The next day at work Bo was running around like crazy. "Do you need any help?" I asked him. "Yes, no, i don't know!! Nathan had to call in sick!" He said. "The cook, oh...so you're..." "Cooking, yes and i can't do this!" He said. "Well how does one go about opening a restaurant but can't cook?" I thought aloud.

"First of all, I can cook I just don't know that at my age I'm cut out for this." He said. "Well then let me help you." I said. "Oh I like that, I'll wait tables and you cook. The breakfast rush is coming. I really need you." Said Bo. "Wait, nobody has told me how to cook everything on the menu!" I said. "You can cook though right?" He asked. "Yea, of course." I said. "Okay then just do your own thing." He said.

So I did. From the kitchen you could hear out into the floor so we could hand things to the servers. "These waffles are better than usual! These eggs are wonderful, is that cheese I taste? Wow this toast is so yummy, this strawberry spread taste like it was made from scratch." Well that gave me the confidence to keep going.

Once the lunch rush was over I finally took a seat. "Well, you did good kid. Nobody had a negative thing to say. Can you fill in the rest of the week?" He asked. "Sure, as long as Nathan needs me to fill in. I'm happy to help." I said. Nathan was around my age, he got the job because he's Bo's grandson. I take that he doesn't love his job. Which is weird. I love to cook! And coming up with new recipes is super fun.
       My feet ached. But I had a great day. I sat for another 15 minutes before getting back into the kitchen because another couple had shown up. By 3 o'clock I was exhausted and ready to go home. exhausted in a good way.
       When I got home I started pulling out things for dinner. I didn't wanna spend forever cooking so I just made tacos. Jacob came in and took a seat at the bar "You look really tired. Did you have a long day?"
       "I did. Nathan, the cook had to call in sick. So I had to fill in. It was an amazing opportunity." I said. But the opportunity made me sad I was only cooking my recipes because the cook who made the original stuff was sick. When he came back I would go back to working the floor. And I suppose that was OK but only because it wasn't my restaurant and they weren't my recipes I was taking what he came up with and putting my own spin on them.

