A/N: GUYS I'M SO SORRY! T_T I know it's been so long without some Jakey loving! I've just moved into my college dorm and have had like NO time at all to do anything because these crazy, hyper, overly excited orientation people are making us run around like loons. DX I have a little bit of sleep in time tomorrow so I really wanted to put a chapter out. I'm sorry it's not the best, but I'm exhausted and brain dead from all the running around, so please forgive me. T_T
I was going to do some shout outs but I forgot what I was talking about when I paraphrased. DX
LadyAmazon: Heck yes it's an Axel reference! XD I was hoping someone would catch that. X3
If you guys even remotely care, here's my schedule for this semester (I'm pumped!)! I'm taking beginning ballroom/latin/swing dancing, intro into environmental studies, chemistry 1, elementary Chinese, and then I have a chem and another lab class (they're FOUR HOURS LONG! DX ). So yeah, fun.
I'm tired so I'm going to bed now. I love you guys for reviewing and favoriting and alerting, and I'm sorry I've been failing you as a fanfiction author. :( I'll do my best to make a better update soon!
and do forgive spelling/grammar issues. I'm too tired to go read through it again. Like really, you guys have no clue how tired I am. -whine whine, complain, complain- Thanks again! Enjoy!
Chapter 17
I gaped at Paul in disbelief and then stared at May. She looked like the least likely person for Paul to imprint on. Not only was she a rainbow of color, she was pretty spunky. She caught me staring at her and waved like a loon with a big grin on her face. I led Paul back over to her and took a deep breath.
"Here's the thing," I started. A huge hand suddenly wrapped itself around my face, preventing me from speaking any further.
"Will you go out with me?" Paul blurted. He had a cheeky grin on his face as he stared down at May, who is a few inches taller than I am. May looked surprised at first but then smiled.
"Okay," she replied, winking at him. The grin spread even further across Paul's face and he slung an arm around her shoulders, then grabbed Duchess-Spud's leash and walked off, leaving me behind alone. I watched the puff ball on top of her hat bobble merrily as they disappeared around the corner. Spud turned her head to give me one last bark, and if I didn't know any better I could have sworn I saw her flash a toothy smile as if to say, "yeah, I meant to do this."
I chuckled and went inside to pay the bill that Paul had so lovingly left behind, then thought for a moment before deciding to head to the Clearwater house. Jake was out on patrols until at least midnight, which meant I had absolutely nothing to do for the rest of the beautifully misty Saturday afternoon.
I could barely keep myself from bouncing on my toes as I waited for the door to open. When it did I shrieked and threw my arms around the person and gave them a big squeeze. I paused and wondered if Leah had suddenly gained about fifty pounds of muscle. I looked up to see a confused Seth staring down at me.
"Oops, you're not Leah," I said sheepishly, releasing him from my grasp. He patted his chest and grinned.
"My man pecs are too much man for Leah to—ow!"
He was interrupted by Leah thwacking him on the head with her palm. She rolled her eyes then gave me slight smile, pushing Seth aside so I could come in. Seth grumbled but she ignored him and led me to her room, which was somewhat bare. She chuckled and waved her arm out.
"I decided to do some spring cleaning. I got rid of everything that reminded me of Sam," she explained. My eyes widened and I gave her a clap on the back.
"Good for you, Leah!" I said.
She smiled and rubbed her arm sheepishly, and, dare I say it, there was a small bit of pink tinting her cheeks. I stared at her in awe.
"What?" she asked, the blush growing deeper.
"You're blushing!" I giggled. She glared at me and turned to face the other direction. When she turned back around her face was cool and composed. She cocked an eyebrow at me and I quieted down.
"So," she said, sitting down on her bed, "what brings you here?"
I thought for a moment.
"Just to visit I guess," I replied. She gave a sly smirk.
"You mean you're bored because Jake is out on patrols."
I shrugged then smiled. "You want to go shopping?" I asked. She rolled her eyes and scoffed.
