A New Direction
Jacob
"What the fuck are you so happy about?" I sighed and turned to Quil who had opened his mouth and disrupted my concentration.
"Nothing, now can I get back to work? This car needs to be done today or Mr. Steinbern is gonna be pissed." I turned my head back to the car, expecting the conversation to be over, but with Quil it's never over.
"I can't let you get back to work, not when you're grinning at that car like an idiot. What did you do last night?"
"Nothing, now but out."
"It has something to do with you being all nervous and weird yesterday, doesn't it." I didn't answer for a moment. I knew that Quil and Embry didn't mind Bella being back, but I had no idea how they would feel about her and I becoming something more. I would be with Bella no matter what their feelings were about our relationship, but since they were my best friends and because they were there for me in my darkest hour I want them to realize that Bella was good for me. I hadn't told anyone what I was planning yesterday; I just walked around the shop nervous all day. Of course the guys noticed and questioned me about it, but I just said I was feeling off and gave them a look that said, "leave it alone".
"Holy shit it does, what happened?" Embry said, apparently deciding to join the conversation. I turned around and set my tools down on the table beside me.
"Alright look, something did happen, but this is just between you guys and me. Don't tell the pack, or my sister, and especially Leah. She's already mad enough as it is." Embry nodded, Quil on the other hand said, "What'd you do, bone Bella?"
"No." I snapped. "I wouldn't do that, not so soon after she got…back." The statement was partially true, Bella and I had just taken another step in our relationship, but we would be a ways a way from sex even if she hadn't gotten raped. The fact that some sick bastard had taken advantage of her and hurt my Bells made me want to hit something, and the fact that there was nothing I could do about it made my heart hurt. While she was being ripped apart I was here, trying my best to hate her, thinking of ways to rip her apart even more. Though my anger was justified, my intended cruelty was not. I'm still ashamed of how much I tried to hate Bella, the horrible things I said and thought about her while trying to ease my pain. It's something I conveniently left out of my story when I told Bella how my life had been like in her absence. But then again there were a lot of things I didn't tell her.
"Well then tell us what happened," Embry said, bringing me out of my thoughts.
"Yesterday I took Bella out." It was quiet for a moment and I did my best to remain calm while I waited for their reactions. Embry was the one who spoke first.
"That's really cool man. She's a great girl but…are you sure about this? I have no problem with Bella being back, that's what we wanted. We wanted her to return home safe because she is like family, but are you sure you want to put yourself out there again? Bella, I mean I love her like a sister and all, but she hurt you man, multiple times."
"Yeah," Quil jumped in, "she's put you through a bunch of shit, and it destroyed you last time. Are you really sure you want to go through that again. I mean she might go back to Cullen, I know he's back in town, and not to mention she might up and leave again." I nodded, I knew this, every thing they had said had gone through my mind at one time or another. I wanted to do this, I wanted Bella.
"Cullen already made his appearance," I said.
"He did? What did Bella do?" Quil's brows were furrowed.
"Apparently he thought she was still going to marry him and got mad when Bella told him she didn't come back here for him. They got in a huge argument." I smirked, I wish I could have seen his face when she picked me over him. Fucking priceless.
"She did? That's my girl! Damn, I wish I could have been there." Quil was applauding Bella and we were all laughing, partly because the image of Bella telling off Edward is hysterical and partly because Quil is an idiot.
"Okay, so Cullen is out of the picture, finally. Are you sure she's not gonna leave again." Images flashed through my mind of Bella begging me not to hurt her, thinking I was him the night after she told me about being in that horrible room. Her pleading with him not to kill her, saying she needed to come back. Anger began bubbling up inside me and I had to work to push it back down before answering.
"Trust me man, she won't want to leave again."
"Why, what did she say to you? Did something happen to her?" Embry asked, and I nodded.
"Well what happened?"
"Look I can't tell you. I promised her I wouldn't say anything."
"Come on man, we're your besties, we won't tell the pack or anyone else." Quil said to try and sway me but I shook my head, remembering how desperate she looked when she asked me to keep her pain a secret.
"No, I can't. She practically begged me not to tell you, she doesn't want anyone looking at her differently." I closed my lips tightly before I released any more of Bella's personal information and turned to the side to gather my tools.
"Was it really that bad?" Quil asked. I let out a sharp breath and turned to look at him.
