Chapter 9 puppy pile

Disclaimer: the characters and all recognisable situations belong to Stephenie Meyer- this is a work of fan fiction, except for the legends and histories of the Quileute which, of course, belong to them. I pay my respects to their gods.

Thanks to BanSidhe for betaing

Jake's day passed pretty quickly. Amazing how you could be busy all day and not be able to say in any detail what you did with all that time. He did get a good start on a couple of mechanical jobs that he had been avoiding. Add it to the list of burdens he carried; people didn't like being without their cars for too long; especially around the north west where everything was so far apart. He kept phoning Bella to check on sleeping beauty. No change.

He and his dad ate dinner together, pizza again, as Jake had forgotten to shop. It was really not healthy for either of them but was marginally better than starving.

He filled Billy in on the sleep thing with Leah.

"Do you think she meant to do it?" Billy asked.

"I think so; she has been so lost lately… Emily being pregnant is just the last straw for her... you know?"

"She has gone about it an interesting way but it is a traditional approach to solve problems and if it works for her," he shrugged, "it will be worth it."

"Yeah I guess. I am just so worried about her and I feel so helpless. I can't help her; I can't kill it."

"Jacob, I am sure you are doing everything you can to help her. You always have the best interests of the pack at heart."

"But is this pack business?" Jake asked.

Neither had an answer to that.

Jake spoke, "I feel guilty. I had got really tired of her and her constant whining. She was malicious Dad; she could be really nasty. She picked at Embry about his father; I mean … Embry. And he wouldn't hurt a fly. I know I was unsympathetic; the whole pack was. It got to the stage where Sam was the only one who still liked her. But now," he paused, "…now I understand her a little better. After Bella and Paul, I completely understand her issues. I have to see in Paul's head too, just like she sees in Sam's."

His father just watched him; his eyes were sympathetic.

Jake got to his feet. "Do you need help to get to bed?"

"No thanks, I'm good." Billy wheeled for his room. "Call me tomorrow and let me know if there is any change. I assume you are heading back there now?"

Jake nodded. "I'm really worried about her, Dad."

"I know son, I know."

He let the screen door slam behind him and jogged over to Bella's. Shit, he forgot to shower and get changed. Maybe his stink would wake her up? Smell worked on coma patients didn't it?

Bella greeted him and told him Leah was still in the guest room. "Seth's here too," she added, "he actually seems a little worried."

Jake stood in the doorway looking at her. She lay on her side. Her face looked so peaceful. Paul and Bella stood holding hands and watching him watch Leah. Seth was on the other side of the bed crouched down level with Leah's face. He was stroking her shoulder softly with his hand. He did look worried now, Bella was right.

"I'll leave you to baby sit." Bella squeezed his arm as she headed for the door. "She seems to rest easier when someone is near her or touching her," Bella noted. "Paul moved her to the lounge because he wanted to watch the game while I was shopping, and he said she seemed to rest much easier there with him and Quil."

Jake gave Paul a look.

"I kept her all wrapped," he protested, "no peeking, I promise." He crossed his heart. "I had to smack Quil a couple of times though."

"You are hopeless," muttered Jake.

"Hey, what if it is some weird shifter thing? You know, what if being near the pack helps her heal?" Paul looked excited. "Like the way puppies sleep in a pile?"

"That is a great idea!" For the first time in hours Jake looked hopeful. "Seth," he ordered, "Get your shirt off and get into bed with her. Make sure you have got lots of skin contact."

Seth hesitated.

"What's wrong?"

"Dude, she's my sister." He said it like she had cooties.

Jake rolled his eyes. "Fine, I will stay too, as a chaperone for your sister."

"How does that help?"

"Well you don't want to stay here on your own and surely if one body works, two will be better? And you don't want it to be Paul, do you? "

Seth looked like he was thinking it over. "I suppose so," he finally admitted. "At least she would be less worried about you than anyone else."

"Now what is that supposed to mean?" Jake asked.

"Jeez man; nothing. Forget I said it."

Jake was already stripping down and he caught a glimpse of Paul's face. He smirked at him.

