Yay! Very happy because Jacob is in this chapter! Yes, the Quileutes have FINALLY arrived! They took their time, I'll tell ya that!
That's a lot of exclamation marks. But it's late so, I'm pleading tiredness.
Thanks to werewolfe-cupcake for the story alert, and EsmeAliceRose, BriBri and dazzleglo for your reviews!
Chapter Twenty-one – La Push Beach
Five days later, it was March 20th, the anniversary of the day James had abducted her. Nessie did not sleep that night and woke up on the 20th with the feeling that something had to go wrong. Terribly wrong.
But it didn't. No one at school knew. No one who knew commented – her family took Nessie's lead and acted as though it was any other day while jumping at the smallest sounds. It was like the first day of school all over again; they walked her to all her lessons, were waiting for her when they ended, kept close tabs on her. Nessie went through the day in a haze, waiting for the non-descript boy that had changed everything.
When she went to bed that night, Nessie relished every step that separated her from the basement. She slept with the light on. The next day, March 21st, she woke up to find herself in her own bed, at home. She had survived the first night. Now she had to make it to May 24th, the day one year ago that she returned home.
Sixty four days of hell. Nessie stroked the scars on her wrists. She wanted someone who had the power to make her forget for a little while. Sighing when she accepted how little chance there was of that happening, Nessie got out of bed and prepared for school.
"So, a bunch of us are going down to La Push beach, you in?" Mike asked as they walked from Biology to Gym.
"Er, sure, sounds good," Bella said. Mike smiled broadly and Bella wondered whether he thought this constituted a date. She really needed to do something about Mike – he had backed off since Bella and Edward had started talking but it was now a month after Alice's birthday and she and Edward still were not dating, so he was once again on the charm offensive.
"Hey, Dad, I'm going to the beach with some friends, okay?" Bella told him that night at dinner.
"La Push Beach?" Charlie asked.
"Yeah, that okay?" Bella did not really want to ask permission to go, but since she had not been here that long she decided to at least pretend.
"Yeah, that's fine. Are the Cullens going?" Charlie liked the Cullens and had been so pleased when Bella told him that she got to know them – no one really gave them a chance which Charlie hated, though he knew they could be an intimidating bunch to get close to.
"I don't know. It's a group thing so I could invite them," Bella said thinking.
"That sounds like a nice thing to do, Bells. From what Nessie says they don't socialise with the other students much – maybe they just need the opportunity." Talking about the Cullens did lead Charlie to talk more than usual.
"Yeah, maybe. I don't think Nessie likes people, though."
"Not surprising with her past," said Charlie gently.
"Yeah, Edward told me about it. I can't believe someone would do that," Bella said, shaking her head.
"There are some bad people in the world, Bells. You should be careful."
"I lived in Phoenix, Dad," Bella reminded. "I know how people can be."
"Not firsthand, Bells – you never went through something like Nessie did."
"I know." Bella cleared off the table. "I got homework to do, Dad, I'll see you later."
"Alright, Bella. There's a game on TV I wanted to watch – okay?"
"Yeah, fine." Bella loved how easy it was to be with Charlie – unlike her mom, Charlie did not have to be babysat to be happy; he was just fine on his own.
The next day, she had lunch with Edward and the Cullens. Her group and Edward's group did not really mix well just yet, so Alice made her eat lunch with them once a week to try and 'integrate' the normies and the freaks. Besides, there were too many of them to get around one table.
"So, a bunch of us are going to the beach this Saturday. You want to come?" Bella asked Edward. He had his arm along the back of her chair but was not touching her. He was always careful about touching her.
"I don't know," Edward said, his eyes tight as he looked at Nessie.
"It'll be fun, we'll all go. Please?" Bella asked.
"What do you guys think?" Edward opened the question up to the table. "You want to go to the beach this Saturday?"
"Yeah!" Emmett said, thrilled at the thought.
"Sounds good, right, hon?" Alice asked Jasper. He just nodded and then continued reading the book in front of him.
"Ooh, a beach, what ripping good fun," Rosalie said in a mock British accent.
"People in England haven't talked like that since the 1920s, Rose," Nessie said. Rosalie pulled a face; Nessie pulled a worse, flipping Rose off at the same time.
"Nessie!" Emmett exclaimed.
"What? She can be a bitch but I can't?" Nessie said.
