Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight, Sesame Street or The Complete Life's Little Instruction Book.
Rule 791: Every so often watch Sesame Street.
The first time he caught her, it was purely accidental.
It was in that hazy in between of twilight and dawn when Jacob got off patrol. The absence of Seth joining his conscious informed him that the younger boy had slept in again and would need a wake-up call from his Alpha. Jacob wasn't too happy about it. He was already grumpy from the lack of sleep. He hated catching the late night/early morning patrols, but they had to be done. He stomped his way to the Clearwater house where he only grew more envious of Seth who probably in a deep slumber, snoring away.
Jacob had long abandoned the act of knocking when it came to the Clearwaters. Leah and Seth lived there on their own while their mother had decided to move in with her new husband, Charlie Swan. It was an unprecedented move seeing that she was an Elder of their tribe, but she reasoned that they no longer simply lived in an era of tradition alone. It was a time to allow in change lest they become backwards in their ways. Sue made it a point to glance at Jacob and his splintered off pack. At the meeting, he had smiled in appreciation. Sue was a strong-willed woman and rarely allowed anyone to get her down. His father once told him that all Clearwater women were like wild mustangs, never to be tamed.
"But Harry tamed her, didn't he?" Jacob had argued.
Billy gave him a crooked smile. There was a twinkle in his eye and a look on his face that made Jacob feel out of the loop.
"That's only because she let him, boy."
The more Jacob thought about it, he figured his father was right on the money about Clearwater girls being crazy. He had enough experience with his Beta. There was never a time when she wasn't making a snarky comment, arguing with him or someone in the pack, or just being generally unpleasant. It wasn't as if it truly bothered him or the other boys anymore. They knew that that was the way Leah was. She told it how it was even if you would rather not hear it. Besides, it wasn't as if they didn't cajole her into snapping at them most of the time. It was like tugging on the tiger's tail until he finally bit you. It was an entertaining sport that helped passed the time sometimes. Of course, they would never tell her that. She would probably pitch a fit and kill them in slow, tortuous ways and then somehow blame it on vampires.
Jacob wasted no time in entering the house. The sooner he woke up Seth, the sooner he could go home and get some much needed sleep. He may be a supernatural, mythical creature, but he still needed to get some REM going. He stifled back a yawn as he scratched the back of his head. Seth was going to pay and by pay, Jacob was going to make sure he woke up very unpleasantly.
". . .sweepin' the clouds away, on my way. . ." the television sang cheerily. He blinked confusedly for a moment at the music until he realized it was coming from the living room. Indeed, the television was on and blaring Sesame Street of all things at that. Quietly, he padded towards the source to come to a standstill at the entrance into the room. The sight before his tired eyes didn't quite take his breath away as described in so many books and movies, but it did give him pause and left him speechless.
Leah Clearwater was curled up on the couch with a sky blue fleece blanket tucked around her. Her long, slender fingers clutched the fabric closer to her body. He knew from experience that she didn't need the blanket for warmth, but it was more for the novelty of it. Jacob himself had done used it a blanket for the same reason on more than one occasions. He could easily sleep without one, but it felt strange and somehow wrong to sleep sans it.
But it wasn't what Leah was doing that made him hesitant to interrupt her with the smartass remark that had long died on his tongue; it was the expression on her face. Perhaps it was his eyes playing tricks on him from exhaustion or even the gentle light of the television glowing back at her, but Jacob was almost positive that he features were softer somehow, more open. Her usually hooded eyes were riveted to the screen, watching as Big Bird and Telly Monster eagerly informed the viewers that the letter of the day was J.
"Hm, Telly, can you think of some words that start with J?"
"Jackass," Leah replied immediately although the usual venom was absent. It was more conversational as if she was serious in participating in the program. It was a side of Leah he hadn't seen since before such things as vampires and werewolves became a reality for them. It was a lighter Leah that hadn't been painfully touched by hands of misfortunate. Her glossy black hair fell in messy, jagged layers to her shoulders. It had steadily been growing longer since she joined his pack. He wasn't an ass like Sam. He didn't have the heart to make her cut it just because it was a hazard in wolf form. If she wanted to cut it, it would be her decision.
No, it was here in the between that Jacob Black first realized that Leah was beautiful.
It hit him like a ton of bricks. He remembered growing up thinking that she was pretty cute, hot even, but she had always been a few years old and at the time, Sam's girlfriend. By the time she was available (in the dating sense since she was definitely still not available emotionally), he had his hands full with Bella and now Renesemee. The thought of his imprint made him smile a familiar goofy grin, but it was distracted when Leah's laughter rang through the air. It wasn't like his imprint's soft, tinkling like bells. No, Leah's laughter was strong and full and sincere. There was no holding back in her laughter, and he found that he really enjoyed hearing it.
For a moment, Jacob glanced to the staircase where he knew that Seth was still sleeping peacefully before looking back to Leah and the Sesame Street crew. Maybe later he would realize that his decision had already been decided long before he contemplated waking up Seth for his patrol. Instead, he decided to make his presence known by barreling into the room and plopping himself decidedly on Leah's legs.
