Easy As Breathing
Chapter 3: Telling the Story
A/N: Once again, I'm not sure I like how this chapter turned out, but that's just how the cookie crumbles. I don't think it couldv'e happened any other way. Well, actually that was a big fat lie, I had all sorts of different ideas, but I couldn't really work the other ones. So here it is. Let me know what you think.
I dreamed of Bella. I saw her again, warm and laughing, talking to me on the beach, blushing and smiling. I saw her that time we went to the movies with Mike Newton, I saw her riding the motorcycle we had worked on together in the garage. I saw her pulling up to my house in her red truck, grinning at me through the window. I saw every beautiful memory I had shared with her, and as each one passed I reached more closure. The last memory wasn't a memory as much as a vision. It was Bella, cold and smelling acid sweet, tears of joy streaming down her face as she threw her arms around Edward and kissed his lips as pouring rain soaked her white, old-fashioned dress. Pain ripped through me again. Then Bella was warm again, the sun was shining on her light brown hair as it whipped into tangles behind her. She was kissing me now, but she wasn't Bella anymore. She was Alaina, and we were kissing each other on this very beach, only the clouds were gone and the waves were brilliant blue instead of wild gray. Then her voice drifted toward me in the dream, saying my name.
"Jacob… Jacob! JACOB!" She was screaming it now; I wondered what was wrong. "Wake up!" I suddenly realized that she was actually talking to me in real life and I should probably wake up. I was exhausted and starving! I couldn't exactly run off and kill a squirrel in wolf form with Alaina around. Not right now. Plus, squirrel didn't sound that good. Dinner with Alaina sounded much better.
"Auugghh" I groaned, stretching. "What's up?" I yawned, raising both eyebrows again.
"Umm… I brought you some clothes, I thought you might want to wear some actual clothing." She set a pile of clothes next to me, then turned and covered both of her eyes, waiting for me to change.
"Thanks a lot" I muttered, then pulled on the jeans. They were pretty expensive, I wondered why she was spending so much money on me. She had also bought me some socks, white sneakers, a tee shirt and a light zip-up jacket. I pulled on all the clothes except for the jacket.
"Okay, you can look now" I said. This time I really was decent, I had actually covered all of me. I liked the feel of the shirt. It was plain green,and it was a nice fabric, kind of soft and airy. I would never be able to pay Alaina back for all this, even if I did retrieve my wallet somehow. Billy and I weren't exactly rich. I suddenly realized how stupid I was for not planning anything about my "escape." I could have at least slung my wallet around my neck or something. I wasn't thinking when I changed, obviously. That is usually the case when we change spur of the moment, it's brought on by anger and pain. Alaina turned, looked me over and nodded a little.
A/N: It seemed kind of weird for me to have Alaina spending so much money on a complete stranger, but the story wouldn't work out any other way, so I incorporated the money thing into the story anyway.
"Good, it all fits!" she smiled looking up at my face. "Now what?"
"Umm, I don't want to leech off you, but I'm really starving and I don't have any money, obviously. I will find a way to pay you back though, trust me. Lets go out to dinner, just you and me." Man, I was going to have to figure out a way to keep my stupid mouth shut, I was going to scare Alaina off if I kept flirting so shamelessly.
"I was hoping you would say something like that!" she beamed again "I told my people that I needed some alone time and I was going to head to the boardwalk for a solitary supper and they shouldn't expect me back until dark. It's only 4:00 now, so we should beat the rush and still have time to hang out by the water!"
"Sounds great!" I replied, leaping for joy inside. She had to like me too! Why else would she be spending so much time and (cringe) money on me. Then again, she might just be a super nice girl; I didn't really know that much about her. One thing is for sure though; I wanted to learn more.
We walked out to the road, avoiding the cabin she was staying at so no one inside would see us and ask too many questions too soon. The boardwalk was only a short walk away, so we wouldn't have to borrow the car. We strolled down the road together. It was lined with green, healthy trees whose branches stretched to bathe as much of the road as possible in dappled green shadow. Hardly any cars were driving along the road, and the wind had died a little bit. We talked about our families. I could tell that Alaina was desperately curious about my story, but she didn't press me. I told her that I lived in La Push with my dad, Billy, and that I was really into cars and pretty much anything else with an engine. She told me that she was here on vacation with her brother, Toby, her sister, Angela, and their respective flames, Louise and Cody. She was seventeen and had just graduated from high school. This was the big celebration trip, funded by her dad, some rich corporate lawyer that she hardly ever saw. She was rich; that was why she didn't think twice about dishing out money. Her mother had died in a freak accident when she was very young, and her dad threw himself into work to forget about her.
A/N: I wanted to make it feel like Jacob and Alaina were made for each other. They have a lot in common, they can sort of help each other out with the pain and stuff, it works for them.