"What's gotten into you, Ness?" Alice asked, concerned.
"Nothing," Nessie said. In truth, everything was wrong with her – she had overheard a conversation Jasper and Rosalie had had a couple of days ago and now she knew about Rosalie and Royce. The perfect couple, it made her want to hurl. She wanted to tell someone but she couldn't; if Emmett found out he would be crushed – a blind man could see he was insanely in love with the statuesque blond – and Nessie couldn't be the one to do that to him. But he had to know, didn't he?
"Nessie?" Edward leant in close to whisper in her ear. "You okay?"
"I don't know," Nessie said honestly.
"You want to talk about it?" he asked. Nessie shook her head – if she told Edward, Edward would tell Emmett, or their parents who would talk to Emmett. Either way, Emmett found out and Emmett got hurt.
"You want to go to the beach?" Edward asked. "Get out of the house for the day? It'll be good for you."
Nessie thought about it. She had not been out since they had gone to Seattle. "I suppose it'll be fun. I don't have to talk to anyone, do I?"
Edward laughed at the expression on Nessie's face – she did not look at all happy at the idea of speaking to people. "Not if you don't want to." He ruffled her hair – it was much longer than when they had moved to Forks.
James had loved her long hair, loved using it to pull her around, so one of the first things she had done when she was free was to cut the waist length locks off in front of the bathroom mirror until the curls were as short as Alice's spikes. Sulpicia had screamed when she had walked in to find a stony-faced Nessie with a giant pair of razor sharp scissors in her hand and her sheared hair around her feet. Nessie had woken up the next day and lost it when she felt how short it was. Esme had told her she could have extensions but Nessie had just shaken her head miserably. Fortunately, Nessie's hair grew quickly; after eight months, it was now to her shoulders.
"So, I invited the Cullens and the Hales to the beach," Bella told Mike in Gym. Mike spun to look at her and ended up taking a shuttlecock to the head.
"You did?" Mike said, his jaw on the floor.
"Yeah, they're all coming." Bella twirled the racket in her hand, dropped it on her foot and fell over trying to pick it up. Mike grabbed her arm before she hit her face. "Thanks."
"So, are you riding with us still?" Mike asked eager to make sure Cullen hadn't decided to make a move finally.
"Yeah, the Hales are riding with the Cullens – they'll meet us there."
"Oh, okay."
"How's things going with Jess?" Bella asked. A couple of guys had asked Bella to go to the Girl's Choice Dance that had happened a while ago.
"Fine, yeah," Mike said. He had been the first to ask Bella, but she had said no and gone to Seattle with the Cullen women for Alice's birthday instead. So, as per Bella's suggestion, Mike had gone with Jessica.
"Is she coming?" Bella asked, trying not to make the question not too pointed.
"Yeah, so is Angela, Ben, Lauren, Tyler, Eric, everyone."
"So, we should have fun, all of us." Bella deliberately lumped in the Cullens and the Hales with the rest of them – she was tired of playing the bridge between the two groups.
So, that Saturday, Mike picked Bella up in his mom's Suburban. He had saved her a seat next to him, but she managed to get Jess sat there so she could have the window seat.
When they got to the beach, Tyler's van and Emmett's Jeep were already there. The passengers were all out and were actually conversing. Emmett looked huge next to everyone else, at least a head taller than everyone else and his polo shirt straining to contain the muscles of his arms and chest. The shorts at least were baggy enough not to have that same problem.
Trying to get out of a car was dangerous enough for Bella at the best of times. Doing it while staring at Edward Cullen, thinking how he pretty much defined 'fuck-me-gorgeous' was impossible. The seatbelt got wrapped around her foot and Bella stumbled; Jessica, expecting a far more elegant exit, bumped into her, sending them both crashing to the floor. All the boys rushed over, Edward getting to Bella first, leaving Mike to pick up Jessica who was extremely pissed off – first at ending up on the floor in front of Mike and secondly at Mike's obvious surliness at not having got to Bella before Cullen. She shook him off and stalked over to bitch about the incident to Lauren.
Edward, in the meantime, had knelt next to Bella and got her to her knees. "You okay?"
