A/N: Hey guys! I'm glad to be back and tell you that I have a posting schedule! I'll be posting at least every Thursday until school starts up again. I'll have to change it then, but for now at least we have set days. And I got some reviews am PMs that made me check up on a few things about Alice and I tweaked that last end of the last chapter a bit, so for any of you that read it before I did that, I would suggest going and rereading it now. Enjoy the second chapter of Until You're Mine!
Disclaimer: Twilight isn't mine? Damn.
Bella sighed woefully, almost at the end of her rope. When her phone finally stopped its blasted chirping, she glanced at her alarm clock. It was only eleven o'clock on a Sunday and Jacob had already called three times. Yesterday, the day after their God awful date, he'd called four times. After chewing Alice out for giving him her number (though feeling guilty afterwards), she'd mustered up enough courage to call him back.
Of course, the bastard hadn't picked up. So much for trying to be a good person.
Now she was just avoiding his calls because… well, it was for many reasons. But the biggest one was that she just really, really didn't want to have anything more to do with his egotistical, self absorbed, annoying self.
She was just really done with men for awhile, actually.
Unfortunately, Alice wasn't okay with that.
Bella had been sitting, completely relaxed, munching on her oatmeal at eight o'clock. At first, she didn't look up at the quiet scrape of the chair across from her. She already knew who it was, since that someone had pestered her to talk to her dad about her so-called date last night. But after five minutes of the somewhat unnerving sound of only her chomping on her breakfast, she had given in.
"I'm not going out with him again." Bella had grumbled, disappointed in herself for talking first. She was always the one to give in with Alice and it made her angry. But she still loved the little midget.
"Bella, I would never make you go out with him again! Would you just listen to me for a second?" Alice pleaded for what must've been the millionth time. "Can I try to find you someone else? Maybe a baseball player this time? It'll come with a full background check."
"You've talked about this way too much within the past 24 hours." Bella sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose between her thumb and forefinger. She could feel a headache forming behind her eyes and groped for an excuse to leave the kitchen.
"I'm surprised you haven't given in yet." Alice threw in, shrugging her shoulders. She then crossed her arms as a pout grew upon her face. "No one can usually resist me for this long." Bella laughed out loud despite her annoyance.
"Alice, you're incorrigible." She said, then scooped more oatmeal into her mouth.
The door bell rang and Alice leapt excitedly from her chair. "Jazz is here!" She sang, as if the whole house needed to be alerted to his presence. Her head whipped back around to look at Bella, the smile wiped from her face and replaced by a cutting expression."This isn't over." She then proceeded to prance from the room at another resounding ring.
Bella quickly retreated to her room, slightly concerned about Alice's mood swings, knowing that the pair downstairs would be sickeningly lovey dovey. She flopped onto her bed gracelessly, managing to stub her toe on the side of bed in the process. She groaned and rubbed her toe, wondering how she had possibly managed to stay upright in heels a couple of nights ago. It certainly wasn't due to any of the, ahem, help that Mr. Black had offered her.
Thinking of her disastrous date only made thoughts of himpop into her head.
His copper hair.
His toned arms.
His chiseled jaw.
His velvety voice.
His deep chuckle.
His gorgeous eyes.
His golden eyes.
His eyes.
Bella's heart fluttered erratically. She cursed herself for letting her mind wander this way. For all she knew, he could be some psychopathic serial killer who scoped out his next victim by seeing what their favorite drink was. This, of course, was a ridiculous thought, but you never really knew. Eighteen years of living with the Seattle Chief of Police had taught her that.
But honestly, who would bother killing someone who preferred more water than scotch in their drink? A boring person, that's who. She herself would go for someone who enjoyed ingesting dry margaritas.
She hummed, breathing out and dismissing her notions. She glanced at her clock, glared at it when she saw it was almost nine, then slowly gathered a towel and the clothes she was going to wear for the day. Neither the shower nor the clothes were technically a necessity, since all she would be doing was homework and studying for her classes, but staying in pajamas all day annoyed her. Angela thought she was crazy, since she lived in the same pair of pajamas for her weekend of studying.
