TWILIGHT ANNIVERSARY CHALLENGE
Entries accepted until 11/30/09
Voting begins 12/1/09
Title: An Unexpectedly Good Day
Author: Eagleswings81
Rating: K+
Word Count: 5098
Summary: While sitting in a coffee shop on Sep. 10th mourning the loss of his love, Jacob Black meets someone who completely turns the day around. AU
This story is an entry for the Twilight Anniversary Challenge, hosted by edward-bella-harry-ginny, Justine Lark and Gleena. For complete challenge details, to read the rest of the challenge submissions, or if you are interested in entering, please visit the challenge community at:
www(dot)fanfiction(dot)net/~twilightanniversarychallenge
Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight or its characters; they belong to Stephenie Meyer.
A/N: When I saw this challenge I couldn't resist entering, though I've never published a story before. One year ago today, I picked up Twilight from the library and read it in less than 24 hours. I haven't been able to get enough of it since.
Many thanks to adverb for her beta skills. If it wasn't for her and ebhg's encouragement I would have never written this.
Though the atmosphere was a little more crowded then he was used to, Jacob enjoyed the ability to blend into the background. He was sitting in a popular coffee shop just off campus. With his physique, he usually stuck out and garnered much unwanted attention. But, sitting in the back of the shop in an oversized arm chair that fit him perfectly and going unnoticed was just what he needed right now.
Jacob sighed as he stared down at his coffee. He knew that today, September 10th, was not going to be a good day – it never was. Twelve years ago, he had lost the love of his life. Knowing it was coming hadn't lessened the blow at all. It had been devastating, and when her change had come, he had run. Bella had been everything to him, and he had fought hard for her; but she had been stubborn and look where it got her – dead – or as good as it, anyway.
As he did every year, Jacob thought back over what had happened to lead him to where he was today. Even though he had given Edward permission to change Bella to prevent her death, he still couldn't face it when it came down to it. After Edward had taken over pumping her heart, Jacob had fled the house. He had somehow ignored the overwhelming urge to destroy the creature that had done this to his love. In his heart, he knew that Bella would not have wanted it. She seemed to have formed a strong bond with the creature. So much so that she was willing to give up her life for it. He hadn't even stuck around to see if her change had been successful. He hadn't wanted to see her like that. It was much easier to just think of her as dead.
For seven years, he had roamed as a wolf, only shifting to his human form every few months or so. Leah and Seth had stayed in La Push, though they had kept tabs on where and what he had been doing. After a year or so, they had given up trying to convince him to come home.
But time had gone on and Jacob had not been able to get past the feeling that he had left something behind in Forks. So, with a heavy heart, he had headed home.
Forks and La Push looked the same, as if he had never left. Small towns never change much in less than a decade. But as soon as he arrived, he realized that this was not where he needed to be. The pull was gone. Whatever he was looking for wouldn't be found here.
Still, his father was glad to see him and it was nice to catch up with old friends. Though he tried to avoid it, he couldn't help but overhear the rumors concerning Bella.
Bella. His heart clenched, trying not to let the pain overwhelm him, as he thought of her beautiful brown eyes and open expression.
Apparently, she had died of a South American virus only six weeks after her wedding. She had been buried in Forks, and her extremely distraught husband and in-laws had moved away only two weeks after the funeral. That story did not surprise Jacob. What did surprise him, though, was that through comforting Charlie in his grief, Sue Clearwater had formed a relationship with him. They had gotten married several years ago and seemed quite happy. Jake tried not to think about the fact that Seth and Leah would be step-siblings with a vampire (assuming the change was successful). It made his head hurt just to think about it.
Sometimes, when Jacob was in a good mood, he would speculate on what had happened with Bella and her child. Had she become a vampire, too? Was the child human or a monster? If Bella hadn't made it, what had happened to Edward? Admittedly, that last question didn't plague him too much. Whatever had happened to Edward, he had most likely deserved it. However, today Jacob was not in a good mood. Today, he was just trying to survive.
