Only in the Moonlight Does This Feel Right

A few days had passed and it was now January 14th. I guess you could say that it was pretty weird after that night, knowing that the guys were werewolves and all, but I wasn’t going to act any different with them than I had before. I didn’t want there to be any more drama or weird feelings between us. That one week was too much for me to handle, and I can tell you one thing… there was no way that I was ever going to go back anywhere in that direction.

I walked across my bedroom and to the door, opening it up after someone had knocked on it. The door creaked open to reveal Emily, a smile plastered upon her face with a certain giddiness gleaming in her dark brown eyes.

“Um, hey Emily,” I said.

“Get dressed; you and me are going shopping.”

“What’s the occasion?”

“I’ll tell you when we’re driving. Be ready in thirty minutes!”

“Okay,” I nodded in understanding and she walked downstairs.

I picked some regular jeans and a t-shirt out, along with the other necessities, and headed into the bathroom for a quick 10 minute shower. I got dressed and then dried my hair and combed it to get the nasty knots and tangles out. I walked back into my room, got my shoes on, and then got my cell phone, iPod, and wallet from my nightstand, placing them into my pockets and headed downstairs.

Emily was serving Sam some eggs, bacon, sausage, pancakes, and to top it all off, an omelet. She kissed his cheek lovingly and he smiled back at her with the same emotion in his dark eyes.

“Hey, I’m ready,” I said to Emily. “Where’s Chris?”

“Patrolling,” Sam answered and began to practically inhale his food. “He’ll be back within an hour.”

I nodded and then headed into the kitchen to grab a plate. “Nope, we’re not eating here; we’ll eat when we get to Port Angeles.” Emily contradicted my actions and placed the plate back into the cabinet. “C’mon, we can avoid traffic if we hurry.” She said excitedly.

“Be careful,”

“We will Sam,” Emily smiled, and gave him a kiss on the head. “Be back in a few hours. Come on Jade, let’s go.”

I walked out of the house as I said my goodbye to Sam, who responded back with a mouth full of food, and we were soon driving down the road. We took the Charger seeing as we didn’t want to be riding around in Sam’s old truck, and also the fact that it always caused a scene wherever it went.

Within a good hour and a half, we were in Port Angeles, surrounded by a good amount of shops that you would normally see at any mall. We parked the car, and we took care of our first matter of business—breakfast.

My stomach couldn’t be happier when we sat down to eat at a local diner.

After ordering, I turned to Emily. “So, you never told me, what’s the occasion for shopping?” I asked.

She stared at me in slight confusion. “Jacob didn’t tell you…?”

“Tell me what?”

“I’ll take that as a no, of course he wouldn’t tell you.” She rolled her eyes. “Today’s Jacob’s birthday.” She grinned.

I looked at her in shock. Why wouldn’t he tell me his birthday? Did he not want me to buy him something or celebrate with him?

“Today’s his birthday…” I repeated, letting it all sink in.

“Mhm,” She nodded her head slowly.

“Forget eating, I’ve got to get looking for a damn present!” I said and was about to stand up to race out of the diner to start hunting for a gift.

“No, sit down, Jade.”

I did as I was told and looked at Emily with a pout. “But what if the perfect gift is out there and it’s being bought right now?”

“Don’t worry; I highly doubt he’s going to care about a present from you.” She chuckled. “I can’t believe he didn’t tell you.”

I shrugged. “Me either, but oh well, I’ll just harass him later tonight about why he didn’t.” I smiled.

After eating, we paid and began to look around the shops. “Oh, it slipped my mind to tell you.” She said, and patted her head to show she just remembered. “We’re throwing a surprise party for him. It’s at his house, and he’ll be patrolling while we’re setting things up. It’s only, you, me, Sam, and Chris who know. Sam didn’t tell the others because he doesn’t want them to think about it and for Jacob to know—it wouldn’t be much of a surprise then.”

“What time were we gonna start to set up?”

