A/N: This is Twilight through Eclipse from Jacob's perspective. Thanks for reading!
These characters are not mine and all belong to Stephenie Meyer.
A/N: This is actually the first chapter I wrote for this story. After writing it, I decided I wanted to go back to the beginning, so, with the exception of this chapter, you'll see things in order from now on.
First Kiss (Eclipse)
I walked into the little house and couldn't help but smile. She'd stayed up waiting for me. Her hair was in a messy knot on her head and she wore one of my old t-shirts like a nightgown. Her wrist was adorned with the intricately braided bracelet I'd made for her. She marked the page in her book with an old receipt and smiled back from where she sat curled up on the couch.
"You didn't have to wait up for me," I said.
"I wanted to. I missed you," she said as she got up and walked over to me. She put her hands flat against my bare chest and stared up at me.
"Not as much as I missed you," I argued.
She sighed. "I'm not going to argue with you about this all night, but that doesn't mean you win, okay?"
"You're right," I agreed. "There are better things to do all night."
She blushed as she shook her head, but the corner of her lips turned up. "Food first. How long has it been since you've eaten?"
"A while," I admitted.
"Go rest. I'll heat up some lasagna for you."
She stretched up on her tiptoes to kiss my cheek, but I grabbed her chin and pulled her up to my lips instead. She giggled in surprise and I laughed with her. We stared into each others eyes for a moment and then I pulled her against me, kissing her deeply. She seemed to lose herself in the moment.
"I think I'm gonna skip the lasagna," I whispered, my lips brushing against hers.
"No, no, no. You need to eat. Please?" She pouted.
"Sure, sure," I finally agreed.
She threw a plate in the microwave as I lounged on the couch.
"Charlie invited us over tomorrow. A little get together for my birthday," she said.
"Bells, you're not supposed to spend your 21st birthday with your dad."
"Hah. Like we'd be out in the clubs or something otherwise?" she asked sarcastically.
I smiled up at her but she was looking past me out the front window, a look of horror on her face. She dropped the hot plate of lasagna and the red sauce splattered across her pale throat.
In a second I was on my feet. I looked around anxiously, but the window was gone and so was the night. The little living room was different, too. It was my dad's.
"What? What?" I asked, still expecting to see the source of Bella's fear.
"It's just me, Jake. Sorry I woke you."
"Bella?" She wasn't standing in the kitchen or wearing my old t-shirt. Her hair was down around her face and she had on a sweatshirt and jeans. She smelled like him.
"Hey, sleepy," she said. Her large brown eyes watched me with amusement.
That's right, she was visiting today. I felt so disoriented.
"Oh, man! Did I fall asleep? I'm sorry! How long was I out?"
"A few Emerils. I lost count."
Dammit. I already had so little time with her.
I flopped back onto the couch. "Wow. Sorry about that really."
Her face was sweet as it looked up at me, free of the defensiveness that was so often there now. She patted my hair, combing through it with her delicate fingers. "Don't feel bad. I'm glad you got some sleep." Her words warmed me. This didn't feel so different from my dream, us in a little house that was all our own where I protected her and she took care of me.
I yawned and stretched, trying to return to reality. I really couldn't believe I'd fallen asleep on her.
"I'm so useless these days. No wonder Billy's always gone. I'm so boring."
"You're fine," she said, patting my arm reassuringly. I wanted to just curl up with her on the couch and knock out again. It would be so comfortable.
But I didn't have time to be comfortable. I hardly had any time left at all.
"Ugh, let's go outside. I need to walk around or I'll pass out again."
"Jake go back to sleep. I'm good. I'll call Edward to come pick me up." She patted her pockets looking for her phone. "Shoot, I'll have to borrow your phone. I think I must have left his in the car."
His name sent an angry jolt through me. I never saw him in the dream, but I was sure he was the source of the horror, the thing lurking just outside the window. An imminent threat to my happiness and hers.
She started to get up, but I grabbed her hand to stop her.
"No! No stay. You hardly ever make it down. I can't believe I wasted all this time," I said as I pulled her off the couch.
Still holding her hand, I led her outside. The unseasonably cool air helped me shake the grogginess.
I paced then, dragging her along with me because I refused to drop her hand. I had had a plan. I was going to walk with her along the beach and tell her a new story. The story of what we could be. About how we'd take road trips to see Renee so she could finally show me something that was further South than Portland. About the little house I'd build for her. I was going to tell her everything that made her special and tell her how beautiful she was. How beautiful she'd looked the very first time we talked on the beach over a year ago. How beautiful she looked right now. And then I was going to declare my love for her.
