Imprinting on You
Disclaimer: I do not own Stephanie Meyer's books.
"Oh shut it, Embry." I glowered at him; tossing a stick at his head for the jibe he called me. He caught it and snapped it in two.
We (Sam, Embry, Paul, Jared, Quil and I) were sitting at the tree line, a few feet from the campfire. The smoke was smothering; I couldn't smell anything very well. I wished Jared had cut better wood. It got really quiet for a few minutes, before Quil spoke up.
"So how's Bella doing?" I flinched, and looked away.
"Slowly getting back to normal. The bloodsucker's helping her along." I muttered, looking away. Bella's change was still tender. Quil nodded, and Sam quickly changed the subject.
"How about we go cliff diving? School's out, lets have some fun." He said, and Paul grinned.
"Yeah, that sounds like a lot of fun. Bet you can't deal with the top, Jake." He taunted, they were all trying to erase Quil's question. Cliff diving did sound pretty fun…
"All right, let's go! Just got to tell Billy first." The boys were hooting with laughter and excitement, following me as I went to go find Billy. He was talking to someone by the fire, and my smell was massacred by the smoke.
"Hey Billy we're gonna go cliff diving alright?" I said, and Billy turned from the woman he was talking with.
"Can you take James with you?" He asked, gesturing behind me a little.
"Sure, where is…he…?" I turned around, and suddenly I couldn't breathe. 'James' wasn't a boy… 'James' was a girl. She was blushing heavily, and definitely wasn't the bloodsucker's sister (Rosalie, was it?), but was she the prettiest thing. She was filling my senses and suddenly I couldn't see or hear anything else. I felt Embry poke me in the spine, right between my shoulder blades and I came back to life.
"Jacob, this is James. James, this is Jacob." Billy introduced us.
"What's up? You coming cliff diving?" I asked easily, trying to keep the surprise and awe out of y voice.
"Oh? Honey isn't that what you and Ariel use to do?" James' mom chirped, and James bit her lip, embarrassed as she nodded. She looked so cute then, I had to freeze my face to keep from grinning.
"Come on, then!" I put my arm loosely around shoulders on a whim and led her towards a truck.
On the way to the cliff, I found it rather hard to concentrate on carrying a conversation with my friends with…James in the truck. She looked so shy; like she was scared she'd say the wrong thing right off the bat. I kept glancing at her every few minutes, wanting to hold her right there and reassure her she'd be fine. But I didn't, because that would probably have freaked her out even more.
We finally did reach the cliff, and she had stayed in her spot for the entire trip, no thanks to her scent. It was confusingly sweet: Vanilla and cinnamon with a hint of smoke. Wait, the smoke part was probably not naturally part of her smell. I hopped out after the rest of the boys. She stumbled, but caught herself before she actually got around to the falling part.
"Are you ok?" I asked, her, trying as hard as I could not to sweep her up and take her home before could actually hurt herself. She nodded, and her blushing appeared again. I felt a glow erupt in my chest at the sight. I followed the guys quickly so she wouldn't see the grin that spread across my face.
We began climbing beside the trail, pulling ourselves up by branches, stones and trees. I stayed closer to the trail than the others, where Sam and James were, keeping a silent eye on her every few moments. Sam almost caught me a couple times, I was sure.
We reached the middle, where the ledge was abandoned. I suddenly had a thought. What if James couldn't jump from the top? What if she hurt herself? I saw her surprise at the height. I stopped and the others paused, looking at me. James was looking around.
"What's the matter Jacob?" Sam asked, and my sight strayed over to James.
'What about James? She won't be able to jump from up there; she's not built like us.' I thought, and Paul rolled his eyes.
"Oh come on, if she can't handle it, she doesn't have to jump!" he said.
"If I can't handle what?" she asked, interested now.
"Nothing." Paul said, but she put her hands on her hips and I fought a grin down. She was stubborn.
"I think I know what a can and can't handle." She said, and Paul turned to glare at her.
