Ash Over Seas

Jacob smirked at the scowling girl in front of him, oblivious to the fact that Giovanangelli was rattling on about something at the board. Colby had waited until the last block of the day to give him her proposition for her project. And for good reason, judging by the way the conversation was going.

“You want me to model for you?” he clarified quietly, his smirk stretching across his face as he pretended to copy down the notes.

She rolled her eyes. “I said I wanted you to be my muse. Take it however you want and don’t let it get to your head.”

“Why not? Clearly you think I’m model-worthy.”

“Look, I couldn’t think of anything better to do, okay? Now do you want to help me or not?” She scribbled the newest lines of notes into her book, her pen pressing hard against the paper and he could tell she was agitated. Personally, he found it endearing.

He stroked his finger along his chin, pretending to ponder her proposition. “Well… I don’t know. I mean what’s in it for me?”

“How about I don’t decapitate you?” she offered, glaring at him softly.

“Hmm, yeah I don’t know if that’s enough,” he chuckled, scrunching his nose as he shook his head, smirk still perfectly intact.

She sighed heavily and her head fell in her hands, causing her raven hair to spill around her shoulders and onto the desk. Jacob caught the light smell of lavender and rain and his heart skipped a beat. “Well what do you want?” she groaned.

“What do I want?”

Jacob could think of a lot of things he wanted, most of them having to do with the tall beauty folded gracefully next to him, but he knew he was getting ahead of himself with those thoughts so he tossed them—grudgingly—aside.

She lifted her head glared at him. “Yes. What would be a fair compensation for your assistance?”

“You're beginning to regret asking me, aren’t you?” he joked, smiling brightly at her.

“Can you tell?”

He chuckled softly, deciding not to toy with her any longer. Frankly, he knew he was in no place to be demanding compensation for getting to spend time with her. That in itself was more than worth it, but Jacob had never been one to pass up an opportunity for more.

“Go to dinner with me,” he said casually, keeping his eyes on his paper.

“What?” Her head snapped up and Jake could tell he’d caught her off guard. He met her navy eyes, smiling warmly as he repeated himself.

“I’ll do your photo thing if you come out to dinner with me.”

“Like a date?” she asked, frowning slightly.

Jake shrugged his large shoulder, trying to keep casual even though his heart was racing. He wondered if her enhanced hearing could detect it. “Whatever you want it to be.”

She looked skeptical for a moment as Jacob hung on the line, waiting for her reply.

“So if I go to dinner with you… you’ll help with my project?” she asked slowly.

He opened his mouth but she cut him off again.

“And get off your high horse?”

“I can’t promise anything on the latter,” he chuckled. “But yeah I’ll help you if you come.”

She eyed him for a moment more before a heartbreaking smile swept across her face. “Brilliant. It’s a deal.”

“Perfect,” he breathed, his heart speeding up once again at the thought of actually being alone with her for the first time.

The final bell rang in the distance and the class scrambled to get their things together as they filed out of the room.

“So when were you thinking of doing it?” Jake asked as they strolled easily into the dim sunlight of the parking lot. He glanced down at her and was thankful that she was fairly tall compared to most girls, the top of her head reaching to just below his chin.

“Maybe Saturday? Since we have to study on Sunday and I have family stuff I have to do tomorrow since we don’t have school,” she mused, glancing up at him for reassurance.

“What kind of family stuff?” he asked curiously, fighting the urge to grasp her hand again like he had yesterday.

She waved her hand dismissively as they reached her brother’s black Forester. The reclusive boy rested in the driver’s seat, looking as impassive as ever.

“Just university application stuff. Father wants me to get a head start on it so I can get in somewhere good,” she replied, opening the door and tossing her bag in.

“Oh.”

Jacob had never thought about the fact that she might be going to college… potentially very far away from him. Realizing he was getting ahead of himself again, he shook his head of the thoughts and turned to her.

“Where are you thinking of going?”

She shrugged and chuckled. “I don’t know yet, Jacob, somewhere with a good arts program. Anyway, does Saturday work?”

“Oh, Saturday, right. Yeah, that works perfect.”

“Great, I’ll be in touch then,” she said and ducked gracefully into the car. Jacob got one last fleeting glance as her brother sped them through the parking lot and out onto the street, clearly in some kind of hurry.

Jake felt a hand clap on his shoulder and turned to find Embry, smiling unsurely up at him. “Dude, you’ll never guess,” the boy said, his tone warm but Jake could tell he was a little apprehensive about something.

