So, allow me to present you my unfinished Jacob/Dottie artwork I had in store in the last 6 months, an artwork that was supposed to go with my Canon Story about these two, “In The Heat Of The Moment”, and that was supposed to summarize the “Batman-Catwoman” relationship these two are going to have.
Due to various problems I had with IRL/lack of time/me prioritizing writing/various meltdowns due to shading not turning out as I envisioned and whatnot, I didn’t have the chance to properly finished it.
And today, Medibang Paint decided to be a dick and fuck up the whole setting for the pressure of the pen, therefore dying on me in the middle of colouring. And it was truly the last proverbial straw that broke the camel’s back.
Therefore, I have decided to post this in its incomplete state because, even if it doesn’t look like it, I truly sweated like a dog on the lineart alone, and fml, I want to share it anyway.
Maybe I might finish it someday, maybe not. Point is, for now, it’s going to be an unfinished.
I have to be honest, I had to move from Paintool Sai (my beloved) to Medibang for practical reasons, but the sparks never happened between myself and that godforsaken program. Therefore, SO LONG, MDP!
Jacob was finishing his rounds when Embry crashed into his consciousness.
She recast! I think she went to the Cullen’s place.
Jacob’s heart dropped and he snapped to attention.
Did you tail her to Ti’Hal’s?!
Yes! And she definitely went there, but when she saw me she freaked! And then she was leaving and I tried to tell her to stop, but she just disappeared.
Jacob let out a snapping noise and turned his body to hurdle towards the Cullen’s place. He was right to have Embry tail her after all. But he didn’t want to be right. Grace was the most infuriating woman he’d ever met. Every time he tried to pull her in a direction, she’d push in the opposite. She’d tell them to go and then they’d stop. He literally had to order her to stay put just to keep her away from her sister now turned potentially bloodthirsty newborn. She careened toward danger like it was an amusement park. And when he’d catch her around the waist as she tried to jump off a cliff into the arms of yet another conflict, she’d kick and scream as he pulled her back from the edge.
Do you want me to check and see if she’s there Jake? I’m close! Seth offered after listening to Jacob’s raging thoughts about Grace.
No, stay put, I don’t want you near the Cullen’s place right now in case Bella’s awake.
Edward had only somewhat been keeping Jacob in the loop as it seemed like things were touch and go for Bella. She was definitely transitioning into a vampire but it was taking longer than they had anticipated. Carlisle thought it might be the fact that they pulled her back from the brink of death at the last minute. But still, there were no definitive answers. He knew Grace had been having nightmares about it and he knew half the time she wasn’t sleeping anyway. He’d find her awake sometimes, downstairs, on the couch, arms threaded through her legs as she stared out the door over the moonlit cove.
It broke him to see her so torn up but he kept the words Ti’Hal had told him at the forefront of his mind:
“She is the protector. And as her alpha, let her lead with her heart. She will know how to guide you….but as her imprint you must keep her safe. She is the Spirit Bird, strong-willed and connected to the sky and sea. But she is also just Grace Alo, a woman finding her way into love and life with you. You must find the balance.”
Balance wasn’t easy. Ti’Hal had a knack for providing answers but never actually giving you the clear way forward. As Jacob crashed through the clearing of the Cullen’s property, he scanned his eyes quickly over the quiet facade of the home. No movement. He sniffed the air tentatively. No trace of her. That was odd. He knew her scent anywhere, but it was nowhere to be found here. Could Embry have been mistaken?
Grace? He called out to her. No response. Weird.
Did you find her? Leah broke through.
No, not yet. Embry, you’re sure she came here?
I don’t know man. One minute she was going to the truck and the next she’s walking past me toward the woods. Where else would she go?
Is the truck still at Ti’Hal’s?
Yeah, she left the keys in the driver seat.
Jake backed into the trees, but not before he saw Rosalie step out onto the front porch with the swaddled Renesmee in her arms. Jake tensed. This was the reason Bella was gone from them forever, never to be her true human self again. He had mixed feelings to say the least, but mostly, he just wanted to get the hell away from here. It frustrated him that Grace was so adamant about wanting to be here. They were supposed to be totally in sync as imprints, right?
So then why did he feel like they were on opposite sides of the field?
Jake turned and bolted back through the trees toward the house.
Maybe she went to Charlie’s. Seth go swing by and see if you can pick up a scent. I’m going back to the house real quick.
You think she went home? Embry said skeptically.
Maybe… Jacob wasn’t too sure, but it didn’t hurt to check.
As he came to the treeline just outside of the cove, he quickly phased and pulled on his shorts jogging up to the front door. He heard the sound of movement in the house, a clattering of dishes as if someone was pulling out pots and pans. He strode through the front door.
“Grace?” he called out. A head peeked up from behind the kitchen island. Jake let out a sigh of relief. “Jesus, I’ve been looking for you.”
“Hey.” Grace said nonchalantly.
“Embry said you recast outside of Ti’Hal’s and left the truck there. I thought you….went to see Bella,” he said.
Grace paused, setting a pan on the stovetop and deciding her next words carefully.
“Yeah, I was going to. But then...I thought about what you said,” she paused, looking at him, “And I realized that what you were asking for was as much for me as it was for you. And…” Grace looked down at her hands, “And I’m sorry. I can be patient.”
Jake’s face had broken into a smile, “You? Be patient?” he joked. Grace laughed as she rolled her eyes.
“Yeah, well, only for you, I guess,” she replied, still wary that he might be upset with her.
“Come here,” he said confidently from his place across the living room. Grace walked out from behind the counter and then sprinted toward him, crashing her body into his. He caught her easily and planted a kiss on her. “Thank you.”
“That’s how this works, right? Compromise? Listening...Trust.” Grace offered in between his peppered kisses across her lips, down her cheek and neck. Jacob made a soft noise of agreement as he continued to press his lips to her. “I need to apologize to Embry, I was kind of a jerk.” she murmured.
She hadn’t even realized Jacob was steering her toward the couch until the back of her knees collided with the arm of the sofa. She sat down on the arm as Jacob brought his hands to either side of her face to kiss her softly. Grace placed her hands on either side of his scorching torso and tried to keep her head clear. This was the danger with Jake—it was always easy to slip into this euphoria with him, one where if she just let herself go, she could get lost. And she so desperately wanted to get lost with him.
She brought her hands up to circle his wrists and gently tugged at his hands so she could pull her face away from his.
“Are you hungry?” Grace asked in a quiet voice her eyes were heavy with desire and he looked across her face.
“Starving,” he breathed. Her breath hitched in her throat and Jacob took it upon himself to lean his head down again to hers pressing harder against her. Grace’s body responded of its own accord this time as she arched her back into him and pressed her hips to meet his. Jake’s arm instinctively wrapped down around her back pulling her closer as their mouths became more frenzied moving over one another. Everything in Grace pulled her toward Jacob and inside she was rejoicing. But, annoyingly for Grace, something made her stop.
“Wait,” she said, as his hands pushed up under her shirt spreading wide across her bare back.
“You okay?” He said, perturbed. Jake couldn’t put his finger on why she always made him stop. It couldn’t be that she wanted to move slow, that had backfired per their last go at a relationship. And they lived together, they were in a clearly defined relationship. He was ready to take the next step but she always stopped him.
