Circumvention

Chapter 13

BPOV

Shrill laughter echoed around the garden, and I gritted my teeth. For the umpteenth time my attention shifted from the window I was supposed to be helping Jacob clean, to the girl with the needlessly short waitressing uniform who was currently hanging off of Sam's arm and giggling like a hyena on crack. All my instincts told me that she was competition, that she had no right to be touching Sam. It made no sense; Sam in no way belonged to me, so why should I be feeling like a jealous girlfriend?

"What are you looking at?" Jacob asked, his voice strained as he realised my attention was on Sam, not him. Again.

"Sorry. Slut-face over there keeps distracting me with her obnoxious cackling. Obvious much?" I answered, semi-honestly.

"Slut-face, as you called her, is my cousin and Sam's ex. Her laughing wasn't that loud," he glared accusingly at me, although I was too shocked to register it.

That was Sam's ex? She was gorgeous, tall with endless legs, waist length and pin straight ebony hair. The beauty of her facial feature alone would make her stand out in any crowd, and her healthy tan gave her an exotic look. Looking at her, I genuinely couldn't understand why Sam could be interested in me in the slightest; she was my complete opposite.

"She's hot. Why did they break up?" I enquired.

"Why do you want to know?" Jacob warily replied.

"Just curious," I shrugged, "she's clearly still into him, and he's not pushing her away. It just seems strange that they're not still together."

"They dated for years, full on high school sweethearts. Then Sam disappeared for a couple of months and no-one heard anything from him. Then he just bumped into her in the shop one day. They had this big public fight, she was screaming and shouting at him and he just said nothing. They kissed and made up, and it all looked alright for a month or so. Then they broke up. I think it was mutual," Jake shrugged dismissively, going back to drying the window with newspaper.

"I can't believe she took him back after he disappeared like that," I murmured in amazement.

"Can we talk about something other than Leah and Sam?" Jacob snapped at me. I flinched in shock. Jake had never spoken to me like that, he rarely ever raised his voice.

"Sure, what do you want to talk about?" I responded quickly, hoping to placate him.

"How about us?"

"Okay…" I drawled, unsure about where this was going.

"My cousin Emily is getting married next Friday. It's on first beach, and promises to be quite the party. It would be an honour if you would come as my date," Jacob recited.

"How long did you practise that in the bathroom mirror?" I asked, biting the inside of my cheek to hold in my laughter at his school boy performance.

"Long enough," he shrugged, cheeks colouring slightly pink, "So will you come with me?"

"Well, since you asked so nicely…" I was cut off by Jacob pulling me into a tight hug.

"Thank you Bells," he beamed, "you've just made me the happiest man alive!"

Then Jacob kissed me, right there in front of everyone.

SPOV

I barely contained my growl as I watched Jacob Black kiss my imprint. It was bad enough that she was wearing his shirt, but seeing them kiss made my wolf simmer with rage.

"What's wrong Sam?" Leah asked, running her hand down my back in what used to be a soothing gesture. Now I found no comfort in it. It wasn't her touch I wanted anymore.

"Look," I muttered, jerking my head in the direction of the amorous couple.

"That little whore!" Leah seethed, "I should go over there and wring her pale, scrawny neck!"

"Leah, don't," I told her, resigned.

"You better give me a good reason why not, because right now I'm about ready to tear her head off for messing you around," She countered, raising an eyebrow in challenge.

"I screwed up," I admitted, "It was bad."

"What did you do?" my former lover asked with a frown.

With a sigh I told her about my indiscretion, the whole time berating myself for being such an awful imprint. Once she'd heard all the details of how I'd pinned Bella to a tree and forced her to kiss me, Leah turned her death glare on me.

"Dick!" she spat at me, hitting me upside the back of the head, "Sure, she was wrong to do that just to get a rise out of you, but Jesus Sam, there was no need to mouth rape her."

"I know!" I groaned, rubbing the back of my head.

"I still don't like her," Leah stated, "sure, if I were her I'd be pissed off with you, but that's no excuse to be leading both you and Jacob on. You deserve better, Sam."

"Not really," I told her, "I kept pushing when she told me she needed space. It was me who made her turn to Jacob."

"Still, if she's not interested in you she should tell you so, not leave you wondering," Leah insisted. I got the impression that no matter what I said she wasn't going to like Bella much at this point.

