Only in the Moonlight Does This Feel Right

And so we continued to visit my father for a good three and a half more months. Things were the same. Every week Chris and I would go to the market for groceries. Every day we’d wake up early at six to get ready for the day, get ready for the visit to the hospital. Every hour I felt more and more hopeless. Every minute I prayed that my dad would miraculously make it through and survive. Every second I missed Jacob so much more.

Chris was down the hall talking to one of the floor’s nurses about getting some more pillows for my dad’s sore neck, and giving him some pain relievers for his chest pains.

“Jade, tell me about this boy that Chris told me about, what’s his name?”
I blushed lightly, I didn’t think Chris would tell him about Jake, but then again I didn’t know why he wouldn’t. “His name’s Jacob Black, we call him Jake sometimes.” I answered. “He just turned seventeen so—”

“He’s older than you?” My dad asked sharply.

'Even in your condition you can still find a way to be over protective,' I thought, and smiled. “Yea, he is, his birthday was January 14th. He’s really nice dad, you’d approve.”

“He’s one of the pack?”

I nodded. “Yup, he has a reddish-brown coat that looks beautiful,” I sighed contently as I thought about it.

“Don’t go all mushy on me now.” He muttered under his breath.

I gave him a small glare. “I heard that,”

“Good,” He laughed. “What are his interests?”

“He’s into cars and he’s great with his hands.”
My dad’s head snapped towards me, eyes wide. I blushed and my eyes widened as well as soon as I figured out what he was thinking about. “Not like that!” I yelled and slapped his arm, my blush turning darker by the second, and my face now resembling a dark cherry. “I meant he can fix cars!”

“O-oh, good,” He muttered, embarrassed by the fact that he had thought of it. “What else?”

“Um, he’s got a Rabbit and a motorcycle.” I shrugged. “I don’t know what you want me to tell you, want to know anything specific?”

“Does he treat you right?”

“The best anyone ever could, and ever will.” I said truthfully. “I trust Jake with my life, and I know that he trusts his with me. He’s saved me too many times to remember, and has put his life on the line for me.”

“He makes you happy?”

“The happiest I’ve ever been,” I nodded. “I can just be myself with him.”

He studied my facial expression as I said all of this. “Do you love him?”

“Yea, I do. It’s indescribable as hell, but I just love him…” My voice trailed off as I said this.

He smiled. “Then… I know that I would approve. I would definitely approve.” He mumbled and got comfortable in the bed. “You make sure that you tell your boy, Jacob, that I want him to take good care of you and that if he doesn’t, I’ll make sure to haunt him for the rest of his life.” He gave a smile at the end.

I smiled. “I will dad,” I nodded and gave him a small hug, which he returned as best he could with his little amount of energy. “Hey dad…” I can’t believe I’m going to ask him this… I thought. “Did you ever know a guy named Blake?”

He looked at me with serious eyes. “Blake… Blake Forester?”

I nodded. “Yea, so you have met him?” I asked.

“He knows you’re alive, Jade?” He asked softly.

“I met him near the start of the school year when we were in La Push. He seemed nice and all, but then one night he came into my room and tried to kidnap me.” I said. “The guys saved me though and I was taken to these vampires—”

“The Cullens, right?”

“How’d you—”

“They’ve been living on that land for a while, Jade, I can remember them.” He said. “What happened next?”

“Carlisle treated me and then after that Blake didn’t show up for a while. Right before we left to come here, he showed up and was chasing me throughout the forest, Jake saved me and ended up changing in front of me and that’s how I found out about everything.” I explained.

“You know… I wouldn’t put it past Blake if he came here… or even if he was right here in this building, right now.” He said. “You’d better call Jacob over here; the kid has a right to protect you, his imprint. Your brother can’t be the only one to save you. Blake’s a tricky one, and he can slip through anyone’s hands.” He sighed and ran a hand through his hair, trying to relax and calm down. “Call your boy, Jake, and tell him to get on the next flight here. For all we know, Blake could be attempting to get you while you’re here in New York. This is the perfect place to do so, and without the rest of the pack here, it’ll be easier to take you.”

“Right now?”

