Author's Note: This chapter is significantly longer than the previous ones. It couldn't be helped. As the story moves forward, I'm sure the chapters will start getting longer. It all depends. Also, I don't have a beta, so you will have to excuse my many mistakes.
Disclaimer: I own nothing. Twilight and its characters belong to Stephenie Meyer.
Chapter 3: One Funeral, Twice the craziness
BPOV
I awoke to the sound of laughter downstairs, which struck me as odd since I was sure no one was staying with us. I debated if I was really awake or dreaming, the only way to be sure was to go downstairs and find out what was going on. I grabbed a robe and some slippers and headed downstairs.
I almost tripped over my own two feet when I saw Jacob standing there in the kitchen with an apron on mixing some pancake batter. I was sure that it was still morning and not time for the funeral yet, but there he was flapping some pancakes and whistling some peppy tune. Charlie was at the table reading the newspaper and stuffing his face with a stack full of pancakes. I was baffled that he didn't seem to find it strange to have Jacob cooking breakfast. I was sure I was dreaming, no way would Jacob just show up without calling. Had this become a regular occurrence since I left Forks? I thought to myself. If it was, Charlie and I were going to have a nice long chat. There was definitely nothing normal about this.
"Bella," Jacob smiled so wide I thought his face might crack, "Sorry, did we wake you? I was hoping to bring this up to you in bed. But since you're here now, have a seat and I'll whip you up a fresh batch" He said, almost as if he was a little kid that had found his favorite toy. He proceeded to bring a small vase over with flowers and winked at me before he returned to the kitchen. I looked at Charlie and waited for him to say something, anything, about what Jacob had just said. He seemed oblivious to anything that wasn't in the paper and continued eating his pancakes. I wanted to say something but I was still in shock and my throat felt as if a large lump had magically appeared blocking any words from coming out. I sat down trying to think of a polite way to say, 'what the hell are you doing here?', but my brain was shocked into disbelief.
Charlie chose that moment to finally speak, but of course it did nothing but irritate me further. I have never been a morning person, and I was finding it especially difficult to remain cordial.
"Bells, your awake I didn't even see you come down. You have to try these pancakes, they're delicious." He casually stated, as he took a sip of coffee and proceeded to order up another stack. I stared at him in disbelief and crossed my arms across my chest so he knew I meant business. Seriously, was he turning a blind eye to Jacob's behavior just because of what today was?
"What? What'd I say?" He asked. I just shook my head and sighed.
"Dad, don't you find it a little odd that Jake is in our kitchen cooking up breakfast. Not to mention the facts that he wanted to serve me breakfast in bed." I tried to keep my voice low and calm but I cut the conversation short when I saw Jacob coming towards the table with another plate full of pancakes.
"Here you go Bella, I made these especially for you," he gave me a kiss on the cheek and placed the plate in front of me on the table. He poured me a cup of orange juice and whistled his way back to the kitchen. I decided to be polite and took a sip of the orange juice but practically choked on it when I looked down and saw blueberries in the shape of a heart on top of the pancakes. I started coughing trying to clear my throat and Jacob immediately came over and asked if I was all right. I tried my best to sound normal as I convinced him to go and take care of Charlie's pancakes before they burned.
"You're telling me you don't find anything odd about these pancakes he just served me." I whispered loudly as I showed Charlie the colorful decorations Jacob had added to my food.
He glanced down quickly, but didn't seem at all concerned "Bells, I think you're reading way too much into some pancakes. I've got to go get my suit from the dry cleaners, try not to kill him with that look in your eyes." He said as he grabbed his jacket "Thanks for breakfast Jake; I've got to head into town to pick up my suit. You two kids behave yourselves." He gave me a sly wink before he headed to the door, which only succeeded in infuriating me even more.
"See you Charlie." Jacob made himself a plate, then poured himself some orange juice and took a seat next to me grinning from ear to ear. I tried to pretend I was eating my breakfast but I wasn't sure I could stomach anymore this nonsense; on today of all days.
"Jake, thanks for breakfast it was a really nice gesture, but I've got to shower and get ready for the funeral. Maybe you should go home and get ready too?" I said trying not to sound rude.
"Yeah, sure if that's what you really want." He said sadly. "I was hoping we could finish our conversation from yesterday. I've been waiting for so long to talk to you" He said as he flashed his puppy dog eyes at me. It was almost enough to make me cave, almost.
