So, how shitty am I? You don't even need to answer because I know. It's been two months and I feel completely awful. So, I am trying to make it up with this chapter and chapter 21 should be up in a few minutes. Thank you so much for sticking by me as I go through some serious writer's block.
Chapter 19 Reviews:
Momsen-xxxx: Oooo, I know. I could only imagine if someone like Sam was proposing to me.
Blacklab369: I've never proposed before but I know how nerve-racking it is to admit that you like someone so I could only imagine!
LovelyBlue99: I know! I cannot wait to write their wedding, I am totally excited for it!
Maxsmomma: From what we've seen of Sam in the books and movies, he's not in big shows and such. So I couldn't see him being so lovey-dovey for the proposal.
Adela: I am so sorry that it took this long but I hope you enjoy!
sarahmichellegellarfan1: Thank you!
secretsaredeadly: I love 'em too, sadly, there's not too many out there. And the time will come –wink wink-
SarahAnneXXX: I am so glad you liked it!
Laura: Here you go!
alex-bluerose22: I. Know.
Please enjoy and if you leave a review, I'll answer your questions/reply to it in chapter 22 (Since chapter 21 is going straight up after this one)
Since December, a whole lot of things had happened. Sam had slowly started helping people in Forks, starting to build a reputation so when he opened his construction business in April that he had a bunch of potential clients. He had already hired Paul and Jared, seeing as they couldn't hold a normal job due to patrolling.
Paul also imprinted on Emily, Leah's cousin. Leah once again had been "abandoned" and I felt terrible, but part of me was glad to have somebody who understood what I was going through. At first she wasn't very accepting of Paul's new found affection for her, which angered Paul, but slowly, she accepted the imprint.
Paul, still bad-tempered, had phased near Emily, despite Sam's constant warnings. While we feared the worst for the two, they seemed to become closer from it, but Paul was very anal about people staring at her scars.
Then, a very shocking thing happened. Sam had been keeping an eye on Jacob Black and his friend Quil Ateara, since they had the gene in them. But, Embry Call, also one of Jacob's friends, unexpectedly phased. After a few hours, Sam and Jared were able to calm him down enough so he could phase back and he finally accepted the fact that he couldn't really talk to and be friends with Jacob and Quil till and if they phased.
Overall, things were going great for us in La Push. I was starting to plan my wedding that was due to take place in September and me and Sam were more in love than ever. Dad had started accepting the fact that his little girl was getting married and Mom…. Well, she didn't take the news well but she knew that she couldn't stop me.
March
I woke up to the feeling of lips softly sucking against my neck. Not a bad way to wake up. I thought as I slowly opened my eyes to look at the owner of the lips. Sam smirked at me before continuing to pepper kisses against my neck and cheek.
"Good morning." I smiled and quickly kissed his forehead. Living with Sam for the past few months had been the best months of my life. Every day, I found myself more in love with this man.
"What time do you have to be at school?" He asked, as he ran his hands up my sides, underneath my shirt. The feel of his bare hands against my stomach always made me shiver, no matter how many times he had done it.
"It's Saturday." I moaned softly. Suddenly, the phone rang, immediately ruining the moment. As Sam got out of bed to answer it, I started thinking about the past months. Me and Sam had an unspoken agreement that we were both ready for the next step, but anytime we tried, something came up with Bella, school, work, or the pack and we had to attend to it. Today didn't seem like it was gonna be any different.
"Bella is up at Jacob's place." Sam explained as he came back into the room. Without saying anything else, he put on a pair of clean cut-off jeans and was out the door.
In January, Bella seemed to be getting better; she even became friends with Jacob Black. Then, Jacob phased and he had to leave Bella in the dark about what was going on. She blamed everything on Sam and refused to answer my calls or even come visit, which she never did in the first place. Since me and Sam were engaged, she thought that I was a part of his evil plan.
Not wanting to stay in bed, I got up and began to do some cleaning then decided to start cooking, because I knew it wouldn't be too long before the pack would show up.
Not too long after Sam had left, Emily showed up, not wanting to be alone at her and Paul's house.
"Need any help?" She offered when she saw the mixing bowl in my hands. While I could cook, I was nothing compared to Emily. I constantly was trying to convince her to go the culinary school and show off her skill, but she was happy with helping me cook for the pack and being Paul's imprint.
Bella's POV
"Totally shredded," Jared said. "Billy said this was the last pair he could afford guess Jacob's going barefoot now."
"This one survived," Embry said, holding up a white sneaker. "Jake can hop," he added with a laugh.
