Ash Over Seas

The next morning I awoke, free of nightmares and all possible worries pushed from my mind. Today would be a good day.

I smiled, rolling out of bed to see that I had slept until 11 again.

“Jeeze,” I muttered, shaking my head as I quickly climbed into my shower and cleaned up. I would have to call Jake soon if I wanted to have enough time to finish my project and hold up my end of the deal by going to dinner with him before the party tonight. The thought sent my stomach into a small somersault. I was actually a little nervous.

I wrapped the towel around my body and sauntered over to my bureau, throwing on a pair of dark washed skinny jeans and a plain black tank top that hung loosely on my frame. I ran my fingers through my hair, quickly detangling it before reaching to grab my phone. I scrolled down the contacts until I reached the entry Jake had made for himself the other day. I pressed send and waited for the line to connect, smiling as I heard his husky voice on the other line.

“’Lo?” he answered. His voice sounded thick with sleep.

“Hey, Jake,” I chuckled as I sat down on my bed and toyed with a strand of my hair.

“Colby? Fuck, what time is it?”

“Jake, calm down, it’s only noon. I was just seeing if you were ready to go soon. You know, so we have time for dinner and everything,” I said, feeling heat rising to my cheeks as I bit my lip to hold back a smile.

“Yeah, yeah, I can be ready anytime. Where do you want to meet?” he asked and I could hear him shuffling around in the background, probably pulling on whatever clothes he could find.

“Um, I guess First Beach maybe?”

“Okay, great, I’ll meet you there in like fifteen minutes?” there was a loud clunk and a stream of profanities and I shook my head, chuckling.

“Great. I’ll see you soon. And don’t hurt yourself,” I said, hanging up quickly as I grabbed a jumper and my camera bag, then flew down the stairs and into the kitchen.

“Where are you off to?” my Father asked skeptically as I raided the cupboards for some granola bars.

“Photo shoot for school,” I replied as I shoved several into my bag and grabbed my keys from the counter. I hardly ever drove my own car, but I figured Atticus might want to use his today so I may as well put some miles on it.

My father nodded, eyeing me warily for a moment. “Well be careful if you're going to be outside. You never know when it’s going to rain,” he warned, his tone hardening slightly.

I had to fight not to roll my eyes or sigh. “Sure, Daddy. And I’m going out for dinner tonight and then to this party someone from school is having so I won’t be back until late, okay?”

He just nodded, trusting my judgment and I darted from the room, calling a quick goodbye to Atticus and Ari who were sitting on the couch watching cartoons.

When I had turned of legal age to drive, my father had insisted on buying me a car, opting for the trend that had been hitting London for the past couple years. And when my small, navy Cooper had pulled into the lumpy parking lot at First Beach, I was met with Jacob Black laughing heartily.

“What is that?” he chuckled as I climbed out easily and shut the door. “How can you even fit in it?”

I rolled my eyes. “Shut up. You're just jealous because you couldn’t fit in it.”

“Sure, sure,” he chuckled, waving it off. “So… uh… how do we start exactly?”

I chuckled as he looked around awkwardly, unsure of what to do with himself.

“I really just go with it,” I told him, shrugging as I pulled my camera out and started off down the sand and toward the forest. “I’ll stroll about for a bit and just snap anything that stands out to me.”

“Okay…” he answered, hesitantly coming after me.

It was actually quite captivating to watch him as we strolled along beside the waves. Occasionally I would snap a candid shot, but for the most part I had to make him stand still so I could adjust the focus and aperture. He was incredibly patient as I fussed around him, moving his arms and head this way and that until his form fit my vision. Short depth of field was my favorite type of picture, loving how the blurred background allowed the focus to be drawn entirely to his face. Several times I was sure my heart had stopped when my eyes looked through the viewfinder at the frame in front of me. As incredibly lame as it sounds, he was a natural and honestly probably the most beautiful being I’d ever set eyes on. I almost felt lucky to be able to capture him on film.

“Just stop trying,” I said softly as I held the camera body to my eye, peering through the viewfinder at the dark skinned boy in front of me. We’d taken a momentary break to sit on a piece of driftwood near the waves and it had just been so naturally elegant that I knew I had to capture it.

“Just look normal. You're best that way,” I assured him, hearing him sigh and try to settle into a natural position, resting his chin in his hands and staring out at the waves. I fiddled around a little more with the controls and snapped off several shots, beaming as I tucked the camera back in my bag.

“You done?” he asked, glancing over at me with a small smile.

I nodded. “Yeah, I think I’ve got plenty. What time is it?”

He pulled his phone out of his pocket and flipped it open. “Four.”

“Wow. Well, we’d better get going if we’re heading somewhere far away. We need to be back in time for that Hurley kid’s party,” I said, feeling the nervous butterflies stirring in my stomach. I mean sure, we’d been alone all day, but I’d been working kind of. What we were leaving for now was like… an actual date. At least I think it was.

“Yeah, come on,” he said happily, taking my hand as he helped me off the log. “We don’t want to miss out on all the bad decisions that will be made tonight.”

