The Movement of the Earth -- Epilogue Post A
Title: The Movement of the Earth
Author: audreyii_fic
Fandom: Twilight (Team Jacob)
Rating: T
Characters: Bella, Jacob, Charlie, and others (J/B)
Genre: Romance/Angst/Wolfpack!Humor
Warnings: Language, violence, and references to adult behavior
banner courtesy of lilabut
Summary: Jacob imprints on Bella. It changes things. A re-write of New Moon, beginning on page 242 in Chapter 10: "The Meadow." ( Link to the beginning.)
Epilogue Post A:
The Final Countdown Disclaimer: There are parts of this fic that are lifted directly from the Twilight Saga. Those parts aren't mine. They've never been mine. They've always been Stephenie Meyer's, who abused them horribly. Literary character assassination should be a federal crime.
and i've played all the characters / the fool, the friend, the wife / and no matter what the ending is / the story of my life is the book of love
Dar Williams, "Book of Love"
Epilogue -- Treaty (Redux)
Charlie had meant it.
I had honestly expected the La Push ban to only last a day or two, but I'd been gravely mistaken. Charlie was adamant that I would have no further communication with anyone associated with Sam Uley, and he showed no sign of relenting. After he attended Harry Clearwater's funeral, Charlie cut off contact as well; the few times Billy tried to call, Charlie slammed the phone back down without a word. It seemed that as far as he was concerned, Billy was a part of the mysterious conspiracy along with everyone else.
At the same time, my father was turning overprotectiveness into an art form. When he was at work he called the house line once an hour "just to check in" -- in other words, to make sure no one from La Push had come to take me away. He got new locks for the doors. If he so much as heard Jacob's name in passing, a vein bulged in his forehead. None of this was openly discussed; neither of us wanted to fight, so I pretended like I wasn't thinking about the reservation, and Charlie pretended like he didn't know that I was.
It was a very quiet standoff, all things considered, but it was a standoff nonetheless.
Of course, Jacob came to see me anyway -- usually at night, when he had the most free time. The length varied. Sometimes he didn't turn up until three in the morning and stayed until we heard Charlie's alarm clock go off; sometimes he arrived at ten-thirty but had to leave again after twenty minutes. Once he simply curled up on the bed like a puppy and fell asleep for an hour with his head on my stomach, which had brought me a surprising amount of satisfaction.
The cold didn't come back, even when he wasn't there. My body knew, somehow, that Jacob would be returning. After all, he had an open invitation.
Late one night Jacob didn't rap on the glass before climbing in the window; he was climbing into bed and pulling me into his arms almost before I'd even woken up. "Jake?" I mumbled. "S'wrong?"
"Nothing," he said, his face nuzzled into my hair. His hands stroked my sides nearly as frantically as they had the first night. "Just wanted to see you."
"Doesn't feel like nothing," I said, yawning. A quick glance at my clock confirmed that the sun would be rising before long. "What happened?"
His body gave a tiny shudder. "Quil phased."
"Oh, no." Jacob had been really hopeful that with Victoria's death, Quil might be spared. Apparently the transformation had been too close to completion. "Is he all right?"
"Define all right," Jacob muttered, his tone bitter. "I guess he's as okay as he can be. He's said to tell you he's sorry he was an ass. What's that about?"
"Nothing important," I assured him.
"Right," he said doubtfully. Then he pressed a kiss to the top of my head, and another, and another. "I'm not going to be able to stay, I'm... kind of in charge of this."
I blinked and leaned away, trying to see Jacob's face. "In charge?"
"Sam isn't ready to phase yet," he explained, "and, well... someone's got to talk Quil through it. Leah and Seth are still in pretty rough shape because of how bad we messed all that up. He needs to be guided and stuff, so... yeah." His voice turned from bitter to miserable in an instant. "It has to be me."
I frowned, confused by his reaction. "That's not so bad though, right? I mean, it makes sense. You're Quil's friend, he'll listen to you."
"Yeah, but it's... it means more than that." Jacob sighed and curled his hands around my waist, his thumbs rubbing warm circles into my hips. "Sam wants me to take over as Alpha."
My eyes widened with shock. "What? Why? Does he think he's not going to get better?"
"No, he'll be fine. It's a bloodlines thing."
I waited for more explanation, but didn't get any; Jacob just continued to hold onto me and stroke his cheek against my hair. Finally I said, "Okay, bloodlines thing?"
He sighed again. "I'm descended from Ephraim Black, so apparently I was always supposed to be Alpha."
"Really?" I said, surprised. I hadn't heard this before.
"Yeah. Sam's the oldest, and he phased first, so it made sense for him to take charge. But now he's hurt and I've got a better handle on the whole wolf thing, so... he thinks this is a good time for the transition."
"And you don't want it," I guessed. Except it wasn't really a guess.
"No." His hands shook against my sides. "I don't. I don't want any of it, Bella. I don't want to be some legendary chief. I didn't even want to be part of a pack, let alone their leader. I just want everyone to leave me alone again."
"Jacob," I whispered.
"This is going to be my whole life, there won't be anything left--"
"There will be plenty left," I said. Yet again, I cursed my hands for being useless to me at moments like this. The burns were less livid, and the bones were mending, but I was still nowhere near healed. "You don't have to take anything you don't want."
"I'm not so sure about that."
"Well, I am," I said firmly. Not caring about any potential mixed messages, I hooked one leg over his hip and held him against me in the closest approximation of a hug I could manage. "Quil will be okay, Sam will heal, and you can figure out the rest of it later."