“Yes, I—” Grace hesitated, a blush clearly forming on her cheeks. He placed a hand under her chin and pulled her face up to look at him.
“What’s wrong?” He said, concern clear in his eyes. Grace shook her head.
“Nothing it’s...it’s me. I just...Oh god this is kind of embarrassing,” Grace said closing her eyes tightly. The right side of Jake’s mouth pulled up in a lopsided grin that made Grace weak.
“Tell me,” he said easily. Grace let out an exasperated huff and a laugh.
“It’s dumb, it’s so dumb, you’re gonna laugh.”
“Good thing I like it when you make me laugh,” he said, bringing the hand that was cupping her chin to her jaw and stroking his thumb across her cheek. Grace’s blush deepened. “I like that too,” he said softly as he let his thumb glide across her reddened cheek.
“How do you do that?”
“Don’t change the subject now,” he laughed. “Tell me what’s wrong. Why do you always stop me?”
“I just—” Grace shook with frustration, “I just want it to be perfect!” she blurted out. She turned her head into his wide hand and cringed.
“What?” Jacob said not connecting yet.
“With you, I mean. I want it to be perfect. Everything.” She looked up at him, standing up and placing her hands on his chest. “I want it to be...special,” she cringed again, “God it sounds so lame but I do. I messed everything up so bad the first time and I don’t want us to be bogged down with all this….stuff.” She locked eyes with his and she saw the laughter twinkling in his eyes as he tried to take her seriously.
“You don’t want to have sex yet because you want it to be perfect when our lives aren’t a tangled mess fit with other people’s problems?” Jake said to sum it up. Grace looked at him, mouth agape.
“Uhh, yeah.” She said feeling stupid. “When you put it like that though,” Grace shifted uncomfortably and he placed both of his hands on either of her arms holding her in place.
“I get it. We don’t have to take it to the next level right now. But Grace, I gotta be honest with you,” he paused running a hand through his shaggy hair. Grace couldn’t help but adore it. She missed his long hair and hoped he never cut it again. Still, she braced for the worst of what he was about to say next and bit her lower lip in anticipation, “I don’t know if there will ever be a time where we’re not ‘bogged down’ by all this ‘stuff’,” he used air quotes around her words and Grace looked at the ground dejectedly.
“I know it’s stupid, but...I just want our first time to not be on the couch, or in the back of the Rabbit, or in our bed after you’ve had an exhausting night of running rounds, while I’m worried that my sister is lost forever, and yo’re worrying about everyone else. I want it to be...World Series Level stuff,” she concluded as she looked back up at him. He had an eyebrow raised and sarcastically said:
“Have you and Embry been binging 90’s movies again?”
“Jake, come on,” she groaned, but she couldn’t help a smile playing on her face, “Just a couple..” He laughed and took her hands in his.
“Okay. We’ll shoot for perfect,” he pushed a piece of hair behind her ear, “But I’m telling you right now, it’s not going to be easy.”
“Why? Cos you wanna jump my bones so bad?” she joked. He shrugged.
“Basically, yeah. Even if it’s not just the imprint, everything in me wants you all of the time.” He said a little lick of desire hung on the edge of his words. Grace watched him carefully, as her heart fluttered uncontrollably. Everything in her wanted him all the time too.
“So...no more seeing me naked for awhile then?”
“Probably for the best, just for now until we find our moment.” He brought his hand up and rubbed his thumb across her lower lip.
“We won’t have to wait long...promise,” Grace said as she turned her head and bit at his thumb playfully. Jake laughed at that.
“Deal. Thank you for not going rogue today. Now if you’ll excuse me, I still have rounds to do,” he leaned down and kissed the top of her forehead. “I love you.”
“And I love you,” she nodded. She turned toward the kitchen and Jake took the opportunity to swat at her butt with the back of his hand before jogging out the front door before he could be volleyed with too many protests.
Later that night, Grace was startled awake by the same nightmare—the hand that reached for her was just skin and bones now, and Bella didn’t even look like Bella anymore, she was just skeletal remains and decayed dripping skin. Jake had become used to the nightmares at this point and squeezed her gently into his body before falling back asleep. Grace laid there for a second, getting her bearings as she bit the tip of her thumb. When Grace heard her phone buzz on the nightstand, she carefully pulled out of Jacob’s arms and rolled to her side of the bed, that she rarely slept on when Jake was home, and flipped it open.
Carlisle.
Grace sucked in a sharp breath and answered.
“Hello?” she said quietly. Jake was awake again, now rubbing his hand sleepily across his face.
“Grace. I’m sorry for calling so late, did I wake you?” Carlisle’s smooth tone was comforting but that didn’t stop Grace from searching for any kind of worry there.
“No, no. How’s Bella? Is she—” Grace didn’t know how to continue. Jake had pulled himself up at the mention of Bella’s name and rolled over to be behind Grace, putting a hand on her lower back.
“That’s why I was calling,” Carlisle continued. “I thought you’d want to know as soon as possible, since we knew how worried you’ve been. The transformation was successful. She woke up a few days ago and is still getting the lay of the land, but…” Carlisle stopped.
“But?” Three days ago!? They couldn’t call and tell her that Bella had made it three days ago?
“She’s asking for you, and she seems to have some cadence of control. If you feel comfortable, you should come by tomorrow.” Carlisle said, “When you’re ready, of course.” he tacked on quickly at the end.
“Yes! Thank you!” the excitement filled Grace to the brim, “I’ll be there in the morning.” Grace glanced at the clock: 4 a.m. She could make it to 7. Vampires don’t really keep time anyway, this was just a formality.
“See you then,” Carlisle said confidently before hanging up. Grace clutched the phone to her chest.
“Grace,” Jacob said slowly, the concern clear in his voice.
“He said she was okay. She’s okay. Oh god,” the flood of emotions was coming now. She had missed her so much, and while she hadn’t realized it, Grace had started to resign herself to Bella’s death. The relief at her just being...alive was overwhelming. Jake was off the bed and kneeling in front of her, his hands on either side of her thighs as Grace let tears of joy fall from her face. “Jake,” she said through a smile, “She’s okay.” Jake watched her carefully and Grace suddenly realized that he didn’t look happy. “What?” she said, almost annoyed. Jake’s grip on her thighs tightened.
“I’m happy she’s okay...but Grace,” he paused.
“Jacob, no. No ‘But Grace!’ Carlisle said she was fine and that she’s been asking for me!”
“I know, I just...need you to be careful. She’s still a newborn and I think if we just gave her some more time to ...even out,” he said softly.
“This is bullshit,” Grace huffed, the tears of joy evaporated and now all she was was frustrated.
“You said you were going to be patient,” Jake said.
“Carlisle said it was okay!” Grace held the phone up as proof and then faltered. “But you don’t?”
“I just...need you to be safe. And I don’t think this is the best idea right now. Why don’t we start with calling her tomorrow morning and then we can go from there? That way we don’t walk into the lion’s den unprepared.”
Grace’s eyes darted around his face, he was calm, his voice filled with concern, and his eyes were pleading. She closed her eyes tightly and heard the echo of words from teacher’s long ago that she had had as a child describing her to her mother: Impulsive, bratty, hot-headed, doesn’t think things through.