He didn’t release it as we walked back up the beach to the car, neither of us saying anything. I couldn’t help myself as my thumb brushed lightly along the back of his warm hand and for a moment I almost felt his grip tighten around mine. I thought idly to myself that it was nice to find someone whose heat was actually greater than my own.

The car ride was mostly quiet for the first half until I finally mustered the courage to ask the question that had been nagging at me slightly since Thursday afternoon.

“So I didn’t know you were actually close with the Cullens,” I said, trying for casual as I looked briefly at him.

He shot me a confused look and I sighed, phrasing it how I probably should have the first time.

“Well, you were with Bella at the market the other day.”

“Oh. Right,” he said, his tone slightly awkward. “Well it’s pretty much just her.”

“What do you mean?”

“I knew her before she was a vampire. We were best friends. Like I said, I knew her since we were kids,” he said lightly, like it was the most casual thing in the world for two enemy species to be best friends still.

“Oh, I see… That’s great,” I said sincerely. “You two must be really close then to stay friends through a change like that.”

He shrugged. “We weren’t really that close until last year.”

“Really? I mean I only saw you for a few minutes but you looked to be quite close….”

“Yeah, no, we… went through some stuff and got pretty close last year,” he answered, choosing his words carefully. His tone was still odd to me and I couldn’t quite place it. I had a feeling there was more to his words than he was letting on.

And stuff… I wondered what he meant by stuff, beginning to feel a little apprehensive. I peered over at him, trying to read his face and realizing he looked slightly… guilty, almost. About what, I had no idea, but I got the feeling this wasn’t a comfortable topic for him.

“You don’t have to tell me anything if you don’t want to,” I assured him softly.

He glanced over, realizing he was acting strange and shook his head, flashing an awkward smile before looking back to the road as he turned off the exit into Port Angeles.

“Oh, no, really it’s fine. I'm over all that stuff now anyway,” he replied effortlessly, grinning knowingly. “Edward left her a while back and she was really down about it, so I just hung out with her a lot and helped her feel better. Then when he came back, they got back together and she was happy again. That was that. We’ve stayed… fairly good friends since.”

“Oh. That was really nice of you,” I smiled, with no idea that he was leaving out a very vital part of that story.

“Thanks,” he said flashing me a dazzling smile as we pulled off the street and into the parking lot of a busy looking restaurant in the heart of town.

“Wow,” I said as we climbed out of the car, my eyes taking in the large groups of people gathered outside the doors. “What’s going on?”

“Fuck, there must be a wait. I didn’t think to put my name in,” he sighed irritably as we got closer.

“It’s fine, Jake, don’t worry about it,” I assured him, lightly resting my hand in the crease of his elbow as we approached a group of five people sprawled around a picnic table near the entrance. They were all laughing heartily and, from the looks of it, a nice group of people.

“Excuse me,” I said politely as we neared them. “Is there a wait to get inside or something?”

I looked down at the group, seeing that it consisted of two couples and an odd man out. The latter glanced over at his friends, seeing that they were engrossed in themselves and taking it upon himself to answer me as he stood and came over to us. He was tall, though not as tall as Jake, and looked to be in his mid twenties, with chocolate hair and a case of 5 o’clock shadow framing his jaw, which actually suited him quite well.

“Hello. You have a beautiful voice. Not from around here, are you?” he asked, noticing my accent.

“No, I’m from London,” I replied with a smile. “Are all these people out here waiting for tables?”

“Yep,” he said, popping the ‘p’ as he stood up to his full height, which was still barely an inch above me. “Hour long wait. That’s what you get in the city. Though I bet you could get yourself in no problem,” he added smoothly.

I felt Jake’s arm tense under my hand and peeked up to see that his jaw was taut also.

“I think we’ll just wait,” I chuckled, smiling politely.

“Then I can get you a drink if you want; help the time go faster,” he offered. His suave tone would have been much more charming if I hadn’t been with Jake.

“Oh, no thanks I’m really not of age,” I said, chuckling awkwardly. Jake’s arm slid around my shoulders, tugging me closer to him protectively.

“Aw, come on, doll. Why don’t you come sit with us? I’m fifth wheel right now and it sucks,” he said, heavy emphasis on the last word.

“She said no,” Jacob growled and the guy looked up at him for the first time.

“Jake, it’s fine,” I assured him quietly.

“This your boyfriend?” the guy said, motioning to Jacob. I could feel him shaking slightly next to me.

I floundered for something to say. “Uh, well, no, not really. I mean we’re good friends—“

The guy grinned widely, throwing me a wink and stepping closer, completely ignoring the fact that I was here with Jake, dating or not.

“Then come hang out. He’s got no say over what you do; we’re a free country here, babe,” he pressed, this time placing his hands on my upper arms, much like Cormac had in my dream the other night.

“Get the fuck away from her,” Jake snarled, pulling me behind him once more. The guy didn’t seem too happy about this, and also—stupidly—didn’t seem very intimidated by Jake’s size.

“What the fuck, man,” the guy said angrily as he stepped closer, his face flushing slightly. “Stop being such a douche. She’s not your fucking property you can’t fu—“

There was a loud crunch as Jake’s fist collided with the guy’s jaw, sending him sprawling to the ground.