Jacob stilled for a long minute, then very slowly lowered his hand to where my leg hitched over his side. As he ran the flat of his palm along my thigh, from my hip to my knee, I felt the warmth of his touch through the thin fabric of my pajamas. The mood shifted abruptly. "You know, I was right," he teased, his voice low and husky. "I definitely have to freak out more often." His lips brushed across my cheek, just barely to the left of my mouth.
My heart skipped a few beats.
When the contact changed between us at moments like this -- moments that were creeping up with increasing frequency -- waiting for our 'prom' to try adjusting our relationship status seemed really stupid. As much as I wanted Jacob to have one of the few normal milestones that were in my power to give him, I was beginning to feel... impatient. And it wasn't difficult to tell, when the heat of his body was pressed along mine, that Jacob was feeling impatient too.
But impatient or not, I refused to engage in any activities in which I couldn't be an equal participant. If something was going to happen I wanted to have the use of at least one of my hands, damn it. And since that was still weeks away, it made sense to wait.
It was just frustrating.
I shifted beneath Jacob; he pressed a heated kiss to my forehead and rolled off of me. "I really can't stay," he said, and his tone made it clear how unhappy he was about it. "I shouldn't have left in the first place, but... yeah." One hand was still brushing my waist. "Wanted to see you."
I had to resist the urge to whine childishly. It was moments like this that I most wanted to use the imprint... not only to keep him by my side where he fit so well, but to save him from having to return to the pack and the responsibility that was threatening to pull him under.
But Quil had phased, I reminded myself. I wasn't the only one who needed Jacob. And Quil would surely be the last one, now that Victoria was dead; once he and the Clearwaters had had a chance to adjust, the pack could relax. Things would slow down and get easier. In the meantime, Sam was right: I'd just have to learn to share. "Thanks for stopping by," I said softly, brushing my cheek against Jacob's bicep. "Even if it was only for five minutes."
Jacob sighed heavily. "It would be easier if you could come to La Push," he grumbled. "Any luck with that?"
I shook my head. "Nope."
"Everybody misses you," he said, pressing. "It's not just me. Emily's got this big list of recipes she wants to show you and Embry says 'only Buffy's allowed to light the bonfires from now on.' Even Paul keeps asking when you're coming back."
"I miss everyone too." It was a both sad and satisfying feeling. "But Charlie's not letting up. He thinks you're a member of some kind of dangerous... I don't know what. I'm not even sure what he's thinking anymore, except that Sam Uley is a James Bond villain." Jacob snickered. "But," I continued, "it fits with the only information he's got, you know? There's nothing I can say that will make it all make sense to him... except the truth."
He shook his head, frowning. "That's not my call."
"I know," I said quickly. "I know. But... maybe you could talk to Billy? Or Sam? I mean, Charlie's the chief of police. There might be times that that could be useful, when... I don't know, when you need help with 'missing hiker' stories or something--"
"Bells," he interrupted me, "I don't think that'll make a difference. Even Embry's mom doesn't know, and it's making his life hell. If they're not going to make an exception for her, they're not going to make an exception for Charlie."
I hadn't really expected him to say otherwise, but it was still disappointing. "Yeah, but I also can't just let Charlie think I'm in danger... which he thinks I'm in whenever I'm around any of you. I can't do that to him. So we're kind of in a bind."
Jacob rubbed his eyes, then brought my right hand to his mouth and kissed the pad of my thumb. A shiver ran through my body at the gesture. "I'll try," he said finally. "You keep talking to Charlie, and I'll see what I can do on my end. Maybe my dad can work something out, get around the rules somehow." He smirked. "That's a Black family specialty, after all."
I smiled in return. "I picked up on that, yeah. And I'll be going back to school day after tomorrow. He'll relax once I start leaving the house and don't fall off a cliff or anything." I hoped.
"We're still doing prom though, right? I didn't go through all that trouble to find a VHS copy of Pretty in Pink for no reason."
"Oh, definitely." I had worked it all out. "I'm going to tell Charlie I'm sleeping over at Angela's. He likes Angela, he can't object to that. Then you can come pick me up from there; Angela won't mind."
Jacob's eyes widened. "Uh... so... you'll be spending the night, then?" he said uncertainly.
I blinked... and felt my face burning with a fiery blush as I realized the implications. "Oh. Um... I... I could, I guess. Except, I mean, Billy's there, so I should probably stay at Emily's--"
"Sure, sure," he interrupted. "That would work great. But... well..." Jacob was blushing too. "My dad goes to bed really early and stuff, so... it would... you know, probably be okay. For you to stay, I mean. If... if you wanted to."
The heat from my cheeks was rapidly spreading across my entire body. "Would you want me to?"
Jacob swallowed, his eyes still wide. "Well... yeah. Of course I would. But it's fine if you don't, that's cool, it's not a big deal or anything--"
"How about we decide on that later," I suggested.
"Yes. Later." He nodded vigorously. "Later is good."
"Okay."
We were both silent for a few minutes as we tried to recover from the most awkward conversation of my life.
Finally Jacob sighed again, uncurling his hand from my side. "I really do have to leave," he said. He sounded miserable. "I'm staying for a ton of time tomorrow, though, even if I have to leave Jared in charge."
"That wouldn't go very well."
"Nope, but I don't care."
