As always I want to thank everyone who has followed this story since my last update! It means the world to me that you all have enjoyed this story enough to follow along. Thank you to those who left a review last chapter, I am always beyond excited to read everyone's input.
I'm super excited about this chapter because this the first time that Jacob and Maya have the opportunity to get to know each other more, I'm sure you've all been waiting for that too. I really hope you all enjoy it!
"Dude, let's just show up at Tate's house!" Embry as usual was more excited than he needed to be and grabbed Jacob by the shirt to shake him playfully.
"No," Jacob pulled away from his overly ambitious friend with whom he decided to confide in more since he last saw Maya a few days ago. Naturally, Embry was waiting for this moment so he could push and pull Jacob and Maya together. The meddling fool. Jacob always remembered Maya's words in his head, that she would see him around, and here he was practically going insane because how the hell else would he see her unless he found ways to see her? But just showing up at their house, how could that be a good idea? "Tate and I don't even hang out on a regular basis, how the hell do you expect him to not be suspicious?" Jacob folded his arms across his chest, hoping Embry would just drop it.
"Pfft. I hang out with him a decent amount and you hang out with me more now that Bella isn't in the picture. It makes sense! Tate isn't that bright!" Embry laughed at his own playful stab at Tate's intelligence.
Jacob rolled his eyes at Embry, who was talking far too loud for Jacob's liking. "Yeah, you aren't that bright either, idiot." Not for a moment was he convinced that Embry's plan was foolproof. If not Tate, then Maya would undoubtedly find it absolutely odd for them to show up out of nowhere.
It was foolish for Jacob to think it was just that easy to change Embry's mind, Embry was too invested to leave it alone. Even though Jacob almost regretted confiding in Embry as soon as he did, there was also that part of him that didn't want to admit that he was glad Embry was willing to push when Jacob felt too afraid to.
"Takes one to know one, idiot." Embry mocked Jacob before shoving him. He knew that Jacob thought he was a complete fool, but in reality, Embry knew how to get more out of Jacob than anyone else in the pack. "Well, I'm going and I don't care if you come or not. Hey, maybe Maya will start to like me if I spend enough time with her." Embry walked off with a smirk on his face.
Jacob rose from the couch instantly, grabbing Embry's shirt aggressively by the shoulder, pulling him back so that he could walk past him. "She's fucking mine." Jacob practically growled at Embry who still wore a stupid smirk on his face, completely pleased with himself, before opening the front door. Embry chuckled under his breath as he jogged to catch up to Jacob who was already standing impatiently by the car.
By the time Embry pulled into Tate and Maya's driveway Jacob's stomach began to turn, it felt like it had been too long since he had last seen Maya. Her eyes were always in his mind and he longed to see her every moment of every day, but the thought of dumbass Tate always followed. Tate had absolutely no idea that Jacob had imprinted on Maya, showing up here unannounced seemed to Jacob like a dead giveaway.
When Tate first told the pack that Maya would be moving here, he made it very clear that he didn't want Maya involved, that she didn't know anything about them and that she wouldn't ever know anything because Tate would absolutely not allow it. At the time, Jacob didn't even think twice about Maya when he heard about her because all he ever thought about back then was Bella. It was never a thought that Maya would ever be anything more than just Tate's little sister. Hell, he didn't even consider that they might actually interact even once, most definitely it was never a thought that Jacob might be the one to ruin everything Tate wanted for his sister. Jacob could not have been more certain that he was one of the last people that Tate would have ever wanted his sister with.
"Come on," Embry shook him out of his train of thought when he opened Jacob's door. "Get out of the car."
Now that Jacob was back in reality after being so lost in his head he started to believe his thoughts, that it probably wasn't best to go against Tate's wishes. "Let's go back."
"Don't be such a fucking wimp!" Embry couldn't believe this was coming from the pack leader. The alpha of a wolf pack was going to let some silly human fears stop him? Embry grabbed Jacob's arm, pulling him from the car, finding his objections absolutely ridiculous.
