Top of the World

by dukeofdelirium

Summary:

Neon strips of blues, purples and greens lined the game machines, and lively pop music played on speakers over their heads. The smell of popcorn, buttery and comforting filled the air, and children darted past, shrieking with glee.

or

With school over, and relationships begun, four close friends decide to take a trip to Seattle for a double date on the boardwalk to enjoy what the Waterfront has to offer, from the shops to the arcade, and more. Heart warming fluff and silly shenanigans ensue.

(Jacob/Bella and Quil/Embry established relationships)

Notes:

So, I am aware that some things from this location were not built at the time I set this one shot, but let’s all simply pretend they were. *takes your hand* go delusional with me one more time besties!

They had risen to the top of the world. 

Before we go on any further, we must rewind, back to the beginning. 

It was mid-June, summer blistering hot and sticky sweet like berries left to ripen under blazing sun. 

Crammed into Jacob Black’s Rabbit, the four close knit friends had been for hours, singing along to different songs that came through on the radio, and in bad fashion at that same as always. Presently, Linkin Park came through the speakers, windows rolled down on the driver and passenger side windows, where Bella stuck her arm out to feel the wind kiss her skin. From the backseat on the driver’s side, Embry screamed along to the lyrics, one of his favorite songs from their Hybrid Theory album that he and Jacob listened to all the time in his garage. 

“Everything you say to me!” Bella joined in at the chorus, listening to Embry hum the tune to “One Step Closer”.

“How much longer?” Quil asked, hands on either side of Bella’s headrest as he poked his head over the console. 

“Just a few,” Jacob replied, hands on the wheel and eyes trained on the cars in front of them. 

They were headed to Seattle Waterfront, a mini vacation for the weekend they’d all planned at the end of May. Bella had put in for time off and taken a gap year as the boys finished their schooling. Quil and her had put some paychecks together from the shifts they worked, and Jacob and Embry had decided on a destination. Stuck in traffic and singing away, they eventually arrived, pulling into an open parking space. It had been more difficult to find free parking than they’d originally anticipated. Over the last couple of years, as small family businesses and vendors moved to the area, it had started to transform into a bit of a tourist attraction. The city of Seattle had even demolished the elevated freeway as well, to extend the already existing area. 

“So, where to first?” Jacob had asked as they each unbuckled their seatbelts and climbed out of the Rabbit, the open and busy boardwalk welcoming them.

So this was where the four friends now found themselves, going in and out of gift shops as they strolled along the boardwalk. On Pier 54, Jacob and Bella inspected the rather odd displays and natural oddities that Ye Olde Curiosity Shop had to offer some intrigued teens. Along each wall of the store were glass casings filled with artifacts and taxidermy, everything appropriately labeled with white information cards. 

“See, Bry? This is definitely my kind of store,” Quil said, spinning the metal wired stands that held a large variety of post cards. 

Embry looked up at him from across a clothing rack displaying all the designed shirts the shop carried, arching an eyebrow. Quil pointed his thumb to the back wall, where large lettering hung at the top. “Sign says it’s home to the weird,” Quil was smiling to himself as he studied the cards before him, “I’m feeling represented.” 

“Yeah,” Embry laughed, “or you fall under the ‘freak’ category. That might be more fitting for you.” He tore his gaze from the sign that informed shoppers that the store prided itself on being home to the “weird, freaky and curious”, as they’d put it.  

“Oh, yeah? Well you agreed to date me, so wouldn’t that make you a freak, too?” came Quil’s question, as he peeked over images of different artist rendition’s of the shop. 

“You’re right, I’m actually breaking up with you,” Embry replied, stifling the laughter bubbling up his throat as he turned on his heel and walked to another section full of souvenirs, all the while Quil following behind him playing along. 

“Can’t we work this out?” he asked, weaving past other shoppers as the two of them looked at other gifts. “Come on, Bry, you’re the only one that’s gonna put up with me.” 

“Oh trust me, I know,” Embry replied, continuing the joke, approaching another shelf that displayed mugs and other glass wear like shot glasses, all with Seattle written across it. Some showed the city view, the nightlife and lights, others the coast in all its glorious colors of sunset. “Come over here and help me pick something out that she’ll like.” 

Quil peered at the items from behind Embry, put his chin on his boyfriend’s shoulder, and shrugged. “You know she’ll be happy with anything,” he told him. 

“Yeah, but-“ Embry started to speak, then stopped himself, sighing. “Well, what if she doesn’t like it?” Quil was vaguely aware that he hadn’t simply been talking about a potential gift.

“My mom loves you, Bry,” Quil assured him, “you know that. She’ll love whatever you pick out purely because it came from you. You know how she is.” 

Quil stepped back and to the side, then, so they were pressed against one another. Embry reached for a mug on the middle shelf, to better examine it. The two of them hadn’t been dating for long, just under a month in fact. Perhaps it was Jacob and Bella getting together that had created a chain reaction, or maybe it was just being so tired of pretending there was nothing between them that eventually broke the camel’s back. Whatever the case, they felt content, a little nervous and shy—but still content. How could they not, spending their whole lives together? There was not a part of their lives and memories where one existed without the other. Even still, all happiness and private celebration with friends aside, neither had told their mothers nor Quil’s grandfather, yet. They planned to after this trip. 

