Title: Sock Hop
Pairing (for fanfiction): Jacob/Bella
Rating: PG
Genre: Friendship/Romance
Prompt: Daydream Believer – 50's/60's songs in general
Written for Tricky Raven's Valentine's Day contest. I might make this into a full story, but I haven't decided.
Disclaimer:
( Fanfiction): All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.
SOCK HOP
Bella very carefully painted each of her fingernails and toes red to match the dress that she would be wearing that night. In the next room, Jacob brushed out his long black hair and and straightened out the red tie securely in place with his white dress shirt and black pants. He felt incredibly nervous and felt silly for feeling that way. In one week it would be the annual Valentine's Day sock hop at the high school and Jacob had a very special date prepared for the evening in order to be ready for then.
Jacob could remember his very first dance.
(m~m~m~)
Bella and Jacob had been working on the motorcycles in secret in his garage for weeks and Valentine's Day was fast approaching.
"Come on, you should ask Bella to the dance." Quil encouraged.
"I don't know." Jacob answered back nervously.
"It's obvious that she likes you, almost every free moment she has is spent with you." Embry added.
"Ya think?" Jacob said with doubt, as he nodded his head thinking about it. Bella's smile spread across his face and both Quil andEmbry laughed at him.
Jacob glared at them and shoved Embry into Quil resulting in a scuffle between all three of them. Elbows were flung and tackles weremade as they ended up in a friendly dog pile with it taking both Quil and Embry together to pin down Jacob.
"Jeez, guys..." Jacob sighed and brushed off the dirt and dried needles from his clothes. "Who are you taking?" He asked them both.
Embry blushed and gave getting every spec of nature from his pants his full attention in an attempt to avoid answering the question.
Quil stood a little taller, broadening his shoulders and grinned. "I'm asking Aleria."
"Yeah right," Jacob challenged. "She's a senior."
"Oh I know." Quil raised his eyebrows and nodded.
Embry shook his head agreeing with Jacob. "I don't know, dude. That's a tall order."
"It's a good thing we are all over six foot." Quil grinned.
Embry and Jacob both rolled their eyes.
Jacob spent the next week with Bella trying to think of a subtle way to bring up the dance. He made sure that a radio played in the garagehoping that music would create the opportunity he needed. Just a small bob of her head, tap of her toe or better yet a move of her hips thatwould indicate that dancing was in her near future, but nothing happened. The closest that Jacob got to a response was her getting up andturning the radio off if the song was even the tiniest bit romantic.
Valentine's Day arrived and neither Jacob or Embry were any closer to getting a date. Quil on the other hand surprised them both whenAleria agreed to go with him. Since getting accepted Quil began singing each and every Greece song, and some of those songs weren'tmeant to be sung by a male. Quil didn't care, he was on cloud nine and determined to "grow up, cause she needed a man" and that manhe would be. Despite feeling totally awesome, Quil really didn't want to go to the dance without his two best friends going with him. Heknew that Jacob was just a few parts away from being able to finish the Rabbit and thought a little bribery could be used in his favor.
"Alright, you losers. Twenty bucks to whichever one of you gets a date."
"Really?" Embry challenged, his interest peaked. "Cause, I was asked out by Cherie today."
"What?" Jacob and Quil said at the same time.
"I don't know... I thought it was kinda dorky that 'I' didn't actually ask anyone." Embry blushed, tucking his shoulder length hair behindhis ear. It was a nervous gesture that both Jacob and Quil knew well.
"Actually, you are right." Quil confirmed. "Completely different, but still, score!" He lifted his hand, giving his best friend a high five.
Embry grinned, despite the blush on his cheeks, and returned the high five. "I guess the money is up to you Jake. Ask Bella and itsyours."
Jacob really could use the money and thought that it would give him the additional motivation that he needed to find the courage to askBella. "I really want to ask, but I don't think she'll agree to it." Jacob sighed.
