SM owns Twilight. We just want to live in her world a bit longer.
A/N –Some bigger chapters coming up, and finally, I'm getting to some of the scenes I had imagined at the beginning of this story. So excited!
Chapter 11
Bella felt herself blush, and she quickly looked away from his gaze. She couldn't understand his mood swings. One minute he was cold and angry at her. The next, he was… what? Flirting with her?
Seth couldn't help himself. He burst out laughing.
Bella smiled, "sure; I think I can handle that." Both boys burst out laughing at that comment.
"Jake, I need some help with these handcuffs. Don't particularly want to lose my hands," Seth said, walking over to him. Jake pulled on the sides of one cuff and broke them apart, doing the same to the other one.
Jake walked over to Bella, "need some help?"
"Sure, thanks," she mumbled, chewing on her bottom lip. Jake grabbed her hand, and she felt flutters in her stomach. Gosh, she had missed his touch.
She stood there nervously as she waited for the boys to phase. When she felt the air shimmer around her, she knew it was safe to turn around. She had forgotten how truly magnificent they really were. While she was standing next to them, her head barely made it to the height of their shoulders.
Seth approached her first, with his head lowered. She reached up and stroked the top of his head. Then she scratched behind his ears, feeling almost a purr in his chest. His tongue lolled out the side of his mouth, and he quickly licked her from her chin to her temple.
"Ew!" she shrieked as she jumped back, wiping the saliva from her face. Seth laughed, or she heard what she thought was the equivalent of a wolf laughing.
"Do you want me to carry your shorts, or do you want to risk losing them again?" she asked, looking pointedly at Seth.
The boys picked up their shorts with their mouths and brought them to Bella. She packed them in her bag and slung it over her shoulders. "So, who am I riding?" she tried to say with a straight face.
Seth had been relieved when he phased that he could hear Jake and only Jake in his head. However, even after only a minute with him, he could see that he was more messed up than he was letting anyone see. He also knew that there was no way Jake would let him carry Bella, so he stepped out of the way.
Jake walked up to Bella, and she hesitated. She took a deep breath and stepped closer as she stretched out her hand, running her hand across the side of his muzzle. He closed his eyes. She continued tracing her hand down his neck to his shoulder. He shuddered subconsciously at her touch. "I had forgotten how soft your coat is," she murmured.
Jake lay down on his stomach so that he was closer to the ground. Seth could see that Jake was trying desperately to control his emotions and thoughts. But it was clear that he was enjoying the feeling of Bella brushing his coat.
She hesitantly grabbed a handful of his fur around his neck and lifted her leg to straddle his back. Then, when she was seated in place, she leant forward and held on around his neck. "Okay, I think I'm ready," she said.
They took off at a slow pace, to begin with, increasing as she got comfortable with it. When Edward would run with her, she had to hide her face in his shoulder to keep from feeling sick. However, when she was Jake, it felt natural. She lifted her head, closed her eyes, and smelt the clean, crisp forest air around her. After a few minutes, she laid her head between his shoulder blades and listened to the quiet thumping of his paws on the forest floor. It was strangely calming.
While they ran, she thought about how much better she felt. Even though Jake was angry, she knew her Jake was still in there. Her body felt at peace when she was near him.
Eventually, she started to get a bit stiff from holding on. It had probably been a few hours, and the sun was beginning to set. She lifted her body up and tried to stretch her neck and flex her legs without losing grip.
The wolves slowed down, obviously sensing her discomfort. They walked slower for a while, so she didn't have to hold on so tightly.
Up ahead, she spotted a small cabin, reminding her of the quaint house around La Push. However, this cabin was out in the middle of nowhere, with only a dirt track leading up to it. There were no cars parked outside and no lights on inside.
Bella had no idea how long it would take them to get back home. They were probably on a list for most wanted in Canada, so staying in a hotel or motel was out of the question. She also didn't like the idea of staying in the forest overnight. The boys might be comfortable as wolves, but she would get very cold very quickly.
"Hey," she called out. "Slow down. Head over towards the cabin."
They did as asked, and Jake lay down, so she could climb off. As much as she enjoyed 'riding Jake', she blushed at even just the thought; she was glad to be back on solid ground.