Jared started collecting various pieces of fabric from the dirt. "Get Sam's shoes, will you? All
the rest of this is headed for the trash."
Embry grabbed the shoes and then jogged into the trees where Sam had disappeared. He was
back in a few seconds with a pair of cut-off jeans draped over his arm. Jared gathered the
torn remnants of Jacob's and Paul's clothes and wadded them into a ball. Suddenly, he
seemed to remember me.
He looked at me carefully, assessing.
"Hey, you're not going to faint or puke or anything?" he demanded.
"I don't think so," I gasped. "You don't look so good. Maybe you should sit down."
"Okay," I mumbled. For the second time in one morning, I put my head between my knees.
"Jake should have warned us," Embry complained.
"He shouldn't have brought his girlfriend into this. What did he expect?"
"Well, the wolf's out of the bag now." Embry sighed. "Way to go, Jake."
I raised my head to glare at the two boys who seemed to be taking this all so lightly. "Aren't you worried about them at all?" I demanded.
Embry blinked once in surprise "Worried? Why?"
"They could hurt each other!"
Embry and Jared guffawed.
"I hope Paul gets a mouthful of him," Jared said. "Teach him a lesson."
I blanched.
"Yeah, right!" Embry disagreed. "Did you see Jake? Even Sam couldn't have phased on the fly like that. He saw Paul losing it, and it took him, what, half a second to attack? The boy's got a gift."
"Paul's been fighting longer. I'll bet you ten bucks he leaves a mark."
"You're on. Jake's a natural. Paul doesn't have a prayer."
They shook hands, grinning.
I tried to comfort myself with their lack of concern, but I couldn't drive the brutal image of the fighting werewolves from my head. My stomach churned, sore and empty, my head ached with worry.
"Let's go see Katie. You know she'll have food waiting." Embry looked down at me. "Mind giving us a ride?"
"No problem," I choked.
Jared raised one eyebrow. "Maybe you'd better drive, Embry. She still looks like she might hurl."
"Good idea. Where are the keys?" Embry asked me.
"Ignition."
Embry opened the passenger-side door. "In you go," he said cheerfully, hauling me up from the ground with one hand and stuffing me into my seat. He appraised the available space. "You'll have to ride in the back," he told Jared.
"That's fine. I got a weak stomach. I don't want to be in there when she blows."
"I bet she's tougher than that. She runs with vampires."
"Five bucks?" Jared asked.
"Done. I feel guilty, taking your money like this."
Embry got in and started the engine while Jared leapt agilely into the bed. As soon as his door was closed, Embry muttered to me, "Don't throw up, okay? I've only got a ten, and if Paul got his teeth into Jacob..."
"Okay," I whispered.
Embry drove us back toward the village.
"Hey, how did Jake get around the injunction anyway?"
"The... what?"
"Er, the order. You know, to not spill the beans. How did he tell you about this?"
"Oh, that," I said, remembering Jacob trying to choke out the truth to me last night. "He didn't. I guessed right."
Embry pursed his lips, looking surprised. "Hmm. S'pose that would work."
"Where are we going?" I asked.
"Sam's house. They'll meet us back there after Sam gives it to them for what just happened. And after Paul and Jake scrounge up some new clothes, if Paul even has any left."
"Wait, is Katie there?" I wonder if Katie knows about all of this, seeing as she is engaged to marry Sam.
"How do you kno- Wait, you're her sister. Yeah."
"Does she know about... ?"
"Yeah. And possibly, Emily. If she is, don't stare at her. That bugs Paul." I was about to ask what didn't bug Paul, but I decided to not even go there.
I frowned at him. "Why would I stare?"
Embry looked uncomfortable. "Like you saw just now, hanging out around werewolves has its risks." He changed the subject quickly. "Hey, are you okay about the whole thing with the black-haired bloodsucker in the meadow? It didn't look like he was a friend of yours, but. ."
Embry shrugged.
"No, he wasn't my friend."
"That's good. We didn't want to start anything, break the treaty, you know."
"Oh, yeah, Jake told me about "Laurent," he repeated, snorting, like he was amused the vampire had had a name. "Well, we
were technically on Cullen turf. We're not allowed to attack any of them, the Cullens, at least, off our land unless they break the treaty first. We didn't know if the black-haired one was a relative of theirs or something. Looked like you knew him."
"How would they go about breaking the treaty?"
"If they bite a human. Jake wasn't so keen on the idea of letting it go that far."
"Oh. Um, thanks. I'm glad you didn't wait."
"Our pleasure." He sounded like he meant that in a literal sense.
