Dearest Readers,
Thank you for continuing! I hope you are all liking the direction it's going & the direction it will continue to go. I loved writing this chapter because it brought out a little more of Andie & Jake's friendship and I was able to test the waters for how they cared for each other.
Billy, on the other hand, probably already has them as his OTP.
Let me know what you think, as always, and give this story a follow or even follow my page to stay in touch with the updates to come!
XOXO Ally Layne.
Bad Moon Rising
Chapter 14: A Black Christmas
They ended up driving over to the Black Residence in my newly fixed up car, which was a bonus. I had shoved on some boots and grabbed my jacket like Jake told me to, and we were off to his house within minutes.
"Are you sure I don't need to bring anything over?" I asked, looking over at him worriedly. I was glad he was driving so I had more time to fret myself to death.
He let out a laugh. "Andromeda, I am positive you do not need to bring anything over. My dad and I were literally only planning on ordering some pizza so you're not expected to do anything grand or bring any horderves, nothing like that."
I blinked. "You know what an horderve is?"
He rolled his eyes. "I'm not a savage."
"Never said you were." I looked out the window for a moment before adding, "I'm pretty sure I only learned what an hourderve was last year. My brother and I made a friend who's pretty rich and invited us on a trip."
He laughed. "That'll do it."
"Yeah, where I grew up, we called them appetizers."
Jake's laughter fell into a natural smile. "You don't have to worry about bringing any apps over, just know we have no expectations of you at all to be honest. I didn't even think about inviting you until today before I left, I thought you'd have plans."
I shrugged. "Kinda hard to have plans when the rest of your family is on the other side of the country."
He nodded to himself as he pulled the car into his drive. "That makes sense. But you aren't going home for a day or two, either." He put the car in park and looked over at me curiously. "Any particular reason for that?"
I choked out a laugh. "Well, aren't you Mr. Nosy?"
He shrugged. "Just curious, is all."
I nodded, before hopping out of the car as he turned off the engine. I grabbed my usual bag and hauled it over my shoulder as I made my way to the porch, hearing Jake's footsteps following me.
"So are you gonna tell me why you stayed here or not, Ands?"
I blinked, turning around to watch him walk up to me slowly. "What's with the nickname?"
He rolled his eyes, stopping in front of me. "You keep avoiding the question."
"It's probably because it's a question I don't particularly want to answer."
"Why?"
I had to keep myself from stomping my foot in frustration, instead sticking to clenching my fists at my sides. "Are you always this annoying to everyone, or is it just me?"
"Just you, to be honest," He admitted. His smile turned into a small frown. "You're not actually mad at me, though?"
I sighed. "Look, let's just not talk about why I didn't go home, okay? There's a lot to unpack in that conversation and I just want to enjoy the day."
He nodded stiffly. "Okay, but you do know you can talk to me about anything, right?"
"No offense, Jacob, but I barely know you," I told him. "In fact, one of the biggest steps in our friendship is happening right now with me spending Christmas with you and your dad. But just because of that, it doesn't mean that I automatically will be down to have trauma circles with you."
"Trauma circle?" He asked, opening the door and letting me walk in. "What even is that?"
I followed him inside, stripping off my jacket and making sure to take my shoes off on the rug. "You mean you don't share all your trauma with your pack-mates?"
He blinked, gesturing for me to hand him my coat. "Well, not on purpose."
"That's lame. You should have some trauma circles where you sit together and each talk about your traumatic backstories. Apparently everyone has something traumatic to talk about," I explained, handing him my coat so he could put it in a closet closest to the door.
Jake then asked for me to follow him and led me to the living room, where his father was sitting and watching the sports network.
"Hey, dad," He greeted as he flopped himself down on the couch across from where his dad's wheelchair was parked. Billy wasn't wearing the hat he had worn in our previous meetings, but he was wearing the same overall look with some jean pants, boots, and a red flannel.
Red must be for the occasion, I guessed.
"Look who the dog dragged in," Billy jested, looking over at me with a smile. "I wasn't sure you would accept the invitation, Miss Jackson."
I moved over and sat next to Jake on the couch, pleased to note that it was just as cozy and comfy in here as it was at my mom's apartment. It didn't feel too unloved or un-lived in, and wasn't dirty or cluttered, either.
It was just how I liked it.
"Thank you for inviting me, Mr. Black. But you better start calling me Andie or Andromeda because I will start thinking my mom is here if you keep saying Miss Jackson," I said, placing my bag down on the ground next to my feet. "But I'll admit I'm glad you both invited me. It was a nice surprise."
