I apologize that it has taken me so long to post another chapter, but here it is! Please comment and tell me what you think!
Chapter 4
RING, RING, RING! I rolled over, moaning towards the direction of the sound that woke me up. RING, RING, RING! Jake shifted as well next to me, his eyes remaining closed.
"Jake," I whispered, lightly shaking his arm. No response. "Jacob," I tried again, this time a little louder. He barely even moved.
An annoyed sigh escaped my lips as I moved to climb across Jake's chest, stretching to grab my phone from the pocket of his jacket that was heaped into a small pile on the floor.
One missed call from Dad, it read, followed by a notification that I had one new message from my father, as well. "Fantastic," I muttered, pressing my dad's name and waiting as my phone called his. I didn't have to wait long, seeing as my dad answered before the second ring was even finished.
"Renesmee," he spoke, skipping and introductory altogether. Luckily, he sounded more relieved than angry.
"Yeah, Dad, it's me. Sorry I didn't answer, Jake and I were still asleep." I didn't bother adding that Jake had still yet to open his eyes, although I knew he was awake. I was still laying across his chest, my elbows rising and falling with each of his breaths.
"Well, I apologize for waking you, although it is almost ten o'clock in the morning. Your mother and I were wondering what time you plan on coming back home," Dad spoke quickly, too quick for a human, but not for my heightened hearing.
I laid my palm flat on Jake's bare chest, showing him the question my dad wanted answered. He seemingly didn't move, but before looking away from his smooth face, I caught the minuscule shrug of his shoulders.
"Umm, I'm not really sure. Is there a specific time you would like me back?" I figured it was best to play good-child just in case my parents were any bit upset with the stunt I let Jake pull last night. Then again, they have never thrown a fit about me staying at Jake's before…
I heard my Dad talking to someone through the hum of the phone, my mom's tone of voice far more apparent than the actual words she was saying.
"If you plan on spending the majority of your day down at La Push, your mother and I are considering going hunting. We will stay close of course, in case you need us," he added the last part reassuringly, seeming to forget that I was darn near close to indestructible. "We were just thinking that it might be our last chance to hunt in Washington before-"
"Yeah, Dad, I get it. Of course it's fine if you guys go, I volunteered Jake and I to watch Sam and Emily's kids later tonight anyways." Jake shifted beneath me, reminding me that this was news to him, as well.
"Alright. Are you sure you don't want to come with us? Carlisle did say it would help you gain some weight back," he offered, reminding me of this once again.
Ever since I quit growing as fast as a dandelion, my Grandpa Carlisle agreed that taking my measurements once a day wasn't really necessary. He wouldn't give in to just doing without them completely, of course, but we did agree once every three months was a little more practical. My father's concern at the moment came about when I decided to switch my diet, quickly following the end of my growth spurt. Through all the measurements and calculations Grandpa had tucked neatly away in that perfect brain of his, it quickly became evident to him that instead of staying a close-to-constant weight like he had expected I would, I was actually losing weight. It wasn't much, maybe ten or fifteen pounds, but it was enough to send my entire family into full panic mode. Even Jake, who always seemed to be the least over-dramatic person I cared to associate with, encouraged me to switch my diet back to animal's blood.
I did win out in the end, only after swearing on my life to my family that I would start eating more human food and substitute more blood back into my diet until my weight came back up. Which it was, might I point out.
"It's fine, Dad. Seriously, just go on without me. I'm sure I can find something to eat that's a little more humane right here in La Push. Believe it or not, but Billy does buy food."
My dad chuckled on the other line. "Alright. I will see you later tonight, I love you, my darling."
"Love you too, Dad. Be safe," I answered back, almost seeing my dad's nod of affirmation before the line clicked silent.
"Well, that was easy," Jake grumbled, smiling that grin he always made when he ended up getting his way.
I couldn't help but laugh. "I thought you were asleep," I accused, my eyes slightly narrowing. "And to think, all this time you were only eavesdropping in on my conversation. That's not very becoming, Jacob Black."
Jake just rolled his eyes, "If that's my only turn off, then I'm pretty much set," he joked. "Plus, it's only eavesdropping if you don't know that I'm listening, which you did."
I nodded. "True, but that's definitely not your only turn off."
Jake raised his black eyebrows, "And what else could there possibly be?"
I giggled, shifting my eyes to the bed below us. "Well for one, you are a terrible blanket hog." He opened his mouth to argue, but shut it once again when he realized the majority of the covers were pulled to his side of the bed.
A laugh escaped my lips as I shook my head, climbing over Jake so I could get out of the bed. Too quick, even for me, Jake flipped over, seamlessly pinning me beneath him.
"Now where do you think you're going?" he whispered, his hot breath throwing my heart into overdrive.
He quickly hid the smirk that froze his lips, dropping his head to the crook of my neck. More air escaped his lips before he barely let them touch the skin of my neck.
"Jacob…" I tried to scold him, but my voice was too breathless, too light.
He brought his eyes back to mine, but I couldn't look at them, not when they were filled with so much fire. I put a great deal of effort into breathing evenly and staring at the ceiling.
"Well, now I'm just curious. Would you consider this position one of the many turn offs of mine?" I could feel him staring down at me, but I continued to focus on the ceiling, my heart rate racing.
He kissed the side of my jaw, mouthing my name against my skin. I couldn't stop my breath from hitching in throat, my eyes falling closed with the sensation.