“I’m overthinking again, aren’t I?” 

“A little,” Quil told him, watching him turn the mug ‘round in his palm. “You know, we don’t have to do any of this now, if you aren’t ready. I’m fine with them knowing, but it’s not like we have to rush. There’s no deadline.”

Embry looked over at him upon hearing those words, shaking his head. “No, I want to. I’m just nervous. It’s stupid, I know, but I am anyway,” he confessed.

And he did want to tell them, but it was such a hard bridge to cross, now that they had arrived to it. To admit something kept hidden all these years, something neither of them had even believed they could have at all. 

“It’s okay to be nervous, Bry,” Quil said, putting a comforting hand on his back. “So am I.” 

“It’s just- well, everything’s been great the last few weeks, you know? And I just don’t want…” Embry trailed off, turning his attention back to the mug in hand. 

“Don’t want it to end badly, yeah, I know. But there’s nothing to be scared of. They’ll be happy for us.” Quil rubbed small circles over his lower back, smoothing the soft checkered green flannel he wore with the pads of his fingers. “And we’ll be together, no matter what. And we’ll always have the pack and Bella.” 

Embry nodded, relaxing. “You’re right,” he said at last, “you’re right, I’m just worrying for no reason.” 

“That’s why you have me,” Quil gave him his best grin, which earned him a laugh and eye roll. “Who else is gonna make you smile?” 

“I think I’ll get this one,” Embry held up the mug he’d been holding, showing off the artwork of the coast, the colorful sunset and sparkling water. 

At the back of the store, Jacob and Bella walked hand in hand, stopping to look at random artifacts or to point out trinkets that hung from above their heads on wire, tags attached to let shoppers know their names and what they were or how they were used. There were so many things, from animal skulls or bones to actual mummies, even ancient weaponry, and each time something caught her eye, Bella would point it out with wide eyes in such a way Jacob always found endearing. 

“Hey, look at this,” she pulled him over to another casing, and Jacob couldn’t help the smile growing on his face as she read off the cards to him. 

“I’ve never seen so much stuff in one store,” he said honestly, and true to his word it did seem to be filled to the brim and truly never-ending. Jacob felt like even if they stayed in here for hours, there’d be no possible way to see everything inside. Even multiple trips wouldn’t make a dent in all the goods such a store like this had to showcase. 

“I know, it’s crazy,” Bella replied, enjoying the warmth of his palm, his fingers threaded with hers. As they passed an antique machine, of which there were many sprinkled throughout the store, Jacob paused his steps. 

“Wanna try your fortune?” he smiled, gesturing to the quarter machine. Made of wood and standing on metal claw foot legs, a doll stared back at the newly coupled pair through glass pane, tarot cards and fake crystal ball to set the atmosphere just out of reach from its plastic hands. 

Bella looked up at the sign on the machine, Estrella’s Prophecies read in gold lettering on a backdrop of navy blue. “I don’t think that would be able to predict our lives,” she joked, glancing down at the coin slot. 

“Maybe it will,” Jacob replied, “or maybe you’ll be a quarter poorer.” 

Bella considered, examining the dark crimson curtain inside the glass window, just behind the figurine. “It’s just a quarter,” she decided, fishing in her pocket. She inserted the silver coin, and waited. After some seconds, she and Jacob looked at each other, assuming the old machine might be broken, as nothing was happening. But then a card slipped out of the slot under the glass casing, and Bella found herself reaching for it eagerly. 

As her brown eyes flicked over the inky black words, Jacob asked, “So? What’s it say, Bells?” 

Bella glanced back up at him, a soft smile on her face upon hearing the name he called her, the way it warmed her heart that had once felt so cold, as if it had already stopped beating. But that had been multiple years ago, now, and she had since learned she could live, that she wanted to, even. She cleared her throat, then, card still held between her thin fingers, as she began to read aloud. 

“Has the Devil been chasing you? Is that what makes you feel so blue? Cheer up, cheer up my own dear one, for your fight against him has been won. Yes, you’ve been up against it at times, and Fate in the form of the Devil has been at the bottom of it all.” 

She paused, looking up at Jacob from under her long lashes, to find him listening intently. 

“Now you can look ahead to better times. You will dream about the sun and that will be the beginning of a bright future. You are a very sincere individual, and you like to be surrounded by your good friends. Your money troubles will soon disappear, and you will be able to indulge. You will help those less fortunate, and none will go unaided.”

Bella finished, reading the small print at the bottom of the card silently that said: “Drop another coin in slot and I will tell more.” 

“And it says my lucky numbers are 310, 19, 20, and 22.” She flipped the small piece of card stock over, making sure there was no writing on the back, which she found to be blank as she’d expected. “Told you it wasn’t gonna be good,” she laughed to herself, folding the fortune in half and slipping it in her front pocket. 

