Hi there, sorry it took me so long to post this chapter, but here it is anyway.
BTW I'm loving the reviews I've been recieving from you guys and I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart.
I have a huge amount of traffic for this story but I can't understand why thai's not reflected in the amount of reviews I recieve. Is this normal???
So for all you guys who like to read but not review, break the habit. We authors LOVE REVIEWS. Go. Do it now. I'll love you FOREVER and EVER, but not in a creepy way! ;)
9
Changes
He said it, he finally asked, "What if Edward was to come back, would that change things?" I didn't know how to answer that. Jacob was asking me about an event I'd already accepted as never happening, I could understand why he was asking and I could see why he was asking about it now, but it tied knots in my gut even just to think about it. He's never, ever coming back. That was the finality of the situation but it didn't hurt as much as I thought it should have. Jacob had been the saviour of my soul and now he was the keeper of my heart.
"He's not coming back Jake..."
Jake interjected. "That's not what I asked Bells, I don't want to push you, it's just...I need to know what you feel" his brow was furrowed with worry.
He needed me to commit to our relationship, to choose. He needed me to choose him. I needed me to choose him.
"No, I don't think it would" In that moment I was certain that it wouldn't. Why couldn't I just tell him that?
I turned back towards the ocean. The sky was clear and the sun was beginning to sink into the horizon. Jake wrapped his strong arms around me from behind, gently resting them on my stomach. He dropped his head to my shoulder and placed a tender kiss on my neck. It raised goose bumps all over my body, I closed my eyes.
"That's all I needed to hear," He murmured into my ear.
We stood for a few moments wrapped in the moment of realisation that we were finaly together. As natural as it seemed now, we had taken the long road to get here. Being like this, with Jake, was as easy and as natural as breathing.
"Come on, remember I told you I had something to show you" he released me from his grip then took me by the hand and guided me further along the cliff edge until we reached a tiny clearing underneath the Acers. It was the most beautiful sight I had ever seen. The setting sun illuminated the spot with an amber glow; the dense vegetation was alive with wild flowers that swayed gently in the breeze.
"Jake, it's amazing" I could hardly speak as the beauty of the place overwhelmed me.
"You think this is amazing? Check out the view." he turned me towards the bay, my heart stopped momentarily as I took in the sight.
The sun was sinking into the inky black Pacific, casting a reflection that cut a crimson path across the waves to the soft, golden sand on First. The sky was alight with colour. Fire danced across the horizon where the sun met the waves sending a saffron flush into the sky, this darkened to vermilion, scarlet, indigo then finally cavernous black, the first stars of the night were starting to glitter over to the east. The sky was ablaze.
I couldn't help but feel the significance of what I was witnessing. This was the sunset on my relationship with Edward. The only constant within the tumultuous picture that lay before me was the unfaltering sun, the light from it was blinding, warming. It was my Jacob. As it sunk into the sea I could feel it taking all the pain and suffering I had felt over the past few months with it. Tears of relief rolled their way down my cheeks.
This would be the last time I would cry for Edward. Jake was my world now.
Jake laced his fingers into mine and laid our hands on my midriff. "I love you Bella" his voice was drenched with sincerity. "I have for a long time" we stood silently and watched as the dark night sky consumed the last rays of the day. I had come home.
oooOooOooOooOooo
The barbeques and bonfires were in full swing by the time we returned. Charlie was commandeering the position of head cook and bottle washer. Billy was parked by the side of the bonfire, Sue was at his side. The rest of the pack were scattered around the fire listening intently. Every so often laughter would erupt, a result of some of the stories about the escapades Harry and Billy had got up to when they had worked together for some construction company up in Forks.
Jake located himself on the ground against the thick trunk of a tree. He motioned for me to sit in the space between his legs. I snuggled against his warm chest and inhaled his musk. Once I was comfortable Jacob slipped his hands under the hem of my blouse and settled his enormous hands on my bare abdomen. It sent tingles through me for us to be this intimate in company. Charlie shot us a disapproving look and I shot one right back. Jacob chuckled quietly and Billy began another story as everyone listened in silence.
"I remember this one time the management had employed this guy to be our new foreman on a job up near Bogachiel, he was a real brown nose you know, always running to the bosses every time there was a problem with one of the workers. I'd seen him report many of our crew for minor breeches, he was a real asshole, however, he hadn't noticed that we were quickly becoming aware that he was a real lazy asshole.
