A/N: Sorry that it's been so long since my last chapter! I've been on a slight vacation. I also wanted to work on Jacob's background, so I had to re-read different parts of the series. **I do know the inconsistency with the date of the Harry's funeral. But regretably, I put the funeral almost a week after Bella didn't jump, instead of two days later. Sorry! :0)
Chapter 4: Night Terrors
I stood there, under the steady spray of hot water, for what seemed like forever. I was crazy for running the water this hot, especially with my own body temperature being so warm. But I did it anyway, trying like mad to scour away the dirt from running patrol every night for a week. I grabbed the soap with a vengence.
I tried scrubbing my scalp as hard as I could, getting the dirt, sweat and possibly twigs from out of my hair. I wasn't usually a big wuss about getting dirty, but when I seemed to stay that way all the time- it was a nice change to be clean. I knew I'd have to hurry up and meet Bella at her house soon.
It was another school day for her and I was supposed to be by her side as much as possible. As nice a plan as it had originally sounded, I was not really looking forward to seeing her. Ever since I told her about this idea, she'd been acting...differently towards me.
Well, that was an understatement.
She didn't laugh at my stupid jokes as much, not that I could blame her- but she always used to. She had an irritability about her now that frankly, was starting to piss me off. Even after she was totally impressed with my rez-entrance carving, once I saw her later on that day, she barely said much else to me.
I tried to get her to snap out of it during the weekend, but she wasn't having it. She was always too deep in thought- probably more about that stupid leech...than anything else. I didn't want to be jealous of or angry with her. I just wanted her to talk to me. It was depressing me to see her face so in pain for a split-second. Even when she thought I wasn't paying attention, I was.
And then to see Emily and Sam together all the time, I knew it must be driving her crazy. I'd originally suggested to Emily, to try to see if she could get Bella to come down to her cottage more often, figuring she'd probably say 'no' anyway. But here it is Thursday and she'd spent most of the weeknights here with Emily. I don't know what they do when they get together, but whatever it is, I'm thankful for it.
I turned off the loud, squeaky knobs and climbed out of the shower, grabbing the towel on the door. I stood in front of our mirror, checking out my face. I saw the dark circles etched into my skin underneath my eyes. 'If I was pale with skin cold as my skin is hot right now...I'd look like one of them ,' I thought to myself, shaking my head.
I knew I needed sleep & I knew I needed it soon...but I needed to be on the constant lookout for Bella's sake. She may not like the idea, but she would just have to get the hell over it. Bella's apparent attitude problem with me was starting to get the best of me.
One minute, I'd look at her...seeing her smile while talking to Emily about a book they both read...I'd watch her crinkle up her nose and start laughing like the world around us seemed to be okay for that half-second. She'd look over at me, fumbling with her hair in some insanely cute way...then she'd remember that I was there to keep watch over her and she turn away, scowling.
It was still cute when she was pouting, but I'd end up sneering at her because she really wished her blood-sucker was here to protect her instead of me...with all the anger and resentment that came from her-I didn't understand her at all when she acted like this. I mean I did, she totally deserved to be pissed off at the world...but at me too? What did I do? If anything, I was trying to keep her alive and well!
This Victoria mess...it had put a dent in the plans that I made to help heal Bella's heart. They were always in the back of my mind, but if I had to put those aside to make sure she was still breathing by the end of each day...I'd do it. While it was my duty to protect our territory...Isabella Swan was in my mind, my territory. Having to endure watching as she looked over her shoulder all the time, as if waiting for something to happen- it sucked.
All my thoughts here lately were consumed with her. Her, twisting her hair around her finger, taking small bites of her food, laughing at me stuffing my face. And her, seeing right through me, glaring at me, slamming her driver's side door every time she got out...It was all too much to deal with from just one person. Then on the other hand, I had family issues going on. My Dad was so mopey these days, after Harry died. He was always having someone come pick him up so that he could go spend time with the Clearwaters, Uleys and Charlie. Not that I could blame him, he was always close to Harry since they were kids. I can't imagine what would happen if I lost Embry or Quil like that...I wouldn't be able to comprehend it.
Speaking of Quil, it would be time for me to go check up on him, later.
