The bear game

Established relationship. Jacob is alone on his birthday and Seth suggests going to a basketball game to distract him. Misunderstandings arise.

Rating: PG-13

Warnings: humor and Bella bashing. Fans of Bella should cover their eyes while reading this.

Happy Holidays.

"Jake, you coming?" Seth walked into my bedroom, his backpack on his shoulders.

"Nope, man. Gotta study for the damned Materials III test." I rubbed my tired eyes and let out a sigh. The screen of my laptop was filled with formulas and symbols. Frankly, I had had enough of shear strength, torques, and lever arms. It was harder than being on patrol; give me a nasty leech to hunt any day instead of wrestling with this stuff.

Seth stepped towards me; he bent down and studied the screen for a second. "You gotta unwind, man, else you're gonna turn into a complete nerd like Edward."

"I'm not." I protested weakly. "This is the last test of the term. When I'm finished I'll go partying with you."

"If your boyfriend allows it," Seth said in a singsong voice.

Damned kid had to tease me! In the wake of Edward breaking up with Bella, there were some difficulties. Bella flew to Florida and despite my objections, Edward followed – just to keep an eye on her, he said.

Bella was furious with us so she slapped him with a restraining order, citing his stalker behavior. Needless to say, Edward had to comply because he was afraid of breaking the law – and more importantly, attracting the attention of the Volturi.

It all backfired for Bella when she was left alone. She clumsily drove her car into a swamp and broke her legs trying to escape a crocodile. Had to spend two months in the hospital. Served the vindictive woman right!

Yeah, I felt bitter towards her; especially after she sued me for sexual harassment. Yep, that kiss I stole from her rubbery lips!

Luckily the female judge threw Bella's suit out of court and fined her for bringing up a frivolous lawsuit.

I guessed when Bella told her she broke her wrist slapping me, the judge found that a bit hard to believe. Ok, that was after I showed up in court and charmed her toga off of her. I don't remember very well; was busy looking for a secluded beach for a midnight rendezvous with Edward. Far away from poor Bella, of course – wouldn't want to go against her restraining order.

"Earth to Jacob, Earth to Jacob," Seth sang, holding his balled-up fist in front of his face as if it was a mic.

"I can do whatever the hell I want," I finally said. Tilted up my chin to glare at him and thrust my chin at his backpack. "In case you've forgotten, you gotta ace that Behavioral Science stuff."

"I know." Seth flashed me a cheeky grin. "Convinced the teach to swap that homework for a field study of wolf packs."

I shook my head, wondering why fate had deemed it fit to pair me with Seth. Majoring in Mechanical Engineering at UCLA took a lot of money, despite my scholarship and part-time job. Having a roommate helped a lot to defray the costs of living in the apartment; besides, Seth was part of my pack anyway and studying Psychology, so it all fit together.

Given my love for fixing things, it was natural I'd choose Mech Eng, and with Seth's sweet disposition, I knew he'd be a perfect shrink or whatever. Since most leeches lost interest in Forks after Bella left, the workload for the pack was considerably lighter. Seth, Leah and I were free to attend university.

I suspected Seth chose Psych partly in order to get close to Jasper. Poor guy was suffering a lot, given that the pixie up and left to move to Florida in order to be close to her Bella.

Bella's scent was too alluring for the leeches, and the kind of vamps she attracted would certainly ignore restraining orders; so the pixie was acting as her bodyguard/fellow-shopper and left Jasper behind for the Florida malls.

And after what Jazz did regarding our imprints, the pack was indebted to him. Yep, Jazz and his powers to manipulate emotions were pivotal in getting us rid of the silly imprints. Doc Cullen explained to us that the imprint caused biochemical changes in the cells of the hypothalamus, the part of the brain that regulates primal drives and emotions. Since Jazz had this weird power to meddle with our emotions, he did his magical voodoo vamp shit and set us free.