Billy looked between me and his son, a curious glint in his eye. "It was actually Jake's idea, Andromeda. But after getting over the initial shock, I have to say I'm glad he suggested it."
I looked over at Jake who was sitting there with reddening cheeks. "It was your idea, huh?"
He shrugged. "I told you I knew you weren't able to go home for the Holidays, and I don't think that anyone should be alone during Christmas," he admitted, sheepishly.
I grinned. "Thanks, Jake."
A crooked grin crossed his features. "You're very welcome, Ands."
"And here comes that nickname again," I groaned. "Where on earth did you get that from?"
He rolled his eyes. "Your name, duh."
I let out a laugh. "Of course, but why with the Ands?"
Jake raised his brows. "Do you not like it?"
"Well, I don't hate it-"
"Good! Now you are officially Ands in my mind," he cut me off, grinning from ear to ear.
"Jake, you don't have to cut the poor girl off," Billy playfully scolded his son.
He threw a hand on the back of the couch, his arm just barely grazing my shoulders as he threw a faux glare in his dad's direction. "She likes it."
I looked at him blankly. "She can speak for herself."
Billy started to laugh. "Oh, I told you I liked her, son."
For some reason, Jake was now blushing… again. "Yes, you did, didn't you?"
"So… how much did you tell your dad about me, pup?" I asked, raising a brow at him. "And how much does he know about your…"
"Affliction?" Billy offered.
I nodded. "Well, I guess that answers that question."
"Me being a shape-shifter is not an affliction," Jake told his dad, before looking at me with those deep, brown eyes of his. I swore I could drown in his irises if I really wanted to. "And considering he's the Chief Elder on our reservation, we had to tell him about you." His eyes turned down, and he moved his arm back to his side, closing in on himself. "I'm sorry to betray your trust like that, Ands."
I blinked. "Well, being able to shift into a wolf isn't exactly normal behavior," I started, before reaching over and grabbing his hand. "And I get why you would have to tell him, it's something I was aware of before you even knew what I am- it comes with the territory."
He squeezed my hand. "Thanks."
Billy let out a cough, making me flinch away from Jake and pull my hands back into my lap. "So Jake tells me you grew up in Manhattan and spent your summers going to a summer camp for others like you?"
I nodded. "Yeah, I went to Camp Half-Blood every summer after turning twelve. My brother and I both did, actually."
He tilted his head slightly, and I had a realization that's where Jake must've gotten it from. "Did you know you were a demigod before you went to this camp? Or is that where you learned?"
I shrugged. "We always struggled in school and had a hard time not getting expelled, but we didn't know what we really were. It was obvious that my brother and I were different, but it was disguised by having a difficult home life and learning disabilities."
He nodded slowly. "I see."
"My Pre-Algebra teacher actually turned into a monster and tried to kill us when we were twelve, which was the first moment we actually knew that something was that different about us. She was one of the three Furies, servants of Hades in the Underworld. They ended up tracking us down as my mother tried to get us into camp, and it was the Minotaur that tried to kill us until we finally made it there… but before we could do anything, my mom was captured by Hades's minions."
Billy looked appalled. "And you had no help?"
I sighed. "We had Grover, a satyr, but he wasn't really that great in fights like that. He has gotten a lot better, though, but I do think that one of our current issues is keeping demigods that aren't in camp safe and getting them into our borders."
"Your mother is not still a prisoner of Hades, is she?"
I shook my head, feeling Jake put his arm back up on the back of the couch, and let myself lean back into his warmth. "She's now living in her apartment with my new stepfather, Paul, who is definitely the perfect man for her and our family. Percy and I had gone on a quest and got her back, safe and sound."
"Percy is her twin brother," Jake added, making his dad nod along.
"It seems to me that your family has been through quite a lot," Billy spoke, his voice understanding and knowing.
"It hasn't been easy, that's for sure."
"And now your brother is missing?"
I let out a long sigh. "Yeah, he is. He was taken five feet from my side while we were sleeping in our cabin. No one knows who did it or where he is."
His eyes narrowed. "Have you consulted your gods about his disappearance?"
I ran a hand down my face before feeling Jake place his hand on my shoulder and give it a squeeze in support. "The gods have gone silent," I told him. "We've tried everything we could, even going to Olympus to petition to the gods-"
"Olympus? As in Greece?" Billy asked, eyes wide.
Jake shared the same look, making me nearly laugh at their likeness in the expressions. "No, Olympus is actually currently at the top of the Empire State Building on the 800th floor," I explained.
Jake's eyebrows furrowed. "But there's no such thing?"
I gave him a look. "You turn into a wolf and you're telling me there's no such thing as the 800th floor to Olympus?"
