Summary: Jacob always wished for love, praying he'd find it so it would ease the pain from losing Bella. Finally he imprints. He expected the intense need to be with his love. He just never dreamed she'd need to be with him that much too.
In this version, Renesmee is not alive, nor will she be conceived because I strongly disliked that plotline. This is set about three months after Eclipse. Edward and Bella are married, but Bella is still human for a reason unknown to Jake.
Gravity
Chapter One
A Summer Trip
"Delilah? Delilah Jamison, are you listening?!"
My eyes opened slowly. It had been a long drive, most of which I'd spent sleeping. But finally we were here, La Push, Washington, over 200 miles of my hometown, my friends, my summer, and my boyfriend. I caught Mom's eye and pulled my earbuds out of my ears. "Yes, Mom?" The annoyance was more than evident in my tone.
My mother sighed impatiently, her blonde brow crinkling. "Delilah, dear, please pay attention. You'll never get a boyfriend the way you daydream."
"I have a boyfriend, Mom." His name was Trent Samuels. And he was perfect in every way a girl could dream: chivalrous when it mattered, always taking me on nice dates and buying me things. He just had a bit of a problem with his temper.
I looked back at Mom, whose mouth turned up at the corners, "That's right! You hardly talk about Trent. You really should bring him around more, dear. From what we've heard he's such a nice boy. We'd love to meet him."
I looked back out the window without responding. We were passing the sign that declared us to be in Forks. I sighed unhappily.
My mother divorced my dad three years ago. She, of course, won the custody case. If you looked at her, she seemed perfectly fit to raise children. She was a second-grade teacher with a minor in psychiatrics, which looked great on paper. In reality, she was a woman who spent a fraction of her day in the classroom while she spent the rest of her day courting men she never planned to marry. She said Troy, the man driving and her latest beau, was different, but I knew he wasn't. We were currently at the sixteen month mark, which meant there was roughly three months left of their relationship.
I actually felt bad for Troy. He was by far the least annoying suitor my mother had found yet. Actually, he was very kind. He, unlike every other boyfriend, remembered my birthday, my favorite foods and drinks, what movies I liked, and a dozen other tiny but important details. He was fifty percent Quileute Indian, but had moved to Seattle once he turned eighteen, which is exactly where my mother had met him roughly a year and a half prior. It was now upon his idea that we took a vacation for the second year in a row to La Push, Washington.
As we turned down the dirt road leading to Troy's father's home, I spied some teenagers goofing off on the side of the road. I distinguished Tori, my best friend from La Push, among the mix, hanging off a tall boy with long black hair. She had an uncharacteristically girly smile on her lips and her pale blonde hair, typically pulled into a sporty ponytail, now lay curly on her small shoulders. I marveled.
Presently, we parked in the driveway, and Troy's father (Eddy, I'd been instructed to call him) came out to embrace Troy. I got out of the car sluggishly, feeling the four-hour car drive in my knees as I stood. I glanced to the left to see the group of teenagers racing towards me. Tori was in front, but her hand dangled behind her with the boy attached.
"LILA!" She hit me like a ton of bricks, her hand finally breaking free from the boy's. "I missed you! Please say you're staying longer than a month this time. If you aren't, well, I'll definitely be kidnapping you!"
I beamed at her. It was so easy to be happy around Tori. "Frick yes! I'm here from now until the end of August!" She was still clinging to me when I pulled away. I smiled warmly and said, "So tell me everything that's happened." I flashed a look at the boy and away.
She took a deep breath as if expecting to have this exchange. "This is Embry Call." Her smile was huge along her lips.
"Hey, I'm Delilah," I smiled back politely.
"Lila," Tori giggled. The sound was odd and girly coming from her. "I've never called her anything but Lila. Delilah's too…Hey There, Delilah." She paused for only a moment before her eyes lit up and she was off again, "Oh my God, Lila, you have to come out with us! We were just on our way to the beach for a dip! Grab your swimsuit, let's go!"
