Hehe. Not even going to try. So here you go. Enjoy.

One quick note: Jasper is Texan. Alot is one word. No, I did NOT misspell it. I just know how to use it properly.

Chapter 35: When It Rains...

"This sucks," Emmett complained as he flopped down onto the couch beside Rosalie.

Alice giggled behind her magazine and nestled further into Jasper's side.

"What does?" Rosalie asked, not looking up from her book. She didn't sound like she cared all that much to hear the answer. As if she had heard it all before. Which knowing Emmett, Jasper was sure Rosalie had. Upon numerous occasions.

"They're monopolizing him! I haven't spared with Jacob in forever!"

"They're bonding," Jasper said. It had only been a little over a week since Bella and Edward had confronted Jacob, and Jacob had agreed to try to build a relationship with them. Though it wasn't like they were glued to each other's sides now. They still did things separately. It was just now when they were all together they were making an effort to communicate. And, at least from what Jasper was able to feel, Bella and Edward were enjoying getting to learn about and reveal things to Jacob.

Overall, the atmosphere around the house was much more pleasant than it had been. And for that, Jasper was thankful.

"You can't talk to me!" Emmett shouted, and pointed a finger at him. "You've been spending just as much time with him as they have."

Jasper didn't say anything. It was true. Jacob had asked Jasper several days back for help on controlling his barriers. He'd mentioned that Edward had seen an image that had leaked out while they'd been talking. Apparently, it had given Jacob an idea that maybe he could control the barrier like he was able to do with Leah.

Jasper was intrigued and flatter that Jacob had asked him for help. He was also more than a bit curious. He'd never been able to not feel someone. His empathy was like another pair of eyes. It helped him to see others more clearly, because they couldn't hide from him. It was unnerving to have not one, but two other's living in their house that he couldn't feel. Not that he didn't trust Jacob and Leah, he did. Especially after Rosalie and Leah had bonded. Rosalie didn't like just anyone, and if Leah could set aside her differences to befriend Rosalie, well, Leah couldn't be all that bad.

Of course, Leah being Leah, she didn't want Jacob lowering his barriers around anyone without her being there with him. So the three of them would wait until Leah was finished with college courses before moving off into the woods. Edward was under strict orders to not follow. It helped that Leah threatened to rip his face off if she caught him sneaking around.

Jasper wasn't sure if Edward was aware of what they were doing. Jacob had asked him to keep quiet about it. And so Jasper was always careful to keep his mind clear whenever Edward was around. That just made Edward feel slightly jealous; as he was mostly curious and amused.

So far, the progress had been amazing. Though mostly boring in the beginning; it involved alot of sitting around while Jacob meditated. Granted, it had been Jasper's idea to help Jacob gain focus, so he really had no right to complain about it. Beside, in less than an hour a flash of emotion had filled Jasper's senses, knocking him to full attention.

His gasp had alerted Jacob that he'd felt something. In under ten minutes, Jacob had his barrier open just enough for Jasper to feel him. Even his feelings had a warmth to them. Or maybe it was just Jacob's affection. Either way, Jasper wasn't planning on forgetting the feeling.

From that small victory, other ideas blossomed. Jacob wanted to know if he could not only open his barrier to Jasper, but also open the one to Leah while blocking Leah from Jasper. Another, was that he wanted to know if Jasper could manipulate his feelings with the barrier open. Then, just for fun, could Jacob manipulate Jasper's emotions.

Leah's hadn't taken that long for Jacob to get the hang of. Only a couple of sessions. Jasper figured it helped that Leah was constantly hitting him and telling Jacob to try harder. As for the manipulating, Jacob was still trying to figure that one out.

"Well, I think it's nice," Alice chimed in. "They're talking. Sharing details." She giggled suddenly and smacked Jasper's arm with her magazine. "Did you know Edward's already shared how he was turned! His whole history! Can you believe it?" She bounced in her seat.

"Yay," Rosalie said unenthusiastically, rolled her eyes and turned the page.

"So that just leaves you then," Emmett smirked.

"What?" Alice asked, her giddiness leaving her.

"You're the only one who hasn't told Jacob how you were turned."

"I'm last? Well how am I supposed to tell him when they're hogging him all the time?!"

Emmett laughed and pumped his fist in the air. Probably happy that someone was finally on his side. Jasper just smiled in fondness of his wife's reaction.

"You'll just have to get used to it. Like the stench," Rosalie grumbled, turning another page.

"I haven't noticed any lately," Emmett said.

