Hold up My Heart

"What do you want, Jacob?" I growled. My stance was defensive - hands crossed around my chest, glare on face, weight on one leg - showing dominance in my position.

"You cheering for the other team now, Ara?" He chuckled. Was he serious? Did he have a death wish or something? I bit on the inside of my cheek and glared.

"I asked you something." I spat. "What, do you want?"

Jacob nodded, "This morning was totally not the right way to start things, Ara, and -"

"No, Jacob. You explained your reasoning for leaving me, and sadly it's just too much of a pathetic excuse. So if you'd do me a favor and leave, I'd great appreciate it." Just as I began to shut the door on his face, it backfired with his large hand stopping it from closing.

"No, Ara. We need to talk - please just for a little bit." His eyes begged me to say yes, to give in, just this once. "You can bring your friend over to Emily's, too. The whole pack - er, all of the guys are there." I gave in, with the exception of a skeptical look for his wording.

"Let me go change." I muttered. This time I was able to shut the door in his face, I got a laugh from Karina as we both ran up the stairs to change.

"So what do you think's gonna go down once we get over there?" Karina asked as she pulled on her shirt. I gave her a look which got her to shut up.

Pulling on my pants and finishing up with my shoes, I stood up and looked at myself in the mirror and smiled in satisfaction.

"Let's just go," I said, pulling Karina with me. Why was I doing this again? Oh, that's right, because I'm stupid. I earned a skeptical look for Karina was we made our way outside. We walked over to Jacob's shitty vehicle with utter distaste on our faces.

"Get in," Karina shoved after opening the door.

"Ara, sit up front." Jacob smiled warmly at me and tapped his hand against the fabric of the passenger seat. I looked at Karina and gave hr the 'help me' look, but she smirked at me and shrugged. She was so going to get it later.

"Can you stop staring?" I growled once I was in the car and getting a bug-eyed stare from Jacob. He snapped out of his seconds later and shifted the gear, taking off down the road.

The ride over to Emily's was quiet, of course it would be. I wasn't talking, I was too busy staring out the window straight in front of me. Karina had taken out her phone was texting probably Dougie about the next meet for some more drugs, and Jacob kept glancing over at me. There was nothing on my face, I checked before.

We pulled up into a rocky driveway which happened to have a few cars parked all over. As I got out of the car I could hear the guys rambling and acting as insane as they used to, in the house. But everything went silent and froze when I walked into the house, Karina by my side. I gave a glance to each one of them, their eyes never shifting in the slightest.

"Arabella? Is that you?" A faint voice came from the kitchen, Emily Young walked in with a smile on her face. I'd known Emily from when Jacob and I were little, and my mother and her were good friends. But that all changed six months ago.

"Yeah, it's me." I chewed on my bottom lip and watched as she approached me with open arms. Reluctantly I grimaced but gave her a hug in return anyways.

"Wow, you've..."

"Changed? Yeah I know - that's all thanks to -" I was interrupted with Karina's loud mouth, her eyes gazing over to Embry.

"Well hey there Embry." She gave him a flirty wink, in which he returned with a blush and a smile. He stood up and walked over to us.

"Wanna sit with me, Karina?" She giggled and nodded before following Embry over to the couch. I gave an exasperated sigh and crossed my arms, waiting for the others to stop staring. Paul's stare caught mine and I immediately began to gasp.

"Holy shit." I mumbled. Paul turned away, a blush perfectly noticeable on his tanned face.

"What the hell's going on, Paul?" Jacob snapped. Paul turned back to us, but kept his eyes off of me.

"That's the chick I told you about, Jake. The one I almost fu -" Emily gave him a stern look and he apologized before continuing. "She ran off after I asked her where she got her tattoo." I sent a glare over to Paul, he smirked.

"You fucking ass, I ought to kill you -" Jacob's hands grabbed my arms and pulled my away before I could take another step and strangle the impudent life out of the jackass sitting across the room from me.

"You have a tattoo, Ara?" Jacob whispered into my ear. I flinched away from him and shook off his grip.

"So, we going to talk or just stand here all fucking day while these nimrods keep burning their gazes into my damn body?" He flinched away but put his stare on the others. They all looked away quickly and got back to what they were doing before I arrived. I watched at Karina and Embry began to flirt their heads off, I shrugged, not my problem now.

