A/N: At long last - sorry, this chapter took longer than expected. I owe a huge debt of gratitude to deemichelle (as always) for helping me get this chapter to feel right. Thanks to those of you who are reviewing - shout outs at the end.
Chapter 14 - Small Talk
Maura paced around her bedroom at the Clearwater's, checking her watch for what must have been the billionth time. It was six-thirty on Friday night. She was meeting Jacob at Emily's at seven. It would take her exactly five minutes to ride over to the diner, and she couldn't decide if she wanted to be there before him or after him. She chewed nervously at her thumbnail. This was usually the time that Jacob got off work and they began their texting relationship. But tonight, they had agreed they would actually hang out together. In person.
"Mo!" It was Seth, calling her from the living room. He had begun calling her by this nickname shortly after she had returned to La Push and moved in with him and Sue. Just hearing his voice calmed Maura down. Seth had become like the little brother she never had.
"Mo, are you ready?" Seth called again. He was driving her to the diner. She grabbed her purse and her coat and took a deep breath before heading to the living room.
"We'll be early. I don't want to be early." Maura sat down on the couch. Seth joined her. "I'm nervous. There seems to be a lot riding on this. I might like it better just texting. The texting has been good." She winced as she caught Seth rolling his eyes in much the same way he did to Leah. "I'm babbling." She made herself stop talking.
Seth picked up his game controller and then elbowed her playfully in the side. "Relax. There doesn't have to be anything riding on this. Remember, he can just be a friend."
"Well, I know that's how he feels."
Seth shook his head slightly. "You do still hear us when we're phased, right?" Seth asked. "Well, after my most embarrassing moment discussing my date with Amy, I know you do."
"What are you getting at?" Maura asked impatiently.
"He's gotten good at blocking thoughts. I think you have, too. But….Okay, never mind." He turned his attention back to the game he was playing.
"Seth, God!" She punched his arm. "What already?"
The opening of the front door interrupted the conversation. Leah strode in with Henry.
"What's up? Aren't you going to Emily's? We thought you might want a ride," Leah announced.
"Are you two going?" Maura began to panic. Meeting at Emily's suddenly didn't seem like a great idea. "Seth was just going to drop me off."
"Told you. Give her some space, Leah," Henry said.
"I was trying to be helpful," Leah responded. "So, why aren't you gone already?"
"She's nervous," Seth answered for Maura. He threw down the game controller in defeat.
"So what? So is Jacob." Leah smiled like the cat that ate the canary.
"Why? What? No. He's not nervous. I mean…." Maura felt the urge to babble coming on again, so she firmly shut her mouth to stop herself.
"Oh, please. You two may just be text buddies, but I know him. He—" Leah was cut off by Seth, who was trying to give her the hint to shut up by sliding his finger across his throat in a cutting motion.
"It's not a big deal," he said and pulled Maura gently to her feet. "Friends, Maura. It'll be okay." He turned to frown at Leah. "Now, if you'll excuse us, I'm going to drop her at Emily's."
"Yeah. See you there." Leah smirked as she and Henry followed them out and got into Henry's car.
*****
Maura walked up to the diner with her small group following right behind her. Seth decided to come in after he noticed that Embry's car was in the parking lot, indicating he was still working. Maura hesitated a second before she pulled the door open and looked around. There he was, in a booth near the back of the restaurant. She attempted to suck in a gasp only to realize she had been holding her breath. Instead, she choked and coughed loudly. She heard Leah chuckle behind her as Jacob looked up. She blushed furiously and butterflies battled in her stomach, but her feet took over. As she walked toward him, she felt the odd sensation of the room shifting or tilting, just like she had the first time they met.
As she approached the booth, Jacob stood up. "Hey," he greeted her with a smile.
It had been a few weeks since they had seen each other, and Maura found that her memory did not quite do justice to Jacob's smile. It literally lit up the room. Her gaze drifted slowly from his mouth to his eyes. They were so dark, framed by thick black lashes and tiny crinkles at the corners. But now his brows furrowed and his face didn't look as sunny. Maura realized then that she had just been standing there staring at him.