"Uhm..." Embry said thoughtfully, wanting to help Jake out any way that he could. "Maybe you need something to get the conversationstarted."
Jacob shook his head. "I already tried the radio and it was a complete fail."
"Hello!" Quil said loudly, knocking Jacob in the head for added affect. "CONVERSATION HEARTS!" He continued to yell.
Jacob glared until he realized that it wasn't a completely idiotic idea. "Uhm..." He mumbled.
Jacob grudgingly bought the box of hearts and sat on his front porch waiting for Bella to show up. 'Come on, Jake, you can to this.' Hetold himself, close to a million times before her loud truck came to a rumbling stop. She seemed completely out of it that day, havingsomehow gone the entire school day without even realizing it was Valentine's Day. 'I can't do this!' Jacob told himself in a panic.
Jacob glanced over at Quil and Embry who were both hiding nearby and then both shook their heads telling him not to do it, and scampered off since there wasn't anything further interesting to watch. Jacob took a relaxed sigh, feeling better that he had his friendsagreement that it genuinely was a very bad idea. It was after Bella had accepted the candy and also agreed to be his slave for life thatJacob had a sudden moment of courage.
"Bella, I want you to come to the Valentine's Day dance with me at my school today."
"You what?" Bella responded in surprise.
"I know it is kinda last minute, but both Quil and Embry have dates and I really want to go. Please, Bella."
"You've seen me try to walk, Jake."
"It's a sock hop. How much damage could you possibly do without shoes on?"
Bella grimaced. "I don't know."
For once in Jacob's life he didn't fill the silence with constant chatter and instead watched her face. There were moments of shear panicand terror, which he tried not to chuckle at. In order to keep the laughter inside, Jacob imagined attending the dance with Bella. Hersmile stretched across his face and Jacob heard Bella say something that sounded a lot like "alright".
"Did you just agree?" Jacob asked in disbelief.
"Yes."
Jacob grabbed Bella in his signature hug, lifting her off the ground and spinning them both in a circle.
"Can't breathe... Jake." Bella panted.
Jacob laughed and took her inside.
Together they went through some of his sisters clothes to find the poodle skirts that they had worn to the same dance when they were inhigh school. Skirt, check. Matching shirt, check. Hair tie to put her hair in a pony tail, check. And socks, check. Bella was officially out ofexcuses. Jacob slicked back his jet black hair, styled in the classic 50's style, adding a disgusting amount of gel to keep it in place. Herolled the bottom of his jeans and straightened his tight white t-shirt.
Jacob didn't call Quil or Embry, deciding to surprise them when he showed up with Bella. Bella's knuckles were white as she gripped ontightly to the steering wheel, driving her and Jacob to the school's gym where the dance was being held.
"Breathe, Bella." Jacob reminded her, and secretly himself.
"Right..." Bella choked out.
Jacob chuckled and pried one hand from the steering wheel. "Come on, it'll be fun." Jacob didn't realize at the time how infamous thoselast words would be.
Much to Jacob's delight both Quil and Embry were ecstatic when they saw him which quickly turned horrific when Quil immediately dragged Bella onto the dance floor.
"Hey!" Jacob objected.
"Give him a chance, I'm sure he won't screw her up too badly." Embry said, trying to be encouraging.
"What happened to Aleria?" Jacob asked.
"Quil came to pick her up and found her sick in bed. Apparently she forgot to call and since he was already dressed and ready he decidedto come stag." Embry answered.
"What are the odds that out of all of us, Quil would be the one without a date?" Jacob asked surprised.
"I know, and speaking of dates, I need to get back to mine. Laters." Embry patted Jacob's shoulder and went to get punch for himselfand Cherie.
Jacob looked back at Quil and Bella on the dance floor. His heart beat wildly in his chest and his palms were sweating in nervousness. The lights strobbed around him as classic 50's and 60's songs played. Quil had Bella's hands in his and moved his shoulders and hips toThe Twist. Bella's cheeks were extremely red, but there was a smile on her face and there didn't seem to be any casualties in her wake.Which meant that any further accidents would be all Jacob's fault. There was no denying the multiple times him and Bella had trippedover each other.