She took the bag off her back and pulled out the shorts. The boys took their pants in their teeth and walked off into the forest. She turned around and hesitantly walked towards the cabin.
"What are you thinking, Bella? Wanna add breaking and entering to your rap sheet?" Jake asked. At least he didn't say it harshly, she thought. Maybe sometime together, even as a wolf, had softened him a little.
"It smells like it's been vacant for a while," Seth commented as he joined them by the front porch.
Bella walked up to the door tentatively. She had never done something like this before, but they didn't have many other options. She reached up to the top of the door frame, hoping to find a key, but came up empty-handed.
"Fine, I'll break the door," Jake said, not sounding the least bit guilty.
"Wait!" she called out. She actually didn't want to add the "breaking" part to her criminal record.
She looked around and saw some small pot plants by the front window. She walked over to them and felt around under the foliage. Her face lit up as she pulled out a small plastic case. Then, shaking it, she could hear the sound she was hoping for. A key!
She opened the case, slid the key into the lock and turned it. To her relief, the door swung open.
Jake took over and walked inside first. She knew he wasn't trying to be rude; she guessed that his protective instincts were taking over. He walked quickly through the front room, a lounge, and out the back towards what she assumed was the bedroom.
It was a charming cabin, with a wood fireplace, an antique-looking TV and a tiny kitchen.
"I'm not sure about this," Seth said as he hesitated in the front door frame.
"Look, we are far enough away from the car that they shouldn't find us here. No normal person can run 400 miles in a couple of hours," Jake said casually as he came back into the room. "Plus, I haven't slept inside for a month." He sat down on the lounge and laid back, stretching his legs out in front of him and resting them on the coffee table, like he owned the place.
Seth rolled his eyes and mumbled under his breath, "and who's fault is that?" Clearly, the boys had been grating on each other's nerves while running as wolves for the past few hours.
Jake looked across and scowled at him. "And, I doubt, Bella wants to sleep in the woods." Before adding, "not that she doesn't deserve it."
The tension in the air immediately thickened, and Bella suddenly felt very awkward standing there between the couch and the door. Her stomach was in knots. She walked over towards the kitchen to hide her face.
"I'm going to see if there is any food," she said quietly. When she was at home, she would always use cooking to help her feel better. It calmed her nerves and gave her something to do. She also knew the boys were bound to be hungry.
She started opening and closing cupboards, hoping to find something tinned they could eat. But, unfortunately, the cabinets were pretty bare; there was only a few cooking essentials, some plates, cups, cutlery and, bingo, some tinned soup.
She pulled them out and set them on the bench. "I hope you like tomato soup, boys. Coz this is all we got."
"Sounds great, Bella. Thanks," Seth said as he walked over and sat down opposite the kitchen bench. Jake didn't comment. Bella's stomach was doing somersaults, and her heart continued to race. She was pretty sure at this point that this was going to be her regular heart rate from now on.
Bella found a suitable pot and opened the tins pouring the contents inside. When she turned to find the stove, she realized it was a wood-burning stove attached to the fireplace.
"Damn it," she exclaimed, wiping her hand across her face.
"What?" Seth asked.
"I need some wood to get the stove going," she replied, clearly upset.
Seth looked at Bella and could see she was holding back tears. It wasn't over the soup. He looked back to Jacob, who was ignoring them. "Hey Jake, would you mind seeing there is any wood cut up outside?"
"Sure, sure," he said as he got up off the couch.
They watched him as he headed out the door and shut it behind him. A minute later, they heard the sound of an axe chopping wood.
Seth moved around the bench towards Bella and pulled her into a bear hug. The tears she had been holding back spilled over and flowed down her cheeks.
"Hey," Seth whispered as she rubbed her back. "Are you okay?"
"Mhmm," she nodded. "I'm sorry. I promised myself I wasn't going to cry anymore." She laughed through the tears. "He's so angry with me… and I know I deserve it. I just…"
"I know. He's being a dick. I'm sorry." He sighed and pulled her back to look at her. "I spent three hours in his head this afternoon. He worked very hard to control his thoughts and emotions, but some still slipped out. It wasn't pretty."
Bella's breathing hitched as she struggled to breathe in.
"But," he continued, "he still loves you. He tries to hide it under his angry exterior, but it is still there."
