Leah POV
Jacob opened the door, Bella greeted him with a small wave and "Hey Jake". But he wasn't paying much attention to the greeting, he was taking in Bella and I. We stood on his front stoop her arm around my waist, my arm draped over her shoulders possessively. He met my gaze and I could feel the unfiltered possessive glare on my face. Without warning my wolf let out a very soft and brief growl in a "mine" kind of sense. I knew it was too quiet for Bella's ears to pick up on but I knew Jacob would have heard. I saw the corner of his mouth pull down into a momentary frown. Bella must have noticed too because she let go of my waist and pulled free from my arm. It was my turn to frown slightly and Jacob gave me a bit of a smug sneer.
"What are you up to today?" Bella spoke in an attempt to fill the silence, obviously feeling the tension.
"Nothing much, maybe tinker in the garage a bit and then patrols in a few hours." Jacob looked away from me, to Bella, his face shifting to friendly excitement. "Why what's up?"
"I dunno figured we could hang out. I haven't seen you in a while, it feels weird" Bella shrugged.
"Cool!" Jacob answered excitedly, then his gaze shifted to me suspicion evident.
"Yeah should be fun" I chimed in, more than likely answering his uncertainty.
"Yeah, fun…" He trailed off, obviously disappointed that I would be "chaperoning" their play date.
"C'mon what are you working on?" Bella asked as she linked their arms together.
I frowned at this. I don't like how close the two are knowing how Jacob fells about Bella.
Jacob went on about whatever he was working on as they walked towards the garage. I followed behind the two, admiring the view of Bella from behind. I wasn't paying any attention to the conversation between the two so I didn't contribute much unless addressed directly. My mind was off thinking about my future with Bella. It will be amazing, she's my girlfriend now. We made out. I get to keep making out with her, I couldn't keep the smile off my face at that thought. I watched Bella as she joked around with Jacob, her laugh and smile intoxicating. My heart swelled every time she snuck a peek at me and gave a shy smile every time she realized I was looking at her.
Bella and Jacob continued their playful teasing arguing about who was older. I half watched, fascinated by how close the two were. In my mind they were polar opposites which I was completely fine with. But I could feel the imprint changing my opinion about Jacob. Seeing how happy and excited Bella was with him made me appreciate him a tiny bit. Just a bit.
"You want a soda, Bells?" Jacob asked from under a rusted car.
"Depends. Is it cold or has it been sitting in the sun for a week?" Bella retorted, kicking his foot before holding a tool out towards him. "Here"
"Uhhh" Jacob rolled out from under the car and took the tool looking up at Bella with a guilty look. "It's only been like two days tops."
"I don't understand how you can drink flat warm soda" Bella snorted.
"Whatever, it's still good!" Jacob sat up, crossing his arms over his chest.
"You're disgusting" Bella retorted, sticking her tongue out at him.
"Okay kids," I spoke up, pushing off from the wall I was leaning on. "I'll go pick up some fresh cold soda"
"Grab some grape crush" Jacob said less than enthusiastically.
"Ugh that's the worst soda every!" Bella wrinkled her nose in disgust. "Will you get me a root beer?" She turned to me with a cute pouty face.
"Anything for you" I smiled back at her.
Jacob rolled his eyes behind Bella's back, only meant for me to see. It annoyed me and my wolf demanded I solidify my claim. I closed the few steps between Bella and I, wrapping my arms around her waist. She quickly wrapped her arms around my neck, and I pulled her into a tight hug.
"Thank you Leah!" She mumbled into my neck.
As she started to pull back from the hug I tightened my arms around her waist a bit. At that I saw momentary confusion that quickly turned into a playful smile. I closed the gap between our two faces quickly and brushed my lips against hers before pressing them to her firmly. Her hands gripped at my hair, greedily, deepening the kiss.
"You going for that soda before the store closes or what?" I could hear the venom in Jacob's voice.
Bella quickly pulled away from me and cleared her throat awkwardly. She was beat red. I could kill Jacob for ruining such a glorious moment. Let alone the fact that he made Bella feel embarrassed. I glared at him and couldn't stop the corner of my mouth from pulling back, exposing my k-9 tooth. He snarled back at me in response probably agitated by the threat.
"Hey, Leah, thank you for going. I should have some loose change in my truck if you're going that way." Bella inquired as she lightly touched my arm.
"Ofcourse" I turned my attention back to her and gave her a quick peck on the lips before turning for the door.
