Disclaimer: just enjoying playing with SM's world. No copyright infringement to see here!
A/N: This is what happened when I sat down last night to edit the next chapters of my multi-chapter story "Write Myself to You". I would apologize, but I'm not that sorry since this was so much fun to write! :) Enjoy!
Quil and Embry were walking along the beach when they realized that the two people asleep on the blanket they'd been able to see from a distance were in fact one Jacob Black and the infamous girl he'd been talking about non-stop since she first brought him some motorcycles. Bella Swan.
He'd been moaning about her for months now and still wouldn't let his friends come hang out with him after school because "Bella might stop by". What ever happened to bros before hoes? Okay, he had let them come over once to meet her. And she invited them for pizza another time when they just happened to stop by, but Jacob spent so much time trying to shoot them with laser beams from his eyes that they finally gave up and left, so they still barely knew the girl. Still, she bought them pizza, so she couldn't be all bad.
"You realize this is too good an opportunity to let pass, right?" Quil quietly said to Embry.
"Oh, yeah," Embry smiled, slowly. "You sure that's her?"
"How many white girls do you think he's got on the line, dude?"
"It looks more to me like she's got him on the line," Embry said.
"Maybe we could help him out a little," Quil said thoughtfully.
"Yeah? What'd you have in mind?"
"They both have such pretty hair, don't they?" Quil said.
"Uh- I guess. Where are you going with this, man?"
"Well, Jake's a pretty sound sleeper. I don't know about Bella, but I guess we'll find out. Here's what I'm thinking."
After a moment of explanation, Embry was all in. No girl should be stringing along their boy and if he needed a little help from his friends, they were going to give it. Hopefully, this would help. Because if not, Jake might actually kill them. Embry liked Quil's idea a lot. But he believed he had something even better to add that would really move things along one way or another.
Thanks to his own long hair, Embry was an excellent braider. And he was stealthier than his other friends. So it was he who crept slowly up to the blanket where Jake was asleep flat on his back with his mouth slightly open and breathing loudly. Ugh. How was the tiny girl next to him sleeping through that?
Embry got good look at Bella Swan. It was weird that he'd barely seen her since he felt like he knew every damn thing about her thanks to Jacob Black's obsession. She looked all right, he supposed. She was a little too skinny for his tastes, but that certainly wasn't a deal breaker. She was curled into Jake's body. Her head was on his shoulder and her hand, which on a normal person would rest gently, was gripping the front of Jake's shirt like she was making sure Jake couldn't get away even if he wanted to. Maybe this thing wasn't as one sided as they'd thought.
Neither one of them moved even as he was right up next to them. The next part would be trickier. He looked up at Quil, who gave him a thumbs up sign to let him know there was nobody else approaching. Embry was glad for the crash of the waves and the light wind to help cover up any sounds he made.
A few minutes later he and Quil managed to get into the nearby forest before bursting into laughter.
"This is gonna be epic!" Quil said through snorting laughter. "How'd you get him to roll her over him to the other side?"
Embry shrugged. "I just used the hair and tickled that side of his face. His arm was around her, so if he turned, I was pretty sure he was going to take her along, too."
Quil held his hand up for a high five. "You are an evil genius, bro, and I totally want you on my side just in case of any future zombie apocalypse."
"You know I hate zombies, dude. I will absolutely be your guy for any other mythical monster. But no way am I getting involved if it's zombies."
"What's your deal with zombies?" Quil asked.
And thus began a debate about the pros and cons of all mythical creatures that made the two boys almost forget about what they were trying to spy on the beach until they heard first one cry and then another deeper one.
Bella woke up to find herself completely wrapped up in Jacob's arms. She blushed and tried to slowly separate from him without waking him up. She knew full well he had a crush and didn't really want to encourage it.
It was tricky. She didn't feel empty anymore. Well, not like she had right after they left. But she still didn't feel like she had anything to give. Especially to Jacob Black who deserved only the most wonderful things in life. She wanted those things for him, but she also could admit that she was really selfish and didn't actually want to share her Jake with anyone else.
She was almost all the way back on to the blanket when something pulled her hair and Jake woke up with a yell.
