𝖇𝖎𝖌 𝖇𝖆𝖉 𝖜𝖔𝖑𝖋

his  laughter  made  it  all  better  .  the  lack  of  sun  was  almost  a  second  thought  ,  and  it  made  them  smile  in  return  .  bella  scoffed  at  the  implication  of  her  age  !  already  feeling  old  enough  as  it  was  .    they  waved  it  ,  making  sure  to  smack  his  chest  in  mock  annoyance  .    ‘sure  .  when’s  the  last  time  you  hung  out  with  friends  that  weren’t  me  or  LEAH ?    ’    she  taunted  .    ‘    o-kay  ,  wolf  man  .    ’    bella  snorted  ,  amused  but  happy  that  jacob  was  proud  of  his  heritage  .    ‘    a  defender  .  huh  .  yeah  ,  okay  ,  i  could  see  it  .  kind  of  suits  you  and  your  possy  .    ’    referring  to  the  people  she’d  seen  around  jake  .

“   two   legs   or   four   legs,   you   couldn’t   catch    me,   ”   the   blonde    states,   an   almost   invisible   smile   gracing   her   lips.   and   while   she  wasn’t   certain   of   that,   she’d   be   safe   to   assume.   and   she   was   half   tempted   to   take   the   dog   up   on   it,   though   she  knew   carlisle   would   blow   a   fuse.    “   you   know   good   and   well   none  of   us   are   a   threat   to   the   humans.   ”

He sits just at the edge of the water, shoes lain haphazardly beside him in the sand and feet submerged in the tide as it rises and falls to meet him. “There’s always so much water here.” Enough time spent alone has made his used to speaking his thoughts aloud. Hearing a voice, even if it’s only his own, is comforting. Four years, only a drop in the ocean to some of his kind, now a significant portion of his life spent in solitary wandering, hunting and killing and then feeling the hunger rise up again until it threatened to destroy him and he could suppress it no longer, so the cycle would repeat. “There was never this much water before.”

of all the blood suckers jake had seen, this one wasn’t familiar. vampires moved in and out of forks frequently, but their scents ──  they all stayed. newcomers were rare, and they were the most dangerous. jacob was unsure if they had ever been through forks, but he’d never picked up on their scent. jogging through the sand towards home, the new scent overcame him. skin tingling, body heating...he approached the stranger. “never seen you around here before, and you’re getting awfully close to territory where you don’t belong.  we won’t be having a problem tonight...will we?” 

bella  sensed  the  awkwardness  that  settled  between  the  two  friends  and  made  the  executive  decision  ,  albeit  a  dumb  one  ,  to  pull  a  funny  face  .  tongue  stuck  out  and  nose  scrunched                        like  they  were  kids  all  over  again  .    ‘    oh  ,  come  on  jake  .  you  don’t  want  to  end  up  a  hermit  .  you’re  twenty  .  have  some  …  fun  .    ’    says  the  queen  of  anti  socializing  .    ‘    if  i’ve  ever  heard  bitter  …    ’    a  quiet  question  ,  but  pulled  back  with  a  look  of  disbelief  at  his  next  word  .  ‘  what  ?    ’    she  took  a  moment  ,  like  she’d  heard  wrong  ,  amused  .    ‘    like  -  wolves  ?  like  real  wolves  ?    ’  she  chuckled  through  her  words  ,  unsure  if  jacob  was  pulling  at  her  leg  .

browsing the blossoms, esme picked up a delicate pink rose, admiring the color. it wasn’t often that she found herself at the florist, but an early frost had killed most of the flowers in her own garden, and though she loved their home, it often felt bleak without a bit of flora livening it up. at the sound of her name, esme turned to look at the boy, eyebrows raised. she had smelled him when she first walked in, but due to the strained relationship the cullens had with the quileutes, had elected to give him some space. “jacob,” she greeted kindly, offering him a small smile. “i like to think so,” she grinned, setting the pink rose back where it belonged. “what’s the occasion?”

maybe it was the air about her ( even if the stench overcame him every now and again ) that made jacob feel somewhat...at home ? it was hard to describe. although no heat emitted from the vampire physically, esme still managed to replicate the feeling. it was maternal ──  something he hadn’t been used to for a while. “i figured,” he admitted with a small smile. the question shouldn’t have caught him off guard, but, of course, it did. “my mom. i buy ‘em every once and a while...you know, for her.” his eyes dropped to the soft petals, fingertips gently brushing over them. “just want to make sure they look nice.” 

her sense defied her compass to act morally correct and it was all controlled by one thing: danger. whether she was directly involved or not, she knew when it was near and well –– when jake changed, her feeling did as well. and a girl like her? well feeling was all she had to go off of even though she played it as smooth as possible. seeing him again was –– well she masked her distain for a curt smile. “i think there’s a compliment in there somewhere, i’m sure of it,” she took a step closer, noticing the small things in his appearance. “what? am i not welcomed anymore?”

while   her   other   half   was   quite   social,   rosalie   had   her   moments,   though   most   of   the   time   -   she    preferred   to   avoid   humans.   more    importantly,   wolves.   “   sorry   to   disappoint,   but   terrorizing  the  locals   is   not   on   my   schedule   for   the   day,   ”   she   says,   “   shouldn’t   you  be   out  in   the   woods,   chasing   your   tail   right   about   now   ?   ”

arms  loosely  crossed  around  her  chest  ,  waves  suddenly  interesting  .  talk  about  feelings           it  was  never  their  forté  .  she  liked  to  wave  those  moment  goodbye  as  they  passed  .  it  wasn’t  fair  to  those  closest  to  her  ,  but  the  few  knew  her  better  than  that  .  her  grin  widened  ,  now  turning  back  to  jacob  .    ‘    that’s  because  you’re  not  looking  close  enough  .  leah’s  not  the  only  girl  on  the  reservation  .  you’re  stealing  the  cullens’  thunder  .    ’    they  chuckled  ,  knowing  mostly  that  the  charm  the  family  had  was  thwarted  by  their  lack  of  interest  in  any  body  else  .  ‘    legends  ,  huh  ?  spooky  .  tell  me  one  .    ’