Chapter twenty-nine. The slap across my face.
Emmett's POV.
I closed the door half laughing and headed towards my jeep. Just before I opened the passenger door for Rosalie, a blue Mercedes pulled up in front of the house.
"I didn't know Bella had invited her friends", Rose murmured.
"Neither did I", I growled, the frustration building up inside of me as I watch who stepped out.
Jacob Black strided towards the house, his eyes were tight as he noticed me but his big cheesy grin never faltered. He wore only some baggy shorts, but jutted out his chest in a prideful manner.
Right behind him were two girls, which I recognised as Lauren and Angela. They both smiled at me sheepishly, whilst glaring at Rosalie. I gritted my teeth. Bella had told me that she was inviting Edward, which was ok to me. I didn't mind Edward because he knew that I would break his neck if he tried anything that Bella didn't like. He knew not to step out of line.
But these were Bella's friends; I hadn't exactly warned them yet.
"What are you doing here?" I demanded, my eyes widening and my fist clenching.
"Emmett", said Rosalie in a warning tone. I waved her tension down.
"Came to see Bella", Lauren piped up. She was wearing a low cut red top and some black shorts.
"She's home, right?" asked Angela, with an arched eyebrow. Her attire was actually acceptable.
"Course she is", said Jacob black, walking right past me and heading towards the door, "what's up, Cullen?"
"The sky, Black", I answered him, rolling my eyes. He turned around, grinned wider, and then carried on walking. The two girls padded behind him.
"You guys can't stay long", I said quickly as Jacob knocked on the door, "my parents are coming home soon to get Bella. They're going out."
"Sure, sure", said Jacob, waving the matter away, "and…you're gonna be out, right?"
I narrowed my eyes. "I'm just dropping Rosalie home, gonna be back before you know it."
"Emmett", muttered Rosalie again, tugging at my arm, "let's go. Let Bella hang out with her friends."
"Don't rush", said Jacob, wiggling his fingers as I helped Rosalie into the passenger seat.
His sneering smile made me absolutely fume. Bella better know what she was doing. How could she invite him of all people?
"JACOB!" a high-pitched shriek rang out as I got into the car. Rosalie rubbed my arm.
"Come on, we're going to be late", she said, smiling softly.
My eyes were led back to the doorway where Bella had yanked the door opened and jumped around Jacob Black's neck.
With one last pushing smile, Jacob's eyes connected to mine as I pulled out, gripping onto the steering wheel.
I didn't want to be the over protective brother. I knew how Bella hated that shit. She was sensitive at this moment and I didn't want to hurt her. She acted tough but we all knew that she was hiding underneath. Of course, that didn't mean I was going to let just anybody get involved with her. I knew what to do, and I was determined to do it. If no body got close enough to her, she wouldn't be hurt. And I wouldn't let her get hurt.
Bella's POV.
Alice twirled around in the knee length cocktail blue dress that she wore. She smiled at me.
"What do you think, Bella?" she asked, her eyes were twinkling.
"You look beautiful", I told her honestly. Just then the doorbell rang and got my attention. I sat up.
"I'll get it", I yelled, knowing it was probably Emmett. He had just left and probably forgot his key or something. He was going out to lunch with Rosalie's parents and I also wanted to wish him luck.
Rushing down the stairs, I was proud that I hadn't tripped and bashed my face to the floor when I reached the bottom step. The doorbell suddenly rang.
I yanked the door open and got the biggest surprise of my life.
"JACOB!" I yelled, launching myself around him. It was such a shock to see Jacob here. The last time I had spoken to him, it wasn't exactly the best words that somebody wanted to hear. It hurt me to hurt Jacob. I had known him for years and we were never too close, but we were there for eachother. In some ways, he was one of those guy friends who you could rely on to make your exes jealous. I never used Jacob because we both knew that we were just friends, but some feelings kind of got in the way a little bit.
His bare skin was warm and soft as I wrapped my arms around his and buried my face in his neck. I noticed he wasn't wearing a shirt. His abs and muscles flexed under my hands.
"Hey, Bells", he chuckled, stumbling back by the shock of me springing at him, "wow, did you really miss me that much?"
"Hey Bella", a soft voice called out. I looked up to see Emmett and Rosalie just driving out. Lauren and Angela who stood awkwardly by the front door side caught my attention.
"Hey guys", I said, untangling myself from Jacob, "come in. Jake, I can't believe you're here. I'm glad to see you."
Although I only loved Jacob as a friend, he was just that. A friend. The type of friend that I had like no one. He was a jerk sometimes and sometimes he was the sweetest person around. I could count on him to make me laugh. Other than Edward, he was another person who didn't tread around me.
He treated me like I was sane, not stupid. Like I was actually a person, not a mental case. He acted like everything was ok when everything was not. I didn't like to wallow in self-pity, no matter how much self-pity I had. And Edward was the person to make me feel good about myself. Edward made me feel warmth. Jacob didn't reflect that warmth as much, but at least he made me forget about the bad things in my life.
Once I started thinking about Edward, my thoughts suddenly got carried away. My mind was wandering to a place and time when we were actually together and close and lips joined up, handing wandering everywhere and…
"Bella?" Lauren frowned at me. I blinked.
"Oh…sorry."
"You spaced out on us", laughed Jacob as he closed the door.
"Bella, who is it?" Alice shouted from upstairs.
