"I Know It's Hard To Remember The People We Used To Be, It's Even Harder To Picture That You're Not Here Next To Me. You Say It's Too Late To Make It, But Is Too Late To Try? If Happy Ever After Did Exist, I Would Still Be Holding You Like This, All Those Fairytales Are Full Of It, One More Stupid Love Song I'll Be Sick." – Maroon 5; Payphone.
"You don't have to buy anything," Jacob chuckled out, his hands buried deep in his pockets, a rare occasion of him fully dressed in a black shirt, although the shorts were nigh impossible to get rid off.
"Since you let my muffins burn while I was in the shower; yes I do."
He grinned at me sheepishly, and I let out a laugh at his slightly pink cheeks. Jacob had told me that with their bonfires at the beach Emily usually cooked up some sort of feast, and since my major screw up the last time I had tried to meet them I wanted to contribute at least something. So I ended up forcing Jacob to get in the Rabbit with me, drive me down to Port Angeles and take me to a small Walmart, I didn't find much luck on anything I could bring. Their pastries and cakes were very limited, seeing as it was a fairly small store, and I ended up just settling for a box of Krispy Kreams.
We didn't stop there though, we decided on a full shopping spree, since I needed more ingredients for baking; which I had taken up to doing regularly now, and on solely buying junk food for when we got home after the bonfire. A basket was hanging on my arm, Dorito packets and snickers bars that Jacob had thrown in littering it. Looping one of my arms through his I finally picked out a box of twenty four donuts, sure that that would be enough for everyone.
Jacob looked to me fondly, his eyes full of an emotion I still couldn't decipher, yet I knew he only reserved that look for me, and as always made my heart swell.
"You sure you're up for this?"
I rolled my eyes as we walked towards the checkpoint, "if you keep asking that I'll be tempted to say no!"
He smiled widely, showing his teeth as he did so, and readjusted his arm to around my shoulders, pulling me in and placing a soft kiss on the side of my head, directly on where my scar lay. His lips hesitated there for a moment, as he realised what lay beneath them, and I rubbed his back with my left arm to assure him that I was okay.
I waited beside Jacob quietly as the store clerk scanned our items, my eyes wandering to passing people and absentmindedly to the entrance. I wouldn't have noticed it if it were any other person, but since Port Angeles was filled with relatively normal people they stuck out like a sore thumb. One so alike in stature and looks with Jacob, strolled into the store, dressed in cut offs much like Jacob, and a dark red shirt that barely seemed to fit him; just like Jacob.
What intrigued me the most, however, was the little girl he held in his arms, perched on his hip. Long brown hair practically glowing as if it were a jewel cascaded over her shoulders. Her deathly pale skin complexion did not make her sick, but like a porcelain doll, fragile yet beyond beautiful. Wide full lips were spread in a soft smile as her eyes wandered around the store, the colour of honey and hazel made her seem just as beautiful. She couldn't have been more than eight, and with her appearance being the polar opposite of the quilete boy who held her in his arms, I knew instantly that they were in no way; shape or form related.
Then it had clicked in my head, her fiction like beauty, her distinct features; I had seen them all before. Someone who I had not particularly warmed, someone who I had clearly despised before my accident, and I intended to keep on despising her for her volatile behaviour the time we had met. I automatically grimaced as I thought of Jacob's nickname for her; Bells. I didn't care how childish or jealous I appeared to be when she came to mind, her possessive and cocky nature over Jacob had me wanting to swing a nail studded baseball bat into her perfect features. She didn't have the right to be possessive, especially with that hideous contraction of a wedding ring on her finger.
The quilete boy seemed vaguely familiar to me; he too held distinct features with someone I already knew; only this time I couldn't put my finger on it, because if I were to be completely honest every reservation kid looked pretty much the same. The tattoo on his bicep however, alerted me that maybe he belonged to Jacob's group, and before I even had time to turn back around his eyes had caught mine, stopping mid step in his walk through the supermarket. He knew me, that was obvious now and as he changed his course of direction with a grin on his face, his deep booming voice was yelling out Jacob's name.
It caused not only Jacob's head to turn abruptly, but every other occupant in the supermarket as well. With his eyes eventually locking with those of the quilete boy walking quickly towards us, Jacob's body visibly stiffened, and with one hand already holding the bag containing of our things, the other automatically snatched at my wrist, effectively pulling me slightly behind his shoulder.
"Hey Seth," his voice was rigid as 'Seth' reached us, and the boyish almost innocent grin on his face had me failing to see why Jacob would be so stiff towards him.
