Saturday morning, I woke up with my head pillowed on Jake's chest. His snores literally vibrated the entire bed. This was a little strange. Normally, Jake was already gone on patrol when I woke up on the weekends. Mostly because I was up super later, but partly because he started patrol at seven in the morning. What high school student wanted to wake up early on the weekend? If they actually existed, I was not one of them.
Jake didn't like waking up early, but our family dinners were very important to us. So he chose to work earlier in the morning, nap a little, and be there for dinner. Besides, it was too difficult to explain to my father that Jake, at sixteen, had a night job that sometimes required him to work during the day. Yeah, no, it was easier to just have Jake there for dinner. Regardless, waking up beside him on a Saturday was weird.
I tried to wiggle my way out of his arms, only to have the arm around my waist tightened a little. He growled in his sleep at some unknown assailant. I smiled and rested my head on his chest again, listening to his heartbeat under my ear.
Was it possible to love someone as much as I loved Jake? It didn't seem like it should be, but I knew that I really loved him. I had always loved him. Maybe that's why Bella pissed me off so much. It was like Kim had said, I loved Jake before he was a wolf. If I was so sure of my love for him, why should I ever doubt his for me? I mean, let's get real here. I was pretty fabulous.
I could hear Billy groaning as he pulled himself out of bed and into his chair. I griped a little as I pushed myself into a sitting position, fighting Jake the whole way.
"Jake, your dad's awake," I said still trying to sit upright. He growled. "Jake, come on." I leaned over and pressed my lips to his, waiting until he was kissing me back to pull away.
Clearly, that was not the way to wake him up. He drew me atop him so that I was straddling his chest, my hair falling like a curtain over the two of us. He pulled my lips down to his, burying his hands in my hair. My hands were on either side of his head as his hands crawled their way down my neck, leaving my body altogether. I tried to ignore the electric shock I felt when his fingertips grazed the exposed skin where my shirt had crawled up a little. He pulled away then, lightly tossing me on the bed and jumping up.
"You're not turning into Bella's little leech are you?" I asked a little breathlessly.
"No, it's not that," he said just as winded. "I don't have a door, Annie. The last thing I need is my dad rolling down the hallway to see that." I nodded, glad that it wasn't something that I had done wrong. He frowned a little, cautiously walking back towards the bed.
"You thought that something was wrong?" I shrugged instead of nodding. I had never had a boyfriend. I had never done any of this before. I knew that Jake didn't have any more experience than I did. However, he also had Paul's mind to ask whenever he wanted to do anything. I think that was cheating.
He pulled me underneath him, pressing his chest against mine. He held himself up, not crushing me underneath him, but holding me down with his weight.
"You," he said, kissed below my ear, "can," he kissed the opposite side, "wake me up," he breathed, lips on my forehead, "like that," now on my nose, "anytime." His lips met mine in a hungry kiss that was rough and sweet and tender.
"Okay, okay, you're right," I said, shoving against him. "Your dad could come by any minute." He laughed, but rolled off of me in search of something more than his boxers.
"You know, at some point, we're going to have to get your things unpacked," he commented as he was moved a box from right in front of his dresser.
I rolled my eyes and headed off to the kitchen. Billy was still in his bathroom; I could hear the pipes groaning as he showered. I guess that was the benefit of a small, old house.
I filled the coffee pot with water, listening to the sink sputter a little bit before it spat the water at me. I loved this old shack. There were only three bedrooms in the house, only two bathrooms. The living room was kind of small and cramped, covered in all things tribal. The backyard was a garden that Sarah had started so long ago. Sarah?
I started the coffee pot and burst back in Jake's room. He was standing in front of his window, a hammer in hand.
"What are you doing?" I asked with a laugh. Jake was more suited to cars than he was to household problems. I usually took care of that.
"I've been meaning to get this hung up for you," he said, stooping down to grab the little string that Sarah's dreamcatcher hung on. "Maybe she can help you sleep if I have to patrol at night," he explained.
"So, quick question; can you read minds?" He cocked his head to the side and stared at me. "I was just making coffee and thinking about her. I was wondering where I'd left the dreamcatcher. At least that vamp didn't take it." He smiled, fingering the feathers that dangled from the bottom of it.