Jacob fought back, refusing to let Embry physically remove him from the car like a child. "I can't!" Jacob slapped harshly at Embry's arm.
Embry winced, instantly letting go after the quick sting that came from Jacob's slap to his arm. "What the fuck, man! Are you scared or something?" Embry shouted at Jacob, before giving him a swift slap back. Jacob let out a yelp in response.
"Of course I'm scared, don't hit me anymore you little shit!" Jacob rubbed at his arm and Embry scoffed.
"I've never known you, Jacob Black, to be scared of anything. This is your imprint, I would do anything to be with my imprint. To find my imprint." Embry pulled at him again, with all his strength this time. Jacob continued to fight but Embry had no plan on giving up until Jacob was face to face with Maya.
"Tate doesn't want Maya to know about us. This - me and Maya - It's destined to fail before it even starts." Jacob struggled to say as he continued to fight Embry pushing him toward the door.
Embry never stopped pushing Jacob with all his strength, actually surprised at the fact that he was able to even get this far without Jacob overpowering him. "I don't want to hear it. Tate doesn't get to decide your life or Maya's." As soon as they got close enough to the door Embry quickly rang the doorbell, only letting go of Jacob for a split second before putting all his strength back into keeping Jacob there at the front door with him.
"Let me go, let me go." Jacob said quickly and quietly, still trying to pull away from Embry. Embry was fed up with his dramatic bullshit and gave him a sharp punch in the stomach, Jacob instantly hunched over and groaned loudly before aggressively grabbing Embry by the neck.
Embry gagged as Jacob's grip around his neck tightened. "Stop it, man!" He was just barely able to choke out before Jacob let go and quickly straightened up at the sound of the door being opened. Embry cradled his neck and fought back his childish whimper that was fighting to come out. But Jacob's shoulders dropped in disappointment when the door opened. It was Tate, looking at them in confusion, slowly opening the screen door.
"What are you guys doing here?" Naturally, he sounded suspicious, as he often did when Jacob was around. There was always that protective part of him that thought back to when Maya showed an instant interest in Jacob. Tate didn't want Maya interested in Jacob or in anyone in the pack. If he could take it one step further he would just forbid any existing male on this planet to even look at her.
Embry nonchalantly pushed past Tate without a second thought, speaking as he walked into the house. "We just wanted to hang out." Tate scowled at him. "Jake only ever hangs out with me now that he can't bother that leech lover, Bella. He could use more time with other friends, you know?" Jacob rolled his eyes at the mention of her name.
"Sure, yeah, whatever. Come in." Tate gestured for Jake to come in even though he could do without either of them showing up unannounced, the least he could do was show Jacob a little sympathy.
"Thanks, man," Jacob gave Tate a quick handshake as he walked in hesitantly. "Embry just loves to embarrass me, obviously."
"What else is new? Embry is probably the most annoying person I know." Tate chuckled, Jacob laughed along with him, trying desperately to relax and act like the Jacob that Tate knew and not some sort of imposter. At least Jacob wasn't the only one who had a strangely hard to quit love/hate relationship with Embry.
"Hey!" Embry shouted as he dropped onto the sofa.
"You know it's true." Jacob said in response, giving Embry a playful shove before sitting down beside him.
"So," Tate said as he sat down on the recliner off to the side of the couch. "You and Bella are definitely not a thing anymore, huh?" He asked awkwardly, not wanting to bring it up, but also completely curious after usually seeing Jacob go back to Bella time after time over the years.
Tate never was that close with Jacob, there wasn't a specific reason for it. Just the cards they had been dealt. He saw Jacob as a brother because of the pack that he was unofficially a part of, but outside of that, it wouldn't have been his first choice to spend time with Jacob one on one.
