All Bark, No Bite [Jacob & Edward]

23

Jacob's scenting him. He's not sure if he's doing it on purpose or not but he's curled around Edward, nose pressed into his neck, breathing deeply. Edward's just returned from yet another excursion to find information. He was sure he smelled like dirt and sweat, but he didn't move, waiting patiently for Jacob to finish. 

Eventually, his breaths become shallower and he moves so that Edward can wiggle from underneath him, but Edward still doesn't make a move to get up. He should shower, but it's been a week since he'd even seen Jacob. They'd gotten an earful of things that weren't good and Alice's visions were only backing up the chatter. Edward turns onto his side and buries his face into Jacob's neck. He grazes his canines slowly over the mark. 

"How bad is it?" Jacob's words are muffled in his shirt.

"They're bringing a pretty big group." Edward sighs out.

It seemed like a lot, for what, two people? Three people. Edward runs a hand over Jacob's stomach, noting the skin that was peeking out at the bottom of the man's t-shirt. He knew they were going to make sure they hit when the group was most vulnerable. That meant any time around when the baby was supposed to be born. They'd really done all they could do besides getting constant updates.  They were sitting ducks. They could very well move, but Edward wasn't going to have Jacob going into labor in the back of a car. He was going to need a c-section...They had to stay in place where that was easily guaranteed. 

"An army." Jacob corrects and Edward can hear in his voice how tired he is. 

It doesn't seem fair. It doesn't seem fair to have him constantly on edge. He should be curled up on a bed with a bunch of pillows getting whatever he wants.

"Yeah..."

"So, why don't we assemble one of our own?" Jacob's drifting off to sleep. His eyes are barely open and he seems like he's only holding on to consciousness so he can talk to Edward. So, Edward's aware that he's not necessarily being serious...

...but the thought doesn't go away after Jacob's breathing evens out. Did they have enough support to create a barrier? If they can hold the Volturi off long enough for the birth, maybe they could get away long enough to come up with a more permanent plan.

So, finally, he slips from under Jacob and heads for the living room.

"An army?" Leah asks in confusion.

"Yeah, everyone we can find who would want to help us."

"Wouldn't that breach security, though?" Jasper points out.

"You don't think they already know where we are and how to get in?" Edward asks. The Volturi has a multitude of beings on their side. Surely one of them is a locator and the other one is like Alice. The Volturi knew the plan, but they couldn't plan for brute force.

Everyone seemed to agree, mostly because they were willing to try almost anything at this point. 

He's on the phone for almost nine hours before he finally stops for a shower before sliding into bed next to Jacob. He'd gotten a whopping zero positives. They were scared, and rightfully so, but he was hoping for a few people who understood. 

Edward glances over to see if Jacob's still sleeping before he brings the palm of his hands up to dig them into his own eyes. He'd been doing pretty good so far, he thinks, at keeping his composure. Nothing but positivity for Jacob when he could muster any emotion at all. However, he feels like he was on the verge of becoming hysterical. 

They can do this. They have about four months to get it together. 

They have to do this.

His phone quietly starts buzzing on the nightstand.