A/N: Okey-dokey. Here you go. As usual, don't know how I feel about it. It's up to you guys. Thank you so much for the reviews! They make me so happy. :)
Disclaimer: I own nothing except Luna and Noah.
I'm surprised the way you affect me, "Bullseye" ~ Aly & AJ
Like an arrow penetrating my heart.
Naturally, you seem to just get me,
So, obviously, you're pretty smart.
Jacob's POV
Being ever so careful, I embraced Luna, not wanting to even touch her injuries for fear of either opening them up or causing her pain even in the slightest. As I let her go, I stroked her cheek, knowing she was afraid to go forward with this. I could see the uncertainty in her eyes but I wouldn't let her down. I could fight this damned imprint and no one was going to stop me.
"It'll be alright," I said to her as my hands left her and she nodded, finally smiling. That smile...I was only beginning to realize how much it meant to me to see her smile.
The front door opened and we turned to see who was coming out. I felt Luna stiffen as Renesmee came out. Leah had long ago informed me of how much Luna disliked my imprint. Since the beginning, apparently, Luna found the half-vampire unpleasant and I was curious to find out why.
"Hey, Nessie," I grinned.
"My Jacob," she greeted. "Grandma wants to know if you want anything else to eat."
"No thanks," I answered. "I have to do soon and deal with some pack stuff."
"Of course," she smiled sweetly at me and in the back of my head, the imprint was yelling shrilly at me that she was the one I was supposed to be paying attention to. But I ignored it. Renesmee disappeared inside again and Luna sighed. I would talk to her about her relationship with Nessie later.
"Go?" Luna suddenly repeated,
"I have to leave," I nodded and Luna raised a brow. "I have to talk to Sam and the others, not to mention I need to tell Dad some stuff."
"When do I get to go home?" she folded her arms unhappily.
"Not for another day or so," a familiar voice answered and I saw Carlisle coming out. "I hope you're ready to get back in bed. I would prefer it if you don't over do things on the first day you're awake."
"I'm fine," Luna snubbed him. "I don't want to go to bed."
"Lulu," I frowned. "It's for the best." To my surprise, Carlisle crouched down to her eye level and reached into his pocket.
"I believe Leah said that I have to speak your language sometimes, Luna," he smiled and pulled out a lollipop. Luna snatched it.
"You're speaking loud and clear, Dr. Cullen," she said, sticking it in her mouth and standing shakily. Carlisle steadied her gently, looking amused.
"Please, call me Carlisle," he told her. I snickered and stood up, satisfied that she was being left in good hands. I firmly believed Carlisle was the only doctor in the world with the expertise to assist both mortals and immortals. Quite possibly the only doctor able to be patient enough with someone like Luna. I nervously watched her wince slightly but the pain vanished quickly from her face. I wanted to stay but I had other priorities for now.
"I'll see you both later," I said and smiled at Luna, before heading off into the forest to phase.
Immediately, I felt Noah and Leah, doing their patrol and they were talking to each other about the situation. They were making predictions about Jerome, what courses of action they could possibly take when he did come and even maybe checking to see if we could gather more allies from other packs. I heard Noah mention how Connor, the Alpha in Pioche, might be willing to assist us if it meant pissing Rafael off. Even if it wasn't to make Rafael mad, Noah claimed Connor was an alright guy.
'Jake,' Leah sounded confused. 'Is Luna okay?'
'Yeah,' I confirmed. 'Carlisle made her get back in bed but she's fine. I have to go talk to Sam and Dad. When you're done, go keep Lu company. I see what you mean, Leah, about her not liking Renesmee.'
'Sure thing,' Leah confirmed.
'Tell Lu, I might not see her until she gets home,' I told her. 'There's something I'd rather not have Edward hear just yet.' I didn't want him knowing I would be going for Luna instead of his own daughter.
'Then have Lu wrap her shield around you,' Leah snorted, obviously unaware of my inner thoughts.