Grace let out a hard breath and narrowed her eyes while looking at Jacob. A twitch of a smile was itching at his lips as he watched her. “Okay...we’ll call her first.” She said, her hands gripping the phone tightly.
“Thank you,” he said leaning up to plant a kiss on her nearly pouted lips. “Let’s go back to sleep.” He said, the exhaustion returning to his eyes as he moved around her and collapsed on the bed again.
“I’m not tired.”
“Of course not,” he yawned.
“I’m going to take a shower, you sleep,” she said as she crawled over him, making sure to press a knee into his abdomen as she made her way over his side of the bed to the bathroom instead of getting up and walking around. He humored her and made a loud groaning noise as she did this, but she knew it didn’t actually faze him.
Grace shook out the pain in her hands as she tried to quell her frustration. He was right, she knew he was right, but she just wanted to see Bella...and Renesmee again. She needed to know they were alright.
She’d stay put for now, but Jacob couldn’t hold her in place too long. She felt like she might burst apart at any moment.
Dorothea was awakened by the sound of a sizzling pan in the kitchen, two rooms away.
Still groggy from the previous night of sleep - and not sleep, as the sweet soreness between her thighs reminded her - she cracked one eye open.
“Jacob…?” she groaned, as she reached out to the other side of the bed.
The tip of her fingers only met cold silk, instead of the warm softness of his body.
Stretching her arms, she took a deep breath as her nostrils picked up the intense smells coming from the kitchen: dried aromatic herbs, vegetables cooking in olive oil, the bread warming up in the toaster...and a strong, pungent, metallic smell that had nothing to do with food.
At least not the one destined to her.
Dorothea couldn’t help the reveling smile that stretched on her face: he was always up before her, always making breakfast for her, always making sure that “his impish little human” was well fed and sated.
She shivered, as she grabbed for her robe - still unceremoniously on the floor, along with the rest of her nightwear- and quickly donned it over her bare skin, making way toward the kitchen trying to be as quiet as a mouse.
But she smirked: she knew Jacob had already heard her the moment she had called for him, and yet, he always pretended to be caught by surprise, to give her the illusion of the advantage.
It was part of the little game they had been playing with each other ever since they had met for the first time….the first time for her, at least.
When she crossed the kitchen’s threshold, she was welcomed by the soft lights of perfumed candles, instead of the bright one of the lamps, and she was grateful for that: Jacob knew she was still adjusting to her enhanced senses, and always took all the precautions so that she wouldn’t feel any discomfort.
Scanning the kitchen, she found him, busy at the stove, and she took a moment to take in the view.
He was dressed in a white shirt, crisp and tensed over his solid shoulder blades. Her eyes wandered over his strong arms, his sleeves rolled up halfway so as not to get stained; over his broad back, barely contained by the garment and yet impeccable in its cut; and then trailed down, stopping for a brief moment over his black wool trousers.
She bit her lip, noticing how tight the fabric was, wrapping his firm legs as if it was painted directly on his skin.
Her heart made a small jump in her chest as she trailed off in her thoughts for a moment, her memories running back to a few hours earlier when she had gripped at those buttocks to push him deeper and deeper inside her.
A low, husky chuckle coming from the Master Vampire brought her back to reality, and Dorothea shuffled toward him, hiding her face against his back.
“What’s so funny, Jacob?” she asked, her cheeks turning a deep red colour as she tiptoed behind him and wrapped her arms around his strong torso, feeling his muscles underneath her arms.
She brushed her lips against the shirt and inhaled his cologne, the perfume of smoked wood and leather so strong it was almost intoxicating.
“Evening, Goldilocks” he purred, his voice a low vibrato that sent shivers of pleasure down her spine and made her heart jump in her chest once more. He chuckled at that. “A little hiccup-y, today, love?”
Dorothea snorted. “As if you didn’t know already,” she said, unable to stop the grin that spread on her lips.
He tilted his face, looking just above his shoulder and giving her a playful smirk, his eyes hooded with a teasing light to them.
Another leap in her chest.
And he chuckled again.
“Yes, that’s definitely a hiccup. I’ll need to take a look at it, later on, Dot,” he whispered, as he poured wine in the pan and let the alcohol evaporate. “I can’t let my fellow bloodsucking friends hear my darling’s heart dancing like that.”
She gently poked him in his ribs, eliciting another bout of laughter from the vampire. “Because you know everything about dancing, right?”
Jacob chuckled as he added some stock to the pan; then, he dried his hands in a towel, before turning to face her.
With a mischievous smile, he took her small hand in his own and made her twirl around on her spot, her giggles the melody of his heart, before gently dragging her toward him, as she plopped against his chest.
“As if you didn’t know already, love” he husked, echoing her earlier words as he tilted her face toward him, allowing their lips to meet in a sweet kiss that tasted of autumn and spices, licorice and cinnamon mixing together as he caressed the tip of her tongue with his own.
Dorothea could feel a faint trace of a metallic taste in his mouth, ever-present in all their effusions, but she didn’t give it much thought.
It was a part of him, just like his dark hair and his hazel eyes, or the cheeky smile he always had for her.
And she wouldn’t want him in any other way.
When Jacob broke the kiss, to allow his little human to draw breath, his large hand found its way to her face and caressed her cheek, his thumb brushing against the freckles on her nose with loving attention.
He moved aside a stray lock of pale hair and looked at her face with the warmest gaze, before lowering toward her and giving her another sweet kiss, lingering against her lips.
“Do you have any pain?” he inquired, marking each word with a soft peck, one of his hands wandering to the curve of her breast, where a mark - his mark - stood above her heart, red and tender.
Dorothea shook her head.
“Not more than any other time,” she answered, pouting as she gripped at his shirt. ”You didn’t drink much, though. And not as you usually do.”
Jacob smirked, kissing the pout away. “I know, but tonight I need to be as sharp as ever at the Council….although, when I come back, I'll rectify my unforgivable behavior, love, you can rest assured of that,” he murmured, raising his eyebrows in a silent demand as a lascivous smirk graced his lips.
Dorothea sucked in a sharp breath, knowing what it meant, as her cheeks once more turned on fire.
“Did you sleep well?” He asked, between kisses, “You tossed around quite a lot and I heard you call your brother,”
Dorothea froze on her spot, gripping his white shirt and biting her lip.
Her brother Adam. Her twin. The one she had left behind when she had crossed the threshold that had led her back into the Master Vampire’s arms. Knowing there was no point in hiding her emotions, she nuzzled her face against his chest, kissing it through the fabric, as her heart sped up again, this time with disquiet.
“I...I dreamed of Adam, at first. We were at the skating rink at the Tower,” she whispered, as she tried to remember all the details. “He was with Viola and Victor, and we were all skating together. Adam had booked the whole skating rink for all of us, and Viola kept falling on her butt,”
Jacob rested his cheek on the top of her head, cradling against his chest as he listened intently, his own mind thinking about the Viola he had once known. He had to bite back a chuckle as he imagined her skating and plopping on the hard ice: there was something extremely hilarious in imagining that serious tough inventor he had met, back in the time when he was still human, gracelessly tumbling while pirouetting away.
“That sounds nice, love,” he commented. “What else?”
Dorothea tensed, her hands grabbing at his shirt stronger now as if to find the courage to talk.
