Chapter 2:
Changes
I heard a throat clear from behind me. I turned around to see Alice waiting impatiently at the back door with a scowl on her face. "I assume you'll want me to leave, too," Alice whispered. If she could have cried, she would be pouring out a river by now.
I walked toward her and wrapped my arms around her, yet trying not to smear her in Jacob's scent. "I still want you here. I need to talk to you about something before you go," I responded, dropping my arms and stepping back a step or two. "I want to give you a proper goodbye." I turned to Jacob. "Jacob, you should leave, go to the funeral. The guys would be expecting you. You don't want to miss the ceremony." I started crying. I don't know how long I'll be able to hold it all in without him by my side. I need him now more than ever after what I just said to Edward. I gave Jacob one last squeeze with all my might.
"Ok," he whispered into my hair. "I'll be back as soon as I can. That is of course you don't have any company besides Charlie." I didn't have to look at his face to know he was glaring at Alice. He let go of me and began to walk away. But not before he called over his shoulder, "Later, leech." I smiled inside, although I couldn't fathom why.
"Don't let the flees scratch you on your way out the dog door," Alice muttered as a response, knowing full well that Jacob could hear her. I giggled a bit at that. Alice turned to me with a smirk on her lips. "What is it you wanted to talk to me about, Bella?"
I headed into the living room and sat down on the couch. I didn't hear her footsteps, so I wondered if she followed me in. Naturally she was one step ahead of me.
I began with an apology. "I'm so sorry, Alice. I didn't know you overheard my conversation." She opened her mouth as if she was about to speak, but I stopped her in record time. "No, Alice. Let me get this off my chest, ok?" She nodded her head. "I just want to let you know that what I said to Edward isn't necessarily your fault. I know deep down that you wanted to say goodbye to me. You didn't want to leave, but you also couldn't let your brother down. I know that now. I love you like a sister, Alice. I always will. Just like I know I'll always love Emmett as a brother, and Carlisle and everyone else as family. I really don't want you to leave." My voice was getting weaker with each passing word, but I continued with new vigor. "But I know that you have to leave eventually. You need your family and they need you. They're probably out looking for you right now." I laughed as a mental picture of Esme hanging up "Missing" fliers with tears in her eyes. "You should get back. Sooner rather than later. I'll be just fine without you. I'm strong. And besides, Jacob and Charlie will always be there for me. Even if I don't know it. Even if I tell them to stay away, they'll be here by my side. Simply because they're too stubborn to let anything bad happen to me," I finished off strong. "Goodbye, Alice." Then I added: "For now anyway."
She smiled at that. The next thing I knew I'm being crushed by icy arms. "Goodbye, Bella, my sweet little sister." She let go of me. "I love you, too. We all do." She stood up and offered me her hand. I didn't hesitate to take it. She ushered me out the front door and to the waiting black Mercedes.
She hugged me one last time, and whispered in my ear. "Make sure to check under your floorboards." She leaned away. "You never know what you'll find there." And with that she got in her car and drove into the dusk.
Floorboards? What did she mean by "check under your floorboards?" I guess I'll have to find out. But that could wait. For now, I went inside and started to clean up the house. It didn't take long to straighten, considering there really wasn't much to clean. So, I decided to go ahead and "check under" my floorboards. I found a hammer and some nails so I could open and put them back.
It took about a half hour to get them opened, but once I did I smiled at my strength. Then I lifted the floorboard. What I saw underneath set my body cold.
There were pictures of him. The CD he composed for me. The plane tickets his "parents" gave me as a gift for me to go see my mom in Florida, with him accompanying me. It was all coming back to me now. As if I'm seeing my disastrous birthday party on instant replay.
I see myself opening my presents. It's a stereo for my truck. Next gift. It's from Alice and-wince-Edward. I cut my finger jerking the tape too hard. I look up to see Jasper coming right at me. Then I'm pushed away and into the table behind me. Blood oozes out of my system. Then it's all a blur.
I blink my eyes rapidly to snap out of my funk. I feel tears on my face I hadn't realized were there. I'm sad, but I feel something else. Anger. I recognize something fierce deep down inside me. i cannot believe it took me this long to see it.
The anger is pointing at Edward. Thinking his name makes me want to spit and burn my brain. I wanted to rid him out of my life forever. I wanted to cleanse myself. My soul, my brain, my bloodstream, my life. What I really want is to start my journey in this small town all over again. But I can't. But I can do something right.