"Uh, yeah. She hasn't really contacted me. So..." Jacob said in a bored tone, not really interested in talking about Bella. He hadn't thought about her pretty much at all since he imprinted. Not unless someone brought her up and why would they anyway? Hadn't they all hoped for far too long that he would drop her anyway? He figured they would have shut their mouths about her by this point. Yet, he was still hearing her name more often than was really necessary.
"Wait, do you want her to contact you?" Tate asked in a slightly accusing tone.
God, here it goes again. No, he really didn't give a damn if she tried to contact him now, for reasons that needed to stay unknown to Tate. But this was an opportunity for brownie points and Jacob was not too proud to take advantage of the moment, if he wanted their friendship and trust to get anywhere, now was his chance. Otherwise, he may never have a chance with Maya. "Not anymore. There definitely was a part of me that hoped she would fight for me. Even though I did want whatever we had to be over, there was that small hope that she might finally choose me if she knew she was losing me. It was a silly thought at the time that I know now was a pointless thing to carry in the back of my mind."
Tate nodded, imagining how that whole situation must have been pretty devastating for Jacob. "You know, I always sort of wondered if Bella was your imprint."
"I obviously wondered and hoped the same thing for a long fucking time. But imprinting is one of the most defining moments of our lives, you can't mistake it when it happens. It's the craziest and most amazing feeling in the world to-"
"I think we can all guess what it's really like to imprint. Obviously, Bella wasn't it." Embry quickly cut Jacob off, who wasn't being nearly as careful with his words as he should be. Jacob mentally scolded himself, looking to Tate, wondering if he realized anything. But he didn't, he sat back comfortably in his recliner not even taking a moment to look at Jacob.
"On the bright side, you dodged a bullet." Tate said laughing. Jacob and Embry joined in on the laughter because Tate wasn't wrong.
"I don't doubt that for a moment." Jacob continued to laugh as he spoke.
"Where's Maya at?" Embry asked Tate nonchalantly, trying not to sound too interested. Not only were they trying to hide the fact that Jacob had imprinted, but he also didn't need Tate wondering if Embry was interested in Maya either. What a tangled fucking web this was. God, Jacob wished it could be just as easy as it was for Sam and Emily or Paul and Rachel.
"She went to grab some stuff at the store. She'll probably be back soon." Tate responded, still completely unaware of the underlying motives here.
"How is she doing after everything? I know Jake said he saw you guys a few days ago, that she seemed well." Embry was genuinely curious about how Maya was doing since then. Like Jacob, he tried to give Maya space, unsure of how she felt in the situation. He realized now, that probably wasn't the best choice as a friend.
"She's doing a lot better, I was worried she wouldn't get to this point. If it weren't for Jake being there to stop Logan, it could have been a lot worse. I don't want to fucking think about that though. I'm just happy that she's decided to stay in La Push." Jacob raised his eyebrows in excitement as he listened to Tate speak but quickly relaxed them before he could notice. His last words were music to Jacob's ears, the last thing he needed to do was come up with an elaborate plan to somehow convince Maya to stay, luckily she had already decided. For how long, Jacob hadn't a clue, but he would cross that bridge if the time came. For now, he would bask in the utter joy he felt just knowing Maya wasn't leaving.
"That's fucking fantastic news for all of us. I know that like - you, uh…" Embry felt awkward tension fall over himself, his sentence trailed off.
"That I what?" Tate encouraged him to finish.
"That you aren't technically part of the pack. Yet," Embry threw in the last word for good measure and looked down as he continued. "I don't mean to bring that up, it's just - we are all here to protect her too. Don't feel like you're alone in this."
Tate nodded and looked down as well. The pack knew this was a touchy subject for him, they all were anxiously awaiting his transition, but now they were all basically just as doubtful as Tate was. They all had started transitioning when they were teenagers, but that was several years ago. Tate was already a few years older than most of the pack, which made it that much worse. This was the first time someone hadn't transitioned when it was their birthright. As much as they all tried to be positive and patiently wait for when Tate would join them, they all really wondered if he would before their generation of shifters could retire from phasing.