Quil visited Claire once a year on her birthday, and he was seeing a girl from the Makah Rez. Jared was genuinely in love with Kim, so it didn't make any difference to him. And Sam… Sam wanted to go back with Leah, but the feisty woman rejected his advances.

At a pinging sound, I glanced down at Seth. He was sitting Indian style on the rug, wiggling the wireless mouse to scroll up and down the browser window on my laptop.

"Do you remember when Bella called us?" I wiggled my eyebrows at him.

"Yep, man. She was blubbering like a fool; she was scared of a vamp down there and wanted Edward to go and protect her."

"Which he couldn't do because of her restraining order." I snickered. "Guess that's when she called Alice."

Seth closed the browser window and called up the tiny square with the clock. Glancing at it, I let out a sigh when I realized today was my birthday.

"What are you doing later?" Seth arched his eyebrow at me.

"I have nothing special planned, Seth." I shrugged nonchalantly. "Edward texted me. He's still hunting in Alaska; said he'd be back in two days."

"That sucks, Jake." Seth stood up and placed the wireless mouse on my lap. "Say, I got two tickets for the Bruins game today at Pauley Pavilion."

"Jeez, man; you're tempting me." I shot him a smile and thrust my chin at the laptop. "Love basketball, but I gotta finish the homework."

"So let your nerdy boyfriend help you when he comes back."

"It's not that easy," I stood up, my knees creaking after the long stretch I spent studying. "When Edward helps me, we tend to get distracted."

"I remember." Seth leered.

Ducked my head so the kid wouldn't see me blushing. Truth to tell, the time Edward helped me with thermodynamics we ended up making out on the sofa and Seth got an eyeful when he came home. Guessed it was all the talk about heat transfer!

"C'mon man, I don't wanna go alone!" Seth bit his bottom lip and gave me that puppy-eyed look.

"Fine, fine."

I opened a drawer and grabbed my Bob Seger t-shirt to slip it on.

oOoOo

I had to admit that sitting courtside and watching the game was pretty entertaining. I loved basketball but couldn't play it because of my shifter strength. I might forget to contain myself and then jump a height of fifteen yards, which would cause a lot of questions. It was hard enough to live in California and away from the pack, but UCLA offered the most promising scholarship and Edward counseled me to take it.

There were two Bruins' mascots cheering the team, a large bear and a smaller one. Both looked very cute in their cheerleader's outfits, and the large one even had a yellow bow on her head.

I lost myself in the game, sneaking now and then an appreciative glance at the cheerleaders just a few feet away from me. I noticed the huge bear had Bella's awkwardness because she kept stumbling on the pretty girls shaking their booties in front of me and disrupting their cheers.

Finally, the cheerleaders had enough and stomped towards the other side of the court, not without glaring at the bear.

Gotta admit that the antics of the mascots and cheerleaders were almost as entertaining as the game itself. Time passed so quickly, I forgot about my lonely birthday and the stress of the exams.

"Thanks, Seth." I turned to him and shot him a grin. "I've had a great time here."

Seth smiled and fished out a disposable camera from his pocket, cocking his head at the bears. "Jake, lemme take your pic with the bears."

"Why?"

"Quil and Embry have been nagging me for months for a pic." Seth smiled wryly. "It seems I'm not the only member of the Jacob fan club."

"Just don't let Edward know." I stood up and stretched my arms, gazing down at him. "He's very jealous and possessive."

"Gonna get a restraining order too?" Seth grinned wickedly as he motioned for me to go to the bears.

"Nope, in fact I kind of like it."

I stepped towards the mascots and wrapped my arms around the waists of the bears, flashing a smile for the camera. Seth took several photos and then pocketed it.

Glancing at the bears, I shrugged. "Thanks, ladies. You look awesome in your skirts."

The smaller bear bowed at me and stepped away, while the large one let out a deep growl. I had to shake my head at that; obviously the cheerleader took her role very seriously.

"Gotta go, girl," I said while I tried to extricate myself from her furry embrace. It felt strange to have all that fur rubbing against me, though. So this was what Edward felt when he hugged my wolf.