“You never know, you might win the lottery,” Jacob laughed, as they continued their exploration. He did feel some of those words resonated, but hadn’t wanted to bring it up, less it dampen their high spirits. The cold ones had never returned to Forks, and as the years continued by and phasing turned from necessity to individual choice, those monsters became just another memory everyone wanted to put behind them. There were better days ahead, he had seen it, for all of them and especially for his Bella. She deserved it, after all her suffering and endurance, and he would make sure she got it. He had been patient, attentive, allowed her to piece the fractures of her heart back together until she had been ready. He had waited years, was prepared to wait forever if that was what she needed. So, the night they had confessed all, and finally come together as one, was to Jacob the real start of the lives they would share with one another as he’d always known they were meant to. 

As they continued, they had come to a wall filled with various sized frames, some short and others narrow and long, containing beautiful butterflies in all sorts of different shades and wing patterns. 

“Wow, these are beautiful,” she had said, approaching the display, and Jacob had looked down at her as she gazed at the artwork, agreeing that what he saw really was gorgeous, and he hadn’t been talking about the butterflies. 

“Do you want one?” he’d asked sincerely, and she had hesitated to say yes, not wanting him to spend money when the best gift she could have was holding her hand already. But Jacob had seen the way she had gazed at a particular one high above her head, and he’d pulled it down from where it hung on the wall, a vibrant orange and yellow specimen behind clear glass and solid black framing. An Orange Albatross, it was labeled, and he’d tucked it under his free arm for purchase with money he’d made selling his handiwork. It was beautiful, as radiant as the young woman he loved, and as fiery as he’d come to learn her spirit to be, a Phoenix reborn and rising from the ashes. 

“Thank you,” Bella had said, smiling so sweetly up at him. Shyly, she’d brought his hand to her mouth and kissed the back of it as they searched for Quil and Embry through the crowd of other shoppers. There had been a time, when she was younger, just then turning eighteen and wishing to give away her life. But here, right now, just having turned twenty she found she was no longer afraid of growing older. She didn’t have to worry Jacob would find her unattractive, that she wouldn’t age with grace—he reminded her every day just how lovely he thought she was, and Bella thought finally, she could truly believe it. 

“You’re welcome, honey,” he’d told her, lost in the faint blush dusting her cheeks. Had it not been for the familiar laughter up ahead, the two might have walked right past their friends, too caught up in the blossoming love they’d found in one another, and so excitingly new to express. 

They found the others by another coin machine that dared customers to test their love, the yellow lights flashing in a vertical meter of sorts, landing on the passionate slot, giggling amongst themselves like they were ten years younger and paying no mind to other people walking by. 

“What are you two doing?” Bella asked, bringing their attention from each other, as she noted the items in Quil’s hand. They had settled on a mug for Joy, and a thimble for Tiffany, to add to her growing collection. She enjoyed sewing quilts on her time free from work, and Quil had been gifting her different thimbles from gift shops whenever they traveled for the past year. He thought it only right, seeing as she had gifted his family multiple full sized patchworks, all so lovingly stitched together. 

“Testing Embry’s love for me,” Quil answered seriously, “of course he’s passionate about me, who wouldn’t be?” he added, smirking. 

“You are so annoying,” Embry rolled his eyes, blushing and embarrassed. 

“You love it, though,” Quil stated. 

“I do not,” Embry argued, fighting the grin trying to form on his lips. 

“You’re both annoying,” Jacob butted in, “watching you two go around in circles for years almost drove me insane.” Bella giggled beside him, knowing all too well the times they complained to one another in private about how their friends clearly had feelings for one another, wondering who would make the first move. 

“We don’t go around in circles-“ Embry started, before Jacob continued. 

“You two bicker like you’ve been married for thirty years,” he deadpanned, “like, when’s the wedding, already? What’s the hold up?” Bella could not hold back her laughter, even as the four of them traveled back toward the shirts hanging on racks to sort through. 

By the time their group exited through the mint colored double doors, and left the high rising totem poles decorating the building’s exterior behind, they had two t-shirts and a new bottle opener for Billy and Charlie, a mug for Joy, thimble for Tiffany, and a butterfly to hang above Bella’s bed that would go just over her dream catcher. Quil had snuck in a tiny music box without Embry noticing, that played “Stairway to Heaven” by Led Zeppelin when the silver handle was cranked. He planned to give it to him back at the motel room Bella had booked for their stay, to add to his ever growing music collection. 

The sun was setting just over the horizon, turning the water lapping at the boardwalk to melted gold. 

“Where next?” Quil asked, bag full of goods in one hand and Embry’s in the other, fingers laced together and swinging between them as they walked, staring out at the ripples that reminded them both of home. 

“How about the arcade?” Jake asked, walking hand in hand with Bella just ahead of them. Well, Quil couldn’t argue with that proposition, now could he? 

