A/N: So this will probably be the shortest chapter of this story, and compared to what I usually try to write, it's very short. But the chapter sort of ended itself at about the 7 page mark, so I let it. Enjoy!
Disclaimer: The Twilight Series and all recognisable characters belong to Stephanie Meyer. No money is being made and no copyright infringement is intended. Only this rather lame plot is mine.
Chapter Two
Edward stared at his mate, unable to tear his eyes away from the sight of the boy. He caught himself studying every little thing about him, from the perfect dark tone of his skin to the way the sunlight hit his raven hair.
"Hey, hey I'm talking to you… Hello?"
Edward shook himself out of his thoughts and realised his mate was talking to him. "I'm sorry, what?" he asked.
The boy raised an eyebrow. "You're the one who found me. What do you want?"
"Oh… right, well," Edward floundered, "Well I was just wondering what you were doing in the trash."
The boy blushed and Edward thought that it was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen. His skin took on a beautiful rosy glow, and just the smell of his blood was enough to entice Edward to press him against the walls and tuck his head into the boy's neck. Edward had to clench his hands together to stop himself from doing just that.
"I was looking for spare parts," the boy muttered.
"There are plenty of spare parts in the shop," Edward pointed out.
"Yeah, overpriced ones," he muttered. Ones I can't afford, the boy thought.
"What's your name?" Edward blurted out, unable to contain himself.
The boy stiffened and eyed Edward cautiously. "Why do you want to know?"
Edward shrugged, "I'm new here. Today's my first day and you look to be about my age, I just wanted to know your age."
"I'm Jacob Black, and I don't think you're my age." Edward could barely respond, so thrilled he was that he had his mate's name: Jacob. Edward was sure it was the best name ever.
He inwardly winced at how corny and cliché he sounded, but he couldn't bring himself to care. His mate was finally here. He had waited for him for a hundred years. He patiently sat through his siblings' opulent and frequent weddings, and his parent's simpler ones. He was never (that) bitter when he heard them exchange loving words late at night whilst he sat alone in his room, reading. And now his time was finally here.
"I'm Edward Cullen . Do you live in Forks?" Edward knew the answer already, he knew more about Jacob than Jacob probably knew himself. But, of course, Jacob didn't know that.
"No, the La Push Reservation about twenty minutes away."
"And you came here to…"
"Raid the trash. Yep, got a problem with that?" Jacob's eyes flashed, and Edward got the feeling that Jacob was used to having to defend himself. That was confirmed when he caught images of older boys teasing him good-naturedly, and Jacob tackling one of them for making fun of him.
"No, not at all," Edward said. "What are you going to do with that?" He nodded towards the gas tank that Jacob still had clutched in his hands.
"I'm going to fix it up, then maybe put it in a car."
"You rebuild cars?"
"When I don't have to do homework," Jacob joked. He was starting to lighten up around Edward, and when Jacob smiled and laughed, Edward swore his brain short-wired for a moment.
"Where do you go to school?"
"The Rez has its own school. I go there."
"That's too bad, it would have been nice to go to school together."
"I don't think you're in 8th grade like me," Jacob said, wryly.
"No, I'm in 9th," Edward said, mentally calculating how old his mate could possible be. Too young, that was for sure.
8th grade… that made Jacob only about thirteen or fourteen years old. Far too young to be able to handle being a vampire's mate and even far too young for a serious relationship with any kind of substance. Edward knew he'd have to start off slow. He'd have to get Jacob to trust him and become his friend – so long as Jacob was in his life, he could handle waiting years to mate with him. Being with him was enough.
"Do you want to hang out sometime?" Edward asked.
"Um, sure. I guess."
"Since I'm new I need someone to show me around the town."
"There really isn't much here, it is only Forks."
"But still. Will you show me around Forks?" Edward knew Jacob would say yes. Jacob thought he was cute – a fact that made Edward want to leap for joy, which was a feeling he'd never had before – and Jacob wanted to spend more time with him as well.
