Chances

by taoist elf

Returning home for a year, Bella struggles both with chances lost and taken and what to do with the last one she'll ever have. It's more complicated than she'd ever imagined. Raw, realistic and messy, this isn't the typical JxB. Takes place 8 years after BD wedding.

12. Part XII - Progress

Song: Numb by Sia (if you can get past the stupid intro, it fits this chapter)

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Thanks for reading and hope you enjoy.

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Part XII – Progress

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Jacob pulled the car into the little gravel parking lot of the Fuller's deli shop. Bella watched him yank up the parking break and cut the engine. His spine was stiff, face shuttered and eyes lost behind roving thoughts.

Not exactly what she'd had in mind when she'd haggled for an "afternoon off."

After she'd made sure that Leah was actually going to get into the rental car with Josiah to head for the airport, she'd begged him to hand over Pack and Council reports to Sam. After a few minutes of a clenched jaw and silent standoff, he'd finally relented.

And in spite of this unenthusiastic beginning, Bella was determined to make the most of it. Who knew when they'd get another chance?

"I'm starving," she announced a little too brightly as she snapped her seatbelt free.

Without glance or comment, Jacob promptly pushed his door open and slipped from his seat. With a bland flare of nostrils, Bella turned in her seat and pulled her backpack from the back, fishing around in the outside pocket for her wallet.

"You don't need that."

As her door was yanked open, the inky pronouncement was sucked into the car by the vacuum.

Bella whipped around to find Jacob challenging her with an arched brow. Her eyes narrowed for a moment and then she decided to flip things on their ear and to her advantage.

Her lips spread in a saccharine smile. "Oh, is this a date, Mr. Black?"

Her expression must have been pretty funny because the subtlest snort accompanied a shimmy of stalwart lips. Bella's face cracked in a grin and she held out a prissy hand.

She was rewarded with a flick of eyes and a warm, steady grip.

He hauled her out of the car with an incidental strength that made her stumble into him hard and she caught herself with palms on his chest and graceless aplomb. A chagrinned blush was just heating her cheeks when she suddenly remembered that this was a man whose control was so precise he could shatter a moving leech hand with a skipping stone.

And that a burly arm was still holding her to his side.

She felt the soft inhale at her temple as he leaned down by her ear. "If you want it to be, Miss. Swan," he murmured. That provocative bass sent a shudder down her spine.

The door thunked closed in punctuation and Bella looked up to a wry and subtle smile. Maybe this wasn't going to be so bad after all.

He held her gaze for a moment – poignant, loaded… trying. Trying so hard.

An unfettered smile spread across her lips and she leaned in and popped a playful kiss on his pec. Jacob sniffed a laugh and released her, stuffing both hands into his jeans as they turned to the little shop, surrounded by several cars and pick-ups. In Washington weather's psychotic tradition, the rain had let up for the moment and there were even a few wayward patches of blue on the horizon.

They fell into step with one another - Bella naturally listing toward him until their sides bumped, just like when they were kids. Jacob's arm subtly bowed out and without thinking, her hand curled into the crook of his elbow.

Bella's eyes darted up to strands of silky hair hanging over eyes glued to the gravel. In contrast to his surprising cooperation, he looked somber, thoughtful.

He needed to get out of that head for a little while.

She squeezed his arm a little tighter and hopped, kicking back her outside leg in an impish butt-punt of high school infamy. But even her best jump landed her heel somewhere in the middle of his thigh and herself in precarious danger of landing on her ass (thank God for his arm).

She barked a laugh as she shuffled in the gravel to regain her footing and Jacob's eyes cut over to her with a demi-smirk.

"Unfair!" she accused righteously berating her height handicap. "I can't even reach your knee!" She rolled eyes and added, "you'd probably hit the back of my head."

"Oh, I'm a professional," he crooned, sounding like she'd just thrown down the gauntlet. And then proceeded to demonstrate with a soft pop of his heel square to her ass and not a break in his stride.

She squawked, springing away with a melodramatic rub of her butt.

A deep chuckle bounced in his chest as he wrapped a bicep around her neck and pulled her in by the palm on the top of her head.

He placed a quick peck on her hair. "Shrimp," he sniffed and then released her and took the last strides ahead to the door, pulling it open.

Bella looked up with a smile… and her feet stopped in their tracks.

It was shocking to how much could change in two steps. By the time he was standing back with the door held open - like the gentleman he'd always been - that sort-kinda-almost playfulness had evaporated from squared shoulders and a stoic stare. In that black tee, those jeans and kick-ass (literally) boots, it was impossible to believe this was the same man who'd reverted to high school for the walk across the parking lot of the Fuller's delicatessen.

She blinked, disconcerted.

"After you," he finally prompted with a raise of brow.

Bella took a breath and strode through the door, shoving her own hands into her jeans pockets and trying to reset.

The room was warm and steamy and smelled of baked bread. Along the far wall several laborers seated at plain diner tables eating sandwiches over wrinkled butcher wrap. Behind the deli case a middle-aged woman looked up… and paled.

"Hi Mrs. Fuller," Bella smiled, trying to put her at ease. They'd come here when she and Jacob were kids, but she'd never put it together until the bonfire this summer that it was Brady's family shop.

Like he'd heard the thought, Brady strode out of the back – his effervescent smile tamed to a serious stare over her head.

And suddenly Jacob's abrupt about-face made a lot more sense.

But as she'd already learned after that horrible phone call this afternoon, she needed to just be herself and take what she needed. Hopefully it would be what Jacob needed too – he was chopped up into too many disparate pieces.

If she needed him whole, she could help be the glue.

"Hey Brady," Bella called blithely, like last night – or the weekend - had never happened.

Brady tore his eyes from his Alpha with a sickly version of his infectious smile. "Hey Bella."

She heard the door close behind her with the soft tinkle of bell and watched every patron sit up a little straighter, casting nervous glances their way. In the back corner a man with a straggly grey-laced braid and overalls slinging his beer gut, stood and wrapped paper around the last half of his sandwich – obviously deciding to get while the getting was good.

Bella decided to pretend like she didn't see any of it.

She strode casually toward the counter - studying a sandwich board overhead that hadn't changed since high school - while she tried to find her center. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Brady wordlessly take his mother's place behind the counter. She tossed Bella an apologetic smile over her shoulder before she disappeared in the back.

God, it sure was hard to put things back together when everything around them had so drastically fallen apart. When she and Jacob were little they'd come here for sandwiches or – far more importantly – the soft-serve ice cream doled out by the machine in the corner. Mrs. Fuller would always give them a motherly smile, free sprinkles and a cherry even for a cone.

She could feel the prickle of their bond as Jacob stepped up behind her along with a wash of unnatural heat… even for him. He was feeling agitated too.

Her eyes swept down to where Brady was absently wiping the back counter and casting furtive glances out of the corner of his eye.

"Oh, is Jose coming to Lupper this weekend?" Bella asked casually, pretending that it had just popped into her head.

She caught him off-guard, which was, of course, the point. The two wolves were feeding off each other's tension, she could feel it. Maybe tying up the bonds would help a little.

Brady blinked and turned around. "Yeah," he hedged. Obviously things were so tumultuous right now for the Pack, that routine had been forgotten.

"Great," Bella smiled. "I ordered one of those laptops that we were talking about the other day but I also got some extra memory. 'Think he could help me put it in?"

"Yeah," Brady nodded, taking a step toward her. "Sure he could."

"I got it for ole Jake here," she yanked a thumb over her shoulder and used it as an excuse to glance behind her.

Jacob had his arms crossed over his chest and was staring at the menu board like he was two seconds from giving it a beat-down.

"To replace his freaking Fred Flintstone laptop at the garage," she snorted.

Without a twitch of muscle, his eyes slipped down over the plains of his cheeks and she wrinkled her nose brattily before she turned back around.

Brady's eyes were darting between them with subtle interest as he stepped up to the counter.

"He's even got dial-up internet! Can you believe it?" she balked. "Maybe Jose can help me pick out a wireless router and set it up too?"

Brady glanced hesitantly at his Alpha before offering her a little heartier smile. "Yeah, he loves to do that shit."

Bella nodded with a grin - holding his gaze for just a few more seconds and trying to infuse it with reassurance. By the way the corners of his mouth flipped up into that honeycomb smile it worked at least a little.

"So, hmm," Bella pulled her lip into her mouth as she glanced up at the board and took a few sneaky steps backwards until she bumped into Jacob. His body jerked at the contact like like she'd tasered him.

Giving him a moment to settle while she pretended to study the menu, she then rocked rhythmically back on her heels in a fidget designed to get him to uncross his arms. Finally it worked.

"I think I'll have a six inch cheese and veggie sub," she announced pertly (like she'd ever gotten anything else). "What are you gonna have?" Bella leaned back against his chest and tipped her head all the way back until she was staring at Jacob's chin.

"I'd like two roast beef bacon," he hissed like he was ordering a hit. He was still running hot.

Going for a little casual skin-to-skin, her hands sought his, hanging obstinately at his side. Their bond hummed as she laced her fingers through his and gave them a little encouraging swing. His eyes darted down over his cheeks at her and she smiled.

"And a root beer?" she asked – he'd always loved root beer as a kid.

He nodded imperceptibly.

Bella tipped her head down just in time to see Brady glancing at their joined hands before he met her gaze.

"And a diet coke and root beer, please," she added casually – there was nothing to see here. This was all completely normal.

He glanced again at their hands and then his smile impossibly broadened – the boy was not subtle.

"Double meat, Jake?" Brady left the grin on his face as he looked up at his Alpha.

She felt Jacob's terse nod.

But even in the face of Jacob's reticence, Brady kept that smile as he turned to the sink to wash up.