My whole body shook with his laughter, considering our compromising position. I kept my eyes closed as I waited, even hoped, for his lips to press against mine, but of course they never did.
While Jake was perfectly at ease to kiss every other inch of my face, he has never kissed my lips. I was beginning to wonder if he ever would.
My hands relaxed against his hard chest, my eyes opening only to find his still so close. "Can I make a request?" I questioned, my voice starting to even out.
"Anything."
"Will you wear more clothing when you sleep next to me from now on? You're body is really starting to make me lightheaded."
Jake chuckled loudly, kissing my forehead before pulling himself from the bed. "Come on, tiny. Let's go get some breakfast before I eat you alive."
I nodded as I ran my fingers through the tangled mess of my hair, seriously contemplating if being eaten alive by Jake would be such a bad thing.
After eating a our makeshift breakfast consisting of lumpy pancakes and scrambled eggs, I went back to Jake's room to get dressed.
I quickly found the pair of khaki shorts I had left here from who knows when, slipping into those before searching Jake's near bare closet for a shirt that wouldn't completely tent me.
He came up behind me then, grabbing a red, long sleeve shirt from one of the polar ends of his tiny closet, and handed it to me. I wondered if he realized how his entire bedroom would easily fit three times over into my parents closet alone. Add the closet space of every member of my family and the square footage would exceed that of his entire home.
"Thanks," I muttered, taking the shirt from Jacob's hands. "Turn around."
Jake slowly but surely obeyed my command, I doing the same before replacing the shirt I was wearing with Jake's. It was still very big, nearly hiding my shorts completely, but it would work for today's purposes. It smelled so strongly of him that I couldn't help bringing the sleeve up to my nose before turning back around. Jake was already facing me, smiling.
We found our way into Jake's garage, the tin roof amplifying the tapping of the rain in a way that seemed to fill the entire building. The mix of fresh rain and gasoline was easily one of my favorite smells.
While Jake went straight for the old truck he has been working on for months, I loitered around the rest of building. It wasn't clean, by any means, but it somehow felt organized in a way unnoticeable to me.
I couldn't help but smile down at the plywood and metal framed tables that were scattered around here and there, some of them having never been rearranged since the day I was born. A cork board hung above one, although the cork was no longer visible thanks to the many pictures that monopolized the small space. Most of them were of me, or Jake and I, when I was younger. Jake's scrawl identified each picture with a date and place, reminding me once again of just how quickly I grew up. One image in particular caught my attention, more so than all the rest.
Jake, Emily, Sam, Seth and I were the center of the photograph, but other members of both packs were visible in the background. We were on First Beach, and despite the noticeable sun, wind was whipping our hair and clothing violently in every direction. The date indicated that I was nearly two years old, still small enough to be held like a toddler in Jake's massive arms. Unlike the other three who were smiling effortlessly toward the direction of the camera, Jake's smiling face was pressed against mine, planting a kiss on my presently pudgy cheek. I was beaming, clearly enjoying the attention. We were both so happy. The words, "My little bird," jotted along the bottom.
"How's the walk down memory lane going?"
I looked behind me to find Jake turned awkwardly,visibly unable to remove his hands from their task underneath the hood of the truck, smiling questionably in my direction.
Instead of answering his sarcastic question, I pointed back to the picture. "Where did you get this?"
Jake had already refocused his attention back on the hunk of metal he was determined to revive. His dark brows pushed together as he tightened some part of the engine with a rusted, metal wrench. Or maybe it wasn't the engine, to be honest, it all looks the same to me.
Despite my rather abundant access, I've never really taken an interest in cars. I know which ones are fast, which ones are old, and which ones I'm allowed to drive around Forks, and that seems to be enough for me. Much to my Dad's and Jake's dismay, I take after my mom in this subject.
"Which one?" he grunted, continuing to tighten whatever it was he was tightening. He let out a satisfied breath before turning back to me. "Oh, I have no clue. Probably Emily, but I honestly can't remember."
I nodded, turning back to the picture. It made my heart hurt to know that smiling, innocent little girl was about to rip Jake's life in half.
"Do you not remember that day?" he questioned, his voice filled with surprise. Although it wasn't vampire-level perfect, my memory has always been far better than any human's could physically ever be.
"No, I do. I just haven't thought about it for years. Plus, I can't recall as ever have seeing the picture." I was standing next to Jake now, he eyes less than two feet away from mine.
He simply shrugged his shoulders in response. "I can assure you it's been there for years. Speaking of Emily, we're watching the kids tonight?"
My lips turned up in a guilty smile. "She asked if we could. Apparently her and Sam are meeting up with some friends tonight and I couldn't say "no."
"You couldn't or you didn't want to?"
I laughed, placing my palms on either side of Jake's face. I showed him one of my many memories of playing with Anoki, Mika, and Lucy, Sam and Emily's three kids. "And why on earth would I decline the offer to spend time with these three little rascals?"
Jake chuckled, taking my hands from his cheeks to hold them in his own. He hung his head in mock annoyance. "All the things I do for you.."
Our mixed laughter filled the air.
"Well, c'mon," I said, using all my strength to pull him from the metal stool on which he was sitting.
He easily resisted, humor filling his eyes as he continued to watch me struggle. "And where are we going now?"
"The beach, of course."