Jacob's eyes shot to the door as he heard the door handle fiddled with. He gulped loudly and felt his stomach turn again. Jacob tried to take a deep breath and remind himself of his confident self before Maya walked through the door. Her eyes ever so slightly shot open in surprise as soon she saw Jacob and Embry sitting there with Tate, two people she was not expecting to be at her home when she got back at all.
"Oh, hey," Maya gave both of them a smile, seemingly back to her normal self. Jacob swooned. He missed that genuine smile. He had missed that perfectly stunning face, seeing it in his mind didn't even compare in the slightest to seeing her in person. Jacob swore she was more beautiful each time he saw her and at that, he tried not to stare too hard. Instead, Jacob smiled back, giving a little wave. "What are you guys doing here?" She asked as she began to put down the grocery bags to start unloading them. Jacob quickly shot up to his feet, rushing over to help her. Tate followed his lead, smacking Embry in the back of the head as he did, a silent signal for him to get up and help as well.
"We were just bored honestly," Jacob said nervously as he fumbled with the bags filled with groceries. "Let me help." Jacob blindly tried to figure out where everything in his hands belonged. Maya laughed as Tate grabbed from Jacob's hands, putting the groceries where they were meant to go.
Grabbing a can from a bag, Maya walked over to the cupboard to put them away. She got up on her toes reaching up with every last inch she could muster trying to reach the top shelf, she had always been the type of person who tried to accomplish what she couldn't. Suddenly Maya felt a presence towering over her, their bodies nearly touching, feeling that familiar heat radiating off his body, she knew it was Jacob. Immediately her heart began to race and her ears went hot with nervousness. When she felt his fingers touch hers, goosebumps shot up her spine. Those strong, deliciously warm fingers overtook her entire hand and for a moment Maya panicked, ready to turn to him and ask him what the hell he was doing. But before she could make a fool of herself in doing so, Jacob took the can from her hand and put it at the top of the shelf, that she had no chance of reaching, with ease. Looking down at her, Jacob gave her that grin that she hated to admit she loved. He wished he could tell her how fucking adorable she was, how her determination to reach up to that shelf made him want to scoop her up and never let go.
She allowed herself to smile slightly back at Jacob, avoiding anything more as she walked off to grab more to put away. God, how he made her so damn nervous. "You know you could help, Embry." Maya said sarcastically, rolling her eyes at him.
"Nah, three's a crowd." He settled more into the couch as he watched Tate, Jacob and Maya put away the last few things.
"Was the slap to the back of your head not obvious enough?" Tate said in an annoyed tone before putting away the last thing he held and joined Embry on the couch.
"I thought you just wanted to touch me," Embry wiggled his eyebrows up and down at Tate. Tate pretended to gag. "Let's play, man." Embry said, gesturing to the game console under the TV, looking for some way to distract Tate so Jacob could have an excuse to talk to Maya. Tate, of course, happily agreed. Always looking for an excuse to game.
Maya let out a groan. "Really? You're here for that?" Maya whined, never one to enjoy videogames all that much, at least not the ones Tate loved. "You know I don't want to sit around watching a bunch of grown men bitch at the TV when the game doesn't go their way."
Embry stifled a laugh, feeling like a genius of sorts, utterly thrilled that Maya was so against watching them play as another idea popped into his head. "Why don't you and Jake go for a walk or something, isn't there a trail nearby?"
Maya glanced over to Jacob with a little smirk that drove him wild. "Do you want to?" She asked him in an unsure tone and now Jacob was the one who had to stifle his laughter. Of course he wanted to, quite frankly he could kiss Embry at this point for being such a willing wingman.
"You just got back!" Tate shot back.
"So? Maybe I've decided to take up trail walking." Maya gave her brother what he would call a smartass look, heading toward the front door without hesitation, fully anticipating Jacob to follow along.
