I don't own Twilight. All Twilight goodness belongs to Stephenie Meyer.
I'm SO sorry for the lack of updates. I made this one long to make up for it.
As Alyssa predicted Skip was in the lobby when we got back. What she hadn't counted on was for him to be in a heated political debate with Maurice. To Alyssa's delight, as well as mine, there was no fatherly interrogation; just a simple "hey kids" before he was back to focusing on his debate. I walked her to the bottom of the stairs, not daring to walk her all the way to her room with Skip around. She was just about to go to her room when I found the courage to ask her out again.
"If you don't have plans tomorrow night do you want to watch a movie or something?"
"Really?" I don't understand why she always seems surprised when I ask her questions. "Yeah, sure. We can take our truck that way Judy can her car back."
With a surprisingly forward move from the shy beauty she stepped up onto the staircase until she was at eye level with me, turned around and kissed me. It was just as amazing as before, but I was acutely aware that her dad was on the other side of the room and was probably watching by now. I unwillingly pulled away and said goodnight. With a few shocked stares from the reception desk I said goodnight to Maurice and Skip on my way out to my apartment.
As planned we went to the movies the next night. Actually the movie was horrible but it was fun regardless. The night after that Alyssa showed me an amazing go-cart and putt-putt golf place. Those little cars were definitely not designed for werewolf comfort but seeing her smile at my attempts made it all the more fun. The night after our putt-putt adventure—the last night Alyssa was supposed to be in town—we decided to go out to dinner with Skip. I was willing to swing for a nice restaurant but Alyssa insisted that the pizza place from our first date would be perfect.
In the days since Alyssa and my first date Skip had been acting really odd around me. I chalked it up to a fatherly protective thing but I still wasn't at ease around him anymore. I had decided that I would have to tell Alyssa about the legends that night. It was my last chance and I couldn't let her leave town not knowing the truth. I was going to get through dinner and then ask her if she would go on a walk with me. I didn't like how rushed it all felt to me. I wanted to be able to explain everything and give her time to let it sink in but I just didn't have that luxury. I was more nervous than I had ever been in my life.
Dinner was awkward for the most part. Skip kept a cool parental façade on the entire time. You could tell that he wasn't quite comfortable with Alyssa and me blatantly holding hands throughout the night. I'm sure stupid grin that was plastered all over my face whenever I was with Alyssa wasn't helping with his icy disposition in the least either. I had a feeling that the only thing making the night tolerable for either of us was Alyssa's bubbling excitement. By the time we were done eating I was sure she would burst if she didn't get whatever big news she was withholding out.
"Okay, I can't take it! I have to tell you!"
"Finally, what's going on?"
"Well, Daddy and I were talking about our trip today." I couldn't stop my face from falling a little. The thought of not being able to see her ever day was killing me. Alyssa just squeezed my hand and kept talking. "And we decided to stay a few extra days." My head shot up to look at Skip for a confirmation. He just nodded.
"Really? How? Why?"
With a happy giggle "Yes really, my boxes are all packed at home and with gas prices as high as they are its actually cheaper to have Nana mail my things to Seattle. That saves us an extra two days of driving and one day of packing."
"That's incredible!" I couldn't stop myself. Before I could even think about it I had pulled Alyssa out of our booth and was swinging her into a hug. I got to keep my angel for another three days. Nothing could be better.
"Jake, can't breath." I put her back down and took my seat. After my little outburst Skip looked even less comfortable than he did before. Our uncomfortable dinner out was over around 8:30. Alyssa wanted to go out for ice cream but Skip wasn't exactly in the mood so we took him back to the inn and went off on our own.
"So, your dad was in a good mood tonight." I mentioned once we were at the ice cream parlor.
"I don't know what's wrong with him lately. He's been in a grumpy mood almost the whole time I've been here and tonight I asked if he wanted to go to dinner he was so excited. Then he's back to being a crab when he meets us in the lobby. I just don't get it."
I was pretty sure I was the reason for the sudden unhappiness in Skip. I felt bad for taking Alyssa away from her dad so much but it felt even worse to be separated from her. "Did you tell him that I was coming to dinner tonight?"
"I don't know. I just thought that was obvious. I like spending time with you Jacob and I'm am eighteen years old. My dad should be able to accept that I'm an adult and am going to be in relationships."
Relationship? I knew that's what I wanted more than anything but we hadn't discussed the issue yet. Did she think of me as her boyfriend? I hope so because if that was just a slip of the tongue it could very well kill me.
"Alyssa . . . is that what this is?"
"What are you talking about?" She looked confused; in her mini rant she hadn't even noticed what she said.