After a long moment in which Jacob still didn't get out of bed, I said gently, "You better get going." I was careful not to make it sound like an order. Three nights ago I'd told him he had to get something to eat before he collapsed, and he'd instantly gone down to the kitchen to make a sandwich and nearly gotten caught by Charlie. But once we had more time and could practice lessening the effects of my commands, I was confident we'd figure something out.
We would make the imprint work for us, somehow. I was sure of it.
Jacob pouted, then leaned forward to brush his nose across my throat, inhaling deeply. He liked the way I smelled, he'd admitted bashfully; at one point he had actually licked the skin of my collarbone, and I'd almost spontaneously combusted. "Okay," he murmured. "See you tomorrow night, honey."
"See you tomorrow night," I echoed with a smile.
It took him another few seconds to actually climb out of bed, but he did so finally with a little discontented noise. The muscles of his bare chest were dimly outlined in the glow of the night light, and it took a great deal of effort not to stare shamelessly. Mine, I thought with a certain ownership that I suspected was partially a result of the imprint; it was something else I ought to work on, but at moments like this, I really wasn't inclined to do so.
Then again, maybe I would have thought of him as my Jacob anyway. It was aggravating, to not know.
As he turned to go, I wiggled and poked him in the back with my foot. "Look under the bed."
Jacob gave me an odd look, then lifted the comforter out of the way and bent over to peek. "Hey!" He pulled out a pair of Charlie's old hiking boots. "Shoes!"
I exhaled in relief as he slipped them on, feeling pleased; I hadn't forgotten Jared's reaction, so I hadn't actually been sure if he'd be happy. It had taken me two trips to get them up the stairs from the basement, one boot at a time, the shoelace wrapped around my index finger. "Well, I promised you I would find some. Sorry it took so long."
"No problem." He stood and stamped a few times, very quietly. "They fit pretty good." Then he grinned at me. "Thanks, Bells."
I felt surprisingly shy, all of the sudden. "You're welcome."
Jacob gave me another quick peck on the forehead before turning to leave. The window didn't give the smallest squeak as he opened it, and I burrowed back into bed, prepared to get a few more hours of sleep before breakfast...
Then the sudden, shocking tension in the room flashed across my skin like a lightning strike.
"Bella?" I heard Jacob say in a strange voice. I sat up as quickly as I could; he was looking out the window, down at the ground, tightly coiled hostility radiating off of his body in waves. "Are you expecting company?"
"No," I said, confused. "Why?"
A low growl rumbled from somewhere deep inside Jacob's chest.
With a sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach, my arms crept inward, ready to wrap around my chest. But my injured hands wouldn't allow me to do so.
I knew what was about to happen, as sure as if I'd been the one who could see the future.
"I'd like to speak to Bella," a voice floated softly through my window. Even with the frigid tone, the voice was like liquid gold, the intonation of every word perfect and pure. It instantly reminded me of gloriously blissful summer days, cold but strong arms, whispered promises and assurances of unconditional, undying love.
My body vibrated with absolute pleasure. "Edward," I whispered.
Jacob took one look at me and slammed the window shut.
I blinked, jolted back to reality by the sharp noise. "Quiet!" I hissed.
Jacob's shuddering frame told me he was beyond listening. He paced back and forth a few times, fists clenching and unclenching, glancing between the window and my bedroom door before seeming to make a decision. His hand reached back for the window latch.
"Jake," I said quickly, scrambling out of bed. "wait. Wait a minute, okay?"
"No."
I was getting better at not tripping over my own feet, since I had no way to catch myself if I fell, but it was still a close call as I stumbled to his side. I glanced through the pane, hoping see a vision of Edward's chiseled face, his bronze hair... "What are you going to do? Fight him?"
"Yep."
My stomach dropped as I turned away from the window. "No. No, you can't, he'll kill you--"
"What?" Jacob's expression was both furious and wounded. "You think I can't take him?"
"No, I don't think you can!" I felt dizzy and faint, as though I might pass out at any moment. Jacob Black and Edward Cullen circling in the woods, both going for a fatal blow -- this had to be a nightmare. It had to be.
The wounded look increased. "Thanks for the vote of confidence," he said bitterly before reaching for the latch again.
I smacked his hand with my cast. It sent a little reverberation of pain through my broken fingers. "Edward can read minds!" I said desperately. "He'll know what you're going to do the moment you think of it! He's not here for you, you don't have to do this!"
Jacob blinked, flabbergasted. "He reads minds? Why didn't you tell me that?"
"It never came up!" I edged between Jacob and the window.
"Get out of my way, Bella," he demanded. He was all wolf right now, instinct and leashed temper; it had only taken moments for the Jacobness to bleed out of him this time.
"No," I said stubbornly. "Just calm down for a minute, Jacob, think about this before you do anything."
"Oh, I'm thinking about it," he said, his voice dripping with acid in a way I hadn't heard in quite awhile. "I'm thinking that the bloodsucker who made me a werewolf and broke you into pieces is down there like fucking Romeo under the balcony and you're going to--" He broke off suddenly and looked away, biting his lower lip, struggling to keep his hard mask in place.
My eyes filled with hot tears. I tried to speak around the lump forming in my throat, but no words came out.
"I would like to speak with you as well, Jacob, if you're amenable." Even though Edward's dulcet words were soft and in no danger of waking Charlie, they carried clearly through the closed window.
A shiver of delight ran up my spine at the sound of Edward's voice, and Jacob noticed. His face darkened further. "Is he reading my mind right now?" he asked, glowering at the glass pane.
