Felicity
I was stalling. Kind of. I mean, I wasn't lying when I said I needed to process. I did need that. But my mind had enough of a grasp on it all to be full of questions—questions I was currently too much of a chicken to ask. Hence, the stalling.
So I sat in the kitchen table with Jacob and Paul pretending not to stare at me while I ate my way through a box of Cheez-Its. Not the healthiest of options, but the box was out on the counter and they looked good so they were fine for me.
Jacob pushed a bottle of water toward me after a few minutes, and I removed the lid and gulped down the liquid. I was such a mess I hadn't even noticed how thirsty I was. Lucky for me Jacob had my back. I pondered that as I munched on my snack. Jacob and I had clicked basically right away. Well, after we'd actually talked. Our first meeting didn't really count. Crashing into him in the hallway was just an unfortunate mishap. But once we'd talked and been civil with each other, then became friends...we clicked well. I couldn't deny that. Wasn't it so recently when I was wondering if I was falling for him? Maybe I wasn't wrong to be feeling so strongly for him so soon after Elijah. Maybe there was a reason.
Dr. Cullen's ramblings about "imprinting" weren't exactly conclusive, however, so I had no idea. I was simply trying to make connections in my head. The only way to know for sure would be to ask Jacob.
But to ask Jacob about that, I had to also confront the very real possibility that Dr. Cullen hadn't been insane and was citing the truth when he said Jacob and his friends were werewolves. And that was the thing my mind wanted to reject. It was tough to even force myself to focus on it. How could a mythological creature be real? And how could I have so conveniently stumbled upon them as two of the people I was closest too?
That question alone brought my brain around again to the imprinting thing—I'd known Jacob for such a short time and he was already someone I was closest to? Being so close to Paul made sense, since we were literally living together at this point, but Jacob...
Sitting straighter in my chair, I decided to face this head on. No more chickening out. The sooner I asked questions and sorted my head out, the sooner things could go back to normal—or as close to it as possible.
"You're werewolves," I said firmly, shifting my stare between them and daring them to contradict me.
They glanced at each other. Paul shrugged. Jacob sighed. "Not exactly," Jacob said. "But we do turn into wolves."
That...had not been the answer I was expecting. The wind effectively blown out of my sails, I slumped in my chair. "Oh?"
He shook his head. "Werewolves implied needing some sort of trigger to change into the wolf. We're more like...shifters. We can phase whenever we want. Though it's harder to control when we're angry. If we get too angry it's actually impossible to control and we shift whether we want to or not. That hasn't been much of an issue lately, though," he added, as if I'd given any sort of reaction to the new information. In actuality I was just staring at him. "Sam was the first of us to change. He didn't really know much about the transformation or how it worked. So when he and Emily were arguing in their early days, he learned the hard way that anger made phasing uncontrollable."
Now I had a reaction as my eyes widened. "Emily's scars."
Jacob nodded. "Yes."
Paul inserted himself into the conversation. "I actually had a little lapse not too long ago, too. I didn't hurt anybody, but I did phase kind of near Bella Swan. It was dangerous. In theory. I wouldn't have hurt her, but the rest of the pack thought otherwise."
I looked at him, tilting my head to the side. "Why would you tell me that?"
One side of his lips tipped up in a half smile. "We're BFFs and talking about rooming together and all, I've gotta be honest with you, doll."
My own lips quirked up a tad in response. "Okay."
"Did one of the Cullens tell you about us?" Jacob asked tensely.
"Yes," I answered. "The doctor. He said...a lot of things. Not many of them made sense. Which is why I'm asking you."
"Good," Jacob said, almost too quickly. "I'm glad."
Paul snorted. "This guy is a mess."
"Why?" I asked.
"Because he—" Paul started.
"Shut up," Jacob warned, cutting him off. Then his voice gentled as he said to me, "I'm just...I don't know how to say any of this. It's a lot. It's too much. What he did to you and now to drop this shit on you..."
I shrugged. "Well, I already know the biggest stuff. You turn into wolves, and you've imprinted on me. Now you only need to tell me what those things mean."
"The wolf thing was going to be explained at the bonfire," Jacob admitted quietly.