Quil brought Bella back to Jacob, giving Bella a quick hug. "See, that wasn't so hard." He winked at her and went on to the next waitinglady.
Bella blushed again, which Jacob mimicked as he debated whether to take her hand. It wasn't the first time, but also knew that it would bedifferent at a school dance.
"So, how was it?" Jacob asked.
"He managed to keep all ten toes but had to catch me twice." Bella sighed, the blush still staining her cheeks.
Jacob chuckled. "Well, that doesn't set the bar too high."
"Thanks, a lot." Bella rolled her eyes, with a smile
They watched the others dance for several songs. They drank punch and more punch and more punch. Bella visited the ladies room,again, and again, until they had both run out of excuses to not actually dance with each other.
"Come on, Jake. This is getting ridiculous." Quil rolled his eyes.
"I know. I swear when Bella gets back, I'll dance with her." Jacob promised.
"Sure, sure." Quil mocked, which rewarded him with a shove from Jacob.
"What's going on?" Bella asked, concerned that they might actually be fighting with each other.
"Nothing." Jacob insisted. "Bella, lets dance." He stated, rather than asked, and grasped her hand with his own.
Before Bella knew what was happening they were on the dance floor. Jacob immediately thought he probably should have paid attention tothe song that was actually playing, but now it was too late. Daydream Believer, wasn't The Twist, and Jacob wasn't exactly sure how todance to the slower song. Thankfully it had a strong beat which was easy to follow, but that didn't help Jacob to know what to do with therest of his body. Jacob's heart hammered wildly as he glanced at the other couples that surrounded him. The consensuses seemed to behands on hips, so that is what Jacob did, with Bella following suit with her arms around his neck.
"Sorry, Bella..." Jacob apologized, once again his monster feet colliding with hers.
"It's alright, I like having someone to share the blame with." Bella smiled.
"Thanks, a lot Bells." Jacob laughed. He continued to trip over Bella and loved every minute of it, as he felt like he really was living adream. Bella smiled more than he had ever seen her smile and surrounded by some of the cheesiest love songs every written Jacob fellmore in love with Bella Swan.
It was late when Bella drove him back to his house. Jacob's heart had beat wildly many times throughout the evening and it felt like acompletely different universe instead of actually the same day that he had almost chickened out and not asked Bella to the dance. Jacobhad learned a valuable lesson about taking chances and as they sat parked in front of his house, he had another opportunity that he didwant to see pass him by.
"Bella," he said softly, taking her hand.
"Jake," she responded looking down at their hands and then back at his face. He could see the doubt and resistance on her face. "Jake," she said again.
"Don't," he interrupted, "don't say anything, let me instead. Bella we are best friends and tonight has been a lot of fun. I'll see youtomorrow."
Bella took a sigh of relief, which Jacob tried to mimic.
The butterflies in his stomach had stopped fluttering, but instead of calm there was an all out riot going on. It was a civil war, makingJacob feel like there was a very high chance he was about to throw up. Logic would indicate that Jacob would get out of the car and prayhis way back into the house with his even snacks still contained inside his body, but there was nothing logical about Jacob. Cupid musthave been out in full force and Jacob had been shot right in the kisser.
So therefore, kiss her he did.
Feeling Bella's lips press back against his own caused his breath to catch and the butterflies began giving each other high fives, whichunfortunately did not calm his stomach any.
"Happy Valentine's Day." Bella mumbled, their lips still close together and both eyes wide with excitement.
"Happy Valentine's Day. Good night, Bells." Jacob whispered, reaching out to actually give her a hug, which was what he intended ondoing before his adolescent hormones had a different, yet fantastic, idea, which resulted in their first kiss.
Bella returned the hug and Jacob gave her another quick kiss on her cheek. "Bye."
They waved to each other and Jacob wanted to keep on dancing for the rest of his life.