"Are we in a relationship?" She immediately turned bright red and started avoiding eye contact with me. I couldn't handle her shyness at the moment. I needed an answer. I reached across the small table we were sitting at and lifted her chin so she was looking at me. "Please answer."
"I don't know Jake; I've never done this before." There was a short silence and I could tell she was trying to figure out what words to use. "I really like spending time with you. You make me happy and you're easy to talk to." Her eyes and her voice dropped so low that if it weren't for my sensitive hearing I would have never been able to hear her. ". . . not to mention you're gorgeous." Then she looked back up at me while I was trying to hide my grin. "I guess I kinda thought that's what this was. A relationship I mean." She had a worried look on her face like she thought I was going to start laughing or something. The truth was I could have cried I was so happy.
"Alyssa. Can you look at me for a second?" She cautiously looked up from her ice cream to make eye contact with me. "I think you're amazing. You're smart, and funny, not to mention you're the most beautiful girl I've ever seen. I'd love nothing more than to be your boyfriend if you'll have me."
"Oh Jacob, of course I'll have you. What more could I ask for?" I couldn't even attempt to hold in all the happiness that I was feeling at that moment. I reached across the table gently holding Alyssa's face in my hands and kissed her. It only took a second for the normal spark that I felt when kissing her to grow to forest fire proportions and the kiss ended up being more passionate than any of the others we had shared before.
After we finished our completely inappropriate public display of affection we decided to walk for awhile. I was so incredibly happy that she felt the same way as I felt for her, even if there was no possible way that her feelings could be as strong as mine. Not yet at least.
"What am I going to do after you leave?"
"What do you mean?"
"Oh come on Alyssa. I can't exactly just sit around here missing my girlfriend while you go to school. I'll go crazy." She was quiet for quite some time while we continued to walk a round the populated sidewalks.
"Come with me."
"huh?"
"Don't just sit here. Come back with me. We're driving down anyways. There's enough room in the truck. You could go back home. What was your reservation called, La Pull?"
I just laughed, "La Push." Then I realized what she was saying. I pulled her away from my side and stepped in front of her so I could see her face. "You want me to go back to Washington with you?"
She was giving me her now infamous sheepish grin as she looked up at me. "It will give us a few more days together." God, I love this woman. She thought of everything.
"Yeah, you're right. I don't live that far from Seattle I can visit all the time and you could even come to La Push for a weekend or something." I was ecstatic. There was no possible way that this night could be better than it was right now. That concerned smirk was still on Alyssa's face. It was driving me nuts; I couldn't figure out what she was thinking to put the expression on her face. "What are thinking?"
"huh?" It was obvious I had pulled her out of her thoughts.
"What are you thinking about?"
"Oh, nothing."
"Come on Alyssa, you can tell me anything." She was hesitant but eventually decided to tell me.
"Why me? I'm nothing special Jake. I've never been the popular girl; I was never a cheerleader or prom queen. I'm the smart funny girl who was always friends with guys. I was never the girlfriend. I come here and meet you and I just don't get it. Why me?"
"I have never met anyone like you before in my life. You're the most beautiful person I have ever laid eyes on, inside and out. I don't know why you don't believe you're amazing but I'm going to dedicate every waking moment from this time forward to proving to you that you are every bit as miraculous as I know you are." She was crying about this time and I couldn't tell if they were happy or sad tears. "Alyssa, did I upset you? Are you okay?"
"Yeah, I'm fine. I just never imagined someone saying something like that to me. You're more than I deserve. Thank you Jacob."
"I seriously think you are crazy sometimes. You've got that all backwards." I kissed her on the forehead and pulled her back against my right side where I hoped she wouldn't mind staying forever.
We walked back to the truck in silence. We seemed to be mutually happy just to be enjoying each others company for the moment. By the time we made it back to the old flatbed I was in inner turmoil once again. Everything had gone amazingly well so far in the night and I wasn't sure if I wanted to risk ruining all of that with the legends in case she didn't take it well. Although if she did think they were interesting it would give her one extra night to ponder them before I dropped the bomb that they were all true. After much confusion I decided that I would leave it up to fait. If there was a clearly open way to transition into the conversation I would tell her the legends but if not I would hold them off until tomorrow.
We were almost all the way back to the inn before Alyssa spoke again.
"Jake?"
"Yeah?"
"You never actually answered my question." I couldn't for the life of me think of what question she was talking about. Had she asked something that I missed while I was thinking? Damn it Jake why can't you focus.
"What question was that?"
"Are you going to drive back to Washington with my dad and me?"
