Being There
Disclaimer: all characters and copyright belong to Stephanie Meyer.
A/N-thank you so much for the lovely reviews on this story. I really appreciate it.
Part Seven
The living room of the Black's house was crowded as all the pack gathered there to hear what Jacob had to say. With Bella sitting huddled into his side he told his pack brothers what had happened and who the red head really was and what her intentions were. As predicted it was Paul who kicked off when he heard this piece of news.
"Typical, so it's the leech lover who has brought trouble back here again. We get rid of the Cullen's and she attracts more." He sneered.
Jacob was on his feet immediately and confronted Paul. His fists were clenched and his arms shaking. He wanted to punch Lahote so badly. Sam gave an irritated sigh and ordered them both to back off. Jacob reluctantly returned to Bella's side and hugged her. He shot a dark look at Paul; their confrontation may be delayed but he would pay Lahote back for that comment.
"Kicking off is not helping anyone, Paul." Sam glared at him. He then turned to Jacob. "And as for you keep your temper in check."
Jacob didn't answer, he felt Bella pull away from him as she stood up unsteadily on her feet. "I'm sorry for causing so much trouble," she whispered; her voice shaky. "I didn't realise Victoria would be back."
Embry gave her an encouraging smile. "Don't worry, Bella. It's what we do." He said, echoing Jacob's words from earlier.
"Yeah," Jared gave her a half smile. Hearing their words of encouragement made her feel a lot better. It seemed it was only Paul that was mad at her, but then maybe that was just the way he was.
"Thank you," she said simply before sitting back down next to Jacob. He immediately cuddled her back into his side.
"They're right," Sam interjected, taking over the conversation. "Actually it helps us to know why she has been so intent on hanging around the area. It gives us a better chance of catching her."
"See I told you, Bells," Jacob grinned at her and she found herself smiling back at him as she finally relaxed.
"If it's Bella she is after than we obviously need to keep a watch over her." Sam said as he began pacing the room. "She should be safe while she is in school, I doubt the leech would go in a crowded high school, but we will need to make sure there is always someone to take her and pick her up."
"Well I'll be with her," Jacob interjected.
Sam gave him a stern look. "It's impossible for you to be with her twenty four seven. No I will draw up a rota to make sure her house is being watched while she is inside."
"I can't ask you to do that," Bella protested, guilt weighing heavily on her. "You can't all give up your lives like that."
"Bells, stop stressing. We need to keep you safe and this is the only way." Jacob stroked her hair back from her face gently.
"Do we have to watch this PDA?" Paul said in disgust.
Embry and Jared laughed at him. "Aww is Paulie getting jealous cos he's not getting any." Embry teased him.
Paul growled. "Like you would know. I've never seen you with anyone."
Embry just laughed again, Paul's insults never bothered him. Sam was getting irritated with the pointless banter. "Paul, Jared I want you to go over to Bella's house and make sure the red head has gone. Embry and I will check the borders." He instructed.
The others began to disperse. Embry and Jared shouted their goodbyes while Paul ignored them completely. Before Sam left he told Bella to stay in La Push with Jacob until they let her know it was safe to return home again. She agreed quickly, not wanting to cause any more trouble.
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To keep Bella's mind off of Victoria and the danger she was in, Jacob told her he needed to fine tune the Rabbit's engine. Bella followed him into the garage and sat down in her usual spot on the old upturned crate. Jacob brought two warm soda's with him and they spent a relaxed couple of hours working on the car. Bella would hand him any tools that he asked for (invariably passing him the wrong ones) and he kept up a running commentary of what he was doing to the car's engine.
It was just the tonic that Bella needed. Being surrounded by the familiar walls of the garage, watching Jacob work on his car made her panic ease. There was nothing she could physically do about the Victoria situation, falling apart would not help anyone. So she forced herself to push her fears to the back of her mind as she concentrated on Jacob's soothing voice as he explained the inner workings of the Rabbits engine.
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When they got back to the house they found that Billy had returned. He greeted Bella with some surprise. "Hello, I didn't know you were coming over today, Bella."
Jacob put his arm over Bella's shoulders comfortingly. "Something happened today dad that shook Bells up. Can she stay here the night? Charlie is dealing with the missing hikers still and won't be back until really late."
Billy frowned as he saw a panicked look cross Bella's face. "What happened?"
"We found out why the red headed leech has been hanging around, she is after Bells." Jacob told him bluntly.
Billy's eyes widened in horror. "Why?"
Bella hung her head as she let Jacob do all the talking. "She is seeking revenge because Cullen killed her mate. He was the one who came after Bella that time she ended up in hospital."
"Oh Bella," Billy said sadly. "I'm so sorry. Are you okay?"
