Moonlight in Forks

Disclaimer: all characters and copyright belong to SM.

Imprinting

Bella sat on the floor of the new garage, watching Jacob work. Part of the loan he had taken out had allowed him to extend the premises. It was now three times the size of the old one-giving him enough workspace to hold four cars. A little office had been built up against one wall for Billy to work in. Right now, he was there, head bent over a pile of invoices. Sam was with him, talking him through the latest work orders that had come in.

After giving it much thought, Sam and Jacob had decided to combine their two businesses into one joint enterprise. It was early days, but so far it was working out well. It meant they could employ some of the other pack members. Embry and Quil had joined the team, as well as Paul Lahote. The latter hadn't gone down too well with Jacob, but Sam had been insistent that Paul join the crew.

"Whatever you think about him, Jacob. He is a hard worker. And he's with your sister now. He needs a job to be able to take care of her." Sam had pointed out reasonably.

Jacob had taken Paul imprinting on his sister hard. He had never gotten on with the guy that well, and now that Rachel had moved back home permanently, it meant that Paul was literally a constant presence in his house. He had to admit, though, that imprinting had mellowed Lahote out a little. Back in the day, you could count on Paul for a fight pretty much whenever. You didn't have to hit him then-any mild insult would do. It didn't take a lot to flip him out of control. Now it was much more difficult to get a rise out of him.

Imprinting was supposed to be rare-that made four out of ten now. When would it stop? All this mandatory love-at-first-sight was completely sickening. It had certainly driven Leah over the edge now that it had happened again. If she had been difficult before, being around her now was downright unbearable.

But Jacob had to admit, he shared the she-wolf's point of view. It wasn't right. Rachel should have been able to fall in love naturally, and Jacob was certain she would never have picked Paul Lahote as a life partner. It was like boom-true love! No secrets necessary, she had found her other half, and she was stuck dealing with all that imprinting werewolf garbage.

Rachel got the whole story. And now he got Paul as a brother-in-law someday. Jacob knew that Billy wasn't much thrilled about it, either. But he handled it much better than Jacob did. Billy had thrown himself into the business as a distraction, which turned out to be a good thing, because Lahote had practically taken over the house.

"Earth to Jacob." Bella laughed, pulling him out of his reverie. "What are you thinking about? You're a million miles away."

Jacob gave her an affectionate grin. "Just thinking about you."

Bella gave him that special look she reserved for when she knew he was fibbing. "As much as I would love to believe that, its not true." She said knowingly. "Is this about Paul again?"

Jacob glanced over at the small office. Sam had probably overheard her question, but thankfully Billy remained oblivious. "Want to go for a walk?" He asked, turning back to Bella. "I'm due a break."

"Okay." Bella climbed to her feet. "Let's go."

Jacob took Bella's hand and they headed for the shore. They went through the dirt lot by First beach to avoid the tourist crowds. Jacob found a quiet, secluded spot and sat down, pulling Bella down with him. He let his eyes wander from sand to stone, from rock pools to breaking waves. In the gentle Fall sunshine, he felt as if he were swimming in the briny aroma, as if the new rays of the day brought a frisson of energy to his fingertips. The gulls brought their high notes to the percussion of pebbles at the shoreline. Breathing in the salty air cleared his head, soothing his troubled thoughts.

Bella sat beside him for a while, not pressing him to talk. She had an idea what was worrying him. His argument with Leah had really affected him more than he let on, and Paul subsequently imprinting on his sister had only complicated things further. Bella knew how stifling he was finding it having Paul under his nose, not only at work, but at home as well. Even though Paul worked for Sam's half of the business more than Jacob's, he was still hard to avoid.

Bella dug her fingers in the sand. It was the gentlest hue of gold, almost earthen and muted, the humble star of the scene. She had grown to love this beach. She loved the driftwood that came upon the buoyant waves like tiny rescue boats. Then there was the seaweed, as deeply green as any high summer foliage. Her favorite though, of everything was the softly rolling dunes, and the tall, tall grass that whispered so sweetly into the gusting breeze. She felt nothing bad could happen here. It felt like home.

"Jake." She said, leaning back on her elbows. "What is bothering you the most? Is it the obnoxious remarks Leah made about me, or is it Paul imprinting on your sister? Or, perhaps, imprinting in general?"

Jacob turned to look at Bella. "We talked about this already."

"I know we did." Bella conceded. "At least I talked and you listened. But did you really hear me?"

"Of course, I did."

"Are you sure?" Bella picked up some of the golden sand in her palm and let it trickle through her fingers like sand through an hourglass. "I don't think so."

Jacob ran his fingers through the inky black strands of his hair. "I did hear you."

Bella sat up straighter and gazed at him earnestly. "Well hear me again- I love you. You. Jacob Ephraim Black. Werewolf extraordinaire"

Jacob gave her a rueful grin; she was so cute.

"I am done with Edward and the Cullens. I don't want them in my life anymore. I think you know this deep down. You know you have nothing to worry about there."

Jacob nodded.