It was going to be so smooth. But it wasn't a script written for a zombie who'd squandered his time sleeping.
"I'm an idiot," I muttered.
She looked at me worried. "What's the matter, Jake? So you fell asleep." She shrugged.
"I wanted to talk to you. I can't believe this." There was no time for the plan anymore.
"Talk to me now," she offered.
I met her eyes for a second and became self-conscious as I imagined the words coming out of my mouth. I looked away into the trees. My face felt too warm.
I didn't have time to be a coward. I turned back to her.
Bella's expression, which had been only concerned now seemed anxious, her teeth biting into her full, pink lip.
We kept pacing, but I slowed us down. "Look, I was planning to do this a little bit differently." I laughed, kissing my plan goodbye. "Smoother. I was going to work up to it, but I'm running out of time to work." I glared at the late afternoon sky.
I briefly met her eyes again and then let out another nervous laugh, my heart pounding. I longed to be back in my dream, this part far behind us.
"What are you talking about?" She demanded, looking bewildered.
I took a deep breath. "I want to tell you something. And you already know it... but I think I should say it out loud anyway. Just so there's never any confusion on the subject."
Bella suddenly stopped, pulling her hand away so she could fold her arms across her chest. She was frowning.
No time to be a coward, I reminded myself.
I met her eyes, believing I could will a different future for us if I just stared into them deep enough. "I'm in love with you, Bella. Bella, I love you. And I want you to pick me instead of him. I know you don't feel that way, but I need the truth out there so that you know your options. I wouldn't want a miscommunication to stand in our way."
She stared at me for a long time. I was anxiously awaiting her response, but all I got was a dumbfounded expression back. I almost laughed with relief, my confession finally off my chest.
"Okay," I said, grinning. "That's all."
"Jake - " she said, her voice thick. "I can't - I mean I don't... I have to go."
She turned as if she was about to run into the woods. I caught her by the shoulders and spun her around.
"No, wait. I know that, Bella. But, look, answer me this, all right? Do you want me to go away and never see you again? Be honest." I already knew the answer, but I needed her to see it.
She thought it over and finally said, "No, I don't want that."
I grinned, "See."
"But I don't want you around for the same reason that you want me around," she objected.
She was stubborn, but not as much as I was. "Tell me exactly why you want me around, then."
She considered my question carefully. "I miss you when you're not there. When you're happy, it makes me happy. But I could say the same thing about Charlie, Jacob. You're family. I love you, but I'm not in love with you."
I nodded. I knew this, too. I knew she loved me. It was as if we were stuck exactly where we'd been when that bloodsucker's call came in, only time wasn't stuck with us. It was getting away from us again.
"But you do want me around," I stated.
"Yes," she sighed in defeat.
"Then I'll stick around," I said casually.
"You're a glutton for punishment," she grumbled.
"Yep," I said. All that and we seemed to be in the very same spot, stuck in the friend zone. Still far from our future together in the warm little house. Maybe...
I lightly stroked her cheek, but she quickly slapped my hand away.
"Do you think you could behave yourself a little better, at least?" She asked, irritated.
"No, I don't. You decide, Bella. You can have me the way I am - bad behavior included - or not at all." I wasn't going to just roll over like her bloodsucker seemed to.
She stared at me, clearly agitated. "That's mean."
"So are you," I accused, remembering how fast she'd dropped me when the little female bloodsucker had shown up. And how she'd chosen him every single day since.
Bella took a step back stunned, her face softer. "You're right," she whispered.
I laughed at the sudden change in her mood.
"I forgive you," I assured her before she could go into some kind of self-sacrificing fit and resolve to never see me again. "Just try not to get too mad at me. Because I recently decided that I'm not giving up. There really is something irresistible about a lost cause."
"Jacob," she said staring into my eyes. She looked sad. She was pitying me. "I love him, Jacob. He's my whole life."
"You love me, too," I asserted. I held up my hand when I saw she was about to argue. "Not the same way, I know. But he's not your whole life, either. Not anymore. Maybe he was once, but he left. And now he's just going to have to deal with the consequence of that choice - me."
"You're impossible," she said, exasperated.
Nothing I said seemed to move her. I had to make her see I wasn't family, not in that way...
