The Only Exception

I let out a small laugh at Paul, who was currently trying to get out of Jacob’s grasp. He was struggling – they both were. They were both very strong; all of the boys were strong, and huge. I just couldn’t believe they’d been trying this for almost a half hour, now.

I sighed, shaking my head slowly and looking down at my small fingers. Emily had come behind me a second later and ran her fingers through my hair. I looked up to smile at her; she’d returned it right away.

Turning back to the boys I watched Embry shove his face with Doritos, choking the second he began to laugh and swallow at the same time.

“You’re going to kill yourself,” I muttered at him. He stuck out his tongue before shoving another handful into his mouth. I rolled my eyes, putting my attention back to the boys.

Paul was now kicking his legs in the air, arching his back high so he could flip forwards and onto his feet. But Jacob was not tolerating any sort of movement. I couldn’t believe that Sam was actually letting them do this – well, actually, Sam and the others were out patrolling, so I guess I didn’t really have a say.

“Braylin,” I heard a light voice coming from the hallway. I turned to find Emily with two towels folded in her hands, a smile lighting up her face. She took her hand and waved me over. After pulling myself up – struggling just a bit with my ribs, I made my way to Emily.

“What’s this for, Em?” I asked.

She chuckled and pulled me into the bathroom. “Clean yourself up; I have things waiting for you in the guest bedroom when you’re out.” With that, she placed the towels on the toilet before quickly turning on the shower. And after that, she left the bathroom, closing the door behind her.

I scrunched my face up, tilting my head. What on earth is Emily up to? Or should I ask, what the hell is everyone up to?

Ignoring the itching thought I stripped all of my clothing off and hopped in the shower and quickly felt the goose bumps rise on my arms from the instant change in temperature.

Every thought that I had, that had been running through my head since the day I found out what was happening, was gone. They disappeared as though they were never there in the first place. I smiled to myself, I finally had some peace.

After cleaning myself thoroughly, I got out of the shower and dried myself off.

Opening the door slowly I peeked out to check for any sign of boys, and thankfully they were all paying attention to the television. I smirked before making a head start to the guest room.

I knew they’d all turned their heads at the sound of my running; I could hear one of the boys make some comment as the others boomed laughter. I’d closed the door soon after and locked it behind me.

I sighed, and after relaxing myself from boys, I’d lost that luck again and was pushed up against the door by none other than Jacob himself. I felt his lips on mine once before I’d grimaced and pushed him away.

He looked dumbfounded as I did this, a small smile casting over my lips. “You need to leave, mister.”

Jacob blinked, “Why can’t I stay –“

“Because you are not going to, Jacob.” A muffled voice said sternly from outside of the door. I quickly unlocked it and smiled at the sight of Emily, her hands wrapped around a small white box.

Jacob sighed and crossed his arms. Emily gave him another look; “Jacob Black, out. Now.” I tried my best not to giggle when Jacob stomped his feet out of the room.

Emily rolled her eyes before shutting the door behind her; she walked over to the bed at set the box down. I looked at it, confused. “What is it?” I asked innocently.

Emily chuckled and patted the box, “Something you’ll definitely love.”

I smiled over at her before putting my attention back on the box. I gripped at my towel and blushed, I had totally forgotten about that. But pushing that thought aside, I opened the box and gasped at what I saw. Emily pulled out the crème colored dress, and held it up for me to get a better look. She’d also given me shoes and other accessories. I couldn’t help but to beam, my smile so huge it could have gotten stuck like that.

“Emily, this is – it’s amazing!” I gushed, putting my hand on the smooth fabric of the dress.

Emily chuckled and set down the dress, “It’s all yours.” My eyes snapped up and met with hers, she couldn’t be serious. But before I could even comprehend what she’d said, she walked out of the bedroom and closed the door.

Quickly pulling off the towel I pulled on some underwear and a strapless bra before anxiously hopping into the dress. After getting ready; including drying my hair – which left it in natural curls, I sucked in a deep breath and peeked out of the room.

“Emily, can I come out now?” I yelled from the hallway. I heard small laughter before seeing Emily smile over at me and nod, gesturing with her hand to come out. I smirked, more to myself, before exiting the room and carefully walking out to the living room where everyone had been waiting.

I knew it was hard to believe that everyone in the room looked shocked; their jaws dropped and eye widened. I grimaced lightly, my face begin to get hotter. I didn’t like the fact that I was blushing.

“Wow,” was that Jacob was able to push through his lips.

Paul looked at me up and down, chuckled, and said, “Damn, Bray you look –” Paul was quickly slapped up side the head by Sam as Jacob turned his head to warn Paul with a low growl almost muted. I took a nice look at Jacob as he walked forward to grab my hand. He wasn’t all too dressy, but he looked good in anything, anyways.

