Bonding
Disclaimer: I own nothing.
"Just leave it Jacob." Bella warned as she and Alice entered the house behind Rosalie who had stormed in a few seconds earlier and gone straight to the room she shared with Emmett. At the sight of the only vampire the werewolf really couldn't stand Jacob had stood up and opened his mouth to make some comment that he knew she would hear even though she had left the room long ago.
"Why?" He scowled at her; they had had a fight earlier that morning before Alice and Bella had dragged her out shopping something which Bella no longer protested at. "Why do you guys all jump to her defence every time something stupid upsets her and she goes off in a huff?"
"Drop it." Bella snapped at him and he subsided into his chair still scowling but remaining silent; once she was satisfied that he wasn't going to do anything stupid she disappeared upstairs to put her purchases away.
Jacob rolled his eyes in exasperation but switched his attention back to the TV programme he was watching. Esme and Nessie were in the garden and the four male vampires had gone hunting for the weekend. Alice like Bella was in her room no doubt trying to fit the newly bought clothes into her wardrobe without throwing anything else away.
"Have you seen Rose?" His attention was dragged away by a worried looking Bella and Alice. Alice had her eyes closed and was trying desperately to see something but his presence was the reason she was failing.
"I thought she was in her room." He answered not bothering to look up from the TV. "I thought we were supposed to leave her alone."
Bella looked annoyed. "You were supposed to not annoy her not completely abandon her and she's not in her room."
"We need to find her." Alice stated. "There's no telling what state she'll be in." Bella nodded in agreement.
"Why would she be in a state?" Jacob asked but he was ignored by the two sisters who were talking quickly.
"She could be anywhere by now though." Alice pointed out in answer to Bella's question about where she could possibly be. "We'll need more help looking."
"Jake." Bella appealed finally succeeding in dragging his attention away to the screen in front of him.
"Oh so now you want to talk to me." He scowled at them and leaning to his right to see the TV screen which Bella was now standing in front of to get his full attention.
"Look Jake we can't leave Nessie here by herself which means that Esme can't help us and the guys are all away hunting. We need to find Rosalie now."
"Can't I stay here with Nessie?" Jake asked looking less than pleased about being asked to find the blond haired vampire.
Bella glared at him. "I am not leaving you alone with my daughter after yesterday." She snarled remembering the disaster that she had arrived home to find. She, Rosalie, Alice and Esme had been to the cinema that evening leaving Jacob in charge of Nessie.
They had arrived home to find that the kitchen walls had been redecorated. Splatters of different colour paint had coated the walls, the table was stained of all colours of the rainbow, pools of colour were collecting on the floor and Nessie and Jake both resembled clowns.
"Fair point." He muttered; after the four women had recovered from their shock Nessie had been sent to bed while Jake, as the 'responsible' adult, had been forced to help them clear up. It was only when it had reached one o'clock in the morning had Jacob been allowed to go to bed and escape Rosalie's retorts.
The other four had spent their night scrubbing away and when Jake had appeared the next morning the kitchen had looked spotless. "You owe us Jake." Alice reminded him dancing forwards to sit next to him. "Even cleaning the kitchen at our speed took most of the night."
Jake sighed. "I'll help…" He noticed their excited and thankful looks and carried on before they could interrupt him. "If you'll tell me why."
Bella and Alice exchanged a look. "It's not really our place to tell." Bella bit her lip. "Please Jake." He scowled at her and Alice pulled out her final trump card.
"What would Nessie say if we told her you didn't go and help her aunt?" She and Bella exchanged a satisfied smirk as Jacob sighed and relented.
Due to the fact that he couldn't travel as far as quickly without phasing and then dealing with the issue of clothes Jacob was assigned the area near the house while the other two looked further afield.
He hadn't gone far before he found her; she was leaning against a tree with her knees pulled up to her chest and her arms wrapped tightly around them. She gave no sign that she knew he was there although he knew that there was little chance of that being a reality.
"Hey." He muttered softly sitting down next to her not entirely sure how to approach the situation.
"What do you want?" She snapped although she didn't sound nearly as fierce as she usually did.
"Alice and Bella are worried about you." He offered lamely.
