What A Beautiful Mess We Have Here
A/N: Don't own Twilight!
I know, I know! I'm a horrible person. My update patterns suck. I don't even have a pattern... but anyway...
This fic is a present to a friend; all because I can't send a jar of Vegemite...
That being said, this fic had no plot, whatsoever. In fact, I put it together with a toaster... I'm that talented.
Hope this cheers you up WeathermanXCore (check his stuff out!) buddy, I had a giggle fit writing it!
...evenifIhadtoputJustinBeiberi nthere...
"What's love got to do, got to do with it?" a voice trilled from the kitchen. Jake scrubbed a hand over his face, wincing as he recognised Quil's tenor with ease even in his half-awake-half-asleep state. And it sounded like the idiot was dancing around, too. He could have easily pretended he was asleep, or at least gone back to it, but upon noticing the time he rolled onto his back and threw an arm lazily over his eyes.
'Of all the mornings to be woken up by Tina Turner,' he thought inwardly. It took him a few moments but he swung his legs off the couch, stood and rocked on the balls of his bare feet as he stretched and made his way into the kitchen where Quil was wielding a kitchen utensil as a makeshift microphone and swaying from side to side as he sang—or rather tried to, one could only go so far improvising lyrics.
"What's love but a secret handed motion? What's love got to do," he rocked his hips "got to do with it? Who needs art when art can be spoken?"
Jacob shook his head, knowing full well the tall Tina fan was aware someone was watching. Though the expression on his face as he turned around and found Jake watching was priceless. Maybe he'd expected Claire—Emily was always bringing the ankle biter around—or Sam.
"Hey man," he greeted good-naturedly and putting the poor worn whisk away in the bottom drawer. Emily would pitch a fit if she knew he was rustling about, misplacing her kitchenware. And wasn't that the salt canister, gaping empty mouth sitting in the sink?
"What's with the Tina thing?" he asked, gesturing to the still swaying Quil who was now humming the tune—loudly.
"Oh, you know. The usual. Good feeling today," he surmised. Then he went to the oven, opening it up and staring in at what Jacob guessed was an attempt at cake. It had fallen down the pans side and was sizzling on the ovens bottom, blackening and flaking like ash. Along the counter sat packets of sprinkles, icing, a split bag of flour, raising flour, eggs, spilt milk and various spoons and cups.
Emily was going to kill him.
"Why is that?" he asked, although part of him regretted it even as he took a seat at the table, picking at a wound that was already scabbing; he'd tailed a tree on his way back home. A sleepy wolf was almost useless.
"Claire's birthday today," he said in a tone that was full of "duh!"
Jake raised a brow. He hadn't really paid much attention during patrols—BellaBellaBella—but he remembered something about a birthday. What was Claire, like seven now?
"Is she coming to the rez?"
Quil nodded, almost bouncing on the balls of his feet, grinning. "I'm in charge of the cooking."
Jacob frowned at that.
"Where's Sam and Emily?"
"Sam's on patrol with Seth and Emily is going with Jess to shop for Claire's birthday outfit."
He hummed, rubbed at his face again and wondered how Jess was okay with a werewolf imprinting on her little girl. Not that Claire would ever be in danger, she'd always have a hulking mass of a man—boy—watching over her. Sometimes Jake figured the puzzle pieces fit, naturally, even if he and Bella were still on rocky ground since Valentines day.
He felt his already hot blood turn even hotter at the memory.
'Stupid hairpin...' he thought.
As he stared out the kitchens window, listening to Quil pelt out an off-tune version of Stevie Wonder – Isn't She Lovely, he tried not to wince as he thought back to that simple dreary day that had managed to end up with them not talking.
It was well known that Bella and Jake were close, could talk about anything—Leah liked to call them the Jakella smoothie—but were rendered to comfortable silence when it came to... well, the idea of them getting together.
Jake had spent countless days with Bella on his rusted spring-sticking-out-the-side couch in his garage and he'd chipped at her insecurities and worries and everything until she'd simply told him that she'd thrown herself off the cliff with intentions of dying. Once the flood started, it didn't end and he'd sat there, holding her hand, while she told him about Edward. About how she loved him and he'd left her there, making a promise that he'd kept. She'd felt he hadn't existed at all.
And when she confessed Jacob was her sun, he'd taken her in his arms and promised to be anything she needed.