Instead, Jacob stood there torn between wanting to walk with Maya and staying here so that Tate wouldn't be upset or worse yet, suspicious. But as he took that moment to think, Jacob was reminded of how shy and not like himself he was acting around Tate and wondered if that would have been even more suspicious than just walking with Maya in the first place. The worst Tate could say was no, so he decided to try his luck.
"Would you mind if I walked with her?" Jacob asked Tate, assuming he would say no.
"I don't see why you would need to."
Maya scoffed at Tate's response. "I don't see why you think you have any say in what Jacob does." Uninterested in hearing her brother out any longer, Maya looked at Jacob with a coy smile. "Come on, join me." Jacob, eager but scared out of his mind, looked to Tate who just rolled his eyes and gestured for him to go. Which Jacob more than happily obliged to and followed Maya out of the door before Tate could change his mind.
Jacob felt a ridiculously strong magnetic pull between himself and Maya as they walked side by side. Even though they weren't more than a foot apart, he desperately wished she was close enough to touch. He often felt guilty after thinking that way. Would it offend her or upset her if she knew just how much he wanted to touch her?
It was almost funny to see how imprinting had affected him. How worried he always felt about Maya's thoughts or ideas of him. He'd always had confidence to spare, the old him would have flat out told her he was into her, the same way he had always been so willing to tell Bella. His head hurt with how much he was overthinking everything, trying to be careful, aware of every little action and how it might be perceived. He wanted to do everything in his power to make Maya happy, to have her in his life, but he never wanted to force that. Hell, he needed to somehow convince Tate first and foremost.
Maya could very clearly tell Jacob was lost in thought as they walked silently, she hesitantly decided to break the silence between them. Needless to say, Jacob and Maya were equally nervous as they walked together in silence. "A lot on your mind?" She asked, sending a comforting smile Jacob's way.
"Uh," He smiled back, instant butterflies in his stomach when her green eyes met his own. "Yeah, I guess so. Sorry." He scratched the back of his head in embarrassment.
"What are you thinking about?" She asked curiously, genuinely interested in studying the mind that belonged to Jacob Black.
Jacob blushed. "Always thinking about life, what's next, and how to achieve it." He gave a vague answer. Being vague and bending the truth was something the whole pack had become quite good at, not the best habit, but often necessary under the circumstances.
"Yeah, I know what you mean." Maya said looking down at her feet, her white converse covered with more dirt each day that she walked the trail, biting her lip, Maya tried not to smile at the joy it brought her to have a friend walk with her. She continually pushed thoughts from her mind as her curiosities about Jacob often popped up the same way they did after she had first met him. Bella. Maya said to herself harshly in her mind, remembering her suddenly. Over and over, repeating Bella to herself mentally, she tried to knock it into her head until it stuck so that she would stop feeling so nervous around Jacob. He was a friend. Just a friend.
"It's occurred to me that I don't really know you as well as I should." Jacob continued the small talk. Since imprinting all he could think about was Maya, he was infatuated and overcome by her beauty. But Maya, the person, was a complete mystery to him. The things she loved, the things she hated, what she did for fun, what she believed in, what she wanted for her life. All of that was completely unknown to Jacob and he wanted to know it all.
"I don't think there's all that much to know." Maya laughed, giving a shrug.
"Oh, come on. I didn't even know Tate had a sister until he mentioned you were moving here. Safe to say there's definitely more to know." Jacob laughed as well. Maya looked up with a confused look on her face that made him feel instantly self-conscious. "What?"
"You and Tate are horrible friends!" She said, continuing to look up at him with playful shock in her eyes. Jacob let out his booming laugh, Maya's legs went weak in response. Even to this day she wished that she could keep making him laugh like that, she never got tired of the sound.
"I mean, honestly, you're not wrong. We never clicked all that much, but my relationship with most of my friends became strained the last few years anyway." Jacob said almost solemnly. Maya could only guess it was because of Bella, she had already seen the way he treated people, including herself, a few times when it came to Bella. Part of her wanted to ask about Bella, but the idea of bringing her up ultimately seemed less than appealing.
