*Note: This is my take on New Moon and what could have happened differently. I do use quotes, lines, situations, etc. from the movie and the book so there are many similarities but I do not profit in any way from Twilight or its sequels. I am just twisting New Moon (and Eclipse) to my liking. This story setting is based on after New Moon's Chapter 4, "Waking Up."
I sincerely hope that you enjoy reading my story. New Moon could have became my favorite book (truthfully I liked Eclipse the best though) except that she never actually explored her relationship fully with Jacob, who was another viable option for her. I am not implying that she made the wrong choice, but I would like to explore the possibility of the alternate reality of her choice (and consequences) had she decided differently. This general synopsis sounds the same, but it is not. I shift drastically from the book/movie, but I am Team Jacob. I do not pick on Edward though since he is an essential character and means the world to Bella regardless of him leaving, being ultra conservative, and a dead immortal. So this story is pretty Team Edward friendly.
I would also like to point out that this is my first fan fic and I would appreciate honest feedback and ways to improve. So give me R&R. This story has a MA rating for a reason. I have lemons & limes throughout, but they are quite a few chapters ahead. I guess you'll have to follow my story for awhile. :-) I am giving ample warning.
I also wanted to add that for each chapter I pick one song to dedicate that particular chapter to and I do not repeat the artist after I have used one of their songs. I do provide the artists so that you don't think I am cheating and you can either listen to the song or not as you read along. It's not necessary, but it is very good music (if its your taste, of course).
Also I would like to thank my two Betas: thejmeyer & wolfskill. They put up with my horrible grammatical errors to make this story the start of something more beautiful.
Also I want to thank my mother (for being my first unofficial Beta, though she's Team Edward.) Yuck!
And I also wanted to thank JoinTeamJacob and preciousfairymom80. Without preciousfairymom80, I never would have torn up my original version to start this one over from scratch and JoinTeamJacob has just done amazing things with our favorite werewolf. They're both great. Check out their stories.
Chapter I Summary: Bella's screams and nightmares still haunt her after Edward Cullen and his family leave her just after her birthday. Bella's thoughts and mind takes her towards First Beach where she reacquaints herself with a long lost friend. Their worlds collide at first out of convenience, and then out of necessity. This chapter only touches on the end of Bella's internal torment and the beginning of her growing friendship with Jacob. JxB story.
'The Phase after the New Moon'
*Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight, Taylor Lautner nor Jacob Black…the last two come to me willingly though.
Chapter I Title: 'Best I Ever Had (Grey Sky Morning),' by Vertical Horizon
(BPOV) Mid-January
"I'm sorry, Bella. You're just not good for me."
I pulled the voice's owner closer to me, pressing my warm body against his and kissed his chin with tears running down my face. I knew what his next words would be, and I also feared what his next words would really mean for "us."
"Don't say that. Please don't say that," I begged. "What can I do to make you believe that we belong together?"
"Your blood sings to me Bella. It's the only way we can be together."
I had never seen him avoid my eyes purposefully before. Not like this. It was never like this. The way he bared his teeth as he moved closer to the throbbing vein in my neck. The way his fingers traveled with such grace through the air. The way the sun caught his sparkling skin. Real men don't sparkle, but Edward wasn't a real man. He was a real vampire.
My vampire boyfriend. The motive of my being. The throbbing in my heart. The very reason that I still breathed. The very reason I wanted to live. And he wanted my blood. He wanted my life, and I was completely willing to give it.
"I'm ready. Edward…please."
His advancement toward me was slow. Or was it my anxiety that was getting to the best of me? Hadn't I wanted this? Hadn't I wanted this for me? Edward, my prince, looked at me with a horrible grimace before he stopped midstride. "Bella." He wouldn't come any closer.
Why wouldn't he drink from me? Why couldn't he see that I only lived for him?
"Edward—"
"Your boyfriend can't save you now." A nasty voice snarled in my ear. I turned quickly to gaze into the eyes of the intruder, but a sinister laugh sounded through the woods instead, breaking my concentration on the second voice and the gaze of my one true love.
"Bella," Edward called again. Just as my blood sang to him, his voice sang to me. I reached for him before I was yanked back by a force.