He had finally phased for the first time, two nights ago. He was out helping his mom in her garden, when all of the sudden he started getting the feverish feeling. Next thing you know, he phased right there in their bathroom. Luckily for him, the Ateara's had a much larger bathroom than Billy & I did, so he didn't bust a hole in any walls. He still hasn't explained the story to us, as to how exactly he got out of the bathroom, but he's been pretty well despite the hundreds of changes your body goes through in an instant.
He knew what was coming, so in that aspect, he had it easier than the rest of us. And now, well...he actually seemed to be enjoying the new-found animal thing. I could see other reasons though, why he was happier now. Now he knew- knew all of the stuff that we had to keep from him. Quil finally felt like he had his friends back and new ones as well. It was a brotherly-feeling of course, but knowing everyone's feelings, thoughts, plans...it really bugged me.
I didn't need to know that not only did Jared imprint on a girl in his class named Kim, but they had already gone to what he referred to as 'sorta third base'. Whatever the hell that meant, caused flashes of imagery to pop up in our collective mind that I really didn't want to see. Or hear.
Twenty minutes later, I was on Bella's front porch, waving 'bye' to Charlie as he hopped into his police cruiser. I'd been wondering lately, if Charlie really trusted a young boy to be around his daughter like I've been. Then I remembered, I was Charlie's favorite...and his best friend's son. So maybe that had something to do with it.
I chuckled to myself as I thought about what it would look like if that Newton kid showed up to Bella's house everyday to pick her up. He sure as hell wouldn't be let in the house, let alone her room with her. But there again...Charlie could also pick up the too-obvious 'friend' vibes Bella put off around me.
After sitting on the top step for a while, I heard the door open behind me, followed by a loud sigh. Ah, my subtle best friend...
"Anything new?" Bella asked, the same as she did every other morning.
"Naw, but that's good though. We haven't picked up either of the leeches' scents since last week. I think that maybe Jared and Paul scared the main one all the way down to mid-California that one night."
Bella blew a piece of hair out of her face and traipsed past me. I laughed at the sulking face that peered out of her truck. I decided that she could drive her own truck, but I still needed to accompany her to and from school. The council finally let the main school director in on what was going on, so I got the okay to be late for my first class and could now leave thirty minutes early from my last class. I watched the immense concentrating Bella was doing, which most likely had nothing to do with driving.
She was trying to say something to me and had no idea how to, that much I could tell. This was a nice surprise to me since she didn't talk to me on the way to school.
"Jake...I've been thinking-" she started.
"Hmm. Well, that's a dangerous road for you to go down," I joked, immediately taking it back. I was even more shocked though, when she ignored me and continued on.
"I think maybe I've been...such a...bitch about this whole watching over me thing...and I wanted to tell you that I'm sorry," she paused, looking over at me. My eyes widened, waiting to hear more.
"You really don't deserve me getting all upset at you for trying to save my neck. But still, I'd like it if you weren't always around me, every time I turn around. It used to be that I could come down to La Push whenever I wanted, which for me-was always....Now I feel like I'm being forced to stay there. Charlie's starting to get the wrong idea about us and I just can't have that-"
"Wait, Charlie's getting the wrong idea about what?" I interrupted.
"Us. He's getting the wrong idea about us. But that's not the impor-"
"And what's the wrong idea?" I questioned innocently. I saw the red creep up into her cheeks, as she narrowed her eyes at the road. Okay, so I shouldn't be pushing her buttons right after she apologized to me but...
"He for some reason seems to think that you and I...that we're together or something...Even when I tell him that's not how it is, he doesn't believe me. He keeps saying 'Yeah okay, Bells. That's fine though, Jake's a great kid, blah blah blah.' It's really frustrating for me," she hissed. I laughed as I heard her grumbling a Charlie-impersonation. She cut her eyes at me- I put my hands up in surrender.
"I'm sorry Bells. I'm not trying to intentionally get on your nerves. It's just that I think I may have had a stroke from you telling me you're sorry," I laughed, patting her shoulder to show her I was just playing. I could've sworn that I almost saw a smirk on her face, but she quickly sobered up.
"Well, back to what I was saying. I get that you're trying to keep an eye on me and everything, but it's just weird. You know, to have a personal bodyguard around me all the time. Even if it's...you," she blushed slightly. The school was coming into view.