"I'm, uh…hi." She looked at her feet as she slid into the booth. Jacob took his seat opposite her.
"Hungry?" he asked softly.
Maura felt the tingle. God, girl, get it together. He wants to be friends.
"Yeah. I guess." She picked up a menu and began to study the daily specials with unprecedented concentration. She hoped it was a good enough excuse for the awkward silence that seemed to be stretching into an eternity.
After a few minutes, she heard her phone chime, signaling that she had a text. She knew it was rude, but she needed the distraction. She fumbled in her purse and pulled her phone out. "I'm just going to check my phone real quick," she mumbled, not even glancing up at him.
Relax, ok? Will this make you more comfortable?
Maura flushed. It was from Jacob. She bit her lip to keep from smiling sheepishly. She decided to text him back.
Yep. It does, actually. How messed up is that?
She heard Jacob laugh as he read her reply. She looked up at him, and then they were laughing together. Her whole body tingled, but she also relaxed.
"Not to freak you out any further, but we have an audience," Jake whispered. Maura looked behind her. Sure enough, most of the restaurant was staring and smiling at them. She groaned.
Emily came over then to take their order. After knowing the rest of the pack, Maura wasn't surprised at the amount of food Jacob requested for himself. She ordered her usual half portion and Diet Coke.
"So, this might be a dumb idea, but since we don't really know each other, I thought we could maybe do a kind of twenty questions type thing," Jacob suggested. Maura smiled and nodded. Jacob was relieved. He was glad she didn't think he was being cheesy. Besides, he intended to start with more benign questions, in an attempt to get to know her better, but he also hoped to eventually question her about her background and her ties to the pack. "Okay, here goes. Favorite color?"
"Red. You?"
"Huh. Me, too. Food?"
"Don't laugh," Maura warned.
"Why would I laugh?" Jacob's brow wrinkled in confusion.
"Potatoes."
His eyes widened. "Potatoes? Really?" He saw Maura frown at his response. "That's an…unusual answer."
"Well, I have lots of love for the potato. It makes all my favorites: French fries, mashed potatoes, potato salad. Then there's twice baked potatoes, potato chips, hash browns…. What?" She stopped talking, and Jacob was cracking up with laughter.
"You sound like that Forrest Gump movie. You know, the shrimp guy. But that's a really good answer, actually. All I've got is steak."
"Of course, steak. What else for the Big Bad Wolf? I bet you like it rare," Maura teased.
"Mostly dead." Jacob grinned.
"Oh, that's from…." Maura snapped her fingers, seeming to try to reference the right movie in her mind.
Jacob lowered his voice to a whisper. "Princess Bride. My sisters watched that movie just about every day for a while. But don't tell anybody I can quote it."
"Oh, you better believe I'm telling. I think I'll start with Leah." They both laughed and looked into each other's eyes.
Jacob didn't realize they were staring at each other until Emily came over with their drinks.
Emily had to clear her throat to get their attention. "Ahem. Uh, your food will be out shortly."
"Thanks, Emily," Jacob said, trying to recover without looking like a fool.
"Okay, it's my turn to ask a question," Maura returned to their little game. Jacob was surprised that she remained unfazed by Emily's interruption. "Favorite drink?"
"Coke. And if we're drinking underage, Captain Morgan and Coke."
"Oh! I love the Captain. Except with Diet Coke. It's the nectar of the gods." Maura smiled. "If we're underage drinking, that is. Of course, I was of age when I was in Scotland, and that was cool. Well, it could've been cool, except I didn't really get to enjoy the pub scene. I was supposed to be there for a semester," Maura paused and took a breath.
Jacob smiled at Maura's hesitation and nodded, prompting her to go on. It was just nice to hear her voice, and to watch her when she wasn't being so nervous.
Maura continued, "Yeah. I think I maybe had a week's worth of pub crawling and went to a few classes before I met this strange old gypsy woman who read my palm and told me to find the Quileutes —" Maura cut herself off.
