Thank you so much to azclaysgirl, DxGRAYxMAN, hufflepuffhugs (I am also a hufflepuff. I picked the box with the animal noises coming from the inside and instantly knew what my result would be from that.), inesgassin, secretindulgence, Miam904, Shelb54, Twin268, and ImaginationOnFire1995 ! You are all so amazing for leaving reviews for me! As soon as I read them, I quickly got onto my google docs to get started on writing this one.
Time to start speeding things up!
All rights to these characters and Twilight go to Stephenie Meyer! Enjoy!(:
Chapter 46: Beach
Monday's at school were always the most undemanding day of the week. Assignments were due, but other than that, it was always the beginning of a new section to start learning so we normally had no new assignments planned yet. Notes were the only things that had to be taken on the usual Mondays, listening to the teachers as they spoke, highlighting texts in the book as we followed along in the lesson. The usual.
Seeing Jacob yesterday and being able to talk things over did relieve my stress. Little was said on the matter, but he had expressed that he was fine and that he understood I had no ride home, so I was forced to stay at the Cullen house overnight. I still didn't believe my own plea, unfortunately. I knew I could have possibly found another ride, or even called Angela to turn around. I chose instead with my selfishness to stay over, to stay the night in Edward's room.
I didn't understand why I was still feeling so astray. Feeling so attached to him. I knew breakups were hard for many girls and guys my age but crying over a relationship that didn't last longer than the actual break up was usually the sign to move on.
Especially when they chose to leave you and move away to never see you again.
But alas, the dream I had about him, the most vivid dream that I ever had about Edward, had wanted me to move on. He wanted me to live my life, to live it fully as a human, even if it meant I was with Jacob. He had urged me to enjoy myself, to enjoy exploring the relationship I had with Jake, but my chest continued to heave towards another direction. Not fully, it was going both ways. Going towards Jacob, my best friend, my new boyfriend. Going towards him at full speed, twisting, and unleashing strings that would clasp around his warmth and friendly attire. But another part of my chest had thrown another string the other way. The way towards a world that I had dreamed to be a part of, a world I had dreamed to be with Edward for the rest of my eternity.
It felt like a broken record at this point, like one of those telenovelas on the television, or even those soap operas that play on the channels that are meant for past time listening, and not actually paying attention to. Low budget television. Scenarios kept repeating themselves, continuing over and over. They were overdramatic, just as I am about longing onto my past. I wasn't emotionally consumed over Edward as I had been before. I wasn't in pain at the thought of him, or in pain by hearing his name aloud. But I was still attached. Attached to what could have been if my human ideocracy did not get in the way.
"Bella?" Angela said, tapping my wrist. I looked up, around the room. We were at the lunch table filled with the crowd of students in the room. I hadn't noticed my stomach was growling and the lack of food that was before me. I didn't buy anything to eat. Lauren and Jessica were chatting with each other, as per usual. They didn't look towards my way or towards Angela either. I had assumed they felt uncomfortable with the events that transpired Saturday night, and from the events of the night before when Angela had confronted them. I assumed they no longer would continue a conversation with us, let alone start one.
"Sorry, I got distracted," I exhaled a breath of air, looking over at Angela raising her eyebrow towards me.
"Are you okay?" She asked, "Can I get you some food? Did you run out of lunch money? I can totally spot you today."
"No, no it's fine. I guess I just forgot to go through the line," I nodded at her, smiling at her to let her know I was okay. "I'll be right back." I went through the lunch line, purchasing a peanut butter and jelly sandwich with a fruit cup on the side and sat back down next to Angela.
"So, Bella. Party was fun, right?" Mike's forehead was perspiring. He had his hands fisted together, running his thumb repeatedly over the side of his hand. "You guys all had fun?" He looked at the rest of the people sitting at the table. I glared at him for a quick second and looked down at the sandwich, opening the inside to make sure they didn't forget to put jelly on it this time. They did not.
"Oh my god, totally fun. Me and Lauren got so drunk!" Jessica laughed, patting her thighs repeatedly in excitement. "That party was insane. I didn't recognize half the people there."
