It Happened In The Blink Of An Eye
It happened all at once. One minute Jacob was sitting there, knees to his chin as he stared angrily out at the water. And then it hit him with all the force of a speeding car. The scent exploded almost violently into the air around him and it permeated everything. Saturating it. Cloaking it and him in it's intoxicating and inviting sweetness. He tensed and his eyes darted around almost helplessly, finding nothing. Dazed and punch drunk. Floating in a free fall. A part of what was happening around him and yet, a million miles away as his mind spun and one thing repeated over and over like a mantra.
Imprint. Find.
The clipped commands of the animal within prompted Jacob Black to rise to his feet and this prompted Sam Uley to trail away, mid-sentence and glance at him in concern. Maybe a bit of mild annoyance.
"Is something wrong, Jacob?"
Jacob didn't answer, he merely stood there as everything around him blurred. Then came back into focus only to blur all over again. His sharpened senses kicked into overdrive just as soft,melodic and oh so familiar laughter infiltrated his awareness and lingered.
The scent grew even stronger. Enough that it had him dropping to sit on the sand all over again as he continued his frantic search, scanning his surroundings but finding nothing that seemed to stand out or that could possibly be triggering what was happening.
The heat crept into his veins as if someone had filled them with lava and he grunted as his body tensed all over again, almost painfully. The pain of his first phase was nothing compared to this.
"Jacob. Earth to Jacob." -that was Embry, snapping his fingers in front of Jacob's face. Jacob blinked and caught himself staring at a point past Embry intently.
Poised. Waiting.
The one thing he never thought was going to happen was finally happening.
Gravity shifted and everything that made him angry or caused him bitterness and pain simply ceased to exist. Fell away in sharp cuts. Everything around him went blurrier and more out of focus and his breath caught in his throat only to escape in an audible gasp as soon as his eyes fixed on the center of it all. The one person keeping him grounded.
The sound of her musical laughter filled his ears as he watched her playing what looked to be an intense game of volleyball just down the beach from where the pack had made their bonfire for the night. All he could do was stare at her. Someone was listening to Nickelback, a bit of the song playing snuck it's way into his awareness.
Years passed in the blink of an eye in his mind and he could see them all vividly. Sharper than he was seeing anything else that existed in reality around him at present. He watched as his loyalty to everyone and everything but her was stripped away. Replaced.
Anger turned to adoration. Bitterness turned to warmth and comfort. And suddenly, everything that hadn't made any sense before made absolutely perfect sense. The pull to Bella that caused him nothing but misery explained itself and everything became crystal clear.
The scent of fruity sweetness laced and mingled with coconut and almonds and it lacked the faintest hint of burning that Bella's scent held. And although these two scents were similar in more ways than one, the scent of her was a thousand times more intoxicating than the scent of Bella Swan had ever been.
"Fuck." the word came in a quiet mumble, hoarse and stunned. Jacob swallowed hard and took three long and deep breaths as everything came back into focus and the scent grew stronger; closer. Jacob's eyes settled on the volleyball game taking place down the shore from their bonfire and all he could do was watch in awe as she sent a neon colored volleyball smashing over the net. His eyes were glued to her.
The stray thought wandered in that maybe his strong pull to Bella hadn't meant that Bella was his imprint like he'd spent so many months in despair over.. Maybe it was meant to be her sister all along. When he thought back on childhood memories and the way he always felt a stronger pull towards Evie even back then at such a young age, it seemed to make so much more sense. And at last, Jacob Black was finally free. A massive weight lifted. Pain and bitterness and anger that he'd carried around for quite a while now seemed to vanish into the ether and left behind only comfort and peace. The strong sense that everything was finally going to be alright.
The neon pink and green volleyball soared through the air and Evie dove downward, managing to save it and sending it back over the net before it could make contact with the sand and become a dead ball. She hit the ground with an "Oomph." and rolled over onto her back to lie there a second or two, stare up at the blue sky as she tried to get back the breath she'd just knocked out of herself just to keep from breaking up the volley.
"You alright, Tampa?" Eric called out with a laugh.
Evie raised an arm and held up a finger as she called out breathlessly, "Give me a minute, boys. Just a minute."
