Disclaimer: I do not own Bella, Jacob, Edward, Alice, Charlie, a motorcycle, a yellow Porsche, or a duck. Or anything else in this story.
A/N: This takes place after Eclipse, but Bella and Jacob never had their conversation after the fight, so Bella doesn't know that she's in love with Jacob, and Jacob never 'officially' gave up.
I don't know if this will be any good. The idea was from when I found this icon with the Cullen Llama Song (which I don't own either) and the last lines are "and in the final chapter/he imprints with a duck" and when my friend complained that that didn't make sense, I decided that I would write a story about it to give it sense. No more than a pointless one-shot.
Read and Enjoy!
"Hey, Bella, come on down to the rez today. We should hang out, you haven't been down in a while and I want to see you," Jacob told me over the phone.
"Sounds good. Edward has some things he needs to take care of anyway. How's a half hour sound? At the border," I suggested.
"That would be great. And since it's not too wet out, we can go riding."
"Okay. I'll see you in thirty minutes. Bye, Jake!" I hung up the phone and Jacob did the same.
"Hey, Edward," I called from the kitchen. "Can you take me to La Push? I know you needed to go hunting, so you can take Emmett and Jasper, and I'll hang out with Jake. Is that all right?" I verified. Edward had been much more lenient after the fight with Victoria, knowing that there weren't any more sadistic vampires out to avenge their mates with me, but I still wanted to make sure.
"Of course, Bella," he whispered in my ear, his arms suddenly reaching around my waist.
I turned in his arms to face him. "Stop doing that!" I gasped.
"I'm sorry, love. I didn't mean to startle you." His arms loosened their hold on me.
"I never said I didn't want you here," I said, pulling his arms back as best I could, glad when he complied. "Just don't sneak up on me. Everyone I know is so quiet, except for Charlie. I always feel like I'm stomping around when I'm near you or your family or any of the pack."
He stayed silent, the two of us just standing together in my kitchen for a few minutes, my head resting on his chest, his arms around my waist and his nose buried in my hair.
"Charlie's coming, love," Edward told me a short time later. I heard the sound of the cruiser pulling up in the driveway a few seconds after.
Edward let go of me, taking a seat at the kitchen table while I went back to making Charlie's dinner as I had been before Jacob called.
I could hear the car door slam, and then the key turning in the front door lock.
"Hey Bells," he called, stepping on the backs of his boots to take them off. I saw his shadow moving in the front hallway as he hung up his gun belt and then I heard him clomp into the kitchen.
"That smells good, is it stroganoff?" he asked me, his eyes lighting up at the possibility as he leaned against the doorway into the kitchen, watching while I stirred the noodles in the pot.
"Yes it is, and I made extra to save, because I know how much you love it." I felt bad about leaving Charlie so soon, never to return, so I was trying to make up for it in advance by preparing Charlie's favorite dishes.
"You baby me too much. I'm going to miss all this good food when you go off to college next month." His innocent comment left me feeling like someone had knocked the breath out of me. I avoided thinking about the things that I would miss after I was changed, and whenever one was inadvertently brought to my attention, it was staggering. Luckily, Charlie didn't notice my reaction and he didn't say anything more on the subject.
Trying to regain my composure as I hid my face looking down upon the pot I was still stirring, I changed the subject.
"Dad, is it okay if I head down to La Push tonight? Edward and his brothers are going for a last-minute camping trip, since the weather forecast has been changed for in the mountains and Jake called, wanting to hang out. Edward was going to drop me off on his way out, and Edward called Alice, and she's going to pick me up, and then she wants to have a sleepover," I hurriedly explained, turning around to face him. Edward hadn't called Alice, but I knew that as soon as she had seen my sudden decision, she would call and get all excited, talking about all the things she wanted to do to me.
After Victoria had been destroyed, I knew that my fear of sleeping alone was irrational, but I still felt safer near at least one of the Cullens. Edward was always my first choice, but when he needed to hunt, I would have a sleepover with Alice.
"Of course, Bella. You should be going down to see Jake more often; I know he's going to miss you this fall, too." I spun back around to stare once again at the pot.
I stirred for another minute until I felt steady. "It's ready to eat," I announced, turning off the heat and reaching into the cupboard for plates. Edward excused himself to the living room, just as he did every other night.
After I had gotten our plates ready, I sat down next to Charlie at the table with a glass of milk for each of us. I ate quickly, still needing to pack for the impromptu sleepover before I went to La Push. I didn't attempt to make conversation; Charlie's mouth was always full, his next bite ready on his fork for when he swallowed.
I cleaned my plate and finished the last of my milk. I got up and went over to the sink. Charlie stopped eating long enough to tell me that I he would take care of the dishes and that I should get going if I was going to make it on time.
Leaving the dishes sit in the sink, I hurried out to meet Edward in the living room.
"Alice called, and she's very excited. She also said that she would come and pack for you, so all of your things will be ready when she comes to pick you up," he told me in whispers. I was relieved, now I didn't need to rush, likely forgetting something or falling down the stairs when I was running to get to the car.
