CHAPTER FIFTEEN
(BPOV)
We left the beach cabin just as the sun started to set in the late Summer sky.
Walking hand in hand down the familiar winding path that led back to Jake's made me wish we could've stayed there on the beach longer. Away from all the rest of the world, where it was seemingly just the two of us.
No magic and no monsters.
Where things were simple and easy.
Sometimes I wondered what my life would have been like if the Cullens had stayed gone.
Their arrival back to Forks made everything different for Jacob and the whole pack. They paid a high price for their close proximity.
It didn't seem fair to me.
"You're awful quiet?" Jacob hedged, upon noticing my silence there beside him. "What are you thinking about?"
"The Cullens." I admitted.
His pace faltered some at the mention of them and he turned to face me more.
"What about them?" He nervously questioned, and I could see it there, behind those rich eyes of his, the silent question of whether or not I was going to change my mind about Edward.
I leaned up on my tippy toes and captured his warm lips before the worry could get any further. The kiss was simple at first, but quickly turned heated, and it wasn't long before I had to break the kiss to catch my breath.
"I was just thinking about how sometimes I wish they had stayed gone. Things would have been so much easier."
"I wish that, too." He admitted. "More than you know."
"Doesn't seem fair for you or the pack." I told him, as his lips trailed down to my neck briefly.
"It's not." He whispered. "But we'll deal with whatever comes."
"You know, Charlie and your dad will seriously call out a real search party for us this time if we don't show up for pizza's and the movie soon. I already sent a text saying we were on our way a little while ago."
Jacob half groaned at this, his warm breath ghosting against my bare skin with his husky reply.
"Ten minutes won't hurt anyone, right?"
"You know we won't be ten minutes...-"
"Okay twenty...-" He half chuckled with another kiss.
"You make it hard to say no to you."
"You make me hard period." He countered with a grin. "But I suppose we can wait. They are expecting us and I am honestly starving."
"Being with me works up your appetite that much, huh?" I lightly teased him, as we headed back down the trail.
"You know it. In more ways than just one."
"I feel bad you skipped lunch."
"Don't feel bad. It was time well spent." He confirmed, with a gentle squeeze to my hand. "Besides, I had breakfast. Emily sent Sam with five muffins for me alone, but I burned all those off during patrol this morning. Doesn't take much."
"I like your appetite. Both of them." I truthfully told him, with another shy smile his way.
"Is that so?" He teased in return, the touch of red to his russet cheeks warming my heart to see there on his handsome face.
I couldn't recall a time when I'd seen him this happy or this relaxed in his own skin lately.
"It is. Problem is, now you've given me an appetite of my own. What are we gonna do about that?"
Jacobs infectious laugh made a wide smile form on my face then.
"Oh, I can think of all kinds of ways to fulfill that appetite and stop the hunger. I just don't know if you'll be up for all of them."
"Guess you won't know till you try."
"Guess not." He countered. "You know what they say about the way to a mans heart being through his stomach."
"Are you saying I don't have your whole heart yet Jacob Ephraim?" I asked, noting the grin on his face when he drew me in front if him, and placed his lips to my ear with his reply.
"Oh no, that you've had since we were just little. When we made mud pies and jumped in puddles and baked cookies with my mom in the kitchen at Christmas."
"Good to know." I sincerely replied then. "Had me worried there for a second."
"My heart is yours for the taking for as long as you'll have it." He offered. "You give it back to me this time around and I'll never be the same."
Even though we were kidding, I didn't miss the tone to his serious statement, and it made me peer back at him.
"I'm not ever giving it back. I'm keeping it with mine forever. So, looks like I'm gonna need to learn a few recipes from Emily in order to keep the other appetite of yours satisfied. Good thing you like my cooking."
He kissed my cheek and re took my hand in his as we neared the border of his backyard.
"I love your cooking-... and everything else about you, Bells."
"I think I like post coital you...-"
"Nah, this is way more than just that." He admitted, glancing toward the garage with a serious expression now on his face. "This is-... my heart at rest for the first time in months, honey."
