Chapter 7

*Warning: May contain typos*

What the hell was he doing here? Why had he agreed to this? He was in a fucking wheelchair! What could he do at the damn beach? How had he been so easily convinced? Why had his father magicked him into swimming trunks underneath his clothes? What the hell? He couldn't swim if he couldn't use his damn legs! He was going to look foolish in front of everyone! He was going to-

Just calm down, Draco. It's just the beach. You look damn fine in your bathing suit. And what does it matter that you're in a chair? You can make any situation your bitch.

Draco took a relaxing breath as the car he'd been stuffed into with Jacob huffed and puffed into a small make-shift parking lot of gravel.

"We're here!" Jacob exclaimed happily, patting the steering wheel of his car gently. "I knew you could do it!"

Draco raised an elegant eyebrow. "You talk to this thing?" As far as he was concerned, it was just a pile of metal that moved.

Jacob laughed. "Don't call her a thing," he replied, "She might pitch a fit and not let me take you home." Which wouldn't really be a problem at all.

The blonde looked out the front window of 'her', or the thing, and stared. He could see about sixty feet of sand, and then blue... for as far as his eye could see... It was beautiful. Jacob thought the blonde was beautiful...

They both jumped when something hit the car.

A group of large boys and one girl were standing to the side of the car, Draco's side. There was a smaller boy that had hit the car with his hands. "Are you coming?" he questioned with a smile so large his eyes weren't open.

Draco looked at the bunch of people, then to Jacob questioningly.

The larger teen shrugged and smiled. "I thought it'd be nice if the guys hung with us. I can't be your only friend, you know."

Draco nodded and looked back out the window. The big Paul was glaring at him. "If he can't watch himself, I'll beat him with my chair." He brought two fingers up to his eyes, and then he faced them to Paul. 'You and me,' he mouthed. His intended target wasn't the only one to see it so everyone laughed.

The guy who hit the car pulled Draco's door open, and the surprised blonde jumped at the sudden intrusion, unconsciously moving closer to Jacob.

"I like you," the boy said, "You're funny." He got closer and whispered, "Just tell me when, and we can tag team him. Paul is an ass."

Draco smirked and nodded. "Draco," he said, holding his hand out to the smaller wolfshifter, or he assumed he was a wolfshifter. Well, he had to be, what with the abnormal size for his age and the heat that radiated off of him.

"Seth," the little guy replied. "Nice to meet cha."

TLA

Lucius threw back the rest of his Firewhiskey, wincing a bit as it burned a trail down his throat. He could feel his insides burning.

Severus sighed. "You should have just told him, Lucius. But don't worry; as you said, what are the chances that they would meet today, shortly after we discovered that he was here?"

"You are right," the blonde man replied, pouring himself another small glass of the potent beverage.

"So why are you so worried? You hate Firewhiskey."

"Because, Severus, with my shitty luck, Potter will show up at the beach; he and my son will cause a big scene... Voldemort will be here within the night." He threw back his new glass of liquor.

"Neither of the boys are that stupid... and do my ears decieve me? Did I just hear a Malfoy say 'shitty'?" He chuckled at the glare he recieved.

TLA

Draco had been picked up from his seat in the car and placed in his chair, which had conveniently folded up nicely to fit in the back seat. He then went through introductions, shaking hands and smiling. Except for Paul... They glared at each other and gripped hands hard, an old sizing-up-of-the-strength ploy.

It grew quiet as they stared each other down. Their grips got tighter. Draco didn't even wince when he felt the crushing force of the wolfshifter strength, but he could supply his own force; he saw Paul's eye twitch ever so slightly in discomfort. Ha! Point Draco! I'm brilliant.

"Nice grip, albino," the big teen said, releasing the smaller, pale hand. It wouldn't do for him to break Jacob's mate's hand; he didn't want to die. He could feel the warning pour from his friend, all of his friends really.

Draco felt the tension in the air. Of course, how silly of him. He was still the clueless guy in a wheelchair... Sigh... He smirked. "Your's is a little limp in the wrist. What?" he questioned, "Don't get enough alone time?"

There was a moment of silence before everyone burst out laughing. Two points...

"Okay boys," the only female said, smiling, "Let's get out there before the sun decides to leave us again!"

