Hello my faithful readers! I hope you enjoy this chapter because it's sort of a plot intro. A few weeks have passed by now, I'd say it's in the beginning of October and Gwen and Jacob know each other pretty well now.
Disclaimer: Twilight belongs to Stephenie Meyer, and Gwen belongs to me. Jacob and I often have arguments about this, even though Gwen claims not to belong to anyone.
"Just because I can stand on my own two feet doesn't mean I don't want to be swept away sometimes."-unknown
"Where you find true friendship, you also find true love."-unknown
The next few weeks were, for lack of a better word, awesome. I hung out a lot with the pack, and in Jacob's shed when he was around. I would just watch him work on his Rabbit or motorcycle, which he had promised he would take me for a ride on, and we would talk about pointless and meaningless things. He told me he wanted to save up enough money to open his own garage, where he would do nothing but fix cars all day. He would talk to me about all the parts and pieces, but I would tell him not to bother; I didn't know anything about cars and wasn't really interested. But I did encourage him about opening up his own shop eventually. Cars really did seem to be his passion.
Hanging out with Jacob and the rest of the pack was incredibly easy, like I had known them my whole life. I learned things about them too; like how Quil was the joker of the group and Paul had a temper worse than mine and was dating Jacob's sister Rachel, who was away at collage. Seth loved sweets more than any boy I had ever known, and Collin and Brady were only fifteen and loved video games (but what fifteen year old boy doesn't?). Embry was a bit more sensitive than the rest of them, but a joker non the less and Jared was the quite, big brother type. Jacob told me about Leah, since she never seemed that interested in talking to me.
Apparently she and Sam had a longtime thing for each other, until Sam met Emily. That made me lose some respect for both Sam and Emily (I had thought he was a dirt bag and she was a traitor), but when I saw how they acted and looked at each other I took my harsh words back. The way they looked at each other was so intense and filled with love, it made my stomach flutter and I had to look away.
A new found respect for Leah grew in me after that. I thought she was either really strong or really masochistic to be able to be in the same room with them when they looked at each other like that.
Dad didn't like the fact that I was hanging around them so much, but I think it was just his dislike for Jacob that colored his disapproval. However, when mom found out how good I was doing, she tore into him about letting me hangout with my new friends. Especially when she found out I had started smiling again. I even agreed to come to the wedding, although I admitted I still didn't like Rick and probably wouldn't have anything nice to say to him. Habits are hard to break after all.
Today was a slow day with nothing to do. Dad was at work, and the pack boys didn't seem to be around. It was rainy and gray outside, but I was dying to do something, just lying there and reading a worn copy of Angels and Demons.
"Urg, I can't take it anymore!" I exclaimed, tossing my book onto my bed. I walked into the living room and grabbed the phone, dialing the Black's number.
Billy answered on the third ring. "Hello?"
"Hi, Billy!" I said, feeling cheerful. "It's Gwen."
"Hello, Gwen." He chuckled. "Looking for Jake?"
"Yep. I'm in dire need of amusement today. Is he around?" I asked.
Billy chuckled again, making me smile. "Sure, sure. One second."
A minute later I heard Jacob's clear voice, and I felt my heart warm. It had been doing that a lot lately when Jacob was around.
"Hey, Gwen! Billy said you needed some entertainment." I could hear the smile in his voice. "What did you have in mind?"
"Well, you do owe me a new picture frame and a pair of boots. How about we go up to Port Angeles today?" I asked, gazing out at the rain.
"Sure, that's fine. I don't have patrol tonight, so I'm free." He said, sounding almost giddy.
Jacob had told me that he did indeed have a job, unlike I had first thought. Apparently he and the other boys helped Sam patrol around the reservation, keeping it safe. Personally, I didn't see the point. La Push and Forks had to have had the lowest crime rate in the nation. But, whatever made the elders feel better.
"Do you mind waiting a few minutes though? I'm sort of stuck finishing this one thing on the car first, or else I would come get you now. Sorry." He said sheepishly.
"It's okay. I'll just walk over." I said with a shrug.
"Gwen it's raining outside." He pointed out flatly.
"No, really? Here in La Push, rain?" I said sarcastically. "It's no big deal, Jacob. I do own several umbrellas."
"But-"
"Just shut up, Jacob. I'll be over in a few minutes." I huffed, hanging up on him.
I really hated it when he didn't want me to do stuff. Anything that may be unhealthy for me he was against. He didn't have to baby me; it really got on my nerves.
A few minutes later I was at the Black's house, my hair a little damp and my boots drenched. Billy saw me through the living room window and smiled with a wave, which I returned, heading around back towards Jacob's shed.
I found my friend under the frame of a red Volkswagen Beetle, working away. I knocked on the sheds tin door, looking at it in envy.
"Why do you always knock, Gwen?" Jacob's voice floated out from under the car questioningly.