It took a moment for her words to register in Jacob's mind: he had been paying more attention to the sound of her voice than to what she was saying. They stared at each other again, this time in surprise. This was definitely a mind blowing piece of news, but Jacob decided he would file that question away for later. Even though he intended to discover more about why she was involved with the pack, he found that, at least for tonight, he did not want to think about fate or the greater forces of the universe. He just wanted to enjoy Maura's company.
"Really? We are definitely going to have to hear Billy's theory on that." Jacob laughed softly. "But for now, how about we leave the legends and the paranormal shit alone for tonight and just continue our da -" Jacob stuttered. He was about to say date. But they weren't supposed to be on one. "Dinner," he corrected in synchronization with the arrival of their food.
"Okay, let's," Maura agreed and then gave him a smile that turned the heat up on his already overheated body. "Because I'm really starting to enjoy this da-dinner." She overemphasized her imitation of his stutter, letting him know she knew what he had been about to say.
Jacob's eyes lit up as he blushed slightly, enjoying Maura's teasing. He couldn't help but laugh at himself, and he playfully kicked Maura's foot under the table when she grinned back at him.
As they ate and returned the conversation to more trivial things, Jacob noticed that Maura's initial nerves seemed to be gone. He was more glad than he would have expected to see that the chemistry from their texts was just as strong, if not stronger, in person. He looked around a few times and saw that most of his friends were there (his family, too - when did Billy come in?), still trying to eavesdrop on their table. When he saw Maura glance around again and tense up slightly, he decided to act on his immediate impulse.
"Hey, do you want to get out of here?"
"Yes!" Maura smiled at him, obviously grateful. "Everyone here is sort of becoming my family, but they are making me so self-conscious." She reached for her purse as Jacob put money down on the table.
"Nope. My treat." He was glad that she only mildly protested and enjoyed the flush that colored her cheeks. He grabbed her hand casually and led her to his Rabbit parked outside.
"You restored this, didn't you? I love it!" Maura gushed at his car, clearly as affected by their touch as he, but trying to ignore it.
Jacob paused. Oh, she knows a bit about cars? Be still my heart. "You like VW's or are you into cars in general?" he asked as he opened her door for her and held her hand while she slid into the front seat. He reluctantly let go, immediately feeling the loss of her small hand in his. He hurried around to the driver's side and settled in beside her.
Maura picked up her answer as he closed his door, turning to listen to her. "Well, my dad and I used to go to these informal car shows when I was really little. Before my mom died and for a while after, until he remarried. He loves muscle cars, but he also likes VW's. I've always wanted a Scirocco." Maura smiled at him.
"A Scirocco? Really? Not a Beetle or a Karmann Ghia?" Jacob cranked the engine and turned up the heat, figuring Maura might be cold. He eased out of the parking space and onto the road. He turned north, not really sure where they were going.
"My mom had a Scirocco. I remember it being kind of cramped strapped into my car seat in the back, but she took me everywhere in it. How about you? Cars in general or VW's?"
She wants to keep talking cars. Screw the imprint, I could be attracted to her for a whole host of reasons. "I hate to admit it, but foreign cars with a penchant for VW's. I like muscle cars, too, though."
"Okay, then, dream car. Anything you want." Maura turned toward him, adjusted the shoulder strap of her seat belt and folded her left leg beneath her on the seat.
"I can't have just one. A Porsche—I'm just saying. Then, let's see, a VW GTI, a cherry red GTO for the muscle car, this restored Rabbit because she was my first," Maura laughed and he grinned at her. "And a VW bus."
"Yeah, the bus. I love it. Great answers." She paused a minute. "Not that I mind, but where are we going?"
"I don't know. Just driving, I guess. It's a clear night tonight. I thought we could head up the coast a bit before turning around."
"Okay, but—" Maura stopped talking abruptly. "Turn around!" she yelled, startling both Jacob and herself.
"What's wrong?" Jacob reached over and put his hand on her arm. Slowing the car and taking his eyes off the road, he noticed Maura looking pale, her body cold and stiff with fear etched in her features. "What happened?"
"I don't know. I have this feeling, like I did in the forest the night those vampires were here. Just something is making me tell you to turn around." Maura's lower lip trembled. "Now, Jacob, please."