They all cheered and ran off for the sand, losing clothes as they went. Draco watched as all that remained when they reached the water was a bunch of halk-naked boys and a path of strewn clothes. Jacob had stayed behind, as did the girl, Leah. They laughed at the boys acting like fools in the water.

"I better go keep an eye on them," the girl said, calmly walking that way.

"I think we succeeded in getting you more friends," Jacob said, watching as they all played around.

"I'm glad," the blonde replied, "Because I was getting bored with just you." He smiled up at the larger boy, teasingly.

"Hey... I'm highly affronted."

"Ooh... Affronted. Nice word; been reading the dictionary, have you?"

Jacob laughed and began to push Draco towards the shore. "And here I thought you were a pretty nice guy," he said.

"There's more to every story," the blonde replied. But he was busy watching the beach... It was so wonderful. The water sparkled in the sun, which was surprisingly bright and warm for this part of the country. And it certainly wasn't like this a lot in dreary England. It was an amazing difference. The sand looked soft... the waves crested beautifully... He almost wished he could be out there with the others...

He hadn't even noticed they had stopped moving until Jacob appeared in front of him.

"Wanna go out there?" he questioned, noticing how the blonde had watched the water so longingly as they aproached the couple of large blankets Leah had laid out.

Draco looked at him in pleased surprise but, "I'm in a wheelchair..."

Jacob laughed. "Yes, I know," he replied. He sobered a bit and didn't look at the blonde. "I could take you out there... if you wanted..."

Draco studied him. Was the wolfshifter finally going out on a limb? Hopefully he was because honestly, it was going way too slow in Draco's opinion... This could be a huge step for them, or for Jacob at least because Draco was a few steps ahead of him. "I'm glad you asked," he said honestly.

Jacob perked up and actually looked at him now. "Really?" he questioned,excited.

Draco could see his tail wagging, and he nodded. "You have to help me though."

"Of course!" the large boy replied, pulling his shirt off and sliding out of his shorts; he wore his bathing suit underneath.

Draco thought about his own bathing suit... He looked at Jacob's, then to the rest of the guys who were running around in waves as they broke on the shore. They all had on American suits of course, that were loose in the leg and went down to the knee... His own were European... tight and short... really tight and short...

Yep; why had he agreed to this? Yes, he looked good in his suit, but he already stuck out enough; having on tight-ass swimming trunks wouldn't help!

Jacob seemed to be thinking about Draco's bathing suit as well. He gulped as his eyes trailed down those long legs...

"Did you hear me?" Draco questioned, waving his hand around to catch the larger male's attention. Inwardly he smirked. This may be fun after all... He was feeling more and more like his normal, confident, devilishly cunning self... Who could easily tease his soulmate crazy... Hee hee hee...

"I'm sorry," Jacob replied, "What did you say?"

"I said, I need to take my clothes off... Can you help me?"

"Oh... um... Yeah, yeah," Jacob said, trying to not sound like an idiot. "Sure..." He crouched down in front of the blonde and seemed a little lost.

Draco decided to pity him, just a bit, and took his own shirt off. The sun felt good on his arms; stiff muggle clothes were annoying, especially all of the gross long-sleeved shirts his father provided him with. He was glad to be rid of it. "Help me out of these will you?" he questioned, gesturing to his pants.

Jacob gulped and reached for Draco's waist. The blonde wrapped his arms around the bigger guy's neck and pulled himself up. At Jake's surprised look, he replied, "It's hard to take your pants off when you're sitting down."

Of course... Get your head on straight Jacob! Stop looking like an idiot! It took a minute, but Draco's pants came off. Jacob was scared to look down... Just how sexy was his mate gonna be? And would he be able to control himself?

When he heard a bunch of catcalls from his friends, he had to look... and he wasn't disappointed. Draco's bathing suit was really small, only looking like a tight pair of black boxer-briefs. They did little to hide his long, pale legs, which made Jacob happy. They were nicely shaped and toned, despite not getting much use from the wheelchair. Draco must really work hard.

Wow...

"What are those bafoons yelling about?" Draco questioned, turning his head towards said bafoons. He honestly didn't care, he was just trying to find an excuse not to see the heated look Jacob had in his eyes. It made his heart race at an alarming speed. "Let's go!" he exclaimed.

