A/N: It's not as long as previous chapters but I ended it where I wanted it to end. Remember, Playlist.com no longer works the way I'd like and Mixpod.com is closed, so I included the song I listened to in parentheses before each part. Feel free to look up the song or songs on your own listening devices if you would like.
(Song: Libertango by Bond)
For Jacob’s twenty-second birthday, there wasn’t a huge celebration since it was the beginning of the Spring semester as well as his last semester of university before graduating. Still, Bella devised a nice little get-together for Jacob which took place in her parent’s pool house, the weekend of his birthday. Luckily she had the help of her mother and Leah so that they could get it all together without Jacob ever knowing about it.
They had informed their closest friends of course, as well as his parents although when the day came none of the parentals stayed past the cake and opening of presents, thus allowing Jacob to cut loose with only his friends in attendance. With Embry, Ashley, Jared, Kim, Leah, Mark, Alice, Jasper, Angela, Ben, Quil and Quil’s date, the fourteen of them proceeded to have a party full of music, laughter, dancing and drinking games.
Needless to say, Jacob had been truly surprised when Bella dragged him into the pool house where everyone was waiting to yell out happy birthday to him. Being the outgoing guy he was, he basked in the attention that his friends and family gave him as they plied him with cake and gifts. He was even more surprised to learn that he and his friends had the run of the pool house for the rest of the night with none of the parents around.
Ben and Quil had agreed to trade off on being DJ while Embry and Ashley kept the drinks flowing. The rest of the crowd simply migrated between the area that had been cleared for dancing and the sitting area which had been made more comfortable with plenty of floor pillows and other comfortable seating arrangements.
Halfway through the night, Jacob was playing a round of quarters with Jared, Jasper and Quil when Bella sat down next to him and set two shot glasses full of liquid in front of him. She grinned at him when he arched an eyebrow at her.
“Um, Bells, we’re already playing quarters, I don’t think we need any more shots.”
As the others snickered, Bella laughed before saying, “Oh come on Jake, you didn’t forget that I owe you, right?”
“Owe me?” he asked.
She nodded as she leaned in closer to him. In a mock whisper, she confided in him. “Yeah, see, I finally have you at one of my favorite clubs, right? And those are the two shots I owe you from your twenty-first birthday.”
“Huh, what does she mean by that?” asked Quil as he and Jared looked around the room in confusion while Jasper shook his head.
Suddenly Jacob’s grin matched Bella’s own as he realized she remembered part of their conversation from nearly a year ago. Looking around the room, taking in the sights and sounds of the high energy party, he chuckled.
“Hm, I can see why this is one of your favorite clubs. Nothing like going out with a group of our closest friends, huh?”
She shook her head. “Nope. There ain’t nothing better!” Motioning to the shots, she prompted, “Go ahead, drink up Jake!”
Quil’s eyes went wide. “Holy shit, man! Are you seriously gonna do those two shots when we’re already playing quarters?”
Jacob shrugged. “It’s not like I’m gonna have to drive home, you know.”
“Yeah, but those two with whatever you’re gonna have to down when you lose…you’re gonna hurl before the night is over, dude,” answered Jared.
Jacob winked at Bella. “Well, I don’t plan on losing.”
With that, he picked up one shot glass and downed it in seconds. As he set the glass back on the table, he leaned over to give Bella a quick kiss on the lips before he picked up the second shot and tossed the liquid into his mouth, but didn’t swallow.
As soon as he set the last glass down, he wrapped a hand around Bella’s neck and tugged her to him as he covered her mouth with his. Quil and Jared hooted with glee as Jacob deepened the kiss, using his tongue to part Bella’s lips so that he could let some of the liquor in his mouth pass to hers.
Bella didn’t even miss a beat as she accepted the liquor and his kiss, ignoring the hoots and hollers of their friends as they continued to kiss. When Jacob finally pulled away, both of them were breathing hard, yet wore matching grins on their faces as Jacob lowered his forehead to hers.
When he could speak again, he whispered to her. “Thanks for the birthday shots, Bells.”
“You’re welcome, Jake.”
“Tsk, okay you two, enough sucking face! We’ve got a fucking game to finish here!” interrupted Quil, as crass as ever.
Bella giggled as she pecked Jacob on the cheek before getting up to join Alice, Kim and Angela in the dancing area. As Jacob got back to playing the game with his friends, Bella danced and giggled to the lively music Ben had chosen to play.