---

Through a bustling boardwalk full of people, vendors, and attractions alike, they’d passed Pier 55 and 56, coming up on 57 which housed the arcade they sought among other things like the massive Ferris wheel that’d been built just behind it. It was approaching dusk by the time they’d entered the arcade, but one wouldn’t have noticed, for all the lights inside were vibrant and rich. Neon strips of blues, purples and greens lined the game machines, and lively pop music played on speakers over their heads. The smell of popcorn, buttery and comforting filled the air, and children darted past, shrieking with glee. 

“Sweet!” Quil had been the first to rush to the token dispensers, feeding the machine bills and watching the bronze coins spill forth. He set his bag on the colorful carpet flooring patterned in geometric shapes, gathering the tokens in his palms, as the others eventually sauntered over to join him. 

“Here,” Bella held out an empty paper cup she had asked a vendor for, and Quil took it from her outstretched hand, filling it to the top as he continued to feed the dispenser bills. Soon they were set loose, inspecting the variety of games to play. 

“Okay, who’s gonna play me at air hockey?” Jacob asked them all, taking up one end. 

“Obviously me,” Quil said, feeding the slot to begin the game when he’d assumed his position at the other end. Embry and Bella watched them start, plastic disk glowing highlighter orange against the table top. A friendly game soon turned intense, and then Embry was passing the token cup to Bella to hold while he stood at the side of the table, right at the middle, cheering Jacob on and smacking his palms against the table’s edge.

“Babe?” Quil whined, “you’re supposed to root for me!” Just then, Jacob scored again, laughing deep and rich as he did so. Quil gaped down at his goal, listening to the disk rattling into the slot to be used again. 

“Yeah, but you suck at air hockey,” Embry reminded him, hands on the edge of the table. “Jacob is whipping your ass!” He turned to Jacob then, watching the way he guarded his goal. “Listen, Jacob, you can do this! Do it for me!”

“One more shot!” Bella was getting caught up in the game as well, clutching tight to the cup she held in between her hands, watching the puck glide back and forth in rapid succession. “Come on, Jacob!” 

“Not you, too, Bella! You guys are ganging up on me,” Quil complained, eyes trained fiercely on the bright plastic disk that would decide his fate. “I can’t believe this!” 

“Sorry, Quil,” Jacob was laughing wildly, braid over one shoulder as he dealt the final blow, “I win! Better luck next time.” 

Embry had competed next, and Quil had played cheerleader to Jacob’s team as well, telling Embry he’d definitely lose. And Embry had grumbled in protest, and lost anyway, making Jacob an undefeated opponent. 

“Bells?” Jacob looked over at her where she remained on the sidelines, “wanna play?” 

She waved her hand and shook her head. “No, you’ll definitely beat me.” 

Quil had asked for a rematch, and to no one’s surprise, lost yet again. He complained about it even as they walked over to the skee ball machines, talking about how Jacob was freakishly fast, so much so he’d even given Embry a run for his money. Embry of course, had gotten his revenge at this game, beating Jacob with ease and flying colors to match.

“Yes!” Quil cheered, watching as Embry scored the 100 goal yet again, tickets spilling out of the slot and dangling to the floor. He collected them, giddy, rolling them up and placing them in his hoodie pocket. 

“Looks like Jacob’s met his match,” Embry bragged, accepting a high five Bella offered. 

“Just you wait, Call,” Jacob had jokingly threatened, but it only made the grin on Embry’s face grow. 

“Oh, I am,” he replied, neon light’s dancing across his face and reflecting in his dark eyes. “Ready to get shown up again?” 

“You’re on,” Jacob agreed, taking more tokens from the cup Bella held onto. “I’m leaving you in the dust this time.” 

“You’re gonna lose in front of your girlfriend,” Embry teased, and try as Jacob might, he had lost yet again. It’d been tense, a close call even, but Embry had gotten a perfect score the whole match and had surpassed him at the last shot in spite of Jacob’s attempts to catch up. “Oooo,” Embry sung, “what was that about leaving me in the dust?” he chuckled, even as Jacob playfully shoved him. 

As the night wound on, the group had split apart, venturing off to explore what else the arcade had to offer. Bella had dumped some handfuls of tokens into the mug they’d purchased earlier for Embry and Quil to use, while she and Jacob took the paper cup with them. People of all ages were engrossed in game screens, tickets collected for prizes, cheers and excitement all around. Quil had zeroed in on Dance Dance Revolution after minutes of wandering around the floor, the neon lights surrounding them making the carpet under their sneakers come to life with glow. 

“I’ve never played this game,” Embry admitted, staring at the screen. He had pulled his hair back with a tie he wore around his wrist, watching Quil pick the music and press the buttons on the machine. He leaned back against the bar, waiting for the game to begin. “You gotta go easy on me.” 

“Not a chance,” Quil replied, eyes focused solely on the screen as the music began, drowning out what played overhead through the speakers in the ceiling. Arrows began rolling before their eyes, instructing them where to move their feet, and Embry was left fumbling and trying to touch the arrow pads as they lit up, failing to keep in time. “What’s the matter? Can’t dance?” he laughed, chancing a glance at his boyfriend who was still holding the railing behind him. 