       We cleaned up dinner and I went to get a shower. When I got out Jacob was starting a movie so I took a seat next to him on the couch until I fell asleep. He nudged me awake. "It's late, go to bed." "Oh, yea. Okay, thanks!" I rubbed my eyes standing up. Once I had brushed my teeth I fell into bed. The next day was more of the same. After work I texted Jacob. "Heading to the store, need anything?"
       He sent back a short list and I picked up what I needed. When I got home, I opened The trunk to unload the groceries when I heard a car pulling up. I turned just in time to see Kyle's truck pulling into the yard. I slammed the trunk down angrily. I was going to give him a piece of my mind.
       That was the first thing I thought. The second thing was, how did he find me? "What are you doing here? I thought I made it very clear I never wanted to see you again." I shouted. "Come on baby, don't be like that." He drawled. "Seriously?! After what you did to my mother I don't know why you'd think I want anything to do with you." I said.
       Anger flashed in his eyes. "She was in the way. She didn't tell me what I wanted to know."  "You have a problem. You need to get Hell I don't want anything to do with you not now not ever. And if you think you're ever going to hit me or my mom again you are crazy." I said.
       He laughed a lot. "Baby, I can do whatever I want. I've been doing it for years and I'll keep doing it. I'll hit your mom all I want and I'll hit you all I want." And with that He walked over and punched my cheek sending me stumbling backwards. I felt my eye bust open and bleed.
       "Now get in the truck and we'll go home. I'll caress you on the way." "You are crazier than I thought. I'm not going anywhere with you. And you need to leave." I said angrily. I was angry because I wanted to yell at him and give him a piece of my mind but he wasn't letting me he was completely ignoring everything I was trying to say.
       He grabbed my arm to pull me to his car. I stomped down on his foot hard and kneed him in the nuts. "Ow what the heck?!" He screamed. "What? Don't like that? It seems to be the only thing you respond to!!" I screamed.
       "You're gonna regret that!" He said pulling a gun from the waistband of his pants. "You have a gun? Really. Put that up!" I said hoping to talk sense into him. The door opened and Jacob came out. "Everything okay here?" He asked.
       "Stay back he's got a gun." I said. But that didn't scare him. He took a giant step in front of me to protect me. "So you got a new boyfriend? He's pretty. Where did you find him?" Kyle sneered. "Enough!" I said pulling my phone out to call the cops. "Put that up!! Who are you calling?" He asked. "The cops! Who do you think?" I asked "No you won't." He said pointing the gun at me.
       "I didn't wanna do this." Jacob sighed. He turned to me. "Take a step back." He said taking his shirt off. "Stop that you freak, I'll shoot you." Kyle said. "Go head! It don't hurt me!" Jacob said stepping out of his shoes and shorts.
       Then he did something I never thought I would see him or anybody else to do. He transformed into a huge, ginormous werewolf. Kyle shot like mad and Jacob mauled him.
       Once he was finished he transformed back into a human. And I couldn't believe my eyes. I didn't know what to say I was kind of scared.
       "Are you okay?" He asked. "Me?! Are you okay?! You just turned into a werewolf." I said. "Actually it's a shapeshifter." "What?" I asked confused. "Werewolf's can only change during a full moon. But I can change at will." "Okay... is that something you've always been able to do?" I asked.
       "No, I only started phasing when the vampires showed up. A few years ago." he said. "Yea right vampires!" He looked dead serious. "You just saw me phase and you think I'm joking about vampires?" "Wait you're not joking." I said. 
       "Look I'll be happy to answer any of your questions. But for now we can't leave Kyle like that. We have to call the cops." So I did. I told them that I heard a loud noise outside and when I came outside that I saw this guy dead.
       "We have a lot of wild animals out here. Coyotes or wolves. Maybe even a bear. We'll send someone out to take care of the body. Thank you for letting us know." The dispatcher said.
       We quickly unloaded the groceries and came back outside to wait for somebody to show up. "Are you scared of me? Does this make you not want to be my roommate anymore?" Jacob asked. "I don't know. This is all a shock to me. I need time to adjust. But you're still the same roommate that I've lived with for weeks right?" I asked.
       "I am. But if you decide that rooming with me it's too much for you to handle I'll understand. But I just need to ask that you please don't tell any one what you saw." He said. "Of course but I'm going to need more of the story. Vampires?" I asked. "Right. I was waiting on you to ask about that." He took a deep breath.
       "It's a Long story." "we've clearly got time." I motioned. "Okay. Well the girl I was in love with was also in love with a vampire. Once they got married they had a daughter and I imprinted on her. She was half human half vampire." He said. "Imprinted. What's that?" I asked.
       "It's a wolf thing. When we meet that one person that were supposed to be with forever we imprint on them.  Renesmee,  she chose another guy who is half vampire half human too. So it's really weird for me knowing that I was tethered to her and she was in love with somebody else. That's the second time it's happened I just feel not good enough." He said. "That's The real reason I left. It was just too hard."
       "How old was she?" I asked. He hung his head. "Look I know what you're going to think. She was just a child. But that's OK. Sometimes we meet our loves at a young age. And we just take care of them as like an older brother until they become old enough for us to date I know that sounds totally creepy." He agreed. "Little bit." I said. "Well I was the big brother type for years and then she just chose him. I mean I thought we were looking at forever. I think that's why this hurt so much more." He shrugged.
       "Do you imprint more than once? I mean what do you do if she chose somebody else?" I asked. "I don't know actually it's never happened. I just always assumed the person you imprint on wants you back. I thought that was just how it worked. But I'm not sure I really like it if I'm being honest we don't get to choose who we be with." He said.
       "But in a way that sounds easier. You don't have to do the hard work when you imprint you just know that's the right person. How do you know? I mean I chose Kyle and look how that turned out." I said putting my hand out.
       We talked a bit more about the ends and outs and he explained to me everything. He talked about the battle they had with the vampires and that he really was a good guy. And that he didn't want to hurt Kyle but he was scared that he would hurt me when he had the gun. by the end of the conversation I was feeling more comfortable with him. Finally the cop showed up and they took care of Kyle's body someone called a tow truck to take his car to the impound lot for now. We thanked them and they left. I went inside to cook dinner. While I was cooking dinner I called my mom.
       "Mom? Everything is going to be OK. Kyle came up here to see me. But I don't think he was a custom to being this far out in the wilderness. He was attacked by something!" I said. "Oh my goodness. Is he OK?" She gasped. "No, I'm afraid not." My mother didn't question me. She didn't ask was I sure? She didn't ask whether Jacob or I had got into a fight with him and things ended badly. She just took me for my word. And I didn't tell her about the argument we had before he was killed.
       She was glad to know she was safe again but she was more glad that I was safe. "So you can come home now right?" She asked.
       I hadn't thought about that. "I don't know, I'm kind of busy with work and I don't want to just leave. But I do miss you. But I'm also in a lease. I can't just leave Jacob hanging. Give me a few months to sort things out."
       We talked a bit more and then I let her go because dinner was done. Jacob came in and we ate in silence I wasn't really sure if there was anything else I could say to him.