For the next few hours, the fun and energy continued to flow through the pool house until little by little, exhaustion and too much liquor caught up with the revelers. Alice and Jasper were the first to leave since Alice had to work the following day. Then Quil had to take his date home, but told everyone he would be back. In the end, he called to say he was going home after all, prompting Embry and Leah to joke that it was just Quil’s excuse to cover up a booty call.
Leah and Mark were the next to leave since those two never passed up an opportunity to be alone with each other, especially since Mark’s parents were out of town. In fact, the group of friends always debated on who was the more horny couple, Leah and Mark or Jacob and Bella. Currently, Leah and Mark were ahead in the polls.
As for the rest of the party-goers, Bella supplied bedding for them to bunk down in the pool house. Especially since Jared had too much to drink, passing out on the couch the moment his head hit the pillow. Kim remained up a little longer, talking quietly to Ben and Angela who were also staying overnight while Jacob and Bella danced slowly to one of their favorite songs.
Embry and Ashley closed down the bar and joined Jacob and Bella for a last dance before they too would bunk down in the pool house. As the two couples danced, Kim finally made her way to lay on the couch with the sleeping Jared while Angela and Ben took the other couch in the room.
Jacob and Bella lost themselves in each others eyes, letting the world slip away to enjoy a moment alone. With their bodies so close together, they moved in sync to the music, occasionally brushing lips or noses against skin.
Unaware that Embry and Ashley eventually went to make their bed on the floor near the bar, Jacob brushed his lips against Bella’s before whispering to her.
“Thank you, honey. This was one of the best birthdays ever.”
She smiled against his lips. “I’m glad.”
He returned her smile before finally taking her lips in his for a slow, sweet kiss. As the song came to an end, they stopped moving, letting their arms wrap around each other, pulling even closer while their mouths continued to seduce each others.
When Bella leaned back, brushing her lips once more over Jacob’s, the room was quiet since sleep had claimed all the other occupants. Sharing contented smiles, Bella looked up into Jacob’s eyes and spoke softly. “Come on, time to get some sleep.”
The two of them turned off all the lights and other equipment before Bella took Jacob’s hand to lead him to a pile of bedding behind the couch that Jared and Kim slept on. They quickly arranged it to their liking then settled down in each others arms, sharing caresses and whispers until sleep finally claimed them.
***********************************************
(song: A Dangerous Mind by Within Temptation)
Five days later, Jacob sat at his desk in his room working on a project for one of his classes when his cell phone began to ring. Looking at the screen, he didn’t recognize the number that was displayed.
Frowning, he answered it. “Hello?”
“Jacob,” came the irritated voice of the one woman he had hoped never to have to hear from again.
He answered in the same tone. “Vanessa.”
“You tell your father to call his goons off from trying to find me, you hear me?” she snapped.
He sighed. “I can’t do that. You had no right to just take off without telling Riley where you were going. He wants to see his kid.”
“It’s my baby, he doesn’t have any rights!”
“Vanessa, the tests proved that Riley is the father! He has every right to see her if he wants! Now either you get in touch with Riley or my father will continue to look for you and the baby until Riley can see his daughter again!”
“Is that a threat?” she screeched.
Jacob took a deep breath to calm himself down. Running an agitated hand through his hair, he tried to think of a way to reason with someone like Vanessa.
Softening his voice, he hoped that none of his irritation leaked into his pleading tone. “Honey, Riley really misses you and the baby. Please come back and see him, you have no idea how much it is tearing him apart not knowing if you two are alright.”
“Don’t you see?” he continued, “All Riley wants to do is take care of you both. He doesn’t want to take your baby from you, he just wants to be with the both of you. Do you really want to keep causing him pain? Don’t you want your baby to have a real father?”
Silence seeped through the phone when he was done. He waited a few moments before he wondered if Vanessa had hung up. Then, he spoke up again, still keeping his voice lowered.
“Vanessa? You still there?”
When there was no answer, he sighed, thinking he had failed to get through to her. He was just about to hang up when he heard her quiet voice coming through the phone.
“I’ll come back. I’ll let him see the baby…on one condition.”
Jacob tensed, he knew he wasn’t going to like whatever it was she was going to say.
Still, he prompted her. “And that condition is?”
“Riley can see my baby only if you agree to be with me again.”
He closed his eyes, wondering if Riley and Billy would kill him for refusing to do what Vanessa wanted.
Swallowing, he answered her. “I can’t do that.”
“Why?” she whined.
He took a deep breath, choosing his words carefully. “Because I’m…involved with someone else now. I’m sorry, Vanessa, but I moved on since I thought you had too…and now I care too much about the woman I’m seeing to want to hurt her.”