'Like I'm gonna have her overwork herself already!' I inwardly rolled my eyes.
'Alright, alright,' Leah sighed. 'Do what you gotta do.'
'Thanks, Leah.'
I continued on to La Push and stopped in the woods by Sam's house, phasing back and getting dressed. I still couldn't get over my relief that Luna had actually woken up. She was a bit more laid back than usual, but she was back. It wouldn't be long until she was running around again. It would be a bit different now, considering I would be on the Reservation more often, spending more time with Luna and less with Renesmee as I began to pull off of the imprint.
"Hey, Jake," I heard Sam as I approached the house and looking up, I saw him standing with Jared and Paul. "I'm surprised you're not at the Cullens? Is Luna okay?"
"She woke up," I smiled and they all brightened.
"That's great!" Sam said and I almost laughed. I knew Luna gave them as much hell as the she did the rest of us, but somehow, in all the havoc, she'd delivered a good amount of affection, making them love her as much as my pack did. Sam had grown quite fond of her and I suspect he was quite impressed with the blow she'd delivered to his face.
"Yeah," I nodded. "Carlisle says she can come home in a day or so, but for now, she's walking around, talking and eating. That's fine with me...I came to talk to you about our current situation with that vampire."
"The one who escaped Noah?" Jared frowned.
"No, the one she answers to," I said. "Jerome, Luna's primary enemy. We need a game plan of some sort."
"We've been working with our younger wolves," Sam told me. "Trying to get them as fight-ready as possible, while being able to defend themselves properly. I don't suppose your leech friends would be able to help. That blond one?"
"Jasper? I think so," I nodded. "I'll have to ask but I doubt they'll have any problems with working with us again. Jasper's an excellent fighter. We can probably mix some moves with Noah and get an idea of how their old pack fought." Sam nodded in agreement.
"Just name a place and date," Sam said. "We'll be ready."
"Great. I'll talk to Jasper and Noah, see when we can set that up," I said coolly. "Alright, see you guys later, I gotta go talk to Dad about things."
"Tell Lu we said 'hi'," Jared called as I ran off.
"Will do!" I answered over my shoulder.
Arriving at my own home, I walked in to find Dad eating lunch Rachel had made. I could hear the shower, which meant my sister was otherwise occupied. I had Dad all to myself. He looked up at me and grinned.
"There you are!" he greeted me. "You're back. Did Luna wake up?"
"Yeah," I grinned back at him and sat down. "She's doing great. But I need to talk to you about...something pretty big, pops."
His eyes narrowed and knowing Dad, he usually had a general idea of what was coming. There was no way he knew about my fighting the imprint though. I could only imagine how he'd react. He'd been dedicated to the traditions of the pack since the start and telling him that I was going against them by fighting the imprint for someone like Luna, well, I was preparing myself to get into a fight.
"What's up?" he asked me, sitting back and abandoning his meal.
"Look," I began. "I'm about to tell you something huge and I don't want you overreacting. It's something I want and I plan on going through with it whether you approve or not."
"Jake," he sighed. "I'm your father. If you can't tell me something, what kind of messed up relationship do we have?" I smiled and then took a deep breath.
"I'm going to fight the imprint and break it," I said firmly and he was silent as he stared at me. He took a hold of the beer can by his sandwich and took a small sip. "There's someone I want to fight it for and I know there's this theory about imprinting helping the bloodlines, but let's face it. That's a bunch of crap. Noah's not Quileute and Renesmee isn't either. Sure, Noah's a wolf but Renesmee sure isn't. I'm fighting this imprint and well...that's pretty much it."
Dad clicked his tongue and tapped his fingers on the table, thinking. He looked at me curiously.
"Who's this someone?" he asked me and I smiled sheepishly. I wasn't sure how he felt about Luna but I knew he liked her somewhat. He found her jokes funny and tended to even back her up on the ones played on me. But I knew he found her to be incredibly energetic and complimented me on many occasions on being able to keep up with her.
