http://www.fanfiction.net/s/6867888/1/
They say that your life can be summed up in just handful of important days over your life time. Jacob had seven that made him who he was. And not all of them were good. Jacob/Bella, DarkFic. Limes. Full list of warnings in A/N. Complete :D
I was venting to my friend LuvinJ (or McLuvinJ, as some of you may know her as) about the Team Jake crapfic I've been reading. I've been feeling lately like I've read everything that's good when it comes to Jake. I'm sure that's not true, but when compared to the amazing amounts of quality Edward fic out there it sometimes feels true. There's maybe 1 good Jake fic per 100 good Edward fics. Let the howling begin. I can take it. I'll change you into a vampire with my venomy fangs and then imprint on you so you have to stay with me forever. Mwahaha! Gotta love some Team Switzerland bad humor. Moving on . . . so, she started giving me recs. I was leery. I love LuvinJ but sometimes our tastes are different, or rather, she's more forgiving of authors than I am. I want a good story and I want it really well written. But that's not the point, though now that I think about it I find that interesting, and I'll clarify that later. My head's not on right today and I'm babbling. Sorry.
One of the recs she sent me was this short story called A Week in the Life of Jacob Black. I thought, oh that'd be funny. I thought perhaps it would be like Freaky Mistletoe where I spent a whole chapter following Jake around aimlessly. People like it. Go figure. I like it too. I thought that's what I was going to get. Boy was I wrong. This fic is heartbreaking and so interesting. I'm not sure that Ive ever cried so much in a fic before. I felt like the biggest loser, but as I perused some of the reviews (Yeah, I do that. So what?) I realized that I wasn't the only one. Stacey218 has a way with words. She doesn't overdo anything either. Her words are clear and concise but heartfelt and tear producing.
A Week in the Life of Jacob Black chronicles his life from the end of Eclipse to roughly 2028. Each chapter, barring the prologue and epilogue, encompasses a lot of time in some cases and only one day in others, but each reveals something important that happened to Jacob on one day of the week in particular. Each chapter ends so well. I felt a sense of satisfaction at the end of every chapter because of the repetition and the reveal. It was beautifully done.
We follow Jacob as he pines for Bella, gets Bella, and then discovers that Bella has a terminal illness. Now before you scream, "La la la, I can't hear you!" just know that this is what the most of the story is about so there's really no surprises. The story is told solely from Jake's POV and is beautifully done. Not many authors channel Jake the way that I see him, but this author does. He's loving and kind and forgiving and funny and selfish (a bit) and he gets angry and jealous and he's so so real. I love this author's take on him. There are a few scenes that I particularly love that I will post below to entice you.
This story has everything a story needs - romance, action, angst, kissing, humor, sadness, and most importantly, lots of Jake. And while I certainly love Jake, I must also say that this author writes every character well. All of them. The fact that Jared, a generally overlooked character, has distinct personality characteristics even though we only see him three times is this story is a testament to this author's dedication to this story. She knows her characters, and they are believable. And when they aren't the author is honest and humble about it- admitting that she knows nothing about Bella's illness and nothing about children, though she writes both beautifully with very little error.
I mentioned earlier about my need for technically well written stories and the funny thing is that this story has flaws. The author is new, she doesn't have a beta, she's self-edited, so there are mistakes. But I don't care. Not one bit. The story is that freaking good. Go read it and leave her some love. It just finished earlier this month and looks sad and lonely.
Team Edward . . . no.
And now some excepts from Stacey218's work of art . . . I really want to show her range, so there's a lot here. And, fair warning, this first excerpt contains oodles of spoilers, but I loved these scenes so much I had to share them . . .
From Chapter 5: Bella has just been told how long she has to live.
I felt a sudden surge of anger at myself. I wouldn't let myself forget, how could I even think such a thing? I couldn't sit still any more and I jumped up from the swing, removing my hands from my eyes. I ignored the fact that they were wet, wiping them on my jeans. Ten months, twenty four years old. I stalked back and forth across the schools concrete play ground, pulling my hands through my hair. I felt like screaming, I felt like destroying something. I swung my fist out as I passed the playground's metal slide. I felt my knuckle crack and stared in dissatisfaction at the fist shaped indent.
