The Outcome

“That was really stupid of you. We would never put you in a situation where you’d get hurt.” Jacob scolded me as we road the rabbit back to La Push. After all hell almost broke loose the Sam and the doctor apologized to each other so much it was almost funny. Erick took too much trying to make sure I wasn’t traumatized by the events.

“Are you sure you’re alright, Macie? We don’t own anything to their pack or those bloodsuckers…” He tried to coddle me.

I rolled my eyes back at him, feeling a bit silly that I was mostly mad about that bitch with the staring problem. “I’m fine Erick. You've never been this concerned about me after baiting me in the city.” I reminded him. His flushed face confirmed that it was mostly a show of misplaced ownership.

He also tried to convince me to ride with him on his back on the return to the reservation, but I hated the idea. Therefore, I sat gripped again to Jacob as the wind whipped us through the green lushness of Forks.

“Yeah, I know it was stupid, but I couldn’t help it. Isn't it a little fishy that a vampire would need my blood to find out more about me?” I asked him.

“You could have given him a chance; we all could have learned something.” He called back.

“Right, like how much you could have learned about me back in the clearing?” I snapped back him. A beat of silence passed between us and his back went a little rigid. I instantly regretted my smart mouth.

“I’m sorry. You should have gone back with Erick…” he mumbled back at me, I almost didn’t hear him over the wind.

“I’m sorry too. I didn’t mean to shout back at you. I just…I just hate having to ride on their backs when their shifted. It’s the most obvious example of how I’m not like them, how I’ll always be dead weight. I’ll always have to be carried.” I confessed to him. I’d never even told Brayden that, afraid it would hurt his feelings; he couldn’t help what he was; what I wasn’t.

Jake relaxed a bit more within the grasp of my arms around him. “Hey, I get it. I remember how it felt before I first shifted and knew the secret. Everyone around me had this secret life that I couldn’t be part of and it sucked. Really sucked.”

“But I wouldn't feel too sorry for yourself back there.” He continued, “I overheard Donovan, Erick, and Sam talking about the work you guys did in the city. Being the bait sounds like a rough position but you've always managed to hold you own. That’s pretty bad ass if you ask me.”
We were pulling up to my house at this point and I hoped that no one was looking out the window to see me stupid big grin. Jacob pulled the bike to a stop and as we got off I pulled my face together.

“Thanks for the ride, Jake. I’m sorry for all the shit that’s happened between us lately.” I spoke up to him.

He slid his hands into the front pockets of his jeans, focusing on something over my head before bring those brown eyes back down to me face. “It’s okay, Mace. I haven’t been too helpful in this situation either. Maybe we can start over?” he asked me.

“I would like that.” I smiled back to him.

“What are you doing tomorrow? You could come over and watch movies with me in my living room. My dad’s been asking about you too so…” Jake lifted a hand from his pocket and scratched at the back of his neck. I had the oddest desire to know what his fingernails would feel like against me skin.

“Um, yeah. That sounds great, actually. I’d love to tell Billy how much his baseball team sucks.”

The first time I had met Billy was when Jacob was taking him somewhere to watch a game of baseball with a friend after he dropped me off at home. The entire ride had consisted of a playful argument over the validity of the Yankees being better than any other team in question. As I was getting out of the car, Billy told me he’d liked me very much even though I knew nothing about sports, like a typical woman. I didn’t miss the sunshine smile Jake tried to hide as he pulled away.

Now here I was watching him pull off again after we said our goodbyes. I start over was exactly what we needed, but I wasn’t going up to my room to jump up and down on my bed and think about how good he smelled, or how he spoke like melted chocolate covering a marshmallow center, or how the muscles in his back moved when he laughed.

I wasn’t going to go in my house at all, at least not just yet. In the name of a do-over, there was particular group of vampires I needed to pay another visit.