"You could've just let the ball hit the ground." Mike Newton stood over Evie's outstretched body as he held his hand out to her. Evie got her breath back and she sat up, reaching for his hand. Letting him pull her up off the sand.
"I could have." Evie laughed softly as she said it.
"Maybe just do that next time?" Mike asked in concern as he motioned for her to turn around and brushed the sand off of her back.
Evie gave him a thumbs up and the three of them jogged back over to the game.
Jessica called for the round to continue and the game started up again. Evie dropped back to the middle and got into position. The ball came towards her and started to take a nosedive towards the sand again and Evie lunged, getting beneath it as she sent it upward. Mike jumped up and his hand connected with the ball as he sent it smashing down into the front row on the other side of the net.
The game continued for another round or two and when they were all stopped to take another break, Jessica Stanley wandered over and grabbed hold of Evie's arm as she nodded towards the boardwalk with a giggle. "Wanna walk over with me to grab some cotton candy or something?"
"I am kind of starving, come to think of it." Evie linked arms with her friend and they started to wander away from the group, talking excitedly amongst themselves and laughing about Mike's attempts to show off for one of the new college girl lifeguards that had been hired for the summer.
Just as a group of guys gathered around a bonfire came into view, Evie caught sight of Jacob Black. Given the current situation between Jacob and her sister, Bella, Evie wasn't entirely sure whether saying anything to him was a good idea or if he'd ignore her too, so she pretended that she didn't see him and kept walking.
Jacob called her name and she stopped, turning to face him. Throwing a hand up to shield her eyes from the sun as she grinned. "Jacob? Is that you?"
Jacob jogged over to her and lifted her off her feet in a bear hug so tight that Evie almost couldn't breathe. Evie hugged back and gazed at him for a few seconds as this intense heat seemed to radiate off of him and encase her completely.
"When did you get here, huh?"
"Two weeks ago. I came back with Bells and her idiot when they came to Florida to visit Mom." Evie giggled. "Bella didn't tell you?"
"We're not speaking, actually."
"I know that. You do possess the ability to read texts though, right?" Evie asked with an amused smile. All she could do was stare at him. And of course, wonder why exactly her sister was wasting time with the pretentious and stoic dickbag she was with currently when Jacob was literally right there.
She must have zoned out because Jacob was chuckling. Snapping his fingers in front of her face as he stared at her in amusement. "Earth to Evie. Did you hear what I said?" Jacob asked.
"Y-yeah. You said something about ignoring Bella's texts, right?" Evie guessed. Jacob nodded and Evie sighed. "I heard a little about what happened. Granted, it was her side of the story, but either way, I'm sorry." Evie muttered softly as she stepped closer to Jacob all over again and wrapped her arms around his neck as she pulled him into a tight hug. "We can still be friends, right?" she asked as she reluctantly pulled away.
Jacob smiled. "Yeah. Nothing is going to change that." he promised as he found himself unable to stop staring at her in awe yet again.
Jessica called out to her and Evie turned to glance at her. "I'm coming."
Then she turned back to Jacob and smiled as she held out her arm to him. "C'mon. We're going to get something to eat up at the boardwalk."
Jacob could feel Sam's eyes burning a hole through him but honestly, it didn't matter anymore. Sam was only Alpha in name and Jacob was determined to do what he wanted. He glanced back in the direction of the pack gathered around the bonfire and then he glanced back at Evie and chuckled. "Yeah. Yeah, let's go."
"Awesome." Evie laughed and leaned against his side as they started to wander in the direction of the boardwalk.
"Shit." Evie stopped and sat down, lifting her foot to look at the bottom of it. Jacob flopped down onto the sand in front of her and chuckled. "Ya know, if you were wearing shoes, this wouldn't have happened." he mused as he took her foot and placed it in his lap.
Evie swallowed hard and nodded. Normally, she wasn't much for blushing but when the warmth of his rough hand made contact with her foot and he pulled it into his lap it felt as if all the blood in her body rushed straight to her cheeks. She winced as his finger raked over the spot whatever she'd stepped on was embedded in her skin. "Ouch."
Jacob clucked his tongue and shook his head. "It's a piece of glass, Evie. It's deep in there too."
