A/N: Hoo hoo, three updates in a day, look at me go! I have nothing to do on the days I don't work beside eat, sleep, and do dishes every once in a while. So enjoy it while you can, because I have to work tomorrow and Friday! Boooo. :( But I get paid Friday so woot woot!
Slower Than Stampeding Turtles: I love your name. And I'd like to thank you for that particularly, um, colorful review you gave me. No seriously, I was laughing so hard I almost fell off my bed. The thought of Edward's face if he heard you say that Bella should do something disgusting to his "pruny, chalk white-" man junk almost killed me. You're great, please review more often!
Alyss Nightshade Black: BEST FRANNNNNN! -glomp- Yeah, I know I'm being mean to Ina, but it's all out of love and a wish for development between her and Jakey! Sorry about Leah, but you know how she is, jumping to conclusions. The guys don't really give a crap about it, they're more upset with Paul than Ina and just want the drama to be over with asap so that they can go back to being lovable jerks as always. :) Love joo! Thanks for reviewing even though you said you never would! I'm persuasive like that. ;D
To everyone else who reviewed/favorited/alerted: Thank you so super duper much!
One last thing, I've been thinking about making a Paul story, because (obviously) I have much love for Paul and it's threatening to ruin this Jacob centered story, so I need an outlet for my Paul loving (that sounds dirty O_o). I'll have to think up a plot and whatnot first, but hopefully I'll get it up soon so you guys can read it! :D I'm really excited about it, but it will probably be updated a little slower than this one. Anyway, I don't think you really care and just want to get to some Jake loving (lol it's fun to say that), so please enjoy!
Chapter 12
We left my car in the parking lot at school. Embry drove me home, muttering to himself the whole way. I jumped out and thanked him, but he grabbed my hand and looked at me seriously.
"We'll get to the bottom of this, okay?" he said. I nodded and he released me. I went straight to my room and tried to do my homework, but my head was too full.
What did Bella have against me? Other than the fact that I cheated on Jacob, I winced. Back at the football game, she had been trying to make Jacob phase so that I would see him, and not want him I guess. I wondered if she knew that I knew their secret already. And what exactly did she mean by, "bestiality?" Jacob was a werewolf, but he was still human nonetheless. It was better than being with some hard, cold, dead thing. I shuddered at the thought, and having thoroughly grossed myself out, went to go find a distraction.
Nothing good was on television. I didn't really feel like eating week old leftovers. My car was out of commission, so I had to find somewhere close enough to walk to. I grabbed my homework and decided to walk to the diner, at least there it wasn't so deadly silent. I shrugged my back pack on and stepped out the door, only to run into something hard. I looked up to see Paul's grinning face, and I frowned.
"Paul, what are you doing?" I said flatly, locking the door and walking past him. He quickly caught up to me and put his hands in his pockets, glancing at me out of the corner of his eye.
"So do you hate me now?" he asked, his voice having a hint of glee to it. I ignored him and walked across the street, making sure to look both ways before I crossed. Stupid people (like Paul) thought that an empty street meant you could speed down it as fast as you could. I picked up my pace, tennis shoes slapping against the pavement loudly as I walked.
"Where you going?" Paul asked, jumping in front of me. I ducked my head and walked around him, but he grabbed my backpack to where all I could do was walk in place. I brought my fist down on his arm and he let go, but grabbed me with his other arm and spun me around to face him.
"Will you acknowledge my presence at least?" he growled. I glared at him and stomped on his foot, then walked away again. I wanted chocolate chip waffles, and I'll be darned if I let him keep me from getting them. Of course, he being the idiot he is, decided to stand in front of me again. I moved left and he stepped left. I dashed to the right and he just took one very large step to the right to block me again. So I did what any girl would do and then ran away as fast as I could. I heard him howling in pain and glanced back to see him curled up on the ground. I should probably feel bad about it. He may not have kids because of it. No little Paul's running around later in life. Did I feel bad?
Nah.