"Ouch!" he yelped as she said the same thing. Jacob didn't wake up well. Ever. He always started out disoriented, a fact that his older sisters took advantage of when they were still living at home.
"Bells!" he sighed contentedly and wrapped his long arms back around her and pulled her close. She froze until she realized he wasn't really awake. He took a deep breath in and Bella could feel him settling back into sleep. She really should wake him up, she thought, but being wrapped up like this felt so nice. He was so warm...and the sound of his heartbeat...and the lovely color of his skin...and the warmth and love she could always see in his big brown eyes…. Now it was her turn to sigh a little. Surely pretending that this was all okay for a moment wouldn't hurt anyone, right?
They were both startled again a few minutes later by the ringing of Jake's cell phone. Jacob's first reaction with his eyes still closed was to reach down to his pocket where he kept his phone, but there was a warm and pleasant weight on top of him. And he couldn't feel where his pocket was. There was something in the way.
"Jake, you better watch where your hands are roving right now," he heard a voice say. Was he still dreaming? He didn't want to wake up if he was because that sounded like Bella's voice. He loved dreaming about Bella. She was always so much happier in his dreams than in real life. He knew he could fix her and get her back to that happy self. He just needed more time.
"Jake?" he heard again and sighed back in return, "Bella". This was a great dream. Her voice sounded so close.
"Um-Jacob? You need to wake up!"
"Don't wanna wake up!" he squeezed his eyes tighter and tried to roll over onto his stomach.
It was the squeal of surprise, and the jolt of pain that finally woke him up. "Jake, I can't breathe!" Bella gasped from underneath him.
"Bells? Oh! Sorry!" he tried to clamber off of her, though honestly he wish he'd been more conscious of her pinned underneath him. Also, the look on her face while she was there wasn't quite what he'd imagined she'd look like writhing beneath him in his dreams. Then again, he had been suffocating her with his weight. If he'd actually been awake, he definitely would have done that better.
"No! Don't!" Bella yelled, and grabbed his arms to pull him back. Jacob was so confused. What had gotten into her? She wanted him to be close to her? But then he felt the ripping feeling on his head.
"Ouch!" he yelped again as she hissed.
"Yes, ouch," she said drily. She carefully wiggled out from under him so they were lying very closely next to one another on the blanket.
"Bells, what's going on?" Jacob asked still not entirely sure he was awake. Bella was so close; her face just inches from his. Her eyes were so beautiful up close like this. The blush on her cheeks was so lovely. Wait. Why was she blushing? Jacob Black did not wake up well. He was confused by the facts that were quite literally right in front of his face.
"I think our hair is tangled together somehow," she said, grimacing a little.
"What? How?" he asked as he started trying to move his head to see his hair better.
"Careful!" she warned as he moved too fast causing them both to yelp in pain again.
"Sorry, Bells!" he said. And then he saw them. Dozens of small braids connecting them together. Someone had come along and braided his and Bella's hair together. Who would do that?! And why? And then he saw the way the end of one of the braids was finished off.
Embry Call. He was the only one Jake knew of who had long hair but never used an elastic or leather piece to hold his braid. He said his grandfather had taught him a technique to use just the hair to tie it in place, which took a little longer but stayed in way better. Jake also remembered now that he'd mentioned it was really hard to get out if you didn't know the trick to it. Embry showed them how he only had to tug on one little piece of hair and it would all come undone, but Jake hadn't really paid close attention at the time. He was content to always have an elastic in his pocket or just leave his hair loose. Especially once he realized that Bella seemed to really like his hair.
"I'm so sorry, Bella. But I'm pretty sure we got pranked by my friends."
Her eyes looked stormy for a moment and then she started to giggle quietly. Jake beamed. He never knew what to expect with Bella, but laughter was a good sign. "You're not mad?" he asked, still a little worried.
"Oh, I'm going to slap them. But I'm not mad at you, Jake." And then she hugged him. Jacob was quickly rethought being mad at his friends and instead considered sending a thank you note. After a moment, she lifted up her head and reached for one of the braids to begin undoing it.
"How did they do this?" Bella complained as she struggled. As frustrating as it was, it didn't stop her from noticing how silky Jacob's hair was in comparison to hers. Jacob explained Embry's braiding trick, but while he was talking, he noticed how lovely Bella Swan's eyelashes were, especially when she blinked her eyes and they brushed his cheek.