Things were nothing but smooth as silk after that. She'd become outspoken, laughed and even listened to a couple of tunes on the radio. She came to the bonfires with her famous pecan pie and strawberry cheesecake and was simply Bells.
Then on valentines day, he'd been standing in the middle of the shopping centre in Port Angeles, wondering if it was safer to get her a box of chocolates or some flowers. Both could end badly. She could shove him away, laugh at him, or worse just shut herself away again.
When it became obvious he was frustrated, an attendant offered to help and he blurted that he had this girl, they were friends but he wanted more and he wasn't sure how to go about it without upsetting her, mentioning her hair was annoying her lately—he knew because he'd catch her pushing it behind her ear every five minutes. The girl with glasses, freckles and bright red hair had smiled and towed him gently to the hair products, suggesting that a simple pretty hair ribbon or clip would be safe.
He'd gone with a pretty blue hairpin that had a frangipani on it's end. It would look pretty next to her eyes, he thought.
Later that night when he presented it to her—after a clumsy Kim had spilled root beer on Bella's lap, thus Bella's brooding state—she'd stared at it while he lamely said "For your hair, I know it's getting big and annoying," and she'd said "it's annoying?" in that way that made him want to back-pedal to the Canadian border.
"No, I mean, I thought this hairpin would make it prettier," he tried weakly. She looked upset.
"So now you don't like my hair?"
And from there, she'd stalked off.
Wiping non-existent sweat from his brow and coming back to the present, Jake considered getting earplugs. Quil was now rocking to Blink182 – What's My Age Again. Only it sounded all wrong...
"And with that, all the best on the cake," he mock-saluted as Quil waved a flour covered hand, a mist of fine white powder trailing after his palm. Jake was out the door and into the forest before he could inhale the shit.
"Stupid hairpin..." and he dropped his cut-offs to phase, leaving the pants there and knowing full well he'd be back—if there was smoke, there was Quil.
As soon as his paws hit ground, he was in pack mind.
He registered Leah's voice as she was singing a tune he'd picked up on recently.
Your only hope is burning down the chapel, all getting washed out with the tide, we need to find some middle ground—It's always sex or suicide. Dogs eating dogs, dogs eating dogs, dogs eating dogs!
Jacobs wolf was baring his teeth in a grin, faux laughing.
Take it you're pissed off?
Fuck-face invited me to the fucking birthday party, that deer humping piece of shit.
Well, you'd be offended if he hadn't.
Leah went quiet—FuckSamFuckSam—and he could see through her eyes, she wasn't far off from Bella's house. Actually, he was pretty sure she was in her backyard.
What are you doing in Forks?
Since you've picked up the reigns on Alpha while fuck-face is MIA, all I'm picking up on is 'hopebellaisokayhopesheisn'tstillmadatme'. Therefore, without even wanting to, I'm sitting outside her highnesses house.
The pull that Alphas often absent-mindedly sent out was annoying—Jake would know, he'd been there. That's how the wolves almost always ended up at Emily's. It seemed now, though, Leah was the only one suffering. The rest of the pack were either at home sleeping or doing their own thing.
She's watching Jerry Springer—the ep where that midget fucked his best friends wife.
Jacob made a face, well as much as one could when you had a muzzle.
Another thing, Shit-For-Brains. She misses you. She's picked up the phone at least eight times today, dialled your number, listened to your voice mail and hung up. So I guess you got the green to kiss her brains out. Stop fucking moping. It's driving me nuts...
Leah stood from her place as Jacob rounded the corner, and wordlessly, she left although her brain was going through the motions.
Fucking love-birds.
Only one problem, he remembered when Leah was gone. He'd left his cut-offs behind. And unless he wanted to walk in bare-ass naked 'Hey Bells!' he'd have to go back to La Push, get clothes and run back. As he was about to do so, he noticed hanging on the branch at eye-level were a pair of his track pants.
Leah, he thought with a small barking laugh. He phased, pulled them on and shrugged off the feeling of going commando.
As he came closer up the driveway, he noticed the lack of the police cruiser and thought 'Must be at work...'
Then he invited himself inside. Bella was sitting on the couch, phone in hand and he could hear his own voice saying cheerily 'Hey, you've reached Jake. Not here, obviously. Leave a message, though!'
"Jake," Bella started to say, stopped and fumbled for the button to hang up. She looked so adorable, bottom lip tucked between her teeth.
