Don't Make Me Say I Told You So –
Wait, I Just Did
I hesitated to welcome Bella back to my house. On one hand, the pack would be less than thrilled with me. On the other hand, it was Bella. I couldn't abandon my best friend, whose smile warmed my already warm heart.
Walking out the front door, I saw that Bella had put her head against the steering wheel. Probably deceived by seeing no signs of life or cars in the front of the house, Bella was most likely waiting for Billy or I to return.
Approaching the open passenger side window, I leaned in to grab her attention. "What are you doing here Bella?" I growled.
Her head snapped up. "You know why," she said, matter-of-factly. Bella's eyebrows narrowed, making her anger more real. At this point, however, I did not care.
It was like the world had stopped revolving for that one second. I was suddenly looking at an angel's face. The world had new meaning; destiny had found me. It was so rare to imprint on another that I figured I would be one who never would. I also suddenly knew how Sam and Jared felt; Bella was literally my world.
Imprinting breathed new life into me, Jacob Black, who originally thought that being a wolf was bad. Now Bella was mine – if she'd have me. Ready to do anything to make her happy, Bella had me wrapped around her finger (unbeknownst to her).
The only downside (well not really) was that meant I definitely had to tell her the truth. Not that I would get in trouble with the pack, Bella seemed like one to run off screaming (well, maybe not).
"Jacob! Are you even listening?" Bella asked impatiently. I shook my head absentmindedly as if to shake me back into reality.
"I'm so sorry Bells," I replied, as her lip started to tremble, "I should have called you sooner. It's just that I… have a big secret."
Bella's lip ceased from trembling, only to have her front teeth dig into her lower lip. She seemed less angry, but more understanding.
"Forgiving you might not be easy," she said, with a small smile. "I'm willing to if you tell me what's going on."
I laughed. "What're you, twenty-five or something? Bribing me! Sheesh!"
She cracked a smile once more. Opening the door, she climbed out and joined me by leaning on the side of her truck. Though, it was rather uncomfortable.
"You're one to talk! Over six feet, for sure! Jake, you're huge! But tell me already," Bella replied.
"Six five, thank you. As for telling you, I'm not allowed, per se," I said, watching her smile fade. "But you can guess – that way, I didn't directly tell you."
Adding this statement in haste, it reassured the nerves and instilled confidence. Hopefully, I could win back my best friend and soul mate. She nodded with eagerness, setting me at ease. The pack meeting was soon (which didn't help when I had busted my watch) so telling her my hints would need to happen quickly.
"Look Bella," I explained, maintaining eye contact at all times, "this is going to sound extremely weird. Non-human almost. Do you remember the legends I told you?"
Bella nodded, immediately remembering. "Yes, of course. Which ones?" she asked.
"The bloodsuckers-"
"Vampires, you mean?"
"Vampires, fine," I corrected myself. "Remember who else pertained to that?"
"Werewolves?"
"Yeah. Guess what? Both parts of the legends are true," I replied, sealing my mouth until she figured my big secret out.
Bella was lost in thought. Looking around to waste time, I noticed with my newly enhanced senses a beautiful red rose. Billy must have planted it, since my mom's died over the winter. Taking my time (since Bella hadn't figured anything out), I plucked a solitary flower from the bush. Thorns fell from the stem as the knife smoothed over the surface.
"Jake!" Bella called, causing me to turn around.
"Yeah?" I replied, walking back over. She seemed to have turned paler.
"Are you a…" she started to say, but drifted off before she could finish.
"Say it!" I cried out indignantly, wanting to get the burden off my shoulders and the forgiveness I deserved. Bella wasn't making it any easier for me!
"Werewolf," she said at last.
I smiled. "Close, but we're just shape-shifters, whose forms happen to take a wolves'."
Bella's eyes widened and she bit her lip again. "There's more than one of you!?" she asked, incredulously.
"Yeah, Sam, Quil, and Embry are wolves too," I replied.
"Wow. This is so unreal," she said, indifferently.
Neither of us responded. It blew the capacity of a normal human's brain. Thankfully. Bella was a special sort of person – one who appealed to both urban legends. I suddenly remembered the rose in my hands, which was for her. Holding it up to her face, I stepped toward her.
"For you, Bells. A beautiful flower for a beautiful girl," I said, quite suavely. She giggled and took the rose shyly.
"Thanks, Jake," she smiled, tucking the rose behind an ear. "Guess you're not so bad after all."
All was forgiven. "Thanks for the approval, your highness," I smirked.
Bella and I were back on speaking terms for now. I hoped that she was okay with the fact that I turned into a huge, hairy beast whenever I so chose. Maybe she was used to the supernatural actually; she had a knack for attracting vampires.
"So you don't mind if I turn into a huge, scary dog?" I asked her, hopeful for a yes.
"Of course not, Jake! You're still my best friend, after all," she replied, smiling.
A goofy grin spread across my face. Hugging Bella as hard as I could, I spun her around a couple times.
"I knew you wouldn't mind!"
"Er, you're suffocating me."
Immediately letting go of her, I made sure I didn't accidentally kill my imprintee. That wouldn't be too good. Nodding sheepishly, I took her small hand in mine and lead her toward my house. There, we could catch up with schoolwork and life in general. Just Bella and I like the old times.
