The Consequences {Jacob Black}

Chapter XXXIX

Emily certainly knew us well. Jake and I weren't light eaters. And the woman was clearly a genius. She had expertly crafted egg salad, chicken salad, potato salad, vegetables, some kind of dip, something deep fried, garlic and parmesan French fries.

Basically, we were living in the land of carbs and I loved every minute of it.

The tea lights flickered, the sheet was flowing in the breeze, rippling the faces of the characters on the makeshift screen. I leaned forward untying my sandals before reclining back into the pillows.

Jake had gotten everything right, better than any dream that I have ever had. We were in the forest, beside the sea, on my favorite place in the world, with someone that I couldn't deny loving.

As Jake laughed at the ROUSS's and made fun of the characters, I realized that he had been paying attention my entire life. He knew me just as well as I knew him. Because this date was more than anything that any girl could picture. I wanted to laugh as I thought about him taking Bella out here. She would probably shiver obnoxiously, unwilling to actually complain about the cold. She probably would've fallen on her way over here. And I'm pretty sure she wouldn't know a good movie if the Oscar-winning actor beat her with the award.

"What's got you smiling?" he asked quietly, handing me some of the popcorn.

"I was just thinking about how perfect this is, Jake. I can't believe you figured all this out," I said, looking around at the little candles.

"I think you just insulted my intelligence, Miss Swan," he said, taking back the popcorn bowl with a growl.

"There's not very much to insult, Mr. Black." He laughed and pulled me against his side. My ear found his heartbeat, a steady drumming beneath my temple. "How was patrol?" I asked, reaching to grab a handful of popcorn.

"Good, I guess. No leeches, so it was just a lot of running," he grumbled.

"You love running," I pointed out.

"Not when I'm not chasing something." I rolled my eyes at him. "Sam has me on the night shift next week," he added quietly.

The last few days had been beyond blissful. I woke up in what I would consider my home every morning, wrapped in the warm, protective arms of a wolf. He would sneak me back home, well a few miles away. I would change and then head to school. Jake had been running patrols after school the last few days, giving me time to do my homework and clean the house. Billy and I visited a lot, talking about anything and everything. My dad would show up around six, eat dinner with us, and take me home. Bella had been taking a shift at work until seven, making herself something to eat. I mean, it's not like Edward actually ate anything.

"I'm sorry," I said. Jake hated night shift, more or less because he hated not sleeping. "Let me know if I can help with anything." He pressed his lips to the top of my head and pulled me closer.

"You know, this is why we're something that will work," he said. I looked up at him, question in my eyes. "Earlier, you were talking about how we fight all the time, how scared you were to lose what we were. This is why we won't lose it," he said, gesturing between himself and me.

"Date night?"

Jake laughed. "No; you pretend like what I do is normal. You ask about my day, you let me hold you, we talk, we tease. I don't know anything about normal anymore, Annie. But you and me, this is normal. This was normal before the imprint and it'll be normal long after."

I wanted to punch him, tell him that he was being stupid, but the truth was that this was normal for us. Okay, maybe not the date and the cuddling like a couple. But sitting, eating dinner, watching a movie, and talking about our days; that was normal.