Wolfie
Disclaimer: all characters and copyright belong to Stephanie Meyer.
PART TWO-GROWING UP
Part Two
Charlie opened his eyes blearily and blinked as the faint light shining through the half opened curtains pierced his eyes. He ran his hand over his face and yawned. Glancing over to his bedside clock he realised it was six am, he was due to take the early morning shift at the station and he was already running late, shit! He threw the covers back and crawled out of bed; he shuffled around looking for his slippers and finally found them beside his bed. He shoved his feet in them and sighed as he saw how ridiculous they looked. He only wore them because they had been a father's day present from Bella. They were red with a wolf's face on the front end. The felt ears stuck up and glassy eyes were attached on either side. He swore that Billy was behind this present from his daughter.
He lifted his arms in the air and stretched as he gave another loud yawn. It was dark mornings like this one where he felt old. Still half asleep he walked out into the hallway and was just about to descend the stairs when he felt something squelch under his slippers. He stared down at his feet in confusion...What the hell? Charlie's eyes travelled back up the stairs and toward his daughter's room following the trail of muddy footprints that led straight to her bedroom door. They were not human footprints; oh no they were paw prints. There was only one explanation for that.
Narrowing his eyes Charlie trudged over to Bella's room and carefully opened the door. He peered into the darkened room and made out two figures fast asleep on his daughter's single bed. Jacob was lying on his back and Bella had her head resting on his chest. One of Jacob's arms was wrapped around Bella and their hands were clasped. Jacob was wearing a pair of cut off sweatpants; they were easy to attach to his leg when he travelled around in his wolf form. Charlie crept back out and closed the door. He had been extremely tolerant over the last six months since Sarah had her accident. He knew that being close to Bella helped keep Jacob focused and happy. Seeing his mom come home and in a wheelchair had knocked the whole family back. They all had to learn to adapt now that the glue that held the family together was no longer able to walk.
Sarah was still having difficulty accepting the situation. Billy had been confiding in Charlie a lot, it was one way to release the stress he was now under, holding down a full time job and now taking on the care of his wife. Sarah had always been an independent soul and to be driven to be dependent on others had sent her spiralling into a deep depression. Nothing seemed to pull her out of her funk and it was Billy who took the brunt of her mood swings. She was also experiencing horrifying flashbacks of the accident and found it hard to sleep. Charlie had hoped the twins would be more help to their father but they seemed more focused on getting out of La Push as fast as they could by any means possible. It was young Jacob who helped his dad care for his mom.
The poor lad was so busy attending school, coming home and helping his mom until Billy got home and then patrolling the tribal lands for any signs of nomadic vampires. Being with Bella was his way of feeling normal and relaxed. Jacob had just turned twelve and was growing taller by the day. His wolf gene had ensured that he was maturing at a faster rate than your average twelve year old boy. He already appeared older than his years and even though Bella was two years ahead of him in age he seemed more like sixteen then twelve.
Charlie pondered what to do. He really had no choice, he was going to have to put his foot down and demand that Jacob stop his late night visits. The two of them were growing up and some firm boundaries needed to be put in place. Glad that he had reached a resolution, he made his way down the stairs to make his first coffee of the morning and give himself time to think about the best way to approach the subject with his daughter and Jacob.
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Embry snuck in the Clearwater's front door and closed it gently behind him. It had been raining as he ran back in his wolf form and his hair was now drenched. He had just finished his turn on patrol, Jacob and Embry had devised a schedule between them. Twice a day, once in the early morning and late evening they would take turns to run around the boundaries of La Push, checking for any signs of vampire activity. Luckily for them they had yet to encounter any.
Leah was waiting outside her room and caught him as he tiredly strolled toward the room he now shared with Seth. "Where the hell have you been?" Leah demanded, her arms crossed and sparks shooting from her eyes.
"None of your business Lee...I need to get some sleep, get out of the way would you." Embry shot back irritably.
Leah eyed him warily. She felt huge sympathy for Embry, he had lost his mom after all, but she was worried that his late night and early morning disappearances were a cover for some sort of unlawful activity. She refused to budge and glared at him. If he was up to something dodgy she did not want Sethy to be drawn into it. Her younger brother idolised Embry and now looked upon him as an older brother.
"Are you doing drugs or something Em? "Leah asked bluntly.
"Drugs? Are you serious? Just leave me alone woman." Embry lost his patience and shoved Leah to one side.
"I'll find out Embry Call...I will." Leah yelled after him as he opened the door to his room and shut it in her face.
XXXXXX
Bella rolled her eyes as she watched Leah staring over at Sam Uley and Jared Thail. She was wearing a soppy look on her face, her crush on Sam blatantly obvious. "Earth to Leah, come in Leah...have you not heard one word I said?"
"What?" Leah said distractedly. Sam was tossing a ball over to Jared and Leah was mesmerised by the muscles showing clearly through his tight t-shirt.
"Leah, will you stop eyeing up Sam for one second and listen to me?" Bella demanded.
Leah sighed and finally returned her attention to her friend. "I am not eyeing him up...I am simply admiring the view. God Bella he is so gorgeous, look at his muscles and he has the cutest ass I..."
"Lee I don't want to discuss Sam's physical attributes right now. I am trying to tell you about the embarrassing conversation I had with my dad this morning." Bella huffed.