"Mom? Can I go?"
"Go where, sweetie?" Mom was apparently very involved talking to Eddy. Her eyes looked frazzled, making me wonder what they'd been talking about.
"The beach. They're going swimming. Can I go?"
She looked a little doubtful, then replied, "Well I suppose so." I blushed as I saw my mother examining the boys' biceps. "But I just put all your bags in your room. You'll have to go dig it out."
I turned to Tori. "Come with me?"
"Sure!" We went inside.
"So, what's with you and Mr. Macho?" I asked when we were safely out of earshot.
She flushed, "I was going to tell you, really, but things just got so crazy…"
"I don't mind," I replied, "If you don't want to tell me you have a boyfriend…"
"Actually," she cut me off, "He's not my boyfriend." I sent her a curious look. "We're kind of…engaged." My curiosity turned to shock and, though I tried to hide it, horror. She shushed me viciously as she continued, "SH! Lila, it's a secret! Like my mother would let me get married at fifteen!" She scoffed, like her mother was so off-beat for not allowing this, "We're not on The Secret Life of the American Teenager here. People don't get married at fifteen."
"Tori!" I cut her off, "How old is he?"
She became silent, her enthusiasm gone. "Oh, you know." Big pause. "Eighteen."
"Eighteen." I repeated.
"Mmhmm."
"He doesn't look eighteen."
Her eyes widened, "He gets that all the time. But seriously, he is." She shrugged dismissively.
I rolled my eyes and turned to my bag, since we were now in my room. I dug into my bag and got out my swimsuit. I changed in the bathroom, threw a "I'll get it out of you" glance at Tori, and we left.
--
"My God!" I screamed, running out of the water.
"What? What's wrong?" Lila came running out of the water with me.
"Coooooold!" I whined.
She laughed and grabbed me. With one giant shove, she'd tossed me under the waves. I came up sputtering out water and profanities. I glared at her, "I hate you."
Then it became a match about who could drown the other most completely. Eventually, Embry came over and broke up the match. He said it was time for dinner. We trudged to the campfire that was glowing fiercely beside the water. I sat beside Tori (who sat beside Embry) while we caught up. Tori's mouth dropped practically to the sand when I told her about Trent.
"Why didn't you tell me!" she cried.
My face grew hot and I replied, "It's not that big of a deal. You didn't tell me about Embry." A red alert was going off in my mind. Get off this topic! it screamed.
But she just scoffed and went back to Trent as if I'd never mentioned her boyfriend (ahem…fiancé). "Still. I have to meet him. Soon, Lila. Don't do the same thing you did with Liam. Waiting for forever to mention to him that I wanted to meet, then breaking up before I got the chance. Pure evil."
"It's not like the breaking up was my fault," I muttered.
Then the hot dogs, and Tori's mouth was too stuffed with bread, meat, and condiments to speak. She'd dropped the subject, and the whole group started a conversation together.
"Where's Jake?" one boy, about my age, asked. I think his name was Seth or something like that.
Everyone looked to the obviously eldest boy, who sat next to his girlfriend, the one with the three scars running all the way down the side of her face. I hadn't heard his name at all this evening. I sensed uniformity to this one figure in the group, though I couldn't imagine why. He swallowed cleared his throat before speaking: "Jake's gonna be late this evening. He had to run up to Forks to speak with Charlie Swan. He left a while ago; he should be back soon."
Everyone exchanged long glances. Several times, I saw people's eyes flash to my face and away. I grabbed another hot dog and began to eat, simply to busy myself.
Some time later, we'd all finished. Tori grabbed my hand and yanked me up. "You have to see the sunset over the ocean! It's so pretty!" Embry reached for her other hand with a gigantic smile playing on his lips and we began to make our way to the water's edge. My heart tugged with jealousy. I tried to remember the last time Trent had smiled that warmly and adoringly at me, but it was so long ago…
We plopped down beside the water, and, despite the intensely romantic atmosphere, Tori decided to sit close to me so we could talk. I worried the topic of my boyfriend would pop up, but we were surprisingly silent as we lay there. The sun fell so low it was level with the water, and it tossed lovely shades of orange and red into the clouds. It was then that I heard a motor coming from far off.
