Chapter Text
“Camping? In October?” Charlie’s brow furrowed so low, Bella worried it might hit his moustache.
He would look very formidable in his police uniform, were his gunbelt not hanging downstairs, and Bella’s confidence that her father was far more bark than bite. She was a twenty-one-year-old college student, and he still tried to monitor her as if she were sixteen.
She supposed watching your daughter go catatonic for four months would do that to a parent. But that was years ago, and the only one who wasn’t over her mental breakdown yet was Charlie.
“Yes, Dad. Camping. Apparently, it’s a Halloween tradition, and the guys want me to go.”
“The guys?”
“Yeah,” Bella said, shoving an extra hoodie into her duffel bag. “You know. Jake, Quil, Embry, Kim, Emily, Sam, Leah… the guys?”
“Uh-huh.”
Real conversationalist, Charlie. How the hell did this man interrogate anyone when he barely put two sentences together?
Crossing his arms over his chest, he asked, “You know it’s gonna be thirty degrees out tonight, right?”
Bella laughed as she looked down at her jeans and thin flannel shirt. “Are you kidding? When was the last time you touched Jake, Dad? You can fry an omelet on the guy’s head. I’ll probably have to run out of the tent to escape heat stroke.”
As she shoved her warmest pair of socks into the bag, she heard her father grunt. When she looked up at him, his face was nearly purple.
Oh, here we go… She rolled her eyes as he began to sputter.
“Now, j-just why the Hell are you sharing a tent with Jake? Is this a couple's thing? Am I gonna have to worry about you coming home pregnant?”
Bella giggled, but quickly choked back her laughter as the vein in Charlie’s forehead began to twitch.
“Ch-Dad? Chill. I don’t know how many times I have to tell you that Jake and I are just friends. Even if we weren’t, I am an adult, and you don’t have to worry about… that. There will be six of us sharing a ten-person tent. I’m not even sure who is sharing tents with whom yet, but I doubt I’ll be comfortable next to anyone but Jake. It will probably end up being me, Jake, Dee, Dumb, Seth, and Leah. Leah would never share a tent with Sam and Emily, Paul would never share one with me, and Jared and Kim usually stick with Paul, Sam, and Emily, no matter what we all do.”
Charlie’s face was starting to return to a semi-normal shade as he asked, “Dee and Dumb?”
“Yeah,” Bella said as she zipped up her duffel bag. “You know. Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dumb? Embry and Quil?”
Charlie sniggered as he nervously ran one hand through his thick curls. “Look, Bells. I know you’re an adult, but…”
A horn blared outside, saving her from yet another mortifying conversation with her father and his apparent obsession with her nearly nonexistent sex life.
“Gotta go!” She spat and threw her duffel bag over her shoulder as she ran out of the room and down the stairs. Thank God they'd loaded most of the supplies into the truck this night before, or she and Jake would both have to hear it.
“Where’s the fire?” Charlie hollered, and she giggled as she yanked the front door closed behind her.
Jake waited for her by the passenger door of his Rabbit and took the duffel bag from her right away. He gently tossed it into the passenger floorboard before wrapping Bella up in one of his warm hugs and swinging her around.
Embry and Quil sniggered in the back seat, well used to Jacob’s enthusiastic greetings, especially reserved for the one and only Bella Swan.
He set her on her feet, and Bella didn’t even wobble as she climbed into the car. Time and trying to keep up with a pack of wolves had cured most of her balance issues, so long as she stayed out of the woods at night. The guys rarely had to stop her from falling onto her ass or face anymore.
After shutting the passenger door for her, Jacob jogged to the driver's side and dropped heavily into the seat.
Bella teased, “I still don’t understand how you all fit in this clown car. It doesn’t make sense.”
Embry and Quil seemed to think that was hysterical as Jacob muttered an unintelligible complaint.
“That can’t be comfortable,” Bella said as she looked back at their awkward positions. Quil’s feet were on Embry’s side of the floorboard while Embry’s legs were on top of Quil’s so that they had enough room. They were sharing the largest bag of popcorn Bella had ever seen, and it looked like a few handfuls of it had exploded in the back seat. One kernel rested in the center crease of Embry's abdomen, and he ruined her appreciation of the view by flicking it at Quil.
Ignoring her sudden interest in Embry's six-pack, she said, “I can ride in the back with one of you on the way home. I’ve told you guys this before.”
“Meh,” Embry grunted, shrugging. “Just scoot your seat up a few inches, and it’ll make a ton of difference.”
Bella did as she was asked, and Quil sighed as he was finally able to adjust his position.
“Better?” Embry asked before tossing another handful of popcorn in his mouth.
“Loads,” Quil said as they fist bumped.
Bella and Jacob glanced at each other and rolled their eyes.
Jacob teased, “Why don’t you two just kiss already?”
“Boo.” Embry laughed and threw a handful of popcorn at Bella.
“Hey!” She giggled.
“You two are cleaning that shit up at the campsite. I mean it. I don’t need a freaking bear trying to break into my car for popcorn.”
Embry chuckled. “We turn into giant wolves, Jake. The bears will smell us and keep their distance.”
Quil laughed, then winked at Embry. “He knows. He’s just trying to look tough in front of Bella.”
“Oh, wink. Wink, wink,” Jaoob teased his cousin. “I see you in the rearview mirror, Quil.” He softened his voice and added, “Oh, Embry. Let me flirt with you a little harder.”
“Oh, shut up!” Laughing, Quil reached into the popcorn bag and threw a handful at the back of Jacob’s head.
Jacob flinched and raised one hand to brush the popcorn from his hair, only making them all laugh harder. “Hey! Hey! No assaulting the driver. Don’t make me turn this car around.”
“Yes, Daddy,” Quil said in his best fake-orgasm voice.
“Oh, please, turn the car around, Daddy,” Embry followed.
Jacob made a face like he was going to be sick, and Bella was afraid she might piss herself laughing before they even reached La Push.
Between her embarrassing start of the day with Charlie, the pack’s insane hijinks, and going camping for Halloween? It was sure to be a crazy couple of days, and Bella couldn’t wait.