I grabbed her chin as I had in the dream and stared into her deep brown eyes. "Until your heart stops beating, Bella, I'll be here fighting. Don't forget that you have options."
"I don't want options," she objected. Her sad eyes full of grief at what she thought couldn't be, what she longed for..." And my heartbeats are numbered, Jacob. The time is almost gone."
Yes, it was. "All the more reason to fight - fight harder now, while I can," I whispered. If she could only see the future I had planned for us. The one I couldn't escape, even in my dreams.
I crushed my lips to hers, hoping to communicate what never came out quite right in my words. My hand wrapped into the soft hair at her neck. Her hands were suddenly on my chest. I marveled at the softness of her lips as they moved with mine.
Her hands left my chest and I almost pulled away, but then she was holding my face. My skin felt like it was blazing beneath her cool hands. I kissed her more eagerly, returning her enthusiasm. I pressed her full upper lip between my own lips and the sensation was better than I'd ever imagined. I tentatively tasted her lips with my tongue, our breath mingling as her lips parted in response.
I responded excitedly, brushing the tip of my tongue lightly over hers. Her hands dropped and she became very still so I pulled away. Her face was so beautiful, so familiar. Flushed. I couldn't resist placing a quick kiss on her lips. But once wasn't enough. I did it twice more before dropping my hands from her face.
"Are you done now?" She asked, her voice quiet.
"Yes," I sighed. My first kiss. Our first kiss. I smiled as I closed my eyes, running over every moment, every touch -
And then I felt a pressure on my lips and heard a loud crunch.
"Ow! OW!" I opened my eyes to see Bella clutching her hand to her chest as she danced around in pain.
Had she punched me?
"Are you all right?" I asked, still trying to figure out what had even happened.
"No, dammit! You broke my hand!" She could be so melodramatic.
"Bella, you broke your hand. Now stop dancing around and let me look at it."
"Don't touch me! I'm going home right now!" Maybe she was more stubborn than me. She'd kissed me back and touched my face so tenderly. But she was latched on so tightly to that bloodsucker, she wasn't going to accept it. No, not stubborn, she was in denial.
"I'll get my car," I said, patiently. She was in shock, but it would sink in.
"No, thanks," she snapped. "I'd rather walk." She turned toward the road. Knowing her, she'd probably get hit by a car or eaten by a bear or something.
"Just let me drive you home," I insisted, wrapping my arm around her waist.
She jerked away from me.
"Fine!" She shouted. "Do! I can't wait to see what Edward does to you! I hope he snaps your neck, you pushy, obnoxious, moronic DOG!"
I rolled my eyes as I helped her into the car. The bloodsucker could try. I'd love to see his arrogant face when he found out I kissed her. I hoped every time he put his demonic mouth near hers he remembered. Territorial bastard.
But right now, he didn't matter, because I had kissed her. I kissed Bella. Bella and I kissed. My dreams, my fantasies, they couldn't touch the perfect memory of it. It had been a long time coming.
I was whistling when I climbed into the driver's seat.
"Didn't I hurt you at all?" She asked, angry and annoyed. Her violent fury was kind of cute.
"Are you kidding? If you hadn't started screaming, I might not have figured out that you were trying to punch me. I may not be made out of stone, but I'm not that soft."
"I hate you, Jacob Black." I could work with that.
"That's good. Hate is a passionate emotion." Definitively outside the friend zone.
"I'll give you passionate. Murder, the ultimate crime of passion," she muttered.
She was concentrating so hard on fighting her feelings, reality. I needed her to think about our kiss.
"Oh, c'mon," I said with a big smile. "That had to be better than kissing a rock."
"Not even remotely close," she replied without missing a beat.
I pursed my lips. "You could just be saying that."
"But I'm not," she sang bitterly.
She didn't seem to be lying. I really couldn't understand how there could be anything remotely romantic in kissing a corpse-like piece of shale. And the teeth... I fought back a shiver.
"You're just mad. I don't have any kind of experience with this kind of thing, but I thought it was pretty incredible myself." I was reliving it again. I didn't know how I could ever stop the loop. Kissing her again would probably do the trick.
"Ugh," she groaned.
"You're going to think about it tonight. When he thinks you're asleep, you'll be thinking about your options." Replaying it again and again and again.
"If I think about you tonight, it will be because I'm having a nightmare."
