(Disclaimer- this is getting tedious. i own nothing.)
Mah. This is somewhat long. My apologies. please leave reviews. The next chapter is coming soon.
More kissing. :D mwahahaaa. but yes. All you Edward lovers will get your bit of the vamp soon enough.
Patience, friends and werewolves. Patience.
Fire
I stretched my arms out, slowly. I was sore. The drowsiness had not at all dissipated, though I intuitively knew that I'd been out cold for at least a day now. Several thoughts popped to the surface as I floated slightly closer back to consciousness, but I repressed them. I didn't want to deal with anything. I wanted to sleep. I pulled the covers close around my neck, cold now that the heat of my dreams was gone, and rolled over, wishing that I'd drift into at least another hour of slumber. Then I fell, landing on the hard wooden floor with a thump, smacking my cheek against it. I huffed.
"Ugh." I moaned into the floor. My lip dragged against it when I did so, and I made a face. The floor didn't taste good.
There was a soft chuckle from behind me and I quickly scurried to a standing position, tripping over the covers around my feet, falling again, only to be caught mid-fall by Embry. My eyes searched first his face, then behind him in the doorway, looking for the face I'd rather see. When my heart came up empty and disappointed, I looked around the small room. Jacob's room.
"Hey there. Sleep well?" Embry questioned genially, still chuckling a little as he steadied me. I smiled tentatively at him, much more comfortable than I realized I should have been around him. He felt absurdly like family. It should have been unnerving, but it wasn't. I smiled wider. I opened my mouth to speak to him, but no sound escaped my lips. My eyebrows pulled together in bewilderment. My throat was dry.
"You probably need something to drink. I think Jake's making you breakfast." At the sound of Jacob's name, my eyes widened and my heart thudded. By the looks of the smirk that emerged on Embry's face, he could hear it. Darn my stupid heart and its irrational responses. I followed him out of the room, quietly clearing my throat, stumbling some, still lethargic. "You may need to put some ice on that." He murmured to me, watching me rub at my sore cheek. I wrinkled my nose. It hurt to do so.
"What happened?" A husky voice came from the kitchen. I spun away from Embry, looking in the direction of the lovely sound, and saw him. He stood there by the table, watching me, a white chef's apron tied around his neck. He smiled sheepishly as he watched me watch him. Embry laughed behind me, pushing me gently over to the couch, probably worried that I'd fall over. I was wobbling.
"She fell out of bed." He grinned at Jake who in turn bit his lip, hiding a smirk. Then Jacob's eyes rested on me again. They were soft, dark, inviting. I missed him. "So, what did you make for breakfast?" Embry interrupted our ogling. He sniffed at the air, a look of faint disgust on his face. "It doesn't smell too good, no offense." I had to agree. It didn't smell very good. It smelled more like someone had stuck a piece of plastic in the oven, but I didn't say anything. I didn't want to hurt his feelings.
Jake laughed anyway at the comment. He didn't seem hurt by it. "Welp. I attempted to make pancakes." He half-smiled, shamefacedly, holding up the frying pan where the clump of mush stuck. Embry grimaced.
"Got anything else?"
"Nope. It was Leah's turn to go shopping." Jake replied to his friend, but he was looking at me again. I smiled, wishing that he'd come and sit by me. I missed the warmth. I bit my lip, gazing. I felt lightheaded, giddy…I could even go as far as saying that I felt almost whole. It was an odd feeling. "Maybe you should go get some." He said to Embry, his voice trailing, staring intently at me still. There was a wicked glint in his eye that had my stomach flipping insanely. I blushed, fighting a smile.
Embry was about to object to Jake's suggestion, but then he quickly took in the look on both mine and Jacob's faces and shook his head, a slow smile breaking on his own. "Later." He called to us as he closed the front door behind him. I heard a quiet chuckle just before the door clicked shut. Jacob was next to me in seconds.
"Still remember me?" He teased, taking my hand in his. I nodded, smiling slightly. "How's your face?" As he asked this, he took my face carefully in his other hand, inspecting it. My eyebrows pulled together over my narrowed eyes, trying to concentrate.
"What are you talking about?"
