Liplocked Lullabies

“What did you do to him?”

Embry stared at me as I took a hearty bite out of the red apple that rested in my hands. He sat across from me at the kitchen table, his face bowed down in confusion.

I gave him an odd look, hoping that I could play it off as if I didn’t know what was going on.

“Who is him?” I drawled innocently, spraying apple juice on Embry’s face.

He made a disgusted noise, before plucking a napkin from the dispenser and wiping it away. I batted my eyelashes for an extra measure, but Embry just rolled his eyes.

“Stop playing, Jay.” He frowned, making a disapproving noise that only grandmothers seemed to be able to make. “You’re not five anymore. You really hurt him. He won’t come out of his room or talk to anybody. Not even in the Pack.”

“I didn’t do anything wrong!” I protested, resting the apple on our small wooden table. “All I said was that I knew about imprinting and then he had some sort of heart attack, sped to his house and then locked himself up.”

“You told Jacob that you knew that he imprinted on you?”

“Yes, I did.”

“How did you know about that anyway?” He narrowed his eyes at me, as though I was someone that was snooping where I wasn’t supposed to.

“Chill out, Embry. If you kept your damn mouth shut, I wouldn’t have known.” He blushed, but looked down in an attempt to look tough. “It’s not my fault that Jacob decided that he was going to be a pansy about all of this and hide from me.”

“He’s not being a pansy. He wanted to tell you himself and you ruined it from him. It’s kind of hard if your soulmate tells you that she knows that you’re going to be together forever.”

“Well, what do you want me to do?”

“Go apologize to him.”

I threw my apple at Embry’s head. He yelped, but stuck his hand out and caught it.

“Stupid wolf reflexes.” I mumbled, glaring at him with all my might. “There is no way in hell that I am going to apologize to him.”

I knew that I shouldn’t be angry, and nothing really went wrong, but for some reason I felt as though Jacob had let me down.

After all, he had just looked at me, before taking off. After I had mustered up all my courage to tell him that I was his soul mate and that I liked him, all I got was a deer-in-headlights look, a frown, and a very fast, awkward car ride home.

It was as though I was in school and about to ask someone to prom. It was as though I had just gotten rejected, werewolf style. It was horrible.

“You are going to go over there and apologize, because he’s upset.” Embry said sternly, taking on a tone that resembled something close to my mother.

“Fine.” I mumbled, grabbing my keys to exit. “But I’m going to regret it.”

____________________________________________

As I neared the familiar red house, I felt a pang of fear hit my gut.

It looked much more intimidating in the afternoon sun, and I could practically hear my heart beat speeding up.

I climbed the front steps slowly, and listened as the creak of the patio echoed in the silent forest. I rose my hand slowly, before banging on the door in an angry knock.

My knuckles throbbed and cried out in pain, but I ignored my aching hand and waited as the door pried open. Billy smiled at me in his wheelchair, as though he had been waiting for me to show up.

“You’ve got quite a knock there.” He smiled, gesturing to my aching knuckles.

I looked down at them and nodded, but said nothing. I wasn’t sure if I could manage speech at the moment.

“Are you here to see Jacob?” Billy asked after a moment of awkward silence.

I squeaked out a positive reply, and Billy opened the door wider to let me in. I side-stepped Billy, and walked slowly to the back of the house where I assumed Jacob would be.

I hadn’t been in the back of the house often, and it was something new. I observed the small corridor as I stepped through it.

The dull white walls were decorated with different tribal paintings and old photographs—one of a beautiful young woman smiling next to Billy while holding a baby boy, the woman who I assumed was Jacob’s mother, and another of three lanky boys with their arms wrapped around each other.

As I stopped to look at the second one, I realized that the three boys were Jacob, Embry and Quil. The photo had been taken when they were prepubescent, lanky boys with gangly arms and awkward facial features.

Embry had a gap tooth while Quil’s hair reached mid-back. Jacob, who stood proudly in the middle, was holding a soccer ball, and at closer inspection, they appeared to be on a soccer field.

I looked at the photo again, taking in the blue sky and bright green grass, only to realize something odd in the corner. It was blurry and pink, something that definitely didn’t belong.

As I squinted more, I realized that....could it be?

I realized that it was a little girl in a bright pink dress, desperately running into the picture in hopes of being included.

It was me.

I ripped my eyes away from the picture and continued down the hall, stopping in front of the only shut door—the one that I automatically assumed was Jacob’s.

I knocked quietly and with much less force, craning to hear the response on the other side of the door.

“Dad, I really don’t want to go to the Clearwater’s. Can’t you leave me alone?!”

“Um...I’m not Billy.” I said, pushing open the door and stepping inside.

I had never actually been in Jacob’s room. I had always thought that the garage was the biggest step I could take into getting to know Jacob. Turns out, I was wrong—his room was a whole new level.

As soon as I entered though, I could tell it was Jacob’s room. The floor was composed of large charcoal tiles, while the wall was splashed to be the color of a forest-y green.

It was small, but it fit cosily in the back of the Black house. A small wooden desk cluttered with papers, magazines and stray articles of clothing lay alongside a small wooden dresser.

A single-sized bed was pushed up against the wall, the bedding some sort of dark green and black design. Underneath the blanket, Jacob lay with his eyes closed, his back facing the door in which I had entered.

As soon as Jacob heard my voice, he shot out of bed into a sitting position.

“What are you doing here?” he frowned, as though I was unwelcome in his house. “I don’t want to see you right now.”

“Jacob, please—“

“I just need some time, Journey.” He said calmly, burrowing his face further into his pillow.

“All I wanted to say was that I’m sorry whatever I did to you. I’m not sure why you’re mad at me, but whenever you finish having your bitch fit, let me know. I like you Jacob. I like you a lot. Get yourself together, please. For me.”

I watched Jacob as he stirred and turned to face me, his hands still buried in the depths of his blankets. His chocolate eyes burned intently into mine as I watched him watch me.

“I’m sorry.” He said finally.

I smiled, waiting for him to continue, but he didn’t. He watched me, as though I was supposed to say something else, but I had nothing to say. It was my turn to stop talking, and his turn to start explaining.

I sighed, realizing that he had nothing to say, and instead turned on my heel and walked out of the room.

Out of my peripheral vision, I saw Jake shoot out of his bed into a sitting position as he called my name.

“Journey?” He called uncertainly, before I heard his heavy footprints pound against the delicate floor.

I was almost out the door now.

As I creaked open the door and stepped out onto the patio, I heard the door squeak behind me and a warm hand wrap around my forearm before spinning me around.

Maybe words are sometimes not enough. I wasn’t sure how many words a kiss was worth, but it was definitely worth it as he brought his lips to mine.

I was kissing Jacob Black.

And holy hell.

I was loving it.