Chapter 4- Mon Petit Amour.
Disclaimer: As awesome as it would be, I don't own any of these characters. They all come from the brilliant mind of Stephanie Meyer.
Summary: What happens when a wolf sees a certain girl in one's mind? Is it an imprint, or not? Will Jealously rear it's ugly head and blur the lines of friendship. Or will Understanding reign? ...And will Bella find her heart with a wolf that she never saw coming, or hush the call of Want, Love, and Trust? Rated M for violence, swearing, and future lemons.
Thanks to taoist elf for the awesome review and for the never-ending support. Also a big thanks to Preetoaka Raven Potter Weasley. Love you, ladies! Thank you to Iamtwilightobsessed, trockodile, Dizzy4u, and StephJ and to everyone else who reviewed. You're feedback means so much!:)\
Jared POV:
I don't how long I'm caught in her gaze, or how long the mirrored look of adoration, desire, and perplexity's caught in hers, but in an instant, my life has turned on it's axis, twirled me around a few hundred times; resulting in the absolution, that is…
Bella… Oh. Shit! I imprinted! C'mon, man…Think! Speak! Do something!
My mind shouts deaf instructions at me. I open my mouth in an attempt to clear my throat, but all that I can do is move even further towards her. My feet bring me a centimeter's length away from that lovely face. Those ivory cheeks. Those perfect pink lips. Before I can fully register my actions, I find my hand coming to the back of her head, as she leans into me, quivering with the sweetest mixture of amorousness and that still ever-prevalent confusion. For a moment, just a moment, I can feel the slightest brush of skin on skin. Wolf and mate. Bella…Mine. Oh B-
Just as I'm about to kiss those perfect lips, the phone sounds from the kitchen. It's annoying ringing, bringing us back to consciousness. She stares up into my black orbs with what I swear is love for a split-second before nervously taking her bottom lip between her teeth. She rips her body away from me to answer the call. My heart aches with so much pain at the loss of her touch, the only thing holding it together being her hesitation before turning away. A little bit of clarity claws its way to the surface within me again when she exits the room- the wolf wanting to take over in over-alertness at wanting to protect its mate. The man, trying to comprehend what the hell just happened. Fucking shit! I'm so sorry Jake, brother! Oh fuck, oh fuck! But, oh Bella- my sweet Bella. I'll be anything you need. How could I- Oh, who the fuck are you kidding Jared, you knew this would happen! I heel myself in my opposite shin, from where I sit, ankles crossed and leaning against the back of the couch, causing myself to let out a loud grunt. Bella's giggle alerts me to her presence back in the room. My mental rambling must have caused me to miss her entrance.
"Geez, Jared! What was that for? Have you been a bad boy?" A blush immediately spreads across her face at the sudden realization at the double meaning of her own words.
"Oh..Umm..I mean.."
I laugh wholeheartedly. "Shh. It's okay, Bella! Just got a little frustrated with myself is all."
"Umm..Okay." She looks at her shoes.
My wolf takes over. Can't have her feeling uncomfortable, can we? I cross the distance left between us, and playfully bump spot underneath her jaw with my finger. She looks up at me. Bel- Focus, Mr. Cameron, focus! "Hey, now, it's really okay." I joke, smiling from ear to ear, "The birdies are still singing, Washington's still the rainy state, and the wolves are still a-woofin'." She beams. Phew, crisis averted!… Oh, mon petit amour, I will never hurt you. I- Wait. Holy fuck, why am I thinking in French? I don't even know the language. Probably heard it in a movie once. What. The. Fuck?
"So, who was that on the phone?" Of course, I already know the answer. And she knows that I know, but for the sake of normality, I ask anyway.
"Oh, that was just Charlie. He won't be home for a few days. I guess that he wants to make sure that Sue's okay. Leah and Seth bolted as soon as they found out that Harry…" Stopping mid-sentence, she shifts those doe eyes back and forth in uneasiness. At the same time she lightly shivers, but I can tell that it's from chilliness, as goose bumps rise on her arms.