I ran as hard as possible with a thirty pound sack of crap on my back, and by the time I reached the diner I was ready to collapse. I ran in and locked the door behind me, then sank to the ground. Luckily there were only a few old people drinking their afternoon coffee inside. Nilly noticed me come in and hurried over while drying her hands on a towel.
"Ina! What's going on?" she asked, glancing out the door behind me.
"There's a child molester chasing me," I panted. Jim's head popped up from above the grill and he held up his cleaver in question. Something slammed against the door behind me and I winced, then tilted my head back. Paul was standing menacingly over me, fists clenched at his sides and his nostrils flared angrily (did nostrils get angry? Oh well). He was yelling something but I couldn't hear him due to the two inch thick plate glass that the door was made out of, a precaution Jim had suggested. He looked sort of funny standing there waving his arms and yelling, and for the first time in two days I laughed so hard I almost puked. The old people were giving me odd looks, but I couldn't stop laughing. Jim walked over to the door and held up his cleaver, one eye squinting while the other one stared at Paul so hard it looked like it was going to pop out. Nilly managed to drag me to a booth while I was still laughing hysterically and waved at Natalie to come over. Natalie popped her gum and brought a cup of hot chocolate with her, then scooted in beside me. I took a sip and finally calmed down, only having a fit of giggles every now and then. The lack of both sleep and food was taking a toll on my sanity.
"Did you get the—" Natalie waggled her eyebrows, "—stuff?"
She made it sound like it was some kind of drug deal. I nodded and blushed, but she merely giggled. She waved at Paul, who was now standing outside the window to my booth and staring at me, then blew him a kiss. He ignored her and kept his eyes on me. I smirked and flipped him off, which only set him off yelling and gesturing wildly once more. I chuckled, then whipped my head toward a plate that had been set down in front of me.
Steamy, golden, syrup smothered, chocolate chip loaded disks of sweet heaven lay in front of me.
I smirked at Paul and took a large bite, visibly savoring the taste. He gawked, a string of drool slowly sliding out of the corner of his mouth. He loved Nilly's chocolate chip waffles almost as much as I did. I quickly wolfed down the rest of my food and patted my now full and happy stomach. Nilly's pancakes were the best cure for sadness. One bite and all your cares melted away. When I was done Nilly whisked the plate away and quickly returned to the table, Natalie at her side.
"Shouldn't you be working?" I asked, glancing at the other customers. Natalie scoffed and waved her hand.
"They know where the coffee pot is. So, tell me, have you used your gifts on that hunk of yours yet?" she whispered, raising her eyebrows. I grimaced as my heart gave an unhappy thump against my chest, reminding me that all was not well in the land of Ina.
"Um, well, we kind of broke up. I think," I mumbled. Both Natalie and Nilly gave dramatic gasps, their eyes wide in horror.
"What happened, dear?" Nilly asked while leaning forward. I glared at Paul and he glared right back.
"Excuse me for a sec," I said, grabbing my phone out of my pocket and flipping it open.
"Em, Paul is being a creepy stalker. He followed me to Nilly's. Care to pick him up? Love, Ina, your favorite cousin."
I cleared my throat uncomfortably and waited for Paul to go away. "Did he do something?" Natalie whispered, pointing to Paul. I shrugged, then noticed a pair of glowing eyes at the edge of the woods.
"What's that?" I asked loudly while pointing in the opposite direction. Everyone in the diner turned and looked, and I waved at who I assumed was Embry as he snatched Paul's shirt in his jaws and dragged him off into the forest before they all turned back around.
"What is what?" Jim asked, still looking in the direction I had pointed to while holding up his cleaver.
"Oh, nothing," I answered, aimlessly sipping my hot chocolate. The old people gave me more odd looks before returning to their previous conversations.
"Where did Paul go?" Natalie asked, a disappointed look on her face. I shrugged and took another sip. She sighed but turned back toward me.
"So what happened with you and bathroom boy?" she asked. I flinched and nearly choked on the hot chocolate. Nilly beat me on the back while I coughed into a napkin. The woman has quite an arm for being so old.
"I don't really want to talk about it," I mumbled, looking down at my lap. Nilly patted my hand and smiled.
