The Consequences {Jacob Black}

Chapter CLI

Jake left us at the tree line and turned around to run. He sprinted, a flash of brow fur whizzing around us. I led Nessie to the house, but I didn't go inside. Instead, I sat myself down on the porch swing and calmly tried to replay things in my head. Dad had invited them there. Even after he'd told me that he didn't want anything to do with Bella and the Cullens anymore. And if he couldn't be so sure about what he was saying, then what did that mean for Nessie? "How you doing?" I asked when she sat on the porch railing in front of me.

"I liked Christmas," she replied.

"The day's not over yet, Nessie," I whispered.

"It might as well be. You guys are mad at Grandpa because he invited Mom and Dad. Mom and Dad are mad at you and Jake. And I'm sure this will mean something for me in the future," she replied.

"Ness," I began.

"I don't want to be around them, Ryanne," she said, but there were tears pooling in her eyes. I didn't even know that she could cry. "But they're my parents. How am I just supposed to get over that?" I sighed.

"It's not an easy question, Nessie. And no matter how many times you ask yourself or how many different ways that you say it, it's never going to change. But the reality of it is that you have to make the decision for yourself. Because the question is are they your parents or the people that created you? My mom is not my parent, Ness. She's just the woman that gave birth to me. Jake's mom, Billy's wife, Sarah; she was my mother. She taught me how to cook, how to sew, how ride my bike. She was the person that kissed all my cuts and made everything all better. And she wasn't related to me at all," I said. "So maybe Bella and Edward aren't your parents. That doesn't mean that you don't love them or that you don't want them around. It just means that you know better than to listen to them. Maybe your parents are Rosalie and Emmet."

She sat silently in front of me, looking like she was just chewing over my words and letting everything sink in. "Or you and Jake?" she whispered. I nodded even though I wasn't sure if I really believed it. "Right? I think you have more parents than just me and Jake, Ness," I said cautiously. "There are other people that teach you how to do things, things that Jake and I don't know how to do."

"Like?"

"Well, Billy and Emily and Leah and Charlie and Rosalie and Emmet and Carlisle and Esme. Everyone is trying their best to teach you everything that they think you should learn. And, to be honest, if you weren't a hybrid, it would probably overwhelm your brain," I laughed. She didn't seem at all comforted. "Ness... Do you like spending time with Rosalie and Emmet?"

"Yes."

"Have you thought more about living with them?" I had asked her before, but I didn't want to press the issue and make her think that I didn't want her around.

"I like going and seeing them on the weekend," she whispered. "But I don't think that I want to go live with them. I like them and when we're all hanging out together, they're more like parents than you and Jake are." I smiled at her. At least she knew that we weren't really parents for her. "But I like living with you and Grandpa and Billy." God she was a girl if I had ever met one. She was trying so hard to make everyone else happy instead of focusing on herself.

"Well, I'll figure something out for you, Nessie. Me and Jake; we'll make it work for you, okay?" She nodded, a little smile gracing her beautiful face. "Speak of the devil," I whispered when I saw Jake's fur flash in the trees beside the house. "Go inside and finish opening your presents. Billy and the girls brought them home." She nodded solemnly and got up immediately, not questioning why she had to leave.

Jake phased out and came to stand beside me. "Where'd you disappear to?" I whispered.

"I went to go make sure that your dad didn't get himself killed," he snarled. "But they left and your father was still in one piece." I nodded, fighting the urge to smile. Of course he would go back to watch after my father, regardless of how angry he was at him for the decisions that he'd made. "I can't promise he'll be that way for much longer."

"Jake, he's just trying to keep his family together. He doesn't know how to do that," I defended quietly.

"He chose us, Annie. You gave him the chance to have Bella and he said that he didn't want her in his life anymore," Jake replied, kneeling down in front of me. "Don't defend him, babe. What he did was wrong."

"I didn't say that it was right, Jake. But you have to think about it in a different way too. Would you be able to say that you don't want anything to do with Rachel or Rebecca and just stick by that? When major holidays came around, wouldn't you want to have your whole family together? Wouldn't you want things to be like normal families are supposed to have them?"

"There's nothing normal about us, Annie-girl. We've never been normal. From the very beginning we were different. In our friendship, in our relationship, in just being us. There is nothing normal about us. And if it meant the safety of my family and friends, yes; I could write off my sisters and be happy with myself," he replied. Resting on his haunches in front of me, he reached up and placed his rough hand on my cheek. "I just want to keep you safe. You're sister is not a safe option for anybody but a vampire. She's only going to hurt you and your dad. Look at what she did today. She put a rift in between you guys that wasn't there. She created it."

I was silent for a few moments. Jake dropped his hand from my face and came to sit beside me on the swing. I curled my knees around to the side of us and rested against his side, my head coming to fall on his shoulder. I sighed heavily. "You're right," I finally whispered.

"What was that?"

"Please don't make me repeat it," I said, the words tasting like the worst sour candy in my mouth.

"Did Ryanne Lee Swan just admit that I was right about something?"

"Jake," I warned.

"No, no, please just let me revel in the moment. Please, please," he begged.

"Jake."

"Couldn't you just say it one more time? Please? Just once; that's all I need," he said. I glared at him dangerously. He pressed me down in the swing, causing it to teeter. I laughed at him while trying to maintain my angry mien. "Say it," he repeated. His hand locked my wrists above my head in his favorite position, the other hand found my ribs. His fingers pinched and shook at my skin until I succumbed to my giggles. When I was barely breathing, he stopped and let me pant until I could gain a full lungful of air again. "Say it, Annie."

"No!" And so the cycle repeated until finally there were tears streaming down my face and I was crying out. "Okay! Okay! You were right. You were right Jake!" He stopped and left me heaving on the swing.

"Thank you," he whispered with pride. There was a smirk on his face that made me to slap him in the most loving way. God knows I hated how much I loved that boy. "Thank you very much."

I glared at him again but I couldn't bring myself to mean it. And when he leaned down to kiss me, I willing accepted it. In fact, I wound my fingers in her hair and kissed him back with all the emotions that had been swirling around in me. Who knew that hurt, rage, desperation, love, and joy could make such a delicious combination?

I was getting completely lost in the boy that was lying on top of me when I heard the front door open. I jumped and tried to shove Jake away, but I could have been shoving against a brick wall for all the progress I was making. "Jake," I whispered again, giving one final shove. With a groan, he shoved off of me and pulled the two of us into the position that we had been in before he'd insisted that I tell him he was right.

"Guys," Nessie said. I blushed beet red again. I was fairly certain Ness had never seen the two of us quite like that. "The snow's sticking," she said, pointing out at the white powder that had last two full days now. "They're coming."