Since I hadn't phased since the night before, I had no idea that Sam changed the time of the meeting. Nor did he bother to call me at least, apparently. For when Bella and I stepped through my front door, seven other wolves were staring at us. Of course, they were in human form; it was still cramped in my humble abode nevertheless.
Awkward silence filled the room as I just stared at Sam in annoyance. Paul was the first to speak, to much of my surprise.
"What is the leech-lover during here, Jacob?" he growled, growing angrier by the second.
I instinctively stepped in front of Bella, in case Paul was ready to rip out our throats. "Leave, Bella," I said, without taking my eyes off Paul. He started inching toward us, putting me in alarm mode. She understood and obediently left the house. I didn't relax until I heard her truck rumble away.
Sam grasped the gravity of the situation too late as Paul started to lunge at me.
"Jacob, go now," Sam instructed. I obeyed my pack leader regrettably/ Next thing I knew, I heard a variety of howls and yelling.
"How dare he expose our secret to her!" said a yell, coming out from my house. Paul was bounding out in wolf form now, headed for my throat. It was such times I wished we didn't have acute hearing or the ability to morph into animals.
Ah, my last pair of good clothing. Thanks, Paul. In the nick of time, I turned into my wolf form to combat my angry friend.
A million voices slammed into my head and I tried to ignore them. Luckily, I was swifter and quicker than Paul; I had him pinned in three minutes.
Listen, Paul!
I shoved the memory of imprinting on Bella into my mind. Paul ceased frm attacking me promptly.
I'm sorry man, I didn't know.
Forget it, Paul.
We collected our scattered clothes (or what was left of them) and went to find the rest of our comrades. It wasn't long until we saw more exploded clothing. Everyone but Sam and Leah had morphed.
"What was that all about?" Leah asked.
"Jacob imprinted on Bella!" exclaimed Seth, happily.
Luckily, we all had extra clothing. We made sure so it wouldn't be awkward around Leah, even though we could never escape it.
Leah and Sam exchanged looks. "Oh, wonderful Jacob. Congrats on claiming the leech-lover," she said coldly.
I smirked at her. "It's something you wouldn't understand."
I realized the stupidity in my statement. "Oh, damn. I didn't mean it like that Leah."
"Of course not! Poor Leah!" she shrieked, on the edge of tears. But most of her tears had been shed already.
Sam's eyes immediately widened. "It's okay, Leah," he said, softly.
"No, it's not!" she yelled, slamming her foot against the ground. Leah turned right around and headed for her house.
"Aw, Leah!" called Seth, but it was no use.
Hanging out with guys all day was probably driving Leah to tears – literally. We never really understood why she felt a certain way of felt personally attacked. She was becoming more disconnected from us, rather than bonded. It scared Sam tremendously.
He sighed. "Thanks for coming," he announced, shooting off a look at me. "Now, I have reason to suspect that our vampire coven has or will be returning. The transformation rate is quite high."
"Why? That makes no sense. Why would they return all of a sudden?" asked Embry, slightly confused. Weren't we all…
"I don't know," said Sam, honestly. "But we're going to have to be alert at all times, even if it means sacrificing sleep."
The group groaned simultaneously. "Jeez, Sam! We never sleep anymore!" complained Quil.
I was about to burst at the seams. "Can we go now? Mind if I sleep for once in three days?" I asked irritably.
Sam nodded, noticing my lack of attention. He couldn't fight with six other wolves, or deal with Leah's tantrum.
"Yeah, go. We'll reconvene tomorrow. I need full cooperation, people!" Sam said, as I hurried away. I did not care at this point; I was tired and needed rest.
Turning on the television, I stretched on the living room couch. Less than a minute later, dreams consumed me.
Bella was the focus of my dreams. They held new meaning, however. She was the dominant force in my humble life – her existence made my existence possible.
Waking six hours later, the clock on the wall read nine o'clock. I yawned tremendously; I stood up in haste. Sitting next to me happened to be Bella, watching television quietly.
"Jeez, Bella!" I whined, almost jumping out of my skin quite literally.
Bella laughed. "What are you, a scaredy cat or something?" she teased.
I pretended to laugh along. "Har, har. Funny, aren't you?"
"I know," she said, with a giggle.
"How long have you been here? Won't Charlie like, kill you for being out this late?" I asked. It was true; Charlie wasn't very lenient with curfews, especially when her leech stayed over. Fortunately, Charlie liked me a bit more so I was actually allowed over.
"Just around an hour. But yeah, won't you come to my funeral, Jake?"
It was my turn to laugh. "Of course, Bella. I wouldn't miss it for the world."
"Thanks," Bella replied, grimacing.
Lapsing into silence, the room grew silent with my awkward phase of Bella's meaning to me. She was prevalent in my dreams and aspects of my life; I would probably spiral into nothing if she rejected me. Maybe I should approach this like a normal sixteen year old kid?
"Bella," I said suddenly, "would you like to go to Port Angeles to see a movie with me tomorrow night?"
So sue me if it were a school night. If Billy and Charlie were concerned, we'd do our homework early.
"I'd love to!" Bella exclaimed. "That is, if you don't mind the Chevy."