"So why the hell are you here?"
"I was worried about too." He shrugged and was amazed to find that he wasn't lying. The words sounded genuine enough to her as well and she accepted his words with only a raised eyebrow. "Are you okay?" He asked after a pause.
She finally turned to look at him and the shock of him actually caring was written across her face. "I'm not that bad of a guy." He shrugged.
She gave him a weak smile before it fell again and she looked just as miserable as she had done before. "What do you know of my human life?" she murmured looking straight ahead.
It was not exactly what he had been expecting not seeing what her human life had to do with anything. But then again he knew very little of any of their pasts. He knew Jasper's; it had been relevant during the whole newborn army saga and he knew a little about Carlisle's, Edward's, Emmett's and Alice's but not in any amount of detail.
The only thing he knew of Rosalie's and Esme's was that Carlisle had changed them. "Nothing."
"I was engaged." She began "To a Royce King; my life was perfect. I had my whole life ahead of me and was impatient for it to begin. I couldn't wait to be married and to have kids. My friend Vera had been married for a few years and she had just had a son. I was on my way back from visiting her and Henry, her son, one evening when…"
She trailed off but Jake remained silent not remarking on anything that she had just said. "I passed Royce and his friends and he called me over. They had been drinking. I tried to leave but they wouldn't let me." Her voice was growing louder and higher and he could hear the fear in it even now.
She turned to him her eyes wide with the fear of the memories that she was reliving. "They raped me and then beat me before leaving me to die on the street. That's when Carlisle found me."
She trailed off as her voice choked and there was a moment's pause while she regained her composure. "Today on the way home in the car we had the radio on and they reported a rape, a fifteen year old in Seattle. It…"
"Brought back memories." He finished for her; she nodded before turning away from him so he couldn't see her trying to suppress the tearless sobs that threatened to escape; she didn't want his pity. It didn't matter; he could hear her fight for control.
He was really regretting agreeing to help Alice and Bella; he had no idea what to do in a situation like this and even if he did they didn't exactly get along. So he did the only thing he could think of and slid his arm around her shoulders.
She stiffened at first and he wondered whether he had done the right thing but after a couple of seconds she turned and buried her face in his shoulder. He wrapped his other arm around her as well trying not to show his shock as she actually responded to his hug.
He could feel her shaking in his arms as the memories of that night overwhelmed her to the point that she was no longer entirely aware where she was and what was going on. He fought the urge to run and get help and instead rubbed her back in a comforting manner; in the same way that he had seen Leah being comforted after Sam had imprinted on Emily.
"It's all right Rose." He whispered the nickname falling from his lips easily and without thought. "He's dead; you've got Emmett, you've got family now. You're safe." It was an odd situation; he had never thought that he would ever see Rosalie in the state she was in now; her life had seemed too perfect.
But now as he reassured the sobbing girl who was shaking in his arms he felt protective over her as though she was his sister. It was a different feeling than he had had for the rest of the Cullens. Carlisle and Esme felt like an uncle or aunt, Emmett, Jasper, Edward, Alice and Bella like close friends, although they would never have bond like he and Quil and Embry and then there was Nessie.
But he felt a rush of affection for the blond haired beauty of the family and continued to sit with her while she calmed herself. Eventually she was calm enough to withdraw from his grip and she turned away from him clearly embarrassed by it all.
"I'm sorry." She muttered still gazing far out into the distance.
"For what." He scoffed. "There's no need to be ashamed for crying; everyone does it. Besides it can't be easy living with all that in your memory. No one blames you; they just want to help you."
"What about you?" she asked turning towards him as his words lessened her embarrassment.
"I want to help you too."
She stared at him trying to work out if he was mocking her or not and then slipped her arm around his shoulder and squeezed it gently. "Thank you."
"No worries." He smiled at her and then bounced to his feet and offered her a hand. They made their way back to the house silently as they both contemplated what had transpired between them.
"Rose!" They were greeted by Alice flying down the steps and throwing her arms around Rosalie's shoulders. "Are you ok?"
"I am now." She smiled back gripping her sister tightly before releasing her so that she could hug Bella as well. "Jacob found me." She was spared by having to elaborate as Nessie who had followed her mother out and having greeted Jake came over to Rosalie demanding that she read her a story.