“Around six o’clock,” She said. “Jacob’s patrol starts at 5:30 and ends at around 8:30 according to Sam.”

“This is going to be fun, everyone’s coming, right?”

She nodded. “His sister, Rachel, is coming too,”

“He has a sister?”

“He has two, actually. There’s a lot that Jacob doesn’t tell you isn’t there?”

“Apparently so,” I shrugged. What was it with Jacob keeping things from me…? “I’ll have to bug him tonight—a hell of a lot.”

“Your plan might backfire, the guys love having their imprints around—no matter how annoying they are.” She laughed.

I sighed. “Whatever, I’ll find something to do to him.” I said, dismissing the matter away. “Now, let’s find him a gift.”

I had ended up buying him a stereo system for his car. His current system broke on him recently, and he had been thinking of buying a new one to replace it, claiming the old one was a: ‘shitty excuse for a sound system and should never have been made in the beginning’. Yes, he was very upset that day—very upset.

I hoped that he liked it, but I hoped he didn’t make me take it back. It was really expensive, and I’m talking about the end of the triple digit area expensive. I was going to hide the receipt from him, that’s for sure.

After we bought our gifts, we headed back to the car. It was around three in the afternoon now, and it was becoming slightly more packed with people.

“So what are you going to wear?” Emily asked.

I motioned to my current get up. “This,” I shrugged.

She shook her head in disagreement. “Oh no you’re not,” She retorted. “Come with me, I found this cute little store back there.”

I let her drag me along and I was soon trying on different outfits. Each of which was cute, but just wasn’t what I thought suited me.

After an hour of trying on things, I felt like this was going no where. “Are you sure there’s a dress for me here, Emily?” I asked as I put what seemed to be the umpteenth dress back onto the circular rack.

“I’m sure of it, there has to be one somewhere!” she said and began to look through the racks and hangers of clothes with a new found determination. “Here, go and try this one on.” She rushed me into the fitting rooms and I didn’t have time to even glance at it.

I changed out of it and then viewed myself in the mirror, a small smile coming upon my lips. I actually liked this one for a change. It was a sleek, black dress that hugged my curves in all the right places. It went down to below my butt, but then flowed out with some ruffles at the bottom, making it longer and go to my mid-thigh. I smoothed it out, took a deep breath, and then walked out.

“What do you think?”

She studied it carefully. “It looks nice on you,” She smiled. “Compliments your figure and everything, but do you like it?”

“Yea, I love it,” I smiled and looked at myself again in the mirror to check once again for any fault.

“Then we’ll get it.”

I went back into the room, changed out of it, and handed it to Emily so she could go pay for it while I dressed into my usual clothes. Once I left, she stood waiting for me at the front of the store with the now paid for dress in a bag.

We left the shop, quickly getting into the car, and driving madly back to La Push. We had spent more time than we thought we had, and it was already 4:45.

-{}-

Emily took the key out of the ignition, and we both quickly got out of the car in a mad dash. We raced inside and saw Sam and Chris talking at the table.

“It’s about time,” Chris said impatiently and gazed at the clock that read 5:35. “What took you guys so long?”

“Does it really matter, we’re here now?” I shrugged and raced upstairs with my bags.

I got what I needed from them, the accessories and dress, and put them into a duffle bag before running back down the stairs. I wasn’t going to change into the dress here and then try to put up decorations over at Jake’s place. It would be easier just to put up decorations as is and then change when people began to arrive.

Everyone was helping take out some of the things we would put up to the cars, and I took out the last of the boxes, placing them into Sam’s truck. Sam and Chris would ride together, while Emily and I would follow behind them.

Since the reservation wasn’t exactly the biggest place in the world, it only took us five minute—maybe less—to get to Jake’s house. Bill quickly ushered us in and gave us all warm smiles as we brought in the decorations.