"Yeah, I'm sure it's annoying for me to be around you so much, believe me, it's no walk in the park for me either. You're always crabby and ready to bite my head off," I replied, seeing her wince under my words. She mumbled 'sorry' again, sticking to the uneasy silence until we reached the parking lot. I watched her pretend to search through her bookbag for something. I leaned down to catch her gaze.
"So what exactly are you asking me again?" I questioned her. She fumbled a second on her words, sighing at the end of her incoherent sentence.
"I don't know what I'm asking...No...what I'm telling you. I just think maybe you could chill it out a bit. Ease off the leash, or whatever. Guess I just want some more privacy," she muttered at last. I frowned.
"Look. It would ease the pack's minds as well as my own mind, for you to be guarded right now. I'm not saying forever Bella-" I noticed her tightened expression.
"I'm just saying until we get our mouths full of that blood-sucker. We need to make sure that she can't get to you, even at school. I don't trust that she would restrain herself in front of other humans, if it came down to it...And for the record? I don't like making you do stuff you don't want to do. I know it makes you feel like we're babysitting you, but we're not...not really, anyway. Besides, you're technically older than the pack, except for Sam of course. So we can't really be babysitting you!
So that's that...why don't you go ahead on before you're late and if you want, you can drive back home by yourself. But I will be following you, which I'm sure you know. Is that cool? Or do you need me to implant some sort of GPS tracking device in you?" I smiled at my own joke.
She looked like she was taking what I said into consideration, which made me slightly happier. Then she broke out into a smile, the smile that always sucked out the air from my lungs. My chest constricted in hope. She threw her arms around my shoulders, almost not able to grasp her hands together behind my back, burying her head into my chest. My eyes almost bulged out of their sockets in reaction to this.
"Thank you soo much Jake! I really mean it. Thanks for the compromise," she turned back around, loping out of the car, almost too happily.
"Um, you're welcome?" Sheesh, sometimes she made no sense at all. She threw another smile my way, before waving 'bye'. I shook my head, returning her grin. Shutting the door behind me, I started the long, boring walk to the edge of the forest where I could phase quickly and run faster to school. I could see the same stares out of the corner of my eye-I was sure that this scene was an odd one, especially every day.
Once I reached far enough in, I checked around me to make sure no one could see me. I grabbed the fabric to tie my pants around me out of my pocket, before pulling off my shirt & sweats, hurrying up by strapping them to my leg. Kicking off my shoes, I stood up and made the jump, bursting out of my skin and suddenly three times my size, covered in my shaggy fur. I sniffed the air in front of me, making sure there wasn't anyone close-by.
I ran the almost fifteen miles between the two schools, taking me about two minutes, by way of wolf-travel. I dropped the sneakers that were in my mouth, quickly phased back and sprinted over the school's entrance. Rolling my eyes, I knew that I was in for another lame day in class.
After what seemed like forever, the day was already gone. At least for me. I nodded towards Quil and Embry, who were sitting on the right side of me, still working on our latest math assignment. I raced all the way back to Forks High School, from there. This time however, I skirted around the forest, still in wolf-form, searching for her with my keen sense of sight. One of my favorite new things about myself was the fact that I was no longer in dire need of glasses. I mean how would I look in a pair of nerdy glasses, right? I couldn't begin to describe how cool it was to suddenly feel like Peter Parker, who was fortunate enough to be given bad-ass vision.
Right on time, Bella started down the front steps. I could see that she was looking for me too, but like I told her earlier, I'd let her have some 'space', as long as she knew I'd be running alongside of her truck. Kinda. The smugness on her face made me laugh; she really liked getting her way. Maybe because for a while now, she hasn't had it that way. Not that I could help it- I wanted to be able to give her whatever she felt she needed, within reason. She really must've had no idea how I...whatever. I guess it won't do me any good to lose precious, needed sleep over it.
I heard her truck roar to life, running by her all the way back to her house, a few miles down the road. I turned back, throwing on my pants for good measure and sneaked up behind her.
"Jake, you're not a very quiet person, believe it or not." Bella laughed, turning around to face me from her truck door. I faked a pout, crossing my arms across my chest. "Thanks for keeping your word about the ride home, though." She smiled again, me following her lead up into the house.
"Yeah, well a promise is a promise," I shrugged. Charlie still wasn't home I noticed, looking for the telltale gun-belt and boots lying around on the floor somewhere.
"You staying?" Bella asked, dumping her bookbag on the couch next to me.
