A/N: So we're halfway through already – I can't believe it! I'm so glad people seem to be enjoying it so much, and MeraNaamJoker and I have had some brilliant reviews from y'all! Sorry I haven't gotten round to doing all my replies yet – I promise I will at some point, but RL keeps forcing me to do things like go to work and see my family. So freaking selfish. Anyway, here's another Jake chapter by yours truly. By the way, if anyone wants to say hi on Twitter, my SN is grrlinterrupted :) Oh, and huge thanks to the amazing HoochieMomma, who has beta'd this story like a pro! Go check out her hot-as-fuck femmeslash.
Chapter 5 - Jake's POV
I stared at Bella's lips as she recited the poem. So sue me. But when she explained the significance of the words I started... concentrating. Like, actually taking in her explanation. Her enthusiasm was contagious, and I found myself thinking she'd make an incredible English teacher.
She was so beautiful like this, too. A little flushed, totally absorbed, grinning at me as I clumsily tried to dismantle the meaning behind the words. The way she'd recited it, though, it was much easier to work out what the writer was getting it. Or it seemed that way. Maybe it was just because Bella was the one making me concentrate, but I'd never been so engaged when I was in classes at school. Then again, my English teacher had had a baritone voice and an aggressive fungal infection (he wore sandals - horrifying sandals) rather than a cute accent and a lip biting habit.
I concluded I wasthinking with my cock, but that apparently it could understand poetry. Who knew?
As B came to the end of her thoughts I didn't want to break the spell, but we were parked, damn it. I saw the smile fading from her cheeks as she unbuckled her seatbelt and reached for the door and I made a mental note to bring up her favorite writers later, when we'd sat Charlie and Billy in front of the flatscreen.
This was an amended part of the Plan. I wanted to find out about college, maybe make her blush a little more with questions about her sex course (seriously - where the fuck do I sign up?), and... something else was niggling. I wanted to know why she never wrote me back when we were kids. The last time we'd hung out she'd given me her address in Phoenix and I'd sent her letter after letter. I eventually had to give up when Quil and Embry had bribed the man at the general store not to sell me any more stamps. Bastards. Apparently I needed to "move on."
I tried not to let them know that had never happened in the intervening years. I mean, I wasn't a monk - I'd had three actual girlfriends and gotten off with plenty more - but every time I stood in the shower or lay back on my bed and reached between my legs I saw wide brown eyes, long, skinny legs and a shy smile. Sometimes it annoyed me, especially when I was actually in a relationship. A few times, in protest, I'd tried to imagine other women, almost chafing my cock raw with the effort to try and come to thoughts of blonde hair or blue eyes or tan skin, but it was pitiful compared to the feeling when I thought of Bella.
I imagined stroking her long, dark hair, which shone with red strands in the light; the little noises she would make as I licked and sucked her pale brown nipples; the way she would taste between her legs. My cock would get so hard the pulse through it from my hammering heart would match the speed of my strokes, and when I came, mumbling her name wrapped around a string of curses... well, nothing ever felt as good.
I didn't care what Quil or Embry said about unhealthy obsession; there'd only ever been one woman for me.
"I guess we'd better go in." Bella said quietly, breaking me out of my daydream and looking at me from under her eyelashes. God, that look killed me. It was like she was trying to get me to jump her bones, right here in the parking lot of a strip mall in Port Angeles. She really shouldn't tempt me like that. I didn't mind a few strangers seeing mynaked ass.
Instead, I stepped out of the truck and round to her side, taking her hand as we walked into the store... and straight into Leah Clearwater. Fuck.
"Jacob!" She stalked over to me like a cat. "Now why would I find you in here? They don't sell chest wax or fan belts."
"Hi Leah."
Bella snorted. She might be perfect but she was also, clearly, a traitor.
Lee appraised Bella with a glint in her eye. "Are you..?"
"Bella Swan." B finished, and held out her hand.
"Ah, well." Leah winked at me. This was not good. Not, not, not good. "I finally get to meet the girl of Jacob's dr-"
"Look! iPhones!" I grabbed Bella's arm and dragged her across the store to the sound of Leah's cackling laughter. I looked back and tried to give her my "do not fuck with me" eyebrow. She stuck her tongue out and then made kissy faces. It was nice to know I was as menacing as ever.
While I was preoccupied, a sales assistant had descended and was currently standing wellwithin B's personal space (I know, because I like to occupy as much of it as possible) trying to get her to sign up to a contract. His name badge declared him as "Tyler," which should have been a synonym for "patronizing", considering the way he was talking to my Bella.