“I….I dreamt of him again,” she murmured, furrowing her brows as she tried to remember.
Jacob’s eyes widened, as his hold on her grew stronger, his face becoming a mask of barely concealed wrath.
Him. The Hunter. The one that had been following him for more than a century.
“Tell me,” he demanded with a low voice that carried the growl born deep within his chest.
The young woman swallowed hard, her mouth suddenly dry.
“I...I was doing my rounds, warming up and he was there, on the side, sitting and watching me.” She pouted, as she raised her face to look at the vampire in the eye, a pained expression painted on her features. “I could see his green eyes so clearly. He was smiling at me, Jacob. He...he was looking at me as if he had known me my entire life - as if he had known me beyond this life. And I knew that smile.”
She rested her forehead against his chest, feeling the telltale sign of the headaches that always followed those dreams.
“I remember him reaching out to me on the rink, and that’s when everything changed. I wasn’t skating anymore, but walking with him in this pompous dress that truly looked more like something the actors in 'Victoria' would wear. We had reached an old Manor, and that’s when he told me that he would bring me back into my father’s arms, back where I belong. And something kept tugging at the back of my mind that I should know why he would say that, and yet I can’t find a reason. I don’t even know him.”
The vampire’s eyes flashed in a cold fury, while his lips twitched as he drowned another feral growl in the back of his throat.
“It was a dream, love,” he murmured reassuringly. “Nothing more than that.”
She shook her head, her lips quivering, as she tried to remember, screwing her eyes shut trying to grasp at what she had seen while asleep.
“That’s the thing: it felt like a memory, not like a dream,” she whispered, as she felt the pain drilling in her skull.“But why him? Why don’t I ever dream of you? Why always him?”
The vampire sighed, gently cooing her. as he made her rest her head against his chest, one large hand cradling it as the other rubbed her back in a soothing motion.
His eyes lit up with fury, and he was grateful that his own heart was long dead inside his chest.
She didn’t need to know the wrath that he felt in his lost soul.
Even after more than 150 years, Byron Harrison - because he knew that the man in Dorothea’s dream was none other than that damn Damphyr- was still haunting them.
“I don’t know,”Jacob lied. “But we will find a way to get rid of it, Dot. I promise you that.”
‘And I will find a way to get rid of him. Permanently,’
--------------------------
So.
All this talk about Vampires and Werewolves the gave me the courage to actually share something I have written months ago (that I had already shared with some of my friends in Rosa on Discord) when I was first starting to entertain a preternatural AU for Dottie and Jacob, and like a toddler, I decided to try my hand by writing them as vampires - or rather, Jacob as a vampire and Dorothea as a normal human (for the time being, lol).
I had a whole plot jotted down, with the whole story being set in Modern Times rather than Victorian, but as I said, I later discarded the whole idea in favour of my Werewolves!AU.
I still might write more about them in this AU, tho, if the Muses come knocking on my door, because I adore Vampires just as much as I adore Werewolves (although Werewolves always have a special place in my heart).
Anyway, the whole plot was very much inspired by my most favourite of movies, Coppola's “Dracula by Bram Stoker” from 1992, because that movie truly shaped my interests and has left an enormous mark in me.
However, I was quite happy with this piece, and decided to share it here anyway, because it’s short, so it’s not too much hassle to read!
So, along with a moodboard, here you have “Haunting Dreams”!
(Sorry, but that's just so the two of them. And considering that Dottie cannot cook for the life of her, good luck with getting something to eat in that house!😂😂)
(But she loves him so much she will just smother him in kisses anyway)
“Found you!” he shouted, springing forward and tackling her to the ground, falling together in a soft pile of dead leaves.
“That is not fair, Jacob! You are faster than me!” she pouted, crossing her arms against her chest.
Jacob grinned, as he dove down to catch her lips with his.
“All is fair between Lykoi, Goldilocks,” he growled against her lips, wrapping his strong arms around her body and pulling her tight against his chest.
“Said who?”
“I just did,” he murmured, trailing with his lips along her jaw. “I missed you, today,”
“You were sleeping, Jacob,” she pointed out, giggling.
“And that ridiculously enormous bed of yours felt empty without you there with me,”
She let her fingers run behind the nape of his neck, pulling him down to kiss his nose.
“You were tired, my love. You had been out patrolling the city all night,” she murmured. “I just wanted you to get your rest,”
“I know...it’s just not the same, without you next to me,”
She sighed, looking at him straight in the eyes. They had been sneaking in each other’s beds ever since he had been turned, at first to keep each other company in the long nights before the full moon, and later, when both were of age, to indulge into those feelings that had started to blossom toward one another and explore the depth of which they ran between them.
“I am here now, am I not?”
“Yes, you are,” he murmured, letting his hand slithering down where her soft thigh was, priming the soft skin and giving it a teasing squeeze. “You are exactly where I want you to be,”
She smiled, brushing her lips against his. She wrapped her legs around his waist, jotting her hips up closing the distance between the two of them
"What if somebody sees us?" he murmured, his hands roaming on her buttocks, gripping onto them to keep her firmly pressed against himself.
His hold grew stronger,his fingers digging in her soft skin, his grip so strong she knew it would leave bruises.
She felt fire building up in her loins.
She let out a small whimper at that sweet pain, her voice muffled against the crook of his neck.
“This is our special place, Jacob. I gave a disposition that no one is to come to this part of the garden. I am the Lupa, after all."
He raised an eyebrow, with a smirk on his face, unconvinced.
She giggled, giving him a knowing look.
"Fine, I actually released one of the Silver Stags in the northern part of the garden. I marked it with hemlock, so the other Lykoi would only smell only its scent, and not ours."
He smiled and he dipped down for a kiss.
"That's my wife," he murmured against her lips. "My impish...mischievous...adorable...wife..."
He punctuated each word with a kiss, trailing from her lips to her neck, nipping where her pulse was, one of his large hands moving toward her inner thigh, to find the soft, wet flesh of her folds.
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So, here is a small preview of CH.2 of "Moonlight Kissed".
I know I am taking a small break from writing because I don't want to run the risk of burning out, but I had to just adjust it a little bit today because it was bugging me. So I thought,"what the heck, lemme share it as well".
And yes, this is the prelude to SMUT.
(Am slowly building up the courage to write smut some I have already written for both Lucia and Dottie, so hopefully I won't make a mess!)
The hand reached out through the dark forest as ancient blue light swept across its floor. Grace held her breath for what came next. The hand was reaching toward her, it’s soft, plump little arm glowing in the moonlight as the darkness of the forest swallowed up the body that was attached to it. As the hand reached toward Grace’s face, suddenly, it changed and the soft infant hand twisted into the gnarled skin and bone of Bella’s. She wrapped her decaying hand swiftly around Grace’s throat as she felt ice shoot through her veins. Bella emerged from the darkness of the forest. Her eyes were clouded and her porcelain skin was now hanging off of her face as black decayed bits dripped to the forest floor. Grace gasped for air and felt no warming presence around her.
She was entirely alone.
Bella closed the distance between, bending her head down intent on tearing open Grace’s throat. A gurgling sound grew up through Grace’s throat as she felt herself drowning in her own blood, despite never feeling Bella’s teeth tear into her. As she tried to muster a scream through the choking blood she heard a baby cry somewhere off in the forest.