Jacob purposely left out Bella’s name, hoping that Vanessa wouldn’t think that was who he was referring to. Something told him that if he did mention her, it would send Vanessa off the deep end into a tirade.
“Oh, but you could hurt me, is that it?” she cried.
“Vanessa, you and I both know that you never loved me. You just wanted my money and my name,” he stated calmly.
“That’s not true!” she yelled. “I still love you! You know that! All I ever wanted was to marry you and have a family with you! You were the one who lied! You pretended to love me! You made me believe in us!”
He could hear her sobbing through the phone, making him cringe while wishing his dad was home so he could tell him what to do next. At a loss, Jacob tried to soothe her.
“Vanessa, please, if you came home to Riley, you wouldn’t be alone. He cares about you, couldn’t you let him be there for you and the baby? He could give you what I never could.”
She sniffled. “But I don’t want Riley, I want you!” She paused before begging. “Please, Jacob! Please! Tell me we can be together again!”
He waited a moment before quietly answering her. “I’m sorry Vanessa, but we can’t.”
Again, silence met him, making a sense of foreboding creep into him.
Then, in a voice of pure menace, Vanessa hissed into the phone. “Fine! Have it your way! You tell your father to call off his goons or else!”
This time he heard the dial tone as she hung up on him.
With a defeated sigh, Jacob pulled the phone away from his ear and stared at it. He knew nothing good would come out of this. He just hoped his dad’s men could find her before she did something drastic, like harm her own baby.
(song: Raptamei Pi by E. S. Posthumus )
Feeling sorry for both the baby and for Riley, he wrote down the number on his screen, then dialed his dad’s office.
Billy answered on the second ring. “Billy Black speaking.”
“Hey dad,” replied Jacob.
“Son? What’s up?”
He sighed. “You’ll never believe who I just got a call from.”
There was a beat, then “Who?”
“Vanessa.”
Another beat. “Is that so?”
“Yeah, she wanted me to tell you to call off your goons from trying to find her. Her words exactly.”
Billy chuckled. “Hm, if she knows about them, that must mean we’re close. Especially since she called you instead of me. Guess I’ll have to tell my men to be more careful since she knows we’re on to her.”
“Guess so. I’m sorry dad, I tried to reason with her, but she…well she wouldn’t listen to me.”
Billy sighed. “Why don’t you start from the beginning. Tell me everything that was said during the conversation.”
Jacob cringed. “It wasn’t good,”
“I figured it wouldn’t be. It’s okay, Jake, just tell me everything and we’ll go from there,” he said, in a reassuring voice.
Jacob nodded to himself before launching into replaying the whole conversation between him and Vanessa. He left nothing out, even telling his father about Vanessa trying to trade the baby for a relationship with him. He told Billy what his answer was, word for word, knowing it was better for Billy to know the whole thing just in case he could inform him that there was something he could have done better.
By the time he was done, Jacob felt as if he’d been put through the wringer. Not only was he still cringing over Vanessa’s ever-changing moods during that conversation, but he was still feeling disappointed in himself. He still felt he could have done something better to convince her to return to Riley.
“And that’s it, dad. She said, or else, then she hung up before I could say anything else.”
“Hm, well, for what it’s worth, you did what you could at a moment’s notice.”
Jacob chewed on his lip, before finally asking what was on his mind. “Do you think I should have told her that I’d get back with her, so she would return?”
“No, that could only make things worse.” Jacob let out the breath he’d been holding as Billy explained. “If you told her that, just to trick her into returning home, there’s the chance she would have done something to harm someone. Be it the baby, herself or someone else.”
“Okay,” answered Jacob.
“You didn’t tell her that it was Bella you are seeing, did you?”
“No, I never gave Vanessa a name. Just said that I’ve moved on and I wouldn’t hurt the woman I now cared about just to get back together with Vanessa.”
“Okay, that’s good then.”
“Dad, when I went to serve Vanessa the papers that time…she tried to blame Bella for taking me away from her. Even though I didn’t give her a name this time, Vanessa may still suspect that it’s Bella I’m with because of what she told me that last time.”
“Ah, yes, you could be right, Jacob.”
Jacob sighed. “I also think she might call me back, but with a different number like she always does.”
“Ah, so this was a different number she used again, one that you didn’t recognize?”
“Yeah, just like every other time she called, it was a different number.”
“Right, well, can you give me the one she used this time and I’ll have my men check it out.”
