Thanks for the continued follows/favorites/reviews, guys! I got a lot of writing done yesterday so I've got a couple chapters to throw at you! Be sure to let me know what you think!
All characters are the property of Stephanie Meyer
Chapter 7
Jacob's POV
We laid there in each other's arms for a while. I played with her hair while she gently stroked my arm. Neither of us said anything, both afraid for what would come when we had to break the silence. The spell was broken by her ringing cell phone. She reluctantly untangled herself from my arms. "Might be my mom," she explained. "Or worse, your dad," I joked. She smiled as she felt around the pile of our clothes for her phone. Her face changed as soon as she saw who it was on her caller i.d. and I knew it was him. "It's ok. You can take it. I don't mind." She blushed and got out of my bed to distance herself from me while she talked to him.
"Hey, Joey. What's up?"
"Hey, baby," I could hear him through the phone. "What are you up to?"
"Oh, me? Umm no-nothing. I'm not up to much of anything."
She couldn't look me in the eye as she said it. She had turned her back to me and was starting to put her clothes back on. I sighed in disappointment. The hatred I had for this guy before was nothing compared to how much I hated him now for ruining our moment. I reached for my boxers and put them on but nothing more.
"Are you feeling ok? You sound weird."
"Oh yeah, I'm fine. Just a little tired I guess."
I scoffed at that and she shushed me violently. I put my hands behind my head and leaned against my headboard.
"Oh I'm sorry babe. Well you better get a nap in. We've got a big date tonight remember?"
"Right our anniversary dinner. Of course I remember. How could I forget?"
It was evident that she had forgotten. I felt just a little smug and couldn't help but smirk. She was not as amused.
"Are you going to be up for it? I mean we can always reschedule if you're not feeling well."
"What? No, don't be silly! I'm excited for it! I'm just going to take a little nap and I'll be good as new. What time are you picking me up?"
"Does 5:00 give you enough time?"
"Yes. That's perfect. I'll see you then."
"Can't wait babe."
With that they hung up. I couldn't help but notice that they hadn't said I love you. Maybe I still had a shot.
Nessie turned back around to face me. Somehow, she had managed to get her panties and her bra and shirt back on. She sat on the edge of the bed to put her leggings back on. I sat up and lightly kissed her shoulder.
"That's my shirt, you know."
She sat still as a statue for a moment. I could tell she was debating whether to fall into my embrace or pick herself up. To my disappointment, she chose the latter.
"Well I sort of need it right now, but I'll be sure to get it back to you."
She stood up and finished pulling up her leggings. She bent over, picked my shirt up off the ground, and threw it at me.
"Put this on. We still need to talk."
I sighed and obliged. When I poked my head out through the hole of my shirt I saw that she was sitting in my desk chair across the room from me. I sat on the edge of my bed and rested my arms on my legs.
"Where would you like to start?"
"Let's start with Leah."
"Ness," I sighed with frustration. "Leah was telling you the truth. I swear to you Nessie, I did not imprint on Leah. She's just been… helping me through it."
"Well if it isn't Leah, who is it?"
The door was open. An opportunity had presented itself. I could tell her. But just as I was about to tell her everything, something stopped me. I thought about what we had just done, what we had just shared. It had been so perfect and it hadn't been because of magic or imprinting or any of the other nonsense that we dealt with on a daily basis. It had been perfect because it was just her and me, just us, nothing more, nothing less. I didn't want to taint that with the imprint talk. I didn't want her to think that that had anything to do with what we just did. Now wasn't the time. It could wait. So I lied.
"I can't tell you," she started to roll her eyes at me, "because she doesn't know yet. I haven't told her and until she knows it doesn't seem right to tell anyone else. Even you, Ness."
"Oh. That makes sense I guess. But then why does Leah know?"
"That was an accident." Another lie. "I was running one day and I was so stressed by it that I didn't notice her phase and she heard everything. Oddly enough, she sympathized with me and she's been helping me out ever since. I gave her an order that she couldn't tell anyone about my imprint so that's why she couldn't tell you who it was."
It occurred to me that I was digging myself quite a hole by lying to Ness like this but for the time being it was unavoidable. I could deal with the repercussions later.
Nessie was quiet for a moment and was staring contemplatively into space. It was taking everything in me to not get up and take her into my arms. All I really wanted was to feel her lips on me again. But it was clear that she wasn't done so instead I braced myself for whatever came next.
"If you imprinted on someone," she said quietly, "how were we able to do what we just did."
I thought about that for a moment.
"Imprinting… doesn't automatically mean that you have romantic feelings for someone. Think about Claire and Quil. He imprinted on her when she was just a baby. He didn't fantasize about her or anything. He knew he would fall in love with her eventually but not until it was what she needed. And more importantly, the imprint doesn't necessarily have to fall in love with the person who imprinted on them. Right now, I'm waiting to see if she loves me for me and not because she feels like she has to," I was a little nervous that I was giving too much away. But it felt good to tell her things at the same time.
"Oh, Jake. I'm so sorry. That sounds awful. And it's incredibly noble of you. She's… she's really lucky."
For a second, I thought she sounded jealous. I couldn't tell if it was real or just my imagination, but I was almost positive that it was there. Before I had much more time to contemplate it, she was standing up and pacing.
"So what does this mean for what we just did?"
"Well, what do you want it to mean, Ness?"
She stopped in her tracks.
"What do you mean what do I want it to mean?"
"I mean I'm putting the ball in your court. You're the one who's in a relationship right now."
I knew the second that the words left my mouth that they were the wrong ones. Her expression completely changed into a look of dread and horror.
"Oh my God. I cheated on Joe! Oh my god. Oh my god. Oh my god. How could I? This is terrible! Shit what am I going to do?"
Her pacing had quickened and she was wringing her hands. Her eyebrows were furrowed and a crease had appeared in her forehead. She looked so upset and so stressed. I hated that I was the cause of it. I stood up and grabbed her by her shoulders to make her stop pacing.
"That's what I'm asking you, Ness. What do you want to do?"
She looked up at me with eyes filled with tears.
"I-I-I honestly don't know."
I felt my heart sink at her response. A part of me was really hoping she would say that she wanted me; that this was going to be our big moment. We would reveal our love for one another and then go start living happily ever after or whatever. But she was still conflicted. That really hurt. I didn't understand how she could still be unsure after what we had just done. Unless…
"Do you love him?"
She looked at me, taken aback. "Wha-wha-what?"
"You heard me, Ness. Do you love him?"
"I don't know," she whispered helplessly.
I was about to pull her close to me and hold her when she fired up again.
"Why does it matter? You're going to love her eventually even if you don't right now. And then what does that mean for me if she doesn't choose you? Am I supposed to just be some consolation prize?"
I had known I would pay a price for lying to her but I hadn't foreseen it coming back to bite me in the ass quite this soon. Before I could figure out a way to get out of it, she was already visibly checked out of the conversation.
"Joe is going to be at my house in a few hours. I need to go home and get ready."
"Let me take you home. You look exhausted. I don't want you to get hurt trying to drive home."
"No, Jake. Stay. I'll be fine I promise. I think I need some space right now."
I inadvertently took a step back.
"Ok, Ness. Take whatever you need. I'll give you anything."
My words seemed to have some affect on her because she turned her face away from me for just a moment. She turned to leave and started to walk away when she suddenly turned around and ran into my arms. I held her for what seemed like forever while she cried. We both knew that everything would be different now. We both had some major decisions to make and it would affect our lives, as we knew them. I never wanted to let go.
All too soon she peeled herself away from me. She gave me a small smile then turned and walked away. And being the moron that I am, I let her go.