"Edward, don't leave!" I tried to view my attacker as I watched Edward slowly shake his head in shame. He shrank back from me, and the distance between us increased each second that my eyes blinked.
"I'm sorry. You're just not good for me," he repeated.
"NO! Edward—"
The laugh returned, and this time I recognized it. The shrill cackle feasted on my fears and plagued my anguish. The true reason I feared the bloodlust that may grow within me one day if I was turned into my beloved vampire's mate. The curse that all vampires had to endure. The red eyes, the pale skin, the inhuman emotions, and the cold heart James, the hunter and tracker, had come back for me.
I struggled uselessly and watched, afraid, as my own death played before me as a tragic movie. Would my death be like Romeo and Juliet? I didn't know.
"No one can save you, Bella," James said again.
I knew he was right as he quickly tore my shirt as if it were wet paper and ripped into my neck. I didn't even fully swallow my last gulp of air before he began drinking from my open wound. My eyes didn't even have time to close.
"No! No! Edward, please! Please!"
My screams for my love continued as my horrible nightmare sounded through the night. A cold sweat had broken through as my fevered blood ran hot under my skin. My bed felt unfamiliar and lonely as my hands and eyes frantically searched for some kind of recognition of where I was. Of whom I was.
My weeping didn't stop. I had just gotten tired of yelling for someone who wasn't there anymore. My throat was hoarse and dry as the words died in my mouth.
"Bella? Bella? I'm coming, sweetheart!"
Charlie. My father. His voice sounded panicky. Why shouldn't it? I would have thought that I would have been less irritated to hear him living and breathing down the hall of my room. It should have relieved me that he was a concerned parent who wanted his only daughter to be happy and to stop mourning as if a part of her soul had died.
Charlie should get another daughter.
My shivering hadn't stopped, but I wiped my face with my already damp sheets. I knew I looked a mess. Awoken in the middle of the night after a ghastly dream when my equally hideous vampire boyfriend had left me just two months ago, and I still screamed for him to come back to me. Who was I kidding? I would have loved for him to come back to me.
It should have been Edward who was sitting there in my rocking chair across the room, watching me sleep. Protecting me while I laid unaware of the true dangers that were out there. Maybe something more dangerous than the sadistic and torturing vampire whom had come to me this past May.
"No! No, Char—Dad, I'm fine! I'm fine," I had said that last part more to myself than anything. Was I fine? It didn't matter. I had to stop Charlie; I could hear him right outside my door.
"You sure, Bella? You okay to go back to sleep?"
His voice sounded drained even through the door.
"Uh-huh." My head plopped back down into the pillow as I heard him drag his feet back down the hall. I knew he'd be asleep as soon as his body touched the bed. I wouldn't be so lucky.
My eyes cautiously looked around my dark room, and it still seemed unchanged since that first night I had slept in my bed, alone, without looking forward to Edward sitting in my room with me. I hated that he was gone. I hated feeling like this. I hated that I was so unbelievablely average that he couldn't find a reason to stay with me. Despite being only human, I was in love with him. Wasn't that enough?
A sudden sob echoed in the room. My head jerked out of fear again, but I soon realized that it was only me in the room; therefore, it was only me that that noise could have been coming from.
"Edward," My tears came more freely. It still hurt. I was still in pain. The hole tore down the very walls of my heart and left nothing in my chest. I could barely feel my heart with my hand anymore. Everything was cold. Nothing gave me pleasure.
I gasped as I realized that my inner thighs felt sticky, feeling as though it were more than just sweat. "Great. I am the only person I know that can be aroused from a dream with two vampires in it," my voice decreed softly into the night.
There was a distinct possibility that I was still dreaming even after I was sure that I hit my alarm clock this morning. That repetitive chime would have awoken even an enchanted fairy princess from a one hundred year sleep. I was no beauty and my Prince Charming had ridden his horse out of town.
I had to have been dreaming. My feet moved much too slowly, and my voice hung with an emptiness after I said goodbye to Charlie as he walked out to the cruise with toast in hand and half a smile. His smile was an attempt to get me to stop sulking around the house. It didn't work.