"Okay, I will. Maura, it's alright." Jacob eased the car to the shoulder and stopped. "Let me call Seth so he can phase and contact Quil and Paul. They can come up here and check it out." He pulled out his cell phone and began dialing.
Maura placed such a death grip on his arm that her nails broke the skin on his wrist. "Now, Jake," she pleaded in a whisper.
He nodded, and used one hand to turn the steering wheel while he held the phone to his ear with the other. As they headed south, back to La Push, Seth picked up. "It's Jake. Listen, Maura is like, uh, sensing something. You need to phase and contact Quil. We're about ten miles north, almost to Lake Ozette. Get them to patrol up this way, and ask Leah to call Sam." He paused while Seth responded. "I'm going to drop Maura off at your house to stay with Sue. Then I'll phase and meet you. Give me about twenty minutes." He hung up.
*****
A half hour later, Jacob joined up with the other wolves near the southern end of Lake Ozette, about fifteen miles up the coast from La Push. He had just picked up the faint burning-sweet scent of the vampires' trail.
"Any sign of them?" Jacob mentally asked Seth.
"No. Quil and Paul scouted the perimeter between La Push, Forks, and here. The only trail they could find stops about a mile north on the eastern side of the lake. It's less than a half hour old, but there's no sign of any now." Seth paused as he listened to Sam, who had joined the group patrolling. "Sam thinks some of us should stay here the rest of the night."
Jacob nodded his head and twitched his ears. "Good idea. I'll —" he stopped and cocked his head to the side.
"No. Jacob, don't volunteer!" He heard Maura's plea clearly in his mind. She had obviously been listening in since Jacob had phased. Jacob and Seth chuckled, and they could tell that Maura was embarrassed as she realized she had forgotten to block her thoughts.
"I'll stay," Jacob continued. He nodded to Sam as they exchanged an agreement with their eyes, and then added for Maura's benefit, "Maura, tell Sue that Seth is going to stay with me. And call Emily for Sam. We'll be back in the morning."
"Okay. Be careful…both of you, please."
****
Maura got up from her bed and went to find Sue in the kitchen and tell her the news. Then she called Emily. "Hi, it's Maura. Sam, Seth, and Jacob are going to patrol up near Lake Ozette tonight and will be back in the morning."
Emily let out a long sigh. "What did they find?"
"Well, no sign of the blood suckers except for a trail that stops by the lake. They just want to make sure they're not coming back tonight."
"This is making me crazy, Maura. You know, for two years now, there's been nothing. I think we were all getting a little complacent. It was like our guys had a regular night shift job or something. We haven't worried about anything dangerous in months, and now all of this."
"Maybe nothing will come of it. Maybe they weren't headed this way at all." Maura tried to make her voice sound convincing. Then she groaned. "This is incredibly frightening, Emily. I had no idea I was getting into all this. Heroic wolves and blood thirsty vampires. I mean, someone could get k-killed."
Emily's voice was just an agonized whisper. "Don't, Maura. I can't think about that or I'll go crazy. It's been so tense lately. I just want to forget about all of it."
"Why don't you come over here tonight? You know your Aunt Sue won't mind," Maura offered.
"I don't mind at all," Sue interrupted from behind Maura. "I just got off the phone with Leah. Henry's working late, so I pulled a mom guilt trip. She's going to spend the night, too."
"Did you hear that? Come on, Em. I'll get in touch with Seth and tell him to let Sam know."
"I really didn't want to be alone tonight, thanks."
*****
A short while later, Leah burst through the front door of the Clearwater's, bearing pizza and beer. "Mom! Maura! A little help here. We have a special guest."
Sue and Maura rushed in from the living room to find Leah, trailed by Emily and Kim. "Kim! It's so good to see you. I talked to your mother yesterday. Aren't you supposed to be in bed?" Sue put her arm around the six-months-pregnant Kim and gently guided her to the sofa.
"Yes, but when Jared heard that you were having a slumber party over here tonight, he made arrangements for Emily to pick me up on the way over. He knows how much I've missed everyone." Kim smiled happily.