       Once dinner was finished Jacob had me sit on the bar. "Let me see your eye. That looks really bad, does it hurt?" He asked touching it. I winced "Yea, is it still bleeding?" I asked, "A little bit, but I don't think you need stitches." I had been so busy with everything I completely forgot about my eye.

       He grabbed a paper towel and a wet it dabbing my eye gently. "I'll think you'll be okay." He said. "I can't believe what just happened." I said shaking my head. "What? That he punched you or that I am a werewolf?" He asked. "Both? I did not see that coming." I said.

       "I don't want to keep anything from you. That's why I rented the spare room. I was really hurt after everything that happened and I had been spending months as a werewolf. I was starting to become detached from human life. So I knew I needed to spend some more time as a human. That's why I'm here. If me being a werewolf scares you I can leave." He said again.

       "Leave? I can't afford the rent without you. As long as you promise me you're the same guy then you are more than welcome to stay." "I promise you that I am the same guy." He said. "Where you ever going to tell me!" I asked.

       "What? About me being a werewolf? I don't know. I was worried if you knew that it would scare you off. And it's not the kind of thing I just tell people. It's kind of something I'm supposed to keep a secret." He shrugged.

       "Your brothers? They are other werewolves, right? They were a part of your...What's it called? A pack?" I asked. "Yea. I was supposed to be the leader, but I didn't want it. So another werewolf Sam took over. I broke away from the pack. It's not that I don't like having brothers. It's the fact that they can hear your thoughts and I didn't want them to be hearing all of my inner monologue. How much I'm hurting, how much this sucks, you know." He nodded.

       "Hear your thoughts? That's kinda cool though." I said. He laughed. "Yea, it sounds cool until a bunch of guys know your every thought." I nodded. "That's true I guess." I said.

       Things at work had been going good. I finished the week filling in for Nathan. I had gotten good reviews on all of my food. But the next week Nathan returned, apparently he got a really bad flu and passed out and that's why he didn't called to let anybody know where he was.

       It has been about three months since Jacob and I have been living together. Everything was going well. I've gotten used to the fact that he was a werewolf. He didn't really phase around me. Which even if he had I probably wouldn't have minded. We got closer. We became better than friends, we were best friends. But the problem that I was having was: sometimes when he looked at me, it wasn't a "hey I just want to be your friend look."

       If I was being honest. Sometimes I didn't want to just be his friend either. When I thought of everything I wanted in a guy he fit the bill to a T. He was nice, funny and caring, sweet and oh those muscles. He was cute, handsome, down right sexy , and drop dead gorgeous. 

       But the best part of all was how safe he made me feel. And it wasn't just because he was a werewolf. It was because he cared about me he looked after me. He felt this sense or a need to protect me.

       But I still wasn't sure I was ready to date anybody even someone as perfect for me as he was.

       We were sitting on the couch watching a movie when I cracked a joke. We both started laughing and couldn't stop. He turned to look at me and started laughing even harder. "What's so funny?" I asked between laughs. "You have this one piece of hair that's coming around your face and it makes you look like you have a mustache and I just find that utterly hilarious." I reached over and pinched his arm but it was so muscly it didn't have much give. He laughed. "Nice try sir."

       "You will pay for that mister!!" I squealed. I jumped on him and started to tickle him. He was much stronger than I was and was able to hold me down. With me pinned to his chest I looked up into his eyes and then I felt him leaning into kiss me. I pulled back. "I'm sorry." I said getting up, I scrambled off the couch. He looked hurt. "I'm sorry." I said again.

       "Is it because I'm a..." I held a hand up. "No of course not. I'm just not sure that I'm ready for some thing yet. I don't know if that makes any sense." I said.

        "Not really. We've been dancing around each other for weeks sometimes it almost feels like you want it and other times like you don't I'm so very confused here. I just need to know what you want from me." He said. "I don't know." I said. "Then maybe it's best if I leave town for a few days. Just to give you some space and time to think." He said.

       "You really don't have to do that." I said. "No, I really do. Everyone keeps telling me what a catch I am but nobody actually wants to date me. And I don't know if my ego could take it." He said. "Please, you are a great catch. And you're exactly the kind of guy I want to date." I said pleading with him. "Sure, but if it was that simple then you would just date me. Clearly it's not I'm just going to go away for a few days. You have my number. Call me and let me know what you decide. But if you don't want to date me it might be really painful for me to stay as a roommate." He said letting me know where he stood.

       Once he had packed a bag he stood at the door. "Can I at least to give you a hug?" He asked. I nodded and leaned in wrapping my arms around him. He was really muscular and warm. Why couldn't these things just be simpler? I waved as I watched him drive off on his motorcycle. The second he left, the house seemed more empty than it had in a while.