"Why don't we call him?" Bella suggested.
"I'm an idiot. Of course, Bells!" and he reached down to his front pocket. The missed call had been from Quil, apparently. Bella's face being mere inches from his didn't help his deductive reasoning. At all. He loved the feel of her breath on him. People didn't stand close enough to breathe on one another normally, so the fact that he could feel her little exhalations on his cheek made him wonder at the intimacy of such a small thing.
She, meanwhile, was noticing how tall Jacob had gotten lately. And so warm. And he definitely had muscles under his shirt that hadn't been there when she had first moved back a little over a year ago. A girl would remember muscles like that. Being so close to the incredible scent of Jacob Black was not making trying to get the braids out any easier, either. Bella hated perfume and body spray on girls, and felt similarly about cologne and aftershave on guys. She was close enough that she could smell the clean scent of his soap and deodorant, but she could also smell the underlying scent that was just him. It was merely one layer down below those other things. Clean, like mountain air, and pine trees, and the ocean they were so close to right now, with maybe the faintest whiff of motor oil coloring it all. Bella wished she could bottle Jacob's scent for her own personal use.
"Sorry, honey, this might get a little loud," Jake said and pulled Bella's head against his chest, so one of her ears was pressed directly over his heartbeat and his hand was gently covering the other one. Bella noticed how with their hair braided together like this, it was a little like hiding under a blanket with someone. Right now the world was just theirs. Nobody else would fit in this world, for one thing.
"Quil, you ass, what the hell did you guys do to me and Bells?" Jacob rumbled. Bella loved feeling the vibrations from his voice against her cheek. She took the time to appreciate the view of the braids just a couple inches from her face. Their hair wound together was lovely. His so dark and silky and hers lighter with more color variation and wavy. The dark brown and red against his almost black looked like something a weaver might dream up for a beautifully patterned blanket.
"What do you mean he won't tell me how?" Jake was shouting and holding her head a little too tightly. She managed with a few errors to reach her hand up through the mess of braids, grabbed his hand to move it off her, and looked right into his eyes which looked darker than they had a minute ago. Jacob Black was mad. Bella wrinkled her brow. Jake wasn't supposed to get mad. He was the sunshine. He was her sunshine. This wasn't right.
"Jake, may I?" she asked calmly, putting her hand on the phone. He looked a little confused, but let her take it from him. She spent a lot of time deferring to him about things, so he loved it when she sounded in charge.
"Quil?" she said into the phone.
"Hey, Bella Swan! Em, I'm actually talking to THE Bella Swan!" Quil joked and she could hear Embry laughing in the background.
"Yes, Quil, this is Bella Swan. It's been a while. Have you been avoiding me? I thought pizza was the way to a teenage boy's heart."
"I am wounded, girl! Embry and I try to see you every day, but Jake won't shut up about how we need to stay away because he wants you all to himself."
Bella looked at Jake who had obviously overheard and averted his gaze and was blushing almost as much as she was over Quil's comment. "Sorry. We'll have to catch up soon, then. Has Jake ever told you that I make a really great lasagna?"
"Yes. About 500 times. But has he shared any with his better looking bros? No." Quil pouted.
"Oh, well that's not very nice of him, is it?" she purred. "If I could get home right now, I'd be happy to make you and Embry each your own pan of lasagna."
"You would?!" Quil shouted. Bella heard hushed conversation like someone was trying to cover the mouthpiece on the other end. Jake had one eyebrow lifted in question and a smirk on his face. He liked when Bells started scheming. It let him know she was still there and not as broken as she was just a few months ago. In charge AND scheming! This was some great Bella-time!
A voice came back on. "What about brownies? We'd probably need a pan each of those, too." Quil said.
"Of course," Bella cooed. "And garlic bread and salad, right?"
"Right! No wonder Jake is in lo-" the sound was muffled again and then Bella heard a new voice.
"Bella? This is Embry Call."
"Hello, Embry. It's nice to talk to you. You are an excellent braider, but this hairstyle isn't really what I was looking for today," Bella teased.
"Thank you. And I'm sure it wasn't. But it's all for a purpose."
