Chapter 15: You

(Song: Within Temptation - Our Farewell)

Charlie couldn’t stop pacing the length of Billy Black’s home office no matter how many times his friend tried to get him to. He’d gone over to talk to Billy because he had finally had enough. Not only was he worried about losing his daughter to Billy’s son, but he was worried about all of the time she seemed to be spending with the boy. Since school had started again, the two of them seemed joined at the hip which wasn’t a good sign to Charlie.

From his seat behind his desk, Billy sighed. “Charlie, really, there’s nothing for you to worry about! Come on now, stop wearing a hole in the carpet and have a seat or Sarah’s going to have my head!”

Charlie stopped in front of the desk and shook his head. “I can’t help it Billy! This is not like Bella at all! She is rarely away from your son these days! And I’m worried that she will slack off on her studying! You know this is her last year at the University and it’s an important one!”

Billy understood Charlie’s worries, he had them too about Jacob, but he was just better at hiding it. Still, he felt like he had more confidence in both Bella and his son than Charlie seemed to have in them.

“Look, you know better than that Charlie! Bella is an amazing woman with a great head on her shoulders. She wouldn’t let Jacob steer her wrong even if she is in love with him. After all these years, spending all that time with him in the past, do you really think she would let him influence her in a bad way? She’s never done it before, I really doubt she would start now.”

Again Charlie shook his head as he collapsed into one of the chairs in front of Billy’s desk. “This is different Billy! Haven’t you seen the way they are when they’re together? They can’t take their eyes off of each other! And they’re always pawing at each other too! They’re supposed to be studying together, yet when I look in on them, all I see is them studying each other!”

Billy quirked an eyebrow as Charlie went on.

“And if we thought she was always so busy before, now she has absolutely no time at all! Not even to have lunch because she’s always running off somewhere with him!”

Billy tried to hide the smile that threatened to cover his face. Oh, he got it now. This wasn’t about Jacob corrupting his precious daughter, nope, this was about Jacob replacing him in his daughter’s life.

As if that would ever be possible, thought Billy.

When Charlie remained silent for a few moments, Billy composed himself and spoke up. “Charlie, I need you to listen to me, okay? I mean really listen and don’t fly off at the handle at what I’m going to say.”

Charlie glanced at him for a moment before looking down at his hands that gripped his knees. “Okay, go ahead.”

Billy leaned forward, elbows at the edge of the desk with his hands clasped in front of him. He gave Charlie a serious look as he continued.

“Your daughter still loves you. She will always love you no matter what, after all, you had a hand in raising her. That’s what you have to always remember, that you raised her. And it’s because of that, that you have to believe she will not do anything to destroy what she has accomplished so far.

She’s your daughter Charlie, a lot like you in so many ways and I believe that all the lessons you have instilled in her through the years will help her achieve what we all know she will. I’m confident that she will make you proud. Not only that, but she will make sure that you know about it and she’ll credit you for it too.

Above all, you need to realize that she is a woman now. She’s growing up, but she’s not growing away from you. Nothing Jacob can do will ever make her turn away from her father, she respects you too much to do that. So does Jacob for that matter!

You know Jacob would never try to purposely take her away from you. Believe me, if he tried, not only would I have words with him, but so would Sarah! We are all family Charlie, always have been, so nothing has changed except that our children have grown even closer to each other.

Still, I have faith in both of them. I know they’ll be all right. Bella’s always been the more level-headed of the two of them, so I know she’ll keep Jacob tamed. She won’t let him get out of hand and she won’t let him deter her from her goals in life.

She’s not going anywhere Charlie. She’ll always be just around the corner, just like she has always been.”

Charlie knew his friend was doing his best to reassure him that there was nothing wrong with Bella being with Jacob. He really wanted to believe Billy’s words, but he couldn’t seem to feel as confident as Billy was. If he were honest with himself, it wasn’t that he didn’t have confidence in his daughter, it was that he didn’t trust Jacob to do right by his daughter.

He had never had a problem with Jacob before, but that was when Jacob was just a friend to Bella. Now, she was investing her future in the boy and that scared Charlie shitless. If anything went wrong between the two of them, he was sure it not only would affect the two of them, but the ripples would expand outward to affect everything that their lives touched.