"That's what I mean."

"Ah. Well, better to be used to it than feeling like we're going to hurl every second."

Jasper was nodding in agreement when Alice froze beside him. It usually meant she was having a vision.

"Oh, no," she whispered, drawing the other two's attention towards her. She shoved herself to her feet and was reaching for the phone when it rang.

x x x

It had been a long day, Jacob decided as he raced through the trees. The morning had started off fine. Home schooling was proving to be fairly simple. Jacob had always been a fast learner. And now that he was allowed to go at his own pace, well, it just made things go faster. He managed to complete his assignments for the day just in time for lunch. Esme was a wonderful cook. And since she enjoyed feeding Jacob, her meals were always elaborate.

After lunch, Jacob, Bella and Edward had pulled out their bikes and went on a ride. Edward, of course, had confiscated his bike back from Jasper. It had been fun. They had been weaving and winding their way down all the back roads in and out of Forks. Bella had even managed to stay upright. It had been a good time.

And then Emmett had appeared on the side of the road. Luckily, Bella had missed him, and Jacob had went to bring her back while Edward had went to see what Emmett wanted. It couldn't have been anything good. Emmett's scent was sorrowful and worried. Something had happened.

Everything had pretty much been a blur after that. Jacob couldn't remember how Edward had broken the news to him. Time had just seemed to stop, and yet everything had also blurred together. Nothing was coming into focus. Not until Jacob had pushed the hospital door open and seen his father lying on a bed with an IV in his arm.

Edward and Bella had stayed outside while Jacob'd gone to Billy's side. He didn't know how he should've felt about that. Their relationship was still so new; just a close friendship at the moment, and yet, Jacob had wanted them with him. He'd pushed that feeling away though, and had focused solely on his father.

Of course, Billy had tried to brush aside Jacob's worry. Tried to convince Jacob that he'd been doing fine. His meds were leveling out. Everything was fine.

"Then why are you here?" Jacob had demanded softly. He'd left Billy's side long enough to grab a chair and pull it as close to Billy's bed as he could get it.

Billy hadn't answered right away. But he eventually told Jacob that it was the stress. Stress over Jacob's situation. Stress over Sam growing more and more tense every day. The pack members were getting into more fights and arguments with each other. Which caused the members of their tribe to grow more and more wary.

Jacob hadn't known how to respond to that. He didn't know how to fix the problem with Sam. Especially when Sam was refusing to even talk to him. All he could offer his father was a promise that he would do what he could, and all Billy needed to worry about was getting better.

It had taken every ounce of Jacob's control to calmly walk out of the hospital once Billy had fallen asleep. Edward and Bella had followed close behind him. Instead of getting on his bike, Jacob had made for the trees. Once deep enough in he started shedding his clothes and then phased. Bella had been kind enough to pick up his clothes as he'd tossed them.

So here they were, running. Or at least, he and Edward were running. Bella was piggybacking on Edward's back with Jacob's folded clothes and shoes clutched between their bodies.

Neither of them said anything, for which Jacob was grateful. He just wanted to run the tension out. Billy was going to be fine. And Jacob was going to find a way to help Sam.

x x x

Edward stayed close to Jacob as they ran through the trees. Not so close as to crowd him, but close enough to offer comfort and let Jacob know that they were there. Like with Bella, it was frustrating that Edward couldn't hear Jacob's thoughts. Of course he knew Jacob was upset about his father being in the hospital. Any child would be. Especially when that child had already lost one parent. But Edward wanted to be able to know what Jacob's thought process was so Edward, himself, would have an idea of how to help him.

They hadn't been running for too long when Jacob slowed to a trot and then came to a halt. Edward slowed with him. Bella slide from his back once he came to a stop with Jacob's clothes still held in her arms.

He and Bella stood silently, waiting for Jacob to make the first move. So far, their new found relationship had only consisted of talking. Asking each other questions and answering them honestly. They'd stayed away from anything revolving around their rivalry in the past. They also stayed away from touching.

And all Edward wanted to do right then was touch. Since he didn't have words of comfort, all he had to offer was touch. It was overwhelming. That want. So overwhelming that Edward found himself moving towards Jacob after Jacob had taken his clothes from Bella and moved away to unphased in privacy.

Bella followed close to Edward's side. He assumed she was either following his lead or her own need to touch and comfort Jacob herself.

Jacob didn't turn to face them as they approached. Even though he was naked before them, Edward's eye's stayed focused on the side of Jacob's face that he could see. As he reached Jacob's back, Edward wrapped both his arms around Jacob's abdomen. He gently pulled Jacob backwards to rest against him, and hooked his chin over Jacob's shoulder to see what Bella was up to.

