Second Oneshot: You Know I Hate You, Right?
Pairing: Jacob and Leah
Summary: "For the rest of the night, they are utterly and completely still."
They have fallen into sort of a routine: Leah gets him up in the wee hours of the morning, yanking off the blankets the bloodsuckers left out for them. (She refuses to use them, claiming "they smell like sugar-coated pits of hell.") Once up, Jacob grumbles for about half an hour as he gulps down the cornflakes Leah managed to filch from her mom's larder. Then they grudgingly agree that Seth is the sweetest (and the most annoying) werewolf probably ever when he insists on watching the house ("and Bella's baby," he adds earnestly). As no one in their right mind could ever hurt Seth, they figure it's safe to leave him as they set out for the north border.
On patrol they pick up their usual banter, made even more spirited by the fact it's taking place completely nonverbally. He teases her about the state of her fur, which is sticking up everywhere from the lack of a good bathing. He tries vainly to conceal the twinge of worry he feels when he realizes she hasn't transformed in days. When she catches wind of his thoughts she rolls her eyes at him and tells him to man up. He laughs at this and forgets, just for a moment, that Bella Swan is still waiting for him to come "be her sun."
They run, quick flitting shadows, through the forest, and splash through the river, sending gleaming droplets of water everywhere. Leah barks in joy, and as Jake looks at her, he sees that this is the real Leah. Sam's Leah. But that thought, for some reason, irritates him, and he tries to ignore the twinge of jealousy he feels for the older Alpha.
By evening, they've done the whole route, and they're both exhausted. She brings down the buck in a herd of deer, and he graciously settles for the largest doe. In the gentlest way possible, because she hates needing help, he slips into her mind, letting his wolf instincts take over both of them.
This is perhaps the most intimate thing either of them has ever experienced, and, truthfully, it makes them both uncomfortable. But, Jake realizes, there is something between them now that makes the sharing easier, and the only thing he can assign to it is that they've developed a sort of understanding. But when she looks up at him, eyes grateful, he wonders if maybe, just maybe, they are finally friends.
But today, unlike the other days, he doesn't really want to see Bella and her bloodsucker husband. Leah doesn't exactly object to staying away, because, frankly, she despises Bella and could use less of her anyway. Instead of heading back to the house, they go to the sea cliffs outside the pack's territory and gaze at the stars silently. They don't need to speak, because this scene is one that merits an incommunicable peace. They would never admit to each other, but this, this companionable ease, is worth more to them than an open friendship.
Eventually, Leah speaks.
"You know I hate you, right?"
Jake laughs. "Right."
For the rest of the night, they are utterly and completely still.
A/N: Personally, this is my favorite pairing in Twilight. I wish it had been explored a bit more in the books. Thanks for reading.
Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight.
Next Pairing: Bella and Embry