"Jacob," Embry muttered.
"He's going to be okay, right?" Tori asked Embry.
"I hope so" was Embry's reply.
Whaaat? my mind screamed. "What's wrong with him?"
Embry looked at me as if he'd forgotten my presence and sighed heavily. "Girls."
"Hey!" Tori laughed/snapped. She whacked Embry so hard I thought it'd leave a mark on his bare bicep, but instead it was still a perfect tan color.
I pivoted and watched a figure traipse toward the campfire. He walked straight to the oldest boy at the party, spoke a few words, then walked to the plate where finished hot dogs sat. He must've grabbed five at one time. Then he walked to the boy with the little girl. This boy (Quil, maybe?) pointed to our little group. The figure then nodded once and walked over to us.
He looked very rough. His eyes were bloodshot and there were bags etched deep in his tan skin. His hair was shorter than any other boys' I'd seen since I got here. Buzz cut short. I wondered why it was this way. He spoke to Tori's boyfriend, "Embry, we need to talk."
"Shoot."
"I'm not sure here's the place." His eyes skimmed over Tori's, then landed on mine. They remained there. His eyes seemed to soften, and something like recognition replaced briskness on his features. Self-consciously, I brushed my bangs out of my eyes and chewed on my lips. I stared back into his almost-black brown eyes as if being held prisoner there.
"Jacob?" Embry called.
"Yeah?" His eyes still were locked on mine and a shy smile appeared on his mouth. I got the feeling that those lips had not seen a smile for a very long time.
"You had something to tell me?"
"Oh, right!" Jacob seemed changed now. There was cheerfulness in his tone that had not been there before. He faced Embry now and said, "Can we talk in the shack?"
Embry's eyes flashed to Tori's and away quickly and he stood. With one final glance in my direction, Jake led Embry into the shack that stood nearby.
Tori faced me, and I knew what was coming before the words left her mouth. "Oh my God Lila! He likes you!"
I flushed, "You sound surprised."
"Well, I am, kind of. But not because it's you. I'm surprised because Jake never likes anybody! We took him to Hooters one time and he just sat there. One of the waitress' boobs even popped out of her teeny tiny top. He didn't even notice!"
"That's a nice anecdote," I noted.
Her smile got larger, and a spark of devilishness crept into her expression. "You have to go out with him!"
"Tori! I have a boyfriend!"
"Lila! It's just for summer!" Tori mocked.
"Trent'll find out. And he wouldn't be happy. At all." I imagined the sight. Off in the distance, I heard a ambulance siren scream, and I shuddered.
Tori rolled her eyes. "Wow, Lila. This is your one chance for summer romance. Screw Trent. Jacob could be THE ONE. What if you pass up this opportunity? It could be devastatingly awful, for both of you."
"I can't, Tori. We can be friends. That's it." I stared intently at the sand. My heart warred between what felt right emotionally, and what would feel right physically.
"Delilah Marie Jamison. Look me in the eyes and tell me that you felt no physical attraction to Jacob at all. Tell me." She lifted my face with her hand so our eyes met.
I struggled to tell her 'no', the answer I needed. "I felt…" I tried to hard to say 'nothing' next, my stupid heart prohibited it. I swatted her hand away and stood up.
"Thought so," she laughed.
I crossed my arms across my chest defensively and walked away. My mind was reeling and I felt like I couldn't handle anything that it was throwing at me. I fought the tears for long enough to get out of anyone sight. Or so I thought.
I was just passing the little shed when Embry and Jake came out of it. Embry looked at my disgruntled figure quickly, then hurried to Tori's side. I hurried on, disgusted by his compassion. Jake stepped to keep pace with me.