"I'm going to start breakfast. Coffee will be ready soon." I needed to get him fed before he went out an patrol. He must've taken a later shift or something.
I piled my hair in a sloppy version of a bun and straightened my shirt and shorts before turning to the old fridge. It was a good thing the old men were going fishing today; I was running low on my supply of fish. Since Harry's heart attack, both of them had been listening to me and cutting down on their red meats. I was sure that Jake wasn't exactly happy about that, but he never complained. I'd have to make a steak for dinner one night soon. Maybe we could do a date night again. I smiled, pulling the eggs and sausage from the cold box.
"Hey y'all," Dad shouted.
"Hey Dad," I replied. "Billy will be out in just a little bit."
"His age finally starting to show?" he teased. I rolled my eyes and brought my attention back to the meal.
"Coffee on?"
"Yeah; omelets sound good?" He just nodded.
"Hey Annie-girl, I was thinking, oh hey Charlie," Jake quickly corrected. "You and Dad heading out today?"
"Yeah, gonna be some good fishing today. You two have plans?" I could hear him worrying. I would have to chalk it up to him just being a father.
"Jake has work today, Dad. So it'll just be homework and chores. Do you need anything at home?" Jake growled beside me, hopping up on the counter, attempting to snag a sausage that had cooked. I slapped his hand away with a glare.
"I didn't want to make you go all the way home," he said sheepishly. "I was hoping maybe you could help me with some laundry? I, uh, accidentally turned one of my work shirts pink."
"Remember when I said not to put red and whites together?" I laughed. "What did you do before I learned?"
"He borrowed my wife," Billy said, his hair pulled back in a braid. I lifted the pan in my hand and flipped Dad's omelet.
"Did you bring some down here?" He turned red, but nodded. "Jake can go unload it; I'll get it done before you guys get back."
"Jake forgot that he was the slave," the boy in question said, jumping off the counter and heading towards the front door, grabbing Dad's keys as he went.
"Annie forgot that she was supposed to care." Dad and Billy laughed.
Breakfast was boring, Dad and Billy teasing each other as always. Jake and I kicked each other under the table every time one of us said something that could be interrupted in a different manner.
Okay, so mostly, I kicked Jake and he laughed when I thought that I had broken my toe. We stood on the front porch, probably looking like parents that were seeing their children off to school. Jake had his arms on either side of mine, leaning against the railing with his head resting on my shoulder.
"I don't have patrol today," he said after a while of staring at the wind playing with the forest.
"You're not?"
"No; you and I are going on a date," he replied, moving his head to the top of mine.
"We are?" I said a little shocked.
"Yep; we're going to have a picnic on the living room floor."
"How long have you been planning this?"
"A little while."
"So, what does one wear on an indoor picnic date?" I asked, looking out at the gentle rain that was starting to come down.
"Whatever she feels like. We'll do some chores, some homework, and then we'll put on The Sound of Music."
"And for dinner?"
"Well, if the control freak in you can take it, I was hoping you'd teach me how to make lasagna," he said a little shyly. I smiled and he relaxed. "Emily said that you might enjoy grocery shopping for it."
"I don't know if I'd necessarily enjoy it," I replied with a laugh. "But I'm really glad that we're spending the day together," I said, turning in her arms to grip his shirt in my hands. "I think it's been a little too long."
"I would agree with that," he replied, kissing the corner of my mouth. "Why don't you go start whatever you want to get done and then we can go shop?" I nodded. I had never known Jake to be the kind of guy who thought about these things.
"Did you have any help with this idea?"
"You can ask whoever you want; I didn't have any help. I was thinking that it had been a little too long since you and I had our first date. And then we had so many things that just kind of went wrong. I can't exactly leave the Rez," he said. "So I figured we could do something here at home. Something you could make fun of me while we did it." I smiled and followed Jake into the house.
I didn't bother to put on any makeup or anything, just tossed some jeans and a tank top, without a sports bra, on and met Jake in front of the house.
"Are we going to need a lot of stuff?" he asked, his eyes fixed on my eyes. I shook my head. "The rain's let up. You want to walk?"
