2Written for kissbingo the prompt was 'emotion: anger'. This is my third entry. Wootness to being over half-way to my first bingo on one of my cards. I do not own Twilight.
After listening to Bella talk endlessly about her Best Friend for the entire summer he wasn't looking forward to meeting the guy. Edward suspected that Jacob had long fallen into the Strictly Friends category for Bella and that was the only reason they weren't dating now.
"He's so great, Edward. I can't wait for you to meet him."
"Jacob is so much fun. I just know you two are going to hit it off."
Edward had politely nodded his head and made noises of agreement but all he had been thinking of was punching Jacob "Sort of Beautiful" Black in the mouth. His sisters found this particularly amusing since Edward had never been the jealous type. He was usually confident enough in himself not to be bothered when a girlfriend's eyes would do the occasional wandering, but this was different. This wasn't some random guy in the mall that caught Bella's eye and she was giggling behind his and Jasper's back with Alice. This was the boy she'd been best friends with since she was a little girl. The boy who had listened to her bitch night in and out about her parents shipping her back and forth between them until she decided that she would stay in Forks. Forks at least had Jacob, according to Bella. They had shared their first kisses together!
Alice's light laughter broke through his thoughts. "Are you still worried about Jacob? You met him, didn't you? He's a nice guy."
"Yeah," Edward grunted. Everyone had met Jacob by now. Bella drug him around introducing him to the new residents of Forks. Alice had taken a quick liking to him and the two were already conspiring behind everyone's back. Even him and Rosalie had something in common to share and they had plans to work on Jacob's Rabbit.
He sure had seemed nice enough and Bella hadn't been exaggerating when she said he good looking. Edward imight/i even say he was 'kinda beautiful'.
Bella kept standing on tip-toe, even using Edward to push herself up to see above the crowds. "Where is he? His plane should have landed by now." Edward wasn't completely sure how Bella had roped him into being Jacob's welcoming party. The teen was returning from spending the summer with his sisters and his dad, Billy, happen to be under the weather. When Billy asked Bella if she'd be okay with greeting Jacob on her own she had automatically thought it was the perfect opportunity for them to meet. Bella had been telling Jacob "everything he needs to know" about him and Jacob was "stoked".
"I see him! Jacob!" She started waving her arms frantically. "Jacob! Over here!" When Edward caught sight of the teen Bella was flagging down he wondered why she was worried about missing him. Jacob Black stood an entire head, more for some, over everyone else. His russet skin even darker from being with his sisters in California.
Jacob bounded over to Bella and scooped her up in a bone-crushing hug. "Bells!" he kissed her cheek sloppily. "I've missed you, girl." He looked up and made eye-contact with Edward. "Hey, you must be Edward. Bella's said so much about you." Edward convinced himself that Jacob's eyes hadn't stealthy slipped down to check out the rest of his body.
"All good, I hope." Edward took the offered hand and had to stop himself form pulling away. Jacob was warm, hot even and to Edward (who always "ran a little cold" according to his dad) it was a shock. Edward dropped his hand quickly and Jacob's grin never faded.
"Better believe it. Bella here thinks you're the best thing since Google." Jacob grinned and Edward stared, "Joke, man. Joke." He shook his head and shifted his gaze back to Bella, "Where did you find this stiff?" Bella laughed, smacking Jacob's chest. She launched into when Edward's family moved to Forks and how they met. They walked out of the airport with Edward following behind a little lost at where he belonged in this moment.
He thought if he gave it some time it would grow on him that his girlfriend was best friends with a guy; thought he was getting use to her saying "I love you" to Jacob when she got off the phone. She hadn't said that to Edward yet. He even thought with a little bit of time it wouldn't have shocked him the first time she said, "Oh, but me and Jake have been talking about seeing this movie for months. You don't mind if he tags along, right?" Sure, sure Edward hadn't minded at all that Jacob came along on what was going to be a romantic date night for them. That Edward had reservations to an expensive restaurant in Port Angles, that didn't matter. Jacob tagged along for that, also. He really thought he was getting use to it, but he had been lying.
He was still lying to himself when two months after Jacob had come into their normal, orderly life he woke from a dream. A nightmare.
The warm body hovered over him in his subconscious, long dark locks brushed over his chest as a warm tongue worked it's way up his neck. Edward stretched allowing them to move farther up and dark eyes swam into view. But they weren't the chocolate browns he was expecting. No these were far too dark and the adventurous spark in them was never in his Bella's. It was Jacob's mouth working over his jaw. Edward sat up with a gasp, sweat ran out of his hair line and he was embarrassingly aware of the erection tenting his sheets; quickly dwindling in light of who his dream seducer was.
Edward fell back against his pillows panting softly. He swiped his hand over his face and took a deep breath. That was no big deal, he drilled silently. No big deal. That- that happen all the time. It was logical even since it seemed the younger teen was worming into his life and subconsciously he- Edward cut off his rampant thoughts. Excuses. It was no big deal and he was sticking to that.
A month later and he was still waking at least once a week from the nightmare. It was starting to show. Any time Bella mentioned Jacob's name a scowl would come over Edward. He became completely disinterested in the conversation at hand. He went as far as to get short with Bella.