Success.

Bella hummed to herself as she swung their hands back and forth and watched the flat-screen TV babble away on the far wall (all Jose – this was the most electronically advanced shop on the Rez). It might have been her imagination, but it seemed like the noise level had risen in the room too. Ranchers murmured to one another, a trucker crumpled paper, someone laughed at the commercial on the screen.

The bread door slammed closed just as perfectly-timed words were breathed into her ear: "You're trouble, 'know that?"

Bella kept her eyes on the screen. "Oh, I'm a professional," she murmured, copying his bratty brag in the parking lot.

Jacob chuckled low and brought a stop to her fidgets with his hands as he pulled them free.

She was just about to complain, when he folded his arms loosely around her, resting his biceps on her shoulders and clasping his elbows as he pulled her back against his chest. Surprised, it took her a moment to relax back against him.

She caught Brady's glance and the private smile tucked under along with his chin.

Actually this was a familiar position reminiscent of high school days, even though he was a little taller now. After he'd Phased, he'd often grabbed her up just like this to lean against her (usually with a requisite "shrimp" snickered in her ear). Now she knew he had been imprinted but back then it had just felt normal… natural even.

But she could feel it clearly now – see it in the patron's glances cast their way - it was intimate. How the hell hadn't she recognized how close they were?

Her hand came up to rub over the warm satin over his steely forearm and hung there, relishing the hum that seemed to fuse their bodies together. He felt so incredibly good. This felt so incredibly good.

And in that single moment, Bella realized she was happy. God, it had been a long time.

Apparently Jacob felt the same.

With a soft shaking breath that shimmied over her hair, he rested his chin on the top of her head as his body relaxed behind her, leaning just enough of his weight on her that she felt grounded. Otherwise she might have just floated away.

While the noises of the TV and delicatessen continued on around them Bella stood wrapped contently in Jacob's arms. From her little bubble, she watched Brady fix the sandwiches behind the deli case, casting glances up from under those lush lashes while he tried to smother his grin.

"Brady, go heavy on the beef," Jacob bit out a covert cautionary acknowledgement of his covert stares.

Brady certainly understood the subtext. Clearing his throat, he straightened his face out as he looked up with an obedient nod for his Alpha. "Sure thing, Jake."

After that, he became much more seriously engaged in his professional sandwich-making. Bella smiled at both men as she leaned back into Jacob's chest.

A tinkling of the door's bell had Jacob picking his head up and straightening. He rubbed his hands absently down Bella's arms as he released her.

"Hello Mr. Little Elk," he said before he'd even turned around.

Bella watched the older man flinch like someone had just raised a gun to his head. Apparently even Jacob's customers were wary of him – good thing he was the best mechanic on the west coast otherwise he probably wouldn't have stayed in business.

"Jacob," he nodded. He glanced at Bella with an uncomfortable smile as he stepped forward to take the wolf's offered hand.

"Your van can be picked up at noon tomorrow," Jacob shook it cordially before taking a step back. He shoved both sets of fingers in his front pockets with body language that gave the man room to breathe but still somehow screamed casual dominion. "Sorry its late."

"No problem. Your father said there'd been a family emergency," he took several steps back himself under the guise of moving toward the counter. "Hope that all went alright."

Jacob nodded once. "It did," he bit out with a little too much feral undertone.

"Well, I-.." Mr. Little Elk cleared his throat with an uncomfortable smile as he jerked his chin toward the counter.

Brady was watching the interplay for his cue. "Your order's all ready," he told him and then called over his shoulder. "Ma! Can you come ring up Mr. Little Elk?"

Mrs. Fuller popped out of the back seconds later with a nervous glance at Jacob before she gave Mr. Little Elk a broad welcoming smile that was reminiscent of her son's.

Bella had taken the few steps to the sandwich side of the counter and turned back to watching Brady's deft hands putting together three masterpieces.

"Mayo?" he looked up and met her eyes.

She nodded with a smile, leaning her elbows down on the laminate. Jacob crossed the room behind her, giving the Fuller's space to do their business without his innate distraction. He leaned a shoulder against the wall beside her.

Brady wrapped her sandwich up in white butcher paper and set it aside to finish Jacob's two monster subs.

A tug on her belt loop had her complying before she could even be surprised. Jacob pulled her back into the grotto his body made lounging against the wall and wrapped a loose arm around her waist to keep her there, hooking a finger in a belt loop.

It seemed that now that he'd started touching her, he didn't want to stop. Bella was more than happy with that arrangement. She leaned her head back against his chest while her hand smoothed absently over his wrist. Their bodies were so comfortable being together. It soothed something deep inside that Bella had realized had been chronically flailing for going on eight years now.

And it felt like old times.

Small talk and the transaction at the register finished and Mr. Little Elk turned with a plastic bag filled with several items. Both he and Mrs. Fuller glanced over at them at the same time, like they'd just been waiting for an excuse.

Bella smiled openly (to make up for the probability that Jacob was giving them that unnerving stare).

"I'll see you tomorrow, Jacob," the man tipped up his chin, looking a little more relaxed.

Bella glanced up to find Jacob just pulling his eyes from TV screen. He gave the man nod.

The customer headed for the door and Mrs. Fuller fiddled with the touch-screen cash register (Jose) and then closed the door, throwing another glance their way.

Bella caught her eye and coaxed a smile from the woman who apparently decided things were not quite so dangerous in the front after all. Instead of retreating to the backroom, she scooted behind her huge son and washed her hands before wordlessly wrapping the remaining sandwich.

It was progress and it would be a lot easier for Jacob to start healing if everywhere he went people weren't scurrying for cover like he was the monster he thought himself to be. In fact, she was so pleased she found herself thinking a celebration might be in order. Her eyes drifted to the old stainless steel ice cream machine humming in the corner.

She straightened and turned around. Jacob kept his finger firmly hooked in her belt loop.

"Hey," she grinned up at him mischievously. " 'You want ice cream?"

Jacob's eyes slipped down from where they'd returned to the TV.

Bella bit her lip with an encouraging widening of her eyes.

He sniffed a laugh and picked his head up from the wall. "It's gonna melt before we get the sandwiches home," he murmured.

"Dessert first?" she raised her brows with a jaunty grin.

His eyes flitted over her face and a private smile curved those lucious lips. "Kay," he released her and pushed off the wall.

Bella turned back to Mrs. Fuller who was watching her expectantly. "Can we get two cones too?"

"Of course," the woman smiled. "Sprinkles too?"

In that one simple question and the sparkle to her eyes Brady's mother was communicating acceptance – of past and future. Brady had gotten his sensitive heart from his mother after all.

Bella turned to Jacob to find him watching her with a million thoughts behind his eyes. He blinked and his shoulder hopped in a shrug.

"Yes please," she told the woman who was already heading to the machine.

Feeling like a little girl, Bella stepped up the counter and watched her ready the cones with more excitement than was proper for a bone-fide adult. But right now, she was the happiest she'd been in longer than she could remember and she'd decided to make the most of it.

The machine chugged to life and doled out a long slow curl of vanilla (the only thing they had) into the little paper-wrapped manila cone. The woman set it carefully down on the square bottom and then started on the second.

At the sound of the cash register door, Bella glanced down the counter to see Jacob clasp macho forearms with Brady before taking the bag of sandwiches. She felt like she could see tension slip from each man's shoulders at finally making skin-to-skin contact. Wolves needed touch.

"Here you go."

Bella turned to two chocolate sprinkle-covered cones being offered to her from behind the counter.

"Sorry, dear," Mrs. Fuller handed off the cones. "We're out of cherries."

"Thanks. No problem," Bella sniffed a laugh. It was poetic, really: she and Jacob didn't have any cherries left to pop either. But that didn't mean that things couldn't be new again.

Suddenly Bella realized that this is what they were both unconsciously trying (and needing) to do: go back to the beginning and start again.

Bella hoped this time they'd get it right.

She sucked the pointy tip off one ice cream as she turned around, rolling the cool sweetness luxuriantly over her tongue. "Mm," she hummed happily.

Jacob was watching her with the softest smile she'd seen on that hardened face. Brady was full-on grinning.

Bella rolled her eyes at both of them. "See you and Jose on Sunday, Bray."

"'Kay," he wrapped a casual arm around his mother's shoulders as she stepped to his side. "Have fun."

"We will," she gave him a conspiratorial smile. "We're on a date."

Brady chuckled at her expression at the same time Jacob snorted loudly and headed for the door.

"Ain't no place classier than Fuller's Deli," Brady grinned.

"I agree," she pronounced with a sober nod. "Thank you, Mrs. Fuller."

"Bye Bella," she replied as the bell jingled harshly.

Jacob had shoved the door open and was holding it, waiting for her to go first. His nostrils were flared, but there was still just a touch of humor in those eyes.

"Trouble," he muttered under his breath as she started to shimmy by.

Bella gave him a smart-aleck grin and shoved his ice cream up to that mouth for a bite.

His eyes narrowed at the dare before, pointedly holding her gaze, his lips slooowwwwly caressed the top off of the ice cream with a suggestive jump of brow.

Blood rushed to her cheeks as she glanced over her shoulder to find Brady covertly watching while he cleaned up, but his mother turned back to business.

Deciding he'd won that round, she scowled as she passed him out the door and into the parking lot where a pickup truck was just pulling in.

"A date, huh?" Jacob chuckled as he caught up with her.

Bella took another bite of her ice cream. "Mm hm," she swallowed the coldness down her throat. "You said it'd be a date if I wanted it to be," she claimed. "I do."

"Hmm."

