She Will Be Loved

“It’s not too late, Quinn. I can still let him know that I’ll pick you up.”

“It’s fine, Edward. Jacob’s fully capable of picking me up after school.”

“Quinn, I just don’t trust him.”

“Well, I do. Besides, why don’t you trust him? He’s a great guy, Edward.”

“That’s not all he is,” Edward grumbled lowly, gripping the steering wheel of his Volvo in frustration. She didn’t know what Black was, and he wasn’t sure when Jacob would tell, or even if he would.

Quinn and Jacob had cornered Edward the night of the reception when all of the guests had went home, and they came clean over the tutoring situation. They had taken him out of the house and a good way’s into the forest that surrounded the home, and needless to say, he had become quite livid after finding out the truth. They hadn’t even said a word before Edward felt the dire need to rip Jacob limb from limb. He could easily sense the air of unease the tanned boy had around him, and he only had to read his mind to find out what was going on. However, he wanted to hear it from Quinn directly, and when she did tell, he found himself exploding.

“What do you mean he’s your tutor, Quinn? He goes to the high school on his reservation!” Edward questioned, unable to keep his cool about the subject. It was wise of them to take Edward away from the residence otherwise the others would have been able to hear him.

“The school has this program and I’m a part of it. Jacob’s getting good grades in all the subjects I need tutoring in so they gave me him so I wouldn’t need a different tutor for each subject.” Quinn explained coolly, knowing she was going to have to keep her head since her brother wasn’t doing a very good job of keeping his.

“She’s already improving in her classes. Her test scores are beginning to rise.” Jacob added, as if to prove a point. He never thought he’d see the day where he was trying to convince a bloodsucker to allow him to continue tutoring his sister.

“You and me both,” Edward growled so quietly that he knew Quinn wouldn’t be able to pick up on it, saying it for only Jacob to hear with his enhanced hearing. Giving a frustrated groan, he turned to Quinn. “Go back home, I want to talk to Jacob.”

“It’s dangerous for her to go alone. I’ll walk her back.” Jacob offered.

“She doesn’t need you to. The path from here to home is straight. There’s nothing dangerous out here. I wouldn’t make her walk alone if there was.” Edward glared. He really didn’t want Quinn to be around Jacob more than was necessary. “Get going, Quinn. This won’t take long.”

Quinn knew arguing her staying would only lessen her chances of keeping Jacob as a tutor, and so instead of rebelling, she sighed tiredly and nodded her head. “Fine,” she let out, “but don’t try and scare him off, Edward.” She warned. “I’ll meet you both back at home.”

As soon as she was out of ear shot, Edward glared cruelly at the russet skinned boy before him. “You imprinted on Quinn?!” He shouted angrily, nostrils flaring and hands balled tightly into fists. The only thing keeping Edward from ripping Jacob apart was Quinn and his Bella. Quinn had already made it clear that she wanted them to play nice, and Bella, being Jacob’s friend from childhood, definitely wouldn’t be excited over the fact that he beat him up.

“Yes, I did.” Jacob nodded; he was going to stand his ground on the subject. He wasn’t going to back down and let Quinn slip from his fingers. “Though, first and foremost, I’m her tutor. You’re not the only one who wants to see her do well. I want to make sure that she succeeds in what she does.”

“It still doesn’t change the fact that I don’t trust you. Even though you helped Bella and I with Victoria, I still cannot just accept you. You’re a potential threat to Quinn.”

“And you’re not?’’ Jacob snapped. “You’re the one who could easily snap her neck, suck her dry in seconds, make her one of you.” Jacob’s form began to quake slightly at the thought and he did his best to stay calm by taking deep, long breaths.

“She’s my sister! I would never!”

“Yeah, not on purpose, but you never know if there might be an accident. Jasper’s still relatively new—is he still having trouble being around people?”

“If there’s anyone who is prone to having an accident it’s you, Jacob! Even now you’re shaking from fury, trying not to lose control over yourself! What if something happens and you become so worked up that you change and she ends up getting hurt?”

“That won’t happen,” Jacob growled. “I would never hurt her.”

Edward scoffed. “Yeah, maybe not on purpose,” he retorted, throwing Jacob’s earlier words right back at him.

“You owe me,” Jacob began.

“For what?”

“For helping you and Bella with that other leech, Victoria. Sure, I wanted to help, but I still put my neck out for you. You owe me this, so I’m going to stay as her tutor. It’s obvious that she’s getting better in school; why should you make me stop when she’s progressing?”

Edward stayed quiet, contemplating his words. It was true; he would forever be indebted to Jacob for helping him protect Bella from the redheaded vampire, but he still wasn’t keen upon the fact that he was using it as a way to stay near Quinn, his sister. If there was any time where Edward could relate to Jacob and how he felt when he was concerned for Bella’s safety when she was with him, it was now. The tables had been turned, and instead of Bella being the one who was between the two supernatural beings, it was Quinn. Edward was now the one who was afraid of someone he loved being hurt by the other side, and he was now feeling all the worry and concern Jacob must have felt for Bella over the years.

Swallowing his pride, Edward groaned. “I don’t want you getting close to her. This relationship of yours is to stay appropriate. I don’t want you both to get close to one another romantically. After all, you said you’re her tutor, first and foremost.” Edward ordered. “Should I find out that you’re getting too close for my liking, you’re to no longer be around her. When she graduates, she can make her own decisions, but for now, I’m the one who is calling the shots.”

Jacob wasn’t happy, not in the slightest, though he had to admit that it was something. He would still be able to be around her, enjoy her company, and in retrospect, he supposed that was all that really mattered. “Fine. I won’t be anything more to her than a tutor, but as you said, after graduation, she’s making her own decisions.”