(m~m~m)
Jacob couldn't have been happier with how his life had turned out. He used the 20 dollars that he got from Quil to finish the Rabbit and began to officially date Bella. Though he did later become a wolf, he had his best friends, Embry and Quil, phase with him. He thought Bella was a little crazy when he found out what Edward was, but the bloodsucker never returned and that was most important. Him and Bella had been married for over twenty years and had three crazy children.
Jacob tapped on the door of his daughter's room. Bella put the fingernail polish away and kissed Marie's cheek before getting up to answer the door to let her husband inside.
"You look as handsome as always." Bella smiled and reached up to hug Jacob, which he gladly returned.
"Thank you," Jacob said and turned to look at his beautiful daughter. Her skin naturally glowed like it had been kissed by the sun and her jet black hair hung in waves down her back. The red satin dress hugged her petite 16 year old frame.
"Hey Bright Eyes." He said to his daughter, her eyes matching her mother's with thick black lashes that made her stand out from a young age. Jacob didn't have to be a biased father to know that she was a beautiful young lady.
"Hey Dad," Marie replied with a slight blush on her cheeks.
Jacob offered his hand, which Marie accepted and he walked her to his car opening the door for her and then drove them to the resort, which was the only respectable date place in town. The resort knew it and over charged for its food, but that was part of the cost of love.
Marie was going to be attending her first dance the following weekend. It would be her first real date even though Marie insisted that it wasn't a date because her and Drent were just friends. Jacob knew very well how "friend dates" could turn out and wanted his daughter to be prepared. To Jacob she was a prized princess and he wanted her to be treated that way.
Over pasta and bread sticks Jacob listened as Marie talked about school, friends and teachers that she loved and who she found annoying. It was a particular subject that Jacob knew well due to him having two of her teachers when he was in high school, which made the teachers older than dirt.
"Do you know why I'm doing this?" Jacob asked.
"To keep you from being a chaperone. Seriously Dad, no one wants to see you and Mom attempting to dance." Marie giggled.
"Very funny and very true, but not the actual reason."
"Dang, I thought I had that." Marie frowned and then smiled, teasing.
Jacob chuckled as he enjoyed seeing his own sense of humor evident in his child.
"The real reason is, I want you to be able to recognize a gentlemen when you see one and also a jerk and be able to tell the difference between the two."
"That doesn't seem so hard." Marie countered seriously.
"I hope you are right. Marie, you are my angel and I want nothing more than to keep you safe. Not just physically safe but emotionally too. Someday when you decide that you want to get married, then I want him to know that you are a present."
"Dad..." Marie blushed awkwardly.
"Stop that, lets not make it any more awkward than it is. I just want whoever opens that present to treat you like the most valuable possession imaginable, to be treated respectfully and with great care."
"Alright, I get it. Thanks, Dad."
"You are welcome, Marie. Your mother and I love you very much."
"I love you too."
Later that evening Jacob and Marie each had double dipped cones and strolled along the beach enjoying each others' company and laughing at their lame attempts of jokes. The following weekend Bella kept Marie in her room, in order to get the bow tied perfectly, or really to give Jacob enough time to put the fear of God into Drent.
"Don't worry, Mr. B, I don't think of Marie like that." Drent said with a smile.
"Why not? She's gorgeous, fun, great since of humor and did I mention beautiful?" Jacob challenged.
"Yeah, she's all those things. Of course." Drent admitted, not sure what else he could say without being insulting.
"Well, alright then." Jacob nodded and was thankful when Bella and Marie graced his presence.
"Sorry..." Marie said to Drent.
"It's alright." Drent smiled and opened the door for Marie to exit, waving to Jacob and Bella.
Jacob and Bella settled on the couch each with a deep sigh. Bella stretched her back arching as Jacob turned his head to notice her chest pointing directly at him. He grinned and thanked his lucky stars that they had an empty house for the next several hours.
"Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" Bella giggled mischievously at him.