"If you say so Lee," I shrugged, watching her put out the last platter of sandwiches. The house we were working on today was Harry Clearwater's fathers, so Sue's diner were providing a free lunch for all of the volunteers as a thank-you.

"Lunch!" I bellowed, then chuckled at the eager sounds of people dropping their tools to get food.

"Oh, I forgot the napkins!" Leah exclaimed, skipping over towards her car.

If I hadn't been watching, I wouldn't have seen her bump into Bella.

"Hey! Watch where you're going!" Bella exclaimed angrily, rubbing her shoulder.

"I could say the same to you too, bitch," Leah quipped back.

"At least I'm not a slut. Seriously, this is April in La Push, put some clothes on," Bella replied quickly.

"What did you just call me?" Leah demanded, getting in Bella's face. I crept closer, and noticed Jacob doing the same. As amused as I was by Bella's balls, this argument had the potential to turn ugly, fast.

"Are you hard of hearing? S-L-U-T, slut," Bella loudly patronised, "did you understand me that time?"

"Sure did Pale face, but you're going to want to take that back," Leah informed her, her voice dripping with threat.

"Pale face? That was original," Bella snorted, "and I don't plan on taking that back anytime soon. Unless you decide to put some clothes on, then I might consider it." When I saw the look on Leah's face, I rushed forwards, knowing she was going to pounce. Thank the Gods Jacob had reached the same conclusion, as out of the two of us he was closest to the enraged woman.

"Come on Leah," he coaxed, grabbing his cousin's arm, "I think you need to cool down a little."

"Back off Jacob. This little bitch is going down," Leah hissed, snatching her arm back.

"You think you could take me? Bring it!" Bella challenged. Did she have no fear?

"Bella, leave it be," I warned, grabbing her shoulder

"Piss off Sam," Bella and Leah chorused in unplanned unity before glaring at each other.

"Don't you tell him to piss off," Bella defended me, much to my surprise.

"So you're allowed to talk to him like shit and I'm not?" Leah laughed incredulously.

"He was talking to me not you jackass," Bella practically growled, before leaping forwards and shoving Leah forcefully.

"Oh, you're going to regret that!" Leah yelled, grabbing a handful of Bella's hair and attempting to drag her away from Jacob and I.

"Shit!" Jacob cursed and we simultaneously moved in to break up the scuffle.

Quickly I wrapped an arm around Bella's waist and pulled her away, hoping Jacob would have the sense to do the same with Leah.

"She bit me!" Leah exclaimed, "the little skank fucking bit me!"

"I'll do worse than bite you next time bitch!" Bella shouted back, clearly determined to have the last word.

"Come on," I sighed, dragging my still struggling imprint into the relative safety of the house.

"Let me go Sam!" she ordered, thrashing around in my arms.

"Not until you calm down," I told her, tightening my grip slightly. To my amazement, Bella took a few deep breaths and then relaxed against my body. Without removing my hand from her waist, I turned her to face me.

"Are you hurt?" I asked, my eyes meeting hers with an intensity that enraptured both of us momentarily.

"I don't think so," she answered distractedly. My eyes scanned down her face to her lips, one of which was split and bloodied. Without thinking I licked my thumb and passed it over her bottom lip, noticing how her breath caught as I did it. I looked again and the cut was gone, healed by the mysteriously properties of wolf saliva.

"All better," I told her gently.

"Yeah," she sighed in agreement.

Our bubble was burst by the sound of Jacob's voice as he approached. Bella jumped back from me, putting a whole room's worth of distance between us.

"Sorry," she whispered as Jacob came through the door, towing a reluctant Leah behind him.

"Say it," he instructed.

"I'msorryforcallingyouabitch," Leah said so quickly the words were indecipherable.

"What was that?" Bella asked politely, her expression full of false innocence.

"I'm sorry for calling you a bitch," Leah muttered through gritted teeth.

"It's cool. I shouldn't have called you a slut either. Sorry about that," Bella apologised. Leah looked her up and down as if sizing her up, before nodding, a tight lipped smile on her face.

"Come on Bells, let's get some food," Jacob said, before leading her out of the door with a possessive hand on the small of her back. Bella didn't see the glare he shot at me over his shoulder, but then again it was for me, not her.

"I don't like her much right now, but I respect her," Leah announced out of the blue, "I think one day we could be friends."