He barely seemed to notice it though, or maybe he simply chose to ignore it, either way his free hand slapped Jacob on the shoulder, and the familiar boyish greeting made the tenseness in Jake's shoulders relax slightly. His jaw remained set, and he held a particularly hostile look towards the small child in Seth's arms, who sat smiling nonchalantly to the entire situation.
"Hey man, hey Sil'" I blanched at his perfectly normal greeting towards me, the shortening of my name had me positive now that he knew me, and at my bewildered expression he shook his head at himself, "sorry I forgot … no pun intended!"
He was just a kid, and that was clear from the apologetic look on his face at his last words, and truth be told I probably wouldn't have even noticed the pun if he didn't point it out, but I smiled politely up at him anyway, waving it off.
"It's okay, nice to meet you Seth."
He nodded appreciatively, all the while not noticing Jake's unnaturally silent mood, who seemed to be having a staring contest with the small child in Seth's arms.
"Ness, you gonna' say hi?"
The little girl in his arms shyly nodded, and the loving grin that took over Seth's face almost reminded me of the way Jacob sometimes looked at me, it was clear he doted over this girl like his own little sister. It was adorable, and I couldn't help myself to my own small smile as she waved softly to both me and Jacob, her other hand pushing her brown locks out of her mesmerising eyes.
I moved forward again slightly, extending my hand to her, "It's nice to meet you Ness, I'm Silver."
She didn't get a chance to take it, because Jacob grabbed my hand and forced it back down with unnatural force, an animal like growl erupted from the base of his throat and he took another step forward. Seth frowned, his arm around Ness tighten just the slightest bit, looking slightly offended at Jacob's reaction, which I too thought was quite rude.
"She didn't mean any harm Jake."
"I don't care, she doesn't touch Silver. You know that."
A painful silence engulfed us as Seth and Jacob continued their staring match, the younger of the two pleading with his eyes, appearing to only want some form of peace. I didn't understand Jacob, he wasn't behaving like himself at all, and the way he repelled away from Ness, grimacing as if she smelt of something awful, glaring icily at her when he could; it was beyond irrational, she was just a child, she hadn't done anything to offend him. I'm not even sure a toddler was capable of offending a seventeen year old boy, with the physique of a heavy weight boxing champion at that.
I yanked my wrist out of Jake's hold, annoyance taking over me, and stepped forward once more, in front of him and smiling brightly up at Seth.
"Are you coming to the bonfire tonight Seth?"
His eyes broke away from Jacob's, silent for a moment as he seemed to be collecting his thoughts, before his boyish young smile took over once more.
"Yeah I am actually, heard you were coming too."
"I am, that's why we're here, to get some food for it," I turned briefly back to Jacob, his eyes cast down to the floor, and I could now tell he was itching to get out here, "you should bring Ness if you can, I'd love to have you there."
I smiled softly as I directed the second half of my sentence to the little girl, nodding in encouragement when she looked up to Seth in approval, but before Seth even had a chance to reply I was yanked on my wrist once more. This time a lot harder, intending to drag me out of the store and away from Seth and Ness, Jacob didn't even look back as he muttered a rigid goodbye to Seth, claiming to see him later.
"What is your problem? She's just a child!"
I folded my arms in anger by the passenger door of Jacob's Rabbit, only he seemed to be too occupied with running his hands through his hair in stress as he unlooked his door and slipped in, leaving me no choice but to follow. He remained silent the rest of the way, keeping an iron grip on the steering wheel, and out of my own stubbornness I refused to make conversation. Already from my reaction to him dragging me around could I tell I wasn't the kind of person to like it, I was not an object to be owned, I could speak to whoever I wanted to. Especially a five year old toddler.
We both remained silent in the car, with only a few rays of sunshine coming through in the day, meaning it was just about warm enough to be able to swim, although you were still likely to freeze to death. It was La Push after all.
He parked the Rabbit alongside a set of pick-up trucks, most of the people invited seemed to have already arrived. I didn't wait for Jacob as I stepped out of the truck, slamming the door behind me, with the carrier bag of food in my hands I walked down the sandy path towards the beach. I could hear Jacob behind me his pace slow, knowing well enough I wanted to be left alone by him, and as I squinted my eyes to see the silhouettes of a group I sped up my pace.
Emily spotted me first, her long black hair in a loose plait placed on the side of her shoulder, her bangs softly swaying from the breeze, she grinned widely at me meeting me half way and calling my name in greeting, her scars distorting it slightly but made me feel no less welcome.
"Silver! You're finally here," she out stretched her arms to embrace me in a hug, which I returned warmly, my arms wrapping around her waist.
"Hey Emily," she released me, only for me to be brought into another hug by Kim, her shoulder length hair flowing in the breeze; she was a girl of few words, but extremely sweet none the less.