"Oh, that" We were pulling into the parking lot now and I was easing the truck into its usual spot. Once the car was stopped I turned so I could look at Alyssa. "I would love nothing better than to go back to Washington with you."
Pulling me into a hug her face lit up like the fourth of July. "Alright, I'll have to tell my dad about it in the morning . . . Are you sure you're ready to go home Jake? I don't want you to go just because of me if you're not ready."
Was I ready to go back home? There was so much back there that I didn't want to deal with, memories and people I didn't really want to face. Could I deal with all of the issues now that I had Alyssa? I knew that it wouldn't be easy and my guilt about Bella still bubbled in when I allowed myself to think about it but I was pretty sure that now that I had Alyssa in my life, and she was going to be close, there would be no better place for me to be then at home with my pack.
"I think I'm ready. I have to face the music sometime and I do miss my dad and friends a lot. Will you go with me when I go? I'm not sure how everyone will react to me anymore."
She looked nervous. "I don't know Jake. I'm not that great at first impressions and I might just make it worse for you."
"You can only help the situation. I promise. . . If you don't want to go I understand." I really wanted her to go with me. Her meeting the pack and my dad would be amazing. I knew that everyone was going to love her. Hell, the pack, pretty much knew her from how much I think about her when we run.
"If it'll help I'll go." Hopping out of the passenger side of the truck she looked over the hood to where I was standing waiting for her. "Do you want to borrow my phone?"
"For what?"
"To call your family, you know. Tell them you're coming home."
I felt somewhat stupid. Of course I would need to use a phone to call my family. How dumb do I have to be to forget most people don't have the same ability to talk to their family from thousands of miles away without a phone? "Maybe we should make sure all of this is okay with Skip before I call Billy."
"If you want, but I really don't think that he is going to mind." We were just about to walk into the lobby but she grabbed my arm to stop me. "I told you that Dad thinks you're a runaway right?"
"Yeah" I was starting to get nervous now. The subject hadn't really come up since I had told her I left because of Bella. It still wasn't my favorite topic of conversation and I was somewhat surprised that she was bringing it up.
"Well didn't you think it was kind of weird that he just accepted that and didn't try to send you back, or ask how old you are, or where you came from, or anything? I mean you don't look like you're young but if you're a runaway, you can't be more than seventeen, right?"
I couldn't look at her. She was right and she knew. I was just some stupid seventeen year old kid. "Yeah, I'm seventeen." I was a new seventeen at that, but I decided to leave that part out.
She grabbed my face with her little hands and forced me to look at her. "I don't care if you're a little younger than me, Jacob. That's fine with me. The reason I brought it up was more about my dad. He knew you were a runaway and didn't try forcing you to go home. When my dad was sixteen, he ran away from home. He didn't really want to but my mom's dad was really abusive. Him and my mom left and they were living wherever they could for a long time. After a few years they ended here and my mom opened the inn . . . My dad just didn't want to send you back to the same kind of situation or anything."
"I'm so sorry Alyssa. That's horrible."
A sweet smile crossed her face. "Jake, I wasn't even born yet. I think I'll be okay . . . My dad does like you Jake, I swear. He just doesn't want me to get hurt. I trust you; it's just going to take my dad some more time." I leaned down and stole a chaste kiss before I looked her directly in the eye and made a promise I would do anything to keep.
"Thank you for trusting me. I swear Ill do anything to keep your trust and to gain Skip's. If he needs time, I'll give it to him. Hell, I'm young I've got time.
The laugh I love so much told me that everything was going to work out in the end. After our informative talk about Skip I ended another amazing date with my angel. She gave me her cell phone for the night and told me to call my family and make the arrangements. I knew the phone wasn't going to be necessary but it was an important prop in not exposing my secret yet.
After saying my final goodnights to Alyssa and making sure she got back to her room safely I went back to my apartment to change into "my" swim trunk and took off for the woods so I could run. Once I was hidden by the safety of the trees I phased and started to run. I somehow lucked out that the two perfect members of the pack were on patrol that night. I heard the thoughts of Jared and Sam in the back of my head. They were just the two werewolves I wanted to talk to.
Hey Sam, Jared, how are things?
Good, good. Kim gets back from that stupid art camp her parents forced her to go to tomorrow so I'm stoked.
Well congrats then . . . So my girlfriend wanted me to call and tell my family I'm coming home so here I am.
So you told her? How'd she react? Wait. You didn't tell her did you? I could hear the confusion in both of their thoughts
Sorry, I know you told me to tell her but I just couldn't yet Sam, I just don't know how to do it. I want her to know but what if she thinks I'm crazy?