Grace shot up in bed, gasping for air, as the late morning light filtered in through the porthole window above her bed. She tentatively touched at the skin around her neck as she tried to pull in clean breaths to her lungs. Sweat dotted around her hairline and she looked around her. She was alone and had kicked off the sheets during her nightmare. Off to her right in the bathroom, she heard the shower running. Grace pulled her knees up and rested her chin on her knees trying to shake the dream. Her eyes darted to her cell phone lying open on the nightstand. She could tell by the lack of blinking light that she had no new messages.
It had only been 5 days since Renesmee’s birth and Bella hadn’t woken up. Carlisle thought that they had made it in time to have the venom take hold and for the change to happen, but she had yet to wake up. After the second day of staying by Bella’s bed without sleep, Jacob had ushered Grace out of the room against her will and taken her home. Grace had fought but sleep won out. He had held her tightly to him in bed until she had fallen asleep, the tears still staining her cheeks as he tried to whisper soothingly to her.
After coming home, Jake had told her it would be best for them to wait for Carlisle’s word before heading back over.
“Why?” she had said angrily.
“If she has turned, it’s not going to be immediately safe for us to be around her. You’ve fought newborns. She might not remember us right away,” Jacob said as he had gently pushed the hair out of her face. Grace was not having it.
“She asked me to protect Renesmee. I should at least be able to see her to do that, don’t you think?” Grace folded her arms in front of her taking a step back from Jake. He let out a hard breath. He was nothing if not patient with her.
“Yes, but you’ve done that. The threat is gone. Sam’s retreated, and we have a second to breathe until Bella comes back. Let’s just let the Cullens take care of Nessie for now and we’ll go back when we know it’s safe.” He pleaded.
“Nessie?” Grace raised a skeptical eyebrow.
Despite Jake’s efforts, Grace hadn’t been sleeping well. She was constantly woken up by nightmares and the rest of the time she spent pacing the house, too worried about Bella to let herself settle. She was constantly irritated, not at Jake, but at the situation in general, and she wasn’t able to think straight. Everything felt thrown in disarray despite the obvious calm that had fallen over the pack. Quil had even been by to see how they were doing. But for all that, Grace still couldn’t let herself calm down and her moods were unpredictable.
“You nicknamed Bella’s daughter after the lochness monster?” Grace had let out a huff and turned toward the door.
“Babe, please don’t make me chase you,” Jake said as Grace clambered down the front porch steps ready to recast.
“I just want to see her Jake!” Grace spat, her voice got loud as she spun around to look at Jacob standing at the top of the steps, his arms by his side. He stared at her, concerned but frustrated. “I’m going.” She said with finality and Jake shook his head, a light laugh coming out of his mouth.
“No. You’re not. Stay here.” He said, the alpha command clear and easy in his voice. Grace immediately felt her entire body tense up and the anger in her had tripled.
“Excuse me?” she said through gritted teeth. Jacob was in front of her now, hands on her waist as he turned her and guided her back into the house.
“Let’s go take a shower, maybe a nap, watch a movie. Carlisle will call us soon. But for now, I need you to stay put,” Jacob said with certainty. It was a gentle tone, but firm. Grace had seethed, bolting up to her bedroom and slamming the door behind her. Jacob had taken the hint and stayed downstairs, now reassured that she couldn’t go anywhere.
Now as she sat with her arms wrapped around her legs, she felt the cold ache settle in her once more. Carlisle hadn’t called with word but Edward had sent a text saying that Bella might be waking up soon. He also sent Grace a picture of Renesmee who was sleeping peacefully in Rosalie’s arms. That must have been at Jake’s request and she made a note to thank him for his kindness when she was out of this funk.
The faucet turned off in the bathroom and Grace turned her head toward the bathroom door. As steam pushed its way out around the massive figure blocking the door, she smiled.
“Hey, come back to bed for a bit would you?” Grace said softly to him—a peace offering. She knew she had been difficult the past few days but her heart hammered with worry.
“Don’t mind if I do!” Embry’s tall imposing figure, with a towel wrapped neatly around his waist launched toward her on the bed.
“OH GOD!” Grace cried out in shock as the massive frame landed next to her, Embry’s arm pulling her back onto the mattress as she flailed. He made loud, exaggerated kissing noises and shook his wet hair out over her, sprinkling her with warm water. “EMBRY!” she cried pushing against him. “Get off!” she was laughing now, “Enough! You’re getting me all wet!”
“If I had a nickel for every time a girl said that to me,” he said wiggling his eyebrows suggestively.
“Alright, get off her.” Jacob’s voice came clear through the doorway and Embry looked over his shoulder with a grin.
“What? Can’t take a little competition?” Embry said as he hopped up out of the bed. Grace scrambled out of bed and righted herself.
“As if you could compete with an imprint.” Jacob said. He gave Grace a nod and she felt her whole body swim with warmth. As if on silent command, she quickly padded across the room to him, a smile breaking across her face as she slipped into his outstretched arm that winded around her waist.
Jake was settling into his own as alpha. He beamed confidence in his movements, his commands (but not orders, he tried to stay away from using the alpha tone with everyone as much as possible), and in how he led the pack. Grace felt magnetized to him. Sam and Jared had always made it seem like when you first imprinted that that was when the bond felt the strongest, as if you couldn’t breath without the other person there. But Grace had only felt the feeling grow in her as Jake came into his own and maybe as she did too.
She still hadn’t entirely forgiven him for the alpha order to stay put, but felt no need to fight against it. Jacob’s hand gripped her waist as he pulled her into his side more, cupping a hand to her jaw and leaning down to place a gentle kiss to her upturned face. He let a thumb slide across her cheek and Grace felt the wild swing of emotion pull through her again.
“Sleep okay?” he said softly, his eyes roaming around her face to take her in. Grace’s breath caught in her throat. How did he do the intimacy thing so well, even when someone was standing in the room half naked behind them? She swallowed a lump down in her throat and gave a nod. He gave her a signature Jake grin before letting his hand drop from her face to wrap around her and pull her into a hug.
As she buried her face into him he said to Embry over her head, “What are you doing in our bathroom and waking up my girlfriend for anyway?” Grace’s heart fluttered and she let out a quick laugh as he rubbed his hands down her back.
“Ran through a particularly nasty mudslide this morning on my way back. Seth pushed me into it so, if you want someone to blame, blame him,” Embry said.
Grace pulled out of Jake’s embrace and slipped off downstairs as she heard the bickering start between them.
“You’re going to be cleaning out that shower if you left it a mess dude.”
“Who died and made you Mrs. Doubtfire?!”
“I swear to god, Em.”
“Suddenly, he gets a house and he’s all Jonathan Taylor Thomas in Man of the House.”
“Can you stop naming 90’s movies? It’s 10 in the morning.”
“You’re Clueless.” Grace could hear a scuffling upstairs now as Jake clearly tackled Embry.
Grace stumbled into the kitchen and pulled out some pans to start breakfast as a distraction from the growing worry building in her now. After a few minutes of cracking some eggs into a bowl and cooking up some bacon, Jacob descended the steps, running a hand through his tossled black hair. Embry followed close behind, pulling on a black shirt and rotating his shoulder. Jacob came up behind Grace and put his hands gently on her arms, leaning down to kiss her neck before saying softly, “Need any help?”
