A PROMISE IS A PROMISE :D

Chapter 10: Speechless

Bella POV

Jake and I have been officially together for a month now. I had stopped the issue of imprinting from evading my mind once and for all. Well, at least for now. Until the actual occasion arises….. God, I've got to stop thinking like that.

"What's got you thinking so hard?" Jake asked from his position under the car.

"Nothing," I answered quickly.

"It sure doesn't seem like nothing," he defended. Damn him and his stupid wolf perceptiveness.

"It's just – Look, I don't want to bring it up, okay? We've already talked about it," I replied. The deafening silence clued me in that he got exactly what I was thinking about. Letting out a sigh, I decided to change the subject immediately.

"How do you think those old women will take the news?" I joked slightly.

"I'm sure they'll manage. Ecstatic even," without seeing his face, I already knew that he was grinning.

Jake and I had finally decided to tell Charlie and Billy about our relationship. If you could even call it one. It feels more intense. Much more real.

We both know that a month seems like such a long time, but we really wanted to be on good terms with each other, meaning no more unclear details, arguments, and past loves.

Yeah, we really had to get past those.

"You ready to go? It's about time for dinner," I asked him.

"Sure, sure," he replied easily. Walking over to him, I grabbed the rag next to his foot and handed it to him. "Thanks Bells," he added.

While he wiped off the grease from his hands, I couldn't help but stare at his lips. They looked so kissable. Believe it or not, we haven't kissed in nearly four days. I'm literally dying for just a taste of them. With the thought in mind, I sat on his lap and straddled him.

"Bells, what are you – " I cut him off with a hush.

"Four days is a long time to go without kissing your girlfriend, don't you think so?" I asked, closing the distance between our lips. A slow smile began to spread on his lips.

"Damn Bella," he breathed, "I thought you would never ask."

I pushed him so that he was forced to lay on his back. I finally placed my lips against his and nearly melted at the sensation. They were like soft cotton and he tasted so much like cinnamon. Hot and spicy.

His hands wove their way underneath my shirt, caressing the sensitive skin under it. I giggled lowly, causing Jake to smile hugely at me. "Stop that," I murmured against his lips.

"What?" he asked innocently.

"You're tickling me," I pulled away momentarily to answer.

He took the chance to flip us over, causing me to hiss at the cold, hard floor. He dropped in and kissed me again. "Thanks for telling me your weak spot," he smiled against my lips.

"Anytime," I moaned, feeling his fingers glide through my skin. This man can tickle me any day if this is the sort of reaction I'll get.

I placed my hands on his cheeks and pulled him closer to my lips. He had half of my body lifted off of the floor and pressed against his body. "We're going to be late for dinner," he whispered.

"Screw it," I contradicted.

"I'm beginning to think that you're some sexy vixen just waiting to come out and play," he teased with heavy lust and longing in his voice.

"You'd like that wouldn't you?" I asked seductively. Whoa, whoa, whoa! Where has this side of Bella Swan been hiding this whole time?

"That's not a question worth asking," he murmured, placing a kiss on the soft skin of my exposed shoulder. I tried to push myself closer to his scorching body but he kept pushing his distance. "We can't do this Bells," he breathed out.

"Come on, why not?" I whined.

He sighed and pushed me off of him. I couldn't help the tears that trickled at the corners of my eyes. I'd never felt so rejected in my life. Seeing them, Jake instantly looked worried and peppered my face with kisses.

"God, not that I don't want to! Just, not here, okay?" he asked softly, landing a gentle kiss on my forehead. I nodded against his lips.

"Let's go eat," I replied as I offered him a small smile.

Flashing his teeth, he beamed widely at me and helped me stand up.

"So, what's for dinner?" he asked casually as we walked towards his house.

"You," I joked with a smirk. He rolled his eyes and coughed a laugh at my pathetic excuse for an innuendo. Though I didn't show it, I was actually very frustrated at his lack of response.

Who does he think he is? Just because he's hot, sexy, unbelievable fuckabl –

Wait, what was I trying to say? Damn it! I'm supposed to be mad!

"Since when did you become so sexual?" Jake asked with curiosity obviously in his tone of voice. I narrowed my eyes at him, using it as a warning.

"Don't mind me, I'm just another hormonal teenage girl," I muttered sarcastically, "and you walking around half-naked all the time doesn't do shit."

"When the hell did you start cussing too?" he threw in another question, his eyebrows raised with amusement. I gave him an agitated look. Seeing the look is my eyes, I'm pretty sure he took the hint.

Right before we opened the door to the house, he leaned into my ear and whispered, "Well, don't stop. I kind of like it."

I stood there open-mouthed, gaping at his breath-taking comment. I didn't even have a chance to respond to it for he had already walked in half way into the house.

Like I could've said anything anyways. I was speechless.

"So what you're saying, is that you've been together for a month now?" Charlie asked amusedly.

"Yes! God Dad, that's what we've been trying to explain for nearly half an hour now!" I groaned irritably.

"Like, you know, together, together?" Billy asked as well with one of his eyebrows arched. I threw him an aggravated look. That conniving man! I'm pretty sure he already knows about what's been going on between Jake and I. He's just using this as an excuse to tease me!

"Yes!" Jake cried out in frustration, dragging the word out.

"Well, why didn't you just say so?" he asked with a smirk playing at the corner of his lips.

I smacked my forehead in annoyance.

Suddenly, I heard laughter coming from both men. "Chill out Bella. It's not every day that we can mess with you like this," my dad chuckled.

"You two are horrible," Jake commented, but even I could see the smile he was trying to conceal. Traitor.