“How the hell are you doing that?” Embry asked, studying Quil’s footwork as if it would teach him. 

“What can I say? I’m just good at this game,” Quil answered, moving with ease in time with the directions on the screen, the pink background highlighting his curled hair and the roundness of his cheeks as he smiled. 

On the other side of the arcade, Bella and Jacob had found their own form of entertainment in a zombie shooter game. Inside the booth she went, and Jacob followed, finding it hard to fit. He pulled the curtain closed anyway, darkening their surroundings save for the screen lit up before their eyes. Bella fed the coin slot its fair share of tokens, grabbing for the blue plastic gun attached to the machine with rubber covered wiring, while Jacob took up the red one.

“Are you gonna let me win?” she asked, playful yet nervous all the same. Arcades had never been her strong suit, unfortunately.

“‘Course not, honey,” Jacob lied, flashing a smile, all teeth. “I’d never do that.” 

“Yeah, sure,” she laughed, pressing the start button that was lit up bright yellow between them. Jacob was hunched over in the small booth, pressed up right by her side with her squished right to the wall, but she hadn’t found this position uncomfortable or difficult to play in, and ended up winning the round, discovering with delight that she actually seemed good at this one. 

“You definitely let me win,” she argued then, already reaching for more tokens that rested inside the cup at their feet. 

“No I didn’t,” Jacob told her, and it was true—he really hadn’t, despite planning to. 

“I want a rematch,” she announced, already feeding the machine once more, “and this time play fair.” 

And this time, Jacob truly was giving it his all. He still couldn’t seem to have the right aim, and Bella was laughing loudly as she continued to rack up her score. As she played, she found herself swept in a rush of euphoria, reminded of the time they had seen a zombie movie together years ago, when she’d still been so lost in the depths of depression. But here was freedom, here resided truth, with Jacob; the one she knew she wanted to spend the rest of her days around. Hearing him laugh beside her, even as he lost terribly, filled her with a joy hard to describe—something only felt when with the right person. And Jacob was that, her other half, her sun, always guiding her from the dark.

Perhaps her fortune card still tucked in the front pocket of her jeans held some truth, after all. 

“How are you doing that?” he asked honestly, shocked at how easily she was winning, “this is crazy!” 

“I don’t know!” Bella said back, watching as the screen declared her winner once more, eyes gleaming as she looked over at Jacob. Through the rush of excitement, she felt daring. “I love you,” she told him, though she’d said so many times before this. 

Jacob’s face softened, even in the dark and behind the curtain his smile brilliant as ever in its simplicity. “And I love you,” he replied, leaning in to peck her lips. They stayed like that for some time, even after the game was over and done with, content and sure. The arcade was cool, but Bella would never have noticed and couldn’t possibly have needed a jacket over her short sleeves, for Jacob always kept her warm. 

By the time they had collected the stack of tickets Bella had won and met back up with Quil and Embry, the latter had lost four rounds of Dance Dance Revolution. Almost pathetically, in all honesty. He’d even put up a good fight, his dark hair like ink falling loose from the hold of the hair tie in his great struggle and flannel removed to be knotted at his hips. 

“No one wants to try me?” Quil asked, still standing on the platform of the game. 

“I’ve embarrassed myself enough,” Embry replied, shaking his head and still somewhat out of breath from their last match. Quil looked the three of them over in question, smirking. 

Jacob held his hands up, “Don’t look at me. I’m not getting on that thing.”

“I will,” Bella piped up, stepping up to join him. Quil pulled off his grey wash hoodie leaving himself in a plain black shirt, asking Embry to hold it for him. 

“You sure you can keep up with me?” Quil asked, already picking the music. Of course, he settled on one of the hardest to play, just as he had with Embry. 

“Let’s find out.” Bella knew there was no way she would be winning this, but it was hard not to get swept up in the liberty she’d been feeling all evening. Jacob and Embry watched on as they played, muttering amongst themselves about how there was no way Quil should be this good at this game, all the while Bella too found herself fighting with the steps the screen instructed her to take. 

“Where’d he even learn this?” Jacob asked, and Embry shrugged, holding his boyfriend’s hoodie in one arm and their gifts in the curiosity shop’s paper bag in the other. 

“I have no idea.” 

It wasn’t long before Bella was stumbling over her own feet, and then she was clutching for the bar behind her back for purchase, falling. Jacob was quick to move, even Embry and Quil had stopped what they’d been doing to reach for her, and all three had managed to grab ahold of her before she could hit the floor. 

“You okay?” Jacob asked, and Bella had nodded, laughing the entire time. Soon, all of them were, as she pressed her forehead into Jacob’s chest, unable to stop the giggling. 

“Quil, you are like,” she lifted her head, tears in her eyes from having laughed so hard, “unnaturally good at this game.” 

And Quil had shrugged, stepping off the platform as the music came to a close, declaring him winner once more. “One of my many talents,” he informed them. 