She kept getting stuck. Why couldn't I make her see? "Just think about how it could be, Bella. You wouldn't have to change anything for me. You know Charlie would be happy if you picked me. I could protect you just as well as your vampire - maybe better. And I would make you happy, Bella. There's so much I could give you that he can't. I'll bet he couldn't even kiss you like that - because he would hurt you. I would never, never hurt you, Bella."
She held up her injured hand and glared at me.
I sighed. "That wasn't my fault. You should have known better."
"Jacob, I can't be happy without him." She said it like she was explaining something to a kindergartner.
"You've never tried. When he left, you spent all your energy holding on to him. You could be happy if you let go. You could be happy with me." It would be just like the dream - minus the weird ending.
"I don't want to be happy with anyone but him," she insisted.
We bickered back and forth like this for a while before I decided she needed to take some responsibility for the kiss. "You kissed me back," I said grinning.
"I did not."
"I think I can tell the difference."
"Obviously you can't - that was not kissing back, that was trying to get you the hell off of me, you idiot."
I laughed. "Touchy. Almost overly defensive, I would say."
I tried apologizing about her hand then, but she wasn't having it.
"Why are you taking me here?" She demanded when I turned on to her street.
"I thought you said you were going home?"
"Ugh. I guess you can't take me to Edward's house, can you?"
I hated that. I hated imagining her alone with him in that crypt. I hated that she couldn't see the little house in La Push like I could. I hated how she already had one foot out Charlie's door.
"This is your home, Bella," I said quietly.
"Yes, but do any doctors live here?" She asked, holding up her hand.
"Oh. I'll take you to the hospital. Or Charlie can."
"I don't want to go to the hospital," she said as I pulled up to the curb in front of her house. "It's embarrassing and unnecessary."
I noticed Charlie's cruiser was in the driveway and wondered if I should break the news to him rather than have him hear Bella's less than rosy version. Plus, if I stayed, I might get my chance at the bloodsucker. I wondered how far I could push him in front of Charlie. Maybe I could get him to snap.
Bella sighed. "Go home, Jacob." I watched her get out of the car.
No, I wasn't going to miss this, I decided.
I followed her up to the house. "What are you going to do?"
"I am going to get some ice on my hand, and then I am going to call Edward and tell him to come and get me and take me to Carlisle so that he can fix my hand. Then, if you're still here, I am going to go hunt up a crowbar."
Excellent. My evening just got a lot more interesting.
I held the front door open for her and she marched straight through to the kitchen.
Charlie saw us from the couch. "Hey, kids."
I joined him in the living room. "Hey, Charlie."
"What's wrong with her?"
"She thinks she broke her hand," I said. Bella slammed the freezer door and Charlie jumped.
"How did she do that?" Charlie asked, amused.
I laughed. "She hit me."
Charlie started laughing, too. This seemed to irritate Bella, who was violently banging something in the sink.
"Why did she hit you?"
"Because I kissed her," I declared proudly. Sharing the news made it feel that much more real.
"Good for you, kid," he congratulated me. I took a spot next to him on the couch. The guy loved me and I knew he hated the bloodsucker, too. That would make this that much more interesting.
I could hear Bella dialing.
"Bella?" I could just make out the bloodsucker's voice.
"Yes," Bella grumbled. "Will you come and get me, please?"
"I'm on my way. What's wrong?"
"I want Carlisle to look at my hand. I think it's broken."
"What happened?" The bloodsucker sounded pissed. He would definitely blame me for the hand.
Though Charlie could not hear the bloodsucker's question, he waited in anticipation, too. Would she drop the bomb now?
"I punched Jacob," she said, sounding about as proud as I had when I'd told Charlie I kissed her.
"Good. Though I'm sorry you're hurt." Nice save, bloodsucker.
Bella gave a hard laugh. "I wish I'd hurt him."
Charlie fidgeted uncomfortably.
"I can fix that," the bloodsucker offered.
"I was hoping you would say that." Despite her threats earlier, I was a little surprised she would egg him on like that.
He was too. "That doesn't sound like you. What did he do?"
I rubbed my hands together in anticipation, wearing a smirk. Charlie shot me an uncomfortable glance and scratched the back of his head. He looked like he was sweating.
"He kissed me."
Charlie sighed loudly. "Jesus..." He muttered. "Maybe you ought to take off, Jake."
"I think I'll hang out here, if you don't mind," I said, relaxing further into the couch, stretching my legs out in front of me.