Pulling into the school’s parking lot, Edward was swarmed with thoughts about how he was dropping her off at school. The girls’ thoughts were full of endearment and adoration, wishing that he would come out of his car to grace them with his presence, while the guys’ were the exact opposite, wishing that he’d leave so the girls would remember that they still existed. Quinn disembarked the Volvo and the thoughts of him became all the more urgent as some girls tried to sneak a quick peak, pushing past Quinn and towards the silver car as discretely as they could. Quinn couldn’t help but be thankful for her brother dropping her off. For once, her arrival at school wasn’t one that she had to be in fear over.

Before they could switch their attention, she quickly headed into the school halls, making sure that she was out of sight before they could get a good verbal jab at her before classes began.

School had been just as ordinary as usual for Quinn. During passing periods she was ridiculed by some of the popular kids that roamed the halls and was picked on for just breathing the same air, but as she did every school day, she made it through. As she collected her books from her locker, her heart began to pound in excitement. She knew that once she walked out of these halls, Jacob would greet her with open arms and she’d be able to be with him and not worry about a thing. That thought alone was what was able to get her through the day in a more spectacular fashion than ever before.

When the time finally came, the halls were already depleted of many of the students, leaving her to be able to enjoy her brief walk to the parking lot. As she stepped into the outside world, the sun greeted her warmly. Her eyes quickly scanned the area, finding Jacob leaning against his red Volkswagen Rabbit with little interest in the students that were certainly interested in him, and she felt oddly at peace on campus for the first time in ages.

Making her way down the few steps and across the parking lot, she felt her heart race faster and faster with each step she took. The butterflies that were in the pit of her stomach were going haywire inside of her, and she was sure that if he sent her that smile that melted her insides, she would die from happiness.

Jacob could feel something inside him stirring and he curiously looked to the side to find her slowly making her way towards him with a smile placed upon her small, pink lips. As he took her in, she looked beautiful with the sun rays bouncing off her figure. Her hair bounced with each small step she made, her eyes glimmered, their blue pools looking deeper and more hypnotic than ever, and her smile was the most precious thing he could ever imagine. It was amazing how no matter how many time he saw her, she always managed to take his breath away.

“Quinn,” he softly breathed out her name and took a few small steps to meet her. Even just saying her name was giving him chills. “Hey,”

“Hey,” she whispered, the excitement in her stomach being too much for her to say anything else.

He smiled and motioned to his car with a nod of the head. “C’mon, let’s go. We’ve got work to do.”

Quinn nodded her head and walked over to the passenger seat, getting in and Jacob closing the door after her like a gentleman. Jacob smiled at her, happy to be able to give her a lift for their tutoring session, and turned to walk around to his side of the car.

“So Quinn, I guess this is the guy that you’re screwing around with, huh?”

A random comment by a guy across the parking lot made her stomach drop and Jacob stop on a dime. The tanned boy looked at him with absolute hatred in his being, walking over to him in silence, his tall, muscular frame somewhat intimidating the guy. Quinn quickly got out of the Rabbit, noticing that it was Mason Davey, the most popular guy in the school, who had made the comment with Kimberly Monroe, his girlfriend, hanging all over him as she looked right back at Quinn with contempt.

“What did you just say?” Jacob growled.

“You might want to get yourself checked out. That girl probably has a disease or something.” Mason smirked.

“Don’t you dare talk badly about Quinn!” Jacob began to pull back his arm to launch a fist but a concerned voiced stopped him before he could.

“Jacob!”

He turned and saw Quinn standing a few feet away with worry written all over her face. “Let’s go; they’re not worth it.” She pleaded, looking at him and then the car to get her point across.

Jacob sighed shakily, wishing that he could deliver a blow to the cocky bastard before him, though he knew it would be better to keep himself in check. He couldn’t go and make a scene. He couldn’t risk anything, it could mean being separated from Quinn, and he didn’t want that.

“Fine,” he muttered lowly, sending one last chilling glare at Davey before taking her hand and leading her back towards the old Volkswagen, both of them getting in and speeding off to La Push.

It was a few minutes before one of them spoke up in the silence of the car. Jacob couldn’t trust himself to not make an outburst and Quinn just didn’t want to talk about it all, fearing that she might become emotional or that they might find out she was being bullied.

Finally, once he was as calm as he was going to get, Jacob sighed and looked over at her briefly from the road. “What was all that back there?” He questioned.

Knowing that he was going to ask sooner or later, she scoffed lightly and shook her head. “It’s nothing, really. It’s just Davey being an idiot as per usual.”

“It didn’t seem like just nothing, Quinn.” Jacob sighed. “You know you can tell me anything, right? I’ll always be here for you to confide in.”

Quinn genuinely smiled and nodded her head, taking his free hand and kissing the back of it with care, giving it a squeeze with both her hands as she replied, “I know, Jake, I know.”

He gave a half-smile, but still pushed the subject. “Quinn, please tell me,”

“It’s really nothing important, Jake.”

“You’re important to me, and I’ve got to make sure that you’re happy, Quinn.”

“Well, I’m pretty happy right now,” she grinned, doing her best to evade the question. She kissed his cheek softly and leaned against his shoulder and he continued down the road.

Jacob then decided to leave the matter alone, knowing that she wasn’t ready to give an answer and that he would ruin the moment if he kept asking. Picking up her hand, he kissed it in return before giving his full attention back to the road. At least they’d be able to enjoy each other’s company in La Push and not worry about anything else.