"Don't worry, dear, I'm sure whatever it is will blow over soon enough. That boy looked at you like you were the prettiest little thing he had ever seen! I think he fell in love with you as soon as he laid eyes on you, so don't you worry your head over nothing," she said reassuringly. Unfortunately, it only made me feel worse. My momentary elation disappeared and was replaced once more by the desolate void that was my lack of a soul. Nilly didn't know how right she was. Even other people who knew nothing about imprinting or werewolves could tell how Jacob felt about me. I sunk low into the cushion behind me, willing myself to disappear into its fabric.
"Ugh, even if he doesn't you've got all those hot guys around you. I'm so jeal!" Natalie moaned.
"Gel?" I asked, wondering if there were also magical creatures made out of hair gel.
"Jeal as is jealous? Duh, get with the program, Ina," she scoffed. And she is supposed to be the older one. I rolled my eyes and pulled my homework out while the other two went back to work. It was a little easier working with all the hustle and bustle around me, folk music blaring out of the overhead speakers. I finished half of the pile of math homework and moved on to biology since it would be the easiest. Comparing animal and plant cells is probably the simplest thing to do in that class. After that, I had to read a whole chapter about cells but didn't really process it because I was getting tired. Oh well. I wasn't playing on being a microbiologist anyway. I moved on to English and managed to finish two essays before it got dark outside.
At least all Dorian Gray had to worry about was staying young and beautiful. If Basil suddenly turned into a giant penguin or something I think he would waste no time in turning himself to a pile of ash, I mused. I sighed and closed my books, quickly stuffing them into my bag before leaving what I owed for my meal and an extra tip on the table. I hurried out before Nilly could question me, closing the door quietly behind me. The night air was quite chilly, and I hugged my arms around myself before walking in the direction of my house. I was halfway there, at the bend in the road where the trees get really thick and dark, when something white suddenly flashed in front of me. I paused, eyes flickering back and forth warily before I dismissed it as a figment of my imagination and kept going. A few moments later something blew past me fast enough to whip my hair into my face. I turned around to face it, eyes widened to catch any glimpse of light in the pitch black darkness.
"Boo," a smooth voice said quietly in my ear. I whipped around to see Bella standing in front of me, her pale skin glowing unnaturally in the darkness. She smiled and walked slowly in a circle around me, making the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end. Vampire, predator, my brain signaled, but I stood motionless and waited for her to stand at my front again. She finally ended her circumnavigation and stood with her arms crossed, smirking.
"That was some stunt you pulled today," I growled. She rolled her eyes.
"Glad you liked my artwork. I thought it would be fitting, considering you like being the bitch in a pack of mongrels," she answered, her voice like venom. I was a little scared but I wasn't going to let her know that.
"And you like boinking with a dead guy, but that doesn't mean I'm going to carve 'necromancy' into your forehead, although it does sound like a good idea," I said smoothly. She cocked an eyebrow at me and stepped closer, leaning in until her face was mere inches from mine.
"I'd really like to see you try," she hissed, her eyes swimming with crimson. I just stared back, trying not to blanch against the way her skin gave off an icy cold feeling. She was the exact opposite of the wolf pack. Where they were warm, soft, and expressive, she was ice-cold and hard, the only color in the entirety of her pale body being in the mix of crimson and gold in her eyes. I couldn't tell what she was thinking, whereas the guys showed every emotion they felt on their faces.
She smiled suddenly and took a few steps backward.
"I'd love to continue this little staring match of ours, but it looks like we have company," she laughed. I tensed as two huge wolves came to stand on either side of me, pressing their bodies against me and snarling at Bella. She waved and was gone in a flash, and the two wolves, one I recognized as Sam, took off after her. I gave in to my nerves and collapsed onto my knees, my hands shaking as I wrapped my arms around myself. I had just faced off with a vampire. My life could have ended right then and there.
Soft footsteps padded up next to me, and a cold, wet nose nudged my arm. I took a shaky breath and looked at the wolf beside me, hoping it was Jacob but being disappointed when I saw that it was Embry.
