Disclaimer: I own nothing. Twilight and its characters belong to Stephenie Meyer.
Chapter 2: Paging Jacob Black
BPOV
I knew that seeing Jacob again would be hard, but I had no idea who the person in front of me was. He looked as if he had aged ten years in the time that I had been gone; no longer the sweet innocent boy who brought me out from the darkness.
I was bracing myself for the wrath I knew was undoubtedly coming. We all stood there in silence waiting for the other to make the first move; my heart was racing and I could feel my palms begin to sweat. I could see that Jacob wanted to say something, but before he could get the words out, Sam and Jared came through the door, glancing warily around the room like they were monitoring the tense atmosphere.
Jake continued to stare intently at me, and for some unknown reason I saw disappointment flash across his features. That disappointment quickly turned to fury, and I flinched away from his hostile stare. He was shaking so bad, I didn't know what was wrong with him. Sam caught a glimpse of my face and quickly turned towards Jacob and whispered something to him that was too low for my ears to pick up. Whatever it was that he said, it had an immediate affect on Jacob. His demeanor changed so drastically that it would have been comical had I felt so terrified and wary of his demeanor. His hands unclenched, he stopped shaking, and his face began to soften. He was finally starting to look like my Jacob, my personal sun that I left all those months ago.
I stood there awkwardly fidgeting; twirling my fingers. I was at a loss for words. I was afraid to say something that might make the situation worse. Luckily for me, after what seemed like an eternity, Jacob was the first to break the uncomfortable silence.
"Bella, what are you doing here?" His voice sounded different, deeper and full of intensity.
"I uhhh. . .I came to check on you and your sisters to see how you were doing." I stuttered out. I didn't know if he had even heard anything I had just said. I was struggling to get the words out. I doubted he could even hear me; my response was barely above a whisper.
I felt like such an idiot. I inwardly slapped myself for the way that I was reacting towards him. With the stresses of my own life, and everything I was dealing with personally, I seemed to have forgotten that at one time Jacob was in fact my best friend. I shouldn't be afraid of him no matter how different he seemed. In that brief moment of clarity my subconscious sneered at me and took the time to remind me that at one time, I didn't exactly behave or look like my old self either. I got a clear mental picture of myself in what I referred to as my 'zombie stage'. I mentally recoiled from that image; I didn't like the reminder. However, that was the same horrifying low point in my life where Jacob went out of his way and did his best to help me. I suddenly felt ashamed of myself.
I took a moment to carefully study his face; not sure what I was looking for, but in the brief moment that I stood there looking at him I began to see the old Jacob re-emerge. I wanted nothing more than to throw my arms around him, and pretend that everything was as it used to be, that everything was all right in the world again, but that would be a lie. I was still lost in my thoughts when Jacob decided to respond.
"Bella," he spoke my name softly, reverently, "can I speak to you outside; in private?" He asked, looking at me with a warm smile that could light up the sky. I missed that smile. It was the smile I was used to seeing on his face, and one I wanted to see more often, especially considering the circumstances that lead me to coming back to Forks.
Before I could respond though, Sam pulled him out the door before my eyes could even register what was happening. I could hear them bickering, but I couldn't make out what was being said. I didn't understand what the problem was. Jacob seemed perfectly fine to me, and if I was being honest, I really wanted to hash out or differences sooner rather than later.
I remember Jacob used to hate Sam and his 'gang'; as he so put it, but apparently a lot has changed in my time away. I was starting to get impatient. I was nervous and my frazzled nerves couldn't take much more. I didn't know how much longer I could stand there; straining to hear what was going on. It was clearly none of my business anyway. With that thought in mind, I carefully made my way to the door with every intention of leaving quietly.
I made it outside and on to the porch and was ready to head down the stairs when I felt a large warm hand gently grasp my wrist to halt my progression.
I knew it was Jacob, so I stopped in my tracks, exhaled the breath I was holding and then slowly turned around to face him.
"Bella?" Jacob called. He let go of my wrist and put his hand out for me to grab and waited for me to acknowledge his outstretched hand. I took a deep breath and grabbed his hand just like old times.
