So, this is how the cookie crumbles.
The devil finally came for my dad's soul.
He deserved to go into the white light and have Jesus or God or whoever stands at the golden gates tell him to take his ass somewhere else.
Now that it's happened, I don't have to feel bad for leaving him anymore. I got ninety nine problems but my selfish dad isn't one.
I should be out celebrating but here I was in the bedroom, sitting upon Leah's bed. The show is starting in a few and I'd be down there in a minute but I just had to get away from my brother. He tried quilting me into going back to California for the funeral on Tuesday but it wasn't gonna work.
Even though I didn't care, I needed a moment to myself to let the news sink in.
My eyes are to their blue carpet and they stay there till the bedroom door creaks open. I don't have to look up and see it's Leah cus I can smell her.
She cautiously strides over to the bed and sinks into the mattress along side me, trying to find comforting words to say.
"I'd ask how you're doing but I can already guess." Her tender hand begins to caress my back muses. Carlisle must've told them. "Jacob, I'm sorry."
I shake my head. "Don't be. I fucking hated my father so I'm glad he's dead."
She feels me shaking so she brings her face to mine. "You don't mean that."
"I do actually. May he burn in hell."
Her eyes close. "Baby, come on-"
"No, I mean it, Leah!" I bounce off the bed and my body begins a pace. I don't feel my legs moving but they are. "He put my family through hell so fuck him!"
Her eyes open again.
"He put his hands on my mother! He slapped, kicked, bruised and tortured my mother; the woman who gave me life!" I growl viciously and pick up speed to burn off this energy somehow.
"But he's the man that gave you life, Jacob. He's your father. He may not have shown it but I'm pretty sure he loved you. At least you know who your father is," she tries to reason with me but all I hear is an annoying buzzing like of a fly's wings when they beat together in flight.
"I'll never forgive him. I'm not going to that funeral either. Fuck that."
"You think Sarah would've forgiven him?"
At her mention, my face muscles fight then lose the battle as the tears suddenly find a way to stream down my cheeks. I'm on my knees in front of her because I don't have the strength to stand. Like the good woman she is, she gets to my level and holds my face to hers.
I gaze into her hazel eyes and see my mother's brown ones.
"My m-m-mother would've liked you," I stutter.
"The feeling would've been mutual" she says and holds me tighter.
"I love you," I randomly tell her and return the grip. She pecks my face.
"I love you too."
That felt good to hear at a time such as this.
"If you won't go for his funeral at least go for his will. He might have left you something."
It hurts to sniffle. "Will you come with me?"
It's a lot to ask and I expect hesitation but I'm shocked when she says "of course," in the softest way possible.
My wet face rubs hers on its way over her shoulder as I hug her. "Thank you."
"No problem."
"Just don't let me do anything crazy."
Her lip gloss rubs around my ear when she whispers. "I promise."
"Sh-shouldn't you be on stage?"
"Carlisle canceled the show tonight. He wants us to be here for you."
That's sincere of him. "Oh. Well-" *sniffle* "-the funerals on Tuesday so we should be back just in time for the show on Thursday."
She nods in agreement. "We can stay for as long as you want."
My girlfriend holds me for a few more minutes till I decide to wash my face of tears. As she waits for me to get myself together, she changes out of her new costume and into black Spandex shorts and my t-shirt.
Teeth brushed and face washed, I leave the bathroom to find all seven of them waiting for me along with Edward, too.
They stare like there's something wrong with me. So I grin.
"I really am fine," I say to make their frowns disappear. Edward studies me the hardest but I put up a good poker face.
The rest of the night is spent watching Netflix, eating junk food and talking shit till all of them, except Lee-lee and I, fall asleep. We begin packing our bags for California tomorrow and I think she'd be more joyous about going back if it weren't under these circumstances. She keeps a smile on her face as motivation for me to do the same but it seems to keep slipping.
I wasn't sad about my dad's death. I was sad about how angry I still am at him.
Holding Leah's hand through the car ride to the airport, through the airport and through the plane ride was the only thing keeping me from breaking down. Not in tears but flipping tables over and such. Her soothing nature is what's getting me through a lot of these mixed emotions.
When Embry finally pulls up to the mansion, my basic reaction was to stare at how much bigger it seemed from a year ago. I ran away from this very house for a reason so how was I supposed to step inside without destroying it?
I eventually get out the car and her acrylic nails scratch my lower back comfortingly as my brother takes her luggage inside.