That was something he didn’t want to have to deal with. He and Billy had worked too hard to secure the livelihood of their families’ future that he didn’t want to see it all destroyed with one wrong move between Jacob and Bella. He knew the repercussions of a fight between those two, it wouldn’t be pretty and it would be felt for years afterwards.

Still, he didn’t want to make Billy worry nor offend him by disagreeing with him. Instead, he finally nodded his head.

“You’re right. I know, you’re right. She is still my daughter and she always will be. I just have to keep reminding myself of that.”

Billy gave him a reassuring smile. “Got that right, old man.”

Charlie grunted in response, trying to muster up a smile. “Who you calling old man, old man?”

Billy’s smile grew wider, sure that he had succeeded in calming his best friend’s fears.

*******************************************

(Song: Flyleaf - There For You)

Bella spread her work over the bed and chewed on her bottom lip as she tried to figure out what to tackle first. She was now two weeks into the Fall semester of her last year at U-Dub, but things had been hectic from the get-go. She was glad that she and Jacob had managed to go out on a few dates before the summer was over, in between working with their dads of course. They had even been able to sneak in some intimate moments alone without something or someone interrupting them.

Taking a deep breath, she psyched herself up for the long night ahead of her, then picked up the first assignment of the evening. Throwing herself into her studying, she worked diligently, only stopping long enough to have a few bites of dinner before diving right back into her work.

Soon, it was almost midnight yet she knew she still had a few more assignments she needed to get done before she could get some sleep. She finished up the one she was working on, set it aside and was about to start a new one when she heard the soft swish of the sliding door on her balcony.

She looked up in time to see Jacob quietly closing the door as he gave her a smile. As soon as he was certain it was closed, he walked over to the bed to lean down, giving her a kiss on the cheek.

“Hey Bells,” came his husky whisper, “thought I’d come study with you since neither of us seems to be getting any sleep tonight.”

She sighed, “Jake, you shouldn’t have come over. I told you to stay home tonight.”

He pouted, “I know, but I’ve missed you. Besides, we did say we would study together didn’t we?”

“Yes, but…”

“So, here we are…studying,” he finished for her.

She looked at him for a moment before nodding. As he settled himself on her bed, spreading out his work around him, she went back to her own assignment. For a little while, they both were silent, working on their own without disturbing each other.

Jacob was the first to finish his assignment, so he put the work into his backpack then slowly slid closer to his girlfriend’s side. She was still too engrossed in her work to notice what he was up to. It wasn’t until she felt his lips against her neck that she was jarred out of her concentration.

“Jake…what…” she squeaked.

He chuckled against the skin of her shoulder. “Thought we could take a break.”

She shifted her body, under the guise of turning to look at him when really, she was trying to get away from those distracting lips of his. “I took my break when I ate dinner Jake, I really need to finish this or I’ll never get any sleep tonight.”

He reached up to brush an errant stand away from her face. “Is all of this really due tomorrow, honey?”

Her silence was his answer. He knew she never waited until the last minute to finish her work. Bella was the type to start assignments, be it school or work, weeks in advance. That being said, he knew what she was working on didn’t have a deadline of either tomorrow or within the next few days.

Giving her a sweet smile, he brushed his thumb over her bottom lip. “Come on honey, let’s put this all away and just get some sleep, okay? You’ve worked hard enough today, save some for tomorrow.”

She sighed as she wrapped her fingers around his wrist, effectively stopping him from teasing her lips. “Jake, you know I won’t be able to sleep if I leave things this way. It’ll bother me all night.”

“Maybe I can do something about that,” he leaned in to give her a kiss but she backed up.

“No Jake, that won’t help.”

He arched an eyebrow at her. “It’ll get your mind off things.”

She bit her bottom lip. “It’ll just distract me, not get my mind off it.”

He chuckled. “Sometimes a distraction is good.”

She huffed. “Um, no. You are definitely not a good distraction.”

He blinked. “What?”

This time she smiled, even as a blush stole up her neck and over her cheeks. “Every time you distract me, I can never get my focus back. It takes too long,” she giggled, “and then I just get more frustrated.”

He couldn’t help the grin that spread over his face at her confession. “Is that why you’ve been cutting back on the time we spend together?”

She gave him a shy nod. “Yeah, I’m finding I can study much better and get things done much quicker when you’re not around distracting me.”