"Yes I know, Charlie grilled you about your 'friendship' with Jakey boy, you did your usual impression of a burnt orange and you had the sex talk, blah blah blah...Does that about sum it up?" Leah smirked.
"Well yeah I suppose it does. Do I really look like a burnt orange when I blush?"Bella asked worriedly.
"Yeah I am afraid so, well actually more like a ripe tomato but hey Jakey boy would adore you even if you turned bright blue." Leah laughed at her lame joke.
"Very funny Leah Clearwater...Jake and I are just good friends." Bella stated, punching her friend in the arm.
"Whatever..." Leah replied, already bored with the conversation. Her eyes wandered over to Sam Uley again and it was her turn to blush as he saw her staring and winked at her playfully. She grimaced as she heard Bella burst out into giggles beside her.
XXXXXX
Sue sat down opposite her friend and sighed. As she was a nurse she had taken on the day to day checks of Sarah's condition. The damage to Sarah's lower spine had rendered her wheelchair bound. However it was the mental scars that were refusing to heal.
"You have got to stop this Sarah." Sue stated bluntly.
"Stop what?" Sarah shot back at her, already knowing what she was about to say.
"Stop wallowing and pull your head out of your ass. It's not only you that is suffering here...your moods are affecting everyone. Billy is..."
"Billy has two legs and can walk while I am stuck in this thing." Sarah hit the arms of the wheelchair in frustration.
Sue sat forward in her chair and caught hold of Sarah's hands. "Billy is exhausted Sarah. Mentally and physically...he is holding down two jobs, running around after the kids and you."
"So I am a burden am I?" Sarah said bitterly.
"Listen to me woman you know that is not what I meant. We have known each other for years and I do not believe in walking on eggshells. You have healed enough to start doing things for yourself if you bother to try. You can't expect Billy and Jacob to do it all for you. Where is your fighting spirit Sarah? This is not like you? Billy needs his wife back and your kids need their mother."
Tears began to leak out of Sarah's eyes. "I lost my spirit the day I killed Kay Call." She mumbled.
Sue's eyes widened." Please tell me you don't believe that? Kay caused the accident due to her own reckless behaviour."
Sarah hung her head. "If I had done something different...Kay would be alive and Embry would still have a mother."
Sue gently pushed the other woman's hair away from her face. "Sarah you did everything you could to help Kay, in fact you went out of your way for both her and Embry over the years."
"But Embry he is..."
"Is fine..." Sue finished for her. "He is really blossoming Sarah. You should see him; he fits in with my family fine. I know that you won't see him because you feel like it's your fault he lost his mom, but really what sort of life did he have with her anyway? Please Sarah try and get past this, we all need you."
Sarah finally raised her head and wiped at her tears. "I'll try..."
Sue breathed a relieved sigh. "That's all we ask." She patted Sarah's hand and stood up to get them both a drink.
XXXXXX
Jacob and Bella strolled along First beach. Jacob swung their clasped hands back and forth, trying to make Bella smile. Since they had met up earlier she had seemed in a pensive mood. He had tried to draw her out of her shell but her attention was elsewhere. It seemed that the mortifying conversation that they had with her dad had thrown her through a loop. Jacob wasn't bothered in the slightest; there were always ways round any rules. You just had to find them.
"Bells what's wrong?" Jacob asked eventually, tired of the silence.
"Nothing..." Bella's gaze wandered back out to the sea. Her eyes seemed far away. Jacob felt a stab of fear pierce his heart.
"There is something wrong...Please talk to me?" Jacob stopped walking and gently took Bella's face in his hands. "I don't like it when you don't confide in me, we're best friends right?"
"Yes...but there are just some things I want to keep to myself alright. Just let it go..." Bella said irritably.
"Like what? We always tell each other everything, no secrets remember?" Jacob reminded her.
"Will you stop it? There are some things I won't discuss with you and this is one of them. Look I feel tired and I want to go home." Bella took his hands away from her face and turned away from him.
Jacob started to panic. He was not used to Bella being cranky with him. He caught hold of her arm and swung her round. "Don't leave like this? Look I will come over tonight and we can..."
"No Jacob...did you not hear my dad's rules. I need some space, okay." Bella's face was flushed with anger as she once again turned her back on Jacob. For the first time in an age she missed her mom. She really needed another female to confide in. Once she would have been able to talk to Sarah, but she had enough to cope with.
Bella knew there was only one other person she could talk to and she smiled grimly to herself. Leah Clearwater was her only hope now. She trudged her way back down the beach lost in her own thoughts, she did not see the devastated expression crossing Jacob's face. He felt like everything was crumbling around him. He could not lose Bella, she was his whole world.
As he always did when his emotions overwhelmed him he suddenly phased into his wolf form and sprinted for the trees. His anguished howl echoed through the dense forest...
A/N-I know, super angsty chapter. I felt that it was necessary to explore Sarah's mindset after the accident. Her recuperation was never going to be easy as her whole life has changed. As for Bella and Jake I know that you must be really annoyed with her right now, but she is blossoming into a young woman and there are just some things you don't want to discuss with a boy (hint, hint). Bella needs some female advice; I think you can all guess what about, LOL.
Thanks for reading!