"You can't jump from the top and now you're got Jacob all flustered with it!" He shot, and I shot a glare his way before turning back to James, half expecting her to blush and be quiet.
"So you think that just because I'm a girl I can't jump from the top?" She glared, and I blinked. Somehow it made her eyes stand out when she glared.
"No, I know you wouldn't be able too. No girl has ever jumped from the top." he shot, and she uncrossed her arms, and began climbing the trail again.
"Where're you going?" I called after her, fighting worry out of my voice. She didn't answer.
Sam dashed after her, and stood in front of her, putting his hands on her shoulders. I felt jealousy shoot through my body like electricity, head to foot.
"You can't jump from the top. It's too high for you" He said, and her glare intensified. She shoved his hands off, and I felt a wave of relief.
"Watch me." She spat. Relief gone, Worry back.
She stood at the edge, staring over it.
"Scared?" Paul asked, grinning behind her back. She tensed, and turned around, taking a few steps towards him.
"You are? Pity, Paul, you gave me trouble about being scared." She spat.
She took off her out shirt, and her white muscle shirt practically made her glow.
"You don't have to do this, James. You don't have to prove anything." I told her, not bothering to keep the gentleness of my voice. She held gaze with me and her eyes softened, but then her eyes traveled to Jared and Paul. They hardened again, and she turned and ran, jumping off the cliff.
"JAMES!" I yelled, dashing to the edge and looking over it. She was looking up, but was rapidly melting into the darkness.
I took my shirt off, jumping after her. I heard her hit the water, and her gasps. The water crowded me, and I kicked my legs, breaking the surface. She was a few feet away from me, eyes closed, coughing and spluttering while trying to stay above water. I panicked, and swam closer. I wrapped my arm around her waist, and began pulling her towards shore. She kept her head up, still spluttering. Her eyes were still clamped shut, and she was shaking violently with every cough and gasp. When the water reached my waist she wasn't getting any better. I wasn't thinking straight, I didn't think about anything but getting James to the grass, her breathing. I picked her up, one hand under her neck and the other under her knees. I pulled her close, and got out of the water quickly, depositing her on her side so she didn't choke on her own saliva.
"James? James?" I asked her gently, kneeling by her head. She raised her hand, her pointer finger telling me to wait a minute. I heard splashes, the boys had jumped.
Sam appeared first, Embry and Quil behind him. Sam and Embry crouched at her feet, and Quil came round next to me.
"You ok?"Quil asked her as Paul and Jared came over, looking smug.
"Told you she couldn't handle it." Paul jeered, and I punched him. She stopped coughing, and cleared her throat, rolling onto her back and pushing her elbows into the grass, trying to sit up. She was shaking a little, but it didn't look as though she noticed it, either that or she didn't care.
I put an arm behind her and helped her sit up slowly. Sam grinned a little at her.
"You going to die on us?" He asked, and a goofy smile slid onto her face.
"Can we do that again?" She asked, and the boys roared with laughter. Paul and Jared, however, looked disappointed and disgruntled.
"Come on, Cliff girl!" I pulled her up, and she followed me over to the trail again, giggling slightly. It was a beautiful sound.
"Don't drown." I teased her, getting ready to jump. She snorted and shoved me, making me fall over the edge. I grabbed her wrist, pulling her over with me.
'Having fun, Jacob?' Sam's voice asked me, as she yelped and grabbed a hold of my neck, clutching me. I laughed and positioned us so our feet would hit the water first.
'You looked awfully comfortable as you went over.' Embry taunted. I paid no attention to them, James was still squealing as we hit the water. She let go of me and I saw her figure heading for the surface. I followed, and she was already swimming towards the grass. She flopped down on it, and I followed, lying down next to her.
"You evil, evil boy." She said, grinning.
"All work and no fun makes Jacob a very bored boy." I said, and she laughed again, filling my hearing with it.
We were once again joined by the rest of the boys.
"Tired yet?" Embry asked, sitting down on her other side.
"Hah! That was funny Embry." She said, and put her arms behind her head, looking up at the moon. It made her face glow a little.