"You have a point."
"So as I was saying, some of us went to Olympus, too, and it turns out that the gods weren't up for seeing anyone, or holding counsel. The doors to Olympus were sealed, which has not happened before to demigods."
"So you can come and go from Olympus as you see fit?" Billy asked, eyes widening slightly. "That is quite interesting. Have you met all the gods yourself?"
I felt a small smile tug at my lips. "A lot of them, yes, and I have met all the Olympians. Most of the time demigods don't go back and forth from Olympus to their homes, considering we all lead dangerous and busy lives. Most of us stick to hanging out at camp, though."
"What happens when you age out and have to leave camp?" Jake asked.
"Age out?"
"You know, get older than high school or college or whatever. Like turn 18? Or older?" He clarified.
I shrugged. "Normally we either don't live that long or learn how to survive in the real world, and try to live as normal of lives as we can. But there are some of us who still attend camp, just year round and help train the newer campers while acting as camp counselors."
Jake stiffened, his hand clenching my shoulder again. "What do you mean you don't live that long?"
"What I mean is I'm not even 18 and I have lost nearly half of the friends I've ever had to being in a war and battles, or even just going on quests and dealing with monsters. Most of the time, demigods don't live long because there's so much out there that's against us in the first place."
Billy looked at me solemnly. "I hope you realize that you are now under the protection of the Quileute's now, which means your survival rate has just significantly improved, Andromeda."
I grinned. "It definitely helps to know that the pack has my back."
Jake let out a huff of air. "You're not going anywhere anytime soon, I can guarantee that."
"But I will have to go when my brother is found," I said, eyeing him from the side. "Or when I figure out what's going on in Seattle. I am meant to be with my family, Jake."
His lips pursed. "I just meant… Well, let's forget about what I meant. What's important is that you know we're here to help you, Ands. And if that means you need us to help you find your brother, we will."
I smiled at him softly. "Thank you. You don't know how much that means to me."
He smiled back at me. "Of course. You need to know that I am in your corner, always."
Billy coughed again, keeping us from falling into our own little world. "I knew that you were going to be something special when we first met. I just didn't realize how special of a young lady you were."
I felt my cheeks heat at his words. "I… thank you, Mr. Black."
He nodded. "It's nice to see the girl who has my son all tied up in knots."
I blinked, turning to Jake who was now hiding behind his hands.
"You know I'm tellin' the truth, boy."
Jake groaned. "C'mon, dad, really?"
I burst into a fit of laughter, making Jake groan again, throwing his head back in a dramatic sigh. "Mr. Black, you need to tell me more about Jake," I said once the laughter subsided. "Please tell me every embarrassing story you can remember."
Billy's eyes lit up as Jake turned to hide into the side of the couch.
He didn't succeed, considering he was well over 6'6''. Poor guy.
"Where do I start?" Billy asked, and Jake shifted even more into the couch. "This is going to be fun."
.
.
.
Billy was right. It was fun. Jake had long since given up on trying to disappear into the couch, figuring after a few attempts he wasn't going to vanish like some magic show. So, instead, he tried to counter every story that Billy told by insisting it wasn't true.
"His sisters loved dressing him up, and he loved the attention he got from the girls," Billy told me. "He would beg to let them put him in one of their dresses, do his hair like they did, and even let them put makeup on his face."
Jake threw his hands in the air. "I never asked for it!"
Billy let out a chuckle. "Oh, you definitely did alright. You would ask Rachel to dress you up just about every chance you got to be with them. I'm sure it was just because you thrived off the attention, but you did only have the influence of sisters, you know. It was bound to happen at least once."
"How many times did they dress him up?" I found myself asking.
He shrugged. "At least a dozen or so. More than enough to get plenty of pictures that surprisingly went missing a few years ago when someone got their hands on the family photo album." Billy tilted his head with a smile. "But I suppose it's good considering Rebecca has her own copy of that album with her in Hawaii, far away from any meddlesome hands." He stared knowingly at his son.
Jake's mouth dropped open. "Wait, what?"
I started to laugh. "Dear gods, this is great."
He gave me a look, crossing his arms. "Yeah, because it's at my expense!"
"Which makes it even funnier!"
Billy laughed along with me, and his eyes suddenly seemed to look back to a time that was not the one we were in. It was like they misted over, and he was now seeing something completely different.
"Mr. Black?"
Jake's head perked up, and he looked at his dad with a worried gaze.
"You remind me an awful lot of my Sarah, you know," He told me, his voice lower than it had been before. "I think the two of you would've hit it off."
Jake seemed to stiffen once more at those words. "Mom?"
