Chapter 3
Bella's POV
Seth and I entered the small house, greeted by the smell of fresh pancakes and the chatter of the boys. They were all gathered around the table apart from one- Paul Lahote. Just being in the same room as him made me slightly uncomfortable, but he certainly wasn't paying me any attention. Paul was sitting in a large arm chair across the other side of the room, head in hands and a deep frown etched across his face.
Seth followed my eye line and nodded in understanding. "Paul is having some… imprinting issues." He murmured.
I raised my eyebrows. "Paul? Imprinting?" I asked sceptically.
"That was all of our reactions."
Paul emitted a small growl, clearly picking up on the topic of our conversation, and Seth rolled his eyes and steered me away to the kitchen table.
"Morning Bella." Emily addressed me with a sullen smile to which I returned.
I wondered if Seth had told the pack about the imprint yet. I guessed that he hadn't, judging by the fact that Quil hadn't made a stupid comment yet. Maybe he didn't want to burden the pack with any more information, or put any pressure on me. Or maybe he was embarrassed. The thought made my stomach churn. I had always been called the 'leech lover', hadn't I? Seth wouldn't want his pack mates knowing that he had the blood sucker's sloppy seconds for an imprint, would he? I winced.
"What's giving you a brain haemorrhage, Bella?" Embry asked, and I attempted to smooth out my features. Seth shot me a concerned glance and briefly brushed his hand over mine, as if picking up on my thoughts.
The rest of the pack had now looked up from their food and were staring at me, too. I groaned internally. My eyes darted around the table and I noticed that Jacob wasn't present in the room. Funny that I hadn't picked up on that earlier.
"Nothing. Just thinking." Was my lame reply.
Embry shrugged. "If you're wondering where Jacob is, Sam's making him take Leah's patrol. Should get here within the hour."
"Are you hungry, Bella?" Emily asked before I could reply, a plate stacked with pancakes in her hands.
"No, I'm good. Thanks." I hadn't had an appetite for as long as I could remember. I was aware that I was unhealthily thin, and whatever curves or muscles I had were slowly wasting away. Everything seemed to taste like cardboard in my mouth.
"Did you eat already?" Seth asked, and I looked at him in surprise.
"Um, no. I'm just not hungry." Being the terrible actress I am, I didn't bother trying to lie. Something told me that Seth would see straight through me anyway.
"You barely ate anything yesterday, either." He complained. "You're gonna become anorexic if you're not careful."
I frowned at him. "I can take care of myself."
Seth smiled doubtfully and shrugged. "Okay."
I pushed back in my chair so I could face him, and crossed my arms. "I can."
"Then eat."
"No." I said incredulously.
Seth sighed while some of the other boys snickered. I was far too stubborn to be easy and just shove some food into my mouth, especially now. So I decided to just wait until Jacob arrived- I really needed to talk to him. I didn't want to keep anything from him, and I would so much rather the news came from me, rather than Seth slipping up whilst phased.
I had to wait around 40 minutes for Jacob to arrive. He walked inside looking both physically and emotionally drained. When he spotted me, Jacob instantly came over and wrapped me in his too-hot arms, as if he was relieved that I hadn't gone back to the cliffs knowing that he wouldn't be free to save me this time.
"Can we take a walk?" I whispered to him, knowing full well that the rest of the boys could still hear me, including Seth.
Jacob nodded and took my hand without a second thought, and I could feel Seth's eyes on my back as we walked out together.
"So, what's on your mind?" He asked eventually, and I assumed that meant we were out of earshot.
I sighed and ran my fingers through my hair. I had no clue how to start. "Remember when you told me about imprinting?"
"They told you about Paul, huh?"
"Not just that." I gnawed on my bottom lip, unsure of how to continue.
"Spit it out, Bella. You know I won't judge."
I searched his face, not entirely sure what I was looking for.
"Seth imprinted on me." I said the words so fast that they sounded like a jumbled blur to me, but he clearly understood them.
Jacob was silent for long enough that I started to worry. "Please say something."
He clenched and unclenched his hands repeatedly, and I noticed him start to shake lightly. "And you're 100% sure of that?" His voice was too calm.
"Yes?" I replied warily.
"I knew something like this would happen eventually." Jacob muttered, as though he was talking to himself. "Things were going too well. We were so close to catching the leech, and it was slow, but I knew that you were coming around. The life was starting to enter your eyes again. It was inevitable that something would eventually mess shit up and take you away from me. I just thought it was those stupid cliffs."
"Jacob!" I exclaimed. "Seth won't take me away from you! Nothing will." I said firmly. It was true. Even if I wanted to get rid of Jacob, our history made it somewhat impossible.
He let out a frustrated growl. "And in this situation, you're Sam, I'm Leah, and Seth is Emily."
"This is different and you know it."
Jake sighed and placed his shaking hands on either sides of my face. "You don't get it, Bella. You're always going on about using me- it could easily be the other way around. You're the one thing that keeps me human, you're the one thing that I don't have to share. My human form, my thoughts, my life… now it's you too."
I shook my head. "You seem to forget that I'm actually my own person. You're my best friend, Jacob Black. I owe you my life, and possibly my sanity, too. It's going to take more than an imprint to keep me away from you."
He smiled sadly. "You know the story, right? Leah and Sam dated for almost three years. Sam simply looks at her cousin, and that's all it takes for him to break it off with the girl he thought would be the one."
I rolled my eyes. "Have a little faith. I'm not Sam."
Jake snorted. "You most definitely are not."
We smiled at each other for a while.
"At least you didn't explode." I said lightly.
This time it was his turn to roll his eyes. "Have a little faith. I'm not Sam."
"Ouch." I laughed and shook my head at him disapprovingly. "Just promise me you'll cut Seth some slack. He certainly didn't ask for this."
"As long as he knows that he's the luckiest guy around, I'll leave him alone."
I blushed and gave him a shove. "You're so cheesy it makes me wanna vomit."
Jake cringed away from me jokingly. "I have to get back. My dad will want me back to help with the funeral plans."
I sighed and nodded. "See you soon."
"Soon." He promised, and turned away.
Before he got too far, I called out to him. "Love you, Jake."
He twisted his head back to face me. "Really?" He asked with a smile.
"Yeah." I replied, smiling back at him.
"Good. Because I love you too, and I don't care where that imprint lands Seth, I'll always be your best friend."
"Damn straight!"
A/N: Short one, and long overdue. Please let me know if you enjoyed- should I bother with another chapter about Paul and Taylor?
