Chapter 14: One
I feel warm arms wrap around me and pull me against him. His face buries itself in the nook of my neck, I feel him take in my scent and sigh, and I smile. I place my hands on top of his.
"Good morning," I mumble.
Jake kisses my neck and then whispers a good morning to me. "I brought you breakfast." He says to me.
"Really?" I say. "What is it?" I turn to face him, pushing my body into his so that my body fits perfectly in his.
"It's a surprise." He smiles to me, kissing my forehead. I sit up suddenly realizing how hungry I am now. Jake grabs my arm as he lies back on my bed. He looks so peaceful and calm. He looks as if he doesn't have a care in the world. I've never been able to pull off that look, but he does it so well. "There's no rush Lee. It will still be there when we get there."
I smile and kiss him. "I know, but I'm starving. You can stay here. I'll be back."
Jake groans but lets me go.
I rush downstairs to find a box of doughnuts wrapped with a bow. I smile and walk over; I gently untie the bow and open the box. There's a variety of doughnuts, some chocolate, some with sprinkles, but two of them catch my eyes. They have little doodles on them that look like fireworks.
That's right, today is the last day of December, the last day of this year. How had I forgotten? I grab two glasses of milk and balance them while carrying the box back upstairs. When I walk into my room, Jake's looking at the door with his arms behind his head, so cool and collected. He jumps up when he sees my hands full. He grabs a glass and the box of doughnuts. I shake my head. "You didn't have to get up."
"Just felt like I should help." He says to me and sets his glass on the table beside him. I walk to the window and open it, allowing the fresh December air to flow through my room. It feels amazing on my skin.
I get on my bed, he has the box of doughnuts balancing on his bare abdomen, and I curl up and lay my head on his shoulder. I reach for a doughnut but Jake stops me. "We have to eat the firework one together."
I look to him questioningly and then nod. Jake hands me one of the firework doughnuts and gives himself one. "Are you ready for this year to be over?" Jake asks.
I shake my head. "I wish time would just slow down, everything just started getting good."
I hear Jake laugh. "I know what you mean. But I always loved New Years, not just because of the big party on the reservation but a new year means new hope and dreams. You never know what the new year will bring." I look to Jake and see he has icing on his face; I take my index finger and wipe it from his face. I lick from my feeling with a smile. "What's been your favorite part of this year? My mom would always ask me. I'm curious about yours."
I put the rest of the doughnut in my mouth and chew it. I take a sip of milk and pull myself closer to him, looking in his eyes. "You should already know that answer." I tell him, I place a kiss on his chest where is heart is. "It's been you."
Jake moves the box from his abdomen before I can register the movement. He rolls on top of me, pinning me between my bed and him. Jake supports his own weight as if he could hurt me. His hand goes to the back of my head, his lips are on mine before I realize. I wrap my arms around his neck and kiss him back. I smile through the kiss. His lips are just… perfect.
After a few moments, Jake pulls away with a smile.
"What was that about?" I ask him with a huge smile on my face.
"You really shouldn't say things like that…" Jake says with a smirk.
"Maybe I want stuff like that to happen." I tell him, one of my fingers trace various shapes across his chest. Jake chuckles, his hand grabs my chin and lifts it so I'm facing him, and he brings his face close to mine and kisses me on the lips and then the cheek.
"I'm so happy right now," he whispers to me as he kisses my forehead, "you know that don't you?" His arms wrap around me and pull me more against him.
I nod my head against his chest; his smooth warm skin is more comforting than I ever thought it could be. "Me too." I tell him.
…
The party is nice, everyone is so happy. It's out on the beach shore; people brought tables and food, music and supplies for bon fires. It's perfect. The two packs exist peacefully, all of the adults seem to get along and the children enjoy running around and dancing.
Jake and I dance a few times but the rest of the night we spend with people we care about, my mom, his dad, Seth, Embry and Quill. It's another perfect night.
I find myself wondering how long this happiness can last while Jake and I are slow dancing again. I've never been one to be happy for long periods of time, usually it's very short periods of time. I'm not naïve enough to believe that Jake and I will be perfectly happy for the rest of my life. But maybe I'm becoming naïve enough to believe that we could spend all of our life together, happy most of the time. Can someone who has been through what I have been through be allowed that hope? Or is that hope so dangerous that it is better not to think Jake and I will have a future together? I grip him closer to me, resting my head against him. Jake senses something is up and he wraps his arms around me tighter.