"You fell." He reminded me, smiling. He stroked my cheek with the tips of his fingers, leaving traces of warmth behind. "Want me to get some ice for you?" I shook my head, leaning my cheek against his chest instead. He lifted me from the couch, settling into a more comfortable position, and placed me back on the couch beside him, laying my face against him. It still seemed like it should be a little more awkward to me. I couldn't get over the fact that just yesterday he'd been a stranger. How much could change in a matter of twenty four hours?
"So uh, the pancakes are off the menu, huh?" I joked, laughing. The laugh was off. I wondered if he noticed.
"Yeah, pretty much." He chuckled back. He played with my hair. I smiled back at him, but as he did so, I wasn't thinking of him, but someone else entirely. It reminded me of a dream I'd had. In my dream I was in the kitchen of my new home, in an earlier century. I was standing with the striking bronze-haired god. Edward. I was on the phone. I looked up at his beautiful face as he toyed with my hair. As I hung up, he kissed me. A feeling of longing ripped through my chest and I started to gasp.
A soft shake woke me from the daydream. The memory.
"Bella?" Jake was staring at me with large, dark worried eyes. They immediately melted the confusion and the pain that had left me crippled. I clenched my teeth, forcing my breath to come more evenly as I closed my eyes and leaned into him again. "What's wrong?" He whispered. He sounded cautious. Maybe he already knew what was wrong.
"Nothing, really, though I am hungry." As I said this, he snickered, pulling me up into his arms and carrying me to the refrigerator. I'd had a dream like this, too. He'd been carrying me through the woods. We'd ended up at a tent. Edward waited there for us. It was cold in that dream.
I involuntarily shivered, remembering it, and Jake gave me a puzzled look. I shook my head at him, not in the mood for explaining things. I supposed that I would have to get used to this. Everything would be setting off memories now that the cat was out of the bag. Now that I was Isabella Swan. I looked away from him, my eyebrows pulling together. Another thing I'd need to get used to: him calling me Bella, everyone here calling me Bella. I used to be Anna. It was still weird for me.
"How about some…" He bit his lip, standing in front of the open refrigerator, still holding me in one arm. His eyebrows met in contemplation. He sighed. "I have no idea what to feed you."
"Aren't you hungry?" I asked him, smiling. From what I could remember, he was always eating something. Had that changed? He laughed.
"Sure, sure. I'm always hungry." He replied, confirming my memories. I grinned at him. It was nice to be able to look at him like this. Nice to go from dreaming of a face every night of your life to having that face in front of you, tangible, beautiful. I didn't see how I'd be able to go home after this. Would he ever let me go home?
"When am I going home?" I asked him, tentative. His happy expression faltered, and for a split second there was pain on his face. My breath caught in my throat, but he quickly changed his features into a calm, cool mask that dredged up an old resentment in the pit of my stomach. I didn't know what it meant.
"Do you want to leave already?" His voice was even. Too even. I detected the pain beneath it, and it stabbed me. I shook my head against his chest, stroking his russet cheek.
"No, of course not. I was just wondering… But I don't have anyone to talk to there anyway." He smiled halfheartedly at my attempt to soothe him.
"You can go whenever you want. The car is gone, but I could run you there." He shrugged. My eyebrows pulled together in confusion at his words.
"Run me there? Wouldn't you get tired?"
"Uh, not really, Bells." He snorted, then suddenly his face became serious, his eyes widening in surprise. "You know…you remember…that I'm a….a werewolf, right?" I gasped, my eyes bugging out of my head.
"Werewolf?" My heart thumped in my chest, horrified and shocked, but I realized that I wasn't as horrified or shocked as I should have been. I clenched my jaw, again in need of managing my hyperventilation. I blew out a long breath of air before continuing. "I…I guess that I knew that, actually."
He raised his eyebrows, doubtful. "You sure about that?"
"As sure as I can be." I replied simply. He snorted.
--
The next four days were wonderful. I spent each of them with Jacob, Embry, and Leah. Leah had gotten on my nerves several times, but Jake had taken care of her. I thought back to the day before. We'd been riding our motorcycles when Leah and Embry had popped up out of the woods.
"Hey, Psycho Smella. How's the memory?" She'd shouted, laughing. Embry had lightly smacked her arm.