"Huh?" Bella was a little too focused on the bicep she had a hand wrapped around – or partly around because Edward's bicep was too big for Bella's fingertips to meet. Edward was not as slender as Bella had imagined when she had seen him for the first time next to Emmett; he was not as tall as Jasper, being 6'2" to Jasper's 6'4", but she had had four months of Biology to appreciate that Edward was surprisingly muscular for the quiet brooder. Now, she saw that Edward definitely worked out – biceps did not get that defined and dense by sitting on your ass.
Wrenching her gaze from the sight of his chest, which looked just as toned and rock hard as his arms, Bella saw that Edward looked really concerned. "Did you hit your head? Bella, speak to me!" There was a note of desperation in response to the glazed look in her eye.
"Yes and no." Bella finally got out.
"Yes and no, what?" he asked, a little confused.
"Yes I'm fine; no I didn't hit my head."
"Are you sure," Edward asked. "Because you look, I don't know, kind of dazzled?"
Dazzled? Huh, good word. He did dazzle her, with alarming frequency.
"She's fine, Edward. I think she's noticing you're a little more muscular than first expected." Nessie had knelt down beside them, though she had spoken so that only the two of them could hear her.
"Oh," Edward was unsure of what to say to that, so he grinned arrogantly.
"I want to get up now," Bella said, a little annoyed at being outed. Edward got her to her feet and they headed down to the beach, the Cullens having brought most of the food and drink.
"Mom went a little overboard," Emmett was telling Tyler. "She usually does – you should see Christmas." Over the course of the day, the teenage boys officially fell in love with Esme Cullen.
They were joined by the younger members of the Quileute tribe, which was good or they never would have finished everything, and Bella was reintroduced to an old friend she had forgotten.
"Bella Swan?" a boy a little younger than herself, maybe Nessie's age, spoke. He had been glancing over in their direction since she had returned from the rock pools they had visited – Edward holding her hand through the forest when she lag behind so she did not fall.
Bella was reminded of her first day of high school – in the centre of attention with everyone wanting to know her – the very last place accident prone Miss Swan ever wanted to be. "Yeah?"
"I'm Jacob. Black, Billy's son? Charlie bought your truck off my dad. We used to spend our summers together – you, me and my twin sisters."
"Oh, yeah, hi," Bella said, brightening as it came back to her. "I remember, Rachel and Rebecca, right?"
"Yeah, that's right," Jacob seemed thrilled that she remembered. Edward, on Bella's other side, did not seem so excited to meet Jacob.
"This is Edward, by the way, Edward Cullen," Bella introduced them. Jacob waved once and Edward inclined his head in return. "So, how are your sisters?"
"Rachel's at college – Washington State. Rebecca's married; she lives in Hawaii now."
"Married, really? She's like, what, a year older than me?" Bella was surprised.
"Yeah," Jacob nodded, "the Council was up in arms about it – she gave up a partial scholarship to do it – but my dad said it was her choice."
"Go Billy," Bella said, unable to imagine how many parents would truly be happy at the idea of their daughter getting married at eighteen – hers would kill her, especially Renee.
Jacob shrugged, "yeah, that's my dad – do what you want as long as you can take the consequences."
"Sounds like a good philosophy to have," Bella said.
"Honestly? I think he just wants the quiet life – give them what they want and they won't complain." Jacob's grin belied his words – he clearly got on well with his father, had a lot of respect for him.
"Billy sounds as easy to get along with as Charlie," Bella said, grinning as well – it seemed to be impossible to not smile around Jacob.
"Birds of a feather," Jacob said.
Emmett and Rosalie had come over to speak to Edward. "Hey, we're gonna take a walk down the beach, okay?" Emmett said.
"Enjoy the pier," Edward deadpanned.
"We will," Emmett said with his characteristic wicked grin. Everyone in the circle watched as the hottest couple there took off down the beach.
"Wow," said a Quileute boy.
"High maintenance," another said. Jacob snorted.
Edward sighed, "should I do something? Before Rosalie gets pregnant, I mean."
"Probably," Bella said, nudging him to make him smile.
"Emmett's going to kill me," Edward moaned. "Still," he said, getting to his feet, "at least he won't be a teenage parent. You want to come with? Take Rosalie while I take on Emmett?"
"Yeah, sure," Bella said. She waved to Jacob who waved back with a smile, and they walked down the beach.
After a few steps, Edward took her hand. Bella looked down at their joined hands and looked up at him to smile. "Bella, are you ... okay with everything that I told you?"