"Luna..." I responded and he blinked. He reached for that can again and took a really long swig instead of short. He then sighed and turned to me.
"Of all the girls," he mused. "You choose the one that's gonna be a total handful."
I laughed and he joined me before taking on a look of seriousness.
"There is a chance you won't win this," he said. "And what if it doesn't work out between Luna and you?"
"Well, that's normal, right?" I asked. "Real relationships start and either survive or end. I've known Luna for a while and yeah, she's someone who takes patience and yeah, she's stubborn, but I want to try. I will win this."
"I know you will," Dad smiled and continued eating his lunch.
Luna's POV
Glaring at the road a head, I growled lowly. It had been a day and a half since I saw Jacob and while Leah had told me that he didn't want Edward hearing something, I was still peeved. I mean, I could hide my thoughts and I could even hide other peoples' thoughts but apparently, Jacob didn't want me overdoing it. Like I'm that broken. Leah glanced at me from the driver's seat and smirked.
"Will you relax?" she asked. "You're going home. Isn't that what you wanted?"
"Yeah, yeah," I waved her off. Carlisle had examined me and let me go with the condition that I didn't phase, didn't patrol and just relaxed. He said if anything went wrong, I was to come straight back. I was lucky though. He was letting me go a lot earlier than he wanted to. "What's Jakers been doing?"
"Hanging around Sam's pack mainly and taking care of Billy," Leah replied. "Why are you so pissy?"
"No reason," I leaned in my seat and switching my glare to some heavy-duty pain killers Carlisle had given to me and since I was a wolf, I got to take them in high dosages. Stupid wounds they would be gone soon but the inner damage was taking a bit longer to heal, despite the fact that my healing had kicked in. I yelped as Leah slammed on the brakes and dropped the little bottle as I braced myself.
Ow! That hurt! I whirled to stare at Leah and scowled.
"Shit, woman! Are you trying to kill us?" I demanded. "What the hell was that for?"
"You and Jacob talked!" she accused. I blushed and she grabbed my collar. "Why didn't you tell me!"
"I was avoiding the super hearing of the non-mortal ears," I answered bluntly and she groaned.
"What happened?" she asked. "What did he say?" I straightened my shirt unhappily and then smiled a bit, still happy by the news myself. It had been making me sigh like a love-sick teenager ever since.
"He's fighting the imprint," I told her and she smiled widely as she started to drive again.
"Well, well," she sounded satisfied. "Didn't I tell you that he would surprise you?"
"No. Actually you said that he might surprise me-ow!" I grabbed my head as she conked it.
"You get my point, you little brat," she smirked and we passed the sign that said 'Welcome to La Push'.
"Man, you're violent, sister," I rubbed my head. "I wonder why I'm friends with you. Our relationship is incredibly abusive."
"Oh, please," she laughed. "You'd miss me too much."
"I would," I grinned.
"When are you two gonna go out?" she asked me.
"Dunno," I shrugged. "We didn't get that far. He just promised me he would fight it." I frowned slightly and she glanced at me.
"Let him in, Luna," she said. "If you want it to work, you have to let him in. I know you're not used to opening up. I know you like to keep people at a distance and pull the strings, but a relationship is two people who are open with one another, honest. There's nothing without trust. Jacob isn't Rafael. He isn't someone who wants to hurt you. It's Jacob."
"I know," I looked out the window. But will Jacob still care when he sees the one behind the mask?
I squealed happily as we pulled up to our house and as I got out, I hurried inside, Leah right behind me. She instantly told me to take a shower and wash away the leech stank and I went up willingly, abandoning the medicine in the kitchen and holding my teddy bear. I grabbed some of my clothes and carefully went into the bathroom. After stripping, I looked in the mirror, glad that there would only be a small scar left on my back, joining the other. My belly would no doubt heal smoothly, given that the only traces of an injury were the angry red marks where it had once been open and ugly. On my back, it was still somewhat gross, but it was better than it had been.