"Shit. Can you get it out?" Evie asked as she glanced at him. Jacob shook his head. "I can try, but I probably won't be able to without tweezers or something to pull it out."
He tried to use his fingernail to sort of push it up closer to the surface of her skin and she squirmed and yelped in pain and he couldn't take it. He had to stop and look at her.
"Look at me, okay? Count to 3 and look at me. I almost had it until you flinched like that."
"Sorry? It hurt. It was a reflex." Evie muttered as she looked at him as he'd asked her to and took a deep breath. "One." Jacob muttered as he continued to coax the shard embedded in her skin upward to the surface of it. Evie flinched just a little and Jacob repeated calmly, "You have to be still. Whenever you flinch like that, I lose it again. I almost got it, okay? Just relax. Trust me." he gave her a reassuring smile as he said it and Evie took a deep breath. "Okay, alright. I think I'm ready now." she muttered as her eyes locked on his and she focused on him and counting like he'd asked and not the pain she felt whenever his finger made contact with the area of skin.
"Three. And got it." Jacob smirked in triumph as he brushed the shard of glass off on the board shorts he was wearing. He stood and held out his hand, pulling her off the sand and straight into him.
Their bodies bumped against each other and he watched as she gulped and licked her lips while looking up at him. They kind of just stood there for a few seconds, neither of them saying anything until he finally did. "Maybe I should just carry you on my back,hm?"
"Nope, uh uh. I am not going to be the reason you pull a muscle. I'm too heavy." Evie started to insist, only to have Jacob scoop her up in his arms and chuckle. "You were saying?" he asked in amusement as he looked at her.
Evie put her arms around his neck and laughed against the side of it. "Okay, but I'm telling you. Sooner or later, I'm gonna get too heavy to carry. And the boardwalk's a pretty good distance."
"You're not heavy." Jacob insisted, smirking at her a little as he started to walk in the direction of the boardwalk where Jessica Stanley stood waiting on the two of them to catch up.
"You were getting tired anyway. I kind of saw you playing volleyball a little while ago." Jacob mumbled quietly as he glanced down at her. Evie nodded in agreement as she stared right back at him. "Maybe a little. We've been playing since three and it's almost six now." she admitted as she rested her head against his shoulder.
They came to a stop where Jessica stood and Jessica snickered as she looked from Evie to Jacob. "I leave you alone for two minutes and you find some random hunk to carry you around. Unbelievable." as she laughed a little and nodded towards the food vendors lining the boardwalk. "What happened to I'm starving?" Jessica teased.
"I am starving!" Evie argued, sticking out her tongue. They wandered up to a stand that was selling cotton candy and a variety of other things and Evie glanced up at Jacob. She didn't want to get out of his arms, but she didn't want to make him keep holding her, either. "You do know I have working legs, right?"
"Mhm." Jacob answered as he shrugged and gave her another smirk. "You act like you're heavy."
"I'm not light." Evie insisted.
"Do you really want me to put you down?" Jacob taunted as he stared at her and bit his lip.
"Well no, but I know I have to be getting heavy.." Evie muttered.
"So just let me keep carrying you. I promise, the second you get too heavy, I'll put you down." Jacob muttered against the shell of her ear as he held onto her even tighter.
"Okay, fine. I don't wanna hear it when your back's hurting later." Evie muttered before falling silent.
Their turn in line came and Evie dug around in her pocket, pulling out wadded cash. "Do you want anything, Jake?"
"Chili cheese fries with bacon."
"That actually sounds really good. I'll get those too. Or we can get an extra large and share… But you might want your own." Evie stopped to correct herself and Jacob chuckled as he shook his head no. "We can share. Just don't eat them all."
"You mean like that time Charlie and Billy took us camping and you ate all my marshmallows?"
"You're the one who wasn't eating them." Jacob smiled as he said it.
Evie pouted at him and stuck out her tongue. "I was, just not as fast as you devoured the entire bag."
"I'm a growing boy. They were sitting there taunting me, okay?" Jacob bantered back as the two wandered back down in the direction of the bonfire. Jacob wandered right up to it as if Sam wasn't about to burn a hole through him glaring and he flopped down on the sand to sit.