Jacob. His sweet, beautiful face came to my mind. I see his brown, smoldering, and intelligent eyes staring back at my chocolate brown eyes. His luscious lips turn up in a smile, showing off his pearly white teeth. His chopped black hair begins to grow into a half pony-tail. The ends of his hair touched his shoulders. The rest of his body fell into place. He was wearing blue jeans and a red T-shirt that bulged against his abs and muscles.
It's such a shame that he was covering his wired muscles. If I was him, I would never wear a shirt again. He has such a sexy body to be covered by something so insignificant. I'm surprised I never noticed before that one day with the bikes.
"Did you know you're sort of beautiful?"
Once the words slipped out, I worried that he might take my impulsive observation the wrong way.
But Jacob just rolled his eyes. "You hit your head pretty hard, didn't you?
"I'm serious."
"Well then, thanks. Sort of."
I grinned. "You're sort of welcome."
That was the best day of my life, I decided. I wish I could go back to that day.
Downstairs, I heard the phone ring. I threw the gifts on my bed and raced down the stairs to get the phone.
"Hello," I answered.
"Hey, it's me," Jacob replied in his husky voice.
"Jake," I said in a giggly voice. "Hey. I miss you."
"I miss you, too. Did your friend leave?" I heard anxiety in his voice.
"Yeah, she's gone." I realized that I sounded desperate to have him near me. "Do you think you could come over after Charlie comes home and falls asleep?"
"I don't know." He sounded as disappointed as I felt. "I could try, but Billy and the Pack really need me right now."
I tried to hide my disappointed. "Alright."
"I'm sorry," he said sincerely. "I'll make it up to you. I promise."
"I know you will, or else." I put on my best threatening tone.
Jacob just chuckled. "See you soon, Bells."
"Bye, Jakey. Love you." Then I hung up before he could respond.
I decided to start dinner. We had ingredients for spaghetti, so I put water in a pot and set it to boil.
A half hour later, I heard Charlie's cruiser pull into the driveway. I drained the spaghetti.
"Bells, I'm home," I heard Charlie say. I could hear him put his gun belt away.
"In here," I yelled back. I started serving the spaghetti.
"Smells good," he replied.
"Spaghetti."
Charlie came into the kitchen. He looked haggard and I swear I saw tears in his eyes. "I'm going to eat and go straight to sleep. Okay?"
"Okay." Then I hugged him real hard. At first, he was hesitant, but he eventually put his arms around my back.
We ate in a comfortable silence. And just like he promised, Charlie went to bed as soon as he finished his plate.
"Goodnight, Kiddo," he said.
"Goodnight, Dad," I replied, getting up to wash the dishes. "Oh hey, Dad?" I went into the living room where Charlie was standing with one foot on the first step of the stairs. "Is it okay for Jacob to stay the night? I don't think I can be by myself right now."
Charlie hesitated for a long moment "Sure. But he sleeps on the couch."
I laughed. "Okay, Dad. Thank you. Goodnight."
"Goodnight." Then he walked up the stairs. I vaguely heard his door open and shut.
I remembered the floorboards I still haven't put back in. I quickly took care of that, trying hard not to look at my bed. Afterwards, I packed up the gift and hid them behind my books. Jacob will never look there. When I finished, I went downstairs to call my Jacob. Where did that come from? My Jacob? I love it. Next, I'll be calling him my boyfriend. Can't wait.
"Black residence, Billy speaking," Billy answered on the second ring.
"Hey, Billy, it's me, Bella," I replied.
"Hey, Bella. What can I do for you?"
"First, I just wanted to say I'm sorry about Harry."
"Thank you, Bella. It means a lot."
"I also wanted to ask if it was okay for Jacob to stay over here. With me."
Silence.
"I already asked Charlie and he said it was okay and Jake will sleep on the couch." I laughed at my dad's persistence.
I heard Billy laugh with me. Good. I'm making progress.
"If it's okay with Charlie, then it's okay with me."
I jumped up and down, giggling. "Thank you so much. See you soon."
"Bye, Bella." He chuckled and hung up.
I was so excited to see Jacob again, I could hardly think straight. Calm down, Bells. First things first: make up the couch. Then change for bed.
Fifteen minutes later, I was sitting on the couch falling asleep, when I heard the doorbell ring. I lazily and slowly got up to answer the door. Jacob stared back at me in a brown T-shirt, blue jeans, and black sneakers.
"Jake," I shouted while jumping into his awaiting arms.
"Hey, Bells," he replied, spinning me around on the porch.
He put me down. "I missed you, Jake." I was blushing like crazy.