"C'mon…How 'bout a movie? You can pick, and I'll grab a blanket from your room."
"Sure. It's upstairs and to your left. You can just uhh…grab the comforter." Bella stammers through her sentence as she makes her way farther into the living room, an arm brushing mine. I could never get enough of her touch. Mine.
"Alrighty, you got it! One comfo-ta coming right up!" There ya go, Jared. Keep making her laugh.
As I venture up the stairs, my mental capacity quickly becomes overly cramped with a million thoughts at once.
Holy shit-balls. What am I going to do?
Bella POV:
Why does my body feel like it's clutching onto survival when he's not in the same room? I knew that I was messed up with what Ed- Ed- did to me…but wow, Bella, now you're definitely taking a trip around the bend! I try to ignore the ache in my chest as I sit on the living room floor, DVD's scattered around me. Hmm..What's something funny? I need to laugh. I can't believe that Harry's- No. Bella, no. Crying time, later- Sanity, now. I shuffle through the cases, until I find the one that I'm looking for. "The Hangover." Haha. Perfect choice!
Jared bounds back down the stairs, walking in and plopping down on the couch. His smile makes my heart melt to a cheesy puddle of sticky-happy goo. "So, Bella," he accentuates the 'la,' "what are we watchin'?"
I hold up the DVD case between two fingers and swing it back and forth.
"Ahhh…A good choice!" His laughter is infectious. "Now, come over here, you! Let's get this movie started!"
I pop the disc into the player, wait for the menu to show itself, and press 'play' before making my way over to sit on the couch next to him. Oops. I sat a little closer to him than I intended, leg pressed against leg. But I make no attempts to wriggle away. Neither does he. C'mon, Bella, get your shit together. He can't be wanting you, you just met! ..Then what was that ki- well, almost kiss about, dummy? I try to focus on the movie as Jared pulls the comforter over us. Even though he doesn't need it, I can tell that he's trying to accommodate my comfort by spreading it out over his lap along with mine, so it won't bunch up around me. As the silly bewilderment of three friends and their lost comrade plays out before me, I can't focus on any of it. Just Jared and the fact that he's close, so very close to me. It doesn't take long until he pipes up,
"Are you okay?"
"What do you mean?"
"I mean are you okay? I know that Charlie and Harry were really close. And.." he pauses and turns his head, meeting my intense gaze. I can tell that he's really thinking about what he's about to say. Swallowing thickly, he continues. "An- and..I know what he did to you." I gasp, tears flooding my eyes. How could he know? Wait..Jake. In a flash, he's hoisting me up into his lap, arms cradling me.
"Oh no! Oh, God. I'm so sorry, Bella! I didn't mean to hurt you. Please don't cry! I only meant to tell you that you're not worthless or anything like that. You deserve to be cherished, and that lee- and he never deserved you. Shh.." he gently strokes the side of my face, now nestled into the crook of his neck. "Shh.. Please don't cry, Bella. I'm such an idiot, I shouldn't have brought it up. I'm sorry."
Without raising my head, I bring one finger up to his lips, halting his rambling self-assault. "No. It's okay Jared. Really. It's just me. I'm so pathetic."
He lets out a growl, rumbling against my side. "No, Bella. No. You're not pathetic. It's him that's pathetic, got that?" I nod into his neck. "He enthralled you. Instead of cherishing who you are, he controlled you. Then he broke you. He's pathetic, not you."
Some part of me, still slightly attached to the vampire, wants to argue. But the bigger part of me is viciously shouting at me. You know that he's right. I really don't know what to believe at this point, but Jared's words roll over me like the waves of the north Pacific- like La Push; calming me in its saccharine lullaby. I know that I can trust him. Can I? I don't know what possesses me to confide in him, knowing him for less than two hours, but I do. Something about Jared soothes the deep heartache that I've been harboring for months. Sniffling, I spill the beans.