He slowly drew me into him, stealing another kiss before we caught sight of Sue Clearwater pulling her truck into the yard with Charlie in tow.
"I feel the same way." I told him. "Being with you makes me feel...-whole...-safe."
"You are safe with me. Always."
Sue honked then and waved as Charlie gathered up the four pizzas in the back to carry into Billy's.
Jake released me and jogged over to give my dad a hand, the two of them sharing a nod, as Charlie handed him two of the larger pizza boxes with a suspicious grin.
"About time you two showed up. Jeez, I'll have to call for a real search party next time." Charlie chuckled, tucking me under his arm with his free hand.
"Sorry, Chief." Jacob replied, his blush prominent enough for my father to recognize now.
"Damn good thing I like you, kid."
"Dad!" I laughed. "Stop it."
"Hey now, it's my right to tease the boy. He's like family already. Think I've earned that right by now, wouldn't you say?" Charlie continued on.
"Yeah, I wouldn't have it any other way." Jake grinned.
Billy was happy to see us when we entered the house, his welcoming smile in place and his arms outstretched to me in true Billy fashion.
"So good to see you here again, Bella. Feels like it's been too long." He hedged, as I leaned down and embraced him.
"I've missed being here."
This home had always felt like a second sanctuary for me. Even as a child I would always ask to come over with Charlie. There was just something about it.
Not being able to visit the Reservation in the weeks leading up to the wedding had been hell for me. I'd begged Edward to see reason at the time, but he refused and when I actually tried to sneak out, he had been brazen enough to mess with my truck. It hadn't been running right since.
"We missed you being here for sure. Didn't we Jacob?"
"Yeah, we did."
Charlie lined the pizzas up on the counter and handed us all paper plates, instructing us to dig in before it got too cold.
As per usual, Jacob wolfed down eight slices of meat lovers, nearly a whole pizza on his own, and Charlie looked at him as if he'd sprouted an alien head.
"Holy hell, Billy! What are you starving this kid all week?" He huffed, before taking another large bite of his pepperoni slice.
"He's just growing and filling out, Charlie." Billy laughed, with a wink our way.
"Filling out?! I'd say so. Damn, Jake. Every time I see you, I swear you've grown another three inches or more. The height on you baffles me. Your old man certainly wasn't that tall at your age. I'm starting to think you all are keeping some kind of secret on this Reservation."
"Oh, come on now. Don't be so foolish, old friend." Billy hedged in return, with a dismissive nod and another swig of beer Charlie had brought along with the pizza tonight.
"No, seriously! I mean, look at Sam Uley! He grew like crazy! Filled out just like Jake is now!" Charlie chuckled, with a shake of his head in disbelief. "What do you all breed wolves or something around here?"
Jacob audibly choked on his last bite of Pizza from this, his eyes going wide when he reached for the glass of water ahead of him on the table.
I dropped my own forgotten slice and tapped him on the back, before handing him a napkin, as he swallowed and then gulped down the remaining water in a hurry, his widened gaze on Billy's as he tried to field the remark my father had just made.
"You alright there, son?" Billy worriedly asked.
"Yeah-" Jacob half coughed, his free hand reaching for mine under the table.
Billy looked as if he was stuck somewhere between laughing and guilt stricken, and the growing silence was becoming much too loud now.
The enjoyable atmosphere was hurriedly shifting to concerning and I was desperate to put things back on track.
"You know...-" I cautiously began. "I think it's more of how things are done differently here."
Charlie and Billy both looked my way at the same time then and I struggled to stay focused, my mind going back to the memory of Jacob hurdling himself over the back deck railing here to reach me in time before Paul phased into the massive wolf he was.
I don't think I'll ever be able to forget to panic and true horror I saw reflected back at me through Jacobs gaze as he ran full tilt for me. Like Hell itself was chasing after me and he was the only thing that could stand in the way of it that day.
I swallowed hard and refocused my attention to Charlie.
"What do you mean by that, Bella?" He curiously asked. "Done differently how?"