"The words 'me' and 'shopping' do not go in the same sentence," she said. I flopped down beside her and tried to think of something else. I heard her scoff and when I looked at her she was smirking.
"What?" I asked. She eyed me warily and jerked her head toward the window.
"Let me show you what real women do in their spare time," she smiled. She grabbed my arm and dragged me out of the house.
"LEAH I CAN'T HOLD ON MUCH LONGER!" I screamed, hands fisting into her fur as we raced along the cliff side. I bent down low over her back, my butt aching from bouncing around on her bony spine. I screeched as we neared the cliff edge and was nearly flung off when she stopped suddenly. Her sides heaved beneath me as she panted happily. I slumped to the ground, jaw slackened and eyes wide. Leah closed her eyes, smiling wolfishly against the breeze. A few seconds later, I heard a loud crash as something large and furry came barreling out of the woods behind us. Leah snarled as she was tackled to the ground. Jake stood large and foreboding over her, his fangs bared in a frightening snarl.
"Jake, she hasn't done anything wr—"
I was cut off as Leah barked and bit into Jake's shoulder. He flung her off and she tumbled, rolling over and over and coming right at me. The breath whooshed out of me as Leah's large frame rammed into me before I could get a chance to move.
Suddenly I was flying through the air, falling backwards, down, down.
I barely caught a glimpse of Jake's face as I crashed into a depth so icy cold I felt the very blood in my veins freeze. I gasped and sucked in a gallon of water. My vision went dark, but my eyes stung from the salty water. I couldn't breathe, couldn't move. I could only feel myself sinking lower and lower. The water invaded my mouth and I tried to cough it out but only ended up sucking in more. My limbs were frozen, just floating as I sunk further down.
My chest and throat burned like I was throwing up fire. Which I was, salty water is not a joke kids.
"Ina? Ina you scared me half to death, are you okay?"
I felt my stomach heave as another gallon of water came up onto the sand. I coughed and sputtered, groaning as my muscles nearly gave out and made me land in puke. A pair of strong, warm arms scooped me up and held me close.
"Jake?" I croaked. He squeezed his arms tighter around me, showering my face with kisses.
"Dude, she's okay. Let her breathe," another voice chuckled, Quil I suppose. There was a loud smacking noise and he yelped. I reached a shaky hand up to Jake's face, barely able to keep my eyes open, and felt wetness under my fingertips.
"Ina, I love you, I love you, I love you," Jake breathed between kisses. I willed my eyes to look at his face and almost regretted it. His eyes were bloodshot and leaking a strange substance from the corners.
"Are you crying?" I asked. He grabbed my face in between both of his hands and kissed me long and hard, his heated lips pressing so hard against mine I thought my teeth were going to break.
"Good lord," someone groaned. "Get a room!"
Another loud smack.
"Dammit Leah!"
"Come on, let's give them some time alone. Jake, you're off for the rest of the day. Quil, Jared, Leah, come on let's go," Sam's voice commanded. The guys gave a mutual groan. Jake finally released my lips and wrapped his arms tight around me. I heard him sniffle every now and then, and patted his chest gently to comfort him.
"Hey, hey," I mumbled. "It's okay."
I let my arms slide around to his back, but was too weak to hold them up. They slid down to his thighs, which I was surprised to notice were bare. I felt him tense up and looked at him questioningly.
"Um, I kind of lost my shorts bag in the ocean. So, uh, don't look down!" he frowned, wiping his face with the back of his hand. I started to laugh but ended up just hacking up a lung. He swatted me on the back until I could breathe again.
"Thanks," I mumbled, although my voice cracking made it sound more like, "thaks." He chuckled, his face breaking into a brilliant, blinding smile. I tried to touch his face but was too weak. He grabbed my failing hand and placed it against his cheek, kissing my palm before smiling down at me.
Have I ever mentioned how beautiful he is?
