Title : What A Girl Needs

Author : Camisha

E-mail : [email protected]

Category : Slash

Rating : NC-17

Disclaimer : I own them in my mind, but not in the real world. The song is ‘Fatal’ by The Clarks.

Summary : Jake spends the night at Bella’s.

Thanks : To Erin M. for the song; to Rita Mae Brown for her book, Rubyfruit Jungle; and to Cara for her support and inspiration.

Author’s Note : Please forgive any typos or bad spelling as there are many obstacles to writing and submitting fanfic from Africa.

Feedback : This is my first attempt to write slash, so if you like slash, let me know what you think of mine.

Bella Banks stood under the open hood of the truck she had nearly totalled two weeks ago, contemplating the engine. Charlie had told her that if she could fix it, she could have it. He had always intended to give her the truck, but had not expected her to nearly wreck it. He would have bought her something else to drive, but he just couldn’t afford it.

Hell, they were lucky not to have lost the station last week. Fortunately, after Bella had confronted her, Donna Banks had seen the selfishness of her actions. Charlie would have to start paying her some rent now for the station, but it was reasonable and they would make it through somehow. They always did.

Fixing the truck was proving a real challenge--especially in New England’s August heat--but Bella appreciated the work. Things were dead around New Rawley at this time of year, and Bella was bored with both Will and Scout gone for the break.

Sean was around, of course, but she actually found all the time they were now spending together as a couple a little disconcerting. The future of the relationship was, in her mind at least, more than a little uncertain.

Where was Will with some sage advice when you needed him? Living it up in St. Martin, the lucky bastard.

Bella’s envious musings were interrupted by the now familiar sound of a motorcycle pulling up to the station. It couldn’t be…

Bella turned around and was delighted to discover that it was indeed Jake on the motorcycle, with Hamilton sitting behind her. The couple pulled off their helmets and got off the bike. Bella was struck by the natural synchronicity of their actions. They moved like two halves of a whole.

‘Hey, babe, how’s it going ?’ Jake asked warmly as she greeted Bella with a hug.

‘Hey, Jake, Hamilton. What are you guys doing here? I didn’t think fall session was starting for, like, another week.’

‘It’s not. Hamilton, here, was visiting me up in New York,’ Jake explained smiling, ‘and he missed his train this morning.’

‘Hey,’ Hamilton spoke up to defend himself, ‘I could have sworn the schedule said 9:30. Part of the eight was sort of rubbed off… And besides, someone was being very distracting this morning…’ He smiled slyly.

‘Yeah, whatever,’ Jake waved her hand dismissively, turning to Bella. ‘Since his parents are expecting him today, I figured the only chivalrous thing to do was to bring him here myself.’

‘Jake is such a gentleman,’ Hamilton added wryly.

‘Yeah,’ Bella smiled knowingly at Jake, ‘I’m sure it was a real sacrifice for you to make that long trip on this cool bike with your boyfriend’s arms wrapped around you the whole way.’

‘Ya gotta do what ya gotta do,’ Jake said laughing. ‘So, anyway, I’m heading back tomorrow, but I kind of have a favor to ask…’

‘Shoot.’

‘Well, I can’t exactly spend the night at Hamilton’s… and the dorms are closed… so I was wondering if I could interest you in a little slumber party?’

‘I’d totally love that,’ Bella answered eagerly. ‘I’ve actually been a little lonely lately.’

‘Yeah,’ Jake empathized, ‘I know what you mean.’

‘Hey!’ Hamilton interjected indignantly. ‘What about me?’

Jake had to smile at how easily masculine pride could be bruised.

‘What about you?’ she teased. ‘You’re a guy.’

‘And you’re not,’ Hamilton countered dryly. ‘Didn’t we get all this cleared up at the Cottilion?’

Glancing around quickly to make sure no one was watching, Jake grabbed Hamilton’s chin and smushed his lips together, playfully rubbing her nose against his.

‘My point,’ she said slowly, ‘is that, as much fun as it is to play with boys…’ she emphasized this point with a kiss as she released his face, ‘sometimes a girl needs another girl.’

‘Well, alright, GIRLS,’ Hamilton let the word roll slowly off his tongue, ‘I’ll just get out of your way then.’

Hamilton walked over to Jake’s bike to retrieve his backpack. Jake followed him and they shared a lingering goodbye kiss.

