Ash Over Seas

Jacob watched as another fit of coughs wracked the lungs of his imprint. He dropped to his knees beside her bed, rubbing her back soothingly and praying that they would stop soon. He bit his lip to keep it from trembling as he looked over her.

She was still impossibly thin, though he noticed that she had gained a little weight and he could only be thankful for that. Her eyes, though, had begun to lose their violet sheen and were slowly fading back to blue. He couldn’t say he wasn’t somewhat relieved not to have to watch her gulp down human blood, but he knew that if it was going to help her get better, he wouldn’t care.

He quickly handed her a glass of water when she reached out for it, and Colby slurped the contents down to soothe her aching throat.

“Sorry,” she rasped as she closed her eyes and rested back against the pillow.

“It’s okay,” he murmured, climbing in next to her and pulling her against his bare chest. Her skin was still cold—colder than it had ever been and he had to suppress a shiver as he rested his hand against her forehead.

“Hmm, thanks,” she sighed quietly as she reached to hold his hand there.

“Do you feel any better?”

She shrugged. “Just tired.”

Jacob sighed; she had been sleeping at least 11 hours a night for the past couple days and he didn’t know if it was a good sign or not, but something told him it wasn’t.

“It’s going to be okay, Jake,” said Colby and he opened his eyes to see the fragile girl watching him with soft eyes.

He quickly wiped the expression off his face and gave her a weak smile. He leaned down to kiss her lips lightly, and pulled away, rubbing her cheek with his thumb.

“I love you,” he whispered and Colby’s face stretched into the most genuine smile he’d seen on her in weeks. It made his heart perform a slow roll in his chest.

There was a knock at the door and Jacob turned to watch Atticus shuffling in with a large cup held in his hands. Colby’s face immediately paled further and she gripped her stomach.

“Attie, don’t. Please, take it away,” she said anxiously and the boy’s eyes darkened.

“Colby you need to keep drinking this to get stronger,” he said gruffly.

Colby’s head shook vigorously and her eyes were almost fearful. Atticus shoved the cup into her hands.

“Please, Attie. Please, you're going to make me sick,” she urged, clasping a hand over her nose and turning to look away from the red liquid that was already making Jacob want to vomit as well.

Atticus’s face hardened, and for a moment Jacob thought he would argue, but the kitsune just took the mug and set it on the far windowsill. His glare didn’t leave his face and Jacob had to suppress a chill as the boy’s icy golden gaze appraised him for a moment.

Colby broke the silence. “So, have you heard any news from Carlisle, yet?”

Atticus shook his head lightly. “Not much. I haven’t been able to go round often.”

Colby nodded. “Well… how is he doing with everything? Has he at least figured out what’s in my body that’s causing this? Because he said those granulations were just a side effect, not the cause.”

Atticus shrugged. “He’s been working night and day but he hasn’t got anything solid yet. You’d think after centuries of practice he’d be able to get something out of this bloody fucking situation,” he spat quietly.

Colby grimaced. “Attie, you know it sometimes takes years to identify and find cures for diseases. Carlisle’s only been working on this for a couple months. You’ve got to cut the bloke some slack.”

Atticus’s face was harsh and he sharply stood from his chair as it clattered backward onto the floor. “We don’t have time for slack, Colby.”

Her brother stormed from the room, slamming the door on his way out and they heard his careless, thundering footsteps down the stairs into his room.

Colby sighed deeply. “My apologies for him.”

Jacob shook his head. “No, don’t worry about it. He has a point… I wish Carlisle would hurry up and figure this out already,” he said as his burning fingers traced abstract patterns along her arm.

“Well… I know how we can pass the time,” Colby grinned, a mischievous twinkle shining in her eyes and Jacob’s stomach twisted in response as she pulled him down to her.

His heart raced a mile a minute and he pulled her as close as inhumanly possible, feeling her cool skin against him. His temperature spiked and he couldn’t help but let his mind drift to other possibilities of where this moment could lead to. She trailed her hands across his stomach and a low growl escaped his lips as he kissed her harder, though being careful not to hurt her.

He broke off and trailed rough kissed down her jawline and neck, stomach backflipping as he heard her softly moan his name. He quickly broke away and threw himself down onto the bed next to her, breathing heavily and staring at the ceiling as he tried to calm his pulse.

“Is everything okay?”

