I smiled at him, when he held me at arms length, pleased that he was able to hear the words I was trying to say to him. I knew when I was pissed off, I didn't want to hear anyone else's opinion, and it was sometimes impossible for me to see reason. But here he was, listening and understanding. It was good, he was a good man.
When he complimented me, I ducked my head slightly and averted my eyes. There it was, that pride in me that I had wanted. It meant the world to me, and I didn't know how to react to it because I hadn't felt as if anyone had been proud of me for a very long time. The last time someone was proud of me was probably a few years ago, when my dad was proud that I'd been able to fix my car all by myself. It was silly, but really, these moments didn't happen too often.
"Thanks," I mumbled, finally looking back up at him with a smile.
Of course then my brother spoke up, and it was as if some little bubble was popped. Not that I had forgotten that Seth was there... okay, I pretty much forgot that Seth was there. My bad! I guess that's what they meant when they said your imprint became your world. Everything else was lost to me.
"Sorry," I winced, "I don't even know why we told them first, it just happened that way." Shrugging it off, I hoped that he wouldn't be hurt or offended that he hadn't been the first one to know. "Jake felt it was important they know as soon as possible. Know that things had changed, but that he-- we are still going to protect them." I frowned at the last couple words, really wishing that I didn't have to be a part of this whole protection-of-vampires business. But whatever, I'd already made my choice. I wasn't leaving Jake.
"I haven't even told mom yet! God, I don't even know how she's going to react!"