"Jacob called me," Angela said quietly, looking at me, chewing on one of the fries off her plate. "He sounded worried."
"Yeah, yeah he was," I nodded at her, taking a bite into my sandwich. I continued to speak after I swallowed another bite from it. "He came and picked me up early in the morning."
"If I had a boyfriend, I would've invited him to go with me," Lauren said, side eyeing me.
"Yeah, why didn't Tyler come?" Ben asked, raising his eyebrow at her. Angela's mouth dropped, and then quickly looked towards the tile flooring, clasping her hand over her mouth. I continued to chew my sandwich, looking at the inside of it after I took each bite. Lauren and Jessica stood up from the table glaring at each of us and grabbed onto their purses and onto each other and walked quickly away towards the bathroom.
"Jeez, Ben. Where did that come from?" Eric asked.
"Oh, just genuinely curious," Ben replied, taking a bite into his apple. Mike snorted at him, and then continued to look towards my direction again.
"But, why didn't you invite him anyway?" Mike asked, pondering his words with a confused expression on his face.
"He was busy. And it said the party was for the senior classes. Jacob is only a sophomore," I replied to him in a monotone voice. I was still not fully prepared to be over what had happened between us at the party, but I also didn't plan on being rude to him, either.
"There were so many people there, I doubted there were only seniors, anyways," Mike said.
Several weeks had gone by and Jacob and I had started spending a lot of time together. I don't know what had changed, but his pack schedule started to shift around, giving him less days and less long nights. He came over more than I had come over to his house. Charlie also had enjoyed having him over. Having someone to talk to about fishing and cars and sports. I cooked a lot more meals these past few weeks in copious amounts. Jacob's appetite has never ceased to amaze me. He was able to eat a lasagna dish all on his own each time that I had to make two for the whole table. Charlie still didn't allow us to close my bedroom door when we were up there, but it wasn't like Jacob and I would participate in anything non cordially while Charlie was in the house.
Prom was around the corner. It was supposed to be Friday night, and it was already Wednesday. Jessica and Lauren were scattering around the school for the past week, yelling at the lower classmen who were also in charge of helping with the prom committee. Apparently plans weren't falling through the way Jessica's vision was laid out and she was having a tantrum for it. I'm sure the prom would be fine, and no one will care if there are no chocolate covered almonds in one of the snack dish bowls. I didn't necessarily think people were planning to eat at the prom anyway and were planning on going just to be with their dates, friends, and take photos in their dresses together.
Jacob was excited. Ben and he were getting along very well that he and Jake had made plans for a double date at La Push to go surfing together after I got off work. I knew I wouldn't enjoy participating. The thought of trying to get me to climb onto a surfboard had nauseated me, but I knew that Angela and I would most likely casually hang out in the water together and watch the boys wipe out several times. I never seen Jacob surf before, so I hadn't known if he knew how to.
School went faster on Wednesdays. Usually we would have a quiz in literature class and our teacher would let us spend the rest of the day outside to soak up the sun if it was sunny that day. The class was always grateful to him for that. On colder and rainy days, he allowed us to quietly chat among ourselves until he finished grading the quizzes and pass them out. Angela and I had skipped sitting at the lunch table today. We weren't overly excited to listen to Jessica's rampage about the prom, so instead we hung out outside. She was thoroughly excited to go to the beach. I told her I would pick her up after I got off work so that Jacob and Ben could get a head start on the waves and her and I could make up excuses together for why we couldn't surf when we got there.
Work was probably the slowest the day had been. We had a lot of customers, and my hours were keeping me busy, but it hadn't helped the time go by any faster. I wasn't really able to talk to the customers, but restocking had me on my toes. It was a busy time of the year. It was getting warmer outside and people were preparing for camping trips and buying pool stuff and boat accessories along with fishing gear. Mrs. Newton loved the spring because the money and business comes rushing in after the long winter that Forks entails.
It was exceptionally hot today, especially for Forks. We finally had a temperature of 82°F today so I thought to purchase sunblock for our pale skins at the beach together. My mother would have a cow if she thought I wasn't protecting my skin, especially after being the one to remind me of the heat wave that was crossing over Washington this week. She always adored my skin's fairness, even though she never had put thought into protecting hers. She loved a nice bronze tone on her own. I had to remind her sometimes that skin cancer existed.