Evie went to move but he held her in place. "Oh no. No you don't. If I let you out of my sight, the fries are as good as eaten, Evie." Jacob teased. He couldn't help but smirk a little when she blushed and for a good second or two, all she could do was stammer.
"Oh haha. I won't eat all of these." Evie grabbed a few and shoved them into her mouth and Jacob chuckled. "Says the girl who has her mouth so full right now she can't even talk."
"Bite me." Evie's words were muffled because of the food she was eating.
"What was that, Evanna?" Jacob asked with a teasing grin.
"I said bite me." Evie swallowed her food so he could hear her more clearly as she repeated herself.
Jacob resisted the urge to respond with something like "Where?" or "Is that a challenge?" but it was hard as hell to do so. All he did was laugh and smirk at her as he reached out to drag his thumb through some chili at the corner of her mouth.
Evie's breath caught and she stared at him a second or two, blushing yet again. "Did you get it? I'm surprised I don't have it on my forehead or something by now." she mused after a second or two when she was finally able to break out of his gaze. He laughed and nodded. "You're not the only one." he teased gently, making her pout at him.
Sam cleared his throat to draw Jacob's attention and Jacob met his gaze and smirked. Sam spoke up. "Aren't you going to introduce your friend?"
Seth chuckled and glanced from Jacob to Sam and back before stating that he and Leah already knew her.
"Oh my god, Seth? You're a giant too?" Evie realized that Seth had looked familiar for a reason and smiled warmly at him. Leah managed a smile when Evie smiled at her too. Despite the way she felt about Bella, she'd never had any real problem with Evie. But apparently, now Jacob was going to join the ranks of the imprinted and damn it, that hurt just a little bit. The numbers of people among the pack left yet to imprint were really starting to dwindle and Leah was starting to realize that she might not be able to imprint.
And in addition to that, she might be doomed to a life she didn't actually want. What if she wanted to be a mother someday? Shifting had already begun to mess with that to a degree. With Jacob imprinting, which he apparently had because there was no other logical explanation for the sudden 360 in his mood from an hour ago to now, she was starting to realize that she was going to have everyone else's happiness rubbed in her face.
Evie eyed Leah in concern. Bella hadn't been exaggerating. The Leah that Evie remembered didn't look so hurt and angry or bitter. They hadn't been as close as she'd been to Seth, but she had considered Leah a friend.
She was worried about her but something told her that now was not the time nor the place to ask what was going on. She'd have to come by some other time just to visit. Maybe if Leah had friends to relate to and not just all the guys currently gathered around the bonfire with them, she'd have someone to vent to.
If she knew Bella, she knew her sister probably hadn't even given it a shot. They hadn't ever really gotten along well at all.
"When did you move back?" Seth asked, mostly to break the tension happening all around him.
Evie took another handful of fries and answered as she chewed, "I came back with Bella and her idiot when they came to visit mom. Kinda sucked having the house to myself all the time and there was talk that the team was trading Phil to Georgia? I think? Anyway, yeah. I decided I'd rather live with Charlie than move yet again and probably be stuck in the middle of BFE where I knew literally no one and mom was never around, so…" Evie took a deep breath and shrugged, "Yeah. Here I am."
"What's BFE?" Paul asked.
"Bum frick Egypt." Evie answered with a laugh as she gave a half shrug and wiggled around in Jacob's lap to get a little more comfortable before looking back at him. "Your legs have to be asleep by now, Jake."
"Actually, no." Jacob shrugged it off. It wouldn't matter if they were, he wasn't going to let her move. He didn't want to let her out of his sight and he strongly suspected that later on, he and Sam were going to have quite a heated discussion about why his imposed rules were bullshit and Jacob wasn't going to adhere to them.
A glance in Sam's direction confirmed this suspicion and Jacob openly held Sam's gaze a second or two just to make it clear where he stood without words. Sam grumbled but turned his attention back to the dwindling fire in the center of the sloppy circle they all formed around it.
"Twenty bucks. They're going to go a round or two later." Jared nudged Embry to mumble into his ear. Embry looked from Sam to Jacob and chuckled, rubbing his chin as he mulled over the odds of it happening. "Twenty five says that not only will they go a round, Jacob will lose his temper and use his own Alpha voice."
