*DISCLAIMER: I do not own the rights to the Twilight Saga and it's characters. This is purely artistic fiction drawn in inspiration from Stephenie Meyer's words.

*WARNING: Sexual content ahead (PG-13)! Brief description of physical violence later in the chapter (I have marked it with asterisks). Mature language is also prominent within this chapter. Readers proceed at your own discretion.

Jake lingered in the shower for longer than he typically would have. It felt good on his tense muscles. Because of his unnaturally high temperature, he was only able to take cold showers, as warm ones would just make him end up sweating. As he stood under the showerhead, steam billowed off his hot skin, slowly filling the bathroom. He leaned his forehead against the frigid wall, letting himself be lost to the continuous plinking sounds of running water on the tile. The flow of the shower was relaxing, loose rivulets cascading down the wide expanse of his shoulders, chest, and arch of his back. He dunked his head under the stream, completely wetting his raven hair. The icy water didn't help.

Jake rotated and faced away from it, resigning himself to finish washing. He needed to focus on a task—anything else—to take his mind off the irresistible way Bella tasted. He palmed the bulk size bottle of his favorite body-wash, squeezing a large dollop onto a fresh washcloth. Jake worked the body wash into a thick lather, massaging the soft cloth in slow circles on his skin, starting with his chest. Initially, the sensation was soothing, but when he trailed lower than his navel, it transformed into something else. The lure of a seductive daydream caused him to abandon all rational thoughts.

An enticing image of Bella sprawled out on his bed enveloped him. She was only wearing a sheet; silky, auburn tinged hair fanned out around her flushed face. In this reverie, he was hovering over her, both hands positioned on either side of the pillow under her head. He could hear her, feel her, almost smell her intoxicating scent... Jake couldn't help himself. In both regards. Real life and in his subconscious thought. He struggled to gain control, shutting his eyes tightly. Another image of Bella, this time straddling him, her face contorted with pleasure, bronze doe-eyes half mast, biting her lower lip with a whimper. A deep exhale left his parted lips.

"Fuck." He groaned, hands turning to shaky fists.

Jake involuntarily dropped the washcloth on the stone bench and straightened, heart beginning to race as his breathing hitched. He needed relief, craved it. The running water had already washed away all evidence of the soapsuds in his distracted state. He lost his fight; erection painfully throbbing, muscles tense once more, begging for release.

His shower took thirty long and hard minutes.

Bella was sitting at the kitchen table when Jake descended the stairs, following her gentle scent of strawberries and freesia. He had changed into a band tee and black jeans ripped at the knees, his onyx hued hair drawn into a single braid down the center of his back. It was still damp, a few sparse strands clinging to his fresh face. She tried not to stare when he rounded the corner. His shirt perfectly hugged the contours of his corded, sinewy arms. Get it together, girl. It's like you've never seen the man wear clothes before, she told herself.

"Ready to go, Bells?" Jake called, a sunny smile drawn on his full lips.

"As ready as I'll ever be. Let me call Charlie real quick."

"'Kay. I'll call my dad, too." He confirmed.

Bella stood and yanked her flannel on in one fluid motion. Her tank top wasn't nearly as forgiving as his baggy tee shirt had been. While her bra was still in his bathroom, she decided to keep it there, just in case she needed one. He certainly wouldn't mind; nor did she think he would touch it.

She walked in the opposite direction toward the living room, pulling her phone out from her back pocket to dial her dad. Jake could be heard talking in the kitchen, his boisterous laugh somewhat muffled behind her. A woman answered the phone and startled Bella from her wandering thoughts.

"Forks' Police Station, this is Officer White. How may I direct your call?"

"Hi Linda, it's Bella—Bella Swan. Can you transfer me to my dad? Charlie?" Bella stated with a forced tone.

"Sure thing, sweetie. One sec." The line went silent.

"Chief Swan speaking," Charlie's gruff, familiar voice cut in on the other end.

"Hi dad," Bella replied, "how's your day going so far?"