Moving as a group through the crowd of people, they found themselves huddled close to the back wall, illuminated in the bright white lights of numerous claw machines filled with plushies and various toys. Quil had taken back his hoodie, thanking Embry for having held onto it, and tied it too at his hips by the sleeves. The soft prizes trapped behind glass were too tempting to go on ignored, and then Quil was asking for more tokens, palm held out.

“These are such a scam,” Jacob said, an arm around Bella’s shoulder and her tucked into his side. 

She nodded in agreement, “Yeah, no one ever wins these things. It’s a waste of tokens.” 

“Quil does,” Embry disagreed, holding out the mug they’d bought for Joy that was dwindling low on said coins. Only a few remained inside, and he knew Quil was going to make them each count. 

“What?” Jacob raised an eyebrow in disbelief, “No way. These things are rigged, dude.” 

“I’ve never seen him lose one,” Embry replied, watching as Quil fed the machine and began moving the claw. The three stood behind him, Bella and Jacob surprised to find he had managed to get ahold of one of the stuffed toys inside by its stuffed ear. He dropped it with satisfaction, fishing it out of the slot and handing it to Bella. She took it from him, mouth parted in wonder at how he’d won it with such seeming ease. She thumbed the soft pink rabbit in her hands. 

“You just got lucky,” Jacob told Quil, and soon his friend was focused yet again on the claw machine, and the three of them were all pressed up close to the glass, telling Quil to go this way and that, to try and get a specific item within. He’d done so yet again, dropping the stuffy once more in the slot before holding it out to Jacob—a cute brown bear. 

“Dude, what?” Jacob asked no one in particular, “how?!” 

Quil simply shrugged, turning back to the claw and feeding the last token he and Embry shared into the slot. He inspected the stuffed animals within, decided on a good one to grab that could be lifted from the pile, and secured it without a word. He retrieved the won prize, turning to Embry and gifting him a light blue elephant. “For you,” he said, and Embry took it, smiling softly. 

“Thank you.” 

“Anything for you,” Quil replied, flirtatious as always, and Embry was thankful for the dim lighting of the arcade that covered his reddening cheeks. 

Quil had searched his hoodie pocket for the tickets he’d collected, and announced they should spend them at the counter where an employee worked. 200 tickets had gotten him a bubblegum sucker and a plastic ring that would surely break before the end of next week, but he’d held it out to Embry proudly and Embry had put it on his pinky finger anyway. Bella herself searched the items behind the glass, her 350 tickets earning her a red striped bracelet that probably costed less than the tokens they’d bought to win such an item. 

“It kind of sucks,” she said, holding it out to Jacob, “but here. I want you to have it.” 

And Jacob had taken it from her fingers with a smile, bashful and strands of black hair cradling his handsome face. He held out his wrist, but as she tried to tie it on, she found it didn’t fit. 

“S’okay,” he’d assured her, taking the band and tying it at the end of his long braid. “I’ll wear it like this instead.” 

Before they left the arcade, the four of them had happened upon a Photo Booth, all trying to crawl in it at the same time. Of course, they could hardly fit, and they’d had to adjust themselves accordingly to try and get pictures with all of them in frame. Bella was sandwiched in between Jacob and Embry, partially on Jacob’s lap, and he himself had one leg out of the booth entirely. Quil had crawled over Embry’s thighs, holding himself up in the frame with his forearms so he was level with Bella’s head. They had quickly taken pictures, argued amongst themselves to quit shoving, and then immediately climbed back out, laughing loud as ever at the awkward angle captured in the photos and the look of discomfort etched on each of their young faces. 

“Bry, let’s take one, just me and you,” Quil had asked excitedly, and Bella and Jacob had waited just outside the booth for them. When they emerged again, Bella had requested to see the photos, positively grinning at one with Embry pecking his cheek, and another where Quil had squished Embry’s cheeks with his forefinger and thumb. A third, they’d been caught mid-laugh right after. 

“Do you wanna take one?” she asked Jacob, and he nodded. It had taken them a minute or two to get situated, the booth even more crammed than the zombie game they’d played together earlier. As the counter wound down on the screen, they posed, smiling into the camera that took a snapshot of the couple. Another, they were looking at each other, but even a photo couldn’t quite capture the love they felt for one another, the way it shown through their eyes. The third photo, Bella had leaned in, hesitant and shy. Jacob met her there, their lips pressed together in a sweet kiss and eyes fluttered closed, a moment of intimacy forever caught on film. The fourth had been just after, both still with eyes lidded and foreheads touching, and the last caught Bella’s face tucked into the crook of Jacob’s neck, shy and blushing, and the picture had been taken with him grinning, looking down at her.

As they left the arcade, plushies won, memories collected and tokens completely spent, there wasn’t a hand not entwined or a face without a smile. 

---

In the nightlife of the boardwalk, the new lovers drifted naturally to the food vendors dotted along the pier. It was getting late into the evening, the sky such a deep blue it appeared almost black, and they hadn’t eaten much before leaving the comfort of La Push, only having snacked on what the Lonesome Creek store had to offer for the road. They sat together at a table, eating food from Miners Landing they’d gotten before leaving the building entirely, burgers and fries greasy and delicious on their tongues. 