Jacob recited the number he had written down for his dad.
“Okay,” said Billy, once he had the number, “let me pass this information on to my men. Can you try to make notes of the conversation you had with Vanessa just in case the lawyers need it? Try to remember anything you think is important, okay?”
“Sure, I can do that.”
“Good, as soon as I talk to them, I’ll let you know what’s going on. Oh, and Jake, I suggest you talk to Bella about this. Call it a hunch, but I think both you and Bella should watch your backs. I don’t trust Vanessa, especially with the way she ended the call.”
“Yeah, I’m getting that feeling too.”
“Okay, I’ll ask the lawyers about that too, then talk to Charlie.” At Jacob’s groan, Billy sighed. “I know son, but Charlie needs to know what’s going on. We’re all family and if Bella were my daughter, I’d want to know if there was a chance that she could be in danger. Maybe we’ll have to beef up security for you and Bella or issue some kind of warning. I’ll keep you posted.”
“Okay, thanks dad. Sorry I couldn’t do more.”
“It’s alright, son, you did fine. Don’t worry about it. Just go talk to Bella, so she knows what’s going on.”
“I’ll do that, see you later dad.”
“Later, Jacob.”
************************************************
(song: Weight of the World by Evanescence)
Bella looked up when she heard the soft tapping on her balcony door. She motioned for Jacob to come in before setting her work on her bedside table. When he reached the side of her bed, she rose to her knees, wrapped her arms around his shoulders and pulled him in for a kiss hello.
Jacob indulged in her kiss for a few moments before he pulled away to sit besides her on the bed. Taking her hand in his, he sighed as he caressed the skin on the back of her hand with his thumb.
Bella gave him a worried look. “What is it?”
He continued to caress her skin for a few more moments before he looked up into her eyes. “Vanessa called me today.”
Bella couldn’t help but tense at the mention of his ex-girlfriend. “Oh?”
He nodded. “Yeah, apparently she knows dad’s men are looking for her, so she called me to tell my dad to get them to stop.”
“Hm, in other words, she doesn’t want to be found,” stated Bella.
“Not exactly,” he hedged.
She gave an exasperated sigh. “Just spit it out, Jake. What did she say?”
Jacob squirmed a bit before he began talking hurriedly. “I tried to tell her to come home because Riley misses her and the baby, but she wouldn’t hear any of it. I did everything to make her see that Riley was just worried about her, that he cares for her and the baby, but she kept insisting that he would try to take the baby away. When I couldn’t get her to see that Riley just wants to be with her, she finally said she would come home.”
He paused for a moment before adding, “But on one condition.”
Bella rolled her eyes. “Let me guess, she wants you.”
Jacob swallowed. “Yeah. She said she’d let Riley see the baby if I agreed to get back together with her.”
Bella grimaced. “How did gently did you let her down?”
“I told her that I had moved on. That I was involved with someone else whom I cared too much about to hurt by leaving for her. I tried to tell her once more that if she wanted someone to care about her, then Riley is the one she should be with.”
Bella sighed. “Well, I can see that you left out my name, but I’m willing to bet Vanessa isn’t clueless about who you’re seeing.”
Jacob nodded. “Dad agrees. It’s why I’m here. When I told her that, she got angry again and told me once more to tell dad to call off his men or else. Then she hung up on me. So, I called dad and repeated the conversation to him. He thinks the way she ended the call could mean she’s up to something. He’s talking to the lawyers and then he wants to tell your dad about it.”
“What? Why?”
“Because, dad and I think it’s better if we all know what’s going on, to be aware just in case Vanessa does try something. Dad thinks we might have to beef up security for us or put out an official warning.”
Bella frowned. “Do you think that’s really necessary?”
Jacob took both of her hands in his. “Honey, you know she’s considered certifiably crazy now. Who knows what she could do. It’s just a feeling dad has…and I happen to agree with him. Something isn’t sitting right with me and I’d feel better if both you and I were surrounded by some kind of security.”
As Bella chewed on her bottom lip, Jacob gave her hands a gentle squeeze. “Bells, please understand. I just don’t want anything to happen to you. We’re starting to get our lives together and it would kill me if something happened to you.”
Bella nodded as she moved closer to him. Wrapping her arms around his waist, she laid her head on his shoulder as he folded his body around hers.
“I understand Jake. I feel the same way. It would kill me too if something happened to you.”
She felt him relax against her as his lips pressed a kiss on the top of her head. “I love you, Bella.”
She hugged him tighter. “I love you too, Jacob.”