Mike smiled at me dubiously today. He never failed to wear one whenever he was in my view, continuing to wave at me. I think it was noticeable he was trying to make sure I had forgiven him. I was courteous enough to let it go. I didn't plan on holding a grudge over him, but I knew I wouldn't also allow him to swindle me into spending any time alone with him. I knew better than that.
After I had gotten off work, I went ahead and picked Angela up from her house since it was on the way home from mine. She was standing at the curb of the front lawn of her house, holding a beach bag and was dressed in a tank top with her bikini underneath and a pair of gym shorts over it. She had a bright smile on her face showing excitement for the day we had planned. We drove to my house and she waited on me in my room while I got dressed and ready for the beach day. The temperature dropped to 80°F by this time, but it was still hot. She wanted to redo this trip so we could have more time to enjoy the full day on Saturday together, which I had agreed to.
I got into my white bathing suit one piece and put a flowy purple top over it, wearing some gym shorts as well over it. I packed the sunscreen in Angela's bag and a few extra towels before we got back into the truck to leave. I left a note on the kitchen counter for Charlie to notice along with a casserole dish for him to put in the oven with directions on it. Charlie had already known my plans for after work today, so I wanted to make sure he had something to eat while I was gone.
Angela surprised me with deli subs from the local grocery store. She got two footlongs and two bags of chips for us to all share. One foot long was for her and Ben, and the other was for Jake and I. I knew it wouldn't curve his hunger enough, so thankful Angela had grabbed two bags of party sized chips for us.
When we pulled down the road that had overlooked the beach, I had parked my truck and we both walked down on the sand barefooted. It was quiet at the beach today. Just a few seagulls poking at the pebbles and shells that encased the shore, turning them over, and some other surfers who were taking advantage of the warm weather. Jake and Ben were already in their swim trunks instead of wet suits. I suppose the water was warm enough to do without them. They were continuously trying to climb on top of the boards to catch one of the waves that were crashing towards the shore. The white tips of them gushing as they curled into the water. Angela laughed at Ben who had fallen off flat into the chopping waves. We made no entrance to let them know we were here. We instead laid our towels onto the sand, took off our shirts and shorts, and applied sunscreen to ourselves and to each other.
"So, what's the story?" Angela poked at me.
"You know, we broke our legs, hands, feet, necks. Couldn't possibly surf today. We are too fragile," I said, entertaining her.
"Oh, I do agree, how awful my wrist is feeling today. I wouldn't dare try to climb on top of one of those boards. Poor little us, wee fragile girls. So disappointed in our predicament," She sighed, rolling her eyes following a laugh at our ridiculous statements.
"What a shame that we have to instead watch them surf while we soak up the sun today. How I dread a warm Fork's afternoon," I replied, again, smiling at her.
"That is a shame, indeed. I hate the sun. Give me rain and black ice forever," She snorted at me. We chuckled a bit, degrading our womanhood some more.
We sighed, watching the boys surfing. Well, attempting to. They finally had noticed we were here, waving at us to come down to the water. We pretended to ignore them, chuckling with each other while we chewed on a few chips from the first bag. Jacob and Ben started to get annoyed with our antics of ignoring them and grabbed onto their boards and started to walk out of the water towards us.
If I hadn't admired or sexually objectified Jacob's body enough during our relationship, today would be the day. The water was dripping from his hair that was now shaggier than usual. Dripping over his face and down his neck and abdomen. The water droplets curving over his chiseled body, until they had finally made it towards the hem of his swim trunks, dripping onto the sand. The warm sun glistened on his water encased skin, causing the bronze pigmentation to shimmer in the light. He was beautiful, and it was unbearably hard to deny telling him.
"So, you ladies are just going to sit there and watch the show, huh?" Ben said, flinging his hair back and forth. Angela wiped her thumb across her bottom lip staring at him and nodding. I suppose she was also swooned by Ben.
"Yeah, more entertaining from over here," I replied, looking at Jacob. He snickered at me and then sat down on the towel next to me.