"Sure. Wanna do it tomorrow?"
"Yes," Edward said immediately. His enthusiasm caught Jacob off guard, but their conversation was stopped when Carlisle turned the corner.
"Edward? Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't know you were busy."
"It's fine, Ca- Dad. Um, this is Jacob, Jacob, this is my dad, Carlisle."
Holy Shit, they have good genes. At Jacob's thoughts, Edward's lips quirked in amusement, something that wasn't missed by Carlisle. Carlisle watched Edward out of the corner of his eye while he extended his hand to Jacob.
"Hello Jacob, it's nice to meet you."
"Hello sir," Jacob said quietly.
"Where do you live?"
"I live in La Push," Jacob said. Not being familiar with vampire behaviour, Jacob didn't notice when Carlisle stiffened, but Edward did and he knew he was in for an uncomfortable discussion.
Edward, What is this boy's last name? Carlisle asked him. Edward ignored him and focused all his attention on Jacob.
"So I'll see you tomorrow, Jacob?"
"Yeah, sure, what time?"
"Ten A.M.? We need to make sure we see everything."
"This is Forks," Jacob retorted, dryly. "We start at ten and we'll be done by noon."
Edward smiled and said, "Still, I'm sure we can find something to do for the rest of the day."
"Okay, if you want to be bored all day, I'll see you at ten."
Carlisle tugged on Edward's sleeve to pull him away from Jacob, but Edward refused to budge. Edward pulled himself free and growled at him, too low for Jacob to hear. Carlisle's eyes widened and he backed up from Edward. "I'll be in the car, Edward. There's nothing wrong with it, I don't know why Alice insisted we come here today, but they're sending it home with us because they're overloaded and it isn't a serious problem."
"I'll be right there, Dad." Carlisle didn't say another word and soon Edward was once again alone with Jacob.
"Meet you here at ten?" Edward confirmed.
Jacob nodded and kicked his shoe against the ground. "Sounds good."
"Bye Jacob," Edward said. He wanted Jacob to look at him again, he needed to see his mate before he had to leave and not be able to look at him until the next day.
The situation Edward found himself in was unusual for a vampire. Usually once a vampire found their mate that was it. From that moment on, they were together always – especially in the beginning stages. Everything in Edward's instincts resisted leaving Jacob in this alley, but he knew he had to. Jacob wasn't ready to be his yet, and Edward needed to force himself to acknowledge that.
Edward's wish was granted when Jacob looked up and Edward knew that Jacob didn't want him to leave either. "Bye Edward."
With a final glance back at Jacob, Edward left the alley and found Carlisle sitting in the car. As soon as he slipped into the passenger seat, the tension was palpable.
"What is Jacob's last name, Edward?" Carlisle finally asked.
"What does it matter?"
"Edward, what is his last name?"
"Black," Edward muttered.
Carlisle's grip tightened on the steering wheel and the leather groaned under the pressure. "Do you understand the risk you are putting our family in? He is a Black, he's probably Billy Black's son –"
"He is."
"—so you understand the situation this puts us in! Edward what were you thinking? Do you know what the tribe will do to us if they find out you were talking to him? That you're meeting him? What could compel you? They want us to stay away from them."
"He's my mate."
Carlisle gasped, and all words were lost. "Your mate?"
Edward nodded. "Alice has been seeing him for a while. He's why she made us go to the mechanics, not for the car. She told me to go to that alley. I can't stay away from him Carlisle."
"He's young, Edward."
"That's why I'll be his friend right now. It can grow to something more when he's older. But right now, I just have to be with him."
Carlisle was quiet as he thought. "No one from the Quileute tribe can know that you are meeting him."
"I know."
"If they did, they would force him to stay away from you. In fact, they'll probably tell everyone in the tribe that we're to be avoided. Do you think Jacob will go against his father and tribe for a boy he's just met in an alley?"
