Author's Note: So effing sorry for the very long wait for the update. I really need to make it a habit to write down my ideas as soon as possible because I forget about it. I still really love this story and I am committed to finishing it. THANK YOU SO MUCH for the wonderful reviews that I get in my email. I can't thank you enough for following this story all this time. You guys are awesome and I'm so happy that you like this little story. Thanks everyone! I hope you like this update. :)
The smell of bacon in the air woke Jacob up the next morning. He quickly glanced at the bedside clock. It was 7:10 AM. He quickly jumped out of bed. Shit, he thought. He was supposed to meet with Leah and Seth this morning. She was going to give him crap about it. One time he was five minutes late, she wouldn't stop yapping about how incredibly inconsiderate he was. Since then, he told her to not wait for him if he didn't arrive within five minutes.
He headed to the bathroom to answer the nature's call.
After getting dressed, he headed downstairs. As he descended, he smelled something else: eggs, sausages, pancakes. He had lived here long enough to know that it was all Esme's doing. Alice was not much of a cook and Rosalie, although a better cook than Esme, would never voluntarily cook for him at any given day.
His stomach grumbled. He completely changed his mind about meeting with his friends and decided to fill his starved stomach with some real human food. He took two steps at a time to get downstairs quicker. Rosalie and Nessie were gathered at the table outside the patio in the back of the house. Rosalie was taking pictures of Nessie while the little girl made faces. Their laughter filled the morning air. Jacob couldn't help but smile.
Upon seeing him, Rosalie's perfect face glowered at him. Great, he thought. My day is heading in the right direction!
"Morning!" he greeted. Nessie's face lit up and tapped the seat next to her, inviting him.
Emerging from the house with a hot plate of hash brown, Alice acknowledged him. "Hey there! Go grab a seat! Rosalie cooked breakfast!" she enthusiastically announced.
He stopped dead at tracks and turned his head towards her. "Wait… did you just say Rosalie cooked breakfast?"
"Uh-huh!" She said as she disappeared towards the kitchen to grab him a plate.
He turned his gaze into Rosalie, whose expression hadn't changed a bit. "Is it true, blondie? You cooked all these?" he asked as he grabbed a seat next to Nessie.
She answered him with a sharp glare.
Alice came back with a plate, glass and silverware. "Bon appétit!" She said and gracefully exited.
"Thanks! So, blondie, what's the catch this time? What's all these?" He stuffed his plate with hash brown, eggs and bacon. "Are you trying to impress me?"
"Impress you? Nessie was hungry so naturally, I cooked, genius." Rosalie retorted.
"But you cooked for more than one person. You don't think Nessie is going to finish all these, do you? That means you were also thinking of me." He replied. "Well, you're sweet." He wanted to see how far he could push her this time. Probably not a good idea, he thought, but he could not resist.
"Of course I am. In fact, I grabbed a special breakfast just for you. Stay here. You're gonna love this. " She went in the kitchen, opened the cabinet and grabbed a big bag of something. She hid the bag behind her at first as she approached him. Without any warning, she poured the content of the bag all over his plate.
It didn't take him long to realize that it was a 50-lb bag of dog food and it was splattered all over him. "What the…" was all he could say.
When she emptied the contents, she threw the sack over her shoulder. "Oops. I think I poured too much. You wouldn't want to finish it all at once now, would you?" She said in fake concern.
Damn sneaky bloodsucker, he thought. He had to admit, he didn't see that one coming.
He smiled snarkily, and looked up at her. "Nice one, Barbie." He said, as he removed the pieces off of his shirt and jeans. "Remind me to make your day miserable."
As much as it ruined his breakfast, it amused him. She was getting creative.
"You already did that the minute I saw your putrid face."
"That's a great start. Expect the worst then."
Nessie's chuckle broke the tension between them.
Alice sighed at the sight. "Rose, will you clean that up?"
"No Alice. The doggie will clean that." She motioned to him.
"Sorry Jake. I'll get you another plate." Alice offered.
He saw Rosalie with a smug look on her face. You won this time, leech. But you'll definitely pay for this.
After he finished breakfast (with a smell of dog food on his clothes), Jacob informed Nessie that they would go visit Charlie. She got all excited. Charlie was very fond of her. He was really glad that Charlie was providing some sort of normalcy in her life.
He showered to get rid of that smell. He thought that prank was funny. She remembered to piss me off while grocery shopping. For some strange reason, that made him smile.
He got dressed afterwards and found Nessie waiting for him in the living room. "You ready, sunshine?"
"Yes!" She responded enthusiastically. He smiled, grabbed the keys, and took her hand.
He was about to open the door when Rosalie called out. "Where are you going, Nessie?"
Nessie couldn't respond immediately, so he turned around and replied. "I'll take her to Charlie's house. Not that it's any of your business."
"I'm going with you," she replied without missing a beat. She turned around, about to head upstairs.
"Say what again?" He could not believe what he just heard. She never wanted to go to Charlie's house, as far he was concerned.
She turned around and faced him again. "Did I freaking stutter? I said I'm going with you."
"Why would you?"
"Why wouldn't I?"
"Because you don't like Charlie, because you don't like going to any human's house, because… don't you have better things to do?"
She rolled her eyes impatiently. "You talk too much." Before heading upstairs, she spoke again, "don't you dare leave without me. I can catch you, even in high heels."
Jacob exhaled heavily and shook his head. "Women," he mumbled.
In less than five minutes, she came back downstairs, wearing a blue dress that he bet was worth more than their house in La Push.
He swallowed hard. He had to remind himself to blink. She looked perfect. Damn it. She's killing me. This leech is killing me.