"Yeah, why?" Bella asked, worried about what was coming next.
"I just wondered, 'cause, you know ..."
"I know...?" Bella persisted.
"Is it just me or is there something here?" Edward stopped to face here – they were a way away from the fire circle they had left.
"I hope so," Bella said, looking down at her feet. There was a hand under her chin, gently but firmly forcing her face up to look at him.
"Me, too," he said leaning down to her. Before Bella could react, she felt his lips on hers. Her arms slid up to lock around his neck while his wrapped around her waist, pulling her closer.
The world got completely drowned out until there was a wolf whistle and a lump of wet sand it the back of Edward's head. "'Bout time little brother!" Emmett yelled, coming towards them, holding hands with a stone faced Rosalie.
They both blushed – Bella much more deeply than Edward who looked like he wanted to repay Emmett for the sand.
"Let's go for a walk," Edward muttered shaking out his T-shirt to rid it of the sand. Bella nodded, unable to stop smiling. "We'll see you guys later," Edward called to Emmett.
"Yeah, you will! Pier's that way!" Emmett yelled, practically bouncing at the sight of his brother finally with the girl he had been moping over for months. "Good together, aren't they?" he asked Rosalie.
"I suppose, if Bella Swan is the kind of girl he wants," Rosalie muttered, looking sour.
"I think she's great for him," Emmett said, refusing to let Rosalie's baffling hostility get to him. His little brother had finally stopped letting the side down!
"Whatever," Rosalie said, flicking her hair over her shoulder. Emmett rolled his eyes and tugged her back towards the campfire someone had started.
After Jacob finished watching Bella being unsubtly taken away by her boyfriend, he said watching the people around the circle. He knew most of them – some were his friends off the Rez, Embry and Quil. There was Jared and Paul, too, and the Clearwater siblings, Leah and Seth. Leah was moping, having recently broken up with her boyfriend; Sam Uley had accepted a full scholarship to Washington State and they had grown apart over the last few months until Sam had finally called it quits. There were the kids from Forks High School; he knew them quite well from them coming down to the beach whenever the weather was good. He didn't know the guy that Bella had walked off with, or the high maintenance chick and the huge guy, or the pixie girl and the tall glass of water she was snuggling up with, or the bronze haired beauty – they had all turned up together, looking kind of uncomfortable until the largest one started talking.
Jacob looked at redhead girl, as he had been doing since he and the other Quileutes had arrived, out of the corner of his eye from across the campfire. She was dressed completely in black; a loose black top that hit mid-thigh under an unzipped hoody with an old leather jacket that, from the size of it, looked like it may have belonged to the not-gigantor brother. She wore black tights, as far as Jacob could tell from the two inches between the shirt and the over the knee Jack Sparrow-esque leather pirate boots she was wearing. Her skin, in contrast to the noir outfit, was ivory and clear. The only colour about her was the burnished bronze ringlets that fell to her shoulders. The flames caught them turning her hair into a fiery halo, bringing out the various shades of red and a little blond. It was no wonder she had some company – she looked a lot like what Jacob had imagined a seraph angel who look like.
He wanted to know what colour her eyes were but they were shadowed by thick mascara and black eyeliner, and he was too far away. She was definitely different to the rest of the people here. Probably why they all gave her a wide berth. Well, nearly all of them.
She was sat, stuck, between two guys that had taken advantage of the fact that her family was otherwise occupied. She looked intensely uncomfortable, like she was about to bolt. Jacob decided to play the knight in shining armour.
"Hey," he walked up to the three of them. Expecting a look of gratitude at his rescue attempt, Jacob was shocked to see the fear in her eyes at the sight of him. The guys either side of her started sizing him up. "Your brothers wanted me to say they were taking a walk with their respective girls."
"Thanks," Nessie said, relaxing at little at the mention of her brothers. She was caught between two boys from her Physics class, both of whom were attempting seriously bad chat up lines, trying to remember how not to freak out. Her resolve was weakening – saying you were going to deal with the outside world and actually dealing with it were two very different things, and Nessie was failing to bridge the gap at this point. She wanted her safety net, but her family were all busy. She could not help but notice how close she was to the forest, how easy it would be for someone to drag her in there and disappear.