"That happens. I don't blame you anyway, Tate is super annoying." She laughed, Jacob joined in.
Laughing with her and talking to her like this felt like a dream that Jacob never wanted to wake up from. Maya was perfect, every little thing she said was perfect and she didn't even know it. "So, what's next for Maya?" Jacob gave her a grin that she couldn't help but reciprocate.
"I don't necessarily know exactly what's next. It's funny because I really wanted to leave La Push and go back after what happened with Logan." Jacob felt his blood boil at the mere sound of Logan's name coming out of her mouth. "But oddly enough I think it's this trail that made me want to stay. Maybe it's because I've never had somewhere like this, my own place, that's just for me. Where I lived, I never had such a beautiful place like this. I didn't even realize until I came here what I was missing out on. I don't know why, but I felt like it was right for me to stay here. Is that stupid? That a trail helped me decide?" She laughed at herself, caving in with embarrassment after sharing something she now found so silly with Jacob.
Jacob looked over at his imprint, suddenly eager to try something different, to hint at whatever he could. "I really wanted you to stay Maya."
God, the way he said her name drove her insane. It was as if she'd never heard another person say her name before. "You wanted me to stay?" She asked, slightly taken back by his response.
"That's not a bad thing, is it?" Unsure of himself almost as soon as he put himself out there.
"I wouldn't be too pleased if you said you didn't want me here if that's what you're asking." She laughed at her own silly line. "It's just that - I never really thought I was much more than just another random person to you." She shrugged her shoulders.
Jacob felt his heart constrict, not in a way that he enjoyed, in a way that made him feel like a complete dick. It didn't take a genius to see why she thought that. Although he didn't imprint the night they had met, he knew now that something about Maya captivated him and drew him in with just her presence. When the two of them caught eyes from across the room, Maya never took her eyes off him, and for a moment he almost forgot about Bella, something that very rarely happened to Jacob at the time. So he pushed away from the part of himself that wanted to get to know Maya, which betrayed his loyalty to Bella. Maybe that's why that day at the diner he took things too far because he found an opportunity to push Maya away more than he had been able to before.
Because at the time he wasn't looking to gain anything from Maya, he didn't need another friend. He didn't need any distractions. All he could tell himself was that Bella was the one for him. Things could have been so different if he would have just let himself forget about Bella sooner. Logan wouldn't have ever hurt Maya. God, but part of him was glad that Logan came into the picture and he hated to admit it. If he didn't feel that jealousy growing inside of him after Logan left the party with Maya then he never would have imprinted. Without Logan then Jacob would have never realized that Maya was there in the back of his mind all along. Every horrible thing that happened, every last thing that Jacob wished he could remove from Maya's memory was essential to his imprinting.
"I want to apologize for making you feel like I didn't see you as a friend. I don't know why the hell I acted that way, it was wrong." He knew exactly why he acted that way, he just didn't want to bring up Bella ever again. Not to Maya, not to anyone. Bella wasn't a part of him anymore, not even a fond memory to look back on. He would rather just erase her entirely.
"Don't worry about it, Jacob." She brushed it off and smiled.
"Call me Jake, Jacob is so formal." He chuckled, never caring for people to call him Jacob.
"Hm, I'll think about it." She laughed. "So, I'm assuming you grew up here?" The conversation was getting a bit too heavy for her liking, but she still had the urge to learn more. Maya had never been able to hold a conversation this long with Jacob and part of her wanted to keep him talking for as long as she could.
Jacob nodded. "Been here my whole life. I know It's such a small town and most people would be dying to get out, but I don't think I could ever leave." He didn't necessarily say that with fondness as much as it was his duty to stay.