"Hey, kiddo. It's goin'. Lotta the same from yesterday. Whatcha need?" Straight to the point. As always. Bella preferred that.

"I was just calling to let you know I'm cooking lasagna for dinner tonight."

"That sounds good. What else did'ja need?"

"Oh." Bella didn't understand why she was so nervous. "I was also wondering... if it was okay that I invited Jake to join us for dinner." She fidgeted, pacing back and forth in the living room.

"Yeah, that's fine. Anything else you wanna tell me, Bells?" Charlie didn't mess around.

"N-nothin', dad." She chewed her lower lip, losing her nerve.

"Just spit it out, girl."

"Can Billy come over for dinner, too?"

"Well, yeah, I figure he'd be coming if Jake is," her dad seemed confused. "Weird that he didn't ask me himsel—" Charlie paused, "sorry, honey. Getting another call. I'll see ya later. 5 o'clock sound good?"

"Yep. Sounds great. See ya, dad."

"Love ya, Bells."

"Love you too." Click. Loud dial tone... Short and sweet.

Bella couldn't find it in herself to confess at that moment, but she would come clean later. To both him and Billy. She wasn't lying. Not technically. Knowing her father, he might be upset about her breaking her promise regarding dating—but it was Jake. Charlie's disappointment wouldn't last long after that sunk in. He'd been secretly rooting for them since she moved back to Forks the first time.

She listened for Jake's heavy footsteps, although it was oddly quiet in the house. Bella closed her flip phone, exiting the living room to find him leaning against the island, head in his hands.

"All ready to go?" She asked.

He straightened and stood up too fast, head wildly bobbing up and down. His bright smile was nonexistent, a frown in its place. Something was wrong. Uh-oh. What did Billy say?

"Everything good, Jake?"

He hesitated, "yeah. Everything's fine, Bells. Charlie good with me crashing dinner later?"

He didn't mention his dad. That concerned Bella.

"Yeah, he's cool with it. What did Billy say? He's coming too, right?"

Jake remained quiet and stuffed his hands into his pants pockets. His sable eyes darted to the ceiling, averting from her prying gaze.

"Jake?" Bella reached for him. "What's wrong?"

"He just needs some time." He shook his head rapidly, exhaling a sigh through his nose. "He'll come around."

"I take it the conversation didn't go so well?"

Bella threaded her hands into her hair briefly before resting her small hand on top of his. She stared into his glassy sable eyes, reading the annoyance etched on his face. Even though it was in the past, she knew Billy wasn't exactly thrilled with her decision to marry Edward, or the fact she had inadvertently broken his son's heart. Bella had hoped he moved on from that. She was wrong in her assumption.

"He didn't have a problem with me telling him I'm in love with you. Actually, he sounded relieved when I told him. But he's stubborn sometimes, ya know? He refuses to accept... that I imprinted on you. He kept saying I'm lying to myself—that it's fake." Jake snorted, his eyebrows raised in mild amusement. "Honestly, it doesn't matter whether he believes it. I know it's real. We're real."

"Everything's gonna be okay." Bella said wistfully. "We'll figure it out together."

"I know. I'm not worried." Jake squeezed her hand. "Anyway, on the brighter side of today's news. What movie do you wanna see?"

"I was thinking of seeing Warm Zombies. The trailer looked good."

"That was my pick." A small grin spread across his russet face, and it helped put her at ease. She released his hand and faced the backdoor.

"Let's get a move on then, grandpa." Bella started for the door, Jake in tow.

They hopped in the mustang and she immediately put a CD into the player: The Bruised, Cries for the Criers. He was pleasantly surprised at her choice and in turn, cranked the volume all the way up again. Bella lit up when she was singing to loud music in the car. It was quickly becoming one of his favorite sights.

"So, about tonight," Jake said softly.

"You have patrol." Bella replied.

"How'd you know?" He peeked in the rear-view mirror at her expression.

"I was there this morning when Embry mentioned it."