“Now you two kiddies be good, ‘ya hear?” Embry hollered from the porch, his exact high-pitched woman voice making Jacob and I laughed over at him. After we’d gotten into the car I watched as Sam shook his head and literally dragged Embry back into the house.

Luckily for the boys, Jacob’s window was down so we could easily hear Paul yell, “Use protection, son!” all before Sam dragged him inside as well. I shook my head and turned my attention to the road.

“Those guys really do have a death wish,” Jacob mumbled as he shook his head and turned onto the busy road.

I sighed, “They’re just poking fun, it’s harmless humor, Jake.” He’d looked over at me and smile before letting his right arm extend over to where his hand could get a good hold of mine.

“I never told you how beautiful you are, did I?” He asked after a minute or two of silence. I shook my head, the blush fading back into my cheeks. “Well, Braylin, might I say that you look beautiful tonight?”

I let out a small laugh and shook my head. “Thanks,” I mumbled. Minutes after passing the deeper parts of the forest, Jacob drove down into the parking lot next to a small restaurant near the shore. Jacob, being the gentleman that he is, rushed over to my side of the car and opened the door, holding out his hand soon after.

I took in all of the scenery as Jacob and I walked, hand-in-hand, to the front of the restaurant. I didn’t know the exact name of the place, but I knew that they must serve some of the best food from the delicious scent that I was getting.

When the Host had seated us minutes later – Jacob, of course, had seated me first before himself – Jacob was already zooming through the Menu, mumbling to himself absentmindedly about what sounded good.

Of course, everything sounded good to a wolf.

When our waiter had introduced himself and taken our orders – Jacob ordering almost everything on the menu, and the waiter looking at him in shock – I actually felt okay now that it was just Jacob and I.

I had to admit, he looked amazing. His dark chocolate brown eyes the center of my attention, as well as his smile, when he did smile – which was every time he looked up at me.

The look in his eyes said something; like he was trying to put something together in his mind before he actually came through with it.

“I have something for you, Braylin.” He said with a smile. I watched as he got up from the table and walked over to my side. There, he reached into his pocket and pulled out a rectangle box; and at the same time he pulled it out, I immediately flinched.

“Sorry,” I mumbled, looked up to him and giving him a small smile. His face faltered, I guess he knew why I’d done that.

I guess I hadn’t really overcome the problems with my father. It happened a lot, really, whenever I present near one of the guys at Emily’s or Jacob’s, and they were messing around, or when I’d help Emily prepare meals and she had a knife in her hand, ready to cut food.

I proposed that maybe I’d never get over something like that.

Jacob cleared his throat and slowly opened up the box. When he’d opened it, my eyes went wide and I heard a gasp escape through my lips. There were no words for what laid in front of my eyes.

My eyes wandered over the diamond heart that chained onto the necklace along with the carven wolf, which hung right next to it.

Looking up at Jacob, I smiled, standing up and grabbing him in my small hugs. “Thank you, Jake, it’s..it’s beautiful.”

Jacob chuckled as he pulled the necklace out, “You make it even more beautiful, Bray.” I blushed at that, but I turned around so I could hide it – of course using this time to let him put the necklace around my neck.

“Wow,” I whispered, my fingers feeling over every intricate design in the wooden wolf. I sat down, my hands never leaving the wolf, and asked, “Did you make this?”

Pulling himself into his seat, he smiled, “Yeah, it took me some time, but I finally got it done.” I shook my head, all while smiling at the necklace and then back over to Jacob.

“Thank you, Jacob,” I began, my head pulling up so our eyes could connect. “This – this really means a lot.”

Jacob grimaced, his eyes struck me when he smiled, they actually glistened, or twinkled; whichever way seems less cheesy.

As Jacob opened his mouth to say something, our waiter had interrupted with a small smile and set down each of our plates of food. I gawked at Jacob’s plate; there were three plates in all, one serving a meal of ribs and fries. The second plate held what the restaurant named their finest dish, the Delmonico Steak served with the Delmonico shrimp. Oh, and the last plate he ordered, was just a side of baked potatoes. With two small bowls of sour cream.

I stared at the food, bewildered to know that my boyfriend – scratch that, my wolf boyfriend, actually ordered all of the food that was held on our table. I had got the simple chicken fingers with a side of honey mustard. I felt cheap. Jacob had already dived into his food; each piece that went in his mouth was hardly even chewed. I tried to stifle my laughter, and at the same time eat my food. Jacob looked up when a small squeak escaped my lips.