His grin just widened. “Wow, I’m that good huh?”

This time she shoved him until he leaned back on the bed. “Oh stop it Jacob! As if you need your ego stroked anymore! Ugh! Sometimes I don’t know what I’m going to do with you!”

He laughed as he reached for her, pulling her onto his lap. “Mm, but it’s not my ego that likes to be stroked by you.”

“Jake!” she mock chastised.

Again came his soft laughter. “What? I’m only being honest.” Sighing he buried his face in her hair. “I love you, Bells.”

She melted against him as she slid her arms around his shoulders. “I love you too, Jacob.”

They held each other for a little longer before Jacob pulled away to look into her eyes. “I’m going to head on home okay? Do you still want me to pick you up for class tomorrow?”

She gave him a grateful smile. “Yes, I do.”

He nodded as she leaned in and covered his lips with hers. They kissed slowly, languidly, as if the kiss was going to help them remember each other while they were apart. Just as slowly, they leaned away from each other, locking gazes once more.

Bella cupped her boyfriend’s cheek as she whispered, “Thank you, Jake. For understanding.”

He smiled as he lowered his forehead to meet hers. “You’re welcome. You know I’d do anything for you. Whatever you need, Bells, I’ll be there for you.”

She sighed and hugged him tightly to her, “I promise I’ll make it up to you Jake!”

He gave her another kiss before gathering his stuff up. Winking at her as he headed to the balcony, “Don’t worry about it honey, I love you no matter what.”

As he opened the door, he smiled. “Good luck with your work and have a good night. Love you!”

She waved to him as he stepped out. “You too! Love you, Jake!”

Jacob returned the wave, then closed the door before heading home to his lonely bed.

***********************************************

(Song: E.S. Posthumus - Moonlight Sonata)

Bella lightly tossed her finished paperwork into the ‘out’ bin on her desk as her father knocked on the office door. She looked up with a grin, motioning him in with a wave of her hand.

Charlie walked over to her side, leaning over to peck her cheek with a kiss, then smiled at her. “How’s it going today?”

Bella nodded. “Great actually! Just finished the Loren account, so I figured I’d take a lunch break now.”

Charlie did his best not to scowl. “Ah, so where are you and Jake going for lunch today?”

His daughter leaned back in her chair, looking sheepish. “Actually, I was going to ask if you wanted to go to lunch today.”

“Oh? You and Jake aren’t having problems are you?” He tried not to sound hopeful.

She rolled her eyes. “Really dad, Jake and I don’t always do everything together.”

“Could have fooled me,” he mumbled under his breath.

Bella simply stared at him for a few moments before she sighed. “Dad, I don’t know how much more clear I can be about this. Jacob and I are adults and we know what is at risk if things go wrong between us. We also know how to delegate time to spend with each other, even if we want to be with each other all day, we know better than to slack off in other areas of our lives. School, work, family…whatever it may be. So, you need to stop grumbling about it. You know I’m on to you!”

This time he looked sheepish as he hung his head. “Sorry, Bell, I’m just…”

“Yes, I know, you’re being a dad. But really, I’m not as naïve as you think I am okay? And Jake is much more of an understanding gentleman than you give him credit for. So please, for me, lay off the threatening glares when he’s around?”

Charlie didn’t think he could feel more like a heel than he already felt, but Bella was proving him wrong. His daughter was much more observant than he had given her credit for. Obviously she knew what was going on in his head and heart even though he had never voiced his concerns to her the way he had to Billy.

Finally nodding in defeat and compliance, he glanced up at her. “Okay, I’ll try to be better, sweetheart. I’m really sorry, um, maybe I can start by taking you out to a great lunch?”

Bella chuckled, obviously not as upset with him as he’d thought she would be. “Yes, daddy, lunch would be great.”

As they left the office, she looped her arm into his while he guided her to the stairs. His smile was wide as he looked down at his daughter with pride.

“So, not that I’m being nosy, but everything is okay with you and Jake, right?”

She nodded. “We’re fine. We just decided not to crowd each other so much any more. Plus, he understands that sometimes I need to do things without him next to me. Like homework…or spending time with my daddy.”