"Man, you have no idea, bad doesn't even begin to cover it." I looked at him for a moment longer before returning to the car I was working on so they wouldn't see how much the weight of her painful experience was crushing me. How could I have hated her when she was going through something like that? Sure she left, but I feel like I should have done something more. I wish I could have done something to protect her. It kills me how she blames herself for what happened to her. She shouldn't have left without telling anyone where she was going, I get that and she gets that, but just because she made the wrong decision doesn't mean she deserved to get raped. She didn't bring that on herself. That little shit Ryan did that to her, he's to blame. He's the one that raped her, he's the one that sent her to therapy for two years, he's the one that made her think suicidal thoughts, he's the one that nearly killed her! I heard the sound groaning of metal and looked down. The wrench in my hand had been bent out of shape.
"Shit." I tried by best to bend it back into its original shape but it wasn't cooperating so I rolled out from underneath the car and got up. "Whatever, the car's done anyway." I muttered. I was surprised when two hands wrapped around my waist and plunged into my pants.
"Then you're not busy are you?" I yanked the hands from my pants and turned around. Adriana, one of Felicia's she-bats and Mr. Steinbern's daughter, was standing there with a sultry smirk on her face.
"Now mister Black, I believe I wanted full service," she took a step closer to me and grabbed my cock through my pants, "so what do you say? You do want a satisfied customer don't you?" She started to rub me through my jeans but I grabbed her hand and pulled it away. She was now sporting an incredibly fake pout that all the girls in Felicia's little pack seemed to have.
"Come on Jake, you haven't done anything with me in over a month," she whined.
"Didn't Felicia tell you, I'm not interested, off the market." She looked confused, twisting her hair around her finger.
"Like… you have a girlfriend?" She asked.
"Yes, I'm taken." I didn't know if I could call Bella my girlfriend, I mean we hadn't really talked about it. We would need to figure everything out though, soon. These girls were relentless. Slowly the confused expression melted off of Adriana's face and she took a small step toward me.
"Well then, we'll just have to be more careful about not getting caught." She reached out for me again, but this time I grabbed her hand before she made contact.
"Stop trying to touch me. I'm not gonna fuck you so you can take your skanky ass and get the hell out of my shop." I saw a surprise flash in her eyes, followed by anger.
"Oh really, maybe I'll just tell daddy you said that. You can kiss you're your best customer goodbye," she sneered.
"Yeah you do that. I would love to see daddy's expression when he hears his little girl is mad because the mean mechanic won't fuck around with her." I knew she wouldn't tell her dad. She'd done too much nasty shit, not only with me but with some of the other pack members as well.
"Whatever, just give me the fucking car." I made her sign all of the necessary papers, including the payment sheet and gave her the keys to her car. I meant to walk away but she grabbed my wrist. I snapped my hand out of her grip and she gave me a nasty smile.
"We'll see just how long you last Jakey." With that she got in the car and drove away, leaving me with a heaviness in my stomach. I knew that all these girls were going to be a problem, especially if they were going to try and tear me away from Bella. I knew I could control myself. I meant what I said when I told Bella she's the only girl I want. The problem was, I didn't how Bella was going to react when she saw all of these girls on me. She handled herself very well at the bonfire but she can only take so much. I know how hard it is to see someone you love getting groped on by someone less worthy, and I don't want her to think that I want anything to do with the girls that come on to me. I still hadn't told her about that part of my past, not wanting to overwhelm her with that kind of information, especially after what she'd been through. But at the same time it was the fear that she might see me in the same light as that bastard that destroyed her that kept me from telling her. I didn't go around and rape all of those women, I could never think of doing that to anyone, but the sex was rough and there was a lot of it. I had dug myself into a hole with the reputation I made for myself, and now I was having a hard time getting out, which was my own damn fault.
I was brought out of my thoughts by another pair of hands snaking around my waist and turned to yell at the owner.
"I thought I told you to le-" I stopped mid sentence when I realized those arms belonged to Bella.
"I'm sorry. Am I interrupting or something, I mean I guess I should have called."
"Whoa Bells, calm down. You didn't have to call, you're always be welcome here. I just didn't know it was you, that's all." I took her hands in mine and smiled down at her.
"Oh," she smiled back for a moment, but shortly after that her eyebrows furrowed.
"Has someone else greeted you like that today?" She was trying to play it off like she didn't care, but I could see that she did.