"He just..I don't know why it had to happen like that. I mean, am I so bad that he couldn't stand to stay with me?"
"Bella." I could never get tired of him saying my name. "No. You're not bad, at all. It's him. You're kind, and from what I can see through Jacob, you're selfless and hardworking. You give all that you've got to everything and everyone."
"How do you mean, 'what you can see through Jacob?' Is he…I mean..Is he?" He simply nods, jaw set in a strong line as a low growl fights to keep itself hidden inside his chest. "Do you not like Jake?"
"No..It's nothing. I just don't get how he could leave you alone after everything today. Sure, he needed to find Sam, but he could've called from here or something and stayed until he sent me or somebody to come and be with you." That wolfy noise is still rumbling beneath the surface.
"Shh..Jared, I'm okay." I reach up to lightly graze his cheek. He relaxes.
"Sorry."
"Don't be, it's nice that you care."
"I'm glad that you feel that way, Gorgeous." Now it's my turn to blush again. I smile into his neck. How is he eliciting these feelings in me? Jared…
"Spill it."
"Wha'? Wha- what?"
"Bella, I'm here for you. If you need to get your feeling out, then you can do it here, with me. I don't want you to feel pain…But I know that you can't keep that all to yourself. Nobody heals with chains shackling them." His tone is merry, but I know that there's no joking in his statement.
Letting out a slow, shaking breath, I break my inner monologue open wide- baring it for him to see. Stark naked thoughts. Pure Bella.
Jared POV:
Hours fly by. I hold my mate while she shares her hurt with me. While she smiles, while she frowns- while she weeps over that leech. He really didn't deserve her. Never would, never will. What she doesn't know, at least not yet, is that I really do share her hurt. Countless times, I find myself growling whenever she recounts how he damaged her heart, even feeling a few wet streams fall down my own cheeks more than once. Ultimately, I think that my words have healed some part of her maybe though. At least I got her to agree that she's not worthless, and deserves to be loved. Oh, Bella. My poor, Bella. I'll give you so much better. I'm not Mr. Perfect, but I'll sure as hell try to be…if you let me. Shit, what if she doesn't? Just the thought of her rejecting me tears me to shreds. No. Don't get like that, now's not the time. She needs you. You're her comfort right now. It's a start. She wants you here. She wiggles a little bit in my lap, and I take the opportunity of her temporary distraction to sharply inhale her scent. Ginger and jasmine transport me to Nirvana straight away. Blissful, spicey, sweet. Mine.
Footsteps plodding across the floorboards make me snap my head up in the direction of the invasion. Bella doesn't budge, only buries he face further into the side of my neck. I tighten my hold around her. I hone in on his scent before I see him. I know that Embry's no threat, but my wolf is still wary of another male, particularly another wolf, being around her so close after the imprint. Especially without having claimed her yet. Bella underneath me, above me, all around me..Smelling like me. Fu- Embry clears his throat.
"Oh.. Hey, Embry."
"Hey. Everything okay here?" His face is set sternly, but he's still got his chipper Embry wits about him.
"Yeah, man. What's going on? Charlie said that he'd be gone for at least a few days."
"Yeah Leah and Seth pha-" he stops himself, aware of the very human Bella in my arms.
"It's okay, Em. She knows"
"Oh..Well, Leah and Seth phased. And Ataera."
"What? Quil? All within the same day? How does that happen?"
"I don't know, but Harry's passing set it off for Leah and Seth. Quil..Well, I guess that Old Quil got on him about being home late from work last night before he went back over to the Clearwater's, and that's all it took. Sam's on it. But he's trying to give them all their time to calm down, over at Emily's right now. Sue doesn't know yet, and she's a wreck. Charlie's gonna stay with her to make sure that she's okay, at least until Leah and Seth get home prob'ly. For all they know, they just ran off."