The poor girl didn't have much of a social life. She would really need to talk to Alice about that. It would also get Alice to focus on something besides her love life.
The heat of the languorous water running down her back was heaven, relaxing her tensed muscles and returning some much needed energy to her. Bella would never truly admit it, to herself or others, but she wasn't the most confident person on the planet, to say the least. Between eating glue in kindergarten and chewing her hair in high school, there had been no time for her to develop. In any way. These last few years of college had been magical, finally transforming her into a physically and emotionally attractive woman. Tooattractive, if Bella or her father could have any say in it. She was perfectly happy being the one in the background or the designated driver for the night.
As Bella was sudsing up her hair, there was a loud rap across the bathroom door. "Bella, there's someone here for you." Angela's voice sounded sympathetic and scared at the same time.
"Three guesses as to who it is." She grumbled to herself. "I'm a little busy here Angela!" She shouted, hoping that the fact that she was legitimately in the shower would get whoever was here to come back later. Or never.
"Bella, if you don't get your butt out here right now I will have Rosalie come in there and drag you out!" Alice's hiss wasn't quite audible over the pounding of the water, but Bella heard the threat in it. She shut off the shower head hurriedly, toweling herself off and throwing on her clothes. They weren't very attractive. Maybe they would drive him away. This was her best chance.
She burst from the bathroom door and moved past Angela and Alice. A tiny hand wrapped around her wrist, trapping her. "You are not going down there like that. C'mere." Bella attempted to protest, but Alice quickly pushed her down on the toilet, gathering a hairdryer, straightener, and makeup from the various drawers about the bathroom.
"Alice, if he doesn't accept me like this, there's no point in dating him." Bella tried to weasel her way off of the toilet lid, but Alice could hold her own and, seeing as Bella only had about two inches on her and little willpower when it came to her demented pixie of a best friend, she was forced to stay.
"He can learn to accept you in all of your uncaring glory later, right now you need to impress." She said with a flourish of her hands, black tooth comb and Alice sized hairdryer in hand. Personally, Bella would rather climb into a pit of angry scorpions than attempt to impress anyone in the remote vicinity of Jacob Black, but there was simply no arguing with Alice and her arsenal of persuasive ways. Bella was a little confused too, as she thought that they had established that Jacob was never going anywhere alone with her again.
"Should we really make him wait?" Angela asked meekly.
"Thank you, Angela. At least there's one other person in this house that has some sense."
Alice spoke as if Bella hadn't said anything. "Angela, this will take me ten, fifteen minutes tops. Just stall the man." She commanded. Angela was gone with a turn and a shuffle of her feet, leaving Bella undefended to Alice's whims.
After twenty minutes of poking and prodding, Alice was done. "I guess the clothes are fine, just make sure that you don't slump. You're already short enough." Bella pinched the bridge of her nose between her hands, counted to ten and followed Alice out of the bathroom, slumping her shoulders while she was at it. She clomped down the stairs, making her step sound as unattractive as possible, if that was even a thing.
When she reached the bottom of the staircase, she really wished she hadn't, because there, sitting in the chair she had been occupying about an hour ago, was the guy she had fallen asleep fantasizing about.
"Told ya you'd want to look nice." Alice whispered into Bella's ear as she pranced into the room to embrace Jasper's side. Bella would've glared at her or thrown something only somewhat soft, but she was a little occupied with staring at the fallen angel sitting in front of her. Now that she wasn't looking around frantically for her date or under the influence of alcohol, he only looked more stunning. She was kicking herself mentally for leaving early from the bar while she closed her mouth. Wouldn't want to catch any flies.
"Hello. Isabella, isn't it?" The man with the golden eyes asked. His mouth pulled up in a crooked smile and his stare made her legs turn to jello. She leaned against the wall in what she thought was a casual way. Really, it just made her look exactly how she felt.
Intoxicated.
It took Bella a few moments to find her voice. "Um, yes. Yeah." She shook her head and now curled hair. "Sorry, yes it is. Most of my friends call me Bella though."