She gave him a small smile and shook her head, letting out a “Mmm mm.” He leaned up and let his hand run down the length of her back.
“Kay, I’m going to go check on Leah and Seth. Let me know if you need anything,” he said tapping his temple as he headed toward the door. Embry crashed down onto the couch flicking the TV on. Jake high fived him as he went past.
I need you to let me go see Bella. Grace’s inner voice muttered involuntarily.
“Yah, I heard that,” Jake said, not stopping as he jogged out onto the beach, shedding his shorts and phasing out of sight.
Later that night, Grace was wrapped around Jake in bed listening to the rise and fall of his chest as she stayed wide awake. Her heart hammered in her chest still.
“Jake?” she said softly. He stirred and readjusted his hand to rest under her shirt on her covered hip.
“Hmm?” he said sleepily. Grace bit her lip.
“I want to go see Ti’Hal.” She leaned up, pressing on his chest, her weight not making a significant dent on his hard body, as she watched his face in the moonlight.
“Okay,” he said casually. Grace’s eyes widened.
“Really?”
“Of course, Grace. You’re not a prisoner. You can leave and go see Ti’Hal,” Jacob said quickly. She immediately felt the weight of the alpha order lift from her and she exhaled a shuddering breath. Jacob suddenly realized what had happened: “Oh God, the stupid fucking alpha command. I’m so sorry, I didn’t realize, I was just trying to keep you safe.”
“I know,” Grace breathed trying not to belabor the conversation. “Thank you.” She leaned down and kissed him. He held her there for a moment, his other hand placed on her back. Grace shivered and felt goosebumps erupt along her body as he deepened the kiss.
She felt guilty for not being more present with him, but the constant worry of Bella’s life hanging in the balance made it hard for her to focus on much, and the distance from her only made it worse. While he was just trying to keep her safe, Grace couldn’t help but feel controlled. And just like in her early life, whenever she felt like someone was trying to control her, she rebelled against it. Jacob was hers though, and he only wanted the best for her but sometimes, she felt like he still didn’t trust her completely. Whether that was the imprint filling him with anxiety over her safety or the alpha in him, she wasn’t entirely sure.
She let him roll her over onto her back as he fitted his knee between her legs, his lips never leaving hers. His hands roved under her shirt, tugging it up to expose her breasts. Grace tangled her hands in his hair and as he pulled away to kiss down her neck and collarbone, she let out a heady breath. Her knees trembled and she felt heat rising in her.
Jacob ducked his head hungrily to take her right breast in his mouth and Grace pushed her head back into the pillow letting out a satisfied sigh. Jake’s left hand gripped in her waist as his right slithered down her waist. He dipped a tentative finger under the waistband of her lace underwear and traced the line of her hip to her lower stomach. His hands were deft and knew just where to go to make everything in her feel weak. As he slowly moved his hand down, Grace whispered his name in the form of a question. He knew what it meant.
He leaned his head up and the cool air that brushed across her exposed nipple made her shiver. “Okay.” He said, as his eyes connected with hers. Grace was frustrated with herself. Despite everything in her begging her to continue, something always stopped her from taking the next step with him. Jake had always said he understood even though she never offered an explanation, but she still felt unending guilt about it. He was her imprint, they were clearly in love, so what was the problem? What was she so afraid of? She couldn’t even bring herself to answer the question, not now, not with everything happening. Grace only knew that she just needed time to process whatever it was that was holding her back.
He rolled off of her and pulled her into him, planting a kiss on her forehead as she wrapped her arms around his body.
I love you.
“I love you too. Get some sleep. For me,” he replied out loud Grace was flush with fresh regret at his overwhelming kindness and she burrowed her head into his neck to hold back the tears.
Before Grace left the next morning to see Ti’Hal, Jake had taken her face into his hands. “I’d feel better if you took the truck instead of recasting.” Grace’s face fell. So, he thought she’d recast to the Cullen’s house anyway. The truck was easier to keep tabs on her with.
“Is that an order?” She said, sadness instead of anger threaded in her voice. Pain flickered across his face and he let his hands fall, taking her hands in his.
“No. It’s not. I’m just asking you to take the truck instead. Can you do that for me?” He watched her carefully. Grace paused, letting her eyes connect with his and feeling the weight of the imprint pulse through her. The feeling was familiar, calming, safe.
“Okay.” He let out a breath he’d been holding at her answer.
“Thank you.” Jake pressed his forehead to hers and Grace closed her eyes.
Please, just trust me.
“I do, Grace. I just need to know where you are. I’ve already had too many close calls with you for one lifetime. Just do this for me as a favor. Please,” he said pulling back and ducking his head to meet her eye line. Grace nodded in understanding, putting a hand to his face. He kissed her and pulled her into a hug breathing a thank you into her hair before he left. Grace looked at the keys on the counter and hesitated before scooping them up and heading to the truck, pulling her hood up against the rain, her face set.
The drive to Ti’Hal’s was peaceful as the rain splattered against the windshield. Grace felt calmed by the fact that she was fulfilling Jake’s request and also that she was able to leave the house. She believed him when he had told her he hadn’t intended to make her a prisoner there. And if Grace had asked to go anywhere other than the Cullen’s sooner, he clearly would have agreed to it.
As she pulled into Ti’Hal’s muddy driveway, she let out a sigh of relief. The wafting smoke from her crooked chimney set Grace at ease and as she pushed the truck into park and hopped down, she felt a sense of renewal wash over her. She bounded up the short steps to the front door and as it swung open at her touch she beamed at the crouched figure of Ti’Hal working away at making tea.
After two cups of tea and walking Ti’Hal through the events of the past six months, Grace kept her eyes trained on the fire as she mustered the courage to ask the question she’d been wanting to ask since she got there:
“Did I do the right thing? Protecting Bella and the Cullens, I mean?” Grace’s heart felt as if it beat in her throat. Ti’Hal paused before saying,
“Do you feel it was the right thing?”
“Is this a trick where you answer every question with a question?” Grace met her eyes now, but Ti’Hal just smiled gently at her. After a beat, Grace let out a sigh and said, “It felt right. Mostly because I knew I couldn’t let Sam lose himself like that, or lead the others to do something like that. Plus, he was asking me to destroy my family. I couldn’t—” Grace choked a little on her words and couldn’t seem to continue.
“Sam is also bound by his idea of family. And in the same way, you both were trapped in what you thought was right. He came around eventually though.”
“So then...I was right?”
“You were right to hold your own. But when it comes to protecting family, there is no right or wrong way, there is only love that guides us. And love can make us do things we normally didn’t think ourselves capable of.” She said pouring herself some more tea.
“Yeah, like give your girlfriend alpha orders to stay in the house like Rapunzel locked in a tower.” Grace grumbled. Ti’Hal watched her carefully and let out a chuckle.
“Young Jacob is quickly understanding his power as alpha. He’s bound to make a mistake or two along the way. You’d be wise to forgive him some of those mistakes. And he’ll forgive yours too.”
“Even premeditated mistakes?” Grace said offhand. Ti’Hal didn’t answer right away, and Grace wasn’t even sure she had even heard her at all until she said,
“You both will make mistakes with each other, in the name of love for one another and for others. What matters is how you come back together.”