"What'r you thinking 'bout?" She wonders as she takes in the size of the front lawn.
I sigh. "Home sweet home."
Her tone arm loops around my waist. "It's beautiful."
"Thanks."
There's a few seconds of silence before she says anything else. The L.A sun's rays beat down on our backs, creating our two shadows in the grass.
"You wanna go inside?"
My head shakes by itself. "My dad died in this house." Embry told me the hospital but I didn't believe him for some reason.
"So did your hopes and dreams," she mumbles and before I say anything back, Quil-in all his tall, tan, and contagious goofiness- struts out the front door and gets me in a brotherly hug. It's difficult hiding a smile around this guy.
"Well, hello there, little brother," he sounds too cheery to have just had a death in the family. This was his norm and I don't realize how much I miss it till now.
"Haven't seen your ugly face around these parts for quite a while," he laughs at his statement but abruptly stops when catching sight of Leah and her shy stance.
"Oh. Oh damn. Who's this?" he slides pass me to be face to face with her. She blushes.
"Quil, this is my girlfriend, Leah. Leah, this is my second oldest brother, Quil."
He bows, wiggles his eyebrows at the word 'girlfriend,' and takes her hand. "Milady," he says in an English accent and bends forward to kiss her knuckles. "Nice to meet you."
"Likewise and um. . . I'm really sorry about your father."
Quil shrugs. "That's life," he replies and she's taken back by his nonchalance. "Come inside," he cheers and waves us in the front door's direction. Leah pushes me when his back is turned. I walk and a chill goes down my spine going through the threshold.
Everything was just about the same.
Shiny, buffed marble tiled floors, high walls painted a creamy cocoa like color, and a high ceiling with a diamond encrusted chandelier hanging halfway down the middle of the room. It was bigger than the girl's chandelier and that made Leah's eye widen and jaw drop. She did a three-sixty of just the opening hall with the talent of only blinking once.
She looks amazed by our spacious surroundings and classic decor. This was a huge difference from their bright and funky colored bedroom which I'm beginning to miss it already.
"Whoa Nelly," she comments, removing her copper Aviators from off her face.
The two of us stick out drastically in this environment My bros and I were usually required to dress like gentlemen at home so it feels good to feel loose here.
My dad would've liked her character but Leah's black, leather combat boots, high waist booty shorts, half top and wild woman hair would've set off many alarms in his head. She was lucky she'd never have to hear the criticism.
"Wanna see my room?" I ask her and grab her hand to lead her to the stairs, which were similar to the ones at The Coven.
"Oh, boy," she says. "It's probably twice the size as ours."
My room wasn't as big as their's but it had some width to it. We stop at the door at the end of the many hallways of the second story. She bounces in anticipation.
I open the door and expect to see all my belongings absent but I let out a gasp to the sight of my bed, dresser, and computer desk. Someone must've cleaned it up since my departure cus I remember I left with my bed unmade and dirty clothes on the floor.
She looks a bit displeased.
"What?" I open my curtains to let some light in but it makes my eyes burn.
"Not as Jacob-y as I thought it'd be," she takes a few more looks around and gets a hold of her luggage near my bed.
"Well, my parents were pretty strict people so there wasn't a lot of tolerance for creativity and individualism " I explain and fix the curtains till I'm satisfied. "But, I told you my brothers were sneaky."
She watches me as I stride over to my walk in closet. I pray it's still there.
A gleeful smile worms its way upon my face when I take a look at the huge Leah Larusso poster taped on the back of my door. She laughs and gets off my bed for a closer look.
"Wow, aren't you a rebel?" She says sarcastically.
"Embry got it for me. He and Quil have one too."
"I'm guessing you guys like Leah Larusso?"
"Just a lil'."
"She's so fucking hot."
I scoop her in my arms from behind and nibble on her ear. "You're hotter."
She holds me by my triceps. "Really?"
"Mhm..." I kiss her temple then move downward onto her neck where it smells woodsy but homey. "You are."
"So now that we're here, what'r we doing first?" She twists around in my arms to have us face to face.
"Each other," I whisper against her lips and guide her beautiful hips towards mine.
"Not even gonna give me a tour of the rest of the house?"
My lips stop at her collarbone. I give in. "But we're gonna tour this bed soon after."
"Aw, aren't you cute? The only thing you'll be touring is a bottle of lotion and that poster cus I'm on my period," she says matter of factly then shrugs. I roll my eyes; there goes my vibe.