"I wonder what…time…it…is…" she paused, before immediately taking her eyes out from behind her head.
"Shit!" She tore the watch from her arm and inspected it.
"Great, now I'm a watch-murderer!" she groaned, and began putting the saturated leather strap back on.
I grabbed her hand gently and began turning it around. It wasn't a fancy watch; it was pretty old, in fact.
"I'll get you a new one." I said, and her face once again lit up bright red.
"Err…I can get one. No big." She was bouncing over her words.
"Break it up lovebirds." Paul said and she stood, and kicked him.
"Don't start with me, Paula." She said the last word slowly, and I should have seen it coming.
Paul angrily reached over, grabbed her hand and wrenched her forward with everything he had, flinging her over the lake. I leapt at him, snarling. How dare he? How dare he do anything to her?! Embry tugged me off him, and held me back. Jared looked shocked as Sam started shouting at Paul. I struggled against Embry's grip, trying to rip Paul's face off.
Quil stepped in front of me.
"Jacob, get a grip! If you want to do something, start waiting for James. Paul really used his strength, and if I were her, I'd want some help." He said, and I stopped fighting. Embry let me go, and I dashed off to the edge of the water, searching the dark for her. Her scent was waterlogged now, making it even more pronounced.
I paced the water's edge, looking for any sign of movement. What if she banged her head? What if she was drowning as I just looked after her like an idiot? What if-
"If she doesn't show in 5 minutes, we'll go in after her." Quil promised, and I nodded quickly, never looking away from the water. 2 minutes passed…4 minutes…I was about to go in after her when I saw her form, coming closer. I dashed out into the water, and the cold fluid splashed against my now-warm legs.
I scooped up her up, and she was shaking from the cold; her body had become for adjusted to the warm air before Paul threw her. My body stiffened at the thought of his name, but then I noticed a different smell; a coppery sour smell. Blood. I looked down, and noticed a cut on her arm. It was bleeding heavily. My eyes narrowed. Paul was dead meat when I got my hands on that son of a gun.
'Quil, Embry, she's bleeding, but don't point it out, I have a feeling she won't take it well.' I thought, and I heard them respond.
'Ok.'
'You got it.'
"Jacob…I can walk." She murmured, but I didn't put her down. I clamped my hand around her cut, trying to keep as much of the red substance hidden as possible. I splashed a little as I hurried out of the water, holding her close. She got hurt. How could I let that happen? I should have seen it coming, I should have protected her from Paul's rage. I felt my eyes sting a little, but I didn't cry.
I walked past Paul, Jared and Sam, and sat against a tree, positioning her in my lap, my hand still clamped around her arm.
Quil and Embry followed, their eyes determined to not look at my hand on her arm.
"You ok? I have enough evidence from tonight to suggest that your medical bill is a mile long." Quil joked feebly, and I felt her mouth move into a grin.
"Try a kilometre." She joked back.
'Sam, Sam we have to get her to a hospital. She's hurt, Sam stop yelling and get over here!' I was practically yelling in my mind, and soon Sam was jogging over, Jared behind him and Paul a few feet behind.
"Jacob, could you loosen your grip? You're hurting me." James whispered, trying to look up at me, but I kept her head tucked under my chin and didn't loosen my grip. I felt her blood threatening to seep between my fingers, so I tried to clamp them together tighter.
"Everything ok?" Sam stood in front of us, and then it happened. "What?" She asked.
The blood made it through my fingers, down my hand and onto her arm. As it rolled down her skin, she looked over at it. So did the boys. In a split second she was struggling wildly, trying to get free.
"James, stop! Calm down! You'll make it worse!" Embry yelled. "Quil, get our shirts from the cliff. Embry, get the truck and bring it to the closest possible point to here." Sam instructed immediately, and I pressed the struggling James closer to me, trying to keep her as still as possible.
"James, I need to you to calm down, alright? You're pumping more blood, and loosing it as you fight." Sam said. Jared knelt down next to Sam, and began talking to James.