Bella looked up at where Jacob was walking with both hands in his pockets and the bag dangling from one wrist, hitting his thigh. His brow was furrowed as he considered the ground.

"What?" she breathed, hoping he wouldn't slip back into somber so quickly.

"Well," he dragged the word out and then looked up as a devilish grin jumped out for the punch. "If it's a date, we can't take these back home…"

Bella smiled and took another lick of her cone as the stopped at the passenger side of his convertible. Jacob leaned his hips back against the car while he considered her pensively for a moment.

"How about the bluffs," he whispered. "Sometimes clouds make the best sunsets." His eyes darted up to the overcast sky.

Her playfulness evaporated as she tried to read his face.

Sucking in a breath through his teeth, he looked back down with a forced smile and raise of his brow.

"Okay," she nodded, wishing she understood what was behind those eyes.

His smile grew real at her expression and his eyes grew mischievous. Apparently deciding to lighten the mood, he reached out and grabbed her wrist and pulled the forgotten ice cream up to his mouth.

Eyes locked with hers he licked all the way around one side with a languid tongue that by all rights should have turned the cone to a puddle right there. As was the obvious intention and a flush of heat rushed between her legs, making her weak at the knees.

Pulling back, his eyes curved with his roguish smile as they paced lazily between hers while he adjusted her limp wrist to his liking. And then he did the same thing with the other side, with sensual leisure and a sultry smile.

Bella was mesmerized.

And turned on something fierce.

But – honestly – also a little intimidated.

While she was certainly comfortable with sex, she'd never been very sophisticated with this sort of thing. And at that moment all she could think about was how Candy from the pool room would have stepped between his legs with some-… some sexy comment (she couldn't even think of one) and probably licked the other side just as provocatively.

With a blink, Jacob's brow furrowed and he released her wrist. "What's wrong?" he licked the ice cream from his lips while he tried to read her.

As soon as he asked, something broke and suddenly – for some completely ridiculous reason – she felt like she was battling tears.

"Nothing," she forced a smile, taking an inadvertent step back.

Jacob frowned, pushing off the car. "Bells," he murmured, reaching out to her cheek. She didn't mean to, but she flinched away from his touch.

Suddenly it was all crashing down around her: how plain and inadequate she felt in comparison to those model-perfect busty girls. And the memory of Jacob, fondling and fawning over every one of them.

She just couldn't compete.

The sound of the car door opening made her look up. She hadn't realized her shoulders had bowed along with her head under the heavy load. Jacob was standing by the door, watching her with a shuttered face and unreadable eyes.

She'd ruined it.

Tucking her chin, she handed him his ice cream and then gingerly got in the car. He shut the door quietly and she watched him stalk around the front of the car, taking an absent lick from his cone.

He pulled open the driver's side and bent down, handing her his cone. She took it without meeting his eyes.

Jacob swung himself in while she stared at the two cones in her fist, suddenly wondering what she'd been thinking with the whole ice cream thing. It was awkward in the car.

And because he'd licked off the sprinkles, his was starting drip onto her hand. Without a thought, she lapped it off her knuckle and cleaned up the side.

"Did you just eat some of my ice cream?"

Bella froze guiltily in the middle of, in fact, doing just that.

Her eyes darted over to a wise-ass arched brow, impugning frown… and humor sparkling in Jacob's eyes. Bella offered him a tentative smile.

"Because you know what happens when you get between a wolf and his food, right?" He continued the ruse as he shut the door, watching her out of the corner of his eye.

"I can guess," Bella giggled, so incredibly happy to be back in this place.

"Well," he turned to her with a smack of his lips as he promptly reached for the cone. "I guess I can let it go this time." And then obliterated the entire head of ice cream (and a little of the cone) in on giant bite.

"Jake!" Bella shriek-laughed.

He devoured his monster mouthful with chomping slapstick finesse.

Slack-jawed, Bella watched in amazement as he chewed, holding her gaze defiantly. Mere seconds later he swallowed, clearly victorious. He gave her a shit-eating grin dripping with vanilla in the corners.

"Did you get brain-freeze?" she laughed, leaning in without thinking about it and thumbing the confection from his chin.

"I think I'm too hot-headed for that," he snorted, absently grabbing her hand as she pulled it away. "Mine," he murmured.

His eyes, though, were serious as lapped the sticky from her thumb and then pressed a soft kiss to the pad.

Bella's gaze darted over his face, collecting all the little things he wasn't saying.

"Need any help with that?" he nodded toward her forgotten hand.

She whipped around to find sprinkles sliding down the side. "Ew," she licked it a few times and then gave it up to the expert. Bella dug through the bag of sandwiches between the seats for napkins while Jacob went to work.

She cried out in joy at the two foil packets of wet wipes. Ripping one open, she cleaned of her hands while she checked on his progress. Jacob had already whittled the cone down to a manageable nub. He handed it back and Bella offered a wipe.

He shook his head and then promptly popped the entire rest of his cone into his mouth. Bella giggled and he looked up at her with a smile and then leaned over her, crunching away. She was confused for a second before she realized he was going for her seat belt.

She sat back, holding the ice cream out of the way, as he pulled the seat belt out and almost tenderly situated it over her shoulder, crunching all the while.

Clicking it into place and neglecting his own, he sat back and in his seat and shoved the keys in the steering column and turned the ignition. He revved it a few times, the engine roaring like the finely-tuned monster that it was, and Bella caught a whisper of a boyish smile flicker over his lips before he glanced her way.

She could barely understand his full-mouth mumble, "wocean?"

Bella nodded happily and took a lick of her ice cream cone.

'

"I'm full," Bella groaned, starting to fold over the paper on her half of a half sandwich. The Fullers had always been generous on the portions and the ice cream cone had done a number on her appetite.

A brown hand reached out and she looked up to Jacob's sly eyes. Sniffing a laugh, she handed it over to the man who had already finished two ginormous sandwiches in impossible time.

They were sitting side by side on a blanket from the trunk at the top of the bluffs overlooking the tossing sea. Jacob had turned on the radio for the ride over and she'd settled down in her seat with her sock feet on the dash and absently hummed along. They hadn't really talked much, but that was alright; they each needed the time to settle into this new (old) place.

But it seemed that, while on other fronts they were shakily progressing in jumps and starts, they were back to always touching: Bella didn't even think about it, but she found her hand shoved between the seat and his thigh. Arm resting cavalierly on the door, every time Jacob had shifted, he'd absently dragged his fingers over the swath of skin revealed by the ¾ sleeve sweater.

Bella took a sip of her soda and then lay back and pillowed her head on the big duffle bag of clothes he kept in the car (for obvious reasons). Jacob finished off Bella's sandwich in two measly bites and then balled up the paper and put it back in the bag along with the emptied root beer.

With a groan he lay back beside her, scooting over so their arms were touching while he stretched his long legs out toward the horizon.

Bella turned her head and watched him gazing up at the sky with thoughts clouding his eyes. Her hand searched for his and found it and their fingers automatically entwined like it was the most natural thing in the world (it had always been).

Finally seeming to register her hand and her stare, Jacob blinked twice and then turned his head.

"Thanks for lunch," she whispered.

Jacob smirked. "You mean 'lupper?'"

Bella nearly choked on her laugh. "Oh my God, Leah was right!" It was hysterical to hear that from a macho man's lips.

Jacob didn't ask and just turned back to the sky with a smile on his lips. But lupper was right: sunset was probably just 20 minutes away. They'd gotten a late start to their afternoon off.

"What happened back there, Bella?" he whispered.

Bella froze like a deer on the wrong side of a rifle, watching him stare stoically up at the clouds just starting to blush. She wanted to play dumb or coy or anything but honest, but this was Jacob. Not only had he grown into a sharp man, he'd always been able to read her like a book.

It was just suddenly so hard to honor her hard-earned vow of honesty.

Finally he turned his head, eyes intense and astute. She still hadn't been able to take a breath.

"By the car," he amended quietly. It was more of a prompt – her face told him plainly that she knew exactly what he was talking about.

She couldn't stand it anymore.

Bella burst away, releasing his hand at the same time she sat up. She leaned over her lap and raked both hands through her hair as she pulled her feet under her.

"God, this is so…" she hissed and then huffed out a frustrated breath. "I just feel so… so lame!" she whipped around to where he was watching her with his arms crossed behind his head.

"I mean God, Jake. I can't compete with them!" She flung her arm out wildly. "The Trixies, the Candies, and all the other-…" her voice broke and she turned back around, slumping over her lap and clapping her palms over her face. Suddenly everything felt like it was crashing down again – maybe they'd just be friends like this, maybe she'd have to watch him date girls like that, maybe...

"Bells," his whisper prefaced a big palm smoothing down her back. "I don't want them."

Bella frantically tried to press back sobs while she felt Jacob scoot his legs around her.

"Look at me honey."

Her breath hiccupped as fingers slipped up to urge her wrists away. But it was just impossible to resist that endearment in that voice.

Her hands fell away in defeat and the tears they'd held back sprinted down her cheeks. A gentle finger coaxed her chin up and she found herself looking into dark charred eyes that looked gutted by flame. He had caged her in a grotto created by his long legs – nestled in the crook of a knee, one was wrapped around her and the other bent and propping up his elbow.

He leaned his head against his fist. "I don't want them, Bells," he sniffed a bitter laugh. He closed his eyes on the loathing that harshened the lines of his face.

Bella turned toward him a little more, propping her knee on his thigh and brushing a soothing hand down his arm.

Jacob squeezed his eyes shut and tucked his chin while he raked the hand propped on his knee through his hair.

He picked his head up and his eyes popped open, instantly focused in hers. "I want you," he whispered. "Always have, always will. Before the imprint. After… oh, God, after…" he coughed a caustic laugh.

