Liplocked Lullabies

“I’m sleepy.”

I forced my head to fall back onto the cool leather seats of Jacob’s car, before stretching out my legs.

The sun was shining, and I could even see the light through my closed eyelids. It was a cloudy day, but the sun seemed to shine through, as it always did when I was with Jacob.

“Did you have any more nightmares?”

I turned to Jacob and opened my eyes, to see him looking at me in a concerned manner.

“No, not really,” I laughed, remembering my lie about Cyclopses, “I just had a lot on my mind, so I was thinking most of the night.”

“Oh, okay.”

“Yeah.”

“So, you don’t mind if I just get some stuff from Port Angeles, right?”

“Nope.”

“Good, good.” He nodded, turning his attention back to the road.

We pulled up at the shopping centre, before going to the familiar store. It was the one where I had bought my red cardigan, and the one where I had first met Andrei.

I shifted uncomfortably, before my hand found its way to the doorknob. I pushed it open, hearing the familiar creak, before following Jacob inside.

We browsed for a while, before Jacob found what he needed. More cutoffs and shirts.

“Don’t you have enough of these already?” I asked incredulously, eyeing the growing pile of shorts.

“Um,” Jacob looked uncomfortable for a moment, before he let out a quiet laugh, “when we phase...if we have our clothes on, we kind of rip them off. So, if we phase unexpectedly, our clothes are gone.”

“So, what happens when you want to change back?”

Realization dawned almost immediately and I felt my cheeks flush crimson at the thought of Jacob naked.

I immediately averted my gaze to the price tag of a shirt on the rack in front of me—$19.99—to avoid Jacob’s gaze.

He chuckled softly, before grabbing my hand and dragging me towards the women’s section.

“Do you want anything?”

“I don’t have any money on me.”

“I’ll pay.”

“I wouldn’t do that to yo—oh my gosh! That skirt is adorable!” I rushed over to see a denim miniskirt calling my name.

Jacob laughed heartily.

Just then, the door chimed, and two girls walked into the store. They were more of women than girls though, at least if you judged by the sizes of their chests. They looked around our age, with similar features and big, white smiles.

The taller of the two, an athletic girl made up of only bones and skin, nudged her friend and looked in our direction, no doubt checking out Jacob.

Her friend—a pudgy teenager with stringy blonde hair and a big waistline nodded, and started heading in our direction.

Instead of acknowledging us, she made a beeline towards the bikini section behind us, before picking the tiniest, stringiest bikini she could find.

Naturally, I watched as the two girls cooed over the small piece of fabric, my mind slowly forming an image of the blonde in the bikini. Yuck. I shuddered slightly, leaning into Jacob. Jacob followed my gaze as well, landing on the two girls, before he smiled.

“Want a swimsuit?” he asked, nodding his head towards the section of swimwear. “It’s getting hot now.”

I thought for a moment, picking up on the fact that he said swimsuit and not bikini. Did he think I was too fat, that I couldn’t fit into a bikini? My mind began to evaluate the situation, breaking it down and making ridiculous assumptions.

Once I realized I was overthinking, I stepped back into reality to find Jacob staring at me. I realized I hadn’t answered his question, so I just nodded.

“Sure.”

I walked over to the swimwear rack, ignoring the two teenage girls giving me glares, beside me.

They snuck a look at Jacob, before the blonde whispered something into her friend’s ear. Her friend giggled, playing with her long brunette hair, before looking at Jacob’s direction once again. She was in full-giggle-mode now, and I’m pretty sure she winked at him.

My stomach clenched, and I gritted my teeth together, but kept quiet. Jacob could fight his own battles. He didn’t seem to want to fight though, and instead just smiled at the girls.

“Ladies,” he grinned, though I’m not sure if it was too be polite or not. It almost looked like a smirk. Almost.

“I’m going to go try this on,” I said, louder than I needed to.

All three of them turned their attention to me, and Jacob nodded, before following me towards the changing room section. The girls’ whispering filled my ears, and all I could do was not turn around and claw their eyes out.

Instead, I turned swiftly on my heel and stormed into the nearest available changing room . Taking off my shirt, I pulled on the royal blue v-neck I had chosen, but it was too baggy, and the color clashed with my skin horribly, making me look paler than I already was.

I pulled my shirt back on, before smoothing out my hair and looking in the mirror. Dark circles formed under my eyes, sagging my skin ever so slightly, and making me look slightly depressed. My hair was a mess, and needed to be washed.

But I was fine. I really was.

I pulled on the jean miniksirt next, trying to look as calm as possible. I swung the door open and found Jacob leaning against the opposite wall, staring off into space. His eyes roamed up my body slowly, before they met my face.

“That looks really good,” he nodded his head in approval, “I think you a—“

Just then, the herd of overly-talkative and way too flirty teenage girls walked in, smiling at Jacob once more.

The skinny one smiled coyly, before closing the door of the changing room. Her blonde friend nodded towards us, before going into the stall next to her friend. I pulled on the bikini this time, the strings cutting into my skin slightly.

“ Do you like it?” A female voice asked, startling me slightly.

Had my door come unlocked? No, it hadn’t. She wasn’t talking to me. Unless...

“Who, me?” I heard Jacob’s voice cut through the silence, his tone a mixture of confusion and surprise.

“Yes you, silly!” She giggled, and I heard the shifting off weight.

I was interested now, and peaked through the crack of my stall. I could make out the skinny girl from before staring at Jacob, with that coy smile on her face and a tight strapless top,wrapped around her upper body,

“I-I guess?” he said, staring at her.

Jealousy coursed through my veins, and I couldn’t put on my clothes fast enough. Finally,l managed to pull open the door.

“I`m ready to go.” I spat, rushing out and grabbing the clothes.

I tossed the navy blue shirt on the reject counter, and scooped up the miniskirt and bikini, before hurriedly making my way to the door. Jacob had no option but to follow, and took long strides to catch up with me. The cashier smiled at me, before ringing up my stuff. Jacob quickly paid, before I practically dragged him out of the store.

“Are you okay?” he asked finally, confused.

Instead of looking into his deep chocolate eyes, I chose to stare at the crease between his two eyebrows that appeared whenever he furrowed them together. It didn’t help though.

“I’m fine.” I muttered, slamming the door shut and resting my head back onto the leather seats.

“What’s gotten into you?” he asked, turning on the air conditioning and radio.

His fingers froze as he turned to stare at me, waiting for a response. He could sense something was wrong. He could probably hear my nervous heart beat that was pounding way faster than it was suppsosed to.

I sighed, leaning back and closing my eyes, ready to feel the sun’s warmth on my skin. Instead, small rain droplets hit the roof of the car, creating a steady rhythm of pitter-patter echoing in my ears.

I opened my eyes again, and stared at Jake. It was now or never.

“I know about imprinting.”