She was looking straight at Jacob's eyes. Her expression soft and comforting. She reached for the pants in Jacob's hands and gently extracted them, letting them float to the ground as she stepped closer and placed her hands along Jacob's forearms. Jacob released a shaky breath and lent more into Edward. Despite Jacob being five inches taller, he didn't act like he was uncomfortable.

"Isn't this a little fast?" Jacob asked, sounding breathless.

"Do you want us to stop?" Bella asked, moving one of her hands over Edward's arms.

"Not really, no."

"Are you sure," Edward pushed.

Jacob took a shuddering breath. "Yeah."

Together, Edward and Bella started to kindle Jacob's flesh where they were touching him. Edward moved his hands to grasp Jacob's forearms and pulled them up and over Jacob's head. There he restrained both Jacob's wrists in one hand at the base of Jacob's neck. He used his other hand to trace Jacob's jaw until he reached his mouth and worked three fingers in and locked them on Jacob's lower jaw. Edward used his hand to pull Jacob's head back onto his shoulder so Edward just had to turn his own head to latch onto Jacob's neck. He knew Jacob wasn't going to bruise, but it didn't stop Edward from trying.

Jacob's breath hitched and his hips jerked back into Edward's before arching his back and moaning. Edward glanced down, lips never leaving Jacob's neck, and locked eyes with his wife. Bella had worked her way down to the soft flesh where Jacob's leg met his pelvis. She was busy trying to give Jacob a marking of her own. Her hands were clutching at Jacob's thighs, fingers digging into the flesh. Edward dug his fingers farther into Jacob's mouth and grinded against his back. All three of them moaned together.

Then Jacob froze against them for just a second before he was wriggling and shaking his head. Edward, sensing distress, released Jacob and backed off. Bella was slower, but Jacob gently grabbed her arms and pulled her to her feet.

"What?" Bella asked, panicked. "Are you okay? Did I do something wrong? What happened. Edward?"

She looked at him as if he'd done something wrong. It would have upset him, but he'd been thinking the same thing about her, so he figured it was warranted.

"No," Jacob assured her. He was reaching for his clothes and jerking them on. "We have to go."

Edward felt himself panic as they followed Jacob on foot towards the house. They weren't that far, which was probably why Jacob wasn't phasing.

"What is it? What happened? Is it Billy? Jacob?!"

He stopped and turned towards them. "Sorry, sorry. It's Leah."

Bella jerked as if she'd been slapped.

"Not like that, Bells," Jacob assured her. "But we have to go. I don't know what's going on, but she's pissed."

"But why?" Edward asked as they started walking again. He knew Jacob could feel and sense Leah. He'd admitted as much. So couldn't Jacob just open his link with her and find out what was going on?

"It's Emily. She's at your house."

x x x

When they made it back to the Cullen house Leah was waiting for them on the front porch. She was vibrating with pent up tension. As they drew closer, her expression changed and she glared at the two behind him before arching an eyebrow at Jacob. He knew she could smell the arousal on them. But that was a conversation for another time.

"What's going on? Why's Emily here?" Jacob asked as he climbed the porch two steps at a time.

"I didn't asked," Leah answered as she turned and walked slightly behind him towards the front door. "Figured it was better to wait on you, oh Alpha-mine."

Inside, Emily was sitting on the couch, a cup of tea in her hands. The Cullens were sitting with her. There was no conversation, but everyone, minus Emily, had a pinched look on their face as if they had smelled something bad. As for Emily, her leg was bouncing and her heart was thundering in her chest.

When she saw him, Emily sat her cup down and got to her feet. "He knows," she began, walking towards Jacob. "Sam knows what you did for Embry."

Jacob nodded and led her back to the couch. "What happened?"

"I've never seen him like this, Jake. It's like he's gone mad."

She told them that Embry hadn't been complaining about home anymore. He's been more relaxed and less stressed out. Sam had started getting suspicious. So he watched them. He noticed Quil kept growing nervous whenever Sam was around. Even more so when Embry was with them.

Figuring that something was going on, Sam separated the two from patrolling together. Instead, he kept pairing them up with Jared and Paul, hoping the two older boys would gleam something while they were phased, because Sam wasn't phasing with the others anymore. Any of them. He always took a shift alone. He was running the pack ragged. They always had to meet right after school, and he worked them until late into the night.