"No one, it's just –"
"Oh please", a familiar voice muttered. I whirled around to see Jasper and Edward standing by the doorway of the living room. Edward's eyes zoomed in on Jacob's hand around my waist. Jasper's eyes were flickering everywhere. Jacob still had an unfaltering smile plastered on his face. Angela and Lauren looked awkward again.
"Oh…um, guys this is Edward and Jasper", I introduced to Lauren and Angela. Jacob already knew them, of course.
"Hi", muttered Angela quickly.
"Hello there", said Jasper, smiling fakely.
"Hi, I'm Lauren."
I suddenly tensed as Lauren reached her hand out and patted Edward on the shoulders.
"Yeah, hi", said Edward stiffly. Alice came bounding down the stairs at the right moment, breaking through the tension.
"Hey guys", she said, cheerfully.
Silence.
"So…OH! Jacob, how are you?" asked Alice, smiling brightly at Jacob who stepped away.
"Let's go sit", I said quickly, leading the way towards the kitchen. As soon as I walked past Edward, he grabbed my hand and walked with me.
It felt good at the same time as weird. We hadn't exactly held hands in front of people before. Well, we were probably past holding hands.
"Bella, actually we only came here to ask you to come out with us?" said Angela as Lauren giggled and sat next to Jasper. Alice rolled her eyes and planted herself on Jasper's lap. She had a 'beat that, biotch' look on when she smirked at Lauren.
"Sure, where?" I asked, sitting up. Edward pulled me back next to him so I was leaning against him.
"My place", Jacob interjected before Angela could say anything, "hey, I heard you were at The Old Shack yesterday?"
"The Old Shack?" three stunned voices rang out at once. I winced away from Edward.
"Yeah, why did you come out back?" Jacob continued asking me as if nothing happened. "I was in the garden with the others."
"Bella! That place is dangerous", hissed Alice, glaring at me wide-eyed. I felt the betraying blush creep up my face. And this time it wasn't because of embarrassment, it was shame.
"It's harmless", said Jacob shrugging at Alice.
"They do drugs there", said Jasper in a hard voice.
"So? Say no to drugs", Jacob retorted at him.
"And what if someone gets drugged and high and attacks you?" Alice fumed, crossing her arms. She narrowed her eyes at Jacob, them turned to me. "Is that where you went to meet Mike?"
"You went to meet mike?" Edward demanded, I turned to face and felt like I had been slapped across the face. His eyes were tight and hard but he looked hurt.
"Yeah, to dump his sorry arse", Lauren finished off, "Jessica's after him now."
"Wait, dump him?" repeated Edward, "you…you were going out with him?"
"No!" I practically shouted, "No, I mean yes. No, wait. I went out him with ages ago, and broke up with him ages ago too. I just needed to tell something yesterday."
"Couldn't be done by a phone call?" Jasper said with an arched eyebrow.
"It wasn't something you say over the phone", I said quietly.
"That place is crawling with weirdos and drunks, Bella", Edward said, frowning at me, "you could've gotten hurt."
If it were anyone else telling me that, I would've snapped. I would've told them that it was my business. I would've said that I was old enough to look after myself. But with Edward saying it, I smiled. The fact that he cared for me expanded the warmth that he radiated off to me.
"Doesn't matter", snapped Jacob, "she's fine. Bella can take care of herself. Stop hassling her about what she does."
"I wasn't hassling", Edward shot back, and "caring for someone isn't hassling."
"Caring is just a fancy way of sticking your nose into someone's business", hissed Jacob, sitting up. His smile was gone, replaced by his feature tight.
"Then get out of her life", retorted Edward.
"We, er, better go", said Angela, grabbing Lauren's hand and pulling her up.
"Wait, I think –"
"Yes, that's best", Alice cut through me. The girls disappeared through the living room door with Alice and Jasper leading them out. Jacob stayed in his position opposite Edward and I.
I felt myself flinching from the look he was giving Edward. I had never seen so much venom in his expression before. I realised that this was exactly how things would go down if Emmett were here. Then I would get pissed off at Jacob and Emmett for everything. I would be angry with Emmett for being so overprotective and I would shout at him.
But now, I only felt angry with Jacob.
"Jake, it's fine", I muttered in a quiet voice, "I shouldn't have gone to the old shack in the middle of the night. That's just stupid."
"What are you talking about? You do it all the time", Jacob insisted, "there's nothing wrong with it."
"Yeah, well, I'm not going to do it anymore", I said a bit more firmly. He looked taken back.
"So there", muttered Edward in a low tone. I almost laughed.
"Fine…I was just saying that ––"
"Why exactly are you here, Jacob?" Edward asked, through his teeth. He squeezed my hand and wrapped his arm around my waist, pulling me closer to him protectively.
"I wanted to see Bella", said Jacob stiffly, glaring at Edward's arm. Then his eyes flickered at me. "Wanna come out, Bells? I'm sure you don't wanna be cooped up here with…well, it gets boring indoors."
"Actually, me and Bella were going out to lunch", Edward spoke before I could.
Jake stuttered.
I felt bad for him to swallow that in one go. But then happy of what Edward had just announced.
"We could get lunch on the way to my place", said Jacob quickly, "you don't mind if I come along?"
"Yeah, we do", Edward snapped bluntly, rather impatiently too.
"Um, it's just that Edward and I need to talk about some stuff", I explained hastily, "Alone, you know."
"Yeah…" Jacob muttered, nodding, "I know."
The look on his face was the perfect second slap that I could get that day. I bit my lip and smiled fakely when Jacob drove away without as much as a wave goodbye.