Something in me snapped. I couldn't remember ever being so filled with rage since the time I first phased. My body trembled and I slammed my fist into the metal slide again, ignoring the pain shooting up my hand. It wasn't fair! Why did this have to happen to us? Why her and not me instead? Ten months, twenty four years old.
I beat at the pulverized metal, ignoring the shrieking sound it was making. I didn't care that someone would find the slide, destroyed with hand shaped gouges in it. I didn't care that I was dangerously close to phasing less than a stones throw away from a party of intoxicated teenagers. All I cared about was the fact that I was losing one of the most important people in my life and I was powerless to stop it.
I became aware of people cursing and a loud smashing noise. I stopped my assault on the playground equipment and glanced over my shoulder, toward First beach. Some kids from the party were on the far side of the street now. Someone had dropped a glass bottle, shattering it, and the others were laughing at them. One of the kids in the group saw me and called out.
"Hey! School's closed you know!" the drunken voice slurred. The group laughed. I turned away from them, taking a few seconds to pop one of my broken fingers back into place with a snap. I heard footfalls and someone scramble over the low brick wall. Girls were laughing; someone called someone else a bitch. Please just leave me alone, I thought knowing I was too wound up to even try to act calmly.
"Hey, buddy! School is finished!" the voice was closer now. I turned around flexing my hand. It was completely healed now just with a small lingering pain in the joints. A young guy staggered toward me, he looked like he was only about sixteen and vaguely familiar. As he got closer I realized why. It was Colin's younger brother but I couldn't recall his name. I turned away from him striding off toward the tree line.
"Hey come back!" Colin's brother yelled out. I felt a hand on my arm but I shook it off.
"Piss off," I growled at him. I didn't want to deal with them just now. I wanted Bella. Ten months, twenty four years old. I felt like I was going to phase at any second and my hands shook. I took a deep breath. I hadn't felt this out of control since I was sixteen.
"We are having a party you should come hang out!" the kid was way too happy and way too drunk to hear the anger in my voice.
"No," I spat at him, lengthening my strides. I was only a few hundred yards from the trees. Just hold on until then. Ten months, twenty four years old.
"Hey just chill man. It's gonna be fun. We got lots of girls and drinks," he panted, taking three steps to match my one. This kid was killing me. I spun on my heel to face him.
"I said no. Back off kid," I threatened. The kid blanched for a second before holding up his hands. He laughed at me and I glanced over his shoulder. His friends were climbing over the wall now, stumbling toward us.
"Hey that's cool. If you wanna be a chicken shit I'm not gonna stop you," Colin's brother said with a laugh. I know I shouldn't have risen to the bait but I couldn't help it. I was still on edge, still thrumming with an all consuming rage. Ten months, twenty four years old.
"What did you call me?" I ground out, clenching my fists.
"You heard me I said you're a chicken shit." The kid taunted. I found myself not caring again. Not caring that this guy was only sixteen and I outweighed him by more than a hundred pounds. Not caring that he was a weak human and I was supernaturally strong. I didn't give a shit what the consequences were as I pulled back my fist and snapped it back into his smug, arrogant face. He dropped to the floor, blood streaming out his nose, his skull bashing against the concrete. I heard a female scream. I didn't care. Ten months, twenty four years old.
The kid was groaning on the floor when the girl that had screamed came running up dropping to her knees next to him. I stumbled backwards. Someone had a cell phone out calling 911. I knew I should leave but I stared down at my hand with the kid's blood smeared over my knuckles. Shit, what had I just done? Shit!
"Why the hell would you punch him?" a voice screamed at me. I looked down and the girl who had run over to Colin's brother had propped his head into her lap and was glaring at me. I couldn't answer her. The whole group was here now. A guy was yelling at me but I couldn't make sense of the words. Hands shoved at me but didn't move me, they couldn't move me. Colin's brother's eyes were closed but I could see that he was still breathing. The strong sound of his heart told me he was only unconscious and that I hadn't accidentally killed an innocent teenager. Red and blue lights flashed in the distance and I knew I should run for it but my feet wouldn't move.
I felt separated from my body as two cops strode across the school playground toward us, paramedics rushing to the kid on the floor. I didn't wake up again until I felt the cold snap of handcuffs. I was in so much shit.
"Promise me you will talk to someone about this. It doesn't have to be a doctor or therapy group. It can just be me or your dad. Anyone. But Jake you have to deal with this, you have to talk about it," she demanded gently. My fingers stilled on her neck.