They sat in silence for a few moments.

"I just wanted to let you know because I—" he froze, "because we won't be able to sleep next to each other tonight."

"I know." Bella knew what he was trying to say.

"Didn't want to keep stuff from you, Bells."

"Thanks for telling me." A meek smile bloomed across her face. "We have tomorrow night, and maybe the night after that."

"R-really?" He stuttered.

"Yeah. If you're good." She chuckled.

"I promise to be on my best behavior." Jake used his index finger and drew an invisible 'X' over his heart.

Since Bella was going back to Charlie's, she'd need her truck. They arrived at the shop's parking lot and swapped over to the Chevy, with him insisting on driving. She didn't mind too much. The car was originally his, after all.

As they backed out of the space, the metal of the Chevy loudly groaned, coming to a complete, abrupt stop. Paul was preventing them from leaving. His hulking form stood directly in front of the back end. His face and stance told Bella that he was furious.

"Black!" Paul's tenor voice bellowed.

His fist smashed down on the rusted tailgate with a heavy thump. Jake set the parking brake, threw the stick shift in first gear, and turned the Chevy off, attempting to reach for the handle to get out. Paul beat him to the punch, already at the driver side door. He reached in through the open window and grabbed Jake by his shirt. Hard.

"What's your problem, Paul?" Jake hissed. "Stand down now. That's an order."

Jake felt the urge to phase growing, the sensation painfully tingling under his skin. Bella and her protection was his top priority. Pack member or not, he'd make sure that they all understood. A low growl rumbled deep inside Jake's chest, his pupils dilating to mere pin-pricks. Paul released him from his grip, the mask of anger on his face twisting into an aloof scowl. He didn't back down, at least not entirely. Paul shifted his heated gaze to the ground.

"You left us high and dry yesterday. We did fifteen cars on our own. Fifteen." Paul snapped. "You skipped this morning. Now, here you are, showing up out of the blue, like you're not supposed to be at work right now?"

Jake tried to speak, and Paul interrupted him, continuing his tirade. "As Alpha, it's your responsibility to be helping your pack, not fucking your 'supposed' imprint. By the way, there's no way in hell she is, because that shit woulda happened eons ago. Like I give a flying fuck, anyway! She made her choice. Bella chose a goddamn leech over you, Jake. That's my goddamn problem."

"In case you forgot, Lahote—I run this shop and this pack. You might be beta, but where do you get off thinking you can tell me what to do?" Jake said with an icy edge, his voice stern.

Paul's expression smoothed; he crossed his arms over his puffed up chest. As Jake stepped out of the truck, he was forced to back up a few steps. Paul wavered slightly, conceding to Jake's dominating presence.

"Bella IS my imprint. I don't need to prove that to anyone." Jake narrowed his eyes, glaring daggers down his nose at Paul. "No one knows what that bastard did to her. I'm just now coming to understand a fraction of how badly he abused her. She's suffered enough. I don't wanna hear anyone else badmouthing her as long as I live. Am I making myself clear?"

"Yeah, yeah. Crystal." Paul muttered sarcastically.

Jake tsked, "you're one to talk. For fuck's sake—I haven't taken a single day off since we opened. Meanwhile, you've been late several times."

Paul growled under his breath. "Listen, man. I'm not good at this talking thing. All I know is Embry is in rough shape. *** He had to help Tiff to bed and wash puke outta her hair this morning. She gave him a nice shiner with a whisky bottle as a thank you."

Jake stood quietly for a moment, an array of mixed emotions washing over his facial features.

Paul wasn't done. He tapped his foot impatiently, "Em' needs your help—we need your help—but you're pussy-whipped by Bella. I care about you too much to let her waltz back into your life and pretend nothing happened. Like she didn't stomp all over your heart. We were all there to pick up the pieces and put you back together again. She wrecked you, Jake."

Bella winced at Paul's fierce words; even if she didn't want to face her past, he told the truth, and it hurt like hell. He was right.