"James I am so sorry. I never meant for you to get in a fight with Paul." He told her, but she didn't stop.
"Jared, take her-" No. Not a chance. No one but me was going to be taking her anywhere. I growled, a ferocious growl that grew and dropped in volume and made my chest shake.
"No." I growled.
James stopped fighting and went limp, pressing her face into my neck, which succeeded in making me growl more protectively. Sam stopped, and put his hands up, palms facing me.
"Alright Jacob, calm down. Jared, as soon as we get to the hospital, go to Billy and James' mother with Paul, tell them what happened." He said, and I stopped growling, but held her more strongly.
"No hospital…" James said quietly, and I felt a tear of regret rip at my heart. I would never make her do something she didn't want to do, but I didn't want her to be hurting.
"Please cooperate, sweetheart, please." I whispered into her ear, my voice was racked with worry and it went deep as I tried not to cry when I realized she was loosing too much blood and slowly weakening.
She groaned again as I stood, repositioning her. Sam stood too, and reached for her wrist. I growled, and he stopped, looking at me.
"Jacob, I'm just testing her pulse." He said, and slowly took a hold of her wrist. I knew I was being silly, and that Sam wasn't going to hurt her, but damn, I didn't want anyone touching her.
"She's got a pretty strong pulse, but she needs that arm of hers taken care off. Come on, no time to lose." He started off in a run, and I followed. She leaned into me, her forehead pressed against my neck.
I caught up with Sam, and heard Jared and Paul behind me as we exploded into a clearing, where the truck was parked by a road. I dashed over to it, and Embry opened the front passenger door, tucking her feet in so they wouldn't get caught in the door. She pulled her head away and leaned back in my arms to look up at me as Sam climbed behind the wheel. Paul, Embry, Jared and Quil were in the back with the pile of dry t-shirts.
"Jacob?" She whispered, her face was pale. That scared me more that anything, and she saw it.
"Yes?" I asked, and Sam bolted down the road, making Embry grab a hold of the side of the box.
She smiled at me.
"Tell my mom not to worry, ok?" She whispered, and I felt my eyes widen.
"No, you're going to be ok, you are, really!" I protested, and she smiled again.
"I know I'm going to be, Jacob, you're watching out for me." She leaned against me again, and I used the hand that wasn't compressing her cut to smooth her hair back.
'How's her pulse?' Sam's voice asked, and I moved my hand down to her wrist, feeling her pulse. It was slower than it was supposed to be.
'Still there, but I think it's slower than before.'
'Make sure she doesn't fall asleep, that could be rather bad.'
'Gotcha.'
"James?" She leaned back so she was supported by my arm. "Do you have any brothers or sisters?" I asked the first question that came to mind.
"Adder is my older brother…he's away in college…" She said slowly and with an effort.
"What college does he go to?" Sam asked, and she sighed like she was tired,
"Harvard…He's really smart…" The window between them and the cab slid open, and Embry stuck his head in.
"How's she?" She turned his head to him and her smile was weak.
"I'm all good, Embry." She said quietly, and her eyelids drooped. I bounced her a little, panicked.
"You have to stay awake, James, you can't sleep." I told her urgently, and she forced her eyes open.
"I'm sorry; it's just so hard…" She watched as Jared's head poked through as Embry pulled out.
"Hey James. How are you feeling?" He asked, and she smiled at him.
"I'm fine. How's everyone back there?" She asked, and Jared grinned a little.
"Quil and Embry are worried, Paul's still sore from Sam yelling at him." He laughed and she blinked repeatedly.
"What's the matter?" Jared asked, concerned again.
"Jacob…everything's fading." Jared ducked out of sight again as Sam floored it.
"Stay awake, sweetheart, please, stay awake!" I said, and she continued blinking furiously.
"I'm…trying…" She gasped out, and Sam turned into the hospital parking lot, and I was out of the car before he had his hand off the gear shift.
Quil and Embry dashed after me, opening the doors as James groaned with pain as she was jostled.