Jacob was able to snap out of it long enough to scoop the blonde up and carry him towards the water. "It might be a little cold at first," he warned, walking into the waves.

Draco's heart was racing even faster at this point. He'd never been in the ocean before... A vast sea of blue that went down untold depths... It was exhilerating...

Being in Jacob's arms wasn't so bad either, he noticed while blushing.

Damn! I must stop doing this! My face isn't meant to be red!

"Uh-oh!" Jacob exclaimed, "Here comes a big one!"

"A big wh-" Draco began until a huge slap of cold water hit him and Jacob hard.

He yelped and allowed the force of the wave to push him against the much larger boy. "Bloody hell!" he exclaimed, "That was bloody cold!"

Jacob was on cloud nine. That wave could have drowned him and he would have smiled the whole time... Damn did Draco feel amazing in his arms. He knew they were made for each other, but he could actually feel it! He couldn't even really describe what he felt when he realized this. He could just say that he had never felt better. And it felt this good just to hold him... to be more... intimate...

Danger! Danger! He didn't need to get himself worked up.

"Our you okay?" he questioned, not wanting his mind to go down in the gutter.

Draco nodded his head. "This is great!" he exclaimed, noticing with horror how childishly excited he sounded. He looked down and could see the ocean floor. "The water is so clear. And the waves... It's like the sea is playing with us." He blushed at his foolish words, but Jacob would say they were adorable.

"Here comes another one!" the wolfshifter exclaimed.

This time, Draco braced himself and wasn't nearly as surprised when the water hit him. This really was great. His mother had been right when she told him how wonderful the ocean was. He was only sad that she couldn't be here too. She would probably really like Forks, and the Reservation beach... and Jacob...

He was thankful when he felt water splash into his face and distract him from that rather painful train of thought. But this water hadn't come from a wave. He looked around and noticed the small shifter Seth laughing hysterically.

"That little bugger!" Draco exlcaimed, wiping his face. He sent his own wave of water to the little guy, using both his hands for maximum affect. The damn shifter dunked under the water before Draco's splash could hit him! "Damn!"

Jacob laughed, but then freaked out when he felt something grab his leg. He was even more horrified when he dropped Draco, who crashed into the water. "Draco!" he exclaimed.

Draco was more surprised then angry, especially when he was able to bring himself back above the water's surface and even stand up on his own. He was grabbed though and pulled tightly against Jacob's chest.

"Are you okay?" Jacob asked, freaking out, "I am so sorry! I didn't mean to do that!" He sent an incredibly angry glare at Seth, who had apparently swam to him and grabbed him after dunking under the water to escaped from Draco's splash.

Draco felt Jacob start to tremble, and if he remembered correctly (which he probably did), those trembles meant that he was on the verge of shifting... and an angry shifter (especially a young one) wasn't the best or safest company. Guess I should calm him down, right? But how...?

"Jacob!" he exclaimed, pushing himself and the the larger boy apart just enough to where he could look at him and not be crushed. "I'm fine!" He offered a smile, one he hoped Jacob liked, and tried to be reassuring. "I can swim you know. Besides, did you see?"

Jacob felt the tremors in his body calm as his attention was pulled from a terrified looking Seth to his dripping mate. "See what?" he questioned.

Draco smiled again and said, "Let me go."

Do what? "Are you sure?"

"Yes, let me go. Watch!"

Jacob slowly and reluctantly released the blonde... and gaped when he could support himself in the water! "WOW!"

"It's the water!" Draco replied, his face hurting from the smile he was now sporting (Damn Jacob-Draco personality! Making me look like a smiley dope!). "It's kind of like walking on the moon, how everything is lighter! I don't have to have all of my strength to hold me up because the ocean can do it for me!" He actually felt like his legs were just fine and like he hadn't had to use a wheelchair that day at all!

He walked a couple of steps, moving with the waves. The water was a little above his waist; he didn't stumble or anything! He could move his legs quite well under the water in fact! He made his way back to Jacob and before he could stop his Jacob personality, it made him grab the large boy and kiss him, hard.

He pulled away, blushing. "Sorry; I don't know what came over me," he said, "I guess I'm just really glad that you brought me here."