But that day everything had come to a head. After Billy had been taken to the hospital, the pack had gathered at Emily's house. For once, they were just sitting around the living room talking. Then Collin had made a comment about Jacob losing his dad, which for some reason had caused Paul to ask Embry about his mom and how things were going at home. Embry told them that he was lucky his mom had come around after kicking him out last week. He didn't know what he would have done is she hadn't come to get him.

Emily stopped making a snack and walked closer to the living room. Embry being kicked out had been news to her. And apparently nearly everyone else in the room. Especially Sam.

Before anyone could do anything, Sam was in front of Embry demanding to know what had happened. Embry stuttered, not knowing why Sam was being so hostile. None of them knew. Emily could see the others shifting around in their seats, ready to move if they had to.

Embry admitted that he'd had a fight with his mom. She'd kicked him out after he'd kicked a chair into a wall. He'd went to Quil's. A few hours later Amy had showed up apologizing and took him home. They'd been fine since.

Emily noticed Quil had shrunken in on himself, trying to make himself smaller. Sam noticed as well. He was on Quil in a flash, hauling him up by his shirt collar. He kept demanding that Quil tell him what happened, shaking Quil with each sentence.

Sam kept laying into him until Quil finally shouted that he'd called Jacob. That confession froze everyone in the room. Sam dropped Quil, though it looked more like he'd thrown Quil away from him. Once Quil righted himself, though still breathing hard, he straightened himself and glared at Sam.

"You weren't doing anything!" Quil had shouted. "You never do anything! At least Jake tried. He should be our alpha. Not you."

And then Sam had hit him. He'd backhanded Quil so hard that Quil's jaw had broken and he fell to the ground. The others had tried to go to his aid, but Sam ordered them to stand down. The rest of the pack were forced to the ground in submission. Sam then picked Quil up by the back of his neck and dragged him outside.

Emily followed to the screen door. She watched in horror as Sam yelled at Quil to phase. Quil just curled into himself and shook his head. Sam hit him again and ordered Quil to phase. Emily had turn away as Quil's body was forced under Sam's command to shift into a wolf. She cringed as she listened to his bones breaking, causing Quil to scream in pain.

"I left after that," Emily said. "I tried going the hospital, but Dr. Cullen said you'd left already. So he invited me back here to wait for you."

"How long ago was this?" Jacob asked, already getting to his feet.

"A little over thirty minutes."

Jacob nodded, bent to kiss her forehead, and said, "You should stay here."

Leah shot up beside him. "You're not going without me."

"Or us," Edward said as he and the rest of the Cullens gathered around.

"I can't ask you to do this," Jacob argued.

"You're not asking, we're offering," Alice informed him.

"We'll need them anyway. Sam still has the order for us to be attacked on site, remember. With them there, he'll have to lift it or endanger everyone," Leah reasoned.

"If everyone else is going, then we are too," Emily said, pointing to herself and Bella. "I'm not going to wait around twiddling my thumbs." Bella nodded her agreement.

Jacob looked around the room, making eye contact with each of them. Their support was overwhelming. His voice failed him, so he just nodded and turned for the door. He and Leah stripped their clothes as they cleared the porch and ran towards La Push, only phasing once the last strip of clothing was tossed aside. Then they were running at breakneck speed towards La Push, the group close on their heels.

xoxoxo

So. I thought the last movie would get my ass in gear and motivate me to write. Instead, it had the opposite effect. I hated that Edward watched in glee as Bella knocked Jacob around. It rubbed me the wrong way. And I just couldn't get into writing.

Also, I am lazy and kept putting off rewriting the outline. I kept worrying that I wasn't going to be able to make anything work. Everything we have put into motion, I have to bring to a close, and I wasn't sure I was going to be able to do it in a way that was enjoyable to read. I love the build up, but suck at the execution. And I don't want this story to suck...Unlike destiny. Hehehe. Yes, I went there. I'm sad. Sorry. :)

However, I finally decided that I would just reread the last seven chapters and see what all still needed to be addressed. Maybe that would give me some kind of direction. And it did! Yay!

I'm not promising speedy updates, as my job has decided to revamp everything I have done the last two years, and now I have to merge the old with the new. But rest assured that I'm back in the saddle of this thing, and I fully plan on finishing it. Not that I ever wasn't, but still. Just so you know, because, yeah, it's been awhile. I would have given up on me too. Though after seven years I'm still waiting on an update for Hogwarts AC 196. So, ya know whatever.

Til next time!

RekkaKouyuu