Jacob shifted as he rested his head on the back of the chair. Closing his eyes, he tried to relax into the chair and relieve his stress.
After his trip back to La Push the first time, Jacob realized that running and hiding wasn't helping anything. He knew that he needed to pull himself up out of the depression that he had sunk into. He opened a car repair shop on the reservation and kept that up for several years. However, with Billy's death, Jacob soon found La Push to be stifling. Most of both packs had imprinted and being around them reminded him of what he had lost.
And that brought him to where he was now, in college. He had never really given much thought to college, but he was bored and had needed something to distract himself. If he was honest with himself, he was also hoping that exposing himself to large groups of people would have also allowed him to find his imprint. He was not very hopeful on this account, but he figured he might as well have given himself the best chance. There was zero to little chance that he would find his imprint living in the woods as a wolf, and he had grown up with most of the people on the reservation.
And so he had enrolled himself in a basic mechanical program at a college in Wisconsin. It was pretty much a random choice, but it also hadn't carried any painful associations with it. This was the beginning of his second year and he was enjoying it for the most part.
Hearing someone move closer to him, Jacob opened his eyes to see a slim young women sit down in one of the arm chairs next to him. As she set her coffee on the table between them, she pulled out a book and settled back in the chair.
Overcome with inexplicable curiosity Jacob leaned forward to get a glance at what book she was reading as it was extremely dog eared and clearly well-loved. He leaned back and closed his eyes against the pain when he saw it was Wuthering Heights. Just his luck – this girl had to be reading one of Bella's favorite books.
"Excuse me." His eyes snapped open at the voice and he found himself looking into a pair of very familiar brown eyes.
"Bella," Jacob breathed. The girl frowned.
"I'm sorry?" she said, quizzically. Jacob suddenly realized that though her eyes were the same brown as Bella's, she really didn't look like her. She had pale skin and reddish brown ringlets that fell down to the middle of her back. She did look slightly familiar, though, but Jacob couldn't place where from. In fact, he was certain that he had never seen her before.
It felt to Jacob as if the world, which had been a mess before, had been turned upside down and shaken up, with everything falling right into place. All the heartache he had felt for the last twelve years was immediately gone. Any ties he had to this world were cut. Now everything in him was connected to this girl in front of him, and he didn't even know her name.
Jacob pulled back from his thoughts for a moment, realizing he had not yet given her an answer.
"Uh, what?" Jacob grimaced at how foolish he sounded.
She gave him a small smile. "You called me Bella."
"Oh, I'm sorry, but I mistook you for someone else." He was desperately trying to recover his train of thought and not sound like an idiot.
"No one has ever confused me with my sister-in-law before." She giggled. "How do you know her?"
Jacob just stared at her in confusion. "Your sister-in-law is named Bella?"
"Yeah, Bella Masen. Do you know her?" The girl looked like she was trying to decide if Jacob was worth talking to or not. He certainly didn't sound like he had it all together.
"Um, no. I'm sorry, it's another Bella." Finally gathering himself together and remembering his manners, Jacob stuck out his hand. "I'm sorry, I'm being rude. I'm Jacob."
"Ren," she said, grasping his hand. "It's nice to meet you." Jacob noted with surprise how warm her hand was, almost as warm as his own. She gasped and looked down at their hands.
"Oh, I'm sorry." He said, as he tried to withdraw his hand.
"No, no, it's fine. I was just surprised. I'm not used to hands that are so warm." She held onto his hand and beamed at him.
"Yeah, I'm sorry. My natural body temp has always been high." Jacob thought he could bask in her smile for the rest of eternity, but he needed to keep his wits about him and make sure he sounded coherent. "So, are you a student here?"
"Yes, first semester. Double major in chemistry and English." She let go of his hand, leaned back in her chair and picked up her coffee. "What are you studying, assuming that you are also a student?"