Grace leaned back onto the floor and splayed her limbs out around her trying to ground herself in Ti’Hal’s warm living room. But her decision was already made as soon as she scooped up the keys and walked out the door this morning.
As Grace said her goodbye’s to Ti’Hal, she tread carefully toward the truck and opened the door before placing the keys on the driver side seat, closing the door and turning on her heel. Just as she turned and was about to recast, Embry caught her eye, leaning against a tree in Ti’Hal’s front yard with his arms crossed and without a shirt.
“Jesus Em!” Grace started, clutching a hand to her chest.
“How was your visit with Ti’Hal?” he said nonchalantly, a knowing casualness to his voice as he stayed planted next to the tree. Grace took a few deep breaths to steady herself before she leveled him with her eyes.
“It was good. What are you doing here?” She asked knowing the answer already.
“Ah, well you see, Jake asked if I could swing by and keep an eye out for you. Didn’t want you getting lost on your way back into town or the rez. He’s perceptive like that.” Embry smirked.
“So, he’s assigned private security to me now? Why not just give an alpha order and call it good?” She was irritated now. He had the audacity to have Embry keep tabs on her in case she bolted for the Cullens? “This is absolute bullshit, Em.” She said her voice raising slightly. Embry put his hands out in front of him in surrender.
“Hey don’t shoot the messenger. I’m just here to do the job I was assigned. So, where to next? Charlie’s? The diner? We could swing by and see Sue, I’m sure she’d have some grub.” Embry was invested now, excited for his Spirit Bird day out.
“I don’t need a chaperone, but thanks anyway,” Grace said as she walked away from the truck toward the treeline.
“Uhh, truck’s that way, Gracie-poo,” Embry said, raising his eyebrow in confusion.
“Yeah well, if alpha overlord Black thinks I’m going to recast and break the rules anyway, what’s the point in sticking to the plan, right?” Her frustration was boiling over into anger now. She clenched her hands into fists as she trudged forward. Embry jumped out in front of her.
“Or, you could be totally chill and not get me in trouble and we could just go somewhere that is definitely not the Cullen’s place. And you can yell at our overlord later!” Embry almost begged but Grace pushed past him. “Grace don’t do this! You know I’m going to have to tell him right away after you recast anyway and it’s going to end in a blow out.”
“Fuck off, Em!” Grace said.
“He’s just asking you to wait! Just a little longer until they know it’s safe. Can’t you just wait!?”
Grace stopped in her tracks and thought about it for a moment. His ask was not entirely unreasonable. Was she just being impatient? Was she being impulsive? Or was it just that she pulled so hard against any form of control, done in the name of protection or not, that was a holdover from her childhood? Grace wondered all at once if she was just being selfish. He pleaded with her this morning to just take the truck, a way of asking for her to promise not to go to the Cullen’s without the pressure of actually asking it. And she had agreed. So why couldn’t she just stick to the plan?
Grace felt her resolve go limp. She hesitated for a moment, almost turning to go back to the truck and then she recast quickly, hearing the tail end of a yell as Embry tried to tell her to stop.
It had been a couple of weeks since the tribal gathering, but Grace had been slammed with finals prep before the winter break. There was at least one downside to stacking all of those AP classes and that was the massive amount of work it took to pass her finals and finish her term papers in time.
Jacob had tried to call her a few times over the first week, but she had been so swamped that she had had to decline the calls that Charlie had answered while she was hunkered down in her bedroom sifting through notes and furiously typing on the desktop.
Bella was making her way through a load of work she hadn’t gotten to since the incident, but she was by no means rushing. All of the air had gone out from her, and in her deflated state, school work was the last of her worries. She’d been putting in more hours at Newton’s store lately, probably to stay out of the house and out from under Charlie’s worried stare.
Grace pulled Bella into her study circle so they could bounce productively off one another and they spent most days after school in the library or upstairs in their room together.
Two weeks after the tribal council meeting, Charlie knocked on their partially opened bedroom door, holding the cordless phone in his hand with a sigh. It was Sunday night and Grace was in the study zone. She glanced up quickly before turning her eyes back to the computer. Her hair was held up by a single pencil in a loose, curled bun. She was wearing wide black framed glasses and a dark green Westmoore High sweatshirt and thick white sweatpants. She had layered the necklace elder Ti’hal had given her the night of the tribal council meeting so that it ringed three strands around her neck and held the black stone just at her collarbone. Jacob’s bracelet was wrapped firmly around her wrist and she played with the loose ends every now and then.
“Tell him I’ll call him back,” she said softly, pouring over a textbook next to her. Charlie held the receiver to his ear.
“Jake, she-” he paused for a minute, “Alright, hold on.” he turned back to Grace, “He says you said that last time and the time before that and the time before that. He’s not taking no for an answer.”
Grace sighed, irritated and held her hand out. Charlie stepped forward and handed it over with a sigh of relief.
“No.” Grace said into the receiver. Charlie did a double take and turned to look at her. She held the phone back out to Charlie. She could hear loud protesting from Jake and stifled a giggle. She wasn’t trying to make him mad or stress him out, but at this moment, school came first.
Grace shook the receiver at Charlie who grabbed it back with a grumble and held the phone to his ear. In the background, Bella let out a chuckle. Charlie’s eyes lit up with surprise at the tinkling sound coming from Bella. She shook her head smiling and turned back to her work.
“Yeah, Jake, no. She’ll have to call you back.” Charlie said over the protest. “It’s finals Jake, they’ll be done in a week. Okay, okay. Yeah, okay.” Charlie trailed off down the hallway trying to talk Jake down and Grace fell back into her work. She could hear a muffled conversation going on downstairs for the next couple of minutes but paid no mind.
The next few days it was quiet from Jacob. Maybe he had gotten the message finally. She was enjoying spending some time with Bella. While she wasn’t her normal self by any means, her quiet company was comforting to Grace and allowed her to focus.
On Wednesday, Bella skipped out early on their study session for her shift at Newton’s, leaving Grace on her own to study under the warm glow of her desk lamp. She put her over ear headphones on and listened to her tried and true study playlist, making headway. She lost all track of time but the early descending darkness was deceiving. It must have been no later than 7pm, but the sky made it look like it was midnight.
It was then that Grace was startled and let out a gasp as she saw a hoodie-clad Jake climbing clumsily through her window and knocking over the huge stack of books on her nightstand. He was already through the window and standing up when Grace hurriedly whispered “Jake what the hell!”
“Grace?” Charlie called from downstairs. Always the in-tune police chief.
“I’m fine! Just knocked over some books.” She called out her door before quietly shutting it. While this was still just Jacob, she was pretty sure he wasn’t supposed to be climbing through her window on a school night in the pitch black.
“Sorry,” Jake whispered with a jerking shrug of his shoulders. He bent to scoop up the books with his broad hands and placed them haphazardly back on her nightstand. He turned to look at her and her face was still one of shock, mouth hanging open, speechless.
“What was I supposed to do?! You haven’t been returning my calls, you haven’t been down to the rez-” Jacob said hurriedly above a whisper.