"It depends. Do I get a reward for good behavior?" I smirked, thinking of the potential food options she may offer me. Her cheeks flushed in response, oddly confusing me.
"Wha-what? Oh uh, um, I guess the occasion calls for some dinner maybe. I was going to fry some chicken and stuff." she stuttered. I raised my eyebrows, slowly nodding, as I understood what threw her off. Chuckling, I watched as she hurried into her kitchen, still shaking her head in disbelief...probably at what ran through her head when I said that.
The rest of the evening went on like that; me and Bella dancing around on eggshells with our words. The thoughts that tugged at the back of my mind were starting to pull more and more loose. Mistakenly, I thought that maybe the kiss from in my kitchen would iron out the awkward tension between us. Boy, was I wrong.
It only got worse once Charlie came home and sat down with us. We accidently brushed our fingers when both reaching for napkins, causing Bella's heart to skip a few beats, I could hear. Mine almost completely stopped, just in response to this.
It was riddiculous how a mere touch of her skin could drive me so crazy. Not to mention the obvious attraction she had to me. She had to beg me to put my shirt back on. It's not like I want to run around half-naked or anything, it's just that it gets so hot being in a shirt all the time. What really cracked me up though, was that every time she said something about it, she couldn't help but look over my chest and stomach, in one uneasy sweep with her eyes.
I didn't know what to do at that point. But I realized when she walked me to the door later, that I would have to figure out something. I couldn't be a big baby and not tell her how I feel. I mean sure, she probably already knew, but did she know to what extent? Would it make any difference, actually hearing it from me? These were things I had to ponder, on the ride back home.
Since I ran to her house earlier in the morning, I had to have Sam pick me up, to keep up appearances with Charlie. 'It would probably look a little weird seeing me run off into the woods like the local wildlife,' I laughed to myself. Bella gave me a small hug, before saying 'bye.' I turned to see Sam waiting on the side of the road in his truck. I was glad that he couldn't read my thoughts right now...no, that would come later on tonight. He eyed me carefully as I hopped into his truck.
Judging by the way he didn't say a word to me the whole ride back to La Push, I figured he knew I had a lot of stuff on my mind. Then ontop of everything, we had Harry's funeral to go to tonight. This was something I was not looking forward to, at all. I had only been to one funeral before...and that was not one I wanted to relive anytime soon.
I walked into my house, looking for a sign of my Dad. I knew I had to hurry up and get dressed for later on. Not remembering if I had a long-enough tie or not, I rummaged through my small closet, grabbing the only slacks I could find. Of course, they were from three or four years ago for some special occasion. They were probably close to a foot-and-a-half too short for me. Sighing, I threw on my one pair of regular jeans that weren't too short on me. Hopefully, no one would have much to say.
Sam was already on his way down the road, to his mom's. 'I bet he had something nice to wear,' I thought sourly, before throwing on a black t-shirt. I knew I had a long-sleeved white button-up shirt...but chances are that the shirt would now be a belly-shirt on me. I winced at the mere image. There was a knock on the front door. I heard their voices before they even impatiently let themselves in; it was Embry and Quil.
"Naw man, my mom just went to go get me some slacks and shirts just a few weeks ago. She doesn't...she can't just go get more. It doesn't work like that." I heard Embry say, snapping at Quil's comments about him wearing a black shirt and jeans to Harry's funeral. Quil followed behind him, in a crisp new black dress-shirt and black slacks. Quil's parents did a little better off than the rest of ours, simply because his mom had her own business that she ran out of their home, something to do with gardening. No one ever mentioned anything like that though, not that Quil would ever say that either. They both looked at me, Embry's sneer breaking into a wide grin.
"See? I'm not the only one dressed more casually," he laughed. I smiled back at him. "Nice ensemble," I joked with Quil, nudging him in the ribs. I took it back immediately, remembering the reason why we all were standing here in the first place. We all sighed, walking out my front door and down the road towards the line that was growing by the Clearwater's house. This was not going to be an easy day.
The funeral set off a weird ache in my stomach; one that I couldn't shake. The tribe's 'healer' was giving Harry's eulogy in English, with Quileute verses woven in. It sounded very otherworldly. Almost as if it were from another time completely. Seeing the Clearwater's sitting up front in the row of chairs, the way Sue's head was bent downwards while Leah and Seth were on her sides, their heads bent to meet hers...it took me back to when my mom had died, right where I didn't want to be.