I held my breath. That was a conversation I had been saving for a later date- the discussion of what happened to his mom. I never was able to learn about what happened to Billy's late wife, but all I knew is that she passed away when Jacob was young, and now his sisters were far away.
All the women in his life were gone, and I suddenly understood why he is the way he is.
Why he acts around Bella the way he does.
I bit my lip as I started to piece the puzzle together, and suddenly everything became intertwined into a grand mosaic of who Jacob Black was.
"You and Sarah have the same humor," Billy spoke. "You even tease Jake the way she used to tease me. I almost forgot what that was like."
We sat in silence, pondering over the words he had spoken while Billy still seemed to be stuck in whatever trance he was in.
I reached over and took Jake's hand in mine one more, and gave him a small smile.
He smiled back, and gave the hand a gentle squeeze.
However, the moment was broken as soon as the door opened. "Hello?"
I blinked, pulling my hand back into my lap once more.
"Charlie?" Billy asked, calling over to the doorway. "We're in the living room!"
Chief Swan walked into the room followed by his daughter, Bella. His eyes widened at seeing me sitting on the couch, and I shifted awkwardly at the scrutiny. "I didn't know you and Jake had a guest."
I waved. "Hi again, Chief Swan."
He nodded in my direction. "Hello, Miss Jackson." He then held up the bag in his hand. "Bells made some food for us, but we didn't know that there would be extra-"
I took that as time to skedaddle.
"Oh, don't worry about it," I said, standing up and grabbing my bag. "I was just about to head out, anyway."
Billy went to open his mouth, but I gave him a look.
He nodded solemnly.
"Hey, Jake, how's your Christmas?" Bella asked, immediately moving to take the spot I was just sitting in, looking at him with wide, curious eyes. "I hope you don't mind us coming over."
Jake was still looking at me though. I was doing everything I could to avoid the powerful stare coming from his eyes.
"Ands, I'm sure you don't need to go," He said, almost in a beg. "You know you're always welcome here, right?"
I gave him a small smile before looking down at my fuzzy socks. "Yeah, I do. Thank you, Jake." I looked over to where Billy was talking with Chief Swan half-heartedly. "And thank you for your hospitality, Mr. Black."
I immediately walked to the door, nearly running in my haste to get the Hades out of there.
Footsteps followed me.
"Ands, what's going on?"
Two hands grabbed my shoulders, stopping me cold, and I slowly turned to face him. "What, Jake?"
His eyes were full of concern. Dammit. Why'd he have to be so nice? "Why are you leaving?"
I shrugged. "I don't want to get in the way, you know?"
"No, I don't know," He insisted. "You're not in the way at all."
I opened my mouth to try and give another half-hearted excuse, but was quickly cut off by another voice.
"Hey, Jake? Where'd you go off to?"
He stiffened. "Just talking to Ands, Bella. Don't worry about us."
Her pretty face was scrunched with worry. "Are you sure?" I saw her gulp visibly. "She did hit you the last time I saw you with her like that."
He closed his eyes. "I said it's fine, Bells."
I looked around his shoulder, giving her a small grin that I was sure didn't match the rest of my face. "I was just leaving."
"No, you're not."
I looked up at him, feeling some anger and frustration start to seep into my bones. "Yes, I am. And you will let me, because you have no right to tell me what to do, pup."
Bella's eyes were wide. "I'm just going to…" and she quickly turned and practically stumbled back into the living room where she came from.
"I…" Jake sighed, immediately losing his defensive posture as she left. "I didn't mean to make it sound that way, I just…"
I nodded. "I get it. I do, okay? But right now I think it's best if I just head home for the evening."
"But you didn't even eat."
I felt a small smile tug on my lips at his pout. "That doesn't mean I hadn't planned on making my own Christmas dinner, Black. I'll just go do exactly what I planned on doing before you came over this afternoon."
His brows furrowed. "But you'll be alone on Christmas."
I smiled. "You were the one who told me I'll never really be alone, Jake. And I think I'm starting to believe it."
Using his stunned reaction at my words to my advantage, I carefully slipped out of the house and strode over to my car to take me back home.
I noticed he had sent a few texts, asking if I made it home safe or if I needed anything, and didn't bother responding.
After making dinner for one, I lay on my own couch in front of the TV, which was playing A Wonderful Life.
Sometimes, I wondered if I would ever lead such a life to call it wonderful, but then I thought of my friends and family and realized that I was already living it.
Now, it was time to start to protect it.
Drifting off into a deep sleep, I barely heard the words as they came.
"Andie."
Is that… is that-
"I remember you, Andie."
I felt tears gather in my eyes.
"Percy."