I contemplated eating but did not feel the desire. My energy had been depleted by getting out of bed and putting on sweats that morning. My stomach grumbled in protest, but I ignored it. After all, Edward had ignored my pleas (in my dreams and in real life) to stay with me, so why should I enjoy one single thing? "Aargh!" I screamed into an empty house.
I would not give in. I would not stop loving him. I couldn't have even if I wanted to. The inkling to feel his cool body and his tussled hair alongside my skin. To feel my lips touch his smooth and pale skin and to entwine our fingers together as we walked (or in my case, trip) would have been heaven to me all over again.
Suddenly, I couldn't stand being in the lonely house on a Saturday. It was much too quiet. The world held nothing of value anymore but neither did this house. I flung myself at the kitchen door, grabbing my keys on the nearby counter, and took off running without my sneakers. The latter thought hadn't occurred to me until almost half an hour later as my feet started to burn from the splintered wood, struck by fallen branches, and the sharp rocks from the earth.
My head became clearer. I was doing the unimaginable. I was flying free from my dreams, from the confinements of house, and from the mundane existence that was my life. Edward wasn't here. And neither was Alice. None of the Cullens were here. They had left me abandoned and vulnerable. Human and weak. They hadn't really cared about me. Why should they? They were vampires. The strong ones. The cold ones. A sarcastic laugh erupted from my stomach.
A sudden fire eclipsed in my throat. Is this what it was like for my beloved Edward? Was this why he had to leave? He couldn't bear being next to me; the very smell of my blood blistered the rawness of his throat so much so that he couldn't stop thinking about draining me dry? Was that really why he left? Had it nothing to do with Jasper attacking me on my birthday? Could it have all been a ruse to get him away from me?
Oh, why? Edward, why? Why didn't you love me anymore? Why didn't you—Ooops!
My thoughts were interrupted by a fall to the moss-covered ground. My hands shot out in front of me instinctually, but the forest was out for blood. My blood. Jeez, everything wanted a piece of me. The forest smacked me back to reality as I fell face first (hands a close second) into moss and a dead root from a nearby tree. My head thumped back a bit as it made contact, but my eyes adjusted to the dancing spots. I touched my head and pulled back a dirty but blood-free hand. That was a good thing.
"Great. Freakin' fabulous." I groaned.
A hoarse snicker sounded suddenly.
My head turned earnestly to the general vicinity of the sound. "Hello? Is someone there?" I looked around again. I was positive I had heard a snicker. I heard the waves of First Beach. I didn't realize I had run that far without shoes. Maybe I should become a distance runner for school. It was worth a shot. All I had to do was think about Edward, and I could outpace (and out dream) any person in my senior class.
Edward. The pain in my chest resumed.
I put my knee out in front and stumbled. The laugh sounded again, this time a little more quietly.
"All right," my voice shook in anger and apprehension. "Who's out there?"
APOV (The author's point of view)
A deep, rich, brown-colored beast snapped at his silver-haired companion as a playful but firm warning. The companion resumed his light cackle at the human girl who had stumbled into the forest while they were on patrol.
They were tired and bored. They needed something to do. They needed something interesting to happen. It was no fun anymore being what they were when nothing ever happened. There would be a few stenches in the forest every now and again, but for the most part, things stayed quiet. Things stayed the same. What good was being a part of the supernatural if nothing interesting ever happened?
Then the brunette-haired human girl tripped. That had been funny.
A mock reenactment of the fall had followed, played by the deep brown creature while the other silver brute watched and insisted that he could have "fallen" with better poise.
I'll show you!
The companion walked on all fours with hulking muscles and a fiendish yellow glare, one paw in front of the other, and then suddenly sprawled himself on a nearby boulder. In an attempt to play the part better, he rolled over, but his paw lingered too long causing his head to bounce off the faraway ground. His unplanned fall was quite a bit of a distance. He was almost six feet even on all fours.
The thick brown mane of the animal hissed with abrupt laughter at his friend's clumsiness. The companion snarled and was ready to jump as soon as his friend closed his eyes in a fit of amusement when a bigger beast, a domineering and ominous black figure, closed the gap between the two.
Knock it off! You're supposed to be protecting the forest—not using it as a stage with props!