There weren’t that many decorations. Just a few banners that said ‘Happy Birthday Jake’ along with some table cloths. So much for calling them ‘decorations’, right—oh well, I guess it was better than nothing. Emily and I soon began to start cooking on their stove, and we had cooked more than we usually do—and that’s saying something.

The guys were already here with the exception of Embry, Quil, and, of course, Jacob. Chris called them and told them what was happening so they all came over quickly, but they seemed more interested in the food than the actual party. Kim and I talked for a while and even Leah gave her input a few times instead of just keeping to herself like she usually did.

“He should be here any minute,” Emily told me. “Why don’t you go to the bathroom and change now?”

“Okay,” I nodded and she smiled before walking back over to Sam.

“Change, what did she mean?” Kim asked with a small smirk.

“I bought an outfit to wear, I was going to wear this but Emily didn’t think so.” I smiled and gave a little shrug. “I’ll be right back.”

“Okay, just hurry back before he gets here so we can all try to scare and surprise him,” She joked.

I gave a quick nod as I grabbed my duffle bag and made my way down the hallway and into the restroom. I locked the door behind me and placed my bag onto the counter. I rinsed my face with water to get the few specs of dirt off and dried it gently with a fresh towel. I put the dress on and zipped it up, smoothing it out so it looked sleek. I got out my make up bag that had thankfully been in there from a previous time, and applied some eyeliner, eye shadow, and lip gloss, putting it away right after. I put accessories on and then slipped my shoes back on, and I was officially done.

(http://www.polyvore.com/hillary_duff_my_outfit/set?id=20734409)

I put everything into my duffle bag and then walked out of the restroom. Where can I put this thing at? I asked myself. Maybe Jake won’t mind me stashing it in his room…

I looked through all the rooms and then decided that the messiest one was obviously his room. I walked in and put my bag next to his bed and took a quick inspection. It was nice and small, but I think a bit too small for someone with his towering size.

Arms wrapped around my waist and then pulled me into his warm body. I was twisted around and saw Jake’s pleased face, a smile on his face along with his chocolate brown eyes that held satisfied gleam.

“You look beautiful; you did all this for me?”

I nodded. “We all did.” I said. “Why didn’t you tell me that your birthday was coming up?”

“It slipped my mind, honestly.” He said.

I nodded. “Alright, your gift is in my car, I hope you like it.”

He chuckled. “You didn’t have to get me a present, Jade; this is good enough to last a lifetime.” He smirked and then kissed me.

We separated and then sat down on the bed. “So were you surprised when you came home?”

“If you’re asking me if I was scared when they jumped out and said ‘surprise’ then no. I was surprised to find a bunch of different scents around my house on such short notice though.”

“Well, happy seventeenth birthday, Jake,” I smiled.

He looked at me with a small smile. “Thanks Jade,” He kissed my forehead and then pulled me into a hug. “I’m glad that I could share it with you.”

“I am, too,” I smiled. We shared a quick kiss again and I looked into his eyes. “We should probably get back into the living room before people start to wonder what in the world we’re doing.”

“Eh, let ‘em wonder,” He smirked.

I playfully slapped his arm, got up from the bed and walked over to the door. “You coming or what, Mr. Black?”

“I’m coming, I’m coming, Ms. Young.” He rolled his eyes.

We went back out and began to talk to our friends. An hour passed and then there was a knock on the door. Emily went up to it and then opened it, all eyes were on the girl who stood in the door frame.

She hugged Emily, walked inside and then hugged Billy. “Hey dad,” She said.

“Hello Rachel,” He replied, sounding so happy to see her.

Jacob left and went up to her. “Rachel, what are you doing here?”

She gave him an annoyed look. “This is still my home, too, little brother.” She said with a smirk. “And happy birthday.”

I looked over at Paul and he kept his eyes on her at all times. His eyes were glued to her figure. He licked his lips as she laughed and a small smile went up on his face.