"And as for Leah – "Bella continued, "-she's heartbroken, Jake. She's lost so much: her dad, the man she loved, her sense of independence. Like you she can't leave La Push. She's doomed to be around her ex all the time, stuck listening to the thoughts going around his head all the time, having the burden of his guilt shoved down her throat every time she's phased, while watching from afar as he plays happily ever after with her own cousin."

Jacob grimaced. "When you put it like that…."

"Exactly!" Bella cut in. "Every day must seem like Groundhog Day to her."

"I suppose."

"And I know its hard, but you just need to cut her some slack. Try to be more empathetic to her situation. I know you can be. I mean you put up with all my crap." Bella smiled. She reached out and took his hand, pressing it against her cheek. The silver bracelet adorning her wrist sparkled in the weak light from the sun, the wolf charm dangling freely. She hadn't taken it off since he had given it to her.

Jacob leaned in and kissed her gently on the lips. He let his own linger there, enjoying the feel of their softness. "You always know the right thing to say." He said when the kiss was over.

Bella looked back toward the horizon. The sun was hidden behind thick clouds now, the beach was tinted sepia, the sand more orange, the water darker. "As for the whole imprinting thing…."

The sound of laughter interrupted her flow. They heard the familiar voice of Quil talking at high volume. Bella saw Jacob freeze, his eyes crinkling at the corners with worry. His reaction only confirmed to her that his anxiety about imprinting was getting worse now that Paul had become attached to his sister. Quil's imprint had been the most controversial of all, Clare was Emily's niece, still only a toddler. They rarely talked about it. Quil had changed completely since it had happened.

"Keep out of the water, Claire. C'mon. No don't. Oh! Nice, kid. Seriously, do you want Emily to yell at me? I'm not bringing you back to the beach again if you don't-Oh yeah? Don't-ugh. You think that's funny, do you? Hah! Who's laughing now, huh?"

Quil was on the south end of the beach, avoiding the tourist crowd like they were. He kept up a constant stream of chatter to the excitable little girl, caving into her every whim with a smile on his face.

"I don't recognize him, Bella." Jacob admitted in a low voice. "He's completely changed since he imprinted on Claire."

Now finally they were reaching the crux of the issue.

"Go on." Bella urged him.

In the distance Claire squealed and threw her bucket at Quil's knees. His jeans were covered in a mixture of water and sand. Claire was giggling, obviously pleased with her mischief. Quil didn't even admonish her, instead laughing along with her.

Jacob's eyes turned bleak. "Before he imprinted on Claire, Quil couldn't even stand being around kids. Now, he loves it. He spoils her rotten. Gives into everything she wants. He's like an unpaid babysitter."

"Qwil wet now!" Claire sang in her baby voice.

"He never dates anymore. He's a total slave to whatever Claire wants or needs at any one time. The weird part is, Quil loves it. Look at his face now.?" Jacob pointed towards Quil, who was beaming from ear to ear. He didn't have that face on that many of the tourist dads and moms were wearing-the when is nappy time? face. You never saw a real parent so jazzed to play whatever stupid kiddie game their rugrat could think up. "You know I saw Quil play peekaboo for an hour straight without getting bored the other day. I couldn't even make fun of him, Bella. I just pitied him."

Bella squinted her eyes, her vision wasn't as sharp as Jacob's, all she could see was vague outlines. But she could hear. Claire was quite loud. She was shrieking now, refusing to listen as Quil tried to stop her going into the water. She glanced up at Jacob, he looked sickened.

"I hate it, Bella. All of it. I've seen how it has affected all of them-even Paul is a more mellowed out version of himself. Jared, who never even looked twice at Kim before, is so devoted that he's abandoned all the things that he used to love-like sports, especially baseball-all because Kim isn't into those things. I caught him reading Jane Austen the other day. Jane Austen! Apparently, she's one of Kim's most favorite authors! And don't get me started on Sam…" He stopped, breathing heavily through his nose.

Bella moved so she was kneeling in front of him. She put her hands on either side of his face, moving his head up so he had to look directly into her eyes. "I sense your fear, Jake. I know you're scared. We thought the whole imprinting thing was over until Paul imprinted on your sister."

"It was supposed to be rare!"

"I believe it still is." Bella said with certainty.

"Pwetty rock! Pwetty rock!" Claire screamed deafeningly. "I want pwetty rock!" She was having a tantrum because Quil had picked up a plain pebble from the beach instead of one of the more colorful ones.

"I don't want to lose you, Bella. I don't want you thinking it might happen to me, because it won't."

"You won't lose me." Bella pressed a kiss to his forehead. "I'm not worried. I never was."

"Really?" Relief flooded through Jacob at her words, his tension easing.

"Yes, really!" Bella affirmed with a teasing smile. "I mean you already promised to be my slave for life, even before you phased." She reminded him.

Jacob laughed openly, falling back onto the sand, and pulling her down with him so she landed with a light thud on his chest. In the kiss that followed was the sweetness of passion, a million loving thoughts condensed into a single moment.

They didn't hear Quil apologizing to Claire. "Sorry, Claire-bear. Give me a clue to make you happy. I'm begging, kid."

A/N-thanks for reading!