"Can we talk about something else," He snapped in response to Bella's second telling of Jacob's new bike.
Bella blinked, then frowned, "Are you okay, Edward? You've been..." she trailed off and Edward could guess she was looking for a manly way to say "bitchy".
"I'm fine. We've already talked about this." Edward couldn't maintain eye-contact with her while she was giving him that confused look. He looked back down at his math book and pretended to start studying again.
She shrugged, "okay." There was only the slightest pause before, "Jacob and me were thinkin-" Edward slammed his textbook shut and stood up. "Edward where are you going?" He didn't answer her, just kept walking towards the library exit.
The couple technically weren't talking about the 'library incident'. Except Bella would pointedly ask things like, "What would you like to talk about, Edward?" And it didn't help that three times his conversations turned around to Jacob. Bella had adopted this knowing look, and she was whispering with Alice a lot. That was never a good sign.
Three weeks passed and Edward had to stop lying to himself that something wasn't going on in his head revolving around Jacob Black. He woke up with the teen's name strangled in his throat and warm, sticky sheets. He threw the offensive material off his body and quickly stripped the bed. He balled the sheets up and looked at them accusingly; he couldn't leave them for his mother and waiting until morning would raise even more questions.
Quietly he snuck out of his room and tip-toed down two flights of stairs to reach the laundry room. He stuffed the sheets into the washer and turned it on. Edward was tired. He and Bella had stayed up late into the night talking and it was only three in the morning. He knew though that sleep wasn't going to come. Jacob-fucking-Black was consuming his sleeping and waking mind and it felt like there was nothing Edward could do about it.
He hopped onto the washer and closed his eyes. He let the shaking of the machine lull him into a false sense of calm and took a deep breath. He needed to get this back into perspective. He wasn't feeling for Jacob; all of these nightmares, even the occasional daydream, it was all just too much time with him. If Edward explained to Bella that he wanted to spend time with her with out Jacob always hovering over their shoulder she would understand. Of course she would.
Edward was left alone in the house without his parents or noisy sister (Rosalie cared little what Edward or Alice did) and he decided to take advantage of the situation. He took his favorite music downstairs and played them in the stereo that played through out the first level. He turned the music up until he knew it was shaking the pictures just enough on the walls. He danced around and made a fool of himself and tried not to think about why he was home on a Saturday night while the rest of his family had respective date nights. Edward had assumed they would do something tonight; he hadn't even thought to ask Bella, so when he called that morning and Bella said she already had plans with Jacob. He wasn't happy.
He hadn't worked up the nerve to tell Bella he was tired of always hanging out with Jacob all the time. And maybe he should have put more effort into it and it wouldn't have exploded out of him like it did.
"What do you mean you already have plans with Black?" Edward was clenching his phone in his hand so tightly he could hear the hard plastic creaking.
Bella sighed, "I made plans with Jacob on Monday, and I told you about them Thursday at lunch. Don't you remember?" Thursday at lunch? Edward rubbed at his forehead; no he didn't. He remembered cramming for a Science test and Bella was vaguely chatting at him. That would have sank in though, right? That Bella was yet again ditching him on a weekend for Jacob 'Just Friends' Black.
"I don't get it, Bella. Why are you always with him!"
There was silence on the other end, then, "He's my best friend, Edward. Why wouldn't I hang out with him."
"I'm your boyfriend, Bella, and I think you see Black more than you see me."
"That's not true. I go to school with you, we have classes together. And you come over after school almost every day. Where do we not see each other enough?"
"And somehow he always winds up with us."
Bella huffed, "I can't believe you're jealous of Jacob or whatever it is." Edward winced 'whatever it is' was a very accurate way of putting his...feelings toward Jacob. "That's just ridiculous." Bella's words were clipped. Edward knew she was mad and his anger was quickly dissipating. Bella had never given him any reason to feel jealous of Jacob. It wasn't jealousy he was feeling either. It was frustration. From the dreams and from the smiling and easy kinda-flirting he got from the younger teen. He was pissed off at himself and was taking it on Bella and her friendship.
"I'm sorry, Bella. I shouldn't-"
"What? You've been acting weird for months. You talk about Jacob all the time. You always want to know where he is when he isn't with us. So you can't bitch at me about my spending time with Jacob without you and bitch about all the time we spend together as a trio. It doesn't work like that Edward." Bella sighed, "I don't know what you want, Edward."
Edward hoped she hung up before he whispered, "I don't either."
He dropped onto the couch and let the music thump through his body. He was being a complete ass. With all these contradicting thoughts swirling around him; he was taking it out on all the wrong people. Jacob was generally friendly, he humored Alice when she wanted to use him as a dress-up doll in the mall. Him and Jasper got a long fine. Even Rosalie's older boyfriend, Emmett, didn't have a problem with him. They all said the same thing. 'Nice guy'. Edward didn't see the nice guy though. He saw the kid who smirked behind Bella's back when she hugged him really tight when the couple dropped him off at home after a 'date night'. Saw the same kid who would throw his arm around the back of the couch to play with a lock of Bella's hair during a movie marathon. Even though that left their arms pressed awkwardly together. Even with all those things he also though he saw Jacob looking at him from the corner of his eye. And it was possible that all those times Edward thought Jacob was smirking at him was his way of smiling embarrassingly. Smirk or smile Edward couldn't ignore that over the past four months his thoughts had gone from Kill to Kiss.
