FAGE… The 13th.
Title: Picking Up the Pieces
Written for: Jadiona
Written By: NCChris
Rating: M
Summary/Prompt used: Post-Twilight/New Moon AU - Jake/Bella/Paul MMF tragic romance; I do my own beta'g and banner making, so any errors or lame banners are all mine. I do not own Twilight or any of the characters, nor do I make any money from writing this story. Twilight belongs to Stephanie Meyer; I'm just playing in her sandbox. This is not an overly lemony fic, but there are a few scenes. Please do not read if you are under 16. Thanks!
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Chapter 5 – The Lake House
Disclaimer: Twilight and all its characters belong to Stephanie Meyer. This is a work of fiction based on her world and characters. I don't own any of it, except my plot bunny. This isn't an overly lemony fanfic, but there are some adult scenes. Please don't read this story unless you are old enough; 18+ would be best. I hope you enjoy this short story!
Paul sat on one end of the elderly sofa while Jake sat on the other. Both men stared straight ahead, arms crossed, defiant expressions on their handsome faces. Bella was in the kitchen talking to Charlie – again. Chief Swan was understandably worried about the plan for the three of them to work out their differences at the old Clearwater cabin. It helped that they'd let Charlie in on the pack secrets, but that only earned them so much leeway where his baby girl was concerned.
Jake listened to the soothing rise and fall of Bella's voice while she talked Charlie down again. He'd called 3 times since they'd left that morning and from the sound of it, they could expect at least one more call before he left for his shift at the station.
Paul stood and announced to no-one in particular that he was getting some firewood and starting a fire. It would be too cold in the cabin for Bella overnight unless they got a fire going soon. Jake ignored him, as usual, and Bella used the task as an excuse to get off the phone with Charlie, so, of course, Jake had to go with them, too, because his wolf couldn't stand the thought of Paul getting more Bella time.
Bella rolled her eyes and laughed a little when Paul caught her and whispered in her ear that he'd seen that. Jake clenched his fists in irritation as they continued trudging toward the old lean-to in the back of the house to retrieve wood. At least Bella seemed to be more confident since they'd imprinted. She never wore the glasses around them anymore, only when she was out in public. Jake and Paul both agreed on one thing at least, no matter what she thought, they knew she was the most beautiful woman they'd ever seen.
The tension was a little lower as night fell. Paul had made a roaring fire in the massive stone fireplace & Jake had cooked dinner for all of them. After dinner, Bella had made herself comfortable on the old sofa, laying her head in Paul's lap and her feet in Jake's while they put a DVD in the player.
Bella couldn't remember the last time she'd felt so relaxed while Paul ran his fingers through her hair and Jake rubbed her feet. Now, if she could just get the two of them to relax with each other, maybe they could figure out how to make this work better. She dozed off still thinking about how to accomplish that goal and woke to Jake carrying her to the bedroom while Paul made up the bed for her.
Paul had finally conceded to Jake on the topic of carrying their girl to bed after the movie ended, but he wasn't altogether happy about the concession. Jake reluctantly laid her in bed as she sleepily told them both goodnight and rolled over to sleep again. Paul smiled down at her a little and murmured that she might not want to sleep in her jeans and sneakers. She grunted at him, but rolled to her back so he could remove her shoes before she shimmied out of her jeans. He kissed her forehead and tucked her in while Jake got her medications for her. She was asleep before they turned out the bedroom light and made their way back to the living room.
The two men eyed each other as they tried to figure out how to fit on the small thin pullout sofa. Paul finally declared that he wasn't sleeping on that ragged old thing with Jake, who shrugged and tossed a pillow at him before making himself comfortable on the old thin mattress. Paul grumbled, but finally piled some spare blankets and pillows on the floor in front of the fireplace and flopped down with a low growl. Jake soon started snoring, but Paul tossed and turned.
It was agonizing to be so close to Bella, but so far away. On Paul's scheduled nights with Bella, they usually slept in his bed, just slept, and Paul had never thought he would enjoy it as much as he did. Apparently, Jake and Bella didn't do the same, because Jake seemed to have no issue with sleeping on a crappy sofa bed while their girl slept in a king size bed in the next room.
It was a long night, but Paul finally dozed off counting Bella's heartbeats while Jake snored.