"Were you out patrolling?" I asked. He nodded his huge head and sat down beside me in the middle of the road, wrapping his tail around my shoulders. He stared at me, concern in his hazel eyes.
"I'm okay, I promise," I said, smiling weakly at him. He snorted and looked down the road toward my house, then back at me. "Alright, I'm going home," I grunted, using his shoulder as leverage to haul myself up. He jerked his head back at my house before walking into the cover of the trees, eyeing me as I began walking. I felt a little safer knowing that Embry was following me home, although it was kind of creepy to feel like I'm being watched and not being able to see anyone (or anything). I unlocked the door and made my way inside.
"Hi honey! How was school?" my mom asked from her seat on the sofa. I shrugged.
"It was school," I answered. She smiled and began watching Desperate Housewives again.
I wasn't surprised to see the giant cast of a wolf head outside my window. I opened it to see Embry sitting outside. He glanced back at me and huffed, then stood up and shut my window with his huge paw. I reopened it, a thought suddenly occurring to me.
"Embry, was it you that sat at my window every night a few weeks ago?" I asked. He shook his head, then turned towards the woods and perked his ears. A second wolf stalked out of the trees, but I couldn't tell who it was until it got closer. It stood tall in front of Embry, glaring down at him with dark brown eyes, its russet colored fur waving in the wind. Embry gave a wolf shrug and looked back at me curiously. When I didn't say anything he huffed and walked off, heading towards the forest.
Jacob stared at me for a moment before turning his back to me and lying down in the grass. I had never seen him like this up close, and momentarily forgot about what had happened as I climbed out of the window. He turned his head toward me, and I could feel his muscles tensing as I ran a hand along his back. His fur was soft and thick under my fingers, and I gazed at him in wide eyed wonder as I petted him. He was silent, merely staring at my face as I ran my hands through his fur and grabbed fistfuls. I buried my face in it and inhaled deeply, taking in his warm, spicy scent. I jumped when I felt him nudge me with his nose. He gave a low whine, his eyes sad as he looked at me. I was entranced by his eyes, so oddly human even surrounded by fur. I could see Jacob underneath the fur and the fangs, his tanned skin and beautiful face, cropped black hair and soulful brown eyes. Eyes too kind and loving for what I had done to him.
"I'm sorry, Jacob," I choked, crawling backward to his window. He whined again and got up, walking slowly towards me and pinning me against the wall with his nose. It wasn't the wolf I saw before me, it was Jacob Black, the man. He trapped me with both hands on the sides of my face and just stared, his big brown eyes pleading in agony.
"What should I do?" I whispered to him. He continued looking at me with that hurt expression.
"What do you think you should do?" his voice asked. He took my hand in both of his and pressed it in against his chest.
"You still do this to me," his voice whispered, sounding distant and airy as if it were a dream. His heart pounded against his chest as he stepped closer to me, hands still holding my own against his heated skin.
"Ina," he breathed, "I still love you." His tortured eyes never left mine as he leaned in closer, his expression gentle and loving. "Please just…just wait for me. I'm a little confused."
I closed my eyes, silent tears streaming down my face, and when I opened them the wolf was standing in front of me again. He stared at me intently, and I nodded, hoping that what had just happened wasn't a dream. He leaned forward and rubbed his cheek against my face before he turned, his eyes lingering on me for a moment before he laid down and faced the woods.
I crawled back into my room and shut the window, leaving it unlocked incase he needed to get in. I gazed at him longingly, my heart feeling as heavy as lead inside my chest and my stomach sick with regret. I was a fool for trusting Paul when I knew I shouldn't have. I was stupid for actually giving in to his wanton manipulation. And I was weak for not fighting him tooth and nail.
A part of me believed that Paul was right, that I could fight the imprint and make my own choices. But I knew that what I was feeling was not something I would have felt for any other crush. Forget butterflies, when Jake was close it felt like there was a horde of battling dragons inside of me, but that feeling immediately dissolved when he looked at me and gave me one his heartbreakingly beautiful smiles. I felt everything that he felt. Right now he was heartbroken and confused, and I regretted every single second of every day of pain that he had gone through because of my stupidity.