Quil had purchased a funnel cake which he shared with Embry, and he’d sneaked the last piece before Embry had even noticed. They were engrossed in bickering once again, as Bella and Jacob watched from across the table. She leaned her head on his shoulder, the soft cotton of his shirt and the warmth of his skin under an ever present comfort. 

“Do you think we’re gonna get like that?” she asked, tilting her head to gaze up at him as she took a sip from a soda she’d bought. 

“Maybe,” Jacob laughed, staring down at her. 

Meals finished hadn’t stopped them from collecting food elsewhere, as they continued their sight seeing. Bella and Jacob shared a bundle of cotton candy held between them, as she looked up, amazed at the lights changing colors on the Ferris wheel just beyond the arcade. 

“Do you guys wanna ride that?” she asked, pointing up at it in all its glory, its slow yet sure turn that halted only to let passengers on and off. 

Quil followed her finger, looking up at the ride from where they were all standing. He looked back at Embry, saw the knowing in his gaze. But the evening had been so fun, and he didn’t want to bring down the mood now. 

“Yeah, sure,” he replied, lingering even after Jacob and Bella began walking toward the station to buy their own. 

“Are you sure you wanna go up there?” Embry asked as they followed the other’s trail, but Quil had simply nodded as they neared the small white building with tickets lit up in bright red lettering, asking the employee behind the pane for two of his own. They took the cash he slid under the glass, exchanging two pink tickets in the bills place, and said to please enjoy the ride. 

“It’s fine,” Quil said as they waited in line, which to his own fear was quite short. He had expected the four of them to be seated in the same capsule, but with the wait not extended, they’d been allowed to go separately. “It’s just a ride.” 

But it wasn’t just a ride, in fact Quil thought it more like a death trap waiting to happen as they took their seats and began rising in the air, the cityscape in the distance twinkling in the night. Even with the capsule closed so the two of them could see the view only behind a sheet of glass, this did nothing to calm Quil’s rising nerves.

“Oh my god, why’d I get on this thing?” he asked, knowing they still had two full more turns, shutting his eyes tightly when he realized they were already nearing the top for the first time. Looking down only worsened his vertigo. The Ferris wheel hung in the air high above the water, and every creak, every slight shudder was horrifying to him. 

“Babe, it’s okay,” Embry tried to console him, reaching out and taking his hands. But as they were brought back down to begin the second turn, the lights on the wheel glittering vibrant blue and yellow at each individual beam, Quil had started digging his nails into Embry’s wrists instead. “It’s alright,” he said again, “nothing’s gonna happen. I’m right here with you.” 

Embry had known it was a bad idea to get on this with Quil, was well aware of the other’s intense fear of heights. The farthest he’d ever been comfortable going was climbing their dogwood tree when they were children, never anything higher. He refused to even cliff dive, scared out of his wits chancing a glance over the rocky edge at the water waiting below.

“And what if this thing breaks and we both die?” Quil asked, loosening his grip around Embry’s wrists to cover his face with his hands instead. As they completed their second spin, Quil had finally taken another glance outside the glass surrounding their capsule. The dark water below them shining pink from the lights on the wheel made his breath shorten again, and he turned back to Embry in clear fright. “Please tell me this is the last turn.” 

“It’s the last turn,” Embry assured him. “Don’t look down there, look at me,” he instructed next, when Quil’s gaze had begun shifting back to the view beyond the both of them. Embry reached out, took a gentle hold on Quil’s jaw to move his head back to face him. “Just look at me, okay? I’m not going anywhere, everything’s okay. I won’t let anything happen to you.” 

And Quil had listened, nodding. They had risen to the top of the world for the third time, but as Embry leaned in to kiss his boyfriend, the anxiety keeping grip in his chest seemed to lessen and then fall away altogether. Their lips cupped together, warm and real, and when they came back down to earth, and the ride had been completed, Embry pulled away and asked, “Feel better now?” 

And Quil had smiled, mischievous as Embry had always known him, already leaning in to get another. “I dunno, maybe you should kiss me again to make sure.” Embry had rolled his eyes, yet kissed him all the same, just as exciting and right as the first time. He didn’t think it’d ever stop feeling that way, kissing his best friend. 

Deep into the nighttime on the boardwalk, the four friends regrouped at the bottom of the Ferris wheel. Past tourists they raced, back to Pier 54 where Jacob had parked the Rabbit. The air was humid, water glistening like the stars that hung above their heads, and they were all giggling amongst themselves, goodies in hand. They decided to take a short trip to Pocket Beach, while they teetered on the edge of time, not yet ready to check into their motel room. Along the tiny shoreline the couples walked, having taken their shoes off to feel the sand between their toes. The view was lovely, ships in the distance a black silhouette against the sky, water that licked at their feet sparkling. 

