" jacob black, who the hell do you think you are "

"Rosie, come on . . . Open up! You can't stay mad at me forever," Jacob Black was banging on Rose's bedroom door, and as much as she wanted to forgive him, she knew that she had to hold out.

Rose had decided a while ago that she was done not holding Jacob Black accountable for his actions. All he ever did nowadays was trail after Bella Swan like some sort of dog. He was always disappointing Rose, and this time he had gone too far by running off to Bella during her birthday. Rose was no where near ready to forgive him for it.

With a roll of her eyes, Rose carelessly flipped the page of her magazine, "You must not know me that well, Jacob. I can hold a grudge like your dad holds his alcohol."

She heard a 'thump' which she assumed was Jacob banging his head on her door before Jacob was audibly grumbling to himself as he made his way out her house, "I'll be back later then!"

With a shake of her head and a sigh she turned back to the magazine in her hands.

.

Jacob didn't come back to Rose's house like he said he would. He didn't go to school the next day either, and neither Rose nor Quil had heard from him. She didn't want to worry, but boy was it getting hard as the days passed and Billy kept insisting that "well, it is flu season".

After a week of excuses, Rose was fed up. And apparently Bella Swan was too.

Sitting in her car, Rose watched confusedly as Bella Swan marched her way up to Sam Uley and his cult. It had irritated her that Bella had had the same idea as her, on the same day no less, so much so that she decided to pout in her car until Bella left. Now, though, with an angry Paul Lahote looking as if he was going to kill Bella, Rose wondered if she should do something to help.

Without giving it much thought, Rose exited her car hurriedly, the door slamming unintentionally and causing her to cringe as the group that had gathered outside the Black residence stared at her. She gave a tight lipped smile before walking slowly towards the group.

"Bella," she started, "I think you should go home now. Jake will call when he feels better." Rose avoided looking at the 'cult' as she said this. They were much taller up close; more intimidating.

Bella looked at her, disbelief clear on her face, "Rose, they did something to him! He wouldn't-"

"I think you'd better listen to your friend, Bella," Paul spat, now in Bella's face.

Bella scoffed, sending a slap across Paul's face to which Rose cringed, muttering a "dammit, Bella" as she tried to move the two of them away from the livid boy.

"Bella. Rose. Leave," Sam said, doing his best to hold back Paul, "Go!"

Bella started running as Jake burst through the door, "Jake! Run!" She shouted, tripping over a rock and pulling Rose down with her as Jake flew over the two. His human body was replaced with a giant wolf; where Paul once stood was a giant wolf. Looking down at her hands, Rose realized her palms were scraped and bleeding . . . And she passed out.

.

Rose woke up to someone chewing loudly near her ear. She didn't open her eyes, hoping that whoever it was would go away or shut up.

"Embry, get out of her face. You're getting crumbs on her!"

Rose groaned, "Embry, I swear to all that is holy-" she opened her eyes to see Embry Call leaning over her. A muffin was messily shoved in his mouth and his lips were lifted in a sheepish smile, "That is so gross," Rose groaned, pushing him away from her and finally getting a look at her surroundings.

She took in the small room she was in first, deciding to ignore the boys gathered around her for now. The walls clearly hadn't been painted in a while and dirt was scuffed into the corners. The carpet must have been 20 years old, and the couch Rose was lying on creaked under her movements, but overall the house looked lived in and well loved.

"Rose, are you okay?"

She turned her head and gave a tight smile to the boy who had asked, the only boy she didn't recognize, "Yeah I'm fine. Who's house is this?"

Embry chuckled, squishing himself beside her on the couch and resting an arm behind her head, "You're at Emily's. Sam and Paul just got back; they're in the kitchen getting food, and then Jake took Bella for a walk," he rolled his eyes, "You want a muffin? I saved you one."

Rose shook her head. She wasn't in the mood to eat after remembering why she was there. The boys were wolves. Giant wolves. That meant the legends were real. Which meant vampires were real.

Just as Rose felt the urge to pass out again, the door opened and Rose could see Jake storming into the kitchen from her place on the couch.

"Jacob Black! You turn into a wolf?! What the hell!" She shouted, pent up emotion turning into sudden confidence.

Jacob turned, surprised to see Rose awake, "Rosie! You're awake!" He rushed to the couch, tripping over Paul's foot in his hurry.

He turned to glare at Paul before finally looking at Rose. His look turned into a stare that made Rose very uncomfortable. She heard the other boys 'ooooooh' under their breaths, and just like that she felt all of her confidence leave her.

"Jacob, stop staring at me," she all but whispered, arms wrapping around her torso nervously, "You've been ignoring me for weeks, and now I find out you're a wolf? And by association I find out that vampires are real. Jake . . . I'm scared."

A low growl ripped through Jacob's throats, "No one is going to hurt you."