"Have you ever wanted to leave?" Maya asked curiously, wondering if she could ever see herself stuck in such a small town as this for the rest of her life. Although she could see herself staying now, it didn't necessarily feel like her forever home.
"There has been a shitload of times I've thought about leaving. It can be ridiculously overwhelming living here," He paused for a moment, reminding himself that there were very obvious things he couldn't share with Maya. "It's always the same people watching you year after year, expecting you to succeed. Judging you when you don't. Sometimes I hate the pressure."
"I'm not sure you can avoid that pressure anywhere, I felt the same coming from a big city. Everyone around me was progressing in life and I was just sort of stuck."
"Do you feel stuck here?" Jacob asked timidly, almost afraid of her answer.
"Not yet." Jacob's head dropped slightly, even though it wasn't a flat out no, he still wasn't loving that answer. If only there was some way he could make sure she didn't ever feel stuck in La Push.
Although Jacob wasn't sure if this would be too much of a touchy subject, he felt inclined to ask anyway. "Do you know what made your mom leave? Did she feel stuck?" Tate made it quite clear that his mom wasn't someone he was willing to talk about. There was obviously gossip in such a small town, but sometimes the whole pack wished Tate would've phased already so they could hear his thoughts about the situation.
Maya's face scrunched up in a matter that spoke for itself, she didn't necessarily enjoy talking about this just as much as Tate. But Jacob was harmless, she told herself. "Maybe, I don't know for sure. I didn't get to talk to her much about that sort of stuff, she died when I was only 10. But I do know that she left Teancum for my dad." Maya felt awkward every time she had to talk about it. She wished she didn't always carry the guilt of her mother, but she did. How she could have done that to her family was always a little too difficult for Maya to swallow.
"You know, my mom passed away when I was around that age too." Jacob instead focused on their similarities, hoping it would bring them closer.
"I'm so sorry, I didn't know." Maya said, wishing she hadn't brought up anything that might have triggered him.
Jacob let out a chuckle and grinned at her. "No need to apologize, it was a long time ago. Don't tell me you haven't had to say that more times than you can count." Maya let out a laugh in response, which caused Jacob's grin to grow into a full-blown smile. He took a mental picture of her for good measure.
Maya was beginning to have the complete opposite reaction to Jacob in regard to the similarities they were finding in each other. In fact, she almost hated what they had in common because it drew her in more which was the opposite of what she was trying to do. All she wanted was to be neutral with Jacob, nothing more. But he was making it so damn difficult for her.
Even still it was nice to find someone who knew exactly how she felt. Maya peeked over at Jacob, who walked with a curve on his full lips, chin high and proud in the sky giving her a better view of his strong neck. He truly was godlike. Maya looked down, not wanting to stare long enough for him to catch her. At first glance, he seemed so intense, almost intimidating. Underneath it all though there was a gentle guy who cared more than he wanted to admit, she could see it so clearly now. For a moment Maya began to wonder what their purpose together was, there was this constant feeling of being drawn to him. She had felt that flame of desire for something more than just a friend as soon as she laid eyes on him. Of course, she learned very quickly that Jacob was unavailable. Maybe he really was just meant to be a friend. A best friend, even like a brother perhaps. Her face twisted up in dislike thinking of Jacob as a brother to her.
"You alright?" Jacob let out a chuckle, seeing her make that face. She blushed slightly, not realizing she was so deep in thought.
"Sorry, ignore that." She laughed. "You know, I'm really glad we're friends Jake." She smiled up at him brightly.
He couldn't help but smile back at that beautiful face that he wished belonged to him, his heart began to race slightly, hearing her call him Jake for the first time made him excited that she felt comfortable enough to do so. But his heart sunk ever so slightly when her sentence rang back in his mind. Friends. He hated that word. Despised it in fact. He wanted to be more than friends. He tried not to frown like an immature fool.
Instead, he told himself that he would be the best friend Maya could ever ask for. If that's what she needed, that's exactly what he would be for her. Whatever kept her by his side just like this.
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