I went upstairs to make it seem like I was getting my bag so that Charlie wouldn't get suspicious. I came back down to find Edward waiting for me at the foot of the stairs, wrapping my arm around my waist as I came to stand next to him.
"Bye, Charlie," I called toward the kitchen, where Charlie was still eating with vigor, and I heard a muffled grunt in response.
Edward led me out to the Volvo and soon we were speeding out toward the reservation. When we got there, Edward gave me a lingering kiss before I got out of the car. As I stood up I wobbled a little bit and I heard him chuckle softly behind me.
I made my way over to the boundary line and once I had crossed it Jacob came over to me from where he was standing near the Rabbit.
"Hey, Jake!" I greeted him enthusiastically.
"Hi, Bella!" he said just as excitedly, suddenly cutting off my air supply in a bone-crushing hug as the Volvo sped away.
"Jake-can't-breathe!" I managed to gasp. He let go of me and smiled sheepishly.
"Sorry, Bella. I guess I forget my own strength sometimes," he apologized.
"So are we going to head back to your place and get the bikes?" I encouraged.
"Oh, yeah!" he said, breaking out of his solemnity and rushing back to his car. He was already sitting in the driver's seat ready to start the car by the time I got to it. Jacob laughed at my slow pace.
"Not all of us are that fast, Jake," I muttered, only making him laugh harder.
We drove to Jake's house quickly, getting there in just a few minutes. He led me around to the garage to get our bikes and my recently acquired helmet and riding jacket.
"Is Billy around today?" I asked as we walked our bikes around to the street.
"No, he's over at the Clearwaters' again. Sue's been lonely, and Leah's been giving her more trouble recently." When we got to the street, I put my bike on its kickstand and fumbled with the helmet and jacket until Jake had to help me, laughing the whole time.
"Let's ride around town today. The trees hold so much water that when it drips it seems like its raining, so the forest won't be good today," he suggested. I agreed, wanting to go somewhere different.
We rode together through the small town, going slower than we would have if we were alone and in the woods. If I were to crash in the town, we wouldn't want me to injure some innocent passer-by, and going slower lowers that risk, even for me.
"Hey, Jake, can we stop for a few minutes? I'm getting tired," I told him a after a bit of riding. I hadn't been on my motorcycle in a while and I needed to become re-adjusted to the feel before I could reasonably expect to go long distances.
He agreed quickly and slowed to a halt. We walked the bikes over to where a pond had been formed in a slight depression behind the small general store. Jake put his up on its kickstand and I did the same, letting them sit next to each other. We walked over next to the water and sat down at the edge, watching a small group of birds on the far edge of the pond.
Jake was watching the water in front of us, seeing the last of the ripples made by the activity at the other end. I looked up at the group of birds and saw one that appeared out-of-place.
"Hey, Jake," I said, getting his attention, "why is that one duck over there? Wouldn't it be uncomfortable, alone with all those other birds?"
His head came up and he followed my gaze. His eyes seemed to lock with the duck's, and it seemed that the air had gotten thick and it was like something had traveled between them, on some unseen mental connection.
Jacob turned to look at me, a sparkle in his eye contrasting to the horrified expression on his face.
"Jacob, what's wrong?" I asked, suddenly on alert. His near-grimace frightened me.
"No….No, no, no, no," he said, ignoring my question. "No, that's not…it can't…no." he stood up, turning back to watch the birds again.
"Jake, what is it?" I demanded frantically, standing as well.
"That…she…it's…no," he stammered, seeming to be unable to make sense of what happened.
"Jake, tell me!" I shook his arm desperately.
"Her," he whispered.
"Who? There's no one else here, Jake," I told him, slightly relieved that no unseen force was attacking him or something.
"The duck…s-she's…I think…i-i-imprinted," he stammered. I struggled to make sense of his words.
"You mean, you imprinted with…the duck?" I asked him uncertainly.
He looked back at me with the same expression on his face and the same unwilling sparkle in his eyes.
"I…I think I did," he said. We were both in shock.
"But, Jake, that can't happen, can it?" I asked, worried again.
"It just did," he said, the horrified expression gone, replaced with a trance-like blankness. He stumbled over to the other side of the water and he reached out for the duck. Surprisingly enough she didn't try to escape his grasp.
I watched him, dumbfounded, waiting for him to look up at me and start laughing at me for falling for his trick. But even after five minutes, he never did. He had sat down on the other side of the pond with the duck in his lap, stroking her feathers. He never even looked in my direction.
I watched them for a while, and I was never granted even a glance from Jacob. He seemed to be mesmerized with the duck. I knew that it was getting late so I turned around and walked back to my motorcycle. I got on it and started it up, glad that I no longer needed Jake's help to get it running. I sped down the road toward Forks. I knew that as soon as I got away from Jacob, Alice would see me and the bright yellow Porsche would catch up to me and give me a ride home. I looked forward to the makeovers tonight; I would need to get my mind off of what just happened.
Losing my best friend to a duck. I suppose that's what you get when you associate with mythical creatures.
A/N: R and R please!!