips moved perfectly with her own as he kissed her back intensely, like it was their very first kiss. And for all purposes, it might as well have been with the amount of time that had passed since they last saw one another. Her heart rate began to pick up pace as their lips kept pace with one another. Beating so loudly she could feel the pulsing in her ears, but that didn't matter to her as she felt so joyful in this place.

Her own hands found their way to the sides of his face, which was scortching hot as usual. There was something oddly comforting in the temperature of his skin, like it was only normal for him to be this warm. Compared to Jon, her hands seemed tiny and ineffectual against his face, but she didn't care. Holding onto him as they kissed made her feel that much more in the moment with him; like nothing else in the world could matter except for the man in front of her. When he was near her, nothing else captivated her attention so much as he did. Her mother worried constantly that it wasn't healthy for her to love him that much because of what could happen if they broke up again, but Kenzie had the reassurance of knowing that she and Jon would never break up again. It was something neither of them could have handled a second time and they both knew it.

It became increasingly clearer as their relationship progressed that neither of them could live without the other. No matter the circumstances, Kenzie would always want Jon and he would always, by some miracle unknown to her, want her and love her. He had captivated her from the moment she met him on the beach, even if their meeting had been somewhat awkward. However, it had grown from then to now to the most beautiful thing in Kenzie's life. Nothing could top the feeling she had when she was with him. It as pure euphoria to just be held by him.

As she held herself in the kiss, she came to gradually realize that her beloved boyfriend was not all the way awake and probably thought that this was actually a dream and not the reality it was. Everything about their relationship had actually been like a dream, but one that was a reality for Kenzie. An insanely wonderful reality that she would have never thought possible. Smiling, she broke their kiss momentarily and whispered, "Baby, wake up. It's me and you're not dreaming." She knew that using a soft voice would avoid jarring him awake, which she did not want to see. Scaring her boyfriend would be the worst way possible to start a perfect lazy day with him. Giggling, she pressed her lips to his once more in an attempt to bring him from his slumber.