"This is La Push, Jake; it'll be raining by the time we get there."
"You afraid a little bit of water?"
"Didn't you know Leah and I will melt?" He laughed and pulled the front door open, bending at the waist.
"Don't get all corny," I laughed.
We walked hand in hand down the short path to the general store. It was nice just to have a day where it was just the two of us, no wolves, no vamps, no imprints, nothing. It was just the two of us, even if it was just for a little while. We walked through the store, the basket swinging lightly from Jake's arm as we went through the different aisles and gathered what we would need. By the time that we had laughed and teased and paid, the rain had started coming down again.
"Would it be inappropriate of me to say I told you so?" I asked with a laugh, walking down the ramp of the store and into the rain.
"What do you think you're doing?"
"Walking home."
"It's raining; you'll get sick."
"You know, I can remember a few times that we walked home in the pouring rain on more than one occasion. And back then, I didn't get sick."
"I've decided that you weren't quite as accident prone back then," he replied. "Get out of the rain, Annie. You'll get sick or something, I swear it."
"You could just walk home with me," I replied, turning my back to him. "You coming?" I asked, turning back to him for a second. Jake rushed at me, ducking to throw my hip over his shoulder, so I was lying with my chest against his back.
"What are you doing, Jake?" I laughed, punching him in the back. "Jacob, put me down!"
"I'm getting you out of the rain, remember?"
"I enjoy walking in the rain, Jake! Put me down!"
"Fine," he said, tossing me on the warm sofa. "There, out of the rain." I tried to frown at him, but I couldn't help but laugh.
"You are ridiculous; I hope you know that." He walked over to the kitchen then, unpacking the bag of stuff that we had before settling on the couch beside me.
"What's next, guru?" he asked, sighing and leaning back.
"Next we dry off a little bit," I said. His eyes lit up mischievously. "I don't know what you're thinking about, but it's not going to happen." His smile fell a little. "Let's just go make dinner," I said.
"It's only noon," he said with a laugh.
"We have to start the sauce, Jake," I said. "Come on."
Jake and I probably shouldn't have been in the kitchen together.
"Just a little bit of Italian seasoning," I said. He tossed some in his hand and blew it at me.
"Sorry it just blew away; the wind you know?"
I tossed an egg at him, watching it crack against his chest.
"It just slipped, you know?" I said, tossing my head to the side.
What should've taken an hour took us like three, not counting the amount of time it took us to clean up our...war zone. I switched the laundry, trying to get my dad's stuff done. Jake surprised me, wrapping his arms around my waist.
"Can we please just get this date over with? I have other things in mind."
"We both know that I'm not going there yet," I told him seriously.
"When was the last time that we were alone in a house?"
"Never."
"So we don't have to go that far," he said seriously. "But it'd be nice to for it to be the two of us," he whispered, pressing a kiss against my ear. "No interruptions."
"Date first," I replied, shivering against him.
So... I would have never thought that eating lasagna on the floor, after having made the kitchen explode just to make it, would be so fun. We were fighting over the last piece in the pan, the sound of metal clinking echoing through the air, when he suddenly tackled me to the blanket.
"Mine," he growled. I wasn't sure if he was talking about me or the lasagna. His mouth moved against mine, slowly and surely and sweetly. "All mine," he said, pulling away from me and plating his lasagna.
"Jerk!"
I was pillowed against his chest, his arm holding the one I had around his chest as he hummed to the Sound of Music.
"This was fun," I said quietly.
"It's not over," he replied.
"Our dads will be home soon," I laughed.
"My dad is insisting that they go to Sue's. Charlie's just going to drop him off before heading home. They won't be home until late," he replied, pushing him away from the ground and taking the plates into the kitchen. He was back shortly, not bothering doing the dishes. He pulled me back against him. I smiled in contentment, happy that I'd had this chance. There was nothing behind me, nothing chasing me, nothing that was going to kill us. I could forget that some of my clothing was missing, that some of my most treasured possessions were gone. The things that held the biggest parts of me.
"Jake," I whispered as the realization hit me. He looked down with that stupid grin on his face.
"It's coming after me."