Jake, she won't think you're crazy. Emily didn't think I was crazy and Kim didn't think Jared was crazy. Bella accepted it, didn't she? Alyssa's your soul mate. Give her a little credit. You want her to trust you then you have to do the same for her. Looks to me that she told you a big secret of her own life, return the favor, Jake.
Alright Sam, I will. I'm bringing her home with me. I'll have to take her back to school but she wants to go with me for 'moral support'. Tell Paul not to be a jerk when we get there.
Umm, Jake, one, I'm sure Paul will be a jerk no matter what and two isn't it going to be a little hard for you to get over the boarder.
What do ya mean Jared?
Well you ran up there before. If you're coming back down with Skip and Alyssa you're going to have to go through customs. You don't have any papers Jake.
Shit! What am I gonna do? I can't exactly sneak over the boarder with my girlfriend's dad around. Sam what the hell am I going to do?
Calm down Jake, You howl like that and people are going to notice. I hadn't even realized that I had let out a panic stricken howl. We can fix this. We're going to just get your papers from Billy. He would have the stuff you need. I'm sure you'll be on the road at least a day before you get to the boarder. Find out if you're going to be staying in a hotel one night before you're going to need the papers. Call me on the phone when you find out. We'll send someone up to give you the papers either while you stay at a hotel or when you're eating or getting gas. That's the only way this is going to work.
You're a genius Sam. Perfect. I'll talk to Alyssa in the morning and call you at your house. Tell all the guys I said hi, oh and Emily and Kim. Sam, will you let my dad know I'm coming home?
No Jake.
What I couldn't believe he said that. I stopped dead in my tracks confused beyond belief.
I'm not telling Billy and neither is Jared or anyone else. That man hasn't heard from you in weeks the only news about you that he gets is updates from us. Go call him Jake. Talk to your dad. That's an order.
Sam it's eleven o'clock. He's gonna be sleeping.
Jared's calmer thoughts filtered through Sam's annoyance. He hasn't been sleeping well Jake. I think he worries about you. He doesn't want anyone to know but you can tell.
Now not only did I miss my dad but now I was also worried about him and felt bad. Perfect. I'm on my way. I'll call tomorrow Sam. G'night.
I was back to the edge of the forest now and I phased, got dressed and ran back to my apartment. Alyssa's phone was sitting on the table next to my bed and I suddenly felt awful for not talking to Billy more. I had no choice but to call him now. It was an order and there was no getting around it. I grabbed the phone and dialed the number. I was suddenly worried about talking to Billy. Would he be mad at me? A distraught sounding Billy answered the phone.
"Hello?"
"Are you alright Dad?"
"Jake, how are you son? Are you okay? Is something wrong?"
"I'm good. I'm actually coming home."
"You are? When?"
"We leave in three days."
"We…?"
"Yeah, I'm sure the guys told you about Alyssa."
"They sure did. I'm happy for you Jake."
"She's great dad. Well, she and her dad, Skip, are going to down to Washington. Alyssa's gonna be a freshman at the U.W. this year and since we live down there I'm getting a ride with them. I know I would make it home faster if I ran but this gives me a few more days with her."
"Oh I understand. That's real nice, Jake. So you should be home in time to start school again. I want you to finish out your senior year. No dropping out."
"Alright, I'll be there. Oh and dad, I need the papers to get across the boarder. I talked to Sam and he's gonna have someone deliver them to me I just need you to find them for me."
"Oh sure, I know exactly where that stuff is. Your mom had a file box for each of you kids. It should all be in there. . ." I could picture my dad's face right now. He gets the same sad look in his eye every time he talks about my mom. It was even harder to imagine now that I knew what that kind of love felt like. "I'm going go get some sleep, Jacob. I'll have those papers ready for Sam tomorrow. It'll be good to see ya again kid."
"I can't wait to see you either, Dad." I was just about to hang up the phone when I heard my dad say something else.
"I love you Jake." I always knew my dad loved me but it wasn't something you heard very often.
"I love you too Dad."
I went to bed after my phone call with Billy. It had been a long day and I needed to get up in the morning and tell Judy and Skip that I was quitting. There were a million thoughts running through my head. I understood Alyssa, Skip, Billy, and I a lot better after the day I had. And that's about the time I realized it was really time to go home. I had done everything I needed to do while away from. I got over Bella, I figured out how to live without her, I knew more about who I was, and I even found the love of my life. I would have to say it had been a pretty successful summer.
This is the longest chapter yet thanks to procrastination, boredom, 105 degree weather and insomnia. Reviews would be amazing. They make my day and tell me if people are enjoying where things are going. Thanks for reading.