"So, are you girls going to share the food, or are we expected to starve?" Jacob asked, smiling at us. Angela smiled back at him, handing him the foot-long sub meant for Jacob and I to share. He fiddled with the bag, opening it and taking his half, and handing the other to me. It was an ordinary sub. Just turkey with American cheese with lettuce and mayo. Nothing to complain about. Jacob and Ben both moaned at the food as they chewed it down. They must have worked up an appetite while we were gone.
"Catch anything good today?" Angela asked, looking at Ben and handing him the opened bag of chips.
"Oh, yeah of course. You know. A lot of them. We were uh, catching each one of them before you two showed up."
"Oh, I'm sure you were," Angela jabbed at him. "Is he any good, Jacob?"
"I'm not the person to be asking that question to," Jacob laughed. "We were hoping we would get you both on a board today."
"Oops, sorry. No can do. We are much too fragile. We broke every bone in our body on the way over here," I replied.
"She's right. I can barely even hold this sandwich," Angela nodded.
"Yeah, you look like you're having a really tough time," Ben poked Angela on her side. She squealed with a laugh nuzzling her face into his neck. I looked over at Jacob smiling at him. He finished his sandwich already as if his half didn't exist two seconds ago.
"Well, I guess since we aren't doctors, we should be really irresponsible," He said to us. He looked over at Ben and nodded. Jacob took the sandwich out of my hand placing it onto the grocery bag, and Ben did the same to Angela. They both stood up and quickly lifted us up over their shoulders. We disapproved rapidly, whacking our fists on their backs squealing at them. Jacob made sure to have his hand wrapped around my rear end, squeezing it as he ran down towards the water.
"Jacob, I swear if you put me in that freezing cold water, I will run you over with my truck. I will take my dads shotgun and make a pelt out of you!" I shouted at him.
"Looks like I'm going to have to come up with a really good apology!" He replied, laughing louder.
Jacob was the first to make it to the water with me, running in full speed while the tide was at his knees. The cold water was splashing up, hitting my legs as he kept going in deeper. Ben was farther behind with Angela on his shoulder. He didn't have that super strong wolf strength like Jacob had. She was squealing at the water that was splashing against her body. Screaming at how cold it was. It was warmer than usual for a day in May in Forks, but still cold enough to give you chills up your spine.
Jacob unhooked me from his shoulder and threw me into the waves, causing me to get sucked under. I pushed myself back up from the water, sling my hair out of my face, and coughed out a small amount that curled inside of my cheeks. I wiped my face off, wrapping my arms around my body.
"Jacob Black, you will get what's coming to you for this!" I shouted at him. He laughed as Angela was now tossed in the water next to me. Ben and he had their arms crossed together after they had high fived themselves for their ridiculous amusement.
"I can't believe you got my hair wet," Angela yelled at Ben.
"Honey, I know for a fact you don't care if your hair is wet. You're just looking for something to complain about," he snickered at Angela, holding on her hand to stand her up in the water. She wrapped her arms around his neck and then pushed him down under the water, but he had headbutted her abdomen and took her down with him.
"It's very cold, I don't know how you stand this," I looked over at Jacob.
"I'm always hot, baby doll." He winked at me and tackled me into the wave. His warm body pressed against my skin under the water had caused a flurry of hormones and emotions running through me. I clasped my palms on his skin, digging my fingers into him and scooching my hand up the back of his neck into his hair that swayed in the water. I held my breath, closing my eyes as I pressed my cheek against his neck. I wrapped my leg around his waist in the water, compressing my body against his. Jacob started understanding what I was feeling and pressed his warm hand against the small of my back. We floated under the water like that for a few seconds before I realized I needed to gasp for air. I let go of him and pushed my foot against the sand and went back towards the surface of the water.
Angela and Ben were a little farther away now after those few short seconds. They were chest deep in the water like we were. They continued to tackle each other under the water and splashed at each other playfully. But I wanted to be more than playful. I wanted to take control of this situation that I was feeling with Jacob right now. But how could I be so indecorous with my best friend only a few yards away from us? Jacob looked at me, his lips parted as he held his other hand behind my neck. He cradled me, lifting my legs onto his waist again. Holding me in the cold water with the heat of his body warming it up in between us.