"She's under strict instructions to remain in a reclined position," Emily warned, lifting Kim's legs up onto the sofa and tucking a blanket in around her.
"Mom, where are the sleeping bags? And who wants pizza?" Leah shouted from the hallway. She brought paper plates and napkins into the living room, and handed Emily a beer.
"Get the sleeping bags from the hall closet, while I get Kim a glass of ice water," Sue instructed.
Maura pulled Leah back out into the hallway. "I'll help."
"Be right back, girls," Leah said, bolting out of the room behind Maura. "Rude much? You have company."
"Sorry. I just wanted to talk to you." Maura laughed.
Leah led Maura to the closet at the end of the hall. "Have you been listening in?" Maura nodded. "So, give me deets. Any vamp action?"
"No. And Jacob is blocking me, I think." Maura let out a frustrated sigh.
"It's just as well. Tonight is, apparently, girls night. So you need to block them, too. Now, give me a hand with the sleeping bags." They grabbed four sleeping bags and joined the group back in the living room.
"So, Kim, are you going crazy?" Leah asked. Emily smacked her arm. "What?"
"It's okay, Emily. Yes, Leah, I am going a bit crazy. I don't know how I'll stand being confined to bed for another three months. Though the doctor thinks maybe it won't be that long. This baby is big." Kim sighed.
Sue smiled at her. "Leah was early, by about a month. And she was a big, fat baby."
Emily giggled. "It's true, I've seen the pictures." Leah rolled her eyes while everyone laughed.
"But Jared's been amazing. He just dotes on me all the time. He keeps me up-to-date on all the gossip from Emily's, too." Maura watched Kim's face radiate happiness as she talked about Jared.
"Well, if you're relying on gossip from Emily's, I feel bad for you," Emily said.
"Oh, it can be plenty juicy. Like, for instance, I know that Maura and Jake had a date tonight and that he imprinted on her." Kim grinned at Maura, who blushed and squeezed her eyes shut to avoid everyone's stare.
"Oh, the dreaded "I" word. Don't let Jake hear you say that," Leah joked.
"Now, Leah," Sue said.
"Okay. I just have to know," Maura said, opening her eyes again and looking at Kim and Emily. "What, exactly, is imprinting like? How do you feel when it happens?"
"For me, it was like an answer to my prayers. I had a crush on Jared forever, and I am not sure he knew I existed, even in our small high school. And then, one day, he looked at me differently, and it's like he never looked away. He's so unbelievably good to me." Kim glowed. Emily nodded, pretty much glowing herself.
"So, it was the same for you and Sam, Emily? Love at first sight?"
"No. Not exactly." There was a strange silence. "I actually hated Sam at first and wanted him to leave me alone," Emily admitted.
"Really? Why?"
Maura watched Emily glance cautiously at Leah. "Sam was…involved…with Leah at the time."
"No way!" Maura exclaimed, noticing Leah shift uncomfortably.
"And this is where I make a beer run and check in with the pack," Leah announced, leaping gracefully to her feet and grabbing her car keys. "It's okay, Emily, carry on. I'll be back," Leah said as she escaped through the front door.
Sue squeezed Emily's hand. "It all worked out for the best, Emily, so don't worry. You can tell her."
"Well," Emily continued, "Sam and Leah were very, very involved. But once he met me, it was like he couldn't see anybody else. He had no idea why this was happening to him, and he didn't want to hurt Leah, but it was like he just dumped her immediately. Leah and I had always been really close. She was heartbroken, and I was furious. Especially since it put a wedge between me and Leah. But Sam persisted. I finally agreed to go on a picnic with him, to talk, to tell him to get lost. Well, he wasn't fully in control of his phasing then, and he was getting angry and desperate. He phased unexpectedly…well, hence the scars on my face."
Maura sucked in a gasp. "Oh, no! Sam did that to you?" She could only imagine how he must have felt having hurt the one person he loved more than anyone in the world. "Poor Sam."
Sue raised her eyebrows in surprise. "Poor Sam? Most people's reaction is poor Emily."