The black one, the Alpha, was suddenly ashamed of his two escorts, and the two immediately felt waves of shame manifesting themselves within their bodies and minds. Their ears and heads ducked low. The brown one shifted uncomfortably as his tail moved between his legs, and the other silvery creature laid his stomach on the floor.
What do you want us to do with her? It was an effort to shift the conversation off of their "failure" to keep up with the demands of their new responsibilities and watch duty.
It worked. The black eight foot creature moved one paw forward towards the human girl, smelled in her direction with a small inhale, and shook his head.
Leave her. She's not one of them.
The two friends looked at their Alpha in quiet awe before taking a step forward toward her themselves.
She looks pretty bad. The brown one shook his ears free.
The silver being agreed. Yeah, she's awfully pale. Are you sure she's not one of them?
No. She's not. I rescued her myself.
A flood of memories entered their minds, and they felt even more blessed that their Alpha had been able to help someone who had brought the whole ordeal on herself, in their opinion. Of course, everyone knew that this particular girl had a thing for the supernatural creatures of Forks.
Hey, doesn't our brother fancy her?
The black beast didn't acknowledge his students with an answer. It was clear that no answer was answer enough.
Do you think he'll be with us soon? I mean, he and the quiet friend are already starting—
A low bark silenced the brown one's mouth, and then, all three hung their heads down a little. Despite feeling good and accepted among each other, they couldn't help but feel a bit out-casted at the same time. They hadn't wanted this kind of life, and they had no desire to make two others suffer through it either, but it was in their heritage.
"Okay—I know someone's there! Come on out!" The girl sounded a little less scared. She probably thought it was her imagination, hearing the chortle throughout the trees.
The human was safe for now.
It's time.
The three, in perfect sync, snorted what was left of the sweet morning air through their noses once and took off with one paw racing to catch the other in time.
(BPOV)
It was odd being out so early in the morning. Even for Forks it seemed quiet. Besides the "snickering" and tress whistling in the forest, it was very quiet. At least, I hope it really was the trees making that noise. That had been odd. I prayed the last thing I would run into was an elf or a sprite in the forest; I couldn't bear to think of another mystical creature near me right now.
"Bella? Hey, Bella!"
A voice called out for me. It was deep. It was almost unrecognizable at first. I was used to people calling my name, slamming me back down to reality, and reminding me that I had disappeared back into my comfortable yet discouraging existence without Edward.
I almost thought that I was back in the woods instead of at the beach. I seriously thought that the beach was haunted when a boy bounded out of the forest forcefully, making the wind sweep past my face so fast that it whipped my cheeks harshly.
"Whoa." That was all I managed to get out before my eyes rendered me mute.
His hair flew loosely in the wind; his white teeth bared matching the intensity of a new moon, his shoulders flexed, inadvertently showing new but somehow manly muscles, and his brown eyes shined with fierceness that was easily seen even with only the sun's morning overcast. He had easily grown to be six foot four, at least. Even his nose stood noble, flaring in defiance as the sun's new morning glow became awkwardly unnecessary in light of his arrival.
I blushed in spite of myself. The newcomer seemed to understand and lowered his gaze almost as he finally stood within a few short paces of me.
I actually found myself stammering, "Ja-Jacob. Hey! Oh my gosh. Look at you!"
Jacob Black, son of my father's oldest friend, beamed at me.
"Hey, Bella!" He smiled even more, if that were possible. He took another pause and then rushed to me, picked me up, and spun me around a few times before he gently put me down and resumed his previous stance.
"Uh, wow. Lift much?" I was smiling but I still felt a little dizzy.
Jacob answered casually as if it were a reaction he got all the time. "No, not really. It just seemed to have happened overnight."
"Yeah? How so? I don't remember you looking like that last time I saw you."
"You haven't seen me in a few months, Bells. I even had a birthday that you missed."
My head cocked towards him. Between trying to recall the last time I had actually seen Jacob and then thinking why he was calling me a type of noisy instrument from a chorus line, my mind was actually unable to produce anything more than an affirmative grunt. "Humph, I guess you're right, Jacob."
