High School Sweetheart [Jacob & Edward]

introduction

a/n: i had an idea and had to get it down before i forgot. everything (title, cover, etc.) is temporary and subject to change. 

Bella hadn't thought much about it when Billy'd started coming around more. She was eight-years-old with other things on her mind like her next dance recital and what she was going to wear on her first day of school in the new town they'd just moved to. He was a family friend and her dad really needed to talk to someone who didn't have a badge and an equally crumbling marriage, so she didn't think it was odd when he'd started inviting Billy over for drinks. 

With Billy would come Billy's son, Jacob, a tiny five-year-old who she'd play with in the yard while her dad and his friend sat near the grill and talked. At first it was seemingly surface-level, distant talks and a comforting, steady hand on the shoulder. Her dad would look crushed before Billy arrived and he'd look a little better each time he left. Each visit would be longer than the next as a comforting hand on the shoulder turned into a comforting hand on the lower back. Afternoon drinks turned into coming over for dinner which turned into staying the night which turned into waking up and having breakfast in the morning. Eventually, Jacob went from sleeping on a palette on her bedroom floor to having his own room across the hall and Billy would stay in her dad's room. There was nothing weird about that. Friends had sleepovers all the time. 

However, one night Bella got up from her bed to sneak into the kitchen for a midnight snack. She, of course, stops on her way to wake up Jacob, who rubs at his big eyes as he peers at her in the dark. He doesn't ask any questions, slipping from under the covers to join her, little feet padding against the hardwood as he trailed behind her down the hall. They slowly creep up the corridor stopping every now and then to listen for the sounds of their father's breathing or the sound of footsteps. Eventually, they get to the end of the hall, that seemed longer than either of them remembered it being, pressing themselves up against the edge of the wall to get a good look of that they were sneaking into. Bella sticks her head out first only to stop as she catches sight of their dads standing in the kitchen, drinks in their hand as they talked. Bella and Jacob look at one another, already admitting defeat and ready to creep back up the hall when Billy pushes himself off of the counter. He's facing away from them, turned instead to Charlie who is pressed up against the opposite counter. The sudden movement from Billy has them frozen where they stand, as they watch him rock his way over to Charlie. He's pressed up against him, so close that it's like he's about to tell him a secret. His lips don't find Charlie's ear instead, pressing insistently against his mouth. 

They forget that they're supposed to be hiding as they both stand there, eyes unbelievably wide. Jacob's now standing shoulder to elbow with Bella as they take in the scene in front of them. The sound of Bella gasping is what alerts the two men to the fact that they have an audience. Charlie's head snaps to peer over Billy's shoulder to see two confused looking kids in their pajamas with their mouths hanging wide open. 

"Shit."

And that's how Bella got a baby brother. A baby brother who she was socially obligated to allow entry into her friend group. He'd spent most of his years going to school on the reservation, but he'd begged and bargained with Billy to get a shot at public school. Billy had reluctantly agreed. So here he was, a junior, after managing to skip a grade. However, there was a lot for him to learn still. So far, he'd learned that Bella's friends were idiots. 

Jacob watched intently as Jessica flirted with Mike. She was giving it her all, the hair flips, the lip bites, the flirtatious smiles. Meanwhile, Mike was trying not to make it too obvious, maybe because Jacob was staring right at him, that he definitely had a thing for Bella. He probably wasn't even aware that Jessica was even looking at him as he bit at the fork that'd come with the slop on his plate. Honestly, Eric was doing an even shittier job as he babbles about some club that Jacob can join in order to impress her. He shoves a flier at Jacob who reluctantly takes it, glancing down at the thing with little to no interest before tossing it onto the table. 

He's about to say something about how ridiculous this all is when a group swoops in and takes all of the attention with them. He stares along with everyone else as five students take a seat at the table that's clearly reserved for them whether anyone outwardly acknowledged it or not. They must be used to the incessant staring and hushed silence that falls over the cafeteria, because they don't even look up as they continue to have whatever conversation that must've sparked up on their way here. There's something about the way they move, the way they speak that's almost too relaxed. One of the girls, the one that looks like a pixie, is a little too bubbly as she jabs at one of the guys who looks a bit stiffer than the rest. He gives her a small smile regardless as they continue their banter. It's almost as if they're in their own little world as the rest of the school stops to watch.

The only time any of them acknowledges the rest of the room is when one of them looks up from the table and looks directly at Jacob as if he'd called him by name. 

He can feel as the eyes at his own table shift to him as well, like they knew something he didn't.

The only thing that breaks the silence of the group is the sound of Bella's fork clattering on her plate before she speaks.

"Over my dead fucking body."