I was only a kid- seven at the time. It was actually a few weeks after my birthday, the roads were still slick with ice from the beginning of the harsh winter we would later have. Rebecca and Rachel were staying at a friend's house that night, up at the Makha reservation. It was my mom and dad's wedding anniversay I think, because they had asked different people to see if they could watch me that night.
Finally, Embry's mom promised she would bring Embry over and we would have a sleepover at our house. We were good friends by that point, Embry and his mom had been at La Push for a few years now. Me and Embry were sitting on the floor in my room, playing with my Power Rangers when the phone rang.
We knew we were supposed to be in bed, it was already past our bedtime anyway, but we snuck into the kitchen to see what was going on. Embry's mom had the phone cord wrapped a few times around her arm, her face all wet from crying by the phone. "Yes, I will bring him up there as soon as I can." and she hung up the phone.
She turned sharply, seeing us peering around the corner, scared at what might be going on. Were big, scary monsters attacking us? The kind that were cold like ice and drank all our blood? What happened? I had thought, when she pulled us into the other room. After that, things got kinda blurry. Maybe my mind, not wanting to remember it all.
We met Rachel, Rebecca and their friend's mom at the hospital. Everyone was crying, everything was all white. I remember days later, seeing my dad in the hospital bed, with tubes all over him. He was barely awake, but I know I heard them talking about him having pairs-of-lies....that his legs wouldn't work anymore. No one spoke about my mom, Sarah.
I was too young to get what exactly happened. I only just heard the whole story a few years ago.
They were on the way home from their anniversary dinner, coming from Port Angeles. My mom was driving, since Billy had a little too much to drink at the restaurant. They weren't going very fast, but something went wrong with the brakes, when she tried to slow down going around a sharp turn. They cut out and then the truck skidded down into a ravine off the side...causing my mom to go through the windshield. The truck kept rolling down the hill, smashing the right fender completely in, crushing my dad's legs. It had been all over the papers.
The accident caused everything to suddenly be catagorized in ways my kid-mind couldn't understand. Everything was now pre-accident and post-accident. I didn't like things as much for the next year, post-accident. I didn't play with my friends as much. I didn't eat as much. I was outside more, but not running around or chasing bugs or anything a little kid would do. I would go out to our backyard and build a big fort just so I could sit in it, by myself.
My sisters weren't taking it very well, either. Rebecca was already in high school when it happened- in the middle of her freshman year. Rachel wasn't too far behind, still in 6th grade. They understood much better than I did, but being older caused it to be harder, I think, on them.
Rebecca was the quiet one of us, very motherly, very smart and very pretty (or so they say). She was the top of her class. She was the female leader that the elders had been waiting for. My dad was definitely the chief of the tribe, if you could call him that. With times changing, the elders saw that having a strong female leader would be just as well as having a strong male leader. Rebecca would follow in my dad's footsteps.
Of course, until she got older and married my now brother-in-law, Chris. He was stationed in Hawaii with the U.S. Navy, when she met him. Love at first sight and all that...the elders were so pissed about the fact that she turned down a perfectly good scholarship to go marry some white guy. My dad didn't mind- it was whatever she wanted that would make him happy.
No, he knew that Rachel, the once wild-child of the family would end up going to college and getting her education- it was just a matter of time. Which of course, he was right about. As soon as she could fly, Rachel got the hell outta Dodge and never looked back. It still irked me how quickly she was able to just up and leave my dad and me. She hated living in the house the most, because as we all knew, Rach was kind of our mom's favorite. She looks just like Billy, while me and Becca look like our mom the most. She took it the hardest, aside from dad. That was easy to tell.
Then there was me, Jake. I was the boy no one saw coming. My dad always thought he would have three girls, for some reason. I was the comic of the family, the ham, if you will. Always cracking my dumb little jokes, trying to play tricks on everyone (especially Rachel).
The elders of course, they swelled with pride when my dad announced they had a baby boy instead of another girl. 'This is it,' they must've thought. 'This will be our new leader!'
I always rejected any sort of name-related royalty anyone tried to place on me. Another reason it was so easy to just follow under Sam the not-meant-to-be Alpha. I never wanted that kind of responsibility. I always had enough on my plate as it was.
