A/N:Well I hope you liked the last chapter. Thanks for the reviews! Sorry it took a little bit to get this one up. Enjoy! PLEASE VOTE AT THE END OF THIS CHAPTER!
It's something you say to me,
I don't know what it is yet.
It's something you do to me,
I don't know what it is quite yet.
It makes me feel invincible,
No matter what anyone says,
They can't touch me,
And I know you're that one for me,
When you smile.
-13 by Alex Spore
Chapter 7: Just for Me
I suppose if I were to walk into someone's house and find them parading around their living room in their pajamas singing "It's Raining Men" at the top of their lungs into an imaginary microphone in their hand that I'd laugh. But I don't believethat laughing until you're falling to your knees clutching your stomach because it hurts due to laughing so hard is exactly necessary. Actually, I don't believe it's necessary at all. Especially when the one being laughed at was me.
"I don't think it was that funny Jacob."
The stereo was still playing behind me, quieter then before and playing a different song, but still there. His chocolate brown eyes, full of laughter, met my hazel. My cheeks flushed, this time -for once- more out of embarrassment then because his eyes were on me. I glared in response.
His laughter faded to a chuckle as he took a deep breath. "Alright, alright, Cris, I'm sorry, that was just… wow." He chucked again, amusement glistening in his eyes.
"Shut up." Was my intelligent reply, as I sat down on our dark brown sofa with a huff, arms crossed over my chest. His laughter faded, but his smile remained. My heart skipped a beat as he met my gaze.
"What are you doing here anyway?" I asked, attempting to stop the blood from rising to my cheeks. He wouldn't have walked in on me like that if I'd known he was coming over. Especially so early in the morning - alright, so 11 am wasn't early, sue me, I was up until 2 am. The fact of the matter is that I'm here, sitting on my couch in my pajama's rather embarrassed and Jacob is standing in my doorway with a wide, amused grin across his lips, laughing at me as if I was some really cleverly placed pun in a comedy act. And all of this torture could've been avoided if he had just called to let me know he was coming over.
"Oh, well first off, you forgot this in my car last night."
He tossed the article of clothing hanging from his fingers in my direction. If my face has ever perfectly resembled a tomato, it was now. The article of clothing that I expertly juggled and caught in my lap was the dark purple bra I had worn to the party – for lack of a better word- last night before we went cliff diving. It must have fallen out of my open backpack in my rush out of his car last night.
A sound that I can only describe as a 'eep' escaped my lips – a sound I'd never heard myself make – as I stuffed the bra in between the cushions of the couch, as if that would keep Jacob from seeing it any better. Which was completely ludicrous, considering he was the one who brought it to me, and probably had plenty of time to look at it and laugh all he wanted about it already. That didn't stop him from chuckling at my reaction anyways.
Stupid, stupid Cris. If I hadn't been in such a rush to get out of his car last night - well… rush is a bit of and understatement. After that moment that transpired in the car and that feeling coursed through me like electricity I jumped away from him slightly, as if his skin had been the cause of the shock. And after I moved away I couldn't bring myself to stay in his presence, and make it anymore awkward than I already had. So I mumbled a quick thanks and goodnight, grabbed my bag and practically ran to my house. I turned to wave to him as he beeped and started to pull away from my house and slammed the door shut behind me. The only thing I knew was that my skin was tingling, and it wasn't from the cold.
"I also came over to see if you wanted to go get some breakfast?"
His voice brought me back to the present with a jump. He smiled gently, his eyes curious now as he watched me. His eyes were so dark, so warm and welcoming. And his smile - even the smallest smile – was breath taking. How could one person be so utterly perfect?
My lips lifted into a small smile in response, all previous embarrassment completely forgotten.
"Sure."
A quick shower and a short car ride later we were pulling up in front of a small restaurant. What wasn't small in this town? The wood of the building was wet with the rain that had started sometime during the night. The rain wove through the grooves of the dark green tin roof, falling in small waterfalls to the ground. Two large windows sat on either side of the wooden door that appeared to be recently painted green. I small sign next to the door read 'Pine Needles' and I assumed that was the name of the restaurant.
I followed Jacob into the small building that screamed 'dinner' in every aspect of the word. He led me to one of the booths at the back of the restaurant that looked out one of the many windows of the building into the sodden trees that surrounded it. Already set on the table between us were some small paper place mats, silverware rolled up in a paper napkin and a couple small menus.
My eyes scanned the breakfast menu in front of me as we settled into the booth, listening to the rain hit the window and the bustle of the restaurant around us. For early afternoon on a Saturday morning it was pretty full.