"Jake, we have plenty of time to talk. Today is about Billy, I think it's important for you to be with your family." I said softly, trying not to make him feel as though I was in a rush for him to leave, even though I really was.
I felt guilty for trying to get rid of him, but this breakfast was turning into a scene from the twilight zone. I didn't know how much longer I could keep my composure with out screaming at him to come back down to reality.
"You're right Bella, we have plenty of time to talk, now that you've come back to me for good. Let me just clean up these dishes and I'll be on my way." He said. He started to clear the table but I knew that if he stood there any longer I might say something I'd regret.
"No, no. I'll take care of it, you went through all the trouble of making breakfast, it's the least I can do," I said graciously.
"You're the best Bella," He said as he kissed my cheek, grabbed his jacket and headed out the door. I knew it was rude of me not to walk him to the door but I was still astonished at what had just gone on. "Bye Bells, see you at the funeral" he shouted as I heard the door slam behind him. Yeah, see you at funeral or maybe the real Jacob will decide to show up I thought sadly.
After my shower, I found myself getting ready for the funeral alone in my room. I won't lie, after the morning I had, I half expected to walk into my room to find Jacob in there, but luckily I was alone. It was nice to have a few hours of solitude to myself before the funeral.
The funeral was being held at First Beach around twilight with; a bonfire, which was doubling as a reception afterwards.
I wasn't sure what to expect. I knew Billy was the Chief of his people, but as far as paying tribute to him, I wasn't sure who would show up or what exactly was going to happen.
After a few hours of peace and quiet, I found myself dressed in a black suit making my way downstairs to wait for Charlie to arrive. We were heading down to La Push together.
Charlie arrived a few minutes after I had been sitting downstairs. I had never seen Charlie in a suit before and my heart broke at the look on his face. He was a completely different man from the one I saw this morning. He looked as if he had aged in the few hours since he'd left this morning. Today he was saying goodbye to his best friend, but he was much more than that, he was family. After my mom left Charlie, Billy was the one who managed to get Charlie out of that black hole that I once found myself in. I can never repay Billy for that after having experienced that kind of grief myself.
Charlie was quite on the drive down. I can't say that I blame him. Charlie was never one to share or show his feelings, and today would be difficult for him.
Before long we were walking up the beach. It was another cloudy day with the wind blowing and the waves crashing against the rocks. There were a few bonfires lit on the beach. The roaring and the crackling of the wood, accompanied with the crashing waves made it very peaceful.
I stood next to Charlie as people began to gather around the area reserved for the service. People, mostly people from the reservation started to filter in, until there was close to 100 people gathered. People stood and talked quietly in small groups. I stood there and quietly took in everything around me. There was a lot of people, most of whom I didn't recognize, which was to be expected. I looked back at Charlie and saw a tear rolling down his cheek. I took his hand and squeezed it, a silent reminder that I was there.
I spotted Jacob a distance away on the beach with a bunch of other guys who all looked eerily similar in appearance, although there were small differences in size and shape. I found it quite odd that they all looked at least 10 years older than they actually were. What is in the water here? I thought. These boys--no these men were huge. It was mind-boggling. It didn't take long for Jacob to notice me. I quickly waved and he started to jog towards me, however, Sam put a restraining hold on his shoulder and whispered something in his ear before he got too far. Jacob looked furious, but quickly nodded his head, and he and the other boys quickly made their way to the end of the gathering and stood in place. I didn't know whether I should be grateful or not to not have to deal with him right now.
It didn't take long for the ceremony to get started. There were men playing drums and women carrying torches; each in traditional Indian dress, making their way up the makeshift isle. No sooner had the men arrived at their destination, did a man start to sing in what I'm assuming was their Native language. I may not have understood what was being said, but it was very beautiful.
As soon as the song was over, Jacob and his friends began to carry Billy's casket up the isle to the front of the gathering. I could see tears running down Jacob's face, along with the other men. I didn't get a good look at the others, as I was entirely focused on Jacob's face. I felt so bad for him. Here I stood next to my father; alive and well, while he was saying goodbye to his forever.
The ceremony continued in a timely fashion. Tribal elders each gave speeches. Some of what they said made no sense to me, but as I looked around, it seemed it make sense to a great portion of the gathering.