"Yes?" he greeted smoothly from the doorway.
He'd expected her to jump. But not far enough that she fell over the couches arm rest and bashed her head against the bookshelf. Even with his reflexes, he hadn't seen that coming. She cried out in pain and he just managed to stop a book the width of his head from falling and hitting her own. She stared up, lips parted.
"Hi."
"Hey, Bells." He slid the book back in it's place.
For a moment, just one, he thought she might tell him to get out. She looked like she wanted to. Instead, she rose to her feet and wrapped her arms around his middle, pressing her cheek to his chest and breathing him in.
Her hair, he thought with a start, had been cut. It was short, thin and slid through his fingers with a whisper. It left his wolf snarling.
"What..."
She blushed when she looked up at him.
"I uh... kind of cut it myself. Charlie paid for me to get it fixed so... is it okay?"
It was just to her shoulders, still soft as always, but it suited her. He nodded.
"I'm sorry about the hairpin."
She blushed again, parted her lips, closed them. Opened them.
"Uh... I'm sorry. About it too. It was just..." she paused and he urged her on by rubbing soothing circles on her back. She shivered.
"Kim and Emily had gotten flowers and chocolates... and I'd gotten a hairpin and a stab at my hair."
God, he was a dick, wasn't he?
"Let me make it up to you," he begged, putting on his famous grin. She hesitated and in the silence he thought 'how are you going to do that genius? Buy her a wig and a Nickelback CD?'
She smiled.
"Okay."
Later in the evening, the party was in full swing with Quil on barbecue duty. Bella had shown up in her truck with Charlie, just like she said she would and Jacob was nursing a beer with Sam while Claire was playing about with Kim on the tyre-swing. Leah was talking with Rachel, who was glaring at Paul across the yard. Paul stared back, looking stricken.
'Love-birds,' he thought, although Jacob could have cared less in that moment, his eyes on the girl who could tell him to jump and he'd leap as high as his body would allow. He finished the rest of the amber liquid and left the bottle on the table.
She was wearing a green flowy dress with a sweetheart neckline that ended at the tops of her knees, and her tiny feet were in silver flats. The weather was good enough for it, he thought absent-mindedly. Her hair was up in a small bun, with tendrils hanging down the sides. Casual, but utterly beautiful, he thought. She caught his eye, smiled and he was about to meet her halfway when—
"Jake!" Embry hollered by the back door of the house. "Get the fire started!"
And proceeded to toss a can of flammable liquid to him. Luckily the cap was on properly and he didn't get that shit in his mouth like Seth had.
He stared helplessly at Bella, but Emily was already leading her around, mingling.
"Shitballs," he muttered as he started on the pile. By the time the fire was up, the food was ready. Quil whistled, brandishing a spatula and an apron Jacob hadn't seen before. Embroidered across the front in bright pink on a black background was 'Kiss the cook!'
"Grubs on!" he called enthusiastically.
As the group hovered around the tables, picking paper plates and food; near burnt hamburgers, steaks and other meats that had Jakes inner wolf purring, he was trying to locate Bella—the turnout was bigger than he'd originally thought—and it took him some time to pin point where she was. When he finally found her, she was picking at the edges of her dress, watching Claire giggle excitedly as Quil flashed her a big smile, holding her hand and helping her dish her food.
He made his way over, avoiding an elbow to the face from Paul who was gesturing wildly as he spoke with his imprint—and Jakes sister—Rachel.
When he finally had her within arms reach, he took what he could get before they got separated again and wrapped his arms around her shoulders. She tensed, if for a second, then relaxed with a smile.
"Hey you," she breathed, eyes bright as she stared up at him.
God, he couldn't love her any more, could he?
"You alright?" he asked, brushing her hair away from her face, only it was short in the front and bounced right back. 'Stupid hairpin...'
"It's a bit overwhelming, but I'm okay... You hungry?" she gestured to the tables and he grinned.
"Always."
As they got their own servings, they made small talk. Mostly about Quil's ability to char just about all the meat. Making their way over to the seats, Jake noticed Jess was hovering close to Embry.
He continued about his way and sank into a chair beside Bella, tucking into the steak, although he couldn't help but think what would happen if Embry and Jess got together. He imagined Quil would have something to say, but who knew?