"Because I'm so polite." I said, walking in. "When did you get this?" I asked, kicking at the beetle's frame. "You didn't have it last week when I was here."
Jacob pulled himself out from under the car. He was shirtless as usual, but this time he was covered in grease and sweat. It was incredibly sexy and I had to quickly look away before he caught me staring.
"Yeah, I found it up at the junk yard." He said, wiping his hands on a dirty rag. "It needs a lot of work, but I figured I could fix it up and sell it for some extra cash."
"That's cool. " I said, leaning on his work bench and trying to keep my eyes on the bug. "My mom had a beetle like this when I was a kid. Only her's was blue with a rainbow on the side." I laughed. "I always wanted one like it."
Jacob looked at me, smirking. "Can you even drive? I don't think I've seen you drive once."
I shot him a look. "I have my license. It's kind of hard not to when you live in Los Angeles, being the city of freeways and all."
He smiled widely. "Well, good. How about when I fix this baby up you take it?"
"For how much? I don't have a lot of money Jacob."
He seemed to ponder this for a moment before he grinned. "How about you just make me one of those huge burritos again and we call it even?"
My eyes widened. "What? No, Jacob, you're not just going to give me this car!"
"I'm not just giving it to you." He insisted, but he was still smiling. "I will work on it and fix it up for you, and you will cook me one of those delicious burritos you made a couple of weeks ago. Think of it as bartering."
I gave him a blank look. "Most people don't barter cars for burritos, you glutton."
He shrugged, seeming nonchalant, "Well, this is how it will be, Miss Willows. Take it or leave it."
"I'll give you money, Jacob. It must be expensive enough to fix." I said, eyeing said car.
He shook his head. "I don't want your money. I want your burritos. Nothing else." He smiled
"Urg. Fine. Then I won't take the car." I said, looking away.
Jacob shrugged. "Fine. Be stubborn. All I'm asking for is a burrito in exchange for a car. You're loss." He said, grinning at me as he walked by to go back into the house.
I huffed, looking at the little red bug. I really wanted it, but there was no way I was just going to make him my burritos in exchange for it. I had to give him some money, especially after he went through all the trouble of fix it. Jacob was just too selfless.
Port Angeles was only a two hour drive outside of Forks, but thanks to the rain it took us two and a half hours. It was really annoying. Stupid rain, it was really starting to get to me. But I guess that was because I was such a California girl.
Jacob seemed to know the little city pretty well, and we soon found a small frame and photo store where he bought me two new frames; a blue one for mine and Michael's prom picture, and then another orange one, which was on sale.
We then headed over to the mall, where we found a Payless that was also having a sale. I had to really try to rain myself in; I only wanted Jacob to replace the one pair he ruined, but I was a shoe whore, especially when it came to boots. I was short, so I liked wearing boots with heels, which I found many of, since it was close to winter.
"Urg, this is so hard!" I whined, looking between two pairs I had in my hands.
Jacob chuckled, shaking his head. "What is it with girls and shoes?"
"What is it with guys and cars?" I snapped back, not looking away from my choices.
"Hey, cars are awesome. They serve a purpose and help stimulate the economy." He defended.
I wasn't so sure about that, but I wasn't about to let him rag on my love of shoes. "Well so do shoes. We walk in them. And can you imagine what would happen to the world economy if women stopped buying shoes? We stop buying them, then they stop making them, and everyone will go barefoot, causing people to cut up their feet on stuff and then they'll get gangrene and stuff and people's feet will fall off!" I exclaimed, looking at him wide eyed.
He frowned, leaning down so he was right in my face, looking into my eyes intensely. His breath was hot on my lips, and I felt my heart start acting up.
"W-what are you doing?" I asked, leaning away in embarrassment.
"Just checking your eyes." He leaned back, giving me a cocky grin. "Just making sure you weren't stoned."
"Hey, drugs are your thing, not mine, let's not forget."
After buying my (two, one of which Jacob paid for) boots, we dropped them off in the Rabbit, going to mess around elsewhere. I had only been to Port Angeles a few times during my summers in La Push, and it was a cute, sort of quant little city. It reminded me of those pictures of New England you would see on post cards. We walked along the boardwalk by the bay for a while, just chatting about this and that, until I started to notice something.
There were girls here, and they were staring at Jacob. Back in La Push I had never noticed, because the only girls I hung around were Emily, Kim and Leah, and they never stared at Jacob the way these girls were. Some of them looked like they were about to rush him from a street corner.
I glanced at Jacob. He didn't seem to notice them, his attention on me as he talked. I took a moment to apprise him. Jacob was good looking, I had always known this, but this time I really looked at him. He had a strong and defined jawline, smooth cheek bones and full lips. His skin was perfectly clear and a deep russet color, darker than mine. It seemed to glow in the sun. His hair had grown out a little, hanging kind of shaggy in the front, but short in the back. And his smile, his smile sometime made my heart stutter. Combined with his eyes, which crinkled when he let out that smile, Jacob Black was a brilliant package.