‘Come by tomorrow morning to say goodbye?’ Jake asked softly, their lips still touching lightly.

‘How about breakfast at the diner at ten?’ Hamilton suggested. ‘My treat.’

‘It’s a date.’

Both frowned as soon as the words left Jake’s mouth, each remembering their last ‘date’.

‘Let’s just call it breakfast,’ Hamilton corrected, slinging his backpack over his shoulder. ‘Later, Bella,’ he called in her direction as he walked off toward Rawley Academy.

‘You know,’ Bella said suddenly as a thought occured to her, ‘we should probably get you transformed into Jacqueline before my dad gets home and gets confused. He may not be too keen on letting ‘Jake’ sleep over.’

‘Well, Jacqueline it is, then,’ Jake grabbed her backpack and followed Bella inside.

In the safety of Bella’s bedroom, Jake pulled her corset out from under her T-shirt. She let out a small sigh of relief.

‘That must get really uncomfortable,’ Bella said sympathetically.

‘I only put it on just before we drove into town, but yeah, it can be a bitch.’ Jake shrugged and gave a half smile, ‘The things you do for revenge, I guess… or for love.’

To complete her changeover, Jake merely shaped her hair into a more feminine style, bringing her bangs down to frame her face a little.

Bella found herself mesmerized by the transformation. How could Jake go from being such an attractive ‘boy’ to such a strikingly beautiful girl with just the addition of breasts and a change of hairstyle?

‘That’s amazing,’ Bella said softly, staring at Jake.

‘What?’ Jake asked self-conciously, looking down at herself.

‘How you can be so gorgeous as a boy AND as a girl.’ And how I find mysellf drawn to both at the same time, Bella thought to herself. She had always thought of androgyny as a lack of sexual attractiveness, yet in Jake it was as if the dualing masculine and feminine masks ehanced each other, creating a sexual pull that transcended the boundaries of gender.

‘Yeah right,’ Jake said skeptically, unaware of Bella’s thoughts.

‘No, seriously. You’ve got a totally hot guy like Hamilton who can hardly keep his hands off you, and…’ I can’t seem to take my eyes off you, Bella finished silently in her head. ‘…and don’t tell me you haven’t had any Rawley girls checking you out,’ she finished instead.

‘Actually, there was this one girl, Lena, who seemed to have a thing for me… I mean, for Jake… I mean… you know what I mean.’

‘Yeah, and…?’ Bella prompted.

‘And what?’

‘What happened?’

‘How do you know something happened?’

‘Because you’re blushing,’ Bella answered with a knowing smile.

‘Alright,’ Jake relented, ‘I haven’t even told Hamilton this, but the day after she and Hamilton and I went to the drive-in, she… uh… she came to my room and… and she kissed me.’

‘What did you do?’

‘Well, I tried to let her down easy. I mean, I totally admired her courage and everything…’

‘What was it like?’ Bella interrupted earnestly.

‘Oh, it was totally awkward. I had no idea what to say. I mean, I didn’t want to hurt her feelings, but I couldn’t exactly tell her the truth…’

‘No,’ Bella interrupted again, ‘I mean, what was it like when she was actually kissing you?’

‘Oh… I don’t know. I mean, I pulled away… It only lasted for, like, a second.’

‘But was it… you know… different?’ Bella pressed. She couldn’t believe she was asking these questions. It was as if her mouth had a mind of its own. Her imagination, too, seemed to be beyond her control, because suddenly she was picturing this kiss, but instead of Lena, she herself was kissing Jake.

‘Well…’ Jake began slowly, ‘you know how when a guy kisses you, he usually sort of goes all out at first and then kind of slows down later on in the kiss?’

‘Yeah…’ Bella nodded thoughtfully.

‘And you know how when a girl starts the kiss, you sort of start out slow and then get more involved?’

‘Yeah…’

‘Well, it was… you know… uh… tentative like that… like maybe if it had kept going, it would have built really slowly… You know, now that I think about it, I kinda wonder how it would have turned out…’ In fact, now that she was thinking about it, Jake began to wonder what it would be like to kiss Bella.

‘It was kinda like being kissed by yourself…’ Jake mused, unconciously staring at Bella’s lips. ‘Only not really…’

‘Hey, um, Jake… do you… uh… do you wanna…?’