"Probably," I said, still tingling. "I don't really know what his range is, though."
Jacob narrowed his eyes and was silent. A moment later I heard Edward say disapprovingly, "There's no need for that kind of language."
Jacob swore aloud as I groaned. "I have to go down there, Bella." His shuddering had stopped at least, but his voice was still hard. "If nothing else, the pack needs to know what the bloodsuckers are doing. I have to go."
I wasn't as fond of Romeo and Juliet these days as I had once been, but the simple, easy stage directions of Romeo's return came to me. They fight; Paris falls.
Blazing, molten terror burned through my body.
"Fine," I said, sliding past him and reaching for my closet. I pinched Emily's hoodie off of the hook -- the front pocket was ripped, but otherwise it was still functional. "I'm coming with you."
"No, you're not."
"You expect me to just sit here and wait for one of you to return?" I shot back as I dropped the hoodie on my bed and tried to figure out the best way to put it on. "No. If I'm there you won't fight. I'm coming."
"Seriously, Bella, it won't be safe," Jacob pleaded. "I'm not trying to be one of those guys, I'm not, but I can't see you in the middle of a standoff between a vampire and a werewolf again. Isn't once a week enough?"
I glared at him. "Can you promise me you won't fight each other? Really promise?" If he made promises to me he had to keep them.
Jacob met my eyes for a long moment, then looked away and blew out a frustrated breath. He didn't respond.
"That's what I thought." I reached down and tried to wriggle my left arm through the sleeve. Whenever I brushed my hand it gave a sharp protest of pain.
Then Jacob picked up the hoodie and pulled it gently over my shoulders, helping me into it as though he were offering me his jacket on a cool night. "I don't like this," he said darkly, doing up the buttons with skilled fingers.
"I wouldn't expect you to," I said. "But it'll be fine."
"Sure, sure," he grumbled. "I'm not jumping out the window with you, though, so we better be quiet."
My heart beat wildly in my chest as Jacob and I snuck out of the house. I carefully avoided the creaky step on the stairs, listening hard for any sign of a change the snores coming from Charlie's bedroom. If he woke up and caught us, someone was going to get shot. It might even be me. Luck was on our side, though, and after what felt like an eternity, we slipped out the front door without a sound.
Edward stood just under the oak tree, still and silent.
Not a thing had changed about him. Not a single thing. His face was as flawless as the first time I'd laid eyes him, his ghostly marble skin nearly glowing in the night. As his ocher eyes burned into mine, I realized my delusions of the last several months were more flawed than I'd realized; they hadn't come close to doing him justice. I'd never seen anything more beautiful in my eighteen years on earth, and I knew I never would again.
"Bella." Edward spoke my name softly, reverently, his voice brushing across my senses like soft velvet. My knees buckled and Jacob's warm arm caught me before I collapsed to the ground.
Edward stepped forward quickly, his angel's face full of concern, but Jacob's warning glare brought him up short. His expression cooled into a cordial mask. "Hello, Jacob Black," he said politely, nodding.
Jacob ignored him, but I heard his teeth grind.
My wits began to come back to me. I glanced up anxiously at Charlie's bedroom window. "You can't do this here," I whispered. "If my dad wakes up..."
Edward's eyes flicked away from my face to look at the house. "Of course," he said quietly. Then he turned back to me and gestured towards the slender path that divided the dark fringe of the forest in two. "May I speak to you privately, Bella?" His musical voice was surprisingly hesitant, as though he were unsure of my answer. How could he be unsure of my answer?
Jacob's arm tightened around my waist.
Edward blinked a few times, his head cocked to the side. Then his expression collapsed into a look of ancient sadness, as though a hundred years of sorrow had come to the surface in one moment of pure grief. "I see," he murmured, almost to himself. "Well, I can hardly blame you."
"Get out of my head," Jacob snarled, clearly unnerved. I knew he didn't even like his brothers hearing his thoughts, let alone one of his mortal enemies. Then he looked down at me. "Or is he in your head?"
"No," I said, my voice weak. "He can't read my thoughts. I'm the only one."
"Oh. Weird."
I nodded, hearing the barely contained tension Jacob's voice, feeling the way his fingers were digging into my hip. I realized that I couldn't speak to Edward alone; if I left Jacob in the yard while I walked off into the forest with a 'bloodsucker' he might phase from sheer instinctual panic. It was asking too much.
"I want to talk," I said to Edward, still nearly breathless at the vision of his beauty, "but... but Jake should come too." The words took effort to form, but I managed it. Somehow.
Edward paused for a long moment, then nodded. "Of course. Whatever you desire, Bella."
What I desired was to throw myself forward into those marble arms, feel them wrap around my body, and hear him promise that he would never leave again. I wanted to hear Edward's musical voice tell me that I was his whole life and we would be together for eternity. There would be more joy in my life than I deserved, more than any one person could hope for--
--but no. Edward had left. Edward didn't want me anymore. He'd only returned to kill the person he believed had killed me; he was here out of a sense of guilt and responsibility. I needed to stop with this foolish optimism before it carried me away.
Edward turned to go, and I tried to follow -- but stopped when Jacob didn't come with me. He was bending over and removing his boots. "Just in case," he said when he caught my look. "Don't want to wreck them."
Then he wrapped his arm back around my waist and didn't let go as we walked into the darkness of the woods.