Edward couldn't help his smug smirk. "He's intrigued by me and attracted to me. Plus he doesn't like being controlled and he's very defiant. I think that he'll ignore them simply out of curiosity."
"You know that I can't explicitly condone this behaviour? If Billy were to come to me, I'll try to protect you – and I'm certainly supportive – but I also have to protect the rest of the family."
"I understand."
"But I am happy for you, Edward. I am thrilled that you finally found your mate, you have waited so long."
Edward grinned and could barely contain himself from gushing about how wonderful Jacob was. Instead he smiled out the window and lost himself in thoughts of his mate.
His phone rang and Edward looked down to see that there was another text message from Alice: You're welcome.
The moment Edward was through the door, Alice flew through the room and attached herself to his arm.
"Tell me all about him! What's he like? What's his name? When are you seeing him again?"
"Alice, calm down," Edward laughed.
"What the hell are you talking about?" Rosalie demanded.
It was only then that Edward noticed the rest of the family sitting in the living room, staring at him in shock. They were all astonished at the wide grin on Edward's face, something they had never seen before. Normal Edward was contemplative and stoic, and when he smiled it was small and controlled. This Edward was radiating happiness.
"Edward's mate," Alice chirped.
"What!" Esme gasped.
"My mate," Edward grinned. "His name is Jacob –"
"His," Emmet muttered to Rosalie, "You owe me twenty bucks, dear. Told ya Edward'd swing that way."
"—and he's wonderful." Edward finished with a glare at Emmett and Rose.
"And he's from the Quileute tribe," Carlisle added, softly. His words killed the joyous mood in the room, and Edward couldn't help but glare at Carlisle as he came into the room and sat beside Esme.
"Really, Edward? You would do the one thing that would make this place dangerous for us," Rosalie growled.
"Rosalie calm down," Carlisle commanded. Emmett wrapped an arm around her and rubbed her hair, trying to keep her calm. "Edward cannot help who is his mate, as everyone in this room knows. We judged none of you for your chosen mate and you will do the same for Edward. We do, however, have to discuss what you will do about this Edward."
"I will get to know him," Edward said bluntly. His next step seemed obvious to Edward. Despite the problems, despite the obstacles, the next step was to see Jacob again. It would always be the next step.
"Like hell you will," Rosalie roared, wrenching herself from Emmett's strong grip. "The entire family is now at risk because of you! What you need to do is stay far away and forget him."
"I will not," Edward growled. He tensed, waiting for Rosalie to make a move and watched Emmett tense as well, preparing to protect his mate if necessary. "I would never deny you your mate and I refuse to allow you to deny mine."
"That's different. Emmett posed no risk when I found him. This… mutt, of yours could destroy our family."
Edward's growl was deep and ferocious, and he took a step towards Rosalie. "Never, ever, call him that again. I would never put this family in danger, and neither will he."
"You don't know that," Jasper finally spoke up. Betrayal hit Edward hard in the gut. He had expected Rosalie to be pissed, but he had thought the rest of the family would be supportive. Edward realised how naïve that had been – they would all be cautious and untrusting of Jacob.
Edward's shoulders slumped and he couldn't think of a response to appease his family's fears. "I trust him," he finally said.
"But you don't even know him," Jasper pointed out rationally. "I'm not saying that we make sure you're chaperoned whenever you meet him, or we monitor your every word, but you do have to be careful what you tell him."
"I won't lie to him," Edward warned. "But I will be smart about what I reveal. But if he asks me…"
"That's all we can ask," Esme said, effectively ending the discussion. No one would go against Esme, and if she hinted that the attack on Edward was over, it was over.
Alice jumped in then, taking her cue from Esme. "So how did you meet? I saw him in the alley, but that was it."
Edward's brilliant smile returned and he launched right in to telling his family about meeting Jacob.
A/N: Hope you enjoyed it! I'm working on Chapter Three right now, but I can't say when it will be done. R&R! ~AJ Kelly