Nessie distracted his thoughts. "Aunt Rosalie, you are so beautiful!" She beamed.
Rosalie smiled as she approached her. "Thanks honey. You look like a perfect angel yourself."
Jacob could not hide his awe, but quickly regained his composure. "Just so you know, we're heading to Charlie's house, not to America's Next Top Model audition."
Rosalie scowled at him. "What's your point?"
"Oh, I'm just saying you're…." –stunning, he wanted to say- "a little bit overdressed."
Rosalie scoffed. "What gives you the right to comment on how I should dress?"
"Nothing." Jacob shook his head. "But next time, I'm wearing my tuxedo."
Rosalie just scowled at him. "Very funny." She grabbed her keys in a flash and headed towards the door. "Let's go."
Jacob walked after her. "I don't think so. Let me drive."
Rosalie kept walking to the garage. "Great. You drive your car, and I drive mine with Nessie. Problem solved."
Jacob snatched the key out of her quickly. "Problem not solved. You are riding with me and Nessie if you want to go with us."
Rosalie smiled at him sarcastically. "Who says I have to do as you say?"
"I do. You know Nessie wouldn't want to see us in separate cars. She'll think we're fighting and it'll upset her. So ride with me and stop complaining, princess."
Rosalie glared at him for a moment before she spoke. "Fine. But I'm not riding in your car. We're using my car."
Jacob was glad he won. "Cool!" He went into the garage, followed by the girls and pressed the remote control.
"You are not driving my car! Nobody drives my car but me," Rosalie protested.
Without looking at her, he opened the door to the driver's seat. "Will it kill you to sit on the passenger seat for once?" With that, he slid in the car and started the engine.
Nessie quickly got in the back seat, while Rosalie followed. "Fine. I'll seat with Nessie in the back."
Jacob turned around to face Nessie. "Nessie, honey, your Aunt Rosalie doesn't want to sit next to me. She wants to make me look like a chauffeur. Am I a chauffeur, Nessie?"
Nessie shook her head innocently and stared at Rosalie.
Rosalie growled and opened the front door.
Jacob smiled. "That's more like it."
"Wear your seatbelt." Jacob ordered when they got out on the freeway.
"Very funny, pup."
"Oh, I'm not concerned about your well-being. I just don't want cops pulling me over for that. You could get in trouble because I'm a minor." He reasoned while trying not to laugh.
"Stupid." She mumbled and obliged.
It was a sunny day at Forks. The sunlight struck Rosalie's bare arm and it sparkled like a million tiny broken glasses.
Jacob caught a sight of it and couldn't believe what he saw. He had slightly lost his concentration on the road. He ended up driving on two lanes. They got honks from other drivers.
"Watch the road, mutt! You're gonna kill people!" Rosalie scolded him. Jacob put his attention back on the road and briefly glanced on the spot on Rosalie's arm that was sparkling.
He scoffed and mumbled, "wow."
Rosalie followed his eyes and quickly realized what was going on. She quickly hid her arm away from the sunlight. Stupid, she said to herself. Why didn't I check the weather today?
"Told you. You shouldn't have come out."
"You did not tell me it was going to be sunny!"
"I didn't know. And even if I knew," he let himself steal a quick glance from her, "I still wouldn't have told you."
"Jerk." She mumbled as she crossed her arms.
"If it makes you feel better, sparkling looks good on you. Hell, I wish I sparkled." He couldn't let but laugh at his own joke.
Rosalie did not find it slightly amusing. "For your sake, will you please shut up?"
"As you wish." Jacob turned on the radio. A familiar tune filled the air.
He let out a half-smile. "The Beatles, huh?"
Rosalie didn't respond so he continued. "I wouldn't have guessed."
"What were you expecting, Mozart?"
Jacob shrugged. "Yeah, considering you are about his age."
Rosalie smacked him on his arm. And she realized that she didn't smack him angrily; she smacked him a playful way, the way she did when Emmett teased her.
"Hey leech, that hurt!" Jacob jokingly said.
"I'm glad."
They heard giggling in the back. Nessie was watching them the entire time.
"Sorry, Nes. Aunt Rose is a little touchy when it comes to age."
"Aunt Rose is forever eighteen, right aunt?"
Rosalie turned around. "That's right baby." She gave Jacob a sharp gaze before turning her eyes on the road.
Silence filled the air for awhile. They just listened to the music quietly. Finally, Jacob spoke.
"Can I ask you a personal question?" Jacob said.
Rosalie glared at him, raising her left eyebrow and looked away.
"How old are you, really?" He continued.
"You have a lot of nerve to ask me that. I'm impressed." She said sarcastically.
"I don't see anything wrong with my question."
Rosalie waited for a few moments before she responded. "First of all, you never ask a girl her age."
"Give me a break. You're a vampire. Age means nothing to you."
"Second of all, you are not allowed to ask me personal questions."
"Why not? We're gonna be stuck with each other for a very long time. We can't be fighting all the time."
"Look, I don't trust you. You understand?" Rosalie said harshly.
"Try. Just because we're natural enemies, doesn't mean you can't trust me. I can be a friend to you." He didn't know why he was saying this, but he felt like it was the right time. "I mean, I don't see why we can't be friends, besides the obvious."
Rosalie scoffed. "I don't need your friendship, Jacob Black."
"Well," he said, turning left towards Charlie's house. "Can I change your mind?"
When Rosalie didn't reply, he spoke again. "It's okay. You don't have to answer now. But just so we're clear," he said as he drove to the front of the house, "this is a limited-time offer." He winked at her and looked at Nessie at the rearview mirror, giving him thumbs up.