"What's wrong?" There was too much kindness in his voice. I tried to ignore it, but couldn't. Tears poured out of my sockets. God. You wouldn't think there would be that much liquid behind such small sockets. When I didn't answer, Jake jumped in front of me. I tried to step around him, but he just grabbed my arm with insane strength and held me. "Tell me."
"You don't know me," I snapped, "Why are you being so nice?!"
My response threw him off, and his grip loosened slightly. I managed to pull away enough to trudge to where everyone had parked their cars. "Shit," I muttered. I grimaced at the thought of walking all the way back, but it was a small price to pay than be heckled by my supposed best friend. Better start walking, I thought, as I began the walk.
"Where are you going?" Jake asked. I was surprised he'd followed me this far, but I was determined to shake him.
"Home. Sort of."
"How far is that?"
I sighed. "A long way."
"Oh," he said. Then, after a minute, he said, "Good."
I stared at him. "Good?"
A smile flashed across his face, and I tried to remember why it would be so bad to like this boy. "That means I have a longer walk with you."
"You are not walking all the way back with me."
"Why not?" he seemed just as determined as I was; only there was a playfulness in his determination.
"Because!" I snapped, "I have a boyfriend!"
"Oh," he said again. He only seemed slightly less disheartened. "Well then I bet it would be bad for me to come inside once we reach your home, sort of, and meet your parents?"
"Yes," I huffed, "Very, very bad."
He sighed, "I see."
I sighed too, but mine was more angry than thoughtful. "And why, pray tell, do you think it's so necessary to walk me home?"
He didn't miss a beat. "Rapists," he replied, "There's been an increased amount of rapes in the area. I don't want that to happen to you."
"And why is that?" I challenged. I hadn't noticed we'd stopped by the side of the road until a car rushed past.
That stunning smile appeared again, and he said, "You know why."
"Boys are stupid," I muttered, and I started up my quick pace again.
"Oh, aren't you charming," he said, "Bet you catch them boys without your good looks. Just your mouth is quick enough."
I didn't answer. I just scowled ahead at the road.
"Why are you so angry?" he pondered about three minutes later.
"Because you're following me."
Jake chuckled, "I would've thought that'd make you happy, not mad."
My glare became more pronounced. "Well it doesn't."
"I see that," Jake said, "Why, though?"
I looked at him, just to check to see if he was serious, "I have a boyfriend."
"Uh-huh…?" Jake said, as if he couldn't see the problem.
"And I l…l…" I couldn't force the word 'love' out at the moment, "I like him very much."
"Not love?"
"No, I do." Again, the word would simply not come out.
"Do what?" He smiled, sensing weakness.
"L…lo…lo…" I tried. He just smiled in a way that would be condescending to anyone else, but in his eyes, it was playful and kind. "Feel very strongly about him."
"Not love," he muttered.
I glared.
"Alright, so, how far do you think we have until we reach this home, sort of, of yours?"
"I don't know. Four miles or so."
"Would you be so apposed to walking back to the beach, real quick, and letting me drive you home? 'Cause I see a raincloud coming on."
We'd stopped again, but this time I felt kind of strange instead of angry. Every inch of him had became softer, all trace of teasing gone. I tried to remember my previous excuse of a boyfriend. Had that been serious of just a cover? No…wait…yeah. I had a boyfriend. Finally, I said, very, very slowly, "I can't go back there."
"You can't wait here!" He sounded so appalled.
"What are you worried about – rapists?!" I sneered. But my voice was too weak to be truly sarcastic.
"Of course," he said, but now his voice sounded kind of defensive, "We wouldn't want anyone coming to steal your innocence, now would we?"
"Maybe my innocence was already stolen," I joked. He looked at me, appalled, and I replied, "Kidding." I sighed, frustrated, and said, "Look, I'll kick any guy who tries to rape me smack dab in the balls. And it'll be so hard that they'll never be able to rape a girl again. Scout's honor."