"No one but you," Rose crossed her arms defiantly, "You've been ditching me for Bella since she got here. I'm still mad at you." Rose turned her head away from the now whimpering Jake. He went to respond before noticing Embry's arm wrapped around Rose's back.

A growl ripped through Jacob's throat as he took a threatening step towards the couch, eyes locked on Embry, "Get your hands off of her."

"Chill, chill. I'm not doing anything to her," Embry muttered, lifting his hands in a surrendering motion. With a shake of his head he scooted as far from Rose as he could on the tiny couch.

Jacob visibly calmed once distance was put between Embry and Rose, but the interaction had the opposite effect on Rose.

"Jacob Black, who the hell do you think you are?" She asked. Standing from the couch, she pointed an accusatory finger in Jacob's face, "You've hardly paid me any attention since Bella moved here and now you're all protective of me? What the fuck is with the mood swings! Are all of you wolves so- so- so infuriating!"

Embry coughed behind her, "No, that's just Jake."

"Shut it, Call," Rose hissed, turning her glare onto him, "You ditched us too."

Embry turned his head, muttering a 'sorry' to which Rose nodded, the frown on her face still prominent.

"Rosie, I'm sorry, okay? I know I was a jerk, Jake the Jerk, but please forgive me!"

Rose turned her attention back on Jacob, crossing her arms. A pout unintentionally made its way to her face as she stared him down, "No," she said firmly, her eyebrows furrowing.

Rose turned then, storming out of the foreign house and into the gentle rain Washington was known for.

Jacob ran after her, a look of disbelief on his face. She had never straight out told him 'no'. She always left the conversation open. A subtle way of letting him know that she'd forgive him eventually. But this, this time was different, and he was terrified at the thought of her leaving him for good.

"Rosie you can't go!"

Rose turned to face the panicked Jacob, her hair damp and frizzy and her eyes stinging from unshed tears, "Just let me go home, Jake," she sniffled, "I want to go home."

Jacob quickly walked the distance between them and engulfed her in a warm hug, "Rosie please don't leave me. You can't leave me. Please."

Rose silently leaned into the hug, a sigh escaping her lips, "I want to go home now."

.

Jacob sat awkwardly on Rose's bed, a small smile on his face as he waited patiently for Rose to return from her shower.

Rose let the hot water run over her aching muscles. Her head throbbed and her skin felt tingly from how hot the water was. She tried to forget about Jacob sitting in her bedroom, but he was all her mind would focus on. Him and how stupid she was for forgiving him again.

Jacob fumbled with Rose's CDs, dropping a few in his attempt to put them back in their place quickly as he heard the shower shut off. He listened to her moving about her bathroom and smiled as heard the soft humming of her favorite song. Quickly taking a seat on her bed again, he watched as she exited the bathroom. Her face was red and blotchy from the heat of the shower and her hair was a tangled mess, but she was his Rose, and she was beautiful.

"Why're you staring at me like that?" she whispered, moving to place her dirty clothes in the pile accumulating in her closet.

"Rosie, you've heard the legends, right?" Jacob asked, ignoring her question as he watched her brush through her hair.

She looked at him through her vanity mirror, "Yeah. And I saw them first-hand today, Jacob," Rose scoffed, rolling her eyes.

Jacob rolled his own eyes at her attitude, "Then you know about imprints, right? Since you know everything," he smirked, watching as she mocked him in the mirror.

"I never said I knew everything."

Jacob scoffed, "Okay, Rosie," his expression turned serious, "An imprint is what a wolf experiences when they've found the person they're meant to be with. They'd be anything for their imprint; do anything for their imprint. Go to any lengths to keep them safe." Jacob stared at Rose as he explained with the same stare that made Rose squirm.

"So what? Is Bella your imprint then?" Rose said, a scowl overtaking her features as her brushing became more aggressive.

Jacob crossed the distance between them and took the brush from her harsh grip. He gently began running it through her hair, "No, it's not Bella." He let out a chuckle as Rose's tense shoulders relaxed at his statement, "It's you, Rosie."

Rose whipped around to stare at Jacob, flinching slightly as the brush tugged on her hair, "Me? But- but- why have you been all over Bella then?"

Jacob shrugged awkwardly, "I, uh, we can only imprint after our first shift. I just got caught up in Bella when she moved here, and then I shifted and wasn't allowed to see you or talk to you and when I saw you earlier today it just clicked, and I started seeing visions of our past and even our future, and I started realizing how stupid I was for not treating you how you deserve to be treated," he paused, reaching out to take her hand in his own, "I promise that I'll never take you for granted again. That you'll always be taken care of and loved cause that's just it, Rosie, I love you. And I probably have for most of my life, but I was too stupid to realize it."

Rose smiled, her first genuine smile in a long time, as tears leaked from her eyes, "You're damn right you were stupid," she laughed, Jacob joining in her laughter as he pulled her into a tight embrace.

"I love you too, Jake."

.

"And don't you ever ditch me again, Black."

"Never."

word count: 2024