Jacob gave my hand a reassuring squeeze in his, as I met my fathers confused gaze and tried to think of the best words I could come up with.
"I mean, here on the Res, things are different then they are in Forks or in other neighboring towns. People come together. They help each other out here and they work hard when things need to be done. If something breaks, they fix it on their own, by hand. They don't call a repair person or a contractor. Look at Billy's wheel chair ramp for example. It needed to be torn apart and replaced. Jacob did it himself this Summer. It's no wonder he's built the way he is. He's strong cause he works hards...-with his hands. He tears things apart and rebuilds them. It's just who he is. So- maybe there isn't some big secret, just a different way of living here on the Reservation."
My father's gaze roamed over my face for a long and thoughtful moment once I finished speaking, and I swore I held my breath the entire time he was contemplating what I had just said.
Seconds passed that felt like minutes before Charlie finally cracked a smile and then looked to Jake.
"She's got a point there, son. Maybe it is just the difference in generations and the living structure here on the Res that keeps all you boys so fit and muscular and growing."
Billy busted out laughing just then, and it made me breathe a sigh of relief when my father soon joined him, the two of them reaching for another slice of pizza from the only remaining box now placed in the center of the table as they tapped their beer bottles, and carried on in conversation that had nothing to do with Jake's ever growing size.
By the time dinner was done, and the movie was playing in the living room, I was so tired, I could hardly keep my eyes open.
Jacobs gaze caught mine from the sofa as I joined them to see the movie play out on screen.
The film of choice was 'The Perfect Storm', with George Clooney and Mark Wahlberg. It was one I had seen at least three times already with Charlie, but didn't mind sitting through it again. It was nice to have things back to where they felt they should be, and it was even better to see Charlie getting his strength back more and more with every passing day.
Charlie and Billy were lost in their own banter about the leading cast of the movie while I hunkered down on the sofa with Jake, my head coming to rest comfortably on his shoulder and my eyes drifting closed before too long.
"Tired, honey?" Jake whispered, as he draped the blanket off the back of the sofa over me.
"Yeah, I'm sorry. Can't keep my eyes open."
He secured an arm around me, and I nestled in against him with a sigh of contentment.
After a few minutes, I was nearly asleep, but not before I heard Charlie pause the movie mid-way through and take note of my exhaustion.
"She seems beat."
"Been a long few weeks with everything." Jake sighed.
"I'm sure she could use a good nights rest." Billy thoughtfully added. "Why don't you two stay here tonight? We can all have a good breakfast in the morning and Jake here can give you two a ride home in my truck sometime in the afternoon?"
"As long as we wouldn't be intruding too much?" Charlie replied, and I silently hoped that he would just agree to stay.
I didn't want to leave Jacob just yet. The truth was, there was this sense of unease that had crept over me shortly after dinner and while I couldn't place where the feeling had come from, whatever it was, made me want to be close to him.
"You're never intruding, old friend. You two are always welcome to stay here as long as you would like. I know Jacob surely doesn't mind."
I felt him nod in response, as his head came to rest on top of mine.
"Jake, I uh- didn't tell you this before, but- I think I owe you a thanks." Charlie began.
"For what, chief?"
"You really put yourself out there for my girl. Coming to the wedding and all like you did. You were determined. And being there for us, for me, like you have over the past few weeks with my recovery, I really can't thank you enough."
"You're welcome, Charlie. I'm so glad you're healing the way we all hoped you would."
"One day at a time." Charlie huffed in return.
"Yes, that's the best way." Billy agreed.
"It's been nice to be here tonight. Feels almost like old times."
"Can't tell you how much we've missed that, Charlie." Billy admitted.
"Same here." Jacob sighed
There was a brief silence then, followed by my fathers voice when he spoke again to Jacob, his tone sincere with his words.
"You really care for her don't you, son?"
"...I do- I love her, Charlie."
That's when it came, the urgent pounding knock on Billy's front door that made Jacobs whole body go completely rigid.
A/N: Thank you for reading and please leave a review.