“What?” Jake asked, turning to glance once more at where the black car had vanished around the corner.

“They're back.”

“They?” he asked, his attention drawn back once again.

“Edward and Bella. They got in last night while Jared was on patrol. They uh… changed her too….”

“Oh,” said Jacob, frowning slightly and a little unsure of what to do with the information. His best friend had just been turned into a vampire; a bloodsucking parasite that was built for murder. It didn’t hit him as hard as he’d once expected, though now he knew why.

“You okay, man?” Embry asked, breaking him from his thoughts.

“Huh? Oh, yeah, I’m fine. She’s all right and everything?”

Embry shrugged, seeming to relax now that Jake had shown he wasn’t going to go on a bloodlust of his own. “Sounds it. Apparently she’s got some freakish gift for control so she can stay around here already.”

“Weird… well, maybe I’ll go visit, then. It’s been a while and I didn’t exactly leave them on a good note,” he chuckled, remembering the wedding when he’d gotten slightly more than angry. It continued to surprise him how easily he could laugh at the past events now; it was the most blessed form of freedom.

“Dude, are you sure?” Embry asked hesitantly.

Jacob glared and started walking over to his car. “I don’t care, Embry. I’ve got Colby now. Bella’s just… Bella. I don’t know.”

For the first time, his friend’s face broke into a grin and he clapped him on the back again. “Good to hear, man! All right, well let me know how it goes!”

“Will do,” Jake replied as he slipped into his car and pulled out, trying to picture in his head what Bella would look like now that she was immortal. He couldn’t seem to do it… it was just so strange to him.

The Cullens were slightly tense when they recognized Jacob Black rolling up the driveway in his beloved Rabbit, and as Emmett opened the door, he was surprised to see a large grin resting on the Quileute boy’s face.

“Hey, is Bells here?” he asked as he strode into the house without waiting for an answer.

The entire living room, consisting of everyone but the doctor and his wife, was tense as Jacob entered, his face and form freezing when his eyes landed on his formerly human best friend.

“Holy shit, Bells. Check you out,” he finally said, chuckling as he advanced a few steps.

Confusion swept over the their faces, clearly not expecting such a lighthearted reaction from him. Jake stopped again, glancing between them with a frown.

“What?” he asked self consciously as he glanced down at himself to look for anything odd.

“Are you okay, Jake?” Bella asked, her velvety voice strange to his ears.

He frowned. “Never better. Why?”

“Well… I don’t know… I thought you’d be mad…” she trailed off and he realized that his cheery mood would seem strange to them after their last encounter.

Edward smiled knowingly as he picked up on Jacob’s thoughts.

“The mutt’s in love.”

Jake growled defensively. “Stay out of my head.”

“What?” Bella gasped, clearly shocked with the news. “Oh my gosh, Jake, who is she?”

His mood changed in a flash as he grinned widely, images of his imprint now flowing freely through his mind. “She and her family just moved here a few weeks ago from London. Her name’s Colby.”

“Oh! We met her a few weeks ago! She has the most wonderful accent,” Alice chirped happily as her eyes lit up. “Carlisle is friends with her father!”

Jacob bristled, slightly peeved that these vampires were going near his imprint… even though she sort of was one herself… it was a very hard thing for Jacob to contend with logically. It was so in his nature to despise these creatures, yet he was in love with one… sort of.

“Oh dear lord,” Edward chuckled, half shocked and half amused from across the room. “Is she really?”

“Is she what?” asked Jacob, aggravated.

“Is she really half?”

Jake’s eyes narrowed immediately.

“Half what?” the pixie piped up from beside her mate.

“Apparently,” Edward said slowly, watching Jake for any indication to stop. “Apparently, she’s half vampire….”

There was a chorus of ‘what’s’ and ‘how’s’ around the room and Jake just shrugged, explaining to them exactly what she’d told him.

“Wow, that’s… crazy,” Bella breathed.

Jake nodded and fished into his pocket as he felt his phone buzzing. He flipped it open and brought it to his ear.

“Jake,” his father’s warm voice rang over the line.

“Hey, Dad, what’s up?”

“Nothing, son, but would you mind picking up some dinner at the store on your way home? We don’t have much at the house right now.”

Jake nodded. “Yeah, sure, I’ll go now I guess,” he replied, exchanging a few more words before hanging up and turning back to the room of vampires.