He shook his head with an acrid open-mouthed smile. Leaving his elbow on his knee, his hand came down to ghost over her hair while his gaze followed it a moment.

"If there were no wolves and bullshit," he breathed, watching a finger stroke over a curl. "We'd have been together and you know it." His eyes darted back to hers.

Bella's brow furrowed at the pain in that searching stare and she reached up and caught his hand, ferrying to her cheek. She nuzzled against it for a moment, relishing the feel of his work-roughened knuckles against her cheek while she cradled his gaze in her heart.

"I do know," she whispered.

His eye searched hers a moment more then he sniffed with a sad smile. "You were so right," he mouthed the words.

Jacob's gaze dropped between them and Bella pressed a kiss to his knuckle and released him… waiting. His hand pushed through his hair again while the other shifted on her knee - it was only then that she realized their other hands were entwined.

"They were a sick substitute," he mumbled. "For you."

He looked back up, his eyes pushed into half-moons by disgust. "Oh I'd get a lay, maybe a little distraction… touch," he closed his eyes and huffed a long slow breath from his nose.

Bella's constricting heart was pushing tears from her eyes again. She lifted her hand to his cheek but he subtly shied away and she returned it to her lap.

A fist wiped a harsh sniffle from his nose as his eyes met hers from under his lashes. "I chose them 'cause they were looking to get something, just like me. But none of 'em gave a fuck about me – hated me, really," he laughed – a hateful hollow sound.

His adam's apple bobbed with his swallow as his eyes fluttered closed again. "Just like I hate myself," he whispered.

Bella's heart shattered from the pressure. She drew in a breath filled with needles as she watched him claw a hand through his hair to grip the crown with a fist.

She had no idea what to do… what to say.

"Jake," she ventured.

He sucked in a harsh breath through his teeth and lifted his head, sitting up a bit more. His face was back to that stoic mask. "We're missing the sunset," his lips hitched up in a bitter smirk.

And with that he was pulling away.

For a few seconds, she watched in dismay as he hauled back across the blanket and then lay stiffly back down, folding his hands behind his head as he trained his eyes on the sky.

The only thing she could do was what he'd done for her in the deli parking lot when she'd broken down… just keep going.

Turning to the bruising horizon she scooted back to her spot, leaning slowly back down and shimmying closer so at least her cheek was near enough to feel the heat from his elbow. Folding her hands over her stomach she stared at the vibrant sky choked with kaleidoscope clouds and let her swollen mind stumble around while she listened to the percussion of the waves. He was starting to talk to her at least… starting to let his guard down, starting to process. She just wished she knew what to do to help him, but she was struggling to keep her head above her own stormy seas.

This was definitely not easy.

"This is the worst date ever," Jacob hissed.

Bella blinked back into focus in flushed clouds streaked with riotous purples. "I was actually thinking it was the best one I'd ever had," she pursed her lips. Because as hard as it was, it was also true: it was playful and messy and painful and fun and real and… Jacob.

"It's the only date I've ever had," he barked a humorless laugh.

Bella glanced at him out of the corner of her eye to find him cursing the sky with his stare.

"Everything else was just a paying for a fuck," he spat under his breath.

Bella returned her eyes to the sky, but tipped her cheek against his elbow. The hum of skin to skin made her eyes flutter closed.

Jacob blew out a long breath. "God, I'm so fucked up, Bells," he murmured.

Her eyes popped open to the sky.

"I don't know how to do this. I'm scared I'm gonna fuck this up too."

"It's just me, Jake," she whispered. Her hand slipped from her stomach and crept across the space between them until she found his hip. She brushed her fingers over his jeans and – when he didn't move away – she slithered under his tee and hooked her fingers in the waistband of his jeans. An electric current zinged up her arm from the silken touch of his skin.

Jacob coughed a laugh. "You know I had our first date all planned before I Phased," he chuckled caustically. "I was going to take you up here in the Rabbit for a picnic like this – maybe some pizza or I'd make some sandwiches and shit," he murmured under his breath. "Then I was gonna take you to a movie. I'd drive you home… kiss you on your front step…"

Bella smiled. "Until Charlie came out with his gun."

Jacob sniffed a laugh. "Yeah."

"Well we could rent a movie off Amazon on my computer," Bella turned with a raised brow. "I've been wanting to see Thor - the Dark World," she boomed.

He finally turned his head and looked at her.

"Of maybe we could go for Sharknado?" she grinned.

"Sharknado," Jacob snorted as he turned back to the sky. "Stupid."

Bella smacked her lips. "C'mon like Killer Clowns wasn't stupid."

"That's a classic," Jacob sniffed, turning to her with a lazy smile. They were slowly pulling back on the road.

She gave him googly eyes. "Sharknado will be too someday."

Jacob rolled his eyes but shifted, pulling his arms from behind his head and scooting closer. His hand found hers at his waist and pulled it free. Their fingers automatically laced together like vines.

Bella smiled, watching the colors starting peak with the sunset while her mind spun. He'd done his best to address her issues about other women, but her insecurities went deeper still. He'd opened up a lot to her this afternoon – it was only fair of her to do the same.

She drew in a deep breath. "Y'know with that ice cream thing," she mumbled, feeling Jacob's muscles twitch to attention. "I-…" she wrinkled her nose in chagrin. "I don't know how to be sexy like that."

A dark chocolate chuckle rippled in his chest. "Oh yes you do," he crooned.

She blinked and turned to find him watching her with a sly hitch to his lips.

"In fact," he rolled over and pillowed his cheek on the duffle, keeping their hands joined. "Everything you do is sexy," he murmured as his eyes washed leisurely over her face.

Bella sniffed uncomfortably and returned her gaze to the clouds. "Just because I'm your imprint," she muttered.

"No."

He contradicted her so emphatically that it sounded like an Order. She found her head whipping back to him without her permission.

The scowl on his face softened slowly as he took stock of the insecurity in her eyes. His hand reached out to brush a strand of hair from her forehead.

"You're sexy because you're real," he murmured under his breath like he was talking to himself. His eyes darted to his finger as it stroked slowly down her cheek. "Don't change a thing."

With a brusque sniff, his eyes found hers again. "And I was just playin' because I like the way you smell when I turn you on," his lips spread slowly in a roguish smile that was calculated to melt the panties off any woman in a nanosecond flat.

Of course, it worked like a charm.

That smile tipped into a grin that was, well, wolfish.

"Gah," Bella turned back to the sky in defeat.

"Mmm," he hummed scooting over and pushing his nose into her neck with a playful chuckle.

"Jake," she giggled pushing her cheek into his head, while he rooted and tickled.

Finally he relented and pulled back with the most glorious sunrise smile she'd ever seen.

And just like that, he banished all those shadows from her heart. For several heartbeats they just smiled at one another, lost in the soliloquy being whispered by yawning eyes while the ocean murmured and rocked the horizon.

With a soft breath, Jacob lay his cheek back on the duffel beside and his hand slipped over hers on her stomach. Her lips still bowed in peace, Bella returned her gaze to the sky, where color was building to a crescendo. It was breathtaking: angry reds, passionate purples, playful pinks and warm yellow streaked the sky as a fiery orange sun dove into a watery horizon.

Jacob was missing it. His cheek pillowed on the duffle beside her, she could just see those still, silent eyes tracing her profile in her periphery.

"You're missing the sunset," Bella murmured through a smile.

"This view's better," he sniffed.

Bella blinked, turning her cheek just enough to see him. Private thoughts were locked in the intense unreadable plains of his face.

She turned back to the sky as her hand on her stomach shimmied from under his and laced through his thick fingers.

But after only a few seconds, Jacob pulled free and his hand raised toward her face. She closed her eyes as a single finger ghosted down her forehead to the bridge of her nose.

"You're really beautiful, y'know that?" he whispered, pushing up and propping his cheek on his fist.

She grimaced uncomfortably. "I'm short and plain," she coughed a laugh.

Jacob ignored her words, tracing slowly down her profile. "You're beautiful," he repeated quietly as his finger slipped down the slope of her nose to her lips. "I love your eyes, your mind," his finger made a detour, following the shape of her mismatched lips to the corner before smoothing over the full bottom. "This mouth." He continued down her chin.

"And beautiful face," he breathed as his finger slowly skimmed down her throat. "God, I love this face." The pad of his finger settled in the hollow of her throat, skating back and forth along the curve. "And this body…" He expelled a breath from the back of his throat somewhere between a sigh and a grunt.

Bella's eyes opened, cutting over to where he was watching his finger hem her collar bone.

Blowing a long breath through pursed lips, his eyes closed as his hand returned to hers on her stomach. He murmured low and emphatically as he threaded his fingers with hers. "Mm… and… that… awesome… bubble ass."

"Jake!" she barked a laugh.

His eyes popped open. "Just had to throw that in there," he leered.

Bella rolled her eyes with a laugh in spite of a rushing blush that rivaled the sky.

"But you're half-right," he capitulated. "You are short."

She turned back to a toothy grin. At 5'4 to his ginormous leap past six feet, there was no getting around that.

He held her gaze as the sun slowly faded from his face. "But I like it," he whispered, much more serious than she'd expected. "A lot. 'Makes me feel…" he scraped his lip with his teeth as his eyes darted off to the side. When they returned, they were thoughtful. "Makes me feel protective."

Jacob's hand shimmied free from hers and he lifted it to brush a strand of hair from her cheek while sober eyes washed over her face.

They finally found hers again and he licked his lips. "Bells, I-…"

A harsh buzz made her jump in surprise.

"Fuck!" Jacob spat, closing his eyes before he sat up and fished the phone from his pocket.

"You should have turned it off," she laughed.