He looked to his left to see Colby looking at him with worry. He smiled softly and chuckled. “Everything’s fine. I just… well I knew if I didn’t stop—“ his cheeks began to blush a soft pink and he bit his lip apologetically.

Colby let out a small laugh and his ears cherished the sound.

“You're such a boy,” she teased, leaning over to kiss him lightly. He blushed further and kept quiet as Colby’s face turned contemplative. “Jake?” she asked unsurely.

He glanced over in question and saw his imprint fiddling with her hands. “Yeah?”

She looked up at him. “Well… I was just wondering… since we never talked about it or anything, and I know you liked Bella for a while. And I mean I’m sure you’ve liked other girls so it’s not like you haven’t had a chance, and I mean even just look at you. I’m sure it wouldn’t be hard for you to find someone to… well… yeah.”

Jacob raised a brow, trying to bite back his smile. “Are you asking me if I’ve ever had sex?”

Colby’s face blushed violently. “Well, I mean, if you take… I… well, have you?”

Jacob chuckled and cupped her face to press a lingering kiss on her lips. “No. Bella would never have complied with that, and I didn’t really like anyone much before she came along.”

Colby nodded. “Do you think if Bella would have… you would have?”

She didn’t seem jealous; just curious.

“Well… I mean the thoughts did cross my mind. If she had been willing, I don’t know.”

“You would have,” she said, and he looked at her guiltily. “It’s okay, Jake,” she chuckled reassuringly. “It’s not like you did, and even if you had it’s not like I could be mad about it. You didn’t even know me then.”

He nodded and flashed her a small smile. “What about you?”

She shrugged. “No, but almost once.”

He looked over, dreading the answer to what he would ask next. He bit his lip. “Was… was it with… him?”

Colby clearly knew whom he was referring to and her eyes darkened for a second before she shook her head. A wave of relief washed over Jacob.

“Oh,” he breathed. “Who?”

She hesitated. “Well, it was my boyfriend in… what would be your freshman year.”

Jacob couldn’t keep his brows from shooting up in surprise.

“He seemed sweet enough, and he’d almost convinced me into it. I don’t even know how,” she shook her head. “But Atticus walked in right as he was, well, starting to undress. You should have seen his face… he gave the poor bloke a bloody nose and a black eye and tossed him out the front door. He promised he wouldn’t tell my father but he’s always watched me very closely since then, especially with boys.”

“Wow,” Jacob chuckled. “So do you think he’s spying on us right now?”

“I think he trusts you more than the other boys I’ve known. But I certainly hope not, that would be awful.”

“Yeah,” said Jacob, a smirk tugging the corner of his lips. “That would be pretty awful.”

Colby nodded and pushed herself to a sitting position. “Can we go downstairs for a bit? It’s dreadful being locked up here all day.”

“Sure,” Jacob grinned, reaching to wrap an arm around her waist as he helped her to her feet. He carefully led her down to the living room, which was empty save for the usual furniture and a pile of mail on the couch’s end table.

Colby picked it up and thumbed through it as Jacob searched for the remote. His head perked up as he heard a gasp fall from her lips.

“Bloody hell,” she breathed as her fingers shook the paper in her grasp.

“Colby? What is it?” Jacob asked anxiously as he sat beside her and glanced over her shoulder at the return address on the envelope.

His heart plummeted.

In clear, black letters, read: University of Chicago.

“Are… are you going to open it?” he asked softly as his palms began to sweat and his heart raced.

“I…” Colby paused, took a deep breath and a gulp, and turned the letter over.

Jacob watched as her delicate fingers picked at the seal on the envelope. The paper quivered as she pulled it out and carefully unfolded it. He held his breath as he searched the first paragraph for the words he was looking for. His heart dropped through the floorboards.

“I… I’m in,” she breathed, her eyes widening in awe as she gazed over the letter. “Bloody hell, Jake, I’m in… they accepted me!”

Her face lit up as realization dawned on her and she threw her arms around his neck, pulling him into a tight embrace. “Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god,” she laughed.

Jacob quickly masked his expression to one of happiness, hoping Colby was too excited to realize that it didn’t reach his eyes. He held her closely to him, wishing he could keep her there forever but knowing it wouldn’t be possible.

“That’s great,” he whispered, clamping his eyes shut as he felt warmth pooling behind them. “I’m so proud of you.”

And despite the happiness of the moment, he realized then, that no matter what the outcome, in the end, he was going to lose her either way.