"So… why didn't you call this morning?"
The question escaped my lips before I could stop it. I flushed slightly when I did, realizing how ridiculous and rather clingy it sounded.
His brown eyes glanced up in my direction. "I did call." He replied.
"You did?" Why hadn't I heard the phone?
There's that smile again, utter amusement.
"You're mom answered. She said it was fine for me to come over and she'd let you know." He continued.
Ah. That explains it. That woman was going to hear it when I saw her next today.
"I take it she didn't tell you?"
"How'd you guess?"
He chuckled. "Well the pajama's were my first clue." He responded, his smile widening to a grin. My cheeks went red.
Damn that woman. If she weren't my mother I would have more than a few strong words for her.
"Good morning."
I jumped slightly and looked up at the girl that stood at the end of our table. I recognized her slightly from one of my classes, but didn't know her name. Her long auburn hair was pulled back into a low ponytail, with a few stray hairs falling in her tea brown eyes. On her eyes was a light shading of sea green eye shadow to match the color of the long sleeve, low cut shirt beneath the dark blue apron she wore over it and a pair of blue jeans. She smiled brightly, her eyes glancing at me and then remaining on Jacob.
My stomach churned slightly out of annoyance, definitely not jealousy.
"My name is Katie, I'll be your server today. Can I get you anything to drink?"
If she batted her eyelashes anymore frivolously I may have had to ask if she had something wrong with her eyes.
"I'll take some milk. How about you Cris?"
My gaze met his brown and the butterflies were back. "Oh um…" I looked up at our classmate for a moment, noticing that her eyes had finally landed on me, however impatiently. "Orange juice please." I finished quickly, watching as she jotted it down quickly before turning her gaze back to the russet skinned boy across from me.
"Alright, I'll be back with those in a few minutes to give you sometime to think over your orders."
Was it just me, or was her voice a little too cheery?
"Sounds good, thanks."
I looked back at Jacob then, only now noticing that his eyes were still on me. My cheeks flushed slightly. He didn't even look up at her when she walked away. Had he been watching me the whole time?
Damn butterflies.
"So um… what's good here?" I asked, ignoring the way my stomach flipped as I looked back down at the menu on the table.
"Pretty much everything is good so it's really what you're in the mood for." He stated, leaning back in his seat with the menu titled up in his hand so that he could still read it.
I bit my bottom lip in thought and scanned the page before me. Really? Picking something for breakfast should not be this difficult.
"The omelets are my favorite." He looked up at me over his menu with a smile. I couldn't help the smile that split my lips in response.
"Sounds good." I replied, setting my menu down just as a glass full of orange juice was set down in front of me. I looked up, surprised.
Katie stood at the end of the table, smiling widely at Jacob as she set his glass of milk down in front of him a little more gently than she had mine. I bit my lip to keep myself from saying anything as she leaned over the table a little more than necessary to do so.
Nope, still not jealous, it was just a bit ridiculous was all.
"So what can I get for you?" She chirped, her question aimed more at Jacob than me.
"Cris?" I looked at Jacob then, noticing the nod in my direction. I smiled slightly in response before looking up at Jen who had almost reluctantly turned to me.
"Can I get a cheese omelet and some home-fries please?"
"Sure thing. How about you, Jacob?" She had turned from me so quickly that I barely noticed it.
Bite your tongue, Cris.
"Uh, a cheese, sausage, and green pepper omelet with a double order of home-fries and bacon on the side." I raised a questioning eyebrow at the smile he cast my way. He didn't respond.
"Is that all?" Katie's question brought my attention back to her, not that she was really asking me the question.
"Yep." My response came quicker and sharper than I really meant it too, but it gained her attention. I forced a smile to my lips when she met my gaze. "Thank you." I added as an after thought, not that it really mattered.
Was it just me or was that almost a glare?
"Alright, well I'll have this right out for you." Her response was directed at Jacob and was much more friendly than it most likely would've been for me. With that she gathered our menu's, turned on her heals, and made her way to the kitchen.
"Sorry if you weren't done ordering. I just assumed…" I stated, meeting Jacob's gaze.
"Nah, it's good. I already had a big breakfast at home earlier so I probably can't eat much more than what I ordered anyways." He stated with a grin.
"You already ate and you ordered that much food?" I replied. My tone was rather disbelieving because knowing him, when he said big breakfast, he meant something like half the refrigerator.
"What can I say? A growing boy needs a good breakfast." He winked, his smile wide.
"I think you could sit a few out and you'd be just fine."
