Meaningful Artifacts [Edward/Jacob]

three.

Jacob has to miss work the next day. His body is aching, he's running a fever, and the world feels like it's on a tilt. Leah finds him lying face down in a puddle of his own sweat, groaning nonsense when she comes up to get him for breakfast. She gives him a once over before a smirk graces her face. She tries to quickly hide it in her sleeve, but Jacob can see it even through the haze his mind is in.

 She turns and calls for Quil.

"Meet anyone new yesterday?" She asks as Quil helps him into a standing position.

She says it in a way that's probably supposed to be casual, but he knows better. She wouldn't ask something so oddly specific out of the blue, that mixed with the fact that he's sure he's heard the question at least three times before. 

It's the last thing he's expecting to be asked. 

He grunts out a "no" as he's led towards the bathroom.

"No one?" Leah asks as she strips the sheets from his bed and tosses them to the floor. 

Jacob must look like dogshit because Quil's looking at him with pity in his eyes as he turns the knobs on the tub. He gestures for him to sit on the toilet seat as Jacob begins to sway.

"Did you see anyone you haven't seen in a while?" Quil asks, head dipped down as he checks the temperature of the water.

Jacob blinks a couple of times. He's about to deny it, but the answer must be written all over his face if Quil's expression is anything to go by. He'd seen a multitude of people technically. He'd seen Charlie, Bella, her kid, and Edward all in the same day. Granted, only three of those people were eligible and he's seen Charlie at least three times in the last ten years, so he's going to rule him out as well. 

"Yeah", he mumbles right as Quil turns off the water. 

"Did you meet them all at the same time?" Leah calls to him as she wrestles new sheets onto his mattress. 

"No." 

The more questions they ask, the more dread settles into his stomach. He'd gone this long without having to answer these types of questions and deal with this kind of discomfort, but he knew the usual stuff. He'd been there when Embry had left for vacation at the beginning of the summer that they'd all turned. He'd saw the way Quil had looked at him like it was his first time seeing him. He couldn't seem to take his eyes off of Embry. It was like he was under some kind of spell. He'd gotten sick the day after he'd returned and Jacob hadn't gotten to see all of it, but he knew this part. 

"So, do you know who it is?" Leah calls from the bedroom as Quil steps out and cracks the door so that he can get undressed and sit in the bathtub. 

He doesn't immediately answer the question, putting all of his concentration into removing what little clothing he was wearing before submerging himself in the water, feeling his teeth begin to clack. It felt like he'd tumbled off of the fucking Titanic, but there was nowhere to go. He just has to sit there waiting for this damn fever to break.

He could practically feel Leah waiting in anticipation for an answer as he shivered. He knows this is supposed to be an exciting day even if it's more than a bit late in his case. Though, he doesn't feel very happy about it. In fact, it feels a lot like the worst day of his life. He grabs for a bar of soap, slowly rubbing it up in down his arm as a distraction.

"We're not going to judge you, Jay." Quil says, clearly closer to the door than Leah, as he speaks softly. His voice is timid like he talking to an injured wild animal.  

Jacob switches to the other arm. He scrubs at the skin with the bar until it's red. He has to force himself to speak.

"I saw two people." Jacob mutters, as he moves to scrubbing at his legs.