Edward felt terrible about upsetting Bella but he wasn't upset that he finally got it off his chest. Maybe now she would talk to Jacob and the kissing and hugging would stop. Maybe she'd say 'I love you' to him instead of Jacob Black. Maybe Edward would stop having the bizarre nightmares that left him panting and wishing (quietly, guiltily) for something less intangible.
So wrapped up in his thoughts about how everything would be different now that Bella knew her super close friendship with Jacob bothered him. He didn't hear the front door open or someone call his name several times. It wasn't until the music went off that he jumped up from his slouch on the couch. He spun around to face the stereo system already raising his fists to defend himself if that was what the situation called for. But it was only the person that had been occupying his thoughts for the better part of four months now. Jacob Black.
"What are you doing here?" he growled, then, "How did you get in?"
Jacob didn't answer straight away. Instead he let his eyes roam around the spacious room, to the pile of CDs Edward had brought from his room. He smirked and this time Edward could see the uneasiness there. "I'm here because Bella demanded that I, in her words, "work your shit out with Edward." I'll admit I'm a little confused. I didn't think we had any issues. And I let myself in. Living way out here you really shouldn't leave the door unlocked." Edward glared and Jacob raised his hands defensively but the smirk still played at the edges of his lips. Edward stalked Jacob with his eyes as the teen walked across the room and plopped himself down on the couch. He tried to tell himself that he wasn't appreciating the way Jacob's body moved but he had rarely had the chance to keep his entire focus on him. Never wanting his eyes to linger too long when in the presence of others. Jacob stretched himself out throwing both arms along the back. He crossed his legs at the ankle and sighed. "So, Edward, what's going on?"
"Nothing."
"Must be a big nothing that Bella was so pissed off she didn't want to bake double chunk chocolate chip cookies with me." Jacob chuckled and Edward's mouth open and closed for a minute. They were going to spend their Saturday night baking. "What the hell do you think me and your girlfriend get into?"
"I don't know, Black, but you seem to spend a lot of quality time with Bella."
Edward couldn't take it any more. His thoughts had been consumed by this man and his relationship with Bella. Jacob had started talking, saying something about how he knew this "must be hard for you, man, but really. You don-" Edward didn't care what Jacob had to say. He grabbed him. One hand clenching on his shoulder and the other slipped behind the back of his head. Confusion darted across Jacob's dark eyes. He pulled Jacob toward him and wasn't expecting when Jacob came freely. Their lips smashed together and Jacob's hands grabbed Edward's hips and pulled him closer. The younger teen tilted his head down and tried to seal the kiss and that wasn't what Edward wanted.
He opened his mouth and Jacob took that as permission and tried to slide his tongue into Edward's mouth. Edward growled and snapped his teeth down on the invasive appendage, then he nipped at Jacob's bottom lip.
"Ouch!" Jacob yanked himself away. "What the hell? You bit me, Edward." Jacob wiped at his mouth and his fingers came away with blood on them.
"You tried to-to-" Edward stuttered to a stop. He was going to say that Jacob tried to kiss him but that was decidedly Edward's doing.
Jacob patted at his swollen lip with the hem of his shirt. "Christ, I thought. What the hell. You kissed me and Bella said-"
"Bella said what?" Edward demanded, not caring that Jacob was probably going to say it before he cut him off.
He looked embarrassed now, rubbing at the back of his neck. "Well, she said that you were... Interested. In me."
"What?" Edward shook his head. Why would his girlfriend think that? Then, Edward thought, why wouldn't she think that? Edward knew how much he was obsessing over the teen. If even a fraction of his...thoughts for Jacob were coming across to her then it was obvious. He took a step away from Jacob and he did the same thing to Edward. "I'm not."
"You're not?"
"No." Edward's eyes were drawn to Jacob's swelling lip. He had done that. His pants grew uncomfortable tight. "You should leave."
Jacob nodded and backed toward the door. "Yep, I'm outta here."
He was practically to the door when Edward stopped him, "You're not- not-"
"Not what?" Jacob's eyes narrowed.
"Going to tell Bella," Edward forced the words out.
Jacob scowled, "You tell her. Or I will."
"She doesn't need to know."
Jacob took several large steps and was back in Edward's face. "Really, Cullen? She already does know. What exactly do you plan to keep from her?" Edward licked his lips nervously, not having a response. Jacob's eyes flicked, watching him and suddenly he seized Edward's shoulders and drawled them together again. Edward could taste the dried blood and Jacob's bottom lip felt awkward from the swelling. It lasted only a moment before Jacob pulled away. He turned on his heel and stalked out of the house without another word.
Edward stumbled back until he could collapse on the couch. He touched his lips and ran his tongue over them. What the hell had he started?