"Honestly, I'm glad. It's about time you two acknowledged this," Billy added as he gestured to both mine and Jake's bodies. "Speaking of," he turned to my dad with a triumphant smile, "you owe me twenty bucks, mister." I looked between the two of them in disbelief.

"Wait, what?" I asked in confusion.

"Stupid, all-knowing, smug – " Charlie muttered in his breath as he fished his pocket for his wallet. Handing Billy a twenty dollar bill, he faced me and Jake and explained. "We had a bet to see how long it would take for you to get together," he explained with an exasperated look.

"Then how did Billy win?" I asked with eyebrows raised.

"I bet that you guys were probably together already but just didn't have the guts to cough up the truth. He wouldn't believe me," Billy sang happily, obviously pleased at the easy money he had just made. "Besides, I doubt you could have handled my boy without one thought of kissing him," he added in with a smirk.

"Amen to that Father!" Jake praised from his spot. All three of them burst out laughing while I stood there scowling. "Umm, you know, I mean – Stop teasing Bells Dad!" he quickly added. Smart boy. He knows what's good for him.

"Okay, okay, we'll stop," Charlie intervened, wiping away a few laughter tears from his eyes. Quickly, his eyes glazed over with seriousness. "But honestly, I'm happy that you're happy Bella."

"Thanks Dad," I replied appreciatively.

"How are Leah and Seth coping?" I asked as Jake and I walked on the gravelly ground outside of his house.

Charlie and Billy have already proceeded to watch their Mariner's game, easily forgetting the huge announcement we just gave them. Jake and I took the opportunity to catch up with each other's lives.

"Seth's okay. He's actually had the easiest transition in the whole pack. He finds it cool to be a wolf even with all the responsibilities. Leah is still having a hard time though, with Sam and all," he answered with a small, sad sigh. I decided to drop the subject.

Jake had explained the whole situation to me. As if I wasn't worried about imprinting enough, I just found out that no matter how much Sam loved Leah, it didn't stop him from imprinting on Emily.

Ever since Leah and I had that talk, she and I came to a silent understanding. She no longer resented and hated me like she had in the beginning. She told me that I was the only one throughout her whole suffering who had let her cry and not scolded her about it. I'm proud to say that I believe she and I will have a really good friendship in the future.

"Brady and Collin?"

"They're managing," he replied, short and clipped.

I've never felt so much sympathy towards anyone but those two boys. They phased merely days after Seth and Leah did. They're only 13 for God's sake! Seth may be the same age but at least his mom, Sue Clearwater, knows all about the Pack. Both Brady and Collin's parents think that they are doing bad things. Because of the Council's rules, their parents weren't allowed to know about anything. Life for the both of them has been so hard. Not only are they getting stress from Pack duties, their parents are adding strain to them.

"I just wish you all didn't have to endure this," I whispered depressingly.

"We don't really have much of a choice," he laughed without humor, kicking a small rock into the distance.

I took his hand and sat us on the back on my truck. Leaning my head on his shoulder, I closed my eyes and sighed.

"Do you think it will always be like this?" I asked.

"Us?" I nodded. "Yeah, I do think so," he gave me a small smile.

"But what if I'm old and wrinkly? Would you still love me?" I inquired. His eyes twinkled with happiness and amusement.

"What about when I'm old and wrinkly?" he retorted with a small smirk. I bobbed my head, answering 'yes.' "Same here, honey," he grinned.

Jake slipped our fingers together and intertwined them. Lifting our joined hands, he began to kiss my knuckles softly. I smiled at his loving gesture and pecked his lips.

"Bella?" he suddenly asked.

Abruptly, he stopped meeting my eyes and fixed his gaze in the forest. "Yeah?"

"Do you still love…. him?" he asked in an oddly calm voice. I blinked furiously, trying to process the question he had just asked. I didn't realize how long I had stayed silent until he asked the question again. "Do. You. Still. Love. Him?" he grounded out each word, his hands now terribly shaking.

"Yes," I whispered.

I could tell that he was struggling for control of his own body. He had jumped off of my truck and began pacing back and forth. Geez, not in that way!

"Why?" he asked in a pained cry.

"Jake, can you please calm down?" I pleaded.

"Calm down? How can I calm down when you're giving me all these false hopes of our future together when even after all this time, you still love him?" he spat at me.

"You know it's not like that," I defended quickly.

"Then tell me what it's like!" he snapped.

"Well maybe if you would stop jumping to conclusions and just listen to what I have to say then you'd understand!" I shot back.

He proceeded on punching a tree before calming down enough to give me the chance to explain.

"Alright then, explain," he said steely, crossing his arms.

"I love Edward, that will never change," I whispered. I looked up to gauge his expression and saw that he had indifference plastered onto his face. I took a deep breath and continued. "But I love you too. Not just brotherly love, but as in I'm in love with you. He was my first love and he always will be. Nothing you do can change that. He'll always have a place in my heart, Jake, but it doesn't mean that he owns it, because my heart belongs to you. You should know that by now," I finished.

Before I could go into a further explanation, he already had me in his arms. "I'm sorry for being such an ass," he apologized quickly.

"We all have our moments Jake," I joked, letting him know that there was no harm done.

"You wanna know what I noticed?" he asked with a small smirk on his lips. I nodded my head. "Whenever we get into a fight, I'm always the one who ends up apologizing," he mused.

Laughter racked through my whole body. "Because I'm always right," I grinned at him.

"Guess so," he grinned, planting a kiss on the corner of my lips.

"So you promise you'll stop this Edward issue from getting to your head again?" I asked.

"I promise"

"Well, good," I replied as I took his hand into mine.

"Bells?" he asked again. I gave him a curious brow. "After you gave me that declaration, I was kind of speechless."

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