I let out heavy, unsteady breaths as the cold water behind me draped around the back of my neck where his fingers weren't touching. It chilled me, but it excited me more. I could feel myself falling into my own hormonal body, as I lightly grinded myself against him. He chuckled in my ear, letting his husky voice harmonize through it.
A large wave from behind had rushed over our heads, causing Jacob to lose balance from surprise and we both fell into the water. I rush myself back up to the surface, gasping air into my lungs with Jacob a few feet away from me.
"I saw that!" Angela said, shouting over at me while she climbed onto Ben's shoulders.
"You guys up for some chicken wars?" Ben asked us enthusiastically.
Jacob shook the water out of his hair. "Hell yeah, bring it on!" Jacob grabbed me and lifted me onto his shoulders. I had to balance myself pushing my palms on the top of his head, grabbing his hair. "Cut it out Bella, you're going to rip it out."
"So, why did you start growing your hair out?" I asked him.
"I thought you liked it long," he said.
"I do, but I like it both ways. You didn't have to grow it out for me," I said, shyly shaking my fingers back and forth in his hair.
We commenced the chicken fight, and with the unfortunate disadvantage that Angela and I both had with our nonexistent strengths of balance, we both kept tumbling backwards and forwards off of our boyfriends' shoulders. I knew Jacob could have properly held me down onto them with his hands and arms, but I think he thought it was funnier to let me fall into the water.
The sun was going down, and the air was becoming chilled. We decided it was time to get out of the water before we got hypothermia and dry off. We packed up our stuff and put our clothes back on and decided we would go get dinner together somewhere since our sandwiches were left out too long in the sun. We went to a diner not too far away that catered the usual menu like burgers, grilled cheese, and pizza. Jake got his own personal pizza and I decided to get the chicken fingers and French fries plate.
"I told Bella that I think we should come back Saturday since the heat wave will continue to pass till Monday," Angela said, shaking the mustard bottle back and forth. "We didn't get to get much sun since we got there so late today."
"I'm down, that sounds like fun," Ben said, leaning over and kissing Angela on her cheek. I looked over at Jacob to see if that was possible, but he nodded courteously. I didn't understand how he was able to get all these days off of patrolling, especially out of his long shifts. He usually had Saturdays with me, but he has also been with me a lot throughout the week that I believed he would have to make up for.
"I'm down. Prom is Friday, right?" Jacob asked, looking at me.
"Yes! Ben and I thought we could do something fun and go out to that new Olive Garden they built in town. They have the best breadsticks, ever!"
"And to save money, you can just get the soup and salad," Ben added.
"Yeah, sounds great. I'm looking forward to it," I nodded at her, smiling. "Ben, have you gotten your tux yet?"
"Yeah, I'm using my dad's. He wore it at my cousins wedding last year and it fits me well enough."
"I wish I could have just reused my dress from last year, but Jessica had to be so shrill about it," Angela said, stabbing her fork into her mac and cheese bowl. "So instead I had to spend so much money on the one I got in Seattle."
"Look on the bright side, it's really pretty and it's going to look great on you," I smiled at her.
"Yeah, yeah, I know… but money," Angela pouted her lip out and rested her head onto Ben's shoulder. "I'm really glad we could do this today. I needed it. Finals are going to kick my ass."
"Anytime, guys," Jacob smiled at her. "I'm actually really looking forward to going to prom."
"We are horrible dancers, Jacob," I nudged my arm at him.
"We? Or do you mean just you," he chuckled, flashing a bright smile at me.
"Yes, I do mean we. You are a terrible dancer, too."
"Better put that money where your mouth is, Black. I'll take you down on that dance floor," Ben said, doing a ridiculous gesture of dancing while sitting.
"Oh, you're on Cheney. Me and Bella are going to eat you two alive."
"Whoa, whoa, whoa, leave me out of this one. I'm not going to be the one eating anyone alive." I said, sipping on my coke.
"Yeah, me either. You boys have fun with that while Bella and I eat those chocolate covered almonds that Jessica has been rampaging on about."