I was the other man in the family, so everyone thought it best if I were Billy's main care-taker. Not that he really needed my help or anything. He learned how to accomodate his lifestyle change a lot quicker than the rest of us. He would always have to remind us to leave pathways clear, turn off all the fans in the house, etc. He did make sure though, that he raised us the best that he could. The manners thing, being caring and all. He also made sure that he taught me the more manly things in life...like how to fish the old-fashioned way, how to fix our plumbing, how to change the car's oil...of course he didn't really know as much about vehicles as he let on. In the end, it was my choice to be so car-obsessed.
Sure, Billy knew which cars were which, how to do the average thing here or there...but I think that's all he ever wanted to know. The accident made him feel like cars were kind of this fear he didn't embrace, but one that he didn't want to know any more about.
On the other hand though, I was the exact opposite. I really was obsessed with finding out how they worked and what really caused my mom and dad's accident. It was my sick passion that made it possible at the age of nine, to build my own garage, for me to work on our trucks whenever need be...
I didn't know how long I was sitting there thinking of the past, but suddenly everyone was already filing out the door. I wiped my cheeks clean of any wetness, following behind my dad as he wheeled his way down the aisle. The rest of the evening continued on, seeing sad faces, hearing people blowing their noses, listening to the many stories about Harry Clearwater around the room. Everyone was meeting back at the tribal council building, where anything that was ever going on in La Push, ever happened at. I knew that the elder's had already performed their rituals, where Harry's ashes were scattered around the bonfire, the night before. I could smell all of the food that was surely lining the tables of the building. Amazingly, I wasn't feeling too hungry, so I told my dad 'bye', walking back down to our house so that I could go get ready for my next patrol sweep.
Tonight was my next night at Bella's and I wasn't going to be late for any reason.
I wasn't sure why I couldn't just fall asleep in my bed anymore. You'd think that with the lack of rest I get, that I could fall asleep standing up; but that's just not the case with me. I end up lying down and then staring out my window, worrying and oddly enough daydreaming about Bella.
Not that it's weird for me to think about her, well, all the time...I just wish I didn't lose sleep over it sometimes. I turned away from my window, thinking how nice it would be if I could watch over Bella in her sleep. I'd seen it before- her asleep. She really did look like a porcelain doll wrapped up in a sea of sheets. Her hair was a pretty brown, not quite dark enough to be considered dark brown, so it made her pale complexion that more pronounced. She looked like an angel, honestly.
I could feel my eyelids start to close, when suddenly our phone rang. 'Well, this is unusual,' I thought, as I tried to see what my alarm clock read. 2:47. AM? It had to be, it was dark as night outside. I couldn't hear anything but nocturnal animals outside in our yard. The phone rang again and this time, I hopped up and ran into our kitchen, to grab it off of the wall. I rubbed my sore eyes, barely mumbling a 'hello?' into the receiver.
"Hello? Jake is that you?" I heard a quiet voice ask. Speak of the angel and she shall call! But what on Earth could she want at this time of night. My heart started pacing faster at the thoughts that ran through my head.
"Bella? What are ya-what-where...why are you calling so late?" I stumbled, exhausted. I thought I heard her giggle for a brief second, but that wasn't it...that couldn't have been it. I shook my head, trying to get it right.
"Sorry I woke you up. I just...I wanted to um, talk to you, I guess?" she said, sounding slightly embarassed at her late-night call.
"Okay, what's up? Is something wrong, or are you just calling to, uh, shoot the breeze?" I asked, smiling at the last part. I knew that no matter how trivial something could sound, it would sound like the written word coming out of Bella's mouth.
"I don't really know. I couldn't go to sleep and I tried really hard to, but it wouldn't work and now I just...I don't know. Do you think..." she spoke quickly, but then her sentence trailed off. I raised my eyebrows at what she was trying to ask me.
"What do you need?" I asked softly, leaning up against the wall.
"Well, I just wanted to see if maybe you could come over. Just so I have someone to talk to, you know. Maybe we could go for a walk?" she hinted, sounding very shy all of the sudden. My heart started to beat even fast than I thought possible. Was she serious?
"Yeah, I suppose I can. Why do you want to talk a walk though? It's not really the best time to be doing that, especially given the circumstances." I answered, scratching my head with my free hand. She sighed into the phone. Having her voice so seemingly close to me, was doing nothing for my nerves.