He laughed. My heart skipped a beat at the sound.
So maybe I was a bit jealous before… but who wouldn't want to be able to say a smile like that was 'just for me'?
"What are you doing?"
Jacob turned to look at me as I moved into my room, a couple of glasses of soda in my hands. He smiled slightly and took the cup of orange soda I offered him, nodding over his shoulder at the desk my computer sat on. "I was looking at your knickknack collection." He replied, turning back around to look at it.
"I take it you like wolves." His voice held a hint of amusement and something else I couldn't quite place.
"How'd you guess?" I asked, stopping next to him to look at my shelf full of tiny porcelain wolves and other little trinkets.
He glanced in my direction, a smile that spoke of nothing but amusement on his lips. I chuckled in response.
"Where did you get them all?" he asked, his eyes moving over them once again.
"All over the place. Most of them were little things I found at yard sales and little gift shops around some of the places I've lived. Some of them were gifts, like my stuffed animal." I smiled as I thought of the birthday I had received that as a gift. I had just turned seven, and it was exactly what I asked for. It was my mom's way of softening the 'we have to move again' blow that came later that night. Oddly, it worked reasonably well.
"My mom got it for me for my seventh birthday." I continued, taking a sip of the soda in my hand.
When I wasn't paying attention he had pulled one of the small knickknacks off of the shelf and now rotated it in his fingers. "Where'd you get this one?" he asked, holding it out to me in the palm of his hand. It was a small white wolf with a black ring around its right eye. Its eyes were a stunning ice blue and it sat in a position as if it were howling at the moon.
My heart stuttered slightly. Of course he'd pick up that one.
"My… father gave that to me for my second birthday… right before he disappeared." I replied, my voice quiet as I took it in my hand. Besides my mink blanket with a wolf pack pictured on it, which I still slept with, it was the only gift I had from him. The only thing I had left.
"I'm sorry." His voice was soft, comforting.
"Don't be." My response was so quiet that I wondered if he had heard it.
Slowly, he took the small wolf and my glass from my hands and put them back on the shelf where they belonged before turning back to me, taking my hands in his. I looked up as he did, my cheeks flushing slightly at his proximity. He smiled gently, his fingers moving to brush the bangs from my eyes.
"I think he would be proud of you."
My heart skipped a beat at his words and before I realized what I was doing I found myself in his arms, my own wrapped around him and my face in his chest. After a moment, his arms wrapped almost delicately around me in response. For the first time in a long time, I felt like I was home.
"For what it's worth… I think your mother would be proud of you too."
He laughed, a loud barking laugh that vibrated through his chest and seemed to continue on through me. It was warm and as comforting as he was. It didn't take long for me to join him with my own laughter.
"So what's your favorite color?"
I looked up at him from my position on the couch next to him. I laughed. "What is this? Twenty questions?" I replied, having answered several of his questions already and asked him a few of my own.
He shrugged, "It could be." His smile was a 'yes'.
I rolled my eyes and turned my gaze back to the television show we were watching. Not that I really knew what was going on as we'd been talking since we turned it on.
"I have a few favorite colors, blue, green, and purple. I guess I like deep browns and reds too." I stated with a small smile.
"What about you?"
"Greens and blues mostly, but red's cool too." He responded, having had the answer at the ready. I chuckled.
"My turn then." I stated, turning to look at him, my interest in whatever was on the television already lost. "How about…. your favorite food?"
For once he didn't meet my gaze, he sat starring at the curtained window beside the television. I looked curiously, seeing nothing, before I turned my gaze back to him.
"What's wrong Jake?"
He smiled, his brown eyes meeting my hazel. "Nothing's wrong. I just remembered that I had something to help my dad with today, so I'm going to have to ask you to hold that question." His reply was quick and not long after he was on his feet and moving towards the kitchen.
"Oh… okay, sure." I stood to follow him but he was back in the doorway before I could get into the room.
His smile was wide when I looked up at him, almost reassuring. His fingers moved to brush my bangs from my eyes as I met his gaze, not unlike they had just an hour or so before.
Why?
"I'll be back later. Promise."
My breath hitched at the feeling of his lips on my cheek. My eyes fluttered close at the feeling. When I looked up again he was gone.
Did he just…?
I stumbled to the door to look out the small window in it, my fingers at my cheek where his lips had been just seconds before. My skin tingled where they had touched. My heart thundered in my ears.
Faintly, I wondered where he was off to in such a rush without his car.
I looked up from the book in my hands as Jen walked in the front door. I smiled when she caught sight of me. With a sigh she moved into the room, tossing her coat and her purse on the seat in the corner of the room.