“Right now,” My dad nodded. “Go on, I’ll still be here, call him. You haven’t got all day.”

I sighed and got up from my seat, walking out into the hallway. I called Jacob’s number and waited for him to pick up. “Hey this is Jake’s cell, you know what to do.” There was a beep and I left a message.

“Hey Jake, it’s Jade, um I hate to ask this of you so suddenly, but could you call me back as soon as you get this? It’s pretty important. Bye,” I ended the call.

You’re an idiot. I told myself. Why didn’t you just tell him to get on the next flight?

I groaned and opened my phone again, I called Emily this time.

“Hello?” She answered.

“Hey Em, it’s Jade,”

“Oh hi, Jade, how are you?”

“Good, good, is um, Jacob there?”

“Uh… hold on,” She said. I heard her put the phone down as she walked away. “Jacob, it’s Jade!” She yelled. “He’s coming.”

“Thanks, Emily,”

“No problem,” She said and soon Jacob’s voice came up.

“Hey Jade, what’s up?”

“Um, nothing much,” I said. “I was just wondering though, would you mind coming on the next plane over here?”

“Yea, sure, is something wrong?” He asked, worry evident in his voice.

“Um, yes and no… I don’t know.” I sighed out. “I can just really use someone right now.”

“Okay, I’ll be on the next flight.”

“I’ll buy you your plane ticket; I don’t want you paying to come out here.”

He sighed. “Fine,”

“Thanks, I know it kills you when I pay money for you.”

“Yea, it does,” He mumbled. “I’ll start packing. I guess I’ll see you soon.”

“Yea, see you soon.”

“Bye, Jade.”

”Bye, Jake.”

I hung up and walked back into my dad’s room, he was sleeping, snoring away. I rolled my eyes a small smile on my lips. I turned the volume up on the television to drown him out as I went onto my phone’s internet and bought Jacob a ticket to J.F.K. Airport.

-{}-

It was the next day, and I was pretty happy today because Jacob would be coming in a little while. I got up, got into the shower, and was soon dressed in new clothes for the day. I put on some make up, something I didn’t really do as often nowadays, and walked downstairs to make some breakfast for Chris, Jacob and I. As I walked, I could tell that there was a new bounce in my step.

I made a lot of food, well, more than I usually did anyways. I made waffles, pancakes, eggs and sausage. After that was done, I heard Chris roll off his bed and land on the floor with a thud; I knew he was up when he started cursing wildly.

I smiled, laughing to myself as I rolled my eyes.

“Chris, I’m going to go and get Jake now!” I shouted upstairs, grabbing my dad’s car keys from the counter. “Be back in a few!”

“Be careful!” He replied.

I walked outside and unlocked it the car doors. It was a sleek, black Cadillac CTS. I got into the driver’s seat and started up the engine. I tuned the radio station to something catchy, and began to drive towards J.F.K. Airport to pick up Jacob, a smile on my lips.

I soon was parking the car in the parking garage and walked towards the terminals. I picked up my pace as I got closer and closer to them.

“Flight 132 from Port Angeles, Washington is now arriving at Gate 13.” The intercom announced.

I waited by the doors anxiously, waiting for each person to move out of my way so I could look for Jacob.

“Jake!” I shouted and ran up to him.

His head snapped towards me and he smiled as he walked over to me. “Jade,” He said, his grin widening.

He extended his arms and caught me in them. His arms wrapped tightly around my waist as he pulled me closer to him. “I missed you so much,” He cooed.

“Me too,”

“Next time you leave for a long time, I’m coming too,” He joked.

“Count on it,” I smiled and kissed his cheek.

“You missed,”

He leaned in and kissed my lips gently. I wrapped my arms around neck and he did the same with my waist. Not wanting to take this any further, since we were in public, I pulled away.

“We’ll continue this later in private,”

He nodded eagerly. “As long as we continue,” He smirked. “Let’s go, it’s way too crowded in here.” I reached for his backpack and snatched it up before he could grab it himself. “Jade,” He looked at me with stern eyes. “Give me the backpack.” He said in a stern voice.

“No, I’m helping you carry your stuff.” I argued. “That’s it—the end of it.”