***
Epilogue Post B: Treaty (Redux) 2/2
Author: audreyii_fic
Fandom: Twilight (Team Jacob)
Rating: T
Characters: Bella, Jacob, Charlie, and others (J/B)
Genre: Romance/Angst/Wolfpack!Humor
Warnings: Language, violence, and references to adult behavior
banner courtesy of lilabut
Summary: Jacob imprints on Bella. It changes things. A re-write of New Moon, beginning on page 242 in Chapter 10: "The Meadow." ( Link to the beginning.)
Epilogue Post A:
The Final Countdown Disclaimer: There are parts of this fic that are lifted directly from the Twilight Saga. Those parts aren't mine. They've never been mine. They've always been Stephenie Meyer's, who abused them horribly. Literary character assassination should be a federal crime.
and i've played all the characters / the fool, the friend, the wife / and no matter what the ending is / the story of my life is the book of love
Dar Williams, "Book of Love"
Epilogue -- Treaty (Redux)
Charlie had meant it.
I had honestly expected the La Push ban to only last a day or two, but I'd been gravely mistaken. Charlie was adamant that I would have no further communication with anyone associated with Sam Uley, and he showed no sign of relenting. After he attended Harry Clearwater's funeral, Charlie cut off contact as well; the few times Billy tried to call, Charlie slammed the phone back down without a word. It seemed that as far as he was concerned, Billy was a part of the mysterious conspiracy along with everyone else.
At the same time, my father was turning overprotectiveness into an art form. When he was at work he called the house line once an hour "just to check in" -- in other words, to make sure no one from La Push had come to take me away. He got new locks for the doors. If he so much as heard Jacob's name in passing, a vein bulged in his forehead. None of this was openly discussed; neither of us wanted to fight, so I pretended like I wasn't thinking about the reservation, and Charlie pretended like he didn't know that I was.
It was a very quiet standoff, all things considered, but it was a standoff nonetheless.
Of course, Jacob came to see me anyway -- usually at night, when he had the most free time. The length varied. Sometimes he didn't turn up until three in the morning and stayed until we heard Charlie's alarm clock go off; sometimes he arrived at ten-thirty but had to leave again after twenty minutes. Once he simply curled up on the bed like a puppy and fell asleep for an hour with his head on my stomach, which had brought me a surprising amount of satisfaction.
The cold didn't come back, even when he wasn't there. My body knew, somehow, that Jacob would be returning. After all, he had an open invitation.
Late one night Jacob didn't rap on the glass before climbing in the window; he was climbing into bed and pulling me into his arms almost before I'd even woken up. "Jake?" I mumbled. "S'wrong?"
"Nothing," he said, his face nuzzled into my hair. His hands stroked my sides nearly as frantically as they had the first night. "Just wanted to see you."
"Doesn't feel like nothing," I said, yawning. A quick glance at my clock confirmed that the sun would be rising before long. "What happened?"
His body gave a tiny shudder. "Quil phased."
"Oh, no." Jacob had been really hopeful that with Victoria's death, Quil might be spared. Apparently the transformation had been too close to completion. "Is he all right?"
"Define all right," Jacob muttered, his tone bitter. "I guess he's as okay as he can be. He's said to tell you he's sorry he was an ass. What's that about?"
"Nothing important," I assured him.
"Right," he said doubtfully. Then he pressed a kiss to the top of my head, and another, and another. "I'm not going to be able to stay, I'm... kind of in charge of this."
I blinked and leaned away, trying to see Jacob's face. "In charge?"
"Sam isn't ready to phase yet," he explained, "and, well... someone's got to talk Quil through it. Leah and Seth are still in pretty rough shape because of how bad we messed all that up. He needs to be guided and stuff, so... yeah." His voice turned from bitter to miserable in an instant. "It has to be me."
I frowned, confused by his reaction. "That's not so bad though, right? I mean, it makes sense. You're Quil's friend, he'll listen to you."
"Yeah, but it's... it means more than that." Jacob sighed and curled his hands around my waist, his thumbs rubbing warm circles into my hips. "Sam wants me to take over as Alpha."
My eyes widened with shock. "What? Why? Does he think he's not going to get better?"
"No, he'll be fine. It's a bloodlines thing."
I waited for more explanation, but didn't get any; Jacob just continued to hold onto me and stroke his cheek against my hair. Finally I said, "Okay, bloodlines thing?"
He sighed again. "I'm descended from Ephraim Black, so apparently I was always supposed to be Alpha."
"Really?" I said, surprised. I hadn't heard this before.
"Yeah. Sam's the oldest, and he phased first, so it made sense for him to take charge. But now he's hurt and I've got a better handle on the whole wolf thing, so... he thinks this is a good time for the transition."
"And you don't want it," I guessed. Except it wasn't really a guess.
"No." His hands shook against my sides. "I don't. I don't want any of it, Bella. I don't want to be some legendary chief. I didn't even want to be part of a pack, let alone their leader. I just want everyone to leave me alone again."
"Jacob," I whispered.
"This is going to be my whole life, there won't be anything left--"
"There will be plenty left," I said. Yet again, I cursed my hands for being useless to me at moments like this. The burns were less livid, and the bones were mending, but I was still nowhere near healed. "You don't have to take anything you don't want."
"I'm not so sure about that."
"Well, I am," I said firmly. Not caring about any potential mixed messages, I hooked one leg over his hip and held him against me in the closest approximation of a hug I could manage. "Quil will be okay, Sam will heal, and you can figure out the rest of it later."