I realized the anger I felt toward him for almost killing Paul was no longer there. I imagine I would have done the same thing to say, Bella, if I had walked in on her pinning Jake to a bed and biting him. Although it would have been a lot worse if Bella bit Jake. I shuddered to think of what possibilities lay in the future if that could have happened. I understood him a little better now, but knew it wasn't good enough.
I noticed that I had been looking right into Jake's eyes the whole time I had been thinking. He gazed at me with a curious expression in his eyes, and if I didn't know better I could have sworn that he said, "go to sleep." I nodded at him and went to go crawl under my blanket, falling asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow.
I woke up the next morning feeling well rested and not having remembered any dreams. I hit my blaring alarm clock and shuffled over to the window. Jake was gone, but the grass was crushed where he had lain, so I knew that I wasn't dreaming about that. I took a quick shower and got dressed before walking into the kitchen, where some delicious odor was wafting through the air. I walked in just in time to see my mother pulling a pan of muffins out of the oven.
"Oh, Ina! You're awake!" she chirped, waving at me with an oven mitten covered hand. She poured two glasses of orange juice and waved at me to come over and sit down on the stool beside her. She popped two muffins out of the pan and set them on a plate in front of me, then took a sip of her orange juice and smiled.
"Feeling better today?" she asked. I shrugged, wondering how she knew I felt bad in the first place. She gave me her I-birthed-you-I-know-what's-going-on look. "Embry called and told me about what happened to your car. He said he'd pick you up and bring you home from school, so you'd better eat up quick and go wait for him.
I nodded and bit into a warm muffin. Mm, chocolate.
"I know it's about that time," my mom said, suggestively waggling her eyebrows. I almost snorted muffin out of my nose.
"Mom that's gross!" I laughed, throwing a piece of muffin at her. She smiled and threw it back before going to refill her glass. "Well, I just know how you get during that time. You're the same as me. Cranky, chocolate crazed, and moody beyond all help," she chuckled. I rolled my eyes and went to go grab my backpack and a few extra muffins for Embry. I stepped outside, books in one hand and muffin filled napkin in the other. Embry's rusty pick-up soon rolled in front of my house, and he sniffed the air curiously as I got in. I opened the napkin and his eyes went wide.
"Muffinsssssssss," he hissed, similar to how Jafar from Aladdin sounded when he found treasure. He immediately stuffed three in his mouth and then put the truck in gear, chewing noisily as he drove. By the time we reached the school all twelve muffins were devoured with no crumbs left. I stared at Embry in awe. Those were not the tiny little muffins you bought in packages from vending machines, they were pretty big!
"What?" he mumbled, blushing.
"Where does it go?" I asked, patting his chiseled stomach. He grinned and held up his arms.
"Ammo for the guns, cuz."
I snorted and got out, then started walking with Embry up to the school. I noticed my car missing and asked him about it. He gave an evil smirk and I got a little worried.
"The guys took it late last night. They're going to fix it up for you," he replied, chuckling a little.
Oh yeah, I was definitely worried. No telling what they would do to it. By the time I got it back it would probably painted bright green with purple flames going down the side, with twenty four inch rims or something ridiculous like that.
School went relatively well. I turned the homework I had completed and took my spot at the bench outside to work on it some more during lunch. Embry and Seth brought me some chicken strips and French fries, but ate more of them than I did. Turns out that Seth is a secret math wizard. I gaped as he rambled on about the difference between one function and another, when and when not to use certain formulas, and why the crap 'e' was called a number. He finished with a satisfied look on his face and leaned back, crossing his arms. With his help every now and then, I managed to complete my math homework before lunch was over.
"How are you so good at math?" I gawked. He smirked, walking with his hands behind his head and reveling in the attention he was receiving.
"My dad used to teach me calculus when I was in junior high. He loved math," Seth answered, his face turning sad. I patted his shoulder in sympathy and he nodded, smiling a little.