"Well," said Paul, "we will leave you love birds alone. You know, give you some privacy," he winked at Seth.

"You are one sick fuck," Seth told him.

He laughed as he left the room; his usual odd braying laugh. It was the first time he had heard anyone laugh in hours and Jake felt better because of it. Funny, Paul's laugh used to drive him crazy.

"You take the front half," he ordered.

Seth climbed into the bed and pushed his back up against Leah's front. She moved and muttered something they couldn't understand.

"This had better work," he threatened Jake. "If anyone finds out I slept with my sister, I'll never hear the end of it…" his muttering trailed off.

Jake laughed and lifted the sheet to climb in behind her. He caught a glimpse of her long naked body. He had forgotten she was naked. There was no way they could dress her now. He shrugged and hoped it did work and that she woke up well enough to beat the crap out of him.

He was taller than Seth, so he took the back. He didn't quite know where to put his arms. He could wrap the upper one around her, but the arm underneath was squashed under him and if he folded it across himself he lost skin contact with her. He sighed. He had already crossed so many of Leah's lines in the sand; he thought he could probably take this one, too. He slipped his arm under her head and folded it across her naked chest. She was tall enough that he could almost spoon her properly. Her head rested on his bicep. Her arms were folded across her stomach.

He could hear Seth's breathing flatten out; he was so exhausted he had fallen asleep almost immediately. He really wasn't as close as Jake had ordered but he could let it slide. He could smell them both and he hoped that Leah could smell Seth too.

Jake wrapped his other arm across her stomach and pulled her up against him. It felt really good. He had a hot flash of Paul and Bella in bed with him, and how they had all slept together. It had felt amazing; just like being in a big pile of puppies. Sometimes he thought those two were way more in touch with their shifter side than any of the other wolves.

He tried hard not to think about that, so he wasn't pushing an erection into Leah's back as well. That was one line she probably wouldn't let him cross.

Her body temperature was all wrong; she felt cold to him.

He felt Leah sigh in her sleep. He kissed the top of her head and tucked her into him firmly. His fingers interlocked with hers. He lay there for a while absentmindedly stroking the skin on her hip with his other hand. He had never seriously thought Paul was right about many things, but he had been surprising him lately. Maybe this was another one of those things.

Should he and Leah be together? Should they be partners; real partners? Jake and Leah. Leah and Jake. He tried it out in his head. It sounded good.

He closed his eyes, buried his face in her hair and fell asleep. Just as he blacked out, he thought he felt her squeeze his hand. He was too tired to do much more than squeeze back.

Leah woke. The fire had died down and her father was true to his word; he was gone. It felt like that quiet time just before dawn when the world seemed especially still.

She felt refreshed. For the first time in a long time she felt at peace with herself.

In a conscious parody of her father, she poked the fire but it was cold. She stood, stretched and tried to ease any cricks in her body. The water bottle was empty. She jogged on the spot for a minute to warm up. Then she heard something. It sounded like a drumbeat; a steady rhythmic drumbeat.

Following her rule of keeping with what felt right, she moved towards it.

She got a little confused at one point and lost the sound, but then she realised that she had to leave the island. Maybe she had got all the messages she would need from here? Time to move on.

It led her from the island. The island was magically rejoined to the mainland and she made her way through the rocks and along the low tide wet sands to the beach.

She kept following that sound. She knew that the beat was leading her back to La Push. Even though the island was connected as it had been in the past the rez was all present. It looked the way it always did.

The drumbeat led her past her house. She felt like she wanted to stop there but the beat led her on. Eventually she stopped with a frown outside Paul and Bella's house.

What the fuck? This wasn't her house.

The sun still wasn't up.

But it still felt right to be here, so she opened the door and went in. She had to close her eyes to concentrate on the sound's location inside the house, but then she headed unerringly for the guest room.

And she saw herself asleep on the bed with Jacob Black. They both looked mostly naked and Jacob was tucked in behind her with his long arms wrapped around her; he was spooning her. His face was buried in her hair. She fell back into her body with a jolt.

FF_2154210_ - - 23/11/2010 11:44:00 AM