I stepped forward but the tenacious bear kept her arms wrapped around me.

"Sorry, but bears are not my type." I grinned at her.

I was answered with an ominous growl.

I scowled at the bear and pulled my arm, using my werewolf strength to yank myself free. It was to no avail, her arms were as unforgiving and tough as a band of steel wrapped around my chest.

I started to panic then, realizing this was no ordinary mortal. Heck, even a shifter like me would have given in by now – so the mysterious bear could not be Leah.

With a sinking feeling in my gut, I shuddered when I thought about the other, deadly possibilities: a newborn or a vampire from a nearby coven would not have the wits to dress up as a bear. It was the Volturi then. Guessed Bella sent them a letter seeking an injunction or something against Edward, and the Italian leeches decided to intervene.

I mentally said goodbye to my soulmate and prepared to meet my fate. I turned toward my captor, my shoulders drooping. "Ok, do what you will. Just be aware that if I phase in front of the crowd both our secrets will be found."

The bear grunted approvingly.

Taking a deep breath, I said, "Just… just let Edward go, ok? He's done nothing wrong except get tangled with Bella and then me. It's not his fault at all."

The bear hugged me tightly and lifted me off the ground. My feet dangling, I cursed the fact that the bear obviously wasn't a fan of Edward's. I closed my eyes, preparing for the worst.

But then the bear said, "I love you so much, Jacob."

"What?" I blinked in disbelief, hardly trusting my ears.

That wasn't a girl's voice at all, it was Edward!

The bear nuzzled his head against my shoulder. "I wanted to surprise you for your birthday; Seth and Leah came up with the idea of meeting you here and I dressed in this costume so you wouldn't notice my scent."

"You came!" Wrapping my arms around him, I returned the hug as Edward set me on my feet. I tried to yank on his head but Edward held my hand.

"Jacob, I'm not dressed appropriately for this venue."

I let out a loud laugh and poked his chest. "You don't like wearing skirts, right? It doesn't fit the stuffy image of Edward Cullen."

"Well, it is hardly adequate…"

I reached down my hand and pulled on the skirt which ripped apart in a few seconds.

"There you go, now take off your head!"

"Let me tell you that it took a lot of effort so the cheerleader would lend me her outfit," Edward grumbled as he yanked off his bear head. "She was afraid I would ruin it. I'll have to buy her another."

I grinned like a fool at the sight of his tousled locks which glimmered like burnished bronze by the harsh artificial light of the Pavilion. Leaning forward, my thumb traced a path down his striking golden eyes and the smooth plane of his cheeks, ending in his perfect lips.

Edward leaned forward and rubbed his cheek against mine, holding me tight as he breathed in my scent. "I'm home at last. I couldn't stay away from you a day longer. I know you've been working yourself too hard and I knew this was the kind of gesture you appreciate."

"I certainly do." His smooth skin against mine, his heft pressing against me, the cold body that soothed my fire, the presence of all that was Edward – it was heaven.

I flashed him a grin, my fingers playing with the curls at the nape of his neck. Kiss me, now.

His lips were cold against me, belying the fire in his soul which called to mine. I nibbled on those pouty lips and he opened his mouth, our tongues seeking each other clumsily, with a hunger that could not be quenched.

I would never have enough of Edward. I dimly heard the wolf-whistles and catcalls through the pounding in my ears, and I marveled at the fact that Edward Cullen had come so far. He had always been too prim and proper with Bella, but when he was with me a buoyant side of him was revealed: the caring man that dressed up as a bear cheerleader just to surprise me.

I had set him free, in return he gave me his soul.

Edward broke the kiss, his cold fingers splayed against my cheek as he gazed deep into my eyes. "Just don't think like that, Jacob."

"Huh?"

"If I should ever lose you, I would not be able to go on." He cupped my chin and tilted it up so I could stare right at the golden eyes which promised eternity. "Your soul, your body and your smile – that's what forever means."

oOoOo