“SHHH!” Grace’s eyes widened as she rushed up to him and clamped a small hand over his mouth. His skin was extraordinarily warm. Had he gotten taller? He was a good half a foot taller than her at her admirable 5’8”, but still. Even the cut of his jaw felt stronger. She blushed ever so slightly.
“Do you want me to get in trouble? I’m like 1000% sure you’re not supposed to be in here right now.” She looked at him expectantly to answer, but realized after he raised his eyebrows and pointed at his still covered mouth that he couldn’t. She lowered her hand but had it at the ready.
“I’m sorry, I was just worried and it’s Charlie. He’s not going to care.” Jacob whispered.
“Okay, there’s a big difference between Jacob, downstairs, in the light of day, and a boy with mysterious motives in my bedroom at night behind a closed door,” Grace hissed.
“To be fair, you closed the door,” Jacob countered. Grace groaned.
“Jacob!”
“What does he think we’re going to do!?” Jacob shot back. A tense, awkward silence fell between them and all at once Grace didn’t want to answer that question. She blushed profusely and saw a little color rise to Jacob’s face as well. She took a step back from him and returned to her chair.
“Jacob, you should go. I really am studying. I have two term papers due this Friday, an exam tomorrow, and three more next week. Then I’m done and we can hang out over winter break. I promise.” She pulled her leg up under her and propped herself up over her books. Jacob sunk to her bed and leaned back against it, discarding his shoes. “Okay, that’s the opposite of leaving.”
“We can hang out now, I won’t bother you, I’ll just read one of these intensely thick books and stay quiet and you can just...do your thing.” He shrugged and grabbed “A Picture of Dorian Gray” from the stack and cracked it open. Grace let out a huff and turned back to her work.
He kept his word. For the next hour as Grace meticulously wrote out additional flash cards and flipped through notes and highlighted extra snippets of information, he stayed quiet. His soft breathing became her background and she relied on it’s even, steady rhythm to guide her. She felt warm. She felt happy.
After the hour, she gathered her flashcards up and climbed out of her chair and onto the end of the bed pushing Jake’s legs aside.
“Okay, quiz me.” she set the flash cards before him and he sat up eager to please, pulling the cards toward him and discarding the book.
“Okay, Grace Study-hard Alo-”
“Not my middle name, but okay,” she interjected.
“Let’s see what you got.” He cleared his throat and Grace laughed. “What was the Enlightenment?” His voice took on the lilt of poorly practiced game show host.
“The rebirth of intellectual thought and philosophy and it complemented the Scientific Revolution that focused on the hard sciences.”
“Very good, extra credit.”
“That’s not-”
“Next question! How were the works of Ancient Greece and Rome preserved?”
“Monks made dedicated copies that they created by hand. However, in hand copying, there could be altering of ideas, thoughts, and practices.”
“That would suck to have to write that all by hand.”
“Jake,” Grace protested.
“Okay okay!” he cleared his throat again.
As they worked through the entirety of her flashcards, Jake cracked jokes that made Grace peal with laughter despite her best efforts to stay serious. She got most of them right and once they finished, Jacob gave out an exaggerated breath of exhaustion and flopped back onto the bed. Grace sat up next to him at the top of her bed, while he relaxed on her pillows, one arm up under his head. He peered up at her as she worked her way through the cards she didn’t remember and made some edits.
“How do you remember all this stuff?” Jacob asked curiously. At this point Charlie had probably gone to bed and Bella would be home soon. Grace wasn’t worried about speaking in a whisper now.
She shrugged. “I don’t know, it’s just weird information that gets stuck there. It’s on a need to know basis, I guess. And I need to know this stuff right now, so it just stays there.”
“You’re gonna do great,” Jacob said, yawning some and letting his eyes close. Grace yawned in return and slumped down a little on her bed next to him so that she was half sitting, half laying down.
Grace spoke under breath, quizzing herself as Jacob’s even breath slowed. Grace hadn’t realized that she too fell asleep until low light creeped through her window in the early morning hours. She stirred some and realized her desk lamp had been turned off. She looked over at Bella’s bed and saw her sleeping there peacefully, for once. When Grace turned over, she softly gasped as she came face to face with Jacob’s sleeping form.
He was facing her, an arm draped over her waist and a slice of black hair fell over his sleeping face. As he exhaled softly, she could see his lips parted ever so slightly. She felt a squeeze in her heart as she brushed the swath of hair away from his face. Grace let herself stare at him peaceful like this for just a moment longer before she sat up and gently shook his shoulder.
“Jake...Jake wake up,” he groaned softly and pulled at her waist trying to bring her back down and press her to him but she pried his hand off from around her and shook him harder. “Jake wake up. We fell asleep, Billy’s probably worried sick about you.”
Jacob’s dark eyes opened, and Grace didn’t think she’d ever seen anything so beautiful before in her life. “Grace?” he yawned. “What time is it?”
“It’s like 5:30 in the morning. You should go.” She shot a look over to Bella’s stirring form.
“Okay.” he whispered back and slowly hauled himself from her bed and put on his boots.
“You’re not climbing back out the window, come on.” Once he was upright, she crawled out of her bed, took his hand and guided him to the door. She cracked it open and peered out and around to check that the coast was clear. Jacob stood half awake behind her, but was seemingly awake enough to interlace his fingers with her, a way of bringing her closer. She gently pulled him out into hall once she was satisfied with the silence and padded softly down the stairs and to the front the door. When she pulled it open, the cold air rushed over her and Jacob quickly perked up, he crossed the threshold still holding her hand and let it go only at the last moment when he said,
“Good luck on your test today. I’ll see you soon?” He gave her a soft, teasing smile.
“Yes, very soon, I promise. But Jacob, you can’t sleep over like that again, we’re gonna get in trouble.” Grace warned, crossing her arms tightly in front of her to keep warm.
Jake let out a guffaw nodded, and stepped toward her, taking her off guard before quickly kissing the top of her head. Before she realized what had happened, he was jogging down the front steps and off toward the Rabbit. Grace stood planted in place, glued to the spot by the effortless affection bestowed upon her. What was that? Jacob was her best friend, but did this mean something different?
Suddenly, she was overcome with exhaustion and closed the door quietly before bolting quietly up to her room and under the covers. The sheets still held onto his soft, warm, scent that was a mix of fir trees, spice, and crisp sea air. She fell asleep, crushing the pillow he had slept on to her and woke up an hour later to bright sunshine. When she sat up and felt the bed around her, it dawned on her that she had had a boy in her bed. Not just any boy, but Jacob Black. She put her face in her hands and shook her head back and forth, not sure how to feel.
Bella was up, but hadn’t crawled out of bed and was peering out at the sun with eyes clouded in gloom. Sunny days were two parts hard, one part easy for Bella. It was the most realistic day that she would have spent without Edward normally and that brought her comfort. But on the other hand it only accentuated his absence.
“Bella?” Grace called from her bed. Bella slowly turned to her and gave her a smile.
“Was Jake here last night?” she asked nonchalantly as if she had a boy in her room at night all the time like it was no big deal.
“Uh, yeah.” Grace squirmed, “He barged in and then stayed to help me study and we kind of fell asleep.” Bella just nodded her head appreciatively and got up to go to the bathroom. Before she left the room, Grace said hurriedly:
“Don’t tell Charlie.”
“Of course.” Bella confirmed as if this was the most obvious answer in the world.