"So are Lauren and Tyler not dating anymore?" Ben asked me and Angela.
"I guess we will find out at prom, won't we," She replied to him.
"Well, I hope Jessica has a prom date so that she won't be a super killjoy the whole night," Jacob added, stirring the straw in his drink.
"I think she's going with Mike, she said," Angela added.
"Yeah, I think she mentioned that. Are they back together?" I wasn't too much into gossip, but more so continuing the conversation with the subject we were on.
"Who knows. They break up so much," Ben said. "Mike doesn't seem too thrilled about going with her. He actually hoped you were going to be single this time of the year, Bella."
I choked on my coke, snorting it lightly through my nose causing me to cough. I had grabbed my napkin quickly and pressed it against my nostrils before anyone would notice. "Excuse me?"
"Bella don't be oblivious. You know that boy has been crushing on you since the day you moved here," Angela added, smirking at me.
"Guy needs to take a hint and get over it. I hit him with my racket last year in the gym, hoping to jumble up his brain a little bit."
"On purpose?" Angela said, gasping.
"No! Not on purpose. He was just in the way. I'm not good at sports."
"Well, did you hit him hard enough?" Jacob asked, smiling at me. He looked impressed at what I had done to Mike.
"Apparently not," I rolled my eyes and took another sip of my coke. They found that funny and all joined in on a laugh. It was getting late and we decided to end the night and let the waitress know about our plan of payments for paying the bill. Jacob rode with me in my truck and Ben took Angela home.
"So," I said, breaking the silence in the car, looking over at him. "Where am I taking you?"
"I thought we were going to go to your house," he replied.
"That's fine. But, why?" I asked curiously.
"What do you mean, why? Do you not want me to?"
"I do, you're always welcome to be at my house. I'm just curious why you haven't been patrolling much."
"That's an easy one to answer," he chuckled, running his fingers through his hair. "Emily convinced Sam that us that are still in school need to have more time off."
"And Sam ran with it? Hasn't that been a discussion before?"
"Emily can be persuasive. She likes to make sure he knows what priorities are and what are not. Paul, Sam and Leah are perfectly capable of patrolling the most."
"Yeah, but it's like you're never doing it anymore. Except for a few short hours a few times during the week."
"I know, that's just my personal request…" He sighed, looking out the window. "I'm trying to show you that being a werewolf isn't a big thing for me like you think it is."
"Jacob Black, that's ideocracy," I huffed at him. "Is this about my thing with age? Because if it is, then you have your priorities confused. You look old enough for me to go on for the next few years without me feeling uncomfortable about it."
"Yeah, but it'll take me a long time before I can completely stop phasing. I might as well slow it down now so I can have a better handle with it for when I decide to completely opt out of it."
"Jacob…" I said, looking at him, briefly glancing back and forth at the road. "How does the pack feel about that?"
"Not too great… but if I eventually stop phasing, then I won't imprint." The breaks on my truck started to squeal as I slammed down on them, inching the truck towards the side of the road. Jacob grabbed the handle of the truck bracing himself for the abrupt stop. I pushed the truck into park and unbuckled my seat belt, staring at him.
"Excuse me?" I raised my voice at him. "Are you out of your damn mind?" Jake looked at me, his eyes filled with horror at my reaction. Of course, that isn't what I want for him, and his obsession with the idea of ending his time as a wolf so early when his pack and his tribe needed him had left a sour taste in my mouth.
"What? What, what?" Jacob said, repeating the words confused.
"Why are you so obsessed with the idea of not imprinting, Jacob? I don't understand! It's not the end of the damn world if you do!"
"It's the end of us, Bella. That's what would happen!" He said, directly looking at me with a sincere tone. "If you don't plan on leaving with me, and leaving Forks to decrease those chances, then this is what I have to do!"
"It's fate, Jacob. That girl will be your fate. And she would be so lucky to have you," I lowered my tone but kept it firm enough for my point to pierce through him. "And I would be damned if I interrupt that just because you can't see past it."