Jacob stilled for a long minute, then very slowly lowered his hand to where my leg hitched over his side. As he ran the flat of his palm along my thigh, from my hip to my knee, I felt the warmth of his touch through the thin fabric of my pajamas. The mood shifted abruptly. "You know, I was right," he teased, his voice low and husky. "I definitely have to freak out more often." His lips brushed across my cheek, just barely to the left of my mouth.
My heart skipped a few beats.
When the contact changed between us at moments like this -- moments that were creeping up with increasing frequency -- waiting for our 'prom' to try adjusting our relationship status seemed really stupid. As much as I wanted Jacob to have one of the few normal milestones that were in my power to give him, I was beginning to feel... impatient. And it wasn't difficult to tell, when the heat of his body was pressed along mine, that Jacob was feeling impatient too.
But impatient or not, I refused to engage in any activities in which I couldn't be an equal participant. If something was going to happen I wanted to have the use of at least one of my hands, damn it. And since that was still weeks away, it made sense to wait.
It was just frustrating.
I shifted beneath Jacob; he pressed a heated kiss to my forehead and rolled off of me. "I really can't stay," he said, and his tone made it clear how unhappy he was about it. "I shouldn't have left in the first place, but... yeah." One hand was still brushing my waist. "Wanted to see you."
I had to resist the urge to whine childishly. It was moments like this that I most wanted to use the imprint... not only to keep him by my side where he fit so well, but to save him from having to return to the pack and the responsibility that was threatening to pull him under.
But Quil had phased, I reminded myself. I wasn't the only one who needed Jacob. And Quil would surely be the last one, now that Victoria was dead; once he and the Clearwaters had had a chance to adjust, the pack could relax. Things would slow down and get easier. In the meantime, Sam was right: I'd just have to learn to share. "Thanks for stopping by," I said softly, brushing my cheek against Jacob's bicep. "Even if it was only for five minutes."
Jacob sighed heavily. "It would be easier if you could come to La Push," he grumbled. "Any luck with that?"
I shook my head. "Nope."
"Everybody misses you," he said, pressing. "It's not just me. Emily's got this big list of recipes she wants to show you and Embry says 'only Buffy's allowed to light the bonfires from now on.' Even Paul keeps asking when you're coming back."
"I miss everyone too." It was a both sad and satisfying feeling. "But Charlie's not letting up. He thinks you're a member of some kind of dangerous... I don't know what. I'm not even sure what he's thinking anymore, except that Sam Uley is a James Bond villain." Jacob snickered. "But," I continued, "it fits with the only information he's got, you know? There's nothing I can say that will make it all make sense to him... except the truth."
He shook his head, frowning. "That's not my call."
"I know," I said quickly. "I know. But... maybe you could talk to Billy? Or Sam? I mean, Charlie's the chief of police. There might be times that that could be useful, when... I don't know, when you need help with 'missing hiker' stories or something--"
"Bells," he interrupted me, "I don't think that'll make a difference. Even Embry's mom doesn't know, and it's making his life hell. If they're not going to make an exception for her, they're not going to make an exception for Charlie."
I hadn't really expected him to say otherwise, but it was still disappointing. "Yeah, but I also can't just let Charlie think I'm in danger... which he thinks I'm in whenever I'm around any of you. I can't do that to him. So we're kind of in a bind."
Jacob rubbed his eyes, then brought my right hand to his mouth and kissed the pad of my thumb. A shiver ran through my body at the gesture. "I'll try," he said finally. "You keep talking to Charlie, and I'll see what I can do on my end. Maybe my dad can work something out, get around the rules somehow." He smirked. "That's a Black family specialty, after all."
I smiled in return. "I picked up on that, yeah. And I'll be going back to school day after tomorrow. He'll relax once I start leaving the house and don't fall off a cliff or anything." I hoped.
"We're still doing prom though, right? I didn't go through all that trouble to find a VHS copy of Pretty in Pink for no reason."
"Oh, definitely." I had worked it all out. "I'm going to tell Charlie I'm sleeping over at Angela's. He likes Angela, he can't object to that. Then you can come pick me up from there; Angela won't mind."
Jacob's eyes widened. "Uh... so... you'll be spending the night, then?" he said uncertainly.
I blinked... and felt my face burning with a fiery blush as I realized the implications. "Oh. Um... I... I could, I guess. Except, I mean, Billy's there, so I should probably stay at Emily's--"
"Sure, sure," he interrupted. "That would work great. But... well..." Jacob was blushing too. "My dad goes to bed really early and stuff, so... it would... you know, probably be okay. For you to stay, I mean. If... if you wanted to."
The heat from my cheeks was rapidly spreading across my entire body. "Would you want me to?"
Jacob swallowed, his eyes still wide. "Well... yeah. Of course I would. But it's fine if you don't, that's cool, it's not a big deal or anything--"
"How about we decide on that later," I suggested.
"Yes. Later." He nodded vigorously. "Later is good."
"Okay."
We were both silent for a few minutes as we tried to recover from the most awkward conversation of my life.
Finally Jacob sighed again, uncurling his hand from my side. "I really do have to leave," he said. He sounded miserable. "I'm staying for a ton of time tomorrow, though, even if I have to leave Jared in charge."
"That wouldn't go very well."
"Nope, but I don't care."