The rest of the day passed quickly, thankfully. I met Embry by my locker and we walked outside, the cool autumn air blasting us in the face. I shivered and clutched my books tighter against me, while Embry merely chuckled.
"There are advantages to having this condition," he said. We walked down the hill but didn't make it to his truck because a huge black motorcycle rumbled up in front of us. Jake sat atop it like a king on his throne. He nodded to Embry, then looked at me and tapped the seat behind him. I just stood there and drooled for a moment. Overly tight black shirt. Dark jeans. Combat boots.
I am not allowed to think he is sexy, I am not allowed to think he is sexy, I told myself over and over as I walked up to the bike.
"Care to go for a ride?" he asked, his expression guarded.
"S-sure," I gulped, swinging my left leg over to the other side.
"Don't burn your leg on the muffler," he warned. I looked down to see what he was talking about and nearly fell off as he revved up the engine and took off. I flung my arms around his torso and hung on for dear life as he sped down the highway, the wind whipping my hair around me and biting into my skin like a thousand icy needles. I hugged closer to Jake's warm body even though it felt kind of awkward with my legs around him, but it was no time to feel awkward. Jake was actually talking to me and letting me touch him, maybe he had forgiven me a little. Although I was cold, the feeling of speeding down the road with the wind thrashing around us was exhilarating, to say the least. If even for just this moment, it felt nice to be with Jake. I closed my eyes and snuggled my face in between his shoulder blades, gripping my arms tighter around him.
This is what felt right. This is the feeling my heart had been searching for when I was kissing Paul.
It thumped in agreement, seeming to be happy that I had finally stopped being so stupid.
When I felt like I couldn't move an inch because I was so frozen, Jake slowed down and pulled off the road and onto a trail leading into the woods. The bike bounced and threatened to fall over, but he carefully guided it along until we reached the edge of an open meadow. He turned the bike off and looked back at me.
"I think I'm stuck," I mumbled against his shirt. He chuckled and helped to detach me from himself before flipping around to face me.
"We need to talk," he said. I nodded hurriedly, teeth chattering preventing me from speaking. I couldn't tell if it was from nerves or cold, probably a mix of both. He took my hand in his and winced.
"Jeez, you're cold. I forget how easy it is for you humans to freeze to death," he grumbled. He randomly just stripped off his shirt and pressed my hands to his chest, hissing at the cold from them.
I nearly died of happiness.
He tugged at the sleeves of my thin jacket at took it off, then tried to go for my shirt too.
"W-w-whoa! What are you doing?" I stuttered, clamping my numb hands down over his to prevent him from pulling my shirt up. He smirked.
"Survival one oh one, you'll get warmer faster if you take your clothes off," he reasoned. I twitched at the thought of being shirtless next to that perfectly toned hunk of…perfectness. I shook my head quickly and he rolled his eyes.
"So Paul gets to make out with you, but I don't even get to see you shirtless?" he teased, a little bit of jealousy giving an edge to his joke. I frowned and looked down at the seat between us to hide my blush.
"I'm sorry, that was a low blow," he mumbled.
"N-no, I d-deserved it," I said in return. My muscles were trembling insanely from the cold, and my teeth were chattering so hard I thought they would fall right out of my mouth. Jake noticed and gently pulled me to him, his bare skin searing my icy fingers with its warmth. I sighed and tucked my face into his neck while he wrapped his arms around my back.
"Don't worry, I'll warm you right up," he whispered, rubbing my back in smooth circles. I shivered at the deepened octave of his voice and pressed my hands to his chest. It felt comforting to be held by him, natural. I closed my eyes and relished in his warmth, his scent, the way his skin felt against my face and fingers. I bit back a gasp as he flicked his hands under my shirt and continued rubbing my back. After a while, I finally stopped trembling enough to speak coherently.
"I'm better now," I mumbled. "Thank you."
He sighed and I reluctantly pulled away from him, immediately missing his warmth. He held my jacket to himself for a moment to warm it up, then wrapped it around me along with his shirt. He leaned back against the oil tank and smiled grimly.
"You ready?" he asked.
I nodded and braced myself for the uncomfortable conversation that lay ahead.