He chuckled. And it made him more attractive. Bella wanted to whack her head or pinch herself to make sure she wasn't delusional. "Nice to hear that you consider me as a friend." His smile grew to include his whole mouth. She wondered how soft those lips would feel against hers. Or how his slight stubble would rub roughly against her cheek. Or how his long fingers would run through her hair.
Man, she really needed to screw her head on straight.
He reached around to his back pocket, pulling out something that looked very familiar to her. "You left this sitting on my bar Friday night. Seemed as if you were in a hurry to get out of there." He crooked his head, examining her in a way that made her whole body flare with heat. He stood to hand her the wallet, their fingers brushing as it was exchanged. She was hoping that she wasn't the only one who felt her skin tingling as he pulled his arm away.
"Yeah, you can thank a self-absorbed football player for that one." The phrase popped out of her mouth before she could stop it. She heard Alice huff in annoyance, but was distracted by the full belly laughter of her bartender.
"Most of them are." He commented when he stopped laughing.
"I resent that." Jasper said as he crooked an eyebrow.
"Oh, come cousin, I'm only playing with you." He said, clapping Jasper on the back. Jasper just shrugged him off playfully, rolling his eyes.
"You're related?" Bella asked.
"Unfortunately." Jasper ground out.
"He's just saying that because I'm the oldest and had all of the control when we were younger." He grinned widely.
"Yes, Edward, but who's the bigger one now?" Jasper moved quickly away from Alice and pulled Edward into a headlock, ruffling his hair under an open palm. Alice's high pitched giggle filled the room and Bella just looked on in amusement. Her heart soared to know that she had found a connection to this handsome stranger. She would have an excuse to see him again.
"Mercy! Mercy!" Edward shouted, laughter filling his voice. Jasper released him with one last playful shove, sending him a few feet backwards. Unfortunately-or fortunately, however someone wanted to view it-the headlock Jasper had pulled him into had only managed to make his eyes twinkle with happiness and his hair look even more sexy. Hey, the more the merrier right? Or did that phrase only apply to people?
"Thank you, for returning this." Bella clasped the wallet between her fingers then tucked it into the back pocket of her skinny jeans. "Would you, um, like to stay for breakfast?" He didn't need to know that she had already eaten. And it couldn't hurt to demonstrate her French toast making skills for him, right?
"I actually have to run. That's why I had to drop the wallet off so early. Work, and lots of it." Bella tried her best not to look crestfallen. For once, her acting worked. "It was… really nice meeting you Bella." His eyes flicked around her face, as if he was trying to memorize it. Alice bounced in place as she saw this, garnering hope that this could finally be a guy for Bella. "And Jazz, we should get together soon. Catch up." He said as he walked into the hallway leading to the front door.
"You said that last time we saw each other." Jasper said wryly.
"But I just happen to mean it this time!" Edward called over his shoulder before the front door slammed behind him.
As soon as Bella took a look at Alice she could see the wheels turning in her head. "You're scheming." She said accusatorily.
"So what if I am? That one's" She pointed at Jasper. "teammate is most certainly no go, and you need a guy. You're 21 and you haven't even had sex yet!"
Bella flushed and covered her face with her hands. "Really, Alice, really? In front of Jasper?"
"Oh, it's not like he didn't already know." She said with a flick of her hands, as if it should have been obvious.
"Alice!" Bella shouted incredulously. Neither of the women noticed Jasper inching quietly towards the stairs.
"You know I have no filter, Bella! And he's the only one I've told, I promise." Her big brown eyes became pleading. "And Edward is great, isn't he? And we'd be real family, wouldn't that be amazing?"
"Alice, I barely even know the man! And it's not like you and Jasper are even engaged!" Bella knew she really shouldn't have been surprised at this point, but she just couldn't help herself. Jasper was now halfway to the staircase.