As Bella hesitated, their heads drifted closer together. The sound of a door slamming downstairs broke the spell.

‘…fix some dinner?’ Bella finished lamely, trying to cover for what she had been about to ask, nervous now that the moment had passed.

‘Oh, yeah. Sure,’ Jake mumbled, trying to process what had almost just happened.

The two headed to the kitchen and helped Charlie, whose homecoming had caused the interruption, to fix dinner. Jake enjoyed the sense of family during this activity. Her mother never did anything domestic, let alone with her. She also enjoyed the chance to be a teenage girl here in Rawley for the evening. Charlie was a funny guy and the three of them laughed and joked together late into the evening.

Afterwards, Jake and Bella lay in Bella’s double bed and talked quietly about Sean, Hamilton and relationships in general until they could no longer keep their eyes open.

Early the next morning, a half-sleeping Jake realized that she wasn’t alone in bed. Not aware enough yet to remember where she was with her eyes still closed, Jake reached out for Hamilton, with whom she had shared a bed for the last several nights. Encountering human worth, Jake moved her body up against Bella’s back.

Something is different, Jake thought groggily as she breathed in the scent of Bella’s hair. Hamilton didn’t smell this… sweet, and his body against hers had never felt this soft. Different… but nice, Jake decided as she snuggled closer and draped her arm over Bella’s side. Her hand drifted down to settle on Bella’s breast.

Bella shivered and her nipple tightened at the feel of Jake’s hand against her breast. She had been very much awake since she had first felt Jake’s body pressing up against her back. Bella didn’t know if Jake was actually awake or not, but she didn’t dare turn over to face Jake to check, lest Jake wake up and stop doing what she was doing.

Bella definitely didn’t want Jake to stop. She held her breath, waiting to see what Jake would do next. Slowly, Jake’s hand moved over Bella’s breast, as if trying to figure out what it was. Bella felt a warmth growing in the center of her body. Then, suddenly, the hand stopped.

As Jake’s hand familiarized itself with Bella’s breast, her sleep-fogged mind finally recognized that she was not in bed with Hamilton. Her eyes popped open and her hand froze.

‘Bella! Oh my god, I’m so sorry. I…’ Jake began to move away from her.

‘Don’t be.’ Bella rolled over quickly to face Jake, putting a hand on her arm to keep her from leaving the bed.

‘I… I thought you were Hamilton and…’ Jake continued to explain. She fell silent as she looked into Bella’s eyes.

‘Are you disappointed?’ Bella asked softly. Their faces were just inches apart.

Words failed Jake. She gave her answer by closing the distance between their lips.

**It’s a funny kind of feeling

It’s cut me to the core

She’s dripping from the ceiling

Lying naked on the floor**

Bella savored the first gentle touch of Jake’s slightly parted lips. The kiss was brief, questioning. Bella parted her own lips and answered Jake with her own tentative kiss. Their lips met several more times in this fashion--in soft, gentle caresses--as they angled their heads in search of a more perfect connection.

The kisses deepened gradually as Jake and Bella began to explore each other’s mouths with their tongues.

**And she’s soaking in my skin now

Just like the summer’s rays

She’s swimming in the gene pool

And I’m in her DNA**

Slowly, Bella began to slid her hand beneath the tank top Jake had worn to bed. Then, suddenly, she stopped, remembering how she’d felt in the past when a boy’s hands had trespassed beneath her shirt without permission.

‘Jake,’ Bella murmured against Jake’s mouth between kisses, ‘is this okay?’

Bella could feel Jake’s lips curving into a smile beneath her own.

‘It’s more than okay,’ Jake answered, rolling away from Bella just enough to pull off her own tank top. She laid back on the bed.

**And nothing else much matters

As if it even should

And no one else is watching

It’ll be fatal to feel this good**

Emboldened by Jake’s response, Bella moved over Jake, straddling her hips and gazing down at Jake’s now naked torso. She placed her hands on Jake’s waist and slid them slowly upward, her thumbs gliding along Jake’s incredibly tight abs.

‘God, you’re amazing,’ Bella breathed as her hands reached Jake’s breasts. She brushed her thumbs lightly across Jake’s nipples and was rewarded with a low moan.