Now, I wasn’t too sure about it… but I think Paul may have just imprinted on Jacob’s older sister, Rachel. I wasn’t sure how that was going to work out with Jacob though…

Paul walked right on over to her, his cocky ego taking control, and introduced himself suavely. “Hey, I’m Paul,” He said. “And you’re Rachel Black; it’s an honor to meet you.”

I honestly didn’t know that Paul had those words in his vocabulary. It was usually always, ‘nice rack’, ‘nice ass’, or something along those lines, but to say something like that… I guess there truly was a God.

Jacob eyed Paul in confusion and then his eyes went wide in realization. “Paul, goddamnit!” He yelled and tackled him to the floor.

Sam, and the rest of the guys tried to get them off of each other, and soon did after a rumble of at least five minutes or so. “Cool off, Jacob,” Sam ordered. “You know he can’t control it,” He whispered harshly.

Emily turned to me. “Can you take him to his room and try to calm him down?” She asked.

I nodded and then walked over to him, and touched his arm gently. His head spun around and glared maliciously at me, but his gaze immediately softened as he saw it was me and not one of the guys trying to lecture him.

I grabbed his hand and led him down the hallway and back into his room. We sat down on the bed and I looked at him with a worried gaze as he stared down at the ground in contemplation.

“Jake, are you alright?”

“How can I be alright when Paul imprinted on my sister?” He asked bitterly.

“This reminds me of when you saw me.” I chuckled to myself, and he turned to me.

“How’s that?”

“Chris was the same way.” I laughed. “You couldn’t tell because you were too busy looking at me to notice, but Chris was glaring at you from across the table. He would’ve kicked your ass if you didn’t intimidate him back then.”

He smiled a bit. “I intimidated him?”

“He hadn’t gone through the whole growth spurt then,” I smiled. “So yes, you intimidated him.”

He laughed a bit and I smiled, seeing him start to become less tense. “Yea, I was pretty big compared to him,”

“But, what I’m trying to say is that, you shouldn’t do that because Paul imprinted on Rachel. I mean, we were the same way. Chris gave you a shot, why not give Paul one?”

He sighed, running a hand through his hair. “Because Paul’s different,” He said. “He’s known for a lot of things, and I don’t want my sister to become like him. He’s a complete ass.”

“He can change,” I said. “If Rachel’s important to him, he’ll change for the better for him. She just has to ask. If I asked you to kiss me, would you?” He bent over and kissed my lips softly, smiling as he pulled away. “If I asked you to hug me, would you?” He then wrapped his arms around my torso area, pulling me closer to him and soon I was just sitting on his lap. “If I asked you to say, ‘I love you’, would you?”

“I love you, Jade,” He whispered into my ear.

“If you ever did something I didn’t like, would you try to change it?”

“With everything I’ve got.” He nodded.

“See? If he really did imprint on Rachel, she just has to ask.” I smiled and kissed Jacob’s lips softly.

“And I love you, too,”

He smiled and then buried his face into my hair. “You’re more than I could’ve asked for, Jade.” He said. “You know what to say.”

“I’m just as lucky for having you,”

We sat there for a moment and just enjoyed the silence together, before it was interrupted by a knock. “Can I come in?”

“Sure,”

Rachel then popped into the room and saw us both on the bed, hugging each other comfortingly. “I’m sorry,” she apologized. “Was I interrupting something?”

“No,” Jake shook his head. “What’s up?”

“What was all that about out there?”

“Nothing,” Jake dismissed the subject. “Paul just pissed me off for a moment, but now everything’s alright.”

“Oh,” She slowly nodded. “Who is this?”

“This is Jade Young, Emily’s other niece, and also my girlfriend.” He smiled and I blushed lightly. “Jade, this is my sister Rachel Black.”

“Nice to meet you,” I said and stuck out my hand.

“You, too; I’m glad to see that Jake finally found someone worth his time, instead of Bella. Sorry Jake, but she’s just too… too much of something else.” She said with a smile and shook my hand.

“It’s fine,” He shrugged.

“Okay, well, the other’s want you to come out now because we were going to have some cake.”