"This is my second year. I'm studying mechanics and small engine design. I'm hoping to build car engines someday." He leaned forward in his chair, not wanting to put more distance between them than necessary.
"Really! You like cars then?" She asked, and Jacob responded with a nod, grinning. "You'd get along with my sister, then. She loves cars and is always out in the garage tinkering on all of ours."
"Yeah, cars have always been my thing. I built my first car when I was sixteen, though I didn't use it for very long." For the first time, Jake was able to think back on that time without pain. He couldn't believe how content he was at the moment.
Ren looked impressed. "That's awesome." There was a moment of awkward silence as she looked down and picked at her jeans.
He took another drink as he considered his next questions. He didn't want to come off as an overeager guy, but he was desperate to know more about her. But questions about her would invariably lead to questions about him, and Jake was uncertain how much he could tell her. All of the rest of the packs' imprints had come from the La Push tribe. They had already been familiar with the legends; letting their imprint know that the legends had been true hadn't been such a big hurdle. This would be different. If Jacob were to tell Ren what he is and what else exists out there in the world, he worried that she would either be completely scared away or think he was insane.
He briefly contemplated not telling her anything about werewolves and vampires. If he were to quit phasing, there would really be no reason that she would ever see him as a wolf. But then, he realized that it would have been a poor start to a relationship, and in the long run, there was really no way he could keep that part of him from her. However, he didn't see any reason to open her eyes to the hard truth of the world just yet.
He wrenched out of his thoughts as he realized that she was asking another question.
"So do you come to the coffee shop often? I've never seen you in here before." Her voice implied that she would have definitely noticed him if she had seen him. Jake couldn't help but grin at that.
"Nah, I've never been here before. I was actually trying to forget the date today." He hesitated, trying to decide if he should say more than that. He decided to open up a little. "A good friend of mine died today many years ago," he said, quietly.
"Oh, I'm sorry." She looked down and bit her lip. The movement was so identical to something that Bella would have done that Jake inwardly gasped. What was it about this girl that was so like Bella, but at the same time so different? He wondered absentmindedly if she was maybe her cousin or something. But then he remembered that Bella didn't have any cousins so that couldn't be it.
It was then that he realized that something hot was touching his hand. He looked down and realized that she had grabbed his hand and was squeezing gently. "She must have meant a lot to you. When I first came in here, you looked really down."
He smiled gently, amazed at how right her hand felt on his. He flipped his hand over so that he was now holding hers and returned her squeeze. Jacob debated what his next move should be. He didn't want to ever leave her presence, but he knew that if he told her, she would most likely be scared off. He finally decided keeping it casual was the best way to go. "So, do you have plans for tonight? Do you want to join me for dinner?"
Her face brightened up for a second, but then fell just a bit. "I'm sorry, I can't." She sighed. "It's my birthday and my family goes a bit overboard on celebrations and such, especially when it comes to me."
"Well, happy birthday. How about tomorrow night, then?" Jacob wasn't willing to give up yet, though it being her birthday tugged at his mind a little, almost as if that should mean something to him. He passed it off as an imprint thing. Maybe the day their imprints were born was special to a werewolf. He made a note to ask Seth about it the next time he talked to him.
"I'd love to get together tomorrow," she said and smiled warmly.
"Okay, do you want to meet at the new restaurant on Fifth Street, right across from the student union? I've heard they have a great buffet." Buffets were Jacob's favorite places to go, since they were all-you-can-eat for one price. They were obviously not priced with a hungry werewolf in mind.
"Sure, that sounds great. Do you have a cell phone? I can put my number in it for you if you'd like."
Jacob tried not to look to overly excited, but he couldn't help the wide grin that spread across his face. He dug his phone from his pocket and handed it over.
They continued to spend the next two hours talking about little things in their lives. Jacob avoided any subject that could possibly touch on something too personal. He wanted to tell her everything, but only an hour or two after they met seemed a bit soon. And so they talked about their classes, which ones they liked and which ones they didn't. They talked about the city and where their favorite places to go were. They talked about their travels; both of them had been all over the United States and enjoyed discussing their favorite spots.