"Let's go to the beach, Ara." Jacob pulled on my arm, I yanked it away but followed after him. As we walked our way to First Beach - which wasn't far from Emily's house, I began to think about making my escape. It'd be pretty easy - I'd always been faster than Jacob. I'd win against him in stupid childish races we had when we were younger. But enough of the past, this was the present and I sure hated it with fiery passion.

"So?" I prodded for him. His eyes met with mine and a small smile came to his lips. "How come you always smile when you look at me? It's creepy as -"

"You're so beautiful, Ara." I scoffed and took another step opposite to Jacob. But he just kept finding ways to get closer to me. Sooner or alter I'd have to shove him off and threaten him with his balls if he got any closer.

"Seriously, what was so important that you'd have to bring me out here to tell me?"

"The reason I was gone..." He trailed. His head lowered and his shoulders became slouchy.

We'd found a spot near the beach and sat down, the trees hiding us from the bright sun shining into our faces. I took my hands and held up sand, then watched at his slipped through my fingers. Jacob chuckled, I turned to him with a questioned look.

"You always used to do that when we'd come here." I had to fight with myself, a couldn't let a smile appear ever.

"Some things never change." I whispered. I heard Jacob sighed from beside me, his heat radiating off of his skin. "Why the fuck are you so hot?"

Another smirk from him, of course. "I'm glad you think I'm hot and all but -"

"Fuck you, Jacob. I meant your skin - you're burning up." Reluctantly I took my hand and placed it against his heated forehead. I flicked it away like I'd just been burned my immense burning fire.

"That's part of what we need to talk about, Ara. Remember those legends?" Oh, great, here we go again.

I gave him an aggravated look, "Yeah, I do. The cold ones, the werewolves, the imprinting." My heart broke a bit towards the end, I'd always thought greatly of the imprinting legend. It'd be so beautiful to find your soul mate that way. No flaws or problems in the way, hardly ever.

"They are um, Ara they really are true. All of them." My gaping expression never faltered as he said this. He seemed awfully serious, but I had to deny it. "The imprinting - that's real. I know you feel that pull towards me, and I know you're trying to fight it. But you can't fight it, Arabella. You'll hurt us both."

"So you're really going to play this game with me again, Jacob? Seriously how sick can you get?" Jacob pulled me down before I even got the chance to stand up.

"Arabella, I know you feel it, that internal pull you feel for me, I feel it too. When I first arrived back and saw you, I had immediately imprinted on you. I wanted you more than I had before I left. Ara, I still love you. You have to give me that second chance, or else we'll both end up hurting." My bottom lip began to tremble, this was becoming so much once again.

"You left me, Jacob." I whispered. I cursed at myself for letting a tear slip. I regretted letting that go, and I'd have to make sure I paid extra for that, whenever I got the chance.

"I know, and I'm sorry, Ara. I really am, but now, we can be together again, and this time nothing can come in the way of us."

I looked up to him with my glossy eyes and my trembling figure. "Prove it to me, Jacob." That's all I would ask of him, I needed the proof. And when he got up and began to strip off his clothes I gasped and turned away.

"I don't have extra clothes with me, Ara." He answered my thoughts. Why was I even looking away at this point? I turned my head and eyed him up and down. His naked figure was just as good as his dressed figure. Jacob rolled his eyes with a smirk and began to open up the space between us. "Stay right there, Ara."

Two seconds, that's all it took for the boy that I once loved to begin in a strut and immediately form into this large, russet brown wolf, which stood not even two feet away from me. I gasped as i struggled to my feet. His brown eyes were the same as Jacob, and the wolf's barking laugh was the same in such a way that I couldn't deny him now.

"It really is you." I whispered. He snorted and turned around, his naked human form appearing just as quickly as he phased into a wolf. His quickly pulled on his clothes before finding a spot next to me again.

"Now do you believe me, Ara?" He asked, a small smile on his lips. I didn't say anything, I didn't do anything. No smile, no frown, just a straight face, hardened in a pissed off kind of position.

"I do, Jacob. But I need to go." I quickly rushed to my feet and began in a run up the beach. I needed to get home and stay there, lock the doors and just wait for Karina to come home. I wouldn't let anyone in, I wouldn't even go near the door.

Jacob's cries for me to come back hurt my heart, but I fought it with everything inside of me. The legends were true, and the more that I knew about imprinting cause the pain between being away from Jacob even worse. Being so interested in that particular legend made it more of a short cut for the pain to ease it's way to me. I was now on the ground, crying my eyes out in spite of the promise I swore to myself.