Note: Twilight and its characters belong to Stephenie Meyer. This story is mine.
This is my first fic. I am having fun with this fic and doing it all on my own. I don't know how often I'll be updating but my goal is to have it completed by August (2012). I hope you enjoy.
Slow Jam, Slow Jelly
Chapter 1 – You're part of my entity, here for infinity
"Isabella Marie Swan, will you do me the extraordinary honor of…" Jacob takes a pause to catch his breath, to steady himself. He looks back up at me again and his stare is very piercing. He looks back down again at the table top, gathers a handful of french fries, and stuffs them into his mouth. I look at him in annoyance. Jacob Black always choosing his stomach over anything else. "wooofd you dume dhee honorophfff…" I roll my eyes and can't believe this moment is happening right now. Jacob takes a moment to properly chew his food and then smartly reaches for his chocolate shake. The sweet creamy cold shake gives him the confidence he needs and in one quick breath, he spews out, "Would you be my groomsman?"
If I'm hearing him right, he just asked me to be his groomsman. I grab a napkin and wipe off a piece of french fry and his spit off of one of my knuckles. I ball up the napkin and playfully throw it as his forehead. "You want me to be one of your groomsmen?"
Jacob affirmatively nods and takes another bite out of his burger.
Relief.
"Of course Jake, I'll be your groomsman, er…groomswoman." He smiles back at me, yellow mustard staining his teeth. "So, that was the really important question you flew all the way down here to ask me. I thought for the past 2 weeks it was something really big like you needed a kidney or some of my blood."
Jacob makes a gagging noise and slurps down more of his chocolate milkshake. "Ew, Bells, don't mention blood around me. You know even mentioning blood around me makes me want to barf."
"Hold up…does this mean I get to wear a tux like the rest of the guys?" I ask, hopeful that this is one wedding where I can be comfortable. And I'm not reminded once again that a woman my age hasn't had much change in her bust measurements since her teens.
Jacob lets out a big hearty laugh. The seagulls that have been stalking us for our food have flown away. He's only been in LA for half a day and I can't help but think he'd fit in really well here. He's got nice caramel skin, he's good looking, has a great physique. All the men in West Hollywood would certainly eat him right up. He steals one of my onion rings and smiles at me. I've missed that smile.
"No, Bella. You may be one of the guys but you're still wearing a dress. Leah's orders are LBD and Christian Choo heels. I don't know what that all means. But I'm sure you'll figure it out. You're a girl. You've also been a girl in a few weddings before."
5 bridesmaid dresses hang up in my closet. I've been a 3 time honoree of being an usher. And I've ran up and down a church aisle as a flower girl twice in my lifetime. At least being a groomsman will hopefully be more relaxing. Guys just need a tuxedo, a flask, and a ride to the wedding and reception. Of course, I'll have to look presentable for the wedding day. But I wouldn't have my e-mail inbox flooded with photo attachments of possible bridesmaid dresses and a list of salons for all the girls to get together to get plucked, teased, and tortured for beauty. And with a little black dress I can blend into the crowd. Now I just need to find a clutch big enough for my flask to fit into. Alcohol is always my +1 at weddings. Despite how excited I need to be for Jacob, I still can't help but feel a bit of sadness about it all though. "Okay. I'll just call Leah and see what type of dress and shoes she'll approve of."
Jacob sees the disappointment written all over my face. "But you know I did fight for you Bella." I look up at him, confused. "Yeah, I convinced Leah that you can wear whatever you want at the reception."
"Really? Oh my gosh, Jake, thank y…"
"Na-uh, not so fast though Swan. I call shots on your kicks for the reception though." Jacob does the eyebrow wiggle at me and I know I'm in trouble.
He pays for our lunch and we make our way to my car. Jacob wants to change into a t-shirt and wear some sandals to the pier. I was expecting him to change in a gas station bathroom. But nope, the boy disrobes right on Ocean Avenue, earning him a few catcalls. He blushes and mutters to me, "I forgot I'm not in Forks right now. Sorry Bells." Before he shuts the trunk of my car, he takes out a shoe box out of his suitcase and hands it me. I take it from him like there is a bomb or severed head in the box. "Swan, don't look at me that way. It's not a box of worms. I wouldn't do that to you…again." He shuts the trunk of my car and we both sit on the car bumper. He nudges me to open the box.
I look at the box and at least I can be happy it didn't have some high-end designer's name plastered all over the side of it. I peer into the box and find two black slip-on Vans with some sort of design and block lettering on them. I peel back more of the tissue paper the shoes are wrapped in and now it's my turn to laugh loudly and scare the seagulls away. On the side of each shoe is the image of a timber wolf running. The right toe cap in big block letters is the word 'TEAM', on the left toe cap in the same big block letters it reads, 'JACOB'.
"Leah is always bragging about her girl posse. So, I had these custom made for my boys. We're a team. Once you're part of my pack, we always have each other's backs."
"Calm down Dr. Seuss." Jacob pinches my nose and then helps me try on the shoes. I model them for him for a bit, pretending the sidewalk is a runway. I'm making my way back to him and then he decides to meet me halfway and picks me up. He spins me around in his arms and we let the early summer sun kiss our smiling faces. We both don't have to say it, we both feel that we've missed this.
"So, you excited about heading back to Forks for the wedding? It's been what, 30 years, since you abandoned all of us."
I balk and laugh loudly at his accusation. Right. I'm the one that abandoned all of you.
"Abandoned? Whatever. You know I still keep in touch with all of you losers. My cell phone bill sure is proof that I'm connected to that green, cold, rainy place still even after all these years."
It's the Thursday before Memorial Day weekend and the tourists in California are here with their kids, fanny packs, and looking really pale. We're making our way across the street to the pier. Jake was looking forward to some ice cream after lunch. I could already tell that the next 5 days would be nothing but eating thanks to my favorite foodie. Owner and chef of a successful restaurant in Seattle, he definitely has food on the brain all the time. On the drive to the west side of LA, he kept talking about our reservations at really fancy places like Red Medicine and Providence. He also proudly told me that he made sure to follow certain LA food trucks on twitter so he knew where they would be parked at while he was in LA. In-n-out burger, Sprinkles cupcakes, Porto's, Diddy Riese, Millions of Milkshakes…I was smart enough to stock the pantry with ginger ale and Pepto Bismol just in case.
"Well, I can't blame you for staying here in California." He muses and looks out at the glittering Pacific Ocean. "Leah tells me that in Forks, it's raining more than ever…"
I smirk to myself and say to him, "But we'll still have each other."
Jacob laughs out loud again. I've really missed his laugh and his company. Jacob always leaves me the best voicemails. Most of them are lengthy, always silly, and guaranteed to make me smile. There was one summer when he'd call and just sing that damn Umbrella song every other day. Present day, I still can't stand Rihanna.
"Well, you can always stand under my umbrella, ella, ay, ay, under my umbrella…Bella. Even as a married man, I'll always make room for you. Leah is my best girl but you'll always be my best friend."
The music from all the rides on the pier gets louder and the air around us begins to smell like popcorn and various sugary sweetness. Jacob is getting married at the end of this summer, Labor Day weekend. I am happy for him. He's the closest thing I ever had to a brother in my life. But despite being happy for him, I can't help but think I'm losing another one. I'm losing another one to it.