"You dropped your phone in the sink? Aww, no. Occupational hazard of having breasts!"
Bella turned to him with a terrifying look on her face. Her lips were a thin line and her eyes were blazing.
"I'm sorry," she began. "Were you trying to get me to buy a cell phone? Because I thought I just heard you make an offensive, sexist joke. Which wouldn't make any sense at all, considering how much commission you'd lose if I were to walk out of the store."
Tyler swallowed hard. I leaned back against a shelf to enjoy the show.
"Now," Bella continued, "seeing as you probably don't need a high school diploma to work in the renowned, yet sadly dilapidated Port Angeles franchise of Verizon, I'll give you the benefit of the doubt. I mean, who knows? Maybe you don'tstill think your overpriviledged dick somehow adds to your brain cell count? In any case, I think I can work out the App Store myself."
I almost felt sorry for Tyler as he tugged at his collar, sweating despite the air conditioning, and tried to retrieve his dignity from about five minutes ago, when it had abandoned his pitiful ass.
"Hey, B, if you got a smartphone you coulduse the e-Books apps to read up for that Masters degree you were thinking of."
Heh heh heh. I said almost.
Tyler let out a faint whimper. "I'll just let you get back to browsing."
B was busy playing with the phone's features, and barely looked at him. "You do that."
As we strolled over to Wal-Mart twenty minutes later Bella handed me the phone she'd bought and asked me to program in my number. My grin lasted across the lot, through the doors and right up to the motoring section, until a certain blond asshat who should clearly be on some sort of police register materialized from behind the anti-freeze.
The sporting goods and automotive sections were right next to each other, but really - there was no need for him to jogup to Bella. She made a pained noise, so I decided to lay it on thick, and slid an arm around her shoulders murmuring, "go with it," before nuzzling her sweet-smelling hair.
She turned into my embrace, and looked up and suddenly there I was... right in the position I'd been dreaming of, jerking off over, obsessingabout for years.
About three inches. That's how far I'd have to move to feel her lips against mine. I reached up and cradled her neck in my free hand, stroking the soft skin with my thumb. She shivered, and ran her hands up my arms. Three. Fucking. Inches. Thr-
"Bellissima! Couldn't stay away from the Newt, huh!"
Bella shut her eyes and turned from me. "Mike."
I was torn (and horny as hell, but disregarded that for the moment). If I grabbed the battery we could leave quickly, but that would entail me abandoning Bella to deal with Mr Is That... Hair Gel? I decided to test the water, and pulled away slightly. Bella's remaining grip on my arm tightened into a vice-hold so I happily stayed put, drawing her in closer to my side.
"Here for some lube, are we?" Mike winked at Bella. I felt sick.
"Actually, we're here for a car battery." Bella answered, completely deadpan. "They really make my vibrator sing."
I couldn't help it; Mike's face was such a picture I snorted (and filed away the images of Bella with sex toys for later in my folder entitled "Holy Fucking Fuck!"). While he was still too shocked to speak I pulled B over to the battery display and grabbed the right one. I may have researched the best quality-versus-price battery for a 1998 Corolla at length online previously. Ahem. We walked, still giggling, to the check out and then made our escape.
The ride home was a lot of fun, Bella playing DJ, and doing a disturbingly good impression of Newton from her, uh, experiences. Apparently he'd once tried to get into a sleeping bag with her when she was fifteen to demonstrate the "capacity" and she'd kneed him in the balls. Accidentally, of course. Charlie had bought her an ice cream sundae at the diner afterwards to celebrate, "so, of course, I asked for plenty of chopped nuts." I'd almost had to pull over, I was laughing so hard.
By the time we arrived I was grinning from ear to ear. Fuck, she was so easy to be with - as easy as breathing. We'd only been hanging out for a short time, but already we'd fallen into the relaxed, happy, groove we used to have as if a skipping needle had just been nudged gently back into place.
As I pulled up, B hopped out and went to say hi to her dad - I heard "Salut Papa! Comment ça va?" and an answering grunt - before she said "catch!" from the doorway and threw Ruby's keys at my head. The sky was darkening and oppressive and I wondered if I could change the battery ahead of the inevitable rainstorm. I decided to risk it, and grabbed the bag I'd stashed behind her seat when I'd left home, with my wrenches, brush and grease, before leaning into Ruby and pulling the hood catch.