"Just one of the customers I always have problems with. I sorted out though, it's no big deal." I paused, seeing that my response didn't completely do it for her. "I know she won't be a problem because I told her," I picked Bella up and threw her over my shoulder and she shrieked, "That if she came by again, my crazy girlfriend would beat her ass down," I froze for a moment when I realized that I had just called Bella my girlfriend. She didn't seem to mind so I poked her in the side to cover up my momentary freak out and was rewarded with a laugh. "She was scared shitless."
"Well I would be too, this crazy girlfriend of yours sounds like she's no joke." She giggled.
"Oh yeah she's a real piece of work. She's smart, and funny, and the most beautiful girl you've ever seen." I was walking around the shop putting my tools up with her slung over my shoulder.
"She sounds great, I think I'm a little jealous." My eyebrows furrowed and I moved her so I was holding her to my chest instead of over my shoulder.
"There's no need for you to be jealous of anyone." I didn't want her thinking that anyone out there was better than her, in my eyes at least, she was the greatest girl anyone could ask for.
"Well I don't know about anyone," she looked down a bit and I tilted her chin up so she was looking at me again.
"You don't see yourself the way I do. I wish you did. There's no one else Bells, nobody can make me as happy as you do or grab my attention the way you can. When I say you don't have to be jealous of anyone, I mean anyone." She blinked a few times and gave me a small nod. We stayed like that for a moment, just looking at each other and then someone came in and ruined the moment. I grudgingly set Bella down and went to tend to the new customer. Since we still didn't have a receptionist, the job was passed around to different people every week. This week it was my turn. I got all of the information and had him bring the car into the garage. It was a brand new Nissan Altima that needed new brake pads installed. The guy said his son was on the wild side when it came to driving and I just gave him a nod. He said he needed it in two days and we agreed on the cost of his repairs before he left the shop.
"Sorry about that," I said once I got back to Bella. She was sitting on the counter where we put the tools.
"It's cool, you are still at work so it's my fault for stopping by and distracting you." I put my arms on either side of her and leaned in slightly.
"Well you are rather distracting." She gave a breathy laugh and I smirked. My eyes zeroed in on her lips. I leaned in closer, needing to taste her again. I moved slowly, giving her more than enough time to stop me if she was uncomfortable. I heard her heart beat speed up as I leaned my forehead against hers with my eyes closed.
"Can I kiss you," I whispered, needing her answer to be yes, but knowing that if she wasn't comfortable I would pull away.
"I don't know, can you?" I rolled my eyes at the elementary remark.
"May I kiss you?" I tried again and she giggled.
"You never have to ask," she murmured back. With that I captured her lips with my own, reveling in how soft hers were. I slid my tongue along her bottom lip, asking for entrance. She granted it without hesitation and my world was on fire. With my tongue on hers and her hands around my neck I was lost in how wonderful she felt. My hands were on her waist, lightly applying pressure. I didn't want things to move to fast for her, but I couldn't resist giving her bottom lip a little nip. I pulled away to satisfy our need for air and was about to move in again when someone cleared their throat. I let out a small groan of irritation before turning to face Leah.
"Sorry, am I interrupting?" She asked with a smug look on her face. She knew damn well she was interrupting.
"What Leah?" I was not in the mood to deal with her bullshit.
"Me and the guys are about to go on a lunch break. I thought you would be happy Black. Gives you time to take care of that nice little tent you've got forming."
"Thank you, have fun at lunch." That was my way of trying to politely get her to leave.
"Yeah, yeah I'm leaving. Just don't get any cum on the seats. And take her into your office, I don't want her to get slut all over the shop." Before I had time to yell at her for the offensive remark she was gone.
"Sorry about that," I said, turning back to Bella.
"It's fine, she never really liked me. I don't expect her to be civil."
"That's still no excuse for her behavior." It was silent in the shop with everybody gone which just made the silence between Bella and I unbearably awkward. For a moment we both just stood there, looking everywhere but at each other like a couple of little kids. Thankfully an idea sprang into my head and I broke the silence.
"Hey, you wanna go out for lunch?"
"What if we run into the pack?" She asked and took her lip between her teeth.
"Don't tell me you're scared of Leah." I said jokingly.
"Scared…of Leah? Please. I just don't want to spend lunch getting grilled by her and Paul and whoever else doesn't like me." She rolled her eyes at the notion of Leah frightening her, but I was focused more on Paul.
"Did Paul say something to you?" I didn't want her being harassed by two ass-holes, Leah was enough to deal with.
"Yes, but I can handle him. I'm your bad ass girlfriend, remember?" She said with a playful smile. I put my hand behind my neck and looked down.