"Well, yes, of course, poor Emily." Maura grimaced in embarrassment. In retrospect, it was odd that she had identified with Sam first.
"Anyhow," Emily continued, "long story short is that he felt so awful afterwards and was so incredibly loving and attentive to me, that I couldn't resist him. I fell in love."
"And Leah was okay with it, in the end?" Maura asked. Kim snorted, and Sue shook her head.
"No. Leah was very not-okay with it for a long time. She eventually got over it, and then she met and imprinted on Henry," Emily finished just as Leah returned.
"What did I miss?" Leah asked, flopping down on the floor and passing Maura a beer.
"So, basically this imprinting is just like when the guy, or in Leah's case, the girl, sees "the one" and then becomes the knight in shining armor? The imprintee doesn't feel anything…monumental, too?" Maura wondered.
Leah shook her head. "No. They just can't resist the person who obviously loves them above all other things in the universe. The wolf, though, we feel this strange phenomenon. Sort of like gravity is reorienting itself from the center of the earth to the center of your imprint."
Maura thought about that for a minute. Why then had she felt that strange tilting?
Before she could ponder that thought further, Kim commented, "I, for one, am so glad Jacob finally imprinted. I was beginning to think that maybe he did imprint on Bella, and he was going to be miserable for the rest of his life. I'm so glad he's finally over her."
"Who's Bella?" Maura asked, feeling an overwhelming sense of jealousy. She noticed everyone else tense up.
"Oops." Kim said.
"That's a question better left for Jacob, I think," Sue said quietly as she got up to put a chick flick in the DVD player, effectively ending the conversation, if not quite distracting everyone from the uncomfortable moment.
As Maura pretended to pay attention to the movie, she began to focus on one thing. She and Jacob may be attracted to each other, they may be having fun flirting and getting to know each other, but what she was beginning to realize was that they needed to skip past the surface and try to figure out their deeper connection. He had imprinted on her, like it or not, and she was inexplicably tied to the pack. Their fates were linked together. She and Jacob desperately needed to have a long talk. She excused herself to go the bathroom. As she closed the door behind her, she purposefully unblocked her mind.
"Hey, you," Jacob thought softly, apparently able to immediately sense the return of Maura's mental presence.
"Who's Bella?" Maura blurted, forgetting that she meant to ease that particular question in under the radar later.
"Uh-oh," Seth chimed in. "Here's where I cut out and ESP with Sam for a while."
"Who told you about Bella? Why were you talking about that?" Jacob demanded, sounding irate.
"It just came up, that's all. Why are you so defensive?" Maura's jealousy was on overdrive now. "Forget it, I shouldn't have asked."
Maura caught a brief mental picture through Seth's mind of Jacob pacing and circling Sam and Seth, before Seth seemed to remember once again to block them.
She heard Jacob growl in frustration. "I guess there's an awful lot we don't know about each other. For instance, why didn't you ever mention that you were sent here to specifically look for us? You pretended to have just coincidentally discovered us while on a backpacking tour of the northwest."
"I never pretended anything. Nobody asked," Maura snapped back.
"Look, I can't do this right now. We can talk tomorrow." She felt Jacob forcibly block his mind, breaking their line of communication.
Swallowing her jealousy and frustration, Maura returned to the living room and crawled into her sleeping bag. She purposely avoided looking at anyone else, and instead focused on the TV screen hoping to appear to the others that she was engrossed by the movie, but her every thought was solely on Jacob.
****
A/N: Reviews are all kinds of tingly and win! Thank you to those of you who are reviewing and giving me a lot to think about: addisonj, Britt01, maimadevil, GryffindorGurl2, DreamOnDreamer, Tears_of_Mercury, DonnaKC, aelyaniara, Buffyk0604, MyBlueSide, WishIWasBella781, sles, victorypickle, SunnyZim, Trixie317, InexplicablyWaiting, and europ92.
And please go check out the HP and Twilight fics by my most excellent beta, deemichelle here on fanfiction. Show her some love and thanks for all the hard work she does for me with this fic!