"What purpose?" Bella sounded suddenly wary.
"I heard about an experiment. And I need you and Jacob to try it. Only after you've done it will I let you out," Embry said calmly.
"Embry, I'm gonna kill mmmphhh!" Jake tried to yell, but Bella covered up his mouth so she could handle the conversation.
"What's the experiment?" It was getting colder outside and it would be getting dark soon. As warm and delightful as Jake's body was, she did not want to spend the night out here. How would she ever explain this to Charlie? His answer would be to march down here with scissors. Bella certainly didn't want her hair butchered like that, nor could she bear the thought of Jake's beautiful hair being hacked off so unceremoniously.
"You're going to hang up the phone, but set an alarm for 4 minutes. Then, you have to look into one another's eyes."
"That's it?" Bella was suspicious. Surely that couldn't be the whole thing. That was too easy.
"For four minutes. You have to keep looking into one another's eyes for four entire minutes. No talking. Just staring." Embry sounded very calm and authoritative right now. But crazy people could be authoritative, too.
"Let me talk to Jake. We'll call you back," Bella said.
"Fine. We'll be waiting for your answer."
"What is he? A hostage negotiator?" Bella quipped, making a face at the phone.
"I'm gonna kill him," Jake grumbled.
"Well, what do you think?" Bella asked. "Staring doesn't seem so bad, right? Do you think that's really all there is to it? Or is this just going to escalate?"
"Embry is typically a straightforward kind of guy. I have no idea what he's thinking, but he doesn't usually do something without an end game. I think we have to do it anyway. We don't have a lot of options at this point. Unless you want to call Charlie?" Jake sounded hesitant. Bella supposed he'd come to the same conclusion she had about the fate of their collective hair given their compromised position and Charlie Swan's overprotective and practical nature.
"Alright. I'll call him back." Bella sighed.
"What's your decision?" Embry answered on the first ring.
"If we do this, that's it, right? We do it. We call you. You come fix this mess. No extra hoops to jump through?"
"As long as you silently stare for 4 minutes into one another's eyes, we're good," Embry replied.
"Are we allowed to blink?" Bella clarified.
"Of course. It's not a staring contest." Embry sounded absurdly cool and collected for someone making ridiculous demands.
"Fine. We'll be in touch," Bella snapped and ended the call. "Can you set the timer?" she handed the phone back to Jake. He took it and set it.
"Ready?" he asked.
"No talking," she reminded him. Jacob was a chatterbox and often held up more than his side of the conversation. Bella didn't mind, though. She hadn't ever been a big talker anyway, but since they left, she'd disappeared so far inside herself it didn't seem like there was anything much to say. Jake didn't let her get away with complete silence, so she had talked more in the last couple of months, but he still did the lion's share.
"And go." Jake pressed the button on his phone and Bella looked into his eyes.
"What the hell are you doing, man? I had negotiated for lasagna! AND brownies!" Quil shouted at Embry. "How does them staring at each other help us?"
"It helps Jake," Embry replied.
"Dude, I have no idea what you're talking about."
"I was listening to NPR last week, and I-"
"NPR?" Quil wrinkled his nose. "National Public Radio?"
"Well, yeah, it's the easiest way to listen to National Native News," Embry answered his friend. Quil knew that Embry was kind of a geek. And a do-gooder. And a Momma's boy. But National Native News on NPR? That was for old people.
"Anyway, right after the broadcast there was an interview with this woman who had heard about an experiment where you take two people and make them stare into one another's eyes for 4 minutes. It's apparently such an intimate experience that people walk away from it changed. And a large percentage of them fall in love," Embry explained.
"Again, how does this help us? Jake already loves Bella. It's making us sick how much Jake loves Bella, remember?"
"Yes, but I don't think Bella knows that she loves Jake, too."
"And 4 minutes of staring at each other is gonna fix that?" Quil looked dumbfounded.
"Would you care to place a wager on it?" Embry asked. "Your share of the brownies, perhaps?"
"Hell, no! Not the brownies, man. I'll bet you the garlic bread, though. That stuff always gives me nasty burps."
"Deal. But then you have twice as much garlic bread if I'm wrong," Embry pointed out.