When Ren got up to throw her empty cup away, she noticed the clock.
"Is that the time? Oh, I'm going to be late to my class." She quickly gathered up her book and stuffed it in her bag. She glanced at Jacob apologetically.
"I'll give you a call later on about tomorrow. Okay?" Jacob asked, disappointed that their time together was at an end.
"Yes," she grinned, "I'll be looking forward to it."
Jacob watched as Ren walked out the door. As she walked past the window, she turned and gave him a brilliant smile and a small wave. He sank back in his chair as he reveled in the lingering feeling of being in her presence. He was thankful that he wouldn't have to follow her home since he had been able to get her number. Out of curiosity, he opened his phone and browsed through his contacts until he hit the R's.
As his eyes came to rest on her name, his stomach dropped out.
Renesmee Cullen
All of a sudden, all the little things that had been nagging at his subconscious made sense. Those features that were so familiar, but that he couldn't place – they were Edward's. He, of course, had recognized Bella's eyes, but hadn't understood the significance of it at the time. She even had a "sister-in-law" named Bella. At least this meant that Bella had survived her change. Ren's birthday was today, which meant, if his calculations were correct, that she was only twelve. This confused him to no end. She was very obviously an adult woman. Well, that was something he could worry about later. There was a more pressing matter that needed to be considered.
She would be going home. Home to a birthday party which would inevitably include her parents, one of whom had the ability to read her mind.
At this point Jacob was certain of only one thing: Edward was going to kill him. Well, either that, or he would take Ren and disappear.
Neither option was acceptable to Jacob. He decided that he needed to be proactive in this situation or it would quickly get out of his control. Ren didn't know about the imprint and if she saw Edward before Jacob could talk with him he was fairly sure that Edward would view their meeting in the worst possible light. He might even think that Jacob had targeted Ren in some sort of vengeance for Bella's change. The best bet, Jacob thought, was to inform Edward of his imprinting on his daughter as soon as possible. He was hoping that since Edward had been privy to the pack mind, he would have some compassion on him.
With that decision, he quickly selected Ren's home number from her contacts and pressed the call button before he could have second thoughts.
He almost sighed with relief when a female voice came over the line. "Hello." The voice was beautiful and sounded like finely tuned wind chimes. He didn't recognize it, but at least it wasn't Edward. Despite his resolution, Jacob wasn't sure he was quite ready to talk to him yet.
"Hi," he responded hesitantly. "Is Bella there?"
"This is Bella."
"Oh." For a couple seconds Jacob's mind went blank as he tried to process the change in her voice. True, it had been twelve years since he had heard it, but he knew he would never forget her voice. "I'm sorry, you don't sound like you . . . I mean . . . it's not what I expected . . . um." Jacob realized he was babbling incoherently and forced himself to stop.
"I'm sorry, who is this?" Bella was clearly confused.
Jacob closed his eyes, swallowed thickly and tried again. "Bella, this is Jacob Black." There was a gasp of surprise and then a couple moments of silence. Jacob shifted uncomfortably. Then, there were loud squeals of delight.
"Oh, Jacob, how have you been? What have you been up to? Have you been back to Forks? Why are you calling now? Wait a minute, how did you get this number?" Jacob laughed at Bella's response. He was relieved that she appeared pleased to hear from him. He only hoped that her good will continued. For him to have any chance with Edward, he needed her at least on his side.
"Whoa, Bella, one question at a time. But before I answer, I have some news that I think I should tell you first." Better to get this out of the way, he reasoned.
"Okay," she said with some hesitancy at his serious tone. "What's the news?"
"I've imprinted."
"Oh, Jake, that's great." Bella seemed truly glad for him. On the other end of the line, Jake heard a door slam and a deep voice in the background.
"Is that Edward?"
Bella hesitated just a bit before responding. "Yeah."
"Can he get on as well? He needs to hear what I have say."