"Thanks Jake." Bella hugged him once Rosalie and Nessie had disappeared into the house. "I know you don't like her but…"
"Who said I didn't like her." He grinned at the two vampires and then disappeared into the house calling to Rosalie and Nessie to wait for him.
"What the hell happened out there?" Alice phrased the question on both of her and Bella's lips.
Later that evening found Alice, Bella and Esme in the kitchen the latter preparing dinner for Nessie, Jake and the rest of his pack who Esme had invited in for dinner that night. The other two were perched on the kitchen table keeping her company and occasionally helping her out.
Rosalie, Jacob and Nessie were still in the living room where they had been for several hours the former two taking it in turns to read to Nessie. They were working their way through the Harry Potter books and alternating the chapters between them.
The peace throughout the house was shattered by the arrival of the wolves. Seth, the most comfortable among the vampires besides Jacob, bounded into the house, in his human form like the others. Quil and Embry followed him in a more calm manner and finally Leah came a few steps behind them, looking less comfortable but not unhappy.
"Seth!" The three vampires in the kitchen heard Nessie squeal excitedly and heard the youngest wolf catch her in his arms and swing her round. Once he released her she hugged Quil and Embry who returned the hug enthusiastically they were both fond of the little girl. Nessie smiled at the female wolf who returned it but they kept their distance.
"Hey guys." Bella called through to them. "Leah." She added remembering how she disliked being counted as one of them.
"Hi Bella." They grinned back. "Esme, Alice." At that moment Rosalie entered the kitchen and pulled out a chair and sank into it.
"You ok sweetheart." Esme asked her dropping a kiss on her daughter's forehead. She nodded and it was reassurance enough that she was ok now; Jake had sorted her out.
"You may not be fond of the leeches Leah." Quil started earning himself a glare from the young girl for calling her family leeches. "But you can't deny that Esme cooks amazing food." He redeemed himself in Nessie's eyes by complimenting her grandmother and she smiled brightly at him.
"If I get any." Leah rolled her eyes at them; now that they were left alone in the garden without the vampires she was much more relaxed. "You four have scoffed most of it; me and Nessie have hardly had any."
The argument was interrupted by the appearance of the four male vampires who had already greeted their mates. "Daddy!" Nessie jumped of her chair and was in her father's arms within seconds.
"Jake." The alpha turned to see the strongest vampire of the family coming towards the table where they were eating. "Can I have a word?"
Jacob cast one longing look at his half full plate and then at the vampire before warning his pack members not to steal his food before pushing back his chair and falling into step beside Emmett. They walked in silence for a few minutes until they were away from the house.
Once they reached a clearing in the surrounding forest Emmett stopped and leant against a tree looking at ease as normal. "I just wanted to say thank you for what you did for Rose today."
Jacob shrugged clearly uncomfortable by the gratitude being shown towards him. "It was no problem."
"The others don't know this, apart from Edward- there's no keeping anything from him." Jacob snorted. "But it still affects her a lot; it's not the first time something like that's happened. I think the rest of them just presume she gets a bit upset but nothing as bad as it really is."
"She's not that bad really." Jacob grinned lightening the mood between them. "None of you are."
"Good thing you've decided that now." Emmett smirked. "After all you'll be joining the family officially in a few years."
"If Bella doesn't kill me first." Jake laughed only half joking remembering her reaction to when she had found out he had imprinted on her daughter.
"The rest of us will stop her." Emmett snorted her. "Besides it would only take one word from Nessie to stop her."
They were interrupted by the arrival of Rosalie who had come to get them. "Alice says it's going to thunder in a minute." She informed them. "And the wolves are joining us for a game."
"YES" Emmett boomed his eyes lighting up at the prospect of a baseball game. He darted off back to the house eager to claim the best team.
The other two laughed at his childlike excitement before meandering back to the house at a slower speed talking between themselves all sign of ill feelings having disappeared.
Thanks for reading; your thoughts would be much appreciated. Sorry about any mistakes but I read what I thought I wrote not what I actually did. Sorry for the lame title but I couldn't think of anything.
Tacxxx