Or just watch her. The hairs on the back of her neck stood up and Nessie fought the urge to keep looking behind her.
"I'm Jacob," Jacob said offering his hand.
"Nessie," she said shaking his hand with her gloved one. She saw him clock the gloves but he did not mention it.
"You hungry? We got mountains of food left and you didn't eat much," Jacob said, letting slip how much he had been noticing her over the last couple of hours.
"I didn't have much of a chance," Nessie said, glancing pointedly at the two boys who were sitting way too close to her. They had offered to get her some food when everyone had started eating – they alternated one of them talking to her, the other getting the stuff. It was driving her crazy.
The boys shifted uncomfortably. Their plan to get on her good side then, as soon as the other Cullens were out of the way, to move in and see which one of them she would go out with was failing miserably.
"Well, let's get some – your mom's cake is good and it's getting cleared out quick," Jacob offered her his hand again and this time when she took it, he pulled Nessie off her seat.
"Thanks for the rescue," Nessie said as Jacob towed her to the food. His hand was warm on hers, and his touch was light – he didn't grip her, bruising her pale skin. There had been a time when her wrist had been surrounded by bruises instead of scars.
"You're welcome," said Jacob, his smile firmly in place.
"Are you always this happy?" Nessie asked.
"Pretty much, I just don't get down, I guess," Jacob shrugged.
"That may be a problem," Nessie said wryly.
Jacob laughed, "you aren't happy?"
Nessie stopped; no one had asked her outright like that. "Not really."
"Why not?" Jacob seemed interested, but not prying.
"I ... a lot of stuff's happened to me. I don't like being around people." Nessie sat on the floor to watch the flames of the fire Mike had lit a little while ago while Jacob dug through the coolers and hampers.
"Stuff like this must suck for you, then," Jacob said, looking up at her from where he was crouched.
"You are amazing at stating the obvious," Nessie said, putting her hands in her pockets.
"It's a talent," Jacob shrugged.
"You have to have one, I guess." Nessie said it before thinking then panicked, thinking of James' reaction whenever she had talked back.
Jacob laughed out loud, drawing a few glances, "you don't pull punches, do you, honey?"
Nessie shook her head, "sorry. My mouth works faster than my brain. I shouldn't have said that."
Jacob sat beside her, handing her a plate with a little bit of everything, and patted her on the leg. "I got two older sisters, don't worry, I can handle females with attitude."
"But you would never say that to their faces," Nessie guessed.
"Are you kidding me? Do you think I'm stupid? Or suicidal?"
Nessie laughed, "tell me about it. I once told Alice what I really thought about the outfit she chose for me. Yeah, that pinch mark lasted a week!"
"Ooh," Jacob made the appropriate face. "No telling Alice what you think of clothes, got it. Which one is Alice, so I know?"
Nessie pointed out Alice who was currently swapping saliva with Jasper. "Wow," Jacob said. "They really don't need air, do they?"
"I keep telling them to try out for the swim team, but that would cut into make out time." Nessie toyed with some of the food on her plate. She never ate much these days, a lot less than she should. It worried her parents but after everything they didn't want to make an issue about food and make it worse.
Jacob laughed again and Nessie found herself doing the same. It was weird just how normal it felt to be sat here with this boy she did not know, joking about ... anything really.
She really didn't want to lose this feeling.
"So," Jacob said, fishing for conversation as they ate so she would not leave. "How do you know Bella?"
"Edward has Biology with her and has been crushing on her since she arrived. She's kind of become a friend to all of us – Alice loves her and Emmett thinks she's a riot," Nessie said. "She a klutz which he finds funny," Nessie said when Jacob frowned, not getting it.
"I see. And do you agree or disagree with the match?"
"Agree very much. Bella's good for Edward, and good for me. She gives Edward someone else to be paranoidly overprotective about," Nessie said when Jacob looked a little confused.
"Is he that kind of big brother, then?" Jacob smiled, finding it funny – he was the youngest, his sisters would let him be protective of them if he tried, but he was a kid when they lived here.
"He's naturally protective, but everything that's happened kind of stepped it up a gear – he blames himself for every little thing that happens. But Bella doesn't let him do that. I think they could really love each other if the world gave them a chance."
"So, if it's not that bad, why do you want him to back off?" Jacob asked, looking at her intently.