Emily rolled up her sleeves of her checkered shirt, grabbing my wrist and pulling me towards the rest of the group. Jacob had reached them before me, clasping Embry, Quil and Jared around the shoulders, getting pats on the back from Sam, Paul and a few others; two of them looked to be as young as thirteen but still somehow looking ridiculously tall. It's a quilete thing, that's what Jacob had said countless times, only I don't recall ever seeing any boys apart from the pack who looked nearly as huge as they did.
Brady and Collin, Emily had introduced them, both taking me off guard with warm hugs, and as I tucked a short strange of hair behind my ear I stood alone, simply watching and listening to how comfortable they were, practically family. It was sweet, some punched each other playfully, although it looked to be rather painful, before shrugging off their shirts and about to head towards the cliffs, Sam pecked Emily softly on her scared cheek, Jared and Kim sharing a moment of eye contact, with the emotion speaking pretty much for itself.
"Where are they all going?"
"Cliff diving," Kim answered easily, helping Emily in setting up a table by a few logs, and I passed them the bag full of donuts.
"Is that safe?"
Emily and Kim laughed together, Embry ruffling my short hair, causing me to whack at his bare chest.
"You used to do it yourself, with me and Jake!"
"I did?"
"Yeah," Quil interjected, chuckling softly, "you practically shit a brick every time but you loved it!"
"Maybe when your backs all good you can try again?"
I looked up ahead of them, to the tall and thick cliff edge, with waves crashing against it down below, and my stomach churned at the idea of doing such a thing, no excitement or thrill ran through me as I pictured jumping off of it.
"No thanks," I muttered softly to Embry, before watching his smile falter a little and nodding, he turned with Quil heading for the cliff, his hand resting on the back of Embry's shoulder in a brotherly comforting way. A small flicker of guilt sparked through me at that, and I had a feeling that it was maybe something Embry used to love doing with me.
Jacob soon blocked my vision of them, his tanned features wary of me, and his lips seemed to tremble, as if he were debating with himself whether to smile at me or not. I simply stared at him, knowing he wouldn't apologize for the way he behaved, that much I knew about him, but forcing the reason as to why he behaved so rudely was an entirely different matter.
"I was gonna go with them … unless you wanted me to stay here with you?"
It was his own way of trying to reconcile, only I wasn't ready to do so just yet, so instead I shook my head at him, "I'm fine here; go." And turned away from him, heading towards Emily and Kim, not sparing another glance back at the boy I had come to cherish so much.
4 Months Earlier …
"Where the hell is Jake? He's going to be late."
Embry shrugged beside me, the cold La Push air blowing softly, causing me to wrap my arms around myself tighter, I was freezing despite the Lakers jumper I wore, something I had stolen off of my dad.
"He said he had to do some shit first."
Rolling my eyes at Embry, whose mouth was full of a hotdog, I left him by the table full of food, each pack member bickering over who got the last burger and what not. The bonfire had been lit long before the sun had begun to set, and due to the death of Harry Clearwater a new face had taken his seat in the council meetings, Sue sat quietly beside Billy, her eyes still and focused on the fire before her, Leah sat on the floor beside her, leaning against her mothers legs slightly. Our eyes caught for a moment and I smiled at her, receiving a nod in return, a small flicker of a smile forming, barely noticeable.
I sat down on the floor, Quil sat on a log beside me, his knees reaching the top of my head, allowing me to lean against him, and stuffed my hands into my pockets. I waited for Jake quietly; laughter and bickering filtering through the entire beach, soon to be died down as the enthralling enchanted stories of the tribe would be told. I tucked a strand of hair behind my ear, wisps of it falling out of the bun I had put it in, my ears turning pink slightly from the cold wind, and I longed for Jake's warm arms to envelope me in a bear hug and keep me safely wrapped up and warm, the image itself making me want to fall asleep.
It was Seth who startled me out of my reverie, yelling out Jake's name, and my head darted up, brown eyes squinting through the darkness to see where exactly Seth had seen him. I followed the young Clearwater's silhouette as he darted across the sand, reaching Jake's tall form in record time.
My smile however, was completely wiped off when I noticed who was with him. Pale skin, light brown hair, an ever present annoying fucking sad face; who else? Bella Swan.
She quietly stuck to Jake's side, smiling at Seth and being the unbelievably sweet boy he was spoke politely back to her. The urge I had once had to be close and to hug Jake was now gone, replaced with nothing but a very angry, and very volatile feeling, towards the both of them. Wasn't it against the rules? To bring someone not from the reservation to a meeting as sacred as this, let alone a fucking lover of vampires, who were the packs greatest and oldest enemies? It was unfair, and I didn't care if I was being a brat about it, the girl wormed her way into every fucking possible corner of Jake's life. He would never do half the things he had done for her with me, which was a fact I was sure of.