"You'll be there with me. I know you'll keep me safe," I could hear her smile into the phone. My heart felt lighter than air at these words. However true we both knew they were, it still sounded amazing coming from her. I got off of the phone, practically flying over to the Swan residence. Waiting for me outside her window, was Bella. After changing back to human-form, I jogged over to her. She shouldn't have already been outside- that was definitely not safe. I frowned down at her.
"What the hell are you doing out here already, Bells? You know it's too dangerous to be out at night by yourself!" I hissed, making sure to not wake up Charlie, inside. She smiled, shaking her head and took my hand in hers. Now this was really weird.
"I'm sorry Jake. I got a little antsy, waiting. But I did want to show you something, something in the woods. You won't believe it!" she laughed, pulling at me to walk with her. I stopped in mid-step, pulling her back towards me.
"BELLA, what in the HELL, man? What's up with you tonight?" I yelled, suddenly feeling anxiety from the odd behavior. She stuck her bottom lip out, as if to pout like a little girl. I was perplexed. She yanked at my arm, me begrudgingly following her into the outer part of the forest. I had a very bad feeling about this.
We kept walking, until there was a little clearing of ground. 'This was where we'd followed the second female's scent to. It ended right here in this same clearing. Did she know about this place already? If so, this may hold a new meaning,' I mused. The moon shone down on us, lighting up our facial features. I glanced down at Bella's face, shocked at the way the light made her face look like it was glowing. It was so surreal to see her standing there, in her long nightgown, so close.
'A nightgown? What are we, in the 1950's?' I thought, remembering how Bella was in a t-shirt and some sweatpants the last time I saw her asleep. 'And now she's dragged me to this spot, to stand here and what? Stare out into space?' I wondered, noticing how she kept glancing around the clearing, as if looking for something.
"Alright now, what did you want to show me, Bells? Because no offense, but I am completely exhauste-"
"SHHH!" she hushed me, putting her finger to my mouth. My lips burned at her small touch. I looked at her curiously.
"This is where he'll be!" she said, almost giddy with excitement. I could feel the hair stand up on the back of my neck, at these words. My stomach dropped down further in my gut, as if something punched me. 'What the hell is going on here? Why is Bella acting like this and further more- who is she talking about?' I thought, grabbing her hand with my trembling one. We needed to get out of here before something happened. She yanked her arm as hard as she could, causing her to stumble backwards. When I went to bend down to help her back up, she scooted back from me, avoiding my grasp.
"C'mon Bells! It's not safe here! We have to get you home before-"
"Bella. Bella, you need to get away from him. Jacob Black is not to be trusted by us." I heard a soft voice coming from somewhere to the left of us. It was definitely a guy's voice, but I couldn't quite figure out who it was. But as I watched Bella's face light up suddenly, then harden after the instructions, I knew immediately. It was her leech lover, Cullen. Confused and ready to fight, I turned sharply to my left, searching for him in the darkness. All I saw besides Bella and I was the looming darkness that seemed to shroud around our clearing. She looked up at me from the ground, with nothing but pure hatred in her eyes. I gasped at her, still not understanding what was happening.
"Get over here and fight, you bastard! You dead son of a bitch! You better not touch her, get near her or even look at her or so help me GOD you will be a pile of burnt ashes in a matter of minutes!" I screamed, moving to the other side of the clearing, keeping away from Bella as I went to phase.
"NO! Don't you dare say that, Jacob! I hate you! I could never ever be with you! Edward is the one that I will always love, not you. Never you! I never want to see you again, you stupid beast!" Bella roared from the spot I left her. I reached out to pull Bella near me...her face...it had changed in an instant. Suddenly she was paler than pale. With big red-ringed eyes and her teeth bared. I jolted to my right, seeing that bloodsucking leech run past. Suddenly, I was in wolf-form, getting ready to launch myself at him, but got knocked to my side, unknowingly....
"Jacob, you need to wake up. NOW." the bloodsucker said, my thoughts starting to swirl around me.
My eyes flashed open, peering out into the darkness. It was only a dream...right?
'Jacob. You need to get home. You need sleep.' I heard Sam's voice in my head. I looked up, but I was no longer looking at the underside of trees, but at the open sky. There was a house to my right, as well as another shadow that was the same size as mine.
