The Twilight Twenty-Five
thetwilight25 dot com
Prompt: # 12
Pen Name: Purelyamuse
Pairing/Character(s): Jacob/Bella
Rating: T
Word Count: 492
Photo prompts can be found here:
thetwilight25 dot com/round-eight/prompts
A/N: Canon AU. Beta: Lyricalkris
She's up these stairs. Garden Hall. Room 212. I barge through the door, and Embry jerks me back by my elbow.
"Are you sure? She could be up there with some dude. I watch a lot of movies; college girls aren't like high school girls."
"It's Bella."
"And Bella's hot, man. And you said she has raging hormones."
"She does," I say with a smile, remembering how she lingered the last time we hugged goodbye. She breathed me in and sighed before letting go. That's how I knew. That, and I saw it in her eyes. "I'm going in. I don't care what she's doing."
"All right. Your funeral or whatever."
We stride quickly to her door. I knock. I wait. I knock again.
"Hold on." It's Bella.
She answers the door in a pair of fuzzy pjs full of rainbows. My grin is huge.
"Happy birthday," I say, and she leaps toward me.
I catch her in my arms and squeeze.
She pulls away. "What—what are you doing here?"
"I wanted to say it in person."
She smiles but covers her mouth, embarrassed or shy. I don't know.
"Hey, Bella," Embry calls from the hall.
"What the heck? You brought a party with you, too?"
"Just Embry. He doesn't count."
"I so count," he says, hugging Bella tentatively. He knows how I feel about that.
She shakes her head. "I can't believe it."
"Believe it. Now where are we going because we have to celebrate?"
She spreads her arms wide. "I'm in my jammies"—Embry snickers, so I hit him—"I have to get changed."
I shrug. "You look great."
She points at me. "No, you look great. I'm a mess."
"You're never a mess." And what I mean is, you were never a mess, and she gets it because she gets me. We get each other.
She gives me a shy smile and pushes us out the door so she can change.
When she emerges, she's in tight jeans and low cut black shirt. Crap. I'm not going to be able to keep my hands to myself tonight.
"Let's go." She locks up and leads us down the hall. I gape at her nice ass.
"You're so screwed," Embry says, chuckling.
I give him a kidney punch.
"You better kiss her tonight or I will."
I glare and bare my teeth a bit.
"I'm just sayin'. It's her birthday and all. And she did wear that shirt for you."
"You think?"
"I'm so going to be the one to kiss her tonight."
"Screw that."
.
.
.
.
.
At the end of the night, I leave Embry on the curb, walk Bella to her dorm, and stand awkwardly in front of her. "Hey."
"Hey," she says, giggling.
"I thought for your birthday, I could—we could—"
"Hmm?"
I stop talking and give her her present. On the lips.
She smiles softly and says, "Happy birthday to me."