"Yeah. I'll totally eat it all anyway."
"But you said-"
"Dude. It's food! Free food made by a hot chick. I'll eat it all in front of Jake, too, if I can figure out how to do it. Maybe bring it all for lunch at school. He'll be so jealous!" Quil cackled at the thought.
Bella had never realized how long 4 minutes was. But she'd also never noticed that little freckle right at the corner of Jake's left eyelid. She had to fight a bizarre impulse to lean over and kiss it. They were rolled on to their sides and facing one another for the staring, but Bella couldn't get comfortable. Having their hair tied together meant that Jacob and Bella could only have their faces about 6 inches apart from one another without pulling on anyone's hair. Jacob seemed to notice her discomfort, and so while keeping his eyes locked on hers, he scooped her up and rolled onto his back again, but this time with her on top of him.
Her eyes went wide with surprise at the move.
His eyes crinkled with mirth at her shock.
Her eyes narrowed at him laughing at her.
Jake thought it was pretty awesome that they could have a whole conversation just with their eyes. He'd never thought of doing that before. He loved talking, though. It was the easiest way to lighten the mood in a room. Chit chat had a way of defusing tension and sadness. Jacob knew all about doing that. He had done it with his Dad and sisters after his mother died. He did it with his friend Quil when his father died. Did it again with Embry when other kids ragged on him for not belonging or not knowing who his father was. So, when Bella showed up that first day looking broken and tired and pale, he knew just what to do.
Bella had a neighbor in Phoenix who had grown up in New York City. The neighbor, Mrs. Nunez, said that one of the most difficult things for her when she moved from the east coast was looking people in the eyes. In NY, she said, you would make brief eye contact to establish who you were talking to and then look slightly away from their eyes. At their mouth, usually, or just to the side of their head. She explained that looking someone directly in the eyes was considered either aggressive or intimate, so in everyday type things, people just didn't do it. Mrs. Nunez said she didn't even realize that's how they all behaved until she moved to Arizona and people kept staring at her. Everyone from the grocery clerk to the pool boy had the audacity to try to hold her gaze during a conversation. She claimed it took her nearly a year, but that she could finally do it. Every time she went back east to visit family, though, she slipped easily right back into the looking away.
Bella thought it was a funny story at the time. But staring into Jacob's eyes right now had her realizing how little time she'd spent looking directly at him when they spoke. He really did have beautiful eyes. They say eyes are the windows to the soul. Right in this moment Bella could believe that. Jake's dark brown eyes were so kind and loving and hopeful. Just like him. There was wisdom in them, too. He was always so cheerful that sometimes she forgot he suffered the death of one parent, and had sole care of his disabled Dad because his sisters abandoned them. She didn't give Jake enough credit. He'd been through so much in his life already and could still smile. She got attacked by and then broken up with vampires and she basically crawled in a hole to die.
She moved her hands under her chin to prop her head up, so she didn't break contact. What she really wanted to do was lay her head back down on his chest. She felt so safe right there for that moment. Jacob was smiling at her. If this had to happen with anyone, she was glad it was him. Only Jacob Black could make a totally bizarre situation seem comfortable, just like any other way the two of them might have chosen to hang out that afternoon.
Jacob noticed that Bella seemed worried. She always looked worried or gutted. But every now and then she would surface and he would see a glimpse of the fun, clever, sassy Bella. The bossy one who was good at taking care of others. The dark circles under her eyes had faded a little since their nap on the beach this afternoon. They were more of a soft purple now. Before he could second guess himself, he reached up into their little world and cupped her face, then used his thumbs to brush across the darkness beneath her eyes.
Bella realized she must have looked confused when Jacob moved his hands. She was certainly surprised when he held her face. He had such tender hands for someone who liked working with engines. She would have expected rough and calloused hands, and maybe his would someday be that, but for right now, she appreciated the gentleness and the warmth of his fingers. She melted into his touch and Jacob saw that the worried look was now gone. She was fully here with him and seemed to be enjoying what he was doing to her.
Bella parted her lips slightly and then began her habit of chewing on the bottom one. Jacob moved his hand down and used his thumb to run across her lips. She released the bottom lip from her teeth as she gasped at the sensation of his touch. Had anyone ever touched her lips like that before? She had only had one boyfriend and she didn't remember him ever doing that. It felt really nice. So nice that she had to remember to keep her eyes open, because she really wanted to close her eyes and just savor the sensation.