"You're so immature." He'd muttered to her.
"Go jump in front of a bus, Leah." Jacob had growled, parking his bike next to mine. He hopped off, grabbing me by the waist and dragging me over my own bike and into his arms. "You smell fine to me," He whispered in my ear, sniffing playfully at my hair, winking. I giggled. I heard Leah gag. Embry glared at her, shaking his head.
"What? It's gross." She'd defended herself, crossing her arms in irritation.
"Yeah, right. You're just jealous." He chuckled, poking her in the side. She smacked him, her eyes narrowing. After watching them run back into the woods, I'd asked Jake if they were together.
"Ha!" He laughed at me, a huge smile on his face. "According to Leah, no. Embry thinks otherwise, though." He rolled his eyes, shaking his head at me, grinning. "If you ask me, I'd say yeah. They're together. But Leah refuses to accept that she could ever want anyone other than Sa-" He stopped mid-sentence, looking at the ground, his face going somber.
I bit my lip at the memory. He'd told me about Sam and Emily. They'd passed away a long time ago. A lot of people had: Billy, along with all of the other parents and elderly Quileutes, Paul. Most of those who'd passed away were those who'd imprinted. Sam had stopped phasing so that he could grow old with Emily, as had Quil, who'd left the pack for Claire, and Jared, who'd left for Kim. Paul had never imprinted, however. He'd just met a nice girl and decided that she was all he'd want. I could tell that discussing the death of his friends and family was causing Jake a lot of pain, so I changed the topic, focusing only on the imprinting. It was weird. Jake had to explain it to me again, because it apparently was something that my memory was in disagreement with. I had no recollection of it.
We'd sat on the couch as he'd told me, my hand in his. My eyes had widened and butterflies had taken control of my stomach as he described the power of this wolfy love. To think that some kind of…werewolf thing…could compel you to love one person completely, forever, was weird, but cute. He described it as being like gravity, something that you had no control over. I'd bitten my lip, looking at his hands.
"Did you imprint on me, Jacob?" I asked quietly, staring still at his hands. He shook his head, his eyes on my shoes. "Not on anyone…" He'd whispered. It was quiet for a while after that.
"Bella?" Jacob's voice came to me now from the driver's seat of the Rabbit. "Bella, what are you doing?" He chuckled, watching me in the rearview mirror.
I looked around, confused to see that I was in the backseat. I must not have been paying attention when I'd climbed into the car. I smiled sheepishly at him. "I don't know." I admitted, blushing.
He gestured with his right hand for me to get into the passenger's seat, but locked the doors when I tried to open the one closest to me. I looked at him in confusion, about to question his actions, but he cut me off. "Don't be such a girl, Bells. Just climb over the seat!" He'd teased me, chuckling. As he said this, though, he contradicted his own words, jumping into the backseat with me, tackling me. I laughed, pushing against him.
"Cut it out, Jake!" I screeched, searching frantically, on the lookout for Leah and Embry. There was no doubt they'd have heard me, seeing as they both had such impossible hearing. I could feel the blush color my cheeks just thinking about it.
He laughed hysterically, an evil glint in his eyes, hugging me to him. No matter how much I struggled, he wouldn't let me go. It reminded me of a dream I'd had about Edward. I tried not to think about it.
"Oh, no! Somebody help me! I've been attacked by a wolf!" I shouted, laughing crazily, still pushing against him, trying to get away. I knew that it was a wasted effort, but I was stubborn.
He snickered, finally freeing me, leaning back against the seat and clutching his stomach. I sat smiling at him, watching. He really was beautiful. The reddish brown color of his skin, the dark brown eyes, long black hair. He'd grown it out. It was a little past his shoulders, tied into a pony tail. I bit my lip to hide my stalkerish smile when his eyes met mine. Then something happened.
The air around us changed, suddenly very intense. He stared at me as his smile disappeared, the expression on his face replaced by a fierce longing. It tore at my heart, encasing me in fire. And then he kissed me. He leaned into me, pressing his warm lips against my cheek, but I wasn't having it. I turned my face so that our lips met, breathing in the woodsy scent of him. He was wonderful. He was my Jacob. I loved him. I wasn't ready to let him go.