His eyes were wide with curiosity, rib sauce was all over his face and just a piece of the meat was hanging out of his mouth. He looked like a deer caught in headlights.
This time I covered my mouth and looked away, surely hoping that not looking at him personally would help calm my laughter down.

“Why are you laughing?” He asked. Looking back at him I shook my head before grabbing a napkin and reaching over to wipe his face. I didn’t make a comment, or explain why I was laughing; I just smiled and continued eating.

We continued eating, and every once in a while I’d have to gesture to Jake’s face, where there would be some sort of food dripping down. He had asked me questions, questions that I had never even thought of. He’d made jokes about something lame, like when Embry was pranked by Jacob and the others. He made this date totally worth every minute.

“Jacob?” I asked, wiping my face with a napkin.

Looking up Jake wiped his face too, “Yeah, Bray?”

I looked down at the table, taking in every plate, every drink, and piece of leftover food. “Um, how much is this all going to cost?” I asked timidly.

Jake chuckled, reaching his hand around himself so he could scratch his neck. “Well, all of the guys pitched in for me.”

I smiled only, taking another sip of my drink before getting up. “Shall we go?” I asked.
Jacob wobbled out of his chair and smirked down at his stomach. Stopping in place he patted his stomach and sighed, “Boy was that good.”

~

The ride home was a lot quicker that I expected. Though it wasn’t my home that we were at, I guess I could call it that. Staying at Emily’s was great, but I chose to go back to Jacob’s for a few nights. I figured that I’d switch on and off. Emily loved the idea that I do so.

“Billy’s at Charlie’s tonight,” Jacob began as we walked inside. He flicked the light on and threw his jacket on the floor.

“Jacob, you’re so messy,” I commented quietly. All I got was a scoff and a roll of the eyes. Jacob and I walked into his bedroom where he began to pull off his clothes.

I covered my eyes quickly, “Whoa, Jacob – I’m still here, you know.”

I heard a low chuckled closer to me, and I let my hands drop to find Jacob inches from me. Looking down – and which I tried not to, and saw that he was shirtless, but thankfully in a pair of boxers.

Avoiding Jacob’s gaze I took of my jacket and dropped it to the floor. Jacob began to lean into me, and I swear I thought he was going to kiss me, but instead his lips went to my ear and it’s then when he whispered my name. It came out so low that it seemed invisible yet husky. I liked it very much, and found myself smiling from the feeling. His hot breathing penetrated my skin as I could feel his lips millimeters away. When he finally did touch my skin he gave behind my ear a sweet lingering kiss. My heart paced faster within my ribcage, as I fluttered my eyes to close. His hands soon interlaced with mine which remained at our sides.

After his sweet kiss I could feel those familiar warm lips migrate down my jaw. Absentmindedly, I tilted my head to the side so he could ease his way through. It felt so comforting to have him do this, and I did want to kiss him but I let him continue with the gentler ones. At the time his mouth became closer to mine, I could feel his hands snake slowly up my arms as well.

By this time my heart’s beating had become irregular. There was just something about the slowness and affectionateness that Jacob gave me that made my heart go happy. Without thinking about it I cleared my throat and said his name in a murmur. Inwardly I was going crazy from the sparks of his light touch and the way his lips pressed against my aching skin.

I then opened my eyes. Jacob’s hands had cupped the sides of my face as his eyes gave me all of his attention. I could tell that he was smiling, even if everything else about him was serious. His forehead came onto mine and I opened my mouth to say something but his warm fingers touched my lips carefully as he made the “shh” sound.

He shook his head, telling me not to talk. So I looked down once more. The bottom of my stomach had completely left me by this point. I wasn’t sure what was happening until Jacob’s mouth collapsed onto mine. He didn’t move at a fast pace, a more loving one. He gave my bottom lip a light tug, which made my heart skip yet another beat.

With what seemed like ages, turned to seconds when I made my hands push against his firm, warm chest. I opened my eyes and begged for him to understand my sudden stop.
Jacob’s eyes showed a sudden sign of rejection, I shook my head, which told him that wasn’t the reason at all. I wasn’t rejecting him, really. I just –

“I’m not ready.” I whispered. Jacob looked into my eyes and a small smile crawled on his face. I chewed on my bottom lip as I watched his face change from the feeling of rejection, to a smile.

Shaking his head Jacob kissed my forehead, “Listen to me, Braylin.” He began; my heart had begun to accelerate once again. “I will wait for you, for when you’re ready, and when you are, you’re going to be amazing.” My breath hitched in my throat, my heart began to speed up.

I nodded, my eyes gazing back from his lips and to his brown orbs. And it’s when he leaned in to kiss me once more, that it felt like my world was fading out, and the blackness was setting in slowly, dramatically, unwillingly.