"Umm yeah are you okay with that? I know we haven't really talked about it and everything is moving kind of fast now. I mean we can still be just friends if you're more comfortable with that. It just kind of slipped out." I closed my mouth quickly, knowing that if I opened it again I would just keep rambling like an idiot.
"I don't know, I mean we haven't even gone out on a date," She said with a knowing smile. "I mean, unless last night was actually a date." Her eyebrows rose, daring me to challenge her.
"Last night was… an outing that could be looked at as a date," I said coyly.
"Jacob, come on." She tilted her head to the side and smirked.
"Alright, alright it was a date." I admitted defeat with a smile. She grinned and said, "I told you so." I promptly responded by sticking my tongue out at her and she giggled. After a few moments I joined in.
"In all seriousness," I said after we stopped laughing, " the only reason I didn't want to call our date a date is because I thought if we didn't use labels it might make it easier, more normal. I didn't actually plan on kissing you, I just thought we were going to go and have a good time. But I saw how excited you were, laughing and playing, and because you were happy I was happy too. When we got on the Ferris Wheel and we were all alone, and you were this beautiful girl with a smile on her face sitting across from me, and I was just there feeling so lucky to have you sitting across from me, I couldn't help myself." I brought my hand up to her face, loving how wonderful her smooth skin felt under my palm, and looked into her eyes.
"It had been far to long since I had seen you and really been with you and laughed with you and… kissed you. I said what I felt in that moment, what I've been feeling since then, and kissed you. But that wasn't even the most amazing part for me, the best part was that you kissed be back, and I felt like I did four years ago when I was a teenager on top of that mountain. There was no tension between us, you had never left, you had never… never been raped," I stopped for a moment and closed my eyes. Hearing those words come out of my own mouth made them echo in my mind for a long, horrible moment. I felt Bella's hand on my face and opened my eyes to meet her chocolate ones staring at me, gently prodding me to go on.
"I felt like nothing had changed even though everything has, whenever I'm with you I feel like a my old self. I'm not angry and yelling, instead I'm always acting like an idiot and blushing. You are the only girl that leaves me speechless, and you do it on a daily basis." I looked down for a moment, realizing the point I wanted to make had gotten away from me and turned into a confession. "Anyway what I'm trying to say is, I was scared of things changing to fast and deteriorating, so I tried to avoid dating you. The only problem was I wanted to take you out, so I said our date was a non-date, which sounded like bull shit, even to me. After that night, and after that kiss, I found myself wanting to call you my girlfriend and make my claim. I want the whole world knowing you're mine, but at the same time I don't know if this is going to fast." I was having a constant inner battle between my head and my heart. My heart wanted Bella, it didn't care what happened in the end, as long as I ended up with her. But my head was level and stern, telling me where to stop and yelling when I exceeded it's set limit.
"I do think that going from friends to girlfriend after one date is moving a little fast, just in general," Bella said. My heart ached a bit from her words, but I knew she was right. "However, I think that labels are unnecessary for us at this point. So instead of being your girlfriend, how about I just stick to being yours?"
"Yeah that sounds good." I said, not bothering to hesitate. She laughed at my eagerness, but I had no shame.
"So, how about that lunch?" I asked, getting back to how the whole conversation started.
"I would love to go to lunch with you, this can be our second date." She said and raised her eyebrows suggestively.
"Sure thing Bells, whatever you say." The sarcastic remark earned me a punch on the arm and a smile.
~Redeem~
We ended up going to this new burger place in La Push called Henry's. It was a small little diner type restaurant that sat in the middle of the forest. Lucky for us the pack was nowhere in sight. We sat down in a little booth across from one another and our waitress came by after a few minutes.
"Hi, I'm Tammy. What can I get you?" She looked do be about eighteen or nineteen with blond hair and blue eyes. She was currently running her eyes up and down my body, which made both Bella and I uncomfortable.
"I'll have a two homestyle triple meat burgers and an extra side of fries and a coke." I decided to order my meal along with my drink so she wouldn't have to come back until the food was done. Apparently Bella was thinking the same thing, she ordered a regular burger, fries, and lemonade. Our waitress turned to leave, her eyes lingering on me before she moved on to another table. I let out a breath and focused on Bella.
"Why did you leave work so early today?" I asked, wanting to forget our rude waitress.
"Oh, Laura let me go early, it was kind of a slow day and she could tell I was anxious to see you."