A mischievous smile traced his lips, and he said, "Who said it would be a guy who raped you?"
"Ew."
"Fine. Wait here. I'll be right back." Then he turned and practically ran back to the beach.
I looked around me and sighed. This is exciting, I thought.
Just then there was a rustle in the bushes behind me. I turned to look, and saw a gigantic wolf. I let out an earth-shattering scream and stood up, backing away. It wasn't growling, surprisingly, but instead it just stared as I backed away.
Jake's car was beside me just then. He shoved the door open and I ran inside of it.
"What? What was it?" he asked, frantic.
"A wolf was in the bushes behind me! It was friggin' huge! For God's sake, Jacob, drive!" I screamed the whole thing at a shockingly high decibel.
Jacob put his foot down hard on the gas and said, "Just a wolf?"
"Just? No. But a wolf? Yes!"
"No, what I mean is, there wasn't a…human there? Beautiful? With red eyes?
"What?"
"Just tell me there wasn't."
I shook my head to clear the insanity, "No!"
"Kay good." He stared at the road, and the mood calmed. I tried to figure out why everything was okay, now, with a wolf in the woods. Someone could get hurt! But he was only worried about a beautiful human? What the hell? He turned the radio up, then, and my favorite song blared out of the speakers. I couldn't help it; I started to sing along.
I remember when I was told the story of
Crushed velvet, candle wax and dried up flowers
The figure on the bed all dressed up in roses, calling,
Beckoning to sleep, always in my dreams
"You like AFI?" he asked.
"Love them," I replied, "I have four CDs. I'm not so crazy about most of the stuff before The Art of Drowning, though."
"Hm."
"What?"
"I'd have pinned you for a Natasha Bedingfield type girl."
I smirked, "Oh, I like her too. I don't fit any stereotype."
He looked at me, then. "I already knew that." I looked away and blushed. After a while, he said, "What I don't know is your name. Or where you live."
"Rose."
"Is that your name or the street you live on?"
I laughed. "The street. My name is Delilah, but everyone calls me Lila."
"I prefer Delilah," the smile appeared again and my heart fluttered.
"Delilah, yeah. Delilah with a boyfriend."
"You really weren't kidding about that?"
"Why would I kid about that?"
"To spare my feelings."
"No, I wasn't. His name is Trent. And he's amazing."
He didn't answer, instead he stared ahead at the road with a grimace on his lips. I watched him, even though Miss Manners tells us not to stare. Eventually, he turned onto Rose Street, and I pointed to the driveway he needed.
"Can we still be friends?" he said once we were stopped in Troy's father's driveway, "You know, despite your boyfriend situation?"
I tried to think of a way that that would be bad. When I couldn't think of one, I said, "Yeah. We can." I reached for the door of the car and opened it.
"Great, so let's hang out tomorrow!" he said.
"Like a date?"
"Like friends."
I smiled involuntarily, "Like where?'
"I'll pick you up around two. We'll decide from there."
"Okay." There was nothing wrong with hanging out. I'd be sure nothing happened, so Trent had no way of getting mad at me. Besides, Jake was fun, despite his tendency to latch on. I threw another smile his way and crawled out of the car. I didn't wait to watch him drive away. My fear of giant wolves drove me to run inside. I did, however, stop at the window inside to watch Jake drive away. It was too far to see clearly, but I thought I saw him wave out the window.
I went to bed with a new sense of optimism.
--
Kay, so I know I need to work on my OTHER stories which I have procrastinated on for forever, but I'm working on THIS one. So get OVER it.
PLEASE let me know, brutally, what you think. Cuz I'm going to continue writing this story anyways, so you might as well get used to it.
I'd like to give a shout-out to whoever wrote the story "Kind of Since Forever". That is my FAVORITE fanfic story, and you need to update, lady. Please?
Peace.
Alyson May who has been sort of incommunicado lately.