His smile reached his ears. I could see red come to surface on his russet colored skin. "You just saw me a few hours ago."
"I miss you even if you're right in front of me."
He chuckled. "I missed you, too." He reached down to kiss me right on the mouth. "So, are you going to invite me in, or are we going to stand here like idiots all night?"
"Sorry. Come in, please." We both stepped into the foyer. I shut the door while Jacob made himself at home on the couch. "I see you're actually fully dressed for a change," I half-laughed.
"And you're not," he stated. I looked at him confused. He pointed to my outfit. I looked down and remembered that I was wearing a white tank top and sweats. Not to mention I wasn't wearing a bra.
"Oh. I forgot." I shrugged it off. "You can take your shoes off." He took off his shoes and socks and set them by the door. "Socks, too? I could get used to this."
He smirked. "I could get used to you walking around half-naked." He picked me up and swirled me around. He kissed me long and hard. I felt his tongue brush against my lips and I opened them to accept his tongue on mine. We both gasped for air. Then Jacob did something I'd never thought he would do. He threw me on the couch. I bounced up from the springs. I briefly saw Jacob with a smile on his face before he jumped on me. "Tickle fight," he declared.
"Don't you dare," I yelled.
"Too late." I felt his long fingers on my stomach. I started to burst out laughing.
"Stop it, stop it."
Jacob was relentless. He wouldn't let up. "Say mercy."
"Never." He tickled me faster.
"Say mercy." I couldn't see his face, I was laughing so hard. I just knew he had a smile on his face a mile wide. "Come on, Bells. It's just going to get worse. You want me to stop, don't you?"
"Okay, okay. I give. Mercy." He immediately stopped tickling me. I sat up. "Monster." I was kidding of course. Jacob would never hurt me.
Jacob wasn't smiling. "Sorry." He got off me and headed for the door.
"Wait, Jacob!" I followed him. "Where do you think you're going?" I was confused. "I thought you were staying the night."
"You still want me to stay the night?" He looked conflicted. As if he couldn't believe me.
"Of course, I do, Jacob," I replied. "Where is this coming from? I was kidding. You're not a monster. Maybe a tickle monster, but you won't hurt anybody." I hugged him to show how much I meant it. I gazed into his brown eyes and whispered, "I love you."
His eyes melted into mine. "I love you, too."
I leaned up to kiss him on the cheek. He moved his head just in time for me to kiss his lips. I sighed.
"Sorry for the misunderstanding," he said, leading me back to the couch.
"Don't worry about it. I'm sorry for freaking out when you were just trying to have some fun," I replied sincerely.
"It's just-" he stopped midsentence. He took a deep breath. He sat down on the couch.
"You never got to be a kid," I finished for him. "You may look like a grown man, but you're really just a giant kid inside." I sat down next to him and curled up to his right side. "You gave up a lot to take care of Billy. You are giving up all your school time and free time to protect me and your tribe." Tears started welling up in my eyes. "I admire you, Jacob. I admire you for all that you have done for your family. I know they appreciate it." I took a deep breath. "Thank you for taking care of me and for being here when I need you. Thanks for putting up with me even though I may be a disaster waiting to happen sometimes. Thanks for everything." I kissed him on his cheek. I travelled my lips down to his neck and kissed his beating pulse under his skin. Jacob began to shake. "Am I making you nervous?"
Jake took a deep breath. His hands were clenched in fists. "A little."
I laughed. "Relax." I kissed him on the neck again. I travelled lower to his right shoulder. I pushed his shirt sleeve up to reveal his tattoo.
His tattoo is sexy. Every Quileute in the wolf pack had one just like it. Two wolves were back to back howling. At least that's what it looked like to me.
I briefly kissed the tattoo. "I love your tattoo, Jacob. It's sexy. Like you." I tried to muster a seductive tone.
"Thank you," he replied with a big, fat grin. "You're sexy, too." He leaned down to kiss me on the lips.
"No, I'm not." Why would he say I'm sexy? It makes no sense.
"Yes, you are. And don't say different. You're the most beautiful girl I know." He was blushing and so was I.
"You haven't been anywhere to see any girls. Just school."
"That's enough. You're all I'll ever want." He kissed me all over my face. He kissed both my cheeks, my chin, my forehead, even my ears, until he finally kissed my mouth. "I love you, Isabella Marie Swan."
"I love you, Jacob Ephraim Black."
We went back to kissing. Soon, we were making out. I never made out before. Edward always stopped me before it could go anywhere. His loss.
Jacob laid me down on the couch, so he was now on top of me.