I felt a cold muzzle nudging me to get up. I turned to see Sam, who was sitting back on his haunches, waiting for me to wake up. As if to answer the question I'm sure he saw floating along in my head, 'Yes Jake, it was just a dream. And yeah, a creepy one at that. But you need sleep. We can't have you falling asleep on the job, man.' he thought, looking up towards the house. I lowered my head, ashamed and enraged all at once, at myself. How could I just fall asleep trying to protect Bella? When was the last time I had any decent sleep? Why did we still need sleep, with these heightened-sensed bodies of ours? I cussed in my mind, and listened to Sam's answer.
The next morning melted from underneath the quick-paced evening before it. I jumped at the sound of our phone ringing in the kitchen. Deja vu. I heard my Dad wheel to the phone before I could bring myself to get out of bed. He answered it cheerfully. I could hear Bella's voice on the other end, asking for me. I blanched, not sure if I was just reliving the nightmare I had before or not. He called for me to pick up the phone.
I obeyed and walked slowly into the kitchen, curiously. My answer was even slower coming out of my mouth.
"Hello?"
"Hey Jake. How's it going?" she asked, sounding a little unnerved. Man, she has no idea.
"It's going, I guess. Is something up?" I asked, remembering today was Saturday, so she had no need to be up this early. I heard her muttering to herself, something about 'you could say that.'
"Well, uh, you think you can come over? I mean, it doesn't have to be right now or anything, but I think-"
"There's nothing you need to show me, right?" I quickly asked.
"Uh, well, um....no. But I mean, I know it's early, but if you could just come over, I'm kinda out of it right now, so I dunno. I don't really want to talk about it over the phone." she whispered the last part, sounding slightly embarassed leaving me once again confused.
"Okay, just let me grab something to eat first. Then I'll be right over...But you're sure you're okay, right?" I asked, making sure.
"Yeah, I'm okay," she said. I got off the phone with her, made a quick bowl of cereal, gulped it down and practically ran out the door.
Once I got back over to her place, I noticed right away that there was something going on. No, it wasn't like the nightmare I had...she had something she wanted to tell me. Something that seemed important. I watched as Bella smoothed out her shirt over her sides, squeezing herself together. Hmm. She tilted her head towards their living room, for us to go sit down.
"Ladies first," I said, following behind her.
"You looked a little freaked out, Jake," Bella observed, twisting her hair into a ponytail.
"Not trying to be. I just had a weird dream last night," I muttered, running my hand through my hair. Bella's eyes widened while her mouth dropped open.
"What?" I asked.
"That's just...crazy. I had this...horrible dream last night and everything...It really freaked me out. That's what I wanted to talk to you about." She sat closer towards the edge of her seat.
"What did you dream?" I asked.
"I was in the forest, chasing after something. I don't know what it was, or why I was chasing it. But I think you were following with me. Running next to me. Then I turned a corner, where there was this weird clearing. Whatever it was that I was chasing, I think it was on the other side, but I couldn't see it. You turned away from me then, not wanting to go any further. I kept asking you 'What's wrong Jake, why won't you help me?'. You looked at me like...like you hated me or something. You said I was stupid...and that you were tired of following me...that I hurt you. Then you walked away from me. It was like I was stuck there or something. I couldn't move...I didn't want to." she finished, her eyes welling up with tears she didn't want me to see.
She quickly rubbed her eyes like she was fighting back a yawn. I sat there in silence, a little creeped out by how in sync our dreams were...but also in awe of how much I really must mean to her. If it weren't the case, then she wouldn't be having these weird dreams. Bella leaned her head on my shoulder, sighing in what sounded like contentment.
"Ha, shows you how much you know," I said, shaking my head. She looked at me quizically. "I wouldn't just leave you in a forest by yourself to work out all of your problems on your own. Only a true bastard would do something like that," I answered, able to see that my words cut her more than soothed her. We sat in silence for a minute, her twisting her hands as she smiled at me suddenly.
"So, what kind of freaky dream did you have?" she asked, pulling us back against the couch. We were both reveling in the closeness of each other for a second longer than we should have I noticed, when Bella started blushing. "Trust me Bells, you don't want to know."
"I do...trust you, that is. I'll take your word for it," she said, squeezing my hand in hers.
Just as it should be, I thought, as I looked up at the ceiling.