I wasn't sure where they were laying Billy to rest. Obviously it wasn't on the beach. I'm assuming that part of the ceremony was reserved for immediate family only. At least it made sense to me.
As the ceremony came to a close, and the crowd dispersed, I caught sight of a handsome man whom I noticed kept looking at me throughout the ceremony. He was very striking; I wondered why I had never noticed him before. He stood with his arm draped over a woman whom I assumed was his girlfriend. Figures, a man that good looking wouldn't be single. I thought to myself, and what shocked me even more was the fact that I was jealous of this nameless woman. I didn't even know this man and I was already lusting after him. I've only ever lusted after one man; I wasn't good enough for him, and I certainly wasn't good enough for this beautiful man.
He found me staring at him and our eyes locked, and I was lost. I saw the ghost of a smile on his face, before he quickly averted his gaze back to the woman on his arm. That was the moment that Jacob chose to come and greet me.
"Hey Bella," he said sadly. I didn't know what else to do, so I quickly threw my arms around him and hugged as I began to cry. I cried for his loss, for Charlie's, and anyone else who knew and loved Billy.
"Shh Bells, I'm here now. It's okay." He said softly, as he rubbed my back. I thought I could hear someone clear their throat behind us, so I chose that moment to gather my bearings and break away from him to look behind me. It was him, the man I saw staring at me earlier. He looked slightly angry, at what I had not the slightest clue.
"Jacob, are you going to introduce me to your friend?" I asked. I felt an unexplainable pull towards this beautiful man, and I at least wanted to know his name.
Jacob looked none too pleased at the interruption, but he introduced us nonetheless.
"Bella, this is Paul, my--friend, Paul, this is my Bella." Jacob said, putting emphasis on the word 'my', which infuriated me to no end. Funny. They didn't seem like friends to me.
Paul simply ignored Jacob entirely and flashed a sexy smirk along with a wink my way. I could feel my heart skip a beat, and my cheeks redden with my all familiar blush. That smile and those eyes were my undoing. It was doing things to my body that I've never felt before. My heart was beating rapidly in my chest, and I though it might lurch through my throat. I thought I heard Jacob growl, but I couldn't be sure. This whole thing seemed surreal.
"Paul, don't you have to get back to Bianca, you know, your girlfriend?" Jacob asked rather rudely.
Paul seemed angry, whether at Jacob's comment or something else, I wasn't sure.
"Right, Bianca," he said slowly, "my--g--friend. Right. Well it was a pleasure to meet you beautiful Bella, I'll be seeing you around." He seemed to stumble over the word girlfriend, and again, I was jealous. He continued to stare at me, with a look of longing in his eyes. He looked rather sad for some reason, well more like a wounded puppy. Jacob ended our staring contest when he roughly pulled me away in the opposite direction. I was sad to see him go, which was odd, considering I didn't know him, but I wanted to. I felt a sense of loss, which I thought was ridiculous, but I couldn't deny the attraction. Then I reminded myself that he had a girlfriend, and I felt just as sad as he looked. This is so confusing.
His departure was really getting to me for some reason. I wanted to get away, and my bladder decided at that moment to make itself known, which I quickly let Jacob know in a last ditch effort to get rid of him. No such luck.
"I'll come with you," he said. "Just let me grab my things, and I'll walk you to my house. You can use the bathroom there" I signed, but agreed.
In the meantime, I quickly found Charlie and told him I was headed to Jacob's to use the bathroom, so he didn't worry about where I was. He was busy mingling with some of the guests, so I wouldn't be missed.
Jacob found me a few minutes later waiting by the walkway that led to the parking lot. It didn't take long to get to his house. Of course it was a little awkward on the way, with him holding me close to his body, with his arm warped almost possessively around my waist. We made it to his house in record time, which I was grateful for.
"Right through that door," he directed me in the right direction, and proceeded to give me a slight shove, with a slap on my ass, and said, "hurry back baby, we're have some things to discuss now that we won't have any interruptions." I chose to ignore that comment for the time being and hurried down the small hallway.
When I got into the restroom, I paused and looked at myself in the mirror, did that really just happen? Did he really just slap my ass? I had reached my final straw, I knew I would have to be gentle, but firm at the same time, but something had to be done. I could no longer ignore Jacob's crazy behavior, it wasn't like him and maybe he did need a good dose of reality.