He glanced over his shoulder. "Can't," he bit out.

The stress and bitterness in his voice instantly sobered her up. It reminded her that outside of this little sanctuary they'd carved out for themselves this evening, there was no getting away from reality: he was Alpha and he had a ridiculous amount of responsibility weighing on his shoulders at all times.

Bella pushed up off the blanket, watching him with concern as he brought the phone to his cheek.

"Yeah," he answered gruffly.

Pulling her knees up to her chest she watched him shove his hand through his hair and then congeal to his feet.

"I fucking told them that wasn't happening yesterday," his voice instantly dove for the depths of an imperious bass. "And. It. Still. Fucking. Stands."

Jacob listened to the voice on the other end while he stalked away from her toward the edge of the bluffs. Abruptly he froze, his body quivering like an arrow that had hit its mark.

"She's mine," the growl was nearly unintelligible.

Bella blinked and squeezed her knees tighter – this was about her?

Suddenly Jacob huffed a breath from his cheeks and started pacing again. "They won't hear it from you, because they don't fucking listen, Sam," he snapped. "So what'd they say about Josiah?"

Jacob turned on his heel with incidental grace and started prowling the other way.

"They would," he barked a bitter laugh. "It's Lee's decision. I'm fucking not gonna take that away from her. She's just strung tight because of all this leech shit. And probably being around us is calling the wolf."

Jacob stopped in front of a tree and leaned a forearm on it as he listened.

"No."

The twilight was flayed wide by a single word. "That's all there is to it. This is my fucking Pack." Jacob banged his fist against the tree above his head. "She's paid her dues. For crissakes her mother's on the fucking Council!"

He barked a laugh – a dark twisted sound. "Yep, mine too."

Arm braced against the tree he hung his head while he held out the phone and listened like it was on speaker – of course it was for his hearing it was.

"No, Sam," he commanded sternly. "You're not gonna get wrapped up in any more of this bullshit. You're done. Next month we gotta start weaning you off. You don't wanna be tweaking when Em's like eight months and shit. You gotta be there, man."

He sniffed a laugh at whatever was said over the phone. "Anything else?"

He paused, lifting his head and absently watching his fingers claw into the bark while he listened for almost a silent minute. Bella's gaze swept out to the darkening horizon. A cold drop of water hit her cheek and she held out her palm.

Suddenly Jacob spat a disgusted sound from the back of his throat. "Fucking bigmouth Brady," he growled. "Put him on a double – have him do Paul's shift tomorrow morning. Rache's got a doctor's appointment and I need Paul at work in the afternoon so he can't switch out with Emb."

He bowed his head again, listening for a moment. "You're sure you're a go for tonight?" he paused. "Kay, keep Jedidiah running until about two – the Brothers are good with him."

The rain was starting to sprinkle and Bella stood up, starting to collect the trash, watching Jacob out of the corner of her eye while Sam apparently told him something else.

Frankly listening to this conversation blew her mind – no wonder the Pack loved him so much in spite of his temper and storms: he took good care of them. The amount of energy it must take to keep that many people's schedules and needs straight on top of work and the politics of the Council? Jacob should be tired. But even more than then logistics was the heart – in a single conversation it was clear he was a fierce advocate for what was best for each of them.

At the expense of himself.

"Sounds like you got it," Jacob murmured and Bella looked up to see him pushing off the tree. "Hey, thanks, man." With that he let the phone fall down in front of him while his head bowed with it.

Bella hugged the trash to her chest while the rain started tapping a little more enthusiastically over the scene of a man worn down to the weary end. Jacob slowly slid his cell into his back pocket.

And then snapped back his fist and slammed it into tree.

Bella jumped six inches of the ground at an impact that cracked like thunder. The huge tree groaned in its wake and swayed ominously, while needles fell down around him.

He still hadn't turned around, but was frozen, chin tucked, with his fist pushed into the splintered crater made in the tree trunk.

"Jake?" she whispered.

For a moment she didn't know if he'd answer. "Go to the car," he hissed.

"Let me clean up…"

She choked on her words as he whipped around, eyes lambent gold and burning. "Go to the car," he snarled.

In her surprise she'd dropped the trash, but she didn't stop to pick it up. She whipped around immediately and ran for the car, sitting silent in dark in the escalating rain. Yanking the door open, she threw herself into the passenger side, slamming it closed after her.

It wasn't that she was frightened of him per se… but in that moment she'd actually understood just how terrifyingly close to the edge he really was.

Any more push-back would only push him closer.

She settled in her seat and stared out the windshield at Jacob, wearing black and barely visible in the dusk, where he stood motionless with his head bowed and hands fisted at his sides.

Her heart felt like a fist had reached in and was squeezing it like a lump of raw meat. She wanted nothing but to run to him and wrap him in her arms and just hold him and shelter him from all this insanity until he could put himself together again. Today she'd seen definitively that the boy she'd loved was still in there somewhere.

But the only thing she could do at the moment was keep pushing forward.

The skies opened up then and released a downpour of rain. Jacob looked up and then stalked back to their picnic area with menace in his stride.

She watched his silhouette through the sluice of water over the windshield while she listened to it pattering on the top of the convertible. He balled up the blanket and grabbed the duffle and jogged up toward the car. As he passed on the driver's side, Bella suddenly remembered the trunk – he had keys but still... Throwing herself over his seat, she found the lever and popped it. The back clunked open while the rain continued to come down.

It was slammed down so hard the car swayed and a second later the driver's side door was being ripped open. Jacob slid into his seat and pulled the door closed behind him while Bella sat back and found her seatbelt.

She turned back around to find him squeegeeing the water from his face while he sifted through the keys. He was soaking wet.

He found the right one and shoved it into the steering column. Pushing his hand back through his sopping hair and tucking it behind each ear, he started the car and turned over his shoulder, bracing his hand on her seat to back up.

Bella took the opportunity to search his face but there was not even a speck of dust to collect off that burnished iron mask.

With a sigh, she leaned down and unlaced her sneakers and pulled them off so she could prop her feet up on the dash – she'd always done that with the Rabbit too. It was comfortable. She sat back and wiggled her sock feet into position while her hand absently dove under his thigh.

She felt his flinch and squirm but ignored it and leaned her head back on the seat and watched the windshield wipers manically pace the window.

She glanced every once and a while out of the corner of her eye at Jacob, driving like the Terminator or something down the road – upright and tense like he was sitting on a bed of nails, he'd traded his cavalier lounge for both hands on the wheel. Shifting like a precision machine, not once did he so much as brush her arm.

This had to end.

Taking time to cool down and process was one thing, but he should have passed that point miles ago. Right now he was doing nothing but fighting while burning in his own personal hell.

Just like she'd done at the deli, Bella resolved that she was going to make a stand…

She tugged her hand free and shifted sideways, pulling her knees up on the seat. "Talk to me," she whispered.

The muscles jumped in Jacob's jaw while he continued to send death-rays out ahead of them down the road.

"I'm your friend, Jake," she leaned her temple against the seat, watching his nostrils flare rhythmically. "Talk to me. You don't have to deal with this shit alone anymore."

She waited for an answer that never came and then reached out to his hand, braced on the wheel. With a grunt, he yanked it roughly away over his chest.

The rejection hurt… physically.

Bella flinched, her hand hovering for a while and then she slowly reeled it back in. She was out of ideas. Heaving a sigh through her nose, she bowed her head in defeat and watched her rejected hand fiddle aimlessly with the hem of her other sleeve.

"They think it's too dangerous for you to be alone with me," he bit the words out suddenly like thrown gravel hitting the side of the car.

Bella's head jerked up, an indignant scowl, locked and loaded. "What?!"

Staring straight ahead, he sniffed a laugh that cocked his mouth in a smirk that was downright creepy. "They want you to live with Sam or Seth until 'I can control of the wolf.'"

"B-but-…" Bella searched the dashboard with open-mouthed shock. "But I'm your imprint…" she returned to that hard profile.

He ground a single loaded name in his molars. "Emily."

"But Sam was just -…"

"They're right," he interrupted her in a terse base.

He whipped around and pinned her with razor eyes. "But I can't lose you again."

The intensity behind the words hit her like a blast of air from a 450˚ oven - for a moment she couldn't catch her breath.

Jacob snapped his gaze back out to the road. "Not now," he hissed, taking the heat down a few degrees. "Another week maybe-… I n-need-..." He expelled a breath and shoved a hand through his hair.

Bella sat up more, wishing he'd let her touch him. "Jacob, I don't want to live anywhere else," she declared vehemently. "Not in a week, not ever." Her eyes flitted over his face as insecurity kicked in. "I-I mean unless you-…"

He stopped her with a bland glance.

A high stressed laugh burst over her lips.

Jacob's face softened into just a little more human and his hand left the wheel, traveling to where hers was fidgeting in her lap. His skin was burning in contrast to the gentleness of his touch as his fingers caressed pleadingly over her knuckles. Their hands entwined seamlessly they were two puzzle pieces lined with magnets.

Jacob released a hissing sigh as he slumped back in his seat. With a glance, he squeezed her hand as he ferried it to his thigh.

Bella leaned her cheek against the upholstery again, waiting for more – he didn't need her empty reassurances right now, he needed to get his off his chest.

Jacob leaned his head back against the seat, drawing in a deep lungful of air while he watched the road over the plains of this cheeks.

"They meddle in shit they don't understand," he hissed under his breath. "Times have changed, but they're all about the bullshit rules and traditions," he twisted the words with sarcasm and as his mouth hitched up on one bitter side. "But these are people's lives, and I'll break any fucking rule in the book if it makes sense for my Pack."

Bella shifted and reached out to rest her hand on his shoulder.