Jake sat on the back steps whittling while Bella and Paul rocked in the hammock. Paul was reading Wuthering Heights to her aloud. Jake listened along and had to admit that he had a nice voice, low and smooth. He read well and Jake realized that he'd never really bothered to get to know much about Paul. He'd been surprised when they'd talked about what they wanted to do with their lives at dinner the night before and Paul had mentioned going to college. He was a couple years older than Bella and Jake, so he'd been working as a bartender at a dive bar between Forks and Port Angeles to save up enough to pay for his tuition at the community college. He'd lost his baseball scholarship when he'd phased and dropped out of high school. Even though he'd gotten his GED a couple months later, pack obligations kept him from pursuing anything further. He dreamed of working as a forestry officer, but there were no online programs and since none of them could leave the rez, he wasn't sure what he wanted to study anymore.
Jake had been a little ashamed when Paul had opened up to them about his past and his dreams. Jake had always just thought of him as Nick Lahote's kid, a screw-up that got into too many fights, had some brushes with the law, and slept with everything on two legs that came his way. He'd believed the gossip and he knew better than that.
Bella, of course, had encouraged both of them. She and Paul made plans to look into some programs in Port Angeles when they got back to civilization. Bella was taking a year off to improve her braille skills, but wanted to go to college the next fall. Jake had felt like the odd man out until she'd pointed out that he was an awesome mechanic and maybe he should consider going to school with them. It hadn't occurred to him to actually go to school to get his mechanic's certificate, but now that she mentioned it, it sounded like a good idea. Even Paul had commented that his reputation as an honest mechanic was already well known, but a degree might help him with opening his own shop one day like he always talked about doing with Embry and Quil.
Jake thought about all of that while he whittled the scrap of wood into an origami-style swan. He thought better when his hands were busy. The three of them still weren't totally comfortable together, but they weren't actually hostile anymore either. It was progress.
Paul cooked supper while Bella napped. She'd been battling a migraine headache for the last couple days and he was worried about her. He handed Jake a beer when he came in. He looked a little concerned, too. She was their imprint. They should be able to help somehow, otherwise what was the point?
Jake leaned against the counter and filled Paul in. She was in a lot of pain and she didn't want to take the strong meds that knocked her out and miss out on time with them. Paul nodded; that sounded like the Bella he'd gotten to know over the last few days. The two men started discussing how they could keep her comfortable and finally decided that they would take dinner back to the bedroom and coax her to eat a little before taking the medication. Once she was comfortably resting, Paul and Jake would take turns reading. They'd found a stash of novels in the trunk at the foot of the bed and had been working their way through them anyway.
In agreement on their plan, Paul finished cooking supper while Jake went back to see if he could get Bella anything before supper.
Bella lay in the bedroom, trying to avoid moving too much and setting off the jackhammers in her head. Jake brushed his lips over her forehead as he came in to check on her and see if she needed anything. She started to tell him she was fine, but decided there was no point in lying. She felt awful and when he was with her, it felt a little better. Jake smiled a little when she admitted that she'd like him to sit with her, if he didn't mind.
Paul came in a half hour later with dinner and smirked a little to see both of them curled up in the bed sleeping. Bella had more color in her face than earlier, so maybe there was something to being physically close to your imprint. He set the food on the bedside table and stripped down to his boxers, climbing in on Bella's other side. She stirred a little in her sleep and that woke Jake up. Paul held Jake's gaze when he raised an eyebrow questioningly about the three of them in bed together. Paul shrugged a little as if to say it was all perfectly innocent and it was helping their girl. Jake relaxed and helped Bella sit up so they could all eat.
Bella couldn't remember the last time she'd slept so well. She was warm and her head had finally stopped hurting when the early morning birds woke her the next morning. She found herself sprawled half over Paul's body with Jake's arm tucked protectively around her waist and his leg thrown over hers to tangle with Paul's. It was like sleeping in a nice warm puppy pile. As she slowly woke up, she realized that she wasn't the only one who was happy with the arrangement. Both men were tucked close enough for her to feel exactly how happy they were and that's when Bella got anxious.
Jake mumbled in his sleep as he felt Bella grow nervous. He stroked her stomach comfortingly and mumbled that it was early and to go back to sleep. Apparently, Paul had gotten her signals through their bond, too, and had chosen that moment to throw his arm over both of them and pull them closer. Bella was surprised when a low zing of contentment flowed through her as all three of them touched.
Bella, her voice a low whisper, asked if they felt it, too, and Paul just nuzzled against her again and mumbled that it was the imprint. Jake kissed her shoulder and agreed. The imprint had been working to make them all more comfortable with each other since they'd gotten to the lakeside cabin. Sleeping together seemed to have cemented the bond.
Bella let her body relax since neither of the men seemed bothered and let herself slip back into a rejuvenating sleep.
