1: Skinny Love (Ed. Cullen)

67.

Bambi knows she's been avoiding. She's been avoiding Bella. She's been avoiding Charlie. She's been avoiding Jacob. And her feelings. And her wolf. And her voices. And mostly all she wants to do is crawl into her bed and stay there, unfortunately Caleb and Sam aren't willing to let her. If it's not Caleb climbing into her window, it's Paul, or Sam, or Jared, or Embry. Each one determined to drag her out and involve her in the pack stuff. It's been 19 days since her wolf manifested. 19 days and she still can't make sense of it all. Sam keeps giving her worried glances. As if he's afraid she's going to crack under the pressure of it all, and to be fair, Bambi feels like she might just do that too. All of her issues are pushing against her. 

She even met Harry the other day, he seemed to spend most of the time staring at her, which unnerved her and made her incredibly uncomfortable. She knows something is going on. But her mind is so screwed up she can't linger to think about it, about any of it. Billy eventually pulled his friend out of there with an apology to Bambi. Harry just sees more of Marianne in Bambi then he thought he would, it's like he was actually looking at his baby sister. 

Bambi's also been spending more time at the Cullen's house, just sitting there with her head phones in, it's quiet there and she knows the wolves won't go any where near the house, effectively leaving her alone. Which she is glad for. Those moments when there is no pack. No wolves. Just her alone. It helps keep her sane, when it's chaos all around her. 

Bambi looks up from where she sits at the top of the stairs in Sam and Emily's home, her ears picking up Jacob's voice nearing. She knew all the wolves have been keeping an eye on him the last few days, aware that he should be next to change. She didn't go with them. It was too painful, Jacob is her best friend and she's not been allowed near him, she misses talking to him. She stands and takes slow steps down the stairs listening to Caleb and Jacob talking, it must have happened. Jacob must have phased. She runs her hand down the banister as she makes her way to the bottom of the stairs.

"Hey, Jake" Bambi whispers stood at the bottom of the stairs, he looks to her, understanding crossing his face as he moves towards her. "Yeah, got zapped with it too" she adds trying to joke but it comes out weak. Jacob pulls her into a tight hug and she hugs him back, closing her eyes. Her best friend is now right beside her riding the crazy ass wolf train with her. She clutches to his back, her fingers digging in as he breaths her in, he's missed her too. He pulls back and then lowers his head to kiss her, she pauses slightly, unsure how she wants to react. He pulls back before she can decide. Jacob rubs the back of his neck and sighs.

"I urm...wanted to do that for a while" he admits. "And I thought I'd like it" Jacob complains and wrinkles his nose, she shoots him a look. "Not that it was terrible" he is quick to argue. "Just...felt like I was kissing my sister" he admits, she sighs.

"Yeah" she agrees. "Me too" she shrugs.

"Don't get me wrong" Jacob whispers, aware of the audience now. "I love you" he assures her. "Just..."

"Yeah" she nods. "You're my best friend" she nudges him. "I love you too" he hugs her again, brushing his fingers through her hair. Caleb pats Jacob's back and looks to Sam who nods a little. That bond the three of them have will make for one hell of a pack team.

...................

Bambi sits on the floor, Jacob on one side, Caleb on her other, Jacob's arm rests around her shoulders as they watch some cheesy monster movie.

"Room for a few more?" Paul asks with a smirk stood behind them, Bambi turns to look at him, and Jared and Embry stood with him, they both offer smiles trying to get in with them. Jacob and Caleb look to Bambi who smiles a little. Because she is now realising that it's not just her. It's not just Caleb and Jacob. She's got an entire pack behind her.

"Only if Sam gets in here too" Bambi points out looking behind them to Sam who glances to her. "We're....all family now, right?" Sam smiles and nods.

"Yeah" he agrees moving to join them, Embry steals Jacob's pillow and dodges the younger wolf's hand as he tries to grab it back. Bambi watches them all interact, a warmth flooding her, because yeah, she may have had her doubts about this to begin with, that yeah, she is still struggling with it. But she really isn't alone with it. Caleb leans closer to Bambi and smiles kissing her cheek.

"Knew Jacob would cheer you up" he comments softly. She looks to him. "I know it's been hard for you....this whole thing, but we're all in this together" she nods and leans into his side. He wraps an arm around her and smiles as the other wolves get settled around them. Pushing in for space. Sam smiles a little looking around them, Paul is laughing as Embry and Jared throw a few playful punches at one another, Bambi is actually smiling for the first time since she phased, Jacob and Caleb at her side, both happy. They may just make this work. Bambi glances to Sam and smiles a little warmer, she nods to him and he nods back. Without his help she would have likely freaked out harder over this, but he's been patient, and he's tried to explain as best as he can, given that Bambi's phasing is still a mystery to him. Neither Billy or Harry having spoken to him about it yet. With the pack mind link they're putting it off as long as possible so as not to destroy Bambi and Charlie's bond.