"Your funeral," Charlie muttered. I rolled my eyes. It was a kind of insulting. Charlie had no idea what I was or that he was a leech, but I was clearly the bigger guy.
"Is the dog still there?" Edward finally asked.
"Yes," Bella responded.
"I'm around the corner," he said.
I heard his car race down the street and then the screech of his breaks. Charlie's eyes narrowed. How great would it be if the bloodsucker got a traffic ticket on top of everything else?
I heard him flit to the door.
So you heard the happy news? I taunted. Oh, you didn't? Well, you see, I kissed your girlfriend. And, I have to say, it really made my day.
I'd really kissed Bella. That happened. Bella, my first kiss. I remembered the feel of her upper lip, the taste of her... It really wasn't for the bloodsucker's benefit. I honestly couldn't help myself.
Bella walked passed us to get the door.
"How's your hand?" Charlie asked.
She paused to lift the ice pack. "It's swelling."
"Maybe you should pick on people your own size," Charlie suggested. It was nice to have an ally.
"Maybe," she retorted sarcastically.
Bella opened the door. "Let me see," the bloodsucker murmured. "I think you're right about the break. I'm proud of you. You must have put some force behind this."
"As much as I have," she sighed. "Not enough apparently." It weirded me out how she changed around him. With me, Charlie, or anyone else she held her own. The minute the leech came around, she became this meek damsel in distress. I remembered he could hear me then. She's not a baby. She's the one attacking people.
"I'll take care of it," he told her quietly.
Louder, though perfectly calm, he called, "Jacob."
Let's do this.
I'd already leapt from the couch when Charlie cautioned, "Now, now."
I beat him to the tiny hallway though. And knew instantly my wait had been worth it. The leech's furious yellow eyes met mine, his glare was murderous.
I didn't care what Charlie thought. I knew I could take him. I imagined the pleasure of single handedly removing each of his limbs, saving decapitation for last so he could appreciate my handy work.
My violent vision was interrupted when I felt Charlie push against me to get into the crowded hallway. It absolutely reeked in the small space.
"I don't want any fighting, do you understand?" Charlie looked only at the bloodsucker, but the bloodsucker never broke eye contact with me. "I can go put my badge on if that makes my request more official."
I smirked. I wondered what he'd do with Charlie watching if he knew...
She kissed me back, you know.
"That won't be necessary," he told Charlie, his voice tight, as he continued looking at me.
I fought off the memory that occurred to me then, but it was too late. Bella in the car "...that was not kissing back, that was trying to get you the hell off of me, you idiot."
His eyes narrowed.
She did. She's just in denial.
"Why don't you arrest me, Dad? I'm the one throwing punches," Bella said.
Charlie raised an eyebrow. "Do you want to press charges, Jake?"
I grinned. "No. I'll take the trade any day."
I couldn't help it and I didn't want to. The bloodsucker grimaced as I recalled every detail of the kiss never breaking eye contact with him.
I remembered her eyes just before I kissed her. Sad, longing, helpless. I remembered how her lips were so perfectly pink and full. How I'd wanted them since she'd showed up in La Push with her friends all those months ago.
I remembered how her lips felt and how they molded against mine and mine into hers. I remembered my surprise at how soft and warm the kiss was, so different than I'd always imagined. More like melting than burning.
I remembered the feel of her impossibly silky skin as I held her face and how I'd passionately tangled my hand in the hair at the back of her neck.
I remembered how she'd become excited and and pressed her palms into my bare chest and then my face. How I'd returned her enthusiasm pressing my tongue to her lips. How she'd parted them in response. How our tongues briefly met.
The bloodsucker's eyes narrowed further. His hands were balled into fists at his side.
And then I remembered her flushed face as I pulled away and the three quick kisses I'd given her after all that, trying to believe it had all been real...
"Dad, don't you have a baseball bat somewhere in your room? I want to borrow it for a minute." Yup, definitely overly defensive, I thought.
The bloodsucker seemed pleased by her words and finally ended our staring contest to look at her in surprise.
"Enough, Bella," Charlie said sternly.
"Let's go have Carlisle look at your hand before you wind up in a jail cell," the bloodsucker insisted, putting his arm around her and pulling her toward the door.
"Fine," Bella said, leaning against him.
Jealousy ripped through me at the sight. For those precious moments this afternoon she'd been mine. Now she was in the grotesque arms of the monster.