Embry drove past the easternmost house on the highway before turning off onto a narrow
dirt road. "Your truck is slow," he noted.
"Sorry."
At the end of the lane was a tiny house that had once been gray. There was only one narrow window beside the weathered blue door, but the window box under it was filled with bright orange and yellow marigolds, giving the whole place a cheerful look.
It was at that time that I realized that I had never been to Katie's new house. In fact, we haven't really talked in few weeks.
Embry opened the truck door and inhaled. "Mmm, Emily's cooking."
Jared jumped out of the back of the truck and headed for the door, but Embry stopped him with one hand on his chest. He looked at me meaningfully, and cleared his throat.
"I don't have my wallet on me," Jared said.
"That's okay. I won't forget."
They climbed up the one step and entered the house without knocking. I followed timidly after them.
The front room, like Billy's house, was mostly kitchen. A young woman with satiny copper skin and long, straight, crow-black hair was standing at the counter by the sink, popping big muffins out of a tin and placing them on a paper plate. For one second, I thought the reason Embry had told me not to stare was because the girl was so beautiful.
And then she asked "You guys hungry?" in a melodic voice, and she turned to face us full on, a smile on half of her face.
The right side of her face was scarred from hairline to chin by three thick, red lines, livid in color though they were long healed. One line pulled down the corner of her dark, almond-shaped right eye; another twisted the right side of her mouth into a permanent grimace.
Thankful for Embry's warning, I quickly turned my eyes to the muffins in her hands. They smelled wonderful like fresh blueberries.
"Oh," Emily said, surprised. "Who's this?"
She turned to Jared. "Where's Paul?"
"Bella, er, surprised Paul this morning."
Emily rolled her good eye. "Do you think they'll be long? I was just about to start the eggs." "Don't worry," Embry told her. "If they're late, we won't let anything go to waste."
Emily chuckled, and then opened the refrigerator. "No doubt," she agreed. "Bella, are you hungry? Go ahead and help yourself to a muffin."
"Thanks." I took one from the plate and started nibbling around the edges. It was delicious, and it felt good in my tender stomach. Embry picked up his third and shoved it into his mouth whole.
"Save some for your brothers," Katie chastised him as she walked into the kitchen, hitting him on the head with a wooden spoon. The word surprised me, but the others thought nothing of it.
"Pig," Jared commented.
"Bella." I looked up and made eye contact with Katie. She looked surprised to see me here but she looked like she belonged here in this little house. She had her hair piled up into a messy bun on top of her heard and a t-shirt that was obviously way too big for her frame. One of the sleeves hung off her shoulders, showing the scars that she got from the bear attack last year. She had black cloth shorts that I remembered from her wearing them around the house and her feet were bare.
"Hey." I awkwardly waved.
"Where's Sam?" She looked at Jared and Embry.
"Paul." They barely paused from their eating to explain before continuing.
I leaned against the counter and watched the four of them banter like a family. My sister's kitchen was a friendly place, bright with white cupboards and pale wooden floorboards. On the little round table, a cracked blue and-white china pitcher was overflowing with wildflowers. Everybody but me seemed entirely at ease here.
Emily was mixing a humongous batch of eggs, several dozen, in a big yellow bowl. She had the sleeves of her lavender shirt pushed up, and I could see that the scars extended all the way down her arm to the back of her right hand. Hanging out with werewolves truly did have its risks, just as Embry had said.
"Emily, I don't mind helping." Katie walked over and tried to take the bowl from Emily.
"Nope. You provide the supplies and I cook." She firmly held onto the bowl and refused to budge.
"Don't stop her, Katie." Jared encouraged.
"You act like I can't cook." She leaned against a counter and looked at Emily.
"No offense, but Emily's better."
Right as Katie opened her mouth to reply, the front door opened, and Sam stepped through.
"Kate," he said, and so much love saturated his voice that I felt embarrassed, intrusive, as I watched him cross the room in one stride and take her face in his wide hands. He leaned down and kissed her cheek before he kissed her lips.
"Hey, none of that," Jared complained. "I'm eating."
"Then shut up and eat," Sam suggested, kissing Katie's mouth again.
"Ugh," Embry groaned.
This was worse than any romantic movie; this was so real that it sang out loud with joy and life and true love. I put my muffin down and folded my arms across my empty chest. I stared at the flowers, trying to ignore the utter peace of their moment, and the wretched throbbing of my wounds. I then saw what made Katie move to La Push without second thought. While Sam had an commanding presence around everyone, when he was in her presence, he seemingly melted and became what every actor wanted to portray in a love movie.