We both nodded and got up from the bed, following Rachel down the hallway, past the living room and into the kitchen. Jacob sat down at the table, and Emily lit the numeric candles. We sang the traditional ‘Happy Birthday’ song and after Jake blew the candles out… Paul shoved his face into the cake.

All that convincing for nothing… I thought in disappointment, though I couldn’t help but laugh out loud in the end.

Everyone stared at me as I continued to laugh at Jake’s white, frosting covered face. Jake smirked, grabbing a piece of the cake, and threw it at me. I had fast reflexes though, and was able to duck out of the way before it hit me. It had to hit someone, however, and that someone was Kim.

Soon pieces of pastry and frosting were flying every which way as an all out cake war began to commence. This was the most fun at a birthday party I’ve had in years. I was soon covered from head to toe in crumbs of cake and icing.

I felt a vibration coming from my phone and walked out of the kitchen and into the living room. I looked at the caller ID and it read “Dad”.

I gave a small smile, and walked out of the Black household so I could hear better due to the screaming of threats and maniacal laughter that was going on.

I pressed the ‘accept’ button and placed it to my ear that had, thankfully, been clean of any sticky icing.

“Hey Dad,” I greeted immediately with a happy tone.

“Hey… Jade,” He said through a hard cough. “I tried calling Chris, but he didn’t answer.”

“Oh yea, we’re at a friends birthday party, so we’re all pretty busy.” I said. “Why did you call, and why are you so sick?”

He sighed. “That’s why I’m calling Jade,” He began. “I’m sick, and I’m going to die soon.”

My whole world went on pause. “What did you say?”

“I’m sick, and the doctors say I don’t have much time left,” He coughed again and I flinched at how hard of a cough it was. It sounded like he was choking on something and was gasping for air. “I need you… and Chris… to come back home for a while. We need to sort some things out.”

“Why are you so sick?”

“Jade I don’t have much time to expla—”

“Why are you so sick?” I repeated, a bit more demanding this time.

“The alcohol is killing my liver. They put me on a waiting list for a transplant, but… there are too many people on the list. I won’t be able to get a transplant in time. The smoking I’ve done in the past few years has given me lung cancer as well; I’m a mess, Jade.” He coughed violently again and my heart wrenched in pain as I had to listen to him. Tears swelled up in my eyes. “Please Jade, I want to see you and Chris for a while before I die. It’d make me so happy to apologize to you both for all the shit that I’ve done lately.”

“I’ll talk to Chris, Dad.” I said; my voice cracking. “We’ll be there as soon as we can.”

“Alright, Jade… thank you.” He coughed again and there was a ‘click’ and the call ended.

I sat down on Jake’s porch steps and tried to quickly blink the tears away before they fell down my now rosy cheeks. They only fell that much quicker and slid down slowly.

I wiped them away quickly and looked back at the door. Should I go back inside? I thought. No… not like this.

The door opened and closed and Jake sat down beside me. “Hey, I was wondering where you went.” He said happily, but then stared at me with concern as he saw my watery eyes and red cheeks. “What’s wrong, Jade?”

“Can you go get Chris for me?” I asked quietly.

He stood up quickly and ran inside, reappearing with my brother within a second’s notice.

“Jade, why are you crying—what happened?” Chris asked as he kneeled down me, Jacob standing behind him.

I slowly turned to face him as more tears fell. “We need to go back to New York—now.” I said, and wiped away the droplets that cascaded down my face. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Jacob stiffen. “Its dad… he’s dying.” I said through a sob. “He called right now and said he doesn’t have much time left, and he wants to spend it with us.”

“Oh my God…” Chris said lower than a whisper in disbelief, and pulled me into a hug, allowing me to cry freely onto his shoulder. “It’s going to be fine Jade, we’ll get through this together.”

I nodded, but kept crying all the same.

How could my life have turned upside down so quickly?

Why did things just change in an instant—sometimes for the worse…?