Though I truly believed Bella was more moved than she would admit, I was surprised to realize that something had changed in me. As if kissing her had left even more of me with her. A bigger chunk of my heart than she already had.
I felt compelled to follow after it.
"What are you doing?" Charlie demanded as I started following them out. "Are you crazy?"
"Give me a minute, Charlie," I answered. "Don't worry, I'll be right back." I shut the door in his face.
Bella looked back at me, still clearly annoyed, but the bloodsucker acted like I wasn't there. I supposed he felt safe leaving his back unguarded with Charlie peeping through the curtains.
He helped Bella into the car and then finally rounded on me.
"I'm not going to kill you now, because it would upset Bella," he said. His voice was remarkably calm but somehow still raised the hair on my neck.
Coward, I accused.
"Hmph," Bella grumbled through the open car window.
He turned to smile at her. "It would bother you in the morning," He said brushing her cheek. I cringed at the sight of his skeletal fingers on her face.
He looked at me again. "But if you ever bring her back damaged again - "
It was her own fault, I thought.
" - and I don't care whose fault it is; I don't care if she merely trips, or if a meteor falls out of the sky and hits her in the head - if you return her to me in less than the perfect condition that I left her in you will be running with three legs. Do you understand that, mongrel?"
I rolled my eyes. Like the perfect condition you left her in last September? She only started looking human again because of me. Plus, she's got you so whipped there's no way you touch me.
"Who's going back," Bella muttered. But I didn't worry. He was right, she'd forgive me by tomorrow morning. She always did.
"And," he continued, "if you ever kiss her again, I will break your jaw for her." His quiet threat sent a trail of heat down my spine, threatening my control. Well, he wasn't completely whipped.
"What if she wants me to?" I asked confidently. She knows what she's missing now. She's gonna want more. I remembered the feel of her tongue on mine.
"Hah!" Bella snorted.
"If that's what she wants, then I won't object," he shrugged arrogantly. "You might want to wait for her to say it, rather than trust your interpretation of body language - but it's your face."
Challenge accepted.
I was picturing it then. Bella, standing exactly where she had this afternoon in front of my house, pleading for me to kiss her and me, without hesitation, kissing her deeply, triumphantly.
"You wish," Bella grumbled.
The fantasy morphed so that we were back in the little house in my dream, the ending reimagined with us in a dark bedroom...
"Yes, he does," he murmured.
I blushed, angry and embarrassed. I was nervous he might share how far the fantasy had gone. "Well, if you're done rummaging through my head, why don't you go take care of her hand?"
I felt the heat along my spine again and it helped re-center me. My main objective, was not to get her in bed, I reminded myself. It was to save her, my best friend, the woman I loved, from him. Because he would kill her. Whether it was an accident - her too soft in his assassin hands, her blood too much for his vile nature - or intentional - him transforming her into a corpse like him, being with him meant her heart would stop. Her future would vanish.
I won't stop fighting. Not until her heart stops, I vowed. I was created to destroy evil things like you and that's what I'm going to do. I will make her see. She will understand her choice. You go ahead and take her now, but when she's all quiet tonight and you can't get inside her head, know that she's thinking of me and her options.
He seemed to consider that carefully. "One more thing," he said slowly. "I'll be fighting for her, too. You should know that. I'm not taking anything for granted and I'll be fighting twice as hard as you will."
"Good," I growled. "It's no fun beating someone who forfeits."
I felt confident in that moment. Good would win out. It had to. What kind of God would allow anything less for Bella?
I imagined her again with me in our little La Push house, happy. Billy and Charlie were there visiting, watching sports. Bella was cooking something on the stove, the braided bracelet from the dream around her wrist again. I wrapped my arms around her from behind and kissed her cheek.
"She is mine," He suddenly asserted, his voice no longer composed. "I didn't say I would fight fair."
His reaction took me by surprise. He could handle me kissing his girlfriend, fantasizing about having sex with her, and mentally dismembering his body, but my fairly innocent vision of the future... that seemed to have some bite to it. I wouldn't forget that.
"Neither did I," I said.
"Best of luck."
I nodded. "Yes, may the best man win."
"That sounds about right... pup." I grimaced at his implication. I was human enough for Bella. I had to be. I was a thousand times more human than he was at least.
I wondered what Bella thought of his low blow. I leaned around him to smile at her. "I hope your hand feels better soon. I'm really sorry your hurt."
Bella turned away from me and the bloodsucker finally got into his car.
