Better late than never? Take pity, R&R!
Chapter 9: Showing Billy
Driving my old truck to La Push, I glance over at Sam out of the corner of my eye. He seems nervous, but we both know has no reason to be. He phased at will like a boss, and I'm so damn proud of him. To distract Sam, I ask him something that's been niggling the back of my mind, "So I've heard about your mom and your scholarship to UW, what about a girlfriend?"
"What?" Sam barks out, startled. "What do you mean? What did you hear?"
I keep my eyes on the road, but lift my eyebrow suspiciously. "I haven't heard anything, that's why I'm asking if you have a girlfriend who misses you."
Sam clears his throat and says, "Oh. Right. Well, I don't." I breathe a sigh of relief. "We got into a fight and broke up a week before I went missing."
Fuck. No longer relieved, I for some reason feel the need to dig myself deeper into this pit of hopelessness. "So if your breakup was caused by the artificial anger of the wolf transformation, are you going to try to get back together?"
My heart breaks just asking it, but it's better to know now than to squash my feelings after they've gotten even more out of hand.
"No," he replies carefully. "We had problems before that, and I realized that I didn't want to be with her any longer." He sighs, and I hear his head plunk back on the headrest. "I guess what I mean is that the wolf made me say some harsh things that I regret, but it didn't make up any problems that didn't already exist."
"Oh," I whisper. I don't say anything more because I'm afraid it will come out sounding cheerful. I'd be sad for Sam if he really loved her, but it sounds like it wouldn't have worked out anyway. Her loss is my gain… maybe.
We pull up to the Blacks' house, and I put my truck in park. "You ready for this?"
Sam looks nervous and I try to reassure him with a smile. He smiles back at me and says, "Let's do it."
Out of the truck and walking to the house, Sam takes my hand and brings it to his mouth for a kiss. It's so soft and sweet, I'm going to melt into a puddle on the ground. Now I'm the distracted one, and Sam is the man on a mission. He smirks at my dazed look and gently pulls me forward.
That man is totally lethal. A straight shot of liquid passion. Ugh I need to shut up and get my game face on. I stride forward to knock on the door, and after a minute Billy answers.
"Hey there Bella, what are you—Sam? Is that you, Samuel?" Billy looks up at Sam, stunned, and I don't blame him.
"I know you have a lot of questions," I tell Billy carefully. "But first, Sam and I have something to show you."
I look at Sam for reassurance and he nods.
"Come past the tree line with us, Billy, and I promise we'll answer all of your questions afterwards. Deal?"
Billy still doesn't know what to make of this, but he rolls his wheelchair out the door anyway. Sam and I take that as our cue to continue, so we walk hand in hand down the drive to the nearest tree line with decent cover. Sam helps Billy maneuver over the grass, and then we're ready for the show. I take a deep breath.
"This is going to be pretty shocking Billy, so don't go having a heart attack on me or anything." I joke, half serious. As I'm narrating, Sam takes off his pants. "What if I told you that the Quileute legends are true?" Sam gets on his hands and knees, closes his eyes, and thinks about running on four legs, just like we practiced. "Sam has been gone for weeks because he transformed into a wolf, and he didn't know how to shift back."
Once I say it, Sam shifts into an impossibly large gray wolf. I get lost in his intelligent eyes, until I remind myself to check on Billy. He jaw has fallen open, and he even looks a little pale. Shit.
"Billy," I say shaking his shoulder lightly. "It's still Sam. He's can understand us, and he won't hurt us."
Billy looks dumbfounded and still doesn't respond to me.
"Look!" I say, stepping up to Sam. Billy makes a squeaking noise, but I ignore him. I know that if he sees me interact with Sam, he'll understand that there's nothing to be afraid of. I put my hand up to stroke Sam's muzzle. He lets out a growly huff and tips his head so I can reach his ears.
I laugh, "Good to see you again, my needy wolf. You just love those ear scratches, don't you?" I coo at him. Yes, I know it's still Sam, but how can I stop myself from cooing when he looks like an adorable oversized husky?
"Sam can you show Billy that it's still you? How about you shake your head."
He moves his head side to side.
"What if you wag your tail?"
He turns to the side to show us his tail swishing back and forth.
"Can you give us a bark?" I say teasingly.
He growls at me, and I laugh loudly. "That was a trick one. Wolves don't bark like dogs except sometimes the pups do when they're very young. Sam doesn't find that joke as funny as me."
I look at Billy to see that he has his serious face on now. Uh oh. Pretty sure he believes us, and pretty sure we're in for a talking to.
"Shift back, Sam, and meet me at the house," Billy orders and turns away almost in a huff. Who spit in his soup? Whatever.
Sam transforms back without my help, and I hand him the shorts, keeping my eyes on the trees… mostly.
"That went well," I say sarcastically, rolling my eyes.
"I think he's miffed that no one told him the legends are real," Sam says with laugher in his voice. "That or he's disappointed that I'm the tribe's protector."
"What? That's crazy. You're responsible and trustworthy and capable. You're the best protector they could ever ask for!" I defend him heatedly. I don't like when he puts himself down. He's worth so much to me. I just wish he would see it in himself.
"You don't know about my deadbeat father who left my mom to raise me by herself." He sighs and shakes his head, "I bet people are saying I'm just like him for leaving."
"No! No way!" I yell and point at his chest. "Anyone who says that is going to have me to deal with! And we're telling your mom what happened. She knows you're a good son, and I know she's been worried about you. Everything will be alright when you explain it to her."
I put my arm around Sam's back, ignoring the thrill I get from touching his bare skin. Calm down hussy, this is about comforting Sam. I give him a little squeeze of affection.
"You fought a bear for me. What is one old man compared to that?"
He laughs and hugs me back. Reaching out, he grabs the door and holds it open for me, "Into the bear's den we go."