He groaned. “C’mon Jade, it’s heavy,”

“Not in the slightest,” I said, shrugging the matter off as I walked away.

He rolled his eyes, but I knew he was smiling and so he grabbed his large black duffle bag and put the strap on his shoulder as he walked off after me. He soon caught up and gently took my hand in his.

“So did you just miss me, or is there some other reason as to why you asked me here?”

“I wish I could say it was only the first one, but there is a reason.” I sighed. “I really did miss you though. I seriously missed those good morning hugs.” I smiled.

He smiled back. “Well you don’t have to worry about that again,” He said, letting his hand let go of mine and then draped it around my shoulders, pulling me closer to him. “Now, what’s wrong?”

“Um, well, I told my dad about Blake and it turns out he knows who he is.” I said.

Jacob’s arms tightened around me, “What else?” He urged on through gritted teeth.

“My dad said that he wouldn’t be surprised if Blake was here, and I have a feeling he is… but not one-hundred percent sure.” I said. “You remember that guy, Johnny, the one who you punched because he was getting too friendly with me?”
He pulled me in closer. “Don’t remind me,”

“I saw him in the hospital when I was visiting my dad,” I said. “And I don’t think he has any relatives over here.”

“Why didn’t you tell me?” Jacob asked, looking at me with hurt emotions in his eyes. “I could’ve been here sooner, what if something had happened to you?”

“I’m sorry, it just never even occurred to me,” I said.

He sighed. “Next time, just call me, I don’t want there to be anything happening to you.” He kissed the top of my head softly.

A few onlookers, most of which were girls, glared maliciously, obviously jealous that I had Jacob to myself. I couldn’t help but smirk at that. I was proud to have Jacob… Let me correct myself, I was lucky to have Jacob.

We drove home and I found a sticky note on the front door.

I took a cab to the hospital. Dad called and said to show Jacob around NY and not to worry about coming today. – Chris

I sighed and unlocked the door, and then walked in with Jacob and his luggage. I set them down in the living room and looked at Jacob.

“So, you’re sleeping in my dad’s king size bed?” I felt uncertain.

“I’d rather sleep with you,” He said honestly, and I knew that he didn’t mean it with any hint of perverted thoughts or anything like that.

I smiled. “Okay,” I nodded. “Let’s eat first, and then we’ll put your stuff in my room.”

“Sounds good to me,” Jake agreed.

I led him into the kitchen and put the still hot food onto the table. I got some plates, forks, and cups and then got the OJ from the fridge, placing it on the table as well before sitting down myself.

We both served ourselves and began to eat. Jacob ate greedily, almost like he hadn’t eaten in weeks. He practically inhaled his first serving, and was done with it in a good minute. I watched him serve himself again, this time just a bit more than he had before.

I smiled—I missed this. “You act like you haven’t eaten in forever, Jake,” I laughed.

He swallowed the food in his mouth and then responded. “Well, I haven’t eaten as much since you left.” He admitted.

I frowned. “Why…?” I felt so guilty right now.

“I just wasn’t as hungry with you not there, it felt weird.” He shrugged.

“Don’t do that again, Jake.” I said. “Please, I don’t want you to not eat, especially just because I’m not there.”

He nodded, “Anything for you, Jade,”

“Thanks, Jacob,”

“So when were we going to go see your dad?”

“Tomorrow,”

He looked at me funny. “Tomorrow, you don’t want to go today?”

“It’s not that, my dad told me to show you around New York.”

“Oh, that’s cool,” He smiled. “So where are we going?”

I shrugged. “I don’t know.”

“We’re winging it, huh?”

“Pretty much,” I nodded. “We’ll go later because people are still getting ready for work. Trust me, 30 minutes really does make a difference.”

“Fine with me,” He smiled and continued to eat.

After eating, we cleaned up and then headed upstairs with his things. We walked into my room and then began to put his clothes away into the extra draws in my dresser. Once that was settled we both just sat on the bed.

“Jake,” I called and looked at him.

He turned his head to face me. “Yea?”
I kissed his lips softly and smiled as I pulled back away. “Nothing,”

He turned his whole body to me and then kissed me back. He used his right hand and brought it to the back of my neck, bringing me closer to him. I was soon straddling him and left my hands on his chest, his hands resting upon my back, pulling me closer and closer to him.