Bella wondered if Jacob knew how good that felt. He was watching her reaction closely and still didn't seem quite sure whether she was okay or not with what he was doing, but she wasn't stopping him either and it felt so nice to touch and be close like this. He might never get another chance so he was just going with what felt right. Jacob really wasn't expecting Bella's small, cool hand to reach up and brush his lips, too, after it traced his cheekbones. He inhaled long and slow and also had a difficult time remembering to keep his eyes open. He had no idea there were that many nerve endings in his lips, but right now they were ALL tingling. He wondered if she would let him kiss her. She was always going on about being older than him, blah blah blah, but she didn't currently seem to be acting like a girl who thought he was too young for her. Touching lips wasn't just a friends thing, right?
Jacob's eyes drifted down to look at Bella's lips, but she tilted his head back up to meet his eyes again as if to remind him what they were doing. Bella noticed that Jacob's eyes seemed to be getting bigger. And then she realized that it wasn't that his eyes were bigger it was that her face was getting closer to his. She decided to keep sinking her face lower slowly. Jacob's eyes went wide when he realized what she was doing. He wondered if she was going to kiss him! Jacob was ready to forgive Quil and Embry for everything AND send a thank you note AND even do their homework for them for a week if it meant that Bella Swan was going to kiss him!
But then she gently bumped her nose onto his nose where she'd also found another freckle. How had she never noticed these adorable little freckles before? And she rubbed his nose with hers back and forth in what Renee had always called an Eskimo kiss. Jacob giggled at her silliness, which made her giggle, too. At the sound of her laughter, Jacob couldn't even bring himself to be sad that she wasn't kissing him. Besides, he'd always imagined having their first kiss with their eyes closed.
When the alarm went off, the two friends were still gazing into one another's eyes. Bella quickly turned it off and turned back to Jacob who didn't seem to be done looking at her. She felt her smile still there as she dropped her face just a little closer to his again. Jacob surprised her by reaching just a little bit forward (she could feel his abs contract beneath her body as he did so) and place a quick gentle kiss on her lips. She was prepared to totally freak out, except it felt really nice and Jacob was quick to pull her into a hug right after.
"Thanks, Bells. I'm glad if I had to do that with anyone, it was with my beautiful best friend."
Bella snuggled into his hug where it was safe and she didn't have to look into his ey- Oh! She had been avoiding his gaze! For months! She didn't want him to see her feelings for him. Stupid self-discovery.
She lifted her head up tentatively. She hadn't spoken yet. She motioned with a finger over her own lips that he needed to still be quiet and then she reached up and closed his eyes for him. He opened them again and looked at her with a questioning eyebrow raised, but she closed them again right away and he got the point. She could feel his heartbeat speed up, but also saw how relaxed his face was. He trusted her. He wanted her. He was here and warm and tried so hard every day to make her feel better.
She leaned forward and kissed the freckle at the side of his eye. He inhaled sharply, but kept his eyes closed and smiled. Feeling bolder, she kissed the freckle on the end of his nose. He scrunched it up in a way that reminded her of an adorable little boy. So she did another Eskimo kiss. And somewhere during that eskimo kiss, her head tilted in just the right angle that her lips met up with his. His lovely dark, full, warm lips. And suddenly Bella Swan was lost to Jacob Black as the two friends discovered one another in a whole new way.
"What the hell is taking them so long?" Quil grumbled. "It's been at least 15 minutes. They should have called by now! I'm never going to get my brownies at this rate!"
"I have a suspicion," Embry said with the same annoying all knowing voice he'd had all afternoon. Quil was going to need to challenge him to some video games when they were done with this, just so he could restore equilibrium by kicking his ass at something.
The two boys moved back through the woods towards the beach where they saw their other best friend totally making out with the girl of his dreams. The boys high fived. "So should we interrupt them?" Quil asked.
Embry shrugged. "Let's give it a few more minutes. See if they notice we're standing here."