He huffed out a breath and tipped his head to absently rub his jaw over her fingers for a moment.

"After all this shit with Josiah, everything's just gotten worse," he breathed sitting up and releasing her hand to make a turn.

Bella soothed her hand over his rock-solid shoulder – she couldn't massage it if she tried.

They pulled off the highway and then onto one of the Rez roads. Once he got the car in gear, he covered her hand again where she'd left it resting on his thigh.

"And now they're worried Leah's gonna start Phasing all of a sudden in the middle of New York fucking City," he snorted.

He shook his head slowly with a tired blink.

"They wanna make her stay. Nope," he popped the P with a smirk. "Not doin' it. Lee's made it this long. I think with the marriage, it's going to feel like they're an Alpha pair and the wolf is gonna settle down."

He worried his lip a moment and then glanced at her. "I heard what you told her," he met her eyes. "I think you're right about her stopping too soon. About her fighting the wolf."

Bella smiled and her gaze turned to her finger, tracing the bottom of his tattoo peeking out from his sleeve. "And how about how you two have more in common than you thought?"

Jacob barked a dismissive macho laugh and she flicked his shoulder in reprimand.

She caught his gaze when he glanced again and for a moment they just let their eyes silently speak while he magically drove in his periphery.

Finally his mouth softened in smile that transformed his whole face before he squeezed her hand and turned back to the road, just in time for at turn. He shifted onto the last back road to their house.

Their house.

Bella smiled to herself as her head fell heavily against the seat. In just passing moments ago – and carefully ignored by both of them - something had been decided that was so obvious that it should go without saying, yet at the same time it seemed like such a significant step. The pretense of living there for "a week or two before moving to a better place" had been exposed for the transparent and ludicrous sham it had always been.

There could be no better place.

"What?"

Jacob's whisper, made her look up to where he was watching her with a shadow of a smile. He turned fluently back to the road just in time to make the driveway.

Bella picked her head up, sucking on her lip while she considered him a moment and the gravel crunched under the tires.

"Our house," she told him cryptically.

Jacob's eyes fluttered closed briefly. His answer was no more than a breath that parted russet lips, "yeah."

A slow smile bloomed over her face, loosening up all the tension lodged in the muscles. "Wanna watch Sharknado?"

His gaze dropped to his hand as he threw the car into park and he smothered a private smile. "Yeah, I do."

'

'

Bella woke abruptly, sucking in a breath as her eyes popped open wide, while the world dropped into a disoriented keel. Her eyes sweeping the empty living room, she pushed up off the floor, a blanket pooling in her lap.

Grimacing at stiff muscles, she hauled herself around to lean back against the couch. Huffing out a bleary breath, she surveyed the field of cushions, two layers of comforters on the floor and the remnant junk food strewn around her laptop, set up like an altar in front of the fireplace.

Last night was starting to come back.

She and Jacob had come in and changed and then set up the living room properly for a b-rate movie night extraordinaire.

As if in silent agreement, there were no more heavy discussions or confessions. They'd danced around dealing with the shifting boundaries between them with the familiar touches and comfort of past friendship. Therefore, side by side and propped back against the couch, they'd laughed until their sides hurt at the movie playing on her laptop, expelling cares and worries for some good ole' campy b-movie fun. But as the shark carcasses piled up, Jacob lay his head in her lap and his chuckles became fewer and far between until they were traded for soft snores.

It wasn't nearly as fun to watch goofy gore by herself, so she'd stopped the show with her remote and watched him sleep instead. It was an infinitely better.

Finally at peace, the hard lines softened into a face that looked much more like the boy she'd known those many years ago, only aged and intensified to perfection. Lush russet lips with that minute under-bite, regal brow, high cheekbones and a strong jaw – he had a breathtaking masculine beauty that, even at rest, clearly communicated both potent virility and a sensitive heart.

She didn't know how long she'd watched him, just stroking her hands through his inky hair, listening to each languorous breath skate over lax lips but eventually sleep beckoned her to join him. Carefully extricating herself, she'd laid down beside him and he'd immediately curled around her, capturing her in warmth of sleepy arms. Head pillowed on his bicep, she'd drifted off in the heated musky grotto of his body.

Outside the sun was just starting to get serious with the day - she'd guess it was around six – and she could still feel the remnants of his unnatural heat, clinging to the blankets.

Jacob must have already gotten up to go for his run.

Today he had to go to work after morning Pack duties and she was going with him and hang out "in case the water pump came." Bella barked a laugh at the ruse and stood, stretching. She was a little sore from the floor, even buffered by the rug and comforters as it had been. Maybe they should try sleeping in an actual bed sometime.

Bella froze at the thought, her arms falling slowly to her sides. Suddenly she realized why they'd both unconsciously been hanging out in the living room like this: to set boundaries. Right now they were obviously working on rebuilding their friendship… just where were those lines?

Did she want to have sex with him right now? Her body certainly did, but Bella realized she wasn't so sure herself.

Taking the few steps to the laptop, she squatted and closed the screen, picking it up off the floor and stowing it under her arm. No, she didn't want to have sex… she wanted to make love. And that's why things were swirling around in this confusing amorphous space: in one way or another, neither of them were ready.

And it was weird considering they had already technically had sex on multiple (multiple) occasions.

God, it was so complex.

Bella realized that she'd already made love with part of him at least – his wolf was a sensitive and alternately passionate or tender lover. She suspected the man was too.

It hit her then like a bag of bricks: she'd only been with the man once. And that once would be a desperate angry carnal fucking against a public wall minutes after he'd had a blow job.

Bella slapped her hand over her face.

God, it was so incredibly fucking complex.

And she had no idea how to get from that point, through all the others, to the place she wanted to be: in Jacob's arms. The real, whole Jacob.

One thing she did know, though was that it would break them both if they tried to rush this. There was a lot of emotion and damage that needed to be healed before those two points could be joined. For both of them, no doubt.

At least now it was starting to feel like a when, not an if.

She rubbed a hand down her face with a soft groan: thinking about this stuff should be illegal this early in the morning.

Laughing softly to herself, she turned and crossed the living room, tossing her laptop on the couch as she passed.

Jacob's black tee shirt was still thrown over the back of the couch where he'd stripped and tossed it as soon as he'd walked in the house. It had actually made Bella freeze in the doorway - not because he'd taken it off (it was soaked) or because that gorgeous back was on display, but because he'd thrown it down on the living room couch.

She fingered idly over the dried material. She hadn't been able to put her finger on it immediately but what her intuition had recognized before her brain caught up was that Jacob had kept an unnaturally unlived-in house (especially for the slob she'd known). Tidiness was one thing, but this had felt more like restraint.

Or, perhaps even more frightening, preparation.

His words haunted her from the beach and would pop up at odd times: no mess left behind. He'd take care of others even to his grave.

With a sad smile she picked up the shirt and brought it to her face and took an indulgent whiff of his scent. Tossing it back down on the couch, she made her way to the bathroom.

It was obvious he'd been there first - there was a pile of laundry on the floor and the tub was wet.

Closing the door behind her she decided a shower was in order for herself too.

She wondered if Jacob had taken a cold shower because there was still plenty of hot water left and Bella basked in all of it. While hot water pelted her skin into a blush, she let her mind wander over many things from Pack politics to dates to boundaries and healing.

There seemed to be some real progress – the kind that made her really look forward to the day and what it might bring. And what she could bring to it. She hadn't done that in a long time.

Finally cooling water had chased her from the shower.

Wrapping her towel around her breasts she smeared away the condensation on the mirror and brushed through her hair while she continued to think things through. It all made her want to step up her game - to settle the pack around him, protect him and give that sun the space to shine. She'd done it without consciously thinking about it at the deli.

Next up was the Council.

Pressing her lips together until they turned white, she stared into the mirror wondering if she had the strength to slay that dragon today. Wouldn't she at least try for her best friend? Damn straight.

Well that's what Jacob was becoming again.

With a resolute nod she turned to pick up her dirty clothes. She added Jacob's pajama bottoms and tee to her sweats from last night with a huge smile on her face. His razor was also left on the sink along with the sprinkling of tiny hairs in the basin.

Slobbery was never so precious.

Chuckling she opened the bathroom door and stepped into the hall at the same time Jacob was pulling open his bedroom door.

They both froze like deer in headlights.

Jacob blinked free first, subtly clearing his throat as he turned to pull the door shut behind him. He was dressed in a wife beater, some beat up jeans and his hair was its usual casual hip, hanging messily around his jaw.

He turned back to the hall and Bella realized she should have bolted for her room in the opening. Chin subtly tucked, his eyes met hers from under his lashes and then seemed to be dragged by a super-human force down her body before he jerked them away. His hands curled into fists as he started down the hall.

"So I'm gonna, uh," he rolled his lips and then flowed on silent bare feet toward her. "Clean out the car from yesterday. Are you still coming to the garage?"

Squeezing the clothes against her chest, her eyes followed him but he kept them trained carefully away.

"Yeah," she took a step back into the bathroom to let him pass.

As he passed, intense eyes that looked like they committed every pore to memory did a brusque circuit of her face. "Come out whenever you're ready," he murmured.

Bella nodded and then watched him continue down the hallway with that mercury stride.

She had taken two steps toward her bedroom when Jacob jerked to an abrupt stop just inside the living room. It was an extreme enough change that Bella froze, frowning with concern as his head bowed and he rubbed his face with his hands.

"Can I touch you?" he mumbled into smearing palms.

Bella turned to face him, playing the words over and over in her head, trying to understand them.

He turned slowly around and lids blinked heavily up from eyes that were black and bottomless and swarming with emotion. "Just for a minute?" he whispered.