"But you could get to know him, couldn't you?" Her voice was soft now. Bella knew that Alice just wanted her to be happy and, personally, Bella wouldn't have minded getting to know Edward in any way, shape, or form, but she was currently busy trying to prove a point. "Jasper, you better just be going upstairs and not leaving this house!" Alice shouted without looking away from Bella.
"Just going upstairs, dear." Jasper said with wry amusement.
"You like him, I can tell." Alice positioned her tiny fists on her hips, determined.
Bella opened her mouth, then closed it. Then opened it again. No excuse or logical argument would come to her mind. Finally, closing her mouth, she groaned. "Just invite him over for dinner or something." Alice shrieked in excitement and hugged Bella around the waist, standing only a few inches shorter than her.
"This is going to be great!" She was gone with another joyful yell and the pitter patter of tiny feet up the stairs. Bella sighed with defeated exasperation.
"What is the elf up to now?" Rosalie asked, yawning, as she padded into the room and sleepily opened the fridge. Rosalie was always a good person to see after experiencing Alice's over the top personality. Her subdued manner always worked to calm Bella.
"Late night?" Bella asked, noticing the makeup still on Rose's face and the stray bobby pins littering her curled hair.
"Yeah. But I didn't want to stay at his place."
"How have you not gotten an STD yet?" Bella asked seriously, not judging at all.
"Apparently my parents' genes came with a fantastic combination of luck and smarts. I have never forgotten a condom." She said with a mouthful of cereal.
Bella just shook her head. "Do you want to study for our philosophy test on Tuesday?"
"No I was thinking I would just write "Why not?" on my test and call it a day." Rosalie muttered sarcastically.
"I'll be ready at two." Bella said tiredly as the doorbell rang. She perked up, hoping that Edward would magically show up because he forgot something or, you know, wanted to see her. She smoothed her hair and casually (or what she thought was casually) walked to the door.
What she saw when she opened the door was not in the category of what she had wanted. Instead of receiving sexy, mussed copper hair and golden eyes, she got rumpled, dark brown hair with flat eyes of the same shade. She couldn't help the frown that formed on her face. Not that the asshat in front of her noticed. "Hello, Jacob. How can I help you on this fine, sunny Sunday?"
The hostility in her voice went right over his head and shot down to Oregon, where it could probably be appreciated by finer people than him. "Well, I think Jasper's girl gave me the wrong number because you haven't returned any of my calls. So, I thought I would drop by and ask about our next date." His smile was supposed to be winning, but for all Bella cared he was down by ten with two minutes left in the fourth quarter.
She would really just have to be straight and to the point. Too bad that wasn't her specialty. "Jacob, I'm pretty busy with school and… things. I don't think that another date is going to be possible for awhile."
"That's cool. I have a few scrimmage games and practices too, since the preseason is kicking off soon. Why don't I call you when I'm free?"
"Well, I mean, I'm going to be pretty busy. This year is my final before I have to start applying for Grad schools, so I really have to buckle down. That's why I'm taking summer courses." Her impatience was beginning to show in her voice.
"Aw, c'mon, you've gotta have time for one more date." He said in the douchiest way it could possibly come out.
"No, Jacob, I really don't. So if you could please leave." Bella snapped, glaring up at the man whose form engulfed the front doorway. It took a lot to push Bella to the edge and Jacob had gone and tossed her right off of it. His eyes hardened at her tone as he realized what she was saying.
"Are you saying… no?" His voice was hard. And, honestly, it scared her.
She swallowed thickly, heart suddenly pounding. "Yes. Yes, I am saying no. I don't want to go on another date with you, Jacob." At that, he took a sharp inhale of breath.
"Well, Bella, I don't take too kindly to rejection. A lot of men don't. You'd best remember that when you choose another man to stomp on."
Bella was appalled as much as she was fearful when he turned from her and walked down the pathway to his car.
A/N: Well, Bella has finally met her dreamy bartender, but it seems like she may have some trouble from our dearest Jacob in the future! If you enjoyed and want to send a review my way that would be really cool! I was really happy with the response form my first chapter, I honestly didn't expect more than two or three reviews, so thank you to everyone who reviewed last time! See you next Thursday!
