Jake
I slunk along the edge of the tree line, staying downwind of the house so the Cullens wouldn't smell me. Months of running had made my steps silent. Slipping between trees and the shadows I headed toward the house. Remembering Cullen's weird mind-reading mojo I forced my thoughts to focus on inane things-baseball, fishing, the crunch of vampire bones beneath my teeth…
All right, so the vamp chomp probably wasn't the smartest thing I could have picked to concentrate on, but I was putting so much effort into staying unheard and unseen that I didn't have time to work on a plan B. I was calm(ish), so Jasper wouldn't pick anything up. Emmett wouldn't smell me, Dedward wouldn't be able to "hear" me, and even if he did all he'd hear was typical wolf nonsense. Nothing about my current fantasies of grabbing Bella and running like a bat out of hell. I was sure the hot blonde and the pixie would be with Bella, and Esme and Carlisle…well, neither one of them were going to do anything. I should have been good to go…
"Hello Jacob."
…Unless, of course, the little one saw me coming. How the hell had I forgotten about that? There was Alice, standing there with a huge smile on her face, her arm wrapped through Jasper's. The pose made them look like something out of GQ, except Jasper wasn't smiling. The weight of his vampire gaze inspired me to curl up and…gnaw his kneecaps off. Do you think Bella would take it personally if I ate her soon-to-be-brother-in-law on her wedding day? The arch of one single, golden eyebrow, the arrogance in those amber eyes looking down on me, all but begged me to try it, flickering shadows dancing off the trees nearly masking the slight tensing of muscles, the all but imperceptible shift of a body preparing to spring.
If he started the fight, would I still get in trouble for it? Probably. Would be worth it though, just for the sheer pleasure of ripping up that fancy tux. It probably cost more than I made in a year and, to me, represented everything that was wrong with this wedding. Well, except for the part where they were going to kill Bella.
How could they possibly appreciate what a beam of sunshine Bella was when they'd never known what it felt like to feel like your whole world was crumbling around you, only to look up and see her beautiful face? They didn't know Bella. They hadn't wanted to know Bella. Dedward didn't find any joy in her moments of recklessness, the times when she threw care to the wind and just dove in, feet first, grabbing life with both hands and finding pleasure in the simplest moments of it. Sure, he'd messed her up pretty good back in the days when I thought I still had a chance with her, but she was still there. She was still Bella. And now…
"You two are just impossible."
Alice, looking like nothing so much as a dainty fairy with dusky, sun-kissed wings fluttering in mad tendrils around her face, walked over and threw her arms around me. The sickly-sweet smell of vampire mixed with the cloying scent of whatever perfume she was wearing, crawled into my nose and down into my stomach, making it churn and bubble and reminding me that getting eaten by vampires wasn't the most embarrassing thing that could happen to me today. I could manage to hurl all over the bride while I was at it. That would definitely make an impression.
Blind panic flitted across Jasper's face. A micro-expression, lasting only a second, but long enough for me to see. He was worried about what I was going to do to the pixie? After what they were planning to do? Seriously? It would serve him right if I did bite her face off. Misery loves company, and all that.
"You're not going to eat me, Jacob, so quit trying to give Jasper a heart attack." Pulling back, her arms still resting on my shoulders, Alice danced happily. "Bella's going to be so happy you're here. This makes everything perfect."
Wait. She was happy to see me? What the hell? She must have known what I was thinking…no, I realized. She didn't have a clue, because she couldn't see the wolves, so she didn't know that she should be running me off the premises instead of beaming up at me like her long-lost best friend. But how had she known I was coming?
"I was worried for a minute when Bella's wedding just sort of disappeared." Taking her hands off of my shoulders, she wrapped her cold little fingers around my arm and started leading me toward the house. "Then Edward got all tense and said you were out in the woods. He would have come out to meet you himself but Renee wouldn't let him leave. So here we are! And look at you."
Stopping, Alice frowned.
"Who shows up to a wedding in nothing but those ratty old shorts? Really Jacob, I don't mind you crashing the festivities, but you should at least look the part. Well…" She started walking again. "…we'll just have to send Emmett downtown to pick up some suit pants in your size. And a shirt. And…"
She kept babbling, but my mind just sort of tuned her out along with the glower boring into my back from the blonde behind me. So, Bella's wedding disappeared? And Eddie was getting all tense about it? That suited me just fine. I still didn't have any clue what I was going to say or how I was going to say it to convince Bella that this was a bad idea-I'd already talked myself blue in the face-but if the little one thought I was only here to see my best friend get married my job just got a whole lot easier.