Imprinted

Chapter 11

Destiny

I woke up sad and depressed. How long can I go before I completely destroy Jacob? How long can I go before I destroy myself?

I got up and went downstairs. I was eating Frosted Flakes with no enthusiasm at all when the doorbell rang. I went to the door and checked through the peephole.

Leah was looking down with arms crossed. I opened the door.

"Leah-"

"Bella, do you have any idea how torn Jacob was last night? It took me a solid hour to convince him not to jump on a plane headed for Texas! And then I had to come up with a reason. Bella, I seriously suggest you tell him soon, because I do not want to see him beaten up over this imprinting issue."

Leah said all of this looking down. She looked up at me with livid eyes. Then they turned to shock.

"Bells, your cheeks!" she hissed. She pulled me inside, letting herself in, and shut the door quickly.

"Leah, what-"

"Bella, your cheeks are pale. Like, Bella Swan pale."

"WHAT?!"

I ran to the bathroom and looked in the mirror.

There, where the tears had caked and flaked off slightly, were pale spots lining my cheeks. I looked at my hands. There were pale spots all over.

"Leah, the skin coloring... I think it's wearing off from my tears."

"Well, can we do something about it?!"

It dawned on me.

"Alice."

...

"Oh, no, Bella, what happened?" Alice asked as soon as she opened the door.

"I do not wish to get into specifics right now, but last night I was crying," I explained quickly.

"Oh, I was afraid this might happen," she moaned. "There have been a few reports of salt water damaging the coloring."

"So salt water does this?"

"Yeah. Stay away from the beach."

I groaned. Most of La Push was beach! Leah shook her head, her nose wrinkled in disgust.

"I don't get it," Leah said. "Bella's skin color is having a reaction to salt?"

"Yeah. The water speeds up the process," Alice said.

That was about when Edward walked in.

"I heard the dog's mind," he muttered. He looked at me, confusion in his eyes. Then he saw my cheeks and his eyes widened.

"Hello, Edward," I mumbled. I so don't want to talk to him!

"B-Bella?" Huh, that was interesting. I've never heard him stutter before.

I waved and asked Alice if she could change my skin color back to copper.

"Sure, I can."

About an hour later my cheeks were russet brown and Alice had redyed my hair. Leah watched with fascination while Edward looked at me with a look I felt was extremely creepy.

"Well, I'll say you're all set," Alice clapped her hands, pleased with herself.

"Bella, if you ever want to-" Edward began before Alice elbowed him in the ribs.

"You do remember she's Jacob's imprint?"

Edward mumbled something unintelligible.

Lady Gaga played in my back pocket. Jacob. I pulled the phone out and flipped it open. Alice dragged Edward out of the room. Leah sat in a corner, looking unhappy.

"Jake?" I asked innocently.

"Bella, I want you back. Please, I'm begging you. I'm confused, and I just want to know if this imprint thing was all a huge mistake. I felt you instead of Destiny when I kissed her last night!"

"Jake, I'm sorry, I-"

"Honey, who's that?" Emmett boomed from behind in a gruff voice I barely recognized. I mouthed 'Thanks' to him and listened for Jacob's response.

"Who's that, Bella?"

"Jake, that's... that's my date. I've got to go."

"Bye Bells," he said meekly, and the phone went silent. I closed it and stuffed it in my back pocket. I turned to face Emmett.

"Emmett!" I laughed. In many ways, Emmett was the big brother I've always wanted. But ever since I left to stay with Jacob, I rarely saw him.

"Bella! You know, you stink."

I laughed at his blunt remark.

"Look who's talking," I laughed.

Emmett pulled me into a big hug.

"Jeez, I missed you, little sister," he mumbled into my hair.

"I missed you too, big brother."

I backed away from Emmett.

"Okay, Em, I don't want to take Essence Au Vampire back home with me. The wolves'll freak."

"Okay, okay..." Emmett pouted.

"I'll take care of that," Esme said. She took me by the hand and led me into the bathroom. There, she had a bath run and it smelled like roses and lavender.

"Oh, no, Esme, it's fine, I-"

"It's the best I can do. I missed you Bella," she said, smiling warmly and placing a freezing hand on my arm. I shivered involuntarily and stepped into the warm water.

"There's no salts in this, right?" I asked, immediately worried.

"No, I have special liquids to pour in my bath, which I poured into yours," Esme said, not looking at me but at the decoration towels on the rack.

"Why are you doing all this for me? Aren't I your enemy?"

"You were my daughter long before you became my enemy," Esme answered.

I nodded and closed my eyes, enjoying the feel of the water.

...

Hey, Destiny!

Hi, Seth, beautiful day, isn't it?

Yup, sun's shining, birds singing, and no sign of the female. A perfect patrol day. By the way, I notice you smell like flowers.

Oh, thanks for noticing! I decided to pamper myself today.

It's nice. I hope Jacob stops moping soon, so he can see you in the sun. You look awesome!

Aw, Seth, stop it, you making her blush!Embry chortled as he joined our flanks.

Heh, it's okay, Embry. I'm in a really good mood today! Actually, if Jake's not moping later, I'm gonna invite him to dinner tonight to make up for last night.

I'm sure that'll turn his mood around.

Yeah, go ahead! We'll keep up the fort!

I laughed and phased behind Jacob's house. I put on my sundress and knocked on the backdoor.

"Destiny," Billy said.

"Hey, I'm guessing you're Billy," I said, keeping up my charade.

"And because the wolves only knock on the backdoor and I've never met you before, I can only guess you're Jake's imprint. Come on in. Maybe you'll get Mr. Mopey off the couch."

Billy rolled into the kitchen. I walked around, taking in the small details of the room.

"Jacob?" I asked as soon as I got to the living room. Jacob jumped to his feet and looked at me in shock.

"Destiny?! What are you doing here?"

"Well, I got directions out of your head when I was running with you one time, so I committed it to memory. And I wanted to ask you if you wanted to come to my place for dinner."

"Oh," Jacob scratched his head.

"Unless... You have plans..." I trailed off.

"No! Um, I don't have any plans, so, yeah, I guess I can come over."

"Great! See you tonight!"

I kissed his cheek briefly and walked back outside.

"Destiny, wait!"

I turned and Jacob crushed his lips to mine. I was too surprised to respond.

"I'm sorry about last night, I know I probably hurt you over it. I just want to say that I'm gonna do better next time than hurt you whenever I kiss you, okay?"

I nodded. Well, today went well.

AN: Aw, Destiny/Bella and Jacob make such a cute couple, don't they?

I'm holding a contest.

Those of you who have "New Moon" on DVD already, I want you to watch it over and over for the biggest change from movie to book. Here's an example. Don't copy this.

Book: Harry's heart attack was supposedly caused by Seth and Leah phasing.

Movie: Victoria's attack and the suddenness of Jacob's rescue caused the heart attack.

Send your biggest change and I'll mention those with the best eyes and ears in the next chapter. Good Luck!

mrsnessieblack