Bella came out ten minutes later, just as the drizzle was starting, with hot coffee and a plate of those crack-laced homemade cookies. She swiped a finger across the old battery, now sitting on the grass by the car, and then painted my nose with the dirt. I resisted the urge to kiss her for approximately the three hundredth time that day and concentrated on brushing some corrosion from the cables, rather than pushing her small body back against the car door and humping her like a mongrel. Damn it.
By the time I'd scarfed down the last cookie and leaned in to turn the engine over I was pretty soaked. The rain was coming down hard and fast and it wasn't exactly the best conditions to be tinkering with wiring. Why couldn't my damn tribe be from Arizona?
I ran around to the front of the car, but in my haste to get the hood down before any water hit the battery I let the damn thing close on my hand. The catch bit into the skin on my palm, cutting a jagged gash as I pulled free.
I yelped at the pain, clutching my fingers and trying to see the damage through the rain. The water was mixing with the blood, and I pulled off my flannel shirt and wrapped it around my hand to stem the flow.
I still had to check the car started okay though, then gather up my tools and wrap and store the old battery in my truck, so by the time I reached Bella's front door - mug and plate in my useable hand - I was a drowned rat version of Jacob, complete with stupidly flattened hair and a t-shirt you could see the color of my nipples through. Fucking fantastic.
Bella opened up the door as soon as I rang the bell but then just... stood there, sort of gaping. I handed her the crockery and she took it, but stayed put, her eyes strafing me from head to foot as I dripped on the wooden porch. By this point my nipples had taken to poking out against my t-shirt with the cold. Christ. Maybe I should see about doing a photoshoot for Out?
"Um, Bells..." I started tentatively, "could I maybe come in?"
She nodded soundlessly and then moved back, before turning a shade of red not dissimilar to her automobile. I closed the door behind me and stood on the mat, not wanting to soak her whole hallway, before pulling my t-shirt over my head and toeing off my boots. I squelched down the corridor, meeting Bella coming the other way with a towel and a frown.
She led me into the kitchen and sat me down next to the radiator, before wrapping the huge, warm towel around my shoulders. I practically moaned; it felt so good.
"Hey," she said gently, tugging on the flannel shirt in my hands, "can I have this to put in to wash?"
"I, um..." I started, trying not to sound like an idiot with chattering teeth as drops from my wet hair ran down my neck. "I cut my hand."
"Let me see?"
As if I would deny her anything. I held out my arm and she peeled back the fabric slowly, drawing in a quick breath as blood came into view. Then she laughed. I raised an eyebrow.
"Oh, Jake that sucks," she said, sympathetically, and squeezed my shoulder. "But hey, at least I can stand blood nowadays. Let me clean you up." She tossed my flannel shirt on the table and got up to grab some gauze and a bowl of warm water. I swallowed, trying not to get emotional, or to think of the last time someone looked after me like this. It was years, at least. Fuck, it felt good.
"I remember your... phobia." I offered. "You hurt your head when we took the dirt bikes out that time and almost fainted." She smiled, nodding as she wiped the cut clean of blood and grease then dried it off and sprayed the shredded skin with antiseptic. It still oozed a little, but seemed placated. Kind of like its owner.
"Yep," she replied, with a wicked smirk. "I seem to recall you'd just got your first set of dumbbells and you decided that the best way to clean my cut was to take off your entire t-shirt." She glanced down at my chest and stomach, exposed by the gap in the towel. "How things change, eh?"
I swear I turned pink; I was so busted. Still, two could play that game.
"Well, seeing as you survived, and recovered pretty well, I'd say my methods are beyond reproach. So how about it?" I reached forward with my good hand and tugged on the hem of the top she was wearing. My fingers brushed over her stomach and I felt the muscles tighten under her skin. Christ.
But instead of playfully batting my hand away like I expected, Bella froze. I jerked my arm back as she swallowed hard, seeming to force herself to look up at me. Her eyes were huge, and so sad... and I had no idea why. I frowned in response, and dropped my hand into my lap, trying to show her that I'd meant no disrespect and wishing so hard that I could rewind time. Such an idiot. Boundaries, Jake. Goddamned boundaries.
She finished bandaging my hand in silence, but I couldn't leave things like this.
"Bells, I'm sorry, I shouldn't ha-"
"All done." She interrupted, patting my wrist then pressing a quick kiss to my palm, almost as a peace offering. "I'll just go and get you some, uh, dry clothes."