I leaned forward, grabbing onto his hands and putting them into mine. "It's unnecessary for you to do this Jacob. If you don't end up imprinting, then that would be great for you and I. And we can move out together when it is the right time for you to leave the pack behind. But, not right now, Jacob. Right now, you have a job to do."
"As if you believe in that kind of stuff, Bella," he scoffed at me. "You're not one of those people that believe in fate or soul mates."
"Yeah, and I used to not think vampires and werewolves existed, either. Now I'm contemplating my imagination of whether mermaids exist or even Santa Claus."
"I think you'll need to be the one to talk to your dad about the big guy in the red suit, Bells," he said, chuckling at me, trying to lighten the tone.
I chuckled with him and shook at my head and reclaimed the serious tone on my face. "Stop it, I'm being serious. If imprinting exists, then that's your fate. That girl is your fate. But if it's as rare as it was supposed to be, then we won't ever have to worry about it."
"Bella," Jacob said, letting go of my hands and leaning against the back of the seat. "Can we please not talk about this. Let's just go back to your house."
"Not until you promise me to stop this ridiculous notion you have and go patrol more."
"It's not just—" Jacob sighed, nodding at me. "I promise."
"And I better see your report card grades go up with all this free time you apparently have," I said, putting the truck back into drive, looking out the rearview mirror for any cars driving down the road. I pulled out onto it when I saw that it was clear and continued to drive.
"Yes, mom," he replied.
"Hey, kiddos. How was the beach?" Charlie asked, sipping a beer on the couch.
"It was nice, Charlie. Water wasn't too cold today."
"Yeah that heat wave really hit this week. Billy and I are looking forward to it this weekend. I got off of work to go fishing."
"He mentioned that. He's looking forward to it, too. Says that the weather is going to be bearable enough to go farther down the river this time."
"More fish down in those parts of the river, too. Might have to make room in the freezer," Charlie said, looking at me with a grin. I rolled my eyes at him, following with a smirk.
"And what do you plan on me doing with the rest of the fish that is in there? We'd have to eat it for breakfast, lunch, and dinner just to free up some space," I said to him.
"I hope you know a recipe for a really good fish omelet," He replied with another grin and then looked back at the television. "You wouldn't mind handing me another beer, would you?"
"I got it," Jacob said, walking towards the fridge, pulling out a Coors Banquet and handing it to Charlie.
"You're a good kid," Charlie said, snapping the soda can tab open and sipping onto it. I grabbed his empty can off the coffee table, throwing it away. "That casserole was good, Bells. What did you guys get for dinner?"
"We just went to some diner. We had sandwiches for the beach, but we left them out in the sun to the point that they weren't edible anymore." I replied. "If you need to make room in the freezer, then why don't we hand out some to those on the reservation. Give some more to Billy." I said, looking at Jacob. "Jacob has a big appetite. He can get rid of it himself."
"I'm not that big of a fan of fish," he admitted, looking at me with a shy expression.
"Not a fan of fish?" Charlie spoke up with a raised eyebrow. "Did your father not teach you right? Fish has been in this family longer than you've been alive, boy."
"Yeah, that's exactly why I'm not a fan," he snorted.
"Well, take some to your dad anyways. I'll find some time to bring a few of them to Sue's."
"You don't have to drive all that way. I can have my dad give some to her," Jacob said.
"No, no. I'll handle that myself. Not going to let a man give another man's fish to a woman," Charlie said, grumbling. Jacob looked at me, raising his eyebrow with an opened smile on his face. I waved his expression away, chuckling.
"I'll make sure to put some in the cooler before you leave to go to the reservation this weekend," I said to Charlie.
"Sounds good, Bells. What do you two plans on doing?"
"Just going to go upstairs. Maybe study a little bit to prepare for my last test in my classes and get a head start on finals."
"And what are your plans, Jacob?" Charlie side eyed him.
"Give her support," Jacob replied with a cheeky grin.
Charlie nodded his hand. "Door open, you two."
"Understood, Chief," I said, embarrassingly saluting him as we both walked up the stairs together.
I had my books and notes laid out on my side of the bed, laying down on my stomach to be able to read one at a time. Jacob sat on the bed next to me with his legs crossed, looking at the notes I wasn't fiddling with.
