All belongs to the great Stephenie Meyer.
"Jake, stop. Haven't you tortured me enough?" I ask between fits of giggles as Jacob Black tickles my sides mercilessly. His face clouds immediately and he sits up on the couch, allowing me to squirm out from under his huge, warm body.
"No." He whispers softly. I grab both sides of his head and force him to look me in the eye.
"Jake, I signed up to do this. And I will be fine. I know you and Sam and the boys will be there to take care of me if… I know you won't let anything happen to me. Jake, don't worry so much! It'll be fine. I laugh in the face of danger. And vampires." He is not convinced.
"Bell… I just… I don't like it. I don't like putting you in danger when you don't have to be." He reaches down and brushes some hair behind my ear. I carefully pull my hands from his head and look down. I love Jake like a brother, nothing more. It always feels like I could love him like that, like I'm on the cusp, but there's something missing. Like I'm waiting for something.
Jake shifts away and gets up. He starts his "I'm thinking" pace and I watch, getting a little frustrated. We've had this discussion before more times than I want to remember in the last week.
"Jake, just accept it. I'm going to help you guys and that's final. I can always back out if I need to. Just have a little faith." He doesn't even look up at my crabby tone. He stops and turns to me, mouth open, ready to speak at the exact moment Charlie enters the small Black house, stamping snow from his boots.
"January's sure cold this time of year. Everybody ready to go? The game starts in less than an hour and with this weather…" He trails off as Billy wheels out of the kitchen. Jake gives me a "This isn't over" look before pulling on his boots and a light coat. Charlie frowns at the lack of warmth but doesn't say anything. Charlie doesn't know werewolves don't need much to keep warm.
I, of course, get up to pull on my boots and slip in the puddle of cold water. Before Charlie, who is closest to me, can grab me, I have tripped over my boots and landed on my butt in a puddle of cold half-melted snow. The men and Jake chuckle as Charlie gives me a hand up.
I blush furiously as we leave, Jake locking the door behind us. The snow is coming down in sheets and by the time we get to Charlie's car, I can barely see the house anymore. Jake has to carry Billy as Charlie fumbles around carrying the fold-up wheelchair to the trunk.
The ride to Harry Clearwater's house takes twice as long as it normally does but we get there before anything important happens on the court so the men are satisfied. Even Jake is excited about the game; he and Paul have a bet on who'll win. If he wins, he'll be able to get his master cylinder he needs for the Rabbit and maybe stop moaning about it so much. I swear, that werewolf and his car…
The guys come trudging in a few minutes later, shaking water from their hair. Embry shakes his head full of melted snow towards me. I squeal and fall off the couch, still managing to get wet. That's going to bruise tomorrow.
Sam scoops me up and dumps me on the couch next to Emily with the grin he saves just for me. He musses my hair fondly as Emily and I giggle together, her scars barely noticeable when she laughs. He sinks down on her other side, a look of pure adoration on his face as he steals a glance at her perfect side.
My heart aches a little as I watch them, their cheeks flushed from the cold, stealing glances at each other when they think the other isn't looking, smiling the big, goofy grins. It's not envy per say, but more of a twinge of familiarity. Which is ridiculous, considering I've never been in love with anyone, much less my soul mate.
Jake plunks down next to me on the couch, making it groan in protest. With a laugh, he sinks down to the carpet to sit on the floor, his back resting against the couch, pulling me down next to him and wrapping an arm around me. I curl myself up against him, shying away from the cold air the guys brought in with them.
The game passes slowly with many moans of frustration and howls of victory (not literally, of course, with Charlie there). By the end, the team wearing red beats the purple team by 109 to 117 and I am half-way asleep, my head resting on Jake's shoulder. His booming voice wakes me up from my doze as he crows over his team winning, watching Paul count out the right amount for their wager and double-checking, grinning from ear to ear. I snuggle up to him, glad the groans and screams are over, and, with the new-found quiet and Jake being so warm, fall asleep almost immediately.
I am walking through the forest, wandering through the dappled green light, the sound of wolves howling echoing through the trees every now and then. The howls are gradually overwhelmed by the sound of waves crashing somewhere just outside of the boundary of the forest. I stop walking and turn, slowly scanning the forest around me, searching for the source of the noise. Suddenly, I desperately need to find the water, to get out of the forest. It is growing smaller, branches clawing at me and green leaves choking me, closing in, suffocating me.
Just as I'm about to pass out from lack of oxygen, I see something white flash into my line of vision and suddenly I can breathe again, and I'm enveloped by a scent so delicious it makes my mouth water. I suck it in greedily, looking around desperately for the white source of the intoxicating fragrance.
My eyes widen as a boy about my age slowly, cautiously creeps into my field of vision from behind a tree. His eyes are dark, completely black and are guarded, yet he creeps toward me curiously. His face is inhumanly beautiful, uncommonly pale, and perfectly proportioned. His all black outfit clings to his well-built chest and his black jeans flatter his slim hips, giving him an air of effortless masculinity. The sunlight catches his skin in patches, sending prisms of light sparkling out around him, making him glow like an angel.
But that's not the thing that takes my breath away as soon as I've regained it.
A feeling swells within me unlike anything I've ever felt, stronger than any emotion I've ever felt. Staring into his eyes, I lose myself completely. I feel our fingers intertwine but can't tear my gaze from his face, even as his mouth quirks up in a crooked half-smile, revealing razor-sharp teeth. Even as Jake's howl echoes through the forest, grief-stricken and full of fear, calling desperately. I instinctively know it is me he's calling, me he's afraid for, but I still can't break eye contact with the boy.
"Bella." The boy murmurs softly in a voice soft as velvet as he moved closer, gathering me to his hard, muscular chest.
Just before our lips meet, I whisper the only word I can comprehend through my muddled, lovestruck thoughts.
"Edward."