After a long moment in which Jacob still didn't get out of bed, I said gently, "You better get going." I was careful not to make it sound like an order. Three nights ago I'd told him he had to get something to eat before he collapsed, and he'd instantly gone down to the kitchen to make a sandwich and nearly gotten caught by Charlie. But once we had more time and could practice lessening the effects of my commands, I was confident we'd figure something out.
We would make the imprint work for us, somehow. I was sure of it.
Jacob pouted, then leaned forward to brush his nose across my throat, inhaling deeply. He liked the way I smelled, he'd admitted bashfully; at one point he had actually licked the skin of my collarbone, and I'd almost spontaneously combusted. "Okay," he murmured. "See you tomorrow night, honey."
"See you tomorrow night," I echoed with a smile.
It took him another few seconds to actually climb out of bed, but he did so finally with a little discontented noise. The muscles of his bare chest were dimly outlined in the glow of the night light, and it took a great deal of effort not to stare shamelessly. Mine, I thought with a certain ownership that I suspected was partially a result of the imprint; it was something else I ought to work on, but at moments like this, I really wasn't inclined to do so.
Then again, maybe I would have thought of him as my Jacob anyway. It was aggravating, to not know.
As he turned to go, I wiggled and poked him in the back with my foot. "Look under the bed."
Jacob gave me an odd look, then lifted the comforter out of the way and bent over to peek. "Hey!" He pulled out a pair of Charlie's old hiking boots. "Shoes!"
I exhaled in relief as he slipped them on, feeling pleased; I hadn't forgotten Jared's reaction, so I hadn't actually been sure if he'd be happy. It had taken me two trips to get them up the stairs from the basement, one boot at a time, the shoelace wrapped around my index finger. "Well, I promised you I would find some. Sorry it took so long."
"No problem." He stood and stamped a few times, very quietly. "They fit pretty good." Then he grinned at me. "Thanks, Bells."
I felt surprisingly shy, all of the sudden. "You're welcome."
Jacob gave me another quick peck on the forehead before turning to leave. The window didn't give the smallest squeak as he opened it, and I burrowed back into bed, prepared to get a few more hours of sleep before breakfast...
Then the sudden, shocking tension in the room flashed across my skin like a lightning strike.
"Bella?" I heard Jacob say in a strange voice. I sat up as quickly as I could; he was looking out the window, down at the ground, tightly coiled hostility radiating off of his body in waves. "Are you expecting company?"
"No," I said, confused. "Why?"
A low growl rumbled from somewhere deep inside Jacob's chest.
With a sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach, my arms crept inward, ready to wrap around my chest. But my injured hands wouldn't allow me to do so.
I knew what was about to happen, as sure as if I'd been the one who could see the future.
"I'd like to speak to Bella," a voice floated softly through my window. Even with the frigid tone, the voice was like liquid gold, the intonation of every word perfect and pure. It instantly reminded me of gloriously blissful summer days, cold but strong arms, whispered promises and assurances of unconditional, undying love.
My body vibrated with absolute pleasure. "Edward," I whispered.
Jacob took one look at me and slammed the window shut.
I blinked, jolted back to reality by the sharp noise. "Quiet!" I hissed.
Jacob's shuddering frame told me he was beyond listening. He paced back and forth a few times, fists clenching and unclenching, glancing between the window and my bedroom door before seeming to make a decision. His hand reached back for the window latch.
"Jake," I said quickly, scrambling out of bed. "wait. Wait a minute, okay?"
"No."
I was getting better at not tripping over my own feet, since I had no way to catch myself if I fell, but it was still a close call as I stumbled to his side. I glanced through the pane, hoping see a vision of Edward's chiseled face, his bronze hair... "What are you going to do? Fight him?"
"Yep."
My stomach dropped as I turned away from the window. "No. No, you can't, he'll kill you--"
"What?" Jacob's expression was both furious and wounded. "You think I can't take him?"
"No, I don't think you can!" I felt dizzy and faint, as though I might pass out at any moment. Jacob Black and Edward Cullen circling in the woods, both going for a fatal blow -- this had to be a nightmare. It had to be.
The wounded look increased. "Thanks for the vote of confidence," he said bitterly before reaching for the latch again.
I smacked his hand with my cast. It sent a little reverberation of pain through my broken fingers. "Edward can read minds!" I said desperately. "He'll know what you're going to do the moment you think of it! He's not here for you, you don't have to do this!"
Jacob blinked, flabbergasted. "He reads minds? Why didn't you tell me that?"
"It never came up!" I edged between Jacob and the window.
"Get out of my way, Bella," he demanded. He was all wolf right now, instinct and leashed temper; it had only taken moments for the Jacobness to bleed out of him this time.
"No," I said stubbornly. "Just calm down for a minute, Jacob, think about this before you do anything."
"Oh, I'm thinking about it," he said, his voice dripping with acid in a way I hadn't heard in quite awhile. "I'm thinking that the bloodsucker who made me a werewolf and broke you into pieces is down there like fucking Romeo under the balcony and you're going to--" He broke off suddenly and looked away, biting his lower lip, struggling to keep his hard mask in place.
My eyes filled with hot tears. I tried to speak around the lump forming in my throat, but no words came out.
"I would like to speak with you as well, Jacob, if you're amenable." Even though Edward's dulcet words were soft and in no danger of waking Charlie, they carried clearly through the closed window.
A shiver of delight ran up my spine at the sound of Edward's voice, and Jacob noticed. His face darkened further. "Is he reading my mind right now?" he asked, glowering at the glass pane.