"Okay." Her voice became slightly muffled, like she had moved the phone away from her face, "Edward, you're wanted on the phone."
Edward's response was almost too quiet to hear. "Oh? Who is it?"
"I think you just better pick up the phone. I'll let him explain."
Thanks, Bella. What a cop out, Jacob thought. He better get used to this though. If things went the way he hoped they eventually would, Jacob would be forced to interact with Edward on a regular basis. It didn't stop the nerves from taking over, though, when Edward's voice came on the line.
"Hello?" Edward asked.
"Hello, Edward," Jacob responded.
The growl was almost immediate. "Jacob Black. I thought you were out of our lives forever."
Jacob fought a chuckle. Right now was not the time. "So did I, Edward. So did I."
"To what do we owe the pleasure of speaking to you?" The sarcasm was clear in Edward's voice. "And how did you get this number? It's unlisted."
"Um, well, that is exactly what I wanted to talk to you about." There was a brief pause as Jacob considered what to bring up first: the imprinting or Renesemee. He finally decided that the imprinting was more important, as it would tell them exactly what they were dealing with. This was not some sort of casual flirtation for him. "As I told Bella earlier, I imprinted today."
"That's great, Jacob, but why would that necessitate a call to us?" Edward was clearly confused.
"Yes, well, that also explains how I got this number. This morning I went to the coffee shop outside of campus to get a coffee and generally mope the day away. It's not my favorite day, you know? So, I was sitting there with my coffee..."
"Just spit it out, Jacob." Edward was fast losing patience with the conversation.
"I met Ren." This declaration was met with complete silence for almost a minute. Jacob thought it might be the longest moment of his life. He could almost hear all the gears clicking into place in Edward's mind. And then, it came – the response he had been expecting all along.
"WHAT?!! You imprinted on my daughter?! You dog! You are not to come near her. Am I never to be free of you? Always wanting what is mine. First my wife and now my daughter. Never..."
Suddenly Bella's voice overtook Edward's. "Jacob? We'll call you back, okay?" Without waiting for a response the line went dead.
Jacob sighed. I guess that went as well as could be expected, he thought. It had definitely been a good idea to call. He shuddered to think what would have happened if that had been a face to face meeting, instead. He just hoped that Bella was on his side and could talk some sense into Edward.
Knowing that it would realistically take several hours before he would get a call back, if it happened at all, Jacob decided to go to class. He didn't have any of his books, but he figured it wouldn't matter for this one day. He was already on pins and needles waiting for the verdict on his life. He tried not to think about what would happen if Edward and Bella didn't let him see Ren again. It was too painful to think about. He wondered idly if this was the sort of pain that Bella had gone through when Edward had left her. If it had been even remotely similar, it suddenly made sense why Bella had taken him back so easily. Jacob would do anything and everything to make the pain stop if it ever came to that. However, he knew that he would also have to do whatever made Ren happy. If she was happier without him, he would leave. It would have to be her decision, though. If she wanted him, despite her parents, then he would defy them all for her, even if it got him killed. And he probably would end up dead if it ever came down to that. But he was still holding out hope that Bella would bring Edward around.
When his last class got out at three, he debated calling Ren. He knew that she would be on her way home for her birthday party. Would it help or hinder his case if he talked to her before he heard back from Bella and Edward? Just as he decided that he didn't care, and that he just wanted to hear her voice, his phone rang. A glance at the number told him it was the Cullen house. Jacob tried to gather himself together to face his fate.
"Hello?" he asked, picking up the phone.
"Hello, Jacob." Edward was much calmer now, almost too calm. Jacob tried to figure out if this was a good or bad sign. He decided to start in first.
"Hi, Edward. Before you say anything, I just want you to know that I had no idea who she was when we first met. In fact, I didn't know her full name until she put her contact info into my phone. When I found out, I thought the best idea would be to inform you as soon as possible."