He pulled her back in for a hug and kissed the top of her head.
They heard the front door open and immediately separated.
Bella kept her head down and headed straight for the bathroom, closing the door quietly behind her. She splashed her face with water and avoided looking at herself in the mirror.
After about five minutes, she had sufficient control over her emotions and emerged from the bathroom.
It looked like Jake and Seth were in the middle of a silent argument.
When Jake saw her come out of the bathroom, he turned around and continued stoking the fire.
Bella went quickly to the kitchen to pick up the pot with the soup in it.
"It should be hot enough now," Jake said.
"Thanks," she replied.
She stood to the right of the fire by the stove section and placed the pot on top. There was an agonizing wait as it slowly came to the boil. The saying a watched pot never boiled seemed accurate today, but she couldn't look away from it.
The fire was doing its best to heat the room, but it wasn't the wind, blowing off nearby snow tops, that was cooling the room down. Bella's body started to involuntarily shiver. She rubbed her arms to try and keep warm, even though she knew it was useless.
Finally, the soup was ready; she took the pot and served up two bowls of soup.
Seth scowled at her, "why is there only two?"
"I-I'm n-not hungry," she stuttered.
Seth went to a cupboard, retrieved a third bowl, pour half the soup from one bowl into the new bowl, handing it to her. Then, he took the other small bowl for himself.
"You need to eat, and it will help warm you up."
They all sat quietly around the table. The boys devoured their soup so fast that Bella was surprised they didn't just drink it straight from the bowl.
Bella just twirled her soup around in her bowl. Her stomach was too nervous to eat. Seth frowned at her. Jake just pretended that everything was fine.
Finally, Seth had had enough. "Jake, can we talk outside… to discuss setting up a perimeter?"
"Whatever," he grumbled as he roughly pushed his chair out and stormed out the door.
Seth glanced at Bella, "we'll be back shortly."
Seth took off out the door, following Jake into the nearby trees. When he was close enough, he pushed on the back of Jake's shoulders, causing him to stumble.
"What the hell is wrong with you?" he yelled at Jake.
Jake glared back at him, "what the hell is wrong with you? I saw you kiss her." He got to his feet and pushed Seth back.
"You're such a jerk." Seth was furious. "That girl in there loves you."
"Oh, I know. Just not enough," he said sarcastically.
"Seriously, Jake, you need to grow the fuck up. You're acting like a two-year-old."
Jake gritted his teeth. "I thought you were all 'Team Edward'. What are you doing here?"
Seth pointed back to the cabin, "she came to me, scared out of her fucking mind, freezing cold, shaking, and barely coherent. I don't know what happened between her and Edward, but she is here, with you, instead of being on her honeymoon."
Jake didn't respond.
"If you don't swallow your pride, get the hell back in there, and comfort her. I will… and it won't be the first time I sleep with her."
Jake's mouth popped open in shock. He was too stunned to notice as Seth pulled back his fist and punched him straight in the jaw with a satisfying crack.
"That was for making her cry," he shouted as he ran off to actually do a perimeter check.
Jacob stood outside the front door rubbing his jaw. He knew he was being a jerk, and he probably deserved that. Taking a deep breath, he opened the front, stepping into the room. He closed the door and leaned back on it, with his hands clenched in fists behind his back. He stood there watching Bella as she cleaned up in the kitchen.
It appeared that she hadn't even noticed him come back, either that or she was ignoring him.
"What ya doing?" He asked suddenly.
She dropped the glass she was holding onto the side of the sink, and it shattered all over the kitchen.
"Shit! You scared me," she said as she tried to pick up some of the pieces. Jake walked to her side quickly to help.
He grabbed her hand, "why don't you let me do it before you cut yourself and bleed all over the kitchen?" he said with a smirk.
He heard her heart flutter at his contact and dropped her hand just as fast.
She pulled away and leaned against the bench, standing still as she watched him pick up all the pieces.
He moved methodically over the floor, then the bench, picking up all the shards, before throwing the pieces in the bin. Then he grabbed a cloth and wiping it all down.
"So, why exactly are you washing glasses we never used?"
"Um… when I'm nervous, I like to clean," she quickly said before sucking in her bottom lip and chewing on it. "They were dusty."