Either I was extremely cold or he was burning up, I didn't want to be rude and yank my hand away, but I could feel the moisture between our hands becoming uncomfortable. We headed down to the beach, and I slowly released my hand from his. I took a few steps forward and when I turned around I found myself wrapped in a giant bear hug. I quickly informed him that I couldn't breathe and he slowly released me.
"Bella," Jacob sighed as he placed his hands on either side of my face. He brought his forehead down to rest on mine, so that he was looking into my eyes. I was slightly shocked, so I continue to stand there dumbfounded at his strange behavior.
"Bella, sweetheart, I knew you'd come back." I blinked my eyes slowly and continued to stare at him. I finally came to my senses and opened my mouth to respond, but he quickly brought his index finger to my lips to keep me from interrupting. "Please Bella, let me finish." I simply nodded my head for him to continue.
"I know that I behaved like such an ass the last time we spoke, and I'm truly sorry for that. Let's put this behind us. I missed you so much. You're all I have left. I can't lose you too. Please Bella, please say you'll forgive me," he pleaded.
Now I felt terrible. He lost everything. First his mom when he was just a young little boy. Then his sisters grew up and left home, and now Billy, the, and here was I was acting like an idiot. What kind of friend was I? Of course he's hurting; he has every reason to be. In that moment I wanted nothing more than to put everything behind us and start anew.
"Of course I forgive you Jake, I missed you too. I was afraid you'd never speak to me again." I tried to sound as normal as possible with the lump that was lodged in my throat. I still felt terrible.
"That's nonsense, it was just a little fight. I'm good now. I'm glad you came, I wasn't sure you would after what I said, but you here now that's all that matters." He said as he grabbed my hands and proceeded to pull me down on the sand with him.
"Of course I'm here Jake, you're my best friend. I'm so sorry about Billy, I know it must be hard on you." I knew my voice sounded thick, but it couldn't be helped.
"Yeah it's been pretty tough for all of us. It was just so unexpected, I miss him a lot." He said as he put his hands in his pockets and looked at the ground as if he was hiding something. I could see a tear fall from his face.
We sat in comfortable silence for a few minutes when Jacob began to speak. "Sweetheart," he said as he placed his hand under my chin and tilted it up to face him. He was staring deeply into my eyes. "Bella, you don't know how long I've waited for you to come back to me. I can't live without you, I lov--" he was cut off by howling deep in the woods. Jacob looked frustrated and angry. He quickly jumped to his feet, faster than what should have been possible.
"Bella baby, I have to go, but I'll see you tomorrow at the funeral, then later we can finish this conversation. I have so much to tell you." He kissed me on my forehead, and let his lips linger there for a moment, then ran towards the woods at the speed of light. Man he was fast, it made me wonder if there was something special in the water here. I was too confused to try and come up with a good explanation.
What has gotten into him? The conversation started out somewhat normal, and now. . .I just shook my head at it all.
I kept replaying the meeting in my head over and over again as I drove home. I thought I had made it clear that there was no "us" before I left forks, but here we were back at square one. I wanted to slap him back into reality, cause he was obviously in lala land if he thought we were going to be together, but I just couldn't do it with the funeral looming on the horizon. I could tell he was still struggling with what had happened between us and now that Billy had died I was afraid to push him over the edge. There was also that tiny of part of me that wanted to be selfish, I missed my best friend and I hoped there was a slight chance I'd get our friendship back. I would talk to him after the funeral; set things straight and hopefully he'd understand friendship was all that I could offer. Judging by his response the first time around I wasn't holding my breath.
Author's Note: The intriguing Paul will make an appearance within the next two chapters or so. I've never written in a guys point of view, so who knows how that will go.
I just want to clear a few things up so that you will hopefully understand where I'm coming from in regards to how this story will progress.
Yes this is an imprint story, but things will take some time to get to where they're supposed to be. Things won't magically happen over night, so if you're looking for certain events to happen almost immediately, I ask that you please be patient. I promise I will get there eventually.
Also, to all of you Team-Jacob fans, this may not be the story for you. Proceed with caution. You have been forewarned.