"Of course I am. I'm very mature for my age. I might even be older than you." Jacob's eyes danced, and he tapped his fingers against his loose navy blue tank. I gave him a once-over and saw that he was in very simple white basketball shorts and sneakers. I was freezing in my long sleeve shirt and bed sweats, but Jacob seemed completely unmoved by the windy weather on the beachfront.
"How do you figure that, Jacob? People have mistaken me for forty." Not to mention that my 108-year-old vampire boyfriend just broke up with me, I thought sourly.
"Well my size, expertise in cars, and general know-how period makes me the adult in this relationship. I may give you a few points for being a decent cook by word of Charlie, for being independent, and for being out here all alone with me with no shoes on by the way." Jacob half laughed and his hand moved through his hair. "But I do still have you beat. You'll catch up eventually."
"What are you doing out here anyway?" I shot back.
Jacob shrugged. "I was jogging, sort of. I kept hearing noises, like voices or something, and it made it damn near impossible for me to go back to sleep. So I got up, ate almost everything in the fridge, and just jogged." He ended his statement like it was completely normal to hear voices in your sleep, eat all the contents of your fridge, and then run outside for a few miles as though nothing had happened.
My eyebrows arched. "Voices? You hear voices while you sleep? They don't tell you to build things and then come to you, do they?" I was thinking of the movie "Field of Dreams."
Jacob laughed fully. I smiled in return, almost as a reflex.
His smile was beautiful. Not only did the smile reach his eyes, but even his small dimples added warmth to his otherwise baby face. His cheeks were full, but his face couldn't be considered fat. His head almost leaned forward and cocked to the side toward me in a friendly matter and even his ears turned slightly toward me screaming out to me "talk to me" as if actually speaking with him would make all my dreams come true. His smile could make the rain stop from falling from the sky. His eyes would keep me warm and together even below freezing as long as I never looked away from his eyes. All I had to do was gaze into Jacob's eyes forever, and it would complete and answer every question about existence that I had in this world. The warmth of his smile mimicked the same likeness and compassion of his dad.
"No, they don't tell me to do anything. It's kind of like background noise. They're having their own conversation, and I am just hearing echoes. I usually can't make out what they're saying unless they talk really loud—"
I held up my hand with an amused grin. "Jake, don't you think I might it find it bizarre that you can hear voices while you sleep? That's not something you share with your father's best friend's daughter."
Jacob feigned a hurt expression. "Ouch, Bells. That's all I am to you—the son of your father's friend? Jeez. I fixed up that "beast" and everything for you, and this how you repay me? 'That's not something you share with your—'" he began to mock me.
I cut him off with a hearty laugh. It was several seconds before I could cover my mouth with my hands. Funny, I was laughing. I hadn't laughed in a long time. Why did it hurt to laugh but feel so good at the same time? Jacob looked at me and seemed to comprehend despite me not saying anything more. He stepped closer to me, cautiously. My eyes casted downward, and I saw his feet moving even closer next to me, and then I felt a light tap against my shoulder.
"You all right, Bella?"
I didn't look back at him. I couldn't look back at him. I felt ashamed, and I felt as if I had betrayed the memory of my vampire love by laughing with this boy. This human boy. This human boy who was indeed the son of my father's best friend, who had ignited my skin from his touch.
My shoulder burned suddenly. Jacob was hot.
My hands touched the shoulder he had playfully bumped, and I immediately felt the warmth spread to the rest of my arm, across my chest, and enter my stomach. I let out a very nervous chuckle.
"Bella?"
"Jacob." I finally smiled at him and met his eyes. He returned the smile.
"Bella," he repeated, playing along.
I suddenly had an idea. Jacob was a mechanic. Jacob might have an afternoon to kill. Why not put him to work doing something that I had been afraid of doing? "So, after your jog, what was it that you were going to do the rest of today?" It would have been done whether he agreed to it or not, but at least the process that I had just thought of wouldn't render my property useless to me in the near future.
Jacob twisted the drawstring of his shorts. "Nothing really. Why?" He looked hopeful for some reason.
I disregarded the emotional response and plunged into my next question, "Can you work on my car sometime today? I mean, if you're not busy or anything—"
"Work on the Chevy? Yeah, of course! What are friends for?" His eyes recommenced their dance from earlier on the emphasis of "friends."