"Probably," I said, still tingling. "I don't really know what his range is, though."
Jacob narrowed his eyes and was silent. A moment later I heard Edward say disapprovingly, "There's no need for that kind of language."
Jacob swore aloud as I groaned. "I have to go down there, Bella." His shuddering had stopped at least, but his voice was still hard. "If nothing else, the pack needs to know what the bloodsuckers are doing. I have to go."
I wasn't as fond of Romeo and Juliet these days as I had once been, but the simple, easy stage directions of Romeo's return came to me. They fight; Paris falls.
Blazing, molten terror burned through my body.
"Fine," I said, sliding past him and reaching for my closet. I pinched Emily's hoodie off of the hook -- the front pocket was ripped, but otherwise it was still functional. "I'm coming with you."
"No, you're not."
"You expect me to just sit here and wait for one of you to return?" I shot back as I dropped the hoodie on my bed and tried to figure out the best way to put it on. "No. If I'm there you won't fight. I'm coming."
"Seriously, Bella, it won't be safe," Jacob pleaded. "I'm not trying to be one of those guys, I'm not, but I can't see you in the middle of a standoff between a vampire and a werewolf again. Isn't once a week enough?"
I glared at him. "Can you promise me you won't fight each other? Really promise?" If he made promises to me he had to keep them.
Jacob met my eyes for a long moment, then looked away and blew out a frustrated breath. He didn't respond.
"That's what I thought." I reached down and tried to wriggle my left arm through the sleeve. Whenever I brushed my hand it gave a sharp protest of pain.
Then Jacob picked up the hoodie and pulled it gently over my shoulders, helping me into it as though he were offering me his jacket on a cool night. "I don't like this," he said darkly, doing up the buttons with skilled fingers.
"I wouldn't expect you to," I said. "But it'll be fine."
"Sure, sure," he grumbled. "I'm not jumping out the window with you, though, so we better be quiet."
My heart beat wildly in my chest as Jacob and I snuck out of the house. I carefully avoided the creaky step on the stairs, listening hard for any sign of a change the snores coming from Charlie's bedroom. If he woke up and caught us, someone was going to get shot. It might even be me. Luck was on our side, though, and after what felt like an eternity, we slipped out the front door without a sound.
Edward stood just under the oak tree, still and silent.
Not a thing had changed about him. Not a single thing. His face was as flawless as the first time I'd laid eyes him, his ghostly marble skin nearly glowing in the night. As his ocher eyes burned into mine, I realized my delusions of the last several months were more flawed than I'd realized; they hadn't come close to doing him justice. I'd never seen anything more beautiful in my eighteen years on earth, and I knew I never would again.
"Bella." Edward spoke my name softly, reverently, his voice brushing across my senses like soft velvet. My knees buckled and Jacob's warm arm caught me before I collapsed to the ground.
Edward stepped forward quickly, his angel's face full of concern, but Jacob's warning glare brought him up short. His expression cooled into a cordial mask. "Hello, Jacob Black," he said politely, nodding.
Jacob ignored him, but I heard his teeth grind.
My wits began to come back to me. I glanced up anxiously at Charlie's bedroom window. "You can't do this here," I whispered. "If my dad wakes up..."
Edward's eyes flicked away from my face to look at the house. "Of course," he said quietly. Then he turned back to me and gestured towards the slender path that divided the dark fringe of the forest in two. "May I speak to you privately, Bella?" His musical voice was surprisingly hesitant, as though he were unsure of my answer. How could he be unsure of my answer?
Jacob's arm tightened around my waist.
Edward blinked a few times, his head cocked to the side. Then his expression collapsed into a look of ancient sadness, as though a hundred years of sorrow had come to the surface in one moment of pure grief. "I see," he murmured, almost to himself. "Well, I can hardly blame you."
"Get out of my head," Jacob snarled, clearly unnerved. I knew he didn't even like his brothers hearing his thoughts, let alone one of his mortal enemies. Then he looked down at me. "Or is he in your head?"
"No," I said, my voice weak. "He can't read my thoughts. I'm the only one."
"Oh. Weird."
I nodded, hearing the barely contained tension Jacob's voice, feeling the way his fingers were digging into my hip. I realized that I couldn't speak to Edward alone; if I left Jacob in the yard while I walked off into the forest with a 'bloodsucker' he might phase from sheer instinctual panic. It was asking too much.
"I want to talk," I said to Edward, still nearly breathless at the vision of his beauty, "but... but Jake should come too." The words took effort to form, but I managed it. Somehow.
Edward paused for a long moment, then nodded. "Of course. Whatever you desire, Bella."
What I desired was to throw myself forward into those marble arms, feel them wrap around my body, and hear him promise that he would never leave again. I wanted to hear Edward's musical voice tell me that I was his whole life and we would be together for eternity. There would be more joy in my life than I deserved, more than any one person could hope for--
--but no. Edward had left. Edward didn't want me anymore. He'd only returned to kill the person he believed had killed me; he was here out of a sense of guilt and responsibility. I needed to stop with this foolish optimism before it carried me away.
Edward turned to go, and I tried to follow -- but stopped when Jacob didn't come with me. He was bending over and removing his boots. "Just in case," he said when he caught my look. "Don't want to wreck them."
Then he wrapped his arm back around my waist and didn't let go as we walked into the darkness of the woods.
***
Epilogue Post B: Treaty (Redux) 2/2