As she squeezed his arm, he chuckled at her lighthearted banter. Granted, he was happy that she was going to lunch with him, but deep down inside, he was also glad that his daughter wasn’t joined at the hip with her boyfriend like he had originally thought they were. Maybe she was right, maybe he was being too hard on them instead of simply supporting them while letting them figure out things themselves. After all, no one had dictated his relationship with his wife either.

Finally deciding to make an effort to let Bella handle her life the way she saw fit, trusting her to always be honest and level-headed, he relaxed in order to enjoy a wonderful lunch with his only daughter.

***************************************

(Song: Evanescence - You)

Jacob tossed his phone on his desk with a low growl before glaring at it.

“Jake?” came Bella’s soft voice from the direction of his balcony.

The scowl on his face quickly disappeared when he took in the sight of his girlfriend walking into his room wearing a grey trench coat and red stiletto heels. He tried not to gape.

“Hi Bells, what are you doing here?”

She gave him a coy shrug. “Oh, nothing,” came her low, husky voice.

“Nothing, huh?” he murmured as he stepped closer to her, wrapping his arms around her waist.

Lifting a hand, she trailed a finger along his jaw line as she whispered seductively, “Well, I just thought that with work going so well and two of my projects got perfect grades, I should celebrate with you. A reward for all of our patience and hard work, you know.”

He swallowed as his eyes left hers to trail down to the edge of the trench coat, trying to get a glimpse of what she had on beneath it, alas, there was no cleavage in sight.

“Um, what did you have in mind?” he croaked.

She grinned at him, stepping out of his embrace to undo the ties of her coat. Jacob waited patiently for her to undo the ties, watching as she slowly trailed her hands up the lapels until she was leisurely pushing the coat off of her shoulders. Little by little, the coat began to reveal the lacy red teddy she wore beneath it.

As the coat fell to the floor, Jacob tried not to drool over what Bella was wearing. The floral pattern of the lace left little to the imagination and the two large satin ribbons that held the whole front together only intensified that.

Bella smiled smugly at the hungry look on Jacob’s face as she began to turn around slowly for his perusal. This time Jacob really did drool when he caught sight of the thong back and the two thin straps across her back as the only objects obscuring all of that lush, pale skin of hers.

Suddenly, he felt way too overdressed.

When she was facing him once more, she stepped closer to him with a coy smile. Running her fingers down his chest, she whispered to him.

“So, are you ready for our reward?”

He reached for her, pulling her into his arms before taking her lips in a hungry kiss. Bella responded in kind, never once hesitating. She proved she was just as hungry as he was by quickly divesting him of his clothing before she pulled away from him and pushed him back onto the bed.

Straddling his hips, she gave him a mischievous grin as she began to undo the satin ribbons until he lifted his hands to bat hers away.

“Let me,” he growled.

She giggled, but sat still as his hands quickly undid the ties, then pushed beneath the lace to run his palm over her skin. They both groaned when his hands cupped her breasts, as if it had been ages since the last time he had done that.

He locked gazes with her as he groaned, “God, honey, I don’t think I’m going to be able to go slow.”

She leaned into his hands. “It’s okay, we have all night, I’m sure we’ll be up for a second round later.”

With that, he flipped them over so that she was lying beneath him. Grinning lasciviously, he teased. “Hold on Bells, it’s time for our reward!”

Giggles soon turned to serrated moans and heavy panting as the two of them celebrated their love of each other.

***********************************

Jacob felt Bella’s sigh as she curled up closer to his warm body. He responded with a smile against her hair and tightened his hold on her.

“You okay?” he asked.

“Mm hm, wonderful!” she mumbled into his chest.

He glanced around the darkened room, spotting her teddy barely hanging off the edge of his desk chair from where he’d flung it earlier. He couldn’t help the grin that spread over his face as he remembered just how quickly things had heated up from the moment she had revealed the lacy number to him.

When she had told him she wasn’t interested in going slow, he couldn’t believe how lucky he was to have her in his life. She understood him so well, they were always so in sync with each other.

Their lovemaking had been hot and heavy, but he was glad she had been right there with him all the way to the end. He didn’t even have to worry about her needs because she had taken the initiative and even growled to let him know she was more impatient than he was.

Within seconds of sheathing himself inside of her, she had experienced her first orgasm of the night. Then moments later, when he finally reached his end, she had joined him for her second one. He knew he could be a guy and feel smug about it, but he wasn’t thinking of that. Instead, he was humbled that a caring, independent woman like Bella Swan even gave him the time of day. The fact that she couldn’t keep her hands off of him was just the icing on the cake.