I stepped out of the bathroom to a scene straight out of a harlequin romance novel, the lights had been turned off and the room was filled with candles. There were rose petals thrown across the table and soft music playing in the background. Had I missed something? I could have sworn that we were just going to talk, what the heck was going on? Before I could wrap my mind around the atmosphere that I found myself in, I felt a warm hand grab my shoulder. As I turned to look at Jacob, he pulled me so close to him I could feel his hot breath on my face, I tried to pull back but I was no match against his strength.
"Jake, what are you doing?" I managed to mutter, but he pulled my face close to his and pressed his lips to mine. I was pounding my fists against his shoulders but he continued to try and force a romantic kiss between us. Slowly I felt one of his hands glide down my blouse and under my bra, I was about to kick him as I hard as I could when I heard the door slam open and I heard the most menacing sound I have ever heard. It almost reminded me of E--him, but this sound sounded more feral and deadly.
"JACOB, WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?" An angry voice boomed loudly in the tiny house. It was so loud that the windows rattled, but I quickly recognized that voice.
Jacob instantly released me and leaped in front of me as if he were shielding me from some dangerous animal. I pushed him to the side so I could finally catch a glimpse of my hero who had come to my rescue. It was my Paul. Wait, when did he become my Paul? I'm slowly losing my mind I thought. I didn't know how he knew I was there, but I was eternally grateful that he had come when he did. With Jacob's erratic behavior, I didn't want to think about the 'what ifs'.
"Paul, what are you doing here, this is a private matter between Bella and I," Jacob said firmly.
"The hell it is, she didn't look like she was enjoying that so called private matter of yours Black, and you know you aren't supposed to be alone with her." Paul yelled back at him. Paul started shaking, and clenching his fists, much like Jacob had the other day. He was angry, and sexy and all mine… no he wasn't mine. He has a girlfriend Bella, I scolded myself. I quickly shook my head, and tuned back into the conversation.
"Don't worry about what I do Paul, I'm second in command, if anyone is in a position to give orders in this house its me not you" Jacob said angrily.
What the hell was he talking about? Now was not the time for questions though. I'll file that piece of information away for later because apparently I was missing something.
Paul ignored him and turned his attention towards me. I got caught in his intense gaze for a moment before I actually heard what he was saying.
"Bella, Bella, are you okay?" He said softly.
"I'm fine, but please get me out of here," I said heatedly. I don't know what has gotten into Jacob, but I wanted no part of it. Not when he was acting like this. I wanted to old Jacob back, not this imposter.
I could see shock flash across Jacob's face, but at this point it didn't stir up any kind of emotion in me other than anger.
"Bella, what are you doing? He's dangerous, he'll hurt you, you have to trust me on this," he pleaded. I attempted to cut him off, but he quickly started talking again.
"He'll hurt you, just like your precious Edward did, is that what you want?" He sneered at me. Okay, wow. That was taking it too far. For him to throw that in my face after all the hurt it caused me before was a low blow and he knew it. I felt like I had just been slapped in the face. I was instantly outraged. How dare he?!
I turned toward him and looked him straight in the eye and spoke angrily, "No Jake, it's you who is the dangerous one." I practically growled the words out through tight lips. After taking a calming breath to center myself, I continued in my normal tone "I'm sorry about Billy, but I don't know who you are anymore. It's like I'm trapped in some weird version of "The Invasion of The Body Snatchers", and you are the evil clone that replaced the real Jake. Enough is enough. Take some time, mourn Billy, clear your head and then maybe we can be friends again, but this idea of us being in a relationship is insane, and I wont indulge your fantasy any longer." With that, I turned and walked towards the door.
I could hear something shatter behind me but I knew I refused to look back. As much as I knew my words had hurt Jacob, they hurt me even more. The last thing I wanted to do was hurt him any more than I already had, but there were some lines that shouldn't be crossed. Why isn't my friendship ever enough for him?
I wiped an angry tear from my face, but as I headed towards the end of the walkway it was quickly forgotten as I looked up at Paul's concerned face with his hand outstretched, waiting to take me back to the beach. I happily placed my palm in his and gave him a watery smile, gazing at his beautiful face. I could get lost in those eyes forever.
Author's Note: This story is not intended to offend anyone. I don't want to give anything away, but I will say this: if you're offended by some of Jacob's behavior thus far, then you may what to stop reading. As I've said before, this is not a Team-Jacob story.