Katie's POV
After Sam returned, it only took a few minutes for Jacob and Paul to come through the door, joking as if nothing had happened. Paul quickly went to the kitchen to greet Emily while Jacob walked over to Bella. I watched their interaction and frowned at what I saw. Jacob looked at Bella like Leah looked at Sam and Bella couldn't see what she was doing to the poor boy.
"Hey, guys," Sam said in a loud voice, interrupting all the conversations going on in the small room. He had sat down at the table and pulled me into his lap, like he usually does when the entire pack is over. Emily was at the stove, scraping the egg mixture around a big skillet, and Paul still had one hand touching the small of her back, an unconscious gesture. "Jacob has information for us."
"I know what the redhead wants." Jacob directed his words toward Jared and Embry. "That's what I was trying to tell you before." He kicked the leg of the chair Paul had settled into.
For the past few weeks, a redheaded vampire had been making appearances around Forks and La Push, as if she was searching for something. She had been evading the pack for a while and they were starting to get more than frustrated.
"And?" Jared asked.
Jacob's face got serious. "She is trying to avenge her mate , only it wasn't the black-haired leech we killed. The Cullens got her mate last year, and she's after Bella now.
What the hell had happened when Bella was in Arizona? I had never asked and she never offered the information.
"She's just a girl," Embry protested.
"I didn't say it made sense. But that's why the bloodsucker's been trying to get past us. She's been heading for Forks."
"Excellent," Jared finally said, a smile beginning to pull up the corners of his mouth. "We've got bait."
With stunning speed, Jacob yanked a can opener from the counter and launched it at Jared's head. Jared's hand flicked up and snagged the tool just before it hit his face. He looked like he was about to throw something, but he caught my glare and decided against it.
"Bella is not bait." I firmly stated.
"You know what I mean," Jared said, unabashed.
"So we'll be changing our patterns," Sam said, ignoring their squabble. "We'll try leaving a few holes, and see if she falls for it. We'll have to split up, and I don't like that. But if she's really after Bella, she probably won't try to take advantage of our divided numbers."
"Quil's got to be close to joining us," Embry murmured. "Then we'll be able to split evenly."
"Well, we won't count on that," Sam said in a low voice, and then continued at his regular volume. "Paul, Jared, and Embry will take the outer perimeter, and Jacob and I will take the inner. We'll collapse in when we've got her trapped."
I instantly started worrying. Sam had put himself in the smaller of the two groupings. While I knew that he would do everything in power to come back, it didn't help to worrying.
"Jacob thinks it would be best if you spent as much time as possible here in La Push. She won't know where to find you so easily, just in case." Sam said to Bella.
"What about Charlie?" She demanded.
"March Madness is still going," I said. "I think Billy and Harry can manage to keep dad down here when he's not at work."
"Wait," Sam said, holding one hand up. His glance flickered to Bella and then back to me. "That's what Jacob thinks is best, but you need to decide for yourself. You should weigh the risks of both options very seriously. You saw this morning how easily things can get dangerous here, how quickly they get out of hand. If you choose to stay with us, I can't make any guarantees about your safety."
"I won't hurt her," Jacob mumbled, looking down.
Sam acted as if he hadn't heard him speak. "If there was somewhere else you felt safe..."
"I don't want to lead Victoria anywhere else," she whispered.
Sam nodded. "That's true. It's better to have her here, where we can end this."
"You'll be careful, right?" She asked.
The boys burst into loud hoots of amusement. Everyone laughed at me except Emily who met my eyes, and I could suddenly see concern just as fierce as mine. These were our boys. Our entire lives were tied to them and I don't think Bella quite understood that.
"Food's ready," she announced then, and the strategic conversation was history. The guys hurried to the table as soon as Emily had sat down the eggs.
"Sam…" I looked at him, as he ate, shoveling food in his mouth.
"Kate, you know we have to do this." He kissed my forehead.
As soon as all the food was done, me and Bella kicked Emily out of the kitchen and started to wash dishes. While I knew this wasn't the most private place to have a talk, I knew the boys would focus on the game that was currently on TV.
"How long have you known?" She asked after a few minutes of silence.
"Since before you moved up to Forks."
"Why didn't you tell me?" I glanced into the living room and nearly blushed when I saw Sam staring at me. I hoped that as we continued our relationship that this feeling would never fade.
"It wasn't my secret to tell, I'm sure you understand."
She didn't respond for a little bit. Instead, she focused on the plates, as if she had to make sure she completely dried the plates.
"This is a nice place."
"Thanks. I love it." I smiled at her and put my attention on the dishes.