“This was fun,” Bella said, looking up at Jacob, whom had stopped his walking upon hearing her speak, leaned down low and given her a kiss. When they’d pulled apart, she had glanced over her shoulder, finding the other couple leaning into one another, Embry’s arm over Quil’s shoulder, talking quiet in a whisper amongst themselves. 

“It was,” Jacob had agreed, smiling at the sight of two of his closest friends, “you know, I think we really are like that.” 

---

Jacob had just parked the Rabbit in the motel’s parking lot by the time midnight struck. Bella had clambered out of the passenger seat to run to the check-in desk to get their room key, while Jacob let the seats down so Embry and Quil could climb out of the car. He popped the trunk, and as a trio they collected the overnight bags they’d all packed along with their various prizes and purchases from the evening. Once the Rabbit had been locked, they too made their way into the motel, a run down Days Inn that had a pool and terrible breakfast to offer in the mornings. 

When Bella had slid their key card, room 22 on the bottom floor, a sigh of a relief left each of their mouths as they set their belongings on the two mattresses that were side by side save for a couple of feet in between them. The duvets were pulled down and neatly folded, the pillows freshly fluffed, and Bella had been the first to tell the room she was going to take a shower. She pulled sweats and one of Jacob’s shirts free from her bag, folding them on the bedside before gathering underwear and socks. Once she had shut the door behind her that connected the full bathroom to the motel room itself, Quil began rummaging through the bags he and Embry had carried and sat on their bed, criss crossed on the mattress and shoes left by the door.

“Hey,” he touched Embry’s shoulder, who was busying himself pulling his hair free from the tie he’d been keeping it in for the later half of the night, Jacob doing much the same unraveling his braid on the other bed beside them. 

Embry turned his head in question, and was greeted with a tiny box held out in Quil’s palm. “What’s this?” he asked, picking it up and turning it around in his fingers, examining it. 

“A music box,” Quil replied, grinning, “for your collection.”

“You didn’t have to get me this,” Embry told him.

“I know,” he shrugged, “but I saw it in that shop, and I wanted to. Turn the handle.” 

When Embry did, tinkering notes to Led Zeppelin’s famous song filled the room. And the smile that broke out across Embry’s face was well worth the money spent, at least Quil thought so. He’d always loved Embry’s smile, the way it made his dark eyes sparkle and crinkle with joy. “Thank you,” he showed his appreciation, giving him a quick peck just as Bella returned from the bathroom, hair wrapped in a towel and clad in pajama pants and a shirt from her boyfriend that reached her knees. 

In order, they’d each taken turns showering and getting ready for bed. Bella and Jacob brushed their teeth beside one another in the bathroom, smiling through the mirror and around their tooth brushes. By the time Jacob killed the lights in the room, and crawled into bed beside his Bella, the four were all clean and smelling like the familiar shampoos and soaps they bought handmade from the reservation. 

“Goodnight,” Bella said to the darkened room, curling up against Jacob’s side, head on his chest and his arm around her waist, the bracelet she’d won him at the arcade set lovingly on the nightstand between the beds beside the tiny music box and cheap plastic ring Embry had removed when he’d showered. 

“Night,” Quil murmured into Embry’s hair, his own arm over his side and hand held. He pressed a lazy kiss to the back of his boyfriend’s neck in the dark, nuzzling there and drifting off to sleep. 

When the four of them had checked out the following day, they’d stopped at a diner for a quick bite to eat before making the journey home, windows down and music playing loud through the speakers in the Rabbit. Jacob in the driver’s seat, one hand on the wheel and the other in Bella’s own, all singing carelessly to the wind howling through the opened windows. 

In Forks, Bella hung her butterfly just above the headboard of her bed where her dream catcher hung, loving the way the sunlight hit the glass and made the orange catch fire. Photo copies both with the four of them and just her and Jacob pinned to a cork board on another wall, and under the strips of fresh printed pictures was the fortune card she’d kept, creased from where she’d folded it. Charlie, wearing the new shirt Jacob had picked out, knocked on the door and told her he was ready to go to La Push, where they were having a cook out with all the families, including the Black’s. When they’d arrived at the reservation, Billy too was wearing his new clothing that Bella had picked. Tables were lined with food the Ateara’s and Emily had put together, but Charlie had gravitated toward Harry’s fish fry the second he’d caught a whiff of it. 

Bella and Jacob filled their plates with the rest of the pack, red bracelet holding a woven braid in place at the ends of Jacob’s hair. Joy Ateara watched on, sipping fresh steeped tea from her sunset painted mug, heart full seeing her son so happy and free in Embry’s arms. 

“What about this patch?” Tiffany sat beside her, stitching in her rocking chair, one leg curled under her thigh and the other bare foot pushing absentmindedly against the soft grass. She was making another quilt, something to celebrate their son’s announcement that they had started dating. She couldn’t have been more thrilled, and here she sat, inquiring about color patterns, new thimble on the tip of her finger. 

“I think it’s perfect,” Joy replied over the rim of her mug. 

And it was, it really was.