"Should I bring the popcorn?" Jared asked through quiet laughter.
"So you met your sister's boyfriend, I take it?" Leah asked the question because she was curious to know where Evie stood. After all, Jacob was a pack brother and she'd witnessed first hand just how much hell Bella managed to put him through.
He was the one who kept taking it until he couldn't anymore, but the fact remained.. He was one of them and she didn't like to see one of her own hurting.
Evie gave a disappointed sigh and nodded. "You mean the weirdo. Yeah and I was not impressed. I thought she was smarter than that."
"He's not that bad." Seth spoke up.
Leah gave her brother a dirty look and laughed. "Right."
"Seth, you do realize he's the idiot who put her in danger, abandoned her and now has her so brainwashed somehow that she's giving up a full ride to Dartmouth, something she's always wanted, just to play house.. Right?" Evie asked as she gazed at her friend in concern. "The devil isn't always ugly. Sometimes they can be charming and apparently by my sisters weird standards, handsome and everything a person's ever wanted. Anyway, that is all I'm saying about the guy but yeah.. Just so we're all clear I am not his biggest fan."
"They're getting married?" Sam asked as he shot Jacob a look. It hadn't been mentioned, but if it were true and Bella was turned as a result, this broke an old and long-standing treaty.
Evie shrugged as she took a few more fries and pouted when Jacob steered them straight towards his own mouth.
"All I know is that when they came to Florida, he asked for mom's approval and she gave it.." Evie trailed off because she felt Jacob tense up ever so slightly.
It probably hadn't been the best idea to say anything given what she'd been told by Bella and what she'd figured out to be the truth in what she'd been told.
She turned to look at Jacob after everyone else had sort of gotten into their own quiet conversations again and she sighed. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said anything."
Jacob shrugged. Hearing that Bella was actually planning to go through with it didn't bother him anymore. It wasn't anything that mattered to him now. What had him concerned was the fallout. Because he knew exactly what Sam had been thinking when Evie had told them Bella planned to marry Edward after she graduated.
If Edward turned her, it would break a treaty. Breaking that treaty was most likely going to trigger a war. He'd seen that look in Sam's eyes. He wasn't stupid. And naturally, thanks to Bella's piss poor decision making, Jacob found himself thinking, my imprint is going to be caught right in the middle of it all and the worst part is that she has no clue what's going on beyond the little and twisted version that Bella probably told her.
Sam motioned for Jacob to walk over to where he was standing with one or two of the elders. He nodded and got Evie's attention so that he could get up and go see what they wanted. "I'm gonna be right back."
"Okay." Evie smiled.
Jacob wandered over to where Sam and the elders were standing and Sam gazed in the direction of Jacob's imprint. "She's going to be caught in the middle of this. Does she know anything? Do you think Bella told her anything?" Sam questioned. "Because if she hasn't, someone probably needs to."
Jacob blinked.
"Wait.. huh? I figured you were about to crawl my ass for not telling you. I swear, Sam. I've been staying away from Bella and all of her dramatics, you know this. I didn't know. I really didn't. If I had, I'd have told you." Jacob explained in a rush.
"I know you didn't know, I could tell when Evie mentioned it just now that you didn't. I could also tell it didn't bother you one way or another. But now we have to figure out this situation. She is your imprint." Sam stated firmly.
"I'm definitely not staying away. I hope you know this." Jacob stated in his firmest tone as he glanced over at Evie, who'd moved to sit beside Leah.
"Given the circumstance, I don't think I could allow you to. Not and keep a clear conscience." Sam admitted, even though he seemed annoyed in doing so.
Jacob was busy talking to his friend Sam so Evie took the chance to get up and move to sit beside Leah. For at least a minute or two, neither girl said anything to the other. Leah sighed and her shoulders slumped. Evie could tell from the look in her eyes that Leah was a million miles away, lost in thoughts. Heavy ones,apparently.
"Leah, are you okay? You don't look happy at all." Evie finally asked the question.
Leah could only give a small half shrug.
"No, no. You don't get to do that. Look, I know we weren't really that close, but I like to think you were my friend too. And I don't like seeing my friends hurting, alright?" Evie moved to sit in front of Leah so that she had no choice but to look at her. "You can talk to me."