"You were anxious to see little ol' me?" I asked, batting my eyelashes. "Well I am flattered."
"Oh god." Bella rolled her eyes and kicked me under the table. I looked her in the eyes, all hints the playful tone gone from my voice when I said, "Did you just kick me?" Bella's eyes widened and she looked like she was about to apologize, so I spoke before she could.
"Oh you have no idea what you're up against. I am the KING of footsie." To prove my point I gave her a gentle kick. Bella relaxed, and for a second I felt bad. I didn't want her to be scared of me or anything, but this was just a game of footsie. Besides, I knew she would want me to keep everything as normal as possible.
"Oh yeah?" She asked with a playful glint in her eyes.
I leaned across the table and said, "Yeah, so get ready Swan." We then proceeded to play what looked like an odd game of soccer without the ball. Finally I had her in checkmate. Both of her feet were swept up between mine and we were laughing like idiots. That was the moment our lovely waitress decided to show up.
"How's everything over here?" She asked, though her tone had hardened a bit and she sent a quick glare over to Bella.
"I was actually wondering about our drinks." I said wanting her to leave. She turned to me with this weird smile on her face.
"Oh yes your drinks, my bad. They'll be right out," she said before walking away. Bella tried to move her feet away from me but I tightened my hold.
"Jacob, give me my feet back." She said while trying to pull her feet from my vice grip.
"Nope, these bad boys are mine now." I leaned back with a satisfied smile on my face and closed my eyes. I figured she would complain a bit more before I released her feet, but little did I know Bella had formed a foolproof plan. Out of the blue Bella grabbed my shirt, pulled me to her, and kissed me. I was beyond startled but my lips found a rhythm with hers immediately. Her lips teased mine playfully and I could feel her smiling into the kiss. I would have been content to stay like that all day, but someone cleared their throat and we broke apart. Our waitress was looking very agitated and Bella had this mischievous glint in her eyes. "Here are you drinks and your food," was all she said before walking away and muttering to herself. After our waitress had gone Bella leaned back with a smirk on her face. It was only then that I realized my legs were back on my side of the table.
"Well, played Swan. Remind me to hold your limbs hostage more often." I said as I picked off some of my fries. She laughed and started to dig into her own food.
Once I wolfed my food down and Bella was finished picking at hers the waitress came by with the check and her phone number. I rolled my eyes and flipped the check over to pay. I made sure to give her a very low tip.
"Renee called last night." Bella said while we were waiting for the check to be collected.
"Really, well that was kind of random." I knew Renee cared about Bella. She was concerned when Bella went missing, but it seemed that her concern only prodded her to call once or twice a month after Bella was gone. Renee actually hinted at having a funeral for Bella after she had been missing for a year. Charlie was furious, as was I. "Having a funeral would mean we are giving up," Charlie told her, "and I will never give up on my daughter." After that Renee stopped calling.
"Yeah. I guess she called earlier while we were out and Charlie answered the phone. Apparently he thought I had called her already and told her about… about why I had been missing." I immediately caught on. Knowing Renee, her response to Charlie's news could not have been pretty.
"How'd she take it?"
"Not well. She thought Charlie was lying at first, when the truth finally hit her she was hysterical. After fifteen minutes Charlie finally calmed her down enough to promise her I would call when I got in and hang up. When I finally called her back she was more calm, but there were a lot of tears. She wants me to call her every week now." Bella was looking down at the table the entire time she was talking and I knew something was wrong.
"Are you okay with that?"
"Yeah, I mean I should have called her a while ago I guess and I can understand her wanting to talk to me," she said, but she was still looking at the table.
"Bella," I said gently and she finally looked up at me, "I know when you're not happy about something. If it's not having to call Renee every week it must be something she said to you." I really hoped that wasn't the case, but I had a feeling it was.
"No it wasn't that… well I mean it wasn't bad… or it wasn't intended to be bad, I just kind of took it the wrong way maybe."
"Bella." I said in a tone that told her I knew her mom had royally fucked up. She sighed and said, "She was really sad and shocked and I think she just used anger to cover up because she didn't really know how to express what she was feeling. I mean I know that she didn't mean what she said and-"
"Bella." I repeated, this time in a harder tone. I didn't like where this was going. The thought of Renee being mad at Bella and saying something inappropriate to her made me angry, very angry. Bella stopped talking for a moment and looked away.