No wonder the girls around here were drooling at him! How come I had never noticed this, with all the time I spent with him? I felt outraged at myself.
"Gwen? You okay?" Jacob asked, looking at me in concern. "You've got this sort of constipated look on your face." He grinned teasingly. "Do we need to find you a bathroom?"
I smacked his arm, instantly regretting it when my fingers felt like I had smacked a wall.
"Ah!" I gasped, shaking out my fingers. "What's your arm made of, concrete?"
He chuckled, taking my hand in his and massaging the pain away. His hands were so much bigger than mine, twice as big. And warm. If I ever had a muscle cramp I'd bet Jacob could loosen it up just by putting his hand over it for a minute.
"You okay?" he asked gently.
I looked up at him, only to have my heart skip and my stomach twist. He was looking at me with such intense and gentle eyes. It always amazed me how gentle Jacob always was with me, for being such a big guy. We stared at each other in silence, him holding my hand, and it felt like the atmosphere was charged, intense. He started to lean forward, but I quickly pulled away.
"I'm starting to feel a little hungry. How about we go grab something before heading back?" I asked, looking away from him uncomfortably.
He sighed, sounding disappointed. "Sure, sure. Whatever you want, Gwen."
We ate at a little Italian place that was good, and would have been better if the waitress hadn't been making cow eyes at Jacob every time she came over. But like the other girls on the boardwalk, he didn't seem to notice. I was grateful for that.
"Will you tell me about Michael?" he asked suddenly.
I looked up at him from across the booth, and I wondered what he was thinking. We had sort of agreed in silence not to talk about the two people we had loved and lost. But, somehow, I didn't feel upset. I found that I wanted to tell him about Michael. I nodded.
"Only if you tell me about Bella." I said, and to my surprise, he nodded, expression calm.
"Well," I looked down at the table, gathering my thoughts. "Michael was…kind of a bully."
Jacob blinked. "A bully?"
I nodded again. "Yeah. Actually, a couple of my friends were like that. They thought it was funny to tease and make fun of people."
Jacob frowned, his thick eye brows furrowing over his eyes. "Why would you be friends with people like that?"
I sighed, putting one elbow on the table. "I don't know. Probably because I knew most of them since I was a kid. We had all gone through elementary, middle school and high school together. In my defense, they were really cool, when they weren't being jerks. It was a phase, I guess."
Jacob nodded, not saying anything. I continued. "Michael wasn't really that bad. He mostly played pranks; he didn't beat people up anything. Except this one kid. His name was Dennis Philipps. He was this really dorky, clumsy kid who everyone picked on. He wore these really thick black glasses with tape holding them together all the time, like Erkel. Michael tormented him all the time. I sat next to him in my Gov. and Econ class. I talked to him every once in a while, he really was a sweet kid. I tried to get Michael to lay off him a lot."
"Anyway, despite that, Michael was a really good person. He was like my best friend, always listening to me and calling to make sure I made it home alright. He once brought me soup when I was sick." I smiled.
"He still bullied people." Jacob huffed, crossing his arms.
I laughed, seeming to surprise him. "Yeah, he did. I followed him around a lot, making sure he didn't go overboard. Especially whenever he got a hold of Dennis. That kid was everybody's punching bag. I really felt bad for him."
"How come you never stopped him?" Jacob asked.
His voice was disappointed, and he was looking at me like he was really upset, like he was sad and accusing me. I frowned.
"Don't you think I tried? I couldn't be with him 24/7. The most I could do was follow him around school and make sure he didn't really, physically hurt anyone. He mostly played pranks, anyway. I didn't like what he did, but I guess it was that whole 'good girl attracted to the bad boy' thing."
"Because that makes it so much better, Gwen." He glared at me.
I glared back at me. "Well why don't you tell me about Bella, if Michael was so bad." I sneered.
He flinched back, grimacing. I felt a little bad about that, but I wasn't going to let him judge Michael so harshly, especially since he wasn't here to defend himself. He hadn't known him. "Well?"
Jacob sighed. "I knew Bella when I was a kid. You might have known her too." He said, looking up at me.
I racked my brain, thinking. An image came to mind of a shy girl with brown eyes and hair. That girl in the picture! "No, I don't remember her, but I do have a picture of her at home."
"Yeah, well, she came down to live with her dad a couple of years ago and met…" He paused, almost seeming like he was choking. He was shaking slightly, and when he finally spoke, it was through his teeth, "…Cullen." He sneered.
I was taken aback. I had never seen him like this before. He seemed really angry. "They were together for a while, until he left her. She got really depressed and came to me. I put her back together."