"Not about this. Trust me." Leah answered quietly. Evie's brow raised and Leah explained in a hushed tone, "Things are just hard for me lately. But I'll be fine." as she tried to manage a brave half smile. At least Evie was trying.
They hadn't been very close when they were younger, but Leah actually did like Evie just a little more than she could typically tolerate Bella. And Evie, unlike Bella, was always nice enough to at least try to talk to her or include her when they'd all been kids.
"If you ever just need to vent about how stupid guys can be.." Evie offered with a laugh and Leah managed a little bit better at smiling when she nodded. "Noted."
The two went quiet for a little bit and Leah spoke up again. "I'm glad you're back. Now maybe Jacob will stop being an unbearable pain in the ass. He's had a rough time lately."
Evie nodded and frowned to herself. "Yeah, that's what I thought. Bella would tell me little bits and pieces of things that were going on but I got this feeling that she wasn't even telling me half of the story. Kind of getting the feeling that Jacob did what he always used to and just kind of made himself entirely too available.. Am I wrong?" Evie asked the question in concern.
Jacob had been one of her best friends when she used to visit Charlie during summers. She'd always kind of been annoyed with just how easily Bella seemed to be able to do or say just the right thing to get to him. She'd always manage to get him in the middle of something or take advantage and she'd always apologize but she'd immediately turn and do it again, whether she meant to or not. It just bothered Evie. It always had.
It always would.
"Nope. You're right." Leah answered, but it was reluctant. There wasn't a lot she could actually tell Evie without telling her everything. And while she hated keeping her in the dark, she didn't want to do anything that might turn out bad for a fellow pack member, either. What needed to be told now was up to Jacob to tell. Not her.
"I knew it. How bad did she hurt him this time, Leah?" Evie asked as she grumbled to herself about Bella and her endless problems and how the older sibling was supposed to be the more mature sibling but lately, Bella was anything but that.
"Today is the first time I've seen him actually laugh and smile in a long time. Since she started coming around, actually. He went through a lot." Leah answered.
Evie glanced over at Jacob and smiled when she caught him looking at her. Then she turned her attention back to her conversation with Leah. "She'd better not even dare try anything now that I'm here. I love my sister, I really do. But I also love my friends and so help me God, if she drags him into whatever new bullshit Edward brings down on her like she's done in the past, I'm probably going to tell her a few things she's not going to like."
"Still hit or miss getting along with her, I take it?" Leah asked.
"A lot more miss lately. Let's put it this way.. I have been staying away from Dad's as much as possible whenever she's there because every time I turn around, Edward is there with her and there's just.. There's something about him that doesn't sit right with me? Or the way she is around him.. It's like she forgets she's her own entire being and he kind of, I dunno, absorbs her."
"It's weird." Leah admitted with a scowl.
"It's more than weird, Leah. It's actually kind of toxic. And when Dad called Mom a while back and they were discussing sending her back to Florida, I kind of feel like they should have. I mean doing anything was better than what they chose to do." Evie went quiet. "She just isn't herself anymore."
"She is, it's just more obvious. I'm sorry, Evie. I know she's your sister and I know you two were close at one point, but she's always kind of been the way she's been acting. She's just stopped bothering to hide it."
Evie hated to, but she nodded in agreement. It didn't make her happy in the slightest to have to admit that her sister hadn't been the best person. It made her less happy to hear that her sister wasn't bothering to hide it anymore. It made it a lot harder for Evie to keep trying to cling to the good qualities her sister did possess. "God I hate admitting that. You're right."
"You know it's not going to make her happy when she finds out that you saw or talked to Jacob, right?"
Evie tensed and nodded and then she shrugged. "I don't care, actually. She's the one who burned that bridge. He's still my friend. She doesn't get to tell me I can or can't be friends with him."
Leah felt relieved to hear Evie say it. And just from the way Evie kept stealing glances at Jacob while he talked to Sam and one or two of the tribal elders, she had the feeling that Evie's old crush on Jacob might actually be coming back.
And after everything he'd gone through, that's what he deserved.