"Oh yeah I am." Jacob grinned and leaned over to kiss Bella when she suddenly rolled off the couch and began to put on her shoes. Obviously there was some serious miscommunication and Jacob had not been thinking the same thing that Bella had been thinking, but for the life of him he had no idea what she had been thinking. Not wanting to look like an idiot he immediately followed suit and put on his shoes followed quickly by his jacket.
They walked for several minutes the whole time Jacob trying to figure out what signal he had so badly mistaken. Empty house, check. Bella sexy on the couch, check. While thinking of other things he went back to empty house just to double check, still empty.
"Where are we going?" Jacob finally asked and then wished he hadn't as it became blatantly obvious with the 'La Push High School' sign glaring in front of them.
"To the school, duh." Bella answered.
Jacob rolled his eyes. "Alright, I see that. Why are we at the school?"
"To spy on Marie." Bella answered, giving him another 'duh' look this time without actually saying the word.
"Ohhh..." Jacob nodded.
Together they crept over to the window peaking inside. The decorations were virtually the same as when they had attended, including the punch bowl and fake jukebox. Jacob stood behind Bella, easily looking over her head as they both scanned the area in search of Marie and Drent. The problem with a 50s inspired dance on a reservation is that all of them looked almost exactly alike, with the exception of the multiple colored poodle skirts. Luckily red was easy to spot and so Jacob continued to scan the area.
"Found them," Bella whispered, like they could hear her through the thick pane of glass and loud music pulsing inside.
"Where?" Jacob asked and then tried to line his eyes to where she was pointing.
Marie was standing next to Drent, the skirt swishing from side to side as her head bobbed easily to the beat of the song. There was a thrilling excitement flowing through Jacob that he hadn't felt since high school when he was doing something that he knew he really shouldn't have been doing. Both kids were smiling and neither of them touched the other, dancing with a group of four or six in a large circle. What started off as exciting, it quickly turned boring as Jacob learned that he really did raise a good girl and Drent seemed to actually think of his daughter as just his friend.
It didn't take long for Jacob's mind to go back to plan A as his arms around Bella began to roam to various places on his wife's body. Bella slowly turned around in his arms. "What are you doing?" She asked with a smirk.
"Just admiring the view." Jacob replied.
"It is a... sorta beautiful night." Bella teased, bring her body closer to his and wrapping her arms around his neck.
Jacob smiled and brought his lips to hers, kissing her deeply. Bella responded with experience and in record time they were both breathing heavily. Despite being short of breath Jacob was just getting started and continued to kiss her deeply, until there was deep voice shouting behind them.
"WHAT are you doing?"
Jacob leaped, banging into the glass and Bella screamed, as Quil fell over in uncontrollable laughter. There had been times in Jacob's life when he saw his own life flash before his eyes, but in this instance it was Quil's life as visions of killing his best friend looped around inside his head.
"Oh my... that was the funniest thing... I've ever... done in... my life." Quil muttered between fits of laughter.
Bella marched over to him and smacked him on the head. "Quil Atera, what are you doing here?"
"Duh, same thing you are, trying to spy on our kids. Drent was all calm like it was no big deal before he left the house, but I remember how fun and crazy the dance could be, so I wanted to see how it really was for him. I should have known you would be here spying too." Quil chuckled to himself.
"It wasn't my idea." Jacob rolled his eyes, temporarily distracted from murder plots.
"Awesome." Quil grinned at Bella. "Great minds thinking alike." Bella glared and gave him an added smack on his chest. Quil laughed until he looked back towards the window. "Uh oh..."
Bella and Jacob both looked back at the window as well and saw a large cluster of kids who had gathered around the window, however front and center was Marie.
"Mom? Dad?" She asked, looking horrified.
"Damn..." Jacob mumbled.
"Busted." Bella added.
Jacob looked at Quil and once again the murderous plots began to circulate.
"Crap..." Quil yelped and ran with Jacob chasing after him.