"She said that if I hadn't left, none of this would have happened. After she heard the whole story she said I was stupid to help the girl in the alleyway, that I should have left her to deal with her own mistakes. She also made it clear that I was being irresponsible by not telling the hospital to contact her and Charlie." I let out a low growl of disgust as Bella relayed Renee's comments to me. I hated that woman. She had a record of selfishness and neglect for her daughter's feelings and I was so fucking sick of it. What kind of parent says something like that to their child? After everything Bella has gone through, what kind of mother tells her daughter that she made stupid decisions and that's why she got raped?
"I know it sounds bad but… you know what, fuck that it is bad. It's a horrible thing to say and I was so hurt and angry when she said it, but I didn't, and still don't, want to believe that she meant to say those things. I just don't understand how she would think that saying those things would help me, in any way." Bella's voice shook, heavy with emotion and I squeezed her hand in mine.
"She wasn't worrying about helping you, she was trying to help herself. She cares about you Bella, I know she does, but when it comes to life she's more worried about herself. But you know that honey. You know that she doesn't show you the kind of love you deserve, and it makes me so angry to see you underappreciated. But you are a grown woman, you don't need her to tell you right from wrong anymore, hell you didn't need her to tell you right from wrong when you were a child. Do you think you did the right thing?" I tried to mask my anger towards Renee for Bella's sake. She didn't need to hear me rant and rave right now. But I did want to make it clear that Renee's thoughts held little weight in Bella's life.
"Well I mean, yeah. I don't think I should have left like I did, but I'm glad I didn't marry Edward, and I definitely didn't want to have that young woman's rape hanging over me. I mean I saw her in trouble, if I had just walked by and not done anything it would have haunted me for the rest of my life. I can see how Renee would be angry about me keeping my problems to myself and not letting the hospital contact my her and Charlie, but I really just wanted to deal with the situation on my own. I felt like if I wasn't the one to seek help and fix myself I would always be broken. So yes I think that, for the most part, I did do the right thing."
"Well that's all that matters. You followed your instincts and it got you in a shit load of trouble, but it also brought you back home, and I think the latter is much more important." In truth I was extremely proud of the way she handled things, but she already knew that. She smiled at my words and I smiled right back.
There was a loud slam as my card was brought back to the table, I hadn't even noticed Tammy had come by to pick it up, but her rude interruptions were getting on my nerves.
"Hey Tammy," Bella called in a sweet voice. The short blond hair blue eyed girl walked back to our table and glared at Bella.
"Yes?" she said, clearly agitated.
"I just want you to know, that fine piece of ass sitting across from me is mine. Stop throwing tantrums because it's not going to change anything. Pull up your shirt, and quit batting your eyelashes and slamming things down on the table. You're making yourself look stupid." Tammy's jaw dropped and I could feel the anger radiating off of her in waves, but before she could say anything Bella was out of her seat and out the door. I just sat in my seat stunned for a moment before grabbing my card and following Bella out of the restaurant.
"Holy shit Bella, that was awesome!" I had never known Bella Swan to snap at anyone unless they were messing with her books.
"Yeah we'll seeing as I'm now a badass, I could not allow her to go on with her annoying flirting." Bella said as she got in the car.
"I think I like this new side of you. I always knew you had a feisty streak in you." I joked after getting in the car myself. All the way back to the shop we giggled about Tammy's facial expression after Bella told her off. It was a fun ride back.
~Redeem~
The fun ended for us as soon as we got back to the garage. Everybody was back from lunch and because we were the last in I got the most shit to deal with. Quil gave me a slap on the back, Embry smiled, Leah scowled, Collin waggled his eyebrows which earned him a slap across the back of the head, and Paul glared at Bella. I would be having a serious talk with him later.
"Sorry about them," I said once we reached my corner of the garage.
"It's fine. I have to go though, I'm teaching Charlie how to make enchiladas tonight." I laughed and shook my head.
"Still? I'm surprised Charlie lasted this long. We'll have to throw him a party when he finishes his lessons." If Charlie could make it through Bella's program without burning his house down he deserved a party.
"Yeah, and he can cook all the food!" Bella's eyes lit up at the idea.
"Well, on second thought…" Bella gave me a good whack on the arm and said, "Be nice." I laughed and brought her into a hug.