My breath fluttered at his reference. "I need you to do me a favor. I want you to take something out of my car for me. I'd be willing to pay—"
"Take what out of your car?"
"This stereo. I mean, it was a birthday present…" which it was "…that I didn't really like…" because he and his family gave it to me "…and I don't have a use for it. I was wondering if you wanted it. I remember you saying that you were building a car up from scratch some time ago, and if you didn't have a radio, you could have it and take that as payment—"
"Don't you think you may want to listen to music one day, Bells? I know Forks is no Phoenix when it comes to music but—"
"I don't like music."
"You don't like music?" Jacob's eyes widened. "No kind of music at all? Rap? Rock? Nothing?"
"No." I looked down. "I don't like music. Listen, I really could give you the stereo to have for your car, and I can pay for the time you spend—"
"Bella, I can't accept money from you. You should know that. I'm not sure about the stereo either." Jacob ran a hand through his long black hair again.
Immediately I felt crushed. I had been looking forward to removing Emmet's handiwork from my truck, even if it would leave a horrible gaping hole in the dashboard. Who cares? It would match what he left of my heart. "You mean you can't remove it?"
Jacob looked confused. "What? No! No, I can take out the stereo, but I don't want it. I mean, what if you want it back someday?"
"No. I won't want it back. Not ever." My hands impulsively wrapped around my chest, and I started to rock myself patiently, waiting for his answer. Waiting for his reply.
Jacob seemed to have regarded my movement. "Yeah, okay, I can take it out in less than an hour probably. No charge," he insisted quickly. "But I don't want it. I'm sure it was from someone very important to you."
Jacob was observant for a kid his age. I actually gave a sharp cry-laugh. "Well, I guess the relationship was a little one-sided."
He nodded quietly. I had started to wonder if I was scaring him a little when his smile returned wide enough for the two of us to share and asked, "Want to come over with the truck later?"
"What about now?" I replied, immediately forgetting my predicament.
Fortunately, Jacob noticed my lapse in memory and grinned. "No offense Bells, but you're barefoot, you're still in clothes that you obviously slept in, and it's not even 9 a.m. yet. And I think you might have to tell Charlie where you're going."
"Oh, right. I forgot. I guess it was the excitement."
"Uh-huh. Want to see me work with my hands, do you?"
"Yeah, I am dying over the possibilities."
"You should. I'm very good," he teased.
"You're very modest too," I teased back.
Jacob stood next to me, his smile dropping a little, and he lightly touched my fingers on the closest hand next to him. A small shock went through my fingers and up my arms. What the—? There's no rug on the beach—
"I'll see you this afternoon, Bella."
"Okay."
"Want me to give you a ride back or something? You still don't have on any shoes, you know."
I turned sheepish. "Oh yeah, okay. Charlie's not there at the house, though."
Charisma stole Jacob's smile, making him dangerous to any woman under the age of thirty. "I think we can find a way to keep ourselves entertained."
Now my eyes danced.
"You're awesome, Jacob." I was praising his work on my truck a mere few hours later into the afternoon. His makeshift garage provided a comforting solace away from his house and the prying eyes of his father, Billy, and his VW Rabbit was almost finished. The seats that he had just put in even felt comfortable as I carelessly rubbed my hands against the soft cloth and inhaled the "new" smell. Factories should warranty that smell.
"I told you so." Jacob beamed again and handed me a slightly chilled soda. I tipped my can toward his, and we drank at the same time, as if we were business partners celebrating a new franchise opening over a power lunch.
Jacob had been right. It had taken him less than an hour, and, true to his word, when he finished, he neatly wrapped the extra cords and the device in some newspaper and presented it to me as a gift. I had thought I would feel a stab of regret seeing the gift they had given me being presented as a gift by another, but I had only laughed; after all, Jacob had curtsied while he handed me back the package.
I thought and rethought my next statement a hundred times before I said it out loud, "This was fun, Jake." And I meant it. Jacob had kept me laughing and kept my mind occupied constantly while working on my truck. I had forgotten how fun he was to be around. How often he had made me smile and how content he made me feel. The sun had shined bright in the little makeshift garage of the Black residence on the La Push reservation—and his name was Jacob.