"Is Jacob here?" she asked as she plopped down on the couch next to me.
"Nope."
"Isn't that his car out front?"
"Yep."
It was quiet for a moment.
"What happened?"
I looked up at her again, a small smile on my lips. "Actually I'm not really sure. One minute we were sitting here asking each other random questions, then he was saying something about forgetting that he had something to do, and then he was gone." I replied laughing now at the thought of it.
"Without his car?"
"Yep."
She was quiet again before she began to chuckle. I tilted my head curiously when she did. "Well then he'll be back. Keep his keys somewhere you'll be able to find them." She stated, meeting my gaze.
Her voice was amused, and yet, it held something that I couldn't quite guess. It was almost as if she knew something that I didn't yet. Maybe it was some weird motherly thing, she's always going on about those.
"Will do." I replied, turning back to my Mercy Thompson book. She turned the television on as I did, flipping through the channels until she found something she liked and sat back in her seat.
"Cris…"
"Hmm?"
"What's this?"
I looked up to see what she was questioning, only for my face to turn several shades of red in an instant. Dangling from her fingers in a very familiar fashion was my dark purple bra.
"Or maybe the better question would be, what is it doing here?"
She smirked when I gulped and began to stumble over the events that had occurred this morning in a very jumbled fashion. She laughed when I was finished, long and hard.
I glared, ripping the damned piece of clothing from her hand. I'd have to burn the bra now, for all the trouble it's caused me. When she finally stopped laughing she turned back to her television show as I had already buried my nose back in my book to hide the blush that still stained my cheeks.
A few moments of glorious silence followed, and I sighed, relaxing slightly.
"So you were just talking, huh?"
"Mom!"
Someone should set up some kind of internal welcome sign for all the blood that rushes to my face on a daily basis.
The icy rain was as persistent as the branches that bit and tore at my clothes, my skin, and my face. It was just vicious, just as grueling. It soaked through my clothes, caking the freezing fabric to my skin, pasting any stray hair to my face. The cold cut every breath short and pulled at my skin as insistently as the branches that reached out to me as my feet carried me faster through the trees.
Suddenly it ended. The trees and the rain came to a screeching halt and I stumbled forward, my toes digging into the sand that now resided beneath my feet. My breath condensed in the air before me as it came in short, pained pants.
In front of me was a small stretch of beach on which the sun was setting. The sound of the icy waves washing up on the sandy shore and the smell of salt water filled my senses. But, what captured my attention was the man that was standing on the beach in front of me, his warm, brown eyes watching me with a smile.
"Jacob?"
His smile softened and I moved forward, my body relaxing slightly at the sight of him. I was startled when I found that I could only move so far before I hit what felt like a glass wall between him and I. Slowly I put my hand up to what I had just run into, the surface was cold, solid like ice. I looked back up at Jacob when his hand fell on the wall opposite of mine.
His eyes were still warm, but his smile was gone.
Movement behind him caught my eye and I moved slightly so that I could look around him. Behind him stood the russet colored wolf I'd seen before, his eyes set on Jacob as if he were its prey.
"Jacob!"
My eyes met his brown again, but he looked as if he had not heard what I'd said. I tried again. When he didn't respond I yelled, my fists pounding against the glass. They made no sound.
I watched as the wolf moved out of the trees towards him. My heart thundered in my ears and my breathing became panicked. What could I do? I couldn't just stand here and watch him get hurt.
"Jacob!"
The sound of my fists against the glass thundered in my ears, pounding against the back of my skull as I met his brown-eyed gaze.
I shot up from my sleeping position, my head pounding as if I had been banging my head against the glass. I rubbed my eyes to try to ease the feeling and ran a hand through my hair. I jumped at the sound of something tapping on glass and immediately turned my gaze to my window. A frightened gasp escaped my lips at the sight of the dark figure in my window. After looking closer, I realized that I recognized the face behind the glass.
Sitting on a branch of the large tree on the other side of my window was Jacob Black.
I threw my blankets back quickly and practically jumped out of bed to rush to the window. With a creak I pushed it open, shivering slightly at the cold breeze that wafted into my room as I did.
"Are you crazy?" I demanded form the boy crawling into my window in a harsh whisper.
He smiled as he stood up, closing the window behind him. I hadn't realized before that he was in nothing but a pair of sweat pants, which hung low about his waste. His sweat pants were splattered with mud and water and his feet were bare. His short black hair was drenched with the rain that trickled down his neck and almost seductively down his sculpted chest.