"I'm always nice." I murmured into her ear. I could feel her smiling into my chest and I let out a sigh, and all at once the whole world seemed to relax. A lazy wind blew into the shop and fallen leaves dawdled upward into the air outside. The sun was slowly starting it's decent and all of the animals in the forest went quiet. And for a few moments I felt like Bella and I were the only two people on Earth. And that was perfectly fine with me. But a busted old car with an engine that could be heard from space made it's way into the shop and the moment was gone. I pulled my head back a bit and said, "Well I suppose this is the part where I let you go home."
"Yes, I do believe it is." She replied. I tightened my hold on her for a moment before willing my muscles to relax and letting her go.
"Aww don't worry. You can come by tonight and we can spend time together without the pack around. Come on, don't give me the puppy dog eyes," I was currently giving my best puppy eyes, trying to silently convince her to stay.
"Oh Jake I can't stay. You have work to do."
"I can take the rest of the day off." I suggested.
"No, you stay here and do your work. You'll see me in a few hours."
"Ugh, fine." I pouted. I didn't feel like dealing with cars or the pack. I just wanted to hide away with Bella somewhere quiet. She gave me a quick kiss on the lips and then she was gone, her old truck sputtering away from the shop.
I grudgingly went to work on a 1992 Honda Accord and did my best to lose myself in my work. The car needed a new engine put in and the parts had just come in. While I was in the middle of working Quil came up to me with an impish grin on his face.
"Not now Quil." I knew he was going to want to know what happened with Bella and I didn't feel liked dealing with his shit.
"Fine, fine. But it's coming sooner or later. I want all the juicy details." I rolled my eyes but smiled in spite of myself. When I had finally finished the car I was the only one in the shop, or so I thought. I found Paul in the office packing up his stuff, which was perfect because I had been meaning to talk to him.
"Hey Paul, finished?" I asked.
"Yeah." He said, his tone sharp.
"What did you say to Bella?" I asked. He obviously was going to be a pain in the ass so I decided to cut the pleasantries short and get to my point. He stopped packing his things and stood straight.
"Why, did our little princess get her feelings hurt?" His mocking tone made my temper flare.
"No, in fact she told me she could handle you, but she shouldn't have to put up with your bullshit. You wanna be mad at somebody? Fine, be mad at me, but you leave her alone."
"Oh, I'm mad at you too. You took that little bitch back wit-"
"Watch your fucking mouth. If anyone's acting like a little bitch it's you. Stop meddling in my relationship with Bella. Stop trying to fuck everything up. Yes, I know she messed up a lot, but so does she. She doesn't need you reminding her of her mistakes every time she makes one. Lay off."
"Well you'll have to excuse me for giving a damn about this pack, for noticing that all she does is break and destroy. She can't make up her damn mind about anything. Whether she wants you or the leech, whether she's going to stay in Forks or take off for four years and leave everyone wondering what's happened to her. She just wants attention Jake! She's no good. You wanna know what I told her? I told her that women are all over you. I told her that you wont settle down for more than a few months. I told her about how hard you fell for Sally and that I could wait for you to drop her ass like she dropped you. And I don't give a damn if I hurt your relationship or if I hurt her feelings because it needed to be said and I was the only one with the balls to say it." It all started to click, Bella freaking out at the bonfire about women was because of Paul. I was enraged. What right did he have to tell her those things? To make her insecure and worrisome when she had nothing to worry about?
"I only want to say this one more time so make sure you understand what I'm saying. You are going to leave Bella alone. You aren't going to look at Bella, you aren't going to talk to Bella, you aren't going to think about Bella. You let me do all of that from now on and concentrate on keeping my sister happy. You let me worry about the pack and I'll let you worry about keeping your balls attached to your body. Do we understand one another?" The look on Paul's face was malicious, but he nodded and left the shop. I went around the shop and put away stray tools. I swept the floor and emptied the trash bins and then locked up. I was free from patrol for the first night in weeks. I had assigned it to Jared, Collin, and Brady so the rest of the guys had the night off. With nothing more to do for the day I happily got into the Rabbit and headed to Bella's house.
~Redeem~
I got the privilege of watching Bella and Charlie in action. They were about half way done preparing the enchiladas when I arrived and I have to admit I was surprised by how well Charlie was doing. He was starting to move around the kitchen like a real pro, asking for knives by their correct names and dicing onions and cilantro like he had been doing it for years. When they finally came out of the oven they looked delicious.
"Charlie these are really good." I said at dinner.
"Well don't sound so surprised." He tried to play it off but I could see the smallest hint of a blush. He was flattered.
"No, seriously, I'll have to take some to dad. He'll be amazed."