“Uh, so I’ve got to get going I guess. My dad needs me to get to the store.”

Bella pouted slightly. “But you’ve only just got here. Jake, I haven’t seen you in forever.”

The tall boy shrugged. “I dunno, you could come if you really wanted to… I hear you’ve got some talent for control. But I’ve got to pick up dinner for my dad.”

Bella beamed but Jasper looked nervous. “Edward, are you sure she’s ready for this?”

Edward nodded with full confidence in his wife. “She’ll be just fine. She’s already encountered humans a number of times and she’s been perfectly civilized. And the mutt’s smell will probably overpower any human that’s nearby.”

Jacob growled slightly as Edward smirked and helped his wife from her spot on the couch.

“I’ll even let you drive the car Edward bought,” she said and his face immediately lit up in excitement.

“Are you serious?”

“Sure,” she chuckled.

And with that, there was no turning back as he hurried through the door and into the garage, quickly slipping into the smooth Ferrari and whipping out of the driveway with his old best friend beside him. He never thought life could be this good again. His best friend was back and he had found the love of his life… things were definitely looking up.

“So how does it feel being a leech now?” Jake asked as they strolled along the aisles, searching for something decent to bring home. People kept staring, both for Jake’s height and for Bella’s newly enhanced beauty.

Bella smiled and shrugged. “It’s wonderful. Everything is so much more… clear.”

Jake chuckled, tossing a box of stovetop rice into the cart. “Yeah, it’s nice, isn’t it?”

She nodded. “And the thirst is so much more controllable than I thought it would be. Jasper got a little angry I think.”

“So he’s still having trouble?” Jacob grumbled darkly as they approached the end of the aisle.

Bella sighed. “Yes, but you don’t have to worry about her, Jake.”

“She’s still half human,” he said darkly, and then remembered. “Oh, and part siren from what she’s told me. I guess that’s why her mother wasn’t able to be turned. I wonder if that small amount would prevent her… do you think a half vampire could be turned full?” he asked, slightly nervous at the thought.

“I don’t know, Jake,” Bella answered honestly as they rounded the corner into the produce section. “This is all news to me.”

A familiar and delicious smell entered Jacob’s senses and he looked around, eyes immediately locking on the tall, thin and impossibly graceful form in front of him.

“Colby!” he breathed happily as the girl’s face snapped up, finding him immediately.

“Oh, Jake… hey,” she said, smiling politely as she placed a head of lettuce in her cart. Her smooth voice and strange accentuations still managed to send shivers down his spine. Jake also noticed two smaller figures with her, which he assumed must have been her siblings.

“That’s her?” Bella asked quietly as they approached and Jake nodded, beaming.

“Yeah, Bella this is Colby. Colby, this is Bella, one of my friends from childhood,” he said, trying to emphasize his purely platonic relationship with Bella. He wasn’t sure if Colby was the jealous type—or if she even cared—but he didn’t want to take any chances.

“It’s great to meet you,” Bella smiled.

“Yes, you too. Oh, and this is Pan and Artemis,” she said tugging forward a small, red haired girl and motioning to the smaller, black haired boy sitting in the cart, both with stunning green eyes.

“Yes, I think we may have met once before,” Bella said, smiling at the two children.

“You're with Carlisle,” Artemis stated with a proud smile and Bella nodded.

“So what are you here for?” Jake asked, hoping to strike conversation with the girl again.

Colby chuckled and shot him a strange look. “Grocery shopping…. What are you here for?”

“Oh… right.” Jake felt color heating his cheeks as he scratched his neck awkwardly.

“Well, I really would love to stay, but Ari’s been talking all afternoon about making lasagna so I should really be getting home,” Colby said, smiling warmly at her sister.

“Oh… right, okay, well, um, I guess I’ll see you Saturday then?”

“Of course,” Colby replied, glancing between them one last time, her expression unreadable, before giving a light wave and heading to the checkout counter.

“So that’s your imprint, huh?” Bella smiled as she watched the girl glide away.

“Yeah,” breathed Jacob.

“She’s beautiful, Jake. I’m happy for you.”

“Thanks,” he said, smiling wistfully as she disappeared from view.

Yes, if there was one thing that Jake could be sure of, it was that things were definitely looking up. But if there was one thing he had yet to fully learn, it was that in life, good things can come and go in a heartbeat… and you can never, ever, trust to be too sure of yourself.