"Shit! So..who's staying with her tonight?" I inquire with pleading eyes. Bella tightens her hold around my waist. Embry's eyes grow to the size of baseballs. Guess he gets it, thank God.
"Ohhh…Well, he sent me over for the night, so you can patrol while he, Paul, and Jake take care of the others. Talk to Sam.." he glances at Bella, who's still unaware of the intensity of his expression. "..Ask him about me patrolling in the morning. I'll take over for you again then."
"You sure?" I ask, a little taken aback. Embry and I have always been a good level with one another, but I'd never expect him to do something like this for me. We both usually have equal patrolling hours.
"Yep. And fit-as-fiddle in my decision. Don't make me change my mind," he chortles.
"Okay, okay. I'm definitely taking you up on that."
How am I going to leave her? I lean my head down and whisper in her ear.
"Bella, Bella…Sweetie?" Geezus…Way to slip the tongue, boy. "I'm sorry, but I have to go patrol."
She lets out a small moan of protest and tightens her grip around me even more. "Nooo…"
"I know. I'm sorry, but I'll be back before you know it." She looks up at me, keeping her gaze locked on mine.
"Really?"
"You betcha! C'mon, it's late. Let's get you in bed."
Comforter wrapped around her, I carry her up to her bedroom while Embry waits downstairs. Laying her down ever so gently, I proceed to take one of her shoes off and then the other one. Thank Taka Aki that she had sweats on when I got here today..I'd feel kind of bad if she had to sleep in her jeans, or had to get back up to change, when all that she needs to do right now (after such an emotional day) is rest. I just wish that I could stay with her. Having to leave her is killing me already. I walk around to the side of the bed and pull the comforter back up over her, and start inch away from the bed. A small, creamy hand jolts out to wrap around my wrist and she whimpers.
"You're gonna come back, right?"
I bend over so that I'm face to face with her. "Of course I am. I promise. Now, sleep, sweetie." I place one hand on the side of her face, and she pushes back into my touch. Pecking her cheek, electricity shoots through me at a gazillion megawatts a second. We both shudder from the sudden heat.
"I'll be back in the morning. But if you need to talk or need anything, call Sam's, Embry has the number, and I'll be here. And Embry's a pretty good Brother, if you need anything let him know."
"Thank you, Jared. I'll..I'll miss you." Holy fucking shit on a skillet! I do an internal happy dance.
"Yeah? Me too," I smile, "see you tomorrow."
Traipsing back downstairs, I meet Em's stare.
"So…You?"
"Yeah, man..Sam wasn't kidding when he told us 'one look was all it took' all of those times."
"Well," he punches me in the arm "Congrats! "
"Thanks..But what about Jake? He's gonna hate me. Hell, he'll probably hate himself. What do I do?"
"I know. I feel bad for him. Really, I do. But, dude, she's meant to be yours. Your mate. Not his. We'll deal with that later."
Heavily exhaling, all that I can manage to get out is a "Right." The thought of leaving right now is eating at me. "Well, I'd better go, before I really can't go."
"Is the pull really that strong?"
"Yeah." With that, I sprint out the door and phase just as I hit the tree line.
Oh, mon petit amour…I could never hurt you.
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Playlist- Chapter 4:
1. "I've Just Seen A Face" -The Beatles
2. "Pretty Girl From San Diego" -Avett Brothers
3. "When You Love Somebody" -Fruit Bats
4. "Strange Terrain" -Circa Survive
5. "Lazarus" -Circa Survive
6. "Heavy In Your Arms" -Florence + The Machine
7. "Distance" -Karsh Kale
8. "Paper Planes" -M.I.A.
9. "In The Mood" -Rush
10. "Unforgettable" -Nat King Cole
11. "Wind In The Wires" -Patrick Wolf
12. "Carousel" -Buckcherry
13. "Are There Giants Too, In The Dance?" -Meg & Dia
14. "Light Of The Morning" -Band Of Skulls
15. "Waste" -Phish
16. "My Heart" -Paramore