‘Mmm, you’re not so bad yourself,’ Jake murmured with a soft smile. ‘But aren’t you a little overdressed?’

Bella took her hands off Jake’s breasts to pull off the T-shirt in which she had been sleeping and tossed it aside.

‘Better?’

‘Much,’ Jake replied appreciatively.

**Tell me that you want me

Tell me that you care

Tell me all your secrets

And tell me all your fears**

‘You know,’ Bella began, contemplating Jake’s breasts, ‘the other day, Sean did something that felt kind of nice…’ She trailed off questioningly.

‘Go ahead,’ Jake encouraged softly, ‘show me.’

Bella lowered her head to place her lips over Jake’s left nipple. She teased it with her tongue as she lightly brushed her thumb back and forth across the right one. She heard Jake’s breathing grow heavy and felt the rapid rise and fall of Jake’s chest beneath her mouth and hand.

**There’s something I’ve gotta tell you

There’s something you should know

It’ll be fatal to feel this good**

‘Does Hamilton do this?’ Bella asked as she moved her mouth to Jake’s other nipple.

‘Mmm… yeah,’ Jake murmured distractedly as sensations coursed through her body, ‘but not like this.’

‘Oh god,’ Bella said anxiously, lifting her head, ‘I’m not doing it right.’

‘No, no,’ Jake corrected quickly, ‘I meant that he doesn’t do it this well.’

Bella looked slightly disbelieving.

‘No really,’ Jake assured her. ‘I think it helps that… you know… you’re a girl… I mean, you know how you’d want it to feel on your own body… which is the same as mine… I mean, not the same exactly, but… well, more like mine than, you know… Hamilton’s. I mean--'

‘Here,’ Jake lifted herself up, turning Bella on her back and straddling her hips, effectively reversing their positions. ‘I can’t really explain, so let me see if I can just show you difference.’

As Jake’s mouth went to work on Bella’s breasts, Bella began to whimper with pleasure. Jake’s days alone with Hamilton in her New York apartment had taught her quite a bit, and her first-hand understanding of the female body allowed her to improve upon Hamilton’s technique.

‘I think I see what you mean,’ Bella managed between whimpers and moans.

**Honey, this is something I’ve never said before

They’re words you won’t soon forget

Honey, this is something I’v never done before**

Jake lifted her head, considering trying out some of the things Hamilton liked to do on the lower part of her body. But then her gaze fell upon Bella’s alarm clock. Eight-thirty. She was supposed to meet Hamilton in an hour and a half… and what was she doing?

It suddenly dawned on Jake that she was cheating. Just because she was fooling around with Bella didn’t mean she wasn’t fooling around, especially given the feelings--physical and emotional--she was experiencing.

‘You’re thinking about Hamilton,’ Bella stated matter-of-factly, reading the sudden concern on Jake’s face. ‘We shouldn’t--’

‘Shhh,’ Jake silenced Bella with a finger over her lips, ‘I’ll leave in an hour.’

After that simple statement, Jake and Bella fell into a mutually understood silence. They lay in each other’s arms gently stroking each other and kissing from time to time.

At nine-thirty, Jake got out of bed without a word. She went to the bathroom to wash up and get dressed. When she returned to Bella’s room to gather the rest of her things, she was in full boy clothing. Bella had thrown on jeans and a tank top and was sitting on the edge of the bed. Their eyes met.

‘Bella, I--’

‘It’s okay, Jake. I know that you’re totally in love with Hamilton. This was just…’ Bella waved her hand dismissively, her tone was falsely light.

‘Hey,’ Jake interrupted seriously, crossing the room to take hold of the hand Bella was waving. Still holding that hand, Jake used her other hand to gently brush Bella’s soft hair behind her ear. ‘This wasn’t ‘just’ anything. If it was, I could just tell Hamilton about it and he would probably think it was a total turn on. But that’s not how it was for me… you know? That’s why I had to stop, you see… because it was… ‘something’… but I’m not free to pursue ‘something’ right now. I’m with Hamilton, and I want to see that through… Do you understand?’

Bella nodded. ‘Timing is everything,’ she said softly. ‘Friends?’

‘Try and keep me away,’ Jake answered firmly, planting a light kiss on Bella’s lips. ‘I am going to Rawley Boys, after all, and sometimes…’

The two finished in unison, ‘… a girl needs another girl.’

THE END