"Would that make you happy?" I asked.
"Yes," she said simply. I thought about it for a moment. I only had so much time left with her and I wanted her to be happy for as much of it as possible. I could sacrifice my pride for that couldn't I? I wanted her to be happy, I always wanted that. As long as I could remember I had loved this woman in front of me. An idea dawned on me and I couldn't help but to grin at her.
"Ok but I have my own condition" I stipulated.
"What is it?" she asked innocently. I lent down and kissed her cheek. I made my way along her face, kissing every inch of skin I could.
"Marry me," I whispered in her ear. I heard her sharp intake of breath and smiled against her hair.
"What?" she asked breathlessly, her hands fisting my shirt. I pulled back and grinned down at her.
"I said marry me. It's hard for me to ask for help you know that, so I should get a reward for it. I think marriage is an acceptable reward don't you?" I teased gently.
"Are you serious?"
"Deadly serious Bells. You mean the world to me. I always knew I would marry you even when I was little."
"Really?" she asked with a small smile.
"Yeah I told my mom about it and everything. She used to tease me about it," I admitted feeling my face flush a little. She chuckled at that.
"So what'll it be? I know you like romantic stories and stuff so do I have to get on one knee or something?" I joked. She giggled and shook her head at me.
"Yeah because this is so romantic, a proposal in jail!" she scoffed
"Hey it's original! Marry me Bella," I said again. Bella sighed and smiled at me. Then she said one word that made me feel whole and happy for the first time in eight months
"Ok."
From Chapter 6: A bit from their honeymoon . . .
I glared at the grey sky out of the window. It was our last day of our honeymoon and we were supposed to go to the beach but instead we had woken up to pouring rain. Bells had shrugged it off and we had lain in bed all day watching movies, making out and eating room service. But I was still annoyed we hadn't been able to go because I knew Bella had been looking forward to it. Plus I was missing out on perving on her in a bikini. Instead I was being forced to watch Batman and Robin.
"Batman is so hot," Bella giggled staring at the TV screen. I watched George Clooney sucker punch some bad guys and I frowned at her.
"I didn't know you were into latex Bells," I joked "Should I be worried?"
"I'm not into latex," Bella mumbled, flushing a bright red. I chuckled at her and grabbed another handful of popcorn shoving it into my mouth in one go.
"I dunno. I bet if he wasn't wearing that suit you wouldn't be all gaga over him," I teased her with my mouth full.
"Oh come on its George Clooney. He is always hot latex or not," Bella laughed, gesturing at the screen as Batman and Robin ran around on screen in their ridiculously tight superhero outfits.
"George Clooney is like fifty or something. How is that attractive?" I scoffed as Clooney jumped from rooftop to rooftop. I could so do that in real life, Clooney would just splatter all over the pavement.
"He's like a fine wine. He gets better with age," Bella sighed. I raised my eyebrows at her in disbelief and she grinned at me sheepishly.
"That's not something you're supposed to tell me Bells! Ugh I'm having mental images of you with a wrinkly old man," I moaned, reaching up and pretending to claw my eyes out. Bella sat up on the bed cross legged and managed to look suspicious and pleased all in one go.
"Oh what are you jealous?" she asked, running her fingers up my fore arm.
"No!" I protested much more loudly than I probably should of.
"Oh my god you are jealous!" Bella laughed clapping a hand across her mouth and dissolving into a fit of hysterics.
"Why would I be jealous of a movie star?" I grumbled, glaring at the screen again. This was all Clooney's fault. Those abs so weren't real, I could totally take that guy down. Bella composed herself and reached out grabbing my hand.
"You're so cute," she whispered grinning at me. I turned away from the screen as Bella kissed my hand. She was lying on her side now completely ignoring the TV. She was wearing one of my shirts again and a pair of sweat pants and even in that she looked amazing.
"So are you," I told her and she smiled awkwardly. She scooted closer to me and I kissed her forehead. She wrapped a slim arm over my waist; her finger's working their way under my shirt, tickling my side. I kissed her hair, taking in her wonderful scent. I was just about to suggest that we turn off the movie so I could show her just how much better I was than Clooney when she opened her mouth.
"Do we have anything left to drink?" she asked, looking up at me from the crook of my shoulder. I reached over to the bedside and only found empty glasses.
"I'll go get something," I sighed, untangling myself from her.
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