Jacob was dazed, pleasantly so because that had just happened. He hadn't been the one to kiss Draco, Draco had kissed him! The puppy in him was running excited circles.

Seth had never seen Jacob with such an idiotically sappy look on his face before so it forced a barking laugh from his lips. The other shifters, who had seen the whole scene, followed the smaller one's example.

The laughing was what brought Jacob and Draco back to the world where other people were as well. Draco was horrified that he had done what he did, and Jacob was too happy to care one bit about the audience.

To hide his horror and his softness, Draco sent a large wave of water towards the group of shifters. "What the hell are you blokes laughing at?" he questioned, happy when most of them sputter out water.

This started a water war that Draco could easily take part in. Of course, Jacob was never too far away, and they were practically a team, which got a couple of teasing 'that's cheating' comments.

The young Malfoy wasn't sure what that kiss had done, or if it had done anything at all. Guess he'd just have to wait and see...

TLA

Severus winced when his arm began burning... his left arm... With the Dark Lord's mark...

"Lucius," he said, looking to his friend just a few feet away. The blonde man was wincing as well, looking at his covered forearm.

"He's summoning us," Lucius replied.

"It's probably to see if any of us have killed you yet." Severus rolled his black sleeve up and looked at the hideous, pulsing tattoo. It hurt like hell. "We're lucky he can't trace us with these damn things," he pointed out.

"We are indeed." Lucius sighed and walked to stand next to his friend. "You think Draco's is okay?"

The black-haired man nodded. "We removed it to the best of our abilities, right? It may still hurt, but at least the Dark Lord's connection to Draco is severed."

Lucius nodded in agreement and gave his friend a brief hug. "Don't get yourself killed."

Severus laughed. "Of course not," he replied. "I have two completely worthless exhilees to take care of."

Lucius smiled and pushed his friend on the shoulder. "Go on then!"

Severus disapparated with a 'pop', and Lucius choked down another glass of burning liquid.

TLA

Draco was sprawled out on one of the many blankets laid out in the sand when he felt an intense pain in his left arm. He didn't want to bring any attention to it, so he bit his lip.

They had all left the water and decided to let the sun's heat dry them. It felt amazing, and now the damn Dark Lord was going to ruin it.

He was lying between Seth and Jacob (of course). The others were either to the left of Jacob or to the right of Seth.

"You're a pretty cool dude, Draco," Embry suddenly said.

"Yeah," Quil agreed. "You seemed a little stuck-up at first, but you're cool."

Jacob was really happy; he was glad that his friends liked his mate. It didn't really matter if they did or not, but he was glad they did.

Draco wanted to reply, but he was worried that he would let out some weird grunt of pain. His arm hurt like hell! The thought of lifting it up to inspect it almost made him sick.

"Draco?" Jacob questioned, looking over to the blonde from where he had previously been facing the sky with his eyes closed in relaxation. "Draco, what's wrong?" he questioned, shooting up in alarm. His friends followed suit and moved closer.

"What is it? What's wrong?" Jaocb questioned again, almost begging.

Draco still couldn't reply, but he did try to motion to his arm.

"I think he's pointing to his arm," Seth said, almost as worried as Jacob. He really liked the blonde.

Jacob looked at the blonde's left arm, but nothing seemed to be wrong with it. It looked perfectly fine and healthy. The pale skin was smooth and flawless. What's wrong with it? He grabbed it gently and planned on turning it over, but Draco let out an agonized wail.

"Don't touch it! Don't touch it!" he screamed. He sat up and looked down at his arm. It looked perfectly fine! What the hell!

"What happened?" Jacob questioned.

"I-I don't know..." Draco lied. He tried to touch his arm as well; it hurt so he quickly pulled his hand away.

Jacob shared a look with his pack; they were all thinking the same thing. 'What the hell was that?'

While they were sharing their look, Draco was watching his arm in horror... as the Dark Mark began to bleed back into existence...

"Oh my god," he almost whimpered, drawing everyone's attention back to him.

"What the hell is that!" Paul shot out, looking at the hideous black mark that had suddenly appeared on Draco's albino skin.

Jacob was honestly more worried about the slight trembling in Draco's shoulders and the look of fear and horror on his usually confident or smiling face.