The she-wolf let out a loud oomph at the impact before throwing him a glare for interrupting her. Jacob grinned. He may have thought she was beautiful before in her sweetness and gentleness of the moment, but he decided that while that Leah was indeed beautiful, nothing quite matched the way her she seemed to light up when angered. There was a fiery spark there that he could almost say was breathtaking.
"What the hell do you think you're doing, O Mighty Alpha?" she sneered at him, all traces of the carefree Leah gone from her features.
Jacob just gave her a little shrug and another lopsided grin. "I was just in the neighborhood and I wanted to see if my old buddy Ernie still had that rubber ducky of his."
Leah glowered at him, but he could already tell that she was deciding her options. Throwing him out and causing a ruckus would be too much effort and further interrupt her viewing. It was like he could see the wheels turning in her Beta brain which he had often seen in their wolf forms. Begrudgingly, she tugged the blanket closer to her and snapped, "Fine, but none of this you talking to me thing. It's too early to deal with dumbassery."
"Sure, sure," he said easily, but she had already turned back to the screen.
Jacob could try to argue that the second and maybe even the third time of their joint Sesame Street watching was accidental, but they both knew it was a lie. After the first time, Seth had apologized profusely for sleeping in during his patrol and had been on time about it ever since. Jacob had no reason to come to the house that early in the morning except for simply wanting to sit down and watch the children's show with her. Leah had grumbled about it at first, but once she realized that her bitching was futile and Jacob was still going to come anyway, she decided to just enjoy her mornings best as she could.
They continued this little get-together until it became routine. Neither of them mentioned it. Jacob showed up in the early hours of the morning and Leah would have two bowls of cereal for them to eat his with milk, hers without. She enjoyed eating her cereal dry for some strange reason that Jacob hadn't quite figured out yet, but if it kept her in a better mood he thought why not.
Sometimes there would even be conversation between them. She would insult him mercilessly and he would match her evenly. They fit well together whether they realized it or not. Even they did, it was doubtful either party would admit to it. There were too many complications. She had excess baggage; he had an imprint. Leah could explain easily to him that she was long over Sam, but she might take a chance to trust him. Jacob could easily try to explain to her that his love for Nessie was only that of a big brother. It was the only thing she wanted from him and that wasn't going to change when she grew up. The half-breed wanted her own chance and choice at love, and Jacob understood that. It was just easier to keep things at surface level and what was easier than Sesame Street?
But most of the time, they sat in companionable silence. Over the course of their little viewing parties together, they grew more comfortable. A leg thrown over his lap here, an arm thrown over her shoulder there. Leah even went as far as to share her blanket with him. In that in between, they were almost like a couple, but as soon as the program was over they resumed their typical roles.
It wasn't until the 256th time (but who's really keeping count?) that Seth, Embry and Quil stumbled upon their Alpha and Beta. It was ten o' clock in the morning and the boys were on the search for breakfast. They burst into the door in what had long been dubbed the 'Jake entrance' and were surprised to find the pair on the couch still. Another children's program was airing on the television, but neither Jacob nor Leah were watching.
Instead, he was lying on his back on the couch with Leah curled up like a kitten in his arms. He held her tightly against his broad chest as if trying to protect her. Their legs were tangled together comfortably. The blanket laid haphazardly on them, falling off more than covering.
The trio took in this sight for a few silent moments which was to say possibly the longest they had ever been silent. They weren't surprised at the coupling, but more that they were actually displaying it. Quil thoughtfully gave the two slumbering wolves an appraising look before turning to his packmates.
"Fifty bucks they realize their feelings within the week," he announced confidently.
"Oh, please. These two have some of the thickest skulls around. I say it'll take another month. They're going to do the whole 'do I-don't I' dance first," Embry snorted.
"Well, if we're going to make bets, we might as well include the Cullens. It's not like they have anything better to do."
This surprisingly came from Seth. The two older boys looked at him with raised brows.
"You're not freaking out over this, dude?"
Seth only shrugged his shoulders before making his way back out the door. "She could do worse than Jacob Black. As long as they keep their couple grossness out of my sight then I think I'm okay."
Embry and Quil nodded in understanding before following suit. They didn't want to be around when Jacob and Leah woke up. No one needed to bet money to know that the outcome would be nuclear and awkward.
For now anyway, they could simply enjoy the little pleasure of being together in their own in between of dreaming and consciousness. At least, they could admit what they can't admit awake.
Jacob and Leah were completely and totally paws over muzzle for each other.
Author's Note: Yes, here I am starting another Blackwater story. This one is going to be a collection of oneshots, based around a different rule from The Complete Life's Little Instruction Book. I actually stumbled upon this great book from another author here on named Skylark Evanson who writes terrific Gwevin (Ben 10) stories, so I would like to thank her very much for leading me to this book. Some of the rules in this book are strange and even outdated, but so many of them have great Blackwater story potential. I would also like to say that the last line isn't my own original idea. I thought the idea was cute and I wanted to use it. I'm pretty sure I got it from either aadarshinah or Luci-Marlena. Both are amazing Blackwater writers, and you should definitely read their work. They actually inspired me to write more Blackwater stories. This is my effort to help the cause of Making the World a Better Place: Write Blackwater. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this first oneshot. The next should be up within the next week or so. Please review and tell me what you think!