"So you and Leah?" I heard Jacob ask flatly as I was walking towards the forest.
'Yeah Bella and I. Eat it Jacob' I thought smugly.
Once fairly deep into the forest I phased. I said hello to whoever was on patrol, but I didn't pay much attention to who it was. I was on a mission to get this soda and get back to my Bella. I didn't like the thought of Jacob alone with her. My wolf, always more opinionated when I was in her body, agreed with this and insisted that we turn back now and forget the stupid human task. As tempting as it was to give into my wolf's reasoning I pushed on. I didn't want to disappoint Bella and have her drink warm flat soda.
Getting the soda was easy enough, I even grabbed a bag of Cheetos for a snack. I phased on the edge of the Black's property and started walking back, swinging the grocery bag as I did. Then I heard the arguing.
"C'mon Bells let me see" Jacob was pleading "I'm sorry"
I sped my walk to a light jog, scared Bella hurt herself somehow on something in the garage.
"No, leave me alone Jake." Bella's voice sounded like it was on the brink of tears.
I dropped the grocery bag and sprinted towards the garage door. I held Bella by the shoulders assessing her. She was cradling her hand against her chest and it looked swollen. I looked up from Bella's hand, concern evident on my face, and looked at Jacob for an explanation. He wasn't meeting my gaze, just looking down at his feet.
"I guess you'll hear it sooner or later" Jacob murmured as he looked up to meet my gaze.
"What happened?" I was becoming a bit agitated by the look of determination on Jacob's face.
"I kissed Bella and she punched me in the face" He stated with no remorse.
I shifted Bella behind me, protectively, and growled.
"What the fuck Jacob?" I growled the words between my clenched teeth.
"I don't care what your imprint lays claim on, she's still in love with me!" Jacob snarled back.
I was shaking so fiercely, trying not to phase, that I couldn't form words anymore. I snarled back at Jacob, my wolf demanding I let her take control so she could rip him apart. Then I felt a delicate hand rest on my back. My shaking subsided slightly and I half turned to see Bella's frightened face. I completely turned around and took her in my arms, my shaking almost completely gone. I looked back over my shoulder at Jacob and could see he had almost completely stopped shaking too. Maybe he had seen the fear on Bella's face too. I glared at him one last time before scooping Bella up in my arms. She rested her head against my chest as I quickly started walking down the road.
"Where are we going?" She asked, looking up at me.
"I'm taking you home, then we're hoping in your truck and going to the hospital" I stated still trying to get a hold of myself.
"I'm able to walk, it's just my hand that hurts" Bella stated as she squirmed in my arms.
I set her down gingerly with a frown, she was acting a bit odd.
"Are you okay Bella?" I asked as I put an arm around her shoulders "I mean besides your hand" I quickly added.
"Yeah" She answered, sounding like she was miles away.
We walked to my house in silence, Bella seeming lost in her thoughts. When we reached her truck I opened the passage door for her and quickly hopped into the driver side. As we drove towards the hospital Bella turned to me with a quizzical look.
"You drive slow." She stated.
"Oh sorry" I stepped down on the accelerator and the truck protested.
"No-no. I like it Jake and Edward always drive too fast for me and my truck" Bella quickly corrected.
"I know" I smiled and let off the accelerator.
"What?" She turned to look at me and I could see the confusion out of the corner of my eye.
"Well I mean technically it isn't eavesdropping...Jacob practically replayed your hang outs like like a movie. It was kind of hard to ignore" I tried to explain without sounding too much like a stalker.
"What do you mean?" Bella pushed.
"Well almost every time he picked you up you complained about how fast he drove. You complained a lot more when he drove your truck." I shrugged. "I figure you didn't like people speeding cuz your dad is a cop. And I mean your truck sounds like it'll blow up if it goes over the limit anyways" I turned to look at her and she was looking at me dumbfounded. I turned back to the road, also knowing she didn't like when Jacob wasn't focused on driving, despite his supernatural speed.
"I love you" She said, almost whimsically.
I turned to look at her, a grin plastered on my face. She was blushing fiercely and shaking her head.
"Pretend I didn't say that!" She was covering her face with her one good hand, still shaking her head.
I laughed and placed my hand just above her knee and gave a gentle squeeze.
"Pretend you didn't say what?" I could feel my face break into a smile that could challenge Seth's 100 watt smile.
"God" Bella groaned as she peeked out from between her fingers.
Bella slowly composed herself and rest her good hand on top of mine. We continued the drive to the hospital in silence, but it felt right.