"Where'd you go there?" Bella asked after swallowing a mouthful of the potato salad—thank God Emily had prepared it—and he smiled.
"Sorry. Just thinking."
Then he thought about himself and Bella.
They made great friends. And could even be a better... something.
As the commotion around faded due to eating, Jacob took to looking at Bella through the corner of his eye. She was doing so much better than before. And Charlie approved. The pack liked her, had accepted her as soon as Jacob had and it wasn't all that bad if they became... well, something, right?
As rubbish was tidied and the fire flickered brightly, he found himself at a stand-still. She was smiling, right now, laughing at something Emily was saying to her left. And didn't she look like she belonged here? She did, he knew that, felt it.
If only she'd let him in...
"And now a surprise!" Quil's voice boomed over the gathering. Every pair of eyes turned to the goofy wolf and he grinned, holding the attention and taking to it like a duck to water.
"A happy birthday dance," he bowed before Claire, who, smiling and clapping yelled "Go Quilly!"
From inside the house, a song played that Jacob didn't recognise until the third string. He made a sound like a man in pain, as did some others while Bella laughed as Justin Beiber sang about his favourite girl and Quil twirled around the fire like... well, a happy wolf. He was graceful, spinning and leaping as he kept a bright sunny smile on his face. Claire was singing along, although some of the words were wrong. Jake had to smile, it was cute.
Then, because Quil was paying attention to the little girl, and he was such a doofus, his foot caught on the burning log and the embers shot out like a firework. It caught on his pants, almost instantly, and before you could say "Hole E. Shit!" the leg of Quil's denim jeans caught fire.
"Jake..."
Jacob opened an eye to look up at Bella, who was still running her fingers through his hair. "Come on... I'll drive you home. Embry can run your car back tomorrow."
He hadn't realised he'd fallen asleep on Bella's lap, though after the fiasco that had followed Spitfires disaster had left him exhausted. And God, he would never forget hearing Claire's scream for the rest of his life...
"Where's Quil?" he asked sleepily, sitting up and rubbing the back of his neck while Bella stood and dusted her dress.
"Asleep in Sam's bed with Claire. Jess couldn't separate them, even if she wanted to," she finished with a small smile. Then Jake noticed she was... laughing. His jaw dropped.
"What?" she asked though mirth. "You have to admit, that look on his face was priceless."
And he did. Quil had looked as though the fire were a leech—if the leech was aflame and chasing after him. The poor guy had forgotten the Stop Drop and Roll part and had ran with wolf speed to the beach and dived into shallow water.
Billy assured the throng of people that it was going to be okay and after Quil had come back—stopping Claire from screaming and crying by showing her his perfectly fine leg and the black and frayed jeans—the party had pretty much ended. And Jake had just meant to relax with Bella while his dad, Charlie and Sam and Emily were saying goodbye to the guests, only her lap had been too comfortable and the next thing he knew he was on the porch swing with her big doe eyes looking at him. Right now, though, she trying not to laugh too loud.
He grinned and before his sleepy head could process it, he was leaning forward and kissing her.
She tasted like cola and smelled like strawberries and he couldn't not just lick at her lower lip—and she was kissing him back.
When they broke apart, their breathing was a little heavy and her eyes were still closed.
Charlie cleared his throat and Jacob almost hit the ceiling.
"Did you guys want a piece of cake before we go?" he asked, smiling like he knew that Jacobs chest was about to explode and said wolf shook his head while Bella said "Um, no thanks dad."
She still wouldn't open her eyes.
"Suit yourselves. Looks like it's just you and me, Billy," Charlie called as he went back inside.
"Only a little, gotta watch my sugar levels..."
As the door closed, her eyelids fluttered open. They stared at one another for a moment, than one moment longer.
"Bells... I just... it doesn't have to mean anything if you don't want it to."
She licked her lips, looked up at him through her lashes—Jesus!—and smiled.
"I want it to."
'...beautiful hairpin...'
As he leaned in for a second kiss, he heard his own father curse in both English and Quileute while Charlie sputtered "Dammit! Who puts salt in a birthday cake!?"
Soooo, what'd you think? Like or hate? Either way, let me know.
On another note, I have no Beta. Any and all mistakes are my own.
*hides under sheets*
Bigacornwubblefluh.
A/A/N:
Any updates from here are going to be either oneshots or sweet nothings until I can get that pesky plot back for HTLWW.