Bella nodded. "Yes, Jake and the others have been amazing." She caught Jacob's hand in her own and squeezed it gently in gratitude.
"They will protect you, Bella, don't worry. Of course you can stay. I'll go and phone your dad to let him know." Billy smiled at her kindly.
"Thanks Billy," Bella said gratefully as he left the room to go and make the call.
Jacob led Bella over to the couch and they both sat down. She immediately nestled into his side, resting her head on his shoulder. "I don't know what I would have done without you, Jake."
He smiled at her and pulled her closer into his side. "No worries honey. I'd do anything for you."
She looked up at his handsome face. He always made her feel so protected. Placing a hand on his chest she raised her head and kissed him softly on the cheek. "I want to tell you something, Jake."
"What's that, Bells?" He gazed at her curiously. He could see she was struggling with what she wanted to say. Her expressive brown eyes were luminous in the dim light and he was captivated by her.
Bella knew what she wanted to say; but she was finding it hard to find the right words. The last time she opened up her heart to someone she had been abandoned. She knew Jacob was nothing like Edward, but the fear remained. She continued to look up at him pleadingly, trying to say with her eyes what was in her heart.
Jacob reached out tentatively and touched her cheek. He could still feel the imprint of her soft lips on his own skin. His fingers wandered over her cheek, ghosting over her skin. Bella let out a gentle exhalation as she closed her eyes and just relaxed as he continued to explore her face with his fingers. She felt them trace circles under her eyes and head down the bridge of her nose. When they reached her mouth her lips parted and Jacob held his breath as he followed the pattern of her uneven pout.
"You're beautiful, Bella," he whispered huskily.
The tone of his voice made Bella's eyes snap open. He was looking at her intently, a serious expression on his face as he studied her carefully. "Jacob I..."
"Well your old man said that was fine Bella," Billy re-entered the room, making Jacob and Bella pull apart.
"That's great, Billy. Thank you," Bella murmured; her cheeks tinged with red.
Jacob gave his dad an irritated glance. He was sure he was making some sort of breakthrough with Bella and his dad had ruined it. Billy seemed unaware of his intrusion. He gave the two teenagers a big smile and offered to make some dinner. Bella protested at once and told him that she would make something in return for letting her stay. Billy had no problems with that. He thanked her and settled in front of the television. Jacob gave a heavy sigh and sat back on the couch, watching Bella discreetly as she floated about the kitchen rustling up a meal.
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The evening passed pleasantly. They all settled in front of the television after dinner and watched old comedy re-runs of Billy's favourite show. Jacob and Bella sat on the couch with her curled into his side and his arm around her shoulders. It felt like they were a proper couple to him. Even though Bella kept insisting that they were just 'best friends' he knew that normal friends were not so touchy feely with each other. He loved having her so close but he wanted more, he yearned for her to return his affections fully. Earlier he had seen something in her eyes that had given him faint hope that she was coming to that realisation herself. The look in her beautiful brown eyes as she gazed at him and stumbled over her words made him certain that Bella had been on the verge of telling him something important.
Occasionally they would glance at each other and share secret smiles and as the night wore on they drew closer together so there was not an inch of space between them. Sam called at the house at one point to give Jacob an update on what had been happening. He was pleased to hear that Bella would be staying in La Push for the night as it made his job a lot simpler. He told Jacob to stay with her and they would talk again in the morning. He then bid everyone good night and left.
As midnight drew near Billy finally called it a night. He gave Bella a quick hug and told her not to worry. She gave him a grateful smile and watched him manoeuvre his wheelchair out of the room.
"Well I suppose I better head off to bed too," she said awkwardly.
Jacob helped her up and kept hold of her hand as the tension began to ramp up between them again. "I'll be sleeping on the couch. You're in my room."
Bella's face fell. "No, Jake I can't do that. I'll sleep out here."
"Don't be silly, Bells. I'll be fine," Jacob assured her. He reached out and hooked her hair behind her ear before stroking her cheek.
Bella glanced at the small couch and then back at Jacob's tall frame. His feet would be hanging clear off the end. There was no way that was going to be in any way comfortable. "We've shared a bed before," she said nervously, biting her bottom lip, "we can do so here, can't we?"
Jacob's heart began to thump loudly in his chest at her words. He was sure she must be able to hear it. He took her hand and laced his fingers with hers. "Are you sure?"
Bella smiled tentatively. "Yeah, I'm sure." She tugged on his hand and began to lead the way to his room.
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Jacob's room was fairly small, the bed took up most of the space. He went in and picked up some stray clothes and screwed them up and chucked them into a corner. "Sorry about the mess."
"No worries," Bella's cheeks tinged red and she couldn't look at him directly. "Have you got an old t-shirt or something I can use to sleep in?"