"Fine. What'd you wanna see first?"
I show her the rest of my room, then my brothers', and I was hesitant about my parents'. We go in there anyway and I stare at their bed for a while. It's perfectly made.
She noticed my discomfort so we leave the room and head downstairs where she gasped in amazement about our kitchen, dining and living room, gym, movie theater, and indoor pool. It was nothing to me but she seemed so impressed. I bet The Queens could live here and it'd be just enough room.
Then, we venture to outside where her amazement doesn't cease to be at the space and land we had. Her jaw stayed dropped throughout passing the tennis and basketball court , onto the pool and three car garage.
I always enjoyed our pool. It was rectangular and was just big enough for my bros and I. I always took a dip when I needed to clear my head. One thing that I also liked was how our last name was engraved to the bottom of the pool, in eight or nine feet.
"Jakey!"
My head turns at the sound of the water splashing and the little girl's laughter as she jumps out the pool, redirecting my aunt Emily's-Mom's sister- attention from tanning.
Claire- my four year old cousin- excitedly comes towards me with arms open, her little feet resembling a horses gallop as they bounce across the concrete. I meet her halfway and he wraps her tiny arms securely around my neck and squeezes.
"How's my favorite cuzzo?" I ask of her when I have her positioned on my hip. She kisses my cheek, getting my face and sides wet now before flashing me a smile with a few teeth missing, then a thumbs up.
"I'm good," she says and kisses me again. "Who dat?" Her short and stubby fingers shoot in Leah's direction. I notice she's trying to make distance but I use my free arm to pull her towards us.
"This, my Claire-Bear, is my good friend, Leah."
I assume Claire is too young to know of a boyfriend and girlfriend relationship.
Lee waves at the tiny child sheepishly and Claire returns the gesture with a smile.
"Your face is pretty," she says after giving her a once over.
"Thanks," she can't hide her grin. "So is yours."
"Thank you," is the last thing she says before turning to Emily, who has appeared behind me. "Mommy, isn't she pretty?"
"Oh, she is," Emily agrees, giving her a once over as well. "Who's this?"
I grab her hand to bring her closer. "Em, this is Leah. She's a really, really good friend."
I emphasize so that she gets it.
"Oh. Well, hello, Leah. I'm Emily, Jacob's aunt."
"It's nice meeting you," she says politely and holds my hand tighter. She's staring quite hard at Emily to try and find traces of Sarah in her features. The only thing they both shared was dark and thick hair but that's it. Mom was always a bit taller and had my grandmother's feature while Emily had my grandfather's.
"Is Seth here?" I ask her and set Claire back to her feet. Seth is her son, my other cousin. We used to be like brothers when we were younger but since moving farther out, we stopped seeing each other as much. I haven't talked to him in a minute. I almost forgot they were staying here for the funeral as well.
"He went to pick up Sam from the airport with Embry. They should be back soon."
Sam was my least favorite uncle just cus he got along with my dad so much.
Claire jumps into the shallow end and splashes about, trying to get our attention. She grabs Emily's but I just squeeze Leah's hand and take steps towards the house now.
"Well, can you lemme know when Seth gets here?" I ask her and she nods and says "sure," before tending to her toddler.
"Who's Seth?" she asks as our feet make a shuffle across the grass and onto the back porch, into the nice shade.
"My cousin. We used to be close but I haven't seen him in while."
"Oh. Who's Sam?"
"His dad, my uncle."
"You have an uncle Sam?" she chuckles at the long running family joke.
"Yeah, we get that a lot."
"Your cousin, Claire, is a little cutie."
"Yeah, I love her to death." That wasn't really an appropriate term to use at a time such as this.
"Is Emily your aunt on your mom or dad's side?"
I slide open the back porch door and slam it shut behind me after stepping through. "Mom's. I think Embry said something about some of my dad's side visiting soon. Who knows? They're a wacky bunch."
Aw, but I love them.
"You seem closer to your mom's side," she notes, sitting on a stool at the marble island in the middle of kitchen.
I open the fridge and try to decide what to drink. "Wait till you see me with my dad's side."
Before responding, we're listening to the sound of keys entering the slot to the front door. It creaks open, making my ears hallow out in irritation.
"Where is everyone?" A soft yet masculine voice asks.
"They'll be here tomorrow," I hear Embry answer. I get two bottles of water and shut the fridge door.
