All Bark, No Bite [Jacob & Edward]

4

Jacob wishes this had happened to someone else. Anyone else, preferably. Maybe Rosalie? He'd heard from Edward through his oddly personal small talk that she'd always wanted to have a baby. That's why she was standing over him, eyeing him like he was a sick patient. His wretched odor was all of a sudden tolerable as she waited patiently for him to make a request for anything else. To be honest, right now he wanted to ask for some alone time. Maybe to process what he was hoping was a really intricate April fool's joke in the middle of March. 

He felt uncomfortable. From the constant asking if he was okay to the prolonged stares at his stomach, it was like they could see right through him. Jacob could feel the embarrassment in the heat under his skin as he tried to find something else to focus on. 

"Alright, Rose, I think he's good. Just give him some space." He hears Edward say, the message clear in his voice as he pushes her hands away from fluffing Jacob's pillow again. "Let him breathe." 

Jacob wonders if maybe the discomfort is showing on his face as Edward starts to make a fairly similar speech to Bella who only eyed him indignantly and stood her ground. 

"Standing there pouting won't fix this, Bella." Jacob hears him hiss it low, so close to her that no one else would have heard it. Maybe even Jacob wouldn't have heard it if his body wasn't on such high alert. He could feel his shoulders hunching and his eyes scanning, but it's like his wolf had fallen into a deep slumber. He wasn't sure if it was dormant, or maybe it was trying to 'lick' his wounds, heal him faster. It wouldn't be the first time it'd retreated when he was hurt, but this didn't feel the same. Usually, he could hear it in the back of his mind, a low growl away. 

It keeps him in his own head so long that when he looks up, there is no one in the room. He can hear bickering somewhere in the house, but he tries not to focus on that. He's alone. He has the ability to assess his own body, can feel something stirring low in his gut. It's not a completely foreign feeling, but he hasn't felt it in a while. 

He jolts up before his thoughts can catch up with what his body has figured out as he gulps down the saliva collecting in his mouth, ignoring the pain in his side and the dislodge IV as he stumbles gracelessly to the bathroom and falls hard to his knees in front of the toilet. His stomach flips and he's gagging.

He wasn't sure if he'd caused a ruckus on his journey here, but the sound of the cheese and crackers Rosalie had helpfully supplied, leaving his body wasn't a silent endeavor. He wasn't even remotely surprised when he felt someone's hand pressing against his back with how overly attentive the three seemed to be. He is surprised, however, when he looks up to find Leah above him and Embry and Seth idling in the doorframe. 

There is a part of him that almost feels relieved, but he blames that on the wolf as well.

"Yo." Embry calls from his place next to Seth whose eyes are wide as he looks from the bed to the IV to Jacob's hunched over form in front of the toilet.

As relieved as he was to have the pack surrounding him, grounding him in a way, he wished he'd had a few more seconds to himself. He had questions. Like why the unease had slowly left him when he was alone? Why was his wolf acting so strangely? Why did he feel so different? However, there was no time to question it as the presence of the pack brought back the beast. 

He could feel his wolf like it'd been called home. It wasn't aggressive or dominant like it usually was, more timid, but it was there. He had a feeling that the others could feel the shift as they tried to comfort him while keeping their distance.

"You might want to relax." The words are coming from somewhere behind Seth and he almost starts to believe that he's hallucinating. It wouldn't be that strange considering the circumstances, but eventually Quil's head pops up in between Seth and Embry. "You're stressing Seth out." 

Jacob knows it's his way of letting him know that his emotions could be felt by the pack. It was a subtle reminder just in case he wasn't intending to share, but it was very hard to reign them in.

Seth says nothing in response, just quietly looks him over. He can see the mental gymnastics as they try to figure out what to say or do. The way they're all looking at him like he's about to die. He doesn't say anything, hopes they don't know what exactly is wrong with him. Maybe they'll think he's dying from an infection of his wound or something. He's not exactly being open with his thoughts.

"He can't help it." Leah speaks up, and he can feel that same energy that was radiating off of Rosalie as she eyes him closely. He couldn't quite put his finger on what it was exactly, but he knew that he didn't need someone else hovering over him to make sure he ate all of his cheese. 

The thought of the food has him leaning further over the toilet, a quiet groan leaving him. 

"We're going to have to leave you here." Leah mumbles more to herself than to the group around her who can already hear her thoughts quite clearly. "Your wolf seems to be...taking inventory. You won't be able to defend yourself back through the woods." 

She explains it like it's perfectly normal, and maybe it does make sense to her. Maybe she does know. She was prepared for these types of things, Jacob wasn't. He looked up at her trying not to seem too annoyed so that she'd explain it without any hassle, but there was only so much he could do to hide the scowl. He'd been stumbling around in a thick pool of confusion for three days now. Someone had some kind of answers and it felt like they were being uttered to him in code. 

He could feel the other three, that were just standing quietly in the doorway, retreat. It wasn't like they stormed downstairs like they'd sensed a threat. It was more like they'd backed up slowly like the conversation was heading into territory they didn't want to explore. He could hear their footsteps rushing down the steps.

Leah clears her throat and lets out a huffed sigh at his irritation, but begins explaining herself anyway.

"After a successful heat, if a werewolf becomes pregnant, their wolf starts to prepare for the baby. That means that the wolf is less active, focusing more on the actual growth of the child. Along with you being hurt, your wolf basically seems to be resting," she informs him and watches as he works the information over in his head. 

"He told you?" Jacob finally mumbles, trying to ignore the heat he could feel rising in his cheeks again. There was something else there besides the embarrassment of everyone in his pack knowing he'd gone and got himself pregnant in the most complex and humiliating way possible, but he tries not to dwell on that.

"We could smell it on you, sense it. It's strong." She almost sounds like she feels bad for him and it irritates him to no end. 

"Help them find what did this to me." He mumbles quietly before returning to leaning against the toilet bowl. 

Leah leaves quietly. He's alone again. 

Only for a moment though, as Edward comes storming up the stairs and heading straight to the bathroom. Jacob doesn't acknowledge him as he makes himself at home in front of the toilet, but Edward speaks anyway.

"Seth told me you were sick." Jacob can hear the worry in his tone and intertwined throughout the words, can feel Edwards fingers carding through his hair, but his eyes are so heavy and he's so tired that he can't be bothered opening them to see it on his face. He's not even sure if he wants to.

"Alice and Carlisle haven't found anything." He can feel something brush against his stomach, but his wolf doesn't object to the foreign object so neither does he, he's almost asleep when he realizes that Edward's pressed his hand soft against Jacob's stomach. "They're still searching, though."

There is something about the touch, Edward's breath on the back of his neck that almost comforts him more than the pack's appearance and that would've startled him if he wasn't so fuzzy...warm against Jacob's back as he presses closer to him.

Only the sound of ceramic smashing against the floor breaks the languid spell, almost giving him a heart attack in the process as his head flies up from its place atop his arms to find Bella who looks absolutely furious.