"I'm really sorry, Alaina. I know how it feels." I told her about my mom. I felt like I could talk to her about anything, we had so much in common. We reached the restaurant she wanted to go to, and I ate like a horse. She watched me plow through dish after dish after dish. We didn't talk. I was too hungry to talk and she was too busy watching me to say anything. Sometimes she would burst out laughing at my enthusiasm. Once, I cut myself on my knife. It healed within seconds, and it wasn't a shallow cut either. She did her raising an eyebrow thing, which was a huge relief to me. She wasn't going to ask questions now. I figured she already knew there was something fishy about me. She also didn't freak out at the sight of blood, which I kind of appreciated. Sometimes Bella's blood thing could be a pain in the butt.
A/N: I got to the point where I realized that Jacob would probably get to the point where he would stop caring what Alaina saw and just accept the fact that he was going to have to tell her the whole story.
Finally, I felt satisfied. I pushed my food away, and we started talking again.
"Okay," she said, "I think I have been pretty patient. Start at the beginning, because not only is this situation not normal, but this…" she reached across the table and grabbed my hand, flipping it over to look at the spot where there should have been a scar "isn't normal either. There is a lot more to you than meets the eye. Spill." Her stern face was really adorable. I knew I was going to have to tell her the whole story tonight or my chance to be with her might pass altogether.
A/N: Alaina is so awesome. She can just hang out with Jacob without questioning him, but there comes a point when even the most patient people can't stand it anymore and say something.
"Let's walk." I said, getting up. Alaina paid the bill (a horrendous amount, due to my appetite. I felt really bad about the money thing) and we walked out the door. We walked to the beach behind the restaurant. It was nearly as long as the beach behind the motel. As soon as we got out of hearing distance of any curious restaurant waiter, she turned and looked me right in the eye. And did the eyebrow thing. I sighed, and told her the whole story.
I started by telling her about my tribe and our legends and customs; especially the legends. I went on to tell about Bella and Sam and the pack, Edward, the vampires. I pretty much worked through my life ever since I first talked to Bella on the beach. I didn't leave anything out and the story took a good three hours. I finally ended with the wedding invitation and how I was running. Alaina just listened. It was dark when I finished and we had walked ourselves up and down the beach several times before finally going back up to the road. We were silent for a while as she worked my story through her head. Every once in a while she would comment or ask a question out of the blue. She grabbed my hand again to feel my body temperature. We had almost reached the motel and I was feeling really nervous. Did she believe me or not? Did she think I was a monster? The whole thing was way too close to the time Bella first figured out what I was. I was once again afraid of what would happen if this perfect person that I loved so much rejected me because of what I was. I had told her about Sam and Emily. She knew what could happen if I lost control around her. She also knew about imprinting, but I didn't tell her that I had imprinted on her. I thought that might be a little too much for one night. Finally we reached the motel.
A/N: This is a really weird part of the story for me. I wanted to move along with the story, not have Alaina and Jacob just hang out for days until they get comfortable enough around each other to tell their stories. So, I know it seems a little weird for them to know each other for only a day and already they are eating out and she knows his deepest darkest secrets and all about his old "girlfriend." But I guess sometimes stories have to move kind of fast or else they get boring.
"I'll buy you a room." She said. "Meet me at the beach at nine tomorrow morning. I believe you. Have a good night." Then she went into the motel's office. It was too short of an answer, too short of a statement for me to be sure she was okay with the fact that I was dangerous. I didn't know if she liked me enough to give me another chance. I must have looked really discouraged and dejected; because when she came back she smiled, took my hand and squeezed it. Then she gave me my key, turned and walked to her cabin.
A/N: Alaina is a sweet girl, but even she wouldn't just accept a werewolf right off the bat without thinking about it first. It's kind of a big thing. At least Bella had come to accept that monsters are real with Edward before she had Jacob dumped on her, so it wasn't so hard to believe, but with Alaina... it's a lot different. I debated with having Alaina have a"dirty little secret" too that would make it easier for her to understand Jacob, but Alaina's too normal for that.
I walked to my cabin too, thoughts swirling in my head. I tried to fall asleep, but I couldn't. I was too filled with human thoughts. I changed into a wolf, and then curled up on my bed. Sometime in the early morning the voices of the pack came again. I let them flood my head for a while, sharing my story with them. Then I changed back into a human, showered and prepared to meet Alaina.
A/N: Maybe your thoughts don't get easier to manage when you are wolf, but I like to think that maybe they are easier to bear, easier to turn off. There's still the whole pack thing though. I don't know if Jacob is going to be able to face his pack or his dad or Forks again or not. Anyway, enough with my annoying comments. I hope you liked this chapter and I hope they don't keep getting progressively worse. I honestly have no idea where I am going with this story, so if it seems a little choppy that's why. Review! Please!