"Err yeah," Jacob tore his eyes away from her and fumbled around in his wardrobe until he found one. He handed it to her and she took it from him, a shy smile playing about her lips.
"I'll just go and...you know change in the bathroom," Bella said when Jacob didn't make a move to leave the room.
"Oh, okay," he stepped out of her way and watched as she left the room. He let out a long held breath when he was alone. He felt so awkward, what the hell was wrong? It was just Bells, they never usually acted like this around each other.
Jacob rubbed the back of his neck and hunted around for some clean sweats to wear in bed. He couldn't find any. Billy usually waited until they were down to their last clothes before he bothered with the laundry. In the end he decided to just wear his boxers, they would be comfortable enough. He pulled back the covers on his bed and fell back on it, putting his hands behind his head as he waited for Bella to return.
Bella too had been berating herself for feeling so nervous. She had undressed slowly in the bathroom and carefully folded up her clothes. She lifted Jacob's t-shirt up and shook it out. She nearly burst out laughing when she saw the star wars logo printed across the front. It was definitely one of his pre-phase shirts. She yanked it on over her head and it fell down just past her waist. She tried tugging it down, but it refused to go past her hips. This meant that her legs would be on display. "Damn," she muttered as she examined her pale skin.
There was not a lot else she could do about the situation. Wearing her jeans in bed would be uncomfortable. Anyway it was only Jacob, there was no need to be nervous; that's what she told herself as she finally left the bathroom and went back into his room. As soon as she entered her composure was completely thrown, her eyes widened as she took in all of Jacob's perfection as he lounged across the bed. She wasn't blind, she had seen him half undressed most days. He hardly ever wore a t-shirt on his top half since he phased, but when they were surrounded by others she could keep her thoughts pure. However now they were alone, about to share a bed, neither of them with much on. Bella shook herself, 'Get a grip,' she said in her head.
Jacob saw the play of emotions on her face and he watched her curiously. He was having as much trouble as she was. Bella always wore jeans, he had never had the privilege of seeing her shapely legs on display and he was having trouble controlling himself. He quickly pulled the covers up to hide his bottom half. "You alright, Bells?" He asked, his voice a notch higher then usual.
"Yeah," Bella mumbled. "Are you? Your voice sounds a little strange."
Jacob cleared his throat. "That better?"
She nodded. "Yeah," she kept yanking on the bottom of her t-shirt to try and cover more of her legs; she could see that Jacob kept staring at them.
"Are you coming to bed, Bells or are you going to hover in the doorway all night?" He teased.
"Of course. Move over then," Bella slowly approached the bed as Jacob made room for her.
She carefully manoeuvred her body and turned so that she was lying on the very edge, their bodies barely touching. She could feel the supernatural heat pouring off of him and she longed to just shift closer and bury herself in his arms. But she could sense the change in the air between them and she was worried about what to do. Jacob was wedged right against his bedroom wall and was extremely uncomfortable. They stayed like that for several minutes; the sound of their breathing loud in the silent room.
It was Jacob who broke first. "This is ridiculous, Bells. Why are we acting like this?"
His voice startled her and she shifted back right into his crotch. A gasp flew from her mouth as she felt how turned on he was. Quickly rolling away from him she sat up and ran a hand through her hair nervously. Jacob felt embarrassed but decided there was not a lot he could do to hide it now. She knew how he felt about her, what did she expect? As he always did he confronted the issue head on.
"Look you know I'm attracted to you, Bells. I can't exactly hide it and I've been totally honest with you. I also know that you don't feel the same way but I..."
Bella's head whipped round and she stared at him. "I never said I didn't feel the same way." Her brown eyes looked luminous in the dim light from the bedside lamp.
Jacob felt stunned. It took him a moment to respond. "You do?"
Bella groaned and put her hands over her face to hide it from him. "Yes. That was what I was trying to tell you earlier when Billy interrupted us." She confessed.
A sunny grin lit up Jacob's face. He sat up too and pulled her hands away from her face. "You like me too?" He checked.
Bella had to laugh at his elated expression. "Yes, Jake. I like you too. I just feel so nervous. I have no idea why." She shrugged.
Jacob touched her face with his warm fingers and laughed too. "Me too. I haven't known how to act all evening. This is just too weird."
"I know," Bella smiled gently at him. "This is a big thing for me, Jake. I need to take things slowly. Do you think you can be patient with me?"
"Of course I can. I love you, Bells." He continued to stroke her face softly and she gave a happy sigh. "Come on honey, let's go to sleep. I promise I'll go at your pace."
"Thank you," Bella turned around and lay back down so he was spooned behind her. He put one arm across her waist and pulled her close to him.
"Night, Bells," he said, kissing the back of her head.
"Night, Jake," Bella closed her eyes and soon fell into a peaceful sleep.
A/N-Thanks for reading!