"Nah. All the lights were off so I figured this was the only way to get to you."
His voice brought my eyes back up to his from following the progress of one of the said droplets of water. How was he not freezing?
"Get to me for what?" I replied, brushing some of my hair from my face.
He chuckled and wiped some of the water from his face. "Well… I kind of left my keys."
My eyes widened in response and I moved across my room to my desk where I had put his keys after coming up stairs for bed. I grabbed them and turned to walk back in his direction only to find him standing in front of me. I didn't even hear him move. I jumped slightly, and looked up to meet his amused gaze.
How does he do that?
"Here you go." I stated, holding his keys out to him.
He grinned and took them. "Thanks."
"Mhmm."
He slipped the keys into the pockets of his sweat pants, patting them reassuringly when he did.
"So where did you run off to earlier?" I asked, my voice still a whisper.
His eyes met mine again. "I remembered that I had something to take care of." He replied, his smile still present, but softer.
I laughed quietly. "So you're not going to tell me?" It was more of a teasing question than anything. At least, that's what I meant for it to be.
He sighed, his smile fading. His eyes ran over me slowly, almost as if he were looking for something. After a few moments of silence his hand slowly rose to brush my bangs from my eyes and ran back gently into my hair. His shoulders rose and fell with a deep breath, his eyes closing before opening again to meet mine.
"Not yet," he replied, "but soon." His smile was back, his eyes looking down on me as if he were trying to reassure me of something.
My breath hitched as he leaned forward, pausing to rest his forehead against mine. My heart fluttered at the feeling of his skin on mine, so warm, so soothing. My hazel met his brown and for a moment I wondered what it would feel like to close the distance between us, to feel his lips on mine. He smiled, his eyes glistening as if he knew what I was thinking.
"My favorite food…" I blinked as he moved back slightly, his voice catching me off guard. He chuckled halfheartedly. "Was my mom's French toast and this maple bacon that she got from Canada every now and again. She always made it on special occasions like my birthday." His voice was quiet, reminiscent.
I smiled gently and took the hand that remained on my cheek in my own. His eyes glanced at our hands before moving back up to meet my gaze. "My favorite food is banana cream pie." I stated as my thumb rubbed circles into the back on his hand.
He laughed, a bright, barking laugh that caused my lips to split into a grin. The smile he gave me in return made my heart skip a beat. Something at the back of my mind told me that this one was just for me.
A/N:
PLEASE VOTE!
Half of My Heart
Summary: "I promise…"
Promise- one's pledge to another that one will or will not do something.
"You promised you'd always be there…"
A broken promise is equal to a broken heart if it is broken by someone precious to you.
"But when I needed you the most you were no where to be found…"
How do you trust the one that broke your heart? How do you find the courage to put your heart in their hands? Could you do it? Could you trust them not to crush the fragile pieces again?
"It's all a game of truth or dare now-a-days isn't it?"
Truth: Tell me how you feel…
Dare: Prove it…
Pairing: Jacob/Oc, mention of others
Beautiful Monster
Summary: "All I remember is waking up like this… What happened next was a nightmare… and all I knew was that I was afraid. Afraid of the fear, the pain, the blood, afraid of me." My hands shook. I could see them doused in red. Blood. My blood.
"And then I met you."
He smiled as he moved towards me, the smile that chased away my nightmares. His hands were warm, so much warmer then mine.
"And I'm not afraid anymore."
He brushed the hair from my eyes meeting my gaze, my black eyes reflecting in his brown.
"You should be."
What if the only person you found comfort in, the only person that drove away the fear, the only person you dared to love was the very person that you feared the most?
"I don't want to be a monster."
Pairing: Jacob/Oc, mention of others
Mist of Memories
Summary: "I'm dying Edward." She looked up at him with dark eyes, a small smile on her lips.
His amber eyes widened slightly. How could she smile after such a statement? How could she seem so calm? How could her eyes shine with such life, knowing that not long from now, nothing would exist within them?
"No… you can't be. There must be some way… to fix this."
Her smile remained as she took his hand, her warm fingers gently brushed over the lines in his icy palm. She met his gaze then.
"You may be a vampire Edward… but you're no God."
What if you had the power to save the one you loved from the brink of death? What if they refused that power… your help? Could you let them go?
"Would you… be comfortable playing a love song?"
He raised a questioning eyebrow. "That depends on who I'd be playing it for…"
"Would you play one for me?"
What if there had been another girl before Bella? What if she was the reason he refused to change her for so long?
Pairing: Edward/Oc, others mentioned.