Bella and Jacob had no idea that their friends were standing a mere 30 feet away. In fact things might have gone on the way they were for much longer if Bella hadn't gotten overzealous and decided that she had to nibble Jake's earlobe (where she'd found another freckle!) and accidentally pulled their hair. The sudden pain surprised both of them enough to stop kissing and look one another in the eyes again. Jake was worried Bella would panic, but she surprised him again by smiling at him and then leaning in to kiss him again. She picked up the phone from next to them on the blanket.
They were surprised to hear the ring coming from right nearby. Jake jerked his head toward the sound and again they both yelped in pain. "Dammit, Embry!" Jake groused.
Quil laughed and teased as Embry made his way to the blanket and began quickly loosening all the braids. When he finally had them undone and Bella and Jake were able to sit up independent of one another, Jake took off down the beach chasing Quil who was chanting about "Jacob and Bella sitting on the beach! K-I-S-S-I-N-G!"
Bella was trying to tame her now wild hair by combing her fingers through all the kinks leftover from the tight braids. "Embry?"
"Yes, Bella?"
"Do you listen to NPR?"
"As a matter of fact I do," he smiled knowingly.
"Right after National Native News each week?"
"Wouldn't miss it. It's important to keep up on the news within the Native American and First Nations Communities," Embry replied coyly.
"Isn't it just?" Bella deadpanned back to him.
The two sat watching the other two boys run and tackle one another like overgrown puppies.
"Embry?"
"Yes, Bella?"
"I'll be providing you with weekly brownies for life," she smiled. "Or at least until Jake gets sick of me," she added quietly with her smile fading.
"He won't. He's yours now. To love or break. But yours all the same."
Bella looked at Embry Call long and hard. He looked back at her. "Be good to him," was all he said.
Just then they heard a whoop and Bella looked up to see Jake getting up from having pinned Quil to the ground. He had a look of complete and utter joy on his face as he moved back towards Bella Swan, keeping his eyes directly on hers.
"I will," Embry heard her say quietly just for him. It sounded like a vow. And with that promise she stood from the blanket, and with her eyes locked on Jacob's she moved towards him and Jacob towards her until the two best friends were once again wrapped in one another's arms.
"We should try all that again without being trapped," Bella whispered. "I need to spend a little time getting to know your earlobe."
"Yeah?" Jacob looked at her with his eyes all lit up like a little kid's on Christmas morning. He didn't know that an earlobe could be enticing to a girl, but he was totally willing to go with it.
"Yeah. I'll grab the blanket. Let's head back to the garage."
"Okay!" Jacob yelled as he swept Bella up off her feet and ran her over to the blanket.
Embry stood up so they could collect the blanket and after helping Bella shake off the dirt and fold it up, Jacob turned to his friend and shook his hand. Bella was wrapped in a big hug by Quil who was welcoming her to the family.
"Dude, if this had gone any other way, you'd have a couple bruises already from my fists. But this? Thank you," Jacob said quietly. "I don't know how you knew, but- Well, anyway, thanks." And with that Jacob shook Embry's hand again, turned and extricated Bella from Quil's grasp, and led her up the path away from the beach and towards his home.
"Bella said we'd get our food tomorrow," Quil said as he loped over to Embry.
"Don't forget you owe me garlic bread," Embry reminded his friend.
"No problem. Let's go play video games at my house before dinner." Quil really needed to beat somebody at something. It had been a weird afternoon. But his friends seemed happy and he was going to be getting delicious food cooked just for him (okay, and Embry, cooked by a hot girl (who happened to belong to Jake now). Still, all in all, Quil thought the day had gone pretty well despite the weirdness.
"Bella Black has a nice ring to it, don't you think?" Embry asked as they walked towards the house.
"Yeah, I guess. Whatever. We're 16. It's not like Jake is thinking about marriage," Quil joked.
Embry snorted.
"Dude, you need to spend some more time with my Grandpa. If you're going to keep doing this mystical crap, you ought to at least have the title to go with," Quil joked.
"Maybe another time. Right now, there is some Halo calling my name!" Embry said, sounding like a normal teenager again. They walked into the house, said hello to Quil's Mom, and grabbed food before heading over to the TV. Quil tossed his friend a game controller, prepared for battle, and totally kicked Embry's ass at video games.