I nodded. "And you fell in love with her." I said quietly.
Jacob breathed out slowly, running a hand through his hair, trying to calm down. "Yeah. I thought I really had a shot. She knew I loved her, and she loved me too. Until he came back and she ran right back to him."
I looked at him in shock. "She just…went back to him? After he left her?"
"Yeah." Jacob said. He was calm now, seemingly fine.
"How could she do that?" I asked. "And she knew you loved her?"
He nodded, watching me. I felt…pissed. Really pissed. Maybe it was just my personality and pride, but if a guy just left me, I would defiantly not go running back to him. Especially if I had someone as amazing as Jacob who loved me.
"What a-" I started to say in outrage, but then I remembered that this girl was dead, and I shouldn't talk about the dead like that. I was still pissed at her though.
"Never mind. That wasn't cool." I grumbled.
Jacob smiled at me humorously. He obviously knew me well enough by now to know what I really thought about Bella. But he didn't say anything.
We left the restaurant soon after. Jacob had nearly eaten them out of food, and I was surprised he had enough money to pay the bill.
It was dark out now, windy and cold, so Jacob wrapped an arm around my shoulders and pulled me close, causing warmth to spread through my body. I smiled.
"Do you still want to hang out when we get back?" Jacob asked. "We could watch a movie." He suggested.
I looked up at him. "Nothing scary. Or anything to do with the supernatural."
He laughed. My fear of supernatural and scary movies always seemed to amuse him. "Sure, sure. Whatever you-" he suddenly cut off, stopping in the middle of the sidewalk and going very still.
"Jacob? What's wrong?" I asked, frowning.
The look on his face was alarming. His eyes darted around, and his nostrils were flaring, taking deep breaths through his nose. It looked like he was sniffing the air. I could feel his arm shaking on my shoulders, and when he pulled me closer against his body, it almost felt like he was vibrating.
It made me tense. "Jacob?"
"Let's go, Gwen. We have to go." He said tensely.
He started to walk quickly, holding me against his side so I could barely walk or keep up with him. It was annoying, and I was about to say something, when he literally scooped me up and started to hurry down the street, ignoring looks we got from people walking by.
"Jacob! What the hell are you doing? Put me down!" I demanded.
"No." He said, wrapping his arms so tight around me I could barely move. He was sort of hunched over me, clutching me to his chest, his eyes darting around tense and angry. He was still shaking.
We were at the Rabbit then, and I had hardly blinked before he had me strapped in and was pulling out of the parking space. I looked over at him in shock.
"What the hell was all that about?" I asked, surprised at how soft my voice had gone. My heart was pounding.
He shook his head quickly, clutching at the steering wheel with white knuckles. "Nothing. Never mind. I just thought I saw some rough looking guys."
He was lying to me. Jacob was big enough to take on anyone, and he and I both knew it. I had once seen him wrestle with Quil and Embry, and he had easily sat on both of them, winning forty bucks from Paul and Jared. I knew he was lying, but I couldn't bring myself to call him out on it. I had a feeling I didn't want to know. The way he had been acting was close to how I had been acting right before the incident went down. It was like he knew we were being followed.
I shuttered, wrapping my arms around myself and pulled my knees up onto the seat, trying to think happy thoughts.
Back in Port Angeles
The blond woman walked down the street, her five inch heels clicking quickly on the sidewalk, her beauty drawing people's wide eyes in attention. But she ignored them; she wasn't thirsty right now anyway.
She turned into the park, instantly spotting her two companions, sitting motionlessly on a bench. The younger of the two, a teenage boy with sloppy black hair jumped up when he saw her.
"So was it her? Was it?" he asked eagerly, his red eyes pleading.
The woman nodded. "It was her. The man she was with called her 'Gwen'."
The boy's eyes lit up and a wide smile stretched across his face. The other two hadn't seen him this happy in nearly a year. "Let's go get her then!"
"Wait." The woman said, holding up one hand. The boy went stone still, the other one looking relaxed. "The man she was with knew I was there."
The two frowned. "What do you mean he knew?" The one who hadn't yet spoke, a calm blond male, asked in a low voice.
The woman glared at him. "He knew." She growled. "It was like he smelled me."
The boy didn't seem worried. "That's no big deal." He shrugged. "Let's just send Max in." he said, looking at the blond male.
The woman narrowed her red eyes. "No. Something was strange about that man. His scent was revolting. I've never smelt anything like it." She paused, thinking. Then she looked at the boy. "The information you got from her friend said she was living on the Quileute reservation?"
The boy nodded quickly. "That's what she said."
The woman nodded, and then looked at the blond male called Max. "We'll have to do a bit of digging before we move."
The plot is coming…
The next chapter is sort of short, but I hope it will have you on the edge of your seats. Gwen meets a very unfriendly dog, and will have to take a trip to the hospital…
Please review!