"It sounds so bad when you say it like that!" Nessie said. "I don't want him to, my family's my security blanket, but I need him to. I need to learn to be okay again. On my own."
"You're never on your own," Jacob said, wanting to give her some kind of comfort.
"Yeah, that's kind of the problem. I did ended up alone and I didn't handle it well," Nessie said, running a gloved hand through her curls.
"What happened?" Jacob asked.
"Oh, it's a long story," Nessie hedged, on edge for the first time since meeting Jacob.
"A long story, huh?" Jacob recognised a brush off when he heard one. "Let me guess, it's complicated, too, right?"
Nessie looked down at the floor, afraid she had gotten Jacob angry. "Yeah, it is. But it's not what you think."
"That's original."
"I'm sorry. It's just ..." Nessie hesitated before rushing out the explanation, tired of thinking everything through so bloody much. "I haven't been able to talk to anyone like this ... ever. I don't want to scare you away with how much of a freak I am before you've even gotten to know me."
"So, you want to get to know me?" Jacob's grin returned, an infectious kind of smirk on his face.
Relaxing, Nessie grinned, "I don't know. Are you worth the effort?"
"Definitely, I'm amazing," Jacob said seriously. They made it about a second before they both burst out laughing.
Emmett and Rosalie walked back to where they were sitting, stunned to see Nessie engaging in conversation with a stranger and ... laughing.
"Hey, guys. You alright, Nessie?" Emmett asked.
"Yeah, I am," Nessie said. Emmett was struck by how lit up she looked – relaxed and happy. Emmett couldn't remember the last time he had seen her like this.
"And who is this?" Emmett said, big brother instincts honing in on the teenage boy sitting next to his little sister.
"I'm Jacob. I'm a friend of Bella's from a while back – Charlie's friends with my Dad, Billy, so we knew each other as kids," Jacob did not bother getting up to introduce himself.
"You know Charlie?" Emmett said, deciding to give the kid a chance.
"Yeah, all my life."
"Alright. I'm Emmett, Loch's brother. This is Rosalie Hale." Emmett indicated Rosalie as they sat down near Nessie and Jacob.
"Loch?" Jacob asked, a little confused, but his face lighting up, intrigued.
"Don't you dare," Nessie warned Emmett, who grinned at her.
"Yeah, Loch's my name for her. Edward calls her Ness, Alice calls her Monster," Emmett grinned.
"So, when you put it together you get Loch Ness Monster," Jacob said, grinning back. Damn it but he was fast.
"I hate you both," Nessie said, glaring.
"Whatever – smoad," Emmett said, grinning even more widely – he looked like the Cheshire Cat.
"Smoad?" Jacob repeated.
"Oh god," Nessie said, burying her face in her hands.
"What's a smoad?" Jacob asked.
"A smoad is a figment of Nessie's imagination," Emmett said, all but rubbing his hands together in glee.
"It was a dream – I had no control!" Nessie's voice was muffled by her hands. Lifting her head, she looked at Jacob. "You know what a woad is right? Like the King Arthur film?"
"Yeah, sure, Celtic warriors that painted themselves blue before they went to war," Jacob said.
"Yep and you know what a smurf is. Well, a smoad is a cross between the two – badass muscular blue guys in loincloths, with spears, that are three apples high."
"You thought of that?" Jacob asked, trying not to laugh.
"Dreamt, I dreamt it," Nessie pointed out.
"You freak," Jacob laughed.
"Yeah, yeah," Nessie punched him on the arm before kicking Emmett in the shins.
For the first time since meeting James, Nessie forgot about him. Completely. He was not even lurking in the back of her mind as she talked with Jacob, totally at ease with the happy-go-lucky kid who made her laugh.
Green. Her eyes were green. And they twinkled like polished emeralds when she laughed. Jacob tried to keep her laughing that evening so he could see the reflection of the campfire flames dancing in those orbs.
Smoads are indeed a figment of my imagination. They came out when I was talking to mellowenglishgal in the back of my mum's car – we were coming back from London, it had been a long day AND I'M ME! Trust me; it is not the weirdest thing I could have thought of. Is one of the more interesting, though, check out another reference to them in mellowenglishgal's Harry Potter fiction ... We are trying to start a smoad community. It could be fun ... or just really weird. Anyway, anyone that wants to write about Smoads, join in!