"I'm not making you stay away. I couldn't if I wanted to. It's not my birthright. We both know that. All I'm asking is that you exercise extreme caution." Sam stated after a few minutes of quiet thought.
Jacob nodded. He'd agree to anything Sam suggested but keeping his distance from Evie, especially given the circumstances at play. He didn't trust anyone but himself to keep Evie out of the danger that Bella's mosquito posed. Hearing Sam tell him what he already knew and was fully prepared to use as his own argument if Sam had been dumb enough to try barring him from contact with Evie for a while was a huge weight off him.
"What about telling her what's going on?" Jacob asked. She needed to know but he knew it was a lot to explain. And he didn't want to just spring this on her right out of the gate. He wanted to work up to it.
Sam shrugged. "Things are calm for right now. Edward hasn't done anything that's actually broken any treaties and he hasn't brought in yet another threat for us to deal with. We'll see what happens down the line. As far as telling her what you are and that you've bonded with her my best advice would be give it a little time. Because it's a lot for someone to handle. Trust me."
Jacob nodded. "Yeah, I was thinking the same thing." he admitted. "Are we done?"
"We're done. If you hear anything else, I need to know. Understood?"
Jacob gave Sam the thumbs up and wandered back over, flopping down beside Evie. When he did, Evie squished herself against his side and held out the cardboard container of fries. "See? I have restraint. I didn't eat 'em all."
"They're good. They could've used more jalapeno." Leah smirked as she said it.
Evie's cell phone vibrated in the pocket of her cut offs and she dug it out. "And that'd be dad letting me know he's home. I hate to but I probably need to get going." Evie frowned as she said it and pulled herself up from where she sat.
"How'd you get here?"
Evie pointed to a black Firebird parked next to a truck and she smiled. "My car, of course."
Jacob chuckled. "Want me to walk up with you?"
"I'd be delighted." Evie laughed as she held out her hand to him to help him up. "C'mon."
Jacob grabbed her hand and stood, letting her think she'd pulled him up. As they walked towards her car, she called out to Jessica that she was leaving just in case Jessica wanted a lift back to her house.
"I think I'm riding with Mike. We're going for a drive." Jessica laughed, "But thank you. I'll talk to you later, right?"
"Totally!"
They were standing beside her car now, Jacob leaning against the side. Towering over her. Evie reached out and slipped a finger into the waistband of his board shorts to pull him closer so she could hug him and he bit his lip just to keep from groaning when she did it. Her arms wrapped around his neck and her body molded into his as he slipped his arms around her.
The hug lingered and when it broke, he smiled at her. "I'm glad you're back."
Evie's cheeks burned hot and she smiled back. "Me too. Hey, don't be a stranger."
"I definitely won't." Jacob promised as he reached for the handle to her door and pulled it open so that she could get inside. As she drove away, Jacob stood there grinning like an idiot with his hand resting against the back of his head.
"Feel better now, Black?" Paul spoke up from behind.
"I should've known it was never Bella." Jacob mused to himself as he chuckled.
"Better not let Bella hear you say that." Paul snickered as he let a lazy punch settle on Jacob's bicep. "C'mon man. They finally got off their ass and started making food."
Seth wandered over and chuckled. "So you basically wasted time thinking Bella just had to be your imprint, right?"
Jacob gave a playful dirty look but laughed. "Yeah. Something like that. I could really kick myself right now. Evie makes so much more sense than Bella."
Note: This is set in Eclipse, it's around the time that Jacob's begun ignoring Bella. I've kind of messed around with the timeline slightly, so in this version of events Edward and Bella have already gone to Renee and asked for her approval in their marriage. I'm only going to follow everything that happens from this point on in Eclipse and Breaking Dawn very loosely and this is going to be more centered around Jacob and Evie, my original character and his imprint. So if you're reading this in the hopes of finding an accurate version exactly following the outline of the books, you're not going to enjoy where this goes. Yes, my original character is Bella's younger sister. No, she doesn't hate her. So there won't be any super heavy bashing or anything here. I'm actually hoping to avoid having to put Bella + the others in this fic unless it's totally necessary. I've pretty much decided that I will be doing the main events of each book, but with my own twists and spins. I hope you enjoy reading this. Remember to check for warnings (they'll be at the top of the page).