"This is what you're studying for?" he asked me with a confused expression on his face.
"Yeah, you will be too eventually if you even make it to senior year," I teased him. "You know, I'm not going to hold you up all night. I'm just studying and that's got to be boring for you."
Jacob shook his head, "I'd rather be here anyways."
"Instead of patrolling or studying like you should be doing?" I asked him.
He chuckled under his breath, "I'll bring my notes by tomorrow and we can study together if that clears your guilt of keeping me around so much."
"You're not patrolling tomorrow?" I asked him, holding my head up, looking at him concerned.
"I am after I get out of my classes, but I'll be done around eight thirty," he admitted. I felt more at ease with that response. I wanted to make sure his ridiculous idea to discontinue from his pack and phasing would cease to exist. He needed to continue doing it. He insisted that Victoria hasn't come back in town for over a month and that there wasn't a huge threat anymore that needed each wolf patrolling for copious amounts of time. But that didn't mean that nomads still wouldn't drop by. Forks was a small town where the people know everyone around here, but risky hikers still are easy targets for them. His pack needed to continue their patrols to keep the people safe around here, and to keep their families and tribe safe.
I liked the idea, unfortunately enough. I liked the idea of him continuing to grow older with me at some point. He was young, and possibly too naïve to realize that I may not be the person who he would want to end up with. It confuses me how he wouldn't want to find his imprint. Someone who is his complete match, his soulmate.
I would have to admit to myself that I didn't want him to find his imprint any more than he did, but I wouldn't be the one to stand in his way of finding her. I would run away with Jacob if the idea wouldn't backfire on his future and mine together. I would have to make arrangements to keep Charlie from suffering from lack of nutrition in his diet and keeping him from eating too much red meat at diners, but other than that, it wasn't too horrible of an idea.
If we were to go anywhere together, I would possibly go to Florida with him to be near my mom and Phil, but also stay far enough away from her that she couldn't continue to interfere with her immature ways. I loved her very much, but if I were to start my life with Jacob, I wouldn't want to go back to taking care of her and keeping her from making flighty decisions.
But Florida was warm. It had a lot of sun and it would keep away the daily reminders that Forks had to offer for me. Maybe instead of going to Princeton, I would settle down and go to an affordable school there.
"Fine, you can come over tomorrow as long as you study," I said to him, looking down at my notes, highlighting points in them that seemed the most important. I genuinely mostly highlighted vocabulary which is wildly provided on our tests.
"I promise," Jake grinned. He leaned down towards me, lifting his finger under my chin, pulling my face towards his. His warm lips pressed against mine, and the hormonal tingling I had felt before had become apparent again. His hot breath filled the inside of my mouth as I breathed it in. I let out a soft moan from my throat as he parted his lips from mine, and then softly pressed them against them again. "Sorry, am I distracting you?" Jacob softly chuckled with a seductive grin on his face, whispering to me.
"Very much," I whispered back, sitting myself back up on the bed, leaning into him. "Charlie is still awake though, so maybe you can distract me when he goes to bed."
"He usually makes me leave before that," Jacob looked at me, pushing his mouth to the side of his face.
I moved myself away from him and laid back down onto my stomach, flipping to the next page in my physics book with my highlighter ready in my hand. "Then I guess you'll have to find a way back inside, won't you?"
A/N
I would love to explain why I am having Jacob worry about imprinting. In the books of Breaking Dawn when Bella got married and was pregnant… He went out of his way to drive around town and go into the city and to parks because he wanted to desperately find his imprint so that he could get over Bella… So, I feel like now.. He would desperately NOT want to imprint so that he wouldn't lose Bella.
Again… I would love to see at least 5 reviews on this chapter before I post my next one! Thank you to all of you who had left reviews. I honestly didn't expect it, so it was very exciting. I even made my boyfriend take his headset off while he was playing video games just to tell him about all the new reviews I had gotten! That was the most reviews left on a single chapter I've ever had!
I wanted to skip ahead in it so we could start easing in faster into the future timeline… Eclipse! I've been stuck in the New Moon timeline for far too long and needed to progress it further.