"Hey, not now. We'll talk about the other stuff later on tonight. I didn't think Tiff would ever hurt Embry. She's never done that before." Jake remained pensive for a moment before he turned to face Bella. "Do you mind staying in the waiting room, honey? It'll be for a few minutes, just while I sort this mess out."

Paul rolled his eyes.

"No, I don't mind," Bella replied meekly. "Embry needs you."

Jake smiled, "thanks for being understanding."

After Bella got out, Seth greeted them when they reached the only open bay door.

"I'm glad you're here, Jake. Quil's with Embry in the office, talking him down. We've got three cars that haven't received last inspections and nobody made calls to customers that have cars ready to go back this morning. So we've had complaints about promised times being missed." Seth prattled on without pause.

"Calm down. Deep breaths, Seth." Jake faced Paul. "Can you grab the clipboard for closing inspections on the back desk and make sure the Tahoe, navy Cavalier, and 04' Pontiac GT are ready?"

Paul gave one single curt nod, turning around on the ball of his right foot to get to work.

"Seth, can you please do me a favor?" Jake asked.

"Yeah, anything." Seth perked up.

"Do some damage control. You're the best with people. Call Mr. Adams, Mrs. Jones and Kay Platt. If you explain that there was an issue with parts being shipped late that should placate them. I'll call Joe about the tan Buick we've had for two weeks. He's gonna be pissed, but he's friends with my dad, so I think I can fix that."

"On it!" Seth went to work and plopped down at one of the remaining desks.

Jake turned to Bella and placed a kiss on her forehead. She shied away from his contact, not wanting to make things worse while she was there.

"Help yourself to whatever is in the fridge in the lobby. Coffee, water, snacks. I'll be right back after I deal with Embry. Then we can go."

"Jake, I don't want to make things worse. We don't have to see the movie today. The shop is really busy. We can wait until another day." Bella hated feeling like an inconvenience and or causing problems.

"Yeah, it's kinda busy. I've seen worse. They have to learn to run stuff on their own... I've worked the last eight weekends trying to keep up with the demand. I swear, work is too much like the pack sometimes. Without me—they all fall apart."

"I still don't feel right. It's not a big deal. I don't want to cause any more issues." Bella frowned, digging the toe of her converse against the oil spattered concrete flooring of the shop.

"Bella," Jake quickly inhaled and then exhaled, irritation building on his face, "I need this time with you. I really do. I was killing myself by working so much. I didn't sleep. I was barely living. I don't care what they say. You're healing me as much as I'm healing you. I'm happy with you."

Bella hesitated to look up at him. "I guess. If you say so."

Jake grabbed both of her small hands and held them in his massive ones, rubbing over the delicate skin on her wrists with the flat pad of his thumbs.

"It's okay. You're not a burden. I know what you're thinking and it's wrong. Don't listen to Paul. He means well, but he's an ass."

"Okay, Jake. Go," she pulled her hands from his, "help Embry."

"I'm gonna try." Jake pulled her in for one last embrace, painting her face with kisses before he finally let her go.

Jake knocked on the door to his office, and came face to face with a distraught Quil.

"What part of 'stay the fuck out', don—" Quil cautioned.

—"Quil, it's me." Jake cut him off.

"Oh." Quil scrubbed his right hand down his face, resuming his sitting position beside Embry, who was balled up in the corner. His head was tucked between his knees. Quil gently rubbed his back.

"Hey Em'," Jake said softly. "I'm so sorry. I didn't know that was gonna happen this morning."

"It's not your f-fault." Embry whispered, his voice cracking, "I kinda expected it."

"No, 'Bry, don't say that." Quil pulled him closer toward his body, resting his head on top of Embry's shoulder.

"Listen Em'," Jake crouched beside them and touched a hand to Embry's knee. "Everything's gonna be okay."

"It doesn't feel like it." Embry murmured weakly. "I feel trapped."