"Uh-huh," he paused. Only Bella would break into a house and leave it cleaner.
"Why don't you wash and I dry?" He knew they needed to talk, and maybe being distracted by a mundane task was a good idea.
"S-sure."
Only the sound of dishes clinking and running water could be heard for five minutes.
"I'm sorry-"
"I'm sorry-"
They both said at the same time. They looked at each other and smiled before looking away.
"Please, let me go first," she insisted. Jake nodded.
"I am so sorry, Jake, for all of the pain I have put you through. Please know that that was never my intention." She stopped washing the plate she was holding and closed her eyes. She took three deep breaths before continuing in a whisper. "I chose wrong."
Jake felt an involuntary jolt of hope being shot into his veins. He tried to squash it immediately, "what do you mean?" he asked, just as quietly.
"You put me back together when I was a broken mess after Edward left me.
"However, when you left, after I pushed you away, I was an inconsolable mess. It hurt so bad." She lifted her hand and placed the ball of her wet palm over her heart. "And he couldn't help me. He made it worse, but still, he wouldn't...
"After that night, in the sleeping bag, with you… I couldn't sleep anymore on my own. I was always so cold; I still am, although it wasn't so bad last night," she said with a small smile. "Simply being around Seth was enough to help me sleep, and it stopped the nightmares. Maybe it's a wolf thing."
She resumed washing the plates, handing them to Jake in silence for a couple of minutes.
"I think you were right," she whispered. "He is like a drug to me. I was addicted to him. I couldn't see what he was doing to me. I couldn't see that I'd made the wrong choice… until last night.
"He left me alone, the night before the wedding, like tradition. No seeing the bride on the day of the wedding. This was the first time I'd genuinely been alone in months. He was always there, or Alice was. I was never alone.
"I started shaking and was pacing in my room. All I could think about was you. I missed you so so badly," she said with a hitch in her breath. "And, I'm too late. I've hurt you too much for me to expect you to forgive me."
As she spoke those words, the wall in his chest started to crumble. He could almost feel the broken and missing pieces of his heart being put back together, one agonizing beat at a time.
He watched silently as tears started spilling from her eyes, down her cheeks.
Jake grabbed the plate in her hand, put it back in the soapy water and pulled her into a hug.
They both gasped at the physical contact they had both been craving. She leaned her head on his bare chest above his heart and listened quietly as it pumped steadily. Slowly her breathing returned to normal.
He nuzzled into her hair and took a deep breath, smelling strawberries and cream. Her smell, her pure unadulterated smell. No hint of sickly sweet bleach, no trace of him.
Finally, he spoke, in not much more than a whisper. These were his deepest fears. Fears that he had buried and was almost too scared to say out loud. "I'm scared," he admitted. "I don't think I could take it if you changed your mind. What exactly are you saying?"
He pulled her back, brought his hands up to cup her face, whipping the tears with his thumbs. She looked up into his eyes with her deep chocolate brown eyes, "I choose you," she said with conviction.
He brought his face down level with hers, resting his forehead against hers with his lips hovering over hers. He didn't want to initiate it this time; it had to be her. They were so close he could taste her on his tongue.
She brought her soapy, wet hands up to behind his neck. He closed his eyes as he could feel her raking her nails along his scalp and through his hair.
First, her lips brushed tentatively over his before she pushed into him deeper. He instantly responded, moving his mouth against hers.
He dropped his hands to her waist, sliding one up into her hair and the other around her waist to pull her in closer.
Their lips moved in perfect synchrony with one another. He ran his tongue along her bottom lip, and she gasped. He took the opportunity and slipped his tongue into her mouth.
He moaned as their tongues met, and he tasted her sweetness on his tongue. Jake had eaten his fair share of desserts over the years, but this, her taste, was unlike anything he had ever had before.
Maybe she was his drug. But he didn't care; he was getting a hit of the purest drug, created specifically for him. She made his body react as no one else could, and he pressed her up against him harder, not caring if she felt him.
She gasped and pulled away slightly. They pressed their foreheads together as they both struggled to gasp for breath.
"I love you," she breathed and placed a kiss on his forehead. "I chose you," as she kissed him on the nose. She placed two more kisses on one cheek, leading up to his ear, before whispering, "make me yours."