When the music stops playing Jake grabs my hand, "Let's get away," he whispers to me. I nod and he leads me toward the forest. We walk a ways in a comfortable silence, and then we get to a cliff. Jake sits on the ground but I don't I don't want to sit right now. Jake shakes his head and then stands up and faces me. His arm wraps around me, I've noticed he does that a lot more than he used to, it's as if he's scared if he's not touching me I'll leave or disappear. Or maybe that's what I think when he's not touching me, that he'll disappear.
"I know you are worrying, I thought we weren't going to worry." Jake says as he looks to me.
"I know; I've been trying to stop it. Just sometimes these thoughts find their way into my mind and I can't shake them." I tell him.
Jake nods, "I know, just try. I'm not going anywhere, you aren't going anywhere. We are here together, for a very, very long time." Jake kisses the top of my head.
"You really believe that, that we could get married one day, have kids and grow old together?" I ask him seriously.
"Yes, I do." Jake says confidently. "If anything has changed in the past few days, it's that I love you more. I can see us growing old together Leah. It's going to be beautiful." Jake smiles to me.
"You're so sure." I tell him with a small smile on my face, when he says it I can believe it, I can almost see it clearly in my head.
"One of us has to be." Jake says. "Please stop worrying, nothing good will come from it. We'll deal with any issues when we get to them. Right now, it's a few moments before midnight on New Year's Eve and I'm up on a cliff with my beautiful girlfriend. Everything is pretty perfect. Can we focus on that for now and worry another day?" Jake asks me.
I nod, and then kiss him on the lips. "Sorry," I whisper.
"You're forgiven," he smiles to me as he continues the kiss, taking my face in his hands. I pull away from the kiss after a few moments. Then I hear people counting from the beach shouting, Ten… Nine… Eight…
"Seven," I whisper.
"Six," Jake whispers back moving closer again, his arms wrapping around my waist.
"Five," I say a little bit louder, wrapping my arms around his neck.
"Four," Jake says louder, leaning closer.
"Three," I lean closer smiling.
"Two," Jake winks to me jokingly.
"One!" We shout at the top of our lungs together, smiling to each other. One of Jake's hands grabs my face and pulls my lips against his. We share a perfect kiss for a second but then Jake breaks away. "Happy New Year, Lee." He smiles to me.
"Happy New Year, Jake" I say to him, bringing my lips back to his.
Soon into the kiss a loud bang occurs. I jump and then laugh. I turn and face the fireworks being shot off on the shore, a safe distance from everyone on the beach and anyone's houses. Jake sits down on the ground pulls me to sit in between his legs and wraps his arms around me. His chin rests on my shoulder. "Perfect viewing spot right?" Jake whispers.
"Did you plan this?" I ask him as I watch the fireworks.
"I might have thought about having an excuse to carry you away from everyone." He says and I can hear the smile in his voice. He kisses my neck softly then his arms squeeze me slightly tighter. I shake my head. "You seem to be happy up here."
"I am." I tell him and it's the truth. It's perfect up here, as if the world is at a distance, the faint sounds of the party are still in the distance, but it's only Jake and I up here and it is perfect. He is perfect.
"Hold on one second." Jake says as he gets up after the fireworks have stopped. He goes back into the forest; I turn and face the sea. I hear him return in a few moments, he's carrying blankets and a couple of pillows. He drops the pile on the ground with a smile.
"What's this about?" I ask him.
Jake shrugs, "I thought if we liked it enough here we could stay as long as we want."
I smile, "Sounds pretty perfect." I tell him. "Are you trying to seduce me?" I laugh.
Jake shakes his head, "Not at all. Just thought it would be nice to lay on something other than the ground. When we have sex it will be at the right moment at the right time."
I nod my head. "Sounds very logical of you."
"You know me, I'm a logical guy." Jake smiles. "Seriously, it's just for you and me to innocently lay on beneath the stars."
I nod my head. "I believe you."
Jake smiles and wraps his arms around me. "I just want to be with you always."
"Me too." I whisper.
A/N: Hey everyone! Sorry if there are any spelling/grammar errors. I was rushing to get it out to you. I'll go back and revise, but tonight I'm too tired. Hope you enjoyed! One more chapter left!