"Gods help us all," I choked out.

"Don't get your panties in a bunch. It might never happen if little miss self-righteous doesn't pull her head out of her ass," Leah elbowed me playfully.

She just had to spoil it.

Bella's POV.

It took me until Tuesday lunchtime to realise that I had agreed to go to a wedding which I had nothing to wear to.

"Fuck!" I swore, hitting my forehead with the palm of my hand.

"Bella, are you okay?" Angela asked me across the lunch table, concern saturating her expression.

"Yeah," I shrugged it off. An awkward silence followed as I debated whether or not to tell her my problem.

"I've…got a date on Friday," I mumbled, "and I have nothing to wear."

"How about that nice green blouse you wore for yearbook photos, and some nice jeans?" Angela kindly suggested, though it was hard to hear her over the scoffs from the other end of the table, where Jess and Lauren sat sneering at me.

"It's a wedding, so I probably need something a little smarter," I explained, ignoring the others and smiling back at her.

"Do you want me to go shopping with you tonight?" Angela kindly asked.

"Umm…" I wanted to say no, but she looked so excited. That and I probably could use the help. "Sure Ang, that'd be great."

So that was how I ended up spending possibly the most awkward half-hour of my life, sat in a silent car on the way to Port Angeles. Sure, Angela and I were friends, but when it boiled down to it we just had nothing to talk about. After thirty whole minutes of alternating between trying to ignore the awkward tension and trying to think of something I could possibly say beyond commenting on the weather, I decided that I was going to have to actually put my neck out and make an effort.

"So, you're still dating ben right? How's that going?" I asked. Angela took her eyes off the road for long enough to give me a scrutinising look.

"You don't have to ask if you're not interested," she murmured, her voice uncharacteristically harsh.

"What?" I responded, stunned.

"I like you Bella, and I know you've been having a rough time. I'm happy to be your friend if you want me to be, but I don't want you to feel obligated. You don't have to pretend to care if you don't," she shrugged.

"I don't feel obligated," I denied, completely confused, "Where is this coming from?"

"It's just that you're acting like you're just going through the motions all the time right now. I don't want to be that; a motion you go through. If you want to keep it superficial I'm fine with that. I'm friends with Jess after all. Just don't make me think you care when you don't," She told me.

"I…" I paused, completely stunned by her assessment. The worst part was that she was right. I was going through the motions. I was being superficial. I was acting like it was an obligation because I felt obligated. Somehow I'd gotten so caught up in proving to myself (and to Sam) that I was capable of social interaction and of having friends that it had become a point to prove and I'd forgotten that I was doing this with people who have feelings.

"I'm sorry," I told her genuinely, "I know I haven't shown it recently, but I do care. Really, I do. I'm trying to be a better friend. I'm not there yet, but I will be. But I really do want to know about you and Ben."

Angela looked at me once again. She was sensitive enough not to let her eyes linger on my damp eyes.

"Ben and I are good. It's our six month anniversary next week," she said casually.

"Six months! That's amazing!" I enthused.

"Isn't it?" she beamed, the first genuine smile I'd seen from her since we'd left school.

"Do you have any plans?"

"We're going up to Seattle for a meal. Ben won't tell me where, but he told me to dress smart. So I was going to head up to Port Angeles tonight anyway. I figured a little extra help couldn't hurt," she smiled shyly.

"So what kind of dress are you looking for?" I queried.

"Something knee length and a little bit flirty," She said thoughtfully, "Maybe green."

"Green looks good on you," I agreed.

"What are you looking for? Something to impress Sam with?" Angela teased.

"Well actually, my date isn't with Sam," I admitted, feeling slightly ashamed of myself.

"Who's it with then?" Angela asked, looking confused.

"It's with Jacob," I told her. Before I could stop it, the whole sordid tale was pouring out of me. I told her how I was leading Jacob on because I wanted the attention. I told her how I couldn't decide whether I hated Sam or wanted to jump his bones. I told her how wrong the whole thing was, and how disgusted I was with my own actions. By the end of it I was drained, and Angela was worried.

"I don't want to tell you how to live your life, but I think you need to make your mind up about what you want," she suggested.

"I don't know what I want!" I moaned, putting my face in my hands.

"Well you need to decide what you want soon. You can't keep leading both of them on, it will only end badly," she warned me.

I couldn't help but feel like her words were an omen.