I stepped in the shower and carefully washed myself. Hot water really loosened my muscles and I inhaled deeply to the familiar scent of my shampoo. Once I was finished, I pulled on a large t-shirt and sweats. Now, it was time to eat.
Going downstairs, I knew what I wanted, brownies. I didn't see Leah anywhere, so I assumed, she had gone out for a minute. Opening the cupboard, I saw the brownies on the top shelf. I reached and then hissed when my stomach and back strained. Bad idea. I saw the chairs nearby and started dragging it over and while it hurt, it wouldn't hurt as much as climbing on the counter or something.
"What the hell are you doing?" I jumped at the sound of Jacob's voice and looked up to see him. He looked angry over the fact that I was in fact doing something I shouldn't be quite yet. I looked down shamefully.
"I just wanted some brownies," I said sadly. What a suckish day. Jacob sighed. He walked up, put the chair away and got me the box of brownies. "Yay! Thank you, Jakers!"
Before I could rush to find a bowl, he pulled me into his arms into a careful embrace.
"Can you try to be a little bit more careful?" he asked. "Carlisle called to tell me he let you go early but I have to make sure you're taking it easy."
"I am! Brownies relax me!" I protested.
"At least let me help you make them," he rolled his eyes.
"Fine, but wash your nasty hands," I pulled away. "I have no idea where they've been. And speaking of being somewhere, where have you been?"
"Didn't Leah tell you?" he asked, washing his hands.
"She said you didn't want Edward hearing something," I frowned, grabbing a bowl.
"Well, yeah," he nodded. "I don't want him knowing that I'm fighting the imprint quite yet. I don't want Renesmee hearing it from him. I want to tell her in private. Telling her in front of her family or letting her hear about it from someone else is just cruel."
I poured the mix into the big mixing bowl and grabbed some eggs and vegetable oil. I put in the proper amounts and Jake grabbed the bowl to stir it. I made a noise of disagreement.
"I'm not completely broken, you know?" I snapped.
"Just shut up and let me take care of you," he retorted. "That's what a boyfriend does, stupid." I stiffened and looked at him in surprise. He'd turned slightly, turning the oven on to the proper temperature and placing the batter into a pan. 'Boyfriend'. That was a new term for me. I put my hands on my hips and scowled.
"You don't make 'boyfriend' until you pass the first date," I informed him and he stiffened, turning to me. Instead of looking surprised, like I expected and planned on, he was had a thoughtful expression on his face.
"So, that's how it is..." he mused. "Alright, Luna. I'll play your little game. Just know, I don't play fair." He placed the pan into the oven and licked one of his fingers.
"Spare me," I rolled my eyes. "You should know that I already don't play fair."
"Don't I know it," he folded his arms as I took the bowl from him to enjoy the leftover batter. "When you have recovered, we're going to go out but until then, I want to know why you don't like Renesmee."
"Renesmee?" I repeated. "Last thing I want to talk about."
"Just tell me," he rolled his eyes.
"How should I know?" I shrugged. "We got off to a bad start and our personalities just clash."
"Funny," he muttered. "You usually like everybody and get along with everybody."
"See, that's where you're wrong," I waved a finger at him. "There are several types of people I do not like but I pretend to like them for my own reasons. You still have a lot to learn about me."
"Don't I know it," he said under his breath and I wasn't sure if I was supposed to hear that part or not. I didn't comment on it. With a grunt, I folded my arms.
"Hey," I said, wanting to get the conversation off of me. Leah said I had to open up but she didn't say I couldn't wait a while. "I know you've been running around trying to deal with this Jerome situation while I've been out of commission. Tell me what's going on."
This time, when he looked at me, I knew he was reluctant to let me in on this but I wasn't gonna let him hide any of this from me. Jerome was my enemy and no one else's.
A/N: Not the best of redos, but it's as good as it's gonna get. I hope it's more satisfactory and wish everyone Merry Christmas or a merry whatever you celebrate. EDIT: 12/21/10