"Yeah, I get that a lot," he boasted.
I inhaled and twirled the ends of my hair a bit. "Want to do it again?" I blurted out before I could lose my nerve.
He looked at me, giving a smile. "You don't have another satellite radio that needs to be taken out, do you?" he joked. I shook my head no, and he gave a chuckle. "Sure, sure. What are friends for?" he repeated.
I got up and attempted to hit him several times while he ducked a little and pretended to be hurt when a hit finally landed half on his arm and half in the air. "Oh Bella, you're so strong!"
"Oh man, you're getting beat by a girl? No way!"
A voice interrupted our playful banter, and Jacob rolled his eyes. "Wonderful. Twiddle Dee and Twiddle Dum are here."
Two Quileute boys with Jacob's matching complexion and equally long hair came in through the open garage doors. The one with the bigger muscles of the two newcomers easily flexed as he reached out with his hand to give me a handshake.
"How do you do? I'm Quil. Quil Ateara—"
"Jr.!" The other boy sounded, and Jacob scoffed quietly.
"Hey, my name means something to this tribe. It's a family name," Quil sneered.
"So is mine," the other boy fired back.
"And you are?" I was determined not to let a fight break out but the two boys stared at each other some more and then suddenly laughed, losing their serious expressions.
"They're always like this. Don't worry about it," Jacob assured me. "Anyway, that's Quil; Embry's right; he's a Jr. And this is Embry Call. Guys—Bella Swan."
"No way. You're Bella?" The smaller boy pointed. Was that Embry?
"Uh-huh." I said uncertainly.
The one with muscles talked. "No way! So you're like a girl. You're like Jacob's girl, right?"
Jacob flew from behind me and easily tackled the boy in a few short seconds. I covered my mouth and eyes, afraid to watch but even more afraid to look away. What if either of them got hurt? What if their friendship was suddenly destroyed by this moment? What if—
"Gotcha!" Jacob suddenly screamed. The other boy rubbed his arms which had instantly turned red against his already ruby-colored complexion. "Now quit running your mouth, Quil Jr., and tell me what the hell you want."
Quil continued to rub his arms. I think his ego was more bruised. "Wanted to know what you were doing. We hadn't seen you and thought you might want to take a drive or something. Embry's got his mom's car for the afternoon. Stereo ain't shit, but it's something—"
"Hey!" I had another idea. "Jacob just took a stereo out of my truck. You guys can have that if you want it."
The two boys looked at me. "What kind is it?" Quil asked.
I shrugged. "I don't know. Jacob took it out. It's right here." I handed Quil the wrapped up package, and his eyes looked as if it were Christmas come early.
"Dude, this is a Kenwood 50 W x 4 MOSFET Apple with Satellite! This thing is like a grand!"
I cringed at the sudden price drop, but it still hadn't made me change my mind.
"Wait—why are you getting rid of this? What's wrong with it?" Quil accused.
I stammered, "Nothing. Nothing is wrong with it. I just didn't like it. Too flashy. It just wasn't my—"
"Color. Yeah, it didn't match her shoes or her purse or anything," Jacob chimed in. He gave me a humored grin.
Jacob's two friends seemed to handle the excuse well. "Girls. They're so weird like that. Why do they have to match everything with everything?" Quil stated. Embry quickly nodded, and they both took turns turning over and examining their new toy. Once they started talking about the tools they would require to get it hooked up, they lost me.
I gave Jacob a silent nod as he looked at me, away from the "guy" conversation. He had saved me from answering a detrimental question in front of his friends without asking me why and without giving me grief. I felt lucky that Jacob was slowly seeping into my life and pulling me out of the hole. My smile didn't mirror his exactly, but I felt closer than I ever had in the last few months to being back to normal.
End Note: Please tell me what you think. I am serious. I can't promise to keep writing if you don't promise to give reviews. =)
And one more thing, anyone see MTV Movie Awards last night? Why did R-Patz walk away with most of the awards for Twilight? Jeez, Team Jacob fans need to step up and protest on behalf of our wonderful martyr, Jacob Black. He is ridiculously under-voted.