Their little cuddle session was suddenly interrupted by the ringing of his cell phone. He had not turned off the ringer when he’d tossed it on his desk in frustration earlier.

Bella picked up her head, turning to look at his desk. “Want me to get that?”

He shook his head. “No, I’m sure if it’s important, they’ll leave a message.”

She shrugged before settling against his chest again. “Okay.”

He kissed her temple. “Where did you get that teddy, if you don’t mind my asking.”

He could feel her smile against his skin. “I actually got it last year, but never had the chance to wear it. So, when I was rummaging through my drawers looking for something to wear over here, I saw it and thought now was a good time to put it to good use.”

Jacob laughed. “Really? Got anymore outfits in your drawers that you haven’t worn yet?”

Bella lifted her head to grin at him. “Hm, well, continue to be a good boy and maybe you’ll find out.”

He chuckled as he lowered his lips to hers, only to be interrupted by his cell phone again. When Bella slid off of him to go get it, he groaned.

“Just ignore it Bells.”

She shook her head. “No, if they’re calling in succession like this, it’s got to be important.”

She picked up his cell and looked at the screen, frowning. “It’s an unknown number.”

He rolled his eyes. “Told you to ignore it.”

She looked up at him. “Are you still getting calls from unknown numbers? Is that why you looked so frustrated when I first got here?”

He nodded as he ran his hands through his hair. “Yeah, and it’s always the same. I finally answer and it’s silence on the other end.”

She glanced down at the number. “How many times is this one?”

“The third one.”

“Geez, Jake, you think maybe it’s the same person?”

He shuddered. “Gosh, I hope not!”

Suddenly the phone went off again. Bella locked gazes with him for a moment before pressing the send button. Jacob rolled his eyes as he listened to her answer it.

“Hello?”

She seemed to wait for a few seconds before saying, “Hello? Is anyone there?”

Again she waited. Then, “Can you hear me? Hello?”

Jacob reached for the phone. “Just hang up, honey. No one’s going to say anything.”

Bella swatted his hand away as she spoke into the phone again. “Listen, I don’t know who this is, but if you’re the same person who’s been calling this phone using different numbers, you need to stop! This isn’t a game!”

“Bells!” Jacob hissed, “Hang up and come back to bed! We have better things to do than gripe at silent prank callers!”

She finally did as he asked, making sure to put the ringer on silent before tossing it onto his nightstand. As she slid into bed next to him, she bit her bottom lip.

“Um, Jake, forgive me if I sound rude, but do you think maybe it’s Vanessa calling you?”

He widened his eyes. “What makes you think that?”

She shrugged. “Well, you did say that the one time she called you when you had to take her to the hospital, her phone showed up as an unknown number. Riley did tell you that the doctor said she was fine, that they couldn’t find anything wrong with her physically. So, maybe….oh, I don’t know! I’m just grasping at straws here.”

He tugged her into his side, holding her tight. “I don’t know, Bells. I mean, I would’ve thought she would have other things to worry about considering she’s almost eight months pregnant now. But I really shouldn’t put it past her, should I? I think I’ll make a note of all three numbers and see if I can trace them to an owner or something.”

Bella nodded. “Yeah, that would be the best thing to do, Jake. At least it would give us some kind of answer.”

“Mm, okay.”

They sat silently for a while before Jacob spoke up again. “So, your birthday is coming up soon, any idea what you want?”

Bella giggled against his chest. “Nope, I already have what I want.”

He couldn’t help but chuckle. “Besides me, honey.”

She sighed. “I’m serious Jake, I can’t think of anything else I want right now.”

“Okay, well then, I’ll think of something.”

She laughed. “Fine, you can make it a surprise, but in the meantime…” She lifted her head to bat her eyelashes at him. “…there is something that I want right now.”

“Hmm, I wonder what that could be?” He groused.

Bella brushed her lips against his. “I’ll give you some hints…slow, sensual…euphoric.”

He moaned against her lips as he tugged her body flush with his. “Yes…those are my kind of words.”

Once more their mouths and bodies came together, but unlike the first time…this time would last for hours.

Author's Note: Bella's Teddy