Tanned skin glistening in the bleak sunlight, dark hair sticking up everywhere, perfect lips turned up in a smile. Eyes darkened with deep, intense emotion. I felt myself weakening, melting under his loving gaze.
"You know, you're really beautiful," he whispered.
"I was just thinking the same thing about you," I replied, smiling. He chuckled and shook his head.
"So you feeling okay?"
I thought for a moment.
"You mean besides the cheese grater against my throat and puke aftertaste? Peachy."
"I'm sorry."
I shook my head, letting my fingertips graze against his temple.
"Thank you for saving me," I breathed. He looked pained, his eyebrows knitting together in worry.
"If I hadn't been acting so damn stupid I wouldn't have had to save you in the first place. All I saw was you on the ground from Leah's perspective and thought she had done something to hurt you," he grumbled.
I shook my head, wet hair sticking to my cheek. I moved my hand behind his neck and pulled a little, trying to lean up at the same time. He looked confused at first but soon caught my drift and leaned down to my face. His long, dark eyelashes fluttered closed against his russet cheek as his lips met mine, pressing softly. He pulled back a little and turned his head in the other direction, then pressed another warm, gentle kiss on my mouth.
He pulled back and took a shuddering breath as he leaned his forehead against mine.
"Let's get you home and get changed, okay?" he mumbled.
"Why?" I replied incoherently, still dizzy from his warm kisses. He chuckled and kissed my nose.
"I don't want to be kissing you too much while I'm naked. I don't think either of us are ready for that yet. Plus you did just fall fifty feet into the Pacific Ocean in mid November."
"Oh. Right."
"You're silly."
"Well you're silly…er…"
He chuckled and looked around quickly before lifting me up. He trotted off toward the woods, eyes darting back and forth warily until we were under cover. We soon reached a clearing, and I saw his house sitting a few hundred feet away. He sprinted across the clearing and up the stairs to fling the door open. Billy Black didn't look the least bit surprised to see his son standing naked in the doorway, with me looking like a drowned rat in his arms no less. He rolled his eyes and waved Jake away.
"Close your eyes," Jake said. "Unless of course you want to see me naked, I totally wouldn't mind if you did."
"Jake."
"Sorry," he chuckled. I did as I was told and was soon placed on something soft. I heard some shuffling and then a zipper being pulled up.
"Okay, you can open your eyes now," Jake's voice said. "Here, you can wear these until we can get you back to your house."
He handed me a large black shirt and a pair of basketball shorts.
"Um, do you think you'll need help?" he asked cautiously. He looked so cute I didn't dare think bad of him and just shrugged.
"If you can help me get my shoes and jacket off I think I can manage the rest," I answered. He nodded eagerly and helped me out of them, then waved before closing the door behind him. I managed to force my weak, shivering muscles to tug off the rest of my wet clothes. I had to rest for a minute before I put on Jake's clothes, but managed to get them on with some difficulty.
A knock sounded at the door and Jake's head poked through.
"You dressed?" he asked. I nodded and he came over to sit beside me on the bed. "Still cold?" He gestured to my crossed arms and goosebumps. I didn't waste any time and snuggled in close to him to leech his wonderful warmth. He laughed and pulled the blanket over us, leaning his back against the wall. We sat in silence for a few minutes, just enjoying each other's company. He stroked my hair and started mumbling something that sounded like a song.
"And this is my promise, you'll never be hurt," he sang, his voice low and smooth. I felt my eyes closing as I drifted off, feeling completely at peace in his warm embrace.
So I had a shapeshifter boyfriend/friends. I had fallen off a cliff and nearly died. And, I realized with a cringe, I had kissed my boyfriend after throwing up salt water and my lunch.
Oh well.
Life felt pretty darn beautiful at that moment.
"Let me save you tonight…tonight….tonight," Jake whispered in my ear.
A/N: I forgot to mention that the song name is "Pray at the Moon" by Anek. The one I told you guys to go listen to eons ago! See, no one loves me. T_T Lol just kidding.