I couldn't refrain from frowning at the reminder of the get together I'd been so excited about. I had thought I'd get my answers to whatever it was I knew was being kept from me that night. Apparently I was correct. If only things had gone as planned.
"We'll have another bonfire soon," Paul offered. "Jake's dad will tell the legends, which is how we explain things to all the imprints, and you'll be completely in the know. It'll all be good, doll. I promise."
And just like that I couldn't help but smile. Paul could be inappropriate and rude, but he was really a big softy. "Okay. So about the imprinting thing..."
Paul pointed to Jacob. "He can tell you all about that without my help. I'm useless here." And with that, he snatched up my Cheez-Its box and practically ran from from the room.
***
Jacob
Such a fucking wimp, I thought as I watched Paul's back while he rushed away. Not that I could claim to be any better since he was doing exactly what I wished I could. This was the conversation I'd been most dreading. The wolf thing was a kicker, but the imprinting thing? "Oh, hey, I know we only met a few weeks ago, but I'm the person made for you—want to be my significant other for life?" Shit. Who would react well to that?
I hissed out a long breath, trying and failing to think of some way to distract Felicity. But she was watching me. Waiting for an answer. "I'm nervous," I admitted.
Her eyes twinkled a little, her expression conveying sympathy. "Nothing to fear from me."
"Except your immediate rejection," I muttered.
Felicity squinted, her face scrunching up in confusion. "It's not like you're on trial here, Jacob. I just want to understand. We'll be friends no matter what. I'm not judging you based on what you're about to explain to me. I just need to know."
She looked so sincere. She sounded so sincere. But it was her telling me she needed to know that got me. I couldn't try to sidetrack anymore. "Imprinting is..." My mind searched for the best way to word this. "It's the way a wolf finds his perfect match. The easiest way to explain it is kind of like love at first sight, but it's more than that. And less limited. When we see our imprint, that's it. They're the only thing that matters. Sam's said it's kind of like Emily is his gravity, the only thing holding him on the ground, and I think that's pretty accurate. When we see our imprint, we become whatever they need us to be—friend, confidant, whatever. So long as they're happy and safe." I ran out of steam then, unsure of what to say next.
Felicity's gaze was a mixture of emotions, but the most obvious was contemplative. Good. She wasn't immediately denying the entire idea. She was thinking it through. That was more than I could have hoped for. But then the silence stretched on for an entire minute and the awkwardness grew. I was about to beg her to say something when she finally spoke.
"So we're meant to be together." It wasn't a question.
I gave her an answer anyway. "In a way. We don't have to...be a couple. Not if you don't want to. We can be whatever we need to be."
She bit her lip. "What about what you want?"
I smiled. "This sounds stupid, but I want what you want. Or, to be more specific, I want you to be happy. So that means giving you what you want." I paused, beyond aware that my answer was lame. Not the way to convince Felicity of how I actually felt. "But honestly? Just me? I want...you."
She blinked. Her eyes traced my face, studying me so intently I was tempted to look away. But with her riveted expression at that moment, there was no way I could look anywhere else. "Thank you for being honest."
"Always," I promised.
Felicity smiled. "I think...we should continue as we are. Friends." For a second, my heart stopped. But then she continued, "And we can see where it goes."
"Where it goes," I said, an agreement though I wasn't quite sure where exactly she thought we were going.
"Yeah." She nodded resolutely. "Not too long ago we were strangers. Then we were friends. Now we're even closer friends. I think we could be more—I think we will be more. But I want to get there naturally, you know? I don't want to jump into anything. I like the natural progression thing we've got going right now. Let's keep it up."
When she explained it that way, I was a fan ofthe idea. Hell, I loved the idea. A grin overtook my face. "Okay," I agreedmore confidently this time. "Let's keep it up."
***
A/N: Heads up, lovely reader friends, that after this chapter there will only be one more. Chapter 20 if the final chapter of this story. Once I post that (probably in about a week), I'll start posting my NEXT story, which is a Bella/Edward story called The Lucky One. But more on that later. For now, I just wanted y'all to be aware that this story was close to the end! :)