Bella was still unsure exactly what he was asking when she was standing before him, wrapped so vulnerably in just a towel. "W-what do mean?"

He rolled his lips and his eyes bobbed uncomfortably to the ground like he was trying to figure out how to explain something in a foreign language.

When he looked back up, there was an anguished furrow to his brow, like he was pleading. "I j-just-…" he rasped and then gulped the words down with a thick swallow. "I need touch."

Her eyes darted back and forth between his as understanding slowly washed over her, drowning her heart in its tide.

"Yes." Without hesitation, she dropped the clothes unceremoniously on the floor.

His eyes intensified, locking deeply in hers and he took a step toward her with an intensity that was a little bit frightening.

Still there was no question. "Come," she whispered, holding out her hands.

The distance between them was swallowed by jerking steps that brought his big body heavily to the floor in front of her, first on one knee, then the other.

As sad as it was, she was only a few inches taller when he was on his knees, and rather than watch those frenetic eyes drown in overwhelm – the pupils yawning so wide there was no iris left - she wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him close.

There was something primal about his need right now and so instinct had her rubbing her jaw over his. A low fleecy rumble lit in his chest as his hands slipped up to cling to her waist and he pushed his nose under her jaw and rooted with gentle nudges.

She'd never heard that sound from Jacob, the man.

Her hands smoothed over his shoulders soothingly as she tried to pull back and see his eyes, but those huge hands that nearly spanned even a towel-wrapped waist held her in a firm grip.

She felt the chills spill over his skin as she brushed her fingers up the nape of his neck on her way to comb through his hair.

"Jake," she whispered, cocking her head and trying to see his face while he rubbed his nose back and forth against her neck. "Honey?"

He froze a beat and then, slurping in a breath, he picked up his head.

"I j-just-…can I-…?" his mumble sounded as drunk as the eyes that peeked at her from under heavy lids looked but they were dark and human and drowning in the contentment being broadcast by the soft purr.

His hands slipped up to either side of her head, hovering in her hair while he leaned in and dragged the tip of his nose along her jaw. He drew in a long luxuriant breath as he pressed lips to her pulse and then rubbed his cheek over hers.

Bella's eyes fluttered closed as a smile curved her lips and her hands slipped to his shoulders to brace herself while he took what he needed.

He tipped her face down with the gentlest of pressure so he could press his forehead to hers and stayed there for a moment, rocking his head back and forth, his nose brushing over hers, while his ragged breath spilled over her face. She drew in a long reverent lungful of the moist sweet air and then released it to his sucking inhale.

With a shaking sigh, he started moving again. He hemmed her jaw with lax lips and Bella tipped her head to the side so they could continue down the curve of her neck, caressing her skin with his breath as they went.

But there was nothing sexual in his touch, only tender sensuality and a need for comfort. It felt like she was drowning in his soul - cocooned in his warmth and scent and the sparkling tingle of power or bond, Bella's body felt boneless.

His hands started roaming as he dragged his mouth along her unmarked shoulder and then drew his nose back along her collarbone. Palms squeezed her ribcage gently through the towel and then slipped down to measure her waist, next to rest on her hips like he was taking a relishing inventory of her frame.

Jacob nestled a lazy kiss in the hollow of her throat and then pressed his face into her chest while his arms wound around her body - one hand splaying on her shoulder blades, the clutching her hip.

Bella's eyes blinked slowly open, feeling drugged. Her fingers stroked through his hair while she tipped her head to look at him and brushed hair back from his cheek. His eyes were closed as he rested against her, one side of his face pressed against her sternum while he panted quietly like he'd just crawled up to shore.

Much like Jedi had done that first day.

Instinct made her want to push the towel away and shelter him between her breasts, but she also knew naked bodies were slippery slopes and, for now, this seemed to be good enough. So smiling softly, Bella watched over him like she had when he was asleep, while her hands smoothed over his massive shoulders. They shimmied under his tank top to caress down his rippling back as far as she could reach, riding the vibrations of that deep contented rumble in his chest.

"You smell so good." His words were barely audible and ferried on a sigh.

Bella's eyes had drifted closed and they blinked open slowly.

"You feel so good," he breathed in a lazy slur.

Bella tipped her head down and brushed his hair back from his cheek.

Jacob's eyes rolled under the heavy lids as they opened, swimming for a moment as his hands firmly caressed around her back to hold her hips in a gentle grip. He picked his head up from her chest like it weighed a hundred pounds.

Sentience returned to his eyes as he blinked and then they finally lifted to hers. They looked worn and bleary… but at peace, at least for the moment.

"I have to go slow," he told her quietly.

She wasn't exactly sure what he meant, but she smiled anyway because that's what she needed too. "I like slow."

His lips softened in a subtle curve. "I know," he whispered.

Bella blinked an uncertain smile.

Holding her gaze, Jacob sat up from his heels, rising toward her.

"You like slow," he breathed as one hand left her hip to hoover under her jaw. "Gentle," he leaned in slowly and rubbed his jaw sensuously over hers, stubble and silk.

Pulling back just enough to capture her eyes, the calloused pads of his fingers skated along her collarbone. Then he leaned slowly in to her shoulder, holding her gaze as long as he could before he pressed a delicate kiss to his mark.

Bella hissed with the crackle of heat and pleasure that lanced through her body like lightning.

Jacob pulled back with heavy lids. "See?" he whispered.

It felt like deja vue… and suddenly she realized that this was an exact reenactment of the first night the wolf had come to her in human skin and she'd taught him how to touch her. He must at least keep the memories from when his Spirit Warrior had visited her.

Jacob's eyes washed lazily over the recognition crystalizing in her face and he brushed her hair back from her cheek with gentle fingers.

His eyes met hers and Bella drowned in their intensity.

"You like a soft touch," he breathed, moist air fanning over her face before he leaned in and pressed his lips to the corner of her mouth.

The kiss lifted from her skin, leaving a quiet smack and a cooling brand.

Jacob pulled back with black eyes that were unfathomable, secret thoughts flickering like apparitions behind them.

Finally, he licked his lips in slow motion, leaving them parted for a heartbeat before he spoke. "I wasn't careful with this body the first time…" he whispered, his eyes pacing between hers intensely as his hand slipped up to rest on her chest. "I wasn't careful with this heart-…"

Like a dam had broken, simple words released a shocking flood of thoughts and emotions.

They hopped over Bella's face in micro-expressions while latent hurt and fear bobbed up to the surface like corpses from a dredged lagoon.

Jacob's forehead crumpled as he cocked his head and brushed his knuckles over her cheek. "I'm so sorry, Bella," he breathed.

His face was growing blurry and Bella blinked, realizing her eyes had filled with tears. They sprinted over her cheeks in two cool tracks.

His gaze darted over them and a thumb smeared one across her cheek. Closing his eyes with a soft exhale, Jacob unfolded to his feet and pulled her into his chest.

Bella wrapped her arms around his waist, holding on for dear life through the emotional ambush. Yanking in open-mouthed breaths as silent tears herded in droves down her cheeks, she pressed her face into his shirt and tried to hold it together.

Jacob did it for her – wrapping her tightly in one hand while the other stroked soothingly over her head.

She had no idea how long they stood like this, holding one another and letting their hearts do the talking where words failed. But eventually the pressure had bled out along with the tears and those bruises under her skin weren't nearly as tender.

Bella drew in a long full breath and then released it through pursed lips. She thoughtlessly wiped her face on his shirt and then looked up to a soft smile. Realizing what she'd just done, her hand came around to fecklessly swat at the big wet spot over his heart.

He caught her wrist in gentle fingers and then pulled it up to press a kiss to her palm. "Take your time," he murmured over her skin.

Brushing her hair back from her forehead with a final searching circuit of her face, he turned without another word and headed for the living room.

Bella wrapped her arms around herself. "Jacob," she called.

He stopped mid stride, cheek turned just enough over his shoulder that she could see his profile.

"I forgive you," she whispered.

His head bowed for a moment and then he continued to the door.

"Jake," she called again and again he froze. "Love you."

She heard his soft sniff. "Love you more," he breathed over his shoulder and then pulled open the front door.

'

She pulled the door closed behind her - he never locked it, no one would be idiotic enough to mess with his house.

Bella had taken her time.

She'd sat on the edge of her mattress, fiddling with the hem of the towel - for, God, she had no idea how long - while her mind cataloged memories and then stowed them away. Bella had always thought herself to be a practical girl who was now in pretty good contact with how she was feeling these days, but being blindsided like that by emotion had been unsettling.

As tourniquets were untied, all the things they held together naturally fell apart. It was part of the process - sometimes things got worse before they got better. This herky-jerky pace of theirs was perfect testimony to that truism.

Hitching her backpack higher on her shoulder she jogged down the stairs still feeling a little raw, but lighter than she had in a while.

And the day was cooperating with the sentiment. The storm had rolled over and it pleasant for September– cool and cloudy but with a few winks of blue overhead. She'd dressed in comfortable jeans, purple chucks, a lacy camisole and tomboy flannel. Buttoning up the shirt against the chill, she made her way to where Jacob was sitting in her car with the seat tipped all the way back, looking like he was meditating – his body was too stiffly controlled to be napping.

Bella pulled open the passenger door. "Hey," she murmured, slipping into her seat.

She turned to stuff the backpack in the back as Jacob righted the seat, his eyes however staying in his lap. Depositing her bag, she watched him adjust it, ignoring her completely.

"Jake?" she frowned.

He turned to her with shuttered eyes.

"Hey," she raised her brow emphatically.

"Hey," he murmured, turning back to the wheel and starting the car. Clicking on her seatbelt she watched him out of the corner of her eye as he mechanically went through the motions of backing it out of the drive and then pulling them out on the road.