I noticed then how closely he'd parked behind my car. As I watched he reversed just enough to clear the Volkswagen's bumper by half an inch as he pulled away from the curb.
"Asshole," I muttered.
I watched his car disappear down the street. As her voice faded away into the darkness, I was gripped with pain, feeling myself pulled apart.
"Why are you taking me here?" I remembered her asking.
"I thought you said you were going home?"
"Ugh. I guess you can't take me to Edward's house, can you?"
Somehow, despite my declaration, despite my kiss, he'd won the night. He was the one driving away with her. But would he win the war?
"Jake?" Charlie's voice broke through my thoughts. "Why don't you come inside for a sec? I'd like to talk to you." His tone was serious.
We went into the living room. He sat in the recliner so I sat across from him on the couch.
He seemed uncomfortable.
"What is it, Charlie? It's just me," I reassured him.
"I'm not supposed to say things like this, and if you tell Bella, I'll deny it, but you know I'd love nothing more than her to be with you instead of that - Edward," he said. "I don't trust him." He took a look at my smug grin and sighed. "Which is why it makes it so hard for me to say all this. Jake, you're the closest thing I'll ever have to a son, so know that I say this with love."
"Okay?" I said with amusement.
"But if you ever touch my baby girl against her will again, I will put you behind bars."
"Charlie, she kissed me back!"
"She doesn't seem to feel that way and I have to trust her." I shook my head annoyed, but I didn't argue. "And Jake, be careful. There's something about that kid. I wouldn't underestimate him. "
"I could take him," I muttered.
"That doesn't matter. I don't want Bella in the middle of that. Turn down the temperature, alright?" He asked, looking me in the eye. I nodded because he expected it, but I didn't mean it. If Charlie knew for a second what I was fighting for...
"Sorry for the lecture," he said. "Want to stay and watch the rest of the game?"
I looked up at the clock. Shoot. I was late for my shift.
I jumped up. "Sorry, Charlie. It's later than I thought. My dad's probably wondering where I'm at."
"Tell him I said hi. Drive safe!" He called after me as I bolted out the door.
But I wasn't planning to go far. There wasn't time for that. I found a place to park the Rabbit about a mile down the road where Charlie wouldn't see it.
I phased and noted that Jared, Quil, and, ugh, Leah were there.
They immediately demanded to know where I'd been, and though I wished I could've filtered it, the whole ordeal of the afternoon and evening spilled out for them ogle at.
Only Quil was impressed.
Seriously, moron? Leah thought. She so did not want you to kiss her. The leech is right, you're shit at reading body language. You're such a pig. I don't like her, but I have to give her credit for punching you.
Yeah, you definitely deluded yourself into thinking she wanted that. And Jake, bro, Jared thought patronizingly, don't hold a chick's face like that. Hopefully the bloodsuckers have a chiropractor in the family, too.
Thanks, I really value your feedback, I thought sarcastically as Leah and Quil laughed.
Sam's going to be so pissed when he realizes why you were late, Jared thought.
Where is he? I asked.
He changed so he could ask Billy what happened to you.
In five minutes I was back to La Push, the whole time enduring their unwanted commentary and advice. I felt embarrassed wondering if the bloodsucker had made the same assessments.
I felt Sam join us.
Jacob, why are you so determined to provoke our enemies over a petty crush? I could see he knew something of the day's events. After Sam showed up, Billy had called Charlie looking for me and Charlie had explained what happened. Whose to say he or the others won't come for you while you're patrolling around her house? I've tolerated you doing that, but I don't know if I can anymore. You can be so foolish.
He stopped short of giving an injunction and I was grateful for that. After the Cullen's let that one bloodsucker past them into her room, I really couldn't trust them anymore.
The sun was rising when my shift ended. Billy gave me a look when I walked in. Without him saying anything, I understood he wasn't pleased with me and would back up Charlie and Sam. I nodded sluggishly and dragged myself into my bedroom where I collapsed on the bed. I closed my eyes and it wasn't long before Bella, wearing only my t-shirt and my bracelet, was there with me, her soft lips on mine again.
A/N: I'm a softie for Jacob and really enjoyed writing this. My main focus is "After Midnight Sun, Edward's POV in New Moon, Eclipse, & Breaking Dawn," so don't expect any quick updates on this one, but I'll add things (in sequential order now) from time to time.
I imagine this chapter will evolve by the time I get to it in order, but here it is for now.
