Breathe

Ophelia pushed her pretty black hair over her shoulder, so that it cascaded down her back. I had always been mildly jealous of how beautiful she was. Ophelia made it seem almost impossible to be as pretty as she was.

We sat in the fully furnished basement of her house, watching The Breakfast Club and eating a rather large bowl of popcorn. I had been anxiously waiting for Jacob's text for about two and a half hours now, the one that lets us know it was time to find out our fate.

"How come I've never met Jacob before?" Ophelia asked, grabbing another handful of popcorn. "You talk about him so much, and yet, he was never with you when we hung out."

"He lives in La Push, Ophie. That's almost an hour away."

"But how did you meet him? I mean, he obviously doesn't go to school here."

I sighed, and pushed my hair out of my face. "Liz knows Embry, one of his friends, and the four of us went on a double date when I first moved here. Jacob didn't talk to me like at all that night, bec - yeah."

"You're acting awfully strange," she whispered. "I know I haven't seen you in a good three months but what is up with you?"

"Nothing." I flipped my phone open, scanning the screen for the 'new message' symbol, but to my disappointment, there was nothing.

"Sarah."

"Ophelia."

"What is going on? Are you in trouble? Is he hurting you, or something?"

"Goddammit. No, Ophelia, he's not hurting me, I'm not in trouble, and there is nothing wrong. I can't tell you how many fucking times someone has asked me that same question."

"Well, if you don't talk about him it can lead to some questions."

"I don't want to have this conversation." I crossed my arms across my chest and heaved a sigh. Then as if on cue, my cell phone buzzed, the screen illuminated. I quickly opened it, reading the words: Where are you?

The pads of my thumbs flew across the tiny buttons, sending him the response: Ophelia's. I'll be home soon.

"Dad needs me at home," I lied, setting the bowl of popcorn to the side and standing up. "I'll call you, k?"

She stood to give me a hug, which I weakly returned. "Ok."

Jacob was already in my driveway when I returned home. His Volkswagen Rabbit was sitting idlly, the muffler occasionally spitting out a low grumble. He greeted me at the front door. "I've already talked to your dad."

"What did you tell him?" I stopped dead where I was, nervous.

Jacob smiled, and laughed quietly. "Don't worry about it." He lead me to the car, and I mindlessly buckled myself in. I watched was he made his way around, sliding in to the driver's seat with a bit of struggle (seeing as Jacob was huge and this car was tiny).

For the first ten minutes, I let the situation about to occur weigh heavily on my mind. This was it. If we didn't give them what they wanted, there could be some problems. Jacob held my hand throughout the drive over to Sam and Emily's place, his warm fingers blanketing my cold ones.

"Relax, Sare. You'll be fine."

His voice chilled me straight down to the bone. "I know," I responded.

*

"Jesus Christ," Paul shouted as Jacob and I walked hand-in-hand towards the front door of Emily and Sam's little cabin. "What took you so damn long?"

"Shut up, Paul," Jacob grunted. "What's it matter?"

We walked through the kitchen into the living room, where all of the boys and the three vampires had gathered. Bella smiled at us as we entered, but I felt nauseous, and couldn't bring myself to return the favor.

Jacob sat on the couch, and pulled me into his lap. I reluctantly agreed, confused by the gesture. He had never been so physical with me before in front of others. It had been something I had actually started to get used to, but now that he was showing more affection, I wasn't sure what to do. Jacob wrapped his arms around my waist, playing with my fingers. I tried to ignore the deathly stares that I was receiving from Embry and Paul, but it seemed almost impossible.

"They plan on arriving late tomorrow," Alice said, after everyone had quieted. "There will be three of them, but plan on bringing a few others. Of course they know that I can see the future - vampires know everything about each other. We're a very close species."

Paul grunted.

"So, they're not making their decision until they arrive, so that I cannot alarm you before hand." Alice folded her hands together and I looked at Edward, who had a pained expression on his face.

The boys began talking amongst themselves and I looked at Jacob, who stared back at me. "Are you scared?" I asked him, touching my nose to his.

"Of course I am," he whispered. "Why wouldn't I be scared?"

"Because you never seem to be."

"That's bullshit and you know it."

*

Like usual, Dad and Brenda weren't home when I stumbled through the front door later that evening. It was nearing ten o'clock, and over the last few weeks I've noticed a pattern in their home schedules. When Dad was on a business trip, Brenda worked harder, staying a good five or six hours after her shift ended. When Brenda was on a business trip, Dad was, too. Dad was always gone. It was almost annoying, even though we didn't get along anyway.

Jacob followed closely behind me, brushing the small of my back with his long, warm fingers. "This is strange," he said. "I've never come in through your front door before." He gave me a big smile, and proceeded to kiss me. I brought my hands to his neck, and twirled his short, dark, brown hair between my fingers.

"Want to know where else you haven't been?" I asked, trying to keep myself from giggling.

"That's not hard to figure out," Jacob smiled.

A bit taken aback by his response, I laughed quietly. "Shall I give the grand tour?"

His hands at my waist, Jacob played with the hem of my shirt, pushing it up slowly. "I think I can find my way around. But thanks."

I kissed his neck, closing my eyes and absorbing his smell. God, I loved him. Jacob was amazing, and there was absolutely nothing I could do that would make me deserve him. If anything ever happened to him, I didn't know what I would do without him.