Letting her head fall limply back on the seat, she huffed out a sigh as she stared out the front window feeling prickly and frustrated.

Back and forth, holding close and pushing away, open hearts and slammed doors… after this morning, she was tired. She knew they both were - even before they'd started trying climb this mountain of baggage. But that was the price she had to pay for depriving both of them of their other half for eight years.

Closing her eyes, Bella blew a breath from her cheeks and let the movement of the car soothe her raw soul for several miles.

When he spoke, his murmur was so quiet, she almost couldn't hear it over the sound of the engine. "How can I live with this shit, Bella?"

Bella squeezed her eyes closed tighter while she licked her lips and tried to scrape together the right words to say.

Right here was the crux of the matter for both of them.

Drawing in a breath she opened her eyes and let her head flop to the side. Jacob had one arm propped on the door, his other hand at the bottom of the wheel but there was nothing remotely relaxed about his posture.

"Because I forgive you," she told him quietly.

He closed his eyes briefly and then glanced at her.

"All of it," she continued. "I forgive you and love you. It's over, Jake – we're both starting new."

He searched her face a moment longer and then turned back to the road. Exhaling a long slow breath, he leaned his head back against the seat like he was trying to force himself to relax.

Bella's eyes drifted over his strong profile down to the tattoo on his shoulder and then up to that jutting adam's apple. It bobbed once and then his hands switched positions.

The muscles flexed under the Pack crest as his hand went in search of hers.

She met him halfway.

"Do you forgive me?" she asked quietly.

Without moving his head, he glanced at her out of the corner of his eye.

"Because after the way I treated you with… Edward," she spat his name with a disgusted shake of her head as she returned her eyes to the road. It still made her sick to her stomach to think about how she'd kicked him and everyone she'd loved in the teeth just to be with him.

"It seems like poetic fucking justice if you ask me," she bit out bitterly.

Jacob tugged gently on her hand and she turned to where he'd picked his head up and was watching her. That steel had fallen away and his eyes were completely bare and unadorned: a direct glimpse into a soul that had been gutted but was slowly starting to fill again.

"I forgive you," he pronounced, quiet and firm.

Bella couldn't help but smile into the face of that boyish earnestness. She picked his hand up from his thigh and ferried it to her lips for a kiss.

"Well then all that's left to do is the impossible, huh?" she sniffed a humorless laugh as she replaced their entwined hands on his thigh and stared out the window. "Forgive ourselves."

Jacob didn't say anything but just rested his head against the seat and drove them down the road.

The miles passed in silence – each of them lost in their own thoughts but still together in their joined hands, sending unconscious Morse code squeezes back and forth. Finally he had to slip free to shift down to a stop on the edges of town.

Bella drew in a breath as she sat up more, rubbing her face with both hands and trying to reset. There were other items on the agenda today, and important ones too.

Ones she wished to God could wait…

"Hey, Jake," she called softly. "Can I ask you something?" She knew she could, but somehow this made it seem more formal.

He picked up on it too and with a nod, he sat up a little straighter.

Bella licked her lips, hoping this was the right move and it wasn't going to make things worse. But she needed to do whatever she could to make sure that he didn't have to bear his impossible burden alone.

She dove in. "At the beach, your dad told me that as your imprint, I had the same rights as-…"

"I heard what he said," he interrupted quietly, without taking his eyes from the road.

For a moment, she was disconcerted – trying desperately to remember all they'd talked about – until she realized it didn't matter. She needed to be able to tell Jacob anything.

She looked back up from where her eyes had drifted to her lap. "Well would you mind if I went and saw him today?" she asked. "I'd like to talk to him about all this crap with the Council."

Jacob glanced at her once and then settled back in his seat and shrugged a shoulder. "Then do it."

Bella blinked at him for a moment. He didn't hesitate or question or ask what she was going to say or… anything. Was he mad?

"Are you sure?" she ventured.

Jacob nodded, shifting back up and then reaching for her hand on her lap. He ferried it back to his lap as he cast a furrowed glance her way.

"You don't have to ask me for permission," he frowned incredulously.

Bella sucked on her lip. "But it's your Pack."

"It's your Pack too," he asserted, returning his eyes to the road as his hand left her to shift a turn. "We work different angles, but we're equals, Bells. If it comes down to keeping you or the Pack safe… well, I don't give a fuck what anyone says," he barked a laugh that sounded kind of sinister.

He glanced at her with a furrow to his brow. "But I'll stand behind whatever you think the Pack needs."

Bella stared dumbly at him for a several seconds while her mind spun - he trusted her and respected her judgment… he was letting her help him…

"Haven't I done that?"

She blinked back into focus in his eyes.

He had – while their relationship had been rife with landmines, from Jedi to being fed ice cream in front of tribal men and one of his wolves, he'd never refused or contradicted her.

Bella's face cracked in a grin at the memory. "Yeah, you have."

Jacob's face lightened and he squeezed her hand as he returned his eyes to the road. The garage and another hurtle was just around the next corner.

But suddenly Bella was looking forward to it.

Even if it was the first time he was going to see everyone but Seth since the "incident" with Josiah, based on what she'd overheard of Sam's conversation, it sounded like her choreographed play from the deli had already seeped out into the Pack.

He pulled her car up into the crunching gravel surrounding the garage, his eyes scanning the cars in the lot like a vulture – obviously starting to think about work already. He probably had some catching up to do with other vehicles besides the Little Elks'- today was Thursday and he'd missed three days of work already.

He got out of the car without a glance and stretched his muscles with a groan. Bella was just about to do the same when her own door was pulled open.

Seth was standing outside with one of his cotton candy grins. "Hey sis."

Bella smiled and got out of the car, glancing out in surprise to where Paul, Quil and the Brothers were trailing out of the garage looking… well, like the cats who'd spent time with a flock of canaries.

Seth closed the door and turned around. "Did you have-…"

Interrupting him, she threw her arms around his middle and squeezed him tight. "Hey Seth," she grinned up at him.

His eyes were as big as saucers and trained in utter terror on his Alpha on the other side of the car.

Following his gaze, she had to agree that Jacob did look pretty dangerous – his nostrils were flared and his eyes were narrowed like they were contemplating murder.

Bella ignored him. "Hug me," she urged.

Seth's eyes stumbled back down to her and she raised prompting brows. His arms hesitantly circled her like he was anticipating them to be ripped off at any second.

He squeezed her gently.

On the other side of the car, Jacob growled petulantly and whipped around, pacing away while he shoved his hands through his hair. But he'd said he'd support what she thought the Pack needed - and they needed to be able to treat her like the sister she was without feeling like they were risking their lives. The Pack needed unity.

Seth's eyes returned to her in wonder. She grinned and placed a pert kiss on his chest.

Turning out of his embrace, she took on the twins next. "Hey Elan," she wrapped him in a hug.

"I'm Nebi-…"

"Ugh!" she groaned, glaring up at him. "Enough already!"

He gave her a wide grin and a gentle hug and she moved on.

" 'Sup, Boss?"

Bella turned her head to catch Seth clapping hands with Jacob and offering him the same candied smile.

Paul was already next in line with a macho forearm clasp.

Bella was pleased.

She rounded the car with the twins in her wake and got a side hug from Quil on the way. Jacob was already talking shop, but the atmosphere was relaxed and collegial - like they were friends, coming back together for work after an extended vacation.

In other words, exactly as it should be.

Paul pressed his luck and a kiss to her head.

"Hey, don't you have a doctor's appointment?" Bella accused.

"Yeah but it's not until 11," he sniffed, pulling back and patting her on the head (annoying, but that was Paul).

"10:30, dickhead," a gruff bass corrected.

Bella turned to see Jacob with his arms crossed over his chest and glaring at his wolf. "Don't you fucking remember telling me that last week?"

Paul shrugged not looking particularly concerned. "Doctor's always late anyway," he snorted.

"Rache isn't," Jacob ground out. Obviously this new routine had him wound tighter than normal.

"It's the hormones," Bella told Jacob in a stage whisper as she moved to his side.

The twins snickered and Quil patted Paul's tummy as he passed. "Baby's getting big…"

Paul slapped him off with a deafening crack and Quil cackled as he strode up to Jacob and slapped a greeting into his hand.

"Hey boss, you' got the whole Rez talking about you at the Fuller's Deli," he grinned, stuffing his hands in his pockets and taking things too far as usual.

Jacob's body went stone cold still beside her. "Why," he bit off the question with gritted teeth.

It was more than enough warning for anyone with a love for life. In fact, the Brothers and Seth both took subtle steps back.

"Wait for it," Paul's intoned under his breath, his lips spreading in an anticipatory leer.

Quil, however, was blissfully undaunted and gave Jacob a grin and just another excuse. "Rumor has it you were actually nice. Even had an ice-…"

Jacob launched out with a lightning fist to Quil's gut. But he didn't really put his heart into it, because his prey merely doubled over and fell to the gravel with a groan.

"Yes!" Paul crowed.

Jacob straightened and tossed a dismissive sniff over his victim. "I don't know what the fuck you're talking about."

Taking a step back to Bella's side, he hooked his arm around her neck and pulled her in for a long unapologetic sniff and kiss to her hairline.

"C'mon Bells," he murmured into her hair, leaving the arm draped around her shoulders. "Let's let these assholes get back to work."

Bella giggled and wrapped her arm around his waist, throwing a smile over her shoulder at the five sets of grins.

"Wanna coke?" he murmured as they casually bumped sides on their stroll to the garage.

"Yeah," she whispered, leaning her head on his shoulder. "Yeah I do, Jake."

'

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'

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