"You know what? How 'bout you come and stay at my place for the time being? Both of you." Jake offered, "you can crash on my couch until I finish the spare bedroom."

"What? Really?" Embry lifted his head, tear tracks staining his russet skin. "You'd let me—us—stay with you?" There was no evidence of the black eye Paul mentioned, but that was because of the intense healing capabilities their shifting gene possessed.

"Yeah. Absolutely. You guys are my best friends. What wouldn't I do for you?" Jake flashed a pearly white grin and gave a light pat to Embry's knee.

"Lots of things. You won't let me drink all your beer or use your Amazonian Elite account." Quil mused.

"That's because you'll order stupid things. Like an entire 5 lb bag of gummy dinos, a Star Battle collector's set that costs well over three hundred dollars, and a gallon of lube... just to fuck with me."

Embry stifled a chuckle, wiping his wet face with the back of his hand. "Don't forget the Korean dramas he can't understand. He loves those."

"Hey, you leave those out of it. They're fantastic entertainment. You don't need to understand what they're saying, that's what the subtitles are for."

All three of the men laughed then. Jake pulled them into a half hug for a few moments.

"Are you gonna be okay for the rest of the day?" Jake asked, looking down at Embry.

"Yeah, I t-think so." He sniffled.

"Are you able to run the shop or do you want me to have Sam take over?" Jake patted Embry's back. "I want to make sure you're gonna be alright."

"No, I can handle it. I'm better now." Embry straightened. "But I would like some help to grab my stuff from the house. I don't know if my mom went to work today or not."

"I'll come with you 'Bry." Quil assured him, pressing a quaint kiss to the crown of his head.

Embry blinked rapidly. "But I don't want her to hurt you. Any of you."

"It's not like she can do any real damage. She won't get the chance either, because we'll be in and out before she even notices." Jake replied, returning to his full height. "Call me after you close and I'll come help. Pack what you can but don't sweat if you forget something. I'll probably have extras you can borrow."

"Yeah. Thanks again, Jake. I really appreciate it." Embry swallowed with difficulty.

"We both do. Even if you're a jackass." Quil punched Jake's stomach, albeit he didn't remotely flinch. "You're our jackass, though."

"Alright, then. Now with that settled, Seth's handling damage control for the missed calls this morning and Paul's finishing inspections. There are four more appointments for oil changes today and the 09' Tucson needs the rear axle replaced before the day's out. Any questions?" Jake explained, helping Embry to stand up.

"Ugh... that's a lot." Embry rubbed his bloodshot eyes. "Let me make a list."

"Whatever helps," Jake eyed Quil. "I want you to focus on oil changes. You're gonna be lead tech today."

"You trust me enough for that?" Quil sounded shocked.

"Don't fuck it up, Ateara." Jake scrubbed a hand down his face and let out an exasperated sigh. "All jokes aside. Please pick up the phone and call me. For anything. Seriously."

Embry finished scribbling down the instructions on the notepad on their shared desk. Even when he was distracted, Jake was jealous of his perfect handwriting. It was damn near immaculate.

"We got this." Embry smiled weakly, pulling his jumpsuit back on properly. "I promise to call later after we close."

"Yeah, that means no sucking face around that time, Casanova." Quil narrowed his eyes at Jake, a playful smirk on his full face.

"Scout's honor." Jake placed his hand over his heart.

They filed one by one through the tiny door frame, Jake exiting first. Both of them gave Jake similar hugs like this morning, leaving to begin the list of priorities he had told Embry about. Jake glanced at the clock on the wall, grimacing at the time that had passed. It was a few minutes past two. The next showing for Warm Zombies started in less than a half hour. Why was today so complicated?

*How'd you guys like the start to the chapter? ;)

*I am almost done with the next two chapters. Mostly editing to finish. I hope everyone enjoys (even though this was mainly just filler)!

*Next chapter is the JXB movie date!

*Please, please, PLEASSSEEEE... leave a heart and a review if you can! I love reading reviews. It fuels me~ :D