"What the fuck is she doing here?"
Quil eyed me out of the corner of his eye, and I knew he was fighting to not show the sympathetic look in his eye.
"Jake and the leech are taking shifts on watching her … until we catch the red head."
His voice was soft and cautious, wary of me and how I could possibly react to that, and truth be told he should be. I understood that she was coming to close to the reservation; I got that much at least. But purposefully sticking their necks out to run shifts of watching her? Leave that to her vampires. I didn't give a fuck, she wasn't our problem, she wasn't an imprint, and she sure as hell was no friend of the tribes if she so easily sided with the vampires. I didn't understand why people constantly made excuses for her, acting as if it were okay for her to want to live amongst vampires, and then come here whenever she got bored, Jake wasn't her second option, nor should he be an option at all. She was just selfish.
Embry interrupted my murderous thoughts by plopping down on the log to my left, his hand briefly squeezing my shoulder; dark eyes alight with concern and warning.
"Just … try to be nice," the glare he received in return caused him to sigh, before perking up and smiling towards Jake, who was fast approaching with Bella on his heels.
Embry's hand clasped Jacob's in their pack way that they had always done, followed shortly by Quil, before he grinned down widely at me, his smile faltering as I glared back up at him. He closed his eyes for a moment, sucking in a breath as if he were withstanding the urge to shout at me, and it only made my glare become all the more volatile. He had no right to be angry, least of all to me. If he even heard I had been hanging around with another guy he would scream the entire reservation down, so I didn't understand why I couldn't have the right to be angry.
"Hey Bells, how's your vampire? He has happy as I am about you being here?"
"Silver!"
I ignored Jake's tone, my eyes fiercely set on Bella's, who had hers cast down. I took pleasure in the fact that I so clearly intimidated her, and I was going to abuse that every chance I got. I stood, wiping the sand off the back of my jeans, tucking another loose strand of black hair behind my ear, allowing twice as more venom as before to seep through my voice.
"You don't belong here."
Quil and Embry bolted upright, gripping onto my elbows, which wasn't necessary seeing as only one of them would be like behind held down by an anchor. Jake soon blocked my vision of her, his voice as cold as it could ever be with me, and if I wasn't so shocked by it I may have had the common sense to shoot back with something.
"That is not for you to decide. I want her here."
I blinked at him a few times, just to make sure I had actually heard him say that, before pursing my lips and nodding. Wrenching my arms out of Quil and Embry's grip, I looked at Jacob once more, whose hard face had now softened. But he had never been one for apologies, and if he was going to try and make some form of truce I knew it wouldn't be today, it would be another day; when Bella was around. Because I was forever the second option, the one he dumped things on.
"I'm done with this."
I shoved at is shoulder, though it was practically pointless, seeing as he barely stumbled, and walked to the other side of bonfire, where I caught eyes with Leah's curious ones. She nudged her head, motioning for me to sit beside her, and I did exactly that. She said nothing as I settled into my seat, drawing my knees up to my chest and glaring into the fire, but her presence was there, and I knew it was meant to comfort me. For that I was thankful, because I knew tomorrow we would have a hell of a lot to bitch about. Our bond may have solely formed based on the fact that we were given the shit end of the sticks in a one way love triangle, both in messed up imprinting ways, but it didn't make our friendship any less solid than a normal one would.
So I sat there quietly as the camp settled down, people taking seats, Emily tucked into Sam's shoulder, Kim leaning against Jared's chest, settled in between his legs. And Bella, her head leaning on Jake's shoulders.
"I hate her … I really fucking hate her."
Leah snorted softly, her cold eyes flickering briefly to Bella, who averted her eyes quickly when caught staring by Leah, whom she was so clearly terrified of.
"I'm not her biggest fan either."
Her hand rested on mine gently, squeezing it, and held back just as tightly, for I knew how difficult it must have been for her to sit with Emily and Sam in the vicinity. She was so strong on the outside, like a brick wall, and I admired her so much for it, so much so that she gave me the strength to avoid Jake's eyes throughout the entire night.
I know its been like … forever … and I know the last chapter was shit. BUT I think I'm onto something again, I'm not promising anything, but I haven't completely lost the love I have for this story yet, so I'll try as hard as I can to get out other chapters! Thank you for the support you've all given me in reviews, I know its infuriating when someone stops updating, I get annoyed myself! But you're faith in me was very touching and I hope you continue to have it!