“Jake!” I cried as I quickly grabbed his arm that was pulled back and ready to strike again. I held on with all my strength and managed to prevent him from getting another blow in. I could feel him shaking violently beneath my grasp.

“Jake, stop it! What are you doing!?”

I managed to stagger him back several steps as the large crowd outside began to gather around the guy, who was now rolling on the ground clutching his face. Jacob’s eyes were still pitch black and hard as he glared down at the floundering brunette.

“Jake, get in the fucking car!” I ordered as I nudged him in that direction. He did so reluctantly and when I heard the door slam I rushed forward to the guy, kneeling down as his friends fussed over him.

“Oh my god, I’m so sorry, is he going to be okay?” I asked, worried both for the man’s health and for Jake’s legal status. I didn’t think this was enough for the man to press charges, but what did I know?

“Fucking bitch,” the guy groaned, still holding onto his jaw and nose, his eyes clenched shut.

“Is there anything I can do?” I asked, looking around at the faces of his friends.

“Yeah,” one girl snapped as she tried to pull his hand from his face to assess the damage. “You can get the fuck out of here and hope we don’t call the cops.”

“I’m so sorry,” I said once more before standing and quickly striding back to the car.

I opened the door and slid into the passenger seat as Jake quickly started the engine and spun out of the parking lot, hurtling down the highway at a deathly speed. The car was silent for several moments before words burst free from my mouth.

“What the bloody hell was that!?”

His grip on the wheel tightened further and his eyes were focused intently on the road as he gritted his teeth firmly, refusing to speak.

“Jake. Answer me. What the fuck got into you?”

The silence lasted a moment longer and I thought he was going to snap the wheel in half before he finally opened his mouth. “He was fucking all over you! Or did you not see that?” he snarled and I almost shrunk back into the seat a little.

“So what? Jake, it was perfectly under control and we could have just left! You didn’t have to attack him! You could have gotten yourself arrested!”

He snorted bitterly and shook his head. “Yeah, like the police would have been able to do anything.”

“That’s not the point, Jake! It could go on your permanent record as assault. Why the fuck would you do that?”

“He wasn’t fucking listening, he just kept going. He physically tried to pull you away from me!” he argued, his tone rapidly losing anger and becoming more choked, like he might break at any moment.

There was silence for several moments and I couldn’t really think of anything to say.

“I had to do something,” Jake added quietly, his tone sorrowful.

I glanced over at him, seeing his dark eyes shining with hurt and something that resembled fear. My expression immediately softened and I placed a reassuring hand on his forearm, feeling it relax slightly. He didn’t look at me but I felt his hand slip from the wheel and grasp mine needily as he laced our fingers together, searching for reassurance and forgiveness in my grasp.

“Why though?” I asked quietly after several minutes of silence.

“Why what?” he asked, his tone soft and laced with the apology he didn’t need to speak.

“Why did you have to do something? Why did you get so worked up? I mean yeah he was out of line but… I mean that was just… why?” I breathed, unsure of how to put my words.

“It’s… I just… now really isn’t the time,” he replied, biting his lip.

“What are you talking about?”

I looked over and he seemed to be debating with himself about something. He finally shook his head and focused on the road.

“Nothing. It’s really nothing.”

“It’s not nothing, Jake. I mean I know shape shifters supposedly have short tempers but that was just…” I sighed deeply and shook my head.

“How… how much do you know about what I am?” he asked quietly.

I frowned. “Not much, really. Why? I know you shift into wolves when you're angry, and you're really warm, and strong, and run really fast. Why, is there something else?”

When Jake didn’t answer I took it as a yes and my curiosity grew as we turned off the highway and into La Push, speeding down the winding roads.

“What is it? You know you can trust me.”

“I do trust you,” he replied softly. I waited for him to continue and when he didn’t I sighed deeply.

“But you won’t tell me,” I sighed sadly.

“I’m sorry,” he whispered.

“Why won’t you tell me?” I asked, wondering what could be so secret about him that he couldn’t reveal it.

He glanced at me quickly, his eyes pained as he took a deep sigh and chewed on his lip.

“I don’t want to scare you off.”

I frowned, definitely not expecting that answer.

“Scare me off? Jake, I’m half vampire, not a lot of things could scare me off. I’ve met plenty of mythical creatures before. I’m sure I’ve seen worse.”

“Do you still want to go to the party? The turn’s up here,” he said, ignoring my question and I sighed deeply, giving up for now.

“Yeah, I still want to go if you do.”

“Of course. Haven’t had my fill of bad decisions yet,” he replied, flashing me a small smile. It looked genuine enough but I could still see a trace of our conversation lingering behind his eyes.

“Right. Well, maybe then I can convince you to tell me whatever it is you're hiding,” I said, grinning smugly as I tried to lighten the mood about it all. I felt relieved when I noticed Jake relaxing slightly, our tension already falling behind us.

“Yeah. Good luck with that,” he said, grinning as he turned off the road and pulled up to the large house. “Come now. Bad decisions await.”