He pulled away, smirking. “I’ve missed that—a lot.”

“And I haven’t?”

“Have you?”

“So much,” I nodded. I looked at the clock and it was already 11:30. “I think… we should get started on exploring New York.”

He nodded and then we both got up, heading downstairs and out the door, getting back into the Cadillac CTS.

-{}-

“Oh my god, this is great,” Jacob laughed and we got off the rollercoaster ride, Cyclone.

We were finishing up the last ride at Coney Island. I had tried to fit in as much as possible. I took him to the Empire State building, up to the observatory, then to Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty, I dragged him to the American Museum of Natural History, then it was his turn to drag me someplace, Bodies: The Exhibition, thought it turned out to be pretty interesting. After that, we headed to Times Square and then to the Ripley’s Believe It or Not! Museum, to Madison Square Garden, and then we ended up here at Coney Island.

Three words…

Best day ever.

“Glad that you’re having a good time,” I smiled.

He smiled back and then wrapped his arm around my waist. “A great time,” He kissed the top of my head. “I love you,”

“I love you, too, Jake,” I said. “But there’s one more thing we’ve got to do, so come on.”

“Where are we going now?”

“You’ll see,”

We began to walk through Manhattan. All the lights that lit the buildings were amazing, absolutely entrancing. I had forgotten how awestruck they made you at nighttime. The lights were hypnotic in their own way.

“We almost there yet?” Jake looked at me with a small smile.

“Yea, actually we are,” I nodded and led him across the street. “Central Park,”

We walked into the park and strolled around the paths. We found couples together on some benches, tour guides leading hordes of people, and a few squirrels hiding in the branches of trees. I loved this whole quality time with Jacob; I never got to do something like this with him back at the reservation—it was usually school, Jake was away on patrol, or eating with the pack—they never seem to stop eating.

As we walked further into the park, it became less crowded. We found a bench and sat down. Jacob pulled me into his chest, both arms around my chest protectively, and I propped my feet up and onto the rest of the bench.

“Today’s been great, Jade,”

“Mhm,” I nodded, becoming very tired in this comfortable position. “I’m glad we could do this, Jake,”

“Me too,” He kissed the top of my head lovingly. “We should do this more often.”

“You know what… come with me.” I suddenly remembered something, and quickly got off the bench and stood up.

“What?” A laugh escaped his lips.

“Just come on,” I smiled and got his hands, attempting to pull him off the bench.

Fail.

I ended up at a slant as I hung onto his arms, just standing there. Okay, let me rephrase…

Epic Fail.

He laughed at me and then stood up, yanking me forward and into his chest.

“Yea, yea, yea, just come on,” I laughed.

I got free of his grip and began to run in the direction I needed to go, him chasing after me. I laughed and looked back, he was only a few feet from me, laughing as well. He soon caught up with me, and grabbed me by putting his arms around my stomach.

He put me onto his back and carried me like that as I gave him directions on where to go. We came to a large oak tree and he set me back down on the ground and I walked up to the tree. Names were written all over it, carved into the bark.

“This is what I wanted to show you. We don’t have a name for it really, but this is where a lot of us used to come with our boyfriend or girlfriend.” I explained. I walked over to a nearby bush and searched through the leaves before finding the army knife. “I know that this sounds really stupid, but whoever writes there name here, it’s actually good luck. Come here.”

He walked over with a curious look and stared at the writing. “So these initials are the names of boyfriends and girlfriends?”

“Yea, but look what they say under the initials.”

He scrutinized the closest one and read it aloud. “M-96…” He looked at me confused. “What does that mean?”

“Married in ’96,” I explained. “All of these have them, look for yourself.”

After a minute of searching he looked shocked. “Yea… but are these real?”

“No one knows, but it’s better to have faith and believe in something happy than to not believe in anything at all.” I shrugged.

“I guess you’re right,” He smiled and took the army knife from my hand, going up to the tree, and then gave it back to me once he was done. It was my turn.

‘JB & JY’ was now inscribed onto the bark.