Jacob was shocked when Edward laughed. "Oh, come on now, Jacob. Do you honestly think that I don't know the real reason you called. You were afraid that I would see you in her thoughts and, not knowing about the imprinting, take her and leave."
"Um..."
"Just because I can't read your mind at this moment doesn't mean that I don't know how you think." There was a slight pause and then he sighed. "But in this case, you were right." Jacob's heart lurched with hope.
"Really?"
"Yes, though I don't like it, I know how strong imprinting is. As long as you behave yourself and Ren is happy, you may continue to see her." Then, Edward's voice got razor sharp and ice cold. "However, if you ever hurt her, I will personally destroy you. Death will be too good for you if you harm even a hair on her head."
"If I did hurt her, I wouldn't expect anything less from you."
"Good, I'm glad we are clear on that."
There was a pause while Jacob tried to figure out which question he wanted to ask first."I do have a question."
Edward chuckled again. Jacob wondered at the change in his temperament. He guessed that he owed the change completely to Bella. "I expected as much. Let me guess what your first question is. You want to know about her age."
"Actually, yes. How can she look the way she does? Isn't she twelve years old?"
"Yes, she is, but she has been a mature adult physically for six years. As a half-vampire half-human she matured physically faster than humans. For a year or two, we were very worried that she would simply continue aging until she died of old age. However, we did find out that she would mature early, but now she is basically immortal, as far as we can tell. It is quite a story, but I'll let her tell you all about that."
"So, Edward, why the change in attitude? Not that I'm complaining, but it did take me by surprise."
"Well, I was told by both my wife and daughter that I have to be nice to you. I guess they think this is a good idea." Then, his voice got a bit quieter. "And I also followed you around campus today. I wanted to make sure that your intensions were honorable. We are on our way home now."
Jacob mused on this for a moment. A lot had changed in twelve years. The Edward he remembered would never have taken advice so quickly and readily from Bella, even with mind-reading to back him up. Then Jacob picked up on the most important thing that Edward had said.
"Wait, is Ren there with you now?"
"Yes, she is. I suppose you want to talk to her." It was not a question.
"Please. And Edward? Thank you."
"Humf," Edward said with a grunt, "just don't step a toe out of line, young man." He tried to sound stern, but Jacob could hear the smile in his voice. "I'll give her the phone."
A moment later the most beautiful voice Jacob had ever heard came across the line. "Hi, Jake!" He couldn't help but smile at the sound of it.
"Hi, Ren. How are you?" He grimaced. What a cliché thing to say. Ren didn't seem to notice, though.
"Oh, I'm fine," she gushed. "Even better now that I know that I can tell you everything."
Jacob wished he could see her face. Even though they had just met, he already missed her beautiful eyes, curly hair and clear skin. "I know what you mean. It was killing me to have to fudge the truth on some things this morning."
"So," she asked, "now that we both know each other's secrets, you want to come over tonight?"
Jacob's heart soared at her invitation. Despite the fact that he would be surrounded by vampires, he wouldn't miss it for the world. "I would love to. I'm done with my classes for today, so is now a good time."
"Yes, please. I can't wait to introduce you to everyone. Oh, but then I guess you have already met them all. Too bad Rose is mad at you. I really think you would get along great with your common interest in cars."
Jacob laughed. He could tell that Ren was one of those types of people whose mouth tended to run when she got nervous.
"Renesemee," he said to quit her rambling. "I'm excited to meet your family again and to see you. If I leave right now, I figure I can be there in about an hour and a half."
"Great! I'll see you then."
"Okay, goodbye, Ren."
"Goodbye, Jake."
Jacob sighed as he closed his phone. This day had certainly thrown him for a loop. From the deepest pit of despair, to the height of heaven, he felt like he had experienced it all today. Looking back, it seemed like the last twelve years he had been in a holding pattern, just waiting for this day. Now that it had come, Jacob knew that the rest of his life was just getting started. Today had been the best September 10th of his entire life.
A/N: Thanks for reading. Don't forget to check out the other stories in this challenge and vote.