I slide a bottle to her and open mine, awaiting my cousin's entrance cus if I knew him well enough, the kitchen was always his first stop in anyone's house.
Leah's posture automatically corrects when his tall and muscle=y-unusually muscle-y- frame comes through the arc entrance and I can see why she's suddenly all flustered.
Seth has grown a good three or four inches since I saw him last which was Claire's second birthday. I don't know what kinda growth spurt he went through but puberty did him justice. He was taller and larger but still had a lean figure to him. He had facial hair.
I almost don't recognize him.
"Aw, damn," he instantly flashes me a pearly white and perfect smile- three years of braces was well worth it- then comes in for a hug. "Damn, Jake. How ya been?" He pats my back once before releasing me and fuck; the kid's taller than me.
"I'm good," I say then gestures towards Leah. "Seth, that's Leah. Leah, that's Seth."
He hadn't even noticed her sitting till I introduced them. He blushes.
"Hi," he says shyly.
"Sup." She gives him a quick nod and he gets all fidgety.
"Where's your dad?" I ask to distract him from staring.
"He went out back. Got any grub? I'm freakin' starving."
He rounds the island to reach the fridge while rubbing his stomach. I take a seat beside Leah and she leans in to whisper lowly.
"Is hotness a hereditary thing in your family or is that just you, your brothers and your cousin?"
I smirk. "It is on my mom's side." I had some fairly good looking cousins, no incest intended.
"I can see that," she nods. "What is he? Nineteen, twenty?"
I didn't even know. "Seth, how old are you now?"
He mumbles over some food before swallowing. "Sixteen."
Her eyes widen. "You're only sixteen?"
"Yup," he slurps down some soda. "I turn seventeen this summer."
"Dayum," she grunts, making him turn red.
Well, it's awkward to have my girlfriend try to rob the cradle on my cousin, so I tell him I'll see him later and have us leave the room. He waves but Leah finds my jealousy hilarious. I didn't call it jealousy exactly; it was more creeping me out than making me jealous.
I never thought I'd have an actual, living, breathing, insanely hot girl in my bed at any point in time. Especially not cus she's my girlfriend but sure enough, she's here, talking me to sleep since I can't seem to get tired by myself. I wanted to hold her but Quil has told me about girls and being touched while on their period is equivalent to going into a lion's wearing a necklace made of meat.
So I stay on one side and she stays on hers, while our hands stay connected under the covers.
She blinks sleepily and stares at me while I switch my eyes from her to the ceiling and back. The moonlight creeping through the curtain makes her skin look like it's made of ivory.
"What's that look for?" she wonders and yawns.
"Both my parents are dead, and I'm not even twenty years old yet."
Seems ridiculous cus when I was younger, I visualized myself as a man in his twenties and thirties visiting home on the weekends with a meal made by Mom and a hearty conversation with Dad waiting for him.
I wish Em and Quil didn't hide their feelings like they do. I wanna know if they felt the same. In all honesty, I don't give a damn that my dad's gone. Its just the principle that both my parents are gone now is what trips me out. Eighteen years ago, it was the five of us. Now, just like that, it's not.
"I'm really proud of you for coming."
"Well, you convinced me. Without you, I probably wouldn't even thought twice about it."
She nods in understanding. "Did you mean it when you told me hated him?"
"A little." Images from that night flash back into my brain after months of trying to forget it.
Seeing my frail mother with her lip busted open, blood spurting and dripping disgustingly down her chin and neck made its way back into my mind. My dad had her in a corner and he was mercilessly kicking her while she tried to get up and flee. She screamed for her sons to save her and once we did, she was free.
I nearly bust my own face open trying to race down the hallway to their room and get to her quick enough. I remember his twisted and sick expression as he struck her once he had her to her feet again. She was crying so damn much. . .
It took me and Quil to pull him off of her, while Embry aided her and got her the hell out of there. He was furious when they left.
I swallow. "A lot, actually."
My judgement must've been off when I thought I could be just like my dad a two or so days ago.
I come to the harsh reality that that night would never stray from my memory. Especially when Quil and I finally calmed him down and he told us to not say a word to anyone. Quil, for once in his life, wasn't smiling and I found myself on the brink of horror by being tempted to taking one of the guns from his collection and shooting him right through his skull.
He was already suicidal, so why not?
A/N Ooh, I cannot fucking wait till you guys read what happens when Jacob and Leah get back! *twerks*