Every time there was any heavy work to be done the guy just disappeared, we couldn't find him anywhere. One day we were laying concrete sewage drains for this new housing complex, it was a real dirty, heavy job, lots of manoeuvring and stuff to be done to get the pipes into position. Anyhow right on cue the guy disappears, only this time Harry notices that he's made his way into one of those on site plastic porta toilets" Billy shook his head and laughed quietly to himself.
"So, Harry jumps out of the excavator he's working on, removes the chains we were using to move the pipes with and runs over and attaches them to the hook on the top of the porta toilet. We all just stood around with our mouths gaping, unable to move to stop what we all knew was about to happen. Then, as cool as you like, Harry jumps back into the excavator and manoeuvres it across the site, raising the limb at the front as he goes, and reattaches the chains to it. The next thing; he lifts the whole unit of the ground and moves it into position on top of this small slope on the site and gives it a gentle nudge and over it goes. The guy threw a shit fit, for real, he was head to toe in the stuff" The whole place erupted with laughter.
After a while the stories changed and Billy started to talk of the legends of the tribe, one of the stories that stuck with me was the story of the third wife. She had sacrificed her life for her husband, the Chief, during a battle with vampires. It got me thinking about what I would sacrifice for Jake if it came to it. I had already sacrificed so much of myself trying to save the love I thought I had with Edward. I had nothing left to give.
I felt Jakes embrace tighten around me as though he could sense my thoughts and feelings, I rested my hands on his forearms and gave him a gentle squeeze. Just then Quil approached and sat down beside us.
"Ooh, check you two out!" Before Quil could say another word Jacob threw out his hand and slapped him on the side of the head. It caught him totally off guard. He raised his hands to protect himself from further assault. "Mother fu... dude, whatcha do that for? I was just sayin..."
"Well don't bother 'just sayin'" Jake shifted about uncomfortably behind me; I gave him another gentle squeeze.
"It's okay Jake" I reassured "Quil's just jealous that you've got a girl and he hasn't" Jake howled with laughter whilst Quill shot him a death stare.
They shared some sort of unspoken communication with each other. I didn't know what or why, but Quil's face grew steadily redder. "What?" I asked bluntly as I turned around to search Jakes face for an answer.
"Nothing babe, it's just Quills given up the quest for a girl for now" The muscled on Jakes chest continued to jiggle with laughter.
I felt my face flush scarlet again. Was he saying what I thought he was saying? That Quil was gay? He had always been such a guy, you know really into girls. How would that interfere with the whole imprinting thing? I suddenly felt sympathy for Quill, if he did imprint he was destined to be stuck in a loveless relationship for the rest of his days. That really sucked.
I was suddenly brought back to reality when Jake dropped his lips to my ear and breathed, "It's not what you think" He grazed the fleshy part of my lobe with his teeth before he continued "I'll tell you about it later" His abuse of my ear had rendered me temporarily insane, I couldn't gather a coherent thought in my head, I just nodded like a daffodil whose head was caught in a light breeze.
"Anyways" Quil sucked in a deep breath. "Sam told me to tell you that you and I have to do the patrol tonight"
Jakes body flexed in annoyance "You're kidding right?"
"Nope, so you best wrap it up here" he swirled his finger towards us "and go get ready". With that Quil flashed him a grin and quickly walked off towards Paul and Embry, who were now providing Jake and me with an audience.
"Sorry Bells I need to go" I sat forward so he could raise himself off the ground and I felt a sudden shiver resonate within me.
Jake knelt down on one knee in front of me and gently raised my chin so he could look in my eyes.
"I love you" he whispered, then he leaned into me and gently kissed me on the lips. My heart lurched forward, drawn to him and then I reluctantly released him so he could fulfil his duty to the tribe.
Jake was the image of perfection from every angle. As he walked away I drew my eyes down his strong, muscular back and rested them on his tight buns. Hmmm.
I could feel Charlie eyeballing me again and I really wasn't in the mood for a father- daughter talk tonight, so I met his gaze and raised my eyebrows to signify that I was waiting for his question.
"Whenever your quite finished Isabella, I'd like to get home this side of midnight" I could see the frustration in his face.
I was getting the talk tonight, whether I was in the mood or not.