"Oh no. Your old man has been teasing me about this cooking thing since it began. He has to try them here so I can be there to gloat." My dad had formulated a very impressive string of jokes all about Charlie cooking. They were all equally emasculating and equally funny. What really makes them hilarious is Charlie's reaction. His cheeks get all red and he and my dad start bickering like old ladies.
"Alright I think that can be arranged," I said and Charlie smirked. I was definitely going to be there when my dad had some of Charlie's cooking. We all stayed up and watched this science fiction movie called Sharktopus, which was hilariously bad. When it was over Charlie said, "Well I'm about to turn in kids. Bella, Jake can stay over but whatever you do make sure I don't find out about it." Bella blushed furiously and gave me a push for laughing.
"Sure thing Chief." I said as he went up the stairs to his bedroom. Since he was sitting in the middle of Bella and I there was now far too much room between us. So I pulled her up into my lap and wrapped my arms around her. Before she had time to speak I took her lips with mine, which partially satisfied the burning hunger I'd had for her since she left me that afternoon. I pulled back only when I had completely run out of air.
"Well someone was anxious." She giggled.
"Mmm you have no idea." She laughed once more and settled into my chest.
"How was the rest of your day?"
"Boring. I spent the rest of the day working on this one car that needed a new engine put in and then I got into it with Paul and went home." She turned her head up to me with concern written all over her face.
"What did you and Paul argue about?" She asked, but I could tell she already knew the answer.
"I didn't like the fact that you was bothering you, I told him to leave you alone."
"Jake I told you I could handle it. I didn't want to start trouble in your pack."
"There's always trouble with Paul and if he has a problem with you he has a problem with me." I paused for a moment and then said, "He told me what he said to you at the bonfire." There was a long quiet moment before Bella spoke. The faint buzz of the television only added to the tense atmosphere.
"I…I trust you Jake. Whatever Paul says won't change that." Something was off with her, why would she need to let me know…
"Do you think I'm going to just drop you Bella?" There was another pregnant pause.
"Bella?"
"No… no I don't think you would do that, but I would understand if you did. I mean I would be hurt... torn apart actually. But I did drop you Jacob." I winced at her words. I wasn't particularly fond of those memories.
"I was horrible for doing it, but I did do it. I would understand if you found being with me hard or unappealing over time, but if you do I would like to think that I would see the signs before you left and talk to you about it. I know you said we were taking it slow so you could let some of your anger toward me go, but that's not something that can just go away in a month. You may trust me now but that hate and anger aren't completely gone, they might never be." I took in her words slowly and let them sink in before I answered.
"I see where you're coming from, I do. But I'm giving you my word, right now, that I will never drop you. You're right, my bitter feelings may never leave, but what I can promise you is that they will never influence my words or actions. We've both messed up, I know that, you know that. There's plenty of shit I'm sure you could hold against me, but you don't. I think it's only fair that I do the same for you. We're two people that have collected a fair amount of baggage throughout life and this…relationship is going to be tougher than most. But if you're willing to see it through then so am I." We were both struggling to let go of the past, but if we were going to be together we had to forgive one another, and what's more, we had to forgive ourselves.
"I'm more than willing to see it through. There's nobody else I'd rather be with." I smiled. I would never get tired of hearing her say that.
"Well I am one fine piece of ass." I waggled my eyebrows and she let out a laugh.
"Oh god, you're never going to let me live that down are you?" She leaned into me once more with a smile on her face.
"Nope. As a matter of fact I think that will be a wonderful story to tell at our next bonfire." She gasped and looked up at me.
"You wouldn't."
"Oh, but Bella, I would." She looked horrified.
"You will not! Oh, god I can hear the jokes already." Her teeth caught her bottom lip and her eyebrows furrowed with worry.
"Don't forget about the laughs, that's a very important part." I said, laughing myself.
"Oh really? Well in that case maybe I'll tell the whole pack you let me paint your nails." That sobered me up. I didn't want the pack on my ass about Bella painting my nails, that would undermine my authority as Alpha, not to mention start a string of nail jokes that would never stop.
"Point taken." She smiled triumphantly and I gave her peck on the lips. I was glad to admit defeat at the hands of such a beautiful opponent.
Hi everybody, I know I suck for leaving you all hanging. School took me by surprise and I didn't really have time to focus on this story. I will make it a New Years resolution to be better at updating. Who knows, maybe I can get another chapter out before the New Year. Please leave a review, I love hearing from you guys! I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas!
~ladybug82896