My eyes widened, unsure of how to act. Had she accepted my apology? Either way, I couldn't stand to see that look in her eyes again, especially if I was somehow the cause, and I resolved to try and talk it out with her later, no matter how embarrassing it might be.
I looked ridiculous by the time I was changed, wearing Charlie's too-small sweats, but they smelled like Bella so that made up for it. I kept surreptitiously sniffing the sleeves of the hoodie she'd given me and cursing my own stupidity some more. Once I was warm and dry, I left to go fetch Billy for tonight's dinner, letting Bella dictate the contact we had. She hugged me gently then pulled away, wrinkling her nose but smiling.
"You looking like Charlie is sowrong."
A disembodied voice came from the lounge.
"Hey! It's better than his usual muscle shirts!"
We grinned at each other and I finally took a full breath. Although I did wonder quite how much Charlie'd heard of our exchange. Disturbing.
My dad was cleaning his fishing kit when I got home, and looking altogether far too excited by some sparkling, hard plastic lures.
"This, son," he began with a dangerous glint in his eyes, brandishing a purple fake minnow with a depressed expression on its face, "thiswill catch me a whopper the size of your hairy ass!"
I rolled my eyes. And then rolled him back from the table.
"Hey!" he protested, till I told him we were going round to the Swan's for baseball, beer and Bella's lasagna. He perked up considerably after that, and instructed me to "go put on some damn clothes you didn't get from Goodwill." I decided not to argue, and changed while dad packed up his kit.
The ride back was slow; the rain was getting crazy now, and the radio forecast a huge storm coming in off the ocean. I was still unsure about how to broach my apology to Bella, but as dad and I chatted about the Mariners' crappy season I relaxed some, and suddenly we'd arrived. Billy and Charlie high fived when I wheeled him into the lounge, and launched immediately into Sports Center, while I went to help B in the kitchen.
She was chopping tomatoes and singing along tunelessly to a Hank Williams CD, her ass swaying a little as she tried to yodel. My chest hurt; she was so cute.
"Hey Bells." I ventured.
She whipped round, blushing. "I'm going for American Idol next season. I'm thinking Gypsies, Tramps and Thievesfor my audition song."
"Excellent choice," I answered, stepping closer and sweeping a few locks of hair from her eyes, tentatively seeing if she was okay with me touching her. "Cher's part Native, y'know - Cherokee, I think."
B nodded. "I don't know if my butt could pull off the short shorts though..."
"Oh, I don't think that would be a problem at all." I grinned, more than relieved that things seemed back to normal between us. "Although you might need just a little bit of, um, vocal coaching."
Bella hit me with a wooden spoon. I deserved it. "Jacob Black, go and take your father a beer. Then get back in here so you can make yourself useful."
I straightened up and saluted.
The lasagna, when we finally got to eat it after hustling our dads away from the game, was fucking heavenly. I ate four helpings, practically an entire loaf of garlic bread, and two bowls of fruit salad, much to Bella's horror, and then sat back moaning and holding my poor, abused stomach.
Once we'd put the dishes in to soak and Charlie and Billy were back commenting on batting averages, B grabbed my hand and dragged me out onto the back porch. Lightning was flashing across the dark gray sky, which was low with clouds like sea foam on angry waves. The fresh air cleared my carbohydrate-addled brain a little, and I pulled B onto the wooden bench, making her sit so I could lie down and rest my head in her lap.
"Do you think you'd explode if I sat on you right now, Jake?" she said, while stroking her fingers through my hair. I made a moaning, whining noise, and nodded. Bella wrapped a blanket around her shoulders and I tried not to think how close my mouth was to her thighs, or the fact that she'd just brought up sitting onme. We snuggled in companionable quiet for a while, just watching the sky and occasionally pointing out obscenely shaped clouds, till I realised I couldn't put it off any longer.
"Bells, I want to apologize for earlier, in the kitchen. I shouldn't have touched you like that when you didn't want it. I'm sorry."
She was very quiet for a moment, then leaned down and kissed my forehead. I closed my eyes as I felt her lips on my skin for the second time. It was perfection.
"It's okay. It was me, really. I just..." she paused, and took a breath. "Just need to move on."
My brain went into overdrive. Move on from what? To what? To who? And then I remembered the other thing I'd wanted to ask her and it seemed apt, when I was already overthinking her words, to bring it up.
"Bella?" I said, trepidation choking my throat.
"Hmm?" She'd begun fashioning my hair into a mohawk with her fingers. It felt distractingly good.
"How come... you never wrote me back?"